A/N: Wow, this chapter came out fast. I actually finished it in a day! I hope the rest of the chapters come this easily.
The digital clock on top of the TV read 9:30 am. Molly yawned as she rolled over on her makeshift mattress, only to find that Rick, who had slept next to her last night, wasn't there. For one terrifying, fleeting second she thought that it had all been a dream. Then, with a sigh of relief, she saw him sitting against the bottom of the couch, since Carey was currently snoring on the seat. He seemed to be staring intently at something on the floor. She sat up and scooted over to sit next to him. "'Morning, baby," she said as she kissed Rick on the cheek.
Barely looking at her, Rick said, "Good morning, honey." He quickly kissed her back, and then went back to looking at the floor.
Molly followed his gaze, and gasped. What looked like a circular portal was cut into the carpet. Inside, she could see a bunch of demons, gathered around the Protector. The smaller demons could have passed for humans, but they were covered in black so that one couldn't even see its face.
The Protector was standing at the head of a large, underground cavern, and was addressing his army. "Now is the time to act, before they can gain strength against us. However, before we can attack the Phillips family, we need to destroy the Bells. They are the sworn guardians of our enemy, and formidable opponents. Most of all, we must obliterate their leader, Irene Bell. She has power, and we must have that power in order to move on."
Suddenly, the vision became blurry, and, when Rick waved his hand over it, the portal vanished. He looked at Molly. "Irene has a lot of explaining to do."
"What do you mean? You don't know what he was talking about?" Molly was confused.
"I know as much about this as you do."
"Which is absolutely nothing." Molly got up and stretched. "I'm going to get ready for the day. Do you need to use the bathroom before I go in?"
Rick smiled. "Nope. One good thing about being a ghost – you never have to go." Molly laughed as she went upstairs, but inwardly she scolded herself for forgetting he was dead.
An hour later, everyone was up, dressed, and ready for a full day of training. Ned and Irene had reluctantly gone back to their house to get a few days worth of clothing for them and Carey. When they came back, they found Molly, Jack, Fi and Carey sitting around the table, while Rick was serving breakfast, which he made. "I forgot how good your scrambled eggs were." Jack said as he ate another mouthful.
"Yeah Mr. P, excellent breakfast." Carey complimented. Having finished his already, he grabbed pants, a shirt, underwear, and his toothbrush out of the suitcase and went upstairs to change.
"Thanks boys." Rick smiled as he went back to the stove.
"I see we weren't missed." Ned sat at the island, putting down a medium-sized suitcase on the floor next to him.
"Yeah, guys, thanks for worrying about us." Irene smiled and sat on a stool next to her husband.
"I told them you went back to your house as soon as they woke up." Molly assured them.
"You two want breakfast?" Rick asked, sliding more eggs out of the frying pan and onto two plates.
"Yeah, thanks." Ned said, then asked, "Aren't you going to have any?"
"Nah. I could eat, but you don't have much of an appetite when your dead." Rick reminded him as he handed over the plates and two forks.
"Oh, right." Ned looked sheepish, as everyone laughed. "I forgot already."
"Don't worry, Ned. The same thing happened to me earlier. I asked him if he had to go to the bathroom." Molly said, bringing on more laughter. Suddenly, her face turned serious. "That reminds me. Irene, we need to ask you about something." Carey chose just that moment to come back in.
Knowing what Molly was getting at, Rick asked, "Yeah. What's this about you having power?"
The whole kitchen seemed to freeze as Ned, Carey, who had sat back down, Jack, and Fi turned to stare at Irene, who gulped nervously. "How do you know about that?"
"Let's just say, a little Spy Portal told me. Now come on Irene – 'fess up." Rick smiled, but his eyes said he was serious.
Irene sighed. "All right, all right. I guess I was going to have to tell you eventually."
Carey was deeply concerned. "Mom...?"
Everyone became quiet as Irene spoke. "It wasn't just a coincidence that I became your manager." She said, looking at Molly.
"What do you mean?" Molly asked.
"You see, my mom and your mom were witches and best friends, and still are. My mom knew that Kate was taking it rough when you decided to give up your powers, and that she was extremely worried about you. Knowing I was about the same age you are, and that I was thinking of becoming a manager, she talked with your mom, and they came up with a plan.
"I was to offer to become your manager, and at the same time, look out for you. For a while I updated Kate on how you were doing, but after some time she realized you were doing just fine on your own. She said I could quit being your manager, but by then we were best friends ourselves and I didn't want to." Irene caught her breath, then remembered something. "As for the power thing, I inherited the witch gene from my mom." She frowned at Molly's disbelieving face. "Mol, are you ok?"
Molly was furious. How could Mom do that to me? She stood up, and shouted, "OK?? OK?? How can you possibly think I'm fine with this?" Suddenly, it thundered outside, and the lights flickered off and on. "First my parents disown me, and then they hire their own personal spy? No, I'm NOT ok!" With that, she stormed out of the room. Irene dashed after her into the living room.
Meanwhile, everyone was else was still in shock. "Whoa, that was intense." Fi shook her head.
"I can't believe she never told us that." Ned said, a incredulous look on his face. "My own wife..."
Rick was watching the two witches through the doorway, but everyone could hear most of the conversation. "Wow. I didn't think Molly even knew that word." After a few minutes, the intensity wore off, and everybody, with exception for Rick and Carey, continued eating. Once they were done, one by one they gathered around the door to watch.
Irene and Molly talked for about a half hour, then Rick saw Molly use the phone, presumably to call her mother. After she got off, they talked some more, and Rick saw them hug. Then, each with their arm around the other, walked back toward the kitchen. "Quick, they're coming back!" Jack whispered, and everybody ran back to their seat.
Upon entering the kitchen, Molly said. "It's alright, guys – we know you were listening the entire time. I guess I don't need to tell you that we worked everything out."
"Yeah," Irene said, breaking apart from Molly, "She now realizes that Kate only did it because she was worried about her, not so that she would know immediately if Molly screwed up." Fi, Ned, Carey, Jack and Rick breathed a sigh of relief, and the kitchen resumed it's normal light atmosphere. Irene and Molly finished their breakfasts, while the rest cleared the table.
The doorbell rang just as Fi put the last plate in the dishwasher. "I'll get it!" she called out. She ran to the door, right past the others who were just settling down in the living room. Fi squealed with delight when she saw who it was. "Clu!" She hugged him around his middle before he could get through the door.
"Easy, Fi. Don't cut off my circulation." He laughed, as he pushed Fi back into the house. "Hey everyone! I'm baaaaaaack!"
The noise level considerably increased as Clu's family and friends got up to welcome him. When Irene asked him what he was doing there, he replied, "Well, it was getting a little rough, so I decided to take a few weeks off and start the semester over again in January." Moving further into the living room, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Whoa...Mr. P?!?!"
There was general confusion on both parts as everyone tried to explain everything at once. Finally, he crossed his hands in a time-out sign. "Ok, people, time out. One at a time!" And so, Molly started what was now becoming an epic. It took quite a long time to explain everything that happened in just a brain freeze." Clu said as he held his head. "Three witches and a ghost. Can't get any weirder than that." Everyone laughed.
Suddenly, the lights went out. When they came back on, the gang found themselves surrounded by demons.
Clu gulped. "Ok...scratch that last comment."
A/N: Ooooh, cliff hanger. I promise I'll update soon. Oh, and I'm not sure if Kate is actually Molly's mother's name; if it isn't, please correct me.