puppy love } { of musicals and coming clean

[impetere]

Hayley: [squints] And what have you heard about her reaction, exactly?

Matt: That he has to be babysat now when seeing his son because she no longer trusts him to keep him safe. And this - is so not going to go in his favor.

Hayley: [rolls her eyes] That is not why she did that, that's just Stiles' version, because when it comes to things he doesn't like he tends to make it all about him. Also probably because he's human and doesn't understand pack mentality. Trust me, she's going to be more worried about Stiles then she's going to be worried about taking Ben away from him.

Matt: Yeah, but how is it going to alleviate her fears of something bad following him home to hurt them?

Hayley: Because it's not a goddamn assassin, and something magical. Magic, she actually understands. And, if there's anything I've learned from living with the Mikaelsons, there's nothing wrong with having back up around.

- - - - -

Stiles: [ he stands in the middle of a room. he's been there awhile but he doesn't recognize any faces but he doesn't mind. he's hanging out at the bar talking with some aliens and deciding where he's going to take his spaceship next. space, it's fun. he gets to go wherever he wants and he doesn't have to answer to anyone. so what if he does a few jobs for not so reputable people - he's free and he can get to live his life the way he wants it.]

Cora: [is mostly just ... really confused. One minute she was answering a knock on her door, and the next she was in space - in Star Wars, even - dressed in clothes that weren't hers and into a bar she doesn't recognize. In fact, the only familiar thing in here is ...] Stiles?

Stiles: [and he will turn to someone saying his name, a familiar smirk on his face.] Hello, Princess Hale.

Cora: [yep, that's not helping] Princess what?

Stiles: Princess Cora Hale from the late planet Alderaan. [ok, this isn't going like how his dreams normally go] Did you forget your name, Princess?

Cora: Did you forget yours? [she glances around, completely confused] Stiles, where are we?

Stiles: [blinks] No, I'm Captain Stiles Stilinski, of the Serenity Falcon. And we're at the cantina. [and he's going to step closer because something's weird here]

Cora: So you're saying that some weird dude with a red pocket square didn't show up at your door and then have everything go a little hazy?

Stiles: Seriously, are you trying to ruin my dream?

Cora: Well, for one thing, it's not a dream.

Stiles: [facepalm] Yup, it's ruined. [sighs] What are you doing here?

Cora: I have no idea.

Stiles: Wait, you said something about... shit, the Music Meister.

Cora: The who?

Stiles: It's an asshole we were trying to apprehend at work today. [thinks] I thought he just knocked me unconscious.

Cora: Well, he did more than that. I can't smell anything.

Stiles: [sniffs and wrinkles his nose] Consider that a blessing. Damn, Scotty what did you eat for lunch?

Scott: [turns to look at them and just howls. He's kinda cute in the 7 foot dark haired human dog with Scott's face way]

Cora: [yeah, okay, that's ... weird] So ... how do we get out of here?

Stiles: We just have to wake up.

MUSIC MEISTER: Oh, you have to do more than that. [sipping an appletini]

Cora: [turns to the voice and points] Him! That's him. [and she starts to move forward] Do I also have to punch you? Because I can do that.

Stiles: Yeah, when you're done punching, I'm shooting him. [goes for his blaster]

MUSIC MEISTER: Please, children, relax. I'm not here to hurt you. In fact, I think you're going to find that when this is all over, you'll be thanking me.

Cora: Unlikely.

MUSIC MEISTER: [jumping up on the bar just in case, and no one is bothered by him] See, I was minding my business when this gentleman [pointing at Stiles] tried to arrest me. However, there is a sweet little pile of lies and hidden truths in those eyes I couldn't help but get a taste of just what they are. So, poof! Here you are in my little world, and if you want to get out - you're going to have to finish this little story and come clean about everything you've been holding back.

Stiles: [no, he's really going to shoot him, raising the blaster] How about no?

Cora: Who says you get to interfere?

MUSIC MEISTER: No one. But no one expects the Spanish Inquisition either so...

Cora: [would be growling, if she could actually growl right now]

Stiles: [tries to pull the trigger but wouldn't you know it, only a little flag comes out that says "pew pew" on it]

MUSIC MEISTER: Oh, and one last thing. Because love stories are always better to music... [he will snap his fingers and there is now background music playing] I hope you did your vocal warmups.

Cora: [eyes widen] You want us to sing?

MUSIC MEISTER: I'm not called the Music Meister for nothing. Finish the story and get to that powerful love ballad at the end, and home you'll go. [and with that, and the cantina picking up into a chorus number that pretty much is the prologue about lost loves and broken hearts. the Music Meister will disappear into the crowd]

Cora: [will try to chase him, but she can't track him without her nose so she just gets frustrated and tries to find her way back to Stiles]

Stiles: [and two aliens are going to sing at her about her broken heart and how being away from her one true love made her pine for the day he would return. When she finds him, he's glaring at three others who are talking about how her leaving has left him unable to feel and he will end up punching the elephant nose alien in the face]

Cora: Stiles!

Stiles: What?! He was getting into my head!

Cora: We're already in your head. That's the point.

Stiles: Still! [glowers] It made me feel better.

Cora: [sighs as she reaches for him] Let's just figure out how to get to the end of this. Finish the story and get out of here.

Stiles: [lets her drag him away, and once they are outside] Come on, I should have a ship parked over that way...

Cora: [nods and goes to follow his lead, looking around as they go]

Stiles: [and when they get there... there is a big sign on the ship with a NOT IN SERVICE sign on it. There are panels missing and wires everywhere and Stiles is going to just covering his mouth with his hand and shake his head]

Cora: I take it that's the ... ?

Stiles: When I see Scottie again I'm going to have a long talk with him about not finishing what he starts.

Cora: Stiles.

Stiles: It's just... everything's a mess! Look at this, how am I supposed to fix all of this?!

Cora: You don't have to fix it. It isn't real.

Stiles: Well right now it's very real!

Cora: [sighs] Maybe we don't need the ship to finish the story.

Stiles: But what if we do? This asshole is just trying to make things harder on me!

Cora: Then we can fix it! If we have to follow the story, then fixing it is part of it.

Scott: [appearing out of nowhere] It's not the ship that needs to be fixed.

Stiles: You did this on purpose?

Scott: Someone had to. You need to stop running.

Cora: [this is so weird but...] What has to be fixed, then?

Scottie: You. Both of you.

Cora: There's nothing wrong with us.

Stiles: We're just moved on, Scottie.

Scott: You're both lying, and you know it.

Cora: I'm not lying. He said this wasn't what he wanted.

Stiles: Exactly, because what I do is dangerous and I wanted to keep them safe.

Scottie: Did. What you did. [and music swells up in the background] But You didn't fight him on it, Cora. You wanted him back. You still want him.

Cora: Well, what was I supposed to do? Tie him to a chair and force him to be with me? It was seven years ago.

Scottie: [and the piano music swells as he starts to sing "How to Save a Life" by the Fray]

Step one, you say we need to talk
He walks, you say sit down, it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left, and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came
Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Let him know that you know best
Cause after all, you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And I pray to God he hears you
Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came
Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life
How to save a life
Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life
How to save a life

Cora: [looks away and shakes her head] That's now how this works.

Stiles: [and his jaw is grit because fuck you music meister getting into his head] And like she said, seven years. Neither of us are the same.

Cora: And we shouldn't be. Just because we still care about each other, doesn't mean we should be together if it's not what we need.

Scott: Then what is it that you need?

Cora: [she shrugs] I need a partner. And if he can't be that, then the logical thing would be to find someone else. [even if that hasn't been working out so well for her]

Boba Fett: [and as if on cue, he will enter and hold up blasters at them,] Captain Stilinski, I'm here for the bounty on your head.

Stiles: Oh fuck really, now?! We don't even have real blasters?!

Boba Fett: [fires his blaster and hits the ship behind them]

Stiles: Okay, you have a real blaster. [looks at Cora] Run.

Cora: [Yep, don't have to tell her twice. she'll just reach for his hand on instinct and off they go]

Stiles: [and Scottie will go the other way as he takes her hand and leads her through the maze of alleys in the space town, dodging blasters until he finds a doorway and kicks it in] Get in!

Cora: [and she does as she's told, pulling him in after her]

Stiles: [and it's a tiny little power station where they are pressed up against each other once the door is shut, looking out a slit in the door] We'll be safe here as long as we're quiet.

Cora: [nods and up, just going to try and ignore the proximity and focus on being quiet]

Stiles: [and once the danger has passed, he will look down at her]

Cora: [looks up at him. In some ways not having her senses right now is a blessing, but there are still things she can feel and she only holds the gaze for a moment before she starts to look away]

Stiles: Is what Scottie said true?

Cora: What does it matter?

Stiles: Because it does.

Cora: [takes a deep breath and looks back at him] Yes. It is. But wolves don't love the way humans do. I didn't expect you to return it.

Stiles: Why didn't you? Expect me to return it?

Cora: Because you were always better at this than I was. I figured you'd moved on. I wanted you to move on. I didn't want to think that you had been alone the way I was. It sucked.

Stiles: There's a lot worse things than being alone.

Cora: I know. But I wanted you to be happy. The way you were with me.

Stiles: I know you did. So did I, for you.

Cora: I tried. I really did. But the closest I ever got was ... Ben. Being a mom made me happy.

Stiles: I know how that feels. Ben makes me happy too. Probably one of the few things that does these days.

Cora: Why? I mean, why isn't there more?

Stiles: [it's just a sad smile and he goes to look out the slot again] I think they're gone.

Cora: [she shakes her head as she pushes him back to look at her] Don't dodge this.

Stiles: I can't answer that, Cora.

Cora: Well, I think you have to. Because apparently you bottling things is the reason why we're here, so tell me. I can take it.

Stiles: [and look, music is swelling. Stiles is going to look up at the sky] Oh fuck you, man.

Cora: [rubs her forehead] He can just tell me. He doesn't have to sing it.

Stiles: I don't think I get a choice.

Cora: [sighs as she looks up at him] I'm sorry.

Stiles: Me too. [and the opening chords start to repeat. LOUDER. Stiles just sighs because no really, fuck you man]

And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
And sooner or later it's over
I just don't wanna miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am

Cora: [sighs and just reaches for his hand] Then show me. I'm right here, Stiles.

Stiles: [he opens his mouth to speak, but the door is going to open beside them and it's Boba Fett]

Boba Fett: Nice little song. Led me right to you. [and he's going to lean in and grab Cora and make to pull her out]

Cora: [and she's definitely going to try and fight him off, but not being a werewolf currently is making that a little difficult. the bounty hunter definitely has both size and strength on her right now]

Boba Fett: Don't fight it, Princess. There's a large bounty on your head, but it's dead or alive.

Stiles: Get your hands off her.

Boba Fett: What are you going to do about it, Stilinski?

Cora: [yep, there's no reason she's not going to fight him, as futile as it is] Stiles ...

Stiles: You want a fight, Fett? I don't need a gun to take you out. Let her go.

Cora: [and with all that armor, all the attempts to stomp on his foot or jab him in the gut really aren't doing much good]

Boba Fett: Bring it on. [and he's going to just toss Cora at some random bodyguard that will hold her as Stiles goes to right.]

MUSIC MEISTER: [behind the bodyguard mask] Exciting, isn't it?

Cora: [yeah, she's not much happier with you either] You are so lucky I don't have my actual teeth right now.

MUSIC MEISTER: Exactly why I took it away. That plus I think you should get a nice view of how much your boyfriend can take care of problems. Little fear I felt you might have inside that head of yours.

Cora: [yeah, that wasn't what she was actually afraid of?? And watching Stiles murder people IS NOT GOING TO MAKE HER FEEL BETTER ABOUT THAT FEAR, but okay asshole.]

Stiles: [give him credit, he's not going to kill Fett. Because let's face it, in Stiles' head Fett is the best bounty hunter EVER and Stiles isn't that egotistical. but he can keep up quite well while analyzing the situation and he's going to swing around and make it so he can actually strike the bodyguard and get Cora out of his grip] Go, I'll catch up!

Cora: No, I'm not going to leave you alone!

Stiles: I can handle this! I don't want you getting hurt.

Cora: I don't want you getting hurt either. [just because she doesn't have powers doesn't mean she's useless in a fair fight. she does know how to fight, and it shows when another bodyguard comes up to try and restrain her]

Stiles: [he would huff in frustration but the fight keeps going until he is able to disable Fett and get his blaster, pointing it at the men as he backs up to grab Cora's hand and pull her to his side] Alright assholes, this ends now.

Cora: [goes where she's pulled watching all of them as though she's trying to anticipate where the fight is going to come from next]

Boba Fett: You know it's never going to end, Stilinski. You can't give it up. That bounty is never going to go away.

Stilinski: This is just a fucked up storyline and not real. You don't know what you're talking about.

MUSIC MEISTER: You're the one making the story, kiddo. And they have full access to your head, so they do, I'm afraid. The fact you haven't figured the story out yet is hilarious though.

Cora: There has to be a less fucking convoluted way of doing this?

MUSIC MEISTER: Hey, I'm working with what I have - you haven't seen inside this guy's head.

Stiles: Fuck you.

MUSIC MEISTER: Sorry, not my type. Though you are pretty on the eyes.

Cora: Oh my God. [buries her face in her hands] Just ... stop. We were doing fine before you interfered.

MUSIC MEISTER: Oh yes, you were. Here, I'll skip the second act and give you both the cliff notes: You both still love each other. The boy, however, is damaged way more than he lets on and it keeps him from allowing him to commit to anything - even if he really wants it. The girl really wants the boy, but uses his excuse of wanting to be friends from pursuing it. A few cuts of backstory including way too many deaths for one person to handle and still pretend to be sane... and you enter act three where the princess needs to save the rogue captain before he gets himself into a battle he doesn't walk away from.

Cora: And how do we stay away from that? Because you're the one trapping us here, and you're pulling all the strings, so why the fuck should I trust you to tell the story? [a beat and yeah, she's fucking angry] Also, fuck you. You can't force someone to love you or be with you. It has to be something they want, or it doesn't mean anything. I didn't do anything wrong, I was just respecting what he told me he wanted.

MUSIC MEISTER: Ah, but here's the thing - did he tell you what he wanted, or did he lie to protect you.

Cora: What does it matter? I'm not a mind reader. If he wants to lie to me then there's nothing I can do about that, but I'm not going to barrage him into being with me either, whether it's what he wants or not. He's an adult. He can make his own decisions.

MUSIC MEISTER: [and he just looks at Stiles] You're being pretty quiet over there.

Stiles: [trying not to let his emotions get out of his control] Fuck you.

MUSIC MEISTER: I think you're striking a chord, Cora.

Cora: God, no one asked you to play Dr. Phil with our lives. And if you'd ever actually been in love before, you might realize that being with that person doesn't necessarily fix anything. I love Stiles. I'll probably always love Stiles. But loving him means not forcing him into something that he doesn't want or will make him resent me or our son. And you don't get a fucking say in how we choose to live our lives.

Stiles: [softly to Cora] But I do want it.

Cora: [turns to face him] Then it was on you to say it. Not him to force it out of you with some kind of twisted lucid dream. [sighs and closes her eyes] I'm not angry with you. I'm very angry with him. [points at the Music Meister]

Stiles: Yeah, you and me both.

MUSIC MEISTER: I'm not forcing him to say anything. I'm giving you both a stage to finally talk. What you talk about is all dictated by him and his imagination.

Cora: No, you're not hearing me. It wasn't your job to decide that for us. We would have gotten to it when we were ready to. And how is it not force if we're trapped in here until you're satisfied.

Stiles: Cora... we can keep fighting him, but it's not going to do us any good. We need to figure it out on our own and just ignore him.

MUSIC MEISTER: Hmmm, I think someone's figured the story out.

Stiles: Yeah, and I'm not going there, but there's always more than one exit. [takes Cora's hand] Come on, just ignore him. We'll figure another way out.

Cora: [doesn't necessarily agree, but she trusts him so she takes his hand and follows him]

MUSIC MEISTER: [holds his hands up to keep the rest of the cast from following them, his eyes on Stiles. It's not over yet, but he will give them space to see if they can do this on their own]

Stiles: [and he's quiet, just leading her to the ship which is still broken and sitting on the ramp and rubbing at his eyes] I'm sorry you got involved in this.

Cora: It's not your fault. [goes to sit next to him] Will you tell me what's going on? Please?

Stiles: [sighs] The job I do with Hayley and the others is going after supernaturals who are causing problems or hurting people. Getting them to stop with non-lethal methods, I promise. This guy enjoys putting people into trances and committing crimes while they are stuck in their own heads - but we never knew what it was like inside the head because the victims never give details. [laughs] Now I know why. But the thing is - not everyone lives through his trances. We don't know why, so we need to get out of here and quickly.

Cora: And how do we do that?

Stiles: We're trapped because we're not honest with each other about what we want from each other. About what's going on and what we can do to fix this. It sucks we're being forced to, but maybe we can make it work for us?

Cora: Okay. [sighs as she settles in more] Then where do you want to start?

Stiles: [thinks] I told you I didn't want to be anything more than friends because of my job. Because I know what I do, and I knew what kind of danger I could put you and Ben in if there was documentation of a relationship. I took a lot of precautions about Ben and it was made easier by you keeping me off the birth certificate. You notice I've never asked to be put on it, right? I always gave you cash or had a deposit made from a dummy account that bounced through three countries to eliminate a direct trail to us. There are so many protocols for agents having kids and I made sure I put every single one into place. I didn't want you to ever have to be afraid about that.

Cora: I get that, Stiles. I never thought you would intentionally put him in danger. But sometimes, all the precautions in the world don't do any good. My mom took a lot of precautions to keep our family safe, and she was one of the strongest alphas on the west coast, and she and my family still died in that fire. Whatever precautions I've taken since I learned the truth have nothing to do with you or your capabilities. It has to do with me needing to feel safe. It's not just with you either, it's with me too. Malia's been sleeping on my couch for weeks.

Stiles: I hate knowing I've taken that safety away from you. You've dealt with so much since we were teens... I never wanted to hurt you.

Cora: I never thought you did.

Stiles: [nods] But I didn't put that barrier up because I didn't still love you. I do, Cora, I really do. And I want nothing more than to be with you. I just want you and Ben safe first.

Cora: So what's standing in the way of that?

Stiles: [he looks at his hands] Me.

Cora: Why?

Stiles: Because you're expecting the old me. The boy you fell in love with and I stopped being him a long time ago. Long before I even joined the CIA.

Cora: I'm not expecting anything, Stiles. Even if we did get back together, I wasn't expecting it to be the same. We would still be starting over.

Stiles: And that's the thing - I can't get my hopes up either. Starting over means a chance it won't work. And then what happens to Ben? [what happens to him when he can't handle the realization she won't like him how he is now]

Cora: Ben doesn't have to know until we're sure it's going to work. We're adults, I'm pretty sure we can tell pretty quickly if things aren't right, and we'd figure it out. It's not an impossible thing to coparent and not be together. We've been doing pretty well so far.

Stiles: I know. I just... [deep breath] A lot happened back in Beacon Hills. A lot. And it makes it hard to think about good thing.

Cora: [she shifts a bit before reaching over to take his hands] I know some of it. Parrish told me a little.

Stiles: [holds her hand] You notice Paige isn't here, right?

Cora: [she nods a bit]

Stiles: She got bit and it didn't take.

Cora: [her eyes got even sadder] Did someone ... help her? [she and Paige may not have been close, but she knew that Stiles cared about her, and she would hate to think that the other girl had suffered]

Stiles: [nods] Yeah. Me. I couldn't put it on Allison after... after she had to do that to her mom. And Scott wouldn't have the stomach to.

Cora: [squeezes his hands gently] You did the right thing. Letting it draw out ... it would have been worse for her in the long run.

Stiles: Oh, I know. She wasn't the first one we watched go through that. The alpha pack was horrible. When they couldn't have the territory right out they decided to just claim the town one beta at a time.

Cora: [she shakes her head] I'm sorry. That was what we were trying to avoid by leaving. We thought they would follow us.

Stiles: [shakes his head] You didn't know. But it was a vacuum, and it just screwed us all up. There's no one from the Hills that isn't messed up at the end of that. Even Scott has some residual issues, but we kept him cushioned from most of it.

Cora: Beacon Hills screwed people up before that too. And I'm not saying that to minimize it. I'm trying to say that you're not alone in it.

Stiles: Yeah, but Beacon Hills is what made me the killer. The CIA just gave me the targets.

Cora: When it happened doesn't change anything, Stiles. And it doesn't change how I feel.

Stiles: Feel about what?

Cora: You. It doesn't change how I feel about you.

Stiles: I don't see how you can love a killer, Cora.

Cora: What you did for Paige wasn't murder, it was mercy. And killing in the name of self-defense doesn't make you a bad person. I'll admit, I don't ... entirely understand the whole CIA thing, but I trust you when you say that they were bad people and you had good intentions.

Stiles: I trust my government to tell me the same thing, so that's what I believe. [he squeezed her hands, but he slips into being quiet because he knows the piece he needs to tell her, but he refuses to. He doesn't want to put that on her]

Cora: [she knows he's still holding something back and she pulls his hands into her, catching both of his in one, and moving one up to brush against the side of his face gently] Tell me, Stiles. It's okay.

Stiles: I can't. I don't care what the fucker says, some things are my secrets and they stay with me.

Cora: [she sighs, before looking up at the stars for a moment] I know. I know, Stiles. But I can't die in here. We can't die in here. Ben needs us. I can handle it, whatever it is.

MUSIC MEISTER: [from where he's leaning against the wall] Funny you should mention dying.

Stiles: You know, when I wake up, I'm kicking your ass.

Cora: He's not the only one. [goddamnit she was getting somewhere]

MUSIC MEISTER: I just wanted to come in and give you a bit of inspiration to answer the girl's question, that's all. Since I could feel you already coming up with a way around the truth - and you owe her the truth.

Cora: God, you still don't get that this isn't your business. At all.

MUSIC MEISTER: [grins] Hey, this isn't about me at all. It's about you kiddos. I'm just trying to help you along to hopefully the power love ballad that will set you free.

Cora: We didn't ask for your help.

MUSIC MEISTER: No, but consider it a gift. [snaps his fingers. He's a bit petty too because Stiles was chasing him down so he may take a bit of delight at his torture at they are so close to getting out and he needs just a bit more satisfaction. So look all the baddies are back and starting to circle them as the music starts to swell]

Cora: [and she's immediately on the defensive, ready to get into the fight if that's what they want]

Stiles: [him as well, though he can feel the MM pulling at him. and as the music swells, he isn't able to fight it and]

Life’s a show,
And we all play our parts,
And when the music starts,
We open up our hearts.
Knowing me, some things will come out wrong,
Just like this fucking song,
And you can sing along.

Where there’s life, there's hope
Every days a gift,
Wishes can come true,
Whistle while you work,
So hard -
all day -
That's what they say to me,
As I continue on in misery.

So you can take your songs -

[and makes an shoving them motion at the Music Miester, who laughs and waves his hand, enchanting Stiles harder]

Don’t give me songs.

[Stiles is gritting through his teeth and watching the background players in this story sneaking up on him]

Give me something to sing about.
I need something to sing about….

[he goes to punch Boba Fett and the others trying to attack him, showing off just how deadly Stiles can be with his spy training, and then glares at the Music Meister as he laughs and claps his hands]

Yeah, Life’s a song,
I don’t get to rehearse,
And every single verse,
Makes this that much worse.

Still my friends,
Don’t know why I ignore
Having that one day more...
With the one I'm longing for

Re-live the joy,
Life sends.
With Cora and Ben,
Enjoy this life, pretend
But we know how it goes
That's right -
It ends….

But they can't let it go,
And they don't know enough to know,
That when you lose it all,
There's nothing to stop the fall.

[and he looks away from her, and the music Miester comes down and wiggles his fingers to keep Stiles going, and he looks back, unable to stop the tears on his face.]

There was no pain.
No fear,
No doubt,
Waiting the job out,
To kill me.

Yeah that’s my refrain,
I gave up my life,
Cause I couldn't stand the hurting.
I just wanted to stop hurting...

[and he doesn't even have it in him to look at the Music Miester with anger, just that broken face Cora may remember from seven years ago on his bed the days following after she told him they were leaving and had broken up. The broken Stiles on the edge of the panic attack who didn't have the ability to process the emotions he was feeling. A panic attack that was threatening to overtake him again even as the Music Miester keeps forcing him to sing, trying to wring it all out of him]

So give me something to sing about,
Please, give me something…

Cora: [she sees the look on his face and glances between him and the Music Meister, and this isn’t right. She knows it isn’t right, so she does the only thing she can think of to do at the moment. She reaches for Stiles’ hand, focuses as hard as she can, and pulls him towards and open door. As they pass through it, the scene changes from Star Wars to the most neutral place that had the best memories for them, his bedroom back in Beacon Hills. She knows it might not be the same for him anymore, but it's the first place she thinks of]

Stiles: [he lets himself get pulled, his body shaking as he's trying to fight against the panic attack that really only makes it worse before he stumbles to the ground. He isn't singing anymore. That's good. He then looks around the room and sees it's his room and draws in a shuddering breath] How...?

Cora: Fluke power of will? [she knows there's going to be a cost, because the music is already swelling, but this time it's her who's going to sing, not him:]

One light shines in the drive
One single sign
That our love is alive.
Our life, our own
So why do I live there alone?

Tell me why I wait through the night,
And why do I leave on the light?
You know—I know, this place was our home long ago.
Take this chance,
'Cause it may be our last to be free,
To let go of the past,
And to try to keep this alive,
To let love never die
Or to just live our life.

Take my hand,
And let me take you heart,
Keep it far from what keeps us apart
Let us start with a light in the dark.

Night falls, I stare at the walls.
I wake and wander the halls
And I ache to the bone...
It's like nothing I've known...
I can't get through this alone.

Take this chance,
And we'll make a new start
Somewhere far
From what keeps us apart,
And I swear that somewhere
In the night
There's a light
A light in the dark.

[and her hand is there, extended for him to take]

Stiles: [he watches her a moment, and her singing helps calm him a moment before he nods and reaches over to take her hand, holding it tightly]

Cora: [and that relaxes her, using that hand to pull him in closer and wrap her arms around his shoulders]

Stiles: [and he's going to just curl into her, pulling her down into him and he is just going to cling to her, needing her to help him figure out just how he can get himself out of this place he's sunken himself into]

Cora: [and she keeps him close, holding him tightly] It'll be okay, Stiles. We'll figure it out.

Stiles: I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... [and the Music Miester will be satisfied enough to at least let Cora go. However, he's a softy and she'll need to still wake Stiles up. Instead she gets to wake up to the room of people at CONTROL who are dealing with Stiles; actual body going into panic attack shutdown mode and he's still running with high blood pressure and difficulty breathing]

Cora: [jerks awake and looks around frantically, having no idea where she is, until her eyes land on Stiles, out cold, and she has to yell] Oh come on.

Matt: Okay, what the hell is going on?

Cora: The Music Meister whammied both of us, and for some reason let me go but didn't let him.

Matt: So he's controlling all of this?

Cora: [she nods] Yeah, the asshole.

Matt: Then let's find him and get him to release Stiles.

Cora: It won't work that way. [she sighs as she makes her way closer looking him over for a moment, before reaching out and letting her hand rest against his chest gently] Stiles? Can you hear me?

Stiles: [his eyes twitch, and his hand that is on his chest clenches like it wants a hand to hold]

Cora: [and she will go give him that hand before leaning closer] Stiles, I'm right here. You need to wake up.

Stiles: [damnit he's trying but in his head she's still there and they are just holding each other and it's almost like frozen in time]

Matt: Come on, sleeping beauty. Wake up.

Cora: [it takes a second, and she looks at Matt. And then she rolls her eyes because SERIOUSLY?! but she sighs, before leaning in to kiss him softly]

MUSIC MEISTER: [what, it's a good way to end a story! And he will release Stiles because thank guys, it's been swell and he has the money from his bank robbery now see ya]

Stiles:]and give him a second before he kisses her back, his eyes starting to blink open before he looks around, his brain trying to catch up to what just happened]

Cora: [and she pulls back when he starts to look around, watching him carefully] You okay?

Stiles: I'm very confused right now.

Cora: The Music Meister decided to use the cursed sleeping princess schtick.

Matt: And you were the princess. [sorry he finds this part funny glad you didn't die Stiles]

Stiles: Perfect. Just perfect.

Cora: But otherwise you're okay?

Stiles: I just feel exhausted.

Matt: I'm not surprised. You're blood pressure has been running in the red for almost three hours, and the last half hours you almost stopped breathing twice.

Cora: Maybe I should take him home. [her home, not his home]

Matt: Yeah, why don't you do that. It's Friday, he has tomorrow on call. I'll get with the rest of the team to figure out what to do about the Meister.

Cora: Thanks. [and she will take his arm gently to help him towards the door, getting ready to call an Uber]

Stiles: [and he's going to take it easy because he is still feeling very confused both physically and emotionally, and he'll just let Cora lead him wherever]

Cora: [and they will get in the car and back to her place where she will lead him upstairs and set him down on the couch] Ben is at my dad's until tomorrow, and I can call and ask if they can keep him if they need more time.

Stiles: Yeah. Much as I want to see him, probably not the best mind right now to. [and he's going to just focus on taking off his shoes and shift back into the couch. He's just starting to numb up from the shock and emotional roller coaster]

Cora: [she nods and goes to sit on the coffee table across from him] What are you thinking?

Stiles: Right now I'm trying not to. I'm not even sure if we've woken up.

Cora: We have. This is real.

Stiles: So all that happened though. Everything just ripped out of my head like that.

Cora: Yeah. I think?

Stiles: [and he just closed his eyes] I hate my job sometimes.

Cora: [smirks a bit] But the talk was good though.

Stiles: It was. Except for that last bit on my end...

Cora: [she reaches over and squeezes her hand gently] I'm glad I know.

Stiles: You're glad to know I'm suicidal? [he squeezes her hand back though]

Cora: [sighs and goes to sit next to him, sliding her arms around his shoulders and pulling him in against her] Not that I'm happy you are. But I'm glad I know so I can help you.

Stiles: [and he will shift to lean against her, taking a deep breath] It was just too many people gone and I couldn't handle it anymore.

Cora: [sighs] I know how that feels. [she rubs his shoulders gently]

Stiles: And you were gone so long I was certain you had moved on and I would never see you again... so I thought I would just... I’d be a good soldier and do my duty until it took me. Then I wasn't a coward. My dad could still be proud of me and not think it was his fault or something.

Cora: Your dad would always be proud of you. [she just holds him and lets him get it out] But I know for a fact he would rather help you than lose you.

Stiles: I don't know if you can help me anymore. If anyone can. I'm just too broken.

Cora: [she shakes her head] No one's too broken. A lot of people are worried about you and want to help you. [she presses a kiss to his temple] We'll just take it on day at a time.

Stiles: [he closes his eyes at her kiss] That's the other reason I asked to be friends. I didn't want to pull you into my downward spiral.

Cora: Well, if you want me to, I can try and pull you up.

Stiles: You still want to try? Knowing all of that?

Cora: If I didn't abandon you after I found out you worked for the CIA, I'm not going to abandon you for poor mental health. Everyone is guilty of it every once in a while.

Stiles: [sad chuckle] You really are a glutton for punishment. [and he will reach up to stroke her face gently] A pretty one, though.

Cora: [smiles softly as she leans into his hand] It's your fault. You're the one who made me fall in love with you in the first place.

Stiles: I'll gladly take the blame. We had it good, once. And we have an amazing kid.

Cora: We do. And it could be really good again, if you wanted to try.

Stiles: [nods] I want to try. I just... I worry that I won't remember how to anymore.

Cora: Well, we can take it one step at a time. We can take it slow. [as much as she has really missed him]

Stiles: Or just see where we go and trust each other?

Cora: [she nods] Or that.

Stiles: To be honest, I don't think I have a slow function anymore. At least in anything else, so I'm not going to promise I know how to do this slow either.

Cora: [her teeth rake over her bottom lip] Well, there are some things I wouldn't mind going faster. [because, you know, seven years and all]

Stiles: [he looks at her and laughs, smiling at her] Have you... at all?

Cora: [her head ducks a bit and she shakes her head] Not for lack of trying, but it just ... never felt right.

Stiles: [and that... something in him just makes him cup her cheek and kiss her. Because while he was so not a pinnacle of abstinence in sex, his was done as a stress relief, not a relationship thing. She was the only one he ever made love to]

Cora: [her eyes close and she melts into the kiss, sliding an arm over him as she leans in closer. this is good. this is very good, let's keep doing this]

Stiles: [god, yes. This is right. It's the first time he's felt like he was doing something right in years, and he's hungry for that feeling. But at the same time he wants her to keep control tonight - at least in this moment between them, so he will lean back again and let her shift to be on top of him]

Cora: [which she will happily do, shifting so that she was straddling his waist lightly, but doing everything she can to keep as much in the kiss as she can]

Stiles: [and he will caress her cheek as he deepens the kiss, his other hand sliding her hip to keep her other parts of her body close]

Cora: [yep, and she will happily stay close, slowly deepening the kiss and just enjoying the feeling of him pressed against her again. she keeps sinking into his touch, losing herself in the moment, before she eventually has to break the kiss to catch her breath]

Stiles: [yeah, breathing. that's a thing. He will look up at her, and those eyes are full of all that love he had for her at 18] God I missed you

Cora: [are her eyes glowing? They might be, a little bit] Me too. [and then, because pesky things like consequences are sneaking in] I don't have any ...

Stiles: While I would joke that we already have a kid... I keep one in my wallet.

Cora: Okay. [she glances back over her shoulder] We should also probably go in there, if we're going to ... just in case someone from my family drops by.

Stiles: Yeah. Good idea.

Cora: [so with that she will start to slide off him, moving to the side so he can get up before leading him back to her bedroom]

Stiles: [yup. he is going wherever she will lead] You may want to text Malia just in case. She has that ultra sensitive nose and no filter.

Cora: [she nods before closing the door to the bedroom behind her and pulling him in again] I will. Later.

Stiles: [and he will smile against her lips and kiss her hard, and no, he's not going to take his time. They have time later. Right now he just needs to lose himself in her and her love]

Cora: [she is perfectly okay with moving quickly, especially as clothing is shed and they find their way to her bed and fall into the blankets]

Stiles: [and while there is foreplay to get them both ready, it'll be quick before he's covered and pressing inside of her, and he groans because it felt like he was finally home and where he belonged]

Cora: [gasps and moans, her fingers gripping his shoulders as she tightens around him, taking a moment to relish in the feel of being with him again, especially since it's been so long since he's touched her like this]

Stiles: [and he will keep as much of their bodies connected as he presses in harder and deeper, trying to get as deep as he can inside of her]

Cora: [her hands drag over his back, riding the press of him against her higher and higher until she tumbles hard and fast over the edge]

Stiles: [and he joins her, pressing his body against hers as he groaned in his release, burying his face in the crook of her neck]

Cora: [she practically melts under him as so much unnecessary tension melts from her, tipping her head to the side as she nuzzles against him, her legs tangling over his to keep him close]

Stiles: [and he just relaxes, the stress from the day melting away, but more than that too. It's not all of it, but a good amount of the last seven years' stockpile of anger and stress slides away for the moment, making him feel at peace for the moment. He doesn't plan on moving at all] Can I stay? I don't want to go home.

Cora: [squints a bit] Was you leaving an option?

Stiles: [smiles] Just making sure. Though we're going to need to get more condoms. That was all I had.

Cora: [she laughs] We can run to the drugstore later. [she leans in to kiss him again] That probably didn't help you recover from earlier though.

Stiles: No, but I don't care. I've been wanting this for years. [kisses her back]

Cora: Me too. [she sighs before shifting to give them room to settle next to each other] Sleep now, though?

Stiles: Yeah. [and he will wrap himself up with her to keep her close] I love you.

Cora: [closes her eyes and curls into him] I love you too.

Stiles: [and he's probably going to have the best sleep of his life, no nightmares, no insomnia, just real, peaceful sleep]

Cora: [her too, just a lot of peaceful sleep]