Love's Spiral

Spencer had moved from her spot on the floor to stand in front of where Isaac sat on a metal table. She could tell that Isaac was at war with himself. Thankful he had figured out where he’d found the other betas, but worried that he’d hurt Spencer and found Erica dead.

Stiles stood next to Spencer, both leaning on the table.

Derek had been pacing back and forth in the small room as they all tried to wrap their minds around what Isaac said.

Spencer shook her head. “Are you sure he said Erica?” She asked, looking to her right at Stiles.

Stiles nodded.

Spencer took a deep breath in and exhaled quickly. “So…” She swallowed, reaching her hand back to have the small amount of contact with Isaac. “Erica is - ”

Derek groaned. “She’s not dead!” He insisted.

“Derek…”

Derek stopped pacing and crossed his arms over her chest.

Stiles looked between Derek and Isaac. “Isaac said, exactly, ‘there’s a dead body. It’s Erica’. Doesn’t exactly leave us much room for interpretation.”

Derek took an angry step forward. “Then who was in the vault with Boyd?”

“Someone else obviously.”

Scott finally chose to butt in. “And maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle.” He looked back at Isaac. “Okay, the one who saved you?”

Isaac shook his head. “No, she wasn’t like us. And whoever was in that vault with Boyd was.”

“What if that’s how Erica died?” Stiles suggested. “They, like, pit them against each other during the full moons and see which one survives. It’s like werewolf thunderdome.”

Spencer scoffed. “Even for a pack of alpha werewolves that’s a little inhumane. I hope we never reach that level of crazy.”

Derek tightened his jaw. “Then we need to get them out. Tonight.”

Deaton had been listening from across the room and turned his head to include himself. “Be smart about this, Derek. You can’t just go storming in.”

“If Isaac got in, then so can we.”

Spencer shook her head. “But Isaac didn’t get into the vault. He only heard Boyd’s voice. He never saw them.”

“We need a plan.” Scott said.

Stiles nodded and pulled out his phone.

“How are we gonna come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than twenty-four hours?” Derek asked.

“Uh, I think someone already did.” Stiles studied his phone.

Spencer leaned over to read over his shoulder.

This halted Stiles just briefly as he became overwhelmed by her closeness. He read the article, still. “‘B-Beacon Hills First National closes its doors three months after vault robbery’. It doesn’t say, here, how it was robbed, but it probably won’t take long to find out.”

“How long?” Derek questioned.

“It’s the internet, Derek.” Stiles laughed. “Okay? Minutes?”

“Are you sure you can figure it out?” Spencer asked.

Stiles looked to Scott and nodded. “Yeah. We got it.”
“Good.” Spencer nodded. “We should go, though. Isaac needs to rest.”

“Spencer, I’m fi - ”

Spencer shot Isaac a hard look, making him stop talking.

Stiles hit the sleep button on his phone and looked to Spencer nervously. “Actually, I wanted to tell you something, real quick. Can you spare a minute?”

Spencer looked over at Derek and he nodded. She smiled. Spencer pushed herself off of the table and looked to Isaac. “You and Derek should go out to the car.”

Isaac nodded, getting off the table. He held the arm that he knew he’d hurt, he looked at it, worried.

“I’m okay.” Spencer said. “I promise.”

Isaac showed a small smile and kissed her forehead before following Derek out of the room.

Spencer looked to Stiles, but he was looking to Scott, giving the wolf a look to ask him to leave.

“Uh, right.” Scott said. He looked to Deaton. “Doc, would you mind showing me the, uh...the thing that you wanted to show me.”

Deaton laughed at Scott’s attempt to be subtle. “Sure.”

Spencer furrowed her brow at Stiles once everyone was gone. “What’s going on?”

“Well, I wanted to be the one to tell you, because this is not something you wanna hear from someone else.” Stiles started.

“Stiles, you smell of anxiety. Worse than normal and it’s scaring me.” Spencer admitted.

“Right, I’ll just say it. Uh, Heather’s missing.”

“Missing? How is she missing?”

“Not sure. My dad told me earlier. They said no one had seen her since last night and I’m the last one she was seen with.”

Spencer nodded. “That’s why you smell so different. You have Heather’s scent all over you.”

“That’s because last night we were…” Stiles laughed nervously. “We were makin’ out.”

Spencer furrowed her brow and opened her mouth slightly, in shock.

“I left her for a minute and that’s apparently the last anyone’s seen of her. I didn’t hurt her or anything, obviously. I just thought she’d met up with her other friends.”

Spencer laughed disbelieving. “I’m sorry. I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around you and Heather.”

“Yeah.” Stiles said with a strained voice. “Trust me. I am, too.”

“Why’d you leave her?”

Stiles laughed nervously again. “Ha, well, ha, um, I was going upstairs to, uh, to get some...protection.”

Spencer straightened up her back, and looked away from him. “Oh. You were looking for a, a condom.”

Stiles blushed heavily and started to move his hands wildly as he usually did when he was anxious. “Yeah, but nothing happened, because when I went back down to the cellar, she wasn’t there.”

Spencer smiled at her friend and then bit her lip. She covered her mouth with her hand. “You almost lost your virginity in a wine cellar?” Spencer laughed.

“That’s what you’re getting from this?”

“Yeah, no. Um…” Spencer hesitated. “Look, I’m sure Heather’s fine.”

“What if this has something to do with the alphas?” Stiles asked.

“What would the alphas want with a normal, human girl?” Spencer countered with a raised brow. “Maybe she just had too much to drink last night and got into some stupid shit.”

Stiles nodded his head, not buying the option.

“Just don’t think too much about it. Okay? You need to figure out how we get into the vault.”

“Yeah, Scott and I will work on it.”

“Call me when you find something, okay?” She stepped forward and pulled Stiles into a hug. “She’ll be fine.”

!@#$#@!

Spencer didn’t sleep at all that night. She still hadn’t received a call from Scott and Stiles, not even a text of their progress. Spencer was starting to get antsy. She slowly got out of bed so that she wouldn’t wake Isaac. Spencer had forced herself into the kitchen and started to clean everything in it. The dirty dishes that were in the sink. The ones that were cleaned in the cabinets; Spencer cleaned them again and dusted the inside. She emptied the fridge and the freezer, tossing away old food.

When Spencer was finished, she had nothing left to do. The only option she saw was to cook something, so she’d have the dirty dishes to clean. Spencer pulled out the ingredients she’d gathered earlier in the week for her spaghetti sauce, and started to make the meal.

The strong Italian scent wafted into Isaac’s room, waking him from his slumber. Isaac approached Spencer, knowing how nervous she was. “Morning.” He said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. Isaac kissed the side of her neck.

Spencer continued to work on cooking the meatballs, moving them around in the pan. “Hey.” She said quietly.

“I take it you didn’t sleep at all?”

Spencer shook her head. “No, but at least the kitchen is clean.”

Isaac looked around. “Yeah, it’s spotless.”

“I just know we need to find Boyd. Soon.” Spencer shrugged. “And I thought we’d hear something from Scott and Stiles by now.”

Isaac pulled away and leaned on the kitchen’s island behind him. “And Erica?”

Spencer cleared her throat and sighed. “You said she was dead. I’ve been telling myself that for weeks, so I guess it’s better now that we know.”

“But we don’t. Not for real.” Isaac insisted.

Spencer looked up at him and wondered how he had so much hope that she was alive. She turned up one corner of her mouth. “Yeah. I guess we don’t.” Spencer stepped forward. She tied her hands together behind Isaac’s back and leaned back so she could look up at him. “I just… Don’t get your hopes up, okay?”

Isaac nodded.

Spencer leaned in, putting her ear to his chest. “You did really well, remembering all of that.”

Isaac’s arms wound around Spencer’s shoulders. “Are you sure you’re okay? I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I know. I’m fine.”

Isaac leaned back slightly to make Spencer look at him. He put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. Isaac kissed her, hard. This kiss wasn’t like the ones they usually shared. It was urgent and forceful, yet tender and loving.

Spencer pulled away just slightly. She could still feel his breath on her lips. Spencer smiled. She pecked his lips again. “Where’d that come from?”

Isaac shrugged, moving his hand and slightly massaging the side of her neck. “I just - You’re perfect.”

Spencer laughed quietly. “Far from it.”

“But you know, I - ” He paused, unable to say what he wanted to.

Spencer furrowed her brow.

Isaac couldn’t say it. He wanted to tell her, but something was stopping him. So instead of saying it, he kissed her again. The same as he had done before, trying to show her that he loved her instead of saying it.

Spencer pulled away when she heard her phone ring. She turned around to check on it and saw she’d left the pan on the stove as well. “Oh, shit.” Spencer quickly took the skillet from the burner and set it to the side, thankful there wasn't much damage done. She grabbed her phone from the counter and answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey, Pence.”

“Scotty, thank God. What’d you find?”
“Stiles has a plan. It’s doable, but we can’t do it until later.”

Spencer furrowed her brow, moving her meatballs from the pan to the pot of sauce she had simmering. “Later? Why later?”
“Well, we have school.”

Spencer groaned, think that was the exact reason that she dropped out.

“We’ll just have to meet up somewhere.”

“Yeah. We can meet here. I’m making spaghetti.”
“Is now really the time to be focusing on that?”

“You tell me. You’re the one going to school when one of our friends is possibly being tortured to death in a bank vault.” Spencer told him. “You have your distractions, I have mine.”

“Point taken.” Scott agreed. “So, where is ‘here’?”

Spencer sighed. “That’s right. You’ve not been to the loft yet. I’ll text you the address later. Head on over at four. We can go over the plan, eat, then put the plan into action.”

“What’ll you do until then?”

“Well, considering I have four werewolves and one Stiles to make dinner for, I’ll probably be working on that all day. That and this place could really use a good cleaning.” Spencer said, looking over into her open bedroom. She hadn’t been in it in a few days, but it was a mess. That mess was part of the reason Spencer was sleeping with Isaac every night.

“I know you’re a stress cleaner, but try to keep calm. Okay, Pence?”

“I’ll try. Isaac is doing a pretty good job taking care of me.” she said, turning to the curly-haired boy and smiling at him.

“Good. He’d better.”

Spencer hung up her phone call and placed the phone on the counter. Not paying Isaac any mind, she started to roll a few more meatballs. Spencer let out a long sigh.

Isaac washed his hands and started to help her. “This is good.” He said. “We’re gonna get Boyd back.”

“Yeah. And I’m glad, but we still have to get through tonight.” Spencer explained. “That’s really what I’m nervous about.”

“Scott says Stiles has a plan, right?”

Spencer nodded. “And Stiles’ plans always work.” She said sarcastically. “I’m just worried. Overthinking it probably.”

“Definitely overthinking it.” Isaac insisted. “We’ll just be in and out.”

Spencer shook her head quickly, putting the skillet back on the burner. “There is no ‘we’. Isaac, you’re not going anywhere.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Spencer stepped away from the stove. She grabbed a hand towel to wipe her hands. “No, I’m not. You have been through way too much in the past forty-eight hours and I am not willing to risk something going wrong.”

“Nothing’s gonna go wrong.” Isaac said.

“I don’t know that. And you don’t know that. I can’t let anything else happen to you.”

Isaac lowered his head with a smile. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me.”

“Right.” Spencer nodded. “Because you aren’t going.”

Isaac licked his lips and looked back up at her. “Then you aren’t going either.”

Spencer groaned. “Please, do not try to be all chivalrous now.”

“I’m not trying to be chivalrous. I’m being realistic.” Isaac explained. “You’re nervous. You’re freaking out about tonight. Your intuition is normally spot on. If you think something is going to go wrong, I don’t want you there just as much as you don’t want me there. Especially when I’m not there to back you up.”

“Derek will be there.” Spencer countered.

Isaac shook his head. “That’s not good enough for me.”

Spencer pursed her lips. She grabbed a fork and moved the meat around in the pan. “Okay.” Spencer said quietly. “I’ll stay with you.”

Isaac stepped forward and kissed her cheek.

“But if I get a call from Derek, I’m leaving. I will not hesitate if he’s in trouble.”

A pang of jealousy hit Isaac directly in his chest, but he nodded anyway. “I know you wouldn’t.” Isaac walked around her and headed back towards his room.

Spencer sensed his hurt and bit her lip. She shook her head, returning her attention to the pan. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Isaac looked towards her before he entered the room. “I’m sure.” He smiled at her. “I’m gonna try and sleep some more.”

Spencer nodded. “Good idea. I’ll be here, if you need anything.”

Isaac responded with a single nod and closed his bedroom door.

Spencer sighed and rubbed her hand over her face, frustrated. She grabbed her phone, texting Scott the address to the loft. Spencer finished the meatballs and put them in the sauce. She checked her phone, receiving a reply from Scott. “Derek, Scott will be here after school.” Spencer said aloud in a normal voice, knowing he was downstairs and he would hear her.

“You okay?” Derek asked in response.

Spencer shrugged, not really believing she was. She was so confused and worried. The nerves in her stomach were going crazy at everything that could happen tonight when they went to rescue Boyd. “Yeah.” Spencer said. “I’m okay.”

!@#$#@!

The afternoon had finally rolled around. Scott and Stiles had shown up and Spencer quickly handed them each a bowl of spaghetti, taking the books Stiles had into her own hands. It was safe to say she was really nervous because she had put an extra effort into all the cooking. There was plenty of food. Too much, almost.

Stiles looked around, holding the bowl in his hand and twirling the noodles around his fork. “So this is where you live now?” He asked. “It’s very...open, rustic.”

Spencer shrugged, taking her home in. “There are a couple of bedrooms upstairs for me and Isaac. That’s where the kitchen is, too.”

“I like it.” Scott admitted.

Spencer smiled at him. “Thanks, Scotty.”

Stiles slurped from his mouthful. “Could use some decorating.”

“Sorry, there aren’t enough paintings on the walls for you. We’re kind of on a budget.”

“Where’s Isaac?” Scott asked.

“He’s upstairs. Getting some more rest. Whether he wants to admit it or not, he needs it.”

Derek came from upstairs. “Do you have everything?”

“I’ve got it.” Spencer said, gesturing to the large pile of books and documents in her hands. She walked over to the table and set everything down. Behind Spencer, the elevator sounded again. She furrowed her brow towards Derek. “You expecting anyone else?”

Derek didn’t respond, knowing that she wouldn’t like the answer.

The large door slid open, revealing Peter.

Spencer glared at him. “Who invited you?”

“I thought he’d be some help.” Derek admitted.

“Plus, I heard there was pasta involved.” Peter shared. “And I am a sucker for Italian.”

Spencer pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at the older wolf as he walked up the steps and to the kitchen.

Peter came back down with a bowl and sat on the steps.

“What’s the plan?” Derek asked, looking to Stiles.

“Let them eat first.” Spencer begged.

Stiles had already down his bowl, though, and shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I’m good.” He set his bowl down at the corner of the table and grabbed a folded up paper that was on top of the pile. He unfolded it and spread it on the table.

Everyone gathered around the table, Derek and Scott on either side of Stiles and Spencer standing across the table.

“Okay, you see this?” Stiles asked, pointing with a sharpie he pulled from his pocket. “This is how they got in.” He said, looking to Derek. “It’s a rooftop air conditioning vent. Leads down inside into the wall of the vault,” Stiles opened the marker and circled a spot on the blueprint, “which is here. Okay? One of the robbers was lowered into this shaft. Now, that space is so small, it took him twelve hours to drill into that wall, which is stone, by the way. Then throughout the rest of the night, the siphoned the rest of the cash to the guys back on the roof through that one little shaft in the wall.” Stiles slammed his fist on the table. “Boom.”

Spencer was examining the blueprint through curious eyes. Something about it didn’t feel right. Spencer couldn’t voice her worries though. Scott and Stiles weren’t aware she was having such strong intuitions. She wasn’t even sure what they were herself.

Scott furrowed his brow at the paper. “Can we fit in there?”

“Yes, we can, but very, very barely. And they also patched the wall, obviously, so we’re gonna need a drill of some kind. I’m thinking maybe a diamond-bit - ”

“Look forget the drill.” Derek interrupted, looking down at the table and leaning on it.

Stiles paused. “Sorry?” He asked, quickly turning to look at the alpha.

“If I go in first, how much space do I have?”

“What do you - What do you think you’re gonna do, Derek? You’re gonna punch through the wall?”

Derek stood up straight, crossing his arms as he always did. “Yes, Stiles, I’m gonna punch through the wall.”

“Okay, big guy. Let’s see it.” Stiles played along. “Let’s see that fist. Big, ol’ fist. C’mon. Get it out there.” He urged.

Derek reluctantly went along with Stiles’ antics, throwing on a bored face and holding out his fist.

Spencer smiled. “This won’t end well.” She said to Scott.

“Get it out there.” Stiles said. “Don’t be scared. Big, bad wolf. Yeah, look at that.”

“Stiles…” Spencer warned.

“Okay, see this…” Stiles grabbed Derek’s wrist, holding it in place and put his other palm in front of Derek’s fist, just a few inches away. “That’s maybe three inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid co - ” Stiles didn’t get to finish his sentence because Derek punched his hand. Hard. Probably not at all as hard as he could have, but Stiles fell backwards, stumbling away in pain, holding his wrist. Stiles strained. “He can do it.”

Spencer shook her head. “I told you to be careful.” She said to Stiles.

Stiles whimpered.

“Who’s following me down?” Derek asked, looking to Spencer.

Spencer shook her head. “Isaac and I already agreed that we’re both staying behind.”

Derek dropped his head, but then nodded. He turned towards Peter.

“Don’t look at me.” Peter begged. “I’m not up to fighting speed yet, and honestly, with Isaac and Princess out of commission, you’re not looking at very good odds for yourself.”

Spencer shuddered at Peter calling her princess. It was one of her nicknames that she absolutely hated.

“So, I’m just supposed to let them die?” Derek asked.

“One of them is already dead.” Peter responded with a mouthful of pasta.

“We don’t know that.”

Spencer shook her head. “Derek, you need to be realistic.”

“Do I have to remind you what we’re up against here?” Peter asked, setting his bowl on the step beside him.

Stiles approached the table again and Spencer gave him a questioning look, holding out her hand to him. Stiles denied her help to take his pain, but showed her a small smile.

“We’re against a pack of alphas. All of them, killers. And if that’s not enough to scare your testicles back into your stomach, try to remember that two of them combine bodies to form one giant alpha.” Peter sighed. “I’m sure Boyd and Erica were sweet kids, they’re gonna be missed.”

“Could someone kill him again, please?” Stiles asked.

Spencer crossed her arms over her chest. “Trust me, I’m working on it.” she said, sending a glare towards Peter.

Peter sent her a fake smirk. “Derek, seriously?” He asked, looking to his nephew. “Not worth the risk.”

“What about you?” Derek asked, looking towards Scott.

Stiles, however, thought Derek was talking to him. “Yeah, if you want me to come - ”

“No way.” Spencer said quickly.

Derek gave her a look, but moved on. “I didn’t mean you.”

Stiles nodded. “Got it.” He pointed with his thumb towards Scott.

“I don’t know about Erica.” Scott admitted. “But if Boyd’s still alive, we have to do something.” He looked back at Peter and then to Spencer. “We have to try.”

Spencer nodded. “I’m sensing a but…”

“Who’s the other girl?” Scott asked, looking around to the others. “The one locked in there with Boyd?”

“I guess it’s time you two found out.”