i don't date boys who get me thrown in detention.

[ 2.07 ]

As it so happened, Scott didn't get the chance to tell Stiles' father about the kanima and werewolves and hunters. When they arrived at the police station — after making sure a half-paralyzed Willow was safe at home — Jackson was already there waiting for them. It ended with a rather lengthy restraining order against Scott and Stiles, with classes being the only exception.

Jackson seemed to remember nothing about turning into the kanima in the van and paralyzing Willow to escape. It was similar to how Lydia hadn't remembered her two days wandering around the woods. And because he couldn't remember, he was still convinced that he was slowly transitioning into a werewolf.

While Lydia knew about the supernatural, she almost never talked about it. She'd rather distract herself from the things making her feel crazy and instead focus on Willow and Derek — or rather the lack of Willow and Derek. And Willow let her, knowing she needed some kind of normalcy to cling to with everything that had happened. What was more normal than boy talk?

As if school wasn't bad enough with Gerard as the principal, Allison's mother was now also the receptionist and could sit at a desk all day watching the cameras that she had installed. Allison and Scott had to be extra careful now, they all did. Especially Erica and Boyd, as the Argents still didn't know they had been bitten.

Careful to avoid the cameras, Allison and Willow entered the library where they were to meet Scott and Stiles. Since they couldn't speak face to face, a bookshelf separated them. Allison slid a tablet through the opening, which contained Lydia's translation of the bestiary.

Willow had forgotten that Lydia learned Archaic Latin — she would have done it with her, but it was the beginning of cross-country season when she started, and Willow was too busy. Lydia had done a surprisingly thorough and quick job with it.

"It's everything Lydia can translate," Allison whispered across the shelf. "Willow said she's still having trouble processing the supernatural, so I fed her a lie."

"Yeah, what'd you tell her?" Scott asked while looking at the notes.

"That we were part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures," Allison told him. She and Scott laughed as if it was the most absurd thing, but Stiles wasn't amused.

"Stiles is part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures," Willow informed them, smiling at the boy through the shelves. He grinned, pleased that at least Willow paid attention to his interests.

"O - oh. Great," Allison said awkwardly as Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Okay, does it say how to find out who's controlling him?" Scott asked, going back to the translation.

"Not really. But Stiles was right about the murderers—"

"Yes!" he quietly exclaimed.

"It calls the kanima a weapon of vengeance. There's a story in there about this South American priest who uses the kanima to execute murderers in his village—"

"All right, see?" Stiles interrupted, thinking of the positives. "So maybe it's not all that bad."

"Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to," Allison finished.

Stiles' face fell, realizing he had spoken too soon. "All bad, all very, very bad."

"Here's the thing, though," Allison said. "The kanima's actually supposed to be a werewolf. But it can't be—" She paused as the librarian walked past, not wanting her to overhear.

"Until it resolves that in its past which manifested it," Scott read from the tablet, frowning.

"Okay, if that means that Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy, I could've told you that myself," Stiles muttered.

"What if it has something to do with his parents? His real parents?" Allison asked, thinking through it.

"Yeah, does anybody actually know what happened to them?" Scott asked.

In an instant, three sets of eyes were on Willow. She grew tense, knowing that Jackson's past wasn't something she could just blab about. Both she and Lydia were the only ones he ever told, and they couldn't break that promise.

"I - I don't know," she quickly lied.

"You're lying," Scott said, disappointed in her. "I didn't even need to listen to your heart to know."

"Look, okay, it's not great. It's really bad," Willow told them quietly. "And I know how horrible everything is, but I can't tell you. I can't. I promised him I wouldn't. Jackson would be so hurt if he found out I told you."

"Then let him be hurt!" Stiles snapped. "Come on, Willow. You don't always have to be some caring, honest, pinky-promise keeping human-stuffed-animal hybrid."

"If that was supposed to be an insult, it wasn't a very good one," Allison told him, frowning. Then she sighed and looked at Willow. "Will, you know what's at stake here."

"I - I can't," she said, shaking her head. "Not without Jackson's permission to tell you. I'm sorry. I've compromised a lot of morals since getting involved in this, but I won't break Jackson's trust, especially now when it feels like I'm the only one he has."

Scott and Allison sighed in defeat, but Stiles peered at her through the shelves. "When have you ever compromised your morals? You're a walking-talking personified conscience. I get a lecture about doing the wrong thing from you once a week!"

"Um, I helped you break into the school that night we were trapped, I've snuck out, I've skipped classes, I've lied to my father, and don't even get me started on when you got me sent to the principal's office," Willow listed off.

"Oh, that's cute," Stiles scoffed. "It's not like you have a restraining order or anything."

"It was your idea to kidnap Jackson," she reminded him.

"Guys, getting off-topic," Scott said, rubbing his forehead. "Would Lydia tell us?"

"Not a chance," Willow said, crossing her arms. And she'd be much ruder than Willow to whoever asked.

"Well, he doesn't have a restraining order against me, so, I'll talk to him myself," Allison declared.

"Okay, what do I do?" Scott asked, wanting an assignment of his own.

"You have a make-up exam, remember? Promise me," Allison said. She didn't want him falling even more behind because of all of this.

Scott held her hand through the shelves. "If he does anything, you run the other way."

"I can take care of myself," she assured him.

"Allison, if you get hurt while I'm busy with some stupid test, someone's going to need to take care of me. If he does anything—"

"Like?"

"Anything weird or bizarre — anything," Scott told her.

Then Stiles shoved his face through the shelves, startling the girls. "Anything evil!"

Allison quickly shoved his face back while Willow giggled. "Good luck on your test, Scott," she told him. "And I can go with Allison for protection if it makes you feel better."

"Willow, you can't even bench press your cat," Scott said doubtfully.

"Are you calling Scribbles fat?"

☽︎

Allison walked with Willow through the hall during their free period. They were headed for the locker room, hoping to catch Jackson alone. To be sneakier, Allison had removed her heels and was holding them in her hands. Willow didn't have the same issue with her sneakers.

Just as they reached the door, another body came through, almost running into them.

"Oh, you just scared the hell out of me," Matt told them, letting out a laugh.

"Sorry, I wa - I was just, um, I was - nothing," Allison said, fumbling for an answer.

"Ah, that's a - nice heels," Matt complimented, nodding to her shoes.

"Oh! Yeah, uh, my feet were hurting," she explained.

"Same reason I never wear mine," Matt joked.

"That's funny," Willow said, giggling. "Hey, um, was Jackson in the locker room?"

"Oh, yeah, I think so," he said, nodding to the door. "Willow, could I actually ask you something?"

"I'm gonna catch him before he leaves," Allison said, slipping away.

"I'll come find you in a few minutes," Willow told her. Once Allison was gone, she looked at Matt with a smile. "What's up?"

"Um, did you hear about the underground show?" he asked. They had both begun slowly walking down the hall and away from the locker room. "Apparently, they've got some big name spinning."

"Oh, is it like a rave?" she asked, not really familiar with those types of parties.

"Is it still a rave if you don't roll?" he asked, chuckling. "I just call it a party. But hey, I got a friend who can hook us up with tickets if you're down. Want me to get you one?"

"Like, is it, like a date?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.

"I - is that okay?" he asked, sounding rather hopeful. "Oh, god, do you have a big scary boyfriend that I've just offended?"

Willow thought back to her sleepover with Lydia after finding out the kanima was Jackson.

"Look, if him almost killing me is what makes him realize he's wrong and he goes back to the way he was, then I say take him back," Lydia said, talking about Derek. "But if he stays this alpha douche, then at least don't go back to how you were."

"How I was?" Willow questioned, not understanding what she meant.

"I mean spending Saturday nights on the couch with your dad instead of out on dates and having fun."

"I like staying in with my dad."

"Yes, Warren is great, and I hope to one day make him my step-dad," she said, making Willow grin. "But there's nothing wrong with trying to move on. Maybe the things you liked about Derek can be found in another guy."

Willow shook her head sadly. "There's no one like Derek."

"It doesn't hurt to look."

"Um, no. No boyfriend," Willow said, looking at her feet. "I mean, there was but not anymore. I'm still kind of getting over him and wow, that was way too much information."

"Hey, no worries," Matt said, though clearly he was bummed out as he too looked at the ground.

"Matt," she said, getting him to look at her. Willow smiled softly. "It's a date."

"Really?" he asked, grinning. "That's great. All right, cool. Um, it's Friday, so — Looking forward to it."

"Me too," she told him. They were circling back around to the locker room. "You'll definitely need to tell me how to dress and act. I've never been to anything like this, I think."

"Do you like to dance?" he asked.

"Love it."

"Do you like glow sticks?"

"I love glow sticks," she gushed. "Give me a pink glow stick, and I'm pleased for the night."

"Then I'll get you ten," he said, laughing. "And I'm sure your friend Lydia can pick out a perfect outfit if you ask."

"Sounds like it'll be a lot of fun," Willow told him. Then her ears picked up a commotion around the corner. "Do you hear that?"

They rounded the corner to see Scott and Jackson fighting outside of the locker room. Erica and Stiles were trying to separate them while Allison stood to the side helplessly. Water was pouring all over the floor, a sign that some kind of pipe had burst inside the locker room.

And of course, Mr. Harris had to be the teacher to come across the whole thing.

"What the hell's going on? Hey! Enough!" He forcefully pulled Scott and Jackson apart, glaring at them both. "Enough. What do you idiots think you're doing? Jackson! Calm down! Mr. McCall, you wanna explain yourself? Stilinski!"

Willow had been looking at her friends instead of Matt, who picked up Scott's tablet. He took the break in Mr. Harris' yelling to hand it back. "You dropped this."

"You and you—" Mr. Harris had originally pointed at just Scott and Jackson, but then he changed his mind. "Actually, all of you — Detention. Three o'clock."

They all heard the strained, panicked sound that left Willow's lips. They looked at her to see she had gone rather pale.

"I - I can't get — but I didn't — I can't have det- deten — what?"

Allison slowly wrapped an arm around the girl who couldn't even say the word detention. "Mr. Harris, really, Willow wasn't involved."

"You'll be there, Ms. Worthington," he said, sternly. "Not even you are above the rules of this institution."

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Willow whispered as Mr. Harris stomped off to find a janitor.

"Willow," Scott said slowly. "Willow, we are so sorry. Are - are you gonna cry?"

"Please don't cry," Stiles said, wincing. "Wills, please. This isn't that bad. I get detentions all the time and everything always — shit. You're crying."

☽︎

The seven of them trudged into the library when three o'clock rolled around — also known as the nightmare hour if you asked Willow. She had been torn up all day about receiving detention for the first time in her life. She could hardly focus and she didn't dare look at any of her friends involved for the rest of the day. Lydia and Danny were the only two she spoke with.

And when they got to detention, Willow pointedly sat at a table all on her own and pulled out her homework to get started on. She ignored all the apologetic looks being sent her way.

"Oh, uh, we can't be in detention together. I have a restraining order against these tools," Jackson informed Mr. Harris.

"All of these tools?" he asked.

"No, just us tools," Stiles said, smiling as he pointed to himself and Scott.

"Fine. You two, over there," Mr. Harris ordered. Of course, he pointed to the table that Willow was occupying. She huffed in annoyance and slid down in her seat as they joined her.

"I'm gonna kill him," Scott muttered, glaring at Jackson.

"No, you're not," Stiles said, rolling his eyes. "You're going to find out who's controlling him and then you're gonna help save him."

"No. You were right, let's kill him," he muttered angrily.

"Jackson isn't really the one that attacked Allison, and you know it," Willow whispered, not looking up from her math textbook. "Now be quiet and study."

But of course, they didn't be quiet and study.

"Hey. What if it's Matt?" Stiles asked, studying the boy. "I mean, this whole thing comes back to the video, right?"

"Danny said that Matt was the one who found the two hours of footage missing," Scott reminded him.

"Exactly! He's trying to throw suspicion off himself," Stiles guessed.

"So he makes Jackson kill Isaac's dad, one of Argent's hunters, and the mechanic working on your jeep?" Scott asked doubtfully.

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because - he's evil," Stiles insisted.

"No, he's not," Willow said, shaking her head. "Matt's really nice. He's taking me to a party on Friday."

Both boys looked at her with wide eyes, and then Stiles scoffed in disbelief. "First Derek, and now Matt? You date evil men but you won't date me?"

Willow raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. "You've never asked me on a date, Stiles," she stated, as Scott snickered.

"W - would you, I mean, if I - what- and what would that answer be? If - if I did? Do that?"

Willow leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "I don't date boys who get me thrown in detention."

Stiles looked like a fish with the way his mouth was hanging open and then he glared at Scott. "Scott, I'm gonna kill you! And I'm never helping your little werewolf ass out in a fight ever again!"

"You didn't exactly help much," Scott muttered. Then he glanced back at Matt. "And clearly, you just don't like Matt. Especially now."

"That's not it," Stiles said, waving it off. "The guy bugs me. I don't know what it is. Just look at his face."

They glanced at Matt once more to see him shoving potato chips in his face before offering one to Jackson, who clearly wasn't interested. He didn't exactly look like an evil mastermind.

"Any other theories?" Scott asked.

Stiles did have theories — way too many, as usual. He spent the majority of detention rambling on, including talking about what Erica had mentioned about Jackson's real parents. Both boys watched Willow like a hawk, but other than tensing up for a few moments, she kept her mouth shut.

"You okay?" Matt suddenly asked.

They all looked up to see Jackson standing, clutching his head in obvious pain. He also looked paler than normal.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Jackson muttered, grabbing his backpack.

"Are you all right?" Mr. Harris asked. "Hey, you don't look so good."

"I just need to get some water," Jackson said, leaving the classroom.

Harris stood to follow him but stopped to look at the rest of them threateningly. "No one leaves their seats."

Of course, as soon as he was gone, Stiles and Scott scurried over to the table that Erica was sitting at. Willow groaned to herself before following reluctantly.

"Stiles says you know how Jackson's parents died," Scott said, wasting no time.

"Maybe," she replied, playing dumb.

"Talk," he ordered.

"It was a car accident," she said, sighing. "My dad was the insurance investigator, and every time he sees Jackson drive by in his Porsche, he makes some comment about the huge settlement he'll be getting when he's eighteen."

"So not only is Jackson rich now, but he's getting even richer at eighteen?" Stiles asked.

"Yep."

"There's something so deeply wrong with that," Stiles muttered bitterly.

"I'm rich," Willow said, giving him a pointed look.

"Yes, but you're nice and you also spend money on all of your friends all of the time," he pointed out. "You bought my gas two days ago just because you made a good grade on a test. Then you paid for the takeout for Scott to take to his mom at work. Jackson is just disgustingly rich and horrible. It's not fair."

Willow simply sighed. She was quite sure that Jackson would prefer to have his parents alive over a settlement at eighteen.

"You know what?" Erica asked, looking between the three of them. Then she pulled out her laptop. "I could try to find the insurance report on my dad's inbox. He keeps everything."

An announcement was called over the speaker before Erica could pull the report up. "Scott McCall, please report to the principal's office."

Scott looked confused, clearly not knowing what it was about. But any meeting with Gerard was a bad one. Once he left, Stiles focused on the accident report that Erica found. Willow sat silently in her seat, growing nervous about what they'd no doubt find.

"Whoa, look the dates," Stiles suddenly pointed out. Yup. Nothing missed Stiles' keen eyes.

Erica leaned in to read the small words. "Passengers arrived at the hospital DOA. The estimated time of death - 9:26 P.M., June 14, 1995."

"Jackson's birthday is June 15th," Stiles said. Then he looked at Willow, who wouldn't look away from her homework.

Jackson and Mr. Harris finally returned, not saying a word about Jackson's sudden departure. Scott remained in the principal's office for a while longer. Then, as four o'clock rolled around, Mr. Harris put all of his work into his briefcase and got ready to leave.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry," he said once he noticed all the students packing up as well. "Uh, yes, I'm leaving. But none of you are. You may go when you're done with the re-shelving. Enjoy the rest of your evening."

Willow let out a defeated sigh and looked at the three, overflowing carts full of unshelved books. As if getting detention wasn't bad enough, it also seemed to be never-ending.

She grabbed a cart all to herself to begin shelving. Stiles was far too concerned with filling Allison in — and Scott once he returned — about Jackson's parents. Meanwhile, Willow just wanted to get detention over as soon as she could. And then she'd never get detention again.

Erica came over to her as she was halfway through. It didn't take long considering Willow had practically memorized where most of the books in the library went.

"Stiles said you knew but wouldn't tell them," Erica commented, picking up a book to read the spine. "That even after everything Jackson's done, you still wouldn't break that promise."

"I couldn't just tell someone that he was pulled from his dead mother's womb after she had potentially been murdered," Willow said, her voice almost breaking. Every time she talked about it with Jackson or even thought about the horrible tragedy, she ended up tearing up. "I know it's important to stop whoever is controlling him, but that doesn't mean everyone should be allowed to know about the worst parts of his life that he'd rather forget."

"I get it," she said, nodding. "You know, you're a really good friend, Willow. To everyone."

"There's nothing wrong with being a good friend," Willow told her. "Being a good person."

"You're right. I haven't been one lately," she admitted. "I've sort of been a bitch since getting the bite. Not to you, but still."

Willow peered at her out of the corner of her eye. "Do you have a concussion?"

Erica couldn't help but laugh. "No. Not a concussion. I don't know. I just had a talk with Stiles right before the whole getting detention thing. Maybe I can find a balance between old, nice Erica and..."

"Hot, brave Erica," Willow offered, both of them smiling. "Hot, nice Erica sounds like a lot of fun."

"Yeah, she does—" Erica cut herself off, hearing what sounded like someone falling over. "What was—"

"Erica!" Scott suddenly shouted.

Something jumped over the tops of the shelves, crashing into the lights. Erica grabbed Willow and pulled her down, keeping books from hitting her head.

"Jackson," Willow breathed out, searching for any sign of the kanima.

He appeared above them, Jackson only partially transformed into the kanima. The scales covered half of his body. He lunged at Erica, clawing the back of her neck and paralyzing her. Then it jumped back over the shelves as Erica fell helplessly to the ground.

"Willow!" Scott called, coming around the corner of the shelf and grabbing her. He pulled her back to where Allison and Stiles were hiding.

"W - where is it?" Willow whispered, holding onto Allison.

Scott poked his head out and froze, seeing Jackson standing in front of the blackboard. Slowly, the others inched forward and watched as he picked up a piece of chalk and began writing a message. It was eery, the way that Jackson's vacant eyes didn't even look at the board as the scaly hand wrote.

It wasn't a message from the kanima though. It was a message from its master.

STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU

And then Jackson was gone, crashing through the window and sending glass flying. The mess it left behind was disastrous with shelves knocked over, books destroyed, and the lights flickering.

Hearing a grunt come from Erica, Stiles ran to her aid, and Willow quickly followed. The wolf was seizing uncontrollably.

"Whoa, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Stiles yelled, trying to get Scott's attention. "I think she's having a seizure."

"He's alive," Allison called, running to check on Matt while Scott helped Erica onto her side.

"We need to get her to a hospital," Willow said, beginning to worry. Erica wasn't supposed to have seizures anymore.

"Derek - only to Derek," Erica stuttered out.

Scott looked at Allison through the shelves. "When we get her to the hospital—"

"To Derek," Erica again pleaded. "To Derek."

"Go," Allison told him.

Scott seemed to hesitate, but they didn't have time for that. He ran around the shelves to look at Allison.

"Hey, Scott!" Stiles shouted.

"Scott, we've got to go," Willow insisted. Panic was creeping up on her, worried that Erica wouldn't survive this.

"I'm staying here with you," Scott told Allison.

"They can't take her alone. Not like this," Allison told him, shaking her head. "And Matt — I've got to call an ambulance for him, just go."

"This doesn't feel right," he said softly.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. No, it's not right."

"It doesn't - it doesn't mean anything," she told him.

"But it feels like it does."

"Scott, we have to go," Willow told him, not caring about the moment she was interrupting.

"Scott, go. Go," Allison said firmly, and the boy finally listened.

Willow sighed in relief when Scott came back. He picked Erica up, who was seizing uncontrollably in his arms. The three of them ran out of the ruined library, leaving behind Allison and Matt to explain.

Stiles likely broke twenty traffic laws as Willow gave directions to Derek's hideout, but it didn't matter.

"Derek!" Willow shouted as they booked it down the stairs.

He was there in a second, hearing the fear in her tone. Derek then saw Erica in Scott's arms and jumped into action. He led them to a train car and got her on the ground.

"Hold her up," Derek instructed Stiles, who did so.

"Is she dying?" he asked.

"She might, I—" Derek took a breath, not letting himself get upset. "Which is why this is gonna hurt."

Willow turned and hid her head in Scott's chest as Derek grabbed Erica's arm, squeezing it tightly to break the bone.

"You broke her arm!" Stiles shouted angrily.

"It'll trigger the healing process," he explained. "I still gotta get the venom out. This is where it's really gonna hurt."

There was no way to drown out Erica's agonizing screams as Derek dug his claws deep into her skin, blood pouring out of her. Slowly, Erica's movements slowed until the seizure stopped. Exhausted, she collapsed back against Stiles' chest.

"Stiles," she breathed out, looking up at him. "You make a good Batman."

After Willow placed a kiss to a resting Erica's forehead, she followed Derek and Scott out of the train car.

"You know who it is," Scott said, watching Derek carefully.

He sighed and leaned against a box, casting a glance at Willow. "Jackson."

"You just wanted Erica to confirm it, didn't you? I'm gonna help you stop him. As part of your pack," Scott told him. Derek quickly looked away from Willow and at him with wide eyes. "If you want me in, fine. But we'll do it on one condition. We're gonna catch him, not kill him."

"And?" Derek asked, knowing there was more.

"And we do it my way."

It took Derek a long while to agree to it, but eventually, he did, knowing it was what was best for everyone. Then he glanced at the train car, worried about his beta.

"How'd that happen anyway?"

"Well," Willow started, "we were all in detention—"

"Hold on," Derek interrupted, putting up a hand. "You got detention?"

She instantly turned her head to glare at Scott, who rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "About that — I am gonna buy you so many bags of skittles and - and a new stuffed animal and, um, I'll carry your books to class for the rest of the semester."

"The semester is almost over," she reminded him, crossing her arms. "Next time Scribbles needs his claws trimmed, you can do it, not Dr. Deaton."

Scott's face fell. "But - but Scribbles never stays still for me. I'm a wolf! T - there's always so much scratching when I have to do the cats."

Willow smiled sweetly at him. "I know."

"I don't know which one it is, but someone in your circle of friends is a bad influence," Scott grumbled.

"And yet you're the one that got me detention."

☽︎

[ i swear to god willow and derek's time is coming. big big moments ahead with the rave and lydia's party chapters. very juicy. very hot. i've missed my babies so much

also, i know i shoved the matt stalking plot from allison to willow, but i am changing it the slightest bit and adding a few more interactions. i think it makes it worse that willow's friends with him and actually likes being around him, which is why i'm doing so ]