A/N: Gift for the TWRarePairExchange round three.
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any associated characters. This is a work of pure fiction.
Summary: Eyes open Victoria twisted to examine Chris's expression, having half a mind to give him a piece her mind. He looked guilty but the guilt was lost in the rest of his worn face and Victoria felt her complaints fall away. Helping him bring the covers around them, Victoria drew Chris's body to her, resting his head against her chest. - or - In the quiet of a hotel Victoria comforts a younger Chris and expresses her thoughts when she's around him.

There Were Killers and Monsters and Then There was Chris by FlyingNymphLady

There was a quiet murmur in the air, the outside world faint but still audible through the walls. It reminded everyone in the hotel room that it was still there, even though they couldn't see it. On the radiator, the drying bullet cases rattled with a gentle hum in the dim of the kitchen.

Victoria was comfortable despite laying on an air mattress next to the rattling boxes. She was tired from the day but the blankets around her seemed to absorb her, consume her, draining the soreness from her muscles.

Listening, Victoria could hear a chair scrape against the carpeted floor in the real bedroom and she could hear the sound of Chris' footsteps drag toward her.

His boots, heavy by nature and manufacturing, trudged the majority way to the mattress with a tired rhythm in them. He stopped, Victoria surmised, by the doorway and leaned against the arch to remove the cumbersome wear.

Quieter now Chris approached, the same tired rhythm marking his shuffle. He dropped, quicker than he should have, and a small yelp escaped Victoria's lips as she was projected above the mattress momentarily.

Eyes open Victoria twisted to examine Chris's expression, having half a mind to give him a piece her mind. He looked guilty but the guilt was lost in the rest of his worn face and Victoria felt her complaints fall away. Helping him bring the covers around them, Victoria drew Chris's body to her, resting his head against her chest.

Chris lay there, tired and lifeless, drained of everything she'd come to expect of him. Gently- tentatively at first, Victoria began to rub his shoulders, massaging her way down his back and repeating the process. Chris seemed responsive to the action, tightening his grip around her waist and squeezing his eyes tighter.

Every aspect of their lives revolved around their secret, their families' obligations to society. There was so much expected of them. They had to be composed, always. There was no room for anything less. Sometimes it was easy to forget they were only just young kids themselves. They had the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Struggling to keep his emotions on the inside Victoria felt tears begin to stain her chest and she hummed quietly, allowing him to get it all out. Chris could be composed and he could be strong, she had seen it in him many a time. But for now she decided, Victoria would allow him to be weak, to be uncomposed.

The sobs intensified but the noise was muffled as he sobbed quietly alongside the rattling of the bullet cases. The world outside was still there, the other hunters were still in the other room but they were alone. Chris was all alone save Victoria. He had never cried in front of her before, had not cried in a tremendously long time but tonight he couldn't help it. Tonight it was all too much. He felt overwhelmed, overpowered by the sensation of drowning in his own mind.

She held him tight through it all, forcing him to see he was not alone. Victoria was scarcely older than him and she knew, she knew why his eyes were drenched in sadness. And she wanted him to know, needed him to know she knew.

They may be young on a piece of paper but their bodies and minds were old far beyond their years and it was easier and easier to feel… run down by it all.

There were killers and monsters and then there was Chris. Vitoria decided she rather fond of the last one. They may feel old inside but with Chris Victoria felt some of the age fall away and she felt then more like herself than she'd ever been before. Chris was strong, Victoria was strong. She didn't need his sentiments, she could still perform her obligations without him... but she still she didn't think she ever wanted to.

There were killers and there were monsters in this world and as old as they made her feel; Chris made her feel just as young. She knew the pains of this life, both the physical and the mental ones. And she knew it's rewards but to her, Chris was perhaps her greatest one.

He wasn't a prize or a protector but rather a companion. And with him, she would face the horrors of this world one hunt at a time.

Outside there was a quiet whir of engines rushing by, there was the rattling of the bullets on the heater and there was the sound of Chris' tired breaths as he drifted into sleep. Victoria felt herself lulled into her own sense of sleep by those sound, at peace with herself and the world around her. She might live to be the oldest woman in the world and she might not live past tomorrow but she would always have this moment.

And for the moment it was enough.

- End -