Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 20:18:47 -0800 (PST) From: Jason Decade <femtoka2@yahoo.com> Subject: Charming the Halliwells 9 All rights to the Halliwells and Charmed go to The Wb and Aaron Spelling. This is a spin-off of his creation, of which we're all thankful for. Chapter 9: Fall Out Boys Ironically, we had been facing our own demons. Piper faced the demon of their present...Mom and dad. Phoebe faced Cole...her past. Even as a seer, Phoebe didn't see it coming. And Paige struggled with the future, Talik. Wyatt, Chris, and I were facing ourselves...what made us. Every element of ourselves, literally. The demons at Prom weren't demons, they were Elementals. Very old, very ancient group of creatures said to be like gods. Which means they view us as a threat because they don't like taking orders. We had retreated back to the Halliwell Manor in the hopes that we could come up with a plan that could save the day and not make us dead. Every Halliwell was staying there and the outlook didn't look good. I dwelled in the basement as the rest of the house occupied either the attic, the kitchen, or the sunroom. All the voices in one room was not pleasing to me, as I had gotten used to being alone for so long. It was stressful, but a good stressful. The men had been kindnapped and it caused mass chaos. I sat in the basement, trying to do anything to calm my nerves. " Why are you down here?" Wyatt asked, behind me. " I guess I feel closer to my parents." I joked, but he didn't laugh and I continued, " In a house full of Halliwells, the only safe place is the basement. No one ever thinks about the basement, always the attic. Probaly because of the woogy." I remarked. Wyatt smiled and moved closer to me, " Are you okay? I know it must be hard to know that you'll have to...fight your parents." he frowned. " What about you? Your dad's gone." I asked. " Yeah. We're going to save him and uncle Coop and uncle Henry." Wyatt said quickly, " What about you?" " Yeah." I said carefully, " But I'll deal. I always do." He smiled, " Yeah, you do. So, mom and the others are planning." Wyatt said. " Good. Do you think Kyle'll be okay? And how are you with all the emotions?" I asked. " He should be, but nothing's definite. We've healed him all we can, he has to do the rest." he explained, " And I'm dealing with the emotions. They come and go. I missed you." he said finally. I sighed, " I missed you too." I said. " But..." he said skeptically. " No buts. I missed you." I said simply. Wyatt smiled, " Better get back to the planning. You should come up and help. You are Charmed now." he said, turning to march up the stairs. I smiled to myself, " Nothing like a little romance to get the ass-kicking started." I said, standing from the crate. ==================================================================================================================== " Elementals?" Piper said in shock, " Why couldn't it just be Titans again? We kicked their asses." Phoebe chuckled, " Because it worked so well before. Piper, with all the emotion floating around here, the teen drama and everything could cause another episode and another episode like last time would be..." " Great." Paige smiled, " maybe we could use the power of the gods to vanquish them all in one move." " Great plan...just one thing." Wyatt said, " Not gonna work. Elementals are different. They aren't easily harmed. Maybe something at Magic School could help." Chris said thoughtfully. " This one won't be easy will it? And it doesn't help that we're down a Charmed One." Piper sighed. " Nope. And I still don't see how we can expect Drake to go up against his parents. It's going to be tough." Phoebe said. Paige groaned, " It's not easy, but it has to be done, right?" she asked. " I'm with Auntie Paige on this one." Chris said, walking to stand by her. " That's not the point. It doesn't matter what has to be done, it's what he wants." Piper said grouchily. " But what about getting dad and the uncs out of there?" Henry Jr. asked. Phoebe's oldest girl, Prudence chimed in, " Well, maybe we're going at this all wrong. What about getting into their minds?" she asked. " We've done that once, by only to save your Aunt Piper from...the Source. It could work." Phoebe said with enthusiasm. " Well, we need to get our husbands back soon. Who knows how long before they start...Oh My Gosh, do you remember that they gave sacrifices for the Coronation? what if that's the plan this time?!" Paige said, hyperventillated. " It's not." I said from the door, making them jump, " They need us out of the way that night. Tomorrow night. Prom was ruined. It sucked. My guess would be that it's personal and now it's even worse." I said, sitting by a smiling Wyatt, " We're thinking too hard...way too hard." "Well, what are you saying? We burst in and get the guys while you guys..." Phoebe started. " Sounds like a plan." Piper smiled, " Let's hit the books." she said, opening the Book of Shadows. =============================================================================================================== I didn't remember going to sleep, the last thing I remembered was books. Lots and lots of spell books we'd borrowed from Magic School. I was studying and must have dozed off. I looked around and noticed I was in Wyatt's room. I immediately felt a hand around my waist and looked around to see Wyatt's face, resting. I smiled at his face. I exhaled as his grip got tighter and he smiled. " You're mom know you're seducing me?" I smirked. He opened one eye, " Probably. How's that going by the way?" he asked. " It's almost four O'clock. We must have slept through the morning." I said. " Four? I have to get going, I have to pick up my cap and gown." he said, rolling off the bed. " Oh." I said deflatedly, " I guess I'm gonna hang around here and find a solution to the madness." I said, gaining a kiss on the forehead. " Shouldn't take too long." he said, leaving. " Yeah, not too long." I said, sitting up in the bed. I yawned and rolled out of the bed, then walked to the door and paused. I remembered Kyle and went directly to Melinda's room. I opened the door to Melinda's room to see Kyle lying on the bed. I walked to the bed and put a hand to his forehead, " You're burning up." I said, trying to remove some of the blankets. " Yeah. I thought when I died the first time I'd be over it." he smiled very weakly. I smiled, " Yeah, wonky isn't it." I smiled even more. I could see the pain on his face, yet I felt something different coming from him. A happiness that couldn't be from imminent death. I'm not sure how I felt it, but it was there. Maybe it was the whitelighter-charge connection. " Great smile." he said quietly. " You met the Halliwells during the...um..." I searched. " Avatars," he said, finishing the sentence, " Paige and I were...I helped them defeat the avatars." " They still exist." I said quickly. " Turns out that my revenge against them was wrong. they did nothing to me...at least that's their side of the story." he said bitterly. " You don't believe them?" I asked. He chuckled, " Why should I?" he asked. " Not trying to instill hope, that's your job, I'm just trying to solve the puzzle." I said, checking his forehead. " What a job. When I met the sisters, I never thought...The sisters are off making a potion for me?" he asked and I nodded in the positive, " Where's Chris and Wyatt?" he asked. " Leaving." I said honestly. He stared at me, " College?" he asked. " Yeah. I'm not sure I can deal. I mean he says that he can just orb here and do the orby-commuty thingy, but then he wouldn't be able to experience the college...thing. And the amount of homework he's gonna have..." I vented. I stopped and noticed his smile, " What?" " It's just that you...you're so..." he trailed off. " Annoying? Sorry." I said carefully. " No. Thoughtful." he smiled, " You sacrifice your happiness to help Wyatt feel happy. You are a good person." I smiled and rosed from the bed, " Thanks. I should get back to finding a way to stop all hell from breaking loose." I nodded before leaving the room. ====================================================================================================================== Meanwhile... Wyat had gone to pick yo his cap and gown. He waited, thinking about his future and wondering where he'd be this time next year. His contemplation was broken by Bianca and Tristan. " Hey babe, I was wondering when you'd come. I missed you at Prom when the sprinklers went off and stuff." Bianca said sharply, " Took me all night to uncurl my hair...I missed you!" she said innocently. Tristan chuckled, " Damn. Where's the love for me, Bianca?" he joked. Bianca scoffed, " So, wanna go out and celebrate tonight?" she asked. " I'll have to check my schedule, but I think I'm open." Tristan smirked. " Not you, idiot." she turned to Wyatt, " You." she smirked. " No, I have to get back home." Wyatt said carefully. Tristan and Bianca looked at Wyatt as if they'd heard him wrong, " What do you mean?" Bianca frowned. Wyatt sighed, " I have to get back home to help my...there's a family thing." he said urgently. " Come on, man. There is a major party, juniors and seniors only! And I heard that there's gonna be a bunch of hotties and..." he glanced over at Bianca, who was giving him the death stare, " Bianca really wants you to come." he finished. " Sorry." Wyatt said, walking away. Bianca sneered, " I bet it's Drake. Lately he's been like alittle thorn in my side!" she said bitterly. " Yeah, he has been extra...wiggy lately. But what'll you do?" he said, walking in the opposite direction. ============================================================================================================ Everyone had made their way to the attic again and once again I was downstairs, this time in the kitchen. I was searching through the fridge when I looked out the window. The moon was high and full and I figured in a few hours, I'd either be imersed in batte or in pieces. I wondered which one it would be and another thing bugged me. Why hadn't I had a preminition about something big? I mean Wyatt could levitate, make force fields, orb and do telekinetics, blast people with energy blasts, do all the things whitelighter do, and he was an empath. Chris could shoot lightning, Change his appearance, orb, telekinetic orb, and all things Whitelighters can do. I could freeze things, blow things up, astral project, and have preminitions...but why hadn't I had one? I walked to the kitchen in a daze and opened the fridge. I snapped out of it when I heard someone behind me. " Hello lover." Talik's voice came from behind me. I paused, unable to move, then turned around, " Talik?" I asked. Even without looking at him, I knew he was smirking, " In the flesh. So, how's life?" he asked. " A dream. You?" I said nervously. " Death." he answered. " I was meaning to ask you about that." I said, inching back. He stared at me from the counter, " Long story. The short version is that I'm pretty much back for the big fight." he said unemotionally. " I've always liked long stories. Novels are the best." I said, trying to get out of the room. " You're not leaving until I say what I have to say." he said untouched, " I suggest you sit." I chuckled, " Promise you're not going to try and kill me." I said seriously. " I won't kill you." he said. " I know. I said try." I smirked, standing across the counter. " You know what's happening tonight, right?" he said slyly. I nodded. " I need you to be not there." he said, " It's going to get bad." he said. " A bit anti-climatic, but..." I joked, but he cut me off, " This is not a joke!" he said loudly, " If you get hurt..." " I'll take my chances." I said dangerously. He shook his head, " You're...scary..." he said. " Anything else?" I asked. " Yeah, I miss you." he said, hugging me. *Preminition* We burst into the coronation and time skipped. I flew across the room and landed in a fetal position, then watched as the Charmed Ones were destroyed by a remorseless Cole and Marti. Mom and Dad had just faced Piper and Leo, but they saw that I had been knocked down. Chris and Wyatt layed on the floor next to me and suddenly the elementals were in front of me. They raised their hands, but before their combined powers could hit me, Mom and Dad jumped in the way. *Preminition* " You're welcome." he said, shimmering away. ================================================================================================================= " Maybe we should burst in." Piper proposed. Pagie scoffed, " Before or after we die?" she laughed. " Everybody calm down." Phoebe said, trying to keep them both calm. " No, Phoebe, there is about an hour until Coronation starts and we are no closer to saving the world than we were days ago." Piper said angrily. " That doesn't mean we should just go in all will-nilly." Paige said, gesturing wildly. " But we're the Charmed One..s" Piper said, pausing at the realization that they weren't the Charmed Ones anymore. " No, we're the Charmed Ones." Chris said, " That means we're going to have to find a way to do this now." " I have a plan." I said, charging into the room, " But it's not gonna be easy. Piper, did you guys get the potion to help Kyle?" I asked, getting a nod, " We're gonna need him." I said, filling them in on my plan. ===================================================================================================================== " Forces of the dark arts, we invoke..." the high priest shouted, gesturing into the air. The ritual had started and there was an oddness to it that Peter and Caly Summers recognized right away, but they ignored their guts. " Are you sure you want to do this without Drake?" Peter asked. Caly sighed, " I'd rather not, but if it's...I'm with you and he'll follow later." she smiled. " I love you." Peter gushed. " I love you, too." Caly said, looking back at the priest, " What kind of spell is this?!" she asked. Peter and Caly knew that these didn't sound like any spells they'd known. There was something fishy for sure. Three demon witnesses were also...off. They held the grimoire with a bag and their positions were all off. They looked worriedly over at Marti, Cole and Talik. " Do you wish to invoke the darkness?" the priest asked. " I asked you a question." Caly thundered. " Do you wish to invoke the spirits?" the priest shouted back. " We can just vanquish him after." Peter said, turning to the priest, " Yes." " You sure?" the priest asked. " Yes, Dammit, now hurry before..." Caly said direly. The priest transformed into Drake, " ...Before your son gets here? Aww, dad, I'm not that late, am I?" I asked, raising my hand and blowing him backwards! The three witnesses snapped their fingers and suddenly they were the original Charmed Ones. " And we thought this would be hard." Paige said sarcastically. " FUCK!" Cole shouted from the corner. " Phoebe, can you please kick his ass?!" I asked. " Gladly." she said, following him as he started to run. " Paige." I said, nodding to Talik, who shimmered out. " On it." she said, orbing after him. " You treacherous son of a..." Marti said, pointing his crossbow at me. " HEY!" caly said, lowering his crossbow. " Right, you...got a gift for you too." I said, " Kyle." Kyle orbed in beside Marti and punched him in the face, " I've been waiting to do this." he said, chasing Marti deeper into the cavernous Underworld. " Mom, Dad." I said carefully, " This isn't you." " Yeah, I think it is, you ungrateful little..." Mom said, but Piper cut her off, " Say one more word and I'll blow you up!" Piper said, readying her hands. Mom sneered and grabbed Piper, shimmering away. Wyatt and Chris walked over beside me, " Leaving us with..." I said, smiling at them, " Dad." " It didn't have to be this way, son." Peter said, " We want you here, with us. Helping us." he pleaded. I looked from Wyatt and Chris to him, " Maybe it's you that needs to come back to our side. Dad, it's not too late. I need you." I pleaded. " I'm sorry, I cant." he said apologetically. I closed my eyes tight, " Chris." I said, allowing Chris to telekinetically throw him backwards against the wall, " Don't worry, it'll be over soon." " Are you gonna be okay?" Wyatt asked me. I nodded, " Gettin there." I said, feeling the wind pick up, " Here they come boys." I said, bracing myself for what was to come. ========================================================================================================================== Phoebe followed Cole to a deeper region in the caves. Cole disappeared as Phoebe moved around. She immediately saw Coop and fluttered to him. " Coop! Oh my gosh, are you alright?" she said, checking him for injuries. He sighed in relief, " Phoebe. How'd you...where's the others?" he asked. " Fighting. I'll fill you in later." She said, kissing him. He enjoyed the kiss until he saw Cole materialize behind her, " PHOEBE!" he shouted, but it was too late and Phoebe was thrown across the room! " Honey, I think you're hurting my guest." Cole said. " I'm not your guest." Coop said angrily. " You asshole. Why don't you just die?" Phoebe said in despair. Cole laughed and walked closer to her, " Now what fun would that be?" he asked joyfully. " The fact that you're enjoying this means that you haven't changed." Phoebe said, trying to guilt him into stopping, but he smiled. Cole walked to her and pouted, " Nope." he said, hurtling a fireball at her! ================================================================================================================== Paige found herself orbing around, trying to find Talik and her husband. She finally stopped when she noticed Henry lying sideways on the ground. She walked closer, but stopped immediately when she felt herself being watched. " Henry." she whispered, " Henry, where is he?" " He's behind you!" Talik said behind her. Before she could turn, he shimmered to the other side, " Come on, Paige, you were an almighty Charmed One!" he taunted. Paige punched wildly, finally landing a blow. " Didn't your mother ever tell you not to taunt the witch." she said angrily. " Yes. She was a saint." Talik smiled. " Any last requests before I orb your ass into a volcano?" Paige said in a very irritated tone. " Just one." Talik answered. ======================================================================================================================= Piper and Caly materialized at the top of a nearby tower and Piper immediately punched Caly for her troubles. Caly yelped and jumped on top of Piper, swinging at her, landing some blows. She and Piper exchanged blows for a few minute before they broke up and stared at each other. " I don't believe you!" Piper shouted. Caly smiled, licking her bloody lip, " It was easy. Would have been easier if your son wasn't seducing my son with all the goodness. I love my son and my husband! I need them to be here with me..,with me! I need to be here." she said, sobbing uncontrollably. Piper looked at her as if she was the young woman she had rescued all those years ago, " What are you talking about?" she asked. " I have cancer." Caly said bluntly, " I cannot leave them, not now! I have to do this so I can be better." she said through tears. A tear ran down Piper's cheek as she watched Caly break down, " There's a better way." Piper said, hugging Caly tightly. " Piper...if this ends with me dying, help them." Caly asked desperately. " Don't tale like that." Piper whispered, " But we have to reverse this! The kids are off fighting the elementals and my sisters and their husbands are in serious danger!" she said frantically. Caly broke from her tears, " No. They'll kill them!" she said barely above a whisper. She stood and Piper grabbed her shoulder and they shimmered away quickly. ===================================================================================================================== I stood in the middle of Wyatt and Chris, holding their hands. We stood on a roof in the middle of San Francisco, thunder rumbling and lightning flashing. The elementals stood facing us, a wicked smirk on their faces. Wyatt squeezed tighter, " Are you scared?" he asked. I blinked sporadically, " Yeah." I said with a half smile. Chris squeezed my other hand, causing me to look at him, " Don't be." he smiled. I smiled too and looked back at the elementals with a certain confidence that I couldn't identify. " Finally stop running." the Fire elemental said, bursting into flames. Wyatt sneered, " Small talk's not our thing." he said. " Really?" The wind elemental said. " I'm done with this." The earth elemental said, " I grow tired of this moral toil." " Toil? Where have you been?" Chris asked. " You really think you can challenge us? What do you say to us defeating you?" the water elemental said. I raised my hands to my chest, " Only one way to find out." I said, blasting the earth elemental to the ground behind them! I raised my hand again to freeze the elementals and turned to Chris. Chris raised his arm and shouted, " Behind the elementals!" and soon I materialized behind them. They fought hard to break my freeze and they did. I was about to attack one of them, but the Earth elemental swatted me backwards! I slid to the edge of the roof and stopped before I went too far. " Drake!" Chris and Wyatt shouted at the same time. I gasped in pain as the rain began to fall. My eyes rolled in my head, trying to find the balance between "out" and more "out". I looked around to see Chris orbing in and out, causing the elementals to hi each other with their powers. Wyatt was levitating and throwing the Fire elemental around with his telekinesis. Chris was about to get hit, but I raised my hand slowly and blasted the Water elemental, causing it to fall apart and recombine! The fire elemental turned to me and threw flames at me and I flinched, but I noticed that nothing had hit me. I looked up to see a blue shield and I smiled weakly at Wyatt, who was immediately blasted out of the sky by the wind elemental. Chris raised his hand and let electricity flow from his hands, but it was no use. The Fire elemental was coming to me, so I kicked him in the balls and rolled over to Chris and Wyatt. ========================================================================================================================= Phoebe had gotten Cole into a corner and just as she was about to let him have it, she heard someone call her name. She turned to see Kyle standing behind her, with a swollen eye and Marti's crossbow at his back. " Let him go and I'll let him go." Marti smirked. Phoebe let her foot fall from Cole's throat and backed away from him. Marti let his crossbow fall and Coop tripped him as he moved backwards! Kyle quickly got to the crossbow and shot it into Marti's chest, causing him to disappear in a flash of flames. Phoebe looked back to Cole, who shimmered away, " DAMN!" she said hurriedly. " Come on." Kyle said untying Coop, " We need to get to the fight." Phoebe nodded, " Been to one, not sure I have anything left." she chuckled. " Watching you turned me on!" Coop said, getting to his feet. " Just wait..." Phoebe said tauntingly. Kyle sighed and orbed them away. ========================================================================================================================= " I have a plan...what if we combine the elementals? Then Chris can zap them with his powers...and if worse comes to worse-Wyatt, wind's coming, deflect!" I said quickly. Wind blew and Chris raised his hand and tried to move wind and it was working until wind put more pressure on his powers and I looked to Wyatt, who looked to be concentrating hard. I grabbed his hand and he looked at me. I mouthed, " You can do it." and Chris smiled. He did as he promised and sent Water and Wind into Earth and I blasted Fire back into them, causing them to merge! They spun around, whirling into dust and the Fire elemental howled and sent two fireballs flying past me and into Wyatt and Chris' chests! The rain turned into fiery rain as it fell from the sky and I remembered my dream, " The sky is fallin...". I dodged the fiery rain and noticed him through all the chaos. He marched to me, hands outstretched and I tried to blast him, but it had no affect! A second before he got to me, my mother, father, Leo, and Piper shimmered in and my mother ran in front of us and he shoved her backwards and she slid as I had, but she didn't stop! " MOM!" I shouted as she went over the edge. Phoebe, Kyle and Coop orbed in, followed by Talik, Henry and Paige. The Fire demon flew back as Piper blasted him back a few steps, but he landed on his feet. He looked so enraged as he raised both his hands and created a beam of fire and it flew at me! Before I could move, Talik shimmered in front of me and absorbed the full blast! He flew backwards and landed on me. " No!" I shouted, looking at his charred body, " I'm so sorry." I said tearfully. " Best thing I ever did." he said, exploding into flames. I looked up at him and stood. Wyatt and Chris limped over beside me and I immediately grabbed their hands, " I call upon the ancient powers, in this time and in this hour! Extinguish his flames and show him cold, send him back to the hell he knows!" I chanted. The second time, Chris and Wyatt caught on and chanted with me. The elemental moved like he was in the matrix, swaying this way and that in slow motion, then blew up, causing us all to fall backwards! I rose quickly and ran to the ledge, dad right behind me. I looked over the edge and saw my mom's body! She'd landed on the trashcans and dented quite a few of them and I looked over to dad, who had already started to sob. I felt his arms aroundme and I began to sob too.