A/N: Lot of angst it this chapter. Sorry. Enjoy it anyway.

Chapter Fourteen: A Stronger Bind

Natalia opened one eye slowly, making sure Max and the boys were gone. She supposed she'd given them enough time. The sisters were still sound asleep. It had been an impressive escape, one that deserved for her to at least pretend to be asleep. She rose to her feet, prompting little Wyatt to glare in her direction and raise his magical blue force field around his loved ones.

"How endearing, you think that would stop me." She strode lithely across the room through Wyatt's shield as easily as if it were mist. She stopped briefly to pat his head. "A boy, Melinda never saw that coming. But you have the strength of your ancestors, no doubt about that." The boy never took his eyes off the demoness until she had stepped out of his shield and up the stairs.

Once Natalia reached the attic, she rolled her eyes. Max was lying unconscious on the floor with her athame lying a few feet away. "Amateurs. They left behind their fastest way out. Rise and shine." The sorceress waved her black gloved hand over the young whitelighter's slight form. Max gasped and lurched upright. "They're gone, little one. Cody knocked you out."

Max tossed a confused gaze around the attic, finding it vacant save for Natalia. "Why would he do that?" She breathed, hurt apparent in her voice.

"I think it would be obvious. For the same reason Melinda helped me. Why I've continued her work. Why the sisters do what they do for each other, and why you risked my anger to warn your charges."

"Just get to the point." Max groaned, starting to gather her senses.

Natalia sighed. "He loves you."

"What?!"

"It's true. I may not possess the gift of foresight, but I could still see that coming. You should consider yourself lucky. You two have found something most don't even believe in these days."

Max narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why are you doing this? Why now? Three days ago you seemed hell-bent on keeping us apart."

Natalia's smile was a cold one, as usual. "I needed to test it. There are few things in this world more powerful, but it must overcome trials to grow. By taking those risks for them you strengthened that bond, and in doing so you strengthened them. It's that bond that truly strengthens power. That is why the sisters are so powerful. That is what will make the seven powerful enough to destroy The Source."

Max just knew her mouth was hanging open, but she hadn't found the will to close it. This woman, this demon, a being who should despise love above all else and work to destroy it, was saying that it would be the key to her victory. Not only that, she was speaking about it as if speaking of something sacred.

"I… I…" The girl stammered.

"I suggest you close your mouth and get moving. Your charges have been gone for about a half hour."

"What?! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!"

"A simple thank you would suffice." Natalia placed a hand on her hip. Max glowered. "I had a reason. There is another bond that still needed to be tested; one that they needed to strengthen on their own. But I think I've given them enough time. Wherever they are, they're being shielded from orbing. You'll have to orb as far as you can and go the rest on foot. That shouldn't be a problem for you. You'll need this." She stretched her hand towards the dagger that sill lay on the floor, and it flew to her grasp. Max took it without taking her eyes off the violet eyed woman. Then, before either of them realized it, the young whitelighter wrapped her arms around Natalia's waist.

In spite of herself, Nat ran her fingers through Max's brown twin braids before dryly requesting, "Get off of me. You have work to do."

The girl smiled up at her before letting go. She sheathed her athame, buttoned her jean coat, and orbed out.

Natalia returned to the living room where Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Leo and London still lay fast asleep. Wyatt noticed her return and put up his shield, more in defiance than defense. She stepped through it as easily as before, scooped the child up, and sat him on her lap on the couch. "Let's not tell your mother about this." She whispered.

"Zack? Cody?!" His mother's voice cut through the blackness in Cody's mind. He felt like someone had taken a metal pipe and bruised every inch of his body. He felt himself being gathered up with his brother and squeezed tightly.

"I'm gonna hurl." He heard Zack groan.

"Oh, my babies! I'm so sorry!" Their mother kept saying between smothering them with kisses. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine mom." Cody grunted, pushing her away. He crawled away from her grasping, finding himself unable to stand. He tried to get a better look at their surroundings. They were in an underground chamber, dimly lit by a multitude of candles, and a fire-pit in the middle. They were in a corner of the chamber surrounded by a cage made crudely with wooden poles. "Where are we?" He breathed with both fascination and horror.

"The Underworld." Carey said sadly. "They've been keeping me here for a few days.

The Underworld, Cody thought in despair. That meant that no one would be able to sense them, and even if they did they'd risk fighting hordes of demons just to get there. To top it all off, with the only two whitelighters they knew of down for the count, they had no way of getting out of the cage, let alone the Underworld.

Zack stood up a little unsteadily, and dusted himself off. "Well we're here now, so this cell should be cake." He held out his hand, fire roaring to life in it.

"No don't—" But Zack threw the fireball before Cody could stop him. It was stopped by a flash of red that extended all along the cage, then it was thrown back, forcing Cody to shove his brother out of the way. Carey shrieked as it exploded against the wall.

Cody pulled himself and his brother to their feet. "Don't you think they'd check that before they threw us in here?!" He chastised.

Zack looked apologetic. "It was worth a try."

"If they put us in here without finding a way to block our powers they'd have to be stupider than you! I don't even think that's possible these days! Do you ever think ahead?!" Cody shoved Zack away.

Zack shoved his brother back. "I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas, genius!"

"Zack, Cody!" Carey scolded. "Fighting each other isn't going to help anyone." She said it automatically.

Cody turned his venom to his mother. It seemed like a very long time since he had seen her, and all the resentment, hurt, and confusion was past its boiling point. "Don't you DARE try to be our mom right now! You don't know what we've been though in the past week! Not only are you not around when we get our powers, you try to keep them from us!"

Carey fell silent, unable to believe the rage her son was directing at her. Tears stung the backs of her eyes, but she refused to let them through. One of them had to be calm, and both Zack and Cody needed to understand why she had done what she'd done those years ago.

Zack was equally stunned by Cody's anger at their own mom and tried to put a calming hand on his shoulder. "Cody—"

"NO!" Cody threw Zack's hand off. Every pain he had experienced since getting his powers was culminating into his anger. His mother's betrayal, his home being overrun by demons, Max's true identity, and worst of all, having to confide these feelings in Natalia. His mother was going to hear what he had to say.

"Do you have any idea how alone I've felt?! Who do you think you are, deciding if we can handle our powers or not?! You didn't even ask us how we felt! If it weren't for the sisters, I don't know where we'd be! They've taken better care of us in five days than you have our entire life! I…I HATE YOU!!" All of the boy's strength snapped with that last. He dropped to his knees and cried openly, letting tears stream down his face and into the sand on the ground.

A lump formed in Carey's throat as she knelt on the ground and inched toward her son. She reached for him, but he shunned her hand. She took a deep breath.

"Cody, do you know why I made the pact?"

He glared up at her. "Natalia said it was because you didn't think we could handle it, like grandma."

"Natalia?" Carey sighed. "Of course. Cody, I know I must have taken pretty bad care of your trust by doing what I did, and hiding the truth from you and your brother, but I need you to know why I did it. It wasn't because I didn't think you could handle it. I've had nothing but confidence in the both of you."

"Then why?" Cody's voice had subsided to a whimper. "Why did you do it?"

"Because I didn't think Icould handle it." Carey's own tears were starting to surface despite her efforts to keep her voice level. "I saw what my mother went through. It terrified me. I didn't have any powers. I was afraid…" She had to clear her throat before she could finish that sentence. "I was afraid that I wouldn't be strong enough to protect you. I couldn't bear losing you."

Cody's flashed back to Piper, and how Prue's death had devastated her. How to this day it haunted her how she hadn't been able to stop it, even with her powers. Suddenly he could understand what his mother meant.

Carey swallowed hard. "But I realize how wrong of me it was to keep the truth from you. Can you ever forgive me?"

Cody threw his arms around her, beginning his cries anew. "I'm sorry mom."

Carey ran her fingers through his shaggy blond hair as he cried into her chest. "Shh, it's okay. It'll all be okay."

Cody could feel Zack's arms around him as well, and for the first time since his mom had left at the beginning of all this, they felt like a family again.

About an hour later, Zack broke the silence. "So… what do we do now?" He and his mother hadn't stopped holding Cody long after he'd stopped crying. Zack hadn't realized just how much these new powers, this new life had confused Cody. He supposed he'd been too busy living it up to have noticed that his brother didn't feel the same way.

"I don't know." His mother answered honestly.

Cody looked up, as if hearing something unexpected. "Max?"

"Max is here?" Zack asked. "How? I thought we knocked her out?"

"Max?" Carey furrowed her brows. "What does Max have to do with any of this?"

"Oh…" Zack realized his mother didn't know about their friend. "Yeah, um… Max is kind of his whitelighter."

"And you knocked her out, why? She could've orbed us out of here by now."

"Yeah, what are you, stupid?" Came a voice from the cave-like entrance. The three captives looked up to see Max darting across the chamber to them. The boys got up and clung to the bars, trying to remember a time they had been happier to see her.

"Max, how'd you find us?"

"When I couldn't sense you, I figured they'd taken you down here. Once I orbed here, it was pretty easy to track you from there. Now what were you two thinking?!" She demanded. "So help me, as soon as we're all safe I'm gonna hang you on hook by your underwear until you scream like a girl! Oh… hi Miss Martin." Max smiled sweetly. Carey waved with a warm smile on her face. Max had missed that, considering who she'd been living with. She began searching the bars for an opening, frustrated when her search proved in vain. "How the heck do I open this?"

"You don't." Came a low throaty voice. Max whirled around to see the Stryker Twins stride into the chamber, crossbows at the ready. They were followed by the brute demon who's form was so massive he had difficulty getting through the portal.

Helen smiled her blood red smile as she taunted Max in her shrill voice. "So, you're the little whitelighter whose been doing Natalia's dirty work. Look brother, she's come to rescue her baby charges."

"Only fitting, seeing that she's a baby whitelighter." The twins laughed in unison while the brute remained silent.

Max glared and gritted her teeth. Cody could see her reaching for her athame, strapped to her back under her coat.

"Max, no!" he whispered urgently. "Orb out of here or they'll kill you!"

"No. I'm not leaving you guys. I'm your whitelighter, it's my job."

"Sleep tight, little girl." Helen cackled as she and her brother fired their crossbows.

Max spun out of the way of the first poisoned steel bolt, and unsheathed her athame to knock the second away. The brute lunged and tried to grab her with his massive arms. He dived between his legs and leapt back up to slash at his back. He roared in fury and swung his arm in a backhand motion, sending her flying into the opposite wall.

The girl coughed as she rose to her hands and knees. Before she could get to her feet, she heard the crossbow cock. Rupert had orbed in front of her and was pointing his crossbow at her head. He chuckled smugly and pulled the trigger. Max rolled to the side, letting the arrow come to rest in the sand. Without breaking rhythm she swung her weapon upward, slicing the crossbow in half. Before Rupert could react, Max had leapt to her feet and plunged the athame into his stomach.

"NOOOO!!" Helen shrieked as her brother was swallowed by flames that could only come from his vanquish. She raised her crossbow, a murderous glint in her eyes. But she pointed it not at Max, but at Cody who was distracted by her current entanglement with the brute. The darklighter put her crimson-nailed finger to the trigger and fired.

"Cody!" Carey cried as the arrow spun through the air at her son. Cody looked ahead just in time to see the swirl of white lights that came between him and the poisonous arrow. His breath caught in his throat as Ma fell back into the bars of their cell, the bolt sticking out of her stomach. She looked up at Cody as he held her head in his hands, glassy eyed and making quick shuddering breaths.

Cody's fear turned to rage when he heard Helen's satisfied cackle and saw the brute demon moving in to finish the job. He looked back at his brother whose anger mirrored his own. They both felt powerful somehow. More powerful than they had been when they faced The Heir at the park. Their feelings for their fallen friend was fueling them It was as if their thoughts had become one as the joined hands, and extended the other two at their assailants.

The brute paused, and Helen's scarlet grin cracked when a fireball formed between the two boys. It was no bigger than a fist, but it was growing rapidly, and moving steadily forward. By the time it reached the bars of the cell it was the size of a basketball. The red shield glowed and sparked in protest, but it pushed its way through, shattering the bars into smoky splinters. It rose higher into the air, now an enormous orb of fire. At the command of the twins' combined powers it exploded into a fiery spray. Helen shrieked in terror, orbing to safety elsewhere. The brute wasn't as lucky and was hit with the full force of blast, obliterating in the midst of his final terrible roar.

Cody dropped his brother's hand and rushed to Max's side. His eyes became frantic as she seemed to be slipping further and further away. "Max! MAX! Don't leave! Hang on! I'm sorry! Please! I'm sorry I was such a jerk! I didn't mean it! We need you, don't go!" He cried, growing more manic by the second. Memories of her began to flash through his mind. When they had first met and he'd mistaken her for a boy. When they'd entered that dance competition together because Zack had sprained his ankle. The time she had kissed Zack and he'd been secretly jealous. Then the dance they had shared just two nights ago and had come so close to kissing.

He was so wrapped up in his panic that he hadn't noticed his mother was kneeling at Max's side. "Cody, calm down. I need you to hold her hand. This is going to hurt. Zack, I need you to keep her elevated."

The boys complied, but Cody couldn't help but feel this was hopeless. Darklighter arrows were poisoned especially to kill whitelighters, and as far as he knew, the only way to stop it was the healing touch of another whitelighter. But Max couldn't heal herself, and they had no way of escaping the Underworld to find another whitelighter in time. Nevertheless, he clasped Max's hand as if it were the only real thing in the world. Suddenly she grasped it back so tightly, he thought his fingers were going to snap. He looked up to see his mother pulling the arrow out.

Max screamed and squeezed Cody's hand tighter. She continued to moan as Carey pulled something from her pocket and began rubbing it on the wound. It was a slave of some kind, and Cody caught the faint scent of mandrake root. Dimly he wondered what his mother was doing with potion ingredients when his mind flashed back again and Natalia's voice cut through the haze.

"The witch-gene skipped her generation. She grew up without powers. She could mix a potion or two, but that was about it."

Before he could fully appreciate the significance of that skill that Natalia had so easily dismissed, Max's breathing had grown steadier. She blinked up at them.

"Zack? Cody?" She moaned, trying to get into a sitting position. "What happened? Where's Helen?"

"She escaped." Cody explained, hardly able to believe she was actually recovering.

"We got the brute though." Zack beamed, giving her the thumbs-up sign. She laughed, but quickly regretted it.

Carey felt the girl's forehead. "Shh. Max, honey, you need to save your energy. I stopped the poison from spreading, but we still need to get you some healing. Can you orb?"

Max groaned again. "I think so. Here, take my hands."

"Wait!" Came a hoarse voice from the shadows in the farther corner of the room. They could barely make out a second wooden cage, as it was the only part of the chamber that wasn't lit by firelight. The twins rose and moved toward it cautiously.

"Mom, stay with Max." Cody told her as he and Zack approached the bars. There was a man inside. Once they were close enough to read his features, he ran to the bars and reached out to them.

"Please, take me with you." He was barefoot, his clothes were torn and ragged, and his hair was disheveled, bit there was no mistaking the beady black eyes of Dominic Carlisle.