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Malia was injured. Kira couldn’t focus on anything else because Malia had a wound crossing her entire torso and Stiles was doing his best to keep the bleeding at bay. Kira’s skin was thrumming and she could feel the familiar lightning building up inside of her from panic and adrenaline. They were in the safety of Derek’s loft while he and Scott tracked down Deaton at his office but she didn’t feel safe. Every time Malia coughed, more blood seeped into the already too-damp towels Stiles pressed into her stomach.
“Kira, you’re hurt,” Lydia said gently, placing a comforting hand on Kira’s arm.
“I’ll heal,” Kira responded quickly.
She would, she knew. Out of everyone in that loft, she was the one who had the best shot at getting out of any situation alive. Her mother had been alive for almost 1,000 years last Kira had heard and everything that ran through her mother’s veins was burning under her own skin at that very moment. She hadn’t let herself consider that, along with the power she inherited with her mother, she might have been handed down her immortality.
Not until she was faced with Malia’s mortality.
“So will Malia.” Lydia had screamed so much that night that now, any of her words were mere whispers like she was afraid what would happen if she opened her mouth.
“Has anyone heard from Derek or Scott?” Kira asked, ignoring Lydia in favor of crouching down beside her girlfriend and stroking her sweat soaked hair from her forehead.
“They’ve got Deaton and are on their way back here with the anti-venom,” Stiles informed, his voice shakier than Kira would have liked.
She didn’t have time to dwell on it, though, because Malia was letting out a growl that would have shattered the window if half of them weren’t already damaged. Her eyes glowed the brightest blue Kira had ever seen and her fangs forced their way out of her gums.
“She can’t control her shift. She can’t control her healing,” Stiles said, panicked. “Isaac, I need you to take some of her pain. She needs to be able to heal and she can’t ; not like this.”
“Y-Yeah, okay,” Isaac agreed as he kneeled next to Stiles, grabbing Malia’s hand in the process. Soon, both of their arms were covered in black veins and Malia started to calm enough for Stiles to continue securing her wounds.
“Hey, hey,” Kira cooed, leaning over Malia’s face so she knew who was speaking, “I’ve got you, Mal. I need you to focus on healing, okay? You’ve gotta hold on until Deaton gets here.”
“You hurt?” Malia asked, wide eyed in fear as her eyes glanced at Kira’s shoulder.
“I’m okay, I’m fine ,” Kira reassured, forcing the best smile she could muster given the circumstances. “It wasn’t from the demon, not like you.”
“‘M I… hurt?” Malia choked out the words and Kira noticed the blood starting to pool in her mouth.
Kira nodded and stroked her forehead again. “Deaton’s on his way, okay? You just have to hold on until he gets here. Can you do that? For me?” Kira asked– begged .
“Tired,” she mumbled, her blue eyes dimming back to their natural brown color.
“I know you are, baby, but you have to stay awake. You can’t give up on me, not yet, alright? There are so many embarrassing moments I haven’t been able to have with you.”
Malia gargled a laugh that only turned into a fit of coughing. Kira held her through it, whispering an old prayer her mother used to say to her each night. Kira wasn’t sure who she was trying to comfort more. She didn’t let go of Malia until Deaton barged his way in through the loft door, pushing everyone aside so he could get to work.
She stood back, Lydia and Stiles holding her arms so she couldn’t move to comfort Malia even when her eyes shot open in pain and fear. Scott wrapped an arm around her waist and Kira was sure it took most of the strength he had left to keep her away from her writhing girlfriend. She could feel her blood burning underneath her skin like lightning ready to shoot from the sky and demolish anything in its path but then Malia stopped moving altogether.
For a brief moment, Kira watched as she was losing the love of her life. Her eyes were open and unblinking, staring up at the ceiling like it was too much effort for her to even close them. When Deaton sat back on his heels, Lydia stopped breathing beside her. Kira turned her gaze away from Lydia, waiting for that fateful shriek that might have stopped her heart, but it never came.
Instead, Malia gasped long and shallow before each of her limbs fell to her sides in rest.
“She’s going to survive,” Deaton noted as he stood. “I can’t say when she’ll wake up, that’s up to her, but she will. She’s lucky,” he glanced around the room, meeting every eye that rested on him, “all of you are.”
“Just when is our luck going to run out, Doc?” Stiles asked defeatedly. Deaton shook his head and, as expected, said nothing more as he walked toward the door, beckoning Derek to follow.
No other words were exchanged, the room an eerie quiet compared to the chaos it had been only an hour ago. Kira made her way to Malia’s side, lacing their fingers together and resting her ear against Malia’s chest to make sure that her heart was still beating, only breathing when she heard the familiar pulse underneath her skin.
Stiles stood back, his blood covered hands shaking where they rested on a nearby table. Scott stood next to Lydia, both of them leaning on each other when they could barely keep themselves standing. When Derek came back, he sent Isaac to rest in his bedroom at the loft, gesturing for Stiles to follow him.
“Do you want us to take you home, Kira?” Lydia asked softly, resting a hand on her shoulder to gain her attention. Kira sniffled, wiping at her eyes before glancing up to meet her friend’s sympathetic gaze.
“I can’t leave her,” she said. Neither argued as they said their goodbyes, Scott pressing a gentle kiss to the top of Kira’s head.
When they were alone, Kira let herself breathe again, and the floodgates opened. The sobs she had been containing for the benefit of her injured partner and her terrified friend finally escaping from her mouth, wracking through her body like violent crashes of thunder. She tried to match her breathing to Malia’s and slowly, calmness washed over her.
It had been too close. They had close calls before–hell, they had lost more of their pack than they had gained–but nothing had impacted Kira the way seeing Malia struggling to live had. She remembered each one; mourning Allison’s death, seeing Aiden follow her only a few days later, watching Stiles’ life drained by a spirit they almost couldn’t beat and letting him disappear like he never existed too soon after that, watching the life drain from Derek’s eyes when all Stiles could do was watch.
Like a lightning bolt, Kira considered her own future. What she had seen in the past was nothing compared to what the future would hold. There was a good chance she was immortal like her mother. She would have to sit and watch every single person she ever cared for… She shook the word right out of her head. She wasn’t strong enough to consider that outcome, not with Malia unconscious beside her.
But it was her future, that much she was almost sure of.
“What’s got you thinkin’ so hard?” Malia’s voice broke her out of her thoughts. She shot up, jolting Malia in the process and only adding to her pain if the way she winced was any indication.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Kira said quickly. Her attempt to pull away was thwarted by a weak squeeze of Malia’s hand. “You’re awake,” Kira whispered.
“Of course,” Malia muttered like she wasn’t a second away from death only a few hours ago. “The look on your face tells me there was a possibility I wouldn’t?”
“No, no,” Kira reassured, trying to smile, “Deaton was sure you would but– Well, you know how our luck goes.”
“Like I’d ever leave you,” Malia said softly, her eyes struggling to stay open.
“One day you will,” Kira responded before she could stop herself.
“Maybe. We all die,” Malia said matter-of-factly. Kira let out a soft laugh at the tone and the pull of confusion in Malia’s eyebrows.
“My mom is 900 years old, did you know that?” Malia nodded, the confusion still present in her tired features. “She’s… immortal.”
“That’s cool,” Malia noted. She obviously didn’t understand the mental plight Kira had been going through but it was expected, really. No one else had to think about it, only Kira. That was what made it so hard.
“I’m probably immortal, too,” Kira explained. Malia smiled like the admission wasn’t as heart wrenching as Kira had felt it was. “You almost died tonight. Everyone– We’ve lost so many of our friends, our family , before this and it’s only a matter of time until each one of you is gone…”
“And you’ll still be here,” Malia finished for her when Kira broke off with a sniffle. “I have a feeling that’s not as exciting for you as I think it is.”
Kira shook her head, smiling up at her clueless girlfriend gently. “No, it’s– terrifying.”
“We’re all going to die, Kira,” Malia said again. Kira raised her eyebrows at Malia to try and tell her that was the problem so Malia continued with her explanation. “Even immortal’s can’t live forever. Isn’t that what Deaton is always telling us?” Kira nodded.
“900 years, Mal,” Kira reminded her.
“My sister was only eight when I–” she took as deep a breath as she could, wincing in what looked like pain again, “when she died,” Malia corrected. “My mother was only in her thirties. Allison was eighteen. My grammie lived until she was in her 90’s.”
“What’s your point, Malia?” Kira asked, annoyed with herself how annoyed and fearful she sounded.
“My point,” Malia sat up just enough to reach her palm out to cup Kira’s cheek, “is that people come and go. Friends drift away, classmates move on to bigger and better things, family grows old. All we can do is focus on right now.” She stared at Kira with such softness in her eyes that Kira had no choice but to believe her.
“When did you get so smart?” Kira teased, leaning into Malia’s touch even after it started drifting away.
“I had some help; my friends, my classmates, the woman I love,” Malia noted as her eyes closed. “I’m tired.”
“You need rest, Malia.”
“Will you be here when I wake up?” Kira rested her head on Malia’s arm and let her own eyes drift close.
“Always.”
And maybe it wouldn’t be always, but just as Malia had requested, Kira would focus on right now.