Samantha started to descend the stairs to the hideout as she thought about what she'd heard on the news that morning; the search for Jackson had been called off. He'd been found.
"You said you were gonna teach us to change whenever we wanted." She heard Isaac saying, followed by the rattling sounds of chains.
"There hasn't been time." Derek dismissed.
"But if you have to lock us up during the full moon, that means you're alone against the Argents." Isaac argued.
"No, he won't be." Sam announced as she stepped off the last stair and surveyed her pack.
"Oh my god, where have you been?" Erica asked, relived to see she was alright.
Everyone had been really starting to worry about her.
"Trying to clear my head and figure some things out." She admitted.
"I'm glad you're back." Isaac said nodding at her, the look on his face was apologetic.
Then turning his attention to Derek he asked, "Why don't we just forget about the kanima?"
"We cant!" Derek yelled then paused as he continued, "There was something about the way Gerard looked at it..."
"Jackson got back up after an entire clip was emptied into him. And Gerard's heart rate never once increased." Sam helped Derek explain.
"Meaning that what... he's planning something?" Erica guessed with a shrug.
"Whatever it is, we need to figure it out." Derek said.
"Then I guess we better get going." Isaac said as he slid his phone back into his pocket after checking the time.
"I can drive you to school." Sam offered, but mainly it was an excuse to leave at the same time with them.
"Sam, hang on." Derek called as she followed her pack up the stairs.
Exchanging looks, Erica and Isaac continued on and left Sam to be alone with him.
"I can't really be late to school." She said as she tried to leave again but he stopped her.
"You can't just disappear like that, especially not right now with so many hunters in town. I didn't know if you'd just ran away or if they'd captured you." He explained, his voice was stern but his expression showed concern.
Her eyes fell from his face as she shrugged and responded, "I thought it was better to avoid everyone... I didn't want to be kicked out of the pack."
"You really thought I'd do that?" He questioned, seeming surprised.
Sure he was hard on his betas, maybe more so on her than anyone else. But that didn't mean he was going to leave them to fend for themselves.
"I don't know... maybe a week ago I would have said no. But I followed Stiles and Scott to that club. I saw you try to kill, Jackson." She explained as she looked him in the eyes.
"Why are you always trying to humanize it? When I attacked, it was the kanima... not Jackson." He asserted.
She scoffed and shook her head, "You don't want to humanize the kanima because then it makes it harder to kill him because even if he's hidden under scales, there's still a teenage boy in there."
Derek's jaw tensed, and she saw a vein show on the side of this neck as he stared back at her.
It was the truth. Killing a teenager and killing a bloodthirsty, lethal monster were two entirely different things.
"I can't do that. I can't look at Jackson and the kanima as two different beings." She explained, then started to apologize for going against her pack but stopped herself.
"No, you know what? I'm not going to stand here and apologize for what I did. I knew it was wrong to kill Lydia and I couldn't just sit by and let that happen; and I was right. Lydia may have failed the venom test, but she wasn't the kanima."
He watched her closely as she took a deep breath and continued, "I just keep saying I'm sorry for the way that I am, and I'm sick of it. I shouldn't have to apologize for having a conscience or empathy for others. And frankly, it was really wrong of you put me in that position to begin with."
"You're right, I shouldn't have involved you. But that doesn't change the fact that you not only went against your pack... you lied to us. You didn't say that you weren't going along with the plan. You agreed, and then went behind my back." He accused, feeling a little betrayed by what she'd done, but only letting his anger show.
She looked around the room as she tried to explain how she felt, "I felt like I didn't have a choice. If I stood up and tried to say something, you were right there to remind me exactly how wrong I was and to remind me that I wanted to be a werewolf, that I wanted a pack. I still do, but it's not worth it if I lose myself."
He opened his mouth to speak, but she didn't let him. She'd spent too long holding her silence, submitting and going along with what he wanted.
"You told me before that this was dangerous..." She motioned between them, "And that I needed to decide if being together was worth risking my life for. And to me it is. I made my decision and now you need to make yours. It might have taken me a lot longer than everyone else, but I've finally found myself and I'm not going to change to try and please you or anyone else." Her words grew stronger and the confidence she thought she'd never have in herself shined brightly.
Turning she walked back up the stairs, with every step she took the smile on her lips grew.
~()~
"I cannot believe this! You guys kissed, more than once and you didn't even tell me." Erica exclaimed as she took a book out of her bag and slid it into Samantha's locker instead of walking a few hallways over to her own locker.
"I wanted to... but then all this other stuff happened and then you hated me." Sam pointed out as she tried to remember what books she'd need for her homework that night.
"I never hated you. It's just... I was really upset and mad about everything." After a pause she continued, "Stupid werewolf anger."
Sam let out a small laugh as she continued to fill Erica in on everything that had happened between her and Derek.
"I told him that I thought being together was worth risking my life for, but that I wasn't going to change for him. I am who I am, and now it's his turn to decide." She said as she gave her a shortened replay of their conversation.
Erica smiled and shook her head, she'd been pushing Sam to go for things with Derek, but she was really starting to wonder if her friend was ever going to actually make a move.
Hearing her friends heart rate jump, Erica asked, "What's wrong?"
"What if he says no?" She wondered, her voice full of emotion as she spoke.
"He won't."
"But what if he does?"
"Look at who you were before and who you are now. Before you would have done anything he asked you too, and he thought you were too weak. But now look at you! You're standing up for yourself, you're not afraid to go after what you want. And Sam, the fact that you're standing up and admitting to him that you want to be with him, but you're not going to compromise yourself for it..." Her voice trailed off as she laughed and nodded, "There's nothing sexier than a woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it."
Sam laughed and started to say something but they were interrupted when Matt walked up, "Hey Sam."
"Oh, uh... hey Matt." She greeted with a smile.
"Glad you're back." He said, glancing past Sam to Erica but then focused all his attention back on her.
"We're still on for Friday, right?" He asked, holding eye contact for a few seconds too long.
Sam shifted her books to her other arm and nodded but her attention wasn't on their conversation, she could hear Jackson talking and someone's heart sounded like it was going to beat out of their chest.
Then she heard a second voice, it was Allison.
"Yeah, apparently they've got some big name spinning and..." His voice trailed off as she started to walk past him.
"Matt, it sounds great. I'm really excited... just text me the details, I need to go check on something." She vaguely said as she brushed past him walking quickly towards the stairs.
Matt gave Erica a questioning look who shrugged and shut Sam's locker as she bluntly stated, "You know she's seeing someone, right?"
Before he could respond, she walked away as she overheard Stiles asking Lydia about Jackson's birth parents.
~()~
"They kill your aunt. They almost kill Lydia, who do you really think is going to be next? Not you. No, no, it can't be you, because you're in love. Is that what you tell yourself?"
Samantha heard Jackson taunting just as she reached the door to the locker room, followed by the sound of Allison's labored breathing.
Pushing the door open she saw he had his claws out, against the side of her face.
"Get away from her!" Sam yelled as she charged forward knocking Jackson away from Allison.
She then moved and stood protectively in front of her.
As Jackson's body hit the floor, he groaned and shook his head, like he were being shaken from a trance.
"What... what the hell are you doing in here?" He asked, with a confused look on his face as he scrambled to pull his shorts on.
Then he spotted the other teenager and his confusion grew, "Allison?"
The girls exchanged looks realizing he obviously couldn't remember the last few minutes.
The door burst open and Scott ran in as he spotted a very scared Allison he looked back to where Jackson was standing.
"I'm fine... Scott, I'm fine." She tried to assure him, but he charged Jackson and knocked him into a row of free standing lockers.
"I have a restraining order!" Jackson yelled as he stood up from where the lockers had been knocked over.
"Trust me, I restrained myself." Scott growled.
Sam watched as Jackson turned the tables and got the upper hand, but it wasn't long before Scott sent Jackson flying across the room after a powerful kick.
"I... I would help, but I'm really not sure who to help." Sam admitted to Allison as the girls watched the locker room be destroyed from the fight.
Hearing footsteps and voices approaching Sam focused her attention on what was being said, she could hear Stiles saying "Just because you got the alpha bite make over, doesn't give you a license to go around destroying people."
"Why not? That's all anybody used to do to me. I used to have the worst crush in the world on you. Yeah, you Stiles, and you never once even noticed me." She could hear Erica saying.
"Sam!" Allison yelled louder as she grabbed her arm.
"What?" She asked, she'd been too absorbed in what was going on outside of the room that she hadn't noticed how much of an upper hand Jackson had gotten over Scott.
"Help Scott, you need to help Scott." Allison said with a slight look of disbelief on her face.
It was like they hadn't been watching the same fight.
Sam looked up just in time to see Jackson throw Scott out of the locker room and charge after him.
Within seconds she'd pulled Jackson off of the other beta wolf and was holding him back as Stiles pulled his best friend to his feet.
"What do you idiots think you're doing?" Mr. Harris yelled as he looked around the group in shock.
When no one responded he asked, "Mr. McCall, you want to explain yourself?
Scott didn't answer as he let out a frustrated sigh and Stiles continued to try to hold him back from Jackson.
Looking over to Jackson, Mr. Harris said, "Jackson! Calm down!"
No one noticed Matt had picked up the computer tablet that had fell from Scott's bag when he'd thrown it down on the floor to rush to Allison's aid.
"Here you dropped this." Matt said as he started to hand the tablet back after sending himself a copy of what he'd read on the device.
Jerking the tablet from the teenager, Mr. Harris motioned between Scott and Jackson as he said, "You two..." After surveying the group of teens he yelled, "Actually all of you, detention."
~(After school)~
Erica dropped her computer down on the table in the library and looked over to Sam as she sat down beside her.
When Matt started to sit down with them, Harris said, "Uh-uh, there is more than one table. This is detention not free period... spread out."
"We can't be in detention together; I have a restraining order against these tools." Jackson explained as he sat down with Allison and Matt.
"All of these tools?" He asked.
"Just us tools." Stiles responded as she motioned between himself and Scott.
Surveying the distance between the tables he said, "Looks far enough to me."
Erica pulled out her notebook and started to write as Sam looked around before discreetly checking her phone and sighing when she had nothing from Derek.
"Why does he keep looking at you like that?" Erica whispered.
"Huh?" Sam whispered as she pulled out her Econ book and started to read over the required pages for that night.
"That Matt guy. He just keeps staring at you." She explained.
Sam looked up and saw Matt was looking at her; he gave her a smile and a wave, which Sam returned.
"We're friends." Sam answered.
Erica flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder as she looked around and then said, "Oh my god, it's not just Derek you couldn't read. You honestly have no idea when someone is interested in you."
"We're just friends." Sam assured her.
"Then what's happening this Friday?" Erica pushed, recalling the conversation in the hallway from earlier.
She started to explain but stopped when Jackson stood up and mumbled something about needing to get some water. When the teacher followed him out of the library, Scott and Stiles rushed over to their table.
"You know how Jackson's parents died?" Scott asked.
"Maybe." Erica said, as she looked back down at her notebook.
"Talk." Scott pleaded.
Laying her pen down with another sigh, she said, "It was a car accident. My dad was the insurance investigator. And every time he sees Jackson drive by in his Porsche, he makes a comment about the huge settlement he'll be getting when he's 18."
Everyone listened as she logged into her dad's email and looked up the insurance report.
She found out that the same night his parents were killed in a car accident was the night of his birth. It was unclear whether their death was an accident or a murder, all the reports kept saying was inconclusive.
Once Mr. Harris gathered his things, he told them no one else was leaving until all the re-shelving was done.
Sam left Erica down one isle with a cart as she found Matt re-shelving books off another cart with Jackson a few isles over.
"Hey Matt, can we talk?" She asked, as she walked up to him.
"If you can multitask." He smiled widely as he handed her a book.
She smiled and eyed the authors name as she turned and hunted for a spot to place it on the shelf.
"How much should I give you for my ticket?" She asked glancing over her shoulder.
"What are you talking about? This is my treat." He assured her.
Turning around she said, "I'd really just prefer to pay for my own."
He stopped looking at the book in his hands as he said, "I'm not letting you pay." What should have sounded friendly came out a little harsh as he spoke.
Sam glanced over to where Jackson was re-shelving books before she declined, "I think I'd feel better if I bought my own ticket... If you pay for me it feels too much like a date."
He tried not to let his anger show as he said, "I heard you the first time. We're going as friends... that's it."
"Going where?" Allison asked as she walked over to them with a book in her hand that had been on the wrong cart.
"We're going to a rave." Sam explained.
Allison raised her eyebrows, "A rave? Wow, I didn't even think people actually threw those."
"There's going to be a big name spinning." Matt said, eyeing Samantha from the corner of his eye.
Seeing the almost possessive look he continued to give her, Sam looked at Allison, "I was just getting ready to suggest that we should get a group of people together, go as friends."
Sam's eyes pleaded with Allison as she looked between them.
"You know, it does sound like fun. How much do I need for my ticket?"
Sam had came to her rescue when Jackson had her cornered in the locker room, she was going to return the favor.
Sam nodded in thanks to her friend as she walked away leaving Allison to discuss the ticket prices with Matt as she made her way to where Erica was standing, with her cart of books.
"Is it even legal for them to keep us this late?" Erica complained.
Sam shrugged as she picked up a book and headed back to the isle with Matt to put it away, but he was on the floor unconscious and paralyzed with a cut on the back of his neck.
"Erica!" Sam yelled, as Jackson leapt off the top of a book case and knocked into one of the ceiling lights.
Sam leaned down hovering over Matt as she tried to protect him from the falling glass and book debris.
As more books rained down and more lights were busted from the ceiling Sam yelled, "Scott? Is everyone okay?"
"Stay down!" He yelled back as he tried to make it out of the isle to see what was happening.
The next sound they heard was Erica yelling out in pain. Sam yelled out for her pack mate, but there wasn't a response as she continued to try and shield Matt from any further damage.
Scott, Allison and Stiles watched as Jackson halfway into his transition as the kanima wrote on the free standing chalk board.
Stay out of my way, or I'll kill all of you.
As he then jumped to a bookshelf and out of a high window, the attack was over as quickly as it started.
"Guys! I need some help." Sam called out.
Within moments Allison was at her side and calling an ambulance for Matt.
"Hey, hey, hey ,hey!" She heard Stiles yell, "I think she's having a seizure."
Allison nodded to Sam to go on, and she ran over to the isle they were down.
Stiles held Erica up as her body seized and thrashed around uncontrollably.
"The venom must have somehow triggered it." Sam said with terror in her eyes as she looked at Stiles, who was at a loss for what to do next.
Allison agreed to stay and wait with Matt until an ambulance got there, while the rest of them took Erica to Derek.
~()~
"Is she dying?" Stiles asked as they laid Erica's still seizing body down on the floor of the subway car and Stiles held her head up
"She might be..." Derek admitted.
"I don't understand... I triggered her body's healing process in the car on the way here. I broke her arm." Sam explained as she sat down in one of the seats.
"At least 3 times." Stiles choked out, feeling sick from the sound of breaking bone.
"It must have not been enough." He responded as he moved the sleeve of her jacket and broke her arm again.
Erica screamed out in pain and Scott sat down in the seat across from Sam, feeling helpless as he watched Derek struggle to save her.
"We've got to get the venom out. This is where it's really gonna hurt." He said as he gripped her forearm and pushed his claws into her skin and opened up a vein.
Erica screamed even louder and struggled to get away, but her body also slowly stopped seizing as she bled.
Finally letting go of her arm, he wiped his bloody hands and looked around at everyone. Now all they could do was wait and see if it would be enough to save her.
Sam watched as Derek took a deep breath and walked off the subway car, with Scott only steps behind him.
Looking up to Stiles, Erica referred to an earlier conversation they'd had as she stuttered out, "Stiles... you make a good batman."
Sam listened to Scott agree to be a part of Derek's pack as long as they captured Jackson and didn't kill him. He'd agree to help, under his terms.
There was a steadily rising fear inside of her; every day that seemed to start out decent was ending in tragedy. How many more people were going to pay the price before they found some way to save Jackson?
~()~
A/N- Thank you for reading! ^_^ Hard to believe I'm almost done writing for season 2.