A/N: Hey, sorry it took so long. I've been sick – Pouts. – Hope I didn't scare anyone off with my last authors note . . . I was having a really bad day and I shouldn't have taken it out in the AN.
Anyway, Thanks mucho much to those who wished me well!
There weren't any questions, so I'm going to end this here and let you guys read!
Hope you like! Enjoy, and please review!
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Melinda spun around at the sound of the steps creaking, her heart pounding. But it was only Phoebe, Paige, baby Wyatt, and a fully dressed Piper.
"I thought I told you to stay upstairs," Melinda snapped, going back to the oh-so-friendly attitude she had used the first day or two that she had been in the past.
"We were worried," Phoebe explained.
Melinda shook her head. "You don't need to worry about me. Big Bad Source, remember?"
"But you were so afraid of this guy. I'm guessing he's the one who killed Scott and wanted your baby? The one who's above you?" Phoebe asked.
"Only in rank and power is he above me," Melinda said between clenched teeth, praying Phoebe didn't say anything about knowing that it had been Future Wyatt.
"Who is 'he'?" Piper demanded, as if reading her niece's mind.
"I can't tell you," Melinda said, shooting Phoebe a quick say nothing or else look, before looking back at Piper.
"I want you three to stay here, understand?" Melinda said firmly. "Protect Baby Wyatt, though I doubt He will go after him, but just in case. He's not after you, so as long as you don't purposely get in the way, you should be safe."
"Where are you going?" Phoebe asked urgently.
Melinda didn't answer right away. When she did, she said, "To find Chris. Before it's too late."
Phoebe tried to protest, but Melinda had already shimmered out.
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Melinda went to the most logical place she could think of: P3.
"Took you long enough."
Melinda glanced at the bar. Wyatt sat on one of the stools, one beer in front of him and another in front of the empty seat beside him. "Seems pretty familiar, doesn't it?"
Melinda's heart pounded in her chest, but she didn't show her fear. "Where is he?"
"You're proving to be more of a pain in the ass than normal," Wyatt said, ignoring her.
"Where's Chris, dammit?" she yelled.
Wyatt glanced at her, sipping his beer casually. "I've put him someplace where he can't escape or call for help."
"Tell me where he is or I swear I'll vanquish you," Melinda snarled.
"You can't. You'll kill yourself in the process, and kill you're baby. I know you won't risk that."
Melinda gulped. He was right.
"You're right," she admitted. "But I can kill your baby self."
Wyatt sipped his bear again. "You wouldn't. Dear Piper wouldn't let you get near enough, anyway."
"Try me." Melinda shimmered out, and to Wyatt's nursery.
Wyatt, down for a nap but still awake, stood in his crib, holding the side and staring at Melinda.
Melinda walked to him. She stopped at the crib and put one hand behind her back, forming an athame in it and clenching the cool metal handle.
Wyatt, sensing danger, put his shield up.
Melinda waved her free hand and the shield disappeared. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "But it's for the best. It's for the good of the future, and Chris's sake."
Wyatt stared innocently up at her, his eyes scanning her as if he knew he was in danger.
Melinda lifted her hand – with the athame – up high. Her hand shook as she clutched it,
Suddenly the nursery door creaked open.
Melinda shimmered into a hiding spot, and Wyatt started crying.
Piper walked in. "Shhh, it's okay, Wyatt." She walked to her son and picked him up, rocking him. "It's okay. Let's go downstairs to Auntie Paige and Auntie Phoebe." She walked out, shutting the door and light with her.
Melinda stood, staring at the baby monitor on the nightstand. It was on. Melinda cursed herself and went back to the club.
Wyatt chuckled at her. "I knew you wouldn't be able to."
"I will get Chris back, even if it means following you're stupid clues," Melinda grumbled.
Wyatt waved his hand and a sheet of paper appeared on the table.
"Begin, then. Trust me, I have a lot of time to spare."
Melinda walked to the bar and went to pick the paper up, but Wyatt put his hand over hers and stopped her. She looked him in the eyes.
"If you don't find Chris in twenty four hours, your baby is mine."
Melinda's pulse quickened. "And if I do, you don't ever come back here and you leave Chris and I alone from now to eternity."
Wyatt nodded once. "Done."
Once his hand was off hers, Melinda read the clue. She read it over twice more, then pocketed it and shimmered out to Golden Gate Bridge, one of Chris's favorite spots.
She looked around, but saw nothing. Minutes passed, time ticked away, then she spotted it. A trail of blood led to another piece of paper. She didn't have to be told that it belonged to Chris.
She picked the paper up. It said:
"Roses are disgusting, Violets are worse. To find your dear cousin, put yourself in his shoes and walk a million or a dozen."
"Nice rhyming," Melinda snipped. She sighed and read the note over and over. "Okay. His shoes. A thousand miles or a dozen.
She gasped.
'A Dozen Miles in Your Shoes' was the name of a song by The Evil Cupids, a group that only played at Million to One, a club across town that was very dingy and crawling with demons.
Melinda shimmered there. It was, as she had imagined, crawling with demons, darklighters, warlocks, etc. She assumed she'd have to go talk to the bartender or something, so she walked to the bar and leaned her elbows on it.
"What can I get for you?" The demon asked warily, not recognizing Melinda as a regular.
"A man came in here earlier, dropped off a piece of paper. Tall, dark, ugly. Ring a bell?"
"Who's asking?" the demon demanded.
Melinda's eyes went black and she threw three fireballs at once at three demons nearby. Gasps and screams issued around the club as the clientele scrambled to duck and cover.
Melinda's eyes returned to normal.
"I'm-I'm sorry for being so disrespectful, your Source-ness." The demon bowed.
"Stand up straight and answer the question."
The demon nodded several times, reaching under the bar and extracting a piece of paper. He held it out for Melinda.
She grabbed it from him and read it three time, then pocketed it.
"Give everyone a round, free of charge, on me." She shimmered out.
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Melinda stared around the very public, very Innocent-crawling mall.
Chris was here? Why had Wyatt brought him here? Why was Wyatt hiding Chris in a mall?
When thirty demons shimmered, blinked, etc, into the mall and surrounded her two seconds later, she realized why.
Screams and shrieks and stamping feet filled the mall as panicked people tried desperately to run and escape, or at least hide, if not get out of the mall completely.
Melinda gulped, swallowing back fear, anxiety, and the panic of exposing her magic and, possibly, her mother's and aunt's magic as well. And what about Chris? Where was he? Was he even alive? Was he okay?
Would she live long enough to find him? To tell her mother how much she loves her? To give birth to her daughter? To see a new, good future where evil is nonexistent?
A fireball was thrown.
Melinda dodged it, her panic rising. Even as a Source, she was out-numbered. There was no way she could do thirty-to-one and win. Worse, she had no choice but to use her powers. She had not only Chris to protect now, but also her unborn child and a mall of innocents who were too afraid to make a run for it.
More fireballs flew her way. She shimmered out each time, but one caught her by surprise and skimmed her arm. She hissed and winced, but stood her ground, forming a fireball in one hand and an energyball in another. She let them fly. They hit and killed two demons.
Twenty-eight fireballs formed in twenty-eight hands all around her.
"Two down, twenty-eight to go," Melinda muttered. "Time to kick some ass."
Let the battle begin,