Mysterious Midnight - Yep, you were the first again! It makes me so happy! Happy, happy, happy dance. Thanks so much for reviewing, as usual.

Angelina28Rose - You used to be JanaRose, right? Just checking. I hope history wasn't too dull, but I'm glad you remembered my story! Your review was really very nice, and thank you for the cookies, they were good, like Piper's.

SJ/SASA-16 - I'm really glad that you like my story! Thank-you so much for reviewing, it really makes my day!

hazza123 - Thanks for your review, I'm so happy you like it, it make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when people review!

Pruedence.Halliwell - I don't want the sisters to forget about Prue either, and you're right, they do a little in the show. But then, it must be really difficult for them, because their oldest sister dies, and like a week later they find another one. Anyway, I guess Nicki is a little bit of Prue that they can all share and keep alive. Thanks for your review, once again!

--Chapter Eight--

Five minutes later, Piper was putting away the dishes when Phoebe, Paige and Leo came into the kitchen, Phoebe carrying the Book of Shadows. She laid it on the breakfast bar, open.

'Look, Piper,' Phoebe said gently, as Piper closed the last cupboard and turned towards them. 'This is Deimos.'

Leo put the baby monitor down next to the Book, and went to stand next to Piper; she'd frozen as soon as Phoebe had finished talking. He put his arms around her soothingly and lightly steered her over to the others, but she resisted.

She shrugged Leo's arms off of her shoulders, fire in her eyes. 'I'm sorry,' she said, as if she was anything but sorry, 'but I don't want to read about the demon who raped my sister.' She was walking over to the door, but she turned round and grabbed her purse from the counter. 'If you need me, I'll be at P3.'

Paige, who had been hanging back slightly, spoke up. 'If you can't do it for you, then you can at least do it for the fourteen-year-old upstairs.' Her voice was harsh, and she looked as if she was crackling with electricity, there was so much passion in her stance. Suddenly, she softened, and seemed to retreat back into herself. 'She needs to know where she comes from, who she is. The least we can do is help her to deal with this.' The undertones were evident to everyone in the room, and Paige's words echoed in their heads, leaving an uncomfortable silence.

Piper, although not yet sure about anything, sat back down at the table. Paige picked up the Book and brought it over, placing it down, open, in front of Piper.

Piper began to read aloud. ''Deimos, an upper level demon, does not answer to the Source', so he's pretty powerful then?' she asked Leo.

'He was,' Leo said, sitting down at the table next to Piper. He gestured for her to continue.

''He is also known as the Demon of Terror. He aims to breed with witches to create an extremely powerful magical heir, and to raise the child as his own.'' Piper stopped talking, but the reason was evident to everyone. Phoebe had gone pale, and had leant against the counter for support. Paige moved over to her side.

'You okay?' she asked, her eyes full of concern.

'Yeah.' Phoebe answered, but no colour was returning to her face. 'I'm just a bit... shaken, I guess.'

Piper stood up and walked over to Phoebe and Paige, she put one hand on Phoebe's shoulder and the other on her chin. 'Look at me, honey,' she said; Phoebe's eyes had fallen downwards, her breathing laboured. 'Look at me,' she lifted Phoebe's chin, looking into her eyes, which were filled with fear. Phoebe's eyes finally settled on her sister's, and her breathing slowly returned to normal. 'You're okay,' Piper said, smiling sadly as she drew Phoebe into a hug. 'It's all going to be okay,' she said, holding an arm out to Paige, who joined them.

Phoebe was the first to draw back, a little colour coming back to her cheeks. 'I'll be fine,' she said, smiling slightly. 'But I'm not sure I can say the same about Nicki.' She went over to the sink and got herself a glass of water. 'Leo, can you keep reading?' she asked, her back turned to the others so they couldn't see the unwanted tears running freely down her cheeks. God, Cole, why did you have to do it? I don't understand...

None of the others noticed the slight waver in her voice, and Leo continued from where Piper had left off. ''If the child is not as powerful as Deimos sought after, then he kills both the mother and the baby, and finds a more powerful witch and tries again.'' Leo paused at the end of the passage. 'There isn't a vanquishing potion, so your Grams must have made one from scratch. Look, there's a picture,' he turned the book around so that Piper and Paige could see.

Phoebe wiped her eyes and checked her reflection in the window, which showed the back garden in deep shadow. Satisfied that there was no evidence of her tears, she brought her glass of water with her as she went over to look at the book with the others, sitting down next to Paige, who had sat to get a better view of the Book. The picture showed Deimos as looking pretty much human, although his skin was ice blue, and his eyes glowed with a red flame.

'He could shapeshift,' Leo said, 'and throw electricity. He could also shield other demonic powers and shimmer. His shield was what made him almost unstoppable.'

Paige looked thoughtful. 'The most powerful witches are us right? I mean, the Charmed Ones?' she asked Leo.

He looked up at her. 'Yes, of course, you know that.' He chuckled slightly. Phoebe and Piper both turned to her as well.

'So,' Paige continued, willing everyone else to see what she'd seen. 'If Prue was one of the most powerful witches, then Nicki is the powerful baby that Deimos wanted.'

Comprehension dawned on the faces of her sisters, but Leo merely nodded. Piper looked shocked. 'So she's evil?' she asked Leo, disbelievingly. 'You said she was good!'

'She isn't either yet,' Leo said, putting his hand onto Piper's arm to calm her. 'Grams bound her powers as soon as Prue found out she was pregnant. So when she gets them back again, she can be either good or evil. It depends on who she's influenced by. If you don't believe me, then look. The passage says that Deimos would have to raise her for her to be evil, otherwise she will just be 'extremely powerful'.' The sisters took a second look at the Book, and saw that Leo was right.

'So what are her powers?' Paige asked. 'What can she do?'

'I don't know,' Leo said. 'She's never had the chance to find out. Your Grams cast a Safety spell on her, so she could never be attacked when she was in a place she could call home, or when she was with someone else. That would have broken now, when she came in contact with you. It was good while it lasted though; it gave her the chance to have a normal childhood.'

Phoebe stood up, putting the still full glass of water down roughly, not noticing how some of it spilled over her hand and onto the table. 'What the hell do you mean, a 'normal childhood'! That girl has been hunted by demons her entire life, shifted between foster homes like a spare piece of luggage!'

Paige also stood up, and put her hand on Phoebe's shoulder, as much to hold her back as to calm her down. 'It's okay,' she said, quietly, gently pushing Phoebe back down to sit at the table with her. 'At least she's here safe, and at least she's okay, well, as okay as can be expected.'

Piper interrupted her. 'So we have to unbind her powers?' she asked, 'because the Safety spell's broken?'

'You could,' Leo said, 'or you could recast the spell. Here,' he added, flipping through the Book's pages. He stopped when he reached a page headed 'A Spell for Safety'.

'Or we could ask her what she wants to do,' Phoebe said, still slightly angry. 'She is fourteen; she can make up her own mind.'

'Hang on a second,' Piper said, as if something had just occurred to her. 'So I accept that Prue had a baby, well I don't accept it yet, but I know it. But how can we be certain that the baby is Nicki?' Everyone looked slightly shocked, as if that thought had never occurred to them. 'I know all the signs are pointing that way,' Piper continued, because Phoebe looked as if she was about to argue, 'the photo, and the way she looks, and everything, but we should really be sure.'

Phoebe was the first to come up with a solution. 'We could cast the 'To Find a Lost Witch' spell,' she said. 'But we'd have to change it slightly, because she's not a witch yet, and because we really don't want to freak her out.' She stood up, and got some sage, some dandelion root and some thyme from the herb cupboard, and a couple of large bowls from another cupboard. She went to the sink and half-filled one with water, and then put everything onto the table. Meanwhile, Piper had turned the Book to the right page. 'I got the idea from the Zen master, remember?' she said, looking excitedly between her sisters.

Paige still looked confused. 'What?' she asked, frowning at the page of the Book.

'The water is a sort of portal, so we should be able to see her.' Comprehension dawned on Paige's face. 'Right, so if we switch 'witches' for 'sisters', and 'return to me', for 'show her to me', then it should work. Paige, can you go up to the attic and get three white candles, and...' she looked at the Book for confirmation, 'some red ribbon and a clean athame.'

Paige disappeared in a swirl of bright lights, and they could hear her as she fell over in the attic with a crash. Everyone winced.

'I thought she'd got the orbing thing down?' Leo asked, looking at Piper and Phoebe.

Piper chuckled a little. 'She has. Remember the dresser I blew up? Well I didn't have a chance to pick it up yet.'

A few minutes later, Paige orbed back into the kitchen. 'Damn dresser,' she muttered, as she set the candles down onto the table and lit them.

Piper and Phoebe exchanged a small smile. 'Okay,' Phoebe said, tying the herbs up with the ribbon and putting the bundle into the bowl. 'You ready?'

Paige and Piper nodded, and together they began to chant. 'Powers of the sisters rise, course unseen across the skies, come to us who call you near, come to us and settle here. Blood to blood I call to thee, blood to blood show her to me,'

Phoebe cut the tip of her finger with the athame, let one drop of blood fall in the bowl with the herbs, and another into the water. She handed the athame round to Piper, who did the same, and then handed it to Paige. Paige reluctantly followed suit, she hated cutting into her own skin. She let a drop fall on the herb bundle, and then one into the bowl of water.

As the last drop of blood fell from Paige's finger, it slowed down. It fell into the centre of the bowl of water, and the ripples, instead of stopping, increased. A white light was shining from the surface of the water, and suddenly the ripples stopped, leaving a glowing surface. The three sisters leaned in a little closer as the light faded slightly, forming a picture. There, in the surface of the water, was Nicki, curled up asleep in Phoebe's bed. Without even knowing it, all the sisters let a protective smile escape, as they gazed down at their niece.

--End of Chapter Eight--

Please review and let me know what you liked, or didn't. Any constructive criticism is completely welcome.