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Stiles drove away from the vet clinic replaying the conversation he’d just had with Scott in his head. He couldn’t believe Scott accused him of cold-blooded murder, he didn’t even want to listen to his side of the story.
He knew he had to leave, he had to go before the fail alpha got him killed with his holier than thou attitude. Everyone who had listened to Stiles, who had trusted him to do the right thing was gone from Beacon Hills.
Derek had gone with Cora after he died then evolved in Mexico, they both refused to accept Scott as their alpha after he had Peter put in Eichen House. Stiles had helped Peter break out of Eichen House, he didn’t think it was fair that the beta had been imprisoned for something that wasn’t even his fault. Peter was grateful but he wanted to get away before the alpha and his pet emissary found out, so he had flown to France to stay with Chris where he could stay under the radar. Danny and Ethan had left for Boston as soon as they had finished junior year, Danny had a full ride to MIT with early acceptance and Ethan just wanted to get away from the Hellmouth.
Stiles knew if he ran he had to do it properly, the good thing was, after the shit show that was his junior year he’d started to plan. He’d called in a favor with Peter before he had flown to France, to get a new identity, one that would stand up to background checks and international travel under the name Alexander Connor Shaw, and he had slowly moved all of his savings to untraceable accounts. Including the money he was given by Peter for returning the bearer bonds that Brunski had stolen from the vault.
He was dressed all in black for which he was thankful, he had a feeling that Scott would go straight to his father to report the murder. He parked a few blocks away from his house and with a thought he put one of the few skills he had mastered with his spark to practice and he masked his scent, footsteps, and heartbeat as he approached his father's house.
He climbed the familiar path to his bedroom, where he had left the window open earlier. He could hear Scott downstairs explain the murder of Donovan. He shook his head when he realized the alpha was being careful to not mention Donovan’s last name or the fact that the body disappeared before the deputies could turn up to investigate. He decided he had heard enough and he quietly pulled the go-bag out of his closet and packed up his research and laptop into the top of the bag. He had a few flights to catch.
He wrote a note to his dad to say goodbye and he left it on his bed. He was fairly sure it would take his dad a few days at the least to notice he was gone. He waited until the pair downstairs had left, Scott to update the pack on how his former best friend was wanted for murder and his dad to the station for his shift. He wasn’t sure if his dad was going to try and arrest him, but he didn’t want to put him between a rock and a hard place.
He left two lines of mountain ash before he left, one across the window and the other across his door frame. He didn’t want Scott or one of his betas to destroy the note before his father saw it. He was tempted to circle the note in mountain ash as well but he thought that might be going a bit far.
He left the keys for Roscoe beside the note, he figured someone would eventually find it and report it to his dad. He pulled out the phone he had bought under his new ID and ordered an Uber to take him to the airport in San Francisco.
His first stop would be to Cincinnati, he had a safety deposit box waiting for him at the city branch of Guardian Savings Bank. He used the drive to the airport to transfer all the important data from his old phone and laptop to a portable hard drive.
When he arrived at the bank and met with the manager, once the bank opened for business, he was surprised to find that Peter had cashed in and deposited a second bearer bond in the bank under his new name. This one was completely untraceable and the bank had set up a credit card so he could access the money easily. Once he was squared away he was taken to the safety deposit box he had prepaid under his legal name, he was impressed that the bank hadn’t even questioned the name switch and they assured him that if anyone got a warrant for the boxes contents that the new account wouldn’t be mentioned.
He spent time carefully placing everything connecting him digitally to his old life into the deposit box so if he was tracked they would be led to the bank rather than him. He set up his old phone with a portable battery so it would last just over a week before going flat. He made sure on the drive to the airport to delete nearly everything off both devices, so if they were found or seized that nothing would give away the supernatural or his destination.
From Cincinnati he used cash to book a flight to Paris, he had several hours to wait as there was only one flight out a day and it left in the early evening. He spent the time productively setting up the new laptop he’d purchased on the way to the airport. Stiles took the time to create alerts on his name so if people started to search for him he would know so he could stay in front of it all. He then spent a few hours mapping out the route he would take between the two airports in Paris, so he could get lost in the city from any cameras that might be watching.
He planned to fly to Charles de Gaulle airport where he would travel on his old passport as Mieczysław Genim ‘Stiles’ Stilinski, then he would catch a couple of Ubers to Orly Airport, where he would be booking a flight with his new credit card before flying to Geneva as Alexander Connor ‘Alex’ Shaw. He figured the false trail would lead everyone back home to believe he was hiding out with Chris, Peter, and Isaac.
By the time he made it to Geneva he was shattered, he’d been traveling almost non-stop for three days. He booked a hotel in the city and spent a few days sorting through his suitcases. He had grabbed all his books and research material as he was leaving, and he wanted time to sort through it all and decide what to destroy and throw away, what to store away in the safe deposit box and what to take with him. He also wanted to look into warding for the box to protect some of the rarer books he had managed to procure.
The bank was happy to set up a new security box for him, it would be fairly large due to the number of books he was choosing to keep hidden. The bank was used to dealing with supernaturals, so they were happy for Stiles to ward the inside of the box to protect the rare books inside.
He had stored two suitcases he had been carting around the world in with the books I the deposit box, they had been mostly full of books. Everything else he had with him fit into a large backpack he had purchased while wandering around Geneva. He thought the city was beautiful and the walks were relaxing and allowed him to get out of his own head for a few hours.
Finally ready, Stiles checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport for the final leg of his journey.
Thankfully he only had to wait an hour for his last flight to start boarding, he used the time looking into the news from Beacon Hills to see if there was an amber alert out for him. So far it looked like he would make it to safety with no one being any the wiser to his location. It would appear he wasn’t even listed as missing.
Another flight and another Uber and he was standing in the pouring down rain as he knocked on the door.
Jackson opened the door and he took in the bedraggled mess on his doorstep and waited.
Stiles looked nervous as he said, “I just need you to hear me, ok?”
Jackson nodded slightly, his expression giving nothing away.
“I killed someone,” Stiles admitted.
Jackson shrugged, “So, it was self-defense right? I mean that’s what the evidence is saying.”
Stiles looked confused as he said, “Ye-yeah, but… He’s still dead and it’s my fault.”
“Fucking hell,” Jackson exclaimed as he pulled the teen towards him and he wrapped him in a hug. “Come on, you’ve been missing for a week, you stink of airplane and people and we have a lot to catch you up on.”
Jackson led him inside where Stiles saw Peter texting furiously on his phone. “Peter?”
Peter smiled softly, “Stiles. I’ve let the others know you’re safe.”
Stiles asked determinably, “What others?”
Jackson pushed him towards a bathroom and he said, “Freshen up, it’ll help. Then we’ll explain everything.”
Stiles came back into the living room twenty minutes later feeling a bit fresher but no less confused. He was making his way to the lone spare seat in the room but Jackson snagged him as he walked past and pulled him into his lap.
“Jackson?” Stiles asked, “What are you doing?”
Jackson growled, “You cut me off, Stiles. We’ve been texting and talking almost daily for a year now and then you just up and vanished on me. My wolf needs to know you aren’t going to disappear again.”
Stiles suddenly smelled of guilt and he said quietly, “Sorry, I didn’t think about that, my only thought was to get out of Beacon Hills without anyone tracking me. I thought I had a few days head start at least.”
Peter nodded in agreement, “You would have, if Scott’s discussion with your dad didn’t set off every single alarm bell. When he got to the station he called Chris and Derek back to town to deal with the dread doctors since Scott was being a fail beta, and he put out an APB for your Jeep.”
Stiles frowned, “Don’t you mean fail alpha?”
Peter shook his head, “No, it would appear Scott lost his alpha spark when he turned on you and when Derek arrived in town he was offered it by the Nemeton. He accepted willingly and he is researching how the spark transferred, Cora is helping.”
Stiles said quietly, “So I am not going to be arrested?”
Peter shook his head, “No, there were cameras in the library that caught everything. It’s a clear case of self-defense and the cameras outside caught the wendigo hitting you over the head with the wrench.”
Stiles buried his face in Jackson’s neck, he couldn’t believe they’d gone to bat for him rather than believe Scott. He mumbled, “Everyone usually believes Scott. Always.”
Jackson chuckled, “Not me, and I think he’s killed most of the credibility he had left when he believed Theo over you on what happened to Donovan.”
Peter agreed, “Scott’s name is mud right now, he's currently being held by the FBI for lying on a police statement, kidnapping, and harboring a dangerous fugitive. Theo Raekin was wanted across several states for attacks on peaceful packs. That little bastard was arrested when he tried to kidnap your father.”
Stiles sat up in a hurry, “What?”
Jackson pulled him back down and he murmured, “Relax, Derek was in your dad’s office when Theo tried to grab him, he was able to knock the little bastard out.”
“So it’s safe to go home?” Stiles asked quietly, “I won’t be arrested?”
Jackson assured, “It is safe, that is if you want to go. Just know that where you go, I will be following. I’m done staying away.”
Stiles asked, “So why are you here, Peter?”
Peter shrugged, “Chris, Derek, and Isaac are busy helping the FBI deal with the Dread Doctors, Scott, and Dr. Deaton and the messes currently happening in Beacon Hills. So I decided to wait where I knew you would eventually head. Jackson was nice enough to put me up for a few days.”
Stiles burrowed into Jackson and he asked, “Is my dad ok?”
Peter smiled, “Well he’s pissed as all hell at Scott and the other members of his fail pack. He’s worried about you, but he said if you feel safer staying away he will support you as long as you promise him regular Skype chats.”
Stiles shrugged, “I don’t care where I end up as long as I don’t end up as alone as before. Everyone who trusted me, left me there. I can understand why, between Scott fail alphaing everywhere, and the dodgy druid whispering in his ear. But it’s so lonely when no one will hear me.”
Peter offered, “We’ll both go back with you. Now that Scott has been taken care of there is no risk of being thrown into Eichen House again. Derek said your dad was pissed about that. He’s not even mad that I escaped, since locking me up was classed as a kidnapping to start with.” The beta thought about the conversations he’d had with Derek, Chris, and Jackson over the last few days and he said, “I think going back would be good for all of us. Derek is in need of an emissary who isn’t a cryptic asshole and I’m pretty sure he wants you in that role for our pack. He’s already looking into getting the house rebuilt for the pack.”
Stiles looked up at Jackson, “Are you sure you want to go back? Lydia will be so angry. She still blames me for Allison and Aiden dying.”
Jackson frowned, “But you were separated from the nogitsune when they died a the hands of the Oni demons he was controlling.”
Stiles said resignedly, “I should have been stronger so I could prevent the destruction and chaos. I let it in so it’s all on me.”
“That’s complete bullshit,” Jackson exclaimed, “I wasn’t even there and I know you would have gone through hell to prevent the possession.”
Peter agreed, “He only let it in to save Kira and Malia. They are wrong to blame you, especially Ms. Martin. She should know better. Hell, I’ve talked extensively with Chris and Isaac and they don’t blame you at all.”
Stiles leaned up and he kissed Jackson softly before he said, “Take me home?”
Jackson returned the kiss and he eventually pulled away to run his nose up Stiles’ neck as he said, “I’ll go with you to the ends of the earth, my Mischief.”