The Hell You Came From [Derek/FemStiles]

A Little Boost

Stiles jumps out of her fricking skin when someone immediately answers her—

“You’re in the space between realities.”

[For obvious reasons, Claudia doesn’t remind her daughter of her worst trauma by telling the actual name of this place.]

Stiles’ eyes widen slowly–recognising that voice. She swirls around, and there she is...

“Mommy??”

The word falls from Stiles’ mouth, but all she can feel right in this moment is an overwhelming sense of happiness.

Claudia smiles softly and nods.

Stiles blinks, takes a few breaths, then, begins to do one of the things she does best; to sputter out her words as she tries to string a sentence together from all of the chaos going through her mind.

She starts with a rather shaky, “Wha-wha–what is this? Whe-where am I? Am I d-dead??”

“No.” Claudia’s tone grows softly reassuring as she takes a few careful steps closer–not wanting to freak her girl out even more. Still soft, but a little firmer, she says, “No, you’re not dead. You’re technically astral projecting. Your body is safe...” She wears a teasing little grin when she adds, “...with your lovely boyfriend.”

A chuckle tumbles out of Stiles, and her cheeks feel a little heated. But she nods and says, “OK. Good.” She glances down at her socked feet, wiggling her toes and grinning childishly as she says, “I guess that explains how I’m standing upright on absolutely nothing.”

Claudia smiles amusedly while watching her daughter test the physics of her new surroundings–doing a Mexican wave by herself and swirling around like a little ballerina before ending with giggly little leap.

Stiles smiles sheepishly when she catches her mother staring at her. “Sorry...” She mumbles awkwardly.

Claudia chuckles, shakes her head, says, “Please don’t stop on my account. I never could get you to sit still for more than five seconds anyway. It’s nice to know you haven’t changed.”

“Oh, God, for the sake of everyone who knows me now, I hope I have.” Stiles groans, eyes briefly flashing wide with horror as she thinks back to her most chaotic days (ironically, more chaotic than when she knew about the supernatural side of life.)

Her mother chuckles, and right in that moment, Stiles’ heart pangs from missing her so goddamn much.

She gives Stiles an odd frown, but before she even gets to ask what’s wrong, Stiles is already closing the distance between them. She slips her arms around her mother’s waist and hugs her tight, sighing happily, even while she’s beginning to tear up as her mother pulls her closer and hugs her back even tighter.

“I’ve missed you so much.” Stiles all but grumbles into her mother’s shoulder—she can’t help also smiling a little at how much of an adorable short-ass her mother is.

Claudia gives her daughter a little squeeze before pulling back with a beaming smile. “Come now, let me get a good look at you, my darling.”

Stiles smiles awkwardly. “I’m all legs and mouth...” Her cheeks flood with red embarrassment, eyes widening as she mumbles quickly, “Forget I said that...to my own mother...”

Claudia grins cheekily, gently elbow her daughter in the side while telling her, “You may have your father’s quick wit, but where do you think you got your gutter mind from?”

Stiles blinks, tries not to smile as she calmly states, “I don’t know how to respond to that.”

Claudia’s grin widens as she moves to stand beside her daughter and links their arms at the elbows. “We have a little extra time–come, tell me about this boyfriend of yours.”