Caleb POV

Shit. What did I just do?

The second Reid stormed out I knew that I just made a huge mistake. Not wanting to face Willow, I immediately dropped my head into my hands.

After what felt like an eternal silence I looked up to see the others with resigned faces. Willow looked exhausted and just about ready to pass out.

Finally I broke the silence, "Willow…" She looked up at me. "I didn't…I'm so-," I tried to continue.

She held her hand up to stop me. "It's okay Caleb. You didn't know. And whose fault was that other than mine?"

Pogue shook his head. "Don't say that Will. This wasn't your choice. You didn't choose to hide this from them."

"What do you mean?" Tyler finally spoke.

"It was our fathers," Willow whispered.

"Like Nicolas and Sebastian? Or…," I questioned. There was something about her tone that made me think otherwise.

"No," Pogue answered, knowing what I was asking. "All of them, yours, Tyler's, even Reid's."

I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. "I don't understand. Why would they keep something like this from us?"

This wasn't just about Willow or Reid or even the two of them together. This was about our Covenant. And we have a right to know about anything that affects our Covenant.

"They were afraid of what the second half of the prophesy might cause."

"Meaning what exactly?"

""Meaning, they didn't want Reid and I to feel obligated to be with each other. They didn't want us knowing about the prophesy and then trying to force it into be true," Willow explained.

"Why not? If it's going to happen, why fight it? Why not just make it happen?" Tyler blurted out. The look on his face showed that he knew the second the words passed his lips, that they were a mistake.

Pogue shot Tyler a glare, "Could you imagine being told at thirteen that you have already met the person you are going to spend your life with? Imagine not having the option to go out and make that decision on your own just because of some stupid prophesy."

"Relax Pogue," Willow said to her cousin, once again playing mediator for our Covenant. "I'm sure Tyler didn't mean it like that. He's just overwhelmed with all this information we're unloading."

Pogue rolled his eyes, "Whatever." Then he looked between me and Tyler, "I don't care how you mean it, but if you say anything else that attacks Willow in any way, shape or form, I will hurt you."

We fell into another silence. However, not as awkward as the last. I knew that Willow and Pogue were just giving us a minute to process all this information.

This time, it was Tyler that was the first to speak.

His brow folded as he spoke, "So what does this mean for us?"

Pogue looked at Tyler, his voice mimicking his serious expression, "It means we have a Fifth. Willow's one of us, always has been, always will be."

Tyler let out a gust of air, "Oh thank god. I am so glad that we don't have to think of that nutjob Chase as our Fifth."

Pogue and I laughed while sharing a knowing smile. That 'nutjob,' as Tyler so affectionately deemed him, was never one of us. He may have been a member of one of the original five bloodlines, but he would never be a part of our Covenant.

"Well," Willow spoke up, "I may not be a crazy, but I am a handful. Think you guys can handle that?"

My mouth drew up into a smirk, "Oh I think we can manage." That sent all of us into a fit of much needed laughter.

We spent the next hour remembering old times and making jokes at the one another's expense. Then it dawned on me...

"Willow?" I said amongst the laughter.

She took a breath to calm down and looked at me. "Yeah?"

"You're 18th birthday is in less than three weeks."

Suddenly the carefree laughter was gone. Pogue looked worried and Tyler's interest was piqued.

"It is," Willow answered softly.

"So what does that mean for you? Do you Ascend? Is that how it works with you?"

"I don't know." This time her voice was barely above a whisper.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Tyler abruptly interjected.

"Exactly that," Willow explained. "We have no idea whether or not I Ascend."

I spoke up, tired of these cryptic responses. "Okay, you're going to have to break this down for us because I sure as hell don't understand," confusion was evident in my voice.

Pogue tried to explain, "The way the Power works is different for her. With us, there were people with past experience that could help us through it. Generations of heirs have gone through what we have. The pattern is predictable: The Power manifests at 13, strengthens at 16 and then we Ascend on our 18th birthday.

It's not the same in Willow's case. There's no one she can draw experience from. So far her path has been similar, but we can't predict what's going to happen."

I turned from Pogue to Willow, "So what has been your pattern? What's been different?"

"So far, the timeline has stayed the same. But the experiences aren't," she answered. "When the Power first manifested, two weeks after I left, I was unconscious for 4 hours. Then when I turned sixteen, I didn't wake up for three days and when I did, I could barely move. None of you had the physical aftershocks that I went through.

Everything just seems more intense and unpredictable. It's almost useless trying to guess when you have no clue as to what might happen. As far as we can tell, if I do Ascend, it will be violent and there might be some physical effect on my body. But there's no real way to be sure."

Tyler cleared his throat and sat straight up. "So three weeks, we have a little less than three weeks to try and prepare for anything possible."

"Theres n-," Willow tried to argue but Tyler rose his hand to stop her.

He stood up from his stone chair and knelt in front of her. "Willow, I'm sure between the five of us, we'll have all the worst case scenarios thought of. Then it's just a matter of getting ready to deal with any or all of them. And even if we're not ready, we'll at least be there to help you through it."

After a moment, Willow lifted her head and we all saw the sadness in her eyes. "Ty, I only see four of us here," she spoke quietly.

This time Pogue and I were the ones to stand and move toward Willow. Pogue placed his hand on her back to comfort her, while I lightly squeezed her shoulder.

"Will," Pogue began, "He's just upset. I'm sure he'll come around soon."

Willow nodded unconvincingly before dropping her eyes to her hands. "I really hope you're right," she whispered almost inaudibly.

A/N: Sorry? There really isn't much more I can say. Tons of thanks to everyone who has stuck with me through this unbearably long period of writer's block. So I'm thinking another 2-3 more chapters and this baby will be wrapped up. I know it seems fast but the extended story line I had in mind doesn't really fit anymore. Besides, I wasn't originally planning on this story being very long. Once all of that is written and posted, I'll probably go back and fix/tweak things so the story flows a little better. Thanks again for reading/alerting/favoriting and most especially reviewing. Those reviews are what continually bring me back to my keyboard.

Disclaimer: I own nothing Covenant related apart from a copy of the DVD. I can lay claim to Willow though :)