Disclaimer – The characters from Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel the Series belong to Constance M. Burge/Brad Kern, Joss Whedon, and whoever owns Angel. However any characters you don't recognize belong to me. I am merely borrowing the characters and hoping they'll stay for a long, long, time….lol.
Part
3
A.N: The ghost roads mentioned in this are from the Buffy books 'Out of the
Madhouse', 'Ghost Roads' and 'Sons of Entropy'. The parts about them having
traveled on them previously are also out of the books.
P.S.
Thanx to all those that reviewed. It's a lot of help. Oh, and you can now leave
Anon. Reviews…
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"The who?" Xander asked. Anya was still shocked, and Giles, Willow and Tara all
had varying expressions of disbelief.
"The Charmed One's, sweetie." Anya said softly.
"They exist? But how? I mean none of the portents have shown it, or the
Watcher's Council would have let us know. They would be valuable allies, I
should think." Giles sounded affronted at the idea that such a powerful force
had arisen, and he, as Watcher to one of the two current Slayers, didn't know
about it.
"Well, why don't you call them and ask?" Dawn asked matter-of-factly. The
others all nodded and turned to Giles, who nodded and then picked up the phone.
Ten minute's later he hung up and then looked at them. He was about to speak
when the phone rang. He answered, looked surprised, then nodded. There were a
few 'mms' and 'uh huh' and then finally, 'yes, well then, I'll see you in a few
minutes.' When they all gave him curious stares, he spoke.
"That was Cordelia on the phone. It seems she had a vision that was very
similar to your dreams, so the three of them are coming here. They'll be here
in a few minutes."
"Dead-boy's coming back? Wait…Cordelia's coming back?" Xander asked Giles
unhappily.
"Yes, I assume that that is what he just said." Spike said derisively.
"There's more. Apparently Faith had the same dream, so she's coming back with
them." Giles voice was even in tone, as he looked to see Buffy's reaction.
Surprisingly, it was Dawn who spoke, not Buffy.
"You mean Faith, as in, Faith…psycho-crazy loony slayer?" Her voice shook a
bit.
"That's exactly who he means lil'bit. Only I don't think Angel would bring her
along if she was still a 'psycho-crazy loony slayer', as you put it." Spike
answered for Giles again, though this time his tone was a lot gentler.
"So what did the council say?" Tara asked, trying to change the subject. She
hated the tension that arose in the group whenever anyone mentioned Angel,
Cordelia or Faith.
"Huh? Oh right. Apparently, the charmed ones do exist. Their powers were
unleashed about three years ago. Prue, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell. Their
whitelighter is a guy called Leo Wyatt. But then things changed." Giles voice
held a note of up-coming doom.
"What changed?" Spike said for the sake of it. He didn't want to know about the
witches. Anyone who wielded that kind of power, and especially if it was a
woman, was to be avoided. And there were three of them to make matters worse.
"Do you guys remember last week? And there was a day that was really hazy? As
if we were living deja-vu?" When everyone nodded, he continued. "Well, that was
because the day was reset twice."
"Huh?"
"Wha?"
"Reset?"
"How?"
"Apparently, the youngest, Phoebe, went to the underworld, for some reason or
the other. During that time, the two older sisters went up against Shax, a
hit-man for the Source. They were-" He was cut off by Buffy.
"Who's the source?" He glared at her, and then went on.
"He's the most powerful of all demons. Their leader so to speak."
"Why haven't I faced him yet?"
"Be glad you haven't yet Slayer. You wouldn't last ten minutes against him. And
for him to send Shax against the witches - let's just say they must have been
really pissing him off." Spike's voice had gone back to his 'I'm the big bad, stuff
everyone else' tone.
"Yes, well, if you've all finished, I will continue." When he saw everyone look
at him again, he started off again. "As I was saying, the Source sent Shax
against the two elder witches. They managed to vanquish him, but unfortunately
it got caught on live-television. During the aftermath that followed, the
middle sister, Piper got shot. Their whitelighter was unable to save her, so
the youngest made a deal with the Source. One of the demons at his disposal,
Tempest, I think, had the power to turn back time. The deal was that she would
stay in the underworld and willingly turn evil if time was turned back by a
day, and Cole/Belthazor was able to go and warn her sisters about Shax and the
camera crew. The Source agreed, and then stopped Cole from warning them. This
time though, they were unable to vanquish Shax, and the eldest was killed. Leo
was able to heal the middle sister, and he then went down to the underworld to
get the youngest. They then got Tempest to turn back time again, and the eldest
two lived. The youngest died, and turning back time in such close proximity
killed Tempest. So the charmed one's were no longer."
"So there are no more charmed one's?" Willow asked; she really wanted to meet
them.
"No. The charmed one's still exist. A couple of days ago, it came to light that
there was a fourth Halliwell sister. Apparently about a year before she died,
their mother had had an affair with her whitelighter. Since relationships
between whitelighter's and witches are strictly forbidden, she had to give
their baby up. The girl's name is Paige, and two days ago she reformed the
bond, and the charmed one's are once more."
"So they do exist." A statement from Tara - the once shy girl was now getting
bolder in group discussions, though she still didn't speak out as much as she
could.
"Yep. Willow, the council is going to send an email to you on one of those
horrible computer thingies - it'll contain pictures of the three remaining
witches and their address. So I was thinking that when Angel and Cordelia get
here, you could open the ghost roads and get us to them. We have no idea of how
far we have to travel, and time is of utmost essence." Giles began searching
through their supplies.
"I'm guessing that they're from San Francisco." Buffy spoke softly. She
nervously looked at her watch. She really didn't want to see Angel. On the
other hand she really did.
"Really? Why is that?" Giles looked up sharply.
"The dream. It had scenes of Sunnydale when we saw us, of L.A when we saw Cordy
and them, and then there was San Francisco when the witches appeared." Dawn
answered seeing as her older sister had tuned Giles out.
"Well, then that will be easier. Willow, has that email come through?" He spoke
kindly to both girls, and then frowned at Buffy, who jumped up when the door to
the Magic Shop opened. They all turned to look at their old friends.
"Dead-boy. Cordelia. Wesley." Xander nodded to each of them in turn. He
deliberately left Faith out, and missed the brief look of hurt that flashed in
her face. Buffy didn't though, and she was surprised. 'Yeah, that's right
blondie…I'm not allowed to have feelings. Everyone except Faith is allowed to
have feelings…I should never have come…they all hate me…I'm not surprised…hell,
I hate me…'
"Everyone." Wesley was the only one out of the new-comers to speak. They were
all un-comfortable, but his British up-bringing meant that he had to make
pleasantries.
And so the silence began as they all stared at each other. Willow's computer
broke the silence - she had finally received the e-mail. They all gratefully
turned to the computer and watched as Willow brought up the photos.
"That's them. According to the memo, the one on the left is Prue, the one in
the middle is Piper and the one on the right is Phoebe. She's the one that
died, and the one by herself is Paige. The guy is Leo, their whitelighter." She
pointed at each one in turn. 'Wow…they're all gorgeous…not that I'd give up
Tara…but still. Hehehe…I think that Spike thinks the same…he can't stop
looking…Xander's not much better, but at least Angel and Wesley are trying to
be discreet about it. Hey…Faith's not even looking…' She then said, "Their
address is in San Francisco."
"See…I told you so." Buffy and Cordelia spoke at the same time, though the
latter was speaking to Angel and Wesley. They looked at each other, and both
gave small tentative half-smiles.
"Yes…well, is everyone ready to go?" Giles asked impatiently.
"Go? Go where?" Angel asked back.
"To San Francisco. If everyone's ready, I can open a breach to the ghost
roads."
"No way! There is no way you are getting me on those roads again." Cordelia was
terrified of those roads - she still had nightmares from the last time that she
and Willow traveled on them. 'Oh god…they want me to get on those stupid
roads…I can't…I won't…not on those roads…'
"Cordy, you really don't want to get back in the car with Angel driving, do
you?" Wesley teased. Cordelia shot Angel a terrified look, and then turned to
Willow.
"Get that damned breach open before I change my mind."
"Hey! I'm not that bad…am I?" He half-asked, with a wounded expression on his
face. They all ignored him, preferring to wait for Willow to open the breach. A
couple of seconds later, a rip in the air appeared. Through it you could see a
large desolate area.
"Whoa…we're going in that?" Dawn asked nervously.
"C'mon lil'bit. I'll protect you. But only you." Spike said, and then he jumped
in, pulling Dawn behind him.
"Hey! Wait up!" Willow cried out. She was in no hurry to revisit the ghost
roads again either, but she really, really wanted to meet the witches. Ugh…why
couldn't have Giles have suggested driving instead…so much safer…so much less
ghosts…no…bad Willow…you promised yourself that you wouldn't be such a
fraidy-cat anymore…so deal with this stupid fear you have of it…oh, why did
Giles have to remember the stupid ghost roads…here goes…' She dived in,
with Tara and Buffy close behind. Giles and Wesley followed, and the Anya and
Xander gave each other one last look and then walked in hand in hand. Angel
looked at Cordelia, and was stunned by the look on her face. He had traveled
the ghost roads before, and they scared him. He couldn't even begin to imagine
how Cordelia and Willow must have felt, battling the ghosts and trying to get a
mortally wounded Xander to Boston.
"Cordelia…you coming?" He asked gently. Then without waiting for an answer, he
grabbed her hand and jumped in. The portal closed behind them, leaving a
slightly acidic smell in the shop.
*******************************************
"Hey Piper? What's wrong with Prue?" Paige spoke softly, shooting a look at
Prue who was grabbing her keys, dressed in a black halter-top, and black
bootlegs.
"I'll be back in a couple of hours." Prue's eyes were red, and her voice was
hoarse.
"Take your time sweetie. Is Darryl going with you?" Piper replied, motioning
for Paige to wait till Prue was gone.
"Yeah. I'm picking him up." With that, she smiled half-heartedly and left.
"What was that all about? Where's she going?" Paige asked confused. She turned
to Piper, who started to speak when Cole shimmered in. "Hey Cole." Piper smiled
at him in greeting, and Cole sat down on the chair Prue had recently vacated.
"Hey guys."
"So, Piper? What's up with Prue? Where'd she go?? Paige bugged Piper.
"Prue? What's wrong with her?" Cole asked interestedly.
"Today's just a really bad day for her." Piper said evasively. She got up and
put her and Paige's dishes into the sink.
"What's so bad about today?" Cole asked.
"And where did she go?"
"Jeez…what's with all the questions?" Piper asked irritated. When she saw the
hurt look on Paige's face, she softened. "It's not a really good day for me
either. Sorry if I'm a bit short with you."
"It's ok, I just want to know why Prue looked like she had spent half the night
crying." Paige said softly. Cole was surprised.
"Prue spent half the night crying?"
"Look, its hard to explain. Cole, did Phoebe ever tell you anything about
Andy?" Piper said softly, turning to Cole. When he shook his head, Piper got up
and headed up the stairs.
"Piper…where are you going?" Paige asked curiously, following her with Cole not
far behind. Piper headed into Prue's room and began rummaging around in Prue's
closet. She pulled out an old box from the bottom and then placed it on Prue's
bed. She pulled out a photo from the top of the pile.
"This is Andy." It was all she said, pointing to the photo. It was one of Andy
and Prue just before they broke up. Paige picked it up.
"He's cute. They look good together. What happened? Couldn't he deal with Prue
being a witch or something?" Piper smiled wistfully and then put the photo and
the box back. She then headed into the attic. They followed.
"Prue and Andy had been best friends since pre-school. They began dating in
high school. They broke up just before college. And then a couple of days after
we got our powers, they met up again. Sparks flew and they started going out
again. Eventually they broke up because he couldn't deal with Prue lying to him
all the time. He was Darryl's partner, and he wanted to know why his girl
friend and her sisters were always at murder scenes. Then he found out about us
being witches. They didn't get back together for a while, but a couple of days
later, the Source sent Tempest after us. We got stuck in a time loop and then
Andy died saving our lives. He died today three years ago." Paige and Cole
looked shocked. "That's why she looks a bit sad today. Darryl and Prue go to
his grave every year."
"I don't know what to say…poor Prue." Paige's voice was soft. Cole was about to
say something when Leo orbed in.
"Hey honey." Piper smiled at him. He looked serious. "What's wrong? Did the
elders find out more about Prue's premonition? Wow…that felt so weird saying
that…"
"The others in Prue's premonition will be here in a couple of minutes. A couple
of your old friends, Cole, are with them too, apparently. Two vampires -
William and Angelus, and a vengeance demon - Anyanka. Where's Prue?" Leo asked,
looking around.
"At the cemetery. Why are they coming here?" Paige asked, at the same time as
Cole spoke.
"Oh boy…those three? Here?" Just as Leo was about to speak, a rip in the air
appeared. A lot of people popped out, with two of them holding blankets over
their bodies.
"I'm guessing that that's them?" Piper asked dryly, pulling the drapes so the
sunlight would be blocked. "Hi. How's it going?" She asked cheerfully as the
two blankets got unceremoniously pulled off. She studied the group in front of
her. There actually seemed to be two separate groups, one of three, and the
rest in the other. There was a lone girl standing by herself. She looked again
and then blinked. 'It couldn't be her…could it? But it looks like her…but
then again, it's been years since I've seen her. It couldn't hurt to try
though…' "Fai…Faith?" Her voice shook, and they all looked up.
*****************************************
"I'll wait for you in the car…" Darryl said softly, before walking away
quietly. Prue turned to watch him and then turned back to Andy's grave.
"Well Andy…it's been three years…but I made it…it's been hard, but I made it.
God, Andy…why'd you have to go and leave…and now I've lost Phoebe too. It
doesn't seem fair…it's not fair that I had to watch mom die…that I had to
practically raise Piper and Phoebe…that I lost you. I love Paige, and I can't
help but like her. You remember when you said that to me once. It was after I
had had that huge fight with Phoebe. You told me that to love a person, it
wasn't absolutely necessary to like them. You have no idea how much I kept to
that saying when I was in college. Hey Andy…thank you." Prue was turning to
leave when she was jerked into a sudden premonition. Darkness…that same
group of people…fighting…something else…someth - . "What?" 'what just
happened? I was having a premonition, when all of a sudden it got cut off…I
better get back to the manor…'
***********************************
"Piper? Oh my god…if it isn't cousin Piper." Faith was stunned to say the
least.
"Faith? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be back in New York
with Aunt Amy?"
"She's your cousin?" Paige asked Piper.
"Yeah, from Victor's side."
"You guys still pissed at Uncle Vic? Last I heard, even Prue had decided to
give him a chance." Faith asked curiously.
"Well, that was before he couldn't be bothered to show up at his own daughter's
funeral. And if you thought Prue was pissed at him before, mention him to her
right now and see what her reaction is." Piper said bitterly.
"I can imagine…where is Prue anyway? And who's she?" Before Piper or Paige
could answer, Cordelia butted in.
"Faith…aren't you gonna introduce us?" Her voice was painfully cheery. Paige
and Piper both winced inwardly, and then smiled when Faith scowled.
"Sure…guys, that's my cousin Piper, I have no idea who the rest of them are,
and Piper, these are my…uh…my associates, if you will, Buffy, Willow, Xander,
Dawn, Spike, Giles, Angel, Cordelia, Wesley and Tara." After a whole lot of
'hellos', Piper spoke.
"That's Leo, he's my husband, that's Paige, she's my sister and that's Cole,
he's a good friend."
"Belthazor." Angel said evenly.
"Angelus. And I go by Cole now."
"Much as I hate to ruin this little reunion, Piper, where's Prue? And I'm
really sorry to hear about Phoebe. She was fun." Piper was about to answer when
they heard the front door slam. They all followed Piper and Paige down the
stairs where they saw Prue and Darryl arguing.
"What's the big deal Darryl? Why do I have to turn on the damn tv? I have to
talk to Piper and Paige."
"Just watch Prue." Darryl dug up the remote and switched the set on. There was
a news update going on.
'Breaking news today…a riot at San Francisco Prison broke out today, leaving
two prisoner's and a guard dead. One of the deceased is one Bane Jessup…'
Prue's face whitened as she watched, and she slumped down on the sofa. Darryl
switched the tv off and turned to look at her.
"I got the call while I was in the car. I knew the two of you had some sort of
history, but I didn't know how to tell you. Are you okay?" Prue laughed
bitterly, and then said;
"Aren't I always." She paused and then spoke again when she saw Piper. "Hey
guys. Hey wait…you're the one's from my premonition…oh my god….Faith?"
"Hey Prue…" Faith said quietly. 'Wow…Prue looks terrible…I wonder what
happened? It can't be all from Phoebe's death…and Prue was always better at
keeping things in…'
"Prue, sweetie…what's wrong?" They had missed the broadcast. When Prue didn't
say anything, Darryl answered for her.
"There was a riot at the prison…Bane's dead." While everyone else just looked
confused, Piper looked upwards and swore viciously.
"Why today of all days? Haven't we…hasn't she been through enough?" All of this
was said under her breath, and no one else heard.
"Who's Bane?" Paige asked Leo.
"Don't look at me, I don't know." Was all they got out of him. Hearing his
voice, Prue seemed to shake out of it.
"Leo, I had a premonition today, except it got cut off right at the end."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean someone just hit pause…stop…what ever…it just stopped." She then turned
to Piper and asked, "What are they doing here?" Before Piper could speak, there
was a general outcry of;
"Giles told us to get our butts here," from all the Sunnydale'rs except for
Giles. Spike just scowled and looked outside.
"Oh…right…ok." Prue nodded and then got up and started going up the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna take a shower…something tells me it'll be a while before I'll be
able to take another one…"
TBC