EXT. ALTERNATE PLANE - FIELD - ETERNAL NIGHT

The sisters wander aimlessly, not certain of where or for what to look.

PHOEBE
Okay, this is getting kind of pointless.

PIPER
No kidding. Everything looks the same.

PHOEBE
Paige, can you sense anyone nearby?

Paige concentrates for a few seconds.

PAIGE
No. That's funny. I can barely sense the two of you. It's like
something in the air here is blocking my sensing abilities.

Chris APPEARS IN ASTRAL FORM, unseen by the sisters. He moves closer to Piper. Lovingly, he reaches out to touch her hair, but his hand passes through her.

PHOEBE
That's probably why the Elders can't sense this place.

PIPER
Well, assuming this plane is as big as our own, we could walk to
China before we find anything.

PAIGE
We could try a spell--something to guide us through this murk.

Chris' attention is piqued at the mention of a spell. He leans close to Piper and whispers something in her ear.

PIPER
No. Wait. Let's try this way.

The sisters walk off in the direction Piper indicated and Chris disappears with a smirk.

EXT. ALTERNATE PLANE - FIELD/WOODED AREA - MOMENTS LATER

The sisters walk through terrain very similar to the previous terrain, with the exception of an increasing number of trees.

PHOEBE
Okay, now can we try a guiding spell?

PIPER
Wait a minute. I have a feeling we might find something-- Oh
god.

Piper takes off running, and Paige and Phoebe, confused, follow her. They soon realize why Piper panicked when they too see Leo's limp form, lying on the ground where Chris left him. Piper kneels next to her husband, tears coming quickly to her eyes.

PIPER (cont'd)
No, no, no...you can't be dead. Leo?

She feels his wrist for a pulse, noticing a scar in the shape of the Mark of Ahriman on his arm.

PIPER (cont'd)
Please, please... He has a pulse. It's faint, but it's there.
Paige, orb us home.

PAIGE
I don't think I can orb directly out of this place. We'll have
to get through the portal first.

PIPER
Okay. Just hurry.

Paige and Phoebe kneel next to Leo as well, and all four of them ORB out.

INT. MANOR - PIPER'S BEDROOM/NURSERY - NIGHT

Sam covers up Wyatt, who is lying in his crib, with a blanket.

SAM
There you go, little guy. I'm sure your mommy will be home soon.
She can probably read Goodnight, Moon better than I can.

PAIGE (o.s.)
Sam!

SAM
(to Wyatt)
Be right back.

Grabbing the baby monitor, Sam hurries out of the room and into...

INT. MANOR - FOYER - CONTINUOUS

Sam descends the stairs to find the sisters crouching next to a still unconscious Leo.

SAM
What happened?

PAIGE
Quick. Heal Leo.

Placing the baby monitor on the foyer table, Sam kneels next to Leo. Holding his hands over Leo, Sam begins to heal him, but the effects are not immediate.

PIPER
Why isn't it working?

SAM
It's working.

After a few more moments, Sam's hands stop glowing and Leo's eyes open.

LEO
Piper?

PIPER
Oh thank god.

Piper embraces him. As Piper and Leo embrace, Paige, Phoebe and Sam quietly leave the room to give them privacy, going into...

INT. MANOR - SUNROOM - CONTINUOUS

SAM
So I take it things went well?

PHOEBE
It appears so.

PAIGE
We didn't vanquish any demons though.

SAM
That's okay. You can always go back. At least now you know more
about their plane.

Sam glances up as he hears a supernatural jingle.

SAM (cont'd)
I have to go. I put Wyatt to bed and I think I remembered
everything on Piper's list.

PHOEBE
I'm sure you did fine. Thanks for babysitting.

SAM
Any time. I enjoyed it.
(to Paige)
How about I give you a call when I'm in San Francisco again and
we can do something a little less magical, like grab a cup of
coffee or something?

PAIGE
I'd like that.

With one last smile at his daughter, Sam ORBS out.

PIPER (o.s.)
(angry)
What?

Paige and Phoebe exchange concerned looks and head into...

INT. MANOR - LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Phoebe and Paige enter to find quite a different scene from the one they left. Piper and Leo are now standing on opposite sides of the room, both of them looking a little more than miffed.

PIPER
Leo, I can't believe you're going Up There now.

LEO
I have to. If, like you said, other people besides me are being
kidnapped for their powers, then we could have a dangerous
situation on our hands. The Elders are going to need whatever
information I can give them.

PIPER
What information? You said you don't remember anything.

LEO
No, but they need to know what you and your sisters saw.

PIPER
We didn't see anything. Leo, you have been gone for three months
and I have missed you every single day and so has your son. I've
spent the past few hours wondering if you were even alive, and
you can't even spend ten minutes with us before you orb back up
there.

LEO
Piper, I am an Elder now--

PIPER
Screw the Elders, Leo! They left you in that godforsaken place
for three months. They don't give a damn about you. Your family
does. Even though you're an Elder now, you are still Wyatt's
father. And you're still my husband. At least I thought you
were.

LEO
I'm sorry. I have to go.

Piper only stares at him.

PHOEBE
Good luck getting there. You don't have any powers.

Leo concentrates for a moment, trying to orb, and realizes she is right.

LEO
Sam can orb me.

PHOEBE
No, Sam can't. He left.

LEO
Then, Paige, do you think you could...?

PAIGE
What?

Paige looks imploringly at Piper. The sound of Wyatt crying comes over the baby monitor.

PAIGE (cont'd)
Piper, I won't--

PIPER
No, go ahead and take him. He has a job to do. And I have a son
to raise.

Piper walks toward the stairs, past Leo, who sighs in resignation.

EXT. UP THERE - ETERNAL DAY

Paige ORBS with Leo into a large meeting area, which is currently empty. A pair of large double doors with a short stairway leading up to them dominates the space.

LEO
See? I told you it wasn't hard.

Paige doesn't respond.

LEO (cont'd)
Thanks, Paige. I guess I'll, uh...

Leo begins walking up the stairs.

LEO (cont'd)
I'll see you, uh, later.

Paige glares at him stonily as Leo opens one of the doors and disappears inside, the sound of the door closing echoing in the empty space. Paige stares after him, her gaze fixed on the doors as anger and determination build inside of her. Her resolve fully hardened, Paige begins to climb the stairs.

INT. UP THERE - ELDER'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Paige flings open the doors to find Leo standing in front of a large table at which twenty or so Elders are seated. Their conversation comes to a halt as they all look toward Paige.

PAIGE
Who the hell do you think you are?

LEO
Paige, what are you doing--

PAIGE
Shut up, Leo.
(to all the Elders)
You know, I have been a part of your mission to "protect the
greater good" for two years now, and I have finally come to
realize something. You people are so caught up in your damn
mission that you have forgotten about the people you're trying
to protect. You destroy families--you tore mine apart and now
you're tearing apart Piper and Leo's. You're leaving children
without parents--children that are going to grow up thinking,
"Maybe if my hair had been a different color or if I had been
better behaved when I was a baby, maybe then Daddy wouldn't have
left."
(starting to cry)
What gives you the right to decide which families deserve
protection and which families are expendable? What gives you the
right...?

Paige's tears, which are now flowing freely, finally silence her. As she begins to sob, Leo approaches her, hesitantly at first, but then firmly embraces her.

INT. MANOR - PAIGE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Paige, in her pajamas, is sitting on her bed folding laundry. Knocking on the door, Phoebe sticks her head into the room.

PHOEBE
Hey. How are you doing?

PAIGE
For the fifteen-millionth time today, I am fine.

Phoebe joins her sister on the bed.

PHOEBE
Okay, I won't ask again. I'm just worried about you. Is that so
wrong?

PAIGE
No. I'm glad I have people who worry about me.

PHOEBE
Like Sam?

PAIGE
Yes, like Sam.

PHOEBE
How was that yesterday--spending all that time with him? Weird?

PAIGE
No, it was good. I was a little uncomfortable at times, but I
liked getting to know him better. He's a good man.

PHOEBE
He seemed to really love being around Wyatt.

PAIGE
Well, even though Wyatt isn't his grandson, he's still Mom's, so
I think he's important to Sam because of that.

Piper appears in the doorway.

PIPER
Hey. How's it going?

PHOEBE
She's fine. We covered that all ready.

PAIGE
(to Piper)
How are you doing?

PIPER
Fine.

PHOEBE
Fine. We're all fine.
(then)
Boy, we're good at suppressing.

PIPER
I'm not suppressing. I hadn't expected anything to change with
the situation with Leo. I just kinda expected him to care. But,
really, I'm okay.

PAIGE
So am I. I got it all out of my system yesterday.

PIPER
How 'bout you, Pheebs? What are you suppressing?

PHOEBE
Me? I'm suppressing the urge to annoy Paige until she tells us
what she said to the Elders.

Paige rolls her eyes.

PHOEBE (cont'd)
So what did you tell them? That they're a bunch of useless old
fuddy duddies who need to get off their butts and do something
for a change?

PAIGE
Something like that. But I don't think my language was that
colorful.

PHOEBE
Ah, come on, Paige.

PAIGE
I just told them that they are being selfish, taking Sam away
from Mom and me...
(looking at Piper)
...and now taking Leo away from you and Wyatt. I'm lucky that I
got an opportunity to know you guys--other people might not have
that chance.

A moment of contemplative silence passes.

PIPER
Well, I guess I'll be heading to bed, so goodnight.

PHOEBE
Goodnight, sweetie.

PAIGE
Night.

PIPER
Oh, and, Paige... Thanks.

Paige can tell by her sister's tone that she is thanking her for more than just what she said to the Elders and she smiles appreciatively in return.

INT. MANOR - PIPER'S BEDROOM/NURSERY - CONTINUOUS

Piper enters the room and is surprised to see Leo, standing in the doorway to the nursery with his back to Piper.

PIPER
Leo.

Leo turns around.

LEO
Hey, Piper.

PIPER
What are you doing here? I didn't expect to see you so soon. Or,
you know, ever.

LEO
(taking the gibe)
Look, Piper, can we talk about yesterday?

PIPER
Sure. Let's talk.

LEO
(trying to find what to say)
Yesterday... When I first became an Elder...
(then)
When you found me yesterday, I couldn't remember anything from
the past three months. But now...

PIPER
Now what? You remember what happened?

LEO
No, I don't remember what happened to me, but I'm remembering
what I felt.

PIPER
I don't think I understand.

LEO
When I became an Elder, I could feel how it changed me. Not just
my powers, but how I thought, what was important to me. And what
was important to me was the big picture, protecting the greater
good. And that's what was important to me yesterday, which is
why I acted the way that I did. But now I'm remembering
everything I felt when I was in that place. And I wasn't
concerned about the greater good--I missed you. And I missed our
son. And I am so sorry that I didn't take you in my arms
yesterday and tell you that.

PIPER
Is that what you're doing now?

LEO
That's what I want to do now.

PIPER
Leo, I appreciate your apologizing, but nothing's changed.
You're still an Elder and Elders still don't have families. And
when you're close to me, I start to forget that. So, I don't
think--

LEO
That's not true. I've changed. And I've decided that Elder or
not, I want to try to make this work. I want my family back.

PIPER
But the other Elders--

LEO
I've all ready talked to them and told them that I'm going to
split my time between down here and Up There and they just need
to get over it.

PIPER
(smiling)
Really? You said that?

LEO
Yeah.

Overwhelmed by his gesture, Piper hugs her husband, who happily returns the embrace. But after a moment, Piper disentangles herself from the hug.

PIPER
Wait, Leo.

LEO
What? What's wrong? I thought that you would be happy.

PIPER
I am happy, but there's something that's bothering me. Why
didn't you want your family three months ago?

LEO
It's not that I didn't want it... I, I told you. When I became
an Elder--

PIPER
You became focused on the bigger picture. But you still saw
enough of the smaller picture to say goodbye to Wyatt and to
help me deal with my pain. So why couldn't you see that even
though you were an Elder, you could keep your family?

Leo doesn't respond.

PIPER (cont'd)
You deserted us, Leo. I know that you had your reasons, but I
still felt abandoned. And I'm not sure if I trust you enough to
have a family with you right now.

LEO
So, what are you saying? Are you saying you don't want to be
married to me anymore?

PIPER
No, I'm definitely not saying that, but I can't just pick up
where we left off. I need a little time.

Leo considers this information.

LEO
I love you, Piper. Do you still love me?

PIPER
Always.

Leo smiles at that and he opens his arms to her, offering her a hug. After a moment, Piper steps into his embrace and they hold each other tenderly.

BLACK OUT

END OF EPISODE