MEGA W.I.T.C.H. AU

By: FunahoMisaki

(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)

(A/N: Just so you're aware

"Hey what's up?" – Normal talking

"You okay?" – Telepathy or thoughts

"I warned you." – Nerissa.

Okay Authors Note over)

For one week Will went about her normal non-guardian routine, barely registering her mom's surprise when she got an 80 on a test in History thanks to Nerissa's help.

For one week the teachers kept a close eye on the girl but maintained their distance. For one week Hay-Lin and Cornelia remained distant and a bit scared of Will while Taranee and Irma were with her every spare moment distracting her from what she had seen and done.

For one week Cassidy tailed Will around school and town, trying to get familiarized with it again with Halinor and Kadma tagging along around town.

For one week things almost seemed normal but that was never meant to last not with those five girls.

Tossing the remaining former guardians in the mix… well Nerissa was surprised that something didn't happen sooner really.

"Nobody move!" A man in a ski mask yelled as the girls were hanging out with the former guardians at the Silver Dragon, Irma nearly dying of laughter as Cassidy and Yan-lin told the girls the story of how Kadma had tried to impress Halinor only to fail epically as the blond giggled and Kadma retaliated with her own embarrassing stories of the two.

"Just one guy with a gun dealing with five current guardians and four formers? Is he stupid or suicidal?" Nerissa asked amused more than anything as she looked at the gunman. The other four former guardians didn't skip a beat.

"So the next thing Kaddie did was try to show off how many Lurdens she could take down with one move." Yan-lin pointedly ignored the gunman as she continued telling the younger girls the tale, noting with smug approval that Will had finished half of her plate before the man busted into the Silver Dragon.

"Then it snowballed into a contest between those four about who could take down the most." Halinor said giving her older friends a pointed look while at least Yan-lin had the grace to look sheepish at that.

"Ladies I said don't move!" The gunman said looking at the old women in disbelief since four out of the six teenagers seemed tense while two were relaxed along with the three old women. Cassidy was as unphazed and mostly amused by the man as the older women, Will was just staring at him slightly amused at how Nerissa was mocking him without anyone else knowing.

"We're merely telling these young ladies a story from our youth. I didn't think young men these days were so rude as to interrupt and threaten their elders." Halinor said smoothly and looking at the gunman disappointed as if he should be ashamed of himself as she set her cup of tea down with a rather ominous clink noise.

"Give a young man a gun these days and he thinks he can do whatever he wants." Yan-lin said with a shake of her head as if she too were disappointed.

"What are you old ladies going to do about it?" The man demanded storming towards them angrily with the gun held tight in his hands.

"We're over sixty and have faced more fights and hardships in our lives than you ever will. We can do as we damn well please and no half grown boy with a temper and a gun will scare us." Kadma said with a snort as she gave the man a disdainful look, using her best regal and haughty tone.

"Are you just going to let him get away with threatening them Will? Former Guardians or not they are old women who are being threatened." Nerissa pointed out making the protective guardian instincts inside of Will rear its head as the man stormed closer to them. Every Guardian had two sets of instincts, protective instincts and elemental instincts. Older former Guardians had the instinct to guide and nurture newer younger Guardians. The strength of those instincts depended on the strength of the Guardian and the Guardians bond with the Heart of Kandrakar.

Will was possibly one of the strongest Guardians Nerissa ever knew of aside from the originals, her bond with the Heart around her neck was stronger than Nerissa or Cassidy's had ever been, and right now. Those instincts were about to be pushed back into activation by this unwitting human threatening what Will deemed as hers.

"Take one step closer and I break your arm." Will hissed, suddenly on her feet in between the gunman and the Former Guardians who look as surprised as anyone else at her movements.

"Do you have a death wish girlie?" The man demanded staring at Will surprised while Taranee and Irma almost instantly stood up to give Will some back up just in case.

"I was supposed to make a wish?" Nerissa asked in surprise making Will snort slightly. Well that was a bit morbid but yeah a bit funny.

"I've seen things a lot bigger, a lot meaner, and a hell of a lot uglier than you. I'm not scared of you and I will not hesitate to hurt you if you try to hurt one of my friends." Will said making it look as if she were snorting at the gunman instead of at the words of the woman haunting her.

"Oh yeah and what if I try to hurt you?" The man sneered pouting the barrel of the gun right between Will's eyes. A woman nearby gasped in horror, the former Guardians stood up angrily, Irma and Taranee growled and even Hay-Lin and Cornelia stood up glaring at the man. Nerissa was trying to slap the man since she couldn't zap him but she just passed through him harmlessly. Will hadn't even batted an eye as she stared him down unafraid.

"You little pussy ass prison bitch! If I weren't dead I'd show you my Keeper Super Strength!" Nerissa was yelling too, giving Will a new arsenal of words to use and a useful tidbit of info. Super Strength? That…explained a lot actually.

"Even if you did take me down… what's going to save you from them?" Will asked calmly as she raised an eyebrow at the man, nodding towards her friends who all looked ready to pounce on the man. Taranee had a tendril of smoke rising from her lips, Hay-lin's hair was beginning to move in a not yet existent breeze, the table they were at began rattling slightly and only Will and possibly the former guardians noticed the water in Irma's glass slowly rising up on its own.

Even without a Heart to fuel their powers, the formers were ready to unleash their powers and all the experience they had gained with them. The air around Cassidy was beginning to lower in temperature, Yan-lin was beginning to flicker in and out of view, Kadma's eyes were starting to glow green as the walls began to rattle softly, and Halinor's finger tips and hair were beginning to smoke.

"You little…" The man was near snarling as he went to pull the trigger. In an instant Will had gripped the gun barrel and squeezed it with all her might. There was a crunching and screeching of metal as the barrel twisted and warped in Will's grasp just as the trigger was pulled, much to the gunman's shock.

"What the-" there was a small explosion that knocked Will and the gunman both to the floor as the gun seemed to explode from the bullet hitting the deformed barrel. Everyone ducked on reflex as the gun blew up, most of the shrapnel hitting the two closest to the gun. On reflex more than anything, Kadma had kicked the table onto its side to protect the others from any shrapnel but her and Halinor had been sitting at the end closest to the outside with Will between them. Not even thinking about her actions Kadma had grabbed Halinor and dived to the floor, covering the blondes body with her much taller one out of habit.

"Will!" Several voices cried as one lady screamed as they all looked up at the two that had been holding the gun when it was fired. They were all terrified out of their minds for one reason or another, they all had the explosion ringing in their ears, and they all were scrambling to find the young red head.

"Kadma secure the gunman. Yannie get some towels to stem the bleeding. Cassidy get some water to try and wash some of the blood away so we can see what we're dealing with. Please tell me someone's calling for an ambulance!" Halinor took charge as she worked past the ringing in her ears but also sent the orders telepathically, just in case, as she directed the others to do something to help while she scrambled up and over to check on Will.

Will was sprawled on the ground a bit in front of the table/shield with her hand that had been on the gun covered in blood and looking mangled, there was also some blood on her chest and shoulders and her face as well. Halinor could just barely see some shrapnel sticking out of the cuts on Will's shoulder and shirt which was torn and singed and the glints of metal from the damaged hand told Halinor all she needed to know about that.

"Okay that one hurt." Will said her voice a bit slurred but otherwise steady as she blinked her eyes open much to the shocked and still recovering normal peoples disbelief. Hell even the current Guardians were surprised that she was conscious.

"I'll fucking bet it did." Nerissa said wide eyed and staring at the girl worried. She hadn't expected this. She hadn't seen this coming which meant that Will hadn't consciously decided to do that. The red head, her small heiress, had reacted on reflex and instinct. Her instincts had screamed at her to destroy the threat, to protect…and damn if she hadn't followed them.

"Will? She's still conscious that's good." Halinor said glancing at the girl surprised but relieved as she glanced up at the others, seeing Taranee talking on the phone hopefully with paramedics. Hay-lin and Cornelia seemed shocked and horrified while Irma was glaring at the unconscious or even dead gunman as she spoke on her own phone. Hopefully it was the cops she was calling, Halinor was a bit too focused on Will right now to care.

"Will someone please pick up the phone? That ringing is getting annoying." Will said making Halinor give a small smile before she frowned as she noticed Will was having trouble focusing her gaze on anything or anyone as Yan-lin returned with towels. Cassidy and Yan-lins' son were carrying a few pots with water in them and Yan-lin's daughter-in-law was rushing over with a first aid kit.

"Damn kid you are probably the most insane teenager I've ever met, and I knew Cassidy and Kadma." Nerissa said shaking her head as she tried to examine the injuries on the young red head. She could feel them faintly through her connection with Will which means that they must hurt like a bitch but Will was either in shock or close to passing out.

"Looks like she has a concussion. She must have hit her head hard when she was knocked back." Halinor said as Taranee was relaying he information to the dispatcher over her cell phone. Police sirens were heard approaching as well as another set of sirens that Halinor hoped belonged to paramedics.

"Why am I seeing two Halinors?" Will asked trying to focus her gaze while Halinor tended to the bleeding cut on the girl's face with some water and a towel. Her touch was gentle and warmer than normal, signifying the flames she had controlled for over a decade, as the older woman gently removed what few shrapnel pieces she could without risking making things worse.

"This one will need stitches. Oh Will…what were you thinking?" Halinor asked softly, putting the cloth over the face wound to try and stem the bleeding and making Will look at her bleary but confused. Guardian…guardians protect.

"I'm…a guardian. I protect. Have…you forgotten?" Will asked her voice becoming raspy and unsteady, her words making Halinor stiffen slightly as old memories came to the forefront of her mind. She had been so taken in with the mostly peaceful Kandrakar duties that she had forgotten what it was like back in those days. The days where she was the one going out and fighting the bad guys to protect everyone, the days where she had been prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the others made it home safely.

The days where she was known as the Goddess of Fire for a damn good reason.

"I suppose I have. Oh Will." Halinor said softly, sadly as she tried to tend to the rest of the girls wounds although she wasn't so sure about pulling out some of that shrapnel in the girls shoulder and chest.

A set of loud heavy footsteps had Halinor on the defensive, her eyes lighting aflame and her lips pulled back into a snarl as she crouched over Will protectively. She refused to let anyone else hurt this child! She had already been though too much!

"About time the medics showed up." Nerissa said relaxing the stance she had automatically dropped into as well despite knowing that she couldn't touch anything or anyone aside from Will.

"It's the cops and the medics Fire Fly. They'll take good care of her." Kadma said gently touching Halinor's shoulder and calming the blond former pyrokinetic down enough that she didn't launch fire balls at the medics or just lunge for their throats with her teeth. Honestly with how strong Halinor's instincts were driving her at the moment, Kadma wouldn't put it past the blond. Of course her own instincts to help, defend, protect, were making her more tense and terse than normal but she had experience as a Queen to help her reign them in… for a little while at least.

She'd probably be joining Halinor and the others in letting out their rage somewhere far, far from Heatherfield proper later. Idly Kadma wondered if Ironwood would let her have the Heart of Zambala back in order to use her powers to vent without using her life force.

"Hey Will. We're going to hand you over to the medics now alright? You need to get to the hospital to have those wounds looked over and we'll be along shortly." Kadma bent down to talk to the girl who was blinking slightly up at her, trying to move as if to sit up if it weren't for Halinor's gentle but steady hands pushing her back down to lay flat.

"Okay. Might wanna do…something about those clones though." Will said trying to focus on Kadma but there seemed to be three of her. Did she make an Astral Drop somehow? Didn't she give the Heart of Zambala to Ironwood? Why would she use her life force to make so many Astral Drops?

"You have a concussion kid, seems like it is pretty nasty with how you're seeing doubles and triples of everything." Nerissa said causing Will to try and focus on the there but still not there woman. Only now there seemed to be at least four of her as she hovered over Will, her own long forgotten and thought dead instincts screaming at her as Will was gently loaded onto a stretcher and rushed towards the ambulance. The gunman was already being rushed away in a second one with a police officer riding with him.

"They have room for at least one of you to ride in the ambulance if someone wants to go with her. We have more than enough people here who can tell us what happened." Officer Lair said looking at the group who all moved as if to follow Will only for them to pause and stare at each other when they realized that there was eight of them and only one open spot.

"Go ahead Fire Fly. We'll be along with the other girls in a little while." Kadma whispered as she gently nudged Halinor towards the doors while the others were glaring each other down ready to fight in order to ride with their friend and leader. Yan-lin and Cassidy were glaring down Cornelia and Taranee respectfully while Irma and Hay-lin were glaring each other down. Their powers were just starting to show again when Halinor made it to the ambulance and began to climb inside.

"Alright ma'am. Easy there." The medic said helping Halinor up into the back of the ambulance, breaking the others from their glare off in time to see the doors close as Halinor sat next to Will holding her un-damaged hand.

"You girls stay here until the Officer says we can leave then we'll all go visit Will at the hospital immediately after." Kadma said in a stern no-nonsense voice that had the girls shrinking in on themselves just a bit since the four younger ones moved towards the ambulance without conscious thought.

"Don't worry kiddos I'll drive us there myself." Yan-lin said calming down and making the I.T.C.H. girls look at each other wide eyed, each of them going a bit pale or green in the face.

"Do you still drive insane like you used to Yannie?" Cassidy asked grinning at the woman who gave her a frown. The answer was obvious due to the I.T.C.H. girls reactions but they needed something to take their minds off of what happened and the condition Will had been in and Cassidy was the perfect one for the job.

"There is nothing wrong with my driving skills." Yan-lin said making Kadma snort slightly as the two older women realized what their red haired water user was doing.

"I'm sure Halinor, Katherine, and most of Fadden would disagree with you. Remember when we let you drive during that road trip to Miami?" Kadma asked smirking slightly and making Cassidy laugh while Yan-lin gave them both stink eyes.

"Last I heard the damage was three signs, barely missing four other cars, and didn't Nerissa throw up like six times before we switched drivers?" Cassidy asked grinning at Kadma who nodded her head.

"There's a reason why we only let you drive if we need a quick escape. You're the cook of the group, leave the driving to me or Fire Fly." Kadma said to her smaller friend who smacked her in the arm playfully.

"I just hope Will is gonna be okay. It looked like her hand was messed up something fierce." Cassidy said sighing and bringing their attention back to the reason why they were actually contemplating letting Yan-lin drive. She wanted to distract them a little bit, not make them forget why they were still here. Although Cassidy was pretty sure that none of them would ever forget how Will had looked after the gun exploded right in her face, literally.

"She's with Halinor and that old hippie took a liking to her. Auramere or no auramere if anyone tried hurting Will with her around…third degree burns are the least of their problems." Yan-lin said making the others snort at her calling Halinor an old hippie.

"You do remember that aside from the Water Demon, Fire Fly is the youngest of our group right? And if it hadn't been for…well you know, then even Red would be older than Hallie." Kadma asked raising an eyebrow at Yan-lin who shrugged.

"She's still old." Yan-lin said casually making Cassidy snort. Talk about the Pot calling the Kettle.

"Old and able to kick my ass even easier than before. I swear she spent more time learning martial arts from other worlds than reading books from other worlds." Cassidy said making the two older ones look at each other again. Honestly knowing Halinor? They really wouldn't doubt it.

While the younger generation seemed to think that she was an older and blond version of Taranee… Halinor was actually more like Irma and Cornelia. She had been the most physically active of them and the one to rebel the most.

%*-$*:_: With Halinor, Will, and Nerissa $#&_:$=

"She's going to need some surgery but thankfully her hand seems to look worse than it actually is." One paramedic called to her partner as she easily worked around Halinor holding Will's undamaged hand to check the bloody one and get the girl on some pain medicine.

"Hear that Will? Looks like your hand will be alright after all." Halinor said gently to the girl, refraining from using telepathy because of the concussion. She had learnt her lesson on that from when Kadma had gotten a concussion protecting her and it had been worsened by the use of telepathy, although the proud Earth user hadn't said anything about it and seemed glad that she had protected Halinor from taking the damage.

"How did her hand get like this much less the rest of her?" The paramedic asked looking at Halinor who glanced at her but then returned her focus to Will's bleary eyes.

"She was protecting us. The gun blew up when the man tried to fire it, she got hit the worst since it had been pointed right at her head." Halinor said her eyes flashing darkly when she remembered the man threatening Will with the gun.

"Shrapnel is a funny thing. One of my uncles was in the military and he once told me a story about how when a grenade went off one guy right next to the blast didn't have a scratch on him, but someone who had been about a hundred yards away had taken a piece through the eye." The paramedic said before calling out over her radio the status of the girl and what medicine's that she was using to the doctors.

"I was a child through World War Two, about six years old when it ended. The others probably remember more since they were older than me, but I can definitely remember the bomber raids." Halinor said her voice lowering and becoming darker at that. Her parents had cowardly saved their own lives and hadn't thought to check and see if she or her older brother were in the shelter. If it hadn't been for Kadma grabbing her and pulling her to another bomb shelter, she would have died during her childhood. As it was she had lost her older brother to a bomber raid when he did not make it to the shelter in time.

"Yeah those were horrible. I never wanted to feel that weak again, that's why I wanted so much power and to stop all fighting. No one should have to experience that." Nerissa said shaking her head sadly, she remembered all too well what they had been like. Her father had died as a soldier and her mother had been killed in a bomber raid, possibly even the same one that stole away Halinor's brother.

She had been left as one of the many orphans of war and probably would have been left for dead in the system if it hadn't been for Cassidy's family immediately taking her in.

"The shrapnel in her shoulder and chest, I didn't want to remove it just in case but should it really stay inside of her for this long?" Halinor asked changing the subject and wincing as she looked at the metal sticking out of the young red head.

"We'll have to leave it for at the hospital. We don't want to risk taking something out that could be stopping her from bleeding to death. It's a miracle she's still conscious as it is." The medic said looking over the shrapnel and wincing as she saw all the smaller metal pieces as well.

"I can already tell that the one on her cheek will need stitches. How likely is it that it will scar?" Halinor asked looking at Will's face where the towel had been replaced by a blood stained bandage that was mostly hiding the deep cut that went from the side of the girls neck up to her temple. Halinor knew that head wounds generally looked worse than they really were but she really doubted that the damage was superficial.

"Very likely I'm afraid. That will be tough on her self-confidence." The medic winced as she also checked out the damage done to the girls face, it wasn't a straight line in fact it seemed rather jagged so it was likely to leave a rather nasty scar.

"Scars are like tattoo's with better stories because they tell that you survived." Halinor said wisely, one hand reaching towards her chest where she had a few scars from when she was Guardian and had been tortured for information. She hadn't told them what they wanted to know though. No matter what damage they had done to her body she hadn't told them what they wanted to know.

"Are you her grandmother ma'am?" The medic asked smiling slightly at how much the blond elderly woman obviously cared for the young red haired girl who was likely to be hailed as a hero for taking down the gunman.

"No I'm afraid not. I'm just…" Halinor trailed off when Will squeezed her hand with more strength than she thought the girl had at the moment. Granted it was barely enough to make the woman wince but it was certainly enough for Halinor to know that Will could hear her.

"Closest…one…I have…. To…a…grandma…" Will rasped out as the medic looked surprised at hearing the girl speak.

"Easy there kid don't talk. Save your strength and it looks like that some of the shrapnel hit your lungs. Here." The medic said smiling although she was surprised as she quickly put an oxygen mask over the girls face. Will's mahogany eyes met Halinor's cerulean ones as the old woman stared at her surprised and touched.

The last thing Will heard before finally blacking out was Nerissa's dryly stated words.

"Congrats Will you're now being adopted."