Disclaimer: Neither Jordan nor I own Charmed.

A/N: Me: And now… the moment…

Jordan: Of DUN DUN DUNNNNN!!

Me: XD True. There would be much dramatic music to go with this part of the story.

Jordan: So remember to review!


Chapter Three – The Storm

Jordan had finally woken up a few minutes after Lyn had all but shoved Lizzie out of the room, and they had stayed in her room for several hours. Lyn had found her CD player and a blouse which Jordan had 'borrowed' among the bags and reclaimed it, and only after unpacking everything Jordan owned did they finally quietly leave the room. Of course, Lizzie had to know that Jordan was up by now, but she didn't show up, and neither did James – which, for the most part, both girls were thankful for.

Neither exactly felt like the company of anyone else, so they ate cold pizza from the fridge when they got hungry and occupied themselves with unpacking Lyn's room. In there Jordan reclaimed her laptop charger cord, an assortment of hair clips, and a bag of mementos which she had shoved in Lyn's suitcase because she didn't have enough room in her bags and they sorted out Lyn's much more organized belongings. Their work was only occasionally interrupted by the discovery of a particularly painful sort of memory, like the framed image of a two-year-old Lyn with her parents or the photo album of their trip to Jacksonville last summer.

It was when the storm started brewing that Lyn began to really be put on edge. Jordan didn't understand it, so naturally she equated it to the same thing she felt jittery about – everything that had happened that day. When she finally said she was tired and left for her own room around eleven o'clock, Lyn sat on her own bed with her arms wrapped around her legs and chin resting on her knees and tried not to worry so much. It was stupid, how she was so scared by a simple dream. It wasn't real, it was just her subconscious's manifestation of her fear that something would happen to Jordan, the only person she had left now.

And nothing that had happened today changed that.

Jordan pulled on a set of Pierce High School sweats and turned off her lights, getting under her covers and pulling them up to her chin while revisiting everything that had happened that day. It took her a little while to fall asleep, thinking of everything Lizzie had said.

Lyn was just beginning to calm down enough to begin talking herself into trying to sleep when she saw the flash of lightning – heard the crack of thunder, dangerously close, and from this side of the third floor, she could actually see the towering palm tree sway and begin to fall. She was on her feet before she could hear the thud, her heart going a mile a minute.

It couldn't be, it wasn't possible…

But that didn't stop her from moving. She didn't stop to turn any lights on, just dashed to the door, her bare feet making only the faintest sound on the hardwood floor of the main room, and paused with her hand hovering a half centimeter from the doorknob on Jordan's room. She was probably already asleep… probably would kill Lyn for waking her up… but Lyn had to know…

Then she heard the second peal of thunder and her decision was already made. She threw the door open just as the ball of fire sprang to life in the man's hand. The faint light streaming through the windows in the main room cast a faint light on his face, on the same feral snarl that she had dreamt of – but surely this was just another dream?

"JORDAN!" Lyn yelled with all of her voice, frozen in place by the man's dark eyes as he switched his gaze to her, as she clearly read the intention of murder in his gaze…

Jordan woke with a start, looking around and finally seeing a man – who was holding fire in the palm of his hand, or at least so it seemed. "Who are you!?" she yelled, attempting to back away but just coming into contact with her headboard.

"My name is not important for a couple of witches who are about to die," growled the man in the same guttural voice that had made Lyn's skin crawl in her dream.

There was a sound of a door slamming and scrambling feet from somewhere on the first floor.

"Maybe I'll take care of the old one, too, while I'm here…" His gaze flickered to Jordan and then to Lyn as he went on, "I was going to start with the youngest, but since you're just so eager to die…"

"Jordan…" Lyn said, her voice a petrified whisper. "Run…"

Jordan's eyes went wide and she cried, "AUNT LIZZIE! JAMES! SOMEBODY!" The fireball went flying out of the demon's hand at the same instant that Jordan jumped in front of Lyn, her hands held out in a feeble attempt to protect them both.

The scream resounded in James's mind and he quickly located Jordan and Lyn, orbing into the third floor bedroom just as the fireball hit Jordan in the stomach, burning a hole, and she fell to the floor, bleeding and unconscious. He turned around to see the demon in the room with both Lyn and Jordan, who was on the ground.

"Hey!" he yelled, catching the demon's attention. Its eyes went wide and it quickly retreated back out the open window, throwing a fireball over its shoulder as it went. The ball of flame came within an inch of Lyn's head as she ducked, and James dodged it neatly before running into the room, kneeling to the floor beside Jordan and holding his hands above her stomach. There was an amber glow and, beneath it, the hole burned into Jordan's stomach disappeared into nothing but a hole in her sweatshirt.

She woke with a start, sitting up and seeing James kneeling next to her. Her eyes widened and she looked from him to Lyn and then to the broken window. "How…?"

Lizzie came dashing in, then, skidding and crashing into Lyn as she came off of the hardwood floor in slippers. Her quick gaze took in the broken window and the hole in Jordan's sweatshirt and she gasped out the same question that Jordan had been trying to get out: "What happened!?"

"He – it – it came through the window," Lyn stammered, pointing shakily. "Last night – but I was dreaming! It was a dream, but – but it had fire in its hand, and – and it was gonna kill her!"

"I hate to break it to you, but that was a premonition – another power of yours. Do you see, now?" James asked, picking Jordan up and placing her on the bed before turning to frown at Lyn.

"How did… there was a hole in my stomach! Fire or something! How did you get rid of it!?" Jordan asked, pulling her sweatshirt up and examining her abdomen.

"This is – I don't even – what the crap!?" Lyn yelled suddenly, recovering her temper and a touch of hysteria as the initial petrification ebbed away. "People who throw balls of fire break into the room in the middle of the night and almost kill my sister and you two just waltz in all calm and serious and still trying to convince me I'm God knows what like it's no big deal!? What the crap kind of people are you!?"

"Lyndotia, dear… it's just that we're used to it," Lizzie said in an attempt at comfort.

"Nobody should be used to that!" Lyn objected, pointing at the window again. "And stop calling me that, just stop! You're not Mom!"

"Lyn… stop. I'm just as freaked as you are, but they're right. We do have a right to know. At least we're with them and not some other unknowing relative who would've put us in a circus. And come on. He just saved my life. They only want to help us…" Jordan looked to James and added, "Thank you…"

"No problem," he assured her. "It's my job."

Jordan cocked her head to one side. "Your… job?"

"I'm your whitelighter. Both of yours. Sort of like a protector for witches. We didn't want to tell you until you started developing your powers."

Lyn just stood and stared at them incredulously. How was Jordan just accepting this!? How could anyone just accept this!? Lyn wanted to go home, to her friends, her job, and she didn't want to be some sort of possibly insane freak! She didn't want any of this, she just wanted her life back.

"Er – Lyn?" Lizzie said uncertainly, looking confused. "Dear, you – you're doing it again…"

"Whatever," Lyn growled. "I'm just gonna – I don't know, go somewhere else." And she retreated out the door, slamming it behind her – or, at least, there were loud footsteps and the door slammed. That was all that Lizzie was aware of, because Lyn herself was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, dear," Lizzie said with a sigh before looking worriedly at the other two. "She won't leave or get herself in trouble, will she, Jordan? James, can you sense her?"

"Knowing her, she probably will. What do you mean, sense her?" Jordan asked, looking from Lizzie to James.

"It's how whitelighters find the location of our charges, and know how they're feeling, or their physical well-being. She's distressed, and moving farther away. She definitely isn't in the house any more," James reported, pausing for a second before looking to Lizzie and asking, "Should I get her?"

Lizzie bit her lip. "I don't know. She won't like it, but we can't let her wander off anywhere with that demon still on the loose…"

"She isn't going to accept this. Hell, I'm barely accepting this. I mean, I turned into a horse! She's invisible! And you healed me or something? And a demon came in through my bedroom window? Held fire in his hand!? I mean, seriously, what the hell!? Next you're gonna tell me unicorns exist!"

"Actually… they do," James told her, getting off the bed and going to stand next to Lizzie. "And you're going to develop more powers over time. Lyn's already ahead of schedule if she's having precognitive dreams and turning invisible."

"You should be glad the demon had to come in through your bedroom window," Lizzie said seriously. "Ordinarily they can just flame or shimmer in wherever they want. I put a protective spell on the house to keep them from coming in directly like that, but I don't know how much longer that will last; it's only supposed to work until you two come into your powers."

"So… it's gonna go away soon, now that I got my power? Doesn't seem very useful, though… turning into a horse?" Jordan chuckled, shaking her head.

"You should go talk to the Charmed Ones, Liz – to see if they can help us convince Lyn, help them both fine-tune her powers, and get rid of this demon. I'll find Lyn, or at least make sure she stays safe," James said before orbing out.

Jordan grimaced. "I don't think I'm gonna get used to that any time soon…"

Lizzie smiled. "You'll get used to it faster than you think, dear. It's both a blessing and a curse of what we are."


Lyn was tired of walking, mostly because she was already tired of this scenery, too. It was all dry and dim and bland. There wasn't a break for forests, for ponds or creeks or fields, and it was driving her nuts. She just wanted to go home, for things to go back to normal. She wanted the people she cared about back.

Finally she gave up on walking – it wasn't making her feel any better, anyway – and sat down on the ground with a sigh. The trees here were so uniform that it only increased her homesickness. She missed the abundance of firs and oaks and maples and dogwoods, all strewn together into the jumbled mass that made up the woods behind her house.

And it was her house, her home, it always would be. It was where she belonged, not here, with all this insane stuff that she couldn't explain, that wasn't logical and made no sense.

Lizzie had said that her mom had known, that she had been like this. Why wouldn't she have said anything? Why would she have let Lyn grow up so deeply steeped in a world she didn't belong to if she really didn't belong to it? Her mom wouldn't have done that… would she?

That familiar pain settled into Lyn's chest again as she thought of her parents. Somehow it was both an ache and a stabbing sensation at the same time, and also a gaping hole that even the pain couldn't fill. She was so tired, so sick of being treated like a fragile little flower who was as naïve as she was weak.

Lyn had had her eyes closed as she was thinking, but when she opened them, she finally understood what Lizzie had meant by 'you're doing it again.' She had her head bowed and was looking down at her hands – only they weren't there. She could see right through to the ground she was sitting on.

It was an eerie feeling, but at the same time, oddly… comforting? She was almost repulsed by that thought, but it was true. At least, while she was like this, she could think and feel as she wanted without having to face the scrutiny of others. It was strange, the feeling of serenity that washed over her, then. Maybe it wasn't so bad, after all. Right now, for just a moment, she was free.

James orbed to Lyn, expecting to see her standing against a wall or sitting on a bench, but instead… nothing. She wasn't there. She must still be invisible. "Lyn… I just want to talk. You don't have to show yourself. Is that okay with you?"

Lyn fought back a sigh at the loss of her moment of peace and crossed her arms, looking up. Apparently gardener-supernatural-whatever-the-crap-he-was-boy knew she was here, but didn't know exactly where. "I don't know how to – un…do… whatever, anyway," she muttered. "So what do you want?"

"You know, I felt the same thing you're feeling… roughly, when my powers first came to me. I was confused and scared. I felt panicked, helpless. I found solace in your aunt. She helped me through it while I learned how to use and control my powers. Then, a few years ago, she helped me deal with the deaths of my parents. I'm sure I don't know exactly what you're feeling, but I do know what it feels like to have a hole in your heart so big that you think it can never be filled again."

James leaned against the wall of a nearby building, looking up at the sky. "Lizzie's a wonderful woman. A wonderful witch. She wants to help you, and I know everything's confusing, but don't push away your sister. You mean so much to her, you mean so much to your aunt. I'm not saying you should just go back home and take on all of… this. Just try to accept it for what it is."

"And what exactly is that, then?" Lyn asked, her voice low and quiet but unaccusing, for once. "You gonna start on about how I should look on the bright side and don't forget what I have left, like the shrinks who keep telling me how I'm damaged and dangerous and if I don't stop repressing, I'm gonna lose it and kill somebody? Heh… I'd like to know what they think I'd do if I didn't repress crap…"

"I'm not saying you should do anything. I know right now it seems like there isn't any bright side. Just know that we're here for you. I mean, hell, I repress stuff. I repressed when my mom and dad died. But, eventually… I learned to accept this, the fact that I have powers. Just like you're eventually going to have to accept it. You're a witch, Lyn. You can do things that some people can't even imagine, and your powers are going to develop into something much greater. Sorry to be blunt, but I never really believed in the whole caring and sharing, shield-people-from-the-truth thing." He chuckled and moved toward the sound of Lyn's voice before sitting down.

"No, blunt is good," Lyn said with a sigh. "It's honest, and people lying and being evasive ticks me off." She fell silent for a moment, an uncertain silence because without being able to see her expression, there was no way of knowing what she was thinking. A small rock floated up a foot or so into the air; she was twirling it between her fingers. When she spoke again, though, her voice was softer still, barely above a whisper.

"And you're wrong, anyway. I'm not trying to push Jordan away; I'm just trying to keep her safe. If she believes you and wants to stay, then she should. But I don't want to be here. I don't want to be this." The rock suddenly flew off into the darkness; there was a short silence, followed by the sound of it skidding against the dirt some distance away. Lyn's voice was barely audible as she concluded, "I can't protect her if I don't even know who I am."

"No matter where you are, you're still going to be what you are. And, Lyn, I know you can conquer this. You're strong, I can tell. Now, I'm not going to try and make you stay, I'm just saying that… I don't exactly know what I'm saying." James looked over to where Lyn was supposed to be and smiled slightly.

Lyn laughed darkly and closed her eyes. "And right there, you prove my point. Even you and Lizzie keep saying 'what I am' instead of 'who I am.' And as much as everybody keeps trying to tell me I'm underestimating my strength and I'll make it through this, half the time I don't even feel like me, any more."

"I'm sorry. Hey… do you wanna just forget about all of this for the time being and do something?" James asked, getting up and looking down at the source of Lyn's voice.

Lyn frowned confusedly, not that he could tell that. "What are you talking about?" she asked slowly.

"You know, one of the perks of being able to orb anywhere is that I can take last-minute trips anywhere I want," he said, his right eyebrow raising.

"And you – orbing, did you call it? – somewhere is supposed to help me forget about anything?" Lyn asked doubtfully.

"I dunno… It's worth a shot? We could go anywhere – oh… wow. I guess it's already working a little bit?" he guessed, staring down at a now visible Lyn.

Lyn blinked when he said that and put her hand in front of her face, moving it around to check it from all angles as if she had half forgotten what it looked like. "Hm. Well, what do you know. At least I look like myself again."

James smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "So… what do you say? London, Paris, Rome? Philadelphia?" he added with a smirk.

Lyn looked down and chuckled lightly, shaking her head. "Thanks anyway, but there's only one place I really wanna go… and I can't go back now. Wouldn't be the same, anyway."

"Do you wanna go back to your aunt's house, then?" he asked, wanting so badly to just make her happy.

"Not really." Lyn sighed and then looked up at him wearily. "You probably think I'm crazy, don't you? Anybody else on the planet would be ecstatic about going to California, staying someplace like Lizzie's. Even Jordan. You've gotta think I'm crazy for wanting to go back to Hicksville, Tennessee."

"You aren't crazy. Not by a long shot."

Lyn sighed and rested her chin on her knees. For a second, she heard her mother's voice, clear as day, berating her for sitting outside in the rain and asking if she wanted to die of hypothermia. It didn't make her feel any better. "So then why do I always feel like I'm messing up, no matter what I do?"

"I don't know… Because you're the kind of person who would do anything to make the people she loves happy, no matter what." James sat back down by her side and looked over at her.

The side of Lyn's lip twitched, but she still stared blankly straight ahead. "Mm. And I'm doing a real great job of that, huh?"

"You can't protect everyone, Lyn."

Lyn scoffed and nodded grimly. "You're right; I can't protect anyone."

"Lyn. You're seventeen. You're more mature than more twenty-year-olds. You've just hit a rough patch… Life can't always suck," he said with a chuckle.

"How do you –" Lyn paused, looking sideways at him, and shook her head. "Never mind; stupid question, I guess. You probably know more about me than I do."

James laughed. "Your aunt told me. Don't worry, I'm not that stalkerish."

Lyn's right eyebrow twitched. "Interesting choice of words, but if you say so. And you're still wrong, either way. If I were so mature, I wouldn't be blowing up at people all over the place and freaking out about this crap."

"You're going through a lot, Lyn. And for God's sake… you just found out that you're a witch!" James said, turning to her.

"Yeah, and now we're just going in circles." She stood up and shook back her soaking-wet hair. Probably should've stopped to get a jacket… Mom'd kill me… and Dad'd say I know better, which I do… Sighing, she brushed back the dark strands that were plastered to the side of her face with the moisture and muttered, "It doesn't matter, anyway. I'm just gonna go back, Jordan's already gonna kill me…"

"Do you want me to… orb us?" James asked, getting up.

Lyn shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I'm not afraid of the rain."

"You might catch cold if you're out in the rain any longer. If you haven't already caught one…"

Ugh, why does everybody keep trying to act like my parents!? Lyn bit back the retort that was ready on the tip of her tongue. She had already freaked out enough for one night. So instead she forced a smirk and fell back on her old standard, muttering in an attempt at joking, "Just a cold? Nothing more extravagant, like getting struck by lightning?"

James rolled his eyes and grabbed Lyn's hand, orbing them both back to Lizzie's house.

Lyn blinked several times, then raised both eyebrows. "O…kay… That was… only mildly weird, after everything today…"

"You'll get used to it," James said with a shrug.

"I doubt that," Lyn murmured. She shook her head and shot him a sideways glance. "Just in case Jordan kills me as soon as I walk upstairs, thanks. You saved her life; I owe you."