Chapter One: Phoenix Lost

Author note: For those of you who just skipped the prologue because it's so darn short; I say again: spoilers for 01x09: Planets Aligned. Pretty much the entire episode. And I am using dialogue from the episode. This story is the fourth in the Magical Flashpoint series. It follows "Proving Ground – Flashpoint Edition".

Although all original characters belong to me, I do not own Flashpoint, Harry Potter, Narnia, or Merlin.

17 hours earlier

"No fair," the redheaded girl pouted at her brown-haired brother.

The brother raked a hand through his hair, fed up. He had a project due next week, his uncle had been forced to stay late at work, and his sister was busy standing on his last nerve. "Life's not fair, 'Lanna," he snapped. "Ellroy's going to kill me if I don't get this project done, so go find something else to do for awhile." He pointed at the playground equipment as he spoke, making it clear where he expected her to find something to do.

Alanna crossed her arms, glaring at her brother. "You never have time for me anymore!"

Lance groaned, dropping his head down to his arms. " 'Lanna! I'm not kidding! Go find somewhere else to play; I'm busy right now." With that, he returned his attention to his books, digging through them for information. Professor Ellroy had not been pleased when Lance's uncle had all but forced him to tutor Lance and Alanna in the family spells. As he couldn't take it out on the SRU Sergeant, he'd taken to grading Lance as harshly as he could get away with. Consequently, Lance spent more time on his homework for Ellroy's class than most of his other classes…combined. The cranky, snappy professor reminded the young wizard of the stories he'd heard about the old Hogwarts Potions professor.

The young man worked steadily for an hour, hunting down information and taking notes on it. He could rough out an essay that evening and polish it up tomorrow. And if he made two copies of the essay…well…he was sick of the harsh grading and snide insults in class. Satisfied with his progress and aware that he was losing the light as the sun went down, Lance packed his books away and looked up at the playground.

" 'Lanna, I'm done!" he yelled, scanning the playing children for his sister's red hair. The young man frowned when his sister didn't appear immediately. He slung his backpack up on his shoulders and moved closer to the playground equipment. " 'Lanna, come on! I'm starving!"

Annoyed, the brunet began to scan the children more carefully. If 'Lanna was playing around because he'd snapped at her… But there was no light purple coat, no red-haired sister amongst the children.

" 'Lanna?" he called again, searching harder. Surely she was here somewhere…

Careful to keep his magic level low and unnoticed, he 'flung' his magic outward, letting it 'scan' for Alanna's magic. In the dusk, his eyes glowed slightly gold with his magic, but as long as the teen kept his head down, no one noticed. Nothing…not even a trace. Panic began to filter in as the teen's search turned wild.

"Alanna!" he yelled, startling the nearby flock of mothers. The panic in his voice and stance clued the mothers into the fact that this was no ordinary search. "Alanna Victoria Calvin! Get over here!" Lance did his best to channel their father's voice of command and discarded subtlety as he 'flung' his magic out again, searching for his sister frantically.

One of the nearby mothers was forced to bring the teen to a halt. "Who's missing?" she asked, cell phone already in hand.

Lance scrubbed at his hair, fighting down shock and terror. "My sister," he choked out. "She's my little sister."

The woman waved her own child over as she dialed 911. "Hello, I have a young man here and he's lost his sister," she reported smoothly. She listened a moment, shaking her head. "He's been searching for her for almost half an hour."

Lance sucked in a breath; mind racing. Without even thinking, he held out his hand for the phone.

"Here he is now," the woman told the dispatcher as she handed the phone over.

"Hello?" the dispatcher asked. "Can you tell me where you last saw your sister?"

Lance swallowed, checking his watch. "Hi. My name's Lance Calvin, my uncle is Sergeant Greg Parker with the Strategic Response Unit. My sister, Alanna…she's twelve, with violet eyes, long red hair, and a light purple coat. I last saw her at the playground I'm calling from about an hour ago." He gulped again and babbled, "She was right here, I was just doing school work…"

"Sir, we're going to do everything we can to find her. I've already contacted a nearby unit and I'll also call your uncle to come pick you up," the dispatcher promised. "Could you please put the woman helping you back on the phone?"

Lance held the phone out, letting the woman take her phone back. The woman listened a moment longer. "Of course I can stay until an officer gets here," she reassured the dispatcher. "It's no problem at all."

Sirens wailed in the distance and Lance locked his knees so he wouldn't fall. Don't die on me, 'Lanna. Please don't die…