The Manor:
Alex put the picture down after what felt like hours and went down to the living room. A couple of minutes after he sat down Jackie sat down next to him.
“We need to talk.”
“What do you want to talk about?” Instead of turning to look at her he keeps his eyes on the black screen of the television set.
“About what’s going to happen tonight.”
Still he looks at the TV, not wanting to see her. “Are you going?”
She hesitates. “Yes…”
He cut her off. “Do you want me to go with you?” He knew she wasn’t going to let him but for some reason he couldn’t control himself from…
“Yes but…”
“I’m not allowed to come?”
“No, you’re not. Can you relax? I’m trying to talk to you.”
He turned to look at her and saw she was wearing the chain. Then he got up and walked to the open laptop that sat on the kitchen table. While he walked… “I don’t really feel like talking. Anyway, It’s almost eleven. If you’re late you might miss your chance at becoming evil.”
“You really don’t care do you? You were willing to kill Mike and you don’t care if something happens to me tonight.” She rips the chain off and throws it at Alex. He gets up from his computer and walks up to her face.
“What the fuck do you want from me? If I remember correctly, the day Mike turned you told me to not give up on our destiny. Then you tell me to let my evil brother do what he wants even though he’ll be killing innocents, which is okay because supposedly he won’t kill us. And you still think that after he sent one of the strongest demons to kill me. You don’t trust me enough to tell me what was in that damn letter. Then you go around telling me what he wants you to do and expect me to beg you not to go when you know you’re going anyway. What the hell do you want me to say?”
For the next few seconds she didn’t say anything. “I wanted you to change my mind. I wanted you to tell me what I was planning on doing was wrong.”
His hands go up to his head as he mouths ‘what’. “Are you insane or something? You need me to tell you? Even after I said countless times that he’s evil now, you still need me to tell you that joining his side is wrong? Don’t you understand that what you’re about to do is give yourself to evil? Do you not understand that?”
She doesn’t say anything.
He realizes he has to get her to see that that warlock isn’t her brother anymore. “Three years ago you and I swore to watch over Mike for as long as we can. We can’t anymore because that person you’re going to see in a few minutes is not Mike. He may sound the same and look the same and maybe even think the same but it’s not him.”
“He may not be who he used to be but he’s still Mike inside. If I go… there’s a chance that I might be able to bring him back.”
“If you go… you won’t come back.” He stops for a second and takes a deep breath. “I don’t know how but I could feel you conflicting with yourself. You know if you go you’ll end up going with him but if you don’t you’ll be breaking the promise you made to him when he saved your life. Don’t go, Jackie…don’t go.”
“You’re begging. I thought that’s what you didn’t want to do.”
“Don’t go. I’ll lose you too, if you do. Please don’t go.” The sorrow was so obvious in his voice. As he spoke his words cracked, him verging on the edge of tears.
Heart broken…“I’m sorry Alex. I know what you’re saying is true but I have to go. I need to know he’s okay.” She starts walking backwards to the door. “I’m coming back.”
She walks out the door and closes it.
He takes a deep breath and calms himself down. “I’ll see to it that you do.” He grabs his coat and follows her out the door.
------------------------------
The Haliwell Chamber:
Piper, Leo and Phoebe walk into the chamber to find Paige and Michael talking. Paige turns around and looks at Leo in defeat. She walks up to him and says, “Well Leo… you were right.” She turns to Phoebe. “I told you we should have gone after his brother.” Phoebe shrugs her shoulders in that ditzy kinda way. “Sorry. How was I supposed to know?”
Michael follows Paige with a question in his mind. “Know what?”
Piper Phoebe and Leo all turn to look at him at the same time, “That you’re gay.”
Worried about what they now thought of him he replies, “Oh.” He stayed quiet for a couple seconds and realizes what Paige had said. “Wait. How did Leo know?”
Leo started to say something but Piper put a finger in front of his mouth to hush him. “Leo has…ways… of being able to tell.” Mike looks at Leo then back at Piper.
“He’s bi, isn’t he?”
“Yea.”
“Thought so. So anyway Leo, did you find anything out about the Council of Mages?”
Phoebe looks at Leo needing to know this important piece of information. “Nope. Didn’t get the chance to.” Piper’s eyes grow wide. “They saw you didn’t they. I told you not to…”
“No Piper that’s not why.” Piper looks away. “Oh.” He continues, “The change of order is already happening.”
A look of worry came upon Phoebe’s face. If they were to live a life based on karma, they would have to live horrible ones. The evil they have done over the last year or so terribly outweighed the good they did when they were good witches…even though they were good witches for more than three years. “So you didn’t find anything out?”
“Oh no. I found out something. Something I think you guys will like a lot. I overheard a conversation between the Head Elder and the Head Mage of the Council while I was up there. They’re allowing the six strongest of witches into the other order. That being you four and the two other ones.”
“Soon to be us five and that other one.”
Phoebe and Piper looked at Paige. “What do you mean?”
“She knows why I’m going to see my sister tonight. I might as well tell you guys. If everything ends well I’ll get her over to our side.” He starts to leave.
“You forgot to say the rest?”
“Oh and my brother will be dead.” He looks at Paige. “Good?”
“Yup. Good luck.”
The air around Michael started to blur as he began to transport himself to the mausoleum using the ability to shimmer, an ability strictly belonging to warlocks. Piper freezes his shimmer before he had the chance to leave. “He won’t need it since we’re going.”
“What? No you’re not. If you’re there it could ruin everything.”
She continued. “Oh yes we are. Your brother might show up and try to kill you… so we’re going.”
“What?” Piper looks at him in a way that says there’s nothing you can do about it. He looks at Phoebe and says, “You’re the queen of evil, make her stay.”
Phoebe’s hands go up into the air to say there’s nothing she can do about it. “I may be the queen of evil but Piper’s my older sister and if I go against her I’d wish that I’d never fallen in love in the first place.” Michael sighs. “Besides she’s right.”
He realizes his defeat. “Fine, but the four of you don’t make a move unless he’s there. Got it?”
Piper picks up a potion bottle. “You’re the boss.”
“Well…then stay.”
“Don’t push it.” Michael shimmers. Paige orbs. Leo grabs Piper around her waist and whispers something in her ear while he orbs them both. Phoebe becomes surrounded by fire and disappears as the fire subsides, this being the first time she transports by fire after Cole’s death.
---------------------
He sat in his room looking at a photo. “Dammit. When am I gonna find you? It’s been three years and I have no idea where you could be.” He hears someone in the room and quickly stuffs the photo under his pillow.
“Josh, tell me you’re lying. SAY IT. Tell me what you said before was your idea of a joke.”
His visit caught JC by surprise. “Lance!”
“Say it.”
JC looks at Lance with an eye that says that it’s true. The two were prophesized to become evil before the change of order. “The second eldest will turn before the last hour tonight. That’s what Baram told me. You should know it’s true. When was the last time that oracle actually told us what we wanted to hear?”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
Lance grabs the silver cross hanging around his neck. “Why? They were doing fine. Why put them in that position?” He sighs.
“Lance, where’s Joe?”
“He and Chris are trying to cheer Justin up. Something’s going on with him. I tried to find out what but he’s blocking himself more than usual.”
“Britney?”
“No I don’t think so. That ended some time ago. And plus I read him while he was sleeping the other day and she wasn’t in there... well not like when they were going out anyway. But I didn’t find anything else.” He smiled when he realized that JC took his mind off his worries, something they all did for each other. The smile faded and he let himself fall down on his back on JC’s bed with his hands over his face.
“So what are you going to do?”
He sits up. “I want to go over there. I want to stop this from happening. I want to…but I can’t.”
“You know, we think it’s amazing how much you care about those three. They don’t even know who you are but you still do your best to watch out for them.”
“What do you mean they don’t know who I am? Everyone knows who we are. That’s the down side to being in this business, even though it’s just a cover.”
“No. You know what I mean. They don’t know who you are… for them.”
Lance looks down to the floor. “Yea I know. But they’re family you know…they’re my cousins. I don’t know what it is. I don’t have any younger brothers or sisters…Justin has Jonathan, Chris has his sisters, and you have Heather and Tyl…” For a second he doesn’t say anything. “Sorry Jayce.”
“It’s alright don’t worry about. Lance, Joey has no younger siblings. It’s not like you’re the only one.”
“Yeah but I was there the day they were born. When my aunt Andrea, rest her soul, let me hold them that day I felt like I had younger brothers to take care of. I even promised my aunt that I would watch over them like if they were. And now that they are alone in this world, I intend on keeping that promise.”
“So again I’m gonna ask you, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet. I have an hour before I can go to any of them. Going before that time could get me into major problems with the Council.” He walks up to the mirror on JC’s dresser. “So until the time comes that I see them again, all I can really do is watch them from here.” He closes his eyes and opens them a few seconds later. He moves his hands across the face of the mirror while saying some words in Gaelic. The mirror swirls. When it becomes stable again it doesn’t show Lance’s reflection. What it shows is Alex following Jackie into the mausoleum.
-------------------
The Mausoleum:
“Mike? Are you here?” Jackie walked through the doors of the mausoleum that sat in the middle of a graveyard. She reached the bottom of the steps and looked around, seeing no sign of her brother.
About a minute after she had gone in, Alex walked in and followed her down the stairs. She turned around feeling the presence of someone behind her. Before she could see him, Alex hid in one of the shadows on the wall, his black clothes blending into it perfectly.
Jackie walked to the back of the building and looked around. She looked at her watch. The time was 11:08. Is he late or was I? She leans against the wall, deciding she would wait for a few minutes.
-----------------------
The Chapel in the Cemetery:
The air becomes a blur and Michael appears. Paige, Leo and Piper come out of their orbed forms and Phoebe reappears in fire.
“Why’d we stop here?”
Phoebe snapped her finger and the torches in the room became lit. “Do you even have a game plan or are you just gonna wing it?”
“What do you mean?”
Piper goes to stand next to Phoebe. “Michael do you really think you’re sister is going to voluntarily become evil? You need something that will manipulate that decision.”
“It’s 11:05. I don’t have time for this.”
“You are not going in there without an outline.” The look on Piper’s face was very serious. Defying that look wouldn’t be the wisest choice at that moment.
Michael sighs. “Fine. Then what am I suppose to do?”
Paige grins. “This chapel is what helped Phoebe become evil.” Phoebe looks at Paige in disgust, “Please tell me that’s not what you’re thinking.”
“What?” She realizes what Phoebe meant. “Oh God no. What I’m saying is that we could use the spirits in this chapel to help sway Jackie’s decision.”
“How are we supposed to do that?”
“Easy.” She holds out her hand. “Black candle.” The candle apparated in her hand as, she also had the power to call for an object. She walked up to the altar and lit the candle and called her sisters to her side.
“Paige, what are we doing?”
“Relax Piper. Just say the call for spirit.”
The three sisters held hands and took a deep breath. Trusting Paige knew what she was doing, they cited the spell to call for a spirit.
“I guess.”
Paige looks at Piper. “It possessed you once.”
Piper looks at Paige surprised. “You summoned the Woogyman. Are you insane? Not only is that spirit malevolent but it’s also a dominion. We have no control over it. Phoebe, Prue and I were only able to send it back to where it came from.”
“Then when it’s done doing our bidding, we’ll banish it as well.”
Phoebe hits Paige in the shoulder. “Paige, only good magic could banish it.”
The spirit apparates so that it is in front of Paige. The Woogyman was nothing but a dark shadow that floated in the air. It had no essence, no figure, which allowed it to posses its victims. “Spirit, I want you to make it so that his sister would choose our side over hers. Make her come to darkness.” The spirit ignored Paige and flew over to Michael. Michael looked at the spirit as it flowed around him. The spirit then flew to Leo and entered him.
“Leo!!” Piper ran to Leo but was stopped as he held his hand up to her. The air around Piper thickened and she was forced to go back.
The Woogeyman, now in the form of Leo, went to stand in front of Michael.
“Demon, I want you to work your powers on my sister. Make her choose evil over good.” Leo, the Woogyman (same difference), bowed his head then smiled.
“As you wish.”
“After which, you will allow my brother to banish you. I doubt he let her come alone.” Leo nodded his head then disappeared.
The air thinned out to normal and Piper went to Michael.
“He’ll be alright. The spirit’ll leave Leo’s body when it’s banished.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I think.
“Why did the spirit listen to you and not to me?” Paige went to stand next to Phoebe, clearly angry at the just events. Michael shrugged his shoulders annoyingly. She turns to Phoebe. “Why?”
“Who knows? Look, the point of it was to get it to control his sister, right? Well we did it so it doesn’t matter.”
Paige looks at Michael and sticks her tongue out at him.
-------------------
The Mausoleum, a couple of minutes later:
Alex looked around the room trying to find any sign of Michael or the Haliwell sisters. Looks like he isn’t coming…
Jackie gets up from sitting against the wall and heads for the door. Alex was right. I shouldn’t have come here. Before she makes it to the exit, Michael appears in front of her.
“Wait… wait… I’m here.”
She looked at him and was shocked. He wasn’t wearing the black clothes all warlocks were supposed to wear. He was wearing baggy blue jeans and a shirt that was about ten sizes to big for him. His eyes though…they hadn’t changed. They were still black instead of their normal green. Whenever she looked directly into them, she felt like her powers were being drained from her.
“Finally. I was just about to leave thinking you weren’t gonna show.”
“Hey I told you I was coming didn’t I?”
“Yea well, after waiting,” she looks at her watch, “thirty minutes for someone, you tend to think they aren’t gonna show.”
“Calm down, alright. I’m here. Can I talk to you?”
“It’s why I’m here.” He motions for her to follow him across the room and up the stairs, leading her into the chapel.
Dammit. Where is he taking her?
-----------------
Phoebe heard them coming across the hallway to get into the chapel. “Alright. Hide now. And remember, no one moves unless there’s trouble.” She became surrounded by fire and transported herself to the top floor of the chapel where she couldn’t be seen but could see everything. Paige grabbed Piper’s hand and cloaked them both, her powers as a dark-lighter having expanded with the turn to evil.
“Mike, why did we come in here?”
“Uh… Well I didn’t tell the Haliwells I was coming here. Being in a chapel blocks them from finding me.”
“Then why did we meet in the mausoleum?”
“Precaution.” Michael turns away from her and goes to sit on one of the benches. Jackie follows and sits next to him. Alex slowly entered the chapel and Phoebe gives Paige the signal of his supposed arrival.
“So what did you want to talk about?”
All right. Here we go. “Come with me.”
“But, I thought they couldn’t find us here.”
“No. I mean come with me… to my side.”
Shit. I knew it. I knew he would try to turn her. Alex looks around. I got to get her out of here. Jackie gets up from the bench and walks to the center aisle then walks forward to the altar. She turns around at looks at him.
“I don’t know if I can.”
Michael gets up and walks to her. “Why not?”
She gets a premonition…without having touched anything. She gets a flash from the conversation she had a few minutes earlier. ‘Even after I said countless times that he’s evil now, you still need me to tell you that joining his side is wrong? Don’t you understand that what you’re about to do is give yourself to evil? Do you not understand that?’ The vision blurs. When it comes back into focus, she sees herself killing someone wearing a robe. The thought-to-be innocent didn’t seemed familiar but she felt that she was important. Another flash. Michael’s head on her knee as he dies on the floor. The vision moves to the person standing next to her and she sees Alex with a bloody dagger. Another flash. From a bird’s eye view she sees herself surrounded by all the people she’s ever cared for lying dead on the floor. The vision darkened and she heard a deep voice… ‘Choose evil and you’ll live that vision…’
Michael didn’t notice the premonition. “Jackie, why not?”
“No, Mike. I’m not. Not only would I be giving myself to the wrong entity but it won’t solve anything.”
“What about the promise you and Alex made me three years ago? I know he doesn’t plan on keeping it but I thought I could count on you still being my sister.”
“You can.” She puts her hand in her back pocket and takes out a piece of paper. “That’s why I gotta do this.”
“Jackie, what are you doing?” She starts to cry.
“Evil witch in my sight” Paige orbs herself and Piper to Phoebe. “She’s trying to vanquish him!”
“Vanquish thyself
Vanquish thy might”
Michael puts his hands in front of him and walks towards her slowly. “Jackie, please. Don’t do this.” She stops for a second but keeps going as she walks away from him.
“In this and every future life.” Piper puts her hands up to use her power but Phoebe stops her. “What? She’s about to finish the spell.”
“Wait a second, will ya? I wanna see if her brother’s here.”
“What witch has done and then undone.”
Michael smiles mockingly. “Jackie, you know I could just call for that spell. I’m not gonna let you finish it.” Jackie stops reading, not really sure if she should keep going or not. Alex jumps out of hiding seeing that this is his chance to protect Jackie from turning.
“MICHAEL!” Michael turns around and Alex freezes him. “Jackie, finish it. Finish the vanquish now before the freeze wears off.”
“You followed me? I told you not to but you came anyway?”
“PIPER! NOW!” Piper flicked her hands and froze Jackie in place. Alex looks up and sees them. Phoebe transports herself in front of Alex. “You didn’t think we would let him come here alone.” She swings her hand. Alex is thrown to the wall and hangs there, Phoebe’s magic telepathically holding him. “Now you get to watch as your sisters oh… how should I put this… has a change of heart.”
“She’ll never join you. There’s no way.”
“Oh but you’re wrong. Evil is stronger than good in many ways. You just have to wait and see for yourself.”
“I don’t have to wait to show you your ignorance. Good will always triumph. See for yourself…
Evil witch in my sight
Vanquish thyself
Vanquish thy might
In this and every future life
What witch has done and then undone
Return his spirit back within
And separate him from his skin
In this and every future…”
Phoebe snaps her finger and Alex looses his voice. “Go ahead. Finish the spell. If good always wins than you should be able to finish the spell. What’s a matter? Cat got your tongue.”
“Nope. Just one hell of a warlock who knows her stuff.” Michael walks to Alex who is still held against the wall. “I knew you’d come. And if things were different, I’d kill you right now but it turns out I need you to do something for me.” He holds his hand out and fire appears. When it subsides, a piece of parchment sits in its place. “You, dear brother, have to banish the demon I’m going to use to bring Jackie to evil.”
Not able to say anything, Alex spits in his face.
He wipes it off then smiles. “I know. What I’m doing is wrong, converting her to evil right after she told me ‘No’. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that flattery will get you nowhere?” Michael orbs to stand in front of Jackie who still hasn’t come out of the freeze Piper put her under. “Piper, can you unfreeze her?”
“Are you sure? She’ll orb out of here.”
“Yeah. I’m sure. Paige what’s the spell to close of teleportation magic out of somewhere?”
Paige looks at him excitedly having wanted to try this spell she wrote herself.
“Spirits of the elements, here my plea
Block the magic let it be
The power of transport from here to there
Will be a power she can spare”
Piper gestures and Jackie becomes unfrozen. “Dark Charmed Ones. Michael what’s going on?”
“You’re coming with us.”
Jackie becomes surrounded by blue orbs and lifts into the air. Just as the orbs are about to pass the ceiling of the chapel, a red light throws her back down.
“Yes! It worked. For the first time ever, a spell I wrote actually worked.”
She gets up from the floor. “What are you going to do to me?”
“LEO!!” Leo appears behind Jackie and grabs her. “It’s time.”