Chapter Two

Year: 2030

Bobby's house was quiet when the three orbed in. All the main power stations had been disabled in the first few years of the apocalypse, leaving all machinery and lighting utterly powerless. Some lit candles at night but it was just like drawing moths to a flame. Except these moths could probably rip you into a thousand pieces.

"Okay, everyone split up to look for Bobby." Adam hissed, reaching for his gun and cocking it quietly.

"Split up? I do not think so." Melinda replied, gripping his sleeve, fiercely.

"I agree," Chris said. "Bobby likes to set up defense mechanisms..." Melinda grinned; she knew the equal caution and distaste for Bobby's 'defense mechanisms' on Chris's part was due to when he was twelve and had accidently orbed directly into one of Bobby's defense mechanisms. In the end Cas had been the one to go and rescue him – not that he looked particularly pleased about it.

"Somehow that does not surprise me." Adam said, oblivious to Chris's unease. "Alright, Mel with me and Chris if you..."

"Nuh uh, no way." Chris said. "He's probably got bear traps made of iron and paddling pools of boiling holy water out there."

"Seriously, dudes? It's Bobby – he doesn't want to kill us WHOA!" Adam broke off in a yell as he was suddenly hoisted into the air by his ankle, his gun falling to the floor with a clatter. Seconds after, something came out of the shadows and whacked Chris in the knees, knocking his legs out from underneath him and then proceeding to continue beating any part of his body it could get to.

"Okay, everybody FREEZE!" Melinda yelled, raising her hands. The scene froze; Adam dangling upside down, his mouth open, in the middle of swearing, the big stick poised just above Chris's head. Chris groaned.

"Took you long enough." He grumbled, crawling from out of reach of the stick. "Well, what are you waiting for? Blow the son of a bitch to hell."

"Chris, I don't think it's a demon." Melinda told him, peering towards the thing, squinting in an attempt to see its face. "It's Bobby!"

"I don't care." Chris muttered, standing up slowly. "Ouch!"

"Baby." Melinda told him, half-heartedly, flicking one of her hands. The stick smacked to the floor with a wooden thud, almost lost in the midst of Adam's curses. "Uncle Bobby! It's us – Melinda, Chris and Adam!" Melinda gabbled quickly before the stick could be raised again. There was a pause.

"You'll know the password then." Bobby grunted, eventually.

"Password?" Melinda looked to Chris who shrugged. "What password?"

"The one which means you are who you say you are." Bobby replied, raising the stick again.

"Er..."

"PEANUTS!" Adam roared.

"Excuse me?" Melinda whirled around to stare at him. "Did the blood rush to your head too quickly?"

"NO! That's the password; PEANUTS!" Adam shouted. "Now let me DOWN already!"

"Alright, alright kid, quit your whining." Bobby grumbled, leaning over in his wheelchair and loosening a rope. Adam crashed to the floor with a loud bang.

"What the hell was that all about? Are you trying to kill us?" Chris rounded on Bobby, rubbing his sore neck while Melinda went to help Adam.

"Can't be too careful boy." Bobby replied, not sounding one bit remorseful. "Of course, if you damn Whitelighters knocked like normal people, you could've just said the password and that would've been it."

"All the while staring down the barrel of a rifle." Adam put in, bitterly, hobbling over to his feet, one hand on Melinda's shoulder for support.

"You can tell you were raised by a woman." Bobby said. "So, what y'all doing here? Won't the others be getting worried?"

"We think we have a plan." Melinda put in, ignoring the death glares she was receiving from Adam for including him in this 'plan'.

"You think? Mel, in this time, you gotta be pretty damn sure of a plan before you can think about doing it." Bobby said, firmly.

"Yeah well, some plan's better than no plan, right?" Melinda asked, grinning at him. Bobby gave her a small half smile; he never had been one to stay angry at Melinda for long – or Piper for that matter, either.

"I guess you'll be wanting someone to be the voice of reason then." He said. "Come on, follow me – and don't touch anything." He added to Chris, sternly. Chris pulled a face but followed reluctantly. Melinda had only taken a few steps before she felt her mobile go off in her pocket. Fishing it out she looked at the Caller ID; IMPALA, and replaced it.

"You okay?" Adam asked, one hand still firmly clasped on her shoulder.

"Yeah, sure."

IMPLOSIONBREAKINTEXT

"So, what do you think?" Chris finished. Bobby looked at them thoughtfully, resting his chin on his interlocked fingers. Melinda shivered; Bobby's strong room hadn't been the warmest place even when the power had been on to power the small electric heater.

"I think it would be safer to go ask Lucifer for a ride." Bobby said, bluntly, turning to Melinda. "What the hell are you thinking girl?"

"I was thinking about stopping Lucifer – that and getting a corn dog." Melinda replied, smartly.

"Don't you smart ass me. I get enough of that from the boys." Bobby snapped. Melinda looked taken aback. "Look, I know how losing your brother was unexpected – all of you." He added, looking at Adam. "But they're gone."

"Dude, this isn't about Wyatt or Sam." Melinda told him, shortly. "This is about the entire fricken world."

"And you guys support her on this?" Bobby asked, turning to Chris and Adam.

"No, but my opinion isn't going to change her mind so might as well go with it." Adam said, giving a half grin while Chris shrugged and nodded.

"Right well, suppose you're gonna need help then." Bobby said, wheeling over to the "supply" cupboard. "Oh come on, you can't expect to get anywhere without reloads at least!" he added, seeing the incredulous look on all three of their faces.

"You're gonna help us?" Melinda asked, tentatively. "But I thought you said –"

"I said you were insane, didn't make it a good plan!" Bobby pointed out, chucking a rifle at Adam. "Now then, you two better take one too – just because you have those witchy powers don't mean they'll always work."

"And a gun, yeah that's always reliable." Chris muttered, taking one resentfully and moving out of reach before Bobby could clout him.

"So, what do Dean and Piper say about this?" Bobby asked. Silence. "They don't know do they?"

"We didn't want them to worry." Melinda shrugged.

"Bull, they worry about you every day - especially when you don't take their damn calls." Bobby said, making Melinda flush.

"It can wait." She said – just as the room began to shake.

"Evidently it can't." Chris remarked.

Year: 2010

Piper held the jug under the tap. It was a sunny day in San Francisco and the kids were playing out front, or rather they were fighting out front – but you know, it was a nice day and Leo was teaching at Magic school so if pummeling each other meant they had less energy to argue after then Piper was all too happy to let them continue – that and the fact it wasn't in the house. Although, she realized that sooner or later, someone would get hurt and all hell would break loose but till then...

"Mommy! Mommy!" Piper closed her eyes and turned off the tap. Why did she have kids again? She thought, sighing and turning around as Chris came flying through the door.

"What is it honey?" she asked, prepared for the whole; Wyatt-keeps-calling-my-hair-girly rant.

"Melinda's talking to strange men!" Chris gabbled. Piper shot out the room; she had not been prepared for that.

"Melinda?" she yelled, skidding round the corner and wrenching the door open. There were two men standing on the pavement, listening as Melinda chattered away, paying no heed of Wyatt clutching her arm in a protective-older-brother manner. "Melinda?"

"Mommy!" Melinda ran up to her, smiling. "It's Dean!"

"Dean?" Piper asked, distractedly, fussing over her daughter. "Dean who?"

"Dean! From yesterday!" Melinda said, impatiently, pushing Piper's hands away. Piper glanced up. They were both tall and quite young looking, but the slightly shorter one rang bells of recognition in Piper's head. He grinned at her.

"Piper Halliwell?" he asked. She nodded. "We met at the drug store yesterday..."

"Oh yeah, I remember. Dean Winchester?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am." Dean grinned. "Sorry if we scared you, we were just going for a walk and well, Mel here has a better memory than either of us."

"Oh, that's okay." Piper felt herself relax. "Anyway you guys ready for juice?" she asked her kids.

"Yes! Come have some juice, it's apple!" Melinda agreed, running across to the two men and grabbing Dean by the hand.

"Oh, now we don't want to interrupt..." Dean began.

"No, that's okay, come in. You can help with crowd control here." Piper cut across him, gesturing to Chris who was peeking out from behind her leg, shyly and Wyatt who held her hand and attempted a glare at the two men.

"Well, in that case I've always been a sucker for apple juice." Dean agreed, allowing Melinda to pull him into the garden. "Come on Sam!"