Chapter 17:

-

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," Reid said hurriedly, setting his jacket on the hook behind his dorm door. Tyler jerked up from laying on his bed to an upright position, immediately on alert.

"Where have you been?" he demanded, and Caleb and Pogue, who stood nearby, inclined an ear, interested to know what Reid would answer.

"What are you, my babysitter?" Reid shot back with a smug grin, wiping off his black beanie and setting it on his dresser. "Calm down, killer."

"You didn't get back all night!" Tyler interrogated suspiciously. "Where were you?"

Again, Caleb and Pogue looked to Reid expectantly.

"Out," Reid replied mechanically. "Are we going to get down to business anytime soon? I have somewhere to be."

"Yeah, sit down," Caleb commanded. Reid went to his bed, firmly shoved Tyler off of it, and took his place upon it.

"Listen, my mom and the Chronicles can only give us so much information," Caleb said seriously. "We can't get anywhere without our knowledgebase."

"What are you suggesting?" Pogue asked with concern.

"It's dangerous for the Book of Damnation to be in the clutches of the government. With any luck, they haven't reached the end of it yet. I think we should take it back before they ever do."

"What?" Pogue and Reid said together. Tyler wasn't really paying attention, but was distracted in a search for something on the floor. At the sudden outburst from Pogue and Reid, his head whipped up and he paid strict attention.

"Wait-- what?" he asked of anyone who would listen. "What's going on?"

"Caleb wants to pull a 'Ocean's Eleven' on the FBI!" Reid laughed in giddy disbelief.

"No way! For the books?"

"Yeah, for the books," Pogue retorted. "Look, I know we need them and all, but without any Using—we're just normal guys. We'll get caught."

"We can do this," Caleb assured them.

"This is crazy," Reid decided. "Look, this is me saying this: the crazy one. I'm saying this is crazy."

"Reid's right, Pogue's right, they're both right," Tyler jumped in, going back to his quest to find whatever it was he was searching for. "Has anyone seen my cell phone?"

"Nope," Reid replied a little too quickly, then turned back to Caleb. "I know you aren't just saying this without thinking it through. What's your plan?"

"When we were inside," Caleb explained. "I saw where they were keeping the books. If we could just get in long enough to look through them, at the very least, then it's worth a shot. Best-case scenario, we get out with them and stash them somewhere no one can ever find them again. I've toyed with a couple of ideas--"

"Seriously, guys," Tyler said, searching through the pockets of every jacket he owned. "I've been looking for days and I can't find my phone."

"Did you try calling it to hear the ring?" Pogue suggested.

"Yeah, no luck," Tyler admitted. "Sorry, Caleb, go ahead."

"As I was saying," Caleb cast Reid a warning look as he spoke. "I have a couple of ideas, but I wanted to see what you guys thought about it first."

"Whatever," Reid shrugged it off like it was no big deal. "You want to rob the FBI, it's cool with me."

"I figured you would be, Reid," Caleb muttered. "What about you, Pogue?"

"It's dangerous," he said, folding his arms. "It's foolish, and it's insane. Sounds like the 'same old, same old' to me."

"And Tyler?" Caleb said. "Don't feel pressured into this. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"And be the only one left out of the fun?" he said, sifting through a nearby dresser. "You're kidding, right? Where is that stupid phone?"

"Alright," Caleb said, getting up to go. "I'm going to go keep an eye on Sarah and work on a plan."

"I'll come with you," Pogue said, grabbing his leather jacket.

"I gotta jet too," Reid said, grabbing Tyler's keys. "'Places to go', and all that."

"Reid," Tyler said suddenly with thick confusion. "Why is my cell phone in your underwear drawer?"

"Why are you in my underwear drawer?" Reid shot back, then, deciding that was the end of the discussion, left the room without another word.

Caleb immediately followed, while Pogue lingered.

"Reid has a point, you know," he said as he left, a teasing smile on his face. "That's just weird. You might want to check the ringer, it's probably on 'silent'."

Tyler could only glare at him as he left.

"Yeah, thanks," was his cynical reply.

-

Caleb leaned over the keyboard in the library and sighed. Though this whole 'heist' thing seemed like a good idea in his head, when he found a map of the interior of the building, it seemed so impossible without their Power. Not to mention the librarian, Cathy, kept a close eye on him over the rim of her cat-eyed glasses. She wasn't giving him any slack due to their exploitation, and it was only a matter of minutes before she found what he was up to. And if that happened, it would surely mean bad news.

Finally he gathered his things and got up to go, hitting the escape key as he did so. It was hopeless.

"Intereshting reshearch you're conducting," said a lispy voice that made Caleb jump. Caleb turned to see that scrawny kid named Robbie shadowing him once more. He seemed to be Robbie's favorite for that.

"It's nothing; its just a little homework," Caleb said half-truthfully. Robbie smirked like he thought he was slick stuff.

"What shubject?" he challenged.

"Uh," Caleb stammered. "Engli— Economics."

Robbie leaned closed, smiling so that his braces showed.

"I can help you with your 'Economicsh'," he said with a not-so-subtle hint.

Caleb looked at him curiously with narrowed eyes for several moments. He thought about denying everything, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"How?" he asked cautiously.

-

Reid parked Tyler's large Hummer next to a particularly short tree on the vast foresty countryside, and grabbed the take-out he had bought for him and Elle. He walked over to the girl waiting for him on the Ipswich bridge: a short, quaint little brick bridge that had been here as long as his family lineage had. Elle sat upon the stone railing with her bared feet dangling over the side, staring at the trickling stream below with a faraway look in her eye.

"Hey," he called to announce his presence. At the sound of his voice she perked up immediately, holding a hand out for the bag of food.

"Did you get orange chicken?"

"Duh," he replied with offense, handing her the bag. She immediately grabbed a pair of chopsticks and dug in.

"I told you to wait at the house," Reid said, sitting down beside her and doing the same. "You shouldn't be out here all by yourself."

"How much longer are we going to meet like this?" Elle asked. "I don't mean to nag, but… meeting in the middle of the country to avoid being seen by Tyler? Don't you think that's a bit much?"

"I told you," Reid insisted, taking in a mouthful of chow mien. "It's fine. Just wait until after I Ascend-- it's just two days away-- and I'll tell him everything myself. Not like it matters anyway."

"Reid," Elle said, putting her chopsticks down. "What's up? I mean, really?"

Reid frowned and didn't speak.

"Com'on," Elle urged. "Say it."

"Whatever, it's nothing."

"Don't make me make you," she threatened.

"I said: it's nothing," he insisted coldly.

"If it's nothing than why are you so tweaked?"

"I'm not tweaked."

"Boy, you reek tweaked."

"Just drop it, okay?"

"I'm not going to until you 'fess up--"

"--He hasn't talked about you!" Reid burst out angrily. "Alright?"

Elle doubled back in confusion.

"Pardon?"

"Not once, Elle," he went on, throwing a leg over the stone wall to look at her directly. "Tyler hasn't asked about you, he hasn't worried about you, he hasn't even said your name since we got arrested. What kind of a guy doesn't even mention their supposed girlfriend after she just got raped? Not even a glimpse of concern? I tell you: the kind that doesn't CARE."

Elle seemed speechless, which was just as well, since Reid wasn't finished yet.

"All our lives he's always wanted what I wanted, just because it was me who wanted it. From toys, to cars, to girls, it's always the same thing. The stupid kid can't think for himself. As soon as he saw me get up with Kira, he didn't give a shit about you anymore. So why should we?"

Elle seemed insulted.

"That's not true! How can you assume that? I'll have you know, he was with me the whole time at the party."

"Which part? The part where Aaron pulled a gun on you when he was nowhere to be found?"

"Yeah, that same part when he saved your life," Elle shook her head in disbelief. "You said this Curse was held on by anger amidst the Covenant. I see now Tyler isn't the only one with the 'grudge issues'."

"Yeah, I'm a little pissed. Why aren't you?"

"Because, quite frankly, he's not the boy I should be concerned about anymore."

Reid sighed and looked away, but Elle put a palm to his cheek and directed his gaze back to her.

"But you should be," she said. "He's practically your brother."

Reid frowned again and looked back to the running stream below them.

"Which is exactly why he can't know yet."

-

"Guys," Caleb said to Tyler and Pogue, who were in the locker room getting ready for a swim. Robbie, who stood behind Caleb, seemed a little intimidated by their almost naked presence.

"Robbie just made things a helluva lot easier for us," Caleb finished.

"That Robbie?" Tyler pointed to the curly-haired redhead. "You got the geek involved?"

"Tyler--!" Caleb was ready to scold, but Robbie defended himself first.

"I'll have you know thish 'geek', ash you call me, hash accesh to an unlimited shupply of shpyware shtuff, and--"

"—And his dad's a locksmith," Caleb explained. "And has taught Robbie here everything he knows… follow?"

Pogue and Tyler smiled broadly.

"Nice," Tyler said with an approving nod.

"Alright, then!" Pogue agreed happily. "When do we strike?"

"As soon as one of you locates Reid," Caleb replied. "We do this tonight."

-


Big finale still coming, which is probably why I've been neglecting my other Cov fic. I estimate about five more chapters left, give or take a couple. Please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue