Penny sat staring at a picture of the sisters last Christmas. She couldn't help but smile, Prue made them all wear matching pajamas that morning.
They had just woken up early and it took them several shots to get this picture and all the ended up with was one of Phoebe and Paige cracking up while everyone else smiled and looked at them in surprise.
She couldn't remember exactly what was said but she could assume it was one of Phoebe's inappropriate jokes. The photo was candid and quite hilarious.
It so much more meaningful now; she hadn't seen three of those faces or heard those laughs in almost a month.
Almost an entire month had passed; Penny's heart sank at the thought of all the time they had lost.
She looked at herself in the photo, huddled up next to Prue smiling big and enthusiastically. Her dark hair was tussled from the night's sleep.
Prue's mini me is what they always called her, and they did look alike, but Penny couldn't figure out if they were so much alike, why she couldn't draw some of that strength that Prue has?
She looked across the alley way at Phoebe and Leo who were intensely looking over spells and potions for the underworld. Leo had been going down and looking at where to orb them in and where to go.
She was supposed to be writing a spell but instead she was looking at this photo. Maybe she was trying to draw some sort of inspiration, "What are you thinking about over here?" Phoebe interrupted Penny's thought train and sat down beside her.
Phoebe gently took the photo from Penny's hand. "Awe," she said looking at it. "It's just been a long time, I don't want to forget," Penny said. "You won't, we're going to see them soon P," Phoebe answered back.
"We are, I believe that, don't you?" Phoebe asked her. Penny did not respond right away but eventually she slowly nodded. "Ok, come on, let's finish these spells so we can get some rest," Phoebe pulled Penny to her feet and they went to join Leo.
The demon of illusion had been watching the girls for weeks. For days he had been preparing to attack them.
It was his goal to become the next source, which was all the motivation he needed to win over two of the charmed ones.
The youngest seemed to be the most vulnerable; her world could easily be taken over.
He had been watching them long before the abduction of the other sisters to try and observe her every move and the way her mind worked.
As she grew she was becoming far too powerful the underworld shook at the thought of battling her as an wanted it to end before she discovered her strength.
He had been working on his invisibility for years for this very moment. He was waiting until the whitelighter went up "there" to make his move.
Prue sat against the wall with her eyes closed. She stopped thinking about plans to escape and instead tried to picture memories throughout their life.
Like the day they went to watch Penny play soccer and it rained so hard they were all covered in mud and decided to have mud wars. It was so fun even though two of them ended up with severe colds.
Or the time they decided to try and pull an all nighter to help Piper bake for a charity event.
Or the time… Prue paused, she could feel her heart aching a little even though she smiled remembering their sister camping trip and Phoebe squealing and freaking out about the fish she caught that she whipped around and hit Piper in the head with it which made Piper laugh so hard she cried.
She remembered watching Penny have a smore for the first time and that huge chocolate covered grin or laying with Paige on the blanket looking at the stars before they heard a rustle in the leaves and went flying into their sister's tent.
She just hoped they were ok, what she would do just to have one more minute with them.
A yell from the distance shook her out of memory lane and she snapped back to reality. She could see in the distance, two demons walking a figure towards her.
The closer they got, she immediately knew who it was, she could feel her heart skip a beat. Paige came into view and connected eyes with her sister.
Careful not to show too much emotion in front of the demons, neither Paige nor Prue smiled but their eyes said everything. They chained Paige back to the wall across from Prue.
Making sure to be aggressive with her the demon hit her in the face.
Prue closed her eyes as the slap echoed, that'll teach you to step on my foot again.
Paige barely reacted, they had grown so used to it, and they were almost numb to the pain and taunting.
The demons left, Paige did not know what to say so Prue spoke up, "I am relieved to see you," she said.
Prue had thought of this moment for the last few days after being separated, what she would do to fix her bond with Paige, and how she would love each sister differently if they were to make it out of this alive. She wanted to slowly push down walls that she helped create.
Paige was relieved to see Prue too; she just did not know how to express that.
"Paige…" Prue spoke up. Her voice was more gentle than usual; she had such care behind her tone, something Paige had not heard much when Prue was speaking to her.
Paige lifted her head and Prue could see the swelling on her cheek. Compassion, relief, overwhelming love, and pain, that's what Prue felt in that moment, it was written all over her face.
She had never been so happy to see her baby sister.
Paige could almost feel what Prue was feeling with that tone. She could feel the emotions and the whole thing made her very nervous.
She put her head down and let out a loud deep breath. With all that was happening she did not want to continue on like how they were before this took place, she wanted that connection with Prue; she wanted it so badly but did not know how to find it.
"Paige, look at me," Prue said softly. Paige paused before looking up and locking eyes with Prue.
Prue's eyes welled up as she laid eyes on her sister. "I'm so glad you're ok," Prue said.
Paige was uncomfortable but her eyes stayed connected with Prue's. Maybe this was necessary to fix the bond between her and her older sisters. She was stranded with one for days alone and now the other.
Paige zoned out for a moment in deep thought and Prue was still talking, "Is Piper ok?" Paige tuned back in just as she finished and nodded. "She's the best she can be in this situation… Prue, I need to tell you something," Paige responded slowly.
Prue listened, "We over heard the demons, Penny and Phoebe are still alive."
Prue finally released the tears that had been sitting so patiently on the edge of her eyelids; she choked out a sob of relief.
Paige had never seen Prue cry before, she was so used to her big sisters tough exterior and constant leadership, and she was unsure how to react to this version of Prue.
"We don't know where they are but they're alive and the illusion demon is looking for them," Paige rambled on. "I had a plan for Piper to escape the lair, but they brought me here," Paige looked down again. "I just want to go home," she whispered.
Moments later demons entered and behind them was Piper, she looked awful.
Prue tried to get a good look at her as she passed but she could barely see her between the demons. Several more demons filed in behind them. Paige looked at Prue quizzically but kept her eyes low to avoid drawing attention.
Chain her up. On the side of the lair they began seeing a white light, almost as if they were about to watch a movie. Make sure they can see. This is going to take a lot of our power. Power? Prue squinted to make sure that the no magic spell hadn't been lifted, nothing.
"Guys, I'm heading up there to make sure the elders haven't heard anything." Pipers head snapped up at the sound of that voice. It was as if he was standing right in front of her. Her eyes lit up, suddenly she saw Leo on the hologram.
She couldn't take her eyes off of him, even when he orbed out, she stayed staring in the place he just was. Her heart ached as Phoebe came into view. She looked over and Paige and Prue had the same reactions as she did. Their eyes were glued to the hologram.
Prue felt her stomach drop as her little sister came into view. She wanted so badly to reach out and touch her.
"Penny, put that last crystal at the bottom of the steps ok?" Phoebe looked so concentrated on her potion. They were in the attic at the manor. "Also, bring me some o the powdered toad from the kitchen!" Phoebe yelled out. She hadn't taken her eyes off the potion. Piper could see the pain in her eyes, it was so evident.
Suddenly the view changed and there was the littlest Halliwell standing near the bottom of the stairs placing crystals. Paige's heart felt like it was snapping in two. She could feel a lump in her throat as she watched.
Penny went into the kitchen, she stood completely still for a moment, as if she was frozen in time. The demon of illusion appeared behind her.
Piper almost gasped out loud, she knew Penny couldn't hear them but her heart raced, "Are we about to watch her die?" Piper closed one eye for a brief second.
Penny did not appear to see the demon, she stood at the counter gathering supplies and the demon laid his hands over her skull. You're never going to find them. He said over her. Penny just stood there, her eyes did not move, she seemed to be in a trance. If you go to the underworld you will die.
Penny's hands froze and she stopped gathering supplies. There were footsteps and Phoebe appeared in the kitchen.
Penny did not budge or look up, "P? What are you doing? I've been calling you," Penny blinked several times before finally looking over at Phoebe who had already ran around the counter to her side.
"Are you ok? What's wrong?" Phoebe grabbed her and pulled her close. "Well, I know what's wrong, but talk to me." She continued. "I just got scared, we could die in the underworld, " Penny said.
Piper closed her eyes to keep any tears from coming out. "We're going to find them, it'll be ok," Phoebe shut her eyes too as if she was emulating the same emotion as Piper. She kept repeating that that would find them, but this time she was trying to keep herself convinced. She sighed just before the hologram went black.
The demons erupted in cheers. It worked! The connection worked.
Prue could feel the anger rising inside of her. She knew what they were going to to do. they were going to torture their baby sister right in front of them and she could not stand the thought of not being able to protect her.
They had to get out of here, now...