Author's Note (2016): I know I said this story starts in season 4 of Charmed. I changed my mind. It starts in season 3 during Wrestling with Demons.
Chapter 1: Wrestling with Faith
February 1, 2001 – Thursday
San Francisco Police Department
Inspector Darryl Morris placed a cup of coffee on the table as he sat opposite from Mr. Chang, had been brought in as he was supposed to be the victim of an attack.
"I don't get it. Who'd want to kill me?" Mr. Chang asked.
"We're not sure, but our sources believe that your life is in danger," Darryl answered. "Protective custody—"
"Our sources?" said Mr. Chang skeptical. "What is this? Government surveillance, you have people watching me?"
"Mr. Chang, your picture was in the Metro section today," Darryl explained.
"Because I planted some trees," Mr. Chang told Darryl.
Darryl sighed. "Mr. Chang, there were four brutal murders in the last week. Where the only common denominator is the victim's picture was in the Metro section the day that they died."
"The mayor's in Metro today," said Mr. Chang. "You guys harassing him?"
"Mr. Chang, I'm trying to help you," said Darryl.
"I don't have any money; I don't have any enemies," Mr. Chang explained. "Why would anyone want to kill me? This is crazy."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Outside the room Prue, Phoebe and Piper Halliwell were discussing what they would do if Darryl couldn't protect Mr. Chang.
"Alright, what do we do if Darryl can't convince him to lay low?" Prue wondered looking at her sisters.
"Oh, well, we follow him and if a demon attacks, we kick some wiccan ass," Phoebe Halliwell answered.
Piper Halliwell smirked. "Look who's back and badder than ever."
Phoebe smiled at her sisters. "It feels good to be back. It's the best way to put this whole Cole thing behind me."
Prue raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well, that's quite a turn around."
"What do you mean?" Phoebe wondered looking her eldest sister in the eye.
"Well, it's just that, I mean, you know, up until last week you were kind of quiet and not really interested in things demonic, and now..." Prue explained.
"I am back," Phoebe finished. "Bad guys beware. Besides being kidnapped kind of puts things in perspective."
"And too bad we don't know who the bad guys are," Piper admitted looking between her eldest and youngest siblings.
"Yeah, well, at least we know who their next victim is," Phoebe admitted just as Darryl Morris, an inspector for the police department, and the victim in questioned walked out of an interrogation room.
"Hey." Prue greeted as Darryl approached the tree of them.
"Hey." Darryl returned.
"So, did you get anything out of him?" Prue questioned, though she was sure she already knew the answer.
Darryl pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just a migraine. That's about it."
"So, what, you're just going to let him go?" Piper questioned as she watched the man walk toward the exit.
"I don't have a choice," Darryl told them as he followed Piper's gaze. "He declined protection." He turned and looked at the youngest Halliwell sister. "Phoebe, are you sure he's the guy that you saw get attacked in your premonition?"
Phoebe thought back on her premonition. "Oh, yeah," she agreed. "And it happened at night too, so we can't just let him go."
"Alright, then we need to split up in teams," Prue stated as the victim left the building. "First one to see a demon yells vanquish, okay. Come on."
Streets of San Francisco
Prue and Darryl were sadly following Mr. Chang as he headed into an alleyway walking toward a motorcycle. "Ugh, innocents and alleys. Don't they ever learn?"
"Yeah, I know. Come on," Darryl agreed, his eyes peeled for any threats.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Faith had been in San Francisco for two weeks. She had put finding her birth parents on hold when she had stumbled on a recruiting ring that turned humans into demons. Using what had happened in Sunnydale as a way in; she had managed to get herself recruited.
And now she was following fellow recruit, Tom. She had been biding her time with the demons and their recruits. She needed information on Kellman, the recruiter, information on how to slay him, on his weaknesses. She didn't want to blow her cover and try to take him out before she was ready.
Ahead of Tom, Faith, saw their assigned target fiddling with his motorcycle. She watched as fireball formed in Tom's hand, throwing it at their target. Faith noticed three women approaching and one waved her hand and the fireball changed course and hit a wall instead.
"Tom," Faith whispered. "We've got witches."
Tom nodded in agreement and they both turned and ran back the way they came. Yes, there was only one witch, but witches had their own powers which would make them formidable. While the odds might be in their favor, it wasn't worth the risk, not so close to graduation.
Phoebe moved to follow Tom and Faith as Prue grabbed her arm. "Why are you letting them get away?" Darryl questioned.
"I know that demon," Prue stated as she watched the departing Tom. "I dated that demon. Huh."
Halliwell Manor
In the conservatory, Darryl sat next to Phoebe who was looking through the Book of Shadows. "I think they're lost, Piper," he said having noticed that Piper was watering some plants. "Dead."
"No, they're not completely," Piper objected.
"Piper waters when she's nervous," explained Phoebe.
"There's nothing to be nervous about," explained Darryl. "Mr. Chang's in protective custody."
"No, it-it's not him. It's the whole 'Prue dated a demon' thing," said Piper. "It kind of hits a nerve with all of us, and obviously I'm not that upset because I'm with Leo, who obviously is not..."
"Piper also babbles when she's nervous," admitted Phoebe.
Piper glared at her youngest sister. "I resent that," she said. "I am expressing a valid concern about this continuing issue in our lives."
Prue joined them carrying a yearbook. "What are you babbling about?" she asked as Phoebe laughed.
"You know, if I could freeze the two of you, I would, often," said Piper.
Prue opened the yearbook to a picture of one of the demons. "Alright, so here's one of the demons that we're looking for, or at least who he used to be. Tom Peters."
"Wait, I didn't know you dated the captain of the college football team. How suburban," said Phoebe with a chuckle.
"Yeah, he was a great guy," Prue admitted as she thought about Tom.
"I remember Peters. He blew out his knee three weeks into his rookie year," Darryl interjected. "About five, six years ago."
Prue nodded as she looked toward the ceiling. "Leo!" she called out.
"Rumors about gambling debts and that whole scene," Darryl continued. "He's also a missing person. It never got closed. He just kind of disappeared."
"More like went underground," Phoebe corrected.
"I wonder if his mom still lives in town. Leo!" said Prue as she walked out of the room toward the kitchen.
"A woman on a mission?" Darryl asked.
"Mmm hmm," agreed Phoebe.
"I guess the captain of the football team was a bigger deal than we ever knew," said Piper as she, Phoebe and Darryl followed Prue. "Uh, Prue, are you sure we should pursue this?"
"Where on earth is..." Prue stated ignoring her sister's question. It was then that Leo Wyatt, the Halliwell sisters' Whitelighter, appeared in blue and white orbing lights. "Leo, what took you so long?"
"Hi," Leo greeted as he kissed Piper. Before turning his attention to all three of his charges. "I had... have a situation."
"Uh-oh, you mean an us situation or a you situation?" asked Piper as her eyes narrowed in worry. "Oh, don't tell me they've changed their minds about us getting married because if that is the case, then you can just orb me up there right now and..."
"Babbling," Phoebe chuckled.
Leo looked at the floor, he was hesitant on revealing to his fiancée that he had lost her mother's wedding ring. "It has nothing to do with them. It has to do with me. I sort of, kind of, lost the wedding ring," he explained sheepishly.
"Got a great ring guy down town if you need one," Darryl offered.
"He doesn't need one, he has a ring," Piper countered as she glared at Leo. "Mom's ring. I gave it to him so he could give it back to me at the perfect romantic moment."
"Wow, Leo, you lost mom's ring," Phoebe said with a look of shock. "It's a good thing you're dead already."
"I had it in my pocket, Piper," Leo explained. "All the orbing in and out..."
"Your orbs are grass if you do not find that ring," Piper snapped.
"Alright, hi. Before blood is spilled, can I just ask a business question?" asked Prue looking at the Whitelighter. "Is it possible to turn a human into a demon?"
"Well, there are rumors, stories about demons recruiting humans," answered Leo.
"So, join the evil and see the underworld?" asked Phoebe.
"Kind of," Leo answered. "Apparently, the demons go after humans in need and strike your classic Faustian deal, but then the humans are forced into this training academy. A program that destroys their humanity."
"And turns them into demons," said Piper.
"Right, and when the recruits graduate, they have to kill an innocent to seal the demonic conversion permanently," explained Leo.
"It's like gang initiation," Darryl said in understanding. "You go out and kill the first person that you see and you're in the gang."
"Well, that explains your four random killings," said Phoebe. "Maybe it's graduation time at the academy."
"Well, if it is, Tom is one human they're not going to demonize," Prue said.
"Prue, how do you know we're not too late?" asked Phoebe. "I mean, if we didn't get there on time and stop him..."
"He or the other demon would have killed an innocent and then it would have been too late, but we did stop him, so now we still have time to save him," Prue said. "Alright, I'm going to talk to Tom's mother, see if she knows anything. Maybe you two could come up with, like, a spell to find him or something."
Demonic Training Academy
"Mr. Kellman, I swear I can make this right, I swear it," said a guy Faith didn't yet know the name of. She looked down at her arm, there was a chevron there. Kellman, the recruiter, had said it was for each human she killed; she had been credited for the Deputy Mayor back in Sunnydale.
"I was clear, wasn't I?" Kellman asked. "I make your problems go away and you owe me. Now, did you forget about the last part of the deal?"
"I—I can pay you back. I just need more time," the guy said.
"More time?" Kellman said. "You don't have any more time. Your debt is due and payable now."
"Please, I'll do anything," the guy pleaded.
Kellman waved and an elevator appeared out of nowhere.
Faith looked toward the elevator; she knew what was down at the bottom of the shaft, the arena where she and the other recruits trained.
"Oh, yes, you will. Come on," Kellman said as he pushed the guy in the elevator. The doors closed and he turned back to face Faith and Tom. "Now I don't have to go over all this again with you two too, do I?"
"Temporary setback, Mr. Kellman," Tom said. "It won't happen again."
"He's right, Mr. K," Faith agreed.
"You know, you two are not the only ones exposed here," Kellman said. "You both got a contract with me and I got a contract with the Source. Five full graduates by tomorrow night. Now, all the others have made their kills. What's the problem?"
"A witch intervened," Tom said.
"What?" Kellman asked. "A witch? How the hell did that happen?"
"We don't know, Mr. K," Faith said.
"We weren't followed," Tom agreed. "I made sure we used every safeguard we learned in the academy."
"Well, she must be tracking the innocent," Kellman said. "We'll have to get you both another one, but we're running out of time here." He picked up a newspaper and glanced over it. "Just kill this one, but do it fast or else there'll be hell to pay."
Peters' Residence
"He was so fast," Mrs. Peters said as she looked at Prue. "His coach said he could have run track too, but all Tom cares about is football."
"I am sorry that we lost touch but, um, what happened after he got hurt?" said Prue.
"He was depressed. I understood."
"So, the stories that I heard about his being in trouble..." asked Prue.
Mrs. Peters sighed. "The gambling rumors? Don't believe a word of it. No one over came to me looking for money and Mr. Kellman would have told me if there was a problem."
"Mr. Kellman?" Prue asked.
"His business manager," Mrs. Peters explained. "He took such good care of Tom, and he was a wonderful help to me after Tom went away."
"Mrs. Peters, what do you think happened?" wondered Prue.
"I think Tom has some things to take care of and he'll be home when he can," answered Mrs. Peters. "I know it in my heart. My son's a good man."
Halliwell Manor
Phoebe Halliwell sat at the dining room table next to her sister, Piper. She lit a candle as Piper held a crystal. "Guiding spirits I ask your charity, lend me your focus and clarity," she and Piper chanted just as their eldest sister, Prue, walked in, "lead me to the one I cannot find, restore that and my peace of mind."
"Hey, what's all this?" Prue asked just as Phoebe blew out the candle.
"Oh, we were just looking for Tom. You know, with a little spell that we created," Phoebe said.
"You created," Piper corrected.
"Wow, you came up with the whole ritual that fast?" Prue asked surprised.
"Actually, not as fast as you would think," Piper said as Phoebe kicked her shin under the table.
"Well, thank you. I really appreciate you guys doing this for me," Prue said.
Little did they know that the spell that Piper and Phoebe had just cast would bring them not only to Tom but to Faith as well, whom none of them even remembered.
"She didn't exactly do it for you," Piper interjected.
"Okay, what did Tom's mother say?" Phoebe asked changing the subject.
"Poor lady," Prue sighed. "She talks about him like he's been gone a week as opposed to six years and she actually think he's coming back."
"Based on..." Piper wondered.
"Faith," said Prue. "And I would like to prove her right. For her sake."
"Well, we're doing everything we can," Phoebe said.
"Yeah, and you know what?" said Prue. "We have saved bad boys before. I mean, what about the priest with the warlock brothers?"
"Yeah, but Prue, he wanted to be saved," said Piper. "Can you guarantee that about Tom or any other demon-human mix..."
"This is not about Cole, okay?" said Phoebe. "That's a whole other subject."
"One worth discussing," said Piper.
"Am I missing something here?" asked Prue glancing between her sisters in confusion at the turn in the conversation.
"Yes..." Piper agreed.
"Yes, actually, we are missing Tom and he's someone we should probably continue talking about," said Phoebe. "So, if this spell works and we actually find him, what do we do? Do we vanquish him?"
They heard a bang at the door.
"I'll get it," said Prue as she walked into the foyer and opened the front door. She picked up a newspaper. She closed the door and returned to her sisters looking at the newspaper and frowned. "Since when do they deliver newspapers in the afternoon?" She flipped through the paper and noticed all the pictures are missing. "And since when did they start taking out all the pictures."
"Wow, it's a pretty cool spell if I do say so myself," said Phoebe as she and Piper moved beside Prue to see what she had.
"Yeah, except what is it telling us?" Prue wondered as Phoebe took the newspaper from her.
Phoebe continued to flip through the newspaper till she found a picture of a woman in the Metro section. "How about this? Claudia Gibson will discuss the mayor's position on Net News Live today at 2:00. Which is ten minutes ago."
"Hmm? Our next innocent?" Piper asked.
"As in Tom's next victim," Prue said. "Okay, come on."
Streets of San Francisco
A woman walked toward her car as Tom and Faith followed her. Faith was trying to think of a way to save the woman when she noticed a car pull up not far from them and Prue, Piper and Phoebe jumped out. Faith recognized Prue as the witch that had stopped her and Tom before. She turned just in time to see Tom throw a fireball at woman.
Piper instantly raised her hands and the fireball stopped in mid-air before it even hit Tom's target.
Faith watched as the women ran toward Tom, herself and the woman and she immediately noticed that neither Tom nor the woman was moving. 'What was going on?' she wondered. 'If one of the witches could freeze things, why wasn't she frozen too?'
"Well, we didn't bring a vanquish, but if we throw them into the street that might do the trick," Piper said.
"We are not going to vanquish Tom," Prue said
"Prue, he almost killed that woman," Phoebe countered.
"Almost, but didn't," Prue said as she squinted and made the fireball hit the car. "Alright, we need to get him home."
"Prue?" Faith said her eyes widening in dawning realization. Had she lucked into her birth mother? "Prue Halliwell?"
"Why isn't she frozen?" Phoebe questioned looking at her sisters in surprise.
"Are you Prue Halliwell?" Faith continued ignoring the youngest Halliwell sister. "Did you date someone named Andy Trudeau, eighteen years ago?"
Piper narrowed her eyes. "She knows an awful lot about you, Prue," she told her eldest sister.
"Who are you?" Prue asked, her own eyes narrowing at the brunette Slayer.
"Your daughter," Faith answered. "That is if you are my birth mother. According to my birth certificate my name is Patricia Andrea Halliwell, and Prue Halliwell and Andy Trudeau are listed as my birth parents."
Halliwell Manor
Prue, Piper and Phoebe had returned to the manor and promptly tied Tom and Faith up. Prue flipped through the Book of Shadows trying to find not only a way to save Tom but also an answer on Faith.
"Did you find anything yet?" Piper asked as she and Phoebe entered the attic. She noticed that Tom, unlike Faith, was struggling to get free. She quickly flicked her wrist, freezing him.
"Not yet," Prue admitted with a sigh. She would love to know how she could potentially have a daughter she didn't remember giving birth to.
"Well, while we're waiting this would be a good time to discuss something," Piper said as the phone rang.
"Oh, phone," Phoebe interjected to stall her middle sister from what was on her mind. "Piper will get it."
"Nope," Piper countered. "Machine, remember?"
"Leo was right," Prue said having found a page on the Demonic Training Academy.
"About what?" Phoebe wondered.
"About the demonic training academy. It's right here in the Book," Prue said.
"Oh, really?" Phoebe said clearly surprised.
"A brutal training program which destroys humanity and …" Prue said as she read from the book.
"And renders the subject demonic," Faith finished as they looked at her. "I infiltrated the academy to try and find a way to stop it."
Prue narrowed her eyes as she looked at the young woman. "Why would you do that?" she questioned. "If you weren't evil or been swayed?"
Faith smirked. "Because I'm the Slayer," she stated.
"The Slayer?" Piper questioned looking at her sisters.
It was at that moment pages in the Book of Shadows began flipping all on their own. When they stopped Prue looked down at the page titled: Vampire Slayer. "Slayers," she read, "are young women chosen sometime after their first menses and before the age of eighteen to fight the forces of darkness and bestowed with mystically increased abilities such as strength, speed and reflexes." She looked at sisters. "There looks to be some kind of prophecy here." She looked back at the book. 'Into every generation, there is a chosen one. One girl in all the world. She alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer.'"
"Does that mean she's good?" Phoebe questioned.
"Slayers can go bad," Faith admitted as they all turned to look at her. "I almost did. That's how I got this." She held up her arm and showed them the single chevron on it. "After I joined the academy, I was credited with the single human death I have ever caused. It was an accident though; I was out patrolling with…" She hesitated as she wondered was Buffy her friend? After all the blonde Slayer had been there as she wrote Giles the letter and had even wished her luck on finding her family. "…a friend," she concluded. "At first we thought he was a vampire. I accidentally staked him not realizing till afterwards he was human."
Prue listened to Faith's story and felt bad for the girl. Regardless if Faith was her daughter or not, she wasn't sure she liked the fact that someone would thrust a child or a teenager into the world she and her sisters lived in daily. "Wait a minute," she said as she looked back at the book. She flipped back to the page on the Demonic Training Academy. "Those chevrons are how they know if you are truly evil, right?"
"That's right," Faith agreed. "Six means demonic."
Piper pulled up Tom's sleeve to reveal five chevrons. "He's only got five," she told them.
"Good, that means he's not fully converted," Prue said with a sigh of relief.
"We better vanquish them while we can," Phoebe argued.
"You know," Prue countered as she looked her baby sister in the eye. "When Cole was the hybrid in question, you were all about saving him."
"Excellent point," Piper agreed with a smirk at her baby sister.
"Yes, well, I learned from my mistake," Phoebe said.
"And which mistake was that?" Piper asked.
"Believing that I could save a demon," Phoebe said.
"Hmm. Well, like I said before, this is different," Prue said. "Besides if Faith here is who she says she is, can we actually vanquish my daughter?"
"We have to know if she is first," Phoebe said. "And none of us remember if you were even pregnant eighteen years ago."
"We can worry about that later," Piper said just as Tom unfroze.
"Tom, look at me," Prue said as she walked over to Tom and Faith. "Do you remember me from college?"
The only answer Tom gave was to throw a fireball at Prue, which missed.
"Hmm, does that mean he remembers you or he doesn't?" Piper asked as the doorbell rang. "What is going on down there?"
"Why don't you guys go and find out?" Prue suggested.
"And leave you alone with them?" Phoebe asked motioning toward Tom and Faith.
"I can handle them, it's okay," Prue said as Piper and Phoebe walked out of the attic.
"You don't scare me," Tom said. "I've been trained to deal with witches."
Faith rolled her eyes. "Just curious, we're you trained to deal with Slayers? No, you weren't," she countered as Tom glared at her.
Prue ignored for the moment Faith's comment and kept her attention on Tom. "I'd forgotten how proud you were when we knew each other."
"I've forgotten you completely," Tom said.
"You don't want to tell me what happened because you don't want to admit how badly you screwed up," Prue said.
"He is going to say he didn't," Faith said. "The training is deeply ingrained."
"I figured," Prue said. "Still while you were human, Tom, you were stupid enough to enter into some demonic contract."
"I was never human," Tom said.
"You had to have been," Prue said. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have made it into the academy. Yes, I know about the academy. I know about the chevrons." Tom glared at Faith. "She didn't have to tell us anything. It's all in the Book over there. I also know that you haven't killed your innocent, yet."
"I will."
"You'll have to get past me first," Prue said.
Faith sighed. "The problem is even if Tom doesn't get past you, Kellman will come after him and me. I joined the academy to find a way to slay Kellman."
Prue glanced at Faith and nodded. She looked back at Tom. "Tom, I know who you are, the person that you were, alright, and I know that somewhere in there it still exists. Look, Tom." She showed him her yearbook. "This is who you are, alright? This is who your mother is waiting for."
"Vanquish me, or I will kill you and the Slayer, witch," Tom said.
"Neither is going to happen, alright?" Prue said. "I am going to save you from yourself whether you like it or not." She telekinetically loosened the ropes binding both Faith and Tom and then walked out of the attic.
Faith was the first to get out of her bonds. She quickly rushed over to Tom and rebound him. "Sorry, Tom. But I can't have you rushing to Kellman and telling him I'm a Slayer." She turned and walked downstairs.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Okay, so I think I have an idea of how to..." Prue walked in to the kitchen find it was a disaster area. "Whoa."
"My lost and found spell's a little too enthusiastic," Phoebe admitted apologetically.
"We're finding stuff all over the house. It's endless," Piper added.
"I don't mean to sound paranoid, but after all these years I think I've earned that right," Darryl said looking around him as if to find something. "How do you know your spell is not going to find demons that you're already vanquished?"
"Oh, you mean like Belthazor," Piper said as she looked at her baby sister.
"Okay, one demon at a time. Did you get anything on Tom?" Prue asked.
"Just a missing persons file," Darryl said as he handed Prue a folder.
"Alright, anything on a man named Kellman or a young woman named Faith?" Prue asked.
"I doubt your friend there, who I assume is a cop, knows much on Kellman. And the accident I told you about was swept under the rug by some powerful people."
They turned to see Faith standing in the kitchen door.
"What is she doing free?" Piper questioned her eldest sister.
"She and Tom should have been escaping," Prue informed them as she looked at Faith.
"What?" Phoebe asked in surprise. Why would Prue try and free two potential demons?
"I loosened their ropes," Prue stated as she looked directly at Faith. "I assume you retied Tom's ropes?" Faith nodded. She let a growl of frustration. "I was hoping to track down to the demon that turned Tom, break him, break his hold on Tom."
"Why didn't you just ask," Faith said as she held up her arm reminding them she had gone undercover. "I would have gladly led you to him, if it meant helping me slay him."
"Slay?" Darryl said.
"I'm a Slayer," Faith said. "Well the more official title is Vampire Slayer. But Slayers go after more than just vampires."
"You can't be much older than …" Darryl started to say when he realized what Faith was saying. That she was in some way like the Halliwells.
"I just turned eighteen a month and a half ago," Faith said.
Prue looked at Faith a raised eyebrow as she wondered if Faith had just confirmed, assuming it was true, that she had been a teenager when she gave birth to Faith.
"Alright, I guess we're going," Phoebe said.
"Shouldn't we reverse the spell first?" Piper asked, but received no answer from her sisters as they and Faith headed for the front door.
Demonic Training Academy
Thirty minutes later across town Faith, Prue, Phoebe and Piper stood outside Kellman's office. "I better go in alone," she said. "If Kellman is in there he might realize we are coming for him. Are we ready for that?"
"To save Tom, yes," Prue said.
"What about to save me?" Faith said.
Prue sighed as she looked at the young woman. "And you," she agreed. For if Faith was her daughter, she would want to make sure that she was alive so they could get reacquainted. "Alright, but if he isn't in there."
"I'll let you in," Faith said as she entered Kellman's office. She found he was not there and let Prue, Piper and Phoebe in. "The elevator is over here." She moved to a spot on the wall and the doors to the elevator appeared. "I'll go down first, you guys follow."
"Be careful," Prue suggested.
Faith nodded as she entered the elevator and rode it down into the academy. She stepped out and walked over to Kellman. "I have bad news, Mr. K., the witches got Tom."
"The witches?" Kellman asked skeptical. "This is a setback I can ill afford. You like I have a deadline. What about the innocent?"
"They saved her," Faith said.
Kellman frowned. "If I weren't running out of time, I'd …" he said as he leaned over and sniffed Faith. "Is that humanity I'm sensing from you? You didn't have that when I recruited you. Maybe I should give you a lesson in how to get rid of that."
The lights came on around a wrestling ring and two demons led Faith towards it.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
In the elevator, Prue, Piper and Phoebe are riding it down towards the academy.
"Remind me again why we are doing this," Piper said.
"Because your sisters have a thing for saving bad boys," Phoebe said.
"Well I'm doing this for more than just Tom, now," Prue admitted. "I'm doing this for Faith. I want to find out the truth, and that can't happen if she's dead."
"I've been thinking about that," Piper said. "There is only one person that would have erased our memories of you being pregnant, not that I am saying you ever were, of course."
"Grams," Prue said. "I know I had the same thought. When we're done here and both Tom and Faith are free from Kellman. Then we're going to summon Grams and find out what the heck is going on."
"Oh god," Phoebe said as the doors opened and they got their first look at the academy.
"Okay, I'd like to point out that I have a really bad feeling about this," Piper said as the exited the elevator and saw the wrestling ring. "What the...?"
"Oh, no," Phoebe said.
"I'm the man!" a wrestler said as he pinned a guy to the mat and a hole opened beneath him.
The guy fell into the hole which sealed up behind him.
"Next!" Kellman said as Faith stepped into the ring.
"Faith," Prue said as she started walking toward Faith.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Piper said as she and Phoebe grabbed Prue. "Are you nuts?"
"Maybe we need to go back up top and rethink this whole thing," Phoebe said.
"Oh, well, you know what, Phoebe?" Prue snapped. "That would be such a great plan if Faith weren't seconds away from annihilation before I even have the chance to find out if she is my daughter."
"Okay, so we're supposed to risk our lives to save two demons," Phoebe said as Prue glared at her, "he is a demon, so is she remember, she is one of his recruits just as Tom is. Of course, it's okay now that it's your demon, right?"
"The thing is, isn't it silly for the three of us to sacrifice ourselves for one guy and a possible niece were not even sure is in reality your daughter?" Piper said in agreement.
"Alright, what kind of witches would we be if we started playing the odds, if we started picking and choosing our innocents?" Prue questioned her youngest sister. "I mean, this is what we do, isn't it?"
"Then let's do it," Phoebe agreed.
Prue smiled. "Okay."
"But..." Piper said.
"Faith!" Prue said as everyone turned to face them.
Piper went to freeze Kellman, the wrestler and the demon, but only managed to freeze the demons.
"Your little parlor tricks may work on some of the newer boys but the rest of us will be a little tougher," Kellman said as he pulled up his sleeve to reveal eight chevrons on his arm. You girls are way out of your league down here. You have no idea."
"Well, we know that you have a deadline, Mr. Kellman. Time to deliver your recruits?" Prue said.
"And you think you can stop me, hmm?" Kellman said. "Think you can save her and Tom? I kind of admire that level of arrogance."
Prue smiled. "Thanks. We kind of like to think of it as confidence."
"Well, get over it. They are both lost," Kellman said as Faith stepped out of the ring.
"You can't deliver her if she's frozen," Prue said with a glance at both Piper and Faith.
Piper nodded in understanding and raised her hands and froze Faith, or rather pretended to. "Kind of hard to make her kill an innocent now, huh?" she said.
"Unfreeze her," Kellman said.
Piper smirked. "Nope," she said as Kellman moved toward her. "Ah! If anything happens to me, she's going to stay that way."
"You're bluffing," Kellman said.
"Are we?" Prue asked.
"I'm listening."
"Alright, how about three witches in exchange for Faith and Tom's souls?" Prue asked.
"Prue!" Phoebe said.
"If we win, we get Tom and Faith back. If we lose, you get Tom, Faith and the three of us. Risk two to gain five," Prue said.
"You really think you can win in the ring?" Kellman said.
"Well, you know, we don't really have much of a choice," Prue said. "But if we do win, we don't go into the training program. We go free."
Kellman smirked. "Did your homework. Okay, you got a deal. You win, you go free. But if you lose, you die. I can't control what happens in the ring, only the Source can."
"Understood," Prue said as she, Piper and Phoebe moved away from Kellman.
"Hey, that bad feeling I was talking about? It's getting stronger," Piper said.
"Alright, you need to stay here and keep up the illusion that Faith is frozen, okay?" Prue said. "It will work in ours and her favor for Kellman to believe it. Maybe she can come up with a plan to take out Kellman before we have the chance to lose."
"I hate this crappy freezing power!" Piper groaned.
"Okay, our powers seem to have a limited effect on these guys. So, we're going to have to outmaneuver them," Prue said.
"And outsmart them and keep our shoulders off the mat. Piece of cake," Phoebe added.
"So, I guess we're as ready as we're ever going to be," Prue said.
Phoebe looked at Prue for a moment as she came to a decision. If she was going to risk dying for Tom and Faith, she was going to do it with a clear conscience. "Uh, Prue, there's one more thing," Phoebe said.
"Now?" Piper questioned as she looked at her youngest sister in surprise. "Now is your perfect moment?"
"Piper, we might die in there," Phoebe informed her.
"That doesn't mean you should tell her now," Piper argued.
"Okay, tell me what?" Prue asked looking at the two of them.
"Cole is still alive," Phoebe admitted looking her eldest sister in the eye. "I never really vanquished him."
Prue frowned. "What?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
"By the way, since your witches," Kellman interjected before Phoebe could say more. "I think it's only fair that I even the playing field." He waved as two very large demons entered the ring.
"You look at this face!" one of the demons said, acting very much like the stereotypical wrestler. "This is the face of pain and I'm the bringer of pain! And I'm going to destroy you! You can cry for mercy but I don't know the meaning of the word!"
"Alright," Prue said shaking her head, "and people think this is entertainment."
Phoebe placed a hand on her eldest sister's arm. "Prue..." she said as Prue pulled away. "Are we okay?"
"Not by a long shot," Prue countered as she glared at her sister. "Look, Phoebe, it you waited till now to tell me about Cole in hopes that we would die and you wouldn't have to deal with me, you have another thing coming." She turned and walked toward the ring.
"I think that went well," Phoebe told Piper with a sigh of regret.
"She just has a lot on her plate," Piper said motioning toward Faith. "Between your admission, trying to save Tom and finding out she may have a daughter she doesn't remember giving birth to and that Grams may have given up for adoption. It's I think a lot for her right now."
"You are probably right," Phoebe agreed as she walked over to Prue and they stepped into the ring.
"Alright, I am going to win this fight and save your ass," Prue told her sister. "That way I can kick it myself later," Prue said.
"After I hope we talk to Grams…" Phoebe said looking toward Faith, "…about Faith."
Prue glanced toward Faith and nodded. "Right." She turned her attention back to the demons and leapt at them kicking both in the head.
"Wow," Phoebe said clearly impressed.
"Okay, oh god, oh god, come on, do something!" Piper said as she watched Prue and Phoebe. "Get angry! Focus! Get motivated!" she said trying to motivate her sisters. "Prue, listen to me. She lied to you big time. Big time lied to you. Even Grams lied to you about Faith. You should have had the chance to raise her. Come on, get angry! Come on, or else we're in big deep. Phoebe, she thinks you're a weakling, like, big time sucker for love. Oh god!"
Kellman glanced at Faith and nodded in understanding. He knew now why they wanted to save Faith so much. He looked at Piper and smirked as a sharp ball materialized behind her back and he thrust it into Piper's back, who fell to the floor as the demons unfroze.
"Piper!" Prue yelled as she watched her sister fall to the floor.
"Stop!" Faith yelled and everyone looked at her. She had a glint in her eye. "You and me, Kellman. You want to give the Source the ultimate prize, right. The death of a Slayer. Let's go. If you win, me, my mom and my aunts all die. If I win, I'm free, their free and Tom's free."
Kellman smirked. "You think you can win, Slayer?" he asked. He motioned to the demons who grabbed Prue and Phoebe and pulled them from the ring.
Faith smiled as she stepped into the ring with Kellman. She kicked out knocking Kellman backwards. She kicked Kellman in the head. She smirked as Kellman rushed at her and she dropped and swept his legs out from under him. She leapt on him and pinned him to the mat as the hole opened. She waited till the count of 3 before leaping off Kellman as he slid into the hole. It closed as he disappeared.
Faith looked down at her arm and smiled. She held it up and showed Prue, Phoebe and the demons that she no longer had a chevron on her arm. "He's slayed."
The demons all immediately disappeared as Prue, Phoebe and Faith ran over to Piper.
"Prue, it looks really bad," Phoebe said in obvious worry. "I don't know if we're going to make it to Leo."
"Yeah, we will, come on," Prue said as she and Phoebe began to drag Piper toward the elevator.
"Let me," Faith said as she held out her arms. "Remember what your book told you? Slayers come with supernatural strength."
Prue and Phoebe looked at each other and then lifted Piper into the Slayer's arms. They hurried to the elevator and rode it toward Kellman's office hoping to call for Leo the moment they goot there. They were surprised when they found Leo there looking through the office.
"Leo!" Phoebe said in surprise.
"What happened?" Leo asked as he turned and saw Piper in Faith's arms.
"Hurry!" Prue cried motioning toward Faith as she set Piper on the ground.
"I think she may have stopped breathing," Faith told them with a sigh of regret.
Leo hurried over to Piper and pulled the ball from her back before holding his hands over the wound. The golden rays of healing spread over Piper as he began the process of healing her.
"How is he able to do that?" Faith asked amazed at the fact that Piper was healing much quicker than a Slayer would.
"He's a Whitelighter," Phoebe answered, looking at the young woman. "Think of him like a guardian angel for witches." She turned and looked at Leo. "Okay, not that I'm not thrilled to see you, but what are you doing here, Leo?"
"I was looking for you," he informed the sisters. "I thought I'd start with Kellman."
"He was the recruiter," Phoebe said.
"I figured," Leo admitted. "The Elders think the key to destroying him is to turn one of his recruits against him."
"Already done," Faith said as Leo looked at her. "I'm a Slayer, I got myself recruited so I could try and find a way to slay him. When Aunt Piper …"
"What?" Leo interrupted looking at the sisters with a raised eyebrow.
"It appears that she may be my daughter," Prue admitted. "You've been our Whitelighter since we were little. Do you remember?"
"No," Leo answered. "But as you know I have other charges, so I'm not around all the time."
Prue nodded as she glanced at Faith before looking back at Leo. "We think Grams may have erased our memories that I was even pregnant. We intended to summon her after we dealt with Kellman to find out for sure."
"Anyways when Aunt Piper was hurt, I challenged Kellman and defeated him," Faith said.
Halliwell Manor
"Mom. Mom, I'm so sorry," Tom said when Prue, Piper and Phoebe had gotten Darryl to bring Tom's mother to the manor so that mother and son could be reunited.
"Oh! Oh, Tommy!" Mrs. Peters cried as she hugged her son. "It's alright. Everything's alright."
"I guess some guys are worth saving after all," Phoebe said.
"We just need now to find out the truth," Prue said as she looked at Faith who nodded. She, Faith, Piper and Phoebe headed up the stairs and into the attic.
Prue lit several candles in a circle on the floor and then walked over to the book and flipped through it to the page she was looking for. She then let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Hear these words, hear my cry. Spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the great divide," she chanted.
Grams appeared in the circle and smiled as she spotted Faith. She stepped out of the circle of candles becoming corporeal. "Welcome home, Patricia," she said as she pulled the brunette Slayer into her arms and hugged her.
"So, it's true," Prue said as Grams turned to look at her. "You erased our memories of her."
"Yes," Grams said. She wondered how much of the truth she should tell her granddaughters. After all she was partly at fault for Faith's disappearance. "Prue, you were only fifteen when Andy got you pregnant." She knew the truth would come out eventually, but she was a little ashamed to admit that two mortals who knew magic had managed to get past her. She also didn't want to remind Prue of the depression her eldest granddaughter had been under when Faith had been taken.
So, Grams lied, "I already was raising the three of you. And you were still in school; you had no way to take care of a child. So, I made the only decision I could, the decision I felt was right. I bound Patricia's powers, cast a memory spell on you three, Andy and his parents and left Patricia at the hospital. If I had known you would be called as the Slayer, Patricia, I would not have given you up. I would have trained you and protected you from the Watcher's Council."
Prue looked to Faith and smiled. She then looked back at Grams. "I want my memories back. I want to remember carrying her and giving birth to her."
Grams nodded. "A witch's heart…" she started the chant. She modified the spell so that only Faith's birth was remembered and not the complete truth, that Faith had lived with them till she was two-years-old when she was identified by the Watcher's Council as a Potential and then subsequently kidnapped.