Summary: So I wrote this story like a long time ago but someone offered to beta it for me. Her name: MegK1978. Her mission: To take Charmed in Cardiff and make it grammatically correct. Completed: Yes and so I have decided to re-post the chapters of this story to show you her awesome work because it would be rude not too. Once again, shout-outs go to MegK1978 who took her time and energy to make this story even better.
Disclaimer: Don't own either shows.
Chapter 2: Saving Mr. I Know Everything
San Francisco, California: 11:30 a.m.
After telling her sisters of her vision they sprung into action. It had been a while since they'd had to fight a demon, but it was nothing that they couldn't handle. After all, they were the Charmed Ones! They had defeated the Source three times, destroyed the Ultimate Power, and countless other demons that had tried to kill them and those they loved.
Phoebe flipped through the Book of Shadows, trying to identify the demon she saw in her vision, while her sisters were standing there quizzing her about what she'd seen.
"And you said he killed five people."
"Yeah," she responded, not even looking up from the Book. "Three men, two women, although I didn't see the first three get killed, just the last two."
"Did he say why?" Piper asked as she walked over to her younger sister. She was reluctant to go back to her demon fighting days, but she knew she couldn't let the lives of five people hang in the balance. She would have a normal day some other time.
"No, but there has to be a reason behind it."
"He's a demon," Paige responded as she began to pace back and forth across the floor. "They don't need a reason to kill, they just do."
"She's got a point," Piper pointed out.
"I found him!" Clapping her hands together, Phoebe turned the book to show her sisters. There before them was an artist's rendering of the demon from Phoebe's vision.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, this is him. Same greasy black hair, slimy smile, evil face; and it comes complete with a vanquishing potion."
Piper leaned in closer and started to read. "Dalmore, upper-level demon, has fireballs and can shimmer. He once worked for the Source, but turned rogue when the Source tried to kill him."
"Gee, I wonder why?" Phoebe asked sarcastically.
"Probably made a bid for power, the usual." Paige smiled as she stood near her sisters. "We've found the bad guy; do we have a plan?"
"That's something that I haven't thought of yet."
"When did your vision take place?" Piper asked.
"That's also something I don't know," Phoebe sighed as she closed the book and sat down. "The location was completely unfamiliar, never saw it before; it may have been taking place late afternoon."
"So that helps us how?"
"Paige-" Piper scolded.
"Sorry," she whispered as she sat down beside Phoebe and grabbed his hand. "We'll save them, don't worry."
"How, Paige? I don't know where the attack takes place or when for that matter."
"Why don't we concentrate on making the vanquishing potion and worry about the where and when later?" Piper suggested as she made her way over to her sister. "The Elders wouldn't have given you the vision if they didn't want us to stop it."
"Okay," came the reply as she followed her older sister down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Cardiff, Wales: 4:34 p.m.
The Torchwood Cardiff team was bored. It was already after four and they had done nothing since they arrived at seven in the morning. Rift activity had been light and there were no Weevil sightings for the past two days.
Captain Jack Harkness had just come out of his office to tell the team that they could go home early when the alarms start going off. "All right, some action!" Jack shouted, running behind Toshiko Sato, who already had her eyes on the computer screen. "What have we got?"
"Well, it's not Rift activity, that much I know," the computer genius replied as her fingers flew across the keys. "It's something else. In just a second I'll have it on the CCTV-"
The team turned to the monitors to see a young man chasing a young woman down the street and into an alleyway. They watched the girl pick up a stick to try to fight off her attacker; it didn't appear to work, which was no surprise to the team. What was a surprise was the man seemed to lift the woman and throw her into the air without so much as touching her!
"Oh my God, how's he doing that?" Gwen Cooper whispered as she moved closer to the screen. "It's like he's lifting her off the ground with his hands."
"Maybe he has some sort of telekinetic abilities." Tosh pointed out. "It could explain the tossing in the air."
"Doesn't matter," Jack replied as he grabbed his coat from Ianto Jones, the rest of the team making their way out of the hub. "We have a girl to save."
Ianto made to go out, as well, when Jack suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Maybe you should stay here," he said with concern. "It could be dangerous."
Ianto sighed as he looked at Jack. Ever since the Weevil attack two weeks before, when he'd been thrown so hard against a wall that he was knocked unconscious for almost thirty minutes, Jack had been borderline overprotective and possessive.
"Jack-"
"I'm just saying that you were seriously hurt last time."
"I'm fine, Jack," Ianto protested. "I walked away with a minor concussion and a few bruised ribs."
"Still, it might be dangerous," Jack tried again, reaching out only to have Ianto push him away.
"What about the others, won't they be in danger?"
"Yes, but-"
"And last time I checked I was part of the team, or do you still see me as the tea-boy?"
"Never doubt your place in the team. You're a very important member and don't you forget it."
"Then stop trying to protect me, sir, because I don't need it." Ianto seethed as he walked past Jack and out with the team. Jack just sighed as he put on his coat, following the young man out.
When they arrived ten minutes later, they discovered that they were too late. The girl was already dead, her body curled up on the ground with what looked like multiple stab wounds to her chest. Owen took a white sheet from his medical bag, covering the body.
"We're too late," Tosh whispered in horror. "He killed her."
"We can see that, Tosh." Owen scoffed as he stood back up. "She's gone and there's nothing we can do about it except find out where he went. I mean, he couldn't have gotten far."
"Yeah, and we can ask why he did this," Gwen said, a hint of anger in her voice.
"No, the real question would be just what is he?" Jack answered.
"That's what I would like to know." Tosh started scanning the area around them. "I'm not picking up any Rift activity, or any signs of alien life."
"Why don't the two of us see if we can find out exactly what that thing was?" Jack suggested, getting nods from Tosh and the others. "Call immediately if he comes back."
"Of course, sir-"
"I mean it, Ianto," Jack sternly said as he looked in his eyes. "I need you to be careful."
"I'm always careful."
"Well, I just need a little reassurance sometimes." Jack smirked as he kissed the Welshman's forehead before he and Tosh made their way out of the alley.
"The bloke could be human," Owen speculated, after the two of them were out of sight. He knew it was probably stupid to say, but he felt like he needed to say something.
"Owen, did you not see when he threw her in the air?" Ianto scoffed, bending to get a closer look at the woman. "I don't know about you but normal humans don't have that kind of power."
"What else could he be?"
"I don't know." Ianto ran his fingers through his hair. The situation seemed familiar but he just couldn't place from where. He was about to straighten when he noticed a small tattoo on the woman's wrist, the only part of her not covered by the sheet. "What a minute, what's this?"
"What?" Owen asked as he bent down beside the body to inspect it but scoffed as soon as he realized what Ianto was talking about. "It's a tattoo, tea-boy."
"I know that but look the design. Doesn't it strike you as weird?"
"No not really."
"What are you two talking about?" Gwen asked.
"Ianto here thinks something is weird about the woman just because she has a tattoo."
"It's not the tattoo, it's the design." Ianto had the gnawing feeling that he'd seen it before, somewhere, and it plagued his mind. "It seems very familiar."
"That's because is a Carolingian cross."
"A what?" Owen asked.
"A Carolingian cross, sister to the triquetra." she remarked again. "I took a religious study course at University and we learned all about it."
"Okay-"
Gwen gave her colleague a scathing look. "It's a symbol that's used to represent three of something, although my professor said that it deals mostly with Christianity."
"But isn't it used with other religions?" Ianto asked, slowly realizing why the symbol looked so familiar.
"Well I guess but we really didn't discuss those much. Which religion were you concerned about?"
"Ever heard of Wicca?"
Gwen was about to respond when she felt a strong wind throw her off balance, as well as the rest of her team. Before they had a chance to get off the ground, they were shocked to see the murderer that they were looking for right in front of them.
"Were you waiting for me?"
"What the hell-" Owen shouted as he stood up, gun drawn as he waited for the others to do the same.
It didn't take long for the other two to jump to their feet and draw their guns as well, all pointing at the man, but the weapons didn't seem to faze him. Instead, he just stood there, a cynical smile plastered across his face.
"What if we said we were?" Ianto retorted.
"Then I would say there's no need to look any further because, here I am."
"You were stupid to come back, because now we have to take you in."
"Do you really think you can stop me?"
"It's not a matter of if but when."
The man just laughed at Ianto's comment before returning his frown. "I don't know who you are," he hissed, walking closer to them, "but I'm going to have so much fun killing you."
Ianto immediately reached to call Jack on his Bluetooth when the same force that knocked him down before threw him back against the wall behind him. His head hit the wall hard and though he tried to fight the darkness quietly sweeping over him, in the end he couldn't. The last he heard, bullets were launching from Gwen and Owen's guns.
San Francisco, California: 11:48a.m.
"Okay, potion's done," Piper shouted victoriously as she came back into the attic, a vial of blue liquid given to each of her sisters.
"Alright, we have out demon and we have our potion, we just need to know where the attack will happen. Phoebe, have you got anything?"
"You could say that." Phoebe pointed to the globe where the scrying crystal had flown out of her hand, twice. She'd done it the second time to make sure there was no mistake. "I have never seen it do that before."
Paige and Piper exchanged glances and shuddered. "We have," Piper admitted. "Remember a few years ago, when that demon tried to make you his mummy princess?"
This time Phoebe shuddered and nodded, remembering how desperate Cole Turner had been to get her back, however he could.
"The crystal did the same thing when we scryed for you," Paige added,
"Attached itself to Egypt." Now she went to the globe to see where the crystal hand landed this time. "Well, damn."
"What?" Piper asked. "Where?"
"Wales, in the UK."
"What? Phoebe's vision expects us to go to Wales?" Piper exclaimed.
"Hey, how was I supposed to know?" Phoebe protested. "I said that the
location looked unfamiliar."
"But outside the US?"
"It's not like it hasn't happened before. It happened with Jenny."
"Jenny was a genie who tried to kill us, remember?"
"Hey!" Paige yelled, inserting herself into the argument. "I think we're missing the point here. The Elders expect us to save these people, and they're in Wales." She glanced at the globe again. "Cardiff, to be exact. And we don't have any maps of anywhere outside San Francisco."
The sisters silently contemplated this new turn of events.
Paige spoke up again as a thought hit her. "Maybe we could say a spell to take us where the attack will happen. We could get to them in time and warn them about Dalmore, stop him even."
"Paige, that's brilliant!" Phoebe said, hugging her sister.
"Gotta hand it to you," Piper agreed. "It's a really good idea." She pulled out a pen and a sheet of paper. "Do the honors?"
Paige finished the spell five minutes later, motioning for her sisters to stand with her. "Just remember, I did this in only five minutes, so bear with me."
"Just say the spell, honey," Phoebe said with a reassuring smile.
"Okay." She sighed to calm herself as she held the paper before her. "Spirits now hear our call, to save the lives that Phoebe saw. Hear our words, hear our plea, to find the demon that we seek."
Bright white light surrounded the sisters as the spell took effect. Seconds later, they were in an alley, with Dalmore attacking their innocents! They had arrived in time, but two of them were unconscious, and the demon had a fireball ready to finish the job!
"That's them!" Phoebe shouted, drawing Dalmore's attention to them.
"Who are you?" he growled, staring at their sudden appearance.
"You'd think demons would get tired of asking us that," Paige quipped.
The demon smiled as he pretended to ponder, curling his hand under his chin. "Ah, let me see. Three witches coming together to save the lives of some pathetic humans. You must be the Charmed Ones."
"Our reputation precedes us," Phoebe smiled sarcastically.
"As will mine, once I kill you."
"Bring it." Piper smirked, raising her hand to blow him up where he stood, but he shimmered out before she could.
"Where-?" Phoebe started, when an arm clamped across her throat. Raising her leg, she swiftly kicked the demon in the head and rammed an elbow into his stomach. "Get them outta here!" she yelled, still attacking with a roundhouse kick landing to the stomach and constant punches to the face."
"Get off me," Owen growled, shaking Paige's helping grip on his arm. "Who the bloody hell are you people?"
"The ones who are saving your ass, that's who," Paige sniped, before making her way to Ianto, still out cold. She turned back to the fight, to see the demon dangling Phoebe in the air. "Trash can!" she called, the can disappearing in white lights to reappear and smack him in the head.
The impact made him lose concentration and release his hold on Phoebe, but she was using her power to hover. Anger suffused his face, another fireball appearing in his hand for him to throw at the levitating witch.
"Piper, freeze him!" Phoebe screamed.
Piper threw up her hands, demon and fireball freezing in place as Phoebe lowered to the ground. She yanked out her potion to throw, but Dalmore broke from his frozen state and shimmered away.
"Dammit!" Phoebe swore. She ran to Piper, trying to wake the young man and the woman, and watching Paige argue with the only conscious innocent. She was surprised to see him point a gun at them.
"Go on, then, tell me who you are," he demanded.
"We just saved your life, dude," Paige said, "and you're pulling a gun on us?"
"And I'm supposed to trust you?" he shouted again, waving the gun back and forth, trying to keep all three sisters in his sights. "You just appeared outta nowhere—"
"We're here to help you," Phoebe protested.
"Like I'm gonna believe you."
Paige, however, was fed up. "Oh, for God's sake, gun," she called, the gun materializing in her hand from Owen's. She smirked. "Not so tough now, are you?"
"Step away from him now, and raise your hands," an American accent said.
Piper, Phoebe, and Paige turned to see a third man and a second woman standing there, weapons drawn and ready.
"Well, this is the last time I try to help."
"Paige," Phoebe hissed in warning, raising her hands. "Listen, you got the wrong idea—"
"Tosh," the man said to the woman, cutting her off. "What've we got here, alien?"
She read the device held out before her. "I'm still getting no Rift activity or any alien readings," she replied. "In fact, the scan shows that…" she looked up at him in shock. "…They're human."
"Of course we're human," Piper retorted. "What else would we be?" She rolled her eyes. Of all the times she had saved innocents, this was a first: they'd all pulled guns on them!
"Don't act like you don't know," Jack said, his gun still trained on them.
"If you're gonna shoot, do it fast," Owen called, staying beside his fallen co-workers. "One has some kind of teleportation power, another can fly—"
"I didn't fly, I levitated," Phoebe corrected him. "And we're here because I had a vision that that demon killed all of you."
"Don't act like you don't know?"
"They're talking crazy, Jack. Demons and visions; the alien could be inside them, using them like a host or something."
"We're NOT aliens, you idiot!" Paige finally screamed at him, blowing hair from her face and rolling her eyes.
"If not, then what are you?" Jack asked.
"I believe the correct question is not 'what are they' but 'who are they?'"
Everyone turned to see the suited man awake and standing, his hands holding up the first woman. While she had a confused look on her face, he appeared to be smiling confidently as he looked at the sisters.
"Yan, do you know them?" the American asked, not daring to taking his eyes off the witches.
"Not personally, sir, but I know of them."
"Yeah, so who are they?" Owen asked.
"The Charmed Ones."
All the sisters jerked in surprise. "Okay, who are you, and how do you know that?" Piper asked.
"My name is Ianto Jones, and I know everything." He smiled as he walked to them, holding out a hand for Piper to take.
It took her a moment to accept the offer of friendship, or at least of truce, but she eventually did. Besides, who could resist that smile?
And, despite being married, she appreciated that he looked good in that suit.
There you have it folks, Chapter Two. Did you love as much as I loved writing it. I hope you did because it took alot to write it out. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and if you did drop me a review or two. You don't have to but I would greatly appreciate it.
Peace Out
"EC2"
