Chapter 1: Bardo?

Chapter Text

Chapter 1 - Bardo? [ 1st - 14th March]

When he agreed to the pack get-together, he had not had this particular outcome in mind. And yes, he had thought of a lot of outcomes which now that he thought again, he realized was really stupid on his part because this is Beacon Hills. A month of peace is evidence of too much divine favor and yes, they have had that and Jordan just kept thinking around in circles, circling around the issue at hand yet never quite touching it. Because that would mean touching Lydia. Lydia who bounced in his arms with every step he took, her limp body obeying his every twist and bump as he cut through the woods. His beloved Lydia.

It took too much effort to keep it in. The urge. The want. The intense desire to scream till his frustrations seep out of him and the crippling emotion to find the son of a bitch who did this to Lydia and rip him apart piece by piece and slowly till he knows what it feels like to have your life and soul seeping right out of you. Because that is how he felt in that instant.

Suffocating.

Choking on breaths.

And Lydia wasn't breathing.

From behind him, he heard Isaac humming -he did that a lot- for Scott because it turns out the alpha secretly finds it very comforting and in that moment, in that moment it worked for him too.

The lights to the lakehouse appeared and they were met immediately at the door by Deaton and Kira. The doctor -vet- had been called instantly by one of the others, he wasn't sure who, and had quite expectantly rushed to the lakehouse. Deaton and Lydia, have over the years developed a relationship akin to a "next of kin" thing. When the emissary was in trouble, Lydia went to the rescue and when Lydia was, he came to the rescue. Did it make him jealous sometimes? Maybe. Was today one of those days? Absolutely not. "Go into my car. I brought A- blood bags in a flask now get them for me instantly, Scott. Isaac, go with him. I'm afraid he's about to faint himself. And take her upstairs to a bed... Or any flat surface that isn't the floor." Deaton says as he turned to the other man, indicating the 'after you' movement of his hand.

Without another word, Parrish obliged and headed up the stairs as quickly yet as gently as he could with Lydia's pale body in his arms. When he finally got to the bedroom they were to sleep in that night, he set her down atop the sheets, fighting to keep his sob in there although his eyes filling up was something he couldn't control. "She's not... She's not..." He tried to state the obvious but for some reason, he couldn't. Deaton, ever so helpful, shoved him aside as gently as he could and sat on the bed beside Lydia, going straight to work.

"Yes she's not breathing but that's to be expected after her blood has been drained to the red but she still has a pulse. It's salvageable so do excuse me and let me focus on her. Lydia is strong. She can survive this."

"We brought the bags." Isaac says as he entered the room. Without Scott. It seems that incident hit the alpha more than it usually does.

"And I brought the stands even though you forgot to ask." Stiles added, walking in and setting the stands on each side of the bed, rubbing his palms together and bouncing on the balls of his feet in the way he did when he was nervous.

"Come on, I'll get you out so Deaton can work. I'm sure Lydia would recover." Derek muttered his first words since they got to the house, having seethed the whole way back. Malia was grating at his nerves with every ticking moment.

Jordan moved. He didn't know how he managed it but he did, Derek's hand wrapped firmly on his upper arm steering him towards and out the door. He was still in a daze. He couldn't understand why. Why of all people it had to be Lydia. His beautiful Lydia.

"Stiles lemme-" Peter started to say only for the teen to cut in, not even sparing him a look.

"No. No way in hell i'm leaving this room. Not until i'm certain she's going to be okay. I'm not leaving Lydia." The way he said it, the intensity of his words, the way he never looked anywhere but his eyes remained stuck on the pale banshee on the bed, the emotions seeping across the room to Peter's nostrils and his senses was enough to make him literally take a step back in jealousy.

Isaac's head shot up instantly and sharply from where he had been helping Deaton with the bloodbags while the doctor searched for an extremely elusive vein. The pulse was getting weaker and he was in a panic. Even worse, he could feel Scott's despair from downstairs and longed to just wrap his arms around him. To hold him close but then the exchange happening right in the room was calling his attention. Peter *never* got jealous. Not when the whole pack had marked Stiles, -in fact he had laughed- and then he had not even given a signal of animosity when Isaac had kissed Stiles and kept spooning and cuddling and smooching the boy yet now he was? He cast his gaze to see Stiles, oblivious, frozen in shock except his eyes which seem to get larger every second and the weaker Lydia's pulse got as though he could hear it. He looked to Peter again and shook his head to the man who just smiled ruefully.

"I found it. I found it." Deaton said when the estranged vein of Lydia Martin was found, Stiles' legs buckling from under him in relief and Isaac got to him just in time to catch his fall but set him slowly on the floor beside the bed. He looked up with a sigh, noticing the former psycho had stepped out of the room and set to helping Deaton adjust and fix the blood bags for the transfusion.

"We should let Melissa check her sometime. I can't give a legal prescription. The oxygen mask is going to need more than what we have so like it or not, between now and tomorrow, if she's not awake, the authorities must be told."

"I'm sure the others would love to hear that. Stiles would watch her." Isaac says with a small smile when Deaton turned around to cast a wary look over his shoulder at Lydia. And Stiles, whose hand held onto Lydia's, his thumb rubbing lazily and absentmindedly on her pale knuckles while his eyes remained fixed on her face. Most especially the mask on her face and the *very* light mist that formed occasionally in it. Lydia was barely breathing.

Scott was standing at the door when they climbed down the stairs, his arms folded over his chest and eyes dowcast and looking at his shoes as though they were the most interesting things ever invented. Isaac moved straight to his boyfriend from across the room and stopped before him, ignoring all the others. "Hey. You okay?"

The alpha looked up at him and shook his head but that was all Isaac needed to pull the other into his arms for a crushing hug. Quite honestly, he needed the hug too. Lydia and Scott were all he had left of Allison and on those rare moments when he just wanted to talk about his first love, the banshee had been the one he turned to. She was always willing. Grateful that he hadn't just discarded Allison's memory so yes, even though their friendship was based on mutual loss, it was also the kind of friendship he had with no one else. He most certainly wasn't up to losing that.

"She's gonna be okay." Scott muttered into Isaac's chest. "We're all gonna be okay." Then he pulled back slowly and Isaac nearly jumped up to scream "AJA!" when Scott's next words came.

"I'm gonna find that son of a cod if it's the last thing I do!"

Deaton cleared his throat, snapping everyone's attention to him. "For now, she's fine. I gave her antibiotics and a blood transfusion. I can't give her adrenaline because some viruses and bacteria don't agree with adrenaline and it could be fatal instead. Also, her pulse is still weak and there isn't much you can do for her right now although Stiles insists on staying with her. For his own peace of mind, allow him to do it but make sure he eats and doesn't starve himself to death in the process." He looked directly at Scott when he said it and the wolf nodded in confirmation.

"Don't take it personal, those three have a history together and whenever Stiles hits a low, Scott's the only one who gets through but that doesn't mean I expect the rest of you to idle." Deaton says as he walked across the room and towards the door, Scott and Isaac parting to allow him through as he called over his shoulder. "I was going out of town but I'm staying till she's alright although I need to go to the clinic to search for anything on how to survive being drained by a vampire."

And then he was out. Scott had no time to mope or allow moping. He was the alpha. He needed to take control of his pack or they were all going to lose it and be vulnerable to stress and any attack.

"Alright we did what little we can do for Lydia *medically*. So now let's get to the other side of that fence. Derek, you go with Parrish. And yes, before you ask, it's babysitting duty because the emotions i'm catching off him right now is disturbing so he's probably going to do a lot of stupid stuff. We don't want him dead by the time Lydia wakes. Peter, you go with Malia. And both of you try and put your... issues aside till we find the perpetrator and Cora can go with Kira. Isaac would stay here with Stiles and Lydia."

Everyone frowned. "What about you?" Isaac asked suspiciously.

"I'm going too. I can't just sit back and watch as-"

"Yes you can. And you will." Derek deadpanned, moving from his position where he had been leaning against one of the windows in the room. "And there is no arguing that."

"Wait, you can't keep shielding me from that thing just because I'm an alpha and you don't want an orphan pack!" Scott had not meant to be petulant but he pulled it off too swiftly.

"We're not shielding you from anything."

"Alright then I'll wake Liam and go with-"

"Are you insane?" Peter cut in. "Forget that. Do you think we're insane? You're angry and fuelled by fear. Liam is *naturally* angry. He's like a modern day Hulk and you want to what, take him with you to find someone and keep him alive? Unless you're willing to return with your first blue eyed beta then do feel free." That last bit, that was harsh but it did the trick and Scott's frown may have told a different story but Isaac knew the alpha too well and just reached out to grab his hand, squeezing.

"Look, just think of it as back up and security all wrapped in one. There are humans here. Mason, Stiles and that other hyperactive one Mason brought tonight and you *need* to keep them safe. There's also Lydia who can't defend herself and there's the rest of us, going out. We can't use up all our aces. We need to have you, Isaac and Liam here for when... if we ever need back up." Derek reasoned, choosing a calmer approach from Peter's.

Scott's demeanor changed first, then he squeezed Isaac's hand before nodding slowly and somewhat hesitantly after a while.

"So we call every six hours just to make sure everything is okay." Cora muttered for the first time since the discussion started, already signalling for a pale and trembling Kira to follow her out the door.

Malia watched Kira leave without a word and sighed deeply, turning to her father only to see him in a serious eye lock with his nephew, their gazes soft and tender and as though on cue, they both looked upstairs and shook their heads.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him" Scott muttered, having witnessed the exchange and Isaac, looking to lighten up the mood a little, added;

"Mhm. Me too. I do have a history of taking care of Stiles. Gladly." Derek growled. As expected, and Peter chuckled just as he had anticipated.

Paired up, Peter and Malia left a few moments later, Derek and Parrish being the last pair to leave close to an hour later because Jordan had gone upstairs to say goodbye to Lydia and had needless to say, spent quite the time, just being with her till his anger had sparked and fuelled him to action.

Much to Derek's relief.

Two weeks. That's how long it had been since that little decision had been made. Two weeks of hunting for a vampire and with all their superpowers at their disposal, they couldn't catch up to the little son of a bitch. The alpha was angry. And so was the pack. Expecially since this was the twelfth day since Lydia was moved into the hospital and declared officially comatose.

Peter was angry on a whole new level. A part of him felt some sort of comaraderie towards the banshee. Another part of him wanted to wait till Lydia uses her first "You don't know what it's like being in a coma for people like us." and perhaps gloat afterwards but the other more sane part of him was just angry because Stiles was devastated. And hurt, and afraid and all shades of negativity and Peter would do anything to make sure that his mate was fine and sane again.

Derek was witnessing a different set of emotions. Helplessness was at the top of that list because watching Parrish, and being with Parrish for two whole weeks was enough to make the most emotionally constipated person, -namely Derek Hale- have emotions. Of course there was Stiles. And Peter and Scott and basically everyone he knew and cared about except Isaac. The son of a cod was being surprisingly strong in all this. He has even taken up Stiles' place as pack comedian and managed to wring out several emotions out of them so that even for a brief while, they all -Parrish included- forgot their worries and just laughed a minute.

Two weeks was a long time. It definitely felt like an eternity. Oh and Cora knew first hand what eternity feels like. It feels like travelling what feels like *worlds* just to get to a rumor. A rumor that at least one member of your family survived the storm. The storm of fire. And then when you got close enough, having that dream stolen from you and then being forced to not shift in months. Oh she knew what eternity felt like but this was a whole different kind. There were very few people he cared for. Derek was at the top of that list. In spite of their many arguments and differences, Peter was next. Then Stiles, Scott, Isaac, Lydia, Malia... Basically the rest of the pack. But somewhere in there, Lydia Martin lay. And even though she never spoke about how she felt, she actually hated what had happened. Her fear of losing people close to her was very real so she had tried, searched. Teamed up with Kira who was okay although she annoyed her a little, to find that vampire and all to no avail.

Kira handled the whole thing differently. She wasn't like the others. She didn't wear her emotions on her sleeve however, this time, she felt bleak. It was surreal to her and a part of her was still in shock as to what happened. Some time during the past two weeks, she had thought about it. About what she's supposed to feel yet the more she thought about it, the more confused she got. Yes she wanted Lydia alive. Her family even burned insense and candles and prayed for the banshee to be alright yet she wasn't sad. Her mom thought it was normal. Said something about everyone having several ways of dealing with grief.

It was different for Malia, how she dealt with what had happened to Lydia. Mostly, she didn't deal with it at all. She just had a laid back approach to everything. She calmly approached matters while the others run around rampant and frantic in search of a solution as though finding the vampire would suddenly make Lydia wake up from her coma. Right. Her issues did take up more of her time though because paired up with her father meant constant sarcastic comments at the man about his polyamorous relationship with Stiles and Derek and the man seemed to not be bothered by her words. He just went about his days, tracking the escaping little asshole who kept dragging them along as though they were his shadow. A whole pack. With a true alpha, werewolves, wercoyotes,banshees -indisposed but still alive-, kitsunes and humans with a fucking witch and they were being strung along. No, Malia wasn't angry or hurt and emotional. She was homicidal and frustrated. She wanted a pass at that little shit and he... or she, better hope that she wasn't the first person to catch up to him.

Scott was darn near losing his mind with this. He had been forbidden to try anything and in spite of the strong urge and desire he had to just *try*, he also knew the others had been right in what they had said. Two weeks. That's how long it has been. Two weeks of no school and their final exams were happening soon. None of the parents have ventured the 'school is essential' speech. Since Lydia was admitted to the hospital, they had been running shifts at the place. Stiles wanted to be there constantly but after a firm command, the human had agreed to the shift method. He came in early in the mornings to swap Isaac and Scott so they can go and get their rest.

The wolves came back twelve hours later, one of them drives him home and forces him to eat then leaves to join the other in the hospital. His boyfriends came over but there was hardly any talking and mostly they just spooned till morning. He was pretty certain by now that his father was aware of his double dating Derek and Peter but at the moment, he couldn't bring himself to feel anything beyond fear. Fear for Lydia's life.

Liam only knew one thing and it went beyond fear for Lydia's life. It was fear for the entire pack. No one really spoke about Allison but he figured; where would they begin? He knew of her though. Knew the amount of guilt Stiles felt the moment the name came up and knew how Scott, Lydia and Isaac's emotions just go on a spaz when Allison was mentioned and he didn't... couldn't imagine what losing Lydia would do to the rest of the team. And that, above all else, terrified him.

Helplessness goes around. And well, just because he was human didn't mean he couldn't feel that way. He and Liam were expected to go to school and they do. Their routine has been from School to the hospital to home because there was nothing to do. Except Pray. Lydia Martin had turned Mason into a religious person.

Someday soon he would have to find a way to let out all his anger and frustration at what was happening but not now. Right then, everyone needed him to be strong. Someone has to be strong for the rest of them and Isaac took that role without fuss.

It was the longest two weeks of his life and yes, that included all the time spent in the heart of the war in Afghanistan. He didn't go into her room. Couldn't bring himself to. He was devastated, in shock. He fed off on news reports Isaac took upon himself to give him every six hours. He felt dead inside and guilty. Croppling guilt because he knew he could have paid more attention. They had been in the same room that night for gods sakes! He could have been back up. He should have been and he was never forgiving himself if something happened to the woman he loved above all else, just because he was neglectful. No, never. He wouldn't be able to live with himself.

For Lydia, bardo held a different appeal. She heard the others talk. About what it had felt like after the almost sacrifice. Saw the aftermath and felt the pain of loss and watching one person slowly deteroriate in front of her from guilt. It had taken a year for them to get over it. For some semblance of normalcy to creep back into their lives but she didn't see the nemeton on her trip into bardo. No, she saw Lorraine. Or at least a version of herself and several other people. Perhaps it was the fact that she was a banshee, attracting death or being attracted to death but they just kept coming. In her head, the trauma got searing and she felt the anguish. She wanted it over. Her screams never broke surface because it was a constant show of screaming to predict the death of a soul she meets and screaming when she met an already dead soul. It was torture of the rawest form. Pure torture. Painful and unbearable and not deserving of anyone no matter their crime.

Jordan sped all the way to the hospital, jumping -and literally flying- out of the patrol car and towards the door only to run into Scott and Isaac who were in the same hurry that he was. "Wait, she called you too?" Parrish asked, not pausing even for a moment in his purposefully quick strides. He was afraid. No, he was terrified sick and going out of his mind but Melissa hadn't said much. Only asked him to come over and refused to say much else.

"Yeah." One of the teens said but he couldn't really differentiate who from who.

"And she didn't say anything? I'm taking the stairs." Jordan says, not really expecting an answer. He couldn't just take the elevator and stand in calmly for it to get there and he wasn't going to press the button multiple times in hopes of getting the elevators to go faster. Climbing the steps two or three at a time seem to be the most efficient way because barely a minute afterwards, he was running down the corridors towards Lydia's room with Scott and Isaac right on his tail. Derek had probably stayed behind to lock the car after the haphazzard way he had left it because when he got there, everyone with the exception of Derek was there.

"We were close by when the call came in." Was all Peter felt he needed to say and that shrug was very... detailed, to say the least.

Melissa walked to them, a file in her hands. "I don't have much experience dealing with... you people and your medical needs but Deaton does. And after hours of talking to him, we still haven't come to a conclution. As of this morning, Lydia has been having a sort of reaction. Rashes, mostly." The frowns on their faces were identical.

"But... Maybe her body is fighting now. Like the last time." Scott provided, feeling he needed to at least try his hands at giving some hope to the pack.

"Last time was different. She was scratched and bitten by a wolf, this tine she was drained by a vampire. Different venoms, different methods and different aims but she hasn't gotten worse either. She's just... the same. Natalie is going out of her mind so I had to sedate her a while back but-"

And then everyone froze in their place, unmoving because that sound, that came from Lydia's room. "Stiles is asleep in there." Melissa reasoned, trying not to hope only to have it crushed hard but Parrish was having enough of it as he went to the door.

Derek stepped into the hallway just in time to hear Stiles scream from inside Lydia's room. "She's awake! Oh my god she's awake!"