Two new members in the FBI (Rewritten)

Chapter 58

Previously on Two new members in the FBI

Stiles's Pov

Instead, they accepted it for what it was.

Not an ending born from regret.

A beginning chosen with hope.

As I looked around the bullpen one more time, surrounded by people who had stood beside me through some of the hardest years of my life, I realized I wasn't saying goodbye to a family.

I was simply carrying everything they'd given me into the next chapter, where another family-one waiting three thousand miles away in Beacon Hills-was already preparing to welcome me home.

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Stiles's Pov

By the time the last of the conversations wound down, the archive box sitting beside my desk held nearly everything that had quietly accumulated over the years. The desktop itself looked strangely anonymous now. My monitor remained, along with the keyboard, a government-issued desk phone, and a desk lamp that had never technically belonged to me in the first place. Without the photographs and scattered personal touches, it could have belonged to any agent walking in tomorrow morning.

I rested one hand on the back of my chair for a moment, allowing myself one last look.

It was remarkable how quickly a workspace could stop looking like someone's life. Years of early mornings, late nights, solved cases, frustrating dead ends, shared victories, and impossible losses had unfolded around this desk, yet now it stood ready for someone else to slide into the chair and begin building their own history.

There was something oddly comforting about that.

The work would continue.

It always had.

Hotch emerged from his office just as Scott lifted the archive box from beside my desk. The conversations around the bullpen quieted again, though this time the silence carried a different feeling. The difficult part was over. What remained was simply the natural closing of a chapter.

"I'll take care of the administrative side from here," Hotch said, addressing me but allowing the rest of the team to hear as well. "Human Resources will contact Sacramento once the paperwork finishes processing. Until then, enjoy the time with your family."

"I will."

"I expect you'll have your hands full."

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

"I already do."

A few quiet laughs rippled through the room.

Hotch's expression softened almost imperceptibly.

"Give Jackson my regards."

"I will."

"And tell him..." He paused briefly, choosing his words with characteristic care. "Tell him I'm glad he's doing well."

"I'll tell him."

He gave a single nod before returning to his office, leaving the bullpen to settle naturally back into its usual rhythm. Phones began ringing again. Conversations resumed. Someone across the room started discussing an evidence report that couldn't wait until tomorrow.

Cases didn't pause simply because lives changed.

I adjusted the strap of my messenger bag across my shoulder while Scott balanced the archive box comfortably against one hip.