TRY TO PREVENT IT
Summary: Piper is summoned to the future by herself and is told that Leo will turn evil unless she can prevent it. He will kill the elders and Paige and Phoebe unless she can stop a certain event. Can Piper find the strength to stop her husband?
CHAPTER 1It had been a perfect day, the sun had shone brightly all day, no clouds had graced the sky, and a small gentle breeze had been blowing softly. The picnic had been perfect and the company had been perfect. Piper lay with her husband on their picnic blanket in the park that overlooked the golden gate bridge.
They had spent the whole day together free from demons, free from the elders, free from her sisters and most of all free from magic; they were just a normal married couple. They lay side by side looking up at the clear night sky, the stars seemed to be shining more brightly than ever and it seemed to be just for them, neither of them spoke as they lay together, no words were needed between them.
Leo reached down and gently raised his wife's hand to his lips; he brushed his lips against her soft skin. Piper smiled and let out a contented smile.
"I wish this moment could last forever," Leo said as he placed her hand on his chest.
"I know what you mean" Piper replied. A shooting star danced across the sky. They both looked at each other. Leo's eyes twinkled in the moonlight.
"Well make your wish," he teased.
"You first"
"I know what you will wish for, I saw the way you were looking at the children in the park today, so make your wish"
Piper didn't realise that she had been so obvious; she should have known that he would know her thoughts. God she loved this man.
"Okay I wish." his lips on hers stopped her. It was a gentle kiss at first that turned into a passionate kiss. Leo pulled away and looked around to make sure that nobody was around them, Piper read his mind then looked around too. They had moved earlier to a more private spot, trees and bushes and just a small area of grass surrounded them. Piper looked back at Leo and raised her eyebrows playfully. Leo returned the smile and kissed her again. Gradually it moved onto more things and after a little while they were making love.
After they finished, they lay together wrapped up in the picnic blanket holding each other.
"Well if that didn't make a baby then I just don't know what will" Leo said."Yeah it was kinda wonderful wasn't it, and so naughty, not to mention against the law" she said as she began to giggle.
"Come on lets go home and have a shower, I will clean your grass stains if you will clean mine" They both laughed as Leo orbed them back to the manor.
Phoebe heard the shower going and realised that her sister must be home. She ran to Paige's room and knocked on the door.
"Yeah" came a voice from inside, when Phoebe entered Paige was finishing off the spell she had written to kill a nasty demon.
"Is it ready because they are back?" Phoebe asked eagerly.
"Yep I have just finished it" she jumped off the bed and followed Phoebe to Piper's room. They could hear her sister laughing.
"Knock, knock" Phoebe said as she tapped the door.
"Just a second" Piper said. Phoebe could hear the disappointment in her voice. They had obviously had a good day she thought to herself.
Piper opened the door in her dressing gown and her hair dripping so wet it was already gathering a little pool in the doorway.
"Hi guys" she said, not opening the door, which both her sisters knew meant that Leo was probably still naked.
"Have a nice day?" Phoebe asked.
"Perfect just perfect, no elders no demons no magic" she stopped when she saw her sisters eyes drop to the floor.
"Oh no, no, no, no, not now, this is my perfect day"
"Sorry sis duty calls, I had a vision of a big bad horrid ugly demon about to kill a witch" Piper sighted and told them she would be dressed and out in a minute.
"Back to work" she said to Leo as she got changed, he hugged her and got changed.
"Do you need me?" he asked hopefully.
"I don't think so, I will call you if we get in trouble okay" They kissed and she joined her sisters who were standing in the hallway downstairs waiting to orb them away.
The demon that they had killed had been the only one now for a couple of weeks. The girls were all enjoying the time off and the return to normal life.
It was a Sunday morning and Piper was sitting in the kitchen when Paige and Phoebe walked in.
"Morning sweaty" Phoebe said. Piper ignored them and began to count on her fingers and mumble away to herself.
"Good morning to you too" Phoebe said to her self. Paige and Phoebe helped each other make their breakfasts; they both stopped when Piper stood up from her chair and looked at the calendar on the wall. She began to count again in her head this time. Paige came over and looked at the calendar too, it was filled with events at the club.
"Piper honey are you okay" Piper mumbled something then stopped and looked at her sisters.
"I've got to go" she said with a smile and ran out of the room.
"Does senile dementia run in our family" Paige asked as they sat down to eat their breakfast.
CHAPTER 2Piper rushed out the house and drove her car fast to the chemist. She rushed inside and searched the shelves for a home pregnancy test. She finally found one and made her way quickly to the till. The old lady that was serving scanned the item and smiled at Piper.
"Are we excited or worried" she asked shaking the box in the air.
"Oh definitely excited" Piper said just wanting to get home and do it.
"You know I remember when I had my first child, there is nothing quiet like it, it will change your life forever" Piper put on her business fake smile as the old lady drivelled on. Finally she handed Piper her change.
"Here you go honey, and good luck"
"Thank you" Piper yelled as she ran out the door. Piper rushed to her car and drove home. The whole trip had taken only 10 minutes; she tucked the box inside her coat and made her way inside.
"Piper is that you" Phoebe called from the kitchen.
"Yep I'll be there in a minute," she yelled back as she ran up the stairs. Phoebe came out from the kitchen and saw her running up the stairs; she shrugged her shoulders and went back into the kitchen.
Piper entered her room and locked the door, then moved into the bathroom and locked that door. She didn't know if the butterflies in her stomach were from the excitement or that she was pregnant and it was the baby.
She unwrapped the packet and scanned the instructions.
"Yada, yada, yada, basically pee on the stick even I can do that"Piper did as the instructions said and placed the stick on the side of the bath upside-down. She turned away and looked at her watch and counted down the seconds. Once the minute limit was up she gave it an extra 30 seconds just in case. She turned around and looked at the stick.
That little piece of paper and plastic was going to change her life forever in the next couple of seconds. She hoped. She breathed out and turned it over.
"Two lines" she said and grabbed the box to check.
"Oh my god, I'm going to be a mommy" she looked up at herself in the mirror and saw her own shocked and happy expression, then she looked down at her stomach and placed her hand on it.
"Hey you in there, I'm your mummy" she hugged herself and then realised that she needed to tell Leo now, she couldn't wait.
"Leo, it's urgent" Leo orbed in instantly.
"Honey, are you alright, what's wrong, do you need healing" he said as he looked around her for signs of injury. Piper smiled at his caring nature.
"What is it?" he said getting worried by her silence.
"Two lines"
"What?"
"Your going to be a daddy" Piper said lifting up the pee stick and box, Leo looked at both just to confirm then looked up at his wife.
A huge dopey grin came over his face; he lifted her up in the air and spun her round laughing and kissing her face all over.
"I love you, I love you, I love you," he kept saying to her.
"Lets go and tell the girls," he said, as he knew that they would be over the moon. They ran out of the room and down the stairs and found their family still lazing around eating their toast.
"What's going on?" Phoebe said, Piper looked at Leo to ask approval to tell them and he nodded.
"Were going to have a baby, I'm pregnant"
Phoebe dropped the toast and rushed to hug her, Paige too. Then all four started jumping up and down together.
"Oh my God, I'm going to be an aunty" Phoebe said, and stopped smiling when Paige slapped her arm.
"Hey, we are going to be aunties"
"Well, when is she due, when come on, where is your ultrasound"
"I don't have a due date we have just found out"
They sat in the kitchen for 2 hours laughing and taking turns talking to her stomach. Eventually and regretfully Leo had to return to work, but before he did he leant down to Piper's stomach and said.
"Daddy will be back later, I love you both" Piper had tears in her eyes and kissed him before he orbed out.
"Hey what do you think about going to the attic to tell grams, mum and Prue" Phoebe asked.
Piper nodded and they all rushed upstairs.
Paige placed out the candles and then stood with her sisters to recite the familiar spell.
Hear these words, hear my cry, spirits from the other side, come to me, I summon thee, cross now the great divide.
Grams appeared in front of them smiling at them all.
"Hello my Darlings, what can I do for you"?
"Well you can call our mother and Prue please we have something major to tell you all" Grams looked worried but did as she asked and then all three former witches stood in the circle.
"Hi guys what's going on?" Prue asked.
Piper walked forward and smiled at them all.
"I wanted to tell you all together at the same time, I'm pregnant, I'm going to be a mommy"
All 3 former witches rushed outside of the circle and into real life and hugged her.
"It just doesn't get much better than this" Paige said but then they all gasped as Piper began to glow then disappeared.
"Me and my big mouth" Paige said as all the family looked at her.
CHAPTER 3"Where the hell did she go?" Prue demanded.
"Maybe the demon world found out and they want the child's powers" Grams said. They all fell silent thinking of the consequences.
"No, hang on, they can't know about her, she only just found out herself today"
"L.." but before Paige could finish calling his name he orbed into the hectic attic scene.
"Something's wrong I cant sense Piper" he shouted then looked around at everyone.
"What's going on?" he asked Phoebe.
"Piper was just letting us know the happy news when she just vanished" Patty said holding onto his arm for moral support.
Leo had always been protective of Piper but since the morning, he had been feeling a whole new set of sensations, now it was also protection for his unborn child too. He was angry; no he was furious that someone would take his wife.
"Who could have taken her, I will orb to the underworld to try to sense her and when I find the demon who has them I will make them sorry" Paige looked at him oddly, she had never heard Leo speak like that before, but then again he had never been a father before.
Phoebe turned Leo around to face her.
"Leo, go to the underworld and she if she is there, if she is then come back for us, okay, don't do anything on your own"
Leo looked outraged at first then his face softened and he nodded.
"Okay" he orbed out leaving the Halliwell and Paige struggling for ideas
Leo came back a minute later looking confused.
"She's not down there"
"What, well, if she is not down there and not up here then does that mean that" Phoebe couldn't finish the sentence.
"I'll go and check" Grams said as she stepped back into the circle and disappeared.
"Hang on a minute, that's what it looked like isn't it" Paige said pointing to the sparkles as grams disappeared.
"Yeah I think it did" Phoebe said.
"So, what?" Leo asked.
"Maybe she has been called either to the future or to the past" Paige looked at Prue to see if it was possible.
"She's right, that makes perfect sense," Prue said smiling proudly at her baby sister.
"So you don't think we need to worry then" Patty said.
"She'll be back in no time," Paige said sounding more confidants then she felt.
Piper appeared in the attic but there was no one there, it was dark outside.
"Hello, Phoebe, Paige" she called out; she heard movement in the shadows.
"Their not here" said the voice that sounded familiar.
"Who's there?" Piper asked getting ready for a fight.
A figure stood out of the shadows and Piper gasped.
"Hello Piper"
"Your me"
"I am you, exactly a year from now" Piper would have guessed that her future self was older by the look of her, she had big dark bags under her eyes, she was thin, much to thin and her hair was shoulder length with bits of grey in it.
"Why did you call for me?" Piper asked. Future Piper walked around and looked out of the window for a second then came back to face her.
"Something tragic has happened and I am hoping that by telling you about it, you might be able to do something about it, this is the last thing I can try" Piper's heart was beginning to beat fast.
"What was so bad that you had to bring me here to change the past"?
"Our husband is a murderer" Piper looked at herself with an incredible expression.
"What, Leo, come on don't be so ridiculous" Future Piper rushed forward to within an inch of Pipers face and shouted out.
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT IS RIDCULOUS, I WATHCED HIM KILL PAIGE, I WATCHED HIM DELIEVER PHOEBE TO THE SOURCE FOR EXECUTION, I WATCHED HIM TURN OUR CHILD EVIL SO DON'T TELL ME ITS RIDICULOUS"
Piper stepped back from her future self and put her hand up in the air, she had never seen herself that angry before.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand, are you saying that in a year my sisters will be dead by Leo's actions"
Future Piper nodded as tears began to form in her eyes.
"How could this happen, this morning we only just found out I, we were pregnant this is supposed to be the happiest time in our lives"
"And it was for a short time, until the elders stepped in as usual"
Piper's heart sank, she remembered how much they had interfered and been against her and Leo getting married, she wasn't sure how they would react to a magic baby.
"Why, how did they react" Future Piper limped over to the chair. It was then that Piper saw that her leg was bleeding."Your hurt"
"It's just a stab wound, its nothing"
"Nothing here let me look at it"
"There is no time, I need to tell you what is going to happen so you will believe me and when they will happen, and "
"And what"
"And if you fail to stop these events from happening, then your only course of action will be to kill Leo"
CHAPTER 4Piper gasped at how she could say it so easily, she was talking about killing her soul mate; the only man she had ever truly deeply loved. How could things have gone so wrong, maybe she was mistaken, maybe this was another dimension, or a parallel universe, she didn't really expect me to kill Leo.
"Firstly when Grams, mum and Prue went back up to heaven after we told them the news they told Andy, then Melissa Warren, good news spreads and before no time the elders got wind of it. They had a meeting and called Leo and myself to it"
"A meeting, to discuss what exactly?" Future Piper wiped away the tears.
"To discuss weather or not we were allowed to continue along with the pregnancy"
"WHAT, THEY CANT, HOW DARE THEY" Future Piper grabbed her arms.
"I know, believe me I know, I was royally pissed as was Leo, they told us that they would need some time to force the future outcomes"
"Outcomes, I don't understand, what did they expect our child to be"
"I'm not sure what they were thinking, mum and Sam made Paige that's true but I, sorry we are a charmed one, more power, more consequences"
"And"
"After a month, nothing happened, after two months, nothing, Leo was enjoying the pregnancy as much as I was, before we knew it four months had passed, then one day a demon came to the house, nothing unusual, Paige and Phoebe were knocked out straight away, I was knocked to the floor and when Leo saw that he"
"He what?"
"He became enraged, insane, he grabbed a kitchen knife and charged at him, he stabbed him to death, eventually he exploded and Leo was left standing with a knife dripping with blood. The elders had seen this and were extremely concerned by his actions, as was I"
Future Piper walked around the room again as the memories came back to her.
"They summoned him to the elders council and told him that the baby posed too much of a threat to the world of magic, and that they couldn't allow it. Leo went insane and killed the head of the elders, an act of pure hatred that turned him evil" Piper gasped and covered her mouth in shock.
"Once Leo realised what he had done and how he had changed he killed the rest of the elders then came down to see me"
"What did he say?" Piper asked
"He told me what he had done and told me that we would now be free to use our magic as we liked and that we were safe me and the baby, but as you can imagine I was scared, I knew that, that act of evil would turn him but I knew that I still loved him and I couldn't harm him"
Piper began to cry, Future Piper came over to her.
"I can't believe that he did that"
"Believe me, he did, the underworld and the new source were so impressed that the source made him his new right hand man. Leo decided to join him so he knew that we would always be safe from demons, he seemed to have lost all sense of right and wrong, it was like he had just snapped, the more time he spent with the source the more evil he became, Paige and Phoebe were forever snapping at him to come back to the good side, to leave the source, to stay with me and the baby"
"Sounds like them" Piper said with a smile.
"Leo grew tiresome of them, it was so strange, 6 months before we were all a happy family, and now it was like Leo was Cole, evil, pure evil, I couldn't believe that someone with such a beautiful soul could just throw it all away like that" Piper said as she stood up and looked out of the window.
"He wanted to baby to be born in the underworld and to be blessed by the source. I told him that he was crazy and that there was no way" Future Piper paused.
"And"
"He didn't like it, he told me that if I joined him and brought our baby up to be evil then he would leave my sisters alone. I knew what I had to do"
"You tried to kill him didn't you" Piper said as she turned around from the dark window.
"Yes, unsuccessfully, or I wouldn't have called for you"
Piper was a little unsure of how to ask but she decided she needed to know.
"How did Paige and Phoebe die" Future Piper looked at her and her lip began to tremble.
"Paige was first, when they found out what he wanted to do with the baby, they went mad, they tried all sorts of protection spells and even a binding spell, he ordered Paige to undo them all, when she refused he..he..burned her at the stake"
"He did what" Piper said in shock.
"He said it was a present for the source, all the upper level demons and the source himself came to watch it, they all stood round laughing at her even making jokes, Phoebe and I where trapped in a crystal bubble helpless to save her, all we could do was listen to her screams of agony and watch as her body began to burn"
Piper ran up to herself and hugged the other Piper.
"My god, you have been through it haven't you, what about Phoebe"
"Phoebe was mad with hatred and revenge, she tried to kill Leo too, she almost succeeded too, but Leo's new upper level demons friends came to his rescue, I begged him to spare her, but he just laughed, he took her to the source and gave her to him as a present"
"The source called for all his demon witnesses again, he placed her in a small pit and let his hell hounds eat her alive"
Piper held on to her other self tighter.
"You can't let all this happen again, the only way to stop it is to kill Leo before he kills everyone else and evil rules the world. Will you be able to do that, when the time comes?"
CHAPTER 5The attic was still full when Piper reappeared.
"Piper where have you been?""Are you okay"?
"Who summoned you"?
"Did you go to the past or the future" all these questions came flooding in at once from her family.
"I'm fine honestly," she said after everyone had, had a hug. Leo held onto her so tightly, even though she didn't mean too she was looking at him in a different light.
"Who was it that summoned you then, come on tell us?" Paige asked the question that everyone was dying to know.
"I can't tell you, I'm sorry. All I can say was it was in the future" Piper said in her tone that meant 'that is all I am going to say'.
"Future, did I still look sexy" Phoebe asked sticking a silly models pose. Piper just smiled.
"I will talk about it later when I am ready" she said a bit harshly than she intended.
The afternoon carried on as usual after the former witches had left. The girls carried on at Piper all afternoon. She was dying to tell them but not until she was alone, without Leo around.
Piper went to bed early that night, she blamed it on the exciting news that they had had but really it was due to the worry over Leo.
The next day started off with the sun shining brightly through the curtains. Leo had opened the window when he had come to bed that night and a gentle breeze was blowing open the curtains ever now and then letting in the sunlight.
When the sun shone onto Leo's body he seemed to glow, radiate with it. He looked so angelic, how can what is about to happen, happen? She still refused to believe that her husband could be the cold-hearted killer her future self had said. She lay there and watched him sleep. No creases of worry on his forehead, just a small hint of a smile.
"I know your watching me," he said with a huge grin. He opened his eyes and looked at her.
"How long have you know I have been watching you"
"Since you started"
"That's not a proper answer," she said as he leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back passionately. All the worry from the day before left her when she was in his arms. It seemed like such a long time ago. They stayed hugging together for a while until familiar chimes could be heard.
"What's wrong" Piper said when she looked at his worried brow.
"They want to see me now"
"Well don't you think you should put some trousers on first" Leo looked under the covers and smiled.
"Yeah, they might think it a bit disrespectful if I went in like this" he got out of bed and threw on his cloths.
"I'll be back soon," he said as he leaned over the bed to kiss her, then he kissed her stomach.
"By son, or daughter" he orbed up to the elders.
Piper was just getting out of bed when he orbed back in.
"That was fast," she said
"They want to see us both, they seem pretty mad" Piper's heart skipped fast as she realised what was about to happen. No it couldn't be happening, could it?
"I'll get dressed, just give me a second"
After 10 minutes Piper was ready and Leo orbed them up to the elders chambers.
The room was brightly white, there looked like white curtains flowing around the outskirts or the round room. There was a small table in front of them with three white chairs and around them were stools for all the other elders, the three senior ones sat at the desk.
The elders all orbed in at the same time and Piper grasped Leo's hand as she was a bit stunned by the loud chiming noise.
"Welcome Piper of the Charmed ones, you and the white light Leo have been summoned here because we have heard some news that slightly disturbs us"
Piper wondered if they had found out what had happened in the future.
"I wouldn't call it disturbing" Leo said defiantly. Piper looked across at his angry face. The elders looked at him then looked at each other as if proving a theory that they had been all thinking.
"We have heard that you are with child," he said to Piper.
"I am yes sir," she agreed.
"This is unlike anything this council has seen before, your child will be twice blessed, born from a charmed one, the most powerful witch of all time and an angel, with enough power to make this baby extraordinarily powerful"
Piper looked at Leo confused.
"I don't understand, what is so wrong with that" Leo asked confused by their worries.
"What's wrong with that Leo is that if your child were to turn evil then it would have power greater than the sources, power that even we could not stop"
"Excuse me" Piper said raising her hand and waiting to be asked to speak, she didn't want to provoke them with disrespect. One of the senior elders noticed the gesture and nodded at her.
"What makes you think that our child will turn evil, and if it is such a powerful child then wouldn't it be a huge advantage in the war against evil, who's to say that this isn't my destiny, to bring a twice blessed child into the world for good"
The elders looked at each other, they obviously hadn't considered that option.
"We will need time to assess this and look at all scenario's before we make our decision"
"Decision, for what" Leo asked innocently.
"To determine if your child will be born or not" Even though Piper had been prepared for this by her future self, to actually hear the words spoken to her made her feel sick. She leaned over and grabbed Leo's hand for strength as she felt her knees about to give way. Leo supported her tightly and looked up angrily at the elders.
"WHAT IS THIS, HOW DARE YOU MAKE THAT KIND OF DECISION, IT IS NOT YOUR'S TO MMAKE"
"Leo, please calm down, lets just go home," Piper said holding him back from charging up to the elders.
"You will hear from us soon" Said the elders. Leo orbed them back to the manor.
CHAPTER 6Piper and Leo orbed home and Leo walked outside to the garden. Piper followed him out.
"I just can't believe this is happening" Leo said as he looked around the pretty garden.
"I can't believe that they are willing to kill, no murder an innocent child just because they are worried about how powerful it will be" Piper didn't know what to say to him, she just stood beside him letting him talk.
"God, I am so angry, I don't think I have ever been this angry in my life" Piper's mind flashed to her future self and the comment she made about Leo's anger increasing.
"We will get through this honey," Piper said as she stroked his arm.
"How come you are so calm, normally you are the emotional one and I am the calm one, I thought that this would have made you insane" Piper couldn't bring herself to tell him what she had been told in the future.
"All I know is that this child inside me is innocent, and it was made from love, not evil, our love, and there is no way in heaven or hell that I am going to let them take it from us, because if they do then they are betraying everything that the charmed ones stand for, in fact if they do this, there will be no more charmed ones"
Leo looked astonished at her words that she would actually go that far.
"What do you mean"?
"I mean what is the point of fighting to save innocents when they take away a pure innocent life, I know that I wont sue my powers again and I am pretty sure that my sisters will feel the same way"
Leo considered her words then hugged her.
"Hey guys where have you been," Phoebe asked as she came into the garden eating a bowl of cereals.
"I have got to go and see my other charges" he kissed her goodbye then orbed out.
Phoebe looked at her sister as she watched her husbands lights disappear up into the sky.
"Are you alright"?
"No, no I'm not, they elders are deciding weather or not to allow me to continue with this pregnancy"
Phoebe spat out her mouthful of cereal in shock as Piper walked past her and back into the kitchen. It was time to tell them what she had learned in the future.
"Paige" she yelled up the stairs
"Come down please I need to talk to you about something" Piper went back into the kitchen and sat on one of the stools.
Phoebe came running in with milk down her chin.
"I don't understand, how, what, why would they, when" Piper put her hand up in the air to stop Phoebe's words. Phoebe couldn't believe how calm she appeared.
"Hiya, what's going on?" Paige said as she entered the room.
"I think you two should sit down," Piper said as she led them into the living room.
Piper paced around a bit then stood in front of them, then sat, then stood.
"Piper come on tell us what is going on," Paige said as she was starting to get impatient.
Piper finally sat down and lowered her head.
"Okay, yesterday I was summoned to the future you both know" Piper lifted her head to look at their nodding heads.
"What you don't know is that I was summoned by myself, my future self told me that the elders decided that they couldn't let the pregnancy continue because there was
Just too many risks involved and because of their decisions, Leo went insane and killed them all"
Phoebe and Paige looked at each other.
"What, I'm sorry did you just say that our Leo, Leo killed the elders," Phoebe said as she leaned forward onto the chair to look at Piper more closely to make sure she wasn't joking.
"Every one of them" Phoebe and Paige covered their mouths in shock.
"There is more, once he had killed them all, the new source was so impressed he made Leo his right hand man, and with his new found evilness turned our child evil and "
"And what"
"Because you tried to convert him back, he had you burnt at the stake Paige and you were eaten alive by hellhounds" Silence filled the room as the two sister tried to digest what she had just told them.
"So let me get this straight, Leo our brother in-law and trusted friend will kill the elders and us in the space of" Phoebe said waiting for the answer
"A year"
Piper hung her head down again. Paige couldn't understand why Piper wasn't freaked out by this.
"And you seem so calm because" Paige asked
"Because if I think about this for too long my head will explode"
"But you should be pissed" Paige said standing up angrily.
Piper stood up and got in her face.
"Don't you think that I am angry, hey, this is supposed to be the happiest time of our lives, instead I am told that my family will all be killed by my husband and best friend, my husband that I love with every breathe will turn evil and become best friends with the source, and more than that I wont even have my child because Leo will take her away to be raised with evil, so yeah believe me I am Pissed Paige, I am pissed that I might have to choose over my husband or my child, will I have to kill one to save the other, don't tell me how I should be feeling because YOU HAVE GOT NO IDEA" Piper began to tremble with anger and then slumped back down into her seat. Phoebe looked at Paige and then they were at Piper's side in an instant. Piper placed her arms around them both and began to sob.After a good cry they retired to the sunroom. Piper had her feet up on the small couch as Paige made her a cup of camomile tea to calm her down.
"So what are our options" Phoebe asked as Piper gently sipped her tea.
"Well we can let them take her baby and send Leo insane and evil resulting in us dying or we can bind the baby's powers so there will be no worries of it turning evil or if all else fails we can just as Leo to clip his wings so he cant kill the elders and turn evil" Phoebe didn't actually mean the last part but Paige and Piper looked at each other as soon as she said it.
"Wait a minute, you might be on to something there," they both said. Piper placed the cup on the side table and stood up.
"If he clips his wings then he is human right, therefore he can't turn evil, and he can't orb to the elders to kill them we would be safe sand you guys would live"
"Honey do you really think that he will do that without a valid reason" Paige said.
"You think I should tell him," Piper asked.
"When does this attack happen that he goes mad and stabs the demon to death"?
"Well my future self said it was about 4 –5 months into the pregnancy"
"Well we have a while them to think of another alternative"
But Piper realised that this was probably the best solution, all she had to do was convince Leo, which meant telling him what he was going to turn into.
CHAPTER 7Leo came home that night a distant and distracted man, Piper knew that he was trying desperately to think of a way to stop the elders. She just hoped that murder had not entered his head. She looked at his stance as he walked towards her. His shoulders were sagging, his back was bending, his eyes were heavy and dark, he looked like he had been awake for several days.
Piper walked towards him and hugged him, no words between them just the comfort of each other's touch. Leo pulled away and kissed her gently on the lips. Paige and Phoebe came into the living room.
"Oh sorry, we didn't mean to intrude" Paige said as they stopped in their tracks.
"It's okay, dinner is ready, you are all right on time, come and sit down whilst I serve it up okay" she said to Leo as she lead him to the dinning table.
Piper served up the dinner and Phoebe and Paige had tried all dinner to get the conversation in a flowing rhythm but Leo just wasn't in the mood. Her sisters had been giving her looks all night meaning for her to tell him about the future events.
Phoebe and Paige left the dinner table with some lame excuse. Piper turned her chair so that she was facing Leo, she looked at his plate, he had hardly touched his favourite meal, he had spent most of the time pushing his dinner around his plate.
"Leo" at his name he looked up at her and realised then that her sisters had left.
"We are in this together" she reminded him, he leaned over and took her hand, he gave it a small kiss.
"Let's enjoy our baby like we are supposed to"
"But what"
"No buts, lets just be a pregnant couple, a happy couple" she took Leo's hand and placed it on her belly, Leo's worry lines just seemed to wipe away. Piper could actually see them straightening out before her.
They carried on like this for 3 months; Piper was beginning to show slightly. There had been no word from the elders but Piper knew that there wouldn't be just yet until the demon had attacked.
They hadn't brought any baby stuff yet as Piper didn't want to jinx it.
One sunny afternoon, Piper and her sisters were sitting out in the garden, Paige had insisted on making a small picnic but Piper was suffering from a bit of morning sickness and had not wanted to go out so Paige decided to make it in the back garden.
Leo orbed in and looked at them all with a worried expression.
"Hey Leo, your just in time to eat the dessert, we have had a nice picnic, Leo, what's wrong" Piper said after she realised he was looking upset.
"Don't tell me that the elders have made their decision" Paige asked.
"No, no it is not about that, there are rumours, that a new source has just been crowned" Piper looked at her sisters, she knew that if things continued as she had been told then this new source would be Leo's new best friend and her sisters executioner. Leo saw the look of panic on his wife's face.
"Honey, like I say it is just rumours at the minute"
"No, its true, I can feel it" Piper added at the end when she realised that he looked at her suspiciously
"Don't worry honey, I wont let anything happen to you or our child"
"We will be fine Leo" Piper said reassuringly.
When Piper had a quiet moment she spoke to her sisters. She ushered them both up to the attic and closed the door. She began to pace around the room.
"It's started to happen, the new source is the beginning" Piper said, she stopped and placed her hands on her hips.
"Piper you need to tell him what you know" Phoebe said and Piper realised that it was now the right time. Piper hung her head down and sighed heavily.
Paige and Phoebe hugged her, when they pulled away a demon was standing right beside them all.
"Oh, group hug can I join in" he said as he blasted Paige and Phoebe with an energy ball knocking them flying into the attic walls, they both were unconscious before they hit the floor.
Leo heard the loud bang and ran up the stairs in a panic.
"But your early" Piper said as she backed away from him.
"You were expecting me" he said surprised. Piper tried to freeze him but he gradually worked through it.
"PIPER" Leo screamed as he ran up the stairs to her, the thought of something hurting her made him insane.
The demon heard the approaching man and threw and energy ball at Piper she took it in the shoulder and fell to the floor. She grabbed her shoulder and found that it was bleeding. Leo slammed through the door and saw Piper on the floor with blood on her hand.
"You son of a bitch" he said as he looked around for something to attack him with.
Piper realised that this was it, this was the moment that he began to change, she used up all her strength and tried to blow up the demon, but he was so powerful she only managed to blow off his arm, he screamed out in pain and looked at her.
"Ill be back witch" he shimmered out and Piper lay back down on the floor shattered.
"PIPER" Leo ran to her side and looked at her wound. He began to heal it but she was still tired from using all her powers. He lifted her up into his arms and hugged her fiercely.
"I'm okay Leo, check on my sisters" but the latter where already waking up and beginning to stand.
"My god, when I saw you on the floor with blood on your hand I felt such a surge of anger, I was actually ready to kill him" Paige and Phoebe looked over at her when he spoke those words; she knew that the time had come.
"Leo, I need to talk to you about something, it is very important"
Seeing that her sisters were both okay she lead Leo to their room.
They sat on their bed and Piper took his hand.
"Leo, that day that I was summoned to the future, it was by myself, a year from now" Leo nodded and kept quiet so she could talk.
"My future self told me that" god this was more difficult to tell him this than she realised.
"It's okay you can tell me honey" he said.
"She told me that the elders voted against us""No"
"There is more, in your anger and grief you murdered them all" Leo pulled his hand away and stood up backing away from her.
"What are you talking about"?
"You turned evil Leo, the new source that you told me about, he offered you a job and you took it"
"No, no this can't be right, no I don't believe that I could do that"
"When Phoebe and Paige tried to stop you, you. Had them killed" Leo covered his ears.
"Stop it, it is not possible, no I wont believe you, why are you saying such things"
"Because events are happening as my future self told me they would, the only difference is that I managed to stop you killing that demon just now that started it all off"
Leo sank to the floor and Piper stood to go to him but he put his hands up to her.
"No, don't, keep away"
"Leo?"
"Just give me a minute" Piper backed away from him and let him think.
"Leo she summoned me for a reason, for a chance to stop these things from happening" he looked lost like she had just broken his heart.
"It can't be" with that he orbed out saying as he left
"I wont let that happen"
"Leo where are you going, LEO"
Leo re-materialised in the elder's chambers
"Leo, this is most unruly, you are not permitted to interrupt an elders meeting" Leo looked up at them all and they realised that something was wrong with him.
"I have heard some news from the future"
"What are you talking about, you haven't been to the future we would have known" one of the elders said.
"Not me, Piper, she was summoned by herself a year into the future, she was told that you decided to go against us and take away our baby"
"Leo as you know we haven't made a decision yet"
"But in the future world you did and in revenge for your ruling I, I, killed you all" There was an large collective gasp and then murmurs began around the room. After a few moments one of the elders stood and walked down to stand in front of Leo.
"That is impossible, you can not kill us unless you're evil," he said as he placed his hand on Leo's shoulder.
"That's just the thing, your decision turned me evil" the elder removed his hand.
"So are you telling us this in a hope that we wont go against you"
"No, I am telling you this because I am scared, I am scared of turning into an evil person and killing all the people that I love, Piper said that I became the sources right hand man, and that I killed the charmed ones and because of that evil ruled over good" they looked at him with shock when he said that he killed the charmed ones.
"I will not allow this to happen" The elders looked at each other.
"What do you propose?" said the elder in front of him.
"The only way I can see any way out of this is for you to make me mortal, clip my wings, let us have the baby, strip its powers if you will but let us have the child" The elders looked at each other again and the elder beside him looked at him seriously.
"Wait outside" Leo did as he was told and prayed.
CHAPTER 8Piper was worried about Leo; she had sat there on the bed and waited for 30 minutes to see if he would return. When he didn't she found her sisters in the living room and told them what had happened, she sat with them and they all waited together.
"What do you think that he is doing"?
"I hope it is nothing stupid that's all"
"Enter" the elders ordered. Leo let out a breath and walked into the chambers, he looked around at their faces but they gave away nothing.
"We have considered your situation and proposal we are all agreed that you will be stripped of your powers and have your wings clipped, the charmed ones will be given a new white lighter, you will not be able to gain your powers ever again, you do realize this"
"I understand" Leo said.
Piper paced the room waiting desperately for Leo to appear. Eventually he did, and she realized straight away that he looked different.
"Leo, what have you done"?
"The only thing that I could do, I clipped my wings, I am mortal now, you will have a new white lighter and you will all be safe from me turning evil"
Piper rushed forward and hugged him.
"I am so sorry that you had to do this, I know how important your work was to you"
"You, my family and our child are much more important" Piper couldn't believe that he had done that for her, to tell the truth she wasn't sure that if she was in the same situation she would give up her witch powers. That made her feel awful.
"So I guess everything is going to be okay now" he said
"I have just got to get used to being mortal again" Paige and Phoebe hugged him too.
The afternoon passed by slowly, Paige was doing research on the demon that had attacked them, Phoebe had returned to work to write up her column. Piper and Leo had gone to the club and were sitting in the VIP section. Piper was resting beside him as he stroked her hair; it always made her feel so relaxed.
"So what do you think I should do for a job now"
"What can you do lets think, well you were a doctor before how about becoming a doctor again or maybe a nurse"
"Nah it would take too long to go thought all the schools again and plus it is too expensive"
"Okay how are you at photography"
"I don't even know where the eye piece is" Piper smiled at his honesty.
"Okay, well car mechanic, accountant, librarian, waiter, barman, teacher"
"I don't even have a name here, or an identity what are we going to do about that"
"Well we can talk to Daryl and see if he can help us"
"I suppose in the mean time I can run the club for you, when you get very pregnant you are going to have to take it easy and I can look after it for you"
"That's a good idea honey" she said and kissed him softly. They hugged and when they pulled away Piper felt a familiar tingling sensation.
"LEO" she called out but he was disappearing before her eyes, as was the club
"PIPER" he yelled as she vanished before his eyes
When the mist in front of her cleared she was back in the attic facing her self from the future again. Piper still looked in a bad state.
"What am I doing here, I have changed the past"
"You changed Leo yes but nothing else, my sisters are still dead and Leo is still evil"
"This cant be, he is human now, he clipped his wings, how can he be evil"
"I do not know what has happened, my memories of that time have now been distorted, all I know is that you still have to kill Leo, now more than ever"
Piper looked at her future self in disbelief.
"I cant, I cant kill him, he is human now, it would be murder"
"Murder, MURDER is what he did to our sisters"
"Send me back now, I do not want to hear this any more, he will not turn evil, NOW SEND ME BACK"
"You need to get a grip, my family is gone"
"What about our baby"
"Baby, what baby?"
CHAPTER 9Piper stood back in shock.
"Are you telling me that you have no recollection of a baby at all" Future Piper shook her head.
"How can that be, I don't understand why did Leo turn evil then, what was the reason"
"I'm not sure, like I say my memories are still fuzzy" piper grabbed at her stomach to double check that she was still pregnant.
Future Piper looked at her belly and her eyes went wide.
"Your pregnant aren't you, that means that I should have had a child, what happened to it, why don't I remember"
"You don't have any memories sweaty because we wiped your memory" both Pipers's turned around to see a very different looking Leo standing with a hooded man.
"Leo, what the hell do you want, and who is that"
"Show some respect this is the source" Piper gasped at how he spoke to her future self, with such venom.
"Leo, what happened to you" Piper said, still not wanting to believe that this was her husband.
"So, my suspicions were correct, you summoned your past self so that you could change the past to try to save your sisters" Leo smirked and looked at the source.
"Well I take it back, you win the bet, you were right my lord, I think that as your reward from our wager we had I suppose that you can be the one to kill her" Piper looked at her future self and the two evil men.
"Piper, go back and stop this, find out what it is that turns him"
"That's going to be hard to do as she is going to be dead any second" Leo shot a bolt of light out of his hands at Piper but a force field appeared in front of her protecting her from harm. Future Piper, Leo and the source all looked surprised.
"What the" Leo said.
Piper realized that it was the baby protecting her.
"Piper GO" Future Piper said as she cast the spell to return her, as the mist surrounded her she just had time to see the source sending a ball of fire at her future self and setting her on fire.
"NOOOOO"
Piper re appeared in the VIP section of the club, she was still screaming out when she appeared. Leo was there in an instant. But Piper pushed him away and backed away from him.
"Piper, what happened what did you see"?
"Keep away" Piper said, she was confused, she had just seen herself get murdered in the future and her husband enjoying it.
"Piper, for goodness sake it is me"
"I know, Please Leo, just keep back for the minute" As if on cue Paige appeared in the corner of the room.
"Hiya I have found some information of the demon that, hey, are you alright Piper"
Paige was looking concerned at Piper as she was standing far away from Leo shaking and looking terrible upset. Leo was standing with his arms out to her but piper was backing away.
"Paige please take me home" Piper said as she turned away from Leo and ran to her sister's side.
"What is it?" Paige said as she put her arm around her sister.
"Just take me home now, Leo please I will talk to you later" Leo looked upset but let her go.
"Paige we need to get to Phoebe, I have to tell you both something"
Paige was worried about her sister; she took her hand and orbed them to the empty offices of the paper that Phoebe worked in. They walked through and saw her hard at work in her office, the only light in the room was a small lamp that she was reading by.
"Phoebe"
"Hey guys what's going on"?
Piper was shaking; Paige placed her in the chair and looked at Phoebe with concern.
"Piper, Piper honey what's wrong"
"I was summoned back to the future, nothing had changed, I don't understand, you both were still dead, she had no idea about our child and before we could talk any more Leo and the source appeared and killed me, but when they tried to kill me, the baby placed a shield around me to save me"
Piper's words came out in so much of a rush that Phoebe and Paige couldn't understand her.
"Wow wow slow down sweaty, take your time start again, you went to the future again and?"
"My Future self said that nothing had changed you were still both dead" She looked up at them both to gain their reactions.
"Keep going" Paige said.
"She didn't know about the baby, but then Leo and the source appeared and Leo said that he had wiped out her memories of the baby, so he obviously takes our child to raise it to be evil, then he tried to kill me" Pipers tears pooled in her eyes and finally spilled over and down her cheeks, Paige grabbed a napkin of Phoebes desk and wiped her face for her.
"He tried to kill you" Phoebe said.
"He was so different, so evil, he actually enjoyed trying to kill me, what the hell happened to him"
"I don't know honey but we are going to find out I promise" Phoebe said as she sat in front of her holding her hand.
"How did you escape?" Paige asked.
"The baby made a force field and protected me"
"Well done junior," Phoebe said trying to lighten the mood, but when her sisters looked at her without an amused expression she bowed her head.
"What happened then?" Paige said.
"My future self sent me back but as I was being sent I saw the source kill me, well my future self anyway"
"He killed you" Paige said covering her mouth.
"He just stood there with a happy smirk on his face, my god what are we going to do, he clipped his wings so that he couldn't turn evil, so how did it happen, how, what did we do to make it continue in that time line"
"Okay, Leo is mortal now, so the only way he can become evil is a, if the source makes him evil, b, he enrolls in the demon college, c, he kills lots of people"
"Or he gets his powers back somehow and then the timeline goes back to the original one" Paige said.
"What do we do?" Piper said, normally she was the one who took the lead and made the decisions now, but at the moment she was just a wreck and was hoping her sisters would have a good idea of what to do"
Both her sisters looked at each other. Phoebe was the first one to speak after a good long silence.
"What did you tell Leo"?
"Nothing, I just had to get away from him"
"Piper, you have to realize that what you saw is not your Leo yet, you need to explain to him what is going on and treat him like you would normally, for all we know you changing your feelings towards him is the thing that turns him" Phoebe said, she knew she sounded a bit harsh but she needed to get Piper back to her old self, they couldn't afford for her to be vulnerable.
Piper knew that she was right; she needed to get to Leo to talk to him.
"Okay, you're right, take me to him please Paige"Leo was waiting at home, when Piper had orbed out with Paige he had left the club and hailed a taxi home. He came into the house and wondered what it was that Piper had seen. Is it possible that he was still evil, if so how could that have happened, he needed to talk to the elders but now there was no way of doing that.
Suddenly a demon appeared in the hallway in front of Leo. Leo prepared himself for his first fight without powers.
"Don't bother I could kill you in a blink of an eye, I am not here to fight you, I am here to deliver a message from the source"
"The source, what the hell does he want with me"
"Well you can just tell him that I don't care what it is I don't want to talk to evil"
"I'm sorry did I make it sound like you had a decision" with that he threw a low-level energy ball at Leo knocking him backwards against the wall and unconscious. The demon walked over to him and shimmered him down to the source.
The demon placed the unconscious Leo in front of the source.
"Excellent" said the source with a smile as he saw the former white lighter in front of him.
CHAPTER 10Piper and the girls arrived home and Piper immediately started to search for leo.
"Leo, Leo" She called out and looked upstairs, when she had looked around and come back down the stairs she found her sisters still standing in the hallway.
"What, what is it" she said when she saw their worried expressions; they were both looking down at the floor.
Piper looked down at the spot on the floor where they were looking, there were three drops of blood.
"oh my God"
"Wakey, wakey" said the source as he ordered one of his demons to slap Leo around the face. When that didn't do it he got one of his demons to throw a bucket of water at him, it washed some of the dried blood from his nose away.
Leo awoke with a start and looked around, it took a moment for his memory to catch up with him. He realised that he was in a dark cave; along the wall there were flame torches. He was standing up which he found strange, then he realized that his hands were chained above his head and that they had been taking his weight whilst he was unconscious and now he was beginning to feel the effect of it.
Two demons stood by a very large chair and sitting in the middle of that huge chair was a hooded man.
"The source" Leo said barely in a whispter but it was loud enough for the source to hear it.
"Ahh, I see my new reputation precedes me," he said raising his head.
"What do you want?" Leo said as he stood tall trying to appear strong and unafraid.
"We will get to that but first lets talk about you, your witch is pregnant I hear, a twice blessed child, I can only imagine the power that your child will have"
"Leave Piper and my child alone or I swear"
"You'll do what exactly, you're a mere mortal now, oh yes I have heard of your wing clipping, that is why you are here" he stood from his chair and walked around to face Leo.
"What do you mean I don't understand" The source moved directly in front of him and grabbed his chin gently.
"You are unique you are the first angel to clip his wings in over two centuries" Leo pulled his face away roughly from his grasp.
"So"
"So you can provide us with useful information about our enemy"
"Information, such as what" Leo said getting a very bad feeling in his stomach
"Tactical information, how many white lighters there are, who are their charges, who are potential white lighters, who are brand new vulnerable witches, how to kill the elders"
Leo looked at him realizing what his intentions where.
"Your crazy"
"A little maybe, but I have vision, where as my predecessors were happy to sit and let the charmed ones kill them, I, on the other hand, am going to take to war to their front door"
"You're going to attack the elders," Leo said in shock
"How on earth do you think that you will ever get up to heaven to attack them"
"This is where you come in" a demon appeared out of the shadows holding a box.
The source ordered out his guards and the man carrying the box so that only he and Leo were left.
He walked over to the box and said a little incantation, the box opened and the source turned to look at Leo who was trying to see inside the box, he was worried that it was a torture item.
"In here is the sources before me and now my most feared weapon, a weapon that can transfer the powers from one being to another" he opened it and took out a wand like weapon.
"Only I can open this box"
"You want me to take the power of the elders"
"Yes, but not only that, first we are going to use this weapon and transfer a white lighters power to you, then you are going to go up there and kill them all, then take their powers"
"Your insane, I cant get my powers back now and even if I did what makes you think that I would ever dream of doing such a thing"
Leo looked at him with an incredible expression.
The source walked to within an inch of his face, so close that Leo could smell the rotten breathe off him.
"Give me an hour mortal and then you will see why you are going to take my job offer" he began to laugh as he left Leo hanging in the chamber.
"Paige can you sense him"
"It doesn't work like that for mortals, I'm sorry Piper"
"Where is he, do you think that they have taken him for bait as a trap, but who would take him"Familiar flames appeared in the hallway and the girls huddled together as the source entered their house.
"The famous charmed ones, thank you for killing my predecessor it left room for me to rule"
"What the hell do you want?" Paige shouted at him
"You" he said as he pointed at Piper, with a flick of his fingers Paige and Phoebe flew across the room and landed unconscious on the floor.
"PAIGE, PHEOBE" Piper yelled then turned to look at the source, she blew him up but he rematerialized.
"Keep away from me"
He threw an energy ball at her but the baby's force field protected her and it bounced off and hit the wall.
"WHAT" shouted the source in anger?
"You cant harm me with your power" Piper said and blew him up again, he rematerialized again and smiled.
"Okay, no powers so how about a clock instead" Piper turned to see the grandfather clock coming towards her, she had not time to freeze it, it smacked into her and knocked her unconscious.
"Silly witch" he said with a smile as he picked her up and flamed them back to the underworld.
He placed her on a stone table.
"My lord" said one of his demons as the source appeared in the chamber.
"We have a small problem, the baby is protecting her from harm"
"Does the angel know this my Lord"?
"Good thinking we will soon find out, bind her hands and silence her then bring her into the chamber"
Leo looked up when he heard footsteps and to his horror the source entered and behind him was an unconscious bound and gagged Piper. The source slapped her and she woke up.
"I thought we could do with a family reunion"
"PIPER" Leo shouted, "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER" Piper tried to tell him that he couldn't harm her but it was not good as she was gagged.
"Now as I was saying in our earlier chat, if you don't do as I say and kill the elders, then I will cut out your unborn child and feed it to my pet dogs, then if she is still alive I will finish off your wife right before your eyes"
Piper was scared she knew that Leo didn't know about the force field yet and she knew that he would do almost anything to save her, but he wouldn't do that would he?
"Make your choice," the source ordered to Leo.
CHAPTER 11Paige woke up and looked around, it took a moment for her senses to return. When she sat up she felt something drip down her face, she wiped it away with her hand and looked at it. Her hand was covered in blood. She placed her hand on her head and found a very painful area. She kept pressure on it and then looked around for her sisters.
Phoebe was lying at the bottom of the stairs in a heap. Paige stood up and immediately felt dizzy; she sank back down to the floor and decided to crawl over to her sister.
"Phoebe, Phoebe can you hear me" Paige reached her sister and shook her gently.
"Phoebe wake up" Paige checked her head over and could find no blood, but there was a big purple bruise forming on the side if her head.
Phoebe began to stir.
"Phoebe, come on wake up sweetie" Paige looked around the room to see if she could see Piper, when she couldn't the knots in her stomach began to twist.
Phoebe placed her hand on the side of her head and opened her eyes.
"Ohh, I feel like a house landed on my head, what happened"
"The source attacked us"
"Oh god I remember now, the source, PIPER" Phoebe sat up quickly and felt woozy, Paige grabbed her arm and they both stood up together.
"Where is she" Phoebe asked
"I think he took her with him" Phoebe looked at Paige with terrified eyes; she seemed to go into shock. This couldn't be happening; the source wasn't going to take another of her sisters.
Phoebe was pulled out of her shock when she saw fresh blood dripping down her sister's face.
"Paige, your head" Paige began to sway and then collapsed on the floor.
"Oh GOD PAIGE, Paige" phoebe looked at the wound on her head and found a huge deep gash. She rushed over to the phone and dialed 911 for an ambulance. Phoebe knew that she had to help Paige first as her injuries could be life threatening, then they would have to find Piper, she just hoped that Piper could hold on.
"Okay, you win" Leo said in a whisper, he looked only at the floor. He could hear Piper moving around trying to get him to look at her, but he couldn't, he couldn't bear to see the anger and disappointment in her eyes.
A couple of days ago he may have sacrificed Piper for the greater good, a couple of days ago he was a white lighter now he was just a mere mortal with mortal feelings, all he wanted to do was protect his family.
"I'm sorry I didn't quiet hear you" said the source as he stood beside Piper.
"I said you win you son of a bitch" the source backhanded Piper, he remembered that it was magic that she was protected from and life threatening situations, he could punch and hit her as much as he liked.
Piper fell backwards from the force of his hit.
"LEAVE HER ALONE I SAID THAT I WOULD DO IT"
"I want you to understand that you do not speak to me that way ever" Piper stood herself up and looked at the source with such venom that he stopped smiling.
"Well, this is how it is going to go, we will get a white lighter for you to have, then you will orb up there with a few of my dark lighters and kill them all"
"Dark lighters" Leo said in horror
"Yes, they cant get up there unless you take them, when you come back here you will feel differently, you will no longer care about the life of your wife and family, because I can assure you that once you, an angel, kill another angel, you will turn evil, then you will work for me"
Piper was hoping that her sisters were okay, and she was hoping that they would find a way to get here before Leo did anything silly. She had been working on getting the gag out of her mouth and finally it gave way.
"LEO, don't do this you will be evil and phoebe and Paige will die, you cant kill them, the baby will" she was silenced when a demon punched her so hard it knocked her out.
"PIPER"
The ambulance arrived and Phoebe let them in, she explained that she had fallen down the stairs and landed hard against the wall, the paramedics looked at the wound and looked at each other.
"What, what is it?"
"This is a very serious wound, she needs to have a brain scan so we can determine if she had any brain damage, was she conscious at any time"
"Yes she was talking then she just passed out"
"Well that's a good sign, she needs to get this looked at immediately" they placed her on a gurney and took her out to the ambulance.
Within 15 minutes they arrived at the hospital, Phoebe was told to wait in an area whilst Paige was assessed.
"Miss Halliwell" said a doctor as he came into the waiting area.
"How is Paige"?
"Come with me please, we can discuss it in here" Phoebes heart began to beat faster. She followed him into a corner room
"Your sister had a bad gash on her head, we have done an MRI of her brain and it appears to be very slightly bruised, it should cause her any problems as long as she rests, we had to stitch it up and it took 25 stitches, she is sedated at the minute and she should be out of here within a week"
"A week, cant I take her home today and watch her at home"
"I'm afraid that it is impossible, sometimes there are unforeseen complications with head wounds, if she overdoes it then it could cause her to have a stroke or brain hemorrhage which is why we would insist that she stays calm and relaxed for a week it is very important and vital for her health, she needs her head and brain to heal"
The doctor left her in the room after telling her that she could go and visit her sister. Phoebe didn't know how they were going to save Piper, she couldn't possibly wait a week to save her, God knows what he would have done to her by then.
"It appears that it will take a couple of days to track a white lighter for us to kill, so please feel free to hand around whilst we entertain your wife" the source said as he began to laugh, one of his demons picked up piper from the floor and carried her out of the room winking at Leo as he did.
"YOU DON'T TOUCH HER, DO YOU HEAR ME"
Leo was scared, he was in a no win situation. Could he actually go through with it, could he kill the elders, this would mean that everything Piper had seen in the future would come true. Where were the girls?
CHAPTER 12Phoebe waked into Paige's room and looked at her baby sister, it was still strange to hear herself say that phrase 'baby sister'. There were a couple of imposing machines around her that were beeping and clicking, one of them had wires from the machine and the other end was stuck to Paige's chest.
"Paige" phoebe said quietly. Paige opened her eyes as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep.
"Hi, what's going on where am I" Paige looked around and as she did the heart monitor began to beep faster. Phoebe sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand.
"It's okay honey calm down, we were attacked, do you remember that" Paige tilted her head and thought.
"The source, he attacked us, he wanted Piper, what happened to her where is she Phoebe" once again the monitor began to beep, Phoebe looked at it and saw a mute button, she pressed it and they were spared the loud beeping noise.
"When we woke up she was gone, he has taken Piper and I will bet you anything that he is the one that has got Leo too"
"What are we going to do"?
"We aren't going to do anything, you are going to rest and I will think of a plan" before Paige could argue Phoebe had gently pushed her back down onto the bed to rest.
Piper had been awake for a while; the pain in her cheek from where the demon had punched her was still throbbing. She was pacing to and forth in her cell. She was worried about Paige and Phoebe; they had both been thrown so hard against the wall by the source, what if they were seriously hurt, or worse. Was that the reason that they had not tried to rescue her, or was it that it was hopeless. Piper knew that she was started to show signs of defeat, but she couldn't help it, the source seemed to have thought of everything this time.
Leo hung from the ceiling by the strong iron chains, he was desperately thinking of a way out of this. If the source did manage to get a white lighters powers and did manage to transfer them to him, then what is to stop Leo from simply orbing Piper away to safety.
There must be a reason that he seems so cocky, so confident that I will go thought with it. Leo realized that he had no intention of killing the elders, if he could just get a message to them, just a trigger word that would warn them to be prepared. But how, he was racking his brain for any such word that would do the trick.
"Place her in there" said the source as Piper was dragged into a square cell.
"This is a protected cell witch, only I can open it and only I can send magic through it, even if your husband does get his powers and tries to save you, he wont be able to orb in"
"My lord, I have just received word that the youngest sister is in the hospital with a" he looked over at Piper and decided to over exaggerate to make her suffer,
"Critical condition, she will no longer be of any threat to you, and seeming as the middle witch has no active powers I can say with confidence that the power of three or two can not help her"
"Excellent" said the source as he turned and smiled at Piper.
"One is the loneliest number," he said as he laughed all the way out of the chamber.
Paige was in critical condition, no wonder they hadn't tried to rescue her. Poor Phoebe must be going out of her mind with one sister MIA and the other in the ICU.
"I've got an idea, but I am going to need your help, don't worry we can do it all from here, I just need a few things from the house and I will be back" Phoebe left with new hope and headed home for a spell and supplies.
Half and hour later and Phoebe was back in front of Paige with a smile.
"Come on then genius tell me your plan"
"You are in no shape to fight at the minute, so I thought that if Piper could be pulled into the future, why can't I pull you and Piper from the future to help us fight"
"The power of three again"
"Exactly, at the moment the source thinks that there is no PO3 without Piper, but"
"If you bring her and me back here then it will work, why the future why not the past"
"Well I thought about that, the future selves will know all about this problem so it will just be easier to do it rather then having to break Piper from the past's heart and tell that her husband will kill us all"
"Good thinking"
"Okay, I will sort out the candles in the toilet when I am ready, come in and say it with me"
Phoebe went off to the toilet and set the candles on the floor. After a few minutes she called from the toilet for Paige.
Paige sat up and waited for the room to stop spinning, she slowly spun her legs out of the bed and stood up.
"Phoebe, a little help here" she said as she started to wobble. Phoebe came out and took her hand; she guided her slowly into the bathroom. Phoebe leant Paige against the wall and turned around and locked the door.
Paige opened up the paper that she had copied the spell onto.
"Okay, read this twice and then we throw the potion and hopefully they will be here"
"Don't you think it will be weird seeing two of me"?
"Well you've seen three of me before, Prue had three of her as well"
"God, we are such a strange family," Paige said with a smile. They recited the spell and then both threw in their potions. Mist and smoke filled the room. The smoke alarm went off.
"Smoke alarm" Paige called and it orbed into her hand, silent. They both heard coughing and could see Future Piper wiping away the smoke in the air.
"Piper, Paige, it worked"
"Phoebe, what are you doing, where are we" Future Piper asked.
"Okay, we have summoned you here from our future, you're past" Future Piper looked at Paige's fragile state.
"What can we do to help"?
"Piper, I mean our Piper has been taken by the source and Leo too, we need you to help us save the elders and kill the source" Future Piper raised her eyebrows at Phoebe's statement.
"You know about Leo turning evil" Future Piper asked, unsure how they would know already.
"Yes, you summoned our Piper and told her" Paige said.
"No I didn't"
"Well you will do in your future" Phoebe corrected.
"God, this is giving me a headache and I already have several of them partying on in my head" Paige said.
"Okay, my Paige go back to bed and rest, you two orb us to the manor so we can talk"
"Phoebe, keep me informed on what you do" Paige said as she left the room.
"I promise"
Future Piper and Paige orbed Phoebe back to the manor.
"Okay, well I suggest that we orb up to the elders, warn them on what is about to happen, they should be able to protect themselves against Leo" Phoebe said as she raised her hands in the air.
Future Piper started to frown.
"It wasn't just Leo that killed the elders, there were a dozen dark lighters with him too"
"Ahh" Phoebe said, they all stood and thought it over, then they all said at the same time.
"Dark lighter vanquish potion"
"I will make up a dozen potions, it wont take long, then we will orb up there and wait for them" Future Paige said
"We kill them all then go back with Leo and we all destroy the source" Phoebe said.
"Lets get cracking" Future Piper said as she rubbed her hands together.
"Anything you can do to change our past would be a vast improvement," Future Piper said with a sigh.
"You mean our future" they all smiled and went into the kitchen.
CHAPTER 13It had taken them nearly all day to make the potions, and so far they had only made 6 of them, Pheobe realized that it was going to take them a whole day to finish them off.
'God, I hope Piper is doing okay and holding on'. Phoebe thought to herself.
'I can't take this anymore' Piper had tried everything to get her out of the cell but hit hadn't worked. She knew now how animals at the zoo felt now because demon after demon had come to look at her, the caged charmed one. As predicted another demon came and stood in front of her smirking, so far she had kept quiet and not risen to the bait but she had, had enough now.
"So the Famous Charmed one, you don't look so tough to me, more like a scared little girl"
Piper, who was sitting on the floor cross-legged, stood up and looked him dead in the eye.
"The last two sources that fell because of me where just as cocky as you are now, do you really think that if I can vanquish the source twice, that I cant get myself out of this cell, it wont hold me for long, and when I get out, you better watch it, because I have a very good memory and I will be coming after you"
The smirk was gone immediately from the demons face as he took a couple of steps backwards away from the cage. He nodded to her then left rather quickly. Piper smiled, it was the first smile for many hours.
A wall of flames appeared in front of her and she jumped back. The source appeared as well as 4 of his guards.
"Bring her into my chambers" he waved his hand and a gag appeared around her mouth again. The four demons carried the cell into the chambers.
She caught sight of Leo; he looked awful, tired, worried and angry. He was still hanging by the hard chains; Piper could see the trickles of dried blood on his arm where he had been cut from trying to escape his shackles.
"Piper" he said with such relief, happy to see that she was okay.
"Well then, it appears that we have caught our white lighter, Bring him in," ordered the source.
Leo and Piper watched as a man was dragged in unconscious, his head was hanging limp and he was in chains. They threw him on the floor and Leo got his first look at his face.
"Jason" he shouted, he knew this man, he had trained with him, they had both died on the same day and received their wings on the same day, they had been friends ever since.
"God, no not him, he is a good man" Leo pleaded with tears in his eyes; he knew that once the source had taken his powers he would kill Jason.
The source ignored Leo's pleas and ordered all the demons out of his chamber. Once he was satisfied, he called for his box and it appeared in the air. He said a spell and it opened revealing the power-swapping wand. He took it out and walked over to Leo.
"Time to receive your powers, now remember what I said about your witch" he produced a fireball and bounced it up and down in the air like a tennis ball. Leo got the message.
"Just so that you know, she is in a magic cell that only I can open, no magic can get in or out"
The source placed on end of the stick on Jason then the other end on Leo's stomach.
"This might sting a little" a sharp thorn the size of a pencil appeared at each end, he stuck on end in Jason and the other he stabbed into Leo's stomach. Leo yelled out in pain as a light began to glow around Jason.
Piper stood up and pressed herself as close as she could to the bars so that she could see everything.
The light surrounding Jason traveled up the wand and into Leo's body through the wound in his stomach. He kept screaming until finally the light engulfed him and he went unconscious.
The source pulled out the stick and placed it slowly away in its box, he said another spell and it disappeared, he ordered his demons to return and watch the new white lighter.
"And this one" said one of the demons as he pointed to Jason
"Kill him, make it slow and painful" Piper closed her eyes as he was dragged off by two huge demons.
"Well, it will take a couple of hours for him to recover, and then he will go to the elders and kill them all with the help of my dark lighters" he said to Piper as he magically removed her gag.
"Leo will never go through with it," she said proudly.
"Oh I think he will, because I am going to send him a vision of what will happen to you if he fails me, sometimes I think pictures are much better than words" he smiled and walked to Leo, he placed his hand on his forehead and said a small chant.
He turned back to Piper and smiled as he walked out of the chambers.
"Take her back to the dungeon" he ordered as he walked out of the room.
"Leo, help me"
"Piper, no"
Piper screaming in pain as he stomach was slashed open in front of him, his unborn child ripped out of her womb and killed, then Piper tortured to death.
"NOOOOO" Leo opened his eyes and looked for Piper.
"Piper, PIPER WHERE ARE YOU"
"She is safe for now, but what you saw will come to pass if you don't do my bidding" Leo could never put Piper through that; he knew that he had no choice. He bowed his head down and the source knew that, that meant that he was going to do it.
"The dark lighters will be here shortly" he flicked his fingers and Leos chains disappeared, he fell to the floor.
The source knew that Leo wouldn't orb anywhere, as he couldn't risk them killing Piper. So Leo stayed huddled on the floor.
20 Minutes later and the Dark lighters had all arrived.
"My lord, what is your bidding?" said one of them as they all knelt in front of the source"
"This white lighter is going to orb you all up to the elders council chambers, once there, you are to kill every last one of them, but I want you to make sure that this one" he said pointing to Leo.
"Kills the first one"
"And if he doesn't comply"
"Oh, he will, believe me"
The dark lighters smiled, this is what they lived for, to kill white lighters and now to get the chance to kill the elders. They all realized that their names would go down in demon history as the ones that killed the elders.
"Go now and do not return until they are all dead"
CHAPTER 14Leo concentrated and orbed them all to the elder's council chambers.
"Save yourselves," he yelled as soon as they materialized and was punched by the senior dark lighter for it. The sight that was in front of them was not what they had expected; the elders were all gone, all except three robes and hooded beings that stood in a row in front of them.
The senior dark lighter walked up to them and looked them up and down.
"What is this, where are all the elders"
"Safe from you scum" said Phoebe as she pulled back her hood. Future Piper and Future Paige followed Phoebe's action.
"What, what are you doing here, your not allowed up here" shouted the confused dark lighter
"NOW"
Suddenly nine elders appeared and with the three charmed ones in front of them, their numbers made twelve. All of them threw a potion at the same time at the dark lighters who screamed and yelled in pain as they exploded.
Leo looked at Future Piper and Future Paige confused.
"Piper, but how did you escape, I just saw you"
"Back off pal" Future Piper said as she back away from him and raised her hands up ready to blow him to pieces. Leo stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her closely.
Phoebe stepped in when she saw the hurt on Leo's face.
"Leo, this is future Piper, to her you're evil"
Leo looked at his wife and he hatred and hurt in her eyes began to soften as she realized that this was still the thoughtful, caring and loving Leo that she had once known, not yet the one who had betrayed her.
"I am sorry for what I did to you," he said as raised his hands in the air gently to show her that he meant no harm. Phoebe walked up to him and took his hands.
"Leo, that is not you" Leo smiled at her caring attitude, but his smile faded at Future Pipers next comment.
"Not yet anyway"
Leo looked at the sisters and then realized that his Piper was still being held by the source.
"We have to get back to Piper, my Piper, the source will know soon that something is wrong, then he will kill Piper"
"Don't worry Leo, we are going to see if third times the charm in vanquishing the source" Future Paige grabbed her sisters arms and they all orbed back to the sources chamber ready to do battle.
The source new that something was wrong, he had felt the dark lighters being vanquished. He knew that Leo would be back soon to try foolishly to save Piper, but when he orbed in, he wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him.
"Surprise" Phoebe said as Future Piper froze the room full of demons, only the source shook off her power, so she blew him up, he was scattered into atoms for a few seconds and that was all the time that they needed. Future Paige took out the crystals from her bag and orbed them into a circle around the source, when he rematerialized he was trapped in the stones force field.
"What, what is this, no magic can hold me," he shouted out as she tried to flame his way out.
"Oh I do beg to differ there," Phoebe said with a smirk.
"Now you, like your predecessors are going to find out just how much power the charmed ones have" The source looked at the three sisters as they held hands.
Piper looked at her future self and realized what Phoebe had done, very clever she thought.
'Prudence, Patricia, Penelope, Melinda, Astrid, Helena, Laura, and Grace, Halliwell witches stand strong beside us, vanquish this evil from time and space'
As soon as the girls started to say the words, the source began to burn; by the time they had finished he screamed in pain and exploded into a huge ball of fire that sent the girls flying to the floor. All the demons that had been frozen where also vanquished by the sources shockwave.
They all lay silent on the floor; the only noise was that of the door to Piper's cage falling off. They all sat up and saw Piper run to Leo and hug him.
"Hey how about a little thank you over here missy" Phoebe said, glad to see her sister was unharmed.
"I'm sorry, thank you, you clever little minx" Future Piper looked at her past self and Leo together and walked up to Piper.
"Make sure that you don't let this happen," she said as she and Future Paige disappeared.
"Where did they go" Phoebe asked, confused, as she hadn't done the spell to send them back.
"Well, if that was future Paige where is my Paige"
"I will take you too her, Leo she could use your healing touch"
Paige opened her eyes to find Leo's healing hands glowing above her head.
"Leo" she sat up and hugged him
"Oh thank god you healed me, this head thing was really affecting my appetite and you all know how I love to eat" she smiled at him.
"I'm glad that you are okay," Piper said as she came into Paige's view.
"PIPER" she grabbed her sister and hugged her tight.
"Well, we are all okay including the elders thanks to Phoebe, brilliant plan sis, I think that they owe you one up there and so do I" Piper said as a small tear of pride fell down her cheek. Phoebe blushed under all the attention.
"Oh, just make me some of your cookies and we will call it even, they on the other hand could think about giving me an active power, you know, a real kick ass one" she said the last half of that sentence in a raised voice so that the elders could hear.
Leo looked up at the ceiling.
"Piper, we are being summoned"
CHAPTER 15"Okay, the first thing out of your mouths better be the words 'thank you'" Piper said to the entire elder council as they materialized into the chamber.
The elders looked at each other, each one with the same realization that they were never going to get the same respect and manors from the charmed ones as they do from their white lighters.
One of the elders came down and stood in front of them.
"We are all in agreement that we owe your our gratitude, so thank you charmed ones" Piper was stunned, she didn't actually expect them to say it. The room fell into an awkward silence.
"Leo I think that we need to get those powers out of you and back where they belong" said the elder in front of them, he turned and looked at the doors and they opened, Leo's face lit up when he saw Jason walk into the room unharmed.
"Jason, my god, but how did you escape" he ran forward and hugged his friend. Piper smiled at the two of them, happy for her husband.
"The elders knew that I had been taken and sent another white lighter to track me, our old pal David, he waited until it was safe and orbed me back here"
"I'm so glad that you are okay, I thought that they had killed you" they hugged again and then both looked at the elders.
"If you are both ready I will transfer the powers now" they both nodded and the elder closed his eyes and placed his palms out in the air. Leo began to glow, the light moved from him to Jason this time it was painless. The glow faded and the elder opened his eyes.
"Thanks for keeping my wings safe Leo" he bowed his head to the elders then left the room.
Piper held Leo's hand and waited for the elders to send them home.
"Leo, in light of recent events, all the elders have discussed the subject and we would like to know if you would like your wings back"
Leo's heart fluttered at the thought and his expression of joy was only on his face for an instant but Piper caught it.
Now that the source was dead he would be safe from joining him.
"To help you in your decision the elders have unanimously decided to – how do you mortals put it, butt out of your personal lives, we will only interfere when it is a charmed matter"
Piper looked at Leo and smiled, she nodded slightly at him and he knew instantly that she was okay with it.
"I would like my wings back please"
"Piper, would you please stand back?" said the elder as the rest of them joined him on the floor in front of Leo.
The elders all raised their arms in the air and Leo was lifted off the ground in a beam of beautiful light. For the first time ever, Piper actually got to see his wings, they were huge and beautiful. He was returned to the ground and his wings disappeared from view.
"You are so beautiful," Piper said to him. They kissed and the elders said that they could return.
Somehow they all knew that the future was going to be great.
THE END