Stiles had always been thankful that Rowen was not only a heavy sleeper, but given the chance, she could fall asleep anywhere. After they had boarded the plane and it took off into the clouds, he didn't even have to ask if she wanted to play on his phone because she was resting her head on her shoulder and lightly snoring.

Unfortunately, that left him having to process the news he had received in the night that Derek was really gone. He hadn't spoken to him in years, but he hadn't been ready to face everything that had gone down in that town. The fact that it had been Derek though…

He shook his pain away. Crying on an airplane was not a good idea and he didn't want to upset Rowen since she was just starting to pick up the pieces left by Lydia.

'Lydia may be there,' He reminded himself as he tried to go through some of the FBI files he had brought with him in a desperate effort to increase his work performance while simultaneously grieving, 'maybe this will bring her home.'

As Stiles read the suspect lists in the files, his eyes stung, so he closed his briefcase and let his eyes flutter shut. He hadn't been sleeping well since the return of nogitsune nightmares and since he wasn't likely to have them on an airplane, he figured it would be a good idea to let everything go numb and get some shut-eye.

Sure enough, he stayed asleep till the fastened seat belts light came on and the plane safely landed in L.A.X without a hitch, although the feeling of landing woke Rowen out of her deep sleep.

As soon as they stepped off the plane, he sent Scott a text and grabbed their luggage and a snack from the vending machine. Once Scott returned his text and told him where he was parked, Stiles grabbed Rowen's hand with one hand, pushed the luggage cart out with the other, and stepped into the warm Los Angeles air.

He had expected to see his former best friend standing outside of his old light blue jeep, but when he saw the red pick-up instead, he frowned as he called out while putting the luggage in the trunk.

"Dare I ask where my jeep is?"

"Under new ownership." He replied while making eye contact with Rowen and offering her a wave, but Stiles had more important things to focus on than introductions.

"This is my daughter. Is your truck safe for a forward-facing car seat?"

Scott's nod was enough of an invitation for Stiles to open the right side door and start installing the car seat in the pickup as he heard Scott speak with a much more gentle voice.

"My name is Scott, I'm a friend of your dad's. What's your name?"

"Claudia Rowena Stilinski, but everyone calls me Rowen."

"That's a very good name, Rowen."

"I hope she can keep it to herself," Stiles murmured under his breath as he heard the final click of the car seat. Then he turned to his daughter and said: "Get in, Rowe."

Both Scott and Stiles took their seats silently, and it wasn't until Scott got onto the highway that Stiles turned to him and demanded answers. "Am I getting an explanation on what the hell happened?"

"Later, when we're all in the same room," Stiles kept his eye roll from Scott, he had wanted to get in and out with as few people knowing he had returned temporarily, "before we finish the drive though, I need to pick up Eli."

"Who the hell is Eli?" Stiles demanded, wondering what stray wolf Scott had taken this time, but he didn't even look towards him when he responded.

"Eli Hale. Derek's son."

The rest of the drive to the shelter and veterinary office joint building nestled in between other small businesses and four-story apartments was filled with a hollow silence as Stiles tried to process that Derek had a son.

'Derek left a son behind.'

He truly had no idea how he had done it, and why it had happened. All he knew is that the thought of dying in front of Rowen was one he could not bear to have and that he had a sneaking suspicion that this all led back to his dreams at the Nemeton.

When the truck rolled to a stop in the employee parking space, Scott muttered a "be right back" before getting out and going inside but just when Stiles took a deep breath, that's when Rowen piped up from her car seat.

"How come we've never been here?"

He turned to look at her brown eyes shining with curiosity the same way Lydia's green eyes did and he had to swallow down the thought before he could respond to his inquisitive six-year-old daughter.

"Where we're going, where I grew up? It's full of a lot of bad memories."

"Like the penthouse?"

"We left the penthouse because it reminded me of your mother, but where we are going? Beacon Hills?" He stopped to force his hands to stop shaking so the bitter-tasting words could bounce off of his tongue, "It's nothing but chaos, strife, and pain."