THE BEST LAID PLANS

Chapter 10

Piper looked around. Her sisters had left without her. Apparently she couldn't orb when she wasn't solid. She flung out her hands to blow up the closest group of demons, but nothing happened. 'So my powers don't work when I'm not solid.' she thought. 'Then again, they can't hurt me unless I'm solid.' she thought as another fireball went flying through her, vanquishing a demon behind her. Piper considered using her new power to simply walk right out of the cave, but she figured that Paige would come back for her as soon as she realized that Piper wasn't with them.

The demons quickly figured out that they didn't want to be standing behind Piper whenever Abaddon threw a fireball and they tried to get out of the way. Several of them tried to grab hold of the witch, but their hands went right through her.

"Enough!" Abaddon cried, tired of vanquishing his own demons.

Paige and Phoebe orbed into the attic.

"Where's Piper?" Phoebe cried out.

"Oh my God. We must have left her." Paige said, afraid for Piper.

"Well, let's go get her!" Phoebe yelled, grabbing hold of her sister. The pair orbed back out to find Piper.

In Wyatt's bedroom, Leo hugged both of his sons. Patty was fussing over Victor, who insisted he was fine.

"You're okay. Thank you, Wyatt. You are a great big brother." Leo said, kissing the top of Wyatt's head first and then the top of Chris's. "After Gideon, I was afraid that…" he started to say, but stopped himself. He would never let Wyatt know how close he'd come to turning evil.

"Afraid of what, Leo?" Grams asked, curious. She'd known that Chris had come back in time to save Wyatt from some great evil, but she didn't know the details.

Back in the underworld, Phoebe and Paige orbed in to find Piper surrounded by demons. She didn't look very upset, though.

"You okay, Piper?" Phoebe asked, throwing vanquishing potions at the demons that stood between her and Piper.

Paige and Phoebe fought their way over to Piper. Paige tried to grab Piper, but her hand passed through her sister.

"Yeah, I can't seem to turn solid again." Piper admitted.

"Can you get rid of some of these demons?" Phoebe asked as she coldcocked a demon who had gotten a little too close for comfort.

"Nope. My powers aren't working." Piper admitted. "Just like Prue's astral self didn't have active powers. I guess my powers only work when I'm solid."

"Well, get solid so we can get out of here." Paige snarked, calling an athame away from a demon and using it on the demons nearest her.

"I don't know how." Piper admitted. She didn't want to be stuck in the underworld anymore than her sisters did, but she couldn't seem to solidify.

"Enough!" Abaddon cried again, not used to being ignored. "Leave witches, while I am feeling merciful."

Piper felt the weight of her family on her shoulders. She knew her sisters would never leave without her, not on purpose. And she couldn't leave until she solidified. "Ow. Watch it." Piper said as Phoebe stepped on her foot. "Wait a minute."

"You're solid again." Paige said, stepping over to her sisters. "Let's get out of here."

Piper vanquished the demons closest to her, creating an opening between her and Abaddon. "The one you want is dead, Abaddon; whether you believe it or not. If you or your 'brethren' come near me or my family again, you won't live long enough to regret it." She turned to her sisters, "Let's get out of here."

The three sisters orbed out of the underworld and back to the manor.

The sisters reappeared in the attic. They hurried downstairs and found the others in Wyatt's bedroom. Victor and Leo looked like they'd been in a fight and Grams was standing guard.

"What happened?" Piper asked.

"Demons attacked Chris again." Grams said, letting the girls into Wyatt's bedroom.

"Chris orbed himself in here to get away from them." Patty said, hugging her daughters.

"What?" Piper exclaimed.

"And Wyatt protected him with his forcefield." Leo chimed in, still proud of his sons. "We have two very clever boys."

"Leo, what were you so afraid? Something about Gideon and Wyatt." Grams asked, still wanting to know why her grandson-in-law was so worried about Wyatt.

Leo put Wyatt down on the floor so he could play with his toys. He ushered Grams and the sisters out in the hall. Grams took Chris from Leo. Patty and Victor followed them out into the hall.

"I'm just afraid that I didn't reach Wyatt in time after Gideon kidnapped him. The first time around, during grown-up Chris's timeline, I think it was Gideon taking Wyatt from his family, keeping him down in the underworld that turned him evil. I'm still afraid that he's going to turn out evil. I'm afraid I didn't do enough." Leo admitted quietly, not wanting Wyatt to hear him. "I was happy to see him protecting Chris earlier."

"He's been acting so strange since the baby came. He's been mean to the baby, taking his things, misbehaving every time I try to feed Chris or change him." Piper added. "I had the same fear." She admitted, looking at Leo.

"Sweetie, when you were a baby Prue stuffed you in a hamper." Victor laughed.

"What?" Piper asked, shocked.

"She said you were loud and she didn't want you around anymore." Victor laughed.

"Oh, and every time we tried to feed you, or change you, or just hold you Prue would start flinging things around the room to get attention." Grams said, joining the laughter.

"Mom, do you remember the time Piper tried to give Phoebe away to the next door neighbors?" Patty asked, laughing as well.

"Oh, yes. Or how she would sit on Phoebe whenever she'd get in Piper's stuff?" Grams asked, laughing so hard she could barely get the words out.

"You did what?" Phoebe asked, pretending to be outraged.

"I was afraid she was going to squash her." Patty laughed.

Paige was laughing along with the others. This is what she'd missed out on growing up an only child. She loved her adopted parents whole-heartedly, but sometimes she wished she'd grown up with her sisters.

"So, Wyatt's okay?" Piper asked, her voice full of hope.

"He's a perfectly normal toddler, honey." Patty said. "He's just used to being the center of attention and needs to learn that he has to share your attention now. Just make sure that he knows that you love him too and he'll be fine."

"Oh, Thank God." Piper breathed, leaning heavily against Leo. He held her against his chest.

"Well, this baby isn't going to bless himself. Let's get the show on the road." Grams said, herding everyone towards the attic. She carried Chris up to the attic. Leo went back and got Wyatt out of his room.

"What about the demons?" Paige asked.

"If they dare to show their faces, we'll make them regret it." Piper said, following her grandmother and youngest son upstairs.

TBC…