A/N: thank you, egastin77 and ProtectionPaige, for reviewing.

"Good one, Gideon. I didn't know that Elders joked," I said. "But I'd really like to get back to the Manor right now."

"Then orb." He had a superior tone to his voice that I didn't like.

"I can't orb. I'm not half-whitelighter. Why would my mother lie to me?" I flared. His attitude wasn't helping me.

"You seem to be a unique case, Christina. You have powers even though you're not supposed to have them."

"Look, I don't want to have any powers. Just – just take them."

He made a small noise in his throat. "We cannot lift powers from beings who are meant to have them."

"Hey, I'm not going to accept this unless destiny comes and beats it into my head. Got it? Good." I crossed my arms defiantly.

"The Angel of Destiny is currently busy."

"I can't orb," I said adamantly. "And I'll prove it. Watch." I concentrated on orbing… And I orbed. I stood there, mouth open. "Aw, crap." I orbed to the manor. There, in Prue's room, I paced. "This is insane. This is impossible. This is… this is… argh!" I was silent a moment. "Lives are ruined by magic. People die because of magic. I don't want to have powers. I might end up dead, just like you. Then we'd both be up the creek without a paddle."

"Powers can also help. They will protect you. Magic can save people. You're forgetting that little detail. I know this is overwhelming, but try to calm down and think this through."

"I'm starting to see why you were so annoyed when I told you to calm down." I most certainly didn't feel like calming down. "But you know what makes it worse? The first power I get is orbing. I mean, sure, it's useful, but you can't attack using orbs. I don't even get a power like Paige's. It's even more annoying. You four get cool powers. What do I get? Orbing. And no one even knows why the hell I have it. It's certainly not because of genetics. It's - it's random! The universe decided to do this to me." I shook my head. I kind of wished that I could rant without Prue listening to me. Knowing that someone else was listening made me want to shut up. But I wanted to rant, so that didn't help at all. Well, at least she wasn't attempting to make me accept it.

I sat down on the bed. "I must be some sort of magical freak. You have to have the genetics to have the powers, right? I mean, this hasn't happened before, has it?"

"Well, Paige is probably the only other half-whitelighter that we know of. But yes, I would say that you're the only one."

"Oh, that just makes things better." I stopped, my self-consciousness taking over. "I'm sorry you have to hear my ranting. I know that you're not exactly someone who would choose to deal with teen angst."

"You're confused. I understand. I didn't believe Phoebe at all when she tried to tell me that I could move things with my mind… despite the fact that aspirin bottles were flying at me."

I smiled. "But you got a cool power. Telekinesis is awesome. Orbing is so… boring. All whitelighters can do that. Even they get more powers. They can heal and hear those… what do you call them?"

"Jingles. And you're awfully impatient. The first power is just a start. Powers advance. If you meant to fight demons and the like, you'll get an offensive power eventually."

"I think you're my offensive power." But Prue's words were calming the storm within me. "Maybe it is kind of cool that I can orb. Now I'll never have to worry about begging mom for the car."

All of a sudden, the few small object in the room rose up into the air. "Prue, are you doing that?" I asked nervously.

"No…"

They all rushed toward me. I yelped and fought them off, but they just kept coming at me. I dove under the bed. "What was that?"

"Probably magic."

"Do you often get attacked by your stuff?"

"I think that you did that."

"I did that?"

"I guess. I don't think it's telekinesis, though. If it were, then you would have sent that stuff flying." She took a moment to think. "I believe there's a power that causes a person to have her own gravitational pull."

"You think that's what's happening to me? Didn't you just say that this takes time?"

"You seem to be a very unique case."

"Great." I stuck my hand out from under the bed experimentally. A few drawers in the dresser opened and a camera jumped into my hand. "Okay. So maybe this is for real. Hmm…" I looked over the camera. "This must be yours."

"Yeah. I'm surprised that it isn't up in the attic."

"Didn't you say that taking photos relaxed you?"

"Yes."

"I'll keep that in mind." I carefully got out from under the bed. The things flew towards me again. "Stop. Down!" They did as I said. "Okay. Now that was pretty cool." I tucked the camera back into the dresser. "If you get annoyed with Phoebe again, I'll bring that out. Do you think Leo's going to come down?"

"Definitely."

Right on cue, Leo orbed into the room. "Christina-"

"Me first," I said and held up my hands. "Watch this." The same attack of things happened, but I had the objects rotate around me. "I'm like the sun or something. Isn't it cool? Hey, I wonder if they'll follow me through an orb." I orbed. The object followed me. "Neat!"

"You have the call."

"The call? I like the sound of that."

"I can't believe this. No one has had the call since the time after Melinda died."

"Did Melinda have this power?"

"No, but her daughter did."

"Interesting, but wouldn't she have her mother's powers?"

"Melinda's promise made it so that new powers would arise within the Warren line. Each Warren woman received a new power because of her."

"Wow. She sounds pretty powerful. Does this mean something?"

"Probably."

Dread arose within me. "Don't tell me that I have to go back to the Elders."

"I don't think we should deal with the Elders right now." His eyes were dark with concern. "They're rushing to get a quick fix. We're just going to deal with the Book."

"Okay." I orbed up to the attic. Though I had moments ago been ranting about this ability, I was starting to like this. It was my usual fashion: I got all dramatic, then accepted whatever it was that was bugging me. It was just who I was.

"Christy?" Piper said. "You can orb?" Leo appeared beside her. She looked to him.

"Yeah. I can also do this." I used the call again. "Pretty cool, huh?"

They were understandably bewildered.

"I appear to be a freak of magical nature. But it's who I am, and I don't think I can fight it."

"You really jumped to the acceptance stage quickly," Phoebe said.

"I've seen what you guys can do," I said with a shrug. "It seems pretty cool."

"Leo?" Piper asked.

"It's the call. Melinda Warren's daughter had that power later in her life. It's in the Book."

Phoebe flipped through the Book. "Ah, the call. It allows a person to draw things to herself. It's both physical and spiritual. The person may also call upon spirits without the aid of a spell. Spirits are often drawn to people blessed with this ability. It is very rare and very powerful. It exists only within the Warren line." She looked up. "Well, that's what they thought."

"Is this why Prue ended up in Christina's body?" Paige questioned.

"It's why Prue was drawn to her," Leo said. "It doesn't explain why she got into her body, though."

"So we don't need a spell to find out who did this. The reason why, though, is still another mystery of magic," Phoebe concluded.

"For now, that is," Paige added.

You two seem to have a lot in common, I remarked to Prue.

"In what ways?"

You both hate Cole, you both try to be superwitch, and you both seem to be significantly ambitious.

"I guess it's a family trait."

"What happened up there, anyway?" Phoebe asked.

"Gideon placed her in the test room," Leo filled them in. "It's a place where people are supposed to react using their powers."

"That explains the darkness I saw. What was the scream about?"

"I surprised her."

"Oh." Phoebe frowned. "How did she get out?"

"She orbed out. Now the Elders know about that ability." He turned to me. "How did you discover the call?"

"I was in Prue's room and everything attacked me. It was like I was a human magnet."

Leo studied me carefully, making me feel like a specimen under a microscope. "That's incredible. No one has ever gained powers so quickly."

"Well, I think I had the call before. I was able to call Prue to me, even though I didn't know what I was doing." That was awfully odd. How could I use my power unwittingly? Had something triggered it? I had never dealt with ghosts before. Why now all of a sudden? I mentally went through everything that I had done two days ago. I hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. Prue had told me about how powers could be triggered by emotions, but I hadn't felt any strong emotions that day. It really was a random occurrence.

"Are there any spells in the Book to restore a body?" Piper asked hopefully.

"It's not looking like there are any," Phoebe said with a frown. "There's probably a reason for that." She caught Leo's eye.

"If you keep a person's body alive, their soul will be called to it. It's like raising the dead, and that is definitely not allowed."

"But could we write a spell?" Piper said.

"No."

"Can't we just try? You never know…"

"The Elders are the ones that allow magic to take place. They can't break the rules, not even for Prue."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Well, that's just great."

"It's how it is."

Phoebe looked kind of tired, and distracted. I could see that she was worried about something. Maybe it was because of the fight with Prue. Something told me that that wasn't quite it, though.

Something's going on with Phoebe.

"Something is always going on with Phoebe," Prue said gruffly.

She looks really worried though.

"If she has something that she wants to say, she'll say it."

She might not want to. You did chew her out pretty hard.

"Concentrate on the task at hand."

"Can we transfer her soul into another body?" Piper wondered.

"No. The moment of separation is too exact. You wouldn't be able to do a ritual within the time that the soul severed its bond to its body."

"Do we have to run into these obstacles all the time?" Paige said in frustration.

"You were meant to overcome this. Prue isn't supposed to be alive, but she is. That means that you can find a way."

"Isn't he a great whitelighter? He always makes us so confident."

Yeah, he's a pretty cool guy, I thought. I wasn't sure about him when I saw Piper's destiny… Where did that come from?

"I don't know. That was strange."

Well, everything today is weird. Why not my thoughts too? I still couldn't push away the puzzlement over that thought, though. It had come to me out of nowhere. Why had it flowed so easily into my mind? Why did it seem right? I shook my head but did not succeed in shaking away the ponderings.

"We're just going to have to look in other sources," Leo said. "Magic School would be the best place to go. Gideon has a collection of books."

"Magic School?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah. It's the one that Gideon runs. I know that you and Paige have to get to work tomorrow, so Piper, I'll take you and Prue to Magic School to do some research." He eyed Phoebe. "You don't look too good."

"Oh, I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Any particular reason?"

"No. I just… was worried about this whole situation." She smiled weakly. Leo didn't push it.

"So once again, there's nothing we can do right now?" Piper said.

"For now."

I wouldn't have been surprised if Prue had been frustrated. Angry, even. But she felt neither. How could she be so calm when it came to magic, yet so easily annoyed when it came to Phoebe? I decided to ask her. You're so calm with magic. Why doesn't that transfer to Phoebe?

"I can't do anything about magic. I can do something about Phoebe."

I see.

This adventure wasn't going to slow down any time soon. Whenever one mystery got solved, another question would pop up. Prue complicated her life more than she needed to. I would have to work on that with her. She wasn't going to like me nagging at her, but it had to be done. I wanted to help her, and not just with her pressing dilemma. She had emotional troubles, and I was going to have her face them… eventually. I had to work up the courage to get ready for possible fury. I wasn't quite ready yet.

I was sleeping peacefully, my mind blissfully blank. I didn't hear the conversation that was going on in the next room. Prue, however, was listening intently. She took control of my body and got up. I wouldn't have minded if it hadn't been for the fact that she woke me up in the process. It seemed that whoever was in the back didn't get to be asleep.

"Prue, what are you doing up?" I was groggy. It was the middle of the night, and I was not at my best.

"Just go back to sleep," she whispered.

"I can't. You're in control. What is it?"

"Phoebe's talking with Piper and Paige. I'd like to know what they're talking about."

"So… you're going to eavesdrop."

"It's not eavesdropping. I deserve to know."

"Hey, you don't have to convince me of anything. I think that you deserve to know too."

Prue became silent as she approached Phoebe's door. She pressed her ear against the door and listened carefully.

"Phoebe," Piper was saying, "you have to tell Prue sometime. It's not like you can keep it hidden forever."

"I know," Phoebe sighed. "But I know that she's going to freak out."

"I think she'll have a worse reaction if she notices it first. She'll want to know about this," Paige told her.

"Of course she will, but she'll be so angry with me. She'll go against Cole even more. She definitely won't be proud of it."

"She won't be happy, but she'll eventually accept it. There's nothing that she can do to change it," Piper said reassuringly.

"But just her rejection… I've missed her so much, but we can't seem to stop fighting. This will make it even worse. If I tell her, she'll pull away from me." There was a pause. "If I tell her, she'll be disappointed in me. But I should be used to that," Phoebe said miserably.

"That is not true. You've done so much. You've helped tons of innocents, you've got a great job, and you're a wonderful sister. She won't be disappointed. Angry, yes, but she'll get over it. You know she will," Piper said.

"I guess."

"You guess?" Paige said. "Phoebe, I've only known you for a little while, but I've seen how good you are. You made me feel welcome when I felt out of place. You've gotten through so much before; you can do it again. Prue is our sister. We'll face her with you. We won't leave your side."

"Paige is absolutely right. We're your support system. We'll be there when you tell Prue. You won't be alone."

What are they talking about? I was confused, but Prue seemed sure that they were going to reveal it any moment.

"So you just relax. We'll do this whenever you want to. Have you told Cole?"

"No. I'm sorry for waking you two."

"You were crying. We had to come to you," Paige said. "Don't worry about anything."

"I just feel so alone. Cole didn't want to stay because he knows how much he upsets Prue. He didn't want to cause more trouble between us."

"He's really sweet," Piper commented.

"He's human now," Phoebe responded. "Now things are easier. Well, before Prue found out. Paige, I know that you don't like him, and I know that you don't believe that he's good-"

"I don't have any proof. I'm starting to rethink my attitude. He hasn't done anything to make it seem like he's evil again. You love him, and he's going to be my brother-in-law. I'm going to give him a second chance."

"Really?"

"Yes. When do you want to tell Prue?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"That soon?"

"I want to get this out in the open. I can't keep facing her while I have this in the back of my mind."

"Okay. Now get some sleep. You need it."

Prue sensed that they were going to come out of Phoebe's room and hauled herself back to her room. A few seconds later, Paige and Piper came out of the room.

"Good night, sweetie."

"Good night. Thank you."

"It's what sisters are for."

"What was that?"

"I don't know," Prue murmured. "But apparently I'm going to find out tomorrow."

"Just promise that you won't go ballistic on her. She's obviously very troubled. She needs your help. Be a sister to her without judging her."

"I can't promise anything."

"Prue, she was crying over this. She's upset. She needs you with her, not against her."

"That all depends on what she has to tell me."

I sighed. It was going to be a long night.

"Eager?" I asked. Prue had taken over right when I had gotten up. She was rushing through my morning routine. I didn't need to look at her emotions to know that she wanted to talk to Phoebe.

"Can you blame me?" she said pointedly.

I couldn't. I was just as curious about the situation. I wanted to know what Phoebe was hiding from Prue.

"I can't remember it taking so long to get ready when I was alive."

"You've been dead for a while. I guess you forgot. Plus there's the fact that you can't wait to get down there."

She put the brush down. "There. Done."

"Congratulations. You brushed your hair."

She chose to ignore me and quickly got down to the kitchen. Everyone was there again. "Morning," she said. "It's Prue."

"Subtle."

They don't know that I know.

"Hi, Prue," Piper said. She was making breakfast, as usual.

"So… what's going on today?"

"Hint, hint."

"Well, I have to go to work," Paige said.

"And we're going to Magic School," Piper added.

Phoebe's turn. "I have to take care of my column."

"Your column?" Prue asked.

"I have a job at a newspaper. I'm Ask Phoebe. I got the job while we were saving an innocent."

"The one time magic gives something good, and I miss it." Was this forced cheerful, or was she channeling her eagerness? Maybe it was both.

"Yeah… Um, Prue…" Phoebe looked down at the table and fiddled with the silverware. She was biting her lip also.

"Yes?" She perked up.

"It's pretty hard to say this, but you need to know." She looked up, but she still didn't look into Prue's eyes.

"We support Phoebe completely on this issue," Piper said and put her hand on Phoebe's shoulder. Paige stood on the other side of Phoebe.

"Okay. What is it?"

Phoebe took a deep breath. "Prue," now she looked into Prue's eyes. "I… I'm… pregnant."

Prue blinked. "Pregnant?" she repeated slowly.

She nodded.

"By Cole?"

She again nodded.

"When he was a demon?"

"No. The baby won't be part demon."

Prue took this in. The numbness of shock was starting to wear off. She was coming to the realization that Phoebe truly was pregnant with Cole's child. This was real. It wasn't a dream. If she couldn't even stand the idea of them getting married, she certainly wouldn't accept this.

God, don't let her freak out. Please, just let her support her. I knew that she wasn't going to do it. She was going to go down on Phoebe.

Piper, Paige, and Phoebe were tense. They all knew that Prue wasn't going to react well.

She finally found the ability to form a sentence. She stood up, then went over to Phoebe. She pulled her up. Piper and Paige stayed close, ready to stop her if she did something. She then did something I never would have expected, leaving me in awe. I felt the same amount of shock that Prue had felt moments before.

She hugged Phoebe. She pulled her up and hugged her. "That's wonderful, Phoebe!" she squealed. She stooped down and kissed Phoebe's stomach. Phoebe looked down at Prue in astonishment as she joyfully hugged Phoebe once more. Paige and Piper exchanged a look.

"Prue, you do realize that she said Cole, right?" Paige said.

"A human Cole. That's all that matters."

Whoa. That was all I could say. Whoa.