Authors Notes: I know I said there would be action in this chapter but it turned out longer then I intended, so I had to leave the fighting for the next chapter, which will be up during the week if I have time to proof read it. Thanks for the reviews, Keep them coming. (Sorry for the lack of Melinda in this chapter, but I wanted to show how Piper and Leo were reacting to Melinda running away. She will be in the next one, however.)
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Charmed.
Leo orbed into the manor, and looked around. It was late, past ten, and Leo had just come back from visiting one of his charges.
Since Melinda had run away, less than a week ago, Leo had been spending as much time as he could on the job. He hated staying at home, with nothing to do but feel useless.
Piper had been doing the complete opposite, refusing to leave the house in case Melinda called, spending most of the day in her room.
"Hey Leo." A voice said from behind Leo making him turn.
"Oh hey Phoebe." Leo replied tiredly. For the past week, Phoebe and Paige had been helping out, at the house and P3. Piper hadn't been able to do anything since Melinda had run away, so Paige and Phoebe had been doing the cooking and taking care of Peter.
"Peters in bed and Piper's upstairs." Phoebe said. "Daryl called earlier, said there was nothing new."
Leo nodded his head.
"I was just about to go home. There's some soup left over in the kitchen if you're hungry." Phoebe said as she grabbed her coat. "I've got work tomorrow but Paige said she'd stop by and take Peter to school."
Leo nodded again, unable to talk. Realizing that Leo wanted to be alone, Phoebe gave him a quick hug before leaving.
Slowly Leo made his way upstairs, stopping outside his son's room to make sure he was sleeping, and then moving down the hall to his and Piper's room. He entered the room to find Piper staring out the window, silent tears running down her face. Without saying a word Leo moved towards Piper and wrapped his arms around her. Piper rested her head on her husbands shoulder and they stood in silence for several minutes.
"This is all my fault." Piper spoke suddenly, surprising Leo. "If I hadn't of been so hard on her that night, she never would of left."
"Honey, it wasn't your fault." Leo spoke, as he hugged his wife closer to him.
"How can you say that? Of course it's my fault." Piper cried out as she pulled away from Leo, tears streaming down her face. "I'm her mother; I'm supposed to know how she's feeling. I should have seen how unhappy she was, but I didn't. What kind of a mother am I that I can't even see when my baby's hurting."
"Piper, you can't blame yourself. We all made mistakes along the way." Leo said. He hated seeing Piper like this, blaming herself for Melinda running away. "Every parent does."
"Yeah well every parent doesn't drive her child away." Piper said in a soft voice remembering the fight she had had with Melinda the night before she left.
* * * FLASHBACK
A Demon had attacked the manor early in the afternoon, while the family had been hanging out in the living room. Piper had ordered Melinda to go upstairs while she and Peter took care of the demon. The demon was immune to Piper's powers and quickly knocked Peter out, leaving Piper to take out the demon. She had just been knocked to the floor, and the demon was preparing to throw a fire ball at her when Melinda appeared out of nowhere. She attacked the demon with some martial arts moves, dodging a fireball, before stabbing the demon in the heart, killing him.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Piper had screamed at her daughter later that day after Leo had healed Peter.
"I was trying to help." Melinda had said.
"You could have gotten yourself killed." Piper said angrily as she paced in front of her daughter. "How many times do I have to remind you? You're not a witch Melinda; you don't have any powers to protect yourself with."
"If I hadn't of jumped in when I did, that demon would have killed you." Melinda had said in disbelief.
"I can take care of myself." Piper had said. "You on the other hand can't."
"Hey, I took care of the demon, didn't I?" Melinda shot back angrily.
"He could easily have killed you." Piper screamed, loosing her temper. "You're just a mortal, Melinda. A plain old mortal."
"You can't tell me what to do." Melinda had spoke in a low voice as she glared at her mother.
"I'm your mother, Melinda," Piper had said. "And if I tell you to do something you'll do it."
"You're not my mother." Melinda said with sneer. "You haven't been a mother to me in a long time."
Before Piper could think, she had thrust out her hand and slapped Melinda on the face.
Piper had never before slapped her children, and she immediately regretted it, putting her hand over her mouth in surprise.
Melinda had stared at her mother in shock for a few moments, rubbing her cheek before running upstairs.
Piper had watched her go, too shocked to even try and stop her, tears running down her face.
* * * END OF FLASHBACK
Leo reached out for Piper but she backed away from him shaking her head.
"This is all my fault. If I wasn't such a bad mother, Melinda never would have run away." Piper said.
"You are not a bad mother, Piper." Leo said. "You're a great mother. Look at Peter, he loves you, and I know that no matter what Melinda is feeling right now, she loves you to."
Leo reached out for Piper again and this time she didn't back away.
"Do you think she's okay?" Piper asked in a small voice as she once again rested her head on Leo's shoulder.
"I'm sure she's fine." Leo said trying to hide the doubt he felt. "She's strong, Piper. She can look after herself."
Piper nodded her head, as she wrapped her arms around Leo, taking comfort in his presence.
"We'll find her, Piper." Leo whispered softly. "I promise you."