A/N: This chapter is a play on the phrase, "caught in the act." I guess I'll start with the latest reviews today and work my way up (or down, whatever, lol). RJF: Oh, yes you should! It's a wickedly awesome "Charmed" book, one of my top favorites, actually. And I agree with you 100, they never should've let Kit go, and especially as a human! Grr! What were they thinking? (Clearly, they weren't.) If this series continues to go well, then I'm thinking of writing it until they kids are grown up (and I have the PERFECT series finale). And thanks, I will definitely use your Pamela sometime in the future, but I'm not sure when yet. I can't wait to see what you do with Persia in your fic, though. ;) damien455: Oh, I don't want to give away this chapter, so you'll see about their powers now. money makes me smile: Brandon and Pearl are both about 11-years-old. I see them at sort of at that age between kid and pre-teen where they're saying things that they know they probably shouldn't, but they won't saying them around adults yet. peanut2lb: Really? That's great, because I love writing Andy and Glenn together, they make such an awesome duo because they have so much in common and I'm just tickled that you liked my Firefly Demons. Yeah, Cole's off on his own thing, but trust me, he's not evil. His lawyer meeting is totally legit. The Cat Goddess wasn't actually in the show, she was in one of the books from the series called, "Shadow Of The Spinx." (One of my faves.) I definitely know what you mean about re-writes, I HATE re-writing something that I was satisfied with in the first place. I'm still really upset about loosing my stuff. Prince Halliwell: Mine too! lol The evil being from the book won't show up, I have other plans in mind for Bast and the Charmed four. The-Cheese-Fairy: I know exactly what you mean, I've been trying to update for days! Thanks for still reviewing, though. :)

Every Halliwell Counts

Chapter 15: Cat In The Act

"What the hell just happened?"

"Uhm, the earring didn't orb to me," Paige replied.

"I can see that," Andy hissed. "But why? Did you loos your powers?"

Paige flicked her wrist at a box which orbed in and out. "No." She closed her eyes. "Andy's diamond earring!" Again, nothing happened. "This must mean that either the ring is magical and protecting itself from my powers or someone else with magical power is protecting the ring from me."

Andy turned on his heel and stormed out of the attic. He wanted time to himself, so he could cool down before he attempted to search for the priceless evidence again.

"Andy, wait!" Prue yelled, turning to run after him.

Glenn reached out and grabbed Prue by the arm, holding the eldest witch back. "Prue, don't."

"Hands off, Glenn."

"Prue, I'm warning you, don't go after him. Bad could only come from it. I know exactly how he feels when it comes to magical messes interferring with mortal life and unlike you, he doesn't have magic to fix it with, it's beyond his control. If you go after him, it'll only make things worse."

Prue made a huffing noise and relaxed her body. "Fine."

Glenn held onto Prue a moment longer and then finally let go, knowing that she was being honest. If she had wanted to defy him, she would've just phased through his grasp on her. "Thanks."

"Yeah." The eldest Charmed One turned to face her youngest sisters. "So then, what do we do?"

Paige waved her hand over the page about the ancient Egyptian Cat Goddess. "We should take this to the kitchen and look over it, I'm starved."

"You're thinking about food at a time like this?" Prue asked, irritated that her sister seemed so calm when Andy was so upset.

"A witch has got to eat, Prue," Paige defended.

Prue waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "Fine, whatever."

Phoebe turned to her whitelighter brother-in-law. "Go find out what The Elders know about enchanted jewelry, specifically diamond earrings."

"Like they'll know anything," Paige quipped.

Leo shrugged. "Sure, I'll be back soon." He vanished in a cloud of whitelighter orbs.

Prue, Phoebe, Paige, and Glenn headed out of the attic with the magical tome.

45 Minutes Later----

Piper strolled through the front doors. "I'm home!" She slipped off her denim jacket and hung it on the golden coat rack next to the door, before elbowing the door into place. Nobody had answered her call, yet she still heard voices coming from the kitchen, and she figured that nobody had heard her. "Fine, ignore me," Piper said to herself. I'll just go get changed. The Charmed One headed up the stairs and strolled down to her bedroom where she entered and walked straight to her closet. She wanted to change out of the white jeans she was wearing, because she'd accidently spilt strawberry sauce on them at the club and she wanted to try and salvage the pants. She grabbed a pair of black jeans from a pant hanger and quickly changed her clothing, then she began to survey the room for her black sandals that happened to match her black jeans. After about ten minutes of searching, she tossed her hands into the air. Where did I leave them yesterday? She mentally questioned herself, before remembering that she'd slipped them off when she was in the attic a few nights ago, while she had been searching through the Book and then gotten tired and fell asleep on the sad looking sofa that had seen so many energy balls in all its years. The witch tapped her bare foot on the carpet. "Wonderful," she muttered as she slipped out of her room and wandered down the hall until she came to the attic. As soon as she entered, she noticed something was out of place. "Where's the Book?" She asked aloud, walking over to the empty podium where her shoes happen to lay a few inches away. Maybe they have the Book in the kitchen? Maybe a demon attacked and that's why they didn't hear me? She thought, as she slipped on her black sandals. As she stepped away from the podium, a sparkle caught the corner of her eye and she turned to see a small shaft of fading sunlight hitting a tiny something on the wooden floor. "What's this?" She asked, as she bent down and grabbed at the sparkle. When she held it to her face, the Charmed One realized that it was a small, diamond earring. "This isn't mine," she muttered, her eyes now strangely transfixed upon the earring. Piper's eyes seem to twinkle with some type of hidden attraction, though. "But I'm sure nobody'll mind if I just see what it looks like," she breathed as she got to her feet. Piper walked over to an old, dusty vanity mirror and ran her hand across the surface, wiping away a thick layer of brown dust and dirt. She ran her dirty hand across the side of her jeans and then proceeded to stick the earring into her ear.

"Piper, what're you..." Phoebe's voice trailed off when she saw the reflection of the diamond earring in the mirror. "Piper! No!"

But it was too late. The Charmed One had already inserted the earring into her ear and capped the backing on.

Prue and Paige arrived, just in time for their sister to face them.

As Piper turned around, her eyes flashed an emerald green color. Suddenly her clothes morphed into a black leather mini skirt and a black leather corset. Her black sandals transformed into a pair of knee length, black stiletto boots. Her hair magically drifted down upon her shoulders and down her back, much like how the Piper in the future where Phoebe had killed Cal Greene wore her hair and then a diamond click in the shape of an Egyptain Mau appeared, holding a portion of her hair together. Two green emeralds were in the center of the clip, for the Mau's eyes. Black leather gloves appeared on Piper's hands, each tripped with pointed diamonds and a black leather mask appeared over the witch's face, covering from her forehead down to the top of her nose. Two triangular points tuck up on each side of the mask, like ears on a cat's head. Then as the finishing touch, a long strip of black leather appeared attached to the back of Piper's mini skirt, ending with a sharp glittering diamond. To on lookers, it appeared to be a tail on a Halloween costume, but in reality it was removable and doubled as a fierce whip. Piper looked down at herself and gasped. "What the hell is going on!"

"I tried to tell you not to put on the earring!" Phoebe defended. "I just didn't know it would do this," she added quietly.

"Paige, get these clothes off me!" Piper shouted, angrily.

"But-"

"Do it!"

Paige flicked her wrist, "Piper's costume!" A minute passed and nothing happened, her powers had failed her for a second time today.

At that moment, Leo appeared in a spray of orbs. When he saw his wife, his mouth dropped open. "P-Piper?"

Piper folded her arms, claws and all, across her chest. "Leo, I want this fixed."

"What happened?"

"I don't know."

"It has to be that earring that Andy was looking for." Paige said. "You should take it-"

But before the words could finish leaving the witchlighter's mouth, Piper's eyes turned an emerald green again, this time they didn't change back. She ran a hand down her slender side and let out a purring noise from deep within her throat. "Don't I look good?" She'd directed the question at her husband.

"Piper, I think you need to take off that earring," the witchlighter stated.

"This?" Piper asked, pointing a diamond claw at the diamond that was currently connected to her ear. "I don't think so, I like it."

Prue narrowed her eyes, attempting to telekinetically summon the earring, but her power failed. "Piper," she stated, "you have to give up the earring!"

"I don't have to do anything!" Piper hissed. "Cats do what they want!"

"That's the thing," Phoebe replied. "You're not a cat, Piper, you're a Charmed One!"

"Not anymore," the witch replied, clearly angered.

Suddenly Pearl and Brandon appeared in the attic, hand in hand.

"Pearl, get back!" Paige yelled, seeing the wild look in Piper's currently green eyes.

Brandon's eyes grew large and his jaw dropped at the sight of Piper. "Whoa!"

Pearl's eyes were equally as huge as she slapped her hands over her best friend's eyes and spun him around to face the opposite direction. "Mom! Why does Aunt Piper look like she just came out of 'Catwoman'?"

"We were trying to figure that out," Paige replied warily.

Leo took brave strides towards Piper. "We need to get you back to normal, Piper."

"You aren't going to touch me!" Piper bellowed, her hand flying outwards and a wave of golden color emitting from it, sending everyone in the attic in different directions along with the contents of the attic.

Brandon landed painfully in a clump of boxes, next to his best friend. "I thought your aunt already got a new power."

"She did."

"So when did she get this one?" Brandon asked, sitting up.

"Um, now!" Pearl replied, in one of her infamous duh tones. She turned towards her aunt.

"I've got other things to do," Piper said before morphing into a sleek Egyptain Mau and bolting out the door before anyone could stop her.

"Piper!" Prue yelled, but it was too late, the witch was already gone.

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: If anyone is interested, I wrote and posted a Challenge Fic from Prince Halliwell which is titled, "The Day The Magic Was Born."