CHARMED

(START BEGINNING SEASON FOUR)

Last Day's Destiny

TITLE:LAST DAY'S DESTINY

AUTHOR:M.C.SHERIDAN

BRIEFING:STARTING AT THE BEGINNING OF SEASON FOUR. WHEN SHAX INJURED PRUE AND PIPER, LEO ARRIVED TO SAVE PIPER, BUT THE ELDERS INTERVENED AND STOPPED HIM. INSTEAD, THEY SENT A WHITELIGHTER TO SAVE PRUE. THIS IS WHAT WOULD'VE HAPPENED HAD PIPER DIED INSTEAD OF PRUE. CONTAINS BAD LANGUAGE!!!

COMMENTS:I'M ALWAYS DELIGHTED TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK, SO IF YOU HAVE ANY REQUESTS, QUESTIONS OR EVEN COMMENTS - TELL ME!

"Leo!" The voice startled him, shouting in his ear, almost deafening him. "Leo, you son of a bitch, wake up; or can't you even do that now?!"

"Piper?" He woke and sat upright to see an image of Piper floating next to his bed, staring at him vengefully. "Piper ... "

"What? You're sorry? Are you sorry, Leo? Well, you should be! You left me. You stood there and let me die. It's all your fault, Leo. It's your fault. You killed me; you're own wife. You were supposed to love me and you killed me. It'll always be your fault!"

"It'll always be my fault!" Leo woke suddenly, his whole body covered in sweat, his heart beating far too fast and tears filling his eyes. He had only been dreaming ... but that didn't make it any less true. "It'll always be my fault." He said again, more calm this time, as though to assure himself.

Maybe it hadn't really even been a dream, maybe it was Piper yelling at him, scolding him for not saving her. He should've tried harder, he knew he should've; but how could he? He had tried with all the strength in his heart to save her, but the Elders ...

"Stop blaming other people. It was all you." The voice in his head uttered again - Piper's voice.

He tried to swallow the lump in his throat and stop himself from crying again, but he couldn't. He lay back down onto the dirty pillow that lined the bed in the greasy motel he had been hiding out in. He put his hand under the pillow to retrieve a photograph of his wife and held it close to his chest as his body shook with sobs. "Piper!" He cried loudly, no longer trying to fight it. "Piper."

"Leo!" Phoebe shouted as she dodged the incoming fireball aimed at her. "Cole!" She shouted again, trying to alert anyone who might possibly help her. "Oh crap." She used her powers to levitate above an energy ball, but fell to the ground by the feeling of a sharp pain in her back. She cried out in pain and fell on top of the old couch they kept in the attic for soft landings, but it didn't do her any good when she realised that there was an atheme stuck in her back. With the feeling of all energy being sucked out of her, she drifted out of consciousness.

"You bastards!" Prue crawled her way into the attic on all fours, trying to ignore the wounds in her leg, arm and stomach; but one look at her sister lying at the other side of the room gave her a new surge of power. "No!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "You can go back to The Source and tell him that I won't lose Phoebe as well!" Combining all her stength and power, she used her powers to throw a collection of vanquishing potions to each and every one of the six demons in the room. "BAD OF HEART AND TWO OF FACE, I VANQUISH YOU THROUGH TIME AN D SPACE, TAKE THESE DEMONS FROM MY SIGHT AND SEND THEM INTO THE ENDLESS NIGHT." Almost in unity, the demons burst into flames and disappeared. "I swear to God I will kill every last one of you." Gripping onto the sideboard, she managed to pull herself along to where Phoebe was lying, her life slipping away from her. "Leo!" Prue yelled, crawling over to her sister and taking her in her arms. "Dammit, Leo, we need you! Please! Please ... " Just as the tears where streaming down her face, a mass of magical white orbs appeared and a stranger stood before them. Prue ignored the fact that she had never seen the man before, but beckoned him to heal her sister.

"Prue." A few seconds later, Phoebe's raspy voice came back and she sat up, helped by the mysterious man who had just saved her life. "I thought they had killed you downstairs."

"No. But they nearly killed you. This is getting ridiculous, Phoebe. Thank you." Prue said, just remembering the man who was there.

"You again. Are you here to leave one of us to die now?! Who are you anyway?" Phoebe asked, eyeing him with suspicion.

"I'm Max. I'm a friend of Leo's. I'll be your Whitelighter from now on. Leo has temporarily clipped his wings and asked me to watch over you. That's why he hasn't responded to your calls. I'm sorry about the thing with Piper..."

"Well, we couldv'e done with your help before we were nearly killed." Phoebe snarled at him.

"Phoebe, we have to talk about these incesant demonic attacks." Prue told her, lying still whilst Max healed her injuries, too. "Thanks. Phoebe, it's getting ridiculous."

"This is who we are, Prue. I told you already, I won't be giving up my powers."

"Well tough, Phoebe. With Piper gone and me giving up my powers, it's basically a majority vote. I'll give it until after Piper's funeral tomorrow and if you haven't found someway to stop all this, then I'll be giving it up."

"Giving up on the Charmed Ones?" Max asked, helping Prue up. His dark brown eyes sparkled in the sunlight and a look of worry crossed his forehead. "You can't do that, Prue. You still have a destiny. I was sent to save you for a reason. You and Phoebe still have a reason to continue being witches. You can't just give up."
"Really?" She asked, pulling her arm free from his grip, then turning towards Phoebe said, "Just watch me."

So, what did you think? I'm open to suggestions as this is my first Charmed piece. Have lots of ideas, twists and turns but want your views too!