Stiles Stilinski would never forget the night that would forever change his life. It wasn't the night that he had sat by his mother's bedside, aged only nine years old, holding her hand comfortingly, watching as she struggled to breathe, until at last the breaths stopped and the heart monitor gave a single, long, drawn out beep, as her heart ceased to function. It wasn't the night that his barely sixteen year old self had dragged his best friend Scott McCall out into the woods surrounding his home town Beacon Hills looking for half a dead body, nor was it the night he, Scott, and Scott's former girlfriend Allison offered themselves up as sacrifices to save the lives of their parents, later that very same year.
All of these fateful events, Stiles knew, would live on in his memory forever, and would forever play a key role in who he was, but it wasn't any of those nights he was reflecting on. Instead, it was a stormy night in the North China Sea, and Stiles had been almost seventeen years old as he watched the Queen's Gambit sink beneath the waves, treading water and not knowing if anyone else had survived the sinking. It had all been so sudden. One minute Stiles had been in his little cabin on board the yacht, given to him with a reassuring, carefree smile by Oliver Queen, the next the world had tipped up, and Stiles had been thrown from his bed and into the icy cold water of the South China Sea.
Seven long years had passed since that night…the night that had torn him away from almost everyone he'd ever known…his dad, Scott, the rest of the pack, Melissa McCall. Stiles hadn't seen any of them since before that night, but not a day passed by that he didn't miss them all.
Now his thoughts were filled with memories of his dad and the pack even more. It had been one thing when he'd been on the other side of the world to the pack, but now he was in the same country as them. All Stiles needed to do was board a plane to Sacramento and in a few short hours he would be back at home in Beacon Hills.
It was the closest he'd been to his family, physically, in seven years, since the day he and Sara had snuck aboard the Queen's Gambit, having been invited by Oliver Queen himself, and they'd set off. With everything that had happened since then Stiles couldn't even remember where exactly they were going. He knew it had been a Chinese port city, but he wasn't sure Oliver had even told him which one exactly. It didn't matter, really, since they hadn't even made it there, the yacht sinking during that storm before they had reached their destination.
Getting on the yacht had probably been one of the stupidest things Stiles had ever done, and not a day went by without Stiles regretting his decision. At the time the prospect of getting away and seeing the world…doing anything to distract himself from his own problems…had seemed like the perfect idea. Stiles had never denied the fact that he was a big fan of ignoring problems until they went away, and it had been proven the moment he decided that getting on the Queen's Gambit and basically running away from everything he had left behind.
Hell, the reason he'd been in Starling City to start off with was because he'd been running away from his problems. Nobody in the pack had called it that, they'd been much nicer about it, telling him that he needed to have some space, a change of scenery. A visit to one of his dad's best friends in Starling City had been the ideal situation, and Stiles had gone along with the plan. In hindsight Stiles knew that a change of scenery had been what he needed. Those first few days in Starling had shown that, glimpses of his former self showing through for the first time since everything had gone to hell. How much Stiles was getting back to normal was demonstrated by the fact that he had gotten on the Queen's Gambit, actually interested in doing something without being told to.
It had all started back when Stiles was newly freed from the Nogitsune. It actually probably went further back than that, all the way to Scott getting bitten, or perhaps ever before that, but really, the Nogitsune's death was the start of everything. Stiles hadn't been coping well. The only time he left the house in the first two weeks following the Nogitsune's death was for Allison's funeral, and that had been an ordeal in itself.
Stiles had been practically catatonic, spending his days curled up in bed, either sleeping or gazing at the bare walls of his bedroom. He hadn't been eating, and his sleep was heavily disturbed by nightmares. Stiles was never alone in the house, Scott and Derek alternating shifts around school and Scott's shifts at Deaton's. Nobody said it, but Stiles knew it was because they were worried that Stiles would hurt himself. Lydia too was with him a lot, trying to coax food into him, trying to encourage him to talk, but Stiles had been too broken. Even his dad hadn't had much luck when he'd tried to talk to Stiles about what happened. Isaac left Beacon Hills with Chris Argent, and Stiles didn't get any better, guilt welling up within him and dragging him back down every time he considered trying to keep going.
After the initial two weeks, getting out of bed was easier, although Stiles was still barely sleeping, not eating enough, and wasn't talking. A trip to a psychiatrist that Alan Deaton recommended ended with a prescription for anti-depressants, and they were helping, slowly, but even Stiles knew, at the time, that he wasn't recovering from the ordeal, not really.
It was nearly month after the Nogitsune's death, in early December, when Stiles' dad had suggested that Stiles needed a change of scenery, to get away from Beacon Hills, and the memories that it carried. The entire pack had been against it at first, but Deaton and Melissa quickly realized that maybe it was what Stiles needed…he certainly wasn't getting better in Beacon Hills.
The night the pack finally agreed that maybe a change of scenery would be best (Stiles had been present for the conversation, but he hadn't contributed much to it); Stiles' dad had made a phone call to his best friend, Quentin Lance, a detective in Starling City who had gone through the Police Academy with Stiles' dad. Stiles and his dad had gone to visit Quentin and his family before, and the Lance's had come to Beacon Hills at various points over the years. Both of Quentin's children were girls, and they were both older than Stiles, but they still got along, and Quentin's wife was very fond of her husband's best friend and his son.
Stiles' dad had told his friend what had happened, using the official timeline of events they had given for Allison's death. As far as anybody in Starling City was concerned, Stiles and Allison had been out for a walk together when they had been mugged. Stiles had managed to escape serious injury, but Allison had been stabbed and had died while Stiles watched on. Stiles' dad had gone on to tell his best friend about Stiles' behavior since then, how he was showing signs of PTSD, and had been diagnosed with depression, about how he was having nightmares, and that he thought Stiles needed a change of scenery, and that the Lance family were the only ones he could trust with stiles as fragile and broken as he was.
Within a few days Stiles was bundled into warm clothes at least two sizes too big (which said a lot as they had fitted Stiles well the previous winter, before Scott had been bitten), put in the jeep, his dad driving, with a packed suitcase loaded up with everything he'd need for a two week vacation to Starling City, including all of his medication. The whole drive Stiles' dad had apologized for not going with him (Stiles understood, with things the way they were there was no way his dad was going to get any more time off work), explaining over and over again that he wasn't being sent away, and that he was still loved.
A few hours later Stiles was on a plane leaving Sacramento and heading for Starling City, and by the end of the day he was tucked up in the spare bedroom in the Lance's apartment, being fussed over by Quentin's wife Dinah and his older daughter Laurel, while Quentin watched over them all, his expression still shocked at the shadow of his former self Stiles had become.
The next day Sara Lance had returned home from college for the Christmas break. Four days later, after Stiles had left a note for Quentin explaining where he was and telling him not to contact his dad (knowing that he'd caused his father enough trouble in the last year) Stiles and Sara had snuck on board the Queen's gambit, ready to enjoy their short holiday, both of them fully expecting to be back in Starling City within a week, a few days before Stiles was supposed to go back home in time for Christmas.
Four days later the Queen's Gambit had sunken beneath the surface, and Stiles had realized that he would probably never make it back to Beacon Hills….would probably never see his father, ever again.
So many things had happened since then, and none of them Stiles had been able to predict. Every day had meant a new situation. Stiles hadn't had the opportunity to dwell on what had happened in the past anymore…if he did he would have ended up dead, or being responsible for the death of someone else he cared about. It was funny, in hindsight, that it took being thrown head first into yet another life and death situation to drag Stiles from his depression, forcing him to push aside the thoughts that had tormented him since he had been separated from the Nogitsune. Stiles would be the first to admit that he wasn't over what had happened those last few months in Beacon Hills; he still had nightmares on a regular basis about what he'd done when he was controlled by the Nogitsune, but now those nightmares combined with all the things that had since then. His time being possessed by the nogitsune still had helped shape into the person he was today, but now it was simply one of the first in a long series of events that shaped him in to the man he was today.
The man, who was sitting on the sloped rooftop of one of the tallest buildings in Starling city, looking thoughtfully out over the city, not at all fazed how high off the ground he was. Stiles had never been scared of heights, but even his sixteen year old self would have been a little nervous about being so far off the ground, especially since there was no railing or ledge, nor any rope or harness in sight.
"I wondered when you were going to show up," a familiar voice said behind him, and Stiles smiled to himself, although he didn't turn his head to look at the speaker. He'd known she was there the moment she stepped onto the roof, and he trusted her enough to not stab his back.
"Nyssa called and told me where to find you…although I was already on my way. It didn't take a genius level brain to figure out where you'd headed." Stiles shrugged as the newcomer approached him from behind.
"Typical Stiles…have to check things out for yourself. You haven't changed since you were four."
Stiles couldn't deny that his companion had a point, "Can you blame me…I had to make sure you weren't dead."
"You do know a phone call would have worked just fine."
"I wasn't sure you would answer. Relations between you and the League aren't all that pleasant at the moment, Sara. I know for a fact that Nyssa had to do some groveling to make sure Ra's didn't wipe you off the face of the planet...personally."
Sara Lance, or rather, the Back Canary, smiled, "I think you played a role in that too. Ra's al Ghul wouldn't want to do anything to upset his little pet. He knows how close we are, and even Nyssa likes you. I'm surprised he even let you leave."
"I'm kind of surprised I got to leave Nanda Parbat as well," Stiles admitted, "It's the first time I've gotten to go this far away from there since we were brought in."
Sara paused thoughtfully for a moment before she shrugged, "Oliver will want to know that you're back…he'll figure it out eventually…I know those two thieves that got left tied up outside my dad's work were your doing."
"Like I was going to leave it and do nothing. I saw them break into some old lady's apartment and threaten her with a gun."
"Dad called and told me that they got a call about a breaking and entering, and an attempted armed robbery, with the victim claiming that a boy with a mask saved her. I didn't say anything to Oliver, but he'll hear about it soon, and then he'll get one of his people onto it."
Stiles shrugged, "Does he even know that I'm still alive?"
Sara hesitated, before she shook her head, "Honestly I don't think he does…He's never asked about you since I got back. He probably doesn't want to accidently say the wrong thing and upset me or something. He thought I was dead, so I guess it was too much for him to hope that you were still alive too."
"Probably," Stiles nodded in agreement, knowing Oliver Queen well enough from the year and a half they'd lived together on Lian Yu to know that the man took the whole being noble and brooding and wallowing in your own guilt thing to levels that even Derek Hale would be impressed by.
"Sorry I was a bit late to the party…by the time I heard about everything coming to a head in Starling City it was all over," Stiles apologized, referring to the recent battle between Sara, Oliver, and their friends, and Slade and his goons.
"We managed," Sara shrugged, "and Slade is gone now."
"I still maintain what I said when we first met him that he'd go nuts on us…I never really liked him."
Sara rolled her eyes beneath her mask and lightly cuffed Stiles over the head, "of course, oh wise one with his mad abilities to detect the bad guy."
"I haven't been wrong yet," Stiles defended, rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head. Unlike the masks of some of the league of shadows, Stiles and Sara had both chosen a simple domino style mask, which, while it helped conceal their identities, didn't offer much head protection.
"I've gotta go, I've gotta touch base with my dad and Laurel before turning in for the night."
"Okay," Stiles nodded, rising to his feet and shooting off a grappling line towards a neighboring building.
"You've got a place to stay?" Sara asked over her shoulder as she began walking away in the opposite direction.
"Yeah…little hotel near the Glades…no questions asked, just how I like it. I'll see you around."
"Bye Stiles," Sara called in reply before she shot off her own line and swung into the night. Stiles turned back to his own line, smiling to himself before he too leapt off the building and swung through the city skyline.