Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything, except for Prue's kids.

Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews. They were much appreciated. :)

Where There's Smoke There's a Firestarter

[Scene: Halliwell Manor. Living Room. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe are there talking and having glasses of red wine on the couch.]

Phoebe: …. then all that weird stuff that was happening just stopped.

Prue: Why didn't you say something sooner?

(Phoebe picks up her drink.)

Phoebe: I didn't realize until the wedding fiasco, but then I started piecing it all together. Things have been kind of odd lately.

(Paige suddenly orbs in, panicked.)

Paige: We have to get to my house. Now.

(Paige orbs them all out.)

[Scene: Outside the Montana Estate. The estate is on fire. There are two fire trucks parked out front and firefighters attempting to put out the fire. Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige orb in.]

Paige: Richard?! Richard, where are you?!

Richard: Over here, Paige! (They all turn around to see Richard. He is carrying Richard Jr and pushing a double stroller with Tamora and Kat in it. The kids are all crying.) It's okay. We're all okay.

(Prue picks up Tamora and Paige picks up Kat.)

Paige: I know you said that on the phone, but I still had to see for myself. What happened?

Richard: I'd just put the girls down and I was giving Junior a bath when I smelled the smoke. It was in the girls' room. I think the firefly nightlight Tam likes so much had a short.

Paige: A nightlight did that?

Richard: I just got the kids out. I don't know for sure.

Prue: We'll check it out in the morning once the firemen are gone. In the meantime, we can take the kids back to the manor.

Phoebe: Maybe I was wrong about the weird stuff being over.

[Scene: Outside the Montana Estate. The next morning. The fire is out, but part of the estate is destroyed. Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Richard, and a man are there. Richard is talking to the man.]

Phoebe: Doesn't look too bad out here. How are things inside?

Paige: Not horrible. Mostly water damage. The nursery is a wreck. When I think….

Piper: It's okay. Everyone's fine. The kids are safe at Magic School.

Phoebe: You don't think it was one of the girls?

Paige: I'm trying not to. Fires happen all the time in normal families.

Piper: You are a normal family.

Paige: I know. I just don't feel that way right now.

(Richard walks over to them as the man leaves.)

Richard: So far investigators can't come up with a cause. It wasn't electrical like I thought. The fire just seems to have started in the pile of stuffed animals. Also, the neighbors saw someone lurking outside the estate.

Paige: Who? Who was lurking?

Richard: They don't know. But something was stuck to our front door. (He holds up a piece of paper to Phoebe.) I took it before the investigator saw. Think you can get a vibe off this?

Phoebe: I'll try. (Phoebe takes it and sees an old man handing a note to Tyler Michaels.) We need to talk to Tyler.

[Scene: Magic School. Tyler's Dorm Room. Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige are there with Tyler, who is sitting down.]

Paige: Tyler, you're not in any trouble. We just need to know if any other firestarters have contacted you recently.

Tyler: What do you mean?

Paige: What do you mean, what do we mean? It's a pretty straightforward question.

Piper: Paige.

Paige: I'm sorry, Tyler, but someone might have attacked my home, my family. We think it was a firestarter.

Tyler: Paige, I didn't know. I thought they wanted me.

Paige: Who wanted you?

(Tyler takes out his wallet.)

Tyler: A recruiter. He said he was with some college, but it sounded sketchy. He kept talking about a place suited to my talents, but he never said what the talents were.

(Tyler takes a card out of his wallet and hands it to Paige. It has "Knox Academy: Montgomery Knox - Headmaster" written on it.)

[Scene: Knox Academy. Headmaster's Office. The old man from Phoebe's premonition is sitting behind the desk, revealing himself as Montgomery Knox. Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige orb in.]

Prue: You do realize this is a trap, right?

Paige: I don't care. I want answers.

Knox: The Charmed Ones. What a pleasant surprise. Traditionally, visitors use the front door, but drop-ins are always welcome.

Prue: We don't usually announce ourselves before crashing demon lairs.

Know: Oh, no, no, no. Knox Academy isn't demonic. True, we're not under the Elders' control either. We like to think of ourselves as a neutral alternative to Magic School.

Paige: Magic School is neutral.

Knox: It was taken over by demons.

Piper: That wasn't exactly our fault.

Knox: Not saying it was. But that shouldn't happen at a school. The truth is many of your students are born with gifts they don't want. (He spawns fire in his hand.) We teach them to embrace their gifts, but not let them run their lives. You can't tell me the four of you have never wished to have a normal life, for your children to have normal lives.

(Knox extinguishes the fire in his hand just as Paige's phone rings. Paige checks her Caller ID before standing up.)

Paige: Excuse me. I should get this. (Paige leaves the room and answers the phone.) Hey, Leo.

Leo: Paige, I need you to come to Magic School.

[Cut to Magic School. Leo is there with Tamora, who has a black ring around her.]

Leo: And bring Richard.

[Cut to Knox Academy. Headmaster's Office. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe are still there speaking to Knox.]

Knox: We're open to all ages. It's a place where people can come to learn to live with powers or without them.

Piper: Without them? What do you-?

(Paige runs into the room.)

Paige: (to Knox) Sorry we bothered you. We want to hear more about your school, but we'll have to come back another time.

Knox: Our doors are always open. Come again soon.

(Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige orb away.)

[Scene: Magic School. Paige and Richard are there talking.]

Paige: The ability to magically create fire is a trait in the Warren family line.

Richard: Great. Wonderful. But we need to stop her from doing it.

Paige: By binding her power?

Richard: Yes.

Paige: Richard, we can't just bind her magic.

Richard: We bound mine.

Paige: That's not fair. Your magic was dangerous to you.

Richard: Burning down the house with your mind isn't dangerous to Tamora? Tam doesn't need magic to still be who she is, same as I didn't need magic to still be who I am. I'm only talking about until she's old enough to control it.

Paige: I'll think about it.

Richard: And Kat?

Paige: No. Until we know what she can do.

(Leo comes in.)

Leo: I think we just got our answer.

(Paige, Leo, and Richard walk into a library. Prue, holding Kat, Piper, and Phoebe are there. A book is in the air, seemingly without any support.)

Paige: Levitation? Telekinesis?

Prue: The book isn't floating. It's falling. Very, very slowly.

Piper: Kat probably isn't strong enough to freeze it entirely. Tam probably speeds molecules up fast enough to make them catch fire, maybe eventually explode. We think they split my power.

Paige: So Kat's abilities will be annoying, but not necessarily dangerous.

Richard: Aren't all powers dangerous in the hands of children too young to control them?

Paige: Not dangerous enough to warrant us binding her powers. (Paige takes Kat from Prue.) We can't keep our daughters from their gifts. That's part of who they are. Obviously it's easier to raise non-magical kids, but that wouldn't be fair to them.

Richard: Listen, Paige. Now is not the time for our family to cope with this issue. It's just until they're old enough to control the magic.

Paige: Fine.