Chapter Text
Deucalion smiled down at the chestnut hair snuggled into his chest. The trip to the pack had exhausted his little mate and everyone quieted on the way to the airport. Stiles slipped off to sleep, fingers tucked into Deucalion’s sleeve. He gathered his mate closer to his side, his arm covering him protectively. Stiles sighed in his sleep. Looking down at his thin, beautiful face snuggled into Deuc’s chest, he smiled and laid a soft kiss on the top of his head. The wolf couldn’t believe how much he already loved his mate. It wasn’t just gratitude. It wasn’t just ‘meant to be’. It was completion. He’d thought it was his sight that was causing the emptiness he felt inside. He was very wrong. Stiles was missing. The Stiles shaped hole in his soul was now filled in, completing him and giving him something to live for outside of his pack.
Deuc couldn’t wait to spoil his mate, take him on dates, get to know him. He had a feeling Stiles would be getting to know himself at the same time. After spending just a few hours together, he couldn’t imagine life without him. He couldn’t wait to see more of the little smiles and work to bring them out more often and maybe become full on grins and laughter. His mate deserved the world after the hell he’d been through.
“Ennis, will you call Dr Grant to meet us at the house this evening? I want to show Stiles the house and get him a bit settled in, but he needs to be seen. I’m worried about what his insides might be like.” The wounds were gone, but Stiles’ insides hadn’t completely healed.
“On it,” Ennis said and started typing on his phone.
“Aiden, will you text Maggie on the jet and ask for fresh chicken bone broth to be available in case we can get Stiles to try some?”
“Sure thing,” came Aiden’s voice from behind him, and more typing started.
Kali smiled at them from the driver’s seat. “Biggest day he has had in two years would be pretty tiring,” she noted.
“He’s so frail. We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Ennis said.
Deucalion cleared his throat, overcome. “Thank you, my family. Thank you for helping Stiles and helping me get him away from that hell and for accepting him so readily into our pack and family. It means more to me than getting my vision back. It’s everything. He is everything,” he said, gazing down warmly at his mate.
“You deserve all the happiness you’ve helped the rest of us have,” Kali told him.
The twins nodded from behind him, catching the corner of his eye. “We’ve got your back and Stiles’ back,” Ethan said, and Aiden agreed.
“Please, my pack, keep in mind there is a lot of mental healing he has to do. PTSD, triggers we’re unaware of, nightmares, setbacks. If you need a break, please don’t be afraid to take one. It is liable to get intense at times. I can understand and encourage the need to step away for a time,” Deuc assured them all. “Everyone’s mental health matters in this kind of situation.”
Kali nodded, pulling off the highway toward the private airstrip their jet was on. “I get it and I get how it could become overwhelming. We’ll pay attention to our mindset, have no fear. We’ll keep an eye on each other and make sure we all get what we need.”
Stiles woke up when the car stopped and jerked up, looking around, breathing hard.
“You’re safe my mate. It’s me, Deucalion and our pack, remember? You’re with us, away from the house,” Deuc whispered to him. He put Stiles’ fingers into his shirt cuff and when his small fingers tightened, he gasped out a breath and could finally see he was safe, he was among the people who helped him find freedom.
“Sorry,” he whispered, shivering against him.
“Don’t be,” Deuc said, rubbing his arm. “It’s to be expected, this is a huge change for you. We are at the airstrip. Are you ready to go on a plane?”
Looking around him, Stiles’ eyes widened, their golden color gleaming in the afternoon light. “I’m so excited,” he whispered, lips turned up just the slightest bit.
It was the biggest smile Deuc had seen yet and he was charmed.
When they got out of the car, Stiles stared at the jet, eyes so big, the pack had to smile. Peter was there waiting for them, and he got a little wave from Stiles, which he returned.
“Have you ever flown before?” Peter asked, coming over to them, dragging his suitcases behind him.
Shaking his head, Stiles gripped Deuc’s sleeve. “No, but I’ve always wanted to. Do people really look like ants?”
Peter grinned. “Maybe as you take off, but from thirty thousand feet, all you see is the landscape.”
Stiles had never even seen a plane close up, so he was practically bouncing around. For Stiles, that just meant tiny wiggles and his big eyes getting wider.
Deuc helped him up the stairs into the plane, little squeaks escaping Stiles as he discovered this new world. He let Stiles pick his own seat and of course, he planted himself right next to the window. His little laugh squeaks continued as he spun around in his chair, looking at his pack members.
Everyone was enjoying watching him, grinning at him when he spun around. The twins joined him, spinning in their own chairs, laughing as they would get dizzy and then stand and fall. Stiles didn’t join them; slow spinning was more his speed.
“It looks like a living room, not a plane,” he whispered, looking around himself in awe.
“It does. We are very blessed to have this transportation for the work we do,” Deucalion told him.
Stiles got buckled up and the nice lady named Maggie told him what was going to happen and the safety measures. Aiden jumped up and did a whole skit about safety preparedness. He got the squeaks from Stiles which just made the wolf beam.
As the plane began to move, Stiles grabbed onto Deucalion’s hand and squeezed. His heart rate was high, but not worryingly so. Deuc watched his mate stare out at the quickly passing scenery. When the jet lifted, Stiles let out a squeaky “Whoa!”
He kept his nose to the window for the first hour straight before turning to see what the rest of the pack was up to. Aiden and Ethan were playing video games. He strained his neck to see what they were playing. Deuc gave him a nod and Stiles walked over to see what they were doing. He watched for a while. He couldn’t wait to do it all.
“We’ll get you hooked up with a phone and laptop,” Ethan said, waving him over to sit with them. “We’ll be your technology teachers and we’ll get you caught up to date in no time. You remember the basics so that will help. It’ll mostly just be showing you the big changes and then you can go nuts exploring on your own.”
“I don’t need to be monitored? Dad always did before he took it all away,” Stiles said, excited at the opportunity.
“No need to be monitored unless you wanna go on the black web and sell kidneys or something,” Aiden said with a chuckle and a quick mess of Stiles’ hair. He grinned when Stiles ducked away and made his happy squeak.
They were all so fond of the sounds from Stiles. A happy spark was a happy pack, apparently. Maybe it was a spark thing. Nah. It was a Stiles thing.
“I’m so excited,” Stiles said, his whisper louder than they’d heard before. “I can’t wait to read everything.”
“We’ll have to make sure you sleep at some point,” Deuc said with a wry grin.
“I’ll be good, Deuc. I’ll be so, so good,” Stiles promised vehemently, eyes wide as he glanced at him.
“I know you will, sweetheart. I think all of us would be sucking down the information and technology if we were in your situation. I know I can’t wait to rediscover all the books and movies I’ve missed out on. I just want to make sure all of you is taken care of. No rules. Just care.” Deuc just wanted to take care of his Spark mate who was already so precious to him, but he never wanted him to think it was restricting at all.
“Okay,” he said with a smile and returned to watching the twins play.
Stiles looked like he wanted to say something and after a minute of building himself up, he patted Ethan’s arm and both twins looked up at him with big smiles. “Thank you both for accepting me so easily. I’m excited to learn from you.”
Aiden and Ethan both blushed with pleasure. “You’re pack now, Stiles. We’re happy to have you and can’t wait to show you everything.”
Stiles got the tiniest bit pink as well, not healthy enough to fully blush.
Deuc watched as he went to Kali and waited until she looked up from her tablet. “Thank you for being so protective of me and, well, of everyone. You make me feel safe.”
Kali stared up at him, surprised tears shining in her dark eyes. “You are very welcome, Stiles. I’m so pleased to hear you say so.”
He gave her a small Stiles smile and moved to her mate. “Ennis?”
“What’s up little man?” Ennis said, grinning at him.
“Thank you for being so strong and for being so funny and silly when we did the z-snap. It was a lot of fun,” he said with his squeak.
Ennis beamed and swallowed hard. “We’ll have a ton more laughs together, I look forward to it.”
Stiles smiled as much as he could. He then turned to his mate. “Deuc, thank you for giving me the strength and ability to leave… hell. You helped me leave hell. I’ll prove I can be as strong as any of the pack and protect everyone else,” he swore, his large eyes solemn. “Thank you for giving me a family.”
Deuc wasn’t blind, but his vision was blurred as his eyes filled with tears. “My mate, it has been my honor.”
Stiles bit his lip and then gave in and hugged Deuc, his small arms wrapped around the werewolf. “One more,” he whispered and stood.
He walked to Peter who had stopped typing on his laptop but now closed it and greeted Stiles with a warm smile.
He pointed at the seat next to the wolf and Peter nodded, hand out as he welcomed him.
Stiles sat there for a long moment before he started trembling, tears shimmering on his lashes. “Peter,” he said with a shuddering cry. He held a hand up when Deuc approached him, concerned. “P… Peter,” he couldn’t help another sob, tears pouring down his cheeks, overwhelmed with emotion he hadn’t felt or released in years. He swallowed hard. “Peter, you came back,” he said, his voice breaking trying to hold back his tears. “You came back. You told me you would come back and you did. I… I’m so very grateful, Peter,” he said, mopping at his eyes. “You kept your word and now look,” Stiles said, waving a shaking hand around at the other pack members. “I am free and I have all of you. I have a family,” he said with a tiny shrug. “I’m not alone anymore and it’s all ‘cause of you. You kept your promise and now I’m free,” he whispered. “You’re my hero.”
Peter couldn’t take it and pulled Stiles gently into his arms, both of them crying. He had never heard the word hero directed at him before and it filled in one of the many holes in his heart. He would cherish it forever.
There were no dry eyes in the entire jet, minus the pilot. They all heard Stiles repeating ‘you came back’ and it made their hearts warm as much as it broke their hearts.
“I’m so damn glad I came to find you,” Peter told him, sniffing and not giving a shit that he was crying.
“And then you came back,” Stiles said one last time before they pulled out of the hug.
Kali came and gave them both tissues and then handed them out all around.
“Anyone hungry?” Ennis asked.
That cued everyone to pile around a table and pass around food. Stiles looked at the food longingly. He perked up when he got a cup of warm chicken broth. Taking a sip of it, he sighed deep, the savory soup was just a little salty and full of flavor. He could tell it wasn’t from a can, the taste full and robust. “So yummy,” he whispered. He looked as satisfied as the twins who were chowing down on a pile of sandwiches.
“I’ll eat like that someday,” he said, taking another sip.
“You will,” Ennis agreed. “Once we get your insides all healed up, you’ll become a food vacuum.”
“I can’t wait,” Stiles said with a small grin. “I used to love curly fries. Maybe I can try those some time.”
“Curly fries are the bomb,” Aiden said and offered a fist to Stiles who shyly bumped it with his own fist.
“I’ll get better fast,” Stiles told them. “Then I can get big and strong and help protect the pack. Maybe not as big as Ennis. There aren’t enough curly fries to get me that big.” He gave the big man a shy grin.
Ennis posed and flexed his muscles, getting the squeak he’d been trying for.
After eating, Stiles happily finishing his cup of broth, they all separated into their own activities. Stiles snuggled up next to Deuc, his eyes getting heavier from his full belly until he drifted off to sleep.
Deucalion stroked his mate’s soft hair, thanking the goddess that he was able to see Stiles in all his beauty. He got to see the snowcapped mountains out the window. The afternoon sun shining yellow and orange into the aircraft. His packmates, his family, seeing how they’d changed over the years when he couldn’t see their beloved faces. The small man in his arms had changed his entire life in the course of one day.