While You Were Orbing - Part 1

[SimplyAretha]

posted by Whitelighter Tony

This story is set shortly after the episode "Oh My Goddess," between Seasons 5 & 6.

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Paige stood in the front foyer of the manor with the Charmed Ones’ new whitelighter, Chris Perry. She looked Chris up and down out of the corner of her eye. The young man was in his early-twenties, tanned, and had a great body. Yet, he was no Leo - - no one could replace her brother-in-law, Piper’s husband, Wyatt’s father . . .

“See something you like?” Chris asked Paige, smugly.

“Oh! Um, no, I just - - um, noticed some lint in your hair,” stammered Paige. She reached over and pretended to pluck some fibers from Chris’s spiky dark hair, the tips of which he had just bleached.

“Good. Cuz, ya know, I wouldn’t want to attract a Lint Demon,” Chris quipped, smirking.

Paige raised her eyebrows. “There are Lint Demons?” she asked, a bit naively.

“It was a joke,” Chris smiled, speaking to her in a deriding tone of voice.

“Oh, yeah . . . I knew that . . .” Paige yelled up the stairs. “Piper! Phoebe! Chris is leaving!”<br>
“Yeah, okay, bye Chris!” came Piper’s disinterested voice from upstairs.

In another minute, Phoebe came bounding down the stairs, yanking a reluctant Piper along with her. Piper carried Wyatt in her arms.

Handing Wyatt over to Phoebe, Piper stepped forward and clapped her hands together. “So . . . Chris . . . where again did you say you were off to?”<br>
“Whitelighters’ Convention,” said Chris, grinning cutely.

“No, seriously . . .” Piper was getting a little frustrated with their new whitelighter’s often-immature demeanor.

“I am serious. It’s sort of an ‘orientation’ program for newly-assigned whitelighters,” Chris explained. “Those who haven’t begun their careers on Earth yet. And since technically I haven’t been born yet in this reality . . .”<br>
“They’re letting you continue your whitelighter duties. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know . . .” Phoebe carried Wyatt over to Chris, and she began to speak to Wyatt in a baby voice. “Okaaaaaay, wittle baby, say gooooodbye to yoooour Uuuuuuncle Chris!”<br>
Wyatt suddenly ejected a force field from his hands, shielding himself from Chris and the few feet that separated the two of them. He began to cry.

“I don’t think he likes me very much.” Chris gave a nervous laugh.

Piper sighed. “He just misses his daddy. We all do.” After a tepid pause, she continued, “Don’t worry, Chris. Wyatt will get used to having you around.”<br>
“And I think he knows that he’s about to go away with the nanny,” Paige added.

“Sssssh!!! Paige! That’s supposed to be a secret!” Piper covered Wyatt’s ears with both of her hands. “He’ll hear you!”<br>
Phoebe began gently rocking Wyatt. “Oooooooh, Wy-att, doooooon’t woooo-rrrrry, yoooouuuu’ll be back with your mommy and Auntie Pheeeeebeeee and Auntie Paige before yooooouuu know it!” she comforted him, in her trademark baby voice.

“Phoebe, quit that. It’s annoying,” Paige said, crinkling up her nose.

The next thing the Halliwells knew, a short, stout lady shimmered into the manor. Wyatt’s elf nanny waddled over to them.

“Okay, I’m here. Gimme the kid,” she said, holding out her arms. The Elf Nanny didn’t often waste time with small-talk.

“I still don’t see why we can’t take Wyatt to Kate’s birthday party,” Paige shrugged, as Phoebe handed Wyatt over to Elf Nanny.

“It’s a bunch of ten-year-old girls, Paige. I don’t think their idea of a good time is hanging out with a four-month-old toddler.” Piper kneeled down in front of Elf Nanny to give Wyatt a kiss goodbye.

“Plus Kate’s parents don’t know about us,” Phoebe added. “I don’t think it would look very good if Wyatt accidentally orbed Kate’s birthday cake out of the room.”<br>
Piper was still jiggling Wyatt’s tiny little fingers. “Now you be good for mommy, sweetie.” She stepped back and headed toward the kitchen.

Phoebe took that opportunity to pounce. “Oooooooh, youuuu’re gonna be a goooood boy, yes yooooouuu are! . . .” she cooed, crouching down at the same height as Elf Nanny and making a silly face for Wyatt.

Wyatt began to giggle and clap, as Elf Nanny just rolled her eyes.

“Pheebs, enough with the baby-talk!” Piper called out from across the room. “Eventually, you’re gonna scare Wyatt with all that babbling.”<br>
“Hell, she’s already scaring me!” huffed Elf Nanny, as Paige joined Phoebe, leaning over to kiss Wyatt on the cheek.

“You know, you still haven’t told us your real name,” Paige scrutinized Elf Nanny, placing her hands on her hips.

“It would be too hard for you to pronounce,” stated Elf Nanny, scoffing at them. “We’ll be back later tonight.” With that, she shimmered out of the manor, with Wyatt cradled in her arms.

“Well, I suppose you’ll want to be on your merry way too,” Piper pointedly said to Chris.

Chris snickered. “Okay, I can take a hint. We need to be there early, anyway. They’re assigning a ‘mentor’ to each of us.”<br>
“Whitelighters need mentors?” Phoebe squinted.

“To help evaluate us, and make sure we’re getting along with our charges.” A sparkly glow of blues and whites began to surround Chris. “Catch you on the flip side . . .”<br>
Piper shook her head before entering the kitchen. “His mentor had better be pretty damn good.”<br>

[SimplyAretha]

Piper rigorously scrubbed a soapy dish with her rag, her hands buried in the sink. “Catch you on the flip side . . .” she grumbled to herself, shaking her head from side-to-side and mocking Chris.

The eldest Halliwell sister suddenly heard a deep growl coming from behind her. She slowly turned around, and saw a large, seething dog showing its hideously sharp teeth to her. But this wasn’t just any ordinary canine - - its fur, growing in a tangled mess, was streaked with ominous splashes of red. The dog’s ears pointed straight up, indicating that it was alert - - and very angry.

“Oh!” Piper yelped. “Oh. Hi. Um . . . big, scary dog in my kitchen.” The dog simply kept growling at Piper, meaningly. “Okay, down, boy,” she said to the dog. “Hi. Down now, puppy.” When the dog showed no signs of backing off, Piper whisked her soapy hands out of the sink and flung them at the snarling mutt, combusting its body into thousands of shreds of fur and blood.

“What’s going on in here?” Paige ran into the kitchen, her eyes bugging out as she saw the blood and hair scattered all over their kitchen. “Piper?!”<br>
“Ooh. Ick.” Piper grimaced at the mess her vanquish had made. “This demonic dog just came out of nowhere!”<br>
“How do you know he was demonic?” Paige asked, glancing around the kitchen, critically. “Maybe his owner just didn’t bother to groom him?”<br>
“Oh, he was demonic, Paige!” insisted Piper. “He just teleported into my kitchen. Most normal dogs don’t teleport into witches’ kitchens!”<br>
They heard Phoebe yell from the next room.

“Uh, oh. Phoebe!” said Paige, recognizing her sister’s frantic voice. She and Piper high-tailed it back into the living room.

Phoebe was levitating several feet off the ground, as another vicious, blood-stained dog chased Phoebe wherever she floated, roaring at the fluttering witch.

“I could use a little help here!” Phoebe called out to her sisters, pointedly.

Piper was about to throw up her hands when another demonic canine teleported into the manor from out of nowhere. It emerged from another dimension right in front of Paige and Piper, who both screamed in reaction to its sudden appearance. Paige linked her arm around Piper’s, and orbed the two of them across the room.

Paige and Piper reappeared amid a swirl of orbs on the other side of the room, close to the front door. “Piper, a little combustion would be appreciated right now!” Paige urged her sister.

Piper threw up her hands and combusted the dog that had just tried to attack her and Paige. Its flesh and innards exploded all over the room, landing on the carpet and furniture.

Piper flinched. “Why does blowing up evil creatures have to be so messy?” she quipped, in a rushed voice, turning her body and preparing to combust the dog that was barking at Phoebe.

Then, unexpectedly, the remaining dog leapt up and clamped its mouth down on Phoebe’s leg, pulling her to the ground. Before Piper could flick her fingers outward, the deadly canine had teleported itself and Phoebe out of the manor - - its teeth still firmly penetrating Phoebe’s flesh.

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Phoebe laid on the ground, her leg burning with pain. She tilted her head upward and saw blood oozing from beneath her jeans. Phoebe could feel the hot breath of the demonic canine that had brought her to this place brushing against her forehead. The repugnant scent of its breath was not only making her feel sick - - it was making her drowsy. Struggling to prevent herself from drifting off, Phoebe tried to ignore her pain and focused on her cavernous surroundings. From the murky appearance of the walls around her, Phoebe could tell that she was somewhere in the Underworld - - she just knew it.

As Phoebe slowly lapsed into unconsciousness against her will, she heard a male voice shout out, “Get away from her!” followed by the infuriated bark of Phoebe’s canine abductor.

The last thing Phoebe felt was her body floating steadily, enveloped by a cloudy blue mist.


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TO BE CONTINUED