Love's Spiral

Stiles pulled his Jeep all the way up onto the lacrosse field. The boys had climbed out normally while Spencer waited until they opened the back door until she got out.

“So you really think she’s gonna come back to you?” Stiles asked Scott, referring to Allison.

“Yeah. I know she is.” Scott said confidently.

Spencer turned in her seat as Stiles opened the window hatch. She leaned her chin on her arms that rested on the seat back. “How can you be so sure?” Spencer asked.

Scott shrugged, grabbing his lacrosse stick. “It’s just one of those things that you just know.”

Spencer smiled thinking how cute he was for holding out for a girl. “Personally, she’s not my favorite person and I don’t really see the appeal, but you love who you love.” She turned her head towards Stiles as they continued to pull out their lacrosse gear. “What about you? I saw Lydia this morning.” Spencer informed. “She and Jackson still seemed pretty cozy.”

“Ah, well, the ten year plan for making Lydia fall in love with me may have to stretch to fifteen.” Stiles relented, grabbing his gym bag.

Spencer stood as well as she could in the back of the Jeep and climbed over the back seat.

Scott held out his hand to help her out of the trunk. “No hard feelings?” Scott asked. “About Gerard?”

Spencer shook her head. “We’re good.” She said, taking his hand and using it as leverage to climb out. She stood next to Stiles. “But you’re still trying, right? With Lydia?” Spencer brushed off her lap and straightened her shirt.

“Of course.” Stiles said quickly. “It’d be a cold day in hell when Stiles Stilinski stops trying.”

Spencer smiled at her friend.

“Why don’t you just ask her out?” Scott asked.

Stiles laughed and walked around the Jeep heading towards the goal. “Yeah, okay.”

“You know, maybe Scott has a point. Personally, if I were Jackson, I would want to get out of Beacon Hills. You don’t just come back from the dead without getting noticed.” Spencer explained. “Maybe you’ll have your shot.”

Stiles scoffed again. “Not happening.” He looked to Scott. “Why don’t you just get into the goal and help me make team captain, like you promised there, big guy.”

Spencer raised her brow. “Team captain? That’s bold, don’t you think?”

“I’m sorry, did you see me play in the last game?” Stiles asked. “I was fantastic.”

“You were also running on adrenaline from the anxiety of the night. I’m sure that was all pure luck.”

Stiles looked at her. “Thanks for that.”

“You know, if you really think you can make team captain, take a few laps around the field.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at Spencer. “You know, Scott and I have some actual work to do here, so if all you’re gonna do is criticise - ”

“Alright, I get it.” Spencer said, backing off. She went to sit on the bleachers. “Go ahead. Do your thing. I’ll be here.”

Scott made his way into the goal, laughing his way there. He turned around, twirling his stick in his hand. “Hey, you know what I just realized?” Scott asked. “I’m right back where I started.”

“What do you mean?” Stiles asked.

“I mean, no lacrosse, no popularity, no girlfriend. Nothing.”

“Dude, you still got me. And, well, Spencer I guess. I don’t know. It’s kind of weird between the two of you right now.”

Spencer smiled, crossing her ankles and leaning back onto the bench behind her.

Scott raised an eyebrow. “I had you before.”

“Yeah, and you still got me. Okay?” He pointed to his friend. “It’s a life fulfilled.”

“Oh, yeah!” Spencer added. “I’m pretty sure the original version of that Beatles song was ‘All You Need is Stiles,’ but Paul couldn’t get the others on board.”

Stiles pointed towards Spencer. “See, she knows what I’m getting at. You’re the genius of this operation.”

Spencer shook her head. “I thought you were supposed to be practicing?”

Stiles nodded, scooping a ball into his pocket. He looked to Scott. “Now, remember, no wolf powers.”

Scott nodded. “Got it.” He said dismissively.

“No, I mean it. No super fast reflexes, no super eyesight, no hearing. None of that crap, okay?” Stiles enforced.

“Okay. Come on.” He banged the metal of the goal on either side of him with his stick.

Stiles studied the ball he had in his stick and debated on how to throw it.

“Come on!” Spencer sat up to clap.

Stiles hesitated and looked to Scott. “You promise?”

“Would you just take the shot, already?”

Stiles nodded and turned his back to wind up the shot.

Scott turned to Spencer and flashed his eyes yellow, winking at her.

Stiles turned and threw the ball quickly, but Scott caught it. “I said no wolf powers!”

Spencer laughed, doubling over into her lap.

“That’s not even fair.”

“Technically he’s doing you a favor.” Spencer insisted. “If you wanna be awesome at this, you’d have to beat him. If you can get something past him, you can get something past anyone and you’re golden.”

“The other teams’ players don’t have super powers. I don’t need to be super good. Just good.”

Scott sighed. “Alright. This time is different. I promise. I won’t do it.”

“How am I supposed to trust you after that?”

“Just play!” Spencer pushed.

Stiles held a hand up to her. “Would you - ?”

“Do you want to be team captain or not?” She asked, raising a brow.

Stiles growled at her, but picked up another ball anyway, tossing it up and down in his own stick a few times before throwing it at Scott.

“Hey, can I ask you guys something?”

“Yeah.” Scott said.

“Shoot.” Stiles agreed.

“Have either of you heard from Erica? Or Boyd?” Spencer questioned. “They left the pack, but they haven’t called or texted me back since. I’m starting to get a little worried.”

Stiles dropped the ball from his net and leaned on the stick. “I, uh, I didn’t tell you?”

Spencer got to her feet taking a few steps towards Stiles. “Didn’t tell me what?”

“Last night, when Gerard took me, he kept me in the basement.” Stiles explained. “Boyd and Erica, they were there. Chained up and hooked up to electricity.”

“And you’re just telling me now?” She asked, dialing Erica’s number again.

“I just assumed Argent let them go. Gerard was the one that was holding them and now that he’s gone…”

Spencer groaned as the phone just continued to ring in her ear. “Why am I always the last to know things with you two?” She looked between them both. “You’re supposed to tell me things.”

Stiles shrugged. “It never came up until now.”

Spencer scoffed dialing Boyd’s number. “You don’t think I’d want to know if my pack is being held captive?”

“Look, Pence. We’re sorry.” Scott said. “I’m sure they’re fine.”

When Spencer received no answer from Boyd, she hung up her phone.

“If it makes you feel better, I was there last night. It was just Allison and her dad.”

Spencer slowly turned to Scott. “You swear?”

Scott nodded slowly. “They weren’t there.”

Spencer sighed. “So, we just don’t know where they are?”

“Isn’t that what they wanted?” Stiles asked.

Spencer shook her head. “They wanted out. I didn’t think that it meant isolating themselves and never speaking to us again.”

Stiles held out his lacrosse stick to her. “Do you wanna blow off some steam? I’m sure you could get something past Scott.”

Spencer shook her head again. “You need the practice. I’ll be fine.”

“Please, you’d be doing me a favor. I wanna see if someone can beat him.”

Spencer smiled at Stiles and reached out to take the stick. She adjusted her grip on it, getting used to the feel. Spencer never ever took part in the boys practicing lacrosse.

Stiles reached down to pick up a ball. “Here let me help.” He placed the ball into the pocket and took a couple steps away from her.

Spencer rolled her eyes. “Thanks.” She planted her feet, preparing for the toss. Before Scott could even blink, the ball was thrown and it hit him in the stomach.

Spencer dropped the stick and her hands flew to her mouth.

Scott crumbled to the ground, holding his stomach.

Stiles burst out laughing once he had realized what just happened.

“Oh my, God, Scott I am so sorry!” Spencer pleaded.

Scott held up a hand to tell her that it was okay. That he was okay.

“I didn’t break anything, did I?”

Scott coughed out. “Nope. I’m good.”

Spencer looked to Stiles. “Lacrosse is definitely not my sport.”

Stiles picked the stick up from the ground. “You’re definitely not trying out for the team.”

“No worries, Stiles. I couldn’t if I wanted to. I’m dropping out.”

“What?” Scott questioned.

“You’re actually going through with that?” Stiles asked.

Spencer nodded. “Yeah. I’m actually doing it.” She said, thinking of the alphas, but not mentioning them. “Derek needs me to focus right now on being stronger. I can’t even concentrate on school with everything that’s been going on.”

Scott stepped out of the goal. “But everything is done. We beat the kanima. Everything can go back to normal now.”

“Yeah, but - ”

Stiles interrupted Spencer. “Unless it’s not normal and you know something we don’t.”

Spencer shook her head instantly. “No, nothing.” She controlled her heart rate. But really she didn’t lie. Spencer really didn’t know anything about what was going on. All she knew were the alphas were in Beacon Hills, nothing more. Spencer didn’t even know if they were going to be a threat. “I don’t know anything.”

!@#$#@!

After Stiles was sufficiently practiced out, Spencer declined a ride from Stiles saying that she’d rather go on a walk. And after taking her walk through town, she finished with a run back to the hideout. When she opened the door, both Derek and Isaac get up from spots on crates in the main room, like they’d been waiting for her.

“We need to talk about the alphas.” Derek said.

“Not now. Something’s wrong.” Spencer insisted.

Derek furrowed his brow. “More wrong than the alphas?”

“You know how I’ve been worried about Boyd and Erica?”

Derek nodded slowly. “And this is worse than angry alphas?”

“We don’t know that they’re angry. We don’t even know that they’re after us.” Spencer shook her head to get back on track. “Evidently, my worrying isn’t for nothing. I have a good reason.”

“What did you see?”

“It’s not what I saw, it’s what I smelled. Or rather, didn’t smell. Anyway, Stiles told me that the Argents, well, Gerard was keeping Boyd and Erica in their basement chained up with electricity like Kate did to us. But Scott told me they weren’t there.” Spencer explained. “So, I walked by the house just to be sure - ”

“You went to the Argent’s alone?” Derek questioned, taking a step towards her.

“I didn’t go there. I just walked by.” Spencer groaned. “My point is, I followed the scent. Boyd and Erica did get out, but they didn’t get far. I managed to track them to the middle of the woods and then there was nothing. They just disappeared.”

Isaac laughed. “Well, they can’t just disappear, Spencer. Maybe you just lost the scent.”

“I didn’t lost the scent. It was gone. I went in every direction from that spot. I never picked it up again.”

Derek studied her, unsure.

Spencer looked to Derek. “Derek, you know how I work. Scent is my strong suit. There’s no way that I would just lose Erica and Boyd.”

“You’re right.” Derek agreed.

“If she’s right, then where are they?” Isaac asked.

“I don’t know.”

Spencer furrowed her brow, thinking. “Wait, what if we’re both right?”

“How could you both be right?” Isaac questioned.

“It’s the alphas.” Spencer insisted. “You told me once that experienced wolves can mask their scent so they can’t be detected. What if that’s why I lost their scent?”

Derek rubbed the back of his neck, apprehensively, realizing that she might be right again.

“It’s not just a coincidence that the alphas show up and Boyd and Erica go missing.”

“Are you sure they’re missing?” Isaac asked.

Spencer looked to him, inwardly cursing how difficult he was being. “Call them. I guarantee both of their phones go to voicemail.” Spencer turned back to Derek. “I know that doesn’t really prove anything, but it has to be something.”

“They left the pack.” Derek pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean they were ever gonna talk to us again. We’re still friends, right?” She asked Isaac. “You can’t tell me that you and Erica didn’t bond while trying to kill Lydia. Granted it’s not exactly going to dinner and a movie, but you two still got along. They’re still family.”

Derek nodded his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “Show me. Show me the spot in the woods and then I’ll make my decision.”

“You’re gonna see and smell the same things I did.”

Derek narrowed his eyes at her. “Did you forget I’m an alpha?” He flashed his eyes red.

Spencer scoffed. “Yeah. I also forgot how dramatic you are.”

Isaac chuckled.

“Just show me where the scent is.”

Spencer sighed, making her way back towards the stairs. “Alright, drama wolf.”

!@#$#@!

Derek was somewhat satisfied. He knew that with Erica and Boyd’s scent just disappearing at the spot that they really had gone missing. Problem was, he wasn’t at all sure where to start looking for the two betas.

Spencer sensed Derek’s stress. It filled her with twice as much stress. The alphas were here. And while Spencer and Derek didn’t know exactly what they wanted, them kidnapping Erica and Boyd wasn’t exactly a sign of good faith.

Derek crouched down in the dirt on the spot where their scent disappeared.

Spencer watched him as he studied the area around him. She leaned up against a nearby tree, wishing there was an easier way to do this. “I’m sorry.”

Derek furrowed his brow, looking up to her. “For what?”

“I picked them. I gave you their names. I recruited them and in a way that makes it my fault that we’re in this mess.” Spencer shrugged. “And if I had never made you bite me, maybe we’d have a way to find them. I would find them the same way I found you. Instead we’re just running around in circles, not sure where to go with nothing to go off of.”

“This isn’t your fault.” Derek promised.

Spencer sighed. “Maybe.” She bit her lip as Derek looked out into the trees. “It’s not yours either, you know.”

Derek didn’t answer.

“Derek?”

“Doesn’t matter anyway. Even if we could find them, I wouldn’t walk in there blind. We don’t know what we’re up against.”

“Do you know anything about the alphas? Maybe we don’t know what they want, but if we knew who they were, we could figure that part out.”

Derek shook his head.

“Derek, you have to tell me.”

“If I knew anything you would know, too.”

Spencer looked away for a second. “What about Peter?”

“What about Peter?”

Spencer shrugged. “Maybe he knows something.” She suggested. “Maybe your mom knew them, making it so Peter knew them too.”

Derek grumbled and shook his head.

“It’s worth a shot.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.”

!@#$#@!

Peter wasn’t able to tell them much, or he didn’t want to tell them anything. Either way, Spencer knew that they had to do something. They couldn’t sit around and wait for find out more about the alphas.

Isaac had gone out to do some tracking while Derek went through the papers left over from the house. Derek had told her about the computer Peter left at the house and she quickly volunteered to go through that.

After a couple of hours of looking, Spencer pushed the laptop off of her lap and onto Derek’s bed then rubbed her eyes. “I have been looking at this computer for hours and there doesn’t seem to be anything on it.”

“You’re not looking hard enough.”

Spencer scoffed. “No offense, Derek, but these files aren’t exactly written in code. It is straight-forward. My guess, is so that it was easier for the later generations, that would be us, to understand. There’s not much ‘reading between the lines’ that has to be done.”

Derek shook his head, dropping a large pile of papers into a trash bag.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be throwing things out just yet.” Spencer said.

Derek let out a quick breath, bent down and picked up the stack, showing Spencer that the papers were charred beyond repair.

“I stand corrected.”

“I just think if there was less to go through in the future, we’d find things easier.”

Spencer shrugged, grabbing ahold of her smartphone and going to the internet. “Maybe we should be coming up with our own way of storing this stuff. Like our own book or computer or thumb drive. Transcribe all that or make it electronic.” Spencer suggested. “We can combine your stuff with my stuff. Add to it when we find more.”

“Maybe.”

There was a silence between the two as Spencer seared for a few things. After a few minutes, she gasped.

“What?” Derek questioned.

“This looks promising.” Spencer said, holding her phone out to the alpha.

Derek walked over and squinted at the phone seeing a building in the warehouse district for sale. He scoffed. “I thought you were looking for stuff on the alphas.”

“I was. Then my eyes and my brain started to hurt. Besides, I think if the alphas were to come after us, we’d need a better security system or at least a second exit.”

Derek sat down on the edge of the bed and she scooted forward to be next to him. “How much?” Derek asked.

Spencer bit her lip. “A lot, actually.” She said, showing him the asking price.

“Whoa. Yeah.” He said.

“But, look, it’s an entire building. There’s a sort of loft with another floor that has a full kitchen and a couple of bedrooms. That’s not even counting the space underneath.”

“We don’t need that much space.”

Spencer shrugged. “You don’t know. Maybe we could use it for training or something.”

Derek took the phone from her. “Red, what are we gonna do with four floors?”

“We won’t need all four. Just the top two.” Spencer admitted. “We can rent out the others.”

“You mean, I can rent out the others.”

“Well, yeah.” Spencer laughed. “But you’d make a great landlord. You’re intimidating, kinda scary. Especially with all the noise that we’ll make.”

Derek looked to her, raising an eyebrow.

Spencer grinned. “I mean with the training!” She insisted, laughing. “Look, point is, they will be way too afraid to ever miss a payment.”

“Okay and what if someone breaks something? I’m not exactly a mechanic.”

Spencer shrugged. “There’s always google?”

Derek wasn’t buying it and he looked back down at the phone, scrolling through the page.

“Alright, fine. I’ll be able to handle all of that stuff.” Spencer told him. “I’m smart. I’ll read a book or something. I’ll handle the people stuff. You just get the money.”

Derek eyed the price again, sighing. “That’s almost everything I have.”

“I’ll help out when I can. Just promise me that you’ll think about it. This place practically has werewolf den written all over it.” Spencer said, showing Derek the sweetest smile that she could muster.

Derek looked to her and then shook his head. “I’ll have to see it before I say yes.”

“Of course! I can call the guy selling it, let them know we’re interested.”

Derek smiled. “Alright. I’ll think about it.”

Spencer cheered quietly and then jumped to her knees, wrapping her arms around Derek’s neck and kissing his cheek. She pulled away when Derek sat frozen on the bed. Spencer furrowed her brow. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Everything’s fine.”

Spencer shook her head. “You know I can tell that you’re lying. Even if I didn’t hear your heart, your eyebrow does this little twitch thing. It’s your tell.”

“My tell?” Derek questioned.

“It’s an automatic response. Something your body does subconsciously when you lie or are under stress.”

Derek eyed her. “What book are you reading right now?”

Spencer smiled, leaning back onto her heels. “I started this book on behavior analysis while I was with Scott and Stiles.”

“You were reading this for fun?”

“It’s informing!” Spencer insisted. “And it might be useful one day.”

Derek laughed quietly. “I would have picked on you in high school.” he said simply.

Spencer nodded. “I get that a lot.”

Derek continued to study her. He had thought about how she was the other night at the warehouse. With the kanima, she had become so relentless and strong. They had yet to talk about it, and he wondered if they ever would.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Spencer asked.

Derek nodded. “Yeah. Of course.”