The Blessed One

Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed

Summary: Begins in season 5. Piper is barely pregnant, and the baby is in great danger. A very nasty and powerful demon is after it, and will stop at nothing to get the child. Can the family survive their toughest challenge yet? Meanwhile, will Phoebe get the baby she longs for? And has Paige found her dream man?

A/N. Starts at the beginning of season 5, and Piper is two months pregnant (in this story anyway). When the Charmed Ones vanquished Cole the first time, he stayed vanquished, and so did his and Phoebe's baby. That's about it I think, so on with the story.

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Chapter 1

Piper Halliwell yawned widely and sipped from her glass of fresh orange juice. 'Orange juice!' she thought with disgust. Usually at this early time on a Monday morning she would be drinking coffee to prepare herself for the day ahead. But, due to the fact that she was two months pregnant, she couldn't. More precisely, Piper's younger sisters, Phoebe and Paige, wouldn't let her. So Piper's mornings were now filled with orange juice, herbal tea and vomit.

Piper pushed her self up from her chair at the kitchen table and placed her empty glass into the sink. She breathed in the sweet scent of fresh morning air that breezed in through the open window, and enjoyed the quietness of the Manor. Phoebe and Paige were still in bed, and Piper's husband, Leo, was on call, so Piper had the kitchen all to herself. A gentle breeze ruffled the net curtains and weak sunlight streamed through.

Peaceful times such as these were rare in Halliwell Manor, because of the fact that Piper, Phoebe and Paige were witches. Not just and witches, but the Charmed Ones, the world's most powerful witches in all existence. Demons, Warlocks, and other evil foes often dropped in uninvited to try and kill the Charmed Ones. One demon, Shax, had succeeded to an extent. He had not killed all three Charmed Ones, but he had murdered the eldest sister Prue, just over a year ago.

Prue had died the instant she was blown through a wall, breaking the Power Of Three. This had left Piper and Phoebe practically undefended, until they had met Paige and the Charmed Ones were re-constituted. Paige was their half sister who had been adopted as a baby. Paige was the daughter of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe's mother, and her whitelighter, a kind of guardian angel for good witches. Witch-whitelighter relationships had been strictly for bidden back then, so Paige had been given away for her own safety.

Now, thanks to Piper and her whitelighter husband Leo, the rules on witch-whitelighter relationships weren't as harsh as they used to be, and the second half witch, half whitelighter was due to be born in around seven months.

Piper glanced longingly at the pile of pancakes that were stacked on the kitchen's island. She had made them, being the excellent cook that she was, but unfortunately she couldn't eat them. She only had to smell the sickly, syrupy scent to feel sick. She didn't want to think about her reaction if she actually ate one. 'Just another joy of morning sickness' Piper thought wryly.

"Yum! You cooked pancakes," Phoebe noticed happily, coming into the kitchen. She was dressed for work, and looked refreshed and awake.

"Yep," Piper replied simply. "Just for you."

Phoebe grabbed a plate and loaded a couple of pancakes onto it. "Are you not having any?"

"God, no. I can't stand the smell." Piper backed away from her younger sister, who was unintentionally wafting her breakfast under her nose.

"How comes you can cook the then?" Phoebe wondered and she picked up a fork and settled at the table.

"Well, someone has to make sure you get a good breakfast." Piper joined Phoebe. "And seeing as you can't cook," she teased.

"Hey!" Phoebe protested. "I can cook!"

"Yeah, you did really well that time you tries to bake cookies and nearly burnt the house down," Piper replied sarcastically.

" That wasn't my fault. The oven was broken," Phoebe said defensively.

"Uh-huh."

The two sisters sat in a comfortably silence for a few minutes, Phoebe eating and Piper reading the newspaper.

"Good morning sunshine," Phoebe greeted suddenly.

Piper looked up from the article she was reading to see the youngest sister, Paige stumble into the kitchen. Still in her pyjamas, Paige's hair was tousled and she appeared half-asleep.

"What's good about it?" Paige grumbled. She took a pancake and brought it over to the table.

"Oh! I'm going to puke!" Piper cried, clamping a hand over her mouth and running from the room.

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An hour later, Piper was in the Halliwell SUV, winding her way through the streets of San Francisco. This was easier said than done as traffic jams caused major problems with reaching destinations.

Eventually the cars began moving at the pace of snails, and Piper slowly edged her way into her parking space of P3, her night-club. Piper slid out the car and slammed the door shut. She unlocked the doors of P3 and stepped inside.

The place was a tip. From her vantage point at the top of the stairs that led into the main room, Piper could see that tables were un-cleaned, with plates and glasses still on their tops. The bar had not been wiped down, and dirty glasses lined it. The floor was covered in napkins and drink mixers.

Piper sighed and descended the stairs. The waiting staff she employed was supposed to clean up before they locked up, but obviously they hadn't. Piper rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

Two hours later, the main room of P3 had been tidied, with everything back in its place. Piper was in the smaller, back room of the club, counting supplies. She recorded the number of wine bottles they had, when there came a blood-curdling scream came from outside the door. Dropping her clipboard and pen, she ran into the main room.

Standing alone of P3's dance floor was a young, petite woman of about twenty, with short, ash blonde hair and pale skin. She was trembling with fear, and as Piper followed her light blue eyes she realised why. One of the most hideous demons Piper had ever seen was staring down the girl. With corpse blue skin, acid green eyes and saliva dripping from jagged, blackened teeth, the demon was terrifying to anyone who had not seen on before.

The demon noticed Piper and launched an energy ball at her, which she blew up with a flick of her wrists. With another slight hand motion the demon exploded and his guts splattered everywhere. The woman screamed again and fled the room. Piper attempted freezing her.

"Dammit!" she muttered when it didn't work. Piper chased after the stranger. She burst through the front doors and gazed both ways down the street that fronted P3. The woman was gone.

While Piper was outside, inside the club, the demon remains were slowly re-constituting…

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A/N. Hoped you liked the first chapter. Please review.