banshee;

“Thank you for the concern, but I’m alright,” he replied. Normally he didn’t feel cold but suddenly he was starting to feel the water coming through his suit. He had to get used to the fact that he was… human here. “But you’re right. It’s best I don’t stay out in this weather,” Connor agreed, moving to take cover under a roof. 

When the other expressed that he was okay, Lydia looked him over once again- he was soaked and she wouldn’t be surprised if he started to shiver soon. “Probably, it’s how illness starts, you stand out in the cold rain and it soaks you through, at least you’ll have a cause for why you’ll be sniffing and sneezing tomorrow.”

“Come on, Lyds, you know they never would have survived without you. Banshee or not,” Isaac said with a small smile, “Our wins were always big wins though. We may not have won all the battles but we always won the war,” He shook his head, “No, Kanima or not, we really shouldn’t have tried to kill you. Thank for god for Scott, Ali and Stiles honestly,” He shrugged, “Let’s hope so. I can’t remember the last time I felt like myself honestly.”

“I’m sure they would have managed, though I might have been awoken in the middle of the night to a few dozen frantic phone calls from Stiles.” She teased, trying to lighten the moment that had fallen between them about their past. “You do have a point, it’s just that we unfortunately lost some good people, but then again I guess it’s not a war without a few causalities.” Lydia smiled at the other, that seemed like water far under the bridge at this point, so much more had happened that she had almost forgotten about Issac’s ill intentions way back when. “Well you didn’t lobotomise me so you’re lower on the list of people that have harmed me.” Lydia understood that, there had been a time where she felt like she had lost herself and she guessed it was only recently that she found herself again. “I have hope.”

Rolling the quarter along his knuckles and occasionally flipping it to pass it through his fingers absentmindedly, Connor stood at the bus stop completely exposed to the rain that had decided to pour. He continued to fiddle with the coin, completely unfazed as he stood out in the rain without an umbrella. Noticing someone giving him a look, he stopped the coin between his thumb and forefinger before turning to them, “I am sorry, was I being distracting? I can stop,” he offered apologetically. Hank was always telling him off about it, so perhaps this person felt the same. 

“It wasn’t the coin that I was distracted by, it’s pouring and you’re simply standing there and becoming drenched. You’ll catch a cold that way.” Lydia commented, watching as water droplets dripped from the other from where she stood dry under her umbrella, “Aren’t you cold? Isn’t the rain bothering you?” And now she was sounding like her Mother, something she very rarely did, she guessed her missing the other had a little something to do with that.

“Well if your goal is to save people and you don’t save everyone, you can’t help but blame yourself. Possibly one of the reasons I left in the first place. It might be selfish but it’s a lot of guilt to live with,” Isaac admitted. He had been a coward and he knew he could admit that to Lydia. He chuckled softly, “Did I ever apologize for that? We tried to kill you. Me and Derek and Erica and Boyd,” A pang of sadness washed over him as he remembered his lost friends. He wondered if they would show up here. People coming back to life wouldn’t be the craziest thing he’d seen, “You’re all like my moral compass, my conscience. I think I need more of that influence in my life again. Or maybe I’m just tired of being alone.”

“Maybe I should have left too, things never really got better after that. We had our wins of course but the loses came just as frequently.” She told the other, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger as she thought about them all. “You didn’t in a verbal sense, but I knew there wasn’t any real harm behind your actions. You thought I was a Kanima, the poison didn’t work on me and neither did Peter’s bite, one of the perks of being a Banshee I guess.” Because her abilities caused her to be immune to supernatural ailments which was a blessing in her eyes. “I can imagine being alone is no fun, being with your family and coming home will hopefully make you feel a little more like yourself again.”

TASK 001; CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Lydia Martin

“She definitely is,” Isaac replied. He hoped she was anyway. It was a nice thought, “What is it with all of us and blaming ourselves for everyone bad that’s ever happened, huh?” He teased, trying to lighten the mood but there was definitely truth to it. He smiled, “I’m always stuck with you. You guys follow me everywhere, you’re like moral compasses,” He joked, “If we ever get out of here, I think I’m gonna come home. Supernatural threat or not, it’s about time.”

“We’re good people, we like to blame ourselves for things that probably aren’t out fault but take the blame so someone else doesn’t have to. I mean-.. we’re all a little damaged, but who wouldn’t be after experiencing everything we did in high school.” It wasn’t your normal, typical, teenage years that’s for sure and probably something they’d never move on from, not completely. “Maybe we’re just fond of you, which you should be grateful for given the rocky start we all had.” Because they hadn’t always been close with Issac, when Derek had first turned him there was some definite tension between the two packs. Not that she had been aware of the full extent of it all, not even knowing werewolves existed at that point. “I think that’d be nice, it’d be good to have you around again.”

all allison had on her mind since she’d woken up here, were worries and fears for the family she didn’t have anymore, for her dad and knowing that he was alone in the world without her, eating dinners alone, likely skipping them altogether for a glass instead. she worried for her best friend, hoping the others were there to always look out for her and to tell her she was beautiful and loved and needed, that she was smart and going to go universes ahead of everyone around her. she hoped that scott found happiness and that he didn’t think of her past a smile and good memories. that stiles always got the clap on the shoulder or an embrace to tell him that he was brave and loyal and that he mattered. that isaac was more than where he had been and what he had been through; he was a good friend and that he had a family around him who loved him and would always be there in the shape of everyone allison left behind. she worried, and she worried often, and holding lydia’s hand in hers, looking at the face of her best friend, for the first time she knew that they would always be okay; even if she wasn’t there to see it herself. allison’s hand flexed gently on lydia’s and she listened to her as she took her other hand too. her eyes filled with tears just listening to the sound of her voice. “i was never scared of being forgotten. i was scared you all would forget how much i love you, all of you, and how proud i am of you.” she barely got the words out and her face showed why with losing a few tears down her cheeks that a hand moved to wipe from her skin quickly so she could replace them with a smile on her lips. “i want to hear everything, school, boys, college, everything.” she tells her, bringing lydia’s hand to her lips to kiss the back of it before she tried to move to walk with her in the direction of the house that somehow now belonged to her dad and herself. “just us. and probably my dad by the door with a shotgun. he’s….really jumpy and the protective levels had reached new highs.” she jokes, which…wasn’t actually a joke, it was the truth, she just tried to make a joke out of it.

Lydia had often thought about Allison and the what if's of their lives, what if none of this had happened, what if Allison never died and she had been by her side through the rest of their high school lives. What if she had been there at graduation, when she got accepted into college, when her Mom started dating, when she realised her feelings for Stiles. All of these moments in her life that she was supposed to be shared with her best friend and yet she couldn't because she was gone. She played conversations in her head with Allison, trying to picture the dark haired girl in her room, sure she had Malia and Kira, but it wasn't the same. She honestly thought that was why she couldn't become close to them the way she had with Allison, because she was scared that it would look like she was trying to replace her and no one could ever replace Allison. "We never forgot, we knew and we love you too, we're proud of you- you were and are amazing, all of us thought that. Thought of how brave and selfless and loving you are, I'm so proud to get to call you my best friend." There was no point in trying to hold back the tears now, her words wobbled with emotion as she spoke and her green eyes glistened with tears as they slowly rolled down her cheeks. "I'll tell you everything and there was just one boy-.. but he was the right boy." And she had let him fall through her fingers. "He's in a new town and his daughter is back, he wants to protect you and I don't blame him for that. I guess we're all a little jumpy these days."

“Maybe she is,” Isaac replied, “Still here I mean,” He felt more guilt when she spoke. He was whining about his own problems and he’d forgotten that Lydia had likely had it worse than him. He had seen her die but she had actually felt it. She felt all the deaths that she was surrounded by, “It wasn’t your fault, Lydia,” He replied, placing a hand on top of hers, “We were there to save you. To save Beacon Hills. You know you would have done the same if someone else had been in your place. You’ve all got hero complexes. I’m honestly surprised we haven’t all ended up dead by now. We’ve close enough times,” He said in a joking manner, trying to lighten the mood.

Lydia smiled at the others words because she hoped that was the case, “She always feels like she’s here, helping us out like always.” She was only nineteen and she had felt the loss of her best friend and second love, surely that wasn’t normal for someone her age, surely she and all of her friends should be crumbling and yet they carried on, keeping them in their memories and their hearts, keeping them alive. “I know and I keep trying to tell myself that, someday’s it comes back to bite me though.” Lydia couldn’t help but chuckle at the others words, “We could have let Beacon Hills go to hell and yet we protected it, protected one another, it’s because we’re family. We’re a pack and you’re part of it Issac, always will be. You’re kind of stuck with us now.” 

Stiles nodded his head. “I believe we honestly will.” And he didn’t think anything would change his mind on that. He would do everything he could to retain their close friendship and everything they had. He loved the girl and that wasn’t going to change. “Lyd…” He began, taking hold of the girls hands for a moment. “I know right then you were happy with how things were going but I didn’t want you to resent me for keeping you from having the best experience you could because you were tied down.” He’d seen how that had affected some of his friends at the college and he couldn’t bear the thought of going through that with her. Still, it was one of the rare times that he fell silent when Lydia said she didn’t think he did understand. He made a slight sound of frustration, running a hand through his hair before dropping it to his side. 

Lydia couldn’t help but blink at the boy in front of her, trying to make sense of what was coming out of his mouth, because did he really think that was what he was to her, a bother and something that was tying her down. Something that was preventing her from getting what she wanted and being happy. “Stiles, I would have never resented you because being with you was my best experience. I’ve lost a lot, I lost you and having you, the revelation of how I felt- I honestly thought that this would be it, that it would have stuck and we would have made it out. You weren’t tying me down, if anything you were the only thing getting me through the bad parts of my life. You were a constant I could always rely on and I loved that- so those thoughts you had, those reasons as to why you ended it.. they were just that, your thoughts.” Because she had been happy, clearly it was Stiles who wasn’t and she could live with knowing that, but she wouldn’t listen to him talking about how he wanted to let her have the best experience and live to her fullest because she had been with the other in her life. “If you didn’t want to be with me anymore, that’s all you need to say, I’m a big girl I can take the truth. What I won’t accept is these excuses that you’re making saying it was for my benefit when you didn’t even ask me what I wanted.”