All Hell Breaks Loose
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/n: Just in case I didn't mention it before, DJ and Derek's last name is Anderson. :)
Pamela looked at her hands in disgust. They were covered in still warm blood and demonic ash. After a moment of shocked silence Pamela felt herself fall to the ground. She dimly registered that she should have called for help by now, but she couldn't force herself to move. She had killed the demon, and in the moment that had felt like a good thing, but know she wasn't so sure. Pamela could feel disgust coursing through her as she looked at her blood soaked hands. Pamela's eyes widened as she crawled across the cave and retched harshly. Shakily, she raised her wrist and wiped her mouth off. Her entire body began shaking as she crawled over to her fallen family and checked their pulses. They were all breathing and had steady heart beats. Relief flowed through her at the knowledge that her family was out of any immediate danger but that relief was quickly extinguished by the realization that she was in the underworld, alone.
"Bianca!" Pamela shouted desperately, not sure why she called for the phoenix instead of someone who could heal. Pamela brought her hands to her face and screamed in horror when she realized the blood was red. What if she just killed a human instead of a demon. Demon's don't have red blood; people do. Pamela's eyes widened and she bit her lip to stop herself from screaming again and drawing attention to herself. She had never seen red demon blood before and, regardless of the color, she had never seen demon blood so up close and personal before and Pamela was terrified of the implications.
Bianca shimmered in quickly and looked at Pamela in confusion, wondering why she had been called. The second Pamela saw her she began sobbing in terror. Everyone was going to hate her when they found out what she did. Pamela killed a person. There proof was on her hands. She was a murderer and no one could bring her back from that. "Hey." Bianca said soothingly, getting down to Pamela's level and looking around for the source of Pamela's breakdown. What she saw made Bianca's eyes widen in complete terror. Her voice rose a few octaves as she screamed out for the only two people she could think of in that moment, "Chris! Wyatt!" Bianca screamed, completely horrified. She wanted to race to the sisters side's immediately and make sure they were still breathing, but Pamela was clinging to her tightly.
Pamela threw her arms around Bianca's neck and sobbed louder. She was so scared and confused. Her mind was a whirlwind of confusion as she tried to register what had just happened. Flashes of innocents and their blood that she had witnessed coursed through her mind; making her sob louder in distress. This wasn't the way things were supposed to happen. It was just supposed to be a nice and simple vanquish. She wasn't supposed to kill anyone.
Wyatt and Chris orbed in a second later and their eyes widened in disbelieve and fear.
"Oh my God." Wyatt said, at the same time that Chris screamed,
"Mom!" Wyatt immediately rushed over to his family and began healing them, starting with Phoebe (her wound was the most serious) and ending with Paige. For one heart wrenching moment Wyatt thought that his healing power would work. Fear froze the blood in his veins as he urged his power to work. Chris grasped Piper's hand tightly and all the color drained from his face. He looked completely petrified and Chris was breathing in shallow gasps. The Charmed Ones were fully healed after a few minuets and Paige and Phoebe got up and looked around, searching for the demon who had put them out. Instead they found one traumatized child and three very upset teenagers. Piper would've gotten up with her sisters but the second she showed signs of life Chris threw his arms around her with relief.
"Pam!" Phoebe cried out, rushing to her daughter and taking her into her arms. Phoebe immediately checked her child up and down for any signs of physical injury. Finding none she kissed he top of Pamela's head and began rocking them back and forth, humming softly and trying to calm her down and reassure her that everyone is alright now. Bianca disentangled herself from Phoebe and Pamela before walking over to Wyatt. Her legs were shaking dangerously and she and felt her strength weaken with every pulsing sob that came from Pamela.
Piper sighed as Chris clung to her, wondering when things had gone so wrong. "It's okay. I'm fine peanut." Piper said, using Chris's child hood nickname as a way to calm him. It seemed to work and Chris pulled away after a few seconds, wiped away a few stray tears, and helped Piper stand. Chris hovered next to Piper as though he was worried that she wasn't fully healed. Piper bit her lip in worry and realized that she was probably going to have to talk to him later. Everyone else was crowding around Pamela and Phoebe so Chris and Piper made their way over to them.
"Honey." Phoebe tried again, terrified for her daughter's sanity. "What happened?" She asked in confusion, looking around. They had seen each other get knocked out their entire lives, that couldn't be what was scaring Pamela now.
"No." Pamela moaned, gasping in pain. Her lungs were on fire and she was shaking from head to toe now that the adrenaline was wearing off. She couldn't tell anyone what happened. She couldn't risk them hating her for killing a person. She didn't mean to. "I'm sorry." She whimpered in fear.
"Please sweetie, talk to me." Phoebe tried desperately, holding Pamela tightly. Wyatt cleared his throat to get their attention.
"I'm going to go send the younger kids home and round up the adults." He said, realizing that this was a family meeting type of situation. Piper nodded her thanks and Phoebe went back to trying to comfort Pamela.
"I'll help." Paige said, unable to stand hearing her niece in so much pain with out being able to help her or destroy the cause. They orbed out quickly, ushering the swirling blue lights faster.
"We should go." Phoebe said, reaching out to grasp Chris's hand so he could orb them out because, clearly, Pamela was in no state to heart them out.
"Wait!" Pamela wailed desperately. She tore herself away from her mother and looked around frantically. "Where'd it go?!" She screamed, needing the athame Bianca had given her. It had saved her life, it saved the lives of her family, and Pamela wasn't going anywhere without it ever again.
"Where did what go?" Phoebe asked in bewilderment, looking around and only seeing dirt.
"This?" Chris asked, bending down and picking up a bloody athame. He glanced down at it and discovered a tiny bird carved into the handle. Chris sent a sharp look at Bianca and she groaned, realizing how much trouble she was going to get into for giving that to Pamela. Pamela looked up with wild eyes, ran to him, grabbed it and shoved it back in her sheath.
"No we can go." Pamela said, surprisingly more calm. She carefully avoided looking anyone in the eye or looking at her blood soaked hands. She hearted out quickly, and the others followed in surprise and confusion.
"What?!" Zelar screamed angrily. The guard demon in front of him bowed submissively and mumbled something unintelligible. "Speak louder." Zelar commanded authoritatively, fury echoing around the cavern.
"Well, you see..." She began, stumbling over her words. "My brother, Terk, went after the Charmed Ones. He heard that they would be down here today so..." She trailed off, shrugging at the look on Zelar's face.
"So?" Zelar repeated impatiently.
"He went to kill them." She whispered, terrified. "But, master, I had no idea of his intentions. I did not know what he was leaving to do. I only just figured it out now. I can sense that he was killed."
"Well good riddance." He bellowed, completely incensed to be interrupted over her stupid brother being killed. "Now, tell me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you on the spot." He said angrily, readying an energy ball. The female demon, Bridget, whimpered.
"My lord," Bridget pleaded. "I think he may have informed them about the prophecy." She said.
"What?" Zelar snapped, putting out his energy ball. "Bridget, what makes you think that?" He asked, enraged.
"Because it's what he does." She snapped. "He gets- got-" She corrected herself. "He got so arrogant about his kills that he liked to let them know why they were dying so he probably... AHH!" She screamed as he threw an energy ball and incinerated her, disgusted.
"Summon Levoca!" He shouted at the demon in front of him.
"Yes, sir. What should I say?" The demon obliged.
"Tell her we have a problem."
Another Halliwell tradition was for the entire family to wait for the newly twelve year old to come back and share his/her adventure with them. Purity, Pandora, Pearl and Patricia got stuck with clean up duty and they laughed as they made more, not less, of a mess.
Chris and Victor were playing chess and Chris was teasing his grandfather since he was winning.
"Come on gramps. You sure you're not getting too old to play?" Chris challenged, raising an eyebrow with a satisfied smirk on his face. Victor laughed and moved his piece, declaring;
"Check." With an equally fun smirk. Chris's mouth dropped and he immediately turned his full attention back to the game. Chris and Victor were just as close in this time line as they apparently were in the other, especially since Victor knew a little bit about what happened in Chris's past. Well... his other past.
Wyatt and Bianca were wrestling while Henry Jr and DJ cheered them on and took bets. DJ was betting on Wyatt, but Henry JR had placed his $15 on Bianca.
Then there was Leo, Henry, Derek and Coop. The four men were gathered around the television set and yelling about how dumb the baseball team was this year. Leo kept yelling how he had seen better players back when he was alive. This gathered some strange looks from Henry and Derek who still forgot that this wasn't the first time Leo was alive. However they merely glanced at each other, shrugged and laughed it off as typical Halliwell insanity.
Billie had left, apologizing profusely and saying that she would make it up to them. It was obvious to everyone that this was all very hard on her and they had let her go with reassurances that it was alright.
Everyone was relaxed and having a good time when Bianca suddenly shimmered away, leaving Wyatt to fall flat on his face. At first Henry Jr, DJ and Wyatt thought she was going to ambush him and they started laughing, but there was obviously something going on when a few seconds later Chris and Wyatt orbed away, urgent looks on their faces.
The room went silent except for the noise still coming from the tv. The Halliwells' and Andersons' looked at each other in confusion.
"Where did they go?" DJ asked the obvious question, getting up from his spot on the floor and going over to join his dad. He was happy that he was allowed to go the Pamela's birthday party even though he was grounded. Of course, he should've known that his Dad wouldn't be able to refuse. The Halliwell's are family their family.
"I don't know." Leo answered in confusion, looking around the room as if expecting to find the answer written on one of the walls.
"Maybe the vanquish went wrong." Pandora whispered to her twin, Patricia. Patrica's eyes watered and she bit her lip in worry. It was the 30th, which meant that it was only 5 days since Christina's death and Patricia had a tendency to freak out easily now.
"Do you really think so?" She asked Pandora, scared for the safety of her family.
"Maybe." Pandora answered, looking over at Purity, who was listening in. "Or maybe not." She added hurriedly, but not quickly enough. Purity's bottom lip trembled and she started sniffling, recognizing the potential danger that her family was in.
"What's the matter baby?" Coop asked as he walked over and picked Purity up. Purity buried her head in Coop's shoulder and sniffled some more. "It's okay." He said, rubbing her back. "Mommy will be home soon." He said quietly, figuring that Purity was just tired from all the excitement and missed her mother.
"Maybe they needed back up on the vanquish?" Henry suggested the same thing his twins at been thinking. Henry was pretty comfortable around magic now. He hadn't fainted for three years now. Although, as Henry would tell anyone who was listening, he only fainted because the unicorn caught him by surprise. That was it. Of course the Halliwell family had never let him live that down.
"But if that's true then why did Bianca leave first?" Henry Jr pointed out not realizing the fight he was about to start.
"That's true, she left first. Maybe she can't be trusted." Pandora said, the least trusting of the group since she had spent the least amount of time with Bianca.
"Shut your mouth." Prue hissed angrily. "Bianca's good now." She said protecting Bianca. Bianca was like Prue's sister now. "She's a part of our family now, she lives in my house." Prue continued angrily feeling the stress of everything culminating and getting worked up.
Pandora raised her eyes brows. "Cole lived in this house too, but he went back to being evil." She pointed out.
"But Cole was a demon." Prue shouted, feeling her blood boil at the injustice of Pandora's words.
"And," Pearl jumped in, indignant at the way Pandora dismissed Cole. "If you remember the stories then you would know that he didn't want to be evil again. He only did it because the source infected him. And he only got infected because he was saving Mom and the Aunts." Pearl said, not really defending Cole so much as defending her mother's choice in him. Besides, she had heard the stories a thousands time and knew that it would've upset Phoebe to hear someone speak about Cole like that if she had been there.
"Well Bianca's a demon too." Pandora shouted back, completely focused on Prue and ignoring Pearl. She was scared and tired and needed an explanation for why her family was in danger. Bianca was the easiest answer.
"No she's not." Leo interrupted calmly, seeing Prue about to burst. "She's a witch, just like you." He reminded Pandora sternly.
"No." Pandora said stubbornly, unwilling to give this up, needing an outlet to blame the problems her family was having on. "She's a phoenix witch who can turn..." She trailed off as Prue telekinetically shoved her against a wall. Prue ran to Pandora and shot her a look that promised a painful death.
"Whoa, everyone here needs to calm down." Pearl said, trying to get in between her feuding cousins and failing.
"Bianca is good now. She's family. So shut up!" Prue screamed, getting seriously pissed. Pandora orbed out of the telekinetic hold and behind Prue, shoving her from behind.
"I just think it's a little weird that all this bad stuff started happening the second she showed up. Wyatt was fine before she came along and Chris was too, for that matter." Pandora said, qualifying her suspicions.
"What are you talking about? Chris is fine." Patricia said, staring at her twin in confusion.
Pandora laughed bitterly. "Don't pretend you haven't noticed. They're all hiding something from us. All the adults. There's something going on with Chris and you know it!"
"Girls!" Leo said, rising from his spot on the couch and getting ready to break up the fight. Henry stood next to him, uncertain how to break up a magical fight since he had no powers.
"That's not Bianca's fault. Chris was dating her for months before we even knew about it. She only showed up to save Chris so stop accusing her of a hole bunch of shit when you don't even know the whole story." Prue exclaimed in fury, seeing red. She and Bianca had really bonded lately. They were practically sisters now and Prue wasn't going to let anyone talk bad about her. Prue threw out a hand in an attempt to send Pandora back. Pandora held up a hand and allowed it to glow blue, using her power of deflection. Before the fight could get out of control Leo signaled to Henry and they stepped forward and pulled them apart.
"That's enough." Henry shouted angrily. "Pandora Helen Mathews, you do not go after any of your cousins, magically or physically. You know that's wrong. Do you understand me?" He barked in his officer voice, seriously wishing that they could just take a break from the drama for once.
"Yes." Pandora said angrily, storming out of the room. Patrica trailed after her, wanting to comfort her twin and sending Prue an apologetic look- actually agreeing with her and not Pandora. Prue gave Patrica a curt nod of recognition before turned back to Leo.
"Prudence Melinda Halliwell. I can't believe you." Leo said to his daughter with disappointment.
"I was defending my friend." Prue said angrily.
"I think you need to calm down. We're all worried, but fighting with your family isn't going to help anything." Leo told her sternly. Prue sighed, and allowed her eyes to shine with the fear she was feeling. "Hey, everything's going to be okay sweetie." Leo said more gently, reading the fear in her eyes. "Now," He said, leading her over to the couch. "Why don't you sit down for a while and try to relax. They'll be home soon and we'll know more then." He said, the last sentence aimed to the group at large.
Finally, Wyatt and Paige orbed in, both had grim looks on their faces.
"Send everyone under 18 home." Paige said grimly, looking around the room and wondering where her twins were. Paige shot Henry a confused look and he rolled his eyes, insinuating that she didn't want to know.
"Uh oh." Prue said, heading upstairs since she knew that's where she would be sent anyways.
"Whoa, I'm not leaving." Henry Jr protested in annoyance.
"Yes you are. You're too young to be hearing this kind of stuff." Paige said, sending her stubborn son a glare and looking at Henry for back up.
"Pssst." Pearl called over to him and Henry Jr gave up the argument with his parents for the moment.
"What?" He grumbled with irritation. He really hated being treated like a little kid, especially since he knew he could take care of himself. This is his family too and he just wanted to help.
"You and I are going to teleport into Prue's room once you get home. That way we can listen to the meeting." Pearl relayed the message that Prue had given her before she went upstairs to Henry Jr. Henry Jr smirked conspiratorially and nodded.
All children under 18 and Henry, Coop, Derek and Victor left the manor. Victor and Derek left because they had work in the morning, and because they really couldn't help with magical catastrophes anyways. Henry and Coop left to watch the kids that were sent home.
Leo, DJ, Paige and Wyatt were gathered around the dinning room table, waiting for the arrival of the others. Wyatt was filling Leo in on what he had happened, and Paige was describing the attack.
Unnoticed by their family members Henry Jr, Prue and Pearl were all huddled around the corner, whispering in hushed tones.
"Thanks for sticking up for me." Prue whispered to Pearl.
"What are friends for?" Pearl returned rhetorically and Henry Jr gagged at what he deemed as a 'girl moment.'
A few minuets later Pamela hearted in and sat down next to Paige. Quickly Bianca, Chris, Phoebe and Piper orbed/shimmered in as well. They all quickly took seats at the table and waited tensely.
"Honey, what happened?" Phoebe asked gently, reaching out to grab Pamela's hand. Pamela jerked her hand back violently and shoved it under the table, not wanted to taint her mother with the blood on her hands. Phoebe pulled back with hurt written on her face and bit her lip, wondering for the millionth time just what happened in that cave.
"Well..." Pamela began, looking at Bianca apologetically. Pamela really didn't want to rat Bianca out but she had no other idea to explain where Bianca got the athame. Also, Chris was sending Bianca a look that she was pointedly ignoring that clearly said, 'you are so dead.' Bianca nodded in understanding and Pamela continued. "Earlier, when me and Bianca were upstairs she gave me something." Everyone around the table looked very interested and Pamela continued. "She gave me this athame." Pamela finished, reaching into her sheath and pulling it out. She held it out for everyone to see, but quickly put it away again.
"What?" Piper exclaimed in disbelief. "You are grounded!" She exclaimed furiously. Bianca bit her lip nervously.
"Um... I'm already grounded." She said quietly, trying to ignore the stares that she was receiving.
"Then your grounded for another week." Piper said shooting Bianca a death glare.
"Dude, Bianca is so dead!" Henry Jr whispered, but was quickly shushed.
"Wait." Pamela spoke up. "Don't, it saved your lives." She said, her voice breaking. Piper shot Bianca a look that clearly said 'this conversation isn't over' and turned back to Pamela. Bianca was relieved that the attention was away from her, but now she now had the uncomfortable feeling that Piper was going to kill her later. Figuratively, of course. She hoped.
"Go on." Piper said gently, her lips pressed into a thin line. Pamela nodded and continued.
"Well when we went to the underworld I took it with me. When the demon shot all those fireballs at once I dropped and rolled, but somehow ended up behind him." She said, shivering at the memory. "So after he... stopped all of you he turned towards me. Thought I was easy pickings or something." She said bitterly. "But then he threw a fireball at me and I dropped to the ground and grabbed the athame." Tears started running down Pamela's face as she remembered how terrified she was and as she realized, for the first time, how close to death she and her family was. "I stood up and I... I slit his throat." Pamela said, choking back a sob. "There was so much blood. It's human blood though. It's red." She said, showing her hands to the shocked group and hiding her face, not wanting to see the looks of hatred they would be aiming her way.
The small trio huddled outside the door exchanged glances and realized for the first time that maybe eavesdropping wasn't such a good idea. However, they had no choice but to continue listening now. They knew it wasn't human blood but they wanted to make sure that Pamela knew that too.
"Honey, you didn't kill anyone. You saved our lives. I'm so proud of you." Phoebe said, grabbing Pamela and pulling her into a hug.
"Bianca... is this what it feels like to kill?" Pamela asked and suddenly the table went quiet. Every pair of eyes stared at Bianca and, just as Chris was about to deem the question inappropriate, Bianca answered.
"No." She said, clearing her throat. "It feels much, much worse. To take a human life..." Bianca shivered at the memories, tears springing to her eyes. "Demon blood is nothing like human blood. The color may be, sometimes, but human blood is so much different. You feel much more connected to it. It's like you killed a part of yourself." Bianca said, muttering towards the end. Chris grasped her hand supportively, but Bianca stood up and walked over to Pamela. Phoebe pulled away from Pamela and allowed Bianca to grasp Pamela's hands. She struggled at first, not wanting Bianca to touch the blood but Bianca held on tightly.
"I feel like a murderer." Pamela whispered to Bianca and the rest of the Halliwells, and DJ, were silent.
"Your not." Bianca said reassuringly, looking in Pamela's eyes. "You couldn't be." Bianca said more firmly, comforting Pamela as much as she could.
"Why couldn't I?" Pamela asked, trying not to break down.
"Because I am." Bianca said, ignoring the gasps around the table and Chris's hurried protests. "Pamela, I've killed people. It felt..." Bianca felt tears roll down her face and bit her lip. "It was undescribable. I asked my mother once what it felt like to kill. And I'll never forget what she told me."
"What'd she say?" Pamela whispered, drawn into the story and ignoring everyone around her.
"She said, 'don't worry Bianca. It doesn't hurt. You don't feel a thing.' And she was right." Bianca continued, trying to not imagine how much everyone at this table must be hating her right now. "She didn't feel anything when she killed and that's what made her a murderer." Bianca finished, not totally sure if she was helping or making the situation worse.
"Did you feel something when you killed?" Pamela asked, needing to know. Bianca sighed.
"Yes. I didn't tell anyone though. I knew that they would think I was weak and I had no where else to go. But then I met Chris," Bianca said, smiling through her tears. "And then I had somewhere to go so then I could admit how much it hurt me to hurt other people. You couldn't be a murderer Pamela. Your not a killer." Bianca finished forcefully, trying to stop crying.
"When your good, it's okay to cry." Pamela told her, feeling a connection to Bianca that she had never felt before. Bianca laughed and bit her lip, letting the tears flow more freely as she pulled Pamela into a hug, stroking her hair.
"She's right Pamela." Chris said, feeling so proud of Bianca for being able to share something like that. He got up and joined them, rubbing Pamela's back comfortingly and squeezing Bianca's hand. "I used to know someone, sort of, who would kill people. He was cold when he killed them and he felt no remorse. You're nothing like that." Chris said fiercely, sending an apologetic look at Wyatt. Wyatt's eyes watered and he looked away, still guilty for what his other self did- even though it technically never happened.
"B-b-but my h-hands." Pamela stuttered, raising her shaking hands for everyone to see. "The blood is human. It's human." She muttered disparagingly.
"No, it's not." Phoebe said gently, grasping Pamela's wrists. "Honey, in my past life I was a bad witch. I hurt people. I know for sure that this blood isn't human." Phoebe reassured gently, sending Bianca a look of understanding and smiling at the relieved look that washed over her face at the realization that no one was going to hold her past against her.
"Really?" Pamela asked, raising her head.
"Really." Phoebe answered, smiling. Pamela sighed in immense relief and cried.
Billie sat on her bed, staring almost zombie like at the picture in her hand. Christina was a beautiful child; absolutely gorgeous. She had red hair, just like her Aunt Chrisy used to.
"Oh, Christy." Billie mourned, not only for her lost child but also for her lost sister. "I'm so sorry." She tried to say, her words breaking. Billie couldn't get the image of her child lying, broken on the floor. Words couldn't possibly express how she was feeling at that moment in time. It was worse then when she killed her sister, because now she felt as though she had also killed her daughter.
"I'm sorry." Billie agonized, breaking down completely.
"Mommy?" A small voice called from the foot of Billies bed. Cold dread and fear seeped through Billie's body and she moaned in utter despair.
"Please sweetie." Billie said, trying her hardest to control her erratic breathing. "Mommy told you that you're supposed to move on now." Billie said, feeling as though she were killing her daughter all over again by forcing her to move on.
"But I'm not ready yet." Christina said sadly, stepping towards Billie. She looked completely transparent and she had ghostly tears running down her face. "I want to stay with you. Don't you want me to stay? Don't you love me mommy?" Christiana's small voice shook with a sob.
Billie went into complete hysterics and began to sob loudly, shouting how sorry she was and how much she loves Christina.
An evil smirk passed over Christiana's face while Billie's face was buried in her hands. "I want to stay mommy." She said sadly, watching Billie with a cruel smile. "Why didn't you save me? I trusted you and you let me die. You killed me!"
"No.. no, no, no!" Billie wailed, clapping her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the arduous words.
"Yes!" Christina screamed, stomping her foot to gain Billie's attention. Christina screamed as loudly as she could; "You killed me because you couldn't stand to look at me! Wasn't three family members enough? You killed your mom, dad and your sister! I never even got to meet them. Why did you have to kill me to?"
"I didn't mean to!" Billie screamed again, looking up to face the hateful glare her daughter was sending her.
"Yes you did. You killed me because I look too much like Aunt Christy!" Christina screamed at Billie, causing Billie to drop her head in sorrow. "Look at me! Look at the face of your daughter- at the person you murdered." Christina screamed. Billie heaved a long, shuddering sigh, looked up and saw no one.
