Second Life

by Nodakskip

Xander and Cordelia find out that life after high school is not going to be easy sans the Hellmouth.

10. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: Again, thanks to the transcript people. Also, since as stated I will not be redoing every single episode of Charmed in this fanfic, lest it become 'the never-ending story', the 'Previously on Second Life' thing will be making a major comeback! This chapter touches on season 3 Charmed eps "The Honeymoon's Over", "Magic Hour", "Once Upon A Time", "All Halliwell's Eve", "Sight Unseen", "Power Outage", "Sleuthing With The Enemy", "We All Scream For Ice Cream", "Blinded By The Whitelighter".

Chapter Nine

P3 club, San Francisco, California.

Friday, June 22nd 2001

Previously on Second Life...

Prue just looked at the prodigal sister, dumbfounded; she who along with Leo, had just returned from the whitelighter realm up above. "One day? You're kidding, right? Piper, you've been gone for a month!"

"What are you talking about?" Piper demanded, as she looked through the club's supply lists that evening.

"Here!" Prue said, as she picked up the newspaper. "See, check the date!"

Piper's eyes grew wide. "You can't be serious, how is this possible?" She looked at her sister and said with a mini-shrug, "Well, I guess time moves a little bit differently up there..."

"Ya think?" Prue asked sarcastically. "Oh, and you might also want to think of giving Xander a raise. Because he's been running around like a headless chicken for you, taking care of P3 for weeks! And before I forget, you should add his name to the list of people who can order stuff for this place."

"I thought I already did that," Piper replied vaguely, as she looked at the order sheets. Her eyes narrowed, "He had to use petty cash to get everything?"

Prue sighed, "What do you think happened, when the distributors refused to take his orders? Without a power of attorney, he was just another employee around here. I tried to fake your signature, but since they demanded to talk to you in person..."

"Speaking of which, did I tell you about the part where the Elders wanted to talk to me in person - just so they could tell me that Leo and I have to stop seeing each other?" Piper had a very annoyed look on her face.

---

A dark alley behind a rave club, San Francisco, California.

Later that night

Inspector Darryl Morris leaned into Prue, after the Charmed One and her youngest sister had helped him on a murder case. "You better decide fast. Here comes the ADA."

They turned to see a tall, good-looking man walk up to them. "Ladies. My name is Cole Turner, and I'm the Assistant District Attorney assigned to this case. I was wondering if either of you saw what happened here?"

(Hello, salty goodness!) Cordelia thought at once. Then Cordy, in what she would later claim was a reflex left over from her high school days, thrust her hand into the air. "I did!"

Cole Turner, a.k.a. Belthazor just smiled at her antics. (So, we finally meet face-to-face, at last...)

----

Cordelia and Xander's bedroom, Halliwell Manor.

Saturday, June 23rd 2001

7:25am

Xander woke slowly, but he quickly realized two things. First, he didn't have any of the blankets covering him, and second, Cordelia was not laying next to him. He rolled over and looked around, but saw nothing. "Cordy?"

Harris then saw something as he glanced up, and swore. "Holy shit!"

Cordelia was still soundly sleeping with the covers over her…a few inches from the ceiling.

Prue came into the room in a hurry after she heard Xander's shout. "Demon?" she asked, half-dressed.

"Nope," Xander replied as he pointed upward.

"Holy shit!" Prue said as well, at the sight of her youngest sister turning over in midair.

"Can you get her down?" Xander asked.

Prue tried to use her powers, but failed to do as Xander asked. "It's like something is pushing to keep her up there..."

"Something that's stronger than your power?" Harris asked, worried.

Prue stepped closer. "Yeah. I think it's her."

"Since when can Cordy levitate?" Xander asked.

"Since now…" Prue told him simply, as Cordelia stirred.

The young woman then screamed as soon as her eyes opened. "Not funny, Prue!" she glared downwards

"Ah, Cor?" Xander said with a growing smile on his face, coming over so that she could see him. "Prue's not doing this. You are!"

"What do you mean she's-" Cordelia started to say, before she and the sheets fell hard back on the bed. "OW!" the young woman complained, as she briefly bounced up and down.

"That's my Cordy. Doesn't know her own strength!" Xander wisecracked, and then ran out of the room at the sight of his girlfriend's glare.

----

Barnes and Nobel Bookstore, San Francisco, California.

Monday, June 25th 2001

Things had gotten...interesting, ever since Leo and Piper had come back from the heavenly realm.

The whitelighter couldn't bear the thought of losing his soul mate, anymore than the witch wanted to lose her guardian angel. So in order to get around the Elders' orders, he proposed to Piper in the toilet.

(How romantic,) Xander had thought whilst shaking his head, as he and Cordelia shamelessly eavesdropped. (How am I ever gonna top this, when I ask Cordy to marry me one day...)

In any case, after vanquishing several demons - with Cole's covert assistance, as part of his master plan to destroy the Charmed Ones from within - Piper had accepted Leo's offer of marriage; and now, the secret wedding preparations were underway.

With a perfect yet fake smile on his face, Cole looked down to see the title of Piper's book: 'How to Keep Your Marriage'. "So who's the lucky guy - or more importantly, who's the lucky sister?"

The store employee put the books in separate bags next to each other on the counter, as the middle sister hesitated. "Me...me, me. Mimi, our cousin," Piper lied. "Our cousin Mimi!"

Cordy fake-laughed at once, trying to cover for the lame untruth. "Good old cousin Mimi!"

Cole played dumb towards them, but used his powers to magically switch the book bags with a simple hand gesture. He took Piper's as she took his, "Well, I should probably get going. I've sort of got plans to accidentally bump into another eyewitness over at The Gap."

Cordy laughed a little. "Cute."

Cole smiled at her, which amazingly enough was not an act. "I get cuter." He then tipped his head to them, as he left the store.

"Cute?" Piper demanded. "Cordelia, why do you keep flirting with this guy? Need I remind you of your boyfriend waiting at home?"

The youngest Halliwell just looked annoyed. "Oh, come on! I'm in a serious relationship, yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm blind or dead! Besides, I've got to keep up my 'twisting men around my little finger' skills! It's not like I'm actually ever going to do anything with the guy-"

"So, you wouldn't mind me telling Xander how we met the cute ADA again today?" Piper said with light smirk.

Cordelia quickly shook her head. "You wouldn't…would you?" she asked, worried. "Because Xander knows he's the only one I really want-"

"Oh, relax!" Piper scolded her. "Come on, forget it, we have places to be. This wedding isn't just gonna make itself happen, you know..."

Out in the parking lot, Cole sat in his car, looking at the titles of all of Piper's books. "Well, this could be useful..."

----

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

The next night

Everyone was in place, on the eve of the nuptial ceremony - which had been deliberately scheduled to occur during an eclipse, to hide it from the view of the whitelighter Elders.

Prue and Cordelia were in their bridesmaid dresses. Leo was in his tux, with Xander standing beside him riding shotgun. The ghost of Penelope Halliwell was ready to officiate; and Cordelia started to dream of her own big day, as Piper came down the stairs and joined her beloved on center stage.

But then everyone in the room, and most especially Piper, looked on in horror as Leo was suddenly and forcefully orbed up away to the Elders, against his will.

"NOOOO!" the bride screamed, as she collapsed crying.

Well, strictly speaking it went against all the rules for a demon to ever tip off the Elders about anything; but then Cole for one doubted that the Triad would hold all this against him, somehow.

---

Halliwell Manor Entryway, San Francisco, California.

July, 2001

In Xander's opinion, there was nothing like a fight against trolls in order to save a fairy queen and a little girl-turned-fairy from getting burned to death, to really make him miss Sunnydale sometimes. (Ah, vampires. Those were the days...and oh God, did I actually just think that?)

In any case, as he wearily climbed up the stairs to go to bed, Leo appeared in the manor with a characteristic burst of blue-tinged white lights.

"Am I dreaming?" Piper asked softly, upon seeing him.

"No," Leo answered her the same way.

Piper instantly ran to her beloved and hugged him for dear life. "I had a dream that you weren't coming back. That wasn't a dream either, was it?"

Leo shook his head, as Cordy and Prue came over. "No, it wasn't. They had forbidden me from ever seeing you again. But now, I don't know what you said or did but they said you showed great courage and great faith, enough to make them reconsider."

"Does that mean you guys can get married now?" Cordelia asked.

Prue elbowed her at once. "Ugh..."

"What?" Cordelia demanded. "I wanna know!"

"Not yet," Leo replied, before shifting his gaze back to Piper. "It means they're giving us a chance to prove we can make it work."

---

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

October 31st, 2001

The months had passed quickly, or so it seemed.

Cordelia had started up college again, after summer vacation was over. Piper and Xander continued running the club, while Prue continued with her photography career. Leo continued doing whitelighter-y things, while Cole...

He just slowly but surely kept insinuating his way into the lives of the Charmed Ones.

Tonight though, it was All Hallow's Eve. And Cordelia looked at a store-bought window decoration in disgust. "Hooked-nosed hags riding broomsticks? That's what we're celebrating?" she asked Xander. "Personally, I am offended by the representation of witches and popular culture!"

The young man, who was dressed as a one-eyed pirate, just marveled at how much like Willow Rosenberg the blond-streaked brunette was sounding like. "Issues, much?"

"Yeah, right," Piper a.k.a. Glinda the good witch replied from nearby. "That's why you're dressed as the mistress of the dark."

Cordy, who was indeed dressed as Elvira, did a little spin in her tight outfit. "This costume happens to be a protest statement!"

Prue, dressed in a black dress with butterflies attached, just grinned as she ate a mini-Snickers bar. "I am so impressed that you can make a protest statement, and show so much cleavage all at the same time!"

"Thanks," Cordelia grinned back, as she suddenly decided to check her makeup in a hand mirror; reminding the former Zeppo of what she'd been like in high school. "It's always been a gift."

"For your boyfriends, maybe!" Prue said, grabbing Xander's chin and making him look up.

---

Halliwell Manor Foyer.

Not long afterwards

Prue used her power and the marauding Grimlocks flew away into the living room, nailing the brick fireplace dead on target.

"Didn't we vanquish them already?" Cordelia demanded, as she caught her breath.

"There could be an entire colony of them somewhere…" Xander started, but was cut off by Leo.

"That's not what I wanted to warn you about."

Prue looked back to him. "What?" She then jumped, as a large blue vortex opened only a foot from her. "What the hell-?"

"I'm guessing he meant that!" Xander said, as he pulled Cordelia away from the thing.

The two Grimlock demons got up, and charged back into the foyer. Piper saw them and quickly froze them, "Leo, what the hell is-"

But she didn't get to finish the question, as all three sisters were suddenly sucked into the vortex. "Cordy!" Xander called, as he was somehow resolutely pushed away by the portal.

"Wait! They don't know what's happening!" Leo yelled upwards to the Elders.

---

A dark cave, Virginia.

October 31st, 1670

Having arrived into the past and been forced to flee the witch hunters of the era, Prue, Piper, and Cordelia were brought into the lair with bags over their heads. After a moment, some local women took the bags off.

A woman named Eva bowed to the trio in greeting. "Blessed be. Our prayers have been answered. We need your help."

Prue looked at her former captor. "Excuse me?"

"Forgive me for the manner in which you were brought here," Eva said sincerely. "But we had to make sure you were who we had sent for. This doorway would've told us if you were evil," the local witch told them, as she pointed to the magickified entrance to the cave.

Prue as the eldest took charge. "Alright, wait, uh, who do you think we are?"

"The most powerful witches of all time, of course," Eva replied.

"One hell of a lucky guess," Cordelia commented.

"And you are?" Prue asked the 17th century woman.

"I am Eva," she told them. "A midwife, a witch, a free citizen of the colony of Virginia. These good women are my coven."

The other women handed the Charmed Ones period clothing, to help them blend in. Cordelia just looked at hers in horror. "I have to wear this thing? Oh...thank God my boyfriend isn't here, 'cause right now he'd be laughing his ass off!"

"We don't have much time. No one can suspect that you've come to us from the future. Witches must not have to hide in your time," Eva said, looking at their Halloween costumes. "What year are you from?"

"Uh, 2001," Piper told her.

"I'm afraid to even ask, what year is it now?" Cordelia wondered.

The answer instantly made her want to shudder.

---

P3 club, San Francisco, California.

November 1st, 2001

Just before midnight, having been able to safeguard Charlotte and Melinda Warren against Cole Turner/Belthazor's machinations, the Halliwell sisters had arrived back to the future. And upon arriving home, they'd had to vanquish the Grimlock demons once and for all.

Now though, the Charmed family was at their nightclub, trying to relax and unwind a little. When all of a sudden, Xander spied Cole entering the premises, dressed as an angel with a white robe and halo...

"Hey, Cole," the young man said simply.

"Mr. Harris, hello again," the lawyer said in reply.

Now Xander knew he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but every time he'd bumped into this shyster over the last few months, the feeling that something was...off about the guy hit him more intensely than ever, on all occasions. It was nothing he could put his finger on; just a Hellmouth-honed instinct that said Cole was trouble. "Meeting someone here for the party?"

Turner quickly replied, "No, uh, I just wanted to get away from the office for a while, let my hair down for once. You know how it is..."

Xander didn't say anything for a moment, and the half-demon stared at the so-called pirate with a seething inner hatred. Ever since Cordelia had done that thing with the apple peel in 1670 to show her who her one true love would be, and it had broken in half to form an X, Cole's desire to throttle his mortal nemesis had returned with a vengeance.

"Yeah, I guess," Harris finally said. "So, uh, the whole angel thing is the come-as-you-aren't look for tonight, I take it?"

"You mean this?" Cole gestured to himself. "Well, yeah, I suppose. I'm no angel-"

"Neither am I."

----

Halliwell Manor Solarium.

Late November, 2001

Not all that surprisingly, Prue hadn't taken well the news that the Triad had sent a demon back to 1670 to wipe out their entire family line, by turning Melinda Warren evil. And for his part, Cole hadn't taken well the news that the Triad was sending in another demon to 'help' him, named Troxa.

Still, Troxa was taken care of, as was another empath-cursed demon found by the Charmed Ones; who around this point finally learned of the existence of someone called 'Belthazor'. All that aside however, it was a demon named Andras - an anger demon - that had caused trouble in Paradise tonight.

Prue finally looked to Xander, who was nursing a sore arm. "And God, do I owe you an apology!"

"Don't worry about it," Harris said with a shrug. "I've been taken over before-"

"No," Prue said, very upset. "No matter how angry I was, I had no right to toss you around the room…and into the glass table!"

"It's okay, Prue, really," Xander told the older sister. "If I had a dime for every time I got possessed, or a super-powered girl threw me around the room…heck, I'd be able to buy most of the state!"

When no one said anything else, Cordy looked around. "So, do you think we have our powers back?"

Out of nowhere the tall, red and black demon known as Belthazor burst through the patio doors.

"Oh!" Prue yelled in surprise, when she tried to use her powers on him and got nothing. "Piper!"

Piper also tried, but similarly achieved nothing. "Mine isn't working either!"

"But we worked on our issues!" Cordelia yelled, as she got into a fighting stance. Xander moved forward as well, wanting to protect his girl, but the former cheerleader held him back. "No, you're hurt. Let me save your ass every now and then, okay?"

Leo ran up behind the hulking demon and smashed him in the back with a wooden chair, but that didn't even seem to faze the half-breed. "Oh, damn!" the whitelighter said simply, as Belthazor hit him in the face, sending the man smashing into the wall.

"Leo!" Piper yelled out, at seeing her boyfriend sink to the ground.

"No, wait!" Prue said, as she took a step forward. "You guys run, I'll hold him off-"

Cordelia shook her head at once. "Hell, no! Prue, we're in this together-"

"The Book, it's changed back!" Xander called out suddenly, as all three sisters took positions side by side to defend each other. The three yellow symbols had moved back into the triquetra shape on the Book of Shadows, indicating that Andras's work had been undone.

The Power of Three had been restored.

"All right!" Prue called out confidently. She then used her powers to tear the small knife the enemy demon had out of his hands. Belthazor instantly got enraged, and tried to throw an energy ball at her.

Prue halted it with her power, and at once sent it flying back at Belthazor.

And to the surprise of everyone in the room, another demon phased out of him and onto the ground when the energy ball blasted into the half-demon.

"Okay, that's new," Prue said, as Belthazor looked around as if confused for a moment.

"Demon with extra demon filling," Cordelia added in surprise.

Belthazor turned to Andras at once, very pissed. "Nobody crosses me!"

He threw another energy ball right into the other demon, and it screamed - as the mighty Andras burned alive. After that, Belthazor - still pissed - picked up the knife, wanting to kill all three witches and their annoying little twerp in his unbridled rage. "And now-"

Cordelia didn't waste a second, as she did a flying spin kick into the demon's face.

"ARRGHH!" Belthazor yelled as he threw the knife at her face, but Piper froze it in midair only inches from the youngest sister.

"Whoa," Cordelia said in awe, as the knife just hung there way too close - and Xander dragged her out of its fight path.

Prue quickly astral-projected herself behind Belthazor, and kicked him hard in the back. Piper moved at the same time, and snatching the knife out of the air sliced into the demon's flesh. A sickening 'plop' was heard, as a piece of bloody Belthazor skin fell to the floor.

Cole grabbed her by the arm and hit her square in the face. Instantly, the woman fell to the ground. Belthazor roared as he then grabbed Piper's arm, twisted it and hit her in the face as well. As the demon went for the knife, Prue astral-projected back in her body. She at once used her power to hurl Belthazor away, crashing out through one of the windows.

Prue and Cordelia ran to the ruined window right away, only to find the half-demon already vanished.

"Damn it!" Cordelia yelled. "He's gone..."

"At least for now," Prue said, as the sisters began to tend to each other's wounds.

----

Halliwell Manor Attic.

Early December, 2001

Well, Prue was quite right; Belthazor was gone only temporarily. Wounded, Cole had managed to convince Cordelia - who by now had ended up thinking of the lawyer as a very good friend - to help him somehow; and she in turn had convinced Leo to try to heal the half-breed.

But then, the truth had come out; and the situation when Cole had briefly taken Cordy hostage hadn't been pretty to behold. The vanquishing potion made from the bloody Belthazor flesh having become necessary to use, in no uncertain terms.

That night Xander walked into the Charmed Ones' upstairs lair, to find Cordelia sitting on the bench looking out onto the darkened street. "How you doing?" the young man asked, as he walked across the attic.

"I'm not sure what to feel," Cordelia replied, still looking out the window. "I mean, I know you and Prue never really liked him, but I kind of thought Cole could be a good friend to us…then he goes all major demon on our asses?"

"Hey, sweetheart, don't forget you're talking to the same guy who once fell for a human-looking giant preying mantis lady!" Harris reminded his girlfriend. "You can't always tell by appearances who's the good guy, and who's the giant evil demon."

"Yeah, I guess," Cordelia said, as she finally turned to him. "I just hate losing an innocent-"

"Innocent?" Xander looked at her. "Cordy, Cole was a demon. The same demon that's apparently had us in his sights, for the last 18 months-"

"He was half-human, Xander. Just like that guy Angel had in his group, once," the young woman told him. "Doesn't that mean Cole was half-innocent?"

"Not necessarily. Humans can be just as evil as demons, if not more so," Xander instantly replied, with a hard look in his eyes. "Just look at September 11, or all the murders we heard about on the news last night!"

"Oh, hell," Cordelia sighed. "The thing is, I don't even know for sure if I killed him in that mausoleum! Cole was halfway through that shimmering thing he does, after he killed that bounty hunter Krell - he could still be out there, just a little more hurt and pissed."

"Until we know for sure, we'll just have to keep our guard up," Xander told her. "If he does come back, you guys'll be ready for him-"

"We'll be ready for him," Cordelia corrected that statement.

"Thanks for the thought, Cor, but I've made my peace with all that," Xander said honestly. "Look, I'm not a Charmed One, or a witch, or a whitelighter, or any other thing in that Book over there. And I accept that. But that doesn't mean I can't help kick ass every now and then!"

"I could give you powers, let you see how the other half lives for a while," Cordy suggested. "I could do a spell-"

"Hell, no!" Xander laughed. "Don't you remember what happened with that stupid love spell, back in Sunnydale? Or that time you tried to spell yourself smart? Magic and me don't mix too well. Look, if something comes my way, then it does. If not…I'm fine with that too. Either way, I'm still a member of this family, and that's all I care about."

"Okay," Cordelia told him. "But please, don't mention that whole 'family' thing too much, alright? It makes me sound like I'm having sex with my brother! And what we did the other night is so not what family members do…except maybe in Mississippi..."

---

P3 club, San Francisco, California.

Mid-January, 2002

The two Charmed Ones watched from their alcove, as Xander talked with their father.

It had been one hell of a day for the Halliwell family. They had been trapped in a demon catcher ice cream truck, of all things, and by mistake had rescued three demon children…and killed the good guy guardian of the prison.

Then Prue had recalled having another encounter with the ice cream truck as a child, way back during 1982. And her father had been there with her…

She'd loathed to even think that Victor, the so-called father who'd just up and left one day, could help her and her sisters at all. But then it had been revealed that since his very brief appearance whilst Xander had been in Sunnydale, that Cordelia had been corresponding with him via email. And that he was in San Francisco now on business.

A tense meeting had also taken place where Victor had revealed that the same day little Prue had had her first encounter with the ice cream truck, was the day he had left his family. And that hadn't sat well with any of the Charmed Ones.

"Relax, Cordy," Prue told her youngest sister, focusing on the present again. "Xander's fine."

"I know," Cordelia replied, watching the two men. Even though she was over 21 years old now, she still felt as anxious and nervous as a teenage girl hoping that Daddy would approve of her first boyfriend. "But I just hope that it doesn't slip out..."

"What doesn't slip out?" Prue asked.

"That me and Xander have sex sometimes."

Prue laughed. "What do you mean, sometimes? These days you two are like the Energizer bunny!"

Cordelia looked back at her, annoyed. "It's just that I never told Dad how we're having premarital sex! All I told him is that Xander's the one I'm planning to spend the rest of my life with...God, I just hope the big dummy doesn't start flapping his jaw about all that!"

"Well," Prue said thoughtfully. "He's not an idiot, so I hardly think Xander's going to bring up your bedroom habits to our father."

Cordelia's eyebrow shot up. "Our father?"

"Yeah, I said it, okay?" Prue sighed. "I would have been a real bitch not to, after everything we've gone through recently."

"I guess," Cordelia agreed. "Although I still find it hard to believe that he saved your life when you were a kid, and then Grams bitched him out for it!"

"Makes you wonder if any mortal/witch marriage can really work," Prue ignored the look her sister gave her. "He knew about the demons and magic all along, and it still didn't work..."

"Hey, Xander and I broke the mold when we started to date," Cordelia informed her. "And if we have to completely shatter it to make a marriage work…then so be it!"

At that moment Xander came back over to them, and he didn't look happy. "Hey, guys."

Cordelia spun around to face him. "What's wrong? Oh my God, you and Dad didn't get along?"

Xander shrugged as he sat on the couch next to Prue. "No, we got on fine apart from his weird thing about how evil whitelighters are, but…"

"But what?" Cordelia pressed.

Xander just shook his head. "Cordy, what happened to him - it shouldn't have happened. If I ever see that ghost of your grandmother again, then I am going to have to have a really LONG talk with her!" His anger sudden rose, "She and your mom knew before you were born that Phoebe Halliwell was going to be kidnapped and become Cordelia Chase, right?"

"Yeah, when we went back in time to 1980," Prue added.

"Right," Xander said. "Bottom line, they knew what was going to happen, but didn't think it was worth telling the damn father of the kid! He and Patty eventually split up for good, while they were still looking for their daughter..."

He looked right at Cordy. "Cor, I've told you before I've got no problem not being the one with the powers…but I swear to God, NOTHING like that had better come between us in the future!"

Cordelia nodded as she reached over and took his hand. "Xander. I promise, that will never happen."

"I hope so, Cor, I really do," Xander exhaled. "I mean, with what everything that happened between me and Willow, sure - all that doesn't make me any kind of saint here, and I'm the last person who should judge their actions in any way. But what happened between your mom and dad was just incredibly wrong, on way too many levels..."

---

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

Later that night

Cordelia was sitting in the kitchen typing up a school report on her laptop, when she spotted the fact that she'd gotten a new email.

"Oh, you can not be serious!" she deadpanned, sitting back.

"What?" Leo asked, just as he was getting a soda.

"My real dad just left…" Cordelia said, more than a little surprised. "And now the guy who hardly talked to me as kid is emailing me?"

"Your adopted father?" Leo asked, coming over. "What does he say?"

Cordelia thought for a moment. "You know what?" she told the whitelighter. "I don't give a damn." She highlighted the unopened email and hit 'delete'.

"You don't even want to know?" Leo asked, surprised. "Cordelia, Prue forgave Victor…maybe you should give your other dad another chance."

"No thanks," Cordelia said quickly. "I've put the life of Cordelia Chase behind me, on account of that life had nothing good going for me save one thing. And right now, he's sleeping on the couch in front of the TV!"

----

Halliwell Manor Kitchen.

Late January, 2002

The two oldest sisters were in the kitchen, each making something different. Piper was making breakfast, and Prue was making an awful-smelling potion.

"One teaspoon of baking powder," Piper commented as she cooked.

"One teaspoon bat guano," Prue said with a grin. "Ooh-hoo. It's starting to bubble!"

"And stink," Piper told her. "Couldn't you have made that potion after breakfast?"

Prue shook her head, as she tossed another item in the pot. "No, I'm sorry, but Cordy has a meeting with that D.A. investigator, and I didn't want her to go there unarmed."

Leo came walking in from the dining room. "Morning…whoa, what is that smell?"

Prue almost giggled. "That would be the lovely smell of Piper's breakfast."

"Hope you're hungry," Piper said as she mixed the batter.

"Uh, starving," Leo replied, wondering if the smell really was the breakfast.

Piper looked very annoyed at him. "Probably 'cause you missed dinner last night," she commented sourly.

Leo groaned. "Piper, I already said I was sorry I was late, okay? It's not like I was out carousing with the boys. I was out being a force of good in the universe."

"A true force of good would have called, or at least orbed," his girlfriend pointed out.

"I couldn't!" Leo protested. "Not under the circumstances."

Piper gave him the evil eye. "Which were?"

"Work related," Leo said quickly. "Which means I can't talk about it. I mean, anything that happens between me and a charge is confidential. You know that."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Piper groused, before she nicked her finger with a knife she was using. "Ow!"

Leo was up off his seat in an instant, and at her side. "Oh, let me see that!" He took her hand and held his above the tiny bleeding cut.

When the whitelighter was done healing her, Piper pointed at him - still upset. "You know, this 'all for the good of mankind' stuff really puts me in an awful position. I have no choice but to be 'understanding'!"

Leo grinned and leaned against the counter. "You just have to accept that you're engaged to somebody that works for the CIA."

"Oh, funny!" the middle sister scoffed.

Xander and Cordelia walked into the kitchen at that moment. "Wait, you also work for the CIA?" Cordelia asked, a little confused.

Prue looked at her youngest sister in amusement. "You know, ever since you became a blonde..."

Cordy pushed her colored bangs out of her face, annoyed. "Bite me, sis!"

"Sorry, but I'll leave that particular duty to Xander!" Prue said, still amused.

"Well, thank you…" Harris started to say, but was cut off by an elbow in the ribs from his girl.

Piper shook her head at all the antics and teasing. "Do you guys want something to eat before your meeting with Reece?"

Cordelia just shook her head, as she grabbed a cup of coffee. "Not hungry, too nervous."

Prue came around the counter and handed her a small blue vial of potion. "Alright, well, this'll help you with your nerves. Just place a drop in Reece's coffee, and it'll instantly out any demon. Reaction will cause his throat to constrict. So he starts choking, you run, got it?"

Cordelia took the vial in surprise. "Thanks. I hadn't even considered that Inspector Reece might be evil..."

"After Cole's Oscar-worthy performance these last few months? I sure as hell did," Xander spoke up.

---

A deserted alley, Madrid, Spain.

The same time

A young witch was running for her life from a dark-haired and very amused warlock. The evil creature threw a fireball at her, but she deflected it away with her power, causing it to explode against the brick wall.

"You can't hurt me," the witch said very firmly to her nemesis. "I can deflect your power!"

"All of them?" the warlock asked, still not concerned. He threw another fireball at her, but again she easily deflected it. It went backwards and hit the warlock head-on, vanquishing him quickly.

"Thank God," the witch said as a semi-prayer, as she breathed a sigh of relief.

But the warlock somehow reappeared behind her silently, and grabbed the startled witch. Her eyes instantly grew wide at the sight of a dagger at her throat.

"You know," the warlock hissed her right next to her ear. "The ability to clone myself is just one of the powers that I've collected over my years of killing witches. And now, I'm about to add one more!"

With little warning he stabbed the young witch right in the heart, killing her instantly. She fell down dead, as the damned thing felt the witch power come to him.

Amused, the warlock suddenly saw the blue-white sparkles of her 'guardian angel' appear. "You're too late, whitelighter. Your charge is dead!"

The female whitelighter looked on in horror, as the warlock laughed and blinked out of the alley. "Rosa!" the angel called, as she went without any real hope to try to heal her charge.

----

Halliwell Manor Dining Room.

An hour later

Piper was putting waffles on Leo's plate as she sad, "So I've got lunch with this guy from the Chronicle who wants to do a story on the club, and then I've got a meeting with these dot com start up guys that want to do an Internet thingy." She finally sat down next to him. "What are you doing today?"

"You know," Leo said, before he took a sip of orange juice. "Just the usual."

"Care to elaborate?" she tried to wheedle more out of her boyfriend.

"Piper..." Leo sighed at her question.

"Oh, come on!" Piper tried again. "Just a few details, a tidbit."

Leo quickly shook his head. "It's against the rules."

"Rules!" Piper said with disgust. "Yeah, see, this is my problem. Every time I turn around, we seem to be violating some stupid whitelighter ordinance."

"We just have to be careful, as long as we're under probation," he told her.

Piper didn't share his optimism "Which is never-ending. I don't know, Leo. I don't think they're ever gonna let us get married!"

"They will," Leo said firmly. "They have to. Nothing is gonna keep us apart, I promise."

After he said that, the star-crossed duo shared a look and move towards each other for a small kiss - when an orbing effect took place only inches behind them.

"Aah!" Piper yelped, as she jumped up.

"Natalie!" Leo said in surprise, at his fellow whitelighter's sudden appearance.

Natalie gave her friend a look that made Leo know how she knew him and Piper had been about to kiss. "Leo. Sorry to 'interrupt', but we've got a major problem on our hands." She held up the dagger that had killed her charge…

…at the same moment Prue ran in from the kitchen, after hearing Piper's startled scream. "Hey, I heard..."she trailed off as she saw the new person holding the blade above Leo.

"Ooh! Athame! Athame!" Prue moved to jump over the table, when Leo held up his hands quickly.

"No, no, no. It's okay, she's a whitelighter!" he quickly told the oldest sister. "Natalie and I go way back, we were rookies together. Actually, we fought together in World War Two…"

Natalie looked to Leo with distaste. "All your charges need to know is that I'm a whitelighter. This is not a social call; I've come to warn the Charmed Ones that a warlock just killed my most powerful charge with this athame."

Leo looked toward his old friend in grief. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Thank you," Natalie said sadly. "But the real tragedy is that it didn't have to happen. I warned her to lay low, but she didn't listen. She always refused to let her magic interfere with her life…" Prue and Piper shared a look at that. "...and now a warlock has her power of deflection."

"Deflection?" Prue asked, concerned. "Wait a minute, does this mean he could deflect our powers?"

Natalie nodded. "Yes, which is why all whitelighters have been put on alert."

"We have?" Leo asked in surprise. "Why didn't I hear about this?"

"Because you missed this morning's staff meeting," Natalie told him, obviously miffed.

Piper laughed at that. "You have staff meetings?"

Natalie obviously didn't like the laughing comment. "With mandatory attendance."

Oddly enough, Leo looked like the proverbial high school kid caught without a hall pass. "Unless a charge is in need, which Piper was. I had to heal her!"

Piper looked at him in confusion for a moment, before getting it and holding up her index finger. "Right!"

Natalie gave them a disbelieving look. "I'll assume a demon attacked your finger, since healing is 'restricted' to such circumstances!"

Leo spoke up, "I believe the Charmed Ones deserve special attention."

Prue smiled at that comment, before Natalie scoffed. "I've heard rumors about such 'special' attention, and honestly, Leo…"

The woman suddenly started talking in a completely alien language, which sounded a lot like loud dolphin clicks. Whatever she actually said obviously upset Leo Wyatt though, who instantly responded in the same weird tongue.

Prue looked at her stunned sister. "Whitelighter-ese?"

Natalie fired something back at Leo in that language, but one word was clearly heard in English. 'Piper'.

"Well, I guess we know now what they're talking about," Piper scowled, now very much not liking this new whitelighter.

Prue interrupted the pair of angels. "All right, hang on! You guys can..." She tried and failed to copy their weird language. "…all you want. Me, I'm gonna look in the Book of Shadows, okay?"

Natalie nodded quickly. "I'll go with you. I got a look at the warlock, I might be able to identify him."

"Alright," Prue replied. "It's up in the attic."

Natalie gently stopped her. "Attic? You mean the 'altar' room, don't you?" When Prue looked at her in confusion, the whitelighter seemed to get upset again. "The rules are very clear. Every witch must keep their Book of Shadows in a sacred and protected spot!"

"O…kay," Prue replied. (And who made you the queen of the world?)

Leo instantly tried to play middleman. "Maybe you can bring the Book down here?" he asked Prue.

"Sure," Prue said, amused. She turned to Natalie, "Yeah, yeah, I'll just run up to the 'altar' room, which by the way, is right next to the 'potions lab', and I'll be right back!"

As she headed for the stairs, Leo picked up a strawberry - and instantly got a loud upset noise from Natalie. Chastened, he quickly dropped it back onto the plate.

Looking over to Piper, the male whitelighter commented sheepishly, "Not supposed to eat on the job."

Piper just rolled her eyes in disbelief.

----

Alice's Family Diner, San Francisco, California.

The same time

Cordelia Halliwell was sitting with the black and bald SFPD Inspector named Reece at a booth in the diner. He had a plate of eggs in front of him, while there was nothing in front of her. Xander was sitting at the counter just listening to the conversation, as he'd come in five minutes before Cordelia so as to not tip their hand.

"You sure you don't want something to eat?" Reece asked his companion.

Cordelia looked unsure. "No, I'm fine. Uh, actually, I would like a bagel. Thanks!"

Reece turned his back to Cordelia to talk to a waitress, "Uh, excuse me, miss. Can we have another bagel?"

Cordelia quickly poured some of the potion in his coffee, before Reece turned back to face her. "It's a nice place. It's crowded. I guess that's why you picked it. And that makes me think you're afraid of something."

The cop took a sip of his coffee and coughed. Cordelia and Xander instantly tensed up before Reece explained, "Allergies. So, so are you?"

"Am I what?" Cordelia felt both relieved and anxious. Relieved on account of Reece wasn't a demon, and anxious because the policeman couldn't just simply be vanquished now.

"Afraid."

Cordelia tried not to look nervous. "Afraid of Cole? No. Why should I be?"

Reece got a sour look on his face. "Well, there are several reasons. Not the least of which is he's a fraud, or a man who exists only on paper. Wormed his way into the D.A. office for reasons unknown, and who apparently has a very dark side..."

He showed her some photos of Cole's demonic altar that had been hidden within his apartment; which were not a pretty sight. "We found bloodstains on his carpet, and a hidden cabinet full of occult paraphernalia. Now, you're telling me you don't know anything about this?"

Cordy shook her head. "No...I mean, yes. I didn't know squat about any of this. Cole was just a friend, or so I thought!"

Reece had been with the SFPD long enough to know when a witness was lying to him. "Look, Miss Halliwell, it's like this. See, I think you know more than you're letting on, but you're scared. You're afraid that if I find out the truth, you're gonna get in trouble. Am I right?"

Cordelia didn't want to lie any more than she had to. So she said simply, "I wish I could help you, but I can't. I'm sorry. I really am."

She stood up and Reece said abruptly, "Uh, listen. Cole's the kind of man who knows how to cover his tracks, okay? If he's alive and you know something, he could hurt you. He could hurt your sisters, too-"

But it was pointless, as Cordelia left him behind. And completely unnoticed, Xander Harris left the counter after paying for his diet soda and quickly followed his girlfriend out.

----

Halliwell Manor Conservatory.

A while later

Prue and Piper were sitting on the wicker couch flipping through the Book of Shadows, while the two whitelighters stood on the other side. Prue read out of the Book, "The power of deflection is a witch's best shield against the forces of darkness."

"Unless the forces of darkness already have it," Piper said sourly. "In which case, it's the great shield against us."

Prue nodded and turned to the guardian angels, all business. "Alright, how did he get close enough to get it from such a powerful witch?"

"Maybe he wasn't working alone," Piper suggested.

Leo shrugged. "Or maybe he possesses the power-"

"-of cloning," Natalie said, finishing her friend's thought. "I was just thinking the same thing."

Leo nodded. "The ability to duplicate oneself, but..."

Natalie agreed with him. "...it can't be sustained for long periods of time."

Piper looked very annoyed at witnessing that. With false amusement she said, "That's cute how you guys finish each other's sentences."

Natalie didn't pick up on her mood. "It happens when you work with someone for as long as we have."

"I…see that," Piper said, her mood growing darker.

Leo, just as any smart boyfriend would, knew when his girlfriend was getting pissed. So he tried to get the topic back onto work, "Maybe we should check the Book!" the guy said quickly. "See if the warlock stole the cloning power too."

"Alright, cross-reference cloning with warlock," Prue said as she held two fingers up over the book. The pages started to flip fast through the entire volume, until it stopped on a page with a dark face.

"Here it is. A warlock named Eames. Seems that, uh, eleven years ago, he murdered a witch in Glasgow and stole her power of cloning." She looked to Natalie. "Do you recognize him?"

Natalie's voice got a little colder. "That's him."

Prue paused for a moment before she spoke again. "Uh, well, cloning and deflection are not his only tricks." She told the others as she read his bio, "It says here that Eames also killed a witch in Kenya in '89 and took the power of…transmogrification?"

Piper shared a look with her sister. "Trans what?" Prue just shrugged back at her.

Leo and Natalie spoke at the same time. "The ability to change shape or form."

Prue noticed her sister's look of anger. "Okay, so, uh, what's his master plan?"

Natalie looked at her, somewhat surprised. "What makes you think he has one?"

Prue looked at her as if it should be easy to see. "Well, the time and geography between kills suggest that he was hunting these particular witches, right? It's not sport, it's strategy."

Piper saw what she meant. "So all we have to do to catch him is to figure out what that plan is, and then beat him to the punch."

"Right," Prue told her. "Or we can try and take him out first before he even has a chance."

Natalie obviously believed they could be correct. "Leo, we should discuss the best way to approach this situation." Then a little more unpleasant-sounding than intentional, she told the two witches, "I mean, in private. If you wouldn't mind going into another room, please."

Both sisters look at her upset at that almost-order. But Piper was the first one to reply to it. "Or how about this idea?" she said, as she waved her hands.

Prue tried and failed to stifle a laugh as Natalie froze in place.

Leo looked at her, more than a little surprised. "Piper, what are you doing?"

"Getting irritated!" was the reply. "Who put Lady Attitude in charge?"

Leo tried to assure them, "She's not in charge."

"Really?" Piper replied, not buying it. "'Cause she's sure acting like it. I thought whitelighters were supposed to guide, not dictate?"

"She's just trying to help," Leo told her.

Prue looked at him. "How? By slowing us down and second-guessing us?"

Leo hesitated for a moment. "Introducing the concept of caution and organisation into the manor isn't a bad idea. Natalie's considered one of the top whitelighters up there."

"Oh yeah, I bet they love her," Piper said sarcastically. "She never met a rule she didn't like."

"Leo, we already have a whitelighter," Prue told their guide. "Besides, I don't really like anybody who doesn't trust us."

Leo tried to play peacemaker. "You've misread her. Natalie is cautious because she just lost a charge, and she's worried the same thing is gonna happen to you. You can't question her heart."

Piper groaned, "Okay, how about everything else?"

Leo nods. "I'll talk to her, okay? Now please, would you unfreeze her?"

Piper gave him a Look as she got up. "Sure!" she said as she stormed out of the room. The witch flipped her hand on the way and Natalie suddenly blinked, confused. "There you go!"

Natalie cast a glance down to Prue. "Wait a minute, what's going on?"

"I gotta go talk to Piper," Leo replied, as he took off after his girlfriend.

Natalie sent him an icy look, not understanding. "Leo? We don't have time…"

"I'll be right back!" the guy called to her, as he followed Piper down into the kitchen.

Prue gave the female whitelighter a quick grin. "Piper froze ya!"

"She-she what?" Natalie demanded.

"Yep!" Prue told her, still keeping her grin on her face.

Natalie looked up to the ceiling in evident frustration. "This is the Charmed Ones?"

---

Halliwell Manor Kitchen.

A few moments later

Leo closed the door as he came in. "Hey, you want to freeze me in bed for your own personal pleasure, that's fine; but freezing Natalie is not gonna make her or the Elders happy."

"Well, I'm sorry," Piper admitted, trying to stay calm. "But how do you think I feel listening to you two clickety-clack about work when you don't tell me anything? I mean, she clearly knows things about you that I don't!"

"She's just an old friend, is all," Leo said semi-wearily. (Oh, how did I get stuck here in the house alone with all these women? Xander, now I know how you felt in the old days, when I could just orb out whenever I wanted to!)

"Well, obviously," Piper said in response to his verbal statement, with an eye roll.

Leo looked at her in sudden disbelief. "Come on, you're not jealous are you? Because there is nothing..."

She stopped him at once. "Leo, I'm not jealous of her. I'm jealous of the part of your life she gets to share with you that I don't. You know, like where you go all day, who your other charges are, what it's like up there."

"I've taken you up there before-"

"Once," Piper pointed out. "And I didn't even get to remember it. It's just more rules. More stupid rules that exclude me, unlike you and Natalie, who literally speak the same language with each other!"

"It's just boring shop talk," the whitelighter tried to convince her.

Piper didn't buy it though. "It's secrets, and if there's one thing I've learned as a Halliwell, you don't keep secrets from the people you love."

Their talk was stopped by Cordelia and Xander coming in through the back door. "Ah, hi. Are we interrupting something?" Harris asked, sensing the bad vibes.

"Yes!" Piper snapped.

"No!" Leo responded.

"How did your thing go with the investigator?" Piper then asked her sister, dropping the other topic.

"Uh, fine, I guess," Cordelia sighed. "At least he's not a demon."

Leo wanted to bring the two new arrivals quickly up to speed. "Why don't you guys go meet Natalie?"

Xander asked, "Who?"

"She's a..." Piper started.

"…fellow whitelighter. See? I finished your sentence," Leo pointed out to his beloved.

Piper merely shot him a look. "Trust me, that's not what I was gonna say!"

----

Halliwell Manor Conservatory.

A few seconds later

Natalie sighed, as she watched Prue hold a crystal over a map of the Bay Area. "You're wasting your time. You can't scry for warlocks!"

"I'm not," Prue insisted. "I'm scrying for a witch. I'm focusing the crystal on your charge's power, which technically is still alive."

The newest arrivals walked over. "Hi. You must be, uh..." Cordelia started off saying, but was cut off by a yell from Prue.

"Oh!" the oldest sister said when the crystal pointed to a spot on the map. "Okay, here we go, I think I found Eames. Uh, the industrial district. South of San Francisco."

"A warlock?" Xander asked. (Huh. Haven't gone up against any of those for a while!)

"What's going on?" Cordelia wondered.

Prue got up quickly. "We'll fill you in on the way. Piper! Leo!"

Natalie gently grabbed her arm. "Wait, you're not going after him now are you?"

"Ah, yeah, that would be the idea!" Prue replied, somewhat annoyed.

The whitelighter just stared at her. "But you're not prepared, you're not…"

Prue stopped paying attention to Natalie after she saw Cordelia pick up the dagger and get a vision. "What did you see?"

Cordelia looked towards the oldest sister, all business. "A warlock, I think…killing a male witch."

Prue almost growled, "Not if we can help it!" As Piper and Leo came back into the room she said, "It's three against one. We should be able to counter his power of deflection."

"But he can also clone himself," Leo pointed out.

Prue simply shrugged. "So then it's three against two. Still, the odds are on our side. Plus, we'll have the element of surprise!"

"And backup," Xander added as he put his jacket back on.

The useless civilian speaking up like that was the last straw for Natalie. "People, we're under an alert. You can't go running off half-cocked!"

Cordelia whispered to Xander, "People?"

Natalie looked at all of them, but mostly Prue and Leo. "You must consult the Elders, find out what they know and what they want you to do."

Piper just looked at the female angel, dumbfounded. "And how long will that take? Long enough to lose another witch's life?"

"Better one than four," Natalie said evenly. "You wondered what Eames' ultimate goal was. What if it's to kill the Charmed Ones? Think of the damage he could do with all of your powers-"

"Hey, lady," Xander stopped her. "This guy is not getting any of the Charmed Ones' powers!"

Prue took a hold of Harris's shoulder. "Natalie's right. We should definitely check with the Elders first." To the woman in question she added, "Do it quickly."

Natalie nodded once, glad that someone besides her was seeing reason. "I'll be back as soon as possible."

After she orbed out, Cordelia put the dagger back on the table. "So what, we're supposed to just wait?"

Prue scoffed, "Hell, no! I just had to say something to get rid of her."

Leo didn't know if he liked that. "But didn't you hear what she said? Consulting with the Elders is for your own protection..."

Xander frowned at hearing that as well, his girls' safety a big priority in his mind. But Piper just grinned as she tossed her boyfriend his jacket. "And siding with us is for yours!"

Prue gave Leo a nod at that remark, leaving the whitelighter watching their departing backs. "I really hate getting stuck in the middle," he told Xander in that same semi-weary tone from before.

"Believe me, man," Xander said with a sigh, as they followed the witches out the door. "I know the feeling!"

----

An empty warehouse on the South Side, San Francisco.

A while later

Eames was present, chanting in some unknown language. He hardly even looked up as Piper's jeep quickly pulled through the open door. Prue then jumped out and used her powers to toss the warlock into a stack of crates.

But he just stood back up again as if it was nothing. "Piper, freeze him!" Prue ordered.

The middle sister tried to do so, but the warlock just waved his hand as he deflected the power away. "He deflected it!" The warlock suddenly blinked out. "What happened? Where'd he go?" Piper demanded.

"This is not going well, people," Xander said, looking around and getting ready for anything.

"I don't think that was Eames," Leo said. "I think that was his clone."

"All right," Cordelia said quickly. "Well, the real Eames must be around here somewhere."

"Okay, maybe we should get out of here?" Piper asked.

"No," Prue stopped that line of thought. "What about the witch in Cordelia's premonition? We can't just leave him to die."

Piper groaned, "I was afraid you were gonna say that."

Prue looked over towards Cordy. "What did he look like?"

"Oh, I don't know. Male as I said, kinda balding…" As if on cue, a darklighter appeared in a cloud of black orbs. "Sort of like that!"

"Who are you?" the evil demon demanded. "Why'd you summon me?"

Leo finally got it. "That's no witch. That's..." They all reacted to the quickly drawn out crossbow. "...a darklighter!"

As the demon quickly took aim, Piper shouted, "Leo! Leo, get out of here!"

The man did just that before the poisoned bolt slammed into the door of the jeep. Xander quickly kicked the crossbow out of the darklighter's hands, and Piper followed up by freezing him.

"Okay, I don't understand. Why the hell is there a darklighter here?" Cordelia demanded.

Eames suddenly appeared, sitting on a high pallet. "Oh, did I miss all the fun?" With a casual movement of his hand, the frozen darklighter caught on fire.

Xander pulled Piper away from the flames as the demon was vanquished. "Son of a bitch!" he yelled.

And then Eames blinked down to the ground level, and picked up the dropped crossbow. "No, wait, I am the fun. Thanks for this!" the warlock said in pure pleasure, and blinked away.

"I am the fun!" Xander asked in disbelief. "Who writes his lines?"

Prue had a cold look. "Whoever it is, we'll get them too..."

---

Halliwell Manor.

Less than half an hour later

Leo was waiting for them, when the quartet arrived through the front door. "Did you get the darklighter?"

"Nah. Eames beat 'em to the punch," Xander told his friend, upset.

Leo was more than a little confused by that. "Eames? A warlock killed a darklighter?"

"And took his stupid crossbow," Cordelia elaborated.

"Well, that doesn't make any sense," Leo commented in confusion. "They both play for team evil."

"Yeah," Prue agreed. "But what I don't get is why Eames had zero interest in attacking us!"

Cordelia shrugged. "Maybe he knew he was outnumbered."

"No, he didn't really seem overly concerned," Prue insisted. "In fact, he seemed...cocky."

"And corny," Xander added.

At that moment, Natalie orbed back into the manor. A great sigh of relief escaped her lips, "Good, you're still here."

"Speaking of cocky," Piper said under her breath.

Natalie said, not hearing that, "I consulted with the Elders, and they want you to hold back. They think the witch Cordelia saw might be a force of darkness."

Prue just nodded. "He was a darklighter, actually."

Natalie looked at her in confusion. "How do you know? Another vision?"

Piper shook her head. "We went, we saw, we didn't quite conquer."

"You what?" Natalie demanded, flabbergasted. "Leo, how could you let this happen?"

"It wasn't Leo's decision," Prue told her at once. "It was ours."

Natalie honestly just couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You'll take responsibility for a decision, but not for your lives? That warlock could have killed you!"

"He wasn't after us," Piper said, ignoring the lecture.

But Natalie gave her a look that Xander well remembered Cordelia giving to annoying freshmen, once upon a time. "That makes you lucky, not smart! You were reckless. As the Charmed Ones, you have an obligation to serve the greater good. You have a higher calling."

"So do we…" Leo said, as he heard the Elders calling.

Natalie went over and stood next to him. "I think we better both go up this time."

Leo nodded and turned to Prue. "Better lay low until we get back." He took Natalie's hand, and they orbed upstairs to the domain of the Elders.

Piper scoffed at what she'd just seen. "What's with the hand-holding thing?"

"That's the least of our problems," Cordelia said, as she took her jacket off and put it on the hook. "We have to concentrate on finding and vanquishing Eames."

"Yeah," Prue groused. "And we can't count on scrying to locate him, because it could just be his clone again."

"I still think we need to decode his master plan, and then that way we can figure him out," Piper mused.

Cordelia nodded. "Okay, I'll take Book duty. And Dweeb boy here can take on the master plan part. Maybe your military background thing will kick in, or whatever."

"Worth a shot," Xander said simply, as they went over to the Book of Shadows.

"I'll do a flow chart, try to see where all this is leading," Prue told them.

"I'll help," Piper said at once. "Anything to get rid of her." (And I do mean that in the literal sense!)

Prue looked back towards her sibling, thinking she'd meant Eames. "You mean him."

Piper shook her head at once. "Nah, I mean her."

----

The Realm of the Elders

The same time

To any mortal that might have happened to be there, the scene appeared white and misty for all that the eye could see. Only various pillars and golden doors appeared as any sort of filler to the area. If you didn't count the countless beings in hooded robes, of course.

Leo alone was the only whitelighter still dressed in his earthly clothes. Natalie walked up to him, wearing the robe everyone else did, and said, "I've never seen the Elders like this before. They're worried about what Eames is up to..." Natalie then stopped, as she looked her friend over. "Aren't you gonna change into your robes? The rules say..."

"I know the rules," Leo told her. "I just find my jeans more comfortable, is all."

Natalie appeared very troubled by that. "That attitude scares me, Leo. I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't tell you how concerned I am about the situation at the manor."

Leo tried to set her mind at ease. "You haven't seen the Charmed Ones at their best. Trust me, they're talented witches."

"They're also sloppy, untrained, emotional..."

"...and undisciplined, I know," Leo finished for her in that way Piper had come to detest. "That's part of what makes them great. They don't work by rote. They work on instinct, on passion."

Natalie was not convinced. "I'm all for instinct and passion, but they're too impulsive. They lead with their hearts, not their heads, and they're not the only ones."

Leo stopped walking. "You think I do too?"

Natalie just sighed. "I think it's clear that you love them."

"Every whitelighter loves their charges."

"Not the way that you do," Natalie told him firmly. "Your feelings are clouding your ability to see their weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?" Leo asked in surprise. "I think their record speaks for itself. Don't forget, they took out Belthazor-"

"But Belthazor is a perfect illustration for what I was just saying," Natalie pointed out. "He never should have gotten that close to them in the first place. And Cordelia letting her mortal boyfriend fight evil alongside her and her sisters! Completely ridiculous..."

Leo shook his head. "Xander's special. You know that. Everyone knows that."

Natalie nodded. "Of course. That young man is one of your charges, but Leo, right now that doesn't matter. Whether or not he becomes one of us in the future, he doesn't belong on the front lines with the Charmed Ones. And I can't help but think that your relationship with Piper..."

Leo stiffened at that. "...is none of your business."

"Actually, Leo, it is my business," the woman said somewhat apologetically, trying to stay friendly. "The Elders want to know whether or not I think it's getting in the way of your job."

Before Leo could respond to that, they both heard a call from below. "That's Cordelia calling. Rules say charge's call takes precedent," the male whitelighter said simply.

As he orbed out, Natalie took a deep breath at being put in this painful spot of possibly hurting her old friend.

---

Halliwell Manor Conservatory.

A moment later

"Did you guys find something?" Leo asked as he orbed in.

"Not yet," Cordelia told him. "Xander wanted to ask you a few questions."

Leo looked over to his male friend and charge. "Why didn't you just call me personally then?"

"I don't think your friend likes me in the middle of all this," Harris told him honestly.

(You're more right than you know,) Leo thought to himself and came over to the former Zeppo. "What did you need?"

Xander showed him what he was working on. "The Book only names some of the witches this guy killed. I was hoping to see if we could use the Elders records or whatever to find out who the others were. You know, if they had the same whitelighter or family lineage…anything to connect them."

"I'll see what I can find the next time I go back up there," Leo promised.

"Okay," Xander replied. "And whatever this guy is planning? My money says it's going to go down soon."

"Why do you say that, Xander?" Cordelia asked, looking up from the Book.

"Look at the dates and times of the witches he's killed," Harris pointed out. "This guy's a warlock, so y'know, he can blink to the other side of the planet in an instant. So why did he wait years between his kills?" He looked back to Leo. "He killed your friend's charge and the darklighter on the same day. This is the first time he's not waited that we know of. So we can assume his pattern's not gonna remain the same, and most likely the end game's in session."

Leo got it. "All right, I'll…" he started to say, but stopped and yelled in pain as the man collapsed to his knees. Only by holding the edge of the table did he stay upright.

"Leo?" Xander asked quickly. "Geez, man, what's the matter?"

"I don't know," Leo gritted out. "Feels like a witch is being hurt. I…can feel her pain."

Cordelia leaned down next to him. "Is it one of your charges?"

"No!" Leo said, as another stab of pain shot through him.

Prue and Piper came in at that moment, and Piper instantly ran over to her boyfriend. "What happened?"

"She needs help!" Leo struggled to say to her.

----

Unknown Park, Unknown City

The same time

Eames was looking over the shivering form of a teenage black girl, who was in a Catholic schoolgirl uniform. Her white shirt had a hole near the heart, and a lot of blood was leaking out fast.

"Of course I could have killed you," the evil thing told the young witch. "But it's not your powers I'm after. I've set my sights a little higher."

The warlock looked over his blade calmly. "I'm looking for a few good whitelighters. Well, actually, just one. That's all I'm missing now. And yours'll do just fine!"

----

Halliwell Manor Conservatory.

The same time

Piper tried to understand. "Why are you feeling it? Why isn't her own whitelighter helping her?"

Leo struggled to his feet. "I don't know, but I have to go to her!"

He stood and started to orb out when Prue suddenly grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "No, Leo, wait!"

He fully orbed back before she explained, "I just realised, how could we have missed it? The only reason Eames would have killed a darklighter, is so that he can use the crossbow to kill a whitelighter!"

Natalie orbed in behind the group. "She's right, Leo, it's a trap."

"I don't understand," Leo demanded, trying to keep his knees from buckling. "Why would he even want to kill a whitelighter?"

"To gain the power to orb up there, it's the only way in," his old friend told him. "Once there, he'd be able to decimate all whitelighters, maybe even the Elders too."

"And that would leave all their charges unprotected," Cordelia whispered, horrified at the thought. "He'd be able to wipe out all witches everywhere, including us!"

Prue nodded darkly. "Sounds like a master plan to me."

Natalie agreed. "The Elders have instituted a lockdown and recalled all whitelighters from Earth. Leo and I are the only ones who have retained the power to orb so we can help you stop Eames."

"That must be why I feel her pain," Leo grunted out. "If you could only feel it-"

"I feel it," Natalie informed him. "But I won't be ruled by it. A whitelighter who's controlled by his emotions is useless. The greater good must come first."

"Oh, screw that!" Xander said belligerently, as he went over and reached under the end table to get one of his zat guns. "Leo…it's real simple, just orb me in right behind his ass and then I'll-"

"No! This guy can kill you, Xander!" Cordelia told him forcefully.

"And he can't kill you guys as well? I didn't sign up for this gig just to watch people die," Harris told his girlfriend. "We've said it before, I'm the wild card-"

"Wild card? You're obviously out of your mind?" Natalie demanded, storming over to the former class clown. "You're just a mortal!"

Xander gave her a cold look. "Lady, with all due respect…shut up. Before we find out whether or not my zat guns also kill whitelighters!"

The Charmed Ones and Leo looked at him in shocked disbelief, while Natalie instantly clammed up and backed away.

----

Unknown Park, Unknown City

The same time

The young teenage witch was laying in a pool of her own blood. She was shaking, and it was obvious that she could die at any moment. Eames was nearby, looking annoyed. "Well, this is boring. What kind of lame whitelighter do you have?"

The girl turned her head towards him as best she could. "They…must be on t…o you… now."

Eames just shrugged. "I think you're right. Which means what? They'll send witches to try and stop me? Well, if witches come, can whitelighters be far behind? After ten years of chasing a dream, the dream starts chasing me," he mused as he walked over to her. "Of course, you know, there is a downside. I no longer have any use for you."

The girl's eyes went wide, as she saw the blade going for her heart.

----

Halliwell Manor Conservatory.

A few seconds later

Leo felt the witch's terror and pain, as her life was brutally ended. His knees instantly buckled, as he fell and almost threw up.

Piper was at his side in a flash. "Leo!"

Natalie looked away from glaring at Xander back to her old friend. "Leo, what is it?"

Leo looked up at her. "He…he killed her!"

Prue instantly blasted the female whitelighter with a deadly look of disgust. "What does your rulebook say to do now?"

The female angel had no answer. So the girls had to take a moment away from Natalie. She attended to Leo, while the rest made some coffee in the kitchen. "I can't believe Natalie just let her die like that, we should have done something!" Cordelia said, with a few tears showing.

"And what's worse is her reaction to it," Xander seethed. "We all heard her say she felt the witch's pain, right? And yet…she had to ask Leo what happened, when the witch got killed?" He looked out the small window above the sink. "That is just so cold."

Prue came over and brought him back over to the others. "Yeah, but we need to figure out a way to stop Eames before he kills again. We should be working on a vanquishing spell."

"It's gonna hafta be a tricky one, though," Cordelia said, as she poured some coffee into mugs. "We have to counteract a lot of powers."

Piper very much agreed with that. "Plus, we need to do it fast, 'cause I don't like my boyfriend being one of the only two targets on Earth."

They picked up the tray and walked into the sitting room, where the whitelighters were sitting. Xander instantly didn't like the way Leo looked. He had his head down and was nodding to what Natalie was telling him.

"We'd like to speak to Leo in private," Piper said, showing her anger. "So if you wouldn't mind going into another room?"

Natalie stood and faced her. "If it's work-related, you can discuss it with me."

"What do you mean?" Prue asked, as she sat opposite her sister.

Piper suddenly saw a look she wished she hadn't. "Leo?"

Leo Wyatt exhibited a very sorry look on his face, as he stood up as well. "I've asked Natalie to take over as your whitelighter, and she's accepted."

Piper's eyes went huge at hearing that. "What are you talking about?"

The man looked at her in the way only a longtime boyfriend can. "Piper, nothing's more important to me than your safety, and my being here is putting all of your lives at risk."

"Say what?" Xander asked in confused disbelief.

"Leo, you've done nothing but protect us," Prue pointed out to him.

Leo just shook his head. "You saw what happened. I would have rushed off to help that witch if you hadn't stopped me. Now I'm supposed to be guiding you, and yet you're the ones guiding me?"

"Leo, come on, we all make mistakes," Prue tried again.

"But we can't afford to make them now," the angel told her simply. "Maybe Natalie's right. Maybe my feelings for you are clouding my ability to guide you, I don't know. All I do know is that this is no time for self-doubt, not with Eames out there."

He walked over to his one true love. "Piper, they want me to join in the lockdown. Until I return, I want you to do as Natalie asks. Please. It's important for us."

Piper sure as hell didn't like it, but she nodded anyway. The couple shared a quick kiss and as they parted, Leo put a hand on Xander's shoulder and orbed the guy out with him.

"Hey!" Cordelia called out, jumping up.

"Like it or not, your boyfriend has no business being part of this," Natalie told her, getting three frosty looks in return. "I suggest you channel your anger toward the warlock you're meant to vanquish. Now, first..."

"Wait, okay, could we just have a moment to process this, please?" Prue demanded, very upset.

"No," Natalie replied evenly and yet with great force. "It's time you stopped focusing on yourselves, and started focusing on Eames. You must prepare yourselves for battle. Mentally, physically…sartorially."

"Double hey!" Cordelia called out. Prue looked back to her. "She doesn't like our clothes!" the youngest sister explained.

Natalie looked their outfits over. "You need outfits that are loose and move. That means no more braless…strapless, form-fitting attire." With a glance to Cordelia she added, "You should wear clothes that can work with you in the fight…not ones so that your boyfriend can check out your rack and butt!"

----

The Realm of the Elders

A moment later

"What the hell did you do that for?" Xander demanded, as they showed up in the higher plane of existence.

"It wasn't my call," Leo informed him. "Some of the Elders wanted to talk to you."

"This is because I wanted to go fight that Eames guy, isn't it?" Xander pressed.

Leo reluctantly nodded. "Not many Elders are happy with your being alongside the Charmed Ones, during their battles against warlocks and demons."

"But you said they thought I was some sorta special charge guy?" Harris continued to press.

"Yes, you are," Leo replied. "But they have no idea what you are. I mean, what you might...become..."

For a moment he was tempted to mention joining the whitelighter corps, but then Leo wisely decided that his charge didn't want to hear that now of all times. "Xander, like it or not, people that run systems don't like the unknown and therefore unpredictable. And when you almost went after Eames yourself, and then threatened Natalie that way, the Elders made up their minds to perform…uh, certain tests."

"What kind of tests?" Xander demanded.

"That will be explained to you shortly."

Xander and Leo turned towards the owner of that deep bass voice. And they saw two male and one female Elders coming over to them. "Hi there!" Xander said sardonically. "Nice place. Too bad I couldn't remember it from the other times I've been here!"

"You may join the others in the lockdown, Leo," one of the males said, ignoring that.

"I…"

"Now is not the time for debate," the female Elder told him.

"Fine," Leo said, obviously not liking it. He then looked to Xander. "I'll see you later, Xander."

The young man watched him leave, and then turned back to his new 'friends'. "You know, just for the record? Right now I'm not seeing any fundamental difference between you people and the Watchers Council, or those weird Powers That Be that Kennedy talks about!"

"We only wish to serve the greater good-" the taller male Elder started to say.

"Just as long as it goes the way you think it should, huh?" Xander riposted.

"Why do you say that?" the smaller male Elder asked.

"You even have to ask?" Harris replied in disbelief. "Why don't we find that witch who was just left to die, thanks to you people, and see what he or she thinks about the greater good right now?"

The two male Elders obviously didn't like that and stiffened. "Escort him to the testing chamber," taller male said to the female. "We will be there momentarily."

She just nodded and started to walk Xander to the room. "You worry them," she admitted to the former Slayerette, when they were alone.

"I do?" Xander asked. "Why? I mean, what do they really care about some mere mortal like me?"

"You are all our sons and daughters, you know, so they - we - all of us, care. We really do. However, it is the fact that not many humans would willingly take up the fight against the underworld, with no special calling or powers-"

"Oh, come on! That's bullshit!" Xander said at once, stopping her. "Lady, you might want to actually take a good hard look at the people down on planet Earth, before you make those assumptions! A hell of a lot of humans would take up the fight, if they've seen the things I have. I'm barely in my twenties, and I've already helped stop over half a dozen apocalypses!"

"I see…" the Elder replied. "And yet, you obviously aren't happy with the way things are at the moment?"

Xander sighed. "It's just that lately I've constantly been hearing about all these stupid rules and stuff, and how you guys are supposedly keeping a lid on all this…and then someone like Eames flies in underneath the radar, till just before he strikes? Doesn't exactly fill me with confidence in the system, you know. You guys been too busy watching American Idol up here to stay on top of the situation?"

The female Elder looked at him for a moment. "You are both right and wrong in making such an accusation."

"What!" Xander demanded, as she kept on walking. "Hey, wait up! What the hell does that mean?"

---

Elsewhere in the realm of the Elders

The same time

Leo avoided the other whitelighters around him, and sank into a small viewing chamber. He closed the doors and looked into the bowl of water. With a thought, an image of the Charmed Ones showed up. He stayed there and watched the goings-on down on Earth with worry.

----

Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado.

The same time

"At ease, people," General Hammond said, as he came into the briefing room.

He waited till SG-1 returned to their seats, before he passed a folder to Colonel O'Neill. "I'm sure you recall back in 1999, that incident with Seth and his cult?"

"Of course, sir," Major Carter replied.

Hammond leaned back in his chair. "Since then, we have as you all know been watching the members of that cult. Almost all of them have gone back to their normal lives that they had before."

"But one has not?" Teal'c asked from his seat.

"That's right," Hammond said as he pressed a button on a remote, and a file picture from that mission came up. "Alexander Harris."

"The sealed file guy," O'Neill said, the memories returning as soon as he saw the face.

"He was never actually a member of the cult, though," Daniel Jackson said. "He was found in Seth's jail as a prisoner, wasn't he?"

Hammond nodded. "Thing is, we got a big 'do not ask questions' memo regarding this man shortly after the mission reports were filed. However, no one can tell me who the hell ordered it. Also, the military unit that had the sealed file on him was disbanded almost two years ago."

"Have we been able to get access to their file on Mr. Harris?" Carter wondered.

"No," Hammond replied in that annoyed Texan accent. "All records from that command are said to have been destroyed. And what we do have on Mr. Harris before that, is based mostly on newspaper clippings - if you can believe it. Public record. But all throughout the years, his name has been brought up many times as an eyewitness to unpleasant events."

"Such as?" Jackson asked.

"Well, in his sophomore year of high school, a female student had her heart removed in one of the locker rooms."

"What!" Sam Carter said in shock.

"He was also best friends with one girl who found several students murdered in the school's AV room later that same year," Hammond informed them. "All through his sophomore year till his high school graduation, there are events worthy of horror movies that happened there in Sunnydale…but for some reason, none of it ever made the national news. It's almost as if someone there covered it all up."

"Sir?" O'Neill said, after looking at the file. "If this is right, that sleepy little town has a higher death rate than that of New York City! You can not be telling me that someone only noticed this just now?"

"No," Hammond replied. "The Army sent its people in to find out what the hell was going on there. But it was a black ops unit…and thus, all records of it or its findings are nowhere in the system."

"What does this have to do with us?" Teal'c asked.

"Nasty things are still happening in that town, son, to this very day. The Pentagon is thinking of sending in its own team to that area. They claim they have special soldiers trained for it," Hammond told the Jaffa.

He went on, "But why I bring it up now is due to Mr. Harris's involvement. Along with himself, someone called Cordelia Chase was also listed in some of the reports. Thing is that after Mr. Harris left Seth's camp, he went right to San Francisco, where Ms. Chase had moved in with her two older sisters. And according to the SFPD reports, they're all listed as either witnesses or people of interest in several unsolved cases. It seemed to taper off after a while though, when they were put on as CI's for the SIU unit there."

"SIU?" Jackson asked.

"Special Investigations Unit," Hammond said. "It's run by a man who the press labels the city's top cop, and Mr. Harris has been seen at their stationhouse more than once."

The general then got to the heart of the matter. "But what I was just informed of…is that all the records and files on Mr. Harris that we've been keeping? The NID has gotten copies of them through backdoor channels."

"Oh, no, this can't be good," Dr. Jackson sighed.

----

Halliwell Manor.

The next morning

Despite their best efforts, all had not gone well for the Charmed Ones during the last few hours. They'd trained as a team, worked on spells to counter Eames…and won way too easily. They had managed to get the deadly crossbow away from him, in their next encounter. Natalie had said it was all because of following the rules, but then it all went to hell.

Prue saying it had been all too easy was proved true enough, when the crossbow suddenly turned into Eames, and he tossed the girls around like rag dolls. Their last sight was Eames stabbing Natalie in the gut with one of the darklighter poison arrows, before both man and woman had vanished.

Piper helped Cordelia out of the wreckage of the new end table. "We followed the stupid rules, and look what happened."

Cordelia growled, "Xander's going to kill me…yet another thing he has to fix!" She dusted herself off. "I hate rules!"

Prue shared her sentiments. "I knew something was wrong! Why didn't I trust my instincts?"

"None of us did, but I'm going to now!" Piper declared as she looked skywards. "Leo!"

Her sisters quickly joined in. "LEO!" all three called out.

As soon as the man orbed in, Piper turned to him, trying to stay calm. "Okay, look, we-we did everything she asked. I swear!"

"I know," Leo told them. "I was watching. I wasn't supposed to, but…enough said."

Cordelia kicked a chunk of the destroyed table. "We're through now playing by the rules, you know!"

"Yeah, we need to stop Eames for good," Prue told them. "Enough of this following orders like good soldiers stuff!"

"Well, I know from painful experience darklighter poison doesn't kill immediately, so there's still a window of opportunity," Leo said, trying to get the image of what happened to his friend out of his mind.

"Great. So we need a plan," Prue said as she came up to him. "What are our options?"

"There's only one I can think of," Leo told her. "But it breaks the rules big time."

Piper looked at him in shock. "You mean..."

"Uh-huh," Leo replied.

"And we..."

"Yep."

"And that will..."

"I hope," Leo said, competing their joint thought.

Prue and Cordelia just look at each other, confused.

----

Unknown location

Later that day

Poor old Natalie was now in the same medical shape as the young witch that had died the night before. She was shaking and bleeding, as the poison spread through her system. Eames was there standing above her, waiting for it to be over.

"You think dying would be easier the second time around, but it sure doesn't look like it, does it?" the warlock teased. "It's useless to fight the poison, you know."

He leaned down to Natalie and purred, "How's it feel to know that you will be responsible for the end of whitelighters and witches alike? The end of good." He faked a noise, "Do I hear someone coming? No. But…I hear someone going."

He cruelly pushed the arrow into Natalie farther. She gasped in horrible pain, as blood rushed out of her mouth. Within minutes she breathed out her last, and passed on for the second time.

"About damn time!" Eames said in triumph, as he took her orbing power from her.

----

The Realm of the Elders

A few moments later

Eames almost coughed at all the white mist suddenly assaulting his senses. "How do they live up here?" the warlock wondered, as he finished using his new power to reach the area previously sealed off to all evil.

He looked around in glee as the many whitelighters, in their robes, seemingly ignored him. For them, obviously, someone orbing up here was just like walking though a door for a mortal.

(Well, let's see how fast they start running after I kill the first one!) Eames mused, as he took aim with the darklighter crossbow at the back of the closest robed do-gooder to him, and fired.

But as soon as the arrow left the bow, things went wrong again. This time for Eames. As the hooded whitelighter held up a hand and the deadly arrow veered off far to the left, then it froze in midair.

"What the hell?" Eames yelled. (Those aren't whitelighter powers!)

The two whitelighters in front of him turned around, and dropped their hoods.

"YOU!" Eames called out in rage and disbelief, as he saw the faces of Prue and Piper.

"And don't forget about me!" Cordelia said, as she dropped her hood and nailed him with a kick from behind. Prue then used her powers; she spun the frozen arrow around, and shot it into Eames' back.

"What the hell are you doing up here?" Eames demanded, as he fell to his knees.

"What do you think? Kicking your sorry ass!" Cordelia replied angrily.

Prue just looked coldly down at the thing that had caused so much pain and death in their lives lately. "Don't even bother trying to orb out, it won't work. You see, you didn't just get the powers of a whitelighter, you got their vulnerability too. So the poison in that arrow is killing you, just like you killed Natalie."

Cordelia looked to her sisters. "I'm kind of in a rhyming mood. How about you, girls?"

"Sure," Prue replied. "This poison isn't working fast enough for me."

The three Charmed Ones surrounded the fallen warlock and started their spell to remove his stolen powers. "Time for amends and a victim's revenge..." they chanted.

"Cloning power, turn sour..." Prue said first.

Then Piper went, "Power to change, turn to strange..."

"I'm rejecting your deflection," Cordelia finished. Even though she should have used a different terminology, as the stolen power of deflection didn't end up in the demon wasteland; it went...somewhere else. Close by, that is.

Eames yelled as he caught on fire, and burned away into oblivion. "Wow. It worked!" Cordelia said, relieved.

"Nothing anticlimactic about that," Prue said with a grin.

Cordelia laughed, but Piper saw a hooded whitelighter approach them. "Uh-oh. Here comes one."

When the figure got close enough, he dropped his hood to show his face. "You made your whitelighter proud," Leo told them happily.

"Thanks," Cordelia said, just as proud. "But we were just winging it."

"Well, whatever you did, it worked," Leo replied.

"Well, not as well as we would've liked," Piper told him sadly. "I'm sorry we couldn't save Natalie."

Leo put his arm around her. "I know, me too. But she died for the greater good. I know she would've made that choice herself."

"Although, I don't think that she would have been too keen on us orbing up here," Cordelia pointed out.

Leo very much agreed with that. "Which is why we've got to grab Xander and get out of here now, before we all get in trouble."

They started to walk with Leo in the lead, but then Prue stopped. "Okay, wait a second. No five cent tour? No meeting the Elders?"

"We're getting Xander and going," Leo said firmly, as Cordelia grabbed her sister's hand and dragged her along.

"Leo!" Prue called back.

Piper answered for her boyfriend, "It doesn't matter. It's not like we get to remember it anyway."

"You will this time," Leo informed her.

"Oh!" Piper smiled with delight.

Soon they reached a door and opened it, to see Xander arguing with an Elder. "Did you maybe want to stick you finger up there and check my prostate, while you were at it?"

"You may go now," was all that the Elder said in reply before he left through another door, not even seeming to notice Leo and the sisters.

"Xander!" Cordelia called out, as she hugged her boyfriend. "How's my favorite mortal doing?"

"Okay, I guess," Xander replied grouchily, as she gave him a quick kiss. "I'm just wondering if Elder physicals count as a doctor's appointment back on Earth..." Looking to Leo, he sighed. "I never even heard about some of those tests, or what they were for. What's the deal, man?"

"I know you didn't like it, but right now, we have to get out of here. No time to explain," Leo told him.

"Ah…" Xander said nastily. "Right. They use me and then kick me to the side of the curb. I'm feeling the love."

"You will later tonight, but only if you move your ass, dummy!" Cordelia whispered to her boyfriend.

As the group left Harris turned to his girl and said, "By the way…why the hell did you three come up here?"

"Flambéed warlock," Cordy told him succinctly.

"Ah…"

----

P3 club, San Francisco, California.

Later that night

Piper was sitting at the alcove, while Xander and Cordelia were dancing near to where the band was playing. Prue came over and pulled the young couple over to the couch, before she leaned into Cordelia and said, "I just checked the messages at home, and apparently Reece called. Said he needs to talk to you about the case against Cole again."

Cordelia groaned. "God, I just know this is going to drag on for ages! Why can't all hot half-human upper level demons trying to romance and kill me be working at KFC?"

"He was hot, huh?" Xander asked in annoyance.

"Damn right he was!" Cordelia teased him. "But only you get to…" she leaned in and whispered something in his ear that Xander apparently liked.

Piper ignored the couple's flirting. "Where the hell is Leo? He's been up there a really long time, and I'm starting to get worried. I don't understand how they can be mad at him, after we saved their butts!"

"Well, he - we - broke some pretty major rules while doing it," Cordelia told her.

Piper sighed. "Yeah, well, if they hold that against him, I'm all for crossing over to the other side."

"Ditto," Prue said.

"Yeah. Ditto," Cordelia agreed. "What about you, Xander?"

Harris just smiled in wicked amusement. "Most of the evil women we encounter have a thing for tight leather…so please, all three of you go as evil as you want!"

The girls laughed and Prue tossed a small pillow at the guy.

"Hey," Leo said, as he suddenly came over to them.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Piper said quickly. "What took so long? What happened?"

Leo rubbed his hands together. "I have some news."

"Okay…" Piper replied, instantly worried.

But Leo instantly smiled. "Well, obviously, they found out that you've been up there, so they decided to review all the facts of the situation. And then they unanimously decided to…lift the probation."

Piper's jaw could have hit the floor. "What?"

Leo grinned. "Piper, we're officially engaged!"

"Oh!" Prue hugged Piper in joy. "That's great!"

Cordelia went over and joined in the dog pile hug, while Xander went over and shook hands with Leo. "Congrats, man!"

"Thanks!" the whitelighter told him, as they went for the cool-dude version of a manly hug.

----

The Realm of the Elders

The same time

The two male whitelighter Elders that had put Xander through his tests watched that little scene on Earth with dread. "We should have told him that it was not unanimous," the taller one said somewhat sadly.

"Perhaps. But Leo deserves this, and at least it will draw their attention away from what that…human question mark went through," the shorter one said. "We need time to figure out what our next step must be, given what we've learned. And I must say, it is all very troubling."

"Agreed," his companion said. "And how could we have not seen it coming? The forces of darkness nearly surround that young man completely."

"And since he is immune to the Charmed Ones in more ways than one, he cannot be allowed to stay with them for much longer. Can he?"

The shorter Elder shrugged. "We will need to be completely sure of our facts before we bring this to the others. I'm sure none of us have forgotten how Piper almost quit and destroyed the Power of Three, when Leo was taken away from her. Who knows what Cordelia will do?"

The taller Elder shuddered. "Nothing pleasant as far as we're concerned, I'm sure."

TBC…