Since I'm not sure if I'll be able to come on tomorrow, I've decided to go ahead and post Chapter 20 now instead of tomorrow. :) Enjoy!
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June 17th 2024
"Are you okay?" Prue helped her aunt up.
"Yes, you go help them!" she struggled up to a sitting position. A premonition courtesy of Helena had led to the impromptu demon hunt. Hours away from Emily and Charlotte's "Double Sweet Sixteen" birthday party, it made for rushed properly dressed Prue, Helena, and Paige to hand over shopping duties to the twins' friends, and Diana and Cecilia who insisted on coming along.
"Hey I could use a hand here!" Helena called as she struggled with the demon. Prue took off of the ground, circling to kick him in the face, making him tumble to the ground and release Helena.
"Now!" Prue called, still airborne. Helena scrambled to grab a fallen athame and threw it. The demon received it with a scream before exploding in a veil of fire. "Good job Len!" Prue landed. Helena grinned. "Now let's go catch up with the othres," she went to help her cousin up.
At that time, elsewhere in San Francisco
"Where should we go first? Get the cake or the balloons?" Mia asked Celia and their friends' young cousins.
"Cake!" Diana announced.
"Balloons!" Cecilia spoke at the same time. Celia laughed.
"Why don't we split up? Diana and I will get the cake, and you two get the balloons." Agreement reached, the four split up and went off to attend to their tasks.
"My art teacher says she's going to put two of my drawings in the presentation. The others only get one," Diana told Mia as they walked.
"Way to go, Di!" Mia smiled. "You should be very proud of yourself."
"I guess," Diana shrugged.
"Something wrong?" Mia stopped walking and Diana did the same.
"No, no, that's not it, it's just… well…" Mia crouched down before her.
"I won't tell anyone. You can tell me. It'll be our little secret." Diana smiled that smile that reminded them all so of her aunt Piper.
"Well, what if the other kids get mad at me? For having two things up there."
"Di, I've seen your work. You deserve every bit of praise you may get." Now the eleven-year-old blushed. "Come on, we better get going if we don't want to be late." Diana nodded and the two walked off down the street.
But then, as suddenly as sudden could be, Mia began to tremble quite forcefully. "M-Mia?" Diana's voice shook as she looked up to the sixteen-year-old. "What's wrong?" Mia's trembling fit drew her to the ground. Diana watched in horror as her cousins' friend's body shimmered briefly as she let out a painful scream before the glow flew off toward the sky and Mia fell back limply. "Mia?" Diana kneeled before her, looking at her. Her eyes stared into nothingness, frozen in horror. Diana drew a frightened breath, pulling away shortly before her head started darting around, looking for someone, anyone. "HELP! SOMEBODY! HELP!" she cried, hot tears straining her freckled face.
Back with Paige, Prue, and Helena
"Think we should start heading home. Wouldn't want to be late. Charlotte would be likely to blow a fuse," Helena grinned.
"I don't know, she seems to be maturing toward a better attitude these days," Prue followed.
"Well then let's not keep them waiting," Paige worked at dusting herself off. Just then something caught her attention from out of the corner of her eye. "Prue, Helena…" The girls turned to look toward where the witch was staring. On the very point where the demon's remains laid, a shining ball of light rocketed down from the sky before hitting the remains. They in turn began to glow, began to rise up.
"Oh this can't be good, this can't be good…" Helena whispered as the three women closed ranks, at the ready for what was coming. What came, much to their surprise, was the demon they had just vanquished, back amongst the living.
"So that old nut job wasn't lying…" he spoke ominously with a large smirk, making the witches get a sense they hated to get – the sense they would lose their battle here.
One hour later – San Francisco Memorial
"Do we have any ID on them?" the doctor asked the nurse as he looked to the three women being wheeled by them.
"Paramedic said one of them was conscious when they arrived at the scene and informed him to call Dr. Nicolae. She's on her way."
"I'm here," Ava came in a half job. "What's going on?"
"You know these women?" he directed her to look after them.
"Yes," she gasped, starting after them as the others followed. "Paige Matthews, 46. Her niece, Prue Halliwell, 21. Her daughter, Helena Matthews, 18. What happened?" She knew deep down what kind of person would have done it, but she still needed to know what they knew.
"They were found by a cook, going back in the alley to dump trash. Place was a mess and they were there. Youngest one, they haven't been able to wake her yet, the other two are slipping in and out of consciousness. One of them requested you by name. They're your patients now." Ava nodded.
"Tell Beth to call Halliwell Manor, she'll know what I mean," she ran off to catch up with the gurneys as the other two went off to care for the others needing attention. The nurse went to see Beth the receptionist as the doctor went to check on the young redhead who'd been brought in shortly before.
Shortly after, the emergency room was invaded by the Halliwell family. Glen, carrying Cecilia, led the pack, which included Henry, the twins, Simon, Leo with Molly, Olivia, and Persia, and the three past and present whitelighters of the brood. Jason had volunteered to stay behind with the party guests.
"Excuse me…" Glen had begun to address the woman at the front desk before…
"Glen, over here," Ava called to him. The group went to sit in the waiting room, save for Leo and Glen. They went up to the woman.
"Where are they? Are… are they alright?" Glen asked, and Ava could see the fear in his eyes.
"They should be. Paige and Prue will be kept overnight one night at least. They're both beaten up, bruises and all, but with some rest… I am having some concerns about Paige's legs, they seem to have taken the bulk of it. I'd say she might need a cane for some time, maybe a few months, maybe for years, hard to say for now. She's still sleeping, like Prue."
"And Helena?" Glen asked, shivering almost at the look on Ava's face at that point.
"We've done all we can for now, the rest will be up to her I suppose. It took a moment for me to realize why she wasn't waking up. She'd slipped into a coma, even before we got to her. All I can say is…" and she whispered at this point, "… I hope they vanquished whoever did this." It took a moment for the men to take this news in.
"Can we see them?" Leo asked.
"Not yet, I'm sorry. But as soon as you can I'll let you know." Glen rubbed at his eyes.
"We all came in such a hurry… we haven't heard from Mia or Diana, I should call home…"
"Haven't heard from them?" Ava asked. "How so?" The tone in his voice indicated worry.
"They were shopping for Emily and Charlotte's party. The others got home almost an hour ago. I just… I keep getting this feeling that something's happened."
Something flashed across Ava's face like sudden recognition. "This Mia girl, five foot eight, long brown hair and brown eyes?" Glen and Leo thought for a moment.
"I think so… Why?" Glen asked as Ava took off running down the hall. "Ava!" glen called after her, suddenly feeling his heart spinning. "Wait here," he told Leo, running after her. He followed her, slowed by the need to dodge past others. She ran into a room and as he followed he nearly bumped into her as she'd stopped next to her, staring along.
On the very first bed before them, a short girl sat, legs dangling motionless as she faced them. Her hands were grasped together in her lap. Her head was down , letting a wave of blondish red curls fall over her face. Still Glen looked at her and he knew it was his little girl.
"Diana?" he called gently, walking to her and crouching down to be at her eye level. She lifted her head very slowly, staring down into her father's eyes. Just looking back at her he knew she had been truly scared. "It's okay. I'm here now…" he whispered, taking her in his arms. He hugged her tight but he could feel she wasn't even trying to hold on with any force, she just wasn't able of it.
"I saw the girl, Mia, when they came in but I didn't see Diana. I only heard there had been the child with her. Glen… the girl was dead when they got here and I… I felt something. Something happened, she wasn't supposed to die."
"And Diana?" he asked, picking his daughter up as he stood again.
"She called for help, but after that… She's fine physically… But she hasn't said a word since, she's lost in there somewhere. She's in shock, no doubt. How long it'll last is anyone's guess." Glen looked to his little Di as she laid her head on his shoulder.
"Can I take her home?"
"Of course," she nodded, then with a sigh, "Now I have to call Mia's parents. I hate this part."
"Jason's at the manor, he'll know the number."
"Thanks," she rubbed at her temples. "Listen, I'll let you know when you guys can see Paige and the girls."
"Alright. Thank you Ava." The doctor left and Glen stood alone in the room, holding his tremblingly silent daughter close, pondering about the situation. Paige left with a possibly lifelong handicap Helena in a coma Em and Charlie's friend dead on their birthday, Diana witnessing it all, alone… The next little while would not be easy, he knew it, and he'd be there to help them all through it.
June 18th 2024, early morning – San Francisco Memorial
The day, and the night that followed, was one that they would never have wanted. Though for all they'd been through over the years it was a miracle they hadn't been to the hospital more often, all of it still brought on so many bad memories, nightmares. Emily and Charlotte were left heart broken at the news of their friend's death, their birthday leaving their minds completely.
Prue had woken up around five the previous afternoon. Though her injuries had been so minor compared to everyone else's, she had been left so tired, truly exhausted, spent, that she would fall asleep in such ways that they thought she was fainting. For that reason, they kept her "three girls" occupied elsewhere. Piper had not left her side, sleeping in the chair next to her bed, tending to her when she was awake.
Paige had slept through day and night, awaking only around seven the next morning. Now rested and with only the pain in her legs to really remind her of the events that had landed her here, she was told of the whole situation. She asked for Diana to be brought to her, then Cecilia. Knowing her time would need to be split, to deal with the present situation, she made the necessary decision and placed her daughter and niece's whitelighters in charge of watching over them while they weren't there. It wasn't what she wanted, but she knew there simply was no other way. Before she could leave though, she needed to see her daughter.
Glen lifted her off the bed, placing her in a wheelchair, and took her to Helena's room. When they arrived, they were somewhat surprised to find Peter there. He told them they were taking turns staying with her and it had been his. He left them quickly.
Paige's eyes welled up at the sight of her little Froggy, so still, peaceful in her pain. "My baby girl…" she whispered, taking her hand. "I'm sorry I let this happen to you…" There was so much about her that reminded Paige of Eric. He'd been gone for eighteen years but she could still draw his face with her eyes closed. He would forever be a part of her.
An hour later, Paige finally agreed to go back home. Prue would remain here a little while longer. There didn't seem to be anything physically wrong about her but somehow she was still having problems staying awake. So she was placed in the room next to Helena's and left in the care of the whitelighters as well.
When they arrived home, Paige asked to be left alone with Diana in her room. She orbed them both up there instead of Glen having to carry them both. "You're safe now. You're home…" Diana placed herself snuggly in her mother's arms, letting herself be held. Paige could sense her fear and that made her frightened as well but also furious at whoever had caused it. Whatever it was had shocked her silent. She hadn't said a word since her cry for help the day before. "I'm going to need you to tell me what happened, you know that?" Her grip on her mother's shirt only got stronger there. "Okay, okay."
"I've got an idea what we could do," Paige thought suddenly, "You like looking at the Book of Shadows." As she spoke the words, the object orbed into her lap. "You want to look at the Book?" The grip loosened and Paige smiled lightly. She began to page through the Book slowly, letting Diana check out the images as much as she wanted to. It was maybe twenty minutes into their paging that suddenly Diana whimpered and dug her head into her mother's shoulder. "Alright, alright, it's okay honey." Paige looked at the page that had caused her to hide.
"Life-holders… Human beings cursed to lose their lives if the demon they are tied to dies, thereby reviving him. Innocents…" Paige looked at the images. A demon engulfed in flames, a woman in agony as she shimmered, the demon revived through the glow. She looked down to her daughter and she understood at last. Mia had been a life-holder to the demon they'd fought… the demon who put her precious daughter in a coma.
"There'll be things I'll have to do," she brushed Diana's hair out of her face, "But if you want to keep holding my hand then you just do it, okay?" She kissed her forehead and orbed the two of them and the Book downstairs.
San Francisco Memorial – Prue's room
Piper sat at her daughter's bedside, watching as she slept. In all the years she'd spent since her death, the ones spent before the actual event, the ones after, she had plenty of time to ponder over what she'd left behind.
First, there was Leo. With the years she'd lived and relived, she had known him for sixty-eight years… and she'd loved him just as long. It was very nearly torture being around him all these years and act as though it didn't kill her every time a little more not to be able to hold him near. Then there were her daughters. Prue had been only seven when she died, barely older than she'd been when her own mother had. She had thought about the possibility of her ending up living most of her life without her mother more than she would have liked. And even though she was able to make ties once more with her, some damage had happened. She'd seen how much Prue hurt about this and she wished she could have been able to comfort her. But one of the things that had been the hardest to deal with was Persia.
The 45 years before she was able at last to bring her back into this world were not easy to say the least. The sense of failure she felt toward Prue was nothing compared with the one toward Persia. Their battles with evil had cost Prue her mother but it had cost Persia her life. Her first charge, Sarah, though she'd turned evil in the end, had been a child when 'Cara' had been assigned to her. And in a sense they'd become almost like mother and daughter despite the fact that Sarah was aging and she wasn't. And when she'd become pregnant, giving birth to a twin boy and girl, Piper had become their grandmother. Tyler and Hannah's father had never been part of the picture, but he'd been a witch too. She still kept in contact with the twins, who were now in their late twenties. When Sarah had turned, she'd taken them away from her and resettled them safely. As they were still young, they were impressionable. She knew Sarah wouldn't kill them, but she could try to sway them to her side. The old Sarah wouldn't have wanted that.
A knock at the door sprung her from her thoughts and position half-lying down holding her daughter's hand. However close whitelighters were with charges and sort-of-charges, this would have been too revealing of her true connection to Prue.
"Cara, I need to talk to you…"
"Leo? What's wrong?" she spoke, attempting once again to keep cool. 'Still as cute as the day I met him… darn it.' "Is it Helena?"
"No, she's still sleeping. There's something to take care of though, and I need your help."
"W-why me? I don't have powers, I can't… do anything. I'm human."
"Yeah… exactly."
Three days later, June 21st 2024 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
"Which one is it?" C/Piper scanned the crowd.
"Over there," Leo nodded his head slowly. Her face crumpled. The boy was only perhaps six years old.
"I really hate this creep. Alright, let's do this." C/Piper moved forward.
"Good luck." She approached the boy and his mother, thanking the elders for assigning her to Esperanza thirty years ago.
"Señora… por favor… ¿Qué hora es?"
"Son las once y media," she replied in a kind voice.
"Gracias," she nodded before turning to the boy. "Hola."
"Hola," he spoke back with a smile. The boy was not shy. Piper laughed lightly, reaching out to ruffle his hair. During contact, she whispered the phrase they had encoded for her to say thanks to a spell cast by Caelin.
"I take your burden." She felt the chill again, meaning it had worked. "Adiós." Piper waved to the two and returned to Leo.
"We can take a break before taking care of it. You still look kind of spent from the last one," he put a hand on her arm. She shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. I want to stop this from happening to anyone ever again," she looked to the little boy hopping around his mother.
"Alright, come on," he took her hand and they orbed to her apartment again. "You ready?"
"Yeah," she nodded in the trademark way of someone who was about to endure something very hard and not for the first time. Leo pulled out a small bag, taking a handful of powder and throwing it at her. He hurried to put the bag down, get ready.
At this point she knew the sequence of events by heart. First she felt her body jerk, then came the crawling feeling through her head, then the pain so intense that she'd screamed her head off the first time. And then all that she'd removed from the boy in Argentina, the curse itself, came dribbling out of her ear, pooling on the floor and taking a form that was almost gelatin.
"Hurry!" C/Piper breathed, attempting to pull herself together. Leo rushed with a jar at the ready, going to the ground to attempt to gather it. But the substance squirmed away like it had all those times before, before he could catch it, fading and then disappearing altogether. "Damn it!" she kicked a nearby end table.
"I'm sorry. I should have dove faster," Leo stood.
"Yeah, you should have…" she muttered, partly regretting it, but it had been said now, so…
"Hey I'm doing the best I can here!"
"I know you are, but that's not enough! This thing is taking the lives of innocents and attacking others in ways… Look what he did to ou… t-to Prue…" Her heart was beating so fast. She'd almost let the cat out of the bag. Leo however seemed to have caught on to something. Whatever it was though, Leo apparently decided not to say anything.
"Come on, we'll track another."
Two days later, June 23rd 2024 – San Francisco Memorial
"Hey Molly! Oh how I've missed you!" Prue picked up the eager little witch. She'd just been released at last as she seemed to have recovered completely. She was greeted by L/Phoebe, who went to get the three young girls by Prue's request.
"They've missed you too, you couldn't imagine."
"Did you make trouble?" Prue asked Persia with a slight smirk. Persia, ever the truthful one, shook her head confidently. "Well, we'll talk about it later. How's everyone? What's going on?" As her state was hard to evaluate, she hadn't been apprised much of the situation.
"Paige has been up and about, taking care of Diana's problem as best she can…"
"What problem?"
"Mia's dead. Diana saw it happen, she hasn't said a word since."
"What?" Prue gasped, "What happened?"
"The demon you were fighting, he had himself a life-holder, a human… cursed to have their life taken to revive a killed demon, in this case Mia for your demon."
"That's horrible, did you all stop it?"
"Your father and… Cara… have been trying to, for five days. So far they haven't had any luck."
"I see… What about Helena? How's she doing?" L/Phoebe blinked for barely half a second, but Prue caught it.
"She's been in a coma for six days now… I was just with her now. If you want, I'll watch the girls and you can go see her." Prue nodded shakily. Helena was perhaps the cousin she was the closest to the next oldest girl.
Prue walked out into the hall, despite the cried it caused her girls making her want to remain where she was. Almost right away she spotted her uncle Glen. He walked over to her with a smile.
"Look who's up," he hugged her.
"Hey," she laughed.
"How are you?"
"Much better," she nodded, "I was on my way to visit Helena. Any change?" He shook his head.
"Your aunt's been coming as often as she can, but with Diana… So the three of us have been taking shifts with her. In fact it's my turn, after Lauren's ended just now…" He looked up as he heard a door open, almost thinking it could be Helena, awake at last. Instead it was Peter, ducking out discreetly. Glen and Prue watched him go unnoticed. "There he goes again…"
"Yeah…" Prue kept her eyes away. She knew why he'd been there, one of the very few who did.
Two days later, June 25th 2024 – Athens, Greece
"Cara, take a break. We've done three already today. You're not immortal anymore, you can't keep going like this…" Leo helped her along.
"I'm feeling good about this one, Leo. We'll get it this time. Come on, point me in the right direction." Leo did so, knowing somehow he wouldn't get her to change her mind. She went forward toward the old woman. Leo wasn't sure if her faltering was part of her plan or if she'd fallen for real, but he couldn't risk moving yet. But then before long Cara was back on her feet and waving goodbye to the woman. Leo rushed over and helped her to an alley. "I-I got it, let's go," she told him as she smiled. "She said I looked like her granddaughter."
They orbed back to the apartment, going over the 'routine'. Soon there was the puddle again. This time, at the last minute, he had an idea and crouched at the ready as she was struggling. She'd take a fall as she did on the last ones, but if it meant catching this thing, she wouldn't mind it. When the puddle scooped into the jar he screwed the top on out of reflex. His mind was too shocked and relieved to believe they finally had it. He looked to Cara and she had indeed fallen. She was trying to pick herself up.
"I'll take care of it, you stay…"
"No! I want to come," she stood, grabbing the envelope Leo was about to pick up before he could. "Come on, Leo. I have to do this." He hesitated for a while, then finally placed a hand on her shoulder and orbed to the location Caelin had scried for them. What they saw wasn't what they expected.
They were in a cave from what they could tell. Before them was a massively large and deep-looking pit filled with something that looked a lot like what they had in the jar. C/Piper looked to Leo, who still held the jar. He went to take it out of his pocket.
Just then two big demons came in. The rest happened very quickly. Leo tried to keep them away from C/Piper, though at the same time he had to find a way to get her the jar. Caught in his momentary wonderings, he left himself open to a concussive blast from one of the demons, sending him flying toward the pit.
"LEO!" C/Piper shouted before she was tackled to the ground by one of the demons. She struggled to release herself, her fighting skills though semi-remembered wouldn't help her much in her exhaustion. Swiping at his face she managed to scratch bloody gashes there. He screamed and pulled back enough to let her kick him away. She started crawling away on her hands and knees. She didn't even notice someone had stopped the two from following her as she collapsed unable to get any further.
"Give me the envelope!"
"Leo?" she spoke weakly, tilting her head. There he stood panting. She held her hand open and he ran to grab it. He knelt down and hurried to take the jar, open it, empty in it the envelope's contents, close it, shake the whole thing, then re-open and dump the mix in the pit. He picked up C/Piper and carried her over to the wall, away from the blast which ensued. When it stopped, Leo could see the pit was empty.
"D-did it work?" C/Piper asked.
"Yeah, they're gone… Piper?" She stopped short, hesitating to look up. Finally she did and she couldn't stop herself from crying.
"How did you…" He cried too now.
"I'd always know you… I promised you that the day we married." She managed to smile through the pain, exhaustion, emotions.
"Leo…" He hugged her.
"Let's get out of here." And they orbed out, no doubt having a long conversation ahead of them.
The next day, June 26th 2024 – San Francisco Memorial
Paige decided to take Diana to see Helena. She didn't know why but she felt compelled to do so. Cecilia was having a blast with her grandparents and Paige couldn't help thinking of the time after Piper and Phoebe had died when Helena had been sent to the Norwood home. Diana still wasn't talking and Helena was still sleeping. Paige herself was adjusting to walking with a cane.
As they were coming down the hall toward the room, Diana suddenly pulled her hand free from Paige's and started running. "Diana!" she called after her, trying to follow as fast as she could. When she got to the room she saw she'd entered, Paige nearly dropped her cane. Diana stood at the bed holding Helena's hand. At once as she turned to face her mother, Paige saw Helena's eyes were open, her head was moving slowly. And then…
"She's awake…" Diana announced calmly. Tears came to the ex-Charmed One's face faster than you could say Halliwell. Her middle daughter had said all the words needed, leaving the mother able to simply walk to them and hug them both one after the other. "I'll go tell the others."
"You do that," Paige laughed through her tears, so happy to hear her daughter's voice again. "My little Froggy…" she kissed her hand.
"Mom…" she spoke groggily.
"It's alright, take it easy…" she smoothed her hair out of her face with her free hand.
In the hall, Diana readily announced to those present, her father and the whitelighters… "Helena's awake."
"Sweetheart…" Glen picked her up, holding her close as she returned the hug. Over her shoulder he could see Peter standing there. After holding on to his little Honey-Dee for a while longer he let her join Paige and said he'd be right there.
After a short search he found Peter at the vending machines. "Hi," he spoke, his attention still on the chocolate and chips.
"I need to ask you some questions…" He didn't seem surprised, or like he'd try to fight it.
"Ask away," he put in the money.
"The past… week or so… you've been in Helena's room a lot. More than just your shifts."
"Yes…" he punched in his selection.
"It's probably my being a little shaken by all that's happened…"
"But…"
"You just seemed to be acting kind of…"
"Fatherly?" he finished for him, reaching for his chocolate before turning to look at him. Neither spoke for a moment, understanding dawning.
"You're…"
"Helena's father," E/Peter nodded slowly. "Don't tell anyone you know. I'll explain the questions you undoubtedly have… But not now. She needs her father right now. It can't be me, so I guess that means you." He handed him the chocolate with a nod and walked away.
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June 17th 2024
"Are you okay?" Prue helped her aunt up.
"Yes, you go help them!" she struggled up to a sitting position. A premonition courtesy of Helena had led to the impromptu demon hunt. Hours away from Emily and Charlotte's "Double Sweet Sixteen" birthday party, it made for rushed properly dressed Prue, Helena, and Paige to hand over shopping duties to the twins' friends, and Diana and Cecilia who insisted on coming along.
"Hey I could use a hand here!" Helena called as she struggled with the demon. Prue took off of the ground, circling to kick him in the face, making him tumble to the ground and release Helena.
"Now!" Prue called, still airborne. Helena scrambled to grab a fallen athame and threw it. The demon received it with a scream before exploding in a veil of fire. "Good job Len!" Prue landed. Helena grinned. "Now let's go catch up with the othres," she went to help her cousin up.
At that time, elsewhere in San Francisco
"Where should we go first? Get the cake or the balloons?" Mia asked Celia and their friends' young cousins.
"Cake!" Diana announced.
"Balloons!" Cecilia spoke at the same time. Celia laughed.
"Why don't we split up? Diana and I will get the cake, and you two get the balloons." Agreement reached, the four split up and went off to attend to their tasks.
"My art teacher says she's going to put two of my drawings in the presentation. The others only get one," Diana told Mia as they walked.
"Way to go, Di!" Mia smiled. "You should be very proud of yourself."
"I guess," Diana shrugged.
"Something wrong?" Mia stopped walking and Diana did the same.
"No, no, that's not it, it's just… well…" Mia crouched down before her.
"I won't tell anyone. You can tell me. It'll be our little secret." Diana smiled that smile that reminded them all so of her aunt Piper.
"Well, what if the other kids get mad at me? For having two things up there."
"Di, I've seen your work. You deserve every bit of praise you may get." Now the eleven-year-old blushed. "Come on, we better get going if we don't want to be late." Diana nodded and the two walked off down the street.
But then, as suddenly as sudden could be, Mia began to tremble quite forcefully. "M-Mia?" Diana's voice shook as she looked up to the sixteen-year-old. "What's wrong?" Mia's trembling fit drew her to the ground. Diana watched in horror as her cousins' friend's body shimmered briefly as she let out a painful scream before the glow flew off toward the sky and Mia fell back limply. "Mia?" Diana kneeled before her, looking at her. Her eyes stared into nothingness, frozen in horror. Diana drew a frightened breath, pulling away shortly before her head started darting around, looking for someone, anyone. "HELP! SOMEBODY! HELP!" she cried, hot tears straining her freckled face.
Back with Paige, Prue, and Helena
"Think we should start heading home. Wouldn't want to be late. Charlotte would be likely to blow a fuse," Helena grinned.
"I don't know, she seems to be maturing toward a better attitude these days," Prue followed.
"Well then let's not keep them waiting," Paige worked at dusting herself off. Just then something caught her attention from out of the corner of her eye. "Prue, Helena…" The girls turned to look toward where the witch was staring. On the very point where the demon's remains laid, a shining ball of light rocketed down from the sky before hitting the remains. They in turn began to glow, began to rise up.
"Oh this can't be good, this can't be good…" Helena whispered as the three women closed ranks, at the ready for what was coming. What came, much to their surprise, was the demon they had just vanquished, back amongst the living.
"So that old nut job wasn't lying…" he spoke ominously with a large smirk, making the witches get a sense they hated to get – the sense they would lose their battle here.
One hour later – San Francisco Memorial
"Do we have any ID on them?" the doctor asked the nurse as he looked to the three women being wheeled by them.
"Paramedic said one of them was conscious when they arrived at the scene and informed him to call Dr. Nicolae. She's on her way."
"I'm here," Ava came in a half job. "What's going on?"
"You know these women?" he directed her to look after them.
"Yes," she gasped, starting after them as the others followed. "Paige Matthews, 46. Her niece, Prue Halliwell, 21. Her daughter, Helena Matthews, 18. What happened?" She knew deep down what kind of person would have done it, but she still needed to know what they knew.
"They were found by a cook, going back in the alley to dump trash. Place was a mess and they were there. Youngest one, they haven't been able to wake her yet, the other two are slipping in and out of consciousness. One of them requested you by name. They're your patients now." Ava nodded.
"Tell Beth to call Halliwell Manor, she'll know what I mean," she ran off to catch up with the gurneys as the other two went off to care for the others needing attention. The nurse went to see Beth the receptionist as the doctor went to check on the young redhead who'd been brought in shortly before.
Shortly after, the emergency room was invaded by the Halliwell family. Glen, carrying Cecilia, led the pack, which included Henry, the twins, Simon, Leo with Molly, Olivia, and Persia, and the three past and present whitelighters of the brood. Jason had volunteered to stay behind with the party guests.
"Excuse me…" Glen had begun to address the woman at the front desk before…
"Glen, over here," Ava called to him. The group went to sit in the waiting room, save for Leo and Glen. They went up to the woman.
"Where are they? Are… are they alright?" Glen asked, and Ava could see the fear in his eyes.
"They should be. Paige and Prue will be kept overnight one night at least. They're both beaten up, bruises and all, but with some rest… I am having some concerns about Paige's legs, they seem to have taken the bulk of it. I'd say she might need a cane for some time, maybe a few months, maybe for years, hard to say for now. She's still sleeping, like Prue."
"And Helena?" Glen asked, shivering almost at the look on Ava's face at that point.
"We've done all we can for now, the rest will be up to her I suppose. It took a moment for me to realize why she wasn't waking up. She'd slipped into a coma, even before we got to her. All I can say is…" and she whispered at this point, "… I hope they vanquished whoever did this." It took a moment for the men to take this news in.
"Can we see them?" Leo asked.
"Not yet, I'm sorry. But as soon as you can I'll let you know." Glen rubbed at his eyes.
"We all came in such a hurry… we haven't heard from Mia or Diana, I should call home…"
"Haven't heard from them?" Ava asked. "How so?" The tone in his voice indicated worry.
"They were shopping for Emily and Charlotte's party. The others got home almost an hour ago. I just… I keep getting this feeling that something's happened."
Something flashed across Ava's face like sudden recognition. "This Mia girl, five foot eight, long brown hair and brown eyes?" Glen and Leo thought for a moment.
"I think so… Why?" Glen asked as Ava took off running down the hall. "Ava!" glen called after her, suddenly feeling his heart spinning. "Wait here," he told Leo, running after her. He followed her, slowed by the need to dodge past others. She ran into a room and as he followed he nearly bumped into her as she'd stopped next to her, staring along.
On the very first bed before them, a short girl sat, legs dangling motionless as she faced them. Her hands were grasped together in her lap. Her head was down , letting a wave of blondish red curls fall over her face. Still Glen looked at her and he knew it was his little girl.
"Diana?" he called gently, walking to her and crouching down to be at her eye level. She lifted her head very slowly, staring down into her father's eyes. Just looking back at her he knew she had been truly scared. "It's okay. I'm here now…" he whispered, taking her in his arms. He hugged her tight but he could feel she wasn't even trying to hold on with any force, she just wasn't able of it.
"I saw the girl, Mia, when they came in but I didn't see Diana. I only heard there had been the child with her. Glen… the girl was dead when they got here and I… I felt something. Something happened, she wasn't supposed to die."
"And Diana?" he asked, picking his daughter up as he stood again.
"She called for help, but after that… She's fine physically… But she hasn't said a word since, she's lost in there somewhere. She's in shock, no doubt. How long it'll last is anyone's guess." Glen looked to his little Di as she laid her head on his shoulder.
"Can I take her home?"
"Of course," she nodded, then with a sigh, "Now I have to call Mia's parents. I hate this part."
"Jason's at the manor, he'll know the number."
"Thanks," she rubbed at her temples. "Listen, I'll let you know when you guys can see Paige and the girls."
"Alright. Thank you Ava." The doctor left and Glen stood alone in the room, holding his tremblingly silent daughter close, pondering about the situation. Paige left with a possibly lifelong handicap Helena in a coma Em and Charlie's friend dead on their birthday, Diana witnessing it all, alone… The next little while would not be easy, he knew it, and he'd be there to help them all through it.
June 18th 2024, early morning – San Francisco Memorial
The day, and the night that followed, was one that they would never have wanted. Though for all they'd been through over the years it was a miracle they hadn't been to the hospital more often, all of it still brought on so many bad memories, nightmares. Emily and Charlotte were left heart broken at the news of their friend's death, their birthday leaving their minds completely.
Prue had woken up around five the previous afternoon. Though her injuries had been so minor compared to everyone else's, she had been left so tired, truly exhausted, spent, that she would fall asleep in such ways that they thought she was fainting. For that reason, they kept her "three girls" occupied elsewhere. Piper had not left her side, sleeping in the chair next to her bed, tending to her when she was awake.
Paige had slept through day and night, awaking only around seven the next morning. Now rested and with only the pain in her legs to really remind her of the events that had landed her here, she was told of the whole situation. She asked for Diana to be brought to her, then Cecilia. Knowing her time would need to be split, to deal with the present situation, she made the necessary decision and placed her daughter and niece's whitelighters in charge of watching over them while they weren't there. It wasn't what she wanted, but she knew there simply was no other way. Before she could leave though, she needed to see her daughter.
Glen lifted her off the bed, placing her in a wheelchair, and took her to Helena's room. When they arrived, they were somewhat surprised to find Peter there. He told them they were taking turns staying with her and it had been his. He left them quickly.
Paige's eyes welled up at the sight of her little Froggy, so still, peaceful in her pain. "My baby girl…" she whispered, taking her hand. "I'm sorry I let this happen to you…" There was so much about her that reminded Paige of Eric. He'd been gone for eighteen years but she could still draw his face with her eyes closed. He would forever be a part of her.
An hour later, Paige finally agreed to go back home. Prue would remain here a little while longer. There didn't seem to be anything physically wrong about her but somehow she was still having problems staying awake. So she was placed in the room next to Helena's and left in the care of the whitelighters as well.
When they arrived home, Paige asked to be left alone with Diana in her room. She orbed them both up there instead of Glen having to carry them both. "You're safe now. You're home…" Diana placed herself snuggly in her mother's arms, letting herself be held. Paige could sense her fear and that made her frightened as well but also furious at whoever had caused it. Whatever it was had shocked her silent. She hadn't said a word since her cry for help the day before. "I'm going to need you to tell me what happened, you know that?" Her grip on her mother's shirt only got stronger there. "Okay, okay."
"I've got an idea what we could do," Paige thought suddenly, "You like looking at the Book of Shadows." As she spoke the words, the object orbed into her lap. "You want to look at the Book?" The grip loosened and Paige smiled lightly. She began to page through the Book slowly, letting Diana check out the images as much as she wanted to. It was maybe twenty minutes into their paging that suddenly Diana whimpered and dug her head into her mother's shoulder. "Alright, alright, it's okay honey." Paige looked at the page that had caused her to hide.
"Life-holders… Human beings cursed to lose their lives if the demon they are tied to dies, thereby reviving him. Innocents…" Paige looked at the images. A demon engulfed in flames, a woman in agony as she shimmered, the demon revived through the glow. She looked down to her daughter and she understood at last. Mia had been a life-holder to the demon they'd fought… the demon who put her precious daughter in a coma.
"There'll be things I'll have to do," she brushed Diana's hair out of her face, "But if you want to keep holding my hand then you just do it, okay?" She kissed her forehead and orbed the two of them and the Book downstairs.
San Francisco Memorial – Prue's room
Piper sat at her daughter's bedside, watching as she slept. In all the years she'd spent since her death, the ones spent before the actual event, the ones after, she had plenty of time to ponder over what she'd left behind.
First, there was Leo. With the years she'd lived and relived, she had known him for sixty-eight years… and she'd loved him just as long. It was very nearly torture being around him all these years and act as though it didn't kill her every time a little more not to be able to hold him near. Then there were her daughters. Prue had been only seven when she died, barely older than she'd been when her own mother had. She had thought about the possibility of her ending up living most of her life without her mother more than she would have liked. And even though she was able to make ties once more with her, some damage had happened. She'd seen how much Prue hurt about this and she wished she could have been able to comfort her. But one of the things that had been the hardest to deal with was Persia.
The 45 years before she was able at last to bring her back into this world were not easy to say the least. The sense of failure she felt toward Prue was nothing compared with the one toward Persia. Their battles with evil had cost Prue her mother but it had cost Persia her life. Her first charge, Sarah, though she'd turned evil in the end, had been a child when 'Cara' had been assigned to her. And in a sense they'd become almost like mother and daughter despite the fact that Sarah was aging and she wasn't. And when she'd become pregnant, giving birth to a twin boy and girl, Piper had become their grandmother. Tyler and Hannah's father had never been part of the picture, but he'd been a witch too. She still kept in contact with the twins, who were now in their late twenties. When Sarah had turned, she'd taken them away from her and resettled them safely. As they were still young, they were impressionable. She knew Sarah wouldn't kill them, but she could try to sway them to her side. The old Sarah wouldn't have wanted that.
A knock at the door sprung her from her thoughts and position half-lying down holding her daughter's hand. However close whitelighters were with charges and sort-of-charges, this would have been too revealing of her true connection to Prue.
"Cara, I need to talk to you…"
"Leo? What's wrong?" she spoke, attempting once again to keep cool. 'Still as cute as the day I met him… darn it.' "Is it Helena?"
"No, she's still sleeping. There's something to take care of though, and I need your help."
"W-why me? I don't have powers, I can't… do anything. I'm human."
"Yeah… exactly."
Three days later, June 21st 2024 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
"Which one is it?" C/Piper scanned the crowd.
"Over there," Leo nodded his head slowly. Her face crumpled. The boy was only perhaps six years old.
"I really hate this creep. Alright, let's do this." C/Piper moved forward.
"Good luck." She approached the boy and his mother, thanking the elders for assigning her to Esperanza thirty years ago.
"Señora… por favor… ¿Qué hora es?"
"Son las once y media," she replied in a kind voice.
"Gracias," she nodded before turning to the boy. "Hola."
"Hola," he spoke back with a smile. The boy was not shy. Piper laughed lightly, reaching out to ruffle his hair. During contact, she whispered the phrase they had encoded for her to say thanks to a spell cast by Caelin.
"I take your burden." She felt the chill again, meaning it had worked. "Adiós." Piper waved to the two and returned to Leo.
"We can take a break before taking care of it. You still look kind of spent from the last one," he put a hand on her arm. She shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. I want to stop this from happening to anyone ever again," she looked to the little boy hopping around his mother.
"Alright, come on," he took her hand and they orbed to her apartment again. "You ready?"
"Yeah," she nodded in the trademark way of someone who was about to endure something very hard and not for the first time. Leo pulled out a small bag, taking a handful of powder and throwing it at her. He hurried to put the bag down, get ready.
At this point she knew the sequence of events by heart. First she felt her body jerk, then came the crawling feeling through her head, then the pain so intense that she'd screamed her head off the first time. And then all that she'd removed from the boy in Argentina, the curse itself, came dribbling out of her ear, pooling on the floor and taking a form that was almost gelatin.
"Hurry!" C/Piper breathed, attempting to pull herself together. Leo rushed with a jar at the ready, going to the ground to attempt to gather it. But the substance squirmed away like it had all those times before, before he could catch it, fading and then disappearing altogether. "Damn it!" she kicked a nearby end table.
"I'm sorry. I should have dove faster," Leo stood.
"Yeah, you should have…" she muttered, partly regretting it, but it had been said now, so…
"Hey I'm doing the best I can here!"
"I know you are, but that's not enough! This thing is taking the lives of innocents and attacking others in ways… Look what he did to ou… t-to Prue…" Her heart was beating so fast. She'd almost let the cat out of the bag. Leo however seemed to have caught on to something. Whatever it was though, Leo apparently decided not to say anything.
"Come on, we'll track another."
Two days later, June 23rd 2024 – San Francisco Memorial
"Hey Molly! Oh how I've missed you!" Prue picked up the eager little witch. She'd just been released at last as she seemed to have recovered completely. She was greeted by L/Phoebe, who went to get the three young girls by Prue's request.
"They've missed you too, you couldn't imagine."
"Did you make trouble?" Prue asked Persia with a slight smirk. Persia, ever the truthful one, shook her head confidently. "Well, we'll talk about it later. How's everyone? What's going on?" As her state was hard to evaluate, she hadn't been apprised much of the situation.
"Paige has been up and about, taking care of Diana's problem as best she can…"
"What problem?"
"Mia's dead. Diana saw it happen, she hasn't said a word since."
"What?" Prue gasped, "What happened?"
"The demon you were fighting, he had himself a life-holder, a human… cursed to have their life taken to revive a killed demon, in this case Mia for your demon."
"That's horrible, did you all stop it?"
"Your father and… Cara… have been trying to, for five days. So far they haven't had any luck."
"I see… What about Helena? How's she doing?" L/Phoebe blinked for barely half a second, but Prue caught it.
"She's been in a coma for six days now… I was just with her now. If you want, I'll watch the girls and you can go see her." Prue nodded shakily. Helena was perhaps the cousin she was the closest to the next oldest girl.
Prue walked out into the hall, despite the cried it caused her girls making her want to remain where she was. Almost right away she spotted her uncle Glen. He walked over to her with a smile.
"Look who's up," he hugged her.
"Hey," she laughed.
"How are you?"
"Much better," she nodded, "I was on my way to visit Helena. Any change?" He shook his head.
"Your aunt's been coming as often as she can, but with Diana… So the three of us have been taking shifts with her. In fact it's my turn, after Lauren's ended just now…" He looked up as he heard a door open, almost thinking it could be Helena, awake at last. Instead it was Peter, ducking out discreetly. Glen and Prue watched him go unnoticed. "There he goes again…"
"Yeah…" Prue kept her eyes away. She knew why he'd been there, one of the very few who did.
Two days later, June 25th 2024 – Athens, Greece
"Cara, take a break. We've done three already today. You're not immortal anymore, you can't keep going like this…" Leo helped her along.
"I'm feeling good about this one, Leo. We'll get it this time. Come on, point me in the right direction." Leo did so, knowing somehow he wouldn't get her to change her mind. She went forward toward the old woman. Leo wasn't sure if her faltering was part of her plan or if she'd fallen for real, but he couldn't risk moving yet. But then before long Cara was back on her feet and waving goodbye to the woman. Leo rushed over and helped her to an alley. "I-I got it, let's go," she told him as she smiled. "She said I looked like her granddaughter."
They orbed back to the apartment, going over the 'routine'. Soon there was the puddle again. This time, at the last minute, he had an idea and crouched at the ready as she was struggling. She'd take a fall as she did on the last ones, but if it meant catching this thing, she wouldn't mind it. When the puddle scooped into the jar he screwed the top on out of reflex. His mind was too shocked and relieved to believe they finally had it. He looked to Cara and she had indeed fallen. She was trying to pick herself up.
"I'll take care of it, you stay…"
"No! I want to come," she stood, grabbing the envelope Leo was about to pick up before he could. "Come on, Leo. I have to do this." He hesitated for a while, then finally placed a hand on her shoulder and orbed to the location Caelin had scried for them. What they saw wasn't what they expected.
They were in a cave from what they could tell. Before them was a massively large and deep-looking pit filled with something that looked a lot like what they had in the jar. C/Piper looked to Leo, who still held the jar. He went to take it out of his pocket.
Just then two big demons came in. The rest happened very quickly. Leo tried to keep them away from C/Piper, though at the same time he had to find a way to get her the jar. Caught in his momentary wonderings, he left himself open to a concussive blast from one of the demons, sending him flying toward the pit.
"LEO!" C/Piper shouted before she was tackled to the ground by one of the demons. She struggled to release herself, her fighting skills though semi-remembered wouldn't help her much in her exhaustion. Swiping at his face she managed to scratch bloody gashes there. He screamed and pulled back enough to let her kick him away. She started crawling away on her hands and knees. She didn't even notice someone had stopped the two from following her as she collapsed unable to get any further.
"Give me the envelope!"
"Leo?" she spoke weakly, tilting her head. There he stood panting. She held her hand open and he ran to grab it. He knelt down and hurried to take the jar, open it, empty in it the envelope's contents, close it, shake the whole thing, then re-open and dump the mix in the pit. He picked up C/Piper and carried her over to the wall, away from the blast which ensued. When it stopped, Leo could see the pit was empty.
"D-did it work?" C/Piper asked.
"Yeah, they're gone… Piper?" She stopped short, hesitating to look up. Finally she did and she couldn't stop herself from crying.
"How did you…" He cried too now.
"I'd always know you… I promised you that the day we married." She managed to smile through the pain, exhaustion, emotions.
"Leo…" He hugged her.
"Let's get out of here." And they orbed out, no doubt having a long conversation ahead of them.
The next day, June 26th 2024 – San Francisco Memorial
Paige decided to take Diana to see Helena. She didn't know why but she felt compelled to do so. Cecilia was having a blast with her grandparents and Paige couldn't help thinking of the time after Piper and Phoebe had died when Helena had been sent to the Norwood home. Diana still wasn't talking and Helena was still sleeping. Paige herself was adjusting to walking with a cane.
As they were coming down the hall toward the room, Diana suddenly pulled her hand free from Paige's and started running. "Diana!" she called after her, trying to follow as fast as she could. When she got to the room she saw she'd entered, Paige nearly dropped her cane. Diana stood at the bed holding Helena's hand. At once as she turned to face her mother, Paige saw Helena's eyes were open, her head was moving slowly. And then…
"She's awake…" Diana announced calmly. Tears came to the ex-Charmed One's face faster than you could say Halliwell. Her middle daughter had said all the words needed, leaving the mother able to simply walk to them and hug them both one after the other. "I'll go tell the others."
"You do that," Paige laughed through her tears, so happy to hear her daughter's voice again. "My little Froggy…" she kissed her hand.
"Mom…" she spoke groggily.
"It's alright, take it easy…" she smoothed her hair out of her face with her free hand.
In the hall, Diana readily announced to those present, her father and the whitelighters… "Helena's awake."
"Sweetheart…" Glen picked her up, holding her close as she returned the hug. Over her shoulder he could see Peter standing there. After holding on to his little Honey-Dee for a while longer he let her join Paige and said he'd be right there.
After a short search he found Peter at the vending machines. "Hi," he spoke, his attention still on the chocolate and chips.
"I need to ask you some questions…" He didn't seem surprised, or like he'd try to fight it.
"Ask away," he put in the money.
"The past… week or so… you've been in Helena's room a lot. More than just your shifts."
"Yes…" he punched in his selection.
"It's probably my being a little shaken by all that's happened…"
"But…"
"You just seemed to be acting kind of…"
"Fatherly?" he finished for him, reaching for his chocolate before turning to look at him. Neither spoke for a moment, understanding dawning.
"You're…"
"Helena's father," E/Peter nodded slowly. "Don't tell anyone you know. I'll explain the questions you undoubtedly have… But not now. She needs her father right now. It can't be me, so I guess that means you." He handed him the chocolate with a nod and walked away.