Baby|| Stiles Stilinski

11

Baby was woken up to the sound of Lydia's phone ringing. He groaned and snuffled deeper into his hoodie in an effort to catch a few more winks.

"Hey Stiles", Lydia answered with a fake cheerfulness. "We're just about to go into a movie, we have popcorn and-"

"Lydia we know you're behind us, just put me on speaker". Baby snorted a chuckle at her, as Lydia begrudgingly put her phone on speaker.

"What?"

"Okay, look, Scott's still hurt". Stiles spoke hastily.

"What do you mean still? He's not healing?" Allison asked with a frown. Baby sat up and pulled down his hood, having given up on sleep. He managed to squeeze himself between the front two car seats so that he was closer to the phone. Lydia glanced at him for a moment before listening to Stiles.

"No he's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse, the bloods turning a sort of black colour".

"Well, what's wrong with him?" Lydia questioned, face furrowing in concern.

"What's wrong with him? What, do I have a phd in lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know that?"

Baby coughed at the sarcasm, giggly from a lack of sleep. "If he's not healing then was he infected? Is it psychological? Is his body reacting to something?" He spoke up. "If that's the problem then we need to check him out".

"Baby? Is that Baby? You guys brought Baby? Why the hell would you bring a vampire on a road trip through the desert? What if the sun gets him and he turns into a crisp or sparkles? I don't want to explain to Danny why his best friend has been fried".

"Nice to hear you too Stiles", Baby muttered with a grin.

"We need to get him off the bus", Allison stated, ignoring Baby.

"And take him where? To the hospital?" Lydia raised an eyebrow.

"If he's dying then yeah", Allison countered harshly. "Stiles there's a stop just ahead. Get coach to pull over".

"Yeah I tried that. It won't work".

"Reason with him then" Baby replied.

"Reason with him? I get you're still new Baby but have you met this guy?"

"Oh just do something", Lydia complained before ending the call. Allison leant forward over the wheel and let out a long sigh. This was going to be a long day.

About half an hour later Baby and Stiles were supporting Scott as the five of them hurried to the Boys toilets at a service station. Luckily it was empty and they lowered Scott to the ground, leaning him against the tiled wall between the sinks. Baby grimaced at the room, taking in the stained floor and grimy tiles. Allison was gently peeling back his shirt to expose the wounds. Lydia and Stiles both grimaced at the bloody sight. Three deep claw marks decorated his ribs, the tissue still exposed and leaking gooey black blood. Scott groaned in pain.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Allison said softly.

Scott gave a weak smile. "Sorry", he muttered.

"Guys, this is not good", Baby coughed. "He smells bad. Like icky bad. He stinks of infection".

"This shouldn't be happening. I've seen him heal from worse than this", Allison said as the three of them huddled around her. Her voice was tinged in slight panic as she glanced at Scott with a nervous expression.

"What do we do then? Do we call an ambulance?" Stiles questioned. "We've got to do something".

"You know", Lydia spoke up. "Like Baby said, it could be psychological".

"What do you mean? Like psychosomatic?" Stiles muttered.

"Somatoformic" Baby corrected with a slight roll of the eyes at Stiles' blank expression. "A physical illness with a psychopathic cause". Stiles' face did not change and Baby sighed. "Yes, its all in his head".

"All in his head. He's not letting himself heal cause Derek died", Stiles stated.

"Bloody self sacrificing heroic Americans" Baby muttered under his breath as he crossed his arms.

"So what do we do?" Allison asked Lydia, pointedly ignoring Baby.

She pulled a small pocket sized sewing kit from her purse. "Stitch him up. I'm serious", she said upon Seeing Allison's face. "Maybe all he needs to do is believe it's healing".

They got to work. Allison bent down in front of Scott, tearing his shirt open to view the wounds. "He's going to need another shirt, wheres his bag?"

"I'll get it", Stiles volunteered. "I hate needles".

"Are you okay doing that?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah my dad taught me", Allison reassured them. "He's going to need something for the pain as well".

"I can do that", Baby said as he knelt down. He took Scott's left arm in his hands and opened his mouth as his fangs extended.

"Wait you're biting him?" Stiles said in shock.

"Vampire venom is like a drug", Allison explained as Baby sank his teeth into Scott's wrist. "It dulls the senses and makes people sleepy. It works differently on humans to supernaturals but most of the effects are the same".

Baby waited a few minutes before releasing him and standing up. He spat the blood into the closest sink, rinsing his mouth out with water. "Werewolves taste disgusting", he complained. "But that will do. It'll make him sleepy though".

"Okay. You guys go and make sure the bus doesn't leave", Allison said as she held up the needle. Baby and Lydia gave her one last glance before hurrying out the door, dragging Stiles with them.

"So why do wolves taste terrible?" Stiles asked as they searched through the bus for Scott's bag. Lydia was outside distracting the coach.

"Probably because they are part dog", Baby replied. "It makes them taste sour, like pork that has gone off. They stink too, like wet dog constantly".

"That sounds delightful", Stiles muttered sarcastically. He paused for a second. "So do all creatures smell different?"

"Yeah. It's pretty obvious", Baby explained. "Allison smells like silver and sulfur. Probably because she is around hunter gear a lot. Lydia smells like dead flowers, pretty but still slightly like death. Scott just smells like werewolf and soap, a pretty weird combination".

"And what do I smell like?"

Baby paused for a moment, eyes meeting with Stiles' big brown ones for a second before he resumed his looking. "You smell like sarcasm, cotton and fresh bark. It's rather nice actually".

"Sarcasm? What does sarcasm smell like?"

Baby laughed at Stiles' confused tone. "It's weird, like smoke and musk. Almost slightly acidic but not enough to be unpleasant. It's like a mix between irritation and humour. It's an unusual smell".

Stiles hummed slightly before lifting up a backpack. "I found Scott's bag".

Unedited