This story is a sequel to my fanfic "Paige Turner". It may be difficult to follow if you have not read this story, as there are characters that were introduced in that fanfic that are my own creative property.

This story is a bit of a 'medical mystery' type drama, and it does focus quite a bit on the next generation of the CO's. There are MANY new characters in this story, and alot is going on and I know it might not be for everyone -- but I do hope some of you find it entertaining. Cole and Paige are still very prominent characters in this fanfic.

Disclaimer I do not have any connection to the show "Charmed", and the characters of Leo, Paige, Piper, Cole, Phoebe and Prue are the creative property of the writers of "Charmed".

The characters of Stella, Ben, Caleb, Skye and Sara Turner, Robin Myers, Shawn Jacobson, Hannah Shepherd, Adrian Douglas, Gregory Richards, Eli, Elena and Nicholas Warren are my creative property and may not be used in any form without my permission.

The characters of Melinda and Wyatt Halliwell have the same names as characters previously mentioned on "Charmed", but these characters are DIFFERENT characters than the ones written on the television show.

She snuggles close to him after their lovemaking. The young woman is in her early 20's at the most -- she has long black hair, brown eyes -- she is remarkably beautiful. The man is about a decade older than her -- handsome in a bookish sort of way; clean cut and well-groomed; sandy brown hair with a conservative, businessman-style haircut. "You should go study -- don't you have a test tomorrow?" the man asks.

"I'm not worried about it -- it's in theatre history, that's one of my best subjects." the woman says confidently.

"You know -- I have a three-day weekend coming up. It might be a nice idea to take a little trip up to San Francisco." the man suggests.

"Are we gonna start this again?" the woman asks angrily, pulling away from him.

"Stella -- we've been together for almost a YEAR now. We've been living together for over a MONTH. And I haven't met your parents. What are they gonna think of me?" the man asks.

"Rob, I told you -- it's complicated." Stella says.

"Complicated? Stella, I've met your brother Ben, I've met your cousin Elena -- they're nice people, and they seem to like me. You talk about your parents all the time, especially your dad. It's obvious you're very close. I just don't get it -- Stella, are you embarassed by me or something?" Rob asks.

"YOU? Oh god, no! Never!" Stella insists. "I told you -- my dad hasn't really approved of anyone I've ever dated. I'm just nervous."

"You think I'm not? Stella -- if this is gonna work between us -- I need to meet the rest of your family. Call them -- we're going to San Francisco next weekend. Or I'm moving out." Rob tells her. Stella stares at him, stunned.

"You're serious, aren't you?" she asks.

"As a heart attack. I'm not going to be you dirty little secret anymore."

"Alright, fine. We'll go to San Francisco next weekend." Stella says, and Rob gives her a kiss.

"Thank you. I love you -- I'm gonna go take a shower, you go study." Rob says, and he gets out of bed. Stella sighs as she gets up and puts on her robe and heads into the other room. She picks up one of her textbooks and sits down on the couch, leafing through it. After a few minutes, the doorbell rings. Stella gets up and opens the door.

"Hey honey -- how are you?" Cole asks, a big smile on his face as he gives her a hug.

"Daddy! What are you doing here?" Stella asks, nervously looking behind her.

"What, I can't pop in to see my little girl? I rang the doorbell, didn't I? I mean -- in case your roommate's home." Cole says. "Are you gonna let me in?" Cole asks.

"Daddy, this isn't a good time. My roommate IS home, and we have alot of studying and -- stuff to do, and -- does mom know you're here?"

"I don't need your mother's permission to come visit you. Obviously you're not coming home anytime soon -- you can't even take five minutes to shimmer in and say hello, it's been a MONTH, Stella!" Cole says.

"I've been REALLY busy. I go to school all day, at night I'm either working or studying, and every other free minute I have is spent trying to get my name and my headshots and resume out there. Dad, this is a tough town." Stella tells him. "I call every week, isn't that enough?"

"Well, I just -- miss you. When you lived in the dorms you were home every other weekend at least. But now that you have this apartment and this roommate -- we hardly hear from you. And when are we going to meet this friend of yours -- Robin, right?" Cole asks.

"Dad -- please, you have to go. I'll come home this weekend for a bit, I PROMISE." Stella says, trying to push him out the door.

"Hey Stell, where did you put my good -- shirt?" Robin says as he comes out into the living room, his hair dripping wet, wearing nothing but his pants. He recognizes Cole immediately from Stella's photos. Cole glares at him furiously.

"Daddy -- this is Robin." Stella says, grimacing. Stella notices Cole about to raise his hand up, so she shoves him into the hallway and slams the door. "Daddy, don't -- don't be mad at him. Robin has been begging to meet you for months now, I just --"

"MONTHS?" Cole asks. "How long have you been sneaking around with this guy?"

"We're not sneaking around. We're living together. What were you gonna do to him?" Stella asks.

"I'm not sure yet -- I haven't decided if I should set fire to him or turn him into a lamp." Cole says.

"Daddy --- he's really a good guy. He's a doctor -- he works in the research department at UCLA. He was my general science class instructor last year, and --"

"He was one of your PROFESSORS??? How old is he?" Cole asks.

"Twenty-nine." Stella says. "He graduated early, he's really smart."

"Twenty nine. Stella, you've barely just turned TWENTY. He's too old for you." Stella starts to get angry.

"He's only one year older than you are over MOM! Oh, and that's just in the chronological age you CLAIM -- in reality you're what, almost two hundred?" she shouts at him. "What's the difference?"

"Because you're my DAUGHTER!" Cole shouts in reply. "And I am not a day older than one hundred and forty, thank you."

"See -- see, you're being irrational and unreasonable and THIS is why I kept him away. Well, this and the fact that our entire family is a freak show!" Stella shouts.

"Does your mother know about him?" Cole asks.

"No, of course not. She'd probably be okay with it too, but I know she'd never keep it from you, you guys tell each other everything." Stella says.

"Well who knows then? Elena?"

"Yes, Elena knows. She likes him. So does Ben."

"Ben? Ben knows -- and he's been lying to me this whole time?" Cole asks.

"He hasn't been lying, he just -- hasn't been telling you details. He knew you'd freak out just like you're doing. Now you need to LEAVE." Stella tells him.

"No -- no, I'm not going anywhere until I meet loverboy in there. You either let me in, or I shimmer you out. Pick one." Cole says adamantly. Stella grudgingly opens the apartment door. Robin is sitting nervously in the living room, now fully dressed.

"Hey -- I found the shirt." he says, as Cole glares at him. "Mr. Turner -- we weren't expecting you. I'm Robin Myers -- it's nice to meet you, Stella has told me so much about you." Robin says as he extends his hand to Cole. Cole stands there stiffly, not accepting his handshake.

"Really? Funny, I can't say the same about you." Cole remarks. "So -- do you usually hit on your students or is the first time for you?"

"Mr. Turner, if it makes you feel any better, Stella and I never went on a date until AFTER the class she took from me had ended." Robin says.

"And I approached HIM, Daddy. I asked him out." Stella says.

"And I said no -- I didn't think it was appropriate. But she was persistant -- she kept asking until I finally said yes. She made it hard to resist." Robin says.

"Oh -- so you're saying my daughter is a stalker and a tramp, is that it?" Cole asks.

"No, of course not. Mr. Turner -- I love Stella. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me." Robin says. Stella walks over to him and puts her arm around Robin.

"Daddy -- I seem to recall hearing about the fact that Aunt Piper wasn't exactly jumping for joy when you and MOM got married." Stella remarks. "See, Robin -- my mom and dad's relationship started as a result of a one night stand after my dad got dumped by my Aunt Phoebe. Oh, didn't I tell you that my dad was married for a short time to my mom's sister? I must have forgotten about that little tidbit in my family history, you wouldn't believe the gossip you hear when you listen in on conversations between my aunts and my mom. Anyway, Aunt Phoebe divorced him and refused to take him back, and from what I've heard, my mom went over to his place to try and 'cheer him up'. And boy, did she EVER!"

"Alright, that's ENOUGH!" Cole shouts. "You don't know half of what you're talking about and you don't know the circumstances and you have NO right to judge!" Cole shouts.

"Well, neither do YOU!" Stella shouts in return.

"Please -- stop this!" Robin says, interrupting them both. "I don't want to cause problems for the two of you. Mr. Turner -- I've been wanting to meet you and your wife for quite awhile now. Now, I don't know why Stella has been so resistant to this, but -- I can assure you that I have nothing but the utmost love and respect for your daughter. I did not want to move in with her without you knowing -- she's been promising that she would tell you. In fact, just before you got here, I told her that if she didn't tell you by next weekend, I'd have to move out because -- well, it's just not right to keep something like this from your family. She promised me she would tell you -- I apologize that you had to find out like this. I know that we haven't started off on the right foot here, but -- I'm hoping you can look past this. I do want us to be friends." Robin says, and he once again extends his hand to Cole. This time, Cole reluctantly shakes his hand, glaring at Stella the entire time. "I -- I assume you'll be wanting to stay here tonight. If it makes you more comfortable, I -- I can go stay at a hotel, I don't mind."

"Oh, Daddy's not staying. He's just -- passing through. He was on his way to San Diego for a legal conference. He drives everywhere -- he hates flying. Right, Daddy?" Stella says, making up the most believable lie she can come up with.

"Right -- I just wanted to stop by and say hello. However -- my wife is meeting me at the conference over the weekend -- perhaps we can stop by for dinner on our way back. How does Saturday night around six sound?" Cole says, lying equally as well, as Stella glares at him.

"Saturday sounds good -- I look forward to it." Robin says.

"Oh, so do I. And so will your mother." Cole says, looking at Stella. He walks over to her and gives her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you Saturday." he says to her, and he walks toward to the door and out of the apartment. With an angry look on his face, Cole shimmers away.

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"So -- were you EVER going to bother to tell me?" Cole asks Ben angrily, as he paces the living room.

"Cole, please settle down." Paige says. "I agree Stella should have told us, but it's out there now and we have to deal with it. Don't blame Ben, it's not his fault. And you brought this on yourself, Cole -- you promised to let her have her independence, and to not 'pop in' on her unannounced."

"I just wanted to make sure she was okay. I worry about her. Obviously, with good reason." Cole says.

"I tried to convince her to tell you, Dad. She was just worried that you -- wouldn't approve. You've never liked ANY of Stella's boyfriends, and you'd always scare them away." Ben says.

"That's because she has lousy TASTE. And this one's the worst one of them all." Cole says.

"You don't know that. Ben likes him, and I trust his judgment." Paige says.

"He's a really good guy. He has a good job, comes from a good family -- and he treats Stella like she's a queen. Dad, I think think this might be the real thing for Stella. Give him a chance." Ben says.

"What is Stella thinking, dating a mortal who's a DOCTOR??? A research doctor -- what happens when he finds out the truth about her? About our whole family -- just watch, we'll become a big science experiment to him, I can just see it now." Cole says.

"Actually -- it would be kind of interesting to study our DNA. I've considered doing it myself." Caleb says, entering the room. Cole stares at him in disbelief. "Seriously. I've studied some of my own blood samples under a microscope, it's fascinating -- I mean, I don't have any powers but I did before I was born and I do have witch and whitelighter and demon DNA -- I already found some different markers in myself that mortals don't have, I'd love to compare them to the rest of the family."

"For what? It's not like you can publish your research or anything -- or would you?" Cole asks.

"Cole! Of course he wouldn't! Caleb, that actually sounds very interesting -- and I will gladly give you a sample of my blood for you to study. It sounds fascinating." Paige says.

"You know what -- me too." Ben says.

"Oh, has this whole family lost their collective minds? What the hell do you expect him to find, a cure for cancer?" Cole asks.

"How do you know he won't?" Ben asks.

"That's okay -- Dad's never had much faith in me anyway, I don't know why I'd expect him to start now." Caleb says, and he storms out of the room. Both Paige and Ben stare angrily at him.

"What?" Cole says.

"Do you always have to be so negative with Caleb?" Paige asks. "He has struggled his whole life to be accepted in this family. The one thing he's good at is formulas -- he's better at making potions than Piper, Phoebe and I combined. He's been accepted to every college he's applied to on a science scholarship -- but none of that matters to him, because the one thing he wants is YOUR approval, and you don't seem willing to give it."

"Look -- I'm just not all that keen on the medical profession digging into our biological makeup. And I especially don't want my son being part of the team! Do you know how many close calls we've had over the years with being found out? All it'll take is ONE slip-up, and this whole family will be fodder for the tabloids and locked in a research lab somewhere!" Cole insists.

"You are getting SO paranoid lately. What is UP with that?" Paige asks. "Is it because of what happened with Sara at school last month?"

"You're the one who insisted the kids go to the public schools, Paige. I was all for home-schooling, but NO, you wanted them to have a 'normal' life. Well newsflash -- our family is NOT a normal family!" Cole shouts.

"You were all for a normal life in the beginning, too." Paige says.

"That was until I saw the consequences. All the secrecy the kids had to endure; do you think it was easy for them?" Cole asks.

"It wasn't THAT bad. We adjusted." Ben says. "I actually liked being able to feel 'normal' for a few hours out of the day."

"Well, obviously Sara doesn't. Paige, she used her powers at SCHOOL. She was lucky only one person saw her, and she's damn lucky that we have Nicholas, and he was able to make the kid forget." Cole says.

"And she promises it'll never happen again. She just lost her temper over something stupid -- you know, like her FATHER does all the time!" Paige says.

"Stupid? Stella is trying to become an ACTRESS, Paige. She actually wants to be famous -- not that it'll happen, but if it does, do you really want that kind of spotlight on our family? And now dating this doctor -- if she's serious about him, she'll HAVE to reveal the truth eventually, about our family. And then what?" Cole asks.

"Well -- then we tell him. We have mortals in our life that know -- Darryl knows, and Ben has a couple of friends that we trust." Paige says.

"They're the exception -- NOT the rule." Cole insists.

"And who's to say that Stella's boyfriend won't be, either? It actually might not be a bad idea to have a mortal doctor in the family -- there have been several times where whitelighter powers couldn't heal us completely. Especially with Caleb." Paige says.

"I haven't forgotten what we went through with Caleb. We were just lucky that no one figured anything out." Cole says.

"We were lucky that I gave birth to a healthy little boy, do you really think I cared at that point if anyone found out our secrets? All I cared about was my son -- I thought you did, too." Paige says.

"Of course I do." Cole says.

"Then you go talk to him, and try to show him some sign that you actually BELIEVE in him for a change." Paige says.

"Fine -- I'll talk to him." Cole says, and he shimmers out of the room.

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"Hey -- what are you doing?" Cole asks, shimmering into Caleb's room.

"You could at least knock." Caleb says, not turning around as he busily works at his chemistry set. "I'm working on my chemistry project -- Shawn and I each have part of it to finish, then we'll pull our notes together."

"Shawn -- that's your friend from school, right? The new kid." Cole asks.

"Yeah -- and he's my lab partner. He was gonna come over tomorrow so we can finish this -- if that's okay." Caleb says, still not looking at him.

"You think you'll get an A?" Cole asks.

"I always get an A." Caleb replies confidently, and finally stops working. "What do you want, Dad? Did Mom send you up here to do the obligatory apology session? Don't bother."

"Caleb -- I know we haven't always had the best relationship. But I do want to try. And I am proud of you, son." Cole says.

"But you don't want me to be a doctor."

"I was always hoping that -- maybe you'd take an interest in the law, like me, but -- I know that won't happen. And you're mother's right -- you're a whiz with formulas. Anytime we need a potion we can always count on you." Cole says.

"I'm thinking about taking the scholarship at NYU." Caleb tells him.

"New York? That's on the other end of the country!"

"That's the point." Caleb says, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "I think I need a break from this family."

"Look -- I've already got one kid living away from home; but at least she's in the same STATE. I don't want you to move so far away." Cole sits down next to him. "Especially if it's to get away from ME."

"It's not you, Dad -- I've just never felt like I've belonged here. You and the rest of the family would be fighting off demons and I'd be hiding under the bed, hoping they wouldn't notice me. I just don't feel like I contribute much. So I can whip up a few potions -- I've been able to do that since I was five, it's not rocket science." Caleb says.

"Tell that to your mother -- you should have seen the messes she made when she was first learning." Cole says, and Caleb laughs a bit.

"Dad, I really feel like NYU is the best place for me to go. They have a good program, and it'll give me a chance to -- I don't know -- find myself outside of the family. I'd still come home, you and mom can visit whenever you want -- I'm not gonna go run off to shack up with one of my professors like Stella did." Caleb says.

"You know about him, too?" Cole asks.

"Yeah, Ben told me." Caleb says. "Plus I overheard her on the phone last time she was home."

"Great -- so I'm the last to know. Nice." Cole says, as he gets up to look at Caleb's chemistry work area. "So -- what are you working on here?" he asks.

"Just some chemical mixtures -- it's a standard Chem Two high school level project -- no big deal." Caleb says, as Cole starts to pick up one of the empty beakers. "Dad, don't touch that one, it's -- flammable." Caleb says, AFTER the beaker shatters in Cole's hand.

"Thanks for telling me." Cole says, grimacing in pain.

"Let me see." Caleb says, looking at Cole's hand, which has cuts on it now, his blood dripping onto Caleb's work table. Caleb takes a towel and wraps it around Cole's hand. "You should go have Mom or Ben heal this." he says. "Sorry about that -- some of this stuff is really sensitive to heat."

"Caleb -- don't ever think I don't believe in you. I always have -- you're a good kid. I just worry about you. But if you really want to go to NYU -- you have my blessing." Cole says, giving him a hug.

"Dad -- you're dripping blood all over my paperwork." Caleb says, pulling away from him.

"Sorry." Cole says, moving his hand.

"Go get that healed -- I'll clean up the mess." Caleb says. "And Dad -- thanks." Cole shimmers out of the room. Caleb grabs a towel and moves to clean up the table, when he stops himself. He pauses for a moment, then grabs an empty vial from his chemistry set, and carefully maneuvers some of Cole's blood into the vial. He then puts a lable on it, marks it 'Cole' and puts it in his mini-refrigerator. "Let's see what you're really made of, Dad." Caleb says to himself.

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"Shawn, what are you doing in there?" a woman shouts through the door. A boy about 18 years old is toying with his chemistry set.

"Working on my chemistry project." Shawn answers. The woman shimmers into the room.

"YOU are supposed to be working on getting to know the Charmed Ones and their entire family, and finding a way to destroy them. Not playing with your little chemistry toys!" she shouts at him.

"Mom -- this is my project with Caleb. Caleb TURNER -- I'm going to his house tomorrow so we can finish our lab report. I told you -- this is part of the plan." Shawn replies.

"I don't know -- your father still thinks you won't amount to anything as far as the demon realm is concerned. All you care about is these silly little science experiments of yours. The entire demon realm has put their faith in our family to bring down that ever-growing Halliwell brood. Do NOT end up being the disappointment your father seems to think you're destined to become -- and I'm starting to agree with him." the woman says.

"Mom -- don't worry. I've got it all figured out. Caleb trusts me, he doesn't suspect a thing. Tomorrow I'll be in their house, and I'll find out the easiest way to make them vulnerable to us. We will destroy them, mom -- you can count on me, I promise." Shawn tells her.