A/N; I don't own Charmed or any of the characters from the show. Only Noah.

Stumbling out of the portal Melinda threw her hands forward, bracing herself against the old couch before tumbling on the floor. The portal behind her trembled for a second and then vanished. Gripping the back of the couch tightly, Melinda bent her head forward and took a shuddering breath. Her whole body was in pain, her legs barely able to keep her up straight and the wound on her thigh had started bleeding again.

Melinda bit on her tongue to keep from screaming as she pushed against the furniture and relied solely on her feet to support her weight. Focus, she ordered herself, swallowing down the pain. Her exhaustion would soon catch up with her and she knew she was in need of healing, but she had to secure her location. She was at the manor in the attic, she could tell that much, but she had no idea when or where exactly. Looking around the room Melinda located the tripod that housed the family's grimoire; so it's definitely after they received their powers, she thought and a small, grateful sigh escaped her lips.

Through the fog clouding her brain, Melinda tried to concentrate on her surroundings. She drew a breath, holding it in; no other sound than the one of her heartbeat reached her ears. She was alone. The light coming through the windows was dim but warm, though not enough to heat the chilly air in the attic and if she had to guess, Melinda would say it was late in the evening, maybe in spring.

With feet that could hardly make more than three steps, without using something else for support, Melinda limped towards the door of the attic. She had to lean against the case to catch her breath, wincing painfully at the pain surging through her body. Stilling herself for a long second, she pressed her left hand over the gush on her thigh. She gritted her teeth to keep from crying out; the abused skin was tender and upon contact it felt like someone had set it aflame.

C'mon, you can do this, she pep talked herself bringing her bloodied fingers on the wood of the doorway. Her finger only slightly quivered while she drew the pentagram, adding her rising sign on the left side of the high point and his on the right.

"Sanguis, spiritus, magicae, nos protegat."

Her voice came out hoarse, it sounded wrong in her ears. The sigil shone bright white, glowing for a couple of seconds before going out; now the marking was carved on the wood of the door. Melinda wasn't looking forward to explaining that one; no matter the time line or the universe, her family was never quite taken with the blood wards.

Shutting her eyes Melinda thought of the second floor. When she reopened them she was standing close to the staircase. She wobbled on her feet and she quickly moved towards the wall to her right, supporting herself against it. She surveyed the hallway with a careful eye; her parent's bedroom door was ajar, the other two closed shut. It would be prudent to draw the mark on all of them, but Melinda doubted she had enough in her to make them all. No, one should suffice.

Melinda performed the ritual again, marking the wall behind her. This time, when the sigil shone, yellow instead of white, she felt her head swimming. Her eyesight went black, her skin breaking out in cold sweat. For a fearful moment she thought she was about to faint, but then the world around her reappeared. Melinda's whole body was shaking; the ward was feeding off her power and normally it wouldn't be enough to knock her out, but she'd lost a lot of blood and she was so tired.

One more, she told herself and closing her eyes she made her way on the main floor. Leaning heavily against the entrance, Melinda drew the sigil one last time. Her breaths became more laboured as she imagined a huge protective dome spreading over the manor, buzzing with magic. She heard the crackle of energy and she looked towards the conservatory, where a small blue cloud had started taking the shape of a canopy. She repeated the incantation, the sigil shone blue and the last thing she saw was the blue dome expanding towards the roof. Then the darkness claimed her.

"Boy, do you look like you've been hit by a track," the light teasing broke through her unconsciousness.

"Do I ever?" Melinda mumbled and again, her voice sounded wrong in her ears. She blinked a couple of times, adjusting her eyes to the lighting of the room before popping on her elbows. "My bedroom?" she asked surprised, they usually ended up in some exotic island sipping virgin bloody Marys. She had to admit, this was a nice change.

"I got anxious and I..I wasn't in the mood for the Bahamas," the girl explained, tapping her fingers against the desk.

"Okay... So what happened?" Melinda questioned.

"I don't know, you tell me," the teenager said, crossing her arms over her chest. Melinda left a small grunt, falling back against the bed. "I've been waiting here for you for hours," the girl went on, hopping off the desk she was perched on. "Last time we talked you said you were about to leave and then boom!" she clapped her hands and Melinda winced at the loud sound, "You disappeared for a whole day, scarring the whitelights out of me!" the teen exclaimed, stopping in front of the bed.

"I'm sorry," Melinda said, turning on her side, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay," the girl shrugged it off. "What happened?" she asked again and Melinda sighed.

"Noah found me," she said and she noticed the girl's face paling. "He...We ehm... We had a fight at his family's house. He..Luke..didn't make it," she stumbled over her words, feeling her head pounding, like someone was trying to burst through her skull.

"Mel, you should come back. I know it's risky, but we'll find a way! We'll stop him, we-"

"He asked me to kill him, Hales," Melinda blurted out, cutting off the girl's blubbering.

Haley looked at her doubtfully, unwilling to accept the words that had just come out of Melinda's mouth. But when the older woman didn't take them back, her arms fell limp by her sides, her mouth creating a silent 'oh'. And then her eyes hardened, as she looked at Melinda's laying form.

"And did you?"

"Of course not!" Melinda snapped. Haley groaned running both her hands through her dark brown hair.

"Why not, Mel?" she demanded, looking angrily down at her. "Why didn't you end this?"

But they both knew the answer to that, so Melinda remained silent. Haley muttered something through her teeth before turning around and staring at the wall hard enough to open a hole. Melinda sat up, grabbing the pillow and holding it against her chest. She couldn't blame Haley for being upset with her, not after everything the two had been through in the last year and she didn't actually expect her to understand. In all honesty she hoped her cousin would never understand why she couldn't put an end in that living nightmare.

"Where are you?" Haley asked, still not facing her.

"At the manor; I just managed to ensure the wards before I faded," Melinda said, playing with a lose thread of the case of her pillow.

"When?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "But they've definitely received their powers."

"Well, at least that's better than the last time," Haley said dryly and Melinda nodded in agreement.

"Yeah... Mom and the aunts without their powers," she shook her head a little, her gaze falling on the pillow "Not very helpful. Quite the opposite, to be honest," she said, pressing a hand against her forehead. "They were so quick to trust me, Hales, they...they had no regard for their personal safety. It was so easy for Noah to-"

"You need to figure out the time line," Haley raised her voice, speaking over her. Melinda was stunned into silence; she wasn't used at Haley being this rude. "You need to figure out when in the time line you are, if you are in our universe at all and then-"

"Find out who Noah is going to go after," it was Melinda's turn to cut her off, "Yeah, I know, I've been through the drill."

"And yet, you never learn," Haley whispered loudly, raising her gaze towards the ceiling. Once again Melinda found herself startled by the younger girl's words.

She let go off the pillow and sliding her feet off the edge of the bed she stood up. It felt good to walk without trembling or wishing to pass out. In three long strides Melinda had covered the ground between them, but Haley was still not turning around to look at her. Laying both her hands on the teen's shoulders Melinda dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"What's going on, Hales?" she asked, giving her shoulders a small squeeze. Haley took a deep breath, trying to gain control over her emotions, but like it usually happened, she failed.

"What do you think?!" she yelled, whirling around to face her. "I'm worried about you, Melinda! We all are!" she shouted, taking a step away from her. Her face was contorted into a mask of anger and despair and Melinda felt the guilt, familiar as ever, bubbling hotly in her stomach; she was responsible for this.

"I'm sorry, I know this is not fair to you," she said quietly, but it was obviously the wrong thing to say. Haley scoffed loudly, throwing her hands in the air; one of the bookshelves on the wall next to her window exploded into oblivion.

"Not fair to me? How about not fair to the rest of them? Wyatt is still beating up himself over you vanishing into thin air. He thinks he should've somehow known what you were going to do," Haley said, her hands now curled into fists and resting by her sides. "Chris is looking all over for you; he spends almost all his free time at the Underworld. Aunt Piper never leaves her bedroom anymore, let alone the manor, so it's up to Uncle Leo to keep the family together."

They had never discussed about the others. It was an unspoken rule between them never to bring up the family and they both respected it, until now; Haley had reached her breaking point, Melinda could tell. She felt the tears streaming down her face, but she made no move to wipe them away. She deserved this, she knew she did.

"Mom has stopped going to Magic School and the Elders are threatening to shut it down. She doesn't care. Aunt Phoebe is the only one who's still trying to protect the innocents, when she's not Up There with dad, trying to get an answer out of the Elders for your whereabouts. Of course they have no idea where you are... No, only I do. And I can't tell anyone and I have to keep lying!" the last word was followed by one of the windows getting blown off its hinges.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," was all Melinda could say. Haley was panting, her cheeks red from all the yelling. She ran a hand through her hair, and looked at her, before moving forward and wrapping her arms around Melinda's waist.

"I know," she whispered against the fabric of Melinda's t-shirt. She wasn't tall enough to reach her shoulder, so she hid her face on the crook of Melinda's neck.

"I just I can't kill him. I can't do it, Hales, I can't, I can't," she whispered brokenly, burying her nose into Haley's silky strands of hair. Haley's arms tightened around Melinda's waist.

"I know that too." They stayed like that for a while, before Haley gently pulled her at arm's length, "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that," she said, biting on the inside of her cheek.

"I'm actually surprised it took you so long," Melinda said, "You're not very good at holding your tongue, you know."

"Excuse you!" Haley exclaimed affronted and despite the tears in her eyes Melinda chuckled.

"I'm right."

"Yeah, you are..." Haley gave in. "Still I could've been a bit more, tactful," she said, jumping on the balls of her feet as her eyes awkwardly ran over the mess she'd made in the room.

"Not gonna argue with that."

"You need a game plan," Haley said, suddenly back to business and Melinda nodded.

"I know. I intend on going through this one without casualties," her voice was firm and Melinda almost believed her own words. Haley raised her eyebrows enough to disappear behind her bangs.

"Not even Luke?"

"Not if I can help it," Melinda responded and heard her cousin whistling.

"Okay, I'll try to help, if I can," Haley said. "And not yell at you anymore," she added as an afterthought with a small bob of her head. The corners of Melinda's lips twisted upwards.

"I'd appreciate that."

"I think someone is trying to wake you up," Haley said frowning, a hand coming up to massage her crown. Instantly Melinda felt a tag at the centre of her chest.

"I think you are right," she agreed and Haley's bright hazel eyes snapped to hers.

"Are you ready?" she questioned. Melinda shook her head.

"I never am." The tagging at her chest had become more prominent and Melinda could now hear a voice; it sounded distorted, like it was coming from underwater, but with every second that ticked by it grew stronger.

"Okay, that's reassuring," Haley quipped sarcastically and then, "Be careful."

"I will," Melinda promised.

"I love you."

But before Melinda could say it back the room was gone. She prepared herself the best she could, as she felt someone shaking her softly. The voice, clear now and oh so familiar, was coming from somewhere above her head and it was coaxing her to open her eyes. Melinda took one last deep breath and she did.

"Easy does it," the voice instructed, brushing the hair out of her face and helping her up. Melinda gave him a sleepy smile.

"Thanks dad," she said without really thinking. Her words were followed by several gasps, varying in emotions.

"Dad?" both her aunt Phoebe and Paige questioned, one surprised the other delighted. Leo was sitting next to her, his eyes wide as they searched her face for any sign that she was lying. Piper was standing between her sisters, her arms crossed and her expression unreadable. Melinda was about to say something to her, when another voice attracted her attention to the other side of the room.

"Leo, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" a very annoyed Prue Halliwell inquired, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Oh," Melinda exclaimed, dragging the vowel. "This is new."

A/N; the end, I'm not a fan of. I think it's kinda awkward, but I honestly had no idea when to end this chapter, so... yeah.. I hope you liked it more than I did.

The latin incantation reads ; "Blood, spirit, magic, protect us". It's pretty basic, but I didn't want to overcomplicate it.