Awakening.

[Pogue Parry]

"It's you, that I'm gonna hurt and you're just my bait to get to Caleb." Chase advanced towards Pogue, black-eyed, a wave of his hand sent the biker tumbling onto his back and another pinned him to the ground. Struggle as he might against his magical binding Chase really was just too strong.

His fall had left him winded and short of breath and the adrenalin wasn't helping. "F**k you." Pogue gasped out, his own eyes still blacker than the night around them. The ground was damp and hard underneath his head and the gravel dug into his skull as he tried to turn his head to look at his attacker. He summoned up all his strength and flicked his fingers, they moved only an inch but it was enough. Chase reeled backwards as the magical blow hit him.

Pogue was short lived in his victory. The bonds loosened just enough for him to wriggle free before Chase was back on his feet laughing harshly. "Is that the best you've got?" A wave of his hand and Pogue was slammed roughly back into the ground. Something cracked as pain jolted through him. "You could have played nice but no, you had to try and get away. Not that I don't love playing cat and mouse but I really just don't have the time." Chase waved his hand again, sending the younger flying into a tree headfirst, his forehead collided with it and as he slumped to the ground something warm trickled into his eye, blood. "You should consider yourself lucky I've still gotta make this look like a crash or I'd be sending you to Caleb in a matchbox. Think that'd really drive home my point?" He wasn't looking for an answer, they both knew it.

Pogue groaned and struggled to his feet. Pain jolted through his chest and the world swayed. He conjoured up another bolt of energy though but when he looked up Chase was gone. He turned as fast as he could but that had him yelling out in pain. Still, the movement was enough to tell him Chase was right next to him. The older boy's hand clasped around his throat. "I told you to play nice." The hand squeezed and slammed him back against the tree, still squeezing, Pogue couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't fight back.

"No..." He gasped weakly, the world turning black.

"No!" Pogue shot up in bed, "Ah!" He'd pulled those damned wires and his cracked ribs weren't quite healed either. This wasn't the first time he'd relived that night through dreams. He collapsed back onto his pillows. Maybe it was the hospital, he hated hospitals, he needed to get the F**k out of here. The last thing he needed was a constant reminder that he was a bed ridden invalid, worse than that was why. They thought he'd crashed his bike. Chase had set that one up well, even the marks around his throat looked like they were 'from his helmet'. He touched his chest gently, nothing re-broken. Good. The last thing he needed was more time in this hell hole.

[Kate Tunney]

Each little bite felt like a match pressed to her skin. How did this happen? Better question, what were they? Even better question, where in the world was she? Kate could remember going to the nurse, that’s right. She felt sick and went to the school nurse. She was unnaturally cold and had a splitting headache, but things things weren’t there. Kate knew she wasn’t allergic to anything, and she knew she would never come within fifteen feet of any type of insect that could bite, this was frightening.

Kate, stop it, find someone to explain. This was a hospital room, something must have happened at the nurses office that caused the nurse to worry and call an ambulance. Great, that was reassuring. How bad had it been? Judging from the wires sticking out of her arm and the oxygen tank hooked inside her nose she had been through a near death experience and couldn’t even remember it. She needed a nurse to flag down, or a doctor, someone who would explain what had happened and what these bites were. She heard someone talking at her front door, whoever it was would do.


‘Dr. Akers, Pogue Parry has just woken up.’


Kate heard it and froze, no, no, no.

“Pogue..”

Why was Pogue here? There were plenty of reasons why Pogue would be here actually, he was such an adrenalin junkie, and wasn’t tonight the night of fall fest? Oh God, he didn’t. Pogue wouldn’t have been crazy enough to get drunk and drive his bike, Kate hated that bike, it was going to be the death of Pogue. Then something in Kate’s mind clicked. She was in the hospital because of unexplainable bites and Pogue was here for unknown reasons, but on the same night? Something felt off, something had felt off with Pogue for awhile but this was a new level of off.

And it was all fine and well and good, something was up with Pogue, more proof to add to her arsenal for later. It didn’t change that Pogue was here, coming out of a coma? Kate needed to see him, needed to see with her own eyes that he was okay. It was quiet, good, no one was outside. Slowly she sat up and slid the small machine off her head, she could breathe on her own. Kate looked around her bedside, she wasn’t hooked up to anything else, which was good because she had no idea how to unhook an IV, and she wasn’t waiting around for a nurse to do it for her. Kate stood up slowly and inched her way to her door, lucky her. Besides the burning little bites nothing seemed to be wrong. She could think, and walk, and use her arms just fine.

Kate opened her door just enough to peek out. No one was in the hall for that exact moment, so she needed to hurry before someone saw her and made her go back to her room. Pogue, Parry. Parry, Pogue, wait, did hospitals put patients names on doors anymore? No they didn’t. New plan. She had heard one of the nurses coming from her right to tell Dr. whatever his name was, if he wasn’t on this floor Kate didn’t think the nurse would have made it all the way down here to tell the doctor. Hurriedly the human girl walked down the wall. Her search ended with a scream, she knew Pogue’s voice well enough to know it was him. Said human girl ducked quickly into the room, and when she saw the condition Pogue was in, and the frightened look on his face her maternal instincts seemed to kick in.

“Pogue.” She almost breathed as she inched to his bedside. “Easy Baby, lay back down.”

[Pogue Parry]

Okay. Ow. So yelling out, not the best idea ever when recovering from being choked. Pogue touched his throat gingerly with one hand and reached the other for the permanent glass of water that was on his beside table. All bedside table in hospitals had them didn't they? Bleurgh. Yeah. Was still a hospital though. He wondered what time it was. Had to be late, he'd only woken up briefly throughout the day but at least one of his brothers had been here.

Hie green eyes flickered to the window, yeah, dark out, so it was nighttime. What was the day? The date? He had no idea. The sound of the door sliding open caught his attention, he hoped it wasn't some nurse with med- Kate? Yes, there she was, was he still dreaming? Hallucinating? No. If he was she wouldn't still have the spider bites on her.

That bastard had done this to her. The same one that had put him here. He felt the spark of rage settle in his stomach all over again. She was shh-ing him, telling him to lie down again. Oh, right, water. He picked up the cup and took a sip. Then settled back down. "Kate." His voice was hoarse, out of use, not to mention his throat was still damaged.

It was the crushed windpipe and punctured lung that had had him breathing through a tube but both were slowly healing along with the ribs and his forehead. It wasn't natural, no, when Chase had-vanished...died(?) He'd felt power wash over him, Caleb's he'd assume, healing him. He'd probably healed Kate too, now that he thought about it.

Oh right, Kate, he hurriedly(well as fast as he could in his current condition) put the water back on the side and moved to sit up again. She'd told him to lie down but how could he? He had to know she was okay. He reached for her hand, the IV restricting his movements. "Baby." Still cracked and hoarse. God, he sounded awful.

"Are you okay?" She'd tell him off, he was almost certain, for worrying about her when he was in this condition, also for 'crashing his bike.' He looked at her. He didn't want to lie to her anymore. Look at what that had got him. He'd lied to her about everything and Chase had nearly killed her. He just couldn't do it anymore. He loved her, with all his heart. If it hadn't been completely obvious by his clear stupidity, it was now, now he was looking at her.

She still looked like an angel in her hospital gown. He felt better just knowing she was alive and recovering. She had to be recovering, she was standing in his hospital room. That had to mean the spell had worn off. If it hadn't she'd-oh God-he didn't want to go there. What was he supposed to say? What could he say? Not much. Mainly because his throat was bugging the hell out of him.

"I love you." He gasped out. She had to know that. Especially if he was gonna tell her everything-maybe he should ask Caleb first-No, no, he wanted to tell her now. Would that be a guilt trip? If he told her now, while he was in the hospital for defending her honour and trying to save her life? Would she leave? Could she take the truth? It wasn't like she hadn't asked about it. Then he'd be admitting he lied to her. Would she understand he hadn't had another choice? This was all so confusing.

[Kate Tunney]

Kate had forgotten how awful she must look. She had been so caught up in the moment, as soon as she heard that Pogue was here, in a hospital, which she knew he hated, and not just in a hospital but in a coma, or something, well the hideous bites on her face became the least of her problems. Her hair was a mess, as much of a mess as it could be, it was tied back, but it still looked awful. The fever she had caused her to sweat, and her hair to friz up. Kate was sure she had tossed and turned at some time in her sleep because she could see the strands of loose hair, she was pale, and covered in the most disgusting bite marks she had ever seen, but when Kate saw Pogue none of that mattered.

He looked so torn apart that when Kate’s eyes first took in the scene she forgot everything else. He looked awful, just awful. He was in pain and that was all that mattered. Kate didn’t care that she didn’t look wonderful, she didn’t care that they had fought over Chase Collins because Pogue was jealous. She said it, she admitted she was tired of him and he had every right to be angry. What was she thinking? Well she knew exactly what she was thinking; she was thinking she was mad at him for keeping secrets, and lying to her, and blowing her off to do secret family things, and she wanted someone different, but seeing him like this she no longer cared.

Pogue was Pogue, and no matter what Pogue did he managed to worm his way back into Kate’s heart. Kate was all talk, she couldn’t really leave Pogue for someone else, especially someone she just met. It was almost like he had some kind of power over her, but Kate knew that was over reacting. He had no power over her, he was just sweet and adorable, and loyal, and dedicated. Wow, all it took was someone lying in a hospital bed to remind someone else how many good qualities that person had.

Poor Baby, he had hit his head. His forehead was cut, and even in the dim hospital light Kate could see the bruises that painted his broken face. His arms were bruised, the IV was sticking out of his arm in a strange position, probably because Pogue jerked away from it. Poor Baby, Pogue hated hospitals, and Kate didn’t think he was very big on needles either. His hand, oh gosh his hand, was it broken? It was bandaged, his throat was bruised, and Kate could tell Pogue was having at least some amount of trouble breathing.

Then he spoke, oh God. His voice was so broken and quiet, how was that even possible? What could Pogue have done to hurt his throat like that? Was he in a fight? Did he get into a fight with Chase? Had Chase hurt him this badly? It sounded so right, it made so much sense. He was angry with Chase and she wasn’t there to talk him down, because she had been a complete jerk and ignored his calls. She knew he was upset, she knew he wanted to talk it over but she had to be a show off and ignore his calls, and then this happened.

She had done this to him but he was still calling her his Baby, he was still struggling against his IV to get close to her, and asking her if she was okay. Kate could feel her eyes swell when he spoke. He looked like this, broken bones, a bruised throat, most likely a concussion and he was asking if SHE was okay. She who had nothing wrong with her but a few bites, idiot. Over protective idiot. Over protective, wonderful idiot.

Kate almost cried when Pogue managed to choke out his “I love you”. It was so painful for him to talk, he was so miserable but he made himself say it, through the pain, so she would know he still loved her. “Baby.” She whispered gently as she made the final step to his bedside. She slipped her left hand into his and linked their fingers together as she half-sat at the edge of his bed. Her hand squeezed his as she pressed the fingertips of her other hand to his shoulder. She wanted him to lie down, but she was afraid to touch him. Afraid to hurt him.

“Shh, Baby.” She almost breathed as she laid him down, and ever so lightly brushed her finger tips against his bruised neck in a soothing gesture. “You don’t have to talk. It’s okay.” She whispered. “I love you too.”

[Pogue Parry]

She was comforting him again. What had he done to deserve her? There was nothing he could think of. Yes, he was over protective and jealous but only because he loved her so much. He assumed everyone else could see what he saw and that was why he was jealous because if everyone else could see her as he did everyone would want her. He'd thought Chase could see that in her but apparently not, he was only using her to get to him and damn if hadn't worked. In every way.

The boy had made his blood boil by flirting with her, by spending time with her when Pogue was otherwise preoccupied and now it was worse because he'd almost killed her. All to get to Pogue. She'd nearly died and it was his fault, his fault for loving her too much but he couldn't exactly stop. No, he loved her more than ever. Her fingers were cold as they brushed over his bruised neck ever so lightly. She was afraid to touch him, probably because she didn't want to hurt him.

That angered him more, against the hospital more than anything. He must look like crap, weak and small and tucked away in bed. He didn't want pity, he wanted to be better, to get out there, to be back to his usual self. His good hand-how had the bad hand happened? He must have been unconscious for that and now the pain meds were taking care of it. That was one thing he had to be grateful for-his good hand squeezed hers. She felt so tiny and fragile in his hand and she was worried about hurting him?

He didn't have to talk? Yes, yes he did, he had to tell her everything, about how she was injured because of him and he was injured because of that. About how he'd lied to her when he told her her questions about magic were all nonsense. About how he really was a witch. She was going to think it was the pain meds talking wasn't she? Or that he was delusional, or just plain crazy. But she'd said she loved him right? That had to count for something. He doubted she loved him even half as much as he loved her.

"Kate-" He croaked out and then coughed, wincing in pain as his fragile throat ached, "-I have to- have to tell you something." Water. He needed the water but he didn't want to pull his hand away from hers and his other hand was bandaged, completely, he didn't want to think about how bad it was under there. "You're not gonna like it...and- you might not believe it but I ave to tell you." Way to start off. Okay, carry on before she had chance to interrupt with any thoughts as to where that could be leading.

His fingers brushed over the few bite marks he could reach with a touch that was barely there and he frowned "My fault." He confessed quietly, "These are my fault." He coughed again and then winced, again. this was going to be hard but if he didn't tell her now he'd lose his nerve. "I- I lied." Wonderful, keep it going Pogue. He was mentally pushing himself on.

"Wh-en you asked- about our- families and the- witch trials- and everything- I lied." Deep breath, swallow the cough "It's-It's not nonsense. It's true. All of it. I-I'm a wi-tch. Male- witch. War-lock. Cay...Ty...Reid too. A-And Chase. He was- evil. Didn't know- at first. The- bites. 's a-spell." Oh god, that hurt, that hurt a lot, he had to pull his hand away from hers to reach for the water, he took a few sips to soothe the burning in his throat and then a few deep breaths. "I-I'm not crazy." He clarified. "Or- delusional, or- under the influence of the meds- maybe a little but not- like you think. Please- believe me." That was it, all he could muster, he drank more of the water and watched her carefully.

[Kate Tunney]

Kate never meant for Pogue to take it this far, she never wanted him to be hurt because of her. Not physically, never this badly hurt. How could Chase have done this to him? He had to beat on Pogue for hours to hurt him so badly. Had Pogue fought back? Was Chase here? No, if Pogue had fought back there was no way Chase could have beaten on him as long as it would take to sustain this time of injury. So Chase had just—beat mercilessly on Pogue while Pogue didn’t fight back. Why didn’t he fight back? Was he trying to prove something? To Chase? To Kate?

She started this, he did this because he thought she was mad at him. Well she was mad at him, Kate was mad at Pogue for being protective of her, protective because of a clearly dangerous man. Pogue had known, some kind of man to man instinct maybe? And he tried to tell Kate, but she wouldn’t have it, because deep down she wanted to make him mad, and jealous, because Kate knew Pogue had lied to her, about what really she didn’t know but she knew he kept secrets from her, lied to her. And now it all seemed so trivial, so over dramatic, so over the top high school drama, and none of it accounted to anything because Pogue was hurt, badly. He looked so small and defenseless lying in his hospital bed, this wasn’t like Pogue at all.

Kate knew Pogue hated hospitals, and she knew Pogue hated being still, looking weak, being told what to do. It wasn’t like anyone really enjoyed lying in a cold hospital bed in pain, but it was all the worse for Pogue because he hated everything that came with it. Kate almost felt bad for the doctors and nurses that had to check on Pogue, because if he could he would deny everything they tried to do to him. IV’s and medicines, he wouldn’t take them if he could get away with it, would it? Kate didn’t think Pogue would let himself get this badly hurt because of some random idiot- yes, she said idiot. Maybe she didn’t know Pogue like she thought she did.

She rubbed a small circle against his hand with her thumb and almost flinched when Pogue tried to talk to her. She asked him not to talk, and it was clearly hurting him to choke out his words, but he insisted on going on. This was important to him. All Kate could do was give a tiny nod to Pogue’s words, whatever this was he needed to confess she couldn’t exactly tell him not to. She wouldn’t like it? She wouldn’t believe it? Kate had little time to panic over where this was going before Pogue confessed he marks on her skin were his fault, and she knew Pogue was hallucinating. This could not be his fault, and he was hurting himself so badly trying to confess.

She couldn’t make him stop, he wouldn’t let her. Kate moved her hand from Pogue’s damaged throat to his hair and gently ran her fingers through it. Pogue’s hair was the only part of him she could guarantee was in no pain, it was also one of her favorite things about him. He lied? Well she knew that, but about what? Witch trials? She remembered asking about them a few times, why was he saying this? Why was he hurting himself so much? This could wait, it could all wait. Wait- wait. What? Pogue was a witch? No, Pogue thought he was a witch, the pain killers he must be on were pretty powerful. Wait- Chase was evil? Okay, this was starting to make sense. Chase had hurt Pogue, and in Pogue’s drug induced brain he was coming up with all of this. Bites? The marks all over her were bites? Pogue couldn’t have had time to come up with that, he just saw her, but he wasn’t shocked when he saw her, he knew she was here, maybe…Oh god, poor Baby, he was hurting himself so much more than he had to.

Kate could only bite her lip while she continued to stroke his hair, just something, anything to help soothe him, even if it was pointless and probably giving him little to no comfort. Pogue was serious about all this, or he thought he was serious. The look in his eyes said he was dead serious, now he was listing things that weren’t affecting him, and Kate didn’t think he would be able to do that if he was as drug induced as she thought he was. Could he be serious? It all—made sense… The “Sons of Ipswich” were always together, their names were listed in that book Sarah found, the one about Paganism, the one with – escaped witches, and that thing about—spiders. Oh god, was this true? If it was, did it matter? Pogue was still Pogue, right now Pogue needed Kate to understand. Kate examined Pogue’s face and gently knelt down and kissed his right temple, because it was one of the few places on his face that wasn’t bruised. “I- I believe you Baby.” She whispered. Did she really? She wasn’t sure, she needed time for this to soak in, but Pogue needed her to believe him, and accept him, so she would.

[Pogue Parry]

Pogue's eyes searched Kate's as she took in the information, she did think he was crazy, think that the pain meds were making him crazy. Maybe they were but not like that. They were almost definitely the reason he was telling her all this, they were what was giving him the courage to go for it. To just come clean and tell her the truth. He wondered what his brothers were going to say when they found out he'd told.

This was different. He loved Kate, yeah, he'd said that already but still, he did and she meant the world to him and one day he could see them having a life-maybe-but all that was dependent on how she took his confession. If she called him crazy and ran out then yeah, he'd know that it probably wasn't gonna work out and they'd have to do something about it lest she tell someone to try and get him committed for being insane.

Well, that was definitely a plus side of the medication, if she ran away calling him crazy he could always blame it on the meds, say it was all a joke but maybe it would be better if they were just friends. He hated even thinking that. Her hand was brushing through his hair and even that, the softest touch, she was so sweet and wonderful. He could never think of her in a 'just friends' way. She wasn't a 'just friends' person. She was the girl he loved.

She didn't believe him, oh crap what had he done? He'd ruined it, this was it, she was going to call him crazy, say she was sorry about everything and then leave, run away to find someone else. Someone that didn't claim they were a witch or get jealous and angry when she talked to other guys and he wasn't going to be able to do anything but watch as she left him for good because of all the stupid wires and stupid injuries and Chase F**king Collins.

Wait-What? She did believe him? No way. That was-really? And she was still calming him, shh-ing him, kissing him ever so gently to soothe him. What if she didn't? What if she was just saying that? Weren't you supposed to play along with someone that was having a hallucination like that in hospital? What if she was just doing that? He had to show her. Had to do something...but what?

Think Pogue, think. He reached up-not without difficulty-and took her hand again, he moved it down and pressed his lips to each and every visible bite he could see, his eyes flashing black as he healed them. "Believe me." He croaked. He wanted to heal the rest too but the hospital would find that weird, weirder than his rather fast recovery would be the girl that instantaneously recovered from an army of spider bites. Part of him didn't care but he had to protect the covenant. "Y-ou can't te-ll anyone. It's a se-cret." The biggest.

[Kate Tunney]

Maybe Pogue was a witch, what was a witch anyway? Was it just someone born from the people who escaped the witch hunt? Then yes, Pogue was a witch. Was it like a religion? Then yes, Pogue could be a witch. If being a witch was a set of beliefs and laws then Pogue was most likely a witch, and it didn’t change anything. No matter what being a witch meant Pogue was still Pogue, Pogue still loved Kate and even if she didn’t have the guts to admit it to everyone Kate loved Pogue.

This was taking so much out of him, both physically and mentally, to tell her. Kate saw the pain in Pogue’s eyes, his throat was throbbing from the pain of talking so much, but no matter how many times she shh-ed him he went on, because he needed to tell her, maybe because he thought if he didn’t do it now, while he was half drugged on pain killers, he would never tell her, or maybe he thought she would react badly and he wanted to get his confession out of the way. That sounded like something she would do, call someone a freak for saying something like this.

But Pogue was special, and in the back of her mind Kate had always known there was something special about Pogue Parry. There were too many legends that the sons of Ipswich confessed to, about witch hunt survivors and settling the Ipswich colony, and when Kate had asked Pogue had said they weren’t true, because he was scared? Because he wasn’t allowed? This is why Pogue always had to be with his family. This was the lie she knew he was telling her, now he was coming clean, maybe because of the drugs, maybe because this near death experience – maybe, maybe… Maybe because he thought she deserved to know, because she had been caught up in it. Wait, was she really believing all this?

Poor Baby, he was scared, scared she’d reject him. He really had thought this over, and there was no way to convince him she believed him. She said she had, but he knew she was reluctant, it was a lot to take in, but Pogue was afraid she was playing along because he was sick and she would leave him as soon as she could get away. It was just like her, to call people freaks, to dangle leaving him over his head, she was awful to him and she knew it. Why was Pogue fighting for her to believe him? What did it matter what a b**** like her thought. “Be careful Baby, The I-“ she froze when he took her hand. His eyes, his eyes turned completely black! The bites on her arm- oh god, oh god, this was real. Pogue was a witch, Pogue had powers, say something, Kate. “Th-that’s—kinda cool.” She breathed and began to stroke his hair again. Kate mustered a small smile before she managed to speak again. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” She was shocked, this was going to take a minute to digest, but she believed him. She really, really believed him.

[Pogue Parry]

Longest two seconds of his life, Pogue felt as he watched her carefully. Oh, god, she was going to run out of here screaming or something. Reject him for being different, of course she would, how could he have been so stupid as to think that now was the right time to tell her. If she didn't freak out about his powers she'd at least freak out about the fact that his having them had put her life in danger. From a psychopathic maniac. Who was also a witch. Yeah, he wouldn't be surprised if she hated him. It was all his fault.

Then her breathing was steadying and her hand was back in his hair. 'Kinda cool' She'd really just said that? She was stuttering but yeah she'd said it. Wow. That was-was he sure he wasn't still dreaming? It kinda seemed too good to be true, him confessing everything and then she was still here. Still by his side, still comforting him, looking after him. She really was like an angel. He was going to keep repeating that until he was proved wrong.

He didn't know if what she was doing with her hand was meant to soothe him or help her. He knew petting animals was supposed to make people less stressed so maybe in the absence of a cat or dog Kate had taken to stroking his hair in the same way you would pet a cat. Maybe it was helping. He'd be happy if it was. Anything he could do to make this easier on her. She was being pretty strong about the whole thing, which was saying something. Maybe he'd been wrong, maybe she did love him like he loved her and was willing to look back the major difference in their lives.

She'd promised she wouldn't tell anyone and that was the major thing, the thing that was always a worry whenever any member of the covenant, old or new had tried to tell anyone about their powers. There was always a chance with a secret like this, that it would be used against them, that they'd loose the person they loved and then have to erase their memory to stop the secret getting out. Clearly it wasn't going to be a problem this time. Pogue trusted Kate, trusted her with everything, now she had his secret in her hands and she accepted it. It felt like a huge weight off.

They weren't done yet though, there was so much more to say but Pogue wasn't sure he had the energy. There was always later but it had to be said "You- were ill- because- Chase cast a- spell-" Oh wait, he'd said that already, "t was to get to me- he wanted me- to hurt me- to get to- Cay. To get- his power- but- Cay couldn't- couldn't give it to him- 'cause- doing that'd- kill him. So he had to- had to fight Cha-se. He won." What else could he say?

He had to explain the aging thing too, how did he start that? And how he was going to ascend in a couple of months. That too was going to have to be explained. He couldn't form the words though, his throat felt like it was on fire. He touched his hand to it and took another couple of deep breaths and his eyes closed. "There's- more- later." He told her, his voice barely a breath now.

[Kate Tunney]

Pogue had already decided the way this was going to go, Kate could see in his eyes how frightened he was that she was going to scream, slap him and run, and the great thing about it was he was completely right. If it was anyone else Kate would be freaking out, but this was Pogue. She loved Pogue, even if she was selfish and had to act like she could have any guy she wanted, and had to be all talk, Pogue was special and she loved him.

Kate’s parents were thrilled she was dating someone from a successful family, especially someone from one of the “sons of Ipswich” families, but Kate got the feeling they weren’t crazy about Pogue as a person. He wasn’t the most book smart, which they didn’t like, but Kate did. Kate loved that Pogue’s nose wasn’t constantly shoved in a book, and that he wasn’t a know-it-all. Her parents hated that he had a motorcycle but in all honesty Kate loved riding on Pogue’s motorcycle with him, the danger factor she could live without, because Kate dreaded the day THIS happened. She always knew Pogue would land himself in a hospital, but this time it wasn’t his fault. Maybe he was more careful than Kate gave him credit for.
Even if he was sort of an adrenaline junkie, Pogue had never been hurt, he had never risked his life for a thrill to the best of Kate’s knowledge. Pogue was loyal to his family, and to Kate – she was pretty sure, he was always animated and passionate about anything he took on, and for god’s sake Pogue Parry was the most attractive man Kate knew. Besides, the witch trial stories had interested Kate, she had told Sarah she thought the idea of descendants from witches was cool, and maybe somewhere in the back of her mind she always knew there was something different about Pogue, maybe that was why she was taking it so well.

Kate was also relieved to hear the secret she knew Pogue had been keeping. She knew he kept secrets from her and she knew he lied to her, always making excuses, but this one made sense. He had every right to keep something like this away from her, it was a dangerous secret, Pogue wasn’t human- oh gosh that was scary to say. It just implied so many dangerous things—if someone ever found out—oh gosh. And now hearing Pogue speak was just painful, it was hurting him so badly to speak it almost made Kate’s throat hurt. Chase used her to get to Pogue, so he could hurt Pogue so he could get to Caleb- no, no, no. This was her fault, Chase had used her to get to Pogue, everything she told him at the movie theatre, and Nicky’s, oh god he used how jealous Pogue was of Kate to lure him out. Pogue was lying, beaten in a hospital bed because of her.

“Pogue, Baby, you’ve got to stop talking.” Kate spoke softly, now wasn’t the time to tell him everything she had told Chase, Pogue would get worked up, he wouldn’t rest, and he needed to rest so badly right now. “You can tell me all about it later, shh.” Kate needed to do something, she lowered her head and gently kisses his throat before she stood up and took his glass of water.

“I’ll get you more water.” She whispered, turned and walked slowly to the door. First she peeked outside to check for nurses or doctors, because if someone saw her they would make her go to her own room, and she flat out would not leave Pogue after his confession. No one, good, she walked to the water fountain and filled the cup full of water, after running the fountain for a few seconds to make sure the water that came from the fountain was cold. When she came back to his room Kate looked over Pogue’s bed, taking a look at how fragile he was. She pulled Pogue’s blanket over his chest before she sat at the edge of his bed and offered his water to him, when it was just Kate and Pogue the human girl was almost motherly.

[Pogue Parry]

Stop talking? Pogue didn't think he could start again if he tried. His breathing was raspy again, he hoped he hadn't damaged it more, that would just be the worst of the worst, he'd have to stay longer in this hell hole, they'd shove tubes back down his throat and he would slowly go insane. Okay maybe that was a little over dramatic but seriously. He hated it here, hated it, hated it, hated it. Now he just sounded like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum.

She took his empty cup from him and he watched her, unable to say or do much else, he was physically and mentally exhausted and his throat hurt. Even his hand was starting to throb. The morphine must have been wearing off or something. Anyway, he couldn't voice these thoughts, one, because Kate would worry way too much about it, it was only a little pain, he could handle it and two, he did want that water. Plus there wasn't much she could do, if she went to get a nurse they'd make her go back to her own room.

Then she was gone and the room was empty, filled with the sound of the rain on the windows, but worse than that the sound of the beeping heart machine and whatever else he was hooked up to. At least when Kate was here he had that distraction, now there was nothing. He tried to focus on the windows, see if he could see the rain but it was too dark to see much of anything and it didn't help that his room was dimly lit as it was. Presumably because he was supposed to be sleeping.

He kind of wished he was sleeping but he also didn't. It seemed like every time he closed his eyes he was reliving those moments. Chase walking up to him, Chase beating the S**t out of him using the floor and the tree and if his hand was anything to go by, probably his foot or maybe something heavier. Pogue's curiosity spiked as he looked at the bandage on his hand. He wanted to know what was wrong with it.

Kate was back, with the water. She tucked him in carefully, not that he was going anywhere. His legs were pretty badly bruised. He took the water and gave a grateful smile and then took a sip. It flooded relief down his sore throat. Oh, that was a bloody miracle. Fluids would help with the sore throat, they would not help later when he needed to pee and was incapable of moving to and from the bathroom alone.

He knew he was incapable because if he was capable of doing that he'd pretty much insist on being sent home immediately. Okay. He took another sip of water. "Can you- chart?" That wasn't a full sentence, hopefully she understood. He wanted her to get the chart and either hand it to him or read off what was wrong with him. He didn't know the extent of his own injuries and he really did want to. It would give him a better idea of how long he'd be stuck here.

[Kate Tunney]

A helpless feeling washed over Kate when she looked at Pogue, tubes and wires hooked up and sticking out of him like some kind of mutated experiment, and that thought alone almost frightened Kate to tears. What would happen if someone found out about Pogue’s powers? – Someone besides her, they would treat him like a freak, like a monster, they would hunt him down like a monster and cut him open to see how his magic worked. No, no, they wouldn’t. They wouldn’t because no one would ever find out. Pogue was going to live a normal life, like his ancestors – Kate assumed. There was no record of anything strange happening to the Parry family, obviously they had kept their secret hidden.

There was nothing to be afraid of, the families clearly did a good job of keeping the secret a secret, for what now? Three hundred years? They had no right to hurt Pogue, no right at all. Pogue wasn’t a monster, he wasn’t even inhuman. Not at all, Pogue was just a human with supernatural powers, there were television shows, comic books and all sorts of movies about it. Great, Kate. Look to a television show as a feasible glimpse into the future. But that wasn’t the point.

Pogue was a good person. He was devoted and loyal and undeniably strong, and just now he had proved how gentle hearted he was. Pogue could have done anything to show Kate he had powers, made something float or open the window, but he chose to prove it to Kate by healing the bite marks on her arm. He broke it to her as gently as he possibly could and healed her in the process. Some of her, it would be too difficult to explain how – Kate almost cringed at the thought – hundreds of bite marks all suddenly vanished.

Pogue could heal himself too, couldn’t he? He could if only the idea of him healing so quickly would not baffle the medical staff and cause a complete uproar. Poor Baby, the Sons of Ipswich must live in fear—at least a little, every time they used their powers they could be exposed, and they probably wanted to use their powers a lot, to make things easier. Like—like when Reid fixed Sarah’s car. Oh gosh, that finally made sense. Reid had used magic to fix Sarah’s car, that’s why he didn’t move at all, like he just looked at her car and it started, because he did just look at her car…

Pogue was talking again, Kate had to keep him quiet, because if he kept at it he would damage his throat even worse, and be trapped here longer. Poor Baby, he hated being here so much, as if it wasn’t obvious, Kate just knew how much Pogue hated to be still, hated the quiet and hated to be babied, like the nurses most likely did when they walked in. Chart? Oh, medical chart. “Sure Baby.” Kate reached for the clip board beside Pogue’s bed and placed it in her lap, Pogue could see it if he wanted, but it was most likely easier to read it for him, since he was pretty drugged up and focusing on small words would not be easy for him at the moment.

[Pogue Parry]

Oh good, she understood what he wanted, that meant he could finally just shut up and relax. Well, relax was an overstatement, how could anyone relax with wires and tubes sticking out of them? Well, they couldn't. That was the obvious answer, so he wasn't going to be able to relax while he was here. It was a bloody wonder he'd managed to get any sleep at all, what with the incessant beeping, the general uncomfortableness of the hospital beds and the dreams.

Really, the only comfort he had was knowing the Caleb had defeated Chase. He'd been told in one of his brief awake period during the day. At least, he hoped he had. What if he'd dreamed it? Chase could still be out there-okay, breathe, calm down before the heart monitor gives anything away. He hadn't dreamed his awake periods of the things he'd been told, Chase was gone, Caleb was fine-well maybe not fine, fine but alive and that was always a good thing.

They were all alive, and mostly in one piece. He was injured but worse things could have happened. Yes, that was how he was going to look at it, he was an invalid and he was angry about it but he sure as hell was happy he was alive. He wasn't sure what had happened to him could be called a near death experience but it was close. Chase had threatened to kill him hadn't he? And it wasn't like Pogue had been able to fight back, he could very well have killed him and he might have died if Reid and Tyler hadn't found him.

He remembered that, a brief period of awake, the blurry blond figure bending over him, Tyler's worried voice, the ambulance sirens and then nothing again. Actually, now that he thought about it, the nothing was preferable to all else right now. At least when he was unconscious he couldn't feel the pain or hear the beeping or see/smell the hospital. That was another thing about hospitals he hated. The smell. the disinfectant. Sure, it was good they were clean but it was still a pretty vile smell. It covered everything.

So it would definitely be nicer if blissful, dreamless, unconsciousness would get rid of all of that for him but apparently that wasn't possible. No, he could sleep and in sleep he would dream and in dreams he would relive what had happened and relive the pain. Mainly because his body was still in pain. He wondered again what was wrong with his hand, he looked back at Kate and slowly pointed with his good hand to his bad hand. "What-?" Please understand. He really couldn't talk anymore and damn it all if it wasn't his writing had that had been the one injured so he couldn't even try and write down what he wanted to say.

[Kate Tunney]

Kate was at the point where she felt like she would do almost anything to help Pogue relax, and quit talking. She must have said it in her mind six times by now, Pogue hated hospitals. He hated laying still and being talked down to like he was some kind of fool, like the nurses probably did.

‘Can you tell me what today is, Mr. Parry?’

‘ Can you wiggle your fingers for me, Mr. Parry?’

‘Can you roll over for me, Mr. Parry?’

Stupid little tasks that served a purpose, but would annoy the daylights out of Pogue. Not to mention Kate was pretty sure Pogue had said something about hating doctors all together. She couldn’t remember if Pogue had included a fear or dislike of needles, but no one in their right mind wanted to have a needle jabbed through their body.

And that heart monitor, that had to be weighing on his nerves and keeping Pogue from getting a good night’s sleep. Couldn’t they make a quieter one? And while they were at it they could make hospital beds more comfortable. If Pogue had to be locked away in this room he deserved to at least be comfortable. So did she but clearly she could get up and move around. Pogue was trapped here until he could stand, and just by looking at him Kate had the feeling it would be awhile.

Kate looked at the heart monitor when its pace quickened, if only for a second. Maybe it was a fluke, or did something scare Pogue for a second? Kate didn’t want to ask, Pogue didn’t need to talk anymore, and it was only for a second. Kate held the clip board in her left hand and went back to stroking Pogue’s hair with her right hand. Pogue was safe, everything was all right. Kate watched Pogue point to his bandaged hand, heard him say his single word. “Just point Baby, you don’t have to talk.”

Kate thought she understood Pogue’s body language pretty well, but Kate used to think she had Pogue figured out, and now there was this whole new level of things about him that she could barely accept were real, much less comprehend. It still didn’t matter, Pogue was still Pogue. Pogue just needed some hearing out. Kate scimmed the list of injuries until she saw Pogue’s hand listed, the way his entire hand was bandaged, his fingers included, it had to be something bad. As she read Kate tried to hide any cringing or flinching that her body really, really wanted to do. “Your hand’s broken Pogue, all five fingers too.” Judging from the way his hand was bandaged Kate could have guessed that on her own, but her eyes flashed with even more concern and remorse as she read it. Pogue had been through all this for her, because of her. Why was she still stroking his hair?

[Pogue Parry]

Yeah, see, he didn't remember that. Having his hand broken but it didn't seem like something Chase would do, stamp on his hand while he was unconscious, he'd want to do it while he was conscious if he wanted to really effect him. Watch him scream in pain or whatever it is psychopaths liked to do to their 'victims'. Pogue frowned at the word, he couldn't think of another word to fit in that gap but he didn't exactly want to see himself as a victim in this, seemed like he was way too 'woe is me'.

F**k no, he wanted to be up and out there, he wanted to be fighting the fight, doing normal everyday Pogue Parry activities, riding his bike, handing at Nicky's playing pool and Foosball. Just hanging with his brothers. Hell, he'd give anything to be doing any of that stuff now, something other than lying helpless in a hospital bed courtesy of Chase F**king Collins. He didn't really know what annoyed him more, the fact he'd disliked the guy right from the off so should have known or the fact he'd been an idiot and gone after him himself.

Though, that thought made Pogue glance at Kate and in that second he knew that if he had the opportunity to go back and do it all over again he would because she was pretty much everything to him and anyone that dared hurt her was going down. Even if they did seem infinitely more powerful than someone like him could ever be, he didn't care. It was a matter of pride over power, not that it had helped much considering his current position. There was nothing to be remotely prideful about lying in bed like this.

Ugh, he hated feeling so weak, hated being here, hated missing out on the action. Pogue paused and a frown furrowed his brow. That was when he realised, the torture wasn't over yet, not really. The physical injuries would fade but until they had he wasn't going to be able to live down the psychological injuries of something like this. Of being forced to sit still, and be a good boy for however many days it took for him to get out-he wasn't going to say weeks, it would not be weeks, he might go literally insane if he was kept here for weeks-and that wasn't mention the psychological issues of the defeat and the powerless feeling he'd had while it was all going on.

But he couldn't not let it get to him, that was just who he was. He had to be able to fight back, had to be able to live his life and everything else that came with it. Now he'd been denied that luxury and it was, lets face it, pissing him off highly. He looked at Kate again and wondered if there were more injuries he couldn't see. He couldn't really ask though. He nodded his head slightly at the clipboard in a 'carry on' motion. Or at least, what he hoped was a 'carry on' motion, so she'd continue reading what was wrong with him.