CHARMED
"Spell Back In Time"
by shel
© july 2007
disclaimer: the charmed ones, cole, and leo, and the rest of the cast of characters we've come to know and love, belong to spelling television, inc. and possible other copyright holders. i intended no true infringement on their copyrights; i only wanted to borrow these marvelous characters for a short time in my own scenarios and hopefully return them no worse for wear; the only things i've gained from this story are the satisfaction and pleasure of having written it and in knowing that others may have enjoyed it too…
rating: pg-13
summary: phoebe's daughter travels through time in an attempt to avert family tragedy…
archive: please don't without expressed permission…
notes: there are references to s6's 'chris-crossed,' 'it's a bad, bad, bad, bad world,' s5's 'the importance of being phoebe' (including some actual dialogue), s2's 'morality bites,' s8's 'forever charmed,' s7's 'witchness protection,' and s5's 'centennial charmed'…please let me know if you enjoyed my tale and why and, if not, why not…and, please, don't bother wasting your time or mine by sending any flames…
Prologue
January 12, 2033 – late morning
Tears streaming down her cheeks, Penny cradled her mother's bloody and broken body. "Daddy's dead," she tearfully informed Phoebe as her father's blood dripped off her fingers and mingled with her mother's. "I don't understand; why didn't you see? Why didn't you warn me? I could've, I could've…" Her voice trailed off in protest, knowing there was no way she could have helped to save her parents or older sisters.
Without an active power, what could she possibly have done to prevent Trish from being burned alive by demons? Or stopped them from torturing Prue before they impaled her with the coat rack? Or aid her father in… "Oh, Mama, you needed me with you. How could you have let me go to the cemetery when you knew demons were hunting today? Or didn't you know? Did you see it coming? Did you have any warning?"
But Phoebe didn't respond; she didn't even open her eyes.
"Chris hasn't answered any of my calls. What if they got him too? Please, Mama, I don't know what to do. Don't leave me alone…" Burying her face in her mother's neck, Penny sobbed and released all her pain and fears until all that was left was anger.
She slowly sat up, caressed her mother's cool cheek, and shifted her mother's body from her lap to the floor. Spotting her father's ruby ring clenched in Phoebe's hand, she gently pried it free, all the while trying not to imagine Phoebe having witnessed her beloved husband's death. Of course, the two were so tightly bound perhaps her mother wouldn't have survived for long after her father's death anyway. Maybe it was better they died together. Her mother wasn't like Aunt Paige who lived for three years without Uncle Henry before the demons got her too. And Phoebe wasn't like Aunt Piper who fought back for a year after Uncle Leo's murder until she was killed in battle protecting Melinda.
Penny swept some strands of hair behind her mother's ear. No, her mother was different, too tied to her emotions, to love. Phoebe always worried it was her weakness that love be so powerful and overwhelming. Until she looked into her husband's eyes and admitted that love could never be a weakness. Penny nearly smiled at the thought of her father teasing her mother and the way Phoebe simply glowed in response. Being the daughter of a Cupid and an empathic witch, a Charmed empathic witch, wasn't always easy but it was…The blood sticking to her fingers shocked her back to reality, the horrific reality that her parents, Cupid and Charmed One, were dead.
She hadn't been there but Penny had still seen. The vision had come the instant she had touched her father's body, praying he might somehow be still alive. And she squeezed her eyes shut as the vision traitorously replayed itself now in her mind. Prue, vengefully using her telekinesis to deflect the fireball back at the demon that had ultimately killed Trish. Prue, managing to create a whirlwind of attacking objects despite the lecherous advances of the demons who grabbed her. Prue, the coat rack spearing her body, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth as her eyes closed for the last time.
Penny gripped her father's ring tightly during that final image of him focusing all his energies through the ring, ripping apart the three demons that had destroyed his family, save her. "You were right, Mama. Hate is only a breath away from love. I never knew a Cupid could act with such hatred….He didn't even have time to feel satisfied before that new trio shimmered in behind him." She couldn't control herself and burst into a fresh set of tears.
"I hate them!" She pounded the floor. "I'll find them! I swear it! I'll find them and I'll kill them, I'll kill all of them!"
"Not if they find you and kill you first."
Startled, Penny stumbled back. But she immediately recognized the battered man and flew into his arms, partly out of relief, partly out of her own power of flight. "Chris, oh God, Chris…"
"It's okay, Penny, I'm here, I've got you," he murmured as he hugged his younger cousin. "I spotted a Tracker on my tail and knew something was wrong but I couldn't shake him. I got here as fast as I could." He scanned the devastation around him. "I'm sorry, Penny, I'm so sorry…"
"They're gone, Chris, my whole family," Penny cried into his chest.
"I know, squirt, I know," he sympathized. Bianca had been gone four years, the first hole gouged in his heart. Then Henry and Henry Junior were attacked within the year of her death. And after a lull that left none with a false sense of security, demonic factions finally launched their assault with a vengeance offering little time to mourn. The surviving Mitchells had been targeted barely six months ago; his mother had died defending Melinda barely three months ago; and barely one month had passed since he buried Melinda anyway only this time with Wyatt at her side.
He kissed the top of Penny's head and closed his eyes a moment to absorb the impact of this new loss. He had just spoken to Phoebe that morning and now she was gone along with his uncle and cousins. "And the Elders won't let Aunt Paige help us," he mumbled. She squirmed and stared at him in shock. "They said she hasn't yet adjusted to her role as --"
"Her family's being wiped out and they won't let her help?" Penny stalked across the room before turning back to him, arms folded across her chest in annoyance. "Fine. We all know the Elders are selfish beings that only use us when the --"
"Penny…"
She glared at him. "Why doesn't she just come down on her own? Since when do the Charmed Ones let them dicta--"
"Don't get angry with me," he warned tiredly. "I've had it up to here with -- look, Penny, I feel the same way but none of us have any say in this. She did manage to convince them --"
"You saw her? You saw Aunt Paige?"
Chris shook his head with regret, "I only know what they told me. Aunt Paige was furious but her hands are tied and the best she could do was convince them to offer us haven Up There. For as long as the danger exists."
"The danger will exist," she snorted, "as long as there's a drop of Warren blood flowing in our veins. Just because the Charmed Ones and Wyatt are gone doesn't mean we're still not from the most powerful line of witches. Demons won't rest until we're wiped out completely." She glanced down at her mother's body. "Mom would be majorly pissed right now but," she sighed, "she'd want us to go. She'd want us to be safe. We're the only ones left, Chris. The whole line, down to just us, and she'd want us to be protected."
"Come on then, I'll take you there," Chris offered, extending his hand.
But she slapped away his hand, "I'm not going anywhere and you know it! I won't run and hide for the rest of my life."
"You're only eighteen," he reminded her, "and --"
"If the next words out of your mouth are 'you have no active power,' so help me, Christopher Perry, I'll make you sor--"
"Easy, cousin," he entreated, "all I meant was that you don't have the experience at demon hunting that Wyatt and I do…did. Yes," he quickly conceded, "you have the martial arts skills but you haven't had the combat training that we had or even that Trish and Prue had."
"Not my fault," she grumbled, "when I was always being told to stay behind."
"Bottom line, squirt, is that you're not ready yet for full frontal assault on the Underworld."
"Yet, being the operative word," she warned. "Fine," she grabbed his hand, "then let's get the hell out of here and prepare our arsenal."
Chris eyed his cousin's determination and surrendered. "Where to?"
"The only safe place left," she sadly replied as she looked once more at her mother. "The manor. Between the Book of Shadows, your mom's pantry, and the Nexus, we'll be safe for a while."
"Get any ideas of using the Nexus out of your head right now," he warned. "And don't grow overconfident by the safety of the manor. Wyatt was still killed there. Remember?"
Answering with an apologetic squeeze of her hand, Penny closed her eyes as his orbs took them away.
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