A/N: Once again my thanks to all of you who are enjoying the story. My special thanks goes out to HollyShadow, foureverCharmed and LeoPiper-Forever, for leaving such supportive comments on the last chapter. Much appreciated! Hope you continue to enjoy.

Chapter 5

All of them re-materialized in the attic. Piper ripped her arms out of her sisters' hold. "Damn it! How could you! How could you just leave him there!" Throwing her wild eyes to Cole she yelled, "Take me back there now or so help me God."

The fire in her gaze had Cole taking a cautious step back. "Piper honey." Phoebe came over, putting a comforting arm around her sister's shoulder. It was abruptly shrugged aside. Ignoring her concerned sisters, she strode purposely to the Book of Shadows, turning the pages with such force, Paige thought the paper would tear.

Piper was having trouble concentrating on the pages as they flipped by. All she could see was Leo's face contorted in pain, his body racked with agony. She had to do something. She couldn't loose him.

Phoebe turned her attention to Cole. "Can you tell us anything about this Sevecci?"

Rubbing his fingers across his forehead, Cole tried to recall what he knew of the demon. "If I remember correctly, he's an upper level demon, who collects souls. That's what he was doing to Leo with the beam of energy."

"Great! Another soul collecting demon. How many of these guys are there?" Paige grumbled.

"Not just any souls." Cole continued, ignoring Paige's sarcastic comments. "He gathers only the purest of souls, and the victim must be willing to sacrifice said soul. Sevveci gains no power unless the soul is freely given. He keeps them in those glass vials, feeding off the pure energy they contain. The purer the soul, the more powerful he becomes."

"So, a Whitelighter soul would be a pretty good prize." Concluded Phoebe somberly.

"Yeah. Very good." Cole answered and returned his arm around her. He knew how important Leo was to all of them. Leo and he may not always see eye to eye on many issues, but they had the Halliwell sisters in common. He loved Phoebe and Leo loved Piper and what affected one affected all.

With her eyes trained on Piper, Paige asked, "Then how do we save Leo?" And witnessed Piper go completely still, waiting for an answer.

"I'm not sure." He replied, wishing he could give them more to go on, thus easing the pain he saw in Phoebe's eyes. "I have no idea how the other witch did it. Or I guess didn't do it since he is alive and well. As for Leo, if the soul has already been taken, then Leo is...." The words fell off as he realized what he was about to admit.

Piper slammed the book shut and spoke for the first time. "Don't you dare say it! He's not dead! Do you hear me, Leo is not dead!"

Cole opened his mouth to offer something comforting, however nothing came to mind so he shut it again. This was not his area of expertise.

Phoebe and Paige both went to their sister. "Piper, we'll save him, there has to be a way." Consoled Phoebe. "But you have to get it together. You have to focus."

Paige began to pace, she thought better when she did. "Okay, so this guy collects souls right. What if we found the collection? We could find Leo's and you know put it back in him."

"It might work." Thought Cole. "You need to find it fast because I'm pretty sure a body can only last a short while without a soul. Then the body just fades away. Won't be easy finding it either, I'm sure Sevecci has them well hidden."

Phoebe nodded at the truth of his statement. "We'll also need a spell to put the soul back in once we have it."

Cole was reluctant to put a damper on things but felt it needed to be said. "Not to be pessimistic here, but do you know how many souls he's gathered. Going to be pretty tough to find Leo's."

He held up his hands in defense, when Phoebe shot him a look. "I'm just saying."

"We'll find it." Piper said, her eyes reflecting her determination. "I'll know it when we find it."

Clapping her hands together, Paige said, "Okay, we have a plan. Find the soul, replace the soul then vanquish the demon. Works for me."

"Right. Once we get Leo back, maybe he can tell us how to get rid of Sevecci." Phoebe answered, glad that they had a direction to go in now.

Piper stepped around the book. "We need to go back to the cave now. I need to bring Leo back here. He can't stay there." Her voice cracking with emotion as she fought to hold it together.

Sympathizing with her sister, Phoebe agreed. "You're right honey. We need to divide and conquer here."

"I can take you back there." Cole offered as he step forward, glad to be of some use.

Instantly Phoebe vetoed the idea. "No Cole. It's too dangerous. The source has eyes everywhere. They'll track your shimmer and...."

He stopped her mid sentence. "I'll be careful. We'll just go in, get Leo, then get out. Don't worry, nothing will happen. You concentrate on the spells you need."

As much as she hated to admit it, Cole was right, so she remained quiet and watched as Cole and Piper disappeared.

The area was silent as the two shimmered in behind a large boulder. Hoping they had gone undetected, the two peeked around the rock. They didn't need to worry, for the carved out room was empty. Empty except for a lone figure sprawled across the long flat stone altar.

Piper covered her mouth against the cries screaming in her head. Only Cole's firm grip kept her from blindly rushing to her fallen husband. Fingers to his lips, he motioned with his hand. They crept on silent feet from their hiding spot. Cole's head swung back and forth carefully scanning for dangers. Piper on the other hand, sole focus was on Leo. When they covered the short distance, she promptly fell to her knees, her hands gently cradling his head. Tears, which had been held in check, now slid unchecked down her cheeks.

There was no response from Leo as she softly kissed his forehead. He felt so cold and lay so still. Looking down the length of his body, she spied the golf ball size hole in his chest and the contents of her stomach threatened to spill forth. Around the black hole, Leo's shirt had been burned away, leaving a large scorch mark. "Oh my God, oh my God." The thought kept repeating itself inside her brain.

Cole, taking a break from his guard position, glanced down at the fallen Whitelighter. It wasn't a pretty sight. The usual golden glow, which always seemed to encompass the angel, was gone. It had been replaced with the pale tint of death. Touching Piper's shoulder he whispered, "We need to go."

Holding on to her husband with one arm, she clasped her other with Cole's. The two reappeared in Piper's bedroom. With Cole's help, they managed to get Leo's lifeless body onto the bed. Having heard the commotion, Phoebe and Paige hurried in. When their eyes found Leo, both swallowed hard at the awful sight. Cole, seeing Phoebe's state, went to her, quietly offering his comfort. She turned in his embrace, burying her face in his chest, drawing strength from his presence.

Paige transferred her horrified eyes from Leo to Piper. Her sister sat silently next to her husband, tears still evident on her face. She was tenderly brushing the hair from Leo's forehead. The simple gesture tore at Paige's heart. They had to fix this. Leo meant so much, not only to Piper but to this family. Evil could not, would not win.

With determination firmly in place, she broke the silence. "Phoebe and I are almost done with the locating spell. We also found a spell in the book that should help us restore Leo's soul if we tweak it a little."

Tears of grief were replaced with tears of appreciation as Piper looked up. Grateful for her sisters and their never failing support. She knew they loved Leo too and with the three of them, they would get Leo back. She had to believe that, if she was going to get the job done. As much as she did not want to leave Leo's side, she knew she needed to get to work. Pushing her purely wifely emotions to the back, she went into witch mode, determined to be proactive. She gazed down at Leo's pale features one more time before reluctantly leaving his side.

"Let's get that locating spell finished."

A half- hour later, they were ready to go. They had the locating spell and a potion, which had been in the book, to vanquish Sevecci if he showed up. Piper asked that Cole keep an eye on Leo. She had checked on him before going to the attic and noted the dark circles under his eyes, his cheeks were sunken in and his skin had now taken on a grayish tint. Trying not to dwell on the fact Leo was running out of time, she would not let the pounding panic, overtake her, they would succeed. There was no other option.

Now, standing in the middle of the attic, the three sisters prepared to go. Cole stood to one side, with a worried frown marring his brows. He wanted to go with them. Knew he could help protect them if the need be. Phoebe would have none of it. They did not need the distraction of bounty hunters on top of everything else. And wherever Cole went, bounty hunters usually followed. Cole ceded the point, however was not happy about it at all and made no bones about it. In the end, Phoebe gave him a kiss and told him they'd be careful and for him to keep Leo safe. Once again, as he had done so often, he thought, it was not easy loving a Charmed One.

Phoebe sent him a small smile in response to his dark scowl. Then they read the locating spell and dissolved in a swirl of golden light. Cole let out a pent up breath. Rubbing a hand over his face, he looked around the empty attic. Realizing there was nothing he could do, he decided to keep his promise and went to check on Leo.