Baby|| Stiles Stilinski

25

Allison, Scott and Stiles all approached the ice filled water with expressions of determination and slight dread. Baby could feel his nerves in his throat. The anxiety breaking through his normally calm persona to show on his face as he lingered behind Stiles. All three of the surrogate sacrifices had stripped down into their thinnest layers. Nothing to stop the cold from leeching into their skin. Allison went first. Her exhale as her bare foot touched the icy water was loud and sharp in the tense silence. Stiles looked over his shoulder to Baby. His dark eyes seeking something from his face. Baby didn't know what he was seeking, but he bit his lip and nodded. A silent reminder that he was there. Right behind him.

Scott and Stiles put their hands on the rim of the tubs at the same time. Both boys stepping in with loud gasps at the sudden shock of cold. But the three of them pushed on. Forcing themselves to sit down up to their necks in the ice and mistletoe water. Stiles started shivering first. Alison trembling in her own tub as Scott bit his lip. "By the way", Stiles spoke up, voice stuttering with shivers. "If I don't make it back and you do, you should probably know something". Scott turned to look at him. "Your dad's in town".

Scott's face fell in surprise before he pushed it back. No more words were said as the three of them all took a deep breath and shred one last glance at each other. Behind them, Deaton, Baby and Lydia stepped up. Baby pulling off his hoodie so not to get it wet. He laid his cold hands on Stiles' shoulder. The human blood thrumming under his touch. And then he was pushing Stiles gently down. His eyes closing as he slipped underwater. Body becoming still.

——

Baby was counting. Counting the seconds as he felt Stiles' pulse slow under his hands, heard the three heartbeats start to drop. Five, six, seven. He could hear them dying, feel Stiles dying in his palms. He counted the seconds to keep himself focused. The seconds until he could let go. Oh god not again- . Until they were dead and when they could be brought back. Stiles' heart stopped.

"Okay", Deaton voiced. "You can all let go now and step back". Lydia moved back as fast as she could. Her breath almost panting as she watched Allison anxiously. Deaton was calm and controlled as he stepped back and checked his watch. Baby had to force himself to let go. His hands dripping water as he curled them around himself to stop himself from reaching out again. They were dead in his hands. Dead in his hands.

Every second felt like an age. Just him watching Stiles' white face in the water. At some point Lydia and Deaton moved round the tubs to go and sit down. Baby remained were he stood. He couldn't move. Issac had left the room. Baby could hear him bustling round the other room, searching for something to keep him occupied. "Baby", Deaton called. Issac had returned with the slushie cup in his hands.

Baby blinked and robotically walked over to take the blood. His hands were shaking, when did that start? A pulse fading under his hands. The scent of blood. No, no no- "Baby", Deaton's voice broke through his thoughts. "Drink the blood". Baby put the straw to his lips and obediently drank. He stopped once the cup was empty. Someone, probably Lydia, took it away and guided him to sit down on the floor. He stared blankly at nothing. His mind stuck in memories as the light began to change outside. At one point Deaton guided him to take his shirt off so that he collided remove the last of the bandages. The holy water burns now fully healed.

The three bodies broke out of the water in synch with loud gasps. Water hit the floor as the all scrambled out of the tubs. Baby jerked as Lydia and Deaton jumped to their feet. Issac coming running through the door. "I saw it!" Scott exclaimed. "I know where it is!"

"Yeah, we passed it", Stiles added. "There was this stump. This huge tree. Well, it's not huge anymore. It was cut down. But it's still big though. Very big". He waved his arms. The water clinging to his clothes and skin, hair slicked back. Hi eyes were darting nervously, settling on them as he stumbled. Alison and Scott weren't much better. All of them jittery as they recovered.

"It was the night we were looking for the body", Scott panted.

"The same night you were bit by Peter".

"I was there too. In the car with my mother. We almost hit someone", Alison gasped.

"It was me! You almost hit me". Scott turned to face Deaton triumphantly. "We can find it!" Then the three of them saw their faces.

"What?" Alison asked.

"You guys were out a long time", Issac stated.

"How long is a long time?" Stiles asked. He noticed Baby on the floor. Under his gaze, Baby scrambled to his feet. Body stiff from being in one position for hours.

"Sixteen hours", Deaton stated. Alison and Stiles sagged at the news.

"We've been in the water for Sixteen hours?" Scott repeated.

"And the full moon rises in less than four", Deaton's voice was grim.

——

Issac had brought them all towels. Alison was huddled in hers as she sat on the side of the tub. It was wrapped around her shoulders like a blanket, Issac pressed against her side like a werewolf hot water bottle. Scott was clutching his. His werewolf body warming itself up just fine by itself. While Stiles had used the towel to dry himself into a state of dampness rather than dripping wet. He sighed as he leant against his own tub, voice breaking Baby's thoughts and bringing him back to the present. "No dude, you're not going back with them".

Baby edged closer. He sat down on the edge of the tub at Stiles' side. Not close enough to touch, his cold blood would to nothing to warm Stiles up again, but close enough to feel the pulse of his heart in the air. Baby fiddled with his straw. The slushie cup refilled for the second time that day. They weren't sure what they were facing with the full moon, so he needed all the blood he could get.

"I made a deal with Deucalion", Scott sighed.

"Does anyone's think that sounds a lot like deal with the devil?"

"Why does it matter anyway?" Issac voiced.

"Because I still don't think we can beat Jennifer without their help".

Alison turned to Deaton. "He trusts you more than anyone. Tell him he's wrong".

Deaton's eyes flickered between them. "I'm not so sure he is. Circumstances like this sometimes require that you align you're self with people you'd normally consider enemies".

"So we're going to trust him", Issac questioned. "The guy that calls himself 'death, destroyer of worlds', were going to trust him?"

Baby's head shot up and for the first time in over sixteen hours, he smiled slightly. "Was that a marvel quote? Avengers?" Issac grinned back at him, glad that someone got the reference. "Nice".

"I wouldn't trust him, no", Deaton said. "But you could use him to your advantage. Deucalion maybe the enemy but he could also be the bait". Scott looked up as he began to understand what Deaton was saying. He might have spoken but the sound of the clinic door opening made him stop. Footsteps sounded and they all move to peer into the waiting room.

Ethan was standing by the front desk. "I'm looking for Lydia and Baby", he stated as Deaton came into view.

Lydia and Baby stepped forwards next to him. "What do you want?" Lydia asked. Scott hovering behind her.

Ethan swallowed. "I need your help".

"With what?" Stile voiced, shoving himself between Baby and the door frame. Baby got a lungful of his scent and could feel Stiles' pulse thrumming where their sides touched. Baby froze and sniffed again. There was something different, something off. Stiles normally smelled of fresh rain, damp earth and sarcasm. But the sarcasm smell had faded into a scent of annoyance and there was a dark undertone to the layers of scent. A scent of smoke and something burning. Baby leaned closer to get another smell. Yes, there was a new smoky scent. Maybe it was the effect of the Nemeton? He pushed it to the back of his mind.

Ethan inhaled. "Stopping my brother and Cali from killing Derek".

Unedited