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On Winning Knife Fights With Sharks

Summary:

Everyone knows how much Jensen loves her niece. Up until the first skype session however, they weren't aware that:
a) said niece is not related by blood
b) she's a baby werewolf
c) Tio Cougar is possibly her favourite person on earth
d) none of that matters because she /still/ inherited the Jensen Babble.

Notes:

In the movie, Jensen's main motivation was getting to his niece. Can't change that without fundamentally changing the character. So, meet little Beth! And of course, who out of the Teen Wolf cast would still be close enough to Stiles/Jensen to let her be an auntie even when she's a spec ops soldier?

(Apparently there's a character in TW called Beth, I'm not sure who because I only watched the first couple seasons. This Beth is not that Beth.)

Work Text:

Clay was resting on the couch when Jensen bounced in, laptop open in her arms. Yes, bounced. She had way too much energy. Cougar was sitting at the dining table finishing up his lunch and didn't spare his mate more than a glance. Food was more important - they'd spent longer than expected on their last mission, and supplies had run dangerously low. The whole team was still building back up to full-sized meals now they were back in their shared house just off base.

"Dude, it's nearly one," Jensen grinned gleefully at Cougar, who raised an eyebrow back at her. "Bethie's calling soon! I finally got them to relent and put Skype on her computer."

That got a reaction - Cougar stood and took his food back to the kitchen, presumably to put it away for later. Roque and Pooch settled into the living room to listen in. Since becoming properly pack, Jensen would often babble about her niece. It was sweet, and the others knew that they'd probably be getting introduced during the video chat.

Soon enough the laptop chimed signalling an incoming call. Within seconds, a child's voice came through the speakers and the Losers heard Beth for the first time - five years old and apparently already inheriting the worst traits of her aunt.

"Hi Auntie Jen!"

"Hi kiddo, how are things?"

"I'm good, and - HOLA TIO COUGAR!" Beth practically screamed when she saw Cougar. The Clay and Roque both winced at the assault on their hearing, but Cougar just smiled.

"Hola, mija. Como estas?"

"Es... estoy... bien?"

"Good, mija. You've been practicing?"

"When I can. Tio, Daddy's taking us to California next month. Can you come too?"

"Why me?"

"Because I wanna go to the beach, but Daddy says I'm not allowed in the ocean until I can punch a shark in the face, but Auntie Jen says you won a knife-fight with a shark so if you're there he's gotta let me go in the ocean!"

Cougar sighed even as the rest of the Losers fought back laughter.

"Mija, I did not get into a knife fight with a shark."

"Auntie Jen said you won one?"

"Auntie Jen is prone to exaggeration," Cougar grumbled.

This was hilarious. None of the others had heard Cougar so vocal before - apparently you just needed to be under ten years of age to get him speaking. Jensen could also manage it, but she was often mentally childish so that probably answered that.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Jensen sounded like she was fighting back laughter as well.

"About this? Si."

"I just said what I remembered," Jensen sounded overly innocent, and Clay immediately thought bullshit. "There was you, a shark, some knives, and you're the one who walked away. Well, swam away."

"What does your Papa say?" Cougar apparently gave up on his mate and turned back to the computer.

"He said he'll bring his rifle. And if Ally comes she'll bring her crossbows."

"Nope," Jensen immediately shook her head. "Nopenopenope if she's bringing crossbows I'm not letting her near Tio Cougar."

"But she hasn't shot anyone in years!"

"Nope. Last time they met she tried to taze him."

"That may have been my fault," Cougar interjected. "I did not realise the chocolate was hers."

"...Yeah, fair enough," Jensen nodded. "Anyway! Want to meet my pack?"

"YEAH!" Beth yelled again, and Jensen brought her laptop over to where the rest of the pack was waiting.

"Guys, this is Beth, the most awesome little girl ever."

"Hi," Beth waved shyly. She was pretty adorable, Clay had to admit. Small for five, long hair so blonde it was almost white, and bright blue eyes. Her features were more angular than Jensen. In fact, there was no family resemblance that he could see between them.

"Bethie, this is my pack. Alpha Clay, that's Roque, and that's Pooch. He's a member of Team Awesome Human, like your Papa." The men all waved, knowing better than to disappoint the tiny child. Thankfully they weren't expected to do much. Jensen put the laptop on the coffee table, angled so Beth could see everyone on the couch, then skipped around to lean on the back of it. Cougar was, as always, by her side.

"Tio Cougar, I been practicing something else too," Beth spoke up, already regaining her courage.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, watch me!"

Beth closed her eyes for a moment, seeming to concentrate hard on something. When she opened them, Clay, Roque and Pooch all started in shock. Her eyes were glowing soft beta gold.

She was a werewolf, like them.

"Well done mija," Cougar said warmly.

"That's awesome!" Jensen was bouncing again, clearly excited. "You kick butt, Bethie!"

The little girl giggled as her eyes shifted back to normal.

"Can I see yours?" She asked, looking between all the weres. Cougar immediately complied. After a moment, so did Roque and Clay. It was strange, showing his wolfish side to someone not immediately pack (or about to die), but it was worth it for the way Beth smiled.

After that Jensen took the laptop back and wandered off to babble with her niece, the two talking about some TV show as they left.

"Tio Cougar, hey?" Pooch grinned at their sniper, who merely tilted his head in response as he settled into a living chair. "So is the kid part of your old pack?"

"No," Cougar frowned. "Beth is a born wolf. Her mama could not raise her, could not be a mother. She gave Beth to Jensen's friends instead. One of them is a born wolf also. They were close enough friends that Jensen became Auntie Jen. When we mated, Beth accepted me as her tio."

The references to Daddy and Papa suddenly made more sense, and Clay realised that Beth had been talking about two separate men. Deciding that part was none of his business, Clay instead mentally flipped through possible future missions. If they took that one... then depending on timing, they might all make it to California. After all, Clay wasn't going to risk getting between a baby werewolf and her beloved Tio. There might not be any blood between them, but Beth had clearly picked up Jensen's intelligence, and women were always to be treated with caution.

"Screw family relations," Roque finally spoke up. "I want to hear more about you fighting a shark."

Cougar groaned and tugged his hat down over his face, using his other hand to flip Roque the bird.

Jensen wandered back in to raucous laughter from the others, and smiled happily. She sat on the arm of Cougar's chair, happy to be close.

"Y'know," she started thoughtfully, "I always assumed that it'd be Chris who was overprotective and Peter who'd take a more natural-selection approach to child rearing. Never thought Chris'd be the voice of reason."

"Peter is born wolf," Cougar shrugged. "Nurturing instincts are strong, and he claimed the pup as his as soon as he met her."

"True." Jensen paused, then giggled. "I'm still never getting over Chris' ability to find baby werewolves. Remember Tahoe?" She glanced up at the others, and decided to elaborate. "These two werewolf kids were mad at their parents and decided to run away. They were tailed by two different Hunter families, and ran smack-first into Chris - possibly the one man on the entire West Coast who could not only give all chasing hunters the dressing-down of a lifetime, but also got them back to their pack without anyone getting killed."

"He is catnip for lost children," Cougar admitted.

"Nuh-uh," Jensen shook her head. "He's Chris Argent, the Werewolf Baby Fairy."

"I never want to live in your mind," Pooch muttered. Clay nodded fervently.

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