Charmed: Another Halliwell

by Brenna's Urbangirl Projects

Summary: Buffy Summers is the daughter of Joyce and Hank Summers. Joyce was born Patience Joyce Halliwell she was Prue, Piper and Phoebe's aunt. When Joyce dies Buffy is left in the care of her cousins. Pairings: Prue, Piper, and Phoebe (and later Paige) canon pairings. Buffy/Dawn (Yes, Forbidden Sibling Love). A/U Set during and after Charmed Season 1 and Buffy season 1.

41. Chapter 41: I Only Have Eyes For You

Chapter 41: I Only Have Eyes For You

March 26, 1998 – Thursday

P4

Buffy sat in the owner's alcove trying to enjoy the scene before her. Xander and Cordelia were dancing to whatever band Piper had hired while Willow was there alone as Oz had gone out of town. She was so caught up that she didn't notice a guy come up to her.

"Hey."

Buffy turned to face him, surprise evident on her features.

"I'm Ben. We had Algebra II together last year." the guy explained

"Sorry, I pretty much repress anything math-related." Buffy joked

"Ms. Jackson? Second period? You sat in the seat three over and one behind."

'Nope, no clue!' Buffy thought. "Oh! Yeah, I remember now, it's the one with the desks and the chalkboards and pencils and stuff, right?"

"That's the one." Ben chuckled.

"Like a steel trap." Buffy grinned.

"So, I was wondering, you know the dance Friday night? Are you going?" he asked.

"You mean the Sadie Hawkins thing?" she wondered. "The deal where the girls ask the boys?"

Ben nodded. "Yeah. And I thought maybe, you know, if you're free, you might ask me."

Buffy sighed. While Coop had helped her to move past Angel's turning. She was still not ready to date. "Oh, gosh...I..."

"Oh, oh, hey, hey, no, don't, don't worry about it..." Ben looked crushed

"It's not you. You seem great," Buffy told him. "It's just well, I went through a really bad a little while back. I'm not really looking at going out with anyone right now. Too tell the truth I'm not even sure I'm going to the dance."

"Oh. That's too bad. I'm sorry to hear that," he said apologetically.

Buffy smiled, "That's nice of you to say."

"No problem," Ben replied as he gave her a smile.

Buffy decided to swing by the library and see if Giles wanted her to patrol. She grabbed her purse as she stood up.

Willow caught up with her on the way toward the bar. "Hey! You're bailing?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied. "I'm going to see if Giles wants me to patrol then sack it."

"You've been doing that a lot since…" Willow started.

"Well I can't risk Angelus killing someone because of me," Buffy admitted.

"Given everything that's happened in the last couple months, you need a night off, Buffy," Willow told her friend. "And that guy would…"

"While Coop helped me get over Angel," Buffy explained. "I'm... just not in date-mode right now."

"But maybe you need to date to get in date mode," Willow suggested.

"I'm taking a break, Will. When we've dealt with Angelus, I will look at it then. Right now witch, Whitelighter and Slayer duties along with normal family obligations take precedent," Buffy told her.

"Okay," Willow admitted knowing when to back off. "See you in the morning."

"You too," Buffy said as she gave her friend a one-armed hug. She then walked up to the bar. "Hey, Piper."

Piper turned at the sound of Buffy's voice toward her little sister. "Hey what's up, sis?" she questioned.

Buffy smiled. It had only been a couple weeks since she and Piper had embraced their new relationship dynamic. She had even learned from the Elders that she and Piper had been sisters in several lifetimes up to the curse. She was happy that she had finally reconnected with the person who had been her sister for so long. "I'm going to see if Giles wants me to patrol tonight," she told Piper. "You up for going with?"

"Sure let me get my stuff," Piper said as she smiled at Buffy. She turned toward Leo. "Hey, Leo."

Leo walked over and smiled at Buffy. "Hey, Buffy." He leaned across the bar and kissed his daughter on the cheek. He then turned toward Piper. "Yeah, Piper?"

"Buffy wants to see if Giles wants her to patrol. So I'm going with just in case. Would you lock up," Piper explained.

"Of course," he agreed.

Piper grabbed her purse from under the bar and they headed toward the office where they could flame out unnoticed. "So, I saw you talking to a boy in there," she said.

"Piper!" Buffy groaned.

"It's what sisters do Buffy," Piper said as she smiled at the younger woman. "And since we have this whole new relationship between the two of us. Well…

"Yeah I talked to him," Buffy acknowledged. "He wanted to see if I was going to the Sadie Hawkins dance, you know the thing where the girls ask the boys. Anyways you know I'm ready to love, have been since we helped Coop. I just don't know if I'm ready to date. Besides I don't think I'm going to the dance anyways."

"If your sure," Piper said with a meaningful glance.

"I'm sure," Buffy said as they walked into the office. She took Piper's hand and they disappeared in swirling bright flames.

Gateway High School

Buffy and Piper appeared in the midst of a grove of trees, Buffy's preferred spot when flaming to or from school for any reason because it hid her from prying eyes. They walked toward a door Giles always made sure would be unlocked for Buffy to ensure she could get in if needed.

Inside a teenage couple rounded a corner in the dark hallway. "Come back here! We're not finished!" he said as he grabbed her arm, stopping her. "You don't care anymore? Is that it?"

"It doesn't matter," she said. "It doesn't matter what I feel—"

"Then tell me you don't love me," he said. When she didn't answer he shook her hard. "Say it!"

"Will that help?" she cried. "Is that what you have to hear? I don't," she lied. "I don't. Now let me go!" She struggled to break his grasp, but he held on.

"No..." he said obviously not believing her lie. "A person doesn't just wake up one day and stop loving somebody." He raised a gun and pointed at her. "Love is forever." The girl struggled in his grasp as he held the gun closer to her, shaking with emotion. "I'm not afraid to use it. I swear. If I can't be with you—"

"Oh my God—" the girl sobbed as Buffy and Piper came around the corner. She managed to shove him away and turned and ran toward the door that led to the upstairs balcony. "No! Please!"

The boy scrambled after her, raising the gun as if he was prepared to shoot. "Don't walk away from me, bitch!"

Buffy and Piper looked at each other. As Piper ran at him Buffy held out her hand. "Gun!" Buffy called out as the gun disappeared in a swirl of flames. She flung out her hand and it flames out several feet away from her and the couple.

"Leave her alone!" Piper yelled as a janitor came around a corner. She grabbed the boy and they struggled before she wrestled him to the ground as the janitor moved toward the crying girl.

The boy blinked as he began to freak out. "It's... What happened?"

"What happened?" Piper echoed looking at Buffy. Why would he be asking what

"You went OJ on your girlfriend!" Buffy told him.

The boy was obviously confused. "This is nuts... I don't know why I—I got so mad..."

"Because you're a jerk?" Buffy asked.

"He's not," the girl said clearly freaked out. "We weren't even fighting a few minutes ago."

"We weren't. I swear to God..." he agreed.

"If you weren't fighting—why did you have a gun?" Piper questioned looking between the couple.

The boy shrugged. "I don't know. I—I don't even know where I got it."

The janitor scanned the floor for the gun. He shrugged when he didn't see it. "I don't see any gun."

Piper and Buffy spun around looking around for the gun.

March 27, 1998 – Friday

415 Magazine

Prue picked at her cuticles nervously as Mr. Corso, the head photographer, flipped through her portfolio. She stopped and shifted in her seat so that she could see his face. Unfortunately, his expression was neutral and gave her no hint as to whether he thought they were good pictures or not.

"Everything is shot in digital now, you know," Mr. Corso pointed out.

Prue gave the faintest of nods, more glad that he had broken the silence by saying something than worried about how technology had changed since she last pursued photography seriously. "Yeah, I'm equipped," she assured him.

Mr. Corso did not answer but paused on one of her shots. "Nice stuff. Oh, I like this one. What lens did you use?" he asked.

"24f8," Prue answered promptly.

"What shutter speed?" Mr. Corso continued.

"125." Prue frowned ever so slightly as another photographer walked up and grabbed Mr. Corso's attention from her. The other photographer, obviously one that worked there showed Mr. Corso a photo.

Mr. Corso glanced over it. "Okay, lose the kicker. Let the shuttle play there," he stated and the other photographer walked off again. He turned back to Prue with a thoughtful expression. "Impressive," Mr. Corso admitted.

Prue allowed a small smile to grace her features. "So does that mean I got the job?"

"Based on your portfolio, yes. Based on your resume, no," Mr. Corso replied while shutting the portfolio. "Took a detour shutter bugging did you?" he guessed.

Prue nodded, having expected that to come up. "Mr. Corso, I've changed careers. I'm not hiding that. But with all due respect, if you like my work that should be enough. I mean, you're hiring me, not my resume," she argued carefully.

Mr. Corso studied her for a moment before he nodded. "You wanna shot?" he asked rhetorically as her answer was written all over her face. He reached over the table to grab a photograph. "Get me a better one of Maggie Murphy. She's gonna be featured in our St. Patty's Day issue…" Mr. Corso handed Prue the photo. "… Something about being the unluckiest woman in San Francisco and she's Irish. Down the hall where they do the writing, they call that irony. Address is on the back. Up until three months ago, she was like a saint. Helping the homeless, volunteering, charity. Then like overnight everything started going bad for her. Real bad," he explained before pointing at Prue's portfolio. "I want what you have in here, Prue. Artistic, soulful, point. I wanna see the inner Maggie in your photograph and I wanna see it by five o'clock today or don't bother coming back."

"Thank you," Prue agreed to the terms. She shook his hand professionally and left to do exactly what he wanted.

Gateway High School

Buffy sat in Principal Snyder's office as Snyder grilled her. "I'm sure you know why I asked you here," he said.

"To thank me and Piper?" she asked hopeful.

"That's right," Snyder said. "I want to thank you both. What would Gateway High do without you or cousins around to incite mayhem, chaos and disorder?"

"What?" Buffy said shocked. "We didn't incite! We stopped that boy from killing his girlfriend. I mean - ask them. Ask the janitor."

"People can be coerced, Halliwell," Snyder said. "I'm no stranger to conspiracy. I saw JFK."

"You do know what Piper told Principal Flutie when I was enrolled? Right? We do have an attorney for those kinds of accusations," Buffy said with a glare at the principal.

"I'm a truth seeker," Snyder went on, dismissing Buffy's threat. "I've got a missing gun and two confused kids on my hands. Pieces of a puzzle. I'm going to look at all those pieces carefully and rationally. And I'm going to keep looking until I figure out exactly how this is all your fault."

It was at that moment that the intercom on his desk buzzed. "Mr. Snyder? Billy Crandle chained himself to the snack machine again."

Snyder shook his head, fuming. He started for the door. "Pathetic little no-life vegan," he said as Buffy started to get up. He pushed her back into her chair. "Not so fast, Missy. I'm not done with you yet. You stink of lies."

Unseen by Buffy, one of the yearbooks on the shelf behind her was drawn out by an invisible force and fell to the floor with a thud. Startled she got up and picked up the yearbook. She looked at the cover that said it was for the year 1955.

Maggie's Apartment

Maggie nervously ignored the 'authorized personnel only' sign and pushed the door to the roof open. Very slowly she stepped out from the safety of the stairwell and approached the edge of the building. She shook with silent sobs as she glanced over the edge at the hard concrete multiple stories below. Maggie wiped at her eyes and a darklighter orbed in next to her although she didn't seem to see him. "What am I doing? This isn't me…" Maggie whispered to herself.

The darklighter stepped up next to her. "Yes, it is. It's all my fault. The car accident, the fire, my brother's death. I hurt the ones I love," the Darklighter stated, carefully projecting the thoughts into her mind.

"I hurt the ones I love," Maggie agreed aloud.

"I have to stop it," the Darklighter continued.

Maggie nodded as another sob shook her body. "Has to stop. I don't deserve to live."

"This is who I really am. Cursed." The Darklighter smiled in satisfaction as Maggie fell for his ruse.

"I'm cursed," she repeated. She ignored the growing crowd on the street below her and climbed up on the edge of the building. The Darklighter nodded and disappeared in black orbs.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Prue pulled up outside Maggie's apartment building and got out of her car. She narrowed her eyes at the crowd which was borderline hysterical and pointing up at the roof. Prue followed their direction and noticed Maggie. She hastily looked down at the photograph in her hands. "Maggie?" she realized in horror. "Maggie, no!" she yelled, cutting off abruptly as she astral projected to the roof.

Prue appeared behind Maggie in a bright flash of red. "Maggie?" she called and Maggie spun around as much as she could without falling off the edge. "Just wait, don't," she pleaded.

"Where did you come from? How do you know me?" Maggie demanded.

"It doesn't matter. Just step away from the ledge and take my hand," Prue offered. She carefully stepped forward while holding her hand out for Maggie to take.

Maggie nearly lost her footing as she tried to get away from Prue. "Just stay away from me," she screamed.

"Maggie, please, I can help you," Prue insisted.

"Nobody can help me," Maggie retorted dejectedly.

"Maggie, this isn't the answer." Prue dared to take another step toward her.

Maggie faced her and wiped at her eyes. "All I wanted to do was help people. Now all I do is hurt them," she explained. She jumped at a particularly loud horn being sounded from below and slipped off the edge.

"Maggie!" Prue screeched as she raced forward and grabbed Maggie by the arm before she could fall completely.

Maggie raised her eyes to look at the one keeping her from the death she sought. "Let me go, please," she pleaded.

Prue shook her head stubbornly and tried to reaffirm her grip only to feel Maggie slip. "I can't hold on much longer," she admitted, silently praying that Maggie would use her other hand to grab hold of her slipping grip. She didn't and Prue was suddenly released from Maggie's weight. Prue shut her eyes and astral projected back to her body. "No!" she yelled. She threw her hand out and her telekinesis shoved Maggie on a canopy that broke her fall. She flinched as Maggie rolled off and landed on the pavement. Prue rushed forward like the rest of the crowd to make sure she was okay.

Maggie looked around at the crowd and noticed Prue, who, upon seeing Maggie was relatively unharmed, hurried away. "Wait, wait," Maggie called while paramedics moved to help her.

As Prue hurried off, she passed unknowingly by the Darklighter. "Well, of all the luck," he stated with a thoughtful expression.

Gateway High School

Buffy sat in history class, the teacher stood at the chalk board, writing away and talking in a colorless monotone, "... before 1935 the New Deal focused on revitalizing stricken business and agricultural communities...The New Deal also tried to regulate the nation's financial hierarchy—"

Buffy gasped as she was suddenly pulled into a premonition.

A beautiful young teacher smiled kindly at the students as she took papers from them as they filed past. One boy held back till everyone else was gone and then he handed in his paper. "Thank you, James," she said clearly flustered as their hands touched. "How are you enjoying that book I loaned you? The Hemmingway?"

"I like it. Very much," James replied. Impulsively, he touched her hand again. He moved closer. "It's honest."

"I..." she stammered. "Yes. It's based on a true story, actually. He fell in love with his—" She stopped as his hand moved up her arm. They move closer, eyes on each other. They're interrupted as the door to the classroom started to open and they pulled quickly apart, startled.

Buffy took deep breaths as she came out of the premonition.

"...to revive industrial activity, the NRA, the National Recovery Administration..." Mr. Miller continued as he turned away from the board to look at the class he continued to write on the board. Suddenly his hand started scrawl in large angry letters, "DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME, BITCH."

P4

Piper signed a clipboard and passed it to the delivery guy while Phoebe carefully maneuvered the boxes so she could get a hold of one. Piper nodded to the delivery guy and picked up the last box.

"Isn't Leo in the back? Why can't we get him to carry these?" Phoebe inquired

"Oh, Phoebe…" Piper sighed. She jerked her head around when Phoebe made a beeline for the back after dropping her box of supplies at the bar. "Phoebe, wait," she called.

Phoebe ignored her and disappeared behind the door. She saw Leo unpacking some glasses and feigned ignorance. "Hey, Leo, didn't know you were here!" she lied enthusiastically.

Leo turned around and waved. "Hey, Phoebe. Yeah, just shining these before I put them at the bar," he explained.

"They look shined enough, don't you think?" Phoebe offered. Leo looked over them again. He picked one up and turned it so Phoebe could see a few notable spots. "Okay, so they need a touch up but if you come out here with me and Piper, I'll give you a hand," Phoebe suggested with a sly smile.

Leo nodded while watching her knowingly. "Subtle, Phoebe," he joked.

"She has yet to learn the meaning of the word," Piper agreed as she slipped by Phoebe to get into the room. "That and the phrase 'mind your own business,'" she added.

"Hey, you are the two that are denying that you are in a relationship," Phoebe accused.

Leo looked surprised. "We're in a relationship?" he asked while glancing at Piper.

Piper didn't look at him as she searched the storage room for something. "She and Buffy have been insisting for the past week that we got back together," she explained. She paused and looked over her shoulder. "That is, of course, after we got into a fight with a big grey demon," she continued with an almost teasing look at Phoebe.

Phoebe crossed her arms across her chest. "It happened, okay? How else do you explain how I knew Prue was going to get back into photography?" she demanded.

"Intuition… the rest was a dream," Piper answered.

"I like that dream," Leo remarked and then looked thoughtful. "… except the demon part," he added off-handedly.

Piper placed her hands on her hips. "Don't encourage her, Leo," she reprimanded albeit lightly while Phoebe grinned at Leo's comment. "And don't encourage your daughter either, please."

"Don't worry, Leo, there's hope for you two yet. Buffy and I know it happened. I don't know why we're the only ones that can remember but it definitely happened," Phoebe insisted. With that she turned and left the two in the storage room. Piper and Leo exchanged a smile and went back to work with their various tasks.

San Francisco Police Department

Darryl led Maggie toward a waiting room but she stopped just outside the doorway. "Ms. Murphy?" he asked.

"I can't go in there," Maggie explained while shifting nervously from foot to foot.

Darryl sighed softly. "You don't really have a choice," he stated.

Maggie's eyes widened as she stared into the room. "Am I being arrested?" she questioned.

Darryl closed the door to the room. "No, you're not. We just need to start some paperwork," he assured her.

"Are there guns in there?" Maggie demanded.

"It's a police station," Darryl pointed out which was answer enough.

"They might go off. I mean, things like that happen around me and I don't want anybody to get hurt," Maggie rambled.

Darryl watched her for several moments before he slowly pulled his gun from his belt and sat it in a cubby outside the room. "No guns. I just don't want you to hurt yourself," he promised. He pushed the door back open and waved for her to go inside. He followed her inside and shut the door behind them.

"You don't understand," Maggie broke the resulting silence.

"Trust me," Darryl offered while pulling a seat out for her to have.

Maggie hesitated. "You can't help me. Nobody can," she insisted but obediently took the seat.

Darryl sat down across from her and pulled out his notepad. "We're gonna find somebody who can. First, you have to answer a few questions about what happened this morning," he explained.

Maggie made a face and shook her head. "I don't know what happened. It was like a bad dream, only it wasn't. Voices in my head. Everything spinning…" she admitted.

"Is there somebody you want to call? Family? Friends?" Darryl asked before she could dwell on the experience too long.

Maggie's eyes widened in horror at his suggestion. "No, no, no, keep them away from me. They're safer there. I shouldn't even be here. I shouldn't be alive and if it hadn't been for that angel…"

Darryl suddenly looked a lot more interested. "Excuse me?" he prompted.

"She just appeared out of thin air when I was on the rooftop. She reached out her hand and then when I was falling it was like something slowed me down. Like she guided me onto that awning," Maggie elaborated.

"The angel?" Darryl repeated.

"Yes, she saved me," Maggie insisted.

Darryl nodded and leaned forward for more privacy. "Help me out here. What exactly did this woman look like?"

Gateway High School

"I'm telling you, something weird is going on," Buffy said looking at Xander sister as they walked down the hall.

"Something weird is going on. Isn't that our school motto?" Xander joked.

"Pretty much," Buffy agreed as they stopped in front of 's locker. "But this time…I don't know." She shrugged. "It bugs me."

"I'm no trying to poo poo your wiggins. But a domestic dispute and a little case of chalkboard Tourette's?" Xander said as he opened his locker. "Sounds like Hellmouth Lite to me…" Suddenly a blue, decaying arm burst from inside grabbing him by the shirt. The arm started to pull Xander into the locker.

After a brief struggle Buffy managed to rip Xander's shirt freeing him of the death grip. Buffy then slammed the locker shut. They stood there for a moment staring at the locker. Then Buffy flung it open. But to their surprise the only thing in the locker was Xander's school books and school supplies.

Halliwell Manor

Prue stepped out of her car just as a taxi pulled up with Phoebe. Prue paused and waited for her younger sister to pay the cab driver.

"Hey, Prue, how'd it go?" Phoebe asked as she ran up to join the eldest Halliwell.

"What?" Prue questioned, still a little distracted.

"The interview," Phoebe clarified. "Did you get the job?"

Prue opened the front door for them but didn't look at Phoebe as she took off her jacket and dropped her bag on the floor. "Yeah, I did," she answered.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes at her sister's less-than-enthused voice. "Prue, are you okay?" she inquired.

"Oh, yeah, it's just that the woman that I was supposed to photograph, when I got to her apartment, was on the roof ready to jump," Prue explained while searching her bag for her camera. She was obviously upset about the situation.

Phoebe's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Oh my god, she didn't…."

"Actually, she did. Luckily, I was able to break her fall with my powers but just barely," Prue admitted followed by a soft sigh.

"Whoa… so lucky you got there in time," Phoebe remarked, still seeming stunned by the news.

Prue pressed a hand to her head as she felt a migraine coming on. "I keep on thinking that if I had've been a minute later it would have been too late," she whispered.

Phoebe closed the distance between them and hugged Prue. "But you weren't. You were supposed to be there in time. You were supposed to save that girl's life, I believe that," she insisted gently. She pushed a piece of Prue's hair away from her eldest sister's face. "What did Darryl say?" she wondered.

"I called and he must have been in a meeting or something since he didn't answer. I'll try again in a few to see what he knows about this girl," Prue replied. She opened her mouth to continue when the phone rang. "That could be him now," she added before hurrying to pick it up. "Halliwell Residence, Prue speaking."

"Hi, Prue. You weren't by chance outside 413 North Fergus Avenue this morning, were you?" Darryl's voice carried through the phone.

Prue made a slight face at the question and the fact that it wasn't Andy as she had hoped didn't help. "Uh, why?" she returned.

"We got a Maggie Murphy here. She claims she was saved by an angel this morning. An angel that by her description bears no resemblance to Della Reese," Darryl explained pointedly.

"But does resemble me," Prue guessed.

"Yeah, bingo. Of course, everyone around here thinks she's nuts," Darryl offered as a way of comfort to their ongoing secret. "I wish I could tell them otherwise…"

Phoebe pulled out a roll of film from Prue's bag. "Hey, what's on this roll?" she asked curiously.

"Uh, just some old photographs," Prue answered before turning her attention back to Darryl. "Um, Darryl, is Maggie alright?" she questioned.

San Francisco Police Department

Darryl shifted the telephone to his other ear as he sat down on the edge of his desk. "That's not for me to say. We have to send her over to psyche," he stated in an apologetic voice. He glanced over his shoulder at where an officer was sitting next to Maggie and talking to her. As he watched Maggie accidently knocked over a coat rack which crashed into a table. Coffee cups went rolling across the floor.

"I'm so sorry," Maggie apologized.

"It's nothing," the officer assured her as he unblocked the doorway by standing the coat rack back up.

Darryl turned back to the phone. "Poor woman. It's like she's been snake bit or something. Listen, Prue, you had better steer clear of here so she doesn't ID you," he suggested before hanging up.

Halliwell Manor

Prue stared at the phone in her hand for a moment before she began putting her bag back together. Phoebe tilted her head to the side questioningly. "Where are you going?" Phoebe wondered.

"I'm gonna go see Maggie. Something tells me that I may have stopped her but I certainly didn't save her," Prue answered with a worried expression on her face.

Phoebe nodded in understanding. "Well, I'll come with you. Maybe something from my Psyche class could be of use," she offered.

Prue gave her a faint nod of agreement and started for the door with Phoebe following her.

Gateway High School

Buffy and Xander walked into the library and found Willow sitting at the table.

Willow looked surprised and then amused, "Xander, what did you do – criticize Cordelia's outfit?"

"You're just a big bucket o' funny, Will," Xander retorted. "I'll have you know I just got accosted by some kind of locker monster."

"Loch Ness Monster?" Giles finally looked up from his position on the floor. "Really?"

"'Locker' monster is what he said." Buffy corrected, "But it wasn't really a monster. It was, like, this big arm that came out of the locker, but then we opened it again, it was gone. Nothing."

"This is right after Buffy's history teacher started doing some freaky channeling thing in class," Xander added.

"Ooh! Sounds like paranormal phenomena." Giles walked over to them, taking an interest.

"Great another ghost," Buffy groaned. "Please tell me I don't have to die again to vanquish this one. I really don't want a repeat of Jackson Ward," she pleaded.

"A ghost? Cool!" Willow said excitedly.

"Oh no, not cool," Xander disagreed. "This was no wimpy chain-rattler. This was more – 'I'm dead as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore.'"

"Exactly," Giles agreed. "Despite the Xander-speak, that's an accurate definition of a poltergeist."

"I defined something?" Xander said excitedly. "Accurately? Check me out." He slammed a book on the table shut. "Guess I'm done with the book learning!"

Buffy looked at Giles as she thought about Jackson Ward. "Giles, Jackson Ward was able to manipulate things but not manifest physically in our plane…"

"From what you said about Jackson Ward, he was an evil spirit," Giles reminded his Slayer. "This is likely a poltergeist. They are two different types of entities. A poltergeist can manifest itself in our plane."

"Why is it here? Does it just want to scare people?" Willow wondered.

Giles shrugged. "It doesn't know exactly what it wants," he told them. "That's the problem. A poltergeist is usually plagued by all manner of worldly troubles. But, being dead, it has no way to make it's peace. So it lashes out. Growing ever more confused, ever more angry..."

"What can we do? Is there any way to stop it?" Willow wondered.

"For a poltergeist the only tried and true way is to figure out what unresolved issues keep the spirit here - and resolve them," Giles told them. "It is not an entity that can be vanquished like Jackson Ward was."

"Great. So now we're Dr. Laura for the deceased," Buffy groaned.

"Only if we can find out who this spirit is. Or... was." Giles said.

P4

Piper was standing at the bar and leaning over the inventory papers while Leo was supposed to be counting for her. Instead, he seemed to be more focused on Piper right next to him.

"That can't be right. How many swizzle sticks?" Piper asked when her inventory didn't add up.

"Who's counting?" Leo returned absently. Piper spun to look at him and he hastily turned back to what he was supposed to be doing. "Uh, I don't know, a lot," he offered, trying to count how many were in the boxes. "Do you think you over-ordered?" he suggested.

Piper shook her head. "No, um, they over-shipped," she decided. She took the two boxes that Leo was handing her only for one of them to break open. She gasped as the swizzle sticks fell over Leo and onto the floor. "Oh…" she sighed.

Leo smirked a little. "It's my fault," he apologized. He began gathering up the swizzle sticks and Piper kneeled down to join him. As she did, he found his gaze drawn back to Piper.

"What?" Piper asked while glancing over her shoulder self-consciously.

Leo laughed but forced his attention to cleaning up the floor. "Nothing," he assured her. Piper continued to stare at him so he gave in. "Piper, are you mad at me?" he inquired.

Piper raised an eyebrow in surprise. "No, don't be ridiculous. Why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking," Leo admitted. Piper's only answer was a dramatic sigh which Leo frowned at. "What is it?" he prompted.

"It's just Phoebe and Buffy and their déjà vu," Piper replied irritably while tossing the swizzle sticks in her hand to the ground.

"Well, if it's me that's making you uncomfortable, I can leave," Leo offered. He seemed disappointed but was already getting to his feet.

Piper narrowed her eyes. "Sit back down. I am not done talking," she ordered to which Leo quickly obeyed. Despite her 'not done talking' line, she fell silent in thought. "Is it possible that Phoebe and Buffy actually does remember something that we don't?" she questioned.

"Possible, yes," Leo answered but he didn't seem particularly certain. "Premonitions can have various side effects as you saw with the past life thing. Its possible time was messed up and they're resistant to such changes and can remember what happened the first time around," he continued. Piper opened her mouth to say something but he spoke up before her. "But it's also possible that they both had a premonition of a different future where a different choice had been made. There are many possibilities to explain their déjà vu."

"I feel like I've been in this situation before," Piper explained distantly.

"What situation?" Leo asked, his confusion clear on his face. Piper stood up and he did the same. He was staring at her as if she had gone crazy.

Piper looked away and then back at him. "I believe it was something along the lines of 'I would never let you do anything dangerous without me,'" she repeated.

"Really?" Leo pressed, a smile beginning to form on his face. "Is that an admission?" he teased.

Piper smiled a little wider. "You said that before too," she realized only for her thoughts to be cut off as Leo wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into a slow, deep kiss. They pulled apart after a moment. "I don't think that happened before," she admitted.

Leo didn't answer but kissed her again, a little harder this time so that they fell back against the bar.

San Francisco Police Department

The Darklighter walked through the police station until he caught sight of Maggie sitting in the corner. He smiled and with a snap of his fingers, his clothes were replaced with a police uniform. He passed by Darryl as he made for the coffee machine where he could watch Maggie and blend with the crowd.

Darryl stopped next to Maggie with a cup of coffee. "I brought you some coffee," he stated, handing the cup to her.

"Thanks," Maggie gratified but eyed the cup warily.

Darryl noticed and instead turned his attention to the policewoman that was sitting with Maggie. "I'll take it from here, thanks," he offered. The woman nodded and left before he took her seat.

Maggie didn't look at Darryl but played with her hands. "I saw her, you know. The angel, she saved me," she insisted.

"I believe you. Really I do," Darryl promised after a quick glance around them. He held the coffee out to her in a silent offer.

"Thank you," Maggie whispered. She reached out to take the cup but knocked it with her hand. The hot liquid poured all over Darryl, who jumped at the contact. The Darklighter smirked as Maggie dropped her face in her hands. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she apologized repeatedly.

"I'm okay," Darryl assured her although he made a face. "I'm just gonna go wipe this off," he explained.

Maggie looked up from her hands. "Maybe you should just stay away from me. People get hurt." Darryl made a one-minute gesture and rushed over to his desk for a change of clothes.

Prue, and Phoebe pushed through the door into the main room. Prue's eyes fixed on Maggie. "Alright, that's her," Prue decided.

"Any idea what you're going to say to her about the whole angel thing?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm not really worried about that, I'm more worried about her," Prue admitted.

"What's your plan?" Phoebe pressed curiously.

"I've been thinking that maybe I could write a spell," Prue explained.

"A spell for what?" Phoebe questioned.

Prue shrugged slightly and looked to Phoebe for an opinion. "Help put a little good luck back in her life," she suggested.

Phoebe looked thoughtful. "That's really sweet but you can't keep using your powers to save her," she pointed out.

"I know but maybe it'll help her turn things around. At least enough to make her see life is worth living until we can figure out what's going on," Prue elaborated.

Maggie groaned at whatever an officer was saying and slid down in her seat, accidentally tripping another officer as he walked by. The other officer reached out to the water cooler to steady himself. The water cooler couldn't hold him up and it knocked over and soaked the many cords and outlets nearby. They sparked so that everyone jumped away from any infected computers or other electronic devices.

Prue's eyes widened while Phoebe's jaw dropped in surprise, the Darklighter smiled down at a magazine, and the officer that had been tripped glared at Maggie. "Thanks a lot," he groaned.

"Okay, you see?" Prue insisted with a wave of her hand at Maggie. Phoebe nodded in agreement with her plan. "Alright, I'm gonna need your help. How do I do this?" she asked.

Phoebe shook her head slightly. "You don't need my help. It's your connection. It just has to come from the heart," she advised.

Prue narrowed her eyes as she quickly thought through a rhyme. "Alright… here it goes…From this moment on your pain is erased. Your bad luck as well. Enjoy your good luck, Maggie. You're free from this hell."

Prue's hand began to tingle and she dropped her gaze to it to find a ball of silvery light circling in her hand. "Whoa…" she exclaimed as the ball rushed toward Maggie. The young victim smiled and sat up just a little straighter.

The Darklighter noticed it and looked furious, his eyes landing on the obviously guilty Prue. Darryl came up to join Maggie only to slip on the still-spilled water. Maggie managed to reach out and keep Darryl from falling. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Did I just do that? I mean, help you?" she demanded.

"Looks like her luck's changing already," Phoebe commented.

"Let's get out of here," Prue suggested to Phoebe and they started out the door.

"Not so fast, witch," the darklighter muttered under his breath. He waved his hand at her and a dark ball hit Prue in the back.

Prue paused just outside the door. "Are you okay?" Phoebe asked.

"Let's increase that pride… you're fine," the Darklighter whispered.

"I'm fine," Prue repeated.

"Dampen your fears," the darklighter added with a look at Phoebe. Phoebe's disbelieving look faded and she apparently shrugged off the worry. The two sisters continued outside.

Phoebe smiled over at Prue as her eldest sister ran her hands through her purse for her keys. "I gotta tell you, for your first solo spell, you packed quite a punch," she complimented.

"You told me to speak from the heart, I did," Prue pointed out.

Phoebe nodded in acknowledgement but appeared just as impressed as before. "Still, it took me a few times before my first spell actually worked," she admitted.

Prue raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

"Mmhmm…" Phoebe insisted.

"Well, must be my lucky day," Prue quipped as she and Phoebe got in the car and pulled their seatbelts on. Prue started to back her car out when a police car crashed into the back of them going a generous speed. Phoebe's head slammed into the dashboard and she didn't move. Prue groaned at the jerk and glanced to make sure Phoebe was okay. "Phoebe? Phoebe?" she called, an edge of panic growing on her voice when her sister didn't answer.

The Darklighter leaned against a telephone pole where he could watch the damage. "Your turn to be cursed, witch."

Gateway High School

"It was just like with this couple you encountered last night, Buffy," Giles said. He had been explaining about a couple he had encountered he had that had closed the school down for the rest of the day. "The janitor remembered everything. He knew he's killed the poor woman - but he had no idea why. They had no intimate relationship."

"And the gun? Did you ever find it?" Willow asked.

"No. The police, everybody..." Giles replied shaking his head. "We looked all over. I think it's very clear. What's happening."

"Fill me in, then," Xander asked. "'Cause I've read the book, seen the movie and I'm still fuzzy about what's going on."

"It's Jenny," Giles admitted his suspicions.

"What?" Buffy asked in surprise.

"You think she's the poltergeist?" Xander wondered.

"Don't you see?" Giles questioned. "She died here under tragic conditions. Now she's trapped."

"But," Willow said obviously disagreeing with Giles belief. "What about the whole deal with the gun?" She glanced at Buffy. "Angel didn't shoot Ms. Calendar."

"The gun is insignificant. It's the violence of the thing that matters." Giles told them with certainty.

"I don't know," Buffy disagreed. "It seems like the fights these couples keep having is sort of... specific. You know?"

"She's right, Giles," Willow agreed as she looked at the Watcher. "The gun, the place...It's like a pattern that doesn't fit with the way Ms. Calendar died."

"Yes. Well. I appreciate your thoughts on the matter," Giles snapped. "In fact, I encourage you to always challenge me when you feel it's appropriate. You must never be cowed by authority. Except, of course, in this instance when I am clearly right and you are clearly wrong."

"Great," Buffy scoffed. "Glad to know we have this open line of communication."

P4

"Piper, are you there?" Prue called as she and Phoebe came down the stairs.

"Prue?" Piper returned with a worried expression. Prue was the first to come into view, carefully supporting Phoebe. "What happened?" she questioned.

"Oh, we got into a car accident… I wasn't looking," Prue admitted guiltily.

"Are you guys okay?" Piper questioned.

"The paramedics took us both to the hospital as a precaution. The doctor said I was fine. But Phoebe has a concussion," Prue told them.

"A mild one," Phoebe returned.

"Still, the doctor said that, you know, you should…" Prue began.

Piper glanced at Leo. "Should we call for Buffy. See if she can try healing…?"

"First it wasn't done by magic," Leo reminded Piper. "Second if she tried, regardless if she actually can or not, she could face the exact same thing that happened to me. They will clip her wings. And given the fact that the Slayer influenced her Whitelighter powers to give her an advantage against vampires…"

"She would lose that advantage," Piper sighed. "Would you grab a chair for Phoebe?" she suggested.

Phoebe sighed dramatically but accepted the chair Leo got for her. "I'm fine, really. I just have a headache," she insisted.

"Well, we have some aspirin around here somewhere. I'll get you some," Leo offered before walking to the back.

"I'm really sorry, Phoebe," Prue apologized looking at her baby sister.

"Prue, it's okay, it was an accident. Not your fault. They hit us," Phoebe pointed out

"Yeah, but, you know, I should've been looking. I mean, I always look first," Prue argued. "At least I didn't put you in the hospital this time," she sighed.

Phoebe decided now was as good a time to change the subject. "Your lipstick's smeared," Phoebe stated to Piper.

"It is?" Piper asked as her cheeks began to flush.

"Her buttons are also crooked," Prue added while pointing at Piper's shirt.

"They are?" Piper followed, earning a faint laugh from Prue and Phoebe. She groaned as her sisters just looked at her knowingly.

Gateway High School

"This is freaky. I don't think I've ever seen Giles be so pig-headed." Willow said as she, Buffy and Xander sat in the computer classroom.

"I know," Xander agreed. "He's usually, 'Investigate Things From Every Boring Angle' guy. Now he's 'I cling To My One Lame Idea' guy. What gives?"

"He misses her," Buffy told them, remembering when she, Prue, Piper and Phoebe visited Ms. Calendar's grave after the funeral. "He can't think. Just a little more fallout from my love life."

Willow moved to the computer that sat on the teacher's desk. "Okay, but this ghost stuff is something else," she told them as she flipped the computer on. "Let me do a cross check, look for other shootings at the school."

"Yeah, we need some alternate ghost theories," Buffy agreed. "What do we know?"

"Dog spit is cleaner than human's," Xander joked.

Buffy chuckled. "Besides that."

"Oh boy," Willow said in surprise as she looked at the screen before her. "We know plenty...It says here that a student murdered a teacher on the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance. The rumor was that they were having an affair and she tried to break it off. After he killed her, he went into the music room and shot himself."

"Ladies and gentlemen - we have a poltergeist," Xander told them with a smirk. "It has to be one of those two, right?"

"It all fits," Willow agreed. "The gun. The Sadie Hawkins dance..."

"Which is tonight," Buffy told them. "I'll call, Prue."

"How come we never heard about this murder/suicide thing before?" Xander wondered looking between his friends. "When did it happen?"

"Well, it says—" Willow started.

"1955." Buffy said remembering the yearbook in Snyder's office while pulling out her cell.

"How did you know?" Willow wondered.

P4

Leo held the aspirin out for Phoebe. "Here you go," he offered.

Prue reached out to take it from him but, in the process, knocked over a box of swizzle sticks. "Oh!" she exclaimed.

Leo offered Prue a faint smile of assurance. "Uh, don't worry about it. I got it." He kneeled down to grab the little red sticks up.

"Okay, I'm such a klutz. I can't seem to do anything right all of a sudden. Do you think that spell backfired on me?" Prue inquired with a look to Phoebe.

Phoebe shook her head immediately. "Not possible. Not personal gain," she answered.

"What spell?" Piper asked.

Prue was about to answer when her phone began to ring. She made a face and answered it. "Hello? Yeah, Mr. Corso, there was a problem with the, uh, photograph," she started. She slowly stood up and walked away from the group for some privacy.

Phoebe noticed the confused looks from Piper and Paige. "Uh, she got this gig photographing this girl named Maggie Murphy," she explained.

"The unlucky Maggie Murphy," Leo added.

"How do you…?" Phoebe began.

"I saw her on TV," Leo replied.

"Anyways, she's not unlucky anymore. Prue cast a spell to turn her luck around after she saved her from jumping off a roof," Phoebe continued.

Piper's jaw dropped in disbelief. "What?"

"The point is, it got to Prue, big time," Phoebe remarked. "Pretty scary, huh?" she pressed.

"That's more than scary," Piper argued.

Prue hung up with Mr. Corso and joined the group again. "Alright, Mr. Corso said that if I don't get that photograph of Maggie, I can kiss my career goodbye. Like that's what I wanna do right now," she filled them in.

"Well, it's a good excuse to go check up on her," Phoebe offered just as Prue's cell phone rang again.

Prue looked down at it before answering it. "Hello."

"Prue, it's Buffy. We have a situation at school," Buffy's voice came from the other end of the line.

Prue stabbed the speakerphone button. "What kind of problem?"

"We have a poltergeist," Buffy answered. "It's possessing people and already killed a teacher. The school was shut down as a result."

"Okay, Piper and Leo will check in with you," Prue replied she then ended the call before looking at Piper. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah," Piper agreed as they all stood up.

"I just need to stop by the house…" Prue trailed off when she backed up a step and knocked into a tray of glasses.

Piper threw her hands out to freeze them before they hit the ground. "It's okay," Piper insisted with a slight frown on her features.

"I'll drive. Because you didn't get collision on the rental," Phoebe decided.

"And you have a concussion," Prue reminded her baby sister.

"Give me the keys for the rental," Piper said. "You can take my car. Just try and not get into anymore accidents."

Piper jumped as the glasses Prue had knocked over unfroze and shattered on the ground. She noticed Leo staring at them. "What? I'll clean it up later," she insisted.

Leo shook his head and leaned toward Piper after deciding it wouldn't be a bad idea to share the information he knew with her. "Maggie Murphy was doing all these good things in her life and then all of a sudden her own life goes to hell," he admitted.

"So what…" Piper prompted.

"All these accidents in her life probably weren't accidents. Perhaps something was trying to make her jump off that roof," Leo continued.

Piper narrowed her eyes. "Something like…"

"… Like a Darklighter maybe," Leo suggested.

"Take the rental," Piper said handing him the keys. "Go back to the Manor. Start looking through the books. I'll get Buffy to flame to me."

Leo nodded as he took the keys and headed for the door.

Gateway High School

Buffy and Piper appeared in swirling flames just as Willow opened a yearbook. "Is this the woman from your premonition, Buffy?" Willow asked pointing at the 'In Memorium' page for Grace Newman.

Buffy and Piper walked over beside Willow. "That's her," Buffy said she then flipped through the yearbook till she found a picture she was looking for. "James Stanley." She pointed at the picture. "He's the other one I saw in my premonition."

"Is this tied to what we witnessed last night?" Piper questioned.

"We believe so. He killed her and now he's forcing people to relive that night," Buffy told her sister. She looked back at the photo. "He couldn't make her love him, so he killed her. What a sicko."

Piper glanced at Buffy for a moment. "There are better ways of putting that but yeah I think that would sum him up."

"He looks so normal in his picture," Willow admitted as she looked at the picture. "He was smart, too. He made the honor role."

"Smart?" Piper scoffed. "I wouldn't call killing someone very smart.

"He killed a person and he killed himself. Those are pretty much the two dumbest things you can do," Xander agreed.

"He killed himself?" Piper asked looking toward her cousin.

Buffy nodded as she motioned for Piper to look at the computer.

Piper looked at the article that Willow had found. "So we have an angry ghost." She looked at Buffy. "Do we want to try and vanquish it like you did Ward?"

Buffy shook her head. "Giles said it was a poltergeist not an evil spirit like Jackson Ward was," she told Piper. "He said about the only way to get rid of it was to resolve what was holding it here. Oh and it can actually manifest itself on our plane, Jackson Ward couldn't do that."

"Whose ghost do you think we're dealing with?" Willow wondered. "His or hers?"

"Considering how violent it is, I'd say it's his." Buffy admitted.

"Sounds likely," Piper agreed. "If he killed her then shot himself and the events are repeating themselves… It's more than likely him."

Willow looked at the two witches in the room. "Is there a way to communicate with him?" she questioned.

"Not that we're aware of," Buffy answered. "When I vanquished Jackson Ward he was able to talk with us directly."

"If he's not showing himself I don't know how," Piper added with a shrug. "It would be like talking to an empty room and there be no one there."

"I've been browsing in some of Ms. Calendar's pagan sites," Willow said looking at the computer. "Maybe there is something there about a way to communicate with him."

"It's worth a try, Willow," Piper agreed. "I will be the first to admit that our Book of Shadows does not always have all the information it should. Right, Buffy?"

Buffy nodded remembering the deal with her and Phoebe's past lives and Anton. There had been no mention of Anton in either book till she and Phoebe added the information. "Right, Piper. So we gotta shut him down before some other innocent guy shoots some nice girl and blows his brains all over the music room wall."

"I'm going to flame you to the Manor," Buffy said looking at Piper. "Maybe see if there is something in our books."

"I can do that," Piper admitted. "That said. You need to be careful too."

"Why?" Buffy wondered.

"You've heard of the unlucky Maggie Murphy?" Piper asked as Buffy, Willow and Xander all nodded. "Prue cast a spell to make her luck." She looked directly at Buffy. "Your dad said her luck probably changed as a result of a Darklighter."

"I'll be on the lookout," Buffy promised as she flamed out with Piper.

Psychiatric Hospital

Maggie carefully maneuvered a nervous elderly lady through the hospital corridors. "It's okay, Mrs. Idleman. Let's get you out into the sunlight and let you see what's going on in the world. That's it, you're doing fine," Maggie coaxed gently.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Prue and Phoebe were standing just in front of the Darklighter who was dressed as one of the doctors. "Maggie has made a remarkable turnaround. Severely depressed this morning, now suddenly, she's smiling, laughing, helping others. However, I'm afraid her recovery is only temporary," the Darklighter explained.

"Why do you say that?" Prue asked curiously.

The Darklighter shrugged it off as obvious. "Once you've been on that ledge, you can never forget it. The deep, dark place never goes away. It haunts you, beckons you back," he answered in a rather ominous voice.

Phoebe placed her hands on her hips. "That's not true," she argued.

"Oh, are you a psychiatrist?" the darklighter questioned sarcastically.

"No, but I still don't think that's true. Lots of people recover from depression," Phoebe insisted.

The darklighter shook his head, feigning sadness. "Unfortunately, not people in Maggie's rather unique situation," he returned.

"And what would that be?" Prue pressed with a carefully neutral tone.

"She still feels responsible for all the tragedies in her family's life. That pain doesn't just magically go away," the Darklighter stated while choosing his words purposely to affect Prue.

Prue shifted uncertainly at the words. "Um, may we see her?" she inquired.

"Of course," the Darklighter agreed. He waved his hand for them to continue down the corridor.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Maggie was talking cheerfully with Mrs. Idleman when Prue and Phoebe approached her. She glanced over her shoulder and suddenly noticed them watching her. She smiled and turned back to the elderly patient. "I'll be right back, Mrs. Idleman," she promised before hurrying to stand in front of Prue. "I hoped you'd come so I could thank you and ask you…I have so many questions," she admitted.

Prue made a face at the obvious adoration on Maggie's face. "Maggie, I think you may have the wrong idea about me…" she began.

"You saved my life," Maggie interrupted.

Prue nodded slightly in admission but still didn't appear reassured. "Yeah, but there was so much going on this morning. I mean, it was really confusing, there were so many people," she rambled.

"That doesn't change what you did," Maggie argued lightly to which Prue didn't have an argument. "Who are you?" she asked hopefully.

Prue couldn't fight back a smile and she held her hand out for Maggie to shake. "My name is Prue and this is my sister, Phoebe," she answered with a wave at her younger sister.

"Hi, Maggie," Phoebe greeted, shaking her hand as well.

"Two angels," Maggie realized.

"Oh, no, I'm just a student," Phoebe insisted jokingly.

Prue looked a little uncomfortable again and she jumped to change the subject. "Maggie, how are you feeling? Better I hope."

Maggie nodded while glancing around at the other people. "Honestly, I feel great. I couldn't be happier," she admitted.

"Even though you're here?" Phoebe inquired in surprise.

Maggie just shrugged as if it didn't matter. "I'm alive and more importantly I feel alive again. I'm able to give. I'm able to help people," Maggie explained. "I haven't been able to do that for awhile…" she sighed, her face falling just slightly before she perked back up.

"That's really sweet," Phoebe remarked, almost in awe of the other woman.

Maggie's gaze flickered down to take in Prue's camera bag. "Are you a photographer?" she asked curiously.

Prue followed her gaze. "Yeah, sort of," Prue replied.

Phoebe rolled her eyes at Prue's sudden modesty. "Yes, she is. She's working for 415 Magazine," she elaborated cheerfully.

"Oh, yeah, they're doing an article on me," Maggie remembered. "Is that why you were at my place this morning? To take my picture?" she questioned.

"Yeah, but believe me, that was the last thing on my mind," Prue assured her.

Maggie shook her head. "No, no, no, it's fine. Maybe the article will help others. Help them realize not to give up either," she mused. "Where do you want me?"

Prue was more than a little surprised at Maggie's willingness and she hurriedly looked around for a good spot to take the picture. "Oh, um, I guess here is fine," she decided. She let her bag slip from her shoulder before grabbing a chair and putting it in a position next to the window.

Maggie took the seat as Prue went to get her camera out. "I just can't get over how everything's change suddenly. I mean, I know I'm stuck here for awhile but I feel like a thousand pound weight has been lifted off me," Maggie insisted. Prue started taking pictures from different angles while Maggie talked to Phoebe. "I feel like my old self again."

"Um, Maggie, I'm taking a psychology class in school and I was wondering if I could ask you a question," Phoebe admitted.

"Sure anything," Maggie allowed.

Phoebe hesitated despite having permission. "I was wondering why you… how you…"

"How I got up on the ledge," Maggie finished after catching on to what Phoebe was trying to ask. Phoebe just nodded. "I really don't know. All I know is I just wanted it all to stop," she whispered.

Phoebe leaned forward and Prue paused from taking her pictures in order to listen. "Wanted what to stop?" Phoebe pressed.

"The voice in my head that kept telling me that I was hurting people, not helping them. That I was causing pain and trouble wherever I went. That it was all my fault. It was like I was cursed," Maggie explained.

"Maybe you were cursed," Phoebe suggested, mostly to herself but Maggie caught it.

Maggie tilted her head to the side. "I'm sorry, what was…"

Prue stood up suddenly and began fumbling with her camera so as not to look at Maggie. Phoebe stepped in front of her. "Prue…" she began.

"Um, I have to go get these to the magazine right away," Prue interrupted.

"Did you just hear what she said?" Phoebe prompted in disbelief before worry flashed across her face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, look, uh, can you take a cab and take that back home for me?" Prue suggested with a hint of a plead in her voice. She lightly kicked her camera bag toward Phoebe.

Phoebe frowned at Prue's hurried attitude. "Why don't I drive you?" she offered.

"No, it's fine," Prue insisted. She slowly backed toward the door. "Bye, Maggie," she called.

"Bye," Maggie returned.

Halliwell Manor

Leo and Piper were standing over both Book of Shadows, Piper flipping Buffy's book while Leo flipped through the family's book. "There's a whole section in there on darklighters," Piper told him.

Leo sighed as she continued to look through the family's book. "Someone should really index these," he stated.

"Seriously is there nothing in here on poltergiests?" Piper groaned before looking at Leo. "Are you sure about the Darklighter?" she pressed.

"Piper, I've been a Whitelighter for fifty years," he reminded her pointedly.

Piper rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Okay," she allowed.

"Look, I'm sorry," Leo apologized for his tone. "It's just Prue's in trouble."

"I have left a message on hers and Phoebe's phone. Somebody will call back soon," Piper assured him although she appeared a little nervous about the situation herself.

Leo glanced over at her. "Maybe you should call for Buffy and have her flame to Prue?" he suggested.

"She's busy," Piper reminded him. "Remember the poltergeist I am trying to find something for?"

"Right," Leo replied. "I found something. Read this," he ordered.

Darklighter- Spirit Killer- forces good souls into suicide through telepathic suggestion. Very dangerous.

"You've gotta be kidding," Piper managed to get out upon reading the page. "I'm going to call Buffy and tell her she is on her own. I think this Darklighter is more pressing right now."

"No need to call me."

Piper and Leo turned at the sound of Buffy's voice and saw Buffy with Willow and Xander standing in the middle of the attic.

"We were driven out," Buffy said. "By a swarm of insects. I don't know what James is trying to accomplish, but…" she shrugged. "I'll listen for your call while we try and find a way of tackling James."

415 Magazine Studio

Prue hurried into the photography section of the magazine's offices with her camera and newly developed pictures. She'd had just enough time to finish them but had not been able to really look them over. As she walked through the hallway, she passed the Darklighter dressed as another photographer. He held his hand out and a dark ball flew into Prue's portfolio and disappeared.

Mr. Corso took the portfolio out of her hands almost as soon as she had walked into his office. He frowned at them but didn't say a word. Prue nervously shifted around to see what he was looking at so hard. Her jaw dropped, certain that they hadn't looked that way before. Mr. Corso finally turned his gaze to Prue awaiting her reaction regarding the blurry pictures.

"I don't understand. I checked it in the camera myself. It was fine," Prue stumbled, trying to figure out what had happened and save her opportunity.

Mr. Corso stood up from his seat and tossed the pictures to the side. "What am I supposed to print with the article?" he demanded. "What am I supposed to do, huh?" he prompted.

"I'm sorry," was the only thing Prue could think to say.

"You're sorry?" Mr. Corso repeated in disbelief. "I gave you a chance. I believed in you and this is what I get? You're a fraud," Mr. Corso accused.

Prue flinched at his raised tone but carefully held herself together. "Wait a second, look…"

"No, you look!" Mr. Corso interrupted. "Lady, you're fired. No, you're worse than fired. I will make sure no one hires you again. Now go on, get out, go screw up somebody else's life," he ordered, jabbing a finger toward the door.

Prue hurried out the door and grabbed onto the nearest wall. She rested against it in an attempt to steady her suddenly ragged breathing. "Alright, I can handle this. Everything's gonna be fine," she whispered to herself.

The Darklighter orbed in behind her. "No, it's not. He's right, I'm a fraud. I only hurt people. It's all my fault. I'm responsible," he implanted into her thoughts. He leaned over her so that he was right in her ear. "I deserve it…"

"I deserve it…" Prue repeated. However, she stubbornly shook her head and shoved the thoughts to the side. She forced herself to her feet and raced to her car.

Halliwell Manor

"So, what do we do, Dawn? About James." Willow was at a loss.

"I've looked in the books," Buffy said slamming her book shut. "There are three ways to vanquish a spirit. I would have to die again like I did with Jackson Ward and say the spell on the Astral Plane. But to do that I have to know where James' spirit is actually in the school. It could be on the balcony or in the music room. The other way would be to destroy the object of his obsession. Problem is, that's his guilt. And the last method involves a potion and his bones."

"He was cremated," Willow supplied looking up from Buffy's laptop.

"Which nixes that," Buffy sighed. "So all we have left is Giles' suggestion. You guys thirsty? I'm going to go down and get something to drink."

"Sure," Willow and Xander replied as Buffy left the attic.

Buffy stopped in the second floor hallway as she heard a voice, "... I need you..." She then flamed out.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Phoebe walked through the front door with Prue's camera bag followed shortly after by Piper and Leo running down the stairs in the hopes that it was Prue coming in the door. "Hi," Phoebe offered as a greeting.

"Phoebe, where's Prue?" Piper demanded.

Phoebe hesitated at the shortness in Piper's tone. "Uh, probably at the magazine, why?" she asked curiously.

Piper opened her mouth to answer but Leo spoke first. "There may be a Darklighter after her. We need to find her fast," he explained.

Phoebe's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah, when you got into that car wreck, it was right after Prue cast that spell on Maggie, right?" Leo pressed.

"Yeah, why?" Phoebe prompted as Piper went by her to dial a number into the phone.

Leo nodded while a frown spread across his features. "The darklighter must have seen her cast it," he decided.

"Why isn't this going through?" Piper snapped irritably at the phone before redialing.

Phoebe glanced worriedly in Piper's direction. "Maggie thought that she was cursed," she admitted.

"She probably was until Prue turned her luck around. See, there's a certain type of darklighter that drives future whitelighters to commit suicide," Leo continued to explain while Phoebe's frown deepened at the news.

"Buffy!" Piper yelled up the stairs, getting increasingly frustrated with the inability to get in touch with Prue. When Buffy didn't answer. She frowned. "Leo, could you?"

Leo hurried up the stairs, her returned a moment later with Willow and Xander. "She's not up there."

"She was coming down to get some drinks," Willow supplied.

"Great now we're down Buffy and Prue," Piper groaned.

"Willow and I will go back to the school," Xander suggested. "Maybe Buffy returned. If she did we'll send her your way."

"Good thinking," Piper agreed as Xander and Willow left. "Call us if you need us," she called after them.

Phoebe sighed loudly. "So what is with these Darklighters? Why would they have to have Whitelighters commit suicide? Aren't they already dead?" she inquired in confusion.

"They prey on future Whitelighters. The only way to keep a future Whitelighter from becoming one is to have them take their own life. To lose their souls forever," Leo answered.

"They curse them. They bring their victims self doubt, bad luck, the kind that hurts other people," Piper cut in.

"And then reinforce that by preying on their thoughts, make them think that they are responsible for all the pain when they're actually not," Leo continued Piper's thought.

Phoebe placed her hands on her hips. "Well, that's not suicide, that's murder," she argued.

"Not technically. They never actually push their victims, they just always compel them to jump," Leo returned.

"So Prue didn't save Maggie from herself. Prue saved Maggie from him," Phoebe realized.

Piper let out another cry of frustration. "This is ridiculous," she exclaimed.

Leo ignored her in order to finish filling Phoebe in. "And that's why the Darklighter is after Prue. If he destroys Prue, he destroys the good luck spell and that leaves Maggie unprotected."

Phoebe stalked past Leo to get to the cabinet where Prue always stored her camera stuff. "Well, he's not going to get Prue. I don't care what he tries," she decided stubbornly as she dropped the camera bag in the cabinet.

"Phoebe, he knows her thoughts. He can make her think anything he wants her to think," Piper insisted. She then paused and looked at Leo in realization. "Buffy is at the school."

"How do you know?" Leo questioned.

"James, he may be a poltergeist but he knows her thoughts too. Because he's lived them," Piper said.

"Of course," Leo said in understanding. "Which means to get his forgiveness he needs the other half the equation.

Phoebe reached down to pick up a roll of film that fell out of the cabinet and was pulled into a premonition as her fingers wrapped around it.

Twenty-year-old Prue stared over a bridge, silently watching the cars drive below. Her camera clicked softly as a photograph was taken. Prue reached up to wipe a few tears away from her face before dropping her camera around her neck and leaning over the side of the bridge.

"What?" Piper demanded as soon as Phoebe blinked as her premonition ended.

"You guys are right. We have to get to Prue," Phoebe whispered.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Are we sure that Darklighter didn't do something to Buffy?" Phoebe questioned as she tried both Buffy and Prue's cells for the umpteenth time.

"If we're correct," Leo said. "The poltergeist very likely has possessed her."

"I'm going to go up to her room real quick and see if I can get a premonition on her just to make sure," Phoebe insisted as she hurried up the stairs followed by Piper and Leo.

"Are you sure your vision of Prue was of the past and not the future?" Piper asked.

"Positive," Phoebe answered.

"Could you tell how old she was?" Piper continued.

"Around twenty or twenty-one. It was the same time we had that other accident," Phoebe admitted nervously.

Leo looked up as they walked into Buffy's room. "What happened?" he questioned as Phoebe began touching random items.

"Oh, Prue was driving and she ran a red light. We didn't even hear the other car honk," Phoebe explained.

"Phoebe was the only one hurt. She was in the hospital for over a week. It scared the hell out of us," Piper followed with a faint frown on her features.

"Prue never forgave herself," Phoebe added as she saw Mr. Gordo. She picked up the stuffed picked and was instantly pulled into a premonition.

"I'm the one who should be sorry, James," Angelus said looking into Buffy's eyes. "You thought I stopped loving you. But I never did. I loved you with my last breath." Tears began to fall from Buffy's eyes and he tried to comfort her. "Shhh. No more tears." He then kissed her.

Phoebe blinked as she came out of the premonition.

Piper moved to stand next to Leo. "It was a really rough time for her. For all of us actually," she told him. She then looked at her sister. "Well?"

"I think good news," Phoebe said. "It looks like your suspicion that she's possessed is right. And if my vision is correct, the poltergeist gets his forgiveness."

"Then she will be alright and we can devote our attention to Prue," Leo said with a sigh of relief. He then glanced from Phoebe to Piper and back again. "So why was it a rough time?" he asked.

"Well, Phoebe and I were teenagers…" Piper started.

"We were really bad teenagers. I was anyways," Phoebe interrupted as she returned Mr. Gordo to his shelf.

"Yes, and Grams was extremely over-protective," Piper continued as if she hadn't been interrupted.

"But she was hardest on Prue. She kind of made Prue take care of us. Its kind of why Prue took on the motherly role for Buffy when Buffy moved in. Because once again, she had to take care of. Anyways Grams didn't let Prue go away to school. She wanted to go back east to be a photojournalist," Phoebe explained with a rather guilty voice.

Piper nodded in agreement and sighed. "But Grams knew that we were gonna become witches and she wasn't going to let anything jeopardize that," she finished.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and sat down on Buffy's bed. "Still, you know what? I don't care what was happening. Prue would never consider…"

"I know but you saw her," Piper interrupted.

Phoebe shook her head stubbornly. "No, what I saw was Prue taking a picture and she was very sad but that doesn't mean she was actually going to jump," she insisted.

"Yeah, but the Darklighter will make her think that she was going to. He'll mess with her head and try and take her back to that same dark place. And he'll say whatever he has to—to make her do something that she would never otherwise do," Leo argued.

Piper did not appear to take comfort in Leo's argument. "Okay so if we can't find Prue, how do we find the Darklighter?" she questioned with a look at Leo.

"You can't without a Whitelighter. We sense each other," Leo explained.

"Great, we need Buffy," Phoebe groaned, dropping her head in to her hands. Piper looked as if she was going to start yelling Buffy's name when the phone began to ring. Phoebe's hand snapped up. "Who would be calling Buffy?" She reached over and answered Buffy's extension. "Hello?"

"Hey, Pheebs," Prue answered. "What are you doing in Buffy's room?"

Piper leaned forward eagerly as Phoebe sighed in relief. "Is it her?" she demanded.

Phoebe gave a faint nod. "Yeah," she whispered before turning her full attention to Prue. "Where are you?" Phoebe inquired.

"I don't really know but I can't start my car and this day just really sucks," Prue admitted, her voice cracking slightly in her growing despair.

"None of what's happened today has anything to do with…" Phoebe began.

Prue frowned as Phoebe's voice was overcome by static. "Hello?" she called.

Phoebe tensed in her seat while Piper fidgeted nervously. "Prue, can you hear me?" she practically yelled into the phone. "Can you hear me?"

Prue didn't seem to hear anything but static. "Barely… I can't make it work. Um, look, I lost my job. Can you have Buffy come get me?"

Leo leaned forward in frustration. "You have to tell her about the Darklighter," he reminded her.

Phoebe glared at him. "I'm trying," she snapped.

"Phoebe, I can't hear you," Prue continued in desperation. The Darklighter stood behind her and let a dark ball of light hit Prue's phone so that it suddenly went dead.

"Hello? Damn it, I lost her," Phoebe exclaimed, staring at the phone as if it was its fault.

Prue stayed in the car for several minutes, trying to control her breathing before she finally shoved the car door open and got out. The Darklighter followed her as she walked rather gingerly down the street.

Gateway High School

Xander and Willow stood out front of the school that was completely swarmed with wasps. "So, now what? Not even a mega vat of Raid is gonna do the trick here." Xander asked.

"How are we going to let Piper and Phoebe know if she's in there if we can't get in there ourselves?" Willow wondered.

"I don't know," Xander said with a frown. He looked at his friend. "You know I hate being the normal one. What I wouldn't give to be a witch with a power to get by them."

"I know the feeling," Willow agreed.

Halliwell Manor

"Okay, what do we do? We have to find her," Piper whispered in her hands before dropping them in frustration.

"Where do we start?" Phoebe returned.

"Alright, we're going to start at the magazine. Back track from the magazine. That's where she was last," Piper said.

Phoebe shook her head with a soft sigh. "She could be anywhere," she argued.

"How about the Book of Shadows? You could try scrying," Leo suggested.

"I don't think we have time for that," Phoebe shot down the idea.

"Well, maybe we need a little luck. A little good luck," Piper mused aloud.

Phoebe glanced over at her elder sister curiously. "Maggie?" she guessed.

Piper nodded while a faint smile crossed her face. "We need a map," Piper continued, already on her feet and looking around for the necessary item.

"Okay, I'll go check the car," Phoebe offered before running out of the room.

Leo grabbed hold of Piper's arm as Piper started to follow Phoebe. "I'm going with you," he explained hastily.

Piper was already shaking her head in disagreement. "No, no, no, somebody has to stay here in case she comes back or Buffy comes home…"

"Piper," Leo interrupted.

Piper stared at him for several long moments. "If we find her, the Darklighter will be there too. And if he recognizes you…" she trailed off pointedly.

"Piper, I hate this. Alright, I hate not being able to look after you guys," Leo growled in irritation at the situation.

"I know. I'm sorry," Piper apologized before leaving to follow her younger sister to the car.

Streets of San Francisco

Prue kept her head down as she forced herself to keep moving down the sidewalk. The darklighter easily trailed behind her, implanting his thoughts with practiced care into her mind. "What's happening to me? What's the matter with me? I gotta keep moving. Keep walking. I've been in this dark place before, I remember. No one can help me. I'm all alone. Keep walking, yes, keep walking," the Darklighter whispered.

Prue shook her head at the persistent thoughts. "Okay, Prue, keep it together. This isn't me," she stated aloud in the hopes to end the negative thoughts. "I'm a good person. I do good things," she continued. She glanced over to the other sidewalk as a teenage boy rode his skateboard past her. The darklighter sent a ball of dark light at the skateboarder and he lost control, rocketing toward a mother and her baby that was also walking down the street. Prue gasped loudly and waved her hand to avoid the collision. The skateboarder was jerked away from the mother and child by her telekinesis but right into the path of a car driving down the road. The car just barely managed to stop in time as the teenager rolled across the gritty concrete. Prue's hands moved to her face as she hurried a few steps forward to make sure he was okay. "Oh god…" she managed to whisper in her shock.

The Darklighter leaned toward her with an eager expression on his features. "I almost got him killed. Just like I almost got Phoebe killed," he reminded her. Prue shook her head as fresh tears strained her eyes. "Run, run," the Darklighter called. Prue obediently took off as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

Gateway High School

"Fun fact," Angelus said as he stepped from the shadows. "They have no taste for the undead. Not that a sting would do me lasting damage. It's just—tonight's special. I wanted to look my best for you."

"You're the only one," Buffy said. "The only person I can talk to."

"Gosh, Buff." Angelus chuckled. "That's... really pathetic."

"You can't make me disappear just because you say it's over." Buffy said as she turned to face Angelus. He could see that her face was contorted with desperation and rage.

"Actually..." Angelus said as he moved menacingly toward her. "I can. In fact—" He stopped as his face became one filled with fear, love and sadness. "I just want you to be able to have some kind of normal life. We can never have that - don't you see?"

"I don't give a damn about a normal life!" Buffy told him. "I'm going crazy not seeing you. I think about you every minute."

"I know. But it's over. It has to be!" Angelus said as she caressed Buffy's cheek. He turned and started to walk away.

Buffy gave chase as the scene from 1955 repeated itself. "Come back here. We're not finished!" she stated angrily. She grabbed Angelus by the arm and turned him to face her. "You don't care anymore, is that it?"

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter what I feel." Angelus cried.

"Then tell me you don't love me! SAY IT!"

"Is that what you need to hear? Will that help? I don't. I don't. Now let me go." Angelus said as he tried to break out of Buffy's grasp.

"No," Buffy said in disbelief. "A person doesn't just wake up and stop loving somebody!" She raised the gun. "Love is forever. I'm not afraid to use it, I swear! If I can't be with you..."

"Oh, my God!" Angelus said as he turned and started to run down the hall.

"DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME BITCH!" Buffy yelled after Angelus. They ran till Angelus stepped out onto the balcony. "Stop it! Stop it! Don't make me!"

"All right," Angelus turned toward Buffy. "Just...You know you don't want to do this. Let's both... just calm down. Now give me the gun."

"Don't. Don't do that, damn it!" Buffy said as she swung the gun wildly. "Don't talk to me like I'm some stupid..."

The gun went off in her hand and Buffy looked on in shocked fear as Angelus fell backward over the balcony.

Buffy went to the edge and looked over to see Angelus lying dead on the pavement. She stepped back slowly. She walked slowly toward the music room, the room where James had many happy memories of being with Grace.

Angelus opened her eyes. Realizing what had happened and remembering what came next in the scene, he hurried back into the school.

In the music room, Buffy turned on the record player and as the music started, she looked in the mirror. Buffy's reflection was that of James back in 1955. She looked down at the gun in her hand and Buffy began to lift it toward her head.

A hand wrapped itself around the gun and gently took it from Buffy. "Don't do this," Angelus said as Buffy turned to him in surprise.

"Grace? But I - I killed you." Buffy stammered.

"It was an accident. It wasn't your fault," Angelus said.

"Oh, it is my fault. How could I..."

"Shh. I'm the one who should be sorry, James. You thought I stopped loving you. But I never did. I loved you with my last breath."

Buffy let out a few sobs as Angelus reached up to cup her face with his hands. "Shh... No more tears," he whispered as he leaned in for a kiss. With their arms wrapped around each other, James' and Graces' spirits finally left the world for the next.

Buffy blinked as her mind came back to her. "Angel...?" she whispered.

Angelus growled at what had just happened to him. He threw Buffy away and bolted.

Buffy watched for a moment for a moment. She debated flaming back to the Manor and decided to walk instead.

"Buffy!" Willow and Xander cried when their friend exited the school.

"Everything okay?" Xander asked.

"Yeah," Buffy said. That was when she heard a call from Prue. "I got to go guys. Prue's calling for me." She disappeared in a swirl of flames.

Psychiatric Hospital

Maggie stared intently at the woman across from her whose turn it was to lay down a card. The elder woman smiled and dropped a card down on the group that was spread across the table. Maggie grinned at the elderly lady and admitted defeat, allowing her cards to be added to the table. "That was so great," Maggie exclaimed. She didn't immediately notice as Phoebe and Piper came in behind her.

"Maggie, hi. Remember me?" Phoebe called so that the young woman turned around curiously to see who was talking to her.

Maggie broke into a genuine smile. "Of course," she greeted, offering a little wave to Piper whom she hadn't seen before.

Phoebe returned a faint smile but it faded quickly at the thought of Prue. "We need your help finding Prue," she admitted softly.

"Prue?" Maggie repeated. She frowned as she caught the worry that was practically radiating off the two Halliwell sisters.

"Your angel," Phoebe elaborated.

"She's in trouble. Big trouble," Piper explained, speaking for the first time since they'd been allowed inside.

Phoebe glanced hesitantly around them before holding her hand out for Maggie to take. Maggie accepted it and followed Phoebe into the hallway with Piper bringing up the rear. As soon as they were out of earshot, Phoebe turned back to face Maggie. "The kind of trouble that you can relate to," she continued.

"What can I do?" Maggie asked immediately.

Phoebe began unfolding the map and held it up for Maggie to see. "We need you to point anywhere on this map," she answered.

"We need a little bit of your luck," Piper offered as a way of explanation.

Maggie just looked confused at their explanations. "But I don't understand how…"

"Please, it'll help, trust me," Phoebe pleaded.

Maggie silently agreed and closed her eyes. After a moment of hesitation, she pointed at a spot on the map. "Here," she stated.

Piper and Phoebe narrowed their eyes at the spot, trying to find the name of the street or some other landmark. "It's close by," Piper whispered.

"Thank you," Phoebe appreciated, already backing away toward the door. She and Piper rushed out.

Halliwell Manor

Leo paced back and forth through the empty house. He hit his fist against the wall of the foyer in his frustration and dropped to the staircase, running his hands through his hair as he waited for some news.

Streets of San Francisco

Prue paused at the edge of the road just below the bridge. The darklighter stopped next to her. "It's okay, no need to be afraid. I know what needs to be done. It's the best thing. The best thing for everyone. It's something I should've done a long time ago. Jump," the Darklighter compelled.

Prue took a shaky breath and stepped forward. "That's it. It's the only way. It's the only way to save the one's I love. I should've done it before. Years ago," the Darklighter continued.

"I didn't want to," Prue whispered, her eyes on the traffic driving below. She took a half-step backwards. "I don't want to."

The Darklighter made a face as she attempted to step away. "But I need to. I hurt them," he insisted.

"I hurt them," Prue repeated. She shut her eyes: she saw Phoebe in the hospital after the crash, connected to machines, a soft beeping…she saw Buffy face down in the pool of water in the Master's cave…and she saw Piper just last year stepping into the ocean. A sob escaped her and she stepped to the very edge of the bridge.

"It's all my fault. Jump. Jump." The Darklighter trailed off as he caught sight of a swirl of flames slowly forming the figure of Buffy just a few feet away.

"Prue, stop!"

Halliwell Manor

Leo frantically flipped through the pages of the Book of Shadows. "There's gotta be something in here, damn it," he cursed under his breath before shoving the book closed. "I can't just sit back and do nothing. Think. Think," he growled, leaning over the pedestal. His gaze shifted up to the ceiling. "Give me my powers back! I want my powers back. I want them back now. I can't keep being a mortal if this is the cost. I don't wanna lose Buffy or Piper. Not at the expense of losing Prue. This is my calling. You have to let me help. You have to give me my wings back…" his voice lowered to barely over a whisper by the end. He dropped his head only to notice his hands beginning to glow as the Elders granted his wish.

Streets of San Francisco

Piper and Phoebe pulled up at the bottom of the bridge and got out of the car. They proceeded to scan the area for Prue.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Piper asked nervously.

"This is where Maggie pointed to," Phoebe insisted on the verge of stomping her foot in frustration.

Piper threw her hands in the air. "But she's not here," she exclaimed.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy froze to a stop as the Darklighter leveled a crossbow at her. "Prue, there's a Darklighter," she warned her as she noticed her cousin didn't even seem to see the figure behind her.

"Darklighter?" Prue whispered but the statement did nothing to deter her. Her eyes flickered over to the edge again.

"There's no darklighter. Now save your sister. You know how," the Darklighter pressured through gritted teeth.

Buffy took advantage of his moment of distraction. "Prue!" she called. Swirl of Flame surrounded Prue and she disappeared, reappearing next to the Slayer.

Prue stumbled a little in surprise so that Buffy had to steady her. "What…" Prue started as her eyes landed on the Darklighter.

"He was trying to kill you," Buffy accused.

Prue blinked, slowly taking in the experiences she'd had throughout the day. She then noticed Piper, and Phoebe stepping onto the bridge behind the evil being. She glared at the Darklighter with eyes that still held evidence of her depression. "You bastard. How dare you hurt people this way," she snapped in fury. She threw her hand out at him and the Darklighter flew into the railing of the bridge.

The Darklighter didn't reply but waved his hand toward her so that another dark sphere of light hit Prue in the stomach. She let out a yelp of pain before collapsing to her knees. Paige managed to catch her and ease her down to her side while the darklighter pointed the crossbow once again at the youngest sister. "It's a gift. You'll jump for me sooner or later," he stated.

"Like Hell she will," Buffy cursed, disappearing in a swirl of flames. She reappeared tackling him to the ground.

Piper and Phoebe rushed past the Buffy/Darklighter scuffle to reach Prue's side. "What's the matter?" Piper demanded the same time Phoebe questioned "Is she okay?"

"He hit her with something," Phoebe answered as Prue seemed to be in too much pain to respond. The eldest sister had grown very pale and tried to curl up against the sudden cramping.

"Buffy! We need you!" Piper ordered while unclenching Prue's hand in order to hold it.

"… Hurts," Prue whispered

Leo orbed in next to his daughter and tackled the Darklighter. "Go," he ordered. "Save, Prue. You know how." He then orbed out with the Darklighter.

Buffy looked at her father and then ran toward Prue. She dropped to her knees next to Prue, Piper and Phoebe. She mimicked what she had seen her father do and held her hands over Prue. "I don't." she started. Then she looked at Piper. "But you do."

Piper looked at Buffy in understanding. "Love," she told her cousin.

Buffy nodded in understanding as she turned back to Prue and she let all the love she felt for Prue…for Piper…for Phoebe flood her. Golden light spread over Prue for several long moments and then dissipated as Prue slowly relaxed with the ebbing pain. "You okay?" she inquired to her.

Prue took multiple deep breaths and slowly nodded. "I think so," she answered in an exhausted voice.

"Thank god," Phoebe sighed, allowing her head to drop into her hands.

"How?" Prue wondered as she looked up at her cousin.

Buffy smiled as she pulled Prue into her arms. "Well, it seems I take after my dad. I'm a Whitelighter, I'm your Whitelighter."

Halliwell Manor

Piper opened the door and looked surprised to find Leo on the other side of the threshold. "Leo, you rang the bell?" she asked in surprise.

Leo ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I wasn't sure how you'd feel about me orbing in," he admitted. He stepped forward when Piper silently allowed him inside.

"I'd feel okay about it," Piper assured him.

Leo didn't seem to hear her as he prepared for his speech. "Look, I just wanted you to know that this wasn't their idea. It was mine and it's-it's not something I wanted to do, it's just…"

Piper reached up and put a finger on his lips to quiet him. "Leo, I thought about this a lot. Whitelighter or not, we can find a way to make this work. Somehow, someway."

Leo smiled and took a step toward her. "I'm gonna hold you to that," he warned.

"You do that," Piper allowed, giving him a quick hug.

"Now," Leo said. "There is another reason I am here."

"To see your daughter?" Piper asked.

"Yes, I got some news to tell her," Leo replied as Piper took his hand and pulled him to the kitchen where everyone else was. He released Piper's hand and pulled Buffy into his arms. "I have some good news."

"What?" Prue wondered as she looked at the newly re-empowered Whitelighter.

"Buffy is being permanently assigned as your Whitelighter," Leo said. "But there is a catch." He looked at his daughter. "I'm to train you in everything."