INTRO
.made it out alive, but I think I lost it. [Gracie Abrams – That's so true]
As he passed the sign that read 'Welcome to Beacon Hills', he could feel the darkness spreading around his heart. An after effect of what he had to do years ago. A darkness he couldn't fill with light. Something that grew even deeper than everyone thought. Used by the Nogitsune, it felt even worse and his heart ached. It felt as if something was pressing against his chest with an unnatural force. It made him feel sick. It was a reminder of all the terrible things he had done. The blood on his hands. No matter how many times people told him it wasn't his fault, that it was Void who did the terrible things, they never understood that he remembered every single thing. It haunted him. Even years later. It was still on his mind. Sure, he tried to move on, and no one even questioned whether he was okay or not after all that, they just assumed. Besides, they had enough other things on their minds at the time. But being taken by the Ghost Riders for the Wild Hunt had added to his pain. Pain that no one really understood because no one really cared. They just assumed he was all right. Which he wasn't. It was almost freeing to leave Beacon Hills with Lydia for his pre-FBI training program, but he would never say that.
Leaving Beacon Hills wasn't the hard part. Back then, when he was training with the FBI and got the information about the Anuk-Ite, he struggled with his decision. Part of him didn't want to go back but his friends' life was at stake. So, he had pushed his feelings aside – as usual – and drove back for one last hurray. He had sworn to never look back and come back. Even if that meant that he wouldn't see his father that much anymore. It was a sacrifice he had to make for his own sanity. Also, with Lydia being his girlfriend – who also wanted to leave this godforsaken town – it felt like the right thing to do.
And life was fine. For years, it was a bliss. Lydia and his relationship blossomed, his position within the Bureau was amazing and his co-workers were amazed by his abilities. He even dropped the name Stiles and went by Mischief instead. He tried to cut all the ties with his teenage life. Even with Scott. Sure, they kept in touch, but the contact was limited and after almost two years it was totally gone. The only one he stayed in contact with from Beacon Hills was his father, but they had an unspoken rule: they didn't talk about Beacon Hills.
When Lydia had left him out of the blue, he was devastated, but he didn't show it. Instead, he pushed for a new position and was transferred to Chicago. Far away from anyone who might know him. He started over.
He thought he had made it out alive.
But he didn't know that he had lost most of himself in the process.
He only realized what he had lost when the wedding invitation arrived. His father was getting married again and Stiles had to be there. He met Joan, his father's fiancé, and he adored her. He was the light that his father needed. Stiles was happy that his father found her, that they were able to fall in love. He fully supported their relationship, so he wasn't surprised that they were about to tie the knot but he forgot what it meant for himself.
It meant returning to Beacon Hills.
And it also meant facing the demons he had tried to outrun for the past few years.
The dull feeling in his chest increased as he parked his car in front of his old home. He stayed there for a second, trying to calm his breathing and closed his eyes. He was no longer the ADHD teenager anymore. He was a grown-up FBI agent. But being back in Beacon Hills opened wounds. Wounds, that wouldn't heal.
Some of these wounds weren't even known.
Wounds, that were going to be ripped open again.
Because returning to Beacon Hills also meant something else. It meant they would all be together for the first time in almost a decade.
And they all felt that chaos was about to return.