AN: I'm really sorry about starting a new story, but you know how it is when you can't get an idea out of your head!
Chapter One: The Leaders
"Ms. Warren!" I turned my head at the shout of my maiden name. "The meeting starts in five minutes." I nodded, acknowledging the solider. Other than that, no response was given, but I headed to the meeting hall. I am one of the leaders of the Resistance. Chris was my only superior, but we are basically equals.
"Is everybody here?" I asked. The council was meeting to discuss Chris. He left a few months ago to the past, but nothing had changed. We were considering sending someone after him, as I know Wyatt already had. Bianca, I never liked the girl.
"Yes, Ms. Warren." The friends and family in the Resistance call me by my first name, but few other people to. It bothers me, but, as Chris already told me, respect was necessary for us to win any battles. I sat down in my spot at the head of the table. Chris's empty seat next to me hasn't been filled since he left. Also around the table are the last remaining Halliwells, Pandora and Persephone. The others are dead or on Wyatt's side. We've lost so many since Chris left. Henry Jr., Skye, and Mel have all been killed. Gracie was kidnapped. My mother, Catherine, also sits. Darryl Morris and his son, Danny, along with Alisa Pierce, my father, and the General with his assistants complete the circle. Only the General and his men call me Ms. Warren. To everybody else, it's Charlie.
"Hey, Mom and others. We need to discuss what we are going to do. Chris has been gone for months and nothing has changed. Wyatt has been getting closer to discovering us every day. Something needs to be done."
"We should send someone to the past." Pandora remarked.
"No. It's too dangerous. Only as a last resort." My mom always was the rational one.
"I agree with Mom. It's a good idea, but a risky one. Let's make the preparations just in case. If anything happens to me or the Resistance, or if another member of the council dies, we will send one person to the past."
"Who?" Persephone had been quiet to this point.
"You or your sister. You are the only Halliwells here."
"Char, you are a stronger witch. A Warren, which isn't as powerful as a Charmed One, but normally stronger than a Halliwell. When we were the power of nine, we were stronger, but you have more powers. Your great, to whatever degree, grandfather was the younger brother of Melinda Warren. The Warren line has had males on your side until you. You also inherited three of the five Warren powers. Telepathy, telekinesis, and pyrokinesis."
"I'm needed here."
"Charlotte Catherine Warren Halliwell! You have a responsibility to your troops. That responsibility is to stop Wyatt in anyway necessary." Damn, Mom was mad.
"I'll go! Geez! But only if we have to."
"Fine, but if you are alive and we send someone, you are going. Darryl can handle it here."
"Do you remember the spell, then? Since you are so smart, Persephone?" She nodded and shoved a piece of paper in my hand. Then she copied it and handed it to her twin. I was also handed a piece of chalk.
"So that's the plan. Meeting adjourned." I left and headed to my chambers. Two hours later, I heard some odd noises. It sounded like fighting. Damn! I ran to the cafeteria and saw Wyatt's army. They found us. Many were dead, but I know that the others had fled. Persephone was lying on the ground, in a pool of her own blood. Alisa had fallen as well. I watched as Pandora ran out of the door with my mother in tow. They orbed. I didn't wait to see if the others survived. I ran out into my room, where I drew the triquetra on the wall. Then, I said the words that Perse wrote down.
"Hear these words
Hear the rhyme
Heed the hope within my mind
Send me back to where I'll find
What I wish in place and time." The portal opened and I jumped through it. Chris and the sisters were standing there. God, I missed them. Chris looked, surprised to see me. The sisters looked confused.
"Christopher Perry! Get your stupid ass over here and hug your best friend!" I yelled at him. Luckily, he did as I commanded. "I missed you." I whispered in his ear.
"I missed you too, Charlie. But why are you here?"
"Explain later! Introduce me now, preferably before Piper blows me up."
"Sorry. Piper, Phoebe, Paige, this is Charlotte Warren, my best friend. She's from the future."
"And, I hate to cut this short, but there are some future things that Chris needs to know about, but you can't." He nodded and orbed us up to the Bridge.
"What's wrong?" He asked, when he noticed that I finally let my tears fall.
"They attacked. We lost Perse and Alisa. Dora and Mom managed to escape, but barely. I don't know how long it will last."
"How is everyone else?"
"We lost H.J. and Mel. He also kidnapped Gracie. Skye is gone too." He looked shocked when he learned of the death of his sister and cousins. He wrapped his arms around me as we mourned the death of our family. We sat like that for about an hour, when he spoke again.
"Best friend? I like to think I'm more than your best friend."
"Well, I figured, you and your 'future consequences' hadn't let them know you were Piper's son. So, consequently, I decided not to tell them that we are married."
"Smart, but I missed you." He replied as he kissed me. Mmm, it's been so long since I've kissed him. Ten minutes later, we straightened our clothes and fixed our hair. I also took my wedding ring off and put it on a chain around my neck. I grabbed my husband's hand and we orbed back to the manor. Unfortunately, you could still see the tear stains on both of our faces.
"Sorry about that. I just needed to tell him some things."
"It's alright. What's wrong?"
"I can't tell you details, Chrissy will kill me, but someone close to us was killed."
"I'm sorry."
"We are used to it. We've lost so many people already."
"Chrissy?" Phoebe asked the question I was anxious for.
"It is what I call him to make him mad."
"Oh."
"Come on, C.C. Don't tell them anything else. You can tell them who you are. That's it. Just your bloodline."
"Don't call me that!" I yelled, using my telekinesis to raise him into the air by his wrists. "Oops."
"CHARLOTTE CATHERINE WARREN! LET ME DOWN!"
"Geez, you don't have to get so mad!" I still refused to let him down. I was flung into the air.
"Damn it, Christopher!" Then I used my pyrokinesis to light him on fire. Not so it would burn him, but it still looked like it was.
"Oh my god!" Paige yelled.
"Christopher Perry! I know things about you that you would prefer others didn't. Let me down or I will let the fire burn you and my mouth run." He narrowed his eyes, but put me down anyway. I returned the favor and put the fire out.
"Now, was that so hard?" he glared.
"Are you two always like this?"
"Pretty much."
"Do you ever actually burn him?"
"No. I only had to do that five or six times. By twelve he learned to let me down." They looked confused. I'd wager that they'd never seen this side of Chris before. Only the neurotic side. The side that, since Wyatt took over and his family died, only I have seen.
"Alright, Charlotte, will you explain who you are now?"
"Well, for one, you can call me Charlie. Two, I'm a Warren. Melinda had a little brother, Charles. He had a son and so on. I'm the only girl in the past four hundred years. Charlotte, Melinda and Charles' mother, you met her once, had five powers in her family. Telekinesis, premonition, pyrokinesis, telepathy, and the ability to freeze. I have telekinesis and pyrokinesis, as I already demonstrated, along with telepathy. All of you have developed other powers over time, for example Phoebe's empathy. Or Prue's astral projection. Those are special powers that weren't genetic. You just received them. Apparently, there is some prophecy about the Warren girl, but I haven't seen it. Oh, and I got teleportation from my mom, who is also a witch."
"Wow."
"It's a lot to take in."
"Charlie, how long will you be here for?"
"Until Chris and I fix the future."
"Where are you staying?"
"She can stay with me at P3," Chris interjected.
"Are you sure? Won't it be kind of weird?"
"No. We have been best friends practically since we were born. Even my husband won't care. He knows we are just friends."
"You're married?"
"No, I just said I was. But I was lying." Sometimes use too much sarcasm.
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-two."
"Who are you married to? Do we know him?"
"Can't tell you. Adopting a favorite phrase of someone I know, it would cause future consequences."
"Whatever. I need to go. I have a meeting at Wyatt's preschool. Phoebe? Paige?"
"We'll meet you there." Piper nodded and picked up the one year old.
"I'll see you later." She walked out of the door with Wyatt, but not before turning around. "Oh, and, Chris, I want you gone when I get back. I'm still mad about that demon." He looked hurt. I made a mental note to talk to him later. He grabbed my hand and orbed me to his room.
"How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"See them! God, I just miss them all so much! And it's hard to see them and know that when I go back to the future, they won't be there!" He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close.
"I know, Char. But they might be there. We can't know that they won't. Wyatt killed Aunt Paige and Aunt Phoebe, along with all my cousins and Mel. They will still be there."
"But Piper…"
"Please don't!"
"Sorry. Now, I'm changing subjects. I haven't seen you in six months. Kiss me." I ordered.
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am." I glared, but let him kiss me anyway.
"Chris? Are you in here?"
"Is that Leo?" I whispered.
"Yeah." He replied, to both of us. I quickly reached to put my shirt back on.
"We are going to Magic School and thought we might need your help."
"Our help?"
"Chris, let's just go. Don't complain," I reprimanded him. He rolled his eyes, but grabbed my hand and orbed us to the manor.
"Someone fill us in." He said as soon as we arrived.
"The Headless Horseman was released at Magic School. We need to go there with Sigmund now, but watch your necks." Piper quickly filled us in. We all walked to the door, with Wyatt in Phoebe's arms.
"Wow, impressive." Paige remarked.
"How long is this hallway?"
"No one knows, it's endless." Sigmund answered Piper's question.
"Actually, it isn't. It's enchanted to take you back to the beginning when you get to the end."
"Charlotte!"
"Sorry. I'm not very good at keeping secrets. Not somewhat unimportant ones, at least."
"How do you know this, anyway?"
"We went here. Damn, I did it again."
"Let's go find Gideon."
"Did anybody else see that?"
"See what, Pheebs?"
"That wolf, it's following us."
"Not everyone sees the same things here, Phoebe. Only what they're meant to see." Sigmund added in response to the unasked question. We went and talked to Gideon. He sent us all off on our separate tasks. Paige went to teach a class. Piper, Leo, and Wyatt visited the preschool. Phoebe followed the wolf while Chris and I also went to teach a class. There were several young witches with telekinesis.
"Alright, kids, I'm Charlotte Warren and this is Chris Perry. We are here to help you with your powers. Chris, will you start?"
"What do I say?"
"I don't know! Figure something out!"
"Okay, how many of you can lift a pencil off the desk?" Four of the seven raised their hands.
"We are going to walk around and talk to each of you. Demonstrate what you can do." I went to a little girl, about six.
"Hi, what's your name?"
"Abigail."
"That's a pretty name. Can you use you powers?" she shook her head.
"This is what you do. Look inside yourself, find your power center. You will know it when you find it." She did as I asked and closed her eyes in concentration. "Now, when you find it, concentrate it outwards, it doesn't matter where." A book fell off of her desk.
"Very good! Now, remember that feeling and try to knock your pencil off the desk. It's easier than lifting it. Wow, you are a quick learner." I commented when she got it. "Keep practicing. I'm going to move on." The rest of the class went by without any difficulties. Then we heard a siren. I followed Chris, running to the great hall. We arrived just in time to see Piper's head hit the floor. I saw Chris flinch. I grabbed his hand, hoping to offer some comfort. At least she wasn't dead. We headed back to the manor, Leo holding Piper's head.
"You know, I have this weird feeling that it's one of the kids in my class." Paige said.
"Then let's bring them here so they can't conjure the Horseman. Especially since we are now targets."
"Phoebe!"
"I'll get her." Leo volunteered.
"No. I don't want Wyatt to have two headless parents. Send Chris."
"So you don't care if I get decapitated?" He grumbled, but orbed anyway. I walked into the kitchen with Gideon, Leo, and Paige. They were discussing closing Magic School, but Paige convinced them to leave it open.
"Who did that? Hey, hey, ow…Paige!" I heard Piper yell from the conservatory. We ran in there, but she was gone. The kids were frozen.
"Frozen? How is this possible?" Paige asked.
"Piper?" I suggested.
"Not without hands. One of the kids had to have done it." Gideon concluded.
"They're all frozen." Leo reminded us. We all came to the same conclusion. Someone was faking it. Just then, Phoebe and Chris ran through the door.
"Where's Piper?"
"You're not going to like it. She's been kidnapped. But the good news is that it was one of them. We just don't know which one."
"I feel anger and a want for revenge. Do any of them hate the school?" Phoebe used her empathy.
"They're teenagers. They all hate the school."
"What about him?" She asked, walking to a boy.
"He's a telepath."
"Well, he's telepathing a whole lot of rage right now." He moved.
"Well, look who solved the case." He disappeared.
"Damn. He was an astral projection!" Leo yelled, exasperated.
It only took a few more hours to let the sisters get rid of the Horseman. Chris and I were just hanging out in our room at P3, when Phoebe walked in.
"Hey." She said.
"Are you here to kick us out?" Chris asked.
"Uh, no actually. I came here to ask Chris a question."
"What?"
"No lies, no games, no running away. Just the truth."
"Okay."
"Are you Wyatt's little brother?" He looked surprised, but I knew, to Phoebe, it looked like an emotionless mask.
Tell her the truth. I whispered in his mind. She will find out eventually and she already knows.
"If I can get Piper and Leo back together in time." He finally replied. "Listen, Phoebe…"
"Aunt Phoebe."
"What?"
"I am your aunt and when we are alone you will address me as such."
"Fine. Aunt Phoebe, you can't tell anyone."
"I won't and I'll help you get them back together, but we do it my way."
"Deal."
"Oh, and Charlie? Will you meet us for lunch tomorrow at the Manor? No boys allowed."
"I'll see you then."