"Just because they know, doesn't mean they'll tell you" Leo told his wife in a very serious tone.

"Then we need to find a way to convince them to tell us what we need to know" Piper shot back.

"The only way they would even consider getting involved is if you show them that what you're trying to do will affect the outcome of the collective"

"We could do that. That is what's going on, isn't it?"

"Yes, but… even if you do, if they see fit, they can decide to simply end Wyatt and Sam's lives just to keep the balance between life and death. Handling the problem themselves" Piper swallowed hard. "At least… think this through before you try reaching them… please?"

"Reaching them?" she asked, disregarding Leo's plea for a moment.

"Yeah" Leo sighed in defeat. "The Norms cannot be conjured out of their world. That's why it's so dangerous contacting them at all. You would need to transport yourselves there and then convince them to allow you back or you'll be stuck in limbo for eternity" Piper sighed now.

Piper sat down reading all about the Norms while Leo was called away to class. She would obviously prefer not to call onto the Norms, but it seemed like a viable option, however risky. She would eventually go home, to get Melinda fed and napped. Afterwards, she called on her sisters to discuss the possibility of dealing with the Norms.

"Sounds way too close to the edge, Piper" said Phoebe.

"I know, but… do we have anything else to go on? I do mean anything"

"No" said Paige. "We need to make a damn good plan to pull this one off, Piper"

"So we'll do this?" exclaimed Phoebe in disbelief.

"Like she says, have we got anything else? Clock is ticking, Phoebe"

"How's this any different from what we've always done? I mean, we've rearranged time itself a bunch of times" Piper tried to lessen the imminent danger they were going to put themselves in, along with everybody else.

"Yes, but we can't tell who or even how many we would be affecting by talking to these creatures" Phoebe was still unconvinced.

"Right, but like Paige said, if we come up with a plan where the balance is kept the side effects shouldn't be catastrophic"

"Shouldn't? We can't even be sure, Piper!" she raised her voice at her older sister.

"Honey, it's about the only thing we've come up with in weeks. And if something more sensible comes along, we'll take it, but we can't just keep doing nothing" Paige tried calming her down.

"We're not doing nothing. We've been searching and asking and…"

"And we are no closer to knowing who got to Wyatt than we were weeks ago" Piper stepped on the annoyingly obvious.

Reluctantly, the sisters got to work on how to convince the Norms they could somehow fix whatever was going to mess with the grand design by getting rid of whoever was affecting Wyatt, as well as convincing them to spare his and Sam's lives.

IN THE UNDERWORLD…

"You are a hard one to track all of a sudden" said Vizkaroth, sneaking behind Teresa.

"Just getting ready to do my part"

"Was that a dark lighter I saw blinking away just now?"

"Maybe"

"Mmm… getting ready indeed. I like that"

"Why were you looking for me?"

"I merely wanted to inquiry if we're still doing business, but you've already confirmed that"

"You just live up to your end of the bargain" she got closer to the demon, unafraid. "Get me close to them and I'll take care of the rest" she backed away and sat on a rogue boulder. "So, tell me" she crossed her arms. "How do you plan to get me close enough to make any kind of damage? It's not that I don't trust you" she chuckled. "It's that I trust no one" Viz smiled.

"Fair enough. We'll use the boy, Lucas"

"One of hers?"

"No. That would… send an immediate red flag to the whole family. We want to avoid that. At least till we get to them"

"I see. Who's this kid then?"

"One of their innocents. One that has helped our kind before and could be persuaded to do so again"

"Intimidation. I like it" Teresa said, pleased.

"All you need to do is be ready. I'll let you know the right time to strike"

"Can't wait" she smiled.

If Viz played all his cards right, the King and Queen would defeat Teresa and in doing so be completely reassured that his plan was the only thing that would save the future of their children. He trusted their power to such extent that he wasn't in the least worried of what Teresa, Sam's mother, could dish out at them. He was convinced they would come out victorious from whatever she had in store for them.

MEANWHILE CHRIS…

Chris sat on the stone bench all by himself, sending yet another fruitless text to Bianca. He had been sitting here all alone for weeks now. She had continued to refuse to meet him, either here or anywhere else. The most he had talked to her had been over the phone, and even then, she always seemed to be in a hurry to get off the call. Chris wanted to think she must have been busy each one of those times, but then the thought was bittersweet in itself, since if she was indeed busy, it couldn't have been anything good or so he kept thinking no matter how much he tried to convince himself not to.

He was about to get up and leave, defeated once again, ready to try again the next day and the next if need be, when Bianca shimmered not far from him.

"Hey" he said, afraid she might shimmer away if he said the wrong thing. He had apologized for the incident at the restaurant over and over again, but she wouldn't hear it. He gulped, treading lightly.

"I just… wanted to see how you were doing" she pressed her palms together as she walked closer to the bench. Chris offered his hand to her as he moved back to make room for her. She hesitated but took his hand and sat down by his side, her eyes down.

"Listen, I'm…"

"Please. Let's just put that stupid fight behind us" her hand reached for his cheek. Chris closed his eyes at her touch. "I've missed you"

"I've missed you too" he took her hand and kissed it.

"Look. There's another reason why I agreed to see you today" she took a deep breath. "My last few marks haven't been as random as usual"

"How do you mean?" Chris gulped not knowing if whom she had killed had been human or not.

"Each mark has had some sort of connection to a plan of some sort"

"Have you heard anything?"

"Not anything specific. But a name kept popping up" she stared. "Vizkaroth"

"We'll look into it"

"Be careful. All I really know is that whoever he is, he's relevant enough to be heard by other demons"

"You think he's the new Source?" he had to tick that one off the list.

"I don't think so. It always sounded like he was ordering things for somebody else's benefit, not his own. I gotta tell you, I've never seen demons this organized" Chris' worry sank deeper into the pit of his stomach. Bianca could feel his grip tightening around her hand. "I'm sure he's an upper-level demon, same MO. Be very careful and call me if you're planning to deal with him at all. I wouldn't want you to face him on your own"

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself" he caressed her cheek lovingly.

"I know you can, but… please" she pressed her forehead to his.

"I promise" he whispered and kissed her for the first time in weeks. His hands were on either side of her head a moment later as he feared circumstances might end up distancing them again.

"Chris. From what I've seen, Wyatt and Sam haven't done anything truly wrong. Not evil, I mean"

"Whatever's happening must be another desperate move to turn him, to make him into their dark leader. Always has been"

"I understand, but I don't think they are particularly involved at the moment. Everything was traced back to this one demon"

"Whom, you say isn't interested in leading himself" she nodded. "Were you able to reach him?"

"No. Not everybody can. His got lackeys working for him, which is odd cause demons don't usually just answer to one of their own, unless it's a particularly powerful one or there's something in it for them"

"I know this is the one we're looking for, he's the one that infected them somehow. I just know"

"Be careful. You might find that evil doesn't have to go a long way when there's just cause"

"No matter the cause. It doesn't justify taking justice into your own hand and me and my brother know that"

"Maybe so" she pulled her hands slowly away from Chris. "But sometimes, even doing the right thing, makes you choose. If you truly want to help your brother, not just stop him from whatever you think he's doing, you'll need to understand the reason behind why he's willing to do it in the first place" she stood up and walked away. "Otherwise, even if you do fix whatever's wrong, you'll still lose him" she turned her back on him and shimmered away.

Chris knew she was right. It wasn't just about saving him from whatever was corrupting him, not this time; but to help him overcome whatever the reason was that he was even allowing it to change him.

WYATT AND SAM…

The two lovebirds were doing their favorite thing, sitting on the living room, watching cartoons with their children. They had finally managed to watch something other than Hubba Clubba which they prayed the kids would grow out of sooner rather than later.

"I'll go get some cookies for the crowd" said Sam kissing Wyatt before heading for the kitchen.

"Get some more popcorn too" he said stretching out, feeling pleased.

"On it" said Sam putting a bag in the microwave. "Where are Kai's teething cookies?"

"Top shelf"

"Got'em" she came back to the living room with a plate of oatmeal cookies which she handed out to her children. Kai started kicking away, sure there was something good going on and wanting to be a part of it.

"We got you little man" said Wyatt picking him up. Sam opened the individual package of the rice cookies and handed him one, making him kick away even harder. The phone rang through their merry laughter. Sam picked it up and read DAD off the screen.

"Hey, dad" she answered the call.

"Hey, sweetheart. I wanted to let you know we finally set a date"

"A date for what?"

"My and Alika's wedding…"

"Oh, right. Sorry, dad. We've got so much going on I forgot for a minute there"

"That's alright. We really want you to be there"

"Are you sure about that, dad? After what happened last, you kinda panicked"

"I know and I'm sorry, but we thought maybe we could do a family only ceremony and then have our party on some other day"

"So… we and our children wouldn't be invited to that?" Samuel made random sounds as he tried to articulate a proper response.

"Of… of course, honey"

"You just wanna make sure we don't ruin your day then?"

"Sam, don't be like that"

"What? I'm just saying you need us to be there when you believe is appropriate for us to be there"

"That's not true. I want to share this moment of my life with you. I couldn't do this without you or my grandchildren"

"Doesn't sound like it, dad" there was silence on both parts. "We'll do our best to be there, but we will not hide who we are. So, think about that before you include us in your guest list"

"The wedding is in three months" Samuel said defeatedly. "I'm sure we can arrange things in the best interest of everybody"

"I sure hope so"

"Just for the record. I'm not asking you to hide who you are, but I'm asking you to be wise about it"

"Duly noted" her voice in a monotone. Samuel ended the call without another word.