A/N: Oh my goodness! Second to last chapter. That was quick! Well, it's been about 2 months, but it feels quick. Lots of reviewers to thank, so let me do that first (as always, since it's the most important thing to do)

svata2004, Glad you like it!

CuteLittleBritt, Glad you liked it! I thought that would be a cool little twist.

Dr. Magic, Glad you liked it! And I'm glad I fooled you! Lol. Didn't intend to, but I'm glad, nonetheless. A supernatural slap in the face . . . I like that! Lol. I'm glad you like my stories! It means a lot to me. To answer your question: Prue's kind of like grams, when she comes by to visit and help out once in a while.

Jade-eye Halliwell, Yea, you reviewed:) (Jumps for joy). Lol. Sorry, jk. Thanks for the review, though!

Okay! Lets go, on to chapter 24! (one more to go after this!0 hope you enjoy and please review!

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"Would you stop that infuriating shrieking?!" Jeremy snapped, throwing a fireball at the cage in which he had Presley trapped. The fireball sailed past her and hit the back of the cage. He didn't want her dead yet; he wanted her to shut the hell up!

"Let me go! Please! I don't know who you are or what you want, but I just want to go home!" Presley begged.

Jeremy gritted his teeth in frustration. He was two seconds away from doing just that: sending her back to her wretched mother and the rest of her witch family.

"Jeremy."

Jeremy turned to see who was calling his name. It turned out to be the last person he wanted to see.

"I can read your thoughts, remember. And if you even try to send the girl home, you know what I will do to you."

"I'm sorry," Jeremy said, bowing slightly. "I shall do as you asked and keep her here until the witches come."

"And," said the mystery speaker, "once they come, you are to destroy them. Then we will get their Whitelighter to bring the little brats down here. We will poison him and take the children. After that, your job is done. I will take the girls from there and raise them evil. With the power of the Charmed Ones backing them up, along with their evil powers, they will be the unstoppable Dark Ones."

Jeremy nodded. "Yes, sir."

The mystery speaker laughed, then disappeared, but would be back when needed.

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"Okay, the locater is ready," Prue informed her nieces. She held the scrying crystal in her hand. Attacked to it was the rose she and her sisters had originally used in the spell to vanquish Jeremy. Curiously, Piper had neglected to throw it away.

"And so are the vanquishing potions," Payton said as she and Phoenix finished capping the last few.

"And the back-up vanquishing spells," Pandora announced, capping her pen.

"Hopefully," Prue said, as she began to scry, "this will work."

Payton's eyes widened. "Wait, hopefully? I thought you said it would work!"

"Nothing is definite," Prue said, shrugging apologetically. "We just need to cross our fingers and-" The crystal dropped onto the map. "-pray. Got them!"

"Where are they?" Payton demanded, her voice quivering with hope and fear.

Prue frowned, eying the map. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?" Phoenix repeated. "Uh-oh is bad. Why uh-oh?"

"He's holding her in Golden gate Park, which is crawling with people right about now," Prue replied.

"We can't save her in a public park! We can't use our powers around other people," Pandora unnecessarily pointed out.

"I know, I know. It's a trick to expose you it has to be. We need to go there so we can make sure he doesn't kill her or move her someplace else. Then we can worry about the humans," Prue replied.

Nodding, everyone linked hands and Payton and Prue helped orb them to a secluded part of the park. Then they began to walk towards the more populated parts, where they assumed Jeremy would have Presley.

And they were right.

Jeremy stood, pacing in front of a bench where Presley sat. She wasn't bound or gagged and they assumed he had scared her into staying still and not screaming or running. And, as they had assumed, people were all around them; couples sitting on the grass having a picnic; little kids playing on the swing sets; parents sitting on the benches, watching their kids; people playing fetch with their dogs.

"Now what?" Payton asked, as she and her cousins and Prue stood out in the open, watching Jeremy.

"Let's go over there. We need to confront him and, hopefully, we'll be able to do it without using our powers. Maybe we'll be able to get Presley out of there, and then run off. After that, we can figure out how to vanquish him from the safety of our own home," Prue replied.

Nodding, they walked towards Jeremy, chins up and heads held high. Magic shot off them in sparks (well, figuratively) as they prepared themselves for whatever was to come. They stopped a few feet away from Jeremy, who spotted them and grinned.

"Hello, witches," Jeremy said, clearly enjoying the fact that they had just walked into his trap. "Now what are you going to do? You can't very well save your precious innocent in front of all these witnesses. You'd be exposed as witches and then what happened to Prue-" He glanced at her. "-will happen to you three and your daughters."

"We're not using our powers, Jeremy. Hate to disappoint you," Phoenix snarled.

"Then you stand no chance of rescuing her," Jeremy said, laughing evilly.

"Why bring us here?" Payton demanded, trying to keep her cool. "If you use your powers, you'll expose demons as well as witches."

Jeremy narrowed his eyes. "This is where I was told to come. Here, I can kill the brat and you and your cousins can't do anything to stop me."

"Don't touch her," Payton snarled, digging her heels into the ground and glancing at her terrified daughter.

Jeremy laughed. "You think a pathetic plea will get me to let her go? You're sadly mistaken witch."

"You asshole, let her go!" Prue snapped.

Jeremy grinned and formed a fireball in his hand, catching the attention of several park-goers who stared at him in fear, many screaming and running, others to afraid to move. He turned his hand in Presley's direction and prepared to let the fireball fly.

"NO!" Payton shouted, lifting her hands and blowing Jeremy up.

The park erupted in chaos as several more people ran away, while others gawked at Payton, terror in their eyes.

Payton winced and glanced at the people all around her, then her cousins and Prue. She shrugged apologetically. "Oops."