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 4: Plans and Alliances.

Cardiff, Wales: 6:30 p.m.

Two hours later, the sisters had filled the Torchwood team in on everything they knew about the demon, the powers he had and their uncertainty about any additional ones he may have acquired. Tosh had found reports of two other women and one man who had been found dead of multiple stab wounds. After getting in touch with the police, they learned that all three victims had the same tattoo on the wrist, telling them that maybe they had all been part of the same coven.

Phoebe had come back after being put through a battery of tests and examinations, including an ultrasound, by Owen. He had been reluctant to release her, but she convinced him that she would be fine. She had, in fact, still been doing it since she's gotten pregnant.

She discovered that Ianto, Gwen, and Piper had gone to the local store. Piper had realized they were down one potion and needed the ingredients to make another before Dalmore could come back and finish the job. Paige was sitting at Gwen's desk with pen and paper, trying to create a Power of Three spell, just in case the potions weren't enough. Beside her was probably her second cup of coffee; as if she needed another source for her caffeine addiction. Tosh was at her computer, not unusual for her she was told. Jack was hiding in his office. Deciding she'd rather talk to Jack than disturb Tosh or Paige, she knocked and let herself in, only to find him lying on his sofa.

"Hello, Captain," she greeted, receiving a smirk from him. "Whatcha doing?"

"Nothing much…just waiting for my boy… I mean Ianto and Gwen to return with your sister."

"It's okay to say 'boyfriend', you know. It's not like I don't already know."

"Have another vision?"

"Nope, felt it." She sat on his desk, looking around at the papers on it and the various strange artifacts on his shelves. "Plus, you'd have to be stupid-blind not to see the way you two look at each other when you think no one's watching. I think it's sweet."

"Well, aren't you the observant one," Jack scoffed, sitting up to look at her.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Not long," he admitted. "We had a bit of a rocky start, but we're getting better."

"Is that why you're feeling fear, because you're scared it won't work out?"

Jack scowled at her. "You know, I don't think I like you reading my emotions. An invasion of privacy, don't you think?"

"Not my fault," she retorted. "Like I said before, I can't control it like I can control my levitation." A smile crept across her lips. "Also, not my fault you don't have better control over your emotions. That includes the rest of your team."

"What's that mean?"

"It means: You're scared of losing Ianto. Ianto is terrified of loving you.

Tosh and Owen are deeply in love with each other, but they think they aren't good enough for each other. And Gwen is afraid of dying and leaving behind the one person she truly cares for." Phoebe took a deep breath after letting out all that information, feeling a million times better. She had a new appreciation of "the truth will set you free." "God that felt good."

Jack, meanwhile, was amazed at how much Phoebe had picked up from his team, especially him. "You read all that from us?" He sat beside her. "Wow." It was true that he had been having thoughts and nightmares about losing Ianto, making him overprotective every time they went out on a mission.

"I know, sorry. It just happens sometimes."

"It's okay, and you're right. I'm afraid of losing him to the evils we face everyday. I can't die, but that doesn't mean I'd survive losing him, after losing so many others I've loved."

Phoebe flinched slightly at the pain radiating from him, but grabbed hold of his hand, gently rubbing it gently between both of hers. "I know how it feels to lose someone you love."

"Really?"

"Really," she replied in a whisper. "I lost my first husband to evil, and my oldest sister seven years ago to a demon. For a long time, I didn't think I would make it. Prue was the one person I could count on, even if it was to call me on my crap, and to lose her so suddenly…it felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest."

"I'm so sorry."

Phoebe smiled and squeezed his hand. "Don't be. Losing Prue was hard, but gaining Paige helped ease the pain."

Confusion bloomed on his face. "I thought Paige was your sister." He was usually the one who was able to put the pieces of a story together without being told, but this was difficult for him.

"She is," Phoebe laughed, releasing him. "Piper and I didn't find out about her until after Prue died. Our mother had to give her away at birth because she was afraid of what the Elders would do if they found out about her affair with her Whitelighter."

"That had to be hard, giving up your child to be raised by strangers."

"But she made the right choice. Paige grew up with parents that loved her, and she gets to grow old with sisters who love her. But back to my point: I know how hard it is to lose someone, but you can't let the fear rule your life, because you might push him away in the end."

Jack looked into Phoebe's chocolate-colored eyes, and realized she was right. He couldn't keep Ianto from going out into the field just because he was afraid of losing him. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of the team if he showed favoritism, and it definitely wasn't fair to Ianto, after he'd worked so hard to prove he was more than just the tea-boy.

Phoebe could tell that Jack had listened to every word she said. It felt good to know that she could still change someone's life with her powers. She had missed doing it over the years.

He smiled before kissing her cheek and hopping up from the desktop. "Thanks for the advice, Phoebe. Now I'm glad I didn't shoot you."

"Thanks…I think. I'm an advice columnist for a local paper at home, so I'd better be good." She grinned, standing as well.

"So…Tosh and Owen, huh?" he asked, slight disbelief in his tone.

"Yeah, I know," she replied. "I've only known Owen for a few hours and I want to strangle him."

"Try working with him," Jack challenged.

"No thanks! I'd rather fight the Source, again."

"Who's the Source, and how many times have you fought him?"

Phoebe started to tell him the story as they made their way out of the office and back to the rest of the team.

Phoebe spent the next twenty minutes filling Jack in on their adventures with the Source and the times they'd almost died and crossed over. Jack countered with his own stories of fighting aliens and almost but never quite dying permanently. While they talked, Piper, Gwen, and Ianto returned with the needed supplies.

"About time you got back," Paige greeted them, waving the paper at them. "I finished the spell. What did you get?"

"I've got the ingredients for another vanquishing potion, and a scrying crystal and a map of Cardiff, to see if we can't find him that way."

"Good idea. Our globe at home couldn't exactly give us more detail." Paige held out her hands for the crystal and map. "I've got the spell ready. You go on and make the potion." She turned to the suited man.

"Ianto, could you please make me another cup of that fabulous coffee? I could really use it." She saw Phoebe still standing beside Jack as they had come back. "Jack seems to be enjoying your company, Phoebe, so you can stay with him." She went to Gwen's desk, Gwen following in curiosity.

"Hey!" Phoebe protested.

"Don't worry, Phoebe," Jack said with a grin. "She just wishes she was the witch graced with my presence."

"Shyeah, keep telling yourself that, buddy," Paige called from her side of the Hub, making everyone else laugh. Ianto was still chuckling as he led Piper to the kitchen.

"Tell me more about your grandmother?" Piper asked, chopping ingredients for the potion.

"What would you like to know?" Ianto asked from his coffee-maker.

"Nothing specific; the bare minimal, if you like."

Ianto watched her throw chopped bay leaves into the pot. "Well, from what she's told me, our family has always been involved in Wicca, even before it gained the name. It dates all the way back to the late-1600s, and it kind of stuck."
"Has anyone in your family had powers?"

"Not that I know of; we've been more like followers than practitioners, with my grandmother making potions for her coven friends. She was apparently very good at what she did. She even taught me a thing or two."

A puff of smoke erupted from the pot. Piper waved it away and smiled. "Is that why everyone loves your coffee and tea?" she teased gently. "You put something in it to make them love it?"

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Please! If I did, Owen wouldn't be the obnoxious bastard that he is," he laughed. "I just know what everyone likes, how to balance out the different flavors."

"Have you ever thought of doing something besides working here?"

"No. Torchwood's become my life. I can't imagine doing anything else."

"As long as you're happy." She immediately noticed his shoulders tense at her words. "You are happy, aren't you?" she asked cautiously.

"Define 'happy'."

Piper knew he was being evasive, but played along. "The feeling or showing of pleasure, contentment, or joy…at least, that's how Webster's defines it."

"Ha-ha, funny, but yes, I am happy." He sighed, turning to face her, eyes showing a hint of sadness that he was sure Piper could see. "To an extent."

"Trouble between you and Jack?"

Ianto choked in astonishment. "How…did you—?"

Piper scoffed playfully. "Please, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder could see how much he loves you. So, what's wrong?"

"A couple of weeks ago, I was injured in an attack."

"And now he's in overprotective mode, trying to shield you from the danger you're all in constantly." She nodded in understanding.

Ianto blinked. "How did you know?"
She gave him a gentle smile. "I've been down that road myself, with my husband; but we're talking about you now. What do you want him to do?"

"I want him to see that I won't break, that I can protect myself, that I don't need him to save me all the time." He was surprised at all the frustrations being given voice and pouring out to a complete stranger.

"And?" she prodded gently.

"And what?"

"Come on, Ianto, you're not fooling me. There's something else bugging you. What is it?"

"Okay, I'm scared," he finally, quietly, admitted. "I'm scared of loving Jack because I'm afraid he'll leave again. I'm using his over-protectiveness to push him away, to keep from being hurt again." He took a relieved breath, like a weight lifted from him, and gave her a curious smile. "Why do I feel like I can tell you everything like this?"

Piper put the knife down to really concentrate on him. "Maybe it's because I've been where Jack is now, and I know what it's like to be in your shoes. Maybe it's because I had three sisters who came to me with all their problems, even though Phoebe's the one who became the advice columnist."

"You have another sister?"

"Yes." She sighed, throwing more ingredients into the pot. Even though years had passed, it still sometimes hurt to talk about her. "She died seven years ago, and we met Paige, only to find out that she was our half-sister who'd been given up for adoption by our mother."

"Why?"

"Fear of the Elders, mostly. Our mother and her father thought they might take her away; they gave her up before that could happen."

"You've only known Paige for seven years?" Ianto smiled. "You seem so close."

"We are now, but that doesn't mean it wasn't hard to adjust to another sister that we didn't even know existed."

"You didn't like her at first?"

"No, it wasn't like that." She breathed, smiling slightly at the memories. "It was just…hard…to open my heart for another person, knowing that I could lose her any moment. I didn't want to go through that again, after losing Prue like we did." Despite herself, she felt tears gather in her eyes.

"But I realized later that pushing her away, out of fear, wasn't fair to her or my heart."
Ianto felt Piper's words hitting home, and felt a tear spill from his eyes. Piper reached up to wiped it away, then stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. He'd only known her for a few hours, and she was already proving to be a great friend.

"Don't be scared of loving Jack because you're afraid of losing him," she said, looking into his eyes. "You have as much to gain as you have to lose."

Piper turned her attention back to the potion, smiling to herself. It felt surprisingly good talking to someone about opening their heart, as others had spoken to her. She'd been so afraid to love first Leo, then Paige, but, in the end, she couldn't imagine her life without either of them. She wouldn't want it any other way.

After a few seconds of silence, Ianto said, "Thank you, Piper."
She smiled, added the final ingredient to the pot and stirring. "Anytime. Better hurry and get that coffee to Paige. I think you may have her hooked."

Ianto laughed and went back to his coffee maker to create a cup for the youngest witch, with a much lighter heart.

"Do you like doing this?"

Paige looked up at Gwen, who had been watching her scry the map since Piper had returned. They were the first words the woman spoke since clearing enough space to spread the map and let Paige work.
Paige shrugged in reply. "This part, not really, but when it helps to save a life, I don't complain."

"Oh." Gwen went to pick up the papers that were threatening to fall from desk.

"Why do you ask?"

"I just wondered."

"Okay." Paige went back to concentrate on the scrying.

"I mean, aren't you ever scared, fighting one of those demons?" Gwen asked. "I've only seen my first today, and I know I never want to see one again."

"Oh, believe me, I get scared," Paige assured her. "Downright terrified, even. We all do, but we can't stop just because we get scared. I mean, who'd protect the world if we just ran away and hid?"

"But who protects you?" Gwen asked, putting the folders back in their proper place. Meeting the sisters today, knowing she should have died today, made her wonder if this job was really worth it. Torchwood policy was, if she died in its service, no one would ever know; she'd just be another body in the morgue. "Who protects you from the evil?"

"My sisters."

"Your sisters?" Was it really that simple?

"My sisters," Paige reasserted, smiling and putting the crystal aside to pay attention to Gwen. It was hard to see someone destined to do so much good so afraid that there would be no one there for her, to protect her. "I trust my sisters with my life, and we'd do everything in our power to protect each other. And we have, because you have no idea how many times I've actually died."

"But aren't you afraid that, in the end…it won't be enough?"

"Yes, because I have a lot to lose if it's not. Sisters, husband, friends; but if I do end up dying…at least I know that I've done all I could to protect the world. That's the most important thing to me…keeping the world safe from evil."

"Oh."

Paige picked up the crystal to scry again. "Gwen, it's okay to be scared, you know. It's that fear that reminds us that, even after all the evil we've seen and destroyed, we're still human. As soon as we stop feeling and turn cold, we've lost ourselves to that evil."

Paige's words sunk into her, and Gwen realized the truth in the words. It was okay to be scared, but keeping the world safe was more important. She had a job to do, and there was no way she would let her fear inhibit her from doing it. "Has anyone ever told you that you give really good advice?" Gwen asked, watching the crystal circle over the map.

"Yeah, but Phoebe's the one who gets paid for it," Paige laughed in reply, before the crystal dropped to the map.

Gwen noticed, too. "What's that mean?"

"It means that son-of-a-bitch is attacking or about to attack. Piper! Phoebe!" Paige's shout called her sisters to come running, Jack and Ianto not far behind. She grabbed up the spell and the cup from Ianto's hand, downing the latter in seconds. "Yum."

"What is it?" Piper asked.

"I found him," Paige said, gesturing with the empty cup. "He's on a street called Fifth Avenue."

"That's only a few blocks away." Gwen rushed to another computer to pull up the CCTV feed. "Got him!" she shouted as the demon appeared. He was dressed as before, the same evil smirk across his face.

"Got the potions," Piper said, handing her sisters new vials of blue liquid.

"Paige?"

"One fabulously written Power of Three spell, if I say so myself." She smirked and patted herself on the shoulder.

"All right!" Phoebe clapped her hands and grabbed Paige's hand. "Let's go vanquish us a demon."

"What, what about us?" Jack asked.

"Excuse me?" Piper asked.

"Can't we go with you?" Gwen asked. The sisters looked at her like she was crazy.

"It's too dangerous." Paige was afraid Gwen had taken her words too much to heart, taking them to too far an extreme.

"Dangerous," Jack scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "We capture aliens on a daily basis; I think we know about dangerous."
"Last I checked, aliens are different that demons," Piper hissed. "For starters, demons have fireballs; aliens don't."

"Some have laser beams," Jack pointed out.

"Not the point!" Phoebe answered for her sister. "You could get hurt, and we can't risk that."

"Says the pregnant woman who fights like she's the Karate Kid," Owen scoffed, putting his own two pence into the argument. Everyone looked up to see him and Tosh, realizing later no one had seen them for a while.
Only Phoebe knew what the two of them had been up to, letting Owen know with a wink.

"We have powers to protect ourselves," Paige added. "You don't."

"We have guns," Tosh said.

"Guns and fireballs do not mix."

"I hate to point this out," Ianto interrupted, "but someone could be in danger, so we have to decide now."

Paige, Phoebe and Piper looked at each other, realizing they were arguing a losing battle with little time to lose. The Torchwood team would just follow if they were left behind; they knew where the demon was.

"All right," Piper sighed. "Everyone hold on, and don't let go."

"And don't worry about the nausea," Paige added. "It'll pass after a few seconds."

Torchwood grabbed hold of the Charmed Ones. The next thing they knew, they were disappearing into white lights, as the mug had done earlier.

They arrived in the alley seconds later. Most of the team, aside from Ianto, held on to each other and their stomachs in the aftereffects of orbing. Even Jack looked like he was about to wretch as Ianto held him.

"That is brilliant!" Gwen smiled as the nausea faded. "Being able to go anywhere like that!"

"It's not brilliant, if freaking horrible!" Owen proclaimed, helping Tosh to her feet. "Feels like my stomach's dropped to my knees."
"You get used to it," Paige laughed at the doctor's discomfort.

"He's not here," Ianto pointed out as the team regained their equilibrium.

"He didn't go far," Piper said, looking around, senses on alert. "He's probably hiding, waiting for us."

"Well, he doesn't sound—" Owen was cut off by suddenly flying to a wall, knocking him out.

"Owen!" Tosh screamed, she and Gwen running to him. They were rewarded by getting thrown into the wall right beside him.

"Come out and show yourself!" Jack shouted into the air, heading for his team. He felt like this was his fault; three of his team were out cold. He'd insisted on accompanying the Halliwells when he didn't know exactly what they were facing.

"Why, when this is so much more fun?" Dalmore's voice laughed on the wind, a fireball coming from nowhere, barely missing Ianto and the sisters.

"A cowardly demon," Paige scoffed, righting herself after ducking. "That's nothing new. Get some nerve, why don'tcha?"

"I will so enjoy killing you, Whitelighter."

"Power of invisibility," Ianto whispered to Phoebe, who nodded. "Could you—?"

"Working on it," she whispered back, moving to stand before her sisters. She hoped her empathy would let her sense where the demon was. Blocking out the others' emotions, she found him. "I don't think so!" She kicked the demon away from Tosh, just before she could be stabbed with the athame floating in the air.

Distracted, Dalmore wasn't able to hold on to his invisibility shield, letting himself be seen by all. "Bitch!" he said from the ground.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk to a woman like that?" Paige smirked.

"I wasn't talking to you, but if you insist." He threw a fireball right at Ianto.

"Fireball!" Paige shouted. The projectile curved away from Ianto back to Dalmore. The demon only stumbled at his attack boomeranging back at him.

Piper raised her hands, trying to blow the demon up, making bits of him disintegrate. She knew he was too strong to be completely destroyed this way, but it kept him distracted long enough from the Torchwood team for them to be safe.

"That the best you got?" He smirked and waving his hand, throwing Piper into boxes that had been left out, darkness surrounding her.

"Piper!" Phoebe aimed a running kick to Dalmore's back, knocking him to the ground. "Paige!" she shouted, using her fighting skills to fight him and cover Paige.

"On it!" Paige yelled in reply. She ran to Piper's side, where Ianto stood guard over her. He watched, amazed, as a bright orange glow came from her hands to cover Piper's back.

"You can heal, too?"

"Yup." Paige smiled as her sister came around and got up, Ianto helping her stand. "Being part-Whitelighter has its perks."

"Phoebe, now!" Piper demanded. The three of them charged back into the fray, seeing that Jack had jumped in to help Phoebe with a few moves of his own.

"Two against one hardly seems fair," Dalmore hissed, releasing another fireball. Jack quickly pulled Phoebe to the ground, missing them both.

"Try four against one," Piper challenged. Phoebe got to her feet and joined her sisters. "Those odds aren't in your favor, either."

Jack hit the demon once more before running, deciding to leave the rest to the women. They said nothing more as they threw the potion, the glass vials shattering against Dalmore's chest. He fell to the ground, clutching at himself as the potion began to affect him.

"I will not be destroyed." He summoned one last fireball and threw it, completely missing the girls.

"The spell, now!" Piper said. Paige put the paper into the oldest sister's hand, the three of them reading together.
"Demon standing in our midst, no longer shall he exist. Take the powers that he's got; vanquish what the Source could not."

They watched as the spell took effect, the demon burning in his own fire with a last cry of pain. The sisters smiled, the pressure of defeating the demon lifting from them.

"Another one bites the dust," Phoebe laughed, dusting her hands. "So, did y'all enjoy the …fight." She stopped as she saw the members of Torchwood standing around in tears. Following their gaze, her heart dropped to her stomach.

There one the ground was Jack, covered in what looked like blood, cradling the lifeless body of Ianto Jones.

So there you have it folks, fourth chapter down one more to go. Hope you all enjoy it and once again sorry for the delay. I should be writing more once school lets out next week. If you liked this story there is a good chance you will like the others that I am in the midst of writing, not trying to brag or anything I just want to spread my love of writing with others. Keep it Real

"Ricka"