𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊, Lydia Martin

03 | lost in translation

"we were having fun,
now i can't wait to be done"
-The Neighbourhood

"YOU KNOW, I'M STARTING NOT TO LIKE THIS IDEA." Isaac Isaac was pacing by the loft's floor-to-ceiling windows, his voice edgy. "Sounds kinda dangerous."

"Yeah, that's because it is." Tobias' glare never wavered from the closed metal door, his posture stiffening when he heard the sound of distant footsteps climbing the staircase.

Isaac stopped, pointing directly at him. "You know what? I don't like this plan, and I really don't like him." His finger jerked toward the door.

"Ditto." Tobias muttered, keeping his focus on the door.

"You'll be fine," Derek said flatly, not offering much else from where he sat, looking unimpressed.

"Does it have to be him?" Isaac's frustration started to show as he walked closer to the table near the windows, his eyes narrowed at Derek.

"He knows how to do it," The alpha explained. "I don't."

"I know how to do it, too," Tobias brought the argument up for the third time in the last half an hour, turning to look at him. "You just don't want to learn."

"I just don't want to kill him, you mean." Derek corrected him. "It'd be more dangerous if I tried doing it myself. I don't suppose you'd like another one of your friends to be used as a guinea pig?" Derek's eyes locked on Tobias, his words carrying a sharp edge.

"And I don't suppose you'd like to be my next target at practice?" Tobias snapped, stepping away from the pillar and drawing a throwing knife from his waistband, holding it loosely at his side.

"You know Scott doesn't trust him, right?" Isaac intervened, trying to cool things off. He shot Tobias a quick glance. "You know, personally, I'd.." He hesitated, then gestured between himself and Tobias. "Well, we'd trust Scott."

"Do you trust me?" Derek finally turned to look at his beta, voice softening slightly.

"Yeah." Isaac answered after a beat, his voice uncertain but steady

The room grew quiet as the weight of Derek's unspoken question hung in the air. Tobias, who'd turned back to the door, glanced at Derek again. Derek's eyes held a silent questioning in them as they looked at him.

The seventeen-year-old rolled his eyes, a quiet exhale leaving him as he returned his blade to its sheath at his back. "As long as you don't start spouting betas without previous notice again, sure." 

"You two wouldn't even be friends right now, if I hadn't." Derek deadpanned.

"Meh, we would've figured it out eventually." Tobias dismissed with a half-smirk.

"Would you have, though? Really?" The older man teased him, raising an eyebrow.

"I still don't like him." Isaac cut in abruptly, his tone firm and stubborn. He'd tuned out most of the back-and-forth by now, a skill he'd perfected in the last few months.

"Nobody likes him," both Tobias and Derek said in unison, exchanging a look.

The footsteps from earlier stopped just outside the door. "Speak of the devil," Tobias muttered, moving to stand next to Isaac with his arms crossed.

The metal doors slid open smoothly, and Peter Hale walked in, a smug grin already on his face.

"Boys," Peter greeted them, his tone dripping with condescension. "FYI, yes, coming back from the dead has left my abilities somewhat impaired, but the hearing still works. So, I hope that you're comfortable saying whatever it is that you're feeling straight to my face." He stepped down the stairs with a smirk, his gaze landing on them expectantly.