-O-charmed-freak-O- I would like to thank you for reviewing. And, hm, I didn't make the surprise too obvious, now did I? Hope not lol ...

Chapter 3: Surprise, Surprise!

When the reflection in the mirror didn't just register as her own, Billie instantly whipped her head around to look behind her.

Was this for real?

She couldn't be seeing what she thought she was seeing.

As the woman looking like Christy took steps forward, Billie was on her feet in a flash. She waved her right arm sending the other young woman flying into the wall behind her. "Stay back!" she shouted.

The young woman reached for her back, rubbing it, where it had impacted the wall.

Ouch, that actually hurt, she thought.

She attempted to stand back to her feet as Billie prepared to send her flying for the second time. Shrinking away, she screeched. " Billie, please, don't! It's me, Christy!" she threw her arms out in front of her to act as a shield.

At the woman's frightened posture, Billie halted her next defensive move. She brought her arm back down slowly and then cautiously approached her. A part of her really wanted to believe this could be real. Was Christy still alive?

No, it wasn't possible.

"Christy's dead. Who are you and what are you doing here?" Billie demanded to know.

Christy shook her head, trying to convince the other young woman before her that she was indeed who she said she was. "No, I'm not! It's me, I swear!"

She looked and sounded sincere; however, Billie remained on guard.

The woman then moved her hand up to cover the front of her face as if trying to ward off any further attack. "Please, don't hurt me!" her voice was pleading.

Billie immediately considered how it could all be a very convincing act. However, she couldn't help but start to feel her emotions running away with her. "I don't believe you," she stated, her eyes filling up and her voice cracking with emotion. "She's dead. I should know. I'm the one who killed her."

"No, no!" protested Christy. "She sent me here."

Billie's eyes slitted in confusion. "What do you mean, she? What are you talking about?"

Christy moved to get up and take steps forward.

Billie thrust out her hand. "Stay back! Don't come any closer," she ordered, taking steps backwards. "I mean it."

Christy stopped, taking on a contemplative expression. "Are you afraid of me?" she sounded hurt.

"I don't trust you," Billie clarified.

There was an edge of fear that could be detected, as the woman calling herself Christy spoke. "She sent me here. The woman who looked like me. I couldn't believe my own eyes, but it was ... me. I mean, how is that possible?" Her gaze fell upon Billie as if hoping she could explain it. Then she continued. "She said that they didn't need me anymore, that I was only dead weight. And then I was sent here," she took in her surroundings.

Billie thought hard about the claims being made. She killed her sister six months ago. Could there have been a switch? Did she kill an imposter? That would mean she never really found her sister.

Perhaps I was tricked, she considered.

It made a hell of a lot more sense to her than Christy turning full on demonic evil without any trace of humanity left.

Billie pondered the woman's unbelievable story. The more she thought about it, the idea didn't seem that far-fetched. Actually, it kind of made sense if the whole idea was to use Billie to destroy the Charmed Ones. A demon pretending to be her sister could have gotten close enough to her in order to see if she could get to her powers for the Triad to use. The only thing, how did they know when she'd come looking for Christy?

"Where am I?" the young woman's soft-spoken voice broke through Billie's train of thought.

"Uh, home?" Billie answered awkwardly.

"Oh."

Billie decided to remain cautious. She didn't want to make the same mistake twice. "I don't understand," she said, shaking her head in confusion. "Are you saying this is the first time you've ever seen me? I mean, since we were kids, and you were taken away?"

"Yes," Christy nodded her head. There were fresh tears forming inside of her own eyes.

But were they real or manufactured, Billie wondered.

Suddenly, Christy shocked Billie as she rushed forward and embraced her. Billie was too stunned to react.

Wow, if this is an act, it's an awfully damn good one, thought Billie.

"I can't believe it's you," Christy mumbled into Billie's shoulder.

Billie could only do what came naturally so she hugged Christy back. "Okay, tell me what happened?" she slowly broke away and went to sit back down on the mattress.

Christy made her way to the bed and sat down beside her sister. "All I remember in the beginning, is how they taunted me," she spoke with a far off look in her eyes. "They taunted me about you. About mom and dad. They said that one day you'd coming looking for me, but I'd never get to see you again. And that thanks to me, you'd fall right into the trap." She began to cry, slumping her head against Billie's shoulder, as she continued to pour her heart out. "Billie, it was horrible. I was so scared. The people who had me kept me in this dark cave. And the scariest part was they never seemed like normal people. How could they do the things they were doing? Who are they? What are they?" she looked to Billie for an explanation.

Billie wasn't sure what to say to the woman claiming to be her sister. Was she even a witch? Up until now, Billie had believed so. Did the Dogan make a mistake all those years back? Billie shuddered at the idea that she may have been the one the demon meant to grab, not Christy.

Billie thought about Lopan and when he guided her using her projection power. He became a Zodiac later on, but he had helped her project to the past and to Christy's place of imprisonment. She recalled how Christy was still a child at the time and had no idea what Billie meant when she asked about powers. Perhaps Christy never had any to begin with and a shapeshifter took her place later on? That reaction was starting to make some sense. Billie started to feel some of her defenses breaking down in light of completely logical conclusions.

"Okay, but if you've never seen me before, haven't since we were kids, how did you know it was me?" Billie interrogated as easily as she could.

"I didn't know," she denied. "They told me they were sending me to you. They said once you saw me, it would be my end," she explained.

"Yeah, right," Billie nodded. Made sense, Billie knew her instinctive reaction had been to vanquish.

"Which brings me to my next question," Christy continued on. "How did you do what you did?" she asked with what sounded like genuine fear and confusion.

Billie closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She knew that question was coming and wasn't quite sure how to explain that her abilities weren't bad. But how do you explain something like that to someone who was abducted as a child, held captive by demons, and then made to witness horrible acts because of dark magic? She wasn't even sure anymore if Christy was a witch. She could be taking a huge chance exposing her identity to her, sister or no sister.

"Did they trap you and do something to you?"

"Christy," Billie started. "I don't know how to explain this to you except to come out and just say it. So here it goes. I'm a witch. A good witch and that's how I'm able to do what I did. The people who took you, well, they're bad. Very bad. They're called demons, and they live in the Underworld. That's where you were taken. I've been looking for you a long time and, earlier this year, I thought that I had finally found you. My powers helped me figure out where you were but then you wanted me to turn on some people who were, who are, very important to me," she corrected herself. "And that's how you died," she finished, looking for any reaction from this young woman that might tell her something wasn't right.

Christy sat there, quietly listening to every word Billie said. She appeared partly stunned, and partly amazed at what Billie had just finished explaining. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "I don't know what to say except that it wasn't me. Does this mean I'm a witch too?" An expression of curiosity passed over her face. "I can't do what you can do but, if I'm your sister, shouldn't we be the same?" she sounded confused.

"Good question," Billie answered, "but the truth is I don't know. Mom wasn't a witch either, but she told me that her mother, our grandmother, was. Well, all that may actually be another story for another time," she cut off. "But for now, I'd like to take you to meet these people I know. They'll know how to help you. To help us."

"Who are they?" asked Christy, appearing skeptical.

"Let's just say that they're very special people better equipped than we are to deal with this situation. And leave it at that."

X

One Week Later

Paige made her way up the steps and inside the South Side Children's Center. It was a community placement for abused, neglected, or abandoned children. This was the quickest temporary placement situation that Paige was able to come up with for the little girl. As she approached the woman sitting at the front desk, she reached for her employee ID.

"Good morning, how may I help you?" came the woman's cheerful greeting. The woman looked to be in her early forties, with a touch of gray to her hair, and hair thrown up in a small bun behind her head.

"Yeah, hi," came Paige's response. "My name is Paige Matthews. I'm with South Bay Social Services. I'm a social worker for one of the new children here. I placed her with you a few days ago."

"Can I see some proper identification please?" came the woman's reply. Paige reached out showing her ID badge. "Thank you. The child's name please?" she began accessing the database.

"Molly," Paige answered.

The woman looked from her computer screen back to Paige.

"No last name, sorry. We actually don't know that much about her," Paige shared.

"Oh, that's right. That cute little blond girl. Poor thing. Shy but sweet," the woman recollected. "Okay, she should be listed then under Wards of the State, let me see," she searched around some more. "Ah, here we go, follow me please," she handed Paige a visitor badge.

Paige nodded and moved to follow behind the other woman.

They walked down the long corridor. Rooms lining the hallway were filled with children of varying ages and they appeared to be engaged in various activities of sorts. Paige felt her heart go out to all these forgotten children desperately in need of love and good homes. However, for right now, her focus had to be on one, especially if she required magical protection.

The woman escorted Paige onto an elevator that brought them to another floor level of the building. "We were on the first floor. That's where the children receive most of their education until we can place them in homes."

Paige nodded. She was led to a small room.

As they reached the door, the woman shared her concerns. "Molly seems to still be adjusting. Hasn't really taken an interest in the other kids yet. She's quite withdrawn so try not to take it personally if she doesn't take to you right away," the woman advised.

"Yeah, that actually wouldn't be a first," Paige had experienced the same on some of her other cases.

"Were you able to find a placement for her yet?"

"No, not yet," replied Paige. "But we're working on it." She smiled at the woman.

The woman opened the door to reveal the child sitting on the rug in the middle of the floor. She was playing with some toys. There were two barbie dolls lying to the side of her. A small bed was in the right corner and one window placed a few feet to the side. The walls were covered with colorful paper drawings made by crayons.

The older woman called out to get the child's attention. "Molly? Can you come here for a minute? I'd like for you to meet someone.

At the sound of the voice, the little girl turned her head around to look at both women.

"Her name is Paige."

Wow, she doesn't look much older than Wyatt, thought Paige. This was her first time seeing the child in person.

The little girl was kneeling, her blond hair pulled into two small ponytails, with a small curl detected on the ends of each.

Paige flashed her a warm smile. "Hi there, Molly."

The child offered a quick wave and then turned away. She resumed what she had been doing before they walked in and Paige took notice that she was playing with a set of building blocks while ignoring the dolls.

"She insisted on the blocks," the older woman shrugged. "Okay, Molly, can you look at me?" her attention went back to the little girl.

The child ignored her.

"It's okay, I think I got this," Paige jumped in to let the other woman know she could handle it from there.

The woman nodded. "Molly, I'm going to leave you here alone with Paige for a little while so the two of you can get to know each other better. She's here to help you."

Molly turned and looked back at Paige.

"Alright, well, I'll leave you two girls to it then. See you later, Molly." The woman flashed Paige a smile of understanding before exiting through the door and closing it behind her.

"Bye," Paige heard the little girl mutter.

Paige made her way over to the small table next to the wall in order to sit, observe, and figure out a way to gain the child's trust. She watched closely for a few minutes before she decided to start up a conversation. "Hey, Molly. I hear you're a very brave little girl."

The little girl just shrugged her shoulders. She didn't appear interested.

Paige decided to try another angle. "So, what are you building down there? It looks very nice."

Molly looked up at Paige. "My house."

"Oh, well, can I come down there and get a closer look?"

The child appeared to be considering it. Then she gave a nod.

Paige smiled and then brought herself down to kneel on the rug across from the little girl. She picked up some of the extra blocks lying around on the floor and made a pretense of building with them.

"So what are these?" Paige continued, trying to keep the child engaged in conversation.

"They go here," she directed and pointed to a spot on her building blocks.

"Okay, got it, little missy," Paige couldn't help but laugh. "Molly? You know the nice lady that brought me in here?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Well, she wants me to help you. Is that okay?"

The little girl shrugged her shoulders.

Okay, not outright rejection, thought Paige.

The child's attention shifted to what Paige was doing with the blocks. "That's wrong!" she scolded.

Paige stopped what she was doing. "How?" she asked in amusement.

"This," she made her way closer to Paige, taking the building block from her hand, and showing her the 'right way' to build with it. "Like my friend."

Molly placed the block on top of another one.

The reference to a friend caught Paige's immediate attention. Ha-ha! Now we might be finally getting somewhere, she thought to herself.

"Does your friend live here too?" asked Paige.

Molly shook her head. "No. He has big house," she spread her arms wide apart. "It's real."

Wyatt, Paige thought. And the Manor.

"He lives in a real house," Paige continued to build with her. "Do you remember your real house?"

Silence ensued for a better part of a minute.

"My room," she finally gave an answer. "And my bear."

"Nice," Paige made herself sound excited. "Anything else? How about people? Do you remember any other people?"

"Mommy?" Molly shrugged.

"That's good," Paige encouraged her. "What do you remember about her?"

"Mommy went far away," she shared with Paige.

"Where did she go?" Paige cringed a bit, hoping that didn't mean the worst case scenario. Did the little girl possibly witness the death of her parents?

"The bad man sent her away," she opened up more.

"The bad man, sweetie?" Paige asked. She wanted more information just to make sure this wasn't some story conjured up by the imagination of a four year old.

"He lives with the mean people," her voice sounded scared. "It's dark all the time. I don't like it there," she made a face. "Don't make me go back," she suddenly sounded very frightened. "I don't want to go back."

The child suddenly began hyperventilating.

Paige instantly reacted and pulled Molly over to her. "It's okay, it's okay," she soothed. "Breathe," she instructed, trying to calm her down. "Take deep breaths," she nodded, and Molly nodded along with her, catching her breath, calming down, and closing her eyes until she was breathing normally again.

The child had a full-blown panic attack.

Paige sighed, feeling relieved. "Good job," she praised the child, rubbing her back in comforting circles. "Molly, honey, I promise that you're safe here."

"I want mommy to come back," her face took on a sad expression.

When she looked back up at Paige, she nodded. Paige also got a closer look at the child's bright blue eyes with her long lashes. They were eyes that she hadn't paid too much attention to but now seemed to haunt her. Where did she see those eyes before? It bothered her that she couldn't quite place it.

"I know that makes you sad, honey, and I promise we're going to do our best to try and find her, okay," Paige soothed, hoping she and her sisters could.

This was either a demonic kidnapping or a child abduction by some human scum of the earth. Either way, it wasn't good. Paige was just still baffled on why it had gone unreported. Score one for Piper. Maybe. If the parents were alive and knew it was a demon.

"What if he comes back?"

"I'm not going to let that bad man come near you ever again, so you don't have to be afraid anymore," Paige reassured her again. "You want to know how I know that?"

Molly nodded.

"It's because I have a special secret. And I'm going to share it with you, but you have to promise to keep it our little secret. You can't tell anybody. Okay?" she squinted her eyes. "Pinky promise?" she held out her pinky.

Paige was getting close to certain that this was probably the same little girl they were looking for. The child looked confused so Paige took her pinky finger and showed her how to do it. Molly then shifted from confused to slightly curious.

"Now say I pinky swear," Paige instructed with their pinky fingers linked.

"Pinky swear," Molly repeated.

"All done. Watch this," she had Molly's full attention.

The little girl watched as Paige extended her hand and called out for one of the building blocks. It disappeared into a swirl of blue and white orbs and reappeared in the palm of her hand. Molly's small eyes lit up at the sight.

"See?" Paige remarked. "Just like magic. Now, do you maybe have any secrets that you'd like to share with me?" she prodded gently.

Paige knew this was a gamble.

Molly put her focus and concentration really hard onto the small block now sitting in Paige's hand. Then, suddenly, Paige watched as the object disappeared into a swirl of blue and white for the second time. This time reappearing in Molly's cupped hands. She looked up at Paige and flashed her a wide smile.

BINGO, was Paige's final thought.

X

Piper tried to re-position herself, comfortably, against the wall. She was sitting on the examination table and waiting anxiously for the doctor to return with the test results. Leo stood at her side, holding her hand and offering as much support as he could in the situation.

"You're fidgeting again," observed Leo.

"I'm not fidgeting!" Piper denied.

"You are. There's nothing to be nervous about. It's not like we haven't been through this before."

"Nervous? I'm not nervous," Piper denied a second time.

Leo smirked back at her. "Then why are your hands shaking?" he asked her.

Piper looked down at their interlocked fingers and let go. "Hey, I said I'm not nervous. It's just cold in here, that's all!" Piper retorted with mock sarcasm.

"Right," replied Leo. He still had a grin plastered across his face. "If you say so."

"Well, I say so!" Piper teased in return.

Honestly, she didn't know why she was so nervous. Like Leo pointed out, they had done this twice before. What was so different about this time? Three days ago she had taken her own home test which concluded what she had been suspecting all along. Now here she sat awaiting medical confirmation.

Was it possible that she and Leo would finally be blessed with that beautiful brown-haired little girl she had foreseen so long ago? It was a bittersweet realization for Piper for it brought back the memory of all that had been lost. The little girl of that future signified a life where her older sister, Prue, had still lived on. Only, now, she wouldn't be here to share in that joy because she had been taken from them too soon.

The door opened and a nurse walked in holding Piper's medical charts.

"Hello, Piper. I'm Nurse Kerry. I work with Doctor Shaw. We just got your test results back from the lab."

"And?" Both Piper and Leo asked in unison.

"Congratulations! You're pregnant," came the nurse's response.

X

Phoebe walked through the front door of the manor. She had kept the engagement a secret for a week now, only because Coop had asked to break the news together but she just couldn't hold it in any longer. The feelings of elation made her feel like she would burst if she didn't share the good news with her sisters soon. Yup, her future was definitely looking promising, she thought.

"Piper? Leo?" she shouted. "Anyone home?"

When she received no answer, she decided that she would wait around the house until they came back home. She was about to make her way into the kitchen for something to eat when she heard the front door open and close. Turning around, she saw Paige walking towards her.

"Oh, Pheebs, you're already here. Good. One down, one to go. Piper here?" she asked. She sounded like she had something important on her mind that she wanted to share.

"No, but I'm going to wait too," Phoebe smiled and then giggled excitedly.

Paige halted in her footsteps and gave her sister a curious look. "You're in an awfully chipper mood right now." She quirked her eyebrows at her sister. "I'm free to assume it's Coop and his cupidly ways again?"

Instead of responding, Phoebe flashed her hand in front of Paige so that she could see the diamond engagement ring that stood out.

"Whoa. Is that what I think it is?" Paige asked as she grabbed for her sister's hand.

"Yup, Coop asked me last week over dinner!" Phoebe continued on in her excited state. "Isn't it gorgeous?"

"Wait, he asked you last week and you kept it a secret until now? That's got to be some type of world record for you, Pheebs," her sister teased.

In the middle of their playful banter, the front door opened for the third time in ten minutes. Piper walked in feeling exhausted. All she felt like doing was going to sleep. She placed her car keys and purse on the small table stand just past the front door when she noticed her two sisters joking away in the dining room area.

"Hey you two. What's up?" she asked making her way through the foyer and into the dining room with them. She wanted to get off her feet so she sat down at the table.

"Well, for starters, Phoebe's getting married!" Paige exclaimed in a jovial high pitched voice.

"Hey! That was supposed to be my news to tell!" Phoebe playfully swatted her sister's arm.

Piper smiled in Phoebe's direction. "Is that true, did Coop finally pop the question?" She was happy to see her sister in such a great mood. "I guess that dinner date went better than expected."

Phoebe flashed the ring once again. "It did! He asked me that night," she reported to Piper.

Piper caught that admission and considered it for a minute. "He did? And you kept it a secret that long?"

Paige smirked and snorted. It earned her a small glare from Phoebe. Piper then considered whether she should share her news or wait. After all, she didn't want to put a damper on Phoebe's news. So she decided to wait for another day.

Suddenly, Paige broke in, sounding a bit more glum.

"Uh, guys? I really hate to rain on Phoebe's parade here but I had some news of my own that I came over here to share."

Piper and Phoebe turned to listen to what Paige needed to say. However, before Paige proceeded, both she and Phoebe joined Piper at the table each taking a seat. Then Paige sighed and went into her dialogue.

"I visited the child center today. The one that Molly's temporarily placed in?" she explained as she looked to her sisters who nodded for her to continue. "Well, I'm pretty sure it's the same little girl our Triad demon from the Underworld is looking for."

"How sure?" asked Phoebe.

"Positively sure," answered Paige. "Let's just say I saw for myself what she's capable of doing."

"Magic?" Piper asked for confirmation purposes. She looked to Phoebe, who appeared to be looking for the same verification.

Phoebe also looked to Piper.

"Yup. I know for a fact that she can telekinetically orb objects," clarified Paige for her other two sisters.

"Orbing?" questioned Phoebe. "Wait, so are we saying that she's part whitelighter like you and the boys?" Phoebe looked back to Piper with confusion spread across her face. "I thought we were looking for a little girl who could make herself invisible. Or astral project?"

"Well, she probably can but I just haven't seen it yet. Plus, I got her talking and she did tell me about the bad man Wyatt was telling you about, Piper," explained Paige. "Coincidence?"

Phoebe thought for a moment and then shook her head. "No, it can't be," she said.

Piper agreed.

"But, what do we do now? I mean, I'm going to have to place her with a foster family soon. The center is only used as a temporary placement," Paige expressed with concern. "Only, now, how do we do that knowing there's a demon on the loose that's trying to find her. We could be putting potential foster parents in harms way."

It was a legitimate concern and both Piper and Phoebe knew it.

Phoebe contemplated what Paige told them.

"Well, is there any way that we could temporarily bind her powers? I mean, just until we find out more about her background and if there are parents out there looking for her?" Phoebe suggested.

"I suppose it's possible but what if we put her in more danger by taking her powers away?" Piper countered. "She won't be able to defend herself. The Triad is too powerful if even the Power of Three can't keep them vanquished for good. Whoever this last member is, he was able to track down this child and have her kidnapped without leaving any trail behind. Just like the rest of the Triad did with Billie's sister all those years ago. We only found out about her because of Wyatt," she referenced the discovery of Molly.

The sisters contemplated both possibilities and were confused on which course of action to take. However, before they could reach a decision, three demons shimmered into the foyer of the manor preparing to launch fireballs in the their direction.

X

New York City (NYPD)

The New York City Police Department was just as hectic as any other police department in a major city but today it was just plain chaotic.

While everyone was scurrying around trying to get done what they needed to accomplish, Darryl Morris sat in his private office located in the far back corner of the department. He was busy working on which cases should be assigned to which detectives. He was actually finding that he was grateful for the new transfer that was due to report today. Right now, they could use all the extra hands they could get.

Darryl, his wife Shelia, and their kids had moved to the East Coast over a year ago to get a fresh start and it hadn't hurt that the pay was more. He had also been fortunate to receive another promotion in the last year. The good news was that his family had adjusted nicely. That was why he could relate to the new detective joining the force from out of state. A move could be hard. New City? New Job? New People? New Home? It was familiar territory for Darryl and his family.

Suddenly, a knock could be heard outside of his office door.

"Come in!" he shouted. A tall lean man sporting glasses walked into the office, a stack of files in hand. "Yeah?" came Darryl's question.

"Captain Morris, I got those other archived case files you were asking for," came the man's reply.

"Thanks, Jerry. Just put them right over there on the chair."

The man did as he was told and was about to leave when he remembered there was something else he needed to report. "Oh and sir? That new fella down from Mass is here. The transfer?" he proceeded to tell Morris.

"Yeah okay, Jerry, just send him in," was Darryl's reply without even looking up at the other man. He was engrossed in the task at hand.

"You got it boss." Then the other man left.

A few minutes later, the office door could be heard opening and a tall moderately built man stepped through. He approached the man's desk preparing himself for an introduction.

"Hi. My name is Michael, sir. Michael Holloway."

Darryl reached for his coffee to take a sip before extending his hand to the other man's. As he looked up and did so, he choked on the coffee and it went flying everywhere around him. He couldn't be seeing what he thought he was seeing. It was impossible.

"Andy?!" he exclaimed.

To Be Continued