A/N. Again, this is in third person. I'm sorry for the confusion about Morgan, Jude and Ryan's powers. When I said they could conjure energy balls I meant that they had the power of energy balls, not that they could conjure as well. Also, I'm sorry that some of you did not like the change in Lacy's powers, but in the show the Twice Blessed is much more powerful, and I wanted to keep to that.
Chapter 9"Did you get it?"
"Of course."
"Brilliant." Jude stretched forward and snatched the fragile slip of paper from his younger brother's hand.
"You're welcome," Ryan told Jude dryly.
"Thanks," the middle sibling murmured distractedly, totally engrossed in the spell.
"Well done guys," Morgan praised from her position on the couch.
Ryan glanced at her and frowned. She was deathly pale, her eyes sunken and her voice still weak. He moved towards her and crouched down.
"Are you okay?"
"Sure," Morgan replied. She frowned. "For a moment there you actually sounded concerned."
"I am concerned. You're my sister."
"That never bothered you before," Morgan shot back.
"Yeah, well… part of what makes the Halliwells so strong is their family bond. I just thought if we were closer it would make us stronger, able to defeat them."
"Or maybe some of their goodness has rubbed off on you," Jude commented. Something in his brother's voice troubled him. It was almost… good; too kind.
"Please," Ryan scoffed, getting to his feet. "I just think we should try anything to stop them."
Jude grinned. The harshness in Ryan's voice was back.
"Well, that's why we got the spell," Morgan reminded them.
"Right, the spell." Jude glanced down to the crumpled paper in his hand. "Let's do this."
"Are you sure it's going to work?" Ryan asked, getting into position next to Jude. "I mean, the spell was written for good magic."
"It doesn't matter," Morgan assured them. "The spell will work. I'm more worried about the Elders sensing a shift."
"Don't worry about that," Ryan told her. "I've cloaked our magic. The Elders won't know a thing."
"Excellent, then we're all ready to go." Morgan pushed herself up from the sofa, her expression pained.
"Oh no you don't." Ryan rushed forward, gripped her shoulders and pushed her gently back down. "You're not going anywhere."
"Why not?" Morgan demanded.
"You're injured. You don't have your full strength and you could be a liability."
"But… Jude…"
"Actually I agree," Jude said. "You need to stay here and get your strength back. We can handle this."
"Fine," Morgan grumbled. "Just be as quick as you can."
"We will," Ryan promised, stepping backwards.
"Ready?" Jude asked.
"Ready," Ryan confirmed.
Together they chanted the words of the spell and disappeared in a large swirl of golden orbs.
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"I really don't see the point in this," Callie complained as she trudged up the stairs behind her family.
"Because we may have missed something, or there may be a new entry in the book. You know how it changes," Piper replied.
Callie mumbled a sarcastic reply under her breath.
"What was that young lady?" Piper asked pointedly.
"Nothing."
"Thought so… Leo!" Piper suddenly surged forward, seeing her husband sprawled on the floor at an awkward angle. "Lacy quick!"
The Twice Blessed was at her mother's side in an instant. The sight of her father completely froze her. As many times as she saw this, she would never get used to seeing a family member so close to death.
"Hurry!" Piper urged.
Lacy bent down and placed her hands over Leo's chest. As usual a warm golden glow spread from her palms and the colour began to return to Leo's cheeks.
"That looks like an energy ball wound," Wyatt commented, peering down.
"It is," Leo confirmed, struggling to sit up as Piper pounced on him.
"Are you okay?" The Halliwell matriarch demanded, her face buried in her husband's neck.
"Can't breathe," Leo gasped.
"Oh, sorry." Piper pulled away and helped Leo to his feet.
"Who did this to you?" Chris asked, although the answer was obvious.
"A demon. It looked how Prue and Hattie had described the others, although his skin was yellow."
"What was he doing up here?" Wyatt wondered.
"Looking in that cabinet." Leo indicated to the cabinet where the spells and potions were kept.
"What the hell would he want with that?" Piper asked, more to herself than to anyone else.
"What else?" Lacy replied. "A spell."
"I knew I should have put that spell around it," Piper commented. She was referring to a spell she had written that would replicate the Book Of Shadows' protection; if she put it around the cabinet no evil would be able to touch it.
"We didn't know demons knew about the cabinet," Leo comforted her, slipping an arm around her shoulder.
"Yeah, how do they know about it?" Chris wondered.
Lacy moved across the room and started searching the top drawer. "I think the more important question is what spell did they take, and why?"
A/N. Please review.