Jedi Alanna: I'm glad you're happy with the outcome of the last chapter.

Chapter 9: Congratulations, You're A Halliwell!

Billie slowly crept up the attic stairs.

She reached the closed door but heard bits and pieces of what sounded like a heated argument. She placed her ear to the door to try and make out what was being said. The first voice, filled with anger, she immediately identified as Piper's. The second voice sounded strange. It was a voice she didn't recognize but one thing was very clear. They were arguing over her and it needed to stop. The door creaked as she opened it. She made her way to the middle of the attic with all eyes turning towards her.

"STOP!" she pleaded loudly. "I don't want you to fight about me. Please."

Billie looked from each of the sisters to the woman standing in the middle of them who appeared to be studying every inch of her.

She was a spirit.

Everyone remained speechless.

Phoebe looked between Billie and Grams. She slowly made her way towards Billie but Billie retreated back from her. Phoebe stopped.

"No!" protested Billie. "If this is a problem for you, any of you, I'm just going to leave. Right now. I don't want you to be angry with each other because of me. And I certainly don't want you hating me because of letting you down. I'm the one who is the failure. I'm the one that almost got you all killed."

Both Phoebe and Paige began to shake their head in protest.

"No, sweetie, no. We don't want you to go anywhere. This is all just a bit of a shock right now," Phoebe insisted. She looked around the room, making it a point to stare at Piper, who refused to even look in Billie's direction. "For all of us!"

"Yeah, and we don't feel like you let us down," Paige stressed as she jumped into the discussion. "Do you actually think that?"

Paige really wanted to know, because as her whitelighter, she was starting to feel really guilty about not spending enough time around her since the whole Ultimate Battle ordeal went down six months ago. At the time, Paige knew it had been rough on Billie living with the fact that she had vanquished her only sister but she thought she had been helping her by giving her space. Apparently, Billie had misinterpreted it as rejection. Sure, they were upset in the beginning but they all acknowledged that Billie had done the right thing in the end. After all, if it hadn't been for her, they never would have been able to project back in time to stop Christy, Dumain, and the Triad. Didn't she realize that?

Piper spoke out. "I want to see Prue!" she declared. "I want to see her now!"

Billie swallowed and looked to the floor, while Phoebe and Paige turned their attention back to Grams. Grams closed her eyes and nervously shuffled about before replying to her willful granddaughter's request.

"I'm sorry, Piper, but that's just not possible!" she strongly objected.

"Not possible?" she mocked. "It's been five years, I think she owes it to us and to Billie to orb her own butt down here and do the explaining. So I want to talk to her. Right now!" Piper demanded refusing to give up on it.

"Piper, summoning Prue here is not going to give you the answers you're looking for!" Grams protested.

"Maybe not for her," Paige nodded at Piper, "but maybe she can give some to Billie," she offered up. She still remembered the first time she had met her mother, Patty. It was right here in this very attic after the sisters had summoned her. She could relate to Billie and how important that might be for her. And to be completely honest? Her own heart was pounding at the prospect of meeting her oldest sister for the first time; the sister she had never seen before except from a few scattered photographs around the house. She offered Billie a smile.

Grams turned to look at Billie before she continued. "I'm very sorry, Billie, but I'm afraid you won't find what you're looking for from Prue. At least not anytime soon," she replied with a touch of remorse in her voice.

Billie wasn't quite sure what that meant.

"What is that even supposed to mean?" argued Piper. "You're making it more complicated than it is. It's simple. Prue orbs her afterlife butt down here, tells Billie why she gave her away, and then disappears again. How hard can that be?"

"Piper?" warned Phoebe. Piper's rant was getting to her, a rant that was being directed intentionally at their deceased sister. When she finally got to see Prue in the afterlife, she wanted the moment to be memorable. Not filled with animosity or regrets.

"Because it's not simple, Piper!" Penny Halliwell exclaimed. "She doesn't remember anymore than you do!" Penny didn't want to hurt her newly discovered great granddaughter, but that was the truth. Well, at least as much of the truth as she was allowed to give. God, help me, she thought.

"What do you mean she doesn't remember, Grams?" Phoebe asked, anticipating the answer her Grams was most likely about to give. It would be the only answer that made sense.

Penny took one last look at Billie and sighed. "It means that I cast a spell to strip her of that particular memory," she explained. "Prue wasn't herself when she returned home. I just made it so that she could move on and have a life of her own, that's all. Billie was in good hands, I trusted the Jenkins completely."

The three sisters may have been taken aback by their grandmother's admission, but they certainly weren't surprised. It wouldn't have been the first time their Grams used magic in the name of protecting their so-called Charmed destiny.

Billie, on the other hand, had no idea how to feel. However, what shocked everyone was Piper's final response on the matter.

"I'm done!" she exclaimed. She slammed the Book of Shadows, closing it, and made her way to exit the attic.

X

At the magic school, Leo and Dimitri were both deeply engaged in their task at hand as both were concentrating on re-categorizing and re-shelving all of the magic books into their proper location. There was so much that had needed to be fixed. The school required new desks and chairs, refurbished shelves, and heavy interior reconstruction.

"This is quite the task," Dimitri commented as he climbed back up the ladder to reach the top shelf.

Leo remained at the bottom handing the books to him one by one. "Yup. Unfortunately, the demons did a real number on the school," he explained.

As a new Elder, Dimitri was curious about what had happened. "So, how did the demons get their hands on the school in the first place?" he inquired. "Wasn't this place supposed to be protected by good magic?"

This conversation was heading into an area that Leo really wanted to avoid. It brought up too many bad memories concerning his son, Wyatt. He had been forced to kill Gideon, a high-ranking Elder, in order to save Wyatt and the future. So he opted to be as vague as he could on the subject.

"Uh, it was but after the Elder in charge of the school died, it sort of just fell by the wayside. Paige tried to head it for awhile before I did but with the whole charmed destiny thing going on, well, you know?" Leo shrugged his shoulders, hoping that was enough to satisfy the new Elder's curiosity.

"Now, Paige?" inquired Dimitri, as he fumbled with one of the books. "She's one of the Charmed sisters, right?"

"Uh, yeah, that's right," answered Leo. He furrowed his brows, wondering where this discussion was supposed to be heading. "Why?"

"Oh, no particular reason. I just heard some talk from other Elders, that's all," he informed Leo.

"About what?" Leo handed Dimitri some more books he finished organizing. He wished the Elder standing above him would just say what he was getting at so he didn't have to pull the information out of him.

Dimitri finished placing the remainder of books on the top shelves and then proceeded to make his way down the ladder. He turned to look at Leo before answering him. "To tell you the honest truth, I'm not exactly sure what I heard. But I heard her name mentioned along with another one, Prue? I think it was Prue," he concluded, as he took a moment to think about it. "Anyway, the Elders have been on edge about something that happened recently. There's been quite a few meetings over it in the past few days."

The Elder had Leo's full attention.

Prue? Why would the Elders be discussing Prue of all people? She's been dead for over five years, thought Leo. And what did it have to do with Paige?

Suddenly, Leo contemplated whether or not there was any way that he could use his new Elder status to gain access to one of those meetings. Because whatever concerned his family, concerned him. Plus, he didn't want his wife being placed under any more stress than she needed to be. Not with the new baby coming.

"Well, what happened?" Leo inquired. "What does it have to do with Prue or Paige? Although, I don't see how Prue is relevant to them. She died over five years ago."

"That I don't know because most of the meetings have been delegated to high ranking Elders only. But what I did over hear was that they detected a use of magic coming from somewhere they didn't expect. And it highly concerns them. Especially since it's just recently been discovered that any transmission coming from that source of magic has now been blocked. They can't sense a location anymore."

Damn, thought Leo. So much for getting in on a meeting.

He was actually pretty perplexed and wondered if any of this might be connected to the demons his wife and her sisters were tracking down. However, just as Leo was about to interrogate the matter a little bit more, Dimitri was called away.

"Sorry, Leo," he replied, after the jingling call penetrated his senses. "Duty calls." Then he orbed away.

X

"Piper, where do you think you're going?" demanded Phoebe

"Yeah, you can't leave," Paige stressed. "We have demons to vanquish." Then she quickly looked to Billie before adding, "And a sister to find!"

Piper turned around to confront her sisters.

"No, actually you have demons to find. I don't!" she reiterated, because they didn't appear to get her message the first time. "I quit! I just don't want to do this anymore. Not when it's all been based on lies!"

"Lies? What lies?" Paige debated, feeling at a complete loss as to what Piper was rambling on about. "Our destiny hasn't been a lie! We've saved tons of innocents to prove it!"

"Oh really?" Piper challenged Paige. "Well then what about the prophecy? You remember, the one from our ancestor, Melinda Warren? Last time I checked, her prediction was a future of three sisters. Not four, but three. So let me ask you, Paige. Where do you fit into all of this if the lies don't start with you?"

Paige was stunned into silence. It felt like she had just been slapped in the face. Piper had just taken that one small hidden insecurity she still harbored of not belonging and slung it like an arrow straight through her heart.

Phoebe witnessed the devastated look cross her sister's face and came to her defense. "Piper, that's not fair and you know it!" her voice rose in a stern manner. "We all know by now that futures aren't set in stone. We lost Prue. Look at Wyatt and Chris. Or take my premonitions as another example. We use them to change the outcome of situations all the time. Melinda was shown what she was allowed to see at that time."

"Yeah, well, you know what?" Piper mocked. "Here's another example of the future changing for ya! Me walking out that door for good," she turned on her heel and left the attic.

Billie stood to the side, feeling completely helpless. The two remaining sisters looked to the other, both feeling completely unnerved about what just went down in the attic. What were they supposed to do now?

Billie shook her head. She felt gutted. "This is all my fault. That's exactly why I wanted to wait before I showed anybody that stupid letter!" she exclaimed.

Phoebe walked over to Billie and embraced her in a hug. "No, sweetie, none of this is your fault. Please don't think that. Piper's just being Piper. She'll get over it."

"Geez, are you sure about that?" Paige challenged, not feeling too sure about that herself. She knew her older sister had a tendency to obsess and then rant so she could get things off her chest but what if this time there was no going back?

Phoebe sighed. "She better."

Paige attempted to cover up her own hurt feelings to make Billie feel better. She chimed in with a light laugh and playful response. "So. Welcome to our dysfunctional family?" Then she started to ramble. "Not that we didn't already consider you a part of it, it's just now it's official and, ah, you know what I mean!" she waved her hand.

Billie and Phoebe smiled. It helped to relieve some tension and lighten the mood. Grams, who had remained completely quiet, finally piped in.

"Sorry, girls, but I do have to be getting back."

Phoebe, Paige, and Billie all turned to look at the woman. Before she orbed into an array of bright white lights, Penny materialized into her full form. She stepped forward, reaching out, and pulled Billie into a gentle hug. Although Billie felt awkward about it, she let it happen.

"It's good to have you back," proclaimed Grams. "And be well. All of you!" She said this as she looked to each of them while stepping backwards. She blew a kiss in their direction and faded away back into the afterlife.

X

Piper stood at the kitchen sink rinsing the dishes that were used for dinner.

She had just finished feeding all three of the kids and was preparing to settle them down for the night. It had been a few hours since she had last spoken to either of her sisters, or Billie for that matter. She was feeling really guilty for taking her anger out on them. The truth was they had been kept in the dark the same as her and hadn't been responsible for keeping these secrets anymore than she had been. While she was lost in reflecting on everything she had been through in the past eight years, she got distracted and without meaning to, slammed one of the dishes into the dish rack. It immediately broke, slicing her hand in the process.

"Ouch, dammit!" She instantly brought her hand to her mouth. When she turned around to grab a small towel hanging over the handle of the stove, Leo happened to orb into the kitchen.

Leo made his way over to greet his wife but she turned away from him. He scrunched up his face in confusion. Was she still mad at him? "What's the matter?" He took a step closer and noticed the blood seeping through the white towel covering her hand. "Hey, what happened?" he exclaimed softly. Leo reached out for her hand, his concern for her taking over immediately. "Demon attack?"

Piper sighed in frustration. "Not exactly."

She didn't pull her hand away. Leo removed the towel and allowed the white light to illuminate from his hand as he healed the deep gash embedded on his wife's palm. After he finished, he looked up into Piper's face trying to read her. "At least having my powers back offers some good," he tried to get her to smile.

Piper didn't find the humor in it. "Thank you," she offered tersely. She turned around and walked away with her back towards him and then proceeded to wash down the kitchen table.

Leo could sense that she was extremely agitated over something and made his own assumption as to what it was.

She's still mad at me for not telling her, he thought.

"Look, Piper, I'm sorry I waited to tell you. But I knew you wanted to move on with a normal life and I just didn't know how to tell you. This really matters to me because it's given me a sense of purpose again. Something I haven't felt for awhile. But I shouldn't have kept you in the dark about it," he apologized.

"No you shouldn't have!" she turned back around on her husband. He had unintentionally provided her with an opening to vent. She balled up the washcloth in her hand, pitched it, and watched as it hit the floor.

Leo observed his wife's sudden outburst with surprise. She wasn't that angry about it, was she?

"I'm just sick of the lies, Leo. The secrets. All of them. They're going to get us killed!"

"Piper, I said I'm sorry," he apologized again.

"Do you know how hard it's been? How hard I've tried?" her tangent went on.

"Piper, look, I know this job has its own set of risks," Leo attempted to defend his position as an Elder, "and sometimes it was hard for us in the past, I know that, but I really don't think we're in any more danger than we already were."

"What?" Piper shot him a look. "No, Leo," she huffed, "I'm not talking about us!" she bent down and picked up the dirty rag from off the floor and tossed it away in the trash basket.

"You're not?" Now Leo was just confused.

"No!" Piper made her way over to the cabinets and began opening them one by one while Leo watched. She didn't need anything in particular but it gave her mind something to focus on. "I'm talking about Prue," she slammed the last cabinet shut and brought her hands down to rest against the counter. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, then released it.

"Okay?" Leo approached.

Piper turned to look at him. "I've tried so hard all these years to take Prue's place and do it right."

"Piper?" Leo uttered barely above a whisper. "You've done great," he tried reassuring her, bringing his hands to rest on her shoulders. "You're an amazing older sister."

Piper shrugged him off. "Yeah, not quite," she answered shortly and stepped away. "Because, you see, Leo," she laughed a little, "it's kind of impossible to measure up to somebody who never quite existed in the first place."

Leo had no idea what his wife was going on about but he stood back quietly and listened anyway.

"I wanted to live up to who Prue had been," Piper shook her head and her voice was cracking with the emotion breaking through.

Leo watched as his wife began to break down. She brought her hands up to cover her face while soft sobs escaped. Her husband rushed to her side and brought his arms around to offer some comfort. "Honey, hey."

"Why did she even have to die? I still don't understand what her death had to do with our stupid destiny."

"I don't know," Leo gave his honest input. "If I did, you would have the answer."

"She was always there for me and I trusted her with everything. Why couldn't she trust me back? Mom and Grams have both taken time to visit us from the afterlife. It's been five years so where the hell has she been all this time? Not once has she come back to see us or check up on us. I didn't understand it then and I don't understand it now. It's not fair. Not for us and not for Billie," she vented.

"What does Billie have to do with it?" Leo prodded gently.

Piper slowly pulled back out of Leo's arms as she used the back of her hands to wipe at her eyes. She let out a small laugh and a sniffle before responding. "Oh, right, I forgot. You're way out of the loop, mister."

"What loop?" asked Leo.

"Um, well, apparently Billie is the latest long lost Halliwell!"

"What?" Leo declared in surprise. "How is that even possible?"

Piper had one word for him. "Uh, Prue."

"Prue?" he repeated, trying to keep up.

"Yeah, I guess she was more like mom than she ever cared to admit," she walked past her husband and went to stare at the picture posted on the wall next to the cellar door. There was one shot with Prue when they were very young children. There was another photo she herself had added within the last year, one with Prue and her sisters in their younger adult years, before Grams passed away and they found out they were witches. Her eyes landed there.

Leo still didn't understand all the details but at least had a better understanding of what had his wife so upset. She had been kept in the dark. Protecting family meant everything to Piper; therefore, being lied to by them could prove disastrous.

"I used to tell myself that Prue never coming around didn't bother me." Piper sounded a bit calmer. "I think for awhile, I actually made myself believe it."

"It's ok. You did what you needed to do. So you could move on. So we could all move on," Leo suggested.

"Grams said we still had this destiny thing to continue on with and then Paige came along. So I did it. I moved on so the Charmed Ones could live on," she pulled the photograph off the wall.

Leo nodded in understanding. "Phoebe and Paige couldn't have done any of it without you. You've done a great job, Piper. Prue would be proud."

A sad smile crossed Piper's lips. "Right, proud." She shook her head. "Sure." She moved to the kitchen drawer, opened it up, and threw the picture inside before closing it.

"Piper, let go of the pedestal. You're all just human. You make mistakes like anybody else. And you were mortal sisters long before you were witches."

"Part of me feels like I never knew Prue at all. At least not the way I thought I did," Piper locked stares with her husband, leaning back against the counter.

"Maybe you didn't," Leo agreed. "But so what. It doesn't mean the bond wasn't real. The memories are real."

Piper was quiet.

"What?" Leo pushed, trying to get her to share whatever else was on her mind.

"I'm really lost on how I'm supposed to deal with the truth about Billie. I never saw it coming." Piper moved to sit at the kitchen table. Her hands were covering her face.

"I don't think anybody expected you to see it coming," Leo moved to take a seat with her.

"I've spent the past six months trying to come to terms with what Billie did. That's been pretty hard," she confessed. "Phoebe is definitely the bigger person when it comes to forgiving and letting go. And now, what? Just like that, she's family?" her hands dropped.

Leo sighed. "It can take time to heal."

"Well, anything goes in the name of protecting the destiny of the Charmed Ones, even keeping Billie in the closet, I guess," Piper rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "At least according to the Book of Grams."

"What did she have to say about it?"

"Who Grams? Oh Grams had plenty to say about it, believe me," Piper shared. "She cast a spell so Prue would forget."

Leo took in the information.

"And what's even worse is I made a total and complete idiot out of myself in front of Billie after I found out. She probably thinks I hate her but that's not it," Piper admitted remorsefully.

"Why, what happened?" came Leo's question.

"I basically told Phoebe and Paige that I was done with the Power of Three and that they were on their own. All of them, including Billie. Which means, they've probably run off to the Underworld by themselves to find the demons," she answered. Piper shook her head feeling guilt-stricken. What older sister allows her younger sisters and niece to run off and face demons working for the Triad without the Power of Three to back them up?

Leo picked up on Piper's feelings and extended his hand to her. "You know, I meant it when I said my powers could still come in handy? All we need is their location and I'll orb you down there to join them," he offered.

Piper looked at his hand and finally smiled. They both stood up and then she placed her own hand in his as they orbed away.

X

Paige, Phoebe, and Billie all orbed into the Underworld lair. As they looked around, they proceeded with caution. Before them stood a framed door made of metal steel. Ancient markings lined the entire outside perimeter of the door.

"Maybe this was a mistake," suggested Billie, nervously. "Maybe we should have waited for Piper."

"Sweetie, we didn't have time to wait," argued Phoebe. "We need to move on this while we have a location. Who knows when or if they'll change it again. Or if we'll be able to find it!"

"Yeah, just follow the instructions we gave you and we'll all make it out of this alive," added Paige, nodding her head. She handed Phoebe one of the vials she was holding while giving her the secret head shake.

Phoebe nodded in return, communicating back to her sister that she understood.

Phoebe and Paige both took a position on each side of the door while Billie approached it. "This is weird," she muttered while she observed the door standing directly in front of her. "It looks similar to the place they were keeping Christy before."

"Billie!" scolded Paige in a whisper. "Focus!"

"Right! I know, I know," she answered.

Billie took a deep breath, reached for the door knob, and turned it. Yup, locked, she thought. Just as they expected. Well, duh! Of course it would be locked. Why would it be that easy? She brought her two hands up to the sides of her temple and began to concentrate really hard. She focused on projecting the reality of an unlocked door standing before them. This time when she reached the door knob twisted and opened.

"Wa-la!" Billie exclaimed, turning to them with wide eyes and a smile of satisfaction.

"Good," Phoebe encouraged.

She and Paige prepared themselves for the their next move.

Billie slowly slid the door open and peeked inside. "Christy?" she called out timidly. When she received no answer, she made her way further inside.

Phoebe and Paige followed closely behind. It was dark, too dark.

"Christy, are you in here?" she attempted a second time. "Please answer me. I need to know that you're okay." But there was still no answer.

Phoebe and Paige looked around nervously.

"Are we sure we have the right place?" Paige hissed back to Phoebe. "Because I don't see any demons anywhere."

They quickly turned their heads to see what was behind them when they heard grumbling coming from the back end of the enclosed space. Slowly, all three women approached the back.

"Who's there?" came a groggy and muffled response.

Billie couldn't make out the voice but it just had to be Christy. She rushed forward in a hurry.

"Billie, wait!" came Phoebe's stern warning.

"Christy ... " Billie started but stopped when she took in the sight before her.

The person lying on the ground was anyone but Christy. Suddenly, the dark cavern lit up with torches providing light where there was once only darkness, startling all three women. The cavern was empty all except for the one woman lying on the floor. At the same time the torches flamed to life, the door loudly screeched shut. A demonic laugh could be heard from the outside.

Phoebe panicked. "Oh my god, Paige, the door!" she hollered.

Paige ran to it but it was locked. She pounded on the door with shouts of hey. Then she tried to orb herself out of the cavern but was bounced back landing flat on her butt. "Ouch!" she exclaimed.

Phoebe ran over to her to help her off the ground. "I can not believe we just fell for this!" declared Phoebe. "It was a freaking trap!"

"And this place must be sealed off from using any magic," surmised Paige, while brushing herself off.

"Guys, I think you should come over here!" called Billie.

Billie's voice caught the attention of both sisters who walked over to stand beside her. She was leaning over the unknown woman trying to make out how bad her injuries were.

"Do you think she's okay?" Billie asked with concern. "I mean, whoever she is."

There lying on the ground was a woman clad in a t-shirt and a pair of navy blue jeans. The white shirt and blue jeans were now covered in a dusty grim, no doubt because of the ground. She had scratches up and down the sides of her arms. Her long raven colored hair was covering her face. Suddenly, feeling alarmed by the voices surrounding her, she bolted upright. Her reaction caused Billie and both of the sisters to retreat backwards.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded to know while backing herself up against the wall and taking in the three strange faces.

When the woman's hair fell away from her face, it took both Phoebe and Paige a moment to register belief. Paige blinked in rapid succession, shut her eyes tightly, and then reopened them only to come face to face with who she now concluded she was staring at. But it was impossible. How could this be? Phoebe just stared. She couldn't move, she was absolutely frozen in place. Her blood ran cold and the beating of her heart picked up. Then without warning, she fainted, passing out on the ground floor. Paige immediately rushed to her aid while the woman stood back in the shadows, a widespread look of confusion crossing her face.

It was Prue.

To Be Continued: Okay, I got this chapter done a little bit sooner than I had anticipated. Initially, I had other plans in mind for the ending but this just seemed to fit way better. And don't worry, there will be a slight explanation to show how Prue came to be where she is. Darryl will still have a small role before he starts to fade out of the story and it's Piper to the rescue after she learns the big secret. So stay tuned.