Again, as a disclaimer, I know frak-all about the legal system and how this kind of thing works. I've done a bunch of googling about the subject, but then again, we shouldn't believe everything we read on the internet. So bear in mind that I am not a lawyer, nor am I a social worker, so I'll mostly be glossing over that side of things.

So this whole thing exploded into something way longer/bigger than I had planned for. But okay. I'm cool with that. You guys don't seem to mind more chapters so hey, win win, right?

DFTBA!

As Lydia drove towards the address given to her, apprehension rose in her heart. She didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was, it felt big. Bigger certainly than anything she had done so far, and much more important. Stiles had sounded... off on the phone, like something serious was happening. Not that this was much of a surprise, from what she's heard of the incident in the locker room. She knew Stiles had panic attacks, and she had seen one before, but that was a while ago, and he seemed to have gotten them under control for the most part. Either that or they just happened in places where no one would then talk about it. Whichever it was, this was not normal.

Perhaps the least normal part was the way Jackson had closed up when she asked him about it, she mused as she absently turned onto a different street. It wasn't like him to pass up on the opportunity to have a laugh at the expense of someone else, especially Stiles or Scott. To say he wasn't fond of Scott was an understatement, and that applied to Stiles as well by default. She had seen Jackson go out of his way to make their lives difficult on multiple occasions, and he must have been shaken pretty badly to not take another opportunity to.

Whatever happened, Lydia thought, turning off the car and getting out, staring at Scott's house. I'm going to find out soon.

Scott looked up when he heard the knock on the door and went to open it, leaving Stiles and Derek to awkwardly stare at each other. The only connection the two of them had was through Scott, and that was tenuous at best, given the animosity that existed between Scott and Derek when one or the other of them didn't urgently require help.

The uncomfortable atmosphere didn't improve with Scott's return, as he brought with him Lydia, who was one more variable that Stiles would have very much liked to keep out of this equation, but was nonetheless necessary. To have her see him like this was humiliating beyond belief... But he needed her help.

"So," Lydia said finally. "The legal system. What do you need to know?"

Sayer looked to Stiles who, with a nod, granted him the permission he was seeking.

"We need to get Stiles out of his house. As soon has humanly possible." Upon seeing the look on Lydia's face and the question that was certainly forming in her mind, Scott put a stop to it that before it even began. "Please don't ask why. Just know that it's really important, and we need him out of there now."

"Alright," she said, sitting down and folding her arms. "The way I see it there's two options."

Scott, Stiles, and Derek all remained silent, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Option one: you can petition for emancipation, but I don't recommend that. It's a complicated and difficult process. Moving on from that one, do you have somewhere you can stay for a long time? Possibly permanently?"

Scott answered that one, as one look at Stiles told him his friend wasn't about to.

"Yes. Right here with me and mom."

Lydia nodded slowly, thinking hard. "You're sure your mom would be on board with that?"

"Absolutely," Scott said without hesitation. "I swear sometimes she loves him more than me." That comment drew the desired response, and he smiled when he heard Stiles laugh quietly from his spot next to him. "But yeah, I know she'll be absolutely fine with it."

"Great," Lydia said. "Then the first step is getting his dad's parental rights revoked. Either that or he has to voluntarily give them up. For your sake I hope you have a damn good reason for doing this, because it's not easy to get someone's parental rights taken away."

Derek and Scott exchanged a look, the meaning of which was clear to both of them.

They were just going to have to persuade him to give Stiles up.

Unable to reconcile herself with staying away for the entire day, Melissa got off work just a couple of hours later. When she walked in, she found four people in her living room, only two of which she knew. Lydia immediately stood up, smiling politely at her and holding out her hand.

"Hello, Ms. McCall. I'm Lydia, I'm a... a friend of Scott and Stiles."

Scott got himself together and stood up too. "Yeah, this is Lydia and that's Derek, they're here to help out."

"Help out?" Melissa asked cautiously. "With what?"

"Getting Stiles out of his house. Lydia knows stuff about the legal side of things and Derek's..."

"Here for moral support," Derek put in, the lie rolling smoothly. He shot a look at Scott, who knew full well that he was there more because he was useful and intimidating.

"Have you come up with any ideas?" she asked, surprised and impressed.

"Well," Stiles said, speaking up finally. "It's either I appeal for... Uh, for emancipation, or... Or..."

"Or someone adopts him," Lydia finished for him. She was looking steadily at Melissa. "So far it looks like the only option in that department, short of the foster system, is you."

"Me?" Melissa asked, folding her arms and tilting her head to the side. "You mean us take him in?"

"It was a stupid idea," Stiles was quick to say, twisting his fingers together and looking like he was barely holding himself together. "Forget it. I mean, it was stupid to th-"

"No, I was just a little surprised." She walked over and knelt down in front of him, meeting his cautious, fearful eyes. "Whatever I have to do to make sure you are safe. I will adopt you myself if that's something you want, and if it means you won't be hurt again. Is that what you want, Stiles? To stay here, with us?"

After a moment's pause, he hesitantly nodded his head once.

"Great. It's settled then. Scott, do you remember Joyce Parson?"

"That friend of yours from high school?" Scott asked.

"That's the one. She's a lawyer who deals with this kind of thing. I'm sure she'll help us." She looked from her son, to the boy she was willing to do everything she could to get out of a terrible, dangerous situation, to their two friends. With a silent yet resounding clang, the reality of what she was about to attempt settled over Melissa McCall's head. She squared her shoulders and stepped out of the room.

"Hey, Joyce. I need your help. I need to adopt my son's best friend."