Charmed Fic: Made Weak by Time and Fate: Chapter Five

[jesterladyfic]

Chapter Five

He was trying to figure out his next step. It would be prudent to find out if there was anybody after him. Or if he’d actually had any effect whatsoever on what he was trying to change. Since he wasn’t where he was supposed to be he wasn’t getting it firsthand. If only he could get certain people to stop following him when they’d promised to be more lenient.

Piper swallowed another curse word when she banged her head on the sink. She didn’t want the sounds to carry over the baby monitor. It was very apparent to anyone who knew him that Wyatt was a lot more aware of what was going on around him than most children his age.

Which is partially why she was so annoyed with Leo at the moment. Another big Elder conference or whatever it was he was doing. Never mind that practically every sink in the house was clogged and the washer wasn’t working and the cable was out and who knows what else. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a magical destiny too or anything, plus, she had a full time job that took care of their physical needs and she spent way more time taking care of Wyatt.

She needed a vacation. And a plumber. Or just her blasted husband.

It didn’t help that Paige’s new relationship with Richard was blossoming over with that fun ‘can’t get enough of each other’ stage. It wasn’t Richard himself that bothered Piper like he bothered Phoebe; it was the fact that Piper couldn’t remember what it was like to feel that way anymore.

But Piper did her best not to interfere and to not let Phoebe interfere and fix everything all at the same time.

Still, Richard was a handy way to fix the sink. Normally Piper wasn’t all that excited about using magic for everyday things, but she was very willing to make an exception in this case. She was sick to death of scummy water mixed with floating cheerios every time she walked by the sink.

Although, because Piper was who she was sometimes ethereal ladies appeared in the sinks, too.

She gathered the girls and they orbed to the park.

“Okay, so water lady pops up from the sink. Are you sure she's not a demon?” Paige asked.

“I'm sure she needed help,” was all Piper could answer.

“What else did she say?” asked Phoebe.

“That was it. Pretty park, pond, and poof.” Piper looked around and spotted a disturbance in the water. It started to bubble and her eyes widened when a sword started to rise out of it. A woman’s hand held onto the sword and she came out of the water and floated onto the land. “Over there,” Piper said, pointing.

“They're coming,” said the woman. “Take this; it does not belong to them.”

Some demons shimmered in and threw a dagger at the woman who staggered at the impact and fell. The sword flew out of her hand and soared through the air much further than its momentum had any right to carry it.

Piper fell to her knees in front of the woman and grasped her hand, about to shout for Leo though she wasn’t even sure if he could heal her. She didn’t look or act human.

Paige and Phoebe took on the demons, vanquishing them easily. Their leader, the man who’d thrown the dagger, shimmered out.

“Sword,” murmured the lady, “the sword is,” she said and then dissipated, dissolving into water.

“Where'd she go? What'd she say?” Phoebe said.

“Uh, she said something about the sword. Where is it?” asked Piper.

“It's in the stone,” Paige said, excitement coloring her tone.

“The sword and the stone?” said Phoebe incredulously.

“Uh, you gotta be kidding me. Right?” Piper groaned.

She so didn’t have time for this.

***

He was supposed to be good at this. But somehow he wasn’t. For once time wasn’t his friend.

Leo examined the wall trying to find why traces of Chris were on it. Yes, he knew he was supposed to be okay with Chris and trust him and he wasn’t going to tell Piper that most of the big Elder conference (there had been one, he promises) was actually Leo trying to see if he could get to know Chris and figure out what he was about the nicer way. The way of friendship.

Leo stepped back when Chris popped out in front of him and looked at him with confusion.

“Leo, what are you doing here? Are you following me again?” Chris smirked. “Here I thought we were past these issues.”

“I’m not following you,” Leo said patiently. “I’m trying to figure out what that is.”

He pointed to the wall where Chris had just emerged.

“That?” Chris said. “Nothing.”

“Shall we find out together?” Leo threatened mildly, gesturing to the portal.

Chris backed off.

“Easy, Leo. It’s a doorway.”

“To where?” Leo asked, sticking his hand in.

When he pulled it back out he was wearing a gauntlet.

“Long story,” Chris said.

“What is that?” Leo asked, feeling a lot less charitable. “A time portal? Is that what that is? What are you using that for?”

“I don't have to answer that,” Chris said.

“I thought you said you had nothing to hide,” Leo said, sighing.

“I don't have to answer that either,” Chris said defiantly.

And then Leo had had it. Somebody needed to take this boy in hand. He may think he knew everything but if Chris wanted any kind of trust, he was gonna have to start giving just as much as he took.

“Wanna bet?” Leo asked, grabbing Chris and pulling them both into the portal. Which was not his smartest decision because there was practically a cliff on the other side and they rolled painfully down it. Leo stood up at the bottom, stretching with difficulty. “Where are we?”

“How the hell should I know?” Chris yelled. “That's what I was trying to tell you, I don't know how to control it.”

“Pretty sure you weren’t trying to tell me anything,” Leo said. “Pretty sure you were betting I would go on my way without attempting to find the truth while you got away with being a smartass.”

“It’s always worked before,” Chris muttered.

Leo ignored that because now…now he was stuck with the kid and - he turned at the noise behind him - and now there was a dinosaur.

***

This was not his fault, this was not his fault, this was not his fault. Why was it so hard to breathe? This was not good.

Piper was not very happy about the rock and the sword stuck in it sitting on her floor.

“Do you see it glowing?”

Richard’s comments were not helping.

“No, it's the sun room, there's a lot of light,” Piper said.

“What part of this reality aren't you getting?” Paige asked. “Sword, stone, lady, lake?”

“Do you think she's from Avalon?” Richard asked.

“Yeah, I think she was flushed out by whoever's after Excalibur. The maker of kings,” answered Paige.

Piper was gonna nip that in the bud right there.

“Look, we're not talking about Camelot, right? Because that's not real.”

“So you're saying you never believed in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?” asked Paige.

“Yes, I did, when I was seven, and then I grew up.”

“Yeah, you grew up to be a witch that fights demons and silly looking dragons,” said Paige pointedly.

“That's different, that's real,” Piper said weakly.

“And this isn't real?” Paige said, gesturing to the, yes, oddly glowing, sword.

“What is real are those hooded freaks,” Piper said, changing the subject.

“They're not gonna give up now that the sword is in the open,” Richard said.

“How do you know?” asked Piper.

“Whoever has Excalibur is unstoppable.”

Paige’s new boyfriend would be a good source of information if his mother hadn’t read him too many fairy stories when he was a child.

Piper would take the Book of Shadow’s information, thank you very much. Which told her jack all about swords and ladies in lakes but it was rather informative on the Dark Knight who had attacked them. Turns out he was an upper level demon in need of a vanquishing potion that both of her sisters demanded that Piper make because apparently babysitting the sword and mixing a vanquishing potion were just the things to add to her never ending to do list.

Paige did have a point when she said that the sword was probably really safe in the stone so Piper ignored it and went about her chores. It was easy and yet something kept pulling at her like she needed to go and check on it and make sure it was okay. But she firmly resisted. That is until her favorite dwarf showed up and ushered her into her own sun room and showed her the ridiculous line of magical creatures trying to pull the sword.

“You people, you creatures, whatever, you can't be here, you gotta go,” she said, panic rising slightly in her throat.

Why had everyone left her here alone to deal with this?

“We have a divine right to try our hand,” said an ogre who Piper was sure had never taken a bath in his life.

“Chris! Chris!” she yelled. “Get down here.” Nothing happened. Well, she’d tried. “Leo,” she called. “Leo! Leo, there’s a Charmed One emergency and our Whitelighter is not answering.”

Nothing. She was going to kill the two of them wherever they were. She was sure they were together. Probably wrestling it out or something stupid like that.

Desperate times. Piper picked up the phone and called Phoebe’s office.

“Yeah, you gotta get here right now,” Piper said. “No ifs, ands, or buts about it, missy. I am not doing this alone.”

“Well, guess who’s my new assistant?” Phoebe said. “We’ll orb right over.”

“Lucky,” Piper murmured as she hung up.

“Wow!” said Paige a few minutes later when the orb lights had gone.

“Yeah, and more come every minute,” Piper said. “We gotta get this thing out of the manor.”

“Piper, the lady of the lake came to us for a reason,” Paige said. “Maybe we should-"

“I can’t get a hold of either Chris or Leo,” Piper said, “so unless you wanna orb Up There and get some answers, I want it gone.”

“But, Piper-” began Phoebe.

“Oh, for goodness sakes,” Piper said, walking over to the sword. “If you will not get rid of it, then I will.”

She grasped the sword and pulled it out of the rock amongst the collective gasp of everyone in the room.

She shuddered herself, a sudden power rushing through her, overwhelming her with its might and ability. Suddenly so much seemed possible. All she wanted to do was-

She shook her head, clearing it. None of that. Everyone was kneeling to her and she stared at her sisters open-mouthed.

A man suddenly appeared in the room and he walked over to her

“I bet you didn't expect this when you got up this morning.”

“I...” she said, trailing off.

“The sword has chosen,” he said, standing way too close behind her. “You are the new savior. The champion of good, the master of Excalibur. Welcome to your new destiny.”

“Aw, crap,” she said.

Another item for her to do list.

***

He was stuck. Stuck with the last person in the entire world he wanted to be stuck with. Look, he could understand why people didn't trust him. He wasn't exactly being a stellar vision of trustworthiness, but he didn't have time for this. Every second of every day brought him closer to failure or victory. So why did he feel like this was the perfect bonding moment and if he screwed it up it would be just as catastrophic?

Leo resisted the urge to stop and scrub at his sweaty face and dodged behind some rocks. He and Chris crouched there for a second listening. The roars for lack of a better term faded slightly but Leo still felt worried.

"I don't understand, why can't we orb?" Chris whispered.

Leo was glad to see Chris was still being cautious as well.

"Prehistoric. Magic won't be around until there's people around to use it," Leo answered.

"Perfect. We'll just hang out for the next million years or so, no problem."

Leo chuckled.

"I suggest we find the portal instead."

"Do you think he's gone?" Chris asked.

"No."

"Neither do I."

"The sooner we get back to our time, the less we'll have to worry about," Leo said.

"Yeah, that's gonna be a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you just don't create time portals out of thin air, it's not like that," Chris said. "Which I might have had time to explain if you hadn't shoved me in to one."

"We've been over that," Leo retorted. "So explain now. You coming back from the future originally seemed like an exact science."

"That was a spell, all right? A one way door. It only goes backward in time, not forward."

"So, what, you're creating portals to get back to the future, is that it? Why?"

Leo was suspicious.

"To see if it changed, okay? To see if I stopped the demon who was after Wyatt. What? You still don't believe me?"

Leo wasn't sure. Everything Chris did seemed to be tinged with an ulterior motive. Mostly the end results seemed to prove he cared about protecting Wyatt. But his methods…were unorthodox to say the least. Leo wasn't sure he was willing to vouch for the kid's good intentions not getting people hurt.

"All I care about right now is getting back home," he said instead.

"Well, all you gotta do is find the portal that dumped us here. Good luck. Watch out for the dinosaurs. You were the one who sent us back to Jurassic Park. Not me. Just remember if we don't find a way back, Wyatt's screwed. If you don't believe me, believe that."

Chris ranted like this on occasion, usually when Leo had been giving him a hard time. But why did it seem like everything was so personal to Chris at the moment, like Leo's not believing him was the end of the world?

Either way Leo couldn't worry about that. At least not at the moment. He really needed to get back home to protect Wyatt and Piper and to live his life.

He told Chris that and that he wouldn't wait for him.

Naturally that's when they found the portal and the dinosaur appeared and Chris saved Leo's life and they ended up in the Civil War.

Leo doesn't want to think about that necessarily, but at least they had their magic back. Hurray for human beings.

"You okay?" Chris asked, huffing beside Leo on the grass.

"Thanks for not listening to me," Leo said, begrudging respect and gratitude leaking from him.

"Any time."

***

Well, that was different. A chance for him to prove something maybe? He'd better be careful though. Too far either way and who knows what could happen.

"I'm telling you guys, this is all just a big mistake," Piper said, really not liking her life at the moment.

Excalibur kept sliding closer to her. And it didn't unnerve her as much as it should.

"It's drawn to you, just like you were drawn to it," said the creepy strange guy named Mordaunt who had appeared in her house.

"No, I don't have time to play Queen Arthur," Piper said.

"Oh, come on, Piper, have a little fun," said Paige. "Don't you realize what this means?"

"One more thing on my to do list?"

Before she could get into a fight with Paige about her new destiny Mordaunt interceded and rambled on about the Dark Knight coming and how he needed to teach her to fight. It was really hard to concentrate on what he was saying with the sword gleaming like that. She heard something about potion ingredients and other stuff like that, but Excalibur was really rather shiny and probably important.

Phoebe and Paige orbed out somewhere and took Wyatt with them. Piper thought she'd agreed to that. But then suddenly the sword was in her hand and Mordaunt was attacking and she was feinting and blocking and swinging and clanging and it was good.

She hadn't felt this free in forever. There was so much less responsibility with this destiny. It was hard work and her arms hurt and she could tell she had a lot to learn, but it was fun! And Piper hadn't really had fun in a long time. Moreover, it felt good to be so powerful.

They fought and practiced for what felt like hours and yet was only minutes. They ranged all over the house with a really interesting fight segment on the stairs. They ended up in the attic and practiced some more.

Piper didn't want to put the sword down despite how heavy it was. No, she didn't ever want to put it down again.

Before she could really get used to it though the Dark Knight and his minions attacked again. Which was actually good because she got to use the sword for real and vanquish some demons. That was the satisfying part of her job. Funny how she'd used to have reasons not to do that. Oh well, she didn't now. And she didn't want to.

There was a glow in front of her and her sisters orbed into the attic and she raised her sword, almost eager for another fight.

"He's not what you think he is," Phoebe said, pointing to Mordaunt, and Piper frowned in confusion.

"He tried to kill us," Paige agreed.

"He wants the sword," Phoebe said.

"But the sword chose me," Piper said, not understanding how anyone could have the sword but her.

She was the sword and her kingdom was waiting.

They spoke nonsense about Mordaunt using her and how she wasn’t supposed to have the sword. Their words were a tumultuous noise in her ears. She had the sword and she was never giving it up.

They had the audacity to try and orb it away from her but she blocked their advance.

"Don't do that again," she warned and let Mordaunt carry her away.

They went to an underground throne room and Piper didn't really think too much of it but that wasn't important. She had the sword and that's all that mattered.

Mordaunt nattered on about getting knights and letting him counsel her and she guessed every Arthur needed a Merlin.

Plus he said she got to fight some more. She liked the sound of that.

***

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Well, it took the heat off him and he liked that.

Leo was so glad to return to his own time that he almost didn't hear Phoebe and Paige calling to him. It sounded urgent. So he looked at Chris who heard the call as well and they disappeared into orbs without a word said between them.

When they reached the girls they found out the Lady of the Lake had come to the Charmed Ones with the sword Excalibur because demons were after it. While dying she'd placed the sword in a stone and Piper had pulled it out and thought she was the new Arthur with some strange man named Mordaunt telling her it was true and teaching her to fight while sending Phoebe and Paige off to get killed which they would have been if Richard hadn't been so knowledgeable about potions.

How's that for a day? And he didn't even have time to tell them about the dinosaurs.

Leo checked his Elder senses trying to see if he could sense anything. All he was getting was that the time for choosing the new Wielder of the sword was at hand and Piper had been the only person found worthy of holding it for that person.

"So she's not the new King Arthur but she is the new Lady of the Lake?" Phoebe asked.

"Basically, yeah," said Leo.

"Well, why is it turning her evil?" Chris asked.

"Because only the ultimate power on earth can handle Excalibur. That's why the Lady stayed in the lake, to insulate herself from the power of the sword."

"Okay, so we should find Piper and then drown her." Leo just looked at Paige. "Oh, I'm just kidding, Leo."

"It's no joke; it's the only way to keep the power from consuming her, destroying her."

Leo was worried. He was very worried. Piper had an obsessive personality as it was. But at least the scrying worked and the girls were able to go to her. Leo paced the whole time they were gone.

"She'll be fine," Chris assured him.

"How do you know?" Leo snapped.

Chris sighed and hesitated.

"Look, I probably shouldn’t say anything but I know this story and it might get a little hairy before the end, but Piper's gonna be okay."

Leo blinked. Had Chris just volunteered information?

"Thanks," he said after a second.

"Anytime," Chris said for the second time that day.

"I don't suppose you have any more hints?" Leo prompted.

"You know the drill," Chris said, smiling wryly.

Leo found himself smiling back, but then his head shot up and he orbed because the girls were in pain and calling for him.

They were dead.

He quickly healed their bodies and put their spirits back.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Your wife went a little crazy," Paige said. "But not to worry, we'll fix it."

"I cannot believe Piper. Did you see that look in her eyes?" Phoebe said.

"Hey, at least it looked like she was having fun for once," Paige mumbled.

"There's gotta be another way to get her out of this," Phoebe mumbled.

"I just wish we knew who King Arthur is," Paige answered. Phoebe looked confused but Leo looked at Chris who gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head. "If we can separate Piper from the sword, what better way than to figure out who she's meant to give it to?" Wyatt gurgled happily from his play pen. They all looked at him. "No."

"It's Wyatt, oh, it has to be," Phoebe said.

Leo didn't have time to think about his son inheriting Excalibur because all of a sudden he felt like he was dying and he groaned, his spirit hurting.

"It's Piper, she's hurt."

***

It felt weird, this little sliver of trust he’d been given. He didn’t know what to do with it or even if he wanted it. But he did know what needed to be done.

Piper was just a little bit put out. After all, she was the owner of the sword, right? She’d fought all of these demons and brought them here. This was her court. She should be the one to decide what to do. But it was all just a little bit difficult with Mordaunt telling her what to do all the time. Plus everything felt like it was coming to her through a very long tunnel, tinged with the sword’s power. Nothing else really mattered.

Though it came through fairly clear to her when Mordaunt slaughtered all of her new knights.

“What are you doing? Stop!” But it was too late. “You vanquished all my knights. Why?”

Her sword left her grasp and she felt its loss like a physical pain.

“Fulfilling my centuries old quest. To control Excalibur,” answered Mordaunt, brandishing her sword.

“But it belongs to me,” Piper whispered, feeling like a child whose favorite toy had been taken away.

“No, it doesn't. It never did. But thanks to you and the combined powers of your knights, now it belongs to me. I'm the ultimate power.”

“I don't understand,” Piper said.

“It's simply transferred power, that's all. And now all that remains to do is to eliminate the true recipient of Excalibur before he grows old enough to fulfill his destiny as the son of a Charmed One.”

Everything suddenly became very clear again and Piper felt a bit more like herself. Exactly who Mordaunt was talking about became very clear as well and she wondered why she hadn't seen it before.

“You can't hurt him, he's protected,” she said vehemently.

The sword entered her body before she could even think.

“I couldn't before, but I can with this,” he said, whispering venomously in her ear.

Then everything became very dark. She felt sick and weak. There was a gradual light and warmth flowing over her abdomen and she opened her eyes to see Leo hovering over her anxiously.

It was really good to see him.

“Wyatt!” she said, remembering and jumping up.

Leo’s forehead scrunched up with worry and he orbed her and Phoebe directly to the manor.

Paige was standing facing Mordaunt with Chris next to her holding Wyatt in his arms. Wyatt’s favorite teddy bear had been vanquished by Excalibur and a little pang of need went through Piper when she saw it again. She suppressed it though because whether she was meant for the sword or not, she had a far higher calling as Wyatt’s mother.

“Bet you didn't expect this when you got up this morning,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“But I’ve still got Excalibur,” Mordaunt said.

“Not for long,” she replied, taking Wyatt from Chris.

“Go for it, Wyatt,” Leo urged from beside her.

They all waited with baited breath while Excalibur disappeared from Mordaunt’s hands in a cloud of orb lights. It reappeared hovering in the air in front of Wyatt who pointed his tiny hand and suddenly Excalibur flew across the room and stabbed Mordaunt who exploded in proper vanquishing style. The sword dropped to the floor.

“Okay, sweetie, that's very, very good,” Piper said, feeling more like herself than ever. “But we need to put this away, so you don't put an eye out.” She walked over to Excalibur and picked it up. The familiar power rushed through her and for minutes that felt like years she considered using it again. It would be so easy to just keep it. It would extremely useful and it just felt so very right. Wyatt gave a small cry in her arms and the choice was that much easier. “At least until you're eighteen.”

She walked over to where the stone still resided and pushed the sword into it. Immediately the drain on her senses diminished and she could focus clearly.

“How are you?” Paige asked.

“Oh, fine,” Piper said, kissing Wyatt’s cheek.

They all looked at her with some worry and she made a note to apologize more thoroughly later. Right now she was just tired. She wondered idly if giving up the sword was anything like what it would be like for Leo to give up his powers. If so she had a little bit more sympathy for him. The power rush was intoxicating and giving it up was more like a part of herself was dying.

In the meantime Wyatt needed a bottle.

***

For a minute he wasn’t sure if the right thing had happened. After all, did he just give one more weapon to the enemy? But, no, there was no alternative. After all, that particular weapon was supposed to be good anyway. He’d just have to trust in it.

Leo needed to get back to the Elders. His little trip to the past and subsequent helping the sisters had really piled up his workload. But he found himself not leaving just yet. Especially when he looked around the house and saw the state that it was in.

Chris walked into the laundry room while Leo was finishing up with the washer.

“You’re still here,” Chris said, looking surprised.

“Yeah, well, I know you’re anxious to have me out of the way,” Leo said, no real animosity in his voice, “but there were a few things I needed to do around here.”

“I’m sure Piper really appreciates it,” Chris said, looking a little melancholy. “She…she needs you.”

Leo felt a stab of surprise at the sincerity.

“Well, I need her too,” he said.

“If you lost her,” Chris said, then paused, “you’d have the world to keep you busy. Just remember she doesn’t have that luxury.”

“What are you saying, Chris? Do you know something I don’t?”

“I know a lot of things you don’t,” Chris said, that strange mix of humor and contempt back in his voice. “I’m just saying.”

“Well, thanks for the tip. And again for the save. Maybe to return the favor I could help you work on your healing?”

“Don’t mention it,” Chris said and orbed out.

Leo shook his head. Was he ever going to figure that kid out? Well, not today so he headed upstairs to find Piper. She was in the attic with Wyatt, cleaning up for the night, the stone with its sword somehow fitting naturally into the atmosphere around them. He leaned against the door jamb listening to her.

“Listen, I want you to promise me before we take that thing out of storage, that you're gonna play lots of football and baseball and have lots of normal toys, and maybe we can get a dog. What do you think?”

“How are we doing?” Leo asked, pushing off the jamb and walking to her.

“Uh, his highness seems content.”

“What about you?” he asked.

“I'm doing all right,” she said. “It was a bit of a ride there. I almost felt like, well, what was it like when your wings got clipped?”

“Like a death,” he said.

“It felt like a death. I guess I never really realized how much you gave up. How much more you’d be giving up now.”

“Listen, I don’t regret that decision at all,” he said, taking her hand. “It was the right thing to do. I’d die a thousand times if it saved you.”

She snorted and gripped his hand a little tighter.

“Well, I just wanted to say I can get it. While I was being Arthur and even before that I was so busy I wasn’t really thinking about Wyatt. At least I have my priorities straight now. I was so busy doing stuff and all I really wanted to do was hang out with him.”

He got the sense she didn’t really want to talk about it further, something deeper inside her going on before she was ready for it.

“Well, you should have more time for that now,” he said lightly. “I fixed the washer.”

“You did?”

“And the sink, and the cable, and the toilet.”

She beamed at him.

“Wow, I forgot how handy you were to have around the house.”

He smiled a little and then focused on Wyatt. Their son, so little, yet he’d just wielded the most powerful sword in the world to kill a demon.

“Pretty strange, huh?”

“Kind of scary, actually,” Piper said.

“Why?”

“Well, we've seen what he can do without the sword. I can't begin to imagine what he could do with it.”

“Well, whatever it is, it's meant to be,” Leo said.

He truly believed it. His son’s destiny was something so powerful it was a little unnerving like Piper said, but Leo had no doubts that their sweet little boy would be the most powerful force for good the world had ever seen.

“It doesn't make it any less scary, though.” She shook her head. “But that's tomorrow's problem. I'll worry about it then.” She got up, bringing Wyatt with her. She bent to talk to him. “Okey-dokey?”

Wyatt butted his head against her cheek and Piper laughed. She looked at Leo and he saw her realize he was leaving. But she simply kissed him softly and turned to leave, whispering to Wyatt.

Leo watched them go back downstairs and the joy faded from his heart because he wasn’t going to be a part of the next part of their night.

His biggest regret was that he didn’t know what was coming next. In a lot of ways he was flying blind.