Stay with Me (Stalia)

Chapter 25

Back in the loft, the mood was sombre. When Melissa had come out a few hours earlier and told them that Stiles was alive it was as if a weight had been lifted off of all of their shoulders. They had been trying and failing to reconcile with the fact that Stiles was dead, but now they didn't have to, because he was alive. There had been smiles and tears of joy and a lot of hugging. Stiles was still unconscious, but at least his condition was stable. Malia and the others had stayed for as long as they were allowed to stay. They hadn't said very much, just listened to the steady sound of Stiles' heartbeat monitor.

Melissa finally had come and told them that they needed to leave, but she promised to keep a close eye on him and alert them to any changes. They had all reluctantly filed out of the hospital and headed to the loft.

Once they all settled into Derek's loft a heavy silence fell upon them. After the shock of the earlier events had started to wear off they all began to realized that they were no closer to helping to save Stiles. Their one and only plan had backfired horribly and now they were all at a loss for what to do.

"Eh" Derek said suddenly, clearing his throat. Malia and a few others jumped at the sudden noise. Malia watched as Derek nervously rubbed his hands together. An anxious gesture that reminded her so much of Stiles it almost brought tears to her eyes. "So I'm going to ask the question that I'm sure is on everyone's mind. What the hell happened in there?" His gaze shifted to Malia and Scott. Malia grabbed Scott's hand for support, she wasn't ready to relive the horrors they had seen, yet she knew they had to fill everyone in.

"Okay, well first we started by going through a series of memories. They went in order, starting when Stiles was a kid to right before he was kidnapped. We saw them play out like scenes in front of us and none of the people in the scene seemed to notice us." Scott started off

"What were some of these memories?" Deaton questioned

"Scott and Stiles on the swings making up fantasy worlds, Stiles playing catch with his dad and his mom watching, Stiles bringing home good grades, Stiles helping his dad with a case, Me and Stiles watching..." Malia trailed off, thinking of the memory of her and Stiles snuggling on the couch watching the Titanic. Malia had cried and Stiles had comforted her as he hid his own sniffles. It had been a perfectly simple night.

"The weird thing about all of this is that every single one of the memories were happy. Not a single sour moment in Stiles' life was included in the numerous memories we saw."

"That is curious, what else happened?" Deaton prodded, knowing that there was more to tell. Scott and Malia exchanged a look. This was the hardest part to describe.

"When we caught up to right before he was kidnapped we were led to the Stilinski house. But this time was different. This time we knew it wasn't a memory." Scott hesitated on the next part, glancing at the Sheriff who had his head in his hands. Malia wasn't sure how much he was listening.

"How'd you know it wasn't a memory?" Braeden asked.

"Because this time Stiles interacted with us... and Stiles was his current age, but...his mom was still alive." At Scott's words the Sheriffs head snapped up and he looked between the two of them with shock on his face.

"Claudia?"

"Yes" Malia nodded "Stiles was in the kitchen with her while she made dinner. They talked about their days like it was something they did every day. Mrs. Stilinski invited the two of us to dinner when our presence was noticed."

"It seemed like everything else was the same. Stiles knew about werewolves, he and Malia were still dating. Everything else seemed to match up, except he had never been kidnapped and his mother had never died." Scott added