A/N: Thanks to Bookworm since birth, Love.Always.Alice.and.Jasper, Niffer01, and guardian music angel for their reviews. I know a lot of you guys wanted to see REVENGE in this chapter, but don't fear! I'm going to write a short chapter about just that and I might even get it posted later today. Check out my profile page for 'Sailor Jess'...You'll know what I mean...

Review and Enjoy!

Panic flooded her. She couldn't change. She was broken. The rogue was still in human form, but his face was partially distorted, his nose longer, melding with his lips, his black eyes had moved, and his ears had travelled to the top of his head, forming furry points through his golden-brown hair.

Realising even partially shifted, he hand more strength than her, she tried to run.

But as soon as she began to run towards the alley mouth, she heard dark laughter before she ran into something solid and intractable. She couldn't see anything, but she felt the magic. How is this possible? Shifters don't have magic. She bounced of the strange force-field and landed in a pile of stinking garbage.

"Yes, that's it. Where you belong, with the rest of the trash," the rogue taunted, his voice rumbling deep. She scrambled to her feet and began edging away from him. "Uh, uh!" he said, shaking a still-human finger. "You're not going anywhere, bitch. I know you've been following me, hunting me. NO-ONE HUNTS ME!" he roared. "Not the Council and definitely not some little whelp bitch barely past chasing her tail. You think you can stop me? You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. Not that it matters now. Now, you're just meat."

With that, he launched himself towards her, expecting her to try and shift again. But she was no idiot. If she hadn't been able to force it before, it was highly unlikely anything had changed in the last thirty seconds. Instead, she spun out of the way at the last minute, hearing his bellow of rage behind her as she ran towards the other end of the alley.

But once again, she felt the strange force stopping her from leaving. This time she was prepared and only stumbled back a step, managing to keep her balance and spin quickly to face her attacker.

"How are you doing this?" she spat, only half-expecting answer.

"Friends in high places," he leered, pointing towards the roofs of the buildings around them, not taking his eyes of her.

She knew he was trying to distract her, trying to get her look away so he could make a move, but she wasn't falling for it. Keeping her eyes on him, she cocked her head, listening for any tell-tale signs of an accomplice.

Her own rapid heartbeat and breathing, along with that of the rogue. Distant traffic, a shrill of laughter from the main street, the pumping bass of someone's high-powered hi-fi system.

There!

Another rapid heartbeat, the quiet breaths and slight scraping of fabric giving away the position of another person.

Smells like a human.

Noting his position, she quickly calculated the odds of getting up there and breaking his neck before either of them could kill her. Not good. She needed to stall, hold them off until her brother got there.

"Why are you doing this? Killing these girls? You know eventually someone from the Council is going to find you again, and they will kill you." She reasoned, "Turn yourself over to me. I'll make sure you have a quick death. That's the best offer you can get at this point. Killing me is only going to make things worse." She knew there wasn't a chance in hell that he would turn himself over, but she had to keep him talking.

"Let me guess, this is where you tell me how if I kill you, your big, bad brother is gonna 'get' me? Ha!" he barked. "The Sarka's don't scare me. You're just a bunch of Council goons. No power. And that's the thing, isn't it? The key to everything," His eyes were twinkling strangely now. "Power," he pronounced it with such relish, it sent a shiver up her spine. "My new friend understands this. We have an arrangement, and as much as I love talking with you, I believe he's growing bored. He seems to enjoy a good show."

With that, he pounced, knowing she had nowhere to run. The fight was vicious. She managed to get a couple good, solid hits on him, but he still had the advantage. Kicking, punching, spinning, and dodging for all she was worth, it wasn't enough. At one point, she managed to box him into a corner, limiting his movement and giving her the advantage, but just as she was about to make her move, an unseen force pulled her backwards and sent her soaring hard into the opposite wall. As she fell to the ground, she could smell ozone in the air, like the aftermath of a lightning storm.

"You can't win," The rogue gloated, hauling her head up by her long hair. "You'll never understand," he said, pulling back his other fist before sending it flying towards her face. "You'll never save them,"

Tal's eyes snapped open, her chest heaving, trying to catch her breath. She sat up slowly, noting the thin sheen of sweat covering her body.

"Are you okay?" a quiet voice whispered from nearby. It took Tal a moment to remember that Alex was sleeping on the floor between Tal and Sarah's beds.

She looked over at the clock, and realising it was still fairly early in the morning, spoke quietly to avoid waking her sleeping roommate. "Yeah, I guess I just had a bad dream," she shook her head, giving Alex a weak smile.

Alex, however, was frowning. "About what?"

With another glace at Sarah, Tal replied. "I was attacked last week, on the job. It was a close call," she shrugged, "I guess it's just getting to me. I've woken like that a couple times."

"Can you remember the dream?" Alex asked, still frowning.

"Well…" she struggled to remember any details about what happened, but it was all fuzzy. She just remembered the fear, and the pain. "Not really. Why?"

"I felt something when you woke. Something…magical," she whispered, glancing over at Sarah. "Maybe that's why you can't remember. Can you remember what actually happened that night?"

Tal gave her a look that clearly indicated she felt Alex should get psychiatric help. "Of course. I saw the rogue we are chasing, I followed him into an alley, and…and we fought, and he hit me and I blacked out."

"Just like that? Did you change forms? How long did you fight for? Did he say anything?" Alex pressed.

"I…I don't know. I can't remember. Why can't I remember?" she asked Alex, eye wide as she started to panic. Her brother had never asked her for details of the fight, and she hadn't thought about it since.

"Maybe a casting to make you forget something, but as far as I know, shifters can't do magic," Tal shook her head in silent agreement. "A witch might be able to tell you more, maybe remove it, but I can't," she shrugged, "Sorry,"

Rage tore through Talia, and her eyes flashed. Her anger was not against Alex, but for who ever had dared fuck with her head. "Do you know of anyone nearby who could help?" she asked, keeping her voice calm.

"I have a cousin in Boston who would help, seeing as how you're working for the Council. I guess I could give her a call. Plants are her specialty, but she still might be able to do more than I can," she looked at Tal. "Does this have something to do with those murdered girls?" Tal nodded. "Damn,"

"Yeah,"

After checking Alex could get back it her room in the morning, Tal left for the motel. After explaining what Alex had told her, Will was understandably concerned and said he would call his contacts in the Council for more info.

Have nothing else they could do, she and Jess called Tyler and arranged to meet back at Tal's room to plot their revenge. It was possible they might be able to get some information from Tyler if they got him alone.

He was already waiting outside when they made it back, his plastered arm in a sling. When he saw Jess, his face lit up, and if it was possible, her friend got even perkier. Gods, I hope they're the good guys, or we're in so much trouble.

"So, have you perfected your plan yet?" he asked as Tal unlocked the door and they entered the room.

"Yes. I had some late night inspiration from our new friend, Alex," Tal answered.

"Yeah, Pogue told me about her this morning, and Sarah seems to have taken a shine to her. I think it has more to do with Kira than anything else," Tyler smiled, "They came round this morning to console me," he rolled his eyes, "I don't know who's more pissed about me not being able to swim, me or Caleb. Instead I've got to walk around with this ugly-assed cast on my arm," he sighed.

"I know!" Jess exclaimed, "Tal you should draw something on it!" She turned to Tyler. "She loves drawing! It's perfect!"

Tyler looked warily at Talia, and asked the million-dollar question, "Yeah, but are you any good?"

Tal shrugged, "If you don't like it, you can always paint over it. It'll give me something to do while Jess is working online," she said, digging around for her pens.

"What do you need?" Jess asked pulling out her laptop.

Tyler whistled, "Nice hardware!"

Jess laughed, "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you just made a pass at me," She laughed even harder as Tyler turned beet-red with embarrassment.

Talia just shook her head in amusement. "I need schematics of the school. Specifically, the pool and the P.A. system,"

Tyler looked suspicious. "Why do I get the feeling you two have done this sort of thing before?"

Neither answered, just smiled.

"I figure we can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Get revenge on Reid, Aaron and everyone that was there by going after the swim team."

Tyler looked stricken, "The whole team? But that means Caleb and Pogue, too! They didn't do anything!"

"Sacrifices must be made in war, soldier! Anyway, don't you want to get back at them for calling you 'Baby Boy' all the time?" Talia asked.

"You call me Baby Boy!" Tyler exclaimed.

"Only 'cause they started it," she waved off, "Anyway, if we go after Reid directly, he'll figure out it was us. Going after the whole team covers our asses." Tal reasoned. There was a pause. It was make-or-break time.

"What'd ya have in mind?"

As Tal drew on Tyler's cast, she told them her plan, making sure neither of them peeked at what she was doing. A slow smile was spreading across Tyler's face as he realised where she was going with the plan. Jess got plans from the net, and found out where they could get the supplies they needed with out drawing attention.

"Well?" Tal asked when she was done explaining.

"You're sure it won't do any permanent damage?" Tyler asked from where he was sprawled on her bed staring at the ceiling.

"Positive."

"It's perfect," he smiled.

"When should we do it? I can get most of the supplies tomorrow, we'll need to get the timing perfect though," Jess asked, from her position on Sarah's bed.

"After practise on Wednesday. We can't get caught though," Tyler answered, "Are you done yet?" he asked Tal, sounding exasperated. I guess staring at the ceiling for twenty minutes is boring. Go figure.

"Just about, …there," she replied, standing up and stepping back.

Jess rushed over to see it.

Tyler blushed.

"Talia!" Jess exclaimed.

"What?" she asked, trying, and failing, to keep a look of innocence on her face.

On the front of Tyler's cast was a classic tattoo style sailor girl pin-up, complete with the huge boobs, skinny waist, and sexy sailors outfit. But although she was posed provocatively, she was 'decent'. It was the face that was causing all the gasps and blushing between the two. It was Jess face smiling back from Tyler's arm.

"I'm gonna kill you, bitch!" Jess joked, chasing Talia around the room with a Sharpie.

Tyler finally got over his embarrassment, and started laughing.

Chase watched Reid as he sulked around his house. Something had obviously happened between him and the others, but Chase was unsure what. Unfortunately, it was still a couple weeks until Reid's Ascension, and it was unlikely they'd still be avoiding each other at that point. Too bad, it would have made things a lot easier.

When he had gotten away from that damn barn, he had accepted his previous plan was useless. Somehow, Caleb had managed to get his hands on some extra power. Bastard. Chase had known he didn't stand a chance against perfect Caleb, especially with the others as back up.

So he'd left to find some way he could gain the advantage. He hadn't been able to learn much before Pogue's birthday, and he was smart enough to realise that the other Sons would be waiting for him. So instead, he'd bided his time, looking for an answer. And by sheer accident, he'd found it.

The shapeshifter and he both craved power, fortunately for them both, it was a different kind of power. They had quickly realised that with each other's help, they'd have an edge they didn't have before.

That hot little wolf had proved it. Together, they could have destroyed her, without breaking a sweat. But his partner had decided to play a little, and the Sons had sensed his power and come running. Lucky girl.

Imagine his surprise though, when the same girl had showed up at Spencer, and befriended the Sons and Sarah. And the idiots didn't even know it was the same girl! It would certainly be interesting to watch when they did, though…