Herbalists' Cache The demon sat there waiting on her porch

Stark could feel her breaths as they filled her lungs - not enough, it wasn't enough - and her heart was racing. It was becoming more and more evident that whatever was going on she wasn't capable of responding properly to him. He frowned and looked her over, trying to see if there were any wounds on her, any signs of life or how she'd managed on her own in the past few weeks. The last conversation that they'd had played back over and over in his mind - her screaming at him, the rage she'd felt at him, and Stark felt a little shiver run the length of his body. For a moment Octavia leaned into him, face buried against his shoulder, almost to his chest. It might have been warm, it might have been sweet but something was still amiss. 

Selfish and scared, the Alpha let his head rest over hers for an all too brief moment, breathing in her scent as Stark closed his eyes. If he wished and hoped enough perhaps then when he opened his eyes things would be better - they'd be back to normal. They'd wake up to find themselves back in the Crook with Tambourine and Banner and everything would be fine. It would all be normal. Of course that wasn't the case and when Octavia pulled back and stopped breathing and Stark felt a choked sound just barely cut off in his throat. The light - it was back in her eyes and for a moment Stark wondered if she was there, if she was really with him, she even made some sound that might have been close to Tam but it was gone as quickly as it came. 

Octavia rested back against him and Stark swallowed back the wave of emotion in him, trying to be as strong as he could though really he hadn't felt so tiny and pathetic since his mother's death. "I've got you, honey." Stark said softly, shifting just a slight bit so that her weight was cradled against him and he could embrace her better. "You just relax, everything....everything's okay, sweetheart." It was a lie. It was one that he longed to be true.