A/N: Finally! The secret that some of you have been waiting ages for: What did happen to Joe anyway? Read on and find out. :)

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Chapter 20:

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Joe set his bag down and sat next to his girlfriend, his arms still wrapped around her like a human coat. Her actual coat was back firmly in place, with every buckle fastened. Every inch of risque clothing had been covered. Even still, she was still whimpering in the shock and shame of it all. The entire school had seen her for what she was. Joe had called in her work and paid for the rest of her night with him.

"I'm so sorry," he lamented, his eyes clenched shut in the purest of empathy. "I shouldn't have... I could have..."

"It was bound to happen," Delilah assured him with a sniff. "I'm surprised I lasted all the way to senior year with my secret. But to have them find out like that is just... horrible."

She began to fish through her coat pockets for a cigarette, before Joe held her hands still.

"Time to quit," he told her. She smirked at him through her tear-streaked face.

Joe frowned in anger at Meredith, who had now become the most hated being alive. Well, almost, he thought, spotting Damien and his Concordat cronies wandering onto the campus, probably here to check up on his sister. Joe let out a groan at their horrendous timing.

"Hey, Garwin!" Damien called over. "I came over as soon as I heard!"

"Good news travels fast," Delilah mumbled, but Joe just held her tighter to his chest. He had known Damien long enough to know his word battle was just beginning.

"Word on the street is," Damien went on. "That your little lady friend is a--"

"--Move along, Roth," Joe commanded boldly, nodding him off to a certain direction.

"So do you pay her by the day or by the hour?" Sean chimed in too. "Tell me; I'm curious."

Joe was on his feet by now.

"What did I SAY? Get the hell out of here!"

"It's a free campus, Garwin," Damien huffed. "We can do what we want."

"Not like you're going to fight back anyway, ain't that right?" Sean said, up to Joe's face now. He gave Joe a good shove, and Delilah gasped. Joe frowned, but stood motionless.

"Defend your girl's, honor, Garwin," Damien taunted. "What are you waiting for?"

Joe said nothing.

"You know he won't fight, Damien," Sean said, though his eyes directed his statement more towards Joe. "He's a pasifist now... he's sworn off fighting..."

"You know, you used to be the best of us all," Damien scoffed. "Now you won't even lift a finger to defend your whore. What a waste..."

"I wasn't the best," Joe argued. "I was arrogant, just like you."

"This guy has more power than my two buddies combined," Damien explained to Delilah. "The one time some guy manages a cheap shot on him, its the freakin' end of the world."

"Damien," Joe shook his head. "I'm not going to rise to your stupid baiting. Just go."

"Still crying over your little sister, Garwin?"

"Pathetic," Blake piped up.

Joe's eyes flamed at this, but still he would not fight.

"Go," he growled as if it was his last warning. "I'm not going to tell you again."

Delilah could tell they feared Joe, even though they tried not to appear so. Their eyes told all. They held empty confrontation, a fight they could easily start but not easily finish. Something told Delilah that they had crossed Joe before, with painful results, and didn't dare try again.

Damien scowled, but nodded at Delilah once flirtatiously, then took his leave. His cronies followed close at his heels, scampering off to wreak havoc elsewhere.

"Wow," Delilah said. "I didn't think they'd leave so--"

Delilah cut herself off with a gasp, as Joe suddenly dropped to his knees.

"Joe!" she exclaimed, dropping down next to him to see what was the matter. His eyes were filled with tremendous grief, more than he seemed able to bear. "Joe, talk to me!"

"I..." he breathed, his eyes cast to the sky. He said nothing more.

"Joe," she whispered in his ear, fearing his mind was falling over the edge. "Joe, I'm going to take you for a walk. Then I want you to tell me everything."

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Evelyn walked through the halls alone, back to her dorm. It had been a long day of tedious homework in the library, and she couldn't wait for bed. Lazily she tried to find the keyhole for her key, already half asleep.

That's when she saw it.

It was small, barely the size of a ping pong ball. It was a flower bud. There was a small card tied to it's stem, that had words written in scrawly pen: "I'll always love you."

Evelyn couldn't help but blush at that. Who in the world would sent her a secret admirer note? Her heart froze at the possibility that it was James. Who else was there? She had a few ex boyfriends, mostly jocks, but none of whom would be so romantic and thoughtful. Maybe James wanted to prove to her that even through this Beatrice nonsense, his heart still belonged to her. It was a comforting thought.

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Joe and Delilah walked in silence for a long while, recovering from all the afternoon's events. They both knew where they were headed, even without saying. They were off to the forest, to their sacred haven, away from the troubles of Spenser.

Finally, as sunset came upon them in their long walk, and at last they came into the trees, Joe opened his mouth to speak.

"It was about two years ago," Joe said in a low, defeated voice. "Her name was Lucy. Little Lucy Garwin. She was a doll; blonde hair, ringlets, and these huge blue eyes... She was the family pride and joy."

He sighed, then continued:

"Back then, I lived for improving my Power... I got good. Real good. Oath-takers came from miles around to get their butts handed to them by me. I wanted to be the best. I wanted them to know it. And pretty soon, they did. Then one day, I get a note in my locker, saying they found a revenge worse than death. I go to pick up my little sister from school that day, and she's missing. I hear this yell in a alley across the street. There were about twelve of them. They surrounded me, but in the beginning, I was holding my own... Then she called out for me... I can still hear her cries..."

Joe furrowed his brow tightly, but powered on through his pain. Delilah waited patiently with concern for what she was seeing and hearing.

"They had stabbed Lucy in the back... I remember seeing her little blue dress turned completely red. When she cried out they slit her vocal chords. That's when I stopped fighting back. They beat me to a pulp. I was hoping they would finish me off too, but they knew what they were doing when they kept me alive. They were right. It was a vengeance worse than death ever since."

Joe stopped walking as they finally reached their destination. He sat with her on a large boulder next to the stream, and sighed once more. He set his eyes on the weeping willows, as they flowed in the twilight's breeze.

"I've lived with this guilt ever since. I blame myself, and so does my father."

"But you can't!" Delilah insisted, putting her hand firmly on his cheek and making his eyes lock onto hers. "You can't have foreseen something like that, Joe. You're only blaming yourself because your father doesn't know where to place his pain. He wants something to blame, to make himself feel better."

Her face folded into sorrow and pity.

"All father's love their sons," she assured him. "He will remember it someday."

"Delilah," Joe said, so seriously he sounded almost angry. "I'm in love with you."

"I know," she said, kissing him just as seriously. "I'm pretty smitten with you myself."

"I intend to marry you."

Delilah pulled away in surprise.

"Sure..." she agreed cautiously.

"I'm not kidding. After I Ascend, I'm going to ask my father for his blessing. Whether he loves me or not, he must give me this one thing."

"Then," Delilah said with a slowly reappearing smile. "After you're all finished, you come here. I'll be waiting for you."

She leaned close to his ear, and said in a voice so faint he could barely hear:

"Be sure to bring a blanket..."

Joe's brow shot up as he realized what she was implying, then nodded agreeably.

He wouldn't miss it for the world.

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Signed,
--RedRogue