Stiles watched as Oliver, Sara and Diggle carried their bags towards the door, ready to leave. Jackson stood with them, looking conflicted, as if he wanted to go back to Starling City with them, although his car was in Beacon Hills.

Jackson hadn't told Stiles what had been discussed by he and Oliver, and Stiles hadn't pushed, respecting the other man's right to privacy, although he was curious. Ever since Jackson and Oliver had returned to the house Oliver had stayed close to Jackson, and Jackson hadn't objected to the protective hovering, a fact that Stiles was not the only one to notice. Both Derek and Scott had noticed, Stiles could tell by the look of bemusement on Derek's face, and the confusion on Scott's.

Stiles understood it though. Although Derek had been the one who had bitten Jackson, Oliver was Jackson's Alpha, and after being kidnapped and taken hostage by the League, and shot with a wolfsbane bullet, plus whatever it was that Oliver and Jackson had discussed between themselves, Jackson's instincts…his inner wolf, were screaming at him to be near his Alpha…to be protected. It was touching to see Jackson actually having someone there for him that he trusted, and for Oliver to have someone to look out for.

The time had come, however, for the vigilantes to leave. Oliver had offered to take both Jackson and Stiles back with him. Stiles had automatically declined, and, much to Stiles' surprise, Jackson had as well.

It was obvious, to Stiles anyway, that although Jackson had grown up in Beacon Hills, he belonged in Starling City, with Oliver, Sara, Diggle and Felicity. They were his pack, he didn't feel the same ties to Beacon Hills that Stiles himself did. This trip back to Beacon Hills, for Jackson, had been about tying up loose ends and apologising for how he left for last time. It was part of his starting a new life in Starling City, although Stiles was sure that this more mature and selfless version of Jackson wouldn't sever ties with the Beacon Hills pack completely. If the pack needed him Stiles though Jackson would come, and it would work both ways. Oliver had gained numerous allies through Jackson, in the forms of Scott, Derek, Lydia and the pack.

"Thanks for the hospitality," Diggle offered to Melissa and the Sherriff, accepting the paper bag of salad rolls that Melissa had made for their lunch. Stiles walked up to the group and shook Diggle's, and then Oliver's, hands, before Sara enveloped him in a bear hug.

"Don't scare me like that again," she chastised, "I don't need to start getting grey hairs because of you. Nyssa wouldn't ever shut up about it."

"Just because she's, like immortal, and eternally pretty," Stiles rolled his eyes, and Sara laughed as the rest of the pack said their goodbyes, shaking hands and making promises of alliances, should the other side ever need it. Stiles watched on proudly, knowing that, perhaps inadvertently, he had helped make this happen. If he hadn't returned to the United States Jackson might never have gathered the courage to return to Beacon Hills, and Both Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow, and the Beacon Hills Pack, would never have the benefit of forming an alliance, ready to help the other team out, should they ever need it.

"Hey Sa….Canary," Stiles' father offered as Oliver and Diggle were about to walk out the door. Sara turned.

"Tell your dad I say hi, would you?"

"Sure thing Sherriff Stilinski," Sara replied with a smile, giving Jackson's shoulder one last gentle squeeze, before she made her way out to the car. Stiles watched through the window as the hire car drove away.

"How come you're staying?" Stiles asked when he felt Jackson stand beside him at the window, watching the world outside.

"The full moon is soon. I can handle it in Starling City, no problems, but…I kind of want to be able to run freely in the woods…just this once." Jackson replied, "Besides…my car is here, and I don't want you driving her back to Starling City on your own. You'll crash."

"I would not," Stiles protested, "I'm a good driver."

"You ran me over,"

"That was to save your life."

"How did we ever miss this?" Scott groaned to Lydia, who simply rolled her eyes in agreement.

TW/A

Walking out onto the back deck of the home his father and Melissa shared, Stiles quietly sat down beside Jackson, offering him a bottle of water. Jackson took it with a grateful nod, and began to pick at the label, looking out at the trees on the other side of the back fence.

"Everything ok?" Stiles asked.

"What? Yeah, everything's fine," Jackson replied, shaking his head and looking down at the bottle.

Stiles frowned, "you know, Oliver would kill me if something was hurting you. We might have been island hobos together, but you're a part of his little pack."

"We're a team, Stiles, not a pack." Jackson rolled his eyes

"Same thing," Stiles shrugged, "He's still going to be all protective over you, trust me, I've seen protective Oliver happen, and I've been on the receiving end of it too."

"It's different," Jackson replied, his gaze shifting back to the trees.

"How?" Stiles asked.

Jackson sighed, "After we left to come back to Beacon Hills Felicity was looking at a sample of my blood, to see what difference it made being a werewolf. For ease of access, she compared it against Oliver's blood. Only, she found out that we're half-brothers."

"What?" Stiles choked, "you and Oliver are…half-brothers?"

"Yeah. Turns out my mom and his dad had an affair back in the day. My mom's husband couldn't have kids, so I was obviously not his, and yeah, they were together. Oliver's parents both knew, and my mom and her husband knew too. Oliver's mom was furious about it, she was pregnant with Thea when this was all happening, and my real mom and her husband decided that they wanted to bring me up away from Starling City, so that I could grow up without the media being in my face constantly. Apparently, when my mom and her husband died in the car crash, Oliver's dad wanted to come and claim me as his, or at least adopt me, just as the son of his friends, but Mrs. Queen wouldn't let him do it. The Whitemore's adopted me in the end, and because no-one official knew any different, my mom's husbands name was put on my birth certificate."

"Ok, wow, that's…unexpected."

"I…I wish I could talk to them…any of them about it…but they're all dead." Jackson sighed. Stiles shuddered, reliving the moment Robert Queen committed suicide just to give Oliver and Stiles a better chance at surviving.

"I'm sorry." Stiles apologised, "your dad…your blood father, I mean. He put Oliver ahead of himself, and from what I've heard he would do the same for Thea. He would have done the same for you."

"I wish I could have met him." Jackson quietly told Stiles, "I met Mrs. Queen, when she came to see your dad after the Queen's gambit went down. I saw her staring at me a couple of times, but I ignored it, I was trying to focus on Lydia. She knew who I was, she knew I was the son of her husband…the husband that had just died. She never said anything to me. I met her a couple of times later, when I was in Starling City. She ignored me then, I was just the trash that Thea was playing around with to her. I still can't believe that she didn't recognize me. She thought that I was dead, just like everyone else."

"I think your dad would have been proud of you," Stiles offered, "and, well, now I know not to do anything that risks your safety. No wonder Oliver hugged you like that when he saw you the first time when he got here. He would have been going crazy with how worried he was about you."

"Yeah," Jackson nodded with a smirk, "although I think I hurt him when I said that I didn't want to go back yet. I…I just wasn't ready to leave yet, despite what happened here."

"I'm sure he gets it, he probably would have stayed here with you, if it wasn't for needing to go back to Starling City and do his, you know, "you have failed this city," routine. Oh, God, just imagine what he would do to someone if he thought they were lining up to take a shot at you? He kicked me into an air conditioning unit, and that was before he found out. Imagine what he's going to do now."

Jackson huffed out a laugh, "I wouldn't like to be in that persona's shoes," he admitted, "If he's going to start treating me like he treats Thea…" Jackson faded off as a look of horror crossed his face.

"What if he stops me from helping him out in Starling City?"

"Huh?"

"What if he, I don't know, stops me from helping him? What if he stops me from hanging out with him and Diggle and Felicity and Sara because it's too dangerous or something."

"Jackson, stop, he won't do that to you, and if he tries it, you hit him, just so he doesn't forget that you're not a kid, ok?" Stiles told Jackson in a firm voice, "You are a freaking werewolf, not some kid who has never been a street fight before. You know how to handle yourself in a fight, and Oliver knows it. Hell, you're pretty much bullet proof, as long as no one starts using wolvesbane for some reason. You heal quickly from most injuries, and you've got super powered senses. He'd be stupid if he tried to stop you, and I know this is Oliver we're talking about, and that he isn't necessarily the sharpest tool in the shed, but he isn't that stupid. Besides, the others all know that you are a good fighter, they wouldn't let him kick you out. And if he tries it, you can just threaten to go out alone, without having him watching over you. He'd be wanting you back under his wing within days."

Jackson nodded, knowing that Stiles was right. "Thank you…I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome," Stiles replied, "And if, for whatever reason, you need someone to talk some sense into Oliver, and the others aren't getting involved, well, you know where to find me."