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Chapter 15:

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"Alright, freaks," Officer Reeve, whom the Ipswich Sons had gotten to know quite personally over the past few days, said with a fake grin. All boys rose to their feet as he put the keys in the door and jerked it open for them.

"You're free to go."

"Thank God," Caleb said, the same time Reid muttered: "S'about time."

Caleb embraced his mother on the outside of the cell, thankful to be standing with her on the other side. When Caleb was through, the other boys each had a turn thanking her as well.

"Thank you, Misses Danvers," Tyler said with a respectful nod, and Pogue repeated the same.

"Your mothers are waiting rather impatiently outside," Evelyn informed them, and they nodded in reply. "You had better go to them before they get arrested themselves for harassing the police officers."

Before Reid could follow, Evelyn reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Meredith isn't out there, son," she told him apologetically, and Caleb felt his heart lurch at Reid's plummeting face. "I was the one who posted your bail," she finished.

"Figures," Reid replied callously, and went with the others.

Only Caleb knew truly of Reid's past, and frowned at the memories of the last time Reid's parents hadn't come through for him. It was the real reason Caleb let Reid get away with so much, even though he knew he really shouldn't.

"Thanks for fronting him anyway, mom," Caleb said, tightening his arm around his shoulder as they walked on. "I'm sure he appreciates it…"

"I hope so," she said. "It sure cost a pretty penny, I'll tell you that much."

"What excuse did Meredith have this time?"

Evelyn shook her head.

"You know how she is, son," she shrugged it off. "She doesn't need an excuse for anything she does."

They exchanged sorrowful looks, and watched as Reid standoffishly observed Tyler and Pogue reunite with their own mothers.

"It's like she doesn't even remember she has a son," Caleb said, a bit of anger in his sad tone. "Mrs. Sims is a whole other story though… Shouldn't she be in a hospital bed somewhere?"

"That's what I tried to tell her," Evelyn agreed. "But she was so upset about her 'baby boy' being splattered all over the television that she stormed right out of Salem Memorial and drove right over."

"And you?" Caleb asked warily, searching into his mother's eyes for any sign of what she was feeling. "What do you think about all this?"

"I think the Covenant was bound to be exposed someday," she said, reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out her usual brand of cigarettes. "What do you expect from young boys with powers that ache to be used? Frankly, I'm surprised we were lucky enough to have it go on this long."

Caleb was relieved his mother wasn't angry with him, and let out a sigh.

"I had hoped it wouldn't end with us."

"Are you really so surprised?" she said as she lit up and took a lungful of smoke. "Look around you, son!"

She was right—even against Caleb's advice and better judgment, they were quite the group of Users. Caleb's eyes fell immediately to Reid. Reid would Use at any excuse, and sometimes even without an excuse. If Caleb could've laid odds on it, his bet would've been for Reid being the one to expose them all, for how reckless he showed off his Power.

Caleb next looked to Pogue, who was embracing his mother as she cried—as Caleb soon discovered—tears of joy.

"My boy!" she exclaimed happily. "Getting married?! Oh, my God! Where's the lucky girl?"

At this, Pogue's face fell, and he began to stumble over words. Caleb didn't catch his reply.

Pogue was always the least of Caleb's worries, but even Pogue had his times of questionable Using. Take, for example, the way he Used to make his motorcycle defy the laws of physics. That had already been a subject of perplexity among his outside friends. Even Pogue had it in him to be the one to break the Covenant.

Caleb next looked at Tyler, who looked concerned with his mother, and in turn his mother looked equally concerned with him.

"I can't sit on it, but the soreness'll pass, I guess…" he explained to her, rubbing his rear end in pain.

"My poor baby boy…" Tyler's mother, Rosie, cried. She held her son even closer to her bosom, which made Tyler go a bit red, seeing that Reid was still staring.

Surprisingly, it had been Tyler to expose them. Tyler, whom Caleb knew would follow Reid's example to the death, would be another reasonable choice for Using in public view. He would Use just to prove he was one of them.

Suddenly Caleb felt less surprised at the exposure, finally realizing he should have seen this coming like his mother had. Every one of the Covenant brothers could've been a candidate for its undoing.

"Com'on, you guys," Caleb prompted his friends. "We have a couple of urgent matters to attend to, in case you've forgotten."

"Oh," Pogue said seriously with a quick nod. "He's right. Mom, I have to go. Like, now." He leaned down to her level and kissed her cheek, then walked off first with one-minded determination.

"'Urgent matters'?" Beatrice Parry repeated to Pogue. "What kind of 'urgent matters'?"

"It's about my future wife and the fifth bloodline and I really have to go."

Caleb was the next to follow, then Reid also stepped up with the others. Tyler's mother grabbed him before he could take a single step.

"Not you," she commanded. "You've been through enough already."

"Mrs. Sims," Caleb said with a frown. "It's going to be okay. I'm sure this will all die down in a couple of days, but for now, we need him."

She nodded and reluctantly let Tyler go, loosening her death grip on his olive green jacket.

"Be careful," Evelyn warned them, nervously sticking her curly brown hair behind her ear. "The world has changed out there."

-

Boy, was that ever an understatement. As soon as Caleb, Pogue, Reid and Tyler stepped out the door of the FBI headquarters, they were bombarded with news reporters and various members of the press. All were shoving tape recorders and microphones in each of their faces and shooting questions at them like bullets:

"Where did these abilities come from?"

"How long have you been aware of these so called 'powers'?"

"What are the extent of your gifts, and do we have reason to be afraid of them?"

Caleb, feeling overwhelmed, did his best to shove through them, snapping a "no comment" to any question.

"Well, actually," he heard Reid's voice through the mob. "I mean, I don't mean to brag, but… I'm actually the most talented of the four of us--"

Caleb reached through the crowd and let his hand firmly grasp the sleeve of his friend, and practically dragged him out of the center and forced him to walk on like the rest of them.

"Reid," he shot in his ear. "Congrats, you just won the 'biggest idiot of the year' award."

He kept a good grip on Reid all the way back into Tyler's hummer waiting for them in the parking lot. His mother had smartly assured them an escape plan. Caleb promptly shoved Reid into the backseat.

"Don't you know when to keep your mouth shut?" Caleb said after he had closed the door behind himself to block the reporters out. Even still, the insistent press tapped on the window like birds trying to get to their prey. Tyler, out of breath, jumped into the driver's seat, and Pogue scrambled into the passenger's side.

"What," Reid countered Caleb. "Like they don't already know we're freaks? Might as well go along with it and be 'cool freaks'."

"Yeah," Caleb replied. "We go along with it, we end up on white stretchers in a laboratory like Tyler here."

Tyler shuddered at the horrid memory as he started up the car.

"Humanity is afraid of what they can't comprehend," Caleb went on. "It's the way we always were."

"What do you mean, 'we'?" Pogue jumped into the conversation, gazing at Caleb over the shoulder of the leather seat. "You still think they see us as part of their 'humankind'? Think again."

Caleb looked around to all the reporters and the flashing cameras, doing their best to get a good shot without getting run over as Tyler began to ease out of the parking space. He had to admit, Pogue was right. Their entire lives were never going to be the same.

-

That morning, Caleb, Pogue, Reid and Tyler bravely strolled through the campus, heading back to the dorms to find the girls. A crowd of students had gathered in front, getting ready for the first bell to ring. As the Sons drew near, it seemed all eyes were glued to them, while murmurs and whispers arose at their sight.

"Just stick together, guys," Caleb assured them. "We'll be alright."

The boys followed their leader in a straight line, trying their best to avoid the glares and bewildered looks of the students. Soon outbursts followed.

"You don't belong here!" one student shouted.

"Go back to hell where you came from!" said another.

"We don't want you!"

"Going to blow up the school next?"

Reid stopped suddenly, glaring at them, wishing hard he could Use to teach them a lesson, or at least get them to shut up.

"Let it roll, Reid," Caleb commanded him, putting a claming hand on his shoulder and pushing him onward. "Keep your cool."

"Yeah, just ignore them," Reid repeated cynically, continuing on their 'Walk of Shame'. "This is just great. We're getting persecuted for powers we don't even have anymore."

"Speaking of persecuted," Tyler chimed in, pointed ahead of them to a pile of boxes, clothing, and various furniture pieces sprawled out on the lawn. "Reid, isn't that our stuff?"

Laughter began to rise at Reid's enraged expression, followed by Tyler's. Sure enough, it was. Reid looked to Caleb with an expectant expression, daring Caleb to tell him to simply 'ignore it' again. Caleb sighed in reply.

"Com'on," Caleb assured them, heading up to the pile and grabbing a box. "We'll help you put it all back."

"Yeah," Pogue said apologetically. "I would too if I had that kind of time. Unfortunately, I have a fiancée under the spell of a madman with superpowers. I'm sure you can understand that you have to excuse me. Caleb, you coming?"

Caleb looked sorrowfully to his friends, then at the surrounding scoffers enjoying their torment. Reluctantly, he finally handed the box to Tyler.

"Sorry," Caleb said lamely. "Bigger problems to deal with."

"Yeah, thanks guys!" Reid called after them sarcastically as they ran off onward, disappearing into the school. "Way to 'stick together'!"

Tyler and Reid exchanged looks, then shook their heads in disbelief.

"Com'on, Ty," Reid said. "Let's get this done before it starts raining."

-

Pogue raced down the halls with Caleb at his heels, heading straight for where Sarah and Kate's dorm. How Pogue wished she had just moved in with him a day ahead of schedule, then maybe this wouldn't have happened… the thought was of little comfort.

He was discouraged to find that the dorm was empty, with unmade beds and scattered clothing left as the only trace.

"What are you doing in our room?" Pogue heard her familiar voice say to him from behind. Caleb and him turned to see Sarah and Kate standing indignantly in the doorway.

"Baby," Pogue said, going to Kate cautiously. "Oh, I'm so glad you're safe. Hey, listen to me…"

"'Baby'?" Kate repeated, taking a step back. "You must be talking to some other sucker, freak. Get out of my room before I call the nearest rent-a-cop patrolling the school."

Pogue's face fell, and Caleb frowned. He knew exactly what Pogue was feeling, since he felt the same rotten feeling in the pit of his stomach when he saw Sarah. Sarah turned to Caleb, her eyes flashing white for a moment, and said:

"Same goes for you too, psycho. Consider yourself 'dumped'."

"Pogue," Caleb said, looking to his friend seriously. Pogue feared that look in his friend's eye.

"I'm the only one with Power left," Caleb explained. "I can free them if I Use."

"Caleb," Pogue said, shaking his head no with concern. "You can't… not here… not now…"

Caleb felt his Power churn within him, begging to be Used. He had twice the Power to fight than the others, and it was eating him alive that he couldn't draw on it. The feeling was only amplified when he looked at the hateful expression on Sarah's face. He could free her from Chase's hold… he knew he could…

"Caleb," Pogue pleaded, grabbing his sleeve. "Don't… You'll blow up…"

He found it strange that he was the one telling Caleb to calm down… it was certainly a reversing of the usual roles.

Soon the Power was screaming in Caleb's head. He thought deeply on it for a few moments, weighing each risk and gain in his head. Would it be worth it? As he stared at his beloved Sarah, it made him wonder.

"Sarah," Caleb said with sorrow, stroking her cheek, hoping that if he could just reason with her… But she immediately jerked away.

"Don't touch me, pervert!" she yelled. "Kate, call security."

Caleb stepped back, gathering the Power together, getting ready for a big dose…

"You can't, Caleb," Pogue argued, grabbing him to stare him in the face. "As much as it kills me to say this: we can't help them like this. You'll just prove to everyone that we really are what they say we are. Think of Tyler… white stretchers and laboratories… do you want that to happen to all of us?"

"Pogue," Caleb replied, stretching out his hand to the girls. "I have to… It's the only way…"

"Caleb…" Pogue tried one more time even though he suspected it was useless. "Not like this…"

-


Sheesh, ANOTHER cliffhanger! So sorry… Please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue