Okay, where have all my reviewers gone? Guys, if you read this chapter, please review! It doesn't have to be extremely in depth, just a few words or sentences saying what you thought of the chapter. That's all I ask. Okay, now that I'm done with the shameless begging, here's the new chapter. I'm sorry this took so long, but I got my exam results (I did good. Hooray!) and school recently started up again, so I've been really busy. Enjoy!
Parting Is Such Sour Sorrow
Phoebe watched from the window as the people who had come for the wake left in their cars, glaring as the vehicles destroyed the perfection of the newly fallen snow by making a large tear in the perfect white, revealing the ground beneath to be soggy and muddy. It seemed to be a perfect metaphor for this current household. Each Mulwray child, while appearing to have their grief under control and look completely normal on the surface, was actually an ugly mess inside. The house itself had become a victim to Nelle's earthquakes, Allison's floods, Sandra's whirlwinds, and Brennan's lightning strikes. They weren't wrecking the place intentionally, but it was the only way their emotions were able to escape.
David was sitting crossed legged on the floor in front of the fire with Clare and Connor, not caring if the position was creasing his best suit. He was currently playing the two children at 'Snakes & Ladders' while all four Mulwray siblings seemed to be arguing heatedly in the kitchen. Phoebe had decided not to bring Faith along for the journey, choosing to leave her with Paige, as she didn't want the infant to start crying at the funeral, as if she had developed even the slightest empathic ability, she would have been bogged down by all the grief, just like her mother.
"I'm not going!" Sandra suddenly shouted as she stormed the kitchen, a chilly breeze running through the living room as she inadvertently activated her aerokinetic abilities, "I've had it up to here with all this crap! I just want my Mom back!" She screamed, sounding more like a child than the thirty three year old woman that she was as she stomped up the steps, presumably heading to the room she had inhabited before moving out a few months ago.
Brennan, Nelle, and Allison quickly followed her out of the kitchen, watching as their youngest sister vanished upstairs, the sound of a door slamming echoing through the house. Allison cringed as once again; Sandra had let her anger get the better of her. "I'm gonna get started on those dishes…" She said quietly, heading back into the kitchen while rubbing the skin off her hands with a dish towel as she vanished from sight.
"… Is everything okay?" Phoebe asked timidly, knowing that her husband and sister-in-law, now being the two eldest of the family, were being torn apart by their sisters acting so differently to their mother's death. Allison had chosen to take a more silent approach to her grieving, throwing herself into any task before she had a chance to stop and feel the brunt of her feelings, and Sandra had taken a far more vocal way of expressing her emotions, with regular gusts of wind blasting through the house at random times during the night.
Brennan rolled his eyes, expressing how trivial he thought the matter was after everything they had endured today. "… We need to down to the lawyer's office and find out what was in Mom's will. It was supposed to be read at the wake, but then Sandra literally kicked up a storm and… well, you kinda saw what happened." He said, gesturing to the mess that one of Sandra's recent tantrums had wrought on a pile of paperwork in the centre of the room. Every document was now spread across the floor. "We're gonna go and get it read… You know, just to get it out of way."
"Okay… Do you want us to come with you guys and-?"
"No." He immediately cut her off, "Just… stay with Connor, and maybe call Paige to see how my little Faithy's doing." The mutant sighed as he grabbed his thick coat from the hanger at the door, "We'll probably be back in a few hours." He said, opening the door and heading out to his Toyota Land Cruiser, the car that he and Phoebe had brought shortly before Faith's birth.
"Nelle, sweetheart, you are sure you're okay?" David asked, earning a small tap on his knee from Clare as it was her father's turn to roll the dice and move his marker. "Phoebe's right, maybe we should go with you. You shouldn't have to do this alone."
"No, really, just stay with the kids and stay out of Sandra's way." Nelle said with a hint of venom, glaring up the stairs. "You know, I'm tempted to go up there and kick her ass for making this day all about her. I'm also tempted to kick Ally's ass for burying her head in the sand, and I also wanna kick the weather's ass because I really don't want to go out again in that godforsaken snow!" She threw her hand up at the window, before running it through light brown hair with a mournful sigh, "But hey, apart from that…" She stormed towards the door, wrenching it open as Brennan started the car, "… I'm just fantastic!" With that final shout, she slammed the door shut, a minor tremor running in the ground, bringing some of the snow off the roof and onto the decking in front of the house.
David looked down at the board game in front of him, finally coming back to his senses and rolling the dice. "Phoebe, you've known them all for a lot longer than I have… Any tips on how to deal with them when they're like this?"
The Charmed One shook her head slowly, looking towards the window as she watched the car leave the house, "Honestly? I've never seen any of them act this way before, but from what I've seen of all this, I only have one bit of advice." She turned to her brother-in-law, showing that she was deadly serious. "Duck, and take cover."
XXX
Pamela felt a wave of relief pass over her as her lecturer dismissed the class and got up from her seat slowly, wrenching her heavy bag from the floor. Thanks to her three month absence, she had had to enroll late for her final year classes, and was currently scrambling to catch up which was proving an increasingly hard task. She would move at one pace at home, only to come into class and find they were still miles ahead of her. The very thought of having to repeat these classes next year was the only thing that spurred Pamela to push on, as she was starting to tire of being tied down by classes and the apparent need for qualifications.
As she shuffled out of the classroom and into the hallway, she was pleasantly surprised to see that McKenzie seemed to have been waiting outside against the wall, "Fantastic!" Pamela instantly exclaimed, dropping half of the books in her arms into McKenzie's arms. "You can help carry these to the subway… That's why you're here, right?"
"No, and you know it." McKenzie replied, staring at her friend through a curtain of curly black hair as they began to walk down the hall, heading towards the entrance. "You really don't remember?" She rolled her eyes when all she got from Pamela was a shake of the head, "I was going to introduce you to my boyfriend! Of course, he has no idea that it's all arranged and that he'll be under a microscope with you around, but still…"
"To be honest, Mac, I just want to go home, have a long bath, and sleep. I swear, between school and my job at the Times, I'm about ready to explode. So, you'll forgive me if I don't have time to dissect your latest beau." Pamela groaned wearily as they exited the building and strolled out into the courtyard, where the remains of a snow fall a few weeks ago was now melting with the slight rise in temperature. She sighed at the look of hurt that spread across McKenzie's face, pursing her lips, "I'm sorry, that came out harsher than I meant. I didn't mean to say that you sleep around or anything."
"It's okay," McKenzie immediately cut her off, a grin spreading across her face as she looked ahead. "Well, it looks like you're not going to get a choice in the matter now… Trent! We're over here!"
"Trent…?" In her whole life, Pamela Walker had only known one person called Trent. Surely, it couldn't be the same one that she was thinking of; there was just no way in the world. She silently mocked her own fear. It was just a name! Why was she getting so scared about someone's name! Besides, there was no way in hell it could be…
"Hey there, beautiful." A familiar voice said. Pamela finally looked up and confirmed her dread, her heart skipping a beat when she saw who was currently kissing her friend. There was no mistaking the small chip in his skin underneath his right eye, where he had permanently scarred himself not thinking ahead when smashing slates of ice outside their apartment building, and his short, spiky black hair. This was Trent Walker, Pamela's foster brother, and only living blood relative to the late Joanna and Stuart Walker.
The revelation sent a terrible jolt through Pamela's body, causing her arms to suddenly jerk and let all the books she had been carrying fall to the damp ground. Not wanting to stick around for a second, she knelt down to the ground, scrambling to pick up her books, before heading off towards the street, ignoring the calls from McKenzie as she walked briskly, resisting the urge to break into a run as she fled the scene.
XXX
Piper grimaced as she held the lost dog poster to the lamppost, fishing into her jacket pocket to bring out a roll of tape which she raised to her mouth. After numerous attempts, she was able to grab the tab of the tape with her teeth and pull it forward, tearing the small strip of tape from the roll and slamming it to the top of the poster, sticking it to the post. "Phew!" She blew a piece of her hair away from her face, putting her hands on her hips and admiring her handiwork. "You really need three hands to do this…" She whipped her head around, looking towards her youngest sister, who was finishing up on the other side of the street, "Paige! I'm out of posters!"
Paige looked over to her elder sibling, her porcelain features brimming with a healthy glow from her exertion in the cold. She pouted a little, shaking her head as she made her way across the street. "That's okay; I think I'm done canvassing this part of the neighbourhood anyway. Let's head back and warm up." They began to walk along the sidewalk, heading back to Paige's house while the witchlighter in question looked down at the stack of posters in her arms with a quizzical stare, "Do you think five hundred dollars is a big enough reward?"
Piper resisted the urge to audibly scoff at the question, "Trust me, for five hundred dollars, people are going to be calling in every time they see a cloud that looks like Sandy." She said confidently, believing what she did with a hint of condescension. "I'm surprised you haven't used magic to try and find her, I would have thought that would be your first choice."
"It was." She responded sadly, "But then using magic to find my dog would be personal gain, wouldn't it? I mean, she hasn't been kidnapped by demons, she just ran out after a thief." Paige sighed, putting the stack of posters under her arm. "That'll teach us to go to the circus ever again. I mean, how stupid to need to be to try and bust into a locked house in the middle of the day?"
"This begs the question of whether or not it was actually a demon after all." Piper retorted with a hint of weathered cynicism in her voice. "What about scrying? The only consequence you get from what is a sore arm if you do it for too long with no result."
"Tried that." She abruptly cut in, "It didn't work. Even if you take away the sheer number of dogs in San Francisco, dogs don't really have any sentimental value for anything, so I had nothing to focus the crystal with. And besides, we both know that a demon wouldn't have had to break down to the door to get in." She rolled her eyes a little at the thought of a demon without a transportation power, as there were few of those these days.
"You know, I've been meaning to ask…" Piper began, looking at the whistle Paige had given her with curiosity, "… Just what is this whistle for? Is it in case one of us finds Sandy and needs to alert the other one? Because I gotta tell you, we probably have a better chance of scaring her off with this." She raised it to her lips, preparing to blow into it.
"No! Don't! It's a-," She was too late. Piper blew into the whistle, frowning when she heard nothing come of it, until a string of dog barks suddenly ignited around them, echoing through at least five blocks and setting off every canine in the area. "Dog whistle!" Paige finished, snatching it from her big sister with an annoyed glare, "From now on, your job is to look pretty and put up flyers. Got it?"
"Paige, a dog whistle in suburbia? Seriously?" Piper questioned, her eyebrows raised in shock, "Every single generic household within a ten block radius is going to have a dog. And I think I actually just proved that little statement, so that thing won't do you any good." She caught Paige's slightly irritated stare, realizing what she had just said. "Oh, come on! You know I didn't mean you."
"Yeah, yeah," Paige brushed the notion away as they walked along the street, ignoring the squawks from the seagulls circling above them. These costal neighbourhoods were always plagued by various ailments of the sea. "Just so you realize that my family is far from generic."
"Well, it's certainly a whole lot more generic than my household…"
The witchlighter frowned slightly as they turned out of the street, heading up one of the many hills that San Francisco had been built upon. "Uh oh, I sense a tone. What's bugging you, lady?"
"Nothing… I can't really talk about it with you." Piper said hesitantly, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket and looking at the ground, while Paige put her on her best expression to show mock offence. "Oh, don't look at me like that. You know what happens when you look at me like that. My hands, your neck. Squeezing."
"Aw, come on! Since when could you not talk to me about stuff?"
The eldest Halliwell wrestled with the idea of sharing this with her youngest sister, biting down on her lip before finally giving in. "Alright… it's Emma. She's starting to kinda tick me off. I don't think it's intentional, but she's smothering Lorna like she's afraid I'm gonna slap a restraining order on her or something. I swear, I think she actually sat and watched Lorna sleep all night last night. It's a little annoying."
"Well…" Paige began, finding the task of being impartial hard, seeing as how this was a problem between her sister and her best friend. "Have you tried talking to her about it? I mean, this is Emma we're talking about, she's probably the most docile person on the planet."
"We've seen things to dispute that claim and you know it…" Piper said darkly, "Never mind, it's okay. I'll figure this out myself." Piper said, waving her hands a little to show that she wanted them to be done talking about this particular subject. "So, how's looking after Faith working out?"
"Crushingly depressing and confidence shaking." Paige replied sadly, leafing through the pile of posters in her arms, even though she knew they were all the same. "She starts screaming her head off any time I go near her, so it's Aidan that usually has to deal with her, and that doesn't really work out to the best of our advantage as he's not the one who's unemployed. It's making me feel like a bad parent."
Piper shook her head, dismissing her sister's claim, "Oh, please, you're a great parent. Phoebe wouldn't have left her baby with you if you weren't up for the job. Faith is probably just…"
As the two Charmed Ones walked on, they failed to notice that someone was trying to undo all of their canvassing of the neighbourhood. She was a blond woman, slim and petite with her big brown eyes easily being her most striking feature, as it looked like they consumed the rest of her small face. She ripped the poster from the streetlamp, biting her lip and staring after the Halliwell sisters with a mildly irritated stare. "She never really does give up without a fight…"
XXX
"A guy? All this has been brought on by some guy? You've gotta be kidding me, because I know that you wouldn't be stupid enough to throw it all away over a quick fling!"
"That isn't what this is about! It's just help put things in perspective a little bit. It isn't just over this guy, because I realize it probably won't work out, but when I want to settle down one day, and I don't want to be weighed down by-,"
"What? Your heritage? Everything that you've ever known since your childhood? You're twenty one; just because you can drink, that doesn't mean you have the knowledge to properly make a life changing decision."
"And what makes you even think that you have the knowledge to shout me down about this? You're a married to a Charmed One! You don't have the slightest idea about the gap between magical beings and mortals when it comes to love. If anything, you're even more ignorant than I am!"
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm older, so I know better!"
"You are being such a prick!" Skye bellowed, putting her hands on her hips as she glared daggers at the man she had considered a big brother all of her life. She had to admit, he was picking one of the worst times to suddenly go protective on her, and it wasn't helping with her decision at all. "Look, you know what, Aidan? This choice has absolutely nothing to do with you. I came here, hoping you would give me some support, but it really doesn't matter, because I'm gonna do it no matter what you say!" In a sudden display of immaturity, the air elemental spun on her heel, her long hair smacking Aidan in the face when she turned and stormed out of the kitchen, heading towards the front door.
"Oh no you don't!" Aidan shouted, also no longer acting his age as he rushed after her, a thunderous expression etched across his face. He didn't even realize that Piper and Paige were walking up the driveway. "Fine! Go and give up your powers! See if I care!"
"Good!" Skye shouted back, wrenching the door open just as the two Charmed Ones were about to enter the house themselves. She looked Paige, attempting to calm herself so she didn't lose her temper at someone who didn't even deserve it. "Your husband…" She growled, stabbing the air with her finger in Aidan's direction, "Is a colossal ass!" With that final insult, she pushed past Piper and headed for her car in front of the house.
"Always a pleasure, Skye!" Paige shouted back sarcastically, turning to her husband with wide eyes, clearly curious about what had sparked such a passionate reaction from the young woman, who was usually very calm. "Uh… you mind explaining that little outburst to me?" She asked, setting down her batch of flyers on the foyer table.
"Actually, yeah, I kinda do." He said flatly. His tone was enough for Paige to realize that she shouldn't push the issue any further. "Well, what happened? Did you get any luck?"
"No…" She replied wearily, shuffling over to him and falling into his awaiting arms, letting out a tired sigh as he rubbed her back, oblivious to the silent envy Piper was radiating, as the situation with Cid Bugle made created an uncomfortable atmosphere around her and Leo. "It's ridiculous. I mean, how hard can it be to find a dog? We've got the advantage when it comes to brains…" Paige stated, showing that it wasn't just her children that were upset by Sandy's escape.
Piper offered her youngest sibling a sympathetic smile, at a loss at how else she was supposed to comfort her. "Paige, why don't we just use magic? What's the worst that could…?" The eldest Charmed One's voice trailed off as she focused on a faint sound she was hearing from the outside. Stepping over the threshold of the open door, she realized that it was getting louder, and as it did, Piper was able to identify it as dogs barking, or to be more precise, a lot of dogs barking. "Oh, there had better not be a banshee abou-,"
She didn't even get to finish her sentence, as the source of the noise suddenly flooded into the house. Hundreds of dogs, each of different size and breed, ran into the foyer, heading straight for the stairs and barking loudly as they went. The odd thing was that they didn't seem to register each others' presence, or that of the three shocked people who were nearly stampeded in the rush to get upstairs. It was unlike anything Piper or Paige had seen in their whole lives as witches.
"Oh my God! The girls!" Paige's eyes widened with fear, bolting towards the stairs to make sure that her daughters and Faith were okay with the sudden rush of dogs in their house. It wasn't until she was halfway up the staircase that her mouth coiled into a scowl of anger and realization. "The girls…" She repeated with a hint of rage, resuming her journey upwards and stomping up each step with Aidan and Piper not far behind.
Sure enough, most of the dogs had ran into Melinda's room, while the others that couldn't get in pushed hungrily at their competition, snarling and growling, but never actually attacking one another. It was with careful stepping that Paige maneuvered herself into her daughter's room, seeing her two children in the centre of this canine fiasco, their sparkling emerald eyes scanning over the animals to see if they had summoned the one they were looking for. "Sandy! Sandy!" Emma shouted, getting down on her knees and looking at the dogs' individual collars.
"Piper!" Paige shouted over the din of barking, still trying to reach the twins. "A little help here please!"
"Oh! Sorry…" The eldest Charmed One replied, smirking a little as she flicked out her hands in the direction of the main collect of dogs, causing them all to instantly freeze in the position Piper had caught them in when her power activated. "I guess this is the reason why we should use magic…"
"I'll go make sure Faith is okay." Aidan announced, silently glad for the excuse to leave, as he knew he would end up falling for his children's charms and not punishing them at all for their misuse of magic. From the moment they had been old enough to misbehave; Paige had been the only one that had the conviction to go through with a reprimand.
"Alright, you two, reverse this spell, now." Paige growled, the last word rolling threateningly off her tongue as she looked down at daughters in the midst of the frozen animals. "It's either that or Auntie Piper won't make you a cake for your fourth birthday party." She said, looking to her big sister for confirmation on this threat, but only got a wide eyed stare in response.
"No! Not till Sandy comes!" Melinda shouted defiantly, folding her arms theatrically folding her arms which prompted Emma to do the same.
"You've got more dogs coming?" Paige asked, acquiring a wide eyed stare of her own. "Alright then, if you reverse the spell yourselves, I'll go light on the punishment for using your powers like this. If I'm forced to reverse it myself, just remember you brought it on yourselves." She cocked her eyebrow, setting her hands on her hips, "So, what's it going to be?"
Melinda and Emma looked at one another, silently debating whether or not to accept their mother's offer. They nodded sadly at each other, holding hands and beginning to chant with an angry glare directed at Paige. "Doggies, doggies, go away… 'cause Mommy's bein' mean today!" The moment the words had left their lips, a pulse of magical energy spread from the two of them, sweeping every dog away in a mystical white flash of light and revealing a mass of paw prints in the recently laid carpet in Melinda's room.
"Paige?" Aidan walked back into the now clear bedroom, holding Faith in one arm while carrying a piece of paper and a baby bottle in the other. He handed the paper to his wife and proceeded to need his niece, "I found that on the table in the living room when I went to go warm the bottle. Lemme tell you, the only good thing about having to wear glasses full time is that I don't have to hunt for them when I want to read something…" He said lowly, now having to wear his glasses permanently due a further deterioration in his eyesight.
Paige quickly scanned what the note said, her face falling and her expression darkening as she did. "Maybe it was demonic after all…" She said quietly, giving the note to her big sister so she too could process it.
If you want to see your dog again, come to Golden Gate Park after sundown.
Come alone.
XXX
Phoebe stuffed her hands into her pockets as she walked into the large barn, her breath swirled in front of her in the cold hair, spiraling into nothing when it reached a certain point. As always, the old barn reeked of the unique odor of wood, hay, sweat, and animal discharge. It wasn't a particularly unpleasant scent, but it wasn't something she was fond of either. Phoebe suspected that the reason the Mulwray kids were able to spend so much time in here was because they had grown up around it.
Brennan and Nelle had returned half an hour ago, and yet it had been only Nelle to enter the house. The eldest Mulwray sibling had then retreated to her room with David closely behind, presumably, and hopefully, to let go of the grip she had on her emotions, and let it all out. Whether it be through crying, shouting, or just wreaking the place, Phoebe was convinced Nelle had overcome her barrier. Brennan, on the other hand was a different.
The middle Charmed One jumped a little at a loud clang that sounded like metal colliding with stone. Sure enough, as she ventured into one of the stables, she found her husband shoveling hay into a large wheelbarrow while the horse that had been in here previously munched on whatever was in the trough hanging from the wall. Phoebe was immediately shocked at the fact Brennan wasn't freezing. His coat had been slung over the gate of the stable, along with his suit coat. His shirt sleeves were rolled up past his elbows, and his face was blazing red. Whether that was from the work he was doing, or the bitter cold, Phoebe couldn't tell. "Um… Brennan, I think you should come inside. It's freezing out here."
"I'm fine." He immediately responded sharply, stabbing the pitchfork into another mound of soiled hay as he did. "I've worked up a bit of a sweat, so I'm not even cold." He tossed it into the large wheelbarrow, giving Phoebe a questioning stare, "If you think it's so cold, what are you doing out here?"
She blinked as her jaw dropped, clearly taken aback with the way he was speaking to her. It was as if Brennan thought of her as a friend he had once been close with, not his wife of four years. "I came out here to make sure you're okay. You hardly got any sleep last night so I don't think you should be overexerting yourself too much…" Phoebe replied, frowning with concern. She knew that he hadn't slept the previous night, choosing to pace around the room.
Brennan gritted his teeth, his irritation apparent as he stood his pitchfork next to him, "Phoebe, I'm telling you, I'm perfectly fine. Why don't you go back inside and leave me to it."
"Because I'm worried about you." She stated, fidgeting with her fingers as she tried to find the right words to explain her thoughts, "I… don't think you're dealing with this in the right way."
That did it. Brennan threw his pitchfork to the ground, the sharp clang spooking the horse a little and causing it to neigh in fright. Phoebe also tensed at the sound. "Well, how the hell should I be dealing with the fact that my mother's dead? You know nothing, Phoebe! Absolutely nothing! You were two when your mom died, so you can't even imagine what I'm going through right now!"
She tried to hide the clear hurt in her eyes at what he had just said, shaking her head slowly, "I'm… not going to talk to you when you're like this." Phoebe stated strongly, glaring heatedly at him as she began to turn away, clearly upset. If being angry at people was his way of dealing with things right now, she would allow it, but she wasn't going to stand there and take it. She could sense his overwhelming grief underneath all the anger; and she hoped it wouldn't be long until it surfaced and allowed him to move on.
"Good riddance…" Brennan growled under his breath, picking up the pitchfork once more and nearly hurling it into the mound of hay, glad to be alone with his thoughts once more.
XXX
Pamela wearily pushed the door to her apartment open, taking the keys from the lock as she did. The witch looked up, her eyes widening in shock at the sight of Dean, her younger brother, sitting on the couch, apparently in the middle of a conversation with Keith. She threw her hands up, clearly exasperated as she slammed her keys down on the kitchen counter. "What the hell? Did I miss the memo for a family reunion or something?"
"Okay, wow, not exactly the reaction I was going for…" Dean said, flashing her a toothy grin. It made Pamela realize just how much he had changed from the nervous child who would barely ever crack a smile. He was now confident with his looks, his life, and generally himself. At times, Pamela could find this verging on arrogance, but it was good to know he no longer lived in fear. He had also grown a foot taller than her, which made her feel a little self-conscious, since she usually had to look up to see his face.
"Sorry, it's just been a very long day." She said, smiling at him as he rose from the sofa to meet her, "Hi." She greeted him, putting her arms around his tall frame as he bent down to hug her, "So, just what brings you to my side of the country?" The witch asked, curiosity in her eyes.
She didn't seem to notice the flash of sudden panic in her brother's eyes as she asked this question, "Why else? To see how you're doing… Okay, that and I'm thinking of coming to school here next year after I graduate, so I was hoping I could… um… maybe stay here while I sort stuff out?" He gave her a nervous grin when he saw the shock in her face. She was about to refuse, "I've already cleared it with your boyfriend. He's seems fine with it."
"He's not my boyfriend." Pamela immediately, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes a little, "And what about school in San Francisco right now? Surely they're not going to let you just up and leave for the rest of the year, especially with SATs and stuff like that. It's probably best you stay there and not here."
Dean shook his head, obviously having prepared for Pamela to say something like that. "It's all pretty much revision until I sat my SATs. I can finish the rest of the year in a school here somewhere…" He could see she was opening her mouth to protest, so he cut her off before she could. "My GPA is phenomenal, I'm not upset about leaving my friends, because, well, I was leaving San Francisco anyway, and it would only be until I graduated. I would get a job after that…"
Pamela seemed to be genuinely taken aback by this. She looked towards Keith, who had been watching this exchange with an amused smile on his face, "What about you? This is your apartment after all. How do you feel about my brethren running amok around here?" She raised an eyebrow, irritated when he threw his hands up in defeat, leaving her to make the decision.
"Hey, I don't have any problems with it." He replied, shrugging; secretly glad at the thought of having someone to break up the awkwardness between him and Pamela. "We have a spare room lying there not being used, and I don't think your brother's going anywhere anytime soon, so you may as well keep him within watching distance."
"Don't encourage her!" Dean said jokingly, although silently hoping he wouldn't have his sister's eyes on him all the time while he stayed here, "C'mon, big sis. You can't say no to family… please?"
Pamela ran her tongue along her teeth, looking between Keith and Dean, before finally rolling her eyes. The two of them would probably appreciate each other's company, and Pamela didn't get to see as much of her brother as she wanted, so she made her decision. "Alright, fine!" She didn't get to say anymore, as Dean suddenly lifted her from her feet and into a tight bear hug to show his happiness, causing her eyes to bulge as her air supply was cut off. "You're crushing my spine!" She groaned, prompting him to set her back down on the floor.
"Alright, I'm gonna go unpack the rest of my stuff!" He said excitedly, running down the hall to where his room would be. Pamela let out a small laugh. They had known she would say yes, hence why all of her brother's stuff was already here.
"Am I really that predictable?" She asked Keith, who grinned.
"Well, I kinda figured that you wouldn't leave your own brother out on the streets, and I really do have no problem with it." Keith said, smiling down the corridor, "Besides, he seems like a nice guy. No way near as fierce as you though, which is a good thing." He smirked a little, "Okay, I'm gonna go get my cell. I'm meeting Carmine for an early dinner." He informed her, heading in the direction Dean had a moment earlier.
"Okay," She glared at his back, shaking her head a little. "And fierce? I'll remember that the next time you want me to get rid of a telemarketer." There was a knock at the door. The very thought of having visitors made Pamela's spirits plummet. "That better not be someone else looking to move in…" She groaned, moving towards the door and pulling it open, her eyes widening with fear as she saw who it was. Immediately, she tried to slam the door back in his face, only for him to press a hand against it, stopping her.
"We need to talk." Trent said lowly, applying pressure on the door and slowly forcing it open. Pamela gritted her teeth in frustration. While physically stronger than most people, she was having no luck against Trent's brute strength. "Pammy, come on-,"
"Don't call me that!"
"Please!"
"Hey!" Keith came out of the hallway as he was putting his jacket on, frowning darkly at the scene he had walked in on. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He snarled, shoving Trent back into the hallway with a forceful push. "Are you alright…?" The mutant laid a hand on Pamela's shoulder, taking his eyes briefly off their intruder to make sure she wasn't harmed in any way.
"Yeah, I'm fine.
Trent composed himself, resisting the urge to retaliate against Keith. "Look, buddy, if you don't mind, me and Pam have got some things to discuss. It's important." He shot her a look of silent pleading, "C'mon, Pam, how about you call off your boyfriend and we talk?"
"He's not my boyfriend!" Pamela replied with an exasperated tone. What was with everyone suddenly assuming that she and Keith were an item? It hadn't even happened that much when they were a couple. "You can go…" She murmured to the propulsion mutant next to her. "It's okay, I'll be fine. He won't lay a finger on me or anything like that."
"Are you sure…?"
"Yeah. Go before you're late. The last thing you need is to explain to Carmine why you were late in the first place."
Keith knew she was right. Carmine hadn't been too thrilled at the fact Pamela was staying with him, especially since Pamela was usually coming out of the shower, wrapped in just a towel, whenever Carmine came to the apartment. Whether this was deliberate, he couldn't tell. "Alright…" He conceded, passing by Trent, their shoulders colliding as he headed for the elevator.
"Look, I'm sorry for showing up at the college. If I had known that Mac was talking about you, I would have found a gentler way to get into contact with you." He explained, a mixture of regret and guilt shining in his eyes before he averted them downwards, looking down. "I'm ashamed that I didn't even recognize you until Mac told me your last name…"
"Eight years can change some people." She spat venomously, folding her arms, noticing that he didn't even look that different. "Apart from a little more stubble, you look exactly the same."
"Yeah, well, I was eighteen back then." Trent replied in his defense, smiling a little, "I didn't have much changing left to go through. You and Dean on the other hand… well, I don't think I would even recognize Dean in the street if I bumped into him. How is he anyway? Anything like I remember him?"
"He's eighteen." Pamela answered stonily, a sneer spreading across her face. "He hasn't got much changing left to go through."
"Hey, Pam, how come Keith's is the only room that as en suite?" Dean asked brightly as he came out into the living area, his head down as he looked at the screen of his cell phone. "I mean, I know it's his place and all, but…" He finally turned his head up, his face draining of all colour when he saw the man standing just inside the doorway. "Trent…?"
Trent grinned, immediately remembering this kind of reaction from every time Dean had been shocked by something during his childhood. Namely his expression on Christmas morning. "Hey, Dean." He smiled fondly at his little brother, "I've missed you… I've missed both of you."
"Oh yeah?" Pamela snorted, losing a hold on her temper. How dare he suddenly come back into their lives, all smiles and love, when he had just completely missed the hardest parts of their lives. "If you missed us so much, then I just have one question for you, Trent: Where the hell were you? Your parents, our foster parents, were dead. Dean had vanished because he couldn't control his demonic half, and I was evading Social Services and ducking the law so I could keep looking for him without interruptions. So just where were you when we needed you?"
Trent's mouth opened and closed a few times as he struggled to try and put together an answer. "I had been away the week my parents died… By the time I was contacted, you two had already disappeared. I don't have any of the special powers you guys have! I didn't know where the hell to start looking for you!"
"Dean was ten, I was thirteen. How hard could it have been to track down a couple of kids who didn't even know what they were doing?"
"Pam, stop…" Dean protested quietly, sadness quickly draining him of his cheerful attitude.
"I'm sorry." Trent admitted, shrugging a little and letting out a sigh. "I don't know what else I can do… It's not as if I can go back in time and fix things."
Pamela resisted the urge to laugh at this, knowing full well that if she truly wanted do, she could send his consciousness back into his past self's body so he could undo all of his mistakes, but she didn't have the energy, and she still hadn't had her bath. "I'll tell you what you can do. You have leave, and disappear. It seems to be the only thing you're actually good at."
The eldest Walker sibling pursed his lips, staring into Pamela's eyes, which had transformed into icy blue orbs the moment he had walked through the door, "Okay then…" He replied quietly and sorrowfully, turning on his heel and walking out of the door, feeling Pamela's glare on his back as he did. "I'm sorry…"
"Are you really going to let him just leave like that?" Dean asked desperately, striding towards her as she still stared out the open door. "I mean, he's our brother!"
"We did fine without him, didn't we?"
"Yeah, but…" He sighed, knowing that he would never get through to her about an issue as delicate as this, especially since she was still fueled for a fight. Dean bit his lip, looking between Pamela and open door, before running into the hallway, "Trent! Wait up!" He called out, jogging down to the hall to catch his eldest sibling at the elevator.
"Dean, don't!" Pamela shouted, making a step towards the door, only to have Dean slam it shut on his way out. Once again, her shoulders drooped, along with her head, as she let out a groan of annoyance. "It's the other side of my family that's supposed to be the dysfunctional one!"
XXX
Ruth McKenzie rolled her eyes as she opened the door, surveying the man on her doorstep with a narrow eyed stare. She raised an eyebrow at his guilty expression; he knew he had done wrong, and she certainly hoped that he was here to try and make amends for his actions. "Aidan Parker…" She growled, shaking her head and intensifying her disapproving stare. "I dunno whether to hug you, or slap the hell outta you! Do you know she came in this door a wreck? I don't like to see that on the rare occasion my daughter stops by from college."
"So she's here?" Aidan asked hopefully, bringing his head up before dropping it again at the sight of Ruth's cold glare. She always knew how to make him feel like a five year old who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Can I see her please? I'm here to apologize if that helps…"
The former air elemental glared at him once more before stepping out of his way, "She's upstairs, you big idiot." She said fondly, shaking her head with a smile as he past. "I'm telling you, you're lucky you're pretty, Aidan. If a butt ugly guy had upset my daughter that much, I wouldn't have cared about mangling his mug."
Aidan laughed a little as he vanished up the stairs, remembering where Skye's room was from when he used to read her bedtime stories when she was a little girl. Her father hadn't been around at all, so it had been up to Aidan and Matt to fill the void of a fatherly and brotherly presence, so she had been the one to take Matt's death the hardest. "Skye…?" He called out gently, knocking on the door. He got no answer. "Look, Skye, I'm sorry about earlier. I was a total jerk. Please let me in." There was a pause, "Sk-,"
"… It's open." A muffled voice called from behind the door.
Taking that as an invitation, Aidan entered the dark room to find that it had changed drastically from the little girl's bedroom he remembered. Everything was now in boxes which were no doubt filled with the things Skye hadn't taken to her dorm. The only thing that remained was the bed and a bare mattress, on which the young woman in question was sitting. "Do you remember when this was taken?" She croaked, her voice clearly effected from hours of crying.
Aidan looked down at the photo album that was open on her lap as he sat down next to her. "Um… yeah." He replied, smiling at the memory the photo sparked. "That was your eighth birthday party. The clown that your Mom had booked didn't show up, so Danielle had to put on a make shift fire show… which ended with your cake being blown up." He looked down at the picture of all the children with shocked expressions, each one covered in cake.
"I liked Danielle… you know, before she went mad and tried to kill your kids. Not so fond of her after that. Hell, she even went after me and Grant when we tried to stop her." She turned the page, looking at more photos of her childhood. "She broke my arm in that fight… or, wing, as it was at the time. I ended up missing singing auditions for the choir for the third year in a row, every time due to elemental related injuries…"
Aidan remained silent. He remembered going to the church Skye used to sing at as a child at Christmas. Even at a young age, she would always get a solo performance, and every time it would be beautiful to hear her sing. "I'm sorry… if I had known-,"
"You would have fought tooth and nail to get me an audition." She finished for him, smiling a little. "I know you would, which is why giving up my powers is the hardest decision I have ever made." She looked back down at the photo album, "This is from when you took me on your fire truck… you let me wear your hat."
"And put on the siren, much to the displeasure of my boss." He added with a grin.
She laughed a little, her eyes widening as if her point had just been proved. "See! This was one of the main reasons I thought about trashing the whole idea. I was afraid that I would lose this relationship we have… that we wouldn't stand the test of time without magic linking us. And something tells me you thought the same thing when I told you today."
"What made you change your mind?"
She smiled wistfully, showing intelligence far beyond her age. "Because I believe that we can survive if we try." She closed the album, turning to face him properly. "Look, Aidan… I don't still want to be in charge of the world's wind when I'm your age. I know you love it, and once upon a time, so did I… but I just don't think I can do this anymore. I don't have the strength like you do." She looked up a little, her eyes shining in the moonlight. "I want, for lack of a better term, a normal life…"
He didn't say a word. All he did was lean over and wrap his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. "Okay…" He said softly, "If it's what you really want…" He added softly, not needing to hear a verbal response from her to know how she felt. "I really am sorry for being an ass earlier."
She smiled as they pulled apart, "Its okay… Oh, and I'm sorry for calling you a prick."
"That's alright. I've been called worse."
"Oh yeah? What?"
"… Pretty!"
XXX
"I'm glad you decided to come out with me." Trent said happily as he and Dean stood in the queue at one of the many Starbucks that were littered in the city of Manhattan. The two of them stepped forward as the line got shorter. "Although… I'm guessing Pam wasn't too thrilled when you just ran out without even telling her." He smiled a little when he saw his brother shrug, pretending not to care.
"It's not as if she can just tell me what do. If I want to see you, I'll see you." He said in a matter of fact tone, convinced that he was right. "I know that it's been me and her against the world for most of our life, but things are different now, better. She doesn't need to keep me within her sight. And if you ask me, she's passing up a great opportunity. I mean, before the Walkers died, the three of us had so much fun together! Doesn't that count for anything?" He asked, moving forward a little again.
Trent shook his head slowly, smiling guiltily, "Don't be so hard on her. The way she sees it, I completely abandoned you guys when you needed your big brother the most. I can understand why she's so angry. If I were her, a few memories of tormenting Mrs. Winchester wouldn't make everything all better either." They reached the top of the queue, quickly making their orders. When Dean began to feel around in his pockets, Trent lay a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "It's on me…" He said, pulling a twenty from his pocket and handing it over to the cashier.
"Thanks," Dean replied, smiling proudly, "See? You're not the bad guy Pam makes you out to be!" He said brightly, taking his coffee to go as it was handed to him. "She's just blowing all of this way out of proportion."
Trent chuckled a little, taking his order. "Well, Pammy's always been a little intense."
"I told you not to call me that."
The two of them turned around to see Pamela standing to their side, armed with the same icy stare she had had when confronting Trent in the apartment. Her arms were folded over in a classic defensive position. She cocked her head to Dean, her eyes flickering at the coffee in his hand. "I didn't know you drank coffee." She said, a warm smile spreading over her face. "Although I gotta tell you, Starbucks coffee is vile compared to some of the independent places."
"Oh, what? You're taking your jabs through the coffee he buys me?" Dean spat, frowning darkly at his sister. He truly was appalled at how petty and vindictive she was being. "C'mon, Pam, sway a little. It's a frickin' cup of coffee."
"Dean, could you please just go to the car outside? We'll talk later." She requested icily, clearly not planning to weaken her resolve anytime soon.
"No."
"Its okay, Dean." Trent said, nodding to Pamela's car outside of the store. "I'll catch up with you some other time, but just do as Pam says for now, it'll be easier." He said, giving Dean a look of reassurance to tell him that he wasn't going to be leaving the city anytime soon. "I'll see you later." He watched as Dean walked towards the exit, catching the fact that his little brother had given Pamela a vicious glare on his way out. "Happy?"
"Ecstatic." She replied sarcastically, slowly walking up to him. "You need to leave, now. Stay away from me, stay away from Dean, and especially stay away from Mac. I still remember how you treated your girlfriends in high school, and I won't want to see that same damage repeated to one of my best friends." She spun on her heel, heading towards the car, and not even stopping when Trent began to speak.
"I'm not going anywhere, baby sister…"
XXX
Paige sat nervously on a bench in Golden Gate Park. It was after dark, and it was cold. Combine that with the only source of light being the moon, and it was safe to say that the witchlighter was thoroughly spooked. Every time she felt herself get a little shaky, she just reminded herself that Piper had it far worse, as she had to hide in the pitch black bushes across the clearing, ready to freeze whoever showed up. She smiled a little, imagining her big sister freaking out at the slightest noise in the darkness.
"Hello, Paige."
It was now her turn to freak out. Paige jumped from the bench and turned to where the voice had come from. She was facing a woman that was smaller than her, which was a positive. She couldn't make out the colour of her hair in this limited light, but her big brown eyes glittered in the darkness, sending a chill down Paige's spine when she realized the woman's eyes were really all that she could see. "Alright, where the hell is my dog, lady?" Her eyes flickered to across the clearing, where she now saw Piper frantically running towards her. "You were supposed to freeze her!" She hissed as the eldest Charmed One reached her.
"I tried! I saw her coming up the path way before you did!" She hissed back.
"Oh, is that what you were doing in the bushes? I thought you were maybe having a toilet break or something." The woman asked, shocking both sisters with her powerful eyesight, "No offence to your hiding skills, Piper, but I saw you a mile off. And for the record, I'm immune to your powers."
"Oh yeah? Are you immune to this?" Paige asked with a growl, shoving her hand into her pocket and pulling out a potion vial, filled to the brim with a bright turquoise liquid. She reared her arm back, scowling, "Where the hell is my dog?"
"I'm your dog!" The woman shouted back, her eyes flickering to the potion in Paige's hand with a glint of fear. "Look…" She then put her hand into her jacket pocket, and pulled out a dark blue collar, just like Sandy's. "Kit sends her regards, by the way." She said, staring intensely at both women.
Paige lowered her potion, cocking her head as she surveyed the woman. "Sandy…?"
She put the collar back into her jacket pocket, looking at Paige with remorse glowing in her large chocolate eyes as she did. "In the furless flesh…" She admitted quietly, taking a few steps towards the two.
"So, you're a familiar?" Piper asked.
"The kids' familiar, to be exact." Sandy corrected her, "And not just to the twins, to all of them. I was charged to make sure that they stayed on the right path during an impressionable time in their lives. The moment they vanquished the demon at the circus, it proved that they all had the character to go it alone after that." She pursed her lips, looking a little saddened at the fact that she wasn't needed in the family anymore. "Sorry about breaking your lock, but you had locked the house up tight, and I changed into a human the moment the demon was vanquished, so you couldn't exactly come home to find a strange woman in your house."
"But… your puppies." Paige suddenly said, clearly having trouble trying to accept this fact. "What about them?"
"They'll all become familiars eventually." Sandy replied simply, "I'm not even done yet… I'm gonna move on to my next charge, but I couldn't move on, until you had moved on."
"What?"
"Do you really think I could go on the next person I supposed to watch over with you putting up lost dog flyers everywhere?" She exclaimed, breaking the somber atmosphere. "I mean, I hate being in this human form, but I have to stay in it until I move on to my next charge." She held her hands up, scrunching up her face as she looked at them. "How do you guys get used to thumbs?"
"Well, that explains why letter was written crappily…" Piper murmured to herself.
"So… what? You want me to just stop looking for you?" Paige asked, frowning in confusion. "I don't get this. I mean, what the hell am I supposed to tell the kids?"
Sandy frowned at the question, before coming up with a suitable reply. "Oh, I heard that if parents can't find their family dog when it goes missing, they usually tell their kids something like… the dog went to go live on the farm, or something like that." She smiled warmly at Paige, "For what it's worth, you and your gorgeous little girls have given me some of the best memories of my life. Oh, and give Aidan my best, tell him he should really talk to you about what he talked to me about last." She said with a small wink, taking a few steps backwards, "Goodbye… and thank you…"
Paige watched with tear filled eyes as Sandy walked away, vanishing into the inky darkness of the park. She felt Piper put her arms around her lower torso, giving her a gentle hug. She looked down at the ground, letting the tears fall from her face before staring back at the fading silhouette. "Thank you…"
XXX
Brennan placed his two forefingers against his temple, holding his head up as he tried to keep his eyes on the snowy road that he was currently navigating. He had been driving in complete silence for the last hour, as Connor had finally submitted to his fatigue after a lengthy game of "I Spy" and had fell asleep in the back seat, and with the radio reception being so poor, Brennan had been left with his own thoughts.
Phoebe, although she had only fallen asleep half an hour ago, hadn't said a word to him since their argument in the barn. He hadn't meant to take such a personal shot at her, but these days, he just didn't know how to act around her. Before his mother's death, she had been icy, yet starting to thaw out from their separation. After the news, she had been there for him, as if he had never done the atrocious thing he had done in the first place. Had she forgiven him? Or was it all just an act out of sympathy?
Either way, it was probably better for both of them if they didn't talk to one another, as dealing with everyone's emotions in the house had left Phoebe with a bad migraine and a short temper, and Brennan just wanted to be left alone so he could figure this out by himself. He didn't even know what he was supposed to be feeling. He hadn't even cried at the funeral, and for some reason this made him angry. Angry at the fact he couldn't honour his mother's memory by expressing some sort of emotion for her passing. What the hell was wrong with him?
A small popping sound awakened him from his deep thoughts, and he let out a groan as he immediately recognized the sound. "Just great…" He murmured, turning the wheel and causing the car to pull over to the side of road. With a tired sigh, he got out of the car to inspect the tires, and sure enough there was a massive slash in the one to the back right. Brennan suspected that they had unwittingly driven over a sharply shaped log. "High durability my ass…"
Trudging around to the trunk, he opened it to find that, bar their luggage from their stay at the Mulwray estate, it was completely empty. They had no spare tire.
After pulling the trunk closed with a little more force than required, he walked back around to the burst tire, staring at it for around a minute, as if he was in a trance. The silent calm of this isolation was soon broken though, as Brennan's face suddenly contorted in extreme anger, and he delivered a solid kick to the tire. "Damnit!" He bellowed, continuing to kick the tire over and over again before punching the passenger side window, causing Connor to awaken with a start.
Phoebe too had been awoken by this sudden bout of noise, she looked back, and watched for a second as her husband continued to kick the car violently, causing it to shake with each hit. Connor watched fearfully from the window as his mother got out of the car. "Brennan!" She called out, moving towards him and latching onto his arm, "Brennan, stop it! You're going to hurt yourself!"
It seemed that during this display of violence, angry tears had begun to stream down Brennan's face. His kicks came less forceful, and eventually, there were nothing but a tap, and the once angry roars came weeping as he fell to his knees in the snow, Phoebe knelling down beside him and gently stroking his cheek as he cried on her shoulder, "I'm so sorry… I've been a crappy husband, a crappy father… I'm so sorry, Phoebe…"
Phoebe, who was silently crying herself, shushed him gently, kissing his temple as she run her hand through his hair, "It's okay, sweetie… just let out all out… it's okay, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
"Why? Why didn't she have to die…?" He mumbled, putting his shaking arms around her as they silently cried for different reasons, but the result would be the same. With the two of finally moving on to better days. They sat on the ground for around ten minutes, holding one another in snow, "I think I broke a few of my toes…" He murmured quietly, looking down at his foot.
Phoebe smiled sadly, keeping her hand on his cheek as she kissed him softly on the lips. "It's okay… I'll call Leo. He can orb all this stuff back, especially if we don't have a spare tire." She struggled to help him up to his full height, as he was so much taller and heavier than her. They managed it somehow, and she helped him into the passenger seat that she had been sleeping in. "Brennan…" She began, taking both of his hands and squeezing them tightly. "I promise you… it'll get better."
"I hope so…"
XXX