The Ties That Bind Us

The Mouthpiece

It took his dad a while to notice and call on him. He seemed mildly astonished to find Stiles in class. He obviously hadn't seen Stiles until now, which just enraged Stiles further.

"So, Guardian Stilinski," Stiles began pompously. "I just wanted to know why didn't you guys just secure the place to begin with?"

His dad frowned. "What do you mean?"

Stiles slouched back in his desk trying to look casual and uninterested. "I don't know. It seems to me like you guys messed up. Why didn't you scope out the place and make sure it was clear of vampires in the first place? Seems like you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble."

All eyes in the room turned toward Stiles. His dad was momentarily at a loss for words.

"If we hadn't gone through all that 'trouble,' there'd be seven more Cold Ones walking the world, attacking innocent people and doing other unspeakable things. Furthermore, the half-breeds who'd been captured would be dead or turned by now."

"Yeah, yeah," Stiles dismissed his words. "I get how you guys saved the day and all that, but I'm going back to the principles here. I mean, this is a theory class. So I just want to figure out what went wrong in the beginning."

Stiles had to admit his dad had a hell of a lot more self-control than he did: were their situations reversed, Stiles would've already smacked himself. But his father's face stayed perfectly calm, and a small tightness in the set of his lips was the only sign that Stiles was pissing him off.

"It's not that simple," he replied. "The venue had an extremely complex layout. It's believed the vampires came in after the festivities had started—or that there might have been passages and hidden rooms we hadn't been aware of."

"So what you're saying is that you guys either failed to detect them during your first sweep, or they broke through the 'security' you set up during the party. Tsk tsk. Seems like someone messed up either way."

The tightness in his dad's lips increased, and his voice grew frosty. "We did the best we could with an unusual situation. I can see how someone at your level might not be able to grasp the intricacies of what I'm describing, but once you've actually learned enough to go beyond theory, you'll see how different it is when you're actually out there and lives are in your hands."

"No doubt," Stiles agreed. "Who am I to question your methods? I mean, whatever gets you more marks, right?"

"Stilinski!" Harris shouted, his deep voice rumbled through the room. "Please, get the hell out of my classroom."

Stiles crossed the short distance to the door and refused to make eye contact with his dad as he passed. However, the man followed him to the hallway. "I see your manners haven't improved."

"Hi, Dad! Good to see you," Stiles feigned excitement. "I'm surprised you even recognized me. In fact, I didn't even think you remembered me, seeing as how you never bothered to let me know you were on campus."

"I couldn't neglect my duty to come coddle you."

"Coddle?" Stiles repeated, his hand starting to shake. "You never coddled me in this life. It's honestly astonishing you even know the word."

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, Stiles. From what I hear, you don't really know what 'duty' is."

"I know exactly what it is," he retorted. "Better than most people."

"Oh really? Where were you for the last two years?"

"Where were you for the last five?" Stiles demanded. Some people stopped to stare. Stiles rubbed his eyes and tried to lower his voice. "Would you have known I was gone if someone hadn't told you?"