Charmed T

by Yusho MinChao

A Charmed Reimagining. After separating six months prior, three brothers are brought back together, and that's when they are started on a path that will change their lives forever.

3. I Remember

Charmed T =

Thriller

Three

Trio

Triquetra

Trinity

The T can stand for any one of these words. Pick one.

Charmed T

It's close to midnight,

Something evil's lurking in the dark

Under the moonlight,

You see a sight that almost stops your heart

You try to scream,

But terror takes the sound before you make it

You start to freeze,

As horror looks you right between the eyes

You're paralyzed

Cause this is thriller, thriller night

And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike

You know it's thriller, thriller night

You're fighting for your life, inside a

Killer, thriller, tonight

They're out to get you

There's demons closing in on every side

They will possess you,

Unless you change that number on your dial

Cause this is thriller, thriller night

There ain't no second chance against the thing with the forty eyes, girl

Thriller, thriller night

You're fighting for your life, inside a

Killer, thriller, tonight

I Remember

Cliff had just gotten off work and headed into foyer of the manor as Coronado with Clive reluctantly following behind were headed out the door.

"Hazzah!" Coronado exclaimed. "I knew we'd catch you. Take a shower. Get dressed. You're coming with us."

"This wasn't my idea," Clive said and then sighed. "I told him you wouldn't go."

"What are you talking about Coronado?" Cliff asked him.

"A neighbor of ours down the street is having something of a block party," Coronado said. "Everyone was invited. You're going."

Clive wore an Orange and Blue Flannel Shirt, over a White t-shirt, a pair of light blue jeans, and a pair of Blue suede boots. He looked neat, clean, and put together as he was wont to do.

Coronado wore a Gray tank top, a pair of Red shorts, and a pair of Red and Gray flat top shoes. Atop his head, he wore a Trilby hat with a few feathers sticking off the side of it, and around his neck he wore a Gold chain.

"He barely knows these people," Clive said. "I barely know these people, and I've been living back here for longer than two weeks." He looked at Coronado with a frown planted firmly on his face.

"I just got off work," Cliff said. "I don't feel like…putting up with strangers."

"I told you he wasn't going to go," Clive said. "If he's not going, I shouldn't go. Why am I going again?"

"You're going," Coronado told Clive, "and you're going too." He told Cliff. "I was ready for this. Here are the reasons, and not surprisingly they apply to both of you: one, you never go out; two, you get a chance to meet new people, which you rarely do; and three, it's a chance for all three of us to go out and have a good time. Their house is in walking distance, so we can get hammered and stagger back home."

"You can get hammered," Clive said," and I'll make sure you get home alive."

"I haven't seen drunk Clive in ages," Coronado said. "I can't even remember drunk Cliff. You guys have to come and actually have some fucking fun! Mingle. Maybe get some action. I mean, you two can do that at least once a year. You won't be breaking any vows or anything."

Clive sighed again.

"I'll go," Clive said through gritted teeth. "Just don't say anything else."

Coronado and Clive looked to Cliff, who looked at his brothers like his mind was made up and he wasn't going anywhere.

"Please," Clive mouthed, "don't leave me alone with him." He was pleading, almost begging.

"Fine," Cliff said. "I'll go."

"My brother," Coronado said, wrapping an arm around Clive and Cliff and shaking them. "I can't wait. Clive and I are going to head down there. I'll send you a text of the location. Walk. Don't drive. If you're not there in the next twenty minutes, I'm going to flatten all the tires on your truck."

"If you do that," Cliff began, he was going to tell Coronado he'd beat his ass, but he didn't. He couldn't, considering what happened six months ago. "I won't be late."

"I expect you, both of you, to fully engage," Coronado said, walking out the door.

"Thank you," Clive mouthed repeatedly. He had folded his hands and nodded his head repeatedly in thanks as he walked backward before he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

"I got the door," Cliff told them, using his Telekinesis, by channeling it through his eyes, to turn the deadbolt.

Afterward, Cliff headed for his room to get ready.

None of them had noticed the large dog that watched them from the patio doors.

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

A motorcycle and a motorcyclist pulled in front of the manor. After the motorcyclist pulled off her helmet, in the light of the nearby streetlamp, her wavy, flowing golden light brown hair, highlighted red, seemed almost perfect. An older woman, in her late 50s/early 60s, didn't look to be that age or move that way when she got off her motorcycle and hung the helmet off the handle after removing her gloves and placing them inside the helmet. She walked toward the door of the manor, wearing knee high Black leather motorcycle boots, Dark Blue jeans, and a Blue leather jacket. She knocked on the door.

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

Cliff had finished his shower and gotten dressed. He wore a Black muscle shirt, a Brown leather jacket over it, Dark Blue jeans, and a pair of Brown leather boots. When he heard the knock on the door, as he came down the stairs, he shook his head. He knew, even though he was making good time, they would come back to try and hurry him up. He tried to keep from smiling when he went to open the door.

"I said I would go," Cliff said. "I meant it. I'm a man of my word."

The moment he opened the door his smile faded.

"Cliff," the woman said. "It's good to see you."

Cliff said nothing. He glared at her. He still had the doorknob in his left hand, and he began to squeeze it so hard had it registered for him he would've been in pain.

"Guess this means you all have your powers now," the woman said, looking over his shoulder past him.

Cliff turned around to see that a variety of furniture was hovering in midair, including the foyer table, the coat rack, the glass bowl and the candy that occupied it, the side table and framed photograph that occupied it, and the grandfather clock. When he saw this, he managed to calm down enough that everything returned to its proper place. He came out of the house and shut the door behind him. He locked the door with a certain amount of force, using his Telekinesis. He walked past the woman. He stopped when she remained on the porch, and he had cleared the first set of stairs.

"Leave," Cliff said.

Cliff was facing the street while the woman faced his back.

"I'd like to meet with all three of you," the woman said. "We could have dinner tomorrow. I could cook: here at the manor."

"You stayed away this long," Cliff said. "Don't try to do us any favors."

"Clifford," the woman said his name softly. "You're not like this. You and I are just a like, so I know you don't really want me to go."

"You and I are nothing alike," Cliff said: coldly and darkly. He turned toward her. "You taught me who I needed to be in order to survive, take responsibility, and be there for my family. This is who I am: not like you."

"I'm your Mom," the woman said. "You're going to forgive me one day."

"Not today," Cliff said. "I won't ever forgive you."

Cliff turned from her, left the manor, and walked away down the middle of the street.

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

Cliff arrived to the house hosting the block party. People were chatting, smoking, and drinking on the wraparound front porch. Some of the partygoers, who recognized Cliff, were surprised to see him. Others, who were going to greet him, decided otherwise when they saw the expression on his face: the look in his eyes.

"You made it," a young woman said. She was standing by the door, talking to a couple people. She turned toward Cliff.

Cliff was about to knock on the door while he tried not to bang on it.

"You must be Cliff: the eldest Halliwell Brother," the young woman said.

Cliff realized he had no idea who this woman was. He didn't want to be rude.

"Good evening," Cliff said. "Thank you for the invitation."

"People said you wouldn't come," the young woman said. "I'm glad you proved them wrong." She placed a hand on his arm while she held on to the doorknob of her front door. She winked at him.

She was cute: short and slender. She had straight black hair, which she had tied by a red lace ribbon, and she had dark blue eyes.

"I'm taken," Cliff said. This was after he looked to her hand on the doorknob and back to her face. Both Elli and Macias popped into his head.

She removed her hand.

"I'm Jesse," she said and laughed nervously. "Sorry. One Appletini… And I get like this."

"Can you point me in the direction of my brothers?" Cliff requested. "There's a family emergency."

"Right," Jesse said. "That probably means you won't be staying too long." She sighed. "My sister Lori keeps track of everything and everyone. She should be able to point you in the right direction." She opened the door for him. "She'll be by the bar, wearing glasses."

"Thanks," Cliff said with a nod.

"No problem," Jesse said. She sighed again after he went inside as she closed the door behind him.

Cliff walked through the house, passing through people. He caught the eye of several of the partygoers: men and women. He focused on finding either Lori or his brothers, but he couldn't help overhear some of their comments.

I can't believe all three of them are here.

I've always wanted a Halliwell Brother for my very own.

They say Clive's a real sweetheart. He's always been that way.

Stay away from Coronado. One night with him, and he'll wear you out: one way or another. You'll be feening like a crackhead.

Cliff's an enigma…

They say he's a hard man.

He's reliable, dependable; he's done a lot for the neighborhood.

I hear he's heartless.

The Halliwell Family? I think they'll always be an unsolved mystery…

Cliff found Lori. He saw the resemblance between her and Jesse. They shared the same dark blue eyes and straight black hair. Lori, however, wore glasses, was a foot taller, and looked like she spent time at the gym, putting in time with a sandbag, based on her muscular arms. The guy next to her looked similar as well. He had several inches on her. He had short, spiky black hair, along with the same dark blue eyes, and a lithe frame, medium build.

"You wanted to have this party," Lori told the guy next to her. "Make sure nothing gets broken. Drunken people are messy people. Drunken people cause property damage."

"Lori," Cliff said, gaining her attention. "Excuse me."

"Sorry," Lori said, turning to him. "Brothers." She rolled her eyes.

"Hey," the guy said.

Lori would've made him smile had Cliff not been bent on getting a hold of his brothers. He would've called them, but he had left the house without his phone. He didn't plan on going back for it until after the conversation he was about to have with his brothers: one brother in particular.

"Did you need something?" Lori asked. "Sorry again, I don't recognize you. You are?"

"I'm Cliff Halliwell," He introduced himself. "I live down the street: the manor."

"Oh yes," Lori said. "You have a gorgeous house. Been in the family for generations?"

"Yes," Cliff said. "My great-great-great grandfather built it himself." No need to be rude. Make conversation. Your brothers shouldn't be affected by your behavior.

"Do you have a lot of work done on it?" Lori asked.

"Not a lot," Cliff said, placing his hands in his back pocket. "I take care of the upkeep. Anything needs repair I usually do the work."

"I'm her brother Jacob," the guy said, "but everybody just calls me J. I figure I better introduce myself before she talks your ear off."

Lori glared at him.

"Good to meet both of you," Cliff said. "I apologize we haven't met sooner. I work a lot."

"We know," Lori and J said simultaneously. They glanced at each other and laughed.

"You and your brothers have been a topic a time or two," Lori said, "especially when we found out Coronado was back in town."

"Good things were said I hope," Cliff said.

"Nothing bad at all," J said. "Just that we hope to see you guys more: get to know you three better."

"Understandable," Cliff said.

"Are you going to stay awhile?" Lori asked.

"That was the plan," Cliff said. "I need to speak with my brothers. Your sister Jesse told me you might know where they are."

"I'm going to go pick up more drinks," J said. "You make sure to keep the guests entertained and happy. Make sure the Halliwell Brothers will want to come back to another one of our shindigs."

"You should come back," Lori said. "I can say at least one good thing about my brother. He throws good parties."

"Even if you don't see me," Cliff said, "Coronado loves a good party."

"I'll just have to talk Coronado into making sure to bring you and Clive along," Lori said. "I'm not exactly sure where Clive is, but Coronado is on the dance floor. Follow the music."

Cliff made to walk off but stopped himself.

"It was good to meet you and your siblings," Cliff said. He could hear Coronado's voice in his head: You should at least try. This made him even angrier than he already was. "Hopefully, we'll get a chance to talk again."

"I'd like that," Lori said.

Cliff, looking for Coronado, followed the music: You Know I'm No Good. He traversed the moving bodies, and finding Coronado didn't take long. Cliff didn't know if Coronado was dancing on top of the people around him or if they were dancing on top of him. The scene appeared almost erotic. The idea of this irked and annoyed Cliff, which reignited his feelings toward the encounter he just had that Cliff knew was Coronado's doing.

"You came!" Coronado said: overly excited. He'd been drinking. "You came, and you're going to dance? That's what I'm talking about. Get into the spirit of things: really dive in. We just got to get you a drink."

Cliff stood across from Coronado when the song ended and the music stopped.

"I thought we were making headway," Cliff said. "Then, you pull a stunt like this."

The people around them didn't know what was going on, but they felt a change in the air. They backed away from Coronado and Cliff but mostly Cliff.

"What?" Coronado said. Cliff's words confused him.

Clive came into the room snacking from the plate of food he carried along with him. He saw his brothers, and he was going to say something until he realized a situation might be about to present itself. He held himself back because of their discussion last week.

"She's here," Cliff said. "Don't act like you don't know."

"Who's here?" Coronado asked. "Elli? Why would she be here? Hey, that means you'll really have a good time." He wrapped an arm around Cliff's shoulder and playfully punched him in the stomach. He laughed.

While the partygoers saw that Coronado seemed to be having the time of his life and sharing a moment with his brother, they also saw that Cliff looked like he might murder Coronado, and everyone else at the party for that matter.

"Michelle," Cliff said. "She showed up on our doorstep tonight."

"Oh shit," Clive said. He stopped eating, put his plate down, and made his way toward them.

Everybody saw Cliff clench a fist at his side.

"Mom's here," Coronado said, sounding surprised because he was. "I didn't think she'd ever come back to the manor. At least, that's what she told me. That's awesome. Is she staying with us?"

"I told her to leave," Cliff said.

The song Human began to play, and while some people began to dance others were far too invested in the conversation between the eldest and youngest Halliwell Brothers to return to the party activities.

"The only reason she would be here is if you called her and invited her here," Cliff said. "That means you called her behind my back without telling me. That means you probably ran off at the mouth like you always do. I don't understand why you can never respect my wishes or me. Why is she here Coronado? What did you tell her?"

"I didn't call her," Coronado said. Cliff's words seem to sober him up a bit. "I know I tend to piss you off, but I wouldn't have her come here without giving you a heads up. I wouldn't even ask her to come because she told me she'd probably never come back here. She didn't even come to Gramps' funeral. You're jumping to a lot of conclusions and making a lot of assumptions. I'm telling you it wasn't me."

"On top of everything," Cliff said, "now you're going to lie to me. I hate liars Coronado. You know this."

"It's not okay to lie," Coronado said, "but it's okay to omit the truth."

"It's not wrong to want to protect people," Cliff said.

"Maybe it is when those people don't want your protection," Coronado said. "Maybe it is when they rather have the truth if you'd give them a chance to hear it and react to it themselves instead of having someone decide what they'll think and feel beforehand."

Cliff and Coronado both noticed everything in the room become eerily quiet. Everything in the room had come to a stop. Clive froze the room using his Temporal Stasis. They both turned to him, and they noticed him standing there. He had kept things from escalating.

"I would've let you two handle this yourselves," Clive said, "but I can't. This dispute isn't actually between you two this time." He took a deep breath and met Cliff's gaze. "He didn't call her or invite her here. I did."

Neither brother said anything. The commotion from the rest of the party filled the silence of the dance floor. Coronado stared at Clive. Cliff looked away from him.

"Damn Clive," Cliff said.

Clive had expected the glare of instant death. He had expected to at least get punched. While Cliff still looked angry, Clive saw it flash across Cliff's expression for only a moment: his hurt and guilt.

"I'm sorry for accusing you Coronado," Cliff said.

Cliff turned away from both his brothers and left the room. When Cliff left and a partygoer from another part of the house walked passed Cliff, the room unfroze. Coronado looked after Cliff before he refocused on Clive.

"I want to go after him," Coronado said, "but I wouldn't even know what to say. He wouldn't talk to me anyway. I don't know what to do."

"I can't go either," Clive said, looking after Cliff. "Not this time." He took his phone from his pocket, and he sent a quick text.

[Cliff needs you. Can you stop him before he leaves?]

"Don't worry though," Clive said. "We've got reinforcements."

"Who'd you text?" Coronado asked. "And what should we do?"

"None of your business," Clive said. "As for what you can do…" He lowered his voice for the next part. "Get everybody drunk enough that they don't remember that exchange that happened."

"I'm on it," Coronado said and laughed. He grabbed a nearby bottle of Tequila and took a drink. "Work hard! Play hard!"

Everybody shouted and cheered with him. The DJ turned up the music.

Clive went and retrieved his plate of snacks.

Both Coronado and Clive were concerned about Cliff, but Coronado left it in Clive's hands. And Clive felt he had texted one of the two people right for this job. Cliff had let his emotions get the better of him again, and he had a hard time facing them when that happened. When he was helping to raise his brothers, self-discipline and control were easier for him. As he got older but more specifically as they got older, they wanted something from him that made him defensive and stirred up all that he worked to keep buried. He tried to stay this one person, who he'd always been, but everybody around him wanted a different, deeper relationship with him. He didn't know who or how to be in order to accommodate them all. He could only accommodate one person, and that wasn't himself. He made a vow. He made a mistake six months ago. He made a mistake tonight. He would fix himself: start again.

Jesse went and stood by Lori, who was overseeing the party.

"Did you feel that?" Jesse asked. She spoke low.

"A Witch used magic," Lori said. "I guarantee you it was one of the Halliwell Brothers."

"You think it's them: the Witches we're looking for?" Jesse asked.

"We'll see once we find their Book of Shadows," Lori said.

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

"I was hoping I'd see you before you left," Elli said, letting her voice stop Cliff from taking another step and bring him from his thoughts about Coronado, Clive, Michelle, and his Dad, Cornelius. "Or I thought you'd at least see me. Then again, I didn't think you'd come."

Although he felt ashamed, Cliff turned from the door just as he was about to leave at the sound of Elli's voice.

Elli wore a lavender top with a deep green cardigan over it, a skirt, and a pair of black and deep green cowboy boots. The pair of Pink Rose earrings he'd bought her for her 19th birthday caught his attention. She was showing off her legs, which she considered one of her best features. If Cliff hadn't been thinking and feeling several things at that moment, she would've gotten him hard and made him do things to her right in front of everyone.

"You know how to turn a man's night around," Cliff said. "You're looking dangerous tonight: like trouble. Like you're trying to get me into trouble."

She laughed.

"If I remember correctly," Elli said, "you were the one always getting me into trouble. 'Now Elli, you can't go hanging out all hours of the night looking all hot-to-trot in that pickup truck with that Halliwell Boy.'" She made Cliff smile.

The man's smile almost caused Elli and a few people behind her to swoon.

"You want to get out of here," Cliff said, becoming serious.

She stepped close to him and hugged him: to whisper to him.

"I can't leave," Elli said. "I'm working. You can help me though. Afterward, we

can leave together." She pulled back and looked into his eyes.

"Let me go grab my phone and truck," Cliff said. "I'll come back."

"I'll be at a table near the bar," Elli said. "Come back." She held onto his arm.

Before she pulled it away from him, she let it linger there for a second.

"I will," Cliff said, nodding to her. He held her hand a moment before he left the

house and headed back for the manor.

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

Clive went outside on the deck with food after he saw he had received a voicemail message from his Mom. He listened to it.

"I came," she said. "I've arrived. I already ran into Cliff, and he wasn't too happy to see me. I haven't left. I'll be staying at The Crown Imperial if you need me. I saw what you meant about the change. I won't leave until we all sit down and can talk. That includes Cliff. Love you. See you soon."

Clive sat off to himself, trying to finish his food. The party had been catered, and whoever had done the cooking had done a good job.

"I don't know how long he'll be," Elli said, taking a seat beside Clive, "but I thought we should have a quick chat." She had texted Clive to find out where he was, and he had told her he was outside near the pool.

"Is he coming back?" Clive asked.

"He said he would," Elli said. "Looks like we'll be having another secret meeting. Are you going to answer any of my questions this time?"

Clive chuckled.

"It depends on what you ask me," Clive said.

"Why does Cliff need me?" Elli asked. She decided to start with an easy one: one that concerned tonight.

Clive sighed.

"Because he's probably not going to talk to me for the next six months," Clive said.

"What did you do?" Elli questioned him. As far as she knew and remembered, Cliff had never been mad at Clive. At least, not mad enough to not talk to him. This had to be serious.

"I called our Mom and told her to come," Clive explained. "She did. She showed up, and he ran into her first."

"Clive…" Elli said. She understood now why Clive had texted her and why Cliff might not have much to say to Clive for a while. There was a story there: between Cliff and his Mom. She had never heard all of it, but the bottom line was she had abandoned the family. Cliff had never forgiven her for it. He hadn't talked to her. He hadn't seen her. Not since the day she left.

"She actually came?" Elli asked.

"Yes," Clive said. "I told her it was time she told us the real reason she left."

"After 20 years," Elli said, "you think she's finally come to tell you guys the truth?"

"Yes," Clive said. "I think she couldn't before or didn't want to because it was too bad or because our Gramps wouldn't allow it. He's gone now. The three of us are getting on again. I think she can finally tell us."

"Does this have to do with what you won't tell me?" Elli asked.

"Yes," Clive said. "I don't know if I should tell you or you should know. I do know that if I did tell you Cliff would not hesitate to kill me."

Elli waited for him to laugh, but she saw that he was serious. She was getting more out of him than the day she tried to get him to explain about his and his brothers' involvement in the abduction case, but she still felt as if she wasn't learning anything that would lead to solving the mystery surrounding the Halliwell Brothers. She wasn't even quite sure of the question or questions that would lead to the right answer.

"Why?" Elli asked, focusing on their conversation: why seemed the best place to start.

"Because it would endanger you," Clive said. "If I knowingly placed you in danger, he'd never forgive me, but if you figure it out on your own…I think we all know you will. I think we all know we might need you in the future. But to pursue the truth has to be your decision. Because when you learn the truth, it will change your life, your world: forever."

That didn't sound like a threat: not from Clive. It sounded like a warning.

"As long as I've known you three," Elli said, "my world has been such a rollercoaster ride that it doesn't even surprise me anymore. It's predictable. I'm not worried. I'm not afraid."

"I would never try to scare you," Clive said. "I practically view you as a sister: whether you and Cliff ever get married or not. This time Elli…maybe you should be."

"That just makes me want to know more, dig more…" Elli said.

Clive chuckled.

"I know," Clive said. "One thing surprises me though. You don't think we're a part of the mafia or run a drug cartel?"

Elli laughed. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," Elli said. "Maybe Coronado. Possibly Cliff: if he had to do it to protect one of you. You? You wouldn't have the stomach for it: those kind of lives."

"I'm not sure whether that's an insult or a compliment," Clive said, trying to wrap his head around which might be more accurate.

"The answer to your question: somehow you three are connected to the end of a killing spree, finding several missing people, and my sister coming home safe," Elli explained. "I don't know what it is, but something tells me, my gut tells me, it's good."

"I'm glad you're back Elli," Clive said. "I never got a chance to say, but I'm sorry about everything that happened."

"You don't have anything to apologize to me for," Elli said. "I think I was always going to come back because your brother means the world to me. My parents have been together forever, and when I was younger I never understood it. Even as I was dating your brother, I thought to myself: this will not last. We're going to break up. I'll enjoy it while we go. And it never ended. The more he let me into his life and his world, allowing me to see him and parts of him he never shared with anyone else, I fell. I kept falling. What happened was a wake-up call. Cliff isn't perfect. He's human. I needed to see that. I think he and I both gained something from that incident. I feel like wherever we end up or whatever we end up it'll be such a better place than where and what we were before."

"Yeah…" Clive said: looking over her with a smile. "I can see why it's always been you."

Cliff arrived near the manor and saw that Michelle's motorcycle was gone and so was Michelle. He found the manor's front door wide open. He entered the manor listening for an intruder. As he entered the living room, he heard the door leading from the kitchen out the back slam shut. He headed for the kitchen. He heard someone on the front stairs. He hurried through the dining room into the foyer in time to see a large black dog leave the manor. Michelle could've been the one who left out the back door, but a dog… He used his Telekinesis to shut the front door. For moment, Cliff wondered if Michelle might have magic too, might be a Witch. Whether that was true or not, Cliff didn't care. Clive could've given her a key for all he knew. He went and grabbed his keys. He locked the back door, using his Telekinesis. He left the manor, shutting and locking the front door manually behind him. He got in his truck and started it up.

When Cliff started his truck, a song came on – I Remember. He sat with it, remembering the last time he saw Michelle as a kid. He recalled the day Michelle packed her bags and things, kissing and hugging them through tears while saying her goodbyes, when she left them, and their last conversation the two of them had when he left her two years later, which resulted in a depressing bus ride back to the manor alone: his vow to his Dad and the complete transformation he undertook for the role he planned to inhabit as parent. When the song finished, Cliff drove back to the party for Elli.

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

The next morning Cliff had put on the coffee. Clive prepared breakfast.

"You want anything?" Clive asked hesitantly.

Cliff didn't answer him. He simply left for work.

Coronado had just entered the kitchen as Cliff left.

Cliff stopped beside Coronado in the kitchen entryway. He didn't look toward Coronado.

"I blamed you and accused you," Cliff said. "I am sorry. That was wrong of me."

"We're good," Coronado said. He patted Cliff on the shoulder. "A small part of me always enjoys seeing you reared up. I get to see the parts of you that you bury deep."

Cliff walked away.

"Have a good day at work," Coronado said.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Cliff said in return.

Clive and Coronado heard the front door close behind Cliff.

"He didn't come home last night," Clive said after swallowing some of the food on his plate, standing by the kitchen table. "He's not talking to me either: surprise, surprise."

Coronado sat at the kitchen table down to his plate of food.

"It's so weird seeing you on the other side of the silent, angry, disappointed treatment," Coronado said. "Growing up, I was way too familiar with it."

"Are you happy that he's turned it on me or what?" Clive asked, facing toward his brother after he picked up his plate to continue eating from it.

"No," Coronado said. "I'm not that much of an ass jack." He chuckled, and Clive shook his head. "I can't believe you went behind his back and called Mom. I guess I should believe it. You sent me to her. You're sneakier than I thought."

"I'm not sneaky," Clive said. "I try to resolve issues without incurring much conflict. I was going to tell him I just never got around to doing it. Next thing I know, she's here. She showed up out of nowhere. That's something you two have in common."

"Can't say we aren't related," Coronado said and smiled.

"What were the chances she'd run into him first?" Clive questioned. "I think she planned to meet all of us at once, but you wanted to go to that party."

"I see what you're doing," Coronado said, "but I'm off the hook for this one."

"You're right," Clive said. "I'm sorry."

"I didn't think I'd ever see the day that both of you would apologize to me for something," Coronado said. "Becoming Witches has really shaken up our lives and our relationships."

"I feel like I'm using Mom," Clive said. "She seems to listen to me whenever I ask something of her. Granted this is only the second time I've really asked her for anything, but she didn't turn me down. She came through. Maybe, I could've gotten her to come back sooner, but I guess I didn't want her to come back: for multiple reasons. Now, I want her to come back to explain what I believe is the real story behind why she left and what she has kept from us about our past and family."

"I noticed that," Coronado said, trying not to sound a little bitter. "I asked her back plenty of times, and she turned me down every time. Everybody in this family is apparently only good at telling me no. I'm not bitter." He chuckled. "She's here. That's the important take away. Now, you and me, we got to figure out how we're going to get Cliff in the same room as her. We need a plan."

"I might have to leave that to you University," Clive said. "I don't know that he's going hear anything I have to say."

"You know if we're united on this he will listen," Coronado said.

"He prides himself on putting our needs before his," Clive said. "We're not the only ones either. It's not healthy." He sighed. "Are Cliff and I that screwed up? You and Mom are the normal ones. I'm going to end up institutionalized like our Uncle, and Cliff's already made peace with the fact that he might end up dying young like Dad. That's why he wasn't scared to enlist. That's why he's not scared of anything."

"You two aren't screwed up," Coronado said. "Cliff has fears. His main one is losing the people he loves. He's just good at ignoring them because he refuses to let that happen. You worry too much, which is normal for anybody. That doesn't mean you're bound for the crazy house. I might be college educated, but the difference between you two and me – I don't worry, and I don't think. I just do. I never care about the consequences. I'm not saying it's a great thing just how I am."

"You hope for the best and go forward," Clive said. "I know you're right. You mean well, but God knows you're a man-made disaster that brings chaos and fallout. No offense."

"None taken," Coronado said. "It's how I was. I'm trying to be better because I want to be better."

"You are better," Clive said. "You were good before, but you're even better now: getting your act together, fighting evil, and saving lives."

"When you put it that way," Coronado said, "you should realize we're all getting better."

"We better start getting ready," Clive said. "We do have to work. We'll talk to Cliff together after we get home. Catch him before he tries to escape back to Elli's or to Macias' or the gym. We better hope he even decides to come home. He's got too many hideaways."

"And break," Coronado said. "We'll get him here. No worries."

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

"You think it's them?" Sora said. "I mean, do you think it's all three of them, or just the oldest? Or the brother?"

Sora had met Elli at the local coffee shop.

Elli was off, but she wanted to report last night's findings to Sora. Cliff had spent the night. She left him in her bed. She had decided to meet Sora that morning.

"I believe they're all involved," Elli said. "The brother disappeared, and his two sisters seemed to share a few nonverbal exchanges that were suspicious. There was another break in last night too."

"I didn't hear any reports come in," Sora said. "I didn't get any alert either."

"Someone entered the Halliwell manor," Elli said. "Cliff said it might've been his Mom, but it wouldn't make sense for her to come into town after 20 years just to rob them. Those were his words."

"Are you worried?" Sora asked. "If the pattern holds, someone might end up dead."

"No," Elli said. "They can take care of themselves. If I told him I was worried, he'd tell me he would take care of himself and his brothers."

"What about their involvement in our recent cases?" Sora asked.

"I have a working theory," Elli said, "but I don't know… It wouldn't make sense for them in all the time I've known them."

"Well," Sora said, "you learned six months ago they can keep some big secrets or at least pull off some big surprises."

"True," Elli said. "I don't want to say anything about it, but if their pattern holds I think the Halliwell Brothers will be the reason we close this case."

"You have a lot of faith in them," Sora said.

"I basically grew up with them," Elli said. "This job has made it clear that you can never know someone, but the Halliwell Brothers aren't criminal masterminds. They aren't cold-hearted, Evil people. I trust my gut. My gut tells me they're on the up-and-up: for the most part anyway."

"I'll swing by their manor and start dusting," Sora said. "See if our suspects might've left behind some footprints, fingerprints, or any piece of evidence that would make a case against them. I'm following your lead on the brothers partner. I'm just here to cover your back and keep you safe."

"Sounds like a plan," Elli said," and thanks. Keep me updated, and I'll let you know if I learn anything else."

Sora nodded before she left.

As Elli stood to leave as well, she saw a familiar face walk into the coffee shop: Ira Macias.

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

"Mr. Halliwell," Coronado's secretary Tricia announced. "Mrs. Halliwell is here to see you."

"Please," Coronado heard his Mom's voice. "You can drop the formalities. I'm plain old Michelle Forrester. Call me Michelle." He watched her walk past Tricia, admiring his new office, before she turned back toward Tricia. "Thank you so much for bringing me too him."

"You welcome Michelle," Tricia said, leaving them the room.

Michelle shut the door behind her to give herself and Coronado some privacy.

"Mom," Coronado said. He went and gave her a hug. "Wasn't expecting you here."

"You got a fancy new job: one that incorporates what you worked hard to learn and studied," Michelle said. "I had to come see. Besides, I needed to talk to you."

"Thanks for coming down because I wanted to talk to you too," Coronado said.

"All right," Michelle said. "You can start us off." She went and learned on the nearby wall.

Coronado went and took a seat on the edge of his desk.

"I beg you to come back with me for about a month," Coronado said. "Nothing. Clive calls? Here you are. What's up with that?"

Coronado never failed to bring a smile to Michelle's face.

"He never asks for anything," Michelle replied, "and you and I both know you've asked for plenty over the years. You've gotten more from me than both of your brothers."

Coronado frowned. Michelle gave him a little nod.

"It can't be just that," Coronado said.

"It isn't," Michelle said. "If I had to explain it, it's because he reminds me the most of your Dad..."

Coronado gave her a moment.

Michelle didn't see Coronado for that moment. Instead, she looked at a memory: an image of her husband.

"I figured it was something like that," Coronado said. "How?"

Remembering his Dad was hard: who he was and how he was with his brothers and him. Nobody ever talked about him. Bringing him up never brought good memories just the fact that he was gone. That was one topic Coronado always left alone, even though he hated that he slowly forgot him day by day while he was growing up.

"When Clive isn't being neurotic and not suffering from low self-esteem and confidence," Michelle said, "he's like your Dad was. He's capable, smart, charming in a subdued way. Knows what to say to reach people. Something in his voice."

Coronado knew Michelle hadn't seen Clive face to face since the day she left, but just from their conversations about him she had described Clive.

"Who am I like?" Coronado asked.

"You already know the answer to that: your Gramps," Michelle said.

A short laugh escaped her, especially after looking upon the face Coronado made at her answer.

"That's why you two never got along," Michelle said. "You two are wild, opinionated, reckless, thrill-seeking junkies that think you know better than everyone else. You're lovable but frustrating." She chuckled. "We won't even go into all the philandering you two love either."

Coronado had to laugh at that assessment; he hated to admit it but he and his Gramps were similar. They clashed all the time, but everybody that had known Gramps when he was younger admitted he had been the exact same way as him: slipping in and out a trouble anytime the wind blew.

"I thought you hated Gramps," Coronado said.

"No," Michelle said. "Never. Not even in the end when we parted ways. It was just...terrible. We were two people on opposite sides of an argument that could have no winner. That made it more terrible."

"What was the argument?" Coronado asked.

Michelle watched her avert her gaze from him to the floor.

Coronado went back to their previous topic of discussion.

"And Cliff?" Coronado asked her.

"Me," Michelle said after a beat. She gave Coronado her attention again. "That wasn't obvious? Fearless. Self-sacrificing. Strong. Hard to understand… Hard for us to communicate and express emotions. Both so hurt and damaged we wouldn't know who could fix us or how to get help if we were apt to try and get it."

Coronado had never heard his Mom talk like this. This was the first time she ever talked about herself as being damaged or hurt. The idea Cliff could be the same way surprised him more. She wasn't talking about what he had done to him six months ago.

"Luckily, Cliff has you two," Michelle said. "There's hope for him yet."

"Mom," Coronado said. "What happened to you? What happened to Cliff?"

"For the record, you all have traits that mirror me and your Dad," Michelle said. She didn't address his questions. "We could see that when you were kids."

"You rarely ever talked about Dad," Coronado said: a little hurt. "Now you want to talk about him. What about you? What about Cliff?"

"I'm sorry," Michelle said.

"You had your reasons," Coronado said. "I understand you didn't want to go into much detail before, but you came back home to talk. Sorry's not good enough. Was one of those reasons you left because of magic?"

"Yes," Michelle said.

"Is it one of the reasons you feel hurt and damaged?" Coronado continued.

"Yes," Michelle said.

"Is Cliff hurt and damaged because of Dad's death and your abandonment?" Coronado asked. He should've been a journalist with his knack for asking hard questions, but that's how he was. The truth was the truth. He didn't try to soften the blow.

"Yes," Michelle said.

"I get that I cause a lot of trouble," Coronado said, "but I care about what happens to this family: I just have unorthodox ways of trying to solve problems. Talking doesn't work. I have to do something."

"That's why I'm here now though: to talk about magic and to talk about your Dad," Michelle said. "All with the intention of bringing this family some peace of mind, which should come with some of answers to some of your burning questions. You can decide to do something with those answers."

"I don't know if Cliff will allow that," Coronado said. "He's the most outwardly emotional: when it comes to you."

"I know he won't," Michelle said. "Remember what I said, that's where you two come in, especially you."

"Clive would have better luck," Coronado said, but after he said this he remembered that Clive wasn't necessarily in Cliff's good graces at the moment.

"Clive will reach him," Michelle said, "but to get through to him is going to take you."

"You sound so sure," Coronado said. "Oddly enough, just like Cliff usually sounds. Why me?"

"When your brother became a surrogate parent," Michelle said, "who was the only one that could get through to him when he seemed to have a problem?

"Gramps..." Coronado said slowly. "How'd you...You two kept in touch."

"Of course," Michelle said. "I might be a bad mother, but I'm not that bad I'd like to think. I love all three of you. That never changed."

"You weren't that bad," Coronado told her.

"I don't let myself off the hook," Michelle said. "So, why do you think what happened six months ago transpired?"

"Because I got through to him," Coronado said: the event suddenly fresh in his mind.

"Yep," Michelle said. "You always said you wanted him to stop treating you like he was your Dad. And you got your wish. He didn't react to you like a parent. He reacted to you like a brother. He put you on the road to this, and you set him on the road to recovery. I thank you for that. He's not your Dad, that burden should've never fallen on him, so you have to push him to recover. Make him be your brother. He loves you. You have to know it. He will always forgive you. It's what he needs."

"Because I've always been right about what he needs like he's always been right about what I need," Coronado said. He groaned. "Don't tell Clive. He's said that before."

Michelle smiled, but she let the smile fade.

"Cliff's too young to be so old," Michelle said, "and I don't want him to become embittered.

"Does this mean you'll be back," Coronado asked, "so we can take care of you?"

"Might be too late for me," Michelle said, but she saw that he was hopeful, "but we'll see." She began to walk backward toward the door. "I better get going. You do have a day job." She grabbed the door handle.

"Too late?" Coronado questioned, stopping her before she opened it. "No. It's never too late for the road to recovery. I've learned the power of three will set you free. We'll get you there: the three of us. Together."

Michelle opened the door. A single thought ran through her mind. It was a memory of a future envisioned by Cor: The Charmed Ones…

"I'll see you again at the manor tonight," Michelle said. She left, letting the door close behind her.

This reminded Coronado of when she left all those years ago. However, this time when the door shut Coronado had a Premonition.

Michelle put in her wireless ear buds to listen to music to drown out all the memories of the past: of Cor, Cornelius, her husband, of Cris, Cristian, her brother-in-law, of Chet, Chester, her father-in-law, and her boys, especially Cliff. She decided to take the stairs, and as she descended the flights of them a familiar song played – Mama's Broken Heart.

Coronado saw flashes: his mom was crying. At first, she was crying and destroying the bedroom she and his Dad used to share. Next, she was crying while she held on to his Dad in a placed surrounded by flames. He pulled away from her, took off his wedding ring, and gave it to her. He kissed her passionately. Afterward, he pressed his forward against hers. Finally, he made a fist and opened his hand in a quick motion. Coronado watched his Mom molecularly combust and reform in the foyer of the manor. Coronado remembered his Dad's power from the book. His Mom dropped to her knees before she dropped to the floor, crying and clutching his Dad's wedding ring to her chest, while Gramps held her in his arms.

Coronado recognized the rings from his past studies. Coronado saw a glimpse of his parents' past, and he felt his mom's overwhelming pain and sorrow. It made him take a sharp breath. His eyes watered. He shed a few tears. He quickly wiped them away.

Coronado saw more flashes: of The Book of Shadows. Specifically, he saw his Mom with The Book of Shadows in her hands outside the manor. Coronado didn't know what this meant, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Michelle pulled out her phone when she reached her motorcycle. She had on her wedding ring but also her husband's wedding ring. She looked over the map that gave her directions to where Clive worked. She pulled out her motorcycle gloves and put them on, and she grabbed her helmet and put it on. By the time Michelle climbed on her motorcycle, started it, and rode off, the song ended.

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

Elli hadn't seen Macias since the first and last time they had met in person. She found herself going to join him in line. While Cliff had been in the military and they would talk from time to time, he mentioned his army buddy. She never imagined that they were as close as they became. There was no reason to. Cliff never got close to other people. In retrospect, Cliff hadn't. Macias had probably gotten close to him. She and Cliff were becoming involved again, and she knew that Cliff and Macias were involved with each other.

Cliff had another secret, but this time she was aware of it, and she knew the only reason Cliff hadn't told her about it yet, thanks to Clive, was that he feared it would endanger her and because it wasn't just his secret but his brothers' as well. During the six months that she had distanced herself from Cliff that they were a part, she had many questions about Cliff, about Macias, about them together. Here was her chance to get some answers, and maybe find out if Macias knew anything that tied to the secret of the Halliwell Brothers. Coronado might've told him something that Cliff hadn't.

"Do you prefer Ira or Macias?" Elli asked from behind him.

Macias turned around not recognizing the woman's voice, but when he saw her face he recognized her immediately.

"I'm used to Macias," he told her, "but you call me whatever you prefer."

"Macias," Elli said. "That's what Coronado called you. That's what Cliff calls you."

Macias nodded.

"Would you mind having coffee with me?" Elli asked. "I want to talk to you about so many things. I finally have the opportunity. I don't want it to pass me by."

"Would this be a talk I can share with Cliff," Macias said, taking a few steps back to follow the line toward the register, "or would this be a talk that stays between us?"

"Am I terrible if I admit I don't want him to know?" Elli questioned: herself and Macias. "I don't mind if he knows we met. I just don't want him to know what we might discuss."

"I get it," Macias said. "You want to know me just like I want to know about you. You don't want to feel like you snuck behind his back. I get that too."

Elli didn't get a chance to respond before Macias turned away from her to order his coffee. They walked to the pick up counter and stood a little ways from it to continue their conversation.

"I want us to be friends," Macias said. "Sorry if that's weird, but I wanted to admit it. You can't talk about Cliff with other people. I can't. He's hard to explain unless you know him. To talk about him, he might seem like the bad guy, and I don't think of him that way. I don't want others to think of him that way." He paused. "He doesn't talk about you. He never did. I mean, he didn't want to share you with me. He didn't want me to be privy to you: that part of his world and life."

"My sister does know him," Elli said, "and she thought that way until recently. The same goes for you. I knew about you just not that aspect if the relationship between you two. I wasn't mad about it. I was the one that suggested we see other people."

"You were hurt though and afraid you had lost him," Macias said.

They shared a look, meeting each other's eyes, familiar with that pain and fear.

Macias' name was called. He went and grabbed his coffee. Elli went to the table she had occupied previously. Macias came and sat with her.

"He loves you," Elli said.

"He hates me," Macias said. "He loves you."

"If he hated you," Elli began, but Macias interrupted her.

"He hates me because of how I make him feel," Macias corrected himself.

"You see a side of him that I don't," Elli said.

"I can say the same," Macias said. "His Gramps, his brothers… Cliff compartmentalizes. I don't think anyone has ever gotten all of him at one time, but they're all still him."

"That seems exhausting," Elli said. "Why would a person do that? Why would he?"

"You're the Inspector," Macias said. "You tell me."

Elli was a little surprised he knew that about her.

"He didn't tell me that. I watch the news from time to time."

Elli nodded.

"Guard his heart," Elli said for an answer. "Protect himself. Might be subconscious." She pondered. "His Gramps treated him like an adult. He acted as a father to his brothers. He made himself the perfect boyfriend and fiancée for me, so he wouldn't lose me." She looked over Macias. She observed him. He was carefree, honest, and nonchalant. He put you at ease and made you feel comfortable. He had a sense of humor and a mischievous grin. Cliff's mother's return helped Elli put it together. "Then, he left and met you: away from all of us and this part of his life. No more worry, stress, or guilt or rather not as much. You gave him back his childhood. That aspect of childhood I want to say." She said the next part more to herself, bowing her head in thought, but Macias heard her. "Cliff never had real friends, more like acquaintances because of his responsibilities, and because all his excuses and reasons for not having them or having a life were gone… He didn't see you coming." She returned her attention to Macias. "You slipped into his heart."

"What do you mean…" Macias said.

Elli caught the surprise in his voice.

"He made you his friend," Elli said.

"I wouldn't put it like that," Macias said. "I mean I pursued him. When I met him, something told me he could use one. I made myself his friend."

"Yes," Elli said, nodding in agreement. "That's how it happened. Can you tell me how you met?"

"We met in basic," Macias said. "You mean how the friendship came to be. He intimidated people. He unnerved a few of the drills. He kept to himself. He never spoke unless spoken to: only if relevant and necessary. He did what he was told: fast and efficiently. Hell, he scored a perfect score on his first PFT, and just went higher from there. He worked out and wrote home. That's all he did. He had two pictures, which no one knew of, and the only reason I did was because I caught him glancing at them once or twice. I kept an eye on him. There was the one of his family and the one of you." He took a drink of his coffee. "We were almost through with basic when it happened. He just happened to be standing by. I barely remember what was said. I talked a lot; I'm a talker."

Elli chuckled because she could see that. It almost meant that she could trust that everything Macias was telling her was the truth.

"I had made him smile," Macias continued. "Shit, I made him laugh. Oh yeah, I was talking about one of our drills: the one that had it out for me, Drill Sergeant Arslin. I called him Drill Sergeant Asshole. He hated how I acted, even though I was second in the platoon behind our boy. 'You can do everything Halliwell can do, but the only thing keeping you from being a perfect soldier is that mouth of yours. Drop and give me 40.'" This made Elli flat-out laugh.

"That was my opening," Macias went on, "or that's when he hooked me." He shrugged. "Can't say which. He is approachable I remember thinking. With a smile like that, you have to be. When I spoke to him for the first time, I said, 'You do know how to smile. Shit, here I was thinking you were a robot, or the military made you in a lab somewhere to show us all up.'"

Elli couldn't help chuckle again.

"He tried to hide his smile and shook his head," Macias told her. "He never said anything. So, I took the lead. I talked to him. He listened, and we became thick as thieves. We worked out together. We ate together. We worked well together. It was like we would get in sync. People thought I was nuts fooling with him, but one of the other drills, one that especially liked Cliff, told me, 'I was hoping things would turn out this way: you two becoming a team. You're good for each other.' Drill Sergeant Zaragoza was right. He kept me out of trouble by just shaking his head at the right times, and I got him out of his hermit shell. When she told me this, I was a little puzzled because it didn't make sense. I wasn't even sure he liked me. I thought he just tolerated me. It wasn't until he took up for me that I realized that he saw me as a friend."

"What happened?" Elli asked: wrapped up in learning more about Cliff but also about Macias.

"I played a prank," Macias said. "It was on that Drill that had it out for me. He laid his hat down, and I took it and hid it. He was pissed, yelling like a mad man and turning all red. It was hilarious. He knew it was me. He marched me to my locker. He said: 'Get my hat, and once you do you're scrubbing the whole latrine with a tooth brush from ceiling to floor.' He told me not to bother lying or he would write me out of there. I never admitted my actions, but I did open my locker to accept my fate. We opened it. We were both surprised to find it wasn't there. This was after the Drill destroyed it." He drank some more of his coffee."

"Don't keep me in suspense," Elli said.

"He knew I had done it," Macias said, "but now he had no proof. I didn't know where the hat was, so I just said: 'Looks like you were wrong about me.' That just pissed him off more. So, he called everyone in the platoon, and said if I didn't get that hat everyone would be cleaning the whole barracks with toothbrushes from top to bottom. This would be after he completely destroyed everything, including all our lockers. Imagine everybody's surprise when Cliff went to his locker and returned his hat. 'I took it. It was a bad joke Drill Sergeant. I apologize.' 'You expect me to believe you took it.' 'Here's the proof Drill Sergeant.' 'You want to stick to that story, even though you and that latrine are about to get real acquainted.' 'Yes Drill Sergeant.' 'All right Halliwell, it's all yours.' You're going to need a battle to supervise. 'It'll be Macias.' Drill Sergeant Zaragoza stepped in, as Drill Sergeant Arslin looked like he wanted to pick me up and throw me. 'I'll do more than supervise Drill Sergeant; I'll help.' 'I figured you'd say that.' That's what she said. She sent us on our way. I was so shocked by what he did I couldn't even thank him. It was just the two of us in that latrine for hours. I just made him laugh about it all. Then, the first real thing he said to me. 'Stay out of trouble, or at least stay out of trouble with Drill Sergeant Arslin.' He wasn't looking at me just scrubbing away. 'He'll get you recycled if he can: no matter how good you are. I don't want that. This place wouldn't be the same without you.' From that day on, he started opening up. We ended up at the same training site, and we went to the same duty station afterward. I learned about his family. I learned about you. We had fun all the way. When he's not serious as a heart attack, he's fun as fuck. Whiskey is his weakness. We boxed, wrestled, I remember we threw knives at each other for free beer once, didn't care I was gay when he had to track me down for accountability and found me in the middle of a fuck session deep in one of our fellow battles, and when my dick got me in trouble, he backed me up in fights."

"You are very forthcoming," Elli said: outright laughing.

"I wanted to paint you a picture," Macias said, laughing with her. "That's the Cliff I knew. You know, until six months ago. Ever heard of a nervous breakdown, of course you have, well, he had an emotional one when he lashed out after that whole ordeal. All the emotions he has and separates in his head about all of us came together, because we came together, and they clashed. Crashed. He felt betrayed by most of us, and he felt like he betrayed you."

"I didn't think about it until now," Elli said. "He probably felt like he had channeled his Mom: something I know for a fact he never wanted to do. The anger was obvious. The jealousy was surprising. I remember seeing the pain and guilt. I saw it, but it didn't register for me. I was just so, so, stunned. I didn't know what it meant for me and our future. I was scared, confused, so all I could do was leave."

"I can't believe you and I are having this conversation," Macias said. "I never thought we would meet. You're being emotionally honest with me. It's a little jarring compared to Cliff."

They both chuckled.

"I had a moment of weakness," Macias said. "I don't know if it was bitterness or resentment. I don't think it was. I think I just wondered how he would feel, if he would even react. He blames Coronado. He blamed me too. However, I know he let me off the hook easier because he agreed with Coronado about the situation he's always had me in. I fucked his brother. I knew I would never fuck Cliff. That was the agreement we made. Coronado wanted me, and I had been drinking, so I was like why the hell not. Cliff had gone out with you, and I didn't think he was coming back that night. I wasn't a part of Coronado's plan to have you and Cliff bare witness to our act: albeit in different ways. When Cliff caught me fucking his brother, I didn't even stop. Our eyes met. I grinned."

That last line was an eye opener for Elli. She blinked a few times.

"Cliff left the room," Macias said. "I finished. Coronado and I took a quick shower and got dressed and went and met Cliff in the foyer. I had noticed Coronado text someone, but it didn't dawn on me until later that it was you. We came downstairs. Cliff was pacing.

"My brother?" Cliff had questioned me. He had stopped pacing.

I didn't get a chance to answer because Coronado inserted himself between us: as if he wanted all the focus on him.

"It's no big deal," Coronado had said. "Right? We're adults. It was a good time."

"I don't understand why you would do this Coronado," Cliff said. He started pacing again, and he was working himself up as he did. "You can have anyone. I tell you he's one of my best buds, and you go after him?"

"Have you seen your bud?" Coronado said, glancing back at me. "He's hot."

In that quick glance, I felt that he was up to something. I just didn't know what. How could I?

"I had to get him naked," Coronado said. "Once I saw what he packing, I didn't think you'd care if we had some fun."

Cliff snatched him up by his shirt so fast he shocked Coronado and me, but Coronado kept talking.

"You seem upset," Coronado said. "Irrationally so."

"You shouldn't have slept with him," Cliff said through gritted teeth. "He's mine."

"What are you talking about you don't own him," Coronado said and laughed.

I think that laugh broke something in Cliff or unlocked and opened a door because next he slammed Coronado against the wall. It was so hard and so loud Clive came from the kitchen. I think he was used to those two arguing; I think the slam was something new.

"Hey," Clive said, looking at all of us. "What's going on? Coronado? Cliff?"

Coronado and I looked toward Clive. Cliff didn't. Cliff looked like he was trying to fight something inside himself but was losing. He slammed Coronado to floor next.

"Cliff," Clive called his name.

Clive and I both tried to assist, Coronado threw his hand up to stop Clive, and Cliff shoved me back.

"You always do this," Cliff said: focused on Coronado like he had tunnel vision. "You disregard anything I have to say. You steal my shit. You make messes just so I have to clean them up. You don't give a damn about the consequences. You just shit all over me."

"Why don't you just admit why you're really upset," Coronado said. "I'm not the bad guy here. You are. What you're doing to Macias is wrong."

Cliff punched him.

"Shut up Coronado," Cliff shouted. "Don't turn this on me."

"It is on you," Coronado shouted back. "You bring him back here, so he can meet your fiancée when it's clear he loves you."

Cliff punched him again.

"He doesn't love me," Cliff said: coldly, darkly.

Coronado punched him back, but he couldn't get Cliff off of him.

"You're not an ignorant fuck," Coronado said, "so I know you don't believe that.

You fuck him, but the thought of him fucking someone else fucks you up."

Cliff punched him once more.

"I don't care who he fucks," Cliff said.

Coronado spit out blood.

"Yes you do," Coronado said. "The moment I saw you two together: saw how you were with him. I knew you were having sex. I knew you were fucking him. And I saw how you treated Macias, saw how he looked at you, and I knew the truth."

"You don't know anything," Cliff said. "You don't know shit about me." He raised him up. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about." He slammed him back against the floor for emphasis.

"I know plenty," Coronado said, keeping Clive at bay. "Despite the fact you don't tell me and Clive anything, we know parts of you, and I know this part of you brother."

"Coronado," Clive said. "What are you doing? What is this about?"

Coronado glanced to Clive and then back to Cliff.

"Cliff," Clive said, trying to reach him and seeming to succeed.

Cliff loosened his grip on Coronado.

"This isn't you…" Clive said.

Cliff had never struck either of them.

"Let him go," Clive instructed.

Cliff didn't seem to hear him. Well, he heard Clive, but he didn't seem to care to listen to him.

"You want him all to yourself, but you want her all to yourself too," Coronado said. "Just be honest." He turned to his right. "You would want him to be honest about something like this, right Elli?"

The rest of us turned toward you. The rest of us hadn't even realized you were standing there. You held your key in hand, watching that scene while trying to understand what you had seen and heard.

"His text had said: 'Come over and come in. There's something you need to hear.' When he got up from Coronado, trying to explain, I couldn't even hear him. I was trying to explain it to myself. This was a dream, a nightmare. I was in pain, even though I kept telling myself it didn't matter because we agreed we would do whatever until he got back. He was back, but you know we hadn't discussed it yet. We discussed everything. I knew what it was. My sister helped me understand what I ignored at first. You were a guy. I couldn't compete with a guy. You were something I wasn't. I didn't know if he loved you. And if he did, I didn't know if he loved you more than me. 'The wedding's off.' That was a gut reaction. 'Stop! Stay away from me! Don't follow me! Don't call me! Just don't!' Screaming that at him, that wasn't even me. I turned I left."

"Clive told me to go out the back," Macias said. "When you left, Cliff stood their watching after you. He clenched his fists and started to shake with rage. I made to leave, but I stayed behind out of curiosity I guess. I had never seen Cliff like this. I don't think Clive and Coronado had ever seen him like this either. 'This was you. You did this.' That's what Coronado said, and while I was watching from the dining room I saw the death glare Cliff shot Coronado for using that moment to say those words. Coronado had drawn Clive's focus, which had given Cliff enough time to charge Coronado, tackling him to the floor, and start beating the shit out of him. When Cliff's first punch hit Coronado, he punched him so hard I thought I felt the house shake. Clive somehow knew I was still lurking. 'Go. This is a matter between brothers now. I'll handle it. I'm sorry you had go through this.' When I came back the next morning, Clive explained that with his and Coronado's combined efforts they fought Cliff off. He left. He came back drunk, and he came back to his room. Hadn't come out since. Clive heard him leaving drunk messages for you all night and me too, apologizing for hurting us and not knowing what to do or how to explain any of it and not wanting to lose us in his life. Clive told me Coronado left after he had patched him up some. Clive had sent him to their Mom because Cliff had told Coronado, 'You're no longer my brother,' and Coronado had responded 'I never was," and Clive figured that warranted them to be separated for a while until he could fix the situation. What made it worse was when Clive told me their Gramps had come home, and Clive explained everything that happened. He wouldn't believe him, but one look at Coronado's face and he knew that it was the truth. Gramps wouldn't look at Coronado, and Cliff wouldn't talk to his Gramps. Coronado didn't care that his Gramps was disappointed in him, but Cliff couldn't move to even face the thought of it."

"Gave Coronado another reason to leave," Elli said.

Macias nodded.

"I had to leave," Macias said. "Clive thought it might be best I did. He thought it might be something I'd want to do. I wasn't really mad. Coronado had said it all. I wanted to try to help. I knew he wouldn't talk to me. I was just going to try and be there. He wouldn't let me in, so I climbed through his window and reached him that way. I found him, and he was a mess. He was hungover but still drinking. He was half dressed in the shower or rather bathtub. He tried to fight me out. He didn't have the fight in him to do so. So, for the first time in all the time we've known each other, he kind of broke down and was vulnerable and let me hold him. 'Fuck.' He said. He hid his face with his arm, trying to cover up the fact that he was trying not to cry or trying not to show he was tearing up. His knuckles were a little cracked, bloody, and swollen. 'I fucked up.' He said. 'I hit my brothers. I hurt my little brother. I disappointed my Gramps. I failed my Dad. I tore my family a part. Just like. Just like.' Then he drank.'

"Just like Michelle," Elli said. "That's his Mom."

"He drank," Macias repeated. "He wasn't really talking to me. I don't think he realized I was there. He did, but it was abstract. When he realized I was there, he drank and apologized: over and over again. A song was playing – Everybody Wants To Rule The World. 'I hate you' he said, but it only took me a minute to understand what he meant. 'I'm no good' was the last thing he said to me, to anyone, before he went mute for a week."

"You don't have to do that," Elli said.

"What?" Macias said.

Elli gave him a look.

"You caught me," Macias said.

"We already agreed that Cliff gives different parts of himself to different people," Elli said. "We all do that. Everybody does that. He's just a more extreme case. He didn't open his life up to you, but he opened himself up to you. He didn't open himself up to me, but he opened his life up to me. That's so wild. I have all the pieces of the puzzle that comprise Cliff that explain all his behavior that night: the ties to his family that make up how he's always seen himself while you have a Cliff untethered by the belief that people can't handle him not being within the roles he himself assigned himself. It's clear. He does truly love us. Coronado wanted us to truly love him. We couldn't do that if we only knew the parts of him that he showed us."

"Do you agree with what Coronado did?" Macias asked.

"Nobody agrees with what Coronado did," Elli said, "but I understand it because I understand him."

"I don't understand anything or anyone," Macias said, "yet here I am. He helped me build a life after a life of not having anything or anyone. Maybe I should just go. Is that something you would want?"

"What I want…" Elli said. "I want us to work together."

"Come again?" Macias questioned her.

"The Halliwell Brothers have a secret," Elli said. "They're under investigation. I need to find out what they are doing before anyone else on the force decides to look into some of their recent activities. They won't tell me outright. This is the first time I've ever known them to be united by something. Stay and help me, so I might be able to protect them in the future."

"What can I do that you can't?" Macias asked her.

"Get inside the house while they're not there and look for clues," Elli said, "and maybe talk to all three of them without drawing suspicion."

"Lord," Macias said. "You've thought about this for a minute. You want me to go behind their backs and sneak around the house."

"I did a background check on you," Elli said. "I'm not proud of it. It was before. I know you used to be an excellent thief. I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you could do it, and that you wouldn't want what's best for Cliff and the others like I do. This wasn't a game. I didn't meet with you to mess with your head. If we don't do this, there's a chance we could both lose Cliff."

"You learned something Cliff doesn't know about me," Macias said.

"And if we do this," Elli said, "it'll be something Cliff doesn't know about us."

They shared a few moments of silence: focused on each other – their eyes.

"I'll think about it," Macias said. He took out his phone, unlocked it, and gave it to Elli. "Give me your number."

Elli saved her number in his contacts under Confidante.

"I won't tell Cliff about this," Macias said. "I'll have an answer for you by tonight."

"Thanks Macias," Elli said.

"Don't thank me yet," Macias said. "I like you Elli, but I love him."

The fact that he easily drew a smile to her face fascinated Elli.

"Remember," Elli said, as he walked past her, away from her, and toward the exit. She turned toward him in her chair. "That's what you and I share in common."

Macias left the coffee shop, and Elli sat, finishing her coffee.

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

"Your dream is right around the corner," Michelle said. "I'm proud of you." She was on the other side of the bar as Clive spoke with Ximena.

Clive had his back to her, but he recognized her voice. He told Ximena he'd talk with her later. He leaned on the bar.

"Not there yet," Clive said. "I work hard."

"I know," Michelle said.

"How'd you know I worked here?" Clive asked.

"Coronado," they both said simultaneously.

"You finally came back…" Clive said. He whispered under his breath: "because of the magic."

"Yes," Michelle said. "I came back. That wasn't my only reason. You three can protect yourselves now, so it's safer for me to be here."

"That's cryptic," Clive said. "Can you explain?"

"I'll...I don't know how much I should tell you," Michelle said.

"Start at the beginning?" Clive offered. "With the truth?

"That was the plan," Michelle said. "If the strength I saw Cliff display is any indication, your Gramps and Dad were right about the three of you."

"What were they right about?" Clive asked.

"They were right about you three becoming known as The Charmed Ones," Michelle said.

"I have questions," Clive said.

"Shoot," Michelle said.

"Are you a Witch?" Clive asked her.

"No," Michelle said. "I'm human. Your Dad made sure I was protected." She touched her wedding rings.

To Clive, she appeared to feel out his Dad's presence.

"Did we use to have magic?" Clive asked.

"You've been Witches your whole lives," Michelle said. "You've always had magic, but... Your powers had to be sealed."

"Deep down, when I found out we were Witches, I knew that was true," Clive said. "I think I was exhibiting my power shortly before the incident: right before Gramps' stroke."

"Gramps' health was waning," Michelle said. "His potion was weakening, coming undone. On top of that, you three were together, and while strained you had at least a decent although unbalanced relationship. "

"You mean I tended to withdraw and keep to myself," Clive said. "Coronado couldn't go too many days without arguing with Cliff. Cliff acted as our Dad more so than our older brother."

"It's funny how the pieces begin to come together, line up, and complete a picture when you look at them through the lens of time," Michelle said. "Isn't it?"

Clive slowly nodded in agreement. He and Michelle moved toward the end of the bar to put some space between themselves, Ximenez, and other patrons while they discussed this topic.

"Your powers…" Michelle said. "Cliff has Telekinesis. If I remember correctly, you have Temporal Stasis. And Coronado has the power of Premonition."

"What were Gramps, Dad and Uncle Cris'?" Clive couldn't help the flood of questions with every moment more he spent with their Mom.

"Gramps had advanced-level Astral Projection," Michelle said. "The things he could do with it would make your head spin. His oldest son, your Uncle Cristian, had advanced-level Molecular Immobilization, and your Dad, the baby boy, had advanced-level Molecular Combustion. They were gifted, each talented in their own right, and showed undeniable skill. I'll never regret your Dad asking me to become a part of his world, even if it took from me as much as it gave."

Clive sat with this information: astounded. He sat with all the years their Mom shared with the family and all the years she hadn't. He wondered why, but he also wished he had reached out more himself. He also silently reprimanded himself for not putting more time into studying The Book of Shadows: to learn not only about his heritage but his family's relationship with it.

"I want you to know because I don't want you to think I don't care," Clive said. "I don't hate you. I'm not angry with you or hate you to the extent Cliff does. That being said he's been with me, with us, are whole lives. He's angry with me because he feels I blindsided him, but I would've or could've eased him into your arrival if only you would've told me if or when you were coming. I'm thankful, grateful, you came, but you could've done me that courtesy."

"Cliff doesn't hate me," Michelle said. "He's a fighter, but he can't fight me. He can't cause me the pain I caused him, so he has to hold onto his anger instead." She didn't respond to the rest of what he said because there was nothing to say. He was right.

"Is that what happened between him and Coronado?" Clive asked.

"Oh yeah," Michelle said. "Coronado made some good points. Cliff realized that. He had probably wrestled with similar thoughts many times before Coronado confronted him about himself, but Coronado hurt him so bad emotionally that everything Cliff represses spilled out. He was fighting Coronado, but he was also fighting the parts of himself that he hates..."

"But he admires in Coronado," Clive said.

"You got it," Michelle said.

"How can you be sure?" Clive said. "You sound like you know us."

"I might not have been around," Michelle said, "but Coronado surprisingly can't hold water. He has told me everything for years. Your Gramps and I talked from time to time too."

"Sounds about right," Clive said. He chuckled.

"Except for this," Michelle said. "Surprisingly, he didn't tell me about when you three discovered you were Witches."

They shared silence for a moment.

"You never resented me?" Michelle asked tentatively.

"This is going to sound bad," Clive said. "I didn't think of you. It was easier not to think of you. Gramps wouldn't talk about you. He never said anything bad about you he would just ignore or avoid the subject. Cliff had his stance, and he wasn't going to budge from it. Coronado loved to talk about you, but eventually I didn't want to hear anymore. At the end of the day, you made it clear to him, which made it clear to me, you weren't coming back. It was better for me to accept that, so I did."

"I understand," Michelle said. "I showed up out of the blue because I didn't know if I was going to come back. I got on my bike and just rode. I left behind my new business, my old practice, I still work as a psychiatrist, and I just hoped that when I got here what I should do and say would come to me. Have an epiphany. Get a sign. Like from your Dad."

"You're our Mom though," Clive said because he could see what his whole family couldn't – they needed help getting pulled back together. "I want you back in our lives, and magic provided the opportunity to make that truly happen."

"There it is…" Michelle said. She touched Clive's face. She pulled her hand back. For a moment, she had seen Cor in him: in his words. She saw that she left Clive a bit confused. "I'm going to try talking to Cliff again back at the manor. If I don't catch him there, text me when all three of you are together. No matter what we're going to talk, and all of you are going to listen, including Cliff." She made for the exit. She was almost out the door when Clive called out to her.

"Mom," Clive said. "There what is?"

"My sign," Michelle said, turning back to him to respond and leave him with a smile. "Until tonight, love you." With that, she went on her way.

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

Macias found himself sitting atop the back of the toilet beside the open window in Cliff's bathroom. He parked in the back of the house as he usually did when he snuck through Cliff's window. He came to see Cliff, but Cliff wasn't home. The absence of Cliff's truck made that clear. He thought about contacting Cliff, but he couldn't help wrestle with himself and his thoughts about whether he should tell Cliff about his discussion with Elli. The beginnings of a relationship with Elli had begun to form. Elli had set down a foundation. At this point in his life, Macias began to see he had a knack for seeing and bringing out a side of people they normally didn't show to anyone else. This happened with the numerous people he met when he grew up in multiple foster homes, with Cliff, and now with Elli. His own curiosity and the intrigue surrounding Elli's request was getting the better of him. Cliff was secretive, mysterious, and enigmatic, which were qualities that continued to draw Macias to him. Elli wasn't the elegant angel that Macias had imagined from what he knew about her from Cliff, or she wasn't just that. She was a bit of a vixen and maybe in his case a bit of a femme fatale. Their conversation confirmed at least one truth. They both wanted, desired Cliff, and they hungered to learn more about him and delve more into him. He suspected their conversation made them both aware that even if they didn't befriend the other they would tolerate each other to have Cliff in their lives. Their hearts wanted what they wanted.

Is he worth it? That was the question that first occupied his mind when that incident happened six months ago. Here that question was again. They seemed to be in two different places, wanting different things, but… The same as six months ago he remembered their relationship and he came to the same conclusion. Yes. If he assisted Elli, it would probably be the catalyst of something big. It was almost like history was repeating itself. Coronado came to him six months ago, and their discussion was the catalyst of that incident. He remembered that conversation between himself and Coronado while he wondered if he assisted Elli would it lead to another incident.

"When did it start?" Coronado had asked. He sat down to the kitchen table across from Macias.

Macias was hanging out, drinking coffee, and playing on his phone in the late of the afternoon.

"Excuse me?" Macias questioned him, having his attention drawn away by Coronado and trying to understand what Coronado's question meant and where it was coming from.

"You're friends," Coronado said. "I get it. You don't want to mess that up. You want to keep the secret. But I know. You two are fucking."

"What makes you say that?" Macias said, leaning back in his chair to act as if entertaining Coronado's accusation was a joke as he eyed him suspiciously.

"He might act like our Dad," Coronado said, leaning forward on the table, "but he's my big brother. I know him. Eh, I know him to a certain extent. He has friends, but he doesn't let them get too close. He lets you get close. And the only other person who he let get that close is his fiancée. Plus, I see how you look at him. You love him."

"He's my best bud," Macias said. "I love the guy sure. I'm not in love with him."

"He doesn't let you fuck him," Coronado said, leaning back in his chair.

Macias began to wonder how Coronado seemed to be tossing around theories, but he wasn't wrong. He knew Cliff hadn't told him. Macias felt the control of this conversation shifting back and forth between the two of them. The more Coronado was right the more Macias felt his control slipping or he was letting it slip.

"He's too much of a control freak to let loose like that," Coronado continued. "He wouldn't string you along though so you're choosing to continue sleeping with him, even though you're about to lose him. You haven't discussed the idea of a real relationship not because you don't think it would work..."

Macias didn't realize it until Coronado looked upon his face, his eyes, that he himself was listening intently and no longer blasé about this conversation.

"I got it," Coronado said. "You like the idea of him having a fiancée. This situation works for you. He wants a wife and kids and the whole shebang. I'm not saying you don't want to get married, but you don't want all that extra."

"Has he talked to you?" Macias asked him.

"Me?" Coronado said. "Hah. No. He's known about me since I was kid. Told me I could be who ever I wanted to be. I think guys and girls are hot. Him? I didn't even think he was a sexual being until I caught him and Elli in the tree house. I masturbated all the time: anywhere and everywhere. Clive did it in the shower. He tried to hide it, but he was about efficiency even back then, so his showers began to last too long. Cliff? Nothing. Nada. Sex. Himself. Those are subjects he didn't and doesn't broach."

"You move hard and fast," Macias said, processing everything he was learning about the Halliwell Brothers. Coronado was the complete opposite of Cliff, but they were somehow similar. He could tell they were related: the incredible smarts, the unconventional personalities, and the undeniable charms.

Macias laughed. He had just learned a ton of stuff about the Halliwell Brothers in this short conversation with Coronado that probably would've taken years if ever to have learned from Cliff.

"But I'm right," Coronado said: unshakably confident. "I knew it."

"For the most part," Macias admitted.

"That's been happening lately," Coronado said. "It's like I'm borderline psychic."

Macias watched as Coronado looked him over, and the way he did stirred something in him. The feeling would've made any other man shift in his seat, but Macias struggled to push down the spark of desire and arousal.

"You're hot man," Coronado said. "You can pull people in with your looks, but I know why he connected to you. You became the friend he always wanted. He knows he doesn't have to worry about you just depending on him. He feels he can depend on you. Bonus you're a guy and he got to experiment with you. You pretty much gave him the childhood he didn't have. That sounded like something Clive would say."

"You think?" Macias asked, but in his head there was more to his question: a second question. You think I'm that important to him? You think I hold that much weight in his life? "He doesn't depend on anyone."

"You're staying in his family home, about to meet his fiancée, and you've been keeping one of the biggest secrets of his life," Coronado said. "He's fucking a dude. You're the dude he's fucking! Trust me. He's been depending on you to be who you are. He's trusts you that much. A lot of people wish they had someone like that."

Macias never talked with anyone about Cliff. Because most people didn't know him or get him, didn't make sense too anyway. Here there was someone who understood. He figured that's why he actually started talking to Coronado about him.

"When we're together, or when he talks about Elli, he's a different person, but when he's around others, even you and Clive...it's like… Was he a good brother? Who is he?"

"No," Coronado said. "He wasn't a good brother. Don't take that the wrong way though. He was all right. He sacrificed his childhood to help keep us in line. He was a good stand-in father. I hated it, but he did a good job."

For a minute, Coronado seemed to kick back and think fondly of his childhood.

"As for your other question," Coronado continued, "he's a hard man to know. We grew up with him, and we're just familiar with his ways. We couldn't begin to explain the reasons for them. I couldn't. Clive's another story. On top of that, he's not much of a talker and doesn't really express himself. Now that I'm older I've gotten tired of it. I think he has too. I think it exhausts him. It should. I want him to stop acting like my Dad. I'm going to help him be true to himself."

"If you can pull that off," Macias said, thinking about the laid-back, easygoing, humorous, passionate, and genial person Cliff sometimes let himself be, "that would indeed be a miracle." He could see an image of a smiling Cliff in his mind: an image that could stop a man's heart and had for him on several occasions.

"Cliff used to say I'm capable of anything I put my mind to," Coronado said. "He's right. He usually is. Don't tell him I said that. But yeah, I've got a plan. One that I will pull off."

"A plan huh?" Macias said.

"Tell me how it started," Coronado said.

Macias could tell that Coronado genuinely wanted to learn about Cliff in a way that he never had before. He wanted to see this different side that he'd never witnessed.

"It started with a kiss," Macias said.

"Halliwell," Macias had said: more serious than usual. "You avoiding me now?" He questioned Cliff when he found him sitting off to himself, which he was usually prone to do when Macias wasn't around, in the field cleaning his weapon. This was a clear, cloudless night: the moon and stars illuminating the sky.

Cliff only shook his head without giving Macias his attention.

"I can't tell if you're mad at me," Macias said. "I can't tell if you don't want anything to do with me. Obviously, you didn't tell anyone. That wouldn't be your style anyway. Because I can't tell, I have to outright ask."

Macias finally looked to Cliff, hoping Cliff would face him and give him his attention. If this were anyone else, any other guy, he wouldn't even be here. Macias would've let it go. He wouldn't give it a second thought. He tried. He failed. He'd move on. No longer friends? Shrug it off. Cliff was different. They knew that about each other. They weren't like anyone else. That's why they made a great team.

"Are you mad at me? Are you mad that I kissed you? I won't do it again. I shouldn't have done it. You know me man, I don't think, I'm impulsive. I just thought. I don't know. We get on so well. And sometimes, I swear, there's this vibe between us. But I can apologize and we can put this behind us. No hard feelings. Or we can go our separate ways. It's all on you. I'll take your lead."

Take your lead. Macias could hardly believe that was something he let come out of his mouth to another guy.

"You definitely have a mouth on you," Cliff said. He said nothing else for a beat before he turned toward Macias.

"What do you want?" Cliff asked. "Honestly, don't bullshit me or worry what I might think or say. Answer the question."

"I want to pull out your package and suck on it until I make you cum harder than you've ever cum in your life," Macias said. "All so I can make you feel damn good. Put that beautiful smile of yours on your face."

Cliff tried not to, but he couldn't help it. First, he smiled, and then he laughed, and Cliff rarely laughed. Cliff laughed in such a way it surprised Macias and made him smile.

"What's funny?" Macias asked him when Cliff stopped laughing and didn't say anything.

"I'm not mad at you," Cliff said. "I'm not mad at you because you did it: kissed me. I'm mad at myself for kissing you back, for wanting you to do it again."

"You two aren't together," Macias said. "I'm not trying to take you away from her. This doesn't mean you're gay. We're just friends. We can be friends who help each other out. I can be a friend that helps you out. You don't have to do anything. I'm not trying to sound desperate. There's something between us, and I don't think it has to do with us being two dudes. I think it's something more that I want to explore."

They shared silence because Cliff wasn't much of a talker. Cliff was no longer focused on Macias. He turned away from him: in his head as usual. Macias wanted him to talk though more than ever.

"What do you want?" Macias asked him.

Cliff laid his head back on his weapon. He looked Macias in his eyes. He unbuttoned his pants.

"If you're serious," Cliff said, "I'd be interested in seeing if you really do have a mouth on you."

They both smiled. Cliff placed his hands behind his head. Macias glanced from left to right, checking to see if anyone was around. Even though he wouldn't have let that stop him, he would've for Cliff's sake. He clapped his hands together and got down to get to work.

"Bet," Macias said before he dived in. "Try not to get too loud."

"You think highly of yourself if you think you could get me to make a sound," Cliff said.

"Challenge accepted," Macias said, taking hold of Cliff and taking the rest of him into his mouth.

Macias listened to Cliff's laugh and felt him relax: the tension that usually gripped his entire body falling away.

"Thanks for being honest with me," Cliff said.

Always. Macias had said to himself.

"I can barely believe that's true," Coronado said and laughed. "It's like hearing about a completely different person: a stranger."

"I shouldn't have told you all that," Macias said. "I feel like I betrayed him."

"Don't think that way," Coronado said.

"You're trouble," Macias said, standing up from the table. "Sexy, intelligent, and dangerous… What's your plan?"

"You'll find out," Coronado said. "If I told you, I'm pretty sure you'd tell him."

"I'm going to tell him I told you the truth about us," Macias said.

"No surprise there," Coronado said.

"You're not like Cliff or Clive," Macias said. "People have to be careful around you."

"I'm not sorry to admit that I love my family," Coronado said, "and that I would do anything for them. That's something the three of us share in common."

Macias nodded because he didn't disagree with him there, but he realized that Coronado's actions would and could be far more devious in that endeavor. He left Coronado and went to get a drink. He planned to tell Cliff the truth, and although he was rarely afraid of anything he needed liquid courage to have the conversation he was about to have. Unfortunately, he had drunk too much, and he played right into Coronado's plan. He came back to the manor drunk, found Coronado half dressed, and couldn't help kiss him because he knew Coronado wouldn't turn him down or turn him away.

Cliff was home, and that part of their relationship had changed. It stopped. For one night, Macias planned to have his way with Coronado. Coronado was game to oblige, and Macias had known he would be. Macias stripped him completely, and he fucked him like he had always wanted to fuck Cliff. When it was all said and done, he couldn't believe he had gone down such a messed up road. How could he have slept with Cliff's little brother? The fallout had been bad, but the wild thing about it all is that the event had the effect Coronado wanted: to change everyone's relationships and lives. To be more specific, get Cliff to be more himself.

Macias decided he would join forces with Elli, and he would be honest with Cliff. He would explain it all after he and Elli discovered the secret that Cliff was hiding from both of them.

Suddenly, Macias heard movement from downstairs. He went to check and see what was happening. He stopped at the top of the stairs when he saw two people, talking with a third. He took out his phone and called Elli while he went out the bathroom window to follow the group.

"Hey," Macias said. "I'm following a woman named Lori and a man named Jacob. They seem to be thieves, but Cliff, Clive, and Coronado's Nom seems to have talked them out of stealing a Book: at least for now. They're leaving with her, Michelle, instead. I'm going to keep track of where they're taking her."

"They're probably taking her back to their house," Elli said. "I'm investigating them. They live down the street: neighbors of sorts."

"She seems to be handling them," Macias reported. "I think they're a part of a gang. She called them shapeshifters. She has a plan. I can tell. It involves coming back to the manor later: to meet with her sons."

"Find out what you can learn," Elli said. "I'll pick you up when I get close to their house."

"You're not going to bring in reinforcements?" Macias questioned her. "They might be a danger to Michelle. They might be a danger to the Halliwell Brothers."

"Cliff, Clive, and Coronado have been solving some strange, yet difficult cases lately," Elli said. "Those neighbors are a part of an open investigation. I believe if the Halliwell Brothers' pattern follows they'll solve this case too: mysteriously with the suspects disappearing without a trace. Can you continue to monitor the situation?"

"I will," Macias said, "but if anything happens I'm going in."

"That's fair," Elli said. "I'm of the same mindset. We'll stakeout how everything will unfold back at the manor when Michelle and those shapeshifters return to meet the brothers. I'll text you when I get close."

They both hung up the phone.

Elli was in her SUV with Sora. She had put Macias on speakerphone, so they could both listen before the conversation ended.

"If their pattern keeps up," Sora joked, "we might be out of jobs."

Elli disagreed.

"I think it'll be the opposite," Elli said. "Secure them. The Halliwell Brothers might need us to keep our jobs in case anyone else learns of their vigilante? activities. With Macias on the team, we're one step closer to learning the truth about them and soon."

After getting Macias, a proper introduction between Sora and Macias, and a wait of about 30 minutes when the Halliwell Brothers all came home, Elli, Macias, and Sora staked out when Michelle and the shapeshifters went for the manor.

"They're going to close this case," Elli said, "and Cliff will call me about it later. I can guarantee it."

"How are they doing it?" Sora asked aloud but more to herself. "Why? What is their secret?"

"I don't know what their secret is," Macias told Elli and Sora while in the backseat of Elli's SUV," but I know how we can learn it. I'm going to get us our hands on The Book Michelle discussed. Something tells me it will hold plenty of answers, especially the answer that reveals the truth of the brothers' secret."

~~~!~~~!~~~!~~~

Michelle hoped to find Cliff back at the manor. His truck wasn't there, but she noticed the door was slightly ajar. She reached it and found she heard someone inside. Michelle saw a young woman in the foyer.

"Where would they keep it?" the young woman asked herself. "Where could it be?"

As the young woman headed up the stairs, Michelle recognized her.

"Elli," Michelle said upon entering the manor. "It's been a long time. You probably don't remember me. I'm Cliff, Clive, and Coronado's Mom. What are you doing here? Are you two back together?"

"Mom…" Elli said. "I can't say they ever talked about you."

"They wouldn't," Michelle said. "I can't blame them."

"And yes," Elli said. "Clive and I are really happy together."

Michelle didn't let her facial expression give away her suspicion.

"You two decided to move together before you get married?" Michelle questioned her.

"No," Elli said. "I just swung by to pick up a few things. I was leaving out. Clive and I aren't that serious yet."

"Why are you here?" Michelle said: suddenly serious. "It's clear you're a shapeshifter. Clive isn't the love of Elli's life. You didn't do too much research before you stormed in here."

Imposter Elli grabbed Michelle by the throat, trying to crush her windpipe with her supernatural strength. Michelle's rings glowed together, but this was unnoticeable to those in the room. Michelle watched Elli become Lori, so did Macias. Lori couldn't manage to crush Michelle's windpipe as easily as she should've been able to. Michelle easily knocked Lori's arm away and kicked her back and down to the floor. Lori looked toward her, but her gaze shifted for a moment past Michelle. Michelle kicked Jacob back into the manor door, causing him to close it: avoiding an assault from behind.

"I know why you're here," Michelle said. "You're after The Book." She took a deep breath. "We don't have to fight. I'm here for it too." She held out her hand to help Lori onto her feet.

"You don't smell like a Witch," Lori said, getting onto her feet without taking Michelle's hand.

"Don't worry about what I am or what I can do," Michelle said. She offered a hand to Jacob.

Jacob took it.

"What should I call you?" Michelle asked. "I feel like shapeshifters might be offensive."

"You expect us to trust you," Lori said.

"I can tell you the secret of getting The Book," Michelle said. "We can work together, and I know we can get it. I can't get it on my own. Why do you think I don't have it yet, even though I'm their Mom?"

Lori looked to Jacob.

"I'm Jacob," he introduced himself and then his sister. "That's Lori."

"Why would you offer up something so priceless?" Lori questioned her.

"My children are more priceless to me," Michelle said. "That Book will bring them nothing but pain and suffering. Once it's off their hands, they can go back to living normal lives."

"We could kill you after we learn the secret," Jacob said.

"You could," Michelle said, "but I'd be a better, more reliable distraction while you three get your hands on The Book." She glanced at them both. "That's my proposition. I'll tell you the secret, I help you get The Book, and you take it, leaving me and my family in peace."

"What's the secret?" Lori asked her.

"The Book can only leave the manor if all three Brothers are in the manor at the time of retrieval," Michelle said.

Lori and Jacob had looks on their faces of disbelief.

"Challenging its current owners creates a window of opportunity to become its new owner," Michelle said. "The contents of this Book are only revealed to the owner deemed worthy."

"That would make sense," Jacob said to Lori, "especially if they are who we think they are."

"Are they?" Lori questioned Michelle harshly.

"I don't know," Michelle said. "That information would be held within The Book, which I'm not worthy enough to read." She bowed her head and slowly shook it before she raised it again, meeting Lori's gaze. "They will be home soon. We are supposed to meet. Shall we go, or would you rather kill me now?"

"I want us to succeed," Jacob told Lori.

Lori said nothing for a moment, looking Michelle over.

"We might still kill you later," Lori said, "but for now you can prove useful. We wait until they return, and then with Jesse we'll put a plan in action."

"We'll head out the back," Michelle said, leading them as they followed in step behind her. "We don't want any of the neighbors to call the police or tip off my boys of our visit here."

"Our mother would've killed us in a heartbeat to become stronger if I hadn't killed her first," Lori said when she took the lead from Michelle to lead them back to their house. "You're one hell of a mother to sacrifice such a powerful artifact of Good to protect your children from Evil."

"No," Michelle said. "I'm a Monster just like your Mother was. I'm willing to sacrifice everything else, everyone else, for my selfish desires."

"You may be Human," Lori said, having figured Michelle's nature out but also having finally given Michelle her trust and fallen into her plan, "but you share the same wicked heart we do."

"Something I've always known…" Michelle said under her breath, but Lori and Jacob heard her.

They reached Lori and Jacob's house, and they gathered with Jesse: for the shapeshifters to concoct a plan with Michelle and the four of them to initiate it.

~~~~!~~~~!~~~~!~~~~

"I'm glad you're here first," Coronado said, coming into the manor. He went straight to the kitchen where he found Clive. "Cliff is on his way home because I told him we have a magical emergency."

"You lied?" Clive questioned him.

"No," Coronado said. "Not really. I did have a Premonition. I just didn't tell him it was of Mom taking The Book Of Shadows from the manor. Should we tell him?"

Clive hung his head low, trying to think of how this situation should be handled.

"We should," Clive said.

"You think Mom came back for the book?" Coronado asked.

"I think we can ask her that ourselves once she gets to the house," Clive said. "We can confront her about it. We can give her a chance to explain."

"I don't think she did," Coronado said. "If she was after the book, she could've taken it long before now. I don't think my Premonition is false, but I think I might be missing something."

"Not if Gramps had anything to say about it," Clive said.

"True true," Coronado said. "

"I agree though," Clive said. "Mom's not a Witch. I asked her today. It wouldn't make sense for her to want to take it."

"That explains it," Coronado said.

"What?" Clive asked.

"That wasn't the only Premonition I had," Coronado said. "I also saw… I saw when Mom lost Dad. I felt her pain in that moment. Dad gave her his ring I want to say the last time she saw him. She wears his along with her own ring. I studied the set in school. They each hold two crystallite stones embedded in them. Egyptians believed these stones protected against harmful magic, including spells, powers, curses, hexes, and evil spirits. The stones set in twos are a symbol of duality. It was said that when worn by two who truly love each other the pair of rings magnified the protection abilities of the rings for the wearers. I'd wager Dad gave her that ring to ensure Evil never hurt her."

"You'd be right," Clive said. "Mom said something to that effect when we spoke earlier."

"Then Mom's not after the book," Coronado said.

"Maybe Evil is," Clive said.

"What's the magical emergency?" Cliff questioned them: jumping straight to the point when he walked into the kitchen.

"Keep in mind I could've kept this to myself," Coronado said, "but I'm trusting you will not use this information as an excuse to have nothing to do with her."

"It involves Michelle," Cliff said. "Tell me."

"I had a Premonition of her borrowing The Book of Shadows," Coronado said.

"You mean stealing," Cliff said.

"My Premonitions don't come with explanations," Coronado said. "I don't want to use the word stealing. That's a harsh word."

"Unbelievable," Cliff said. "You have a Premonition that shows she can't be trusted, and not only will you not trust me that she's untrustworthy but you won't trust your own power."

"I called mom," Clive said. "She came. We need to meet with her."

"I won't," Cliff said. "After what we just learned, you shouldn't either. We should keep her far from the manor. Last night, she was in the house alone or at least a large dog was. That could've been her."

"That doesn't mean it was," Coronado said.

"Mom isn't a Witch," Clive said. "She told me so."

"She could've lied," Cliff said.

"It would be better to meet with her," Coronado said, "and I can try to get another Premonition. You're not thinking clearly. She's making you irrational. Who she was in the past is not exactly representative of who she is today. People change."

"Don't you think it's time we put the past behind us?" Clive questioned him. "You should stop punishing her. Take baby steps. I did."

"I'm not you," Cliff said. "Leave it Clive."

"But Cliff," Clive said. "She might have answers for us."

"Or maybe she's here for a different reason," Cliff said. "I don't care. Don't push."

Clive sighed. He tried to think of what might convince Cliff this needed to happen.

"I'll push," Coronado said. "Why? Why leave it? Why are you mad at her?"

"She left," Cliff said: as if that was the extent of it.

"She did," Coronado said, "but she reached out to us. She never lost contact. She sent us birthday cards, Christmas gifts, and acknowledged all our accomplishments."

"Coronado," Cliff said.

"I'm not going to drop it," Coronado said. "I'm trying to understand. I want to know."

"She left," Cliff repeated.

"And you couldn't compromise?" Coronado said. "You can't?"

"No," Cliff said bluntly.

"Why?" Coronado persisted.

"Because that's the way it has to be," Cliff said: to end this exchange.

"That's bullshit," Coronado said. "It's not a real reason. Tell us the truth. We will fight it out in this kitchen I don't care, but you're going to talk today brother."

"Because I begged her to come back," Cliff said out of anger, annoyance, and frustration. "And she didn't! I saved my money when I was 10. And I went after her. And I asked and pleaded and begged. I said Mom we need you. I need you. I miss Sad. I love you. It's not the same without you. I cried on my knees in front of her. And she rejected me. I told her if she didn't come back that she better not ever come back. That she'd be dead to me. And she never did. She made her choice."

Clive and Coronado both stared at him in disbelief: at what Cliff said, had done, and as well as what he had caused to happen around the house. Cliff wasn't looking at them. He had his hands behind his head, and he paced. Without knowing it, Cliff had pulled numerous items and pieces of furniture into the air via his Telekinesis. As he paced, everything began to settle down again.

"That's why you got that ass whooping from Gramps that day you disappeared, Coronado said.

"And that's why after that day you were never the same again..." Clive said.

Coronado and Cliff both looked to him, but neither said anything.

"You can't be mad that she honored your wishes," Coronado said, continuing their conversation after getting to the root of the problem. He toned down his abrasiveness.

"I was 10," Cliff said. "If she would've came back, I would've forgiven her, but it's been 20+ years. I can't now. It's not in me to do it."

"I understand her return does seem suspicious," Clive said, "but she knows about magic. She wants to talk about Dad. That alone should make you want to hear her out."

Cliff considered it.

"How bout this," Coronado said. "You don't have to forgive her, but be in the room. You need to let her off the hook though eventually. Anyhow, listen. You don't have to say anything. We'll do all the talking."

Cliff nodded; he had decided.

"It would be childish of me if I wasn't there," Cliff said. "Have her come. I'll be in the room."

"Good," Coronado said. "I will say this though. You don't have to say anything, but we talked about this. You have got to start letting shit go. You're so repressed and emotional deep down your power pours out of you. You'll never gain control of your power if you keep that up. That's in The Book of Shadows."

"Our powers are tied to our emotions,'" Cliff recited the line he had read over and over before in his nightly studying.

"Thank you for telling us that," Clive said, referencing Cliff's memory of his last encounter with their Mom. "You've kept that buried a long time. I wasn't trying to upset you or blindside you. I wanted answers, and I wanted to repair some of the damage done in our family. I think I just want you to start trusting us and start being honest with us."

"You wouldn't let anyone treat us like shit," Coronado said. "You fought for us: on multiple levels. You told us how great we were more times than I can count. It wasn't until I started getting older that I began to think and realize that you didn't think very highly of yourself."

"That can't be true," Clive said.

"I wasn't Gramps," Cliff said slowly. "I wasn't Dad." He didn't look at them when he said this.

"You're right," Coronado said. "You're Cliff. You aren't a copy of other people. You're an original."

"You're always strong and sure of yourself," Clive said.

"That's because I had to be," Cliff said. "That's because of the two of you."

"If you would let us," Clive said, "we'd like to get to know Cliff: the one you hide away."

"Get to know our fucktastic brother," Coronado said and laughed.

Clive smiled, and Cliff shook his head, trying not to smile.

"We'd like to get to know Mom," Clive said.

Cliff looked toward him.

"And through her," Cliff said, "we can get to know Dad: everything that was hidden from us until now."

Clive and Coronado nodded in agreement.

This time unlike when he was a kid Cliff wouldn't face his Mom on his own. He had already learned over the course of the past three weeks that when the three of them were together they could face down anything. The only difference from the previous weeks was they were about to face down not a Demon or Warlock but their past.

"In other news," Coronado said, "Evil might be after The Book. Right now, it's just a theory or hunch, but I'm going to check The Book of Shadows for a spell just in case we run into Evil soon."

"I'll look into it," Cliff said. "Clive, I'll leave you to call Michelle. Coronado, let me know when she arrives." He headed for the attic.

Clive pulled out his phone and called their Mom. She didn't pick up. He left a message.

"Hey Mom," Clive said. "We'd like to have you over when you're ready. We're all here. Give me a call back or just swing by. Love you."

Coronado went into the living room. He flopped on the couch and noticed the black, gray, and white mackerel tabby cat jumped into the bay window. Upon seeing the cat, Coronado thought they really should give him a name. A moment later, the cat turned around and seemingly looked deeply into Coronado's eyes. He returned his gaze out of the bay window, pawed at it, before he meowed loudly. This surprised Coronado because he couldn't remember in the past three weeks the cat making any kind of sound: to the extent that sometimes he forgot they had a cat. The cat continued to meow, which drew Coronado from the couch to go and look out of the window.

Jesse and Jacob, their neighbors from down the street that threw the party the other day, were across the street. Jesse sat on top of the hood of their car while Jacob leaned on the back of the trunk.

Michelle headed toward the door, and Jesse and Jacob headed for the door as well, even though they were several steps behind: taking their time.

The cat took off for the door, and Coronado followed after it. The cat immediately began scratching at the door. Coronado opened it to meet with their Mom.

"Glad you could make it," Coronado said. "You must've gotten Clive's message. You got here fast."

The cat ran out the door, past Michelle, and stopped before Jesse and Jacob before it hissed. Coronado looked to the cat: surprised again by behavior it had never exhibited before.

"Coronado," Michelle called to him in a quick whisper. "Hug me."

Coronado did as he was instructed, and he immediately had a Premonition.

Coronado saw flashes: He once again saw Michelle with The Book of Shadows in her arms, but this time he saw that she was in Lori, Jacob, and Jesse's house. He watched Michelle change and transform into Lori. It hadn't been their Mom who wanted The Book. It was a group of…shapeshifters.

"Is your cat always like this?" Jesse asked.

The cat ran back into the house as if it had done its duty for the day.

Coronado pulled his Mom into the house.

"Clive's in the kitchen," Coronado said. "Cliff's upstairs. Let them know you're here, and that we've got company."

Michelle nodded, and she went to grab Clive.

"Sorry," Coronado told Jesse. "That was my Mom. You guys came to hang out?"

"Jesse had to see you," Jacob said. "She claims she got a vibe from you at the party."

"Shut up," Jesse said, slapping her brother on the arm.

"I don't remember a lot of that night," Coronado said and laughed, "but I'm definitely feeling a vibe now. Come on in. We'll have a drink or two. You're welcome to join to J."

"Hey," Jesse said, entering the manor. "I'm not one to share."

"While you're an attractive guy," J said, "I'm only a lady's man."

Jesse and Jacob laughed in the hallway, and Coronado smiled while he kept an eye on them.

Clive came into the foyer and stood at the bottom of the stairs with their Mom right behind him.

"Cliff," Clive called to him. "Get down here." He texted him. [The neighbors are shapeshifters. We're going to have to vanquish them.]

Michelle had gotten him up to speed. Clive shared a look with Coronado as Jesse and Jacob walked into the foyer. Coronado was right at their backs. Cliff came down the stairs and stopped at the midpoint when he saw everyone gathered in the foyer. He surveyed the scene.

Cliff had paged through The Book of Shadows. Evil might be after them. That wasn't much to go on. It might be after the book. While he didn't want to trust Michelle, Cliff believed it was more likely that someone or something else was behind Coronado's Premonition. It might be trying to use Michelle against them. Cliff would not play right into its hands.

"If Michelle's in trouble," Cliff said under his breath, "I want to protect her."

The pages of The Book began to turn on their own. It landed on a page entitled Safety Spell. Cliff read over it, but a moment later The Book of Shadows added to it –

Save brothers three. Heed our call.

Cliff read over it a few times until he memorized it, and he headed back downstairs. After he came from the attic stairs, he didn't notice Michelle head up the attic stairs. He went into his room for a moment. Michelle grabbed The Book of Shadows, and she left the attic with it. She made to go down the back stairs for the kitchen and back door.

"Shapeshifters," Cliff said to himself.

When Michelle saw Cliff about to head back for the front of the manor after checking a message he received on his phone and she heard him speak, she pulled an athame from her pocket and hid it at her side and followed him.

"I've got it," Michelle said, holding on to The Book of Shadows, "Kill them!"

Cliff saw Michelle at the bottom of the stairs with Clive. She was wearing her wedding ring and Dad's wedding ring. She still did after all this time. So, when Cliff turned toward the sound of her voice and saw a second Michelle, wearing no rings, lunging at him with an athame, he instinctively threw her into the grandfather clock that was across the stairs. Jesse and Jacob transformed into hideous creatures, their true forms, with long, scraggly black hair that reached down to their shoulders, fully dilated black eyes, fangs, and claws. Coronado ran and jumped at them, knocking them into each other and over onto the floor. He got onto his feet before they did: same with the second Michelle. Cliff used his Telekinesis to rip The Book of Shadows from the imposter's hands and bring it into his own. Clive froze the room.

"They're shapeshifters," Michelle told Cliff. Their eyes met. "They're after The Book."

"I have a spell that'll take care of them," Cliff said, but he averted his gaze from Michelle and looked to his brothers. "It might take care of everything in the house, including Michelle." He slowly looked back upon her.

Imposter Michelle, along with her siblings, unfroze. Imposter Michelle grabbed hold of Michelle with the athame headed straight across her throat. The other two shapeshifters leapt up and were going for the brothers. Clive froze the room again.

"We have to make a decision," Clive said. "I don't think we'll get another shot if I have to freeze the room again."

"Don't worry about me," Michelle said. "If I die, it's fine. Going out helping to protect you is one hell of a way to go: the best way to go."

"She has the rings," Coronado explained to Cliff. "Dad got them to help protect her. She'll be okay."

"You think they'll protect her from The Power of Three?" Clive asked. "Should we risk it?"

"He's asking some good questions," Coronado said.

"I don't want you to die," Cliff said to Michelle without looking at her.

"Then," Michelle told him, looking upon him. "I won't."

The shapeshifters unfroze once more. Clive focused on just freezing imposter Michelle before she did any damage, managing to concentrate on a single target as opposed to the entire room, Cliff sent one of the shapeshifters flying back through the hallway and onto the floor just before the door, and Coronado jumped to the wall and off of it to punch the other sibling to the floor down beside the stairs.

"Here we go," Cliff said. "When in the circle that is home, safety's gone and evils roam, rid all beings from these walls. – Save brothers three. Heed our call."

"When in the circle that is home, safety's gone and evils roam, rid all beings from these walls," Cliff said a second time." – Save brothers three. Heed our call."

Ash began to blow within the manor and began to encircle Michelle and the three sibling shapeshifters. The shapeshifters howled in agony as their bodies contorted and the ash began to engulf them. Michelle struggled against the ash, but it didn't engulf her. The rings' glow kept it at bay. The ash brought her to her knees. She clearly felt pain. Pain was etched in her face.

"Mom!" Clive shouted.

"I'm okay sweetie," Michelle said. "My boys, get it done."

"When in the circle that is home," Cliff repeated, "safety's gone and evils roam-"

"Rid all beings from these walls," Clive continued.

"Save brothers three!" Coronado exclaimed.

"Heed our call," they said together in unison.

The ash completely engulfed the shapeshifters and vanquished them. All the ash within the manor disappeared. Michelle was still with them.

"We might have to keep that spell in our repertoire," Coronado said.

"I'm just glad that's over," Clive said. "You okay Mom?"

"That was a wild," Michelle said. She got onto a knee.

Cliff went, stood before her, and held out his hand. She took it, and he pulled her onto her feet.

"But I'm doing quite well," Michelle added. She smiled to Cliff.

Cliff nodded before he turned and spoke to his brothers.

"I'm going to clean up this mess," Cliff said. "We should call it a night and regroup tomorrow morning."

"I agree," Michelle said. "Momma needs a dip in her hotel Jacuzzi."

"You sure you don't want to stay the night here?" Coronado asked.

Michelle shook her head.

"I'd still need to leave to gather my things even if I were to stay," Michelle said.

"She's had a trying day," Clive said. "We're not going make her ride around all over. Get some rest Mom. I'll prepare breakfast, and I'll attend to you in the morning."

"Tomorrow then," Michelle said.

"Take it easy Mom," Coronado said. He hugged her.

Cliff waved her off in farewell, and Clive kissed her on her cheek as she left the manor.

~~~~!~~~~!~~~~!~~~

The doorbell of the manor rang. The Halliwell Brothers, who were all in different parts of the manor, thought their Mom had arrived. She had already informed them she was on her way earlier.

"That car's still out there," Coronado said, walking backward as Cliff came from the basement downstairs and Clive came from his room upstairs. He was closest to the door.

"Already talked to Elli about taking care of it and picking it up," Cliff said. "Told her that the case was closed. That the siblings were no longer in the picture and would no longer be a problem. They were a part of an investigation she was working on."

Clive sighed.

"We got to stop getting involved in her cases," Clive said, shaking his head. "She might not suspect us of anything criminally insane, but her partner or anybody else at that precinct might start thinking that way if our names don't stop popping up."

"I don't think we'll have much of a choice if supernatural Evil rears its head," Coronado said, "but we can try to keep a lower profile. Next time, we'll try to be more incognito."

"Answer the door if you're going to answer it," Cliff told Coronado.

Coronado turned around to do as he was instructed, even though he was going to do it anyway.

"Hello," a young woman said. She had a radiant smile. "Hi." She had French braided micro braids and chestnut brown eyes. She wore a white hat that had a lavender band around it and a black and blue feather that stuck out from the side of it.

"Hello," Coronado said: immediately taken in by the young woman's beauty. He had reached the door and opened it first.

"Who is it?" Clive asked, opening the door further. "Oh hey." He said this slowly, shyly, taken in by her beauty as well.

"Please come in," Cliff said, moving his brothers out of the way. "Glad you could come by on such short notice."

"You're not going to introduce us Cliff?" Coronado asked, closing the door after Cliff led the young woman into the foyer.

"No worries," the young woman said to Cliff. "I'll introduce myself." She turned toward Coronado, who stood front and center, and Clive, who stood just behind him: both in awe of her.

"My name is Aquarius Renault," she said, "but you can call me Aqua."

"Aqua," Coronado repeated. "Cool. I like it."

"Nice to meet you Aqua," Clive said. "This is our younger brother Coronado, and I'm-I'm…."

"Clive," Coronado said.

"I know," Aqua said. "Cliff told me."

"Why are you here?" Coronado asked.

"She's here to do a job," Cliff said.

"I restore old houses and pieces," Aqua told him. "I'm here to examine the grandfather clock." She turned back toward Cliff, who showed her the damaged grandfather clock in desperate need of repair and restoration. "The old man looks like he's seen better days."

"He definitely has," Cliff said. "It's been in the family for generations. Is there anything you can do?"

"It's in good hands," Aqua said. "I can come in with my tools and take care of it this week: by tomorrow at the earliest. I can call and let you know."

"Appreciate it," Cliff said.

"I'll see you guys around," Aqua said, waving as she walked toward the door. She opened the door and turned back one last time. "Thanks for the business Cliff." She winked at them all and with that she was gone.

The three brothers watched her leave and close the door behind her.

"Dibs," Coronado said.

"Grow up," Cliff said.

"Never," Coronado said.

"You shouldn't mix business with pleasure," Clive said.

"You probably shouldn't," Coronado said, "but you want to."

"We know that's not never stopped you," Clive said, "and I'm not going to dignify that with a response."

"Too late," Coronado said.

Cliff couldn't help laugh and shake his head. He headed upstairs. Clive headed for the kitchen, frowning. Coronado glanced toward the door after Aqua with a smile on his face before he headed into the living room.

The doorbell rang again, stopping all three brothers in their tracks. Coronado went to answer again. The door opened before he reached it. Michelle entered and closed the door behind her. Cliff, Clive, and Coronado stood together in the foyer as their Mom stood across from them in the hall after taking several steps toward them.

"You're leaving," Cliff said after reading the expression on her face.

"I am," Michelle said. "I hate to leave so soon, but there's been an incident. The owner has to take care of it. I didn't want to leave without seeing you, saying goodbye, and giving you something that sheds some light on the past."

"We hope it's not too serious," Clive said.

"We're glad we get to see you one last time before you go," Coronado said.

"We're listening," Cliff said.

Both younger brothers gave Cliff a look.

"Mom," Cliff said: to show he wasn't trying to be an asshole.

At hearing Cliff call her Mom, Michelle smiled at him and nodded.

"Don't blame him," Michelle prefaced what she was about to say. "It wasn't exactly his fault, and it was a bad situation. The reason I left was because of your Gramps."

"You're going to blame Gramps?" Cliff questioned.

"Hear her out," Clive said.

"I don't blame him," Michelle said, "but he is the reason I left. Your Dad sacrificed himself to save my life. Your Uncle went to save him. Your Uncle succeeded. Whatever happened during that rescue, however, resulted in your Uncle losing his mind and your Dad coming back...wrong. I'm not going to go into detail. It's too painful. Maybe one day but not today. Your Gramps couldn't decide whether or not he would kill him."

"Dad?" Clive questioned. "Gramps was going to kill Dad?"

Michelle nodded.

"Sounds like something that old bastard would try to do," Coronado said.

"We don't know the reasons behind it," Cliff said. "We don't know the whole story."

"Gramps never told me what he did," Michelle said. "I'm not even sure if your Dad's truly dead."

"Dad might be alive!" Coronado exclaimed. He looked to Cliff and Clive, but they continued listening, hanging on her every word now.

"It's a possibility," Michelle said. "Regardless of what he decided, Gramps wanted to erase your memories and bind your powers. I told him your Dad wouldn't have wanted that. I tried to fight it, fight him, but I realized he made a good point. You would be safer. But I didn't want you to not know who you truly were. He didn't want magic to destroy you like it had destroyed both his boys. I told him I wouldn't lie to you about any of it, about your Dad. He told me I had a choice to make then: either I stayed and he erased my memory too or I left and could keep my memories.

"I knew he was a bastard," Coronado said.

"Gramps did that...," Clive said.

"Mom," Cliff said. He knew his Gramps. Even though he didn't want to believe it, he knew these were actions his Gramps would take given a hard situation. He wouldn't let anything sully the family's reputation. Magic wouldn't make that any different.

"He did it because he was afraid," Michelle said. "He was afraid of losing you because you were the only link to his son. He loved you. I could've stayed, but I didn't want to forget. I felt the least I could do for your Dad was remember. I have to go, I need to get on the road, but I'll come back. Maybe, if your Dad is out there and alive, you can find him. Save him... I love you all so much. I'm sorry that everything got so messed up. I'm going… Goodbye." She left the manor.

Coronado tried to go after her.

Cliff stopped him.

"We should stop her," Clive said when Coronado looked to him.

Cliff simply shook his head.

"She has been holding all this in for more than 20 years," Cliff said. "There's nothing we can say that will take her pain away, but there is something we can do."

"Find dad: if he's alive," Clive said.

"And save him: if we can," Coronado said. "Gramps couldn't."

"He's alive," Cliff said, "and we can save him. We're The Charmed Ones, the Halliwell Brothers, and that means we can do anything: long as we do it together. That's something you two recently taught me: a lesson I really needed to learn."

"I know you meant well but that was super cheesy," Coronado said.

"Don't ruin the moment," Clive said. "We'll help Dad, and we'll help Mom too."

Cliff smiled, wrapped his arms around his brothers' shoulders, and shook them affectionately.

"A smile," Coronado said. "You should do that more often."

"I think this means he really does like us and forgives us," Clive said. "Smile more."

"I do," Cliff said, "and I'll work on that."

"That smile inspires confidence," Coronado said. "You say we can do it with that smile, and I believe you."