Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

Previously…

They were only one step away from the automatic doors when the energy ball shot past Chris, missing hitting him by millimetres, but still searing a seriously painful burn across his face. It hit the glass of the doors, shattering them on impact, and sending millions of shards of glass flying everywhere, ripping clothes and cutting flesh…

Chapter 13

With the kind of reflexes you could only get from living in war zone, Chris, Seth and Nathan all dropped the bags they were carrying and took cover. Unfortunately, this action also split them up, with Chris and Seth ending up behind a cashier desk (where Katie was also hiding), and Nathan behind one of the displays.

Chris cursed to himself. He'd let his guard down, believed that maybe there was no danger. After all, what kind of demon attacked in the middle of such a public place? A really stupid one. Even if they didn't kill this demon, his own kind would, for exposing them.

"What the hell are they playing at?" Seth spat, "the source is gonna fry their asses for this! Why are they even bothering?"

Chris didn't get a chance to answer, because at that moment another energy ball sailed over their heads, destroying the CCTV camera on the ceiling. He glanced at Seth, ok, maybe this demon wasn't quite as stupid as they thought.

By this time, most of the other customers had long since fled the store. But a quiet weeping remained, letting them know that, aside from themselves and Katie, there was at least one person left in the store.

"We have to do something," Seth whispered over the sounds of energy balls exploding against things, "the cops'll be here soon."

"There are at least three of them," Nathan broke in telepathically, "And they already took out all the cameras."

"Good. That means they've done some of the work for us," Seth said in a low voice.

He and Chris peered over the top of the counter to see what was going on. They saw that there was a sobbing woman who only seemed to have minor injuries cowering by one of the aisles. They crouched back down again and glanced at each other.

"We need to that woman and Katie out of here and vanquish those guys, man. And fast," Seth said.

Chris nodded, "Ok. Me and Nathan will distract them while you get those two out of here."

Seth and Nathan both nodded in agreement, the latter having heard the conversation through Chris's acute hearing. And it would've been a relatively simple plan too, were it not for the demon that shimmered in front of them only a second later.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, as Seth instantly threw an energy ball at the demon, vanquishing him, and Chris had put his green shield around them and Katie, protecting them. But it just made Seth's part of the plan a bit more difficult… he just didn't know it yet.

Chris and Nathan both turned invisible and sneaked out from behind cover. There were four demons now. Three of them were just destroying random bits of the store, enjoying the chaos. But one of them was systematically blowing holes in each of the cashier desks… he was the main problem. All the demons were apparently ignoring the woman crying in the corner.

"Try drawing that one down one of the aisles," Chris said.

Nathan grinned to himself, he knew exactly what to do, and in his opinion, it was one of the best things about invisibility. He ran halfway down the aisle, and took a can from a shelf. Then he took aim and threw it at the demon, who was just about to blow a hole in the counter behind which Seth and Katie were still hiding.

Sure enough, it whacked him right in the head, making him stumble. The demon picked up the can, and glared down the apparently empty aisle. He went to investigate anyway, unknowingly walking closer and closer to Nathan. Chris followed him.

"We have to do this quietly," Chris said, knowing what he had to do, but hating it all the same. Coming up behind the demon, he clenched him hand into a fist, and the demon choked, clutching his chest. A second later, he burst into flames.

Chris looked at the scorch mark on the floor. It wasn't that he felt any particular sympathy for the demon, it was just that he hated using his telekinesis that way. It made him feel no better than Wyatt doing what he liked best, choking the life out of people without even getting his hand dirty.

"Chris!" Nathan broke the witchlighter from his thoughts, "the rest of them are all in the next aisle."

Chris shot a look at Nathan, who he alone could still see. It seemed that when he and Nathan were both using invisibility, they could still see each other. He supposed it was something to do with the fact that they were both using the same set of powers.

"You sure?" he asked, "All of them?"

"Yeah, what's the plan?" Nathan asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

Chris looked at the rows of shelves that separated the aisles, and an idea hit him. He relayed the plan to Nathan, who grinned. The two men moved back from the stacked shelves that separated them from the demons, and stood facing them.

"Ready?" Chris asked.

"When you are," Nathan countered as he always did.

They acted simultaneously. Chris shot a huge torrent of fire at the whole row, igniting the lot, while Nathan pushed the burning mass over, using the full force of Chris's telekinesis.

The shelves crashed over, vanquishing the demons, and spreading the fire to the next aisle.

Chris looked at the flames licking the next set of shelves. He could put them out if he wanted to, but now that he thought about it, a fire would be the perfect cover up, and would definitely help in preventing exposure. All they had to do was make sure that there was no one in the store, and get out of there before the flames reached the aisle with the spirits and the whole place was blown to kingdom come.

"C'mon," Chris muttered, as he and Nathan, who were now both visible again, ran to get Seth.

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Meanwhile, Seth had been having issues of his own.

Once Chris and Nathan had taken out the demon who had been merely seconds away from blowing a hole in the counter, and consequentially – him, he cautiously got up, checking for any more marauding demons.

"Ok, coast is clear," he said, reaching a hand down to Katie to help her up, "Let's get you out of here."

But Katie didn't move. She merely stared at his outstretched hand like it was a poisonous snake. "What are you?" she asked shakily, "How did you do that?"

Oh shit, Seth thought, for once not expressing the profanity aloud. She'd seen him vanquish a demon, and she'd seen Chris use a power too. What the hell were they going to do?

"Look," he said, slightly desperately, all too aware that there were still demons around, "I really don't have time for this now. I'll explain everything when we get out of here, but we have to leave now or—"

"Or what?" Katie asked defiantly, although she was clearly still afraid, "You'll do to me what you did to that man?"

Great. So she thought he was a murderer too! Seth's patience was really starting to wear thin. But he had to give the girl some credit, she had guts. Especially as she thought he'd just murdered someone in cold blood… or did that make her stupid? But she was really starting to piss him off.

His clear blue eyes flashed in annoyance as he answered, "For the record, that wasn't a man, it was a demon. But no, I won't do that to you… they might though," he jerked his towards the aisle where the demons seemed to have congregated.

Katie glanced apprehensively over the counter, and although she couldn't see the demons, she could hear the crashing noises of destruction that they were making. But she still couldn't go with him.

Seth was about ready to start tearing his hair out by this point. He looked at the aisle where he knew the demons were, and back at Katie, who was still hidden behind the counter. She'd be safe enough there for a few minutes while he got the other woman out.

"Stay there and keep quiet then," he said to her, and walked off, not waiting to see if she obeyed or not.

Reaching the woman's side, Seth laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and said, "I'm getting you out of here, ok?"

But the woman didn't answer, didn't even acknowledge he was there. She just carried on crying and cradled her other arm even closer to her. She was shaking.

Seth looked at her arm, and saw that it was burned, probably a graze from an energy ball. It wasn't a terribly serious injury, at least not by Seth's standard's anyway. But he could tell that she was going into shock.

Not willing to wait around any longer, Seth picked up the woman, thinking a little sadly that she was just the sort of person who wouldn't survive when the change came, and carried her outside where a crowd had inevitably gathered. No sirens yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Stay with her," Seth said to one of the crowd, before setting the woman gently down on the pavement and hurrying back to the store. One down…

Katie was right where he'd left her, and unharmed, thank the lord for small favours. But he opened his mouth to tell her enough, she could either walk out, or he'd carry her out, when there was a thunderous crash, and Chris and Nathan came running towards him, fire now flickering in the background.

"We have to get out of here before the place explodes," Chris said, on reaching Seth, and then when he saw Katie, he asked, "What's she still doing here?" But as Seth opened his mouth to explain, he held up a hand, "Never mind, we don't have time for it, just get her out of here."

"What d'you think I've been trying to do," Seth muttered under his breath, knowing full well that Chris would hear. He'd officially lost all patience with Katie by now, she was a sweet girl and she had guts, not to mention she was hot, but she was just so uncooperative it was driving him crazy. "Look Katie," he said to her, "The danger's gone now, it's safe to leave the fucking store. In fact unless you want to get burnt to a fucking crisp, you really might want to get out of here, ok?"

Evidently seeing the anger in Seth's eyes and deciding that she'd take her chances leaving, Katie ran for it, not looking back at the three cute guys who'd come into her life and completely destroyed the way she saw the world. She now knew that there was more to life than you saw.

"Finally!" Seth said, breathing a sigh of relief, "C'mon, lets get out of here. I'm telling you, man, this is the last time I ever go shopping!"

So, the three of them managed to quickly retrieve their shopping bags, which were mostly undamaged. Then they orbed (or shimmered respectively) back to the manor. There, Nathan and Seth went into the kitchen to put the stuff down.

As Chris went to follow, feeling that it had been a very, very long day, a cold voice whispered in his ear "They'll all leave you in the end… you'll lose them all…so sad… so very, very sad…"

But all Chris registered was a cold feeling in his stomach that he would always be alone.

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Whew! I got it done in time! I'm going out babysitting in about 5 minutes, and I just really wanted to get this finished first, so there's me frantically typing away, and … not checking it through, so sorry about any mistakes!

And yes, another cliffie… it's not my fault I love them so much! Lol! I'm evil!

Anyways, yes I'm also hyper!

Please review!