---

"Relax, Tina, they're not going to argue much, if at all." Rose said, taken aback at Tina's ferocity. "I didn't think you had that good of control of glyphs yet, anyway?"

Tina shrugged, "I don't, really, but that doesn't mean I couldn't do it. It just means I might hurt myself in the process."

Willow hugged Tina again, "Thanks Tina! It's great to have friends like you and Rose watching out for me. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Is there anything you wanted to know about my vision before I go?" Beatrice asked.

"Well, are you sure that making that call will keep Willow safe?" Rose asked.

"Yes, that's about the most certain part of this whole thing. I wish all my visions were so helpful!" Beatrice said.

"What about Nathaniel?" Willow asked curiously. "What happens to him?"

Beatrice shrugged, "That's the odd part. In the first fork, he dies shortly after you. In the second, he just disappears. I don't know what that means."

"Wait, you didn't mention that before. Do you know how he dies in the first fork? Maybe that will give us a clue as to what happens to him in the second." Charlotte said.

"Sorry, I don't know. All I see in the first fork is Nathaniel killing Willow and then being burned to a crisp. I don't see how it happens." Beatrice replied.

"Uh, I think that's pretty clear from what Tina said a minute ago." Rose pointed out.

"Would you really do that, Tina?" Willow asked.

Tina shrugged, "I don't know. If I was defending one of you, I would do whatever I could to stop him. I'm not sure how I'd react after the fact. And I'm really not sure how well the fire spell we made would work. It's a real power hog, so I don't dare cast it for real."

That comment led to an explanation of the trance Tina and Charlotte used to practice spells safely. Beatrice, feeling lost in the discussion, said her goodbyes. Willow soaked up Tina's explanation in wonder. "Wow, that's so cool! Could you...teach me?" Willow said.

Tina agreed, grateful to keep the discussion away from the grim possibilities of Beatrice's vision. Rose was also interested in learning, so Tina spent the rest of the night teaching them.

---

In the morning Rose was full of nervous energy, which Charlotte put to use in her store. Tina, meanwhile, did her best to keep Willow's mind off of things by continuing her meditation lessons.

At noon Charlotte closed the store for the meeting and people started trickling in. Once everyone was there they took seats around the kitchen table and Beatrice told everyone about her latest vision.

"So, have you made the call yet?" Trent asked.

Charlotte shook her head, "We were waiting to discuss it all with you. Making that call could cause us all some problems, after all. If someone has a better idea to keep Willow safe...?"

Esme glanced at the others before saying, "I think everyone agrees that we should make the call. This man is already aware of magic in at least one form and hasn't caused any problems. If we make sure he understands the need to keep things quiet, I don't think he'll cause any problems now."

The others nodded their agreement. "Okay, so that settles that. Is there anything else we need to talk about?" Kerry asked. They talked more on recent magical events, but nothing was decided. Beatrice made the call to the agent and left the card with Charlotte. Soon they were leaving by ones and twos until only Rose, Willow, Tina and Charlotte remained. Charlotte reopened the store while Rose and Willow continued their lessons with Tina.

A little while later Charlotte asked for some help in the shop, so Tina went to help her while Rose and Willow practiced meditating.

Tina was just finishing restocking some shelves when she saw a man in a black suit enter. He was looking around the shop so Tina walked up and said, "Hi, how can I help you?"

"My name is Marvin Garner. Someone asked me to come here and talk to Charlotte?" he said.

"Okay, she's over there at the register." she said, pointing out her grandmother. He thanked her and walked over to Charlotte, so she went back to what she was doing.

A few minutes later she remembered the call and wondered if he was the agent in Beatrice's vision. There were no other customers in the shop at that point, so she wandered over to the register where he was talking to her grandmother. "...know it's someone you know, because you've been watching her." she was saying as Tina approached.

Charlotte looked over the man's shoulder at Tina and the man turned to follow her gaze. "Tina, this is Agent Garner." she said, and then looked back at the man, "Tina's my granddaughter."

"Hi." Tina said shyly, feeling a little intimidated now that she knew who he was.

"Hello Tina." he said and turned back to her grandmother, "I think I know who you mean, but how is she supposed to prevent Nathaniel from killing someone?" Tina decided to hang back rather than get involved in the conversation. A moment later she heard the bell on the door ring, so she went to see if the new customer needed any help.

A short while later he left, nodding to Tina on his way out. Tina sighed in relief, she was feeling tense the entire time he was there. Once she was done with what she was doing she hurried over to her grandmother. "So, how did it go?" she asked.

"I think it went well. He seems to understand the need for secrecy, and he agreed to talk to the woman we needed him to contact. I have a feeling he's going to want more information than we really want to give in the future, though." Charlotte replied.

"So long as Willow is safe, I'm happy." Tina replied in relief.

"There is more, though. Mr. Garner is the head of a new division of the FBI. He's in charge of investigating paranormal phenomenon. So, sooner or later, he'll come back for one reason or another. I'm sure he picked up on the fact that I know a lot of people in the magical community. I do run a magic shop, after all. I don't think he suspects you of being magical, though. Maybe not even me, though that's probably hoping for too much." Charlotte said.

"Wouldn't he have come here eventually, anyway, then?" Tina asked.

"You might be right about that." Charlotte agreed thoughtfully. "At any rate, this woman should be coming here soon. Today, I hope."

"I wonder what she's like..." Tina said.

"I don't now, but why don't you tell your friends about this? I'm sure they're as interested as you, if not more." Charlotte suggested.

"Sure." Tina agreed and went looking for her new friends. It's odd to have friends again. she thought. How long has it been...?

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To Be Continued…

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