Disclaimer: Oh please.
Ch. 27:
Anne sent a energy ball at Piper, who quickly dodged out of the way. She pulled Paige and Mer into the next room and Chris and Meredith joined them
"Who are you people?" the woman demanded from the other room.
Meredith leaned around the door jam and sent her own electric ball at the woman, but the man, Frank, blew it up with his energy ball.
"That's not possible." He said, staring at Meredith.
"Get Mer out of here." Meredith growled.
"We're not going to leave you!" Paige insisted.
"Keep her safe." Meredith ordered. "This isn't your fight." The others hesitated and she sighed. "I need to do this. Please."
Piper nodded and grabbed Mer's hand before motioning for Paige to orb them out. After they were gone, Chris moved to Meredith's side.
"I'm not going anywhere." He told her.
"Didn't think you were." She said. "You hold off Frank. I've got Anne."
Chris nodded and they both stepped out of the room.
"You really should have stayed out of this, witch." Anne told them. "The elemental is ours."
"Like hell she is." Meredith replied, throwing a blast of fire at the warlock.
"Who are you?" Frank demanded.
He threw his athame at her, but Chris deflected it, throwing the warlock across the room as well.
"I'm what you made me." Meredith said, throwing another handful of fire at Anne. "I'm the girl you tried to destroy." Another blast of fire. "I'm the girl you told was the reason her parents were dead."
She threw another ball, this time a mixture of electricity and fire. This time, it hit Anne and she went up in flames.
"No!" Frank yelled.
He tried to blink away, but Meredith stepped out of the shadows, grabbing him by the throat before he could leave.
"Who are you?" he sputtered.
"I'm Meredith St. James." She whispered. "I'm the girl you taught to kill."
Frank burst into flame and a second later, all that was left was a pile of ashes at Meredith's feet.
"Mer?" Chris called softly.
"Maybe, without them, I wouldn't have been able to push down the part of me that screamed to stop when Wyatt made me raze New Orleans to the ground." She said softly. "Maybe I would have fought harder to get Jenny away from him."
"What's done is done." Chris told her. "You can't undo what's in the past."
Meredith's shoulders began to shake and he quickly moved to wrap her in a hug. He just held her as she cried.
"Ready to go home?" he asked when her cries quieted.
"Just…give me a minute?" she asked, wiping her eyes.
He nodded and she pulled away, but she quickly hugged him tight.
"Thank you." She told him, kissing him lightly.
"For what?" he asked.
"For never leaving me." She replied.
She pulled away again and ran upstairs. A few minutes later, she came back downstairs, slipping something into her pocket. She grabbed her parent's Book of Shadows and wrapped her arm around his waist.
"Let's go home." She said softly.
"Where are they?" Phoebe demanded, pacing around the attic.
After they had gotten back, Piper had sent Paige to get Phoebe.
"Where Meredith?" Mer asked shyly.
"Oh, honey." Phoebe said, kneeling down in front of the girl as Piper wrapped her arm around her. "I'm sure she's alright."
"Here we are." Paige said, handing the little girl a cup full of juice.
"Why aren't they back yet?" Phoebe demanded.
There was a flash of orbs and Chris and Meredith appeared.
"I hate that." Meredith muttered. "I always feel like I've left parts of me behind."
"Oh yeah, because traveling through the shadows is such a safe way to do it." Chris shot back.
"Oh, thank God." Phoebe said, rushing to hug Meredith. "We were so worried."
"I'm alright." Meredith told her, returning to hug. "We're alright. Anne and Frank won't being bothering us again."
She broke away and walked over to Mer.
"Here." she said, kneeling down and pulling something out of her pocket and putting it in her hand. "These are for you."
"What are they?" Mer asked.
"They're your parents wedding rings." Meredith told her. "Our parents rings. They belong to you now." She slipped the chain over the girl's neck. "They loved you very much."
The little girl looked at the rings, before yawning.
"Somebody needs to get some sleep." Piper said.
"Put her in my room." Meredith said, standing up. "We can get her set up tomorrow."
"Where are you going to sleep then?" Piper asked.
"Um, at P3." Meredith replied, both her and Chris looking anywhere but the sisters.
"Well, where's Chris going to sleep?" Phoebe asked. "It's not like there's much room there."
"Uh, with me." Meredith replied, blushing.
"Oh." Phoebe said as Piper grinned. "Well."
"Okay, time to put the little girl to bed." Meredith said, picking Mer up. "Say goodnight, Mer."
"G'night." She said sleepily.
"Goodnight, sweetheart." Phoebe told her, kissing her forehead.
Meredith walked out with Mer.
"Oh, she is just adorable." Phoebe gushed.
"She is very cute." Piper agreed.
"Okay, details." Paige said, pouncing on Chris. "What happened?"
"Not much." He replied. "You guys left and we took care of the warlocks."
"Why didn't you tell us they were warlocks?" Piper demanded.
"Because I didn't know." Chris replied. "She never told me."
"Why wouldn't she tell you that?" Piper asked. "I thought she told you pretty much everything."
"Yeah, but telling him would've mean admitting that I vanquished them when I was five." Meredith said, walking back in. "It's not something I'm particularly proud of."
"How's little you?" Phoebe asked.
"She's asleep." Meredith replied, sitting down. "Today was very stressful for her."
"Meredith, what happened in the other past?" Paige asked.
"I wasn't as lucky as you." Meredith told her. "I didn't wind up with a nice family who loved me. Elementals are technically neutral. We can be swayed, but ultimately, we have to make the choice. Once evil got a hold of me, there was nothing the Elders could do. They did everything they could to make me choose evil, but one day I lost control."
"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked.
"I mean, they pushed me too far and I lost control, and when elementals lose control, it's bad." Meredith said. "Imagine a fire storm, hurricane, and tornado all rolled into one and you're getting somewhere close."
"Ouch." Piper said, wincing.
"Yeah." Meredith agreed. "Well, when it was over, I had killed Anne and Frank. Left on my own, the Elders were allowed to step in and they got me to San Francisco. To you guys. And I never talked about what happened again."
She winced and closed her eyes.
"You need to lay down." Chris told her. "You used a lot of power. The backlash is not going to be pretty."
"Are sure you don't want to stay here?" Piper asked. "You can stay in the guestroom."
"Thanks, but Chris is the best at handling me during the backlash." Meredith said. "I'll be back in the morning before she wakes up. If I know her at all, she'll have a lot of questions."
"Okay." Piper said.
"I should get going to." Phoebe said, standing up. "Before Jason notices I'm gone."
Phoebe hugged Meredith.
"Feel better sweetie." She said, getting up.
"Bye, Aunt Phoebe." She said.
Phoebe motioned to Paige, who reached over and orbed them away. Meredith sighed as Chris helped her to her feet.
"Thank you, Aunt Piper." She said sincerely. "For everything."
Piper smiled and hugged her.
"You are very welcome." She told her. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow." Meredith agreed.
Chris wrapped his arm around her and orbed her out.
Piper sighed and walked out.
A/N: Okay, so let me know. Also, I forgot the shout out so:
Congratulations shereelouise60!
Next mile marker is 110.