Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of the movie covenant but I do own the particular situation that I have portrayed them in, please do not sue me as I am broke and not worth any money!
Summary: All the boys were given a unique gift when they first gained Power at 13. But Tyler's gift, which he usually enjoys, has brought him to his knees in agony. Can the other Sons of Ipswich figure out what is going on with Tyler in time to help him or has his gift turned into a curse. Characters: Tyler, Pogue, Reid Caleb.
Please read the authors note at the bottom.
Thanks and Enjoy!
SHATTERING SHIELDS
Tyler sighed deeply as he stopped by his dorm before Lit class to pop a couple of Tylenol, trying to stave off the headache building up between his eyes. Caleb and Reid were arguing and it was playing havoc on his empathy/healing sense.
When the sons had turned thirteen and the Power had been accessible to them, they had each been endowed with a unique gift. Caleb, being the oldest, had gotten the extra power boost to be the leader of the Sons of Ipswich, and it showed as he tried to look out for all the brothers. Pogue had been given the gift of speed which manifested in his love for his motorcycle and swimming. Reid's gift was that of manipulation. Out of all the Sons, he had the easiest time manipulating other people's thoughts and memories. It was great for whenever he wanted to sneak around. Tyler's gift was the ability to heal with Power and his own energy and to sense the feelings of those around him. The others thought his gift seemed to fit his quiet peacekeeper attitude perfectly.
Tyler liked his gift normally, except for days like today. Tyler had shields around his mind to protect himself from the crowds and general thoughts of passerby's in public. But the Sons all had a gateway to themselves that the others had constant access to, and with Caleb and Reid fighting for three days, the constant battering onto his mental shield was giving him a headache.
They were all somewhat sensitive to each other, but with Tyler's empathy, it was like they were both screaming into a bullhorn directly into his head.
Looking up at himself in the bathroom mirror, Tyler saw that he looked pale and worn. His normally expressive blue eyes were dull and held a look of pain. He popped the two Tylenol in his mouth and swallowed them dry before leaving and grabbing his stuff and heading towards Lit class.
Tyler arrived in class with moments to spare. And instead of sitting in his usual seat next to Reid and across the aisle from Caleb and Pogue, Tyler moved and sat in the back, slightly darkened corner of the class. All the Sons glanced at him, their eyes questioning, but Tyler made no move to go to his regular seat, he just simply could not sit so close to them as their emotions rammed his fragile walls.
But instead of the move helping Tyler, he had to stifle a groan as now, all three of them began to worry about him and all those emotions slammed into him. His headache was now becoming a migraine as, what felt like an ice pick, was shoved behind his eyes. The lights in the room seemed to pierce straight into his brain like a solid mass and the sound of the teacher's voice made waves of nausea surface until finally he grabbed his stuff and left via the back door.
Spencer Academy did not make a big deal of attendance. If you made it in and your parents were paying enough money then it was up to you to make the effort to attend class. Tyler had never left class or skipped so it was not only his brothers that were shocked with his sudden absence.
Tyler quickly made it back to his dorm, dropping his bag in the middle of the room as he made a mad dash to the bathroom. He fell hard to his knees, barely noticing, as he immediately began to loose what little was in his stomach. After his stomach was empty, he sat for several minutes more dry heaving. Tyler leaned his flushed forehead on the cool porcelain bowl as he silently thanked himself for turning the lights off on his earlier visit.
It wasn't until now that Tyler noticed there was a hand on his back and other people were in the room. He should have known the others would follow him.
"Ty?" The hand on his back moved up to grasp his shoulder, squeezing gently to gain his attention.
Tyler groaned as waves of concern crashed into hi. His shields had fallen. "Stop." He whispered with his eyes tightly shut.
"Stop what Ty?" The hand pulled Tyler back until he was resting against someone's chest. Cracking his eyes open, Tyler made out Caleb as the person he was leaning against and spotted two other figures standing in the door way.
"No shields." Tyler said in lieu of an explanation. A sharp intake of breath from one of his brothers in the doorway told him they understood.
There was a moment of silence before the waves of emotions from his brothers quieted leaving behind a calm emptiness as they brought their own shields up to prevent Tyler feeling their emotions. Tyler sighed in relief and relaxed back against Caleb's chest. His eyes were half mast and he was so tired.
The piercing sound of a bell broke the silence announcing the end of class. Tyler groaned in pain as the bell caused his migraine to flare up. A moment later, Tyler gasped and turned his head into Caleb's shoulder as he began to pick up the various thoughts and feelings of students coming back into the dorms.
Tyler lay there gasping in pain as tears flowed from his eyes. He picked up bits of conversation from the guys.
"Reid pack a bag for Ty." Came from Caleb.
"Where will we take him?" Pogue asked.
"My mom's on a cruise, we can use the manor." Caleb again.
"Ready!" Reid called from the other room.
"Reid can you make sure no one notices us?" Asked Caleb.
"No prob."
"I'll take care of the campus cameras." Pogue spoke.
Tyler whimpered against Caleb as more people came into the dorms and people passed by his room. The emotions and thoughts of so many were overwhelming.
"Ty." Someone called his name. Or thought it. At this point he couldn't distinguish between the two anymore.
"Tyler." He was pretty sure someone was saying his name.
"Tyler look at me." Tyler felt his head moved until he was blinking up at Caleb.
Tyler finally focused in on Caleb and watched as his brown eyes leeched black. He could feel the power answering Caleb's call as Caleb spoke, "Sleep Tyler." But Tyler's natural defenses and power rose in him automatically trying to squash the spell.
Caleb brought a hand up to cup Tyler's face. His eyes still black, he called more power while rubbing his thumb gently along Tyler's cheek to calm him. "Let go Tyler. Its ok. Sleep. We're here."
Tyler sighed letting his defenses fall and his eyes close as he let himself fall under Caleb's spell and fell asleep in his oldest brother's arms.
The next time Tyler woke was not as pleasant as he thought it was going to be, instead of the quiet peacefulness he was hoping for, Tyler awoke to a raging argument. Normally he would roll his eyes and sigh in exasperation at another fight between Caleb and Reid, but this was not a normal time.
Upon waking, so did his gifts and power but his shields were still shattered letting Tyler become overwhelmed with the anger, annoyance, and frustration the other Sons were feeling.
Tyler sat bolt upright with a gasp. His hand clenched the shirt over his heart as it sped up. His breathing was more like an all consuming constant struggle to gasp air into his lungs.
"Tyler!" Pogue standing in the doorway watching the fight between the two brothers in the hall, quickly moved to help him.
Pogue climbed onto the bed behind him, pulling Tyler to his chest as Reid and Caleb ran into the room. His brothers were asking him questions but Tyler ignored them. The constant emotions slamming into him were like a half ton weight sitting on his chest and constricting his air flow.
"Tyler, what's wrong?" Pogue asked desperately while holding the younger boy against his chest. But Tyler couldn't answer, he was to busy struggling to breathe. Tyler looked up pleadingly at Caleb, hoping the older boy would understand what was happening. And apparently he did because some of the emotions crippling him dissipated.
"Put up your shields!" Caleb called out moving to sit on the bed beside Tyler and Pogue, leaving Reid standing at the foot of the bed. Even once the others shielded from him, Tyler could not regain the ability to breathe normally. The echoes of the emotions still plagued him.
"Tyler , come on baby boy, you got to take a deep breath." Pogue said rubbing his shoulders, trying to help him relax.
But Tyler couldn't relax. His breaths were coming in painful gasps and his heart was thundering in his chest. Dark spots danced in his vision yet darkness would not claim him. Tears of fear and pain began to spill from his eyes to fall down his cheeks.
"Enough of this!" Reid exclaimed as he watched those tears fall down his best friend's face. His eyes flashed black as he delved into the Power to try and aid Tyler.
As the power flowed into Tyler, his body reacted strongly against it. His back arched backwards, his head being flung into Pogue's shoulder, his fists clenching the blankets as his legs kicked out. Tyler could feel Pogue pulling his arms across his chest and holding onto them. Caleb was straddling his legs to keep him from kicking out.
Tyler's panic sought out who was using on him and, with an unintentional burst of Power, he flung Reid into the wall to get him to stop.
"Tyler, you've got to breathe." Pogue said in his ear. Tyler just kept shaking his head as more tears fell.
"Pogue, help me." Caleb said as he looked at Tyler.
Ever since Tyler's Power had flashed out at Reid, he was barely gasping in any air and was now just barely breathing. Pogue held Tyler's arms with one hand and used the other to put his palm on Tyler's forehead and pinned it against his shoulder so that Tyler was staring weakly at Caleb.
Caleb stared into Tyler's blue eyes. Those eyes that usually shown with laughter and energy were now filled with fear and a look of defeat that was painful for Caleb to see since he knew they were partly responsible somehow.
Caleb looked up to Pogue and as their eyes met he knew that they were both silently suffering with Tyler. Caleb and Pogue communicated silently with their eyes, telling each other what needed done. Both of their eyes flashed black as they began to work.
"You're going to be ok baby boy." Pogue whispered into Tyler's ear as he proceeded to force a sense of calm into the younger boy's mind. Tyler gave a slight whimper and tried to struggle but was still help securely by them.
Reid was suddenly there beside them, his eyes black as he stood by the bed. Reid's power flowed over Tyler and finally settled like a heavy blanket on top of him. Tyler felt his muscles relax and his body fell limp against Pogue and under Caleb, all he could do was stare at them. "Relax baby boy, we got you." Reid said as Tyler blinked slowly.
Tyler would have shifted uneasily if he could when a tingling feeling spread through his body like there was something crawling beneath his skin. Then his body was forced to take a deep breath. But it didn't really feel like it was his body because although he was taking deep measured breaths in and out, he had no control of it. But as Tyler blinked at Caleb, he could see and feel how his breaths and heart beat were echoing the oldest boy's and he could feel Caleb's control over his body.
"That's it baby boy, breathe." Caleb said softly.
It was like Tyler was a child again learning to walk and Caleb was teaching him. Caleb would control Tyler's breaths and then let go letting Tyler try. If the breathing would become uneven again or falter then Caleb would take over for him. It took three tries before Tyler was able to successfully control his breathing on his own without Caleb's assistance.
"Reid, take your hold off Ty." Caleb spoke quietly as he kept eye contact with Tyler, his black Power filled eyes meeting Tyler's blue ones.
Tyler finally felt Reid's power ease away from him and as the last drop of his power fell away, Tyler took a shaky deep breath. Ty felt a squeeze on his hand and squeezed back to let Reid know that he was doing ok.
"Pogue." Caleb said.
The calm that had filled Tyler's mind gently fell away leaving him to his own thoughts. As the last of the forced calm fell away, Tyler gasped. As he gasped, Ty choked on his sudden intake of air and fell into a coughing fit. A hand squeezed his hand and another his shoulders as he continued to cough and try to gasp in extra air.
Suddenly his coughing stopped and he was forced to take a deep breath and Tyler knew that Caleb had once more taken control again.
"I got you Ty." Caleb said as they took a couple more deep breaths in unison.
"Ready?" Caleb asked after a minute.
Tyler nodded minutely and took a deep breath as Caleb pulled his Power back. He continued to take deep measured breaths for a few long seconds as the other members of the covenant looked on ready to intervene if necessary.
Tyler gave a sigh of contentment at being able to function again as Caleb moved off his legs and sat beside him and Reid pulled up a chair on his other side. Tyler relaxed further against Pogue, tired and spent as he blinked sleepily at them.
"Ty, you can't go to sleep yet." Pogue said his hand on his shoulder gently to keep him awake.
"Why?" Tyler whispered tiredly as he blinked his eyes back open.
"You have to at least build up your basic shields again baby boy." Reid said grasping his left hand.
Tyler groaned in annoyance at this. Even building up his basic shields against strangers took a lot of energy. Energy Tyler didn't know if he had.
"Come on Ty, you do this then you can sleep." Caleb said squeezing his right hand. "You don't even have to build your shields against us, we'll keep blocking. Just put up your basic shield then you can sleep."
Tyler gave a deep tired sigh before closing his eyes and focusing inwards and concentrating. His basic shields were like a pair of thick double doors in his mind that you had to have the key to get into, which his brothers did. Tyler worked slowly and methodically to build his shield before finally snapping the final piece in place and closing and locking the doors.
When Tyler finally opened his eyes he laid his head sideways on Pogue's chest in exhaustion. A cool damp cloth was wiped across his forehead and cheek causing Tyler to open his eyes he hadn't realized he closed to see Caleb holding a wet wash cloth and looking at him with concern filled brown eyes.
"Go to sleep baby boy. We'' talk later." He said. That was all the permission Tyler needed before he fell into an exhausted sleep.
The next time Tyler woke was much calmer than the last. The curtains were pulled shut and the room was dark except for a small light to his right. Tyler turned his head and saw Reid sitting in an arm chair reading a magazine. As Tyler shifted in the bed, Reid looked up and upon seeing him awake, smiled.
"Hey baby boy, how ya feeling?"
Tyler smiled sleepily as he rubbed his eyes. "No headache and I can breathe. I feel great." Tyler said with a sigh on contentment.
Something flickered in Reid's eyes but it was too fast for Tyler to catch, let alone interpret. "You feel up to walking around a bit. Caleb and Pogue are making lunch downstairs."
"Lunch? What time is it?" Tyler's sense of time was off.
"Its one o'clock in the afternoon Ty." Reid said with a smirk. "Sunday afternoon. You slept twenty-seven hours baby boy."
Tyler looked at Reid in shock. Twenty-seven hours! He had basically missed Saturday completely. And Lit was the last class of the day on Friday and it was over at 2:40 pm. Tyler had literally slept most the weekend away.
Tyler hopped out of bed fast as he made that last realization. He realized, belatedly as he fell into Reid, that getting up fast after sleeping so long was not a smart thing to do at all.
"Whoa, Ty! You ok?" Reid asked as Tyler blinked slowly before trying to stand up more without Reid holding him up.
"Hold on baby boy. Let me help you." Reid said as he maneuvered Tyler until he could sit on the edge of the bed.
"Dizzy." Tyler mumbled placing a hand on his forehead and closing his eyes waiting for it to pass.
"That's what happens when you sleep for so long and then try to jump out of bed." Reid said as he sat, patiently for once, beside Tyler waiting for the dizziness to pass.
When Tyler took his hand away from his head and was able to sit up a little more without fear of passing out, he looked at Reid.
"I think I'm ok now." He said.
"Ok then, lets try take two. This time let me help you baby boy."
Reid stood in front of Tyler and pulled him to his feet. He held Tyler's shoulders as he momentarily swayed in place but then was able to be more steady.
"Ready to try walking?" Reid asked seriously. He wasn't taking any chances and if Tyler said no then they would simply have lunch up here.
"Yeah I'm good." Tyler didn't remark on Reid's serious behavior.
Reid grabbed one of Tyler's arms and slung it around his shoulder to hold on to and support the younger boy if needed. They slowly made their way down the hall and began walking down the stairs. About five steps down though, Tyler wavered in Reid's grasp and his face paled.
"Ty, you ok?" Reid asked, his voice laced with worry.
"yeah, I just need a minute." Tyler said closing his eyes and leaning more of his weight onto Reid who shifted to compensate before lowering Tyler to sit on the steps.
"Caleb!" Reid shouted. He didn't want to use to help get Tyler down and he didn't think baby boy was going to make it by himself at this rate. Pounding footsteps announced the arrival of Caleb and Pogue who both took in the situation quickly before climbing the stairs.
"Hey baby boy." Caleb said kneeling on the step in front of Tyler.
"Hey." Tyler mumbled looking up.
"You ready to try the rest of the steps?" Caleb asked trying to make light of the situation.
Tyler just looked down. Not in embarrassment but because he knew that he could not tackle the rest of the stairs without falling down them. At least not yet.
"In a minute." Tyler said softly.
Pogue wasn't going to wait a minute. He knew if Tyler wasn't able to do the steps now then a minute wasn't really going to help. Pogue knelt down to one knee beside Tyler and proceeded to pick the smaller boy up into his arms and walk down the stairs.
"Pogue!" Tyler yelled. He tried to wiggle and get out of his arms but he didn't want to move to much and cause them both to fall.
"Relax Ty, I got you." Pogue said as he carried Tyler down the stairs.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Tyler tried to get out of Pogue's arms again but his brother wasn't interested in putting him down. "Pogue we're not on the stairs anymore." Tyler said trying to get down, but Pogue just kept walking and headed towards the kitchen.
"Give it up baby boy! Pogue's not letting you down any time soon." Reid said laughingly.
Pogue finally let him down once they got to the kitchen table. He literally sat Tyler into the chair before moving away. Tyler yawned into his hand as he looked around the kitchen.
"You can't still be tired Ty, you just sleep the weekend away." Caleb said walking into the room.
"Sorry, I didn't get much sleep this week." Tyler said around a yawn and purposefully not looking at any of his brothers.
"There was a rustling of plates before the other guys joined him at the table carrying plates, drinks, utensils, cut Italian bread, and a giant bowl of spaghetti. Everything was quiet for a bit as pasta was dished out and the boys began eating.
"So what happened?" Reid asked bluntly halfway through the meal.
"Tyler paused with a fork full of spaghetti mid way to his mouth before he abruptly lost his appetite. He set his fork back down and took a drink of his mountain dew as he tried to avoid looking at any of his brother's faces. But since he wasn't looking, Tyler missed the glares Pogue and Caleb shot Reid.
Tyler moved his spaghetti around on his plate, he was not the least bit hungry anymore. He risked looking up at the others after a minute and saw the curious and worried gazes before looking back down at his plate.
"It just got to be too much." Tyler muttered softly not looking up.
"What got to be too much baby boy?" Caleb asked. His voice was kind and concerned. Tyler didn't know if he could tell him that he was partly responsible for Tyler's suffering.
Pogue was often underestimated. Most people didn't think he was very observant, but when it came to his brothers, he could pick up all of the nuances. Looking at Tyler's timid, meek behavior, he thought back on what could be the cause of the broken shields and be enough to keep Tyler from speaking up. It didn't take him long to figure it out.
"It was tem fighting, wasn't it?" Pogue asked bluntly, he knew if Tyler could weasel his way out of answering when he didn't want to he would, so being blunt was best.
Tyler kept his gaze locked with the plate as he gave a slow nod. He missed the pained looks that flashed across Reid's and Caleb's face.
"Ty , why didn't you say something?" Caleb asked. He was stricken that he had caused his youngest brother pain.
"Yeah baby boy, you should have told me." Reid was upset. Tyler was his best friend. He couldn't believe he had been hurting him this bad and the younger boy hadn't said anything to him.
"I could handle it." Tyler said softly. He didn't want them babying him or walking on eggshells around him. He wanted to be treated as their equal.
"No you can't!" Reid snapped. His frustration and pain at having hurt Tyler was causing his guilty conscience to attack him.
"Yes I can. And I have before." Tyler said his head coming up to stare at Reid.
"Well why couldn't you handle it this time?" Reid asked more gently, finally reigning in his frustration.
Tyler looked back down, not meeting anyone's eyes as he mumbled his answer under his breath.
"Tyler." Caleb said. His voice was wracked with guilt, pain, and concern.
"Its worse when we use when we fight?" Caleb asked.
"It echoes." Tyler said softly.
"Echoes?" Pogue asked trying to understand.
"Its like it keeps building up until something gives." Tyler's voice was a near whisper.
No one said something for a few minutes. The older boys were trying not to voice how that 'something' that gave had been Tyler's shields, and it had hurt the younger boy.
"Has this happened before?" Caleb wanted, needed to know if they had inadvertently hurt the boy before.
Tyler shifted in his seat looking anywhere but at the others, "Its never gotten that bad before." He said with a shrug.
"But it hurts." Reid said softly, his usual joking manner set aside as he took in the fact that he had been inadvertently hurting his younger brother.
"I can handle it." Tyler said looking up.
"But we're hurting you!" Caleb responded anguished as Pogue sat quiet and concerned.
"Not all the time." Tyler was trying to placate them. He didn't want them to feel guilty.
"Not every fight. Just when you use on each other, or really long fights."
"Long fights?" Pogue asked. He wanted to get everything out in the open now so that this wouldn't happen again.
"They wear me down." Tyler admitted.
"Damn it baby boy! Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Reid asked jumping out of his seat and pacing the kitchen.
"I could handle it." Tyler said again, resting his chin on his arm. He was beginning to feel tired.
"Enough." Pogue spoke firmly. He had been relatively quiet but he couldn't stay that way as he watched Tyler get more and more tired.
"Your our brother Ty. Our baby boy. And no matter how much you may hate it, we are protective of you. You've got to tell us when something we're doing is hurting you. We can't help you if we don't know what's wrong." Caleb got on his knees in front of Tyler as he spoke looking beseechingly at him.
"I know its hard. And I know you don't want to be perceived as weak but this isn't weakness. Baby boy, I don't think any of us could handle what your gift puts you through. But admitting your limits is not a weakness...its a strength. So please baby boy...Tyler...let us help you."
The look on Caleb's face, on all their faces caused Tyler's eyes to mist over and he was upset with himself for having so little control. He finally gave a tired nod causing Caleb and Pogue to smirk as Reid muttered a fervent "Thank God!" that caused them all to laugh.
A large yawn came over Tyler causing him to blink his eyes sleepily when it was over.
"Come on baby boy, you should get back to bed." Pogue said standing from his chair.
"I'm not tired." Tyler said pushing away from the table.
"How about a movie." Reid said to pacify the younger boy as they all adjourned to the family room.
A half an hour into the movie, Caleb nudged Reid to look over at Tyler who had fallen asleep and had his head resting on Pogue's chest with Pogue's arms thrown over the back of the couch. And if any emotions would have leaked through Tyler's shields at that moment, they would have been of contentment, protectiveness, and love.
The End
Authors Note:
Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed the story. This is my first fan fiction that I have ever posted so please spare a minute and tell me what you think. I have an idea for another story that deals with the healing aspect of Tyler's gift and what happens when he over does it but first I need to know what you think of this story.
If anyone would like to beta for me please include that in your review or e-mail me!
Thanks for reading!
Please Review!!