Chapter 9

"So Leo, what are you again?" Ned asked, tossing the basketball to Jack.

Jack dribbled, looking to his left and right. Realizing he was trapped by Carey, he threw a half-hearted attempt of a shot to the net. It missed, and was caught by Leo, Piper's husband. Jack and the Bells had decided to invite him on their "guys afternoon out." After finding out that the manor would be full of women, namely the sisters, Fi, and Molly, they'd felt bad for him and couldn't leave him in a proverbial hen house.

Dribbling around the net pole and back on to the court, Leo bounced the ball to teammate Carey. Since there were five guys in total, they were taking turns, and it was Clu's to sit out and referee.

Responding to Ned's question, Leo answered, "Well, I was the sisters' whitelighter. Full whitelighter, that is – not like Paige, who's half-whitelighter and half-witch."

"Was?" Jack asked, only semi-paying attention to the conversation as he concentrated on stealing the ball from the eldest Bell brother.

Leo paused, for a moment standing still on the court. "It's…complicated. You can say I'm sort of a fallen angel. Now I'm human."

"'I'm human,'" Carey repeated, avoiding Jack and passing the ball to Leo. "When was the last time you heard that?"

From a bench near the court, Clu agreed, "Dude, I know what you mean. It's like…we're surrounded."

"Not really," Ned pointed out. "There's five of them and five of us."

Clu hesitated, then argued, "Well, yeah, I guess it just seems that way 'cause…you know…Fi could blow me up if she wanted to."

"Yeah, she nearly roasted me the other day when she was practicing with Paige," Jack agreed, managing to get the ball from Leo and passing it to Ned. When he was able to lower his arms, he rubbed his shoulder. It still hurt a bit from that demon attack.

Shooting the ball and making the basket, Ned pumped a victory fist before replying, "Guys, I don't think we have a right to complain. Leo's around three witches constantly…not to mention witches who are also women. Honestly, I don't know how you do it."

"I used to be an angel, remember? That helps. A lot," Leo admitted, once again catching the ball on the rebound and giving it to his teammate. "And plus, Paige and Phoebe moved out recently."

The four played until Carey and Leo reached twenty-one points, winning the game. Ned shrugged at Jack. "Sorry, Jack."

"It's okay, Mr. B," Jack assured him. "It was close."

Breathing a little heavy, Ned walked over to Clu's bench, "Hey, you want to fill in for me this game? I think I need to sit down."

"Sure, Dad," Clu chuckled, joining his brother and Jack.

Leo joined Ned on the bench, also tired. "You boys play. I'm going to sit this one out too."

"I guess being mortal has its downsides," Ned joked.

Smiling in agreement, Leo said, "No kidding."

Jack shook his head, getting the ball from where it had rolled to. "Okay then, since there's three of us, how about a little 'every-man-for-himself' until one of us hits…fifteen?"

"Twenty-one," Carey corrected. At their looks, he explained, "I don't know about you, but I don't want to go back to the manor any sooner than I have to."

Jack and Clu glanced at each other, then replied simultaneously, "Thirty."

"There we go," Carey laughed.

As they played, Jack could feel the other two looking at him every once in a while, then glance at the other before continue playing. Finally sick of it, Jack held up his hands in a classic time out sign and held the ball at his side. "Okay, what's going on?"

"What do you mean, dude?" Clu asked, giving an innocent shrug.

Jack sighed. "You keep…looking at me in this weird way…"

"Oh, we didn't tell you?" Carey replied. "You've had a leaf in your hair for like the past hour."

Raising an eyebrow, Jack said, "No I don't. Come on, spill your guts or I'll sic Fi on you later." Though he knew they were lying, he still checked his hair before adding, "Let's play while we talk, though. I have a feeling you don't want Mr. B and Leo getting on this conversation."

"Okay then," Carey agreed, swiping the ball from Jack and making a basket.

"That didn't count!" Jack argued, catching the ball before it could bounce away from the court. "Alright, time in."

Blocking the shot Jack attempted, Clu began, "Dude, we've been worried about you."

"Why?" Jack asked.

As he stole the ball from his brother Carey explained, "Oh, I dunno… we've got this crazy idea that you might be having some trouble dealing with the fact that your mother and sister are witches. But that's just us."

"Oh," Jack replied lamely. "I don't know. Honestly, I've been trying not to think about it."

"Come on, Jack. You gotta have something," Clu pressed, getting the ball back from Carey, shooting, and smiling with satisfaction as it went in.

Sighing, Jack allowed Clu to catch the ball on the rebound while he gathered his thoughts. "I guess. Well, you know how I hate admitting I was wrong…"

Carey nodded. "Uh huh."

"Oh yeah," Clu added.

Jack glared at them. "Shut up. Anyway, all these years I've been telling Fi that everything she's encountered doesn't really exist, that it's her imagination. After meeting the Halliwell sisters…it's like…could I be proved any more wrong?"

"No, not really," Carey said, answering what was clearly meant to be a rhetorical question.

Glaring at him again, Jack continued, "And it's not just that. These…demons. I'm not even bothered that one attacked me. But…one did go after Mom. And there's a much more powerful one after both my mom and my sister. Guys…I could barely protect my family before. How in the world am I supposed to do any good now? If anything, I'm going to be a burden to them. On top of having to survive when a demon attacks, they're going to have to protect me too."

"Whoa, that's deep stuff," Clu said, standing still with the ball in his hand. "But dude, don't worry about it. I'm sure that's not how they see it."

Carey nodded in agreement. "Yeah. If you think about it, you'll be the only human in the family."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better…how, exactly?" Jack retorted.

Giving a short laugh, Clu explained, "I think what he means is…you'll be the sanity, dude! Whenever Mrs. P or Fi get over the top with this witch stuff…thought I can't see it happening to your mom, but you never know…you'll be the common sense, the person they go to when things get a little too serious."

"And if you think about it," Carey added. "You're going to college in the fall anyway."

"I don't know, maybe," Jack replied, taking the ball from Clu and started bouncing it in place. They'd stopped playing at least a few minutes ago.

Clu and Carey froze, slowly turning to stare at him. Blinking a couple times, Clu gasped, "What? When did this happen?"

"It didn't 'happen'…" Jack trailed off, squirming under their gazes. "I've been thinking about it even before we arrived in San Francisco. I figured that Mom and Fi needed me, and I wouldn't be helping them as much if I went to school, whether I stayed at home or away. I was talking to your mom and she said they're thinking of lining up another tour next January, depending on how successful this one is. And from what I've seen so far this summer…the crowds have been nuts. Mom would be crazy not to tour again."

Carey shook his head. "Another tour? Man, I wonder when Mom was planning on springing that on us."

"Focus dude," Clu interrupted, narrowing his eyes at his brother. "Jack, man, you gotta go to school. You know Fi and Mrs. P would hate it if you gave it up because of them."

"I know, I know!" Jack exclaimed, massaging his now-aching forehead. "There's so many pros and cons…I guess I'll have to think it over some more."

There was quiet, then Carey once again grabbed the ball from Jack and made another basket. "I believe that's…ten for me. Come on ladies, are you gonna stand there or are you gonna play?"

Phoebe picked up the hairbrush that lay on the living room table. While the guys were out doing whatever guys did on their day off, she was helping Molly with vision control. The singer wasn't the only one in training – Paige was teaching Fi the art of potion making, with Piper, and her freezing power, on hand just in case

Concentrating a minute, Phoebe gripped her brush handle. She and Molly and moved on from vision sensing to memory transfer, the latter something Phoebe had invented over the years. She smiled when she was done and held out the brush to her "student." "Okay here's something I learned to do over the years that's really cool.."

"Define 'cool'," Molly replied.

Phoebe chuckled and continued, "No, it really is. Sometimes, if you focus hard enough, you can pick um memories from the last person who touched an object. It's very handy. I can't tell you how many times I've caught my sisters borrowing my clothes without asking."

"I can't imagine. Piper and Paige must never get away with anything," Molly joked.

Smiling, Phoebe pointed out, "Yup. The same way Fi and Jack aren't going to be able to get away with anything anymore."

"Huh, I never thought of that…" Molly grinned.

Phoebe couldn't help but do an internal victory dance. Ever since they started a few hours ago, she had been trying to get Molly to loosen up. The new witch had been sullen and serious from the very beginning, treating this lesson as if she were being forced to by law. Phoebe had only been able to get her to smile or at least stop looking like she was in pain in the past hour. "See? Being a psychic witch isn't the worst thing in the world."

"I'm sorry, Phoebe," Molly replied, obviously picking up on the brunette's thoughts either through observation or her mind reading skills. "I'm not trying to be a jerk about this. I'm just…not used to this stuff as much as you are. This is usually Fi's thing, and I'm usually the one telling her she's jumping to conclusions."

"Yes, well…now it's your thing," Phoebe reminded her, now putting the hairbrush in Molly's hand.

There was quiet for a moment, and it was clear by the dazed look on Molly's face that she'd received the vision. When it was over, she laughed. "I can't believe you did that to Piper."

"I was three! And she deserved to have her favorite Barbie doll flushed down the toilet!" Phoebe defended.

Poking her head in from the kitchen, Piper said, "I heard that!"

"Sorry, Piper, but it's true!" Phoebe argued. "You stole my coloring book!"

"It was my coloring book in the first place!" Piper huffed. "You swiped it and doodled all over it, and threw a hissy fit when I took it away!"

Phoebe paused. "Oh…well, I was three!"

"Talk about déjà vu," Molly laughed. "I feel like I'm watching Fi and Jack. Don't tell me I'll have to make you two go to your rooms."

Raising a surprised eyebrow, Piper looked at Phoebe, clearly saying Well, she's in a good mood. "Well, the good thing now is," Piper said aloud, "Phoebe's room is in her own apartment."

"Hey!" Phoebe exclaimed, pretending to be insulted. Then she took the brush from Molly and prepared to do the test again. "By the way, that was really good Molly. Let's try th – "

She stopped as she herself received a vision.

She was at Piper's club…and instantly recognized it as the scene from yesterday. She remembered that she had been on a stool watching Molly perform, but instead she was right next to the singer on stage. After a moment she herself disappeared.

Then she reappeared, and seemed to be floating near the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. But she wasn't the only one…Molly was next to her, seemingly unaware of her presence. Confused, Phoebe followed Molly's gaze to see that there were, in fact, two people on top of the bridge. She instantly recognized one as an Elder she knew, and the other as Molly's late husband.

Unsure of what to do, she just watched and waited. She could hear a conversation, and then…

Phoebe gasped for air as she returned from the vision, staring wide-eyed at Molly. "I-I…y-you…"

"What happened, Phoebe?" Molly asked, putting a steadying hand on the other witch's shoulder.

Obviously noting Phoebe's hesitation to answer, Piper cleared her throat. "Hey, Pheebs? Would you mind coming into the kitchen for a minute? I…need to ask you something about a herb in one of the spells."

"Sure. Be right back, Molly. Practice some of the blocking techniques I showed you," Phoebe instructed, following Piper into the kitchen. Letting out a long, slow breath, she said, "Thanks, Piper."

Getting Phoebe a glass of water, Paige handed it to her and asked, "What's going on?"

"Did something happen?" Fi questioned, immediately putting down the scrying crystal she'd been practicing with.

Phoebe gulped down the water and took a seat on a stool at the island. "Yes, Fi, something did happen. Something…weird. I don't think this has ever happened to me before."

"Is that possible?" Paige joked.

Ignoring Paige, Fi pressed, "Well, what was it? Does it have to do with my mom?"

"Yeah. I think so, anyway," Phoebe breathed between sips of water. She then explained her vision to them, not leaving out a single detail. "It was horrible. There was this light…oh, Fi, I'm so sorry."

Fi furiously wiped a tear from her eye. "No! They can't do this to him! He was only trying to help…"

While Paige comforted Fi, Piper tried to focus. "So, what do you think this means, Pheebs? Well, not the part with Rick and the Elder…that's obvious…I mean, why did you start at the club? Why not just come in…at the bridge."

"That's what I'm figuring out," Phoebe admitted. "And I think I've got it. Piper, you remember how Molly almost passed out on stage yesterday?"

"How can I forget."

Sighing, Phoebe explained, "Well, when I followed her into the bathroom, she confessed that she had a vision. I think…I think the scene at the bridge was what she saw."

"That's ridiculous," Piper scoffed. "She knows how important it is that we know everything that's going on for safety reasons. If Rick's a ghost now, he could be in danger, and she knows that too. She would've told us."

"I'm not so sure about that," Phoebe replied, a note of sadness in her tone.

Anger flickering across Piper's face, she blurted, "But that's just stupid…she wouldn't…"

"Who wouldn't?" Fi asked, refocusing her attention on the sisters' conversation.

The two Halliwells traded glances. Then Phoebe broke down and explained their theory of her vision's meaning. "…now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not really surprised. She kept Rick's visit a secret before she told Irene."

"I'm so sick of this," Fi fumed, storming into the living room.

The three sisters stood there for a moment, stunned. Then they heard loud arguing from the living room…then quiet…and then the front door slam.

When neither Phillips witch came into the kitchen, the sisters ran into the living room to find it empty. "Okay…" Paige breathed, looking around. "This can't be good."

"Start trying to find them with your whitelighter sense, Paige," Phoebe ordered, suddenly overcome with a feeling of dread. "In the meantime, come on. We have to go after them."

Ignoring the calls of the Halliwell sisters, Fi bounded down the manor steps after her mother. This was the last straw. She just had to knock some sense into that witch before someone was hurt because of her reckless denial.

"Mom!" Fi yelled, watching as Molly ran around the corner. She could already tell where her mother was going – the lot where the bus was parked. It made sense; Molly would want some privacy, and since she didn't have a hotel room of her own her bus room was the only place to go. "Mom, you can't keep doing this!"

"Go back to the manor, Fi!" Molly called back, reaching the bus and going up the steps.

Fi closed the space between them quickly, pounding up the steps. She paused when only Irene was in the common room area, work spread out in front of her. Irene stepped in front of Fi, blocking her path. "Whoa there, Fi. I was just about to go back to the manor. What happened to Molly?"

"Nothing. Yet," Fi panted, so furious that she tried to pass the blonde, but was stopped. "Irene, let me go!"

Giving Fi a worried look, Irene held onto the teen's arms. "Fi, what's going on?"

"My mom's a selfish brat, that's what's going on!" Fi snapped, somewhat surprised by her own words, but undeterred in her effort to get by Irene.

Irene froze, shocked. "Fi, why would you…how could you…say that…she's your mother…"

"I…don't…care!" Fi shouted, finally managing to squeeze past Irene and dart into the back of the bus. Yelling for her mom, she didn't stop running until she burst into Molly's room, practically ripping the door off its hinges. "How dare you…"

Sitting on the bed, Molly jumped to her feet. "How dare I? How dare you, Fiona! I am your mother, you do not use that tone…"

"I don't care!" Fi repeated, more angry than she'd ever been in her entire life. "How could you do that, Mom? How could you keep the fact that Daddy is a ghost again from us? Huh? What the hell was going through your mind?"

Molly paused, then shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do too! Why do you always do this?" Fi cried, tears streaming down her face. What's happening to me? She thought, feeling power and fury pulsing in her veins. I shouldn't be losing my temper like this…I shouldn't…I shouldn't… Still, she yelled, "Why are you always so selfish?"

"You need to calm down," Molly ordered, her own temper visibly rising as she clenched her fists. "I am your mother. I do not have to explain any choices I happen to make."

"You do when they endanger Daddy!" Fi shot back.

There was a flicker of remorse in Molly's eyes, yet she still retorted, "How can I endanger Rick when he's dead, huh? He's dead, Fiona, dead! He can't come back, he's not going to come back, so we should all get on with our lives!"

"How can you say that?" Fi said, fury making the question come out in almost a whisper. "How can you say that? You saw him, Mom! You saw him!"

"And now he's gone forever! A lot of good that did!" Molly spat.

They both jumped when some of Molly's jewelry suddenly shot off her dresser top, as if swiped by an angry hand.

Fi stared at the dresser, then at her mother. "Was that me? Or you?"

"Who cares any more," Molly seethed.

Tears in her eyes, Fi breathed, "Why are you like this, Mom? What happened to you? Why are you being so selfish about this?"

"Selfish, huh? You should be the one to talk!" Molly retorted.

Fi paused. "W-what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Seattle, Fi!" Molly yelled. "We get home from the tour last year, everything is great…and then all of a sudden my fifteen-year-old daughter doesn't want to live with me anymore! Without any plausible explanation, she packs her bags and goes halfway across the country, and barely visits for a whole year!"

Blinking in surprise, Fi replied quietly, "I told you. I wanted…"

"To stay in one place for a while, yeah, I know!" Molly snapped. "But did you ever stop and think about how you might have hurt someone? Jack was crushed, Fi! Everyone was! We put on a brave face for Annie, but the bottom line is we all felt like you'd jumped ship to get a better life that we couldn't provide for you. We weren't good enough to make you want to stay!"

Fi gasped, her anger rushing back into her system. Stumbling a little as she felt the room shake, she screamed, "You think I wanted to leave? I had to, Mom! If I didn't leave, everyone would have been in danger!"

"Fi, don't start with that…"

"And you know what else?" Fi interrupted, her voice getting louder as her temper rose. "How do you think I felt when Annie joined right after I left? How was I supposed to know that you missed me when you had your own little replacement daughter?"

Eyes wide with disbelief, Molly once again clenched her fists. "Replacement daughter! Fiona, how could you even think that anyone could replace you?"

"Not just anyone! Someone who can sing, just like you, someone who had a normal interest and didn't bring up her father every week, someone who was perky and perfect…" Fi rambled on, spouting thoughts of Annie she didn't even realize she'd been harboring.

Molly's face darkened as Fi continued. "Stop it! Yes, Annie and I had some common interests, and maybe I did get along with her better! But you're my daughter, Fiona! And no one could ever replace you!"

Feeling herself calm somewhat, Fi was quiet. She was almost going to return to her normal state of mind when…something inside her snapped.

It was weird. She could've sworn she was about to cry and fall into her mother's arms. Now she was being carried away by another wave of anger, and she wasn't sure why.

The room began to shake again. Molly's belongings flew off shelves and her nightstands, drawers even opening on their own and their contents whirling around in the suddenly dense air.

"You're…lying…" Fi breathed between pants, not sure if she even believed what she was saying. "Just like you lied yesterday about your vision. And when you didn't tell me that Daddy visited. You've been lying to me my whole life."

And without warning, she held out her hands at Molly, and flicked them.

Molly would've been burnt to the ground if she hadn't moved out of the way. Her eyes wide with fear as she fell, she tried to crawl to the inexplicably closed door. "F-fiona…no! This isn't you! Snap out of…"

She trailed off, suddenly overcome with anger as well. Rising to her feet, she clenched her fists…and waved her hand.

Fi narrowly avoided the jewelry box that came flying at her. Before either could regain control of themselves, they each began using their power against one another until both were bleeding in various places.

Finally both were exhausted, but still full of rage. Fi felt herself start to glow, and saw her mother radiating as well. Determined to get in one last blow, Fi flicked her hands at the same time Molly flung out her arm.

The clash of power resulted in a resounding boom, a force so extreme that the entire back half of the bus was consumed in flames. Immediately snapping out of her trance, Fi watched in horror as her mother fell over onto the bed. Then Fi herself slumped to the floor and blacked out.

The flames spread fast and far, reaching Fi's room in a matter of seconds. They engulfed everything, aided by the paper files and school workbooks scattered in various places. In a certain drawer, CDs and floppy disks alike melted.

One certain floppy disk burst into two with a snap loud enough to be heard above the fire. The small ball of light gave a chortle peppered with an Irish brogue, zipping into the adjacent room and watching in satisfaction as the two bodies became surrounded in a ring of fire. Then he flew out the open window, already coming up with the excuse he would give to his superior regarding his year-long disappearance.