Chapter 20
Liam tried really hard to focus on what Olivia was talking about. Normally he loved her constant chatter and would hang on every word, but right now he was having a really hard time paying attention. Scott had called a pack meeting for the first time since they had found Stiles. It had been a week since the doctors had tried and failed to take him out of his coma and there had been no change. Liam was really hoping that Scott had something good to tell them all during the meeting, but he knew that was probably wishful thinking.
“Hello, earth to Liam,” Olivia said in a singsong voice. He looked up to see her watching him with and expression of half concern and half amusement.
“Sorry, what were you saying,” He said giving her an apologetic smile
“I was telling you that they got our cover story and documents all straightened out so we will be able to start going to school and living normal lives. Are you okay?”
“Olivia that’s great! What is your cover story?” Liam said, ignoring her question. She gave him a questioning look but must've decided to drop it since she continued talking.
“Well for one, Dawson is now my big brother. He and Remy are ‘fraternal twins’” She used air quotes for the phrase “fraternal twins”. “We are three orphans who were sent to live with our only remaining family member, dear uncle Chris. He is going to let us all stay with him which I think is insanely generous.”
“That’s a good cover, and really nice of Argent. Jordan and Braeden got all the paperwork sorted?”
“Yep, we’re all officially Argents. Our "father" Paul is Chris’ long lost brother.” Again air quotes on the word "father".
“3 werewolves in the Argent family, Chris’ ancestors are probably rolling over in their graves.”
“And Allison is probably enjoying having the last laugh,” Scott said as he and Kira entered the loft. He came over and sat next to Liam, leaning back against the couch and closing his eyes, he looked exhausted. Liam was extremely glad to see his alpha, he couldn’t really describe it, but he always felt more at ease with Scott near him. It was partially because Scott was his alpha and partially because Scott was his friend. Scott had a calming presence on Liam that no one else had.
“Where is everyone else?” Liam asked.
“They should be coming soon,” Scott said not opening his eyes. As he spoke the doors opened again and Lydia and Parrish walked in. Next came Olivia’s “brothers” followed shortly by Isaac, Deaton, and Melissa. Liam was surprised to see the two adults, they were not usually in attendance at pack meetings. Their presence made him all the more curious about what the meeting was about. Upon hearing the noise, Derek and Braeden came downstairs to join the rest of the group. Argent and the man named Kyle that they had picked up at the factory arrived next. Liam had no idea why there were allowing the man to roam free. It was true that he didn’t leave the loft unless he was with a member of the pack, but Liam still thought it was a bit lenient. Scott had said that Stiles had told them not to hurt Kyle, but Stiles could have been delirious or suffering through some kind of Stockholm syndrome. Liam would not fully trust him until Stiles woke up and told them the whole story himself.
Malia and the Sheriff were the last ones to arrive. Both looked like death warmed up and Liam suspected this was the first time in a while either had left the hospital. Every time he went to visit Stiles one of them was always at his side.
“Well looks like everyone is here,” Scott spoke from next to him. He was sitting up straight now, looking around at them intently. “Let’s get started, mom, can you tell everyone what you told me?” Everyone turned to look at Melissa who was fiddling with the hem of her scrubs
“Um okay, so as you all know Stiles is stable. His body is healing, but his brain is keeping him from waking up. At this point, there is really nothing that the doctors can do except wait.” Melissa paused and Liam had to resist the urge to go over and shake her, he just wished she’d get to the point.
“We know all of this already,” Derek said, his voice laced with the same annoyance that Liam felt.
“Just let her talk” Scott muttered giving Derek a stony look. Derek put his hands up in surrender and gestured for Melissa to continue.
“Okay, well I was just thinking that we have a bit more information about how the world really works than the doctors. I thought maybe if we all put our brains together we might be able to come up with a supernatural way to help Stiles.” Melissa said it all quickly as if she were afraid of being interrupted again. Her jumbled sentences were followed by a slightly stunned silence as they all processed.
“Actually that is something I have been thinking about.” Deaton finally spoke up “Something the doctor said stuck out to me. He said that there was something inside Stiles’ brain that was preventing him from waking up. What if it’s like when he was trapped inside his own mind by the Nogitsune?”
“You think we might be able to bring him out of it if we go inside his mind and find him,” Scott said with a hope in his voice that Liam hadn’t heard in a while.
“You and Lydia did it once before, maybe you could do it again,” Deaton said nodding.
“Wait hold on, a coma isn’t exactly the same as an evil fox spirit.” Derek pointed out.
“You’re right, this time you will need to be more delicate, it’s only Stiles inside of there so you will have to be careful of what walls you break down to get him out,” Deaton said it all like he was giving out the recipe to his favorite lasagna dish but his words left a sick feeling inside of Liam. He hadn’t been around while the Nogitsune was possessing Stiles, but he had heard the stories. And based on the stories it had been no easy task freeing Stiles from his mind, Lydia and Scott had both almost gotten stuck.
“I don’t like the sound of this,” Parrish said looking around to see if the others agreed with him,
“I’m not saying it won’t be dangerous, both for Stiles and those who enter his mind, but I have done a fair amount of research over the past week and I haven’t found anything else that could possibly help” Deaton said, his tone gaining a bit of intensity.
“Maybe you couldn’t, but the rest of us weren’t trying. Maybe we could find something different” Isaac said.
“Isaac’s right, let’s give it a few days to see if we can come up with any safer options. If we can’t then I say we have to try it, no matter the risk.” Scott firmly stated his decision.
“Alright, just don’t wait too long. If Stiles is trapped in his own brain he might sink further and further in as time goes by.” Deaton warned them.
“48 hours, we meet back here and see if anyone has found anything,” The Sheriff spoke up for the first time. Everyone agreed to this plan and went their separate ways. Liam could only hope that they were able to find another way.
*****
“Go Stiles go!”
“That’s my son!”
“Whoo Stiles!” Stiles grinned as he looked into the stands to see his parents and Malia standing up and cheering. He had just scored another goal and man did it feel good. He caught Malia’s eye and she blew him a kiss. His heart did a little flip-flop. No matter how long they were together, Stiles knew that he would never lose that giddy feeling when it came to her.
Stiles’ gaze moved to his parents. His mom was jumping up and down and cheering loudly and his dad was watching her with a huge smile on his face. Stiles could tell that his father hadn’t lost that feeling when it came to his mom. His dad looked away from his mom to meet his eye.
“That’s my son!” He called again like he wanted the entire world to know that he was the father of Stiles and proud of it. Stiles waved at the three of them and then ran over to where his team was huddled.
“Nice work Stilinski” Coach yelled “now the rest of you hooligans better step it up. We are currently in the lead and I would like to keep it that way until the game ends in one minute.”
“You got it Coach,” Scott said as he clapped Stiles on the shoulder.
“Alright now get your asses on the field!” They broke apart and ran out onto the field. Scott turned to grin at Stiles before taking his place and Stiles winked in response. The whistle blew and everything sprang into action. Scott quickly took possession of the ball and began running down the field, dodging people as he went. Stiles ran as fast as he could to catch up, weaving in and out of people just like his friend. He made it to a position in front of the net and looked for Scott. Right on cue Scott sent the ball flying in Stiles’ direction. Stiles caught it and quickly hurled it towards the net. The ball sailed into the net just as the clock ran out.
Scott ran over to Stiles and tackled him to the ground. Their fellow teammates soon joined creating one huge pile on top of Stiles who laughed until he couldn’t breathe.
“Alright...I know it’s exciting we won an all...but get off of me…” He said between laughs. Everyone stood up and Scott helped pull Stiles to his feet. He regained his footing in just enough time to catch Malia who threw herself at him. He spun her around and pressed his lips against hers.
“Good game honey” Stiles broke away from Malia when he heard his mom’s voice. He gave both his parents a hug.
“Thanks”
“What do you say we go out for some pizza to celebrate?” His father asked.
“Mmm sounds good to me,” Stiles said happily as he reached for Malia’s hand. “Scotty?”
“Let me grab my mom and Kira and we’ll meet you there” His friend said in reply.
“Perfect, let’s go”, Stiles said, his stomach grumbling at the thought of food. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”
“Deer are much better” Malia whispered so only he could hear, he was happy she was learning to not shout statements like that. Stiles got a funny look from his parents when he let out a loud laugh, but they had learned at that point not to ask. Still chuckling Stiles leaned over and kissed Malia on the cheek.
“Pizza’s still the best though” He whispered in her ear. She turned her head so she could kiss him on the lips. She pulled apart slightly and murmured against his lips,
“Can’t argue with you there.”
- N x
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