Love's Spiral

Spencer walked through the hall, keeping to herself. She was walking to her locker before she had to brace herself and walk into Mr. Harris’s room to ask for some extra credit work. Not that her chemistry grade was bad, but after what happened a few weeks ago, she had been focusing more on Mr. Harris and what he was doing, rather than her work. Spencer knew that she should wait for Stiles to go with her, but he was working with Scott, and at this point, that was more important. They wouldn’t be able to deal with Scott if he couldn’t control himself. His whining about not being able to see Allison was already bad enough.

Spencer took a deep breath, before turning into the chemistry lab. There was another student in the room with their teacher. She let out a sigh of relief. He was tall, but slouched over as he spoke with Harris. His dark blond hair was curly and stuck up in certain places.

“Th-there has to be something that I can do.” The student begged. “I-I n-need a higher grade.”
Spencer bit her lip as she felt like she was interrupting a conversation that probably shouldn’t be overheard.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Lahey, but you should have thought of that earlier when you were failing my tests.” Harris responded.

Spencer shifted her bag further on her shoulder, since it was falling off. Her truck keys jostled inside, making a noise.

Both men looked in her direction, surprised to see another person standing there.

“I-I’m sorry for disturbing, Mr. Harris. I can come back later.” She said.

The boy’s face turned to a beet red.

“Absolutely not. What can I do for you, Spencer?”

“I was just wondering if I could get some extra credit. But apparently that’s not an option.” She said, gesturing to the boy. “I was trying for a 4.0 this semester and this is my lowest grade.”

Harris huffed in his chair. He couldn’t play favorites, but he knew he wanted to give her the extra credit. Harris sighed. “Alright. Here’s what we’ll do. If you can get Mr. Lahey’s grade up a couple letters, I can boost your grade.”

The boy moved to disagree, but Spencer smiled and answered for him. “Consider it down.” She said, confidently. She waved the boy along.

The boy hesitated, looking to Harris for a second.

“Mr. Lahey, is this unacceptable? I assure you, Spencer is very smart and will help you study. If you can make a ‘B’ or higher on your next test, it will significantly impact your grade.”

“No, it’s just -” the student started.

“Perfect.” Spencer assured their teacher. She walked over to the boy and grabbed his arm, pulling him from the classroom. “Thanks, Mr. Harris.” She called as they exited. She let out a breath when they were out of sight and earshot.

“Y-you don’t have to help me. I can do it myself.”

“But, see that’s where the problem is, Mr. Lahey.”

“Isaac.” He corrected.

“Isaac. I like that name.” she said, with a smile.

Isaac blushed a little.

“If I let you study on your own, and you keep your grades going the way they are, there’s no way that you’ll get above a ‘B’ on the next test. That results in me not getting my grade up. So you’re really doing me a favor.”

Isaac was suddenly aware that she was still holding his arm as they were stopped in the hallway. He looked down to it.

“Oh, sorry.” Spencer said, letting go. “So, when can we start?”

“Well, I have to work tonight.” Isaac said, shyly.

“Great, me too. What about tomorrow night?”

“I, uh, work then, too.”

“Sounds like you’re just avoiding the study session. Do I smell or something?” she asked.

“No.” Isaac said, suddenly. “No, I mean, you smell good. Not bad.” He blushed again.

“You don’t really spend a lot of time around girls, do you?” Spencer asked.

Isaac shrugged.

“Lucky for you, I only know how to act around guys. Girls are not my strong suit.” Spencer smiled. “Well, where do you work?”

“Over at the graveyard. Groundskeeper.”

“Creepy.” Spencer joked. “Well, I’m sure we could still study. Or I could help you get your stuff done and then we can have the rest of the time to study.” Spencer reached into her bag and ripped a piece of paper out of one of her notebooks.

Isaac watched as she scribbled something down on it.

“Well, Isaac.” She handed him the slip of paper.

Isaac noticed that a phone number was written on it.

“This is my number. Call me tomorrow, but know that even if you don’t, I will wait all night at the graveyard if I have to.”

Isaac nodded, taking the paper. As he reached for it, his sleeve rolled up a little bit, showing his watch. He looked at it, and his eyes widened when he noticed the time. “Oh, no.” he said, as he turned and scurried down the hallway.

“Isaac?” Spencer called, running down the hall to catch up to him. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m gonna be late. I’ll never make it across town.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. Just take the back roads. Main roads tend to have traffic.”

“I’m on my bike.” He turned to her, as he kept running.

Spencer wore that he heard him mumble something about a freezer. She sighed. “Isaac, look. I’ll give you a ride, alright?”

Isaac stopped and turned to face her abruptly, making Spencer crash herself into him.

“Sorry.”

He nodded.

“We can put your bike in the back of my truck. I’ll drive you.”

“Are you sure?”

Spencer nodded. “Sure. The animal clinic is that way anyway. I don’t mind.” she said, placing a hand on his upper arm to comfort and reassure him. Spencer knew that he showed a little smile when he nodded. She led him out to her truck after he got his bike. She noticed Stiles and Scott on the side of the school.

Stiles was walking alongside a car with his keys against it.

“Oh, my god.” She said, aloud.

“What?” Isaac questioned, after his bike was safe in the back of her truck. He tried to follow her line of sight, but she turned away too quickly. “Everything okay?”

Spencer nodded. “C’mon, let’s go.”

!@#$#@!

Spencer drove herself to the animal clinic after dropping Isaac off. When she got there, she noticed that Derek’s car was sitting in the parking lot. She furrowed her brow and talked aloud to herself. “What is he doing here?” she groaned. Spencer quickly parked her truck and pushed herself out of it and into the clinic. When she got to the back examination room, she saw Deaton sitting in a chair, passed out, tied up with a gash on his face. “Derek, what the hell are you doing?!” she screamed at him and she hurriedly went to check out the marks on the doctor’s face.

“He knows something.”

“He doesn’t know anything.” she stressed, lying through her teeth and controlling her heart rate, just like Deaton taught her to.

Deaton always told her not to give up his secret to anyone. That’s why Scott and Stiles didn’t know about her lessons with him.

“He’s just a vet.” “Spencer said, standing up in front of Derek. Even though he towered over her, she held her ground, defending her boss, who was really more like a friend. “You’re just too worried about your own ass to care what he has to say. I bet he even told you he didn’t know anything.”

“Yeah, and he lied. I listened to his heartbeat, Spencer. He’s either the alpha or he knows who is.”

“He is not the alpha, Dere! Why don’t you ever listen to me?!”

Derek opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he groaned grabbed the material he had used to tie Deaton’s hands together and pushed Spencer to the ground.

“Derek, stop! What are you doing?”

Derek tied her hands together behind her and then moved to her legs.

Spencer didn’t go without a fight though as she managed to kick him a few times in the stomach.

Derek wouldn’t stop though.

Spencer was left on the floor in a tangled mess.

“Oh, God.” Deaton gasped, waking up and taking in his surroundings.

“Doctor Deaton?” Spencer questioned, from the corner.

“Spencer, get out of here.” He told her.

“Well, I’d love to, but I’m a little tied up right now. No thanks to this psychopath.”

“Are you protecting someone?” Derek asked, ignoring the snarky comment from Spencer.

“Alright.” Deaton struggled, still trying to get his breath to normal. “The, uh, key to the drug lover is in my pocket.”

“I don’t want drugs.” Derek said, grabbing Deaton at the neck, and leaning down to get in his face. “I want to know why you’re lying.”

Deaton was either really good at playing scared or he was scared and didn’t know who the alpha was. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“See, Derek.” Spencer said. “He doesn’t know. Can you just let him go, please? Let me go. You’re better than this, Derek.” She begged.

Derek glared at her and spun the chair around. He lifted it, and the man in the chair, up into the air, bringing it to Derek’s own eye level.

“What are you doing to me?” Deaton cried. “What do you want?”

“Derek, let him go!” Spencer shouted, but he didn’t listen.

“I want to know who you are or who you’re protecting.”

Spencer heard footsteps enter the clinic. She looked towards the entrance to see Scott.

“What are you doing?!” he shouted.

Spencer sighed in relief. “Oh, thank god.”

“Scott, get out of here!” Deaton called over his shoulder.

Derek slammed the chair back to the ground and punched the doctor in the face, knocking him out.

“Stop!” Scott shouted. “Stop!”

“Look, when he’s conscious, he can keep himself from healing, but unconscious he can’t.” Derek shouted at Scott.

“Are you out of your mind? What are you talking about?”

“You wanna know what the spiral means, Scott? It’s our sign for a vendetta, for revenge. It means he won’t stop killing until he’s satisfied.”

“You think he’s the alpha?” Scott questioned, bewildered.

“We’re about to find out.” Derek said, nodding. He brought his claws out and his hand up as he moved to swipe Deaton across the face.

Scott though, surprising both Derek and Spencer, seemed to control his wolf and shift quickly, stopping the older wolf. Scott growled and pushed Derek’s hand away.

Derek seemed almost scared as he backed away from Scott.

Scott looked down at his hand noticing that he was wolfed out. He then focused focused on it and changed back. Scott looked up from under his lashes. “Hit him again, and then you’ll see me get angry.” Scott warned. Scott quickly moved passed Derek and over to Spencer. He used his nails to untie her.

Spencer breathed a sigh as she was able to move her wrists again. “How did you learn to do that?”

“Keyed a guy’s car.”

“Yeah, saw that. Wasn’t exactly the smartest idea, was it?”

“Not really.” Scott agreed, pulling Spencer up to her feet. He walked over to Deaton to start cleaning up his face.

Spencer looked at her hand and felt the feeling that Scott had during Econ. She channeled it and forced it out. She checked her nails, seeing that claws had replaced them, and walked in front of Derek to slap his across the face, leaving a few slash marks along his cheek. “If you ever tie me up again, I will make sure that it is the last thing that you do.” She threatened.

Derek scoffed. “What are you gonna do? Scratch me to death?”

“You have no idea of the amount of spells that I know that could have you drop like a fly.” She said, between her teeth.

Derek swallowed nothing nervously, a little scared, but nodded anyway.

Spencer pulled herself onto the metal table to sit down.

Derek was pacing behind her as Scott continued to clean up Deaton’s face. He huffed and walked to Scott’s side. “Do you have a plan?”

“Yeah, I’d like to know that, too.” Spencer chimed.

Scott groaned. “Just give me an hour.”

“Then what?” Derek asked.

Scott looked up to Derek and then to Spencer. He sighed. “Meet us at the school. In the parking lot.”

Derek shook his head and left the room for a minute.

Spencer joined Scott at his side. “What are we gonna do at the school?”

!@#$#@!

After driving to Stiles’ house to pick him up, all three drove to the school in Stiles’ Jeep.

Spencer wasn’t exactly excited about being at the school this late at night. It was creepy since no one was there, but she knew that things needed to be cleared up quickly before Deaton’s secret got out sooner than he wanted. Spencer got out of the Jeep and shoved her hands in her jean’s pockets.

The three convened at the back of the Jeep.

“This is a terrible idea.” Stiles told Scott.

“Yeah, I know.” Scott responded.

“But we’re still gonna do it?”

“Can you think of something better?”

“Well, personally, I’m a fan of ignoring a problem until eventually it just goes away.” Stiles said sarcastically.

“This is the only way to clear Deaton’s name. He’s not the alpha.” Spencer insisted.

“Just make sure that we can get inside.” Scott ordered.

Stiles opened his back hatch and pulled out some bolt cutters as Derek pulled up in his Camaro. Stiles looked to Spencer and he saw her roll her eyes. “You alright?” he asked.

“Hate Derek.” She grumbled.

Stiles nodded with a smile. “Good.” He admitted.

“Where’s my boss?” Scott asked Derek when he climbed out of his car.

“He’s in the back.” Derek said, as if it were obvious. He opened the passenger side door to show the teenagers.

Stiles scoffed. “Oh, he looks comfortable.”

Scott pat Stiles on the arm to hurry him into the school.

Spencer didn’t noticed and looked shocked as the two were walking into the school leaving her alone with Derek.

Derek looked from them to Spencer and back again. “Hey, where are you going?” he questioned, not wanting to be left alone with the redhead.

“You said I was linked with the alpha.” Scott said, thinking that was a good enough explanation as to why he was leaving the two of them alone. “I’m gonna see if you’re right.”

“Uh…” Spencer started, wondering what she was supposed to do.

“Stay here.” Stiles told her. “Watch him.”

Spencer narrowed her eyes at her friend, not really wanting to obey.

Stiles leaned forward, quickly kissing her. “We’ll be right back.” He assured as he turned to follow Scott into the school.

Spencer groaned and watched them break into the school before she went to sit on the bumper of the Jeep. She wasn’t looking at Derek or his car, but sending glares all around him. She was trying to think of any spell that could be useful to her in case Derek decided to try something more with Deaton.

“If it matters -” Derek started but he was interrupted by Spencer.

“It doesn’t.” Spencer barked, sending a harmful glare in Derek’s direction.

“I’m sorry.” He continued anyway. “I didn’t want you getting in my way.”

“No, I suppose you didn’t. Seeing as that’s how it always is. If something is in your way, you just toss it out like it doesn’t mean anything to you.”

Derek sighed and moved to lean on the back of the Jeep next to Spencer. “This isn’t all about you, you know?”

“It never was.”

“It was. Before that night. Everything was keeping you safe.”

“You should have come to me. The second you were shot. You should have come to me.”

“If I came to you alone, you wouldn’t have known what to do.”

“I would have figured it out. I helped, didn’t I? Got Stiles to bring you somewhere. Scott to get the bullet. And you just pushed me away.”

“To protect you.”

“Shut up, Derek.” Spencer sneered, not believing him. Everything was always about saving his own ass. The two sat in silence, Spencer channeling the emotions from class earlier just in case Derek decided she was in the way again.

Suddenly, there was a shrill noise coming from the intercom of the school. Spencer realized that this was Scott attempting to howl.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Derek said, aloud.

Spencer brought her hand up to her mouth to quiet her laughter.

Derek looked down at her with a smirk, seeing her break down her angry wall, if only for a moment.

A couple moments later, there was another howl. Only this one sounded more real. It frightened Spencer a little bit and she wrapped her arms around herself.

Derek stood up straight and went on alert, looking around. He walked past Spencer and looked behind them at the school.

Spencer could almost feel the ground shaking underneath her.

Scott and Stiles came out minutes later, with broad smiles on their faces.

Spencer shook her head at her friends, but joined Stiles by his side anyway.

“I’m gonna kill both of you.” Derek threatened, pointing in their direction. “What the hell was that?” he asked. “What are you trying to do? Attract the entire state to the school?”

“Hate to say this, but Derek’s right. That was kind of a dumb move.”

“Sorry.” Scott apologized. “I didn’t know it would be that loud.”

“Yeah,” Stiles agreed, wrapping an arm around Spencer’s shoulders, “it was loud. And it was awesome.” He said in a sing-song tone.

“Shut up.” Derek ordered.

“Don’t be such a sour wolf.” Stiles told Derek.

Scott put his hand on Stiles’ arm to stop him from antagonizing Derek.

“What did you do with him?” Scott asked. looking into Derek’s car.

“What?” Derek questioned. Derek turned around to look into his car.

Deaton was gone.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“He didn’t.” Spencer defended. “We were both right here.” She looked at her two friends. Spencer turned back when she heard a deep growl coming from Derek’s direction. She looked just in time to see a large wolf-like create impale Derek with its set of claws. “Derek!” She shouted, stepping forward, but Scott pulled her back.

Derek was lifted into the air and blood spurted from his mouth.

“No!” Spencer screamed when Scott picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, running into the school.

Inside the school, Scott placed her on the ground and helped Stiles hold the door closed.

Spencer didn’t realize it until now, but she was crying. She stood up and walked to the door, looking out the window. “He’s gone.”