Hi so here is another chapter, I hope you enjoy this one and I will do my best to bring you the next one sooner rather than later. There are only seven more chapters left of this story but there are more Charmed stories coming so please stay tuned.

And I want to thank you all for your patience in waiting for this chapter, there has been a lot of personal issues going on recently, hopefully they have now been resolved.

There is now only two more chapters left and these will bring us to the end of Season 7. I was planning to do one for Season 8 but it might be more like the final five minutes with the sisters writing in the book to be honest.

Disclaimer-Nothing here is mine just this story.

Please Read and Review .

And thank you all for sticking with this story through the hard times, I appreciate that I have been a bit absent recently but rest assured I am back and so is this story.

Again in case it wasn't made clear in earlier episodes I DESPISE THE ELDERS. There were moments where I legit rooted for the Avatars. At least until...well...Anyway I always wanted the sisters to take on the Elders and finally they did in Season 7 a little.

I tend to do a mass update around Christmas so I will update the final chapters hopefully with this one and bring this story to a close.

Mother Of Invention

Chapter 28-The Journey So Far

Prue and Andy are here to save the day, Phoebe is in labour. Zankou and Paige are on the warpath, Daryl has no idea what he is doing there-essentially this is a love note to the irrepressible, irreplicable, Daryl Morris.

Andy was here. Andy was here, Prue was here, Billie was gone, the world had gone to shit—again—and Phoebe was in labour. Oh and he was in hell!

Yeah, Daryl needed to take a long vacation when this was one over. A long vacation with Shelia, no kids, no magic, no prosecutors, somewhere where they served drinks with little umbrella's in them and his wife walked around all day in a bikini.

Andy grinned at him.

"You doing okay?"

Phoebe let out a scream and Cole who had his head between his wife's legs—which was an image that Daryl did not need to see ever again thank you very much—shot his partner an unimpressed look.

"They got me working with that Sheriden chick until I got her transferred out to the FBI. Best favour I ever had to cash in man"

Andy snorted before he could stop himself and Daryl grinned. It was always easy with Andy he thought to himself. It had never been the same with any other partner. Andy had been his brother in more ways than one and even now six years on he missed him like a limb.

"How are things?"

"Good" Andy said grinning. "Well they were until…this…I mean…"

"I mean are you…" he jerked his head upwards and Andy laughed.

"Kind of. Prue and I keep an eye on things and we get through the day to day. It's nice. It's peaceful. It's good. Is it white gates and a big man in charge no but it's us and a house and it's peaceful"

Daryl thought about it. Peaceful sounded kind of nice.

"I miss you" he said truthfully. "Everyday, I miss you so much brother"

Andy's smile was genuine, soft, loving, the same as it was when he was human and Daryl half expected him to come into the office bitching about the state of the Mets game the night before.

Andy smiled at him.

"Miss you too brother" was all he said.

Daryl knew he was feeling the same.

"So how do we get Billie back?"

"We make them give her back. And Leo too"

"How do we do that?"

It felt odd having a conversation with Prue. The eldest sister, the one that she had never gotten a chance to meet. The one who was standing here now trying to tell her how to save her daughter. Zankou had wrapped one hand around hers and was gripping it so tight she was sure that she was going to bruise in the morning but she didn't care.

If she didn't get Billie back there wasn't going to be a morning.

Phoebe was still in labour. According to Piper who was with her it was going to take some time.

"We make them" Prue said simply.

"And how do we do that?"

"We give them no alternative"

"Look" Paige said. "I know when you were alive you were Prue Halliwell SuperWitch! But this is not that world anymore. These are the most formidable enemies that we have ever come against. They took—"

"I know what they took" Prue said evenly. "I was the one who told Billie to do it"

For a second she was stunned into silence.

"You know" Zankou said after a moments pause. "You are so lucky my dear woman that you are dead because if you weren't…" there was a pause as he looked directly at Prue and Prue looked directly back at him unflinching.

"Yeah" she said quietly. "Don't sell yourself to big will you."

"And don't sell yourself to short"

There was a moment where the two of them stared at each other and then Paige stood in between them.

"HOW DO WE GET BILLIE BACK?" She said gritting her teeth and staring her older sister down.

"I've already said. You make them. Look…the Avatar's plan depended on two things, one was your co-operation which is why they went after Leo in the first place and the second was no free will. The good only, no bad and no ugly. The Avatars assumed that you would be in such a hurry to get rid of demons that you wouldn't care all that much how. Leo figured it out before you did. They were just…I don't think they factored in other things either. Like there has to be a balance, like good and bad exist for a reason, good spirits, bad spirits, seriously it's chaos on all planes because of this decision. And it fucks up the Grand Design. Seriously Death has been bitching so much recently it's like he has his own theme tune. Because people aren't dying sis, no they are being erased"

There was a pause as they thought about it, or at least Paige did.

"We jumped head first into this one without thinking it through didn't we" she said more to herself than to anything or anyone else in the room.

Surprisingly enough it was Daryl that spoke though.

"Ah Paige come on. It was a world without demons. You weren't the only one who wanted that badly enough. I too staked quite a bit on this. So the Utopia isn't a Utopia. That's fine…but how do we get the world back to normal. Because that's why the two of you are here right? To make the Avatars reverse the spell?"

"Yes" Prue said nodding. "But it won't be easy. They need to know that we have a total plan in place. They need to know that you are sticking to the plan no matter what."

"So what does that mean?"

"Well you won't know this but when the Elders tried to stop Piper and Leo from getting married we operated a little…Scorched Earth policy"

"What does that mean"

"It means we all went on strike. Granted it didn't last long but they got the message. You need to stand shoulder to shoulder. Evil and good. The Charmed Ones can bring in a huge magical community. Zankou for better of for worse has demons he can call up. It's the thing the Elders have been afraid off for a long time, good and evil working together to defeat a common foe—only the Elders have been afraid of it being turned on them. If you stand with the demons, if the demons stand with good magic, the Avatars know that they are outnumbered."

Paige closed her eyes and then she opened them again seeing the picture burned behind her eyelids. It was better than seeing Billie and her soft smile of acceptance.

She closed her eyes and opened them again and nodded.

"But even if we defeat the Avatars then we have the Elders to deal with."

"No you don't. The Elders aren't stupid, they've been shaken by this, shaken by the Titans and the older ones among them are being pushed out by new Elders who know that the world has to change. The Elders know that they have been pushed to the end of their rule. Twice now the fate of the world has been taken out of their hands. My guess is they don't want a third. Gideon's betrayal has pushed them too. You can keep the Elders under control in your world. In this world you can't keep the Avatars under control"

"I hate to ruin this little moment" Piper said horribly cold. "But there is a head coming out of Phoebe so if we are going to do something then we are going to have to do something right"

There was a moment and then.

"Oh Lord" Daryl said with an eyeroll. "Why do I have to always get the messy jobs?"

"Could be worse" Andy said gleefully. "Could be the drunk tank on Halloween. Or worse…St Patrick's Day, or when the Superbowl is on or—"

"Thank you Andy I get it"

The Avatars were deep in conference when they stormed in.

It did not take long to convince them to change the world back. Perhaps it was the look on her face, perhaps it was Zankou armed with the potions waving sardonically black magic crackling between his fingers, perhaps it was just the way she was feeling. Piper did most of the talking, Prue sat on the edge of the world. Andy was back with Daryl and it was the Power of Three just a different Power of Three. Prue, Piper and Phoebe then Piper, Pheobe and Paige, and now Paige, Piper, Prue and Phoebe. A new Power of Three—a Power of Four.

How it should have been all along.

"You know it's not just the humans down below you have to worry about" Prue said casually peering down at the world below. "When the spirits get out of their boxes the dead and the beyond the good and the bad then…then there is a full out war on every plane. And you don't want that. It will be the end of the world. There isn't enough of you to end the world. That was never your intention. The way I see it. Reverse everything"

There was a second where both of the two remaining avatars looked at each other and then they nodded.

"What we want" the one with the goatee said softly. "What we want for the world can wait"

"And everyone you've taken from it? Leo, Billie all those ordinary people?"

"Back at their homes"

"Good" Prue said smiling. There was a pause and she said delicately. "Were waiting"

And then…

Nothing.

She pushed open the door half running into the house. She and Zankou had landed back on the front porch as had Piper but she had looked at Zankou said clearly "Phoebe" and then she was gone again. Paige had no doubt that she would get her sister, call Leo and then they would be back.

She didn't care. She was already running through the house.

"Billie? BILLIE?"

"Mom?"

It was the sweetest sound that she had ever heard. She turned and then running down the stairs blonde hair loose down her shoulders was her daughter who ran straight at her.

"Billie"

"Mom"

She wrapped both arms around her baby girl and hugged her close.

"Mom"

"Billie"

She gripped her daughter so tight she was sure the poor girl was going to bruise but she didn't care. Her daughter was here, her daughter was healthy, her daughter was alive.

She pulled back cupping Billie's face in her hands.

"Never, ever, fucking think about doing that again, I don't care if a unicorn tells you to do that YOU DO NOT DO THAT AGAIN OKAY?"

Billie her own eyes wet nodded and Paige hugged her daughter again turning to see Zankou leaning against the wall watching them. For a second he stared at them both eyes unseeing and then very gently as if he half expected it to be a mirage he pushed himself off the wall and wrapped his arms around both of them.

Paige found that she was leaning half against him and she was sobbing silently but it didn't matter.

None of it mattered.

Other than the fact that her daughter was alive again.

It was a girl.

Daryl thought as babies went she was a very cute one. He had been zapped back to the manner Phoebe in Cole's arms and the baby in his. Andy had come along for the ride and Leo was there with Piper and several cold beers of which he needed one. Billie was back wrapped in her mother's arms. The other demon was next to them and Prue and Andy were standing to the side.

All eyes however were on the new baby.

A girl.

"Paisley" Phoebe said grinning. "After her very brave cousin who managed to help save the world"

Billie stared open mouthed really.

"Yeah well…Grams will do her nut in if there isn't one with a P."

"And middle names?"

"Amelia"

"Welcome to the world Paisley Halliwell" Cole said grinning. It was odd Daryl thought how utterly happy he looked.

He stood up and thought he'd better give Shelia a call. She was better at this than he was and besides if he told her that Phoebe had the baby in hell she would be over here in a flash with blankets and stuffed toys and wet wipes and other…things…that woman needed after birth. Actually he was amazed Shelia had not come round here. Woman had a sixth sense about these things and it was honestly frightening sometimes.

But Prue and Andy were already at the door hand in hand and Daryl knew that they were making there way back to…wherever.

And he knew why, he knew they were choosing to go while their family was happy and together, proof that they had moved on as best they could.

But not for him.

"Andy?"

His partner turned around and Andy let go of Prue's hand just as Daryl caught him around the body in the biggest hug that he had ever given him…or anyone really.

It was the hug that he had wished that he had given Andy when he was alive. Had he known what was coming that day…

He tried to say all that he wanted to say in life in that hug. He said it all there and then. That Andy was the best partner that he had ever had, that he had been his best friend, that the absence in his heart had never been filled, that he had nearly hit the bottle hard when he had died. That Andy had been the brother that he had never had, had made him a better cop.

That it was over so shockingly short.

Andy hugged him back and it felt a little like Andy was saying that to him too.

The goodbye that they should have had.

There was a pause as they pulled apart and Andy was clapping him on the shoulder. Prue was grinning.

They looked happy.

And that was all that mattered.

Prue grinned, Andy winked and they walked out the door. Daryl saw only a flash of bright light but that was enough. He knew enough.

Something good had happened.

And nothing else mattered.

And there you go we are onto the final two chapters.

Next Chapter-As Pandora's Box is about to be open Zankou makes a decision as does Paige. Penultimate Chapter and last of the cannon ones.