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"Allison?" Riley repeated, almost dropping the bottle of wine. "What about Allison?"

Stiles put a hand on her arm, "Do you want to come and sit down?"

"No. No, not really. I want to know what's going on," the woman said in a flat tone.

The man sighed, nodding in understanding. "Okay, this is going to sound insane, so just hear me out."

"Stiles, our best friend is a werewolf, my sister is a werecoyote and I'm a Sylph. We live the definition of crazy. So, what's going on?" she asked, setting the glasses and the bottle down.

"Right, okay," he mumbled, walking over and taking a seat on their couch. "So. . . Scott's been having these dreams that apparently haven't been dreams."

"What do you mean?"

"He keeps seeing one word. . . Bardo," Stiles stated.

Riley felt like she was back at Beacon Hills High School, sitting around the table with her friends. It was when she had properly met Kira for the first time, when they were trying to figure out what was going on with Stiles, Scott and Allison. 

"There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called 'Bardo'. It literally means 'in-between state'. The state between life and death.

"There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful and wrathful deities."

Kira had stopped by their table and provided the answer that they'd been looking for. The answer that had lead to the Nogitsune.

The woman never thought that she'd have to hear that word again but here she was. She just couldn't understand why Scott would be hearing or seeing that word.

"Chris seems to think that Allison is stuck between the states of life and death. In Bardo," Stiles clarified.

Riley couldn't seem to find the words. Walking back to the kitchen, she instead opened the bottle of wine and poured herself a very full glass. Lifting it she downed half of the glass before looking at her husband. "Okay. . . okay so, what does that mean?"

"That's the crazy part," Stiles said with a straight face, getting up and walking over to the kitchen. "They think that there's a chance they could bring her back."

Nodding slowly, Riley lifted the glass and drained the rest of the wine. She went to grab the bottle to pour another glass but Stiles grabbed her hand, pulling her towards him.

"Hey, speak to me," he said softly.

The woman shook her head, "This is insane. This isn't possible."

Stiles cupped her hands in his, holding her, "Since when do we accept impossible?"

"Believing in the supernatural and believing in resurrection are two very different things, Stiles," Riley retaliated.

"You're right," he nodded. "But if there's a chance we could bring back Allison, then why not believe in it?"

Over the last fifteen years, Riley had had to force herself to accept that she would never see her friend again. Not only had she lost her, but she had lost her after saying something so incredibly awful to her. She had been under the influence of the Nogitsune and hated that she never got to say goodbye or apologise. 

"Except I am, Allison. And that was Stiles, and your dad was going to kill him," Riley had said, trying to fake tears just like Void had. "But, you just stood there, willing to let it happen. Kinda like when your mother died."

When Riley saw Allison's jaw clench, she knew that she'd hit a nerve. "Shut up now or I will put an arrow through your eye," Allison threatened.

"You're the one who asked the question, sweetie. Besides if you do that, you know Isaac will never want to be with you," Riley reminded her. "Do you know how many times he's told me he loves me since we broke up? He was still trying to win me back, even when you thought you had a chance with him."

Allison stepped forward, the crossbow still aimed at her. "Stop it. This isn't you."

"Although, Isaac would probably get bored, just like Scott did. That's why he's with Kira now, isn't it? She's much more interesting. And she's not plain, old, Allison Argent."

No matter how hard she tried, she was never able to forget how this was the last proper time that they had spoken. What she'd said under the Nogitsune's influence was unforgivable. 

Riley sniffled, nodding. "Say that I wanted to believe that this was possible. . . then what? What now?"

Stiles smiled, squeezing his wife's hands. "We get our asses back to Beacon Hills and help bring her back."

The woman thought it through momentarily, before smiling also. "Alright. Let's do it."

The two both got on their phones, trying to sort their jobs out. They chipped in every possible paid leave, sick day and favour, attempting to get a decent amount of time off last minute.

After pleading extenuating circumstances, they both managed to get a week off. Neither of them had taken much time off since they had started at their jobs, so their bosses had been more willing to be lenient, thankfully. 

While Stiles retreated to his office to purchase tickets on the earliest flight possible, Riley went to their room and began to pack. She tried to keep it to essentials only, knowing that they weren't going there for a holiday trip.

As she packed she made a phone call to Charlotte to fill her in on what had happened. The woman was stunned, to say the least.

"Look, I know we deal in the supernatural, Riley but this. . . this is crazy," Charlotte said.

The girl nodded, the phone pressed between her ear and shoulder as she spoke. "I know. We're flying out first thing in the morning."

"I figured you would be," she responded. "Iris and I won't be able to leave so late notice, though. Plus, Gracie has school."

"It's fine, Char," Riley reassured her. "You guys didn't know Allison for that long. I didn't expect you to drop everything and follow us down."

"We'll fly down over the weekend and catch up with everyone though. And hopefully, we'll be able to introduce Iris and Gracie to Allison."

"I'd love that," Riley smiled. "Could I possibly ask you a favour?"

Charlotte laughed on the other end, "You don't even have to ask that, of course. What's up?"

"It's Aayla," Riley said. "I'm worried that there's a chance something goes wrong like it always does. Can we drop her off to you guys on the way to the airport?"

"Of course! You know that we love having her here."

The woman breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, great. Thank you. I'm going to go and finish packing my things so I can pack for Aayla and we'll see you in the morning. Love you."

"I love you too, Ri. See you tomorrow," the woman responded before they both hung up the phone. 

Riley zipped her bag shut, put it near the door and walked out of the room. Quietly, she opened her daughter's bedroom door and went over to her wardrobe. She began to pack her an overnight bag, getting most of the things she would need. Even if she forgot something Charlotte and Iris had a key to their house.

"Okay, so the tickets are all booked," Stiles said quietly as he walked into the room. "Do you want me to grab Aayla's coat? You know how cold Beacon Hills can get this time of year."

Riley stopped what she was doing to look up at her husband. "You want to bring Aayla with us? To Beacon Hills?"

"Of course," he laughed as if there was no other answer.

The woman stood up, grabbing Stiles's hand so that she could lead him out of their daughter's room, not wanting to wake the girl up. They were going to have to wake her up early and she didn't want her to be too tired.

"'Of course'?" Riley scoffed, eyes wide as she stopped in the hallway, turning to face him.

Stiles nodded, "Yeah. Plus, my dad has been asking us to bring her home for weeks now. He hasn't seen her in a while.

Riley bit her lip, staring at him. "Stiles, I get that, I do, but this could be dangerous."

The man reached out to hold her hands, giving them a light squeeze, "Riley, we're going home to bring back our friend. This might be one of the least dangerous things that we go back for."

"Stiles, I don't know. I mean, resurrecting someone? We've seen movies where that happens and it doesn't exactly end well. I-"

"Ri, this isn't a movie," he laughed. "I would argue that letting Liam and Theo babysit her that night we went out with Scott, Lydia and Malia was more dangerous than this."

"They've both matured and you know it," Riley argued.
Sure, Aayla had cut her own hair that night with a pair of scissors she'd found and drawn on the walls of Liam's apartment but Stiles didn't need to know that.
"I'm just worried. What if-"

Stiles lifted a hand to rest on her cheek, his voice soft and soothing, "We can't live our lives in fear of 'what ifs', Ri. We always spoke about how we wished that Aayla could've met Allison. Don't you want that still?" 

Riley leaned into his hand, soaking in his warmth and calm, nodding, "Of course I do."

 "Then what's the problem?"

"Nothing," she sighed. "It's just. . . it's Beacon Hills. This isn't us going there for a visit, this is Scott asking us to come home for something and usually, that ends with someone getting hurt."

"I think you're forgetting that Scott only tends to call us when he's desperate," Stiles reminded the woman, something neither of them liked. 

They preferred not hearing about their friends almost dying after it's already happened, but that was just how Scott did things. Scott made the rest of the pack promise not to call the couple unless they really needed them, no matter how many times they both asked to be kept in the loop. Not only that, but Stiles was usually the one to figure things out early on. 

"You know he doesn't like to bring us home for the most dangerous things after what happened with the Ghost Riders and then the Anuk-ite," Stiles stated, voicing exactly what Riley had been thinking. 

"And the Nogitsune," she added softly, feeling sick even saying it.

She couldn't help but say it, though, knowing it had been one of the main reasons for all of them. The Nogitsune had left a shadow on all of them, one that they couldn't ignore or rid themselves of.

The smallest part of Riley didn't want to forget, though. Forgetting would mean moving past what had happened to Allison. What she had done to her friends.

Remembering that she had the strength to overcome the hold the spirit had over her - that was what Riley liked to remember. No matter what she wanted to think, she was stronger for having lived through that time in her life. 

Stiles seemed to flinch but nodded in agreeance. "Exactly."

Understandably so, he was less willing to remember what had happened during that time. He still woke up in the middle of the night every so often, screaming about how the Nogitsune was coming for him again.

"So, -and I'm going off of what you're saying -" Riley said slowly. "You're saying that he could be desperate right now and this is really dangerous and that is why he's called us to come home."

The man rolled his eyes, frustration clear on his face, "I'm pretty sure he would've mentioned that on the phone."

She hadn't seen him like this in such a long time. The way he was looking at her made her feel like she was in the wrong here even though, in her eyes, she was just trying to do what was best for their daughter.

"Why are you so adamant about bringing Aayla?" the woman asked, feeling her brows pinch.

Stiles scoffed, crossing his arms, "Because she's our daughter and I don't want to leave her behind unless we absolutely have to - which we don't. Why don't you want to bring her?"

"It's not that I don't want to bring her. You know I hate leaving her behind," Riley retaliated. She wanted to bring her but she was having a bad feeling that had her on edge.
"It's that this is Beacon Hills and it's dangerous. You of all people should know that."

The man shook his head, "What I know is that that is our home and the only thing waiting for us there is the chance to see Allison again. The chance for our daughter to meet one of our best friends who we thought we'd never see again."

Growing frustrated, Riley walked past him and down into the kitchen. Stiles sighed heavily, following after her. He watched her grab a glass and fill it with water, leaning against the sink as she drained it completely and then refilled it.

He knew that he'd overstepped when he questioned her wanting to be around their child. Walking up behind her, he put his hands on her shoulders. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said. That wasn't okay."

"You're right, it wasn't," she said bitterly, staring down into the sink.

"Riley, you are an amazing mother and I know that you're just looking out for her," he said softly. "But don't you think I am, too? Do you really think I would want to bring her so badly if I thought it was dangerous?"

Riley didn't respond, putting the glass down in the sink. She didn't turn around, either. Instead, she looked up to look at him through their reflections in the window. 

"I just don't want to be without either of my girls," he said sweetly, leaning down to press a kiss on her cheek.
When she still didn't respond, he caved. "Okay, how about this? How about we bring Aayla with us and as soon as it seems like it's getting too dangerous we pack our bags and come home? How about that?"

The woman considered his proposal, turning so that she was facing him. Thinking it over, she finally looked up at him. "You promise?"

"Cross my heart," he told her softly. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Riley, I know you're looking out for her but I would never do anything to put either of you in danger. I really hope you know that."

Looking into his apologetic eyes, Riley felt her resolve begin to crumble. "I know that. I just had a bad feeling. It's probably just the thought of seeing Allison again. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry for prioritising our daughter," he smiled gently. "I love you. I love you so much."

Riley leaned forward, putting her arms around his neck to kiss him before embracing him tightly. "I love you, too."

They'd fought before over what they each thought was best for Aayla but never like this. Riley just chalked it up to the emotions around Beacon Hills and the idea of Allison actually being alive again.

If only she'd seen Stiles's reflection in the kitchen window at that moment. The familiar smirk of something who realised things were going exactly the way it wanted.

After all, what fun was a game if you were missing key players and some special pieces to motivate them?

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(A/N)

Gee, I wonder who that could be? Hmm?

Also, wow, don't we just love a bit of gaslighting?