Find It In Our Hearts / by Regann (PG-15)

Title: Find It In Our Hearts
Author: Regann 
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairings: Derek/Stiles, past Derek/Kate Argent
Genre: AU, kid!fic, case!fic
Length: Long (Words: 73,014 and counting)
Warnings: this fic addresses the abuse aspects of the canon Derek/Kate history leading up to the fire and it deals with psychological abuse of a child by the more psychopathic members of the Argent family - neither is dealt with graphically but it's a major recurring element to the story

Author's Summary:
Kate Argent had a lot of secrets, some of which she took to the grave. When one of them shows up on Chris Argent's doorstep in the form of Kate's five-year-old daughter, it's not long before more to come to light -- namely, that Kate's crimes against Derek Hale didn't begin and end with the murder of his family. It's no surprise that as soon as Derek learns about his daughter's existence, he decides that nothing will keep him from claiming the only family he still has in the world. Stiles finds himself firmly in the middle of the Hale-Argent family drama, slowly growing more certain of his feelings for Derek and ever more sure of the inevitable heartbreak they'll bring.

Review:
This story as a whole is really sweet (as most kid!fic is) and manages to be a lot like canon when it comes to dealing with the main case too.  I think there are characterization problems - in particular: Stiles.  I just don't think Stiles would really know what to do with a 5 year old girl and his crush on Derek... frankly, I could do without the swooning.  It's not terrible though and I'm probably more of a stickler for characterization than most fans so YMMV.  What I really like best about this fic though is how it deals with the darker aspects of some things canon has only just touched on (see the Warnings above).  This fic picks up after the end of Season 2 with a little girl showing up at Allison's and takes on the issue of Kate's 'relationship' with Derek prior to the Hale fire in that light.  I don't like that canon took something completely awful in Derek's backstory and treated it as just a throwaway fact to give Mr Tall-and-Dark the fan trifecta with adding Broody as well.  Kate Argent did a number on him and that really could have been handled better.  This fic tries to fix that.

Find It In Our Hearts (on AO3)