Chapter Fifteen:

Back at P3 Chris and company were having little success with finding Prue. Scrying was useless, the spell to call a lost witch had not worked, and they were yet to come up with anymore ideas."Damn it" Chris was frustrated. "There has to be something we haven't thought of." Brian looked up having an idea, "What if we asked someone who knows a hell a lot about magic for some advice." The others were confused by what he meant, except Chris, who knew exactly what he was suggesting. "It won't work. I have tried so many times, and nothing has happened." Chris told Brian, not wanting to try again for fear of disappointment. "But you haven't tried in a while have you?" Brian pursued, not wanting to give up on his plan. "No but… up till now the 'powers' have not let me see them, any of them."

"We can still try though. I mean do you have any other ideas because I am all ears." Brian could see that Chris was beginning to consider it. Bridget however interrupted the close exchange. "What is this plan, you don't know will work or not? Am I the only clueless one here?" Chris answered Bridget in a rather serious tone. "Your brother thinks, we should summon the charmed ones. My mom, aunts." "Oh" Bridget answered understanding now why the exchange had been so intense. Prue had told her that she had tried several times to summon her mother but it hadn't worked.

"So are we going to do it or not" Brian pressed. "I guess we should try." Chris decided hesitantly. "If there is any way to get around Wyatt's magic and find Prue they will know how. Even if there is only a small chance they will come, we have to take it." "Okay then." Bridget said. "I'll go get some candles." Chris took a deep breath. After his mother died he had tried so many time to summon her, but to no avail, and after Phoebe passed Prue had done the same thing, and had the same result. "Maybe it will be different this time" Chris thought. "It has to be."

After they had the candles placed in the circle it was time. "We should probably all chant together. Maybe with the extra power it will work." Chris said hopefully, and so they all joined hands to say the spell:

Hear these words, hear the rhyme

Spirits from the other side

Come to me I summon thee

Cross now the great divide.

To Chris' amazement white lights appeared in the center of the circle, "It's working" he said out loud. Once the lights fully formed, Chris was awed by what he saw. He recognized her from the few memories he had as well as the many photographs he had seen. "Aunt Paige?" He asked finally speaking up. "Yes Chris" she said "it's me." The rest of the group looked on thankful that the spell had indeed brought one of the charmed ones.

After the intensity of the moment began to wear off Paige stepped out of the circle, becoming corporeal. She hesitantly gave her nephew a hug. Since she had died she had watched her family from above but she had yet to be allowed back down until now. "Your mom and Phoebe really wanted to come to but the rules… just say it is too soon, sorry." Although Chris had been hoping to see his mom, he was very happy that his Aunt had come. "It's okay." he told her. "Honestly I didn't expect anyone to come." "Well I am glad I can be of some help. What is it you need exactly."

"Well…" Chris started. "Wyatt has kidnapped Prue, and we have been unable to find her. I can't sense her, scrying isn't working, we tried the spell to call a lost witch, but nothing. We were hoping that you might have some ideas." "Well it is pretty obvious that Wyatt has her magically cloaked, but there has to be a way around it, even someone as powerful as Wyatt overlooks something." "I hope you are right." Bridget said cutting in to the conversation. She was just desperate to find her friend.

"Oh " Chris said realizing that he had not made any introductions. "This is Bridget and Brian Harley, close friends of Prue and I, and that is Sean, Morris you knew him, at least when he was little." "Nice to meet you" Paige said smiling at them all. "Not to be rude, but I was told I would not have much time here so let me see what I can come up with." The youngest charmed one sat down to think of all the predicaments she and her sisters had been through, hoping to remember something of use. It felt so odd to her, being back, she felt alive again, and saddened by the fact that she had not been their for her niece and nephews as they had grown up. She couldn't help but think that if she had been around longer things could have been different.

Finally several ideas began popping into her head. "One time me and Phoebe tweaked the lost witch spell when your mother turned into a fury. We replaced sister for witch, so maybe you could try to call a lost cousin spell. Perhaps Wyatt has not protected against our strong family connection. There is also a spell to get into someone else's mind when they are unconscious or sleeping. If you can get the timing right you may be able to get into Prue's dreams and talk to her, maybe she knows where she is." Paige paused to think if she could come up with anything else.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Leo orbed in stunned to see his sister-in-law. "Leo" Paige exclaimed surprised to see him. Paige knew ever since Leo became an elder he spent most of his time "up there." The two gave each other a warm embrace. "They summoned me hoping I could help with Prue." she told him. "Good" he said knowing that if anyone could come up with an idea at this point it was a charmed one. After the brief exchange Paige got right back to business. She was desperate to help her family.

"You could lure a demon to you, trap him in a crystal cage and torture him until he gives you information… that doesn't always work that well though." Chris could now remember stories his mom had told him about how Paige had tried such techniques with demons many times, and he laughed at the memories. His Aunt smiled at him, so proud of the man her youngest nephew had become. She then quickly refocused, racking her brain to come up with some more ideas that could be of help. "If Prue has cast any lost and found spells on her things, wearing them will bring you to her. Grams had done that to her stuff and it ended up bringing me back in time, it was just a huge mess."

Chris tried to think if Prue had ever done such a thing, but nothing was coming to him. "You could try scrying for witches with the power of premonition, maybe they can get a vision off of some of Prue's things." Paige was running out of ideas and she could feel herself being pulled back to the heavens. "No" she thought to herself, "Not yet." Paige simply did not want to go, she wanted to be able to spend some time with her family, but she simply had no choice. She could only hope that one of her suggestions would work.

"I'm sorry." she said. "But my time is up… I hope I was able to help." Chris was disappointed that they were taking her back so soon, he was hoping he would have more time to spend with his aunt, get to know her. Nevertheless he was so thankful she had been able to come at all. "Thanks Aunt Paige." He told her, flashing a smile her way, "You have helped more than you know." She smiled back as they gave each other one last embrace before she was surrounded by a swirl of white lights. "Blessed be" she said before totally fading away.

"Okay" Chris said, trying to not feel so overwhelmed. "You were right Bri, she did mange to come up with some good ideas." He took a deep breath before continuing, "So… let's get to them." They all agreed, it was good to have some form of a plan. "I am going to orb to the apartment, and get some things that have always been very important to Prue, maybe she has cast lost and found spells and I just don't know about them. You all stay here, try and scry for witches with the power of premonition, and get the candles ready for the lost cousin spell. Maybe something will work." After dishing out the assignments Chris orbed out to the apartment, still clearly affected after having seen his Aunt for the first time in nearly fourteen years.

Back in the underworld Prue was still where Wyatt had left her. She was beginning to feel absolutely exhausted. It had only been one day since Wyatt had taken her, but it seemed like an eternity. She had just been on an emotional roller coaster. First thinking Sean was dead, then feeling relief when Wyatt told her Sean was indeed alive. She had then allowed herself to hope that the cousin she loved could still be reached, but those hopes were quickly crushed.

Now all she was feeling was guilt and helplessness. She knew the way her family and friends must have been worrying and she knew she only had herself to blame for falling prey to Wyatt. Even worse she knew what Wyatt was planning, how he wanted to exchange her for Chris, and she was powerless to do anything. On top of that she had not eaten anything since she had been taken. Not too long ago Wyatt had brought her some dinner, but she refused to take it, thinking maybe a hunger strike would force him to free her. After all, he would not be able to take Chris if she was no longer around to exchange. She did not really believe it would work, but she was desperate enough to try anything.

At this point though, she had regretted rejecting the food. Her energy level was virtually zero, and she was beyond exhausted having not slept since the night before magic was exposed. Her body desperately wanted to give in to the fatigue and drift off to sleep, but she was trying her hardest to stay awake on the off chance that an escape opportunity would present itself. "Stay awake." she kept repeating aloud until her voice was barely a whisper. Inevitably, she lost the battle as she could no longer keep her eyes open, and sleep came.

"Damn it." Chris spat back at P3 after everything that had tried so far had not worked. "We still haven't tried the spell to get into Prue's mind" Leo told him. That very well could work. "Okay" Chris said. "I will be the one to go." He had already written a spell to get into his cousins mind, but they had tried Paige's other ideas first hoping they would work. "Let's just hope she is sleeping, it won't work if she is awake." Leo said. "Right" Chris said before taking a seat on the floor while he cast the spell:

My cousins mind I wish to enter

Bring me now to her center

In her dreams we will meet

So we can pull off a feat.

After chanting the spell, Chris body fell into a slumber signaling the others that the spell had indeed worked. "Well he's in her mind." Leo told the others. "Let's hope he will come out with a way to save her." The others nodded in understanding and agreement.

When Chris materialized inside Prue's dream he found himself in the basement of the manor, but he did not see Prue. He did however hear noises coming from the kitchen, so he climbed the staircase hoping he would find Prue upstairs. When he got to the doorway to the kitchen, he stopped short, seeing his Aunt Phoebe, who could apparently not see him. From his Aunt's appearance, he knew exactly what Prue was dreaming about, she was reliving her mom's death in a nightmare.

Phoebe was in the kitchen attempting to cook some dinner, just the way she was that night. Chris also saw younger versions of himself and Prue sitting in the dining room, where they had been when Wyatt orbed in. Chris would not let him watch the confrontation between his brother and Aunt, as it was bringing up to many feelings. He needed to find present Prue in the nightmare. Scanning the scene he managed to see her out of the corner of his eye watching the scene from the conservatory with tears in her eyes.

As soon as he spotted her, he immediately dashed through the kitchen to the conservatory. At first Prue did not realize Chris was there, she was too entranced watching her mother's death play out. "Prue" she heard Chris speak her name and that finally got her attention. "Chris… what this isn't what happened my nightmares are always the same… so how are you here." She was very confused. "It's me, I cast a spell to get into your mind." "Wait so it is really you, your not part of my dream?" He looked into her eyes trying to reassure her. "Yes it is really me." He gave her a hug to prove that he was real. "Come on." He said motioning into the living room, so they could get away from the scene replaying before them.

Once they were in the living room she began asking him questions. "How did you get here?" "Like I said I cast a spell to get into your head, we couldn't come up with any other ways to get to you. Wyatt has your location cloaked." "Right" she said remembering the predicament she was in. "Do you know where Wyatt is keeping you?" Chris asked her hoping she would say yes. "Not really." she answered. "I know I am in some dark cell, and I can tell it is in the underworld but that is about it." "Okay" Chris said, disappointed but trying not to show it, he didn't want Prue to think the situation was hopeless.

"Has he hurt you because If he has I will make him regret it." Chris asked the concern evident in his voice. "No not physically anyway, he's just using his usual mental torture. And he has told me what he is planning, and I don't care what you say, you cannot let him get away with it." She was determined to convince her cousin that giving himself up was not the right thing to do. "Get away with what?" Chris asked her not sure what she was talking about.

"Wyatt told me that he is going to try and make a deal with you. He'll let me go, if you agree to become his prisoner. He thinks given time you will eventually see his way of things and join him." She paused for a moment seeing that Chris was willing to give Wyatt his way. "You have to promise me that you won't agree. I will not have you taken by Wyatt because I was stupid enough to face him on my own… Promise me!" Chris was hesitant in responding.

"I don't think I can promise that Prue. If there is no other way to save you, I will have to take Wyatt's deal. If I don't he will kill you because you wouldn't be useful to him anymore." "Not necessarily" she answered although she knew that is probably what would happen. "Look I came close to reaching Wyatt so he might not be able to kill me." She was trying desperately to talk Chris out of giving himself up. "What do you mean Prue he is crazy." "I mean I got through to him for a moment. I could see it in his eyes. Plus he told me that Sean was still alive instead of letting me suffer."

Chris was surprised by that, but he still believed that his brother was capable of murdering his cousin. After all he has murdered his Aunt. "Look, even if there is some good left in Wyatt it is buried so deep inside, I don't think it would keep him from hurting you. I simply cannot risk losing you. I am going to take Wyatt's deal. At least we know that he won't kill me, he just wants me on his side.

"No Chris… I won't let you." Prue was becoming hysterical. She had known that Wyatt would have his way, but she had been in denial. "Please" She begged. "Prue I love you, but I will not let you die because of me. We both know that Wyatt only went after you to get to me. I will not let you die just to save myself." She could tell by the look in his eyes that there was no way she would be able to change his mind. "And don't worry about me. Like I said, Wyatt won't kill me, and somehow I will find a way to escape. It will be a lot easier to worry about myself if I know that you are safe." "Fine" Prue said relenting. "But promise me that you will find a way back to us." Chris took his cousin in his arms, "I promise." he told her. "And I love you." "I love you too." she said through her tears, and with that Chris faded from her sight.

She then collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by her tears, when she woke with a start. She was awake again, back in the hell where Wyatt was keeping her and Chris was gone. She could do nothing but continue to cry.