Chapter 26: Morality Bites

In the Kitchen at the manor Buffy and Piper brings in the groceries. Buffy's holding her shoe. Prue and Phoebe smell something.

"Whoa. What did you buy?" Phoebe asks.

"You don't want t to know." Buffy says as she wrinkles her nose.

"Doodie." Piper says as Buffy glares at her.

Prue shakes her head, "We weren't out of that."

Buffy sighs, "No, I stepped in it, again. You'd think being the Slayer I would be able to avoid stuff like that."

"That man has turned our front walk into a puppy minefield." Piper says.

Phoebe sighs, "I can not believe that guy still lets his dog do his business right in front of our house."

Prue nods, "Yeah, well, we've left notes."

"And gotten no where." Buffy says. "I'm just about ready to knock him about with full Slayer strength."

Phoebe sighs, "Yeah, well, I've had it. The next time I catch him in the act, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind. Or let Buffy knock him about."

A dog barks out front.

"That couldn't be." Piper says.

Phoebe frowns, "Oh, I hope it is."

They run to the window in the living room.

Buffy nods, "That's them. That's the guy and his dog."

Piper nods, "I can't believe it."

"That is so rude. He's just gonna walk away." Prue says.

Phoebe nods, "Then don't let him. Use your magic. Well, if you can't teach the dog new tricks, how about the owner. Just think the money we'd save on carpet cleaning alone."

Prue sighs, "Phoebe, we can't use our magic just to teach him or anybody else a lesson. Just as Buffy can't hurt a mortal with her Slayer abilities."

Buffy rolls her eyes, "But it would be oh so fun."

Phoebe sighs, "Why not? It's for the greater good, I mean, I mean, that's our job, right? Think of it as community service. We'd be doing our whole block a favor. Come on." She opens a window. "Okay, Piper."

"I hope he's not out of my range." Piper says as she freezes the guy.

Buffy smiles, "Prue..." Prue flicks the poo on his shoe. "Nice shot."

He unfreezes.

Phoebe nods, "An eye for an eye, a shoe for a shoe."

The guy sees the poo on his shoe and tries to wipe it off. He looks around.

"Ooh!" Piper, Phoebe and Prue say as they and Buffy duck.

"Did he see you?" Prue says.

Phoebe shrugs, "So what if he did? What's he gonna do? Cry witch?" The guy walks off. "Well, we've done our good deed for the day. I think I deserve fifteen minutes of channel surfing."

"Who wants coffee?" Piper asks.

Prue nods, "I'll grind."

"I think I will just get a coke." Buffy says.

Buffy, Prue and Piper go to the kitchen. Phoebe sits on the couch and turns on the TV. A news report about Cal Greene shows up. Phoebe has a premonition. She makes a noise and Buffy, Prue and Piper come in.

"Phoebe, are you okay?" Prue asks.

Piper nods, "Take a deep breath, honey, it's all right."

Phoebe shakes her head, "No, it's not. I saw my future. I was being executed. Burned alive. I was watching a report on a baseball player when it happened. And all three of you were just standing there along with a woman I didn't recognize."

"Why would a report about a baseball player trigger a premonition like that?" Buffy asks.

Phoebe shrugs, "I don't know. All I know is I could feel it, I could feel the fire."

Piper sighs, "And we were just standing there? That can't be right."

Phoebe nods, "That's what I saw."

"There's no way that we would let that happen, not in the past, present or future." Prue says.

Buffy nods, "Yeah Pheebs."

Phoebe nods, "What did I do? Or what is it that I'm going to do?"

The doorbell rings.

"That's Leo. I'll get that." Piper says as moves to open the door. "Hey, stranger."

Leo smiles, "Is that what I am now?"

"Playing hooky?" Piper asks.

Leo shakes his head, "No, they're making me work tonight so I've got the afternoon off." He and Piper hug.

Piper nods, "The old 'I gotta save the world' excuse again?"

"Like you've never had to use it." Leo says.

Piper smiles, "Ahh..."

Leo nods, "You're about to use it."

Piper sighs, "Well, there's just something I have to do. Maybe you could..."

The whitelighters make a noise to call Leo.

"Now?" Leo asks.

Piper frowns, "Uh... Leo?"

Leo sighs, "It's okay, uh, you go. There's actually something I have to take care of."

Piper nods, "Well, we really need to talk about things, you know, where we stand."

"Yeah, we do. Rain check?" Leo asks.

"That's what we do best." Piper says as she and Leo kiss. Leo orbs out in the middle of the kiss. "I hate when he does that."

Piper joins Buffy, Prue and Phoebe at the bottom of the stairs and they head up to the attic.

"So, what did he want?" Prue asks.

Piper sighs, "He cancelled our date. He's working again."

"You didn't ask him what we should do?" Buffy asks.

Piper shakes her head, "He had to fly... literally." She sees the pages in both books flipping. "The pages were doing that flipping thing on their own again."

They look at what the page says.

"It's a spell to take us to the future." Buffy says.

Piper nods, "Two actually. One to send us, one to bring us home. But apparently we only get one shot. Once we use it they disappear."

Phoebe shakes her head, "Wait a minute, you guys. We almost died going back to the past. This is not something that you just do."

"We're talking about your life, Phoebe." Prue says.

Phoebe sighs, "And I'm talking about yours, Prue. I'm just saying I think we should think this over a little bit."

Buffy sighs, "You had that premonition today for a reason."

Prue nods, "It must mean that we're supposed to do something about it. And going to the future might be the only way to find out what you did to put you on that pyre."

"How do you know it's something that I did? I mean, it might be a demon or a warlock that puts me there." Phoebe asks.

"Do you really want to wait to find out? Okay, pack your bags. We go, try to figure out what happened and hopefully come back with enough information to stop it. We're gonna need a date, Phoebe." Prue says.

Phoebe sighs, "February 12, 2007. That's two weeks before the date I saw in my premonition."

Buffy nods, "That should give us more than enough time to figure out what put you there."

"I wonder how I look?" Piper says.

Buffy rolls her eyes.

Phoebe shakes her head, "Piper, you look great but this is hardly the time ..."

Piper rolls her eyes, "Not now. In the future. When we went back to the seventies we saw ourselves as kids and now we'll be seeing ourselves walking around ten years older. All that vanquishing. Think of the wear and tear."

"Okay." Prue says as she lights a match and burns the paper. "Hear these words, hear the rhyme."

Piper nods, "We send to you this burning sign."

"Then our future selves will find." Phoebe says.

"In another place and time." Buffy says as they disappear.

Buffy wakes up in her room upstairs in the manor. "What am I doing here?" She walks down the stairs.

"Hey Auntie Buffy." A little girl says as she passes Buffy on the stairs.

"Auntie Buffy?" Buffy says puzzled as she follows the girl into the living room.

"Mommy, mommy, mommy." The girl says running over to Piper.

Piper frowns, "Uh, I think you have the wrong house. Certainly the wrong mommy."

The girl smiles, "Stop fooling." She hugs Piper. A car honks. "Car pool." She runs off.

Piper looks in the mirror. "Ooh." She sees a wedding ring on her finger. "Ooh!"

Buffy sees the TV with a report about Phoebe, "Piper, TV."

Piper looks to Buffy and nods as she looks at the TV, "Where's the volume?" She looks around for a remote. The sound gets louder by itself.

"More news on the execution of Phoebe Halliwell coming up in just a moment. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming MTV's Real World 18, on the moon." The reporter says.

"Mom, Auntie Buffy, I'm gonna be late." The girl says.

Piper looks to Buffy, "Auntie Buffy?" Buffy shrugs. Piper looks back at the TV, "Okay, uh, TV shut up. Mute. Something."

Piper and Buffy walks to the door.

The neighbor smiles, "Morning, Piper, Payson. You two all right?"

"I guess." Piper says.

Buffy nods.

The neighbor sighs, "Yeah, with Phoebe, it's rough, I know. So, Piper don't worry about your little one. I'll get her to school like you asked but uh, are you sure you want me to take her to your ex's?"

Piper looks to Buffy confused, "Ex? As in husband? As in mine? Yes, if that is what I told you, then yes."

"So, you and him are getting along better now?" The neighbor says.

Piper nods, "Maybe. Prue? Prue?"

The neighbor nods, "Okay, kiddo, let's hit the road."

The girl whispers to Piper and Buffy. "Don't worry, mommy, Auntie Buffy. I promise I'll do what you both asked. I won't use my magic again, ever."

Piper and Buffy goes outside and watches them drive off. A limo pulls up. Prue and her assistants get out of the limo. They fuss over her by brushing and touching her.

Prue sighs, "Hey, hey. Okay, enough! People, stop touching me. Stay, stay, stay."

"Prue, what's going on?" Buffy asks.

Prue shrugs, "I don't know, but I could really get used to it. Check me out. I don't just work at Bucklands, I own it. And three more. Paris, Tokyo and London."

"And you're blonde." Piper says.

Prue nods, "Yeah, strange."

"Wait, you had time to go to work already?" Buffy asks.

Prue shakes her head, "Well, actually, I woke up there but it was amazing. I had all these assistants and this huge office and I have a chauffeur and he's so totally hot. How'd you two do?" Piper laughs. "Is that a good thing or...?"

They walk inside.

Piper nods, "Well, if you ignore my apparently failed marriage and the fact that I'm still living in the manor."

Buffy rolls her eyes, "Apparently I'm still living in the manor. Though on the good side at least I am still alive."

"You are married?" Prue asks.

Buffy's phone rings.

Piper nods, "Was. My daughter is on her way..."

Prue shakes her head, "Wait. Stop right there. You have a daughter?"

Buffy answers her cell, "Hello?"

"Where are you at, Buffy?" someone says on the other end of the phone.

Piper nods, "Yeah, and, and, and she's beautiful." She shows Prue a photo.

"Who is this?" Buffy asks.

"It's Dawn, Buffy. You were supposed to meet me at the club we are supposed to be doing interviews for a new bartender." Dawn said.

Prue smiles, "Of course she is. What's her name?"

Then Buffy sees it on the wall, a family portrait. Her eyes go wide as she sees five in the photo: Piper, Phoebe and Prue and then her and another woman. Then she sees what's written in the corner of the photo: To my sister, Buffy. Happy Birthday, Dawn.

"Uhm we kind of have a family emergency, Dawn. I will be there as soon as possible." Buffy says as she hangs up the phone.

Piper nods, "Oh God. I don't know. But, Prue, she has powers. But for some reason Buffy and I told her not to use them. Why would we do that?"

Prue nods, "Speaking of why... Why are we in our future bodies? I mean, I thought we were supposed to come here and see them."

"Well, apparently going to the past isn't the same as going to the future. I just wish that since we are in our future bodies that we could have some memory of what's happened in the last ten years, like how I got a daughter." Piper says.

"Or how I have a sister." Buffy says.

Prue and Piper look to Buffy who motions to the portrait on the wall. Their eyes go wide as they read what is written in the corner.

"Okay, wait a second, if I'm in my future body and you guys are in your future bodies then that means that Phoebe..." Prue says.

Piper nods as she sees Phoebe on the TV, "TV... louder, louder."

The volume on the TV gets louder.

"...execution. We're less than eight hours away now until the burning of Phoebe Halliwell. The witch accused of murdering Cal Greene six months ago." The reporter says.

Buffy frowns, "Eight hours? We were supposed to be here two weeks before."

"Shh..." Prue says.

"Let's go there now live where Sierra Stone is standing by. Sierra..." The reporter says.

"San Francisco district attorney, Nathaniel Pratt, who's discovery of the witch last August, has made him an early favour for the governor's seat, just came out to make a statement. Let's listen in." Sierra says.

"This is a reflection of our citizens' resolve to ferret out the hidden evil. To turn fear into fight, and to band together as one. To cleanse our city of its greatest threat. Tonight, Phoebe Halliwell will burn for her crime. And when she does, let that be a warning to other witches out there. You're next." Pratt says.

They turn and walk upstairs.

"Oh, surprise. Here we go, up the stairs, into the attic, grabbing the Book of Shadows. Please tell me we're still not gonna be doing this in ten years." Prue says.

The Charmed Book is not there. In fact neither is Buffy's.

Piper shakes her head, "Apparently not."

"What?" Prue asks.

Buffy nods, "Both books are gone."

Prue frowns, "They got to be here, we need them to find the return spell."

"Prue..." Piper says.

Prue shakes her head, "Buffy, Piper, just help me look for them."

Buffy nods, "Okay, relax, we'll find them."

"You two don't know that. I mean, what if their lost, what if we can't find them? Then we're stuck in our future bodies with no way of getting out of them and no way of saving Phoebe." Prue says as she flicks her arm and her power destroys the attic.

"Ooh! Been working out?" Piper says.

Prue nods, "I guess that's a little sample of what ten years does to our powers."

"And to our attic." Buffy says as she sees a pair of keys underneath a turned over table." Keys." She picks them up and hands them to Prue.

Prue nods, "One of them's the key to my wall safe at Bucklands."

Piper nods, "The other looks to be the key to the safe at P4."

Buffy nods, "Do you think that means that there well there? We've never taken either book out of the house before."

"Yeah, we haven't but maybe our future selves have. The question is why?" Prue says.

A young woman, about 20 years old, walks into the attic, "Ok what's the family emergency?"

Buffy looks to the woman and thinks back to the portrait, "Dawn?"

Dawn nods, "Yeah. So what's the family emergency? Were not supposed to be having those anymore."

Prue looks to Dawn, "Okay I think explinations are in order. Who are you? We know Buffy doesn't have a sister."

Dawn sighs, "I'm Buffy's sister. Have been for 7 years ever since the monks created me to hide the Key, remember Prue?"

Prue shakes her head, "No I don't."

Dawn sighs, "Buffy you remember me don't you?"

Buffy shakes her head, "No I don't. If your truly my sister tell me something only we would know."

Dawn nods, "Our parents are Patience Joyce Halliwell and Hank Summers. You took mom's maiden name when we moved to San Francisco to live with Prue, Piper and Phoebe. At the request of Dad. Then after a trip to the past you changed your name from Buffy Anne to Payson Patricia to further honor mom."

"What year did we go back to?" Prue asks.

"1975." Dawn says. "You went back because of the pact that Aunt Patty and mom made with Nicholas."

Buffy nods, "Either she's a demon whose pretty good at impersonating a member of the family or she's telling the truth." Prue and Piper nods in agreement. "Dawn the reason we don't remember is because were from 10 years in the past. We traveled into the future because Phoebe had a premonition."

Dawn nods, "To find out what happened and how to stop it. I know, you told me."

Prue nods, "Why aren't the books here?"

Dawn sighs, "To hide them. I can't tell you too much, Prue. You came here to learn what happens to Phoebe. If I tell you too much it could alter the future in ways you don't want. As it is now I'm going to have to cast a spell to erase your knowledge of me."

Piper frowns, "Why?"

"Because your not supposed to know I exist before I'm sent to Buffy three years after you guys cast that spell." Dawn says.

"Ok if the books are at Bucklands or P4, maybe they'll give us some answers." Buffy says.

Prue nods, "All right, then we'll go there first, then to Phoebe to see if she's all right." They walk towards the door. "Sorry about the mess."

Piper nods, "Mmm hmm."

Dawn looks to Buffy, "Buffy and I will go to P4. Hand me the key to the safe at P4 and I will shimmer her there."

Prue hands Dawn the key. Dawn grabs Buffy's hand and they green shimmer out.

At P4 Dawn and Buffy green shimmer into the office at P4. Dawn goes over and moves a painting and opens the safe pulling out Buffy's book.

"Buffy I'm going to tell you what's going on. The reason I didn't do this in the attic is because Piper and Prue needed to learn from another source. From Leo." Dawn says.

Buffy nods, "Ok so what does this have to do with Phoebe."

Dawn sighs, "A lot of people are underground because they've been accused of practicing witchcraft. Most of them have been falsely accused."

Buffy nods, "What did Phoebe do?"

"Six months ago she killed a man. Cal Greene." Dawn says.

"The baseball player?" Buffy asks. "This is crazy. I mean, Phoebe would never hurt anyone."

Dawn sighs, "She hurt him because he murdered someone. Someone Phoebe cared about very much. A dear friend who he brutalized. But a technicality set him free. Phoebe was furious, outraged. And that's when she crossed the line from protecting the innocent to punishing the guilty. She used her power to kill Greene, got caught, and her magic exposed by Nathaniel Pratt."

Buffy's eyes go wide, "And the the result is modern day witch trials with Pratt at the helm?

Dawn sighs and nods, "And Phoebe at the stake."

"I don't buy it. Her power can't kill." Buffy says.

"Well, it can now. It's been ten years since you cast that spell to bring you here. All our powers have grown." Dawn says. "Including mine."

Buffy nods, "We have to get to Phoebe and explain."

Dawn shakes her head, "You can't. All right, as it stands, you, Piper, Prue, and myself are safe. Pratt checked us out and he doesn't suspect we're witches. To get to Phoebe you'd have to use your powers and they'll catch you then kill you."

Buffy sighs, "Dawn, she's our cousin. I'm not gonna let her die. And I'm sure Piper and Prue wouldn't either.

Dawn nods, "Leo! I think Phoebe needs to know. Let's get back to the manor. Piper and Prue will be returning soon." She takes Buffy's hand and she green shimmers back to the manor with Buffy.

Buffy sits down on the couch and flips through her book. She finds the page she's looking for and finds the return spell gone. She notices some of the pages are marked.

Dawn sits down next to Buffy.

Buffy sighs, "I know I shouldn't know too much about my own future. But did I get married?"

Dawn sighs, "No. I'm sorry. You were so focused on being a Slayer and a Witch that all your relationships ended badly."

Piper and Prue walk in the front door. "Buffy you here?"

"In here Prue." Buffy says.

Piper sighs, "You wanna tell me again exactly how screwed we are?"

Buffy looks up, "Let me guess no return spell?"

Prue nods, "Pretty screwed." She looks to Buffy. "Yeah no return spell."

"I wonder what's taking Leo so long?" Piper asks.

Prue starts flipping through the Charmed Book, "Some of these pages are marked. The top corners are turned down and all of them are new spells."

"Mine…" Buffy looks at Dawn. "Ours is the same way."

"Such as?" Piper asks.

Prue nods, "Like, here's a spell to create a door."

Buffy nods, "One to induce slumber."

"A glamour to change ones appearance. Some of them have these little baggies attached." Prue says.

"This must be potions of some kind." Piper says.

Dawn smiles, "Good guess."

Prue sighs, "But what about these? Okay, one to create money, to bend someone's will, to erase a memory, a binding spell."

"Binding? What are all these marked for?" Piper says.

Dawn sighs, "They were your future selves' plan. We were gonna use all of this to break Phoebe out."

Prue blinks, "We?"

Dawn nods, "She's my family, too. You don't think I would leave Pheebs to burn at the stake do you?"

Prue nods, "Okay something is bothering me. Clearly some of these spells are for personal gain."

"Which would break the most basic of wiccan rules. We wouldn't do that." Piper says.

"You wouldn't. But your future selves were going to for Pheebs." Dawn says.

Leo walks in.

Buffy smiles, "Perfect timing. We found the book but we can't... Where's Phoebe?"

"Where is she?" Prue asks.

Leo sighs, "She's in prison where she belongs. You didn't tell them Dawn?"

Dawn sighs, "I told Buffy only what she needed to know. They can't know too much about the future if they eventually can go back. As some things will not change. As it is I will have to cast a spell to erase their knowledge of me. Their not supposed to know I'm coming remember."

Leo nods, "Your right of course, Dawn."

"Leo, you were supposed to bring her back here." Prue says.

Leo shakes his head, "No, I said I'd go to her. And I did. To explain to her why she has to pay for her crime."

"You're our guide, you're supposed to protect us and you're just gonna let her die." Buffy says.

Prue nods, "You're signing her death warrant."

Leo sighs, "I'm to protect the greater good. If Phoebe lives, if you use your magic to save her, then the persecutions will continue. And Piper, our daughter will grow into a world where her power is punishable by death. Do you want that?"

"Of course not." Piper says.

Leo nods, "Well, then it has to end with Phoebe. She has to die."

Prue frowns, "Like hell."

Piper freezes Leo. "Relax. We've seen what your new powers can do when you're angry.

"Dawn are you with us or not?" Buffy asks.

Dawn nods, "I'm with you."

Prue nods, "Alright, let's get these spells." They tear out the spells.

Dawn stands and hold out her hands, "One shimmer express coming up."

Prue and Piper look to Buffy who nods. Buffy and Prue take Dawn's hands as Piper takes Prue's other hand. Dawn green shimmers out with them.

They green shimmer outside the Penitentiary wall.

"Don't people normally break out of prison?" Piper asks.

Prue nods, "Nothing about this is normal."

Dawn rolls her eyes, "When you love someone you will do the stupidest of things."

Buffy smiles, "Your right their, Dawnie."

Dawn laughs, "I wondered how long it would take you to call me that." They look at her. "It's my nickname. You guys always call me Dawnie. Even after I changed my name."

"You changed your name?" Buffy asks.

Dawn nods, "Remember the letter Dad gave you from mom. When the monks created me they altered a lot of things including that letter. In that letter mom said what she wanted to name both of us. 'Prudence Penelope Halliwell.' Mom wanted to name me after Great Grandma Prudence and Grams."

Prue laughs, "It must gets confusing sometimes between the two of us."

Dawn nods, "Yeah."

Piper nods pulling out one of the spells, "To create a door. Okay, but where?"

"No place like here." Prue says.

"Okay." Buffy says as she draws an imaginary door on the wall with her finger.

Prue rolls her eyes, "Kinda small for us dontcha think?"

Dawn rolls her eyes, "Not for Buffy."

Prue laughs and nods, "When you find your path is blocked, all you have to do is knock."

Buffy knocks. The door opens and they walk inside.

"Freeze!" A guard says.

"Good idea." Piper says as she freezes him.

Prue nods, "Alright, um, her cell should be up those stairs, come on. She'll be guarded, are we ready for this?"

"Do we have a choice?" Buffy asks.

Dawn and Piper nods.

They find Phoebe's cell is empty.

Prue frowns, "We're too late."

They make their way to the execution room.

"Piper, freeze them." Prue says as Piper freezes the room.

Phoebe smiles, "Prue, Piper, Buffy. And someone I don't know."

Buffy smiles, "Phoebe meet Dawn, my sister." Phoebe looks at Buffy confused. "It's a long story and one we don't get to remember."

"We're getting you outta here." Piper says.

Prue unties her.

"No, wait. You can't. Prue, I'm serious." Phoebe says.

Prue frowns, "What are you talking about?"

Phoebe sighs, "You guys have to leave. I deserve to be here. Or my future self does."

"You killed a killer. Don't be ridiculous." Dawn says.

Prue nods, "Look, this is Pratt's personal crusade. This isn't about us, this is about him. Where ever we go, he will follow us. He will hunt us. He will hunt our families. If anybody should be punished, it should be him." She gets ready to use her power.

Buffy powers up a fireball.

Phoebe frowns, "Buffy, Prue, what are you doing?"

"Saving the future good witches and our future." Prue says.

Buffy nods in agreement.

Phoebe sighs, "Buffy, Prue, wait! Don't become a murderer too. It has to end with me."

Piper sighs, "Phoebe, he was evil, he deserved what you..."

Phoebe starts to cry. "The wrong thing done for the right reason is still the wrong thing. Our job is to protect the innocent, not punish the guilty. And I crossed that line, I know that. And now you guys have to know that too."

They all start crying. Buffy extinguishes the fireball.

"We are not leaving here without you." Prue says.

Phoebe sighs, "Prue, we were sent here for a reason. Maybe not to stop this like we thought. But maybe to understand why this has to happen. Why you have to let this happen. I don't want to die. But I don't want you to die because of me." Piper and Prue hug Phoebe. Then Dawn and Buffy hug Phoebe. "I love you."

Dawn nods, "If by some miracle you all manage to go back. I just want to say I love you all and goodbye."

Buffy hugs Dawn, "I won't remember you but I look forward to seeing you again."

Dawn nods, "Powers and emotions tied. A witch's heart is where it hides. Help them to forget. Take away their memory." She wipes a tear from her face. "Goodbye." She then green shimmers out.

Prue, Phoebe, Piper and Buffy look around confused for a moment as Dawn is stripped from their memories.

Phoebe stands back next to the pole. Everyone unfreezes. They turn on the flames and Phoebe burns to death.

Buffy, Prue and Piper end up back in the manor.

"Prue..." Buffy says.

Prue frowns, "What are we doing here?"

"Phoebe? You don't think she was... we saw..." Piper says.

Prue sighs, "I know. Oh, please God, don't let it be true. Phoebe!" Phoebe walks in the room. They hug. "We thought that we lost you."

Phoebe smiles sadly, "You did. I was burned. And I could, I could feel the flames on my skin. And then I was here. I don't know what happened."

Buffy smiles, "It's okay, you're safe now, you're home."

Piper nods, "Yeah, home, but when?" She turns on the TV. The report about Cal Greene comes on.

Phoebe frowns, "Wait, that's the baseball player. That's what triggered my premonition. We're right back where we started. The day we cast a spell."

"Why?" Buffy asks.

Prue nods, "Maybe because it worked. We were sent into the future to find out what Phoebe did. We came back to stop it from happening."

Piper shakes her head, "But we didn't cast a spell to come back. We didn't even have one."

Phoebe nods, "Maybe they sent us back."

Piper sighs, "But who? And why today? If we were sent back to keep the future from happening, shouldn't we be sent back to the day Phoebe killed Cal Greene instead?"

They hear a dog bark. They go to the window.

Buffy sighs, "Not again."

The guy's dog squats on their sidewalk.

"This guy still hasn't learnt his lesson." Piper says as she moves to freeze him.

Phoebe nods, "Apparently neither have we. I think this is why we were sent back here to this moment in time. This is where it all started. The first time we used our magic for revenge."

"But it's just a little thing, it's harmless." Buffy says.

Phoebe nods, "Yeah, but once you break the small rules, it's just a matter of time before the big ones are next."

Prue smiles, "A very smart girl once told me that we were supposed to protect the innocent, not punish the guilty."

"I haven't told you yet." Phoebe says.

Piper nods, "Maybe you won't have to."

Prue sees the face of the guy. "Pratt."

Pratt walks away.

"Do you think we should follow?" Buffy asks.

Phoebe shakes her head, "No. Our little act of revenge might have been what sent Pratt on his path to seek his own."

Prue nods, "Which might have led him to start the future witch trials."

"Hopefully now he won't." Phoebe says.

Piper nods, "I still think we should keep an eye on him just in case."

"Ditto." Buffy says.

Prue nods, "Absolutely."

Later Prue picks up the phone.

"Hey, what's up?" Phoebe asks.

Prue shakes her head, "Not work. There is no way I am going to the office tonight. I'm going out with you guys. We all have a lot of changes to make if we want to avoid ending up where we just came from."

Piper smiles, "I had a future that wasn't all bad. You were like Miss Fortune 500 and I had a beautiful little girl. Though Buffy was still living at the manor."

Buffy sighs, "Yeah it would be nice to be Auntie Buffy someday. I think it's nice you had her considering me an aunt."

"What?" Phoebe says.

Piper smiles, "Details later."

Prue smiles, "You know, we can still make the good things happen, Piper. We just have to make the right choices."

"So maybe Leo and I will end up together." Piper says.

"Wait, you and Leo?" Phoebe asks.

Buffy nods, "Yep. Piper and Leo got married."

The doorbell rings.

Piper smiles, "Speak of the angel. I'll get that." She answers the door. "Hey, stranger." She grabs him and gives him a passionate kiss.

"I would have settled for a nice hello." Leo says.

Piper smiles, "Didn't anyone tell you not to settle?"

Leo smiles, "That's a good lesson."

"I've been learning a lot of them lately." Piper says.

Leo nods, "So I've heard. Look, honestly, I didn't know you were gonna be sent to the future. I don't even know what happened when you got there. All I was told was apparently you had something to learn."

"So, that's why you're here." Piper says.

Leo shakes his head, "No. That's why you're here. You four were given a glimpse of your future to learn a valuable lesson. And I'm glad you learned it too because I know they wouldn't have brought you back if you didn't. Speaking of which, they're making me work tonight, so I can't really..."

Piper nods, "This is always gonna be a problem for us isn't it?"

"I'm willing to work on it." Leo says.

Piper smiles, "Good. Because I'll never forget you said that."

They kiss passionately.

Author's Note: As you saw Dawn is the surprise guest. After this episode aired none of what was shown came true. Prue died, Piper's first child with Leo was not a girl. I wanted there to be one thing in the story that would still come true to show that somethings were still possible.

On the Shimmer, yes it's traditionally a demonic power. But I wanted Dawn to have it anyways. Like the Slayer influenced Buffy's power. The Key influenced Dawn's power. It is also why the shimmer was green. The color of the shimmer was a nod to the fact that during one of Glory's dialogues with Dawn she said the last time she caught a peep it was green swirly shimmer. Any other powers that Dawn has will not be seen till she arrives during the season 5 story arc