A/Note: I'm going to keep this short. Thanks for all the positive feedback with Chapter 12. I really appreciate it, guys. So here's the next chapter. Enjoy and please Review when done.
Chapter 13- The Ultimate Innocent
November 20th, 2006
Henry's brown company car was rolling down the street with Henry's hands curled around the black leather steering wheel. Paige sat beside him in the passenger seat and the both of them were scanning for someone out their windows. The traffic light moved from green to yellow and Henry slowed the car down. The yellow light shifted to red and Henry stopped the car right under the traffic light.
"Henry, we'll find him. Don't worry," Paige said. It was a windy day and she had on a lime green jacket with a black maternity shirt underneath. Her black jeans were tight at the ankles and there was no way for the cold wind to gain any access. While releasing her red hair from its ponytail to allow warmth for her neck, she said, "Maybe we should try the lot next to the bar again."
"He wouldn't be there," Henry said. "The last time I spoke with Keith, he stopped drinking and was just making better choices for himself. His son really brought that upon him. The boy already lost his mother to this gang and I don't want him to lose his father as well."
"It's just the common nature of gangs. You get initiated and the only way they let you out is to kill or be killed. I got to say, gangs are a lot like demons," Paige said.
The traffic light turned green and Henry continued to drive. "Too bad you can't cast some of your hocus pocus on the gang." He then turned to her for a quick second before watching the road again, "Are you sure you can't cast some happy spell on these guys? At least long enough until we find Keith and get him the hell out of San Francisco is all I'm asking for."
"I wish I could, but we shouldn't risk anything that might backfire on Keith. Let's just go back to the station and see if you have anything of his in your office so I can scry for him," Paige said. "For all we know he's out of San Francisco already."
"Paige, he's still here. He was spotted yesterday at his old apartment building, my main concern is if he's still alive. I think he was there to get some of his things for the kid," Henry supposed. He then stopped for another traffic light. "You have to get back home to see Billie off, right?"
"I do, but this is more important. Billie's capable of looking after herself and I've spoken with this Cameron guy and he seems trustworthy. He's going to be able to help Billie, but now I need to help you. The Elders assigned me Keith as a charge because they obviously see good in him. You should be proud that you've turned his life around that much to the point where he might become a future Whitelighter after he dies," Paige said. She then looked out onto the streets through her window again, "And hopefully that's not anytime soon."
"Yeah, but the Elders also wanted you to work with a charge to help you get your powers back," Henry reminded, returning to driving at the signal of the green light.
"That may be the case, but they aren't setting me up for this just because they want me to have my powers back. I'll admit, they tend to have their ulterior motives, but not on this," Paige said. "I just have a feeling that we're working with something even grander."
Henry gave her a quick smile. "I'm glad though that we're able to spend this time together. For once we're working, but we get to do it together." She smiled back and him and Henry expressed his other concern, "I'm still not completely comfortable with you being pregnant while we look for a guy that's being chased by a gang though."
"If a bullet comes my way, I'll move it to another direction. It's as simple as that," Paige informed. "We should just head to your office now. I'll try and scry with a paper that he's even signed or something. Hopefully I'll get some signal, even if it's faint."
"We'll go to his apartment. It just hit me that if he was in fact spotted yesterday, there is a good chance that there is still furniture in the house. I can get there in ten minutes," Henry said.
Paige then dug into her dark green leather purse and pulled out a violet crystal. "I'll be able to scry right there."
Henry then stepped harder on the gas and they took off faster than they had all morning.
(X)
Paige and Henry reached Keith's apartment building and were already inside. They stepped into the filthy elevator and Paige looked at the buttons. Some were flickering a faint orange while the others didn't even have button caps. "I hope Keith lives on the second, third, or sixth floor because otherwise we're going to be stranded
"He's on the third floor," Henry said, pushing the button himself so Paige wouldn't have to dirty her finger. He then wiped the filth off on his brown leather jacket. "Even if Keith wasn't running from a gang, I'd still want him to be out of this dump." The elevator ascended slowly and the lamp in the corner would turn off for a few seconds whenever it passed by a floor.
"Henry, we're going to find him. I'll call my buddy at Social Services and see if there are any apartments that were advertised for people with children. Real estate people tend to call Social Services knowing that social workers are often searching for new places of residence for parents that are adopting and so on," Paige explained. "We're going to help him, don't worry."
Henry nodded and the elevator stopped. The door opened and the married couple walked out and looked down the hallway. A window was cracked open and the cold winds were invading the floor. Henry wrapped his arm around Paige to keep her warm and the two walked down the hallway and stopped at the third door. "This is it." He wrapped his hand around the knob and turned, but it was locked.
The mortal unwrapped his arm from Paige's shoulders and she looked at him. "Paige, get back."
"Why?" She asked, still following instructions and moved back.
Henry took a few steps back himself and took a deep breath. He charged the door with his shoulder in front of him and rammed into it. Lucky for him, the door only needed that one great push and the door swung open, but remained on its hinges. He rubbed his shoulder and wore away the minor pain that came along with slamming into the door. He turned to Paige, "Alright, stay out here for a minute."
"Why?" Paige asked again, but like the first time received no direct answer.
Henry walked into the apartment alone and left his wife out in the hallway. Within a minute's timing, he returned to the entrance and said, "It's safe. Come on."
"Ah, gang precaution," Paige said, realizing what Henry was doing. "You shouldn't have gone in there alone." She then walked in and looked around.
Henry closed the door behind her. "Of course I should've. There's no way I was letting you walk in here with a gang potentially hiding out for their target."
The studio apartment was relatively small like many others. There was a brown couch aligned one of the walls and a white crib next to the couch. The stove in the corner was sharing a counter in the kitchenette and everything was rusty. On the floor were some old shirts, the base of a pacifier and a tin cup.
"You see anything in here that you can use to scry for him?" Henry asked.
"Yeah," Paige answered. "I should be able to use one of those shirts." She walked over and picked up the base of the pacifier, "If that doesn't work, I can always use this to locate his son. Hopefully the son will lead us to him."
"Did you bring a map?" Henry asked.
Paige dug into her purse and pulled out a folded map. "This is one of San Francisco. I got an even bigger one if he's not in the area."
"Glad you came prepared. I'm going to just look around the place while you do that," Henry said. "Shouldn't take too long." He walked over to the kitchenette and opened the little fridge and saw there was nothing in there but coleslaw and roaches. Henry hated the sight of roaches, but had grown use to it for whenever he worked along someone that was in a povertous area.
Paige was sitting on the floor with the map open and spread across the floor. She had one of Keith's shirts balled up in her fist by the collar. The string for the scrying crystal was being held by three of her fingers and the crystal was spinning in a circular motion trying to locate Keith. Paige focused just on the search and had cleared her mind off everything else and that resulted in crystal spinning faster.
Henry heard the violent swishing of the crystal and just watched.
The crystal began to close in on one specific area and finally dropped. "Got it," the witch cried out. "He's at the edge of the Bay."
Henry gaped and slapped himself hard in the forehead, "Damn it."
"What? What's wrong?" Paige asked.
"I used to think that Keith was suicidal. Some people enter gangs for power, companionship, or pure recklessness. Keith didn't care for power and had some friends before joining the gang. He hated life, Paige. He didn't know what to make of it so I used to think that he understood the dangers of being in a gang, but took comfort with that threat. I think..."
"He wanted to die?" Paige continued. Henry nodded. "Did you ever catch him trying to harm himself?"
"One time," Henry said. "At the Bay."
Paige remained silent. She threw the shirt onto the floor and picked up the pacifier base. She contained it within her fist and scried for Keith's son around the same area. The crystal dropped immediately. "His son is with him. You don't think that he would do anything, do you?"
"I hope not. Let's go."
(X)
Henry and Paige parked on a sidewalk a couple of blocks back and we're running through a small park. The cold wind was getting to their lungs, but they knew it was worth it considering they were aiming to prevent a suicide. Just as Paige was running out of breath, they spotted a man with a little boy holding his hand.
"That's him," Henry informed.
"Yeah, I figured that already. Let's go introduce ourselves," Paige said, taking a hold of Henry's hand.
"He knows me," Henry said.
She rolled her eyes. "Obviously, just go and introduce me," Paige said.
They walked towards Keith and the young man jumped as soon as he heard footsteps behind him. Keith, like his son, had sandy brown hair and brown eyes. Keith's hair was brushed up and he was wearing a raggedy leather jacket with a gray punk rock shirt underneath with torn blue jeans. The little boy looked up at Paige and Henry with confusion.
Keith exasperated a deep breath of relief when he saw it was just Henry. "Henry, you scared the crap out of me."
"Keith, what are you doing here?" Henry immediately asked.
"Henry, slow down," Paige said. She then turned to Keith, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, thank you. Sorry, who are you?" Keith asked.
Paige turned to Henry, "I told you to introduce me." She posed a smile and looked to Keith, "I'm Paige, Henry's wife. How have you been doing?"
"Scared. I'm forced to keep moving around because they keep looking for me," Keith answered. "This isn't the life I want for my son." He then looked down at the little boy.
Paige shifted her attention to the little boy and crouched down. "Hi. How are you, sweetie? My name is Paige. What's yours?"
The boy looked up to his father, as if he needed approval to answer this. Keith nodded to him and the boy answered, "Peter."
"It's lovely to meet you, Peter," Paige said with a bright smile. She then stood up and asked Keith, "How old is he?"
"He's going to be one on Thanksgiving," Keith answered.
"I'm sorry to break all this up, but we should get out of here. Go somewhere secluded," Henry commented.
"I have nowhere to go," Keith said. "Peter and I have just been winging it day by day for the past week. We go wherever help is offered. Shelters and old friends."
"Why can't you hide out at your friend's house?" Paige asked.
"They feel like their hiding a fugitive. I asked them to at least watch over Peter, but they said it was wrong to separate us. It was just a lame excuse. They're all cowards of the gang," Keith explained. "I don't have the money to get transportation to take us over the bridge because the little I do have, it's for Peter's food. It wouldn't matter anyway...I don't even know what my next move would be."
Paige then turned to Henry, "We should take them back to Piper's. Keith and Peter can have a nice meal and rest while we figure out what to do. Little Peter here can even play with the boys."
"That sounds good," Henry said. "Go and give Piper a call."
Paige pulled out her cellphone from her purse and walked away.
"Keith, is there any reason you chose to stop by here?" Henry asked him.
"I wasn't going to commit suicide if that's what you think," Keith said. He spotted Henry's guilty face and said, "Not with Peter in my life. You know he's changed me completely to the point where I no longer jump innocent people or steal." He then turned to the Bay and stared. "I just came here to reflect because it's pretty calm here. I'm just glad that I never killed anyone as I don't think I would've been able to recover from that."
"It's good to hear that. You have your priorities checked now, but it's time to just get you out of here," Henry reminded. "This area is no good for you with your past."
"What about you?" Keith asked. "I don't mean to impose, but I noticed your wife was a little pregnant. Do you really want to raise a kid in this environment knowing the dangers?"
"Thanks for looking out for me, Keith," Henry said and turned to Paige who had her white cellphone pressed to her ear. "But my wife and I are going to tough this out. We can handle it...she's special."
(X)
At the Halliwell manor, Paige, Keith, Henry, and Leo were sitting at the dining room table. They were all enjoying Piper's lunch of chicken tenders which had a seasoning that complimented the bread-crumbs. Wyatt, Chris, and Peter were sitting at the children's table enjoying their cut up chicken tenders with orange juice and chocolate pudding.
Piper entered the dining room with a pitcher of iced tea and said, "It feels so good to cook for people again."
"Hey, the boys and I are people," Leo replied.
"Of course you are. The difference is you have no choice but to eat my food and love it," Piper said. "Keith here is new, so he's basically a critic." She placed the pitcher on the table and turned to Keith, "Care to give me my review?"
Keith stabbed a piece of the cut up chicken and raised it in the air, "Five stars. If you really care so much about critics you should be a chef." He then devoured the piece of chicken.
Piper smiled, "Thanks for the compliment and the suggestion. I do plan on owning a restaurant one day. Not sure when I'll actually do it, but you will go down as one of the people who pushed me."
"You really should. Your food is great," Keith complimented, eating some more.
"I appreciate the compliment, but I have to wonder if it's an exaggeration of you only eating hot dogs for two weeks," Piper said. She then sat down and poured herself some iced tea.
Keith chuckled at the comment.
Leo then said to him, "Would you mind telling us a bit more about what's going on right now?"
"Not at all," Keith replied. "I think it's good for me to be able to talk to people about this. My girlfriend was killed about three weeks ago and it's been a lot for me to not get revenge on these guys."
"Why did they kill her?" Piper asked.
"It's the way the gang rolls," Keith answered, no longer eating while discussing this sensitive subject. "Liberty and I met in the gang and we started dating and got pregnant. At first we were scared considering we were eighteen at the time, but our gang said that they were family and would help us out. It sounded good initially, but we both realized that we couldn't cradle our child and go shoot up blocks at night. So Liberty went into hiding and I lied and said she left."
Keith then remained quiet, remembering the girl he loved and the mother of his son.
"If it's too much to talk about it, we can wait," Paige said.
"No, no. I want to. I need to," Keith said. "It was a mistake lying to them and they kept saying they would kill her for abandoning the gang. Even being pregnant wasn't a scapegoat to leaving. After she gave birth she returned to San Francisco and I got to meet my little boy. Liberty was telling me that her friends were helping her out and had even gotten her a job. She still couldn't stay here so I told her to hide out at her friend's crib and I'd catch up with her."
"It must've been hard to stay away from your son for so long," Leo commented.
"You have no idea," Keith responded back. He was unaware of magic in general and had no idea that Leo was forced to spend time away from Wyatt years back. "I would visit Peter at least once every month for a weekend. I would have to tell the gang that I was off smuggling or something."
"Wouldn't you have to get drugs to actually back that up?" Piper questioned.
Henry saw how dissapointed Keith was of himself and told Piper, "That's a different story." He turned back to Keith. "Go on."
"Okay. Three weeks ago Liberty came back to San Francisco to come and pick me up. She left Peter back at her friend's house, but the gang saw her and it was just...horrific. I'd grown use to drive-bys and shootings, but not to someone I knew so personally. All because she left to be a mother. And now they're after me for wanting to be a father."
Keith seemed to be holding back tears and turned to his son. Peter was giggling with Wyatt and Chris as Wyatt had turned on the television and the trio were watching a cartoon.
"So what do you want to do right now?" Paige asked. "You've been running around and you must have some idea with what you want to do with your life. House, apartment, anything?"
"An apartment," Keith answered. "A simple apartment with a room for my boy and it has to be far, far, away."
"We can arrange that," Paige said. "What about this gang? They have to be stopped."
Keith stared down Paige and said, "Don't go after them. They would come after your entire family. It's too dangerous. I just ask that you guys help me get situated in a safe environment."
Henry and Paige nodded. They all turned to Peter who seemed to be having the most fun in weeks with Wyatt and Chris. He was still at a very young age, but Wyatt and Chris weren't doing anything to make him uncomfortable.
Piper tapped Paige on her shoulder and said, "Can I chat with ya in the kitchen for a sec?"
"Sure." Paige stood up and the two sisters walked into the kitchen. She sat down at the island stool and rested her elbows over the center counter. "What's up?"
Piper sat down next to her and said, "Well, I needed a minute away from all the depressing talk. Life's just been so good with no demons, Leo working, the kids getting along, and P3 going well. Life's damn good right now."
"Are we rubbing that in?" Paige asked, accompanied with a chuckle.
Piper smiled, "No. Just seeing you work like this has increased my concern for you lately. You're without your powers and you got a baby on the way. I'm more concerned for the kid."
"Why? Because he or she will have me as a mother?" Paige joked.
The eldest laughed, "No. You're just in your first trimester and it's only fair that I shadow over you being the sister that has experiences with all those migraines, cramps, and nausea. How's that going for you?"
"I'm actually not puking my guts out as much as I thought I would've by now. I'm just growing and I don't mean in just size, but I'm growing sore as well. At least I can handle it since I've endured worst pain from the countless demons that played a good ol' game of gauntlet with my body," Paige said. "I appreciate the concern though and I admit, it was nice to take this break as well. I've been working more with my kids at the school than actual charges in weeks. I haven't been in my actual Whitelighter mode right lately."
"Any sign of Avo or Rose?" Piper asked.
Paige crossed her fingers, "No and I hope that a car just ran them down. Ignore me and my false hope though, but if they so much make a whisper of an appearance to me while I'm pregnant, they're going to have to take on two Charmed Ones." Piper smiled. "Oh, and by 'two' I mean you and Phoebe."
"I caught that, sis," Piper replied. "If you're growing that big now, I can only imagine how you'll be in your ninth month. Your bladder isn't going to allow you to leave the house. If Avo does make a play for you though, we'll just coop you up in Magic School like you guys did to me."
Paige then stood up and held her hand out to Piper, "Deal. I'll be too big to fight you off." Piper clasped her hand and stood up. "Your husband just better not take advantage of me there twenty-four seven and try to load off more work on me."
Piper grinned and the two locked arms as they began to walk out the kitchen, "That's Leo we're talking about. He wouldn't do that. Let's go and handle your charge now."
The two entered the dining room and Leo and Keith were tending to the kids. Henry was sitting at the table dialing a number on his cellphone. He saw Paige and said, "Perfect. Keith and I have to run to the station. He might be on the run but the captain needs to see him."
"What? Why? Isn't your word enough?" Paige asked.
"It is," Henry answered, standing up. "They need to take down a record of questioning though. If I had the paperwork with me I'd do it myself."
"Can't we just go run and get it?" Paige asked. "Damn, I miss orbing."
"Paige, I'm worried too, but the gang hasn't been spotted or up to any mischief in the last several days. They're laying low so we should take advantage of that. You're welcome to come unless you want to hang out here," Henry offered.
"No. I'll go," his wife said. "Just tell me though how we're going to tear that man apart from that child?"
Paige, Henry, and Piper turned to Keith who was cradling his son in his arms. Peter was about a foot tall, but his father was holding him as if he was just fresh out the womb. He kissed his son on the forehead and just closed his eyes.
(X)
After all the paperwork was done at the station, Henry, Paige, and Keith left the building and were making their way back to the car. Henry patted Keith on the back and said, "You should be happy that you're dropping parole without any required service. Apparently all the good you've been doing to clean up the messes of the Festers is what helped you there."
Paige scoffed, "Festers. What a lame name for a deadly gang."
They continued to walk down the street and Keith explained, "They chose that name because they consider releasing bullets upon people to be festering. I gotta say that it's better than other gang names as it actually has more of meaning and thought to it."
"I suppose," Paige said. "I think it's just overall ridiculous to name a clan that goes around robbing old ladies and beating up young teenagers."
"Paige, classifying a clan is necessary for identification," Henry said in terms of demons. Paige nodded in agreement with her husband.
The sound of a car seemed to be closing in on the three and the engine seemed to roar as the tires burned rubber on the road. They turned around and Henry immediately grabbed his wife and jumped to the ground. He positioned himself to be the one on the bottom and the two bounced against the curb. Keith knew he didn't have enough time to jump to the side and threw himself onto the hood of the car to avoid the deadly collision. The car continued to drive forward until it smashed against the wall of an alley and Keith rolled onto the ground.
Three men in black sweatpants and beige hoodies to match their bandanas charged out of the car with guns in their possession. One held a rifle while the other two had handguns. They crowded over Keith who was bleeding from the corner of his mouth and the back of his head and cocked their ammo.
Henry helped pick Paige up from the ground and pulled out his handgun from his leather holster. "Freeze!" He wasn't about to shout it twice.
The Festers turned around and the one with the rifle furiously unleashed a great amount of bullets towards the mortal and witch. Paige held up her hands and telekinetically reversed the bullets and they flew directly into the original shooter. The bullets tore easily through the unprotected skin of the man and he fell right on his back with blood sliding out of the corners of his mouth and the same thick red liquid falling from the bullet holes. His two allies knew he was dead and held up their pistols at Paige and Henry.
Paige waved her hand as Henry unleashed a bullet and as the two men telekinetically flipped out of the way, the bullet shot into the wall. "Henry, go get Keith. I'll keep them down." Paige spotted the guns on the ground, gently swiped her hand and slid the guns out of the way. She turned around to make sure no one had seen her telekinetic act and was safe.
Henry was dragging Keith who's arms were wrapped around his shoulders. Paige ran to his side and helped take Keith away from the scene. "Paige, we have to get out of here obviously. These guys were stupid enough to attack near the station so they mean business."
"Well, the car is only at the end of this block," Paige reminded. People were looking at them drag a bloody man with great confusion. The witch looked at one woman and said, "Call the cops. They'll come running down from the station if they're not already. Hurry!"
The Festers' car then pulled out of the alley with the front greatly damaged. The mortal and witch tried to move faster and Paige let go of Keith.
"Just go. I'll handle this," she said to Henry. He was ready to refuse but realized Paige must have something up her sleeve and continued to move. She pointed her finger at the car tires and chanted:
Wiccan spirits hear my minor desire,
Force an untimely halt on those tires!
The car skidded to a hault leaving tracks behind them on the street. Paige smiled at her success and saw the two Festers jump out from the car with their guns pointing towards Paige. She rolled her hands around each other as she tried to form another spell on the spot.
With those weapons it's lives you seek to claim,
I hide us from you so you have nothing to aim!
The Festers looked around, puzzled as their targets were now cloaked from them.
Paige ran over to the car at the end of the block and jumped in the backseat with Keith. She closed the door behind her and Henry took off. "No rush, honey. They won't be able to find us for a while." This didn't stop Henry from moving as fast as he could.
On the rooftop overlooking the entire scene was Reynold. He was still in his gold Messenger robes as the Elders knew nothing of his betrayal. They still hadn't even suspected anything. He was now going to return to his new boss with the news of Paige's charge. He orbed off in the usual blue and white orbs, which were supposed to represent a being that was so pure and angelic. With Reynold they were just colors.
(X)
In the sunroom of the manor, Paige and Piper were sitting by Keith with a first aid kit. Paige was bandaging the back of his head as Piper was cleaning his mouth with a wet tissue. Paige finished taping the gauze to the back of his head and said, "Alright, you kinda have a bald patch in your head right now from the scar, but at least you have your life."
Keith's head was bouncing forward and he kept consistently picking it up. "I feel pretty dizzy."
"That's just the car slamming into you talking," Paige joked. Keith was in no laughing mood. "I'm just kidding. I'm really glad we were able to get you out of there, even if you aren't in the same one piece you came to us with."
"Did they really attack on the same block as the station?" Piper asked in disbelief. "Do they know no boundaries?"
"What puzzles me the most is why the cops didn't pull out a sniper rifle and get the bastards from the window. We should've had an entire fleet get these guys," Paige said.
"Paige, you get what you pay for and considering you don't have a job, you don't pay for taxes so the law feels they don't have to look over you," Piper joked.
"Cute," Paige replied. "I hope Henry is able to get in touch with someone about this apartment. I don't want him or Peter hanging around here any longer." She then rubbed Keith's back and said, "No offense, honey."
Keith was too out of it to reply. Piper helped him to his feet and said, "Come on. I'm going to take you upstairs so you can rest."
"I need to be with Peter," Keith said.
"Paige will bring him up. You guys can rest together in my room," Piper informed, leading him up towards the steps and assisting him on the way up.
Paige walked out of the sunroom and into the family room where the boys were sitting on the couch and watching television. "I cannot wait to stuff my kid in front of that wonderful babysitter." She walked towards Peter and crouched down, staring him in his brown eyes. "Hey, sweetie, are you feeling tired?"
"No," Peter said with a nod.
"Do you want to go and hang out with Daddy? He's a little hurt right now and wants to be with you," Paige said.
Peter remained silent. Hearing his father was hurt was not the thing he wanted to hear. He had already lost his mother who he was closer to and now his father was hurt. His eyes began to water and held his arms out before him.
Paige enclosed herself in his willing embrace and picked him up. He rested his chin on her shoulder and Paige just held his head. She walked out of the living room and saw Henry. "So what happened?"
"There's an apartment ready for him and Peter," Henry answered. "I'm glad this nightmare is going to be over soon. Then I'm going to hunt those guys down."
"We'll take them in a little bit. Keith is feeling out of it right now, naturally I might add, and he just wants to relax with his son. Let him feel free of all that stress for half an hour before we head onto the road," Paige suggested. "I wanted to get him out of here before, but I didn't really take how he's emotionally feeling into consideration. We're also ignoring his physical needs by not taking him to the hospital, but that's too risky. We're going to just play this out one step at a time." She proceeded with going up the steps with the little boy hugging her tightly. She didn't want to directly address it, but she knew she was feeling his tears fall against her shoulder.
(X)
In a secluded part of the Underworld, Avo continued to train the demonic witch Rose. Her powers were advancing at a slow, but profound rate. In months, an alliance would build with Avo and Rose leading them on the front line.
Rose was standing in the center of the cave and her eyes were open as she stood into those of her mentor. "Avo, this is ridiculous. Isn't there a better way to work on my durability?"
"If you can fight through the strain of blinking, you'll eventually be able to train yourself into fighting through the strains of swords, combustive blasts, and telekinetic attacks," Avo explained.
Rose blinked. "Damn it. What's the punishment this time? Nineteen demons?"
"At least you're learning how many enemies to anticipate upon your failure," the demonic Darklighter responded.
"It's not very hard to guess," Rose said. "You add one demon every time I screw up. Just keep in mind that in the end..." she stopped as she watched her mentor summon nineteen demons. "All these deaths are your loss."
Rose then ran towards the large pack of snarling demons and conjured a fireball along the way.
"Yes, but I'll be gaining something much greater," Avo said to himself.
Reynold orbed in beside Avo and immediately said, "I'm here to confirm her new charge."
Avo folded his arms, "I hope you're here to tell me more. She's been in activity with her charge for hours now so I was already able to find that out myself. What do you know that I don't?" The Darklighter didn't even glare down the Whitelighter in his intimidating manner as he watched Rose battle the demons that were dropping by the minute.
"A mortal gang is after the charge. They wounded him pretty bad and Paige was forced to use her witch powers in order to buy them time," Reynold informed. "It's only a matter of time until her witch powers aren't enough to save him."
Avo chuckled, "It's the perfect opening. I want you to orb around and find out more about this gang for me. Tell me how many members are in it and their location. I want this back within the next half an hour."
Reynold bowed, "I'll have it done sooner." He orbed away.
Avo watched Rose obliterate more demons. Her sapphire flames danced off of her arms and onto the demons. She was growing in her mental powers and would move the demons into each other and watched as they lit each other fire. The demonic witch was breathing hard from all the practice today, but seemed to enjoy it judging by her chilling laughter.
(X)
In the apartment of Harold, better known as H-Shoot to his gang, him and his posse were sitting around the living room. Guns were lying on the floor and the tables. Besides all the aresenal were several packs of heroine and cocaine. H-Shoot was pacing back and forth and delivered several colorful words. "How the hell did they get away?"
Another member, Jarod, the driver at the first encounter, cracked his knuckles and said, "It was freakin' strange. We were chasing after Keith, the cop, and his bitch, and our car just stopped. There was no flat or anything, it just stopped."
The guy driving shotgun, Fredo, nodded along and ignorantly said, "Then we hopped out the ride to just straight gun them down and they was out. They was just gone."
A column of inky black and purple orbs materialized in the center of the room and Avo stood there looking around. The Festers all freaked out and reached for their guns, but Avo had no worries. He snapped his fingers and all the arsenal in the room orbed away into an ether. He then looked up to the ceiling and said, "Come now."
Four Possessor Demons then shimmered in. They were close relatives to the strongest Possessor family and Avo personally selected them. By doing this, he helped them earn greater favor in the Underworld and it was all judging on how well they performed Avo's task . Their bodies fell to the floor as the demons vacated in embodiments of thick black smoke and charged into the bodies of the four Festers in the room. Their eyes shifted into marble black and their veins pounced against the inside of their skins for a second, showing a flow of black blood. Their eyes returned to normal.
"Good job," Avo said. "And now it's time for me to inform you of your objective. You are to chase down the charge of the youngest Charmed One and kill him. Without your powers is another stipulation I put upon you. I want this witch to blame herself and there is a chance she won't dwell on a death as long if she can blame demons on it. I want you to act like deadly mortals."
The demon possessing H-Shoot said, "Do you want us to just beat him around? We all have great strength and can make it look innocent from a demonic attack."
"That sounds to be a good advantage, but hold out your arms," Avo instructed. The demons obeyed and Avo snapped his fingers and the guns orbed into the possession of the demons. "Use these. If the Charmed One happens to reverse the bullets into you, you are to retreat from the bodies and allow them to die. If she sees that you survive bullets, she'll suspect that you are demons. If you perform this task without flaw I will personally speak with the demonic councils myself and inform them of your great abilities. Understand?"
The Possessor Demons nodded and Avo turned to their original bodies on the floor, waving his hand and orbing them into the Underworld to eventually awaken and die.
"Good. Now I want you to ambush them..." he said to them.
(X)
Henry and Paige were riding in the front of the parole officer's car with Keith and Peter in the back. Peter didn't have a safety seat but was tucked under his seatbelt with his father right beside him. The little boy had fallen asleep ten minutes back and was covered with his green blanket that had a yellow smiling sun on it.
The car hit a bump and Paige turned back to check on Peter immediately. He was still asleep and turned to Keith after admiring the blanket, "Cute blanket. Where did he get it from?"
"Me, actually. It was the blanket I first brought to him after he was born. Liberty managed to take great care of it and it's actually the reason I had gone back to the old apartment yesterday. Peter wasn't sleeping as well without it and he was crying for four days straight because of it," Keith explained.
"How long did you have that apartment?" Paige asked.
"I had it for a few months. I was using all the money I got from my drug dealings into investing into that apartment. I was hoping that Liberty would escape persecution at the mercy of being a mother and if that happened, we'd have a home. Then she was killed and I realized that nothing was safe," Keith said. "The Festers have connections with people that I don't know, but if need be, they can find out documented residences."
"You're not going to have to worry about them anymore," Henry said to him. He was driving down a lesser known lane to avoid any sightings, but the lane wasn't as empty as the previous two blocks. In the middle of the street were the Festers with three of them holding guns and one holding a bat. "Maybe I spoke too soon." He then pressed on the brakes and the car stopped.
Paige turned around to see what he was talking about and said, "Oh, crap. Run them down."
"So they can shoot us when we get close?" Henry asked. "We might need some of your special help."
"I'll see what I can-" Paige was interrupted by a burst of bullets and they all took cover. The bullets blasted through the glass with ease and Keith unbuckled Peter, preparing to run with him. Paige unbuckled herself and watched Henry do the same. She turned to Keith and shouted, "Don't you dare try and make a run for it! We're going to work this out."
Peter was crying as he was interrupted from his sleep to a loud blare of bullets intended to kill his father. Keith pulled Peter to his side of the car and huddled over him.
Paige opened her car door and Henry did the same. They both knew what they had to do. Henry cocked his gun and they both nodded at each other. The two ran out of the car and Paige violently swiped the air sending all the Festers with guns into a fence. Henry shot at the one with the bat and killed him.
The two made sure he didn't get up and then turned their attention to the three gunmen. The Possessor demon sensed it to be safe to leave and vacated the body in a cloud of black smoke.
"Paige, get back to the car and drive off," Henry said.
"You're mental!" Paige shouted.
H-Shoot, Fredo, and Jarod, all still possessed, released more bullets at Paige and she ran and hid behind a postal box. Henry was still out in the open and shot a bullet into the arm of Fredo. Fredo clasped his hand around it before shooting again. The Festers dropped their guns as they were getting nowhere.
This concerned Henry. Jarod split away from the trio and ran towards Paige as H-Shoot and Fredo ran at Henry. Henry released his last bullet and Fredo dodged it. He threw down his gun and began to swing at the two demons. His right hook met the jaw of H-Shoot and he quickly swung his left fist into the nose of Fredo. The mortal continued his assault with an elbow to the rib cage of H-Shoot and threw him against the car.
Keith watched as H-Shoot's back slammed against the driver's window. He realized that Henry must be fighting them off and looked at Peter, "Look. I need you to do your best to stay quiet. I have to go and help the good cop out there. Just stay under your blanket, okay?"
Peter's bottom lip was quivering fiercely and he nodded rapidly. He lied down on the seat and Keith covered his son with the blanket. Keith ran out the door and charged to Henry's side, immediately running his leg into the abdomen of Fredo. Fredo and H-Shoot were now on the ground. "Where's Paige?"
Henry looked around and saw Paige run her fist at Jarod, but he caught it in his hand. With his other hand he grabbed Paige's throat and began to choke her. Henry ran over, picked up the bat along the way from the ground and swung it with great force into the back of Jarod. Jarod fell to the ground and Henry threw the bat at his head.
"Paige, are you okay?" He asked, concerned.
"I'm fi..fine," she managed to get out. She coughed twice. "How's Peter?"
They all turned around and saw H-Shoot fire his gun. The bullets charged towards them and Henry tackled Paige to the ground and shielded her. He realized that a tackle like that could've hurt the baby as well, but he had to act fast and knew it was worth the risk. Keith wasn't so fortunate as the bullets pierced his chest.
Keith looked down in disbelief and saw the exact spots where the three bullets entered. His body remained immobile for a few seconds before he dropped to his knees. The rest of his body dropped and his face then smacked against the pavement as his eyes turned red.
"No!" Henry and Paige shouted in unison as they jumped to their feet. H-Shoot and Fredo were out of sight by the time they turned back, but they ran towards Keith. Henry turned him onto his back and saw blood slide out of his mouth as tears slid down his cheeks. Keith violently coughed as he tried to capture the air around him and blood spurted up and fell back onto his face.
Paige cried as she witnessed this gruesome and bloody struggle and put her hand to her mouth.
Henry slid his hand under Keith's head with watery eyes and said, "Just hold on, Keith. We're gonna...we're gonna get some he- help." He turned to Paige, "Try to heal him. A spell. Anything!"
Paige first placed her hands on her stomach and then quickly over Keith's cold body. The golden glow she was hoping for never appeared, no matter how many times she flicked her hands trying to magically close the wounds. "I'm so sorry, Keith."
Keith's eyelids then closed as his head slid out of Henry's palm. Paige crawled to Henry and threw her arms around him, sobbing hard. Henry then muttered, "Peter."
Paige pushed her way out of Henry's embrace and looked at him. "Oh, my God." She stood up and ran towards the car. She looked around the front and didn't see him. She looked in the back and saw his blanket and noticed it was bumpy underneath. She pulled off the blanket and saw a cowering boy who was still unaware that his father was now dead.
(X)
Cops were now covering the scene. Henry was currently taking a statement as a cop was sitting down next to Peter on the curb. There were two body bags being pulled into a truck; one being Keith and the other a Fester.
Paige had her cellphone to her ear and was speaking to Piper, "...And then Keith just got shot. I had no hopes of saving him whatsoever, Piper. None. This is all my fault for losing my powers and not working harder to get them back."
On the other end, Piper replied, "Paige, it's not your fault. The Elders aren't even sure about your powers, you can't blame yourself for this. How is Peter doing?"
Paige looked at the little boy in question, "He's emotionally hurt. I was holding him for a while, but he's just so confused. He's sitting down now, but there was a point where he kept trying to just run to his father. Henry and I kept him from seeing Keith, but I have no idea if the cops were so careful. I'm at a lost here, Piper."
"If you need any help, I can call Phoebe and we can all meet at the manor," Piper suggested. "Maybe playing with the boys will calm Peter down."
"That actually doesn't sound so bad. I'm sure they're going to try and toss him into the Social Services database as soon as they can, but I'm sure Henry and I can buy him some time with us saying that we actually knew Keith. I can try and scry for some other family member," the witch said back. "I'll call you back and give you the final word on what's going down."
"Sounds fine. We're all here for Peter and you guys, if necessary," Piper reminded. "Keep me updated."
"I will. Bye," Paige concluded, hanging up the phone. She saw Henry was still speaking with the police and decided to check on Peter. She walked towards the little boy. He wasn't one years old yet and life was already at a rocky start for him. She approached him and sat down beside him on the curb. She turned to the cop and asked, "Can we have a minute alone?"
The cop nodded, not strictly following his procedure of watching the child he was assigned to, but knew that Paige was a responsible figure who might be able to get Peter to talk. He walked away and left the two alone.
Paige placed her hand on Peter's leg and asked, "How are you doing, sweetie?" He didn't respond. "If you don't want to talk, that's okay. I perfectly understand. My parents died too. I was really upset and didn't want to talk with anyone either, but it wasn't good for me to keep that inside. I found it much easier when I spoke with people or just hung out with my friends. Do you want to go and hang out with your new friends? Wyatt and Chris?"
Peter was still sobbing with his blanket against his chest. He looked up at Paige with the reddest of eyes and nodded in agreement rapidly.
Paige hugged him and said, "Alright. I'll go arrange for us to do that."
(X)
In the apartment where Avo originally met the Possessor Demons, the three possessed Festers stood in front of him along with a new face. The fourth Possessor who escaped the sighting after being shot in his originally possessed body, now possessed a different person.
"Very good job," Avo complimented. "I have a spy who happened to be paying attention to the scene and he tells me there are no suspicions of magic coming from the witch. I will keep to my promise and deliver great notion to your name."
"What do you want us to do with the bodies?" The possessed Fredo asked.
"Keep them. I don't care," Avo admitted. "You performed your task. Take notice though that the police are searching for you, so there is a consequence in keeping those bodies."
"We'll take our chances. We need bodies to reside in, otherwise we suffocate," Fredo responded.
"The flaw of a Possessor Demon," the demonic Darklighter shot back. "If you don't have a body, the air suffocates you in your smoke form if you wander too long."
"Perhaps we should just possess you!" The fourth nameless Fester shouted.
"You don't have it in you to possess me," Avo informed, raising his hand and releasing a quickly formed thermal ball. The violet fireball crashed into the fourth Fester's body and destroyed the body. The thick black smoke quickly fled away searching for a new body. Avo waved at the three Festers and orbed away.
"I hope we still get our recognition," the possessed Jarod said.
(X)
Paige and Henry entered the manor with Henry carrying Peter. Paige closed the door behind them as Piper walked out from the kitchen.
"There you guys go," she said. "I've been worried." She stopped walking when she saw Peter. Her heart reached out for him as she remembered losing her mother to an untimely death and the abandonment of a father when she too was just a child. Piper turned to Paige, "How is he?"
Paige rubbed Peter's head, pushing his hair around gently, and said, "Looking forward to playing around with his new friends."
"Henry, the boys are upstairs in their room if you don't mind taking him up," Piper informed.
Henry nodded and walked to the stairs as Paige walked to her sister. Paige hugged Piper and didn't let go. "I still feel so powerless in not being able to help him. He's just a child and lost his parents to a gruesome murder. What do I do now, Piper?"
Piper rubbed her sister's back and said, "You do what you feel is right. What that may be, I have no clue, but just because you don't have your powers doesn't make you powerless. Being a Whitelighter is hardly just about your powers. Sure, they're required to tend to your charges but you don't change their lives through orbing, but through guidance to the right path. Do you remember what it means to be a Whitelighter now?"
Paige pushed herself back a little bit with a smile and told her sister, "You'll make a great Whitelighter one day."
The eldest chuckled and said, "As if I have it in me to take orders from the Elders." The two parted and Piper wrapped her arm around Paige's shoulders. "Did you bring anything to scry for Peter's relatives with? A second-cousin or so?"
"I have his blanket. That thing means the most to him now with his parents gone and if that can't make a connection, I don't know what can," Paige said. "There's just something really familiar to me about this boy, I just can't put my finger on it."
"Well, you happen to work at a school with tons of children," Piper reminded. "Maybe when you're scrying with a clear mind, it'll come back to you."
"Wouldn't it be hard to scry and try to think of a familiar reason with a clear mind? Seems pretty contradictory," Paige said.
The eldest smiled, "Go scry before I kick you."
(X)
In the attic, scrying, Paige was spinning the crystal over a map of the states, hoping to find a distant relative. The crystal had been spinning for nearly ten minutes and Paige's wrist was getting agitated with the constant rotating. Paige gave in to her pain, dropped the crystal and rubbed her tired wrist.
She exhaled a breath that was contained for a couple minutes due to hopeful scrying, but it felt good to finally release it. Paige was hoping for a sense of achievement, but to no avail. Peter was the only one left in his family line. Social services would be calling Paige's cell soon to find out where he was, wanting to add him to the database and Paige had to make a move. Despite being alone in the attic, she still felt as if she couldn't figure out how to best handle this situation.
Paige got to her feet and walked out of the attic. She went down the two flights to the bottom floor and saw Henry sitting at the dining room table with Leo. "Henry, we got to go somewhere."
"Where?" Henry asked.
"Somewhere I haven't visited in a while," Paige said. "We should bring Peter as well."
(X)
Peter was resting on Henry's shoulder, asleep for about ten minutes, when the two plus Paige entered the Church that Paige was brought to as an infant. A nun was speaking with a woman a few pews up and Paige led Henry into a pew of their own. They sat down and Peter continued to rest, undisturbed.
"So what are we doing here, Paige?" Henry asked. "I have to admit, I never really took you for the kind of Catholic that followed everything by the Bible."
"Oh, I'm not. I just believe in the big guy up in the clouds," Paige explained. "If you remember our wedding..." she eyed him, "And for your sake, you better, we had a woman conducting the ceremony. It's not exactly in the Catholic playbook to have a female priest. I just wanted to come here in hopes of guidance."
She looked up around and saw the various stained glass windows that each told a different story. In the very front of the Church was a large statue of Christ with a priest currently standing under it. Henry took a couple of glances around, never really being in a Church. He wasn't dedicated to any religion because he never saw fit to embrace any philosophies.
"Guidance with what, Paige?" Henry asked.
"Guidance for him," she answered, looking at Peter. "I'm starting to get this impression that we shouldn't just give him to social services. I feel like...we should look after him ourselves. Take him under our care."
Henry looked at her and didn't say anything for a while. They just stared at each other, but that was fine in this holy sanctuary. Words didn't always have to be exchanged for communication. "I'm actually seeing where you're coming from."
"Why wouldn't you? We were both adopted and you of all people know the troubles of being tossed around from house to house. I lucked out and I think we should do the same for him," Paige explained. "I don't want to learn in a few years that Peter is being tossed around from house to house for whatever reason."
Henry rubbed Peter's back and said, "I think Keith would want us too, but we should think about this a little more. It's been a tough day for us with Keith being killed and I don't want us to act on impulse."
"We're not really acting on impulse," Paige defended. "That's why we're here. My parents brought me here and placed me in the care of this very Church. They weren't thinking properly, but I wanted to see if I could channel what they were thinking, if that makes any sense. The situations are different, I realize that, but it all comes down to the life of a child. Whether you take in or give up a child, their life is going to change and it'll create an impact. We're going to be parents soon, Henry. I still have little doubts inside me of being a mother, but I want to make a positive impact on Peter's life."
"You say that as if being adopted is the worst thing in the world," Henry replied. "You had a great life."
"And you didn't. You still have a part of you that you haven't shared with me and I don't demand an answer from you. I'll wait, but I experienced a world that contrasted this one. I lived a life with my sisters and a happy family for one day and that feeling was fierce. Peter will never experience that and when he gets older, that feeling just might burn him," Paige said sympathetically. Her eyes began to tear and she said, "It's going to break my heart one day when he asks questions about his parents and starts to wonder what life could've been like if fate wasn't so cruel to him."
"Are you ready to answer those questions?" Henry asked. "I like to feel as if I have the strength to give a straight answer, but in the long run, I'm not sure."
"We know that Peter has had a rough start, Henry. This little boy doesn't deserve that and I know that we can take care of him. Other parents are going to beat him to death with all the reasons that life will still be fine without his parents. Not true! You may have said that you don't look back so much to your past, but growing up I acted out with not knowing about mine. He needs someone that can sympathize with him and I feel that we both have it in us to do that for him," tears were falling from the corners of Paige's eyes. "He needs to be able to mourn and not ignore the memory of his parents. He's so young and it's going to be hard enough to hold onto that memory as it is...I don't want some adoptive parents to be the reason he forgets them."
Henry's eyes were watery, but fought back his tears from rolling down his face. "You're right, Paige. He shouldn't forget the memory of his parents. Especially not the two people who risked their lives to create a better one for him."
"Their lives was an unfortunate, but ultimate sacrifice," Paige said. "I'm feeling ready to do this. What's your take on it?"
"Can we at least go home when we make this final decision? You wanted to come to Church to discuss this with a clear mind, but I think best when on the road," Henry explained, introducing Paige to a new detail of his life. She receptively nodded and the two stood up.
Paige on the car ride over remembered Evelyn's vision with Peter in it. She decided not to tell Henry at the chance of influencing him into making a decision that he wasn't ready for. She was just hoping he'd make the right one.
(X)
The Mitchells entered their house and Paige was now holding Peter in her arms. She was carrying him like she would a newborn child and just watched him sleep. Not taking her eyes off of him, she asked Henry, "So what's the verdict?"
Like Paige, Henry just looked at Peter. "I want to honor Keith by taking care of his son. Together, I know we can do right by Peter. I guess we can also consider this practice for when you give birth to our own child."
"I guess it'll be practice," Paige said. "But I'm sure that we'll grow to love Peter just like we would our own."
"He won't be different in my eyes," Henry promised, tears finally falling down his cheeks.
"I don't know what we're supposed to do with him," Paige said, still crying herself. Peter was peacefully sleeping in her arms, despite everything he had gone through today.
"We don't have too many options, do we, Paige?" Henry questioned. "Besides, we're sure now that we want to take him in and just have to run it by social services."
Paige nodded, "It's not going to be that simple. Social services might allow us to take care of him for now, but it won't be legal until about a year. It's going to be an annoying process where they check our home and make sure it's a clean environment and stuff like that. I've had to do it several times and you get to see how imposing you're forced to be with that job."
"We have nothing to hide," Henry said. "Except that you battle demons and have powers."
Paige slightly chuckled, "I've just realized something. I'll have to teach Peter about magic one day."
To continue the light mood, Henry said, "Let's just make sure it's at an age that is years before the sex talk."
Paige smiled. "Thank you for agreeing with me to do this, Henry. It really means a lot to me."
"I'll be honest in saying that I did it more for Peter and even Keith. You know your word means a lot to me, but I've been given the opportunity to bring some peace and normalcy to this boy's life. We'll raise him as a son of our own, but it'll be strange to see this boy turn into a young man that looks nothing like me," Henry shared.
"Don't give up all hope yet," Paige said. "We still got one of our own on the way. If it's a boy, he'll be just as handsome as his daddy."
"And if it's a girl, she'll be just as beautiful as..." Henry was interrupted with the yawning of the young boy in Paige's arms. His eyes slowly opened and just looked back and forth at the two people who were ready to take him into a new home. He just didn't know it yet.
(X)
Avo's personal Messenger orbed before him in the Underworld and said, "Congratulations on the assassination, Avo. Those Possessor Demons sure worked perfectly."
The demonic Darklighter nodded as he watched Rose meditating on the ground. "I've given them their credit too, despite one foolish member acting out. Were you able to find out if the deceased father was able to earn his Whitelighter wings?"
"I don't know," Reynold answered. "I can't just raise the topic to my attention since I'm not even supposed to know at this moment."
"Proper answer. I don't want your alliance with me to be discovered. I doubt you would want that to happen as well. I can only imagine what the Elders would do once they discover they have a Whitelighter infiltrating the Heavens," Avo said. "I'm so tempted to have you orb me in there so I can annihilate them all where they stand, but I'm going to play it wise. Sadly, I believe that the Elders have the power to defeat me."
"I don't think they are even concerned about you. Paige has told them that she lost Rose to your influence, but they didn't really tell her any method to vanquish you," Reynold explained.
"Strange. The Elders actually know me in ways they must be ashamed to tell Paige," he replied. "This battle will get them involved and their blood will spill. I'll be back to power soon enough and in a few months, Rose will have enough willpower to take in the profound abilities of Valen."
"Months?"
"Was I not clear? Valen is an ancient demon and she can crush Rose if she's not ready. Awakening her power will be a task alone, but we need a powerful woman for Valen to go into. If successful, we'll have a powerful ally that might require Paige to call her sisters to help her out. It's going to be a bloodbath."
(X)
Paige and Henry stood outside their bedroom door with the knowledge of Peter sitting on their bed. The two looked at each other and Henry finally said, "We can't just leave him in there. He's confused enough already."
"I know, I know. It's just weird that we're about to walk in there and tell this kid that we're going to be his new parents," Paige said. "I want to be careful with my wording."
Henry turned the knob and told his wife, "We'll be fine. Let's just change the pace of news for this kid." He walked in and Paige followed. Peter was crying a little and Henry said, "Hey, buddy. You doing okay?"
Peter nodded and said, "Yeah." He was being sincere, but was truly hurt.
"Paige and I here have some news for you. Would it be cool if we told you it right now or should we come back later?" Henry asked.
The child nodded again, informing Henry it was okay to share the news.
Henry walked over to Peter and sat down besides him on the bed. He wrapped his arm around Peter's shoulders and said, "We're really sorry that you lost your parents. It must be really hard for you, but we wanted to know how you would feel about Paige and I letting you live with us. It's a safe home and we would like to take care of you. How do you feel about that, buddy?"
Peter looked from Henry to Paige. They were the only other people that he knew and he was aware of how much they were trying to help his father find a safe home. He remembered his father describing Henry as "the good cop" and he personally thought Paige was a really pretty lady. He began to think this might be good for him, "I like that."
Those three words reached out to both Paige and Henry. To Paige, it felt like she had just given birth to Peter and was on the track to loving him.
Henry kissed Peter on the forehead and brushed his hair around. "We're glad to hear that." The elder mortal stood up and told Paige, "I'm going to go and get him some milk."
"I don't likes milk," Peter said. "Can I haves some owange juice?"
Henry smiled, learning a new thing about his new son. "Of course, buddy." He then left.
Paige walked over to Peter and held her arms out to him. He stood on the bed and climbed into Paige's arms, "It's okay, Peter. We'll take care of you." She smiled at him. "It might take a while, but we're going to give you a good life with our best efforts. I want you to understand that we're not trying to replace your parents. They were both wonderful people, but we just wanted to take care of you for their honor and for your safety."
"Do I has to call yous my 'Mom' and 'Dad'?" Peter fairly asked.
"Of course not," Paige replied. "If you want, you can make up little nicknames for us and we'll happily go by them."
Peter rested his head on her shoulder, pondering on a name to call her. He wasn't sure of the moment, but was going to think on it. It was a happy distraction to think of. He closed his eyes and a tear managed to squeeze through and landed on Paige's shoulder for a second time.
Different from the first time, Paige began to feel something rising within her. It felt as if something that was deeply buried within her rose to her heart and mind. Her vision changed to that of when she orbed; blue and white lights that would cloud her sight. She didn't feel herself move, but she felt healed. Her powers had finally returned to her with this great act of consideration of Peter. A little mortal boy helped make her the magical Witchlighter she once was.
End of Chapter
A/note: I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Leave some great reviews for me, please. Lol. At least Paige finally got her you-know what back. And btw, if my spells were bad (Lol) it was because I suck at spell writing and I was trying to channel how Paige is often quick with chanting a spell. Criticize away though. I hope you enjoyed.
Chapter 14 is already written and I'll tell you it's a Thanksgiving Chapter followed by Chapter 15, a Christmas chapter. Im just warning you about these jumps in the month, but as usual, you will have the dates to keep you in track.