The Life and Times Part 2: Friends, family and other contradictions Chapter 11
"To expostulate why day is day, night night, and time is time, |
Phoebe
arrived home early feeling as grim as anyone who has not had had enough sleep
and to much tension.
Leo
was the only one home, looking after Wyatt. Leo smiled a little tentatively when
he saw her.
"Where
are the kids?" Phoebe asked "No Rodik ?" she asked hopefully.
"Kids
are at the club with Piper. Rodik flies in on the 5.30 plane from Toronto "
Leo told her. "You speaking to me?" he asked.
"Every-one
giving you a hard time?" she asked.
Leo
nodded miserably. Phoebe went over to him and put her arms around him
"It'll be all right" she said.
"That's
the trouble Pheebs" Leo shook his head" "Your whitelighter, Cole,
Francesca, they aren't joking. Rodik is a bastard. He is an arrogant swine who
thinks everything he does is more important than anything else, and worth the
lives of any-one who gets in the way of his work. He has his own ideas about the
role of magic, the way magical practitioners should act, the significance of it
all. If he ever got a hint of what Cole is, God help us."
"I'll
make sure Cole behaves," Phoebe smiled "Plane?" she
queried.
"Rodik
does not orb" Leo said " except when he has to return powers, so of
course it is a sacred power, a great gift, a moment of pure magic that is made
sacrilegious by us whitelighter types who desecrate it by using the power as
transport."
"Well
can't you orb him?" Phoebe asked.
"Rodik
can't be orbed hence the nastiness" Leo told her. "Pheebs I" he
sat down. "I had him as a charge almost from the time I became a
whitelighter. It was not I knew more about being a whitelighter. It was just
that he had been through almost every whitelighter up there and I was .. the
Elders were just desperate I think. I managed him well as much as any one
managed him, but you have no idea of the damage he has ..I have seen him,
do."
"How
can he if he is so weak?" Phoebe asked.
"I
compared to other magic creatures he is weak but he can do ..incredible
damage with his tongue. I guess it makes him feel powerful. " Leo shrugged "Pheebs I don't want him coming in here and damaging what we have,
out family."
"He
won't" Phoebe said "We're ..we all know what we have .. we know
better than to let some little bastard pull it part for his own pleasure."
Leo
was dubious.
"It
will be all right" she said" because we are a family. Cole will behave
himself because you're his family and you need him to and Piper will bitch but
she will do it for you to and so will Paige because she loves you. Neither
Elders, nor bastard little warlock hunters will pull our family apart because we
are not letting them."
"I
hope you're right" Leo said.
"Do
you want me to go to the airport with you?" Phoebe asked.
"You
should stay here and look after Bubby" Leos said.
"Wyatt
can come with us " Phoebe answered giving Leo another hug "So you want
me to come with you?"
"Please"
said Leo.
Leo
went into airport terminal. He was plainly nervous and Phoebe could only touch
his arm gently for support as he left her and Wyatt in the car.
"I
have this horrible foreboding Bubby" Phoebe told Wyatt who lying in his
baby capsule in the back seat said " waa".
"I
guess you can promise me you won't want to kill him" she said to Wyatt.
Wyatt
said waa,.
"Thanks"
said Phoebe.
Phoebe
sighed as she thought how odd her life was. Caring for children, demon guardians
in and out of her house, saving innocents and defeating evil and meeting
retrievers arriving on normal commercial flights tonight.
She
waited quite along time before Leo finally returned, knocking on the SUV door.
He had a blank hard expression. Phoebe got out the car.
"We
had some problems with the luggage." Leo explained. "My sister in law
Phoebe" he introduced them "Rodik.".
Rodik
turned out to be a very short slightly overweight man who looked in his forties.
He had narrow watery eyes and a small mouth set in a permanently peevish
position. He had wispy grey hair combed over his bald spot, rather narrow brown
eyes and an expression that indicated he had no sense of humour. He was badly
dressed in K mart jeans and an expensive brown shirt and grey Beret perched
behind his bald spot, emphasising it rather than hiding it. The beret was
totally the wrong colour for him.
"Not
your wife " said Rodik with a sniff that
went straight to Phoebe's temper. "That's a relief " he said ignoring
Phoebe's hand. She gasped in an offended deep
breath.
Rodik
without asking got himself into the front passenger seat, leaving Phoebe
standing beside the car while Leo looked across at her somewhat helplessly.
Leo
got in the driver's seat and opened the back locks. Phoebe had to walk around
the car to get in behind Leo because Wyatt was in the passenger side. She
climbed in beside the baby capsule.
Wyatt
said "goga" bringing
himself to Rodik's attention.
"What
is t..that?" Rodik demanded huddling against the door.
"My
son" Leo answered tightly.
"Babies
have germs " said Rodik sniffing.
"Only
germs like everybody else " said Phoebe "I didn't think you could get
hurt by mortal diseases."
"They
throw up and they poop " said Rodik sniffing louder.
"Everybody
poops " said Phoebe pushed.
"Babies
smell " said Rodik triple sniffing.
"Everybody smells " said Phoebe.
Leo
turned the ignition key and hit the accelerator as hard as he could, causing
Rodik who had not done his seat belt up to lurch forward.
"I
hit my head" sniffed Rodik.
"Sorry" said Leo in his most angelic voice.
As
they drove off Rodik launched into a long sniffy complaint about the flight as
if Phoebe and Leo were responsible. Phoebe ventured to suggest it was a pity he
could not orb. Rodik disdainfully said he did not approve of magic for personal
gain. That he considered orbing for convenience little better than the path to
evil. Phoebe promptly felt a thief for all the times she had allowed Leo to
orb her.
Rodik
then began giving Phoebe instructions on how they were going to move around San
Francisco looking for warlocks, how the witches would vanquish them, but only
when he was there for the kill so he could capture the power as the warlock
expired.
"Nothing
is more important, nothing is greater to the cause of good" he told Phoebe
"Than liberating the powers from evil."
Phoebe
who was thinking that family, innocent lives and the greater good were far more
important decided it was better to say nothing. She heard Leo make an audible
sigh.
As
he came up the hill from the bay Leo turned into the supermarket.
"What
are we doing here?" demanded Rodik.
"We
need a few things" Phoebe explained "With guest and children. Won't be
long" she said.
"I'll
come" Leo said" obviously wanting to avoid a talk with Rodik.
To
Phoebe's horror Rodik also got out. "I have certain requirements" he
said.
Leo
sighed and handed Phoebe the latest version of the" need" list that he
had remembered to pull off the kitchen board. It was an unwritten rule in the
Manor that any-one going out grabbed the 'need' list. Leo and Paige and Cole
always remembered. Phoebe and Piper often forgot.
Phoebe
pushed the trolley
around the supermarket.
Wyatt was in the baby cradle blowing
spit bubbles at Rodik who walked beside her and Leo
trailed rather helplessly behind. Everything Phoebe picked Rodik changed. She
chose local cheese, he put it back and picked the imported. She picked home
brand dishwashing liquid he changed it to the most expensive brand. Then he
added a large number of fresh vegetables, the most expensive exotic sort because
he said he did not eat meat and he could not tolerate frozen vegetables. All
through the parade Phoebe kept glancing at Leo begging her with his eyes not to
say anything. They got to the diaper shelves and Phoebe reached for the most
economical brand that suited Patsy and did not give Wyatt a rash.
Rodik
immediately reached in and removed them." These are not environmentally as
good as these" he said and reached for the most expensive brand.
"Whosit
thinks they itch " said Phoebe putting the diapers back.
"I've
heard about you " answered Rodik with a big sniff that seemed to indicate
that Phoebe's choice of economic diaper brands confirmed all the worst he had
heard of her. "That is a ridiculous name for a child" Rodik added with
another sniff.
Leo
following behind swallowed as Phoebe snorted her disgust. He knew things always
went from bad to worse with Rodik.
..................................................................
It
was close to 5.30 when Paige called into P3. Because it was Monday and P3 was
closed on Mondays. Piper was there alone, except for the two children and Danny,
the music manager. She had spent all afternoon showing prospective tenants for the upstairs restaurant
around, and then spent some time with Danny who was very enthusiastic to get a
promotion for the some of the new groups going. Piper
was carefully reading the literature and looking at the costs of
equipment while leaning on the bar. Patsy was throwing balls around the floor
and Melinda was on the stage, singing and dancing away to an imaginary audience.
Then
she galloped around as if she was on a horse. Cole and Phoebe had taken the
children to a small children's zoo where Melinda got her chance to actually sit
on a pony the week before. "Look at me Auntie Paige I can ride horsy "
she called.
"Very
good" Paige told her.
Danny
was packing his guitar and some music into a bag. "Anyway have a good look
at it" he told Piper". "You know if the bands think a gig
here will get them all this promotion, some of the really good ones might be
willing to work cheap just to promote recordings. These guys have got some great
stuff. Hi Paige bye Paige " he added as he went toward the stairs.
"You
ought to get a girl friend " Paige told Danny as Piper glared at her "Stop
thinking about music all the time."
"Can't
" he said " stop thinking about music. Who needs a girlfriend when I
can get sex any time I like playing around gigs. I'm playing a backup gig tonite
because I'm not working here. Got to go."
"Testosterone
has a lot to answer for " Piper said.
"I
know" said Paige grinning as she glanced at the kids. Patsy was bouncing
the balls off the wall and with Danny gone Melinda was galloping around about
six inches in the air. And then she screamed as Patsy after shutting his eyes
and trying to lift off jealously threw a ball at her.
"Be
good" said Piper tiredly.
Piper
went out to the back while Paige kept an eye on the children. Suddenly there was
a clunking noise and two warlocks blinked in between her and the children. It
reached for Patsy, and stopped confused uncertain whether it was feeling any
power from him. Paige desperately orbed a knife from the bar at it and it flew
backwards as the knife went through its belly. She called Piper as the second
warlock moved toward Melinda. Piper came running and blew him up as he reached
for her daughter, exploding warlock mush over her and Patsy. The other warlock
clutching the knife in its belly tried to blink and Piper caught it mid blink.
Piper
just ran and caught Melinda up, the shock of the danger to her daughter leaving
her shaking and frightened. On the floor Patsy started to cry as goo ran over
him.
He
put his hand out to touch it and put it in his mouth " Don't eat the
warlock Patsy " Paige told him as she took him to the bar to find a rag to
clean him up.
Piper
gave her a watery smile, white with fear, as she cuddled a frightened Melinda
who a little trembly said "Mean old warlock".
"Mean
old warlock " Piper agreed "Do you think that warlock recognised magic
in Patsy?" she asked.
"I
hope not" said Paige concerned."It seemed confused. Remember
nothing bad happened. Doesn't count" Paige told Piper.
"It
counts" Piper said.
..
When
Phoebe and Leo finally arrived at the manor with Rodik, Paige's car was in the
driveway but Cole's wasn't. Leo and Rodik went into the house and Phoebe stayed
back saying she was unloading the car. Leo came in the back door to see Piper
and Paige feeding the children and he recognised the degree of anxiety in the
air as he introduced Rodik.
Piper
barely acknowledged the retriever as she launched into an angry account of what
happened at the Club and the fright they had had with Melinda and only just
pulled herself up saying anything about Patsy. Leo with his face all concern
picked his daughter up and held her to him.
Rodik
standing by the door way moved so he was in the centre of the kitchen. "You
killed the warlocks, without waiting for me " he whined " Do you know
how many powers we have lost? How totally irresponsible that was."
Piper
stopped cold, almost frozen. Finally she rounded on Rodik. "My daughter was
attacked by a warlock and you are talking about retrieving powers."
"Even
if it had got the little witches powers, all you had to do was freeze it. You
are the one who can freeze aren't you? You knew I was coming." he said
primly.
'My
daughter would have been dead " stormed Pipier because Paige was struck
dumb.
"Witches
are lost, as long as the powers are not, that is what is important" Rodik
sniffed "You will have to learn to be far more responsible." he said
to an outraged Piper.
Piper
saw the look on Leo's face, pleading with her to understand. She walked over to
him all but hauled her daughter from him, stopped for a second to turn back and
pick up Patsy and stalked out of the kitchen with both children.
"Paige
bring Wyatt " she ordered.
Paige
exploded at Rodik "Are you some sort of unfeeling calculating moron?"
"Paige"
Leo said. Paige looked at him disbelieving "Leo your daughter was nearly
killed." She picked up Wyatt's carry cot and stalked after Piper, all but
crashing into Cole who came into the kitchen, his tie loosened and carrying
shopping bags. Phoebe was behind him carrying more.
"What's
wrong?" Phoebe said to Paige.
"Melinda
was nearly taken by a warlocks today" Paige snapped "And that ..that,
that bastard seems to think the problem was we vanquished them before he could
get their powers." She headed to the stairs with Wyatt.
Cole
moved into the kitchen and put the grocery shopping on the island bench.
"My
brother-in-law Cole" Leo introduced him to Rodik.
Cole
making an effort extended his hand.
Rodik
barely looked at it " I'm not interested in mortals" he said and
turned to Leo and Phoebe "We have to start planning for tomorrow. Get a
scry board," he ordered Phoebe.
Cole
with his hand still extended and his expression blank shut his eyes for a full
three seconds before he turned on his heel and walked out the kitchen. Phoebe
watched him go with a pained expression on her face.
Cole
found himself leaning on the stair post actually struggling to get hold of his
temper. Phoebe came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned to
her his eyes blazing demonically before he settled and said in a normal voice
"That little shit".
"Please
Cole" Phoebe begged "Leo is in an awful bind. Angela looked desperate
and she pleaded with him. He does not need us making it worse. He
knows how bad Rodik is but he has no choice" When she saw Cole getting an
uncompromising mulish expression she put her hand to his face "Please. You
owe him. Leo .. he has done a lot for you, for us.. please Cole."
Cole
took a deep breath and relented, smiling wryly as he followed Phoebe upstairs.
Piper and Paige were upstairs making a big deal of putting the children to bed,
fussing and playing with them, Piper in Melinda's room and Paige in Phoebe and
Cole's room with Patsy, while Wyatt slept in his carry cot.
"Planned
how to vanquish Rodik" Cole asked not keeping the nastiness out of his
voice, as he leant on the door jamb so he could talk to both Paige and Piper
across the landing.
Patsy
was dressed in cute red pyjamas and playing patti hands with Paige, stopped and
whimpered a little as he recognised his father's voice and tone.
"That
kid understands to much " Paige said "The warlock hesitated like he
thought he could smell magic in Patsy, " she said.
"Not
good " Cole said.
"Not
good" agreed Phoebe
.................................................
It
was not the most friendly night the Halliwell family ever had. They made a quick
decision that no-one was cooking and damn the expense, they would order Chinese,
a decision that made both Cole and Piper shudder when Phoebe told them how much
she and Leo had spent at the supermarket because of Rodik.
Rodik
announced when he heard about Chinese that he did not eat it, that he had bought vegetables for a vegetable ragout and that's what he ate. Leo snorted,
because he had paid for them on his and Piper's credit card,.
"Did
you?" said Piper dangerous.
Rodik
took himself off to look at the spare bedroom saying he needed time to meditate until
his supper was cooked. Phoebe and Paige also went upstairs to scry for warlocks.
Piper and Cole and Leo could hear Rodik complaining bitterly to them about the
old house smell, the bed, the temperature and the colour.
"I'm
not cooking for him " said Piper.
"No-one
is asking you to" said Cole. "Got a dish " and he flicked his
fingers and it filled with steaming vegetables.
"Cole!
Don't use magic" Leo told him and then curiosity got the better of him.
"What will that taste like? " Leo asked nervously.
"Shit
I hope" said Cole.
Leo
looked at him his expression blank "Good" he said eventually.
Rodik
appeared as the doorbell rang to deliver Chinese takeaway. Phoebe and Paige also came down
stairs to report unprecedented warlock activities and Rodik told them not to
discuss it in front of the mortal.
He
looked at the vegetables " How did you cook this so fast? " he asked
suspiciously.
"We
had some frozen " said Cole.
"I
don't eat microwave food," said Rodik peevishly.
"Then
I suppose you just don't eat," Cole said so quietly Phoebe sent him a
pleading glance and he pressed his lips together.
Rodik
hesitated then he simpered "Note that or future reference," he
sniffed.
"Sure
" said Cole quiet.
"The
bed faces the wrong in my bedroom" Rodik said.
"We
could put a cot in the basement" Piper offered expressionless.
Rodik
looked around the dining room and sniffed. "The colours in this room
unsettle my nerves."
"You
could eat in the kitchen " said Paige.
"How
powerful is that little witch " Rodik demanded suddenly.
"Why?
asked Leo nervous.
"I
feel power," Rodik smacked his lips together "unusual power. I
can smell magic power" he added haughtily.
Leo
glanced at Cole who shrugged, Phoebe bit her lip "Melinda is very powerful
" said Leo.
"Its
a magic nexus " said Paige.
"If
you can smell magic power, how come you can't smell what type it is " asked
Phoebe sweetly
Rodik
sniffed "I need to make sure you know how to get the warlocks so I can
retrieve their powers.
" He
told the witches choosing to ignore Phoebe.
"I
thought you said not in front of the mortal." said Paige.
"Yes
"said Rodik. "He should leave."
"This
is Cole's home" snapped Paige. "you can't tell him to leave."
"I'll
this up clean up" said Cole only to anxious to move.
"I'll
help" said Piper grabbing Chinese cartons. "You have to stay"
Rodik ordered Piper.
"This
is my home " she said following Cole to the kitchen
"Mortals
make my work impossible" Rodik told Phoebe and Leo " They undermine
magic. They have no respect for the significance of retrieving stolen
powers."
Leo
and Phoebe exchanged glances.
"I
have a to read a report for work " said Paige running. "Tell Leo and
Phoebe how to catch the warlocks " she told Rodik over her shoulder. She
followed Cole and Piper into the kitchen.
"I
heard the Charmed Ones had no sense of responsibility " sniffed Rodik.
"Leo
and Phoebe think that bastard should be placated, they can do the
placating" Paige told Piper and Cole and then orbed.
"How
long has that bastard been here brudder" Piper asked Cole as he poured them a glass of red wine, which Piper decided she needed
regardless of still beast feeding.
"To bloody long Pip " Cole said "To bloody long."