Author's note: I know I said I'd keep the spoilers to a minimum, so if you haven't seen season 8 of Charmed and don't want to know too much, just let me know so I can work on not spoiling it for anyone.

Chapter Seven

Chloe ducked as an energy ball came flying at her. She nodded off and astral projected herself and pushed her attacker to the ground.

"Ow," the young woman said. Chloe laughed. "Sorry," she apologized. Paige came up to both of them. "Chloe, that was good, but what if there was someone else around. While you were astral projecting, someone else could have easily grabbed you. Always be wary of that."

Chloe smiled. It had been less than a week since she arrived in San Francisco and she was doing very well. She'd learned how to control her astral projection, and she'd discovered that she had telekinetic abilities. She also got a grip on her other ability; she got her car back to normal size, but before she did, she washed it and gave it a makeover, removing the rust and giving it a new paint job with a bottle of nail polish. Now, it was a "vintage" car instead of just an old car. Paige had given her a "shame on you" speech, but admitted that it was pretty clever.

"Alright. This time, find another way to disable your attacker," Paige said. Chloe smiled at the younger blond girl, Billie. When she heard Billie explain her abilities, she thought the girl was just exaggerating, but Chloe learned different when she began training with her. Billie threw the energy ball at her again, but, instead of ducking, Chloe pushed it back at her. Bad move. Billie just pushed it back at Chloe. For a few minutes it was like a game of ping pong. Chloe took a moment to think about something to do. She wanted to find a way to catch Billie off guard. If only she could find a way for the energy ball to hit Billie from behind...

Just then, it disappeared from between them, and hit Billie on her lower back.

"OW! I'm glad it was low voltage!" she said. "Wait, how did you do that?"

"I don't know," Chloe said. "I wanted to get you with it from behind, and that's what happened. I guess the same thing that happened when my car shrunk. I was talking to Clark, and he wanted me to... take a plane with him instead of driving by myself; he wanted to make sure I got here safely. I told him that I wanted to have my car with me, but I'd have to pack it in my bag if we were going to fly. And, I was wishing that it was possible."

"I think you can project like I can. At least to an extent," Billie said. She looked at Paige. "Remember when I turned my parents into assassins?" She turned to Chloe again. "I think we can help you control them. I don't think yours are triggered the way mine are, and hopefully I'm right."

"Whoa, whoa. This is too much at the moment. Can we take a break, maybe get something to eat, and get a newspaper for me to read?" Paige looked at her, knowing that this was a still a bit overwhelming for Chloe.

"Sure," Paige said. As they walked down the stairs, Chloe started asking the question that everyone was asking in their minds.

"Why are these powers emerging so quickly? You said that they usually evolve slowly."

"I don't know," Paige said, "maybe there's some unknown catalyst." They sat at the table and Chloe got herself a bowl of cereal and poured the milk.

"Chloe, what did I tell you about using your powers like that?"

"Sorry, I wasn't really thinking about it." She looked at the newspaper and the spoon drifted to her mouth.

Chloe was so engrossed in the paper and her thoughts that she didn't even notice that Paige had changed the spoon's course. Rather than dipping into Chloe's cereal, it dipped into a nearby flower pot and scooped up some dirt. Then, it drifted to Chloe's mouth. She quickly let it fall out of her mouth. Paige and Billie laughed.

"That's not funny!"

"Well, she told you not to use your powers like that, but you didn't listen," Billie said.

"Yeah, but there should be a better way for her to teach me a lesson. Maybe she should know what potting soil tastes like."

Just then Paige opened her mouth and dirt fell out. Chloe was mortified. "Paige! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! It's moments like these that make me dislike these powers."

Paige laughed. "I know how you feel. Trust me." Chloe looked at her, her eyes indicating curiosity. Paige sighed. "When I was starting out with my powers, I was.. with this guy a couple nights and I kept orbing out right before..." she trailed off. Chloe thought for a moment and then realized what Paige meant and started laughing hysterically. "I'm sorry, Paige, but that has to top mine! That had to be embarrassing. Wait, where did you orb to?"

"Back here, to the manor."

"Did anyone see you? Were you wearing anything? Why didn't I know about this?" Billie asked.

Paige was flustered. She did not want to relive that point in her life. Then, she recalled why she'd told the story. "We're getting off-track, here. My point was that you still have to be careful, even when you harness your powers."

"Well, I guess the quickest way for me to harness my powers is to keep training." Chloe turned to Billie with a smirk. "You ready?"

"Of course. Bring it on." The two raced back up the stairs. Paige prepared for major damage. "Piper's going to kill me," she said before orbing up to join them.


Clark was sitting around Crater Lake, thinking. It was almost always barren. There was the occasional high school party thrown out there, but not very often. Lois' words rang in his head. He hadn't spoken to Chloe since he'd left her in San Francisco. She'd called, but he was avoiding her. He wanted to sort out his feelings before talking to her. He was still debating whether he should be with her; he didn't want anything to happen to her. She was already in danger, since she knew his secret. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. He'd made his decision, and went home to talk to his mother about it.

However, she wasn't home when he got there. There was a note on the counter. It read: 'Clark, I ran out for a bit. There's some food in the refrigerator, and I made pie. Call my phone if you need anything.' He sighed, and retrieved the pie, and found some ice cream.

"Comfort food, Clark?" came Lois' voice. "Have you talked to Chloe yet?"

Clark just looked at her, irritated. "No. If you haven't noticed, she's still in San Francisco. I don't want to tell her over the phone."

"So you admit it," Lois said.


"I don't understand why you do this! You take my cars, and you go street racing! Do you have any idea what this does to me!" Lex was furious. "No matter how many times I warn you!"

"Fine. I'll get my own car to race with."

"You don't get it, do you? Stop racing. I don't want anything to happen to you. If you don't stop willingly--"

"What, Lex? You'll make me? How? Oh, I see; you're going to turn me in to the police. Good luck getting them to believe you. The Metropolis PD isn't too fond of you."

Lex stormed out. He'd had it with these antics. But what could he do? He'd given her access to anything of his. How was he supposed to know that she'd be so reckless? She wasn't the same woman that moved in. He'd expected her to change, but he figured she'd start using his cars and spending his money on shopping sprees and expensive restaurants, not gambling and illegal racing. He watched her from the doorway as she got ready for another outing. He had no doubt that she was going to race. Lex's phone rang, and he walked away to answer it. She walked over to the mirror, and looked around to ensure that she was alone, and sat down.

She looked in the mirror, and sighed. "I don't know. He was really angry this time," she said to the mirror.

"He'll get over it," her reflection replied. "Don't look at me like that... Alright, we'll go get some cars. But I like his; they're respected,fast, and easy to get to."

"It doesn't matter what car we're in, and you know that. I can't stand seeing him get so angry."


Piper walked into the Halliwell manor, and entered the kitchen. She noticed that there was a bowl of cereal that had most likely been forgotten hours ago. Then, she noticed the lumps of dried mud on the table.

"What the--?" Then she heard a crash and ran upstairs to the attic, ready to blow something up if she needed to.

"Okay, I think that's enough for today. We better clean up before Piper gets home, because I have a feeling that she'll probably blow us all up if she sees this," Piper heard Paige say.

"See what?" she demanded as she neared the attic door. She walked in and everything was in order. "Alright, what's going on here?" She looked at the three people standing in the room. The younger two looked as if nothing had happened, but Paige was looking nervous.

"Okay, what just happened?" Piper said. Chloe and Billie dropped their act and just looked at Paige. "Good job," they said to her. "All you had to do was act for a few seconds. She would have walked away, and we would have fixed it for real and she would never have known," Billie said.

Chloe sighed. "This woman won't be fooled today, so strip the false illusion away." The illusion of order was gone, and Piper saw what Paige was talking about. The walls were scorched, and a window was broken. Everything was out of place, except for the Book of Shadows. "I hate rhyming," Chloe said. "Why is it always a rhyme? Is that a rule or something?"

"What the hell were you guys doing!" Piper was furious.

"Training," Paige said. Chloe and Billie just grinned sheepishly.

"I need to go before one of you explodes," Piper said and walked out. Chloe and Billie worked on cleaning up. A half hour later, the attic was neater than it had ever been. Paige walked into the kitchen, hoping she'd find Piper.

Piper was in the kitchen, sitting at the table. She'd cleaned up the table, and washed dishes. Paige sat across from her.

"Sorry about the mess," Paige said. Piper smiled, and looked up at her sister.

"I can't help but wonder if it's going to be that way when Wyatt and Chris get older. I mean, we're going to have to train them."

"Yikes," Paige said as she thought about it. "It's going to be way worse than that." Suddenly, they heard frantic footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Piper, please don't kill me! I'm sorry about the bowl; I totally forgot!" Chloe said as she hurried into the kitchen. Piper laughed.

"It's okay, Chloe. But, what was with the soil on the table?" Paige and Chloe exchanged an amused glance. Paige stood up and pat her sister on the back. "You had to be there," Chloe said.

Suddenly, Piper saw what happened as if she were there. Paige warned Chloe to stop using her powers for trivial tasks, and punished her when she ignored the warning. Chloe accidentally retaliated. Piper started laughing.

"That was funny," she said. "Wait, what just happened?"

"You tell me," Paige said.

"Well, I saw what happened with the cereal and the dirt, as if I was there, but--" Piper looked at Chloe. "Did you do that?"

"Yeah. I'm still getting the hang of that." Chloe said and excused herself from the room. "When did she discover this one?" Piper asked.

"She can project. Just like Billie can, but for some reason she's more advanced than Billie is. For some reason, her powers are developing more rapidly than I've ever seen. She can control them, but they keep evolving, and I don't know why or how to stop them. I can't even bind them!"

"Did you ask the Elders?" Piper said. Paige feigned a shocked expression. "I know, I'm not their biggest fan, but they could probably help." Paige waved and orbed "up there" to see what she could find out. A few minutes later, Paige returned, and her expression showed that she had gotten no answers.

"I guess we'll have to find out ourselves. Get Phoebe and explain the situation. I'm going to brainstorm and check the book," Piper said. She tried not to show it, but she was worried. Chloe's powers had emerged only two weeks ago, and usually, when people's powers grow too rapidly, bad things ensue. They had to figure out what was going on before it was too late.

To be continued.


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