Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H

"Mum!" Hay Lin exclaimed with worry as her mum collapsed.

"She'll be ok!" Melinda snapped, causing Hay Lin to flinch. Melinda shook herself. "Sorry, it's just been a long day."

Joan let out a slight groan and sat up. In a flash, Hay Lin was hugging her harder than her tiny frame suggested was even possible.

"Er, Hay it's generally not a good sign when someone starts turning purple." Irma interjected. Hay Lin released her mum. Joan shook her head.

"I'll be a little weak for a few hours, but I'll be ok. You and your friends need to focus on fixing the timeline." Joan told her daughter.

Caleb rubbed his head and sighed. "She's right you know." He paused for a moment and looked at Melinda. "I never thought I'd end up raising Miranda and Cedric's kids." Yan Lin and the guardians stared at them, incredulously.

"Cedric? As in that giant snake-man Lord Cedric? You gotta be kidding me." Irma asked.

"Yes THAT Cedric." Melinda answered testily.

"Hey it's not like you choose your parents." Will added. "Now all we need to do is find a portal and…"

Melinda slashed the Heart across the air and a thick white line appeared.

"One spatial fold, served up hot." Melinda said with a smile. Yan Lin stared with her mouth hanging open in surprise. Melinda and Caleb shook their heads.

"You'll see." Was all they said.

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Hannah, Sarah and Alice looked at Uriah's approaching thugs

"You know, this situations exactly like that time on Carit Frut." Alice commented with a smile forming on her face.

Sarah looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"How is this situation anyth…" she began before pausing, her eyes widening in recognition. "Oh."

With a wink to her friends, Alice threw herself at the feet of the nearest marine and began to beg pathetically.

"Please don't kill me, pllleeaaasse."

The man looked down at her and snorted with contempt. He swung his rifle up and was about to hit her with the butt, when, with cobra like speed, Sarah sprang up with an uppercut under his jaw, simultaneously she grabbed his rifle with her other hand. Letting out a high burst to force their heads down, she backed up towards her friends, keeping the gun trained on Uriah and his men. However, they all knew that they had only delayed things a little. They were trapped and without their guardian powers. On Carit Frut, they had only needed a little time for W.I.T.C.H to destroy the power inhibitor. This was a different kettle of fish altogether.

Raising their weapons, Uriah and his men brought them to bear on the girls.

"Why make this harder than it needs to be, girls?" Uriah asked plaintively as they cocked their weapons.

"For what it's worth guys, I'm glad to have been a part of this group and a guardian. You guys are the best friends a girl could ask for." Alice said, looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'd say the same thing." Replied Sarah.

"No regrets here." Added Hannah and the three of them grinned at each other, for what must have seemed to be the last time.

Several rifles fired. But it wasn't the girls who died. Uriah fell to the ground, screaming in agony as his hands tried to stem the flow of blood coming from his guts. Most of his men were killed in the first few seconds. Those who survived either ran or tried to fight. Those who stood their ground, died where they stood. Those who ran fared little better.

The young man wearing a Marine uniform who was leading their rescue turned to face them and asked. "Are you three Sarah Gold, Alice Dwar and Hannah Smith?"

It was Hannah who recovered her voice first and answered. "Yes that's us. How did you know where to find us and how do you know our names?"

The young Marine lieutenant gave her a slight smile. "Your friend Anzu suggested you might come here looking for her."

"Anzu? Is she ok?" Sarah asked, her voice worried.

"Major Caleb's wife Cornelia saved her life earlier. She's back at base, along with a dark haired boy who calls himself Thomas Vandom."

All three girls raised their eyebrows as one in a distinctly spooky manner. "Thomas? Then where's Melinda?" they asked in unison. The man took a step back.

"He said something about her being in the past. Now let's get out of here, before we attract any more trouble." He replied.

"What about him?" Alice said, gesturing towards Uriah, who was moaning in agony on the ground, bleeding from his gut.

"It's a fatal wound. He'll be dead within the hour. There's nothing anyone can do for him now." He answered.

Alice walked over to one of Uriah's dead men and picked up his rifle. Pointing it at Uriah's head, she squeezed the trigger and blew his brains out. Throwing the rifle down, she turned aside and vomited onto the ground. Her friends rushed over to her with concerned looks on their faces. Having emptied her guts, she turned to face her friends.

"I know he deserved a slow death, what he intended to do to us was horrible. But I couldn't just leave him like that, we're better than that." She said in a firm voice, despite the fact that she was shaking violently. The other two nodded in agreement.

"We understand." Hannah whispered to her.

"Yeah, like you said, we're better than that" Sarah added.

Hauling her to her feet, Sarah turned to face their rescuer and said. "We're ready now."

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Will held up her Heart of Candracar and activated the crystal. Melinda watched as her mum and aunts transformed into their guardian forms. It felt weird seeing someone other than her group of friends transforming into guardians. Stranger still was the fact that the people in question were her various adopted aunts and her mum. That weirded her out just a little.

OK more than a little. But it made sense that as they were going to Meridian and Phobos was still in power, they needed the boost. As W.I.T.C.H finished transforming she held up her Heart of Candracar and transformed, her body became older and her familiar guardian costume of black trousers and purple, belly-baring tank top. Judging from the way W.I.T.C.H were looking at her, it was just as strange for them to see her transform.

"Are we ready to go?" She asked briskly. Caleb looked at her.

"Actually.." he began, but Melinda shook her head.

"You ARE coming with us. You're just as vital for this mission as anyone else" She held up her hand to stop him as he opened his mouth to speak. "I know you want to bring Elyon home, but it is vital that we succeed here first."

Cornelia let out a gasp of surprise. Melinda put her hand on her head.

"Listen! Right now there's a major problem with the guardians in the future and they're depending on us to come through for them. We can focus on our problems later." Will snapped out at them. Cornelia and Caleb glared at her mutinously. Will glared back with equal ferocity. With a slight twinge of regret, Melinda grabbed Caleb and physically threw him through the portal with ease. The other girls stared at her, but it was Irma who spoke first.

"You should've done that to Corny."

Cornelia snarled at her, but before she could do any more, Irma jumped through the fold. The others followed in short order.

AN: Although Melinda isn't normally as strong as Caleb, in guardian form she is.