Alex watched the alpha redress is open wound, feeling a twinge of sympathy. It was the first time she seen him since that night, everything was different with the trio. Nothing felt right.
"Hey. Still not healing?
He shook his head "Sometimes it just takes a little longer."
"I uh.. I can try?" Alex offered, barely above a mumble.
"I'm okay" Scott nodded, "What are you doing here?"
"Ah, you heard about the guy who got killed out at the communication towers, right?" Stiles asked
Scott nodded quietly.
"I think I may have figured something out."
Scott looked at the two of them, surprised by their offer "What, you want my help?"
"Yeah, well you said you can find the clues that I can't."
Alex stayed quiet, she understood stiles need to forgive Scott. It was nothing she didn't feel herself, but a part of was deeply hurt by his actions.
"Here, take a look." Stiles pointed to the video
"This is when the technician first arrived. You see him going in, Then Deputy Clark goes in. Then something really big and really fast comes charging out. And now comes Clark. Eventually, technician's body is carried out by paramedics."
"Okay, what am I missing?" Scott asked, looking from the screen
"Two people go in. Three come out. I checked all the footage. Not a single person enters that building before the technician the entire day. So where does that something really big and really fast come from?"
"There's another way in" Scott realized
...
Upon entering, they all noticed the large locker that was surrounded by blood. Scott could smell it before even entering.
"You see that?" Stiles asked, pointing it the pool of a man's blood
"I see blood."
"That is an ungodly amount of blood" Alex cringed, not stepping any closer.
"Look where it leads to." Stiles pointed, the crimson liquid was pooled under the locker.
Scott grunted, he couldn't seem to gather the strength that was needed; he was barely even human since the attack, never mind an alpha.
Stiles walked over, silently offering a hand. Alex watched from a distance, giving in seconds later she helped hoist the locker to a stand.
Understand the locker, lead an entrance to the tunnels that were piped hinder the town. They each climbed down, jumping to the hard concrete.
Stiles turned on his flashlight, they investigated further. Stiles flipped his torch and started using the purple light, the three of them followed the a trail. Not a word spoken, but what would be said.
They continued to follow the trail, soon coming across two words written in the dust.
"What is that?" Scott asked
"It looks like Latin." Stiles said
Scott room out his phone to snap a picture "Hold up that light. I'm gonna get a picture of it."
"Damnatio Memoriae" Alex read it aloud, thinking about what it meant.
As stiles focused on the writing he felt a pair of claws break through the skin on his neck. He limbs went numb as the venom hit his veins, he landed on the ground with a grunt.
Alex turned at the sound, seeing stiles paralysed on the concrete. The sound of a hiss filled her ears, Alex turned around; the sight of Tracy enough to make her feel sick.
"Tra-...Tracy" her worlds stumbled in fear.
She couldn't believe he brought her back. He really had the power to bring back the dead.
Alex blinked and Allison face appeared. She knew it wasn't real but it felt as if it was happening "you could've saved me" she whispered
"But now look, they are here, Noah is here, But where am I?"
"Dead!"
Stiles watch as Alex was frozen in one spot. Her eyes only blinking to keep them for drying up; he knew her too well to know this was triggering something.
"Alex!" He yelled, noticing the paralytic claws about to scathe her skin.
Alex zoned back in at the calling of her name, as her eyes focused she seen the claws about to scar her face. She only had a second to throw her arm over her face, the claw drew through her skin and it was then confirmed; Alex was truly a Chanima
Tracy watched with confused eyes.
"I'm one of you" Alex dropped her arm,
"Scott, behind you!" Stiles warned, Josh ran towers the alpha with electricity beaming from his hands.
Scott grabbed Tracy's claws. She pushed them into Josh's abs, the beams of electric sent Tracy flying and the venomous nails paralysed Josh.
Scott roared, sending dust around them. Corey appeared from the pipes. He seemed to have only gained the ability to camouflage.
"Okay!" Theo walked into the scene "Maybe they're not ready to take on an Alpha. Especially one that can smell fear."
"He's got fangs." Corey tried to justify.
"What did you do?" Scott asked
"I found some new friends. I don't take rejection well." Theo smirked.
"Hey, Theo!" Stiles greeted
"Stiles." Theo returned the hello, stepping over him.
He took one look at the dusted words, sending his foot into the concrete sending them into the air.
"You're going to leave here thinking that you need to worry about me. But you're wrong. We're actually back on the same side. Because that thing... That's what we need to worry about. Your pack and mine. We're gonna go back to school and pretend like we're normal teenagers, but at night, we're going to be fighting for our lives"
"What is it?" Scott asked
"It's not a Chimera." Theo's head shook,
"But it's just a kid underneath. Someone like us." Scott argued
"Not anymore." Theo stated
Alex watched as Scott stood silently, he was about to let him walk away again. After all he had done, the chaos he caused and Scott headed his words.
"Wait hold on" Alex stopped them, glancing back the alpha.
Theo turned and faced her.
"You think we want the same things?" She questioned, her brows arched.
Alex let out a scoff, "You want a pack of superficial creators who were innocent kids forced into this world by the doctors you have summoned here. You don't want them, you don't want Tracy or josh or Corey you want the power"
"You think you can become an alpha overnight without killing someone, That takes work. It takes commitment it takes courage which you don't have. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for your pack, are you willing to help save beacon hills every dam year, are you willing to sit and let your beta attack you because you know that if you really wanted to you could kill him?"
Alex hesitated, "are you willing to let this town take every part of you, strip you down to nothing and still expect something back"
"Thanks for the pep talk"
Alex bit back anything else, she walked by Scott and lifted stiles up, leaning him against the wall where she sat next to him.
Scott sat the other side of stiles, they all felt so defeated "He knew what it meant and I can't remember the words"
"Damnatio Memoriae." Stiles said, "It means the condemnation of memory. I think it also means that whatever the Dread Doctors created, whatever this last Chimera really is, it's not something new. It's something old. Really old."
"So they didn't create a new creature?" Scott asked
stiles swallowed "They resurrected one"
"Great" Alex sighed, letting her head fall gently against a pipe.
"We need help, If Theo's got his own pack now then we need ours. We have to get the others back."
"The others?" Alex looked past stiles,
"You mean Kira who's currently battling a homicidal fox spirit inside of her, Malia who isn't even speaking to either one of us, Lydia who's stuck in Eichen House, and Liam who almost killed you?" Stiles listed,
"Also known as our best friends." Scott nodded
"How do we find our best friends when the pack hasn't been together properly since...." Alex drifted, she really couldn't remember.
"One by one." Scott traced a circle in the dust with his finger.
" You're not seriously going to make me do it?" Stiles asked, he hated the tattoo and somehow it had become their pack symbol.
"You're part of the pack, right?" He asked
"Okay" stiles sighed a traced a circle in the sand.
Scott looked past stiles, he looked at Alex with hopeful eyes.
Alex stood up, dusting off her knees "I understand the confusion the laid between you and stiles. But you walked into the basement that day and you looked at me like I was a killer and you haven't even spoken to me about it since; not without accusing me and you haven't even asked since
"I told you before I'd help you and I will, I'm just not ready to forgive you" Alex admitted.
...
"I'm sorry" Alex apologised, walking into her boyfriends room.
"You don't have to apologise, your feelings are valid"
"I don't wanna put you in the middle" Alex huffed, landing beside him.
"You aren't. I promise, I know how difficult this has been" stiles reassured,
"can I ask you something?" Stiles followed.
Alex sat up, crossing her legs to get more comfortable "Yeah sure"
"Today when you were talking to theo what brought it On?" He asked
"I don't know" She exhaled, "I just.. I look at him and we are the same thing, we were both made who we are but not by a bite and I wonder how he can be like that and if I am gonna end up like that."
"And seeing Tracy, she looked so angry she didn't seem like the girl Lydia described and it just brought back that night and how scared she looked before dying and how I remember being that scared and not knowing what I was but I had someone to talk to and I...." Alex voice broke, tears prickling her eyes
"I'm sorry" She shook away the tears "I don't wanna be like Theo and I wish I could have been to Tracy what Allison was to me."
Stiles held her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze "You will never be like Theo, He killed his sister to be what he is. He manipulated people and pried his way into our lives and managed to turn this pack against eachother. You will never be like him"
"As for Tracy. That wasn't her and there was nothing you could have done because you didn't know her claws wouldn't work on you" he explained
"yeah, yeah you are right" she nodded, it felt good to get that much off her chest but she so badly wanted to talk about more,
"Come on. I can see there's something else" stiles poker.
"Do you ever get sick of picking up my pieces?" She asked,
Stiles looked confused "what do you mean"
Alex stood up from the bed, she let out a grown "I'm just so sick of being back here. I was finally doing well, and I think 'oh my god, Theo is back. My old best friend is back' and I trust him, god I trust him and then he gets your dad nearly killed and he tells me and he can bring Allison back and all of a sudden I'm right back where I was 8 months ago, im back to dreaming and wishing and trying to convince myself there is no possible way Allison could ever be brought back because she is literal dust in a pot and whilst all this is happening, your dad is fighting for his life.. so I bottle it and I make sure you are okay like a good girlfriend should and I keep doing it because for once you actually need me and I can't even do it for longer then a day. So In conclusion, I trusted an asshole and I'm a crappy girlfriend" Her rant ended, she blew a breath through her lips.
Stiles was pretty dumbfounded by what she had to say, everything was so squished into one large sentence.
"Alex, you are anything but a crappy girlfriend. Do you even realize all you have done for me, you tried to heal an actual demon out of me, you were gonna take a bullet for me, you have risked your life multiple times and when Scott... when Scott turned his back the other night, you stayed; even after I accused you of kissing someone else, you stayed."
"I'm sorry" she huffed, sitting back down "I'm suppose to help you and somehow you are still left calming me down"
"Alex we have both been through a lot lately. You were betrayed by someone you trusted deeply, who used your vulnerabilities against you, my dads in hospital but he's better and we both have been wronged by Scott"
He hated that she felt like a bad person for having emotions, stiles was better when she was better.
"I love you so so much" she expressed
"I guess I love you too" He shrugged
Alex hit his arm, smiling at him "thanks for making me feel better"
"Thanks for telling me, I worry when you don't"
"I promise I'll try to always tell you if something is bothering me"
"Good" He nodded
"Okay" Alex sighed "I need to shower" she announced, standing up
"Oh I should probably help" stiles offered
Alex quirked a brow "oh yeah?"
He nodded "yeah, the soap can be slippery."
Alex giggled "yeah, it's a tricky job"
He stood up and took her hand, leading her to the bathroom "I'll help"
Alex rolled her eyes, "you dork"
Footsteps were heard approaching them, Alex laughed at stiles aggravated expression. "We can shower later"
Alex walked out of the bathroom, surprised to see Scott "what are you doing here?"
"Who is-... hey Scott" stiles said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh, should I come back?"
"Ye-..
"No" Alex cut in, "what is it?"
"I actually wanted to talk to you"
"Okay" Alex nodded,
"I'll just wait in here" stiles nodded,
Alex patted his chest "you do that sweetie"
Alex slipped out of the bathroom, she walked back into stiles room "what is it?"
"It's about what you said today" Scott started, "you were right, I haven't even spoken to properly since that night. So I was hoping to do it now"
"Can I just say something real quick?" Alex asked, receiving only a nod from Scott.
"When I went into the basement that night I went in with the thought that if Tracy caught me with a claw than she would have killed me, I didn't know that it didn't effect me, and I tried everything Scott and it almost worked, until it didn't and she was on top on me with venom dripping claws. And it wasn't just my life it was Ms Martins too. I have felt it every day, I woke up vomiting for days after; I killed and innocent girl and I used the only thing I had left of Allison to do it. That's a guilt that never leaves and it only get worse when you find out that the venom didn't effect you. I know you don't understand, but it's not up to you to try and make sense of it, it's up to you to trust that I made the only decision I thought I had"
Alex gave a nod, allowing him to speak.
"I should have trusted you and I'm sorry, I should have known you wouldn't have done it without it being your last resort. I have no excuses for the way I treated you, and I don't want it to be like this forever because you're my best friend and I care for you so much"
"I know" Alex nodded, "I love you Scott, you're like my brother. I'm just hurt but I appreciate your apology, it's a start"
"A start is all I need"