A plan. He needed a plan.

Pogue racked his brain trying to figure out what they were going to do as he left Branwen's hospital room. He had promised her a plan and now he had to deliver. He had never been the one who had to come up with the plan and solve the problem. That was Caleb.

But things had changed. Caleb was struggling. That much was obvious. He needed to deal with his problems. So Pogue would have to handle this one. Well, he supposed there was more than one. Quite a few…

Distracted, Pogue ran into a man at the counter.

"Sorry." He said. "A lot on my mind."

"Of course." The man replied, smiling kindly before turning back to the nurse he'd been talking to.

He looked somewhat familiar but he also had a decidedly non-descript appearance. Just another face in the crowd.

Continuing on his way, Pogue went back to thinking about their problems. There was Branwen being in a coma, Caleb needing to recover and having a using problem. Branwen and Aria's coven was sure to be breathing down their neck soon if word of the engagement being off got around. Nathan was hoping for some help from them if they were willing to offer it which could get tricky with the whole using thing.

There was another problem. If they did decide to help, it was likely they would need to include the others at some point, or at least figure out something to tell them. How were Pogue and Caleb supposed to explain anything when they weren't supposed to be telling Tyler and Reid about Branwen or the other covens. And if they did have to, what kind of danger were they putting them all in and how were they going to take that?

This was turning out to be even more of a mess than Pogue originally thought it to be. What were they going to do?

Again, Pogue was so distracted he bumped into someone. This time it was Nathan, waiting to drive him to his dorm. He was going to pick up some stuff so he could stay at the townhouse. Branwen wasn't there, so there wasn't her feelings to be concerned about.

If she wanted him gone when she got out of the hospital, he'd leave. For now it was more convenient to have him close so they could work on their problems… all of them.

"You ready?" Nathan asked. "I've asked them to contact me if anything changes."

Pogue nodded. "Sure. We should get back. I'd like to see Caleb."

They walked to Nathan's car and climbed in. "Yeah, he wanted to come see you but Aria won't let him leave the house."

Pogue wondered if it was because of Caleb's health or his problems. "I imagine she's all over him. She seems like a worrier."

There was a pause as Nathan pulled out into the street and Pogue looked over. Something about his expression, or lack thereof, spoke of drama. A drama Pogue suspected only meant more problems.

"What?" Pogue asked. "What is it?"

"Things are a little tense between Caleb and Aria." Nathan wove through the streets, looking all around. Pogue began to wonder if Nathan was watching for another rogue SUV. Before too long, Pogue found himself watching too. Paranoia catches easily.

"Now that Caleb is up and moving it's become harder for them to focus on him getting better and a lot easier to focus on how he got hurt in the first place. Aria is under the impression that Caleb has issues stemming from another girl and Caleb is refusing to acknowledge that or his power addiction. He just keeps telling Aria how sorry he is for his outburst and how he never wants to hurt her."

Pogue stared at Nathan silently until Nathan looked at him and then Pogue raised his eyebrow in question.

Nathan just shook his head and sighed. "Even with my room on the bottom floor I can still hear them fight. I've tried to stay out of their way and just focus on figuring things out but sound carries."

The sound might carry but so did the silence. When they got to the house, the silence was deafening. The only sound that could be heard was the quiet hum of the heat as it kicked in. And that was impressive because as they walked up to the main floor, Caleb and Aria were twenty feet away from each other but acting as if no one else was there.

Aria, who was in the kitchen making dinner, acknowledged them with a nod before going back to her cooking. Caleb, who had the TV on but the volume off, got up, slowly, and came over. He nodded to Nathan and gave Pogue a hug before leading him into the den.

"Hey." Caleb leaned around Pogue and looked at Aria before closing the French doors and smiling. "Wouldn't want to disrupt the silence."

"There's a lot of it out there." Pogue said, taking in Caleb's appearance. He too was covered in bruising and move a little hesitantly but was looking good. Almost better than Pogue felt. "How are you feeling?"

"It's not every day you get thrown at a car but I'm doing okay." Caleb laughed, picking up one of the paperweights on the desk and examining it before putting it back down.

"Yeah it was pretty bad. We were all really worried." Pogue watched as Caleb avoided eye contact, pretended he was interested in everything else in the room, and acted as if they were talking about something and unimportant as the next week's weather report. Though this time of year that could be fairly important.

Caleb's avoidance was leading Pogue to understand how Aria was feeling. "Caleb, you must understand how serious this is, right? You could have died. And had Branwen not deflected your magic, you could have killed Aria. Or me. Or anyone else who might have been around. You need to get a handle on your using."

Caleb turned, the concerned look on his face making Pogue believe he was going to be honest. "How is she doing? When Aria tried to go see her they wouldn't let her in. She was going to go in tonight if Nathan can get her in."

Despite his concern for Branwen, Pogue was not fooled by Caleb's deflection. "Nathan says she will be fine. We are just waiting for her to wake up. Kind of like we were waiting for you to wake up. Given all the problems we have to figure out, we don't need to go through that again. You need to figure out this problem with using, Caleb. Is this connected the Sarah?"

Caleb's head snapped up and he glared at Pogue. "I don't have a problem. I was upset. And this isn't about her. I love Aria and I was upset with her not telling me she was leaving."

"I was upset when I found out Branwen was leaving but I didn't almost blow her up. You need to stop denying this. Look at yourself. You look like you should be teaching at Harvard, not attending it. How are you going to keep up appearances like this?" Pogue motioned towards Caleb.

Unmoved, Caleb rolled his eyes. "You know, I'm not quite up to par right now. I'm going to go lie down." Caleb brushed past Pogue, leaving the room and heading upstairs. As Pogue walked back out into the living room Nathan and Aria were both watching Caleb disappear up the stairs and down the hallway.

"We can't rely on him to help if he still can't admit he has a problem." Pogue said to the others.

"We don't have an option. We're going to need all the help we can get." Nathan said. "Whenever we figure out what we're going to do it's going to take either a lot of magic, a lot of resources or both."

"He's stubborn." Aria said. "I don't know if it will be in our best interest to involve him. Maybe we should keep our distance."

"Says the one sleeping in the same bed with him." Nathan said, smiling.

Pogue looked at Aria as she glared at Nathan. "I meant with our plan."

"You sleep together? I thought you were fighting." Pogue said. "Isn't that a conflict of interest?"

This time Aria glared at Pogue. "Kind of like spending all your time with a woman you can't have and then deciding you don't care when she's available?"

"It's not that simple." Pogue said, wondering how transparent his relationship with, and feelings for, Branwen really was.

"And my point ladies and gentleman." Aria turned off the stove and put down her oven mitts. "You can't help who you love. Even when you know you shouldn't. I would imagine you can understand that." With that she walked up the stairs and disappeared after Caleb.

Pogue mentally reprimanded himself. After everything that had happened and everything they still needed to deal with, the last thing he needed to do was alienate his allies.

"Come on; I'll take you upstairs." Nathan led Pogue up the stairs and, being distracted by his thoughts, Pogue followed blindly. Before he realized what was going on, they were passing Aria's door and heading to the door at the end of the hallway.

"What are we doing?" He asked, stopping just as Nathan reached the door.

Nathan looked back at him. "This townhouse is spacious but it only has the three rooms. The couches aren't very comfortable and, despite whatever argument or problems you and Branwen were having, I don't think she'd sentence you to the floor. You can stay in her room. At least until she's back. Then you two can figure out your problems and make your own decisions."

Pogue went to argue but before he could open his mouth, Nathan opened the door and walked inside. Pure curiosity propelled Pogue through the door and into the room beyond. Such a short while ago he had been wondering what Branwen's room would look like; if it would represent her and much as Aria's did.

It did, and yet it also showed a side of Branwen Pogue felt removed from. A side he didn't get to see. Her room was bright but muted, a light grey on the walls. Her accents were white, silver and a bold, plum purple that matched a colour of lipstick she had often worn. It was both subtle, quiet and mysterious while also being bold and strong and "in-your-face". That spoke very much of the Branwen he knew.

But looking around, there were also touches of sentimentality in images of people in worn old frames. Pictures of Branwen with family and friends. There were teddy bears on her bed. Just two but enough to illustrate a childish innocence he wouldn't have suspected in her. He knew she could be childish, but that was a different kind.

The most surprising part of the room, however, was a window seat in the far corner. Nestled in it were an array of old romance novels, a basket of knitting and an old quilt. These things could have any number of explanations on their own, but grouped together in this corner painted a whole different picture of Branwen. For the life of him, Pogue could not picture Branwen sitting there wrapped in a quilt knitting and reading a cheesy romance novel. It just seemed so simple and removed from the stressful and crazy world they seemed to be a part of.

"My grandmother gave her that quilt."

Pogue jumped at Nathan's voice.

"Sorry." Nathan reached past Pogue and picked up the quilt. "My grandmother gave it to her when she spent time with my coven. She also learned to knit that year. The romance novel obsession is all her own. She's been reading them as long as I've known her. You would think she would read philosophy or some female empowerment dramas or biographies the way she can be sometimes. But no, she seems to prefer to escape into these. You would think that would make her more prone to romance, but it seems to have the opposite effect."

Didn't he know it.

"Anyway, the bed is yours. The bathroom is over there. If you need anything, come find me or Aria." With that, Nathan left, closing the door behind him.

Pogue sat on the end of the bed and threw himself back. He was exhausted but he still had to figure out what his almighty plan was going to be. Rolling over he grabbed a pillow to tuck under his head, but as he brought it up to his face, he realized it smelled of Branwen. The soft jasmine and vanilla scent she wore mixed with a hint of citrus from her body wash.

Maybe he could just drift off for a little bit, surround by her.

Aria entered the room and Caleb was standing in front of the window, staring down at the street below. She waited for him to acknowledge her presence but he seemed to be lost in thought.

She believed he knew he had a power problem but was both too proud and too addicted to admit to it and do anything about it. But this other thing with the girl, that was a beast of a different nature. Aria couldn't help that she might be leaving, but regardless of her leaving, Caleb shouldn't have acted the way he did. The consequences could have been much worse. And all because he had a sensitive spot about girls leaving him.

When she brought it us last time, he refused to talk to her about it. It might be stupid or rushed or whatever, but Aria loved him. And the fact that some other girl was tearing apart what little relationship they had in the possibly short amount of time they had, was really starting to piss Aria off.

"Whether you decide to acknowledge your magic problem," Aria said, getting a small, sick amount of pleasure from startling him. "Because I believe you have one and refuse to be budged on the subject, this thing about the girl needs to be resolved. You can't tell me there isn't one. I understand me not telling you that Branwen and I might be leaving at the end of the year hurt and you had every right to be upset. But you were far more upset than just that. You need to tell me why, Caleb."

He turned and looked at her. "I don't need to tell you anything. I've apologized for how I acted. We've had this fight already, Aria. I was upset and stressed from class and the problems with my mom…"

"Who also thinks you have a magic problem."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "How would you know that?"

It wasn't going to work in her favour that this was another thing she didn't tell him. "I like your mother, Caleb. She is a very nice woman. We've kept in touch. When you got hurt I contacted her and let her know. She knows I know about your powers."

"But not that you have any."

She could hear the growl in his voice. He had taken the magic talk fairly well. He even seemed to understand the grand council and coven politics better than Pogue. Probably because Caleb had studied his own coven's history much more diligently.

"I didn't want to put her in more danger."

"More danger than what? Having a son with a supposed magic problem?"

"You could have killed me."

"AND I APOLOGIZED!"

"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" She didn't want to be yelling. She didn't want to fight anymore. They had been fighting ever since they were both back on their feet. Sure, there were also tender moments. Caleb had comforted her through all the stuff with Branwen and agreed to help them in any way he could. He was a strong support when she needed him. But he could not overcome his own weakness. And sadly neither could she. And he was her weakness.

Even now, all she wanted to do was grab his face and make out with him. His eyes were blazing, his jaw doing that ticking, clenching thing she enjoyed watching. Despite the bruising, scrapes and again, he looked really good, all tense and muscly. She would love to jump his bones. But the thing holding her back was a willowy blonde she'd found a picture of when she was creeping Tyler's facebook page.

"God, Caleb. I wish I could accept your apology and just get over it. But it isn't going to make anything better because you refuse to acknowledge why it happened. This girl she left you. I get that must hurt. I've been hurt before, Caleb. It's part of life. And as ashamed as I am to say it, I care enough about you that I would risk getting hurt. But I can't get in deeper with you when you are still holding on to her. And until you deal with your issues, you always will be."

He sighed and turned back to the window. "She was just some high school girl friend. She doesn't matter. She didn't mean as much as you do."

"She may not matter, but what she did clearly does. You don't have to tell me what happened. I would appreciate if you would but it's not necessary. But you do have to deal with it. Until you do that, I'll be sleeping on the couch."

He spun back around, mouth wide open. "But…"

"I'm heading to the hospital to see Branwen with Nathan. I'll see you later."

Steeling herself against the pain on his face and her own inner turmoil, Aria turned and left the room.

Kieran finished scoping out the hospital and went back out to the car. He didn't know what the coven had been thinking with this plan but he had to clean it up quick. He was not the only one in that hospital and his window of opportunity was small. Hopefully the people he had in place wouldn't screw things up.

He was getting really sick of working with rookies. They were unreliable. And, whether it was because they were a product of their generation, or because life these days just didn't teach you the same things as it used to, but people these days, especially of the 16-30 age group, were whiny, weak, superficial, lazy wastes of time.

He had been watching Branwen and her roommate and on top of all the trouble they were causing, they didn't even seem to use their magic. Were they too busy painting their nails and breaking all the coven laws? Or working in that little dance club of theirs.

He really hoped she wasn't going to be a waste of all their time.

"Kieran, everything is in place but there is still someone here watching over her room."

Rolling his eyes, Kieran massaged his temples before picking up his phone and acting like he was talking into it instead of his microphone.

"This is why there is a whole team of us in place. Someone find a way to distract them and then bring her out."

Just as he got confirmation of their movements inside, Kieran looked up and saw Aria and Nathan walking up the sidewalk to the hospital entrance. Despite how unobtrusive Kieran tried to be, Nathan still glanced over and recognized him immediately.

Nathan stopped walking and waved, happy confusion all over his face. He started walking over so Kieran got out of the car. "I might be made." He mumbled as he turned away to climb out. "Stand by."

When he turned back he smiled lightly. "Nathan!" he said, walking up and embracing the other man. "What are you doing in this neck of the woods?"

"I could ask you the same." Nathan said jovially. "I'm here visiting friends." He motioned to Aria. This is Aria Belmonte. Aria, Kieran Burke."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Belmonte."

Aria narrowed her eyes at him but didn't respond. Nathan just smiled at her so Kieran took that as just how Aria was. "So, Kieran, What brings you to Boston? Last time I saw you was in Savannah for Rebekah's birthday party. What have you been up to?"

"Most of the time I'm settled in Montana, but I'm in town on some business." Belatedly he realized he shouldn't have said anything. It was hard, talking to someone who he used to be close friends with but could completely screw up what he was there to do. There was no doubt Nathan would be against with Kieran was doing but that couldn't be helped.

"What kind of business care you in?" Aria asked. Up close she really was a looker. Her bold red hair and those lush, pointed lips that made men think about… but that was no concern of his. She was not his job. And she didn't need to know about his job.

"I'm a personal security consultant." Which did describe his job, just not nearly as accurately and one could.

"Interesting." She looked away as if she'd lost interest in him and he couldn't help but be intrigued. She had bite, he'd give her that.

"Well we better get going." Nathan said. "We are here to visit a friend. But give me a shout before you leave town and we'll catch up. Here's my card."

Nathan handed Kieran a business card and Kieran glanced at it without really seeing it before looking up and smiling. "Of course. I'll talk to you soon."

Nathan shook Kieran's hand before leading Aria inside. Kieran turned and walked back to his car. "You guys better have her out of there because if not, this plan just got a whole bloody lot more complicated."

AN: Sorry for how long it has taken me to update. 2016 has not been a great year for me. The disaster that impacted my writing most was my computer got hit by the Cerberus trojan virus. It literally destroyed everything on my computer and dropbox in one fell swoop. My computer still doesn't fully work the way it used to. I'm not going to make any promises about updating again soon but I do promise I will keep writing. This story is far from over.