Staring down at the boy who was bound in rope and duct tape, she tried to understand why Scott had chosen to throw him in a bathtub. Pressing her lips together she turned around to look at both Scott and Stiles who walked into the bathroom behind her with Stiles bouncing Talia who had almost started crying at her shout but thankfully did not.
"You can't kidnap a kid and toss him into the bath!" She pointed out, and Stiles nodded in agreement.
"This is why I make the plans," he said, and she nodded in agreement.
"Well, what are you two still doing standing there get him out!" She ordered as she plucked Talia from Stiles' arms and she headed back into the bedroom as the two boys did as told.
Staring at the boy who was taped to a chair, she tried to think of how this had happened. How her life had come to a point where she was looking at a boy who was tied to a chair with duct tape and had a piece of duct tape across his mouth - all in her little brother's room. Another point being she had a child on her hip as she was doing it.
"Liam, we're going to take the tape off your mouth. If you scream, it goes right back on. If you talk quietly, it stays off. Got it?" Stiles said, and Liam nodded slowly, "Okay." He stepped forward pulling the tape away from his mouth, "okay, Liam... Now, you've seen a lot of confusing things tonight. And more confusing things are going to happen because of the confusing things that happened tonight. Do you understand?"
Both Hayley and Scott looked over to him confused trying to work out what he was going to say, "not really..." Liam admitted.
"Good. That's good," Liam assured.
"I don't understand, either..." Scott added on.
"Yeah, neither do I," Hayley confirmed. Stiles looked between them confused before scoffing.
"Maybe you should tell him."
"Tell me what?"
"God, we're going to jail," Hayley muttered turning away from the three boys for a moment as she took a breath. This was something they needed Derek for or Peter for - people with experience.
"Liam... What happened to you... what I did to you... which I had to do to save you? It's going to change you..." Scott trailed off trying to find the correct words to say.
"Unless it kills you," Stiles interrupted, and both McCalls look at him horrified whilst Liam's face became filled with fear, "...shouldn't have said that."
"What?!" Liam snapped.
"Are you an idiot?" Hayley hissed as she looked over to Stiles confused, "you don't tell someone they could die. We're not doctors we don't have to do that," she pointed out, "especially not to a sixteen-year-old boy."
"Fifteen."
"Oh, wow. Even better then," Hayley scoffed.
Hearing sniffling they both turned to look at Liam to see tears beginning to fall down his cheeks and they both froze. "Uh... Uh-oh. Oh-oh... Is he... Is he crying?" Stiles asked before he looked to Hayley, "you're the mother!"
"I don't know how to help a crying teen I can barely stop Talia from crying," she reminded, and Stiles scoffed before Hayley plastered a smile on her face, "look, Liam right? You're not going to die and I understand everything that is going on is confusing to you because these twits haven't done a good job at explaining anything, but just know that you're going to be okay. I mean really... I feel like statistically speaking we're done with main character deaths," she admitted looking back to them, "unless Argent dies or something... would you class him as having a key role in our life right now?"
"What are you on about?" Stiles asked.
"You know what, just untie him," she ordered stepping to the corner and adjusting her grip on Talia who was now beginning to be more vocal and reach out to grab onto Hayley's hair - something she didn't appreciate.
The two boys raced forward and quickly did as told and they slowly began to pull the binds away. Once it was done the took a step back watching the boy who slowly rose to his feet. Hayley, already knowing something bad was going to happen, took a step back herself until she was in the corner.
"Liam, are you okay?" Scott asked.
"We're sorry about that. We're really sorry-" Stiles began, but Liam grabbed onto the chair whirling it around and knocking it into both Scott and Stiles. Hayley quickly turned away pressing her daughters face into her chest and holding her hand to her head in hopes of protecting her from any debris coming from the wooden piece of furniture. "Liam, what the hell is your-" Stiles was cut off by being punched in the face and he ran out of the room.
Both Stiles and Scott followed after as quickly as they could and Hayley slowly straightened up to the sound of Talia laughing. Sighing, she looked to her daughter, "of course you find that funny. I'm too old for this," she muttered slowly walking out of the bedroom as the sound of Scott and Stiles tumbling down the stairs was heard.
As she stepped out, she rolled her eyes upon seeing the pair tackling each-other and grabbing onto each other's feet instead of Liam's. "Boys," she called out, but the pair were too busy in their actions.
"Leg! I got him! I got him! I got him! I got him!"
"Boys!" She shouted and the pair fell silent looking over to her before they glanced at each other. Scott quickly pushed Stiles' foot away from his own face.
"...Your plan sucked, too!"
"I think both your plans sucked," Hayley mused as she looked between the pair, "now, if that's all then I will be going home," she added on beginning her walk down the stairs.
The elevator up to the loft made her realise how tired she was as she looked up at the ceiling. The sight of the ceilings was beginning to bore her. They were so... plain. Like there was nothing else that could be seen and yet there was so much. Everything in the world is so much better than plain old metal.
Releasing a long yawn, a spark of joy flickered within her as the elevator doors opened and she stepped into the loft. Clumsily, she reached up patting the wall until finally she hit the light switch and the moment the lights turned on a jump and short scream left her body at the sight in front of her.
"Peter!" She snapped out of annoyance. He was holding an axe in his hand and he looked pale. Blood was pouring out from his shirt and she sighed rolling her eyes as she did so. "I'll call Derek... but you're going to have to wait whilst I put Talia to bed," she droned and Peter looked at her offended.
"I could be dying."
"And I could be sleeping...but look at us. Both here and awake and annoying each other," she reminded as she headed towards the small nursery they'd made for themselves.
As they were waiting for Derek to return both of them were sat at the table with Peter sprawled across one chair gritting his teeth in pain, and Hayley was in another chair with her feet propped up on the spare one. She was trying to ignore the burning ache that had settled in her eyes, although from the rise of sunlight she knew it was doubtful she'd get to cure that ache for a while.
"How is it, to be a mother?" Peter droned, and she hummed looking over to him confused.
"Are you asking for spiritual proof that being a parent is the best thing that can happen to you, or are you asking me personally how I'm coping with Talia?" She countered, trapping the yawn within her mouth.
"I don't even know," he admitted.
"It's nice. To know that there's somewhere in the world who loves you and needs you. Someone who depends on you. Call me a narcissist but I think everybody needs that love sometime in their lives," she admitted. He hummed and the pair sat in silence for a few seconds before she spoke again, "how does it feel being old?"
"I. Am. Not. Old," he grit out, it seemed to be a continuous conversation that they had and she offered a shrug not being bothered by his annoyance.
"You're old to me wolfy," she teased just as the door opened and Derek walked in.
He looked at Peter before he looked over to Hayley trying to work out why they were both sat so casually. Sighing, he headed closer beginning to inspect the wound for Peter and once he was done he grabbed a box which seemed to permanently live under the table since they never used anything which was in it.
"The axe was laced with wolfsbane. I don't know the species, so I'm going to have to burn it out," Derek finalised and Derek began to smirk slightly causing Peter to scoff.
"I think I can handle a little fire..." he was cut off as Derek picked up a blow torch and turned it on. Hayley looked between the pair with a tired smirk. "...Ah, hell."
The moment the fire came into contact with his body he began to scream, and that consequently brought a whole new set of cries from the baby in the other room. Leaning back in her seat she threw her head back with a sigh. It was always them making her cry. Throwing herself up she stumbled into the bedroom.
"Hey, there sweetheart," she mused, "don't worry it's just Uncle Peter always getting into trouble," she assured as she picked up the child and began rocking her gently.
Her mind began to jump back to Braeden and everything that was happening and that all too familiar weight fell onto her heart. Was he interested in her? She supposed they never really had the best of circumstances as to how they became a couple and it could have been due to the exposure effect that they even became friends at all. Taking in a breath, she looked over to Talia who was slowly beginning to settle and was resting her head on Hayley's shoulder.
Maybe she was just tired. She'd read once that if you think people have stopped loving you and that you're all alone you should go to sleep, and if you're angry at everything then you should eat. If you're still angry afterwards or still believing those things then you know that it isn't just your mind playing tricks on you.
Except it wasn't just Derek, it was also her dad. He tried so hard to get back in favour with Scott and she understood it was easier because he lived with their mom but it occasionally felt like there was no effort with her. Except, that wasn't the case at all because he did try. She was just tired.
Once Talia was completely settled she lowered her into the cot biting down on her lip out of fear she would jostle her. She hated cots. They were too low down to lower a child in without waking them back up and by then you're screwed. You're on a new bout of trying to soothe the child.
As she walked out of the room Peter had finished screaming and he was looking over to Derek annoyed although the younger Hale still had an amused smirk on his face. "He said he was after you."
"How does a man with no mouth say anything?" Derek asked as he looked over to him confused.
"With this." Peter offered, holding up a military pager.
Hayley looked between them for a second before she sighed turning away and heading towards the bed. She hoped that everything she was feeling was just due to her being tired.
Stumbling forward she collapsed onto the bed allowing her eyes to shut. There was something about closing your eyes when you're tired that brought a soothing coldness throughout them and it made everything so much better. It was like for the first time in a long time something was going right.
Feeling the bed dip beside her, she knew that Derek had returned but she didn't bother opening her eyes. She just wanted to sleep. "Hey there," he muttered and she hummed as he reached forward pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. "You smell sad."
"Well, at first I thought it was-" she cut herself off with a yawn, "the... the lack of love, but then I realised that I'm just-" she cut herself off again with another yawn, "sleepy. Really sleepy."
"Jealousy?" He asked being slightly amused by the honesty of the conversation. Although, he always knew she was abundantly clear in everything that she ever felt.
"Mhm. What were," an enlivened look fell in his eyes as she was cut by another yawn, "you doing?"
He didn't say anything for a second.
"I was just helping Stilinski try and find these hunters," he said, but she could sense that there were things he wasn't telling her. She couldn't tell whether he was holding back a desire to pull away from her, or a desire to make himself more vulnerable somehow. Like he was trying to prove himself as the changed man that they all knew him to be now. No longer the power-hungry man that they'd encountered at the beginning. She knew that side of him was long gone.
Humming, tried to get more comfortable in the bed, "can you pass over the duvet?" She asked and she could faintly hear a chuckle fall from his lips before a warmth spread over her as he completed the task. "That's better."
"You get some sleep," he muttered.
She could barely register the order as she'd already forgotten what they were talking about. Everything in her mind was screaming for the mind to shut down for at least an hour. "Mhm," she murmured turning away to grab onto the pillow and use it as something to hold on. Derek reached out pressing his hand against her forehead and wiping the hair away from her face before he stood to his feet.
The weight leaving the bed felt equivalent to losing all form of heat. Cold, empty, and you couldn't do anything about it.