AN: Just to remind people, this is taken from another author with permission to continue it.

T:T:T:T

"She's not here." Piper pushed open the door, then stepped out into the rain, pulling a large parka on over her sweater. She threw up her hood, then turned around in a large circle, examining the deserted parking lot. Her jeep was the only vehicle in sight. "Prue's not here."

"Of course she's here." Piper heard Phoebe's door slam as she jumped out on the other side of the jeep. She came running over to Piper, holding up her hands to shield herself from the rain. Count on Phoebe to come without a coat, Piper thought.

"We are standing out in the pouring rain, alone," Piper turned to glare at her sister, as Phoebe dropped her arms to her sides. "Do you see anyone else here?"

"Well, maybe the traffic was bad." She shrugged, seeming perfectly content to get soaked.

"Or maybe she's not coming," Piper muttered. She crossed her arms, trying not to think about the fact that Phoebe was probably going to catch pneumonia thanks to their little excursion. Glancing around, Piper spotted the church they'd been looking for. The huge steeple loomed above them, nearly lost in the clouds. There were a few lights coming from the building that gave the area a yellowish glow. But at that point the effect was more eerie than helpful. The theater stood next to it, shrouded in darkness.

"Prue will be here." Phoebe leaned back against the car. She seemed completely unfazed by their sister's absence. She stared up at the sky, almost daring it to pour even harder. Then she stuck her tongue out and caught a few raindrops in her mouth.

"This is great." Piper rubbed her forehead, grimacing as the rain continued to pelt them. Already she could feel a headache coming on and the evening had barely begun. They hadn't even gotten to the good stuff as Phoebe liked to call it. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"We wait and see if our sister's really as responsible as she thinks she is," Phoebe said with a smile. Piper felt a sudden urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake a small dose of healthy fear into the girl. But instead she rubbed her hands together, trying to keep warm.

"Okay, well there was nothing in the book about freezing to death." Piper pulled her jacket tighter around her. "I think I'll wait in the car."

"Piper, hold on-" The sound of chimes from the clock tower interrupted her. Phoebe whirled around, looking suddenly scared. Oh, now she starts to worry Piper thought, now when we're already here, in the dark, alone. This is so very Phoebe.

"That's what I heard in my vision," she said. "We have to go help!"

Latching on to Piper's arm, she took a few steps towards the small building next to the church. Well, so much for her fear, Piper thought as she wriggled out of her sister's grasp. She wasn't going anywhere without a spell. It was crazy, it was stupid, and it could get them both killed.

Then for a split second Piper thought she saw a flash of light coming from the theater. Someone was definitely there, in the building Phoebe so eagerly wanted to enter. Piper grabbed her sister and pulled her back behind the jeep.

"Are you crazy?" Piper winced as her words echoed through the parking lot. She lowered her voice to a whisper as she peaked over the roof of the car. The theater was dark once again, but Piper wasn't going to take any chances. "What are we going to do once we're in there?"

"Well we can at least fend her off until Prue gets here," Phoebe said impatiently. "I mean you can freeze her, and then I'll-"

"You'll what?" Piper gave her an incredulous look. "Hurt her with a premonition? Unless your powers have grown, I don't think that's a real useful plan there, Pheebs."

Phoebe made a face at her, but Piper ignored it. There was no way they were going into that building, not without back-up. Even standing out in the freezing cold was a better plan than that. And so they would wait. Prue would have to show up sooner or later.

Piper closed her eyes for a second and leaned back against the jeep. She tried to picture herself on a beach in Hawaii, or at least indoors. But she couldn't stop shivering. And then she heard the sound of thunder.

"Great." Piper's eyes snapped open as the rain fell even harder. Staring up into the sky, she began to wonder if the night could possibly get any worse. "Of course it can," she said to herself. "It always does."

Piper sighed as she walked around to the back of her car and opened the trunk. Somewhere in there she had stashed a couple of umbrellas. After a few seconds of rustling around, she found them. Grabbing one, she turned to hand it to Phoebe. It was then that she caught sight of her sister halfway across the parking lot. Piper's jaw dropped as she tossed the umbrella back into the jeep and closed the trunk.

"Oh, okay, fine. Does anyone listen to the sane sister?" Piper muttered. With a sigh, she took off towards the theater, slipping and sliding across the wet pavement. She knew Phoebe was the most daring of all of them, but she was also the least powerful. Sure she could kickbox someone straight into a wall but that probably wasn't going to do her much good against an evil, telekinetic member of the Wiccan population.

"Phoebe!" Piper tried to keep her voice down. Somewhere nearby was a dangerous witch, a witch that Phoebe seemed to be running straight towards. "Don't go-"

But it was too late. Phoebe had already reached the back door of the theater building. She glanced at Piper as if to make sure she was following, then slipped inside. Piper gritted her teeth and ran faster until she had reached the same door. She threw it open, and rushed inside, nearly plowing into her sister. Piper bent over, trying to catch her breath.

"What are you doing?" she demanded breathlessly. "Are you-"

Phoebe covered her mouth before she could finish. As they waited there silently they could hear voices coming from somewhere else in the building. Piper glanced around. They were in a tiny room, more like a closet, with a few steps at one end. As Piper crept behind Phoebe she realized that the tiny staircase led up to the backstage area. Some twenty feet beyond the top of the stairs was the curtain that separated them from the main stage, the setting for Phoebe's premonition. Well, Piper thought, at least we're in the right place.

Even as Piper attempted to stop her, Phoebe moved cautiously up the steps. The voices were getting louder and angrier. Piper couldn't quite hear what was being said, but obviously there was a fight going on near the left end of the stage. Luckily for them, they were on the right.

"Tell me you have a plan," Piper whispered as Phoebe finally stopped behind the curtain. "Prue's never going to find us in here."

"Well we've got to stop the witch somehow," Phoebe said. Piper could hear the determination in her voice. "If we can just help the priest get away-"

"How exactly are we supposed to do that?"

"I haven't figured that part out yet," Phoebe said quietly. Then she cocked her head to one side as she regarded her sister. "You know we really ought to work on our prep phase."

"You think?" Piper's eyebrows narrowed and she resisted hauling out her tried and true I-told-you-so look. Phoebe wrinkled her nose and started moving again. Piper reluctantly followed her, grabbing onto the back of her sister's shirt to keep from losing her in the darkness.

As the voices grew even louder, they carefully navigated around tables piled high with props and Christmas decorations. Then they turned and made their way along the side wall of the theater. Piper held her breath as they peaked through the long wings and onto the stage. A few lights had been turned on, but the entire area was poorly lit. Still she could see the voices' owners standing in the opposite wings. They had to be fifty or sixty feet away, but not nearly as far as Piper would have liked them to be.

Piper crouched down next to her sister and let her eyes wander around the stage. Phoebe had been right. The place was definitely set up for a Christmas pageant. The half of the stage nearest to them had a miniature barn towards the back. It was long and the wall closest to where the audience would be was open so that they could see inside. A large cradle sat just in front of it, surrounded by little wooden animals and trees made of plywood. As Piper lifted herself a little bit higher she could even make out a carved baby figure. Piper couldn't believe it. None of the sisters were regular church-goers, but still the scene was rather ironic. This would be their first manger vanquishing and it even came complete with a wooden baby Jesus.

"That's definitely her," Phoebe whispered, pointing towards the woman on the other side of the stage. Piper glanced over at the witch. She was young, not much older than Prue, and she hardly looked menacing. But if they had learned anything in the past two years it was that looks could be deceiving.

Still, it was the priest who gave Piper the creeps. He just stood there, not saying anything as the woman gestured wildly at him. Piper wished she could understand what the woman was saying. But the sudden thunderstorm combined with the distance made it hard to understand. And even though the woman appeared to be angry, she certainly wasn't shouting. In fact she seemed almost to be whispering. Probably doesn't want anybody to hear her, Piper thought. If she really was about to kill the priest she wasn't going to want any witnesses.

Suddenly Piper realized that she was crouching there alone. She whirled around, trying not to lose her precarious balance. Phoebe was gone. If she made it through this alive, Piper was going to sit her little sister down and give her a stern lecture about the importance of sticking together. The disappearing act was driving her crazy.

Piper straightened and glanced around frantically, searching for her lost sister. Her mind was already striving for a backup plan if she should get stuck there alone. But finally, as she turned back towards the stage, she spotted Phoebe. Piper's eyes widened. Her sister was crawling across the stage, slowly weaving her way through the maze of wooden animals. After a moment she halted behind the barn. She turned and motioned for Piper to follow. Piper shook her head abruptly. Phoebe had stepped right on past that thin line between sanity and madness. No, Piper thought she hadn't just stepped past it, she'd sailed straight across it.

T:T:T

Piper had that look on her face. Phoebe watched and waited as her sister crawled at an excruciatingly slow pace, making her way towards the barn. Luckily for them, the back corner of the stage was the darkest, making them almost undetectable. But during the last few feet of her journey, Piper went right under the light and Phoebe could see her sister's expression again. Yep, she thought, I'm going to be hearing about this for the rest of my life. Piper was freaked, and worse yet, she looked mad.

A few more seconds passed and she was safely behind the barn with Phoebe. Piper glared at her sister, then smacked her lightly on the arm. Phoebe shot her a look then stood slowly, trying to get a better view over the roof of the barn. But Piper immediately pulled her back down.

"Be careful," she said under her breath. "We don't have any way to vanquish her."

"Well, freeze them already."

Piper seemed taken aback. She obviously hadn't considered that. Phoebe waited as her sister took a deep breath. Then Piper signaled for her to move aside. With Phoebe out of her way, she crawled to the edge of the barn closest to the witch. And then with one quick motion she leaned out around the building and threw out her hands. Phoebe straightened again, peering over the barn, even as Piper dove back behind it. The movement caused one of the wooden sheep to fall over and Phoebe ducked as the witch spun around.

"They didn't freeze!" Phoebe whispered, flattening herself against the back of the building.

The stage was quiet as the voices suddenly stopped. Piper cast a sideways glance at her sister then scrunched her eyes shut. The sound of footsteps could be heard in the otherwise silent theater and Phoebe held her breath, knowing that the witch was heading towards them. But after a few seconds the footsteps seemed to move back in the other direction. And then the muffled voices started up again.

Phoebe looked over at Piper as her sister slowly opened her eyes. She knew that they were thinking the same thing. Without Piper's power they were pretty much helpless.

"Okay Phoebe, you planned the party," Piper's voice was barely audible. "So now you tell me what to do."

Phoebe cautiously moved around the barn then reached out and stuck her hand in the large wooden cradle, pulling out the figure inside. She held it in both hands and tested its weight. Then she crawled back behind the barn and handed it to Piper, but not before grabbing a wooden sheep for herself.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" Piper held up the figure.

"You might want to watch your language around him." Phoebe whispered, pointing towards the baby. Piper just glared at her.

"Oh, but its okay to beat someone over the head with him?"

"Under the circumstances I don't think he'd mind."

Piper didn't seem convinced but Phoebe saw her grip tighten on the wooden figure as the thunder crashed again. Phoebe could tell she was frightened, which was nothing new for Piper. But even Phoebe was scared now. She straightened a little, enabling herself to look over the barn's roof once more. She had to see what they were up against. Even without any powers, there had to be some way to protect that priest.

From her vantage point, Phoebe had a clear view of the witch and her prey. They were still talking, and the conversation's volume had increased once again. The witch's gestures were getting more and wilder and Phoebe could just make out the angered expression on her face. And then she saw something that made her blood chill. The woman reached into her waistband and pulled out a dagger.

"Oh no." Phoebe watched as the priest backed away. The dagger hadn't been in her vision. Phoebe realized with horror that she must have missed it somehow.

Suddenly the woman raised her arm and the man went flying across the room. He landed in the center of the stage a little more than ten feet from their hiding place. The woman approached him slowly, the stage lights reflecting off of the dagger. Phoebe reached down, her fingers wrapping around Piper's arm. She pulled her sister to her feet, hearing the wooden figure drop back to the ground. Phoebe motioned towards the woman.

"Freeze her!"

"I tried, I can't-"

"Try again!" Phoebe whispered desperately. Piper waved her hands in the air, but again nothing happened. "Piper, do something!"

But it was too late. The woman took one final step across the stage and stood over the man, even as he scrambled to get up. Phoebe and Piper watched in horror as she plunged the knife deep into his stomach. Phoebe turned quickly, trying not to look. She saw all the blood drain from Piper's face, as her sister's eyes stayed glued to the priest.