A/N: Hehe. Do you guys hate me? Lol.

RandyOrtonxWifexx: They almost always do.. So we'll see :)

CharmedOpal: Cryptic is my specialty!

Lizardmomma: I definitely agree. None of them stopped to think.

GirlOnFire33: Maybe I do, maybe I don't... You'll just have to keep reading ;)

Okay, guys, real quick: So obviously, this fic doesn't follow the show too closely. Certain characters don't exist, and some do. Some are alive when they should have died. And some who know about the Charmed Ones and their magic in the show, DON'T know about it in the fic. Keep that in mind as you read!

So, enjoy!

...

"What are we going to do? Corrine?! What are we going to do?" Katelyn cried.

"I don't know!" Corrine snapped, turning to glare at her cousin, arms crossed.

Prue had taken Piper, Phoebe, and Paige's souls with her Up There, leaving the Cousins alone to try and sort out what had happened.

"But we... we can't..." Katelyn chocked on her works, tears welling in her eyes.

"We need a plan," Melinda said, turning to look at Corrine. "We're alone in this now... Prue said we wouldn't be allowed to see our mothers for a while. We're untrained, unprepared, and we're going to have demons on our tail any day now."

"Why are you asking me?" Corrine snapped. "I don't have all the answers!"

"This was your idea," Katelyn argued. "What, no back-up plans?"

Corrine glared at her cousins. "It was my idea, but you all agreed with it! Don't put all this blame on me! I didn't know what was going to happen!"

"Guys," Rebecca finally interjected.

"What?" They all chorused back at her, turning to her with narrowed eyes and crossed arms.

Rebecca squirmed uncomfortably. Inside, she was screaming. How could Paige be dead? How had this all happened? Magic was to blame, that was for sure.

"Well?" Corrine snapped, quirking a brow at Rebecca.

"Forget about demons," Rebecca finally said, refusing to let Corrine scare her into being quiet. "What about our lives? Our real world lives, not our magical one."

"How can we think about that when our mother's were just killed and we're now wearing signs on our backs that say 'I'm an untrained Charmed One... Come kill me and steal my powers!'?" Corrine cried.

Rebecca pursed her lips. "We're also four teenage girls with NO legal guardians," she pointed out. "Oh, and we have three dead bodies upstairs and no explanations as to how they died."

Silence.

Corrine's eyes widened in horror as the situation truly sunk in. Rebecca was right. They were screwed.

"Well, I'm eighteen," Corrine pointed out. "Technically, I can be our guardian... Can't I?" The looks she received were skeptical.

"What about Leo?" Melinda pointed out. "I mean... first of all, duh, he's my dad."

"But he's technically dead," Rebecca pointed out. "I don't think he has the proper paperwork to legally become our guardian."

"Uncle Andy!" Melinda said suddenly. When everyone stared at her, she looked to Corrine. "What? He's alive and in the system..."

Corrine scowled at Melinda. "He also hasn't spoken to us or come to visit since mom's death. I doubt he'll suddenly start helping us now. I don't even know if he's still in San Francisco," she pointed out.

"We need Leo," Katelyn said, to change the subject. "He'll know how to help."

"Dad!" Melinda called, wondering, even as she called for him, why he hadn't come to them before now. He had orbed out soon after Prue had shown up and informed them that what had happened couldn't be reversed.

"Why isn't he coming?" Rebecca asked, eyes wide.

"Leo!" Corrine called, loudly. "Uncle Leo, please!"

Orbs filled the room, but it wasn't Leo who appeared – it was an Elder.

"Where's my dad?" Melinda demanded.

"I'm afraid Leo has been re-assigned," the Elder said calmly. "He was the Charmed One's Whitelighter, and they are now gone."

"What?" Melinda demanded. "But he's my father!"

"He's a Whitelighter, first and foremost," the Elder chastised her. "He is also a link to your mothers, and we cannot allow that so soon after their death."

"How could you do this to us?" Corrine demanded. "How could you take them all from us?"

"This was your idea," the Elder reminded them. "And it had consequences."

"We didn't know those would be the consequences!" Melinda cried, shaking her head.

The Elder frowned. "I'm sorry, but this is the ways things are. This is the new order of things, the new balance."

"You can't keep my dad away from me!" Melinda yelled.

The Elder simply looked at her, and orbed out.

"I don't believe this!" Melinda cried, feeling defeated. "How could they take dad away from us, too?"

Corrine dropped her head into her hands, taking deep breaths. As much as she hated it, she was in charge now. It was up to her to keep things strong and steady.

"Okay... Okay, this is bad," she admitted. "But we've been through worse. Our mothers dealt with worse on a daily basis. We can handle this."

"How?" Melinda demanded.

Corrine frowned. "I don't know..."

...

"Yes, I know," Corrine said into the phone, exasperated. "I understand... But... I've already tried that! No, no..." She put a hand to her forehead, gritting her teeth. "But he's a cop... How could you not know where he is? I'm his daughter! I shouldn't have to... No, you listen to me!" ... "Hello? Hello?! Damn it!" Corrine slammed the phone down into the receiver.

"No luck?"

Corrine looked up. Melinda stood in the doorway.

When the Charmed Ones had died, so had their magical whammy on the house; The Manor was back down to the three original bedrooms. And since magic worked in mysterious ways, Piper's old bedroom had become Corrine's, with all Corrine's stuff in it, exactly as she had had it in her bedroom. Melinda had gotten Phoebe's room in a similar manner, and Katelyn and Rebecca's stuff had been crammed into Paige's room.

The worst part was, all of Piper, Phoebe, and Paige's stuff was gone. They had no idea where, or why. They had lost their mothers so abruptly... And they couldn't even have some of their stuff to remember them by?

"My dad hasn't been in to work since mom died," Corrine said softly, unable to look Melinda in the eye. "And no one knows where he went."

"How can a cop just go AWOL? Wouldn't they, I don't know, look for him?" Melinda asked, frowning.

Corrine shrugged, blinking back tears. "I guess he left word with his partner.. He said he didn't want to be found." She sniffled.

Melinda frowned, crossing the room and embracing her cousin. "It's going to be okay... We'll figure this out. I promise."

...

When the doorbell rang, Katelyn ran to answer it, praying it was someone who could help. But unfortunately, it was no one she knew. She sighed.

"Can I help you?" she asked impatiently.

The man glanced at her curiously. "I'm looking for Piper and Phoebe Halliwell."

Katelyn tensed up. "They aren't home. Can I help you?"

"Who are you?" the man asked.

Katelyn scowled. "Excuse me, but you can't just show up at my home and demand to know who I am."

The man flashed a badge at her.

"Okay, maybe you can..." Katelyn said quickly, wincing. "I'm Phoebe's daughter, Katelyn."

"I need to speak to Prue's daughter," the man said firmly.

Katelyn frowned. "Why?"

"She called the station looking for her father," he replied, "and I need to know what she knows."

"And who are you again?" Katelyn demanded, though cautiously – She couldn't afford to piss off a cop right now, not with three dead bodies upstairs.

"Detective Darryl Morris," he replied. "And it's urgent I speak with her."