Piper's knees gave way beneath her, turning to gelatin at the jarring word that had escaped from her sister's lips. Leo grabbed her as she began to slide down the wall, her hands masking the horror that was sown onto her face. She could feel him shaking as he let her down gently to the floor, the two of them collapsing in a heap against the wall. "Do you believe me now?" she whispered into his collar. "Is this what you wanted to hear? That our daughter was raped by a demon? Is that what you needed for proof? God, Leo, she could die!" She pounded her fist against his chest and he flinched, but took the blow without response, almost as though he were punishing himself for not finding out sooner.
"I never thought… I'm so sorry, Piper," he rubbed her back in small circles, trying to calm her down, but she seethed in his arms, smacking him hard on the shoulders.
"Sorry won't take back the rape, Leo! Sorry won't wake her up, and sorry certainly won't make me forget what's happened tonight! Just orb up There and see what They have to say, like you should have done from the start." Piper removed herself from her husband's lap, and he sat there on the floor for a second before orbing out of the room.
Piper flopped onto the bed next to Phoebe, who had dark circles sagging under her eyes. The tracks of her tears were highlights against her pale skin, and she tried to wipe them away as her sister sat down with her. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this, Piper. If there was any other way-"
"There was no other way," she interjected. "It would have hurt more coming from some strange doctor in a hospital. Leo was right about that, at least. It's just…" she sniffled and wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. Phoebe wrapped her arms around Piper's neck, who leaned in closer to her sister and began to sob into her sleeve. "It's just that I knew that there was something strange about that kid. I knew that he was trouble, I just didn't think… I should have made her stay home. I should have made her stay here and watch Sleepless in Seattle with me. It's all my fault, Phoebe. I'm never going to forgive myself for this, for leaving her defenseless against that demon. I should never have bound her powers. It's all my fault."
"It was never your fault, Piper. You're a good mother. If you'd had control of this, then yes, you would have made her stay home. But the point is that you didn't have control, and therefore it can't be your fault, now can it?" Phoebe let her sister put her head down on her thigh as she laid down on the end of the bed perpendicular to Melinda. She brushed her long, dark brown hair with her fingers, sifting through a days worth of grime without hesitation. The only thing on her mind at that moment was the face of the demon who had attacked her niece.
***
The cavernous tunnels that wound throughout the underworld were a welcome transition from the dark man's moldy hole in the abandoned building on the surface. The heat bothered him only slightly, since his real problem was slipping around unnoticed. Ever since the Source had been defeated by the Charmed Ones, the struggle to attain ultimate power over the underworld had been shuffled around from one useless leader to another, and, at the moment, there was no absolute evil on the throne. The few factions that were surviving the civil war in the underworld weren't yet strong enough to take on the masses of demons and warlocks who band together unwittingly to knock down the next in line for succession to reign as the Source. But it was only a matter of time before the dark man would find himself at the top of the proverbial food chain, smashing his adversaries not only with his strength, but with his intelligence as well. Detailed plans of the tunnels washed through his mind as he wheeled sharply around corners until he found the room where he wanted to be. Hiding off behind a lava rock, he listened intently to the two men that stood in the center of a large group of hooded demons and underlings.
"Two nights ago there was a victory for all evil beings, not just the upper level tyrants that try to keep us under wraps. It seems that one of us, no one is sure who, rendered the daughter of the eldest Charmed One inanimate, thus leaving her mother and the whitelighter out of commission." The first hooded man waved his hand around the group, then nodded for the second to begin.
"If there ever was a time to strike, now would be it. While the strongest of the witches is preoccupied, while they have their guard down. Let us finish the job that one of our members started in the alley!"
There were tremendous shouts of agreement as the dark man smiled to himself. So that's why the girl is trapped in my mind, he thought. She is the daughter of a witch… and a whitelighter as it would seem. If she is in fact such a being, then why didn't she fight back with her powers when I attacked her? She would surely be well equipped to deal with a lowly darklighter such as myself… unless she had no powers, or they were bound at her birth, in which case she would be defenseless against my assault. Ahh, the pieces are beginning to fall together for me now. If a darklighter's poisoned arrow can kill a whitelighter within hours, imagine what his semen can do. And a child to be born of such origins as ours would certainly be a highly coveted being, if she were to become pregnant. Now I'll just have to make sure that I get to her before those buffoons in there do. His shadow listened intently to his master's thoughts, trying to piece together what he was planning for their latest conquest. He had minimal time to think as the darklighter gave him a stern stare, then began to morph into the curvy shape of a woman, with raven hair and striking blue eyes. His voice remained deep and masculine as he spoke to his cowardly shadow. "Don't try to make out what I'm thinking, shadow. You'll only give yourself a nonexistent migraine. Just do as I tell you and all will be well. The sisters will surely seek out the advice of their deceased sister, and I will be there when they do." He grinned at his cowering semblance, and blinked back to the surface.
***
Leo orbed into the Manor late that night, trying to be as quiet as possible in case Piper was asleep. He stood in the hallway outside his daughter's room, listening for voices. When he heard none, he pushed the door open slowly and peered in.
Piper was laying with her arms around Melinda, on her side so she could be more comfortable. Leo could have sworn that Mel was only sleeping, that she would wake up if he stepped on the third floorboard under her rug like she always did when she was younger and he checked on her late at night. But as he took a step forward and let the wood creak beneath his weight, neither one of the women roused, both of them breathing heavily as they slept. He forced himself over to the bed to wake Piper, unsure of whether he should tell her what the Elders had told him. The news might be too much for her to handle at this point, especially if-
"Leo, you're back," Piper interrupted his thoughts, blinking up at him with heavy lids. "What did you find out? Is there anything we can do?"
he gulped back the acid that was rising in his throat. She'll never forgive me if I tell her what I know, but at the same time she'll never forgive me if I don't. So why is this so hard? Just tell her and get it over with. "They… They said th-that she… was raped by a darklighter."
Piper eyes filled with confusion for a moment, trying to process the bits of information that were compiled in her head. Blinking rapidly, she questioned him. "So, her rapist was definitely from other side, not just a punk kid? And so why is she unconscious, Leo? If this was demonically related, then why can't you heal her? I thought only a darklighter's arrows can kill a whitelighter, even a half whitelighter."
"The poison on the arrows is taken from a darklighter's blood," he said softly, hoping that he wouldn't upset her even more. "They all develop it in their systems as they go through the training to become a darklighter. So, if the poison from the arrows is taking from the darklighter's body, then-"
"Then the poison can be taken from their bodies by other means as well," Piper's lip quivered as she put two and two together. "Oh, God. Leo, is she…?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. I never thought to check before. But I can if you want me to." He watched her nod half-heartedly and get up off the bed. She trembled slightly as her husband stepped forward and placed his hands over his daughter's abdomen. He plunged his mind inside her, sensing for a life that was not meant to be there. Deep within the confines of her body, sheltered in a home of flesh and bone, he saw a tiny heart, beating rapidly against the side of her weakened uterus. Leo felt himself draw back sharply, and he opened his eyes back in the bedroom. He gasped as the image of the embryo that grew inside his daughter hung in his mind.
The heart was black.