Leo was walking the hall at magic school. Distractedly he read through the papers he carried, he looked up when he heard footsteps heading towards him.

"Phoenix, are you here again?" He asked his niece in amusement.

"Yeah," she gave a sheepish grin, "Is that all right?"

"You know that you're welcome anytime," he invited warmly.

Phoenix adored her uncle. She might be less than thrilled now about her power to attract men, but at one time she enjoyed it. She'd reveled in her power, tested it. For an entire semester she hadn't had to do any homework, her male classmates were more than willing. And then Uncle Leo had caught on. In his calm and non-judgmental way, he had sat her down and talked with her. He had explained that because she was a smart, confident and attractive young woman that she could accomplish many things. He'd told her that some things came easier to her than to others; most of the time, she could finish a class assignment before the last pupil in the class had even caught on and grasped the concept, she made friends easier than some of her shyer peers. 'But, Phoenix,' he had warned, 'being attractive isn't always going to be enough. Being pretty on the outside won't matter if you're not pretty within. Using those boys and taking advantage of them isn't very pretty.' She could still hear his gentle rebuke. She had known instantly that he was right and knew that the heady sensation was vain and unbecoming. She'd settled down after the encounter and promised herself that she would never use her looks to manipulate anyone again. Shaking herself out of her musings she looked up to see that her uncle was looking at her on amusement.

"Are you back now?" He grinned.

She nodded, "Did you ask me something," she added in an embarrassed voice.

"I asked three times how the training was coming."

"A few bumps and bruises, figuratively and literally, but we're starting to get the hang of it.

"If determination were enough, you wouldn't even need the rest of the family," he complimented. "But, Nix, don't push yourself too hard," he added with a look of concern.

"I'm not," she assured her uncle.

As she continued through the hall her mind wandered again, she realized that her uncles had taught her a lot over the years. Uncle Henry had even taught her how to pick locks and not only how to drive cars-her father was a cupid who could 'beat' from one place to another and as such had never needed to learn how to drive- but how to hotwire them as well! He hadn't always been a parole officer! When confronted by the Charmed Ones for his teachings, he'd reasoned that as fighters in a magical war, even if that war seemed to be on hiatus, that his family should have a variety of skills at their disposal. Satisfied, the sisters had backed down.

(X)

Wyatt met Chris at their neighborhood coffee shop, even though the brothers shared a loft, due to their conflicting schedules they rarely saw each other. To remedy the situation, they often met for coffee.

The counter-girl brought the coffees to the table the brothers sat at, frowning slightly when Wyatt didn't acknowledge her.

"Wyatt, have a heart. You just crushed that poor girl," Chris teased.

"What?" Wyatt was clearly distracted.

"Okay, big brother, what gives?" Chris gave his brother a searching look. "Normally, you flirt with her. You not only haven't been your usual charming self, you're distracted and frankly, you look like hell, reheated."

Wyatt gave his brother a sardonic look, "Thanks, Chris."

"Stop being evasive!" Chris demanded.

Wyatt wiped his eyes tiredly. "I haven't been sleeping well," he confessed. He raised his coffee cup for a drink, took a large gulp and started coughing.

Chris laughed, "Obviously, you're even too tired to switch the coffee!" When they'd first moved into the loft and started coming to this coffee house, Wyatt had ordered from the perky girl behind the counter, who was even now casting disappointed looks in his direction. Being a flirt, Wyatt had asked for extra sugar, winkingly telling her that he liked things that were sweet. She, being good at customer service, quickly memorized the order of the blonde flirt, and as soon as she saw the brothers coming started pouring their coffees. Normally, Wyatt was quick to exchange 'his' coffee for Chris' strong black coffee, the way both brothers preferred the beverage, today, however, he hadn't even remembered.

Wyatt gave a rueful grin, "Well if the caffeine doesn't keep me awake, the sugar high will," as he touched the rim of his mug to Chris' in a toast.

"I thought you said you haven't been sleeping well. Why do you want to stay awake?" Puzzlement shone from Chris' green eyes. "Wait, that doesn't make any sense! Wyatt, you're constantly sleeping lately. Every time I come into the loft, you're asleep on the sofa or in your room."

"How do you know I'm sleeping if I'm in my room," Wyatt quizzed.

Chris rolled his eyes, "Because, Wyatt, you snore."

"Here I thought, there'd be more privacy out of the manor," Wyatt mock complained.

"Yeah, well, I thought it would be quieter," Chris shot back, "Just roll over, Wyatt."

(X)

Henry Jr was taking advantage of the niceness of the day. He sat beneath a large tree and started studying for classes. As a pre-med student his course load was heavy and the classes hard. He found it hard to study, however. He was distracted by the fact that although magic was back and everyone in his family, except of course the mortals, had some sort of gift. As yet, Henry's gift had yet to emerge. He despaired that it ever would. He didn't feel envious, he felt fear; fear of the war with demons, fear for his family's safety. Not only could he not protect them, but they may become fatally distracted trying to protect him!

"Hello," Henry heard the soft voice. He looked up into the most amazingly turquoise eyes he'd ever seen.

"Hello," he mumbled back almost dazedly.

"Normally I wouldn't intrude on your studies, but I noticed that you just seem to be hiding behind that book and not studying at all."

"How did you know that?" He asked with a big smile which showed the dimple in his cheek to flirt worthy attention.

The beautiful blonde sat next to him, "Because your book is upside down." She pointed out. Henry Jr blushed.

"Caught me," he winked, "It's just such a beautiful day that it's hard to concentrate on this," he waved his hand over the large assortment of books.

"I know what you mean," the girl agreed. "Why don't I help you put all of these away and we can go for a walk?"

"That sounds wonderful," he agreed. "I know a small bistro that has alfresco dining, maybe you'd like to have lunch?"

"Well, maybe we should introduce ourselves before we start dating," the serene beauty laughed, "I'm Rebecca."

"Henry," he held out his hand to shake hers.

She laughed again, "Oh, no, that's much too formal. Have you ever been to Europe? The people there are much warmer…" she leaned in and kissed his cheek to demonstrate. "That's much better."

He kissed her cheek in return and whispered, "Yes, much."

The two started gathering his books. Subtly, without Henry's notice, every book that Rebecca handled glowed a faint white and then faded to its original color.

(X)

Once back at the loft, Wyatt felt inexplicably exhausted. 'Maybe I'm coming down with something' he thought. He entered his room and flopped down on his oh-too comfy bed. 'Not as comfy as some' he thought again. 'Whose?' He asked himself, but drifted off to sleep before he had an answer.

new A/N another chapter done and seriously added to.