Chapter 35:

~RR~

Glenn twiddled his thumbs nervously in the hospital waiting room, staring at the door where the doctors had led Rosalind. James was busy fighting with a vending machine, upset it had swallowed his quarter without a reward. He resorted to Using to make it give him one of every snack. Wayne was sitting on the floor against the wall across from Beatrice, making sly sexual gestures directed at her, while she was trying hard to stop him. Glenn finally looked up at Joe, who seemed to be concentrating hard on the floor.

"I know what you're thinking," Glenn said to Joe in a low voice so that the others would hear.

Joe quirked an eyebrow his way, subtly scolding Glenn's Using the Power to read his thoughts.

"You don't think it's right- all this," Glenn went on. "Me and Rosalind, raising a Concordat kid as a Covenant…"

"You have to understand, Glenn, the council won't rule in your favor on this one, even with the rape accusation against Damien… They just can't. It's still another Oath Group's firstborn- we can't claim it as our own."

Glenn shook his head.

"I want to obey the Book," Glenn sighed. "But something doesn't feel like it's worth it anymore. I know you're trying to do everything you can to preserve the Law, but… I have this sinking feeling like the time of the Oath Groups is coming to an end."

Joe looked to James, who was beating a soda machine now, while Wayne was inching his way closer to Beatrice across the floor.

"I know you feel it too," Glenn accused. "Or you wouldn't feel so guilty about leaving Delilah in the dust."

A doctor emerged from Rosalind's room, a sullen look upon his face. Glenn stood on his feet, and all attention fell on the white-coated man.

"Is Rosalind all right, Doctor?" he asked quickly.

"Of course, of course," the doctor assured them. "She's doing fine. But there was a complication in the delivery. The umbilical cord was wrapped around the child's neck and upon labor-"

"A stillborn," Joe sensed before the doctor could explain further. His heart gave a little jump for joy, but immediately fell upon the sight of Glenn's grave expression. Beatrice rushed to throw her arms around Glenn, who was quickly tearing up, while an obviously distraught and uncomfortable Wayne could only offer an encouraging pat on the back to his saddened friend.

"I'm so sorry, man," Wayne breathed out. After the doctor had left to let them grieve in private, James let out a snicker from behind them. Joe immediately shot him a glare, while Glenn only looked at him with confusion.

"Well, that's certainly convenient, right, Joe?" James smirked. "A little TOO convenient if you ask me."

"Shut up, Jimmy," Joe commanded. "It's not the time for your foolishness."

"Ah, it's only the truth," James retorted. "It's always been the truth. You guys are the ones with either the lies or the delusions of grandeur."

Glenn started to openly weep now, his wails echoing in the empty night halls of the hospital, and Beatrice held him close. All eyes glared at James. Joe stepped up to him, fury in his eyes.

"I'm warning you, Jimmy. Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you."

James laughed his doubt of that.

"Just tell me the truth- did you kill the kid or not? You gave up your true love for the great Book. What's a kid or two in the mix if it means order in the Oath Takers?"

"Leave it the hell alone, Jim!" Wayne defended. "Just shut your hole, for Pete's sake!"

"You don't get a say in this, Wayne!" James shot back. "You're the worst of them all. At least Joe has the Cov's best intentions in mind and Glenn is just genuinely naïve. But you… you are a bold faced, cold-hearted liar."

James stepped up to Wayne now, close to his face. Joe was at the ready to attack at any given excuse.

"Tell me you aren't screwing my fiancé behind my back. Go ahead… Lie some more."

As an involuntary, instinctive action, Wayne glanced at Beatrice… and their secret was thus exposed.

"We need to finish what we started that day you found out I was marrying her. This time, when someone calls the other a dead man, we're not giving up until one of us is good and dead. You're a dead man, Wayne."

With that, James exited, leaving Glenn to mourn in peace. A dark shroud lingered even after he had long gone out of sight, striking heavy into their hearts. The thirst for power had gotten to James, and with his Ascension only days away, they all knew there was no bringing him back out of it.

Not without a fight.

"Well, fearless leader," Wayne sighed to Joe. "You know him better than any of us. What's our next move before we all go to hell?"

Glenn parted his eyes from Beatrice's now very wet shoulder to straighten up and listen to Joe.

"I leave the fight to your discretion," Joe replied quietly. "Just grant me deniability… Do me a favor, and kick his ass- then grant me deniability."

Wayne smiled and nodded firmly.

"You got it."

"Meanwhile, Glenn, I know you want to be here for Rosalind right now… but I can't leave Meredith without the council getting suspicious, and now's not the best time for Wayne to leave Beatrice alone… and somebody really needs to get to Paris."

Wayne and Glenn shared a glance before looking back to Joe.

"What's in Paris?"

Joe gathered his things to go, shrugging on his coat and giving them all a serious look.

"Evelyn. I have a feeling she's the only voice of reason James has left."

~RR~

Joe walked home with a pounding headache, and Using his Power to try to calm down everyone's emotions only seemed to make it worse. The long cobblestone path from his car to the house was treacherous and dark, only filled with dread knowing what was waiting for him beyond that door.

He had given up his entire life's happiness for the sanctity of the law, to preserve order, and the more he held on with white knuckles the more it slipped through his grasp. His heart had never been heavier, until…

He looked up and saw her. What he thought to be a hallucination at first, as was a common side effect from too much power usage. But there was Delilah, in all her trench-coated glory, waiting for him by a dark tree.

Joe stopped in his tracks, and felt his already heavy heart plummet a few more stories downward. He gulped as the moisture in his mouth abandoned him.

"What are you doing here?" As he spoke, his heart began to race. "If someone saw you…"

"I was careful," she promised. "After I got your note your father bribed me into leaving town. He bought me a condo and he sends regular checks to keep me away… but I had to see you again. I can't let this be how it ends."

"You know it's not what I want," Joe shook his head. "But it's really how it has to be. Seeing you only makes it worse for me, so please don't come back."

Delilah then grabbed his face and kissed his hard. He groaned at first, but almost immediately melted into her arms. She disconnected with a proud smirk.

"That's making it worse," she replied victoriously. "Give me a call when you're ready to live again, Joe. You might be afraid of your father, but I most certainly am not."

He watched her walked away with longing in his eyes. Every part of him wanted to run after her, sweep her in his arms and kiss her deeply. For a moment, he hesitated on his cobblestone pathway, just watching the pleats of her jacket sway as she walked, her hair bouncing in every step, the heels of her red-soled pumps clack down on each stone they connected to. She was his. But he belonged to someone else.

Putting his head down, he forced his feet to walk through his front door of his large empty mansion. He heard Meredith in the next room, listening to the television quite loudly, like she always did. Some dramatic show blared epicly dramatic music, while tears were booming through the halls to greet him. For just a moment, he understood the feelings of the characters in the shows, as his heart bled with equal raging anguish as dramatic as they made it seem.

"Honey?" she called out as he hung his peacoat on the coat rack. "Where have you been? It's after nightfall and primetime has already started without you."

He didn't answer, as he made his way to the kitchen. He didn't have the strength to bring his voice to a calm tone to talk to his hated wife. Yet he suspected that if he didn't answer soon that she would get up to find him.

It was as he was pouring himself a glass of wine when she appeared at the doorway to the kitchen.

"Joe Garwin, you answer me right now. Where have you been?"

Joe sighed heavily as he took a sip of his favorite kind of wine. He was so grateful for alcohol lately. It made nights with Meredith tolerable.

"I was out with the boys," Joe replied. "Jimmy is starting to get out of hand."

He heard her steps come near.

"Always concerned with the Covenant," she grumbled. "If you are so concerned with the Covenant's survival then why don't you give them an heir already?"

Joe whirled around to face her, his stomach getter sicker by the minute.

"You never make love to me!" she whined. "It's a fight to even get you in the same bed-!"

"WOMAN!" Joe blared, setting his glass down on the counter so hard that it's contents spilled. "Don't you get it? YOU forced me away from someone I loved and into this marriage kicking and screaming! You need to give me some time to adjust to this life you've coerced me into."

"Well you'd better get used to it fast," she replied darkly, laying down a sealed envelope with Joe's name on it. "This is a letter from your father. He wants you to stop feeling sorry for yourself and hurry up and have the firstborn of the Covenant before the others do."

Meredith huffed snottily at him, grabbing him by the chin so he could see her gloating eyes.

"I may not have your love, but I do have control, and it's all the same to me as long as I get what I want. I expect to see you in bed tonight. At a decent hour."

She kissed him on his cold, dead lips before she let his chin go. A chill went down his spine as she smiled snidely at him.

"Goodnight, dear."

~RR~

Please review!
Signed,
-RedRogue