Disclaimer: I would give anything to own Charmed.
Ch. 26:
There was a flash of orbs as Paige, Piper, and Chris appeared, followed by Meredith stepping out of the shadows.
"Where are we?" Piper asked.
"This house was left to me by my parents." Meredith said, stepping up to the door. "I used it as my headquarters when I was leading the rebellion on the east coast." She paused for a second. "My husband razed it to the ground."
She sighed and opened the door, but as she took a step forward, she was hit by a beam of light.
"It's alright." She told the others as they rushed forward. "It's a security measure. It'll only check to make sure I'm part of the right bloodline. It'll finish in a moment."
Sure enough, a second later, the light disappeared and Meredith began to move forward again.
The others followed her into a house that, in a lot of ways, was very similar to the Manor. It was three stories, including an attic, with a basement.
"It's still got all the furniture?" Paige questioned.
"After my parents died, there were no other relatives and everything was left to me." Meredith said, moving through the living room and opening the windows. "So the house was closed up and the property taxes were paid out of my inheritance. Everything is just the way they left it when they died."
She walked over to where a book was laying face down.
"And no one ever broke in?" Piper asked, surprised.
"You saw my parents protection charms." The young women replied. "They were slightly paranoid. The only person who could open this house, is me."
"What happens to anyone who isn't?" Paige asked.
Meredith winced.
"Let's just say it isn't fun." She said, shivering. "I'm going to get my parents' Book of Shadows. I'll be right back."
She ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
"So, what's the plan?" Chris asked.
"Well, since we can't get anyone to talk to us, I thought we'd pay a surprise visit to Meredith's foster parents." Paige said.
"Do we have to?" Meredith called, walking back downstairs with a large book. "Can't we just go grab mini-me and make a run for it?" She set the book down with a thump. "It's not a big as the Warren Book of Shadows, but my mom added plenty of Native American magic that's never been written down before. It could come in handy."
"Do we know where Meredith's foster parents are?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, I've got their address." Paige replied, holding up a piece of paper.
"So, when are we going?" Meredith asked, picking at a piece of the cover of her book.
"No time like the present." Piper told her.
Meredith groaned but got up and led them outside, locking the door and reactivating the charms. Paige took Piper's hand and orbed her away and, a second later, Chris and Meredith followed.
The four of them stood in the shadows watching Mini-Meredith cry. She was alone and she'd been crying for awhile by the looks of her.
"Were our her foster parents?" Piper hissed.
Chris glanced at Meredith and saw that she was shaking.
"Mer?" he asked quietly.
"I remember this day." She whispered.
"What happened?" Paige asked.
"I was crying because I wanted…a toy or something." Meredith told them. "I don't remember what exactly, but I was crying for it and, back then, when I got upset, the weather tended to respond to my emotions. I was just a kid, I couldn't control it, but that didn't stop them."
"What do you mean?" Piper asked.
Meredith opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment a woman walked into the room where Mini-Meredith was.
"See for yourself." Meredith said bleakly.
"Shut up." The woman growled. "Shut up, you brat!"
Meredith winced and looked away as the woman slapped her younger self.
"That bitch." Piper growled.
"What have I told you about making things happen?" the woman demanded, shaking the little girl.
"I sorry." Little Meredith cried. "I didn't mean too."
"Yes you did, you little bastard." The woman growled.
She raised her hand to hid the girl again, and before they could stop her, Meredith melted into the shadows, appearing behind the woman. She grabbed her arm and spun the woman around.
"You shouldn't hit children." Meredith told her. "You never know who they'll grow up to be."
"Shit." Chris muttered, orbing after Meredith.
Paige and Piper followed after him. Chris appeared right next to Meredith and the woman, while Piper and Paige landed next to Little Meredith.
"It's alright, honey." Paige told the scared little girl. "We're here now. Everything's going to be alright."
"Witches." The woman growled.
Before they could stop her, the woman blinked out.
"A warlock?" Piper demanded. "She's a warlock?"
They took the shivering little girl back to the St. James house and wrapped her in a blanket. Her older self wasn't doing much better.
Boom!
Chris winced as debris rained down in the attic.
"I'm pretty sure you destroyed an antique that time." He called.
Meredith ignored him, sending another bolt of lightning at the wall.
"Okay, look." He said, grabbing her by the shoulders. "I know you're upset, but there is a child downstairs who is scared out of her mind, and you're not making it any better!"
Meredith stared at him for a moment before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Where her hair finally stopped sparking, Chris let her go.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, her eyes bright.
Chris leaned down and kissed her softly.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." He told her. "Now, let's go take care of little you."
She nodded and let him lead her back downstairs.
"Is she alright?" Piper whispered to Chris as he and Meredith rejoined them.
He shrugged as Meredith sat down next to her younger self.
"Hey there." She said softly.
"Hi." Little Meredith replied, just as softly.
"My name's Meredith." The older woman told her.
"That's my name too!" the young girl told her.
"I know." Meredith told her softly. "So would you mind if I call you Mer, so we don't get confused?"
The little girl shook her head.
"Okay, then Mer it is." Meredith told her.
"How do you know my name?" Mer asked her.
Meredith looked at Chris for help, but he just shrugged.
"It's really complicated." Meredith finally told her. "How 'bout you think of me as a big sister? Would you like that?"
"Are you going to come live with me?" Mer asked her.
"I was think more like you could come live with me." Meredith told her.
"Where do you live?" Mer asked her.
"I live with this very nice lady here." Meredith answered, motioning to Piper. "She's very cool and she has a big house."
"How about that?" Piper asked, kneeling in front of the girl. "Would you like to come stay with me? I have a little boy who's about your age. You could play with him."
"I'm not allowed to play." Mer told her matter of factly.
"Of course you're allowed to play." Piper told her. "Why wouldn't you be?"
"Because only good girls are allowed to play." Mer said sadly.
"Sweetie, what makes you think you aren't a good girl?" Paige asked.
"Anne said that I was a bad girl." Mer told her, tear rolling down her cheeks. "She said that's why my mommy and daddy left me."
"Oh, honey." Piper said.
She leaned forward and wrapped Mer in a hug, which seemed to surprise the girl. She hesitated for a moment, but she finally returned Piper's hug in full force.
"You never told me any of this." Chris said softly to Meredith.
"I was a lot older when I met you." She replied.
"Meredith, you are a very good girl, and your mommy and daddy wouldn't have left unless they absolutely had to." Piper told Mer. "But sometimes, things happen that even grownups can't change. I'm sure you're parents loved you very much."
"Really?" Mer asked, hope shinning in her face.
"Really." Piper replied.
"I don't want to go back to Anne and Frank." Mer whispered.
"You're never going to have to." Piper told her. "You're part of our family now, and we're not going to let anything happen to you. I promise."
"Oh, is that so?"
The adults spun around to see the woman and a man standing behind them. Both were holding athames.
"I guess we'll just have to see about that." Anne said.
A/N: Okay, let me have it. What did you guys think? Also I had a question about Chris's rush to get out of there when little him was born, and I always took it as he knew that whatever happened to Wyatt happened before he was born, so he thought that since he was so close to being born, he was home free. If I'm wrong, let me know so I can come up with some BS reason why it doesn't apply to Meredith. Lol.
Abbey