SO SORRY for the wait! Had some trouble getting all my magical elements in the story to make sense and not conflict with each other. Major plot point had to change. My mistake and I'm sorry for it.

I'd like to thank everyone for their kind words after I was so discouraged by the negative comments. I shouldn't have let them get to me like that, but I'd been having a really bad day and that was just the final straw. But everyone's encouragement was SO appreciated. It really helped me out. I'm so sorry it took me so long to write this chapter. But as you'll be able to see by the end of this update we're getting into another major story arc, and those are usually easier for me to write.

Please let me know what you think. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Ch. 27

Luke had just finished healing Paige and Phoebe's burns, and now it was time to reveal the harsh truth. They shared a quick glance and when Phoebe gave a short nod Paige started the explanation.

"I think I got a premonition," Paige announced when and her sisters looked at her in shock.

"A premonition?" Leo asked in surprise.

"Well, I got all lightheaded and dizzy and then I saw a vision of something that-"

"Barbas," Phoebe cut in and Paige nodded.

"Barbas?" Prue spoke up and Piper felt her eyes narrow. Of all the demons that could be involved…

"I felt Paige in the premonition with me. But she didn't see all of it," Phoebe explained.

"I don't know why I saw any of it," Paige shrugged and Phoebe sighed knowing that what Paige hadn't seen was likely far worse than anything she was imagining.

"What did you see, Phoebe?" Piper questioned as Paige silently orbed the Book of Shadows down to them. Normally she didn't use her powers for things like that, but they'd just gotten back from hell so she figured she was entitled to a little self-indulgence.

"Barbas with a bunch of other demons," she told them but they could tell by the tone of her voice that there was something else. "Demons we've already vanquished, but they were alive."

"What do you mean demons we already vanquished?" Prue demanded feeling a nagging fear rising in the pit of her stomach that she sincerely hoped wasn't the result of any of Barbas' handy work.

"I mean exactly that. Demons we already vanquished come back. Or Barbas brings them back, or we think he does, or something," she rushed out and Leo nodded solemnly. "With Barbas who even knows what's real? But…" she trailed off hating that she had to say the rest.

"But what?" Piper urged and Phoebe sighed as she shut her eyes briefly.

"Wyatt was involved," she added in a soft voice. "I don't know how or why," she continued as she saw everyone in the room stare at her, their faces careful masks to hide the uneasiness. "It wasn't too clear, but demons came back, Barbas was there, and Wyatt was part of it," she summarized.

"Prue was right," Leo finally said as he turned to look at her. "Somehow Wyatt knows something or can tell us something."

"Wyatt!" Piper called and her son happily orbed into the living room in front of the adults. "Hi Sweetie," she said bending down so she was his height. "Have you heard anything or seen anything kinda weird?" she asked and Leo walked over and watched as Wyatt's face screwed up in concentration.

"Hey Buddy," Leo finally said when Wyatt seemed upset that he couldn't think of anything weird. "Don't worry about it," he assured his son but Wyatt's eyes suddenly got wide and round.

"Aunt Phoebe," he said excitedly pointing and Phoebe walked over to him.

"What is it Wyatt?" she asked and he quickly took her hand. As soon as they touched Phoebe was dragged into a short vision that she instantly recognized.

"What did you see?" Piper demanded worried that Wyatt was in some sort of danger.

"He just showed me when we vanquished Shax," she said quietly.

"What do you mean he showed you?" Piper wondered. "He wasn't even alive then."

"I think he can get premonitions now," Phoebe explained and she looked up to see Leo looking down at his oldest son.

"So he has telekinesis and he gets premonitions," Leo mused as he glanced towards Piper who seemed to be thinking the same thing he was. She grabbed one of Wyatt's toys that was sitting on the floor and she threw it through the air.

Wyatt's eyes widened in shock as he watched the action figure sail through the living room. He threw his hands up, but much to the surprise of everyone in the room, the toy didn't freeze. Instead it slowed down considerably and Wyatt walked towards it. He plucked it out of the air and clutched it to his chest. With a glare aimed at his mom he orbed back upstairs and everyone looked at each other.

"He has all three Charmed powers," Leo finally said and Billie raised an eyebrow.

"So does Paige have all three too?" she questioned and four sets of eyes turned to look at her.

"It's worth a shot," Piper shrugged as she picked a pillow up off the couch. "Freeze this." She threw the pillow in the air and Paige flung her hands at it. When nothing happened Piper rolled her eyes. "That's really not how you do it," she sighed and Paige glared at her.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't know how to control these brand new powers I might have!" she shot back. Piper ignored her and threw the pillow again. This time Phoebe unexpectedly shoved Paige, knocking her off balance. The pillow slowed down, falling so slowly Piper got bored waiting for it and snatched it out of the air. "What was that for?" Paige asked Phoebe.

"Your trigger was always fear. So I, you know, startled you," she shrugged with a wide, innocent grin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Piper had been working with Paige while Phoebe took Prue down to the DMV to renew her driver's license. It took over three hours, but they had all the necessary paperwork, and eventually Prudence Halliwell officially existed once more.

As celebration Prue drove home, and when Phoebe was assaulted by another premonition, she was glad she wasn't behind the wheel. Prue glanced over when she heard Phoebe's gasp, but seeing she was having a premonition she just continued driving knowing that the faster they got home, the faster they could get to the book and see what was going on.

"This is bad," Phoebe said shakily as she came out of the premonition. "What I'm seeing doesn't even make sense."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You brought back the only demon the Charmed Ones never defeated," Cole said nodding towards the being now smiling widely in the middle of the cavern. "Impressive. It should have occurred to you days ago, but impressive nonetheless."

"This plan will be my masterpiece," Astaroth smiled widely as he walked up to the demon he had helped bring back from the pits of hell. "And I wouldn't be able to do it without you, Barbas."

"Nobody could," Barbas grinned as he glanced towards Cole. "I always thought if it wasn't me it would be you. It still may be," Barbas said, a smile curving around his lips that was so evil it nearly unnerved even Cole.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"I just saw flashes of demons. Barbas and Zankou," Paige shrugged and Phoebe sighed. She hadn't seen Zankou, but she'd seen plenty of Cole in her premonitions. She just wasn't sure what he was in those premonitions. She couldn't tell if he was Belthazor, the Source, invincible, or something else entirely.

"And Wyatt saw Shax," Leo reminded them and they nodded. "But they aren't connected to each other in any way."

"Except they've all nearly killed us," Paige spoke up.

"Some succeeded," Piper muttered glancing towards Prue as she thought of Shax.

"The only one that isn't dead though is Barbas," Phoebe said and the sisters all nodded. "We never vanquished him. We only defeated him."

"Do you think he's working with Astaroth?" Prue wondered and the sisters looked at each other considering the possibility.

"Barbas isn't usually one for teamwork," Leo jumped in.

"Unless there's something in it for him," Luke added. When he was met with surprised stares he reddened in slight embarrassment. "I did my thesis on him in Magic School."

"So let's say Barbas is working for Astaroth. What could he really do?" Billie wondered having never encountered Barbas. All four sisters looked at her and she realized this was bigger than she had suspected. The Charmed Ones were afraid of him.

"He preys on your biggest fear. He scares you to death or scares you into thinking things are real when they aren't. We've gone up against him seven times," Phoebe said having thought back over every time she'd seen the demon trying to find his weakness since she'd first seen him in her premonition.

"And you've never vanquished him?" Billie asked with a raised eyebrow. Anyone who went up against the Charmed Ones seven times and came out alive definitely earned their bragging rights.

"Fear always comes back," Paige shrugged and the mood in the room plummeted as they all began to wonder how they were going to get out of this.

"And with all the knowledge Astaroth has, combined with Barbas' power and his ability to know your biggest fear…" Leo trailed off knowing that he didn't need to finish the thought to get his point across.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cole continued to keep his distance from Barbas, worried that if Barbas read him things would be revealed that Cole wanted to keep private. He wasn't even sure what his biggest fear was, but he was sure he didn't want Barbas to figure it out or tell Astaroth. Or god forbid the sisters. They'd have a field day with that.

Instead he summoned Benjy, the demon he'd had Astaroth send as a message that the Charmed Ones had purposely kept alive. If Astaroth didn't know what happened in the Underworld, Cole needed to get a message to the Charmed Ones and this seemed to be the only way to do it. He scribbled something on a paper, shoved it into Benjy's hand, told him to shimmer into the Manor, drop the paper, and try to kill Prue. He knew with all the witches around, someone would be able to kill him long before he could do any damage, and he didn't need Benjy coming back and telling Astaroth what Cole had planned. Astaroth would know the basics, but Cole could twist it around and convince Astaroth it would work in their favor.

Benjy, young and overeager, immediately listened to Cole and shimmered into the attic of the Manor as Cole had instructed.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"So we just need to wait until they make the next move. But we need to be careful," Prue told them all. "If Barbas is around, if we start to feel scared, threatened, paranoid, or worried about anything, anyone, or even nothing, we meet back here right away."

"Got it," Luke said but Prue turned towards him.

"You should stay Up There as much as you can," Prue said. "Barbas can't affect you up there and we may need someone without a totally messed up mind. Paige, you may want to consider spending some time up there to clear your head from time to time too. Coop…keep your distance for a while. Barbas has no interest in you. For him this is personal with the rest of us."

"It's not a bad idea," Leo agreed, but they were cut off when a demon shimmered into the attic. They recognized him as a messenger from Astaroth. When he threw a fireball in Prue's direction she immediately redirected it back at him, vanquishing him easily.

"That was weird," Billie said and they all nodded.

"What's this?" Piper asked as she picked up a small piece of paper the demon had dropped. She picked it up and the sisters all looked over her shoulder. "For information go to Magic School and let me in."

"That's Cole's handwriting," Phoebe said immediately recognizing it. "He sent the demon."

"But why?" Piper wondered, her eyes never leaving the paper in her hand.

"Isn't it obvious?" Paige retorted. "He wants to infiltrate Magic School."

"I doubt he'd personally ask for an invitation," Prue pointed out. "That's not exactly his style," she said and even Paige had to agree.

"Do we do it?" Billie wondered and the four sisters all looked at each other.

"I have no idea," Phoebe admitted truthfully. She really didn't know if Cole was good or evil. Or some odd combination of the two that had only ever seemed to exist within Cole.

"Coop, you need to go. Now. Before you get too involved in this and Barbas targets you too," Phoebe said and she nodded at Luke who orbed Coop out before he could argue.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I can't believe we're letting a demon into Magic School," Paige sighed and Phoebe shot her a look.

"Half demon. He has a soul. Otherwise this spell wouldn't work. And he might know something," she reminded her. "And we should have thought of coming here ourselves. Astaroth won't know what's going on here since it's protected. And we should be safe from Barbas too."

"The spell's done," Piper spoke up although it had been obvious after the loud bang. She'd dropped in the piece of flesh they'd gotten from Cole earlier, and they were pretty sure this would let him in to Magic School. "Now we just wait for him."

"No need," Cole said as he shimmered in right in front of them. "Took you longer than expected, I must say."

"Why did you send a demon?" Prue asked and Cole rolled his eyes.

"As if he stood a chance against the five of you. If he killed you then you deserved to die," he snorted and the sisters quieted down. Cole had obviously not intended for his messenger to kill them. "Anyways, I'm here on business."

"What do you want?" Phoebe asked and he looked at her silently for a moment before continuing.

"Astaroth is using Barbas to recreate the demons each of you feared the most, whether they've been vanquished or not." Cole explained and the sisters glanced at each other. That wasn't good.

"How do you know that?" Phoebe wondered and he shrugged.

"Have to hang around somewhere," he replied and Prue took a step forward.

"So you're either double crossing us or him," she realized and Cole smirked.

"So you should probably stay on my good side then, huh?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

"So we know Shax and Zankou are coming back," Prue mused as they sat around a table trying to figure out who would be coming after them. "Anything else?"

"I saw Cole," Phoebe spoke up. "But I don't know which version. Belthazor, the Source or what," she admitted and the sisters nodded. Instead Prue simply wrote down Cole's name and moved on.

"Anyone besides Phoebe know who's meant for them?" Prue wondered and Piper sighed. Shax was either meant for her or Prue, and from all the nightmares she had, she knew it had to be her.

"Shax is mine," she said quietly and Prue gave her hand a squeeze before writing 'Piper' next to Shax.

"Then Zankou is me," Paige concluded not very surprised by the revelation.

"Mine will be Christy," Billie spoke up confidently. "It would have to be," she said quietly and Piper, Paige, and Phoebe all nodded. Prue wrote that down as well and then sighed.

"So I guess it's just me that's the wild card. Who am I afraid of?"

"Do you think they'll attack in order?" Paige asked hopefully but the three other sisters all responded "No."

"What if you're not just afraid of one demon?" Leo asked as he returned from the nursery. "What if it's a group?"

"Like who?" Piper asked concerned.

"The Triad," Prue replied and all six of them fell silent. The fear rising in the pits of their stomachs was gripping, but they didn't think it had anything to do with Barbas.

"Let's just hope we're not as afraid of them as we seem to be," Phoebe replied as she shut the book on the table in front of her. "We better get home. Check the Book."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"The boys are at Magic School. They're fine," Leo repeated over and over to himself. But he kept hearing 'are they?' in his head. He knew logically that it had to be Barbas, but fear was stronger than logic. He hurried to the attic and started collecting potions the girls had. He needed to arm himself with something.

"What are you doing?" he heard and he turned to find Piper had just walked into the attic. He'd thought the girls were still looking through the Book in the living room. "What's wrong?"

"I just wanted to make sure I was ready if anything happened," he admitted and she nodded. "We should make another one that replicates your freezing power," he said and she was about to walk to the shelf where she kept the ingredients, but a demon appeared behind her, shoving an athame through her stomach before shimmering back out of the attic.

"PIPER!" Leo cried out as she collapsed to the floor in a pool of her own blood. "Paige! Luke!" he called as he cradled Piper's body against his. "It's gonna be okay, Piper. I promise. Paige!" he yelled desperately as the tears were making his vision blurry. He couldn't catch his breath, but he had to focus. He pressed his hands to the gaping wound in Piper's stomach. "Just hang on, Piper," he whispered but her face was so pale.

"Paige! Luke! Where the hell are you?" he yelled again, but he knew it was too late. Her eyes were glazed over and she wasn't moving. Her chest had stilled. She was gone. He'd lost her. Just like that.

He cried over her lifeless body, his hands and chest covered in her blood. How was he supposed to go on without her? What about the boys?

"Oh god, Piper," he rasped as he clutched her body against his. "Come back to me, Baby. Please come back."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Leo, we think we found something," Phoebe called walking into the attic a few minutes later. But she froze at what she saw. Leo was huddled up over something and sobbing. "Leo! What's wrong?"

"Piper," he gasped out as he held his hands in front of him, staring at them in disbelief. "Look at her. She's dead!"

"What?" Phoebe asked in confusion, but as she watched Leo look between his hands and the floor, occasionally touching something that she couldn't see, she realized what was going on. "Leo, look at me. This isn't real," she said but he shook his head. "Barbas is doing this. Piper's fine. She's downstairs." For a moment Phoebe doubted herself. Piper was downstairs, right? But she shook it off. That was Barbas making her think that way. Her biggest fear used to be losing a sister, but she'd overcome that fear. She could think about this logically.

"Piper's gone," he choked out and Phoebe realized he was too distraught to see reason. A piece of her heart went out to him at how broken he was over losing Piper. But this meant Barbas was targeting Leo too. They had to get Leo back.

"Piper!" Phoebe called. "I need you up here now."

"She's not coming up here. She'll never come up here again," Leo whispered. "I'll never see her again," he mumbled as he buried his face in Piper's hair. He clung to her body, shaking with his own sobs. How could he go on without her? How could she just die like that? One simple athame? They'd survived so much…

"Phoebe, what's going on?" Piper asked but then she saw Leo and looked at Phoebe.

"Barbas. Leo's greatest fear seems to be you dying in front of him," Phoebe said gently and Piper hurried over to him. She took his face in her hands until their eyes met.

"Leo, it's me. I'm fine. I'm right here," she said softly but he didn't seem to believe it. "Barbas was making you see things. I never died. I'm okay."

"Piper," he gasped as he pulled her tightly into his arms. "God, I thought I'd lost you," he cried into her hair. Phoebe left, figuring it was time to tell the rest of the girls that Leo wasn't safe from Barbas either.

"I'm not going anywhere," she promised as she let him hold her. But she couldn't help but realize how grave the situation was becoming. Barbas had struck again. Luckily it hadn't caused anything other than emotional damage, but it always escalated quickly. "I think you should go to Magic School so you're safe from Barbas' influence."

"I'm staying wherever you are," he insisted and Piper sighed but decided it would be better to let his fear subside before bringing it up again.

They were interrupted by the sound of the front door blowing open and wind louder than anything nature could create.

"Piper!" All three sisters called and she knew immediately who it was. And if there had been any doubt, the fear coursing through her body would have told her. She rushed down the stairs, Leo right on her heels.

"Get the spell!" Piper yelled although it was unnecessary because Prue was already flipping through the book. Shax was moving in on Prue who reached out and flung the couch at him. It stunned him for less than a second. Billie was trying to amplify Paige's powers, but it was taking too long. However, Shax didn't seem very interested in them. Instead he focused on Piper. She was making her way down the stairs, which suddenly collapsed from a blast of wind. The splintering of wood was unmistakable as Piper and Leo both fell through to the basement. As Shax wound up yet again for a blast of wind Paige flew into action.

"Piper, Book!" she called and Piper was orbed next to Phoebe and Prue by the Book of Shadows. They didn't waste any time before starting the spell.

"Evil winds that blow

That which forms below,

No longer may you dwell

Death takes you with this spell!"

They said it quickly, and with great relief they watched as Shax yelled in pain as he was finally vanquished. Piper couldn't move one of her legs. She was pretty sure it was broken, and some of her ribs were at the very least bruised if not broken as well. Paige hurried over but she shook her head.

"Get Leo," she replied and Paige orbed to the basement. After a few minutes, both Leo and Piper were healed, and the first of the five reincarnated demons was officially revanquished.

"So, what are we going to do about the stairs?" Paige wondered.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You don't think that counts as personal gain, do you?" Paige asked nervously after she'd finished the vanishing spell to fix the stairs.

"It happened while you were fighting a demon. And stairs are necessary. You should be fine," Leo replied even as he stood over the grandfather clock that was once again broken on the floor. "This on the other hand is going to be a problem."

"Why do we still keep it in this room?" Prue finally asked and Piper had to laugh.