(What do you mean this is the last chapter??? Nooooo I don't think I'm ready yet stop 😭)

...

Stiles stands below the board listing arrivals, watching as Beacon Hills was declared 'on time'. A soft breeze rustled his clothes, and he glanced down to find a ticket had been pushed to his feet. "Stiles..." A voice called to him on the wind. "Stiles..." He turned, eyes searching for the owner of that lovely voice. "Stiles..."

"Y/n?" Stiles stepped forward as the PA system squealed to life, a different voice making an announcment than before.

"Attention, all passengers. The train will be arriving in 25 minutes." The people got up from their seats and started to move towards the tracks, making it harder for Stiles to search for her.

"Y/n?"

"Stiles."

"Y/n!"

"I'm right here, Stiles."

"Y/n, wait."

"Stiles!"

A gun shot rang out, startling everyone into backing away from the man with a gun. "Give the boy some room."

"Dad?" Stiles' eyes widened when he saw Noah standing there. "Dad?" He rushed over.

Noah smiled at the sight of his son as they embraced. "Oh, God. Oh, I found you." Noah sighed in relief, holding his son close. When they pulled away he held the back of Stiles' head, just taking him in. "I can't believe I found you." He chuckled.

"Dad, I can hear Y/n. I think... I think I can get to her. I think she can get us out of here."

The sounds of the ghost riders approaching made them look back at the tunnel. "You need to get out of here. Don't worry about me." Noah urged as he turned towards the sounds.

"What, you're kidding, right?"

"Go. Get help. Find your friends."

"Yeah, and what about you?"

Noah smiled at him. "We'll find each other again."

"Dad."

"Stiles, I'll hold them back. Now get the hell out of here. Go. Go!" Stiles huffed in frustration, but listened anyway. He hopped down onto the tracks and ran down the tunnel, flinching back in surprise when a light shone in front of him. He squinted past the brightness, finding a rift in front of him like the one he had seen the riders go through, but he knew this one was different. This one was safe and just for him.

"I'm here..." Steeling himself he started to walk forward, pushing against the winds coming from the rift. "I remember you... I remember!" He reached a hand out towards the light. "Stiles, keep going. I can see you, Stiles, keep going!" He closed his eyes as he made the final push.

Y/n held her hand out towards the light as it dimmed and disappeared. "Stiles?" Her arm dropped as she looked down the tunnel in confusion. It was just as empty as when they started.

"Y/n." Scott called.

"Where is he?" She turned to her friends. "You saw him, right? It was- it was working."

"We saw the light," Lydia admitted, "but we didn't see him."

"He was here. Stiles was here, I know it." She looked back down the tunnel. "I don't understand..." Lydia stepped forward and took Y/n by the hand, gently leading her back into the room with Malia doing the same by putting a hand on her shoulder.

Scott followed, going to close the door when Liam suddenly appeared, stopping it with his hand. "Liam." Scott looked at his Beta in surprise.

"There's something you need to see."

"You're still here."

"But everyone else is gone. All of them. They're all gone. You have to come with me."

"What is it?"

"I- I can't explain it. I have to show you."

Scott turned towards the girls. "Uh, all right. You guys stay here. Just in case."

"In case Stiles comes back?" Malia asked.

"If there's any hope, you need to keep trying." Scott left, closing the door behind him.

Y/n lasted all of five minutes pacing before she was heading for the door. "What are you doing?" Lydia wondered.

"I'm gonna go find Stiles."

"Not without me, you're not." Malia said as she moved to stand with her.

"Scott told us to stay in case he shows up here." Lydia reminded.

"He's not gonna come here." Y/n shook her head.

"If he was, he would've, and he hasn't, so he's not." Malia pointed out.

"I was thinking, what if he came out where he was taken?"

"You think he's at the school?" Lydia asked.

"I don't know, maybe. All I know is that he's out there somewhere and I can't just sit here and wait for him to find me."

"All right." Lydia nodded, stepping closer to her friends. "Then let's go find him." Y/n gave them a smile. The three left the bunker, Malia closing the door behind them before they went out into the empty town to find their lost friend.

...

"This is happening everywhere?" Scott asked Liam, eyes set on the train tracks running through the hospital.

"Here, the school, lacrosse field."

"What does this mean?" Scott's question was just an idle thing, he didn't expect Liam to answer, but a new arrival felt obligated to.

"It means..." The wolves turned to face Douglas as he stood on the tracks. "It's working." He smirked.

...

The girls had gone to the school and went to where the Jeep had been left, only there was no Jeep in sight. "This looks fresh." Lydia was crouched down, examining the new skid marks in the pavement.

"It's from Stiles' Jeep. It must have just left." Malia said.

"Without his keys?"

"Half the time he used a screwdriver to get it going." Y/n said as she lightly huffed. "We just missed him."

"We have to tell Scott."

Malia frowned as she looked towards the front of the school. "We should probably tell Scott about that, too." She started walking forwards and the other two followed, soon seeing what had caught her attention. Train tracks cut through the grass, leading through the school itself.

...

Douglas roared at the wolves half shifted, fangs longer than theirs and eyes glowing ghost rider green. Liam and Scott growled back also half shifted. "He can't take both of us?" Liam looked to his Alpha for confidence.

"No way."

"Höllenhund." Douglas called. Growling made the wolves turn to find Parrish there, ready to attack.

"Parrish. Parrish, you don't wanna do this. Stop!" Scott tried to get through to the hellhound as he slowly advanced.

"The train is coming, boys. There's no stopping the Wild Hunt." Douglas claimed as he also began to walk forward, the two of them closing in on the wolves. "You'll make a fine ghost rider, Scott. And I'll have a True Alpha by my side."

"Parrish! Stop!" The hellhound growled in response.

"And then a banshee, a werecoyote, a witch..."

"A Stiles?"

"A what?" Douglas turned to the side just as Stiles appeared, clocking him in the back of the head with his trusty aluminium bat and making him drop to the ground.

"Bad guy, right? I didn't misread that?" Douglas growled. "Oh, God!" Stiles jumped away as Douglas got to his feet again. Scott and Liam quickly grabbed Jordan and threw him into the werelion. With a moment of safety Stiles let the bat clatter to the ground as he finally set eyes on his best friend after so long in the Wild Hunt. "Oh!" Stiles sighed in relief as he and Scott hugged each other. Scott chuckled as they held each other. "Oh, man! Oh, it's so good to see you."

"Hey, hey, hey! Uh-" Liam tried getting their attention.

"Liam! It's so good to see you too!" He jumped from the Alpha to the Beta.

"Yeah, no, hey! Great to see you, Stiles. But, uh..." Liam hurriedly pointed behind Stiles, drawing attention to the men who had now recovered.

"Okay. Yeah, we should go. Go. Go, go." The three ran while Jordan roared and sent a plume of fire their way.

...

The girls had followed the tracks through the school, having to go around the building when it went through the walls. They eventually came to the library and walked in when it didn't look quite right. Inside they found most of the bookshelves had gone missing, replaced with the furniture of a train station and a handful of Beacon Hills' taken. "Why is there a train station in the middle of the library?" Malia asked.

"Probably because there's a train station in the Wild Hunt?" Y/n offered.

"Any chance they're connected?"

"I would say high. Like 100%." Lydia said as she walked into the room, Malia and Y/n following as they looked around at everyone.

"If there's a train station, then there's probably a train."

"And if there's a train..." Y/n trailed off.

"It's going to the Wild Hunt." Lydia finished.

"They're all gonna be taken." Malia realized.

"They can't get on that train."

"Um..." Malia moved her hair from her face as she tried to think of a solution. "Okay. Listen up, everybody. We've all got to get out of here. We gotta go right now." She spoke loudly to get everyone's attention, but it seemed as if no one even heard her. "It's bad, we have to go!" Still no one budged.

"Hello?" Lydia shouted and snapped into a woman's face. Nothing.

"Uh, hello? Sir?" Malia waved her hand and snapped her fingers in his face.

"Guys, this isn't gonna work." Y/n called. "It's like they're all in a trance or something."

"How do we get them to leave if they can't hear us?"

"My guess? It's like trying to open the rift. They need a connection to wake them up, but we don't even know anyone in here!" Y/n threw her arms up in exasperation.

Lydia's eyes scanned their faces, trying to think, when she spotted a familiar figure. "Maybe we do know someone." The sisters frowned in confusion before moving to see who Lydia was looking at. Sitting contentedly on a bench and reading a newspaper was Peter Hale himself.

...

The boys ran through the hospital, Stiles leading the way as they try to get away from the hellhound coming after them. Stiles suddenly ducked into a room while Liam and Scott wait in the hall and wonder what he's doing. "Can't believe I'm gone a couple days, the whole place falls apart."

"No, you were gone for three months." Scott corrected.

"I was- what?" Stiles gawked at Scott as he stopped in the hall, the McCall only able to nod. "Okay, if they don't let me graduate, I swear to God..." He went into the opposite room.

"What are you looking for?" Liam asked.

"Ah! This." He came out with his prize, a large tank of liquid nitrogen. "And him." He looked up at the flame-covered Jordan who was rushing down the hall towards them. "Grab him." He nodded his head towards Jordan while he fiddled with the knobs. They didn't move. "Grab him now." They finally jumped into action, grabbing hold of Jordan and pushing him against the wall while Stiles pointed the nozzle at him and sprayed. The hellhound's fire was swiftly put out as he slid down the wall.

"God, ow!" Liam was patting himself down as he slightly freaked out.

"Liam, you're fine."

"God, that doesn't feel good. You know?" Liam lightly whined.

"Stiles?" A breathless Jordan looked up at the teen. "What are you doing here?"

"Buddy, love you, but we're way past that, okay? You gotta fill us in. What's going on?"

"Douglas..." Scott and Liam helped him stand up. "He's merging the worlds so the ghost riders can cross over."

"Yeah, he wants a supernatural army in our world." Liam said, remembering what he had learned from Theo.

"How do we stop him?" Scott asked.

"The train. It's coming." Jordan looked to the destination board that was now on the wall above the nurses station.

"Okay, and how do we stop that?"

"You can't stop it. But you can divert it."

Jordan had told them about a place where they could divert the tracks, thus diverting the train. This sent them to the highscool where they could follow the tracks to find the diverter. "How the hell do you 'merge worlds'?" Stiles grumbled as they stepped onto the tracks. "Okay, nowhere in the manual does it say that werewolves can do that. And Y/n, Scott and I pretty much wrote the manual."

"We can't even move between them. Look what it took to break you out." Scott added.

"We can't move between worlds. But Corey can." Liam pointed out, the other two stopping to look at him. "He can exist in both worlds."

"And he can take people with him."

"Yeah. At Scott's house, he pulled a ghost rider into our world."

"At the lacrosse game he brought us into theirs."

"What if that's how Douglas is doing it? What if Corey's the key?"

"Interesting theory, okay? Solid logic." Stiles agreed. "It is, but he's in there and we're out here. So the only way to save everyone now is to just divert the train."

"We have to find him."

"How?"

"I'm going into the Hunt."

"No, no, no. Liam, I think you're confused, we're trying to get people out of the Hunt."

"He can get taken by a ghost rider." Scott offered.

"It's just, that's not a pleasant option. I'm just speaking from experience."

Liam had spotted hoof prints in the grass, still smoldering with green smoke from a ghost riders' arrival. "Wai- I- I don't need to get taken to get into the Hunt." Liam smiled as an idea formed in his mind.

"Okay. Seems like you got an idea, let's discu-" Liam suddenly took off. "Where are you going?"

"I'll be back!" Liam yelled as he disappeared in the distance.

"Were we like that?" He looked to Scott.

"Worse." Stiles sighed while Scott looked around. "Parrish said to follow the tracks."

"Yeah, well... Those lead into the woods. This way back into school."

"You wanna split up?"

"Never again." Stiles pat his shoulder as they moved towards the woods.

"Thank God."

...

"PETER!" Malia shouted and waved in the wolf's face, but he continued to read the paper as if it was any other Tuesday.

"Malia." Lydia called.

"What?" She snapped her fingers at him.

"The only way we were able to break through the Hunt is with an emotional connection."

"Damn." She sighed. "Wish I could help." Lydia gave her and Y/n a pointed look. "I'm not saying it. I'm not saying it."

"Lydia, I don't know if I'm ready to acknowledge him like... That." Y/n said, gnawing on the inside of her cheek as she suddenly became uncomfortable. Yes, she has remarkably found some of those special moments her mother had always talked about, but was it really enough?

"Okay," Lydia turned away from them and shrugged, "well, I guess everyone dies."

Malia let out a low growl while Y/n scoffed. "That's a low blow." The sisters glanced between each other and the man before them. "Let's just get it over with." Y/n muttered.

Lydia smiled to herself in triumph as she turned back around, watching as the girls attempted to wake Peter.

"Dad. Dad."

"Father, wake up." Y/n nudged his leg with the toe of her shoe.

"Y/n." Lydia called in disapproval, the witch shrugging as if to say What? "Say it like you mean it."

Malia frowned as she crouched down to look up at him. After taking a breath she softened her tone. "Dad. Please wake up."

"Well, shit." Y/n quietly sighed. If Malia could do it, then she could too she guessed. Y/n kneeled down next to her sister, tentatively placing her hand on his as she looked up at him. "We need you, Dad. Please. Wake up." Their voices seemed to echo around Peter as he picked his head up and let the paper fall from his grip. The sisters looked to each other in surprised relief, standing and taking a step back as their father rose to his feet. His eyes found his daughters looking at him hopefully, and his lips pulled up into a faint smile at the sight of them.

...

Scott and Stiles had finally come upon the lever that would divert the train, but instead of going right to it, Scott pulled them both behind a pair of trees. "Why're we stopping?" Stiles asked.

"It's there." He pointed to the lever. "It can't be this easy."

"Yes, it can, Scott. It can be this easy. For once, let's do easy." Stiles moved forward between the trees.

"Okay." Scott sighed as he followed.

Stiles smiled as he reached for the lever only for his wrist to be caught by a whip. "Oh, God." He was yanked back by Douglas, groaning as he landed roughly on his back. "Or not." Douglas pulled the whip making Stiles disappear in green smoke. Scott looked up with wide eyes as Douglas pointed a ghost rider's gun at him and fired, making him vanish as well. Stiles was thrown against a set of lockers after being ejected from the mini rift that had taken him. He grunted from the impact, propping himself up on his elbow as he looked around, finding himself in the girls' locker room. "Nope, not easy at all."

...

"Attention, all passengers. The train will be arriving in 12 minutes." A voice announced from the PA system.

Everyone stood up from their seats and started to move towards a tunnel entrance while Peter looked around at them. "Me? You want me to stop them? You know how many there are?"

"Yeah. A lot of them. So get going." Malia grabbed him by the arm and urged him towards the crowd.

"There are hundreds of waiting rooms in this train station which apparently now also serves as a high school library. It's impossible."

"It might be impossible," Y/n started as they pushed their way to the front of the crowd, "but we can try. We can always try."

"Exactly." Malia agreed.

"Where do you both get this implausible optimism?"

"Definitely not from our father."

"I have great friends." Y/n said.

"We don't have time for this." Lydia cut in, looking to her friends. "We need someone to just hear us."

"I think we already did." Peter mused spotting the ghost rider blocking their path into the tunnel.

...

Scott was dumped into a stairwell of the school, quickly getting to his feet and looking around to get his bearings. "Stiles?" He called as he went down the steps. They both jumped when Scott turned a corner and he and Stiles nearly ran into each other. "Are you okay?"

"I think so. I finally saw the girls' locker room. It's not that different. It's kind of disappointing."

"What just happened?" Scott asked as they headed for the doors.

"I don't know. I think the worlds- I think they're collapsing in on each other."

"Attention all passengers. The train will be arriving in 11 minutes."

"We gotta get back to the diverter." Scott said.

"Yeah." When they went through the doors they were separated and transported once again.

...

Malia roared, eyes glowing, fangs and claws primed to attack when Lydia suddenly stepped in front of her. "Get behind me. They won't take a banshee."

"You sure about that?" Peter asked as he moved to stand in front of the girls. The rider whipped Peter who in turn tried to slash at him with his claws. His attacks phased right through the rider as if the spectre was no more than a mirage. Peter gave a weak chuckle. People screamed in fear, using the rider's preoccupation as the chance to skate by them and get away.

"Get out of here!" Y/n yelled, pulling Peter by his shirt and making him stumble towards the girls while she tried to hold the rider back with her magic. Lydia and Malia turned to run, but another rider blocked their path. He swung his whip and Malia pushed Lydia out of the way, taking the hit instead. She cried out in pain while holding her bicep. Y/n looked back at her sister at the sound, leaving her open for the rider to whip her chest. She fell back from the impact with a pained cry of her own.

"Y/n, Malia!" Peter looked at them in alarm. He picked Y/n up and pushed her towards the girls and then handed the sisters towards the banshee. "Lydia." She helped them move away as best as she could.

Y/n looked back at Peter. "What are you doing?" He ignored her question, instead glaring at the riders. He went for the one on the left first, using a bench to propel himself up so he could kick the rider in the chest. His feet made contact and the rider fell back.

"He did it." Malia smiled in relief.

Peter went to claw at the fallen rider, only to be pushed back by his foot. He quickly got back to his feet, catching a rider before he could swing his whip and threw him into the other one. The rider deflected the first, advanced on Peter and swung his fist. Peter ducked, kneed the rider in the stomach and caught him around the neck, holding him from behind. After a moments struggle the rider managed to flip Peter over his shoulder. The wolf tried to recover from the impact, but the second rider came and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He lifted him up and shoved him against a support beam, holding him in place by his neck. Peter looked over to his daughters, struggling to breathe through the iron grip. "Girls, go!"

As they went to run, the rider holding Peter was suddenly hit with a chair. The rider fell over and Peter was dropped to the ground, left to catch his breath while the girls watched their new defender with wide eyes. M/n picked up a long piece of wood that had broken off of the chair she had used, tested it's weight for a moment before she set her eyes on the rider who was pulling out his whip. "Hands off." She warned with a glare. The rider swung the whip and she used the stick to block it from hitting her, letting it wrap around her makeshift weapon. She grabbed the cord with her other hand and quickly yanked, the sudden action making the rider stumble forward. She smacked him over the head with the stick sending him to his knees. Then she took the whip, wrapped it around his neck and twisted it with the stick. The rider struggled against her grip, trying to pull the whip off, but she only made it tighter. Her eyes flashed and she jerked against the deadly tourniquet, using the small bit of magic she still possessed after coming back to give the action more power and snap the riders neck.

She let his body fall to the ground with a thud while the second rider began to get up. She quickly unwrapped the stick while the rider reached for his gun. Eyes flashing once more, she threw the stick as hard as she could, her sliver of magic giving it just a bit more drive as it sunk splinter-end into the rider's eye. The rider fell to the ground and she stood there for a moment, breathing heavily from the fight. "Holy shit." M/n looked over at the girls to see Y/n grinning in amazement. "That was awesome!" Y/n exclaimed.

"Are you girls alright?" She hurried over, checking them over to make sure they weren't too injured.

"Yeah, we're fine." Y/n nodded, still in awe.

"You killed them." Malia pointed out in confusion.

"How did you do that?" Lydia wondered.

M/n brushed it off with an easy going smile. "It was nothing. Some skill and the element of surprise can win you almost any fight."

"M/n?" The woman froze at the man's voice.

She swallowed her nerves and made herself turn to Peter. "Peter..." The name came out almost as a sigh. In a few long strides he's suddenly in front of her, hands holding her head as he smashes his lips to hers. Years of longing, of missing, of loving, all translated in a rushed and desperate kiss.

"I don't understand." He breathed in confusion when he could finally pull himself to look in her eyes. "I- I thought you were..." He trailed off, unable to bring himself to say the word dead.

"I am."

"How are you here?"

"My daughter needed me."

"Because of Stiles."

She nods. "There's so much to say, but there's not enough time. I just... I need you to know that I never wanted to leave you. I just had to keep her safe. But I can't do that anymore. Peter, you have to be there for her now."

"I've done things, M/n. I'm not the same man you knew. I don't think I can ever go back."

"I know, and I'm not saying go back. I'm saying move forward. You need to be a better man for them, for your daughters. Be the man I know you are inside."

"M/n-"

"Just try. For me, just try." Peter didn't say anything, but his head tilted in an almost imperceptible nod, and M/n smiled before she kissed him again.

"Wow. I never knew Peter could look that... Soft." Malia commented with a head tilt. They pulled apart and Peter leveled an unimpressed look at his daughter while the other three chuckled.

"Well, that's the thing about love, I guess. It can soften even the roughest of people." Lydia said with a smile.

Y/n watched with a little smile of her own as Peter rolled his eyes while M/n looked up at him with such a loving expression, and she idly wondered if that's how she looked when she looked at Stiles. Almost as if he had been summoned by her thoughts she suddenly felt Stiles' pull on her heart. She let out a small gasp of surprise from the suddeness of it, of how close he was. The others had looked to her in concern, but as soon as she saw the look on the young witch's face, M/n knew what was happening.

"He's here?" She asked. Y/n's eyes flicked up to her own, and she nodded. "Then you need to go."

"But... What about you?"

"I'll be alright. I've done what I needed with my extra time. It's time to get back what you need."

Y/n frowned as she stepped forward and the witches embraced. "I need you, too."

M/n huffed a small laugh. "I will always be with you." She whispered in her hair before she pressed a kiss to her head. She lightly pushed Y/n back by her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze. "I love you so much, sweetheart."

Y/n swallowed down her tears and smiled at her mother. "I love you too, mom."

"Now, go get your heart back." Y/n nodded, hugging her mother one more time before she turned and started to run out of the library, and into the school.

...

Stiles is thrown from the mini rift into the lockers once again, groaning as he lands heavily on the ground. "Damn it!" He grunts as he pushes himself to his feet and heads to the door. As soon as he opens it he quickly blocks the arm of the rider holding a gun to his face, flinching as it goes off over his shoulder. He struggles to keep the riders arm down, but the rider easily pushes him off. "Scott, I can't fight this guy." He yells, trying to get his friend's attention. The rider fires again and Stiles ducks to the side. The rider follows and points the gun directly at Stiles' head. Seeing no way out Stiles lets out a breath and closes his eyes, accepting whatever fate lay before him.

He flinches as the gun goes off, yet he's unharmed. When he opens his eyes he sees none other than Y/n there between him and the rider, having pushed his arm up to redirect the gun. Y/n's eyes glow with a dangerous light as she glares up at the rider. Stiles sees her hand twitch and a locker door opens behind the rider. She then shoves her hands against the rider's chest, using her magic to send him flying across the room. He is shoved inside the locker, unable to move against her influence. The door slams closed and then Y/n holds up her hand, slowly curling it into a fist. The metal groans as it's crushed down around the rider until it looks more like crumpled tin foil than a locker.

Stiles watched as her arm dropped to her side and she slowly turned to face him, eyes dimming to their pretty e/c. Their eyes had only met for a moment, just long enough for him to see the shine of unshed tears before he grabbed her wrist, pulling her forward to hold her against him and kiss her. She melted against him, sighing in relief at the feeling. She had been so cold inside and for the longest time she didn't even know why. But now, now there was a warmth spreading through her ribs, like flowers blooming in the spring. It felt so nice and so right. For the first time in a while she felt like everything would be okay again.

They pulled apart just enough to look at each other, breaths heaving from the long overdue reunion. Her eyes flitted between his while his roamed her features, noticing how her hair was a little longer, and the darkened circles under her eyes from not sleeping well. When Scott had told him he'd been gone for three months he almost didn't believe it, to him it had felt like a handful of days. But looking at her he could almost see it, how his absence had affected her even when she hadn't realized. Yet she was still as beautiful as the last time he saw her, possibly even more so since he had missed her so much.

"I love you." Her words sounded like a quiet confession that she had never stopped, like a promise that she always will.

His lips turned up into a soft smile. "I know." Her heart clenched, almost unable to stand his adoring gaze after so long of being without it. She pressed her face into his chest as they held each other for a little while, taking a few selfish moments to be alone with their reunion before they had to pull apart and deal with the current crisis.

When they felt they had spent as much time as they could spare Stiles told her about the diverter in the woods, how they had to pull the lever to redirect in incoming ghost train, and how he and Scott got separated. They then took off through the school, still holding hands, refusing to let go. Stiles headed for the doors and hoped this time he wouldn't get teleported and thrown into a locker again.

"Stiles." A voice called just before they opened the doors, and Stiles froze at the familiarity of it. "Stiles, is that you?"

"Mom?" He looked down the seemingly empty hall.

"Stiles, that's not her." Y/n gently spoke, understanding what it's like to hear the voice of a mother lost to her.

"No, it is. I know her voice." He insisted as he started to walk down the hall with Y/n trailing behind him.

"It may sound like her but it's not really your mother. Stiles, please, you have to listen. She's an empty phantom, she's not really back."

Stiles paused, looking back at her in confusion. "What do you mean, 'not really back'?"

"Stiles." Claudia walked through the open doors at the end of the hall, illuminated by the light filtering in from the windows in the open classrooms. "I know what you've been through. I know how much you love your father." She smiled. She fell into shadow for a moment, and when she came out the other side she was transformed, skin looking more like a ghost rider than a human, and black eyes. "But I love him more." Her voice was distorted when she spoke. "Even from the Hunt, you somehow wormed your way back into his memory."

"Yeah, worming is one of my skills."

"Stiles, your dad conjured her to fill the void you left behind, but now that thing has being corrupted by the riders. He can't believe in her now that he remembers you."

"That's why you have to go." Claudia stepped forward to attack, but Y/n blocked her path. Her eyes shone as her hand lit in violet tinted flames, only for Claudia to catch her wrist. Stiles jumped forward to pry Claudia's hand off of Y/n. Claudia swiftly backhanded Y/n who fell to the ground with a grunt when her forehead hit the tile. Claudia then grabbed Stiles by the throat. "You shouldn't treat your mother that way."

"You're not my mother." He strained. She pushed him back into a wall, tightening her grip on his windpipe.

"He believes in me. Dreams. So hard to kill."

"But not impossible." Noah came around the corner and shot at the phantom, but it did nothing to her.

"Noah, your bullets can't hurt me."

Suddenly a glowing purpe band of energy wrapped around Claudia's neck and waist before she was thrown back, forced to release Stiles who coughed to get air back into his lungs. "What about magic?" Y/n asked. She had pushed herself back to her feet, ignoring the throb in her head and the slight dizziness as she moved closer to Stiles and stared down at Claudia.

Claudia had picked herself back up, glaring at the witch and going to lunge forward, only for M/n to appear and grab her from behind. "Enough!" M/n gritted out against the struggling woman.

"Mom." Y/n breathed. Stiles looked up in surprise, eyes darting between Y/n and M/n.

M/n smiled at her daughter and the boy she had stood in front of so protectively. Stiles moved to stand next to Y/n, taking her hand in his while they watched the older witch. M/n was glad that Y/n had gotten him back. M/n's gaze went to the window behind them, and her smile got wider when she saw three crows fly by. "Claudia, it's time for us to let go." Claudia growled in anger while M/n nodded at Noah. "Fire again, Sheriff." Her eyes shifted as he raised the gun and fired, using the last of her magic to make it strong enough to kill phantoms. The bullet hit its mark, and the women dissolved in green and purple smoke.

The building suddenly began to shake, lights flashing as the three tried to stay upright. Y/n's eyes widened when she heard a distant roar and the chittering of ghost riders. "They did it." She said as the rumbling stopped. She turned to the window, looking up at the dark, cloud covered sky. "Look." Noah and Stiles stood by her, and the three watched as the clouds swiftly drifted away, taking the Wild Hunt and the memories of the terrible event along with them.

...

The school bell rung and the students of Beacon Hills High were quick to gather their belongings and rush out of their classes. "Have a great summer, everyone!" The teacher called.

"No." Stiles looked around in disbelief.

"To the seniors, I'll see you at graduation."

"No, no, no." He whined while Scott turned and excitedly tapped his hands on Lydia's desk while she smiled. Y/n whooped in excitement while she gave Malia a high five. "That's it? What?"

"Last day ever." Scott beamed.

"Well, it just feels so anti-climactic."

"Well, there's the whole graduation thing." Lydia offered.

"I've got to go to summer school, or I can't do the whole graduation thing." Malia reminded.

"Just get me out of this hormonal hell hole." Y/n jokingly pleaded.

Scott pointed at the sisters. "Let's do it."

"Hell yeah."

"No. Come on, wait..." Stiles moaned as the four grabbed their things. "Guys." They left the room with smiles. "This can't be it." He frowned. Then the lights turned off. Y/n came back into the room with a chuckle and stood by his desk.

"Come on, darling. We've got our whole lives to have more satisfactory endings." She smiled as she held her hand out to him, he took it with a smile of his own. He let her pull him up while he grabbed his bag and they walked out of their last class together.

They split up to go to their lockers, and Scott smiled while he and Stiles emptied theirs out. "I can't believe we're not in high school anymore. Kind of feels like nothing's really changed."

Stiles looked over when he heard laughter, seeing Y/n and Lydia as they empty their things as well. Feeling his gaze Y/n turned to the boys. She grinned before blowing him a kiss. "Some things changed." Stiles grinned back as he and Scott closed their lockers.

Y/n watched them leave, unable to wipe the happiness off of her face. Lydia closed her locker, turning to Y/n with an expectant look, only to find the girl still gazing where Stiles was heading to. She rolled her eyes with a fond smile as she elected to help her friend finish emptying her locker. Lydia had grabbed the few school books left inside, but there was an extra one tucked into the back of locker. Pursing her lips in curiosity she reached in and pulled out the small leather journal. "What's this?"

"What's what?" Y/n's attention was pulled back and she turned her head to find Lydia holding her school books and a familiar looking purple journal. "Let me see that." Lydia handed over the journal, and Y/n traced her fingers over the debossed images of a tree and birds. "This... This looks just like my mom's old grimoire."

"I thought you had burned it?"

"I did. I don't understand..." Y/n trailed off as she unwrapped the brown leather cord and opened the journal to the first page where she found her mother's familiar script.

Y/n,
I wasn't sure how much more time we would have together, or if we'd have another chance to talk like we did, and there's so much I want to tell you. I had an idea to resolve it, though. What better way to share my story than with a journal? And I know it looks like my grimoire, but I remember how fond you used to be of the design. I thought this time you'd like to be able to keep it. I know how hard it must have been to burn it when it was time, I had to do the same thing for my own mother.
I've written everything I could think of, from when I was a kid to when I was raising you. I wanted to tell you so much, and I knew you would have questions. I hope it's enough, that it answers any question you might have of where you came from. I do have a favor to ask of you, though. I wrote a letter for Peter, trying to explain properly what had happened back then, and why I left. Could you give it to him for me? I don't know if we'll get a chance to meet again, or to talk at all, so this is the next best thing.
I don't think there's much time left now. You've gone to find the rift with your coven, and I have a feeling that the end of my time is coming soon. I'm so proud of you, my little blessing. Proud of the young woman you're becoming, proud of the family that you have found, proud that you found someone who loves as deeply as you. I may not have met your Stiles, but even I can feel the love you have for each other. Never let it go, my dear. Your love is your strength and your light, it will never steer you wrong. Remember, no matter what, I will always be with you. I love you so much.
Love always,
Mom

Y/n quietly sniffled, wiping away a stray tear with a smile as she held the journal close. "Y/n? What is it?"

"It's a gift from my mom. It's her story."

"Aw." Lydia softly cooed, knowing how much something like that meant to her best friend. Lydia wrapped her free arm around Y/n and she leaned into her half hug. "Are you okay?" She asked as she rubbed her shoulder.

Y/n nodded. "Yeah." And she was. Of course the pain of losing her mom would never go away, but the extra time she got and the journal worked wonders in easing the sting a bit. Y/n wiped her eyes again and straightened up, carefully tucking the new journal into her bag. "Alright, alright, enough with the tears. I've got some books to burn." Lydia frowned in confusion, only for it to melt into a look of shock when Y/n took her school books from Lydia, grinning wickedly before she took off down the hall.

"DO NOT BURN THOSE!" Lydia yelled as she chased after the cackling arson happy witch.

...

Scott and Stiles had gone to meet up with Liam and Mason at the Jeep. Stiles does some last adjustments under the hood then lets it slam shut when he's done. He pats the hood with a sigh before moving around to the back. "Okay. So, Liam, since you're the new Alpha-"

"I'm not an Alpha."

"Right, but, you know, Alpha-in-training."

"Well, I'd have to kill an Alpha."

"Liam, since you're taking over, the most important thing you can remember is that Mason is always gonna be the one who's there to save your ass all the time."

"Well, not all the time." Scott denied.

"Most of the time, though, which is why," Stiles reached into the open liftgate of the Jeep and pulled out the beloved aluminium bat, "I think you're gonna need this."

"Oh, I don't play baseball." Mason refused with a smile.

"Right, neither do I. It's not the point."

"Okay."

"Here you go."

"Thanks." Mason took the bat.

Liam gave a small wave as he and Mason turned to leave. "Love you guys. Alright." Stiles reaches into the Jeep again and pulls out a roll of duck tape. "I leave you with this." He hands it to Scott. "You know, hurt her, and I'll kill you."

"You sure you won't need it?" Scott asked.

"It's okay. Lydia's gonna give me and Y/n a drive down to DC. Y/n wants to help move me into my dorm and Lydia offered to help, so..." He nods. "You know Lydia's starting MIT as a junior? How do you even do that?"

"I- she's a genius. Did Y/n ever figure out where she was going?"

"She's really interested in the Rhode Island School of Design, but she said she wanted to take a year off first. Real question is how'd you get into UC Davis?"

Scott chuckles. "How did you get into George Washington?"

"I don't know. Uh, your dad. The, uh, big FBI pops made a call to the little pre-FBI program, and..." Stiles shrugs.

"Pre-FBI." Scott lightly shakes his head. "Well, I guess we're not the same kids running around the woods, looking for a body."

"No, we're not." Stiles pulls a small bundle of keys from his pocket.

"You know, you can keep the Jeep."

"No, I want you to have it." He hands Scott the keys.

Scott frowns in confusion at them. "Stiles, these aren't the keys to the Jeep."

"Well, it's one to your house, another to your room. Uh, it's the master key to the school, animal clinic, key to the sheriff's station. Just figured you should have all the copies I secretly made, so..." Stiles then pulls out the keys to the Jeep with the little green bottle opener. He looks at the students milling about over Scott's shoulder. "They still need us."

Scott looks over. "They'll always need us."

"And, you know, I need you. You know that."

"I need you, too."

"I'm gonna miss you."

"No, really, I need you though, uh... I lost my license in the Hunt, so you have to drive."

Scott laughs. "Your dad is the Sheriff. I'm sure he'll let it slide. You drive." Scott tosses the tape into the Jeep and closes the back before they move to open the doors.

"Hey, wait up for me!" They turn to see Y/n jogging up to them. She practically jumps Stiles when she gets close enough, and he easily caught her, smiling into the kiss she smothered him with. She hummed against him when her feet touched the ground again. "Mm. You weren't thinking of leaving me behind, were you?"

Stiles shook his head as he looked at her, pushing a stray hair from her face. "Never."

"Good, because you're stuck with me forever, Stilinski."

"I can definitely live with that." She chuckled as she pulled away, and the three climbed into the Jeep together.

As soon as Stiles turned on the car the police radio turns on, Noah's voice coming over the speaker. "Unit four, repeat. You're telling me there's a body in the woods?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." A deputy responds. "There's a body in the-" Stiles switches off the radio and gives the two a look of interest. Scott shrugged with tilt of his head while Y/n rolled her eyes in exasperation, but she couldn't fight the smile. Stiles pulled out of the school parking lot and turned down the road, heading for their next big adventure.

"Y/n, why do you smell like smoke?" Scott suddenly asked.

"Don't worry about it, Scotty. You need to retain plausible deniability."

"You know, I still can't believe you guys dated for the three months I was gone."

"Stiles, we already told you. They were false memories, none of it was real."

"But you thought it was. For three months."

"Oh, my God."

~~~
Published: 5/17/23

I cannot believe it. We're actually at the end of the story 😭 there's still the Q&A left to do and an afterword, but I'm gonna miss you guys so much! This has been such an amazing experience, and I'm so happy I had you all to enjoy it with 💜💙🖤