Chapter 10 – Remembering

Hey everyone so here's the next chapter.

Thanks to my one reviewer, I have to say I'm a little disappointed that this I only got one review for the last chapter but oh well The next couple of chapters after this one we're really going to get into it, I'm sensing a blow up ;)

Dreams and memories are in italics.

Without further ado enjoy!

Previously - Parker ignored the ache in her heart when she felt their hands slide into her own. But she closed her eyes and prepared to project them to the house before stopping short when she realized something,

"Umm, where….where do you live?" she asked them and had to avert her eyes when she saw the sadness in theirs.

"In the house to the right of the manor," Phoebe answered; making Parker's eyes snap towards her and stare at her in disbelief.

"Oh…, ok," Parker replied, mentally slapping herself for the way she sounded. What did she expect? For them to still be in the condo that Phoebe had bought years ago?

Parker didn't say anything else but closed her eyes and felt the now familiar sensation of her projection power rush through her. Before anything else was said, she projected herself, Phoebe, and Billie out of magic school's library and into the Halliwell/Jenkins home.

"This is getting old, Parker," Dylan said as he crouched on his knees in front of the firestarter; whose head was bowed and hands were bound behind her back. All that was heard was the steady drip, drip, drip of Parker's blood onto the floor and her shaky, harsh breaths, "What's the matter, Parker? Cat got your tongue!"

Dylan sneered as he yanked Parker's head up by her hair so they were now face to face. Parker was a mess: her hair was matted with her blood, her lips were busted, there was a deep gash above her eyebrow that was dribbling blood and two very deep long cuts as well. They went from the top of her right eyebrow, down over her eye and stopping just below her right cheek. They stared at each other for a minute, well glared at each other was a more appropriate way of putting it before Dylan opened his mouth once again and spoke.

"You should of just left her behind, Parker. But no, you had to be the hero and get her out. At what cost though?... I must say these chains are impressive. They must have taken a lot of time, effort, and power to make them. However, you must of known I would get my hands on them eventually, I find it a little funny that you made them to contain me, but now they're being used to contain you." Dylan paused and waited for Parker to speak, but when she stayed silent, he became angry.

"Don't want to talk huh, Parker? Well, that's ok. I can wait," Dylan said as he gave the firestarter's hair another sharp pull before letting go and standing up. Now, he was looking down at Parker; who was looking at the floor or rather her blood that stained the floor and thinking of all the things she was going to do to Dylan once she got out of the chains.

"Badriks," Dylan called and within a moment, another demon entered.

This one was human in appearance except for the bright red eyes and the runes that were carved into his skin and his bald head. He was carrying a long, thick piece of leather that had a wooden handle at the end of it and was covered in dried blood. Parker glanced up briefly, but her eyes lowered and she gritted her teeth when she saw who it was.

"Until she starts to talk," Dylan commanded before grinning darkly at Parker, who had now closed her eyes tightly against the pain that she knew was about to come. Without another word, Dylan walked out of the room.

Parker saw out of the corner of her eye Badriks go over to a switch and flip it upwards. Before Parker could even try and stop it, her arms were now out by her sides and fully stretched until she could feel her muscles were taunt. The demon slowly walked until he stood behind her. It was silent for a minute, and Parker was foolish to believe that he wasn't going to do anything. Then she heard it. The whistling sound of something flying towards her, and then she felt it.

The whip cracked against her back at a speed that Parker couldn't believe. She could feel her newly healed skin start to open again, but before she had time to register the pain, the whip was cracked against her back again and again. She could feel her ear burning as a high pitched, painful sound was detected by her hearing. It only took her a minute to realize that she was screaming.

Parker shot up from her position on the couch. Her breaths coming out in short gasps, her top half was drenched in sweat, her hair was matted to her forehead, and the blanket that Phoebe had given her to sleep on the couch with was now on the floor. The young firestarter realized she was shaking and immediately wrapped her arms around her chest. She held herself tightly as she repeated over and over in her mind, 'It's over now. I'm not there anymore'. After shaking her head, Parker stood up from the couch in one fluid movement and decided to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Brooke was sitting up on the bed in her and Parker's bedroom with her knees drawn up to her chest as she stared blankly at the wall in front of her. She had been seated in this position nearly all night. If it wasn't for her hearing the movement of someone downstairs, Brooke was sure she would of stayed in that position for the rest of the day. But her curiosity about who could be up so early got the better of her, and she stood from the bed. She gave herself a little stretch to awake her joints before making her way out of the bedroom and down the stairs. She had a vague feeling that it was going to be one of the twins that was up.

Parker's whole body was shaking. That dream had only happened in reality a couple of weeks ago. Chris had saved her, but when he had tried to heal her, he couldn't get rid of the scars that were left behind. That was how he had gotten his scar going from his chin and down his neck. When he had rescued her, he hadn't seen the demon behind him until it was almost too late.

The war was starting to take its toll on the two remaining Halliwell's. They were now pulling longer hours, going out nearly every day on some sort of mission, and starting to get more paranoid of everyone and everything. It had gotten so bad that they had to constantly keep reminding each other they could trust one another. Parker sighed as she put her now empty glass in the sink. There was just so much going on in her life that she was sure this was going to be what pushed her over the edge.

The firestarter sensed someone behind her and without another thought, flung her hand out behind her and pinned the person to the kitchen wall. Parker turned around slowly. When she saw who it was, she immediately let them drop to the ground.

"I…..I…I'm sorry…I….I thought you were a….a…..a demon," Parker stuttered out as she watched Brooke get to her feet and brush her jeans to get rid of the dirt that now clung to them along the way.

"It's fine," the blonde whitelighter muttered; not looking in Parker's direction.

Parker glanced at the clock on the wall and frowned.

"You're not usually up until…I mean what are you doing up so early?" the short haired girl asked, changing her words mid-sentence, causing Brooke to look at her before looking away just as quickly.

"I….I heard someone downstairs. Thought it might be one of the twins, so I came to find out. I'm just gonna go…..go back upstairs now," Brooke murmured as she turned around and started to make her way out of the kitchen.

When she was a mere couple of steps away from the kitchen door, black and blue orbs suddenly started to materialize in front of her and formed into a darklighter.

"Hello, whitelighter," was all he said before, with a puff of black smoke, his crossbow was in his hand and pointed directly at Brooke.

Parker didn't think, she just reacted; forming a green electricity ball in one hand. Parker launched herself away from the sink and barreled into Brooke, knocking the whitelighter onto the floor with Parker on top of her. The arrow that had been going straight for Brooke's heart sailed over their heads, and the firestarter was quick to throw the electricity ball at the darklighter before they both made contact with the floor. All that could be heard for a minute were the screams of the darklighter before he combusted.

"Are you ok?" Parker asked as she lifted her head up from its position on Brooke's chest.

"Yeah, I'm fine…Umm, thanks," Brooke said; looking up and found herself inches away from Parker's face.

Both girls froze in their movements, Brooke could see the untold pain that Parker held within herself, all through her eyes. Even this Parker couldn't hide anything from Brooke.

"I…..uhhhh…..I should go and see…..uhhhh Chris," Parker announed softly as she slowly got off the whitelighter.

Brooke had to forcibly hold back a moan as she felt the firestarter's body lift off of her own.

"Yeah, I….I have to go somewhere too," Brooke stated as she, too, stood up. Parker gave her small cheeky smirk, "If you say so."

It was the last thing Parker said before walking out of the kitchen and the rest of the Halliwell/Jenkins manor. As soon as Brooke heard the front door close, she slid down the wall until she was sat on the floor with her eyes closed. She had told herself that she wouldn't get anywhere close to this Parker, and here she was being saved by her. The whitelighter had a feeling that this day was going to only get worse.

Realizing that she had been sitting on the kitchen floor for quite some time now, Brooke stood up and decided to go to the place, other than Parker's arms, where she could just relax and think.

The Golden Gate Bridge

"They're not telling us something," Chris stated quietly from his position on the attic in the couch while Parker was at a table mixing some potions for what Chris didn't know.

Parker sighed at her cousin before replying, "Chris, they aren't telling us a lot of things, and we can't ask them to tell us everything. There are some things that we're just better off not knowing."

"Yeah, I guess," Chris murmured as he went back to staring off into space.

"Oh. What a lot of help you are," Parker grumbled to herself as she went back to mixing her potions; in truth she was just doing this to keep herself busy.

"Until an epiphany hits me, I'm going to be useless just like you." Chris answered to his best friend's grumble; making Parker merely roll her eyes at the older Halliwell.

"Well, unlike you, I can't just sit around and wait for an epiphany," Parker explained before the two Halliwells lapsed into a comfortable silence.

The Halliwell/Jenkins Manor

Phoebe and Billie were in their bedroom and sitting on their bed with Phoebe in between Billie's legs. Her back was pressed against her wife's front with the blonde's arms wrapped tightly around her. They hadn't been able to get to sleep. The couple had settled into an embrace and stayed that way the rest of the night. Every time they shut their eyes to try and go to sleep, it was like their minds didn't want to stop thinking.

"How are we meant to deal with this?" Phoebe asked quietly; her voice a little hoarse from disuse but Billie heard her nonetheless.

"I…I don't know, but we'll deal with it as a family," Was the blonde's answer, making the brunette give a humorless chuckle.

"That's great…..We'll deal with this as a family…..Too bad one of our family is gone," the empath said sarcastically but Billie could practically hear the tears forming in her wife's eyes and tightened her hold on the older witch.

"We're gonna get her back….I don't know how, but I know we will…I will stop at nothing to get our daughter back and make our family complete again," Billie assured her with conviction as tears slid down her cheeks, and she felt her wife's pain tear into her heart.

"What are we going to do about this Parker? How can we willingly send her back to her reality when we know what she's going back to?…I can't let my daughter go back to that place…Even if she does hate me," Phoebe whisped; forcibly holding back the sobs that wanted to escape from her lips.

"She doesn't hate you, Pheebs…..Remember we got through to her before and we'll get through to her again…It just might be a bit more difficult this time. We will get through to her and show her what she should have been treated like….How she should of grown up…..As for sending her back, we have to send her back, Pheebs. She said it herself they don't belong in this reality. The realities are unbalanced which isn't good…..They need to go back…..No matter how painful it will be for us and them to do so." Billie murmured and felt her love stiffen in her arms before jumping out of them and springing to her feet.

Phoebe turned around and glared at the blonde. Billie had seen that look enough times over the years to know that Phoebe wasn't angry, she was upset.

"How can you say that? She may not be from this reality, but she is still our daughter! How can you be ready to send her back to that place when we know what she faces there? I don't care if the realities are unbalanced, I'm not letting her go back there!" Phoebe growled loudly before spinning on her heel and looking out of their bedroom window.

Seconds later, she felt two familiar warm strong arms wrap around her waist, a head place itself between her shoulder blades, and lips pressing softly against the bare skin.

"Pheebs, you know we have to," Billie advised gently, but Phoebe wasn't fooled. She could feel how much regret her wife was feeling and could hear how much this was paining Billie to say.

"I know…, but it doesn't make it any easier," Phoebe revealed softly as she felt Billie's arms unwrap themselves from her waist to turn her around, so the two women were now face to face instead.

"We figure out how to send them back. While we do that, we're going to make Parker become the girl she became all those years ago. We're going to heal her, although, I have a feeling that we're going to need Brooke's help. So when she goes back she'll have the power to vanquish Dylan once and for all. Then we'll figure out a way to get our Parker back," Billie insisted.

In her mind, all she could think about was how impossible it all seemed.

In spite of that, a small voice in the back of her mind was telling her that they could do it, but only if they did it as a family.

"Sounds impossible," Phoebe muttered into her wife's neck.

Her eyes closed as she breathed in Billie's scent. Even after all these years, the blonde's scent still calmed her like nothing else could,

"Yeah it does. Halliwells have a way of pulling off the impossible somehow," Billie replied; a hint of a smirk playing across her lips.

This time Phoebe gave a real chuckle, "Yeah, we do."

Her mind went through all the times the families had done the impossible, both magical and mortal. They stayed in their position for ages. Neither one wanting to move and go out into the real world. They were both perfectly content to stay inside their little bubble. It wasn't meant to be because in the next second there was a small knock at the door.

"Come in," Billie suggested as Phoebe broke the embrace and went to lie back on their bed.

Her back was propped up against the headboard and her arms crossed over her chest while Billie opted to stay standing by the window. Their bedroom door opened a couple of inches and suddenly, their youngest daughter's head was poking around the frame.

Her eyes were slightly red as she questioned, "Hey, uhhhh can…can we come in?"

Her voice was trembling a little, which her parents immediately picked up on.

"Yeah, sweetie, of course you can," Phoebe agreed as Billie sat down on their bed.

The next second, the twins had shuffled into their parents' bedroom and were climbing in between their mothers on the bed.

"What are you doing up so early?" Billie wondered as she trailed her hands through Phoenix's hair.

She didn't miss the way her youngest suddenly tensed before relaxing and knew what had gone through Phoenix's mind. Parker used to do this when she couldn't get to sleep at night. Billie remembered the night she had first caught Parker in Phoenix's room, Parker had been eight making Phoenix five:

Billie walked up the stairs of her house; intending on going to bed and cuddling up to her wife but stopped short when she saw Phoenix's door was open slightly. Parker and Phoenix hated their parents leaving her door open and would always shut it after they had put them to bed and gone back downstairs, so what was it doing open now?

The blonde started to panic. Her thoughts going straight to demons being in her youngest daughter's room, and she rushed straight over there. Just as she was about to burst in, what she saw made her heart stop.

Parker was seated with her back against Phoenix's headboard and her arms full of her little sister. Her right hand was stroking her baby sister's hair slowly. The firestarter was looking down at Phoenix with a small loving smile on her face. Billie watched the scene with tears in her eyes. When she was about to walk away, Parker's head snapped up. As soon as she saw her mom, her smile turned sheepish.

Billie stood and watched as Parker lifted her sister off of her with great care, laid her back down on the bed after she had got off of it, pulled the covers up to her shoulders, and placed a kiss on her forehead before making her way out of her youngest sister's room. Billie stepped back to allow her daughter to leave the room. Only when Parker had closed the door with a soft click, did she start to speak.

"Mom, I'm sorry for not being in bed, but Nix couldn't sleep and was calling for me, please don't be mad," Parker explained, her eyes shined with innocence and made her mother's heart melt.

"I'm not mad. I think that's a very nice thing you just did, but I didn't hear Phoenix calling for you, and you know me and your ma can hear if one of you calls out," Billie informed her as she bent down to her daughter's level and saw her daughter looking at her with confusion.

"She did mom, honest. She was calling for me. I could hear her. I'm not making it up," Parker stated seriously with a scowl on her face; which made Billie smile.

"I know, sweetie, I believe you, but we'll talk more about it in the morning, ok. Right now, you've got to get to bed. We wouldn't want you tired for school tomorrow, would we?" Billie asked as she picked her daughter up into her arms when she saw her yawn and rub her eyes.

Billie carried Parker into her bedroom and put her eldest into her bed, thanking everyone that Parker was quite light. The blonde pulled Parker's covers up to her waist and pressed a kiss onto her forehead before walking back towards the bedroom door. As she went to step out and close it, Billie turned around and gave her daughter a smile.

"Night, Parks, I love you," Billie said and watched as Parker's eyes lit up slightly at the statement before drooping while the firestarter gave another yawn.

"Love you, too, mommy," Parker told her through a yawn before her eyes closed

She was snoring softly in seconds.

"What took you so long?" Phoebe questioned softly as her wife slipped into their bed behind her.

"I think Parker's getting her telepathy power."

Billie's answer made Phoebe turn around and face the blonde, happiness alight in her eyes.

"Really?" the brunette asked and was met with her wife's beautiful smile as she leaned in towards the older witch's face.

"Really," Billie murmured before capturing her wife's lips in a sweet and innocent kiss.

Billie came out of the memory to see Phoenix looking at her intently.

"What you thinking about mom?" the youngest Halliwell/Jenkins asked quietly; aware that her sister and ma were listening.

Billie gave her daughter a comforting smile as she answered, "I was thinking about the first time I found Parker in your bed."

A sad smile made its way across Phoenix's lips as she remembered all the times her big sister would come into her room, stroke her hair, and sing her to sleep. It had become a routine for many years. And every now and then, Billie and Phoebe used to find Parker asleep with her back against the headboard of Phoenix's bed; her little sister asleep in her arms.

"Do you remember that Christmas when Parker refused to get up before eight but we woke her up at six and told her it was eight. And then we went to wake you both up…..She wasn't happy when she found out the time," Patty said quietly; her eyes were distant as the memory replayed in her head:

"PARKER! PARKER, WAKE UP! IT'S CHRISTMAS!" a ten year old Patty shouted as she and Phoenix burst into their big sister's room and proceeded to bounce on their knees on Parker's bed.

"Uhhhh, what time is it?" a thirteen year old Parker asked as she half opened her eyes and was met with the twin's identical, innocent grins.

"It's eight o'clock, Parks. You said we couldn't wake you up before eight, and we haven't, so get up, We've got to go wake mom and ma up now!" Phoenix babbled with excitement bursting into her voice and making the firestarter chuckle.

"Ok, ok, I'm up," Parker assured them as she swung her long legs out of her bed and ran a hand through her already messy hair before she slowly made her way out of her bedroom behind Patty and Parker; who were nearly running towards their parents' bedroom.

"Rise and shine, you two, it's Christmas day!" Patty shouted at her mothers, causing them to nearly fall out of their bed, which in turn caused the twins to chuckle.

"Uhhhh, girls, what time is it?" their mom asked as Parker came into the room and ungracefully settled herself under the covers next to their ma. Her head went to its favorite place in their ma's neck and cuddled into her. Their ma responded by putting her arm over Parker and pulling her closer.

"It's…uhhhh…eight o'clock. Parks said not to wake her up before, and we…we didn't," Phoenix muttered; shifting her weight to each foot and then back again.

Her eyes were looking anywhere but at their parents and older sister. Patty saw her mom lift up her head and look at her alarm clock on the bedside table. Billie before gave her a little chuckle when she saw the time, "Girls, I thought you could tell the time."

There was a hint of a smile on her lips as she looked at her wife and eldest daughter cuddled together under the bed covers. Parker wasn't going to like this.

"We can," Phoenix replied; her tone oblivious. She hadn't seen their mom look at the alarm clock.

"Then tell me why my clock says it's six am?" their mom asked and as soon as the words left her lips, Parker erupted.

"WHAT! YOU TOLD ME IT WAS EIGHT! I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET ME UP BEFORE THEN, AND YOU GET ME UP TWO FRICKING HOURS EARLIER! BOTH OF YOU ARE DEAD WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!" Parker screamed.

As she went to get out of their parents' bed, their ma stopped her.

"Just go back to sleep, Parks, I will not have you killing your sisters on Christmas day." their ma said sternly and Patty watched with amusement as Parker rolled her eyes before sighing and flopping back onto the bed next to their ma and cuddling into her once more.

"I mean it this time. I'm not getting up before eight," Parker mumbled sleepily; making Patty and Phoenix look at each other and roll their eyes at their sister's statement.

Knowing that their sister meant it, they shrugged their shoulders and climbed into their parents' bed and stayed there until well after eight o'clock. Patty was content to stay there with her family forever if she had to.

"Yeah…, you know she never did get us back for doing that, which I am so thankful for….I never wanted to be on the end of one of her and Chris's pranks," Nix said; shuddering at the memories of all the pranks Chris and Parker subjected people to, especially Wyatt and their Aunt Paige.

"Yeah…., she got that mischievous side from your ma, you know," Billie revealed, and as soon as the words left her lips, she was met with a pillow to her face.

"Billie Jenkins-Halliwell, how could you say such a thing about your wife?" Phoebe inquired in mock outrage as the twins giggled at their parents display.

"Oh come on, remember that time….?" Billie started to say and that was how the Halliwell/Jenkins spent their morning, talking and remembering Parker.

So that's the end of chapter 10 what did you think?

Leave us a review and let us know

The next chapter will be up in a week so until then.