A/N A potential explanation for the difference between practitioner and natural born witch. On the TV show Charmed, there's an episode where a mortal man, a doctor, gets infected with the sister's blood and gains their powers. It drives him insane. Leo tells the sisters it took generations for their family having Magic in order for witches strong enough to bear the sheer amount of power they have to be born. All of them natural born witches, with Charlotte, the mother of Melinda, being a practitioner witch.

No, this isn't a crossover, just a theory.

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"If Ethan Rayne wasn't dead, I'd be tempted to kill him myself." Faith muttered, keeping secrets from these kids just wasn't possible, too much of what happened, happened to them and they deserved answers. "Because my baby has a seed of Magic in her because of that ass and according to Diana, since Magic can answer to the unspoken, she could do Magic from the womb, just based off what she's feeling. And a seed of Magic isn't at all the same thing as Ethan fucking Rayne spending decades building power. What he had was like exercising a muscle, it gets bigger the more it's exercised."

"But what Baby and I have is different." It was Xander's turn to lean his head on Cordelia's shoulder as he dealt with a scary nightmare. "A seed of Magic is the muscle itself in your analogy, an essential muscle, like the heart. It can't be removed. Diana says it's the kind of thing that can become part of DNA, it can actually be passed on to a person's kids. And each generation, the human gets stronger to bear the weight of that seed and consequently the Magic gets stronger as well. It's extremely rare, according to Diana, but has been recorded."

"What causes it?" Jesse asked, both the group and Ceridian, his 'other personality.' Thanks, Ethan, ever so much.

'I don't know.' Ceridian answered. 'As I've never heard of this theory. The only Magic I know of is the Magic of the gods or practitioner Magic. This sounds like something entirely different.'

"Diana says there's been some attempt at trying to study it, but the best any one's been able to come up with is, some families may have some kind of predisposition that makes it possible. It isn't like there's been any kind of scientific study done that could explain it."

"Baby got this predisposition from me." Xander muttered into Cordelia's shoulder. "All the Magic you've been exposed to might have had side effects, like with Ceridian still riding shotgun in Jesse's head, but Baby wouldn't have ended up with a seed of her own if I wasn't her biological father. Any kids I father could also end up with their own seed of Magic."

"Which is a scary thought, yes." Cordelia agreed. "But there are options. The Magic can be bound, temporarily or permanently according to Diana. But it may not even be a problem."

"Yeah, like Xander, Baby could learn how to control it, eventually. Also, it may never be strong in either one of them. Future generations on the other hand..."

"I have to learn to control it." Xander lifted his head from Cordelia's shoulder. "So I can help her learn how to control it. And you have to learn your own version of calm and control." Xander smirked slightly as Faith squirmed. "Because she's connected to you, if you're upset, she's going to know. She can't really form thoughts yet, but she can certainly feel things, emotionally. And is nowhere near ready to try to understand what either you or her are feeling."

"Which is just one reason why I'd like to at least threaten the annoying bastard." Faith muttered. "Because I'm scared enough over this pregnancy and the fear that I won't ever get to see her grow up and since he was stupid enough to get himself killed, I can't beat on his sorry ass. And I can't go beat up any vampires either to constructively deal with what I'm feeling. And it isn't like I can sex Xander up as a different way of dealing with what I'm feeling."

"Nope, you snooze, you lose. Private property." Cordelia grinned smugly. "No more marathon nights of great sex with Xander for you, missy." Cordelia waggled her finger at Faith, who couldn't help but laugh ruefully and agree, she'd snoozed, granted out of fear, but still.

"Guess I'll just have to find someone else to share marathon nights of great sex with." Faith wiggled her eyebrows and grinned at Jesse, who was developing some great cheekbones as he burned off the last of his baby fat as he learned to be a hunter. And had gained another inch in height and was looking to top out at over six feet.

Maybe there were some possibilities there that were worth exploring. Thinking about it did take her mind off the scary Magic problem, at least for awhile.

Jesse squirmed in his own seat as he caught the look she aimed at him. 'Do you think she's serious?' He asked Ceridian.

'I've lived a long time or thought I had.' Referring to the discovery that he was a fictional character that Magic made real. 'I do remember seeing that look a few times myself. My advice? Wait for her to do more than just hint and remember, it really is a complicated situation with the feelings of a lot of people involved. And think very carefully on what your response should be, because hormones is not a good reason to risk the sheer amount of pain a wrong step could cause.'

'I don't have to be a genius like Willow was to know or remember that. Hopefully.'