Birthright

Authors Note: This story is a reposting and continuation of MarcD's fic Birthright available on twisting the hellmouth. Marc has been kind enough to let me adopt the idea and run with it as I felt the idea had far too much potential to just be left hanging with one chapter in the way it was since its original publishing back in 2005. The first chapter of this story is almost direct reposting of the original with a few small tweaks made here and there but after this chapter its all me.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and make no profit from their use. Charmed and Buffy remain the properties of their respective creators.

Chapter One

They say that there are days you will never forget. Be it that those reasons are for good or ill, that statement has a profound truth to it. Today, for a small group of people, would most certainly be one of those days. However, for good or ill, still remains to be seen.

All Saturdays should be like this. It was warm, but not exceedingly so, for San Francisco. The sun was shining and barely a cloud could be seen in the mid morning sky.

A family of sisters, very special sisters, sat in their den of the manor in which they all reside. The eldest sister, holding her young infant son, revelled in the calm atmosphere currently permeating the manor. Such calm was only intruded upon by the occasional conversation from her sisters, and the occasional cooing of her child. Yes, all Saturdays should be so glorious. However, rarely do they last.

Piper had just placed a sleeping Wyatt into his playpen, and went to rejoin her sisters. A content smile could be seen on her face, a smile that widened for a moment as the sign of a whitelighter appearing could be seen. It was a smile that quickly vanished when she took in the slumped form on the floor. The deadly shaft of a darklighters crossbow bolt could be seen protruding from the man's shoulder.

Her entire world spun on her for a moment, as she momentarily believed she was looking at her Leo, mentally flashing back to a few years ago when Leo had been shot and nearly killed by a high ranking darklighter named Alec who was stalking a charge of his professing to love her. The moment she realized that the figure slumped on the floor was not Leo; she suddenly remembered the long lost art of breathing.

Phoebe was already moving to the prone form on the ground. It was a man she had seen on a few occasions, but it was Paige's screech of "Dad!" that really got her moving.

Sam Wilder, whitelighter to their mother and father to Paige Mathews, lay writhing and whimpering in agony as the poison from the arrowhead worked its way into his system. If it wasn't removed and the wound healed soon then Sam would die again and this time and the last thing Phoebe or Piper wanted was for Paige to suffer the emotional anguish of loosing the only parent she had left alive so to speak as like all whitelighters Sam was technically already dead.

"Sorry Sam this is going to hurt," Phoebe warned before snapping the tip off the arrow and drawing it quickly but carefully out of the wound, wincing as doing so prompted a scream of pain from Sam's lips.

A cry that shook Piper out of the fugue state that had sunken upon her and roused her into action. "Leo," she yelled at the top of her lungs hoping that her husband would be able to come and wouldn't be stuck in some bigwig Elder meeting. If he was they would have to hope that Chris would be able to help Sam and she still didn't quite trust the dark haired, green-eyed whitelighter from the future as she got the distinct impression that there was something Chris wasn't telling them about the future he'd come from. Relief filled her when Leo materialised immediately in a flurry of orbs.

"Piper what's wrong," Leo asked having rushed down the moment he'd heard the urgency in his wife's cry. Fearing that something was wrong either with Piper or the baby he'd orbed down in record time. Rather than answer Piper just pointed, Leo followed her gesture and his eyes widened as he saw Sam's condition before he darted over, squatted down and immediately began working to heal the other whitelighter.

And this day was going so well, Piper thought as she watched her husband work to save the life of the other whitelighter. After a moment she looked away and her eyes widened as the blue force field that protected Wyatt from harm sprang into existence around the playpen. Less than a moment before a flurry of dark orbs appeared in the room and coalesced into a darklighter who blinked then immediately trained his crossbow on Leo a look of glee at the prospect of killing one of the Elders appearing on his face.

"Oh no you don't no killing in my house," Piper snapped at the darklighter before striking out at him with her molecular combustion power. The darklighter screamed in a combination of rage and pain before exploding into a plume of black dust as her power literally tore him apart instead of simply shattering him into orbs which he would have had no difficulty recovering from.

With the darklighter vanquished in the same way she'd vanquished other evil beings over the last few years Piper noted with relief that the force field around the still sleeping Wyatt had vanished which meant no more would be coming before turning her attention back to Sam and Leo. Just in time to see the golden white glow of Leo's healing powers fade as he finished repairing the damage done to Sam's body. However instead of relaxing Sam continued sobbing clearly gripped by some emotional as opposed to physical anguish.

Piper exchanged a worried look with Leo and Phoebe who both shrugged in response before Phoebe moved aside to allow Paige to approach the man who was still such a large enigma to her. Sam Wilder was her biological father. Her birth parents had given her up, trying to shield her from a life of magic, a life filled with demons coming from the pits of hell for her blood, simply because of her bloodline and hybrid nature. It was something that she was slowly able to come to terms with. The fact that she and Sam would meet and talk on occasion was somewhat of a blessing for her. She knew, as well as most of those close to her, that she had, and probably would always have issues of abandonment and that of commitment.

Still, she was coming to terms with her faults and trying to overcome them. The few conversations she had with the man had gone a long way to heal some of those old wounds. But truth be told, there were still many, too numerous to count. But, they had time. Or so she hoped.

With a few more quick paces, she suddenly found herself kneeling by her sobbing father. It was somewhat weird that the action of pulling the hurting man into an embrace took a conscious effort, yet, once done, felt more natural than she would have ever expected. As soon as she had made contact his tears only intensified.

"Sam what is it what happened," she asked more worried than she would have thought she would have been. Glancing up into the concerned brown pools of his daughter's eyes almost made him start up again. He had been so close to another set of brown eyes; however, those he would never see again.

Silent tears streamed down his face as he was forced to look away from the intense and concerned gaze of his only daughter. Another sob was released as he tried to speak. It took a few calming breaths, and it was barely a whisper, but he managed to respond.

"He's dead. I couldn't save him. He's dead and it's my fault, all my fault." He glanced back up, not sure what he was expecting to see. There was now confusion in those brown eyes of his daughter. But the concern was still there, as was the worry and more than just a little curiosity.

"Who Sam who died?"

The world seemed to fade away. The only two occupants to currently exist in Sam's mind were that of himself and his daughter. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to hold back the tears as he reflected on what he just witnessed not more than a few scant moments ago. He looked down as if ashamed of himself. His voice was barely audible, but to all those in the room, it sounded as if man had shouted the answer as if blasted through with a megaphone.

Not a breath could be heard, or a heartbeat felt as he spoke aloud the two words that would change the lives of everyone present. The pain of loss could clearly be heard laced in with the words that no one was expecting. Opening his eyes, trying to convey the sorrow and guilt as he breathed the words, he replied "Your brother."

Paige was stunned, and she wasn't the only one. The fact that the day had started out so well should have been a clue that a whopper was coming her way. But this was a bit much.

Her father had almost died, right in front of her eyes. How he had managed to make it to the manor with a darklighters arrow in him just about floored her. She had felt a surge of relief as she watched Leo heal the man she currently still held in her embrace. She could vaguely recall the entrance of a darklighter, but her sister, well, her half-sister, had taken care of him with no problem.

It almost seemed as if her father was inconsolable. She had no clue what could have caused such a reaction in such a man, and she was shocked, and more than a little taken aback by his reason.

For one thing, she had asked him about exactly that subject; one of the first things she had asked him when they started having periodic 'chats' was if she had any other family out there. He had been quite adamant that she had no other brothers or sisters, half or otherwise, besides the sisters she currently knew and lived with. She found it unbelievable that he would lie to her like that. That thought alone was enough to get her blood to begin to boil.

However, the situation they were currently embroiled in caught up to her, and the pain in his eyes was more than enough to quench whatever anger had begun to creep into her system. The man was suffering more at this moment that she would ever wish on anyone, enemy or friend. This was something that they would talk about, but now was clearly not the time.

Then there was the fact that she had a brother. Was he a full blood relative? Maybe even a twin? She couldn't imagine him fathering any other children after what had happened between him and her mother. Her eyes lit up for a moment at the thought of a sibling, a full-fledged sibling. Now she loved her sisters with all of her heart and soul. There was nothing they wouldn't do for her or her for them.

However, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it, the fact that they were only half-sisters was something that ate away at her. A minor nit-picky thing, true, but it was there nonetheless. The idea that there was someone that she could call brother, and never need to place a 'half' in with, brought a surge of emotion she never knew she could feel. It was a sense of longing that made part of her less incomplete.

That sense seemed to lift her spirits for a moment, just knowing that there really was someone out there that could fill that void. However, the tense of musings brought her crashing back down to the here and now.

There 'was' someone like that. However, there was no more. He's dead. That thought, what Sam had said just moments before, abruptly brought her crashing back down to earth and a profound sense of mourning swept over her. It was weird to mourn someone that you had never met; someone that you never even knew existed until after their passing. Was it really him that she was mourning, or was it what he represented? How could it be a man that she knew nothing about? She had faced loss in the past. She had lost loved ones; she had lost her parents at a young age.

Yet there seemed to be a connection that she never knew she had; something that she had only become aware of being severed. It had been so natural that she had never even realized it was there. Hell, until this instant she never really knew it had been severed.

Though, with her trying to reconcile what her mind was trying to conjure, a lack of something brought a whole new feeling of loss. Was it a connection? She had heard it said on more than one occasion that twins had a connection that couldn't be explained. What would that mean for twins with a mystical background? How could she have never noticed it before? Or perhaps she had suddenly imagined all of this. May the Goddess help her she wasn't sure if she wanted to be imagining all of this.

"Sam."

The sound of Phoebe's voice shocked Paige out of the daze that she'd begun to settle into and she looked up to see everyone seemed to be as confused as she was. She forced herself to pay attention as Phoebe continued to speak.

"Who's her brother? I didn't know she had any." Sam made no move to remove himself from the comfort his daughter was providing as he pulled himself together.

"His name is Alexander, he's Paige's twin brother." He could feel the hitch in Paige's breathing, but decided to continue nonetheless. "And until just a short while ago, I never even knew he existed."

A Few Minutes Later

Silence ruled in the kitchen of the Halliwell manor where everyone had relocated to from the living room. Everyone was waiting for Sam to elaborate on the bombshell he'd dropped on them a few minutes ago. Piper, holding baby Wyatt, sat at the kitchen table with Sam sitting next to Paige, Leo sitting next to Piper, and Phoebe sitting in between her two sisters. Chris, who had orbed in not too long ago and been quickly brought up to speed on what had happened, stood leaning against the counter off just to the side.

All eyes were on Sam, who was currently staring into a steaming cup of coffee that Piper had placed in front of him. The only one who didn't seem to have his full attention on the older whitelighter was Leo, who occasionally shot suspicious glances at Chris when he thought no one was looking as like his wife there was something about Chris that he didn't trust of course the fact that Chris had more or less manoeuvred him into his current position as an Elder after the release of the Titans, and thus not able to give his family the time he would have liked, didn't help matters.

Finally the silence was broken.

"I don't even know where to start." Now all eyes were on Sam who looked over to his daughter. "As I've said before, giving you up was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do." He shook his head. "I just can't believe she did this to me."

"Who and what did she do?"

He glanced up at Leo, who had voiced the question. "You know who Angela Connors is, right?"

Leo nodded his head. "Of course, she's one of the few Elders who survived the Titans being released." A quick glance in Chris's direction was not missed by anyone.

"Yes well her becoming an Elder only happened about a decade ago. At the time, I considered her one of my closest friends" he shook his head "it was her that I trusted to make sure my children would be safe." Sam's hand tightened around the coffee mug for a short moment before he was able to reign in his anger. "She betrayed me."

He looked up from his coffee. No one knew quite what to say in response to his comment. The curiosity could almost be felt in waves. Leo, while still curious, held a small amount of scepticism, nonetheless. Not that Sam could blame him. Had the woman not come forward and told him the truth, he never would have believed it either.

"At the time, she didn't really see it as betraying me. She was trying to protect me, and my son." If at all possible, the level of curiosity in the room seemed to double in intensity, and Leo's eyes lit up with understanding, as he cast a glance at his sleeping son.

Shaking his head, Leo spoke up. "There's a reason why whitelighters are forbidden from getting involved with their charges," all eyes suddenly rested on him, "we have our own oracles, those that can see into the future. It was prophesized a long time ago that a male born of both witch and whitelighter would herald a new age." Everyone glanced down at the sleeping baby, a thoughtful and worried expression crossed Chris's face which he quickly schooled to impassivity. "Though what sort of age would come forth was too clouded to see. Only one oracle was able to breach the mist and he died shortly thereafter. Because of that, it is widely believed that it will lead to dark times."

Piper looked visibly shaken. "Is Wyatt…is he…will they come after him?"

Leo softly shook his head. "No, we're fortunate enough to have some good people backing us. There has been some worry, but I don't think any of the Elders would try anything. The act alone, of harming an innocent, and Wyatt is innocent, goes against all of their beliefs."

Sam shook his head. "If they were going to do anything, it would have been before he was born, or the moment after. Truth be told, I believe that had Angela not acted as she had, and the Elders had become aware of his existence, he may have been in great danger from all sides."

"Having a witch that's part whitelighter gives the Elders cause for concern; especially if they come from the Warren line." All eyes went to Chris who decided to make his presence known.

Paige looked around in confusion. "Why?"

Chris, Leo, and Sam all exchanged a glance before shrugging. Leo was the one to answer. "Well, the mystical side of your family – the Warren line – is passed down, in the case of you three, from your mother" he looked over at Paige. "While their father is completely mortal, with no magic to pass down, you have the core of a whitelighter backing up that of the Warren line."

The three sisters looked at each other. "What does that mean?" Paige asked, and Piper and Phoebe nodded their head with their sister's question.

Leo sighed. "What it means is that once the time has come, and you have gone as far as you can with your powers, individually, you will most likely be the most powerful in the group." A thoughtful expression crossed Leo's face before he shrugged. "Though, truth be told, you may never stop growing in your powers. It seems that all the normal rules of magic go out the window where The Charmed Ones are concerned." This brought a smile to most of the faces at the table.

"That is another thing," Sam said drawing all eyes back to him. "The Charmed Ones were always prophesized to be three females. That is where your true power lies. As powerful as you may all become individually, it is the power of three that makes you The Charmed Ones. And that is something that Alexander would never be able to be part of. At least, not to the extent that you three can."

The three sisters looked at each other in confusion, before Leo picked up the conversation. "He's right. Normally another witch, especially a male one would not have much to contribute to a power of three spell, at least not where two of the other witches were from your line. Sure they could lend some of their magic, but it wouldn't contain anywhere near the power that you three share."

Glancing at Paige he continued. "Though, in Alexander's case, it may be slightly different. His connection with you, as a twin, and his mystical connection that would come with it, would help in powering a spell, as would his link shared by all of you, through his mother."

All three sisters looked down at the table, a sad expression on their faces at the mention of their deceased mother, even Paige, who never really knew the woman, would feel a sense loss when she was mentioned. Piper, having known her mother the longest, couldn't help but to pull her child in closer.

Chris's voice broke them all from their thoughts. "What exactly did your friend do?" he asked.

Sam sighed. "She knew what would happen if the Elders found out, so she quickly cast a spell of her own over him, shielding him from them at the moment he was born. I never even got a chance to hold him; his birth was a complete surprise to all of us, since we had never even considered that there might be more than one baby." He gave a slight smile. "It actually was fast work on her part."

His smile vanished then, and his eyes darkened slightly. "She told me she knew how much trouble this would cause," he continued looking over at his daughter. "Your brother is just a few minutes older than you. Shortly after you were born, she used whitelighter dust on all of us" he shook his head "having had my wings clipped, I was vulnerable to its magic. She made it so that we only remembered delivering you."

Paige, of her own accord, reached out to grasp her father's hand. This seemed to calm him down a small bit, and he continued with his tale.

"It was only a few weeks ago when she cast a memory spell on me, allowing me to remember what she did. She had told me that she had planned on separating the two of you, and placing him in the care of an orphanage similar to where you were placed. She was personally going to watch over him." He stopped for a moment. Taking a sip of his coffee, he attempted to reign in his emotions. As upset as he was, it would serve no real purpose to allow his anger to cloud his story.

"Before she was able to place him, The Source himself intercepted her. She barely escaped, and was unsure of what to do, afterwards. It seemed that The Seer had foretold of Alexander's birth, and that he personally would ambush her. And it worked. She barely got away with her life, and he was able to take Alexander."

Worried glances shot across the room. With all the talk about what a whitelighter/witch hybrid might be capable of, the thought of one being influenced by malevolent power of The Source didn't bode well for any of their imaginations. Add that to the prophecy foretold by The Elders' own Oracles, and no good could have come of this.

Sam, on the other hand didn't seem to notice any of this. In fact, if they didn't know any better, they would swear he was smiling.

"That bastard wanted to warp him. Make him dark and evil" he actually snorted with amusement "That Bastard never stood a chance."

Before anyone could question what he was talking about he continued. "Spell after spell was thrown at the child, but nothing that The Source, or his minions, could do seemed to have any effect on turning the baby towards an evil disposition," he looked up with a proud smile on his face "I'm told that it almost drove The Source mad, that for two full years anything and everything they tried just seemed to be absorbed by Alexander, and cleansed as soon as it went into him."

Paige's breath hitched. "So they killed him?"

Sam shook his head. "No, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm actually glad that The Source was as patient and intelligent as he was" he sighed "when it became clear that the odd spell wasn't going to work, they moved him from the underworld to a place where evil permeated the very air the people breathe." He looked straight at Leo who paled as he realised what Sam was getting at.

"You don't mean…" he started to say his voice trailing off in horror.

"Yes Leo I do. They took him to Sunnydale."

"The Hellmouth Oh My God he wouldn't have stood a chance," Chris exclaimed prompting the sisters to look at him and see the sick and horrified expression on his face. Exchanging looks of mounting concern the sisters turned to Leo to explain what exactly a Hellmouth was and why it was such a bad thing to be around.

"The Hellmouth is sort of what it sounds like. It's a fissure or tear in the dimensional barriers that separates our dimension from a number of different hell dimensions," he explained looking around the table to make sure that everyone was paying attention to what he was saying. "And they really are hell, not the underworld which is kind of a halfway house a holding area between our world and the various hell dimensions. The energy that the tear gives off is so dark that it can even have an effect on normal people. To have a child, a whitelighter no less, soaking up that sort of energy, I don't know if he'd survive, let alone stay on the side of light."

The girls, especially Paige, looked crushed. Interestingly enough, Chris was looking about the same as Paige.

"But he did."

That simple statement brought everyone's sharp gaze over to a smiling Sam. If it were at all possible, that smile seemed to brighten up the room, even Paige couldn't help but smile in response.

"He soaked it all up, and just like the spells, it couldn't touch him. He just made it part of him, clean and pure like the rest," Sam explained looking proud.

"How do you know all of this?" Sam sent a soft smile at Piper, who had asked the question.

"When Angela told me what happened, she also informed me of the small sect of demons that The Source had put in charge of watching over young Alexander, since he had to take his place in the underworld and could not watch first hand their success." Sam's voice took on a hard edge as he continued.

"I tracked down one of those bastards and got him to tell me every little piece of information he knew." Sam couldn't help but think to himself, or so I thought.

"How did you do that?"

He sent a soft smile at his daughter, before locking gazes with Leo. After a brief nod, it was clear that Leo understood what had transpired. After all, the man would do no less for his own baby boy.

"You don't want to know."

After that comment and the expression that accompanied it, they let it go.

"What did The Source decide to do once they realized that using The Hellmouth wasn't working for them?" Everyone looked at Phoebe as she asked a question that was on all of their minds. Once again, Sam's eyes became cold and dark. His voice had a hard edge as he answered her question.

"Since they figured that magic wouldn't work, Alexander was brought back before The Source, who himself bound the child's powers." The three sisters shared a brief look, all three having had their powers bound until they became witches, and for Paige, not until she finally met her half-sisters after the death of Prue. "After that was done, they brought him back to Sunnydale and placed him in a home," he practically spat that last part letting everyone know that the home he was talking about was anything but a safe and nurturing place.

"The Source figured that if they couldn't corrupt him magically they would do it emotionally and psychologically," he shook his head as Paige placed a hand over her mouth as the implications became clear to the former social worker. "They put him into a home with alcoholic parents who were either neglectful, emotionally and even physically abusive depending on the day."

He had to stop as he reigned in his anger at what his own son had been put through. It had taken almost more willpower than he had possessed to not end the demon's existence at that point in the story.

"They wanted Alexander to hate humanity," he continued after a moment. "With examples like 'his parents,' it wouldn't have been too hard to do, but even that didn't work."

"How," all three sisters and Chris asked at the same time.

"He latched on to a couple of friends a boy Jesse McNally and a girl Willow Rosenberg," a small smile crept onto Sam's face "he never considered his parents, well parents, only people who he happened to share a roof with but he considered his friends closer to what family should be than anything else. He latched onto them."

"I take it that The Source didn't like that."

Sam snorted at Piper's observation.

"No, but like I said, he's a patient bastard," he shook his head. "He let the relationship grow for over a decade before trying to take them away. He hoped to use the grief and pain to mould Alexander into a true force of evil" Sam had a far away look in his eyes "it almost worked, too."

It was Paige's sad voice that broke through the brief silence. "He lost his friends?"

Sam sent another soft smile at his daughter as he shook his head negatively. "No, he only lost one friend. A master vampire and his minions were tasked with separating and bringing his friends out to someplace private, where they would be turned and used to taunt him. It almost worked but there was one thing that The Source didn't account for which doomed that plan."

"Which was," Chris asked as he came to stand behind his unknowing father all his concentration and attention focused on the grieving father reminiscing about his son. Sam gave a small smirk up at the whitelighter from the future.

"The Slayer came to Sunnydale," he answered.

"Ah." Both Leo and Chris nodded their heads in agreement, small smiles on their own faces as they guessed how that would have put one hell of a crimp in The Source's plans for Alexander.

"What's a Slayer?" Piper asked getting concurring nods from Phoebe and Paige who were equally curious about whoever this Slayer was.

"The Slayer is a girl whose been mystically empowered with the strength, speed, fighting skill to combat vampires and some of the more physical combat orientated demonic races," Chris explained, "into each generation one is born and when one dies another immediately takes her place."

"The Elders don't really have much if anything to do with the Slayer," Leo added, "she falls under the authority of another group who refer to themselves as the Powers That Be." The Pricks That Be more like, them and their ridiculous idea of balance, he thought with a mental snort.

The girls looked at each other and unanimously decided to see if they could find more information about The Slayer in The Book of Shadows. If they could find anything to help a fellow chosen, then they would do so. Besides, from the sounds of it, one may have helped their brother/half-brother, and if that wasn't motivation to help, then nothing would ever be. Plus they were also curious about these Powers That Be and hadn't missed the slight derision they'd heard in Leo's voice when he mentioned them. Their musings were cut short by Sam's voice bringing them back to the discussion at hand.

"He befriended her just shortly before the vampires made their move. She was able to help him, but he did lose one of his friends. Jesse was turned and later staked," he shook his head "the demon I 'interrogated' was a shapeshifter who told me that Alexander was the one to dust the vampire inhabiting his friend's body, but I'm not sure if I believed him. Either way, the effect it had on him was not what The Source had in mind."

No one was quite sure how to react. To learn that the young man may have had to kill the body of his own friend weighed against what knowledge they may gain in how this affected Alexander.

"Instead of taking it out on the world, Alexander found his outlet." A large smile, one of profound pride, spread across the face of the whitelighter. "He focused his grief and rage into a new purpose: he joined The Slayer in her fight against the darkness, and helped to protect her, Willow and the other residents of the town."

Everyone was smiling, but it was Phoebe who spoke what was going through the sister's minds. "Well, what did we expect; he is a Halliwell after all."

After a few quick chuckles, Piper decided to speak up. "What did The Source do after that?"

Sam sighed once again, and a look of profound sadness could be seen in his eyes. "Again, he is a patient one; he really didn't mind sacrificing a few demons here and there on a Hellmouth if it was possible to give him the outcome he was looking for. What he did do and something that the bastard demon I had interrogated never told me was that he got a spy in their ranks," he shook his head before continuing. "He was forced to wait a few years, but when the opportunity came, he was able make his move and place a spy in their midst."

Leo was almost reticent to ask, but decided to anyways. "Who was it?"

"It was a demon, well, ex-demon, known as Anya Jenkins though when she was a demon, she was known as Anyanka Patron Saint of Scorned Women."

"Lord D'Hoffryn's finest vengeance demon; how was she able to gain their trust?" Leo asked.

Sam actually snorted. "She lost her power centre when she granted a wish against Alexander, I'm not quite sure of the details, but apparently, The Source himself sought her out, and made a deal with her after D'Hoffryn refused to replace the power centre. She would worm her way into the group, and he would grant her demonic powers, and when she completed her 'assignment,' she would sit by his side in the underworld." Sam held up his hand to stave off Leo's reply. Obviously Leo knew who she was and was having a hard time believing that she would be able to 'worm her way into the group.' Not that he could blame him if he hadn't seen her act firsthand he would have been thinking the exact same thing.

"Leo, she was brilliant. She went to him in a time when he was basically alone as the Slayer – a Buffy Summers – and Willow were both starting in college and couldn't spend any real time with him they apparently just clicked." Though the truth be told he had a feeling on just why they clicked and if it wasn't something mystical, he was betting on sex. "And with the front she put up, being more tactless than you could possibly believe, it was easy to see how they believed that she wouldn't have been able to keep such a secret from them, even if they had been looking. And remember, none of them knew to look. It sounded more like his friends simply tolerated her, and not embrace her like he did."

"I guess it's a good thing that we took out The Source," Phoebe commented Sam shook his head.

"True, but they don't know that that The Source was vanquished. The demons in charge of watching over him wait for his messengers or orders and Anyanka won't be in contact with him until he calls for her. So, as far as they were concerned, it was business as usual."

Sam stopped talking as he looked into his cooling beverage. How could he have been so blind? He'd been around for longer than any of them could have guessed. It was such a rookie mistake to make. Though, in truth he had other things to concentrate on, such as approaching his son after having taken care of the demons watching over them. He had been so intent on that meeting, that he had never seen her coming.

"I didn't see her as the threat she was, and because of it, Alexander died," he paused for a moment trying, unsuccessfully, from keeping his eyes from tearing. "She knew what I was, perhaps even who I was, and the moment I started talking to him, she knew it was all over. I don't remember her moving, but I'll always remember the energy ball colliding with, and ripping my son apart. I remember going into a rage and trying to kill her as she simply laughed and shimmered away, a few darklighters took her place."

It was true. The conversation had barely started when Anyanka decided to strike. This is what The Source had ordered her to do, should the need ever arise, and when she did her job, she did it well. The result of her actions was something that would be engraved into his mind for the rest of eternity. The haunting sight of Anyanka's energy ball ripping Alexander to shreds; the smell of his flesh burning; his screams of agony while his eyes seemed to show both absolute pain and betrayal as Alexander had taken in just who his attacker was; yes, all of that would forever be burned into Sam's mind. He knew one thing from that moment forward. If it took his dying breath, Anyanka would pay, and she would pay dearly.

Paige placed her hand over his; however, he was so far gone in the memories from not so long ago, if it had any affect on him, she couldn't tell.

"I don't remember how many of them I vanquished before one got me with a lucky shot. I barely remember orbing to the manor, and from there on out, you know the rest." Paige squeezed his hand and he returned the gesture before continuing.

"Now, because of my own stupidity, I'll never get the chance to really know my own son," he looked sadly at Paige. "And you won't get a change to meet and get to know your brother," looking around the table, he amended "all of you won't get to know your brother." He looked back at Paige before bringing his eyes to rest on their still-clasped hands. "I'm so sorry that none of you will ever get the chance to meet him."

Silence permeated the kitchen for a few moments before Chris's voice cut through the silence. "Um, that may not be necessarily true."

All eyes rested on the mysterious whitelighter from the future. Chris was actually smiling at the group. To him, this was perfect. This man, Alexander, his uncle, had been cast with the same predicament that Wyatt seemingly fell into. If anyone could help to keep Wyatt on the path of light, it sounded like this was the man. It was true that this was the first he was learning about this man; however, he was finding that there was a lot about his family that he had never known.

Yes, this could help on so many levels. This would work; it had to.

For everyone's sake, it had better work.