Pack Is Family

Sitting in the hospital room, Madison watched her little boy sleep and listened to his soft breathing. Feeling hands on her shoulders, she looked up and saw Melissa McCall standing behind her.

Getting up, Madison gently kissed Logan on the head and reluctantly followed Melissa out into the corridor. As soon as she stepped out of the room, she spotted Sheriff Stilinski talking to one of his deputies and the panic she had felt since arriving at the hospital seemed to fade a little.

"Hey Kiddo, you ready to go?" the sheriff asked as he approached her.

Glancing back towards Logan's room, Madison fought the urge to go back to his side and slowly nodded. She really didn't want to leave him alone, but Melissa had insisted that she get some rest and promised to keep a close eye on Logan until she got back the following day.

Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, the sheriff led her outside to his cruiser and they headed over to the Stilinski house in silence. Looking up at the house as the sheriff pulled onto the drive, Madison couldn't help feeling nervous and hesitantly climbed out.

Spotting Stiles standing at the door, Madison felt her throat constrict and anxiety seemed to crash down over her out of nowhere. Glancing back at the sheriff, she took a shaky, deep breath and continued forward to where Stiles was waiting.

"Hey," Stiles said, stepping forward with a sad smile and wrapping his arms around her.

Madison opened her mouth to reply and quickly closed it again, when she found that she couldn't speak. Instead, she buried her face in Stiles' neck and allowed the tears to fall.

"I need to get back to the station, but I'll be home in a couple of hours," the sheriff stated, handing Madison's bag to Stiles and getting back in the cruiser.

Making their way inside, Madison took a seat on the sofa and idly played with her fingers as a silence settled over them. It had been a year since she had seen anyone that wasn't her mum, or one of her mum's hunter friends and she wasn't sure what to say.

"Are you hungry?" Stiles inquired, breaking the silence, "I could make us some pancakes or something."

"Pancakes sound good," Madison replied, following Stiles into the kitchen and leaning against the counter, "Is it okay to take a shower?"

"Of course, you know where everything is."

Madison smiled and collected her bag from by the front door, before making her way upstairs into Stiles' room. Getting out some clean clothes, Madison got herself a towel from the cupboard and entered the bathroom; locking the door behind her.

Grimacing as she stripped off, Madison looked down at the bruises scattered all over her skin and clenched her fists as memories of how she got them plagued her mind. Turning on the shower, she stepped under the steady spray of water and immediately felt some of the tension leave her battered body.

Feeling a mixture of emotions surge through her, Madison slid down to the floor and pulled her knees to her chest as broken sobs escaped her lips. By the time she rejoined Stiles downstairs, he had already finished his food and was in the middle of making them both hot chocolate.

"Do you remember when Scott tried to make pancakes and nearly burnt the kitchen down?" Madison mumbled as she sat down at the table and started eating.

"How could I not?" Stiles laughed, setting a cup in front of her and sitting down, "My dad still won't let him in the kitchen without supervision."

Madison chuckled, looking over at Stiles and hesitating slightly before asking the next question.

"How are the pack?"

"It's been a rough year for all of us," Stiles told her, "It's really good to have you home, Mads."

Smiling, Madison finished her pancakes and put her plate in the sink. Taking her cup of hot chocolate into the living room, Madison sat down on the sofa and was soon curled into Stiles' side watching Transformers.

She wasn't sure what time she fell asleep, but it was six in the morning when she woke up shaking and crying from the nightmare that constantly plagued her unconscious mind. Feeling Stiles shift in his sleep behind her, Madison carefully got up and made her way to the bathroom. Leaning against the sink, she splashed her face with cold water and looked in the mirror.

Madison often thought of herself as a broken mirror, wherein she had pieced herself together and yet, you could still see the cracks left behind by the break. You could see it in her eyes, the way the spark in them had been extinguished and from the marks, she wore as a constant reminder of what she had been through.

Knowing that Stiles would soon be getting up for school, Madison took a deep breath and headed down into the kitchen. She had nearly finished making breakfast, when Stiles walked in and slumped tiredly on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Morning," Madison said, earning a grunt and chuckling as she placed a cup of fresh coffee in front of him.

"Thank you," Stiles grumbled, taking a sip and laying his head on the table top.

"I made some breakfast."

"How are you so awake at this time in the morning?" Stiles inquired as he took a plate of food from Madison, earning a quick shrug in response and changing the topic, "What time do you have to be back down the hospital?"

"I have an appointment with the pediatrician at ten," Madison replied, feeling a warmth spread through her at the thought of seeing Logan, "Hopefully, I can bring Logan home today."

Having Logan had reignited Madison's need to fight... he was the one good thing in her messed up existence that offered light to her dark world and she wouldn't allow that prison that her mum had kept her in to be the life her son grew up in.