AN: People seemed to enjoy my strange titles in the beginning of Ask Me No Questions, which I kinda forgot to continue, so I shall do my best to keep them up in this segment of my saga. Oh, and also, I read a couple stories with lyrics at the beginnings of chapters, and I really liked the idea, so I'm gonna start doing that as well.

To bring you up to speed:

Caleb, Pogue and Tyler are hit hard by his absence, still caught in charges of kidnapping and murder. Kat is devastated by his betrayal and his disappearance, trying to deal with her father's questions and her own police suspicion. Reid himself is alone, on the run, and haunted by the demons of his own Power. The Daughters of Sappho are torn, struggling to decide whether or not to help the Covenant.

Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening, or 'What Happens When Bad Gets A Whole Hell Of A Lot Worse…'

This is a war which we never, ever, never thought we'd win.

But when I lose… will I try again and again?

But please, forgive me when I'm gone:

I know that I've done wrong.

-Call On My Lover, by 33 West

In all honesty, Kat thought the whole idea of 'puppy love' was a bunch of bullshit. What, did emotion not become real until after the age of twenty-one? Hand in hand with the legality of alcohol. Hmm. How convenient. She shook her head sardonically, a twisty little smile on her face. Her father glanced at her down the table, and she could see the battle taking place behind his eyes: ask his newly pensive, mysterious daughter about what had made her expression so hard and bitter, or let it go for his own safety?

Silence.

The sound of clinking silverware as he carefully scooped up some more potatoes. Kat felt like laughing. Of course he hadn't asked.

He had no idea how.

He was always so good with dealing with the good times. He was even good at cheering up a glum Kat after a long, tired day or a particularly annoying class. But this… He had no clue how to deal with this quiet, pained Kat, the Kat who blatantly kept secrets from him and who was under suspicion for murder, of all things.

It had been some hours since Reid had ripped her heart out and discarded it at his feet. The phone had rung twice more after Caleb, and she had not answered it. When he'd called her to pick it up, Kat had pointedly ignored her father.

Now, at the dinner table, spooning tasteless vegetables and some kind of white meat into her mouth, she could feel each bite travel down to her stomach and add to the queasiness there.

"May I be excused?"

"Yes," he said quietly. She felt bad, bad for the way she was treating him, but still she got up and walked from the table.

88888888

How long does it take to get from Massachusetts to California? For-freakin'-EVER, that's how long. Reid was pulled over near a gas station in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, staring in unmitigated horror at the 95¢ map of the USA he'd bought after filling his tank. He'd known California was on the other side of the country, but… it was on the other side of the country. He counted eleven states in a straight line between him and his destination.

"Could I fly? No, they could track a plane ticket. Fuck!" He slammed a fist against the steering wheel, not at all pleased with this realization. "Ok," Reid sighed. "Chill out, man. Calm down. Be zen."

Being zen, as Reid discovered, is a lot easier when you don't actually have a reason to try it.

Tossing the crumpled map onto the seat beside him, Reid started the car and pulled onto the road, heading for Connecticut. He figured he could cut through the south corner of that, take the Jersey Turnpike past New York and get into Pennsylvania. From there… Well, he'd figure it out then.

Reid turned on the radio, playing with it until he came across a generic rock station.

"If you ever come anywhere near me again, I'll make your death so long you beg for it, and I'll enjoy ever last second."

Kat's voice came into his mind with no warning, the animal fury and hatred not lessened by memory. His hands clenched on the wheel.

"I'm sorry," he said aloud, as if somehow she could hear him.

No you aren't. You enjoyed it. You loved hurting her.

Fuck you.

It'll take you how long to get across the states? A week, at least. That's plenty of time. You don't stand a chance.

I'm beating you. I will beat you.

You won't even realize it when you lose. And then, we'll go back to quiet little Ipswich, and we'll kill your friends. Every. Last. One.

Stop.

They don't use the Power they've been given. It's disgusting. Make them appreciate it. Even if that takes… hard measures. And Kat? That two-faced bitch. Literally. I mean, come ON. She has to die.

STOP.

The voice went quiet, but for how long? How long could he take this?

A week.

An endless, endless week.

888888888

"Kat! Open up!" She started awake, rolling off her bed and landing in a less-than-graceful sprawl. Immediately, Kat was on her feet and at the window. Caleb was there, hovering outside the glass, eyes black.

"What the hell?" The window was locked, but she could hear him through the panes.

"Open the window." Blinking angrily, she swung the window open, clipping him in the shoulder unremorsefully. She stepped back grudgingly, realizing that it would not help their case if someone should see the suspected arsonist and kidnapper floating outside the window of his 'victim'.

Caleb climbed into her room, wincing as she reached around him and pulled the window shut hard against his elbow.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said quickly, before she could speak. "But you wouldn't answer your phone."

"So you thought flying to my window was a better idea? Who are you, Romeo on drugs? What are you doing here, Caleb?!"

"I need to talk to you."

"Obviously. Now is not a good time, ok? I'm busy being really pissed off," she finished harshly, folding her arms stand-offishly.

"I know you're mad at Reid."

"Mad? Mad?" He sighed.

"I know you're really, really mad at Reid."

"Go away, Caleb. I do not want to talk about this with you."

"There's something you don't know. About Reid."

"Let me guess," she said, a little wildly. "He's gay and you're his one true love. Which wouldn't explain the pre-disaster sex, but-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Caleb held up his hands a bit frantically. "He's not gay, I'm not gay, and I don't want to know anything about pre-whatever sex! Now just be quiet and listen to me!" Kat closed her mouth reluctantly, the line of her jaw hard and unyielding.

"Remember what I told you right before you went in to get Reid out of that house?" Slowly, taken aback, she nodded. Caleb rubbed a hand across his eyes. "I was right. Reid's ascension was extremely traumatic, and he was already close to addiction before-hand. It looks like the shock of even more power has created… a rip in his psyche." Seeing her uncomprehending look, he elaborated. "It's created another personality. One that's made up entirely of magic and darkness, steeped in the agony he must have been experiencing when he ascended as Mary was torturing him. This second personality doesn't give a damn about morality or human bonds. It cares about power, and destruction, and pain."

Kat found herself on the floor for the second time that night, her legs having crumpled beneath her.

"You're saying he's…" She trailed off, horrified. She remembered black, unholy eyes in an unconscious body. A chill shuddered down her spine, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up straight.

"He did whatever he did to you because he was trying to protect you, Kat. He thought that by making you hate him, he would keep you from going after him."

"Going- going after him?" The older boy nodded.

"He's gone."