FIREFLIES

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IT WAS LATE IN THE EVENING, WELL AFTER SELENA HAD FAILED to come home for dinner. She'd heard Lucy yelling and then her aunt had been in a mood for the rest of the night. Given that Dinah was getting more and more sure that her aunt and uncle were keeping things from her and so she wasn't overly thrilled with Lucy herself, she didn't bother asking about it. After a few hours, she simply assumed that Selena would be staying over at her boyfriend's house and texted her that they better be using the condoms that Stiles had thrown around in Econ.

Dinah laid in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Not only was the curse making it difficult when she was congested and had a cough, but there was something that was nagging at her that she couldn't put her finger on. Sure, she'd been pondering for a day now why her aunt and uncle would be keeping things from her and she couldn't come to any kind of answer that made sense. Nothing that didn't make her angry and upset at her aunt and uncle. She knew how close her mom and aunt had been. If Lucy had known that Thalia had told Dinah about magic, about the vampires... Surely she hadn't held back on everything else. Knowing what had happened in Mystic Falls, why would anything supernatural in Beacon Hills need to be a secret?

Finally, Dinah rolled over onto her side and started reaching for her phone just as the screen lit up with an incoming call and Stefan's contact picture appeared. Wondering why he was calling her so late, Dinah quickly answered.

"What's going on?" she asked groggily.

"Did I wake you?" Stefan asked.

"No, sleep wasn't cooperating tonight. Is something wrong? You sound stressed."

"Yeah, uh... Something's happening. But I need you to go with me."

"Why, what is it?" Dinah asked as she sat up in bed.

"I smelled blood and... it smells like a lot but I..."

"Don't trust yourself?" Dinah guessed easily.

"Yeah."

"You don't give yourself enough credit, Stef," Dinah said, walking over to the closet to grab some socks. "You've gotten so good around blood."

"Thank you, Di, but I'd just feel better if—"

"Someone was there," she guessed. "Alright, well I wasn't getting much sleep anyway so where did you smell the blood, I'll bike over to meet you."

"No need."

Dinah stopped halfway through pulling her favourite oversized hoodie on, brow furrowing. She quickly pulled it all the way on and crossed to her window, pulling the curtain back and looking out to see Stefan waiting for her, phone pressed to his ear and smirking at her.

"I should have known," she said, shaking her head. "I'll be down in a minute."

She hung up the phone and slid it into her pocket. From there, she quietly snuck down to the front door, where she pulled on her sneakers. Keys in her pocket, she snuck out the front door as quietly as she could, locking it again behind her. Stefan was waiting for her at the bottom of the steps with a smile. A smile that quickly turned to a look of confusion.

"Is that my hoodie?"

"Oh, uh..." she looked down at it, a flush rising in her cheeks. "Technically yes. But you gave it to me so it's mine now."

"When did I give it to you?"

"That one night when we snuck out and I complained that it was cold. You gave me your sweater, thus transferring ownership to me."

"Is that how it works?"

"Yup. That's how it works. Now were we investigating some blood you smelled or interrogating me?"

"Well, I was trying to multitask," Stefan said.

"You failed. Did you bring your car or are you riding on my handlebars?"

"Neither, I was going to run there."

Dinah sighed and stepped up to him, pushing on his shoulder to make him turn around.

"Then we're gonna spider monkey it."

She quickly hopped up onto his back, and he got a tight grip on her legs while she made sure she had a tight grip on him as well. With no warning, Stefan took off running and Dinah had to tuck her head down so that the rush of wind wasn't as harsh on her face. In no time at all, they stopped and Stefan set Dinah down on her feet.

Looking around, Dinah didn't recognize anything around her, only seeing a parking lot with a single car in it and some fencing. But she did recognize the smell of chlorine, telling her that they were likely at some kind of public pool. Dinah turned to Stefan to ask him where the blood was when he shook his head and pressed a finger to her lips.

"What?" she whispered.

"There wasn't a car here before," he said.

"Maybe it's a security guard or something?" she suggested.

Stefan's eyes fixed past Dinah and towards where the pool likely was. "It's not a guard."

"What do you mean—" Dinah cut herself off, following where Stefan was pointing. Her eyes widened. "That's Lydia, what the hell is she doing here?"

"I don't know."

"Well, we gotta get a closer look, come on."

Dinah quickly cast a cloaking spell over them so they wouldn't be seen and started creeping forward so that they could get a closer look. As they got to the open gate that lead into the pool area, Stefan grabbed Dinah's wrist and she cast him a concerned look. He'd tensed up, meaning that they were getting closer to the blood.

Keeping a grip on Stefan's hand to try and reassure him, they crept forward a little more. Lydia was now starting to kneel down at the edge of the pool and reach for something in the water. Dinah looked to what she was stretching for and had to cover her mouth to stifle the gasp as she saw the body floating upside down in the water.

Dinah watched with wide eyes as Lydia finally grasped the edge of the sweater they were wearing and turned them over, revealing not a body, but simply one of those CPR dummies that lifeguards trained or practiced on.

Stefan tugged on her hand and she turned to look at him, then followed where he was pointing towards and covered her mouth again as she saw the body sitting in the lifeguard stand, covered in blood that was dripping down onto the cement.

Just then, Lydia noticed the body too and screamed. Stefan flinched, one hand raising to cover his ear. Dinah pushed Stefan back towards the parking lot to get him further away from the blood. When they were on the far end of the parking lot, she stopped.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked him.

"I think so," he managed, but still looked tense.

"Deep breaths," she instructed. "We can go as soon as you're ready."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, held it for a few seconds and then let it out. When he opened his eyes, she could see that he looked more at ease. She gave him a smile and he returned it before his eyes snapped towards the pool again.

"We need to go, Lydia's calling the police."

"As she should, but yeah, we can't be here when they show up."

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BEFORE THEY COULD GO INSIDE THE APARTMENT, Dinah stopped Stefan and pulled him off to the side where they wouldn't be seen and just told him to take a second to calm down now that they were away from the blood. They stood there for the few minutes that it took Stefan to feel better and then they headed inside.

Luckily for them, despite the hour, the elevator was still on the ground floor when they went to take it up to the loft. Not two seconds after the elevator had closed behind them, Damon came out to meet them, sliding the door closed behind him.

"Spitfire, I am so glad you're here," Damon said.

"What do you want, Damon?"

"Baby Barnes and her little boyfriend were just here," he told her.

"What?"

"Why?"

"They were visiting our landlord."

"What?"

"And all her little friends, too."

Dinah ran a hand over her face and into her hair, trying to figure out what they could have been doing. First, their landlord whom they were already suspicious of was at their school talking to Selena and all her friends and now they had come here? What was going on?

"Personally, I vote that we break down the door and demand to know what's going on," Damon said.

"You wouldn't be able to get in, dumbass."

"But you could."

She glared at Damon before turning away from him so that she didn't have to look at his face while she tried to think. They definitely had to do something. And with the dead body that they'd just found... Well, something was going on and if Selena was involved, she could be in danger. And Dinah would let hell freeze over before she let something happen to her cousin.

"Fine. I have questions of my own for your landlord. He's home, right?"

"How should I know? I'm not his stalker."

Dinah raised her brow skeptically.

"Whatever. I still don't know if he's home."

Rolling her eyes, Dinah walked past Damon until she was at the other door and was about to knock on it when Stefan caught her wrist.

"Are you sure about this?"

"We need answers, Stef. If Selena's in trouble..."

He nodded in understanding and let go of her wrist, stepping back so that he was a little bit behind her. She took a deep breath and then finally knocked on the door.

A moment later, the door opened to reveal, not their landlord as they had expected, but an older man with similar features, but lighter eyes. Surprised expressions came across everyone's faces.

"Dinah?"

"How do you know my name?"

Instantly, the surprise was gone and replaced with what was probably supposed to be a charming expression. It almost might have made Dinah feel more at ease if it wasn't for the voice in the back of her head telling her not to trust this man under any circumstances.

"Don't you remember me?"

"Should I?"

"If you are who I think you are, you definitely should. Though I wouldn't blame you, we've all grown up so much since the last time I saw you."

"And who do you think she is?" Stefan asked, stepping forward almost protectively.

"You're Thalia's daughter, right? Come in."

He gestured for her to come in and she glanced up at Stefan before stepping past the threshold. She waited until the man had walked a little further in before she took any steps further into the loft and away from the door where Stefan and Damon were stuck.

"How do you know my mother?" she asked.

"Whenever she used to come to visit Lucy, they'd have tea with my sister, Talia. Surely she mentioned her. Talia Hale?"

That did sound very vaguely familiar to Dinah, but Hale wasn't the most uncommon of names, so she couldn't be sure of anything. She'd locked away most of the memories associated with her parents.

"So then who are you?" Dinah asked, lingering on the platform near the door as the man went and sat down on a sofa. "And who's the guy that lives here? The younger one. The landlord."

"I'm Peter," he said. "And the landlord is my nephew, Derek. You know, you and Selena used to drag us into tea parties. Selena even used to force us to wear bows in our hair."

"How well do you know my cousin?" Dinah asked, not bothering to disguise the surge of protectiveness that rose up in her.

"Oh, no need to worry about her. She's a wonderful girl. Always willing to help out."

Dinah didn't know what it was about how he'd said that but she didn't like it. She didn't like anything about this guy, though, so that wasn't all that surprising.

"If you did anything to Selena—"

"What? Sic your little vampire pets on me?"

"Excuse me?" Damon asked.

"You know what they are?" Dinah questioned.

"Of course I do. Why my nephew allowed three vampires to move in right next to him, I'll never know. But don't worry, I'd never lay a finger on your little cousin. I value your aunt's friendship too much."

There was something about this guy that Dinah was starting to really hate. He was almost worse than Damon with how he put double meanings into the things he said and would sometimes use a different tone than what matched what he was actually saying. Dinah didn't trust a word this guy said and after only a few minutes, she was getting really sick of his shit.

Stefan, though he couldn't see her whole face, seemed to recognize the expression she had as she glared at Peter.

"Dinah—" he warned.

She narrowed her eyes at Peter and his stupid smug smirk. Immediately, he doubled over in pain, one hand coming up to clutch at his head.

"You have... your aunt's anger... I see," Peter managed.

"Oh you have no idea," Dinah spat. "If you even look at Selena again, I don't care what she finds out. I will give you worse than an aneurysm."

"Dinah," Stefan said.

"No, don't make her stop," Damon said. "I like not being on the receiving end of this."

She released the spell. She was about to turn back to leave the apartment, over this little visit since the person that she had wanted to talk to wasn't there, but then she looked at Peter one last time.

"Since you seem to know what my friends are, you know what they can do. If they hear Selena's voice coming from this apartment, I will know about it. So if anything happens to her—"

"God, you really are Thalia's daughter..."

"Yes, I am. I hope you remember that."

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ANGER WAS STILL COURSING THROUGH DINAH'S VEINS LIKE FIRE as Stefan brought her home. Though she was sure he would enjoy watching her explode at her aunt, she figured that letting a vampire watch the interaction wouldn't exactly make her aunt more open. So she said goodbye to Stefan at the door and came back inside without bothering to be quiet this time.

"Aunt Lucy!" she shouted.

Her aunt didn't answer immediately, which Dinah had expected. It was the very early hours of the morning, after all. But she didn't let that dissuade her. They were having this conversation.

"Aunt Lucy!" she called out again, taking the stairs two at a time.

Lucy opened her bedroom door just as Dinah reached it, rubbing her eyes and looking like Dinah had woken her from a fairly deep sleep with her shouting and stomping about.

"It's two in the morning, Dinah, what is it?"

"Who the hell is Peter Hale?"

And just like that, the grogginess disappeared from her aunt's eyes.

"Where did you hear that name?"

"From the man himself."

"And where, exactly, did you meet Peter Hale at two in the morning?"

"No, nope," Steven said from where he was still laying in bed. "I see where this is going. You are taking this downstairs so I can sleep."

Sighing, Lucy complied, ushering Dinah out into the hallway as she closed her bedroom door. They went down to the living room and when they were both in the room, standing on either side of the coffee table, they turned to face each other again.

"Where did you meet Peter Hale?"

"Derek Hale's apartment," Dinah answered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Because apparently, Selena knows him. And was in his apartment tonight. After he was at our school the other day. So I would like to know what the hell is going on around here that you haven't told me."

"Everything is under control with Peter Hale, you don't have to worry about him. And Derek is a good kid."

"Yeah because that answers all my questions!"

"Dinah—"

"If everything is under control with Peter Hale, why did that creep insinuate that he'd done something to Selena?" Dinah questioned. "And if he did do something to her, why did you let him keep breathing?"

"Peter is not a threat to this family."

"So he is a threat to other people?"

"That's not what I—"

"That's exactly what you said!" Dinah yelled. "Why the hell can you not just tell me the truth?"

"You don't need to worry about him."

"He knew who I was, Aunt Lucy. So did Derek. Considering I don't recognize either of them, you can consider me worried about them."

"He's a family friend. Or, well, his sister was."

"He's not human."

"And like I said, you have nothing to worry—"

"Oh, so you can consort with people who aren't humans, but I can't?"

"You can 'consort' with whoever you want as long as they're not bloodsuckers," Lucy spat.

"I'd consider my friends much less dangerous than Peter Hale."

Lucy scoffed. "Then you don't know what they're capable of."

"I think I know full well what they're capable of."

"Oh, really?" Lucy asked skeptically. "Then what happens next time Stefan loses control and lets the Ripper loose on Beacon Hills?"

"That's not going to happen."

"It always does."

"He's getting better. And not only do we know how to bring him back since we've done it before, but it's not his fault that he's a Ripper. Which is more than I can say for Peter Hale!"

"How many times do I have to tell you—"

"That he's not a threat? Well, I'm gonna say that you're gonna have to keep telling me because I don't believe you for a fucking second!"

"Watch your language!"

"Really? Really, that's your complaint? Everything I said and all you have to say is that I can't swear. Wow. Just... wow."

Shaking her head, Dinah scoffed and went to pass her aunt out of the living room because she was well past over this conversation. Before she could leave, Lucy caught her arm, stopping her.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Honestly, at this point, I don't fucking care. As long as it's out of this fucking house!"

Ripping her arm away from her aunt's grip and hurried past her, not even bother going upstairs for clothes. She slammed the front door behind her, grabbing her bike and starting down the street towards her friends' place. When she was about a block away from the house, she pulled her phone out and quickly dialled Sterfan's number, putting the phone on speaker as she kept peddling.

"Dinah? Is everything okay?"

"No, my aunt is a fucking bitch."

"What happened?"

"She wouldn't fucking tell me anything about Peter Hale. Kept insisting that he wasn't a threat as if that was even remotely a possibility. And then she insulted you and didn't seem concerned about Selena and..." Dinah paused and took a breath. "I'm staying over. I can't be in that house with her tonight."

"Alright," he said. "We'll be waiting for you."

"Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you guys."

"That's what friends are for, right?"

"Yeah. Best friends in the world. I'll see you soon."

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IN THE MORNING, EVEN THOUGH DINAH WAS STILL FEELING bitter towards her aunt, she knew that she had to go back home. She hadn't brought any of her things with her and maybe now that it was morning and a weekend morning at that, Steven would be awake and they could have a more serious conversation about how Peter Hale was obviously a threat.

All of her friends offered to accompany her back to face her aunt, but she refused, saying that it wasn't necessary. If she was going to get any real answers out of Lucy, no one else could be there. So, after eating a wonderful breakfast with her friends, Dinah got back on her bike and headed home.

She lingered on the porch for a little longer than normal, but after a few moments, she decided that the waiting wasn't helping at all and she just went inside. As she opened the door, she heard indistinct voices and her brow furrowed. It didn't sound like just Lucy and Steven. When she closed the door, the voices stopped.

"Dinah?" Lucy's voice called out.

"Yeah?"

"Come here, please."

Dinah bit her tongue, not liking being told to do that after their fight. But, seeing as her goal was to talk to them, she went towards where the voices were coming from. She found her aunt and uncle in the dining room with a third man. At first, she didn't recognize him, but after a second she realized that it was the man from the elevator, her friends' landlord.

"Dinah, I wanted you to meet Derek," Lucy said.

"Hi," Derek said with a warm smile as he stretched a hand out to her. "Derek Hale."

"Yeah, I figured that," Dinah said, not shaking his hand.

"After our conversation—" Dinah scoffed. "—last night, I wanted you to meet Derek. Come, join us for some tea."

Though she wasn't thrilled about it, she did go and sit down across from Derek. Dinah quickly fixed herself a mug of tea with the pot on the tray sitting in the center of the table.

"You still take honey in your tea?" Derek asked.

"Still?" Dinah questioned.

"Right, you don't remember. Peter said that he mentioned the tea parties we used to have when you were little. If I'm remembering right, your mother always took honey in her tea, so even though we were drinking pretend tea and the toy sets didn't come with a little dish for it, you always added honey to your tea."

"You remember that?"

"Lucy and Steven and even Selena have always been like family to me. After the fire, my sister and I even stayed here for a little while."

"Fire?" Dinah asked.

"The Hale Fire," Lucy said.

"Hunters burned my family home nearly to the ground with almost everyone inside," Derek said. "Me, my sister Laura, my sister Cora and my uncle, who you met, Peter, survived."

"Oh," Dinah said. "I'm sorry."

"I know that Peter is... not the most welcoming person. He wasn't always quite so bad. He was burned very badly in the fire and was in a coma for many, many years. He only recently woke up."

"That doesn't excuse him being a psychopath."

"Dinah!"

"No, it's okay, Lucy," Derek assured her. "I know it doesn't excuse any of his actions. But I am handling him. You don't have to worry about him, you've got enough to worry about between school and your curse."

"How do you kn—"

"I told him," Lucy said.

"Why can he know but Selena can't?" Dinah asked.

"It's not—"

"No, because I can let the Peter thing go. For now. I can let Derek deal with him if you tell me why he can know about the curse that's killing me and is going to kill Selena and she can't."

Lucy sighed. "Because it'll be worse for her if she knows ahead of time."

"How? How could it be worse?"

"The curse is going to attack your magic, eventually. The stronger you are with it, the longer and more painful it's going to be."

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