puppy love } { of interrogations and changing tactics

[arbalete]

Peter: [from the bag] I hope you have this recording so that I can subpoena evidence of your mishandling of my civil rights.

Hayley: [and the bag comes off and she placates him with a thin smile] Don't worry, big guy. We're just here to talk.

Peter: Ah yes, talk. Is this how you youngsters conduct conversations these days?

Hayley: Oh yeah. Kidnapping usually seems to be the way to go with a guy who's organized three murders in the DC area.

Peter: You have no evidence of my involvement.

Hayley: Oh, we caught two of you guys at your last attempt to take out Ronnie Calavera, and you German friend tried to add Allison Argent to that body count. Then we bugged the non-German one and tailed him all the way back to you. I'm pretty sure we have most of your conversation on tape. My buddy in there can confirm whether or not in a few minutes.

Peter: I hope you had the warrant to bug that phone, or that gentleman has a strong lawsuit against you.

Hayley: We didn't bug the phone. We bugged the guy, but I see your point. Unfortunately, this isn't going to court. We don't do court. So sorry for you, we don't have to worry about warrants.

Peter: So you are above the constitution of the United States of America. Very patriotic.

Hayley: [she gives a small shrug] Look, this doesn't have to be a thing. I do you a favor, you do me a favor, we all have a nice day. But if you really want to make this a whole thing, we can do that. I can reintroduce you to your German friend - we still have him and he's kind of a douche.

Peter: I don't have any German friends, sorry. I'm still confused as to why I'm here, to be honest, and what kind of favor you think I can provide you.

Hayley: Word on the street is that you're a guy who knows a little about a lot of things, up to and including supernaturally charged poisons. And I have the means to make sure the bad apple hunters that you and your friends have been hunting down get thrown in a very dark hole for the rest of their natural lives, if you get me the evidence.

Peter: Hypothetically, if I was - which I'm not - hunting people down, why would I trust someone who is hunting and throwing fellow non-humans down those same holes?

Hayley: Because I don't enjoy this and most of the time, the one's I hunt are doing what these hunters are doing - killing because they like it, and not because these people are actually a threat. And because I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this for a seven year-old girl who has more magic than she can handle, and the only hope of really helping her control that is in a magically induced coma so that she doesn't die of the aforementioned poison. So you help me help that little girl, and I will help you.

Peter: [leaning back] So you're asking me to give you the cure to the three Mikaelson poisons in return for your hypothetical assumptions that I have an enemy list you can make people disappear for me?

Hayley: Right now, I'm only asking you for one. Hope is getting worse and while visits with Freya help, I'm not a witch. But I will warn you that saving her is probably the move that Marcel will hate the most, so I wouldn't blame you for needing to think this through.

Peter: You speak of the Marcel who is your daughter's half brother through siring?

Hayley: Yes. And I already know that he feeds you leads.

Peter: Your assumption. I still deny any of this claim you keep asserting on me.

Hayley: Oh, I know. But that's my offer. So what do you want more - a fate worse than death for your enemies, or do you want the actual FBI coming down on you because Allison Argent knows what happened to her aunt because of you and while she does know that Kate deserved it? She's not going to risk people coming after her again. Or her dad.

Peter: Something happened to Kate Argent?

Hayley: [reaches for one of the files on the desk, and flips it open to Kate's report and autopsy file from the prison] Kate Argent was killed in prison two years ago. And the same symbols that have been found at the local murders were found over her body.

Peter: [and he leans forward to look at the file, and Hayley will notice that it's genuine confusion on his face because while he knew Kate was dead, that factor wasn't something he knew] That symbol is common with almost all the packs in Beacon Hills and California. It's a symbol of revenge. And I haven't been off this coast in seven years, or been in contact with any of those packs out of safety for my family since the last alphas there were the reason why my niece left. [he slides the file back to her] I will tell you that if I ever were to do what you believe I would do - Allison Argent would never be a target I would point someone to. My nephew, as delusional as he is, loves that girl with his entire heart and even now that she has broken him to pieces and he left the country to find a way to repair his broken heart, he will still care for her and I may not be the best example of a loving uncle, but even I'm not that cruel.

Hayley: Yeah, I didn't really peg you as the type. [knowing that Allison is totally listening behind the glass but she doesn't acknowledge that] But Nathan Douglas did peel off and try to attack her, so if you are my puppet master, if we want to continue to talk in hypotheticals, you've got a lot of slack on your strings. And maybe you'll be better off working with people who also have a vested interest in keeping Allison safe.

Peter: [he won't acknowledge that second half but the first part] Again, I don't know a Nathan Douglas. I can't speak for him or his actions. I think that's your job to deal with. [his eyes saying that the man dug his grave, Hayley is welcome to throw him into it]

Hayley: Oh. I am, trust me. And look, I don't get the whole hunter versus supernatural whatever - all the people who have caused problems in my life have been of the undead variety. But I do believe that bad people should be punished for doing bad things, even if my ulterior motives don't say as much. We're all going to have to pay for our crimes in the end. [there's a beat] What I mean is, we have as much of a vested interested in getting bad hunters off the board as you do. That's why Allison is working with me. But it's harder to find leads on them through our normal resources, because they don't make as big a mess.

Peter: [snorts] Trust me, they do.

Hayley: Not as big as vampires. Or my kind of werewolf on a full moon, or wendigos for that matter.

Peter: [and he's going to just sit back, one eyebrow up because he's sure she knows his history if Allison filled her in]

Hayley: I know about what happened to your family. But a fire is harder to pick up on when it comes to what our computers would normally look for than say a pile of dead, bodies with giant holes in their chests or torn limb from limb by a wild animal nowhere near the woods. Like it or not, people like us create anomalies. Hunters don't. They know how to make something look like a mundane every day event. They pay people off to make things look less than they are, they hide the bodies and they work the system.

Peter: Which are all trackable things, if you have the right resources. Hypothetically, of course.

Hayley: Hey, we're trying. Our guys adjust our algorithms every time we come up against something new, but you have more experience and more connections than we do. And we have the resources to get them off the board without starting a war.

Peter: I am only talking in hypotheticals, remember. I don't do or have access to any of these things you assume I do.

Hayley: [grits her teeth because she knows she's not assuming shit, but before she can say anything, the door opens]

Allison: We're only going in circles. Just ... I'll take him home.

Peter: [goes to stand up] I can make my own way home, but thank you. [looks at Hayley] We are done, yes?

Hayley: [exhales slowly] She has to at least take you some of the way. The bag was on your head for a reason. [which she will hold up again] You don't have to go home, but you do have to deal with sitting in the same car as her for at least fifteen minutes.

Peter: Can we at least skip the bag if I promise not to look? [sarcasm, a Hale trait]

Hayley: Sorry, but I don't think your hair will suffer. [but she will at least let him put it on himself]

Peter: [suffering sigh, shaking his head as he goes to leave with Allison]

Allison: [and will just lead him gently through the office, again, away from Stiles' desk, and will only speak if there are stairs that he needs to step up, or needs to turn a corner. Then she'll put him in the passenger seat of one of the company cars, drive until they hit the highway, and finally speak] You can take it off now.

Peter: [she had taken a different way out than they had driven in, but he was still mapping it out in his head. He pulls it off and runs a hand through his hair] You're welcome to let me off at the next off ramp.

Allison: Are you sure?

Peter: Yes. I'd rather walk. [than let an Argent know their location is the unspoken end of that sentence]

Allison: [oh, she hears it. Should she tell him that she already knows because there likely is a file on the Hales somewhere in CONTROL's system? No, she won't, she's not trying to make enemies here] Fine.

Peter: [and he will keep quiet and watch out the window]

Allison: [so is Allison, until she really can't stand the silence] I understand why you would do it. Hypothetically speaking. [because Allison is better than sticking to hypotheticals than Hayley is] But Hayley is also right. The last thing DC needs is a war.

Peter: [he doesn't move, say anything, but his ear twitches just a bit as the indication he is focusing on listening]

Allison: [okay, she'll take it, even if he doesn't want to talk back, she'll keep going] And speaking as someone who had to deal with the one that happened after you left Beacon Hills, I really don't want to be part of another one. No one wins wars like this. They just manage to survive it. At this point, I think we all deserve better than that.

Peter: You assume this is a war that will end.

Allison: I think that it can if we change the way we choose to fight it. [there's a deep breath] There are always going to be people who are like my aunt. Who believe that there's no good versions of the other. And they teach people how to hunt, or they turn people to their packs, because you know that this isn't just all on our side. And then there are people like Hayley. People who can see when there's the right time for compassion and when there's a right time for force. Who are able to see the person, not the "thing." Who can tell the difference between a wolf who wants to kill and someone who doesn't realize what's happening to them because she went through the same thing. I'm not going to say anything about her judgment regarding the Mikaelsons because I know what they've done, but I also know what it's like to love someone who's done terrible things, and she's really just doing this to help her daughter. But at the end of the day, I have to look at the work. [she takes the off ramp as he requested and pulls into a gas station, but doesn't turn off the car or lock the doors quite yet, shifting to actually look at him] My mom died because she couldn't decide who was the bigger threat - Satomi or Deucalion. There's nothing left of the Argent family but me, and if I'm going to turn my family's legacy into something good then I have to do the work. Protect instead of hunt, regardless of who or what they are. We can do the work with supernaturals. We can help them if they're new or put them down if they're monsters like the alpha pack, but we don't know the warning signs for hunters from a distance. And if you help me, we can try and stop what happened to your family from happening to anyone else. We can stop what happened in Beacon Hills from happening anywhere else. [and she'll hand him a flash drive of case information, names redacted to protect the (Stiles) agents, and a wide range showing hunters that tried to make their unnecessary kills look like monsters, to bad monsters who needed to be put down to cryptids they helped, like the werewolf who's kill Lydia found not that long ago] Just think about it.

Peter: [he will look at the USB drive, and with a sigh take it. If nothing else it will give him information and Peter hordes information. He debates a moment, and then will give her a bone] For what it's worth, your efforts are noticed. [whether he means the team, or Allison in her effort to change the image of the Argent family she can figure out on her own. Of course he can't leave until she lets him out]

Allison: [at least there's that. but she nods and unlocks the doors, waiting for him to get out] You sure you don't want me to take you closer?

Peter: Yes. [and he will climb out, sliding the USB into his pocket and without as much as a goodbye will close the door and head towards the mini mart to get himself a water before his upcoming werewolf run home]

Allison: [will just sigh, because she didn't expect anything else but it's still eyeroll worthy, and she will just pull back onto the highway to drive back to the office]

Matt: [and when she gets back he will be grinning because a. his plan worked and b. he just got to kick a german into a hole]

Allison: [and she laughs when she sees him] I wouldn't look so cocky, if I were you. He hasn't actually agreed to help us yet.

Matt: No, but he knows that we know who he is. If he doesn't agree, he's going to know we're watching his movement and he won't be able to operate anymore.

Allison: [she shrugs] I'm not sure it'll be that simple. But it's a start, I guess.

Matt: You alright?

Allison: I will be fine, once I've had a drink or twelve.

Matt: Need a wingman for that?

Allison: [smiles] Please. Let me just give Stiles an update.

Matt: He just got back to the office so you're in luck.

Allison: Great. I'll meet you at the exit?

Matt: See you there.

Allison: [and she will wander over to find Stiles' desk and knock on the edge when she gets there] You busy?

Stiles: [looks up from where he was listening to the recording of Peter's "interview" and nods] Yeah, but I have a few minutes. Just catching up on what the rest of you know.

Allison: [nods as she goes to sit next to him] He was very careful not to give himself away. At all. But you know how Peter is - he never wants it to seem like he's doing as he's told.

Stiles: He also knew he was being recorded and wasn't going to say anything to risk himself or his family being brought up on charges.

Allison: [she shrugs] I gave him something to think about, at least.

Stiles: I'm going to have to talk to Hayley. If he decides to work with us, I don't know if I can still have an office here. It'll blow my cover.

Allison: And him making a big deal out of it will also blow his. And he doesn't have to know you work for the CIA, just CONTROL.

Stiles: You know that it's common knowledge here among everyone where I was recruited from. The fact I'm a loaner isn't to most, but I mean come on, Agent 56 just calls me CIA boy. Plus I don't think Cora would like knowing about CONTROL any more than the CIA. Both are dangerous jobs that make me an enemy of very dangerous people.

Allison: Do you think that Cora knows that Peter has been running around taking out hunters? Also, who is he going to have reason to interact with beyond us?

Stiles: I don't think anyone knows what Peter does in his spare time. But people know he doesn't say things unless he knows they are fact. So Cora would trust his information whether he gave a source or not.

Allison: I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill. But he hasn't even agreed to work with us yet, so I wouldn't stress about it too much.

Stiles: [looks over at the picture of his son, his leg bouncing a bit] Maybe I am, but still.

Allison: We'll figure it out, if and when the time comes. Right now, me and Matt are going out for some drinks to celebrate the fact that I didn't have to use the car's built in taser on Peter. You want to join us?

Stiles: Nah, I want to catch up on this stuff and I told Hayley I'd do the transcript since I got the afternoon "off" and she wanted time with Hope. You two have fun though.

Allison: Okay. Don't work too hard. [and with that she will head off to join Matt]

Matt: [and while they are drinking and hanging out] So I keep meaning to ask... your friend Lydia...

Allison: [her eyes narrow] What about my friend Lydia?

Matt: She um, she wouldn't happen to be with anyone at the moment, would she?

Allison: [squints some more] No. Why? Do you want to date her?

Matt: I was thinking of asking her out, if you'd think she'd be interested in me. I've had it pointed out to me that I need to stop being a solider boy all the time and learn to live a bit.

Allison: Oh, she's interested. But this is also my best friend so you better not treat her like a booty call. [even if Lydia may ... start out treating him like a booty call]

Matt: If I was going to treat her like a booty call, I wouldn't ask you about her. I'd just hit on her when I drag your drunk ass home later.

Allison: [sticks her tongue out at him, before downing another shot] Just be warned that Stiles is already dreading this.

Matt: What, did he date Lydia too?

Allison: He did not. Lydia is Cora's best friend and she doesn't mess with things like that.

Matt: Ah.

Allison: He just doesn't like you. And if you date Lydia you'll probably be around. A lot.

Matt: Yeah, well I don't like him a lot either, but if she's interested and we hit it off, I'd be willing to make a truce.

Allison: Well, feel free to ask her.

Matt: I just want to make sure though that you won't find it too weird. Because our partnership is more important.

Allison: [shakes her head] It's not like I can stop Lydia from doing who she wants. I've tried. She is her own person. Don't treat her like crap and our partnership won't have a problem.

Matt: Alright. That's easy enough. [holds his beer up to cheers]

Allison: [toasts his glass] Cheers.

Matt: [and he will take his drink and look at the bar where there are a few guys he knows from various bars] So, what about you? Relationship or booty call?

Allison: [she exhales slowly before making a face] It's been too long since I've done ... that that I would be a pretty pathetic booty call. [welcome to drunk tmi with Allison Argent]

Matt: [laughs] all the more reason for you to get in a few - we need to get you back in the game and no one, no one should go that long without. So the question is - do I take you home, or do we find someone else to take you?

Allison: [she will actually look at the rest of the room, and see the guys eyeing her and she makes a face. sorry dudes. then her eyes widen and she fumbles for her phone] I know who can take me home.

Matt: Oh?

Allison: [she nods] I'll call Ronnie. We've been booty calls before.

Matt: So you're into getting some action below the border.

Allison: Who isn't?

Matt: But are you sure you want him, or do you want something new and exciting?

Allison: [she shakes her head] I've done that before but it's always weird and I have to tell them what I like. Ronnie already knows, and I don't have to focus.

Matt: Alright then. Tell your Latin lover to come join us.

Allison: [and she will do that, and there's a lively conversation, before she'll hand him the phone] He wants to talk to you.

Matt: [takes the phone] Sorry dude, you're not my type.

Ronnie: Cute, dude. But not what I was going to ask. How drunk is she?

Matt: Not enough to go to the ER, enough to have her relaxed and not caught up inside her own head.

Ronnie: Alright. Mind if I come pick her up, then?

Matt: Not at all.

Ronnie: Okay, then. I'll be there in a bit.

Matt: [makes sure he knows the address, and then hands the phone back] I guess I'll have to ask Lydia another time.

Allison: Don't worry. There will be an opportunity, I'm sure. [and she'll finish up with Ronnie and hangs up] It's just hard to actually enjoy it when I don't trust them, you know? Especially when I'm drunk.

Matt: Well, practice with Ronnie while he's in town, and next time I'll keep you on the cute side of tipsy.

Allison: [nods once] Sounds good.

Matt: I think I may know a guy too. I'll have to reach out to him and see if he's still in town, but you'd have fun with him.

Allison: What's his name?

Matt: Jeremy.

Allison: Jeremy. [she weighs the name like that actually tells her anything] Okay.

Matt: He's a vampire hunter.

Allison: We'd be a matched set.

Matt: yeah, you would be. And he comes through town a lot since I live with his sister.

Allison: Well he sounds cool.

Matt: So you're fine with me telling him about you?

Allison: [she nods] Sure. I could probably use more friends if nothing else. [and friends not connected to Beacon Hills]

Matt: Good.

Ronnie: [and as if on cue, Ronnie swings in with a smile] Hey, guys.

Matt: Hey man. [grins]

Allison: [brightens when she sees him] Hey!

Ronnie: Mind if I steal your drink date?

Matt: Go ahead. Just make sure she has time in the morning to change clothes so there's no walk of shame in the office tomorrow.

Ronnie: [gives him a salute as he takes Allison's hand] You got it. [and off they will go to do what adults do]

Matt: [good. though how he's the one not getting any tonight continues to boggle him]

Lydia: [well you do have a certain redhead's number from that time you took her home after finding a dead body. just don't remind her of that]

Matt: [well he does have a reason to call anyway so ring ring?]

Lydia: [glances down at her phone and answers it curiously] Hello?

Matt: Hey Lydia, this is Matt. Allison's work partner.

Lydia: [and that's definitely a smile] Matt, hi.

Matt: Hi. I just wanted to let you know that Allison just left with her friend Ronnie and I'm pretty sure she isn't going back to her place tonight. Just so you don't get worried about her not coming home.

Lydia: That doesn't surprise me. I figured she would once I heard Ronnie was in town.

Matt: I think she needed to let loose a bit, after everything she's been dealing with.

Lydia: Yeah, things have been rough since things imploded with Derek.

Matt: Yeah, I've noticed. But hopefully this will get her on a new path

Lydia: Fingers crossed. I love her, but I'm officially over their drama.

Matt: [chuckles] So, um... you by chance wouldn't be interested in maybe grabbing a drink one day after work at all?

Lydia: [and she grins] I would love that.

Matt: [brightens up] Great. Is there any day that's best for you?

Lydia: My late nights are Tuesday and Thursdays, but I teach, so late is like ... nine. So I guess it depends on if that's too late for you.

Matt: It depends on the day. I'm sure you've seen how late Allison comes in sometimes. But we just finished a case so I should have normal hours for a few days. How about Friday?

Lydia: Friday is perfect. Do you want me to meet you somewhere?

Matt: Well, I'm fond of [bar Cora works in] but haven't been there in awhile.

Lydia: My best friend works there. I love that place.

Matt: Great. Meet you there then around seven?

Lydia: See you then.

Matt: See you then.

Lydia: [and she will hang up and go back to paper grading]

Matt: [and he will pay the tab and head home, grinning to himself]

Lydia: [good job, Matt]