Sorry about this being so lateÉ but on the up side its 7 pages long people!

No beta reader so there are bound to be some errors. It would have been longer but then you'd have to wait longer to get it.

So- (Keep the Reviews coming)

Concerning Elders and Eyries Chapter 7

Last time:

"You're my son?!" Leo said horror evident.

Misinterpreting Leo's horror, "Trust me, I wish I wasn't either." Chris said very bitterly, nodded once to his mom and orbed out.

"Wa- Wait!" Leo said too late.

"Stupid Elder." Aura muttered. Sniff. The stupid Elder had made The Pretty One leave. This time Leo didn't argue.

--

Chapter 7

"What did he mean?" Leo asked confused. Looking from one sister to another.

"He's gotÉ issues with you." Phoebe said delicately.

"Issues? But. He's not even born yet how can he have issues with me already?" Leo said frustrated.

"Apparently there aren't therapists in the future." Paige said jokingly.

"Or at least therapy groups called "So your mama was a witch and your daddy was an Elder Or "Whitelighter Dads" Phoebe offered trying to lighten the mood.

"Now there is one I wish they had. ÔAbandoned Witch children' and ÔNever There Whitelighter Dad.' I'm sure I would have had to go through a lot of therapy if I'd been a minor when I'd found this stuff out." Paige bantered.

"You're not helping." Piper said sitting down again.

"Hey, he started it. He's the ÔStupid Elder'" Paige said with a grin.

"Wait a second, he made Chris orb." Piper said as a thought dawned on her.

"SoÉ?" Paige said.

"So why didn't our little deathly afraid of whitelighters kid not sound the Panic alarm? Phoebe said finishing Piper's thought.

Paige frowned at Aura.

Aura smiled back batting her eyes and doing the 'cute' thing only the very young can pull off.

"I think we have bigger problems to worry about than why a little kid didn't cry." Leo began pointedly then added. "Wait. She's afraid of whitelighters? Who's afraid of whitelighters?"

"What does she see that is so scary about whitelighters you mean." Phoebe clarified.

"I see dead people." Aura said deadpan.

Pause. Phoebe covered her mouth so that she wouldn't laugh.

"O-kay. Back to the real problem. No more distractions. " Paige said business like.

"Which is the real problem again?" Phoebe said tired. "Would that be the Elder thing, the innocent thing, the possible attack on our nephew or the Chris is your son thing?"

Her sisters weren't quite sure.

"I keep thinking that the 'Elder thing' and the 'Innocent thing' are the same.. Err thing." Piper said.

Leo moved Ôcasually' closer to Piper while she raised an eyebrow as if to say Ôyou're the reason I'm pregnant mister.

"Yeah well what do we do about it? I doubt there is a potion that makes the Elders and the Angels get along and the cosmic balance restored." Phoebe said.

"That would be a nice potion." Piper acknowledged.

"So... we summon an Eyrie. There might be a spell for that. It could also solve our 'Are Eyries after Wyatt' problem. too. " Paige said.

"I don't think they are after Wyatt." Piper said.

Phoebe's cell phone rang. She looked at it. "It's Elise. I bet she wants to know when I'm coming back to work."

"Right that place where you make money... You could go and come home when you're done." Piper said. She didn't want Phoebe to give up her life because of magic.

"Are you sure?" Phoebe said cautiously.

"We'll be fine." Piper assured her. "If we really need you we'll call."

Paige noticed an opportunity here. "Since Chris isn't here, I'll orb you back to work." Paige offered smiling giving Phoebe a significant look.

"Oh Right. Yes we'll just be going now. Have fun!" Phoebe said catching on.

Phoebe and Paige orbed out leaving the "Proud Parents" by themselves.

Leo put his hands in his back pockets. He let out a nervous sigh and made his usual failed attempts at being casual and accommodating.

Piper looked nervous and fidgeted with the bottom of her long shirt.

"I'm sorry about the-umm. I hope you don't think I was- when we-" Leo seemed to suddenly realize that there was a very young minor in the room and blushed. " You know."

Now most people would have no clue what Leo was referring to, but Piper knew Leo well enough to understand what he was talking about. That night on the ghostly plane. "I know." Piper batted her eyes innocently trying to release the tension in the room. Which only made Leo more nervous and guilty. "Yeah."

Aura was getting bored and the old people were being silly. "Oh, kiss her already."

Which made Leo even more nervous. Both laughed nervously. For Piper being alone with Leo again after six months was difficult. An uneasy silence was broken when conviently enough Wyatt orbed in, finished with his nap.

"Da da!" Wyatt said excitedly waddling over to grab Leo's leg.

Leo took the distraction for all it was worth. He bent down and hugged his firstborn. "Hey little guy. How are you doing?"

Piper smiled. "You've got to talk to Chris too you know. He's a great kid."

Leo looked up at her. " But He hates me." Leo sulked.

"He's not going to start liking you if you continue to ignore him. He'll need his dad." Piper said thinking of "The Event"

"Well he has you." Leo said pained, suddenly reminded that he wasn't supposed to be here.

But I won't be around forever." Piper said sadly.

"What do you mean?" Leo said frowning. Piper was going to be the first person to live past 130 in his mind. Although true as an Elder he was going to outlive her she still had a good hundred years or so.

Piper shook her head. "Never mind. I just-" Piper sat on the ground as best she could and looked seriously into Leo's eyes while playing with Wyatt's hair. "I need you to promise me that whe- if something happens to me, that you'll look after our boys. They need their father."

"Piper, Nothing is going to happen to you." Leo said certain. (Much like he told Piper that no one they knew would try to hurt Wyatt at Magic school. He was wrong then too.)

Piper looked down at Wyatt anguished. "Just Promise me. That's all I'm asking. Not child support, no special Elder favors-" Piper began to ramble.

Leo looked very solemn and haggard. " I promise."

"Good." Piper attempted to get up which prompted Leo to help her and guide her to a couch in the living room.

Aura felt ignored and tagged along. She missed her mommy and daddy so much.

As soon as Leo was sitting beside Piper on the couch with Wyatt in his lap, he continued.

"Earlier Chris (calling him his son was still too weird to voice) said something about some 'Event' that Wyatt blamed the Elders for, and you knew what it was, and Chris seemed really distressed about it."

"The Event' he doesn't want to talk about." Piper said cautiously.

"Why? What happened?" Leo asked.

Aura sighed. Everyone was ignoring her and the Elder was asking stupid questions. She hated it when people asked stupid questions.

"He hasn't told me much about it." Piper said quickly.

" Well DUH. Would you want to talk about your mother dying and being unable to save her?" Aura said logically.

Leo looked very disturbed. "WHAT?"

yay! Attention finally. " 'The Event', she dies." Aura said matter of factly.

Leo turned to Piper to see if she already knew this. She did. But that didn't stop him from saying.

"That's Impossible. You're going to- live a long time." He said more to reassure himself. He saw Aura and grabbed her and shook her a bit. "You know don't you? When... IT is going to happen don't you? Tell Me!" Leo said panicking.

Aura frowned at him disapprovingly and pried at his hands.

"Leo, Put her down." Piper said with commanding calm. "This is MY death we're talking about here. It was bound to happen sooner or later as a Charmed One. I'm fine with it. You can't have any complaints." Piper put her hair behind her ears.

Wyatt looked at his parents, happily oblivious to what they were talking about.

Leo was quiet for a moment as he put Aura down. Pondering. He wasn't a part of her life anymore, but he certainly didn't want to ever see her Up There, and then a recycled soul sent down to Earth, never remembering being his Piper.

It was an unsettling thought. With all the news that had been dropped in his lap in the last hour, he wouldn't be too surprised to find out that the sky had turned magenta while he'd been in Elderland as well. He ran his hand through his short hair, breathing again. His hands shook. He was the Elder, he was supposed to be the one calm about the inevitable, not her. (Did anyone else think that Piper the emotional one handled the news of her future death... a little too calmly?)

He'd known in the back of his mind once he admitted to being Phoebe's nephew that someday this day would come.

His 'father' would find out. But he'd dreaded it. He had been uncertain how Mom would take it, but Leo? He'd never had any REAL hopes that it would have gone any better than it did. So why was he so hurt when what he'd expected had happened? After all Leo hadn't exactly trusted or liked him as the Charmed One's whitelighter. There would be little cause to believe that he'd like him better as his accidental son.

"You need to talk to our son." Piper continued. "I don't want him becoming more neurotic than he already is."

"But- what about you know... And he doesn't want to talk to me. What should I say?"

"Say something Positive, I don't know, male bonding- and don't you ask him about my death." Piper warned for good measure.

"Piper!" Leo said nervously.

"Chris!" Piper yelled.

Chris reluctantly orbed back in but his posture was very defensive. He wouldn't let Leo know that he'd hurt him. For good measure he didn't even Look at Leo.

Which Leo noticed.

"Mom, you needed something?" When Chris just got a look from his mom that gestured at his dad he went on. "So where are Phoebe and Paige?"

"They went back to work." Piper said conversationally.

"The Pretty One!" Aura said and attached her self to Chris's leg, hiding behind it, out of Leo's reach where she stuck out her tongue at the Stupid Elder.

'Great, the two people who know when Piper will die, and neither one of them likes me.' Leo thought in doom and gloom mode.

Chris looked down at his recent attachment trying hard to mask his annoyance. Shaking his leg didn't work.

"Any idea where we could find a Eyrie Summoning Spell? Is there one in the book? Since you've memorized it." Piper asked Chris when it became clear that Leo wasn't going to say anything and Chris was going to continue to ignore his father.

"Uh. I don't think so, but I could go check." Chris said eagerly taking the opportunity to run upstairs to check the Book of Shadows, while detaching the 4-year-old leech.

"Maybe you'd like to help him." Piper said significantly to Leo. It wasn't a suggestion.

Phoebe finished her work about an hour after she got there, and called for Paige.

"So do you think we've given 'the happy family' enough alone time?" Paige said lounging in Phoebe's swivel chair.

"Maybe. Wait. We are talking about Piper, Leo and kids right?" Phoebe said clarifying.

"Yeah. Ok 'Happy' doesn't seem to be the right adjective right now. 'Confused and broken up' is probably more accurate." Paige said offhand.

"Yeah well, I don't think that Piper and Leo are really ready for 'alone' time yet. Besides we're family too." Phoebe countered.

"Oh you know what I meant." Paige said looking at the ceiling.

"Fine, Fine Orb away." Phoebe said offering her hands.

"Na uh, first we get take out, then we try and smooth the family problems." Paige said grabbing Phoebe's arm.

They were eating clam chowder in bread bowls down at Pier 49 munching away when Paige brought the subject of family up again. Unknown that they were being watched by a nervous figure in purple and gray holding the arm of a confused muse. who whispered

"Light is what the darkness most fears,

Muse Inspire, with your power,

Give them power-

Show them what they can't see, Seers.

Show them the light,

Give them something akin to my sight!

Paige shook her head as she felt inspired. "Now that Leo knows about Chris, do you think they'll find some way to get back together?

"I don't know. But Leo should do Something. I mean it's obvious that they still love each other, and our nephews deserve to have a dad in their lives." Phoebe said thinking of how she'd missed having their father Victor around growing up.

"Yeah. But there is that whole Elder thing in the way." Paige said slurping up Pink Lemonade from a straw. "You know what I think he should do? I think he should just give up being an Elder already.

"Yeah. But who doesn't?" Phoebe said. "Having Leo gone has really weakened us. You'd think that the Peace loving Elders would get that we need him around to defeat the Big Bads.

Paige frowned. "You're right. It has weakened us. Who would want us weakened? Who could make Leo stay up there?

"Someone after Wyatt. "Phoebe said catching on and not liking where this was leading her.

Relief washed over the weary being. There was hope left.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well? What is it?" Gideon asked the Darklighter impatiently.

"The Eyrie energy you sent us to track down and kill-"

"Eliminate." Gideon corrected.

"Whatever. We've decided not to follow it any further."

"Why?!" Gideon exploded. (Metaphorically unfortunately :( )

"We've tracked it down most recently, and it was with the Charmed Ones. That's a suicide mission! Do it yourself if you're so intent on it's death." Darklighter #534 complained tossing one of it's weapons at Gideon who barely caught it.

Gideon looked confused and intrigued. "Really..."

A plan formed in his mind. He reached out and felt Wyatt alone withÉ yes there was that energy. Perfect. Kill both threats at the same time.

A/N: HA HA HA! Cliffhanger sortaÉ but not as bad a one as if I'd written any more.

Question- Would you guys prefer I update with long chapters like this? Or more often with much shorter chapters? Also if you haven't figured it out by now I'll just come out and tell you. Aura is an Eyrie candidate. Read the first chapter if you're still confused about that.