Chapter 9

Present

Phoebe rang the doorbell of the manor and waited for an answer. There was none, so she pushed the bell again and lingered a few seconds longer. No one answered, however, so she fumbled around in her pockets for the keys to the house. She felt the cool metal on her fingers and lifted it out to open up the door. She pushed it open, wheeling her young nephew through the hallway in his stroller. She was startled to see Paige walk into the room.

"Did you have fun with Aunt Phoebe today, Wyatt?" She asked, looking at the two.

"No one answered the door."

"Ah, sorry I was cleaning up."

"Cleaning up what?" Phoebe looked at her sister suspiciously and Paige narrowed her eyes at her stupid question.

"Oh, no, no, no. I am not fighting any demons tonight!"

"Now there's where you're lucky…we already did all that. Most of it, anyway. No thanks to you forgetting to tell me you weren't at the Bay Mirror today."

"Are you kidding me? Paige, we had an entire conversation about me taking the day off yesterday. Elise has been getting on my back and…I can't believe you don't remember."

"I guess I was distracted. But there was a darklighter and we really could've used your help."

"You've been 'distracted' a lot lately. Wait- there was a darklighter! Here? Is everyone okay?"

"Well yeah, now everything's fine."

"What do you mean 'now everything's fine'?"

"Oh, you know- the usual. Prue got shot by the darklighter, Chris freaked out, Piper had an emotional breakdown and yelled at everyone."

Phoebe was already getting a headache. She walked over and collapsed onto the couch, squeezing her eyes shut and massaging her temples with her hand. She was tired of dealing with Piper's emotional wreckage.

"Where is everyone now?"

"I don't know; Chris and Prue orbed out after Piper's little fit. They seemed kind of upset."

"Chris!"

"What is it, Phoebe?" He asked as he orbed in. His posture slumped a little and his eyes looked tired.

She was about to answer but stopped suddenly, "Honey, are you okay?"

"I'm alive aren't I?" His words had an edge of sarcasm to them. It was a way out for him- a way of avoiding any and all questions. He had always been sarcastic, but since coming back to the past he used his regular tact of evading the question more often. His aunt knew he didn't want to talk and normally she'd push him, but she decided to save it for later. She could tell he wasn't ready to be forced to do anything.

"Do you know where Prue is?"

"No, I haven't seen her since the attack."

"Prue!" She waited a minute before calling again, "Prue!"

"Do you think she's hurt?"

"No. Well not physically, anyway. I think I might know where she is."

Prue's feet dangled off the edge of the dock. A gentle fog began to spread across the lake, causing the water to become murky and unclear. She heard Phoebe call her but decided to ignore it, as she knew it was nothing important or life-threatening. It had been drizzling on and off for the past twenty minutes but now the rain started to come down in buckets and it soaked through her clothes. Prue shivered. She looked down at her reflection in the water and almost laughed at how pathetic a sight it was- she was soaking wet, miserable, and alone. She felt like crying but what good would it do? It wouldn't change how she felt about anything and her tears would just melt together with the salty-rain.

She heard someone orb in behind her but she didn't bother to turn around. She knew who it was. Chris waited on the end of the dock, knowing his aunt would want to speak to Prue alone. Phoebe watched her soaked and shivering sister for a moment, a person that she had looked up to her entire life, and realized for the first time how human her sister really was. She had always thought of Prue as so big, so everything, and she was amazed at how small a giant could look. She could live her life with mistakes and regrets just like everybody else could. She could die just like everybody else…

Phoebe walked towards the end of the dock and sat down next to her, "Wantta talk?"

"There's nothing to talk about." Prue had reverted back to her old self. She was very different from a month ago when she had shared so much with her little sister. They had been open with each other that night and Phoebe had felt really good about it afterwards. Her sister had never shared so many feelings with her before.

Phoebe leaned her head against her sister's shoulder and a montage of scenes began to play through her head. She saw Piper and herself a few days after their mother had died. They were scared and upset and had gone to sleep in Prue's room.

She was crying as she spoke softly to her sisters, "No one's ever gonna hurt you again. I promise I'll always take care of both of you."

The scene then changed to a vision of herself and Prue when she was about 17. She never saw the car coming as she ran through the red light. Screeching tires sounded as another car slammed into the passenger side and the air bags exploded.

"Phoebe? Phoebe, are you okay!"

Phoebe was completely unprepared for what she saw next. The vision changed to her two oldest sisters inside a hospital room. Prue was crying. Piper was whiter than a ghost and she was covered with blood. It was everywhere…

"Don't go. I love you." Piper flat lined as she spoke her last words. To Phoebe's horror, she felt everything her oldest sister was feeling at the time. She knew that Piper had died in the alternate timeline but seeing it, feeling how real it was hurt her more than she could imagine and she unsuccessfully tried to pull herself out of her vision. Her empathy had combined with her power of premonition to create the most realistic visions she had ever had, and she didn't like it. She didn't want to see everything Prue was thinking of right now; she wanted to help her but feeling so many powerful emotions including her own…It was just too much at once.

"Don't worry. He's gonna fix it. I promise you're gonna be fine."

Shax sent Prue crashing through the wall and the scene faded into Piper yelling at Prue's grave. "How dare you leave me! How could you go and die and leave me here all alone? Please come back. I need you." She let out an anguished cry and sank to the floor, "Please come back."

The vision took Phoebe's consciousness to a little less than a month ago,

"Promise me, Prue."

"Piper, I can't do that."

"Promise me. Promise me you'll never leave us like that again. Please."

She relented, "Okay, Piper. I promise."

Her premonition finally changed to a very recent moment in time. She watched Piper scream at Chris and then watched her yell at Prue. "You…you promised you wouldn't…not again. I can't take this anymore!"

Phoebe gasped as she came out of her vision. She quickly jerked away from Prue to put a bit of distance between them. She had no intention of having another premonition like that. Not now, not ever. Phoebe was forced to see both of her sisters die, to see things that she never wanted to see. She had come here to help her sister but now she was crying. She cried for her family, and for herself.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviews. I really appreciate it. A/N