Shadows Like Ghosts

Sunlight

That night Billie and Charlie cast the spell to bar Leo Wyatt from ever harassing at the bases again. The first thing Billie did the following morning was get someone to give her a haircut—that someone being a Valkyrie.

" I don't care as much about my looks as I do when I was younger," Billie declared when it was all done, " But you guys really suck at giving haircuts."

" You'll live." Said the Valkyrie. " It's more for efficiency than for style."

" Still." Billie frowned. " You think you can at least keep everything level and straight?"

The Valkyrie gave a lung-suffering sigh, before getting to work fixing Billie's hair.

" I'm not going to work too hard on this." Said the warrior woman. " The divisions are meeting up in thirty minutes and I'm not going to bother making you look like Aphrodite."

" I don't think Aphrodite has short hair." Billie retorted, but did not comment further.

Once everything was finished, Billie left the Valkyrie with a short but honest thank you, and headed to meet Charlie and the rest of the Resistance that were preparing to attack the Quarter base.

" Hi Billie." Said Charlie when she arrived. " Wow. Your haircut sucks."

" Give it a rest." Billie snapped. She was no longer so young, now in her late thirties—she really did not care if she looked like Marilyn Monroe or Hillary Clinton. As long as her hair is easier to manage, she was satisfied. " Is Cole here?"

" He's over there with Sardo." Charlie pointed. " They're trying to get all the potions in order. There was a minor spill."

" …" Billie stared. " What kind of spill?"

" One of the kids had a nightmare last night." Said Charlie. " Used hydrokinesis and had the potions sort of flying everywhere. Sardo is cleaning it up, Cole is helping him."

Ever since Chris and Cole bonded, Cole had been so helpful. Billie found herself smiling. Even if Leo is an absolute prick, with Cole in his life, maybe Chris will finally feel better about himself.

" Hey," Chris emerged in a flurry of blue, " You guys ready?"

He looked uncomfortable, but not overly upset. Like the natural leader he was, he had snapped out of his own gloom to attend to current affairs.

" Yup." Billie replied, not surprised by this. " Don't worry. We all know what to do."

Chris nodded at this. " Good luck."

oO

The Quarter base was one of the few actual forts where it even looked like a castle. On top of the walls darklighters were on the lookout, their crossbows a very effective weapon for long range defense. Thankfully, the forest trees provided good cover, but there was no real good way of getting closer without getting caught. Billie held up a seashell to her ear.

" Charlie, this is Billie. You seeing what I'm seeing?"

" This is Charlie. We'll need to get into the fort without alerting the darklighters up there." Said Charlie.

Another Resistance member from one of the other bases spoke up. " This is Dae. They updated their security since the scout report. We might be better off if we shrink ourselves and make our way through. I don't see many guards on the ground on the south side."

Billie sighed. Shrinking in size means that travel would be a lot slower, but it does mean they will remain undetected. " When I give the order, get as close as you can without being seen and have one of the witches perform a spell to shrink everyone. We're going to have to be the size of ants if we want to get past the darklighters."

" This is Charlie. Understood."

" This is Dae. Understood."

" This is Vladmir. Understood."

Billie silently waved at the other members. Cole went to her side.

" Before you go in I should go in first." He reminded her.

" I know." Said Billie. " You should go now. When you're done, come back out here."

Cole hesitated, if only to reflect briefly that once upon a time, he had helped the Charmed Ones the same way. Funny how he was helping their son. With a shimmer, he went invisible and disappeared.

Cole returned in about half an hour. " Figured out how they were communicating."

" And?"

" As expected, palantir. I took it away." Cole replied. " We can go in. They have no way of contacting Wyatt now.

Billie grinned. " Charlie, Vladmir, Dae, we're good to go. Move to position and cast the spells." She waved at her squad and they moved nearer to the edge of the trees, just beyond the range of view for the darklighters. Billie herself recited the spell.

" When large we are we can be seen,

So shrink us so that we're unseen."

With a faint shimmer, undetectable by other observers, the squad shrunk down to the size of spiders.

" Alright." Billie looked at the huge boulders that used to be dirt particles. They were not too horribly big and actually rather easy to walk across. The fort loomed like a mountain.

" We're good to go," Billie winced. " Oh my god my voice is so high!"

Some high-pitched laughter followed, but no one was alarmed.

" Let's get going." Said Billie. " Thanks a lot, Cole."

" No problem." Said a disembodied voice, for Cole, who did not shrink from the spell, opted instead to be invisible. They saw the grass bend as he carefully stepped aside, to not crush them. " I have done all I can do here." He declared. " I will go check on Chris now."

" Okay." Said Billie, who agreed with this sentiment. Though Cole was somewhat invincible, there really was very little he could do in terms of offensive magic. " Take care of Chris for me."

They sensed him shimmer away.

The trip from where they were to the fort took a good twenty minutes, not to mention they were forced to kill a few ants and other insects along the way.

" This is Billie. We're in." Said Billie, wondering if the others would laugh at how high her voice was. But as it turned out, everyone else's voice was quite high as well.

" This is Charlie. We're almost in."

" This is Vladmir. We're in."

" This is Dae. We're about two minutes away."

Once everyone was inside, Billie commanded everyone to cast the spell to change them back to normal size. Chris's plan of action was to eliminate the demons a group at a time until the inside of the fort was clean, and then deal with the darklighters at the walls. As soon as Billie's squad returned to normal, a team of demons walked into the same room. They froze in shock, and Billie amplified the other squad member's powers and the demons were destroyed before they could so much as speak.

" Good." Billie nodded. " One group down, 'x' amount to go. Let's get moving, people."

oO

Cole had been a leader before—after all, he had been the Source, but Chris was a different leader than anyone he has ever met. He had shimmered into the base to find Chris babysitting a group children while their parents attacked the Quarter base by reading out loud from a storybook.

Cole had watched this before with impassivity, but secure in his fondness for Chris and Chris's fondness for him, he viewed this scene in a new light and felt, wryly, that Chris would have made a much better Emperor than Wyatt. If Chris had decided to take over the world, Cole did not think many people would have minded, other than demons, perhaps. But then, maybe it was because Chris would never decide to take over the world that he would have made a better Emperor.

" He looked around…and there was Sara." Chris grinned. " That's the end of the chapter, guys."

" Read another!" Cried a chorus of young voices.

Chris looked up to see Cole. " My voice is really dry, people. I've been reading to you folks for an hour.

" Awwwww…"

" Hey," Chris set the book aside, " I need to talk with Cole over there, I'll be right back, okay? You guys stay put."

He went over to Cole while the children started chatting among themselves.

" I'm going to assume from your expression that things are going as planned?" Chris began.

" They're commencing the attack now." Cole replied. " I must ask…why the Quarter base though?"

" Billie." Chris replied. " You know that reality-altering power of hers?"

" …Yes?"

" That fort is located half a mile away from a site where there are many intersections to the web of reality." Chris replied. " We conquer that area, we can set it up as a base and begin conquering other areas and Billie can use her powers to manipulate that intersection and add odds in our favor."

Whoa. " Wyatt does not know about this?"

" He knows, but he probably didn't anticipate us attacking him now." Chris answered. " It's been about four years since he first took over the place. Timing is everything."

Indeed. " How come Wyatt hasn't used that base to his advantage?"

" Billie." Chris repeated his first answer. " She is the third most powerful which in the world, no matter what. The Resistance bases, also, were established at other intersections that Wyatt was not able to take. It's how we've been keeping our balance all these years."

" I see." Cole had a vague recollection of that now.

" By the way," Chris told Cole as he stepped back to return his attention to the youngsters, " I never got a chance to show you the supposed 'words of truth'. Remind me later to do that."

Chris had been too distraught to even think about such a thing yesterday. Cole found himself smiling. " Alright." He said.

Since Chris was busy, Cole made his way down to the conference room. Along the way, he heard Billie's voice reporting. " We've taken care of three rooms in the basement of the north wing. Warders are currently setting up barriers and portals."

" Copy that, Billie." Cole heard Sardo reply. He turned to look into the room where Sardo and several other members were listening to the transmissions.

" This is Vladmir. First floor of the entire West Wing has been occupied, barriers erected, and portal installed. Please send reinforcements. Caution: Dark Lighters and other defenses on the outer wall are close by."

" Copy that." Said one of the members listening. " Vladmir, how many darklighters and defenses are on the outer wall?"

" Estimation, about several hundred all around. They do not appear to be making rounds in any specific pattern." Suddenly, in the background there were sounds of fighting. " This is Vladmir! We need reinforcements, now!"

Sardo sprang to action. " Harry, this is Sardo. Send you troops to the blue portal immediately. Repeat, send your troops to the blue portal, immediately!"

" This is Harry. Copy that, Sardo. Come on, everyone!"

The group listened anxiously. Cole glanced at the elf, who did not look up at him. He was too busy. Suddenly, Billie's voice spoke, filled with alarm.

" We have been detected by the outer defenses!"

Sardo shot to his feet. " Amanda! Send your troops to the green portal!"

" We haven't set up the portal!" Billie's voice interrupted, and she was interrupted when someone apparently attacked her. There was a crack, like static, and then silence on her side.

Sardo looked up at Cole. " They need Chris."

Cole thought quickly. The chances of Wyatt showing up are small—he had gotten rid of the palantir. He did not want to have to put the boy through this, but Chris could turn the tide around. Besides, Cole will be there. He had to be. " I'll go get him."

oO

To his credit, Chris did not even hesitate, except to ask, " Can you come with me?" Cole surprised himself by impulsively smacking Chris at the back of the head, to which Chris laughed nervously and then orbed away. Cole barely had the mind to shimmer with him. He had not meant to do that to Chris. But perhaps he was getting so comfortable with the boy…

If Chris was nervous around the demons, which Cole knew he was, he did not let this hinder his ability to fight them. Chris had inherited his mother's powers of blasting demons to bits, and in a way, his powers were even stronger than hers. With sheer focus of mind, he could even blast multiple demons and darklighters at once. Billie, who was holding her own with her reality-changing magic, but unable to take care of the other members of the squad, rushed over to Chris to amplify his powers. Chris telekinetically crushed several demons at once, causing them to burst into flames, and in several minutes the band of what must have been more than a hundred minions were turned to ash.

" Fuck," Chris swore anyway, because three members of the squad were heavily injured. He hurried over to them. " Hang on guys!" And in a brilliant swirl of orbs, the four of them disappeared.

" Shit." Billie hissed. " We triggered some alarm. More demons are gonna come this way. You better get Chris back because I was barely able to hold my own against them. They must have grown more powerful somehow!"

Cole did not even wait until she finished. As he appeared back at the base, Chris was screaming for whitelighters. He grabbed the boy's arm.

" You better get back. I'll take care of this."

Chris froze, and Cole knew that the child was worried he would have to face Wyatt alone. " I'll be there as soon as the whitelighters come. Go!"

Face pale and eyes wide, Chris nodded and he orbed.

" Whitelighters!" Cole yelled.

oO

" Give me the com!" Chris ordered Billie as soon as he reappeared. " Vladmir! Charlie! Dae! This is Chris! Hurry up and set up the portals! We're going to distract the demons at this fort and localize them in the north wing! Get reinforcements as fast as possible!"

Before he even finished, more demons came. One of them threw an athame at Chris, who, too busy talking, could not orb the athame away and was forced to dodge.

" You filthy worms!" Billie screamed, half out of panic and half in the hopes that some of them would actually turn into worms. Unfortunately, only about five of them did. The remaining demons swarmed the room, and even though Chris was able to blast multiple at once, there were so many that Billie was finally shot by a Darklighter's arrow. Ignoring the pain, she pulled the arrow out and threw it at one of the darklighters, using her telekinesis to speed things along.

Suckers. She thought, as she watched Chris wipe out their attackers like an war elephant plunging through an army. It was really a big blow that even when teamed together, they still could not defeat Wyatt. Why is Wyatt so God damn powerful? Why couldn't it be Chris? She ducked a fireball and threw an athame, while someone used pyrokinesis on a warlock and yet another levitated over Billie's head to dodge an attack.

She whirled around and swayed. Shit. The Darklighter's poison was affecting her more than it should. Behind her was a warlock, and she barely stumbled out of the way as he threw a potion at her.

" Billie!" Chris had sensed something was wrong with her. Then, in a panic, he telekinetically ripped the warlock to pieces. Blood and flesh flew about the room as the man burst.

" Shit, watch it, Chris!" Someone yelled. Chris ignored them, flipping in the air to dodge a fireball and conjuring an energy ball before throwing it at the door. As it sailed it split into multiple energy balls. The demons howled as they were hit, disappearing into ash. The warlocks stumbled back, and Chris telekinetically smashed them out the door.

Cole shimmered in, then, just as a Darklighter was shooting an arrow at one of the squad members. The arrow bounced off him in its path almost comically. Cole did not even flinch. He was looking for Chris.

" Cole!" Chris cried, even as he swept his arms out in an impressive display of magic. " Get Billie out! She's wounded!"

" I'm not leaving you here! Are you crazy?" Billie shouted back, even as darkness started to cloud her vision. Darklighter poison's been improved…

" Get her out!" Chris yelled, and Cole wasted no time grabbing on to Billie's shoulder. They disappeared.

" Chris, this is Charlie. We're set up at the west wing and reinforcements are coming."

" Copy that!" Chris yelled, as he fought off another warlock. He suddenly saw the warlock's face and his insides froze. He knew this warlock. No…vision tunneling in until the man's smirk seemed to fill his whole world, Chris stopped moving, fear immobilizing his body. Murmurs of more reinforcements coming resonated in the background, but Chris could not hear them. He saw the warlock smirk even more, and then a flash of hot pain as his shoulder was impaled by a Darklighter arrow he had no way of blocking or avoiding. The poison spread through him and his legs folded under him. From both the venom and the terror, he blacked out.

oO

" I should play the shimmery." Chris heard Cole say as he came to. " Shimmer all the wounded to you whitelighters, then shimmer them newly healed back to the battlefield, and then shimmer them back to you again."

The man's tone sounded joking and light. Chris frowned a little. What happened?

But everyone seemed to be happy for some reason. The entire Resistance seemed to be in light spirits. What? He opened his eyes.

Cole was still talking. " We can change the Mary Poppins song to, ' Shim shimmery, shim shimmery, shim shim, shiroo, I do what I likes and I likes what I do'."

This was incredibly weird. " Who are you?" Chris asked. Even though he could feel Cole's almost overwhelming joy, the idea of Cole singing silly songs from Disney movies was just absurd.

Cole's expression fell. " …I'm Cole Turner…" He trailed off, obviously thinking that Chris had lost his memories again.

" No you aren't." Chris lifted himself up. His shoulder still felt sore. " Cole would never sing. Hell, he only cracked one joke the entire time he's been here, and it was a lame one."

Cole's expression lifted again. " That was not a lame joke. And can you blame me?" Asked the undefined being. " After the scare you gave all of us. You needed five whitelighters to heal you for an hour. Do you have any idea how terrified I was?"

Huh. Cole did feel giddy, Chris realized. He felt so relieved that he was almost silly, which explained the strange singing.

Which then reminded Chris of why Cole was worried.

" What happened at the fort?"

One of the whitelighters grinned. " We totally kicked their asses!"

" Billie's squad tripping the wires, plus Cole's shimmering deal, ended up making things work out for us." Another whitelighter explained. " Because everyone had localized to the north wing, that left the other three squads free to take over the rest of the fort. By the time you were shot by the arrow, reinforcements had already come and we took over the fort."

" We did?" Chris stared, hardly able to believe their good luck. After all he had been through, he was no longer so willing to count on luck.

" Yup. We rock." The whitelighters laughed. " And guess what, no casualties."

" Is Billie okay?" Chris asked, still finding it hard to believe.

" I'm fine." Billie grinned. She was thinking, it figured that with Chris they could go on missions where they do not lose anyone. Of course, they also had Cole to thank for. " Your Uncle Cole is a lifesaver."

Cole blinked at her, but Chris did not seem to react to the term 'uncle'. " Oh my god." The teen exclaimed. " We got the fort."

" We got the fort."

" We got the fort!" Chris let out a whoop, then winced as he aggravated his aching shoulder. " Ow. Hey, what happened here?" He gestured at his shoulder.

" Darklighters' poison got stronger. It took longer to heal and…" John stared at his shoulder with some dismay, " Probably was harder to heal completely too. Sorry."

" Well…" Chris then beamed. " Who the hell cares? We won!"

Cole smiled.

" Now we can start the next plan of action," Chris remarked, not noticing the looks of slight annoyance and amusement. Ever the leader, he would never be distracted by current achievements when there was more to be done. He hopped off the cot he was lying on and ran past Cole. " Come on Billie." He called.

Billie and Cole exchanged an amused look. The blonde then followed Chris out. Cole watched them leave.

" He shouldn't have gotten shot by the arrow though." Said one of the whitelighters then, growing solemn. " It's so weird."

" Yeah. He is super good at dodging them." John agreed. " This is the first time we've had to heal him because of an arrow and he's been out fighting for years."

" You think it's because of what happened with Wyatt?"

The question was directed at Cole, who, growing grave at this revelation, did not reply.