Disclaimer: These brilliant characters are not my creations. My creations always seem to take on such a life of their own, they refuse to do what I tell them, and they mess my stories all up…
Vaughn stared open-mouthed at the transparent woman standing within the circle of candles.
"Agent Vaughn," Piper said sarcastically, "I'm sure you remember Grams. I believe she threatened your life once or twice."
"An agent!" Grams cried, spitting the word out as if it tasted vile. "Dear, the last officer of the law I encountered, I believe, required Cole to retrieve him from Timbuktu." The rest of her granddaughter's words sank in. "What do you mean I threatened him?" Her eyes narrowed exactly as Piper's had earlier.
"Grams, this is Michael Vaughn." Piper said nothing more, and was well aware when her Grams' eyes flashed in recognition.
"You!" Grams hissed at Vaughn. "I warned you what would happen if you ever laid eyes on one of my girls again!"
She raised her arms, and Piper moved in front of Vaughn protectively, unsure of what her dead grandmother was capable of. She raised her own hands stop sign fashion.
"Whoa, whoa, stop," she said quickly. "Trust me, Grams, he had no idea what he was doing. But that's not why I summoned you." She stopped again to take in Grams' reaction.
"Well, what did you want? And did you really do magic in front of that agent?" Grams demanded.
"Yes, and I froze him, and Phoebe vanquished a demon in front of him. Now." She folded her hands in front on her. "We know about Pru's pregnancy."
"What did you do to her?" Vaughn demanded, having momentarily recovered from the fact that he was talking to a potentially dangerous specter.
Grams peered down her nose at him.
"Always were mouthy, weren't you?" she commented.
"Grams…" Piper warned.
"Oh, all right," Grams relented, casting another disdainful look at Vaughn. "When I realized Pru was pregnant--I was always very close to my girls," she added for Vaughn. "And I had a sense for these things--but anyway, I simply…transferred the problem to a friend who was only too willing to accept it."
"You had no right!" Vaughn fumed. "I should have been told…"
"Pru never knew she was pregnant," Piper said confidently, her voice soft in contrast to Vaughn's. "What did you do? Was it a spell, a potion…?"
Grams sighed.
"I might as well start at the beginning. See, I was close to a couple who was trying very hard to have children--and no one could have been more deserving than Clarissa and Jason--but they simply couldn't conceive. Now, when I found out, Pru was only three weeks alone, hadn't even begun to expect it herself. I was very close to Clarissa, and I knew she'd have no problem carrying the child to term. Slipped Pru a power binding potion--for the baby, you know, just in case--and…well, transferred the baby to Clarissa."
Even revealing this earth shattering information, Grams managed to simultaneously express disdain for Vaughn and make it seem as if magically transferring an unborn baby was the most natural thing in the world.
"I…was…was the baby mine?!?" Vaughn gasped.
Grams appeared ready to magically throttle him.
"My Pru may have been a little confused in high school, but she was not a slut, Michael Vaughn!" Grams huffed.
"Grams," Piper warned. "You know he didn't mean it like that. Clarissa and Jason…do you know where they are now?
Grams looked over her should, seeing another world in another plane that Piper and Vaughn couldn't see.
"The rules, dear. I've already said too much," Grams said, almost apologetically.
"Don't you dare!" Vaughn shouted, having lost the fear of this spirit he'd possessed a moment ago. "Don't you dare tell me I have a child and refuse to tell me where that child is!"
Piper put a restraining had on his shoulder.
"Grams, tell me where Clarissa and Jason Wright are now," Piper said, hoping to trick her grandmother into telling her if she was looking in the right direction.
Grams looked back again.
"I can't, dear." Then her eyes narrowed. "But I never said their name was Wright."
"No, you didn't. Thanks, Grams," Piper said, her voice containing something bordering on insolent sarcasm.
Shouting was heard from downstairs.
"Oh, no…" Piper murmured. Leo and Sydney would not be happy about being frozen, and Jack would be entirely unstable. "We've got to go, Grams." She dragged Vaughn behind her. "Not a word of this to your friends," she warned. "I can't trust them yet."
"But…" Vaughn protested as he followed her down the stairs. "How do we find the child?"
"Later. Not now. Now, you convince your partner you're okay. She's doing most off the yelling, it sounds like," Piper commented.
They reached the bottom of the stairs in time to see Sydney fly backward after being kicked by Phoebe and to hear Paige yell, "Gun!" before Jack could use it on them.
"Syd!" Vaughn rushed forward and caught her just before she hit the floor.
Phoebe slipped out of her fighting stance, and Paige clicked the safety on the gun and came to stand by Phoebe. Piper froze Jack for good measure; she felt the less he heard, the better.
Phoebe shrugged sheepishly under Piper's glare.
"When I said to keep them busy, this isn't exactly what I had in mind," Piper noted, glancing over at Leo who stood pretty much where she'd left him, since he hadn't known what else to do but stand there.
"They started it," Phoebe said weakly.
Sydney kind of clung to Vaughn, while keeping a wary eye focused in Phoebe's direction; that woman knew how to fight.
"Where did you go?" Sydney asked Vaughn in a whisper.
Vaughn cast a glance at Piper, and sighed. He hated to lie to Sydney.
"Piper and I were just…contacting someone about a…an aspect of the case," he said.
Sydney gave him a look; it wasn't like him to evade her questions. Surely he'd tell her later, though.
"Leo," Piper said. "We found out some more about Pamela Wright. She's the daughter of…" She cast a warning look at Vaughn. "Clarissa and Jason Wright. I think the first step is to find out what we can about them."
Leo nodded.
"Who's your source? Why was it so important for you to contact them that you had to freeze me?" he asked, clearly irritated that his wife had frozen him.
"Grams," Piper said easily, casting another glance at Vaughn. "And…I think memory dust is in order for that one," she added, hooking her thumb at Jack.
Leo nodded again.
"I think that's a good idea. Can you handle him until I get back, or should I take him with me?" Leo inquired.
"You aren't taking my father anywhere!" Sydney snapped, daring Leo to take even a step toward Jack.
Leo held up his hands; he had no doubt this woman could do some serious damage if he was stupid enough to piss her off. He looked to the sisters.
"Go on," Paige said. "We've got him."
"Yeah," Piper agreed. "He's fine."
Leo nodded as he disappeared in his swirly blue lights.
Sydney shivered.
"I can't get used to that," she explained. "Who are Clarissa and Jason Wright? Why are they important to this?" she added, looking expectantly at Vaughn, who had his arm protectively around her shoulders.
To Sydney's surprise, Vaughn turned toward Piper.
"We might as well catch everybody up," he pleaded. "They might be far enough away to see something we're missing."
"What is going on here?" Paige asked at the same time Sydney said, "Catch us up on what?"
"Fine," Piper said. "You're right." She ushered them all into the living room, where Jack stood still frozen. "But he stays frozen."
"Good," Vaughn said. "He can't stand me anyway, he doesn't need another reason."
"What if I want him unfrozen?" Sydney challenged. "How do I know you're not hurting him?"
"Too bad," Piper said. "You just have to trust us."
Sydney looked ready to jump Piper from behind.
"Syd," Vaughn said. "She stopped her grandmother from…from blowing me to bits, I think. They're not out to hurt us."
Sydney indicated Phoebe.
"She sure packs a hell of a kick for the non-violent type."
Phoebe pretended not to hear her.
Can't ya'll (meaning Alias fans, as well as Charmed fans…) just see Syd and Jack unfreezing and attacking the closest thing that moves when they realize they've been frozen, and that Vaughn and Piper are gone? I can! Hey, at least I'm not totally torturing them anymore!