Oh yeah, I do not own W.I.T.C.H. or any of the characters, the plot is totally a work of my twisted little mind...

Busted #14: Changes

Cornelia's POV, Nurses office at school

I must be the worst best friend in the history of all best friends. Why?

Because I was actually thankful to have Taranee to focus on so that I couldn't dwell on how much I missed Peter. Giving her comfort kept me from wondering why he was so busy, because it felt too much like he was pulling away from me.

Anyway, Taranee was just starting to calm down when she sat up and told us, "You guys, Will needs our help."

"Huh?" Hay Lin asked.

Neither of us knew what Taranee had picked up telepathically from Will, but we didn't need to know to be ready to help.

Nurse Tanaka was still arranging for lunch to be delivered to us. So I scribbled a quick note thanking her and telling her we thought Taranee would be calmer if she came over my house. Then we activated our Guardian powers, turned invisible and walked out the front door to take to the skies, heading for the Vandom apartment.

Irma's POV, the Lair's home

Susan Vandom came down the stairs alone. Her face was streaked with tears. My dad looked up from his chair and went to her immediately, ushering her into the kitchen. My mom had taught him well, Dad knows the best way to calm down upset females is with a willing ear and a cup of herbal tea.

I also know he was inwardly hoping my mom would get home soon and save him.

Caleb and I sat silently as they went into the kitchen. We could hear Susan sobbing. I wondered what happened with her and Will? If her mother was this upset, was Will okay?

In unison, Caleb and I headed for the stairs only to find that Will was not upstairs. And since she hadn't come back downstairs it meant she wasn't in the house. She had changed her clothes, my favorite pair of jeans were missing so I was sure about that.

Where did you go Will?

Chris ran past us as we came back downstairs. We caught a quick glimpse of my mom being ushered into the kitchen by my dad. After a few minutes, my dad backed out of the kitchen leaving the women to their tea and tears.

"Dad what happened? Will's not here."

My dad shook his head and with a sad face answered, "Susan finally pushed her too far. She told Susan she was leaving then flew out of the window to get her things. Susan doesn't think she'll ever see her again and she's just heartbroken."

It felt like I'd been hit in the stomach. Will left? Oh my gosh!

"Agh!," Caleb pushed his hand through his hair trying to find a good way to handle his frustration, "why did she have to get so crazy about everything? Couldn't she see she was hurting Will?"

My dad placed one hand on Caleb's shoulder and one on mind and told us, "Don't judge her too harshly. Something is different about Susan...she not quite herself...it's almost like she can't help herself."

When he said that I know I saw something flash across Caleb's face. I know him too well. I looked at him and arched an eyebrow in question. He just shook his head as if to say it was nothing.

Caleb changed the subject, by suggestion, "Irma if you're feeling up to it, maybe you should Guardian up and head over to help Will."

"Yeah, honey, I agree with Caleb. Right now I think she needs the support of her best friends."

As I headed out the door, I heard Caleb tell my dad, "Tom I need to make a quick trip to Meridan. I need to check a few things out."

Even though I wondered what he was going to do, I knew Caleb could take care of himself. Right now Will needed me more.

When I arrived at the Vandom apartment, all the other girls were already there. One look at Will's face and I knew she had made up her mind and there was no turning back. That left us nothing to do but support her and be there for her anyway we can. I joined int the packing as we hurried to gather up all of Will's clothes and most valued possessions, because she really didn't want to be here when Susan got home.

I never noticed that I hadn't seen Taranee yet, until she came into the room, and I saw the huge swollen bruise on her face. I almost dropped the bag full of CD's I'd been gathering.

Taranee's mental abilities told her what I was thinking right away and she answered my thoughts out loud, "Yeah I know...I look pretty heinous."

I went over and gave her a hug then asked, "Why didn't Hay heal if for you?"

"We can't heal it, the nurse at school reported as abuse...so I'm a walking, talking piece of evidence. It'll just have to heal normally. Luckily, Cornelia has a huge supply of Motrin."

"Hey, cramps are a bitch, and so am I if I don't have my Motrin," Corny joked as she continued loading Will's backpack with books.

Taranee took a quick peek at her watch, and said, "Hey guys I can only stay for about another hour. I have to be home when the cops get to my house to follow up on the report.

We refocused, working faster – now having two deadlines to meet. Will was the most focused and thorough of us all, it was all too clear how much she didn't want to have to come back.

I broke the silence to ask the question that was eating at me the whole time, "Will where are you going to stay? What are you going to do once we have all your stuff?"

"Oh! Oh! I know, you can stay with my family!" Hay Lin beamed.

Hay is just so perky and hyper, and this time it worked in her favor – she was able to offer before Cornelia or I could speak up.

But that didn't stop Cornelia from making an offer too.

"Yeah Will, you're totally welcome to stay at our house too."

I nodded in unison with Cornelia's statement. I added, "And it should go without saying that my parents would welcome and protect any of my friends without question."

Will looked at us with a weak smile, then began to tell us her plan.

"Yeah, thanks Hay, I'd appreciate that until after the wedding. Once the wedding is over I'll go to Meridian, Elyon said we're always welcome. I can stay with her until I get my own place together. I hope Matt will understand. I'm not sure how we'll make it work, but we have all summer to figure it out."

As far as a plan goes, moving to Meridian is a very good idea, Will would be totally free. Plus since we'll be honeymooning in Meridian, and Elyon is there Will won't be alone.

I nodded my approval. Will is a really good leader, even when she has to make quick decisions, she makes sound plans.

Hay Lin's phone began to chirp 'She Blinded Me with Science', she really likes shiny things, even in her music.

Hay answered the phone, listened for a second then handed it Taranee.

Taranee looked confused as she said, "Hello" into the receiver. We all looked at Hay, silently asking who was calling. Taranee was listening intently on the phone as Hay mouthed: "Nigel. He's been looking for her all day."

"Crap!" exclaimed Will.

We all looked at her in surprise, not knowing what was wrong.

"I forgot to call Matt and tell him what's going on. I'll be right back, I have to get the house phone since my mom took my cell. Darn that's another thing I'll need to get for myself," she added as she headed for the living room.

"Hey does anyone know if Will remembered to get her bank info? She should probably clean out her account...just in case her mom tries to take it as a control trick."

The other girls stared at me like I was a strange bug.

"What?" I asked, "Come on you guys think about it, as minors all our bank account are ultimately controlled by our parents. They can access or close them anytime they want, just like turning off your cell phone."

Taranee held up a finger mouthing, 'Just a minute', then said into the cell, "Nigel, I have to talk to you later...yeah I'll be home by then...Okay...yeah I love you too. Bye!"

"Aw!, that's so sweet!," Hay chimed dreamily.

"Yeah Nigel's the best," Taranee said with the first smile I'd seen on her face since I got to the apartment.

I poked her side and joked, "Hey, I hate to tell you but he's not...maybe second best, cause Caleb is really the best"

"Hey what about Eric?," Hay almost whined.

"Forget them all, Peter's really number one!" Cornelia joined in our girly banter.

I smirked until I couldn't hold it in any longer. I started to laugh which started Hay laughing and on down the line until we were all caught up in giggles. And that's how Will found us when she walked back into the room.

She leaned against the door with a genuine smile. As she looked around the room and I could tell she was as grateful as we were for a break from all the serious stuff coming at us lately.

"Man, I can't leave you guys alone for even a minute can I?" she joked.

Corny shot back with glee, "Nope! Not even a minute!"

Will rolled her eyes, but the smile stayed.

"Matt's on his way. I told him I'd be staying at your house Hay, so he said he could help take my things to your house."

She looked around the room, "Cause I think we're pretty much done here."

It was a rush job, but we work best under pressure. We'd managed to get all of Wills clothes and most of her frog collection into the four suitcases with wheels that she had under her bed. There were two boxes, her book bag and a couple of beach bags full of things.

Who would have thought that when you packed up sixteen years of your life, it would be such a small amount of stuff? But I guess it's times like these you separate the important and necessary from things you just really don't need.

"Will, Irma brought up a good point – you need to get to the bank and empty your account right away, so that your mom can't,"Cornelia informed her since she'd left the room during that discussion.

The look on Will's face told us she'd never considered that fact. "Wow, good thinking, I'm glad its still early enough to get to the bank."

"Hey guys I know I still have more time, but I think I'll head out now, " Taranee told us, "I think I want to do that too. The way my mom has been lately, I think she really hates me sometimes...almost like hurting me is the plan. I've got a lot of money saved up and I don't want her to be able to take it from me."

The door bell rang and we all jumped. Then Will said, "Guys, my mom has a key...she wouldn't ring the bell. It's probably Matt. We need to relax."

True enough it was Matt and he'd brought Eric and Nigel with him. They'd actually gotten there a lot quicker than we'd expected. Then we found out that Nigel had his dad's car – his parents were out of town and wouldn't mind him using it even if they were home – especially to help a friend.

The car made everything so much easier, instead of us having to walk down the streets of Heatherfield pulling luggage, carrying boxes and being saddled down with multiple bags. The guys, except for Matt, loaded the car and headed to the Lin restaurant. We transformed and Matt loosed Shagon as we got ready to fly to the banks.

Will closed and locked the front door, then set her key on the coffee table. I opened the window ready to take off.

"Oh, wait just a minute," Hay said as she turned and took a deep breath. Then she blew a long soft note that took the form of a swirling pink wave expanding through the room.

Hay began to follow the wave until she came to the linen closet. Then she opened it up and dug beneath a couple of towels, pulling out Will's confiscated cell phone.

"Here, you'll need to get a new service but at least you won't have to buy a new one."

"Nice trick Hay...I'd ask you to do the same for me but my mom and dad have taken so much stuff since I've been grounded you'd be out of breath before you found even half of it," Taranee half-joked.

"Don't worry Taranee, it's going to work out, I'm sure of it," Hay Lin said with her characteristic bubbly-joy. But we took her words to heart, because Hay's pre-cognitive abilities were never wrong.

Deep in the pit of my stomach, I believed it.

Then we left the Vandom apartment for what I assume to be the last time. Matt and Hay went with Will. Cornelia and I went with Taranee. We met back at Hay's with just enough time for Taranee to get home if she flew.

Before she left, Taranee turned and handed Will the envelope containing all the money from her account: $7,238. Not a fortune but a nice chunk of change.

"Don't worry Taranee, I'll keep it safe for you," Will said with pride and commitment to her best friend.

"No Will. Right now you need it more than me. If you need it use it. Because we just don't know what tomorrow holds."

Taranee gave Will a brief hug, waved at us all, then blew a kiss to Nigel before she turned invisible and headed home.

Cheers!