Caged

The Young and the Frightening

When he pulled the key from the ignition, he swore the loss of engine noise made the beating of his heart ten times louder. He could literarily feel his pulse running at a rampant pace, and had his company been of the lycanthropic type, he was sure any attempt at appearing nonchalant was completely blown.

"So, this is my place," he said with a little nod of the head, pressing his lips together in a straight line.

"I know what you're house looks like, Stiles," Lydia replied, shooting him a look before pushing open her door and sliding out. "In case you've forgotten, I have been here before."

"Right," he mumbled as he stumbled out of his car, the strap of his backpack getting stuck on the door as he tried to wrench it from the backseat, causing him to lose his balance a little.

Lydia was already standing in front of the door ahead of him and he hurried to catch up, swinging his bag over his shoulder as he did.

"Hey, wait. My dad might be-"

But before he could say much else, he was distracted by the redhead who was now busying herself by inspecting the window sill, running her fingers over the edge as if looking for something. He watched as she scrunched up her face and moved on to the little ceramic toad they had placed next to the door, lifting up and smiling when she found what she was looking for.

"Okay that's kinda frightening," he muttered as the redhead took the key she'd found under the toad and placed it into the keyhole, as if it was no big deal. As if that was a totally normal thing to do.

"Are you coming?" she asked over her shoulder, a singular eyebrow raised at him.

"Oh-yup. Sure."

He shook his head in disbelief but followed her anyways into his house, trying not to dwell to long on the fact that Lydia Martin was standing in his foyer right now.

"So do you have a lot of experience breaking and entering? Or do you just save that for close friends?" He threw his bag on the ground next to the door, barely able to keep up as Lydia made her way into the kitchen, disappearing behind the wall.

"Friends already, are we?" she called and he heard the fridge open as she spoke. "A couple late night chats under the dim lighting of the pet hospital doesn't make us BFFs, Stilinski."

"No, of course not," he muttered under his breath as he entered the kitchen to find Lydia pouring herself a glass of cranberry juice. "Oh go on, help yourself."

"Funny." She grimaced at him before taking a long drag of her drink and smiling, as if satisfied.

"You really have a knack for making yourself at home, huh?"

"I'm a multi-talented person," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

The two of them stood like that - across from each with only the kitchen island between them –for some time before either of them thought to say anything. Stiles just couldn't keep himself from staring at her – as if she might just dissolve into nothing at the slightest movement. He still wasn't quite sure if he hadn't fallen asleep in fourth period chemistry and this was just a strange dream induced by today's lunch meat surprise.

"Anyways," she spoke, breaking the silence, "we've got things to do."

Stiles simply rose an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to continue.

When she didn't, he simply sighed.

"Care to fill me in, Lydia?"

"Certainly."

She moved with such ease, that he almost forgot that she was guest here. If he hadn't known better, he would have said she knew the house like the back of her hand. In fact, she was leading him, and yet, it felt strangely normal.

"You see, Stilinski," he flinched, "I know lately you and all your wolfy little friends have been really good about keeping me in the know. But I'm not stupid. I know you guys hide all the important stuff from me because of what happened last year. Believe it or not, I'm not going to go bat shit crazy again and end up wandering the woods nude. Been there done that, okay?" She took a deep breath here, but continued swiftly in a flurry of words. "What I want from you, Stiles, is to cut the bullshit. No more of these useless tasks you all throw at me. I'm capable of more than tracking down a seventeen year old boy. I could help, dammit!" She was fuming now, smoke billowing from her ears. "Now, if you would please be so kind as to tell me everything you know."

They'd made their way into the living room, but now Lydia turned to Stiles her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest. She looked like she'd practiced that speech in front of the mirror, and by the defiant look flashing in her eyes, it appeared she'd liked the outcome.

"I've told you everything, Lydia-"

"Stop lying, Stiles!"

This time he nearly jumped, taken completely aback by the sheer power that such a small person had produced. Her cheeks were flaming red and he could swear her hands shook as she clenched them at her sides. Stiles had never been so frightened of someone in his entire life. Certainly not of anyone half his height.

"Lydia," he said, harsher this time so she wouldn't interrupt. "I swear to God, I have told you everything I know. There's nothing I'm holding back-"

"Oh, please-"

"Lydia, stop."

He'd closed the distance between them without even really meaning to, and his hands were firmly planted on her shoulders. He stared into her eyes, searching them to make sure she was done interrupting.

"Good, now if you would please just listen for once in your life, that'd be great."

He let his hands drop from her shoulders and backed away a step, ignoring the fact that she ducked her head down out of what he assumed must be embarrassment. Although knowing Lydia Martin, it was probably something else entirely.

"I have been completely honest with you since the beginning of the summer," he began. "I saw the way you handled the Jackson scenario, the way you saved him, Lydia. All of us were clueless as to what to do, but you weren't. You were fearless. You didn't even know all of what was going on and you still stuck your neck out to save someone's life. Someone who'd been treated you like shit all year, in fact. If anything, I think you're way more capable of handling this shit than then the rest of us misfits."

He internally gave himself a pat on the back as a smile crept its way unto Lydia's face. That was a start, at least.

"On top of that, I owe you my sanity over the past few months," he said, honestly. "If not for you, I'd be all freaking alone with all these dimwitted wolves running around thinking the one and only solution to every problem is to rips its head off. So, Lydia, I promise you I am not lying. Understood?"

She seemed to ponder the question for a while, looking at him skeptically. He honestly believed everything he'd said, it was a simple fact that he needed more people like Lydia around. Even Allison, who'd originally been his only human ally, was some badass hunter now, leaving him to be all alone in his average fragile ways. But he knew he and Lydia could help the cause, that they weren't useless just because they couldn't grow fangs. They were human yes, but they had more brains than the entire wolf pack put together. Or at least Stiles liked to tell himself that.

Finally, after a pause that seemed to last a lifetime, her eyes lifted to meet his and she smiled faintly.

"All right, I believe you."

He grinned wide and nodded, stepping backwards towards the front door where he'd left his backpack.

"Good, cuz I have something to show you."

Lydia almost didn't believe how she was acting. Never before in her life could she remember losing this much control. The one thing she knew for certain about herself – and she assumed most of the people around her knew as well – was that Lydia Martin was always in control. Whether it was a group project in chemistry or a dirty hookup in Stephanie Meyer's parents master bathroom, she never lost control.

And yet, Stiles brought a weird feeling out of her. Almost like she needn't be afraid to express herself, and that maybe, just maybe, she could trust him to take control of the situation.

Maybe.

"So you think this could be him?" she asked as she scanned the school transcript he'd handed her, reading the name Jordan Rogers at the top of the form.

"Yeah. I had to channel my inner Kevin Bacon, but yeah. I think it's him," he said confident. "See I discovered a news article about Victoria Hale in some small town paper that I guess they grew up in or something. She and a close friend, Regina Phillips, had won some big doubles tennis match. Pretty much local heroes at the age of fifteen.

"So I figured it wouldn't hurt to look this Regina chick up. Maybe she could tell us something about Victoria. Maybe even about Jordan." He paused to search a pile of articles on his bed which he'd dumped there from his backpack. They'd found their way up to his bedroom eventually, figuring his dad wouldn't come barging in if he kept his door closed. "But instead, I found this."

She took the photocopy from him and stared down at the black and white picture. It was one of those pictures of a family in some exotic location with the newspaper held in their hands that the paper published in their travel section. The older woman – Lydia assumed this was Regina Phillips – looked thin and fit, the dark dress she was wearing falling over her like a garbage bag. She was smiling casually, a hand held above her eyes to block the sun that was seemingly beating on her face. Her other hand rested on the tiny shoulders of a young boy, probably half the size of the woman to his right. He had floppy dark hair – brown, she assumed, though it looked just a muggy grey – that fell into his eyes and made him look like he was permanently squinting. He was wearing a button up short sleeve with a tacky flower print and cargo shorts: the clothes of a well-dressed tourist. He looked thrilled at something behind his mother, because he wasn't looking at the camera and instead was laughing at something Lydia couldn't see.

For a moment, all she could think was she couldn't even remember that last time she and her parents had taken a photo together. Let alone the last time they'd all smiled together like that.

"You see what I see?"

She jumped as Stiles spoke and looked again at the photo, pushing her selfish thoughts away.

"What is it?" she asked, still only seeing a mother and son, happy and on vacation.

"Read the caption."

She nodded and glanced below the picture. The words were faded and hard to read, but eventually she made out the words:

Regina Phillips and son, Jordan, in Bermuda for vacation.

"And son, Jordan," she repeated under her breath, in awe. "This is brilliant, Stiles!" she exclaimed, louder this time. "He's living with Regina, of course he is."

She looked up at him and smiled wide when she saw the blush that had crept onto his face. Maybe she still had control after all.

"Really, Stiles. You're amazing at this," she said, honestly. "You should warn your dad before you snag the job right from under him."

He smiled at her, and for a moment, Lydia forgot about what they were doing. Sometimes she caught herself feeling so at ease with Stiles, that it scared the living hell out of her. For once, she had a true friend. Not one who was looking to be popular or looking to get their own red designer handbag, but truly there because they wanted to spend time with her. Sure she had Allison, who without a doubt was her best friend through and through, but now with all the hunting-is-my-family's-one-purpose stuff going on, she didn't have much time left for Lydia.

"Thanks. I'll tell him that," he replied, clearing his throat to change the subject. "Anyways, I looked her up online, and I could only really get where she worked. But, the town isn't too far away, maybe like a couple hours drive or something? So I'll go over there tomorrow and see what I can-"

"You're going alone?"

"-find… wait. What? Oh, yeah. I guess. That was the plan."

Lydia raised her eyebrows at him, something she'd grown accustomed to doing around Stiles it seemed.

"We'll leave at 8am sharp. You'll pick me up from my house. Don't be late."

And with that she got up from the bed and marched from the room, satisfied with the days happenings. Now all she had to do was think of what she'd tell her parents.

AN- Really short I know! Sorry, but I really wanted to get it out there because of all the awesome support I've been getting! Also, sorry for the long wait. I'm currently in England of all places and both time and wifi has been a little scarce. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and watch out for new chapters!