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An hour after Leo had returned with his news from the elders, little progress had been made in the Halliwell household.
The worry and fear on everyone’s minds had done nothing but create tension as they drudged ahead with the day.
As the old grandfather clock chimed to mark the passing time, Wyatt, Chris, Jenny and Mel sat around the living room unsuccessfully trying to come up with incantations to both vanquish the demon and reverse the spell. None were feeling particularly creative, and all were wrapped up in their own troubled thoughts.
Needless to say, they had made very little progress...
“Does gone rhyme with wrong?” Chris asked as he scratched something down onto a note pad. “I need a word that does…”
Wyatt sighed and stared down at his on blank page. “No it doesn’t.” he replied, his tone not masking his current frustration. “But thong rhymes with wrong…”
The younger brother rolled his eyes. “Yeah, thanks Wy, that really helps.” he replied, his voice thick with sarcasm.
“Well, it rhymes better then gone!” Wyatt protested, throwing his notepad down hard on the table groaning in aggravation. His head was throbbing in pain and his stomach was churning uncomfortably. He just wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare…<br>“I give up.” He stated, flopping back against the couch. “I can’t come up with anything…I guess we’ll just have to come to terms with the fact that these wings are here to stay.”<br>
Chris scoffed. “Speak for yourself. I’m not stopping until this is fixed.”<br>
“What if it can’t be fixed?” Wyatt retorted, folding his arms across his chest. He knew that he was being unnecessarily moody, but he didn’t care. The past two days had sucked and he couldn’t force himself to think positively anymore.
“Everything can be fixed…we just can’t give up hope.” Chris replied with determination. He too was worried, but unlike Wyatt he had not quite reached his breaking point…he wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Wyatt snorted. “You sound like dad.” He muttered as he face formed a slight pout. “And you’re both wrong, it’s hopeless. It’s time to face reality Christopher…you’re an angel, deal with it.”<br>
“Wyatt, maybe you just need a bit of a break.” Jenny suggested rather light-heartedly from her spot across the table. “Getting some fresh air always helps me when I’m stressed out.”<br>
The boy’s blue eyes narrowed and he looked over at the female witch-whitelighter. “I don’t need your advice.” He stated through clenched teeth. “Mind your own business.”
“Hey!” Chris cut in, turning angrily to face his brother. He would not allow anyone to speak to Jenny in such an insulting way. “Don’t talk to her like that! She was just trying to help!”<br>
Wyatt scowled, all of his anger and frustration suddenly bubbling to the surface.
His head still pounded.
His emotions were too much to control…<br>
He couldn’t do it anymore...he couldn’t keep it all in…<br>
“Don’t get mad at me Chris.” Wyatt began heatedly, wanting to pick a fight. “She’s the one that insulted Mel yesterday! Or were you too blinded by love to notice?” he paused “I have every right to be angry at her after the things she said…”
“She already apologized for that!” Chris shot back, getting to his feet and glaring at his big brother. “You’re just being immature because you’re mad that you can’t come up with a decent spell.”<br>
Wyatt stood up and looked Chris straight in the eye. “Look whose talking! What kind of idiot tries to rhyme gone with wrong?”<br>
“You’re the idiot Wyatt!” Chris retorted, becoming just as carried away as his bother. “You didn’t even…”
But before the younger boy could finish his sentence, Wyatt flicked his hands ever so slightly and blew his brother up into a shower of glowing blue orbs. It took several seconds for Chris to reform, and when he did he was clearly not amused.
“Don’t do that!” he exclaimed, clutching his head in pain. “You know how much it hurts!”
“So? You deserved it for choosing some girl over me and Mel!”<br>
Chris drew his hand back and prepared to send Wyatt hurtling into the wall, but a loud voice caused them both to stop in mid battle…
“THAT’S ENOUGH!”
The sound echoed through the room and the two boys turned to see that their cousin had stood up from her seat and was glaring angrily at them both. “I’ve had it with you two!” she exclaimed, glad that she had stunned them both into silence. “We have a serious problem on our hands and you waste what little time we have bickering over stupid, childish things.”<br>
“Mel, we’re sorry, we know this is serious…” Chris said gently as he took a step towards her.
The girl drew further away and folded her arms across her chest. “Do you?” she asked. “Because I really don’t think you get it.”
Wyatt sighed, already feeling stupid for loosing his temper so abruptly. “We do get it…”
Silence hung in the air as Mel looked back and forth between her two cousins. She felt torn between braking down into tears and blowing them both up…<br>
The situation affected them too, but no matter what they said she knew they didn’t truly understand…<br>
They couldn’t.
“Look…” she began again, he voice quieter and calmer then it had been. “We just can’t give up so easily. I know you guys have been having a rough time too- and I can understand the tension- but it unacceptable to just stop trying.” She paused and looked down at the floor. “If we don’t reverse the spell, it won’t be that serious for you…sure, it will cause complications, but you guys are angels…nobody hates angels…you’re good.”<br>
Chris and Wyatt exchanged a sheepish glance. It was clear that their little cousin was hurting…this spell had put her through more then it had put them through…and they had been to absorbed in their own frustrations to really notice that she needed their support…that she needed them to stay strong…<br>“Mel, we shouldn’t have been so stupid.” Chris whispered, noticing that her eyes had clouded over with tears. “We’ll get back to work. We’ll find a way to set things right…”
The girl sniffled. “We had better.” She stated as she slowly lowered herself back to her chair. “I’m sick of this…I’m sick of being a freak. I scare myself, and I can only imagine what others would do at the sight of me. If we don’t reverse this I will be hunted down for the rest of my life…let’s face it, this is a superficial world, and no one is going to believe that someone who looks like me could possibly be good. I don’t even believe it sometimes…”
“I believe it Mel.” Wyatt cut it as he moved to his cousin’s side and placed his hand supportively on top of hers. “I know what good you’re capable of. I know that you could ever be evil…”
“I know it too.” Chris whispered, smiling weakly at his cousin.
He felt Jenny stand up behind him and take a few steps towards the young demon that yesterday, she had feared. “So do I.” she said firmly. “And I’m sorry that I ever thought otherwise.”<br>
Mel could not suppress a smile of her own as she stared at the three whitelighters around her. They all believed in her- they all saw the good that was masked by her imposing exterior…<br>
All of the doubt that she had experienced in these past few days began to dissipate.
They saw who she truly was- and so did she.
She felt accepted…safe…content…<br>
The spell had brought out her worst part, but she had overcome it…she had lost herself…but she had found it again, and now she was stronger then ever before.
“Alright.” Mel said, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “Lets get back to the spells…and I expect you boys to behave…don’t make me tell your mommy on you.”<br>
They both laughed and returned to the table, determined once again to set things right.
Little did they know that much danger lurked outside these walls…<br>
Mel wouldn’t stay safe for long…<br>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N Phew it’s late. I hope this was okay…writing has not been a priority these past few days. Sigh. Please tell me what you think! People seemed to like DJ, so I decided to explore his character a bit more…hope that part wasn’t over the top, lol.
More about the adults next time…we’ll see how they’re progressing…don’t worry, somebody (I won’t say who) is going to figure it out really soon . This just might be a happily ever after, lol
I’m mad that I didn’t reach my goal of finishing the story before the 150th episode aired. If you’ve seen it you’ll know that this fic is now officially AU as far was Leo’s character is concerned (if you haven’t seen it- don’t worry, he’s not dead…lol…it’s something far less major then that) Oh well, what can you do
Tata
-Leigh