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“A deal?”
Stiles felt like he was playing with fire, staring into the cold eyes of the Sea Witch in front of him. She was currently stuck in their wards, but she wasn’t resisting. She had just allowed the strands of his magic to tighten around her, and now she hung in them as if they were her throne. She had a desperation about her, and it set Stiles on edge.
“A deal,” she confirmed. Her voice was soft, but strong, reminding him vividly of the waves as they would build before crashing on the shore. “I’ll send you back to your beginning with the knowledge of your present.”
“Why offer that?” Stiles was tempted - truly - but every offer seemed to have an untold price. “What would you gain from such a deal?”
“My daughter.” The witch seemed to sag further into his magic, but she didnt avert her gaze. “She was killed two weeks ago by a rogue hunter. I’ve traced the path to you.”
“I didn’t kill her.”
“I know." She gave a tiny shrug as she said, “But you have the power to change it. You will cause ripples in the water, and those ripples will ensure her survival.”
“And the price?”
The woman wore a coy smile as she asked, “Ever heard of the Little Mermaid?”
“My voice.” He waited for her to nod in agreement before he continued. “For how long?”
“Till the present.” She carefully waved her hand in the air between them, making sure to not tug on the magical strings holding her in place. “Your voice shall be powering the spell, and therefore absent, until we reach the current date in this timeline. It will then be returned to you as the new timeline hardens and becomes true.”
“How do I know you aren’t lying?” He tilted his head as she lost her smile. “Or better yet, how do I know you won’t come after me? If you can send me through time, what’s to stop you from going Terminator and killing me as a baby?”
“I only have my word.” She grimaced at his frown. “Unlike the movies, there are no magical contracts. I simply cast the spell, and you are the one to maintain it. Until the timeline solidifies again, I will not ever remember this interaction. It is only the day the spell ends that I will know it was cast, and I still will not know why.”
“So you want me to trust you?” Stiles felt a laugh build up in his throat as he gestured around the preserve. “You trampled into our home and offered a spell that I don’t even need. We made it out alive, and you want me to go back? To repeat Hell?”
“Why repeat it when you can change it?” Her voice was turning desperate as she spoke. “You could save the members of the pack you lost. You could bring back your love’s family. You could cut the Argents off at the pass and save dozens of lives. Why wouldn’t you go back?”
“Because I don’t trust you.” He felt himself shift forward unconsciously, pulled towards her with a sudden wave of desire. The protest felt dull in his ears as he said, “I have a lot to lose.”
“And so much more to gain.” She reached a hand forward as if offering him a greeting, mouth turned into a watery smile. “Please. I beg of you. Take the deal and save my daughter.”
Stiles couldn’t help but stumble forward as he stared at her outstretched hand. His life was good, living with his soon-to-be husband and maintaining the land of the Hale pack. But he knew it could be better. The Hale pack was only called as such due to the land it was on. Derek was the only one left, and Stiles knew how much it killed him to be without his family. He wished he could give him more.
“This deal. Could it do something else?”
Her hand faltered an inch as she asked, “What do you wish it to do?”
“My husband and I want children. Could it–”
“No,” she answered firmly, but her voice was soft with remorse. “For each change, there is a price. I could make you a woman, but the price would be your fertility. And if I were to make a child, it would be a life for a life. There must always be a balance to the exchange.”
“Oh.” He felt a small part of his hope wither, but the rest was still strong as he thought of the changes he could make. “That makes sense, yeah.”
“However, I can shift what will be.” She held her hand out - strong once more - as she said, “There are plenty that need family, and I can guide you to them. They will not be of your blood, but they will be yours if you wish it.”
Stiles slowly nodded and took a deep breath as he reached for her hand. He only hesitated a moment to ask, “I don’t have to do anything special to save your daughter?”
“No." She didn’t bridge the gap between them, nor did she pull away. She simply watched and waited, allowing him the time to center himself and decide. “You must only change your own fate to change hers.”
“Okay.” He took her hand in his and squeezed it firmly as he said, “We have a deal.”
“Thank you, Spark.”
- - - - - -
“Claudia, we can't name him that. I can’t pronounce it. Hell, you can’t pronounce it and you’re the one that picked it out.”
“We’ll learn. Others can call him Mitch, like my father.”
“More like Mischief. No child of yours could ever be sane.”
“He’s half yours, Dear. And I think it will fit him. Our little Mischief.”
“He needs a normal name. Something that everyone knows how to spell.”
“Noah, Love, no name will ever make him normal.”
“Claudia–”
“No. I know you didn’t want this, but you need to accept it. We had the name picked out for months, and we are not changing it just because he’s a little different.”
“He’ll have to deal with enough. He shouldn’t have to deal with a name that no one can say.”
“And no matter what we name him, he’ll be stuck with a name that he can’t say.”
“...I’m sorry.”
“It isn’t your fault.”
“I just…I love him. God, I already love him so much. I just wish he was normal. I wish he didn’t have to deal with something like this.”
“I know, but we’ll get through it. He’s already so strong, Noah, and we’ll be there for him. This too shall pass.”
“This too shall pass…Even silent, I’m sure he’ll raise Hell. Mischief will suit him well.”
“Thank you, Love.”
“Of course, Dear.”
- - - - - -
It was strange to grow up a second time. It was also strange to actually keep himself present and not simply float along with the happenings around him. Stiles put it down to his physical brain developing, struggling to remember what he was doing and what needed to be done. Though it helped that everything was already so different than he remembered.
His parents spoke softer than he remembered, and everyone else spoke louder - thinking him deaf and not just mute. His flailing was focused and purposeful this time around, moving his hands in a way that apparently asked for juice or a toy. His mother had adapted to sign language with a flawless grace that he hoped to accomplish, signing as she spoke and correcting his form.
He seemed to have more clarity around things from Before, seeing the familiar face or location and being drawn into focus. He would be sitting in his stroller, gumming at a teething toy, only to look up and wonder where his favorite coffee shop had gone. He would then have a moment of realization that it hadn’t been built yet, before he would fall back into ignorant bliss.
Which led him to now.
Stiles stood in the middle of the canned vegetables aisle, staring up at an older boy with a feeling of happiness and hope. The boy still had baby fat clinging to his cheeks, but Stiles would recognize the soft green eyes anywhere–even without the trademark eyebrows.
His husband was so fucking cute as a kid.
“Are you lost?” The young Derek stared down at Stiles, face set in a small glare. He doubted it was intentional, and assumed it was brought about by the confusion of finding a toddler alone in a store. “Do you know where your Mom is?”
Stiles didn’t even try to answer, simply wobbling a step closer and lifting his arms up in that universal way he knew kids did. It seemed to work on Derek, overriding his confusion as he lifted Stiles and settled him on his hip. A normal ten year old probably shouldn’t have been able to lift a toddler so easily, but Stiles ignored it as he snuggled close and tucked his face into Derek’s neck.
“Mom!” Derek turned his head and raised his voice a little as he called to his mother. “I found a kid!”
Momma Hale seemed to materialize out of thin air, shifting into view from behind a display. She was accompanied by a girl around Derek’s age, and a toddler similar to Stiles on her hip. He guessed they were Laura and Cora, but he didn’t move to greet them. Instead, he clumsily rubbed his cheek against Derek’s neck.
He couldn’t smell it himself, but he’d be damned if he didn’t stake his claim earlier this time around.
“Well, Hello there.” Momma Hale stopped next to Derek and carefully crouched down to be on level with Stiles. She had a soft smile as she asked, “What’s your name, Hon?”
Stiles raised a hand and clumsily waved an S, but he doubted it looked like anything purposeful. He didn’t blame her when she gave him another smile and plucked his hand from the air, bouncing it gently like she had been invited to play with it.
“Not very talkative?” She leaned closer and lowered her voice as if she were sharing a secret. “My children aren’t either. It took forever before my Derek would speak a word to someone he didn’t know.”
Stiles whipped his head back to Derek and gave him a large smile, tightening his hold around the boy’s neck. He heard him grumble low in his chest, but ignored it as he continued to use the excuse of hiding his face to scent-mark the boy.
“Mischief!” His mother’s voice rang out from a few aisles away, voice exasperated - but overflowing with amusement. “Where did you run off to?”
Stiles waved a hand and smiled when Momma Hale walked to the end of the wall of cans to peak around the corner. She then gave a soft greeting and gestured down to the boys. It was only a few more seconds before Stiles saw his mother’s head pop around the end of the aisle.
“Mischief, how did you get out of the cart?” She walked towards him and crouched to check him over before she gave a wide grin to Derek. She gave him a brief smile before she indulgently asked her son, “Did you find a friend?”
“I’m Derek.” Derek at the Claudia as his nostrils flared, and Stiles was tempted to smack him over how unsubtle he was. Instead, Sitles turned to his mother and pointedly raised his hand to make a quick sign. He made sure to keep his face serious, even as his mother burst into laughter.
“No, Honey. No.” She shook her head and began to sign as she spoke. It was nice to see the look of understanding dawn on Derek’s face, him realizing that the toddler hadn’t been ignoring him. “His name is Derek.”
She carefully spelled the name out, but her attempt broke off as Stiles repeated his previous sign. When her laughter started back up again, all of the Hales were looking at her with amused confusion.
Derek lifted him higher on his hip and asked, “What did he say?”
His mother's eyes were filled to the brim with mirth, leaning back slightly to study the bewildered preteen. He looked as though he was waiting to receive some news of dire importance, and she couldn't help but find amusement in the unnecessary dread he displayed. Meanwhile, her own spawn wore a devilish expression, as if he knew exactly what chaos he was causing.
“He made the sign for ‘Mine’.”
As Derek's face flushed in confused embarrassment, sputtering words of apology and denial in equal measure. Her son's smile seemed to grow sharper at the reaction.
Oh yes - her Mischief knew exactly what trouble he was causing.
Claudia expertly waved away the stuttering sentences and warmly introduced, "I'm Claudia Stilinski, and this is my son, Stiles."
The preteen's face seemed to reset, embarrassment abruptly vanishing in the wake of his confusion. Claudia could see the question before it hit, having become very familiar with it since her Mischief has voiced his preference for the nickname last spring.
"What's a Stiles?"
Claudia once again lost herself in laughter as her son turned back to Derek with a solum air and the clumsy sign of 'Yours'. It seemed that no matter what he was called, he would always be her Little Mischief.