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.

Chris' grip suddenly slackened and his eyes ceased their enticing glow, turning a blood red. He then slumped forwards and didn't move.
'Paige!' someone called, kneeling beside her. She swivelled her head and looked up, and saw Leo, a broken dining chair brandished in his hands.

'What happened?' he asked, rolling Chris over from Paige's exhausted body and offering her a hand.
'The infection must have progressed…I mean, we tried a spell…' Paige suddenly realised, 'Laura!'

She slid over the floorboards to where Laura's body lay, 'Leo, hurry!'
Leo flung himself to her side and held his hands over the cuts on her back, a golden glow emanating from them.

After just a few seconds, Leo knew something was wrong. The feeling he got when someone was healing…was missing.
He set his face in frustrated concentration and spread his hands wider over Laura's still body.
Paige, who was watching Laura for any signs of movement noticed this action and looked at his face, 'Leo?'

Leo didn't move his head, not wanting to meet her eye, knowing what he'd see there…
Paige grasped one of Leo's hands firmly in her own and held her hand over Laura, pure determination in her eyes, 'Laura…come on – wake up…I know you can wake up, just try…'

'Paige,' Leo said gently, 'Paige, she's gone.'
Paige shook her head, 'No,' she said stubbornly, 'No, she hasn't…if you and me use our powers together then we should be able to…'

Paige never finished her sentence. Not letting go of Leo's hand, she placed the other hand on Laura, desperately searching for a fluttered heartbeat, anything that would show that she hadn't gone.
Left with nothing, she turned over Laura's body, showing her face.

She brushed Laura's long brown hair from her eyes, and traced her face with an outstretched finger.
'I could be looking at Prue…' she said aloud.
Leo placed his other hand on top of Paige's, 'I know…' he said gently.

Paige smiled weakly, her face glistening with trails of unchecked tears, 'She doesn't look anything like her mother…'
Leo repeated the same sentence again, 'I know…I know…'

Paige looked at Laura, suddenly confused, 'She said…she said she came to do something…'
Leo glanced at her, 'What do you mean?'
Paige dropped Leo's hand and massaged her head, leaving smeared red blood stains on her skin, 'She said…she said that she loved us…and she couldn't tell us anything, otherwise…she couldn't do what she came here to do…'

'And she never will…'

Leo said, 'Paige, listen to me…she'll still have a life. This isn't her future – it's not even her past. She not really dead.'
Paige's eyes pierced into Leo's, 'Not really dead?' She gestured to Laura's broken body, 'To me, she looks dead…she looks gone!' Her voice rose higher.

Leo started to say, 'I didn't mean…'
Paige interrupted, 'Too late Leo! So because she's from the future and she's not your daughter, she doesn't matter…'
Leo didn't blink, he didn't move. His calm face looked back at Paige and he spoke softly, 'Paige, you know I'd never think that…ever. Believe me.'

Paige tried to outstare him, but her vision was blurry from tears and she turned her head, frustrated.
Leo said again, 'Believe me…I know how much this hurts…'
Paige blinked, and choked by all emotions she was feeling, 'No Leo…you have no idea…'

Paige looked one last time at Laura, before dragging herself to her feet and walking into the conservatory.
Leo stared after her, wondering what to do. His every whitelighter instinct told him that she would have to put her grieving on hold, so that she could save her family; but as a brother in law, he knew that she needed time alone, to work through it.

He hated to admit it, but the whitelighter was right. It was just a matter of time before Chris and Phoebe were unreachable – and time was the exact thing they were lacking. He also knew something that Paige didn't…it was just a matter of time…

He leant over and gently closed Laura's unseeing emerald eyes, and he placed each of her hands on top of one another, lain on her stomach.
He then turned around to where Chris was lying, face down on the ground. He bent down, and placing his hands under Chris' arms, he dragged his son's body over to the sofa, and laid him on it, supporting his head with a cushion.

'Your getting way too big for this…' Leo whispered to Chris, half jokingly, but his words fell flat as they resounded in the silent house.

Silent as the grave.

He paused, taking in Chris' pallid complexion, shallow, rasping breaths and dark circles rimming his eyes. Withdrawing a shaking breath, he sauntered through the conservatory door, his head firmly down.

The room was still dimly lit, and Leo sat down at the table where Paige was sat, flicking through the book with a new found determination.
He sat opposite her, and suddenly felt an irrepressible urge to tell her that he tried to heal her…it wasn't his fault…

He opened his mouth to say it, but without looking up, Paige lifted a hand, 'Don't, Leo…'
Leo looked slightly confused, and let her continue. 'I know what you want to say…that it wasn't your fault. It wasn't fair of me to put the blame on you like that…and I'm sorry…'

Leo shook his head and replied, 'Nothing to apologise for.'
Paige smiled slightly, not taking her eyes off a page in the book. Leo, leaned over, trying to get a glimpse of what she was looking at. Her hand covered most of the writing, but he caught the title, To Create a Mind Connection.

Leo frowned, 'Mind connections?'
Paige pulled the pad towards her and started to note things down in a hurried scrawl, 'Yeah…it's something I came across when I was trying to write that spell…Phoebe and I used it before…'
Leo said, 'For Piper?'
Paige said, 'Yeah. It's essentially the same thing, except this time, the Source isn't messing with their minds…it's something much worse…'

Leo said, 'I don't understand, how will this help us?'
Paige looked at the book again, 'Well, this transports your conscious self into anyone…else's consciousness…'
Leo raised an eyebrow, 'Uh…and…'
Paige sighed, 'And…if we can try and make them understand to let go of their pain, then maybe we can save them.'