A/N: Telekinetic Darkness, I'll have you know that with this particular fic, I can't give Leo any new girls, but then again, I can't tell you why. You can breathe again. It's not the apocalypse yet. And piperleo4eva, I am not about to take your brilliant idea of the one night stand. As much as it pains me to say it, Ally really is Dan's child…
This takes place two weeks after Chapter 1.
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Chapter Two--Elizabeth
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Piper rushed into P3, Ally in tow. The little girl clung to her mother's hand with all her might, but still could barely keep up.
Piper stopped at the bar. She lifted Ally up onto the counter and glanced around her. "Leo!" she called.
Leo came out of the back office. He didn't look too good. Piper told Ally to stay put. She ran up to Leo and hugged him tightly.
"Oh, God, Leo, I'm so sorry," she whispered.
Leo didn't say anything, but he welcomed the hug. After a moment of silence and working back the tears threatening to spill, he asked, "How did you find out?"
"Melissa just called me," Piper answered, stepping away. "I could never imagine--" she started, unsure of what to say.
"Neither could I."
"Are you going over there?"
"Yeah, I was uh…just leaving…" Leo looked up at the door. Dan was coming down the stairs into the club.
"I'll drive you?"
Leo didn't try to sway her otherwise.
From Dan's view, what he saw made him a little suspicious. He saw Piper standing no more than a foot away from Leo, facing him. She wasn't facing Dan, but he could see Leo's hands in hers, and they were talking about something that was obviously important. Ally was sitting on the counter, coloring with a pen on a pad of paper Piper had given her to keep busy.
Piper turned around and saw Dan coming up to them. "Dan, cold you uh… I have to leave."
"What's wrong?"
Piper looked from Leo to Dan "I'll be outside," Leo said softly. He headed for the door.
Piper watched Leo go and turned back to Dan. "I have to go over to Melissa's with Leo."
"Melissa's, why? What's the problem?"
"Leo's sister, Elizabeth, was just in a car accident. She uh… She didn't make it…" Piper explained.
Dan didn't say anything.
"I'm sorry, Dan, I have to go. Could you uh… take--take Ally and I'll call, okay? Okay." Piper ran out the door after Leo without another word. She found him standing against the door of his car, staring at the concrete pavement of the parking lot. "Do you want a minute?" she asked quietly.
"I've got all the time in the world."
"You want me to drive?"
Leo didn't answer or nod. He looked up at Piper and she hugged him again.
Leo was the oldest of three kids. He had two younger sisters. Elizabeth was the youngest. She was six years younger than Leo. Melissa was only two years younger. When Elizabeth was twelve, their parents were also killed in a car accident. Because Leo was eighteen and a legal adult, he took care of them and raised them. Now, seventeen years later, thirty-three-year-old Melissa had been living with her twenty-nine-year-old sister. She was the first one to find out about the accident.
Melissa was sitting on the front porch steps of her house with her head in her hands. She looked up when a car pulled into her driveway. Piper stepped out from the driver's seat, and Leo came out from the passenger's side. Melissa stood up and hugged her brother tightly.
"The uh… police want us to go to the hospital and identify her. Her… body is still over there," Melissa said, wiping some tears from her eyes.
Leo nodded.
Piper walked up quietly and hugged Melissa. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"How can you be? It wasn't your fault," Melissa responded, not wanting Piper to feel guilty.
"I'm gonna go. You two need to talk. Call me when you want your car back," Piper said. Her words were mainly to Leo, who nodded. She hugged him once more and left reluctantly.
"What about all her stuff?" Melissa asked.
"Garage sale…"
"We'll have to pack it up in boxes…"
"Come on, we have to go…"
Ally sat in the living room on the floor, coloring in one of her many coloring books. This particular one was 101 Dalmatians, and she was working very hard to stay inside the lines. Piper came down the stairs and sat on the couch behind Ally.
"Mommy, why did we go to P3 and then you left?"
"…Mommy had some things to take care of, Sweetie," Piper answered.
"Otay, now I gots another question."
"Okay, what is it?"
"What was wrong with Leo?"
"…He uh… Okay, remember when we had that little fish?"
"Swimmy!"
"Remember what happened to Swimmy?"
"He went to Godlfiss Heaven."
"But did you ever see him again?"
"No, but he will always be in my heart," Ally said sweetly.
"Right… Well, Leo's sister--"
"Melissa?"
"No, Elizabeth." Sometimes when no one could, Ally went to one of Leo's sisters to be babysat. "She was in an accident, and she went up to People Heaven," Piper explained the best way she could.
"So we won't see her again?"
"No, but--"
"She will always be in our hearts."
"Right. But losing a goldfish and losing a sister is very different. It's easier to think about a goldfish in heaven instead of earth than it is to think of a sister gone forever," Piper said.
"Not forever. When we go up to People Heaven, we can see her again."
"Right, but that won't happen for a while."
"So… We're not gonna see Leo for a few days?"
"No, we probably won't. But I'll tell you what. If Leo feels better in a few days, I'll take you over to his house and you can visit."
"Otay."
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A/N: Just a thought… Ally talks a little younger than she should. She can't quite get some of those letter sounds out yet. She turned five a week ago, so I won't make her baby-talk too much, but sometimes she just can't quite get it.
Next chapter: From Solace to Suspicion
