Chapter Text
Hera had never experienced motherhood like this. With Ares she had handmaidens and nannies, with Hephaestus, well, she was never really his mother to begin with.
With Mieczyslaw…..it was euphoric.
This little person that, although constantly cried, defecated and bit her already sore breasts constantly, depended on her like no one else ever had.
He cried for her.
Laughed for her.
Smiled for her.
She was completely and irrevocably in love with this little person Noah had gifted her with, which only made her love Noah more.
She eventually settles on the nickname 'Mischief' because Mieczyslaw is a mouthful to say constantly.
Mischief was cute, cuddly, curious of the world and loved her unconditionally in a way only a baby could.
Even when he was just a few months old, she knew her little baby was a genius, either that or he just really loved the sound of her voice, because he listened to her. When he was sad, angry or frustrated, he would drop anything at the sound of her voice. She had taken to reading him stories before bed, Stories of; Jason and the Argonauts, Helen of Troy (the mass-murder inducing whore.), Hercules (The murderer and rapist, that her immortal husband hailed a hero.) and even, albeit reluctantly 'The Little Train That Could'. Noah would sometimes lean against the door frame and listen in, occasionally coming in and sitting her on his lap, and paying rapt attention with the same expression as their son.
The way they look at her; as if she is their world, makes her heart heavy with love and her eyes with tears in such a way that she wishes she could go back just to relive the moment when such emotions hit her.
Of course, she didn't neglect her duties, she did what was needed at times. She'd already tracked down three of The Seven; Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang and, more surprisingly, Jason Grace.
She situated herself into the Valdez' household easily as Tía Callida, the sweet neighbour from next door, she couldn't change her appearance as easily as she could if she had been in godly form, so she stayed as Claudia Stilinski, dropping by every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Her son, Hephaestus, had picked a wonderful mother for his son, they reminded her of herself and Mischief, so close. Leo was just as energetic as Genim, just as sweet, just as kind and just as a momma's boy. Why couldn't all demigods be like this? Oh he was so adorable.
Jason Grace was a different story.
Zeus gave her the honor of escorting his roman demigod son, his bastard to Camp Jupiter. His mistress, Beryl Grace, screams and curses loudly at her when she comes to collect him, apparently Zeus had her believe that taking the child away was her doing, like some Aztec sacrifice. She honestly forgets why she ever loved him, all he ever called on her for now was to embarrass or disgrace her. Even though it displeases her, she brings the boy safely to the wolf house and even graces him with the mark of her champion. She tells herself it is insurance, to make sure he lives to fulfill the prophecy. Not the fact that he was the same age as her baby, or the fact that he continuously called for 'Alia' on their journey. She would not take pity on a lightning brat.
Her visit to Frank Zhang is the easiest, she saves him. Gives a mother more time with her son, her grandson. Her immortal sons had amazing taste in woman, hopefully Mieczyslaw would get that characteristic, for men too, if he fancied himself gay. She didn't care.
She checks in on them from time to time, not that she cares, insurance she repeatedly reminds herself, insurance so that her son never has to face any beasts from her world. Insurance.
At age two and a half, her little Mischief goes to preschool, she cries excessively and takes a million pictures of him and his little backpack, because what will she do now? Her baby was leaving the nest, for a short time sure, but it was just the beginning, how would she fill her days now? With Mieczyslaw at school and Noah at work, she had nothing. What could she do? Go to Olympus everyday? Never!
She eventually decides to go back to counselling, but at a high school, she has had enough of her own marriage drama, never mind anyone else's.
She meets some interesting characters at Beacon High; Bobby Finstock- an eccentric, but irresponsible Head of the sport's department-, Adrian Harris, a man who knew no showers and was as evil as a fury-, Vice-Principal Carson- a funny man, who seemed a bit too friendly for her liking- but despite her reservations about the staff, the students were polite and welcoming.
The years fly by, Mieczyslaw meets Scott -who she becomes very fond of-, he is diagnosed with ADHD just as she expected, but there is no dyslexia to be seen (which shocks her a great deal), Miecyslaw eventually becomes Stiles (she respected his choice, she didn't really like her birth name either and it meant that he was only Mischief to her.) and falls in love with some little girl name Lydia (which she didn't get at all, the girl seemed like an idiot) , Noah became Sheriff (why must she be attracted to men of power?) and Hera continued to thrive at work.
Stiles eighth year of life is her hardest.
She meets a young man named Derek Hale. He is first sent to her for counselling on his girlfriend's death; Paige Turner (killed by a werewolf or at the very least the bite, she suspects). He doesn't talk much, he lets her do most of the talking. He sits there, every week until a few months later he meets another young woman, Kate Argent, a hunter. She wants to stop their relationship, to warn him, because she had seen the calculating look the girl wore, it reminded her very much of Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis, right before she slept with her new husband, Zeus.
Her suspicions are confirmed when a few weeks later, the Hale fire happens, only two of a once proud pack remain.
Derek is once again back in her office, he will be leaving in a few weeks for New York with his sister Laura. Even though she promised to stay out of it, Hera decides to break her silence on the subject. No more tip-toeing.
"It wasn't your fault, you know." The young beta snorts, as if to say 'How would you know?'
"You couldn't have known she was one of those Argents, the hunters, I mean." His head snaps up quickly, eyes widening and knuckles white from the grip on his chair.
"Wha-"
"Don't even try to say you don't know what I'm talking about, Wolfy." He grinds his teeth together in annoyance and narrows his eyes.
"How do you-"
"Know? I know quite a bit, but we're not here for me, we're here for you." She cuts him off with a small smile. She knows she's annoying him, but he doesn't need to know anything about her, he just needs to let her do her job.
"Yeah, let's talk about the fact that I'm the reason all my family was murdered because I trusted the bitch I got my dick wet with a few times. Who knows, maybe on top of wiping out my pack, she also gave me an STD?" He shouts angrily.
"Yes, let's start with the fact that you couldn't have know she was a hunter and you were emotionally vulnerable when she swooped in to seduce you. You were still reeling from Paige's death, you needed comfort, she gave it. By doing that she gained your trust, don't blame yourself for one mistake. She'll have to leave this town because she went against the code."
"What code?"
"All hunters have a code, "We hunt those who hunt other's" or some crap like that. She defiled the code, she doesn't want anyone, least of all her family, to find out because; to hunter's the code is law, if anyone breaks it, they're killed."
"So we go to the Argent's and tell them."
"The Argent's will cover it up, they'll know that if they don't, another clan of hunters, like the Calavera's, will put the bullet in Kate's skull. Look, Kate will leave town and won't come back until the fire is a distant memory in everyone's minds, that's if she even comes back at all. Going to hunter's would be the worst thing to do. What you need to do, is wait, I know it's hard but if you want Kate to be brought to justice, that's what you have to do."
"What am I supposed to do while the person who murdered my family and put my uncle in a coma, walks away with no consequences?"
"Go to New York, have a life, join your school's basketball team, go to counselling, meet a pretty girl. Live your life Derek."
"How?" His voice cracks. "I'm the reason they're all dead, how do I move on from this?"
"It's hard right now, but your family wouldn't want you to be miserable for the rest of your life. If my son was betrayed by someone else, I wouldn't want him to have my death on his shoulder's. I've met your mother, and I know she loved you very much, as much as I love my son, and all I want him to be is happy. Do you see where I'm going with this?" He nodded stiffly, but she could see his eyes soften.
"Now, I don't usually do this, but-" Ripping a piece of paper from her notepad, she wrote down ten digits.
"Here's my number, call when you need some... guidance, though, I hope you'll start opening up to your new counselor in New York, not about the werewolf stuff obviously, but about normal teenage stuff; girls, your grades and hopefully basketball?"
"Thanks for this Mrs. Stilinski." He smiled weakly from the doorway on his way out.
"You're welcome Derek." She said with a smile. Gods helps him..
He calls her twice from New York; he joins a new basketball team, the Panther's, and is seeing his new guidance counselor regularly, but he doesn't have any friends.
He was isolating himself.
That same year, she has constant headaches, nightmares and illusions; she can tell it scares Stiles and Noah, but she can't catch mortal diseases! It makes no sense.
When one particularly vivid illusion sends her down a flight of stairs, Noah drags her kicking and screaming to the hospital.
Frontotemperal Dementia.
Life expectancy; 2 to 10 years after diagnosis.
She see's how devastated Noah is at the news, and to see him try to explain it to their eight year old son is heart breaking.
Her mortal form is dying.
Hera fears that if she returns to her original "appearance", she will lose herself, the woman she has become in the last decade and all the new emotions that come with.
Gods do not have a conscience, something that was just not born with them, Hera guesses. She can only imagine the guilt she would feel over her thousands of years of existence and all the horrid things she did in between. What if she went back and no longer cared to return to the life of Claudia Stilinski? Could she even look the exact same? All the other gods disguised themselves as mortals, but they never became mortal. It was risky.
Losing a lot of your powers to become a flesh bag? The thought had been unappealing to Hera for years.
One day she has a seizure and is rushed to surgery, the first of many the doctors tell Noah as their son sits behind him in one of the plastic chairs.
She wakes up to beeping and a familiar face above her. Just not one she wanted to see.
"Hello, Mother." Then everything made sense.
Apollo.