Dean watched Addie's retreating back until it disappeared from view. Then he sighed and looked at Sam.
"That friend of yours...she's somethin', Sammy. Sure snaps back fast." He kept gazing at Sam, who remained still. Dean looked away, stood up, and started wandering around the room slowly. He went to the podium holding the famous Book of Shadows and flipped through a few pages. "'To Call a Lost Witch Spell,' 'Awakening Spell,' 'Clean-Up Spell...'" he murmured. "Sounds like these chicks have it made. They got magic to do everything for them. Even to fight for them." He looked back over at Sam. "Too bad we found out this late in the game, huh? Nothing would be wrong if we'd known about Addie. You could've told her your dream about Jess, and we wouldn't be here right now. Dad might still be alive. Hell, maybe even Mom. I mean, they're witches. I'll bet they've got the power to go back in time, to make everything right." He glanced at the door. "But..." He looked down at the Book, then back at his brother, a hard look in his eyes. "If they can't fix this...if they can't bring you back...I swear to God that I will. No matter what it takes." He sighed heavily. "I didn't do my job. I screwed up. I let you down." He laughed slightly, humorlessly. "Bet Dad would be pissed. He wouldn't have given up like Bobby, he would've chewed me out until I got my ass up and did something." Dean paused, glaring down at the Book and holding back tears. "I'm sorry, Sam. I'm sorry."
Addie, meanwhile, had similar emotions. She stopped in the second-floor hallway and took a deep steadying breath. Then she made her way to Piper and Leo's bedroom. Piper was standing in front of her full-length mirror in a simple black cocktail dress with spaghetti straps. Her hair was in a bridesmaid's ponytail and she wore a diamond necklace and was in the process of putting on matching earrings.
Addie knocked lightly on the open door.
Piper glanced at her. "Oh good, you're here. The boys are already asleep, so it should be pretty quiet."
"Piper."
"Yeah?" asked the older witch as she put on her black stilettos.
"I need your help."
Piper looked at Addie, and was alarmed at the look in her eyes. She went over to her without hesitation. "Addie, what happened?"
Suddenly Leo came up from behind Addie and moved to Piper's side. "Hey. What's goin' on?" He wore a light brown leather jacket and a button-up shirt with the top two buttons undone. Addie felt a surge of guilt, knowing she was ruining their plans.
"I don't know," Piper told Leo worriedly. She took hold of Addie's hands. "Addie, sweetie, what's wrong?"
Addie looked at the concern etched in Piper's face, then at Leo, who wore a similar look. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't be bothering you." She turned and walked away, and Leo and Piper followed her.
"I should be able to take care of this myself," Addie continued. She turned to face the couple. "I mean, I'm powerful, I'm strong. I am, aren't I? I'm not weak, I should be able to fix this. I'm not weak."
Leo answered her. "Of course you're not. Sometimes you're stronger than all of us, even Piper."
Then Piper spoke up. "What's this all about? It's been years since I've seen you like this, and that was when we lost Chris." Addie gave her a look that said everything. "Oh no."
"Somebody killed him," Addie said, her voice trembling slightly.
"Killed who?" Piper asked gently.
"S-Sam." Addie emotions were getting stronger, welling up again and again like waves. Suddenly, her vision clouded over and an intense roaring started in her ears. Through the sound she heard Piper say "Sam? Sam from Stanford?" and then she fell to her knees, unable to reconstruct the walls she'd spent years perfecting to keep her emotions under control. She was drowning, being buried. Sam's death had brought everything back, and now it was overwhelming her. Killing her.
"Oh!" Piper cried as she watched Addie fall. She and Leo immediately rushed to the girl's side and knelt down. "Addie! Addie!" Addie continued to stare off into space, seeming not to hear her. "Look at me! Leo?" She looked at her husband, hoping he would know what was happening.
"I think she's having a breakdown. Remember when she stayed in the basement for two months just before Prue died and told us she was 'building walls?' I think the walls have come down."
"Mommy?" Four-year-old Wyatt was standing in the doorway of his bedroom, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "What's wrong with Addie?"
Leo looked at Piper, who replied, "Nothing sweetie. She's fine. Go back to bed." But Wyatt was already walking closer.
"Is she sad? She looks sad. I wanna make her feel better." Little Wyatt put his hand on Addie's head. His hand glowed, and Addie suddenly blinked. She lifted her head and looked at Wyatt, who put his hand down. "Did I make you better?"
Addie was shocked, but managed to reply. "Yeah, bud. I think you did."
At this, Wyatt smiled and gave her a hug before turning and going back into his room. Piper stood up and shut the door after him, and then she turned back to the other two.
"Okay, what was that?" she asked, her shock evident.
"I have no idea," replied Addie. "Leo?"
"I'm—not sure myself. It was obvious you were having a mental breakdown, so he shouldn't have been able to heal you because it wasn't physical." He thought for a second. "I suppose it could be some special power, a combination of the whitelighter ability to heal and some sort of telepathic power. How do you feel?"
"Almost back to normal. The walls are there again, and they feel stronger, reinforced somehow." She sighed. "I don't get it, but I'm grateful." Leo helped her to her feet. "Now, as I was saying...Sam Winchester, yes, Stanford Sam, is dead. His brother's my new charge; otherwise I might never have known."
"Any idea who killed him?" asked Leo.
"No. Dean, his brother, just said that it was some black soldier. He stabbed Sam and then he ran off, and he took the knife with him. So it's no go for scrying. But I don't even care about that right now, and I'm sure Dean doesn't either. We just want Sam back."
"Where's Dean now?" Piper asked her.
"He's in the attic with Sam's body."
Addie led the way to the attic. At the sound of their footsteps Dean looked up from his perusal of the Book.
"Well, he's not evil. That's good news," said Piper as she entered the room, Leo close behind.
"Evil can't touch the Book," Addie explained to Dean. "Dean, this is Piper Halliwell and her husband Leo Wyatt. Piper, Leo, this is Dean Winchester." The trio sort of nodded towards each other.
"And I'm guessing this would be Sam," Piper murmured sadly, walking over to the couch slowly.
Silence fell on the room, a heavy mournful silence.
Leo went to Sam as well, and then knelt down and looked over the body. "He's so young. He only looks about 24. It happened what, two, three hours ago?" He turned to Dean as he said this, who looked down, crossed his arms, and clenched his jaw. "I'm sorry." He stood up. "Old habit. I was a medic in World War II, and..."
Dean looked slightly confused, so Addie murmured, "Former whitelighter, long story," to him. He didn't look at her. He didn't look at anyone except Sam.
Finally, after a seemingly decade-long silence, Dean spoke. "So, can you guys fix this?"
Leo moved to Piper's side and they looked at each other. "Well," Piper began, "I'm really not sure. I mean, Addie, you remember the last time we tried to bring someone back from the dead."
"Yeah, but we all agreed it was meant to be, to bring you, Phoebe, and Paige together. This isn't the same as it was with Prue. I know it." Piper and Leo seemed unconvinced. Addie started to say something else, but Dean cut her off.
"She's right. And I'm not just saying that because he was my brother." He looked at Addie now. "I don't suppose Sam ever told you how our mom died."
"Yeah, he said she died in a house fire that started in his nursery."
"Is that all?" Addie nodded. "Well, then you don't have the whole story. The fire was caused by a demon. He gave Sam this freaky demonic power to see the future. He was recruiting people for his army, or so I thought, anyway. Now I don't know what's going on, if the soldiers are killing each other." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, after our mom died, our dad, he, uh, went a little nuts. He wanted revenge, so he spent the rest of his life tracking the demon and killing everything else that goes bump in the night that got in his way. You could say me and Sam inherited the family business. Now, it looks as if the apocalypse is on its way, and...there's no way I can stop it without Sam. It's our job, you know? The demon that's behind it all, he owes us. But I can't do it without my brother."
Addie turned from Dean to look at Piper and Leo. "Well?"
Piper looked at her husband, and then back at Addie. "That's good enough for us. But I'm afraid it won't be for the ones we'll be asking for help."
Addie's look of confusion changed to apprehension. "You don't mean...tell me you don't mean..." Leo nodded. "The Elders? Are you kidding me? After everything they've put all of us through, especially you two?"
"Actually, the Elders alone don't have the power to bring back the dead, unless they're whitelighters, so I'm afraid we'll need some extra help..."
