Teen Wolf - Zing, Went the Strings
Title: Zing, Went the Strings, Chapter 1
Pairing: Isaac/Danny, Scott/Allison, Jackson/Lydia, Lydia/Stiles (unrequited), Stiles/Derek, Boyd/Erica
Summary: Picks up where season 2 left off, basically. Also new couples emerge and there's drama and angst!
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2200
Author note: This wasn't going to be a multi-chaptered thing with a plot, but it happened. Short chapters though, probably, if I continue. The title is taken from the song "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart." Corny, but I suck at titles.
Warning: I barely edit, and I don't do betas. Don't expect it to be great and without typos.
Isaac watched Erica and Boyd laughing together across the room. They were all waiting for Derek, who was late for whatever reason. Boyd and Erica were either together or almost together. Maybe they hadn't labeled it. But Isaac studied them and realized just how close his two packmates had gotten lately. Maybe the Argents' attack on them had been the catalyst for it. Isaac really wasn't sure; all he knew was that they hadn't seemed interested in each other before.
He briefly wondered if he should be jealous. He liked Boyd enough, but he and Erica had been the first ones Derek had turned. They'd gone to that rave together, and sometimes he felt some chemistry. But he knew that chemistry was friendship. Just how it was.
Finally, Derek entered the basement with Jackson trailing behind him. Isaac sat up when they approached. Now that Jackson was a werewolf, not a kanima, he smelled different. He was clearly no longer an enemy even though he could never take back all of the hurt Matt and Allison's grandfather had made him cause. But as far as Isaac was concerned, his father could rot in hell. That was one thing Matt did right.
Two seconds later, Peter walked in. He smelled like death and pizza, which he had apparently eaten a few minutes ago. Isaac's stomach rumbled. Ever since turning he'd been hungrier than usual.
But at least he wasn't deprived of food like he was at home sometimes.
"An alpha werewolf pack is in town. We have to keep a lookout for them." Derek warned, circling around the room. "They could get to any one of you at any time. They'll use you to get to me."
Erica crossed her arms. "Can't they just come get you... at your house?"
A valid question, Isaac thought.
Peter stepped forward, looking every part the concerned uncle. Maybe there was still something evil there. After all, why else would he have come back to life? But he had helped with the kanima situation, so maybe he changed. Isaac wasn't sure if people could change that much.
"They could," said Peter, "But alphas don't do that. They like to catch you off guard, to test your strength. And you kids," he eyed the four teenage wolves, "need to be stronger."
Erica growled at Peter, but Derek turned and gave her one of his intimidating alpha looks. She hmphed and looked away rather than looking afraid.
"Now, Scott doesn't want to be a part of this pack, but he has no choice." Derek continued. "Peter turned him, and when I killed Peter, he became mine." Behind Derek, Peter rolled his eyes. "The other alphas will know this. They'll go after him. You all need to get him to come to his senses and join us. It'll make us a stronger pack."
"I don't think I'm on his list of favorite people." Jackson said.
"Which one of you is he closest to?" Derek asked.
"Isaac," Boyd and Erica said at the same time.
And it was true. He and Scott had developed an understanding and then a sort of friendship. He didn't want to try and get Scott to join them against his will, but he also didn't want to face Derek's wrath. "I'll talk to him," he promised.
The next day at school he sought out Scott during lunch. Scott was with Stiles and Danny. Isaac didn't know Danny very well, but they were teammates and got along well enough. But Danny being there meant that Isaac couldn't talk to Scott about the whole pack issue.
"We're getting a new principal," he said instead as he sat down. He looked at Stiles and Scott meaningfully.
"Again. I think this school is cursed. Or this town, whatever," Danny said, half chewing on a piece of bread. "All those deaths. And who's this new principal? What happened to Mr. Argent?"
"Heard he was sick," Scott said simply. It wasn't a lie.
Stiles, however, said nothing. His eyes trailed across the cafeteria, where Lydia sat with Allison. Jackson joined them.
Isaac still wasn't sure how they - meaning Peter and Derek - had managed to erase Jackson's death. He had a feeling it had to do with Scott's boss, Dr. Deaton. That guy was pretty cool, but there was also something really creepy and secretive about him. But then again, this was Beacon Hills and he shouldn't expect anything else. Still, no one seemed to remember what had happened on the field during the game. No one but the people who knew about the werewolves.
Isaac looked toward the cafeteria door in time to spot a middle-aged man walking in. He was surrounded by teachers who used a megaphone to stop everyone from talking and to pay attention.
"This is your new principal, Mr. Bray." said one teacher. "I trust you'll make him feel welcome."
Bray was good-looking, probably around forty-five years old. He had a good smile, one that despite his age made many of the girls and some of the guys, melt into puddles. But Isaac stared at him, fighting the urge to growl, to bare his teeth. Then he glanced at Scott. The look on Scott's face said it all.
Bray was a werewolf. He was one of the alphas.
Scott, Isaac, Boyd, Jackson, Erica, and Stiles called an emergency meeting in the janitor's closet.
"Shouldn't Allison be here? Maybe she and her dad can get rid of the alphas," Jackson suggested. Erica and Boyd glared at him. Neither of them had forgiven Allison for attacking them in the woods the night of the game. "And he's not even a werewolf," he added, gesturing to Stiles.
"I'm the smartest one here," Stiles protested. Erica flipped him off. "What? I'm the brains behind Scott's brawn."
"He's staying," Scott told Jackson. Then he looked around the tiny closet. "If we can sense him, he's sensed all of us by now."
"What do we do?" Isaac asked him. He trusted Scott's ideas more than Erica and Boyd's at the moment. He didn't even want to think about what Jackson might have in mind. "Should we call Derek?"
"He's expecting this, isn't he?" Scott concluded. "You don't seem that surprised about this."
Isaac nodded. "He said it's too dangerous if you're on your own. And the alpha pack is going to use you to get to him anyway, since you're linked to him."
"What do they want?" Scott asked.
"Probably to test Derek's pack's loyalty and strength." Everyone turned to Stiles, who had spoken. "I read online that other alphas will challenge other ones... especially the younger ones. And if you guys aren't loyal to Derek, they'll take you with them because they're older and stronger." He gave Jackson a smug look.
"We're loyal to Derek." Boyd said immediately.
"You tried to run away and find another pack, didn't you?" Jackson asked. He'd been putting the pieces together since becoming a werewolf.
"Because of Matt and Gerard and you," Erica countered, walking closer to Jackson until she was in his face. "That was because you were a kanima. Don't lecture us when you're the one who was killing people for two psychopaths."
"That wasn't my fault-"
"Who asked for the bite?"
"Guys!" Scott interrupted loudly. "If Stiles is right-"
"Pretty sure I am," Stiles said.
Scott gave him a warning look. "If Stiles is right, fighting like this is the last thing we should do. We have to stick together, be loyal to each other. We have to have each other's backs."
It wasn't really a problem for Isaac. Yeah, Boyd and Erica had tried to run away, but he understood that. If he could have run away from his dad, back when he was alive, he would have. But he knew that his dad would have found him no matter where he went. When you thought you were going to be hurt or killed, you did that kind of thing. And he didn't hate Jackson either. The guy was trying to redeem himself. Scott was his friend. So he had no trouble being in a pack with these people. It was the fact that they had issues with each other.
"Easier said than done, Gandhi." Stiles patted his best friend on the shoulder. "Come on, lunch is almost over."
They all left the janitor's closet, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. No one seemed to notice them. Except when Isaac stepped out, Danny caught his eye. He was at his locker and raised his eyebrows at them. Everyone but Stiles, Isaac and Jackson hurried down the hall. Isaac stayed because his class was in the opposite direction, and he had no idea why Stiles stayed.
"So... you guys are coming out of the closet." Danny commented, eyeing them.
Jackson rolled his eyes and laughed, and Stiles put an arm around Danny's shoulders. "We just had the best orgy, dude. Wish you could have been there."
Danny grinned, and then his eyes met Isaac's again. "Did you participate in the orgy?"
"Uh. Yeah." Isaac said, trying to sound nonchalant. "Yeah."
Jackson gave him a look that said, could you be more awkward? Stiles didn't seem to notice the awkwardness. They were so used to lying to Danny about this stuff that. Isaac wasn't, but he should be. He'd have to lie all his life.
"So I'm going to look up some info on Mr. Bray later. Either of you want to join me?"
"I'm going out with Lydia, sorry," Jackson said. Stiles frowned.
"I will," Isaac said. He wasn't sure why he found himself volunteering. He already knew more about Bray than Danny did, but maybe there was something else out there that they could use. Maybe he wasn't a bad guy. Maybe...
Yeah. Right.
"Cool. Library after practice?"
Derek would say that the library was too public right now. But what he didn't know wouldn't kill him. He'd just make sure the others wouldn't say anything.
"Let me know what you find."
Isaac said "yeah" as Danny said "okay." Then Danny smiled at him, as if the fact that they'd both spoken was the funniest thing. The weird thing was that Isaac kind of wanted to smile back.
After practice and showering, Isaac met up with Danny outside the locker room. Silently, they headed out and toward the library for their mission. At least they were silent until Danny started asking questions.
"So I don't know you that well even though we've gone to school together forever."
Isaac glanced at him sideways. He'd never really let anyone know him, not until he'd been turned. "I don't like to talk about myself."
"It's okay. But you can, if you want."
He could not, not that Danny knew that. There was no way he could talk about the majority of his life. The werewolf part. He wasn't even sure what to say in this situation, so he said, "Thanks."
Again, Danny smiled at him and it was like a force of nature.
At the library, they chose the most secluded computer they could find. Isaac had hesitated at first. If they were secluded, it was easier to be attacked. But he also didn't want anyone to catch them looking up information about Bray. So secluded it was.
"What are we going to look at, exactly?"
"I'm going to log in to some of the teachers' emails. Normally I'd just Facebook him or Google him but this guy requires special research."
Isaac didn't disagree. He watched as Danny typed in his English teacher's username and password without fail. He'd done this before. Maybe he'd done research on Allison's mom or her grandfather.
"You've done this." Isaac said aloud as Danny scrolled through the emails.
"Just something I've picked up." Danny frowned. "Crap. Nothing."
"What about Mr. Harris?" Isaac suggested.
"Yeah." He logged out and typed in Mr. Harris' information. Immediately he was granted access, but they found his inbox empty.
"Maybe he uses Gmail or something?"
Danny pointed to the top of the email account. "Last login was two hours ago. Tell me that's not suspicious."
Isaac wanted to. He wanted to say that maybe Mr. Harris liked to have a clean email. Maybe he'd gotten something from his barely-legal girlfriend that he didn't want the administration to find. But Mr. Harris was suspicious. He was suspicious enough that the police department had suspected him of controlling the kanima. Isaac had a feeling that Harris was involved, but no one could ever figure out how.
Suddenly they heard footsteps and Danny quickly logged out of the email account. He had just closed the browser when the footsteps drew closer. Finally, Scott, Stiles, and Derek emerged from behind the stacks.
"Hi, guys... Miguel?" he asked Derek. "Hey."
"Um, hola." Derek said, not sounding authentic at all. Then, to Isaac, he said, "Come to my casa con... migo? Now."
Isaac couldn't disobey his alpha. He nodded, silently communicating that Derek should give him a minute. Isaac looked back at Danny. "See you at school."
"Yeah. Definitely." Danny looked at him kind of weird as he waved goodbye, but Isaac didn't feel it was weird. He kept his eyes on Danny until he couldn't see him anymore, and then he turned to Scott, who waggled his eyebrows.
"What?"
Scott smirked and Isaac walked past him to Stiles and Derek, who were bickering as always.
"Your Spanish was great, Derek. Probably the best Spanish I've ever heard."
"Shut up."
"I think you mean callate."
"I think you mean to shut up before I eat your entrails."
"Point taken."
I know some of you are waiting for my new chapter of Now and Then. That's going to happen, I promise! This was just kind of a random thing I started writing while procrastinating doing homework.
Pairing: Isaac/Danny, Scott/Allison, Jackson/Lydia, Lydia/Stiles (unrequited), Stiles/Derek, Boyd/Erica
Summary: Picks up where season 2 left off, basically. Also new couples emerge and there's drama and angst!
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2200
Author note: This wasn't going to be a multi-chaptered thing with a plot, but it happened. Short chapters though, probably, if I continue. The title is taken from the song "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart." Corny, but I suck at titles.
Warning: I barely edit, and I don't do betas. Don't expect it to be great and without typos.
Isaac watched Erica and Boyd laughing together across the room. They were all waiting for Derek, who was late for whatever reason. Boyd and Erica were either together or almost together. Maybe they hadn't labeled it. But Isaac studied them and realized just how close his two packmates had gotten lately. Maybe the Argents' attack on them had been the catalyst for it. Isaac really wasn't sure; all he knew was that they hadn't seemed interested in each other before.
He briefly wondered if he should be jealous. He liked Boyd enough, but he and Erica had been the first ones Derek had turned. They'd gone to that rave together, and sometimes he felt some chemistry. But he knew that chemistry was friendship. Just how it was.
Finally, Derek entered the basement with Jackson trailing behind him. Isaac sat up when they approached. Now that Jackson was a werewolf, not a kanima, he smelled different. He was clearly no longer an enemy even though he could never take back all of the hurt Matt and Allison's grandfather had made him cause. But as far as Isaac was concerned, his father could rot in hell. That was one thing Matt did right.
Two seconds later, Peter walked in. He smelled like death and pizza, which he had apparently eaten a few minutes ago. Isaac's stomach rumbled. Ever since turning he'd been hungrier than usual.
But at least he wasn't deprived of food like he was at home sometimes.
"An alpha werewolf pack is in town. We have to keep a lookout for them." Derek warned, circling around the room. "They could get to any one of you at any time. They'll use you to get to me."
Erica crossed her arms. "Can't they just come get you... at your house?"
A valid question, Isaac thought.
Peter stepped forward, looking every part the concerned uncle. Maybe there was still something evil there. After all, why else would he have come back to life? But he had helped with the kanima situation, so maybe he changed. Isaac wasn't sure if people could change that much.
"They could," said Peter, "But alphas don't do that. They like to catch you off guard, to test your strength. And you kids," he eyed the four teenage wolves, "need to be stronger."
Erica growled at Peter, but Derek turned and gave her one of his intimidating alpha looks. She hmphed and looked away rather than looking afraid.
"Now, Scott doesn't want to be a part of this pack, but he has no choice." Derek continued. "Peter turned him, and when I killed Peter, he became mine." Behind Derek, Peter rolled his eyes. "The other alphas will know this. They'll go after him. You all need to get him to come to his senses and join us. It'll make us a stronger pack."
"I don't think I'm on his list of favorite people." Jackson said.
"Which one of you is he closest to?" Derek asked.
"Isaac," Boyd and Erica said at the same time.
And it was true. He and Scott had developed an understanding and then a sort of friendship. He didn't want to try and get Scott to join them against his will, but he also didn't want to face Derek's wrath. "I'll talk to him," he promised.
The next day at school he sought out Scott during lunch. Scott was with Stiles and Danny. Isaac didn't know Danny very well, but they were teammates and got along well enough. But Danny being there meant that Isaac couldn't talk to Scott about the whole pack issue.
"We're getting a new principal," he said instead as he sat down. He looked at Stiles and Scott meaningfully.
"Again. I think this school is cursed. Or this town, whatever," Danny said, half chewing on a piece of bread. "All those deaths. And who's this new principal? What happened to Mr. Argent?"
"Heard he was sick," Scott said simply. It wasn't a lie.
Stiles, however, said nothing. His eyes trailed across the cafeteria, where Lydia sat with Allison. Jackson joined them.
Isaac still wasn't sure how they - meaning Peter and Derek - had managed to erase Jackson's death. He had a feeling it had to do with Scott's boss, Dr. Deaton. That guy was pretty cool, but there was also something really creepy and secretive about him. But then again, this was Beacon Hills and he shouldn't expect anything else. Still, no one seemed to remember what had happened on the field during the game. No one but the people who knew about the werewolves.
Isaac looked toward the cafeteria door in time to spot a middle-aged man walking in. He was surrounded by teachers who used a megaphone to stop everyone from talking and to pay attention.
"This is your new principal, Mr. Bray." said one teacher. "I trust you'll make him feel welcome."
Bray was good-looking, probably around forty-five years old. He had a good smile, one that despite his age made many of the girls and some of the guys, melt into puddles. But Isaac stared at him, fighting the urge to growl, to bare his teeth. Then he glanced at Scott. The look on Scott's face said it all.
Bray was a werewolf. He was one of the alphas.
Scott, Isaac, Boyd, Jackson, Erica, and Stiles called an emergency meeting in the janitor's closet.
"Shouldn't Allison be here? Maybe she and her dad can get rid of the alphas," Jackson suggested. Erica and Boyd glared at him. Neither of them had forgiven Allison for attacking them in the woods the night of the game. "And he's not even a werewolf," he added, gesturing to Stiles.
"I'm the smartest one here," Stiles protested. Erica flipped him off. "What? I'm the brains behind Scott's brawn."
"He's staying," Scott told Jackson. Then he looked around the tiny closet. "If we can sense him, he's sensed all of us by now."
"What do we do?" Isaac asked him. He trusted Scott's ideas more than Erica and Boyd's at the moment. He didn't even want to think about what Jackson might have in mind. "Should we call Derek?"
"He's expecting this, isn't he?" Scott concluded. "You don't seem that surprised about this."
Isaac nodded. "He said it's too dangerous if you're on your own. And the alpha pack is going to use you to get to him anyway, since you're linked to him."
"What do they want?" Scott asked.
"Probably to test Derek's pack's loyalty and strength." Everyone turned to Stiles, who had spoken. "I read online that other alphas will challenge other ones... especially the younger ones. And if you guys aren't loyal to Derek, they'll take you with them because they're older and stronger." He gave Jackson a smug look.
"We're loyal to Derek." Boyd said immediately.
"You tried to run away and find another pack, didn't you?" Jackson asked. He'd been putting the pieces together since becoming a werewolf.
"Because of Matt and Gerard and you," Erica countered, walking closer to Jackson until she was in his face. "That was because you were a kanima. Don't lecture us when you're the one who was killing people for two psychopaths."
"That wasn't my fault-"
"Who asked for the bite?"
"Guys!" Scott interrupted loudly. "If Stiles is right-"
"Pretty sure I am," Stiles said.
Scott gave him a warning look. "If Stiles is right, fighting like this is the last thing we should do. We have to stick together, be loyal to each other. We have to have each other's backs."
It wasn't really a problem for Isaac. Yeah, Boyd and Erica had tried to run away, but he understood that. If he could have run away from his dad, back when he was alive, he would have. But he knew that his dad would have found him no matter where he went. When you thought you were going to be hurt or killed, you did that kind of thing. And he didn't hate Jackson either. The guy was trying to redeem himself. Scott was his friend. So he had no trouble being in a pack with these people. It was the fact that they had issues with each other.
"Easier said than done, Gandhi." Stiles patted his best friend on the shoulder. "Come on, lunch is almost over."
They all left the janitor's closet, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. No one seemed to notice them. Except when Isaac stepped out, Danny caught his eye. He was at his locker and raised his eyebrows at them. Everyone but Stiles, Isaac and Jackson hurried down the hall. Isaac stayed because his class was in the opposite direction, and he had no idea why Stiles stayed.
"So... you guys are coming out of the closet." Danny commented, eyeing them.
Jackson rolled his eyes and laughed, and Stiles put an arm around Danny's shoulders. "We just had the best orgy, dude. Wish you could have been there."
Danny grinned, and then his eyes met Isaac's again. "Did you participate in the orgy?"
"Uh. Yeah." Isaac said, trying to sound nonchalant. "Yeah."
Jackson gave him a look that said, could you be more awkward? Stiles didn't seem to notice the awkwardness. They were so used to lying to Danny about this stuff that. Isaac wasn't, but he should be. He'd have to lie all his life.
"So I'm going to look up some info on Mr. Bray later. Either of you want to join me?"
"I'm going out with Lydia, sorry," Jackson said. Stiles frowned.
"I will," Isaac said. He wasn't sure why he found himself volunteering. He already knew more about Bray than Danny did, but maybe there was something else out there that they could use. Maybe he wasn't a bad guy. Maybe...
Yeah. Right.
"Cool. Library after practice?"
Derek would say that the library was too public right now. But what he didn't know wouldn't kill him. He'd just make sure the others wouldn't say anything.
"Let me know what you find."
Isaac said "yeah" as Danny said "okay." Then Danny smiled at him, as if the fact that they'd both spoken was the funniest thing. The weird thing was that Isaac kind of wanted to smile back.
After practice and showering, Isaac met up with Danny outside the locker room. Silently, they headed out and toward the library for their mission. At least they were silent until Danny started asking questions.
"So I don't know you that well even though we've gone to school together forever."
Isaac glanced at him sideways. He'd never really let anyone know him, not until he'd been turned. "I don't like to talk about myself."
"It's okay. But you can, if you want."
He could not, not that Danny knew that. There was no way he could talk about the majority of his life. The werewolf part. He wasn't even sure what to say in this situation, so he said, "Thanks."
Again, Danny smiled at him and it was like a force of nature.
At the library, they chose the most secluded computer they could find. Isaac had hesitated at first. If they were secluded, it was easier to be attacked. But he also didn't want anyone to catch them looking up information about Bray. So secluded it was.
"What are we going to look at, exactly?"
"I'm going to log in to some of the teachers' emails. Normally I'd just Facebook him or Google him but this guy requires special research."
Isaac didn't disagree. He watched as Danny typed in his English teacher's username and password without fail. He'd done this before. Maybe he'd done research on Allison's mom or her grandfather.
"You've done this." Isaac said aloud as Danny scrolled through the emails.
"Just something I've picked up." Danny frowned. "Crap. Nothing."
"What about Mr. Harris?" Isaac suggested.
"Yeah." He logged out and typed in Mr. Harris' information. Immediately he was granted access, but they found his inbox empty.
"Maybe he uses Gmail or something?"
Danny pointed to the top of the email account. "Last login was two hours ago. Tell me that's not suspicious."
Isaac wanted to. He wanted to say that maybe Mr. Harris liked to have a clean email. Maybe he'd gotten something from his barely-legal girlfriend that he didn't want the administration to find. But Mr. Harris was suspicious. He was suspicious enough that the police department had suspected him of controlling the kanima. Isaac had a feeling that Harris was involved, but no one could ever figure out how.
Suddenly they heard footsteps and Danny quickly logged out of the email account. He had just closed the browser when the footsteps drew closer. Finally, Scott, Stiles, and Derek emerged from behind the stacks.
"Hi, guys... Miguel?" he asked Derek. "Hey."
"Um, hola." Derek said, not sounding authentic at all. Then, to Isaac, he said, "Come to my casa con... migo? Now."
Isaac couldn't disobey his alpha. He nodded, silently communicating that Derek should give him a minute. Isaac looked back at Danny. "See you at school."
"Yeah. Definitely." Danny looked at him kind of weird as he waved goodbye, but Isaac didn't feel it was weird. He kept his eyes on Danny until he couldn't see him anymore, and then he turned to Scott, who waggled his eyebrows.
"What?"
Scott smirked and Isaac walked past him to Stiles and Derek, who were bickering as always.
"Your Spanish was great, Derek. Probably the best Spanish I've ever heard."
"Shut up."
"I think you mean callate."
"I think you mean to shut up before I eat your entrails."
"Point taken."
I know some of you are waiting for my new chapter of Now and Then. That's going to happen, I promise! This was just kind of a random thing I started writing while procrastinating doing homework.