Authors note: I was wondering when the question of "who is Phoebe's kids' father?" was going to come up. Well, since it did, here's the answer: He left a while before the birth of Rinna. The whole witch thing became too much for him, even though he had known for 5 years. He and Phoebe were never married. He's really not important at this stage. If more info is needed in later chapters I'll give it.
Paige ran inside, in search of Jesse. He was the only adult she'd seen around here, and seemed the best prospect for assistance.
She grabbed the nearest kid. It was actually one she recognised, luckily. "Jamie, where's my dad?" She demanded, remembering at the last moment that she wasn't in her own body, so she probably shouldn't ask for her 'father' by name.
Jamie shrugged. "I think he went to visit your mom's grave" he told her. "He took Jordi with him anyway"
Paige groaned. "I need him!" she said in exasperation. "Rinna had a vision of a demon killing Phoebe."
The boy gaped at her. "Why didn't you say so?" he demanded. "You know as well as I do that uncle Jesse's no good at these things, we're the ones with powers. We have to go save her. Hang on, I'll gather everyone"
She had been expecting him to run upstairs. But he just stood there and closed his eyes for a moment.
But it had the desired effect. Kids came running from all directions. Soon there was a crowd of about 7 of them standing before them. Including Rinna and Dale
They were all looking at her expectantly. Jamie nudged her. "Well, go on, what's the plan?" he asked
They expected her to know? God, she didn't even know half of their names, let alone what they could do.
"Um, why don't you think of it this time?" she suggested weakly to Jamie. "I really can't think"
He looked proud. "Okay, thanks, I won't disappoint you" he said.
She realised that it must be an honour to think of the plan. And that she was the eldest here. So perhaps that was who normally got to decide.
"But one thing" she interrupted. "Rinna and Dale, you're a little young to come on a rescue mission"
"Not fair" Rinna pouted.
"No, Ky's right" Jamie said, taking command. "Rinna, you've already done plenty. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't even know about this. You and Dale should stay here"
Rinna looked disappointed but didn't complain. Dale however, was not at all pleased with this turn of events.
"I wanna blow demon up!" he said, his lip trembling. Paige recognised the signs of a full- blown tantrum.
So did Clayre. "Dale, you and Rinna get to look after the house, and tell uncle Jesse. That's a big responsibility," she pointed out.
The lip stopped trembling. "It is?" he asked in wonderment.
"Yep" he was told.
Jamie whispered in Paige's ear. "Don't worry, they won't be alone at all. Uncle Jesse is on his way back now with Jordi, I managed to reach him."
She nodded. "Good" she whispered back.
Just then the front door slammed open, and a puffed out teenager burst in. "Good... I'm... here...in ... time" he puffed. "I had... to run... all the... way... back... from... the park"
Jamie grinned at him, not at all sympathetic. "Sorry Wyatt, but this is important. A demon's got mom."
Wyatt? Paige thought in wonderment. So this was what her baby nephew was going to look like when he grew up. What a cutie. He looked like a dark haired, younger version of Leo.
"Well, what are we doing standing around then?" Wyatt demanded. He'd regained his breath quickly, Paige noted. "We'd better go help."
Jamie rolled his eyes. "Duh Wyatt. What do you think we're doing here? We're just waiting for uncle Jesse and Jordi."
Right on cue, Jordyn appeared in a sparkle of light.
Paige was suddenly proud of her child. She had obviously mastered orbing.
"Dad's coming" she said calmly. "So, what's the plan?"
Jamie looked a little embarrassed. "Well... we haven't actually got one yet" he admitted. "We were just getting to that."
Jordyn rolled her eyes. "Gods, can't you guys get anything done without me," she said jokingly.
Jamie glared at her indignantly. "I was doing just fine," He said sulkily. "Ky was actually giving me a chance, which the rest of you never do"
Paige stuck her arm around the boy's shoulder. "Calm down Jamie" she told him. "She was just joking."
Paige was starting to like these kids, and sort of respect the way they were handling all this. They were acting like it was nothing all that unusual, like it was nothing new. Although, she suspected it probably wasn't, from the calmness.
"Well, come on then, somebody think of a plan!" Jordyn urged impatiently. "Aunt Phoebe's in trouble, remember!"
Paige rolled her eyes. That girl sure was impatient. Still, she did have a point. "Jordyn's right, we need to hurry up," she said.
"Alright, alright" Jamie scowled. "I'm thinking as fast as I can."
Clayre sighed. "Well let's just get there," she said. "Everyone grab the nearest orber" she looked at Jamie. "Or teleporter" she added quickly.
"Got them!" Jordyn suddenly cried out, grabbing onto Paige's arm. "Follow us," she ordered.
Paige felt the familiar sensation of orbing out, and then in again. "Huh?" Paige couldn't help asking. "What do you mean, 'got them'?"
Jordyn rolled her eyes again. "Sheesh Kyra, what do you think I means? I found them of course. Used my whitelighter sense thing. You know? Like we do every time we have to find them?"
"Oh, right" Paige said. She wasn't entirely sure what the kid was talking about though. Whitelighters could only sense charges couldn't they? Or perhaps it was a family thing. After all, she had managed to find Sam, although he had been assigned to her, so it wasn't really the same. She shrugged. These kids could obviously do more together than she had ever thought. What was one more thing?
"Where are we, anyway?" Paige asked curiously.
Jordyn shook her head. "I don't know exactly, in some parK by the looks of the trees. But look, we can see the aunts and Leo, they're right over there," she said, pointing.
About 300 metres away Paige could see Piper, Phoebe and Leo desperately battling a really nasty looking creature.
"Urg, that looks like one mean demon" Paige said, wincing as the thing sent Piper flying through the little clearing where the fight was taking place. "What are we going to do about it?"
Jordyn shrugged. "We'll figure that out when the others get here," she paused, "Here they are, finally, I was starting to think they'd forgotten how to locate or something."
The sparkly orb clusters that had just appeared solidified into Wyatt, Clayre and two small girls. These were closely followed by the last boy of the group and another little girl.
"Okay, we need to get started with this rescue attempt" Wyatt said, quickly taking charge. "I'll wait here for Jamie, and get him up to speed, if he isn't here by the time we're ready."
As if summoned by his words, a puff of smoke appeared and materialised into Jamie.
"Sorry!" Jamie apologised. "Dale decided he didn't like being left behind, and went into temper tantrum mode. I had to stay until uncle Jesse got home to keep him out of the way"
Wyatt sighed. "Never mind. At least you're here. Now, guys, we've got to do something before Rinna's vision happens."
He started ordering the different kids to different positions, quickly surrounding the small clearing which the fighting was taking place.
"Ky, can you make it look like there's a pit in front of the demon?" He asked. "I know it doesn't always work, but it's worth a try."
Paige winced. Okay, she had no idea how to do this. It had been a fluke that she had managed to use Kyra's powers before. She scrunched up her eyes and willed a hole in front of the demon.
Such a pit did appear, but the demon just walked straight through it, seemingly knowing the deception.
But it got the attention of the humans. Piper spun around.
"Kids, no!" she screamed. "Go home! It's a trap!"