From Ashes ✗ Stiles Stilinski - Chapter 41: Chapter 41

The clock on the wall ticked, splitting the silence and shooting through Maddie's jagged nerves.
It was only a few short months - or, at least, that was the way that it felt.
It was only a few months since Xander, the man with the jet black hair and matching eye patch that stood a few feet away, had told her about her mission. Her first solo mission. Hers and only hers. He looked so proud when he handed her the photo of the Argents that day and him being proud of her, even through her numb and despondent state at the time, made a small piece of her swell with pride as well.
They never trusted Marie enough to send her out in the field by herself (which was, in retrospect, probably a good call). They trusted Terra and Em, the leaders of her team, first. Terra could think on her feet and Em excelled at strategy; it only made sense. They trusted Charlie, another member of the A squad who was only a year older than Maddie. Another obvious choice, considering the girl's empathy and crazy-amazing skill with a dual-sided boomerang glaive. Nora, the youngest, had a long way to go but she was good and braver than anyone gave her credit for  - but things happen.
Every group loses people, missing or dead or otherwise.
Then, there was angry, little Madeline Hayes - who only got angrier after Nora went missing and Marie died. Little Madeline Hayes, who didn't cry anymore and trained until her hands would bruise and bleed, because that was easier. Simpler.
"God, stop crying!"
Little Madeline Hayes, who Marie maybe always hated.
"Christ, you're not that dumb, are you?"
Who had to work harder and train harder and be harder.
"We'll fight the monsters together."
Little Maddie, whose brother probably forgot about her by now.
Guard the girl.
Who would give someone like that a something so important? That's what she kept asking herself day after day. It's what she kept bugging her Watcher about. Why her? Why now?
Just a few short months. She had nearly forgotten all of it. She'd nearly forgotten about waking up on a thin mattress every morning in a large room full of girls. She'd almost forgotten about being the smallest of her team, the overlooked. She'd forgotten about sticking to Jack's side, then Buffy's side, then Marie's side. She'd almost even forgot about all of the times she was almost killed and needed to be saved by the rest of her team.
And now? There wasn't a day that went by now where someone wasn't asking her what they should do. People ran plans by her, like they needed her approval or something dumb like that. She faced an Alpha werewolf her first night in Beacon Hills. She saved Erica from Jackson that night at the school. She wasn't a slayer, she was the Slayer. The Chosen One.
"You're freaking Wonder Woman."
Just a few short months and the blonde and the redhead that ended up at the front steps of Beacon Hills High School looked like strangers, out of place in her new reality. Images from a nightmare of which she was only just waking. They couldn't be there. Buffy, Willow, and Xander couldn't exist here.
Why not?
She frowned at them as they spoke quietly amongst themselves. She didn't know why not. Even as she found herself backing towards Scott and Stiles. Even as she wished she could just be hanging out with Lydia or even training with Allison. She couldn't put her finger on the reason.
They stood in the school gymnasium long after school had been let out as the remaining rays of sunshine bled through some windows close to the ceiling. Both entrances to the large, empty room were locked now - possibly with magic, Maddie assumed. She wouldn't put it past them and it wasn't as if they really had anywhere else to talk with no interruption. The office connected to the gym was empty as well; Coach seemed to have a knack most times of inexplicably avoiding supernatural things. There really was no rhyme or reason to it, he just happened to be scarce - just like right now. Maddie was beginning to wish she had that luck.
Both Scott and Stiles waited there with her, quietly shuffling and giving each other concerned looks. Maddie wished Stiles wasn't trailing her when she found Buffy and Willow but even more she wished that Scott didn't show up seconds later, as if he sensed her fear from wherever he was. Well, not really 'as if'. If nothing else, he was certainly becoming adept to the whole 'werewolf' thing. On the other hand, Stiles - who had no heightened senses - could probably tell from her face that she was terrified.
Then came the part she wasn't expecting - Scott and Stiles refused to leave. Even after Buffy explained it was official business and Xander tried to reason with them, they stayed. They followed the group to where they stood now, hovering near Maddie and adding to her aura of worry and defensiveness. They were the constant, though. Scott stood by his friends regardless of the circumstance, even if it was the worst idea he had. He was just that guy, no matter what, even though Maddie still didn't know why he saw her as a friend. And Stiles...well, that was a given. No need for explanation.
That's just how it always was, every time, like there was a Scott and Stiles-specific magnet implanted in her while she was sleeping. Oh, the slayer's in danger? Here's a werewolf and...some weird and not-at-all-supernaturally-inclined Sheriff's son. Only it wasn't weird at all, or at least it didn't seem weird. They didn't seem weird. In fact, it happened so often that it felt normal - or as normal as just about anything else in her life.
Some slayers had a giant bag of weapons, Maddie had two teenage boys.
Well, it wasn't nearly as obscene as it sounded. (Besides, she still had the giant bag of weapons.)
Buffy, Willow, and Xander were eyeing her expectantly, as if she missed something. She frowned and looked back at Scott and Stiles, who seemed confused and maybe a little shocked. She hadn't been paying attention. Damn it. Maddie whipped her head back to stare at Buffy. "Wait, what?"
She was almost proud of herself in a way, mostly for the look of Buffy's face. Shock, slight annoyance. In a way, it felt a bit like revenge - a very small, insignificant, and totally nowhere-near-equal kind of way. She couldn't count on one hand (or two or five) the amount of times Buffy ignored her and repeating herself was the least Maddie could make her do, like repaying someone who lent you a thousand dollars one penny at a time.
Buffy's words were careful and firm. "There's another slayer. Here, in Beacon Hills."
Maddie's brows furrowed curiously. Another slayer? Was that it? "What do mean? Did they just get to town? What-"
"Not exactly," Xander said. His tone made it feel like a joke, a bad one at that, like Maddie missed the punchline entirely.
There was an extended silence that fell over the three adults who then looked at each other with shaken stares, none of them able to bring themselves to speak. Maybe they were hoping they were wrong and didn't have say anything more. She remembered that look, the solemn stares exchanged in a subtle, wordless conversation only close friends could manage. It was a scar in Maddie's memory and haunted her dreams. She'd seen it  flit across their faces at the worst moments in her life and she suddenly didn't want to know whatever they were going to say, but knew they wouldn't leave until she heard it all.
She choked out a low, "What?" and her stare directed at Buffy turned to a solid block of ice.
The tone in her voice even took the boys at her side by surprise as they both shot her a concerned glance. They never heard her that angry, that truly and completely enraged and it probably didn't make any sense. Buffy barely said anything yet, and certainly nothing that warranted such a cold response.
Buffy, on the other hand, seemed to expect it and even took it in stride. They couldn't even hear a difference in her voice. "A new slayer was called. A teenager we didn't know about."
Maddie's glare didn't drop but grew wider in horror. "That can't happen."
"But, wait, isn't that the point?" Stiles' voice cut through and seemed to ground her a little bit  - or, at the very least, brought her back to the present, here in Beacon Hills. Part of her expected Em's voice, or Terra's. Possibly Marie's. Buffy's presence did that, though, pulled her back to the past. To San Francisco and crowded sleeping quarters and sheets of rain coming down in alleyways. Stiles had the opposite effect. He kept her in the present, because it was infinitely better and made more sense than the most solid and happy memory of her past. Suddenly, in that moment, a realization dawned on Maddie: Stiles wasn't talking to her, he was talking to Buffy. "Slayers being called and all? That's what's supposed to happen, right?"
Maddie could tell by Buffy's face that she wasn't keen on explaining the process; she could probably recite it in her sleep and, frankly, Maddie didn't want to hear it. She turned slightly to where Stiles stood but didn't make eye contact. "Remember the part with the witch that did the spell and all of the Slayers being called at once?"
Maddie stiffly nodded to the pale redhead who looked exhausted but perpetually kind. Her hair was pulled back in a short ponytail and she took one of her hands out of her long, sandy-beige suede coat and waved with a half-hearted smile. "The process is pretty airtight. Slayers are chosen at birth and manifest their power in extreme, life-threatening situations but even before that, their energy is traceable and we keep tabs on them until they're called. It's not as stalker-y as it sounds."
Even out of the tiniest corner of Maddie's eye, she could see Stiles open his mouth to respond and suddenly look like he was paused in mid-response before closing his mouth again and waving back. "I, ah, guess that makes sense. I mean, it makes sense that it doesn't make sense." He cleared his throat. "If that, y'know...makes any sense."
She almost told him to shut up, like she always did when he rambled, but that might've been the only thing keeping her from going into full on panic mode. Not that panic was totally out of the question when the only word she could choke out was, "How?"
"We don't know yet," Xander said, his voice calm and yet defeated. "That's problem number one."
"Whoever's responsible tore a pretty big hole in reality to make it happen," Willow said. "Buffy and I could feel it. Every slayer we've talked to could. This person, whoever they are, wasn't meant to be Chosen and someone put a lot of dark magic into making a new slayer."
Panic was still rising in Maddie's stomach, as was her confusion and the anger attached to it. Of course she'd felt it - the shift in reality. She had since the morning after Lydia showed up in her room wanting answers, the same morning Allison began avoiding her like the plague. She touched her jaw, which wasn't nearly as sore as it was yesterday but it was still sensitive. Before she could reach any further in her thought process, Scott spoke up. "Wait. I mean, yeah, the 'how' is important but...shouldn't the main priority be 'who'? Whoever was given those powers might be terrified right now."
Stiles shrugged. "Or they could be some power hungry nut job ready to strike at any moment."
"Two very valid points," Xander said, looking almost amused over at Stiles. This was getting too weird for Maddie.
She shook her head, focusing back on her jaw. When was the last time she even talked to Allison? Like, actually talked? She couldn't remember. "No, I think Scott's right. I think they might be afraid."
Maddie looked over at Stiles first, who seemed puzzled but like he was trying connect something in his brain. Then, she turned to Scott, whose dark eyes were slowly growing larger and larger as they met hers. Buffy took a step towards Maddie, a light and cautious move, and Maddie remained stiff as she stood there, although the urge to take a step back shot through her.
"Do you know something?" Buffy asked, but it sounded less concerned and more like a command to speak.
"No. I don't know," Maddie said, hostility crawling into her tone. She gestured to the boys behind her. "We're not sure yet, but...there might be someone."
Maddie felt a nudge on her arm and side glanced over at Stiles who seemed utterly confused. "Wait. We?"
She looked back at Scott again, who looked like he'd just been doused in ice water. She could almost hear him saying - no, shouting - the girl's name. She'd never heard anyone ever say a name so often that wasn't their own until she met Scott McCall. They both shot glances back to Buffy when Maddie forced the unthinkable from her throat. "We need to find Allison Argent."
☽ † ☾
Sadie's day was going swimmingly, as far as she was concerned. She'd failed the Econ pop quiz, which Coach magnificently pointed out to the whole class, and she had absolutely no way to smite him. It wasn't necessarily that she would - she wasn't quite that petty - but she had already been in a bad mood from the events of that morning and could use a good smiting. Or maiming. Or massacre. Her Economics class would've made a great group of candidates for any of those, possibly all of them. She was still a demon and she was still strong enough to beat a few of them to death, but with no necklace to transport her away from the scene of the crime or hide the slaughter, no doubt someone would notice something. Can't find any ancient mystical energy sources on the run from the law.
Even still, she was volatile and something in her gut rumbled in that familiar way that would always urge her to make her own fun. So, instead, she sat on the curb of the parking lot, her knees wobbling lazily left and right in front of her while her and hands balled into fists in the pockets of her thin army green jacket.
She probably would've sat there even longer with nothing but her miserable thoughts to keep her company if not for the pretty brunette that was crossing the parking lot. Sure, plenty of pretty brunette girls had made their way across the parking lot after school and a few of them even caught Sadie's eye but it was high school, for god's sake.
This girl walking towards her, though, was especially important. This girl? Well, she just happened to upset the whole damn universe.
Sadie found herself hopping up and striding over to walk beside Allison before she could even think of a plan, not that she had time to in just those few seconds. Of course, she always had a plan. Sort of a plan. Sometimes it was only the vague inkling of a plan but, if she was lucky, all she really had to do was smile and wing it.
So she did, with an ease that would most likely frighten or impress anyone who knew her intentions. "Why so glum, chum?"
This seemed to startle Allison much more that Sadie had anticipated as the girl jumped and stopped in her tracks. She closed her eyes and sighed, grasping her forehead. "Sorry, um...Sorry..."
Allison looked exhausted, like she could pass out at any moment. To be honest, that could've just as easily been attached to her whole weird hunter family or the slayer thing. Both were completely valid reasons for insomnia and, for all Sadie knew, it could have been a mixture of both. Still, Sadie gave a mildly concerned expression to the girl, if for nothing else but the illusion of sincerity. "No worries! I mean, at least, from me. You, on the other hand..."
"I know, I know..." Allison said with a self-conscious chuckle. "It's, um...it's been a long week, you know?"
"Right there with ya." Part of Sadie regretted the words as she felt exactly how charged with honesty they were. The regret hardly lasted though, as she convinced herself that every lie needed some truth - at least any successful lie. Still, she found herself rushing to explain before Allison could ask. "I think someone stole my favorite necklace. I mean, I know it doesn't sound particularly panic inducing or anything but still, it's like the one old thing I haven't ruined. I feel kinda lost without it."
Of course, that was also very honest.
"No, I totally get it. No need to explain." Allison smiled weakly. Sadie wasn't entirely sure if that was genuine or just a way to cut the conversation short, which was new. From their two or three interactions in the past week, Allison's intentions always seemed genuine even when she tried to lie - poorly.
Sadie had prepped her response in her head when it was cut short, but not by the girl at her right side.
"Allison." The voice was firm and loud enough to feel like the two had walked right into a brick wall, so much so that they both stopped in their tracks.
Sadie looked off to her left in the direction of the school lawn, where the voice had come from. When her eyes were met with Madeline Hayes, she desperately hoped that the color hadn't drained from her face. It wasn't like they had any way of knowing it was her that did this Allison, that it was Sadie that granted the granddaddy of all wishes. Then again, it wasn't the sudden appearance of Madeline that shook Sadie down to her bones. It was, however, the people who stood beside them.
She knew their faces. Her whole order knew those faces, but it was Sadie who was particularly haunted by them after what they did to Anyanka and Halfrek. Some would argue that what happened to the two most vicious vengeance demons in centuries was completely Anyanka's fault. Even Sadie thought so to an extent. Anyanka was weak, but the people who stood before her fed that weakness.
She couldn't decide which toxic emotion she felt more entitled to - her malice or her fear of them. Regardless, she found herself latching on tightly to her mask of confusion.
Allison seemed to go with the latter. "Maddie? What's happening? What-"
"We have to talk," Maddie said. Her eyes weren't as hard as they usually were; they were sad. Unbelievably horror-stricken and unfathomably sad.
It was happening. They knew. There was no other explanation for the Summers girl and her lackeys to show up here like this, which meant they were already trying to figure out how it happened. Or maybe not. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe this was something else entirely.
"Is this a private thing?" she found herself asking, cringing as her own voice spearheaded through the tension. Maddie's large, black eyes narrowed on her and Sadie forced herself to shrink back a little. Not that she was afraid of Maddie. It's a performance, she reasoned with herself. I gotta sell it. "This...feels like a private thing."
Allison must've caught Maddie's glare and seemed to move in front of Sadie slightly, as if placing a wall between them. This alone caught Sadie's interest and she fought back the smirk that threatened to spread across her lips. Luckily, it wasn't present when Allison turned back to Sadie slightly and said, "Sorry. We can talk later, okay?"
Sadie nodded faintly, focusing back on Maddie and her companions for a second and not saying another word as she spun on her heel and walked off, looking back a few times. Worriedly, of course.
The thought of Allison standing between her and Madeline swirled around her head and once she was far enough away from the school, she allowed a slow, wicked grin to stretch across her mouth before she let out a light and airy laugh. She almost felt like dancing.
Maybe this would be easier than she thought.
☽ † ☾
The drive to the Argents' house stretched on for what seemed like hours, even if it was ten minutes down the road. It didn't make it any better that Maddie was stuck in the car with the three people who knew the least about what was going on in Beacon Hills -  that and the only two people who did know couldn't even join them because of the stupid Argent stigma about Scott.
That was a while ago though. They followed Allison to her house in Xander's aging sedan that was now parked just beyond the driveway. Now, a small group of people stood in the basement with Allison and her father on one side, staring at Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Maddie. Chris' constantly guarded eyes shifted slowly between the other three adults and Maddie was suddenly thankful for the absence of Victoria and Gerard due to their school duties.
Chris watched Maddie and, while still almost like staring at a brick wall, she thought she saw a flicker of concern. He was right to be concerned and he had a right to know. Maybe that was why she didn't wait for Buffy to say it.
"Allison's a vampire slayer." It slipped out so easily that Maddie suddenly wished she hadn't been the one to say it. Buffy, Xander, and Willow were all gaping, or at least that's what looked like out of Maddie's peripheral vision. Their reactions weren't the ones she cared about, though. Hell, she didn't even care for Chris' reaction - which was incredulous, like Maddie had anticipated.
None of their reactions mattered except, of course, for Allison's and Maddie's eyes had not bothered to land on anyone else in the room. Allison's gaze was wide and terrified and on the floor like she was watching the ground under them crumble into nothing. Like she couldn't gasp for breath. She was blasting every terrible emotion at 1000 watts and the only one missing was surprise.
"We don't know that yet," Buffy said, her words rushing out and attempting to push Maddie's away. "She could be."
"What do you mean my daughter could be a vampire slayer?" Chris sounded absolutely furious as his tone became louder with every word. "How is that possible?"
Buffy took a step forward, her own tone turning serious. "It's not. Or at least it shouldn't be. We don't know what happened but..."
"And while we're at it, where's your proof?" Chris asked. In Maddie's experience, cutting off Buffy was never a smart and beneficial thing to do especially when the offender was practically a stranger but Chris seemed like the one person in the whole world Maddie could see getting away with it. Hunters and Slayers. What a precarious divide.  "How do you know it's Allison?"
Buffy's jaw was stiff and clenched. "...We actually don't-"
"They know because I know." Maddie didn't fear cutting Buffy off as much as she felt she should. Maybe she wanted the repercussions, whatever they were. The looming promise of the explosion she could cause was too tempting to ignore and anything was better than indifference. Either way, it didn't matter at the moment; what mattered was that it got Allison to look directly at her.
It was like they shared the same violent thought for a moment as their eyes locked. Not a thought actually. A memory of the destroyed locker room, even before Scott and Maddie arrived. Maddie being sent sprawling to the floor with one sharp elbow.
Maddie swallowed the memory. "And I know because Allison knows."
Allison's stare flashed disbelief and hardened before it darted to the ground. Chris turned to his daughter, studying her reaction but not responding. Anyone could still see that he wasn't processing the information well - or at all, like a connection got lost.
"Before this conversation loads up on too much fun," Willow cut through the tension, her voice forcibly light, "we need a for sure answer."
Buffy watched Allison carefully and Maddie wondered if she noticed the same reaction. Buffy seemed more sure when she spoke this time, if not disheartened. "We can run some tests just to be positive. Even if she's the one, we don't know to what extent, if she has all of the same powers or..."
"I can handle that part," Maddie cut in with a quick glance to Buffy, who looked, if nothing else, annoyed by the constant interruptions. She turned back to a hurt Allison who had waves of sheer terror pulsating off of her. Finally, her eyes landed on Chris, who she'd grown to respect if nothing else. She tried her best not to flinch at the betrayal on his face, but noted there was also concern there as he looked from his daughter to Maddie. "Allison and I sparred plenty of times. She was good before, but now...I might be the only one who can tell the difference."
Everything in Maddie was screaming at her that this was a horrible idea and that's not even including the fact that Buffy, Willow, and Xander said the same thing - several times and emphatically. Still, she had to know and maybe she wasn't doing this particularly for Allison. Maybe she was just doing this to punish herself, like she did with everything else and with every given chance.
She was almost sure that stacking slayer power onto Allison's skill set guaranteed a beating for Maddie. A return to the status quo, in a way.
Maybe she deserved it for not saying anything sooner, among other terrible decisions.
She finished wrapping her hands with the athletic tape and tore the rest of the roll off with her teeth. A space had been cleared in the basement, big enough for the two and the onlookers. Victoria and Gerard were still missing and she couldn't have been more grateful for that, but felt the need to get it over with quickly.
Her phone buzzed from across the room and she knew it was Stiles bugging her again and somehow she found this to be a welcome break from the confusing thoughts that circled her all day. If nothing else, training always cleared her head.
Allison stood a few feet away from Maddie in gray sweats with her hair up in a bun. Her fists were also wrapped in tape, only in much smoother lines like she actually knew what she was doing. Gods, Marie would've hated her and the sudden thought of her summoned her face out of the black of Maddie's thoughts.
"You never change, do you?"
It wasn't real. It wasn't Marie's voice because she wasn't really there. Sometimes, when her stress spiked and the rhythm of hitting a punching bag did nothing but drone in her ears, she was sure Marie was right there. Marie was Maddie's personal ghost, always just over her shoulder and soaked to the bone, her neck twisted and her breath smelling of death and rot each time she whispered a terrible memory.
Each time, it jarred Maddie completely and even now, her brain went to static.
Tension buzzed in the room as Maddie took a defensive stance, her fists balled tightly and her breathing unsteady. Allison mirrored her, like she always did in training - only there was something different in her gaze. Knowing. It was no surprise that Maddie would typically win their bouts and for obvious reasons, but if they were on even footing and Maddie was any less than her best...
She shook her head violently, hoping her nerves would simply fall away.
Then, it happened.
Chris shouted something, most likely 'begin' or some variation because Allison barreled toward Maddie with a punch that she narrowly dodged. She grabbed the arm Allison punched with and attempted to sweep her legs out from under her when she was met with a mule kick to the gut that made her double over. She didn't even realize she'd let go of Allison's arm until she stood up fully and noticed the girl wasn't in front of her anymore. Then she felt a sharp contact with her lower back that made her stumble forward and whip around, only to see Allison back in a fighting stance and grinning. Maddie growled under her breath and moved forward to strike again.
It went like this for a good five minutes. Maddie would dodge about half of Allison's moves but Allison would reverse and dodge almost all of Maddie's and somehow hit her or kick her. Bruises were forming on Maddie's stomach and back and arms. She was out of breath and tired. She was bludgeoned. Then she saw Allison again, who looked the exact opposite - doing flips in the air like it was nothing and usually, for Maddie, it was. She saw Allison and the girl looked energized. Confident. Alive.
Allison had just sent Maddie stumbling into the cage door of the gun cabinet head first and Maddie collapsed to her knees as the world spun.
"Allison," she heard Chris say in a warning tone.
Maddie unsteadily got back to her feet and tried to get back to her defensive stance, her vision swaying and, for a moment, she was sure Allison was someone else entirely. After a sharp knee to the ribs, Maddie coughed like her lungs were about to come up through her throat.
"Come on," someone said, quietly at first. A girl full of rage and spite. The second time, it was a shout. "Come on!"
"You ruined all of it! Everything!"
Maybe this was what her bully felt that afternoon when Maddie nearly beat her to death. If an eight year old could nearly beat someone to death, what could a seventeen year old do? She already knew the answer to that.
What could the demon that was ripped out of its place in the universe and put inside this girl do? Maddie was still heaving, only being held up by the metal grate of the cage she was holding onto for dear life.
"ALLISON!" Chris' voice boomed and Maddie was reminded of where she was. She looked up, although her head was uncommonly heavy, to see Chris and Buffy standing between the two. Maddie couldn't see Chris's face but she could see Buffy's, because it was directed towards her own. She looked horrified as she stared at Maddie, who was climbing to her feet and leaning all of her weight on the weapon cabinet behind her.
She was expecting to lose, really. Not like this.
Not struggling to stand.
Not again.
Somehow, though, she knew the night would only get worse from here.