Chapter 37: Worth
Disclaimer: Hmm…the CW…right.
A/N: Well it's almost over. Right now's the time it'd be good for like suggestions about the future for this story in terms of trilogy and such.
"A Whitelighter?" Phoebe breathed, astounded, "Does Andy even know what Whitelighters are?"
"And besides," she continued, "I thought the Elders promised him his ultimate suffering. Being a Whitelighter—"
"Is his ultimate suffering," Prue cut Phoebe off, "It's mine. Whitelighters are supposed to leave the life they had before Phoebe. He has to live, but we can't be with each other. It's the worse thing they could've done…"
"We'll get him back," Piper spoke with confidence, "It's as simple as that."
"I'm worried though," Pam leaded, "Leo's been gone for longer than he should be."
"Where'd he go?" Piper questioned.
"To find Andy…" Pam trailed off.
After seeing the expectant expression on Prue's face Pam continued quickly.
"But he left long before the Elders sent me down here," Pam went on, "They should be here by now."
"Leo—" Piper began to call out.
"No!" Pam stopped her, "The Elders are probably watching now. We don't want to lead them to Leo and probably Andy as well."
"Well do you think you should orb 'Up There' and try to find them?" Cole questioned.
"Maybe," Pam complied, "Except if I get caught I don't want the Elders to punish Andy for it."
After a bit of silence and no suggestions from anyone, Pam was torn. She knew it was up to her to find Andy and Leo, but she also knew that it was in her best interest not to get the Elders anymore riled up than they already were. Though no one said anything, Pam had a good idea of what was stirring in Prue's mind—and the ultimate outcome of Pam's actions was going to affect her the most. Knowing what Prue was going to say without even looking at her, Pam soon spoke again.
"Though I won't let that happen," Pam assured Prue, "If I don't get him back for you, you can be ashamed to call me your older sister."
Prue looked much obliged at the comment, and smiled for the first time since the beginning of the whole ordeal.
"I might need your freezing power for immediately," Pam said to Piper, and Piper nodded in agreement.
"And later—" Pam continued to everyone, "After Piper and I get the Elder's attention—
I'm gonna need Prue and Phoebe to come so that we can give our claim of exposure. It's the only way they'll even consider reversing Andy's fate—if we're all 'Up There', serious and ready to expose magic and even relinquish our magic. All of us as sisters, together—the Power of Four."
After nods from the room Cole spoke in reassurance.
"I'll stay here—there's a good chance the talk of exposure might've gotten down to the Underworld already. This affects good magic just as much as evil and we know they won't want that. They might come and attack and well, I'll be here to fight them off."
"Well then let's do this," Piper said heartily, "I'm starting to miss that husband of mine."
With a small laugh and a nod at Piper indicating that what she had said a second ago was for her as well, Pam got ready to orb off in search of the missing men of the Manor when a thought crossed her mind.
"Wait," she spoke aloud, more to Cole than anyone else, "If anyone…" Pam began, "If anyone, well calls for me—tell them I'm gone."
"Well you will be, won't you?" Cole questioned, "And who would call for y—"
At Pam's raised eyebrow at his inquisitive words, Cole tried to catch himself.
"That is to say—who would call at this…time in the day?" Cole finished this last part quickly and hardly believed he couldn't think of a better way to cover up what he was going to ask.
"Well yeah, I know I'll be gone," Pam stumbled, realizing that she couldn't half-ass her way out of this one as she avoided Prue's eyes, "Just—if David or—or Bane call—tell them not to call again."
Pam then took Piper and orbed off almost quicker than she had said her last words.
The Elder that had intercepted Leo and Andy's attempt to steal away home orbed the two of them into the glowing white atmosphere that was 'Up There' with a look somewhat filled with remorse plastered across his harsh features.
"Now," he spoke abruptly, "This way."
He indicated for Leo to go back down to Earth and for Andy to head into the main Council room. He then took one disgusted look at the female Elder that had tried to help Leo and Andy in their escape efforts.
"I'll deal with you later," he said shortly, and, with nothing but a sigh and the knowledge that she could no longer do anything to help; she was gone in a swirl of purple light.
Leo, positively beaming inside at the fact that the male Elder hadn't caught his trick earlier, hid behind the same pillar he had previously. He began to call out Pam's name, but before he even got a word out she and Piper appeared in front of him. Leo smiled for a moment at how they all thought alike, before silently showing them the male Elder entering into the room. They caught his drift that Andy was in that room, and just as the Elder opened the door to step into the room, Piper froze the scene.
"Good luck," Leo spoke quickly as the girls prepared to enter the Council room, "I'll be right out here if it gets messy in there—just call my name. If you're doing what I think you're doing, I'll get Phoebe and Prue after a little while."
Pam and Piper nodded, and then ran towards the door before the freeze wore off.
When they reached the door, the girls stopped momentarily to form a plan. Before either of them spoke, Pam took the form of the Elder standing outside the door.
"I'll stand outside and keep freezing him," Piper began, "But I'll need to come in when Leo brings Prue and Phoebe and before my power drains."
"Got it," Pam replied, "I'll work as quickly as I can."
With reassuring looks at one another, Piper put her hands up in ready stance as Pam made her way into the room in the appearance of the Elder. She entered the room to see Andy seated among a horde of Elders, seemingly all waiting for the arrival of that particular Heavenly being.
"Well Edgar," A waiting Elder spoke to Pam, "Would you care to explain why the mortal Trudeau is here again?"
"I'd love to," Pam spoke, "The "mortal Trudeau" remains here because I'm calling a rebuttal. I say he's not going anywhere. The future of the magical world depends on him remaining a human on Earth. If not, the Charmed Ones will not only expose the magical world but also renounce all of their powers."
Andy spun around in surprise as he jumped out of his seat.
"What?" He hollered in disbelief, "They can't do that! I won't let them!"
"Sit!" An Elder screamed at Andy.
"No!" Andy yelled back, "Look—I'm not worth all that. All Prue is is her magic. There's nothing worth that. I don't know how else to put it."
"He's right," The same Elder said, "Rules were broken and promises were made. This mortal should have died years ago. We allowed him to stay. He knew the terms and conditions and he agreed to them! There's no going back on it!"
"Are you willing to risk all of magic on it?" Pam challenged.
"What is this nonsense!" The Elder raged, "We decided this just earlier today! You were the main candidate in Trudeau's Whitelighter status—and now you're speaking against it?"
"Things change," Pam spoke in Edgar's appearance, "And now, I'm telling you—if we don't return Trudeau, magic will suffer over anything else. The Power of Four has done more for us than any previous force. Because of them, both the Source and his Oracle are dead. Not to mention that powerful demons that would've taken the place of the Source like Barbas and Phoebe Turner, who we didn't even believe to be alive, are eliminated as well. Good magic will have no protection and dark magic will be exposed. It would be so easy for you to return him to the Halliwells. None of this would have to happen."
After a moment of dumbstruck silence at the reality and impact of what the Charmed Ones were going to do, the Elder tried his best to speak haughtily. Almost at the same time, Pam heard three pairs of feet coming towards the hall, and knew they had to belong to Prue, Phoebe, and Leo. Andy seemed to realize the same and also appeared to pick up on why the Elder was so eager for him to return home all of a sudden.
"And how are we to believe this?" The Elder replied, "I don't see a single bit of merit to this threat! What? Did a Charmed One just hand you this information? How do we know any of these threats have any worth or base? How do we know they're real at all?"
At that moment, Piper ushered in the actual, highly confused and disheveled-looking Edgar, followed by Phoebe and Prue.
"Edgar?" The Elder questioned, "But—" He began, indicating towards Pam.
Her sisters came next to her just as Pam took back on her own appearance, sporting a large smirk at the wide-eyed faces of Edgar, the other Elders, and Andy.
"Prue!" Andy said as he barreled forward and hugged her hard.
"I thought I'd never see you again," Prue cried, "I missed you so much, Andy. I can't loose you—not again. It's too much, too soon. I'm not letting go. I need you—I need my light."
"Is that real enough for you?" Pam smiled, speaking to the same Elder from before and indicating towards her family and fellow witches beside her.
"She meant every word of what she said," Piper reinforced, "In case you were wondering."
"That's right," Phoebe tacked on, "Eight years of service…well, you know—eight technical years—will all be lost. Our powers are tied to our emotions. They don't work so well with intense anger or sadness or hurt. If you take Andy, that's all we'll be feeling. And if you take Andy, we'll be the Charmed Ones no more—you can count on that much."
"My duty to you took him away from me," Prue began, soliciting somewhat surprised looks from the people around her as no one had thought she would speak, "You kept him around because that hurt me so much I was ready to give up my powers. That feeling never really went away. Although Andy was there, I couldn't be with him. So just think for a second what will happen if you do that again, this time with my fair warning not to. I will be one pissed off witch. And you don't want to deal with that—trust me."
"No," Andy spoke after the Elders failed to, "I can't let you give up your magic for me—you mean too much to the world. I'm not worth all that."
"Yes," Prue began, "You are. I can't function without you and neither can my powers."
Prue then turned to the Elders with a highly resolve expression on her face.
"Now," She began, "The real question is, are you all worth the pleasantry of a warning? Obviously, we've decided that you are. But that's all you get. I'm telling you this now and I'm telling you this once. I need Andy. We all do. So you're going to change him back into a living human. Now. No negotiations. You all aren't worth that."
A/N: Jesus H. Christ I know it's been a while. But don't worry; it'll all be over soon.
