C3 Battlefield

Phoebe woke up slightly hangover. She thought when she woke up she would find it had been all bad dream but she knew her whole world had been turned upside down. Still in her pink pajamas, she walked into the kitchen and Piper immediately picked up on her determined attitude.

"Phoebe." She said, handing her a mug of coffee, "Just forget it. Worrying about the demon that looked like Shax is not going to fix P3 or bring our sister back."

Phoebe felt cold and the coffee down her throat wasn't warming her up.

"I miss Prue every single day." Her voice broke with emotion. "It's the kind of pain that never really heals. I need to kill that demon to stop it from killing innocent people. Even if it's not Shax it will bring closure."

"And the only way to that is to be a witch again." said Piper.

"Yes." Phoebe hated how her words were hurting her sister, and Leo, next to her on the bench, too emotional to speak. "It's who we are. You have to admit that this year's been hard without them."

Leo spoke up finally. "Yes, it has been hard." He admitted. "But we learn to deal."

"Why all this now?" Piper felt like crying.

"I think last night was a major wake up call." Phoebe said, standing up, her eyes blazing with passion. "Piper, I need you to understand. It's like how you were just after Prue died. You gave up but then realized it was wrong."

Ten minutes later, Paige felt like she was stepping inside a battlefield. Her eyes glanced at Phoebe, then back to Piper and then back at Phoebe again.

"You're being selfish." She announced.

"How?" Phoebe demanded.

"Powers aren't some sort of yo-yo. You can't just reject them one moment and want them back the next.."

"We didn't have a choice!" Phoebe hissed. "How long until magic kills another sister?" She turned to Piper, big chocolate brown eyes pleading.

"Magic only comes to those who look for it." argued Piper. "There's no way we can get our powers back, and I don't want them."

Leo hesitated. "Well actually..."

Piper looked at him, shocked and slightly betrayed.

"The Elders gave me a secret potion." Leo explained. "But they didn't believe you would ever want to redeem your powers once you got used to a mortal life."

Phoebe snorted. "We need that potion. Now."

"Leo do you want to break up this family!" exclaimed Piper hysterically. "Is this baby going to be born into a world, just like his brothers, one full of fear and danger?"

Leo turned his remorseful eyes to Phoebe.

"I'm sorry, Phoebes." He said sadly.

Phoebe cried softly that night. She believed that the witch part in her and her sisters would never go away, neither the feeling of injustice, knowing her sister's murderer was still on the loose. Suddenly she was startled by the door opening.

"Hey," Leo said gently. "Follow me."

The attic was once alive with magical activity but was now a lifeless storage space. Leo pulled out the second draw of an old rusty red cupboard. Underneath old documents was a small glass flask with a mysterious liquid.

"I didn't think I'd be needing this." said Leo light-heartedly but he was secretly shaking in the dark.

Phoebe stood in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked.

"I'm doing what's best for my family. When we made the decision I said I would be with you guys 100 whatever direction you took. And I still am."

Phoebe hesitated, a light breeze blowing her untidy long hair into her eyes.

"Would Prue have wanted me to do this?" Leo felt like his vision was no longer hazy. Everything was in the right place.

"I think so." He took her hand as she poured the potion into two paper cups.

She left half for her sisters and nephews, just in case. They swallowed it down together.

"Leo."

He turned to face her, his head creased in worry.

"She's wrong. You're not breaking up this family. You're helping to put it back together. This is right."

He nodded, unconvinced.