Chapter Thirty:

"Damn it." Was all Chris could say after Prue turned off the radio report detailing the events that had taken place after they had left the capital. "We should have stayed behind. We could have stopped Wyatt from killing that reporter. I should have known that Wyatt would be angry, and with his new power would have nothing to lose. I should have expected him to do something like this. But I didn't and now a man is dead."

Clearly the entire group of witches were disheartened by the turn of events. Despite all of their effort, an innocent life was still lost and Wyatt was in total control of the nation. He had struck fear in the hearts of all Americans. Finding allies to help them challenge Wyatt would be nearly impossible now.

Bianca walked over to Chris, upset just as he was. Not only because they had lost an innocent, but because she hated to see Chris blame himself. "This is not your fault." She told him, looking him square in the eye. "There was no reason to think that Wyatt would give up his good guy image so quickly. Yes it is horrible that a man is dead, but today could have been much worse. Far more people could have died on Wyatt's orders. We saved them. Plus, now the entire world knows who Wyatt truly is. No matter how afraid people may be they will not stand for his rule forever."

Chris nodded. The one good thing that had happened was the public no longer supported Wyatt. The problem was that they obeyed him for fear of what would happen if they didn't. Even with this revelation, congress, and the former president had not made one move to take their power back from the twice blessed king. The people of the nation did not love Wyatt as their ruler, but for now they were obedient.

"Maybe not forever." Chris replied. "But fear is a powerful thing and right now Wyatt has everyone exactly where he wants them. It may be a very long time before the mortal world gets up enough courage to unite against him." As much as she wanted to argue, Bianca knew what Chris was saying made sense. "Well until then us witches will have to fight for them. Fight for their freedom and ours." This made Chris smile. Seeing how love had changed Bianca gave him hope that perhaps anything was possible. Hope however, he insisted on keeping in check. Whenever he started to believe that things might get better, they always seemed to get worse. And that is exactly what would happen once again.

Prue meanwhile, after having turned off the radio retreated into a corner with her boyfriend Sean. He knew how much this all was affecting her. Wyatt was her cousin so in some way she felt responsible for all he did. "You know this is not your fault right?" He asked her, desperate to make her see that she had no blame in what had happened. "Isn't it?" She asked her voice quavering. "I am supposed to be a powerful witch, part heir to the charmed legacy, and I am supposed to have premonitions. Lately though my visions are vague and few. I should have seen what Wyatt was going to do, and we should have been able to stop it." She looked down at the ground as if she was ashamed to show her face after her failure.

Sean was slow to respond. He needed to make Prue see that this tragedy was not her fault, but he was not sure how he could get through. "Prue you are a powerful witch and you have used your powers to save so many innocent lives, But you cannot save everyone. The fact is there is evil in the world, and you are not God, you cannot protect everyone." Prue nodded. "I know I can't save everyone but it is hard when the evil responsible for all this pain is a member of your own family. I can't help but think maybe I failed Wyatt somehow and that is why he is what he is now. When we were young, before Aunt Piper died, Wyatt was always there for me. What did I ever do for him?"

"You loved him." Sean answered. "You loved him like a brother. There was nothing else you could have done. Besides you were only eleven when he changed, too young to help anymore than you did. Besides aren't you and Chris convinced that evil got to him when he was a toddler, before either of you were even born. How can you blame yourself for that." Prue smiled for the first time in awhile. Seeing the love in Sean's eyes always seemed to make everything better. "Okay fine. You win, I will try not to blame myself." Happy with that Sean took his girlfriend into his arms.

Their tight embrace was cut short however when Bridget approached the pair, clearly concerned about something. "Have you two seen Danielle?" She asked. I've been trying to find her, but I haven't seen her since we finished listening to the news report. And well I have a bad feeling, I know my power isn't to see the future, but it is more like an instinct. I'm worried." Prue and Sean were equally concerned now. "We need to find her. Start scrying" Prue said determined, trying to comfort her friend. "I'll try to get a vision." She finished. "I just hope I can." She thought to herself. Now was the worst possible time to be doubting her powers, but unfortunately she was.

After the group had heard the news report, Danielle had quietly went off on her own. She had left the safety of the school to go for a walk needing an escape from everything around her. Wyatt had taken another life. A man who was someone's son, someone's friend, and probably someone's husband or father. Wyatt had again torn lives apart. And again she had been powerless to stop it. Good witches were meant to protect the innocent and she had failed. Just as she had when Brian was killed.

She walked and walked for quite awhile, not consciously realizing just where she was headed, until finally she found herself looking upon the Halliwell Manor. It was a safe bet that Wyatt was inside and her instincts told her that he was.

Danielle was almost surprised to find herself there. It was not as if she had planned on confronting Wyatt, when she had left the others at the school. Somehow though she had ended up there, and now there was no turning back. She needed to face the man who had killed the love of her life, and that was exactly what she was going to do.