Piper ducked down as a yet another fireball flew past her. She turned her head to watch it slam into the wall behind her. She cringed. Close call.
"That woulda hurt in the morning." She stood up from behind the dumpster quickly, hitting the feature demon with all the fire power she could possess, but barley making a mark. She sat back down. She looked over towards Phoebe. "Kay, didn't work."
Phoebe nodded. "Right. So...What do we do now?" Both Piper and Paige shrugged. She sighed. "Go figure."
"Why is it we always end up in dead-end alleyways when fighting a seemingly unbeatable demon?" Paige asked, peeking over the dumpster to see the demon making its way closer to them.
"Could it be we like being in danger and almost dying at least once a week?" Piper grinned at her sisters. They looked at each other before shaking their heads.
"Nah!" The three spoke in usion and laughed. More fireballs flew over head. Paige's hands flew to her head and she glared at Piper.
"Your son's are looking for you again."
"Umm...Sorry?" Piper bit her lip and looked up at Paige sheepishly. Phoebe laughed. "Look! It's not my fault, alright? They're just a little..." Phoebe gave it a try.
"Worried?"
"Neurotic." The three nodded together. Paige winced once again.
"Okay, this so isn't fair. Now they're yelling." Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Just ignore them for a sec. We'll deal with them once we get out of this."
"Okay, here's the plan," Piper mover in close to her sisters. "I'll draw his attention. Paige, you orb Phoebe behind him, and then drop your crystals. I'll distract him."
Paige handed Piper two crystals. Piper put them in her pockets as it was a little hard to blow things up with stuff in your hands. "Good luck, sis."
"Let's hope for a little more than luck." Piper laughed. The girls nodded as Paige grabbed Phoebes hand and Piper moved out from behind the dumpster.
"Hey! You over-grown...you know what? I'm in no mood to trash talk!" Piper threw up her hands, causing the demon to stagger back a step. The demon growled causing Pipers eyebrows to shoot up in surprise. "Did you just growl?"
As Phoebe and Paige started to appear behind him, the demon shot three consecutive fire balls in Pipers direction. She tossed her hands up to freeze them...only to fade away in a shower of blue lights. She groaned. "Not again!"
Paige and Phoebe threw their crystals down, looking up just in time to see Piper orb out.
"Um, excuse me!" Paige yelled, looking up into the sky. "What about the crystals?" Phoebe grabbed her sister's arm.
"Check it out." They watched as the crystals that had been in Piper pocket orbed back, completing the circle, effectively trapping the demon. Paige shook her head. Phoebe just shrugged. "Well, their aim is getting better."
Paige watched as the demon tried to escape from his invisible prison. She sighed. "Think they could send us the Book too?"
Piper found herself in her bed room. She shook her head angrily. "Christopher Perry!! Wyatt Mathew!!" She yelled as she left her room and made her way down the stairs. Neither of them were in the living room so she moved on towards the kitchen.
"Don't even think you can keep getting away with this!" She spun around. "I mean it! Both of you get down here, and I mean now!"
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Chris looked down over San Francisco from the top of the Bay Bridge. His older brother Wyatt sat beside him, hanging his legs off the side of the bridge. Wyatt turned his head up towards Chris.
"She sounds really mad."
"What else is new?" Chris smirked.
"True." Wyatt nodded. "We're doing the right thing, right?"
"She's still alive isn't she?"
"Yeah, but we don't know she was gonna get killed."
"She's a Charmed One. It happens on a weekly basis."
"Aunt Paige and Phoebe are Charmed Ones, and we didn't do anything to help save them."
"Well, someone had get the demon."
Wyatt raised his eyebrow at his younger brother, not believing his reasoning even for a second.
"And….?"
"And…" Chris looked down sheepishly under his brother gaze. "They're not mom. Let their own children take care of them. Besides, we helped them get the baddy, didn't we?"
"Yes, I guess I did."
"Whatever." Chris rolled his eyes. "When do you think it's going to be safe to go back?"
Wyatt smirked. "Probably never. We should go before she blows a gasket."
"Wouldn't that be just like mom," Chris laughed, helping Wyatt to his feet. "To kill herself after we go through all this trouble to save her?" The two laughed as they orbed off.
Piper sat on her couch, arms crossed over her chest. "And to think," She spoke to herself, "I used to be afraid they would orb out all around the world when they got themselves grounded. Turns out they can just orb their mother away."
This wasn't the first time the boys had orbed her out of a dangerous situation. Piper remembered the first time they found out they could orb their mother around the world with little to no effort.
She had been disciplining a twelve year old Wyatt for whatever it was he had been doing wrong that day. The argument got heated, so she told him to go to his room. In retaliation, he stuck his finger in her direction and in true child-like fashion he said,
"No! You go to your room!" The next thing Piper knew, she was in her room.
After that can of worms had been opened it was impossible to put them back. Over the past nine years she had been orbed all over the world. She'd seen Paris, she'd seen Rome. The only good thing was that she had two magical boys. When one orbed her out of the house, another would be along shortly to bring her home.
It was only lately that the two of them had both become obsessed with keeping her safe.
In front of Pipers eyes, her two laughing teenaged sons orbed into the living room. Their laughter died at the look on their mothers face.
"Hi, mom." Chris gave a small wave. Piper stood, looking up at the two of them as they were both taller than her. Without a word she left the room. Chris looked at Wyatt, who shrugged. They followed her into the kitchen.
Piper started to pull things out of the fridge and slammed them down on the counter, never looking in either of their directions. The boys shared a look. Wyatt decided to go for it.
"Uhh, mom?" Piper gave no answer as she continued to make her way around the kitchen. Wyatt looked to Chris.
"Look, mom, we're sorry…" Piper cut Chris off with a dirty look.
"I don't want to hear that you're sorry." She spoke tightly. She started to toss ingredients into the bowl, not taking time to measure anything out. "I want to hear that you're never going to do it again. But because I know you'll do it again, and saying that you won't will only be a lie, I'd just rather you say nothing."
"Mom." Piper ignored her older son, moving to retrieve the milk out of the fridge. Wyatt stood in front of her, lightly grabbing her arm. "Mom, stop!"
Piper stopped where she stood. Chris moved in closer.
"You know we're just trying to protect you!" Piper laughed sharply.
"I thought that was supposed to be my job?" She shook her head. "You both know I have a job to do!"
"We know that mom! Really we do!" Chris spoke exasperatedly. "We just want to keep you out of danger."
"I'm a Charmed One! It entails a certain amount of danger!" Piper placed her hands on her face, "Why are we even having this discussion? I'm the mother. Period. I don't need my son's watching over me!"
"Mom, you're not listening!" Chris was starting to get angry. "We just don't want to lose you…" The word again hung in the air.
Piper's face immediately softened and she pulled her two boys in close to her. Sometimes she forgot how young they both were.
"Is that what this is all about?" She gave them a squeeze before loosening her grip. She place a hand on the side of each of their faces as they stood side by side in front of her. Tears welled up in her eyes when she witnessed a lone tear roll down Chris' face. Wyatt wasn't a good at keeping his emotions in check. His tears poured, breaking Pipers heart.
"You died. You were dead, for over an hour." Wyatt grabbed his mothers shoulders. "You might not remember it, but we were there."
"Oh, honey! It's not the first time I've bounced back from the dead. And no matter how many times or ways you try to save me. It's not going to be the last." She let out a breathe.
"And you are going to have to realize that one time we aren't going to be able to bring you back!" Chris huffed.
"We'll deal with that when it happens." Piper waved it away with her hand. "As for now, I am still here and you're still in the doghouse." She pointed at the two of them. "Both of you."
Chris and Wyatt shared a look. Mom was never going to understand.
"Mom, it's just…" Wyatt stopped, recognizing the look on his mother face. This talk could be held another time. If they ever did lose her, Wyatt didn't want the only memories of his mother be of her fighting against him and Chris. They would just keep doing what they were doing and if mom got mad, well, at least she would be alive to be mad. "What can we do to make it up to you?"
"Hmm…" Piper pretended to think. If her boys thought she thought this was over, they must think their mother slow….but, that was another fight, for another day. She pointed towards the fridge. "Pass me the milk."