9-10-2022

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.

Sorry it's been awhile, but I'm back at college now and that's obviously my priority so updates won't be regular.

Read, enjoy and review!

Chapter Sixteen

Cauldron: Divine Inspiration

November 7th, 2003

The Manor, San Francisco

"Hey, what's up?" Wyatt greeted the sisters casually, as he and Kate entered the living room where the sisters were talking about how much time Paige was spending with Richard lately.

It was always weird for him, to listen to his mother and aunts (who were practically his mothers as well, seeing as the Halliwells had raised their children communally for his whole life) talking about dating and such. It was probably the source of all his recent sleepless nights.

Kate, standing quietly beside him with her hands in her back pockets and an unfocused look in her eyes that signalled she was mentally plotting out a demon hunt instead of paying attention to their family, seemed to take it in stride. At least outwardly, but Wyatt could sense her mental horror every time they stumbled into one of those discussions through the mental link that they shared.

"Oh, we're just chatting," Phoebe smiled warmly at them. "How're you guys? We haven't seen you much this week."

"We've been following a lead on something," Kate explained vaguely. "There's this group hanging 'round in the Underworld. They call themselves the Order and aren't very powerful as far as I can tell, but they seem disturbingly interested in Wyatt."

"What?" Piper demanded sharply, putting down her glass and half-rising to her feet. "Are they-?" She began to ask, but was cut off by the 'Perrys' shaking their heads.

"They don't seem like much of a threat," Wyatt assured. "But we've been gathering information on them for you guys, so that you can go after them as soon as we know what they want with him. We came to look at the Book to see if there's anything there about it."

"Go right ahead," Paige waved at them. "It's in the attic, same as always."

"Great," Kate murmured, she turned to head upstairs, pausing to raise an eyebrow at her brother. "You coming?"

"In a sec," he agreed. She shrugged and continued to the attic.

"Will, is everything okay?" Piper asked him worriedly.

Although she'd initially been hesitant to trust the two time travellers, over the months she had come to feel rather maternal to them both, and she did her best to act on those feelings, though Kate always looked a bit like a hunted deer whenever someone tried to look after her.

"Everything's fine," Will nodded. "It's just that Kate's birthday is in, like a week on the thirteenth. And I know that she won't want a fuss made about it or anything, but I was hoping that you could make a dinner or something, Piper? She loves meatballs, and she hasn't had them in ages. Not since we arrived anyway."

"Oh, my god, I had no idea!" Phoebe squealed. "I can't believe that we didn't ask when your birthdays are!"

"Of course I'll cook," Piper agreed. "Just tell me the specific date, and is there anything else she'd like to have? What's her favourite cake-" A loud crash came from the attic, along with Kate's voice suddenly yelling. Wyatt nearly doubled over from the wave of anger and betrayal that came from his sister at the same time.

"Kate!" He cried, pausing long enough to grab Piper (who was closest to him) by the arm and orb upstairs, Paige grabbing Phoebe and copying him a second later.

A few minutes earlier, Kate had entered the attic with thoughts of the mysterious Order running through her head.

She was fairly sure that the Charmed Ones of her own timeline had encountered (and subsequently defeated) them at some point, because the name was definitely familiar. Wyatt also claimed to recognize the name, but neither of them could remember any details of what they wanted. As a result, they had decided to check the Book for any information on them, and if that fell through, they would go and search the library at Magic School before getting the sisters to vanquish the group.

She froze in shock, all thoughts of demons disappearing at the sight of the man leaning against the wall, unquestionably waiting for her.

Niko Phoenix, the love of her life, was not in 2027, where he should have been, but here in 2003. His caramel-dyed hair that fell in long waves to his shoulders when it was loose was pulled back into a ponytail. He was dressed in a gothic brocaded vest and black bondage jeans that clung to his legs tightly with black combat boots. A long silver dagger with a ruby in the hilt hung from his belt. The male version of a Source's Assassin's uniform.

"N-Niko," she stammered uncharacteristically, her shock making her sloppy, as her fiancé walked up to her in a seductive manner. "What-? How did you-?"

"Shh," he murmured, resting a finger against her lips to silence her. "We'll talk about that later. But for now-"

Instinct kicked in as his expression turned into the cold look he wore during any battle or assassination, giving her just a split-second of forewarning. Just long enough for her to dive to the side, knocking over the table she stood next to in the process, so that his glowing hand went through her shoulder instead of her heart.

She shrieked, back arching in agony at the pain. Ironically, it would have (physically) hurt less if he had gotten her heart as her magic wouldn't have been dragged out in such a brutal manner. But it would have also rendered her completely incapable of fighting back, unlike this position.

Using her right arm, she groped for an athame that she had seen fall to the floor, gripping it and striking blindly, catching him in the side of his free arm just as her brother and mother appeared in a swirl of blue and white orbs.

With all he had been through, the shallow knife cut alone would never have distracted him from his task, nor would the raw hurt twisting his lover's face at his betrayal as she struggled against him. But the shocking sight of someone who looked so like, and yet so different to the Source he served caused him to freeze in shock long enough for Piper to blow him into a swirl of dark ashes that swiftly flew out of the open window.

Kate moaned in pain, curling in on herself as the others arrived, scanning the room for more threats as Will raced to his sister's side, expression enraged and hands already glowing with the yellow light of healing.

"Kate, are you ok?" Piper demanded worriedly, hurrying after him to her younger Whitelighter's side.

"I, I think so," she replied breathlessly, batting away Wyatt's attempt to heal her. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she repeated.

"What happened?" Paige asked anxiously, scanning the younger woman for injuries despite Kate's words.

"Yeah, who was he?" Phoebe agreed, brow crinkled in concern.

Wyatt had been too focused on his sister to register who had been attacking her, but he still felt the lie through their bond as Kate answered in a soft voice. "I don't know."

"Is that the mark?" Paige asked, pointing out her newest suggestion in the Book.

Piper glanced at it briefly before shaking her head. "No, it looked more like a bird."

"A bird," Paige repeated flatly. "So, what? You're saying that maybe the Audubon society sent the demon after us?"

"Just keep looking," Piper sighed in response. Cole, who had been frowning at Kate, stiffened and looked over.

"Look up the Phoenix clan," he instructed. "They have a bird shaped birthmark as a symbol."

Wyatt stiffened at the suggestion, his eyes widening in realization. He pushed at the barrier Kate had put up, trying to speak to her, though he was sensible enough (after many, many lectures on 'future consequences') not to speak his concerns aloud. She ignored him stubbornly, continuing to pace across the room.

"Phoenix clan," Paige nodded, beginning to flick more purposely through the Book now she had a better idea of what to look for.

"Guys, I'm telling you I'm fine, don't sweat it," Kate insisted. "There's no reason to fuss about this." It was a blatant lie, and only served to further convince the rest of the group that Kate was aware of who her attacker was, and probably why he'd attacked her in the first place.

"A Phoenix?" Leo said doubtfully. "That doesn't make sense. Are you sure that he wasn't a Darklighter?"

Piper nodded firmly. "I'm sure," she said. "No bow, for one thing."

"Got it," Paige declared before reading the entry aloud. "Descended from the Witch Trials with

vengeance in their hearts, the Phoenix are a

family of assassin witches who are very elite,

very powerful and who are born with the

distinctive birthmark of the Phoenix,

symbolizing their rise from Salem's ashes.

They have no allegiances other than to their

own vengeance and they will seek out and kill

any bounty they're hired to hunt down."

"So, they'll be back," Cole concluded grimly. "I've heard of Phoenixes before, they're not people to cross. And they won't give up."

"What would they want with Kate though?" Leo wondered with a frown. He turned to look suspiciously at Kate, who had a strained expression on her face. "You know, how did he get that close to you, anyway, if you didn't even know who he was?"

Kate gave a shrug, her face going tight for a second out of pain. "He caught me by surprise," she said, basically the only truth she had said since the meeting began. She shifted her weight, causing the floorboard to squeak. "We really oughta fix that, you know."

"Come on, Kate," Leo pressed. "Why are the Phoenixes after you?"

"Has it crossed your mind that maybe he wasn't actually after me?" Kate snapped. "Maybe they're really going after the sisters, and wanted to get their Whitelighters out of the way first."

Wyatt glowered silently at his sister but said nothing, while Paige agreed with her hesitantly. "It kind of makes sense."

"Finally!" Kate cried, throwing her hands up and giving a subtle wince at the movement, only Cole and Wyatt noticing it. "Somebody's listening. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some work to take care of."

She stalked out, hearing Leo turn to start interrogating Wyatt even before she reached the staircase. She hastened to the upstairs bathroom and bent over the sink, shaking, as soon as the door closed with a thought.

She sucked in several unsteady breaths, fighting back tears of rage and betrayal. She cursed herself for being such a foolish child. If she'd had any sense at all, she would have kept their original arrangement of 'allies with benefits' or else forgetting him entirely. Instead, she had succumbed to his declarations of love and his insistence that she could trust him. She had believed his lies.

She reached up and pulled down her left sleeve and reveal her shoulder. The green blouse was unstained, but Kate knew past experience that you didn't fight a Phoenix and escape without injury.

A ragged breath escaped her in a whoosh at the ugly sight. It was a raw red wound, exactly the size of the fist he had shoved in her. The sides rose slightly, like a layer of skin had been peeled back to show the first layer beneath it. Pain was pulsing from it irregularly, preventing her from getting her equilibrium back and being able to block it.

Something, beyond the obvious, was definitely wrong with the injury. It wasn't supposed to feel so sore and exhausting once the Phoenix was finished. That was probably the problem then. Niko hadn't finished the job and Kate still had access to her magic.

She bit her lip and covered it back up. Then slowly, she pulled out the second of her necklaces. The other was shown to the world, but this one she kept under her shirt. The ring dangling from it had rested beside her heart, and Kate felt a surge of bitter rage. 'At least rage was better than hurt,' she thought darkly to herself, as she lifted the ring to stare at it.

The memory of him giving it to her overcame her as she did so, stealing her away from 2003 back to her home time, in the Source-ruled world of 2027.

Camelot (formerly San Francisco):

December 16th, 2027

"What did you just say?"

Niko gave her a grin, dressed in regular blue-jeans and a red shirt that was now stained with blood. He got down on one knee, and Kate found herself pressing a hand to her mouth, fighting back the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

"Kate, I love you," he told her softly and carefully. 'Love' was not a word said lightly anymore. This was only the fourth time he had said it to her. "I meant it when I said that whatever suffering I'll go through will be worth it if you'll love me back. Marry me, and remember why you're doing this crazy thing."

"Y, yes," she stammered, putting out her hand. "Yes, I'll marry you. I, I love you too." She said the words delicately. This was the second time she had said the words outright to him. Her number of dead loved ones hovered constantly in the back of her mind, warning her of the consequences caused by her love.

He grinned, putting the ring (it was very untraditional, made of black-gold with an aquamarine gem in the style of a rose and stem. And, she could just about see a faint bird shape carved into the gem to link it to the Phoenixes. It was very Kate, to those who knew her properly. A dark angel, Niko called her with a smile full of a tenderness shown only to her.)

She kissed him passionately as they sank down onto the bench in 'their spot', the place they had first met and then continued to meet in. The place they had been enemies, wary allies, lovers. And now fiancés.

A buzzing noise had them breaking apart, gripping their respective knives and scanning the area urgently.

"What was that?" Niko demanded as they did so, just as a probe came flying up and began scanning his face. "Kate!" He cried urgently, and unnecessarily, as she was already flinging it into a nearby pillar with her telekinesis.

"Are you alright?" She asked frantically, looking him over. Logically, she knew that the probes were not actually dangerous. It was what they signalled that was the danger. That didn't do anything to erase the fear she associated with them.

"I'm fine," Niko said, pale-faced from the close call. "I don't think it had time to transmit."

Kate stood, rage boiling in and sparks flying from her clenched fists. "I cannot believe that he's sending probes after us now!" She snarled. It was a ridiculous statement, as Wyatt had been sending enemies to find her for years so why would probes be any worse? but her frustration at the interruption to their celebration was mixing with her anxiety over the coming mission to make her irrational and they both knew it.

"I'm gonna kill that sonovabitch!"

"No, no you're not," Niko hastily grabbed her hands, ignoring the sting of electricity with practised ease. He stared firmly at her, forcing her to listen. "You're gonna stick to the plan," he insisted.

He was no psychic, but Niko knew, without a doubt, that if Kate killed her infant brother, she would save the future and destroy herself. As much as she denied it, claiming to loathe him (which was very true) Kate still loved her brother as well. Killing him as an innocent baby would be her breaking point.

"But he knows," she hissed at him. The panic at what she was about to do flickered in her beautiful green eyes. Niko shook his head.

"No, if he knew, he wouldn't have sent the probe," Niko pointed out. He let out a deep breath. "You have to do this Angel. You have to stop all this."

Kate bit her lip and nodded. She met his eyes and leaned in to kiss him again. They both tried to forget the thought that this could be the last time they ever saw each other. The ring on Kate's finger would never be joined by a wedding one and they both knew it.

November 7th, 2003

The Manor, San Francisco

"It was Niko, wasn't it?" Wyatt's voice, grim and full of barely contained fury, jolted Kate out of her flashback. She met his gaze in the mirror, her own full of agony.

"If it was," she replied slowly, as good as confirming his guess. "Do you honestly think that he isn't here on Lord Wyatt's orders to bring me to be executed?"