Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to their respective creators: that would be Chris Carter for the X-Files cast, and Constance M. Burge for the Charmed one. I'm borrowing them all for a few moments but I'll give them back.

Piper Halliwell was not one to be surprised easily. She had seen too many things in her life, especially since coming into her powers. But a demon friendly with an Elder? And two mortals ending up splitting the powers of an Elder between them?

"Would someone please explain to us what has just happened?"

Piper looked around at everyone there. Mulder and Scully looked just as shocked as the rest of them. The Charmed One threw her hands in the air and gestured for her sisters to join her.

"Come on, you two. I want answers and when it comes to destinies, there's only one person to ask."

Piper, Phoebe and Paige joined hands and took a deep breath in unison.

"Power of Three,

We summon thee,

And call to us,

The Angel of Destiny."

The sisters were not that surprised to see a familiar black woman in bluish-white robes sparkle into view.

The Angel of Destiny smiled at them and bowed her head slightly.

"Hello again, Charmed Ones. I assume you have a question."

"Actually, I think they might have," Piper said as she pointed at the two silent figures that now stood together.

The Angel of Destiny hummed softly.

"Cassandra was always a wise one. She fought for good, but restrained from peeking into the future more than she needed to. She preferred to let Destiny find its way as well it could. A wise choice, considering. We had heard that the council wanted Leo back. The Fates had other ideas. And Cassandra chose once more to let things happen as they must, rather than as the Powers That Be would prefer."

"Mind explaining a bit more?" Mulder said with a bit of a wince. "Because right now, we have no idea what the hell just happened."

"Demons have long tried to steal the powers of an Elder," the Angel started. "Whoever inherits the powers of an Elder, becomes an Elder. If a demon managed to steal those powers, as well as becoming more powerful, they would gain access to the Heavens and might even become part of the Council of Elders. The consequences for the Forces of Good would be disastrous."

"That doesn't really explain what happened here," Mulder mumbled and Piper scoffed at him with a small smile.

"Welcome to our world! Getting a straight answer from those people is not the easiest thing ever."

Mulder and Scully seemed to relax a bit with her words, and Piper let her smile grow a bit.

"Elders have made it a ritual to choose a successor for their powers rather than leave it to Fate or Chance. It must take place during an Equinox and on the mortal plane. Leo was nominated twice now to receive powers. Ramus looked far into the timeline once upon a timeline, and knew that whoever he chose would never receive his powers. That they would in fact be passed to his true successor. Cassandra, on the other hand, made it a point not to peek because she preferred to trust in Fate. But she did have her favorites."

"So we're Elders now?" Mulder asked with a small frown.

"Yes, although I suspect that like Cassandra before you, you will not bend to the wills of the Council. After all, you do have your own battles to fight that have very little to do with demons and warlocks. Unlike most, your rather unusual situation has seen you gifted with instinctive knowledge of your capabilities. Although, maybe some training with an ex-Elder and a part-Whitelighter might be a good idea." The Angel of Destiny bowed slightly to all the assembled. "Blessed be, Champions of Good."

And she disappeared back to the higher realms.

"Well, we now know two things," Paige said with a shrug. "You guys are Elders and there's something special about you other than the work you used to do."

"How do you work that out?" Phoebe asked.

"Simple. She talked about their fight. And then said something about their unusual situation…"

"Makes sense," Piper commented. "Now, everyone, kitchen. I'm sure Mulder and Scully have plenty of questions."

"Just a few actually," Mulder said as he followed Piper, leading his partner into the other room. "What is it we can do? What's expected of us? And what's special about us?"

Piper looked to Paige and Leo before she started rooting around the kitchen to prepare a light snack for everyone. The former Elder nodded slightly and he stepped forward but Coop suddenly choked out an exclamation.

"What's the matter?" Phoebe asked of her husband.

"I know what makes you guys special. You're soul mates."

"Soul mates?" Scully and Mulder echoed.

"Just like Piper and Leo, just like Paige and Henry, just like Phoebe and I, you two were destined to meet, and fall in love, and spent the rest of your lives together."

Silence stretched for a few seconds following Coop's words before Scully shrugged.

"We already kind of knew that," she said as Mulder smirked at her. "That's the only way I could have put up with him and all those damn sunflower seeds all these years."

Mulder's smirk turned into a pout, and Scully smiled innocently back at him.

"Sharing souls might explain why Cassandra's powers split between the two of you. It would have been magically impossible to make one of you an Elder without the other following. It would definitely have an effect on your new powers, although what that is will have to be found out through experience as I have never heard of something similar happening before.

"As for what your new powers are, Cassandra was one of the most powerful Elders still around. I'm not even sure about all the powers she'll have left you. But like all Elders and Whitelighters, you'll now be able to Orb yourselves and others around, move objects through Telekinetic Orbing, and Heal. I know that Cassandra had powerful Force Field Shield and Premonition powers, although she rarely used the latter. And her Sensing abilities were second to none."

"Sensing?" Scully spoke for the first time.

"The ability to locate charges and loved ones. And given you are now Elders, you will no doubt be assigned Whitelighters and witches to watch over. Then there's spell casting and potion making. I remember Cassandra brewing a few potions in her time…"

Piper frowned and shushed her husband with a finger across her lips as she watched the older couple standing across her kitchen. They had turned to give each other another one of their looks after Leo had explained what Sensing was. And although she didn't know much about them, the older of the living Charmed Ones was now pretty certain that Mulder and Scully would not be joining the Council of the Elders in the near future.

"Anyhow, who's hungry?"

Piper served up the fruit salad, chips and dips, and the assortment of mini sandwiches she'd been preparing as the others spoke. Everyone filed back into the dining room, and the next two hours were filled by introducing the two newly elevated Elders to the world of magic.

As the clock struck midnight, Mulder and Scully decided to take their leave.

"Make sure you're not strangers," Phoebe said as she gave the new Elders a hug in turn.

"Don't ever hesitate to come if you need help with something. Whether it has to do with your kind of threat, or ours," Piper admonished, feeling somewhat strange for doing so to two people over ten years older than she was.

"And if you need a few pointers with your powers, I'll be happy to answer questions if I can," Paige smiled as she gave the two her own hug.

"Actually, Paige, mind taking us back to our hotel so we can get the feel of that Orbing thing?" Mulder asked with a grin.

"Hey, no problem!"

Piper watched her sister Orb out with the newly magical Mulder and Scully, and somehow, she had a feeling everything would be just fine.