"Wyatt!" Maggie shouted. "Your powers comes from your emotions! Use them!"

"Two…" Chris said.

Wyatt looked at Piper and Paige lying on the ground, and at his coven. As he saw the horror of what was happening around him he realized that their only chance was to fight. He knew he had to protect those he cared about, and he felt the power of his heritage rising within him.

"Three," Chris said.

Wyatt orbed, escaping the grip of the two demons. The Source's hand dropped, extinguishing the flames that had appeared around Jill. Wyatt reappeared next to the energy cage. Though the crystals were still covered in fog, the convergence of the energy beams showed him where one of them had to be. He raised his shield, and prepared to kick the crystal out of formation.

Warlocks blinked in around Wyatt. He made a dismissive motion with his hand, and his shield expanded quickly, throwing the warlocks back. The shield returned to the previous size, and Wyatt knocked the crystal away. The energy cage vanished.

"Kill her!" Chris ordered as he prepared a fireball. The warlock raised his knife over Piper's chest, but Prue threw him back before he could strike, while Kevin used his power to conceal Piper.

Chris threw the fireball he was holding, aiming directly at Prue. She had barely enough time to deflect the blast, and it nearly struck Maggie after the telekinetic push had thrown it off course.

The demonic horde seemed stunned by what was happening. It had been nearly fifteen years since they had faced serious resistance. Destroying covens of terrified and helpless witches hadn't prepared them for the power of a Halliwell enraged.

But the Source wasn't so easily intimidated, and another flame was already forming in Chris' hand. This time Jill was prepared. She threw her dagger, striking the fireball. The two weapons annihilated each other, releasing a wave of energy and knocking Chris off his feet.

As he fell, the witches heard Maggie's voice shouting in their minds: Run!

Jill bent down, and picked up Paige. She moved quickly, but carefully avoided touching the tip of the darklighter arrow that was still protruding from Paige's chest.

Wyatt orbed again. He moved like a hurricane of light as he gathered the other witches. The Source threw a fireball at them uselessly as their orbs escaped back to Earth.



They managed to reach the manor, though the landing wasn't been perfect. Piper and Paige were on the floor, unconscious. Phoebe sat on the couch and rested her head in her hands, and Maggie sat next to her. Prue was standing next to the couch, while Kevin stood a few feet away, seemingly unsure of what to say or do.

Wyatt put his hand over Piper's forehead, waking her, while Jill carefully pulled the arrow out of Paige. Once Piper was sitting up, Wyatt moved to heal Paige.

"I can't believe that Chris was the Source," Phoebe said. "He was our whitelighter for years, and he was lying to us the whole time. What about all those times he healed us? All the times he saved our lives?"

"He must have been planning this from the start," Prue said. "He knew killing you wouldn't have helped him become a god. He needed a real whitelighter on his side."

Wyatt moved his hand away from Paige, and helped her to her feet.

"But how could he know we would do this?" Kevin asked.

"He didn't give us a choice," Prue said. "And he knew we'd risk anything to stop him."

"Wait," Piper said, sitting next to Phoebe. "Chris was the Source? I thought he was a warlock. How else would he get whitelighter powers?"

"He probably was a warlock, once," Jill said.

"He must have forced the leaders in the underworld to make him the Source." Prue said. "With the Charmed Ones and the Grimoire on his side, they couldn't have stopped him."

"Not to mention everything he learned from the future," Phoebe said.

"The Source came from the future?" Jill asked.

"Yeah, but not this future. He was from a couple of years ago, I think. Except that future didn't actually happen because we beat the titans, so we're in this future now. I mean, the present that we're in, which wasn't the one he came from. Which would've been the past—" Phoebe shook her head. "I really, really hate time travel."

"Thanks for explaining that, Phoebe. Clear as crystal," Kevin said.

"Ugh, don't mention crystals," Prue said.

"We should check the Book of Shadows for ways to get out of those crystal energy traps," Paige said. "All the times I used those things and I never once thought about escaping one."

"Good idea," Wyatt said. "We might need it when we go back."

"Go back?" Kevin said. "What are you talking about?"

"We have to go back," Wyatt said. "Everything is there. Those powers are still the only chance we have."

"Wyatt, we lost," Kevin said. "What makes you think it would be any different the next time?"

"We didn't know what to expect. We only lost because we trusted Chris," Wyatt said. "He won't be able to do it again."

"Wyatt…" Maggie began. He looked at her, but she only lowered her head, knowing there was nothing she could say.

"If you don't want to go, that's all right. We still have the Charmed Ones." Wyatt turned to face Prue. "What do you think, Prue? We're the Halliwells. We can't let a demon beat us."

Prue looked at the others for a moment before she answered. "I think we should look for another way."

"We've talked about this," Wyatt said. "There isn't any other way."

"Then we'll have to save the innocent from down here, just like we always have," Prue said.

"You've never given up before. I can't believe you're saying this now," Wyatt said.

"I once fought death itself to save an innocent. Even though I knew I couldn't win, I almost died because I thought I had no choice. But it taught me that some things can't be changed, that sometimes the only way to win is to stop fighting," Prue said. "I don't think we were meant to change this."

"Paige, what about you?" Wyatt asked. "You didn't let me give up before, and I know you won't now."

"We'll find a way, but this isn't it," Paige said.

"This is what you all think?" Wyatt paused. "All right, I'll go myself. My force field should hold out long enough."

"Please, don't go," Piper said. "They'll kill you."

"I have to go," Wyatt said.

Wyatt's body tensed, and his eyes closed. The blue glow enveloped him an instant before his body dissolved into orbs. His orbs quickly rose toward the ceiling.

Piper made a quick hand motion, and Wyatt's orbs exploded. They scattered across the room, then reformed a short distance from where he had been standing a moment ago.

Wyatt shouted in pain as his body became solid again, now lying on the floor.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't let you do this," Piper said, her voice trembling. "Please."

"Wyatt, I know things look bad." Jill reached out to Wyatt, and helped him back to his feet. "But you don't have to die."

"What?" Wyatt asked.

"That's what you're doing, isn't it?" Jill asked. "You'd rather die in a blaze of glory than face what's out there."

"That's ridiculous," Wyatt said.

"Is it?" Maggie asked.

Wyatt looked at her, and hesitated before he answered. "I don't have a death wish."

"Are you sure?" Jill asked, but Wyatt didn't answer. "Look, the world is counting on us to fight the good fight. You have to have the courage to live, or a lot of innocent people are going to get hurt."

"And what about Piper, and the rest of us?" Prue asked. "We don't want to lose you."

"I'm sorry." Wyatt averted his eyes from them. "I wasn't trying to hurt any of you."

"Then stay here," Jill said. "We still need your help."

Wyatt sighed. "But what can we do now?"

"Wyatt, you know what we have to do," Jill said. "It's time for the whitelighters to come back."