A/N: My most sincere apologies for the long wait. I won't lie, I have been procrastinating lately. But hopefully this chapter will make up for it. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Enemy

---Abigail, Tate Beachside Estate, East of Boston---

The curtains of the chamber were drawn, filtering out the harsh sunlight, lest it fall on the lady of the house's delicate pasty skin. It was beautifully decorated with a sort of Victorian era theme. Most of the house had that sort of feel. The ancient Abigail Tate was lying in a sitting position on her extravagant queen sized bed that would have appeared very elegant, if its appearance weren't slightly marred by the IV hooked up next to it. Tituba sat diligently at the bedside, running the old wooden brush through Abigail's waist length hair that even in her advanced age was as beautiful as it had ever been, the way the sunlight reflected off her silvery gray tresses. The two women looked up when they heard something slam against the door to the room, as though someone had been thrown into it and bounced off violently. Two male voices were heard grumbling outside.

"Tituba," Abigail said in her high musical voice, "answer that would you?" The dark skinned girl only nodded, setting the brush down on the nightstand and getting to her feet. Her footsteps made barely a sound as she moved to the door to admit Thomas and Rourke, the two of them rubbing their foreheads. Abigail shook her ancient head. "That will teach the two of you to try and blink into my chambers unannounced. Where's Rose?"

"Here Ma'am." The blond witch stepped lithely into the room, that usual grin of pearly white teeth secure on her face. "I tried to tell them. But their heads may as well be made of brikk."

Thomas and Rourke growled at Rose' remark, but made no attempts to argue. Women had the final say in the Tate Family. The three of them gathered around her bedside, Rose taking the stool that stood at the ornate vanity set on the other end of the room. Tituba returned with a tray of tea and tarts. Rourke and Thomas both tried to help themselves, but Tituba swatted their hands away easily and gave them a stern look. For someone who couldn't speak, she was quite the spitfire. Abigail took the first tea cup daintily and sipped it, not even looking at the others until she felt ready to speak again.

"So, are you ready to report on your recent miserable failure?"

"I wouldn't kall it a failure Auntie. More like a minor setback." Rose grinned. She never seemed to take Abigail's criticism seriously. "Nathan's a little more klever than we gave him kredit for. But now that he and the little one have been separated, they pose a less formidable threat."

"Don't take that girl lightly." Abigail warned firmly. "She must be something special if Nathan has gone this far for ten years to keep her from us. What kould he be hiding?" She seemed to be speaking more to herself now than to the others. "Now about the boys."

"It's them alright." Thomas spoke. "They're everything they've been rumored; the youngest members of the Seven."

"I see. That changes things." Abigail mused.

"It's not only them." Rose interrupted. "Among them are a whitelighter with an unusual ability. She wields an athame that appears to be able to shoot violet lightning. There's also another male witch with them; an illusionist. He kan also fire darts, same as Thomas."

Abigail nodded her head. "I see. So what was your impression of them?"

"Well the oldest is the fire-starter, but he's klearly not the alpha-male. That role goes to his telekinetik twin. I must say, that one was rather impressive with his steely gaze."

"What are your orders?" Rourke asked in his grating voice that sounded like wood dragging on stone.

Abigail took a long while to answer, polishing off one of the tarts from the tray and washing it down with another sip of her tea. "I want them alive if you kan."

The other three looked to each other with a mix of confusion and astonishment. Thomas looked back to Abigail. "But we only kapture when we believe they kan be turned. The illusionist seems wily enough, but those boys are Proktors. Our families have warred for generations."

Abigail's voice was harder now, ringing with the wisdom of her years. "Do not question me Thomas. As a male, you will never know the burden of being head of the Tate line. You will do as you're told, if not by me then by my sukcessor." Her expression softened again. "As for the boys, they are highly kapable and talented witches. It would be a waste to simply have them killed, don't you think? They still may be made useful. But that is a little far off. For now, just fokus on your main objektive. Kapture Nikole at all kosts. This is the first time we've pikked up a trace of Nathan in ten years, and I'll be damned if we're going to lose it now. You all have your assignments. Now go."

The other three exchanged wary glances. This wasn't like Abigail. Normally she would have demanded the Proctor boys' heads on a platter. But they knew better than to question the wisdom of the Matriarch. Doing so had often produced messy consequences. Rose got back to her feet. "As you wish Auntie." And in an instant, she wasn't there anymore. The other two blinked out almost as quickly.

With them gone, Abigail leaned back, lifting the beautifully hand painted teacup to her lips. "Mmm it's divine Tituba. What brand is this? Khamomile?" The dark skinned girl at her bedside only nodded.

---Cody & Trevor, Suite 2330, Tipton Hotel Boston---

"I'm worried." Cody admitted as he continued to stir the potion that remained brewing over the kitchen stove. "It's been days and still no sign of Nathan. Don't you think he would have come looking for her by now?"

"Not if he's keeping a low profile." Trevor replied, looking up from his work to see what Cody was up to. "What's with the ponytail?"

"It keeps my hair a safe distance away from the potion. And besides that, it looks hot."

"Keep telling yourself that. So like I said, he's probably just laying low until the air clears."

"Or the Tates got to him before we did."

"Were you always such a pessimist?" Trevor jibed. Cody didn't answer. "Or did it happen after you and Max—"

Cody cut him off. "If you want to keep your teeth, I'd shut up."

Sykes just grinned. "Looks like I hit a nerve. Man what happened to you guys? You used to be joined at the hip and then all of a sudden you're dating other girls, and don't get me wrong, I'm all for that, but you didn't strike me as that kind of guy. I mean if it's about that whole witch and whitelighter thing, I'm pretty sure the Elders make exceptions ever since that Charmed One… was it Piper?"

"Look it has nothing to do with that. Would you just keep your eyes on the laptop. How much longer until they get to the safehouse?"

"About ten minutes." Sykes answered, keeping his eyes on the notebook computer which was currently using its scrying feature to keep track of the car Zack and Nicole were in. "We're lucky Nicole finally told us where it is. She must really trust us now."

"No, she trusts Zack. That's something else that worries me. He's kind of taking this case personally. I think a lot of it has to do with what happened to Gwen. Nicole told me he still blames himself for what happened to her."

Trevor frowned. "Hey come on. We don't even know for sure if she's actually gone. Maybe she… I don't know, deflected the explosion."

"Then why didn't we find her?"

"Maybe she shimmered or blinked away."

"Gwen can't do that. Deflection was her only power. That and sensing other people's powers. And if she did survive, why hasn't she tried to get back in touch with us?"

"Probably for the same reason Nathan is still on the down low. The Tates might be after her too. Natalia already said there's probably big red targets painted on all of our foreheads now."

"That's comforting." Cody grimaced.

Trevor grinned. "What? You mean big bad Cody Martin of the seven is worried about something as little as the magical mafia having it out for him?" Cody didn't have an answer for that. Trevor changed the subject. "So how long before Max gets back from the Elders?"

"Don't know. Time gets a little skewed up there."

"She really sure about calling in their help about this? I don't think that Natalia character is going to like that. And from what you've told me, she's not someone you'd want mad at you."

"Never mind her. She kind of owes us." Cody glowered over the potion that was starting to fog. He wasn't even sure why he was making it. It just felt good to keep his hands busy. It kept him from contemplating strangling Trevor. He didn't really understand it, but he just couldn't stand Trevor. Maybe it was just the way he kept flirting with Max who either didn't pick up on it, or just didn't mind.

"So I know you've been dating, but what about Max?" Sykes asked.

"I don't know. She doesn't really talk about it. Why would she?" Now he was really getting on Cody's nerves. His grip on the wooden spoon he was stirring with tightened.

"I just thought you'd want to know." Sykes watched him slyly out of the corner of his eye. "But hey, that's just me I guess. 'Cause I was thinking, if she was available at the moment…"

"Yeah?" Cody squeezed tighter.

"I thought I'd try asking her out."

SNAP, the wooden handle of the spoon broke cleanly in half and Cody spun round, pinning Sykes with his gaze.

Trevor however grinned triumphantly and pointed an accusing finger at him. "I knew it! It is bothering you! Can't fool me trying to act all aloof."

"It does not bother me! I'm completely over her! I'm just frustrated with the situation right now, and you bringing up how you want to date my ex is just one thing I don't want to deal with right now!"

"Alright, alright, don't be so high strung."

"I am not high strung!"

"Then why'd you forget your pants this morning?"

Cody's glare broke into a look of confusion as he looked down at his legs. He was startled to find his blue plaid boxer shorts looking back at him. "What the…"

Trevor rolled with laughter. "Sorry. I just couldn't resist. Man you're an easy target." The other witch snapped his fingers, and in a quick flash like that of a camera, Cody's legs were comfortably back in his jeans.

"That wasn't funny. Save that for the Tates."

"Classic." Trevor muttered to himself as he gave himself his usual caffeine buzz to refocus himself on the task at hand.

---Zack & Nicole, Unknown Avenue, Outskirts of Boston---

"Not much further." Nicole assured Zack as they sped down the highway in the Martin's family car. It was a modest used Honda Accord that they had helped their mom pay for after they got their licenses. However, their paychecks didn't quite contribute to the payments as much as Carey's salary, so she referred to it as her car. It wasn't very flashy, but Zack could still drag race with the best of them in it if his mother would have permitted it. "Now remember, no magic. I'll go in first. We are not looking for a fight."

"I know." Zack said again. "I already promised you didn't I?"

"You can't lie to an empath. Besides that, your knuckles on the wheel are white."

Zack loosened his grip a little. "Look, I know you told me he's a good guy and all, but It's not like an on-off switch. I'm going to be angry when we get there, and I'll probably still be angry for a while after that. But I promise I won't do anything stupid."

Nicole shrugged. "Okay. I trust you. Make a left here."

Zack pulled the car onto a dirt road that wasn't easily seen by anyone who wasn't deliberately looking for it. Just over the hill he could barely make out what looked like an oversized wood shed. But once he got closer he found that it was actually a small cabin. "This it?"

"This is it. He said it was an old safe house his family used way back in the day during the witch hunts. It's still kept in pretty good shape, but no one ever uses it." She replied. "Park here so he doesn't hear the engine."

He did as she said and they made their way down the rest of the road on foot. "Should I knock?"

"Only if you want an energy ball in your face. I'll go in first." Nicole turned the knob to find it unlocked. Then she let herself in to announce herself. "Nate? Nate it's me. Are you here?"

Zack entered just behind her. The lights were out and the shades were drawn, admitting only dim orange lighting through their fibers. From what he could see, there wasn't much. There was a couch that probably pulled out into a bed, a small TV, and a ladder that led to a bunk with a mattress covered with a pink comforter, obviously Nicole's. "Nicole, I don't think he's here."

"It's kind of dark. Let me just…" she fumbled her fingers around for a bit before she was able to find the switch. The fluorescent light that flooded the room allowed them to see for the first time, Nathan face down on the rug. Just above him, leaning over the couch were the pointed wiry features of Thomas Tate.

"So good of you to kome. We were getting worried." Instinctively, Zack raised his hand, alight with a bright red fireball. "Ah-ah-ah-ah." Thomas smirked, pointing his index finger at Nathan's unconscious body, his thumb making his hand in the shape of a gun. On the tip of his finger was a glowing energy dart. "You put away your toy, I'll put away mine." Nicole put her hands over Zack's arm, her blue eyes pleading him to lower it. He had no choice. His power was stronger, but Thomas' was quicker and more accurate. He lowered his weapon and extinguished it. "There's a good boy."

Heavy footsteps from the farther corner of the room heralded Rourke's appearance. "He was so easy to nab." The giant male witch bellowed.

Thomas flashed a smile at them in agreement. "Bakk in the day, Nate here would have made a run for it. I guess he was just so hung up on waiting for you that he slipped up and didn't hear us koming."

Nicole glowered at their opponents. "If you were in here the whole time, why couldn't I sense you?"

"Empath masking potion." Thomas replied dryly.

Zack tensed. How did they know about Nicole's other power?

Rourke lowered his hands to his sides and flexed his trunk-like biceps. "Shall we have some fun with them brother?"

Zack braced himself for the oncoming attack, placing himself protectively in front of Nicole as both Tates started to make their way towards them.

---Max, Up There---

Max tapped her foot impatiently, leaning casually against one of the pillars that didn't seem to have any purpose in this place above the clouds. As far as she could tell, there was no ceiling for them to support. But she was still a young whitelighter, and she didn't trouble herself too much with how things in the hierarchy worked. Her glance kept shifting towards the shimmering gold double door, behind which the high council of Elders was still convening. She was a little more anxious to report this time than usual. It had been bothering her since that night at the bridge. How much had they actually known about this case? The Elders wouldn't have purposely sent them into an inferno like this would they? Zack and Cody were powerful, but they were still young. They had to have known this was more than a simple missing witch case. Had it really been the Elders who had wanted them on this, or was Natalia using her network to pull strings again. That would be typical of her, using her pull to get the twins to do her dirty work. But what was her angle this time?

"Oh, hey Max. What are you doing here?" The girl jumped at the voice, having not heard the newcomer orb in. "Relax, it's just me." Paige grinned with her full red lips. "What you up to?"

"Hey Paige. Nothing much. Just here to give my report. That's all."

Paige gave her a sly smile. "You're lying aren't you."

"What makes you say that?"

"Whenever you lie, you start speaking in sentence fragments."

"Do not."

The half whitelighter folded her arms. "What's going on? Boys getting on your nerves? If it makes you feel any better, I have a charge in Ireland who seems to let it slip his mind every now and again that I'm already happily married. Threatening to orb them to purgatory usually works."

For a second, Max contemplated telling Paige, but she quickly reconsidered. It was way too complicated. If the Charmed Ones got involved, that would make them and everyone connected to them targets for the Tates. That included Wyatt and Chris, even little Ladybug who wasn't even out of her mother's womb yet. No, they couldn't know anything about it. Max did her best to lie this time. She had gotten a little better at it over the years. "Yeah the two of them are going at it again. Sure is tough being in the middle of it all. So how's Henry?"

Paige's suspicion changed to a conspiratorial smile. "Actually, that's why I'm up here. I came to ask the Elders for maternity leave."

Max's eyes bulged. "What? You mean you're… you're…."

"Pregnant? Believe it missy. Phoebe went all doey-eyed when she heard that we're going to be going through pregnancy together. She had a premonition this morning. I know Zack and Cody are going to get a kick out of this. Phoebe says Henry and I are having twins."

"You're kidding!"

"I was a little skeptical, but you're not going to catch me making bets against someone who can see the future. And of course, Piper's been full of advice about the whole thing. But since most it is for Henry, and how he shouldn't argue with even the smallest craving, I can't complain."

"That's great Paige. I'm so happy for you guys. Can I feel?"

Paige giggled. "Well I'm not that far along yet. Call me in three months."

"Is it true Paige?" Paige and Max jumped. Elder Sandra had crept up on them while they had been engrossed in each other's company. Her serene elderly face wore a warm smile, and the light from the atmosphere illuminated her short blond curls like a halo. "My my my, part witch, part whitelighter, part officer of the law, your children are going to be quite intuitive. And twins on top of that? Congratulations."

"Thank you." Paige said modestly. As the kind hearted Elder, Sandra had a closer relationship to the Charmed Ones than the others, and this bond was very tight with Paige who had taken to her whitelighter duties beautifully. Even Piper, who was very open about her dislike of the Elders had a soft spot for Sandra.

"Maxine, the council just adjourned. What is it you wanted to talk to me about? If it's about Zackary looking for more cases, I promise you'll be the first ones we call if anything comes up. Tell him he needs to take it slow for awhile. We can hardly begrudge those boys a vacation."

"What? No it's not that. We already have our hands full with the one you gave us." In the midst of her excitement for Paige, Max had nearly forgotten why she had come up here in the first place.

Sandra looked confused. "The one we gave you? Which one are you talking about. I thought you'd already vanquished the wolf demon."

"No, I mean the one about Nicole and Nathan."

Now the Elder really looked concerned. "Who?"

"The supposed kidnapping." Max explained. "Nicole, our innocent who we thought we were rescuing from Nathan Tate."

Sandra's eyebrows rose to her forehead and her eyes grew wide. "Nathan Tate? We've been trying to get back in contact with Nathan for years, after we heard that he'd left the family. We thought he might need protection. But he dropped off our radar after that."

That would make sense. That may have been right around the time he took in Gabriel. The Elders wouldn't be able to track him if he had a demonic spirit lurking in his body. But why had they been keeping tabs on him in the first place? "What do you mean 'get in contact'? You mean you were going to send him a whitelighter?"

"He already had one. Some of the Tate family does, even though most of them are unaware of it. That's a gray area. Good and evil always seems to be warring within that family. None of them can really be called warlocks, since none of them have killed innocents, but with the things they do, none of them can really be called good either. But if we learn that one of them might actually come back on the path, we try to help them. That's why we have whitelighters watch over them. Nathan was one of them, and when we heard he was on the run from the family, we tried to find him, but he'd vanished. We never did learn why he left Abigail's service."

"Because he ran with one of her orphans. Nicole has been on the run with him for ten years! Are you telling me you didn't know about this?" Max was growing frantic. As far as the Elders knew, Nathan had been off the radar, and they had no clue about Nicole. Not only that, Sandra seemed to have no clue about their case, and she was of the highest ranking Elders. If she didn't know about it, none of the Elders did. But if it hadn't been them who sent Zack and Cody the case, who had?

Paige looked from the Elder, then back to the whitelighter, whose brain could almost be heard clicking into place. "Max, what's going on? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"I have to go." Was all she said before she orbed out.

---Zack and Nicole, Nathan's Cabin---

Zack hit the wall with a crash, sending several framed pictures to lie in a pile of shattered glass with him on the hardwood floor. Rourke trod casually to stand over him. Meanwhile, Nicole had finally managed to ram her elbow hard into Thomas' ribs. The lanky witch cringed away from her, nursing the throbbing pain in his side while trying to regain his breath. Wasting no time, she jumped across the room to crouch near where Nathan was still out cold. "Nate, wake up! We need to get out of here!" She screamed as her wrist was grabbed suddenly. Thomas was faster than she had expected and already had her arm twisted behind her back.

"Oh, he kan't hear you. That sleeping potion we hit him with should keep him under for another three hours or so."

Zack was too distracted with trying to get to Nicole, he made the grave mistake of forgetting who he was really fighting. Rourke snatched him up by his throat, hardening his hand until it made a grip of iron. With his breath leaving him, Zack thrust one more fireball into his enemy. Rourke merely laughed his low grating laugh as Zack's attack passed easily through his torso. He had made his stomach intangible, allowing the fireball to go through him and blast into the wall behind him. "Are you sure you're one of the seven? Your little witch over there pakks more of a punch than you." Zack fought through the cloud that was starting to engulf his vision as Rourke's grip began to choke the life out of him. If he didn't do something fast, his esophagus was going to snap. He placed both his hands around Rourke's massive forearm, and instinctively called on his power. The heat from his hand proved to be too much even for Rourke's magically hardened hand, and he quickly recoiled his arm, dropping Zack panting on the floor. Meanwhile, Nicole seemed to have re-gathered her wits and used her own strange blue flames to force Thomas' grip to slacken. She ran to help Zack to his feet while the two brothers reunited to corner them both.

"I'm done playing with them." Rourke growled. "I don't kare what Abigail says, the dustmop is toast." He opened his clenched fist into a claw that began to spark with very familiar energy. His energy ball buzzed and circuited in his hand, ready to throw with a twitch of the wrist.

Thomas was pointing three of his fingers at them, each with darts ready to fire. "I kouldn't agree more."

Zack's mind was racing to figure a way out of this, but both Tates had him cornered with attacks ready to fire before he could even hope to conjure any flames. The only thing he had time to think about was putting himself protectively in front of Nicole.

"Isn't that kute" Thomas sneered, "Be the hero and take the bullets for her like a man. I tip my hat in respekt." Zack winced as the energy ball and darts flew from their caster's hands with point blank accuracy, the darts aimed for his head, and the ball for his chest. Would he be able to withstand it? Or would he just fall to the ground while Thomas and Rourke carted Nicole off to that still unseen enemy they worked for? There was a sound in the air that sounded like a whistling or a chime. The sound made Zack open his eyes in bewilderment to see the Tates' magical attacks being flung back at them at full force. Thomas and Rourke's eyes widened stupidly. They didn't have time to move or block or do anything but stand there like sheep until they were both struck by their own spells. Thanks to Thomas' height, he was struck in the shoulders rather than the fatal area of the head he had aimed for on Zack. But it was enough to stagger him to his knees. He raised a hand to his shoulder and was horrified to find it drenched in blood. Rourke had managed to harden his chest in time to only receive a glancing wound from his energy ball, but it still seemed to have stunned him.

But Zack's eyes weren't on his attackers. Instead they remained locked on what had saved him and Nicole; a spinning disk of shimmering white energy. It was then that the light from the doorway caught his attention. Framed in the still bright sunlight outside, was the figure of a woman. The sun bounced off her waist length sandy blond hair like an angel's. But her pale mouth was hardened into a thin line as her hazel eyes remained pinned on Thomas and Rourke. Out of her red sleeve she pulled a vial of white potion—sleeping potion by the looks of it, and with a professionally accurate throw it shattered into a white mushroom cloud that filled the brothers' nostrils, forcing their eyes to roll into the back of their head. They landed on the floor in a heap on top of one another.

"Come on!" Gwen called to them. "We haven't got much time before they wake up." To Zack it felt like he had been unable to breathe ever since that fateful night on the highway near the river, and that seeing her alive, here and now, his lungs had finally allowed him to take in air again.

"Gwen? How did you… where have you…" There were a lot of questions he had for her, but none of them mattered right now. Whatever her answers were, they couldn't possibly be as important as it was to see her standing in front of him, breathing and warm. He didn't feel himself cross the floor to meet her, but he still found himself at the door. And before he knew it, his arms were around her, pulling her to him tightly. He felt hot tears trying to force their way out of his eyes, but there was no way he'd let them spoil this moment. "You're alright." He said as if to convince himself that she wasn't going to disappear in an instant.

"It's… good to see you too." Gwen stammered. With her face so close to his, it was easy to feel the heat rising in her cheeks. "Can I breath now?"

Zack released her slowly, fearing she was just an illusion that would fade into the sunlight and that hanging onto her kept her real and near. She was smiling back at him with those moon colored lips and hazel eyes. Her pale face was slightly pinker than normal. "Honestly," she almost laughed in her musical voice "I'm out of the picture for a few days and you're nearly axed. You're lucky I found you."

"How did you find us?" Zack asked, sounding mildly impressed. "This place isn't all that easy to find even if you know where it is. And it's protected from scrying."

"It may be shielded, but you're not." She declared proudly, holding up a small GPS unit she had in her other hand. On its screen was a blinking red dot in the center of a geographical map of the area. Jacked into its port was a quartz scrying crystal. "I'm getting pretty good at this. I would have been here sooner, but my GPS can't handle amethyst, so I had to settle for quartz. I'm just lucky I still had this to scry for you with." She reached into her sleeve and pulled out another vial of potion. But this one was a deep red color, and Zack realized with a pang of regret that it was the vanquishing potion he had made for Nathan. "It fell into the water with me. Lucky huh?"

"Yeah… lucky." Zack bit his lip. If Nicole ever found out what that was really for… he didn't even want to think about it. The first thing he was going to do when they were all free and clear was destroy it. Whatever Nathan had done to manipulate Nicole, he had at least been kind to her, and overall he was still human. He didn't deserve to be vanquished. It was at that moment that he noticed that Nicole was no longer at his side. He turned around to find her kneeling by Nathan who had remained unconscious the entire battle.

She hefted his arm and slung it over her shoulder in a sad attempt to get him to his feet. She looked at Zack with her sad blue eyes that looked very intense in the middle of her black hair and olive skin. "Zack please, he's too heavy for me."

He bent to help her get Nathan up. He was dead weight and moving him would be very difficult. Meanwhile, Gwen was crouching near Thomas and feeling around his pockets. "Don't bother trying to get to your car. Thomas already blinked to it and slashed the tires."

"So how are we getting out of here? We can't outrun them if they wake up, especially carrying him." Zack indicated Nathan with his head, being unable to use his hands.

Having no luck finding whatever she was searching for with Thomas, Gwen moved to Rourke. She reached into his left pocket and smiled. Triumphantly she pulled out a set of keys with a lock-control button on it. She tapped the button with her thumb, and the group heard a faint bleep somewhere behind the cabin. "They must have hidden it in the brush so you wouldn't see it. The keys say it's an SUV. Sounds like fun." She grinned and tossed the keys to Zack. "Cars are your forte. We can stuff him in the back seat. Now let's go."

Zack smiled at her cleverness. "It sure is good to have you back." He couldn't help but notice the pink return to her cheeks as she grinned back at him.

---Cody, Max, Trevor; Suite 2330---

The swirling cloud of sparkling orbs announced Max's return to the Suite. "Quick, where are Zack and Nicole?"

"Nice to see you again too." Trevor answered sarcastically, not even looking up from the laptop's screen.

Cody also seemed unable to pick up on the urgency in her voice. He kept his focus on the pot in front of him and asked halfheartedly, "What did the Elders have to say?"

"We need to get to Zack and Nicole! I think they're heading into a trap!"

"Really?" Trevor said skeptically. "Looks like they're heading right back here to me. They dropped off the screen awhile ago when they reached the cabin, but they must be out of its field now. They're coming in fast. Has Zack really never been pulled over?"

Max crossed the room around the coffee table to study the screen. "Where are they? I'll orb to them."

"They'll be here in a few minutes anyway." Cody ignored her plea again. "What did you want to"— it took the other two a moment to notice he had stopped mid sentence.

"Martin, you okay?" Trevor looked up from the screen for the first time to see Cody swaying back and forth over the counter. He had a dreamy expression on his face and his eyes seemed heavy. Max moved to catch him, but she moved too late. He swooned and fell to the kitchen tile with a thud. Both she and Trevor jumped up to go help him. Trevor made the foolish mistake of looking into the pot Cody had been stirring just before he had passed out. "What do you suppose he was—oi" was all he managed to get out of his mouth before he too was swaying on his feet. It didn't take long for him to fall onto the floor. It was nothing short of a miracle that someone with that much caffeine in their system could just keel over like that.

Max shook her head and examined the pot from a safe distance. It smelled like a sleeping draft. But Cody had been trying to make a stun potion. It wasn't like him to make a mistake like that. She crouched by him to pry his fingers open which were still clenched around a handful of the ingredient he had been adding; crushed rosemary. But there was something odd about it. It didn't smell right. She remembered with a pang in her gut that while she and Cody had been together (much happier memories for her than now) they had played a sort of game where she'd try to guess the potion he had been making by the scent of the herbs on his clothes. He used to try and confuse her by mixing it with a false ingredient, but she had seen through his ruse every time. The herb in her hand now did smell of rosemary, but with a pinch of something else. Everything made sense when she realized it was wormwood, a key ingredient for sleeping drafts, but only to be added when the potion was safely bottled. Someone had tampered with their ingredients, and tricked Cody into drugging himself. The smell permeated through the entire suite now, and would likely knock out any living thing in the room. Max was grateful that being a whitelighter made her immune to drugging.

There was a noise in the living room, like a guitar string being grated sharply against metal. Someone had blinked into the suite. Max ducked behind the counter, listening for the intruder while she pulled her athame from where she kept it concealed on her back. The footsteps on the other side of the counter were light sounded like heels. The newcomer was female, and petite in stature. With her trained senses, Max listened, waiting for her to get closer. She was walking around the coffee table. She was moving for the kitchen. A resounding click told her she had crossed from the carpet and onto the tile. Max bounded to her feet and pointed her dagger at the newcomer, readying an electrical attack, but once her eyes met the doll-like blue ones of Rose Tate, the whitelighter was unable to move. She struggled against whatever was stopping her, but her arms seemed bound by some invisible force. Her legs were frozen as well.

"Tough luck kookie." Rose sneered from behind the odd white mask that covered her mouth, preventing the draft in the room from affecting her. "I only gave you a taste of my power last time. It's true that I kan konfuse the senses, but that is only part of it." The blond witch moved raised her hand and twirled her fingers with a quick jerk—a puppet master moving the strings of a marionette. Max's arm jerked to the left, pointing the dagger away from her enemy. "The real trick is eye kontakt. I need that first to establish kontrol. But once I have that, I kan make you do whatever I please." Max wrenched her eyelids shut. Rose merely chuckled "Nice try. But once my strings are attached, there's nothing you kan do. Only I kan kut them." She moved around the counter and put her pale hand on Max's face. "So, how do you like being my doll?"

Max leered at the other woman. "You twisted—"

"Ah-ah-ah." Rose shook her head, pinching two of her fingers together. Max's lips locked up immediately. "Kan't have that." She moved her arm again. This time Max's arm, the one that was holding her knife went downward. If she could have screamed she would have. Rose was moving her weapon towards Cody. It went lower and lower until its blade was resting its cold metal against his throat. He seemed completely undisturbed in his drug induced sleep. Max couldn't fight Rose's power, and Cody was out cold. If she wanted, the twisted blond could force Max to end his life. Tears were forcing their way out of her chocolate colored eyes from the strain of trying to pry her weapon away from Cody's helpless sleeping form.

"He looks so vulnerable this way." Rose jeered. "A komplex little kreature when he's awake, so sensitive, and yet so kommanding. I think I prefer him this way, so weak and defenseless. Let's not wake him."

---Zack, Gwen, Nicole; Tipton Hotel Boston, Elevator---

"Are you sure Nathan will be alright?" Nicole asked again.

"Well we couldn't very well try and drag him up here while he's still unconscious." Gwen answered flatly. "That would draw too much attention. He'll be fine in the back seat until we can get Max to orb him up here."

Zack put a comforting hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "He'll be fine. And you'll be the first thing he sees when he wakes up." Nicole smiled back at him. The elevator dinged, signaling their arrival to their floor. Nicole bolted ahead of them and didn't stop until she reached Suite 2330.

"Energetic little thing isn't she?" Gwen chided. Zack grinned, glad to see that with Nathan back, Nicole was back to her old self. But his grin faded when he saw that Nicole had stopped at the door and was making no move to open it. What's wrong?"

Her pale blue eyes flickered between them and the doorway. "I… I think it's Max. She feels… angry and frustrated."

"That's normal." Zack remarked.

"But I've never felt it like this. It's different somehow."

"She probably had a fight with Cody. You've never seen that, but she can get vicious." He slid his key into the electronic slot and pushed the door open. "I wouldn't be surprised if she had a knife to his…… " The three of them froze as soon as they were inside. Rose Tate with her twisted pink lipstick smile was sitting cross legged on their couch with her arms spread out. But she wasn't the one who held their attention. Max was on her knees on the floor. She was holding Cody in a sitting position so that he was facing them. His head lolled over, too out of it to even notice Max's dagger resting against the base of his neck. Max wore a blank expression, but the tears streaming down her face gave her away.

Rose jeered at them from her safe vantage point. "It's about time. I was beginning to wonder if Thomas and Rourke had been too much for you."

Both Zack and Nicole seemed to be on the same train of thought. Their hands were already level with their eyes and alight with crimson and blue flames. But Rose merely raised her finger in a tisk tisk gesture. "Kareful, you might very well make your whitelighter do something she'll regret." To make her point, she twitched her fingers again. Max pressed her knife closer to Cody's throat. With what little will she was able to make use of, she shook her head, her eyes pleading Zack to stay his hand.

Zack turned to Gwen, counting on her intelligence to get them out of this one. She nodded back. She already had a plan. She hissed her words under her breath so that only he and Nicole could hear. Her lips were barely moving. "On the count of three, I'll deflect her power, and you two hit her. One…"

Rose didn't seem to notice their strategizing. She simply tossed her blond hair aside seductively. "Now be a good boy and hand over the girl, and you, your brother, and everyone else kan forget this ever happened."

"Two."

Zack's knuckles tensed. He could feel the heat rising in his chest and flowing down his arm into his fist.

"I'm waiting." The blond with cackled.

"Three!"

In the same instant, Zack and Nicole flung their hands at the demented blond. Two fireballs, one red, one blue, shot across the suite, headed straight for their mark. Rose's hateful blue eyes grew wide with surprise and fear. She didn't have time to move. The fireballs would have surely struck her if it hadn't been for the shimmering white disk that appeared in their path. The two witches only had enough time to dodge their own deflected fireballs to the side, unable to avoid being struck in the shoulder and thrown to the floor on their stomachs. Zack's vision was going hazy. All he could see was what was directly in front of his face. A black heeled boot crossing the room—Gwen's boot. He rolled onto his back to look up at her. She was standing over him with her hands on her hips. Her smile was not the one he remembered. It was cold and twisted like Rose, and her hazel eyes gleamed in triumph.

"Poor poor Zackary." She gloated. "Too bad you didn't do your homework. But that never really was your forte was it?" She placed the toe of her boot on his chin, forcing him to tilt his head from side to side, almost like she was trying to determine if it would look good on her wall. "Who do you suppose it was that tampered with your potion ingredients to drug your brother?" Zack noticed a discrepancy in her voice. There was something different about the way she was talking. Different, and very wrong. "I figured it wouldn't hurt to do a little more damage while I added the explosives to the one I was going to use. But tell me, did you like my disappearing akt?" Then he caught it. Her voice had changed because she was no longer hiding her accent, an accent that would have given her away in a heartbeat. "That's right Zackary. If you or your brother, or even your whitelighter had bothered to run a full background check, you would have diskovered just who you were dealing with." She annunciated every word of her next sentence, letting the words drop from her mouth with her musical voice like distilled poison. "Bekause you see, my full name is Guinevere, Rosalind, Solidus, Tate."