The Second First Born

N.B.I hope you're in it for the long haul! Please R&R! Also, disclaimer. I don't own Charmed, the show or any of the original characters.

'Piper?' Phoebe slowly walked over to the hunched figure. Piper was silent, as she held something in her arms, gently rocking. Phoebe knelt behind her, and touched her arm with a gentle hand, 'Sweetie, what's wrong?' She leaned forwards, and saw exactly what was wrong.

Cradled in Piper's arms was Prue. Unnaturally still, her lips were pale and dried blood stained her pallid face. Piper's shoulders began to shake, and she turned a tearstained face towards Phoebe, 'She's gone…Phoebe…she's gone…' Piper's voice cracked and she turned her face down to face Prue.

Phoebe stopped feeling. The colours that met her eyes looked jaded and fake. The sound of Piper crying seemed distant. The words… 'She's gone'…echoed inside her mind. They were so final. Of course she hadn't gone, she couldn't leave… Prue was always there…

Her knees sank through the ground, and she felt as though she were falling. She could hear someone sobbing…somewhere…
She felt herself shaking, and she realised that it was she who had been sobbing. She looked down at Prue…

Phoebe whimpered in her sleep-like state. Her face twisted as if she were in agony. Laura put down the paper, and stared at her, silently. Her face, a face that she hadn't laid eyes upon since that night…

'There's nothing…no way out of this cave,' Paige came out of the shadows, 'You know what? I get the feeling that we were expected…what's up?' She caught sight of Laura's face.
Laura shook herself, 'Nothing…future stuff. You know how it is.'
Paige looked uncertain, 'Actually, I don't.' Laura gave her a look, to which Paige answered, 'Don't worry; I'm not going to ask you. If you're anything like Chris you won't tell me anyway.'

Laura stayed quiet, her head bowed for a second. Then, she jerked it upwards and said, 'I've almost got this spell down…I just need to make a few changes…'
The social worker inside Paige made a few mental notes. Body language, defensive, arms folded, shoulders high. Paige wanted to talk more, but by the way Laura was avoiding her gaze, she thought it best to let it drop.

Gideon closed the door behind him. 'Surprise,' someone said. Gideon spun round, and saw Søren leaning against his desk. It was mid-afternoon and the sun still shone through the stained glass in the window. The sound of voices was clearly heard outside the door. Gideon saw red, 'What are you doing here? How dare you…'
Søren raised a hand, 'Oh, save it Gideon. This whole routine is getting boring. I'm not going to expose your little plot…yet.'

Gideon made a sweeping turn, and started pacing the room, 'Then what do you want?'
Søren smiled, 'I've got bad news, and worse news…for you anyway.'
Gideon raised his eyebrows, 'Give me the bad news.'
Søren continued, 'Well, execution of phase two didn't go entirely to plan...'

Gideon cut in, 'You didn't get him?'
Søren said, 'No, but I get the sneaking suspicion that you knew he wouldn't. Which…I'm a little pissed about. You informed me that there would be only one there!'
Gideon said, 'There was another?'
Søren said, 'Apparently, a whitelighter.' Gideon thought for a moment. It couldn't be Chris…who would go with Paige to save Phoebe? And it wasn't Leo. He made sure of that himself.

He asked, 'Did you speak to The Undying?'
Søren nodded, 'Yes. They said that two women arrived about an hour ago.' Gideon looked confused, 'Two? Surely Piper wouldn't…?' He shook his head.

Søren said, 'And now…on to the worse news.'
Gideon laughed, 'It gets worse?'
Søren nodded, 'Exceedingly, I'm afraid. The Undying no longer want to, co-operate.'
Gideon face turned grey, 'Wha…what do you mean?'

Søren said, whilst clearly enjoying the look of dismay on Gideon's face, 'They feel that, although your plan was good, they want to play it their own way. 'And,' he added, 'I can kinda see their point too. I mean, look at it from their position. They have two witches, like lambs to the slaughter. The rest of the family are sitting ducks. They can take out the Charmed Ones, and the little brat with ease. No-one in the Underworld would pass that up.'

He knelt down beside Gideon, who had slid down against the wall and had his head in his hands, 'Bad luck…'
He stood up, and was about to leave, when he remembered something. He drew the atheme out of his robe pocket, 'Oh, by the by…one of my demons got a little, too ambitious. He decided that it would be profitable to steal the whitelighter's powers, and I'm inclined to agree…' he held up the atheme to show Gideon, before placing it back in his robes.

Gideon noticed that it stuck out from within the folds of the cloak. Søren turned around, and Gideon flicked his wrist. The atheme flew out of Søren's pocket and soared across the room, without him noticing.

Søren said, 'I guess in this game, you lose.'
Gideon shrugged, 'I guess so…'
Soren laughed and shimmered out of the room.
Gideon walked over to where the atheme landed, and picked it up.

'Maybe they were after Wyatt?' Chris suggested.
Piper said, 'But he was right there, alone. If he wanted him, he could have had him.'
Leo said, 'Is there nothing else you can remember?'
Chris thought for a moment, 'Now you mention it…the demon…he could orb.'
Piper said, 'How is that possible?'

Leo said, 'He must have stolen the power somehow. Maybe when…he stabbed you…'
Chris said, 'Of course!'
Piper looked from one to the other, 'Did I just fall asleep and miss something?'
Leo said, 'Don't you see? The atheme that the demon used could somehow transfer powers.'

Piper said, 'A power-sucking atheme? That kind of adds insult to injury…literally.'
Leo said, 'Chris…?'
Chris said, 'Already tried, I can't orb, or move anything.'
Piper said, 'But that can't be the reason they are working together, for powers. There has to be another motive.'

Leo said, 'There probably is, which means they'll be back. There is a vanquishing potion. Piper, will you be up to making it?'
Piper replied, 'Of course, at least I can do something useful.' She scooped up The Book in her arms and disappeared down the stairs. Chris looked at Leo, 'How am I gonna get my powers back?'
Leo said, 'I'm still thinking about that, but we'll figure it out, okay?' He looked at Chris and gave him a reassuring smile. Chris nodded, 'Thanks Dad.'

Laura held up the spell with a air of complacency, 'Finished it.'
Paige crawled around to sit beside Laura, 'Can I see that?' Laura handed her the paper. There came a sudden draught that blew along the narrow cavern. Laura's head spun around. Her eyes tried to pick out something in the inky blackness that swirled like a mist around them. She thought she could see something…but it was impossible to tell what it was.

She stood up, and turned slowly around, inspecting every bump, every crack in the wall. She took a couple of steps forward, cautiously placing one foot in front of the other. She heard someone cry out, and she turned around again. She saw Paige, swaying back and forward, her face expressionless, like a mask. 'Paige?' Laura said.

They emerged from the shadows. Moving like black smoke, they glided towards Paige. 'Paige!' Laura yelled. She started forwards, but she only got a few steps before she found her feet frozen to the ground. One of the group suddenly looked up. Laura found herself transfixed by a pair of white-hot eyes. She tried to turn her head; she had to fight it…

A man with long blonde hair and an arrogant grin was pinning her against the wall by her neck. 'Just let me go…I swear I don't know where Chris is. Wyatt, please!' she begged, 'You wouldn't hurt me…'

The man laughed, cruelly, 'Wouldn't I?' She choked, as his grip grew stronger…

…She was thirsty. Her mommy wouldn't mind if she got up for a glass of water. She slipped out from her warm bed, and padded out of the room.

She tugged on her nightdress, nervously. Regardless of her powers, the dark still held secrets that would scare any nine year old.

The house was strangely still, deathly still. She tiptoed down the stairs, not daring to make any noise. She entered the kitchen and turned on the light…

Laura screamed in terror, although she was barely aware of doing so. She dropped onto her knees, her head was swimming. She felt intensely frightened, like all the fear that she held inside was being brought to the surface. Then, the emotion started to subside, as if it were being drained from her…

Phoebe stirred. Her head ached, and she could hear someone screaming, an innocent. She tried to sit up, but the movements of her arms were slow and clumsy. She blinked, as the sudden light that streamed into her eyes was almost blinding. She could see the outline of a figure kneeling over her. She strained to see who it was…
'Prue?' she mumbled.