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OOOOOO

"Did she just say what I think she said?" Piper asked in a daze.

"Oh ya." Paige told her.

"Do you think she's really..."

"Probably." Leo told them. "She definitely has the look of a Halliwell child."

A smile tugged at Piper's lips. "I guess the future is going to have some high points after all."

"Oooo, one of us is going to be a grandma!" Phoebe suddenly squealed. "And she's so cute."

"She is isn't she?" Piper agreed, her smile getting broader.

"She reminds me of someone though." Paige said thoughtfully. At the looks her sisters shot her she amended. "I mean, she's family so she obviously reminds me of somebody, but there's something else too. I just can't put my finger on it though."

"Now that you mention it I think you have a point." Piper said her brows furrowed as she tried to place it. "What do you think Leo?"

No responds.

"Leo?"

"Leo?"

Leo fell back from his crouched position as Piper yelling right in his face finally managed to get his attention. "Huh?" He uttered intelligibly.

"Something on your mind there Leo?" Paige asked wryly.

"The phoenix mark."

"That birthmark I saw?" Phoebe asked.

"It's the mark of Phoenix Witches." He told them as if that should be all the explanation necessary.

Piper frowned. "And for those of us who aren't elders?"

"I don't know much." Leo said. "Just that Phoenix's are evil witches trained their entire lives as assassins."

"She didn't seem that evil too me." Phoebe pointed out. "Just an innocent, happy little girl."

Her sisters readily nodded their agreement and Leo sighed. "I know, she didn't to me either. Still..."

Phoebe grinned. "Piper's the grandma!"

"What! Huh! Why me? You guys could have kids too you know." Piper sputtered.

"Oh come on." Phoebe exclaimed. "No offence but your son is going through a bit of an evil phase right now. If phoenix's are evil than it stands to reason that he would have an equally evil queen."

"Doesn't mean anything." Piper muttered, but finding it did make an eerie kind of sense.

"I wonder why Chris didn't tell us about her?" Paige mused aloud after a minute of uneasy silence.

Beat.

"Future consequences." They all said in unison.

Piper's eyes narrowed. "Still, I'm going to give him a piece of mind!"

"That list of things you want to yell at Chris about seems to be getting pretty long." Paige commented dryly earning her a glare from her sister causing her to raise her hands in a surrender gesture. "Hey, I'm not saying I don't want to know all the things he's been keeping from us, just that the things Miguel said really hit home. I, for one, am going to give him some leeway for a bit."

"Come on." Leo said as he stood up, interrupting any comments. He didn't want to risk any arguments if the other sisters didn't agree. "Let's head back to the apartments and get some sleep. Maybe we'll be able to make more sense of all that's happened today with some rest to clear our heads."

Begrudgingly the sisters agreed and followed Leo back in the direction of the apartments they had been set up with. All except Piper that is. She stayed behind a minute and sent one last look in the direction the little girl, Piper she corrected herself, and her mother had went.

OOOOOO

The next morning the group gathered in the apartment set aside for Piper and Leo figuring that Chris would likely be showing up soon. Or Miguel, or somebody at least.

The apartments were identical but still nice. A nice sized living room, two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and dining area. Fully furnished to boot.

On one wall had a large screen that they assumed was a tv fixed to it. Wanting to kill some time waiting they tried to turn it on only for a person's face to appear. A rather annoyed person at being crank called. Apparently it was some kind of videophone, although they couldn't find any cameras for the life of them. Probably a spell.

"Isn't there anything to do around here?" Phoebe complained.

Leo looked up from the book he was reading and pointed at the bookcase in the corner. "There are some books over there."

"Yah, but they're all by Twain and Hemmingway and the like. I want something new!" After a moment she added. "Plus I doubt I'd have time to finish one before going back. At least I hope I don't."

"I believe the term is classic." Leo told her dryly. "And technically anything new to you is old to them."

"Maybe we could explore the city some?" Paige suggested, a sly grin growing on her face. "Maybe sneek into one of those 'restricted areas' Miguel mentioned."

"Now that's an idea I can get around." Piper said as she stood up.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Leo told them. "I trust Miguel. If he says to wait for Chris I'll wait for Chris."

"He also said we could explore the city." Paige pointed out.

"Besides," Piper picked up on their argument. "Miguel and Chris will be able to sense where we are and orb there."

Leo looked at the three pointedly. "And considering that we need these people do you want them to find us somewhere we're not supposed to be?"

The familiar chimes interrupted them as orb lights began to appear.

"'Bout time Chris." Piper said to the orbs. "You've got some explaining to do."

"Hate to disappoint you," Miguel said as he solidified. "But I'm not Chris."

"Where is he then?" Phoebe asked curiously before adding hastily. "Not that we're not happy to see you and all."

Miguel chuckled at her. "He's still in a meeting with the Council."

"Still?" Phoebe asked. "He's been there all night?"

"There's a lot to talk about."

"Why didn't you tell us we had relatives here?" Piper decided to get straight to the point.

"Huh?"

Piper shot him her 'don't play dumb with me look'. "We met little Piper in the park"

"Oh." He smiled broadly. "Cute kid huh?"

"So she really is a Halliwell?" Phoebe said smiling broadly herself.

"Most definitely. She's as stubborn as the lot of you."

"Hey!" Came three indignant exclamations. Leo tried his best to hide his chuckle but apparently wasn't quite good enough when three glares came his way. He shrank back slightly but still had an amused grin on his face.

"Anyway..." Miguel drew out, drawing attention back to him. "It wasn't my place. Plus you annoyed me."

"Yah about that... We're sorry." Phoebe spoke up for the group as they nodded in agreement. "We were out of line."

"Don't worry about it." Miguel said waving it off. "I know Chris would have done some things to earn a degree of suspicion from you. I'm just glad it was me you said that too rather than somebody who wouldn't take it quite so kindly. Chris would be upset if I let you get hurt."

The sisters and Leo were quiet for a second as that sunk in. It had never actually occurred to any of them that someone might actually hurt them for badmouthing Chris. And with their powers blocked...

"It wasn't my place." Piper said suddenly turning to Miguel. "What did you mean by that?"

He didn't answer.

"Fine, than just tell me one thing okay? Is she Wyatt's daughter."

"No." Miguel told her softly. "No she's not."

Seeing they were about to ask more question he decided to interrupt. "The Council wants to see you. We have to go."

Without waiting for them to answer he waved his hand and orbed them all away. When they reappeared they were in a large room. A large rectangular oak table was situated in the centre of the room with a dozen chairs around it, five on each long side and one on each end.

"A little warning before you do that please!" Piper exclaimed.

"We're not quite ready for them yet Miguel." Chris said from his position at the head of the table. "There are some chairs along the back wall set up for you while we finish up."

Nodding Miguel led the Charmed Ones and Leo to the chairs and sat down with them. Leo turned to his old friend. "Aren't you a member of the Council Miguel?"

"No." Miguel said with note of regret in his voice. "Elders aren't exactly popular in the resistance. Not after... well, lets just say we earned this."

With a look of finality Miguel turned his attention back to meeting. Leo looked concerned at him for a moment before reluctantly following suit.

"So our Olympus Heights and Hades Grove bases have both fallen." It was more a statement than a question as Chris got the meeting back underway.

"Olympus Heights five months ago and Hades Grove two." A man which they belatedly recognized as Daryl told him. He actually aged well over the last two decades. Though he did have his fair share of wrinkles showing and his hair was peppered with grey.

"There were survivors from Hades, not many but some." A woman they recognized as the Valkyrie Freyja picked up. They could here the loathing in her voice as she spoke. "There were none from Olympus. He even butchered the children."

"We tried an assault on the Citadel after Olympus." A green scaled demonic looking creature said, its deep, gravely voice sounded tired, and not from any lack of sleep. "It was doomed to failure from the start. Our assault forces were completely wiped out.

"Citadel?" Piper questioned out loud. Surprisingly someone answered her.

"Magic school." The man sitting nearest to them at the end of the table opposite Chris answered. His voice seemed familiar. They didn't have time to dwell though. "Wyatt butchered the students and staff and took it as his base of operations."

Piper just stared on in shock. She, her sisters and Leo sat there for an hour as the meeting went on like that. With each gruesome act they described Piper felt her stomach turned. How could it have gone so wrong? How could her sweet little boy grow up to be this... this... monster?

"They talk about Wyatt like he's Hitler or something." Paige said in astonishment to nobody in particular.

"Shouldn't they?" Chris questioned, startling them out of their thoughts as he suddenly appear by them.

Piper narrowed her eyes at him. Despite everything she's seen (both from her glimpse of San Francisco and the photos and holograms used in the meeting) and everything she's heard she still felt the need to defend her son. He is her baby after all. "What!"

"In World War I and II combined approximately one hundred and forty million lives were lost." Chris told them calmly. "The war with Wyatt has already taken one point eight /billion/."

He paused as he let the enormity of that sink in. "And you don't want to know what happens in the 'habitats' he keeps any non magical human he catches in."

"Hitler." Chris scoffed. "That's amateur hour compared to Wyatt."

With that Chris just orbed out. They just stared at the spot he disappeared, trying to digest what he had just told them..

"He's right." Cole said as he turned around so they could finally see him. Probably not the best time to drop another bombshell on them. It did, however, stun them enough to kill any comments they were about to make on their lips. "That's why we wanted you to sit in on part of the Council meeting. We need you to understand when you go back that Wyatt needs to be stopped. That you have to do everything in your power to stop him from every becoming this tyrant."

"Cole?" Phoebe whispered in disbelief. "We vanquished you."

He gave her a wry grin. "Repeatedly. But, obviously I'm back."

"But how."

"I can't tell you." His grin turned to an amused smirk. "Future consequences."