Piper wearily got to her feet and let Paige completely heal her. Then she turned to Clare and Melinda.

"Explain to me what just happened. Did you have that power all along and just neglect to tell us?" Clare looked shocked and opened her mouth.

"I have never used that power before. I..i..i didn't know I could do that." Her eyes hardened.

"I just got so angry at what he said about Josh. No one is going to take him away from me. No one." Piper nodded and turned to Melinda with a smile.

"And you honey, it looks like your powers have grown or you have gained a new one! Now we just need to work out what actually happened back there." Paige looked at Josh.

"Can you tell me exactly what happened when Melinda did…'that' to the demon?" He looked confused and spoke up.

"Well, Melinda orbed back in and I told her to freeze the demon. But then instead it was covered in those orby things and disappeared. Then it came back a few minutes later when you were here." Piper frowned then picked up a stone from the ground.

"Mel honey, try and do the same to the stone that you did to the demon. Ok?" Melinda nodded. Piper threw the stone into the air and Melinda quickly waved her hands at it. The stone fell a couple of inches then froze. Melinda face fell and Paige put her arm round her shoulders.

"Don't be sad, I had a tough time with my powers when I first got them, maybe us being ½ whitelighter makes it harder?" Melinda smiled but then she stopped when Piper said.

"We all had a tough time with our powers when we first got them. I remember all the stuff I blew up by accident." They all laughed and then Piper took Melinda's hand.

"We'll try again. This time try and feel like you did when the demon attacked." She plucked the stone out of its freeze and threw it up again. Melinda's face set and she waved her hands again. The stone fell a little then was covered in light and fizzled out. Melinda shouted happily and jumped up and down.

"I did it! Did you see? I did it!" They all smiled and then Paige clicked her fingers.

"I think I've got it! Piper, your powers are to do with time..the slowing and speeding of it." Piper nodded looked puzzled. Paige continued.

"We know that Melinda has inherited some, if not all of your powers, or at least she will do." Piper poked Paige in the arm.

"Paige! What exactly are you getting at?" Paige rubbed her arm and stuck her tongue out at Piper.

"Well, maybe Melinda's whitelighter part changes the way her time based powers. Maybe she pushes the object out of time for a short period using her orbing powers combined with your time ones." Piper nodded slowly then pursed her lips.

"Well technically its not actual time I change, it's the things in time that I affect…you know..molecules and all that crap. But what you say does make sense. Now we need to find out when the 'pushed' items re appear."

"I don't think they stay away for very long." Said Melinda. Piper was about say something when the stone re appeared in front of her. As a reflex she threw up her hands and it exploded. Dust and small bits debris pattered down onto them. Paige coughed and pushed Piper.

"Gee Piper, thanks for that." She said sarcastically. Piper grinned and brushed dust out of her hair.

"If that was a demon you'd be thanking me." She said as Paige rolled her eyes. Josh stood in front of Clare.

"Does this mean I will get some of your powers as well mom? That shield thing would be so cool." She brushed the bits of stone off his clothes and smiled.

"I think you will one day. Maybe it will be changed by the firestarter in you. Who knows what powers you'll eventually get." He squirmed away from her touch and looked serious for a second.

"What power would Susanna have? A fire one like me?" Clare's eye shut for a minute and she took a deep breath.

"Clare, are you ok?" asked Paige with a concerned look on her face. Clare exhaled deeply and managed a weak smile.

"I was just thinking about what Leo said. You know about Susanna being a powerful witch, or at least she will be eventually. I just want her back and I sure as hell don't want her to be evil when we get her again." Piper bent down to pick up the demon's athame. Her nose wrinkled and she held it at arms length.

"This demon seems to like using athames, and they all seem to have the same design on them." She pointed to an intricate that covered the hilt. Three serpents entwined around a sword. The bright sunlight reflecting off the silver metal almost made it look like the serpent's tongues were moving. Piper cringed and started to walk back into the Manor.

"We'll check the book for the symbol and we can scry for Susanna and the demon at the same time.

* * *

"Come now child, if you don't eat you will become weak and die." Said a tall demon in dark red robes. He held out a Mars Bar to a small child, who was curled up in the corner a small room. She moved closer to the wall and shook with silent sobs. The demon straightened up quickly and threw the chocolate to the ground.

"If you have any sense you will eat that!" He snarled. A short, hooded figure appeared silently behind the tall demon, in a blaze of orange light.

"Scaring the child will achieve nothing Hakar." The tall demon spun on the spot and drew a dagger from his robes. He jabbed it at the hooded figure and brought it to a stop with a gasp. The dagger flashed in the candle light, clearly showing the emblem of 3 serpents and a sword. He sheathed it and bent to one knee murmuring apologies.

"Remember the child must join us willingly or she will never truly make the crossing to evil. Treat her with care. If any harm comes to her you will be to blame." Hakar stood slowly and looked at the hooded figure with despair.

"I know not what to do. I try to feed her, to coax her into learning the magic! I even acquired some mortal food for her." He gestured to the discarded Mars Bar. The hooded figure removed the hood and smoothed her dark hair. Then she stepped to the chocolate and picked it up.

"Hello child." She said softly. The child looked up and stared.

"Won't you tell me your name? We could be friends you know." The child blushed and stuttered.

"S..S..Susanna."

* * *

"I am getting blanks in the book. I can't find any sign of the symbol from the athame. Some celestial help would be real helpful right about now grams." She said hopefully whilst looking up.

"Thanks so much grams." She added sarcastically when nothing happened. She shut the book angrily and turned to Paige and Clare.

"You guys having any luck?" Paige shook her head and Clare looked close to tears.

"Damn it! We're gonna have to wait till Phoebe gets back now. She better get a premonition or we're stuc…" She caught Clare's expression of horror and quickly corrected herself.

"Or we're stuck till Leo gets back, and we all know how long he can be." Paige caught her eye and frowned, Piper shrugged and gestured at Clare who was scrying again. The crystal glowed slightly and suddenly honed in onto the map. Clare leapt to her feet and shouted.

"I found her! I found her!"

* * *

"Hello then Susanna. Won't you have some food for me? I would hate to see my new friend get ill." She spoke coaxingly while she held out the Mars Bar. Susanna took it warily and then pushed it back at the woman. Hakar suddenly hissed in shock and spoke in a panicked voice to the woman.

"Seer! The witches! They have found us!" The woman turned and stared angrily at him.

"Don't just scream about fool! Do your magic priest and hide us from them." Hakar shut his eyes and started to chant. His hands glowed and he held them above his head. Dark green waves of light surged out and flew to the top of the room. They flowed smoothly from the ceiling and down the walls to the floor. With a sudden flash the green light was gone. Hakar gasped and fell to his knees.

"It is done." He spoke wearily. The Seer smiled and turned to Susanna. Her mouth was open in shock and she was trembling with fright. The Seer held out her hand.

"Look Susanna. I have something to show you." A small ring appeared in the same orange light that the Seer had appeared in earlier. It was a dark gold and had words etched onto the inside band. Small blood red stones lay around the outer ring.

"A present for you. To show we are friends." Susanna's eyes lit up and she reached for the ring. She put it on. The red stones blazed for a second, and an identical ring on the Seer's finger mirrored the reaction. She smiled and took Susanna's hand.

"Now we are bound to each other."

* * *

Piper's face broke into a smile and she rushed over. Paige was standing next to Clare, looking to where the crystal landed.

"That's a relief, now we can orb over to her..what the hell?" A dark green light was spreading out from where the crystal had landed.

"W..w..whats going on? Does this usually happen?" Clare was looking panicked at the green that was flowing up the crystal.

"No, never. Drop the crystal Clare and back off." Said Piper with an uncertain look in her eye. Clare dropped the cord that held the crystal. The crystal itself had turned the same Dark green and had started to rise slowly into the air. Paige called for it.

"Crystal!" It flickered in the orbs but stayed put. Paige reached out for it. But Piper grabbed her hand.

"Paige no! Who knows what it could do? I'll blow it up." She set her shoulders and waved her hands purposefully at the crystal. It bulged for a second and then burst into a cloud of sparkling green crystal shards. They hung like a mist, unmoving in front of them. Piper looked at Paige and lifted her hands questioningly. Paige nodded and backed away with Clare. Piper waved her hands again. The cloud ignited with a boom and a sickly green shockwave hit them. The force knocked them back and into the walls of the attic. They lay unmoving.

* * *

Josh heard the explosion and dropped the cartoon of milk he was holding. Melinda orbed in fright and the glass she had been holding dropped to the ground. It shattered and Josh stood not knowing what to do.

"Mom! Piper? Paige? What was that? Hello?" When no one answered he ran towards the stairs, then stopped uncertainly and ran back to the kitchen. Melinda orbed back and he ran to her.

"I called but no one answered! What shall we do?" Melinda took his hand and moved towards the stairs.

"We have to go and see what happened." He stopped her.

"What happens if there's a demon?" His eyes widened.

"What happens if it's 'that' demon?" She gave him a wry smile.

"He should know by now that we can't be beaten." Hand in hand they softly went up the stairs.

* * *



"Be gone from me and take the girl with you." The Seer turned from Hakar and wove her hands above a cauldron of steaming liquid. She muttered demonic words and the steam took shape. It depicted Piper, Paige and Clare lying helpless in the attic of the Manor. She moved her hand through the image and it dissipated. With a smile she clapped her hands. In a blaze of orange 'the' demon that had tried and failed to kill Clare and her family appeared. He bowed to the Seer. The smile faded from her face and she narrowed her eyes.

"You have failed to kill the witch and her capture her offspring, failed twice in fact. For that alone I should kill you where you stand." The demon backed away from her but she held up her hand.

"However you have secured one of the children so I give you one last chance. The witch and her protectors lie helpless in the Halliwell Manor. Go now and destroy them. Then return to me with the boy. I don't see how you could possible fail."

The demon bowed deeply and spoke his thanks before shimmering out. The Seer returned to the cauldron and spoke softly to herself.

"They say third times a charm."

Wooooo! Chapter 4 is done. It was a bit longer than usual but I couldn't help but write it. Ah well, remember to review me or I'll set 'that' demon on your asses…not that he would do much, what with him being so useless and everything. Shhhh now. Hehe.