Disclaimer: Alias and Charmed do not belong to me. Deal with it. I am. Sort of. Anyway…
"I don't think we should reveal our relation to her yet," Phoebe said, watching Vaughn warily.
"What?!?" Vaughn promptly exploded.
Piper stood and pushed Vaughn back into his seat on the couch.
"She was old enough to remember her parents, Michael," Piper said gently. "She knows, I'm sure, how her parents died. If you tell her you're her father, just like that, she'll be scared to death. She'll be scared of you."
"You don't want that, Vaughn," Sydney soothed, her hand on his arm. "I think you should just be her friend until she's ready to hear this kind of thing."
"She'll never be ready to hear it," Paige broke in. "But she can be prepared. Once she's been introduced to our world, she'll be marginally more receptive to the news that her parents aren't her biological parents."
"How are you going to introduce her to anything if she doesn't understand she's a part of it?" Vaughn demanded.
"Her power, Michael," Piper said. "She'll feel a part of us because of her power."
"There's something about being the Charmed Ones," Phoebe explained. "Some indefinable link that ties us together. Pamela is a part of that; she'll feel it as surely as Piper and Paige and I do."
Vaughn shook his head.
"I can't dispute that, and you knew it," he accused Phoebe.
"But it's true," Phoebe argued.
"But I can't argue against that!"
"Which means you should have nothing else to say."
"IF it's so true, why do you have to keep arguing?"
"Hey!" Sydney and Piper yelled simultaneously. Then they just stared at each other, mentally circling like wolves. Both women were the take-charge type, and neither liked her position threatened.
"I'm going to see if I can sneak Pamela back here," Paige announced, then promptly orbed out, leaving Phoebe and Vaughn to referee Sydney and Piper.
Pamela jumped and toppled a chair--on the other side of the room--when Paige orbed into the room.
"You scared me!" Pamela accused in a harsh whisper.
"Why are you whispering? You didn't yesterday," Paige whispered back.
"Because it's Saturday," Pamela hissed as if to say "Duh." "Everybody's here today."
Paige grinned.
"Oh. Well, how'd you like to come back to my house with me so we don't have to whisper?"
"Cool!"
"When will you be missed?"
Pamela glanced at the clock, which read a few minutes after two.
"Not until dinner. Around six," she added.
Paige held out a hand.
"Left's go, then. It'll feel a little weird until you get used to it."
"Used to what?" Pamela managed to ask before Paige orbed, taking Pamela with her.
They landed in the middle of the living room of the manor. Paige had realized mid-orb that she'd failed to mention there were four people waiting to meet Pamela, so she'd quickly redirected them into the living room, left empty since everyone else was in the kitchen.
Or so Paige had thought.
"Hi," Vaughn said from behind them while Pamela was still reeling from the orb.
The girl gasped and spun around, accidentally sending Vaughn flying across the room. He hit and slid down the wall, bringing a picture with him, until he landed on an end table, which proceeded to crumble beneath him.
"Oh!" Paige gasped, rushing over to check on Vaughn.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Pamela cried helplessly.
Piper, Phoebe, and Sydney charged in, frightening Pamela further. Piper flew backwards into Phoebe, who landed on Sydney, and they all landed in a heap just inside the doorway.
"Leo!" Paige called, shaking her head. "LEO!"
Pamela was crying and confused, her eyes darting back and forth across the mayhem that had been the Haliwail's living room.
Leo appeared just in front of Pamela with his back to her, and he, too, hit the wall, but managed to retain consciousness, and he missed pictures and flimsy tables.
"Heal him!" Paige said to Leo when he'd regained his feet, and she went to calm Pamela.
"No!" Pamela screeched. "Stay away!" She threw her hands out, and Paige couldn't move forward. It was as if Pamela had thrown up a force field along with her hands.
Leo healed Vaughn, and he leapt to his feet, trying to discern one disaster from the other. Seeing Sydney emerging--though somewhat slowly--from the heap in the doorway and not wanting to think about how they got there, Vaughn focused his attention on Pamela.
"Pamela, you're okay," he said finally, unsure of what to say. "You…you didn't hurt anything."
"I did!" Pamela cried, but she dropped her hands. "I hurt you! I don't even know who you are!" she sobbed.
Vaughn moved forward, slowly decreasing the distance between himself and his daughter, who could probably break his neck without even meaning to.
"Look at me," Vaughn challenged. "I'm not hurt." He'd figure out why that was later. Last he remembered, he was hitting that wall really hard. "Pamela, you didn't hurt me. You're okay."
"I'm sorry," Pamela said softly, her voice breaking.
Vaughn got close enough to put a hand on Pamela's shoulder, and when she didn't pull away, he hugged her.
Sydney came up behind Vaughn and hugged him.
"I'm so glad you're okay," she mumbled. "I was so scared…"
Pamela gave a little cry and pulled away.
Sydney smiled apologetically and put her hand on Pamela's shoulder.
"Pamela, I'm not a witch. I'm not scared of you because I think you want to hurt anybody. You scare me because you can do something I don't understand. I don't understand what Paige does, or Piper or Phoebe, either," Sydney said, gesturing at the three of them who now stood off to one side. "But I trust them. And I trust you didn't meant to hurt anybody."
""I'm sorry about your stuff," Pamela said to Paige, pointing at the destroyed table.
"Ah, don't worry about it," Paige jumped in with a smile. "We go through a lot of tables around here."
Pamela looked at Paige in confusion.
"Piper and Phoebe are…"Paige began.
"Allow me," Piper said. She turned and, with a flick of the wrist, further shattered the table Vaughn had landed on.
"Wow!" Pamela said, sniffling.
Phoebe picked up the ball and began to levitate.
Pamela grinned.
"You're one of us, Pamela," Paige said, smiling. "You're a witch."
"A witch? Me? No way," Pamela protested. Then she looked over at Vaughn and Sydney. "Who are you guys, anyway? Are you witches, too?"
"My name's Michael Vaughn, and this is Sydney Bristow. We're not witches, I'm afraid."
"We're CIA agents," Sydney added, not willing to allow Vaughn to let himself be outdone by a few witches.
"Cool," Pamela said. It occurred to her, just a fleeting thought, that she felt like she belonged with this strange bunch of people, a feeling she hadn't experienced since her parents died.
Aw, isn't that sweet? Don't worry, it won't happen again. This is about to get REAL interesting. I'm talking DEMONIC, here! lol