Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed
Timeless Mistakes
The afternoon sun was hanging low in the sun as Darryl and Henry left the station. After receiving their report, and with Darryl deftly answering any questions to do with Prue's resurrection, a very grateful captain had then allowed the three officers to take the rest of the day off, which predictably, Sheridan hadn't taken him up on. While Darryl was slightly concerned with leaving her in the station without him to keep an eye on her, the atmosphere in the station from such a great win was too infectious for him to think, and he resolved not to let Sheridan's paranoia ruin his good mood. Besides, she would still be there tomorrow.
And he was in a damn good mood. The Mercer crime family was broken, and they had the information they needed to put the vast majority of them away for a very long time, though admittedly the son would probably get a juvie sentence instead of an adult one but other than that they would all be going down. The Chinese who had been trying to muscle in on San Francisco were also in custody, and would also be going away for a long time, aided and abetted by Interpol.
The girls had dealt with the demon slaughtering the innocents, and as Sirk had actually been a half demon, Darryl had found his human identity and pointed the finger at him, a finger which had turned out to be accurate as they had found lots of demonic paraphernalia in his apartment, including the list of his victims, and while the how couldn't exactly be answered, the who could, and now the police were looking for Sirk, though Darryl was content in the knowledge that he wouldn't be found wherever the girls had sent him.
Speaking of, following a tip off from the sisters, he had had a patrol pick up Dan, who was now raving even more than usual, however it appeared whoever had blasted him with their powers had done a number on him, having shattered his spine and his jaw, which meant his ranting was extremely limited and muffled. He was now back in custody and also now in traction to help with his wounds.
And best of all, Prue was now officially back from the dead, which all amounted to this being a pretty damn good day, and she, like they, would be receiving police medals and he, Sheridan and Henry were all sitting quite pretty and were the toast of the precinct, and their records would be glowing with everything that had gone down.
And on top of that, his best friend was back from the dead as well, and his wife was adjusting to having him live with them, so yeah, its been a pretty damn good day.
Though he had to admit, there was one thing he didn't understand.
"I don't understand why you can't just give Prue the flowers tonight," he complained as he drove the two of them towards the manor, having been recruited by Henry to drive him home via the flower shop to give a very large bouquet to Prue (the one Darryl had gotten her which would be delivered in the morning was larger he had to say), "we're all going there for dinner in a few hours."
Henry smirked.
"Yeah I know, but if I give Prue the flowers now, it'll look all the more impressive when I show up with flowers for Paige later on you see?" he asked cockily, and Darryl grinned despite himself, but did roll his eyes.
"Oh nice, I see how it is, you've roped me into your convoluted games to get your wicked way with Paige when we're about to have dinner with all three of her sisters, thanks a lot." He grumbled, though he had to admit, a lesser man would quail at the thought of trying to win over the three elder sisters Halliwell in one sitting, good thing he didn't know about Chris being a protective nephew too, Henry certainly had a set he couldn't deny him that.
And besides, provided Sheridan at least relaxed a little, it could actually make for quite a good after dinner show when Henry was inevitably beset by the three elder Halliwells and by Chris and possibly Leo, yeah that could be fun to watch, it had been a while since he and Sheila had seen a show.
"All's fair in love and war." He pointed out, and Darryl sighed, and looked at him with a twinkle in his eye.
"Word of warning, don't think that just because you helped with Prue that'll make things any easier for you." He advised, and Henry shrugged.
"I'll be fine. Are you going to tell me then? What they're involved in, what that Andy guy has to do with it all?" he asked suspiciously, and Darryl almost groaned, he had forgotten he still owed Henry answers for that.
"It's…complicated, and it's also not really for me to say," he told him, figuring that if they kept on their current path it would eventually become Paige's job, "but I will say this, despite what you might think, and despite what I know Sheridan probably thinks, the Halliwells, they are good people Henry, and they have done more good against things you can't even imagine than the entire police force has done against those that you can." He told him grimly, and Henry was a little taken aback and went quiet as they approached the manor, mulling over what Darryl had said.
Henry knew Darryl was a good guy, and the vibe he got from both Prue and Paige was that they too were extremely good people. Sheridan was highly suspicious of them, he knew that, but then again she was suspicious of anyone, and she was a bulldog, she wouldn't let this one go, he knew that. But he had to admit, in some regards she did have a point, there were a lot of inconsistencies with everything to do with the Halliwells, and their names did appear in far too many police files, but…surely they couldn't be that bad if they had Darryl on side, and he seemed very loyal and protective of them, and he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something inherently good about the sisters.
They pulled up outside the manor, and Henry was about to reach around to pick up the bouquet of flowers he had gotten for Prue when he stopped, squinting to see the front door, and he laid a hand on Darryl's forearm worriedly.
"Darryl, is it me, or does the glass on the front door look like it's been totalled?" he asked nervously, and Darryl felt a terrible chill run down his back as he looked himself.
He was right, all the glass had been shattered out of the front door. That didn't bode well in any house obviously, but in the Halliwell Manor, that had so many more, much scarier connotations. He felt a dark trickle of fear drip into his stomach, his heart pounding. No, no matter how much he kind of hoped it would be, awful though that sounded, it couldn't be the Mercers, with Prue's glamours, they had no way of knowing that she was in any way connected to their downfall. No, if the door was that totalled, when the four sisters and their time travelling Whitelighter from the future were all in, that pointed to only one thing.
Demons.
And Darryl was going to have to enter a house, with demons potentially running amok, to find whatever the hell had happened to them, with a cop who had no idea what the hell he was about to get himself into. Safe to say, his good mood had definitely gone.
What the hell did he do? Knowing there was a potential crime scene, there was no way he could get rid of Henry, or even get him to remain in the car. But on the other hand, he really, really didn't want to take the younger man into the manor when he could potentially run into a full grown, murderous demon, but what choice did he have?
Taking a deep breath, he nodded to himself, and he turned to Henry.
"Henry, listen to me very carefully. Now, I know that as a cop, you've entered houses that are crime scenes before, but this is different. Like I was telling you, the Halliwells do a hell of a lot of good, but it comes with a hell of a trade-off. I've known the girls six years, and I know what this looks like to you, but I know what it looks like to me after six years of knowing them, and I can tell you, their front door being in that state doesn't bode well. So, this is what we're going to do. We're going to get our guns, and we're going to go in. You are going to stay behind me at all times, don't argue!" he snapped, seeing Henry open his mouth in furious protest, "I know you've done this sort of thing countless times Henry, but this is different! So, you are going to come in behind me. We're going to be very careful. And you have to promise me Henry, that if I give you an order, even if it's one that makes no sense, like to run, you follow it! If I tell you to run, you do it, you don't argue, you get out of that house, into this car and drive like a bat out of hell until you're back at the precinct. Do you understand? Do I have your word?" he asked insistently, and Henry, who looked like he was about to argue, saw the genuine, terrified look in Darryl's eyes and thought better of it, and he nodded meekly.
"Yes." He responded, and Darryl nodded.
"Ok, follow me, a good few paces behind." He ordered, getting out of the car and readying his weapon, though knowing that it wouldn't be much use against a demon of any sort, hell, he still had dreams about the damn Grimlocks, and according to the sisters they were low level demons, god help them both if they walked in on an upper level demon.
Henry readied his own weapon as he got out of the car and waited for Darryl to take the lead. What the hell was going on here? What were the Halliwells involved in that Darryl was so terrified of whatever they were about to find? Yeah he knew it wasn't always nice entering a crime scene, but the way Darryl was acting, that was above and beyond what he'd expect, so what was so special about the Halliwells?
Darryl edged ahead, climbing the first flight of steps, keeping half an eye on Henry behind him.
"What's with all these leaves, it's like it's the middle of fall." Henry complained, after all, there was loads of leaves lying around, but even with the trees around the house, that couldn't explain the amount.
Darryl's heart caught in his breath, that terrible day three years ago when the glass in the front doors had been shattered, leaves everywhere, the manor a wreck, Piper and Phoebe shrieking in inconsolable pain, Leo intercepting him as he arrived, seeing the covered up body of their failed innocent, realising that the cries couldn't be for him, and then seeing her, in the conservatory, blood pooling from her head…
No, it couldn't be. Not him, they had killed him three years ago, it couldn't be, but then again, the evidence, just like last time, it looked just like last time…
"Be very careful, and remember your promise…" Darryl ordered in a low voice, and now genuinely scared himself, Darryl was terrified after all, he nodded.
Darryl edged up the next flight of stairs, afraid of what he was about to find, but somehow knowing as the top step came into his line of sight. He hated it when he was right. All the glass that had shattered from the doors, it was all lying outside the door, as though it had been shattered from the inside out.
"Wait, the glass is on the outside?" Henry asked from behind him, and Darryl nodded grimly, readying his gun, steeling himself.
"Yeah. Keep close." He ordered tersely, knowing that whatever he was about to find, it wasn't going to be good.
They proceeded slowly up the stairs, and upon reaching the top step, Darryl's blood ran cold. He could make out two fallen bodies at least, and he knew that time was short, but if there was a demon, worse, if it was the demon he suspected it was and he and Henry walked right on in, they'd be slaughtered too.
"Ok, we go in, slowly, you go right, through the living room, but keep your guard up, and remember, I tell you to do something, you do it." He instructed, and Henry, who couldn't see the bodies, nodded worriedly as he steeled himself, and Darryl took the plunge and entered the manor.
No sign of anything, no sounds except for a gentle wind blowing through the manor. Hoping that meant they were safe he moved forward enough to admit Henry into the manor, though still keeping him shielded, his gun raised and ready to fire in an instant.
"Oh my god!" Henry gasped as he saw Phoebe and Prue, edging forward to try and run to them, but Darryl held up a hand.
"No, you go right remember, try and find the others, I'll check them." He ordered, and wrestling his eyes away from the horrific sight, he gulped and headed for the living room, checking the doors before he entered.
Gun raised, Darryl entered more deeply into the manor, coming to rest at Phoebe's side, his gun covering the room as he took in the sight of her. Blood was seeping from her temple, clotting in her much shorter than usual hair, her face white and drained from blood loss, her face resting in a puddle of it. Blood was also trickling out of her left ear, trickling down her cheek. Her left arm was lying at an odd and painful angle, and her right leg was in a similar state, and there were numerous splinters of wood and fibreglass impaled within her, her back a mess. The ruins of the bannister around her, along with the broken pictures off the walls left no illusions as to what had happened to her. Fearing the worst, Darryl reached out and was certain he felt the tiniest thread of a pulse.
His next target was Prue, though as he covered himself, he had seen the two bodies lying in the conservatory, but she had to be checked first. Feeling almost sick with the familiarity of the scene, he gently pulled the top half of her body onto the windowsill, leaving her at a slightly healthier angle so he could check her over. Blood was creeping out of her ear as he checked her over, her face marred by numerous cuts and lacerations, blood soaking through her long blonde hair. Wanting to throw up but realising that the Halliwells needed him, he saw the numerous lacerations across her body from her blast through the window, blood soaking in rivulets down her arms towards her hands, her face extremely pale. He wanted to believe she was alive, but couldn't find a pulse, but he didn't let his fear, his terror for his friend overcome him, she still had family that needed his help.
In the living room, Henry was aghast at the damage that had been done inside the manor. Whatever had happened here, whatever had happened to the Halliwells, it certainly wasn't human. It looked like something had blown Paige through the top of the wall from the other side of the wall, through the cabinet before landing her through here but that was totally impossible. Debris was littered everywhere, the cabinet and wall she had clearly smashed through surrounding her. But Henry had eyes only for her, while keeping his guard up. The left side of her temple was covered in blood, which was streaming down her outstretched arm which her head laid on, the blood clotting in her strawberry blonde hair. Her exposed shoulder was ripped to shreds, as was her exposed midriff, and her pale skin was even paler than usual, and had been bruised black and blue.
"Paige, my god what the hell happened here? Darryl, I've got Paige, she's messed up, I'm going to check for a pulse!" he called, searching his girlfriend frantically for any sign of remaining life.
Darryl didn't even bother to acknowledge his partner's cry. Having left Prue unattended, he had hurried over towards the conservatory, taking the calculated risk of shelving his gun, figuring their assailant, whoever it was, and he could make a shrewd guess who, was long gone by now. He felt the air leave his lungs as he beheld Piper and Chris, and this time, the nausea did overcome him, and he quickly had to detour into one of the ruined pot plants they kept around the foyer of the manor before returning to his job. He was a cop yes, and saw this sort of thing regularly, but when it was this brutal, and your friends it happened to, it was hard to keep a lid on it.
Piper was slightly closer to him, her right arm at a slightly wonky angle beside her head, stained with blood. Her face was also a ghoulish white, blood was streaming from her nose and from the corner of her mouth, collecting in her hair which was a splayed, congealed mess beneath her. Numerous bruises and lacerations marred her body, splinters and plaster sticking into her. However the most concerning thing of all was the blood pooling from her pregnant belly, and Darryl could feel whatever warmth he had left in him draining out of him as he saw the widening pool of blood from his pregnant friend's womb.
And beside her, her son from the future was in a much worse state, and Darryl couldn't get the same image from three years ago out of his head, near enough the exact same image, hell he was so like Prue, and here he was, blown through the same wall she had been, the exact same way… Shaking himself, Darryl checked him over. His face was ashen grey, covered in tiny cuts from his blast through the wall. Blood had also trickled down into his hands, one of which was by his side, the other lifeless on his front. There was blood coming from one ear, the visible one, a river compared to the others, and there was a massive pool of blood behind him, slowly encroaching across the floor, soaking through his hair. However, worst of all, he was starting to disappear, his legs were starting to vanish and his entire body was becoming more and more translucent by the second.
Please god let him have arrived in time.
"We need an ambulance!" Henry spluttered in shock, rushing through, already on the phone, and Darryl's brain finally kicked into gear, taking the phone and ending the call.
"No, we need Leo." He said distractedly, and Henry looked at him in outrage.
"Darryl, they're all dying, if not dead already, they need medical attention, we need to do something, we need to call it in, get SOCO here, give me back the phone!" he yelled, but Darryl stepped away, shaking his head, and the last thing they needed was Sheridan showing up here at the moment which she undoubtedly would if he called it in.
"No, we need Leo," he explained with more conviction, and Henry looked at him as though he had grown an extra head.
"Wait, you think he did this?" he demanded, outraged, and Darryl shook his head irritably.
"What? No, of course not, but unless we get him soon…Leo! Leo!" he yelled, casting his voice to the heavens, praying that Leo would hear him, and Henry looked at Darryl in complete bewilderment, his hand reaching back for his gun.
"He can't hear you Darryl, we need to get them to hospital, come on!" he insisted, but Darryl fixed him with a glare.
"Be quiet! Leo! For god sake's Leo! LEO!" he bellowed, and a second later, to Darryl's immense relief, orbs materialised in front of him and a very harassed looking Leo appeared, looking at Darryl in shock before turning to see what had happened to his family.
"What the, where the hell, what happened, where did you come from?" Henry cried in panic, forgetting about reaching for his gun, but Darryl looked at him angrily.
"Henry, shut up! Leo, hurry!" Darryl snapped, and Leo jolted forwards, his healing powers washing over his wife and son, panting in panic as he tried to save them.
"What's going, where did he come from? What's he doing…oh my god, is he vanishing?" Henry spluttered, having noticed Chris fading out of existence, and Darryl would have found his freak out quite amusing had so many lives not been in the balance.
"What happened to them?" Leo demanded in a panic, looking helplessly at Darryl, who shook his head.
"No idea. What's taking so long?" he asked, extremely concerned, and Leo looked very grey all of a sudden.
"They almost died, that's what's taking so long." He replied, a fearful tremor in his voice.
However his healing glow finally stopped as Piper's eyes fluttered open, her wounds all completely healed, and he breathed a bit easier, and then, Chris became solid again, his wounds and the blood finally disappearing as the two of them came to in the midst of all the rubble, both of them groaning in pain.
"Oww…what happened?" Piper asked, sounding very pained, struggling to get up.
"Ahh, that hurt…." Chris groaned, wincing in pain, also pulling himself up weakly.
"What the hell happened to you guys?" Leo demanded, but Piper clicked her fingers at him irritably, taking in the fallen form of her sisters that she could see.
"Heal now, questions later!" she barked, taking Darryl's offered arm as he helped pull her up to her feet, while Leo rushed over to Prue
Chris got himself to his feet, wincing as he did so, totally ignoring Henry's splutters of alarm and shock, before turning to his mother.
"Go and take Prue's hands." He commanded tersely, and she shot him a funny look.
"Why-?"
"Considering who just attacked us, she'll probably come up blasting, and that will wind up wrecking the house," he said with a pained gasp as everything started to go back to normal, "well, more than it already is anyway." He admitted, and then rushed to Phoebe's side while Darryl ran through to Paige's, leaving Henry standing gaping in shock amid the rubble.
Leo urgently ran his hands over Prue, terrible flashbacks happening in front of his eyes as he tried to bring her back, the images of last time, Piper and Phoebe screaming and pleading with him to save her, to bring her back, his own heartbroken, tear stricken admission that he was too late and that she was gone…
"Come on Prue…" he begged softly.
Piper was then beside him, her face the picture of terror at the thought of losing her big sister all over again, and as Chris had told her to, taking Prue's hands, her face anxious as she watched her husband try and save her sister, only for Prue to suddenly jerk up, screaming.
"AGH!" she screamed, and to hear a noise like that, so terrified, so panicked, from Prue of all people, chilled Leo to the core, "it was him, it was him!" she screeched, her hands attempting to strike out in panic and terror, but Piper held firm, forcing Prue to look at her.
"Prue, it's alright honey, he's gone, we're here, it's alright!" she soothed, trying to get Prue to calm down, and trusting that she was in safe hands, Leo hurried towards Phoebe.
Seeing his father coming, Chris hurried through to help Darryl with Paige while Leo started healing Phoebe, Chris having used his telekinesis to get the debris out of his aunt. Meanwhile Henry was looking weakly at Leo.
"What are you people?" he asked breathlessly, having just watched him appear from nowhere and miraculously heal three people who realistically should have been heading to the morgue.
Leo's healing glow passed over Phoebe who groaned weakly as she came to, forcing herself up from the ground with a pained whimper.
"Well, remind me not to let that happen again." She grumbled, getting to her feet as Piper finally managed to soothe Prue, and pointedly ignoring Henry who had followed Leo through to the living room.
"Come on Paige don't you dare die." Chris warned as Darryl checked frantically for a pulse, only to be interrupted by Leo arriving, his healing powers directed onto her. Henry came through, looking worriedly at his girlfriend, hovering in the background and Leo breathed a sigh of relief as he felt his healing take effect, and she groaned groggily as she sat up, whimpering in pain as she did so.
"Not good, ow." She complained, and Leo turned to look expectantly at Piper as she entered with her other sisters, them all hugging Paige and then Chris.
"Ok, so do I get to find out what happened now?" he asked, but Henry shouted him down.
"Could someone please explain what the hell is going on here? I've seen people randomly appear, a near murder scene, and I need to know what's happening!" he shouted on the edge of hysteria, and Piper irritably flicked her hand at him, freezing him, and Paige sent her a nettled look, hands on her hips.
"Piper, you might have blown him up!" she scolded, and Piper scowled.
"Well, serves him right, shouting at the top of his voice when we just got blasted through various bloody walls, my head's killing me." She snarled, as Leo looked at them all, aghast, totally ignoring Henry frozen in the middle of the room.
"How the hell were you blasted through a wall?" he demanded, and she sent him a pitying glance.
"It was Shax dear." She responded acidly, extremely grumpy about almost being murdered for the umpteenth time, surveying the debris that had landed in her usual seat in the living room and flicked as much debris as she could off the seat before easing herself onto the chair.
Leo and Darryl's blood went cold.
"Shax, how? You vanquished him three years ago!" Leo protested, and Phoebe nodded, looking less than happy and dropped into one of the armchairs.
"Yeah, apparently he didn't get the message. Are you alright?" she asked her oldest sister softly, who was sitting in another armchair, shaking, her arms wrapped around herself, and Prue's voice wavered as she responded.
"No, not really, I don't think I am. He almost got me, again, the bastard almost murdered me all over again!" she screamed, and Paige wrapped her in a hug as she sat on the arm of her chair, one hand stroking through Prue's blonde hair as her sister shuddered.
"God Prue I'm so sorry." Darryl said grimly, laying a hand on her shoulder as Paige looked helplessly around her sisters, who looked just as helplessly back at her, for Prue to be as rattled and scared as this, she had gotten a serious fright, well they all had, Shax had nearly killed them all.
Speaking of which…
"And what the hell were you thinking?" Piper snapped at Chris, who immediately recoiled, both hurt and anger kindling in his eyes.
"What did I do?" he demanded, and Leo looked nervously between the two of them, now was not the time for the two of them to go at it.
Piper stood up furiously.
"You walked right into his attack, you nearly died, we all did!" she yelled, and Chris' back was well and truly up now, though at least it was calming Prue down as she had stopped shaking and was looking worriedly between the two of them.
"So we're back to everything being my fault is that it? Well for your information, Piper," he sneered, yeah that was a sure sign he was upset when he didn't call her mom, and he also had tears in his eyes at what he clearly thought was a very unfair attack on him, something the others had to agree with, "I stood in front of you for as much self-preservation as anything else! If Shax had hit your belly with me in it head on, baby me would have been vaporised! And besides, I've already lost you in one timeline, and I don't want to lose you in this one too!" he shouted, trying his hardest not to cry, and for a second there was a very pregnant pause before Piper got to her feet and wrapped him tightly in a hug, rocking him and hushing him, her face stricken and tears forming in her own eyes.
"I'm sorry sweetie, I shouldn't have shouted at you, that was unfair," she said softly, her voice barely a whisper, "but I was frightened, and angry…the last thing I saw was you stepping right into the path of the same murderous bastard who killed Prue, and then you were blown back through…through the same wall that killed Prue." She admitted, and he sort of froze in her grip for a second.
"Oh…" he mumbled softly in realisation, burying his head in her shoulder a little, and everyone relaxed slightly, the immediate storm seeming to be over as their heightened emotions started to simmer down, and before any more shouting recommenced, Leo decided to step in.
"Ok, first of all, is everyone alright?" he asked softly, wishing Piper had frozen Henry elsewhere, he was kind of in the way.
"Well, other than the fact that the evil bastard who murdered me nearly did it again, and nearly got my whole fucking family, yes." Prue answered savagely, and Chris looked significantly at his mother, who went with Phoebe to cluster around their sister, who still looked extremely shaken up.
"Ok, so what happened? When Henry and I came in, it looked like a murder scene, well, it essentially was, the same as…" Darryl said, looking at Prue significantly, and she nodded.
"Same as me dying three years ago, yeah. Well we were all just standing together, we didn't even figure anything was wrong." She explained, and Phoebe nodded.
"Then all of a sudden, Shax blazed in, blasted Prue before we could even think, then took out Chris and Piper all before we could react. I started to move but he caught me, and then…" Phoebe explained, and Paige nodded, looking anxious herself.
"I tried to orb so I could get away from him and banish him, but he caught me too." She lamented, and Leo suppressed a shudder, his whole family had nearly been slaughtered.
"It was too close. Ok, first of all, are we sure it was Shax?" he asked, and the four sisters looked at him sceptically.
"Leo, I think we can all identify Shax, we're intimately familiar with his work." Prue growled, her tone ice, and he winced, but pressed on.
"No, what I mean was, was he definitely Shax and not some fear thing of Barbas'?" he asked, needing to be sure, and Piper shook her head.
"No, it was definitely Shax, we can't forget him." She said grimly, and Chris nodded.
"Mom's right," he said, and Leo saw Piper relax a little out of the corner of his eye at being called mom again, "and besides, even if he was a fear thing caused by Barbas he wouldn't have been as able to cause so much damage, and wouldn't have affected me, I'm not nearly as affected by him as they are."
Darryl looked grimly at the sisters, he could tell they were all shaken up, and Prue in particular, coming so close to losing her again had seriously knocked them off.
"Ok, so how did he come back?" he asked, playing devil's advocate, and Leo frowned, chewing the inside of his gum.
"Well it can't have been Barbas, he certainly doesn't have the firepower to bring a demon as powerful as Shax back from the wasteland. It has to be the new power down in the underworld." He reasoned, and Chris nodded, looking grim.
"Yeah and I reckon they're behind all the other attacks recently too so whoever the hell they are, they have a lot to answer for." He grumbled darkly, to Phoebe's agreeing nod.
Silence reigned for a second before Prue whispered in a fragile voice, close to breaking.
"Why did it have to be him?"
The whole room looked at her sadly, but it looked like their sympathy and pity was now getting on her nerves as she got to her feet and stormed over to look out at the window, glaring out at the world, and Piper looked at Leo helplessly, who shrugged.
"Well…if I wanted to get you guys, he's the demon I would use." Chris stated hesitantly, wondering how his aunt would take that, and she twirled, though he could see the barest flicker of relief in her eyes, at least her nephew had some form of answers.
"How do you mean?" she asked sharply, and he shrugged.
"Well, to find a demon capable of messing with all four of you, one you've all faced, you're extremely limited. In fact, there's only three demons all four of you have ever dealt with: Cole, Barbas and of course Shax. So, if I was some evil demon wanting to play mind games with you, you're limited to one of those three. Cole obviously has his own set of problems if you use him, first of all, he was most significant to Phoebe. He didn't really have as much of an effect on the other three of you, other than the fact that you and Paige didn't trust him. He's also back and trying to do good, and his love for Phoebe, unrequited though it might be nowadays," he said testily, noticing that Phoebe was about to interrupt, "acts as a restraint on him, so sending Belthazor to kill you guys wouldn't work.
Then there's Barbas, yeah, he's creepy, he's powerful, but he's also tying with the Source for the amount of times you guys have kicked his ass. He's menacing, creepy and scary yeah, but he's also an occupational hazard for anyone working with him, and he also knows he can't beat you in a direct confrontation, no matter how much stronger he's gotten, and because you guys have beaten him so many times, he doesn't have the same effect on you all anymore.
But then there's Shax, and using him is Psychology 101. Shax had a major effect on all four of you, changed all of your lives forever. Prue, he's the demon who killed you. He killed you, destroyed your life, ended it far sooner than it should have been, and was the one responsible for you being ripped apart in the afterlife because of the prophecy. He killed you and broke the Power of Three, broke the Charmed Ones, and ruined you. He had an effect on mom, he took away her big sister who had been there her whole life. By doing that he forced her to become the eldest, to become the leader, to take over and lead the family, to find Paige and changed her life forever. Same with Phoebe, he killed her big sister, made her the middle sister, and to both of them took away the protective element that you could always cheat death, he took away your invulnerability. And with Paige, it was thanks to him her life changed forever as it led to her becoming a witch and finding her family. Not to mention, what he did had a profound effect on all of you, he looks scary, and he's the only demon you've all fought and has had a significant psychological impact. He's perfect to attack you with." He explained, and the four sisters looked like he had made a good point.
"Not bad kid. Doesn't explain who sent him, but you've covered the why pretty well." Leo reasoned, and Chris shrugged.
"The who we don't know, but whoever they were, they probably didn't even have to work hard to convince him to attack." He told them, and Paige looked at him curiously.
"Yeah, but last time we saw him, we vanquished him, surely if he hadn't ambushed us and just came to fight us, he'd be walking straight back to hell. Why would he want to come back to potentially get himself killed?"
"Prue," Chris explained, pointing to her, "you don't get what Shax is like down there. He's like, some sort of major celebrity, a rock god, a whole sort of Freddie Mercury or something like that, every demon wanted to be him. He was the only demon to ever kill a Charmed One, his reputation went from legendary to epic overnight when he killed Prue, he was getting marriage offers, titles, the whole shebang. He didn't want any of it, I'll give him that, but he was a god to them all basically, because he didn't just kill a Charmed One, which is hard enough, he took out the eldest, the most powerful, the most dangerous. The 17th of May, the day she died, is a bank holiday down there for goodness sake, it's known as VC Day, all thanks to him."
"VC? Oh, Victory Charmed Ones, that's charming. Wait, they get bank holidays?" Piper asked, distracted, and Chris nodded, smiling a little.
"More than most mortals get, surprisingly. Anyway, that isn't my point. The point is, whoever brought him back wouldn't have had to do much to get him to come after us. All they would have had to do is tell him that his greatest kill, his greatest claim to fame, had came back from the dead, he'd have come here as fast as he could. Say what you will about him, he's a professional, and if he found out you were alive again, he'd be furious, he doesn't like having to kill his hits twice." He explained, and strangely, Prue to respect her murderer's professionalism if nothing else.
"Ok…alright, the point being, he's back, but the bastard ambushed us, so I'm fairly confident he won't show up again, he has to know we'll be on our guard. Darryl, if you had gotten here a few minutes later…" Piper said anxiously, and he shook his head gruffly.
"Don't be silly Piper, we got here in time, let's just leave it at that." He told them, though the sisters all looked at him thankfully.
"Thank you, both of you." Phoebe said softly, and Darryl smiled a little.
"We need to protect ourselves regardless, protect the house, we don't want a repeat performance." Chris said with a scowl, and Prue nodded in agreement, still looking very preoccupied.
Meanwhile, however, Paige was staring at Henry, who was still frozen.
"Geez Piper how much did you freeze him?" she asked, and Leo smiled a little.
"What, want us to leave you alone so you can have your wicked way with him?" he teased, confident that the girls, well hopefully Prue too, were now all fine, and Paige shot him a fiery look of outrage which made him and Darryl chuckle.
"Well our powers are growing and my emotions were all to hell when I did it so probably a while." Piper reasoned, pulling Prue down onto the couch and sitting beside her, hugging her with one arm and stroking her hair with it while Prue looked a million miles away.
Paige sighed, then looked at Darryl worriedly.
"How much does he know?" she asked in concern, and he looked a bit bemused.
"Enough, came in and saw you guys all virtually dead, saw Leo orb in, his miraculous healing and all of you shaking the attack off, and Chris disappearing." He explained, and she groaned while a frightened Piper cast a look at her son.
"Sorry aunt Paige." Chris mumbled, feeling a little guilty, but she waved him off.
"It's not your fault little dude, you didn't ask to be assassinated. Ah well, I was thinking of telling him, you know, maybe a few months or years down the line, but needs must I suppose. Unfreeze him, let's see how he takes it. Please don't blow him up?" she asked hopefully, and Piper gave her a nettled look.
"I'll try." She retorted acidly, waving her hand, and Henry continued talking at once.
"-Because whatever is going on here is really freaking me out!" he prattled, and Paige took his hand, forcing him to look at her.
"Sorry Henry, I certainly didn't intend for you to find out this way, I really didn't. Calm down ok? It's alright." She soothed, and he looked at her incredulously.
"Paige, you were nearly dead when we came in, and now you're all fine, but it looks like a bomb went off, how is anything alright?" he demanded weakly, and she fixed him with a consoling look.
"It's because we're witches honey." She told him softly, and he stopped spluttering and just stared at her as though she had gained an extra head.
"Witches?" he repeated, and she nodded.
"Yep, witches. Good witches I might add, but yeah, we're witches. We have magic." She told him, and he looked at them all in concern.
"Witches? Like flying on brooms, that kind of stuff?" he asked, and Phoebe smirked a little.
"Only once, on a special occasion." She told him, and he gave her a confused look, which Paige backed up with an annoyed one.
"We're witches Henry, we're known as the Charmed Ones, the four most powerful good witches the world will ever know. We protect the innocent, fighting demons, warlocks, Darklighters, the occasional ghost, all sorts of things." She explained, and he looked at her curiously.
"Good witches, like wands and stuff?" he asked, and she shook her head.
"No, but we can all cast spells, and make potions, that whole thing. The four of us have four different main powers between us." She told him, and Prue looked up at him.
"I have telekinesis, and a couple of others related to movement," she explained, concentrating a second before a pack of aspirin appeared right in front of her from nowhere, "astral projection, psychokinesis, and this new one, telematerialisation." She explained, a slight tugging of her lips as she saw Phoebe's perturbed face glaring at her showing off her new power.
"I can affect molecules, freeze them, slow them down, melt them, blow them up." Piper explained, happily taking the aspiring Prue had summoned and downing a couple herself, Leo might have saved her from death but the various aches from being smashed through a wall still hurt like a bitch.
"I get premonitions! I have levitation as well, and I can use empathy and psychic reflection." Phoebe added, also taking two aspirin before throwing the box to Paige, who caught it without looking.
"And what about you?" Henry asked, feeling a little at sea, and she shrugged.
"Well, I have more powers than they do, but my main power is projection, I can…I can use my imagination to help in a fight," she explained, looking to Leo for confirmation of her explanation, who nodded, "but I've got other powers too from my Whitelighter side."
"What's a Whitelighter?" Henry asked, and Leo joined the conversation.
"Kind of like guardian angels for witches, we advise, we guide, we heal as you saw." He explained, and Henry nodded cautiously.
"Ok, so you're a Whitelighter…and not a witch?" he asked Paige on confusion, and she shook her head.
"I'm half and half actually, same as Chris. Half witch, half Whitelighter." She told him, and to her delight, he wasnt running for the hills, and did seem to be getting the general gist.
"Ok, so Prue, Piper and Phoebe are pure witches, and you and Chris are a," he began, and Chris interjected.
"Witchlighter." He said, and Henry nodded his thanks.
"Witchlighter, and Leo's a normal Whitelighter?" he asked, and Leo nodded.
"Meanwhile, I'm just a normal cop." Darryl said, his smile betraying how amused he was by Henry suddenly getting a crash course in magic.
"Ok…so what happened to you guys, why were you all basically dead?" he asked, shocked, and Piper shrugged.
"Occupational hazard, we were attacked by a demon." She explained, and Henry looked at her in alarm.
"Does that happen often?" he demanded, and Phoebe nodded, looking bored.
"Yeah, a little too much at the moment, its been a rough couple of weeks." She admitted, and Henry looked at them, aghast.
"But you guys nearly died!" he protested in abhorrent horror, and Paige smiled at him sweetly.
"Like we said, it's an occupational hazard. But for the record, the demon who attacked us today is very good at his job." She told him, shivering ever so slightly as she did so.
"What's his job?" Henry asked, and Prue gave him a humourless smile.
"He's an assassin Henry. He used to be the private assassin of the Source of All Evil, the ruler of the demonic underworld. He was the demon who killed me," she told him darkly, and he looked at her, not comprehending, "Henry, I haven't been in a coma or faking my death the last three years. I've been dead. Shax, the demon who attacked us today, killed me. I came back because of some time travel wizardry, but that let me come back when it was originally prophesised that there would only be three of us at a time, not all four of us."
"Prophecy? Time travel?" he asked weakly, dropping down onto a chair, and Paige nodded in sympathy.
"Yeah, takes a lot to get your head round. But Cliff Notes version is: Shax, the former assassin of the Source who is now apparently freelance, came in, blasted us, who happen to be witches or witchlighters, almost killed us, and when you and Darryl showed up you called Leo, who healed us. Simple!" she chirped brightly, and he looked at her in slight disbelief, but nodded.
"Ok, so this Shax guy nearly murdered you all…but why was he," he asked, pointing at Chris, "disappearing? Is that a witch thing?"
Chris shared a look with Paige, who nodded reluctantly, so he answered.
"I'm not from this time. I came here from the future, I came back to save my family, and the world by extension, the future's a mess. So if I was disappearing, it's nature's way of making sure I don't pollute the timeline anymore, cleaning up." He told him, and Henry nodded, though Piper did look worried as she took Chris' hand and squeezed it, the full implications setting in.
"But, it might also have been because I was dying, and the baby was dying, as he's my son, he's who I'm carrying."
Henry's eyes widened in realisation, and he grinned.
"It's obvious now," he said, and they both glared at him while Leo, Darryl and the sisters sniggered, "so you're like Terminator?" he asked, and Chris grinned.
"Yeah, a little, though not as durable sadly…marry him." He mouthed at Paige teasingly as Henry looked at his shoes in order to help process, and she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Wow, I wondered what the hell you guys were up to, but this…" he said breathlessly, and Darryl grinned.
"Yeah, it's a bit much actually finding out what the big secret is, isn't it?" he asked, clearly enjoying himself now that he knew everyone was alright.
"And obviously, we can't tell Sheridan, she won't understand from the looks of her, she'll have us carted off and dissected at best." Prue warned, and Henry nodded, realising that if Sheridan found out what they truly were she wouldn't stop until they brought her down.
"Of course. So…what happens now?" he asked, and Paige sat beside him, her hand wrapping around his.
"You keep our secret hopefully, otherwise we can't keep doing what we're meant to do. But other than that, business as usual I say." She said, and Henry looked at them all, hardly believing his ears.
"You guys were almost murdered, surely you're going to call off dinner?" he asked, and Piper smiled grimly.
"Hardly, if we called off dinner every time we almost died we'd never eat. Besides, cancelling at the last minute would just make Sheridan more suspicious." She said, getting to her feet, swaying a little and Chris was at her side in an instant, steadying her, it had been a long day.
Henry looked around at the ruins the house was in, a window smashed through, a wall smashed through, the stairs wrecked and the living room in chaos.
"Um, the mess?" he asked, after all, Sheridan would notice, and Paige winked at him.
"Watch." She told him, and recited the spell to clean up the mess and watched in amusement as his eyes widened in awe.
"Cool." He said with a grin, and confident that he wasn't an immediate problem, Piper took command of the situation.
"Alright. Shax seems to be gone, and like you say, I think the whole point was the ambush but we can't be too careful. Leo, could you make sure the house is protected please, and hide the crystals where Sheridan can't see them, that would be all we need. Chris and I will go and make dinner as was the plan before Shax turned up. Pheebs, you go and do your column. Paige, you go with Henry, explain everything he needs to know, and that's all," she ordered in a teasing voice, and Paige went scarlet, glaring at her sister, "and Prue…go and rest."
Prue looked outraged.
"Piper, I…" she protested, but Piper suddenly got a look in her eye that was very reminiscent of Grams.
"Prue, you were almost murdered again by the same demon who killed you once before. Go and rest, Phoebe will keep you company. Just take it easy, our ongoing problem with Wyatt will still be there later. And Darryl, you can go and get Sheila and we will see you later. Thank you again, you saved us." She said, touching his arm and he hugged her.
"Anytime Piper. See you guys later. Oh, I'll go and get Henry's flowers." He said in realisation and hurried out to get them, and Paige looked at him with a smile.
"You bought flowers?" she asked, and he looked nervously at Prue.
"Yeah, for you, as a thank you for bringing down the Mercers." He said, and she smiled at him.
"Aww thank you Henry, that's sweet. They could have been my first funeral bouquet!" she said happily as Darryl ran back into the house to present them to her.
Piper looked at her, unimpressed.
"Funeral? Oh no missy, you've had your funeral, you're not getting another one, do you realise how expensive it is to die? You can go in a box, the rest of us will get a funeral, you can sod off, attention hog." She teased, and Prue looked at her with mock outrage.
"What, so I come back from the dead but don't get another funeral just because you're a cheapskate?" she demanded, and the two sisters started their playful bickering, and Darryl chuckled and winked at Henry.
"Good luck rookie, see you later." He said, leaving the Halliwells to debate the merits of Prue getting a rerun of her funeral.
XX
A couple of hours later, they were all sat around the table in the dining room, all four sisters, Chris, baby Wyatt had finally returned home, Leo, Henry, Darryl and Sheila and Sheridan. So far she had been polite and had answered the girls questions easily enough, but it was clear that she was on guard, her eyes taking everything in.
However, thankfully, everything seemed to go smoothly, Piper thought, no demons had struck, no one had had to use their powers, and Henry, having been brought up to speed by Paige, seemed to know when best to keep quiet and let them do the talking as they danced around the subjects of conversation at dinner. Indeed, say what you like about her, but Sheridan had good taste in red wine, and had brought a case of six as a thank you for Prue's help, and for dinner.
"Reckon it's working?" Chris muttered as he brought through a stash of dishes, everyone having consumed their beef wellington with gusto, the sounds of conversation, relaxation and laughter, which even more strangely was Sheridan's, coming from the dining room as Piper contemplated how best to cut her yogurt and honey cheesecake that they had made for dessert.
"Well we're not exactly getting her to loosen up but she's being nice enough and Phoebe's keeping an empathic eye on her, so hopefully. Somehow though I doubt she'll take it as proof that we're actually the good guys." She said ruefully, cutting the cake into quarters, Chris' eyes watching it hungrily, clearly angling for one of the leftover pieces after she divvied it up.
"You think Prue's alright?" Chris asked worriedly, and she frowned as she considered the mention of her big sister, she had been unsettled all night and was merely putting on a brave face to deter Sheridan, anyone could see that.
"I don't know," she said worriedly, sliding a piece onto a plate, "it's not like her, but then like you said earlier it isn't like Shax is just any ordinary demon almost killing us, she's bound to be messed up."
Chris got the cream and the crème fraiche that were to go with dessert out of the fridge.
"I asked Paige to go and pick up Andy after everyone leaves, you know, before she has her wicked way with Henry, I figured she could do with some cheering up." He explained, and she smiled, that was sweet.
"Aww that was nice of you, but why not do it yourself?" she asked suspiciously, and he looked slightly guilty.
"I don't think he likes me much, he didn't appreciate me giving him the third degree on what he was when I checked him over." He admitted, and she sighed, but then, Andy had always been quite stubborn.
Figuring she could file that under the file of problems to worry about later, she served dessert. After dinner while Chris kept a watchful eye on Phoebe doing the dishes (she had drawn the shortest straw) and everyone was relaxing in the conservatory with a drink, she and Prue tag teamed Sheridan expertly, asking her questions and leading her down paths of reasoning that she would hopefully lead to her deducing that they weren't a threat.
Piper was feeling fairly contented, but she was watching Prue with a slightly anxious eye, as she was still quite jumpy, admittedly hardly surprising after Shax's near assassination of them all, but so unlike her big sister.
"You and Chris seem very close." Sheridan commented, sipping her red wine and jerking Piper out of her reverie, and she smiled, watching as Chris got involved in a lively discussion with both Henry and Paige debating the merits of the Battlestar reboot that Prue had recorded for them.
Piper smiled.
"He's almost like a mix between the son and little brother, neither of whom I particularly wanted." She replied fondly, and Sheridan chuckled.
Leo and Darryl were discussing baseball, so Piper had automatically switched off with that, and Sheila was playing with Wyatt while Phoebe topped up everyone else's drinks.
"Are you alright Prue? If you're worried I can get officers to keep watch in an unmarked car." Sheridan offered, half correctly interpreting the concerned look that was mulling over Prue's face, and jerked out of her line of thought, she shook her head.
"Sorry, it's not that, I'm just thinking about where I go from here." She told her, and that at least was partly true.
"What were you doing before everything went down?" Sheridan asked, and Prue smiled a little.
"I was working for 415 as a photographer, how much of my camera stuff did you keep?" she asked Piper excitedly, and Piper grinned.
"Actually, most of it, it's down in the basement, I used your old darkroom to store the stuff. I couldn't face getting rid of it, or trying to sell it, so I thought I might as well keep it, a memento if you will." She said kindly, and Prue's face lit up, and Sheridan raised a glass in toast to her.
"Well, good luck getting your old job back, the captain and I will be happy to write you a letter of recommendation to your editor." She said, and Prue looked genuinely shocked before smiling gratefully.
"Thank you." She said gratefully, and Sheridan turned to Piper.
"Your home is lovely." She commented, and Phoebe suddenly appeared, looking excited.
"Of course, we haven't given you the grand tour, allow me!"
Before Sheridan could protest, Phoebe had her whisked away, in order to use her empathy for some one on one time to try and discern her intentions.
"It is lovely, what's wrong with the attic?" Sheridan asked as Phoebe continued her tour, and had just mentioned that it was blocked off.
Phoebe however hadn't thought that far ahead, she should have known that the inquisitive inspector would ask what was wrong with it.
"Faulty wiring in the light, it crashed down last night, we nearly all wet ourselves, so Leo's going to take a look at it." She assured her, and Sheridan winced.
"Sounds nasty." She commented, though unseen by Phoebe, she cast an interest and suspicious glance back at the stairs leading up to the attic before continuing to follow her guide.
The night came to an end, and Sheridan shook Piper's hand before leaving.
"Thank you very much for dinner Ms Halliwell, I hope to see you again." She said as she left, and with her gone, everyone else relaxed a little bit more.
"She needs to learn to lighten up." Henry stated, sitting with his arm around Paige's shoulders, and Phoebe nodded in agreement.
"Too true, it's like she can't switch off. I don't know if we convinced her, I can pick up on her with my empathy, but she's a lot harder to read than most people. Either way, I think we need to be careful with her floating around." She warned, and Prue sighed.
"And with her being one of the heroes of the hour, the chances of her getting moved away from us are slim to none. And you can bet she'll keep being suspicious. It was worth a shot, thanks guys." She said, sounding slightly defeated, and Piper patted her hand.
"It's ok honey, we'll think of something. And it was nice, having everyone back together again anyway." She said, sitting beside her sister and leaning her head on her shoulder.
"Which reminds me," Paige said, and orbed away, prompting Prue to look at the spot where she had vanished in confusion.
"Reminds her of what?"
"Oh you'll see." Piper assured her, getting up to get some coffee for everyone as the evening started to wind down.
Outside, Sheridan got into a cab. She couldn't help but get the feeling that Phoebe had been lying about the attic. And there was still so many unanswered questions about Prue's return, about how she managed to bring down the Mercers, and why so many cases linked to the Halliwells. She had to find out what was going on here, who knows how many lives depended on it? Though she had meant about writing the letter for Prue, that would be her first task, whatever else she may or may not have done, she owed her that much at least.
XX
The next morning dawned, and Piper should have been worried that her baby was not in his cot when she awoke, but due to the absence of her time travelling son she simply ambled downstairs to the living room, to find Chris' whiteboard erected in the living room, with Wyatt sitting on the floor, playing with his blocks while his brother stood, arms crossed, looking at the board, deep in thought, and all the while the smell of cinnamon was wafting through the house.
"Morning sweeties." She said, picking Wyatt up to give him a kiss and then kissing Chris on the cheek.
"Morning mom." He said, looking at the board, his brow furrowed.
"How come you're up so early?" she asked, setting Wyatt down again, and he smiled ruefully.
"I kind of knocked myself out of bed." He admitted, and she snorted in amusement.
"How did you manage that?" she asked, chuckling, and he sent her a petulant look.
"Well, I had another dream about Wyatt, it's like he needed me to help him. So I reached out, but then kind of woke up and accidentally used my powers, and wound up bouncing myself out of bed." He complained, rolling his eyes as he noticed his mother sniggering beside him.
"I thought I heard a thump. Are you alright?" she asked, stroking his hair fondly, and he nodded.
"Yeah, just my pride's a little bruised. I figured since I was up I might as well do something useful, so there's fresh bagels cooking in the oven." He told her, and she smiled, that explained the cinnamon smell, he was a good lad.
But there was the dream about Wyatt that worried her, last time it had nearly destroyed them all, but Wyatt was gone, vanquished, so why was Chris dreaming about him now?
"Should we be worried?" she asked, the fear of what happened last time overriding her common sense, and Chris shook his head, though he didn't look entirely convinced.
"Like we said, Wyatt's gone. It's probably just a…" he muttered, tailing off, and Piper didn't have to be a mind reader, or even his mother, to know what he was thinking, and rubbed his back a little.
"Any joy with this? And where's your father?" she asked, and he shrugged, though cast a look upward.
"I'm fairly certain that when Darryl called him to rescue us yesterday the Elders were mid tirade, so he's probably gone back for round two," he sighed, "and this, I've gotten nowhere with." He complained, and Piper properly looked at the board, at his handwriting which was so similar to hers.
The board included various words in bubbles, flow charts, question marks, and all sorts. Shax, the Spider Demon, Sirk, the Celerity demons, Rennek, Dan and everyone else they had contended with recently were all on the board as was Barbas, along with a circle with Wyatt in the centre, surrounded by a ring with the names of her and her sisters, Leo and Chris in it, then another circle around that with Darryl, Andy and others on that one. There was also scribblings like Andy's resurrection, murdered innocents among other things, and Piper could see why they hadn't made any progress, there was far too much going on.
"I see why you need help." Prue commented cheerfully as she came down the stairs, Andy behind her.
"Andy!" Piper cried joyfully, and he wrapped her in a hug while Prue looked expectantly at her, and upon receiving no recognition from her sister, flounced towards her two nephews, and at least was acknowledged by a grin from them both.
"Hey Piper, it's good to see you." Andy said, pulling away from her, and she patted his cheek.
"You too, welcome back." She said kindly, and he grinned.
"It's good to be back. Thanks kid." Andy said to Chris, who smiled a little, and Prue winked at Chris as well.
"Yeah, thanks scrappy, that was a sweet thing to do." She told him, nudging him with her arm.
"Andy!" Phoebe cried in joy, jumping down the last couple of steps to hug him in greeting, as Paige and Henry also joined them, Henry going very red as Prue and Piper fixed him with a look.
"It's great to see you Phoebe." Andy said happily, mussing her hair, and she grinned before turning to look expectantly at Paige, who seemed to be trying to hide Henry from view, while going red herself.
"Don't look at us like that! Nothing happened!" she protested, and Andy winked at Henry.
"You sly dog." He commented, and Henry groaned and looked at Paige.
"Is this normal?" he pleaded, and she nodded reluctantly.
"Occupational hazard of living with your sisters. Nothing did happen though! We were just talking, we were full of food!" she protested, and Prue nodded, looking sceptical, a grin on her face.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, we believe you." She said, slinking her arm around Andy's as they both grinned.
"Hi, nice to officially meet you Paige, and thanks for picking me up last night. And thank you Piper for saving me a bit wellington, it was awesome, your cooking is just as good as I remember." He told her, and she winked.
"Don't you forget it." She told him, picking Wyatt up.
"It's nice to meet you officially too Andy, and this is my boyfriend, Henry Mitchell, a cop like you." Paige said, and the two men shook hands.
"Ok, I vote we get some breakfast, then try and figure out our next move." Chris said, admitting defeat with the board, and they all headed through for breakfast.
"Well, that was delicious honey," Phoebe said, some time later, polishing off the last of her bagel while Paige stole the last bit of smoked salmon left on the board that they had been putting on it, "and now, sadly, I need to go to work."
"Running the office again?" Paige asked curiously, and Phoebe nodded.
"Yeah, Elise is half AWOL, I wouldn't mind if I knew who the guy was." She complained, and Prue grinned.
"Phoebe, think of it this way, you are getting paid to tell people what to do, and you are currently getting paid to boss people around while telling people what to do." She told her with a smirk, sipping her coffee, and admittedly, that did cheer Phoebe up slightly.
"Alright, someone needs a bath, so if you'll excuse me." Piper said, lifting Wyatt out of his high chair, and Prue gestured with her head to Chris.
"Come on scrappy, let's check your murder board out. Coming babe?" she asked, getting to her feet, and Andy nodded, following dutifully, an excited smile on his face.
"A case, my first case back, I'm so excited!" he prattled excitedly, and Paige gave Chris a sympathetic look.
"Good luck sweetie. It's sad but also kind of sweet in its own way." She lamented, smiling a little as Chris dutifully followed his aunt and potential uncle through to the living room leaving Henry and Paige to do the dishes.
A while later, the board was rewritten in a much more manageable order, and Chris had to admit, it did look much better now, and was much clearer.
"Ok, someone is after Wyatt, most likely a demon who's been sending countless other demons after you, has resurrected Shax, and is also working with Barbas and Rennek." Andy summed up, and Prue nodded.
"Not to mention someone brought you back and set Sirk loose, while also busting Dan out to go after Chris, so whoever it is knows how to press our buttons, which suggests some sort of intimate knowledge of us." She added, and Chris finished the point, looking at the board, his arms folded as he mulled everything over.
"And seems determined to strip away Wyatt's defences, after all, once he takes you guys, dad and me out the picture, he's only left with mortal defences, so whoever it is knows that he can be made vulnerable." He concluded darkly, and he looked worriedly at his mother who had just entered the room with his freshly cleaned big brother.
"And as Shax recently proved, we can be removed." She added, looking worried as she set her son where they could see him, as the four of them looked at the whiteboard.
"But you guys have vanquished virtually every big bad imaginable, so who are you missing? Or maybe it's, Piper I don't want you to think…" Andy said worriedly, recoiling a little as Chris' eyes flashed, and Prue wisely stood between her man and her nephew, wouldn't do for her nephew to kill him for a slight against his mother.
Piper too must have noticed the warning signs and laid a hand on Chris' shoulder, her eyes telling him not to follow up on anything as Andy clearly hadn't meant it like that.
"I've had the same thought Andy," she admitted, looking anxious, "but I can't imagine what the hell I could do at any point in the near future that could break Wyatt as much as he was."
"It's nothing to do with you mom." Chris insisted stubbornly, and Prue smiled a little at her nephew.
"He's right, there's no way you cause whatever breaks Wyatt. What worries me is that in the end sis, you're right. Shax nearly got all of us, all four of us and Chris, which would have left Leo as the only proper magical protection Wyatt has. And our recent encounter with the Darklighters and Rennek showed how easy that is to overcome." She said thoughtfully, her green eyes narrowed as she considered the problem, Andy snaking an arm around her waist as she contemplated this problem.
"Wyatt would have been safe though, he was at Magic School." Chris reasoned, and Prue nodded, still deep in contemplation.
"Yeah, but he wouldn't stay there forever if something happened to us, he would wind up with dad, and while dad would never let anything happen to him, he certainly couldn't stop a demon, especially the likes of Shax. And I don't know, maybe they were hoping to get him before that, maybe Magic School isn't safe." She reasoned, and she had a fair point, after all, during her time there Piper had had to deal with a Headless Horseman, assisted by Chris.
"It's protected against demons though." Piper pointed out, and Prue chewed her lip thoughtfully.
"Maybe they have some other way in? I don't know, but we're relying an awful lot on Gideon always being there to protect everyone inside it, the same would apply to Wyatt." She reasoned, and they had to admit, she had a point, and the Titans had recently proved that even the Elders weren't untouchable.
The whole situation was getting more and more creepy, some unknown enemy was sending forces against them like pawns on a chess board, all the while preparing to make some sort of divine move and invert the game and destroy their whole family. It was worrying, the constant attacks they had endured recently were bad enough, but not knowing who was after Wyatt was making matters worse, and they were still nowhere near an answer.
The bell rang suddenly, jerking them all from their thoughts, and Piper headed through to answer it, and was surprised to find two police officers on the other side of the door.
"Ms Hallliwell?" the shorter one asked, and she nodded, stepping back hesitantly.
"Yes, can I help you?" she asked, and the others all stopped looking at the board, and Chris edged through to lean on the doorway into the hall, looking in concern at his mother, while Paige and Henry emerged from the kitchen, attracted by the doorbell.
"May we, uh, come in?" the taller of them asked, and she nodded a little, though other than Darryl, and nowadays Henry, it was very strange to see a cop come into the house, let alone two of them.
The taller of them then looked at her appraisingly, but she couldn't help but shake the feeling there was something slightly odd about the two of them.
"We were wondering if you were alright?" he asked, and Piper suppressed a smirk, they were a lot of things at the moment but after their near death at the hands of Shax, some unknown bad guy out to get her baby and a carousel of threats blowing through the manor, it was a bit generous to say they were alright.
"Have you noticed any suspicious activity lately around your home?" the smaller of them said, and still in the living room, Prue froze, could this perhaps be something to do with Sheridan, had she sent them to try and get info out of the sisters? She sent a worried look at Andy, who in turn shared one with Henry as he joined them in the living room, listening in worriedly.
Chris exchanged a worried look with Paige as he leaned on the doorframe, while she watched the officers warily from the dining room, after all, if someone had heard the commotion of Shax nearly killing them all, it could explain the cops presence here.
"What is this about exactly?" Piper asked hesitantly, there was still something not quite right here, and both cops looked extremely anxious and nervous, very jumpy, which meant that unless they were deathly afraid of the sisters, they should be calm.
But why would they be deathly afraid of the inhabitants of the house if they were cops?
The taller one, seeming to fear something was up, pushed on.
"We got word there may be an attempt on your life." He informed them, eliciting a dark look from his partner, and Piper exchanged a shocked look with her sisters, while Andy, hidden in the living room, bent close to Henry.
"If their lives had been threatened, surely a uniform cop wouldn't come and tell them? Or have things changed that much since I've been dead?" he whispered, and Henry shook his head.
"Nope, no way, uniform would never get given a job like that. Hang on," he muttered, edging out, ignoring Chris, Paige and Prue's combined looks of warning as he edged closer toward the front door.
"What?" Piper asked in shock, her suspicion growing by the instant, "by who?"
The two cops looked at each other in alarm, before forging ahead with their intention.
"You've, uh, come across them before." The smaller one said, as if trying to give them a clue.
"Them?" Prue asked, shoving Henry behind her slightly as she stood beside her nephew, who was now standing upright in the doorframe, "who are you guys?" she challenged, her eyes narrowed dangerously.
Henry then interjected, his arms folded, also looking at them suspiciously.
"Hey, you guys are from the Mission District, how is Mahoney doing? Had his big retirement bash yet?" he asked, and the two of them gave him extremely forced grins.
"Oh, yeah, big bash, great night!" the taller one insisted, and Henry glowered.
"Really? Funny that, since he had a heart attack two days before retirement and he's still in the hospital, the whole force was talking about, whoever they are, they're not cops." He growled, and the smaller one, realising he was now in danger of having his cover blown, pushed ahead.
"Look, this is a friendly visit, we're just here to warn you that there are beings that you've thought you've dealt with but haven't!" he prattled in panic.
"Beings? Wait a second…" Piper snarled, hands coming up.
"They're demons!" Chris spat, conjuring a combustive orb.
"The Triad's back, beware!" the smaller one cried, before the taller one threw a fireball at them in panic, forcing Piper to duck as it narrowly missed her and smashed the vase of flowers that Henry had had Darryl bring for Paige the previous night.
Chris' orb then blasted him right in the chest and he screamed as he was vanquished, and the smaller one looked around in panic before Piper blew him apart with a flick of her hands, leaving the inhabitants of the house standing in shock as she looked at where they had just vanquished the two demons, and Piper asked the question that had overridden all her other considerations, shrieking in alarm:
"Did he just say Triad?"
XX
Xar looked at the other members of the Triad in alarm, dropping their connection to the scrying circle they were using to spy on the sisters.
"We are exposed! How did this happen?" he demanded angrily, and Asmodeus raised a hand to calm his colleague.
"Peace, Xar. We knew the sisters would find out about our existence eventually, and as they failed to die after Shax here so helpfully nearly killed them," he said, inclining his head to the assassin, who apparently still didn't trust them but was willing to work with them in order to bring down the Charmed Ones, "it was inevitable that they would be coming after us. The main question is who these demons were that have exposed us." He mused, and Katya, who was standing in for Barbas, leaned into the conversation.
"Perhaps it was to do with the two demons working with the boy from the future, they have vanished after all." She theorised, and Candor nodded, looking pensive.
"The shapeshifter is correct, they did disappear, and gave Barbas the slip. But why alert the witches to our presence?" he asked, but Baliel shook his head dismissively.
"It doesn't matter. Now that they are aware, they will be coming for us. It is time we prepared. Are you ready to strike Elder?" he asked Gideon, who had also been lurking in the shadows, and he nodded.
"Yes, if everything is in readiness. The sisters will have no choice but to make their move, allowing myself and Barbas to act for the greater good. Provided the shapeshifter here does her job, the boy's protection will be minimal and we can rid the world of such a great concentration of power. But remember, the whole point of this is not to kill the sisters, it is to kill the boy." Gideon warned darkly, and Asmodeus looked at him disdainfully.
"So you keep saying Elder, however you seem to forget that it is our side that's done most of the fighting for your plan. We will do things our way. Be gone Elder, and with any luck, once you succeed, this will be the last time we see each other." He sneered, and Gideon glowered at him before orbing out in fury.
"Excellent, that gets him out from under our feet. Barbas, Rennek, Shax, prepare yourselves. Today we retake the imperative from the Charmed Ones, this time, things will be different." Candor commanded, turning to his compatriots and raising his hands, sparkling, crackling electrical energy emitting from him.
Rennek grinned, orbing away, prepared to deal with Leo one last time. Shax gave the Triad a last, suspicious look before he whirled away. Barbas then locked eyes with Katya, and gave a small nod as the rest of the Triad also raised their hands, combining their powers and creating a small storm above their heads, each of them adding more to the collective whole.
Now it was the time to clear out several major problems in the underworld, and then there would be a new rightful balance of power, she thought, smirking as Barbas flamed away.
XX
Cole frowned as he considered the problem before him. He was in the very deepest levels of the underworld, the parts where Good would struggle, and the places where Evil was at its strongest. He had followed the Scathers religiously throughout the underworld, dogging down whatever leads he could in order to try and find their new masters. And then, after ages of tracking them, he had found this: a large complex of dark, malevolent energy, as potent as the Source, unlike anything he had felt in years since the sisters had come along. The complex was dark, guarded by Scathers at all points of entry, with gates of bone guarding the entrances, while flying, dinosaur like creatures screeched and cried behind the gates, flying over the pools of lava and the plumes of flame and smog that arose. Another set of cave complexes as at the centre of this lake of lava, and Cole had a feeling that that was where he wanted to be, where the girls would have to go.
As what he had discovered would shake them to their core, and he knew they had to be told immediately if they planned to survive. They had to act fast, or who knew what would happen.
They had to act now, for the Triad had returned.
This is the end of part one of this titanic sized chapter, 45000 words all told so I decided to split it into three. So the Charmed Ones know the Triad are back, and Henry now knows about magic. And of course there's Sheridan plotting in the wings, up to her usual nonsense.
Just who is Elise's new mystery man? And what is Katya's game? And what happened between Leo and the Elders? Keep reading this update to find out!
The stage is set for the final showdown and the end of the first half! As this chapters so long and split into three, ill ask here that you all stay safe, follow government advice to get rid of this bloody virus so we can get back to our lives such as they were as Piper would say, respect your health services and be nice to your shop workers
And above all, I hope you enjoy this update, and please leave a review! There wont be any notes in the final part of this update, youll see why when you read, but that doesnt mean I dont want you reading or leaving a review!