Chapter Text
[BEACON HILLS–2023]
-Outside Hale Loft-
Stiles gasped and coughed aggressively, having inhaled the dust from the parking garage’s floor that he landed in. His arm curled around his lower stomach, pressing in against the skin on his side, trying to ground himself. His legs had curled up slightly beneath him, allowing his head to rest against the cold cement, calming the ache he felt right between his eyes, if only for a moment.
Erica wasn’t doing much better, her hands and knees wobbly as she tried to push herself up into a kneeling position, her arms coming down from under her, her forehead smacking against the back of her hand.
They were both so weak, but their bodies continued to try and push through it, to keep them going, even if it was only long enough to walk the couple feet from the floor to the ratty elevator.
It hurt Stiles, to try and push through the pain he could feel throughout his whole body, and he could tell it was hurting Erica, too, if by the way she was clutching to her stomach was any indicator.
Stiles wondered though, in the back of his mind, what year it was. Similarly to Liam, though Liam never spoke it out loud, Stiles too wondered if their time was like Interstellar , if one day in the limbo-reality was one year back here in their reality.
If it was, then that would mean that the year was now twenty-twenty three. That would mean that they were gone for five years, and no one but the pack would’ve known.
He wondered, then, if the other people who vanished around the globe, if they had been returned to where they came from. He wondered if there were memorials for the lost, and for the fallen. He wondered if anyone would’ve even remembered them.
He wondered, yet he came to one conclusion.
No one had looked for them.
[VETERINARY CLINIC–2023]
Mason collided with a hard object–literally. He had fallen onto Dr. Alan Deaton, causing the older man to lose his balance, both of them falling to the floor with a clatter. It wasn’t exactly Mason’s fault, really. He can’t control where he ends back up. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel guilty, though.
“I’m so–” Mason’s throat screamed at him from the use of his voice, his throat rough like sandpaper.
Dr. Deaton stared at him with wide eyes, his fingers shakily reaching up to touch Mason’s arms, pressing down into his skin. Mason realized he was trying to make sense that Mason was there, that he was real, and not a figment of his imagination.
“You’re alive.” Deaton whispered, and Mason’s brows furrowed.
Were none of them supposed to be?
-
Mason got dragged out of the vet’s office by his arm, Deaton’s steps hurried and uncoordinated, nothing like the man that Mason knew. Mason stumbled a bit over the rocks and pebbles littering the asphalt, Deaton pushing him gently to get into the passenger side of the car, ushering him until he was buckled and ready to go.
“What’s going on?” Mason asked, and Deaton turned to him, taking in the young man’s figure, frowning a little.
“Mason, what year is it?” Mason snorted, but quickly sobered when Deaton leveled him with a look.
“Twenty-Eighteen.” Deaton paled a touch, and Mason’s brows rose to his hairline, turning fully to the man beside him. “What year is it?”
“It’s twenty-twenty three, Mr. Hewitt.”
Mason felt his stomach drop down to his ass, his eyes blinking rapidly. They were only gone for–it had been five days in the limbo-realm. That equated to five years on Earth. Goddamnit.
[HALE LOFT]
It was Boyd who’s attention was caught first. The scent of something sweet like flowers that had just bloomed infiltrated his sense of smell, and he knew that scent well. That was Lydia’s signature scent, the perfume she always wore covered up the more natural scent, like fresh linen, soft and sweet. The next one to catch his attention was vanilla mixed with the spice of cinnamon, and that one he knew well–Stiles. The last one made his knees buckle, his hands gripping the counter in the kitchen just a bit tighter, his eyes squeezing shut. Theo sent him a look from where he was finishing putting the peanut butter on his slice of bread, but looked away from Boyd, allowing the man the peace he thought he needed.
Erica’s scent was the last to filter through, the smell of fresh rain, mixed with a more earthy smell–pine. Under that, it was citrus, something that Boyd had come to love about the woman. He had deluded himself in the last four years, thinking that he could smell her right there , but it had just been a lingering touch on an old hoodie, on an old pair of jean shorts.
But this–this was stronger than anything he had felt in the last five years. It was like she was right there , like all of them were right there, standing right in front of him. His eyes opened slowly when he heard the knife in Theo’s hand clatter down to the floor, the jelly that he had put on it splattering against the hardwood floor.
Derek was the one who rushed in, almost tripping over himself, his eyes wide as he stared at the two in the kitchen, his chest heaving.
“You both smell them too, right? I’m not going fucking insane?” Derek whispered the last part, and Theo and Boyd shook their heads quickly, following the Alpha out into the commonspace, the three of them freezing as the loft’s door slid open.
Lydia.
Her heels clacked against the cement of the loft’s floor, her hair bouncing up and down on her shoulders. She hadn’t changed a day since Boyd last saw her. She froze, though, when she saw three sets of eyes staring at her, tilting her head in confusion.
“What, do I have something on my face?” She started to wipe at her cheek, Derek whining low in his throat.
“Where have you been?” He whispered, and Lydia regarded him with a look, raising a brow.
“Listen, I know we’ve been gone for almost a week–” Theo choked on his words, eyes widening, but Lydia pushed through. “For almost a week, but really, we weren’t that far, technically. We were in the preserve, in this limbo-realm. Was kinda weird, but hey, we all came back, didn’t we?” The men stared at her, their eyes filling with wetness, shocked at her words. Lydia didn’t seem to notice, though.
“Hey, do you have food? I’m starving.” Derek’s hands twitched, putting his body into motion, only to have him freeze again when Erica and Stiles stumbled in through the door, both of them clutching at their stomachs.
“Is there any fucking food in this place?” Stiles called from the ground, and Erica growled her sentiments, Derek and Boyd rushing forwards to help their packmates stand, wrapping their arm around the tops of their shoulders.
Boyd kept his arm around Erica’s waist even after sitting her down in a chair next to the breakfast bar, his fingers just on the side of painful. Erica didn’t seem to mind, though, her fingers digging themselves into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer until she could scent him, dragging her nose along the column of his neck, pressing a gentle kiss to the exposed skin. Derek fretted over Stiles while Boyd fret over Erica, checking him for injuries, even going over the same four spots until Stiles gently pushed his hands away, showing Derek that he was unscathed, just hungry, and in need of lots and lots of food, as well as water. He pulled Derek into a hug when the alpha just stared at him, reassuring him that he, and Erica, were one hundred percent real, and alive.
Theo’s eyes filled with tears, his coyote whining and whimpering, realizing that Liam’s scent was just a trick of the nose, that Theo had deluded himself into thinking that Liam would come through the doors with everyone else. He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the first tear fall, clenching his hands into fists at his sides, listening as everyone shuffled around. The scent of Liam grew stronger, and Theo just figured that it was his mind playing dirty, evil nasty tricks on him. His mind was deluding itself, trying to make it seem like Liam was coming home, that Theo would have his mate again.
“Oh, Theo…” Theo knew that voice. He knew that voice so well. But it couldn’t–
“No.” Theo whispered harshly, squeezing his eyes shut tighter. This wasn’t real.
“Babe, c’mon… open your eyes for me. Please?” How could Theo say no to that voice again? He never could, and he never would.
The gasp that had left his lips was one that he knew he would be embarrassed about later on down the road–but right now? Liam was standing right in front of him, flesh and blood, blue eyes bright, filled with tears. Why were his eyes watery? Was he hurt? Before Theo could pose the question to Liam, Liam’s arms wrapped around Theo’s shoulders, and Theo’s arms responded in kind, wrapping low and tight around Liam’s waist, holding him close to his body, afraid to ever let him go again. Would Liam disappear into the ash, again?
“I’m here, T… I’m here, now.” Liam had whispered the words to Theo, but to Theo it sounded like a yell.
He hadn’t realized how much he missed Liam’s voice.
Theo heard another two bodies walk in, only being clued in by the sounds of their heartbeats, but he realized in that moment that he didn’t care, not anymore. Liam was right here, in his arms, safe and sound.
Theo whined when Liam tried to pull his body away from Theo’s, Theo’s coyote snarling at the loss of his mate. Liam was quick to put his arms around Theo again, Theo’s fingers digging into Liam’s lower back, trying to press Liam’s body into his own, merge them together, as if he could do that.
He wished he could, some days.
-
“So, it’s like Interstellar ?” Liam voiced from his spot on the couch, his feet thrown lazily into Stiles’s lap, the upper half of his body resting against Theo’s chest, Theo’s thighs bracketing his hips from their position.
“Precisely. Lydia, you mentioned that you all were there for only five days, is that correct?” Deaton turned to the strawberry blonde, waiting for her answer.
“I watched the sun rise and set five different times, so I’d assume so, yes.” She stabbed her fork back into the piece of chicken that had fallen off, taking delicate bites.
Stiles was shoveling forkful after forkful into his mouth, Derek and Scott watching with a raised brow.
Liam enjoyed his lunchable (thank you, Erica), allowing Theo to feed him the little corn chips after dipping them into either the cheese sauce or the salsa. He hummed a little when Theo mixed the two together, enjoying the flavors bursting on his tongue. Theo’s chest rumbled in pleasure at providing comfort and food for his mate, and Liam just–he couldn’t help but smile.
“How did you all find each other?” At that, everyone froze, Lydia’s fork mid-air, Stiles mid-bite. Erica set her cup of water down, and Liam gently put Theo’s hand down, away from his mouth. “I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” Derek sounded genuinely concerned, and if it weren’t for the fact that they had all been through some of their deepest, most well-hidden memories, they would’ve explained.
“We took doors, through the realm. Landed us all in the preserve.” Erica answered, and Stiles shifted, grabbing the napkin from the side table, spitting the remainder of the food that was in his mouth into the cloth. Liam had wondered what they’d seen, but he knew better than to pry.
“We’re just happy you’re all safe, is all.” Deaton chimed in, before excusing himself out of the room, leaving the Hale and McCall pack to eat in silence.
“Seconds, anyone?”
[RAEKEN RESIDENCE]
“Theo, seriously, I’m fine.” Liam placated, setting his hands down against Theo’s biceps, urging his eyes not to look past his neck, at the bare torso that laid in front of him. “C’mon, the den is packed enough, it’s perfect.” Theo huffed a little, but he ushered Liam inside under the blankets, slotting himself between where the door would be, and Liam.
“I–” Theo cut himself off, clenching his jaw. “I need to touch you. To–to know that you’re really, truly here.” His words were whispered harshly, and Liam’s heart clenched painfully in his chest.
His wolf whimpered at the scent of pure sadness that wafted off from Theo, wanting to replace it with something much happier than what it was. He took the initiative to pull Theo close to his body, twining their legs together, wrapping his arms around Theo’s body. He pressed his nose into Theo’s clavicle, his temple resting just so against his shoulder.
“I’m right here, T… M’not going anywhere. Not again.”
Theo held him closer, exhaling.
[HALE LOFT]
Stiles finished toweling his hair to a semi-damp state, folding the towel to put it back over the rack. He was the last to shower out of everyone, Erica and Boyd had gone first, of course, Derek had gone next, so that had left Stiles last.
He passed by Erica’s room on the way to his own, smiling softly when he was met with the sight of Boyd covering Erica’s body with his own, Erica’s blonde curls peeking out from under his body. He quietly shut the door, padding softly the rest of the way to his own room, inhaling shakily. He didn’t really want to be alone, nor did he want to turn out the lights, afraid that if he did, he’d wake up back in the hospital.
He had just crossed the threshold when he felt a hand wrap around his arm, warm and heavy. It grounded him a bit, to know that even after all these years, that feeling had never gone away.
“Hi.” He whispered, and Derek whispered hi back, turning so that they were face to face.
Their tentative friendship had begun sometime around after the kanima, when Boyd and Erica had gone missing for the summer before junior year. Stiles had confided in Derek as to what happened with Gerard, how he hadn’t given them up, no matter what Gerard did. Derek, in turn, confided in Stiles about the details of what happened with Kate, why he was so scared to come face to face with a man like Gerard. It had opened something up inside the both of them, allowing them to explore a friendship based on mutual understanding, rather than hate.
“Wanna come watch the stars? News predicted that we’d be able to see the planets align.” Derek’s voice was so soft, and Stiles felt himself tear up at it, nodding his head quickly.
“I’d love to.”
[BEACON HEIGHTS]
Scott held Malia close to his body through the night, the werecoyote whining and whimpering when he strayed too far from her side of the bed, her fingers digging harshly into his lower back, her face pressing itself right into the center of his sternum.
He needed the contact, he realized, more than he ever needed it before. He needed to feel Malia’s hands pressing into his skin, feeling the warm contact against his own warm body.
“I’m so sorry.” He whispered to the woman that lay asleep against him, his eyes squeezing shut.
He would make it better for her, he swore on his life.
They had survived The Blip, the elimination and restoration of life on the planet. Half of the world’s population had been wiped out with the snap of a finger, and had been brought back the same way. No one knew for sure whether or not this was the end, that they’d end up okay, but one thing was for sure.
They had lived.
end