A/N: A little treat before the show tonight. Thank you for all your kind words. Let me know how you like the name!
Chapter 7- His Name
Stiles could hear nothing other than the thump of his heart against his chest. He was sure the others that possessed supernatural hearing could definitely hear it. Lydia had a calm focused exterior but he could tell she was stressed too. Her hand was clammy in his and he could feel the slight tremor in her body when she stepped. When they looked at each other their eyes seemed to connect as if they could speak without words. He gave her a reassuring smile which she returned.
It was dark and the light of his flashlight did little to cut the darkness. He was just about to announce that perhaps they had been a little quick to search right then. That they should return in the morning when there was light to see by, when Lydia clasped his arm and pulled him to a stop. Her eyes were large and round in shock as she tugged Stiles behind a large tree and brought a finger to her mouth in a shushing motion. He followed her gaze attempting to see what had her so spooked but all he could see were trees and hills amongst brush.
"Lydia what..." She placed her hand over top of his mouth to shut him up.
She stretched to her tip toes and pressed her lips to his ear and it sent chills down his spine. "I can see them. They are right in front of us."
He turned and squinted concentrating with everything he possessed but he could not see anything beyond the silver tipped trees where the moonlight reached the ground. He trusted Lydia and believed in her without a doubt. "Can you see Malia?" He asked her as softly as he could the tips of lips brushing against her neck.
"She's sleeping she looks fine." Lydia whispered. "I think we should just sit here for a little bit. Text Scott and let him know where we are but tell him to not come too close. I don't want to tip them off. I'll just sit and look and listen." Lydia sat down on her knees on the forest floor uncaring of the dirt that was collecting on her bare knees.
Stiles fumbled for his phone and quickly sent out a group text to the rest of the group along with their GPS coordinates and then kneeled beside Lydia to wait with his back against his tree. There was no point in him facing the way Lydia was, he was completely useless. He couldn't see or hear anything. He half wondered what would have happened if he'd marched right into them. Would he have run into an invisible force field? Forget why he was there in the first place? Collapse into a heap?
After some time had passed in silence the sky began to lighten on the horizon with orange streaks making the shadows somehow seem even darker and more ominous than before. Lydia took a large breath and placed her hand on his shoulder. He jumped at the contact and looked at her. "They're leaving." She continued before Stiles could protest that they needed to follow, "They are leaving Malia she's right there." Lydia said pointing at an area where he could still see nothing.
He was chomping at the bit to go and make sure they were okay but if he couldn't even find her than what was he to do. After a few more minutes he glanced again and sure enough Malia was lying in a bed of leaves with a blanket over top of her sound asleep. He looked to Lydia to make sure the coast was clear before sprinting out to her. He hastily hit the speed dial to let Scott know.
"They left. Malia is here. She looks okay. I think she's sleeping." He said and then hung up his cell phone to run his hands over Malia checking for any injuries they might have left on her. When he found none he tried to gently shake her awake. "Lia. Malia wake up." She stirred and scrunched her eye brows. She stretched and calmly looked up at him, her brow wrinkled in confusion as she took in his worried expression before she glanced around and noticed her surroundings.
"Stiles? Where am I?" She sat up and he pulled the blanket around her shoulders and ran his hands over her hair before kissing her forehead.
"Are you okay? Is the baby…" He couldn't finish as he choked back a sob. Lydia took that moment to announce her presence.
"Malia are you okay?" She asked softly as she knelt down beside the werecoyote. "You were taken by a tribe of faeries. Do you remember anything?" Lydia kept her voice even and calm while Stiles tried to quietly reign in his overwhelming emotions.
"Faeries?" Malia looked angry for a moment before her face grew pensive. "The last thing I remember I was walking into the preserve. I feel fine though." She answered as she pulled herself to her feet. Stiles's hands never left her body ready to catch her should she need it.
"I'm glad you are feeling okay but I think we should have Melissa check you and the baby over and then maybe we can try and figure out why they just let you go." Lydia said as she turned and started to make her way back the way they had come.
Melissa had done an ultrasound and for the second time Stiles got to see his son. He was starting to look more like a baby and less like an alien. Malia never looked at the screen just nodded at Melissa when she had confirmed that everything was fine and pulled her shirt back down. Further examination by Deaton and Lydia revealed a silver hued tattoo on her wrist only visible to werewolf vision and a black light. Other than that she seemed completely unmarked and fine.
Deaton and Lydia had agreed that it must be some kind of tracking spell and they tried anything they could to remove it but it stubbornly stayed put. "So basically they are going to come after her and the baby and there is nothing I can do?" Stiles asked in a defeated town.
"Well we can prepare. There are some mechanisms that might be useful against the faeries according to myths. I'll have to get in touch with Morell. She has had more experience with faeries than I have." Deaton had said as he busied himself cleaning up the clinic.
Stiles drove Malia and Lydia home much to the chagrin of Malia. "You are staying here from now on Lia. This isn't up for discussion." Stiles said as he strode up to the house and unlocked the door. "We can set you up in the nursery or in my room but I think it's best you stay here." Stiles knelt after unlocking the door and swiped through the thin trail of mountain ash that was forming a protective barrier to his house.
Lydia trailed behind the couple and followed them silently inside the house, watching as Stiles withdrew more mountain ash from a container on the sill and reconnected the barrier.
"I'm going to go take a shower. Can you find me something to eat? I'm starving!" Malia said as she took off up the stairs, she seemed oddly unaffected by the evening's events.
After he heard the water kick on Stiles began to rummage in the cupboards to find something to eat. He pulled some vegetables from the fridge and began slicing them for a salad. Lydia pulled a bowl off the shelf and began to assemble it. She nudged him playfully with her shoulder and he nudged her back eliciting a little giggle. It lightened Stiles's mood immensely.
"I'm glad they are okay." Lydia voiced quietly as she moved over to the stove to stir the tomato soup Stiles had set on.
He didn't say anything for a moment. "How am I ever going to protect him? He hasn't even been born yet and I feel like I've failed him." Stiles leaned his back against the counter and his body sagged in exhaustion. Lydia stretched on her toes and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek before threading her fingers with his.
"You haven't failed him Stiles. He's home and he's safe. We will figure out a way to protect him." She sounded confident and it helped relieve some of his worry knowing he wasn't facing this alone.
She moved to set the table while Stiles dished the soup into bowls and found the crackers he knew she liked. Her voice broke the silence. "What's this?" She asked holding up a scrap of paper with some names scrawled on it.
He rubbed the back of his neck suddenly nervous again. "Just some names I've been tossing around… trying out. I'm tired of calling him jus him or the baby, he should have a name."
"Hmm…" she said biting her lip as she read through the short list of names he'd compiled. "What does Malia think?" She asked him.
He set a bowl of soup down in front of her and the box of crackers and turned to grab her salad. He heard the water shut off upstairs as Malia finished her shower before he answered softly, "She doesn't want to name it. She wants me to choose it."
He felt sorry for his son. A mother that didn't want him, he knew all too much what it felt like to grow up without a mother and he would never wish that upon anyone, especially his own son, a child should have two parents to care for him.
"Well I vote for Finley." Lydia said breaking him from his turmoil. "It is Scottish for a warrior anyway and I think if he's anything like his dad that's exactly what he'll be."
He could feel the emotion rise in his throat at her words. "Yeah you think so?" He moved closer as if drawn to her.
"I do." She said before rising from her chair to meet his lips with her own. This kiss was slow and tender and he could feel how much she cared for him through it.
"I like that one too. Finley it is then." He said as he broke the kiss and caressed her cheek affectionately. They were broken from their moment as Malia entered the room.
"Where's the food I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!"