The Second First Born

N.B.I hope you're in it for the long haul! Please R&R! Also, disclaimer. I don't own Charmed, the show or any of the original characters.

The light shone back and forth, back and forth; running the full length of the blade, clouding his reflection for mere moments, before he sighed impatiently and replaced the atheme on the desk in front of him.What to do…? He was disturbed once again by those feelings that told him what he was doing was wrong, well…would he call them feelings? They were more like niggling doubts that gathered at the back of his mind.

He shook his head, as if to shake off all doubt, 'No…I'm doing this for the greater good,' he said, firmly. He jumped as he heard the clock chime and looking at the tarnished brass hands on the clock face, he saw that it was nine o' clock. A red –orange fire erupted in the grate at the very last stroke, and his attention was captured momentarily, before he turned back towards the blade. He picked it up once more, and contemplated using it for one fleeting moment…

There came a knock at the door, and he dropped the atheme onto the hard surface of the desk, where it landed with a thud. A small man, whose eyes were framed with large glasses, poked his head around the door, 'Excuse me sir…'
Gideon glared at him angrily, 'Sigmund, how many times have I told you, not to disturb me!'. Sigmund entered warily, his hands shaking as he fidgeted nervously, 'Bu…but sir, you asked me to come.'

Gideon's face was fixed in thought, before he uttered, 'Oh, of course. Shut the door…'. Sigmund did so and the sat in the chair in front of Gideon's desk, perching anxiously on the edge. Gideon gestured to the atheme in front of him, and Sigmund looked at it confused, 'What is…?' he stammered.
Gideon interrupted, 'This, Sigmund holds all the answers to my problems…'

Sigmund looked blank, and Gideon let out an exasperated sigh, 'For pity's sake…this is a blade known as Ereptio Potentia!'
Sigmund's eyes showed a flicker of recognition, 'Oh yes…I remember reading…'
Gideon interrupted once again, 'It has the ability to steal powers. Hence the name…'
Sigmund looked slightly resentful, and he sat back in his chair, 'What has this got to do with us?'

Gideon stood up, and began to slowly meander around the room, 'Because, Sigmund, this atheme contains the powers of a certain Christopher Halliwell. Without them, Chris is useless in the past, and there is one less person to stop us getting to Wyatt!'
Sigmund says, 'But sir, Chris is the Charmed Ones whitelighter. Surely you cannot be responsible for leaving them misguided?'

Gideon, who had reached the fireplace looked into the blackened grate and said, 'The Charmed ones will get a new whitelighter; I'll see to it that they do. And Chris can be sent home again, a simple spell should suffice...'
Sigmund said, 'But sir, it does pose a question…how did you get this atheme?'
Gideon said, 'Oh, nothing to be concerning yourself with Sigmund. I got it from one of my…contacts…'

Sigmund looked suspicious, 'Demonic, contacts?'
Gideon said, 'I told you, one of my contacts. Don't you see what this means? We've done it! We've managed to change our future…our destiny! I shall no longer be…'

Sigmund said, urgently, 'Sir…'
Gideon snapped, mid sentence, 'Don't interrupt Sigmund!'
Sigmund said, 'Yes sir…but the atheme's gone…'

Piper watched the swirling lights that had suddenly appeared in the centre of the crystal cage. She tightened her grip on the vial in her hand and braced herself. Leo took a step forward and stood beside Piper, resisting the urge to put a protective hand on her shoulder. Something fell with a metallic thud, and the lights disintegrated.

Piper's eyes widened, and she looked into the crystal cage, frantically, 'Uh…Leo?
What the hell was that?'. The atheme lay glinting on the rug, where it had just fallen. Leo walked over cautiously, 'Is this it?' he asked Chris. Chris walked over to the desk and picked up the handle of the shattered atheme, studying it momentarily. He turned around to walk back, and he found himself confronted by a pair of white-hot eyes…

He tried to cry out, tried to turn his head so he could warn his parents, but it was as if he was frozen. His mind was racing, and his concentration seemed to be captured by the demon…he couldn't let go. Darkness clouded his vision, and he felt his knees come into contact with the ground with a hollow clunk. Leo spun around as he heard this, and yelled out in horror, 'Chris!'

Piper gave a scream, and instinctively covered her eyes as the demon flashed his deadly gaze over to Leo. Leo had been running over to Chris; to try and move him away from the demon, get him to safety. Now, those eyes transfixed him…
He collapsed to the ground, his feet sinking through the ground, and terrible voices screaming in his head; pleading sobs and terror…
Piper turned her head away from the demon's stare and she backed into the corner, the smoke-like movements of the demon chasing her.

She stumbled over something hard and she tripped, falling onto her back. She could already sense the panic beginning to rise inside her body, fear pressing down upon her, restricting her breaths, so she was gasping for air. She curled herself up, trying to make herself as small as she could. Her thoughts were only on her baby, her unborn child. She waited for something, for anything to happen.

After what seemed like hours, she squinted through her tightly shut eyes, and sucked in a breath. It looked like she was surrounded by a bright blue light, swirling in an arc. She looked through the light, and she could see no sign of the demon. The light suddenly faded, and Piper blinked, trying to get her eyes used to the light. She remembered Chris and Leo, and she struggled to her feet, running quickly towards Leo. He was conscious, rubbing his aching temples with the flats of his palms.

She asked, 'Are you okay?'. He nodded accepting the hand that she offered out to him, and pulled himself to his feet. 'Chris…' uttered Piper, as she caught sight of hr son, lying crumpled and his face contorted as if in great pain. Piper kneeled beside him, and pulled his head onto her knee, looking decidedly fretful. She turned her worried eyes up to face Leo, who returned her gaze.

Paige crawled forwards feeling her way with her hands, all the time searching for it.
'You found it yet?' she heard Laura yell from somewhere behind her.

Paige called back, 'No…this is ridiculous! How are we ever supposed to find anything like…yow!'

Laura sounded worried when she called again, 'Paige…you okay?'
Paige sat down, squeezing her hands together, hoping that the sharp, hot pain would fade.
'Guess what?' she hollered, 'I found the torch…'
Laura said, 'Great! Come on…'
Paige interrupted, 'Wait it gets better…wanna know what's even better?'

Laura said, 'Yeaah?'
Paige said bitterly, 'It's still hot…'