Review Responses:

Thanks Guest! Glad to know I was right with making him 22 - I want him as old as possible to make it a bit less weird hahah I'd love for her to be younger than future him, but I think 23 works because she needs to be old enough to have worked at P3 for a few years. (I'm assuming that in America you need to be at least 21 to serve alcohol?)

Thanks Kayleeann the dreamer! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so far :)

Hope you like this latest chapter!


Another morning interrupted by a magical emergency.

It can be pretty difficult to make plans in advance lately, usually I wind up having to cancel them to make sure my favourite toddler is not left alone - not that I would tell Piper that. I cared too much to add any burden to her, and she only called if it was an emergency. And, at least this was getting my mind off Chris and the kiss. Although I was sure to remind them before I came over that I did have immovable plans this afternoon

Paige orbed me over to the manor as soon as I agreed, where Piper gave me a rushed explanation about a woman appearing in the sink who told them to go to the pond. Because it was a public location they would have to drive and she wasn't comfortable leaving Wyatt for that long, something I entirely understood given the near constant danger that surrounded them. He was sleeping soundly the whole time they were gone, so much so that he didn't even stir when there was a huge crash downstairs. It's a little bit concerning that he doesn't even flinch at the noise, but I guess living in the Halliwell Manor will do that to you.

In a rush to get to the book, Phoebe lets me know that the Lady of the Lake is now dead.

"Lady of the Lake..?" I murmur, wanting to go see what was going, but the sound of Phoebe's voice had roused Wyatt from his sleep so I spent the next while tending to his needs and doing my best to entertain the little one. He finally settles I grab the baby monitor from its charger and taking it with me as I go downstairs to investigate.

As I walk down the stairs I notice Paige walking to the front door with, ugh, Richard.

"Be careful with all this," I overhear him say to her gently.

I don't even try to hold back the scoff at his words. "Like she was when you let her sell her soul?" I ask snidely, crossing my arms and cocking a brow at him. Both their faces flush at my sudden appearance.

"Cassidy, Hi. How are you?" He asks, trying to be polite.

I don't acknowledge him or his question, just look between the two of them coldly.

Paige decides to break the tension with her request, "Can we please have a minute here?"

I want to deny it, just to be snooty, but think better of it. I offer her a single nod before walking decisively to the sun-room. The first thing I notice is the majestic sword protruding from a mossy rock. The sword almost glows with an energy, the handle seems to be some kind of white leather with golden accents on it. It's quite pretty and seems to glisten from more than just the light. It's enamoring, I could sit there and stare at it all day. There's a strange, dull pull to it; like it's distantly calling for me to touch it.

Piper and Phoebe are there too, discussing who should make the vanquishing potion to stop the latest demon. Piper asks Phoebe to, saying she has far too much to do around the house, but Phoebe dismisses her quickly saying she was too swamped at work and leaving quickly.

"Paige!" Piper says happily when my sister walks in the room, "Potion?"

She stops and explains, "Oh, I'm sorry honey. The temp agency's already got me a new job."

Piper stutters, "But- that hardly compares with," and gestures to the sword in the stone.

"I could help," I offer timidly.

"See! No worries, Cas can help you and I can continue with my magical destiny," Paige exclaims happily.

"Are you sure Cassy?" Piper asks worriedly.

I nod my head, "Yeah. I promise I won't do anything with it without triple checking with you first."

She seems hesitant, but doesn't have much choice but to take me up on the offer.


Piper is busy trying to fix the washing machine as I call out asking about the potion. "Is it meant to be bubbling up like that?"

"What?!" Piper yells over the noise of the machine, "Hold on!"

The noise dies out as she unplugs it. I leave the potion as it is, not liking the way its bubbling.

Piper sees the potion she exclaims, "Oh no! Cas, when it starts to bubble you need to take it off the heat!"

"You didn't tell me that!"

She puts the saucepan in the sink and responds, "Didn't I? I'm sorry, it's my fault. I should be teaching you properly not trying to multi-task."

"Hey ladies!" A mildly familiar voice calls out from the other side of the counter. I can see a head poking through the various jars on the counter, but not much else.

Piper and I make our way around to see how it is and I am pleasantly surprised. "Gremich? What are you doing here?"

He seems a bit startled that I actually remembered his name - as if could I forget someone who helped us save Paige. He recovers quickly though, and dons his usual grumpy attitude. "I'm getting pushed around, that's what. I just lost my place in line."

"What line?" Piper asks, and he turns for her to follow. She sighs and says to me, "Okay. You stay here and restart the potion from scratch, okay? Just follow the recipe. Think you can handle that?"

I'm curious about what's going on, but respect her too much to argue. "Yes, mam," I give a playful mock solute to top it off.

She rolls her eyes but can't hold back her smile. She gives me a reassuring pat on the back before following Gremich through the dining table.

I grab a new pan from the cupboard, this would be our third attempt so I was feeling pretty confident with the first part of the process, hopefully that will continue as I go further on. I was not looking forward to scrubbing these dishes though, hopefully someone could magic them clean, surely they've come up with a spell for that by now. If not, I'll definitely be suggesting it to Paige next time I get the chance.

When Piper comes back she's looking frazzled, and I decide to hold off on my question until a later time. Apparently the entire magical community seems to have turned up to try their hand at pulling the sword from the stone. She tells me that Leo is out there to keep an eye on them while she came to see me and check how the potion is doing. I take a step back while she assesses it.

"Why haven't you called Chris?" I ask curiously, usually that would be the first thing they do. I still haven't seen him since the kiss we shared, and don't really want to, but magical duties are more important.

"Oh, Leo took him off our account," she says absent-mindedly, nodding at the state of my potion before adding a dash of something I couldn't identify myself. I'm glad Paige had everything labelled in the kitchen, otherwise I would have no idea what half this stuff was.

Pipers statement makes me falter, but she's too focused on the potion to see it. "Really? Did he say why?" I ask, trying to sound casual.

Judging by the look Piper shoots me, I failed spectacularly in that regard. "No, just that he was busy with other charges. Why do you care?" She punctuates the last bit with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't!" I respond too loudly, face getting redder by the second, "Why would I?" I punctuate this with my awkward fake laugh. I do my best to ignore the sting of jealously in me at the thought of Chris having other charges.

"Riiight," Piper drawls not believing me. "Well, you're doing good so far. Just pay close attention to it and don't let your mind wander. I need to go supervise out there while Leo grabs our sisters."

I nod and lean in to read the next part of the potion making process, careful not to touch the paper itself lest my ability erase it.


All seems to be going well, I think I've actually finished my first potion! Hopefully I haven't messed it up. Just as it starts to bubble, I take it off the stove then this strange feeling swells in the air around me. It vaguely similar to the feeling of being orbed, but this presses against my skin rather than emanating from beneath it...

I follow the source of this feeling in through the dining room and see Piper holding the majestic sword in front of her while everyone else looks on in wonder.

"Wow," Piper breathes, looking the sword up and down.

With that word everyone, baring our sisters and Leo, drop to one knee; wanting to show their respect to their new queen. A breeze comes from no where and pushes Pipers hair from her face, however she seems too enamoured with the sword to even notice. The wind seems to come from a corner in the ceiling. A light twists from it into the room and manifests as a being in front of me, blocking my view temporarily until he starts making his way to Piper. "I bet you didn't expect this when you got up this morning." He says authoritatively as he stands behind her.

"I-" Piper starts, but he holds up a hand near her face to stop her. The action visibly startles her, clearly she's not used to being cut off.

He places both hands on her shoulders while he declares to the room, "The sword has chosen. You are the new Savior. The champion of good. The master of Excalibur. Welcome to your new destiny."

"Oh crap," Piper visibly deflates.

I can't help but laugh a little, even if I feel slightly uncomfortable. I don't like the way he holds her, like a possession in his grasp.

The noise brings his attention to me as his blue eyes met my own, "And who might you be?"

I jump at that and look behind me, realising that there was no one else there. "Me?" I point to myself and he nods once. "Oh, I'm no one. I just came to let Piper know the potions ready," I explain, twisting the tea-towl in my hands self consciously.

This seems to perk Piper up a bit. She decides to go check it, bringing the sword with her. I dodge out of the way as the swirls it unconsciously. The newcomers gaze lingers on me for a moment before he moves on to assessing the rest of the room. The guy gave me the heebby-jeebbies.

I follow Piper, wanting to hear her feedback. Guess I did alright, because she smiles at me when I enter the kitchen. I brighten, glad to have been able to help and Paige manage to heard out the magical community so we could have a family meeting about Piper now that she is apparently the chosen one.

They invite me to join but I remind them I already had prior 's my first day of self defense training; and I'm already running late.


My muscles ache as I sit motionless on the couch. Just making my way up to my apartment had been hell. I was not looking forward to the next month of classes that I had pre-enrolled for, but I knew it was necessary.

My skin prickles and a moment later Leo appears, looking worried. "Leo? What's happened?" I ask with concern, knowing better than to chide an Elder for entering my home unannounced. He would only be here if it was an emergency.

"Pipers missing and the sisters are injured. We thought it would be best if you come to the Manor." He explained far too calmly.

I wince as I sit up, waving off his offer of healing. I'd have to learn to live with this pain, it came as a reward for my hard work.

He orbs us into the sun room, Paige is laying on the couch massaging her temples while Phoebe appears to be scrying.

"Oh my God, Paige, what happened?" I ask frantically, rushing to her side to see if I could examine her wounds. There were no physical injuries, which should be expected with Leo's healing.

"Ow!" Paige complains, not happy with my overbearing attitude.

Leo asks, "Feeling any better?"

I would roll my eyes if I wasn't so concerned.

Paige's sarcastic response is very justified, "No, I'm pretty sure 'ow' signifies that I am not, in fact, feeling any better."

She moves to sit up and I grab her arm to help her, instructing her not to move too fast. "I am getting tired of this whole soul separating from my body thing. It's starting to be a disturbing pattern." She shuffles uncomfortably at the thought.

Leo places his hands on his hips and does nothing to reassure us by saying, "It was pretty close too. Your souls were getting ready to move on."

"Move on to where exactly?" Paige probes and I resist the urge to wack her.

"Nice try," Leo smiles.

I give Paige a pat on the leg, glad that she's okay enough to joke, and leave them to discuss it while I grab Wyatt and bounce him a little. Suddenly they stop talking. I turn to see what's happened and find them them all looking at me, or more specifically the bundle of joy in my arms.

"No," Paige says, disbelieving.

"What?" I ask them with trepidation.

"Its Wyatt. oh my God. it has to be," Phoebe says decisively.

Before another word can be spoken Leo hunches over in pain, telling us that Piper has been hurt. In that same instant the scrying crystal locks onto Pipers location.

"Harding Park, let's go," Phoebe says jumping up to grab Leo.

"I got Wyatt and Cas," Paige says, coming over to us.

I'm still a bit in shock, everything happening so fast. "Whats going on?" I ask her, holding Wyatt protectively in my arms.

"No time to explain," she insists, wrapping his favourite teddy in his blanket and putting it in the play pen. I watch her quietly, bouncing Wyatt in my arms to sooth and distract him. She approaches us quickly and orbs us up to his nursery without another word. I want to question her, but the serious glint in her eyes makes me hold my tongue.

The three of us sit in silence until it is interrupted by an angry yell from downstairs. As if she had been waiting for this cue, Paige orbs us all back into the sun room. The strange man from earlier was there and Paige just taunts him as though she does this every day, which I suppose isn't too far off. I hold Wyatt tightly in my clutches when I see the man swing back over with the sword pointed in our direction. His eyes meet mine and his face twist with a grimace.

Theothers orb in quickly and Piper takes Wyatt from my arms. With their encouragement he is able to orb Excalibur towards him and manipulate the sword to stab the man in the stomach. I gasp at the sight, my heart sick at seeing an innocent child take the life of another being. Evil or not this just wasn't right.

Piper was visibly uncomfortable as well, and she places the sword back in the stone telling Wyatt he won't be getting it back until he is at least eighteen. They continue to banter but I stay frozen in shock, mind running over what had happened. I don't think I'll be getting the piercing sound of his scream out of my mind any time soon. There wasn't even any evidence that he was ever there.

By the time I come back to reality Paige and Phoebe have left. Piper asks if I'm okay and I quickly make an excuse about needing to be home to see Beth. She tries to call out to me but I bolt for the door.

It was so difficult to consolidate the idea of the bouncing ball of joy that I'd been taking care of with the fact that he just murdered someone. Granted it was to protect himself and his family, but I wouldn't have ever though him capable of something like that, especially at this age.


Author's Note: I had planned on Cas being able to limit the influence of the sword on Piper to help her regain her senses but it just seemed unnecessary. Also, she could definitely lift the sword (with great effort), or at least make it budge a little, because after Piper she is the next in line for Lady of the Lake - but Cas doesn't even want to touch the thing so she'll probably never know that hahah

There was no Chris in this one and honestly I thought of just skipping the episode entirely, but by then I'd already drafted the part about her helping with the potion and that seemed like an important milestone for her. I hope it kinda made sense, I know it was a more difficult potion but she had to make it like three times before she got it right with Piper's help. Not to mention, I think the incident (Wyatt's fist kill) might help her believe Chris when he tells her/she finds out about future Wyatt.

Sindenote: Did you know that originally Wyatt was going to come back from the future and save them at the end of season 5? But the authors thought that would be too predictable so they created another son. I think that's why Chris' character and all of season 6 can seem so disjointed at times, it all made so much more sense when I found that out!