Title: The Lost Future

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I believe I answered everyone. I am so sorry for the delay on the update, but the chapter was, for no particular reason, really difficult to write. I switch back and forth between the two timelines, but it should be evident which one I am talking about.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Things I Wish I Didn't Know

The reaction was almost immediate. The moment Bianca and Courtney disappeared, pandemonium broke out in the streets. The shriek of "Witch! Witch!" was drowned out only by the roar of the several cars that swooped onto the scene. They were unmarked black cars, and each was filled with a witch hunting team. The witch hunters were dressed in black and orange, the colors symbolizing the burning of evil magic. They swarmed from the cars, flocking like vultures to a kill.

Kyle watched in silence. He had arrived in time to see the strange girl approach Courtney, and a sixth sense had silently screamed out a warning. He wanted to protect Courtney, to explain to her that they weren't evil, to at the very least erase her memory of what happened. He wanted to make sure that they weren't defeated in this battle.

As the two shimmered away, as the witch hunters approached, Kyle realized with startling clarity that they were already losing.

Part of him knew that he needed to help Courtney. The other part of him pointed out sensibly that the best thing he could do for his charges was to forget everything he had just seen and walked away, making sure that there was nothing to link Courtney's disappearance to the Halliwells. The witch hunters would be only too happy to start accusations, and the few surviving Halliwells would be burned at the stake.

But a third part of him also spoke up, reminding him of the other timeline. The timeline in which the Source was trying, and quite possibly succeeding, in bringing an end to everything. If they didn't figure out a way to get the other Piper back into her time, the Source would destroy every timeline, and neither the witch hunters nor Courtney's fate would really matter in the end.

They'd all cease to exist anyway.

Let a single innocent die, or let the entire world, and every other world, die?

He couldn't save everyone. He knew he couldn't save everyone. He wished he could change it, wished he didn't have to deal with this knowledge, but he knew the truth, and he knew what he had to do.

Triage.

Pick the most important thing and save it, and if others died, then they died.

Kyle rubbed his eyes and turned away. Maybe one day soon he could save Courtney, but right now…

Right now she was on her own, and he had more important matters to deal with.

Melinda closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to get a reading on her mother. Since she was only half white-lighter, she did not have the ability to orb Up There. Or, at least, the Elders had never explained to her how. So although she could locate her mother, she couldn't reach her.

Sighing, Melinda turned and looked out at the city all around her. She was standing on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a nice place to think, one of the few where she felt safe. The constant surveillance that they were always under disappeared when she came up here, because Nathaniel Pratt, despite all his planning, had not thought to install video cameras on the top of the Bridge.

And as soon as she was old enough to create her own spells, Melinda had carefully cast a protective spell, one that would interfere with any surveillance that would ever be put up here.

Below her, the city stretched out like a mass of writhing snakes. Cars streamed up and down the streets, tiny people moved in bunches. People learned to stay together in this time, to never walk out doors without a weapon and a friend or two to watch over you. Many innocent men and women had been caught and burned as witches for simply looking suspicious, and people didn't trust strangers anymore. They stayed to the shadows, hoping to slip by, unnoticed.

He is my son's murderer!

Melinda was more perceptive than most of the Elders gave her credit for. Perhaps it had to do with her white-lighter half, perhaps it was simply the fact that she had grown up in this world where everything anyone did always had a second meaning, and ulterior motive, and if she wasn't careful, those secrets would get her killed. Penny was always the stronger one, magic-wise, but she was the one who could read people like a book.

The way Piper had looked at her when she first orbed into the attic, as though she was seeing a stranger. Kyle's quick request that they not talk about the other timeline. Piper's hesitation every time she asked a question about what she was like in the other timeline.

He is my son's murderer!

Things were different, of course they were different. But never in a million years would Melinda have guessed that they could be that different.

Piper Halliwells had sons.

And she didn't exist.

She knew it. Somehow, she just knew that her suspicions were correct.

And she wished she didn't.

Piper allowed Gideon to orb her back into the manor. As soon as they appeared, she stepped away from the other man and walked determinedly into the sunroom, wanting to put as much distance as possible between herself and the man who had killed her son.

But as she stepped into the sunroom, she saw something else, someone else, and her breath caught in her throat.

"Bianca…"

She was standing there, staring at Piper with cool appraisal. Her hair was a bit darker, a bit longer, and it cascaded over her shoulders in a shinning ripple. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line, one hand rested against her hip, and the other held an athame at Penny's throat.

But when Piper said her name, the Phoenix assassin blinked, surprise etching into her the lines between her eyes. "How do you know my name?" she demanded harshly.

Piper stared at her possibly soon-to-be daughter-in-law and replied icily, "I always knew you were evil."

"How. Do. You. Know. My. Name?" Bianca repeated, enunciating each word and pressing her athame harder against Penny's skin. The young witch gave the tiniest whimper as she felt the cold metal nick her skin, and Piper's face drained of color.

"Let Penny go," the Halliwell matriarch ordered. "Let Penny go, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

Bianca flashed a cat-like smile. "You are going to tell me what I want to know anyway," she answered with a smug grin. "Unless, of course, you want to watch your niece die."

Piper held her breath, not sure of what to do. She was trapped, and she had no way out of the predicament.

"You're from a different timeline," Bianca continued smoothly. "Do I know you in that timeline? Is that how you know my name?"

"Yes," Piper whispered, her eyes never leaning Penny's face.

"Interesting," Bianca murmured. "Do I work for the Source in that timeline as well?"

And suddenly Piper felt her anger rise and her temper snap. "You work for no one but yourself! You tried to convince us that you were good, you convinced Chris of it, but I know the truth. I see it now, you aren't different. You haven't changed!"

"Changed?" Bianca whispered. Her face took on a contemplative expression as she considered what Piper had said. "I pretended to be…good?" The name Chris seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Shaking her head, she swallowed back her confusion. The other timeline didn't matter, she had orders from the Source in this one.

And yet the vision came back, as strong and powerful as before.

Wait. Do you have to leave so soon? Can't I help?

You want to help me? Some day in the future when I ask you what it feels like to kill, don't lie to me. Don't tell me you don't feel a thing.

The assassin witch frowned slightly as realization dawned on her features. "I found a way out," she murmured. "I found a way out of this life."

"Don't try to play the reformed sinner while you have an athame at my niece's throat," Piper snarled.

And those words snapped Bianca out of her trance. Whatever she had or hadn't done in a previous life was not important because she was in this life, and in this life she was only one thing.

An assassin.

She gave Piper a cold smile. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not planning on ending little Penny's life right now. She's mostly just insurance that you don't attack me during this conversation. Anyway, I don't need her. I've got that pretty friend of your daughter's. Courtney, I believe?"

"You've got Courtney?" Piper demanded.

Bianca nodded. "I do," she said. "And while I am sure she is enjoying her day trapped in the Underworld, she would probably be much happier talking to the witch hunters. And what stories she could tell them about you all." She flashed a wicked smile and suddenly shoved Penny away from her and into Piper.

Piper instantly grabbed her niece, shoving the girl behind her to protect her from the deadly assassin.

"So unless you want Courtney talking to the witch hunters, I suggest you, Penny, and Melinda drop by my pace of residence tonight at midnight." Bianca tossed a piece of paper with an address onto the floor at Piper's feet, and shimmered out.

"I can't do this, Chris. I can't take the Power of Three," Prue objected as she paced back and forth across the floor of his room. Her dark hair swished back and forth as she walked, and her eyes were wide with frustration and apprehension. She bit her bottom lip and shot a glance in her cousin's direction.

Chris was sitting on the edge of the bed, his expression thoughtful. His green eyes were glum, his entire posture hunched over as he silently contemplated their choices. Although he was relieved to be back here, and far away from the dinosaur and the desert, he couldn't help but feel slightly guilty that it had come at the cost of his mother's safety. And now there seemed to be only one way to get Piper back, and his cousins didn't want to do it.

Kyle had returned from speaking to the Elders just a few moments ago, and they had offered nothing in the way of advice. In fact, most of the Elders agreed with Sarina, they wanted Prue, Mel, and Pen to take the Power of Three. They were afraid of the Source, of what he would accomplish, and the longer Piper remained in some other place and time, the greater the chance the Source had of winning.

They needed Piper, and they were running out of time.

"Do you have a choice?" Chris asked at last, his voice weary. He ran a hand through his sloppy hair and gave Prue a hard stare. "Family comes first."

"What you are asking me to do is…"

"To save my mother," Chris cut in smoothly.

"It isn't that simple," Prue snapped, annoyed.

"Yes, Prue, it really is. This is our only chance of saving my Mom," Chris pointed out simply. "And I know that it has serious repercussions for you, and I know it will change everything for all of us, but I can't just let Mom die."

"We will find another way," Prue said staunchly.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "But will we find it in time?"

"I can't believe you are seriously thinking of doing this," Pen said slowly as she walked into the sunroom. Mel was sitting on the loveseat, leaning back against the cushions with her eyes closed. The sun came in through the windows, illuminating the room with a golden light.

Mel opened one eye and glanced over at Pen. She sighed and closed the eye again, then said, "Do you have a better idea?"

"Do you know what they've done?" Pen said, taking a seat next to her twin. Off Mel's confused look, she elaborated, "Mom and the Aunts. Do you know what they've done? The things they've accomplished?"

Mel rolled her eyes. "Of course I do. Everyone does."

"Exactly," Pen jumped on Mel's statement. "Everyone does. Why? Because the things they've done have been close to miracles. Taking out the Source on multiple occasions. Defeating the Titans, stopping the Avatars, vanquishing Barbas and Zankou…and that is only the famous stuff that makes it into the Charmed Textbooks. It doesn't even include the day-to-day vanquishes. How can we take on that role? How can we ever hope to be as good as they were?"

"We can't," Mel replied pragmatically. "But we will be the best we can be. It's all anyone can ask of us."

"Wow, you really go for platitudes, don't you?" Pen smirked, shaking her head in disbelief. "That sounds like something Dad or Uncle Leo would say."

Mel gave her sister a short grin. She absently twisted a strand of hair between her thumb and forefinger, then said, "I don't like this anymore than you do. And I am scared of not being good enough, of not being the saviors of the magical community that Mom and the Aunts are. But I am more terrified by the thought of losing Aunt Piper, of losing to the Source, of…of having this entire world turn into nothingness. And in the end, I'm not sure we have another choice."

"I know. And I understand why we have to do this. I understand," Pen said heavily, crossing her arms over her chest and wishing she didn't.

Phoebe held her breath as she listened to the phone ringing. She didn't want to do this, didn't want to talk to him right now, didn't want to drag him into this. It was exactly this sort of magical mess she had tried so hard to keep him out of, this type of problem that had been the cause of their divorce.

But he answered, and she found herself speaking without thinking.

"Jason? Hi, I just…I wanted to see how you were doing?"

"I'm alright," came the surprised answer. "How are you? Is everything okay?"

Phoebe closed her eyes and leaned her head against the cool tile wall of the bathroom. She wanted to see how he was doing, she wanted to make sure he was okay, and she wanted to tell him that his daughter might very well be calling for the greatest power of good the world had ever seen, and by doing so setting herself up to be a target for every demon, warlock, and dark-lighter out there.

But she didn't.

Couldn't.

"Everything's fine, Jason. I just wanted to hear your voice."

"You wanted to hear my voice?" Jason repeated, confused. "Phoebe, we aren't married anymore. You can't call every time you want to..."

"Please?" Phoebe whispered. "I just...I just needed to..." She sighed and closed her eyes. "No, you are right, this isn't fair to you. I'll talk to you later, okay? We have to discuss custody of Prue."

"Right." Jason replied, not entirely sure what to think. "Talk to you later."

"We have to figure out a way to send you back to the other timeline," Gideon said, rubbing his eyes wearily and glancing over at Piper.

The eldest Charmed One seemed not to hear him. She was leaning against the wall next to the window, staring out at the slowly sinking sun. Melinda had orbed back a few minutes later, and after being appraised of everything that had happened, she had gone to find Penny and make sure the younger Halliwell was surviving the ordeal. Kyle, too, had returned, his face unusually somber and grim, and he paced the floor of the sunroom, his footsteps echoing slightly in the emptiness.

"Piper…?"

"I have to find Courtney," Piper said slowly, turning around, the address Bianca had given her clutched in one hand. "I have to figure out a way to save Courtney and not get us all killed."

"Actually," Gideon replied, "you need to return to your own timeline."

"I can't just leave while my family is in danger," Piper objected heatedly.

"Your other family, the one currently in your timeline, needs you," Kyle pointed out. "They can't defeat the Source without you."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "So you would have me just leave Courtney? Leave everyone? I can't do that. I won't."

"When you leave this timeline, another version of you will come back," Gideon countered. "A version that grew up here, that knows how to live in this world. She can do much more good than you can."

"What if its too late?" Piper demanded. "What if by the time we send me back to my timeline and bring your Piper back, Courtney has already talked to the witch hunters? It's only a few hours to midnight now, and we have no idea how to get me back to the other timeline!"

"What if the Source manages to end everything?" Kyle asked softly. "What if he succeeds because you are stuck here, trying to save Courtney? We will all die anyway."

"I can't abandon an innocent," Piper hissed.

"You have to," Gideon replied. "You have to realize that there are times when the greater good is more…"

"Don't say those words," Piper snarled, her face contorted with rage. "Don't ever say those words! Bastard!" She lifted her hands, preparing to blow up the Elder.

But Kyle got in the way. He stepped in front of Piper and placed his own hands over her wrists, staying her attack. "Piper, listen to me. What Gideon did, trying to kill Wyatt, that was wrong. There was no basis for it, no reason for it. But this is different. You have to understand that. You have to see that if you stay here, you could end up getting us all killed."

"If I leave, my entire family could die."

"We aren't your family," a voice said, and all eyes turned towards the stairs where Melinda had appeared. "Your family is in a different timeline, and they are the ones who need you now."

"Melinda…" Piper began, unsure what she could say to the child that she no longer had.

"Kyle's right," Melinda continued, her gaze traveling down to the floor as she forced out the words. "You blew up Gideon, you let your anger run away with you, and you exposed us all. My mother would never have done that, no matter what Gideon had done to her, because she would understand the risks and the consequences, especially since Courtney was in the house. She's the one we need right now, not you, and we can't get her back until you leave."

"I can't just walk away," Piper murmured. "I don't know how."

"You don't have a choice," Kyle interjected. "None of us do."

Piper bit her lip and turned away, her thoughts in turmoil. Running a hand through her long hair, she contemplated her options. She didn't want to leave, but did she have a choice? On the other hand, would she be able to live with herself if she left without at least trying to save Courtney, Melinda, and Penny? Could she really justify staying her and delaying a return to her other family? Could she risk it, with everything the Source was trying to accomplish?

What was she supposed to do?

No matter what, she was abandoning one family in favor of the other.

Could she do that?

Did she have a choice?

Piper glanced up at Melinda, up at the girl who encompassed everything she was internally struggling with. This girl who was her daughter, and yet not. This girl she would never see again if she left. But how could she want to stay here with Melinda is it meant loosing Wyatt and Chris?

Who was more important?

"You aren't leaving us," Melinda whispered. "My mother will take her body again when you leave."

Piper nodded, knowing what she had to do. "Fine. How do I get back?"

"I'm ready to do this," Prue announced as she walked into the attic, Chris a few steps behind her.

Phoebe and Paige looked over at her, and Wyatt raised an eyebrow in surprise. In her crystal cage, Sarina gave an approving nod. Mel glanced between Chris and Prue, her expression thoughtful. Leo and Kyle exchanged looks and sighed, and Pen looked down at her hands and bit her lip.

There was a pregnant silence.

"Me, too," Pen said at last, and all three girls were in agreement.

Sarina closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, connecting telepathically to Jhorun. It was a gift that few people realized the Khail had, and it was a power that could not be trapped by crystal cages.

Jhorun.

Yes?

It is time. Prepare the others, I will give you the signal…

Next Chapter: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Due: Friday 3/24