It was supposed to be a victory day

[fadingspark]

It was a closed courtroom that had the final hearing on the Stilinski-Grayson divorce. The evidence against the Grayson family as a whole was damning from the photographs of the attempted kidnapping, the assault charges, the history of abuse... it wasn't hard for the judge to grant the divorce.

It was the terms that shocked Stiles the most: Permanent No Contact order of Protection for him and Dina against the Graysons and any family member or agent on their behalf. Any contact moving forward for Stiles or Dina would be done through the Law Office of Samuel Winchester. Suzanna's parental rights over Claudia Marie were terminated, no visitation by anyone in the family or agents acting on their behalf, and Stiles was given sole custody of his daughter with an order to change her birth certificate to remove the Grayson part of her name and Suzanna from her records.

And then the big one: in order to protect the Stilinski family, alimony and child support would be established as a single lump-sum payment based on the financials of the Grayson family and taking into consideration the medical needs Stiles would continue to face both physical and emotionally at present and in the future, and to support Dina for all her present and future medical and educational needs.

Two Million Dollars. Half kept in trust for Dina until her 18th birthday or graduation from high school, whichever came first. The other half in account for Stiles to use as he deemed necessary to provide for his family. Plus all of Sam's legal fees were paid by the Grayson's.

And that was that. Stiles stood, partially in shock as the team of lawyers left with Suzanna and her father, and then he just turned and hugged Sam tightly. The taller man smiled at Malia, nodding at a job well done, and hugged his client back. "You did it, Stiles. You got your daughter the safety you wanted for her. Now it's time for you both to build a better life."



A plumbing issue had kept Stiles from moving into Allison's father's place right away, so he was still at the Hale house. Things had gotten a bit easier with the anger finally out in the air. But after a long day at court, Stiles was ready to join his daughter for naptime before dinner.

John hadn't wanted to worry Stiles, but the Grayson brothers had made bail and weren't in custody any longer. He warned Talia, but with the protective orders in place, putting a detail on the house wasn't possible without a real threat in the air.

No one realized that out in the desert, deals had been made between the family patriarch and another patriarch - Gerard Argent. Knowing that the Hales were protecting the granddaughter of his good friend, it was easy to help equip the two sons with a chip on their shoulder with the right weapons, and a team of hand picked hunters, to help them give one last message that no one could walk away from the Grayson family and expect to win.

Comments

[impetere]

Cora and Lydia moved out of her mother's house a couple days after the blow out with Stiles. Cora is aware that Lydia is judging her for it, she just can't really bring herself to care at the moment. Giving Stiles his space seemed like the best idea for everyone, and as much as the fight had left her moody and miserable, she tries not to take it out on Lydia.

That is, until Lydia makes a very sudden and almost deadly u-turn while they're running errands in town. Cora finds herself snapped out of her thoughts, jerked away and thrown back against the window on the passenger's side, her head connecting with a crack. "Ow," she hisses, turning to face her with a glare. "Lydia, what the hell?"

"Did you hear that?"

In an instant, the anger fades and is replaced with a look of genuine concern. Lydia hadn't had an episode since Boston. Why is it happening now?

"What'd you hear?"

She doesn't respond, just makes a series of hair pin turns, each punctuated by a vocal "Bang!" almost like a car backfiring. It doesn't take Cora long to realize where they're going, and immediately her heart sinks to her stomach.

"The preserve? Why are we going to the preserve?" She tries to snap her out of it, because sometimes coherency can help get more information from her but Lydia's too lost in the thrall of whatever this is to get anything from her.

She skids to a stop in front of the Hale house, bright blue car blocking in Derek and Fiona's truck and she stumbles out of the driver's seat without even bothering to turn the car off. Her body jumps each time she hears a subsequent bang! and now it's being joined by voices and howls all talking, all at once, jumbling together with more and more noise, and her hands slide to her hair as she drops to her knees.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," she murmurs, rocking back and forth as Cora drops to her knees in front of her. "Please God, shut up, I can't know what you want if you don't shut up."

[fadingspark]

Stiles had called Sam and told him what had happened. Thank god for the attorney/client confidentiality because Stiles could hear Sam face palming through the phone. But as long as he was kept in the loop as to what was happening, he suggested letting sleeping dogs lie when it came to anything legal wise.

After that, Stiles had a talk with Lydia about what had happened to her. Then it was dinner and somehow the bodies had been moved and it looked like nothing at all had happened outside. Cora and Peter both slept through the mealtime in their respective healing places.

Bedtime was soon to follow, and Stiles offered to watch over Cora for the night so Lydia could rest. He tucked Dina in and told his daughter he would just be next door if she needed him. He then took up a spot in the corner of the room, watching her sleep and thinking to himself about what he really was feeling below all the anger and hurt, and how to convey that to her without starting another fight.

He did know one thing - seeing her hurt like this was hard. And it was making his ability to stay mad at her harder when all he wanted to do was curl up behind her in bed and hold her and try to make things better.