Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed!
A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews; they make me want to keep writing :) I wrote this chapter kinda fast, I wanted to get it posted before I go on vacation. I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Eight
Up in the attic Piper and Paige were drilling Leo for information while Cole sulked against a wall.
"Just one question Leo, please!" Paige begged as she followed Leo around the cramped attic.
"I can't! Piper please tell her that I can't." Leo turned exasperated to his wife who simply shrugged her shoulders and continued to stare at her husband demandingly.
"Come on Leo..." Paige pleaded once again.
"No! How many times do I have to say it? You have to figure this one out on your our, Elders orders."
"Stupid Elders." Piper muttered under her breath.
"I have charges to look after, so if I'm not needed here any longer I'll be on my way." Leo looked at the solemn faces around the room before orbing out. Piper and Paige went back to rifling through the Book of Shadows and were doing so when Phoebe walked in.
"How's it going?" She asked her sisters.
"Awful. Leo left without telling us anything." Paige spat angrily as she flipped through pages. "There's absolutely nothing in here about that kid. Where do the Elders expect us to look?" Paige asked rhetorically.
"Maybe we should focus more on Rafferty and less on Gabriel." Phoebe suggested tiresomely. Cole, hearing the mention of a demon, perked up and strolled over to the group.
"Do you want me to go to the Underworld and see what I can find?" He asked, eager to be of service and prove his worth to Phoebe.
"Hey, maybe the demons in the Underworld know something about the kid." Paige suggested.
"Gabriel, his name is Gabriel, and I think we should focus on the threat at hand right now--" Phoebe began as she exasperatedly rubbed her temple.
"He could be a threat." Paige interrupted.
"He's not, he's not a threat. If he was a threat the Elders would have told Leo to tell us that we were in danger." Phoebe practically screamed as she paced around the room angrily. Paige, Piper, and Cole exchanged thoughtful glances.
"That makes sense." Piper mumbled as she joined Paige by the Book of Shadows. "We probably should focus on--" Before she could finish her sentence Rafferty appeared in the corner of the attic.
"Hello everyone, long time to see." He smiled broadly, revealing two rows of sinister yellow teeth. The witches quickly stopped bickering and took a defensive stance while Cole, who had earlier seated himself on the couch, stood up.
"What the hell do you want?" Piper questioned angrily.
"What, I can't just drop by for a chat?" He grinned cockily as the witches prepared to attack. "But really, I didn't come here to fight, not today anyway."
"What then?" Cole asked, stepping towards the sisters.
"I came here to warn you." He spoke softly, his tone anticipant of his message.
"Of what?" Phoebe asked, almost whispering. Phoebe feared he would say something to disprove her trust in the goodness of Gabriel.
"His potential. He could kill all of you with the swoosh of a hand." Rafferty symbolically waved his hand in front of his body.
"Gabe wouldn't hurt anyone." Phoebe defended, her emotions getting the better of her.
"Stupid witch," Rafferty smirked, "you don't know him at all. He's grown up around evil, he is evil--"
"He's not evil, we know he's not evil." Phoebe announced, almost angry with Rafferty.
"How do you know? Because he can touch your silly book." Once again Rafferty smirked. "That's just how powerful he is." Phoebe was about to put forth another emotional outburst when Cole cut in.
"So why are you here? Why shouldn't I kill you right now?"
"Go ahead. I just came to offer you my services." Rafferty smiled evilly.
"And what would those be?" Cole continued.
"I'm willing to take him off your hands."
"No!" Phoebe interrupted once again letting her emotions dictate her speech. She couldn't explain why, but something compelled her to protect this boy, no matter the opposition.
"Get out of here." Piper warned. Rafferty chuckled to himself before waving and shimmering out. Piper turned to Phoebe, a compassionate look on her face. "He could have been telling the truth."
"He was lying." Phoebe whispered, turning away from her sister.
"Why do you care so much about this kid?" Paige asked, placing a comforting hand on Phoebe's shoulder.
"I don't know." Phoebe said solemnly. Before any of them could reply, Gabe poked his head into the attic.
"Is everything okay?" He asked quietly, already knowing that it was not. Phoebe turned to Gabe and nodded silently, not able to say anything. She then headed to the doorway where Gabe was standing.
"Phoebe," Piper began, sensing that Phoebe was about to leave the room, "we need to talk about this."
"You deal with it, I can't." She replied, following Gabe down the stairs.
"This is ridiculous." Paige mumbled as she slouched on the couch. "The kid's evil and we can't do anything about it."
"He could have brainwashed her." Piper offered.
"Or used a spell." Paige supplied in return.
"How can you both be so quick to distrust your own sister, yet be so quick to trust a demon?" Cole asked, leaning against the attic wall.
"I don't distrust Phoebe, I just know that the kid is evil." Paige replied. "We have to get him out of this house."
"I could take him." Cole offered.
"Phoebe would never let you." Piper replied knowingly.
"She wouldn't know it was me."
"You want to kidnap him?" Paige asked. "That's no way to make her like you again." Cole glared at her before answering,
"I'll take him to the Underworld, he'll be out of the house, you'll all be safe."
"Works for me." Piper stated as she closed the Book of Shadows decisively.
* * *
Night approached rapidly. Phoebe made Gabriel a small bed on the couch where he soon fell into a pleasant slumber. Phoebe, after making sure Gabe was safe and asleep, prepared to go to sleep herself. Once in bed, she heard a slight knocking at her door, Piper soon popped her head in.
"How are you doing?" Piper asked sweetly, seating herself on the end of Phoebe's bed.
"I'm fine, just fine." Phoebe replied falsely.
"I'm sorry we were kinda hard on you today." Piper stated, her voice full of compassion.
"I understand, you're scared, it's fine."
"It's not fine, we should have been more supportive of your feelings. We should have trusted you."
"Do you trust me now?" Phoebe asked seriously, desperately wanting her sisters approval. Before Piper could answer a loud thud echoed through the house, followed by a muffled scream.
"Gabe..." Phoebe whispered as she hurried out of bed and down the stairs. She was just in time to see a large body shimmer out of the house holding an obviously scared and struggling Gabe. Phoebe remained speechless, not sure of what to say. Piper looked at her sister, waiting for a reaction. "What was that? Where...?" Unable to finish her sentence she slumped onto the couch.
"Are you okay?" Piper asked, watching her sister in anguish. From the stairwell, Paige appeared.
"What happened?" She asked loudly, wanting to seem concerned.
"Gabe's gone." Piper replied, mentally telling her sister to tone it down. Before Paige could express yet another outburst of concern, a visibly disgruntled Leo orbed in.
"What the hell did you do?" He yelled, looking at Piper and Paige.
A/N (again): Sorry for the ending, I didn't want to get into the whole Underworld thing just yet. And...Gabe is going to find out that Phoebe and Cole are his parents very soon, just not quite yet :) Please review!
