Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or any of its characters

World Plunged Into Darkness

A/N: This is a prequel to my story 'The Other Twice Blessed'. It starts off when Andy saves Prue and eventually goes into the unchanged future. There will be many character deaths in this story, so be warned.

Andy Trudeau was currently in the Underworld. He was trying to help one of his charges. She'd experienced more demon attacks than usual lately and he needed to find out why. The Elder's didn't know much, so he had to alternate ways of finding out. Hence why he was creeping around the Underworld at the moment. Most whitelighters didn't go to such extremes for their charges, but he wasn't like most whitelighters. He was extremely protective of his charges.

Andy stopped dead in his tracks and doubled over as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. "Ah! What the hell?" he asked out loud. It felt like someone was stabbing him. His first thought was that it was one of his charges, but that wasn't possible. He couldn't sense his charges when he was in the Underworld. And honestly, it felt more like someone he loved than someone he was supposed to protect.

Andy immediately orbed out. He figured the best way to figure it all out was to go to the source of it all. He materialized seconds later in a dark room. He looked around and saw something that shocked him to the core. Just a few feet away from him, laid the love of his life, Prue Halliwell.

He was shocked because Prue had been declared dead months ago. She'd been killed by a demon after creating a time loop. Ironically, it was a lot like how he was killed. So how was she alive now?

Andy shook those thoughts away and went over to her. She was shacked to the wall and had cuts and bruises all over the place. "Prue? Prue, can you hear me. It's Andy."

Prue slowly began to open her eyes. She looked at Andy and then looked away. "Y...you're not g...going to trick me again. You're not him."

"What? No, Prue, it's me. It's Andy," he said again.

Prue pushed him away as much as her weakened state would allow. "Get away from me. I wish you'd just kill me already."

Andy looked at the woman he loved in shock. He'd never seen her like this before. She looked so helpless and broken. It just didn't make sense with what he knew of Prue. She didn't break. She wasn't helpless. She was the strongest person he'd ever met. Nobody could touch her. Yet here was just a shell of who she used to be. "My God. What did they do to you?"

Prue closed her eyes and turned away. "J...just do what you're going to do and leave me alone."

"Oh God. I don't know what they did to you, but it's gonna be okay. I'm gonna get you out of here," Andy said before taking her hand and preparing to orb out. He just hoped those shackles weren't magical because if they were, getting away might not be so easy.

Thankfully it appeared that the shackles weren't magical because Andy was able to orb Prue out and to an apartment he kept near a few of his charges. It was just easier for him to have a place to stay at when he wasn't Up There or with a charge.

He picked Prue up, brought her to the bedroom, and placed her on the bed.

Prue became confused when she realized that she was no longer on the cold, dank floor and was instead somewhere much more comfortable. She opened her eyes and found that she was on some kind of bed with the thing pretending to be Andy standing over her. "What are you doing? What game are you playing?"

"It's okay. I'm gonna help you," Andy said before placing both hands over her body. Soon a golden glow ignited from his hands.

Prue was surprised to feel the warm healing sensation. "What are you doing?"

"It's okay, Prue. It's gonna be over soon," Andy said as he continued to heal. He wasn't sure how true that statement was though. He could heal her physical injuries, but he couldn't fix the emotional damage that she so obviously was caused.

Prue felt her body slowly begin to strengthen. She was still really tired, but her body no longer ached, nor did she feel any physical pain. She didn't understand it. If this was really a demon, why would he heal her? Was it just another game? Or was this really Andy?" "A...Andy? I...Is it really you?"

Andy finally put his hands down and sat down next to her. "It's me."

Prue instinctively backed up when Andy got closer to her. "H...how do I know it's r...really you?" Yes, he had healed her, but that could be the trick. Although she didn't know any demon that could use a whitelighter's powers.

"It's me, Prue, I promise. A demon wouldn't have healed you," Andy said gently.

"You could be playing games with me," Prue said. She wished she could believe it was really him. She'd missed him so much over the years, and she really wanted to believe that her own personal hell was finally over, but she just couldn't bring herself to believe it completely. It wasn't the first time she'd been tricked by a face of someone she loved.

"Why don't you get some sleep, Prue? Everything will be clearer when you wake up," Andy said. It hoped that was true. He hoped that once she woke up, Prue would realize that it was him.

Prue didn't have the energy to argue. She was physically and mentally exhausted. She shut her eyes and slowly began to drift off.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Hours later, Andy was still sitting by Prue. He hadn't left her side the entire time she was asleep. He couldn't. He was afraid she would disappear, which was actually a realistic fear considering where he found her. He didn't know how demons got ahold of Prue, but he did know that they would try again when they realized she was gone. He had to make sure that didn't happen.

Prue soon started to open her eyes. She looked over and saw Andy sitting in the same place as before. "Well, you weren't a dream. I guess that's something."

Andy smiled a little. "You feeling any better?"

"Depends on whether it's really you or not," Prue said. She still wasn't convinced this wasn't some elaborate trick to mess with her head. She wouldn't put it past this demon.

"It's me, Prue, I promise. I'm the same guy who lived down the street from you for fifteen years. I'm the guy you dated all through high school. I'm the guy who broke his promise to you the day he died," Andy said with a slight smile on his face.

"A demon could've known that," Prue said distrustfully.

"Could a demon have known that right after my death, I came to you in a dream. I told you that my death was meant to happen and that you had to go back and stop Tempus before my death was in vain. Then I told you I'd always be there for you," Andy recalled

"Th...That was real?" Prue asked in awe. She'd always assumed that had been a dream. That it was her way of letting Andy go, when in reality it was his way of letting her go.

Andy nodded

Prue let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. "Andy. Oh my God. I've missed you so much."

Andy smiled. "I missed you too, Prue, more than you could ever know."

"But I don't understand. You're dead," Prue said in confusion. She supposed she shouldn't be so surprised though. Dead people came around all the time in her life. Hell, her brother-in-law was technically dead and he was around daily. Also, Prue vaguely remembered the feeling of being healed. Andy must of done it, which made him a whitelighter too.

"Well, according to most of the world, so are you," Andy pointed out. He still didn't know how that was possible that Prue could be alive when there was a body saying otherwise.

"Yeah, I heard about that. He took great pleasure in telling me that my family wouldn't be looking for me," Prue said bitterly.

Andy cringed. He didn't know exactly what she went through, but he could tell it was very bad. "Well, that's over now. I'm gonna go out your sisters."

"No!" Prue exclaimed. "They can't know I'm alive. Not now, not ever. Promise me."

"Why?" Andy asked in confusion. This didn't make sense. Didn't Prue want to see her sisters?

"Because I can't risk this happening to them. You have no idea how bad it was. What it was like every day. God, I don't even know how long it's been. Do you know? How long have I been gone?" Prue asked.

"Four months," Andy said quietly.

Prue sighed. "That's it. It seems like much longer. Every day was a new torture, you know? I thought it was gonna kill me. I was this close to begging him to kill me."

Andy felt his heart constrict with pain. He'd never heard Prue like this before. She was always so strong, so invincible. Nothing seemed to be able to touch her. What exactly had that demon done to cause such a reaction in her?"

"I can't let that happen to Piper and Phoebe," Prue said firmly.

"You really think the demon will go after them?" Andy asked.

"I can't take the risk. He might do it just get to me further. But if he can't find me at all, maybe he'll think I'm dead or something and he'll leave them alone," Prue said. She hated the idea of having to stay away from her sisters, but she wouldn't risk their safety just to be with them.

"How do you propose to do that? Demons sense Magic. The second you use yours..."

"I won't," Prue interrupted. Honestly after everything that happened, she wasn't sure she wanted to use Magic anymore.

"And what about the Elders or Leo. They will sense you soon enough," Andy told her.

"Not if you make sure they can't. You can hide me from them," Prue said. She knew it could be done because she'd heard of Leo doing it. He'd done it to save his charge, Daisy. He hid her from a Darklighter that was after her. Andy could do it for her just as easily as Leo had done it for Daisy.

Andy thought about it for a minute. He could do it. He could cloak her from the magical world so that no one, including the Elders would ever sense her. It was against the rules for him to do it without express permission, but he would do it if Prue wanted him to. "Are you sure this is what you want."

"No, but I don't have a choice. I can't let anything happen to my sisters and I can't go back to that awful place either. Both of those things will kill me. Please, Andy," she begged.

Andy sighed. "Okay. I'll do it."