Helpful Hand (2)

Prologue

The past several months have been excruciatingly painful. Happiness felt like a foreign concept in the Mikaelson household. The compound didn't really feel like a home, at least not anymore. There was someone missing. There wasn't a beautiful baby girl laughing, or crying in the arms of her mother or father.

No, the baby girl was somewhere unknown in order to secure her safety. Her mother couldn't cradle her in her arms to feed her, her father couldn't read her bedtime stories to soothe her to sleep, and neither of them could be in walking distance because their actions are the reason she is in exile.

Hayley and Klaus couldn't stand to be in the same room for more than five minutes. Each time they saw each other they caught a glimpse of their daughter. How Medici had Hayley's cheeks and she had Klaus' eyes. It was too painful to be in the presence of each other without reminding themselves that their daughter wasn't with them. The unknown was painful. Would their daughter be a grown woman when they finally get to meet again? Would she be a lovesick-hormonal teenager? Or would she be a little girl, still naive to the dangers around her?

Elijah did his best to try and connect both his brother and Hayley, but contrary to popular belief; both parents were very much similar in handling their pain. They shut down, isolate themselves, and seek pain on those who caused it. Klaus became restless while cooped up at home, and tries to channel everything into his art. Hayley goes to the bayou and runs with Derek in their wolf form to calm her nerves; denying any affections from the Original, and only letting herself be cared for when everything becomes too much to bear, and she breaks down to tears.

Stiles, well, Stiles feels stuck. He doesn't know how to help the ones he cares for most. Both Klaus and Hayley fell into the habit of shutting him out until their grief consumed them and needed to be coaxed down from their spiral. Not to mention that he is dealing with his newfound powers. Everything is too bright and loud for him. He resorts to wearing sunglasses to fix his eye problem, but no amount of noise-canceling earplugs could help him lessen the constant noise. He is so much more aware. Stiles can practically feel the vibrations of an air-conditioner and the breath of a stranger ten feet away from him.

Sure, when he was human, and he was first learning to cope with his ADHD; he was well aware of things around him. Sometimes concentrating on anything other than that stupid tapping against the window from the tree branch in elementary was challenge, but this, this, was so much worse. Just getting out of bed without collapsing from the over sensory was a task in itself. He's resorted back to cigarettes to give himself something to focus on other than the increased senses around him, and the creeping headache that follows.

Because he doesn't want to burden Hayley or Klaus in their time of grief; he allows Derek to help him use his senses and learn how to control them. It helps, somewhat, but it's hard to learn from someone who doesn't necessarily understand what it's like to have normal abilities and suddenly have everything dialed by a hundred. Elijah even gives some pointers as he too remembers the sensation, but it wasn't much of an improvement. The man has been a vampire far longer then he's ever been a human, and could barely remember the feeling of human vulnerability.

He thought things couldn't get any worse, but his hunger greatly proves that notion wrong. Before he died, he could go days, maybe even a week, before feeling that itch in the back of his head that warned him to feed soon. Now, his tolerance to fight his hunger was lower than a beginner's drinking limit. He has to feed constantly, and if he doesn't then he starts to get antsy, and even more irritable then he already is from the constant enhancements. Luckily, he lives with vampires so while they drank from their victims, he'd take the pain that follows. On rare occasions, when Klaus or Hayley has their meltdown, he feeds off their pain to relax them.

The only good that comes with his newfound powers is the strength and speed. Yeah, his strength slightly increased after the nogitsune incident, but now, he feels almost invincible. He can punch through a wall, and instead of a simple dent, he would be able to see into the next room.  One second he could be in his room, and the next, he would be down the street at the little cafe that sells delicious coffee cake.

He's thought about going back to Beacon Hills like he promised Scott, but the timing hasn't been on his side. He wonders if he'll ever be able to go back. Maybe after Francesca is dead and Hayley gets her revenge. He can't just leave her behind, but he also can't bring her to meet his other family until he knows she was emotionally ready.

Stiles has also kept his distance from Cami. He only ever talks to her, about once a week, so they both know the other isn't dead. She felt she had some part to play in the "death" of Medici and no matter how much he's tried to reassure her, it doesn't always take. Then again, Stiles can say he feels the same way; thinking that if he did anything differently Medici wouldn't have been taken away from her parents.

The only constant he has is Derek, who has more experience with losing those closes to him in a short time span. It actually amazes Stiles how well Derek is at handling difficult situations. He is still the same Sourwolf that holds back his emotions, but he has this presence around him that screams comfort. Maybe it was because Stiles has known him for so long that he's gotten past the hard exterior of the lone wolf, and was able to have more frequent appearances with the Derek that could open up rather than shut down.

His relationship with Klaus, well that is a different story. Klaus only knows how to self-destruct or internalize his emotions as a defense mechanism. Sometimes he can get through to Klaus and have a conversation, but other times Klaus just bottles up his rage until he explodes. Often times Klaus would use his anger to create art or destroy it. Creating a masterpiece that could bring someone to tears by its beauty or rip it to shreds and curse its imperfections. Stiles has to keep his distance on those days, because no matter how much self-control the Original has; Klaus was capable of using words as a brutal weapon, and Stiles doesn't want to retaliate and possibly damage their already fragile relationship. If you can even call it that.

All in all, there has been no easy moments in the absence of the Mikaelson child. They are all waiting for the right moment to attack Francesca Guerra. Her death is, besides the safety of the child, the only thing every single of one of them can agree on. All he can do is lend a helpful hand to the Mikaelson family.