Thanks for all the reviews. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

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SUSPICIOUS MINDS
We can't go on together with suspicious minds…

Chase drove Reid's car to the alley behind Nicky's and caught a cab home. He entered the house quietly, stopping and waving to Sam's mom, who was waiting up for her.

"G'night mom," Chase said.

"Good night, Samantha Jane."

"Hey mom, I think I'm gonna take a day tomorrow from school. I don't feel very well."

"I thought you were saving your sick days for the week before Spring Break?"

"Nah, I really don't feel well. G'night."

Chase went to his room, stripped down and crawled into Sam's bed, groaning as the soft mattress sank around him. He threw an arm over his eyes and sighed, relishing the feel of the cool sheets on his bare skin. Being a chick had its advantages, one of which was the difference in sensations. He didn't know what it was, but everything felt different to him in Sam's body than it would if he were in his own.

"Still pouting?" he asked quietly. His lips curved when he received no answer. "Sam? Saaaam? I know you're in there, I can hear you breathing." He chuckled at his attempt at humor.

Don't, Sam whispered. Just leave me alone, Chase.

"Suit yourself," Chase said, trailing his fingertips over his stomach. His hands brushed lower, lightly stroking the sensitive skin at his naked hip. His brows furrowed and he frowned when Sam still didn't respond.

"Fine," he said, rolling over onto his stomach and going to sleep.

Sam waited for Chase's conscious mind to fall asleep before attempting to go through with her plan.

When she had settled down after witnessing what had happened with Reid, she had lapsed into silence, refusing to acknowledge even the slightest thing Chase said or did. During this time, she thought about what she was going to do, being careful not to project her thoughts. Now that Chase was asleep, she would try to reach out to one of the others.

She concentrated hard, calling on her ethereal gifts to feel for Pogue's sleeping subconscious. She looked and looked, but was unable to find it. She assumed he must still be awake and shifted focus to Tyler.

…She found herself on a beach, the full moon hanging low in the sky and reflecting off the water. She saw Tyler walking along the sand, hands tucked into the pockets of his boardshorts and moonlight glowing on his pale skin.

"Tyler! Oh, thank God," Sam called, rushing to the boy.

"Sam?"

"Tyler, you've got to help—Tyler?"

Sam shook the boy, who was staring wide-eyed over her shoulder. She turned and looked, gasping at the big black fogbank that rolled toward them. Lightening broke out across the darkness and a ghostly face was revealed in the fog.

"What the hell…?"

"It's my ascension," Tyler said, his voice sounding distant and weak. He looked at Sam and took her hand, pulling her along at a run. "It'll kill me, Sam," Tyler said, looking over his shoulder. "Just like it does all of us. Just like it did our fathers."

She pulled away from Tyler and came to a stop. "Tyler, listen to me. My body, it's been—"

The black fog swooped in and rolled around them, and suddenly Sam was cut off from Tyler. Apparently, the boy had awakened from his nightmare.

That left Caleb. Pogue wasn't asleep, but she hoped that it wasn't because he was on the phone with his best friend.

She focused in and felt a gentle flying sensation before finding herself in a dark hallway.

"Great. Another nightmare?" she muttered as the overhead lights flickered.

She rounded the corner and stopped short, averting her gaze. Caleb stood braced with one arm against the wall while supporting a petite redhead with the other. The redhead's legs were wrapped around his waist and his jeans were unbuttoned and pushed low, hanging off one hip. His shirt lay on the floor behind him.

"Caleb?" Sam said, hesitantly reaching out to touch him. She swore when her hand passed through him. He was too focused on the job at hand. She would have to get his attention some other way. Naturally, the only way to do so would be to merge with the girl he was—

Sam arched a brow at one particularly impressive move and the sound that followed, then shook herself and edged to the wall.

"Um, excuse me," she said. "Caleb?"

She sighed and stamped her foot in frustration. Inhaling deeply, she slid along the wall until her torso and head blended with the redhead, then she brought her arms and legs up to complete the merge. She shifted and put what little distance she could between their bodies. Caleb took the shift as a desire to change positions, so he turned and put his back to the wall, sliding down to a sitting position and leaving Sam to straddle his lap.

She called his name and Caleb reacted as if she had burned him. He jerked his head back, knocking his head on the concrete wall behind him.

"Sam?!"

"Don't freak out," Sam said quickly. "You'll—" The connection with Caleb was lost mid-sentence. …wake up, Sam finished. Well dammit!

Chase stirred and kicked the blanket from him. Sam waited for him to settle before trying again. She realized Tyler and Caleb were least likely to ever listen to her. She prayed Pogue had since gone to sleep. She searched out Pogue's aura and smiled as she felt the link.

He was in the garage—good God, the man even dreamed about his friggin' motorcycle—and Sam wasted no time going over to him.

"Pogue," she said, turning him to face her. "Don't say anything, I've got to—what happened to your face?" Sam asked, unable to resist brushing her fingertips gently over the raw scrapes there.

"I wiped out on the wet road," he said, jerking his chin to a pile of metal behind him. "Totally trashed my bike."

"Oh…I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "No big deal, I've got this to ride," he said, smiling wickedly and sliding his hand over her butt, drawing her closer.

"Cute," she said, smiling. Suddenly, she remembered why she was there. "Pogue, you've got to listen to me. It's important. I'm not me," she said in a rush.

"What are you talking about?" Pogue asked, dipping his head to kiss her neck. "You taste like you to me."

"No, Pogue, I'm serious. Gah, why do you guys have to be so damn virile?" she asked, stepping away from him.

Pogue laughed. "I hope that's a rhetorical question."

Sam's vision wavered and the scene froze. She turned her head and jumped as Chase stepped out of the shadows.

"Tsk, it isn't very nice trying to out me," he said, coming toward her slowly.

She braced her feet apart and curled her fingers to fists. Chase rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, Sam. Do you think you can fight me here?" He scoffed and tucked his hands into the pockets of his black corduroys. "You've got a good grasp of power, I'll give you that. Dreamwalking is a pretty good parlor trick."

"Up yours," Sam growled.

Chase smiled suggestively. "That's naughty."

His eyes changed to black and he tilted his head to the side. "Time to go home, Samantha," he said, holding his hand out to her. Sam shook her head and Chase bent his fingers forward, using his magic to drag her forcibly to him.

"You—" Light flashed and then Sam was engulfed in darkness. –bastard! she shouted at him.

-----------

A loud trilling woke Chase, and he rolled over to answer Sam's cell phone.

"Unh?"

"Hey, it's Caleb."

"Mmf."

"Did I wake you?"

"No, I just thought I might have a go at communicating in one-syllable grunts," Chase said dryly.

"Oh. Sorry." A pause. "Hey, Sam, are you going to be home for a while?"

"Don't you have class?"

"Don't you?" Caleb countered.

"Yeah, I'll be here. Why?"

"I thought maybe I could drop in and we could talk. We haven't talked in a while," Caleb said.

Chase smiled to himself. This was a good chance to take out Caleb. He had wanted to draw out Caleb's demise, but when an opportunity presented itself…

"Sure, ok. That sounds nice," Chase said, stretching. He hung up the phone and grabbed some of the clothes he had bought the previous day, before padding naked to the bathroom for a shower.

"Are you still giving me the silent treatment?" Chase asked as he lined Sam's eyes with a vivid blue pencil. He brushed some metallic teal eyeshadow over the lids and finished with some black mascara. "Well, what do you think?"

I think you made me look like a whore-bag slut, Sam said without interest.

Chase smiled and pursed his lips, blowing a kiss at Sam's reflection. He pulled on her black lace boyshorts and stepped out of the bathroom, still rubbing the towel over his hair.

"Hey."

Chase whirled, quickly clamping down on the defensive instinct to power up.

Caleb gave a little wave and a small smile. "Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to scare you."

Chase let the towel drop and saw Caleb's eyes roam over Sam's body before he looked away.

"Uh…sorry. I didn't know you were in the shower," Caleb said, looking at the wall to the left. "I knocked," he added, hoping he wouldn't have the imprint of Sam's curvy form forever burned into his brain. He focused on the gold and moss green paisley wallpaper, but saw Sam shrug out of the corner of his eye.

"It's ok," she said. "I'm sure you've seen breasts before. Come on," she said, turning. "I'll get dressed so you can quit blushing."

"I'm not blushing," Caleb muttered, following her down the hall and trying to ignore the way the black lace of her underwear was a stark contrast to the paleness of her skin.

Caleb cleared his throat and looked around the familiar room while Sam tugged on a black and gray striped camisole. She turned and faced him with a beaming smile.

"Better?" she asked. She sat on the edge of her bed. "So…"

Caleb sat on the sofa and stretched his long legs. "So."

"Was there something specific you wanted, Danvers, or did you just hope to catch me naked?"

Caleb smiled and shrugged. "You were in my dreams last night," he said.

Sam arched a brow. "Was I," she asked. "And what did I do in this dream of yours?"

"It's a funny story, actually," Caleb said, laughing nervously. "I was…in the middle of something," he began, "And you interrupted and told me not to freak out, but then I woke up."

"Well that doesn't sound dynamic enough as to warrant a meeting," Sam said, bending to pick up a pair of pants—and give Caleb an eyeful of flesh.

She tugged the jeans over her legs, and Caleb was assaulted by flashes of those legs curled snugly around his waist. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the image. It wasn't like him to lust after anyone, specifically his best friend's girlfriend.

"Damn," Sam muttered. Caleb turned and saw that she held a broken camisole strap in her hand. "Can you help me out?"

He stood and took the strap from her, concentrating on relacing the elastic through the small plastic hoop. Sam leaned close, and with her every breath her breast brushed his knuckles.

"Touch me, Caleb," Sam said, her eyes pleading.

"I should go," Caleb said hoarsely. "I should…" he trailed off as he was once again swept under by flashes of him and Sam in every position imaginable, wringing every ounce of pleasure from each other's bodies.

His cell phone began to ring, drawing him out of his stupor. He glanced at it and saw that it was Pogue, and turned to answer it. Before he could, Sam gripped his hair and pulled him to her, losing balance and crashing to her bed in a tangled pile. Sam rolled, pinning Caleb beneath her.

Caleb struggled to regain his footing, but was unable to dislodge Sam as she continued to kiss the crap out of him.

-

Pogue swore and hung up his cell, whipping Tyler's SUV onto Sam's street. He pulled to the curb and glanced curiously at Caleb's Mustang. He took the front steps two at a time and reached for the doorbell before noticing the door wasn't latched.

He pushed the door open and stuck his head inside. Everything was quiet, except for a light bumping coming from the back of the house.

"Sam?"

Chase heard Pogue's voice and silently cursed.

You can't take both of them, Sam said, sounding smug and relieved.

Chase threw his arms over his head and turned away from Caleb, letting out a strangled cry.

Pogue burst into the room and pulled Caleb off Sam before scooping her to her feet.

"What the hell…"

Caleb held out his hands, panting for breath as he faced his best friend. "Pogue, before you jump to any conclusions—"

"Oh, Pogue, thank God," Sam cried, wrapping herself around her boyfriend. Tears streamed down her face and her body was wracked with sobs as he patted her awkwardly. He brushed her tears away with his thumbs and wrapped his arms around her.

"Caleb?" Pogue asked, confused.

"He came in when I was in the shower," Sam cried. "I told him to wait while I put some clothes on but he burst in and started tearing at my clothes, talking about how he's wanted me since the thing with Kate." She burrowed into Pogue's t-shirt and cried.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Caleb demanded, taking a threatening step toward Sam. He looked at Pogue, searching for evidence that the other boy was believing anything Sam was saying. All he saw was confusion.

"Pogue…"

"Get out!" Sam cried, launching herself at Caleb. "Get out of my house! Pogue, he attacked me. Are you just going to stand there?"

Pogue opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again when he couldn't think of anything intelligent to say.

Sam sniffed and snatched up a blanket, covering herself. She shoved Pogue with all her might. "You get out too, then! Both of you, leave now before I call the police!"

"Sam, will you just—" Pogue began.

"Out!"

He held his hands up and jerked his head toward the door for Caleb to leave, then turned on his heel and followed.

Chase slammed Sam's door after them, and shattered the full length mirror hanging on the wall.

Sam's laughter taunted him inside his head.

Seven years bad luck. Too bad for you, Chase. You blew it, you know. You'll never get close enough to get their powers, she said.

"Then it looks like I'll just have to go and finish off Garwin, huh?" he said venomously.

---------------------------

"What the hell just went on in there?" Pogue demanded as he and Caleb descended the steps of Sam's house.

"I have no idea," Caleb said, shaking his head. "Look, Pogue, I know what it looked like. But you gotta believe that I wouldn't…" he let the sentence drop as Pogue threw him a wry, you'd-be-an-idiot-to-even-finish-that-sentence look.

"Yeah, Caleb, I know," he said.

"So what are you doing here? You never skip school."

"Oh, and you do?" Pogue asked, arching a brow. "I was trying to call you. Reid's MIA. Tyler hasn't seen him since they left Nicky's last night. Reid left with Whitney Burks, but Whitney says he took off right after he got a call from Sam."

"We better go find Tyler," Caleb said.

"I called him. He's gonna meet us at my place." He flicked a glance over Caleb's shoulder to Sam's house. "Something's really off here, Caleb. I mean, Reid gets a call from Sam and goes missing, then she accuses you of trying to rape her? What's going on, man?"

"I dunno. Let's go get Tyler."

-

The boys filled Tyler in on the things that happened at Sam's, then called a few in-school friends to see if they had heard from Reid.

Tyler sat on the pool table and used his powers to stack the balls on top of each other while he waited for the others to get off the phone. "What'd Carson say?" he asked as Caleb disconnected.

"He said he hasn't talked to him since the relay last week."

"Same with Marty, only he added that Reid owes him 75 bucks," Pogue said, tucking his cell back into his pocket. He reached over and plunked Tyler's ball tower over.

"I dreamed about Sam last night," Caleb said absently. "Only it seemed like she was really wanting to tell me something."

"I dreamed about her too," Tyler said, sliding to his feet. "I was having that nightmare again, about the black fog, and everything was exactly the same as it always is except Sam showed up out of nowhere."

Pogue's brows furrowed. "She was in my dreams too," he said, his deep voice quiet.

"She's been a big part of all our lives recently, maybe it's just a coincidence that we all dreamed about her," Tyler said, not sounding convinced at all.

Caleb gave a humorless laugh. "The thing about coincidences in our lives…"

"There's no such thing?" Pogue offered.

"Exactly," Tyler said. "Which probably means that Reid is in deep shit right now."

The others nodded.

"So with Sam, you think possession?" Pogue asked Caleb.

"Body snatchers," Tyler said. When the other two just looked at him blandly, he shrugged. "What? I did a report on Jack Finney for Mr. Uter last year. It's a reasonable suggestion."

"Aliens?" Pogue asked.

"Witches?" Tyler countered, exaggerating the condescending tone of voice Pogue had used.

"For the sake of time, let's stick to problems we've come across before," Caleb interjected.

"Chase," Pogue and Tyler said at the same time.

"That guy is seriously pissing me off," Tyler said. "Do you think he's controlling Sam or do you think she's like Kate and flaked on us?"

"I don't know," Caleb said. "Pogue, keep a watch on Sam. I want to make sure she's really not herself before we move in. Don't be alone with her, but don't make it obvious that you don't want to be alone with her," he said. "Tyler, you and I will look for Reid. I'll go talk to Whitney; you go and ask around to see if anyone saw Reid after he left Nicky's last night."

"Caleb, what do we do if Sam is gone?" Pogue asked.

Caleb was quiet a moment before shaking his head. "We'll cross that bridge if and when we get to it, alright?"

Pogue nodded, and the boys left to take care of their appointed tasks.