Title: The Lost Future

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Author's Note: When I sat down to write this chapter, I had no intention of having a character death in it. But then my fingers just started typing, and the chapter wrote itself. So I apologize that I was not able to warn you in advance, but I'll give the warning now:

Someone dies in this chapter.

That's also why the chapter is so late, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to not kill anyone off. But it didn't work, so bring some tissues with you.

Also, Matt appears again, so I thought I would remind you all that he is a Phoenix, and Bianca's best friend. He was like a protective older brother to her, and he was the only one besides Bianca, Chris, and Lynn who knew that Bianca and Chris were secretly dating for two years.


Chapter Forty-Two: And It All Comes Crashing Down

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again

-James Taylor "Fire and Rain"

The witch looked around nervously. Night had fallen, and the moon cast a faint glow. Shadows moved everywhere, and the witch looked around in apprehension. His dark hair fell over scared but determined eyes, and his hands were clenched into fists at his side.

A dark-lighter appeared, black orbs swirling in the air. He held his crossbow loosely in one hand, and he stared at the witch in silence. Behind him, two demons appeared. They too stood silently, like statues.

"Do it," the dark-lighter ordered.

The witch stared at the dark-lighter for a moment. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was for the greater good, he reminded himself. This was the only way to safely remove the Hollow. This was unfortunate, but necessary.

He swallowed and called out, "Kyle!"

A moment later, Kyle orbed into the scene. He glanced over at his charge, expecting the witch to be hurt, and was surprised to find that he was uninjured. Confusion marred his features, but before he could ask why he had been called, he heard the unmistakable sound of a release mechanism being fired, and felt a white-hot searing pain shoot through him as an arrow imbedded itself in his back.

"Alex…" Kyle groaned as he fell to the floor, his powers and life quickly draining away. He looked up at his charge, his eyes wide with horror. "Why…?"

Alex bit his lip and didn't answer. He shook his head and looked away as one of the demons stepped forward and placed his hand on Kyle's chest. A white light left Kyle and flowed upward through the demon's palm and along his arm, burring itself somewhere in his chest. He backed away slowly and closed his eyes, focusing on the strange new power coursing through his demonic blood.

He smirked and opened his eyes, glancing over at the other demon and the dark-lighter. "It worked," he said in satisfaction.

"Is he dead?" Alex asked, looking down at Kyle. The white-lighter seemed to be alive, although not by much. His breathing was hollow and raspy, and the color had drained from his face.

"He's still alive," the dark-lighter answered. "But not for long."

"I'm sorry, Kyle," Alex whispered. "But this is for the greater good. I have to do this." He looked away from his dying white-lighter and said in a stronger voice, "Take me Up There with you. We can return the Hollow to its rightful place together."

The two demons looked at each other, seeming to consider this request, and then the first demon shook his head and said, "I have a different idea." And with a casual wave of his hand, he sent a fireball at the unsuspecting witch, incinerating him.

The second demon smirked and stretched out his hand towards his companion. The dark-lighter took the demon's other hand, and the three orbed out of sight.

Kyle watched them go as the world around him slowly faded. "Paige…" he whispered, wondering if she could hear him. "Mel, Pen… love you…"


Paige turned away from Piper, Phoebe, Leo, and Nathaniel as a sharp pain flashed through her chest. She took a breath, hesitant and unsure, and swallowed back the panic that threatened to overwhelm her.

"Paige?" Piper was the first to notice the odd expression on her sister's face and quickly demanded an answer. "Are you alright?"

Paige turned her gaze to Piper and the fear drained away. Her instincts and common sense sprung to action, and she quickly called out, "Pen! Mel! Kyle!" Phoebe shot her a confused look, and the witch-lighter said simply, "Someone is in danger."

Mel and Pen both orbed in a moment later, looking at their mother in confusion. Paige breathed a sigh of relief that they were safe, but the relief was short lived when she realized that Kyle had not answered her summon.

"Kyle!" Paige called again, hysteria evident in her voice. She could feel that something was very wrong, and it terrified her. Where was her husband?

Mel and Pen exchanged worried looks and called in unison, "Dad!"

No answer.

Leo and Nathaniel both closed their eyes and focused on locating the missing white-lighter, but they could barely get a read on him. He was fading, and fast. Perhaps too fast for them to save him, especially since they couldn't get a location for him.

Leo turned to Paige. "Keep calling for him. Piper, Phoebe, try scrying. I'm going to check with the other Elders, see if anyone else knows where he is." Leo glanced over at Nathaniel. "Keep trying to find him," he requested, then orbed away.

He reappeared among the clouds and mist. He barely had a glimpse of the wreckage all around him, destroyed columns and dead bodies, before something hit him in the back and he crumpled to the ground.

"Piper…" he breathed softly, his words barely audible.

The dark-lighter stepped over Leo's fallen body and walked to a set of large doors. He pulled them open and looked at the room within. It was large, and made of white marble and crystal. Rows of chairs lined the walls, creating a circle. In the very center of the room, sitting on a white marble table, was the box that held the Hollow.

The dark-lighter lifted the box from its table and rejoined his companions outside. He frowned and glanced at the bodies around him.

"Only twelve dead Elders? Where are all the others?" he asked.

The first demon shrugged. "They may have escaped when we first attacked. Or perhaps they are in hiding." He looked greedily at the Hollow. "It is no matter, we have what we came for."

"But we could kill the other Elders," the dark-lighter objected, sniffing the air. "I can sense them, they are hiding somewhere. Somewhere on Earth…"

"We must return the Hollow to the Source," the second demon objected. "Those were his orders." He paused and licked his lips. "Besides, rumors are flowing through the Underworld that the Tribunal has decided to call the Charmed Ones for a hearing. They will lose their powers soon enough, and all of Good will be at our mercy then."

The dark-lighter sighed and nodded reluctantly, handing the box over to the first demon. "Shall we go to the citadel? The Source will be waiting for us there," he suggested, and the three orbed out.

Leo closed his eyes as the pain spread through him, paralyzing him. He silently prayed that someone would find him before he died, so that he could at least pass along the information that he had just learned.

Before it was too late.


Piper.

Wyatt paused suddenly as the soft word floated through the hallway. He was on his way downstairs to rejoin his parents and Aunts, when he heard the word.

So soft, so faint.

His father's voice.

Had he imagined it?

He didn't know and he didn't care. If something had happened to his Dad…

He summoned Excalibur and orbed out at the same time.

When he materialized fully, his heart plummeted in his chest. The ruins of Up There stretched before him, burnt and bloody. Several Elders were dead, their bodies slumped at odd angles across the floor.

"Dad?" Wyatt shouted, looking around quickly. "Dad? Where are you?" His heart hammered faster as he dropped to his knees by one dead Elder and pushed him onto his back so that he could identify the man. It wasn't Leo.

"Please don't be dead…" Wyatt prayed. He tried to sense for Leo again, but it was so faint… "Dad!"

Wy…

Wyatt spun around. He wasn't sure if he had heard the voice of just imagined it. It hadn't sounded like his father, hadn't even sounded real. More like a ghost, or a figment of his imagination… Unbidden, thoughts of the spectral Melinda came to mind.

"Who's there?" Wyatt called out.

For a moment, silence was all that answered him.

Don't give up…

That was clearly his father's voice. And yet it was also not his father. It was distorted, as though it had been recorded, but the tracks had become scratched over time. The words were halting, jarring…

You either…

Wyatt spun around and stared in silent shock at the scene before his eyes. It was as though he was looking at a hologram, a flickering scene of his brother lying on a bed, a knife wound in his stomach. Leo bent over him, tears streaming down his face.

The images flickered once more, then faded, and where the ghost of Chris had been, Wyatt found himself staring at his father.

"Dad!"

Wyatt ran to Leo's side, dropping to his knees beside the still form. He let Excalibur fall from his grasp as he extended his hands over the arrow wound in Leo's back. The golden glow extended from his finger tips, spreading out along Leo's back. Wyatt closed his eyes and concentrated all his power on healing, but Leo's life was slipping away too quickly.

Refusing to give up, Wyatt blinked back the tears that stung at his eyes and forced every last bit of energy he had out of his palms. His vision became blurry and faded as he fought against the dark poison flowing through his father's veins. He was using too much magic, even for one as powerful as himself, and it was taking all of his energy to keep the healing magic flowing from his hands.

"Don't do this, Dad," he muttered. "Don't…"

The last of his strength gave out as he collapsed forward, the darkness overwhelming him. He slumped over, unconscious before he had a chance see his father's eyes open.

Leo groaned and shifted the heavy weight off of him. He stared in shock as he realized that it was his eldest son collapsed on the white marble floor, then quickly reached out his hands to heal him.


Paige watched as Piper's crystal landed on the map. She ran to her sister's side, almost pushing Piper away in her haste, and glanced at the location. Without another word, she orbed away. Mel and Pen orbed after their mother, leaving Piper and Phoebe in the room together.

"Hey!" Piper yelled at the ceiling. "Some of us can't orb!"

"I'll take you," Nathaniel offered, extending his hand to Piper.

Piper stared at him, her expression unreadable. The first thought that entered her mind was to blow him up, but she hesitated, knowing it would take too long to get to Paige if they were forced to drive.

But Phoebe had already pushed past Piper and taken hold of Nathaniel's hand. She looked back at Piper, her gaze unwavering, silently asking Piper to get over her hatred long enough to get to Paige.

Piper sighed and grabbed Nathaniel's other hand, and the three orbed out.

They reappeared in a park. It was dark, the moon had disappeared behind a cloud, but they could make out Paige's shadow. She was standing completely still, staring down at something in front of her, which Piper realizing with a sinking heart was Kyle's body. Mel and Pen kneeled next to him. Mel's hair fell in front of her face, masking her expression, but Pen's eyes were filled with anguish.

"Paige?" Phoebe took a step forward cautiously.

Nathaniel hurried over to Kyle and knelt down, ready to heal him, but Paige's choked voice stopped him.

"It's too late."

Phoebe inhaled sharply and scrambled to Paige's side. "Paige…"

Paige turned to look at her sisters. Her eyes were dry, her expression blank. Her mouth was set in a straight line, and her skin had almost no color. Only her voice betrayed her inner grief, as it cracked when she replied, "We're t-too late."

Piper knelt down beside her nieces, wrapping one arm around Pen. She reached out for Mel, but the young witch-lighter shrugged her aunt's arm away and stood up. She stared at her mother for a moment, then looked down at her father again. Her eyes were unreadable.

And then she was gone, disappearing in a swirl of orbs.


"They have the Hollow?" Piper asked unemotionally as she took a seat on the sofa.

Leo nodded. "They massacred the Elders that were up there. If Wyatt hadn't found me…"

"Don't," Piper interrupted. "Don't finish that sentence. I can't… I can't think about…" Her bloodshot eyes filled with tears again and she looked away.

"How's Aunt Paige?" Chris asked, glancing behind him at the stairs. Paige had disappeared up then only a few moments prior.

"She's…" Piper shook her head. "She's with Pen right now."

"Where's Mel?" Phoebe asked as she entered the room.

"She's on the Golden Gate Bridge," Wyatt said, looking up from his seat by the window. "When I went to get her, she used her telekinesis to throw me off of it."

"She could be in danger," Phoebe murmured worriedly.

"I know," Piper said. "But she won't come home right now. What are we supposed to do?"

"Nathaniel's keeping an eye on her," Leo said, half-reassuringly. "He's on the Bridge right now, invisible so that she can't see him."

Phoebe nodded, her expression wooden.

"Where's Prue?" Piper asked, turning her attention to her sister.

Phoebe sighed and sat down, flicking a few stray hairs out of her eyes. "She's on the phone with Jason." She swallowed and shook her head. "I think he's on his way over here now."

A silence descended on them all, no one knowing what to say.


"I need your help."

Matt looked up from his book, startled, as Bianca shimmered into the room unannounced. Her expression was grim, her eyes filled with sorrow. Instant worry swelled up inside of Matt, and he asked quickly, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"I don't have time to explain," Bianca replied. "I need you to go underground and find out where the Hollow is."

"I thought the Charmed Ones stole it?" Matt said, somewhat bitterly. "Which, by the way, I'm assuming they have a really good explanation for? Even the Phoenixes have been worried."

"Demons stole it back," Bianca explained wearily. "They have it somewhere in the Underworld, and we have to get it before they use it."

"Use it? To do what?" Matt demanded. "And are you sure we want to give it back to the Charmed Ones? It's too dangerous to…"

"Look, I don't have time for this!" Bianca snapped angrily. She knew that Matt's questions were perfectly logical questions, and that he was only trying to look out for the safety of himself and his clan. She had expected nothing else from him, but her patience had worn thin.

When Leo and Wyatt had orbed into the attic to announce that the Hollow had been stolen, Bianca's first thought was that they needed to plan a counterattack, and quickly. Chris seemed to be thinking along the same lines, but all thoughts of strategy had flown from his mind when Piper walked into the room and announced that Kyle was dead.

Bianca had discreetly excused herself from the scene, knowing her presence would not be welcome at the present moment. And since the Halliwells would be preoccupied with grieving for the next several hours, she had taken it upon herself to start a search for the Hollow immediately so that no time would be wasted.

"Bianca?" Matt asked, confused.

Bianca shook her head in frustration and pent up anger at the unfairness of the situation. "Chris' uncle was killed by a dark-lighter. The demons murdered several of the elders. The Source is going to use the Hollow to bring about the end of the world, and the Tribunal is debating calling the Charmed Ones to trial. I don't have time for your doubts!"

Matt bit his lip, then sighed and said, "Well, then you probably don't want to hear this, but actually, the Tribunal has come to a decision already. They're going to demand an audience with the Charmed Ones to discuss the consequences of their actions."

"What?" Bianca hissed. "Now? But…" She slammed her fist into the wall. "Damn it!" She turned back to Matt and narrowed her eyes. "How do you know that?"

"I keep my ears to the ground," Matt said simply, and Bianca nodded in understanding. Among Phoenixes, that phrase meant that they had spies somewhere, keeping an eye on what was going on. Centuries of experience had taught them that the best way to win a fight was to attack before the other opponent even realized you were on to them, and the only way to do that was to infiltrate the magic community wherever necessary. If the Phoenixes had gotten wind of the Tribunal's debate, they would have most certainly have felt the need to stay informed of the decisions, and would have found a way to manage it.

They were good at that.

"I can't believe the Tribunal would do this," Bianca muttered.

"Well, stealing the Hollow was a stupid idea," Matt snapped. Bianca spun on him, but he continued speaking before she had a chance to say anything. "It was, and you know it."

"It was the only way," Bianca replied, finding it ironic as she did that she was defending the actions she had been so opposed to before.

"Maybe," Matt consented. "I don't know the details of the plan, so obviously I can't judge it. But doing what they did was bound to have consequences, and they should have been prepared for that."

Bianca nodded slowly. "Well, what's done is done, and we can't change that," she said at last. "But we need to find the Hollow before the Source uses it."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "And you want me to do that?" he asked.

"Get together some other Phoenixes," Bianca instructed. "Go underground. Infiltrate, lie, cheat, kill… I don't care. Just find it!"

"So we can give it back to the Charmed Ones…" Matt shook his head. "I don't trust them, Bianca. Not with the Hollow. It's just too dangerous."

Bianca stared at him, meeting his unwavering gaze. "Then trust me," she said quietly, challenging him to refuse.

"Fine," Matt relented. He stood up, prepared to shimmer away, then paused and looked over at his friend. "When you see Chris… tell him… tell them all that… I'm sorry about their uncle."

Bianca swallowed and nodded, knowing it was as much approval as Matt… as any of the Phoenixes… would offer to her relationship with Chris.

Matt shimmered out of the room.


Next Chapter: Unwanted Memories

Due: Tue 6/13