Faceclaim: Jade Weber

The light faded, Stiles blinked, trying to clear his vision "What… Where am I?"

"Welcome," a voice sounded from behind him.

Stiles whirled around to look at the man behind him and frowned "Who are you?" he demanded, glaring at the boring-looking man. He was dressed in what looked like pyjamas with a robe thrown on top haphazardly "What am I doing here? I was just…" He cut himself off and shivered. Who was that man? Why was he here? It made no sense to him. That last thing he remembered was falling asleep and then he was here…

"I know," the man cut him off, ignoring the suspicious looks he was receiving. He had known that this wasn't going to be easy but he had made his choice. This boy was his one chance to change things without having to move in himself. After all, the boy had something to gain from this, didn't he? "I know who you are Mieczyslaw Stilinski."

"That isn't creepy at all," Stiles mumbled.

The man sat down on the sofa behind him, looking up at the young man with a small smile, trying to show him that he wasn't a threat. Judging by the tense posture it wasn't working "How about this. If you figure out who I am, then I'll tell you everything."

"And if I can't?" Stiles asked, taking a couple of steps away from the man. He wasn't sure what was happening and it made him uncomfortable. After the Nogitsune, he didn't believe half of what he was seeing. Without being able to do anything about it, he glanced at his fingers, silently counting. Whenever he reached ten, he glanced up, making sure that the man hadn't moved. This was a dream… Just a dream. He wasn't the Nogitsune. He couldn't be. The Nogitsune was gone and he was alright. It might have been more than a couple of years but his months with the fox demon were still haunting his dreams. They have turned more violent the longer he was included in the drama – Gerard, the Nogitsune, the Dread Doctors and the Wild Hunt. Each and every one of them were haunting his dreams along with losing his friends – one after the other.

The man smirked before starting to speak "Some people want to meet me. Some people don't believe in me. And some people claim to be me. Who am I?"

Stiles flinched away from him, hitting his head on the wall behind him. He hated riddles. Hated them with a passion.

"You don't understand, do you? It's a riddle. Do you know any riddles, Stiles?" the Nogitsune rasped, whirling around to face the boy.

Stiles swallowed, grimacing at the bandage-covered form "A few."

"What gets bigger the more you take away?" the Nogitsune snapped.

"A hole."

"What gets wetter the more it dries?"

Stiles cringed away from the fanged mouth, trying to stop himself from answering. It was like something was forcing him to speak "A towel."

"When is a door not a door?" the Nogitsune continued, shooting out riddle after riddle. He had to admit the little fox was smart. He would enjoy playing with him. Let's hope that his friends would be as much of a challenge.

"...When it's ajar."

"Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it?"

"I don't…" Stiles swallowed, dropping his eyes to the floor. He didn't want to hurt anyone. A part of him was dreading what the Nogitsune would do if he didn't answer the questions correctly.

The Nogitsune bared its teeth, lunging at the boy "Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What is it, Stiles?"

Stiles slid down the wall, his hands buried in his hair, tugging to bring himself back to reality "No. No, I don't want to. Please, stop. Not again."

The man kept his eyes on the young man, calmly settling in to wait. When he had calmed down enough, he spoke up again, taking care to keep his voice low "Some people want to meet me. Some people don't believe in me. And some people claim to be me. Who am I?"

"God," Stiles breathed, counting his fingers almost obsessively. He licked his lips, not looking up again "You're God."

God inclined his head, a tone of aloofness swinging in his voice "It seems as if I made the right choice. Good job, Mieczyslaw."

Stiles clenched his hands into fists. He called onto everything he learned over the past years, keeping his face blank and his voice cold "What do you mean, the right choice? And stop calling me that. My name is Stiles."

"Stiles, then," God continued "I chose you to do something for me."

"Why would I want to do that?" Stiles frowned, giving into his confusion. He hadn't let the man out of his sight once but if he really was God, then there was nothing he could do anyway "You could choose anyone. Why me?"

God watched him, debating on what to say. There were a lot of things he could say to try and sway the boy, all of them lies or embellishments but he had a feeling that with this one, he would get further with the truth "You were convenient. Simple as that. We have a common goal."

"And what would that be?" Stiles demanded. He was really getting sick of this. Why couldn't that guy just say what he wanted without playing games? With how this was going, Stiles actually preferred the Nogitsune.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't compare me to a fox demon, Stiles," God said, his voice lowering dangerously.

"Then get to the point," Stiles exclaimed in annoyance "I don't want to be here. I was busy."

God let out a short laugh "Busy. Yes, I saw that. What were you trying to do, hm? There must have been a reason for you to practise magic the way you did." When he got no answer, he shook his head "You want to change how things turned out, don't you? Because so do I. I will give you a choice. Go back eight years and change the past."

Stiles' eyes widened "Where's the catch?"

"Two things," God raised two fingers before lowering one "One, you have to prevent something from happening before you take care of business in Beacon Hills."

Stiles shrugged "Doable. What's the other one?"

"You can't exist twice in the same timeline, no matter whether you're not exactly the same," God pointed out "You will have a full life constructed for you as your cousin. Use it well."

"No, no, no, no, wait," Stiles shook his head rapidly when God waved his hand, a golden glow enveloping him completely.

"Who are you?" Gabriel demanded, looking at the girl who had appeared in front of him.

Stiles blinked at him before raising a hand to her head, thousands of memories flashing through her mind, making her head pound "When I meet God again, I'm going to have fun gutting Him."

Gabriel shot forward, grabbing her arm in a tight grip "You met Him?"

"Yes," she shrugged "I can tell you that He's a right ass. Oh, let's take Stiles from all that he knows, throw him in the past as a girl to take care of the shit he can't do."

"I'm sensing a story here," Gabriel murmured "How about it, sweetheart. Storytime?"

Stiles narrowed her eyes at him "Why would I tell you? I don't even know you."

Gabriel grinned at her "True. But we can change that."

"Dude, no," Stiles grimaced "Just… No."

"You can't blame me. You're kinda cute," Gabriel leered playfully, steadying the girl. He had no idea what to do with her but he knew that he couldn't just let her leave. Not when she could possibly tell him something about his father. The same person who he thought dead.

Stiles shot him a glare "I have been a girl for all of ten minutes. I think I have more than enough reasons to blame you."

"Ten…" Gabriel cut himself off "You know what? How about we make a deal?"

"A deal?"

Gabriel nodded "You tell me your story and I tell you mine."

Stiles shrugged, way beyond the point of caring "Sure thing. So, where are we going to go? My story isn't really meant for a big crowd. And I doubt yours is either, Gabriel."

"You… How do you…?" Gabriel stuttered "You said you didn't know who I was."

"No, I said that I didn't know you. I never said anything about not knowing who you are," Stiles shot back "And I wouldn't have talked to you long enough for this deal of yours if I wasn't close to passing out."

Gabriel ran a hand through his hair "Ah. That… makes sense, actually."

"No, really?" Stiles rolled her eyes, leaning against the man heavily. The longer she was standing here, the dizzier she was getting "I think I'm going to need you to catch me."

Gabriel looked at her in surprise before raising his arms just in time to stop her from falling and hitting her head when she passed out "Well, that's one way of meeting someone," he mumbled to himself, lifting her into his arms "I really hope that you won't kill me when you wake up. I do rather enjoy messing with assholes."