"I have a history of disregarding orders."

So many asks about Suddenly Engaged lol😅 you people really want an update I gather, huh?😂 I see what I can do and hopefully speed the process up. But I don't want to rush because then I'll most likely won't like the outcome and if I don't like how it turned out I'll be really insecure to post it... so hopefully this doesn't happen!

Hey, anon, thanks for checking in my ask box!

Series Masterlist 

Title: Chapter 3: Building Trust

Word Count: 3.8k

Stiles sat in his blue jeep, watching her enter the familiar bakery. For days now, he has been following her around, figuring out what she did during the day and piecing together a routine. Every day she would come to this same bakery at approximately the same time in the morning. Until now, Stiles had been hesitant to approach her, for obvious reasons. But this morning, he tried giving himself a pep talk that now was the right time and it didn’t make sense to wait any longer. Well, this... and because Morris had called him last night and informed him that someone would be showing up some time this week and ask for a status update. These kinds of information were too sensitive as to talk about them over the phone. Even though they were sure the line was secure.  

In his peripheral vision Stiles could see the familiar dark blonde strands of hair approaching the building. Now or never, he thought and with that he yanked the car door open and hurried across the street.  

Series Masterlist 

Title: Chapter 2: Home Again

Author’s Note: Thanks for the positive feeback guys! I don’t really have an uploading schedule for this story. I’ll just post whenever a chapter is done (which I hope won’t ever take too long) 

Word Count: 4,8k

Song: Last Time I Saw U (I just listened to that song a lot while writing and if you listen closely you can hear rain and thunder in the background)  

The drive down from the airport was silent. Although, the cab driver initially listened to music, Stiles politely asked him to turn it down. He wasn’t in the mood for cheery beats.  

The plane had landed around noon, but until he got his luggage and got into the cab, the sun had already dropped below the horizon. It’s been well over a year since he’s been home and he didn’t like the circumstances that brought him back this time around. He didn’t call his father beforehand, wanting to surprise him, hoping that he would buy his lie. Though, he wasn’t too worried about that. It was probably not the best thing to be able to brag about, but Stiles knew he was a good liar.  

Halfway down the road, it started to rain. Rain drops pouring out of the sky, hitting the windows and filling the silence upon impact. Once in a while the sky was illuminated by a blue flash of lightning which was followed by the loud rumbling of thunder. Fitting, Stiles thought, thinking once again about the mission ahead. Was this a sign? In that moment it felt like the world was about to face its end and make way for something much more horrifying. He would find out soon enough how right that ominous premonition would turn out to be.  

The car came to a stop, headlights illuminating the driveway. His blue jeep still stood where he remembered he last left it, but the cop car wasn’t there. Stiles sighed, grabbed his backpack off the seat next to him and opened the door. The driver got out with him, walked around the car and opened the trunk so Stiles could get his duffle bag out.  

“Thanks, man.” Stiles put the bag on the wet sidewalk. He reached in his back pocket to get his wallet out. “Keep the change.”  

The driver thanked Stiles with a nod, wished him well and got into the car again to drive off.  

The rain poured down even harder, dancing above Stiles’ head as if it was mocking him, drenching him to the bone. An annoyed groan filled the night as he grabbed his bag and made his way towards the porch. He sat down on the stairs, waiting for his dad to arrive, though, he knew where the spare key was. He didn’t really feel like ‘invading’ his home just yet. Once he sat foot into the building, his mission was on and there would be no turning back.  

Stiles fished for his phone which was buried somewhere in his backpack. The screen illuminated his features, sending off a light blue shimmer through the darkness. Briefly his finger hovered over the call button, wondering if he should call his father, asking him what he was doing. Obviously, he was still at work, but if he had the night shift, Stiles would have to wait the whole night for him to come home. Stiles closed his phone again. No, he didn’t want to call his dad. He didn’t really want to talk to him at all, because that meant lying to him. Lying about his intentions, lying about work and lying about his whole life in general. And though, Stiles did feel confident in his lying skills, he didn’t want to lie to his Father. Especially because he was also the most skilled person to see right through him.  

Then what about Scott? Stiles had thought about it during every second of his flight. He tried to come up with a plan that would spare his friends well-being and one that might even safe the girl from her inevitable doom. The FBI most likely had his phone tapped and even if he could get a coded message through to his best friend, what would that do in the end? They’d all have to run for their lives. Moving to a foreign country where the FBI had no authority. But even then, would they be safe? Probably not. Not with a secret like that out in the open. Not without knowing exactly who knew about the things that lurked in the dark.  

This whole thing was a mess and Stiles had too little information to come up with an effective plan to actually do something. Once again, he felt like he was useless and it brought up memories that he’d rather keep burried deep down somewhere in his subconscious. Law enforcement had always been his dream. Since he was a little boy and saw his dad in his uniform. He wanted to grow up and be just like him. This dream got even bigger when everything started going crazy and his best friend was suddenly turned into a werewolf which brought a shit ton of problems with it. In the end though, this was always the thing that made him feel useful in the midst of his supernatural group of friends. His wit and his ability to think on his feet, piecing clues together and making sense of the senseless. That was what he was good at, this was his ‘superpower’ if you will. And then the thing with the Nogitsune happened. Not only didn’t he see it coming, he was used to hurt the people that he loved the most. Thinking about it, he still felt beyond guilty about everything that had happened, although he knew that it wasn’t his fault. This time around, though, he felt it again, probably even worse than before. Being used like this, by something that he dedicated his whole life to, something that should abide by the law and not blackmail him into bringing an innocent girl down to her knees. He was furious. How could they do that to him? To anyone? Why this girl? What did they want? What was their goal?  

Stiles clenched his fists. He wanted to punch something. Yet again, he was nothing but a pawn in a game that he didn’t even know the rules of. There was no one that he could confide in or ask someone for advice. At least during his teenage years he never had to deal with stuff like this alone. There was always at least someone there by his side, helping him through whatever it was at the time. And even though he didn’t know the goal of he game just yet, he knew that he had nothing to win but everything to lose. Either, his friends and family were on the line or he would do everything that’s been asked of him and as a result lose his integrity, a piece of himself. His goal was to protect people and bring the one’s guilty down to justice. With what he had to do, he was abandoning his principals for a cause that he apparently didn’t have the name clearance to be a part of.  

Just a pawn, Stiles thought and shook his head in thought. I’m nothing but a damn pawn. Again.  

***

“Stiles?” A voice woke him up from a dreamless slumber. He bolted upright and nearly fell off the stairs. Luckily his father caught him in time. “What the hell are you doing here? Why are you sleeping on my porch?” His father was clearly confused. “I didn’t know you were coming.” It sounded like an accusation.  

“I wanted to surprise you.” Stiles rubbed the back of his neck. His muscles stiff from the position he had been sleeping in.  

Without saying another word, the sheriff pulled Stiles in for a long and tight hug, grateful that he had his son in his arms again. “Well, call me surprised.” He mumbled in the crook of Stiles’ neck.

For Stiles the embrace made the feeling in his stomach worse. Suddenly he felt trapped and wanted to spill the beans right there, right then. But then he remembered what Agent Morris had told him. The words promptly repeated in his head over and over again like a broken record: ‘Well, you don’t really have a choice, now, do you? I mean, it would be a real shame if your friends suddenly disappeared never to be heard of again, wouldn’t it? Or your father losing his job, maybe being prosecuted for a crime he didn’t commit? Let alone think of what could happen to you’.  

In all honesty, Stiles didn’t really care about the last part. He didn’t give a flying fuck about what could happen to him if he didn’t play by their rules. But, of course, they knew that. They knew virtually everything about him that there was to know. Even more than he ever thought they would. They knew that the only way to make him their little puppet was to threaten his family and friends. Only then, he could be controlled. And, of course, they were right. He wouldn’t put his father at risk, not ever. Nor his friends. Even if that meant losing a part of himself that he would never get back. He simply couldn’t risk that something would happen to them.  

Stiles exhaled deeply, closing his eyes and trying to relish in the feeling of his father’s embrace, trying to see the good in a situation that felt endlessly shitty. He was home again, and for that he was grateful.

***

“You know where everything is.” Noah opened the door and turned the lights on, yawning in the process. “We talk in the morning, kid.”  

Stiles nodded, sending a weak smile his way.  “Good night, dad.”  

The door to Stiles’ room fell shut. Immediately after, the wet duffle bag landed somewhere in a corner and Stiles fell down on his bed, not really caring that he was still in his damp clothes. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep his thoughts from spiraling. It only partially worked. When he opened his eyes again, he looked around his room. Everything still looked exactly the same as when he was just sixteen years old. Barely anything had changed here and to him it felt like a trip back in time. The white board still stood in the corner of his room, a few old case pictures still hanging there. The red, green, yellow and blue yarn were still laying on his bedside table where he had last left them. Pictures of his friends and him hanging on the wall, reminding him of everything they’ve been through and everything they’ve overcome. His eyes eventually landed on a picture that he couldn’t look away from. Allison. Stiles visibly gulped, feeling hot tears burning behind his eyes.  

I can’t be a pawn again… What if someone gets hurt? What if I hurt someone?  

Stiles was able to peel his eyes off the picture, her smile still burned inside his mind, never leaving him completely. Finally he found the strength to get up from his bed in order to change. The duffle bag was wet on the outside, but to his surprise, his clothes somehow managed to stay dry. He rummaged through his things, pulled out some sweatpants and an old shirt.  

Once he was changed, he searched through his backpack for his phone charger, but upon opening it, he immediately regretted it. The brown envelop smiled at him mockingly. It seemed to glow in the light of his nightstand lamp. The red letters looking like they were written in blood. Although, he didn’t want to, he pulled the file out, his fingers moving on their own.  

Until now, he hadn’t had time to look through it. Obviously, he couldn’t pull a classified file out on a commercial flight or in the cab. And back in Morris’ office he only got a quick look at her picture.  

He opened it and was instantly met by the warm smile of a young woman. He put the photograph aside, not wanting to look at it for longer than he had to. Firstly there were a few facts listet:

Name: Y/N Y/L/N

Sex: Female  

Age: 25  

Height: 5’7  

Origin: Not yet determined. Definitely of supernatural descent.  

Stiles skimmed through the rest. They didn’t have a lot of information on her. Only a few facts that he probably could have gathered through a simple social media account. Apparently, she was a journalist, but left her steady job to come to Beacon Hills, but they weren’t sure why or more precisely why now. They didn’t even know what she was, let alone if she herself knew that she was something. This whole mission stank.  

Stiles sighed and took a quick glance at his phone. It was already past 1am and he was tired. This had to wait till morning. Hopefully he could get a good night’s sleep in, so that he could focus on the task at hand and come up with an efficient plan. He shoved the file in the bottom drawer of his nightstand, figuring that this would have to do until he found a better ‘hiding spot’, although he doubted that it was necessary. His dad wouldn’t find it, given that he trusted his adult son enough not to rummage through his things.  

Stiles turned the light out and seemingly immediately fell into a deep black hole, catapulting him into a dreamless sleep.  

***

Stiles was awakened by the smell of bacon and pancakes. When Stiles opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling he was momentarily unsure as to where he was. The smell reaching his nostrils brought him back to reality again, throwing him into early childhood memories.  

“There he is!” Noah cheered as he saw Stiles walking down the stairs. “Slept well?”  

“Yeah, great actually!” This wasn’t even a lie. Though, Stiles had always had problems with insomnia, sleep walking and the occasional sleep paralysis, since he moved away from Beacon Hills things went uphill and weirdly enough, even this night he was out like a light. He could only hope that it would stay that way.  

“That’s good to hear.” The sheriff smiled at his son warmly, obviously also thinking about a time when his son got three hours of sleep a night… at best. “Hope your hungry. Made some pancakes and bacon like in the good old times.” Noah turned off the stove and flipped the pancakes on a plate alongside the bacon and put the plate in front of Stiles.  

“You want syrup?”  

Stiles was already digging in greedily. “Yef, pfleafe.” He said with his mouth full of food. Noah laughed and placed the bottle in front of him. He missed his son.  

“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of you visiting?”  

“Why not? I have vacation days left and thought I’d surprise you… So, surpriiiise.”  

“You could’ve called, though. I wouldn’t have stayed at the station as late if I would’ve known you were coming!”  

“It’s okay, dad. I didn’t mind waiting.”  

The both of them continued eating in silence. When they were finished Noah got up from his seat, took both plates and put them into the sink.  

Noah thought about something, before picking up the conversation again. “I would’ve loved for us to do something today, but I have to go to work in half an hour.” He sounded apologetic.

“Dad, it’s fine.” Stiles internally sighed in relief. This would give him time to follow up on his own mission.  

“You can come over later today, though. An FBI agent might be of good help around here. Especially one who knows more about this town than the rest of my deputies.”  

This peaked Stiles’ interest. “Why? What’s happening?”  

“It’s Beacon Hills, Stiles.” Noah made a dismissiv hand gesture. “There is always something happening.”  

Stiles nodded in agreement. “True. But anything stranger than usual?” Maybe something related to an unknown supernatural creature?

Noah thought about it for a second. “Not really stranger per se… Just as of late, there have been a lot more incidents than usual.”  

“Incidents as in…?”  

“Take a pick: death, murder and people missing… So the usual for Beacon Hills at least.”  

“Glad to see nothing’s changed.” Stiles said jokingly and earned a half-hearted laugh from his father.  

“I’m also glad to see that you haven’t changed a bit, kiddo.” Noah patted Stiles’ back as he passed him to put his shoes on. “Tonight we’re ordering pizza and you’re going to tell me every little detail about what you have been up to, deal?”  

“Deal.”  

***

Stiles sat in his jeep outside an apartment complex, waiting for someone to leave or enter the building, so he could sneak in. Though, of course, it would be easier for him to just pick the lock, he couldn’t risk being seen by anyone. And he bet there were cameras mounted at the entrance.  

He waited and waited and waited. When finally… the door opened. Stiles yanked his car door open, ducked behind a row of cars and made a full sprint to the door, getting his foot in between the doorframe just in time before it fell shut. He looked after the person who had just left, only now getting a good look at her. The woman got into her car and when she pulled out of the parking lot, Stiles recognized her off a picture which was burned into his mind. It was her.  

Well, this worked out better than he could’ve hoped for. This meant her apartment was empty and although it was risky and he knew he shouldn’t do it – not yet at least – this would give him the opportunity to see if he could find some more helpful clues.  

Usually, he’d never be so brazen, especially given that they had too little information on her. He didn’t even know where she was going, let alone when she would get back. Was it just a quick run for errands? Was she going to the gym? Or meeting up with some friends? He didn’t know, which meant he didn’t know how much time he had, and though it was risky, and admittedly stupid, he took his chance, given that he didn’t know when an opportunity like that would present itself again.  

Originally the plan was to get a better look at her surroundings, see if she left the building on certain times and maybe try to gain access to the building and search through her mail.  

People felt the most comfortable in their homes, for obvious reasons. They didn’t feel the need to pretend that they’re someone they’re not, to hide something that no one else should know. So maybe, Stiles hoped, that he could find something that would give him a better idea of what or rather with whom he was dealing with.  

At least, the FBI knew in which apartment she was staying at. 23.  

Stiles took the stairs, putting an effort into looking calm and like he belonged and knew exactly where he was going. Luckily, no one else showed up. Once he reached her apartment door he looked around for more cameras and was positively surprised when he found none. Stiles crouched down a bit and pulled his lock pick out of his jean pocket and got to work on it. It took him less than a minute until he heard the familiar clicking sound.  

His hand rested on the door knob for a little while, feeling his heartbeat increase. Stiles had to admit that he liked the thrill his job gave him. Not one day was like the other and though, it provided tons of emotional stress, this exhilarating feeling was hard to compare to anything else and worth everything that came with it. This time around, it didn’t quite feel the same. He knew in his heart that this was wrong, that he shouldn’t do it. He wasn’t nervous of getting caught. He was nervous because he knew that once he pushed the door open, there was no turning back. This would mark the moment where he crossed the invisible line of his integrity and he knew that once he did it, that was it. But then again… he really didn’t have a choice, did he?  

***

Stiles was down to the third box. Everything was still mainly left in boxes, uncared for in the corner of the room. The drawers didn’t have anything interesting in them and if Stiles was being honest with himself, he knew upon entering the apartment that there was nothing to find here. She hadn’t even really moved in yet and he doubted that anything important to her or anything that could help him understand her better would still be stored in a box. There just wasn’t anything for him to find here. And right now, he wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.  

He put the box where it was before, looked around one last time and was finally ready to leave, when…  

“Oh, shit!”  

Stiles looked around him in a haste, trying to find a hiding spot somewhere as he heard someone inserting a key in the lock. Of course this had been a bad idea. He knew it would be a bad idea and still… he had done it anyways. Bad decisions apparently just a natural part of his human nature.  

The key was turned and the door swung open. In the last possible second Stiles managed to sprint to the bedroom and he threw himself under the bed, panting breathlessly as he felt the adrenaline rushing through his system. Footsteps came closer and closer. He could hear someone open the bedroom door. With his hand he covered his mouth and he tried holding his breath for as long as he possibly could.  

She walked around the room. From his position he could see her feet appear and disappear as she walked around, seemingly aimlessly… as if she was searching for something. Stiles’ breath hitched in his throat as her feet turned to stand directly in front of him. He was sure that this was it, that something had given him away. Any second now, she could look under the bed and everything would be blown. Why had he been so stupid? So reckless?  

Time seemed to slow down, freezing entirely as she didn’t start moving. His heart was pumping so loudly that he was sure it gave him away. But then… She turned around and walked out of the room. An excruciatingly long minute passed as Stiles started hearing the shower being turned on. Now or never, he thought and came up from underneath the bed.  

Before he ran out of the apartment though, he took a quick glance around the room, seeing if anything had changed since she’s gotten there. On the bed laid a single black folder which hadn’t been there before. Stiles was tempted to take it, at least take a quick look at it, but he felt that this was definitely pushing his luck. Either he had to come back another time or had to find a different way to see what was inside of it.  

The shower stopped running and Stiles took off faster than he ever did before.  

***

“Dad, what exactly happened here?” Stiles had followed up on his dad’s offer to come by the sheriff’s station and no kidding… the supernatural creatures of the city had been busy.  

Noah came up behind him and looked down at the file that was sprayed out on the table. “Oh, that…”  

“So?” Though, he had seen some gruesome crime scenes in the last years, this was definitely a top pick. A school bus was laying on its side, dead bodies scattered everywhere, deep flesh wounds littering their skin. All of them were children.  

“Well, officially, that was a tragic accident.” Noah ran his hand down his face, the horrible sight once again visualized before his inner eye. He was one of the first ones to arrive at the scene… It was more atrocious than anything he’s ever witnessed. “Unofficially, I think we can both agree that this,” he pointed at another picture where the face of a young girl was shown, scratched and bruised, “that this was no damn accident.”  

Absentmindedly, Stiles nodded, already trying to put certain clues together. “This couldn’t have been just one werewolf, right?” Stiles looked at his father, but he only shrugged, not really sure of a werwolf’s capabilities. The date on the file and a quick google search on his phone told Stiles everything he needed to know.  “Well, it definitely was a full moon… so that settles that.” The wheels inside Stiles’ head started spinning, trying to make sense of it. The only time he’s ever seen a werewolf lose control like this, was when Ducalion and his pack locked Cora and Boyd into a moon proof chamber for three months. Usually, though driven by anamilistic instincts, killing always served a purpose and this… Stiles gulped as he looked at another picture, showing the insides of a kid splattered next to him on the road… this was just plain cruel. No purpose, no motif, no nothing. It simply didn’t make sense. “I take it that officially no one’s been looking for a suspect, due to it being an ‘accident’.” Stiles drew quotation marks in the air.  

Solemnly, his father nodded. “I gave my best to try and find some clues as to who could’ve done it, but I hadn’t had much luck.”  

What if… What it it was her? Oh my God… No it couldn’t be, right? The FBI had told him that as of now she hadn’t done anything suspicious yet… but then again, how did they even pick her up? What did she do to reveal that she was off supernatural descent? This whole thing got weirder and weirder by the second. “Dad, I’ll look into it some more. This wasn’t an accident and that means… whatever or whoever did this, is still out there.”  

Noah patted Stiles on the back as he left the room, silently thanking and encouraging him.  

One little detail caught his attention after skipping through the file a third time. One that he somehow didn’t notice before and he wasn’t sure whether it was even what it initially reminded him of… At first he thought that maybe they have gathered around the bodies just because that’s what they do, but upon closer inspection he found just ever one of them laying next to one kid, barley noticeable.  

Stiles closed the file abruptly, shudders running down his back, palms suddenly sweaty, breath shorter and head feeling dizzy.  

Flies.  

One fly for one kid.  

Which meant… there might have never been a werewolf to begin with… Maybe they did that to themselves.  

***

This night, Stiles was turning and tossing like he hadn’t had in a long time. Drifting in and out of sleep, constantly awakened by nightmares.  

It was dark. So dark that it was challenging to even see his own hand. At first, he couldn’t say where he was, but then he heard leaves rustling, owls calling in the distance and suddenly he was aware that he was barefoot, feet felling the cold mud between his toes. A sense of dread surged through his body. Everything felt so real, he wasn’t sure if he was actually dreaming or not.  

The bushes behind him started moving and without knowing what was coming next, his feet moved on their own, dashing through the woods, not caring that he could run into a tree. Surprisingly, he never did.  

The next thing he noticed was a… sound. But not just any sound… a buzz. Really faint at first, but the faster he ran the louder it got. There was no outrunning it. Even when he brought his hands up to cover his ears, he could still hear the obnoxious sound… as if it was coming from within him, as if it was inside his head. It got louder and louder until he couldn’t physically bear it anymore. Stiles started screaming. He screamed at the top of his lungs, but he couldn’t even hear himself. Everything there was, was this buzzing noise, completely drowning his ear-piercing scream. And it only got louder and louder and louder.  

Frantically, Stiles looked around him, searching for a way out. This time around he nearly ran into a tree… He took a hesitant step back. There was something engraved in its bark. Stiles could barely read it… Fate, it said.  

He looked at another tree and another. They all had the same word engraved in them. Fate. Fate. Fate.  

The buzzing got louder still.  

And then, shortly before he was able to scream himself awake, something or rather someone whispered in his ear, sending chills down his spine.  

“Wherever a man may happen to turn, whatever a man may undertake, he will always end up by returning to the path which nature has marked out for him. Fate is inevitable.”

Stiles woke up in a cold sweat.  

***

So, what did you guys think? In the next chapter Stiles and Y/N will offically meet! What do you think will happen? Do you have theories as to what she might be? Let me know! I love getting spammed with your thoughts!

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Chapter 3: Building Trust

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