Chapter Eighteen
Cole's Apartment
"I'm serious kid; they used to do it all the time!" Cole stood against the windows rolling a fat cigar between his teeth. He needed something to calm his nerves after having witnessed the kind of energy this kid had just pulled out of nowhere.

It had taken some doing, but he had finally convinced Wyatt that using that kind of power might not be the best solution for himself; and Wyatt finally agreed. As quickly as the power had come to him in a rage he was able to make it dissipate into thin air. Cole had taken the opportunity to make himself another drink; which he downed quickly before proceeding with another.

"Why weren't we aware of this! I mean if I had known all along I could summon them at any time I would have done it a million times just to see them again. Why isn't there an entry in the book? I mean I know I was a little young when it happened, but I tried everything I could think of to bring them back. If it hadn't been for my Dad I probably would have tapped the big power to do it."

Cole didn't really have an answer. He had seen the girls summon their Grams and others on numerous occasions, so he figured there must have been a good reason why they had never made an entry in the book, although he could have sworn there had been one.

"I've got this feeling we don't really need the book for this right now. Don't ask me how I know, because I can't tell ya, but I think you need to arrange five of those candles over there like points on a pentacle and now!"

Wyatt looked at Cole strangely as the two of them rushed to the table. Cole's cigar was clamped between his teeth as they both grabbed the candles and arranged them in the middle of the floor. Wyatt stood in the center as they finished, but Cole looked skyward for a moment, then reached out and grabbed Wyatt out of the way.

No sooner had he done this then the power of four appeared in a misty haze of fog, orbs and twilights; four women who looked so alike that they couldn't be anything but sisters. Four women so completely different in personality, so vibrant and radiant in life and so soulfully mourned in death, appeared in a flash as magnificent as they had ever been.

Chapter Nineteen

Somewhere in Ireland

"That's a good girl, just lie back and rest your eyes." Leo leaned down to kiss the forehead of his most precious gift. He smoothed the whiskey colored bangs from her face, then pulled the fleece blanket in soft misty green to her chin. As he took a step back he marveled at her little chest already breathing the steady rhythm of sleep; the white triquetra rising and falling with each breath, hand sewn by faeries who wove their strongest protection magicks into each and every thread.

He left her room silent and brooding over the state of his dead wife's house. For years he had avoided the mansion and San Francisco for fear that the memories of Piper's passing would engulf his soul. He had had little time back then to properly mourn his wife and her sisters. Penny and the boys were his priority and he had to be strong for them.

He sighed, taking a seat by the fire. 'His boys.' He pinched the bridge of his nose as the beginning of a headache started to push at the back of his eyes. 'Dear God and Goddess, what has happened to my family?' His normally resilient shoulders shook ever so slightly as he allowed himself a brief moment of grief.

The hand that laid itself gently on his shoulder was no surprise. He could sense her the moment he had seated himself. Her presence wasn't altogether unwanted at the moment, so he let it slide that she had come unbidden.

"Why so sad love?" The fiery red-head knew exactly what afflicted Leo, but made with the polite conversation anyway as she swung round his chair and straddled the ottoman in front of him.

"Do we really have to talk Moira?" Leo leaned forward pinning the emerald eyes with his sapphire ones.

For the briefest of miniscule moments they both stopped breathing and time stood still. The air between them charged electrically before Leo reached out his hand, captured the nape of her neck and brought her to his lips in one powerfully sexual movement. Moira answered Leo by wrapping her arms around his neck and plunging her whole being into this single kiss. Every ounce of unrequited love she held for him infused her lips, tongue and breath.

Small dancing red orbs pulsed and evaporated around them as Leo rushed her to the floor, kicking the ottoman forcefully out of the way. Not gentle were the hands that ripped and tore at the buttoned jeans and cable knit sweater the red haired beauty wore. There were no thoughts of dead wives or malcontent families now, just searing heat and a driving need.

Moira threw her head back in abandon as Leo singed the column of her throat with bites and hard kisses. The trails of reddish marks would purple before morning, but Moira didn't care. This was the man she loved and although she understood he could never truly be hers, she cherished every moment he allowed her to have of him.

Chapter Twenty

Cole's Penthouse

"Whoa! That was some trippy ride." Phoebe swayed on her feet grabbing for a sister, any sister to steady her.

Piper took a step out of the circle first, tentatively breaching the protection pentacle; then with more confidence as her corporeal self emerged, she opened her arms to her eldest son with single minded determination and love. Wyatt fell to his knees and hugged Pipers legs as he sobbed into her robes.

She smoothed his hair and murmured so softly that only he could hear. No one moved a muscle. The entire room was riveted on mother and son.

"You're here."

"I never really left you my sweet boy."

"I can't believe you're here."

"It's all going to be fine now. We're here to help." The confidence in her words was more for herself than for Wyatt; but Piper managed to comfort and encourage all the same.

"Now there's a sight for sore eyes." Cole whistled between his teeth and the cigar. Phoebe exited the circle without a backward glance and jumped straight into Cole's arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"I sure have missed you."

Cole laughed at Phoebe's enthusiasm and grabbed her bottom to hold her up.

"I need to kiss you Coleridge, so ditch the stogie." Cole chuckled at her impatience, then reached up, grabbed the cigar and threw it across the room; conveniently hitting the trash.

"Is that better sweetheart?" Phoebe's answer was drowned in the deep recesses of Cole's mouth. Their urgent need for each other still as relevant as the day they met.

"Get a room for Christ's sake." Prue and Paige stepped out of the circle and began gathering the candles and supplies. "Were these two like this even after I died?"

"Yeah, with a few bumps here and there, they were pretty much always like this. This one time we pulled them back from a different dimension at the most inopportune time, if you know what I mean?" Paige winked and nodded toward Cole and Phoebe.

"You're kidding me! They were like doing the dirty deed right as you conjured them back?" Prue stood with her arms full of candles in disbelief.

"Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing too, what with Chris there and all. Grown up Chris that is." Paige laid her supplies on the nearest table.

"Wait a minute, grown up Chris? What is that suppose to mean?" Paige turned slowly back to Prue.

"Didn't you know? Chris came back from the future to save Wyatt from being turned evil. How come you don't know any of this? What the hell were you doing with all your time before we joined you up there?" Paige said annoyed with Prue.

"Well, there was this one elder . . . . Hang on!" Prue turned to address the room at large.

"I've got it! I know how we can save Chris!"

Halliwell Manor

'You idiot! Did you really expect to be able to use the book now?' Chris nodded to himself, and then flinched awkwardly as he realized he was talking to himself out loud.

The Book lay hiding under the sofa in the attic, where it had landed upon Chris' attempt to open it.

'Evil can not touch the Book of Shadows you moron!'

Ignoring the growing voice inside Chris angrily grabbed a map and scrying crystal. He hovered the crystal over the map searching for any sign of his father. The crystal made no movement. It just hung stationary almost adamantly refusing to assist Chris in his quest.

He threw the crystal and map across the room. 'To hell with this!' He stood abruptly and circled the attic. Focusing in on the herbal cabinet he set about grabbing every herb he could find. He reasoned with himself that potion making was his forte and there was no reason why he couldn't concoct something strong enough to locate his father.

'To hell with Mr. Nice guy, they could all say hello to Mr. Bad Ass!'