Frightening Little Princess

Summary: The Ipswich Covenant isn't the only power around. A powerful friend of the families returns to Ipswich at the request of her grandmother, who fears for her life. But returning to Ipswich makes things worse and puts them all at risk. Sometimes the only way to save the ones you love is to sacrifice everything, including your life. TylerOC.

Disclaimer: Yeah… I own nothing. Damn.

A/N: Thanks to xxkpxx, KaylaSimms1990, and gxaxbxbxy!

C-C-C

Ipswich Cemetery

It had been a long time; a very long time. Raven hadn't seen her mother's grave in years, not since she was thirteen, and she had never been alone. Raven had to think and she really needed some advice, but there wasn't anyone she could think to go to that wouldn't tell someone else. So Raven came up with the most realistic solution; Mom.

She leaned against the wall of the mausoleum, feeling the letters of her mother's name press into her forehead. This mausoleum held many Universal Beings from her line; not as far back as Faith and her daughter, but close, and there was still plenty of room.

"Mommy," Raven whispered to the wall, tears dripping down her face and onto the surprisingly clean floor, "What am I going to do? Someone is trying to kill me. Why? When I have ever done anything that…? I'm so scared. And of course Tyler is avoiding me. He'll probably do it even more when he finds out what's going on." The logic behind her last statement wouldn't have made sense to anyone but Raven. Sure, he'd be around, trying to protect her like the others, but he wouldn't be alone with her, he would probably be distant, and there was no way he would talk to her about anything that wasn't friendly conversation or the plan to keep her safe.

"The guys just wouldn't understand." Tyler had said. But Reid had made it clear the night before that he was very understanding. Why couldn't Tyler pick up on that?

"If you keep standing like that, you won't get those words out of your forehead." A voice said, causing Raven to jump. Raven turned and smiled as an extremely elderly woman with dark brown skin descended the stairs into the mausoleum, "Hello Raven."

"Aggie." Raven said as she walked over to the extremely short, wrinkled woman and gave her a hug. Agatha Verity stood on her tiptoes as Raven stooped; the Verity's were the only other family of Universal Beings that Raven's family had ever known and they had been in Massachusetts for longer than her family, "Glad you got Grams' letter. With, you know, you having some ridiculous aversion to that newfangled creation, the telephone."

"Gah!" Aggie said, "Telephones. Mindless technology. It takes away from what we are and how we commune with the Earth."

"And you wonder why your great-granddaughter has issues with the way you do things, Aggie." Raven said, thinking of Aggie's only living relative (her daughter and granddaughter had both died of cancer, something that their healing powers couldn't stop).

"And you wonder why I am so sensitive to the Earth and her pleas."

Rolling her eyes, Raven replied, "Aggie, you're ninety six. Even for our kind, that's quite a lifespan. Your great-granddaughter is fifteen. You really have to give her some room to grow; like a tree." The elderly woman rolled her eyes, but Raven knew that Aggie was taking what she said seriously, "Don't give me that. You know I'm right."

"I know nothing of the kind." Aggie replied, turning her attention to the mausoleum, "This is very clean for a mausoleum. Have you had someone cleaning it?"

"Not that I know of. Grams never told me that we were." Raven said, "It's weird though. Who would clean a mausoleum?"

"I don't know." Aggie said.

Raven sighed, "I'll call Grams and ask if she hired anyone to keep it clean. Need a ride back to your place, Aggie?" Raven asked. Aggie lived just outside of Ipswich with her great-granddaughter in a very comfortable home –her family also had their fair share of money- that had been in their family for years. Raven had been there often when visiting Ipswich.

"No, I will be fine." Aggie replied, "I would not want you to go out of your way. My home isn't exactly on the way back to…" She trailed off, causing Raven to roll her eyes. Aggie's family had once been very close to the Families but a rift had occurred several generations before –if she remembered correctly, it was Caleb's great-great grandfather (a completely irrational man, as anyone would admit) who had offended Aggie's grandmother in a completely inacceptable way- thus the only link between the Covenant and Aggie's family was Raven's family. No one really remembered how Francis Danvers had offended Lenora Verity but that had become immaterial.

"Aggie, please be nice. I don't want to hear anything derogatory about my friends when I visit." Raven replied, "And the same goes for them."

Aggie took a deep breath and replied, "For you, I will remain civil."

"Thank you." Raven said with a smile, "And you are sure that you don't need a ride?"

"One hundred percent," Aggie replied.

C-C-C

It wasn't like Reid Garwin to be alone, but he was glad that he was. Ever since Pogue's ascension, Reid had been a little more than slightly freaked out and he needed some time alone to clear his head. He had been wandering around Ipswich for about an hour and his feet had brought him to the sea side. Taking in a deep breath, Reid stopped and looked around. He was completely alone with the exception of some seagulls. It didn't surprise him, though. It was October and it was getting late; the cold had herded most sensible people inside.

Reid saw a bench near where he was, walked to it, and sat down. It wasn't just Pogue's ascension that had him thinking; there was also his conversation with Raven during their dance at Nicky's. She had been right; completely right. He was looking for a specific kind of girl and pick-up lines were most likely not the way to go. Most people thought he was a ladies' man, one that had a new girl every week and slept around a lot. That just wasn't true! Sure, he'd dated around a bit but he didn't sleep around –that he just did on occasion and it was never something that was awkwardly spontaneous.

That also meant that what he had told Antoinette was true. He was only looking for the right commitment to commit to; he wanted a relationship exactly like his parents. Now that didn't mean he wanted to be them, he just wanted their relationship. His parents were the closest couple he had ever seen in his entire life and they had been through so much together. The mix of his father having the Power and the difficulties that came with that and his mother having had Stomach Cancer (Meredith had been in remission for nearly ten years, but every time she went for a checkup, Joseph was clearly anxious) wasn't easy but they were still in love after all these years.

Sighing heavily, Reid stood; he really needed to get back to school.

"Well, look who it is." Reid heard a voice say; he smiled his signature smirk and turned around to face the speaker.

"Antoinette."

"You remembered." She said, a sassy smirk of her own gracing her pouty lips, "Here I thought you would forget, what with your reputation and all."

Sighing, Reid replied, "Like I said, I have my reasons."

"Right, you're looking for the right commitment, I remember." Antoinette replied, "Why?"

"Because it's better to be alone than to be with someone you can't stand. I don't want to be either." Reid replied, clearly catching Antoinette off guard, "What? I can be deep."

With a chuckle, Antoinette replied, "I guess you can." Reid watched as Antoinette seemed to consider something. After a moment, she said, "Um… I really should get going, but it was nice to see you again."

"Yeah… You too." Reid said, a little bit hesitant but not willing to find a reason to force her company. Reid watched as she smiled, turned, and walked away. After a moment, she stopped and turned back. Quickly, she walked back to Reid, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and retreated. Reid stood there for a moment, watching her go, his smile returning. He had a feeling about this one.

C-C-C

Pogue's Apartment

The weeks since his birthday had been horrible. Pogue had just floated around since Kate left him and, though he was excited to see Raven again, the only thing that he knew would bring him out of his funk was getting the chance to explain things… He just never imagined that happening.

That was, of course, until Kate came to his door. She was bundled up in a sweater and hat and he was standing in the doorway without a shirt on… It was definitely an awkward moment for more than one reason, "Kate." He finally said after what seemed like hours.

"Hi… Um… Can I come in?"

Shocked silent for a moment, Pogue finally said, "Um, yea… Sure. Come on in." He moved out of the way, closed the door behind her, and snatched a shirt off of a chair has he followed her into the living room. Slipping on the shirt, Pogue watched in anticipation as Kate turned towards him. She didn't say anything, "Um… What can I do for you?"

"Well… I came for that explanation you wanted to give me." Pogue, stunned for multiple reasons, had to nonchalantly lean against the wall to stand.

"After all this time?" Pogue asked, "Why now?"

Sighing, Kate said, "I talked to Raven." Pogue stood straight up; he didn't know that Raven knew, "She said some things that made me think. I do love you, Pogue. I want to understand, but I can't promise that I will. I just need to know what it was that I saw."

"How much time do you have?"

"As long as it takes." Kate replied. She was caught off guard by Pogue rushing up to her and pulling her into a deep hug, "Pogue…"

"I'm so sorry, Katie." He whispered, "I wanted to tell you; more than anything, I swear I did!"

Pulling back and looking Pogue in the eye, Kate asked, "They why didn't you?"

"I couldn't." Pogue replied, "My father would have killed me. The only reason Caleb told Sarah is because she was in danger."

"But two years, Pogue." Kate replied, "Two years and every time I mentioned anything remotely…" She struggled to find the right word, "supernatural… you told me that it was nonsense. You looked me in the eye and told me it was ridiculous."

"I told you, Kate. I had to."

"Just tell me what I saw and don't leave anything out."

Pogue nodded and indicated the couch. Kate sat, Pogue resting on the cushion next to her, and waited. She had wanted answers before and she finally had the strength to face them. She hoped to God she didn't hate what she heard.

C-C-C

He was being a scared little mouse, he knew it. Tyler was the quiet one, sure, but he wasn't coward… Or, at least, he wasn't unless Raven was involved. When Abbot almost hit her, Tyler had felt a rage shoot through him that he had never felt before; he had wanted to beat Abbot with the nearest hard object until the asshole was unconscious. That, however, was nothing compared to the inane jealousy he felt when Reid and Raven had danced together. Tyler knew that he had no claim to her, so he could do nothing, even if she wanted him to. He wanted desperately to bend to her, do anything that she asked of him, protect her, and see to it personally that she had anything that she wanted without her even asking for it.

But that couldn't happen. There were times when he had been close to giving in, to throwing caution to the wind and proving to Raven exactly how he felt (he was sure that she was skeptical because of the way he acted), but then he remembered back to the many times he and his brothers came to the subject of Raven and what they would do if she happened to bring any boyfriends into the picture… One of those conversations stuck out particularly clearly to Tyler and included several colorful and well detailed plans involving chicken blood, clowns, and ancient rusty dental utensils. The clowns had been Reid's idea.

Tyler saw no way that him being one of them would change their feelings about anything. That was why he was hiding in the tree house that his, Reid's, Pogue's, and Caleb's father's built when he was four. He needed to be alone.

That didn't last as long as he hoped, however. After a while, Tyler heard a car approaching. It wasn't Gorman's, there was far too little noise for that, and when he looked out the small window of the tree house, he nearly collapsed. The car he didn't recognize, the occupant he did. A blue Chevy Camaro being driven by Raven stopped next to his Hummer. Raven exited the car and Tyler couldn't help notice how the setting sun reflected off of her hair.

"Tyler Simms!" She called up to the tree house, "Get down here!" He skulked back and heard, "Damn it, Tyler, stop acting like a baby!" He groaned; it was true, he was acting like a baby. Mustering up his courage, Tyler slunk over to the trap door and exited the tree house.

As he reached the ground, Tyler turned, "Hey, Rae. How's it going?"

"It's good." She replied, her anger seemingly gone, "How have you been? We haven't talked you called to tell me about Sarah."

"I've been okay." He replied, wondering when she would get to the heart of the reason as to why she was there."

"Good, I'm glad." She said. They stood there for a moment before Raven, quickly, swatted him on the back of the head. He was caught so off guard that he didn't know what to say, "Really Tyler? The tree house? I get that you're trying to avoid me, but really?"

"Rae, I'm not trying…" Raven cut him off with a look, "Raven look, I…" He didn't know what to say.

"You're trying to avoid me." She finished for him, walking closer to him. He really wished she wouldn't! From where she was he could smell her perfume and it made him weak in the knees, "Why?"

"Rae, I… We can't."

Staring at him for a minute, Raven asked, "Did this conversation just change subjects?"

"Yes and no, Rae." Tyler said, "Look, I…"

Raven scoffed, "This is about us. I see. Look, Tyler, I know how I feel about you and how you feel about me. I'm just hoping that you will somehow get over whatever it is that makes you believe that the guys just wouldn't understand. Or just stop thinking so much." Tyler raised his eyebrows, "Stop thinking; just act." Raven explained as she walked even closer to him. He breathed in her scent and, as she wished and he hadn't planned on doing, he leaned forward and kissed her. Then, mere seconds later, he pulled away with a look of personal distain on his face, "Well that didn't last long."

"Rae, we can't…"

"Blah, blah, blah… And then ten minutes later 'blah'…" Raven replied, "Seriously, you're starting to sound like a broken record. How do you know they won't understand? Have you asked them?"

"Of course not, Rae! They would throttle me."

Sighing, Raven mumbled to herself, "You have got to be shitting me…" Looking back to him she said, "Whatever, you're parents are looking for you." She raced back to her car and sped off, leaving Tyler to wallow in his self-pity.