As he paced up and down the waiting room, Leo Wyatt felt increasingly uneasy. An emergency summit meeting with only the top level Elders in attendance could only mean that something major was on the cards, and since they'd summoned him, that something major obviously involved the Charmed Ones.

Nervously he ran his finger around the collar of his robes, which this afternoon seemed to be even more unbearable than usual. He wished that he were wearing his normal clothes, but showing up to a meeting of this magnitude wearing jeans was unheard of. Sure Leo had broken some major rules during his time as a whitelighter, but that was one rule he wasn't prepared to break- at least not yet.

He checked his watch. They'd been in there for hours now and he was still waiting to be called. Leo sighed heavily. Piper would be going crazy wondering what was keeping him, and who knew what kind of trouble she would be getting in to left to her own devices. He knew that she was going stir crazy being sidelined from the action, but she couldn't seem to see that it was for the best, the best for the baby. Piper seemed to think that she could just carry on as normal, running the club, running the Manor, and fighting the constant stream of demons and warlocks hell bent on hurting their unborn magical child. She was probably down there right now cleaning up the Manor, or cooking up a storm in the kitchen, or even worse scrying for demons, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

He knew that he hadn't been spending enough time with her lately, but it was the price he had to pay if he was gonna take time off after the baby was born. He'd already talked to his bosses about paternity leave, and this was the best he and they could come up with to solve the problem. He had to admit he was a little nervous now that the birth was so near. Their child would be special, and he and Piper had a huge responsibility to ensure that the child remained safe from the forces of evil. The Elders had already explained to him exactly how special this child might be. They had also warned him about the very real danger they would face, particularly around the time of the birth, when both Piper and the baby would be most vulnerable. He wished that the Elders would hurry up and call him in at least then he would know what they were facing this time. Sitting around waiting had given his imagination more than enough time to conjure up all manner of horrors, and it was doing nothing to soothe his already frazzled nerves.

Frustrated he slumped back down in the white leather chair and picked up the magazine that he'd been half-heartedly flipping through. He smiled ruefully. The magazine was years out of date. The Elders really ought to update their reading material if they were gonna keep a guy waiting around this long. Just when Leo had given up hope of making it home in time for dinner, the white door in front of him opened. Michael, an elderly whitelighter who had a shock of snowy white hair and a beard to match, beckoned for Leo to enter. 'These are bad times Leo, bad times' he said gravely, patting Leo on the shoulder as he ushered him in to the meeting room.

Hearing the front door bang shut, Piper hurriedly gathered together the paper and candles, and stuffed them in to the bottom of the trunk.

'Piper! Could you come down here for a second!' Phoebe yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

'Coming!' Piper answered, closing the Book of Shadows and placing it back on the stand. Her eyes scanned the attic, checking that everything was as it should be. Once she was satisfied that all the evidence was safely hidden, she pulled the door closed, and headed down the stairs. 'Alright, what's the emergency?' She looked expectantly at Phoebe.

'Erm okay, well the thing is Piper …' Phoebe began hesitantly. This had to be handled very carefully. Piper had been so tetchy lately and she really wasn't gonna take this well. Perhaps they should have bomb proofed the house first; they couldn't afford for Piper to damage any more furniture if she lost her temper again.

Phoebe looks tired. Piper thought, amazed that she hadn't noticed anything sooner. Still it wasn't surprising, Phoebe had been working way too hard lately what with her work at the paper, and covering for her at the club. Piper instantly felt guilty for judging her earlier. She really needs to slow down, and with all the nightmares she's been having she hasn't been sleeping properly. Piper resolved to try to ease up on Phoebe a little.

Oblivious to Piper's concern, Phoebe tried again 'The thing is…' She looked at Paige signalling with her eyes that she needed help.

'I think maybe you should sit down' Paige suggested helpfully, taking Piper's arm and steering her towards the couch.

'Yes Paige is right' Phoebe said hurriedly. 'You should sit down, and how about some tea? Paige, why don't you make some tea? Would ya like some tea sweetie?' She asked Piper hopefully.

'No I would not like some tea, and I don't want to sit down' Piper snapped, aware that she was being fobbed off yet again, and instantly forgetting her decision to lay off Phoebe. She removed Paige's hand from her arm. 'What I want is for the two of you to tell me what's going on.' She looked at them fiercely, arms folded defiantly across her chest. 'So, who's gonna start?'

'Piper I really think you should sit down' Paige interjected.

Piper glared at her. 'Paige if you say that one more time I'm gonna…'

'Okay' Phoebe interrupted a little too brightly, jumping in between her warring sisters. 'Okay Piper you see the thing is, we got a little trouble.'

'Trouble? Piper asked suspiciously, wondering what disaster had befallen P3 since she had left it at lunchtime. In the two weeks that Phoebe had been in charge it had been one calamity after another. Her eyes flicked nervously between Phoebe and Paige trying valiantly to determine what they were keeping from her this time. 'What kind of trouble?'

Phoebe took a deep breath before answering 'the demonic kind. But it's nothing for you to worry about.'

To Phoebe's surprise Piper's face lit up in a smile. 'Demonic trouble. Oh well that's great! Paige upstairs Book of Shadows, Phoebe fill me in' she ordered. 'Watcha got? Demons? Warlocks? Darklighters?' she rubbed her hands together in glee. 'No wait don't tell me it's the Grimlocks, they're back again right?' Catching Phoebe's bemused expression she continued babbling 'No, okay well you know what, doesn't matter whatever it is I'm ready for 'em.' She rolled up her sleeves in anticipation 'Oooh I can't wait to go kick some demon ass!'

'Piper, are you feeling okay?' Paige asked anxiously, moving forward to place a hand on Piper's forehead. She turned to Phoebe 'You know she does feel kinda warm, maybe she has a fever, I think she might be delirious.'

'Paige I do not have a fever and I am not delirious.' Piper snapped impatiently 'I'm just sick of sitting around here all day with nothing to do, and now I have something to do, so lets get on and do it. Come on' she ordered 'I need details, and so far you haven't told me squat.'

'No and we're not going to.' Phoebe insisted firmly. 'The only reason we're telling you anything is so that you'll understand why Leo has to orb you,' her voice softened and she broke in to a goofy smile 'and my precious little niece here' she reached forward and rubbed Piper's stomach affectionately, 'up to the Elders until we get this whole mess straightened out.'

'What!' Piper screeched. Instinctively both Phoebe and Paige ducked, waiting for the inevitable explosion. Paige hoped it wasn't the clock again, last time the repairs had run in to triple figures. To their relief Piper didn't use her powers; instead she slapped Phoebe's hand away, and angrily straightened her sweater, which Phoebe's overenthusiastic rubbing had displaced.

She looked haughtily at her sister. 'Phoebe Halliwell don't you dare even say that. There's no way I'm going anywhere, especially if you think we're in that much danger. You're gonna need the power of three and you know it.'

'See' Paige smirked. 'I told you she'd say that. And by the way, she does have a point.'

'Exactly.' Piper agreed, pleased. 'I have a point, and it's a very good point.'

'You're also carrying a very special baby' Phoebe reminded her sagely. 'And isn't it possible that this is another attempt to hurt your baby, and that the very thing the bad guys want is for you to get involved?'

'Also a very good point' Paige acknowledged, ignoring Piper's incensed look.

'So' Phoebe continued triumphantly 'If you could just make your way upstairs, get started on that packing, and I'll tell Leo to..' She looked around suddenly puzzled 'Wait where is Leo? I thought he was meant to be spending the day with you?'

'So did I' Piper groused. 'But they called him away this morning and I haven't seen him since.' She didn't fail to notice the knowing look that passed between Phoebe and Paige. 'And obviously' she said slowly, comprehension dawning, 'judging by the looks on your faces, you think that, that is in some way connected. So I think one of you had better tell me what's going on don't you?'

'Okay' Phoebe conceded 'The thing is…'

'We're in big trouble' Leo announced orbing in behind Phoebe.

To be continued …..