Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.

Season Three Episode Nine: "Xanatos" Chapter One

Earth. The Vandom residence. Susan and Dean passed through the front door, laughing and in high spirits, to find Will waiting for them. She was sitting in the recliner facing the door. She grinned and said, "Congratulations you two. Now let me see the ring."

The newly engaged couple exchanged a surprised glance before turning back to the girl. "Will, how did you know?" Dean asked.

"Before you two left earlier, while mom was in the bathroom finishing getting ready, you pulled out the ring box and opened it to make sure the ring was still seated properly."

Dean was still at a loss. "So? How did you know about that?"

"Because you did it in the kitchen. In front of the gossipy refrigerator that just couldn't wait to tell me as soon as I got home." Will said. Susan laughed and held out her hand, showing the ring. "Whoa!" Will exclaimed, "That must've cost a fortune!"

Still ruminating on Will's mention of the fridge, Dean said "I'm not gonna be able to keep a secret in this family am I?"

Grinning, Will replied "Not in the kitchen, that's for sure. You might try the bathroom. The hair dryers are pretty taciturn. But you'd need to get rid of the electric toothbrush, he won't shut up for nothing."

An odd look crossed Susan's face. "Tomorrow morning I'm buying a regular toothbrush." she said.

"Why do you think I switched to one?" Will asked.

Martin struggled to resist the urge to call Irma right away. His realization that Queen Neera's strategy resembled a Xanatos Gambit, in fact might actually be one, was important. "But it's one a.m." He thought to himself. "And besides, given the nature of the beast, figuring this out is almost more bad news than good, seeing as how we still don't know what the goal behind the gambit is."

Finally, he decided there was no reason to rush. He would see everyone at school in the morning, and a few hours were unlikely to make any real difference anyway. Happy that he had at least figured out this much, he returned to bed.

Taranee Cook say in bed, nearly asleep, when a slight knock came at her door. "I'm awake. Come on in." she said, knowing who it had to be.

Theresa entered, closed the door behind her, and crossed the room. She sat on the edge of the bed next to her daughter. "I know I should be letting you sleep. You've got school tomorrow after all. But… Taranee this is still bothering me, and I need to talk about it."

Yawning, Taranee said "Then let's talk. Just tell me you're not planning to make Cass stay away from Peter."

"No. No it's not like that. I can tell she really cares for him. The truth is, I think I can deal with what I know about her, it's just going to take a little while to get used to it."

"Then what's bothering you?"

Theresa sighed. "Taranee, Cassidy said to me 'I swear Taranee can't control water like I do.' Now, I could tell that was the truth. But it still felt misleading. And I still feel like you are hiding something from me. So… If you don't control water… what do you have control over?"

"Crap." Taranee thought. "Now what?"

Varthan. Garix watched as Theresa pushed the Fire Guardian for the truth. "She's so close now." he thought. Turning to his mother, he said "Soon, soon she will be ours! Let me take a strike force Mother!"

"Not so fast my son." the Dark Queen answered. "The Fire Guardian is most clever. She may yet manage to defuse the situation in a way that prevents us from acting." Together, they continued to observe.

Thinking quickly, Taranee hit upon an idea. A terribly unlikely, risky idea. But as the only thing she could think of, it would have to do, risk or no. "Mom, Cassidy has told me a lot about what things were like for her back when she was fighting evil on a regular basis. She once said that a lot of magical entities have very specific rules they have to follow, no matter what."

"I'm listening. What does this have to do with my question to you?"

"Just this. Hypothetically, if I did have some kind of magical powers, evil magic beings would be unable to threaten my family so long as the family remained in the dark about me."

"Hypothetically." Theresa repeated.

"Right. This is all hypothetical. So, Hypothetically, you would be endangering yourself, dad, and Peter, by pushing for the truth, assuming, hypothetically, that I did have some kind of powers like Cassidy."

"Which of course you don't."

"Exactly."

Mother and daughter sat quietly next to each other for several minutes, not speaking. Finally, Theresa said "Well. For the good of the family then, I guess it's for the best that I was wrong about you. I'll let you get your sleep. Good night Taranee."

"G'night mom. Hey, you did remember to turn the alarm on right? Those guys that came after you are still on the loose."

"It's on. Sleep tight." Theresa left, closing the door behind her. Relieved, Taranee fell back into her pillows

"Man that was close." she thought.

Varthan. Queen Neera motioned to the viewing window. "You see Prince Garix? What did I tell you? The girl managed to plug the potential danger quite nicely with the judicious use of the word 'hypothetical.' Theresa Cook still suspects, but will push no further."

"Mother, surely this is close enough to build upon. If I appeared before them, and assailed not the family but the Guardian herself, she would defend herself in front of them. They would see. They would know."

Aljax said, "That is risky, my Prince. It should be reserved for the last contingency, done only if all else has failed."

"Aljax speaks true." Neera said. "We just need a new plan now, and a target for it."