Empaths

A/N: Chapter 3 should come mid week in pentinance for my tardiness in posting Chapter 2. Please take a moment to review, even if your not in the habit of doing so Enjoy.

Chapter 2: "Oh, oh no, does that make me incestuous? I'm not just so you know, and I'm not gay, not that there's any sort of problem with that"

Reinstating her hibernation from society, Phoebe had once again descended into the basement.

"Until she learns how to control it maybe this whole basement thing isn't such a bad idea. Phoebe was right its dangerous." Piper supplied from her stool at the kitchen counter with Paige pacing opposite her.

"You do realize we're talking about empathy here? It's virtually impossible to be empathetic when your all alone." Paige stated folding her long porcelain arms over her abdomen.

"You got a point there." Piper sighed, continuing "Sooner or later she's going to realize that spending the rest of her natural existence underground is no way to live life."

"I hope it's sooner, we may not be so lucky next time around." Paige said warningly, appalled that Piper appeared a great deal more interested with dipping her celery in her home made vegetable dip, granted it was to die for.

"How" Paige vacillated regarding her with a wave, "How can you be so calm about all this." she huffed.

Planting the celery stick in the dip, Piper considered her squarely. "I'm not calm Paige and I'm not trying to play down what happened an hour ago, I'm just a good actor." She admitted stoically. Since Prues death she had assumed the role of the oldest and it was no easy task and gave reason to appreciate Prue all the more on a daily basis. Prue had made it look easy, and after walking several hundred miles in the woman's Jimmy Choo's Piper would be the first to admit it was anything but that. Nevertheless it was her job to remain the pillar of strength and keep her head on straight when life was crumbling around her if not for her family than for the greater good. And apparently she'd done a bang up job if it cause Paige to draw the conclusion she regarded Phoebes situation apathetically, and that would never do.

"I've been worried sick about her" Piper conceded. "She's not like us Paige, she's always been extremely vulnerable and believe me I know what might of happened if she didn't just shimmer into the sitting room."

"I know which is why I plan to sort all this out" Paige stated confidently.

"And how do you intend to do that?" Piper smiled partly because mastering ones powers was a one man job and partly because Paiges most endearing quality was that she was always ready to take the initiative.

"I'm not sure yet, but I'll let you know when I am." Paige nodded surely already motioning to exit.

"No spells Paige" Piper stated arching a brow. Paige rolled her eyes and made her way to the attic.

After having aquatinted with your fair share of seers, gypsy fortune tellers, physics of every kind, shaman and empaths it was hard to view her intuition as anything out of the ordinary, however Paige was not one to ignore her instincts and currently they where telling that tact and formality where the only things keeping Piper from coming out with it and Phoebe simply did not wish to upset her sisters. In any case the fact of the matter was that Phoebe was compromised emotional and a danger to the household. Even though Paige couldn't fault her for either still yet that was their current reality and she wasn't about to sweep it under the rug and pretend everything was hunky dory. Measures needed to be taken and she bent over The Book Of Shadows in hopes to suss out just what those lengths might be.

"Leo" Phoebe called for the third time, meandering over the dust laden planks of the sparsely dressed basement. Piper had banished the man and apparently he had taken the edict to heart. "Leo, it's just me, I won't breath a word of it to Piper" she coaxed, always having felt slightly ridiculous when she realized it was this behavior that lead to the normal persons diagnosis of Skitzophrenia. "Now your just being rude." she whispered reproachfully. "Dammit Leo I need you help."

"Phoebe what's the matter" Leo hastened to ascertain.

Phoebe spun on her heel, wondering whether Whitelighers took delight in startling their charges or simply had terrible aim.

"About time" Phoebe stated tersely giving his arm a slap, then relenting, "It's good to see you Leo, I miss having you around." She stated earnestly looking up into his eyes.

"I miss being around." Leo stated with a sad little smile, taking in his surroundings. He'd come from heaven, supposedly a perfect place, but things weren't perfect without Piper and heaven was hell without his little ones, and notwithstanding the dingy old basement, it all felt so right, this would always be home, for home is where the heart is.

"Leo I'm sorry, it must be so hard for you to be away from your family" Phoebe divined.

"You'll never know" Leo returned wistfully.

"I wish Piper could feel this, to know how deeply you love her." Phoebe was getting choked up, she felt such unrequited passion, and love in its purist form. "It's beautiful Leo" She said softly through misted eyes.

Leos mind was flooded with memories, the times he'd cleaned this old basement out, played hide and seek with Wyatt down here, and then looking at that dilapidated sofa, leaning, if not held up against the far left wall. He recalled that singular occasion and every creak that resounded from those exasperated box springs and furthermore why it was rather literally on its last leg. It had been there that such a level of ardent depravity was wrought no angel should have rightfully admitted to being capable of indulging, much less enjoying, scratch that, had lost his very mind. And just the visage of that abused piece of house wear caused his loins to hum in nostalgic passion, at any rate it had quantified just how deprived the man was, for that is where Piper and he had gotten downright-

Overcome by this mind numbing masculine ache, a fiery fusion of arousal, primitive barbarism and deep set love, Phoebe involuntarily threw her shapely arms about Leo Wyatt's stocky neck. With a fevered haste they traced down his jaw line and suddenly her lips where pressed against his and she was kissing, rather attacking Leo.

For a moment Leo could not blame Piper, spells, nor potions but utter shock as the reason he was frozen stiff.

"Piper" Phoebe stated breathily without breaking the "kiss".

The second he was able Leo orbed out immediately, but in no way did her leave, he simply reappeared several safe paces behind Phoebe.

"Oh my gosh!" Phoebe cried clapping a hand over her mouth.

"Phoebe"

Phoebe jumped forward completely unnerved, turning toward she saw the smudges of red lipstick #84 all over his this lips, it was like looking at someone with a lazy eye, in no way do you mean to stare at it but in no way can you stare at anything else.

"That wasn't me, that was you, I was channeling you, you feeling for Piper, oh, oh no, does that make me incestuous? I'm not just so you know, and I'm not gay, not that there's any sort of problem with that, I had my times like any other college kid, but I'm not gay for Piper, I'm-"

"Phoebe" Leo chuckled nervously knowing this was completely his fault and that phoebe and he were no different from siblings and there was nothing sexy about kissing your sister, hence that nostalgic arousal was snuffed the moment there lips met.

"It's all right" he added, now chuckling with amusement for having realized how absurd this all was, moreover due to the fact Phoebe had crept timidly behind her desk like it was some sort of barricade in the manner compliant perps do when an officer says step away from the weapon.

Leo closed his eyes for a moment to ascertain his emotions where in check, opening them when nothing compromising was to be found.

"I don't bite Phoebe" he stated passively.

"Yea but I do. How could you come down here all hot and bothered like that don't they allow you know handle those things up there, it is heaven after all." Phoebe rambled pointing an accusatory finger at Leo.

She could feel the chagrin flushing her cheeks and shook her head shamefully. There was nothing to channel, no more to feel than her own distress, and regardless of her unbridled power or not she felt as if she had defiled something sacred, although it had been something as mind bending as Leo kissing Leo but both Leos longing for Piper, which was presently to gross to think of.

"If this continues I will be single handedly paying off a therapists mortgage." she sighed pressing her fingers into the bridge of her nose, with her other hand resting on the desk before her and she wondered if it was holding her up.

"We vanquished The Pressure Demon today."

"That's great, I knew you would be back to your charmed duties."

"No, Leo, it's not, I nearly cost Paige and Piper their lives. I channeled the demons powers and shimmered from here up to the living room, and Leo I got to be honest I lost all control, all I could feel was the blind rage and heart ache Sanctus was projecting. I know you've been out of the loop but we vanquished his brother last week. Anyway, I can't handle this Leo my powers they are all unbalanced, and today it was a wake up call you know. I'm putting them in danger, and God forbid something happens to Wyatt of Chris. I just don't think I'm ready for this yet." Phoebe concluded quietly.

Leo motioned towards her cautiously, his palms open by his side and a soft sympathetic smile placed at the corner of his lips. He couldn't help but wince as Phoebe tucked her head inwardly.

"Come here" he stated softly. She shook her head. "You know if I'm feeling anything."

Phoebe considered him, she felt compassion, love and hope, none of which were overbearing and all of which released a trifle of the tension from her shoulders.

Rounding the desk she strode right into his arms. Hugging Leo was an experience in itself he radiated a singular passive energy that left one feeling as if they'd sat in a warm bath or beneath the sun for a time, it was tranquil and protective, and Phoebe had always assumed it was something Whitelighters emitted. This was meant for Piper, and she rued the thought that inescapable circumstances had managed to estrange the inextricably bound and impede upon a prolific love.

"Your a good witch Phoebe..." Oh no, there's that soft spoken voice, the harbinger onset of motivational speaker mode, "...and one of the strongest woman I know, and you can't lose hope. Your powers are linked with your emotions once you find balance they will too, but you gotta keep fighting for the greater good." Leo was on one of his spiels, and Phoebe kept a rather subtle, totally automated cordial nod in concurrence with his words, as not to offend. If she new one thing, it was that Leo believed every word coming out of his mouth. He meant well, he just so happened to ignore the human equation with all his divine wisdom. "Everything happens for a reason Phoebe, which means you received this power when you were supposed to and I have every faith it will only strengthen the power of the charmed ones." He concluded with his habitual Zen countenance.

Breaking away from the radiating warmth of his embrace, "If there's something your not telling me Leo, something you may know as an Elder you should probably tell me now, because just saying that everything happens for a reason hardly means that that reason is in the favor of the greater good let alone my sisters." Phoebe stated at length.

"All I know is that you were meant to be an empath Phoebe."

And Phoebe hardly required that power whatsoever to know Leo was being less than forthcoming with her. Leo was simply a terrible liar thus she regarded him incredulously.

"There's been rumors circulating around up there." He admitted when he couldn't stand her penetrating gaze a moment further.

"Rumors? Your telling me there's gossip in heaven?" Phoebe laughed in spite of herself cocking her hip as she sunk back on her heels, not meaning to give the impression she was settling in, if she had to, to stand there all day if that's how long it took Leo to come out with whatever he'd heard through the heavenly grapevine.

"Look Phoebe the other Elders have been keeping me in the dark about it because they think I can't be entirely objective when it concerns the Charmed Ones, and they are right." He confessed, catching the sofa in his periphery and promptly flooding his thoughts with his grandmother, Phoebe and his children amidst anything else that halted the launch sequence forthwith.

"That's just great Leo, you think they'd do anything to protect the power of three, by telling me their withholding information from you, your basically telling me they no something is about happen and I doubt it's the fact I save a bunch of innocents with my new power." Phoebe reasoned trying to appear less disheartened than she felt.

"That's not true, it's not that that black and white. The future isn't irrevocable Phoebe if anyone knows that it would be you. They just don't want me getting involved to the point that I alter it." Leo informed falling into a pace. "So they won't tell you anything, but they allowed Chris to come back and alter the future of the entire world over the course of the year." Phoebe huffed incorrigibly, prompting Leo to try that much harder, on count that was a touche if he'd ever heard one.

"See that right there. They allowed Chris to do that to save the future. Whatever lies ahead does not pose that kind of threat Phoebe." He surmised, and Phoebe would have bought it, hadn't she detected the mild doubt he was projecting.

"It's not your fault Leo, I'm just scared you know, it's not like anything I've ever experienced. Premonition, levitation those where dependent on my control, but with this, I'm a victim to whatever the people around me are feeling."

As if on Que. she was feeling a whole lot of heat germinating from the deviant Elder himself at the very moment Leo's eye had caught the hair black tie beneath a collection of gardening tools, more specifically beneath a hoe, an innuendo he might have acknowledge if he wasn't so saintly. He remembered freeing it from Pipers lushious locks with his teeth then spitting it to the ground and Piper giving up her search for it after the fact, but not as much as recalled just why he did it, so he could run his fingers through that beautiful hair, let it twine between each digit and let it ghost over his face while looked up completely taken by the woman he loved. Such mental imagery and the emotions tethered to liven each one of those keepsakes come like a flash of lightening, unfortunately by the time he was cognizant of the thunder clap that came as Phoebe Halliwell senselessly groping the man and doing something positively magical with her tongue on the hollow of his neck it was clearly too late.

The woman had seemingly come out of nowhere, he hadn't even heard her advance. Sister in law or otherwise with a bombshell kissing on you, and imparting the exact affection and fire you wished to adorn your wife with, it is exceptionally difficult to cancel all thoughts pertaining to just that. That being said Leo ever the optimist found the silver lining. It was an opportunity to allow Phoebe to practice controlling her power. Having decided to take the fall for the grater good he decided this was not adultery, rather a practical way to help Phoebe out. Leo let his emotions for Piper flow unreservedly determining if it became to explicit he would simply orb out.

"Listen to me Phoebe, I know you can hear me, try to take compartmentalize your emotions from those I'm eliciting."

Phoebe could hear Leo, how his voice caught uncomfortably, she could also see the incriminating evidence of where she had pulled the blood to the surface as she returned to the sinews on his neck for seconds because the fact of the matter was that no matter how terrible the little pieces of her felt, she'd been seized by the desires of another and her body chose to take Leos side, thus she was in some disastrous state of auto pilot. Conscious of what was happening and unable to do a damned thing about it.

"Do..not..let this...go any further." Phoebe pleaded choppily clearing in the midst of an internal battle as her petite hands aggressively commandeered Leo by the hips and pressed them into her own. Nevertheless this was progress, he heard Phoebe inside of himself inside of Phoebe? "You can do it Phoebe focus."

"Don't do this to me Leo" He might have stopped right there upon hearing her breathless plea of torture, but this was tough love, this was tough love he repeated to himself as her eyes began to water.

Come on, you can do it, separate the two, you can do it, Phoebe told herself, fighting every instinct she arrested herself, her lips thronged against Leos but she was unable to pull away.

Phoebe knew exactly what he was doing, and through the glisten of tears she could just make out the pledge of faith and encouragement in his eyes, and the sympathetic crease etched resolutely between his eyebrows. Even so the experience was no less traumatic, it was not only disgusting it was wrong on a myriad of levels for unquantifiable reasons and that alone prompted her to focus the further.

Physically her heart was doing acrobatics in her chest and hammering in a fearsome rush past her ears. Her every muscle having been roused, flexed and then locked to the degree she could feel the low burn beginning to cramp each grouping.

Leo was fully conscious of her mounted conflict and knew she was fighting fervently to regain control though she'd frozen as stiff as a board. She had enough volition to put herself on pause, and the stalemate was progress, now he was just waiting for her to take that final step and break away. He again flooded his mind with thoughts of Piper. Instantly Phoebes eyes bolted shut, a maze of aching creases that nearly spelled out Leos pain printed on her smooth brow, her whole body reeling over his emotions, she lost her breath against his lips.

Without a reasonable doubt she was apt to do so, "Let go Phoebe." Leo enjoined softly. Without a single clue as how to do so, Phoebe implored every ounce of her power to control the uncontrollable. She levitated several inches, then had a premonition. This process occurred several times, like power surges without a ground, each levitation perfunctory and the several incidental premonitions desultory. Then Phoebe visualized the power and just as she thought she might have gained control, from the top of the staircase, "What the hell are you doing!" Paige hissed in unfeigned bewilderment.

Talk about the mood killer of the century, as quickly as light leaves a room when one flicks a switch did the emotions in Leo and Phoebe meet a sudden death. Taking an involuntary step back in some absurd attempt to recover decency under that list stitch of hope guilt always supplies though one knows damn well the cats out of the bag and they don't stand a chance in heaven, Leo and Phoebe looked to Paige.

Scrambling, "We were, I was just-" "You were just what Leo?" Paige interjected cuttingly then raising an unbelievably high brow, "You aren't even supposed to be here."

Still catching her breath with her hands on her knees in repose "It's not what it looks like." Phoebe offered in a wheeze, wishing she could have said more but her lungs said that option was presently non negotiable.

"Please we can explain, Piper doesn't have to know about this right?" Leo winced knowing Paige had him by the, well I leave it to you to fill in the blank. Then he realized how incurring that had sounded and could literally see the conclusions being drawn within Paiges slow head shake.

Paige folded her arms, reasoning for Phoebe to have said it's not what it looks like, Leo had sounded rather guilty, the man couldn't lie anyway and was all together terrible in the art of dissembling.

"Paige please." Phoebe croaked out.

She shook her head in defiance, "No I've seen quite enough." Paige retorted glacially.

"Paige!" Phoebe demanded, but it was too late, the door had nearly slammed in the woman's scornful wake.

"This is a cluster fuck, oh sorry, I forgot to tell you swearing is a side effect of my new power."

Leo regarded Phoebe with a guilt ridden expression.

"I wouldn't mind the ability to orb right about now, huh?" Phoebe quipped with a half hearted smile.

"I'm not going anywhere. This is all my fault. It was my stupid idea, maybe I can talk to them." Leo suggested steadily troubleshooting all the while grasping at thin air.

"No" Phoebe resolved. "It's neither of our faults, you were just trying to help me Leo." Phoebe sighed laying a comforting hand against her forehead. "You should go, if Paige tells Piper you won't wanna be at the receiving end of it." Phoebe reasoned dryly.

"That's very kind of you but you don't deserve to take the brunt of it."

"No, no really, if she gets wind of this she'll be livid Leo, and unlike yourself Mr. I have the perk of being yelled at rather than being blown to smithereens ad nauseam." Phoebe chuckled. In a magical family one didn't kick the dog they blew it to kingdom come and Leo was warded off just by the thought of having his particles rearranged in Pipers more heated moments.

"I'll talk to Paige and you go up there and see if you can figure out what the Elders know about this power. Sound like a fair deal? Good." Phoebe stated with an impish air of triumph that tucked in her lips.

"This is insane" Leo remarked.

"Your not half bad, as a kisser I mean, I can see why Piper" Phoebe hesitated enjoying Leos bashfulness. "Your right that's not funny, too soon, not amusing at all." Phoebe digressed sotto voce, but couldn't restrain the damaging smile that tore impishly across her lips and exposed her K9s. Blushing Leo took to inspecting his shoes, but could not deny Phoebes sense of humor was infectious, however off base.

"You can't go up there looking like that Leo." Phoebe informed, licking her thumb and taking it to Leos face to expunge the crazily drawn lipstick all over it, for it didn't suit him one bit. Then she ordered his collar so it hid away the signature she'd left upon his neck with a dutiful nod. Phoebes considerate little action reinstated her right where Leo liked her, as his sister in law.

"Thanks. Don't lose hope Phoebe.", an electric azure glow imparted and Leo was gone.

Phoebe considered the empty basement in disbelief, thoroughly enervated but sleep would have to wait. She snatched up the hair tie wedged beneath the hoe and placed it into a front pocket of her lose rise, black pinstripe slacks, with the innuendo duly noted, then shot up the stairs on a collision course with Paige Matthews.