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. Also, there is references to canon character deaths (Claudia and the Hale Fire) with all of the implications of both of those. The Hale deaths is particularly horrific even if I don't get really graphic. There is a brief reference to a missing child. Feel free to back out if need be.
Author's Note: You will probably want tissues and hot chocolate for this, folks. Also, it is my personal stance that overall, the Hippocratic Oath matters more than things like legalities.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Quidditch League (Post S10); Hogwarts 2.0 (Term 01); RAVEN (2023); MC4A (Wi-Y6)
Individual Challenges: Baby Mine; Red Instead; Straight Outta Myth; Condiment Shelf; Missing Link; Pet Food; Me Matey; Vegetable Broth; Coupons; Gift Wrapped; Fruit Stand; Quaffles; Bludgers; Purple Scholar; Feather Head; Polygon; Mercy General; Magical MC; New Fandom Smell; Cinematic; Binger; Alpha & Omega; Feathers & Such; Tiny Terror; Tossed Chum; Elder Berries; Nonhuman MC; Shifter MC; Disabled; Ethnic & Present; Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion; Short Jog; Bucket Listing; The Story Goes On; Eating Cake (Y); Exchange (Y); Greatest Gift; Green Ribbon; Two Cakes (Y); Vial Collector; Claimed; Lovely Triangle; Shipwreck; Ship Sails; Zed Era; Rainbow Connection; Finders; Hold the Mayo
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Assignment: Term 01-08
Subject [Task (Prompt)]: Transfiguration [Task#3 (finding something that had been lost or forgotten)]
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Gather [Bonus (Warlock)](making/breaking a deal)
Post Season QL Challenges: Bingo [C2](St. Mungo's)
RAVEN Challenges: Colors [](); Items [](); Settings []()
Other MC4A Challenges: Ship (n/a)[WiMic2 (Pink; Dry); FaMed2 (Wolf); WiMed2 (School); SuBig (Jewelry); 4B (Cuddling/Snuggling)]; Chim [Bugwort]("The Anonymous Ones" – Dear Evan Hansen; Turned Left Instead AU; Race Bend); Hunt [Wi Items (Scanner)]; Fire [x3](Just Keep Stimming); Garden [Service Sector (Sleeping); Remember (Death); Web of Life (Family); Bait (Cuddling/Snuggling); Moar Tropes (Unlawful Child Custody Change); Network (Secret Past)]; Harvest [A&B (Searching; Sleeping); Fandoms (Supernatural Genre; Fusion); Items (Radio; Scrubs); R&E (Father & Child; Nurse); Set (Hospital/Medical Ward); Tropes (Backroom Deal)]; Hang [Phrase2](n/a); Soup [D (Death)]; Shop [Neu (Depression); R&E (East Asian); ReCu (Buddhism)]; Swap [Counters (Beaded Hair Comb)]
Representation(s): Noah Stilinski/Claudia Stilinski & Mieczysław "Stiles" Stilinski; Peter Hale & Mieczylaw "Stiles" Stilinski; Mayumi Ito (OC); Omegaverse AU; Hospital; Hale Fire
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Esbat; Hot Stuff; Mermaid; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; White Dress; Found Family; Nontraditional; Middle Name; Nightingale; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Brooms Only; Three's Company; For the Vine; Lovely Coconuts; Trickster's Union; Most Human Bean; Rock of Ages; Hot Apple; Dog Star; Under the Bridge); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Bee Haven; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Rediscovery; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; A Long Day; Eternal Boredom; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Creature Feature; Vid Tangent; Abandoned Ship; Head of Perseus; In the Trench; Surprise!; Piper Mix; Sitting Hummingbird)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Thimble); SN (Rail; Intercept); LiCK (Poppy; Amaranth; Tansy); FR (Gestation; Satisfaction); O3 (Orator; Ox); HoSE (Schooner; Keen); SHoE (Onus); War (Orator; Obstruction; Sanctuary; Ennui); Mea (Ennui; Ramphant); Wings (Bower; Rosette); Share (Ameliorate; Nepenthe); DP (Keen)
Space Address (Prompt): FaB [2E](Murder); Wi [3E](Cuddle/Snuggle); Vocab [5A](Catatonic);
Word Count: 1540 words
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Missing Pieces
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Claudia was moved to the long term care unit on the first Wednesday of January. During her lucid periods, she understood why the change had been made. There had never been any doubt in Noah's mind just how much Claudia loved their son and would anything to protect him. But outside of her lucid periods, she would treat the ward as a prison that she had to escape from, violently if necessary, and anyone in the way was a threat.
Even if that person was their son.
Noah arranged for the head nurse to notify him if Claudia was having a bad day. On those days, he would attempt to keep Mieczysław away. Between how downright sneaky the kid was (something that some of the other deputies certainly helped foster, under the excuse of self defense efficiency) and how close the hospital was to the sheriff station, that was easier said than done.
Sometimes Noah would swear that the kid could make himself invisible.
Other times, he just swore.
Unfortunately, Mieczysław's habit of escaping whoever was watching him that afternoon meant that there had been more close calls that Noah cared to think about. Claudia's bad days were quickly starting to outnumber her good days. To make matters even worse, Mieczysław never fought back, even though Noah knew that he could have. The kid barely tried to evade.
Noah tried to be more physically present in the station when Mieczysław was visiting, but the job just didn't always allow for it. It didn't help that there had been a sharp rise in petty crimes. Normally, graffiti and such rose during the summer months. The preserve drew in its share of tourists and transient traffic, and the rowdier teens were left to their own devices with school out of session. But it was now solidly into fall and the rise didn't make any sense.
Then a body turned up near the old train depot, burnt beyond recognition. Somewhere between the investigation of that and rise in crime necessitating more patrols, Claudia's good days became a thing of the past. Noah didn't know if he should be sickened by the relief he felt when the deterioration stole her energy and lowered her aggression. Prying Mieczysław from her side at the end of visiting hours was like pulling teeth. At least he was safe there now.
When the Hale house burned, it was big enough that all of the sheriff department was called to help the fire brigade fight it. The whole situation was a disaster. It had quickly become apparent that the fire was too intense to attempt a rescue. They barely managed to pull Peter Hale away from a casement window near the back. No one wanted to think about why the man would have both his arms stuck through metal bars into a burning building.
All of the Hales had been home except for twenty-year-old Laura and fourteen-year-old Derek. They had been at a book club night at the high school. Out of the sixteen members of the family, only three had survived. The tangle of bodies in the basement near the window where Peter had been found was bad enough they weren't certain how many there even was. Whatever had caused the fire had burned hot and fast.
While Noah had been helping keep that fire contained, Claudia had closed her eyes for the last time. Her body didn't die immediately, lingering in a vegetative state just above coma. Mieczysław refused to leave his curl at her side for more than a few minutes. Noah stayed close to his son.
They were drowning in grief already when Claudia finally passed. Even with his deputies having cleared out most of their open cases while Noah had been on leave for Claudia's last month and then bereavement, there was still enough work to be done for Noah to bury himself in. Having spent so much time out of school, Mieczysław should have had the same.
Which was why the call from the principal for the elementary school was such a shock.
Mieczysław was missing. He had been in the line outside for recess. Thirty minutes later when the kids had been gathered up to go back inside, he was nowhere to be found. They had immediately searched the school and the grounds. His backpack was also missing, so they did not suspect a kidnapping.
Later, Noah would be ashamed to admit that the hospital wasn't the first place they checked after the school. The entire sheriff department turned out to search all the roads and woods of Beacon Hills, including the most likely places to find children in general and a precocious one prone to research binges in specific. They were just debating the logistics of searching the preserve when Tara radioed that the charge nurse for the long term ward had just reported finding the kid.
Noah felt distinctly rumpled as he strode into the ward. Sometimes he forgot that he could be intimidating. He was forcefully reminded of that by the way that the staff scattered as he headed towards the duty station. The charge nurse, a middle-aged Japanese woman wearing coral pink scrubs and a beaded hair comb keeping her dark hair away from her face, just watched impassively as he came closer. He wasn't surprised. Mayumi Ito was as fierce as she was tiny.
"Sheriff Stilinski," Mayumi greeted in an even tone. She tilted her head slightly, making her brown eyes appear amber for a moment. Then she was guiding them towards a very familiar room. His feet felt stuck to the floor outside the room where his wife had died in less than a month before. "We found them like this when we did afternoon rounds."
It was both a familiar sight and one that Noah wouldn't have imagined ever seeing. Peter Hale was laying in the bed. The burns that covered his right side were mostly healed, just the raw pink that meant they would be sensitive. The only medical equipment hooked up to him was a heart monitor on the index finger of his left hand. He looked better than he had when Noah had last seen him, but so much worse than any time before that.
And tucked into his left side was Mieczysław, still so tiny despite being newly nine. The kid was using Peter's shoulder as a pillow in the same way that he had with Claudia towards the end. Noah suspected that trying to move him would result in the same kind of fit, too. Noah frowned as he registered that Peter's left hand was curled protectively over Mieczysław's elbow.
"I thought—"
"Yes," Mayumi agreed. "Mr. Hale's condition has not changed since the official report was filed. As far as we can tell, he is still catatonic. That is the first voluntary movement he's shown since he was admitted." She gave the cuddling pair a small smile, like a doting grandmother. "His grip flexes occasionally as well."
"It's helping?" he asked, feeling his heart twist painfully in his chest. A bitterness lingered at the back of his throat. He ruthlessly buried the urge to gnash his teeth at the world, with special attention towards Laura who had taken Derek and left town so quickly after the fire. It was just so unfair. Mayumi watched him with an awareness that she shouldn't have.
"It is helping," she confirmed. Medical staff typically wore blockers, same as first responders, but Noah wasn't surprised to see streaks of omega gold appear in her brown eyes. Stereotype or not, omegas did tend to go into careers that benefited from care-giving instincts. "Both of them, if I am not mistaken."
"He's not supposed to have visitors. Laura signed the paperwork when she admitted him."
"No visitors except family," Mayumi corrected gently. She paused as if giving him an opening. Noah stared back at her, just as resolute to not say a damn thing. After a long moment, she bowed her head forward the slightest amount, accepting his silence. "Medical staff would also have access to Mr. Hale."
"What are you suggesting?"
"There have been studies about the effect of animals on patients in vegetative states." Her eyes twinkled the same way that Claudia's had whenever she was plotting mischief. "Therapy animals have positive impacts on vitals across the board."
"Are you calling my son an animal?"
"Yes," she said simply. Noah looked over the pair in the bed. He supposed they all were animals in the end.
"It can't be like with his mom," he said in a quiet voice. "He has to still live his life outside of here."
"Of course. He is a child. Fresh air is good for cubs."
"Kit," Noah corrected absently. Mayumi made an inquiring noise. He rubbed his hand over his chest, as if that could possibly lessen the ache from losing Claudia. "It's what his mom always called him. He was her kit or kitling." Noah dragged his gaze away from Mieczysław and Peter to meet her eyes. "It won't hurt them, will it?"
"Oh, no. Spending time like this should only help them." Mayumi paused before repeating the important part. "Both of them."
And that was that.