The Ties That Bind Us

The Age Law

Scott knew perfectly well that Stiles had observed his encounter with Malia, so he didn't feel obligated to come see him. He walked aimlessly thinking about the implications of the things they were uncovering, until someone snapped him to the present.

"Scott?" Kira was standing behind him leaning against a wall. From her posture, it appeared as though she had been there for a while waiting for something—or rather, someone.

He came to a halt, and inexplicably, all thoughts of Malia vanished from his mind. Stiles had to roll his eyes. He wanted those two to patch things up, but they had no time for this right now. Malia's fate was a lot more important than bantering with Kira.

Kira didn't look like she was in a snarky mood, though. Her expression was curious and concerned as she regarded him. "How are you feeling?" she asked. They hadn't talked to each other in a while.

"Fine. Stiles and the others saved me from the vampires."

"I guess he is good for something." Okay, maybe Kira was feeling a little snarky today. But only a little.

"And then... we saved Malia, I guess. Or she saved herself. I'm not quite sure what happened," Scott told her.

"So it worked?" Kira said, and she sounded excited. "Stiles's insane plan actually worked? She's not a vampire anymore?"

Scott shook his head. "No," he said. "She's something else."

"Like my parents?" All mirth disappeared from Kira's face. "I'm guessing my parents did whatever Malia's done. And they killed them anyway. So why aren't we doing something to get Malia out of here?"

Her words sent a shock through Stiles. He hadn't considered that, but it was likely the truth. Kira's parents had mentioned the estate of Moksha even before they knew what that was. Which meant they had gone through with it. They had become Gehenna. And still the guardians had killed them. If there was even the slightest chance they were going to do the same to Malia, Stiles had to get her out of there before they had their chance.

"I don't know what we're supposed to do now," Scott admitted. "But like Malia said, we're going to have to survive whatever is coming."

"Meaning you're ready to risk everything for them."

"They've risked everything for me," Scott said. "More than once."

Kira sighed dramatically. "And here I thought Stiles was the only one who threw himself into stupid situations, regardless of whether they might kill him."

"Can you blame him?" Scott sounded agitated now. "I mean, I helped out with it and I wanted it to be true... but I'm not sure I ever really, truly, thought something like this could be possible. But Stiles believed it. And I guess Malia must've believed it too, not because they wanted it to be true, but because they needed it." Scott stared at her for several heavy seconds, his heart rate rising slightly as he watched a light breeze ruffle her black hair.

Stiles decided it was time to leave Scott to his own thoughts. He got out of his head and then he was at a loss. Scott would be busy the rest of the day, and standing and yelling in the guardians' office wouldn't really help Stiles get to Malia. He supposed there was the off chance he might annoy them so much that they would throw him in jail, too. Then Malia and Stiles would be next to each other, like Bob had suggested. Stiles promptly dismissed that plan, fearing the only thing it would land him with was more filing.

What could he do? Nothing. He needed to see her again but didn't know how. He hated not having a plan. And he hated leaving her locked in there alone. The thought brought tears to his eyes, and left alone with his frustration and inactivity, Stiles returned to his room and flounced onto the bed. He stayed in his room for a good part of the day, lost in his own grief and restlessness. He lost track of time, and it took a knock at the door to snap him out of his own suffocating emotions.