Charmed Fic: Made Weak by Time and Fate: Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
It hurt more than he thought it would, to lose their trust like that. He said it over and over again; he hadn’t come here for trust, but…now it was gone. Well, almost gone. The trouble was, there were still things that had to be done and he was the only one aware enough to do them. Though he apparently had other work ahead of him if he was to ensure his own survival. A problem for another day.
Piper took her time going around the school. She was nervous though she didn’t know why. How was it that big demonic happenings didn’t make her sweat but choosing a preschool for her son was like walking on coals?
Especially with snooty parents who made her feel like she was the world’s worst mother with a child that could potentially destroy the world. No! She wasn’t going to think about that anymore. Too late, the thoughts were in and had been ever since Chris dropped his little bomb about Wyatt. As much as she wanted to disbelieve him, she somehow couldn’t. Everything he said made too much sense.
But it hurt her terribly and made her fly into a panic whenever Wyatt so much as sneezed.
Leo wasn’t any help, he kept saying Wyatt would be okay, but she could tell he was worried too. If only he’d admit to it. But he took out his worry on helping half the world while she just had to suffer in silence. She hadn’t realized banishing Chris would take away the majority of her adult conversations.
Thankfully Phoebe was back home now from her job in Hong Kong though she’d been moping ever since about not having enough direction in her life and not being able to advance in her career because of her responsibilities and all sorts of other things that Piper felt bad about but really couldn’t concentrate on.
It was nice to have a sister home. Paige was still blissfully living in the land of Richard and spending a lot of time at her temp jobs, which, Piper supposed, was a good thing. But it made her miss Leo all that much more.
Still, they were always there for her, including coming to ‘preschool picking out’ day.
“Hi, thanks for coming,” she said.
“Oh, of course, you know, anything for our little nephew,” Phoebe said, then stopped. “What exactly are we doing for our little nephew?”
“Showing family support. They look for that, especially when the father's not around a lot.”
“What are you talking about? Leo's around all the time,” Phoebe protested.
“Yeah, for us, but he won't be for the school, he can't be.” Paige’s phone rang. “No phones, not now,” Piper said.
“I’ve got an ogre problem,” Paige protested.
It was actually nice to be with her sisters and bicker over whose problems were the most important at the moment. Paige’s quest for magical and actual independence, Phoebe’s biological clock issues, or Piper’s family worries.
“Okay, neurotic people, can we get back to my neuroses right now, please?” Piper asked patiently.
“Sure. Which one were we talking about?” asked Phoebe.
“The one where I'm a rotten mother who's raising an anti-social child.”
“Oh, that is ridiculous, and not true,” Paige said, surreptitiously checking her phone.
“Is it? He doesn't have any friends. Phoebe, you and I had each other and Prue when we were growing up, but he doesn't have anybody, he's all alone.”
“Hey, I was all alone,” Paige protested.
“Yeah, but you didn't know you had powers, so it was safe for you to have friends. Your mother didn't have to worry about if you were gonna orb out during a play date or something.”
“Piper, don’t you think you're overreacting a little?” asked Phoebe gently.
They all heard the familiar sounds of someone orbing and looked over to see Wyatt leave the nursery.
“No, I don’t!” Piper said and pulled them around the corner, gesturing with her hands at Paige. “Orb us, follow him.”
“I’m not that good at following orb trails,” Paige said.
“Don’t care, follow now!” Piper said.
“All right, all right,” Paige said, grabbing their hands and orbing.
They appeared in the manor by the stairs. Wyatt was standing there staring at the landing.
“You cannot keep doing this, sweetie, really,” Piper said, going to pick him up.
That was when Paige noticed the door. On their landing. A door. A door with a voice on the other side calling for help.
Piper thrust Wyatt into Paige’s arms and had her orb him out.
The door opened and a bald man with glasses and a robe stepped out. And before he could talk an apparition appeared behind him and chopped off his head, leaving the body behind the door and the head rolling down the stairs.
“What the hell was that?” Piper asked.
The head on the stairs spoke. Spoke!
“That was the headless horseman.”
“I just don’t have time for this,” Piper said, sighing.
Phoebe made a face at her in agreement.
They found out the head was named Sigmund but they didn’t get to find out any more information before Paige and Leo orbed in, Paige saying Wyatt was okay in his room and that she’d called for Leo hoping he could help.
“Leo! Oh, so good to see you again,” said Sigmund.
“Sigmund, what happened?” asked Leo.
“Wait, you guys know each other?” asked Phoebe in confusion.
“Gideon sent me for your help, all your help.”
“Gideon? Who's Gideon? And who are you?” asked Paige.
Piper had had enough. She used her arms for emphasis.
“All right, all you people with legs follow me.” They followed her in to the living room and Piper sniped at Leo on the way. “Just so you know, this is what's keeping your son from developing social skills.”
“What?” Leo asked.
“I'm talking about our lives. We can't just drop what we're doing every time someone's head comes rolling down the stairs.”
She sounded a little crass she knew, but in their lives it wasn’t such a remote possibility. Case in point, the head on her foyer table.
Leo looked all noble and disappointed and Whitelighter-y like he used to.
“I can't believe you're saying this. You don't understand, this isn't supposed to happen. Magic School is supposed to be protected from evil. It's the only way Gideon can teach magic to the next generation. Wyatt's generation.”
“I think Wyatt is more concerned with nursery school right now then magic school,” Piper said.
“Are you sure? Paige said he orbed back in front of the door. He was drawn to it.”
Phoebe put her hands in between them, probably guessing, and rightly so, that another fight was going to happen between her sister and brother-in-law. At least that was Piper’s premonition of the future.
“Okay, so the real question is what is this magic school and who is Gideon and how come we’re just hearing about this now?”
“Magic School is a place where all magic users can come and learn about their talents and powers and how to use them wisely. It was started-" Leo started to say.
“Yadda yadda,” Piper said. “I don’t want a history lesson. What are we going to do now?”
“Well, we have to help,” Paige said. “I mean, we can’t just keep Sigmund’s head as a centerpiece.”
“Okay, fine, but we can't take Wyatt. Sorry,” Piper said when Leo looked disappointed.
“All right, I'll get Chris to watch him,” Leo said, compromising with her.
Though she didn’t want that compromise, thank you very much. She was not happy with Chris. She didn’t trust him.
“What? After everything he's done? No, I don't think so.”
Yes, it was role reversal, and she didn't understand why Leo was suddenly defending Chris, especially after what he did.
“I know his motives are suspect. I’ve always been suspicious of him, remember? But I really think he was just trying to protect Wyatt.”
“Oh, please,” said Paige.
“Look, I think his intentions are good. He deserves another chance.”
“This is his last chance,” Piper warned.
Leo beamed at her and orbed away while they made ready for the Trek Into Magic School.
Which involved carrying Sigmund’s head.
Magic School was massive, corridors stretching for miles, impressive columns, and huge open study rooms, giant libraries, and that was only the small glimpse Piper got as they walked.
“So, how are we gonna find this dude Gideon, anyway?” asked Paige as they walked.
“He's not a dude, he's an Elder,” said Leo. “My old mentor, actually.”
How did she not know this?
“Really? You've never mentioned him before,” said Piper.
“We met a long time ago when I first became a Whitelighter. He helped me out, took me under his wing. He actually fought for us to get married, to break the rules.”
“And he’s been in Magic School ever since?” Piper asked. “Just running Magic School? How is there Magic School and why didn’t we know about it?”
“That was my question,” Phoebe grumbled.
“It’s a place of magic, like Up There, but even more protected if that’s possible,” Leo answered. “Gideon survived the Titans’ attack because he was here at Magic School,” Leo said. “It’s magically protected by everything good we could think of. I guess I never mentioned it because you guys never came and Wyatt wasn’t really old enough yet.”
“Definitely something you should have mentioned,” Piper said huffily.
Before they could have another fight in front of their family (and Sigmund’s head), Phoebe started seeing wolves.
And Leo wanted her child to come here? No thanks. They pressed on and made it to an open hall with books lining the sides, a big table in the middle of the room and exit points in several walls. The ceiling was high overhead and engraved with magical symbols and creatures.
It was kind of pretty, Piper guessed.
Students flitted past but Sigmund seemed to think they had arrived.
“Leo, good, thanks for coming. Although I do wish it was under better circumstances,” said a voice from nowhere.
“Gideon,” Leo said, nodding like that was perfectly normal.
“And the Charmed Ones. Lovely to see you again. Although you probably don't remember meeting me, you were just little girls.”
Piper nudged Leo with her elbow.
He chuckled and spoke.
“Gideon, I do believe your invisibility shield is still up.”
A man appeared in front of them carrying some books. He was tall, wearing a robe, with slightly curling brown hair and a beard. He looked pretty much how Piper would expect an Elder teaching magic would look. But, just because he was an Elder, she was inclined to dislike him.
“I'm sorry, I'm just a little distracted with everything that's been going on around here.”
“Yes, we heard,” said Piper.
Gideon’s attention was caught by Sigmund’s head on the table.
“Sigmund, oh, I'm so sorry.”
“Okay, would somebody please tell me what's going on here?” said Phoebe and Piper couldn’t agree more.
This was the kind of world she didn’t like, someplace completely magic. Leo’s world, she guessed. Though that led to difficult thoughts and she didn’t want to go there.
“Well, it all started innocently enough, actually,” Gideon said. “Pranks really. Setting rats loose from the Pied Piper, turning the north dorm into a gingerbread house.” He smiled fondly. “Kids.”
And this wacko was her husband’s mentor.
“And then...” Leo prompted.
“And then someone cast a spell that brought forth the darkness, and days became nights, nights became terror, and the headless horseman has roamed the campus ever since, targeting teachers.”
“So what you're saying is somebody's trying to shut down the school by cutting off teachers’ heads?” asked Paige.
“What else would it be? What better way for evil to gain an upper hand than to form the next generation?”
Piper wasn’t interested in why. She wanted solutions.
“Isn't it as simple as finding who conjured the horseman and reversing the magic?”
“Yes, except that no student possesses that level of magic, at least they're not supposed to. That's why I believe that a demon from the outside has somehow corrupted one of them into doing his bidding.”
“So you find the student, you find the evil, right?” asked Paige.
“True, except you find much more than that here, Paige.” Gideon straightened and spoke mysteriously. Must be fun for the kids, Piper thought. “The answers you each seek can be found within these grounds. You merely have to be open to them.” He turned to Paige. “Teaching will help you find the student in question, but it will also remind you of what you fear you have lost.” He turned to Piper and Leo. “Investigating our nursery school will help you with your worries over Wyatt.” He turned to Phoebe. “And if you follow the wolf, she will lead you where you want to go, but be careful. The deeper you look, the more you will discover and the better chance you will have of saving all this.”
He leaned back and a look of annoyance came over his face as if he hadn’t meant to say all that. Maybe it came with being Headmaster of Freak School.
“Thanks, Gideon,” Leo said, as if they had just heard pearls of wisdom.
Gideon nodded.
“If you’ll excuse me, I must look after Sigmund.”
He left and the girls stared after him.
“What do they put in the punch here?” Piper asked.
Paige shrugged.
“So I’m going to become a teacher?” She brightened. “Actually, that does sound really cool.”
“And I’m supposed to go wolf hunting?” Phoebe said. “Do I look like I want to be a chew toy?”
“Being head of Magic School is a special position,” Leo explained. “It’s far more than just a job and goes beyond an individual’s personality, experience, or preferences. As an Elder Gideon would ordinarily be held to certain expectations, but being in charge here alleviates him of some of those things and takes away a little bit of his autonomy in other ways. The school uses him as a channel almost. It knows things he couldn’t possibly know and uses him to guide students, teachers, anyone, in the direction they need to go. If the school decides someone needs to know something it will prepare the path and Gideon helps them to see it, even if he doesn’t agree with the path.”
“That sounds very dangerous and if you’re ever offered this position you are to turn it down,” Piper said.
Leo grinned.
“It’s an awesome responsibility. It holds Gideon accountable to the school while on the grounds though the school doesn’t always act in ways we would expect either.”
“Is it safe for me to go after this wolf?” Phoebe asked.
Leo nodded.
“Yes, the school is a safe place, absolutely dedicated to the protection of everyone inside it. Obviously something’s happened to tamper with that, but it doesn’t seem like the basic protocols have changed at all.”
So they all split up. Phoebe went off to find her wolf and Paige changed into a robe and went to her classroom, which left Piper and Leo to go investigate the nursery.
It was impressive in a lot of ways, Piper had to admit, but it made her nervous. The kids were levitating and using telekinesis and conjuring and they were all babies. It was a frightening thought. And a sudden disloyal idea occurred to her. What if Wyatt corrupted them all, made them his little minions in his search to take over the world? In her haste not to think like that she was a little cruel in her assessment of the nursery.
“I don't know what the hell Gideon was talking about, because this is certainly not what I'm looking for.”
“Wyatt wouldn't have to hide his powers here. Plus, he wouldn’t be all alone.”
“No, he'll be surrounded by all the other freaks.”
“They're not freaks,” Leo reproved softly.
“You know what I mean,” Piper said. “I just want Wyatt to have a normal up bringing. At least as normal as possible. Here there would be no chance of that. He’d be king of the freaks. And maybe he’d- is that too much to ask for?”
Leo looked at her knowingly.
“Maybe he’d go evil and corrupt them all?”
She nodded miserably.
He sighed and wrapped his arm around her.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Piper. I just…no matter what, Wyatt is going to be special. Our job is to lead him where he should go, give him as much information about who he is and what he can do as possible.”
“Obviously something goes wrong,” Piper whispered. “Something we do.”
“We know now.”
“We don’t know anything.”
Piper wriggled out of his arms and wiped at her eyes. She couldn’t do this here. She never had time to do this with him anymore anyway.
The teacher was heading their direction and Leo addressed her.
“You were telling us about your near miss with the headless...”
“Shhh. Don't want to scare the little ones,” Mrs. Winterbourne said. “They may have powers but they're still innocent.”
“How'd you get away?” asked Leo.
“I astral projected. Confused him, I guess, by creating two of me, thank goodness.”
“So who do you think is responsible?” asked Piper.
“Well, not the children. Never. They’re precocious and rambunctious at times like all children, but they love to learn. And we’re a family here. Bound by the secret of our gifts.”
“So why target the teachers?” asked Leo.
“These children are the cradle of good magic, its entire future. Without proper guidance, nurturing, they can easily be turned.”
“Evil?” Piper asked in a small voice.
“Unfortunately, yeah.”
A warning siren sounded before Piper could indulge in any more of her Wyatt related fears. She and Leo raced to the Great Hall, as he called it, and, oh joy, she got her head chopped off.
This really was not her day.
Leo carried her home, gathering Paige along the way, and they set her on top of a cabinet in the sun room.
She was really ticked off about this, by the way. She didn’t have time to be a head. Not with innocent kids in danger and her own child competing to be Mr. Dark Side of the Future and her husband and sisters running off on their own lives all the time. Her running fears sounded pathetic in her head so she concentrated on how weird it felt to not have a body.
“You doing okay up there, honey?” asked Leo.
“Actually, I feel a little woozy.”
“Well, maybe it's because we have you up too high. Are you sure you don't want me to move you down lower?”
“No, I don't want Wyatt to see me like this, he will freak out.”
“Well, you know, on the plus side, this is a great way for Wyatt to get out and socialize,” said Paige.
“If I had legs I would kick you,” said Piper.
“You know, maybe I should just go upstairs and check the Book and see if there's a spell that can fix this?” asked Paige.
“Or we can find the little child that conjured the horseman and vanquish it.”
“You think that would reverse the spell?” asked Leo.
“I'm hoping,” said Piper.
“I keep getting this weird feeling that it's one of the students in my class,” said Paige.
Piper listened to them talk about the possibilities and what to do about it, while wishing she could scratch her nose. They did eventually plan to bring the kids to the manor where they couldn’t conjure anything and then do some old fashioned sleuthing to get them to crack.
“Phoebe’s probably in danger,” Piper put in. “If they got me, it’s obvious they won’t hesitate to go after anyone they perceive as a threat to them.”
“I'll go get her,” said Leo.
“No, I do not want Wyatt to have two headless parents. Send Chris,” Piper insisted.
“Okay,” Leo said, shrugging, then frowned. “You know, I’m surprised that he hasn’t come down yet. We’ve been making enough noise.”
“Let’s just get this over with,” said Piper.
***
This would most definitely be viewed as something suspect. For a minute he’d considered asking for permission, but he had such a distrust engrained in him. Such a fear of what would happen if people said no. Not like he was used to having to ask for permission anyway. He was fixing their mistakes after all.
Leo walked with Paige up the stairs to get Chris, talking about how they were going to interrogate the students.
It felt good to have a legitimate reason to be home. The other Elders had been pressuring him lately; now that the immediate crisis of the Titan attack was over, they said normality needed to resume. An Elder’s place was Up There, they needed his leadership, the world required watching over. All the usual excuses. Leo sometimes felt like he could only take so much more pressure before he blew up. And it wasn’t like it didn’t make sense to him. He had all the moral senses of an Elder. He felt the need to answer the call. Up There was peaceful, everything felt right, despite the pressures of the world at need. There was such certainty.
Down on Earth all the questions loomed at him, the emotions were overwhelming, the demands seemingly unable to be met. The higher the joy the greater the pressures, that was Leo’s conclusion anyway. He felt happier with Piper and Wyatt and the other girls, even Chris, but everything seemed harder, the future more uncertain, his own failings more prevalent.
He needed to talk to Piper about all this, but he was hesitant. It just seemed like she couldn’t understand, that normality was all she could think about. Her bias against the Elders was absolute and her devotion to Wyatt stronger than anything else. He didn’t want to add to her worries, though he knew he was anyway. They just needed time. Procrastination appeared to be one of his human faults that presented every time he came home.
All those thoughts vanished when he walked into Wyatt’s room and saw a robed demon by Wyatt’s crib, light floating over Wyatt’s face. Chris was standing there doing nothing and Wyatt didn’t have his shield up, but Leo didn’t pause, rushing forward.
The demon shimmered out.
“What the hell is going on?” Leo asked.
“Wait, I can explain,” said Chris.
Leo picked Wyatt up examining him.
“Are you okay, buddy?” he asked.
“What was he doing?” asked Paige angrily.
“Nothing bad, I swear,” said Chris, voice high.
“Nothing bad? He's a demon,” said Paige.
“But he wasn't hurting him, I promise. Wyatt's shield wasn't even up.”
Leo couldn’t believe Chris. And he couldn’t believe his own stupidity. After everything they’d been through, the fact that Chris would do this was unbelievable. Looked like Leo’s first instincts had been right all along.
“I trusted you, I vouched for you,” he said harshly.
“Look, just let me explain,” Chris pleaded.
Leo shook his head; he was done listening to Chris and his explanations.
“Get out of here,” Leo said.
“Paige, please,” tried Chris.
She wouldn’t answer him.
“Now!” yelled Leo.
Chris looked frightened and surprised like he could never imagine Leo being this angry. Indeed, Leo hadn’t really ever been this angry.
Chris orbed out.
“Is he okay?” asked Paige.
“Yeah, I think so. Listen, I'm gonna take him Up There where it's safe. Do you mind...?”
“Getting Phoebe? No, not at all. I just hope there's all of her to get.”
“Good, call me when you get back. And let’s not tell Piper about this till later.”
“Good idea,” Paige said.
Leo orbed Wyatt Up There and breathed in relief once he had looked him over and then ensconced him with one of the youngest Elders, but very reliable, and one whom Wyatt seemed to like a lot. Some of the Elders caught him and began to lecture him on bringing Wyatt up here so often and not staying himself. Leo didn’t really have time for that. Plus, it annoyed him that protecting the son of a Charmed One and one of their own appeared to be more of a nuisance to them than a necessity.
He was stuck there a bit longer than he needed and he was glad to get Paige’s call when it came. He orbed down to see Paige and Gideon standing in the kitchen.
“What's going on?"
"You have to talk him out of closing down Magic School," said Paige.
Gideon turned to Leo.
"Someone let the horseman out, Leo. He killed a man."
"Why?"
"Why else? To force my hand. Make me shut down the school."
"If you let whoever's behind this win, all those kids are gonna lose. Is that what you want?" Paige demanded.
"Of course not. But..." Gideon said, trailing off.
"But what? Big deal, you have one bad apple. Just give us the time to flush him out to save the next generation of magic."
Leo smiled as he watched Paige dig down deep into herself and find what she wanted and what she was capable of. It was a feeling she'd been engendering in him a lot lately when he'd been there to see it. Living with Richard and helping people out magically solo had really given her the chance to do what she'd never dared to do before. Leo was very proud of her and she didn't need any of his help today.
"But the rules," Gideon protested.
Leo frowned because Gideon wasn't really acting like himself. He was almost too afraid like he knew something they didn't or he was trying to make them think he did. But Leo's thoughts were lost in Paige's next words.
"Screw the rules. Listen, you are the one who talked me into doing this, you are the one who said I could do it, so don't give up on me now, please. Just let us finish the job that we started. Tell him, Leo."
"I think you just did."
Paige smiled up at him and Leo smiled back, but his smile quickly turned to fear when he sensed Piper's fear and surprise and then they heard a yell and ran towards the living room. Her head was gone and the students, every single one of them, were frozen.
"Oh no," Leo said, his senses scanning the room.
He couldn't pick up anything.
"What are we gonna do?" asked Paige.
"Didn't you get Phoebe back?" Leo asked.
"She didn't want to come, but then I…I- don't get mad, but I sent Chris after her."
"What?" Leo said, turning to her in shock. "Why would you do that?"
"Do you really believe he means to hurt us? Or Wyatt?"
"Not the point, Paige," Leo said. "Look, he may have good intentions but he's done nothing but screw up since he got here."
"Well, we needed someone," Paige said. "He wanted to help, so I'm letting him help. You can yell at him all you want later and I'll be glad to participate. Just, let's fix this first."
"There's always a fix this first," Leo said, but he nodded.
At that moment Phoebe and Chris came in through the door on the landing.
"Oh, Phoebe, I'm so glad to see you, I was worried," said Paige.
"What's the matter? Didn't you trust me?" asked Chris.
Leo restrained himself from punching Chris and used words instead.
"Separate subject."
"Hey, Piper's been kidnapped. A little perspective," said Paige.
"If one of the students took her, I can't sense which one it is," said Gideon, which made Leo frown again, but Phoebe spoke up before he could question it.
"Maybe I can. Thanks to your wolf, I've gotten a lot of clarity lately." Phoebe started walking around after giving Chris a strange look. She stopped in front of the kids. "I can sense pain, and anger, a lot of anger. Do any of them hate the high school?"
"Honey, they're teenagers," said Paige, "they all hate the school."
Phoebe stopped in front of a boy Leo knew to be Zach. He was a powerful telepath who'd initially resisted his powers but had seemed to adjust to them as of late. Gideon made regular reports on all the magic users in his school so the Elders could keep tabs on up and coming magic powers in the world. Gideon had often had concern on his mind for Zach, but not for at least the last six months.
"Who's this guy?" asked Phoebe.
"A telepath," said Paige.
"Yeah, he's telepathing a whole lot of rage right now," said Phoebe.
And then Zach moved.
"Well, look who just solved the case," said Zach derisively, but Leo thought he sensed tentativeness behind the scorn.
"Zachary?" said Gideon.
"Surprise."
Zach disappeared and Leo suddenly understood a lot of things.
"What happened? Where'd he go?" said Chris.
"That wasn't Zachary, that was an astral projection," said Leo and looked to Paige.
She nodded, speaking slowly.
"A teacher here has that power. There were a lot of powers in this room, conjuring, freezing."
"He's using his telepathy to tap into other people's powers," agreed Phoebe.
"The real Zach must be in the school with Piper," said Leo.
"What does he want with her?" asked Chris.
"Get her out of the way maybe," said Leo. "The Charmed Ones have a habit of messing up evil plans."
"Why didn't he just kill her?"
"Well, her body's at Magic School," said Leo.
"But couldn't he just as well have-" began Chris.
"Look, it doesn't matter," said Gideon harshly. "Matters have progressed far more forward than they should have. Piper may be in grave danger and so are my students."
"Then I've got a very bad idea," said Paige.
Leo thought she was right once she'd explained it. It was a bad idea. But it was the only one they had and it just might work. At least it would give them the Power of Three back and then they could work on a better solution.
Leo didn't feel very comfortable waiting there with Chris and Gideon and a room full of frozen people while the sisters went to find his wife, but it was practically the story of his life.
***
It had been a rather bad decision, he could admit it. He'd just wanted to do it without raising panic and he was fearful of being overridden. But then the anger and outrage had happened and he felt small and unwanted and like a failure instead. A feeling which caused his own anger and determination to come back to him. He had a job to do and he didn't care what certain people thought of him, he didn't. They didn't have the right to hold approval over him. So he appealed to another source and he helped do what he could and then he'd gotten the strangest look.
Piper felt like a cliché as she tried valiantly not to think about scratching her nose. On the other hand it helped to take her mind off the pressing doom weighing down on everything as a teenage boy ran amuck, swiping everyone’s powers and kidnapping her head.
She didn’t know if she was less or more inclined to be sympathetic to him since everything he was doing was reminding her of what Wyatt could possibly become. At the moment she was leaning a little bit towards less, especially the itchier her nose got.
However, shortly thereafter her sisters came to rescue her and got their own heads chopped off so at least she was in good company.
“I’m sorry,” Zach said petulantly when he scooped their heads up and put them on a desk. Guess they didn’t get to visit the gallery of the other heads. “I don’t want to do it this way, but it has to be.”
He vanished before they could say anything and Piper smiled pleasantly though she doubted Phoebe and Paige could really see it out of their peripheral vision.
“So, whose bright idea was this anyway?”
“We were trying to save you,” Phoebe said.
“Yeah, good job on that one,” replied Piper.
“And who went and got her head stolen?” retorted Phoebe.
“While you were off contemplating your naval…while you still had one.”
“Guys, we're not getting anywhere arguing,” Paige interrupted.
“Actually, we're not getting anywhere because we don't have any bodies,” Piper sniped.
“Okay, look, we said we were sorry,” Phoebe said.
“Can we try looking on the bright side? I mean, you know, we're still alive,” said Paige and the role reversal was actually quite amusing to Piper.
“Yeah, only because Zachary can't kill us in here,” said Piper.
“I don't think he would if he could,” said Paige. “I mean, he apologized to us. It’s almost like he doesn’t have any choice in the matter.”
“There’s always a choice,” Piper said and then winced because she really didn’t want to think about Wyatt right then.
“I think she's right, actually,” said Phoebe. “I didn't sense any anger from him, just a lot of sorrow.”
“What could force him to do this?” asked Paige. “Why would he target us?”
“He wanted us out of the way for sure,” Phoebe said. “It’s revenge on the school he’s after.”
“It’s revenge on Gideon,” Paige said.
“Then we need to get our bodies back fast,” Piper said.
“Power of three spell?” asked Phoebe.
“What else we got?” said Paige.
They fought for a little bit on the wording of the spell but in the end it was both the easiest and the hardest spell they’d ever written. It was completely on the fly and couldn’t be written down so they needed to memorize it and none of them wanted to waste time on making it fancy.
As soon as they’d spoken the words Piper felt herself flying through the air and landed, connected with her body. Oh, that felt good. Her body wasn’t with her sisters,’ it was stored in another room with a bunch of other headless bodies and that was creepy as all get out but she didn’t have time for that so she hurried to find her sisters.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” she said when she found them on the floor, Phoebe caressing her own thighs.
They ran down the long corridors of Magic School before arriving at their own door and bursting through to find Gideon on the floor and a knife hovering at his throat.
Piper spared one moment of eye rolling at Elders and their pacifist ways. It was one of the main reasons Leo was so often flung through the air and smashed into their furniture. If he wanted to he could just vaporize most things that attacked them, but he never felt it was the right option. Most of the time she respected doing his dirty work for him because she had absolutely no problem blowing things up.
But…right now, when his life was in danger, it was a bit ridiculous for Gideon to be playing the non-violence card.
“Where’s Leo?” was the first question out of her mouth.
“He took the other children to safety,” Gideon answered, eyes glued to the knife.
“Was he going to come back for you?” Paige queried.
“He thought Zachary was you, I’m afraid,” Gideon said. “And Zachary sent Chris in after you.”
“I am right here,” Zach said. “Right here with a knife.”
“Zach, please don’t do this,” Paige said, extending her hand to him. “This isn’t the way.”
“I don’t want to do it!” Zach shouted. “I can’t help it.”
“You’re the only one who controls you,” said Phoebe softly. “Please, put the knife down.”
“I tried,” said Zach, nearly crying. “I tried.”
“Why are you angry, Zach?” asked Phoebe, flinching a little, Piper assumed, from Zach’s emotions.
“He-he took me from my home,” Zach said. “I was never given a choice. He doesn’t listen to me. I can’t say anything or do anything to make him see. This is the only way. Nobody asked me if I wanted powers. But I have them and so I’ll use them if it helps people listen to me.”
“I’m sorry, Zachary,” Gideon said. “I never realized.”
Zach glared down at him with hatred on his face.
“No, you’re not sorry. You’re the only one who isn’t.”
“Zachary,” Gideon said warningly.
Amazingly enough, Zach didn’t say anything, just stood there with the knife to Gideon’s throat.
“I…just wanna go home,” Zach said, shoulders slumped.
“You can go home, Zach,” Paige said, stepping closer. “I promise I will do everything in my power to make that happen. But this is not the way.”
“You don’t know that,” he said. “You don’t know.”
“Then tell me. Please, tell me what I can do to make it better. I know I haven’t been your teacher for very long, but I want to help you. I do.”
“I believe you,” he said.
“Then talk to me. Please, just come with me and talk to me.”
“I can’t tell you what you want to know,” he said, shoulders shaking. “I can’t. But I can…if I can just…go home.”
“I’ll take you myself,” she said, extending her hand to him.
“I’m so tired,” he said.
“I know,” Paige said, voice gentle. “Let me help.”
Piper was impressed despite herself. Paige was outdoing herself. Maybe her time away had done her good. Zach dropped his hand and the knife clattered to the ground away from Gideon who got up and reached out a hand to Zach.
“Zachary, I know I- I’m sorry. I will learn to listen.”
“No, you won’t,” Zach said, his voice older than it had any right to be. He kept away from Gideon’s reach and stepped behind Paige. “Can I go home now?”
“I’ll take you,” Paige said, holding out her hand. “But let’s talk first, okay?”
“I can’t tell you what you want,” he said.
“It’s okay, there are lots of other things to talk about,” she said.
They vanished in orb lights and Piper cracked her neck. Time for the cleanup portion of the night.
“Leo,” she called.
“Piper, you have your body back!” he said delightedly as he orbed in.
“Don’t get too excited,” she said drily. “Are the kids okay?”
“They’re fine,” he said, looking around. “What happened?”
“Oh, fill him in,” Piper said, sitting down on the sofa.
Gideon went back to Magic School to see about reinstating all the teachers’ heads, Leo went back Up There to get the kids and Wyatt, and Phoebe was going to go find Chris, except he came back through the door and raised his eyebrows. He’d apparently been hanging out with them for too long because it was exactly the way Leo did it, Piper thought.
“What happened?”
That, too.
***
He was nervous. He’d blown it quite badly and he didn’t think he’d get another chance to fix this from the inside. He’d keep trying, but the more he thought about it, the more irrationally angry he got. He’d have probably treated him the way they were if he were them, but he knew things they didn’t. And it made him mad. Plus, he was a bit worried about his future, or more accurately, his past. He’d done a lot of thinking lately and realized he might have seriously miscalculated.
Leo came back from Up There with Wyatt safely in arm. The other kids couldn’t wait to show off their new knowledge from having been outside of Magic School. The Elders were upset at him again for leaving but Leo was just tired at this point. The younger Elder, Orlando, the one Wyatt was so attached to, had run interference for him just so Leo could get back. And ordinarily it took apocalyptic situations to get an Elder off their cloud so Leo was safe until his work, conscience, or circumstances forced him back.
When he arrived home the nanny was there for her usual shift. Paige informed Leo Piper had gone to the club to check on the band and Phoebe had gone with her. Paige was going to join them.
“How’s Zach?” Leo asked.
“He’s okay. He’s really shaken. Something happened that he literally can’t talk about. That makes me think today was part of something else because it just doesn’t seem he would have or could have done all that himself. That was a lot of power for him to be throwing around, even if it was borrowed.”
“You’re right,” Leo said. “Did you bind his powers?”
“No,” Paige said. “He didn’t want me to. I think he was just so happy to be with his parents and away from whatever was troubling him that his powers weren’t really the problem to begin with. I’m gonna keep coaching him and hopefully he’ll come back to Magic School one day.”
“Maybe you will,” Leo said, watching her closely. “You did really well today, Paige. I’m proud of you.”
“Aww, thanks,” Paige said, hitting his arm slightly. “Nice to have you back.” She sobered up. “So what are you going to tell Piper about Chris?”
“I’m going to tell her the truth,” Leo said. “But there’s just something about Chris, you know?”
“I know,” Paige said. “Well, I’ll pull Phoebe aside at P3 so you can do the confessional thing.”
“Thanks,” Leo said, extending his hand out. “Shall we?”
“Why, thank you,” she said, orbing first.
They appeared in the supply closet at P3, the standard orbing entry point they’d established.
It was busy and crowded, people drawn to the band there that night.
Piper and Phoebe were at the bar and they made their way toward them.
“I have to talk to you,” Phoebe and Paige said to each other at the same time.
Everyone laughed and then Piper and Leo were left alone together.
“So.”
“So,” she said back. “I don’t think I want Wyatt in Magic School anytime soon.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because I think magic is more dangerous than being anti-social right now,” she said. “Though Phoebe just got a really weird look on her face and told me she didn’t think I’d have to worry about that just now when I told her.”
“Huh, you think she had a premonition at Magic School?”
“I think she had a trip at Magic School,” Piper said wryly. “But whatever. You okay with that?”
“Sure, for now,” Leo said.
Piper’s eyes narrowed but before she could say anything else, he told her about Chris.
“That little…” she said, fingers twitching like she wanted to blow something up. “Leo! This is all your fault. You talked me into letting him watch Wyatt. What did that demon do to him?”
“Nothing,” Leo said. “Chris was right about that. I checked him very thoroughly Up There for anything off.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”
“We were a little busy,” said Leo.
“No excuse. Wyatt’s safety comes above everything,” Piper said, swatting his arm.
“I know, which is why I’m telling you now. I just don’t know why Chris would jeopardize the safety of Wyatt like that right after his last stunt.”
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Piper said. “I don’t want him around. You need to do something about him.”
“I will,” Leo said. “I’ve been trying to think of the best way.”
“Good,” she said, sounding somewhat appeased.
“I was going to go and talk to him,” Leo said.
“Fine, go,” Piper said. “Better you do it or I’ll blow him up.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Leo said, thinking about how he’d felt when he’d walked through the door and saw the demon standing over Wyatt.
Leo went to the backroom where Chris was just shrugging out of a jacket. He looked about thirty years older than he should look and Leo felt a stab of sympathy for him. Whatever his game was, it looked like Chris was losing.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“I don’t want to talk to you,” Chris said, a hard and ragged edge to his voice.
“I don’t care,” Leo said. “This is for your good too, you know. Piper wants to blow you up.”
To Leo’s surprise, Chris chuckled.
“Standard response. That’s okay, she’s entitled to it.”
“And I’m not?”
Chris turned to face him.
“Leo, you really don’t want to know what I think you’re entitled to.”
“Maybe not,” Leo said. “But I wanted to tell you I’m going to bring up your situation with the Elders again. This can’t keep happening. I can’t keep trusting you and then have you pull stuff like this. Whatever good you think you’re here to do, you’re just making it worse.”
Chris didn’t say anything, but the muscles in his jaw were clenched so tightly Leo thought they might break.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore,” Chris finally said.
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Leo said. “Until you can trust me and tell me what’s really going on, I can’t trust you.”
“I never wanted your trust,” Chris said and Leo wondered if he knew how unsure of himself he sounded.
“I’m sorry for that too,” Leo said, bumping into Phoebe and Paige on his way out. “What’s going on?” he asked them.
“We need to talk to Chris,” Phoebe said, looking at him with an odd look on her face.
“Maybe there’s more there than meets the eye,” Paige said.
Leo stared after them confused. Until five minutes ago Paige had agreed with him. What had Phoebe told her?
He was trying to do the math in his head again. It had become almost as big an obsession as what had brought him here in the first place. He didn’t have time for heart to heart talks. Yet they seemed to follow him around. And now his biggest secret was out. But maybe, just maybe he could finally have some help. Because his tasks were mounting as high and impossible as any done by Hercules. And he was tired, so tired, so alone, so alone. He didn’t have the energy to resist, he just needed to fix it.