Caleb opened the door and froze. Pogue, standing to the left of him was confused before he looked out into the hall. Both Caleb and Pogue took a step back and let Kieran step into the dorm. They all stood their looking at each other silently. Each pair of them had awkwardness between them.

Caleb and Kieran had their feelings for Aria, and both of them seemed to think they were hiding them better than they were. Pogue and Kieran had the outing of Kieran being the one who got Branwen's father caught for trying to help Pogue's coven.

Pogue and Caleb had Caleb's growing awareness that Pogue didn't seem to suffer from a need to use or addiction to using his powers. During a random conversation about their journey to Montana, Pogue had accidentally let it slip that he had used his powers to heal Aria's hand. Not only had Caleb been upset that he hadn't been the one to heal her, and that Aria didn't seem to have an issue with Pogue using his powers, Caleb had also asked why Pogue didn't seem to be drawn to using more power. Now it had become a 'thing' between them. One they were both actively pretending didn't exist.

Finally, Kieran broke the silence. "No that this standing around here brooding at each other isn't exactly what I penciled in for my goals tonight, but I have some different plans for us and they kind of need to get on the go."

Ignoring Kieran's sarcasm, Pogue looked over at Caleb, who was still busy brooding, and tilted his head at him. "What different plans?" After all, Kieran had no reason to come to them with anything that didn't involve the girls and he was dying for any bit of information on Branwen. He was growing more aware that their story might not have a happy ending, but it didn't stop him from hating the distance everything was putting between them.

Kieran's face was as unreadable as Branwen's and Pogue wondered it the coven taught a class or something. "The girls have… come across some new information and need to share it with you."

"We aren't allowed to be seen together." Caleb said, stating what they all already knew.

"Obviously." Kieran replied, needling Caleb, clearly for his own amusement. "That's why they asked me to come. "I'm going to open this door to Sinsations and we are going to use the glamour charms I'm about to give you to be escorted to a private booth on the VIP floor. Aria is going to come up on her break in guise of delivering drinks and fill you in."

"Why didn't she just come here and tell us instead of you?" Caleb asked.

"Well, mostly because her actions and movements are being tracked and she can't be seen deviating from her schedule. And, well…"

"It's not good news." Pogue finished. He could feel the foreboding move up his spine.

"It's not bad news; it's just a lot to think about."

"And they want us somewhere we can't cause a scene." Pogue felt mildly insulted but thought back to when he found out Branwen was the girl from the club and lost some of his ire. But then there was Caleb. He had made a scene in public before, almost killing Aria and himself. Pogue turned back to look at Kieran and realized that's why he would still be accompanying them. He may not have his own powers but clearly he could still do magic.

"What else is new?" Caleb said sarcastically. "Everything that involves them seems to be a lot to think about."

He wasn't wrong but now wasn't the time to focus on the wrong details. It was time to get all of them. "Okay, well, let's get on with it then." Pogue held his hand out and took the thin silver chain necklace Kieran dropped into it. He looked at it for a few minutes before slipping it on and waiting for Kieran to configure the watch he was wearing before opening the door and seeing the club beyond it.

They all took a deep breath before walking through.

Aria sat at the booth with Pogue, watching the lights below and the figures she knew were Caleb and Kieran in glamour work their way across the floor below. To his credit, Caleb had made it through hearing all the details before tightly asking Kieran to take him back to their dorm. It was good he was getting control on his temper. It seemed to coincide with getting some control over his power addiction.

"He'll be okay." Pogue said, drawing her attention back to their booth. "I mean, what other choice do we have?"

Sighing, Aria nodded and looked down at her folded hands. "I'm sorry. I feel like we keep dropping bombs on you guys."

"It's not your fault. I'd rather know. We already went through too much of our lives without the truth. I'm sorry you have to keep dropping them. I'm not looking forward to having to tell Reid and Tyler. I know how much I feel my life has imploded; I can't imagine how they will feel. The don't have as much stake in the game."

Frowning at him, Aria tilted her head. "Did you just compare Branwen and me to horses?"

A little twitch at the corner of his mouth was the only sign Pogue was feeling any mirth. "Strong, powerful, graceful and elegant? There's a lot to draw parallels to. But I more meant I'm afraid they won't understand why we are charging in head first to demand the wrongs be made right. Without the emotional connection to you and Branwen that Caleb and I had already developed, I worry they won't understand how we were deterred by the consequences you two could face as well and the cautionary tale of Branwen's father. Reid, especially, can be a little bullheaded."

"Just him?" Aria asked with false innocence.

She got a whole half smile out of him before he sobered again and looked up at her. "So Branwen thinks Easter would be best?"

Aria nodded. "She knows it's still a while to wait but she figured to would look the least suspicious. It would be a natural time you would all be gathering anyway. It won't raise any red flags."

Pogue nodded. "It makes sense. I don't like the idea of keeping it from them but they both have a lot going on and I want them to be free from it as long as they can. Easter will give them more time to finish up the things they are working on while also giving them time afterwards to come to terms with things before we have to start amping up the plan."

She watched him and how well he was taking things compared to previous times. He had obviously resigned himself to the hard facts. It reminded her of Branwen. With everything Branwen had gone through in life, she seemed to roll with it when she got kicked by new blows. She always said it made her feel old but it also took less time to recover.

"She's okay, you know. Branwen." His head snapped up from his beer in front of him and he stared at her like she'd both physically landed a blow but also like he was a man dying of thirst and she'd just given him a jug of water. "I mean, she's overwhelmed and worried and carrying around just as much sadness and internal torment as usual," Aria added, "but she's okay. She's getting through it one breath at a time."

He nodded slowly before looking back to his beer. He did that a lot despite it still being full. "She always seemed too infallible." He said in a quiet voice. "It's one of the first things I noticed about her. Even before I knew everything. Like she seemed on a higher level, above all the things that bring us simpler people down. Obviously I know now how she really just adds another weight to her shoulders and keeps plowing through. I really thought one day I might be able to get her to put some of it down and walk away from it, maybe even towards me. But the further into the darkness we get, I worry she will be so weighed down that the next thing will take her down with it."

Aria reached out and covered his hand with her own. "Me too." She felt the tear slip out and down her cheek as he looked at her with his haunted hazel eyes.

Before Pogue she had never known anyone she thought might love Branwen as much as she did. In a way she appreciated there being someone else her best friend could depend on. But she also felt bad for Pogue. Because not only was Branwen a hard person to care about sometimes, but Aria still got to be a part of Branwen's life. Aria could not imagine caring so much about someone and not being able to be with them.

Or could she? Did she care that much about Caleb? She cared a lot about him but could she be having mixed feelings about the Irish scoundrel if she was fully invested in her feelings for Caleb the way Pogue was about Branwen? She felt like the answer was no but maybe that was because the part of her that was still angry and worried about Caleb's power addiction wouldn't allow her to fully invest.

What did that say, then, about her being drawn to Kieran? Were her feelings for him even real? Or were they just to distract herself from her feelings for Caleb?

"We should get you back." Kieran said to Pogue, startling Aria. She hadn't realized he'd made it back.

Pogue nodded as Aria pulled her hand back. "I'm going to head to the bathroom first." He stood and nodded a goodbye to Aria before heading to the stairs.

"I guess I won't see you for a while." Kieran said, turning to her. "I'll stop in to update Branwen but will head back out tonight to get started again."

Aria, still in an emotional headspace, nodded while her brain tried to catch up with the change of subject. "It was a short visit." She turned and looked at him seriously. With the dimmed lights and shadows dancing around, she couldn't really tell his thoughts from his face. Maybe he wanted to be back on the road as soon as possible. After all, he was a nomad now. She couldn't imagine being on the move all the time, constantly running. And yet it was a life she had been intending to live with Branwen after they graduated.

Thinking about what he'd already gone through and was now risking again helping them, Aria thought she should probably be a little nicer to him. "Thank you, Kieran, for helping with everything. For helping with the guys tonight and everything you're doing out there for the plan."

His usual Cheshire Cat expression faded a bit and he brought his hand up and wiped away the trail her tear had left behind, his hand lingering against the side of her face a little longer than was necessary. Before she had time to wonder how she felt about that, his hand moved to the back of her neck and he pulled her in, meeting her lips with his own.

Their cupid's bow fullness was both soft but also demanding. The kiss was seductive but also a strong statement that drew a hard line. She could either succumb or refuse. There was no just letting it happen. She realized, as her hands made a slow path up his chest, that her body was already leaning towards one decision. Despite the warmth and the sizzle and the connection she both felt and craved in that moment, she locked her mind down and forced her hands on his chest to push him away, adding a punch to the chest for good measure.

"What the fuck, Kieran!"

His face was back to his sly smile as he licked his lips and rubbed his chest casually. "Couldn't resist, Red. Thanks for the parting gift though." He tapped the bottom of her chin with his knuckle, despite what she knew was a very belligerent look on her face, before giving her one last, searing look on his way past.

She wanted nothing more that to use her magic to do something in the style of retribution to him right now but they were still in a public place and she couldn't risk it. Especially if anyone was watching her.

However, as she made her way down the stairs and through the crowd, Aria had to admit, at least to herself, that the kiss did confirm one thing; her feelings for Kieran were not just a distraction from Caleb. She certainly didn't like Kieran, and she nowhere near loved him, but they had chemistry between them that had made the kiss a hot, fiery complication she didn't need in her life right now.

And no amount of telling herself that for the rest of the night did not silence that stupid, reckless voice in her head that wanted very much to do it again.

Kieran closed the door behind them as they entered the dorm. Caleb's bedroom door was closed the there was music blasting from within. The angry beat was certainly a better way of coping than using.

Pogue turned and looked at Kieran. Pogue had just come out of the bathroom and had been looking for Kieran when he saw the kiss. He hadn't missed Aria's delayed reaction. As much as Pogue wanted his best friend to get the girl he loved, Pogue well understood that some relationships might just be doomed no matter how much you wished otherwise.

And none of that was Aria or Kieran's fault. He wasn't going to begrudge them any feelings they had when everything was so up in the air.

"Thanks for all your help tonight." Pogue said, reaching up to take off the silver chain.

Kieran stopped him with a wave of his hand and shake of the head. "Keep it. I told Caleb the same. Just it case of emergency. If you use them too often you'll blow the cover but it will be handy to have around if something comes up and you really need to contact the girls."

Pogue nodded and slipped the chain into his pocket. "I take it then that you're not sticking around?"

"No. I have to head back overseas to start that side of the plan."

Pogue sighed. He remembered promising Branwen a plan when she was in a coma and he never had delivered. Every step of the way since had been led by other people. He was a follower. He always had been, really. Yes, he was a rebel, with his long hair, motorcycle, bad attitude and 'I don't give a shit' attitude. But at the end of the day, Caleb had always been his leader and Pogue had always fallen in line.

Caleb had always been their leader. He was always the one to step up and take control. Reid didn't like to follow plans at all, leading his life as he saw fit, not letting others take his control without first deciding to abide. Tyler didn't put up much of a fight in the coven politics but in the outside world he was being groomed to be a leader in the traditional sense. One day he was sure to be a congressman or some shit like that.

But not Pogue. I followed Caleb's rule with the coven, he'd followed William's footsteps into law school, and since the moment he'd met her, he'd followed Branwen in everything. Their relationship, the truths of his heritage, hell, across the god-damned country. He played at being a rebel but was just a follower in disguise. In a glamour.

"Hey, you good?"

Pogue looked back to Kieran. "Yeah. Just realizing that I thought I'd be older before I had to realize the hard truths about life. That or dead already."

Kieran nodded. "You and I both." Kieran turned and walked to the door, playing with his fancy watch again. He opened the door but before he stepped through it, he turned back to Pogue. "I get that everything looks bleak now. You've been behind the curtain now and it tends to take away the shine sometimes. But some things never lose the shine. We don't always get the car or the house or the job or even the girl. But it's true, that cliché shit everyone always says. Life is a journey, not a destination. The things we go through suck Satan's dick sometimes but you can't lose sight of the payoffs either. Sometimes you just have to grab the happiness when you can and hold onto it for however long you're allowed to."

With a final nod, Kieran walked through and closed the door behind him, but not before Pogue caught a glimpse of the room beyond. Pogue know that hall. He knew there was a coat closet to the right and a door to the garage to the left and a guest bedroom just up the hall. And somewhere up the stairs was a beautiful brunette, with eye the colour of arctic ice, a heart as warm as the sun on a Caribbean beach, and a soul as selfless as he'd ever met.

He'd gotten more of that girl than he'd ever been supposed to and yet nowhere near as much as he wanted. Despite knowing the truth of Kieran's parting words, Pogue didn't feel like he'd been able to grasp near enough happiness as he needed to get through the next phase of their plans, let alone whatever came after that.

There was a knock on the door and Branwen walked over and opened it to see Kieran standing there. "Hey." She said, walking over to her dresser and picking up her brush to run it through her just washed hair. "How did everything go?"

"As well as we could expect, I think." Kieran took a few hesitant steps into her room. "Caleb was angry but handled himself well. He went home to brood and blare his music. Pogue sat and talked with Aria a little bit longer but seemed to be more reflective than upset."

"How many nukes can you drop on someone before there's nothing left to level?" She said facetiously. Once you've faced enough traumas in your life you tend to become desensitized. Pogue had still had some shock-ability life in him before meeting her. She should have left him well enough alone.

"To live in ignorance and watch his best friend deteriorate without the truth alone?" Kieran asked. Branwen realized she must have spoken at least the last bit out loud. "Taking comfort in ignorance is just denial, Branwen. It's a lie. The truth might not bring relief or even happiness but you also can't be truly in control of your own life without it."

"It's easy to say but not so easy to inflict." She laid her brush back down and sat on the end of her bed. "So tomorrow you'll head back and start gathering research for the proposal. And reinforcements. At Easter, shit, in less than a month, the guys will clue in the rest of their coven. Will you be available to help if they need it? I don't know how Reid and Tyler will react and I don't think Aria and I can be seen anywhere around them, especially then. I don't want to disturb Nathan from his role and I don't think they would expect you to be anywhere involved."

Kieran nodded but looked down, giving Branwen pause. "Kieran? What is it?"

"I will definitely help if they need it, but, Branwen, I'm going to head back out tonight."

Branwen frowned. "Why not get a good nights rest here before hand. You've got to be worn out."

He smiled at her with his usual distracting self-mockery. "I'm a minion, it's what I do."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. You aren't just a minion. You're an integral part of our plan, Kieran." She paused making sure he knew she was sincere when she said this. "You're one of us now. One of the team."

His expression sobered. "I can't tell you what it means to hear that coming from you. For obvious reasons. Truly. But it's because I take my part seriously that I want to get back and start on my role as soon as possible."

Branwen nodded. She was about to thank him when she saw the small smile hint at the corner of his mouth. She narrowed her eyes. "That's not the only reason, is it?"

With his usual sarcastic smile on his face, Kieran shrugged. "I also promised Aria I'd be gone before she got home."

Mildly confused, Branwen tilted her head. "I get you two aren't exactly chums, but I think she might understand."

"Oh yes, she might have," Kieran nodded, "Had I not kissed her tonight at the club. Now I think she'd like me as far away as I can be."

Sighing, Branwen closed her eyes and shook her head before looking back at him. "Why would you do that? You know she's got drama with Caleb."

"Why'd you kiss Pogue that night at Sinsations?"

Stilling, Branwen narrowed her eyes. "How do you know about that?"

"Catherine had me watching you since you left the coven. I was there that night. Also the night of the fire. At your engagement party. Even when you went to Ipswich. Prepared to intervene should you need it."

She had known they'd kept tabs on her. But the extent irritating her. She should be angry, and she was. But not at him. Catherine was the intrusive one. Kieran had just been… her minion.

"Sometimes you can't not dance in the flames." Kieran said. "I kissed Aria because you can only pass up on so many moments in life. We are about to do something that could change so many lives forever. It may be dangerous but if we're going to crash-land this plane, I'm going to make sure I do something worth going down for."

She had kissed Pogue because she had just made a major change to her life, leaving the coven, and was stretching her wings. He was right. If her new life ended up crash-landing, she wanted to say she did something with her chance.

Branwen nodded. "Let me know how things go. I will let you know if we have any developments on this end."

Kieran turned to leave but turned back at the threshold when she called his name. "Was it worth it? Your dance in the flames?"

She had asked philosophically but couldn't deny being amused at his reaction. He put a hand over his chest and rubbed, smiling. "If I had crashed and died in that moment I'd have died happy."

She watched his hand. "She hit you, didn't she?" He shrugged and smiled bigger. "Consequences, my friend."

"Pleasure is pain. Life truth." His smile turned genuine and he gave her a small bow. "Until next time, princess."

She leaned back, grabbed a pillow and threw it at him but he dodged it and smiled before disappearing. She sat on her bed a little while longer thinking about the truth of his statement and the next phase of their plan.

Pretending everything was normal while they plotted and planned was tiring but not enough to distract her completely. Especially when she closed her eyes. If all went well, as things rarely do, Branwen could get justice for her father, acceptance for the Sons, freedom for the covens and a whole new network of information, knowledge, and future cooperation for all witches. But nowhere in the outcome they were hoping for was there the one thing she wanted. To have what she wanted, she'd have to die.

It was the epitome of not being able to have your cake and eat it too. She could live but have to be separate from the one thing, the one person, she wanted most, or die to give him and his extended family the lives that had been taken from them knowing that her sacrifice could leave a permanent shadow on the futures they would have after that. She just couldn't find a way for everyone to be happy.

Maybe that was her problem. She was aiming for happiness and maybe she should be aiming for what was right. Maybe happiness wasn't real. Maybe it was just an illusion. A glamour.

A/N: Hello readers! Hoping this new chapter finds you in a better head space than Branwen; not believing happiness is a glamour. I do hope you enjoy the chapter though and that you're still enjoying the story. Please leave a review! - Jade