Lydia screamed, sending the hunters that were gathered at various points in the long, dark hallway crashing to the ground. She glanced around, making sure that there were no surprises she'd missed before looking over at Stiles.
"They're not getting up any time soon," she said to him, pointing at the multiple prone forms draped along the hallway. She tilted her head, motioning for the two of them to advance. They moved slowly, Stiles taking in every detail of the heavily loaded armoury.
"I still can't believe you didn't tell me that all of this was going on," he said, keeping his eyes moving around as they made their way forward. Small hints of anger lingered in his voice, he was obviously still upset that no one had told him about Gerard, Monroe and the Anuk Ite. "None of you, not even my dad."
"Listen," Lydia sighed, closing her eyes as the guilt she'd been carrying over keeping him in the dark resurfaced. "I know you're mad, but we did it for the right reason."
"Right reason?" Stiles replied loudly, stopping mid stride and turning to face Lydia. He could feel anger and fear and relief swirling inside of him all at once, so strong that made his body feel heavy. "Lydia, you could have been seriously hurt, or worse, and I wouldn't have even known about it."
"I know," she said, biting her lip and silently wincing as her chest tightened. Her throat started to catch as she saw the hurt in his eyes, seeing how much worry their secrecy had caused. "It wasn't easy. I hated keeping it from you but I couldn't..." she stopped, swallowing hard to stop her voice from braking over things she couldn't even let herself think about right now. "I couldn't have you involved in this, not after last time." His eyes softened slightly as they fell on her face, but his mouth was still a thin, hard line.
"You were away from this, you were safe," Lydia continued, her voice wavering as she poured the cold aching feeling in her chest out through her words. "And after I almost lost you." She paused again, meeting his eyes as tears threatened to form in hers. "I couldn't go through that again."
"Well what if I would have had to go through that?" Stiles asked Lydia, instinctively moving closer to her as he saw the pain in her eyes. He was still mad at her for keeping everything a secret. She could have been hurt or killed and he wouldn't have been there for her, he wouldn't have even known. But the look on her face right now, the way her chin wobbled slightly as she bit her lip, and the dewy shine in her wide eyes tugged at his heart in a way that he was powerless to fight against. "What if I lost you?"
"I know," she replied, moving her hands and swaying slightly as she spoke, desperate to release some of the oppressive tension that flowed through her. "It was selfish, but I needed you to be safe."
"And I need you to be safe," Stiles responded softly, stopping Lydia's swaying movements by taking her hand in his. She looked down at where her fingertips grazed his palm, focusing on the subtle warmth where their hands connected.
"I am," she said quietly, drawing her eyes up to meet his.
"Anything could have happened to you," said Stiles. Not angry this time, but concerned, scared. He sounded unsteady and vulnerable.
"But it didn't," Lydia responded calmly, trying to add a bit of melody to her voice. She would tell him about being shot another time. He didn't need to be thinking about that and what could have happened right now. "And we're both here now, so I guess neither of us got what we wanted."
"I wouldn't go that far," said Stiles, his tone more upbeat and his face wrinkled in contemplation. He tilted his head to the side, meeting Lydia's eyes before grabbing her other hand. "We're both here. Together." Lydia let her fingers intertwine with his as she stepped closer, never taking her eyes off him. She finally smiled, feeling a small sense of relief start to burst in her chest.
