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The Ties That Bind
Chapter Six

Piper clutched Leo's hand, willing it to keep warmer than it was, desperately wanting to help him but unable to even go near the arrow that protruded from his stomach because of the half-whitelighter inside of her. If she touched the poison coated shaft she would hurt tiny Chris, but at this rate with the poison still seeping into his blood Leo would die quicker.
"I need you to stay awake, okay honey?" She swept a few sweat-soaked strands of hair from his forehead, willing his eyes to open so she could see the green-brown globes she'd grown to love so much. "Leo? Wake up right now or I swear you will never hear the end of it so help me god!"

"Piper?" Her efforts were rewarded; her gaze found his and locked it, daring him to break it.

"Ye-ah, how're you feeling?"

His managed a weak smile, his breath hitching with a wave of pain, "Like I've been shot…"

"Just stay awake, okay? We'll find a way out of this, but you. Need. To. Stay. Awake. You got that?" She punctuated each word with a squeeze of his hand.

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere in the middle of nowhere." Piper spared a second to look away from his pale face and at the howling wind that was throwing up sandy mud and torn out grasses that were whipping past the cave she'd dragged them to after Wyatt dropped them in… wherever they were. Leo's eyes drifted closed, chest stayed still; Piper squeezed his hand so the area around her fingers turned white. "Leo!"

"Mm?"

"Let me see those eyes, pal, keep them open!" She had to wait longer this time, more agonising seconds that last time before his eyelids lifted so slowly she thought there was some kind of lead wait attached to them. "How about we talk? As in I say something, then you say something, and we keep going until my sisters and Chris come to get us?" She watched, like she seemed to do so much these days and even more these past few hours, as his chest rose, fell, one two three four, rose, one two three, fell, one two three four five, rose… longer and longer. Her eyes started to well from not blinking -fear that if she closed her eyes, even for the shortest of split seconds, that he would not be there when she opened them again.
"I- I love you, Pi -Piper."

"No! You don't say that that is to much like goodbye," Unrestrained by blinking, the tears began to fall one at a time, tracing shiny paths down her cheeks to the corner of her mouth and the edge of her chin before slipping free to land on his navy t-shirt, making tiny darker circles, "you can't leave me again, you can't leave us again." He held her gaze, reflecting her own sorrow-filled expression with his own. "You have to be there Wyatt! And Chris! Remember? Watch them grow-up, teach them… you have to be there with me…" Piper rearranged herself to shake his shoulders, willing his eyes to open again, angry with him for not listening to her, for not staying awake for their sons… for her. "You better listen to me and listen good Leo Wyatt. You wake up right this instant! You wake up and you stay awake and you fight this! You fight this for your family, you hear me?"

He didn't reply, his chest fell, one two three four… five… six… rose, one…two…. Three… Piper began to make the numbers last longer in the hopes that if she never got past ten his chest would rise and fall again.

Now the tears weren't from not blinking, they were from watching her love die and agonising death. Again.

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Author's Note: So, very short chapter, but the next chapter is pretty much finished too, so I should have that up at the weekend, hopefully :D

Review Thank You's To:
Pixiedust-hunnie: I'll try and update soon, since you're kinda still wondering now if Leo's gonna die :D

melissa-p: I don't care about Caden either, but I do care about Leo And Piper and Chris. Such angst-potential!

ChArMeDcRaZiChIcK: 5am for school?! Blimey, I get up like an hour before school at 7.30, but I can get up at 8 if i don't do my hair LOL. I'm such a lazy-bum lol ;) You awake?

psychokitty3: Breathe breathe!

Dark-Black-Shadow-Cat: Updated :)

Raya Halliwell: Lol hey :D Aaaa thanks for clearin that up with your fic :) I'm gonna check by soon to see if any're updated hint hint