From the beginning Pattie knew it would reach this point.
She and Prue had spoken not a word the entire ride home. Instead, Pattie pulled her feet up to her chest on the seat of the car, wrapped her arms around her body and slipped out into a state of half-consciousness. She didn't realize that tears were still dripping down the sides of her face, or that she was whimpering audibly. Prue counted the times she heard a small whine, she'd hit about fifteen now, and with each instance she wanted to reach over and try to console her, but she knew from experience there was no consolation.
At first Pattie had denied what Prue had heard, but there was a glazed over gaze of terror in her eyes as she came up with alternate phrases to what she'd actually said. It shocked her, but after one big truth, Pattie had shut down, she'd provide no further explanation.
Dying young, that was what this family was good at.
Not sure whether or not she was exactly scared, Prue drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. If anything, her fears rested more on her daughter's future than her own. It wasn't the thought of dying, it was the thought of leaving such a great life and beautiful daughter behind before any of them were ready.
There wasn't much else to be done now except wait for Pattie to come to terms with her future. Piper still had to know, but from what Pattie told her, Phoebe had already unexpectedly come to know of the truth.
Prue, seeing no other options seeing as they were caught in traffic on the other side of town, gave it a shot as breaking through Pattie's thick exterior. "I don't know if you remember, but after your father died you didn't talk for two whole months." Pattie didn't stir from her spot. "All three of us were so scared we were never going to hear your precious voice again. Grams told us not to worry, that you were just trying to manage the situation as best you could and when you could trust someone besides yourself again that you'd let yourself have contact with the world," she continued, looking over, seeing no effect. Prue kept pushing. "Then one day, out of no where, you just came downstairs, jumped into my arms and told me how much you loved me." Pattie remembered this. They'd just vanquished the warlocks from the strange painting and she'd been hiding upstairs watching, but when the day had been saved, she'd drawn Prue a colorful crayon picture and presented it to her happily. "I could never quite calculate what brought you back from where you'd hidden yourself, but whatever it was I'm glad you came back to us."
For a minute nothing happened, but when traffic finally eased and Prue put her eyes back on the road she felt a hand on hers. Turning back, she saw Pattie watching her, one hand outstretched and covering the one Prue didn't have on the wheel. Still there were no words, but there had been progress.
Prue smiled, "You always come back to us don't you? Even if it's from 2008, you come back."
But what if why I really came back is to save something, Pattie thought, that can't be saved?
When they returned home, Leo met Prue outside at the car. She swung open the car door and slammed it shut, sighing with relief when her brother-in-law appeared. "Piper knows," he mumbled solemnly. When Prue went to respond, Leo cut her off. "Don't be mad at Phoebe, she knew when she got home that if you met Pattie at the graveyard there would be no hiding the truth from you. I'm glad we know now."
Prue tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear. "Where's my daughter from this time? My little girl."
"Emily's mother came and picked her up about 10 minutes after you left."
She exhaled again, calmed. At least one part of her daughter wouldn't be around to witness the breakdown she was sure would come eventually. Glancing back to the passenger seat, she replied softly, "She shut down, Leo. I can't get through to her. I don't think she'll even move to go inside."
Leo promised Prue he'd get his niece inside and then dismissed her to go see her sisters, they needed it. When she finally agreed, so worrisome to leave Pattie, he carefully approached the passenger side, opened the door, and knelt down by Pattie. She said nothing, and did not move besides possibly clutching her knees tighter. "Pattie," he whispered gently, "I know you don't want to see your family right now. I can get you inside and you can be alone, if you want," he offered, hoping something would happen. When there was again no response, Leo put in a last effort. She was being orbed inside no matter what, but if Pattie would cooperate it'd be better for everyone. "You trust me, don't you?"
Finally there was success. She moved long enough to collapse into his willing arms and Leo grabbed her, blue and white sparkling lights sweeping them both away.
They reappeared in the bright pink bedroom. Even in the dark it was still notable, the vibrant color.
Soft, fluffy pillows were waiting for Pattie to drop her head onto. There wasn't a single tear, no sound, but she wrapped her arms around one of a dozen stuffed animals, burying her face into it. Pattie was tired of crying, it wasn't getting her anywhere anyway, especially not home. "You're brave for coming back here," Leo told her, "no matter what the circumstances were." He took a minute, sitting and stroking her hair, wondering what other secrets were cooped up inside her head. Then, he stood and walked towards the doorway. "We'll give you some time, okay?"
Just like that he was gone too. Pattie rolled over and stared at the ceiling and the glow in the dark stars paste-ed to it. She traced them with her eyes, remembering what she'd told Phoebe earlier this evening. One by one she made a confession, entrusting her deepest secrets in the plastic stars beaming back down at her.
Aunt Phoebe doesn't know that she won't love Cole for forever.
Aunt Piper and Uncle Leo don't know that they have three beautiful children at home.
How will I tell them about Aunt Paige?
Can I tell them about Aunt Paige?
I'm not sure I want to go home.
She rethought that last statement. Either way, staying here or not Pattie realized soon there wouldn't be a mother to obsess over. She'd be gone in this time too. As far as she knew, telling Prue about her death wouldn't directly affect her future if she didn't reveal more information.
It was strange for Pattie to be back in the bedroom she'd loved as a child, teeming with stuffed animals, a lava lamp, old CD's, innocent things. Pattie could barely believe she still had the same room in her own time with all the change it was witnessed in recent years.
Considering all her options, Pattie speculated about the possibility of giving every bit of information away. Would that mean that things unfolded differently in the end? Would Prue still die? If she halted her mother's demise once it didn't ensure that death would be back, because destiny always won. How much was she willing to screw up her own future? How much had she screwed it up already by coming here?
Maybe there's an explanation, Pattie reasoned. But she couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that the elders or magic would have sent her back to stop a death, especially when it changed the course of magic entirely. It didn't seem logical.
Nothing seemed logical.
Pattie had soon exhausted herself from thinking and before she realized it, she was fast asleep. In fact, she'd drifted off so quickly she didn't recognize it when Prue quietly peered into the bedroom and then draped a spare blanket over her. The darkness concealed the red eyes and tear-stained cheeks Prue had as she sat with Pattie for seconds that became minutes that became hours. All the while she studied the features, the shape of her face and thin lips, the way she'd smiled earlier and how she, like Prue, tucked her hair behind her ear during nervous moments.
Meanwhile, Pattie's mind was reliving the harshest moment of her existence.
A simple, sunny day at the Halliwell manor was interrupted as evil was attempting to work its magic, with Prue, Piper, Pattie and an innocent in tow. Pattie, nearly eight, was in her mother's grasp, with her arms wrapped around her neck. She never remembered being so scared in her life.
Pattie glanced towards the clock, nearly 6:30, they'd been fighting for their lives all day.
Shax was after this man, and he was after her.
Pattie wasn't particularly pleased with their current innocent. He was a man in his early fifties named Dr. Griffiths, a prominent ER physician who was very skilled in medicine but had an even better ability to not believe people, Pattie saw. He didn't understand what was going on but he would not do what he was told, which Pattie did not like seeing as they were trying to help him.
When he questioned, again, the situation, Prue turned to him and explained as Piper placed her hands on her hips, "Look, I know that this all sounds incredible, but it doesn't make it any less true. Alright, you're a healer, you do good, now either you have saved too many lives or you're about to save a life that they don't want you to save."
He didn't seem to believe her that much, so Pattie added, "They'll want you to stop."
Raising an eyebrow, he curiously asked, "They?"
"Demons," Pattie told him, resting her head on Prue's shoulder.
"Uh, more specifically, Shax. He was The Source's assassin," Prue clarified.
Dr. Griffiths laughed nervously, not able to comprehend a word. He backed up a step or two. "Hold it, I get it. This is a practical joke, right? Do you have a hidden camera here? My second wife put you up to this? Ah, it's just like her," he accused, losing himself in his own ramble.
If made Pattie angrier. "It's true!" she insisted, not having time for this. He was being incorrigible and Pattie, knowing that Shax also had threatened to come after her alone next, wasn't in the mood to explain the existence of magic, even though Prue had assured her she would be safe from the demon. Prue had bet her life on it.
Her life.
"Make him listen, mommy," she begged.
Prue tried to do just that, "Oh, oh, okay, Dr. Griffiths, listen to me, this is anything but..." she stopped mid-sentence. He looked at her, almost with a satisfactory smile that she couldn't explain herself.
Both Piper and Pattie looked at her fretfully, their time was running out. "What?" Piper asked.
Pattie gripped Prue tighter, "Are you okay?"
Slowly, Prue set Pattie down on the ground and shivered. "I don't know, I just felt a chill." She looked at Pattie, who was worried, "I'm okay," she tried to reassure her even though Pattie was smart enough not to buy it. She took a precious moment to give her daughter a hug and again try to soothe her. "I love you, baby," the words echoed through Pattie's ears.
"I love you too, mommy," Pattie replied, not knowing they were the last five words she'd ever say to Prue.
Sensing danger, Prue glanced towards the stairway. "Phoebe?" she called, receiving only silence as her answer. Prue tensed, "Phoebe, are you there?" she yelled again, louder this time in case Phoebe didn't hear her. Still, there was no reply. This was strange.
A terrible tornado ripped through the front doors of the manor and twisted through the front hall. Pattie screamed, "Aunt Phoebe!" but to no avail, she backed up against the wall, pressing her arms over her face.
As the twister threw itself in the direction of Piper and Prue, both turned towards it and the elder sister managed one more scream, "Phoebe, where are you?!" before both were thrown to the ground, the wind knocked out of them. Dr. Griffiths backed up in awe, and Pattie sank down to the floor, cowering back further.
There was a clap of thunder, and the tornado with its mix of lighting stopped swirling to materialize into Shax, who was bigger than Pattie realized with faded blue skin, clothes, and hair. Leaves whisked around him, more lighting, and evil glimmered through his eyes as the wind whipped his long hair in front of his face.
Prue and Piper raised their heads and began to push themselves up slowly, their muscles aching.
He was stronger than any they'd fought before.
"Dear God," Dr. Griffiths said, paralyzed by fear, and Pattie, seeing no other way out, did the only thing she knew how to do. Bracing herself, she moved towards the demon and brought her hand to her mouth, delivering a crisp line of ice towards Shax. It was cyrokinises, the power of her mother's past life. She'd been afraid it wouldn't faze him, even with all the power she harnessed, but it did merely wound him, distracting Shax from Dr. Griffiths.
He turned towards her and she moved towards the doctor, attempting to shield him, giving Prue and Piper more time to regain their strength. Shax seemed pleased, as if she was presenting herself to him on a platter.
But as he was ready to release the energy ball that would kill her in seconds due to her small size, Prue used every ounce of energy in her to get to her feet, leaving Piper behind and running to her daughter. "No!" she screamed, pushing Pattie out of his reach. She fell to the floor behind him and crawled to a small space behind a plant where she was no longer visible. Unfortunately, the events still were observable to her. Pattie watched as Shax released the energy ball that sent Prue flying backwards and right through a solid wall separating the hall and the living room. Her jaw dropped, but she couldn't scream for she feared he'd remember her presence.
The wood crashed and snapped as Prue soared through it and landed on her back in the living room amid a pile of debris, blood leaking from her body at a fast rate as she was rendered unconsciously immediately.
Piper, seeing this, and realizing that Dr. Griffiths was still exposed, pulled herself up and ran towards him at her own expense. He still watched, purely stunned, and before Shax could nail the innocent, he wielded an energy ball Piper's way, hurling her backwards through the remaining part of the wall and demolishing it completely.
She landed with a thud and one last moan, more blood trickling down her face, unconscious.
There was only one left in sight now, but Pattie knew she didn't have the power to save him without being killed herself. The decision was brutal, but she'd already watched her family sacrifice themselves for one man and they needed her now, she wouldn't put herself in the line of fire.
Shax briefly watched Piper land before turning back to Dr. Griffiths and lowering his arm. Leaves and debris were fluttering through the air. Dr. Griffiths asked, fear detectable in his voice, "What are you?"
As the long hair left his face, Shax roared, his head back, "The end."
He bellowed, clenching his teeth and hurling one last energy ball at the doctor. Pattie closed her eyes as it came in contact and sent him over the table and through a stained glass window which faced the backyard. It shattered upon impact and he remained there, hanging half outside the house in between life and death as blood dripped from his ear and other parts of his body.
Glancing around at his three wounded casualties, Shax felt satisfied. Pattie was forgotten, but she still made no sound that might alert Shax that she was within arm's distance of him. She guessed he assumed she had gotten away, and would never find out why he didn't come after her that day.
All was quiet.
Then the horrific winds wrapped themselves around his body from his feet to his head until he was once again a treacherous tornado. Another clap of thunder, striking lighting and he headed out the door he came in through, leaving the manor a wreck in more ways than one.
The glass on the manor doors smashed as it slammed shut.
When Pattie was sure he was gone and not coming back for her demise, she instantly stood and ran over to where she'd seen her mother and aunt thrown. "Mommy!" she cried helplessly, "Aunt Piper!"
Pattie dropped to her knees, hovering over both of them, the sticky blood covering her hands as she did what she'd been taught earlier this week in school for safety week and checked for pulses on both of them. If they don't have one, she remembered, then they're not alive. Thankfully, both pulses were there but Pattie was still scared by how faint both were. They both were breathing, as she listened, but it was labored.
How had this happened?
"Aunt Phoebe!! Uncle Leo!!" she screamed, forgetting that the underworld silenced her calls to them.
There was nothing that Pattie could think to do, no healing spells, no reversals, nothing. "Mommy," she sobbed, taking both Prue and Piper's hands, knowing it couldn't end like this, even though it would for one. So she sat, and then laid her head on Prue's chest, waiting for help to come to her as she watched her mother and aunt die.
One of them for good.
As Pattie's head ran over this nightmare, Prue still sat with her.
"How is it possible that I don't get to watch you grow up?" she whispered quietly, fingering a lock of Pattie's hair. "I need more than seven years. I want to watch you leave for your first date, graduate high school, walk down the aisle at your wedding." Pattie tossed and turned for a minute before settling down again and Prue was afraid she'd woken her daughter up. Thankfully, she hadn't. Neither of them would have known what to say.
Her mind was still warped about the fact that she'd looked right past the obvious signs Pattie had given her. Had she really been so wrapped up in everything else that she missed what was right in front of her?
This was more important than the now-vanquished demon, the shopping list that wasn't done, bills that needed to be paid, and another argument she and Phoebe had been in for a reason Prue could barely remember.
So much more important.
"Your aunts must have been so good to you, weren't they?" she asked. "I mean, just look at what a beautiful young woman you're growing up to be. I'm forever grateful to my sisters."
"Are you?" another voice whispered and Prue looked up to see both Piper and Phoebe watching her. They snuck in the room as well, closing the door gently as Prue took Pattie's hand and caressed it in her own. Phoebe spoke again quietly, "She must have been worn out." Prue nodded.
Piper was still shell-shocked from the information she'd been given, and it was showing. "We have to figure out how this happened so that we can stop it," she decided. "Why would Pattie have come back otherwise?"
"It wasn't something she meant to do," Phoebe clarified, receiving blank stares from both Prue and Piper. "Well, it makes sense, doesn't it? She hid her identity from us, ran away, and then closed up when she gave us a piece of lethal information. Pattie told me it was a spell gone wrong. Maybe she was just trying to deal with the pain of your—," she cut herself off, not able to choke out the words, "—of losing you in her own way, but magic interfered."
Fiddling with her bracelet and unable to unglue her eyes from her niece, Piper laughed. "Magic always interferes." Phoebe rubbed her arm sympathetically, knowing how much Piper always wished for a normal life. "Why would Pattie not want to come back here and save her own mother?"
Prue knew.
"Why else?" she inquired rhetorically. "Because she knows that she can't."
Piper dropped her head, crushed, "Don't say that."
But Prue insisted, "It's true. I met the Angel of Death, I know that when it's someone's time to die there's no stopping it. Pattie must know that too, that's why it hurts her too much to see me again. She knows can't stop what's going to happen."
They were reading Pattie like a book, discovering the feelings that had been hiding in Pattie since she arrived. But not one of the three women in that room knew what would come next.
Phoebe felt tears sting her eyes, "How are we supposed to go on knowing this?"
"I don't know," Prue confessed, bringing her sister into a hug, "But we'll find some way, we'll savor our time if it's all we can do. There must have been some reason this happened the way it did."
"To torture us," Piper replied, raising her voice, "They want to see us suffer!"
"Piper—," Phoebe tried to reply but Piper kept going.
"After all of the work we put into being witches we're going to pay for it with your life Prue! You don't even seem to be worried about it. You're leaving Pattie behind, your destiny, and worse, us! And you don't care, do you?" Piper began to sob heavily in the darkness, as the three sisters embraced and sought comfort in each other. She knew what she'd said was a bit exaggerative, of course her sister cared, but right now anger was easier.
When they finally could manage to calm themselves, Phoebe was the first to pull away. "You know we'll take care of her right?" she asked, reaching over and laying a hand on Pattie's face, it was so hard to believe how much older she was. "We'll fight like hell to protect her, and to avenge your—," she couldn't say it.
"I know that, Phoebe."
"Of course we will," Piper put in, "Pattie will never forget you or the love you gave her."
"And neither will we," Phoebe reminded Prue, who had now laid her head down next to her daughters.
Prue listened to the sound of her breathing, steadily and strongly, and took comfort in it. She simply wanted Pattie to know just that, that she was loved. "The fact that she was able to come back here, that she's got a good head on her shoulders says that to me, guys. I would never doubt that you could raise her well."
Pattie shifted a bit again, moaning and then turned to lie flat on her back. Prue smiled through a few falling tears, watching her child sleep was one of the most innocent things she'd ever encountered.
"Guys," Prue said quietly, "I need some time to think, okay?" She rose from the bed and went for the doorway. "Please keep an eye on her," she begged, being protective and not wanting Pattie alone. "Just in case."
A part of Piper and Phoebe told them to go after her, to offer comfort and make sure this wasn't the moment in time where they'd lose their sister forever, but a voice of reason reminded them that their niece was just as important. Piper and Phoebe leaned on one another, taking notice in the way, when Pattie rolled over again, her arms wrapped around one of the stuffed animals she'd coddled so often as a child. Both giggled softly.
"Can you believe that we raised her by ourselves, without Prue?" Piper queried.
"Barely," Phoebe wrapped her arms around Piper, "I doubt it was easy."
"Children never are," Piper replied and then gestured to Pattie, "but there she is."
"So we must have done something right and not been total failures," Phoebe guessed.
At that moment, Pattie became restless. She'd been rattled by another nightmare and shot up into a sitting position, clearly distressed by whatever she'd been dreaming. Instantly alerted, Piper and Phoebe were at her side. "Aunt Piper, Aunt Phoebe," she cried, frightened.
"Hey honey, you all right?" Piper questioned shakily, Prue always handled any nightmares Pattie had, this was foreign to her. Pattie clung to her.
"The nightmare came back," she mumbled. Phoebe didn't understand, but she tried to anyway.
"Which one?"
"Mom's death," Pattie whimpered sadly. "Where's Aunt Paige?"
It struck them then; Pattie was disoriented and unaware of where she was. She didn't remember the day's events, and that she was back in 2000. She clearly believed she was in her own time, with the people who had a grasp at what was going on. Neither knew what to say or who this Paige person was that Pattie had mentioned.
Phoebe took the ropes in trying to console her. She deflected the comment on Paige and pretended she was enlightened on the situation with Prue's death, like she'd handled this many times before. "Just remember what I said before, okay? It's all over now. Your mom will always love you, you know that right?"
Pattie nodded, it seemed to be working so far.
"Besides, why dream about something bad when there are so many good memories to dream about?" Piper asked. She hoped Prue couldn't hear her crying from a few doors down, if she walked in at the wrong time things could get ugly.
"I can't help it," Pattie replied. "It just happens when I think about her."
Piper strived for a helpful answer. "I guess, sweetie, when you think about that fact that she's gone you get scared and you remember when it happened. So why don't you think about how happy she made you instead? Then you might be able to dream about a happier time."
"Yeah," Pattie sniffled. She hadn't thought of that. "Okay."
"All right," Phoebe said, helping her lie back down but not letting one of her hands go. "Do you want us to stay with you until you fall back asleep?"
Pattie nodded somberly, pulling the blankets to her neck. "I love you both so much."
"We love you too, Pattie," Piper replied, smiling though it was hard.
"Can you tell Aunt Paige I love her too when she gets home?" she asked, already half-asleep and putting herself in more trouble with each word.
Phoebe frowned at Piper, wondering who this person could be that Pattie had mentioned her twice already, she seemed to have a strong influence in her niece's life; Pattie clearly loved her. "Of course we will, sweetie," she replied, rather unsure of herself.
Sure enough, Pattie's unconscious soon took over as she thought about Prue's love and how big it had been for her. Moment of joy flashed before her eyes. The time when she'd first spoken after Andy's death that Prue had mentioned earlier, running into her mother's arms after her first play, Prue reading her a story as Pattie snuggled in her arms, and finally the day she learned to ride her bike.
"I'm never gonna do it," six-year-old Pattie whined to Prue. They were on one of the sidewalks at Golden Gate Park and she fiercely gripped the handles of her two-wheeler bike which was pink with a basket and streamers flooding out of the handlebars. Already she'd fallen off the bike four times without injury and they'd been out there for over two hours but Pattie had begged to learn and Prue was determined to teach her.
Prue helped her back on the bike, "Not with that attitude you won't."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, my dear, if you think positive, there will be success," Prue explained, steadying Pattie as she put her feet on the pedals shakily. "You just need the right motivation." She squeezed Pattie's shoulders and the little girl giggled, curious to what her mother had up her sleeve. "Just start pedaling, okay?" Pattie did, slowly, with Prue holding on to her. Prue looked around and when she saw that the area of the park they were in was barren, she spoke, still keeping her voice down. "All right, well you see that demon over there?" Prue asked, pointing to an area of air.
Pattie didn't catch on. "No," she shook her head.
"Well, that's because he's not really there."
"Mommy—" Pattie chuckled.
"But if he was," Prue interrupted, "he has me captured. You are all alone and can only vanquish him by running him over with a bike; I think you would be able to huh?" Pattie stared at her, still pedaling. "Just keep your eyes ahead of you and think about staying up so you can get to that demon and save me, okay? Don't think about the wheels, just keep pedaling. Don't stop."
Pattie set her eyes on the imaginary demon and pretended she was the hero out to rescue her mom. Before she knew it Prue had let her go and she was pedaling freely.
"That's it!" Prue announced.
"I'm doing it!" Pattie cheered, once she realized she was on her own.
"I'm so proud of you," Prue said once she caught up with Pattie, who put her foot down to steady herself.
"Mommy! I caught the demon!" she cried happily, giving Prue a hug.
Thankfully no one was around to hear so Prue let it go. She returned her little girl's hug, cherishing the moment. "I knew you could. Come on, I hear two ice cream cones calling our names to celebrate."
"I hear them too," Pattie told her. Then she jumped back on her bike. "Race ya!" she giggled, and took off.
"Oh no you don't, missy!" Prue called after her, smiling even as she took off into a run to catch up with her daughter.
Piper and Phoebe still sat on the edge of Pattie's bed as she slept, a smile inching it's way across her face. "We did it," Phoebe exclaimed quietly. "What you said, it helped. We dealt with something on our own."
"There's a first for everything," Piper sighed. "Come on," she said, getting up. "Let's go see Prue."
"Should we tell her about Paige?" Phoebe asked nervously.
"No," Piper replied leading them towards the door. "Let's leave that for another day."
Out the door they headed, leaving behind the child that had changed their lives, sleeping peacefully for the first time in awhile. She continued to smile through her dreams, free of nightmares.
One tragedy down, another to come, but they'd get through it.
One step at a time.
Wow, I never guessed I'd become so engrossed in this story. I actually had a lot more planned for this chapter but I felt this was enough so I'm splitting one chapter into two, I hope I'll have the next up tomorrow but if not it'll be up soon. The scene with Prue's death was taken right from the show to make it more real, I just broke it into detail and tweaked a little bit to add Pattie, of course. Endless thanks to PirateQueen716 for getting me through writer's block. I know where I'm going with the story now down to the last line, so keep up your reviews. I love hearing opinions, can you get me up to 45 reviews? Did you like this chapter? Thanks for supporting me guys, you make this so easy to write!
-Megan