puppy love } { of kidnappings and retrievals

[wildkingdom]

Malia: [and as they're making their way up the front steps, ring ring ring Peter phone]

Peter: [and he will look down at the phone] Give me a moment, it's my daughter. [and he will step to the side and put the phone to his ear] Malia?

Malia: I got ambushed. [her voice is tight as she shoves herself up against the tree, away from the wreck. everything hurts but she needs to get this out] They took the kids.

Peter: [and his back goes ramrod straight, a snarl in his voice] Where are you? [he locks eyes with Freya, because Hope is her niece]

Malia: I don't know. Somewhere on the highway. [Freya is moving closer because that look definitely isn't good.] I got shot.

Peter: Okay. I will come find you. Keep yourself hidden. What kind of bullet? [he mouths Kidnapping call Hayley]

Freya: [does that but she texts instead of calls, it's faster, really and she won't have Hayley panicking by hearing Peter's end of the conversation]

Malia: If it hurts this bad, I'm pretty sure it's wolfsbane. I don't know what kind.

Peter: I'll see if there are additional bullets to help identify it when I get there. Just stay still and calm your breathing and heart. The slower the blood flows, the slower it spreads.

Freya: [looks up at that, and oh, that doesn't sound good]

Malia: Okay. [and that's about the end of the brave face she can put on at this point] Get here soon.

Peter: I will. I need to hang up to do that. I'll be there soon. [and he will hang up and turn to Freya] I have to get to my daughter. I will call my nephew on the way if Hayley can call Stiles.

Freya: If you give me your hand I can get there faster.

Peter: My daughter doesn't know you.

Freya: Then give me something that shows her she can trust me. [she holds out her hand to him] If she was shot with what it sounds like was shot with, this is a matter of expedience, not comfort. I use you to find her and I can text you with exactly where she is when I get there, and I can stop the poison.

Peter: [deep breath, and then reaches into his pocket and pulls out the tiny Disney coin he carries that has Lilo on one side, Stitch on the other] This is the first gift she ever gave me. She'll know I sent you.

Freya: [she takes it in her hand with a nod, before closing her eyes and starting to chant. there's a flicker of magic through the air and Freya slumps against him as her consciousness leaves her body and goes to find Malia. It takes a few moments but five minutes later, his phone is ringing again]

Peter: [and in those five minutes he's rushed her back the rest of the distance to her home and is gently laying her on the couch when it rings. He grabs it] Yes?

Freya: Mile marker seventeen. I've stopped the poison and she's fine, but I can't say the same for her car.

Peter: I'll be there soon. Thank you. [and he will hang up to take off running, getting there as fast as his werewolf legs can take him.]

Freya: [will wait until he gets there before she flickers out of view and back to her body]

Malia: [while Malia will just push herself up and throw herself into her father's arms] I tried to stop them.

Peter: [holds her tightly because she was an adult, but this was his baby girl and she was the one who saw him still as the old Peter] I know you did. You'd fight tooth and claw to save them if you weren't hurt.

Malia: I saw the license plate though.

Peter: Perfect. We can get that to Stiles and he can track them down from here.

Malia: [she nods, but she's just going to lean into the hug for a little bit longer] Your friend is kind of scary.

Peter; I know. But would you expect my friends to be any less? [he will run his hand along her hair]

Malia: [... no that's fair] Guess not.

Peter: Come on, let's get back to the house. I need to tell Laura and Derek still.

Malia: [she nods, and off they go to the house]

Peter: [and he will let Malia explain to Laura as he calls Derek to tell him the bad news]

Laura: [IS UNDERSTANDABLY UPSET and will call Cora to tell Stiles to bring Hayley to the house so they can plan.]

Stiles: [oh, and they will go there, but Stiles is going to have them stop at a greyhound station on the way and leave them in the car] Five minutes. Be right back.

Hayley: Five minutes?

Stiles: You want me to help find our kids? I need five minutes. Trust me. [those are his CIA eyes looking back at her, squeezing Cora's hand]

Hayley: [grits her teeth, before nodding] Fine. I'm going to get an update from Freya anyway. [and she'll reach for her phone and they'll discuss their original vampire bomb]

Stiles: [and he will nod to Cora, then slip out and go inside. He's going to walk through the lockers until he finds the right one, and taking a key from his jacket and putting it into a specific lock. He opens it and there is a guitar case and a backpack inside. He will quickly check then while leaning into the locker so no one can see him checking the black ops gear he had stashed there - you never know when you need to help on a domestic case - before he grabs both and leaves the key in the empty locker as he heads back to the car looking like a traveling guitarist as he heads to the trunk]

Hayley: [and once he's back in the car, she leans back against the seat to look at him] Matt took the license plate Malia gave us and traced it back to a house in the mountains. Good news, I know those mountains pretty well - bad news, a house means there's an owner, so Matt is looking into it to see what we can find out about the family.

Stiles: Where in the mountains? [and he's going to head for the highway] Because I spent time up there too.

Hayley: [and she rambles off an address] Not too far from Laura's but far enough that we'll have to head in on foot.

Stiles: [looks to Cora, taking her hand and holding it] How about you guys? How much time you spend in the woods?

Cora: A good amount, but we don't really go into the mountains much. Not with the kids anyway.

Hayley: Freya is going to try and get Hope a message that we're coming. She has a plan, but I have a feeling it's going to be a messy one.

Stiles: We need to all work together to make this plan, I hope she knows that. Too many people with their own plans is only going to get someone hurt.

Hayley: Oh, I definitely agree. Her plan is to sic Rebekah on them.

Stiles: [looks at Hayley] And what is going to keep Rebekah from siccing us after?

Hayley: Well, she theoretically has a cure. She tested it and it worked, but she needs to wake Beks up first. I guess she'll give her a choice on whether she gets cured before or after. Either way, the end result is be same.

Stiles: Well, great. Let's just hope she gets her cure first so that she doesn't eat her allies.

Hayley: Fingers crossed.

Stiles: [and he will just squeeze Cora's hand as he pushes the limits of the car's speed]

Hayley: [and eventually they'll arrive at the house and Hayley will linger by the threshold because she needs an invite - she's been out to the house but she's never been inside]

Peter: [sees them arrive, and looks to Laura. He would invite her in, but it was the alpha's house]

Stiles: [and he is going to grab his gear from the trunk and go look for a place to set up the very he shouldn't still have this laptop up to get satellite connection]

Laura: [nods and gestures for Hayley to move forward] Come in.

Hayley: [small smile] Thanks. [and she takes a deep breath] So one sister law is waking up the other sister in law to do violence and murder, and she's going to try and get a message to Hope. We tracked the van to the house where they were taken and we're waiting on deed information to make sure that we can make it inside.

Stiles: [and he is going to be working on a lot of angry typing as he manages to get control of a satellite in the area and reposition it to be able to get a camera down on the location of the cabin that Matt texted him the address of, and he's going to zoom in where he has a live picture of the property] I've got them.

Hayley: [and she'll head over to get a better look] Yeah, I definitely know this area. I used to take Tyler there to turn when he wanted to break his sire bond.

Stiles: Matt and I did specialized training about a 25 klicks south of here. We'd do survival training up this way. [he looks at Hayley] There's enough cover for me to find for an infiltration.

Hayley: [she nods] I still want Rebekah in there. They touched my kid, and she needs to eat.

Stiles: [he looks at Cora because they are a team when it comes to Ben] Cora - I can get him. But if you want me here...

Cora: [she shakes her head] No. Go. [she wants someone there that Ben knows one hundred percent he can trust]

Stiles: Alright. What about our fourth, Hayley? What's her role?

Hayley: [is about to answer that when the phone rings and she glances at the caller ID] Let's ask her ourselves. [she accepts the call before placing it on the desk] Allison, what's going on?

Allison: Malcolm Turner called. He wants me.

Stiles: You know it's a trap. I'm counting six hunters already around the cabin setting up a perimeter.

Allison: Oh, I absolutely know it was a trap. But I was thinking we could set up a trap of our own in return.

Stiles: [looks at Hayley] Get Freya on the line. We all need to be involved. [he will put his eyes back on the laptop, manipulating the image around to see if there was a clear window he could get a shot inside before muttering to himself] I wonder if there is a drone in range...

Hayley: No drones until we know where our kids are.

Freya: [Allison goes to do that, and soon comes Freya's voice:] I'm here.

Stiles: [he's half listening, slipping into his agent mindset where he's marking each location mentally in relation to the house and driveway]

Matt: I'm patched in too. Stiles, send me any images you can get and I'll run facial.

Stiles: Get them to you in five.

Allison: Rebekah has agreed to help, and she is very hungry so I think sending her in as quickly as we can is probably our best bet.

Freya: But in order to lure them into a false sense of security, we need to give them a little bait first. Allison and I were discussing it, and we think sending her into the house is our best option. But not without a few surprises, of course.

Stiles: Matt and I can provide the few surprises. This is stuff we're trained to do. We're going to need someone working on the computer here though to keep up the image and give us the locations of the tangos since we lack the extra senses the rest of you have.

Parrish: [from where he is next to Laura, he looks at her, and then stands up] I'm in, if it'll help. I don't really have the senses either, but I'm pretty hard to kill.

Cora: [there's a moment of immediate relief when Parrish volunteers, because honestly too much of this plan was hinging on vampires for her taste]

Hayley: [glances over at him with a curious eyebrow raise before nodding] Sure. The more unkillable people we have, the better.

Stiles: Okay. So the way I'm seeing this, the best point of attack is going to be to come from some angle. If Allison comes up the driveway like they will expect, their heads will turn to focus on her. Allison, you need to drive one of the bulletproof cars because there's no telling if they are going to just gun you down the second you pull up.

Freya: She won't be there at all, so that won't be a concern.

Hayley: But you just ... oh. Astral projection.

Freya: Exactly. She'll mostly be a decoy while the rest of the group can find another way back into the house.

Allison: Also, the house isn't only in Turner's name. There's another name on the deed - Herman Wallace. Matt's sending over the picture now, but I don't think he's going to be out front with the rest.

Stiles: I can either do sniper or insurgent.

Matt: I'd rather do sniper this time. Don't need to distract Rebekah from doing her thing.

Stiles: That works. I've got my scope in the trunk...

Matt: Nah, I've got mine here. You keep her as backup.

Hayley: So we take out Turner and Wallace first, then Rebekah and I can clean up the rest while Stiles and Parrish can go in and get the kids.

Gloria: [comes in the door with Landon, her badge still on her hip] What did I miss?

Parrish: [to Gloria] Battle plans.

Stiles: One more thing though - we need to find out who else is a part of this cell. We take them out, we need to make sure there's not a third wave coming in. And we need to keep it quiet so that no one gets wind about Allison being here, or the Hales.

Matt: I'll see if I can get a cell phone jammer from Bruce before I head out. That'll kill cellular service so they can't make calls out.

Hayley: Maybe we should keep one of them. Lock them up, make sure they're off vervain, and then compel them for any information they have.

Freya: Perhaps even use them as a Trojan Horse, if there are more of them to be found?

Stiles: Allison, any thoughts who would be the best to grab?

Allison: [there's a long silence as she looks over the names, before she points to one] That' one. Eric Weller. He's Turner's brother in law and he's always been pretty in line with Turner's way of thinking. He'll likely know enough to give us some useful information.

Stiles: Matt, find me a picture. Let me see where he is on the map so we can all have a good look at this asshole.

Allison: [and one will pop up not too long after] Text me when you're about five minutes out, so Freya can start the spell.

Stiles: Will do. Matt, you get your spot figured out and text me your coordinates. Freya, tell Rebekah to find Hayley's scent so she can rendezvous with us before we strike so we're all set. [and he's going to find the guy on the screen] Parrish, you have your gun here by chance?

Parrish: It's in the car.

Stiles: Good. [turns to the rest of the Hale house] So we decided who wants to run home base yet? We gotta move.

Gloria: I can do it. It wouldn't be the first time. [also because she knows any of the actual Hales are going to be too worried about their babies]

Stiles: Alright. Come here and let me give you the basic course on how to manipulate government spy satellites. [and he is going to show her all the basic things his laptop does]

Gloria: [yep and she will take note of all of it, and is actually familiar with some of it so that saves him some time]

Stiles: [and when he is done, he'll pull Cora aside. The agent face is gone for the moment, slipping back to Stiles] I'm going to bring our son home, alright. Just stay here and watch the screen.

Cora: [doesn't really know if she can watch, but she'll stay here. she doesn't really know what to do otherwise] Be careful, Stiles.

Stiles: I will. [and well, damned if anyone sees them, he's going to kiss her because there is always that chance and he's not going to give two shits about anyone else's commentary]

Cora: [just closes her eyes and kisses him back, just for a moment, before pushing him back gently] Go. I'll see you when you get back.

Stiles: [and he will give her that confident smirk before stepping away and motioning with his head.] Alright, let's pack up and go.

Hayley: [and off they go to head to the mountains and we will switch to the babies?]

Ben: [yup. Because Baal is scared and curled up in a ball being very quiet, and since Hope was a scary witch but still a girl and hero boys were supposed to protect hero girls, he's going to be giving his best Hale glare at the kidnappers]

Hope: [also glaring as they swing by to check on them, large silhouettes in the bright light of the doorway for a moment, but as soon as the door closes and the room is plunged into darkness, Hope is going to the wrist to remove the bracelet that suppresses her magic, and hands it to Ben] Hold this. And don't tell my mom.

Ben: [nods and he puts it in his pocket so he doesn't lose it]

Baal: What are you going to do?

Hope: I don't know yet. [she shifts up and moves towards the door, pressing her ear to it for a moment] But my magic protects me. It can protect all of us.

Ben: [and he is right by her side] I think I can take one of them. They wouldn't shoot kids. They need us.

Hope: [she shakes her head, eyes closing as she tries to listen to what they're saying] There's too many of them. And my mom isn't going to leave us behind. We shouldn't try and attack them until they come after us.

Baal: And they still have guns. I have seen many bad people kill kids with them. These men may not care.

Ben: Hey, they aren't going to shoot us. So don't even go there, ok? [looks at Hope, wanting to believe the words he said] We could pretend that we need to use the bathroom and if there is a window we can climb out through it.

Hope: Maybe. [she gives up and pulls away from the door, before scrambling to sit next to Baal. she can feel how scared he is and she reaches over to take his hand gently] It'll be okay. You don't have to be scared.

Baal: [and he will hold her hand, but he is shaking just a bit] What did we do wrong? Why would they want to take us?

Ben: [joins them, putting a hand on his cousin's back] I don't know. But my mom was always afraid of bad people taking me.

Hope: Mine too. But as scary as they are? My mom and my aunt are scarier. [Hayley may have protected a lot of her innocence but there are some things that even she knows. but she doesn't like the fact that Baal is so scared so she starts to do what Grandma Mary always does when she has a bad dream - sings an old song under her breath, and her magic picks up on her intentions a little, pressing a calming aura from her hand and into Baal]

Baal: [and he will relax at that feeling, leaning into them both a bit as his shaking calms] I still think it is best that we stay here, Ben. This is not a movie. We must behave and wait for help.

Ben: [he looks at Hope, then nods] Alright, we'll wait for help, Baal. But if they try and hurt any of us, I'm going to bite them. [and after a moment] I hope Aunt Malia is okay.

Hope: Me too. [it looked pretty bad, but she doesn't want to say that out loud]

Baal: [and his ears are going to twitch and his head will snap up] They are coming close again.

Hope: [and she pushes up as well, eyes narrowing at the door and tightening her grip on Baal's hand]

Ben: [and he's going to stand between all of them, that way Hope can do whatever witchy stuff she needs behind his back, and Baal is protected]

Bad Dude: [opens the door and looks in at them, and then literally tosses in a box of granola bars and capri suns packs before shutting it again]

Hope: [glares. a lot. but as she gets up to go investigate the food situation, she feels something familiar flicker through her and a folded piece of paper drops to the ground] Oh!

Baal: [and he smelt something in the air because magic totally has a scent] What was that?

Hope: [she reaches down to pick it up, unfolding the paper and her eyes widen as she spins around to face them again] It's from Aunt Freya!

Ben: What does it say? [and he's going to go get the food and bring it back to their little triangle.]

Hope: My mom is coming and she's bringing Aunt Rebekah. [there's a beat as she looks around the room, before she points to one of the closets] We need to go in there.

Ben: How long do we have?

Hope: I don't know. But I can't do a barrier spell on a room this big. [which is why they need to go in the closet]

Ben: If they don't see us though, and they are going to take a long time -

Baal: [and he is going to jump up to his feet and grab their arms] Now. We're going now. [because that was a gunshot and breaking glass he heard and he is going to push them into the closet]

Hope: [goes easily and once they're all inside, she closes the door behind them and starts chanting under her breath the way that Aunt Freya taught her, until there's another flicker of magic and the deadbolt slams closed. after that, she goes to sit on the floor next to the boys, staying close. and in the meantime violence ensues]

Stiles: [and eventually they are going to get into the cabin and he's going to talk on his headset with Gloria to make sure all the tangos are down and he's clear before getting to the closet where he can see the thermal signatures of the kids in his goggles.] Hope, put the spell down. I'm here.

Hope: [eyes it carefully for a moment] Are all the bad guys gone?

Stiles: Your mom and aunt are taking care of the last ones outside. Everyone inside is gone, and Detective Parrish is here to help me get you out to the car.

Hope: [and she exhales, relaxing a bit before reaching up and flipping the lock, breaking the spell at the same time] Ben, can I have my bracelet?

Ben: [goes and hands it to her] Here you go.

Stiles: [hears the latch open and he will put his gun into his shoulder holster and slide his goggles up to his head. He'll open the door, knowing this is going to be a shock to the kids seeing him in full battle gear, but he can't help it] Everyone alright?

Ben: [just staring at his dad because holy fuck]

Baal: [nods] Can we go home now?

Hope: [doesn't really care what Stiles is wearing, she just puts her bracelet back on and looks up at him] Where's my mom?

Stiles: Outside. She'll meet us at the car. Come on, we got to go. Stay close to me just in case, okay?

Hope: [nods and reaches up to take his hand, before reaching back behind her for Ben or Baal's]

Stiles: [and he's going to nod to Parrish who is going to take up the rear, and they get to the door. He then lifts his wrist to his lips] Gloria, am I clear to the car?

Gloria: Yep, Rebekah and Hayley just took down the last two. The only one still breathing is the one you wanted to interrogate which Matt is shoving in the SUV now.

Stiles: Good. [and he will head out, pulling out his gun again just in case one of the ones down isn't dead dead, and then ushers the kids out and keeping himself between the kids and the bodies until they get to the car. At that point he kneels down, pulling all three into a hug because holy fuck they did it and the kids are safe]

Hope: [Yep, she'll totally take that hug, this was a scary day, up until she sees her mom and she'll break way] Mom!

Hayley: [yep there is some serious hugging happening right now] Don't do that again, okay? Promise me.

Hope: I promise.

Baal: Where's my papa?

Stiles: He's going to meet us back at Aunt Laura's, ok?

Baal: [nods, but stays close to his uncle]

Ben: [hugs his dad tightly, and then looks up at him] So are you like a superhero in real life?

Stiles: Yeah, kiddo. But you have to keep my identity a secret, okay? That's why you didn't know.

Ben: My dad's totally Batman. [bright grin]

Stiles: [snorts] Come on, get in. Your mom and Baal's dad are waiting to hug you both. [and he will shuffle them into the car] Hayley, you coming with me or you going with Rebekah and Matt?

Hayley: I'm coming. [work can be saved for tomorrow and Rebekah and Matt probably have ... stuff they should talk about]

Parrish: [and he will drive while Hayley and Stiles are in the back just holding their kids, and the gear is in the trunk.]

Cora: [yep, and back at the house Cora goes to the window the minute she hears the car] They're back.

Stiles: [and when they get back, the kids go running to their parents. Stiles goes to put his gear back in his packs so Cora can get personal time snuggling Ben.]

Cora: [oh yeah, she's probably going to meet Ben halfway and just scoop him up and not let him go for a good long time] Are you okay?

Ben: [hugs his mom tightly] Yeah, I'm okay. I protected Hope and Baal.

Cora: Good. [there's a deep breath as some of the fear leaks through and she just squeezes him a bit] I'm sorry, kiddo. That shouldn't have happened.

Ben: It's ok, Mom. It's a good thing Dad's Batman.

Cora: [she laughs a bit at that, totally crying now, before nodding] Yeah, I guess it is.

Ben: Don't cry, Mom. I'm okay. [and he will push back a bit] Where's Aunt Malia?!

Cora: She's okay. She's inside. We can go see her. [because like hell if she's letting him out of her sight for at least right now]

Stiles: [and he is going to come over and join him, exhausted because his adrenaline is draining] Everyone ok?

Cora: [she nods as she sets Ben down so he can head into the house to see Malia] He wants to go see Malia.

Ben: [and he is going to run inside because he wants to check on his aunt because she was shot]

Stiles: [and he will nod] I'm about to crash. Think there's a spare bed I can pass out on?

Cora: Just stay in my room. [because honestly she was going to ask him to stay with her anyway] I'll be in after I put him to bed.

Malia: [is on the couch with Landon and looks up when she hears Ben's footsteps coming around the corner] Ben?

Stiles: Which way? [because he didn't know]

Ben: [and nope, cannonballing into his aunt because he was worried]

Malia: [scoops him up and holds him tight] It's okay. I'm all good.

Cora: Upstairs, second door on the right. I'm right next to Ben's room.

Stiles: [nods and kisses her cheek, and then heads upstairs where he is going to just pass the fuck out]

Ben: I was so worried about you. So was Baal and Hope. You looked really hurt. Like not healing from it hurt.

Malia: Well, I am all better now. [she leans back just a bit so he can see the shoulder where she had taken the bullet and it's perfectly healed] See?

Cora: [and she will follow him to where Malia and Ben are, and just lean in the doorway]

Ben: [and his hand will run along the smooth skin] That's cool.

Malia: [she laughs] Yeah, it is. Are you okay?

Ben: Uh huh. It was scary, but they didn't hurt us. I protected Hope and Baal.

Malia: Good. You did good, kiddo.

Ben: [grins, then lens in a bit] Did you know that my dad is really Batman? [so much for that secret identity, Dad. but it's family and you don't keep secrets from family]

Malia: [her eyes widen comically and she'll play along] No way.

Ben: Uh huh. It was totally cool. He had all this gear on and a gun and it was totally epic.

Malia: Cool. Sounds like you had an adventure.

Ben: Yeah. [and he is going to snuggle into his aunt because while he knows he should hug everyone else and let them know he is okay, he's getting tired now too. And hungry]

Malia: [glances up to Cora, and she nods before moving closer]

Cora: Hey, buddy. How about we get you to bed?

Ben: But I need to tell people I'm okay. And I didn't have dinner. [tired whiny mode is set on]

Cora: [smiles softly, before going to scoop him up] How about we go take a nap, and when you wake up, Aunt Laura will make you her famous blueberry pancakes? How does that sound?

Ben: [and he will cling to his mother's neck] Okay.

Cora: [presses a kiss to his cheek and will take him up to his room and sit him down on the edge of the bed, before crouching down to take off his shoes] You were really brave today, kiddo. I'm really proud of you.

Ben: I was scared, but I thought about what you, and Uncle Derek, and Aunt Laura would be like and I wanted to be like you so I put on my werewolf angry face.

Cora: [she smiles a bit at that setting his shoes to the side before reaching up and brushing a hand against the side of his face] Well, you did a very good job. And it's okay that you were scared. I'm just glad you stayed safe and your dad brought you home.

Ben: [with his shoes off he will curl up in bed to let his mom tuck him in] I guess since he's not a werewolf, Dad had to become Batman to protect us.

Cora: [she does just that, sitting on the side of the bed next to him as she runs her fingers through his hair soothingly] There is nothing he wouldn't do to keep you safe.

Ben: [smiles and closes his eyes] He's a good daddy like that

Cora: Yeah, he is.

Ben: [and he's fading fast] love you, Momma.

Cora: Love you too, kiddo. I'll see you in the morning, okay?

Ben: [nope, no answer. he's out]

Cora: [she'll sit there, watching him for a moment, before she gets up and heads to her room next door, curling up in bed next to Stiles and ... not really sleeping. she tries, she does, but her brain is going way too fast with the what ifs]

Stiles: [it will take a while, but his head is also going through the what ifs but in his dreams. And those dreams go to very bad places when he's just coming off a case and his sleep is going to get to the point where he will snap himself awake, pushing himself up and off the bed, breathing hard and trying to figure out where he is as his breathing and heart is racing]

Cora: [glances over when he snaps up, and her eyes widen as she watches him] Stiles, look at me.

Stiles: [and it takes a moment but then he sees her, and he slumps against the wall, closing his eyes] Farmhouse. I'm at the farmhouse. Right.

Cora: [she nods, watching him with concern] You okay?

Stiles: [wipes at his face] Yeah. I just, after a job I always get nightmares.

Cora: [she nods, before leaning closer and holding out a hand to him] Come here.

Stiles: [and he will come closer, taking it]

Cora: [and she will just curl up with him in bed running her fingers through his hair to help him relax] Today was probably the worst day of my life so far.

Stiles: Same here, and that is including Paris.

Cora: [there's a soft huff at that before shaking her head] I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to him.

Stiles: Neither do I. Losing him, or what I'd do if I lost you.

Cora: [sighs, her hand resting on top of his head] I knew we couldn't stay lucky for long.

Stiles: Hey, look at me. [and he will shift to look at her] This is an isolated incident. It doesn't put you back in constant danger.

Cora: [she looks at him and she wants to believe him, but she's spent too much of her life at this point not being safe, and she doesn't know how to be anything else] And how many isolated instances before it counts as danger again?

Stiles: [he thought a moment] Three. First is an incident. Second is a coincidence. Third makes the pattern.

Cora: So I should wait for the third one before I jump to conclusions?

Stiles: I think you need to learn that constantly waiting for danger to come is never going to let you be free of the fear of it.

Cora: [her head flops back against the pillow] And every time I get too comfortable, bad things happen

Stiles: [stretches out at her side] Would you give up the comfort you have with me to not have had this happen?

Cora: No. But conversely, if you want to be with me, you may have to deal with me being a paranoid mess on occasion.

Stiles: As long as you let me try to coax you back to a less paranoid state. [his hand runs along her stomach gently]

Cora: [she nods] I can try and let you do that.

Stiles: And you can keep me focused on being something more than a weapon. Because you and Ben are everything to me

Cora: [she nods] I think I can do that.

Stiles: Good. Because looking back, I think the cat is out of the bag about us in regards to the rest of your family.

Cora: [she laughs] Some of them already knew.

Stiles: But there's someone we probably should tell.

Cora: [she pauses, one hand lacing his fingers with hers] Do you think we're sure enough about this?

Stiles: [squeezes her] I'm still a work in progress, but last night made me realize that if anything happened to either of you, I don't know what I'd do. I need you. Something in me just knows that right here... at your side... this is really where I'm supposed to be.

Cora: [she takes a deep breath before nodding] Okay.

Stiles: Are you sure about this?

Cora: Keeping it a secret from him is rough enough. If we're sure, then there's no reason not to.

Stiles: Good. [leans over to kiss her] Though I'm pretty sure my roommate would be angry if I bug out on the lease until it's time to renew.

Cora: Probably true. But it does mean you can sleep over a lot more.

Stiles: And Malia can leave when you get off work. Because I'll be there to help protect the both of you.

Cora: [she nods] I'm sure she'll appreciate that.

Stiles: And it'll be nice to be able to wake up to you. [kisses her again] Those are the best mornings.

Cora: [sighs softly as she kisses him back] Definitely.

Stiles: [and he is going to just kiss her a bit more, and then stifle a yawn] I think I'm ready to go back to sleep. Join me?

Cora: [she nods] I'll try, anyway.

Stiles: Your son is safe in his bed, and you have a very sexy man next to you who loves you dearly. Today was a bad day, but it's over. Tomorrow is going to be the start of a better one. [he will squeeze her hand] Because the days I wake up next to you always are.

Cora: [she watches him for a moment before smiling softly] I love you.

Stiles: I love you too. [smiles back] Now and forever.

Cora: [and she sighs, before curling up against his shoulder and closing her eyes. maybe this will be better] Night, Stiles.

Stiles: Goodnight, Cora. [and he will curl his arms around her to hold her close, kiss her forehead and just relax back to sleep while holding her]

Cora: [and she will actually drift off to sleep this time, feeling slightly safer than before]

Stiles: [and he will go without nightmares for the rest of the night]

Cora: [yay good sleep]

Laura: [And as promised, in the morning there will be pancakes]

Derek: [which the smell drifts out to the two wolves sleeping on the back porch on a pile of pillows and blankets since Baal didn't want to sleep in a room that night, so Derek made a billet outside for them to sleep on, and Baal is curled up into Derek's chest before he lifts his head] I smell pancakes.

Laura: [pokes her head out into the door with a smile] You hungry?

Baal: I am very hungry.

Derek: [rubs at his eyes] I can have some.

Laura: Come on in. You can get first pick.

Baal: [and he is going to stand up, looking at Derek]

Derek: Go on, I'll be there in a bit. I need to check my phone first. [because he was hoping Allison would have come out here to check on him and Baal]

Allison: [sorry, she's cleaning up things in DC and she honestly doesn't feel that comfortable going out there with an invite from Laura herself, but she will text to ask how they're doing]

Laura: [and she will put the platter in front of Baal at the table] Which ones do you want?

Baal: [points at the pile] The one with the blue berries. And may I have a banana on top?

Derek: [texts back] We're fine. He didn't want to sleep inside though. He didn't like having walls around him

Laura: You can have whatever you want. [and she will go to fix it as requested]

Allison: Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it's good to have a little fresh air.

Baal: [and he will watch, sitting cross-legged in the chair] Thank you, Aunt Laura.

Derek: I know. I miss you though. Are you okay?

Laura: You are very welcome.

Allison: Yeah, I'm fine. Just busy with the work end of things. Trying to see if we can get anything out of the last remaining hunter to make sure everything is kosher.

Derek: Any luck?

Baal: [and he will be a very still, patient child]

Laura: So how're you doing, kiddo?

Allison: Rebekah's in there with him now, so probably soon.

Baal: I am better than I was yesterday.

Derek: Do you think after you can come see us?

Laura: Good. Hopefully you'll keep getting better.

Allison: I don't know. I think it might be a little soon for me to be at the house.

Baal: I do not like guns.

Derek: This isn't your fault.

Laura: I don't blame you. Neither do I.

Allison: I'm not saying it is. I'm just saying that I don't think springing me on Cora or Laura after everything that happened is the best move. [there's a pause and she considers] I get that it's your home too, but in a lot of ways, it's really Laura's, so the first time I come there, the invitation can't come from you. This has nothing to do with how I feel about being with you, this is about Laura and I doing what she and my dad couldn't. But I can meet you at your place when you come back?

Baal: Where I come from, people with guns did not care who they hurt. They hurt people I knew. I don't want to see people get hurt again.

Derek: I can understand that. I think we'll be here until Hayley and Stiles can give my sisters a confirmation that it's over.

Allison: Then I will do my best to make that happen soon. Tell Baal I said hi, okay?

Laura: I know, kiddo. I don't want to see that either. [she moves closer and rests her hand on his arm] But sometimes we can't control that, as much as we may want to. But that's also why we've been given the power we have. So that when we're faced with situations like that, we can do the right thing.

Derek: I will. Love you.

Baal: I want to do the right thing.

Allison: Love you too.

Laura: Then we'll work on that, okay?

Derek: [and as Baal nods, Derek will get up and stretch, and then walk into the kitchen]

Laura: [glances up and nudges the platter towards Derek] Help yourself.

Derek: Thanks. [and he will go to get some coffee first, and then will make a plate before sitting next to his son] How are you doing, Laura?

Laura: [she waves a hand towards one of the counters where there are several cakes on cooling racks] We have enough sugar to last us a few weeks.

Derek: You still turn to baking when you're worried, I see.

Laura: Yep.

Derek: [and he is going to just focus on his food, not sure if he wants to bring anything up]

Laura: [well, she's going to go back to making pancakes, so if you want to talk before anyone else is awake, Derek, better do it now.]

Baal: [he will sense the quiet tension] Is mama Allison okay, papa?

Derek: Yeah, kiddo. She's just working to find out if the bad men are really gone.

Laura: [yep, no comment there] Are they?

Derek: She should know soon. Rebekah's working on him now. He's probably off vervain and she can compel the information from him.

Laura: Good. So that will be one less thing to worry about.

Derek: Yeah. Both for us and for herself, since they wanted to kill her.

Laura: I heard.

Baal: She is a very nice person. Why did the bad men want to hurt her, papa?

Derek: [rubs Baal's back] Because they don't like that she protects people like us.

Baal: Werewolves?

Derek: Yeah, and other creatures. She wants to help people who can't help themselves. That's what she, and your uncle Stiles and miss Hayley all do.

Laura: Her family wasn't always so friendly though.

Derek: No, they weren't. [looks at Baal] Her grandfather was a very, very bad man. As was her aunt, and Allison loved her very much. But her aunt hurt our family a lot. That's why you don't know your grandmother Talia.

Baal: Mama Allison's aunt killed Grandmama Talia?

Derek: Yeah. And she didn't like that. She didn't like seeing how her family could hurt our family. She knew it couldn't bring back your grandmother, but she wanted to find a way to make a difference so other families like us didn't lose other people. She did a lot of fighting to help people. And now she does it here to prove that she isn't like her family line. That she is better than that. And people don't like her because of that, because they think she's wrong.

Baal: [he looks at Derek, not getting all of that]

Laura: [sighs and turns to face him] Has Ben introduced you to the Black Widow yet?

Baal: I don't like those movies. There is a lot of guns in them.

Laura: True, but you know how she used to be a bad guy, but someone gave her a chance and she became a hero?

Baal: Yes. And she never felt like a part of the team. They sometimes were not sure if they could trust her. It made her sad.

Laura: Well, what Allison is doing is kind of like that. She's trying to do good, even though she comes from a family of bad people.

Baal: So people are never going to trust her either. I don't want mama Allison to be sad, papa.

Derek: I know. I don't want her to be sad either.

Laura: Not never. She just has to work a little harder to earn it than most do.

Baal: [looks at Laura] Do you think she can earn our trust? Even if her grandfather and aunt were bad people?

Laura: Maybe. She already has your dad's.

Baal: But you are the alpha. Not papa.

Laura: I am the alpha. But I trust him. [looks pointedly at Derek] So he better not screw it up

Derek: [and he lifts his head, and then nods] I won't.

Laura: Good.

Derek: I know where my priorities are now. [and he look sat his son, and then at the stairs to where his sister is still sleeping]

Laura: I know. But I'm not the only person you have to win over.

Derek: I know, and its going to take a long time. But I'm willing to put in the effort because I think it'll help her just as much as it will make me happy.

Laura: We'll have to see.

Derek: And have hope.

Laura: [she shrugs as footsteps are heard on the stairs and Hope appears, having wrestled herself out of her mom's grip from the guestroom]

Hope: Can I have some pancakes?

Laura: [smiles softly] You absolutely may.

Ben: [and he heard Hope in the hallway and he'll be joining them] Pancakes!

Laura: Show her where the plates are, Benny.

Ben: Sure thing! [and off he will go to show her plates and forks and cups and everything in the kitchen because child is ADHD and well there are a lot of doors]