A/N: Thanks to the following reviewers:
Princess Pinky, Not a problem. I'll answer any and all questions. Starting here: Payton, Pandora, and Phoenix are cousins. I only called them sisters once. That was a mistype. Sorry for that and thanks for pointing it out. Next: Payton is Piper's daughter; Pandora is Phoebe's daughter; and, Phoenix is Paige's daughter. The powers are: Payton: Piper's powers plus Whitelighter abilities. Pandora: Premonitions, empathy. Phoenix: Telekinesis, Whitelighter powers with healing. Hope that helps. Any more questions, let me know.
svata2004, Glad you like it!
PiperPheobePaige, Lol. Twists are awesome! Hm, ya know, I forgot about Sam! Too late to add him now. Sorry about that and thanks for pointing it out! And I'm glad you like the fic!
Vintagegirl, Enjoy it while it lasts. All I'm gonna say. Lol.
Kay, chapter 9! Enjoy and please review!
.................................................................................................................................
Payton's smile slipped from her face. She pulled her hands away from Rick and backed away. "You mean that figuratively, right?"
Rick shook his head sadly. "I'm half demon, half human. I knew you were a witch when we first met but I didn't realize you were a Charmed One's daughter until you told me your last name about three weeks after we met. I loved you and I didn't want to tell you what I was because I knew you'd hate me and maybe even have your mom and aunts vanquish me."
Payton paled and backed away more. "I don't believe you. Demons can't love. You're lying. This was all some plot to get to my family and me. Or maybe your plan this whole time was to get me pregnant which would make one powerful little baby that you could take from me and manipulate."
"No, Payton, my love for you is true. Please believe me," Rick begged.
"No!" Payton shook her head, angry tears filling her eyes. "Stay away from my family and me or I will vanquish you. Got it?" She turned and ran down the street, tears filling her eyes and blurring her vision.
How could she have been so naïve? She'd been seeing Rick for almost a year and never once had it occurred to her that he wasn't human.
A new horror struck her and stopped her dead in her tracks. She felt as if she'd swallowed an ice cube when it dawned on her that the baby growing inside her was half demon. Or, actually, one-quarter demon. Her child was one-quarter witch, one-quarter Whitelighter, one-quarter demon, and one-quarter human.
Shaking her head, she orbed the rest of the way home. She had meant to orb into her room so none of her family would see her in tears but her emotions had gotten in the way of her powers and she had landed right smack-dab in the living room where everyone still sat, stood, or paced.
"Payton! What's wrong?" Pandora cried, running to her cousin's side.
"R-Rick. H-he told me that h-he's half demon!" Payton sobbed.
The room fell into stunned silence. Worse was this silence than the silence that had followed her announcement that she was pregnant. No one knew what to say. Some were horrified that Rick was half demon and others were more shocked than anything. Rick? Sweet Rick who had, in a way, become a member of the family?
"Doesn't that mean-"Phoenix began, but Payton interrupted her saying, "Yeah, it means my baby has demon blood in her."
"Look," Jason said, growing uncomfortable. "I better get to work. It's chaos over there, with Phoebe . . "He cut off, hugged Pandora, and left the house.
"My dad left, too," Phoenix said suddenly, frowning. "While you were talking with Rick . . ."
Victor stood and, without saying a word, left the house. The girls knew why he had gone and weren't upset he had left. Actually, it was nice. They had the house to themselves now and could actually think.
"I can't believe, all this time, Rick's been a demon and I had no clue," Payton said, shaking her head sadly, tears in her eyes.
"Don't feel bad, sweetie. He tricked us all remember? Phoenix and I had no clue what he really was, either. Not even our mother's – May they rest in peace – knew the truth. He kept it well hidden," Pandora said gently.
"Still," Payton argued. "I feel . . . used. He's been with us this entire time. He knows our weaknesses. How do I know it wasn't him who sent demons after you two? The same demons, that is, who killed our mothers?"
"You don't," Pandora replied, sighing. "Where's Leo?" She asked, suddenly remembering that they hadn't seen their Whitelighter in days, not since the mother's had been killed.
"I don't know," Payton said with a frown, wanting to know the same thing. If her father would just come and see them, he could tell them how their mothers were doing and she could tell him to tell her mom she was sorry. But so far, Leo hadn't shown up once.
"He hasn't abandoned us, has he?' Phoenix asked, eyes widening with fear.
"He better not have," Payton snarled, eyes narrowed.
Pandora frowned. "He might be helping our mothers adjust. Remember when Aunt Prue died. My mom told us the story a few times. Remember she said that the Elders refused to let them see Prue because they wouldn't be able to move forward in life if they kept dwelling on the past? Maybe the Elders are doing the same thing but our moms are fighting them because we're so young and stuff. I don't know."
"That better be it," Payton hissed.
"But what do we do about Rick?" Phoenix asked nervously. "Do you think he'll attack us? Despite all our training, our powers are still weak. We won't be able to fight off demons yet."
"The demons aren't going to wait for us to get stronger, Phoenix," Pandora pointed out. "They'll want to attack us while we're weak."
"Then we need to start training. Everyday for a couple of hours," Payton said suddenly. "If we're killed by a demon, our mother's will have died in vain. We need to be prepared."
Pandora frowned. "What about you? You're pregnant. You shouldn't overwork yourself."
"I need to stay in shape," Payton said, shrugging. "I don't want to gain excess baby fat, right? So this will be good for me. And we'll be working with our powers more than anything."
"I guess you're right," Phoenix said, nodding. "But you still better be careful."
Pandora nodded in agreement. "Otherwise we'll make you sit out," she threatened jokingly.
Payton smiled, but it was forced. She still hadn't told her cousin's the one thing that was on her mind, the decision she had made. But there was time for that. She had months before she had to worry.
"So, once we've trained up, what are we going to do? I mean, I know we have to protect the innocents and all but-"Pandora shrugged.
Payton bit her lip, glancing at the floor. Tears slipped into her eyes as she remembered the first day she had met Rick and how much she had grown to love him. She hated herself for not realizing what he was sooner, if not for herself than for the sake of her child who, now, would have demon blood in her.
"Payton?" Pandora asked, frowning. "What are we going to do?"
Payton looked at her cousins. "We're going to vanquish Rick."