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A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:
Freaky Friday
Chapter 1

It was a beautiful, sunny and surprisingly warm Friday afternoon in San Francisco, which was in great contrast to the snowy weather from over the Christmas holidays. It had been just a couple of weeks, but now the snow that had fallen, the first in recent history, was all just a memory. A wonderful memory of snowmen and snow angels, captured for eternity on film and computer chip.
Despite the city having been slowed down during those snowy days, it was moving at its regular pace now, people and vehicles, moving freely on the streets. And even the ice cream trucks were starting to make their rounds of the neighborhoods, enticing children of all ages to cool down with their sweet treats in the increasingly warmer weather.
One such ice cream truck was making its way down Prescott Street, calling the children with its simple song. Chris watched it for a moment, as he and Bianca unloaded the groceries from the jeep, thinking that it seemed a little early for this since it was just the beginning of February. And he thought briefly back to those snowy days, to the snowman Wyatt had built with Tom, to shoveling the front steps with Leo and Cole. To the most wonderful Christmas he had ever had. But as the memory faded to the corner of his mind where he stored his most precious memories, the knowledge that things were getting back to normal entered his mind as Bianca handed him the last bag of food.
Some of their neighbors were out for an afternoon walk, as Chris and Bianca ascended the front stairs of the manor. As Chris reached the door, it suddenly occurred to him that he wouldn't be able to open the door, since his hands were full.
"Should we orb in?" Bianca asked from beside him. He took a quick look behind, to the street where a couple was walking past.
"Better not. Too many witnesses," Chris said, then an idea came to him and he smiled. He freed a finger and aimed it at the door, using his powers to open it. He stepped aside to let Bianca go first. "After you, Darling."
"Why thank you, Sweetheart," she replied, returning his big grin, as she entered the manor. He followed close behind, kicking the door shut with his heel.
"Mom, we're home. We got the stuff you wanted." He called, as he and his wife brought the bags into the dining room. Everything seemed strangely quiet. He knew his mother should be home. She wasn't do to go to P3 until later.
As they placed the bags on the dining room table, there came a thumping sound, followed closely by an explosion. They both looked at each other, the cheer they had felt slipped away only to be replaced by fear.
"Mom!" Chris said, eyes wide, then they both run up to the attic.

& & & & &

Piper was hiding behind the couch in the attic, as another energy ball flew overhead. She'd just made it here as the barrage started. Still, she found herself with a wounded shoulder. Peering around the corner of the sofa, she tried to see where her assailants were so she could blow them up. But another energy ball whizzed by her head, making her retreat again.
"This is getting ridiculous," she grumbled, as another energy ball slammed into the couch. Just then she heard running on the stairs and turned in time to see the attic door fly open.
Chris and Bianca hardly had time to register what was going on when they heard Piper call to them. "Get down!" she yelled, as an energy ball sailed toward them.

& & & & &

Chris grabbed his wife's hand and pulled her down behind the couch next to Piper.
"What's going on?" Bianca asked, covering her head, as fragments from a nearby shelf rained down on them.
"More demons trying to make a name for themselves," Piper replied, annoyed. "We need to distract them."
"Got it," Chris said, then orbed to the other side of the room. "Hey! Over here!" he called, drawing the demons attention. They both turned to attack him, sending energy balls at his head. He quickly orbed out of the way, as the energy balls hit another shelf, sending pieces everywhere. Piper used their moment of distraction to blow one of the demons up. The surviving demon turned back on Piper, letting fly another energy ball. As she ducked out of sight behind the old couch, Bianca shimmered behind the demon and stabbed him with an athame, effectively vanquishing him.
Piper stood up then, brushing herself off. Chris and Bianca walked over to her, trying not the trip on the mess.
"You know, it would be nice if demons could make energy balls that do less property damage," Chris said, stumbling on a piece of table. Bianca caught him before he could hurt himself.
"If only," Piper commented, looking at her arm.
"Mom, you're hurt!" the Elder-witch said, worried, as he noticed the shoulder wound.
"It's not that bad. I've had worst," she replied, brushing it off.
"Here, let me heal it," he said, as he approached her. He placed his hands just above the wound, and they started to glow, sending healing energy into her shoulder, and making it better.
"Where are the kids?" Bianca asked, worried, after not seeing them anywhere.
"They're in their room. Wyatt is protecting them with his force field," Piper reassured her. The younger woman let out a sigh of relief, glad that her daughter and brothers-in-law where all right. Chris finished healing Piper then, relieved that she was all right, too.
"Do you know what those demons wanted?" Chris asked then, getting back to business.
"To kill one of the Charmed Ones. That's what they all want, isn't it?" Piper said, as she walked over to the only shelf left standing and retrieved the mortar and pestle that she'd come up here to get in the first place.
"So it was just another random attack?" Bianca asked.
"Well, there have been a lot of them lately. Ever since the snow melted, the Underworld seems to want to enjoy the warmer weather," Piper remarked, as she started down the stairs from the attic, with Bianca right behind her. "Did you get the ingredients I asked for?" Chris heard her ask, as she walked out of sight. He looked around the attic one last time, shaking his head, before following. Yup, things sure were getting back to normal. Normal for the Halliwells, at least...

& & & & &

Steve sighed as he closed another book. He was again at the library of the school, searching for a way to get rid of the darker side of his family. But this seemed to be useless. Sure the demons from that clan - the Ashon - were easy to vanquish, a simple potion or an energy ball were enough... But there were hundreds of them in the underworld. And every one of them knew of his existence, every one knew about the powers which were lying in his genes. And all those demons wanted to get them - if that meant they had to hurt his fiancée, they would. So Steve and Nicki stayed at the school, feeling like prisoners. Especially since the activity of the demons in general had increased lately.
"Don't you think you should take a break?" a voice startled him.
Steve looked up to see Paige smiling sadly at him. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "There are no classes this week."
"I know," Paige held up some papers, "but I've still got some exams to correct, and since Kyle has to work today... But, that doesn't answer my question."
"Steve shrugged: "How can I have a break... I can't rest as long as they are out there threatening to kill everyone I love..."
Paige looked at him understanding. She knew how hard that must be for him. He had just come to terms with who he really was and now this all came back to him. It wasn't fair. Then she frowned: "Have you asked Julian, maybe he could ask..."
"The source?" Steve interrupted her. He knew that Belthazor had helped them in the past, and he appreciated it, but that didn't mean that he also liked it.
"Yeah... he IS the source... but maybe he can at least help you to find them..."
Steve sighed again and then nodded slowly, whispering: "Maybe..."

& & & & &

Somewhere in the middle of San Francisco, Cole was pacing in front of a judge and his jury. He was wearing a fine black suit and all that he presented screamed authority. Behind him, on dock sat a young boy, not older than 17, dressed in old clothes, with his head bowed, looking at his hands which were resting in his lap.
While Cole was pacing around he spoke: "Judge Harris, honored jury... Look at this boy. Look at this boy and ask yourself: Is it possible that a boy like him could kill a dog with his own hands? Even more, could a boy like him eat that entire dog with everything, including the bones? As this trial proved there is NO way, that a human being can survive eating all this, neither is it possible that a human being can eat an animal in the described way. Sure, we have a witness... A 6 year old girl that just entered elementary school. Can we really trust her memory? Can we really trust that memory of a young child who claims to have seen all this in a dark alley? I have to say, I'm really sorry that we couldn't find that poor dog, because I'm sure, since there is nothing left of him, that he wasn't eaten but just ran away and lost his way back... Therefore I request to set my client free from all those accusations and let him go back to his normal life. Thank you." This said, he sat back down beside his client.
The judge, an elderly woman with grey hair and small glasses on her nose, eyes him with suspicion. She knew him very well, from the time he had worked under the name "Turner". She didn't know what had happened to him in all those past years when he was gone. Actually she had thought he was dead. The more surprised she had been to see him enter and sit down at his place, where she had expected a Mr. Halliwell to sit.
Finally she turned to the jury and told them to go and find a sentence. So the jury left same as the judge herself. Also most of the watchers left to get a bit of fresh air. Only some guards were staying behind, same as the prosecuting lawyer and he himself with his client. Cole looked around quickly to make sure no one was listening.
Then he turned to the "boy" by his side and hissed: "Lurch I suggest if you get out of this alive you better not chase for food again in this city. Go search yourself a new home or even better, hunt down demons instead..."
Lurch just looked up at him and for a split second his eyes turned red. Then he nodded and lowered his head again.

& & & & &

Meanwhile at the other end of town, Phoebe just got home from work. When she crossed the hallway she saw her sister, nephew and his wife in the kitchen. She waved hello and then went straight up to the attic. She wanted to check something in the book. She had done this interview today - yes she was asked to do an interview - with that new senator. It had gone well, but... This guy had such a mysterious tattoo on his left hand and Phoebe couldn't help the feeling that she had seen that symbol before.
But when she opened the door to the attic she stopped immediately. The whole place was a mess, shelves were broken, same as the old table. And there were some smoking marks on the old sofa.
Shaking her head she turned around and walked with fast steps back down and into the kitchen. She sighed and sat down at the table, and when everyone was looking at her questioning she asked: "What happened this time? And why did none of you clean up the mess up there?"

& & & & &

After spending another fifteen minutes grading exams, Paige got fed up and orbed to the attic to look in the Book of Shadows. What she found when she materialized next to the book stand, she hadn't expected. Broken shelves, table in pieces, scorch marks on the old sofa. 'Demons.' She thought, annoyed. Looking around at the mess for a moment, she finally came to a decision, and with a sigh started to chant.
"Let the object of objection become but a dream,
as I cause the seen to be unseen."
And with the last word, the broken shelves fixed themselves, the table was back in one piece, and the scorch marks were gone. With a satisfied nod, Paige picked up the Book of Shadows, and went looking for her sisters.
"You know, all these demon attacks are getting ridiculous," Phoebe was saying to Piper, Chris and Bianca, as Paige entered the kitchen.
"Another random attack?" Paige asked, laying the Book on the counter.
"Oh, you noticed?" Chris said somewhat sarcastically, teasing her.
Paige scrunched up her face at him. "Yes, I noticed. And I cleaned up your mess," she said as she opened the Book.
"Uh-uh, not my mess. Mom's," he accused, earning himself a towel slap from Piper. They all laughed, breaking the slowly mounting tension.
"Thank you, Paige. I thought I'd be spending the rest of the afternoon cleaning it," Piper then said as she stirred something in a pot.
"Potion?" Paige asked, lifting her head from the Book for a minute.
"Dinner." Piper answered. Phoebe leaned over the pot then, taking a look inside. Piper, looking at her little sister, cleared her throat, and Phoebe moved back, smiling.
"You know, every time demons start these random attacks, there always seems to be some extra demonic power behind it all," Bianca finally spoke up. Everyone looked at her like she had snakes for hair.
"Honey, you're starting to sound just like Piper," Paige said, mock sympathetic, earning herself a towel slap this time. Chris and Phoebe were trying not to laugh, even though they knew it was true.
Bianca glared at them each in turn. "Fine. I'm going to go check on the kids," she said with mock snobbery, then grabbing an apple, headed upstairs. Phoebe nudged Chris then, and they both laughed.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be at Magic School?" Phoebe then asked her younger sister. "Huh? Ah yeah. Grading exams. Just needed to check something in the Book of Shadows... and a moment of distraction," the witch-whitelighter said, closing the Book, and picking it up. "And now I should get going."
"I'll take the Book. I was heading up to the attic anyway," Phoebe said. Paige handed her the heavy tome, relieved she'd have one less stop on the way back.
"Hey, Chris," the witch-whitelighter then turned to her nephew.
"Yeah?" he said, walking over to his mother.
"Could you go check on Steve? He's been kind of down, what with half his family trying to kill him and all," she asked.
"Sure. Where is he?" the Elder-witch asked in turn, looking over Piper's shoulder into the pot.
"He's in the library at Magic School," Paige said just before she orbed away.
Piper slowly turned her head to look at Chris, and smirked. He gave her a big smile, then orbed himself to Magic School.

& & & & &

As soon as he materialized in the library, it was clear to Chris that Steve had recently left. Books were left open, paper and pen were still on the table, and a chair was moved away from its station. He walked over to the table, to see what Steve had been up to, wondering if maybe he would be back soon. He waited for about ten minutes, then orbed to Paige's office.
"I thought you said Steve was in the library?" Chris said, while still in the middle of his orb. Paige, startled, put her hand to her heart and looked up from her work.
"Chris! You should really learn to knock," she said, glaring at her nephew.
"Sorry. I didn't realize grading exams took that much attention," he joked, smiling broadly.
"Yes, it does. And Steve was in the library the last time I saw him. He's not there now?" she asked, wondering.
"No. And I waited there ten minutes. I hope nothing's wrong," he said, looking worried.
"Well, maybe he went to talk to Julian..." Paige speculated.

& & & & &

The Underworld was a scary place. Even for someone with magic powers. It was dark, dank, and the screams were horrifying. And everywhere you went, everything looked the same. Rocky floors, rocky walls, rocky ceilings. Maybe a fire pit or two for light. And while little alcoves dotted the walls, cave entrances hid in plain sight. And there were demons everywhere.
Steve started to regret coming here, the second he arrived. But Paige had a point. Maybe Belthazor would know a way to help him. And if he didn't, Steve just hoped the Source wouldn't kill him, despite what everyone said about him.
So he stood outside Julian's cave, trying to decide whether or not to go on with his plan. Finally he took a deep breath and knocked.
"What's the password?" he heard through the door.
"Julian it's me..." Steve said, almost whining.
The door was opened only a second later and a grumbling Julian let him in. "Why the hell did we give you a password, if you never use it?" He mumbled, more annoyed then angry.
Steve shrugged: "Sorry... I had other things in mind lately." Then he sat down on a chair the demonic witch had offered to him.
"So... Steve..." Julian began sitting down, too. "What can I do for you?"
The young man looked around interested, then he asked: "Isn't he here?"
"Who? Belthazor?" And when he saw his guest nod, Julian answered: "No... He's busy."
Steve nodded again, looking down at his shoes. Then he turned to his host again and saw that he still looked at him questioning. So he took a breath and explained: "I'm here because I need your help. I wanted to ask if you could help me to get rid of the demonic part of my family."
Julian exhaled deeply: "The Ashon right?" The man nodded. "Well," the demonic witch went on, "I heard of that... that they want you back in their ranks. And I do understand that you don't want that... But..." He made a break thinking how to say what he needed to say. But there was no easy way, so he said: "But I can't help wipe out a whole clan just because of that."
"But they want to kill me!" Steve exclaimed.
"No," Julian said calmly, "they want you back. They want to make you one of their own again because that's where they believe you belong."
"What?" Steve asked shocked. "On who's side are you?"
"On no one's side... that's the problem."

& & & & &

When Bianca entered the nursery she was surprised to see that the kids weren't alone. Bent over Christopher's crib was a well known person dressed in an Elder-robe. "Odin, what are you doing here?" she asked walking over to him.
"Oh hey Bianca," he said, looking shortly at her before turning his attention back to Christopher, who looked at him smiling, waving with his fluffy cat he had gotten at Christmas. The Elder took the cat and played with it in front of the boy's eyes letting the cat tickle him, while he explained: "I just wanted to see how my Godson was feeling today... I haven't seen him in a while."
Bianca grinned: "You saw him just this morning, when you picked up Leo..."
Odin looked at her frowning, then he shrugged: "That IS a while..."
"Yeah, sure..." Bianca replied laughing and went over to pick up Hope who was also awake by now, while Wyatt was still deep asleep, softly snoring. The girl started to giggle when she saw her mom and immediately started to play with her hair.
"You know," Odin then spoke, looking at the small boy deep in thoughts, "if someone had told me that I would be a Godfather a few years ago, I would have thought he must be crazy... But now, now I would never want to miss this. He's such a cute boy. Same as Wyatt. And Hope is the cutest of all of them."
The Phoenix smiled at him as she stepped closer again: "Who would have thought that an Elder would ever speak those words..."
"Uhhh, we aren't that bad Bianca," the Elder replied looking now at her, "we just didn't know..."
The woman patted his shoulder: "Well then it's good that you do know now, because you are a great baby-sitter, you just spoil them too much..."
The Elder giggled but then he turned serious before he sighed: "I'm sorry... They are calling for me." Bianca just nodded and Odin orbed away.

& & & & &

After talking with Paige, Chris had tried to sense for his friend. But he couldn't get hold of Steve's signal... And that worried him, because actually that could mean only one thing: he was in the underworld...
So the question now was: Was he there on his own, or was he kidnapped?
Sure, Paige had told him that maybe he was paying a visit to Julian... And sure, no demon was able to enter the school, but who knows...
So he orbed straight to Tom, thinking that he was the first one Steve would turn to if he'd need transportation to the underworld, asking him if he had heard anything, which he hadn't... Then he orbed to John, who was by that time in Sweden.
"Chris, what are you doing here?" the whitelighter asked, when he saw the Elder-witch orb in. It was pretty cold in Sweden, the sun was already down, and Chris was just dressed in a thin shirt.
"God is it cold here..." Chris shivered. Then he turned to the man in front of him: "Have you seen Steve? I can't sense him."
John nodded: "Yeah, don't worry... he's fine."
"You know where he is?" Chris asked frowning.
"Yeah," John nodded again. "I orbed him down to the underworld a couple of minutes ago... He wanted to meet that friend of yours... What was his name??? Julius or something?"
Chris sighed: "Julian..."
"Oh yeah that was the one..." the whitelighter said smiling.
Chris rolled his eyes. "What if his clan finds him down there? How can you leave him there all on his own?" Usally John wasn't that careless...
The whitelighter shrugged: "Because he asked me to... And he said he would fry me if I didn't leave... You know what he can be like when he has set his mind on something... You're the one he got that from."
Chris rose an eyebrow and then grinned. Yeah that was true. Ever since Steve got out of his hole he was much more a fighter then he had ever been before. "Where did you orb him to?" he asked then.
"To some large tunnel with a door..." John answered. Then he asked: "Can I go now, I have another charge to take care of..."
The Elder-witch nodded and John left. Chris followed him with his eyes for a moment, wondering if Steve was really safe. But from what John said, he had orbed him straight to Julian's front door and he knew how Steve would react lately if someone would step into his way... So he hoped for the best and orbed back to the manor.

& & & & &

Phoebe had made herself comfortable on the old sofa with her legs crossed and the Book of Shadows in her lab. She was flipping through the pages. She was sure she had seen this symbol before.
Not that this Senator seemed weird or unusual, but still. She had seen this sign and it was like she was drawn to it. She even had asked him about it and he'd said it was a sin of his youth. But still...
She flipped page after page but she couldn't find it...
Annoyed she slammed the book shut. "Where the hell have I seen this sign before?" she mumbled to herself.
Then she got an idea. Maybe she had seen it at the school, when she was preparing her classes... She had gone through tons of books there.
Filled with new determination she got up and left the attic to head down the stairs. In the small middle landing she stopped and said turning to the wall: "I wanna go to the school." As soon as this was said, the door to the magic school appeared.
"I'll be back for dinner!" she called loudly. And when she heard an "ok" from the kitchen she opened the door and stepped through it. Then, with a soft "plop" the door disappeared again as it fell shut on its own.

& & & & &

When Chris materialized in the hallway of the manor, he suddenly felt a strange dizziness. And the blue lights surrounding him were glowing so bright that it almost hurt his eyes... And then it was like there was a purple shimmer in it all. He felt that he was slowly taking solid form again, but still he felt like he had sat in a carrousel for far too long. And also the lights around him took a longer time to disappear...
Then he was completely reformed again. But still... Chris couldn't help the feeling that something was very wrong. The hallway, where he still stood in, seemed so different... Well it was the hallway of the manor, but still... He spotted some bags casually thrown into a corner. And there were lots of jackets on the clothes-pegs. Oh and that ugly vase his mom loved so much... it wasn't there...
Then he heard a noise from the stairs, and when he turned there, he noticed that there were much more pictures on the wall, much more... But he hadn't the time to wonder about that, or even have a closer look. Because that second a young boy ran down the stairs, probably six or seven years old, followed by another boy which Chris recognized immediately, same as the older man, with dark hair with a few grey streaks and very familiar green eyes, who was playfully hunting the kids. Giggling and laughing they ran down the stairs and over to the sunroom where the older man caught the second of the boys, lifted him up and tickled him. The smaller boy turned around laughing, too. Then he spotted Chris and stopped for a moment.
He waved his hand smiling and greeted him: "Hello Uncle Christopher!"
The older man turned around looking into Chris's eyes which were kind of scared. He stopped tickling the boy and let him down to the ground again. He smiled widely and friendly. "Hey," he said, not knowing what else to say.
Chris was still frozen in shock. He stared at the three people not believing his eyes. 'That can't be, can it?' he thought.
Meanwhile the older of the boys looked at Chris with narrowed eyes. Then he sensed what was going on and his eyes grew wide.
"Christopher?" the small boy asked. "Is somethin' wrong?"
At these words the older boy turned to the younger one. "That isn't your uncle, Kevin," he said. Then he turned to Chris again: "That's dad!"
"Well... a younger version of me," corrected the old Chris smiling.

(Chapter 1 written by Kirianna Ledräen and Chrissy.W.x)