A/N: Thanks to Love.Always.Alice.and.Jasper, guardian music angel, Niffer01 and Spindle Faerie - your wish is my command! I'd also like to that everyone who has added me or this story to their favs/alert list. Y'all rock!

Well, here's the next bit. It's a lot shorter than the last couple chapters, but there you go. I'm gona try and get another one done today, but no promises.

Keep in mind that I stayed up late last night writing this chapter, and although I checked it over again this morning, it's quite possible that it's the insane ramblings of a sleep-deprived mind. If it doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll sort it.

As always, Review and Enjoy!

She hadn't recognised his scent at first, and the face of the crisply dressed thirty-something man in front of her wasn't familiar, but those eyes, she could never forget those coal-black orbs of evil.

James Vargssen. The bastard's name was James Vargssen.

And obviously, he already knew who she was.

Talia was in big trouble.

"Tal."

She knew what she had to do. It was time.

Knowing it would probably be the last time, she kissed him, savouring the taste of him on her lips. Then she pulled back, steeling herself from the anger she knew was coming.

"Reid, I know what you are."

Silence.

"What. Exactly. Do. You. Mean?" he asked, every word perfectly precise.

"I know about you and the other guys. About your powers, about Chase Collins, about your birthday," she answered, only bluffing a little. She knew about them, sure; but she didn't have specifics. His breath came out in a harsh gust, as though he'd been kicked in the stomach. "I know you probably don't want to hear this, but there's something you need to know, and it's about Vargssen. I need to talk to you all, I promise I'll answer any questions you have, but you have to let me say my piece."

Reid looked at her for a moment, then nodded sharply, his face tight with anger. "I'll get Baby Boy and Jess, you find Caleb and Sarah. We'll meet on the second floor."

As he began to walk away, she called out, "Reid, be careful. If you see Vargssen, go in the opposite direction. Trust me."

He nodded, heading toward the main pavilion, as Talia made for the kid's one.

Neither of them saw Aaron Abbot as he hid in the nearby doorway, a stunned expression on his face.

"Powers?"

"Alex, Alex! Open up, this is important!" Pogue yelled through the bathroom door.

"What?!" Alex snapped as she flung open the door.

Pogue took one look at her big, puffy red eyes, and knew she'd been crying.

"I…"

"Look, what so damned important that you have to come after me in the damn bathroom?!" she demanded, her eyes sparking with rage.

Realising this was not the time to say what it was he really wanted to say, he decided instead to pass on Tal's message. "Talia's looking for you, she said it's important, and she seemed really tense."

Something else flashed in her eyes, then she nodded. "Take me to her."

By the time they were all gathered, Will had arrived and was sitting uncomfortably in the corner near the door, waiting for Tal to explain.

"What's going on, man?" Pogue asked Reid, none of them knowing why they were gathered in the Danvers' dusty attic, or who the glaring guy in the corner was, even though it was obvious he was related to Tal.

Reid look at Talia, checking that it was okay to speak in case Jess and Alex didn't know. At her nod, he began. "She knows about our powers, she says we're in danger."

"You told her?" Caleb boomed, anger dripping off him.

"No I did not tell her, she just knows," Reid snarled back.

"D'you want to tell me why the fuck you've broken our orders without clearing it with me first?" Will growled, his voice dangerously low.

"And who the fuck are you?" Reid asked, angry at this guy who seemed to think he could order Tal around.

"I could be asking you the same question, Garwin. I can smell her on you. It isn't fresh, but it there. All three of you, and two of them are my sisters! I'd be well within my rights to rip you throats out, little rich boys," Will snarled, getting in Reid's face.

Reid's eyes bled black with power, but Will just laughed. "Neat trick, but wait 'till you see mine," he grinned, nothing pleasant about his expression at all.

"Willem! Enough!" Talia yelled, pulling her brother back and slamming him into the wall. "We don't have time for you're over-protective bullshit, so can it!"

She turned back to Reid, who was still standing tense, his eyes black as night. "Reid, please calm down and let me explain." He shook off her hand but sat back down, eyes slowly returning to normal.

"Reid's father's new business partner, James Vargssen is our rogue," she told her brother and the girls. Turning back to the others she explained, "Vargssen is a ShaperShifter, a wolf like my brother Willem and I. But he's gone rogue, killing humans. We came here to catch him, but we found out he's working with Chase Collins. They have some kind of deal going on. We have to find him and kill him."

"You're werewolves?" Reid asked incredulously. Will growled his displeasure.

"For lack of a more delicate term, yes. Although we prefer the term Lycan."

"What about Jess and Alex?" Caleb asked.

"I'm a Shifter, like Tal, but I'm a red panda, not a wolf," she answered quietly, looking straight in Tyler's eyes.

"I'm a Void," Alex remarked when their eyes turned to her. At their blank looks, she explained, "My family are witches, but I was born without power."

"Alex wasn't working with us a first, the first time we met was in the hallway that night, and she offered to help," Talia remarked, receiving a grateful look from her friend.

"It was you that night it the alley, wasn't it?" Caleb asked quietly.

All eyes fixed on Tal.

She nodded, and Reid groaned. "How did you know?"

"Your tattoos. I took your pulse that night 'till the ambulance arrived. It took me a while to figure it out. We didn't know how you could have healed so quickly."

Will snorted. "I told you you'd regret getting those things."

They sat back for a moment, taking in the fact that the broken girl that they'd all been so worried about was a lot more than they'd thought.

"Why did Chase attack you?" Sarah asked eventually.

"He didn't, not really. It's kind of a long story…" She explained about the Council, the tip off, the dead girls, the alley, and everything they had learned since then. When they were finished, Pogue let out a low whistle.

"So why tell us now?" Caleb asked, still suspicious.

"Vargssen is obviously up to something, it can't be a coincidence that he's working with Reid's father. You need to know what you're up against. Though we're not completely immune, Shifters are more resistant to magic, and rumour is, this rogue has six Coyotes working for him. We've never fought Collins directly, only the wolf, but it's possible you wouldn't be able to take them," Talia shrugged.

"Let me get this straight?" Reid said, his mind on a different subject. "You got close to us because it was you're job?"

"Yes. I mean no," Talia stuttered. "I was sent in to find out if there was a connection between you and our rogue. I got my GED at the same time Jess did, the only reason I was at Spencer was because of you guys. Jess had me assigned to Sarah's room, and made sure I had at least one of you in each of my classes. I was just supposed to be your friend, nothing more. Jess wasn't supposed to be undercover at all, but I tried to use her as an excuse to avoid your party, but you caught me off guard. Alex wasn't working at all, she just put us in touch with another witch who could help us with the magic stuff."

"Trust me, if I knew how far this had gone, I would have put a stop to it. I promised out Jacob that you to were being strictly professional, he's gonna kick my ass when he finds out," Will grumbled, and Tal shot him a grateful look. "The question stands though, what are you, and what does Collins want with you?"

Caleb, looking at his brothers, took a deep breath and began to explain. Once he had finished the whole unbelievable story, Will grumbled, "Yeah, that sounds like Collins."

"What do we do now?" Tyler asked.

"We've got an ID on our rogue, which means Jess can track him down. Tal and I will take out him and his hired muscle, and see if we can't get Collins too. Easy," Will replied, grinning at the thought of finally getting his hands on the bastard.

Caleb nodded, then look straight at Will. "We're coming with you."

After a long and loud argument back and forth, Will finally conceded that if they were going up against Collins as well, the guys could be useful. They had agreed to meet in the morning to discuss their plan deciding that they would go after the rogue tomorrow night instead of waiting for Reid birthday.

In the meantime, neither Sarah, Alex, nor Jess would be left alone. Sarah would obviously stay with Caleb, and Will declared (with a glare at Tyler) that Jess would be under his protection. Alex had given Talia a pleading look, and the young wolf had offered to watch over Alex, cutting short Pogue's impending offer.

Reid had tried convince Talia that she needed protection too, and ended up getting in another argument with Will. When Talia had ended the argument by explaining to Reid in very vivid detail just how many rogues she had killed in the past, he shut up, but continued to sulk for the rest of the conversation.

Reid stood in the attic as the others left, and although Will shot Talia a warning look over his shoulder, he didn't say anything as she stayed behind to talk to him in private.

"You're angry," she stated, smelling it in his scent, not surprised.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, Reid. I wanted to tell you. I know that I shouldn't have let things get so far with us, I just…" She shook her head, not finding the words.

"It's not that," Reid replied, his tone deadly calm, not meeting her eyes. "I understand that, sort of. I mean, I didn't tell you about The Covenant of Silence, did I? And no one is so dedicated to their job that they give up their virginity just to get some information." He paused, not moving. "What bothers me is that even when we thought you might be working with Chase, even when we though you might be the bad guy, I didn't care." His eyes finally met hers, and they were so full of anger that Talia nearly took a step back. "You could have been enemy and I still wanted you, still needed you." He laughed bitterly. "What does that make me? That I'd sell my soul, just to be with you. Just because I love you."

Talia had no idea what to say, realising that the anger wasn't for her, but for himself. He loved her and he hated himself for it. But now he was looking at her with a small twinkling of hope in his eyes. She didn't make to crush that hope, but she couldn't lie to him any more.

"I can't say it back Reid," I love you too! Oh god, I love you so much! "As soon as this is over, I'll be gone. I have responsibilities that I can't turn my back on. I can't give you that answer." Pain slicing through her heart, she turned and left, forcing herself not to look back.