Love's Spiral

The whole way back to the subway station was spent in silence. Spencer didn’t like it much, but she couldn’t confront Derek now about what’s happening. The last thing she wanted was for him to be angry behind the wheel and start driving even more recklessly than he already did. Upon arriving back at the subway station, Derek walked straight towards his train car, not acknowledging Isaac and Boyd.

Spencer sighed, realizing his temper was flared. She pushed her hair out of her face and looked to the boys. “Derek’s upset. You should probably go. Can Isaac stay with you tonight?” She asked Boyd.

Boyd nodded.

“When do you think it’ll be safe to come back?” Isaac asked.

“Give me the night. I’ll help him figure a few things out.” Spencer explained. “A lot of crap went down tonight.”

Isaac took a step towards her, giving her a hug. “You look like hell.”

Spencer scoffed. “Thanks for the compliment?”

“I’m just saying.” Isaac pulled away. “You looked like you needed that.”

“Thanks. I did.” Spencer looked at Boyd who seemed to be snickering behind Isaac. She blushed and looked back at Isaac. “Make sure you don’t get caught.”

“Make sure you don’t get killed.” He said, looking towards Derek’s train car.

“You gonna make that joke every time you leave me alone with him?”

Isaac nodded. “Probably.”

Spencer rolls her eyes at him. “I’ll see you guys later.” She says to the boys as they make their way up the stairs. Once they’re out of sight, Spencer turns towards the train cars and sees Derek coming out of his and moving towards hers. She furrowed her brow and joined him in her car. He started moving a few things around. “What are you doing?”

“Where’s your book?” Derek asked.

“Why?”

“So that we can find out what this thing can do.”

“Alright, take a breath first.”

“I can’t. We need to figure this out!”

“I know, Derek!” Spencer shouted back.

Derek paused, surprised by her outburst.

“I know, okay? We’re all stressed out. And you keep pushing your stress onto all of us and it doesn’t solve anything.” Spencer waited, thinking Derek would say something to her. When he didn’t, she continued. “I think we need to slow down and think over everything thoroughly. Maybe figuring out who it is can help us figure out what it’s doing.”

Derek stood up straight and took a deep breath, pursing his lips. “Any ideas?”

“There’s Jackson.”

Derek furrowed his brow. “Nothing happened to Jackson.”

“That we know of. This bite is either supposed to turn you or kill you, right?” She questioned, receiving a nod from Derek. “Well, Jackson’s not dead. And that night when you told me to check up on him, he looked close to it. That night, I gave him this weird stuff that I had made with Deaton. Jackson showed up at school the next day, good as new.”

“Are you saying that you might have been the one to do this to him?”

“I’m saying that whatever I gave him, might have saved him. It might have changed him into something else.”

“So what do we do?”

Spencer looked at him, confused. “You’re asking me?”

“You seem to have a lot more of it figured out.” He pointed out.

Spencer thought for a moment, staring at Derek nervously. “You’re sure?”

Derek raised a brow and nodded. “You’ve got the reigns on this one.”

“Alright.” Spencer paused, taking a deep breath and letting it out quickly. “We’ll need some of its venom.”

“Why?”

“Well, it’s kind of like a snake, right?”

“And a snake can’t be poisoned by its own venom.” Derek recalled.

Spencer nodded, pulling her phone from her pocket. She sent a quick text Boyd asking him and Isaac to stop by the school. “We need to test it on Jackson. Maybe even Lydia. Since nothing happened to her either.”

“And if it is Jackson or Lydia?” Derek asked. “Are you willing to do what it takes to get rid of it?”

Spencer bit her lip, eyes not leaving her phone. She knew that question shouldn’t be an easy one to answer. Spencer sighed, thinking about it.

“Even if it means killing one of them?”

Spencer looked at him through her long lashes. “It’s murdering people. Innocent people.” She clarified. “And it’s hurting my friends. I will do anything to make it stop.” Spencer’s phone chimed, signalling she’d received a text message.

“What is that?” Derek asked.

“Boyd and Isaac. They’re running by the school to see if they can find any venom traces.” Spencer said, texting a quick thanks to them. When she looked up at Derek he was taking a step towards her. Reflexively she took her own steps back.

“No, don’t move.” Derek said. “I’m not gonna hurt you. Just stand still.”

Spencer furrowed her brow, confused, but she remained still when Derek closed the gap between them.

Derek put one on the side of her face and kissed her forehead, smoothing out the crease her confusion made. When he pulled away, he’d noticed Spencer’s cheeks were a bright pink. “Thank you.” He said.

“F-for what?”

“For helping to keep me alive today. Always looking out for my best interests even when I’m an asshole and don’t deserve it.”

Spencer shook her head, moving to sit on the blowup mattress she used as her bed. “Derek, you’re my alpha. I kinda have to be on your side.”

“No, you don’t.” Derek shrugged, sitting himself next to her. “But you are.” He leaned forward, leaning his elbows against his knees.

Spencer laughed once, “You know that not everyone is out to get you, right? Me, especially. I’ve always been on your side.” She looked to his expressionless face.

Derek didn’t look in her direction.

“Well except for that time when you went on your crazy uncle’s side. But every other time I was totally there for you.”

Derek laughed and shook his head.

Seeing Derek with his angry wall down, made Spencer smile. “You just need to try seeing things from the other side. Other people aren’t all that bad.”

Derek nodded. He pushed himself off of Spencer’s bed and moved to the doorway. “Thank you.”

Spencer nodded, and stopped him from leaving. “Hold on.” She said, getting up and moving to her bookbag. Spencer pulled out her family book, disguised as a small notebook, from the side pocket and held it out to Derek. “You can look through it, if you want.”

Derek took the book from her and took a step out of her train car. “Thanks.”

Spencer nodded, biting her lip as she watched him go back to his own car. She let out a breath when he was out of sight, making her bangs fly away slightly. She turned her back from the open doorway of her train car. Spencer knew that she and Derek had a complicated relationship. She knew that even if they had started something it would just get even more complicated now that she was his beta. There was also part of her that didn’t really care.

“Hey, Red!” Derek called.

Spencer quickly left her train car meeting Derek halfway, “Yeah?”

“I was just, uh…” Derek stumbled, leaning out of his car.

“Did you need help navigating the book.”

“No. Well, yes, but no.” He quickly took a few strides towards Spencer and grabbed her face between his hands, pulling it to his, crashing their lips together.

Spencer nearly whimpered into the kiss, grabbing onto the lower half of his shirt, pulling him closer to her.

Derek’s hands raked through her long red locks as they made their way down her body, grabbing her waist. Derek’s kisses furiously came while Spencer’s hands made their way up to clasp together around his neck.

Spencer jumped up and Derek caught her, wrapping her legs around him.

Derek walked them into his train car and threw Spencer on his bed. He climbed over her quickly, hovering, not quite touching her anywhere but where their lips were connected. Both were breathing heavily between kisses. Derek took one of his hands and slowly coasted it down her body from her neck to her thigh, resting it there and pulling it up to meet his side.

Spencer’s breath hitched in her throat, nerves settling in. She tried to push herself backwards to get out from under him. “D-Derek, wait.” She struggled against his hold.

Derek noticed her nervousness and immediately pushed himself off of her kneeling on the edge of his bed. He stared at her like a deer in headlights as she quickly folded herself up in a seated position with her legs pulled up to her chest. “What?” Derek questioned. “Red, what’s wrong?”

“N-nothing.” Spencer insisted.

“Red, c’mon.” Derek practically begged. “What happened?”

“Nothing!” Spencer said forcefully.

Derek moved to sit next to her at the head of the bed. He sighed. “I’d never make you do anything you didn’t want to do.”

“I know. That’s not my problem.”

“Then what is?”

Spencer looked to Derek and then hid her face between her knees.

“Spencer. Talk to me.”

Spencer took a deep breath. “It’ll change things.” She said finally. “I don’t want anything between us to get worse.”

“Things are bad between us?” Derek asked.

“Well, not bad, really. But confusing. I feel...very strongly about you. And it’s really hard to feel this way about you and have you kiss me like you do, not knowing how you feel about me. And then you’re a completely different person when we’re around the others.”

“I can’t show weakness.”

“You can around me.” Spencer told Derek. “You can tell me that you’re frustrated and that you’re scared.”

“You are the last person I can be weak around.”

Spencer furrowed her brow. “What? Why?”

“You are just as scared as I am, if not more. I can’t show you that I’m afraid of this thing. I can’t tell you that I’m afraid we won’t beat this. Because if you don’t think that I can beat this, then I know I can’t.” Derek admitted. “You have this blind faith in me. I don’t know why you trust me like you do, but it’s what makes me think that I can do this.”

Spencer looked up at him. She swallowed the small lump in her throat that had built up and took a breath. “Well, Derek Hale, I hope you’re ready to kick some kanima ass, because if anyone can beat this, it’s you. With my help. And Isaac’s and Erica’s, Boyd’s. Everything will be back to normal. And it’ll be your doing.”

Derek smiled and looked down, hiding the expression from Spencer.

“I don’t want to say this to freak you out, or anything, because I don’t think I mean it the way it’s normally said, but I love you.”

Derek’s eyes immediately met hers, confused and looking a little scared.

“Right now, it’s not in that gross romantic kind of way, but it’s my way of showing you that I’m here. And when you feel alone, which I’m sure you often do, you shouldn’t. Because I’m here for you.”

Derek put his hand on the side of her face and kissed her softly, but passionately. “Thank you.”

!@#$#@!

Derek and his betas, aside from Erica, were waiting for Erica to come back from getting Jackson. They were scattered throughout the main room of the underground subway station, not really sure how this was supposed to work. Everyone had their hopes, but no one was really one hundred percent confident in Spencer’s plan.

“You’re sure this is gonna work?” Isaac asked, walking over to lean against the stairs.

Spencer lifted her eyes from her hands to look at him. “Of course.” Spencer said, her voice wavering like she wasn’t sure.

Isaac raised an eyebrow at her.

Spencer groaned. “Right now it’s all we’ve got to go on. I mean, I don’t see you coming up with any bright ideas.”

“True.” Isaac said, hearing the door upstairs open.

Erica holds on to Jackson’s arm behind his back as she forces him down the stairs.

Isaac looks to Spencer, who nods at him to help her hold Jackson down. The boy reaches for Jackson’s other arm and holds him in front of Derek who is concentrating on the piece of jagged glass in his hands.

“What happened to you on the night of the full moon?” Derek asked Jackson.

“What?” Jackson questioned. “Nothing. Nothing happened.”

Derek looked up at Jackson. “You’re lying.” Derek puts the glass on his leg and reaches for the leather gloves he had sitting next to him.

“No, wait!” Jackson exclaimed, not sure what Derek was doing. He struggled against Erica and Isaac’s hold. “I can… I can prove it.”

Derek tilted his head to the side curiously, moving to his feet.

“I taped myself.” Jackson clarified, earning snickers around the room.

Isaac laughed, looking from Derek to Jackson. “You taped yourself?”

“Yes. It was the full moon.” Jackson insisted. “And maybe while you were curled in the corner having an existential crisis about turning into a monster, I was preparing for the so-called gift your big, bad alpha promised me.”

Spencer took a step towards Jackson. “Hey, back off!”

“And then there was this one, who decides out of the goodness of her heart to ‘ease my pain’ with some green goo crap that didn’t help anything.” Jackson remarked sarcastically.

Spencer drew out her claws and took another step towards Jackson, but Derek had grabbed her arm to stop her.

“But what did it get me? Nothing!” Jackson calmed a bit, turning to Derek. “You want proof? Let me get the video.”

Derek looked like he was thinking about it for a moment. Then he shook his head. “No. I have a better idea.” He said, motioning towards the piece of mirror in his hands.

“What is that?” Jackson asked, afraid. He fought hard against Erica and Isaac, but he couldn’t free himself.

The two betas managed to get him on his knees to make him easier to manipulated. Isaac held open Jackson’s mouth as Derek walked towards them.

“You know, Jackson,” Derek started, “You’ve always been kind of a snake… And everyone knows a snake can’t be poisoned by its own venom.” Everyone watched as Jackson struggled to get loose. Derek tilted the mirror piece down, angling it towards Jackson’s open mouth. The venom touched Jackson’s tongue and Erica and Isaac dropped him to the floor.

Jackson was paralyzed.

“It’s not Jackson.” Spencer stated, looking at the others who didn’t seem happy.

Derek looked to her and took a deep, angry breath. He walked towards Jackson, squatting down next to his unmoving figure. “You’re still a snake, Jackson, just not the one we’re looking for.” Derek looked to Spencer before he stood and walked to his train car.

“What do we do now?” Isaac asked.

Spencer thought for a second, looking at her friend. She smiled when she got an idea. “We use him.”

Isaac furrowed his brow and watched as Spencer leaned down to talk to Jackson.

“I know you remember your conversation about Isaac with the sheriff.” Spencer told him. “Well, you were wrong. So, Jackson, you’re gonna have to do something for us.”

A corner of Isaac’s mouth turned up as he caught on. “Well, actually, for me.”

!@#$#@!

The next morning, after Spencer was dressed for school, the redhead went to make sure that Isaac was up as well. She entered his train car, seeing him sitting on his bed, nervously fidgeting with his hands. Spencer took in his appearance. Seeing him wearing a leather jacket was certainly a change for her. “You’re starting to dress like him.” Spencer joked.

Isaac, who hadn’t realized she was standing at his doorway, turned around. “Who?”

“Derek.”

“Not really.”

“I’m not sure the leather suits you.” Spencer said, walking around his bed to sit next to him on it. “I liked you better in hoodies.”

Isaac shrugged. “I’m just trying to embrace my new self-confidence. Like Erica did.”

“I know. I get it. I mean, I never used to wear dresses and now look at me.” She smiled, gesturing to the yellow dress she had chosen for that day.

Isaac smiled a little bit, but it quickly faded.

Spencer sighed. “Alright, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

Isaac debated for a second on whether or not to talk to her. He knew Spencer though, and in the short time that he had, Spencer had always been there for him. “I’m gonna be okay, right?”

“Of course.” Spencer said, putting a hand on his back. “We’re gonna protect you.”

“I don’t mean like that. I mean, at school. Things are different now.”

“Nothing’s different, Isaac.” Spencer insisted. “Jackson went in to talk to the sheriff this morning. You’ve been cleared of all charges.”

“I don’t want people to stare at me when I go in.”

“You gonna be looked at weird, kid. No one’s ever seen you play the tough kid card. I know that being locked behind bars sometimes gives people a whole new attitude about life, but you were only there for a few hours.”

“They all think I’m a murderer.”

Spencer sighed. “Maybe they will, but you know you’re not. So, ignore them. Walk in there like a badass. Like you own the place. We’ve got to nail this thing with Lydia. There can’t be any distractions.”

Isaac nodded.

“You ready?” Spencer asked after a moment. Spencer stood and Isaac followed. “You wanna drive today?” Spencer asked as they stepped outside of Isaac’s car, throwing him the truck keys.

Isaac caught them and smiled.

“I’ll be right there.” As Isaac disappeared up the stairs, Spencer strolled into Derek’s car. “We’re leaving.”

Derek nods. “You got the rest of it?” He asked walking towards her.

“Yup.” She pulled a small bottle out of the pocket of her skirt. “You’re coming by the school, right?”

“Yeah. I’ll be there later.” Derek was inches from her.

“You gonna kiss me goodbye?” Spencer smirked.

“Mhm.” Derek said, ducking his head down and capturing her lips. “You’re wearing yellow.” He pointed out.

“Because I know you like it.” She pulled away a moment later. “Isaac’s waiting upstairs. I gotta go.”

“Don’t forget.” Derek said to her. “Testing Lydia is important.”

“I know.” Spencer smiled. “I got it.”