fadingspark | Not even a Lannisters Send their Regards

The thing about winter is that the sun still sets early, leaving a person to leave their job in darkness. The parking lot outside of Stilinski Designs was lit only by one street lamp. Stiles, having worked later than normal, was jiggling his keys as he stood with Bill and Lyle for 20 minutes, working out a coding problem they were having before he finally left the office for his car.

"Of course the day we have code issues is the first Monday of the year," he muttered, shaking his keys as he tried to find the right one for the jeep. Just as he finds it, there is a shadow from the light that falls over him, making him look up.

Someone stood there, all in black down to the mouth-less ski mask. The gun aimed at him made Stiles gulp, and he went to raise his hands. "Okay, just take it easy... I'm not going to..."

The gunshot rang out, and Stiles shut his eyes a moment before he felt the impact in his stomach. Time seemed to slow down as his keys slipped from his fingers, and then he fell to his knees He looked back up at the masked person, and they just watched a moment.

"What... not witty line?" Not even a Lannisters send their regards. The masked person just walked away moments before the door to the building opened and Billy and Lyle came running out. Stiles tried to call to them, but he instead looked down at where one of his hands had gone to touch the sore part of his stomach and it came back red.

"Stiles?" Billy took a few steps forward, looking to see if there was anyone else there but the parking lot was now empty. "Stiles!" At that, they both ran to him, and Billy pulled Stiles into him as they knelt beside him, hands going to press into the bleeding wound. "Come on, buddy, stay with us."

Lyle was calling 911, and then while he was talking to them on headset, his fingers were playing on his phone and he knelt down to show Billy the wiki-how on treating gunshot wounds. Billy nodded, going through the checklist and doing his best to keep Stiles conscious and talking to him.

But as the pain started to overcome him, even as he heard the sirens approaching, Stiles gripped Billy's arm. "Tell Dina... and Cora..."

"Nuh uh, you're going to tell them anything themselves," Billy said as he nodded for Lyle to wave the ambulance down. "Just hang on, Stiles."

"Tell them... I love them..." he said, and then he just passed out to the pain.

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Once they were at the hospital, Billy and Lyle were on their phones calling the others. But first, they make the calls to the emergency contacts: Sheriff Stilinski, and Talia Hale. They are both told the same thing: Stiles was shot. Stomach. Didn't see who did it. He's in surgery. Doctors won't tell them anything more. Santa Clarita Midtown Hospital. The cops are coming to talk to them, so they will wait.

And the two will wait, shaken to their bones as they wait for someone to arrive who can get more news.

They had all thought this was over. Was it? Or was it just Stiles being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

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Dina blinked awake the rest of the way, looking up at Cora before rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Okay. I like pasghetti and meatballs."

Stiles doesn't say anything, though he knows what she's doing with her hair there. "Why don't you go wash your face and hands and then you can go to dinner with Cora?"

"Aren't you coming too, Daddy?"

"No, I need to eat in here for a few more days until I can really sit at the table. So you'll just have to talk enough for the both of us. You can do that, right?"

"I can!" Fully awake now, she stood up on the bed and went to hug her father, then crawled off and went to the bathroom. "Don't start without me!" she told Cora as she left.

Cora turns to watch her go, one hand coming up and brushing the tears from her eyes as she tucks her hair behind her ear. She exhales slowly and turns to face him with a small smile. She then leans in to kiss him, having no other outlet for what she's feeling than that.

He kisses her back, his hand going to run along her cheek as he does so. At one point when they had argued, he had said in anger that Dina should have been their child.

Soon that would be a reality. His daughter would have the mother she wanted, the one she deserved, and maybe it would help keep her from having to feel the need to ask questions later on in life about her real mother.

She holds the kiss for as long as she can, before pulling back softly to look at him. The tears are still there - happy tears, but tears all the same - and she rests her forehead against his, just staying there for a moment.

"This is good, right?"

Not just in whether or not the thing was objectively good, but also good for him. Because she knows it's good for her. She can feel it in her gut and she wants to know if it's still good for him too.

"Does it feel good to you? Like you think on it, and it's what you know you want?" He looked in her eyes, smiling as he waited for her to answer her own question. He already knew what he wanted, and knew this was more than good. "Because to me, it's pretty close to perfect."

She doesn't even hesitate before nodding her agreement, agreeing on how perfect it really is. Because it is what she wants, just being a family with him and Dina and everything that comes with it.

"Yeah. It is."

He grins, pulling her back for another kiss, and then his thumb running along her cheek. "It's going to be hard going back to taking this slow when I'm out of this bed..."

She smiles a bit at that, staying close and looking back at him. She knows. She knows they're going to have to sort out whatever they're doing a lot sooner.

"We'll figure it out when you're out of bed." She drops her voice a bit. "Or more appropriately, when I can get you back into bed."

And with that, her mother's calling for dinner. She sighs, leaning in to give him one last quick kiss before getting up and heading out. "I'll be back later."

Stiles smirked at that. "I like the sound of that." He kissed her again, and then let her leave to meet Dina for dinner as he relaxed back into his pillows. He thought a moment about the little family moment that had just happened, and nodded to himself because yes, it was perfect. It was what he wanted - had always wanted.

He was going to just enjoy that as he drifted back off until his own dinner arrived.

Not even a Lannisters Send their Regards

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