From Ashes ✗ Stiles Stilinski - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

I feel like I need to get a few things straight.
Number one: Scott and Stiles were not my friends.
Number two: I didn't want any friends.
Number three: Something inside me was compelled to keep Scott's secret from the Argents for a little longer.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Mrmph," Maddie grumbled and rolled over, squeezing her pillow tighter and scowling. A minute or five or ten passed. Probably not that long, but she was hardly awake enough to know the difference.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. "Maddie!"
Her eye cracked open, working hard to focus. As the door came into view, she heard the distinct sound of voices outside – annoyed voices at that. Her mouth stretched open in a yawn as she slowly sat up and cracked her neck. Again there was a loud knock at the door. She huffed and shouted back, "Hold on!"
As her feet met with the old carpet, she adjusted her gray pajama pants and navy tank top discreetly. She imagined this did nothing to fix the state of her bed hair or dark circles but didn't seem to care as she opened the door. On the other side, she found a very impatient Stiles and curious-looking Scott. She gave them both a flat stare. "What?"
"We agreed to meet up today, remember?" Stiles asked, rolling his eyes.
Without missing a beat, Scott added, "You live in a motel room?"
"One: I didn't think you were serious," she said, moving her eyes from Stiles to Scott. "Two: Yes. Now go away."
She was about to close the door when Scott stopped her with his foot. "We need your help."
Maddie put in some serious thought about attempting to crush his foot to close the door but, after a few more seconds, her better judgment seemed to stop her. She wasn't here to help them – if anything, she still had to report in that she found the two betas. She didn't have time for this. "...With what?"
The boys exchanged worried glance before Scott let out a sigh. "The Argents think someone else is a beta who isn't a beta. They might be in trouble."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Who?"
"Just...get ready. We'll fill you in on the way," Stiles replied, looking a bit exasperated.
Scott moved his foot away just in time for Maddie to slam the door shut. She sluggishly walked over to one of the drawers by the bed and was about to pull out some fresh clothes when her phone buzzed and flickered to life. She unplugged it from the charger and noted the name at the top of the screen. After reading the short message, her eyes widened and she threw the phone on the bed. She had to get ready quickly, she decided. It was more important to go with the two boys than ever.
On the bed, before the backlight flicked off again, the message read:
Chris Argent: PRIORITY – Might have lead on beta. Follow Jackson Whittemore. [Sat 10:03 AM]
"So...you're like a mercenary?" Scott said slowly from the front passenger side seat of the blue jeep.
Maddie sat in the back, willing herself to wake up more. It hadn't taken her too terribly long to get ready and out the door, to be honest. She spent most of the ride listening to the boys and picking at a hole in her favorite blue jeans, trying hard to believe that she was here on the Argent family's orders, not to help the two in front of her. At Scott's assumption, she tried not to sound too offended. "We're not mercenaries."
"But you were hired by the Argents to kill the Alpha," Stiles cut in, turning another corner.
"Hired would imply the Argents are paying us and I wouldn't be living in a motel room," Maddie argued, absentmindedly examining her pulled back hair in the window's reflection before turning her attention back to Stiles. "Hunters and slayers go back a long way. Centuries."
That wasn't completely true. Watchers and hunters went a long way back. Same thing.
Scott thought for a moment before opening his mouth again. "What is a Slayer, anyway?"
Stiles glanced at her in the rear-view mirror. "Yeah, I tried looking it up last night and all I got was Van Helsing and some nineties anime."
"You tried googling vampire slayers?" Scott asked.
Stiles got all huffy and gestured to Maddie. "Hello? Can we focus on the actual potential crazy person in the car?"
Maddie watched the scenery pass. "Whatever. It won't sound any better from me."
"Or you could maybe give us a chance to judge that," Stiles said.
She took a moment to debate when to start, and how much to say, taking a deep breath. "In the very beginning of...everything, demons ruled the earth, and eventually human beings evolved enough to notice they were getting massacred. On top of that, their dead loved ones came back as parasitic incarnations of those demons - thus, vampires. So these village leaders decided they needed a protector. They took a girl from her family and infused her with the essence a demon."
"Demons?" Scott turned around and gave her a shocked stare. "Demons?"
"Once she died, the power passed on, and every generation had a slayer. Girls with enhanced strength, speed, agility, and senses and, well...they fought evil, protected people - but there was always only one. It went that way for centuries, maybe more, but a few years back, things got really bad. Something tried to kill off the entire slayer line before we were chosen. So the slayer at the time had her witch friend-"
"You've got to be kidding," Stiles muttered. "Witches? As in magic and wands and brooms?"
"What? No. Hogwarts isn't a thing. Witches don't fly on brooms or need wands - and that's not even the point of what I'm saying," she said, annoyance rising in her tone. "A witch cast a spell to awaken all the slayers around the world. Once our lives are mortally threatened, we gain our powers, and they find us."
Scott hesitated before replying. "...how long ago was that for you?"
"It was right after the spell, eight years ago. Mostly a coincidence." Maddie kept her gaze out the window, too far past the horror of her own calling to care if they were doing the math. She stopped thinking about that day long ago, happy to leave the blacked out pieces of it empty forever; she wouldn't wish that day on her worst enemy. A coincidence. "After that, we go to a facility to train."
Scott glanced back for a second. "But what about your family?"
Maddie didn't look away from the window, content with the blurry reality over the blurrier past. "Let's just find Jackson."
"I think we just did," Stiles responded after a beat. "And we've got company."
Maddie raised her stare to the windshield, and her eyes widened. In the distance were two figures, a Porsche, and a familiar SUV. "...Allison's dad?"
"Okay, okay...we just gotta act casual." Scott glanced once more back at Maddie. "You know...normal."
"What? I'm normal," she snapped, this time definitely offended. "Besides, he knows I'm tailing Jackson – he told me to. If anything, you two should follow my lead for once."
The werewolf's brow furrowed, and he frowned slightly. "How did you want us to do that?"
"By acting like you don't know what the hell I am. Play dumb," she continued just before the jeep stopped beside Jackson and Chris, a few feet away. Maddie took a breath and poked her head through the front seats to look out the window with a wide smile. "Hey!"
"Yo," Scott said, barely hiding his nervousness.
"Sup!" Needless to say, Stiles laid it on a bit thick, but it was an improvement.
Scott's eyes were on Jackson when he added, "Everything okay?"
The smile on Chris Argent's face certainly contrasted more than a bit with the fear etched on Jackson's face. Without missing a beat, Chris spoke.
"Hey, Scott. Maddie." He glanced at Jackson and back to them. "Your friend here was having car trouble. We're just taking a look."
Maddie feigned a mildly—and almost mockingly—awestruck expression. "Hope it's not too bad."
"There's a shop right down the street; I'm sure they have a tow truck," Scott added with a bit of concern.
"Yeah, you want a ride?" Stiles asked, nodding to Jackson. Scott opened his door silently as his friend went on. "Hey, c'mon Jackson—you're way too pretty to be out here all by yourself."
There was a tense silence for a moment before Jackson nodded and made his way over. Meanwhile, Maddie watched the older man examine the engine—if that really was what he was doing. Scott unfortunately blocked her view as he got out to let Jackson in.
Just as Jackson was about to though, Chris shouted over, "Hey, kids."
They all stopped and looked over to see the eldest Argent reach through the driver's window and start the car with no problem at all. Chris smiled slowly and just as suspiciously. "Told you I knew a few things about cars."
He then walked away without another word. Maddie pulled out her phone and quietly sent a text.
I'll keep an eye on him. [Sat 11:48 AM]
Stiles exited the car, and Maddie followed in suit, hurrying to the other side.
Jackson turned his attention back to Scott, now indignant. "What, are you following me now?"
"Yes, you stupid freaking idiot. You almost gave away everything right there!" Scott shouted.
"What are you talking about?"
"He thinks you're the second beta!"
"What?"
"He thinks you're me!" In that instant, Scott slammed his fist down on the hood of the jeep in sheer anger.
Stiles motioned to the car, visibly worried. "Dude, my jeep..."
"So, he's not another beta?" Maddie pointed to Jackson. Scott sent her a deadpan stare, and she nodded, giving a thumbs up. "Good."
"I can hear your heart beating from a mile away - literally!" Scott started up again with attention back on Jackson. "Now he thinks that there's something wrong, and now I have to keep an eye on you so he doesn't kill you too!"
Scott was about to hit the car again when Stiles grabbed his arm to stop him. "Okay, how about we step away from Stiles' jeep?"
Jackson got in Scott's face, his own anger boiling up in his glare. "This is your problem, not mine, okay? I didn't say anything, which means you're the one that's gonna get me killed. Okay, this is your fault!"
He pushed Scott into the jeep roughly, and Maddie's hand twitched at her side.
"Can we stop hitting my jeep?" Stiles said, exasperated. Both Jackson and Scott motioned to fight when Stiles beat Maddie to the punch and stepped in between them. "Yo, alright, yo, guys, stop. Alright?"
"When they come after you, I won't be able to protect you!" Scott withdrew a bit, his expression holding a hint of guilt as he looked from Jackson to Stiles. "I can't protect anyone."
Maddie wanted out of this conversation suddenly. She was sick to death of the reminders, the constant berating of them. An alley in the rain should've meant nothing, but all she could think about were red storm drains and not being fast enough. Never fast enough. She glanced over at Scott and saw the vaguest reflection of shame, far more than anything remotely monstrous. Not that she thought Scott was evil before, but searching for darkness and violence was easy, whereas the look on his face and the pain in his voice were things she wished so badly not to see.
"How long ago was that for you?"
"What about your family?"
None of it stopped him from being a monster, but it made them a bit of the same. More than that, Scott was at least honest about it, and he showed more compassion towards her in one conversation than the family giving her orders had since she arrived, sans Allison.
Hell, he saved her life.
Stiles also noted Scott's look, something dawning on him. "...Wait, why are you looking at me?"
Scott withdrew his worried gaze and looked back at Jackson, who was already ready with his rebuttal. "You know, now you have to do it. Get me what I want, and I will be fine protecting myself."
"No, it won't!" Scott snapped at the other boy, his eyes pleading with Jackson. "Just trust me—all it does is make things worse!"
"Oh yeah, really?" Jackson said, the envy growing in his voice. "You can hear anything you want and run faster than humanly possible. Sounds like a real hardship, McCall."
"Yeah, I can run really fast now - except half the time, I'm running away from people trying to kill me!" Scott shouted again, his tone pained as he went on. "And I can hear things like - like my girlfriend telling people that she doesn't trust me anymore right before breaking up with me. I'm not lying to you! It ruins your life."
It was like a punch to the gut—like someone put into words something that Madeline buried a long time ago. She wanted to go; she wanted to run away. Her thoughts were turning on her, yelling at her for planning on telling the Argents—people who looked at her like a wild animal—about Scott. It was too confusing, and she needed to think clearly, to gain control over the situation again.
"It ruined your life," Jackson shot back with a glare. Bitter pride spread in his tone—the same thing she heard from the girls who spiraled out of control. The sickness of it. She wondered how much of it came from the ease of wealth, and how much of it sank into a deeper and darker abyss. "You had all the power in the world, and you didn't know what to do with it. You know what it's actually like? It's like you turned 16 and someone bought you a Porsche when they should have started you out with a nice little Honda. Me? I drive a Porsche."
Check. He's just a rich asshole.
He walked away, and Maddie moved forward to go after him when a hand grabbed her arm. She whipped around to see Scott's somber eyes, which made her own soften a bit. "Let him go."
And—strangely enough—she did.
"This isn't supposed to happen!" she shouted into the phone – more accurately, Xander on the other side of the phone. The day had ended and the sun had set, which typically meant patrolling. "I mean, I'm here to capture them and question them, not help them!"
"Well, let's look at this objectively," her Watcher began, sounding almost amused. "You questioned this Scott kid, right?"
"Yes!" she bit back.
Xander held back a laugh. "Okay, and did you get the info you needed."
She frowned as she continued down the dark street, hoping she was headed the right way. "...Yeah. But I didn't even give it to the Argents! I mean-"
"Did the mission statement say 'give the info to the Argents'?"
As she turned the corner, she hesitated before answering. "...No."
"And are you still after the crazy Alpha and the other beta?"
She sighed loudly. "Yes."
"Then no harm, no foul." She couldn't help but be rather annoyed with the fact that he was trying to comfort her – or that it was working. "Take it from someone who's been friends with a werewolf – if helping him feels like the right thing to do, then we're all behind you."
"I just...I don't know yet," she mumbled, eyeing the house number coming up on her left. "What if it blows up in my face?"
Xander laughed quietly. "That's what we like to call 'on the job learning'. We'll talk about it if we get there."
"Learning? If I screw up, people could die!"
There was a long pause as Maddie made her way up the porch steps. "All I can tell you, Mads, is to trust your instincts. Do these kids seem evil?"
"Well, maybe Jackson..." she muttered before cutting herself off. She took a deep breath. "No. No, they don't."
Xander's tone became warm. "Then do what you were born to do: protect them from whatever's coming. It sounds like they could use a slayer on their side."
She found herself staring at the front door of a home that certainly was not as nice as the Argents'.
"I gotta go, but...thanks." Her hand rose to the doorbell. "I think I made my decision."
"What can I say? I'm a pro at this." She could almost hear the grin forming on his face and she shook her head.
"Hey, Xander?"
"Yeah?"
A ghost of a smile tugged at her mouth. "You were friends with a werewolf?"
He chuckled. "That's story for another time."
"...I'll let you know how it goes," she said with a sigh.
"Talk to you later, kid."
"Bye," she said quiet and hung up and in the same moment rang the doorbell. She could hear the footsteps on the other side after a few seconds and the door swung open.
Stiles nodded to her and stepped out of the way, an unreadable expression on his face. He sighed and closed the door. "Hi."
"Did I come at a bad time?" she asked, her tone conveying just how uncomfortable she was.
"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "We just gotta be quiet; my dad just went to bed."
Maddie nodded as Stiles began walking over toward the dining room. Laid out and scattered all over the table were folders and papers. Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Uh...so, did you find anything out?"
"Yeah." He scratched the back of his head and looked down at the papers. "The murders are connected. All the people Peter Hale's killed were connected to the Hale fire."
"There was a fire?" She gave him a confused look. He grabbed a piece of paper from the table and handed it to her. Her eyes scanned over it as it listed the crime and the dead. Her insides coiled and a bitter laugh escaped her. "They never even told me."
"Who?" Stiles replied, confused.
Maddie shot him a look. "Who do you think? The Argents."
She looked down at the table again as she set down the file, then picking up a strange series of pictures. All that was identifiable were the man's clothes and hair, while his eyes seemed to have the same effect as headlights, covering up the rest of his face. The parts she did see were familiar. The sign he held did have a clear name.
Hale, D.
"Hale...Derek Hale." She looked up at Stiles. "The guy Scott blamed for the murders? He's...he's the beta who attacked me?"
Stiles' mouth hung open and he looked like he was about to say something but decided against it.
"Which means he's the same guy who showed up with you at the hospital and..." Her eyes widened as the piece continued to connect. "...he's the one working with Peter. They're family?!"
"Hey, quiet, remember?" He glared at her. "It's complicated."
She glowered at the boy. "Then clear it up, Stiles."
In that moment, a phone buzzed on the table. Stiles' eyes shot over to it and quickly grabbed it and answered it. "Scott?"
There was a pause as Scott spoke on the other line. Maddie found herself preoccupied with the graphic photos and files, listing the deceased. They're whole family...murdered. She couldn't even imagine it. In her experience, she learned that family wasn't exactly something she thought a lot about anymore. It was sad, sure, but she had learned to let that go but this... Were they a family of wolves? Was that it was that why they were killed? She didn't know, but she had quite a bit to talk to Chris Argent about.
"Okay, yeah, we're on our way," Stiles said before hanging up. He sounded hurried and it was enough to return Maddie's attention to him. "We gotta go."
He rushed down the hall quickly as the slayer watched. "What?! What's going on?"
"Peter's with Scott's mom!" He came stumbling back with his shoes on and a bag in his hands. Not just any bag though; it was her messenger bag. He handed it to her before rushed toward his keys. "You're gonna need that."
Her eyes were set ablaze with anger and disbelief. "You had this? How long?!"
"We can talk about that on the way, okay?" he added, head towards the door.
"You are so incredibly dead," she growled, following him.
He continued out the door with Maddie close behind. "Yeah, well, you can kill me after we stop the Alpha."