Chapter One
It was always in late spring each year when the Charmed Halliwell sisters met in the manor attic with one goal in mind, sorting the past. It had long ago been decided that the sorting and cleaning wasn't truly the purpose, but to instead share quality sister time. Now that each had their families and lives, it was harder to find these moments. Paige and Henry lived just across the street with their three teenagers, Henry Jr, Samantha and Salina. Phoebe and Coup lived next to Paige with their three daughters, Rose, Peyton and Patty. While never far apart, the sisters rarely found themselves alone and cherished the times they could.
"Piper, remind me to thank Chris and Wyatt later." Phoebe suddenly said after they had shared a good laugh.
"For what?"
"I haven't had to be covered in demon goo or save an innocent in months. Those two really scare off any major demonic threats."
"Your boys sure do put on a show when vanquishing. It's pretty amazing watching them work." Paige added.
"I just wish Chris' demon hunting hobby hadn't rubbed off on Wyatt. They almost seem obsessed." Piper replied.
"And Millie?" Phoebe asked.
Piper smiled. Millie was her baby girl, though hardly a child anymore. She was every bit a young independent woman, that Prue had been, though her personality differed somewhat. Millie was lighter at heart, relaxed in the youngest sibling role, but just as clever and stubborn as her older brothers. When it came to demons, she was efficient in a fight, having been honored with both her Mothers powers. While her brothers keep close watch on the dealings and rising Power in the Underworld, squashing any threat they found, she was content, waiting for trouble to come to them. She was taking heavy class loads at UCSF, and working as the weekend bartender at P3; hardly home yet always dependable for a 'demon problem'.
"Ready when trouble knocks." The proud mother said, then. "And if her brothers would slow down on the vanquishes I might get to see her more often."
"Nothing like demons to bring a family together." Paige mused.
Phoebe nodded in understanding, turned and grabbed a box that was covered in years of dust from the near corner. Brushing the dust away, she opened the box to find, some sweaters, a leather jacket, jeans with a wallet in the back pocket. Phoebe's faced paled when she received a premonition of a somber and weary Leo folding the clothes and carefully placing them in the box before totally breaking down. Roughly grabbing the box and flipping off the light in Pipers office at P3, he left and the premonition ended. Unsettled, Phoebe tried to avoid her elder sister's gazed, though failed horribly.
"What in that box has you so spooked?" Piper voiced, catching Paige's attention.
"Just some old clothes and stuff."
"Pull the other one!" Paige quipped as Piper moved to take the box.
"No," Phoebe pulled back clutching the box. "You really shouldn't"
"Phoebe!" Piper exclaimed. "Enough of this nonsense let me look.
With a heavy sigh Phoebe nodded and gave Piper the box. She sat down to wait. Piper would need her after this. They hadn't spoken of the other Chris for years, though forever thankful for what he had accomplished, it hurt them all to think of the fate that had befallen him. Leo especially and Paige somewhat were tight lipped about what had exactly happened in that last exchange.
Piper stared into the box, instantly knowing the dark brown leather jacket. She frowned, reached in and pulled the jacket out, feeling the softness of the worn leather against her skin. As she turned to Phoebe with her questions she saw her daughter standing in the doorframe, staring intently at her mother and Aunts. Something was clearly amiss. Her normally vibrant blue eyes were dark and shadowed by her long spiral curls usually pulled loosely on top of her head, now falling wildly across her shoulders and down her back. Her gazed seemed almost hungry, as if she was eyeing her prey. Something was horribly wrong.
Phoebe and Paige were on their feet and moving to Piper, their eyes studying their niece. As they reached Piper, Millie smirked and the fire in her stare intensified. With an unnatural cockiness she slowly entered the room, an energy ball forming in her rising palm. This was not the daughter or niece they had been moments before discussing.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Paige murmured. "Always something when we clean the attic."
Before anyone could respond the attic filled with the jingling of orbs. With a snarl, Millie hurled the energy ball in the direction of her bothersome brothers.
Wyatt and Chris were clearly prepared as they jumped into action, Chris freezing the angry missile, while Wyatt threw a bright teal potion. When hit with the potion Millie stumbled, her eyes flickering before rolling up in her head. As she fell, Chris used his telekinesis slow her descent.
"Just what is going on here?" Piper demanded as she hurried to her daughters quickly stirring form. When she didn't receive an immediate response, she fixed her sons with an angry scowl.
Caught in her gaze, Chris fidgeted from one foot to the other and Wyatt stared at the floor. "Answers, now!"
"I was possessed." Millie groaned as she stood, then added. "For the greater good of all innocents"
"Though her voice had been light and sarcastic, her words startled and visually upset her mother and aunts.
"I'm fine now." She hurried on. "There was just this Demon sect that was possessing powerful witches, and we needed…"
"We needed to find out how to stop them, and protect future victims" Wyatt finished.
There was a silence as if the older witches had not heard a word said. Piper was the first to speak after many moments. "So you volunteered your sister?"
"I said I would help." Millie exclaimed. "One of us had to do it."
Piper Halliwell drew herself up and stiffly left the room without a word. Her sisters quickly followed leaving Wyatt, Chris and Millie stunned.
"What the hell was that about?" Chris demanded. "Everyone of us has been possessed before."
"It was something I said." Millie mused.
"Something was definitely off about their reaction." Wyatt added. "Something else must be going on."
"What though?" Chris muttered. "They were cleaning the attic. War on demonic dust mites?"
"Something major. But it will have to wait," Millie said as she pulled her hair back and glanced at her watch. "I can't ditch class again. My Professor is losing his patience with my wavering attendance."
"You're just going to ditch us instead," Chris smirked. "Mom's wrath is far worse than a teachers."
"Um, yeah. But Mom can't fail me, thus costing me my scholarship and hard work."
"True."
"Meet us on the Bridge at sunset." Wyatt said as she began to orb. Her affirmative, echoed in the attic after her.
"We're going to get it." Chris quipped as the two brother headed for the stairs. "I haven't seen her this mad since we fell into that portal."
"Fell?" Wyatt raised his eyebrow and smirked. "I clearly recall, jumping."
Chris shrugged and headed downstairs. Wyatt shook his head and followed. He knew his mother and father worried about their children. Even though they encouraged Chris, Millie and himself, to practice magic, Wyatt knew they frowned on looking for trouble. Until now, Millie had at least refrained from the hunt, but that had recently changed. Her long-time boyfriend had broken her heart and in the weeks since Millie had spent allot of time in the company of her brothers. Wyatt knew the thrill of the vanquish, dulled some of that pain and she could forget.
Wyatt and Chris found Phoebe, Paige, their mother and father standing in the foyer. Each had a somber almost sad, expression. When the brothers were noticed, anger was obvious on Piper's face.
"Do I even want to know why you both thought in nessicary to put you sister in that kind of danger?" Lea asked.
"We get possessed all the time." Chris responded. "Why is it different now?"
"Because, it happened with your knowledge, on purpose." Piper yelled. "Why must you go looking for trouble?"
"There were innocents to save!" Wyatt jumped in. "We had it under control."
"And what if you lost control?" Piper fired back. "One of you could have been killed!"
"Mom," Chris moved forward. "We had it under control. Really. Calm down. We would never enter a situation we that was beyond our strengths. We were taught by the best, have faith in that."
"I still want this demon hunting to stop." Piper fumed.
"Give a rest for a little while guys." Leo added as back up for his wife.
"So we can be sitting ducks?" Wyatt asked
"We have to keep an eye on the Underworld. There are rumors of a new big bad, gathering forces to his cause. We thought this might be a lead." Chris added.
"There is always a new big bad." Paige stated.
"It's important to be informed." Chris shot back.
"Alright! Enough." Piper thundered. "I want the demon hunting to stop. Keep an eye out and if there is an issue let one of us know when you plan to vanquish. I will speak to your sister later on this subject. Understood."
Knowing they had lost and Piper had made up her mind Chris and Wyatt just nodded. When Piper was satisfied she turned to her sisters and began to shoo them back up the stairs toward the attic. Both Paige and Phoebe playfully protesting.
"Unbelievable." Wyatt grumbled as he shuffled toward the kitchen.
Chris nodded his understanding but instead of following he sat on the second to last step to think. After a moment he felt his fathers gaze upon him.
"Yes?" He asked looking up.
"Paige and I need a favor." Leo said calmly as Paige came back down the stairs to sit next to Chris. "There is a charge…"
"For the last time Dad, I do not have time to take on a regular charge." Chris abruptly interrupted.
"Well, with the new lack of demon hunting, you should have plenty of time." Paige stated calmly.
"I don't have the ability to heal."
"I'm sure you can find ways around that." Paige smiled. "Her name is Ashleigh Eddings. I think you'll find her a pleasant challenge."
"This really isn't my thing." Chris appealed to her father.
"Sorry son, but I have a feeling you'll be just fine. You might even have fun with this." In that note of finality Leo and Paige gave Chris the details.
The Elders were concerned about Ashleigh. She was a twenty one year old witch with a tough history. It was her parentage that concerned the Elders, being both demonic and Wiccan. Her mover had been a witch and her father a demon and she had yet to really decide what side she was on. Though she knew of her powers she rarely used them, uninterested in magic. The demon population, however, seemed to find themselves very interested in her magical capabilities. There had been an increase in attacks since her mother died a few weeks before. She was alone and needed someone or something to believe in.
Late afternoon, found Chris pondering what he was going to do with his new charge. The more he thought on the subject, the angrier he became. Why in the world had he let them talk him into this? It did sound like a challenge all right, one that would take up a lot of time. With himself occupied by a charge, Millie focused on school; Wyatt would be left to watch the Underworld. Something Chris new his older brother was not going to be pleased about. Their family had efficiently shut down the 'Halliwell Boys' demon-hunting spree.
Light laughter brought Chris from his reverie. Millie had arrive for their evening meeting Wyatt had called and for some reason found Chris very entertaining.
"Your face will stick like that if your not careful." She said as she sat next to him. Chris only then realized he had been scowling, relaxing his features he stared solemnly at her.
"What?" She asked unfazed by his glare. "Mom could not have been that bad."
"I now have a full time charge." Chris sighed. "Thanks to Aunt Paige and Dad. It wasn't Mom I had to worry about."
"Could be fun." Millie tried.
"I'm sure." He moaned. "It will be positively thrilling."
"What will be thrilling?" Wyatt asked as he appeared in a swirl of orbs.
"My punishment."
"And that would be…"
"He has a new full time obligation." Millie helped.
Wyatt looked back and forth between his siblings. "They finally gave you that charge?" Wyatt guessed.
"You knew!" Chris jumped to his feet. "You knew that they were going to push this on me and you didn't say anything. Not even a warning?"
"Sorry," Wyatt offered.
"I thought we were closer than that."
"Enough!" It was Millie that finally caught Chris' attention. "So you have a charge. Like I said could be fun. At least it's better than studying all the time. And you," she turned to Wyatt "Need to remember when you overhear important information. Chris has a point, a warning is nice."
"Sorry," Chris muttered to Wyatt. "I'm slightly irritated."
"I can tell." Wyatt smiled.
"Are you going to tell us why you called this meeting or what?" Chris asked.
"It was something those leaders of the demonic sect said this morning before we vanquished them. About one of us destined to lead the underworld. I can't get passed that."
"A Halliwell as the Source of all evil?" Chris admonished.
"Unlikely." Millie agreed.
"And their dead now, anyway."
"Aunt Phoebe was evil."
"She was the Source's wife, not the lord of Darkness. That was Cole." Chris responded.
"I still think we should check it out." Wyatt stated firmly. "You know check Magic School and any prophecies."
"That's all you bro." Chris said as he looked out over the water. "Keep us posted if you find anything or need help."
"Where are you going to be?"
"Charge-sitting"
"Studying" Millie, sighed hoisting her bag over her shoulder. "I'll be glad to help when the semester is over."
"So that's it you both just going to leave?" Wyatt was surprised.
"See you at home." Millie said as she orbed out.
Chris noticing Wyatt's turmoil walked over to his older brother before orbing away to find Ashleigh. "I'll help with what I can. But think about it. One of us as the Source, get real."
A/N: Please review! More to come for this story and A Fallen Angel. -Jules