Chapter 51: Sense and Sense Ability Part 2
April 26, 2003 – Saturday
Crone's Lair
"First we wait on a monkey and now what?" the Kazi King snapped at the old woman. "What are we waiting on now?"
"You're waiting on me," she answered. "Get used to it. Unlike you, I don't charge in like a wild bull. I prefer to take my time...and succeed."
"I say enough time has passed," he retorted.
"Perhaps," the Crone admitted. "First we need to find out if the monkey's magic has taken effect. If so, you can send in your warrior while I make my move for the babies."
"How do we figure out if the monkey has done his job?" the Kazi King wondered.
The Crone gave him a secretive smile. "Common sense."
"You dare mock me?" he yelled at her. One thing he did not like was being mocked.
"On occasion, but not at the moment," she admitted as she held up the monkey totem. "This totem was created to trap senses, but with my magic I can borrow what's inside here."
"So that's what this is all about?" the Kazi King said as he looked at the totem. "You want to steal the Charmed Ones, the Slayer and the Key's senses. Why?" he questioned, not seeing the point of it all.
The Crone smiled. "You'd be surprised what you can do with a set of eyes, a pair of ears, a voice. You might even be able to trick an infant into believing you're one of the family," she explained. "Now...let's see those beautiful babies."
He watched as her eyes glowed.
Halliwell Manor
Piper sat on her bed surrounded by three bassinets. She held Wyatt as he whimpered. "Okay, little guy, what is it?" she questioned. "What is it? Do we need a diaper change?" She checked his diaper and then shook his head. "No, not that. Okay. Um, how about the popcorn machine? That always works for daddy, right, right? Okay, here we go. Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop. No popping. Okay, forget the popping. Okay, it's alright." It was then that she heard footsteps in the hallway. "Hello? Leo?"
"Yeah," Leo said as he walked into the room. "Just came to check on you." He moved Wyatt's bassinet slightly so he could sit on the bed beside his wife. "How'd you know it was me?"
Piper thought about the question for a moment and then smiled. "Well, you shuffle your feet," she informed him. "You're a shuffler."
Leo smiled. "Looks like your other senses are already taking over for your vision."
Piper sighed as her sightless eyes stared straight ahead. She so wished she could see her children and her niece in that instance. "Uh-huh. Not fast enough. Okay, tell me what I'm doing wrong here."
"Uh, well, that fussy noise usually means gas," Leo pointed out. "Try putting him over your shoulder."
"Okay," Piper agreed as she positioned her son over her shoulder. "Alrighty. Here we go, oh, I know."
"Better?" Leo asked, though he was sure he already knew Piper's answer. It would be the same as anyone who had lived a lifetime with eyesight to only find it suddenly gone. It was a hard adjustment.
"No, not better," Piper said confirmed Leo's suspicions. "I don't know all his tricks and noises like you guys do. And at least before I could see him."
"Well, the love is there, the rest will follow," Leo informed his wife. "You know, it's just a myth that all mothers instantly bond with their children."
"I wish I could ask mom if that was even remotely true," Piper sighed. "Regardless if it is. I'm not worried about all other mothers, I'm worried about this one."
"From where I stand," Leo said looking at his son, "you look like a pro, he's already calmed down."
Piper blinked her sightless eyes in astonishment. "He has?" she asked before realizing that Leo was right. "Oh, he has. Okay, good."
"Leo!" Buffy called out. "Bring Piper up here, we think we found something!"
"Here, take him," Piper said as she handed their son to Leo. "I don't want him, Elizabeth or Joyce left alone for a second while this stuff is going on here, okay?"
"Okay," Leo agreed.
Piper made her way into the hallway and accidentally stepped on one of her children's squeaky toy. She gasped in surprise before bending down to pick it up. As she headed for the stairs she passed the Crone who was using the monkey totem to hear what was going on in the attic.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"The monkey didn't come after us on his own," Phoebe explained to Buffy and Paige who stood at the potion table. "Someone very powerful is behind all of this." She glanced briefly at the Book of Shadows before her and Dawn. "The question is who?"
"Hello?" Piper said as she walked through the door. "Anybody in here? Give me a sign." Paige and Dawn banged on the potion table and podium. "Alright, speak and spell," she quipped. "Tell me what you all know." She reached out to feel where she was going and knocked some books onto the floor.
Piper made her way across the room to stand next to Paige, who she touched to confirm was there.
Dawn showed Phoebe her notepad on which she had written one word, "News?"
"Oh. Okay, listen to this," Phoebe said as Buffy watched Paige who was writing down what Phoebe was saying. "Centuries ago," she read, "a sorcerer created a monkey to steal his enemies senses, only the sorcerer mistreated the little fella, so the monkey stole his master's voice and was turned into a wooden totem as punishment."
"So this whole monkey business about, you know, speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil is a real thing?" Piper asked.
Dawn wrote down Piper's question and then showed it to Phoebe.
"Look likes," Phoebe admitted.
"Is there anything in here that will get our senses back?" Piper asked.
"I'm still looking," Phoebe answered after she read what Dawn had written.
"Kill Monkey?" Paige wrote before showing the pad to Buffy.
"Paige is proposing we kill the money," Buffy said.
"Well, I'm inclined to agree," Piper agreed. "But I really think the monkey is the least of our worries."
"Maybe," Buffy agreed after reading what Paige wrote. "But it could return our senses if we could find it."
It was at that moment Phoebe and Dawn's cell phones began to vibrate.
Phoebe looked down at her caller ID and frowned. "Oh, no, it's Elise. Piper, you're the only one that can talk to her. Tell her I'm sick." She handed Piper the phone. "Tell her, tell her..."
"I got it, I got it, I got it. Okay," Piper answered as she took the phone.
Dawn frowned as she looked at the caller ID on hers. She then wrote down, "Faith," and showed it to Phoebe.
"Oh no," Phoebe said.
"Hello?" Piper said as she answered Phoebe's phone. "Hi, Elise. Uh, Phoebe and Dawn? Yeah, they're both here, they're lying down.
"Hurry," Phoebe whispered to Piper. "Faith's calling on Dawn's."
Piper nodded. "Um, I don't know. Phoebe seems to maybe have an inner ear infection. And Dawn well she's lost her voice," she told the woman on the other end of the phone. Suddenly unseen behind her, Phoebe and Dawn a Kazi demon appeared.
"Piper, Kazi," Buffy said seeing the demon.
Piper nodded. "Uh, Elise. I have to go." She quickly ended the call.
Paige and Buffy grabbed potions off the potion table just as Phoebe and Dawn saw the demon. "Three o'clock!" Phoebe called out trying to direct Piper. "Six o'clock! Twelve o'clock!"
Piper flicked her wrist and blew up the table beside Paige and Buffy sending them flying across the room. "Did I get him?" she asked as Phoebe and Dawn grabbed her by the arms.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Leo held a book and was reading to the babies when he heard the explosion as Piper blew up the table. "Wyatt…Elizabeth…Joyce! Danger!"
The babies force fields suddenly snapped into existence around all three of them and overlapping one another.
Leo stood up and ran out of the room. He passed the Crone who was hidden in Buffy's bedroom. As he headed up the stairs the Crone came out of her hiding spot and entered Piper's room approaching the babies.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Phoebe and Dawn spun Piper around aiming their sister at the Kazi as Piper tried to blow him up. The Kazi jumped over the couch and Piper blew it up instead.
"How about that time?" Piper asked as Phoebe walked over to the couch.
"You killed Aunt Pearl's couch," Phoebe admitted.
"Did I get the Kazi?" Piper asked.
Dawn was about to hold up her notepad for Phoebe to read when she saw the Kazi demon stand up behind Phoebe. With a wave of her hand she sent the Kazi flying.
Buffy threw her potion just as Leo entered the attic stunning the demon.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
The Crone smiled as she stood in front of the bassinets, holding the monkey totem. "Hush little baby don't say a word," the Crone sang in Paige's voice. "Mama's going to buy you a mocking bird, and if that mocking bird won't sing..."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Leo was kneeling over Paige as Buffy and Dawn watched him. "Is she going to be okay?" Piper asked him from where she stood between her mother and elder sister.
"I think so," Leo admitted as Paige regained consciousness and sat up.
Phoebe placed the last of the five crystals around the Kazi demon and watched as the crystal cage snapped into existence. "Crystal cage is ready!" she said.
The Kazi demon stood up and touched the energy of the cage and was shocked.
"Do you hear that?" Piper asked as she could hear singing.
"Singing?" Dawn wrote on her notepad.
"Singing?" Leo read what she had written and then his eyes went wide in realization. "Wyatt! Elizabeth! Joyce!" He turned and raced out of the room just as Dawn's cell phone began vibrating again.
Dawn looked at the caller ID and sighed. She then handed it to Phoebe.
"Uh, Piper," Phoebe said. "Faith's calling."
"Hand it here!" Piper said in understanding as Phoebe handed her the phone. "Hey, Faith," she said as she answered it.
"Where's Dawn?" came Faith's voice from the other end. "I need to talk to her."
"She's can't talk right now, Faith," Piper replied with a sigh. "You know the see no evil, hear no evil and all that?"
"Yeah?" Faith asked as worry creeped into her voice.
"Faith doesn't know about my merge," Dawn wrote and showed it to Phoebe.
Phoebe nodded as she rushed to Piper's side and whispered in Piper's ear. "Faith doesn't know about Prue. She doesn't know that Aunt Dawn and Prue have merged."
Piper nodded at Phoebe in understanding. "Yeah, sadly each of us has been hit," she explained with a sigh. "I'm blind and literally the only one who can talk on the phone. Mom and Phoebe can't hear. And Dawn and Paige, can't talk," she finished.
Summers Residence, Sunnydale
Tara appeared at the door to Faith's room. "Faith," she said as Faith looked at her. She could see the brunette Slayer was on her cell phone. "Sorry. Dawn?"
"Hold on, Piper," Faith said as she lowered the phone from her ear. "I can't talk to Dawn apparently. Something stole one of each of their senses. Dawn's currently mute."
"Oh no," Tara said in shock.
"What is it, Blondie?" Faith questioned.
"Willow just called form the hospital," Tara answered. "The girl's awake."
Faith nodded as she brought her cell phone back to her ear. "I have to go, Piper. Let me know when this is fixed. I need to talk to my wife. It's rather important."
"Will do, Faith," Piper replied as Faith ended the call.
Halliwell Manor
"And if you let this force field down, you'll still be the best little baby in town," the Crone continued to sing using Paige's voice as the force fields disappeared. She reached into Joyce's bassinet as Leo raced in.
"Piper!" Leo called out. "Joyce, careful..."
Crone zapped Leo and he flew across the room. Wyatt, Elizabeth and Joyce all started to cry as their force fields snapped back into existence.
"Leo, what's going on?" Piper called form upstairs.
"You'll pay for that," the Crone said as she walked over to Leo and then the two of them vanished just as Buffy and Dawn led Piper, Phoebe and Paige into the room.
"Is Wyatt and Elizabeth okay?" Piper asked as Buffy and Dawn raced over to the bassinets to check on the babies.
Dawn picked up Joyce and smiled.
Buffy looked up from the bassinets and at Piper. "Wyatt and Elizabeth are okay," she said. She glanced at her sister who was spinning around in a circle with Joyce. "And so is Joyce."
"Where's Leo?" Phoebe asked looking around for her brother-in-law.
"Leo?" Piper called out. She waited a moment for him to respond. "Why isn't he answering us?" she asked.
Crone's Lair
"Where's my warrior?" the Kazi King asked.
"Captured," the Crone answered as she held the monkey totem up to her ear.
Kazi King frowned. "That's your fault," he snarled. "You said you would weaken them."
"And I did," the Crone told him. "However I failed to account for their Whitelighter. But don't worry, he won't get in our way again." She looked over at the water tank that held the captive Leo.
"I say we launch another attack now," the Kazi King told her.
"First I need to know the witches aren't on to me," she informed him. "If they figure out that I want their babies, I'll never get my hands on them. Now please, let me concentrate."
Sunnydale Memorial
The girl was named Shannon, and she was a Potential, as they had suspected.
She was barely alive, hooked up and still bloody through her bandages. She told Faith and Willow her story. "He was a minister or something," she said. "At least, he dressed like one. I thought he was trying to 'save' me. At first."
Faith frowned. "He picked you up on the side of the road?"
She nodded and croaked, "The Bringers were chasing me." She thought a moment, then added, "He said they were 'his boys.' Right before he burned me." As she pulled back the bandage on her neck, she revealed the burn mark the guy—Caleb—had left there. Faith gestured to Willow's purse; Willow pulled out a small digital camera and took a shot of the injury.
"He wanted me to tell you something before . . . before he cut me," she said in a tiny voice. "He told me to give the Slayer a message."
"Which one?" Faith asked. "There is two of us."
"He didn't say," she replied.
"Okay, what is it?" Faith told her.
Shannon looked at Faith, cold and hollow. "He said, 'I have something of yours.'"
Halliwell Manor
Piper, Buffy and Dawn sat on the couch holding the three babies trying to keep them calm as Phoebe and Paige cleaned up the mess in the attic.
"There you go, is that better?" Piper asked her son. "There you go. That's better.
"It's okay, baby," Buffy added speaking to both of Piper's babies. "Daddy'll be home soon."
"You did it! You calmed them down!" Phoebe told her sisters and mother.
"Shh! Phoebe." Piper said. "It's strange after, you know, I lost my vision, I was forced to use my maternal instincts, which is good 'cause I wasn't really sure I had them."
"Of course you have them," Buffy said and then her eyes went wide in realization. "I think I'm getting pretty good at reading lips."
"It was only a matter of time before your other sense kicked in Buffy," Dawn mouthed.
"You are right of course, Dawn," Buffy said as she smiled at her baby sister.
Paige held up her notepad on which she had written. "We'll find Leo."
"I know," Piper admitted, even though she couldn't see what Paige had written.
"I'm getting pretty good at reading lips," Phoebe said as she looked at Piper. "I think, Piper, you just said 'I know'. What do you know?"
"That we'll find Leo," Piper answered.
"Okay, that's weird. How did you know that's what Paige wrote?" Buffy questioned. "I mean, you can't see it and neither Phoebe or I said it. So…"
"My guess," Piper said as she thought over what her mother said. "Is that maybe I'm developing some sort of sixth sense. It's what it must be, right?"
"I would say that is possibly a safe bet, Piper," Buffy admitted. "It would make sense. You're the most vulnerable without your vision. So everything else would have to kick in to compensate. It's kind of the same way blind people learn to walk around their home without seeing where the furniture is."
"Start the interrogation," Dawn wrote and held up the notepad.
"I agree, Prue," Phoebe said as Paige headed over to the Kazi demon.
Piper, Buffy and Dawn all stood up with the babies.
"Dawn and I will take Piper and the babies back downstairs," Buffy informed Phoebe and Paige. "Then we'll come back up to help you."
"Okay," Phoebe said as she watched her sisters and mother along with the babies walk out of the attic. She turned back to the Kazi demon.
Paige held up her notepad on which was written, "Where's our Whitelighter?"
The Kazi didn't answer and Paige threw a tiny crystal at the cage shocking the Kazi who yelled out in pain. "Wrong answer," Phoebe informed the Kazi demon.
Paige threw another tiny crystal at the cage, shocking the demon again. It was at that moment that the doorbell interrupted them. She rushed over to the window to see who was at the door.
"Is somebody here?" Buffy asked as she and Dawn re-entered the attic.
Paige frowned when she saw her boyfriend waiting on the porch. She walked over to Phoebe, Buffy and Dawn and mouthed, "Nate".
"Nate is here?" Buffy asked as Paige nodded. "We need to get rid of him." She turned and was about to head out of the attic when Paige tapped her on the shoulder. She turned back around to look at Paige.
Paige mimed holding a microphone and trying to sing. She then promptly waved her hand in front of her mouth. "You lost your voice when you were singing?" Phoebe asked. "With hi…Wait, how could that be? You were with him at his..." Paige mimed playing a piano. "Piano bar." Paige nodded. "You lost your voice when you were on stage singing, because he wanted you to sing for him. Oh, that is so romantic!" She sighed. "And humiliating."
"I think we all see the point, Paige," Buffy said as the doorbell rang again. "I'll go deal with him. You guys keep working on trying to find a way to get our senses back." She turned and headed out of the attic.
As Buffy made her way down the stairs she wondered what had been going on when she had lost her voice. After all they had all lost their senses when they were using them. Phoebe was in a meeting. Paige was trying to sing. Piper was driving. And she herself was trying to talk on the phone. She wondered what Dawn had been doing.
Buffy smiled as she opened the door to reveal Nate there holding a bunch of flowers.
"Oh, hey, Buffy, is Paige here?" Nate asked upon seeing the person he wasn't looking for.
"Paige is sick," Buffy said with a sigh. "She lost her voice. I personally think it was stage fright. She told me about trying to sing at your bar."
Nate sighed. "Yeah," he said. "I tried to show her off at the club, I mean, she's got such a good singing voice, and I thought maybe I could help her get over her fear..." He noticed that Buffy was watching his lips. "Why are you looking at my mouth?"
"Swimmer's ear," Buffy said as she smiled at him. "I fell asleep in the tub last night. I hope it clears up fast, but while I'm waiting I've been getting good at reading lips."
Nate nodded. "I just want to tell her I'm sorry. If I could just speak to her for a second, maybe I could clear this up."
"Nate," Buffy said as she smiled at him. "You're a sweet guy. Let Paige get her voice back. It's nothing personal. She just feels bad that she let you down."
"Alright," Nate said as he handed Buffy the flowers he brought for Paige. "Will you have her call me, when she's ready?"
"I will," Buffy said. "And, Nate, I'm sorry your date didn't turn out just like you had hoped."
"So am I," Nate replied as he turned and walked down the sidewalk.
Summers Residence, Sunnydale
"We've got a new player in town," Faith announced. "Dresses like a preacher. Calls himself Caleb. Looks like he's working for The First. He's taunting us. Calling us out. Says he has something of mine or B's or both. Could be another girl. Could be something else. Don't know. I don't care. Whatever it is. I'm getting it back. And before any of you worry that I am going to lead you in to a place that you could be killed. Don't worry. As soon as my family is done with their current demon. I will call them in."
Halliwell Manor
"Okay, Nate's gone," Buffy said as she entered the attic. "But, Paige, when you get your voice back. Your going to have to call him." Paige nodded as she handed Paige the flowers. "Now what's going on with the interrogation?"
Dawn held up her notepad on which she had written. "Kazi's are tough to crack".
"I'm actually thinking that our Kazi buddy here can't read," Phoebe said. "Where's our Whitelighter?"
The Kazi demon shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted.
Paige held up her notepad on which she wrote, "Demons lie."
"Not always, Paige," Buffy said. "Some actually do tell the truth and are brutally honest with it." She looked at her sister. "Isn't that right, Dawn?"
Dawn sighed and nodded as she wrote, "Angel was when he was Angelus. I remember just after he turned."
"I know, Dawn," Buffy said as she wrapped an arm around Dawn's waist in comfort. "I remember that you were there too. That he tried to kill you that night. Worst birthday I ever had." She looked back at the Kazi demon. "Who sent you?"
The Kazi demon didn't answer as Paige went to throw another tiny crystal. "Wait, wait!" he finally replied. "Hold on a minute, please, I'll tell you. It was the Crone."
"The Crone?" Phoebe said looking at Dawn in realization. "The Crone sent you?"
The Kazi demon nodded. "Yeah."
"What is it, Phoebe," Buffy said noticing the look Phoebe had given Dawn.
"If I'm not mistaken, the Crone was the one that we faced when the parasite demons were trying to kidnap Wyatt, Elizabeth and Joyce," Phoebe admitted.
Buffy sighed and nodded. She looked at Dawn. "Check the book. We need to see if there is a vanquish," she instructed. Dawn nodded as she hurried over to the Book of Shadows. She turned back toward the demon. "What does the Crone want with us?"
"If I tell you that she'll kill me," the Kazi demon answered.
Paige threw a small crystal at the cage electrocuting him again.
Crone's Lair
The Crone stood listening in on the conversation in the attic through the monkey totem.
"My warrior's suffering," the Kazi King told the old woman. "I can feel his pain. He needs my help."
"He needs a muzzle," the Crone said. "He just gave them my name. If he tells the Charmed Ones, the Slayer and the Key my plan, I'll never get my hands on those babies."
The Kazi King fell to his knees groaning in pain. "He wouldn't have a chance to tell them anything if we would just attack. They're torturing him again!"
"Very well. I'll spare your warrior anymore suffering. Along with you," the Crone said as she threw a fireball at him. He caught on fire moments before he exploded.
Halliwell Manor
"Okay, I didn't do that," Paige wrote on her notepad and showed them after the Kazi demon exploded.
"Yeah we know," Phoebe said. "Someone else did that, not you."
"Dawn, did you find anything in the book?" Buffy asked looking at her sister. Dawn motioned to the page she was reading. She moved beside her sister and looked at the page. "Yeah, the Crone." She looked at Phoebe. "She must be after the babies despite the fact she guaranteed no further attacks on them. She didn't hold to her promise." She looked back at Dawn. "Is there a vanquishing potion for her?" Dawn nodded. "Good."
"Okay, let's hit the kitchen," Phoebe said. "We've got to be prepared for anything."
Paige held up her notepad on which was written, "Piper?"
"She's okay, she's with Wyatt, Elizabeth and Joyce," Buffy said. "Their force fields will protect her."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Crone smirked as she appeared in Piper's bedroom. She saw Piper was holding Elizabeth. "Who's there?" Piper asked.
"Leo found the monkey totem," the Crone said using Paige's voice, "and I got my voice back."
Piper smiled. "Oh my god, where is he?"
"In the kitchen with mom, Prue and Phoebe," the Crone answered. "They're working on the potion to vanquish the Kazi King. Don't worry, I'll take care of Wyatt, Elizabeth and Joyce."
"Okay," Piper said as she put Elizabeth in her bassinet. "Okay. Be right back." She walked past the crone. "Whoa. What's that smell? It's like charcoal."
"Burnt Kazi flesh," the Crone explained. "We just vanquished his warrior."
"Oh, that must be it," Piper admitted as she walked out of the room.
Suddenly the force fields snapped into existence around Wyatt, Elizabeth and Joyce.
"There, there, now, Wyatt…Elizabeth…Joyce," the Crone said soothingly in Paige's voice. "Don't be afraid. I just want to hold you." She then began to sing. "Hush little baby, don't say a word, mama's going to buy you a mocking bird."
Summers Residence, Sunnydale
Faith stood by the phone waiting for Dawn to either call or Leo to orb to Sunnydale with her. It was at that moment she began to hear singing. "Hey, Tara," she said as she looked at the blonde haired with. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Tara asked.
"Singing," Faith answered. Her brow knitted in concentration as she listened and then her eyes went wide. "Joyce!" she cried as she orbed out.
Halliwell Manor
"Okay, let's go, people, mama wants to see again," Piper said as she entered the kitchen.
"Piper?" Buffy said. "We think the Crone is behind this so we're making a vanquishing potion so we can go after her!"
"Paige said we were going after the Kazi King," Piper said in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked in clear confusion. "When did you talk to Paige?"
"Just now…" Piper said and then she began to frown. "Paige is down here isn't she?"
"She is," Phoebe answered.
"Damn it," Piper screamed. "I should have known when Paige called Dawn, Prue. Because she doesn't see Prue like Phoebe and I do." She turned and hurried out of the kitchen heading upstairs as Buffy, Phoebe, Paige and Dawn moved to follow.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Mama's going to buy you a diamond ring," the Crone sang. "That's my sweet children. You're all safe now." As the force fields disappeared, she picked Wyatt up just as Faith orbed in.
"Hands off, hag," Faith snarled.
"Wyatt…Elizabeth…Joyce, help, we're in danger," the Crone said as all three force fields sprung back into existence just as Piper led Buffy, Phoebe, Paige and Dawn into the room.
"Hands…" Piper started.
"Already told her," Faith snarled.
"Faith?" Piper said in clear surprise.
"Yes, Piper," Faith answered, her eyes never leaving her niece, nephew or her daughter. "She tricked Wyatt, Elizabeth and Joyce and their shields are protecting her."
"If you hurt them we will kill you!" Piper growled at the Crone.
The Crone placed her hand on Wyatt's forehead and a red light shone around her hand.
"What is she doing to him?" Phoebe asked.
"Faith," Buffy said. "Orb them out."
"Wyatt!" Faith called as Wyatt orbed into her hands. She handed him to Piper. "Elizabeth!" she called out as the Crone reached for Elizabeth. Elizabeth orbed into her hands and she handed her to Buffy. Faith then smirked Joyce was the only one left and the Crone now was outside the all three shields.
"I've seen everything. Such power. Such power!" the Crone stated.
"You want to see real power," Faith snarled as she raised her hands. She fired a stream of ice at the Crone just as Phoebe threw the potion.
The Crone burst into flames and then exploded.
"I can see!" Piper said excitedly. "I can see!" She looked at her son and daughter. "Hi!"
"I can hear," Buffy and Phoebe cried.
"Paige? Dawn?" Phoebe and Buffy asked looking at their respective baby sisters.
"Can I just say..." Paige said as she smiled.
"What?" Phoebe questioned.
"Anything," Paige answered as she smiled at her sister. "Damn, it's good to hear me speak."
Dawn smiled as she looked at her wife. "My name is Dawn…Prudence…Summers-Halliwell," she said as she picked up Joyce.
"Huh?" Faith said as she looked at her wife.
"We have some stuff to talk about," Dawn answered.
"Okay, so we're all good," Phoebe asked looking at her family.
"What about Leo?" Piper wondered.
"Oh, no, did Faith and I kill the hag too soon?" Phoebe asked in realization.
"Oh, if she hurt him," Piper said as she glared at the smudge mark that was the Crone. "You know I'm going to have to revive her and kill her again."
"Hurry, see if you can get a premonition off the smudge mark," Paige suggested as Phoebe hurried over to the smudge mark.
Faith closed her eyes and reached out with her Whitelighter senses trying to see if she could sense Leo.
"It's okay, sweeties," Piper said to Wyatt and Elizabeth. "We'll find daddy, you know, sooner or later."
Suddenly, Piper, Buffy, Wyatt and Elizabeth orb out.
"What just happened?" Paige wondered. "How did she..."
"Wyatt and Elizabeth are part Whitelighter, remember," Dawn said as she looked down at her daughter. "They can orb."
Faith nodded as she looked at her wife. "They did what I was trying to do, sense Leo. Being his children they can sense him easier than I could." She looked at Dawn. "Come on, you and I need to talk."
Crone's Lair
As Piper, Wyatt, Buffy and Elizabeth orb in they found Leo trapped in the tank.
"Oh, god," Piper said as she flicked her wrist and blew up the tank. Leo fell to the floor, coughing.
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked her son-in-law.
"The Crone?" he asked.
"Dead," Piper answered as she smiled at her husband.
"And you can see?" Leo asked before looking at Buffy. "And you can hear?"
"Yes," Buffy answered. "To both questions."
"It was strange," Piper admitted. "Like when it mattered most, we could almost read each other's minds."
"Yeah, it's always been there," Leo said. "For the entire family in fact. Though more for you, Dawn, Phoebe and Paige."
"We never noticed before," Piper nodded.
"Maybe not consciously," Buffy explained as she looked at her daughter.
"But it's always been a part of what's made the Power of Three so strong," Leo added with a cough.
"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner," Piper admitted.
Leo looked back at the tank and sighed. "It was awful, I couldn't orb," he admitted.
"But guess who could," Buffy said as she looked at her grandchildren.
"Apparently they sensed their daddy in need," Piper added.
"They sense me and they orbed?" Leo asked in surprise.
Piper and Buffy nodded. "Yeah, they're coming into their powers really, really fast," Piper said.
"And very like so is Joyce," Buffy thinking of her niece.
"You nervous?" Leo asked looking at Piper. He then looked at Buffy. "Do you think Dawn is?"
"A little. You know, a lot," Piper admitted.
"Right now," Buffy said as she thought about Dawn and Faith. "I think Dawn is worried about something more important. The future of her marriage."
Halliwell Manor
Dawn had waited so long. She and Faith both had. It had felt like an eternity since her wife had been home when in reality it had been only around a half a year. But to Dawn that half a year might as well have been an eternity.
"So," Faith said as she sat in the living room looking at Dawn. Dawn had told what had happened over the last couple months. "So, I'm no longer married to Dawn, but to Prue?"
"No, Faith," Dawn said as she laid a hand on her wife's comfortingly. "More of a melding…like Buffy. I'm still me, baby. But I'm also her at the same time. It's hard to explain."
"I'm just not sure how I feel about this," Faith admitted.
"It's not something I could have stopped. It's not something I really had a choice over," Dawn said trying to explain. "Sure the outcome is the path I preferred, so I would continue to be me, but at the same time I could give Piper, Phoebe and Paige their sister back. But it's not something I could have stopped. You know I was seeing flashes of my memories. This was the reason. I know you will have to take time coming to terms with this. And I will give you that time."
"Are you sure," Faith said looking in her wife's eyes. "That your still you. That she hasn't…"
"Taken over," Dawn finished. "Yes I'm sure. I am Dawn, but I am also Prue. It's a melding. Not one personality is dominant over the other. I am both of them. I am both your wife and their sister in the same package. I promise you that is all that it is, is a melding. The person you fell in love with is still here."
Faith sat thinking for several minutes as she stared at Dawn. She realized that as long as the person she fell in love with, was still the part of the person sitting in front of her. Then she did still love Dawn. She pulled her wife into her arms and kissed her. "I'm okay with this melding," she told Dawn. "As long as you are still the person I fell in love with."
"I am," Dawn replied as she smiled. "The only real difference is I just have a little extra now that I didn't before. You could see some changes as a result of the melding. But by and large I am still Dawn. I still see Buffy as my sister. I also see my mom as my mom. But I also no longer see Piper, Phoebe and Paige as my nieces, I see them as my sisters also."
"So that means they're no longer my nieces either…" Faith started.
Dawn put a finger to her wife's lips. "You don't have to see them as I do. If you want to be their aunt, then be their aunt. If you want to be their sister-in-law, then be their sister-in-law. That is up to you, Faith. Because both is actually true now. Being married to me and my being Buffy's sister. Still technically makes me their aunt regardless of how I see them and how they see me."
"I will let them make that choice," Faith said. "If they want to see me as their sister-in-law, I have no problem with that. Because you, babe, are still my wife. Who I still love dearly."