A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Please let me know if you guys like the way this story is going. I'm always open to suggestions, and if you'd like to see something happen, let me know! I'll see what I can do to put it in.

TVCrazed- Wow! A new reviewer! Thanks so much for reviewing. I appreciate it!

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Phoebe walked down the stairs quietly. Leo and Piper looked up from their place on the couch, where they had been sitting and holding each other.

"How're you doing, Pheebs?" Piper asked her sister softly.

"Um… not too good. I just thought though…I need to tell Les. Leo, do you think you could go get him for me? He deserves to know about this in person. I can't just call him and tell him his son is dead." Phoebe's voice quivered over the word dead and fresh tears welled in her eyes.

"Honey, are you sure you want to do this now?" Piper got up, and put her arms around her sister.

"I don't want to. I don't ever want to tell him, but I have to. I have to tell him right now. He's Patrick's father. He deserves to know." Phoebe whispered hoarsely.

Piper grumbled under her breath. "Not that you'd know it the past few months." Ever since Les had moved out and he and Phoebe had divorced, he hadn't bothered to see his kids.

"Piper…he's still his father. Leo, can you please go get him for me?" Phoebe touched her brother-in-law's worried face. "Wouldn't you want to know?"

Leo's face cleared a little, and without a word, he orbed to Les' house.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Wyatt stood atop the Golden Gate Bridge staring into the ocean. He hadn't moved since he'd first orbed there three hours earlier. Incoming orbs sounded behind him.

"Leave me alone, Chris." he said without turning around.

"It's not Chris." Phyra answered softly. Wyatt turned to see his youngest cousin behind him carrying his jacket, a thermos and her backpack.

"Phy, what are you doing up here?" he asked tiredly.

"I sensed you. And I figured you must be getting cold and maybe hungry by now." She held out his jacket.

Wyatt half-smiled. "Thanks. So, what's in the thermos?"

"Hot chocolate. I made it with extra marshmallows. Just the way you like it." She handed him the thermos after watching him pull on the jacket. "Are you hungry? I made you a couple of sandwiches, and brought some chips and Snickers bars."

"No, Phy. Thanks though. I'm not hungry right now."

"No one is. You're up here by yourself. Mom and Dad are with Peyton. She feels bad because she hesitated when you told her to use her power. Chris won't talk to anyone; he and Patience just keep staring at each other and crying. Aunt Phoebe is stuck up in her room. Paisley and Ryan left; I don't know where they are. Aunt Piper and Uncle Leo are just sitting on the couch, hugging each other."

"What about you? What are you doing?" Wyatt asked, actually looking closely at his cousin for the first time. "And for that matter, since when can you sense me?"

"It just happened. Just like the telepathy. Not that that turned out the way it should have." Phyra's voice was sad and solemn.

Besides, what good is having powers if you can't save the people you love? What good is saving innocents, if you can't save your family?

Wyatt read her thoughts easily, just like he always had with Chris. "Phy…sweetheart, it's not your fault Patrick is dead. Your powers kept Chris and me safe. They kept your mom safe. Patrick died because a demon killed him. It's got nothing to do with you."

Phyra shrugged. "I'm the one that couldn't hold his fire anymore. He was just…so much stronger than I thought." She looked down at her feet. "I couldn't stop him from getting you." Her voice was hoarse and tortured.

"No, no, no… Phy. You're wrong. You did your part. You held him off long enough for the demon and witch parts to be taken care of. We should have orbed out with Patrick right away, as soon as we were free. We should have orbed away once we saw him turn towards us. Hell, Chris and I never should have been there to start with. We were stupid, cocky and careless. If we hadn't been, then none of what you did would have mattered to start with. The three of you were there to protect us. It never will be that way again, Phy. I promise you. You'll never have to be the one protecting us. As long as I live, Phy, we'll be the ones protecting you."

Wyatt pulled Phy onto his lap, and they both sat atop the Bridge, crying and staring out over the bay.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Leo orbed back into the living room with an annoyed Les. "Jesus Christ, Phoebe. I told you I wanted out of this magical circus. How dare you have Captain Spock here come and bring me through his magical mystery tour here? Haven't you heard of a telephone if you needed me that badly?"

"You big jerk! Can't you see she's upset? That she's scared? You were married for 17 years, Les! Don't you know her at all? And its Captain Kirk, you moron!" Piper fumed, as she stomped out with Leo close behind.

"Les, you better sit down. I've got bad news." Phoebe patted the couch next to her.

"Look, just tell me whatever it is. I've got a deadline, you know. Some of us are sick and tired of using that lame-ass family emergency excuse." Les snapped.

"It's not going to be an excuse this time, Les. It's Patrick. He, uh… you see, there was a demon…"

"Oh great, what did, the idiot get kidnapped again?" Les asked coldly.

Phoebe started to cry. "You asshole! He died, okay, Les? He's gone. A dragon fried him, and he died!" her voice was shrill.

"You killed our son? You let him die? What the hell kind of mother are you? I told you when the kids were born. I wanted to bind their powers. But no, you said, it's their legacy, it's their birthright. We'll teach them how to use them. YOU KILLED MY SON!" Les screamed at Phoebe.

"I loved him! Where were you for the past 6 months, huh, Les? He died protecting the two most important men in his life; his cousins! Maybe if you'd been around once in awhile, he wouldn't have been quite as anxious to save the only two men that he ever wanted to be like." Phoebe's tears had vanished, and her voice was hard and bitter.

"Oh, right. This is all my fault, right? Well, say what you want, Phoebe, but magic is what killed my son. I'm not letting magic kill my daughters too. Go get the girls; they're coming home with me."

"No! No, you can't have them. They need to stay here where they're safe!"

"SAFE? My son just died under your 'safety'. The same thing isn't happening to my girls. And just who do you think is going to stop me from taking them, huh? Your weak peace-loving brother in law, Leo? Or maybe your almighty nephews? They are my kids… I'll do what I want, no matter what you want." Les raised his arm to slap Phoebe.

"If you do that, I will rip your head off and post it on a pike in the Underworld." Cole's voice was menacing and bristling with anger. "And I'll be the one to stop you from taking Paisley & Patience from her. Unlike anyone else in this family, I'm not bound by protecting innocents." Cole formed a fireball unconsciously in his hand.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Les yelled.

"My name is Cole Turner…but you can call me Balthazor. See Phoebe is my woman now. My fiancée again, and her kids are going to be my kids soon. You can go to hell, Les. As a matter of fact, I'll bring you there myself if you don't leave peacefully right now."

"I want to see my girls. We'll ask them. If they want to leave with me, then you can't stop them." Les' voice was more under control.

"You will…" Cole stopped as Phoebe touched his arm.

"No, Cole. He's right. He has a right to see the girls. We have to let them choose."

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chris and Patience went into the living room together at Phoebe's call.

"Chris, I need you to go get Paisley and Ryan. Bring them back here, ok?" Phoebe asked in a strained voice.

Chris looked beyond her to where Cole and Les stood glaring at each other. "You sure you don't need me here, Aunt Phoebe?"

Phoebe forced a small chuckle. "We're okay here, Chris. Just go and get Paisley." Chris nodded quickly, closed his eyes for a second as he sensed for her position, and orbed out.

Patience saw her father standing behind Phoebe. "Daddy!" She yelled, running to him and hugging him tightly. "Did mom tell you…" her voice trailed off.

"She told me. Listen, I want you and Paisley to come and live with me at my house. I want to away from magic, where you'll be safe." Les said seriously.

"You can't do that! Uncle Les, they'll still be witches. Just completely unprotected witches. Aunt Phoebe, tell me you didn't agree to this!" Chris burst out, catching Les' words as he'd orbed in with Paisley and Ryan in toe.

"I want the girls happy, Chris. If they want to go with Les, then… they can. I'll still only be an orb away."

"I'm not leaving!" Paisley said heatedly. "I want my baby born here on the Nexus. I want her protected and safe, and I want her to have powers. I'm sorry, dad. But I don't want to leave the manor."

"A baby? Well, this is just great, Phoebe. How did this happen?" Les yelled at Phoebe angrily, not knowing about the pregnancy until now.

"Well, you see, when two people really love each other and decide to have a baby…" Cole started in a sing song voice, but stopped at Phoebe's censuring look.

"Daddy…I can't go with you either. Chris is right. I don't have any active powers, but I'm still the daughter of a Charmed One, and the target of demons. I need to be here, with Mom and Aunt Piper and Aunt Paige. Plus Chris and Wyatt are here. We all work together. You know that." Patience hesitantly explained to her father.

"Yeah… Wyatt and Chris, the almighty witches who killed my son!" Les yelled angrily. "You know what, Phoebe? Don't bother calling me the next time one of our kids gets killed. It's only a matter of time, and quite frankly, I'm already mourning them anyway." He pushed past Chris and Paisley, and slammed the door on his way out so hard the windows shook.

Cole snorted inelegantly. "Well… that was pleasant."

Patience started to cry again, and Chris immediately held her in his arms. "Shhh…. Its okay, honey. It's okay."

"No it's not, Chris! I lost my brother, and then my dad… who's next? How much worse can this get?"

"I'll still go and fix it all, if you want." Chris offered, still wanting to go back in time to save Patrick.

"No! You can't do that. It just… it hurts you know? Plus you wanna know the worst part? I could feel my dad's true emotions with my empathy. He wasn't devastated over Patrick, or hurt that Paisley and I wouldn't go with him. He was annoyed that Mom made him miss his deadline for a worthless son, pissed because Mom has Cole to keep her happy now, and infuriated that Paisley and I dared to defy him in front of everyone. He didn't even care!"

"He's not worth your tears, Patience." Cole touched her hair, unable to listen as she sobbed her heart out to Chris. "Look at me, okay?" He waited until she brought her tear filled, red eyes to his.

"Cry because you lost your brother. Cry because you missed out on years of life with him. But don't cry for your father. He made his own choices, ones that had nothing to do with you, your sister or your brother. Sooner or later, he'll realize what he's given up. And when he does, he'll have no one to blame for his misery than himself." Cole cleared his throat. "I'm not going to pretend I know what it feels like to lose a brother. I can't even imagine. But I know what it's like to love someone and think that you have no chance of ever getting them back. It hurts and it tears you up inside until you can't figure out who you are anymore. But all you have to do it rely on everyone here. The Halliwells are a family. A better family than most people ever dream of having. Everyone is here for you and just wants to help you."

"Everyone? Even you?" Patience asked curiously.

"Especially me. I'm gonna be here a lot more often, you know. I love your mother. Since I love her, I love all the parts of her, and that includes you and your sister. I wish I could have gotten to know Patrick, but…." Cole's voice trailed off.

"But I killed him before you could." Chris' voice was full of anguish, as he spoke for the first time since Les left. He orbed out as fast as he could.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

A/N: HOLY SMOKES! Two updates in one day! I'm on fire! LOL