Chapter Four: Their Greatest Fear

Phoebe slammed the Book of Shadows closed in frustration. She had spent the entire morning searching for anything that would help her locate baby Chris, but it was no use. The whole of the house had been turned upside down in attempts to find ways that would serve as a way to aide them, but nothing seemed to be working.

Leaving the podium, Phoebe knelt on the ground next to Paige and watched as her sister did her best to scry. The crystal circled the map, but landed nowhere. It was almost as if Chris no longer existed. With a heavy sigh, Paige looked up at Phoebe and shook her head.

"I don't want to have to say it and I know you don't want to hear it," Paige began, "but it's the truth. I can't find him. I have tried scrying with every map in the house, but I can't find him anywhere."

"There has to be something that we are not doing," Phoebe said. "He can be found, he has to be. There is no way we are going to lose him again."

Paige nodded. "You think we should try Darryl?"

Phoebe raised her eyebrows. "With the way he's treated us in the last year? This is magical, Paige. He would dismiss us and forget we even showed up. I mean, what do you want us to do? Walk into the police station and say, 'I'd like to report a stolen child. He's been taken by a Darklighter.'?"

Turning away, Paige cast her gaze to the floor. She tried her best to hide her tears. "I just don't know what else there is for us to do. We haven't had any breaks...I can only imagine how Piper and Leo are holding up."

Walking to the door, Phoebe listened downstairs and could hear her older sister crying in her bedroom. "Piper won't come out of her room. She can't believe this is happening. Leo is orbing all over the Underworld trying to find the Darklighter who did this. They are holding up, but their child has just been kidnapped, so there isn't much holding that they can do."

Suddenly, Paige stood as the crystal landed on a location. Quickly, she faced Phoebe. "I began scrying for Darklighters and I found one."

Phoebe's eyes narrowed. "Maybe he will know where our nephew has been taken and exactly who took him."

Grabbing her sister's hand, Paige orbed the two out of the Manor's attic. It was during their talk and while they went after the Darklighter that Leo was busy in the Underworld, interrogating every demon he could get his hands on. There was no time for pleasantries now that his son was missing, so Leo was blunt and violent when it came to getting his answers.

But the demons were not talking. They seemed afraid, almost, of revealing what they knew. Of course, Leo took this as a demon ploy to try and trick him into letting them go, but it did not work. The demons were eventually sent away, and Leo was left to despair, thinking there was nothing else that he could do.

"I've failed him," Leo would whisper to himself, walking the lone paths of the Underworld. "I have failed to protect him and now I have lost him again."

It was something that Leo knew he could never forgive himself for, regardless whether it was his fault or not. He had done everything that he could to save his son, but after being struck the with the Darklighter arrow, there was little he could do as his energy was being drained away.

Leo, though, was determined to get his youngest son back, no matter the cost. It didn't matter how many demons, Darklighters, warlocks and other evil creatures that he had to go through, Leo was going to save Chris. There was no question about it.

Though Leo might have thought that there was still a chance of saving baby Chris, Piper could not seem to look on the bright side. She had done nothing but lock herself in her bedroom and cried over the thought of losing her son again. And, though she would do anything to save her son, she just could not face the fact of failing.

After Chris had first been taken and Leo healed by a Whitelighter summoned by Paige, Piper took on the vengeful wrath that any mother would. Any demon that came her way was blown to pieces; she listened to no one and did all that she could to find her son. But when the scrying crystal would not land and the Book had no spell, her anger began to fade and despair sank in.

It was then that she locked herself away in her bedroom. It was then that she turned her back on everyone in the Manor and spent the remainder of the day sprawled on her bed, crying. There was nothing worse than the pain a mother feels when she looses a child, whether the child had been taken or died, and Piper felt this pain full force.

Piper stood in front of the door, her hand reaching out for the handle, but she wasn't able to take it and open the door. She knew the Manor was empty, except for herself and Wyatt. Closing her eyes, Piper tried to calm herself down and tried to think of where her sisters and husband could be. All were most likely looking for the Darklighter who had taken Chris and there she was, unable to even leave her room.

Wyatt's cries coming from downstairs snapped Piper out of her dream-like state. The door to the room opened and she all but flew down the stairs and into the living room where her old son was supposed to be in his playpen. As she came down the stairs, Piper began to slow down and felt something pass over her, but she wasn't quite sure what it was. Hearing a noise, she looked toward the front door and watched as her sisters and Leo entered the Manor.

"Piper, you're out of your room," Phoebe said.

"I heard Wyatt cry. Something is wrong, I have to get to him," Piper answered, turning toward the living room. A hand on her shoulder stopped her. Glancing back, Piper faced Leo.

"There is some bad news," he began, "about Chris."

Piper's eyes grew wide, her mind forgetting about Wyatt. "What? Where is he?" she demanded as she grabbed onto Leo's shirt and shook him.

Leo looked Piper in the eye, and then shook his head. "I'm so sorry. We found him, but it was too late."

Confused, Piper turned to her sisters. "What does he mean? Where is my son?"

"He's dead, Piper," Phoebe said. "He's dead."

Falling to her knees, Piper began to cry. "No, this isn't right. He can't be dead, I would know, I would feel it. Something is wrong...you're all wrong...my son is alive!"

Paige knelt beside Piper. "I'm sorry, honey, but he really is gone."

Through her tears, Piper stared up at Paige and was about to yell at her, but another of Wyatt's cries stopped her. Shaking her head, Piper remembered why she had come downstairs and knew that her sisters and Leo had not really come home. Looking back up at them, Piper watched as they all vanished as if they were never there.

"My god, Wyatt."

Jumping to her feet, Piper made it to the living room in time to see a figure dressed in black flame out, her oldest son in his arms.

"Wyatt..."