A/N: I am sooo sorry for the wait. But y'all will be happy to know that I'm finished writing it, and now have nothing distracting me from typing it up. Here's the latest installment! I had a lot of fun writing this one For those of you who think I made Max a little too affectionate, keep in mind she's been living with Natalia… mean, crazy, secretive, slightly bipolar Natalia.

Chapter Six: Dance With Me?

"Natalia, we need to talk." The sorceress looked up from the tome she was studying to see Elder Sandra speaking to her, accompanied by Elders Odin, and Jonah. The Elders didn't trust her enough to seek audience with her alone. Only the Angels of Destiny were powerful enough for that.

"As you wish, but bear in mind that your presence here disrupts my operation."

"What operation?!" Elder Odin blustered in his nasally old voice. "Since you started in this area, you've put more effort into masking your activity from us than anything else!"

"Steady Elder." Jonah warned, placing a hand on Odin's shoulder.

"No! We have been far too lenient with her! If we don't start seeing some results soon, we'll have no choice but to pull your resources."

"Don'tthreaten me, Elder Odin." Natalia hissed. The three Elders froze. She had kept her voice low, but the room still seemed to shake with her anger. The whites of her eyes turned black as she rose from her seat to stare the three of them down. "Throughout the duration of these missions, I work with you, not for you. You provide me with the resources I require, on the one condition I've upheld; I don't harm any innocents. Interference on your part disrupts everything. Now will you kindly let me do my job? Unless of course you wish everything I've worked for in the last three hundred years since Melinda's death be for nothing."

"Natalia, we're not questioning you." Sandra assured her. She remained calm and serene even in the face of the frightening sorceress. "We're just concerned."

"We've felt a surge of demonic energy." Jonah explained. "We've never felt anything like it. Not since The Source."

"And," Sandra cut in, "We've lost contact with two of our agents in the West Andes."

The West Andes, Natalia thought to herself. "Were they guarding anything important by any chance?"

Despite the earlier warning, Odin flared up at her again. "That's no concern of yours! We're asking the question here, not-" he shrunk as the torchlight that hung about the room turned a shadowy purple, and roared in accordance to Natalia's mood. She merely chuckled darkly as he was silenced.

"You will do well to keep your temper in check, Odin. It's not a befitting quality for an Elder. But you're right; it is no concern of mine. I'm merely here to finish what Melinda and I started. Now, if you have anything else to report," she glanced back at Odin, "or any grievances you'd like to make known, do so now."

Sandra looked back to Jonah, who nodded. "We're concerned about Maxine. She hasn't reported to us since we assigned her to work with you."

"If I recall correctly, she hardly reported to you anyway, which is exactly why you gave her to me in the first place."

"Hah!" Odin huffed. "There's another one we've let slide."

"Odin." Jonah warned.

"Well it's true. Back in my day such disrespect got you the strap every time."

"Are you suggesting I beat your whitelighter?" Natalia drawled. The other two Elders looked at her in shock. Odin put his hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm, it's a thought."

"Odin!" Sandra cried.

Natalia resumed her seat. "If you must know, Max is on assignment right now, and has been doing excellent work since she got here. Her methods are… unconventional, but inventive. And she's still managed to make time for her charges who have just come into their powers. You'd be proud if you could see her."

Sandra nodded approvingly, tossing Odin and "I told you so" glance.

Jonah folded his arms. "Very well, I believe we're done here." He and Odin orbed out. Only Sandra remained.

"Natalia?" She asked.

"What is it?"

"It's just… I can't help but feel there's something you're not telling us."

The demoness just gave her a cold smile. "Of course. You've known me long enough by now."

Sandra simply nodded and orbed out.

Once Natalia was alone again, she looked up at the ceiling. "Max." She called.

Max orbed in immediately, and stood stoically awaiting instruction. That was uncharacteristic of her. Natalia eyed her suspiciously.

"Where have you been?"

"Nowhere important." Max had never been good at lying. Truth be told she'd never had to before she'd met Natalia.

"I take it you took advantage of my little distraction." Max was about to protest, but Natalia raised a hand, silencing her. "Never mind that, I'm not going to bother punishing you. The Heir is here, so I'm won't need you to do any infiltration for awhile."

"So what grunt work am I doing for you?" Max practically snarled. Natalia smiled, curious to see what her reaction would be to her answer.

"None."

Max didn't move, her face frozen as if someone had slapped her with a wet fish. "What?"

"You heard me. I'm giving you a day off tomorrow. In fact, I believe Mr. Moseby is having a little soiree for his overworked staff tomorrow. No doubt he wants to make up for not telling them straight out about the buy-out. Zack and Cody are invited. Perhaps they'll be a little more enthusiastic if you ask Cody to be your escort."

"What?" Max repeated.

"You heard me. You're going to a dance."

"But… but why?" Max stuttered "Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?"

"My dear Maxine," Natalia rose from her seat, and placed a cold hand on the young whitelighter's shoulder."Just because I am a demon, doesn't mean I am exempt from being nice once in awhile."

"But-"

"No buts." Natalia chided as she guided Max toward the bedroom door. "Here, you'll need this." She twirled her wrist, and in a violet flash, a lavender envelope appeared in her hand. "It's my invitation. Dear old Marion forgot that parties aren't exactly what I do."

Max took the envelope and stared at it, as if afraid it would disappear at any moment as part of some cruel joke. Natalia smiled at her dumbfounded expression as she opened the door to where Max slept; the only part of the suite that had remained unchanged, and quite possibly the only act of kindness she had shown towards Max.

"Let's just say I think I've been a little hard on you." She told her, as she pushed the young girl through the door, and Max found that Natalia had taken the liberty of conjuring a white nightgown onto her. "Now get some sleep. I believe you have a dress to pick out tomorrow." And with that, she closed the door, leaving a very confused Max in the room alone with the invitation still in her hand.

She continued to stare at it, before she grinned her wide pearly white grin, and flopped onto the bed, though she felt she could hardly sleep.

Cody continued to stir the potion under Piper's watchful eye. "Zack, could you bring me the rosemary?"

"Sure." Zack replied, picking the her up from the counter, and tossing it into the pot.

"No don't!" BLAST!! The potion erupted in Cody's face. When the smoke cleared, a soot-faced Cody was glaring venomously at his brother. "I didn't say add it! Geez Zack, do you ever think ahead?"

"Cody," Piper tried to scold, but couldn't repress her laughter. "Be easy on your brother. Working out with Phoebe is pretty exhausting. I'd know, I've tried to jog with her. I'm sure he's having a hard time concentrating. Right, Zack?"

"Yeah." Zack stammered keeping his eyes trained on the floor. Cody had noticed that his twin was acting strangely since last night, but he hadn't really pressed the issue. Piper lifted Cody's chin to survey the damage.

"Awe, sweetie let's get you cleaned up."

"Here." Zack pushed a washcloth into Piper's hand. He even remembered to put soap on it. Now he was really starting to worry Cody.

He took the cloth from Piper, and scrubbed the soot off vigorously, and re-tied his hair. He was about to ask Zack what was bothering him when the doorbell rang. He moved to answer it. They weren't quite as paranoid about answering the door as they had been the last few days. No sooner had he opened it then Max threw her arms around him.

"Cody, I'm so sorry I didn't make it to dinner last night. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Cody pulled her off of him. "What are you talking about?"

Max just smiled. "Word on the street is, Moseby's throwing a staff party tonight, and you guys are invited. Well guess what," she pulled a lavender envelope from her jean coat. "I am too, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me."

Cody clapped his hand to his forehead. "The party, that's right. I totally forgot."

"So can you go?" Max asked, using the familiar puppy-eyed stare that always seemed to get her way.

"I… I can't… we have stuff to do." He looked back at Piper, pleading her to talk him out of this. Instead, she did quite the opposite.

"Of course he can make it." She grinned, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "He'd love to go."

"But… what about the-"

Oh if we put our lives on hold every time something like that came up, we wouldn't go anywhere. "

"Okay, great!" Max butt in. "I'll see you tonight at six." She hugged him one more time." I've got to go pick out a dress!" And with that, she turned heel, and raced down the hall for the elevator. Cody turned to face Piper. Max could have slapped him for the look on his face.

"What just happened?"

Piper smiled. "I think you just got a date."

"Nah." Cody shook it off. Piper and Zack quirked an eyebrow at him. "Yeah?!"

"Yeah. If I were you, I'd pick out something to wear. Max in a dress is going to be tough to compete with. I say we get Phoebe and Paige back down here to pick out a few outfits ourselves."

As if to save their sister time, Paige and Phoebe orbed magically into the suite in a swirl of white lights. Phoebe dusted herself off. "That's the third warlock this week. They're either really desperate, or really stupid."

"Probably both." Paige agreed. "So, what's going on here?"

"Hey, when are you gonna take me on a demon hunt?" Zack pleaded.

"When you can use your powers without setting your brother's hair on fire." Phoebe replied flatly.

"It was an accident." Zack winced.

"So Piper," Paige interrupted. "You called us back, what's the emergency?"

"No emergency." Piper grinned. "Cody has a date, and we're going to a dance."

"It's about time." Phoebe groaned. "I've been dying to get some actual vacation out of this vacation." Zack looked hurt. "Not that I don't love spending time with you." She corrected quickly.

"I don't know." Paige hesitated. "Doesn't seem like now's such a good time."

"That's what I said." Cody grimaced.

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

"Something's not right here. Those warlocks didn't look like they were with Carlisle. That means there are two factions warring over the same territory."

"Paige, could you please let your hair down for once?" Piper chided.

"That coming from you? Ouch."

"I'm a mom, what's your excuse?"

"Fine, point taken. You want me to loosen up? You want me to have fun? I'll show you, I am the queen of fun. You two!" she pointed to the twins, who were instantly orbed to her side. "Come with me. We're going shopping. You are not going to dance dressed like that." Before Zack or Cody could argue, she had grabbed their wrists, and the three of them were orbed away.

Phoebe and Piper looked at each other, and laughed uncontrollably. "We should tell Paige to have fun more often. Maybe she'll take us shopping."

The elevator doors opened, and Cody led Max into the lobby by the hand, with Zack and the sisters in tow. Zack had been unable to secure a date in time, and was insisting that he was with Phoebe.

"For the last time, just because we're going to the dance together, does not mean we are going together."

"Come on Phoebe, you don't have a date, I don't have a date, we're both witches, we're perfect for each other."

"Pretty valid point there." Paige teased in Phoebe's ear. Phoebe growled.

"Look,if I save you a dance, will you please stop telling everyone I'm 'your woman'?"

"Good enough for me, sweet thang."

Cody tugged nervously on the black flame-patterned shirt Paige had bought him. He prayed he wouldn't do something that made him look stupid in front of Max. Knowing his luck he'd probably get something stuck in his teeth, and be completely unaware of it the entire evening, or his new black jeans would fall around his ankles, or worse yet, he might forget everything Piper had taught him and still dance like a buffoon.

"You okay dude?" Max asked. She on the other hand was having the time of her life, and they hadn't even gotten to the dance hall yet. She looked like an enormous weight had been lifted off her shoulders. He didn't remember ever seeing her like this.

"I'm fine." He answered. His forehead was already forming beads of sweat. Why was he so nervous? He'd been on dates before. Even his first one hadn't made him feel anything close to what he was feeling now. "It's just… this outfit." He whispered so Paige wouldn't hear. "I feel a little weird."

"Relax, you look hot." Her breath caught in her throat, as she realized her slip. "I mean… it looks good on you. You should try that look a little more often."

"Thanks." He blushed.

"Awe." Piper squealed in Paige's ear. "They're so cute together."

"Okay, you're way too perky tonight. It's scaring me." Paige frowned.

Both Max and Cody heard their exchange, and blushed. They were glad when they finally reached the dance hall, and the wild colorful lights could mask it. As if to add to Cody's nerves though, the song playing was a slow one, by the Cheetah Girls (a secret favorite of his) and most of the people there were in very close contact to each other. Max had to practically drag him onto the dance floor, as the others split off to do their own thing.

"Ah Miss Matthews." Paige was caught off guard by Mr. Moseby's approach. "I'm glad I found you. Would you do me the honor of the first dance?" He asked in a show of chivalry.

Paige giggled a bit. "You may." She replied, before they began circling the floor.

"I never got the opportunity to thank you." He beamed at her.

"Well from what it sounds like, London's the one who's been doing the lifesaving."

"Yes she's been amazing. I've never seen her work so hard at something. I could barely wrench her away from her work to come here." He indicated London elsewhere on the dance floor, having more fun than she'd had in days with her date. "Maddie set her up with a friend of hers."

"She sounds like a good friend to London. "

"She is, and if it hadn't been for you, I probably would've given up on the both of them. And to top it all off, you've kept those two menaces out of my non-existent hair the entire week. I don't know what you did, but I haven't heard a peep out of them since."

Paige frowned. "Well they're going through a lot right now. They're good kids, really."

"Oh you don't have to tell me that." Moseby corrected. "In all honesty, it would be awfully quiet around here without them. It's just my job to keep them out of trouble, you know."

Paige couldn't disagree that the twins were definitely a handful. She decided to change the subject. "So, you seem a little more chipper than I remember. What happened?"

Moseby looked around to make sure no one was looking. "You may find this hard to believe, but I think London and Maddie might actually be able to make Mr. Carlisle listen to them. I only wish Mr. Tipton shared my optimism. He's been so down lately, like there's a cloud over him."

This caught Paige's attention. "You don't say." She tried to keep her tone casual. "Is that unusual for him?"

Meanwhile, Cody was finally getting comfortable on the dance floor, as Max was simply content to circle around for now (something she usually gave the begrudging nic-name 'the penguin walk').

"So…" Cody stammered, "are you sure your parents are okay with this?"

"Totally." She assured him. "They've been feeling kind of bad about not letting me out of the house more often. Besides, my mom said I looked too good in this dress to just stay home." Cody couldn't deny it. The blue party dress she had bought earlier this morning was gorgeous on her. Every movement she made caught him in a trance. "What is it?" she asked, chuckling at his expression.

He stuttered a bit before he found his voice again. "Y-you…you look like an angel tonight."

"Oh." She looked down at the floor. Interesting choice of words, she thought to herself.

Cody must have thought he'd said the wrong thing, because he quickly began correcting himself. "N-not that you don't look beautiful every night, it's just…"

"No, I know what you meant." She stopped his sputtering. "Lets just say… I don't really feel like one right now."

Cody frowned for a moment, before an idea struck him. What was it Piper had told him about dancing? Quit waving your arms around, you look like you're having a seizure? No, that wasn't it. If you really want to sweep a girl off her feet, you'll ask her to cha-cha. He swallowed before deciding to go through with it.

"Wait right here. I'll be right back." He left Max on the dance floor to talk to the DJ. "Arwin?"

"Oh, hey Cody. Check it out, looks like all that DJ junk I had in the basement came in handy. And to think Muriel laughed at me. Well who's laughing now!" He called to the portly red-headed maid who was in her usual routine (eating with her feet up).

"You tell her Arwin." Cody rolled his eyes. "Hey listen, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, anything." The handyman replied. He bent so Cody could whisper in his ear. "Uh-huh…uh-huh… Oh yeah! I love it!" he cried, before slamming one of the switches on his sound-board.

Max heard the music change abruptly, and when she looked for Cody, she saw him beckoning to her, moving in time to the music. She mirrored his movements, instantly recognizing the rhythm, until they were close enough for him to hear her. "Cody, are you sure about this? The last time we danced in public you almost busted a rib."

"It's okay." He assured her, taking her by the waist. "I've been practicing." The music picked up, and she was shocked to find that Cody was actually leading her. He'd never been good enough to do even that before.

Cody looked around the dance floor (still not breaking rhythm) until he found Piper.

"Just Keep going." She mouthed. "You're doing fine." This should have helped, but the boy's brief look around the room alerted him that everyone's eyes were now on them. Max noticed his anxiety, and began leading again. He let her do so until he caught his breath. Happy place, he thought, find a happy place. Then he surprised her again by twirling her, and following up with a fairly advanced move. He was surprised to find that Max was actually laughing. Eventually he could even stop counting out the rhythm in his head, and just free up & go with it, as Piper had put it. He twirled her once more, and they finished with a dip. The entire room applauded their big finish.

Max got back up, and threw her arms around him. "Cody, that was amazing! Where did you learn that?" She pulled back enough so that their eyes could meet. Something happened when they did.

Cody could feel it. He couldn't stop it, or understand it. Was she doing it? Was he? He couldn't tell. All he knew was that their lips were getting dangerously close to each other.

"I, uh… I need a breather." He cut off the moment. "I'll be right back." He left her there on the dance floor to take a seat on one of the metal chairs that lined the room.

"May I cut in?" Max turned to find that it was Zack who had asked her.

"Sure." She answered so as not to look suspicious. It was a slow song, so they simply circled like before.

"So have you told him?" Zack whispered.

"No I haven't told him!"

"Well you better do it fast. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"You'd better keep your mouth shut, or I'll-"

"Beat me like a piñata, I know."

"I told you, Natalia's not letting me. You think I like lying to him? I wanted to tell you guys as soon as you found out about your powers."

"Well how much longer are you stuck with her?"

"I don't know, until the Elders say different." She grunted.

"That sucks."

"Tell me about it." She agreed. "Listen, I'm really glad I can talk to someone about this. I've been really worried about you guys. How are you doing with your powers?"

"Great!" Zack beamed. "The sisters have been a big help. I can throw a fireball the size of a basketball, and Cody can move the entire couch!"

"Really?" Max looked back to where Cody was sitting, sounding thoroughly impressed.

"Yeah, but they haven't taken us on a demon hunt yet." Zack sighed.

"Well, when this is over, I promise I'll show you all the demon hot-spots in Boston. Then the three of us can vanquish to our hearts content."

"Promise?" Zack's eyes glistened.

"Promise."

Meanwhile, Cody couldn't help but feel a little jealous as his brother and his date continued slow dancing.

"Catching your breath?" A voice cut through his thoughts. He looked up to see a blond woman with green eyes, and mocha lipstick, dressed in a slimming dark violet gown. She was seated cross-legged beside him. Strange that he hadn't noticed her before.

"Yeah," He replied. "The cha-cha takes a lot of energy."

"You know," the woman's voice dropped lower, "She'll never really love you if she doesn't really know you."

Cody's eyes bulged. Obviously, he hadn't expected that. "What do you mean?"

The woman gave him a chilling smile. "I think you know what I mean." Cody's jaw dropped as he watched her green eyes darken to a shadowy amethyst, and the whites of her eyes turn black.

"Natalia." He breathed, trying to keep his voice level. "What are you doing here?"

"Just giving you a friendly reminder." She whispered, stroking his hair in an unsettling way. Her touch made Cody cringe. Even with her glamour, there was no hiding her nature. "I said I'd give you answers. All you'd have to do is ask."

"Our Mom's coming back soon. She said she'd tell us everything."

"Perhaps. Or perhaps she'll find a way to bind your powers again. Maybe even erase your memories."

"She wouldn't do that." Cody snarled.

"You sound so sure." She retained that bone-chilling grin as she spoke. "And yet, I can sense that you're not. You're keeping a treasure trove of emotions bottled up, among which are distrust, un-surety, insecurity, even resentment for your mother. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you haven't come to me sooner."

"Who says I'm going at all." He glowered.

"Oh you will. I can also sense that your yearning for the truth can't be denied any longer. This little appearance of mine was all you needed to push you over the edge. Pout at me all you want, you know I'm right."

Cody looked away from her, as if to shake her out of his head. But he couldn't shake off what she had said. He did want answers, and he was willing to do anything to get them. He had to know why his own mother had hidden his identity, his destiny from him and his brother. He wanted the truth, and he wanted it now.

"Alright." He gave in. "But how am I going to get past the sisters?"

"Like this." The glamoured Natalia said darkly, pulling a sinister vile from the hem of her skirt. "Drink it, and tell Piper you aren't feeling well, and that you're going back to the suite."

He took the vile, and turned it over in his hand. "Where can I find you?"

"In suite 666." She practically cackled. "Don't you just love clichés?"

"Whatever, I'll meet you there." He snapped, popping the cork of the vile.

"Don't be late." She chided before taking the form of a shadow as he had seen her do before. It slid along the dance floor and up the walls into the ceiling, completely unnoticed.

Cody stared at the strange potion before downing it without so much as a breath. It's effects were immediate. He felt dizzy, and flushed, empty of all thought besides making it to where his answers awaited. He stumbled across the floor to find Piper.

"Are you okay sweetie? You look awfully pale." Piper felt his forehead.

"I'm just a little hiccup winded. I'm going back to the suite."

"Alright, do you want me to go with you?"

"No that's okay. Tell Max I'm sorry." He said regretfully.

"Alright, if you're sure you'll be okay." She said, sounding as maternal as ever.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He assured her before turning to make his way back to the lobby before the potion's effects wore off.

"Feel better!" Piper called as the elevator doors closed behind him.