Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Additionally, there are references to canon child abuse & attempted child murder. Feel free to back out if need be. Also, feel free to check the FAQs on my FFN profile before leaving reviews about anything you dislike (including characterization or length).
Author's Note: So I attempted to make a five & one fic with "protective Stiles" and it ended up being too over the place to be in one fic, so I'm in the process of rounding out the scenes to have them better stand alone.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts 2.0 (T03); RAVEN (2024); MC4A (Su-Yr7)
Individual Challenges: In the Clouds; Condiment Shelf [x3]; Spark Plug; Missing Link; Minor; Feather Head; Flashers; Blush; Shield; Magical MC; New Fandom Smell; Fuse Box; Binger; Cinematic; Graphic; Alpha & Omega; Feathers & Such; Tiny Terror [x3]; Tossed Chum; Nonhuman MC [x4]; Shifter MC [x4]; Criminal MC; Ethnic & Present [x3]; Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion [x4]; In a Flash; Bucket Listing; The Story Goes On; Eating Cake (Y); Exchange; Greatest Gift; Outer Limit; Two Cakes (Y); Fuzzy Socks; Crack Addicts; Booger Breath; Outer; Park; Zed Era; Finders; Hold the Mayo; Rainbow Connection
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Assignment: Post-Term 03
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Library [California Wisdom](California, USA)
RAVEN Challenges: A&B [42](Jumping); Traits [92](Vicious); Colors [92](Tawny); Items [90](Trainers); Settings [68](Park/Playground)
Other MC4A Challenges: Chim [Stormy](Protection; "What Sarah Said" - Good Charlotte; Race Bent); Fire [Kidding]; Garden [Bricks (Omegaverse)]; Representation(s): Mieczysław "Stiles" Stilinski & Malia Tate & Cora Hale; The Desert Wolf & Malia Tate; Jewish Stilinskis; Wintu Hales; Omegaverse AU; Kid Fic; Chim Song Prompt
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Most Human Bean; Muck & Slime; Abandoned Ship; Head of Perseus; In the Trench; Surprise!; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; Found Family; Nontraditional; Middle Name; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Brooms Only; For the Vine; Lovely Coconuts; Trickster's Union); Chorus (Pear-Shaped; Wabi Sabi; Peddling Pots; Rediscovery; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; A Long Dog; Eternal Boredom; Larger than Life; Creature Feature); Demo 1 (Under the Bridge); Demo 2 (Call Me Dantes; Sitting Hummingbird)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Toad); SN (Rail; Intercept); O3 (Ox); Once (Moses Supposes; Santa Fe); War (Monomania; Obstruction; Sanctuary; Ennui); TY (Avasa; Kulonbozo; Enfant)
Space Address (Prompt): SuB 4D (Sky); AU 3C (Omegaverse);
Word Count: 717 words
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Tower Shield
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Malia Tate was a grade below Mischief and Scott. That meant that outside of the weekly trips to the park, Mischief didn't see a whole lot of her. He knew enough to recognize her tawny hair that always fell out of the braids that her mother put it in.
He also knew enough to recognize the growl from behind the play tower.
On that particular day, Mischief was alone. Scott and Melissa were away visiting Melissa's family in Sacramento. Mama was having a bad day, the kind where she didn't recognize him and wouldn't want to leave the bedroom. To keep from provoking her, Mischief had taken himself to the park.
It hadn't been so bad. It had just been a bit lonely. Jackson was busy running laps around the playground with some of the bigger kids. Mischief thought it was because Danny was in the hospital getting his heart fixed. There was no sign of Cora, who Mischief could usually count on for a good game of chase or a tussle. Without any of his usual playmates, Mischief had just hidden away in the space under the play tower. The soft sand down there was refreshingly cool and felt nice against the spot on his back where the book Mama had thrown at him had landed.
He had been lightly dozing when he had heard the low growl. Only a few people that Mischief had met were prone to growling when angry. Of that already limited list, only three had any reason to be on the playground. Unless Cora had arrived and decided to not take up her favorite perch on top of him, that meant the kid growling had to be Malia.
Cautiously, Mischief poked his head up just enough to peek out the window in the back wall.
The woman was tall, even taller than Mama and Talia Hale. She was pretty in the same way that fire was, all glittering grace and dangerous edges. Her golden brown hair fell around her face like waves of muddy water. Her blue eyes practically glowed in the cloudy light as she focused on the source of the still-ongoing growling below the porthole.
That was when it finally occurred to Mischief that the growl didn't sound angry. It sounded scared. Something inside of Mischief, the thing that had him chasing after kidnapped bullies and fighting for inhalers, puffed up like Cora did whenever she got offended by something.
Mischief grabbed the bar supporting the grate flooring of the tower. With all of the strength in his weedy arms, he pulled himself up and kicked his way through the porthole. It was probably more luck than skill that made him miss Malia's huddled form. He pitched forward when he landed between the younger girl and the adult. Bracing one hand to the ground, he tilted his head and shoulders upwards and gave voice to the snarl that had been building in his mind.
"Move out of the way, pup," the woman snapped. Mischief felt his top lip curl up like Mama's had taken to doing whenever she caught sight of him on her bad days.
" You move first ," he ordered, channeling his inner Agent Carter. His eyes burned like he was tearing up but if he managed to not cry during Mama's meanest moments, he sure wasn't going to do it in front of this bitch. She reared back as if Mischief had spit in her face.
Then she glanced away, towards the main entrance of the park.
Half a heartbeat later, she just left in the opposite direction.
Mischief had just enough time to stand up all the way before Cora tackled him to the ground in a whirlwind of mismatched camp clothing and hot pink trainers. Malia tackled her before she could get settled on top of him. Shaking off the odd encounter with the strange woman, Mischief joined in the rolling tussle. By the time Malia's mom collected her daughter to leave, Mischief had forgotten about the woman entirely.
A few days later, when he overheard his father talking with another deputy about a car crash involving the Tate family car, Mischief didn't even think to mention the stranger from the park or the nightmare he had woke up screaming from the night before.