The early morning sunlight blazed outside, doing its best to shine through the drawn curtains in the living room. The pack all lay sprawled around the place, some slouched on sofa's others slumped on the floor. One by one they had fallen asleep until only Stiles remained, watching Star Wars till the end. Eventually, even he had succumbed to sleep. He was sprawled across the love seat that he had previously been sharing with Lydia. His legs were hanging off the back and his head lolled off the seat precariously. A sharp jab to the ribs cause him to jump, losing his position and smacking his head on the coffee table. Rubbing his head and groaning, he stared grumpily at Lydia. She stood looking bright eyed and fully awake, with her arms folded across her chest looking impatiently at him. Standing up slowly, he squinted at her groggily, speech still slurred by sleep's spell. "Lydia? What was that for?"

Quickly, she raised a single finger to her lips, motioning for him to be quiet. Frowning at her he looked where she was pointing, only just then realising that everyone else was still sleeping. Thoroughly confused, he shrugged at her, pulling his best what the hell is going on face. Raising her eyebrows impatiently, she held out her hand. Sighing, he took it, rubbing his face wearily as she led him out into the hallway. Stopping, she turned to face him, speaking in a hushed whisper. "We're going on a field trip."

"Wha?"

Grinning she held up her car keys, "You and I are going on a field trip."

Still highly confused, Stiles stared at the keys dangling in front of his face. "Okay... and what exactly are we doing on this field trip?" He raised an eyebrow at her at the end of his question.

Opening the door and stepping outside, Lydia remained cryptic. "Training."

"Training for what?" Stiles spoke louder now that they were outside, stumbling after the red head on the way to her car. She didn't answer and he groaned in frustration. "So am I always going to be this confused in our relationship? Like is this going to be a regular thing or what? Should I maybe hire a private detective?"

She laughed as they climbed into the little car, "No Stiles, you don't need a detective. Besides, you would constantly be second guessing them anyway." Turning on the car, she set off in the direction of Beacon County Forrest. "By training, I mean you're going to learn how to fight, and I'm going to learn more about my banshee powers."

Staring at her in shock, Stiles began to ramble, "Lydia, I don't need to learn how to fight, I can take care of myself alright? I have a bat! I'm happy to help you with your powers but I don't need help fighting." He folded his arms stubbornly.

Shaking her head at his behaviour, she gave him an ultimatum, "Either you let me teach you how to fight, or you have to promise never to go out with the pack to fight again. So?"

Jaw hanging uselessly, he stared at her. "Lyds, you can't be serious?" Instead of giving a response she just gave a little shrug of her shoulders, glancing at him briefly. Screwing his face up he groaned, "Alright fine. But I'm not gonna hit you."

Laughing Lydia responded, "Hah, like you could!" She pulled up next to a clearing in the woods as she spoke, switching off the engine.

He waggled his finger jokingly at her as they got out of the car, "Don't test me Martin!"

She gaped at him, clearly shocked by his tone, "Are you patronising me Stilinski?"

Putting his hands on his hips he retorted, "So what if I am?"

"Alright, well if you think you can take me, come get it!" She raised her fists into the boxing position, ready for a fight.

Raising his hands he tried to reason with her, "Look Lydia, I'm not going to fight you!"

Advancing towards him, she teased him, "Why? Too scared?" To hammer home the insult she planted two sharp punches on his arm. He stepped back, rubbing the spot and laughing warily as he spoke:

"Ow, hey come on cut it out."

"Not until you fight back." She aimed another, slightly more gentle kick to his side, causing him to stumble to the side.

"Lydia-" He was cut off as she threw another punch at him. This time instead of letting it land, he blocked it, knocking her fist away with his forearm. Seeing she had won, Lydia burst into a devious grin. She threw off her hoodie, getting ready to spar with him properly. Laughing at her eagerness, Stiles also discarded his hoodie, throwing it on top of hers over by the car. The moment he turned around, she was going for him, throwing punch after punch in his direction. Startled, he did his best to either block or evade the blows, but failed on his first few attempts. Now nursing a painful jaw, he stepped up his game, managing to block her next two attacks with ease. "Is that all you got?" He teased her, dodging this way and that to avoid her blows.

She paused, smiling sweetly at him, "Honey, we're just getting started." And with that she launched herself at him, knocking him down and pinning him to the ground. Then she rained down punches towards his face. Instinct forced his arms up to protect his head, and he sat there getting pummelled for a few moments before he figured out what to do. Eventually and idea popped into his head. Grabbing her wrists he dropped all of his wait onto his left side, forcing her to roll with him until he was on top of her. Shocked and clearly frustrated, she wriggled underneath his substantial weight. Trying desperately to break free, she became more and more irritated the longer she was stuck there. Rapidly growing tired of the situation, she shouted in frustration, shoving Stiles' chest as she did so. The event that followed shocked them both.

Bursting out from where she had hit him, a wave of hot prickly energy pulsed from her hands, sending him flying backwards. He landed with a dull thud face up on the ground a few feet away. Instantly worried, Lydia jumped up, rushing over to him. His eyes were closed and his face was all scrunched up with discomfort. "Oh my god, Stiles? Are you alright?" She knelt down beside him, hands cupping his face.

With a groan he forced open his eyes, squinting at her, "No fair, you used magical Banshee powers, that's gotta count as cheating." He let out a small chuckle and she laughed with relief, helping him to stand up. Brushing himself down, he spoke to her, "So that was interesting. Can we call my fighting lesson to an end for today? I want to learn more about these fancy powers you got going on." Looking at her curiously, he took one of her hands. "I wonder how it works."

She stared down and their hands and considered it for a moment. Face furrowed in thought, she gave out a little huff of contemplation. "Well, it happened when I hit you."

He looked up, mind clearly racing, "Yeah true, but you hit me a bunch of other times and nothing extra-ordinary happened." She stared at him and he quickly added, "Don't get me wrong, it hurt, but I mean nothing supernatural happened."

Lifting her free hand to stare at, she murmured her response, "Yeah I suppose. So what is it then?" Turning away from him, she thought back to when the powers had first appeared. Down in the sewer system when Stiles' life had been in danger. All she could remember was seeing him so afraid, and something just switched inside of her. Thinking hard, she recalled yelling when she hit the doctor. Maybe that was it? Holding her hands out in front of her, she aimed at a pile of leaves on the ground. Taking a deep breath, she yelled, pushing her hands closer to the pile. Nothing happened. In the background, she could hear Stiles laughing. Whipping around she glared at him, silencing his mirth immediately. "It might have worked." She said as she strutted back to his side.

Rubbing his chin he nodded, voice dripping with sarcasm, "Uh huh, yeah totally. I know I like to yell at piles of leaves to release my inner Banshee powers."

"Ugh you're so ANNOYING!" She growled at him, shoving his shoulder on the last word. Once again the strange invisible force extended from her hand, knocking a bewildered Stiles to the ground. She stared in shock at her hand. "Okay, this is really starting to weird me out."

Muttering as he stood up, Stiles frowned at her, "Yeah I'm not having such a peachy time either Lyds." He was just brushing a leaf off of his shoulder when an idea struck him. He turned to face her, and she looked at him cautiously. She knew the look on his face; it was his idea face, which was usually followed by some hair brained scheme that got them both in trouble. He walked towards, her emphasising his words with wild hand gestures, "So were-creatures have to have an anchor or something to keep their powers under control right? Derek used pain, Scott used love, blah blah blah. Well what if it's the same with you, but different somehow? Maybe you have to tap into a certain emotion to be able to control your powers."

Pressing her lips together, she thought for a moment, "I suppose it could be possible."

Taking an eager step forwards Stiles began to talk faster and faster, "No it makes total sense. All the times you've used your power so far, you've been really mad. Maybe you have to be angry to use it?"

Looking up at him she frowned, "Okay, but how do I just get angry on queue? Plus, I don't want to be angry all the time."

He thought for a moment before another idea lit up his face. Taking her by the shoulders he led her back to the pile of leaves. "Okay Lydia. Picture something really annoying in the leaves. Pretend the leaves just insulted you're heels."

"Stiles this is silly." She looked at him sceptically.

"Lydia just give it a shot okay? What get's you really mad?" He was rubbing her shoulders as though she were about to go into a boxing ring.

Sighing she thought for a moment, before eventually saying, "The angriest I've ever been was when that Doctor was dragging you away. I get mad when people threaten you."

He stopped poking his head over her shoulder to speak with her, "Really? That's so sweet." His voice was light and genuine.

She shrugged him off, "How is being angry sweet, Stiles? I don't want to be angry at everything all of the time!"

He blinked, studying her frustrated body language. After a moment's thought, he took her hand. "Well then don't think of it like that. Think of it as- as wanting to protect me. Like, when you need to use your powers, its not cause your mad, it's cause you're looking out for me."

For a moment she stood still, staring at him blankly. He wasn't sure if she was going to yell at him or break down crying. Anxiously he waited for her reaction. Finally, she nodded, turning back to the pile of leaves and raising her hand. Closing her eyes, she thought hard about keeping Stiles safe. She made herself believe that by using her powers, she was somehow protecting Stiles. All that was left to do was try, so she thought the command, willing her powers to work. Feeling a warm tingle in her palm, she opened her eyes to see a few leaves stirring. Glancing at Stiles she raised her eyebrows, "Did it work?"

He pulled a face, making a non committal movement with his head, "Sorta. It wasn't nearly as strong as before. Maybe you're thinking too hard?"

She glowered at him, silencing him immediately. Taking a calming breath, she turned her attention back to the leaves. Alright she thought don't over think it. Keep it simple. Uhm, protection. She moved and nothing happened. Frustrated, she tried a different approach, Defence? Anger? Attitude? Hope? Love? Come ON one of these has to work! She shoved her hands forwards once more, and nothing happened. Disheartened she closed her eyes. She hated not being able to do things, to understand them. It made her feel stupid. Stupid had been her whole personality until Stiles had called her out on it, he had seen right through her dumb act. She never wanted to be dumb again after that, always wanted to be the smartest, to catch up on the years she spent pretending not to be. Upset, she sniffed, on the verge of tears. Not wanting to break down in the middle of training, she tried to calm herself down. Inside her head she thought of calming, happy things. Oddly enough, the only thought that kept returning to her was of Stiles.

Curious, she raised her hand once more. Focusing her thoughts on Stiles, she twitched her hand. There was an audible gust of air, and when she opened her eyes leaves were raining down all around them. Jumping in excitement, she ran over to Stiles, "It worked! Did you see? I did it Stiles! We did it! I think I can control it now!"

He joined in her happy dance, jumping in a little circle with her. They held hands and spun around until they became to dizzy, falling to the leafy ground with a couple of yelps. Laughing, Stiles rolled onto his side to look at her, "So, Miss Banshee, how did you do it?"

Shyly, she pressed her lips together, looking into his warm eyes. "I thought of you." Her voice was quiet, but still light and cheery.

Blinking at her, Stiles replied, "Me?" The shock in his voice was poorly concealed.

Laughing she shuffled closer to him, poking his nose gently, "Yes you. Apparently that's all I need."

Smiling, he stared at her, stroking a loose strand of hair behind her dainty ear. "I love you." The three simple words had the quality of warming up the chilled morning air, making Lydia feel like she were floating in a bath. It took all her worries away, all of her stress, and in the moment she was overjoyed to be able to say:

"I love you too" back to him, and to actually mean it, with all of her heart.