BACK AT THE HOSPITAL

Leo sat next to Piper holding her hand tightly in his. Piper started to open her eyes, taking in her surroundings slowly coming out of its blur.

"Leo…?" she whispered. Leo smiled, relieved to hear her voice again.

"I'm here, Piper" he stood up quickly and kissed her forehead.

"Where…?"

"Shhh, rest now. Everything's OK. Everybody's alright. You need to get your strength back" he smiled at her. Piper turned her head slowly to him, staring at him with lazy eyes. "Rest, my love" he said kissing her lips lovingly, feeling the world coming back into focus and the ground firm beneath his feet once again. He took one more worshipping moment to stare at the love of his life and then walked out of the room as fast as he could to find Chris, who had been going from floor to floor, keeping everybody posted on each other's situation.

"Dad?" asked Chris scared his father had run out to meet him.

"It's alright. Your mother is awake!" he said enthusiastically hugging his son. "Call your Aunts and let them know, OK? Your mother might still be nodding on and off for the next few hours, but still"

"I'll call them right now" said Chris smiling the biggest smile he had managed all day. He felt like the air was breathable again.

"I'll get back to your mother" Leo smiled. "Let Wyatt know too" he added as he turned to leave. Chris nodded as his father walked away from sight. Bianca hugged him cheerfully as he called Phoebe.

AT THE MANOR…

"Good job, buddy" Coop was telling Julian, who was holding on tightly to his toys.

Moments later, parties started to orb back in, visibly exhausted, but not much more than that. Few superficial wounds were healed in an instant and they all just sat down on the kitchen floor or wherever else they could without really thinking where they would land. Phoebe sat behind Coop and gave him the tightest hug ever, laying down her head on his shoulder.

"That was… intense" said Henry, back against one of the kitchen walls, legs spread in front of him throbbing in overtiredness. They had orbed in and out, jumping from site to site, dealing with all sorts of demons.

"You ain't wrong little brother" said Penelope who high fived him. Their hands dropping unceremoniously on their laps right after.

"We should go back to the hospital" said Paige trying to shake off the soreness in her own arms.

"Take a moment to catch your breath. I'll give you some water" said Paddy finally putting her phone down on the kitchen island and going for a stack of cups and a pitcher of water. She handed the cups and hydrated them all, glad they were all back in one piece. "You guys missed it"

"What we miss?" said Paige interrupting her sip of water.

"Julian just turned his stuffed animals into quite the army. Saved us all" said Coop.

"There were demons here too?" Praline asked her father incredulously.

"Two of them" said Paddy matter of factly as she poured another glass of water.

"We were about to go down to the basement, when he made the toys come alive and finish the demons off" explained Coop.

"I remember his father conjuring up some toys, but they were very docile. More for protection than attack really" said Phoebe having a cup filled for her when the pitcher slipped and the water spilled on her.

"Sorry, mom" said Paddy running for a kitchen towel, which she didn't find.

"It's alright, honey" said Phoebe drying on her own clothes.

"Where's Sam when you need her, huh?" said Patricia, back against the door frame. They chuckled as Sam's water control had very often prevented accidents like this.

"Where is she… and Chris?" Paige asked as her phone started to ring. "It's Henry. I'll let him know we're OK" she said standing from the kitchen chair she had been sitting on and walking to the other end of the room.

"Last thing I knew they orbed right behind you girls" said Coop earnestly.

"That's odd. When we orbed there we only found Leo, who told us Wyatt was actually working on his mother along with Samuel"

"Really? Wow, I didn't think he had any actual practice" said Penelope.

"He didn't. There wasn't much of a choice at the moment" Phoebe paused letting that little piece of news sink. "But even after we were called back, we didn't see Sam nor Chris" she went on.

"They must have caught up with Uncle Leo by now" said Patricia.

"We should get back" said Phoebe getting off the floor, closely followed by her husband. "Any luck on Bianca?" she asked him.

"No. Paddy was trying to text her in between the attack sites search, but no luck yet"

"I just hope she's alright" said Phoebe unable to avoid worrying for her eldest daughter.

"She's fine. She must still be with her boyfriend that's all" said Praline. "I'll try texting her again and if she doesn't answer maybe we could orb to her boyfriend's house. She's probably there" Coop and Phoebe exchanged looks. Their daughter Bianca had indeed been spending way too much time with that boyfriend of hers, so what their daughter Praline was suggesting wasn't too farfetched.

"I'll take her" said Penelope.

"Thanks, honey" Phoebe told her niece.

"Henry says there have been a lot of people admitted to the hospitals in town and lots of people making insane descriptions of events all over" Paige walked to them, having just ended her call.

"Well, thank God for small favors. They still think these descriptions of events are nothing but crazy people" said Phoebe.

"He'll let us know if something gets too close to the real thing, so we have a chance to deal with it" said Paige drinking the last of her water. "Ready to go?" Phoebe gave Cooper a peck on the lips and nodded when her cell started to vibrate in her pocket. The screen was cracked but she was able to answer after a couple tries of sliding her finger on the screen

"Hello? Chris? What is it?" she asked terrified. Everybody in the room held onto something, the person next to them or just the furniture, afraid this day wasn't done with their family yet. "She did? Oh, that's great news!" she hugged Cooper still on the phone. "OK. We'll be right over. Thank you for calling, honey!" she hung up with every set of eyes on her. "Piper's awake!" they all cheered and hugged. "She's still coming around, but she's doing fine" she said excitedly.

"Crank up that…" said Henry looking around knowing for a fact her aunt didn't keep any liquor in the house. "Water!" he finished raising his empty cup to everyone's laughter. Julian made a hand gesture and they were all soaked as a bucketful of water was conjured out of thin air and onto their heads.

"Wara" said little Meghan clapping to her brother's doing.

"This day is just full of surprises" said Patricia before starting a collective laugh.

IN SAM'S HEAD…

The thunderclouds slowly stopped pouring down on her, but the sky wasn't clearing up in the slightest. She could still hear the thundering behind every cloud above.

"I know it hurts" said Chris sitting on a rock to her left this time. "Can't run away from it"

"Maybe I can" said Sam unsurprised this time at her new visitor.

"Would you leave them all behind?" he stared at the rumbling sky. Sam gulped unable to answer. She could see her kids, her beloved husband and their whole blessed life on the surface of the water. She watched them all, all their love coming back to embrace her. However, after a moment or two, her love turned into a sharp pang across her chest and she turned away. Heavy raindrops began to fall again with renewed strength as the sky thundered away, deafening and intimidating. "You have so much to be thankful for" he smiled at the vacant water. No more smiles glistening across it, nor in her heart. "And then… so much to lose…" Sam turned to face him for the first time. "Thing is… are you gonna let them go that easy? Won't you fight for them?"

"Always" she whispered. "But… I can't…" Sam couldn't swallow. Her pain was stubbornly stuck at the back of her throat. She started to choke on it, unable to breathe as she went into a full blown panic attack. Chris came and knelt by her side, taking her hands in his.

"Yes, you can. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for… your family needs you… Wyatt needs you…" Sam kept trying to catch her breath between sobs, shaking her head in despair. "Hey" Chris held her head and tried catching her eye. "It's OK to hurt. He will too…" she sobbed harder still. "and it's not your fault!" he said emphatically. She grabbed Chris by the shoulders, tugging at his shirt. "It's not your fault. It's not"

Next thing, Chris was gone and Sam was still tightly clenching her fists, so bad they were starting to go numb. As the rain showed no mercy, the surface of the water bubbled against the raindrops; the trees swayed violently as if they were trying to become unrooted at the wind's mercy. Sam dropped to her knees from the rock she had been sitting on onto the ground and punched as hard as she could with both fists, sending a gush of water upwards from the pond, letting out an almighty scream.

She collapsed, her cheek cold and flat on the mud. She could see the surface of the water still hit by the incoming droplets, but the wind, the deafening roar, had gone quiet all of a sudden.