Lydia stared at her reflection in the mirror. The string of fairy lights that ran around it lit her face, making her look almost angelic. Makeup pristine as always, she still couldn't help but frown. Something wasn't right. Something was missing. Leaning in closer, she inspected her features, trying to figure out what was missing. It wasn't her eyeliner or her mascara, her lips were painted a bright shade of red, so what was it? No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't understand what was missing from her appearance. With a defeated sigh, she slouched back in her chair, abandoning her perfect posture. The movement shook the whole cabinet, causing a delicate chain to swing precariously from its position hanging on the edge of the mirror. Forehead crinkled, she leant forwards, taking it gently into her hands. She had almost completely forgotten about it. The simple chain used to be worn around her neck at all times, as it carried one of her dearest possessions on it. Jackson's house key. Seeing the little silver chain now brought back a flood of memories from two years ago. Back when Jackson still lived in Beacon Hills, when he suddenly changed and their relationship fell to pieces. Of course, the fact that he had turned into a homicidal lizard man hadn't helped, but their relationship was crumbling anyway. The key she constantly wore around her neck had ended up saving his life when she had returned it to him.

Since then, the little chain had been set aside. With no key to hold, it didn't seem so important, so it hung from the corner of her mirror, disappearing into the back ground. Staring at the pile of chain nestled in her palm, she realised what had been missing. Stretching around in her chair, she reached for her handbag. Hoisting it up onto her knee she dove in, rummaging for a few moments before she found what she was looking for. Smiling triumphantly she held up a simple silver key. The curved edge glinted in the light from her mirror, creating a sparkle in Lydia's eyes. Setting her bag back on the ground, she placed the two items on the table in front of her. Two precious things. The key to the house of the person she loved, and the chain that had been with her as long as she could remember, it had been a gift from her grandmother. Dainty fingers moving quickly, she picked up Stiles' key, holding it close to her face before threading the chain through it with ease. Letting the key fall to the middle of the chain, she grinned approvingly. After clasping the chain around her neck, she glanced at her reflection once more. Yes, this was right. Now she felt complete.

Her happy silence was broken by a gentle knock on her bedroom door. Turning around she spotted her mother hovering in the doorway. Although she looked exhausted, the woman still managed to have a kindly smile on her face at all times. Lydia stood up, walking across the room and pulling her mom into a tight embrace. Shocked at the sudden affection, she sputtered happily, "Lydia? What's wrong? Are you alright honey?"

Stepping back, Lydia beamed, "No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to say that I love you, that's all."

Shocked, Ms Martin replied, "Well- I love you too sweetheart," the woman looked her daughter up and down, only now noticing her unusual choice of clothing, "are you doing something tonight?"

Lydia cast a glance back into her mirror. Granted, the combat boots, leggings, loose top and leather jacket weren't her usual style. But they served a purpose tonight. Thinking on her feet, the girl put on an innocent smile. "Oh yes, I'm going over to Kira's to study for AP Biology. She was saying it was quite muddy around her house, so I thought I should be prepared." At the end of her sentence she displayed her footwear with an elegant leg flick.

He mom looked unconvinced, but nodded along anyway. "Alright then. Are you going to be staying over? Or should I wait up?"

Adding to the lie, Lydia pressed on, "Oh no, don't wait up. I might actually stay the whole weekend, we have a lot of work to do." Before her mom could ask her any more questions, Lydia pulled her into another quick hug before rushing out of the door, calling a hasty "Love you!" over her shoulder as she went. Once she was out of the house and sitting in her car, she allowed herself a moment to calm down. She hated lying to her mom, but it seemed to have become a regular occurrence these days. Staring at the handbag now resting on the passenger seat, she decided to take one last look inside, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything. As she rummaged, she worked her way through her mental checklist:

Rope?

Check

Knife?

Check, although what good is that going to do?

Radio?

Yup

Phone?

Gotcha

Mini-Crossbow?

There it is, Alison would be proud.

And last but not least, Stiles' pillow?

Looking behind her to the back seat she saw the pillow and smiled, "Check."

"Check what?" Liam's voice appeared right next to her. Screaming in shock, Lydia punched him in the face. Groaning he massaged his chin. "Hey, what was that for?"

Still attempting to calm her heart rate, Lydia gaped at him. "Liam, you can't just go sneaking up on people and surprising them! It's a natural reaction to defend yourself if you get scared!"

Frowning he muttered under his breath, "Yeah, that's what Hayden said too."

Raising an eyebrow, Lydia laughed slightly, "What did you do to Hayden?"

Liam rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, looking down at his lap as he spoke, "I uh, I was trying to prove that everything I told her about the supernatural world was true right? So she wouldn't give me a chance to explain, and she was about to leave and I got desperate, so I changed in front of her. And she punched me in the face."

A laugh escaped her before she could help herself. Doing her best to cover it up, she stared at her friend, "She punched you, just for that?"

"Well, not exactly. I might have also roared in her face." He glanced up at Lydia, and when he saw that she was laughing, became very defensive, "Hey hold on! That's not funny! I got punched in the face! Twice!"

"Yes, and no wonder if you will keep scaring people like that! Honestly Liam." Lydia shook her head before turning on the car. Liam buckled his seatbelt, looking out his window eagerly. At least someone's excited for tonight she thought. If she was honest with herself, there was a small part of her that was excited to jump back into the action. But for the most part, she was being consumed by the terrible fear that something awful was going to happen. It had been eating away at her for the past three days, ever since they started formulating the plan to save Stiles and take down the Dread Doctors. The event was hauntingly familiar to the time when the Nogitsune was wreaking havoc in Beacon Hills. Back then, everyone had rallied together to save her, and it had resulted in the death of her dearest friend Alison. The fear that something similar was going to happen again was almost too much to bare.

Caught up in her own thoughts, she would have missed the turn off had Liam not jabbed her in the shoulder. "Hey Lydia, are you alright?"

Glancing at him, she bit her lip before putting on her trademark smile, "I'm fine, don't worry."

Narrowing his eyes at her, he pushed her for proper answers, "Lydia I can tell that's not true. I can hear your heart beat remember? Not to mention smelling your emotions. Boy can I tell you, this car reeks of-"

"Liam!" She snapped at him, "Now is not the time to comment on my emotional state, or the smell of my car, okay?"

Hurt expression on his face, he returned to staring out of the window, "Alright, I was just trying to help."

Feeling like she had just kicked a puppy, Lydia groaned with guilt, "Liam I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted. You're right I'm not okay. I'm scared."

Liam nodded, "I know. I am too."

Taking her eyes off of the road momentarily, she stared at him, "You are?"

He looked at her, expression genuine, "Yeah. Last time we did something like this, we were fighting the berserkers, and that messed me up for months. I'm afraid that something'll happen, and I'll be too scared or too weak to save anyone. What if Scott gets in trouble and I can't help him? What if one of them hurts Stiles before we can save him? What if the attack me and I can't defend myself? What if-"

Pulling up outside of Scott's house, Lydia interrupted him. Turning in her seat she grabbed his hand, looking at him earnestly. "Liam, it's good to be afraid. It stops you from getting to reckless. But maybe you need to stop worrying about what if, and start thinking about what really matters." When he stared at her blankly, she rolled her eyes before continuing, "What matters is that we're doing this to save Stiles. The whole pack knows what they're risking, but they're happy to do it because a member of their pack is in danger. That's what we do. Whenever I'm too scared or I don't think I'm strong enough, I remember something someone amazing once said."

"What's that?"

"We protect those who cannot protect themselves. That's the code Alison lived by, and it's the code I try to stay true to. Stiles is alone down there, and he has no way of protecting himself. So it's up to us to save him. But if anyone gets in trouble down there, the same applies for them. We aren't letting anyone get hurt. And that includes you." She squeezed his hand gently before letting go, climbing out of the car and waiting for him. For a moment, he sat in stunned silence in the passenger seat, her inspiring words stewing in his brain. Finally, he pulled himself together, jumping out of the car and walking side by side with Lydia up to Scott's door.

Cautious of overstepping any boundaries, Liam tentatively spoke up. "Alison sounded like she was an amazing person, I wish I could've met her."

Lydia looked at him, sad smile pulling at her lips. After a moment of morose silence she nodded, "She was. You two would have gotten on really well."

Liam's voice perked up, "Really?"

Chuckling, Lydia responded, "Yeah, I think so."

They came to a halt outside the front door of the McCall household, and just before he knocked, Liam turned to Lydia, "Thanks."

Nodding silently she smiled at him, glad to have put him slightly more at ease. Truthfully, remembering Alison's code had done wonders to calm her down too. She just kept repeating the mantra in her head. Protect those who cannot protect themselves. Liam knocked and barely two seconds later Scott swung the door open. Glancing behind him, Lydia saw Kira standing awkwardly in the hall, glancing frequently into the living room. The expression on her face told Lydia something was up, something she was most likely not going to be happy about. Shifting her gaze back to Scott, Lydia scrutinised him. His eyes were shifting about nervously, and he wore an over exaggerated smile. "Scott, what's going on?" Lydia spoke with precision, careful to keep her voice calm.

Before the Alpha could reply, someone shouted from the living room. "Who is that? Is that her? Let me talk to her!" The shouts were followed by a clatter, and then scuffled movements in the hall. Kira struggled against someone for a moment, until they eventually won over. Within seconds Malia was tearing down the hall, murderous glint in her eyes. Scott only just managed to grab her before she reached Lydia. Even so, she struggled against his grip, claws outstretched. "You!" Her eyes were glowing blue and her teeth were sharp and dangerous. "What? You think you can just waltz in and steal him from me?! I thought you were my friend! But you liked him all along didn't you! I can't believe I trusted you!" With each word she lashed out towards Lydia, doing her best to reach her.

Taken aback, the Banshee glared at her. If looks could kill, Lydia Martin would be a mass murderer by now. Her stare was venomous, her newfound distaste for Malia now boring into the girls skin. "You can't believe you trusted me? I actually thought you had changed, that you were a normal person! But clearly that isn't true, considering you murdered your boyfriend- oh wait, ex-boyfriend's father!" Each word was laced with malice. Lydia had not come here tonight to be called a traitor by the very person who had caused all of this mess in the first place. Now that she had started, she found she couldn't stop. "What? Did you think you could just go running back to Stiles after this was all over and he'd just forgive you? He needed someone there Malia, where were you? Hiding, off somewhere in a bad mood because he shouted at you? I stayed with him, I looked after him. This past month I've been more of a girlfriend to him than you've ever been. Just because I care about more than just sex and hormones! I love the person that he is. Can you say that? Do you even know what his actual name is? NO? I DIDNT THINK SO!"

Liam was now having to hold Lydia back as she did her best to advance on Malia. Although she didn't have claws or fangs, he was still pretty sure she could cause some major damage. In an attempt to ease the tension Scott spoke up, "Actually, I don't know his real name either." Both girls glared at him, silencing him in an instant.

Turning back to Malia, Lydia spoke, voice dangerously quiet. "I'm not going to stop you from being here. Hell we could use the help saving Stiles. We all care about him, that much is clear, so if you can agree to get along with me, then that's fine with me. BUT- if you dare call me a traitor, or a bad friend, or suggest that I don't care about that boy, then I am going to make you wish you never became human again. Are we understood?" The tension in the air was palpable, and everyone was on edge, waiting for Malia's response.

The coyote had returned to her human form, staring in shock at the fuming girl in front of her. Looking rather taken aback, almost impressed, she finally spoke up. "Lydia, I'm so sorry. You're right, of course you're right. I've been a really terrible girlfriend, and Stiles deserves much better. I just got so jealous and then when I found out that you two were 'in love' I just got so mad that you could make him feel something that I never could. I know what I did was wrong and stupid-" she was addressing the whole group now, "-and believe me, I regret it. You don't need to let me back in the pack, but you have to let me help you save Stiles. Because I still care about him. I care about all of you, and I want to protect you." As she finished speaking, Malia's eyes rested on Lydia, full of an unspoken apology. Lydia nodded in response, not quite forgiving the girl for her actions, but certainly ready to accept her help.

Ever cheerful, Liam spoke up, holding out his hand for Malia to shake whilst glancing sideways at Lydia, "We protect those who cannot protect themselves." The banshee broke into a teary smile, heart melting and regret at her harsh words sticking in her throat. She threw her arms around Malia, pulling her into a tight hug. The coyote hugged her back gladly, and they whispered to each other, making amends.

Meanwhile, Scott had taken Liam off to the side, staring at him in shock. "Where did you hear that?"

Smiling proudly Liam responded, "I just heard that someone great once said it, that's all. It seemed appropriate." And with that the boy winked before walking into the house, leaving Scott standing alone in a mixture of shock, pride, sadness and nostalgia. Such a strange combination started to give him a headache, so he quickly shook it off, clearing his mind for the task at hand. Taking a deep breath, he walked back into the house, and they put Plan H into action.