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A Charmed Story - Part Nine:
I, Myself And The Elders
Chapter 1

Chris rubbed his tired eyes. It was three o'clock in the morning... He had had a long day the day before, with another long talk with Steve and some demon-vanquishings in order to find Rhashirk... which he didn't. Still he had no idea, what all this had to do with the Elders, who are not very pleased about him, lately. Anyway... He had to hold a class the next morning at eight... and an exam to watch at ten...
But all that... all those things didn't bother his little girl who was again crying desperately.
He turned to the side to watch his wife. Bianca had just woken up, too. He sighed, looking at her. "Am I now allowed to heal her?" he asked.
"No," Bianca said firmly. Chris buried his face in his pillow frustrated. "Look," Bianca said, "she's just a little ill with her stomach, that happens often to two-month-old babies... She has to get through this the natural way... And now sleep, I'll take care of her."
Chris sighed. That reminded him a lot of his own mother... He grasped the pillow and put it over his head, especially his ears. But he couldn't fall asleep again. He sighed and stood up.
Quietly he leaned in the doorframe observing his wife and his daughter who calmed down a little.
"So that's what you call sleeping?" Bianca asked.
Her husband grimaced: "You know I can't sleep when my little princess is crying." He went over to them and took the little girl to his arms. He smiled, while the little girl looked at him with big eyes, suddenly silent. Chris chuckled a little, then turned back to the bedroom.
"What are you doing?" Bianca asked.
"I'll go to sleep... and when my baby calms down when she's close to us, she will sleep with us... in the middle," Chris said grinning tiredly. He placed the baby in the middle of the bed on his own pillow and lied down next to her. Her fingers closed around one of his, the girl immediately fell asleep again. So did Chris only seconds later.
Bianca carefully lied down on the other side of the bed. "Oh honey... you're spoiling her soooo much..." she whispered, then she closed her eyes, too.

°°°°°°°°°°

The next mid morning, Chris met his aunt on his way to the classroom. "Good morning," Paige greeted. Chris just grimaced. So his aunt turned around to join him on his way. "Baby-cries?" she asked.
He nodded. "How is the work going on at home?" he asked then.
Paige smiled: "That's why I'm here... Even if they are magical craftsmen, they still ARE craftsmen, and since seven o'clock they are making a lot of noise!" Chris couldn't help grinning.
Then he reached his classroom. "Don't fall asleep over you're notes," his aunt said and then she left him alone. Chris took a deep breath, then he entered the classroom.
All the laughter and talking stopped suddenly, and silence invaded the room, as all the students turned to look at their teacher very seriously, trying to pretend that they had been like that all the time. Chris tried to hide his smile as he was leaving the books and papers on his desk, and shook his head. "Good morning, class."
"Good morning, Chris."
All the students called him now that way. At the beginning it had been hard to convince them that it was ok, that he would not be angry at that, and even that he was happy to be called Chris, because Mr. Halliwell made him feel really old. But the students still saw him as what he was, the head teacher, and felt uncomfortable.
"Well, I see we were really awoken this morning... So I guess you're ready for the exam." All the eyes were lowered until they met their books and pretended to be reading. Chris chuckled silently.
"Actually I am really sorry..." he continued, "it seems that my little girl didn't want you to do that exam, because last night she kept me really busy, so... I'm afraid that, as much as I regret it, we'll have to put it off until next week. I hope that you can understand and..."
Suddenly all the students' expressions turned to joy and Chris could hear words here and there like 'Great! Awesome! Thanks God!'
He smiled: "I see how sad you are for the news..." He cleared his voice: "Ok... But we have to keep on with the syllabus, so... please, open your books on page..."

°°°°°°°°°°

"... on page 56," Paige said. She was serious. The typical serious teacher of whom everyone was afraid. It was no real fear, just respect. They loved her out of class. But inside... That was hell.
However, she was the first one there to give them advice, in case they needed it, and support, too. She was like a second mother for many of the students.
"Well... Can anyone tell me how this witch on the drawing vanquished that demon with two faces?" she asked.
Silence.
"Can't you?" She sighed: "Ok guys... Imagine that you are walking in the street, and this handsome demon attacks you. What do you do?"
Silence.
"Perfect!" Paige left the chalk on the table with a strong thud. "So you don't do anything..." She walked in front of the worried faces that looked at her, and stared at them in concern: "This is not a joke, kids. Here, you can fail an exam. Out there, you can die. As simple as that. We are not teaching you how to play games with other kids, this is a question of survival, and I can not say what normal teachers say, that I don't mind if you don't learn, that it's your problem, because I do mind. I don't want to get up tomorrow and hear that one of you was killed by this demon because you did not study for my class!"
All the students looked down at the same time, ashamed. "We... we had an exam with Mrs. Nicholus, and we didn't have time to study..." said a daredevil among those little angels.
Paige had to sigh again: "That is exactly what I mean... This-is-not-a-game... I need you to take it seriously, kids."
Some nodded, others muttered 'yes', and others kept quiet.
Finally, after a while Paige took again the chalk: "Ok... let's forget about that today. We'll start a new lesson, but for tomorrow, I want the solution to that problem, and no excuses." And she started to write on the blackboard.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo sighed: "Who cares about that?"
"Who cares? WE DO, that's why we have that discussion," Jeremiah replied. Most of the other Elders nodded.
"Look," Moisha said, "we know he's your son, but... nevertheless you must see the great danger! With THAT power he could destroy everything in this and in every other world."
"He will not!", Leo snapped back.
Silas agreed: "Yeah, he's a good man... he would never do something wrong."
"He had killed a Valkyri..." Odin wanted to interrupt and say that there was no proof of that, but Jeremiah wouldn't let him. "...if it hadn't been more than one, he had cooperated with demons and he HAD killed an Elder," Jeremiah said.
Leo's eyes glanced at the Elder furious. He rose and replied with clenched teeth: "All that he did to save his brother, my son... The only evil in this crowed was Gideon, the only one..." With this words he orbed away. He couldn't bear this gobbledygook any longer.
Odin sighed when he saw his friend disappearing. And then he noticed with a disapproving look, that Silas stood up too.
"I really can't understand you... Leo is right... Gideon had been a great threat to all of us. Me, I was one of Gideon's best friends... But if I had known that, I would have killed him on my own... God, if he had taken Wyatt... well I don't want to imagine that... " the Elder said wild gesturing. "And you? You sentence the only person who saved us from that! That's not what the Elders are meant to be..." Silas shook his head, then he followed Leo.
Now all the others looked at Odin, as if they waited if he would join his new found friends and leave them too.
"What?" the Elder said, feeling uncomfortable, "I'm neutral, even if I think Silas's words are true..."

°°°°°°°°°°

"I do love this, girl..." Piper said, while she stared at the cloudless blue sky.
Bianca smiled. "Being away from the madding crowd?" she asked, jokingly.
Piper laughed and shook her head: "No, no... Actually I'm quite worried that we left Cole and Phoebe alone with all the work, there..."
"They told you to have a rest and come with me. Moreover, the kids were getting nervous," Bianca remarked. Piper nodded, pensive.
They were strolling slowly along the bay. The day was sunny and quite warm, and it invited to be outside.
"But they're just-married. I mean... well, you know what I mean."
Bianca sighed: "Oh, yeah... But if they didn't sleep, it was because they did not want. You and I, we had other problems that caused our insomnia."
Both girls chuckled. Bianca was pushing a small pram, as well as Piper, and Wyatt walked as a big boy, holding his mom's hand.
"What if we sit for a while, somewhere?" Bianca asked. Piper nodded, looking for a good place to sit. Then she saw a bench next to a funny looking playground, and they both went to it, longing for a rest.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Ok... for tomorrow, I want you to read the third chapter of the book 'White magic is not a game'," Chris said, as he dusted his hands, full of the white dust from the chalk.
The students stood up noisily and put their books in their backpacks to leave as soon as possible. Chris sighed while he watched them go out, and started to close his own books, when a girl approached him timidly.
"Mr... Chris."
The young Halliwell raised his head and smiled at her, with his great and honest smile, making the girl lower her eyes embarrassed. "Is everything ok, Tanya?" he asked.
She nodded: "Yes... I just didn't understand well how that spell to clean a mess worked."
Chris smiled: "Then, just pick up a cloth, and clean it yourself."
The girl looked at him startled, and Chris laughed slightly, patting her shoulder. "Tanya, magic is dangerous. What I mean is... I want you to learn all this, but you shouldn't use it unless it was really necessary, ok?" She nodded. "Ok, then go and see me in my office hours, and I'll explain everything to you again."
Tanya smiled grateful, then said goodbye, and left, at the same time as Steve was entering. Chris picked all the books up and waved at him: "Hey, Stevie! How was the class today?"
His friend smiled. His eyes were more and more alive each day.
"It was good. Why don't we take a coffee and talk? If you have time..."
Chris nodded, and walked by his side along the long corridors, to some quiet space where they could take a drink.

°°°°°°°°°°

Silas materialised on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. He sighed when he saw Leo sat there staring at the skyline of the city.
"Don't listen to them," he said and sat down next to his friend, "they don't know what they are talking about."
"Yeah, I know," Leo sighed looking serious. "I just hope they will never say something like that when Chris is up there..." For a moment they kept silent. There was a feeling of sadness in the air, between them.
"You know," Leo went on, "it had been really hard for Chris... all that... He had told me once that... that he had feared while saving his brother he could turn on his own. He feared he could end up like him..."
Silas sighed: "But he didn't... we both know that he didn't... He's a good person Leo... He's nearly too good for this world."
Leo nodded: "Yeah... that's why I'm afraid that he could find out how they really think about him... He always pretends to be so strong, but I know he isn't... I've seen it so often in his eyes, when he had saved Wyatt, when Bianca backed away from him, when Hope was born..."
"I don't understand..." Silas said.
Leo sighed: "He is strong, he's a fighter, but on the other hand..."
Silas nodded: "And when even the Elders don't trust him..."
"Yeah," Leo agreed with a sigh. Then he went on: "Especially lately he's often so edgy... At the moment it seems everything is a little too much for him. He has his own family to take care of, he has a baby who keeps him awake all night. He has his work at the school. And he has his talkings with Steve... And I guess that's the biggest problem of all of them. Until now he hid most of his memories about his past from everyone including himself. But those talks with Steve, he is taking that really seriously. He's using this opportunity to not only help Steve but also himself. But, even if it's good that he finally found a way to work things out, this also brings his past back to the surface and that's affecting him. I'm just not sure if this is the right moment, with all the Elders being so suspicious... On the other hand, which will be the right moment?"
Silas nodded, keeping silent. He had also noticed that Chris wasn't as relaxed as usual...
At that moment both Elders heard the voice of Odin in there minds: "We need you both, NOW! Andrew was attacked!"

°°°°°°°°°°

Cole was holding his wife in his arms, while she was sitting on his lap. "Oh... baby... I... love... you... so... much... always... and... forever..." he said, interrupting himself with giving her small little kisses.
"I love you, too," she replied, while her fingers played with his short hair. Then she pressed her lips on his and kissed him passionately.
Cole couldn't help it. His hands moved down her back, and then up again... this time under her top. When she let him breath again he whispered: "Those scientist are completely wrong when they say, that you lose the sexual interest in your partner, when you are married for a while... I think it's the complete opposite." Then he started kissing her cheek, her ear, her neck...
Phoebe shivered by that soft touch of his lips. But still she smiled about his words: "I guess they mean when you're married for a loooooooooong time."
Cole looked at her seriously: "Baby, believe me... There will never be someone who can light my fire that easily like you do!" Now Phoebe laughed. Then she playfully, opened the knobs of his shirt...
Suddenly someone cleared his throat.
The couple turned around startled. When they saw it was one of the craftsmen, they both blushed. Phoebe then rose and asked: "What can we do for you? Is anything wrong?"
The man grinned: "The power is gone... didn't you notice that the noise stopped?"
Phoebe chuckled: "Really?... No, I guess we had been toooo busy..." Then she took the man's hand and pulled him away. "The backups are at the kitchen..." But before she left, she turned to her husband and winked: "Don't run away..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris and Steve had found a calm place in one of the labs... actually in that one, where the kids learn to cook, one time every second week. Now it was completely empty, but still they found everything they needed to prepare a little second breakfast. Chris made the famous 'Halliwell-scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese' and Steve made some sandwiches.
Then they sat down, facing each other and enjoyed their meal.
Even if the talks they had were always serious and mostly really emotional, they both liked it... and they both knew that it was what they needed. In each other they had found someone to talk about things which no one else would understand. And that was good.
"How is Nicki?" Chris asked. "I haven't seen her since the weekend."
Steve grinned: "Which was three days ago... But, yeah... she's fine, I guess."
"You guess?"
"She's still worried about me, even if she tries not to show it."
Chris nodded. And then, after he had swallowed down another piece of the sandwich, he asked: "And you? How are you?"
Steve shrugged: "The last night was ok..."
"That's good," the Elder-witch answered, "So... will you come back for more teaching soon? I mean... for teaching the magical classes again?"
"Chris... I told you I can't... Really it's hard enough to take over the math-class again... You know, I just can't stand in front of those kids, telling them how cool it is to be a witch when I know that it is not... it is just dangerous..."
"Steve... it's not... when you know how to use your powers it is not... Not more than crossing a street..."
"Yeah, yeah... I know..." he sighed lowering his eyes.
Chris sighed, too: "Even if you don't believe it... we really need you here... it's a fact that we don't have enough teachers... So everyone that is missing really leaves a big hole... And... I think it will help you. You need to overcome your fears..."
"I know," Steve muttered. Then he looked up and Chris saw his eyes welling up with tears. "But I just can't..." he muttered.
Chris stood up, went over to him and knelt down by his side: "Don't worry, I'm here, and I'll help you... and you'll see in a not so far away future, we will both go demon-hunting together..."
Steve chuckled, but still he cried. So Chris hugged him, trying to comfort him. He had to help his friend, he just had to...

°°°°°°°°°°

"Oh, my God, can anyone tell me what happened?" Leo asked as he hurried to help the others to heal Andrew. Silas stayed behind, looking at the wounded Elder in horror.
"We don't know! When we found him he was barely conscious. He mumbled that someone had kidnapped Lyta and Morgan. - Please come here and help now, Silas!" Odin answered, desperately.
Silas finally reacted and went to them, but the sight was so painful... He had been an Elder for a long time. And he was not precisely a young man, either. He should be used to all type of injuries and wounds, but this... He was completely shocked. However he was able to join them without throwing up.
At that moment the doors opened with a strong thud and Jeremiah entered with an angry look on his face. "I need an explanation, and I need it now!" he exclaimed.
"Me too!" Leo replied, keeping his eyes on the slowly-healing body of an unconscious Andrew.
"Leo Wyatt, do not dare to talk to me like that..."
Odin turned to him furious: "Jeremiah, for God's sake. We are trying to heal Andrew so, please, co-operate: Stay and help, or leave, but SHUT UP!"
Leo and the other Elders, startled, took a quick glance at Odin. They had never imagined him answering that way to the other Elders, but they had to keep their healing on. Jeremiah himself was taken aback, and he did as he had been said, but stayed behind, just staring.
The doors had closed right after he had entered, leaving outside all the other Elders that were still there after the meeting, murmuring and babbling about what had just happened, but the five Elders inside were totally focused on the victim. His wounds were healing, little by little, and with this, Silas started to feel better too.
Finally, Andrew opened his eyes, very slowly, and slightly smiled at Leo when he saw his blue eyes fixed on him, full of worry.
"Hey... I thought I would not make it..." he mumbled. Leo nodded, trying to smile back, while Odin and Yuri helped him in a sitting position.
"Now that is everything fine again, can anyone explain what has happened here?" Jeremiah asked again, approaching Andrew, and taking his hand with care.
Yuri shook his head as Silas kept staring at Andrew. "This Elder has been about to die," Leo remarked.
Andrew swallowed. "I... I was too late. Lyta and Morgan... They were kidnapped... I cou... I could not do anything," he muttered.
Odin pressed his shoulder comfortingly: "We know, my friend. You just told us before passing out. But do you..."
"How did it happen?" Jeremiah interrupted, as Silas's eyes kept fixed on the void, perhaps.
Leo looked at him angrily: "Don't press him, Jeremiah, he has been about to die!"
"That is what worried me!" the Elder answered back, in a cold tone. "An Elder can not die unless he's shot by a darklighter arrow, and he was really badly injured, so I demand to know what has happened."
"I... I don't know..." Andrew answered, sobbing a little. "I don't... I didn't have time to see anything, I..."
"It's ok," Odin intervened, inviting him to stop talking, "relax, and we'll talk in a moment."
Then he turned to Silas: "Meanwhile, we should try to sense the lost Elders." Silas nodded, same as Yuri, before they both orbed away.
But Leo had not taken his eyes from Jeremiah, who was breathing heavily because of the fury. "Jeremiah... this man wasn't hurt by a darklighter arrow," he said.
"What do you mean?" the other Elder asked, frustrated. "That is the only way of killing one of us, since the Titans are vanquished..."
"There is another way," Leo stood up approaching Jeremiah, and leaving Andrew under Odin's care, who listened attentively, a bit in horror. "Another Elder can kill any of us. With our own powers, or with our own magic." Leo shivered at his own words, remembering how Gideon had tried to kill Wyatt, and how his own magic had turned against him, when Chris stabbed him.
"What are you insinuating?" Jeremiah asked, feeling the wroth grow in him, "that one of us tried to murder him? And kidnapped two of us? That is defamation!!! I can't allow..."
"You can and you have to admit it. We are not perfect, it happened once," Leo cut him off, without realising that his own words were turning on him.
Jeremiah narrowed his eyes. "Yes. Actually YOUR son did it. And even so we accepted him among us... as a reward," he answered sarcastically.
Leo swallowed, feeling how his face was redder and redder. "My-son-did-what-he-had-to," he spoke very slowly and very lowly, almost menacingly. "Gideon was a murderer, and..."
"Chris did what he thought was the best. Maybe the means was not good, but that is part of the past. What surprises me now is..." Odin was talking very calmly, while comforting Andrew and staring at Jeremiah's eyes. "What surprises me now is that the Elders who have been attacked have been defending Chris before."
"Lyta did..." Andrew muttered, very weakly. "Actually she was trying to convince Morgan."
"And?" Jeremiah asked, too fast.
"AND... She was about to get her on Christopher's side," Odin remarked, looking at him fiercely.
Jeremiah went paler: "Are you trying to say that one of us, another Elder, has done this?" He shook his head. "No way. I can't allow this talk here. You are really wrong, this must have another explanation..."
Andrew lowered his eyes. He wished he had seen something else, but he hadn't. He had just left the meeting after it was done, with Lyta and Morgan, and then it all happened so fast... But it had happened up there... And darklighters could not enter there.


(Chapter 1 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)