Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 21:57:08 -0700 From: Amethyst Rose Subject: Charmed Reborn Episode 3 Disclaimer: All rights for Charmed and the Halliwells go to the WB, as well as Aaron Spelling and Brad Kern. This story is a spin-off of the original Charmed series, categorized under fan fiction, and is not intended to imply any personal knowledge, or the actual sexuality of any of its celebrities. This story is obviously fiction. This story will also involve sexual and intimate relationships between two (or more) males, and if this offends you or it is illegal for you to be reading, then please leave. If you are under the age of consent for your community, please leave. And if it does offend you, I honestly don't know why you're even here in the first place. Guiding Whitelight "Whorl!" Lex smiled in delight, watching the pillow float in the middle of the living room, swirling in a dangerous fervor. It spun so fast one could swear it was caught in a twister; it showed no signs of slowing down as Lucy walked into the room. Lex smiled at her, watching her in the corner of his eye. "Luce! Look what I can do!" Lucy stared upward at the whirling dervish Lex had conjured, and even Lucy couldn't help but feel some pity for the pillow. She sat down, toast and plate still in hand. "That's nice." There was a musical chime, as Lex let down his hands and the pillow finally dropped in the air: hitting Lucy square on the head. She barely flinched, opting to take a bite of her buttered, jamless toast instead. "You done yet?" "Far from it." He ran backwards a little, so he was in front of the tv. Lucy craned her neck a little, trying to catch glimpses of Maury's guest with a pathological fear of pickles. Lex beckoned to Lucy. "Come on. Throw something at me." Lucy raised an eyebrow, speaking between her bite of toast. "Should I get something sharp from the kitchen? I'm pretty sure SF General's on my speed-dial." "Lucy, come on. Seriously." Lucy looked around. Giving a mental shrug to herself, she took yet another chomp of her toast and then flung it like a baseball at Lex. Lex spoke as soon as she threw it: "Rebound!" A chime resounded in the air. The flying toast reversed its course a complete 180 degrees, and now landed, butter-side up, on Lucy's face. She slowly pulled it off, and wiped the butter off her nose with her sleeve. "...Thank you, Lex. That was lovely." "I know!" Lex nearly jumped next to Lucy, now disturbing the cup of coffee she placed on the plate. "This is SO fun. I've figured out all these different things I can say, and totally different stuff happens when I say it." Lucy gave a wide smile, with a hint of sarcasm. She put down her plate, now breakfast deprived. "Glad you're having fun." Lex cocked his head. "What about you? Haven't you tried out the whole time-freezing thing anymore?" "Now that you mention it..." Lucy said, biting her lip. "...Okay. I did, once. But before I tell you, promise you won't tell Lyla. Because I *know* she would get on my ass for personal gain." Lex gave an eager smile, and Lucy continued. "I used it to grade papers." The smile dropped from Lex's face, as any hint of juiciness left the building. "Oh." It was Lucy's turn to be excited. "You should've seen it! I used the whole green light thing, and the entire classroom froze. By the time they were unfrozen, I had all their tests graded, even though they just turned them in! Ha!" she took a long swig of her coffee like it were a victory mug, and it were full of brandy. "Needless to say, they were mortified." Lex gave an awkward nod, accompanied by a very fake "Yeah...!" he grated his teeth. "I'll bet..." He was relieved to hear the stairs creaking behind him, indicating that Lyla had gotten up. He turned around, only to see a tall, buffed, model-esque guy with long dirty-blonde hair saunter down the stairs. His shirt was off, and he seemed to be in a rather sleepy stupor. Lex wrinkled his eyebrows, and whispered to Lucy. "Who the hell is that?" Lucy finally turned around. She turned back, upon seeing the shirtless man. "Oh. Lyla's arm candy. You didn't hear them come in last night?" Lex looked skeptical, trying to recall what happened. "I was up all night. But I dunno... it felt like I was in a daze. Not really completely aware of anything." The shirtless guy scratched the back of his head, barely acknowledging Lex and Lucy as he wandered into the kitchen. There was another creaking of the stairs, and Lex finally saw Lyla descending the stairs, only in an oversized dress shirt that draped below her knees. She, unlike the shirtless guy, seemed quite sober, flipping her hair over her shoulders and whimsically stepping with a spring to her feet. "Lyla." Lex called out. She perked her head and smiled in response to him. "Who was that?" Lyla opened her mouth, and for a second she seemed a bit panicked at the realization that she forgot his name. She recovered. "Kane! He's Kane. There's, no reason, after all... why I wouldn't remember his name..." she cleared her throat. "Not like it was a drunken mistake or something stupid like that..." Lucy briefly looked up from her newspaper and coffee to exchange glances with Lex. Lex quietly coughed. "Um... alright then. Where'd you meet him?" "P3." she gave a lovely laugh, spritzing down the stairs and taking her place on an armchair. "It was last night. He was HOT, he had a way with words... One thing leads to another...and, whoo hoo!" she gave another maniacally giddy cackle. Lex gave another awkward noise, and Lyla finally caught herself. "Uh... sorry." She managed to fumble out. "We're going out tonight, why don't you guys come?" There was a crashing noise from the kitchen. Lex and Lucy stared in tow, before looking at each other again. Lex got up from his seat. "I'll check it out." he said, now trudging away. Lucy smiled, before settling down closer to Lyla. "Hey Ly... have you noticed something's up with Lex?" Lyla raised an eyebrow. "Yeah... now that you mention it." she pondered. "But he's been really excited about his powers. Did you know he can reflect attacks back?" "Yeah. And it cost some good toast." Lucy sighed. "It's only a couple of weeks since we got these powers too. But he's really good at them." she took a quick sip of coffee. "Better than me anyway." "He hasn't vanquished a demon." There was a silence at Lyla's revelation. Lucy broke it, attempting to justify. "Well... the blessing we cast on the first day keeps out really large groups of them. So he hasn't had many opportunities to-" "-Lucy." Lyla cut her off. "There was that lightning demon two days ago. Lex fended him off great, but you had to come in to stab him with an athame. Day before that, there was that generic demon with the fireballs. She cornered Lex, remember?" "Until you came and round house kicked her in the head." Lyla nodded. "That's exactly what I mean. Lex just hasn't vanquished a demon yet." Lucy folded up her newspaper, placing it neatly on the table. "You were up last night. Was Lex asleep?" "No..." Lyla said, thinking back. "He was up. But he wasn't really doing much of anything. I figured he just woke up and was going to go back to bed." Lucy looked towards the kitchen after Lex. "...Hope he's ok." * * * * Lex stepped over a pile of pots and pans that had accumulated on the floor. The shirtless guy known as Kane was up and about, frying a grilled cheese sandwich. Lex was surprised to see nearly the entire contents of their refrigerator out on the counter as well. "Excuse me." Lex said rather politely. Kane did not appear to hear him. Lex stepped behind him, grabbing a block of butter and gallon of milk, so as to put them back in the fridge. He cleared his throat. "Excuse me!" He finally responded, turning around with a spatula in his hand. Upon seeing Lex, his mouth curled up in a rather mischievous smile and a twinkle in his eyes. Lex, not noticing, reached over and began to place items in the refrigerator, not prying his gaze from Kane. "What are you doing? Kane swiftly turned around, grabbing a plate. Lex placed the eggs and the yogurt back in the fridge and quickly found himself staring at a grilled cheese sandwich on the said plate. Kane was handing it to him. "I'm making you breakfast." Kane said with a smile. There was a slight pause before Lex took the plate. "Oh! Um... thank you." Lex said, a little bit confused but flattered. Afraid that Kane would be disappointed if he didn't, Lex took a bite out of it. It had a bit of a funny aftertaste, but otherwise tasted good on his empty stomach. He put the plate down on the counter, returning to his job of reorganizing the kitchen. "I'm Kane, by the way." Lex smiled to himself, not turning around to face him except when to bring back more refrigerator items. "I know." Lex jumped a little and gave a gasp, as Kane swung an arm around his neck and leaned his head in next to his. Being in close proximity, Lex took an opportunity to observe Kane a little more; he was muscular, that was for sure. He had the body of a male model. His upper body was very nicely toned, and he had some vaguely pagan/celtic tattoos on his arms and on his belly button. His constant snicker and his ready-to-tumble face screamed "bad-boy" to Lex, and he soon began to wonder who Lyla was getting herself involved with. Lex felt Kane talk very close to his ear. "I don't think I've met you, sweet stuff." There was another pause. Lex's mouth gaped open, finally realizing what was happening. "H-h-hey! Don't say that! You're *Lyla's*!" Lex felt Kane's very faint whiskers tickle his ear as he chuckled. "You still haven't told me your name." "...It's Lex." "Lex, eh?" Kane reached his other hand around, and grabbed Lex's chin with his thumb and forefinger. Kane was close enough for Lex to sniff; he smelled like deodorizer and sex, and Lex was starting to feel really uncomfortable. "I really wish we were properly introduced before..." Lex finally mustered the strength to push him away. Still, the fact that he was simply physically weaker than Kane was a bit of an obstacle. Kane simply grabbed Lex tighter, muffling his protests. "Hey! Get off of me! Now!" Lex nearly screamed. Kane finally complied, letting go with a laugh. "Don't be so serious. I was just playing." Lex pulled away and straightened his clothes in frustration. He shoved the rest of the food into the refrigerator, and then proceeded to stow away the kitchen ware that had accumulated on the floor. Still, Lex was wary not to turn his back on Kane. He was sure to kneel down in his direction, keeping a paranoid eye on his assaulter. Determined, Kane spoke again, a little more humbly this time. "...Sorry, ok?" Lex shook his head in incredulity. "Whatever." He rather angrily wedged a frying pan into a pot, then dumped it in the empty cabinet. Kane, now surprisingly sheepish, bent down and offered a bacon tray as if it were an olive branch. Lex gave a small smile, accepting it. There was another loud crash in the living room that Lex just left, and he couldn't help but feel a little exhausted now. He and Kane stood up in unison, looking towards the kitchen door. Lucy yelled from the other side. "Lex! We need help! There's some, um... DEMARCATION problems!" Kane looked at Lex in confusion. "'Demarcation?'" "Yes! That's my sisters, they, uh, love to de-mark things... You know, always dividing the living room in new sections." he gave a very fake laugh. "Whoo! Ha! That's a party!" He ran towards the kitchen door, but quickly turned around before he left. "Stay here. And don't even think about coming into the living room." Lex rushed through the door, emerging on Lyla engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a (not-surprisingly) leather clad female demon. The demon's twin, an exact duplicate with blonde instead of black hair, was having a good time throwing fireballs at Lucy, who had fortified herself behind the overturned coffee table. He turned his attention to the glass vase next to the door. "Assault." The crystal vase jumped into the air and flew towards Lyla's adversary, bunking her on the head. She fell to the ground, and Lyla let down her guard. Lucy's demon now realized Lex's presence, and she threw fire at Lex as if it were a bowling ball. He shielded his eyes from the light. "Rebound!" The fireball spun around in the air, and flew back towards the demon. It exploded in her chest; still, reflecting it had reduced its power, and the demon was only slightly phased. Lucy came up from behind the table, shining a lime green spotlight from her hands. The light wrapped around the demon, and she froze in place. Lyla tossed her hair over her shoulder, only barely panting. She turned to Lex. "Lex. Vanquish them." Silence prevailed for a little, as Lex looked at her in disbelief. "What?" Lucy tried to intervene. "I can't hold this forever!" "I want Lex to do this." Lyla slowly stepped over the first demon's body, and handed an athame from her back pocket into Lex's hand. He gingerly grasped the handle, as if it were poisoned. "Lyla," Lucy tried to appeal to reason. "remember, there's somebody in the next room, we have to-" Lyla turned in her direction rather sharply. "Well then Lex better do it quickly!" Lyla looked at Lex, a little bit more gently. "All you have to do is stab them in the heart, honey. The fire will take them then." Lex opened his mouth, as though he were to speak in protest. But no sound came out. With the sudden sound of a clock speeding up, green light vanished from the room, and the demon awoke from her stasis. Exasperated, Lyla forced the athame from Lex's hand and threw it full-speed at the demon. With a scream, she burst into flames and exploded into a million pieces. A smudge of dark smoke and ashes was all that was left, and the athame clanked to the floor. Lucy, apprehensive, walked to the ashes and picked the athame up. She looked to Lyla, a touch angry, and Lex, just helpless. "I'll finish the other one." Lucy stalked her way behind the couch, to the demon that Lex had knocked out. Lyla finally looked at Lex, more disappointed than anything else. She saw Lex wince a little as Lucy plunged the dagger into the demon behind the couch, and the sound of the otherworldly explosion reverberated off the walls. "Lex..." She was cut short. Kane had finally decided to emerge from the kitchen, looking in bewilderment at the smoldering stains on the floor, the shattered vase, and decimated coffee table. "What happened here?" Lex broke away from Lyla's gaze. "Demarcation." - - - - Opening song time!!! This Episode: "Daylight" By Coldplay - - - - As per usual, there was an enormous crowd at P3. The new owner (whoever it was, none of the Russels knew) booked a rocking band, and the floor throbbed with dance steps, bass lines, and flashing lights. Lyla was sitting on Kane's lap, her leg propped in the air and her tube top ruffled by Kane's hands. Lucy, although visually disgusted by Kane and Lyla's giggling and making out, looked snappy in a bright cocktail dress and white tennis shoes. Lex thought her attire incongruent. Lucy shot down the fifth cosmo of the night, slowly placing the glass on the table but snatching it away as Lyla's legs swung around. Lyla's swiftly landed on her high heels with cat-like precision, and smiled at Lex and Lucy. She yelled over the music: "Are you having fun!?" Lucy bit her lip. Lex answered for her. "We're fine!" Lyla tore herself away from Kane, who was suckling at her neck, and brought Lex to his feet by his wrists. She threw an arm around his shoulder; Lex smelled alcohol on her breath, but she seemed unusually sober. "Lex, cheer up!" Lyla said, squeezing him a little tighter. "Get a drink! Then come dance with us!" she looked down at Lucy. "You too!" "Yeah." Lucy said, standing up and straightening her dress. "I think I could actually go for jumping up and down in a sweaty room right now..." she said, making her way to the dance floor. Lyla followed her, cackling in some satisfaction. Kane was in tow, and gave a wicked smile to Lex before slapping him on the ass. "Wha-!" Lex managed to cry out, his mouth dropped in incredulity, but Kane faded into the crowd before he could fully respond. Lex wove his way to the bar, feeling irritated, hot, and depressing at the same time. He sat down in his usual spot. He began to remember what happened that day; when the twin Zira demons attacked. It wasn't like Lex had any particular compassion for demons... or maybe he did. But he had never wanted to ever kill anybody, evil or not. The very first vanquish that he and his sisters made; against some guy in a trench-coat who threw fireballs; reverberated in Lex's mind. His face contorted in pain, the flames of Hell coming from the ground to reclaim its property. The sound of a soul exploding. Lex cringed thinking about it. Lex didn't care how many times Lyla and Lucy explained to him that demons didn't have souls, and that they wouldn't think twice to kill him. He just didn't like to vanquish them. Lex jumped a little, as a frosty strawberry drink was slammed onto the bar in front of him. He looked up; it was the bartender from before. The bartender smiled. "Glad to see you back." "How'd you know I'd want another one of these..." Lex asked a bit rhetorically, picking up the icy beverage and taking a timid sip. He looked down the bar; it was mostly vacant, a majority of the customers consumed in the dance floor. He turned back to the bartender, and gave a wide grin. "Thank you, though." The bartender leaned his elbows on the counter, propping his chin up on his hands and getting eye-to-eye with Lex. "My name's Aaron, by the way." Lex swiftly swallowed the drink he had in his mouth and placed it on the counter, grabbing Aaron's hand with his warm hand. "Hi, Aaron. I'm Lex." There was a bit of a twinkle in Aaron's eye. Lex looked him over a bit more carefully, taking full advantage of the handshake. His skin was hairless, except for the light dusting of hair on the back of his arms and hands. He had very defined features, and short, striking blonde hair that complemented his pale, smooth complexion. He had black eyes, and his body was built- Lex wasn't sure, but maybe like a sprinter, or swimmer, or someone who played some cardiovascular sport; not enormous, but defined and muscular in his own right. Lex found confidence in his grip. "So, Lex..." Aaron started, finally letting go of his hand. "Why so down?" Lex pursed his lips, unsure if he should answer. Aaron laughed. "Come on, you can tell me. It's part of the job description." Lex sighed, stirring the almost empty cup on the counter. "Appreciate it. But I can't." Aaron pressed his lips together. "Well, there's no pressure." He briefly reached behind him, grabbing a glass and idly rubbing it with a towel. "I've heard crazier stuff before. Just letting yah know." "..." Lex now apprehensively licked his lips, pondering. "...Okay. I guess it can't hurt to tell you one of my problems." Lex brought Aaron closer, and referred him to Lyla, who was partaking in rather lovely freaking with Kane. "That's my sister." "Huh. Good dancer." "Isn't she? I don't know where she learned it..." Lyla began to grind her butt into Kane's crotch. "...but anyway. The point is, I don't like the guy she's dating." Aaron nodded his head. "What's wrong with him?" He said rather sarcastically, as Kane now proceeded to slap the proverbial junk in Lyla's trunk. "He's... well, he's..." Lex spoke really close to Aaron now. "Did you know, he flirted with me?" "Ah." Aaron positioned himself better, folding his hands on the counter and leaning down. "So you don't think he can commit to your sister." Lex clicked his tongue. "That's another thing, actually. She has no sense of commitment either." he looked rather sadly at Lyla, whose lascivious gestures just looked desperate now. "I don't know what to do." Lex felt Aaron lightly tap his arm. Even though it was a small gesture, Lex found it very reassuring. Aaron smiled at him. "Some people are like that, you know? And I'm guessing your sister has a very good reason for it. But still... some people just need a guiding light, to help them go the right way." "So how can that help my sister?" "Well... why can't that be you?" Lex widened his eyes with some realization. For a long time, Lyla had been taking care of both him and his little sister, and the stress must have been towering. And he began to realize that he didn't reciprocate very much. But... that was only because she acted like she didn't need help. She acted like she didn't have a care in the world; flirting and smiling like some renegade fairy. "...Maybe you're right." Lex blinked a little, as a green strobe light briefly got into his eyes. He turned towards Aaron. "Hey, thanks." No response. He looked closer; Aaron wasn't moving at all. Lex came to the realization that it was completely silent in the club. He turned around, and saw the dancers and band frozen in place. ...except for Lyla, of course. Lyla threw her hands up in frustration, straightening her shirt. She yelled into the crowd. "Lucy! What was that for?!" Lucy's voice rang out from somewhere in the crowd. "I can't really control it yet! It was noisy and crowded, and I started to get frustrated... and when I get frustrated-" "Yeah, we know..." Lyla surveyed the area around her until she spotted Lex at the bar. "Hey, Lex. Weren't you just talking to a bartender or something?" "Yup, he's-" Lex motioned to his left. He gasped; Aaron was no longer there. "Ly! He's gone!" Lyla rushed over, her heels clacking on the floor. She peered over the bar, as if expecting to find him ducked and hiding. She yelled into the crowd again. "Lucy! Get over here!" There was a pause before Lucy responded. "I... *grunt* can't. I'm wedged between Ozzy and that guy from Wayne's World." Lyla rolled her eyes. This time Lex surveyed the crowd, and he also noticed something missing. "Where's Kane?" He asked, a bit panicked. "What are you talking about, Lex, I was just..." she fumbled, not finding him in the crowd. "Oh dear." she grabbed Lex's arm, and took him to the part of the dance floor they were just occupying. She stopped him just outside of it, and stood a good six feet away from him. Lyla talked to Lex, slowly as to give him instructions. "Lex. I'm going to use my powers to show what happened shortly after Lucy froze time. It's up to you to see where Kane and your bartender went." Lex nodded. Lyla did as well, before closing her eyes and raising her hands to her heart. There was a sound like a ringing bell, as the ruby star appeared on her forehead; red light flowed out of her like a halo, swirling around Lyla and flowing outward until the room was bathed in crimson. The pale red silhouettes of the past appeared, playing backwards like a movie on rewind. Lex saw himself and Lyla search the bar for Aaron. He saw Lyla walk backwards to the dance floor, then yell into the crowd. ... and suddenly, Kane was back. Lex turned around, and saw Aaron back too. Lex yelled to Lyla. "Ly, go forward a little bit." She nodded. The silhouettes went forward again, as if time was resumed as normal. This time, Kane and Aaron simply seemed to vanish with a flash of lights. Lex raised an eyebrow in astonishment. Lucy called out from the crowd. "What's happening?" Lex ignored her. "Lyla. replay that part again. But see if you can slow it down." "I'll... try." Lyla said, rather breathlessly. She rewinded the vision to before when Kane and Aaron disappeared. Lyla did her best to slow it down; although not relaying perfect slow motion, she managed to show the vision in short staccato jerks. Lex gasped. Aaron, at the bar behind past Lex, looked normal at one moment; but at the very next moment, had vanished into a spray of what looked like floating orbs. Lex looked at Kane, and saw that his silhouette had done the same. Aaron's orbs ran full speed into Kane, and the two storms of light intertwined and flew straight out the door to the alleyway. It only took little more than three moments; as much time as it took for Lyla to have yelled one word into the crowd. Lyla gave a sharp inhalation, as the red light receded into her heart again. She looked to Lex, a bit exhausted. "What happened?" "They... just vanished. Into a bunch of lights" He pointed at the bar where he was just sitting. "He turned into lights, and then chased after Kane..." he pointed to where Kane just was. "...who also turned into lights. They went into the alley." Lyla nodded, motioning Lex to her. "Lucy, we'll be back. Meet us in the alley." "What? You can't just leave me here!" As soon as she said that, there was the sound of a clock speeding up. The lights and music resumed, drowning the club with its bassline again. Lex and Lyla quickly rushed through the crowd, weaving their way through dancers and breaking to the outside alleyway. The rush of cold air flew past and the door slammed behind them. Lyla and Lex stood dumbstruck. Kane and Aaron were here, alright. Kane was on the ground, his hand up as if to shield himself; and Aaron was standing at near point-blank, a bow and arrow pointed straight at Kane's head. They looked at Lyla and Lex in surprise, hearing the door slam. But Kane recovered quicker, knocking the weapon out of Aaron's hands with a well-placed kick. Aaron was thrust down from another kick from Kane, and they both scrambled for the bow and arrow. They got their hands on the bow at the same time. They exchanged ferocious glares before disappearing into a spray of white and black orbs, taking the bow with them. The dancing storm of lights shot into the night sky, leaving Lyla and Lex to stare in disbelief. - - - - Lucy threw her coat onto the couch. Lyla followed suit, and Lex fell down into an armchair. Lyla continued her interrogation. "...You're sure that you didn't see what color lights they were?" "Yes. Lyla, your visions are always red, I can't see what color they are." Lyla sighed. "Yeah..." "And I wish that I could've told what color their orbs were when they were fighting, but they were too intertwined. I mean, you were there, could you tell?" Lucy briefly interrupted. "Lyla, how do you even know these are... Whitelighters, or Darklighters, or... or, Black-lighters or whatever you call them?" "Yeah, what are they, anyway?" Lex and Lucy were a bit confused. Lyla began to twiddle her hair in her fingers, a bit bored of the questions. "Whitelighters are kinda like... guardian angels. They're the souls of exceptionally good people who, after they die, guard witches, future whitelighters, and other good people. And Darklighters are the opposite. Their purpose is to kill whitelighters with special arrows with poison that's deadly to them." she sighed. "If you remember Piper, her husband was a whitelighter, and her sister Paige was half." "So..." Lucy pondered. "If darklighters use arrows... Then wouldn't that mean that the bartender was a darklighter?" "Aaron." Lucy and Lyla turned to Lex. "Hm?" Lyla asked in confusion. "The bartender. His name was Aaron." Lex shook his head. "You know, it just seems kinda strange. I talked to him, and he didn't seem evil or anything like that." "Well, neither did Kane." Lyla said, matter-of-factly. "But evil is crafty. It can take many forms. So we can't trust anybody." "Doesn't that seem, you know, a little Machiavellian?" Lex asked. Lyla raised an eyebrow. "I mean... I agree we should be cautious. But it's not like everybody's either good or evil, like absolutes." Lyla nodded. She sat on the armchair, next to Lex. "Lex. The world is tough. I just don't want you to be hurt, alright?" Lex almost asked, "What's that supposed to mean?" but decided not to. He instead gave silent acknowledgment. Lyla patted his back and stood up. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna shower and go to bed." she slowly went up the stairs. "I'm right behind you." Lucy stopped in front of Lex. "Are you okay?" Lex looked up at her and smiled. Lucy rolled her eyes. "Goodnight, Lex." she went upstairs along with Lyla. Lex spent some time lying down sideways on the armchair. He didn't feel like sleeping, but he went upstairs anyway, leaving the empty downstairs to the dark. - - - - There was a crash downstairs. Lucy was the first to start from her room, still dressed in PJs; Lyla followed suit from her room, and the two of them exchanged glances in the hallway. Lex rushed out of his door as well, uniting with his sisters in sleep-deprived confusion. The three of them flew down the stairs with haste, and stopped mid-way. In the center of the living room floor was Aaron, ragged and heaving, silver-white bow in his hand. There were scratches on his face and arms, indicative of a battle. He met eyes with Lyla, then Lucy, then Lex. "You are the Charmed Ones... correct?" Lucy and Lyla exchanged glances. Aaron shook his head. "You don't have to answer that." He walked a little closer, with a bit of a limp. "I am your whitelighter." - - - - Lex placed the last bandage on his face, chuckling a little to see about half of his body wrapped in them. Aaron shot him a bit of a dirty look, before turning back to Lyla. "This Kane that you're talking about is a darklighter. He's been out to kill me for a long time now, and if it weren't for you he would have succeeded." "So where is he now?" Lucy asked. "I managed to vanquish him with this..." Aaron said, holding up his bow. "Wait, wait, wait." Lucy continued her rebuttal. "Now, I thought only darklighters use arrows." Aaron shook his head. "Darklighters use crossbows. The Elders finally decided to give whitelighters a way to defend themselves, after the Seven-" Lex tilted his head with some confusion. "The Elders?" Aaron gave him an exhausted look. "Come on. You know about the Elders." "I haven't told them yet." Lyla said in response. "But to be honest, I don't know much about them either. Could you elaborate?" There was a pause. Aaron spoke rather slowly. "It would probably be best if I didn't tell you much. Just know that they live-" he pointed to the ceiling. "-up there." Lyla nodded. "So you already know about the Seven." "Of course." Aaron said, getting up from his seat. "By the way, I might check your book for darklighters." Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Why? Didn't you say that you vanquished him?" "Sure I did. But I'll bet that more'll be coming." he looked at Lyla. "Besides, it's best to be prepared, right? In fact, I think we should launch a preemptive." Lyla acknowledged. "I'll check then." she slipped off of the couch, and ran to the attic. "But Aaron." Aaron looked down at Lex, who had spoken as soon as Lyla disappeared up the stairs. "What do whitelighters do, then? I mean, if you protect us... then you're not supposed to lead us straight into the offensive, right?" Aaron stopped in his tracks, giving a terrible look to Lex, who subconsciously drew back into the couch. Aaron seemed to force a smile, as if holding back anger. "You're new at this, kid. Let me handle it." he gave some forced laughter before going up the stairs to join Lyla. Lex waited for him to disappear before he quietly spoke to Lucy. "Luce. I don't like this." "..." Lucy silently massaged her neck. "Lex, I'd really like to stay objective in this situation. Just tell me, clearly and calmly why you don't trust him." "Well," Lex shifted in his seat a little. "I mean, I talked to him before, and..." he fumbled for the right words. "...well, he didn't seem evil. Besides, you saw the way he acted. It was like he didn't even know me." "Your evidence is entirely circumstantial. Not to mention last night, you were the one who said that Aaron was good. Now you're disputing that?" Lex sighed. "I know this sounds kinda crazy. But something just doesn't seem right." Lucy nodded. "Alright." She motioned Lex closer, and he sat down on the seat next to her. Her voice plummeted to a little more than a whisper. "Listen, I've got a plan." Lex lit up a little bit, and Lucy smiled. "Now, you remember how to scry, right?" - - - - "Darklighter. Forces good souls into suicide through telepathic suggestion. Very dangerous." Aaron talked from the other side of the room, plucking the string on his bow. "Those would be spirit killers. They work a lot more covertly than others." he gave a hand gesture that said "move it along." Lyla turned the page. "Okay... there are some other entries here." she gave a cursory scan of the entry. "They wield crossbows with arrows poisonous to whitelighters... have many powers that are the same as whitelighters, including orbing, glamouring, and sensing... certain darklighters have the `Touch of Death.'" she looked up at Aaron in desperation. "What am I looking for, exactly?" "I just wanted to know what your book had on darklighters." Aaron said off hand, coming closer to Lyla. She drew back a little, as he threw an arm around her and gazed down at the book. "What do you have on the Seven?" "Oh, um..." Lyla flipped through the pages, until she got to the first page of the Seven, depicting Amy, and went through until she got to Chrysle. "That's all. You wouldn't happen to know any more members, would you?" "Well, I can tell you that some of those names are wrong." Lyla raised an eyebrow. "Biblios is Barbatos. Chrysle is Ipos." Lyla turned her head to her left, to meet eyes with Aaron. She laughed. "Well then. I guess you're not so useless after all." Lyla closed the book. "To be honest, the sisters and I got those names from demonic rumors... we were just using them as code." she raised her hand up, rather coquettishly stroking Aaron's hand. "So the Elders know more than they let on?" Aaron slowly nodded. "They do. I can tell you now that they don't trust you. You or your brother and sister." Aaron grew a little bolder, stroking the ends of Lyla's hair. "I know you've been communing with the Halliwell Sisters too. But they're also working with the Elders." "They do?" Lyla pulled back a little, in disbelief. "Nah... no way." "Listen to me..." Aaron cooed rather softly, approaching Lyla again. "...the world is growing dangerous. Everyone out there's either on our side-" he held out his hand, to evoke the image of a line. "-or on their side." Lyla nodded, entranced. Aaron looked to her. "So. I think what we need to do is attack them first, yes?" "Yes." Lyla spoke with a bit of a whisper, before snapping back into reality. "You're right. Where could I find them?" Aaron closed his eyes, concentrating. He opened them again with little effort. "There's a warehouse in the Mission district. You'll find a darklighter there." Aaron smiled. "Give him hell." Lyla nodded, quickly running down out the door and grabbing the car keys. She brushed past Lucy coming up the stairs, ignoring her inquiries before slamming the front door behind her. Lucy looked down at Lex, who was crouched on the step below her. "Where's she going?" "I dunno." Lex said with a shrug. Lucy gave a just-as-clueless shrug, before tiptoeing to the attic again. She turned around before coming into the threshold, addressing a Lex in espionage mode. "Alright. You know what to do." Lex silently nodded, crouching down lower until he could see into the attic from the edge of the door. When Lucy sashayed into the attic, Aaron was strangely gazing out the window, hands folded behind his back as though expecting something. Lucy nodded to Lex outside the doorway. Lex whispered as quietly as he could, fixating on Aaron's bow propped up on the table. "Here." There was a chime, and the bow glided into Lex's open hands. The noise caused Aaron to turn around, and he came face-to-face with Lucy. He almost seemed to sneer. "What is it?" Aaron asked as politely as he could. Lucy shrugged. "Oh, I dunno." Lucy knew that Aaron was smart enough to know that she was up to something, and it showed on his face. She briefly looked behind herself, to make sure she was obstructing his view of the table where he left his bow. "I just wanted to know more about... your powers." Meanwhile, Lex swiftly unfolded a San Francisco map on the floor, and held the bow tightly in his hand. Concentrating on its energies, he then swung a celestite pendulum over the map. He wasn't surprised to find that it didn't drop on Russel Manor. Aaron raised an eyebrow. "I use a bow. I orb. What more do you need to know?" Again, Lucy shrugged, this time much more sarcastically. "Well, I was just curious." she twiddled her foot into the floor in circles. "After all, I haven't actually seen what orbing looks like yet. Why don't you demonstrate for me?" Lex unfolded the map further, continuing his scry. Finally, it seized him: the magnetic energy that tingled from his hand into the crystal, forcibly pulling it to the map. The celestite pointed to an empty warehouse in the Mission district. Aaron began to sound more impatient. "I'm not allowed to orb for show. Didn't you know that already?" The questions continued back and forth, as Lucy took the rebound. "What's wrong? You're not afraid of those... Elders, or whatever they're called, are you?" Aaron turned red when Lucy said that. His work done, Lex quickly stuffed the pendulum and map into his pocket, and rushed into the room with Lucy and Aaron. Lex gripped the bow tighter to himself, and stood strong next to Lucy, who was more confused than anything else. "Lex?" she addressed him. Aaron, still flustered in front of the window, gave a sinister glare to Lex. "You stole my bow!" "This is not your bow!" Lex yelled, although a bit restrained. He turned to Lucy. "Luce, I scryed with it. The celestite didn't point to him-" Lex in turn pointed to Aaron. "-it pointed to a warehouse in the Mission district." Lucy looked in shock at Aaron. Sudden realization hit everyone in the room: Lucy thrust her hands out at Aaron, green light flowing from her fingertips and shining out at him. Aaron effortlessly lifted his arm, and her green light faded away before it even hit him. Lucy's eyes widened in fear. Aaron cracked his neck. "Alright. You caught me. But you're far too late. Your sister's almost doomed anyway." Lex gritted his teeth in anger. "Push!" A wave of energy burst out of Lex with a chime, plowing straight into Aaron and pushing him backwards. Just before he hit the glass, he disappeared in a swarm of black orbs. It glowed with a malevolent light, and diffused out the windows to an unknown place. "Hurry!" Lucy grabbed Lex's arm, and the two of them run down the stairs. "Do you know how to get there?" Lucy asked Lex. He nodded. "Good. We'll take my car. Hurry over to the kitchen and grab some potions. And get ready to fight." - - - - As far as empty warehouses went, Lex had to admit that this one didn't look particularly suspicious. Rather inconspicuous boxes were piled up everywhere, and it created a catacombs of sorts that it might be possible to get lost in. Lucy and Lex linked arms, surveying to their left and right, ready to throw a potion or use a power on Aaron. Lex had the white bow, now strapped across his back. Lucy, in a harsh whisper, communicated with Lex. "So- if Aaron was actually the darklighter... that means Kane was our whitelighter?" Lex shrugged. "I guess." Lucy rolled her eyes. "Nice neutral answer." As they rounded a corner about midway in, they drew back and gasped; at the end of a row of boxes, clutching his chest and leaned against a wall, was Aaron. Lucy yelled out. "Hey!" Aaron, as though in confusion, turned and widened his eyes at them. Lucy raised her hand, about to throw a potion at him- -before Lex held her arm back. "Lucy!" Lucy turned to Lex, bewildered. "What are you doing?!" "Don't vanquish him!" "Lex-" Lucy turned wildly between Lex and Aaron, who was surprisingly still. "-this is no time for pity!" "It's not that." Lex pointed at Aaron. "...he's wounded. We didn't even hurt him last time, remember?" Lucy gave Lex a strange look, as Lex let go of her arm and ran towards Aaron. "Aaron!" he cried out, a little louder than Lucy was comfortable with. Aaron opened his mouth a little wider. "Lex..." his speech was quiet and slurred. Upon coming closer, Lex saw that Aaron had a lot of wounds, on his arms, legs, and a particularly nasty one on his right shoulder. Lucy walked quickly, following in tandem with Lex. Of course, they were both surprised when a flurry of black orbs materialized just before Lex got to Aaron. It was even more surprising to see Aaron, standing tall and uninjured, walk out of the orbs. Lex stumbled onto his behind, astonished by the sudden materialization. The dark Aaron laughed; Lucy, instinctively, threw her potion at the newcomer. It hit him straight in the face, engulfing his head in an explosion. He staggered backwards, and Lex quickly took his place standing next to Lucy, triumphant with her hit. The smoke cleared. His head was gone, replaced by the darklighter orbs. To Lucy's chagrin, they accumulated and reformed in a globe, reconstituting his head. A mouth, ears, then hair... a head full of brown hair. The head was completely reformed. Lex and Lucy were staring Kane straight in the eye. Lucy's mouth gaped open. Lex, more or less, wasn't immensely surprised. Kane, in all his glory, cracked his neck and smiled. "Bravo! Yes, darklighters can glamour. Or did you just piece that together now?" "What did you do to Aaron?!" Lex spat. "Hey..." Kane motioned to the incapacitated Aaron behind him. "...he's lucky I didn't use darklighter poison on him. I have much better planned." as if responding to Lucy's raised eyebrow, he continued. "I'll use him to turn your sister into a warlock." Lex opened his mouth in protest, only to be stifled by Lyla, who rushed in on the other side of the row of boxes with a potion in hand: closest to Aaron and Kane. She looked at the injured Aaron, then Kane, then her brother and sister in confusion. Kane spoke to her before the rest could, his voice shaky and hurried. "Lyla, thank God I found you! Aaron was pretending to be your whitelighter. I managed to steal his bow and injure him before you got here." Lyla looked at him, not sure what to say. Lucy interjected. "Ly, don't listen to him! Kane is actually a darklighter! He glamoured into Aaron, and pretended to be evil!" "Lyla..." Kane spoke passionately. "I don't know what happened to them. I think Aaron must have brainwashed them or something, but something is wrong here. There's evil afoot!" he pointed to Aaron, still on the ground. Lyla jumped a little, as Kane suddenly was shoving a crossbow into her hands. They both took hold of it. "Kill him, and your brother and sister might get back to normal." Lyla shook her head. "No... No!" something in her mind clicked. "That doesn't make sense, Kane!" Lex held Lucy a little tighter, as Kane's face curled up into a snarl. "Excuse me?" he clenched his fists around the crossbow, and it seemed as though an invisible tug-o-war was going on between him and Lyla, with the crossbow in between. Suddenly, there was a crash and a screaming noise; Lex and Lucy drew backwards, as Aaron abruptly lurched forward with a yell. He had mustered enough strength to tackle Kane again, throwing him to the floor and allowing Lyla to wrench the crossbow into her own hands. Lex yelled over them wrestling. "Lyla! Shoot Kane!" But it seemed that Kane had disappeared. The three of them looked on, totally lost; two Aarons, both injured in the exact same way, were now fighting on the floor, a furious storm of punches and grapples. One looked to Lyla, as the other strangled him. "Lyla, he's Kane! Shoot him, now!" In the same vein, he turned the tables, kicking him over his head and taking his neck in his hands in accordance. Now the other one turned to Lyla. "No... he's the fake!" Lyla pointed the crossbow from one to the other, not sure what to do. She looked up to Lucy and Lex, in panic. "You guys!" Lex shoved his hands at them. "Confine!" One of the Aarons was immediately flung to the left wall of boxes, and the other one was flung to the right, both pinned up by an invisible force. "Sorry, whoever is the real Aaron." "It's okay." They both said at the same time. Lex looked at Lucy and Lyla. "I can't hold this forever. We need to hurry up and figure this out fast." "Lyla." The Aaron on the right seemed to plead with her. "Do whatever you have to do. Even if it means shooting us both." "Shut up, you!" The Aaron on the left interjected. "It's the only way you'll be able to do it, Lyla! It's the only way!" Lyla nodded her head. She pointed her bow at the Aaron on the left. "Lyla, no!" Lyla threw up her hands in frustration. "Lex, what? You heard the guy! The bad guy doesn't wanna get shot. Of course the good guy is gonna say `shoot us both,' that's the valiant thing to do." Lucy nodded her head in agreement. Lex shook his head. "But... that's so cliche." The Aaron on the right piped up again. "There's no time! Evil can't be let to roam free! You have to shoot us both!" Lyla grunted. "This is ridiculous." She pointed at the Aaron on the left, and fired. "Yield!" Lex yelled. The arrow snapped in two before it hit Aaron. "Lex! Dammit!" Lyla yelled, bug-eyed. "I've had it up to here with this shit! You need to get wise to this, right now! These demons are evil. These demons will rip out your insides, and play jump rope with them. They will not show you the mercy you show them, and you must be cold hearted! We will not always be here to protect you, Lex! There is no room for idealism! Stop being a weakling!" Lex stayed silent for a while, staring at the ground. Finally, he looked up at Lyla. "Here." the crossbow flew into his hands, with her protests. Lex pointed it to the darklighter on the right, and fired it into his arm. He screamed in pain; Lex released his telekinesis, both of them dropping to the floor with a thud. The Aaron on the right sniveled in hate, his face contorting back to Kane's. He gave a final glare, before orbing out in a swirl of black lights. Lyla stared at Lex, dumbstruck, and Lucy did the same from behind him. Lex spoke quietly, looking only at Aaron, who despite his injuries, was really beaming. "...Kane wanted you to kill a whitelighter, Lyla. Darklighter poison only kills whitelighters, so if you shot both of them, you would've killed Aaron and become a warlock. No whitelighter wants their witch to become a warlock... especially if it only means stopping a temporary evil." "Um... Lex." Lyla spoke quietly now, trying to seem two feet tall. "I'm really sorry. You were right, and I shouldnt've said those things, and-" "Lyla, you deserve to get angry at us." Lex said, quietly. "I'm just... glad that I can help too." Lyla smiled. "Lex, you and Lucy help me so much. You shouldn't think that just because I'm older, or that I have more experience in witchcraft, that you guys are useless. I mean, you proved that today, Lex." she looked radiant now. "Lex, Lucy. You guys are my guiding light." Lex lit up. He looked at Lucy, then Lyla, and then to Aaron, who was waiting patiently on the floor. "I'm... kinda hurting right now." Aaron said with a smile. Lyla laughed. She motioned to Lucy and Lex. "Come on. Let's take our whitelighter home." - - - - Yes... I put an opening song in. Haha, ridiculue me as much as you want, I thought it would be a good idea. Sorry it took so long. I write kinda slowly, so don't be surprised if the gap is a bit like this length :P. Sorry! Hey, remember Kane? From that episode, The Day the Magic Died? Yeah... I wasn't sure if he was the darklighter leader or not. Actually, come to think of it, he might have been the Warlock leader. Meh, it's alright. If I did make a mistake, then my bad :D. And as always... thanks for reading this far! Questions? Comments? Reccomendations? Fan Mail? Hate Mail maybe? Wanna just talk about Charmed? email me at ThePleiadesCall@gmail.com . Love to hear from you!