A tremor zipped through Piper's body as she stared at Leo's peaceful face.
"Leo!" She screamed, sobbing furiously. She touched his cheek and recoiled back in alarm when she felt how very cold it was. She began to rock back and fourth, her arms wrapped around Leo's chest. "Honey, no. Please....I need you, Leo!" She mumbled into Leo's un-hearing ears. She waited for his answer, and even though she knew that he was really dead and gone, a part of her stuck to the fact that she wasn't ready for him to leave her.
Piper, desperate and wild, began to pound at Leo's chest, her eyes red and swollen from crying. Prue grabbed Piper and heaved her off of Leo.
"Piper!" Prue yelped. "Piper, stop!"
"Leo...No, he left me! He left us....he's gone....just like Phoebe," Piper was frantic now, and she gasped for air. "I failed..Prue, I failed. I failed as a sister when I lost Phoebe and now...and now I failed as a wife and friend by losing Leo."
"Piper, sweetie, it's not your fault. None of this is.....You just need to calm down. We have to figure out what to do now. We're vulnerable without Leo and...." Prue looked at Piper and sighed. "Honey, I'm sorry. I'm being too practical. I know I should be upset...I should be wailing along with you but I can't. Leo told us to save Phoebe and dammit we will. We'll save her for Leo."
"For Leo..." Piper rubbed her tear-streaked face and sniffed slightly. "This is all so unreal...This day is a total mess..." Piper tried hard to hold back the tears but it was difficult. Her throat tightened and two stray tears wandered out of her eyes. Prue embraced Piper, comforting her.
"I know how you feel, in a way. Remember when Andy died? It was so hard...."
Piper nodded stiffly. "It was hard for you...for all of us."
A sound of someone clearing their throat broke the sudden silence between the two sisters and Piper and Prue turned around, Piper swinging her hands around dangerously.
Madria waltzed into the room but stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted Leo's still body on the floor. She drew back in surprise as a strange array of emotions crossed her face.
"Oh...I'm sorry to have...I.." she spluttered out. For the first time in her life, it seemed like she was at a lose for words. She stared blankly at the body, a deeply perturbed look on her face. Piper slowly lowered her readied hands to her side, sensing that the woman wasn't going to harm them. Before she or Prue could ask, Cole came into the room behind Madria and introduced them.
"Piper, Prue, this is Madria, the vampire hunter I was telling you about. Apparently she was tracking the vampire that sired Phoebe and she followed his tracks back here to see (and slay) who he sired."
Piper nodded dolefully and wandered over to a chair to seat herself. Everything was happening far too fast, and she needed to calm herself.
"Hey, nice to meet y'all. I mean, you're like the Charmed Ones. The Charmed Ones.This is a major honor...Although I do wish I could have met all three of you, in happier times," Madria looked down at her feet awkwardly. "Um...I hope I'm not intruding...or being rude or anything, but....uh, who's the dead guy?"
"Dead? Who's dead?" Cole walked further into the room and Prue moved to the right, allowing Cole to see Leo. Cole stepped back, a completely stunned look on his face.
"Leo is...?" Cole questioned, flabbergasted.
Prue gave a slight nod. "Yes, he's dead." Her voice caught on the word 'dead', as if it were painful to say.
Cole ran a hand through his dark hair and cautiously advanced to Leo's body. He gazed down at Leo, fixated
"How did this happen?" he asked, his voice hoarse and worn.
"Phoebe," Piper said dully from her chair.
Prue cast an anxious look over at Piper. "Phoebe summoned a Darklighter arrow," Prue added.
"It must have had extra poison in it," Cole stated. "...Or else Leo wouldn't have died so quickly."
"Leo was your Whitelighter?" Madria asked Prue.
"Yes...and he was Piper's husband," Prue responded. There was a moment of silence, as if in respect for Leo. Cole closed his eyes tightly, Prue blinked back tears, and Piper stared down at her hands. Madria stepped forward with a resolute swagger.
"I'm sorry guys, but we really ought to get going. There are only a few hours left of night, and then Phoebe will have to take cover. She might have gotten her first bite to eat already."
"What do you propose we do?" Prue asked.
"Well, as I told Cole, I figured we could make a super special potion that I know of. It will cure Phoebe."
"A potion? You know of potions?" Prue queried, eyebrow arched.
"My witch buddy Jessica told me about it. We used to be partners in crime, me and Jess. In high school and beyond. But yeah, she became a witch, and I was a vampire hunter. She found out about this potion and I ended up using it a few times. It rids the vampire spirit out of the host's body, to sound all Exorcist-like. Let's see, I'll need three snake eyes, some mandrake root, and some other witch stuff. Where's your stash?"
"Oh, follow me." Prue led Madria into the kitchen with Piper and Cole trailing behind. Prue gestured to the cabinet and Madria pulled it open. Vials, jars, packets, and bowls of spell-making ingredients were displayed, all neatly organized by Piper.
"Sweet," Madria giggled to herself and began to pull out some of the supplies.
After about thirty minutes, Madria had the potion whipped up and ready with the help of Piper and Prue. Prue noticed with concern that while helping to brew the potion Piper maintained a dejected expression on her face and barely spoke.
"Piper, honey, are you okay?" Prue asked her younger sister.
"I'm fine," Piper said, moving away from Prue and hunching her shoulders.
"Hey everybody! It's party time!" Madria exclaimed, cheery as ever and oblivious to the tense mood. Madria poured the steaming black potion into a small glass vial and screwed the cap on tightly. "And there you have it. Now it's time to find Phoebe. That should be easy enough. Dargo was damn near impossible to find–it took me forever to finally find him, but with Phoebe it should be a piece of cake. A piece of yummy chocolate cake."
"Well, let's get going. The sooner we do this, the better. I don't want Phoebe hurting anyone else," Prue said, looking at Piper for approval. Piper just stood there numbly. "Piper?" Prue asked. Piper jumped slightly, as if she had been waken up from a deep dark slumber.
"Oh. I....Well, I don't think...I don't think we should bother," Piper stuttered. She shifted uneasily.
"What do you mean?" Prue frowned, looking deep into Piper's eyes.
"I don't think we should bother to save Phoebe. After what she did...I don't think I could live with that. You have no idea..." Her voice tightened. "You have no idea how hard it is to resist the urge to run out and kill Phoebe. I don't care if it really wasn't her, I don't care. I just couldn't live with Phoebe. I couldn't deal with it."
Prue gaped at her. "Piper, no. We have to save Phoebe, she's our sister! Our little sister. We have to save her."
"Do we?" Piper challenged.
"Yes! Piper, please. I know you're upset, but we have to do this," Prue demanded.
Piper took a deep breath and exhaled. "Fine, I'll come. But I can't promise that I won't do anything to Phoebe."
"Good, good. Now, let's go. Oh, where's your bathroom?" Madria asked.
"Um, it's up the stairs to the right. Why?" Prue once more raised an eyebrow at Madria.
"Well, ya know. It's the most wonderful time of the month." Madria smirked and bustled out of the kitchen to the stairs.
Madria entered the crystal clean bathroom and carefully closed the door behind her. She slung her knapsack forward off of her shoulders and unzipped one of the inner pockets.
"Here you are, my pretty," she murmured softly, grasping the small velvet pouch that she had been looking for. She reached down into her jean pocket and pulled out the vial of black potion that had just been brewed downstairs. She uncorked it cautiously and placed it on the sink. Then she opened up the velvet pouch and sprinkled some of the glittering powder into the vial. Satisfied, she tightened the pouch and placed it back in her bag. Turning back to the vial, she popped the top back in and shook up the liquid. She smiled to herself and slipped the glass container back into her pocket. Still grinning, she opened up the door with a flourish.
"Showtime."