Stiles chewed on his fingernail nervously where he crouched beneath the bleachers, trying to fight the temptation to rock nervously on the balls of his feet, scenarios flying through his mind, most of them ones where things turned out badly. Stiles had brought his weaponry, and although he used weapons in Starling City, Jackson didn't really need his weapons, thanks to his werewolf powers.

Oliver had wanted Jackson to bring his things along, concealed with Stiles' weaponry beneath the false bottom of the trunk in Jacksons's car (probably installed by Oliver himself) but Jackson had refused. It made sense; it would be very strange for the Arrow's red hooded accomplice mysteriously showed up in Beacon Hills at the exact same time that Jackson Whittemore, who had been living in Starling City, came visiting.

Especially when Stiles himself would be with him, and everyone knew that Stiles had been on the same boat that Oliver Queen had been on…and that the Arrow himself had appeared not long after Oliver Queen's return to Starling City.

As it was Stiles was going to leave the vast majority of his weapons where they were unless he needed them for whatever reason, and even then he would try and get around it. As much as he would prefer to carry and use his own weapons, if he had to, it would raise just too many questions…questions that Stiles wasn't sure he wanted to answer. As it was Stiles was armed with a single knife, strapped to his right leg, hidden beneath the pants he was wearing, only there because, after so many years training with the league, Stiles wasn't comfortable not carrying a weapon.

At least Chris Argent being in town would be helpful in terms of having a different source of weapons that wouldn't give away Stiles' involvement in the League. Hopefully, if things went south, then Chris would offer Stiles some form of weaponry. Sure, it would mean that Stiles would probably have to prove that he'd had weapons training and wouldn't accidently shoot his own foot or something like that, but having weapons training was much more conspicuous than having a full array of weapons like Stiles had brought with him.

It was only in the worst case scenarios that Stiles' brain could conjure, where the pack and his father knowing about his involvement in the league of Assassins was the least of his problems, that Stiles could imagine himself needing the weapons he'd brought with him, and he really hoped that things didn't come to that.

Still, that wasn't a problem for the moment. First they had to meet with the pack. Stiles found himself wondering what would have changed. Thanks to Jackson's emails from Danny, and what he'd been told since arriving in Beacon Hills, he knew a little, but he wondered what had been left out. Had Scott cut his hair? Did Lydia still devour books as readily as he'd devoured curly fries? Had the pack as a whole managed to give Derek grey hair yet?

What about his dad? Was Melissa making him keep a healthy diet? Was he drinking? It wasn't that Stiles doubted Melissa's ability to manage his dad's health, but in the period of time in between his mother's hospitalization and Scott being bitten, managing his father's health had been Stiles' primary obsession, and now that he was so close Stiles just wanted to see his dad with his own eyes.

As he crouched beneath the bleachers, Stiles wondered how on earth he could have even considered not coming back.

TW/A

It was just over an hour after they arrived at the lacrosse field before Jackson heard the heartbeats of an approaching group of people. He rose to his feet, sniffing slightly, trying to catch the scent of those that were approaching. He swallowed nervously when he detected Lydia's scent, although he wasn't sure why exactly Lydia was with the rest of the pack, considering they weren't supposed to know who it was they were confronting.

Still, it wasn't his place to question the pack's reasoning. It had been seven years since he last saw Lydia, and she was a banshee after all. It was highly likely that she'd picked up some fighting skills since the last time they'd met. It had only taken Oliver less than five to become a master archer after all.

Unsurprisingly, Jackson recognized Derek's scent too, and Scott's scent too. The last time he'd returned to Beacon Hills he'd been surprised how much becoming a True Alpha had changed Scott's scent, but this time around Jackson was prepared for the difference.

Lydia, Scott and Derek's scents were the only ones that Jackson recognized, although there were another two individuals with the pack whose scent he couldn't place. One of them was possibly Scott's girlfriend, Kira, but Jackson wasn't familiar enough with her scent in the first place to be certain. The last pack member, Jackson guessed, was the beta that Scott had bitten not long after Jackson had left. It was definitely a werewolf, so it obviously wasn't Chris Argent, Scott's mom or Stiles' dad, if the information Danny had been giving him was up to date.

The pack was approaching quickly, and Jackson forced himself to take a few deep, calming breaths, resisting the temptation to shift his fingernails into claws. Normally he didn't have an issue with keeping control, but the smell of other werewolves, even though they were former pack mates and allies, had his wolf a little on edge.

Then they broke through the tree line that marked the boundary to the school grounds, and Jackson stuck his ground, keeping his gaze fixed on the approaching pack. Predictably Scott had the centre lead position, flanked on either side by Derek and Kira. Lydia was on Derek's other side, and a younger man, who Jackson didn't recognize, but was presumably Scott's young beta, was on Kira's other side.

The moment Scott and Derek recognized him they stopped, surprise and shock on their faces. Without the advantage of werewolf eyesight Lydia took a few more steps closer before she stopped.

"Jackson?" Scott questioned, his surprise evident in his voice.

"Obviously," Jackson replied. "Yes it is me McCall, you don't need to sound so surprised."

"I think I have a couple of reasons why I would be surprised to see you back here. Seven years, dude…that's one hellishly long road trip."

Jackson had the grace to cringe apologetically, "Yeah…The truth was I wasn't actually going on a road trip…Yes, that was a dick move on my behalf, I am fully aware of that,…yes, I am an asshole…but realistically, given my track record, what did you expect? I thought everyone knew that I was a jerk. That's old information."

"Well…at least he's being honest," Scott said to Derek, while Lydia left the pack, storming towards Jackson.

If it was anyone but Lydia Jackson would deny the way he retreated from the enraged red-head, but it was Lydia, so there was no point denying it. She was very scary when she was angry, and right now she was livid…and had every right to be.

Jackson actually fell over from the force of the punch she delivered to the side of the face, his cheek throbbing before his werewolf healing took care of the injury. Of course that didn't help the fact that he was on his hands and knees in front of Lydia, who followed the punch up with driving her pointed boot into Jackson's family Jewels.

Jackson let out a loud yelp, clasping his hands protectively over his dick and balls.

"I…I know I deserved that," he gasped, "but…ow…who taught you to fight like that? Because, wow, kudos to them, and to you…brilliant student, as always. Top of the ass-kicking class, hands down."

"Good," Lydia scoffed, "and have you learned your lesson?"

"Never fake my death again without telling you guys what I'm doing first…got it," Jackson nodded.

Lydia smiled, and then engulfed Jackson in a hug, "You're back," she told him, her eyes betraying how happy she was, 'you're ok…you're not dead."

"Yeah…I'm sorry I did that to you. It wasn't the right thing to do."

"I always knew you were alive out there, somewhere. I would have felt something; I was so sure of it."

Jackson flicked his gaze towards where Scott, Derek and the others were watching, drawing closer until they were only a few feet from Jackson and Lydia. Jackson rose to his feet, with Lydia coming up with him, letting go of him and stepping back so she was in between Derek and Scott.

Jackson rolled his shoulders slightly, tilting his head back and exposing his neck submissively to Scott.

"Alpha McCall I ask your permission to stay on your pack lands while I catch up with my friends and former pack," he requested, following the etiquette that was required of wolves seeking permission to stay within another pack's territory.

"Permission granted," Scott nodded, accepting Jacksons's request easily. Jackson stopped exposing his neck, although he avoided looking at Scott in the eye. Part of it was a respect thing, considering Scott was the Alpha, and Jackson was only a beta, as far as werewolves were concerned. The other reason was that he wasn't sure he could look Scott in the face and keep his composure, knowing that Stiles was watching, not very far away.

Standing in front of Scott was making Jackson's inner wolf anxious and it made Jackson painfully aware how long it had been since he'd actually been near another werewolf, especially an Alpha.

"Where have you been?" Scott asked curiously, "Derek reached out to all his families' old connections, and Chris did too, but nobody knew anything."

"Starling City, for the most part. A big city, but with little to no supernatural activity. I think I was the only werewolf in the entire area, at least that was a permanent resident. There were a couple of wolves that passed through over the years, but, for the most part I was the only werewolf in the city."

"A city with a big population like Starling City…werewolves would tend to avoid something like that. It doesn't offer much in the way of territory for roaming on full moon nights," Derek observed.

"If I was restless there was an abandoned factory I used to go to on the full moon nights the first year or so I spent in Starling City. Cops wouldn't go anywhere near it because it was a bad neighborhood, and even the gangs and druggies steered clear. I've got it under control now though, which is kind of lucky because the factory I used got leveled in the Glades earthquake."

"Have you got anywhere to stay organized for while you're in town." Lydia asked

"No, to be honest. I…didn't know what the reception was going to be like." Jackson shrugged.

"You can stay with me, if you want," Derek offered.

"Derek, you don't have to do that," Scott shook his head.

"Yeah, I can afford to get a motel or something, it's no big deal." Jackson nodded in agreement, not wanting to put his former Alpha out.

"No…It'll be better this way." Derek shook his head. Jackson shifted and let out a slight cough.

"Um…to be honest…I didn't come on my own."

"Do you have a new girlfriend? Are you brining her back to meet your pack?" Lydia asked.

"No, well, Yes I kind of…actually, the girlfriend thing is complicated, and it's not her that I brought with me."

Jackson threw a glance over his shoulder, his eyes meeting Stiles', who had taken advantage of the pack being distracted by Jackson to climb out from under the bleachers and perched himself on the lacrosse bench, watching them all, just like he had for almost every game he had been on the team for.

Everything around them went dead quiet as the pack followed Jackson's line of sight. Stiles was smiling, although Jackson could see the tears shining in the other man's eyes. Scott, Derek and Lydia all looked equally stunned.

"I would ask you all 'did you miss me?'" Stiles offered, rising to his feet and taking a few steps towards them, "but that's probably a bit cliché, don't you think? A bit too BBC Sherlock, yeah?"

When none of the others responded, Jackson couldn't help himself but smirk, "I think you broke them," he told Stiles, before he gave Scott a not so gentle poke in the side.

"Stiles?" Scott choked out, his voice thick with unshed emotions. When Scott had first said Jackson's name, back when he'd first seen Jackson on the Lacrosse pitch, it had been with curiosity, suspicion and mistrust. Now, with Stiles, it was all genuine grief, barely contained hope, disbelief and shock.

At the sound of Scott's voice Stiles smiled, a couple of tears rolling down his face, "Please tell me that you've finally got your ass in gear and seen Star Wars, because if you haven't I'm leaving town right now, and you're explaining why I came back ,and then left again without seeing him, to my dad."

"STILES!" Scott's exclamation, filled with excitement and unrestrained joy felt like it echoed in Jackson's head as Scott bolted towards Stiles, practically tackling him as they embraced. Stiles, despite his training, fell with the impact, landing on the soft grass and latching onto Scott hard. Jackson could smell the tears of both of his former classmates from where he stood, watching as they hugged one another, both of the crying and clinging to one another.

Jackson and the other members of Scott's pack watched the reunion of the two former best friends. Scott's beta shifted on his feet slightly but Derek caught his eye and shook his head. Jackson understood. Of the group only he, Lydia and Derek really understood what was going on in front of them. Kira might have met Stiles, but at that point he was already being impacted by the Nogitsune drama, and, from what Jackson had heard, even at that early stage, he'd been far from himself.

"You brought him back," Lydia said softly, touching Jacksons's arm gently.

Jackson nodded, "To be fair it was his idea. I just told him that if he wanted to come and visit I would go with him."

"He's been in Starling City this whole time, just like you?" Derek asked.

Jackson shook his head, "No, but I won't go any further than that. It's his story to tell, not mine, and he might not tell you any of it, or he'll leave bits out, and you guys have got to respect that."

"Has he told you everything?" Derek asked. It was a fair question. Going only from their past encounters in Beacon Hills Jackson was the last person Stiles would have spilled his guts too.

"No, but I know enough." Jackson shrugged, "You're probably better off not knowing but, like I said…It's not my call."

Jackson and the others stood like that for a few more minutes, watching as Scott discretely tried to scent Stiles, and then gave up on discretion when Stiles laughed at him and told him, "stop mucking around and trying to hide what you're doing. I've seen you try to pretend that you're not scent marking people before, remember, and no, I am not wearing Armani, so just get it over and done with."

Scott laughed at Stiles' comment, and Jackson watched as Scott finished scenting Stiles, never letting go of his former best friend. Stiles too seemed to have no objection to Scott hugging him like that, as he was holding onto Scott just as tightly.

Her eyes filled with tears that rolled freely down her own cheeks, Lydia was the first one to walk across to the pair on the ground, crouching beside them. Stiles looked up at her and have a hesitant smile.

"Hey Lydia, you look as beautiful as always."

"Right now I think you're one of the best things I have ever seen," she replied.

"Wow, and I was half expecting to get kicked in the nuts too," Stiles grinned and Scott got off him and got to his feet, offering Stiles a hand. Stiles took it, letting Scott pull him to his feet.

Lydia's response, of course, was to slap him across the face, leaving Stiles' eyes watering and his cheek stinging.

"That was for getting on that stupid boat, you idiot," Lydia told him sternly, before she pulled him into a tight hug. Jackson snorted at the look of surprise on Stiles' face at Lydia's actions.

Focused on Stiles' reunion with Scott and Lydia, Jackson wasn't prepared for Derek's hand when it touched his shoulder, and he instinctively moved away defensively, turning and facing the threat, ready to fight, if he had to, his eyes flashing blue. He stopped when he saw Derek's hand drop back to his side, a hint of concern crossing the former Alpha's features.

"Sorry..." Jackson apologized, forcing himself to relax.

"It's ok…being alone can be difficult," Derek replied, "I shouldn't have tried to touch you while you were distracted. Thank you…for bringing him back. I know that you two didn't get along before."

"Like I said, it was his choice," Jackson shrugged, "and, well, I was sort of planning on coming back at some point in the near future anyway…even before I met up with Stiles. In hindsight I should have come back years ago to apologize for leaving like I did."

"What made you start thinking about coming back?" Derek asked.

"A change in perspective," Jackson admitted, "combined with a couple of near death experiences, and…and having a pack again. They…they're not wolves…they didn't even know the supernatural was a thing until I told them a few days ago, but it's still a pack. There's an alpha, and the rest of us are his betas and it…it feels right."

"Do you trust him?" Derek asked sternly.

"Yes" Jackson replied without any hesitation.

Derek nodded in acceptance of the answer, before he asked another question, "And would they protect you?"

Jackson nodded confidently, "Yes."

"Then I'm glad that you have them," Derek replied, reaching out once again and put his arm around Jackson's shoulder in a semi hug…probably as close to a hug that they were ever share.

"Yeah…I'm glad I have them too," Jackson admitted.