A/N: I don't know if any of you have a problem with Lena being a main character in this fic, but she is. I'm trying to focus mostly on the new generation of Halliwells, and I just cannot see writing a Charmed fic without a strong female character. Charmed really was a show about empowered females when it began, and it seems rather wrong to place all the ass-kicking powers into the hands of the boys now. And yeah, Wyatt, Chris, and Lena are to be the new power of three, so they have to be around each other a lot and… yeah. Okay.

Thanks to cdfe88, persephone25, Ayana Starman, heyyouwhatstherush, xXx MissHaunted xXx, charmedtomeetyou, pmsdevil01 and bstant for your wonderful reviews! Thank you so much!

Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed.

Enjoy chapter four and please review!

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Repercussions

By: Ada C. Eliana

Chapter 4: A Deal With a Demon

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Something wicked this way comes
The best time I've ever had
Waiting around for something bad
Fearless, fearless, ohh
And I know that's why you love me
Fearless, fearless, come on

"Fearless" The Bravery

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Three hours later, Chris walked into Halliwell Manor to find balloons and streamers hanging everywhere. Tossing his schoolbag in the parlor, Chris marched into the kitchen where his mother and Aunts were chatting as they worked on frosting a very large birthday cake for Wyatt.

"Hey sweetie," Piper greeted as he entered. "How was study group?"

"Matt forgot his notes, Ben showed up an hour late, and Jessica bought us all lattes, so really, it went better than usual," Chris shrugged. "Where's Wyatt?"

"Out with Lena," Piper responded.

"Out where?"

"Just out," Piper said stiffly.

"Was there an argument after I left?" Chris questioned, turning to Paige for answers.

"Yes," Paige admitted before anyone could deny it. "Lena gave Wyatt a box of vanquishing stuff and then everyone started yelling."

"Wait. What did she get him?" Chris asked, sounding suspiciously annoyed.

"Just lists of lower-level demons and how to vanquish them, fun vanquishes, she said," Phoebe explained, sounding a bit bitter.

"Oh good," Chris sighed. Everyone stared at him. "What! I put together some magic stuff for him for his birthday, and I just wanted to make sure she hadn't done the exact same thing."

"This family is insane," Piper growled.

"I can't help the fact that Wyatt has absolutely no interests, no social life, and no personality to speak of," Chris said resignedly. "I mean really, he decided to spend his birthday with his family," Chris snorted.

"It's nice to spend birthdays with family!" Paige protested.

"Not when you're twenty-five," he laughed. When the three women glared at him he realized his mistake, they had been spending all their free time together for much too long. "Okay, but where 'out' did they go? I doubt Wyatt's playing bingo at the senior center or something."

"Oh fine, they went vanquishing," Phoebe answered. "Wyatt said for you to yell for him when you were ready to join them."

"All right, I'll go change and then get in on the action," Chris smiled, pushing his longish hair out of his eyes.

"Don't you think you should be taking it easy, you know, after what happened this morning?" Piper suggested.

"You worry about me too much, mom. I'm fine," he said as he left the room.

"He's right you know, you have been overly protective of Chris," Paige pointed out, licking the extra chocolate frosting from a spatula.

"Yeah and you've spoiled him, both of you. Besides, the older he's gotten…"

"The more he looks like the other Chris," Phoebe sighed. "I miss him."

"But he just left," Paige said.

"I mean the other one. This Chris is different – good different – but sometimes I miss bossy neurotic Chris. On one hand I'm glad that when he was reborn into the baby he didn't retain any of the old memories, but then I'm also sad that he never got to realize that this life is so wonderful because of him." Phoebe pushed a hand through her hair as she spoke. "I mean, by now in the other timeline we were all dead already, and Wyatt was evil, and…"

"And this year will be Chris' twenty-third birthday, the day he died," Piper whispered, her muscles tightening.

"Honey, he's going to be fine this time around," Phoebe reassured, coming up behind Piper and putting her arms around her.

"I hope so," Piper's voice shook as she spoke.

"Come on now, it's Wyatt's birthday, and he's still lame enough to want to spend it with his family, let's celebrate that," Phoebe laughed, releasing Piper.

Chris appeared in the kitchen again, ignoring his mother and aunts emotional scene as he rummaged through the refrigerator for something to snack on. Finding the remnants of an apple pie hidden away, he sliced a piece and ate it at a disgusting pace.

"Why don't you let me make you a real lunch?" Piper offered her youngest as he nearly choked on too large of a bite of pie.

"No, that's okay, Lena and Wyatt must have been down there for hours, which means that if I still want to get in some vanquishing that I'm running out of time here," he grimaced. The females in the room smiled at the end of his sentence, remembering when someone else had uttered the same one.

Swallowing, he stood in place and then began to shout for Wyatt. The response met his mind, and Chris opened up, allowing Lena to tap into his powers and orb him down to meet them. In a flash of lights he disappeared.

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Running through the Underworld, a fire-breathing demon on the chase, Lena, Chris, and Wyatt agreed that it was high time to head home for dinner. Shooting off in opposite directions, Lena cast a haze of flame in their wake to confuse the demon, and then Chris grabbed her arm and the three disappeared.

When their orbs manifested within the Vault, Lena sighed and sat down. A smoking hole on the back of her shirt and tears in her jeans, she was relieved to be out of the Underworld. Wyatt smiled broadly, sitting down next to her. "Thanks for the present!" he cried, tossing his arms around her again.

"Ow ow ow!" she protested, cringing away from him. He extended his hands over her in almost nonchalance and healed her various injuries.

"I think we're going to need a little more information on that demon before we go after him again," Chris announced, pulling a hand through his shaggy brown hair to release the dust and dirt that had collected there.

"Yeah, but right now we have my party to get to!" Wyatt shouted. He tossed his hand over Chris and healed the small wounds he had gained as well. "All right everyone, let's get cleaned up and then meet back up at the Manor."

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An hour later the entire Halliwell family had gathered for Wyatt's birthday dinner at the Manor. Piper had prepared all of Wyatt's favorite dishes, lamb with mint jelly, twice-baked potatoes, green beans cooked with garlic and olive oil, and of course, chocolate and cherry cake for desert.

"Oh Aunt Piper, I never get tired of eating your food," Lena sighed, moaning as she took another bite of her meal.

"Who could?" Paige's husband, Mark questioned. Mark worked in social services, and had met Paige many years ago when Paige had discovered a magical child up for adoption. They now worked together to place any orphaned or unwanted witch in magical families. He had taken all of the magical stuff in stride, making everyone proud. However, at the first sight of demons he could be known to squeal like a young girl and hide under the nearest table – that is after he got past the need for a macho façade.

"Are you insinuating something about my cooking?" Paige asked with false hostility.

"Of course not," he replied, scandalized. "Not that I've ever tasted it, if you might recall, I happen to cook the dinners in our house."

"Oh yeah. Haha," Paige smiled, leaning in to kiss him.

"Remember when Chris spent that semester studying in London, how he'd orb in constantly to raid the fridge?" Wyatt reminded them, smiling broadly. "It got pretty weird with the time difference too."

"Well, you spend a semester eating shepherd's pie and the blandest meat ever, and we'll see how long you last," Chris jibed.

"Now Chris, you know I could never do that, if only because I could not part with my loving family for so long. You see, I am the chosen one after all, the specialist Halliwell ever born, and what would I be without mom and dad and Aunt Paige, and Aunt Phoebe, and—"

"Yeah, yeah, we get the point, momma's boy," Chris laughed.

"Hey!" Piper shouted good-naturedly.

"So Wyatt, when are you going to get a girlfriend?" Lena interrupted.

Wyatt winced as if wounded, his hand clutched to his chest. "Lena, that was so cruel! Whatever have I done to deserve such a comment from you?"

"Well, just today, there were flames coming off of my back, and you laughed," Lena pointed out. "That was my favorite blouse too, not to mention I had some sexy tan lines going."

"I healed your shirt! Even if I'm still not sure how that works… I mean really, I get the whole 'can only heal someone not evil and such, and you're only supposed to heal if it's a demonic caused injury' but where do clothes come into play here? I guess it's the Elder's fear of naked healed people running around, we certainly know that they're not exhibitionists, have you seen those robes, ick, so tacky," Wyatt rambled.

"Wyatt?" Chris said lightly.

"Yeah?"

"You're an idiot."

"You're just jealous because of my dizzying intellect and good looks," Wyatt sighed.

"And yet I've had more girlfriends in a year than you have in your entire life, go figure."

"It's that pained, brooding hero thing you do Chris, very sexy. If I weren't related…" Lena whistled softly.

"Okay, gross!" Phoebe protested, her cheeks just a little red as she remembered hitting on the other Chris as the Goddess of Love.

"Whhhaaattt? You telling me that if you didn't know he was related some twenty years ago you would never have checked him out?" Lena pressed, using the knowledge of the 'other Chris' which in her generation she solely possessed to goad her mother. The Charmed Ones had decided to not tell Chris and Wyatt about the other timeline and Chris' death, not wanting to burden them with the sins of another life. However when Lena became a telepath she found some questionable thoughts in her mother's mind, and it all came out eventually. Luckily she kept secrets much better than her mother did.

"Lena!" Phoebe warned.

"But really Wyatt, why no girlfriend? That bartender, Anna, that I work with at P3 – she checks out your ass every time you turn around, honey," Lena winked.

"And she also is smart," Wyatt added with annoyance.

"A major turn-off," Chris sarcastically agreed.

"Oh, don't I know it. Dumb dates are the absolute best," Phoebe piped in, tossing her arms around Alec who looked mildly offended.

"And she's blonde," Wyatt growled.

"Just like you, you'd look so color coordinated together," Paige squealed.

"And she's mortal."

"Well we're all gonna die sometime," Alec sighed.

"And Lena's a better bartender than her, which is saying something."

"Heaven forbid a woman not remember how to mix up a cosmo for Princess Wyatt," Chris laughed.

"Plus she has a thing for cops."

"Which would be awful, considering you are a cop," Mark pointed out with a smile. Everyone seemed to be joining in on the fun.

"And I'm insanely physically attracted to her."

"I think I just lost my appetite," Prue scowled.

"And these are all negatives because?" Lena pushed.

"Because they are." Wyatt paused, scouring his mind for a topic change. "So Chris, how's it going with Natasha and Claire? Have you decided between the two of them yet?"

"I'm not really that into either one of them, I cut them loose," Chris replied, leaning back in his chair and sipping Riesling from his wine glass.

"If only all of us could have your problems, Chris," Lena mused.

"Just because the only way you get boyfriends is through implanting thoughts, and affecting emotions," Phoebe pointed out, reminding Lena of some of her less than honorable uses of her magic.

"Yeah well the Elders certainly stuck it to me with the personal gain those times; made it so I couldn't control my stupid powers and had to miss out on the class trip to New York," Lena grumbled. "I mean really, I was only thirteen, how much restraint do they think a thirteen year old will adhere to when she can change other people's emotions and thoughts?"

"The Elder's have never really had a special place for you in their hearts, come to think of it," Alec acknowledged. "The things Wyatt and Chris have done with their magic with no consequences…" Even as he trailed off everyone in the room could recognize that he was not joking.

"Yeah, though I don't see how Lena proves much a threat. Wyatt on the other hand…" Chris laughed. Wyatt scowled, but everyone else in the room visibly stiffened. "What? Something I don't know about?" Chris asked. Silences after these types of comments were quite prevalent in the Halliwell Manor, and it annoyed Chris and Wyatt to no end to know that some huge secret was being kept from them.

"How about that cake?" Piper suggested.

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The three future Charmed Ones, Wyatt, Chris, and Lena all laughed as the youngest in their group slid onto the bar of P3 and onto the floor behind it. She filled up two pilsners with beer and one margarita glass with soda and a lime, and then allowed Wyatt to assist her as she climbed back over, her miniskirt restricting her movements.

"You could've just waited for the bartender," Chris pointed out as they walked back towards the VIP area reserved for them.

"Nah, she was busy," Lena shrugged, sinking onto the couch.

At midnight, the club had just begun to fill up, the music blasting in the background. After Wyatt opened his gifts and the parents and aunts went home, the brothers and cousin headed out to the club to continue the partying into the early morning hours.

"Hey Wy, don't look now, but Anna's on her way over here," Chris smiled.

"Why would she do that?" Wyatt questioned, going slightly pale.

"Because I told her to," Lena smirked.

"Hey Lena, you might want to take a look at those guys over to our right, they've been trying to get your attention for about ten minutes," Chris pointed out. Lena turned to see three guys dressed all in black watching her intently. The tallest of the trio smiled at her and took her returned smile as an opening, walking over towards her.

"Hey Lena, Chris, Wyatt," Anna smiled, pushing back a lock of blonde hair as she sat beside Wyatt.

"Hey…" Lena waved as her soon-to-be-date reached them.

"Hi there," he greeted, standing beside the couch. "I certainly hope that the similarities I've seen in you three is family resemblance," he added.

"And why would you hope that?" Lena questioned, leaning towards him.

"Because if not, that would make them my unfortunate competition," he explained in a smooth baritone voice. His dark eyes lit with humor as he spoke to her. "Would you like to dance?"

"Sure," she said standing and walking towards the dance floor.

"Well Wyatt, happy birthday, and I'll see you later," Chris informed his brother, spotting a group of girls he knew from college. Wyatt sent Chris a look that clearly said 'please don't go,' but Chris only ruffled his hair and walked away.

"So… how about them 'niners?"

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Prue and Nel sat side-by-side in an abandoned park. Darkness gathered around them, and a pale moon provided the only light. "He should be here soon," Prue said to reassure her sister.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Nel asked uncertainly.

"Of course I'm sure. He said he would take away our powers – you know, make it so that we're not witches or whitelighters, just normal girls."

"But mom and the aunts, or even our cousins could do that!" Nel protested.

"You know they won't. 'Your powers are for your own protection,' they'd say," Prue mocked. "Especially the cousins, could you imagine asking Wyatt to strip our powers?" she laughed. "Besides, even without active powers, we'd still be able to cast spells, so demons would still come after us. Dakian said he could make it so that demons would just think we were mortal."

"Yeah well, I'm worried about what he'll want in exchange," Nel said warily, pushing a hand through her red hair in agitation. "What if he wants the Book, or something that could hurt our family?"

"He said he wouldn't hurt them."

"He's a demon."

"So?"

"Or… or what if he strips our powers and then kills us, just to hurt Mom or get notoriety in the Underworld or something?"

"Look, we haven't made the deal yet anyway. Let's just see what happens," Prue suggested. A moment later, the air rippled as Dakian flamed in before them. Tall and broad, Dakian's appearance seemed mostly human, and he had a black symbol tattooed across the right side of his face.

"Prudence, Penelope," he greeted, sweeping towards them in his black cloaks.

"Dakian," Prue nodded. "Have you considered what kind of a deal you would like to make?"

"Straight to business I see. I appreciate that in a partner. I have compiled a list of things you need to bring me or do in exchange for the stripping of your witchlighter status." He proffered a worn piece of parchment and handed it to Prudence. Nel leaned over her shoulder to read it as well, and balked at what she saw.

"A book from Magic School? A lock of Chris' hair? Put some weird crystal thing in the Manor? Sprinkle dust over Lena? Why would you want that?" Nel demanded fiercely.

"Nothing too important," he shrugged.

"None of this will be hard to do," Prue said excitedly.

"Prue! He might be after our family!"

"Like they care about us anyway?" Prue countered. "Did you see the way mom looked at us this morning after the darklighter attack? As if we should've been there in the thick of it with them instead of staying safely away. If we keep our powers, we're going to end up dead, and you know it. This stuff is all harmless, Nel. Let's do this, let's become normal, please!"

"You do not have to decide right away. Meet me here on Thursday at midnight and if you have decided you would like your powers stripped, bring me the items on the list." He pulled a crystal from his pocket and handed it to Prue. "And hide this in the Manor." Then he shoved a small velvet bag into the girl's hand. "Sprinkle this over your cousin while she's sleeping. If you decide not to accept the deal, come anyway to return my crystal and dust and tell me so."

Even as he said it he read the clear joyful anticipation in Prue's eyes and knew that when he saw her again she would have completed the tasks.

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A/N: AGH! Prue and Nel! Your mom would be so disappointed!

Okay everybody, let me know what you think with a review!

Thanks!

A.C.E.