DISCLAIMER: This story is based upon the series, Charmed, that was created by Constance M. Burge. All Charmed characters are the property of Spelling Productions.
Previously, on The Rex and Hannah Chronicles.
"Well..." Rex began, but broke off as four women walked up to him and Hannah. The first woman looked to be around sixty years old. However, it was the three younger ones that accompanied her that drew Rex and Hannah's attention. They were three people they had not expected to meet in this world.
"Rex Buckland, Hannah Webster, these are the leaders of our resistance cell." Adam said.
"Hello." the elderly woman said: "My name is Patricia Halliwell, and these are my three daughters, Prudence, Piper, and Phoebe."
"Well, this IS a surprise." the astonished Rex said slowly.
And now the conclusion...
"Uh, do we know you?" Prue asked as she and her sisters studied Rex and Hannah.
"Do you know us? Sure you know us, Prue." Hannah replied. "We've known each other for more than ten years now."
"Look lady, I've never seen you before in my life!" Prue said.
"Neither have I." Piper added.
"Ditto." Phoebe said.
Duh! Of course they don't know me, these are not the Halliwell sisters I know. Hannah thought as realization dawned on her.
"My name is Rex Buckland and this is Hannah Webster." Rex said after a moment of silence. "Pleased to meet you all. Sorry about our reaction, but you caught us by surprise."
"How does that explain that you seem to know us?" Piper asked.
Yes, that's good question. Rex thought. Clearly these versions of the Halliwell sisters never encountered Hannah and myself. Another major difference. Also the fact that both Prue and Patty Halliwell are alive in this world shows that their family history is quite different than the one we know.
"Rex, clearly they don't know who we are." Hannah said.
"Yes, Hannah, and I suspect that there is a lot more that they don't know." Rex then turned back to the Halliwell sisters and Patty. "Do these terms mean anything to you lot? The Power Of Three? The Charmed Ones? The Book Of Shadows?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Buckland, but we don't know what you're talking about?" Prue said. "We were told that two strangers had been apprehended by the Security Forces and had escaped. We were just curious as to who they were."
"Well, we're them. Your fellow resistance members brought us here." Rex said. Then a thought struck him. "Do any of you know Section Leader Paige Matthews?"
"No, and we don't want to." Piper said. "We've heard stories about her and her interrogation methods. If I did see her, I'd probably want to kill her!"
So they also don't know the Paige of this world is their sister, or half-sister, as it may be. Rex thought. He then turned to Patty. "Are you married, or were married?"
"That's a bit of a personal question." Patty said. "Considering I just met you."
"Please humour me. It's important."
"Okay, I am married." Patty said slowly.
"To Victor Bennett?" Hannah asked.
"No, he was my first husband." Patty said, shaking her head.
"Our father." Phoebe added.
"What happened to him?" Rex asked.
"He was executed by the Regime in 1975, shortly after Phoebe was born." Patty said sadly. "Some trumped up charges of sedition. I think they just didn't like how vocal Victor was about Regime policies. I always tried to warn him not to voice his opinions too loudly, but he didn't listen."
"So you remarried." Hannah asked.
"Yes, to a wonderful man named Sam Wilder." Patty said. "He's here, if you want to meet him."
"Sure." Rex said.
"Follow me then." Patty said as she and her daughters led Rex and Hannah to a table where a middle aged man sat. "Sam, these are the two they told us about."
"Pleased to meet you both." Sam said.
"Are you a white lighter here?" Hannah blurted out.
"What!?" Sam hissed, jumping to his feet.
"A white lighter? What's that?" Prue asked.
"Why don't you three go and organize the weapons stock." Patty said to her daughters.
"But Mom..." Piper began.
"GO!" Patty said in a voice that indicated no arguments would be tolerated. She watched as her three daughters walked away.
"Okay, how the hell do you know about white lighters?" Sam asked, once the three Halliwell sisters were out of earshot.
"Even my own daughters don't know." Patty said. "They know nothing about magic. My late mother and I felt they would be safer that way."
"Ah, so you do know about magic." Rex said. "That might help."
"I know a little bit." Patty said. "However, my mother kept most of the magic secrets to herself. She didn't want the Regime to find out."
"But you and Sam got together." Hannah said.
"Yes, after Victor died, Sam was always there for me. We soon fell in love, which became a problem."
"Why?" Rex asked.
"Because a generation ago, the Elders decided that humanity was a lost cause, because of this Regime and its allies." Sam said. "They ordered all white lighters recalled from Earth. When I refused to go, they gave me a choice, give up Patty, or give up being a white lighter. I chose Patty, and thus I became mortal."
Geez, it seems the Elders are pricks wherever we go! Hannah thought to herself.
"So, what was all this talk about you two coming from another planet?" Patty asked. "At least that is what our sympathizers in the Security Forces told us."
"No, not another planet per se." Rex replied. "Hannah and I are from Earth, just not this Earth. Our world exists in a space/time continuum that runs parallel to yours."
"I see. Why did you come here?"
"It was a mistake." Hannah said. "We were trying to travel back in time to 1906. Something went wrong with the Time Key, the magic device we were using to time travel, and instead we ended up in your world."
"Yes, somehow we travelled sideways in time instead of backwards." Rex added.
"Tell us about your world." Patty said.
"Well, it's similar in some ways, but different in others. There America is a free country, a democracy."
"Alas, that hasn't been true here in a very long time." Sam said.
"Is there another me there?" Patty asked.
"Uh, yes." Rex said, not wanting to give away the fact that said other Patty was dead and now a spirit. "Also, there are versions of your daughters there, they are the Charmed Ones, the most powerful good witches ever. I can't begin to name all the people they've helped over the years."
"It sounds wonderful." Patty said.
"It is." Hannah replied.
"So, do you believe us?" Rex asked.
"Well, let's just say we're ninety-five percent convinced." Sam said.
"Good enough." Rex replied. "Listen, Hannah and I know what it's like for you lot. We ourselves led a resistence movement against a dictatorship much like this Regime of yours. In the end, we won, but it took a long time."
"Plus much blood and sacrifice." Hannah said.
"Also, the Charmed Ones helped us, albeit indirectly." Rex concluded.
"And you want to help us?" Sam asked.
"Yes, for now at least, since we're trapped in your world. We've lost the way back to ours." Rex said. "However, first I need to know more about this world. I was told you have books and newspapers here."
"We do." Sam said.
"I'd like to take a look at them, if you don't mind." Rex said.
"Well, I don't see the harm in it. Follow me." Sam said.
Meanwhile, Section Leader Paige Matthews was uncovering information of her own. "Are you sure this is the correct tape?" she asked.
"Yes, Section Leader, it is. Section Nine, alley 17." Hawkins replied.
"Good, you're dismissed."
"Section Leader?" Hawkins asked..
"You're dismissed." Paige repeated and watched as Hawkins saluted and left her office. Once he was gone, she put the tape into her video player and watched. At first, nothing was seen but a blank alley. Suddenly, some kind of vortex appeared out of thin air and deposited Rex and Hannah. Well, well, this is interesting. Paige thought. Could it be... Her mind drifted back to an incident that had occurred some two years before. Paige had been attending a meeting of the San Francisco District Section Leaders, when a rebel bomb had gone off in the building. Twenty were killed, fifty-eight were wounded, but Paige had someone got out unharmed. Later, when she had questioned one of the other survivors, the man had claimed Paige had "vanished in a sparkle of bright lights". Paige had never thought much of it, the man was severely hurt and had gone through a terrible trauma. Now, the appearance of this Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster had reopened that question. I must find these two. I need answers! Paige thought. I think I'll pay a visit to that alley.
Back at the rebel base, Rex and Hannah had been going through the books and newspapers that Sam had provided, and they told a terrible story. "So, how did it happen, Rex?" Hannah asked. "How could the American people let this happen?"
"From what I have read here, it started with the Great Depression." Rex replied. "Apparently, in this world, it was much worse that it was in ours. The American government collapsed in 1934, the President was dragged out of the White House and lynched."
"My God!"
"It gets worse, Hannah. After that, there was total anarchy in this country for the next three years. Then, in 1937, the Regime emerged, a group of men, back by the military who just wanted stability. They promised peace and stability, if the American people would follow them. Desperate for an end to the chaos, the people bought into it. Once it was firmly in power, the Regime made treaties with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. So when the Second World War began, the Regime was on the side of the Axis Powers, not the Allies. They provided arms and personal to Germany and then calmly watched as Hitler took all of Europe, including Britain and Russia, something he failed to do in our world."
"But what about the attack on Pearl Harbour?" Hannah asked.
"There was no attack in this world, Hannah." Rex said. "Here the Regime and Imperial Japan divided up the Pacific between them. So, while Germany and Japan were taking over Europe and Asia, the Regime conquered both Canada and Mexico. They bullied South America into becoming a protectorate, mind you, a lot of those South American countries were already on the side of the Axis anyway."
"So the Axis won the war here." Hannah said slowly.
"Yes, and that is how it's been for nearly seventy years now." Rex replied. "Those are the ally states that Section Leader Matthews referred to, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan."
"Pretty grim world." Hannah said slowly. "I wonder if these people here can make a difference in the long run."
"Well, the same could have been said about us when we started the Insurgents against the Source, Hannah."
"Speaking of which, where are we? I mean the Rex and Hannah of this world?" Hannah asked.
"That's an interesting question." Rex replied. "It's possible that they're still in the Underworld. Since the Halliwell sisters of this reality never became the Charmed Ones, there was no need to send Warlocks after them. Assuming the Underworld of this continuum is the same as ours, of course. Another possibility is that the versions of ourselves here never became Warlocks to begin with, rather they stayed mortal."
"Meaning they would both be long dead by now." Hannah said, nodding her head.
"Or perhaps they were never born at all. There is really no way to tell." Rex said. "As I explained, this world is similar, but also different, to the one we know."
"Well, I... Look, Rex, the Halliwells are returning."
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Patty asked as she, her daughters, and Sam walked up to the former Warlocks.
"Yes, I have." Rex said. "I found out where your world's history parted company with that of my own. I can hardly imagine such a thing happening."
"But it did." Sam said. "I remember it all, I was still a white lighter back then. I watched as the desperate people delivered this country into the hands of the Regime. I tried to warn whomever would listen about it, but they didn't believe me. 'The Regime will fix this country.' 'The old system no longer worked.' The Regime told them what they wanted to hear and they believed it. By the time the people saw the truth, it was too late."
"Yes, many dictators get into power that way." Rex said. "So, what is happening now?"
"The meeting is breaking up. We're going back home."
"To Prescott Street?" Hannah asked.
"Yes, so you know where we live too?" Prue said.
"We've been to your house." Rex replied. "I mean the house of your selves in our world that is. Mind if Hannah and I come along?"
"Sam, should we?" Patty asked her husband.
"Well, they already know who we are." Sam said. "We don't have much to lose."
"Well, okay then." Patty said, but one could clearly hear the reluctance in her voice.
Outside, Halliwell Manor looked pretty much the same to Rex and Hannah as the one in their own world did. Inside, however, it was very different. The place was drab and had a uniform look. The furniture, what there was of it, was scarce and bland.
"Not much here." Hannah said.
"This is all we can afford on our income." Phoebe said. "I work at a newspaper, or should I say I'm a mouthpiece there. We pretty much write what the Regime tells us to write. Prue works at the same paper."
"As a photographer?" Hannah asked. "That's what the Prue in our world di... does."
"Yeah, whenever the Regime needs a big photo op, I'm the one they call." Prue said.
Another similar pattern. Rex thought. Prue and Phoebe here have the same jobs as their counterparts do, but they have no creative freedom, of course.
"And I'm unemployed." Piper said grimly.
No Quake or P3 here, I guess. Rex thought.
"So, it's just the five of you then?" Hannah asked.
"Yes, since my mother died of a heart attack in 1998." Patty replied. "There was... We had another daughter, but..."
Paige Matthews. Rex thought. "What happened to her?" he asked.
"They took her away from us two years after she was born." Sam said sadly. "The Regime had decreed that all families can only have three children. Since we have violated that rule, they punished us by taking her from us. She was the only natural child I had with Patty, and we lost her. Damn them!"
"We never saw her again." Patty said, the tears spilling down her face. "We don't even know if she's still alive."
"What if I were to tell you that I know she's alive." Rex said.
"We've met her." Hannah added.
"You know where she is? Who she is?" Patty asked with hope in her voice.
"Yes, prepare yourself, but your fourth daughter is Paige Matthews." Rex said.
"The Section Leader!? Mr. Buckland, you're nuts!" Phoebe snorted.
"I agree." Piper said. "The thought that I could have the same DNA as that bitch, it chills my blood to the bone."
"Nevertheless, it's true." Rex said. "In our world, Patricia Halliwell had four daughters. The first three, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were with her husband, Victor Bennett. The fourth, Paige Matthews, was with Sam Wilder, her whi... Her lover after she and Victor divorced."
"Divorced!? So Victor is still alive in your world?" Patty asked.
"Yes, he is."
"Do I, I mean the other me, still see him." Patty wondered.
"From time to time." Rex replied. Of course, the other you is a spirit, but let's not get in that deep. he thought.
"Mom, surely you don't buy this." Prue said. "I mean, Paige Matthews being our sister? Okay, I'll buy this story about these two coming from another world, but this? Come on!"
"I don't know." Patty said after a few moments of silence. "I mean I've seen Section Leader Matthews in passing a few times, when she's given public addresses. Her age would be about right."
"If she's our sister, why has she never contacted us?" Phoebe asked.
"Because she doesn't know about you." Rex said. "She thinks her family is dead."
"When we met her, she told us they had been executed." Hannah added.
"Exactly, which is what they probably told her. With no family allegiances, she became the perfect foot soldier." Rex concluded. Obviously, when the Regime took little Paige from here, they placed her with the Matthews couple. Then, when the Matthews coupled died in that car accident, that's when they must have told Paige her real family had been executed, to keep her from trying to find them. No doubt they made up whatever story fancied them. Paige, traumatized by the death of her adoptive parents, would be too distraught to question said story. For years, it seems, she has believed whatever story the Regime fed her. he thought.
"I want to see her. I want to tell her the truth." Patty said.
"Mom, are you crazy!?" Prue exclaimed. "Even if you could get near her, she'd never believe you!"
"Still, I want to try." Patty said.
"Prue is right, dear." Sam said. "She would never believe us. She would think it was a rebel trick. Since we are rebels, we can't risk it. Sorry."
"Sam, if what Rex and Hannah say is true, she's our daughter! She deserves to know the truth!"
"I know how you feel, Patty, but it's too dangerous." Sam said.
"Sam is right." Rex said. "You can't just go charging over there, not without a plan."
"Do you have a plan?" Prue asked.
"I might. However, it involves finding something that belongs to all of you first" Rex said. "Also, Hannah and I have to find the Time Key."
"Time Key?" Phoebe asked.
"The device that brought us here from our own world. Hopefully, in the end, it can take us back. It must still be in that alley, where we arrived, somewhere."
"I'll go look for it." Hannah said.
"Hannah, are you sure?" Rex asked with concern.
"Yes, Rex, I am. We need that Time Key if we ever hope to see home again. Don't worry, I'll be careful."
"Okay, off you go then."
"I'll be back before long." Hannah said and headed out the door.
"You're just gonna let her go off like that?" Phoebe asked.
"Don't worry, Hannah has a few tricks up her sleeve. She'll be fine." Rex replied, trying to sound reassuring. However, he was having strong doubts himself.
Having successfully made her way back to the alley (shape shifting a few times into a cat to avoid the various security patrols), Hannah had commenced her search for the Time Key. It has to be here somewhere. she thought as she hunted around the alley. Where the hell could it have gone!?
"Looking for something?" a familiar voice asked from behind Hannah.
Hannah slowly turned around and was confronted by Section Leader Paige Matthews. "Hello, Section Leader Matthews." Hannah said, raising her hands when she saw the gun in Paige's hand.
"Is this what you were looking for?" Paige asked as she took the Time Key out of her pocket.
"But how..." Hannah began.
"I saw the recording of your arrival here. One of our security cameras picked it up." Paige replied. "After seeing that, I decided to come here and take a look around, and found this little toy. I was just getting ready to leave, when you showed up."
"Paige, I..."
"Silence!" Paige snapped and held up the Time Key. "What is this thing?"
"That's how Rex and I got here. It has no meaning to you!"
"I'll be the judge of that. Anyway, you're coming back to the station with me."
"No, I'm not." Hannah said and was about to shape shift into a cat when she felt something hit her in the chest. She looked down and saw the dart there, that had been fired from Paige's gun. Tranquilizer dart... was all Hannah had time to think before unconsciousness claimed her.
"Why do they always make it harder than it has to be." Paige sighed to herself as she stared down at Hannah's prone form.
Back at Halliwell Manor, Rex was getting worried about Hannah. She had been gone for quite a long time. If she's not back in another hour, I'm going to look for her. Rex thought to himself. To keep himself busy, Rex had taken himself up to the attic to check on a theory he had. Not here, but still... With those thoughts, Rex began a methodical search of the attic. It didn't take him long to find the loose boards in one corner of the floor. Now, if I'm right, it should be here. Rex thought as he lifted the boards up and saw the hidden cubby hole beneath. Inside said cubby hole was a familiar shape. Rex smiled to himself as he reached into the cubby hole and removed the Book Of Shadows from its long hiding place.
Hannah was tied to a chair in Section Leader Paige Matthews's office. As Paige watched, Doctor John Abbott, one of her specialists, injected Hannah with a needle. "Well?" Paige asked.
"The drug will make her very suggestible." Abbott replied.
"So, she'll answer questions truthfully?"
"Yes, Section Leader, she will."
"Good." Paige said as she saw Hannah begin to stir. "Ah, she's coming around. You may leave now, Doctor Abbott."
"But Section Leader..." Abbott began to protest.
"GET OUT!" Paige barked and watched as Abbott quickly gathered his things, saluted, and left the room as fast as his feet would carry him. Turning her attention back to Hannah, Paige said. "Now, you'll feel very relaxed, very light headed. Do you understand me?"
"Yes." Hannah said in a dreamy voice.
"What is your name?" Paige asked.
"Hannah Webster."
"And where do you come from, Hannah Webster?"
"A parallel world." Hannah mumbled.
"I see, and why did you and your friend come here?"
"It was a mistake."
"Mistake?" Paige asked.
"Yes, we meant to travel back in time to 1906, but the Time Key took us sideways in time instead."
"The Time Key." Paige said as she held the Time Key up. "So that is what this thing is."
"Yes, it is."
"Did you really come here by mistake, or are the two of you the advance scouts of an invading army?" Paige asked.
"No, it was mistake." Hannah repeated.
"Do the rulers of your world have plans to attack our world?"
"No, they don't even know your world exists."
"Where is your friend Rex now?" Paige asked.
"At Halliwell Manor."
"Where!?" Paige exclaimed, the surprise in her voice. Halliwell? That's the name of... No, it can't be! she thought.
"At Halliwell Manor." Hannah repeated.
"He is there alone?"
"No, the resistence leaders are with him." the drugged Hannah replied. "The Halliwell family."
"The resistence leaders! Yes, I can..." Paige began, but then another question popped into her mind, one she hadn't planned on asking, but found herself doing so anyway. "The Halliwell family, what are their names?"
"Patty Halliwell, and her three daughters. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe."
No, it can't be! They're all dead! Executed! Paige thought, her mind whirling. "Are.. Are they still there now?"
"Yes, they are." the drugged Hannah replied.
"Come." Paige said as she began to untie Hannah. "You are going to take me there!"
Later, back at Halliwell Manor, Rex had come back downstairs, holding the Book Of Shadows in his hands.
"What is that?" Prue asked.
"This is the secret your grandmother didn't want you to know about." Rex replied. "This is your legacy."
"Our legacy?" Patty asked. "What is it my mother wanted to hide from us?"
"A question I'd like answered too!" a familiar voice said. Everyone whirled around to see Section Leader Paige Matthews standing in the living room door, a dazed Hannah by her side.
"Hannah, what did they do to you?" Rex asked with concern. "If you've harmed her..."
"Relax, the effects of the truth drug will wear off soon. How do you think I found out about this little meeting." Paige said as she drew her gun. "Now, what was all this about a legacy you were discussing when I came in?"
"Nothing that concerns you!" Phoebe said.
"No, it does concern her." Rex said as he helped Hannah into a chair. Once that was done, he turned his attention back to Paige. "I see you came here alone? Why?"
"Let's just say that there are questions I want answers to. If I'm told the truth, I might be tempted to leave and forget I ever saw you all."
"I don't believe that." Piper said.
"I really don't care what you believe!" Paige said as she swung her gun around to cover the Halliwells and Sam. "I want to know who all of you are!? Tell me, now!"
"I think you already know, or suspect, the answer to that, Paige." Rex said. "Otherwise you wouldn't have come here alone." He looked at Patty. "Perhaps it's time you told her what I told you."
"Yes, it's time." Patty said. "Sect.. Paige, you're my daughter, the child that Sam and I had, the child the Regime took away from us."
"No, that can't be."
"It is." Patty replied and gestured to Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. "And these are your sisters, or half-sisters if you will."
"No, you can't be them. They were executed, all of them!" Paige said, shaking her head. In her hand, the gun began to waver.
"Yes, but did you actually see them executed?" Rex asked.
"No, I was too young. They told me. They showed me a video of the executions when I got older."
"They lied to you, Paige, and videos can be faked." Rex said. "They've probably been lying to you for years."
"No, they wouldn't do that!" Paige protested.
"Why wouldn't they?" Rex asked. "This Regime of yours hardly seems the bastion of truth and honesty. They told you your family was dead so you would not try to seek them out, so you would devote your life to the Regime."
"I..." Paige began.
"Listen to him, Paige, he makes sense." Sam said.
"Maybe this will help." Patty said and then sang a song.
Sleep my baby, at my breast,
'Tis a mother's arms round you.
Make yourself a snug, warm nest.
Feel my love forever new.
Harm will not meet you in sleep,
Hurt will always pass you by.
Child beloved, always you'll keep,
In sleep gentle, mother's breast nigh.
Sleep in peace tonight, sleep,
O sleep gently, what a sight.
A smile I see in slumber deep,
What visions make your face bright?
Are the angels above smiling,
At you in your peaceful rest?
Are you beaming back while in
Peaceful slumber on mother's breast?
Do not fear the sound, it's a breeze
Brushing leaves against the door.
Do not dread the murmuring seas,
Lonely waves washing the shore.
Sleep child mine, there's nothing here,
While in slumber at my breast,
Angels smiling, have no fear,
Holy angels guard your rest.
"No... That song... It can't be!" Paige said in a shaky voice. She dropped her gun and staggered back against the nearest wall, her face going very pale.
"What was that song?" Hannah asked. She now looked much better.
"Sou Gan. It's a Welsh lullaby." Rex replied. "That's the English translation." He smiled. "Good to see you looking better, Hannah."
"Yeah, that drug seems to be wearing off." Hannah replied.
"Mom would sing that same song to us when we were little." Prue said.
"It always put us to sleep." Piper added.
"Section Leader Matthews seems to recognize it. Does that mean.." Phoebe began.
"I remember that song." Paige said slowly, once some colour had come back into her face. "I remember my mother singing it to me as a child. It's one of the few memories of her that I have." She looked at Patty. "It is true? Are you my mother?"
"Yes, I am." Patty said. "I can tell, and I think you can tell too. Look beyond what the Regime has told you. Look deep inside."
"But I need more proof!" Paige replied, struggling with her feelings.
"This might help." Rex said as he held up the Book Of Shadows.
"What is that old book, anyway?" Prue asked.
"This is your family legacy, Prue." Rex said. "You see, in the world that Hannah and I come from, you and your sisters are the Charmed Ones. The most powerful good witches ever to walk the Earth. For years they have defended Innocents against evil."
"We're witches. Right!" Phoebe said sarcastically.
"I can prove it." Rex said as he laid the Book Of Shadows down on a nearby table. "Why don't you and your sisters go touch the Book, and see what happens."
"Sure, whatever, just to humour you." Phoebe said as she went over and laid her hand on the Book. Prue and Piper followed suit, but nothing happened.
"Well?" Prue asked.
"Paige, why don't you go join them." Rex suggested.
"But..."
"Just trust me on this." Rex said.
"Well, okay." Paige said. She went over and laid her hand on the Book, alongside those of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. Seconds later, the house seemed to shake and a bright light shown down and flooded all four sisters. "What the hell just happened!?"
"You wanted more proof, Paige, there it is." Rex said. "The Book recognized you as a Halliwell, like your sisters. Therefore, once you all touched it at the same time, your powers were activated."
"Powers? What powers?" Piper asked.
"They will manifest themselves in time." Hannah said as she got to her feet.
"Yes, the Charmed Ones of this world have at last been brought into being." Rex said.
"As it should be." the spirit of Penny Halliwell said as she appeared on the scene.
"Mother!?" Patty asked, her eyes going wide.
"Yes, Patty, it's me." Penny replied. "I now realize was wrong to keep this from you all. I was afraid of the Regime getting its hands on the Book. However, fate had other ideas. You all have received your legacy at last."
"Then... Then it's true." Paige said slowly. "You're all my family."
"Yes." Penny said. "We are your family, Paige. Welcome home."
Paige said nothing, but slowly looked at Prue, Piper, and Phoebe, three women she now knew to be her sisters. After a moment, Prue slowly stepped forward and embraced Paige, followed by Piper, Phoebe, Patty and then Sam. Paige was crying, but the tears were of joy, not sorrow.
"A family reunited." Rex said.
"Strangers, I give you my thanks." Penny said to Rex and Hannah.
"You're most welcome." Rex replied.
"My family, you now have your powers." Penny said. "Use them wisely. Blessed Be." With those words, Penny vanished in a swirling bright light.
"So I guess it's true, what happened to me years ago." Paige said slowly and told them all about the bomb incident and someone seeing her vanish in white lights.
"Sounds like you orbed." Rex said. "As a daughter of a white lighter, you've had those powers all along, Paige. You just didn't realize it."
"White lighter?" Piper asked.
"I'll explain later." Sam said.
"So these powers we have now." Prue said after a few moments. "Could they help us fight against the Regime?"
"They could." Rex said. "However, you are not alone. The Book will tell you how to find other good witches and magical beings. With their help, you will be able to make a difference. It won't happen overnight, but it WILL happen."
"Perhaps someday freedom and democracy can return to America." Hannah said and then turned to Paige. "What about you, Paige?"
"Well, maybe I can help. I have contacts, maybe I can work from inside the system." Paige said. "So much has changed for me now. I'll help you all, you're my family."
"There are rebel sympathizers in the Security Forces, Paige." Prue said. "Maybe you could seek them out."
"Would they trust me?"
"It might take them time to do so, but they will in the end."
"Then that is what I'll do." Paige said. "For years I was loyal to the Regime, but they lied to me, they kept me from my family. Well no more, from now on, I'll fight against them. Perhaps, as Rex said, with the help of good magic, we will one day bring them down. Them and their ally states. On that day, I'll cheer."
"And if enough good magic can be brought into play, perhaps the white lighters will one day return as well." Rex said to Sam.
"I hope so." Sam said.
"Well Hannah, I guess our work here is done." Rex said. "Time we left this world to its destiny and got back to our own. Now all we need to do is find that Time Key."
"You mean this?" Paige asked as she took the Time Key out of her pocket. "I found it in that alley you arrived in."
"Yes, that's it." Rex said. "Thank you, Paige."
"What are friends for?" Paige replied, smiling.
A short while later, Rex and Hannah were back in the alley they had arrived in. "Keep your fingers crossed, Hannah. I've reversed the settings I had the Time Key to when it brought us here." Rex said as he activated the Time Key.
"I am." Hannah replied as the familiar vortex appeared in front of them. Linking hands, the two former Warlocks stepped through.
HOME AT LAST
When Rex and Hannah woke up, they saw that the alley was once again full of garbage and graffiti, and there was not a security camera in sight. "Did it work?" Hannah asked, looking around.
"It seems to have." Rex said. "This does look like the alley were we in when all this began. However, there is only one way to be sure. Follow me, Hannah."
"We are we going?" Hannah asked.
"You'll see." Rex said as he led the two of them out of the alley and to a nearby flag pole.
"Thank God!" Hannah said as she saw that the flag on the pole was the familiar Stars And Stripes. "We made it, we're home!"
"Yes, quite." Rex said as he pocketed the Time Key. "Under the circumstances, I think we'll forgo our trip to 1906 until another day."
"I second the motion." Hannah said.
"Hungry, Hannah?" Rex asked.
"I'm famished. How about Quake?"
"You read my mind, Hannah. Let's go."
"Rex, I'm wondering?" Hannah asked as they walked to Quake. "Do you think they can do it? Bring down that Regime?"
"Hard to say, Hannah. Right now they are in the same spot we were in when we started the Insurgency against the Source. Remember, the odds were against us, we were outnumbered. However, in time we found followers, and our movement grew."
"Until we succeeded in the end." Hannah said. "But we had the Charmed Ones here helping us along, even if they didn't know it at the time."
"Yes, and they will have fellow magical beings helping them." Rex replied. "As I said, it won't happen overnight, but I strongly believe that someday they'll free themselves from the rule of that Regime, like we freed ourselves from Demonic rule."
"It would be nice to see that. Rex, do you suppose we could go back to that world someday and see how things are going?"
"Yes, Hannah, we could and someday we will. However, in the meantime, we have our own lives to live, right here in our own world."
REX AND HANNAH WILL RETURN!