Piper stood on the lower landing of the stairs, sorting through the whirlwind of recent events. She had just sent a huffy Christopher and his 18-year-old offspring, a phenomenon which still had yet to be explained, upstairs and was now deciding which direction to send which son and why. Meanwhile, Leo and the other boys were in kitchen finding homes for the newly purchased groceries.
Suffering from an unusual bout of laziness, most likely brought on by the craziness of the day (both perceived and imaginary), Piper was of a mind to expend as little energy as possible. Knowing that her youngest son was a telepath, and supposedly a darn good one, she decided to see if she could contact him via a mental wave, rather than yell or (heaven forbid) walk to the kitchen.
"Lee!"
"Ow!" The unison groan of all the kitchen dwelling Halliwell brothers rang out into the Main Hall. Piper gasped in horror, fearing that she had just given all of her sons permanent brain damage. She silently vowed never to attempt anything slightly out of the ordinary when dealing with the mysterious powers of her future children.
"Lee, you didn't switch it off?" moaned Dylan, leading the single file line out of the kitchen.
"No," Lee answered, both hands massaging his temples. "I was keeping it on in case there was another attack."
"What just happened?" Piper asked. "Did I really do that?"
"It's shiny, Mom." Lee assured her. "No sweat."
"Shiny?" Piper questioned, unfamiliar with the use of the word in such a context.
"It's a good thing." Jared explained.
"So, are you all telepathic now or did I just inherit the power of 'headache inspiration'?" asked Piper.
"It's a telepathic link Lee opens whenever a big battle starts." said Dylan, the evidence of pain fading from his face.
"It gives us a sixth sense and lets us know if anyone's hurt or in danger." added Jared.
"Like when our mother fries our brains with a loud roll call for instance." said Steve, eyeing his mother in playful accusation.
"So that's how you do it!" affirmed Leo, having wondered what it was that made his sons able to collectively do battle with such effortless synchronicity.
"What did ya' need, Mom?" asked Lee.
"About how long would it take you to make some more of your 'jump for joy juice' or whatever it's called?" asked Piper.
"Jump for joy juice?" Leo asked, feeling once again out of the loop.
Steve put an assuring hand on his father's shoulder. "Hang in there, Pop; we'll fill ya in."
"Is something wrong?" Lee asked his mother.
"Yeah, the color of red Chris was turning needs its own color swatch." Piper responded. "I'm a little afraid for Rider's safety."
"He's fine, Mom." Dylan assured her. "45-seconds with Rider and he'll be good as new."
Piper looked up towards the top of the stairs as she pondered Dylan's words. "Yeah well, I just don't wanna chance it." she said.
"It'll take about thirty minutes if I do it alone, fifteen or twenty with some help." said Lee.
"Passive aggressive, line one." Steve teased.
"Picked up on that, did ya'?" Lee responded, grinning and nodding.
"Don't need a mental link to catch that one." added Dylan.
"So then, would you mind?" Piper asked.
A concerned look settled on Jared's face. "Mom, we really try to save that stuff for...
Dylan punched Jared in the shoulder to cut him off.
"Ouch!"
"Huddle!" Dylan called out.
Dylan, Jared, Lee, and Steve simultaneously fell into a huddle at the bottom of the stairs.
"Whoa!" Leo exclaimed as Steve yanked him into the huddle with the others.
"You need to hear this." Steve whispered. "Some serious survival tips coming your way.
Huddling was yet another of the Halliwell sons' tricks that had, over the years, come to make life infinitely easier. It served as an impromptu realm for discussions which required immediate answers regarding delicate subjects, usually their mother's mood at that particular time.
"Dude, you're challenging the B-voice." Dylan warned.
"The what voice?" Leo asked, trying to catch on.
"No way... Really?" Jared asked, trying to remember the tone of his mother's voice.
"Totally." Lee affirmed. "B minus even."
"I totally missed that." said Jared, a little embarrassed.
Piper looked on from her place up on the landing. While she was naturally suspicious of whatever it was that her sons were doing, she was also enormously entertained. "Boys, what's going on?" she inquired.
"She doesn't know the 'huddle rules'." Lee said nervously, just realizing that they were all treating the situation as they though they were in their own time.
"Oh crap! You're right." Dylan agreed, "We should get back."
For Leo, this was a dream come true. There was something about seeing his sons act as a team, albeit an unorthodox one, that made him swell with pride. It was also extremely validating for him to see that there were others in his family that found Piper to be a formidable force to be reckoned with. He felt certain that there were very few mothers on the planet that could inspire their children to form a system wherein they could collectively choose a plan of action, especially something as extreme as a football huddle.
"Ready?" Dylan asked the group.
The four crouched brothers counted in a whisper, "One, two, three." Then they clapped as they shouted "Blessed be!"
"Sure, Mom." Lee said casually. "We'll get right on it."
Piper wasn't sure whether or not laughing would be an insulting response to what she had just witnessed, but suppressing her chuckles was literally painful. "And then you'll explain that little football thing?" she asked, barely able to get the words out.
"Promise." Dylan affirmed with a smile.
Piper blew the boys a kiss. "Mwa! You're princes; every single one of you."
"He probably won't drink it though." Jared warned hesitantly.
Piper considered this for a moment, being familiar with Chris' obstinacy. A wild idea popped into her head. "Steve, can that wand thingy of yours tie Chris to a chair, or a post, a table maybe?" she asked.
"Well yeah, but..."
"Then he'll drink it." Piper craftily insisted. "Trust me!"
Steve scrunched his eyebrows, looking both confused and frustrated. "Now just a minute here, Miss Thing! You grounded me for that!" he said, though he clearly wasn't expecting to be taken seriously; a safe expectation the vast majority of the time.
"I did?" asked Piper, hoping her feigned surprise might make her seem less hypocritical.
"I was on lockdown for a month. Bread, water, the whole bit." Steve explained. "I even thought of relocating to the doghouse to improve my situation."
"Chris bought him black and white striped prison pajamas, just to rub it in." Lee added, smiling gleefully as he remembered.
"Steve," Dylan began, "I think it had more to do with the fact that you shrank him and trapped him in your shirt pocket for a whole day."
Piper was both fascinated and confused. "Okay, somebody throw me a bone here." she said.
"Chris would rather be hung by his toenails than have to listen to Steve talk for an entire day." Jared explained, looking as though he felt somewhat sorry for Chris' suffering. "It's hard enough for Chris under normal circumstances..."
"It was my best work to date!" Steve huffed, folding his arms defensively. "There was even talk about making a feature film out of it but... alas, there was no actor worthy of my..."
"How about I promise you a shorter sentencing?" Piper interrupted.
"Hey, I never said I wouldn't do it! Heck, ground me for another month!" Steve exclaimed. "You've got cable, right? Let me at him!"
Piper shook her head and grinned as she started up the stairs toward Chris and Rider. "You guys are too much!" she said. Through the corner of her eye she could tell that Leo was following her. "Where are you going, Mister?" she asked, turning around.
Leo seemed shocked and a smidge intimidated. "I figured I'd come up with you and..."
"But Sweetie, don't you wanna stay downstairs and spend some time with the boys?" Piper interrupted.
Leo looked over at his sons to see if they could predict his chances of successfully convincing Piper that he should come along with her to speak with Chris and Rider. "Well?" he asked. "What do you guys think?"
The four young men looked at each other briefly, silently conferring with one another. "I wouldn't" Lee said finally.
"Live to fight another day, Dad." Dylan added.
"Uh... Okay." said Leo, looking meekly up at Piper.
"Welcome to the club, Pops." said Steve, patting his father encouragingly on the back.
"You guys mind if I get some shuteye?" asked Jared, stretching his arms with a satisfying yawn.
"Getting tired, old man?" asked Dylan.
"As it turns out, summoning a dozen miniature hurricanes in a span of six hours takes a lot out of a guy." Jared responded.
Steve had a guilty look on his face. "Yeah, about that..."
"Hey!" exclaimed Piper, snapping her fingers.
"Sorry," said Steve. "Not 'til tonight."
"Steve, it's cool." said Jared with a shrug. "Really, I get it."
"That goes for you too, Weatherman.." said Piper, with chiding accusation in her eyes.
Jared blushed. "Sorry."
"Come on," added Piper, "I'll tuck you in before I check on the other two."
"You're gonna tuck me in?" Jared asked, stunned and amazed.
"Is that a problem?" asked Piper, a look of challenge set firmly in her eyes.
"Tuck away!" Jared relented, gesturing up the stairs.
Steve faked a cough yet again, "Mama's boy!"
"You really outta do something about that cough Steve." Jared teased. "I'm expecting to see a lung fly out any second now, maybe two even."
Steve decided to just give his brother the winning point in the battle of wits, knowing his day had not been the easiest. "Night Jare-Bear." he said with a protective smile.
"See ya' Sea Breeze." said Lee, trying out a new nickname for his older brother.
"Sea Breeze, eh?" Jared echoed. "I can live with that." he said, exchanging a mutual smile with his baby brother.
"Dream pretty, 'Pretty Boy.'" said Dylan.
"I'll see what I can do." Jared answered, as he turned to go up the stairs.
"Goodnight, son." Leo called out. "I couldn't be prouder."
Jared stopped and slowly turned back around. He actually had not expected his father to say anything at all, though he wasn't exactly sure why. As Jared looked down at Leo, he found a tender, genuine look in his father's eyes. "Thanks, Dad." he uttered, barely above a whisper, and turned to continue up the stairs.
"Ya' okay?" Piper asked casually, as Jared made it to the top of the stairs.
"You've probably guessed by now," Jared began, "I inherited my sensitive father's tendency to well up."
Piper smiled put an arm around her son. "You don't say."