Title: The Halliwell Line
Author: Persephone Sylvia
Summary: In the year 2020, with the Charmed ones becoming older, the wiccan duties and responsibility of protecting innocents begin to fall to their children. Despite their youth, it's time for the next generation to learn their ways.
A/N: Not following the comics, so names and birthdays occurring after the t.v series may differ.
XX
In the dead of night, crickets sounded in the distance, their sooth crooning blending in with the background of citizens talking amongst themselves, having conversation, or just heading home from a long day of work. The full moon was high in the sky, glistening amongst few clouds and small droplets of water splashing against the pavement it shadowed over. A gentle breeze picked up as the rain became to pour more violently, droplets turning in to a fierce storm. Despite the foul weather, a group of females stood in public beside a large fountain. They were dressed like close friends ready for a night on the town, bar hopping and the like. A closer look at these female's facial features would reveal they were anything but average young ladies. Each of them a black squiggled mark below their left eye, drooping down their cheeks, the ending swirl hidden behind thick hair.
"Should this meeting even be held above ground?" A blonde asked, raising her voice to be heard over the negative weather, the thundering sky making it nearly impossible to be heard. In fact, she wasn't even sure they had heard her question until one specific dark haired woman stepped towards her, just so she didn't have to shout.
"If we're going to take on the appearance of normal beings, we need to behave that way. That includes resting your heads at a normal residence, dressing civilized." They all seemed to glance down at their lack of clothing at her last few words, shifting uncomfortably in their positions. Water dripping on to the spandex seemed to make it tighter, constricting the material to their torso's like a glove.
"Can't we just head back to the underworld? I was far more comfortable there." The blonde couldn't seem to obey her dark haired leader, continuing to question her methods without a moment's hesitation.
"Even with the constant threat of demons throwing themselves at us? What's more beautiful than a real sky? What's more pleasant than the sensation of having water soak your hair?"
"It isn't so pleasant when it takes me forever to actually do." The blonde said with sarcasm laying heavy in her tone. Without another word, her leader lifted a pale arm and backhanded her, void of any emotion. Others watched on, saying nothing in fear of receiving the same treatment. She reeled to the side after being struck, light hair whipping in front of her face, backing down. It would be foolish to say anything more after the violence her leader so easily lashed out. Slowly, she faced the dark haired girl again, a small smear of blood dribbling down her bottom lip.
"I'm sorry, Brandy."
"That's alright, Sun. Just don't do it again." Sun nodded quickly, stepping back as a sign of resignation. "However, I don't want any of you believing it's okay to behave with such disrespect. I saved all of you from your own pitiful lives, and I can easily take them away from you if I wished it. Am I understood?" Echoes of "Yes, yes..," sounded from the small group. "Excellent, let's get to work." Following her lead, the group trailed behind her as they headed towards the busy street, receiving multiple glances and looks for their attire and confident strut; not that a sight like this was so rare anymore...
XX
Rain rolled down the windows of the house, the warm shelter of a roof over their heads making this storm much easier to deal with. Wyatt Halliwell, Piper's oldest son, stood in front of the glass pane, admiring the war that raged in the heavens as well as worrying for his parents, on their way back from their annual date night.
"Quit worrying, you're gonna go into anaphylactic shock." The teenager didn't respond, continuing to look for bright headlights reeling into the driveway. Melinda sat beside Chris on the couch, holding a book she, along with the rest of her English class, was being forced to read for an assignment. As always, she was the last one in the class to finish reading. The test on the final chapter was tomorrow, and she was only halfway through. Any sort of distraction from the dull tale was more than welcome in her eyes.
"What's that?" She asked suddenly, wide eyes focused on Chris.
"What's what?" He turned his attention to the thirteen year old, her short legs dangling off the edge of the couch, dirty socks brushing against the ground while she held her book open, draped over her lap.
"What you said. The ana...y'know." A sheepish smile crossed her face, along with a shrug.
"Oh, it's an aller-" He paused suddenly, "You know what, it doesn't even matter." Wyatt's voice rang out, interrupting the small moment between his two siblings.
"When did mom call and say they were on their way?" Letting out a loud groan, Chris allowed his head to fall back against the cushion. His older brother couldn't be more than frustrating when it came to worrying. He definitely took after his mother that way, assuming the worst before the worst could ever occur. Unbeknownst to Chris, his brother tended to keep tabs on both him and young Melinda. Just for safety precautions. Rubbing his forehead to force away the growing headache, Chris let out a small moan of annoyance. With his lack of an answer to the question, Wyatt turned around to burn a glare into the side of his head. "What time, Chris?"
"I don't know. A half hour ago, maybe?" The older Halliwell pointed a finger in their direction, shaking it irregularly.
"See, that's weird. The ride from the restaurant is only twenty minutes." Melinda and Chris exchanged incredulous looks, both refusing to acknowledge his behavior at the moment. Two honks sounded from outside, and all three heads turned in the direction of the front door, awaiting their parents' arrival. A key slid in the lock, and after a moment of jostling it turned, a very wet Piper entering the house with her husband trailing shortly behind. Melinda chewed on her inner right cheek, hoping her mother wasn't in one of those moods. She'd wanted to ask for her permission to sleep over Bethany Kent's house on Friday night, but the answer was always no when Piper was in a "mood".
"I don't care how hot it is next time we go out, we bring an umbrella!" She snapped, pulling off her drenched coat and placing it on a hook to dry. Leo motioned with his hands for the kids to back up a few paces, warning them of her negative outlook since the storm struck them as they exited the restaurant. Melinda hid the book she was supposed to have finished behind her back, the last thing she needed was to give her mother more of a reason to be uptight. Lately, it'd been worse with the added stress of Piper's restaurant, the four year anniversary of its existence coming up. People were expecting something big like a party, when she'd really had no such thing planned in the first place.
"How was the food?" Wyatt asked quickly, before she could go on a rant. The mother paused for a moment, unsure of how to answer his question in a way that would be true to how she really felt about what she'd consumed.
"Don't even get me started on the food. I don't even think what I ate is edible!"
"Piper, that's ridiculous," Leo said in a low voice, the exhaustion he felt obvious in his words. It could have been from the tiring ride home, maybe Piper was giving him a hard time the whole way. The couple would never admit it, but lately they didn't seem as happy as they should be. It frightened Melinda more than not, and she just wanted things to go back to how they'd been. Of course, the couple would be surprised to learn Melinda even knew about their marital problems.
"Is it? You tasted that steak right? That was not steak." Deciding not to push any further, her husband put up both hands in defense. With one last glance his way, Piper shook his head and finally got a good look at her children.
"Melinda, what are you still doing up? It's past your bedtime, you know that." The girl slumped into her own shoulders, eyebrows knitting together nervously. Now, there was no chance she'd get away with asking about Bethany's slumber party. Chris and Wyatt exchanged heavy looks, wondering if they'd get the same sharp look for not making her go to bed.
"Mom, I'm thirteen. The same age Wyatt was when he was allowed to start saying up late, right? It's not fair, I'm a teenager now." It was rare that Melinda had the courage to stand up to her mother's angry side. Though Piper was a short woman, she was intimidating and not easily swayed from her opinion.
"If you start acting your age, then you'll be more than welcome to stay up late. However, young lady, you aren't obeying my rules. That shows me that you aren't ready to behave like a young adult." The thirteen year old knew she was beat, bottom lip jutting out as a last resort to convince her to just this once let her get away with it. Piper seemed to consider it, but resigned from her attitude and shook her head just as she had before. "I'm sorry Mel, but you need to go to bed." The young Halliwell connected eyes with her father for a brief moment, before he looked away in resignation.
"Fine," She groaned heavily. Stomping up the steps, she purposely made sure her feet left behind a trail of obnoxious banging. Chris ran his fingers through his bushy hair, knowing they'd have to deal with the aftermath of their mother's streak; maybe, it'd passed.
"Sometimes, I feel like I have no idea how to deal with her," She was speaking lowly to Leo, not acknowledging the fact that her two sons could still hear her. "Raising a girl is completely new territory for me, and the hormones are different. I always felt like I'd have a good handle on it, since we were all girls and Phoebe was the worst of the worst as a girl. Is there something wrong with me?"
"Piper, you're over reacting. You're not the only one that has a hard time getting to her. She's a teenage girl and it happens, okay?" She sighed and nodded her head slowly, unable to do anything but agree.
"I'm going to go upstairs!" Chris suddenly intruded on the perfect moment, receiving an elbow to the ribs from his brother. Their mother forced an encouraging smile as the pair headed towards the staircase.
"Night," Leo called to them as they ascended. He pulled his wife to him with a smile lighting up his exterior, rendering her helpless to smile back.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You're just beautiful."
"Oh, please." She pulled back in disbelief, assuming he was just trying to get on her good side so he wouldn't be stuck on the couch or the opposite side of the bed. Without letting her get away, Leo lifted her chin.
"You're gorgeous, why don't you believe me?"
"I'm tired." Avoiding things seemed to be her forte lately. No longer did she face things head on like she always had, it was just easier to deal with it later. That was her motto, "deal with it later". A yawn escaped her lips not a moment too soon, and Leo gave in to his exhaustion as well.
"Alright, come on." He pulled on her hand even though she wanted to get away from his, making her follow behind him up the stairs.
"You know, Leo, you can't fix things with a plate of dinner and a compliment here and there." He paused on the staircase and turned to face her.
"Is that what you think I'm doing? Putting it on for show?" Piper bit the inside of her cheeks, immediately regretting even bringing it up to him in the first place.
"Don't be ridiculous." It was easy to believe she was lying. Not only was he good at detecting them, but her eyes were cast to the floor.
"I mean everything I do for you, Piper." She shook her head lightly. "You should know that by now."
"I do," The witch almost whispered, staring at his chest and avoiding all eye contact. "I do."
XX
The Mitchell Household was absolutely hectic in the mornings; especially, during the weekdays. Henry would hurry off to work with a cup of coffee and the kids would rush to catch the bus in time for school. Unfortunately, eleven year old Logan was having a hard time taking the bus. Paige assumed that there were boys messing with him, but Logan insisted he just hated the never ending bus ride filled with noisy boys and girls.
"Gloria, your lunch box!" The small brunette turned around, her light brown hair whipping around her face as she jogged back to her mother. She grabbed the red box with a smile, her eyes brightening as she ran towards the front door to wait for her twin sister. "Where's Trudie?" Paige called to no one in particular, spinning around to locate her other daughter. "Tru, honey, you're going to miss the bus again!" A perky dark haired girl bounced down the steps, taking one at a time.
"And this is why we're late!" Gloria smacked her leg in annoyance, waiting for her sister to finish jumping down the stairs to join her. "You're not five anymore, sis." The twins looked almost identical, except that Trudie's hair was a shade darker, Gloria's dimples were deeper and Trudie had a beauty mark below her lips.
"Don't make me hit you, again!" Another problem with the Mitchell Household; the twins were constantly bickering. Most of the time, they didn't act on their threats, but sometimes Paige had to literally orb them apart. With them getting older, it became much harder to stop their fights so Henry found himself intervening more often than not. Ignoring Trudie, Gloria turned to her mother.
"I still don't understand why we can't just beam to school."
"Glor, we've talked about this," She warned.
"It's not fair! I have all these awesome powers, but I'm not even allowed to use them. What's that about?"
"Personal gain, Glor!" Trudie felt the need to side with her mother though she didn't actually agree with her, in hopes that she'd side with her the next time she fought with Gloria. Also, she silently hoped Gloria would be punished for it, which was unlikely.
"What's the point in helping save the world if you get nothing in return?" Paige lifted her eyebrows in surprise.
"You don't save the world. I do, you just stand by as moral support. One day you will, but when that day comes you'll understand the point." She was beginning to sound more upset, so Gloria decided to push no further. Gloria was always more involved with magic than Trudie, constantly wanting to experiment with potions she wasn't allowed to use. She'd actually been caught breaking her parent's rules and casting a few spells without permission. Trudie had a field day with that one.
Logan sat at the island table, eating his bowl of cereal with a satisfied smirk on his face. He wasn't at the center of the argument and that was always something to be happy about. Among a large family of mostly girls, it was easy to find yourself surrounded by fighting. Chris blamed it on PMS, but Wyatt blamed it on the fact that all the women in the family were strong willed; not that they aren't, but a large part of it just had to be PMS. The sixth grader rolled his eyes as Gloria and Trudie began pinching each other on the way out.
"Have a good day, girls! Remember, I'm leaving the backdoor unlocked since your father and I will be at Phoebe's benefit by the time your home." Trudie threw a lazy wave Paige's way, letting her know she heard her. The woman groaned as her children shut the door, turning to look at her smirking son. "What are you smiling at, punk?" The boy chuckled lightly.
"Nothing."
"Just because you're in middle school now doesn't mean you're big and bad, don't pull anything with me!" She pointed a finger at him, narrowing her eyes in a playful manner.
"I wouldn't dream of it." It was November, and still, Logan was having a difficult time making friends. Elementary school was easy for him, everyone was friends then. However, middle school was a completely new thing for him, and all of the cliques seemed to already have been formed by the time he walked through the double doors. His sisters went to the same school as him, but being in 8th grade and female, made their interaction a lot more limited. In a way, they were almost embarrassed of him. At their school, nobody liked the 6th graders. They were seen as little kids, despite the fact that they were children themselves.
"Paige!" That sounded a lot like her charge, Jenna. The young woman was having a hard time adjusting to her life as a witch, and being the needy girl she was, constantly called on Paige. In fact, she tended to call on her for little things like advice on men. Jenna lacked close friends due to her terrible social skills; therefore she relied on her whitelighter far more than she should. However, she could be in trouble.
"What's the matter, mom?" Logan questioned, seeing her distracted stance.
"I will be right back! Stay here." He furrowed his eyebrows, but said nothing as she orbed away, finding herself in a crummy apartment in New York. Jenna was sitting on the couch, looking dejected and lonely. She was cautious as she approached the girl who seemed as if she didn't even notice her. As the whitelighter-witch stepped over an old Taco Bell wrapper, the crunch caused Jenna to look up with wide eyes.
"Paige! You scared me." She held a hand over her heart.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Glancing around the apartment with anxiety, Paige tried to locate any threat to her charge. It was empty, which caused her to calm down only slightly. Her question reminding Jenna of what had happened; she began to tear up again. Conveniently, there was a box of tissues stationed on the coffee table in front of her, so Paige handed her a tissue and watched with disgust and confusion as Jenna blew her nose and cried.
"God, it's just terrible!" Paige took a seat beside her, seeing how serious it must be.
"It's okay, you can tell me. That's what I'm here for, remember?" Jenna watched her, and then nodded as her chin wrinkled in sadness.
"You're right. My mother called me and we got in a huge blow up. She told me my life was leading nowhere, that I was destined to be a failure! How could she say such an awful thing?" The sobs came on heavier as the awkward looking girl lurched forward, nauseated by her own words.
"That's terrible honey, but don't you think you should talk to someone else about this? Like a therapist?" She didn't mean to sound short, but she had her own life to get back to, and this wasn't her duty as a whitelighter.
"There's no one, Paige! You're the only one who can help me."
"I was afraid of that," Paige mumbled under her breath, patting the girl's knee. "I'm sorry sweetheart, but this isn't my job description. You're a witch, I'm your whitelighter. You don't seem to understand what it is I do for you."
"You help me, don't you?"
"Well yeah, of course. But, not in these kinds of situations. When you're being attacked or harmed, that's when I stepped in."
"My mother is mentally attacking me! Is that not enough?" Jenna was outraged and insulted that this woman would dare make it seem as if her problems were not of importance. She stood up and crossed her thin arms, sucking in her cheeks, ready to blow up.
"I'm supposed to save you from the bad guys."
"My mother is the bad guy." Paige held her head in frustration, closing her eyes for a moment, as if the situation would go away on its own.
"You're not getting it, Jenna. I really have to drive my son to school, we'll talk about this later."
"Fine, get out!" Jenna grabbed her Taco Bell wrapper and threw it at Paige as if it would make a difference. The light weighted object simply drifted in front of her and eventually fell to the ground. With a pursing of her lips, Paige orbed back home where her son was playing with his iPod on the couch. When he noticed her, he just frowned.
"I'm so sorry, Lo. It was my charge."
"Isn't it always?" He stood up and walked out the front door without another word. The mother stood there for another moment, allowing the guilt to eat her up. "Are you coming, or do you want to make me more late?" It wasn't like him to have an attitude with her; he'd always been the type to stay out of situations like these. Closing and locking the door, Paige headed for the car with her emotions run rampant.
XX
It was a stressful morning for Phoebe Halliwell; rushing to send her daughters off to school and get some shopping in before she had to prepare for her benefit. She was being praised for her new book "Love Like No Other", the critics ready to promote it after her bestselling, "Finding Love". It was going to be an intense evening, but with her family and friends by her side there was no way she wouldn't get through it. Paige and Henry would show up earlier than everyone else to help Phoebe anticipate for the event, knowing just how nervous she was. It didn't matter how many books she'd ever release, it would always be nerve wrecking to talk about it among people who were ready to both criticize and adore her.
"Mom!" Paulina screamed at the top of her lungs, a fierce expression crossing her sour face. Her arms were crossed tightly, foot stomped on the floor.
"What is it honey?" She asked without looking up as she tied the bow in Pearl's hair for her.
"Parson keeps throwing cheerios at me. She's so annoying!" The eight year old stuck her tongue out at her older sister whom continued to tighten her face. "Now she's making faces at me! Mom! Do something." The eldest, Pearl, rolled her eyes in disgust.
"They don't ever stop, do they?" It was a rhetorical question really, so Phoebe didn't even bother answering. Her mother pulled back to take a look at the bright red bow.
"Finished, take a look." Pearl gladly obliged, looking herself over in the mirror. She seemed satisfied enough, running her fingers through long brown hair.
"Can Brian come over after school?" Phoebe paused, unsure if this was a name she should be remembering. Usually, she was alright with Pearl hanging out with boys, but only when she would be present to make sure no funny business was going on. This time, she'd be at the promotion of her book and it would be impossible for them to hangout, anyway.
"Who is this Brian?"
"He's on the football team, mom. I need to hang out with him."
"The football team, huh? Is he a nice boy?" Pearl narrowed her eyes, considering whether this was a trap or not. It might even be better if she didn't bother to answer, so she simply turned and flattened her shirt. "I'm waiting."
"He's really nice, okay?" At this moment, Coop made his way from down the hall and grabbed the first cup of steaming coffee he saw sitting on the counter.
"That was mine," Phoebe mumbled, saying nothing to him. "Okay girls, are you ready?"
"Are you legit not even going to yell at Parson?" Paulina asked with an attitude that no one could miss. She was a pretty, innocent looking thing, but when she was mad she was mad.
"Lina, I don't have time for this, okay? Please, just this once let it go." With a scoff, the eleven year old nodded and headed outside to catch her bus.
"You better catch up with your sister." Coop pointed towards the door, sipping on his coffee. Pearl shrugged and headed after her with worry lined across her forehead.
"She better not be that bitchy the whole bus ride."
"Hey!" Her father shouted unexpectedly, not believing what he'd just heard. Pearl was never really one for cursing, even for a thirteen year old heading in to their teen years. "What was that word?"
"Nothing, I have to go, bye!" She rushed out the door before she could be scolded and slammed it shut, letting out a breath of exasperation as she did so. Coop turned to his wife in disbelief and repeated his earlier question.
"What was that word?"
"Easy, honey. It must be something she picked up at school." Their eight year old didn't seem to notice Pearl's language or her parent's concern, picking up her "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" cartoon backpack, and slinging it over her shoulder. It was almost bigger than her, which earned a lot of awe's from strangers.
"Can we go now? I want Ms. Spinelli to give me a sticker before class starts. She does that sometimes, and I'm the only one who gets one." She smirked, proud of herself.
"You must be pretty special," Phoebe said with a laugh, grabbing her purse.
"It's okay, Pheebs. I'll drive her."
"Coop, are you sure?" He pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek.
"You have a lot to get done before tonight, trust me, I got this one. I'll see you in a bit, okay?" Phoebe nodded and leaned down to kiss her daughter on the head.
"Have a good day at school, sweetie pie."
"Bye, mommy!" She hugged her around the neck and then turned and skipped out the door. Coop simply chuckled and followed behind the youngest Halliwell, a glow crossing her face as she was hit by the sunlight.
TBC