Title: Nothing Gold Can Stay

Author Name: TrueLoveFan

Rating: PG-13

Warnings for: May cause some crying!

Notes:

- The title "Nothing Gold Can Stay" comes from the poem by Robert Frost.

- No Jalex interaction in this chapter, sorry.

- This chapter takes place a week after Chapter 7!

- I think we are finally back on regular time. No more confusing jumps. I am sorry about that by the way, but it had to be done.

- This chapter is dedicated to my dedicated readers! This one is for you guys!

--This one is extra long cause I felt I owed it to you all after the shortness of Chapter 7!--

Disclaimer:

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of TrueLoveFan. TrueLoveFan is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


Theresa had been sweeping up the sub shop when Alex came home from school. Her mother quickly took note of the girl's pale face and unsteady gate. She ran to the where her daughter now wobbled and demanded to know what was wrong and where it hurt. Alex waved a hand at her overly concerned mother and stepped down into the empty shop. She got about half way to the counter when she collapsed to the floor.

"Alex? ALEX!" Theresa yelled and was at her child's side in two seconds. She placed the young girl's head in her lap, hoping to provide comfort to the unconscious girl who knew nothing of it. Jerry, having heard his wife yelling his daughter's name, came down from their living area. He'd been told prepared to yell Alex for whatever mishap she'd caused now. He'd have been extremely grateful if that were it.

Since Justin left their family, Alex had taken to being extremely conservative with her magic. She barely used it during lessons anymore! When he inquired about her lack of use, she simply stated he'd wanted them to "go light on the magic use". Light, yes, not completely stop. He knew it tied back to Justin. Most things with Alex did these days. Justin had always been there to help Alex out of whatever scraps she'd gotten herself into and now that Justin wasn't there to help her clean up, she just wasn't making a mess anymore. Maybe that was the whole reason she made messes, so Justin would help her clean them up. Or maybe the lack of magic stemmed from something much simpler. Maybe Justin had inspired Alex to push the limits of both magic and the house rules by being so conservative with his magic. Sort-of a ying and yang thing. Whatever the reason was for the lack of magic, he hoped she'd get over it soon and be like she was before. Stupid and careless and completely loving her abilities.

The yell died in his throat though as soon as his eyes landed on the scene in front of him. His wife cradling their daughter's head in her lap and the aforementioned daughter sparking with purple and blue magic. The sparks were increasing and a couple of them were coming dangerously close to Theresa. He hated having to do this, but it had to be done. Jerry ran from the stairs to where his two girls were and yanked Theresa away from Alex's body. Theresa screamed at him with silent words as tears cascaded down her face. He knew she was scared. She didn't know what was happening to her baby girl and neither did Jerry and that was probably what was most frightening. One of Alex's sparks shot up into the light above her prone form and glass rained down on her, though Alex did not stir.

"We need to get her up to her room."Jerry shouted to Theresa over the sound of sparks causing things to explode. "You go make sure that everything breakable in Alex's room isn't in there when she's brought up and that her bed is ready. I'll go call Max and ask him to come home right away. He can use his wand and levitate her right into her bed without anyone getting harm by the sparks."

"Then what, Jerry?" Theresa shouted back, unsure of this plan's ultimate destination. Were they just going to leave her up there to spark the rest of her life? Were they supposed to just wait it out? What was the next step in this plan?

"Then I summon the magic council." Jerry spoke with finality. Theresa shivered. The magic council may be the good guys, but they still gave Theresa the creeps.

--

Theresa nervously came up the stairs. She carried a tray, eight cups, and jug of coffee. She began to pour it and hand the first five cups of pure black coffee to the five council men standing outside Alex's bedroom door. Their sixth council member was currently in Alex's bedroom examining her with the door open as per Jerry and Theresa requested. Theresa poured Jerry's cup and add one cream five sugars and then pure her own and added one cream two sugars. She sat the tray and final mug down where no one would trip on it. She wrapped both her shaking hands around her mug and took a deep sip.

She couldn't seem to remove her eyes from the prone form of her only daughter. The sparks were now coming off her on every available side. It looked like a mini fireworks display and, if she didn't know those sparks were hurting Alex, she'd be inclined to watch the pretty blue and purple sparks. A muffle sob to her right tore her gaze from Alex to the curled up ball just beside her formally known as Max.

She cringed realizing how hard this must be for him. In a span of a little over a month, he'd lost a brother and, if the magic council couldn't figure this out, possibly a sister too. In the span of a little over a month he could go from being the baby in a three sibling family to an only child. Theresa sat own next to him, placed her coffee on her left side, and her arms around her baby boy. He wrapped his arms around Theresa neck and sobbed and sobbed until he fell asleep. She picked him up and carefully tucked him away in his bed. It was past midnight now and the council man was still examining Alex. Jerry saw how tired and emotionally exhausted his wife had become and told her to go to bed. He'd would stay up and make sure the council man figured out what was wrong with Alex.

The next morning when Theresa descended the stairs, the council men were all seated at the counter and exhausted Jerry was serving them breakfast. Theresa entered the kitchen and shot Jerry a look that said, "What are they still doing here?" Jerry shrugged and dished out the remaining eggs onto three plates one for Theresa, one for Max, and one for himself. Theresa stared at the empty egg for a second, wondering what Alex was going to eat. Then a spark cracked the ceiling above their heads and she realized Alex was still out.

"What's wrong with Alex?" Theresa demanded just as the main council was going to take a bite of his eggs. Jerry shot her a warning look not to tick them off, but Theresa ignored it. She had to know what was going on with her baby girl. Her mind had run through trillions of worst case scenarios last night while she slept. She had to know, now, before more ran through her frazzled mind. The council men put their forks down and smile slightly in understanding.

"Alex is going through what is called, "Magical Rejection". It's something that occurs amongst half wizards sometimes, though it is rare. It is rather hard to explain, so I'm going to use an analogy." Jerry paled considerably when the name Magical Rejection was stated and this worried Theresa all the more.

"Alex is like a VW Bug. You know that tiny look car that everyone seems fond of. Her magic is like fuel. When one is a full blood wizard, the gas gauge reads full because they are both parts magic. However, when one is a half wizard, the gas gauge reads half full. Magic Rejection is like there's a hole in Alex the car's gas tank and the gas is just flowing from her. Bringing her closer and closer to empty on the fuel and magic scale."

"You're telling me my daughter is losing her magic?" Theresa asked slightly confused by the analogy.

"A VW bug once all the gas, or in this case magic, is gone the car stops running." Another council man added solemnly. It took a couple second for the implication to hit.

"You mean she's going to die?" Theresa croaked her throat suddenly dry and her head was suddenly spinning very fast. She started to collapse at the knees, but Jerry caught her arms and placed her gently on the chair he'd magically conjured up.

"How do we stop it?" Jerry demanded, eyes blazing. He was going to save his little princess, no matter what he had to do to do that. The council men blinked in surprise at the sudden change in demeanor.

"If her magic was supplemented with more magic; that would stop it." The council man who examined Alex informed.

"It would be like placing a permanent seal on that hole in the car Alex's gas tank." Supplied the main council man. He was determined to stick with his stupid analogy.

"I'll do it." Spoke up a sleepy voice behind the council men. All parties turned to see Max standing behind them.

"Max. It's not nice to eavesdrop." Theresa reprimanded.

"Why? It seems to be the only way to find things out in this house anymore." Max shot back. He was angry that she was focused on his eavesdropping when she should be focused on Alex.

"That's very kind of you, Maxwell." Commented the main council man.

"But you can't." said another.

"The amount of supplification she needs now will require a full blood wizard." Added yet another council man.

"Would your brother be willing to help, Jerry?" Theresa asked. Jerry's brother had won their wizarding competition when they were younger. He was the only full blood wizard directly related to them.

"Kalbo's not an option. He's on a wizards no-contact-from-the-outside-world-retreat." Jerry answered, sadness lacing his tone and words.

This discussion came to an abrupt halt there. Jerry hadn't kept in contact with any of his wizard relatives and that tapped everyone he knew in the wizard community. Theresa felt so sad and ill that she went right back upstairs to their room and back to sleep. Max darted up to his room after the council men left. He knew someone who'd give up their life for Alex. He wrote furiously quickly and hoped to the heavens this letter was received soon.

Justin came home from school and repeated his routine just like any other day at the Michaels'. He briefly stopped by Fred's office and said his typical hello. He paused in the doorway of the kitchen to greet Lauren and inquire about her day all the while not really caring in the least. Then he went up the stairs and knocked on Anna's door as was his typical form of hello with his quiet middle sister. He simply passed Jacob's door without any acknowledgement of the boy guaranteed to be behind it. Justin entered his room after unlocking the door, grabbed a stack of envelopes off his desk, stuffed them in his book bag, and proceeded to the next door after reinitializing his lock. There was one more person he had to greet, the only person in this family who made living here at all bearable.

He knocked on the door with his special just for Marie knock. One rap, Two rap, One rap. The door cracked opened just the tiniest bit so that one tiny eye was visible. He bent down so he was visible to the six-year-old girl's eye. He waited with baited breath for the rest of the ritual.

"Password?" She croaked in what she deemed a suitable scary voice. Justin smiled lightly so as not to offend his little sister. In his time with her, he'd come to realize she hated not being taken seriously and Justin wanted to be the one she could trust to always treat her how she wanted to be treated. He loved the Marie part of his greeting routine best. It made him smile in a happy, not fake, way that only one other thing could these days. Her latest kick was spy movies. She just loved pretending she was a spy and Justin didn't mind humoring her. After all, she only gets one childhood right?

"Purple Butterfly." He whispered and glanced around suspiously, as he always did. Make sure you aren't followed, Marie had the first time warned him, and so from then on he'd always made a show of checking for suspious activity. She cracked the door open just enough for him to slip through and then promptly shut and locked it behind him. He found this behavior odd for a six-year-old. What does someone her age do or need to hide that requires a locked door? But that was her business and he wasn't about to become the nosey older brother.

"Did you bring them?" She whispered in case her room was bugged. If this were a normal household, Justin would have assured her that there was no way her room was bugged. However, Jacob was their brother, and from what Justin could gather about their brother, it was quite possible that the room could be bugged. Justin nodded and pulled the white envelopes from his backpack. Marie smiled and pulled Justin toward her window. He placed his now close bag into her closet for "safe keeping" and then, with the envelopes safely tucked under his one arm, started down the rope letter he'd created for Marie. He waited at the bottom until she was on the ground safe and sound and then started toward their secret hiding place. There was old fort, probably built by residents of the neighboring house some time ago, that they went to when the wanted to discuss "classified information".

He ducked to enter through the small doorway. He then proceeded to sit in Indian style with his back resting against the left wall. She followed his example and sat Indian style against the right wall. He produced the envelopes with a flourish and she giggled. He frowned when he realized two of the three envelopes he was holding had already been opened. He freed the letter confused and then sighed when realized they were opened because they'd already been read. Then he frowned again.

"One letter? That's it? I know I grabbed them all." He didn't realize he was speaking out loud, but it didn't really matter.

"Who's the letter from? Alex?" Marie inquired. Justin got three letters everyday now. One from Jerry & Theresa, one from Max, and one from Alex. Through the letters Marie got to know the people who raised her oldest brother. Out of all the letters, Alex's letters were always Marie's favorite. They were Justin's favorite too. She could tell. His eyes always got brighter when reading one of her letters and he got this little secret smile on his face that Marie wasn't even sure Justin knew about. Marie wished she could meet them. They sounded like wonderful people. Sometimes, Marie would lie in bed and imagine she was part of their family, like REALLY related not related like Justin had been. She imagined it to be much more fun than her real family. Plus, she could tell from the letters and stories she'd asked Justin to tell her that they all loved each other very much. She wondered what it would feel love like that. No one in the Michaels family loved each other. The only love in Marie and Justin's household was for one's self.

"No. Max." Marie could hear the question in his statement. She moved so she was sitting next to him and gazed at the front of envelope. Yup, it was from Max. Marie liked Max. He was funny and light-hearted.

"Well…go on. Open it." She poked him in the side gently. Justin slid his finger under the seal and the envelope opened. Marie watched as Justin removed the letter with shaky hands. He was worried because there was only one letter. Marie was afraid because of it. She wanted there to be a simple reason just like Justin did. But she could tell as Justin's eyes scanned the words on the page that it was bad news. Justin dropped the letter. His face was a weird shade of white and his eyes were really, really big.

"Justin? Justin, what is it?" Marie asked, nervously ringing her hands. She may have never met any of the Russo family, but they were like her second family. Something big must have happened to make Justin's face look the way it did.

"Max says…" Justin started and then stopped. "…Alex …dying." He forced the bad words out of his mouth. Marie gasped.

"What?"

"He says…the magic council said she's going through magic rejection." Tears leaked from Marie's eyes. No! She couldn't die! She couldn't! Marie threw herself in Justin's lap and clung to him as she sobbed. He wrapped his arms around her lightly, but she could tell his mind wasn't with her at the moment. He was relieving memories. Marie could practically see the slideshow. She waited until her tears stopped and then grabbed the discarded letter. Tears that were not her own blurred some of the words on the page and some of them were too big for Marie to understand, but she got the gist of it.

"I can help her. I have to get to her." Justin declared suddenly. He stood up quickly and Marie was glad she'd moved.

"I'm going with you!" Marie stated determinately in her big girl voice. She had a plan to get them out of the house.

"Marie-" He started, but she held up a hand.

"No, I'm going Justin. It's the only way they'll let you out of the house without supervision anyway." She told him furiously and climbed out of the tree. He followed after her. There was no way he was going to argue this point. Marie was right.