Nothing is mine, except the Season 1 DVD and a homemade Charmed board game.

Chapter Two

The Piper who wasn't Piper, having been freed from her crystal cage, began to wander around the attic, admiring knickknacks and checking out the view from various windows. Phoebe, Paige, and Chris watched her until they were all thoroughly creeped out by her resemblance to Piper, and then turned to regroup around the Book of Shadows.

"Do you really think she's involved with this whole mess?" Paige asked. "Maybe we just got a spell backfire and we should send her on her way."

"It could've been a backfire, but I don't think it was," Chris replied. "She's involved, if indirectly. I just can't stand how much she looks like Mom." He turned back to the demon. "Hey, listen- Wait. I need a name. I can't keep calling you the un-Piper in my head, okay?" The Not-Piper grinned.

"Understandable. My name's Alexis."

"Okay, we're getting somewhere!" Chris said enthusiastically. "Step Two would be un-shape-shifting, if that's kosher with you of course." Alexis hesitated.

"Promise not to B O S me?" she asked. When the group agreed, she raised her right arm over her head and snapped her fingers. When the cloud of sparks had cleared, Chris took a step back in surprise. Alexis laughed nervously.

"Not what you were expecting?"

Chris shook his head ruefully. She was definitely not what he'd expected. No horns, no fangs, no leather, just a pretty, dark-haired girl who definitely did not look like his mother. He stared.

"Uh, oh, someone likes the demon," Phoebe muttered to Paige.

"What?" asked Alexis.

"Uh, nothing," Phoebe said quickly. "Listen, how about you tell us what you know about the upper level badasses that you pissed off, because chances are good that your badasses are our badasses too."

"You think so?" Alexis responded doubtfully.

"Why else would the spell have brought you here?" Paige's logic made sense, so Alexis began.

"Okay. Well, it's kind of a chain of badasses. You see, I went to this demonic protection service and was given a guardian called Tajna. He's some sort of fallen Darklighter, I think. After I fell out of favor with the service, Tajna was given permission to organize a faction of guardian demons to come and kill me, so I didn't know what was going to come looking for me. I went into hiding and gathered information about your sister, then came into the open and told them I was Piper and I had killed Alexis. Tajna and his followers bought it and left me alone, but his superiors, upper level demons and such, knew I was a shape-shifter and ordered me brought back to them. I locked myself up in my apartment, made dozens of potions, and waited for them to come for me, but no one ever did. Then I ended up here."

"The demons must have nabbed the real Piper instead of her," Phoebe said to Paige and Chris. "We have to get to them and get her back."

"Agreed," Chris said, turning back to Alexis. "Can you help us find the bad guys' HQ?"

"Yea, sure," she responded in a decisive tone. "The entrance is hidden in one of those really old tombs in the cemetery. What else do you need to know? I'll do whatever I can do to help."

"No," Paige cut in. "If the bad guys are already after you, then you should stay out of there as long as you can. We need to get in there, kick some ass, and get Piper home without any trouble. Right, guys?"

"No!" Alexis cut in, indignant. "I am not some dim-witted warlock. I realize that I'd only be a hassle as me, but I'd go as Piper. Since they have the real Piper but they think it's me, they'll believe me if I say I'm the real Piper, especially if I show up with y'all."

"You know," Chris said thoughtfully. "That actually makes sense. Threatening Tajna and the gang with the Power of Three packs the most punch, whether it's the genuine Power of Three or not. I say we do it. Phoebe?" Phoebe had turned to focus on Alexis, and was concentrating fiercely, as though trying to read her as she had read countless demons while still an empath.

"Oh, stupid power," she mumbled to herself before turning back to her sister and her nephew. "I don't know. I see Chris's logic, but what happens if Alexis here betrays us in the middle of the fight? That's a pretty big risk."

"Hey now," Alexis protested. "It's as much in my interest as in yours to take out these demons. After all, they want me dead. Betraying y'all would be sentencing myself to death, and that's just not smart."

"I don't know…" Paige began, but Alexis cut her off again.

"Listen to me, you guys. Every minute that we spend arguing about this is another minute Piper spends with those dirtbags. Is that what you want?"

There was a moment of silence, and all three Halliwells sprang instantly into action. Paige grabbed Phoebe's hand, while Chris took Alexis's, and they orbed off to the cemetery. Alexis, clearly pleased, snapped her fingers again and shape-shifted back into Piper before leading the apprehensive group to a large, earthen tomb that was so old that the names could no longer be read. She pointed at a small trapdoor that lay semi-hidden at their feet.

"It's through there. Are y'all ready for this?" When Paige, Phoebe, and Chris all nodded their assent, she took a deep breath and lifted the trapdoor, revealing a dark, narrow set of stairs. The three Halliwells, led by their fake Piper, charged down the stairs into a dimly lit room filled with assorted demons surrounding the real Piper, who was crumpled on the floor, hands tied behind her back, looking disheveled and pissed off.

"What the bloody hell took you guys so long?" she demanded with a shade of her old fierceness, struggling to stand but collapsing back onto the ground.

"Piper!" Phoebe gasped, turning to Chris. "We'll distract the demons, you orb her the hell out of here!"

"The Charmed Ones!" the large demon standing at Piper's left said, causing his fellow demons to shift nervously. "I was wondering when you'd find out about our little service here. Are you looking for a bodyguard?"

"No, no bodyguard," Phoebe replied coolly. "We'll just take the shapeshifter."

"The shapeshifter?" the demon asked, grinning. "Interesting turn of events, this. Well, ordinarily we'd say no way, but since you are such prestigious guests to our facility, we might be able to make you a bargain. What sort of powers could you offer?"

"I don't have time for this!" Phoebe muttered to herself before shouting to her nephew. "Now, Chris!" Chris orbed to his mother's side and orbed away, while Paige grabbed Phoebe and Alexis and followed. When the girls reached the manor they found Chris, attempting unsuccessfully to revive Piper, who lay crumpled on the living room floor.

"Leo!" Paige shouted, panicking, and for a few tense seconds the worried group wondered if the Whitelighter was still in the Underworld and would not be able to hear them, but he orbed into the room.

"Piper!" he breathed, knocking Chris out of the way as he fell to her side and started to heal her. The golden lights lit the scene, but the greenish tinge of Piper's skin did not fade. Several seconds later, she regained consciousness with a start and began to cough painfully. Leo pulled his wife onto his lap and held her upright, steadying her, until she was calm enough to look around her. When she saw Alexis, who still looked like her, she jumped, prompting the shapeshifter to wince apologetically and turn back into her original form. The light of understanding dawned in Piper's eyes.

"Piper?" Leo asked gently. "Are you okay? What did they do to you?"

"Potions," she mumbled with effort. "Lots of potions. Spells, too. They wanted me to shapeshift, I gather, into you." She glanced towards Alexis, and nodded off again.

"Is she going to be okay?" Paige asked Leo worriedly.

"I think so. The good news is that I healed her body; I healed what's underneath all of the dark magic. Now all we can do is wait for the potions to wear off and for the spells to fade, and she'll be good as new. Until then, she needs to rest." Leo lifted his sleeping wife up and carried her slowly upstairs, leaving a tense group alone in the living room. Phoebe sighed and leaned on the back of the couch for support, only to be thrust into a violent premonition of a group of demons attacking herself, Paige, Chris, and Alexis in the manor's living room. She groaned.

"Incoming," she announced to the room. She pointed at Alexis. "Shapeshift. We'll need you to play the part, if only for effect. You can use some of the generic potions we in the kitchen; just throw them at anything that moves and we'll do just fine." Alexis hurried towards the kitchen, shapeshifting in midstep, and returned with potions just in time to see six assorted demons shimmer into the room. Phoebe, Paige, and Chris launched into an offensive, but they had barely gotten a few good punches in when all six enemies went up in flames. The three confused Halliwells turned to Alexis, who was now out of potions and looking slightly shocked.

"Wow," Chris said, impressed. "Good arm!"