A/N: I love when a woman is diabolical... even more so when she's got an equally diabolical really hot counter part. Yum...


Chapter 10: Phase One

"Why can't you just stay away from her?" Kate yelled slamming her books down on her desk.

"She's my friend, Kate…" Pogue cut back, tired of arguing over the same subject. His ascension was only hours away and the last thing he wanted was to be fighting with Kate. Things were already rough between him and his brothers.

"I'm sure she's interested in being your friend," Kate's words were mocking, reciting almost the same line he had said to her in regards to Chase. His eyes narrowed at her and he shook his head.

"Don't even try that on me, Katherine…" Pogue stated growling lowly. "Don't be jealous because I'm spending time with another girl… she's just a friend… and unlike you she's in to bikes…and we can talk about them…"

"Whatever, you want to hang out with your little tramp, fine…" Kate growled. "But if you choose her over me… this is over…" She stated her arms flaring out to the sides. "All of this…" She pointed between them. "Is over..."

Pogue stared at her, long and hard, "That's not fair…"

Kate bit the inside of her cheek, she tapped her foot repeatedly and she glared at him, waiting for an answer.

"Maybe we need to take a break," Pogue stated with a sigh.

Kate scoffed, "So you're going to give up a two year relationship over some girl?"

"It's not just about Pen, Kate… it's about everything…"

"Are you serious?" Kate screamed at him, she was more pissed off than sad right now.

Pogue swallowed and shook his head, "I'm not sure,"

Kate's teeth clenched as she pushed her palms in to his chest, "Get out, get out, get out!" She cried and pushed him towards the door.

"Can we talk about this, please… Kate…" Pogue pleaded with her. "Can you just listen to me for a minute?"

"I've already listened to you… you want a break… you want some space… you got it!" She pushed him out of the door and slammed it.

Pogue stared at the door and pulled at his long dirty blonde hair. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. He loved Kate. Kate was his everything. He hated that he had to choose between his new friend and his girlfriend. He shouldn't have to make that decision.

But maybe they did need a break. Things got intense after the whole Chase thing, and her finding out about their secret. There was a lot of pressure on everyone, especially him since he was the next to ascend.

Caleb sat in the cafeteria, it was still early and classes didn't start for another twenty minutes. He was sipping on a hot cup of coffee and catching up on some reading. He was indulged in his world of reading until a soft voice brought him out of it.

"The Holocaust…" Her slender fingers lifted the cover of the book, a very familiar title staring back at her. "Some light reading before classes?" She joked light-heartedly.

Caleb couldn't fight the grin that was spreading across his face, "Just a bit, what brings you here so early?" He asked glancing around the nearly deserted cafeteria.

"Couldn't sleep, you?" She questioned licking her lips as she took a seat.

"Same," He mumbled. "Thanks for your advice last week, it really helped…" He put his book down.

"No problem," She gave him a faint smile. "Our kind," She wagged a finger between them. "We need to stick together," She grinned.

"Agreed,"

She nodded her head and took a sip of her coffee; they fell in to a deep conversation about the Holocaust and the book he was reading. Penelope rested her hand on Caleb's as they spoke, things getting heated as they explored their opinions.

Sarah walked in to the cafeteria only to see her boyfriend talking intimately with the girl that was at the demise of Pogue and Kate's relationship. Though, she couldn't blame the failed relationship on the new girl entirely, but she was going to as long as the girl continued to flirt her way in to the Sons of Ipswich's lives.

"Caleb," Sarah's voice came out low and hoarse as she approached them.

Caleb looked up at her, innocent brown eyes meeting hurt, jealous blue ones.

'What is going on?" She asked.

"We were just discussing the Diary of Anne Frank," Caleb lifted up the book, as Penelope removed her hand from Caleb's.

Sarah looked at Caleb her mouth forming in an 'O' shape as she stammered at an excuse for her outburst. Caleb watched as she sat down and shot a look over at Penelope.

"Caleb, I think we need to talk," She stated firmly.

Penelope got up and smiled at Caleb, "I have to go get my books for first, I'll see you later Caleb… bye Sarah," She flashed a friendly smile before walking away.

She could feel the tension as soon as Sarah walked in to the room, and couldn't help but smile. She walked towards her locker and ran right in to a solid body, a small smile forming on her lips when a pair of familiar blue eyes stared back at her.

"We're going to end up hurting each other one day," His voice was smooth and low as he steadied her with his free hand.

"That we are," She grinned at him.

"You got a minute?" He asked her with a small smile.

"Sure," She nodded her head.

Tyler grinned at her before turning to walk with her towards her locker, "I um… I talked to Reid and he said that you guys…"

Her face fell dramatically as she looked at him, "He told you about that?" She whispered.

Tyler's brows furrowed and he shook his head, "He tells me about everything…" His voice was dull as he rolled his eyes. "But yeah, he told me about that…"

Penelope chewed on her bottom lip as she gave Tyler an apologetic look, "Usually I don't do things like that…" She whispered softly.

Tyler nodded his head, "And usually I don't pursue Reid's conquests, as he calls them, but you're different…" He smiled gently and his hand ran down her arm.

Penelope looked up at him a small smile on her lips, "Really?" She whispered.

"Yeah, and I know that you might think that you like him," Tyler cleared his throat. "But Reid is the kind of guy," He paused and glanced over her shoulder. "He's the kind of guy that will say and do anything to get what he wants…" He licked his lips.

Penelope smiled and nodded her head, "I'll keep that in mind," She grinned placing a kiss on his cheek and leaving her locker without the books she needed for first.

She glanced over her shoulder and smirked, "It looks like Reid isn't the only one who will say or do anything to get what he wants…" She grinned mischievously before heading towards her dorm.

"By the look on your face I'd say we've made our mark?" A voice from inside her room surprised her.

"I wasn't exactly expecting to see you here," She grinned tossing her bag to the side.

"I love surprises," He answered with a grin on his face.

"So I've noticed," She took a seat on her bed, watching him comfortably lay there in just jeans and a black t-shirt.

Chase grinned sitting up as a full fledged smile seeped across his dark features. Penelope's eyebrow rose and he smirked at her, giving her that look he did usually when she did exactly what he wanted.

"Phase One is practically completed," He grinned licking his lips, eyeing her hungrily.

"Practically?" She asked.

"Mmm, yes…" He positioned himself behind her, letting his fingers trail down her arms, his breath on the back of her neck. "You see tonight is Pogue's birthday," He placed a fluttering kiss on her exposed skin.

Penelope felt her entire body shudder at his touch, "Eighteenth, I remember he said that," She nodded her head.

"It's a very important night for the Sons…" His lips twitched against her skin. "Very important,"

"I see," She nodded her head leaning back a bit in to his body.

"I'm going to tell you a secret, Nelly…" He pushed her hair over her shoulder and leaned in to her.

"Ok," She whispered hoarsely feeling her cheeks flush.

"It's something very important and you can't let anyone know," His hands rested on her hips, slowly moving under the white oxford, tracing his fingertips across her tanned stomach.

Penelope nodded her head as Chase leaned in closely to her, he began to whisper in to her ear, subtly. Penelope's eyes widened as he told her his secret, he told her the Sons of Ipswich's secret.

"Are you serious?" She asked him quietly.

Chase pulled away from her; she turned to look him in the face. She let out a startled yelp at the sight of his pitch black eyes; he was telling her the truth. She felt terrible for him; his own friends had turned their back on him.

"They tried to kill you?" She whispered sadly her blue eyes searching his for an answer.

"That's why you found me that night," He looked away feigning that he was hurt at just the thought of this. "They wanted my power, he wanted my power…"

"Chase, that's terrible…" She put a hand to the side of his face.

"You see why we must do this now, right?" Chase asked her.

She nodded her head, "I see now, definitely…"

Chase grinned as she hugged him; he let the devilish grin on his face slide off when she pulled away. "Tonight, Pogue ascends and he gets his full powers…"

"Wow, ok…" She took a deep breath. "I can do this," She nodded.

"We just need them to get under each other's skin, Caleb hates when they use…" He informed her.

Penelope nodded her head; she had the rest of the day to get Pogue to use his powers, to get the two elders members to fight. She picked herself up off of the bed and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Don't worry about it," She grinned.

"Pogue," Penelope ran to catch up with him.

"Hey Pen," Pogue forced a smile at her, she could tell that he was worried about something.

"I heard about what happened with Kate, I'm sorry if our friendship got in the way of your relationship," She apologized licking her lips as he leaned against his locker.

"No," Pogue's eyes widened. "No, not at all… Kate is just… she's really jealous… and things were just getting to heavy in our relationship… we needed a break." He offered. "It's not your fault," He assured her.

"You look like you've got a lot on your mind, birthday boy… wanna talk about it?" She asked him carefully.

Pogue sighed and looked down at the beautiful girl, "You wanna go for a ride?" He asked pulling out the keys to his bike.

Penelope grinned and nodded her head, "Would love too,"

"How could you be so careless?" Caleb yelled angrily as he stared at his best friend.

"Why don't you lay off, Caleb…" Pogue stated pushing his friend's hand off of his shoulder.

"Because you're ascending tonight Pogue, you can't go around using just to use…" He argued.

"Now I see why you and Reid butt heads all the time because you can't mind your own goddamned business…" Pogue yelled swiping his hand across his coffee table everything falling on to the ground.

"Don't turn this around on me Pogue, you're the one being irresponsible… you're the one using to impress some girl that caused you to break up with Kate…"

"No," Pogue shook his head. "Don't you dare say that…"

"Oh c'mon… you can't just be friends with a girl you and I both know that… the last time that happened was before Kate, and that turned out just as badly…" He argued biting his bottom lip.

"See that's where you're wrong. Pen gets me ok… she and I can sit and talk about bikes for hours… I can't do that with you, or Tyler or Reid or any other girl for that matter…" He shook he his head angrily. "She's just a friend, and that's all she's going to be,"

"But you used for her," Caleb pointed out.

"I didn't, I used because I wanted to, not because of Pen…"

"Get over yourself Pogue, you like her…"

"So what, I'm human for God's sakes, Caleb…" Pogue shook his head. "Like you weren't ogling her the second you saw her at Nicky's?"

Caleb didn't say anything he stared at his best friend and shook his head, "Man, I don't even know who you are anymore…"

Pogue watched angrily as his best friend left his apartment, he was tired of following around on Caleb's coattail and he was tired of Caleb telling him what to do. He slammed his fist in to the wall next to him and sighed seeing the newly formed hole in the wall.

Chase materialized out of his insect form and smirked as he walked down the stairs that lead to the parking lot of Pogue's apartments. A smirk grew on his face when he saw the silver Mustang pull out of its spot and nearly take out the car next to him.

"Phase one, complete…" He grinned wickedly heading in the direction of his own apartment.


So, what do you think? Yay... things are finally getting on a role... I think... REVIEW!