"How are all of you still alive?"

"...Now all of us are."

This exchange had been prompted at the time by the loss of Allison Argent. Now it was even more meaningful. Y/n was a junior the year Liam was a sophomore, when Scott, Stiles, Malia, and Lydia were seniors. Not being able to go to this Senior whatever, Y/n was anxious to get past this year and to her senior years so she could go and be part of this school like her older friends were. It was the one thing she really, really wanted. The one thing she dared ask for. The one thing she toed the line and tempted fate by hoping for and looking forward to.

So, Fate responded to this temptation.

In the worse possible way.

When she was kidnapped everyone panicked. When she showed up again in a rampaging mess, they were messes. She was the newest Chimera in the Doctor's creations and she was a beast. Her eyes glowed and while her upper half was normal, her lower half morphed into that of a snake's. Her teeth grew sharp and she hissed, wings sprouting from her back and her hands becoming taloned as her skin grew a little more green.

"Uh, Scott? What is she?!" Liam asked, fear making his eyes go wide.

"We'll research later," Scott groaned. "Get her calm now."

The Pack barely made it out that night, half trying to stay alive and half trying not to kill her. She was incredibly strong. She froze suddenly, and everyone froze along with her. Her head turned a little, as if she was listening to a voice no one else could hear. Then she whipped around and slithered away, becoming more and more human spas she went. The pack raced after her but she was gone, her scent somehow being lost.

"What. The. Hell?" Lydia gasped.

Scott spun around as he heard a new sound, felt a familiar feeling. There stood the Doctors, analyzing the situation as if taking mental notes.

"Wa she your success?" Scott asked.

"Undetermined," the middle one rasped mechanically.

"Do you think she's a success?" Scott asked further.

A pause. "Undetermined," The Doctor answered. But, even through the monotoned mechanic sound, Scott was sure he heard the voice harden, like when you knew something was going your way. In a triumphant way. Then smoke filled the air. When the smoke cleared, they were gone.

"We need to find her," Scott concluded. "We need to find her now."

---

"We should have known!" Stiles said in frustration, running a hand through his hair. Scott sat across from him, lips pushed tightly together. It was just the two of them, now that they lost Y/n. It felt weird without her to lighten the mood. It felt heavy and serious. Empty. There was a chair they'd sat out in a three-person circle where Y/n would have sat and having it empty made it almost worse. "When she told us that she got that transplant. We should have known..."

"I know. I know we should have. But we have a lot going on. Kira's having some weird things happen to her fox spirit. Liam and Hayden are pulling away. Malia is ignoring us. Derek is missing. Perrish and Lydia are busy with each other. It was literally the three of us. She knew... She knew and she hid from us because she didn't want us to worry about her. And here we are."

Scott sighed, rubbing his eyes. Stiles pursed his lips. "You okay?"

"I just... I can't lose her too, Stiles. She's like my little sister. I... I've lost everyone. Our pack is falling apart. Her and Allison were... She's Allison's little protege. Like she stepped up to fill that hole. Not to take her spot. Not to be her. But to fill a need. A sister. A friend. A protector. Allison literally acted like they were sisters. Anyone said otherwise and she went wild. She taught her everything she knew. Even Chris... Even Chris treats her like a daughter. We can't lose her. We can't lose her too."

"We won't lose her, Scott. I promise." Stiles offered a reassuring smile.

Suddenly the door flew open and there stood a girl. Her hair messy and her eyes wide. It was her. It was Y/n. Stiles and Scott shot to their feet, huge grins on their faces.

"Y/n!" Stiles said excitedly. She was back.

But then everyone froze. Scott tired his head, his nose twitching. He smelled... His eyes traveled down and his eyes shot wide. In the middle of her stomach there was a blade. The smell....

It was blood.

Stiles saw it next. She began falling forward and Stiles stepped forward to catch her. He lay her down. She was a chimera. Human not so long ago, but a chimera now nonetheless. "Y/n?" He whispered. Stiles may not have been in the trio of her, Allison, and Scott, but they were quite close. The girl was a junior this year. She'd joined them as a freshman, and entwined herself into everyone's hearts immediately. She was there with the original pack. She was there with Allison and Isaac and Derek and then after with Liam and Malia and Kira. She'd been there since almost the beginning. She'd been there when Allison died.

Her death couldn't happen. Stiles would feel it as strongly as Scott would. He was desperate to keep her alive as well.

"Y/n?" He whispered, his eyes watering. He looked up at Scott. "Go get everyone. Now." For once, Stiles took charge. Scott couldn't. He was incapacitated, staring at her like he was the one dying. "Scott. NOW!" Scott raced out of the door immediately, calling Malia and Kira as he raced to talk to Lydia and Perrish at the station. After he told those people, he called Liam on his way home, Lydia and Perrish right behind him.

They all arrived at the same time. For the first time in a while, they were all together, in one place, without worry or problems or stresses. Stiles looked up at his friends. "She's barely alive," he croaked. They all made a circle around Y/n and Stiles, some kneeling next to her and some standing.

Everyone was crying.

She smiled. "Hey guys," she whispered.

"Hey," Lydia whispered back, being the only one able to answer. Each felt the girl dying in a different way.

Scott, Stiles, and Lydia the most, though Malia was t too far behind.

Lydia saw her best friend in the younger girl. She saw Allison dying all over again. Stiles saw the innocent girl from her freshman year, smiling and cracking jokes. The one to always lighten the mood. The one to always say the right thing. The one to strengthen and build up and face her problems and a huge Grin and a head held high. He saw the beacon of strength and happiness in the glum group of teenagers. Scott saw his little sister. What else was there to say about that?

Liam saw an older sister. She was the only other person in the group that wasn't a senior, and she'd treated Liam like a younger brother, but also an equal. He didn't feel so young and ridiculous with her as he felt with his senior friends. It was easier to hang out with her. More fun. She was a bubble of joy and fun and it was like all the joy was being sucked away from him now.

Kira saw strength. Not just emotional, but physical. She saw the bad ass she'd heard about and the but she'd seen with Allison, living and thriving in a happier, younger girl. Where Alison was part of a family of proud, cruel people, Y/n was softer and ore out going, less affected by a hint negative. When Allison died she'd only mourned in private, cheering everyone else up even though it really had torn her apart. She regretted forgetting that the young girl was indeed human and that she felt pain. She regretted leaning on her so much for support. She saw light.

Malia saw her best friend. They'd been like Allison and Lydia. She'd been younger, but closer than anyone - as close to Malia as Stiles was. She'd helped her subjects when Stiles couldn't. Y/n had come to her when she went to no one else. She knew her the best, even though the Lydia, Stiles, and Scott had known her longer. She knew her as a girl with a family and a life and a future. Even though her parents were dead and her aunt was an introverted drunk, she found family in her Pack. She saw the charity she'd always had. Malia saw the future she'd talked about all the time, with the crush only Malia knew. That was the only reason she knew so much about Isaac...

Y/n looked at the ceiling. "He didn't come back. I was so hoping he would." Her eyes geared up for the first time since Allison died in front of everyone, but even then, her smile didn't leave her face. "I- I'm sorry I failed you. I'm sorry I attacked you. I'm sorry I let them control me. Let them take me and break me. I'm sorry I failed."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about," Malia said firmly. Y/n looked at her best friend. "You didn't fail, Y/n. You persevered. And Isaac... Isaac is going to know, I promise. I'll tell him. And when he comes home, he'll see you, because you'll survive. And he's going to be madly in love with you. He's going to return YUR feelings. He's going to realize how stupid he was for turning you down and running to Allison just because you were a sophomore and he was a junior. And you're going to live in a huge house and have great jobs and have two kids. And you're both going to be great, because he's a werewolf and you're a chimera now." Malia offered a smile.

"She liked Isaac?" Scott asked in a raspy voice.

Some chuckles. "Yeah," Malia croaked. "She does."

"He's lucky," Lydia added in. "You're beautiful and brave and Allison would be so proud of you." She gave a shaky smile of her own.

"Allison... Like mentor like protege, I guess. Different deaths, ish, but also similar. Impaled in the stomach... Wow... I guess I followed too closely in her footsteps." Her smile broke and her eyes closed and everyone's hearts broke. "I spent so much time trying to not be Allison. Trying to be happy. But I failed in the end. You all look at me and see Allison. I know you do, don't deny it. Well, except Liam and Malia." She laughed ruefully.

Everyone pursed their lips.

"You your own person," Scott spoke up finally. "You're not Allison. Allison and I were different than you and me. You're happier than she is. Just as strong, and you sue her bow, but you... You're different. I sometimes see Allison in some things you do, but you're not her. And I don't see you as her, but I do see her in you sometimes. That's it."

"Yeah. Plus you're a squirt. Shorter than her," Stiles teased.

She smiled. "Thank you. I... I love you all. I... I..." Her hand went limp.

Kira busted up sobbing. Scott turned and held her as he cried silently and Malia kneeled next to Stiles, taking him in her arms as Liam pulled Y/n into his. Lydia kneeled next to Liam, putting her arm around his shoulders, looking down at her.

She was gone.

And behind her, she left that same gaping hole that Allison. But now, it was Y/n shaped.

Because, after all, she was her own person.

Now, she was gone.