Revelations of the Ultimate Kind

by PrueAndyForever

NEW CHAPTER. Piper, Phoebe and Paige try to move on with their lives after the Ultimate Battle but come to learn some shocking truths about their oldest sister. A new prophecy is unearthed, an old evil is resurrected, and Billie uncovers a secret.

43. When the Demon Bell Tolls

A/N: Okay. So, I originally planned to work on this next chapter and finish much sooner, but my family and I unfortunately had to deal with the unexpected passing of my father in early May. Needless to say, my mind has just been elsewhere these past months. I'm just starting to get back into the swing of things yet again. To everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter, thank you.

Oh, just an additional note. There are a few minor edits in the previous chapter and that was mainly due to the fact that I was originally wavering on whether I wanted to include something that would provide a small 'nod' to the sequel I originally had planned to do. I went back and included this, it's just some minor dialogue and changes nothing whether I ultimately end up doing to the next installment or not. We'll see.

New Chapter time! Enjoy.

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Chapter 42: When the Demon Bell Tolls

(Present - 2007)

Magic School

Prue barely caught her bearings before finding herself being pulled into a gigantic bear hug by Phoebe. "Oh!" she reacted to the unexpected greeting.

"Thank god you're okay," Phoebe stressed, shutting her eyes tightly, all her concern taking center stage. Then her demeanor completely shifted. Pulling away, she swatted her sister's arm and scolded. "And what the hell were you thinking?"

"Hey now!" Prue rubbed her arm.

Paige stood in the wings. "Nice to see you all in one piece," she told their sister in a half joking manner.

Prue eyed Paige.

"Of course, it would have been nicer had you not gone off and gotten yourself sucked into a box that literally unleashed all future hell on earth," Paige finished, her hands coming down to rest against her hips.

"Well ..." Prue put up her index finger, about to offer an explanation.

"Who do we look like?" Phoebe cut her off. "The clean-up crew?" she vented her frustrations over the fact that she and Paige had been left to deal with this entire mess on their own.

Prue shot her attention back to Phoebe. She attempted to speak again but still couldn't get a word in since Paige was a step ahead of her, jumping back in first.

"You and Piper have some serious explaining to do," she reprimanded.

Prue was looking at Paige again.

"Uh-huh," Phoebe nodded in agreement, "definitely some very serious explaining to do!" she folded her arms while mimicking Paige's sentiments.

Prue closed her eyes.

"Do you have any idea what's been going on around here?" Phoebe continued giving the third degree.

"Nope, but I'm sure I'm about to hear all about it," Prue grimaced, awaiting the inevitable revelation.

"You bet your ass you're going to hear all about it because while you were taking a literal stroll down memory lane, Paige and I barely got away from the Triad," Phoebe launched into the misery they had experienced during her brief absence.

"FYI, thanks to yours and Piper's little disappearing act," Paige huffed, "we're now stuck living in our own version of Back to the Future."

"Well," Phoebe cast her eyes towards the ceiling, thinking about the comparison. "Minus all the cool perks Marty McFly actually got to experience," she added on, waving her hand around to make her point while still backing up Paige.

"Yes, very true," Paige was now narrowing her eyes playfully. "Forget the backfiring spells and the magical time travel we get saddled with, that was a super-duper cool car," she sighed, reflecting on the movie.

"Mhm, yeah," Phoebe hummed to herself. "Too bad we can't just conjure one up to fix this mess too, eh?" she grinned at Paige, mocking their current dilemma.

Prue playfully squinted her eyes. She found this exchange to be weird but in an oddly amusing way. "Yeah, um, brush me up on my movie trivia if I'm wrong," she interjected, "but didn't Marty McFly almost erase his entire existence?" she glanced between the two other sisters.

Phoebe and Paige reverted their attention back to Prue.

"You know what, you're right," Phoebe retorted with humor. "Forget Back to the Future, this feels more like Nightmare on Prescott Street," she stressed. "Welcome to Hell House, aka Halliwell Manor!"

"Plenty of hell going on around here, that's for sure," Paige asserted, nodding empathically.

"And something you're now going to be helping fix by the way!" Phoebe laughed. "Pull up an idea, any idea!"

"Okay, you can back off now," Prue threw up her hands. "Message received. Loud and clear," she sighed and then there was a brief pause. "So how bad is it?"

"Oh, bad," Phoebe stressed. "Very very bad!"

"Obviously, Phoebe Einstein," Prue playfully chided her sister. "Is Piper here?" her eyes went in immediate search of the kids and the other sister who was still clearly MIA.

"Define here," Paige answered, glancing over at Future Piper standing near the wall. Future Piper was momentarily distracted and performing a quick inspection of the library with Billie. Probably to make sure Future Wyatt had actually left the Magic school.

"Define here?" Prue repeated, her brow furrowing. "Okay, um, confused sister here," she shook her head at her sisters. "Does that mean Piper's still not back home or ...?" she looked between Paige and Phoebe, her voice trailing off.

"That would be a resounding yes," Phoebe stressed. "Or, no," she thought about it again. "You know what, whatever, it means Piper's still gone," Phoebe closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"And yet oddly enough, we can look right at her," Paige waved at Piper's future counterpart.

Prue turned to look. "You mean the old woman? That old woman?" she pointed at her.

Paige nodded.

"Yep!" Phoebe confirmed. "That would be Piper from the future, or rather, one version of her anyway," she quickly amended the revelation.

"Okay, hold up," Prue laughed. "One version? There's not actually more than one of her stuck running around here, is there?" her face dropped. Her expression took on a slight look of horror.

"Uh, no," Phoebe laughed at Prue's reaction. "But, come to think of it, maybe I would have had better luck with some of my questions had a number two been lurking in the shadows somewhere," she cracked, actually considering it.

Prue seemed relieved. "So how were you able to figure out what happened with Gideon and the box?" she thought to ask next.

Phoebe nodded over at Future Piper. "Whatever Gideon did, whatever freaky exchange happened with Pandora's Box, a portal was created with a supernatural kick. A time switch."

"In other words, our visitors gave us the 411," Paige quickly summed it up.

Prue nodded in return. That made sense. She had already drawn the same conclusion while stuck in the past with Grams after realizing she had traded places with her younger self. However, Piper hadn't gone to the past with her, neither had the kids. Did that mean Piper was still trapped in the future somewhere? Did Gideon have control over their final destination and had they been separated on purpose? Prue felt growing concern for her daughter. If Piper and the boys were still gone, Molly had to be too. Her daughter had to be stuck somewhere with Piper. At least, she hoped. The thought of Molly being stranded alone, or with strangers, in an unknown location was just unacceptable; not after already having been kidnapped and held in the Underworld for a year of her life.

"But if you're thinking about getting any answers of the 'what the heck happened in our lives' variety," Paige opted to share, "I'd say ... save your breath," came the suggestion. "We already tried."

Prue gave it some thought.

"Yeah, to say she's been pretty tight lipped about virtually everything, other than how she got here, would be an understatement," Phoebe shared.

"That's really Piper?" Prue stared back at the woman, still trying to wrap her mind around it. "What happened?"

"What happened?" Phoebe snorted. "What didn't happen?"

"By the way, how did you manage getting back home?" Paige thought to ask Prue, changing subjects. "Cause we were a long way from figuring that one out." Prue lifted her eyebrows in mild surprise and Paige just shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry but it's the truth."

"Not to mention, whatever loophole you found, it didn't switch back Piper. Or the kids," Phoebe shoved her hands into her pockets.

Prue wasn't quite sure how to explain it. "Uh, I got some help."

"Help?" Phoebe's curiosity got piqued. "From whom?"

"Something called an Avatar?" Prue waited for their reactions.

Phoebe and Paige exchanged serious looks. "An Avatar?" Phoebe hadn't been expecting that.

"Yeah. Why? Is something wrong?"

"Uh, well," Paige momentarily stuttered, "you can say that," she nodded, attempting to make light of it. "I mean, they only used Cole, helped him create an alternate reality, tormented Leo, recruited us for their fake Utopia, used deception by omission," she began rambling off quickly, "killed Brody - I know you never met him, but that definitely still counts," she threw in, waving her hand at her sister.

Prue folded her arms, waiting for her sister to finish.

"... tried to remake the world in their own image, only to erase any living mortal from existence who challenged the Avatar status quo," Paige continued to list off using her fingers. "But I guess all that can be left up to interpretation?" she shrugged.

Prue let out a nervous laugh.

"Wow. Great monologue," Phoebe praised. "I think that about covers it."

"Thank you," Paige accepted.

Prue was left momentarily speechless. "So, what you're basically saying is that they're not to be trusted? Like ever?" She sighed. "Perfect."

"Generally, no," another voice cut in from the sidelines. The three sisters turned to see that Future Piper had now joined their discussion. "Their agendas are normally not our concern, but they can, and do, have their uses."

"Uses?" Phoebe wasn't exactly sure what Future Piper meant by that. "I think part of their repertoire is actually finding the use in others. And, believe me, they're not that picky about it either."

"Meaning?" Prue pushed for a clearer explanation on that.

"Good or evil will do," Paige revealed. "If it serves them."

"Pretty much," Phoebe agreed. "And there's no way I buy they helped you just to be helpful," she voiced her doubts.

"What exactly did they offer for this 'help'?" Paige used her fingers to make air quotes.

"More to the point, what did they ask of you?" Phoebe elaborated.

"Nothing," Prue shook her head.

"Nothing?" Phoebe parroted. Prue saw the disbelief written all over her sister's face. "Are you sure?" Phoebe pressed.

Prue closed her eyes. "Okay, well, maybe that's not completely true," she amended. "She did tell me there would be some sort of an energy exchange but nothing I needed to be worried about," her recollection revealed. "And to be honest, I was in a race against the clock," she rushed to defend her decision.

"An energy exchange?" Phoebe sighed in apparent frustration. "Yeah, because that doesn't sound ominous or anything. What kind of energy exchange?"

"I don't know," Prue was beginning to feel mildly miffed.

"You don't know?" Phoebe mimicked.

"No, I don't, and what's with the interrogation?" Prue shot back.

"It's not an interrogation," Phoebe denied, taking a deep breath in to calm herself.

"The hell it isn't!" Prue challenged back.

Paige shot her eyes between the two arguing sisters.

"Okay, well maybe it is, but Prue, we have certain experiences with things that you don't," Phoebe pointed between herself and Paige. "The Avatars definitely being one of those things," she stressed.

"Here we go and thanks for that very subtle reminder," Prue took a defensive stance against what she considered to be another dig against her absence.

Future Piper now held a weary expression observing the interaction. She released a heavy sigh.

Paige made a decision to interject and try to bring the growing tension down a notch. "Oops, guess we should've taken a closer look at that chapter on shifty scheming backstabbers, huh?" she shrugged, trying to make light of the situation. The truth was Prue had been thrust back into the middle of things during their ongoing threat with the Triad. There hadn't been enough time yet to go over every inch and detail of her missing five years.

"So, you think that makes me stupid and ill-equipped to handle things?" Prue narrowed her eyes at the two sisters.

"No, that's not what I said," Paige defended herself. "I only meant we haven't gotten around to covering everything yet."

"And ill-equipped, yes, maybe," Phoebe jumped back in, "stupid, most definitely not! Prue, I'm sorry, but it's just the truth, okay? Don't turn this into something it's not."

"Then why bring it up?" Prue retorted. "You weren't there!"

"And who's fault was that?" Phoebe gave off a laugh laced with sarcasm.

"Well, I'm certainly not going to apologize for acting and doing what needed to be done," she defended her decision to go into the Underworld with Piper to retrieve the kids. "If you have a problem with that, find a way to get over it, because I'm not sorry."

"Prue, seriously?" Phoebe sighed, throwing her arms up in the air. "Risking your life without back up was definitely not needed," she turned around, feeling her growing frustration take over. Her back was now facing her two sisters.

"I wasn't alone, I had Piper," Prue refuted. "And isn't that what we practically do every day? Risk our lives for the greater good?" she argued back.

"Okay, you know what, I can't right now," Phoebe brought her hands up against her forehead to ward off a headache. It didn't do much to help and neither did closing her eyes. Her sister was too hard-headed and stubborn to listen to reason. "Paige, do you think you can knock some sense into her please?" she then looked to her sister for some back up. "Because obviously I can't."

Paige quickly shot up her hands, backing away. "Nope, don't think so!" She didn't want to be pulled into the middle of it. "You two are on your own; have at it, hash it out, whatever," she looked between both of them. "Get back to me when it's over," she rolled her eyes, giving a brisk nod before turning around to find a corner to slink off to.

Phoebe groaned, throwing her head back.

"I just want to know if I'm going to have to hear this every time I make a decision you may not agree with?" Prue refused to let that part go.

"Prue," Phoebe spun back around. "Listen to me. Please take your ego out of this for a moment because I'm not attacking you here. Maybe I just don't want to see you get hurt, or worse, get killed, did you ever think about that? I mean, is that all right with you?" she mocked with heavy emotion.

Paige kept her distance, casting her gaze down at the floor.

Prue just looked away, shaking her head.

"I've actually lived it before," Phoebe continued venting. "It hurts. Like hell," she stressed. "Okay? So, forgive me but I'm not eager for a repeat."

"Yeah, I get it. I think you already made that point clear the last time we had this argument," Prue reminded her.

"No kidding, and did you listen?" Phoebe exclaimed. "No, because you ran off to the Underworld anyway after we already decided it was too dangerous without your powers. Piper should have known better."

"All right, STOP!" Future Piper took it upon herself to finally intervene and halt the confrontation. "Both of you," she released a deep sigh, trying to mediate the situation. She had been standing on the sidelines watching and listening to what was bringing back her own unpleasant memories. This wasn't productive and while Phoebe certainly had valid concerns regarding Prue's encounter with the Avatars, she recognized Phoebe was also in an emotional place from their discussion earlier. Phoebe had wanted to know Prue's fate and was unhappy not to receive the answers she was seeking out.

"Fine, consider it stopped from my end," Prue was now eager to put an end to the unpleasant disagreement herself. "But I'm not the one who brought it up."

"No, you didn't," Future Piper acknowledged, "but I think what really matters here is getting missed. And that's that we're all here, together, and together is the only way we're going to fight our way through this," she pointed out, looking from Prue, to Phoebe, and finally to Paige. "It doesn't matter whether it's Gideon, the Triad, or even the Avatars," she stressed, giving Phoebe a pointed look. "We're strongest together. We may hold this new power as witches but please never let that overshadow that we're sisters first," she reminded them. "All the rest will fall into place."

"Are you sure about that?" Phoebe threw the dig back at Future Piper. How could she even make such a claim considering the very future she herself came from? According to Phoebe's understanding, the only thing that would be 'falling into place' for any of them were their eventual deaths. The time was fast approaching where it would be the end of the Charmed Ones and the Ultimate Power. For good.

"No. But what I am sure about," Future Piper made direct eye contact with Phoebe, "is that the future is never set in stone."

Phoebe turned away. She tried to shake off her feeling of uneasiness.

"She's right," Prue jumped back in. "Our focus should be on the threat coming our way. That's certainly not each other. And listen," she interjected a bit calmer. "I appreciate the concern, but it did seem like a small price to pay," she tried to clear up the air regarding her interaction with the Avatar.

"Yeah, let's hope," Phoebe shrugged, locking stares with Prue. It was the best she could offer. She still didn't trust it.

Paige just shared a quick look with Phoebe, opting to remain silent on the matter.

"I feel fine," Prue eyed both sisters, trying to reassure them.

"Okay, if you say so," Paige relented, just wanting to put an end to the spat. Although, truth be told, she wasn't really any more convinced than Phoebe was regarding the involvement of the Avatar. However, the issue would have to be put on the backburner for now. She'd just make a mental note to keep an eye out in the future, though. No surprises.

"Ladies, I do believe the concerns with the Avatar can wait," Future Piper attempted to bring their focus back around to the immediate problem at hand.

Prue turned, hoping for some better input. "I take it you wouldn't be able to confirm or deny?" she put Future Piper on the spot.

Phoebe snorted. "Good luck with that," she threw out.

Prue shifted her focus away from Phoebe back to Future Piper. "Is there something I need to watch out for? Does something happen?"

"Excellent question!" Phoebe interjected, sending Future Piper a smug look. Phoebe still wanted those answers herself, particularly regarding the truth on what happened to Prue and the rest of them in the future.

They were met by more silence.

"Piper? Just tell me!" Prue pushed.

Future Piper shook her head. Leave it to Prue to cut straight to heart of the matter.

"Yes, do tell," Phoebe insisted. "Charmed minds really want to know," she smirked.

A reproachful look was sent Phoebe's way. "I think if Prue had been in any real serious danger from the Avatar, she wouldn't be standing here with us right now," Future Piper used some discretion in crafting her answer. It ended by delivering Phoebe a very pointed message with her eyes.

Phoebe decided to give up. That was all they were going to get, in her gut she knew it, and she took it as Future Piper's way of confirming that whatever happened with Prue in her version of the future, at least the unknown threat didn't appear to lie with the Avatars. Still, she would have appreciated some more direct answers.

"At least that part sounds like a little bit of good news," Paige settled on. "Right?" she was hoping for some validation from the others.

"It's one less problem," Future Piper confirmed for her. "Now, we do have some more pressing issues to contend with. And if any of you think that Wyatt is going to take what just happened sitting down, or that the threat with him is extinguished, then you're in for a rude awakening," she reprimanded the group. "Prue, you need to get caught up with what's happening now," she nodded at her. "You're back, which means, with the four of us together, we have a shot at getting those stones away from Gideon."

"You're doing that avoidance thing," Prue nodded back at her. "Still, after all these years?" Then she thought about it. "Or rather those years? Whatever, you know what I mean," she waved it off.

"No, I actually like to think I'm doing the 'keeping us alive' thing," Future Piper countered. "The quicker we get this done, the quicker I get home and then Wyatt will be one less problem you'll have to deal with in the present," she laid it out the table. "Your focus needs to be on Gideon and the rest of the Triad."

"Speaking of our little wayward Elder, it's been pretty quiet on that front," Paige voiced. "Any ideas on what he and the rest of the Triad are up to?"

"Trying to find the most painful way possible to render us extinct?" Phoebe chimed in. "It's not even like they actually need us around anymore, they already have access to our power."

It served as a sobering reminder for everyone.

"Well, I don't want to go the way of the dinosaurs," Paige pouted, "so what are we going to do about it?"

"Get our hands on that incantation and render that extinct?" Prue suggested. "But like Piper said," she sighed, nodding at their sister from the future. "First we need to resolve the current problem at hand. Which is to get everybody back to where they belong."

"Right," Phoebe relented. "Let's get to work on it then."

"Hey guys? I think you should take a look at this?" Billie called out from the background.

All four sisters turned. They were greeted by the sight of Billie, Leo, Henry, and Coop all distracted with something happening at the table. The sisters moved to join the rest of them only to uncover what the spectacle was about.

"What is it?" Phoebe inquired, moving in beside Billie. "Wait, what's happening?" The book to summon the Vicarian Stones was glowing.

"I don't know," Billie shoved her hands into her pockets. "It literally started doing that just a few seconds ago."

Recognition entered Prue's eyes. "Hey, the book. You guys already found it?"

Everybody looked at Prue.

"Well, you did," Leo shared. "Or the other you. The younger you."

"That was quick," Prue thought about it.

"What do you know about it?" Phoebe asked.

"I found it and left it in a vent. I think somewhere over there," Prue pointed towards a row of bookcases. "Figured it might stay there and be of some use for us."

"You mean you found it in the past?" Paige sought clarification. "You were in this library?"

Prue nodded her confirmation.

"So, wait, does that mean this book is technically from the past? Just like the younger you?" Billie's face contorted, sharing her immediate thought with the sisters.

"Uh," Prue stuttered, "Well, technically?"

Then it clicked into place. Dawning realization hit the entire group at the same time as all eyes fell to the book. They witnessed it begin to vibrate, glow brighter, and then levitate from off the table. The light extended out until, finally, it was so bright that a book was no longer visible. Everyone turned their heads, blocking their eyes, as an explosion of light burst out in all directions and then the book was gone.

Precious seconds ticked by. They were all shocked into silence.

"Looks like time caught up with the book," Leo put words to the conclusion reached on what they had just witnessed.

"Great," Phoebe was the first to voice her disdain.

"Well, ladies," Paige sighed. "Any bright ideas on how we get to those stones now?" she folded her arms.

x

Underworld

Evil Future Wyatt directed all his rage at the rock wall extending before him.

"Grrrrrr!" he roared, and huge blasts of red energy left his hands, meeting the rock and sending huge splinters hurdling in every direction.

His sight then landed on a large boulder just a few feet away. Tapping into his telekinesis, his face still red with rage, the muscles in his face and chest strained as he projected all his might into lifting the enormous rock from off the ground. Swiftly, he turned around and sent it flying all the way across the Underworld cavern. His aim barely missed the invisible figure standing there, observing the entire spectacle.

"You know, I can think of many more useful ways to better expend that energy," the voice decided to make its presence known.

Future Wyatt slowly lifted and then turned his head to face the intruder. Adrenaline still pumping, his chest was heaving up and down. "You!" his tone was accusatory upon identifying the intruder.

Gideon emerged into clear view.

"What do you want?"

"Quite the tantrum, my boy," Gideon mocked in return. "Please do tell, what is it exactly you think your little magical firework display will accomplish down here?"

"I said what do you want?" Future Wyatt demanded in a much firmer tone when he didn't take kindly to the response.

"How about a proposal?" Gideon ventured.

"Not interested!" Future Wyatt immediately shot it down.

"Ah, but you haven't heard what it is I may be able to offer you?" Gideon lifted his finger in the air, as he began pacing cautiously at a safe distance.

"Offer me?" Future Wyatt began pacing from his position, until both men were circling each other. "I don't need to make deals with anyone."

"Clearly, not the case, otherwise you wouldn't have needed to recruit the demons I sent your way," Gideon revealed.

Future Wyatt glared.

"Consider that one a free gift on me," Gideon supplied.

"Is that so?" Future Wyatt sneered. "Well, your 'gift' just became demon food for the Wasteland less than an hour ago," he mocked in return. "I didn't need them. I don't need you."

"Given the magical theatrics just mere seconds ago, I would venture to say that's probably not true," wagered Gideon. "Now, is it?"

Both men stopped their movements.

"There's nothing you can offer me!" Future Wyatt held firm. "If I want something, I'll just take it," he nodded, hands clasped behind his back.

"Hmm, and is that why you're standing here right now empty-handed? " Gideon baited. "Trapped, inside a world you don't belong. Once escaping from a world you never belonged to," he made deliberate reference to Wyatt's family legacy. "I understand your dilemma. I understand you."

"Go. Away." Future Wyatt mouthed out slowly. "You understand nothing."

"I can help you."

"I said I don't need you. Leave, now."

"Well, perhaps it's not me you need per say," Gideon relented, "but you certainly will need these if you ever intend to get out of your predicament," he summoned Pandora's box and the remaining Vicarian Stones to prove his point. "And that only comes with my help."

Future Wyatt visually connected with the items.

Gideon misinterpreted his silence as a form of submission. "So, you see, it may not serve your best interests to set your sights on destroying me."

"I don't need to destroy you," Future Wyatt countered. "My family will get around to doing that themselves. Eventually," he added on.

Gideon sneered. "Yes, well, perhaps from your timeline. But lest I remind you that the future here is still yet to be determined. I'd consider carefully which side it is you want to fall on."

"There are no sides," Future Wyatt refuted. "Only power."

"Power. Yes, and I now have something within my own grasp that the Charmed Ones themselves were unable to prevent from happening." There was a smugness accompanying these revelations. "I have the Ultimate Power," he proclaimed with pride.

"You hold no real power, Elder!" Future Wyatt threw back at the recruited Triad member. "You're nothing more than a weak and empty shadow of your former self. You hold onto pathetic trinkets," he nodded at the magical artifacts, "and hide behind stolen magic to do your bidding!"

"Be that as it may," Gideon's face grew darker while he kept his emotions in check, "those trinkets, are your only magical ticket back home, my friend. Choose wisely. Either way, it makes no real difference to me. My plans remain unchanged."

"As do mine," Future Wyatt challenged in return. His eyes averted to Gideon's hand, which slowly opened and appeared to be revealing something. "What is that?" his cold stare met back with the former Elder.

Gideon sneered. "One of the most inconspicuous demons the Underworld has ever known."

"It's just a bell!" Wyatt made a face. "Another one of your useless trinkets," he accused the former Elder.

"Oh, it's so much more than that, friend," Gideon countered rather cryptically and then laughed.

"I'm not your friend!" Future Wyatt fired back.

"Watch and learn," Gideon instructed.

The bell began to chime. As it got louder, a shrill sound erupted, and Future Wyatt shifted his gaze in every direction, trying to locate the source. His eyes landed back on the bell, and he brought his hands up to cover his ears. "Turn it off!" he yelled.

"What's that?" Gideon brought his ear down against the bell. He appeared to be communicating with it. "Very well."

"I said to turn it off!" Future Wyatt shouted. "Now!" Finally, with seething anger, he broke through the spell, and dropped his hands. He then telekinetically yanked the bell from out of Gideon's hand. It went flying in the direction of the cave wall, slammed against it, then fell to the ground. It stopped chiming. "That's more like it."

"Not quite," Gideon remained eerily calm.

"Don't do that again!" Future Wyatt ordered but his attention got drawn to the bell on the ground beginning a transformation.

Gideon smirked, watching as the bell shifted from the form of a bell into a male demon. The male demon merely shook his head from side to side, stretched his arms out to crack his knuckles, while shaking off the attack as if it had been nothing more than a trivial inconvenience. He straightened himself out, stared Future Wyatt down, and then yawned. Gideon turned to Future Wyatt, gauging for his reaction.

"What is this?" Future Wyatt demanded to know.

"This," Gideon stressed, waving at the demon, "could come in handy, wouldn't you say?"

Future Wyatt appeared to be considering it.

"So. What do you say?" Gideon pushed one more time.

"What did you have in mind?" Future Wyatt finally proposed.

Gideon looked pleased. "Just a little bit of an even exchange. You help me to rid some of the obstacles from my timeline, and I'll help rid some from yours."

Future Wyatt took in a deep breath. Then he gave one firm nod.

"Good, good," Gideon smirked.

X

(Future - 2029)

The teleportation brought Piper to an unexpected destination. Glancing around, confusion spread across her face. "Wait a second, this isn't the Manor?" she declared. "AJ?" she called out for the Avatar. "AJ, c'mon!" she groaned.

Seconds passed by and there was no response.

"Hello," she threw out her arms. "Anytime now? My patience is wearing thin, and you don't want to see me get angry, believe me," she chided him.

"Relax, I'm here," a voice finally responded.

Piper jumped.

The invisible form of the Avatar took shape.

"What, is there like a three second time delay between teleportation drops?" Piper cracked, thinking about how orbing never split people up like that. "Where are we and what are we doing? You were supposed to bring me to Wyatt!" she sounded exasperated.

"And I will," the Avatar assured her. "But, first, I wanted to show you something."

"Show me something?" Piper eyed him incredulously. She glanced around. "Uh," she made a face, "nothingness to my left," her eyes shot in that direction, then they shifted the opposite way, "and oblivion over to my right. I gotta' tell ya, nothing very impressive here to see."

AJ smirked.

They were surrounded by a white foggy mist, but it began to dissipate. Very slowly, the environment took on a new appearance. While standing together side by side on a raised dais, down below revealed what appeared to be rows and rows of baby bassinets behind a huge glass wall barrier.

Piper was mildly intrigued. "What is all this?" she couldn't help but ask as she took some steps forward.

"They call it The Nursery," the Avatar sighed, providing the revelation.

Piper went a little closer to get a better view. "The Nursery?" she placed her hand against the glass window, peering down.

"Yes."

Piper didn't say anything. Instead, she was surprised to discover that the bassinets actually had live babies inside them and not only what appeared to be human babies either. She spotted an elfin baby, a baby dwarf, a gnome, a leprechaun, an ogre, and even a troll. Her brows arched because those were only the magical creatures she had familiarity with and could easily identify off-hand.

"This is where many an Avatar journey began," he sighed.

"I take it I'm not looking at free magical daycare services?" Piper quipped.

"Daycare services?" AJ sent her a questioning look.

"Yeah ... " Piper thought of the best way to explain. "A place to drop off the kiddos and run," she joked. "Kidding," she grinned. "Very expensive though. Not kidding." The Avatar still didn't appear to catch on. "Never mind."

"No, not daycare, but they're certainly well looked after," AJ told her.

"Shucks, well, that's too bad. That actually could have come in handy and made the entire trip here worth it." However, things took a more troubling turn for her when her eyes landed on a completely different row behind the glass wall. "Is that a baby Grim lock?" Piper found herself aghast.

The Avatar nodded like it was the most natural thing in the world to see. "Uh-huh," he confirmed. "And that's a manticore," he pointed out, "and over there is a warlock. I'm showing you so you can understand."

"No, actually, you're creeping me out," Piper delivered back. "A baby warlock? What are the offspring of demons doing mixed up in this nursery with all the others?" She shook her head in bewilderment. "In fact, what are any of them even doing here at all? This isn't normal." She turned for an explanation.

The Avatar nodded in understanding. "No, not in your world, but in ours, all these beings, these creatures you see before you, have a destiny separate from the confines and limitations imposed by the world of good and evil."

"Wait? Are you saying that all these babies are Avatars?"

"Future ones, yes," AJ confirmed.

Piper's eyes scanned the cabinets along the walls. They appeared to be housing cylinder shaped containers. "But where are the parents?"

"We don't have parents," AJ explained. "At least, not in the traditional sense. We're assigned a guide, though. They stay alongside us through most of our development until we reach maturity. We're schooled into the collective."

Piper couldn't explain why but she got such an uneasy feeling over this.

"It's where my life began, my destiny," he shared.

"Yeah, but still, you all had to come from somewhere, right, you know, like the birds and the bees ..." she slipped through some grinding of teeth, broaching the uncomfortable nature of the topic as best she could.

"If it's our biological origins you are making reference to, they're irrelevant," AJ was firm about it. "It's merely a doorway."

"To what?" Piper was confused.

"To our real purpose, our destiny," AJ looked back at Piper. "We're chosen ones. We decided on this path long before our entry into the physical world."

"Chosen by whom?" Piper couldn't help but challenge it. "Did any of the parents even get a say in deciding this for their children?" She wasn't too sure if the demons would care all that much but certainly the other mortal or magical beings must have some kind of feeling over it.

AJ sighed. "The Avatars were our parents. For lack of a better description."

"Are you telling me the Avatars collect kids?"

"No," he denied.

Piper was trying to figure out the best way to get her point across. She didn't want to become argumentative with AJ just for the sake of it, but the truth was, this entire arrangement the Avatars had going came off cringey at best. It didn't feel right. Was this actually being allowed? If so, what was the purpose behind allowing it? The brief experience she and her sisters had with the Avatars revealed they weren't exactly the most trust-worthy bunch, nor were they as 'neutral' as they proclaimed to be when it came to their interactions with the Underworld or the rest of the magical community.

"AJ this isn't ..." Piper started but read his face and stopped.

"This is my world," he defended.

Piper remained silent as AJ stepped up beside her. He looked down and then with one wave of his hand, the image below morphed into a brand-new place. The baby bassinets were now gone and standing in their place was a scene that resembled a classroom setting. Many school-aged looking children were spread out in rows, sitting at desks, all in perfect conformity. All were dressed in black Avatar attire, each child's concentration fully immersed in whatever they were doing, and there appeared to be no distractions.

"I'm guessing no reading, writing, or arithmetic?" Piper made light of it.

"No. None of the above," AJ smiled.

"Okay, so I don't really understand," Piper shook her head slowly. "Why did you want me to see this?"

AJ was quiet for a brief moment. "Because it's nice to have a ... friend," he settled on. "Somebody to share things with. Avatars always have each other to rely on but their allegiance is always to the collective first."

Piper took time to contemplate his admission. "A friend, huh? Well, this friend isn't even going to remember you once she gets back home. And present company aside, mister," she smirked while remaining serious, "I still won't be trusting the Avatars anytime soon," she let him know.

AJ smiled. "That's okay. I'll remember you."

Piper moved her hand away from the pane of glass. In her other arm, she held on securely to the box she still intended to bring back to the others. The Avatar, or rather AJ as he was being called, was still somewhat of a mystery to her. While she could certainly tell he was passionate about being one, she sensed there was something missing for him inside his Avatar life. He must have felt or sensed this himself which could explain his desire to reach out and connect beyond the collective duties that were assigned to him in this Avatar existence. Why else would he have even bothered to seek out her future counterpart to try and help fix the mess their lives had morphed into? The Avatars. He was the same but also a little different from the rest of them, she concluded.

"Time to go," he announced abruptly, moving to the background.

"So soon?" she joked.

"I think we've kept Wyatt waiting long enough," he nodded.

"I agree. Ready whenever you are," Piper sighed. She glanced back down and looked one last time. The scene with the children completely vanished from sight.

With Piper's back still facing the Avatar, AJ quickly produced a small square card in his hand. Folding it, he swiftly deposited it into her pocket before she turned back around and noticed anything. "Shall we?" he stepped up beside her, holding out his arm for her to take.

Piper hesitated but then smiled. She comfortably looped her arm with his as the two were now off to the Manor for Operation Rescue Wyatt.

X

(Present - 2007)

The Manor

"Look, I don't know what all the fuss is about anyway, the book wasn't even in English," Paige made it a point to remind them, trying to talk and keep pace with her sisters at the same time, who were speed-walking ahead of her. "Even with the translator, it probably would've taken like a century to get through the entire thing. We don't have that kind of time."

The sisters all entered the attic with Billie. After a brief discussion and vote, they decided to chance it and make a return. Luckily, Wyatt had opted not to come back and there were no signs of the other demons either. Prue was informed regarding the situation involving the others, and Andy, who were all still stuck in the basement. She had the Book of Shadows in hand and went to place it back on the podium.

"Not disputing that, Paige," Phoebe argued, "but the book was definitely the most viable shot at retrieving those stones. Now we need a Plan B. Billie, how much longer you think we got with this bi-location spell?"

The original bodies of Phoebe, Paige, and Future Piper were all still trapped inside the basement with the others awaiting their return. It was their clone bodies currently in use.

"I think we're good for as long as we need it," Billie shrugged.

Phoebe nodded back. "Prue, anything yet on how to break a magical binding?"

"Nope," she answered back while flipping through the pages, her own determination to get to Andy keeping her focused. "But you'll be the first to know when I do."

"Right, okay," Phoebe sighed.

With a little bit of help and insight from Leo, the sisters had managed to piece together how Wyatt maneuvered his way into the Magic School. Earlier, when he had entrapped them inside his magical force-field, the bubble created a binding. It's how Wyatt had been able to block their magic inside it or when trying to tap into it from the basement. It was the same binding blocking the door; the seal hadn't been broken. In turn, the binding kept Wyatt attached to them, and in turn linked to their magic, and he had been able to breach the magical guards as if he were entering the Magic School as one of them.

"Does plan b happen to include any back up way for how we get our Piper back home if we can't get to those stones?" Paige threw out.

"No clue, Paige, but I really don't want to think about that right now," Phoebe went in search of the crystals to create a protective barrier around the attic just in case. "I can't think about it or I might freak."

Sighing, Paige followed behind Phoebe. "I know, I get that, I'm trying not to freak out myself, but there's no sign of that book in our time. It's obviously long gone."

"What do you think happened to it?" Billie wondered aloud.

"Gideon?" Prue suggested, quickly flipping through the Book of Shadow pages. "Maybe he got rid of it."

"No, don't think so," Phoebe refuted, thinking about how Barbas got to the stones first before Gideon even got his hands on them.

"Why not?" Prue challenged back. "Gideon could have easily disposed of it thinking he was doing it for the greater good," she pointed out.

Future Piper intentionally cleared her throat in a loud manner, briefly looking up from the old album she had been skimming through.

Prue, Phoebe, and Paige all shared a quick look.

Piper had come to despise the use of that phrase. Apparently, the passing years leading into the future hadn't done much to change that.

"I mean, maybe he thought by getting rid of it he was safeguarding the stones. No book, no way to find them, but he just didn't realize they were already gone," Prue rephrased it.

"You mean before he went all vigilante evil on us?" Paige snorted, rolling her eyes.

"But getting rid of the book before securing the stones?" Phoebe countered. If he had disposed of a magical book that could potentially provide access to such a powerful artifact, wouldn't he have made sure that the stones were hidden too? She shook her head. "No, I'd actually argue the Avatars are looking guiltier than Gideon at this point," she proposed.

"Phoebe?" Prue began to protest, not wanting to revisit that particular subject.

"Relax, okay, that's not a dig at you or anything, and we can certainly blame Gideon for a lot, but I don't think he was keeping tabs on that book," insisted Phoebe, while rustling through the chest. "Or the stones. Call it a hunch or whatever."

"It doesn't matter now anyway," Paige knelt down to help Phoebe find the crystals. "That book is gone and, don't forget, Magic School would have been protected against demons back in the day," she contributed to the discussion. "Which means if Gideon had nothing to do with it, I say either somebody in that school got a case of the sticky fingers or another magical being accessed the library."

"Like an Avatar," Prue sighed, really giving it some consideration this time.

"Yep," came Phoebe's agreement. "Demons wouldn't have had direct access. Who else could have breached the magical barrier and then given the demons the opportunity to get their hands on them? Certainly not one of the good guys, that's for sure," she shook her head.

"Hey, we thought Gideon was one of the good guys, remember?" Paige reminded her.

"The real good guys," Phoebe emphasized.

"A snag and grab," Billie chimed in. "See, and this is why I prefer to do all my demon hunting via. modern technology," she smirked, waving at her laptop sitting on the couch. "They can't get rid of that."

"Precisely," Paige nodded at her analogy. "And no, absolutely not!" she narrowed her eyes and blew off the suggestion with the laptop.

"Well, like Paige already pointed out, the book is a moot point so I say we keep our focus on what we can do," Future Piper decided on what she felt would be the more productive course of action.

Retrieving the crystals from the chest, Phoebe passed some over to Paige, who then passed some to Billie, and Future Piper, who all went to different locations of the attic to deposit them. When they were finished, they lit up, creating the barrier. Normally, the crystals were used to keep demons trapped in but now they were being used to keep them out.

"Hey, I think I've got something," Prue called out, grabbing the attention of Billie and her sisters. As they approached, she was scribbling frantically on a small memo pad. She tore it off. "This should reverse the binding but we're gonna' need some white sage to do it," she looked to the others. "How are we on witch supplies?"

"Oh, I got it!" Billie raised a hand at Prue.

Prue arched her brows.

"Billie, the sage is down in the kitchen," Phoebe nudged her. "And we're not."

"Well, I don't mean on me right now now?" Billie clarified. "And, exactly, I remember. What I meant to say was I can be the one to volunteer and go get it," she suggested with more enthusiasm.

Prue sent her daughter a peculiar look.

"Hey, it's something to do!" Billie shrugged it off. "You guys are busy with all the bigger stuff while I'm mostly just standing around," she folded her arms.

"Sure, why not," Prue nodded, with a slightly amused expression.

Paige stood by Prue, examining the spell. "The Unbinding Ritual, to reverse the imposition, chant this three times and then purge the ... " she began reading out loud but then finished the rest to herself.

"All right, then, I think we're good to go," Prue lead the way.

The sisters, along with Billie, left the attic and made their way downstairs for the kitchen. While nobody appeared to be in the Manor aside from themselves, they still kept on guard and remained vigilant for any signs of impending threats. Billie sprinted ahead to the kitchen cupboards and retrieved the white sage needed to perform the ritual.

Taking the lighter, Prue lit the sage.

The sisters then huddled together, each beginning the chant written down on the paper held onto by Prue. Billie did her part and cleansed the area using the white sage. Slowly, they approached the cellar door, careful not to come into contact with the barrier.

"Tibi enim absolvisti, tibi enim absolvisti, tibi enim absovisti (release thee, we unbind thee)," the four sisters chanted in unison.

The air started to crackle and the force-field surrounding the door was beginning to become visible. It was fading in and out.

"It's working!" Phoebe sounded hopeful.

"Again," Future Piper nodded. "Repeat the chant again."

"Tibi enim absolvisti, tibi enim absolvisti, tibi enim absovisti (release thee, we unbind thee)," their united voices became louder, more forceful.

Finally, the force-field broke completely and then faded away.

"Did we do it?" Paige spoke. "I think we did it," she smiled.

Prue was the first to take some cautious steps forward. Reaching her hand out slowly, she tested the area surrounding the door, only to be met with the air. "We definitely did it," she confirmed, breathing an apparent sigh of relief and immediately grabbing for the doorknob. After swinging the door open, she jumped, coming face to face with somebody waiting on the opposite side.

"Prue?" came the startled reaction.

"Andy," Prue reached out and pulled him into one of the tightest embraces she hadn't experienced since one of Phoebe's.

Andy closed his eyes, holding onto his wife tightly. He was quite visibly relieved with the reunion. "You're back, and alive, thank god," he ran one hand down through her hair. After pulling apart, they looked into each other's eyes briefly, then came together in a long but overdue kiss.

"Okaayy," Phoebe quickly averted her gaze, scratching the back of her neck to avoid feeling the weirdness that usually came with witnessing such an intimate moment. "Not awkward at all with the rest of us standing right here."

Billie brought up her hand to shield her view from it. Staring felt intrusive and weird. They were also her parents. Technically speaking.

Paige, on the other hand, didn't feel any embarrassment watching the display at all. "How sweet," she playfully pouted her lips. "That's it, kiss and make up," she openly encouraged the couple, hoping the relationship would take a quick turn for the better and she could get out of the doghouse after sticking her nose in the business with Coop.

Slightly amused, Prue and Andy broke apart and turned to look at her.

"Don't mind us, carry on, carry on," Paige waved back at them.

"It's about time," another voice suddenly piped in from the background.

Future Piper identified it as her son.

Prue and Andy moved further into the kitchen in order to make room for the others to come upstairs too.

Future Chris was the next to exit. He stopped. "We thought we heard something. Glad it was you," he sighed in relief. "But you two," he pointed at Prue and Andy, "need to get a room. That mini make out session was seconds away from scarring your daughter for life," he then pointed back over his shoulder.

Prue sent the stranger a questioning stare. "I'm sorry and you would be?" she prodded, narrowing her eyes at him.

"That little kid you used to teach telekinetic batting practice to?" Future Chris supplied, moving past her and towards his mother, his back now facing Prue. "And by the way," he turned back around. "Thanks. It actually came in handy with a demon or two."

"Sure ... you're welcome?" Prue nodded, making a face. "Whatever that means I guess."

"Telekinetic batting practice?" Phoebe questioned. "What's that?"

"Telekinetic exercise," he explained. "Sometimes on the weekends we'd go down to the abandoned quarry. Normally when Mom and Dad were away," Future Chris told her. "And something you may want to consider doing."

"Oh, looking forward to it," Phoebe cracked, thinking of all the future work that would go into becoming the Ultimate Power. As if learning to control their own individual powers hadn't been daunting enough.

"Oh Chris, come here!" Future Piper reached out for her son, happy to be reunited with him. He smiled wide as they shared a hug. They pulled apart. "How's your sister doing?"

"Better. I think," he reflected.

Prue gave a nod of understanding. Now it made sense. "Chris. You're Piper's son?"

Future Chris nodded.

"Right," Prue gave another nod back. She looked away.

Future Molly was the next to make her way through the basement door. Observing the entire group, her eyes did a quick scan, accounting for everybody until they came to rest on her father and then, rather unexpectedly, the woman she recognized as her mother. Andy and Molly shared brief eye contact before Molly locked eyes with her mother.

"Uh, Prue, this is ..." Andy tried to get the revelation out but didn't get the chance because Molly had already moved to throw herself at Prue.

Prue was taken off guard before accepting the show of affection. "Oh! Okay. Hi?"

"Mom," she sobbed, as she latched onto Prue tightly.

Future Piper and Future Chris exchanged a glance. They understood what this meant to Molly and decided not to interfere and let her have the moment.

The reality hit Prue. "Wait, Molly?" she pulled back so she could get a better look at her grown daughter.

Future Molly smiled and moved back in to hug her mother again. She didn't want to let go but knew she would have too eventually. So many others got to take their relationship with their mother for granted. It was a luxury she never quite had.

Prue closed her eyes. "Hey baby," she offered back affectionately. "I can't believe it's you."

"I miss you," Molly's voice came off sad and reflective. "I wish I didn't have to go back without you."

The next look Future Piper and Future Chris exchanged was more disconcerting. They knew they needed to be careful. How much was she going to spill? "Ahem," Future Chris tried to run interference "Uh, Molly? That line." It was meant to serve as a warning. She was teetering too close.

Prue and Molly pulled apart as Prue shot her attention back over to Chris. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he denied. "It means nothing." His eyes met with Molly's and were clearly saying something different.

"Okay, well, that's clearly a lie," Prue folded her arms.

"Chris, I think Molly should be able to explain what she means herself," Phoebe inserted, grateful for the slip. "No more secrets in this family. Piper should appreciate that better than anybody," she turned to the future version of her sister.

"Phoebe, what do you think you're doing?" Future Piper admonished.

"Hey, you know it's true," Phoebe asserted. "You've said it yourself, or rather, the younger you certainly has made the point very clear," she corrected. "Secrets only end up destroying this family! Look at where all of you are at now. You're all seriously going to look me in the eye and tell me you're okay with it? Okay with returning to what you came from?" she eyed all the visitors. "Don't you want to change that if you can? Why keep things a secret if we can help make it better. For everyone."

Future Chris and Molly shared a look.

"Phoebe!" Future Piper issued a stern warning. "Now is definitely not the time for this," she glanced sideways at Prue. "Stop."

"Okay, so when exactly is the time for this?" Phoebe challenged. "You tell me. Because all I keep getting is the run around."

"Hey, listen, there are other things at stake here," Future Chris attempted to provide some damage control to the situation.

"Yeah, like what?" Phoebe spat back. "Living long enough to see our grandchildren?" followed the sarcasm.

Future Chris didn't answer.

"Fine, if you don't want to answer about that thing," Phoebe gave a quick sideway nod in Prue's direction, "how about giving up some answers about me? Or even Paige for that matter?" she argued. "Shouldn't we get some say in what will happen in our own lives?"

Paige's bewildered expression met with Phoebe and Future Piper's confrontation. What were they all going on about? "Okay, am I missing something?" she voiced. "Because clearly I'm missing something here."

Prue was paying very close attention.

"There's nothing getting missed," Future Piper dismissed. "Phoebe," all her attention went back on her sister, "is just failing to grasp the idea that sometimes we don't have all the answers to things! Not everything can be fixed!"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever," she looked away.

The bickering led Molly to realize her slip of the tongue was about to open a whole can of worms. She had allowed herself to become swept away in the moment. "Guys, I didn't mean anything by it," she tried to downplay it. "I just ..."

Prue had already caught on though. "No, what did you mean before?" she turned back to address her daughter. "Am I not there?"

Future Molly didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure how to cover this one up, and she definitely didn't want to lie to her mother, so she decided against saying anything at all. Instead, she looked away.

"Are you sure you didn't mean anything by it?" Paige offered Molly another olive branch to give the truth.

"Molly?" Prue pushed. "Am I not there?" she repeated. "Where am I?"

"You're clearly standing right in front of us," Future Chris answered in place of his cousin.

"Lame, Chris," Future Molly closed her eyes and whispered under her breath.

"Okay, wise guy," Phoebe cracked, playfully narrowing her eyes at him. "Maybe try again and this time make us believe it."

Future Molly still refused to engage so Prue looked to the rest of the Halliwell clan inside the kitchen. For the first time, she was picking up that most, if not all, were either hiding something or aware that something was being hidden. Prue looked to Andy next, hoping for a more forthcoming answer to maybe come from him.

Arms crossed; Andy gave Prue a shrug of uncertainty. Clearly, he was in the dark as well.

"All right, what are you guys hiding?" Prue found her voice. "Don't bother denying it because it's clear that you are."

"Nobody's hiding anything," Future Chris denied it anyway.

"Really?" Prue challenged her nephew from the future. "Because Phoebe can barely contain getting it out of you people."

Phoebe bit down against her lip.

"And Molly still does that sideways glance thingy with her eyes whenever she wants to avoid telling me something, while Billie's been over there picking at her cuticles for like the last five minutes," Prue laughed off.

Billie shot her head up, dropping her arms back down to her sides.

"Oh, and by the way, if I hadn't already mentioned it before, kick that habit as soon as you can," Prue threw in for her. "It saves on the wear and tear." Her eyes landed on Paige next.

"Well don't look at me," Paige threw up her hands in mock surrender. "I'm just as clueless as you on this one."

Prue nodded. "Yeah, you're actually the only one I do believe." Then her attention shot over to Future Piper. "And you? Why is it you can't just give a straight answer?"

So busted, thought Phoebe, while slowly turning her head to gauge for Future Piper's reaction.

The tension could be felt by everyone in the kitchen. Prue and Piper were both stubborn, and both their stares were unwavering so everybody waited in anticipation for who might cave first. Finally, Future Piper was the one to relent and she broke the staring contest. Shaking her head, she contemplated giving in and getting it all off her chest. Perhaps Phoebe was right, she rationalized. Would it really matter at this point?

"Because, Prue, the truth is ... "

"The truth is that none of you are alive anymore!" another voice cut in from the entrance to the basement. It was Future Melinda. She had been MIA for a bit, having finally ventured back upstairs to rejoin the others, only to walk into the middle of their heated confrontation.

All eyes shot to her.

"Mom's the only one left," Melinda nodded at her mother, and her mother nodded back, silently thanking her for the rescue. "See, no big mystery, and the details don't even really matter all that much, but we're careful on what we say because we're not here to change your future for you. If you guys want that to happen, you'll need to put in the work yourselves."

"Still might be nice to know what to work on?" Phoebe couldn't help but throw it out there. "But whatever, point made. Let's move on."

That was Future Melinda's only word on the matter. It seemed to have its desired effect because the sisters appeared to be giving it some serious consideration. Melinda then moved to join her mother. They shared a hug.

"Right," sighed Paige. "Might I suggest the way we start by doing that is to put our heads together and find a way to save Piper? At this point, I don't even care about those stupid stones, and I don't care how we do it, but let's just get her home."

"We need the stones," Future Chris supplied, "probably the box too. With spells and potions off the table, I really can't see any other way around it."

"But Gideon isn't just going to hand them over to us," Phoebe pointed out. "So, we need an idea on how to get to them."

"With a little ingenuity," Billie suddenly offered, smiling bright for everyone to see when an idea entered her mind.

"What are you thinking?" Phoebe inquired. She was open to suggestions.

"Getting them ourselves," Billie proposed.

"How?" Prue asked.

"Well, this whole time, we've been trying to find a way to make the stones come to us by using magic. That book, spells, right?" Billie looked around at everyone. They nodded, waiting for her to continue. "Maybe that's the wrong approach for this. What if instead of getting them to come to us by way of magic, we try going directly to them ourselves?"

"But we don't know where they are, Billie," Paige shook her head, not quite following. "That's the problem."

"We don't need to know where," Billie explained excitedly. "We just put the feelers out, as demons," she stressed, "that we're looking to make an arrangement with Gideon and the stones."

"Pose as demons?" Paige squinted her eyes.

"Yeah, exactly," Billie confirmed. "Gideon's been swapping favors and increasing demonic power using the stones. Say we want to strike a deal."

There was silence while the group contemplated the suggestion.

"Hey, it's not the worst idea," Phoebe was the first to speak on it and looked between all her sisters. "It could work?"

"Well, let me be the first to say, we can also be annihilated into nothing if it doesn't?" Paige sang back.

"Hey, it's not like they haven't posed as us before," Phoebe cracked, reminding the entire group.

"My point exactly and they got caught," Paige countered, reminding her sister of that fact.

"And we'll be way more careful," Phoebe encouraged the group. "Come on, you guys, it's not like we've got a whole lot of options here."

Billie nodded in agreement with Phoebe.

"Fine then," Paige relented. "You get my vote."

"Yay!" Billie clapped, "I mean, yay, of course we'll be super careful," she amended after receiving stern looks from the sisters.

"Forget it," Prue suddenly became the voice of dissent.

Billie's face dropped, her enthusiasm short-lived.

"What? Why?" Phoebe challenged, feeling some disappointment.

Prue addressed her daughter first. "Billie, in theory, it might work," she sought to reassure her, "but Gideon knows us too well. Even if we pose as demons, it just wouldn't fly," she gave her sisters something else to think about. "The chances of him seeing through it, through us, it's too high."

"Fair point," Paige agreed, who had been on the fence about it anyway.

"Yeah, maybe, but what about us?" a voice chimed in, and an unexpected hand went up. It was Melinda. "Gideon may be familiar with the rest of you in this timeline, maybe even Chris," she glanced over at her brother, acknowledging another adult version of him had already been in contact with this current timeline, "but the odds of him seeing through me, or Molly, are extremely low. He's never even met me before. I doubt he'll recognize Molly now. He was long gone before any of us grew up. Most likely, we'd be able to pass as demons without sending up any red flags. We'll go in together, we can do the posing," she nodded at her cousin.

"That might work better," Prue gave it some thought.

"Mel, that can be seriously dangerous," Future Chris warned her. "Especially without any back up. This wouldn't be like back home; you guys would be completely on your own down there."

"Chris, we can handle the Underworld on our own," Future Molly asserted strongly. "I actually think it's a great idea. I'm with Mel on this one."

"But can you handle the entire Triad showing up too?" Future Chris countered her next. "You get caught, there are no second chances," he made the reality crystal clear for Molly.

Prue contemplated both sides of the argument but was beginning to have second thoughts regarding who to send in, especially if it put her own daughter's life at risk, something she was not willing to do. "Uh, yeah. Chris might actually be right on this one."

"Hold up, right on this one?" Future Chris crossed his arms, making a face. "Thanks, Aunt Prue, knew I could count on your support," he rolled his eyes, mocking gently.

"No," Prue smirked, "what I mean is, even if Gideon or the Triad doesn't mark you for who you really are," she addressed Molly, "that doesn't mean killing you is off the table."

"Mom?" Future Molly attempted to counter her mother.

"Molly, no," Prue pushed firmly regarding her decision. "Demons kill other demons all the time. And plenty of demons have met their end at the hands of the Triad. Chris is right; it's too dangerous."

"And you weren't raising me to run and hide," she challenged Prue. "You taught me to stand strong and to be proud of where I came from. To protect the ones I love and help those who are unable to help themselves. So, I'm asking without actually asking you. Let me do this."

Prue felt torn. This was her baby girl. One part of her wanted to lock her in a room somewhere and throw away the key, that way she could never get hurt but the other part of her knew better. The other part was immensely proud. Proud of the strong, independent, and courageous woman she had grown into. Fighting for the greater good, making difficult decisions, and doing what was sometimes necessary.

"I'm against this as your mother," Prue looked her daughter straight in the eyes. Her tone was firm. "But if you're anything like me, I know you're going to do it anyway," she knew she had to relent. "Right?"

"I'm not a coward," Future Molly shook her head. "Please don't ask me to be one."

Prue pulled her daughter in for a tight hug. "Be careful."

Andy wanted to protest too but was at a loss for words. Molly pulled back and shared another look with her father. "Molly, I ... "

"Dad, just promise to take care of yourself this time, okay?" her voice was pleading. "Please?" They hugged and Andy shut his eyes, holding on tight.

"Sure," he promised, not sure what he was agreeing to or why.

"Well," Future Piper let out a huge sigh. "I was prepared to argue against this myself, but I think I'll just save myself the trouble?" she turned away from Prue and Molly to share a moment with her own daughter.

Future Melinda smiled. "Everything Molly said and more."

"Of course," Future Piper nodded her head dramatically. "I would expect nothing less. I know you girls," she reminded her daughter, "and more," she winked.

Future Piper and Melinda shared their own hug before getting down to business.

"Fine," Future Chris reluctantly agreed. "But we should at least have a game plan before you guys go in."

"Agreed," Prue cast her vote as did the others.

The Halliwell crew went to depart from the kitchen when three bodies suddenly vanished from sight.

"Um ..." Prue stammered, looking around, confused as to what the hell was going on. She turned to look at Billie, who was the only one left standing with her, aside from the future kids and Andy.

"Bi-location spell," Billie immediately rushed to explain. "I think it's over." Billie's clone copy had been left in the basement so hers would have vanished there.

"Uh, hey guys? Wait for us!" Phoebe could then be heard shouting, which was coming from the basement.

Prue smirked.

X

(Future - 2029)

Manor

It was strange being back here.

AJ had discreetly transported them into the backyard of what used to be the Halliwell Manor. It was strange because it didn't have the same feeling about it. There was a much darker presence, a dank energy surrounding the property now. No longer did the backyard brim with any signs of plant life, no flower beds, no berry bushes. In fact, the grass below their feet appeared dead. It felt thick and looked charred, crunching beneath the feet while walking. Piper rubbed against her arms, attempting to ward off the chill that passed through her body while AJ used his eyes to perform a quick scan of the layout.

"It's too quiet," Piper noted out loud. "And that's usually not a good sign."

"No, it's not," he agreed.

She couldn't make out anything, let alone anyone. For some reason when AJ had referred to this place as the Fortress, huge chain link fences and demonic henchmen serving as guards sprang to mind. "On the bright side, I don't see anything lurking."

"Don't let that fool you," the Avatar advised. He walked up to the entrance of what used to be the conservatory, or sunroom. Lifting his palm up a few inches away from the door, it lit up with a red shield. Recognizing him, it immediately lowered.

Piper's eyebrows shot up.

The Avatar turned to look at her. "Magical security system."

"Right," Piper stepped up to join him. "They got a sale on those somewhere around here because we can use one back home. The Manor is Demon Party Central," she snarked.

AJ brought a finger to his lip, indicating her silence was necessary. He entered first, as Piper did her best to follow as quietly behind as possible. After taking a few steps inside, they were met by the faint sounds of whimpering.

"What's that?" Piper couldn't help but whisper a little too loudly.

"Shh!" the Avatar reinforced.

Piper's immediate concerns went straight to Wyatt. Was he hurt? It was dark in here, too dark to see much of anything, as her eyes strained to get a glimpse of something and maybe identify where that sound was coming from. Then they heard it again.

"Wyatt?" Piper instinctively called out, moving to investigate.

"Piper, wait!" AJ called out his warning.

Piper was already in motion though and her sight landed on a figure sitting on the ground, hunched over in a corner. It wasn't Wyatt but she soon recognized who it was. "Julie?" she rushed over and knelt down in front of the barely conscious young girl. She placed the box on the floor right next to her.

Julie was trying to mumble something incoherently.

"Hold on," Piper instructed as she went to remove the gag covering her niece's mouth. Her hands and feet were also tied and bound.

"Piper, this isn't a good idea," AJ advised against her actions. His eyes scanned over the entire layout. Something was off.

"Forget it, we're not just leaving her here," Piper argued with force.

"I didn't say that," AJ whispered. "But this doesn't feel right. We need to stay on alert," his eyes quickly did another scan of the area around them. "This isn't how they normally do things around here," he tried to explain.

"Then keep a close watch while I get this done!" Piper was in the middle of using her hands to loosen all the restraints as fast as she could.

"Damn it," AJ mouthed under his breath but kept guard with his back to Piper.

"Don't," Julie barely got out. Her face was bruised and battered, her lips cut, and one eye swollen and completely shut.

"Take it easy, we're going to get you out of here," Piper tried to reassure her.

"No, go," Julie tried to protest. "It's ... a trap," she barely got out.

"What trap? Julie, what are you saying?" Piper got out just before the lights suddenly flashed on and she and AJ were surrounded.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a familiar voice rang out.

Piper stood up quickly, grabbing the box in the process.

"Henry," AJ acknowledged the voice. It was Henry Jr. and with him were Hayley and Jenna, along with a score of demons.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Piper asked AJ. There had been nobody standing there, she was sure of it, and it would have been virtually impossible for a sudden entrance to have gone unnoticed by them.

"Invisibility shield. They were there the entire time," AJ explained to her.

Piper was readying herself to go on the defense. That was until she saw the small figure brought in from the entry way of the conservatory. A female demon held onto his hand and came forward to join the others. Not only did Piper not want to risk hurting her son, but she had to concede they were sorely outnumbered.

"Wyatt!" Piper exclaimed. He stared back at his mother.

Henry's eyes shot between her and the Avatar.

"I can explain," AJ put up his hands, in an attempt to deliver a quick cover.

"Save it traitor!" Henry spat. "Your deception ends now!"

"Deception?" the Avatar feigned surprise. "Am I not the one who got her here for you with the box intact?"

Piper instantly shot AJ daggers.

"I'm the only reason you even found out that she and the boy were stuck here in the first place," he revealed, making Piper's heart constrict.

"You told them I was here?" Piper's eyes narrowed dangerously at the Avatar. Had her initial concerns been right? Had he been setting her up from the get-go?

AJ's expression was unreadable.

"I can answer that for you," Henry spoke up in the Avatar's place. "He did," he smirked. "Still doesn't mean your loyalties are with us," he confronted AJ directly, completely unaware of his true identity.

Jenna snorted. "You honestly expect us to believe you broke her out of the Mausoleum for us? And stole the box?"

"The others know about the Mausoleum," AJ supplied for them.

"So?" Jenna challenged.

"So, they're less likely to make a surprise attack here at the Manor."

"Who cares? Let them," Jenna laughed. "They can't stop us. We have the box."

"Correction there, sunshine!" Piper shouted back. "I have the box." She gave them a clear view of it.

Jenna made a move forward. "Be careful with that!"

Henry threw out an arm to stop her from advancing any further.

"What, this?" Piper mocked. "Your soul eater?" She began tossing it back and forth in her hands. "I'm guessing you'd be kind'a lost without it, huh."

"Hand it over!" Henry ordered.

"Come and get it?" Piper taunted. "You know, it's not really a fair fight stealing magic from your opponent in order to win."

"I'd rather win than play fair."

"Clearly in order to win, you'd need to cheat," Piper berated him. "You're obviously not the strongest Halliwell in the bunch, are you?" She made a pretense of almost dropping the box to the floor.

Henry moved on reflex but stopped himself.

"Afraid I'll break it? I wonder what would happen if ..." she made a motion with her hand again to get him to back off.

Henry lifted his finger and swiftly flung the box out of Piper's hand. She was caught off guard as it slid across the floor directly behind her, landing near Julie. "The answer would be absolutely nothing," his eyes met with hers. "How's that for a Halliwell in the bunch?" he taunted back.

"I admit I was not expecting that," Piper threw a fleeting glance at AJ.

"You know," Henry approached AJ then stopped a few feet away. His hands were poised behind his back. "I believe some serious reflection is in order. Care to hear about it?" he stared AJ down.

The Avatar shrugged nonchalantly. "No, not really."

"Not really?" Henry laughed, mocking him. "Well, too bad. In the past several months, most of our missions have been either countered or sabotaged. And you know what stood out for me?"

"That the plan obviously sucked?" AJ kept his cool.

"Funny," Henry smirked, but it was quickly replaced by a scowl. "But no. It's you," he accused. "You were involved in every single thwarted mission."

"You sold us out!" Jenna shouted after him.

Henry lifted a finger to silence her.

"I did no such thing," the Avatar countered in a calm manner.

"Where are the others?" Henry demanded to know.

"No idea," AJ shook his head. "Sorry."

"That's how you want to play it?" Henry challenged. "Okay, fine. Maybe this will help to jog your memory then," he signaled to the demons behind him. The group immediately produced a mixture of fireballs and energy balls from their hands.

Piper's gaze darted between AJ and the group of demons. AJ, on the other hand, didn't appear too fazed by the spectacle and looming threat. She took a quick glance behind her, checking on Julie. She was barely awake, struggling to keep her eyes open and hold herself up. As a protective gesture, she stepped further in front of Julie to shield any view, keeping the demons' direct line of sight very limited.

"Where's Wyatt? Where's Sarah?" Jenna fumed, stepping forward, only to be halted by Henry again. He put his hand out to stop her.

"The others seem to have taken to a little vanishing spell as well," Henry made it a point to reference the disappearances of Chris, Molly, and Melinda next. "Think carefully," he threatened.

"Hmm," AJ feigned thinking about it. "Still no clue," he shook his head in a mocking fashion. "Oh, wait, I actually do remember something now," he pretended on reflection. "I think they managed to conjure up a spell that was one big ... screw you," he finally told him off.

Piper did what she could to conceal her smirk. She didn't know AJ had this side to him.

Henry's face began turning red. He was fuming as he finally gave the demons the go ahead. A multitude of fireballs and energy balls were released simultaneously, and Piper instinctively threw up her hands, freezing them all into place.

Piper had enough now. "Listen, you can all threaten or vanquish each other's sorry ass into the next universe for all I care," she shouted, "but I'm taking my son. Try stopping me and you'll find out really quick what a first blast trip into the afterlife feels like," she made her own threat. "And considering the misdeeds of this group, I wouldn't count on that being my final destination."

The open display of defiance grabbed the attention of the others.

"Wyatt, come to mommy," Piper commanded, holding out her hand for him to take. "Don't be afraid."

Hayley stepped in front of the child to block his path.

Piper stared her down. "Move out of the way!" she demanded through clenched teeth. She wasn't playing around when it came to her son. "Now!"

"Come to think of it, perhaps AJ is telling the truth?" Henry feigned new consideration, eyeing Piper instead. "Maybe he is just some clueless dope after all."

Laughter erupted from the entire group.

Henry locked stares with the Avatar.

AJ just arched his brows in response. "Should I be offended?"

"How about, be quiet," Henry returned. "Maybe you had something to do with their disappearance?" he changed course, moving closer to stand before Piper. "How did you get here?"

"Certainly not by choice," she laughed, resisting the urge to just blast him.

"Not exactly a ringing endorsement for your survival," Henry baited.

"I don't plan on leaving my survival in your hands," Piper challenged back.

"Why can't we just kill her?" Jenna blurted out.

Henry turned to look at her. "Tempting idea." He turned back to Piper. "But she may be the key to the others returning."

Hayley suddenly moved from her designated spot and began to frantically tap on Jenna's shoulder. Wyatt was once again in clear view. When Jenna turned her head, Hayley began signing, quite excitedly.

"Yes, Hayley, I agree," Jenna sneered. "Doesn't mean we still can't have some fun with her?" she proposed.

Henry listened and became contemplative. Then he, Jenna, and Hayley all appeared to communicate indirectly amongst each other. AJ very carefully followed the looks passing between the three while Piper was left trying to stay on alert against their next move and the right time to make a dive for Wyatt. Then all eyes shot to the floor.

"Piper, the box!" AJ called out the warning to her.

Shoot, Piper realized she had failed to retrieve it. She turned to but it was too late. Julie was still weak but attempted to reach out for the object as Jenna lifted her hands, muttered a few spell words, but before Julie could attempt a grab or Piper could manage a few steps closer towards it, the box vanished from sight. It reappeared in Jenna's hand.

Piper spun her head back in their direction. "Crap!" she muttered.

AJ was considering his next move. He could transport out but there wouldn't be enough time to recover both Piper and Wyatt. There was also Julie. Piper blinked. It almost all appeared to begin happening in slow motion as Henry went to open the box, Jenna's smile got wider and wider, while Hayley's form was now jumping up, then down, up then down, while clapping. This was it. The very real possibility that she could have her soul ripped out, sucked into that thing, with the very essence of who she was being irrevocably changed. Her powers gone forever.

"Run," came a faint cry from Julie.

AJ flashed out, then flashed back in behind Wyatt. He grabbed a hold of the boy and then flashed back out. At the same time, Piper raised her hands, and was preparing to blast at full force when something completely unexpected happened. A fast wave of blue energy shot out from behind the demons, enveloping them and effectively erasing each one completely, until it finally reached the Halliwells holding the box. The blue wave of energy encircled the box, keeping it sealed; thus, leading to a tug of war between the energy and Jenna, who still had a tight grip on the box. She kept struggling against the strong pull of the energy, the energy attempting to snatch the box away from her.

Hayley jumped in to help.

Next, an unexpected face suddenly came into full view. It was Prudence.

Piper's eyes widened. "Great, just in time for the magic show, where did you come from?" she interrogated.

"Duck!" Prudence instructed.

"Huh?" Piper made a face.

"I said duck!"

Piper turned and realized the frozen fireballs and energy balls had been left frozen in mid-air; however, now they were unfrozen and swiftly hurdling in her direction. She ducked just in the nick of time. The fireballs hit the wall behind her, disintegrating, while the energy balls crashed through the glass windows.

"My fault, dang it!" Piper exclaimed after the fact.

Prudence smirked.

"Thanks, can't believe I forgot about those. How did you know where to find us?" Piper asked. "Thought you had protocol."

"Didn't think I'd leave my sister to fend for herself, did you?" Prudence mocked, while coming up behind Hayley and knocking her out. She had been distracted with helping Jenna maintain possession of the box.

The distraction gave Piper just enough time to send her own blast full force at Henry, who was lifted up into the air and thrown against the wall, immediately falling to the floor. It hadn't vanquished him but did leave him unconscious. Charred marks were left on the wall behind him. This left Jenna, alone, by herself, struggling to keep the box in her hands.

"It's staying with us," Jenna gritted down on her teeth, desperately trying to pull it back against her chest.

Prudence ran over to Julie. "Jules, it's me," she knelt down and began to inspect the injuries of her sister. "C'mon, get up," she instructed gently, as she swung one of her sister's arms over her shoulder.

"Hey, heartbreaker," Piper called out to Jenna, taking a jab at her reported talent for allegedly ripping things out, and to hopefully eliminate the final threat.

Jenna turned to look. Piper sent another blast, which finally separated Jenna from the box, and landed her in the same exact position as Henry.

"Ha! Thought I'd never get you to shut up," Piper mocked. "How's that for some fun?"

The blue energy faded out.

"What was that?" Piper inquired, watching the last of the energy disappear.

"A spell," Prudence informed her, helping Julie get to her feet. "Billie came up with it years ago," she shared.

Piper nodded. "Interesting, I've never seen a spell do that before."

"Can't tell you exactly how it works but the gist of it is she infused some of her projection power into it somehow," Prudence explained what she knew. "The spell has the ability to project what you want into it."

"Impressive," Piper acknowledged, but felt bad with the reminder that Billie was no longer around.

"It can be," Prudence accepted, "but the downside is it only works on the others if they don't actually see it coming."

Glancing down at the bodies lying on the floor, Piper made out they were still unconscious. She hadn't really been looking to kill them if she didn't have to, after all, they were family, but was certainly willing if it came down to it. Piper bent down to retrieve the box. Perhaps now with the recovery of it, there might be a way for the others to restore their souls and a chance to return to them the essence of who they truly were. Piper's eyes then scanned the area for Wyatt and she began to panic when she couldn't locate him.

"Wyatt, honey?" Piper called out.

Prudence and Julie met up with Piper. "We need to get out of here," Prudence warned. "Our magic won't keep them at bay for long."

"P," Julie was wheezing. "I can't ... I can't ..."

"Julie, stay with me," Prudence encouraged. "C'mon. You can do it."

Julie looked to be in bad shape and Piper felt very bad about it. "She doesn't look good; will she be able to make it back?"

"Of course, she will," Prudence sounded determined. "We've been through worse before."

"Can any of you heal?" Piper inquired.

"No," Prudence shook her head sadly.

"Not even Laura?" Piper would have figured that as Paige's daughter, she would have inherited her mother's whitelighter abilities.

"Not anymore," Prudence was vague regarding any explanation.

Julie suddenly passed out, slipping from her sister's side and back onto the floor. "Julie!" Prudence yelled. "No, no, no," she pled. "Open your eyes, open your eyes, dammit!" she cradled her sister's head in her lap. "Don't do this do me," her voice broke.

Piper felt at a complete loss on what to do. There was no way to help. At a time like this, she truly regretted not having mastered full use of the Ultimate Power with her sisters where she likely would have been able to tap into healing, since that power was a part of their collective powerbase. It came from Paige.

"Mommy!" a small voice suddenly called out after AJ flashed back in, Wyatt at his side.

Piper let out a sigh of relief. He was safe.

AJ nodded at Piper.

She put out her arms and he instantly ran to his mother. She gave him a big bear hug. Then Piper pulled back and looked into his eyes. "Listen, baby, mommy needs you to do something big and brave, ok? This is Julie," she nodded down towards the unconscious young woman. "Do you think you could help make her better? Just like you did for mommy once before, huh, do you remember that?" she gently brushed back a piece of his hair.

Wyatt nodded. He looked down at Prudence crying and still cradling her sister's very still form and their eyes met.

"That's a good boy," Piper smiled, praising her son, and then let him go.

Wyatt placed his hands over Julie and then they watched the healing light begin to emanate from his hands. One by one, each bruise began to disappear, all cuts and abrasions vanished, until finally, Julie let out a huge gasp, taking a deep breath in and then releasing it. Her eyes bolted back open.

Prudence cried in joy. "Thank god!" she hugged her sister tightly.

Piper smiled and brought Wyatt closer to her. "Good job, buddy," she hugged him tightly. "Good job," she reinforced.

"We should really get going," AJ, the Avatar, cut in.

"Right behind you," Prudence agreed, "but who are you exactly?" she thought to ask. He had been standing there a few minutes.

"Long story," Piper said, "but he's right, let's go."

"I can get you back to where you need to be, that's all you really need to know for right now," came AJ's cryptic response to Prudence and Julie, who were both clueless to the identity of this complete stranger.

Prudence and Julie remained uncertain, and their body language reflected it.

"You can trust him," Piper offered up. "If not, trust me."

Piper and AJ shared a fleeting smile before the small group huddled together and the Avatar transported them safely away from the Manor.

X

(Present - 2007)

Manor

Prue and Andy both kept their attention on the clock.

Everyone had gathered to the living room in anticipation of the plan. Molly and Melinda had departed some time ago, instructions in hand, if anything were to go wrong. Hopefully, it would all go off without a hitch and the message would get delivered successfully. However, that didn't help to ease the growing anxiety now present among the remaining family members left pacing the room.

Andy got up from the couch. "How long did you say this should take?" he glanced down at his wristwatch. "It's been like, what, an hour already?"

"Andy, try and relax," Prue advised. "It hasn't been that long yet."

"Relaxing isn't exactly the first thing that comes to mind inside this house," Andy delivered back, glancing around.

"Or outside of it," Paige added on light-heartedly. "We pretty much get ambushed anywhere." As the Charmed Ones, it didn't seem to matter much where they were or what they were trying to do. Demons found them anyway.

Phoebe understood Andy's concern. "Yeah, well, we're definitely experts on pushing the panic button," she cracked. "Don't worry, it also makes us the experts on when to give the green light," she tried joking.

"Thanks, what a relief," Andy delivered some sarcasm back, folding his arms.

"I think the girls got it covered," Future Chris offered some reassurance. "Trust me, they know exactly what they're walking into and what to do to walk back out. Hey, any word on Dad yet?" he addressed his mother.

"With the Elders. Apparently, still trying to find a way to track down that book," Future Piper informed her son.

"Yeah, and can we say long shot?" Paige told them.

"Which is why we're not going to sit around and wait," Prue got up from the couch after hearing the ringing of her cell phone. She grabbed for it out of her purse, lying on the small table next to the lamp. "Hello?"

"Well," Phoebe sighed, addressing the others, "maybe the Elders can get their butts back into gear and do what they should have been doing from the beginning of all this. Which is to guide us, not control us," she lamented. "And even if they have no answers about the book, maybe Leo can find something else."

"Still not counting on it," Paige voiced her doubts.

"Maybe, but like I said earlier, we're running out of options," Phoebe reinforced.

Paige didn't refute it. They were all hoping the plan with Future Molly and Melinda would work but so many unpredictable variables could potentially alter the end game.

"How did you get this number?" they were all suddenly drawn to overhearing Prue's conversation taking place in the background.

"Who is it?" Phoebe joined her sister.

Prue used her hand to cover the phone. "Agent Murphy?" she told her sister. "He's saying something about a 24-hour time period expiring and if we don't all report back for cell duty, Richardson's going to be sending in the firing squad."

Phoebe grabbed the phone from her sister and brought it to her ear. "Hi, Agent Murphy, it's Phoebe," she faked her enthusiasm.

Prue just watched her sister.

"Uh-huh," Phoebe muttered. "Right. Sorry we haven't been answering our phones." Some silence ensued as Phoebe listened. "Um, see, the thing is I don't think that's going to quite work." There was another pause. "Why you ask? Great question. Piper's not exactly with us at the moment," her eyes met with Prue's.

"Phoebe, what's going on?" Prue whispered.

"What do I mean by that?" Phoebe repeated Murphy's inquiry. She saw Paige coming into view to join them. "Well, the only way to really say it, is to just say it. Piper no longer exists in this time."

Prue's eyes went wide.

Phoebe nodded, "Yes, Agent Murphy, you heard me right," she rolled her eyes.

"Phoebe?" Paige hissed. "Just tell him we need more time," she made a move to grab for the phone as Phoebe swatted her hands away.

"What the hell does that mean?" Phoebe laughed, once again repeating the Agent's question from the other end of the line. "Okay, to put it as bluntly as possible, unless you have a time machine stashed away somewhere inside that Homeland Security arsenal of yours," she cracked, "we're going to need more time. Lots more time."

Paige rolled her eyes while Prue waited.

"Yes, Agent Murphy, we do understand it's your butt on the line too," Phoebe closed her eyes and nodded. "Isn't there something you can do to stall? Pull something out of that government thinking cap of yours?"

There was a brief pause.

Prue locked eyes with Phoebe. The faint echo of Agent Murphy's voice could be heard rising and then lowering from the other end of the call, so she threw her hands up in the air to signal her sister she was waiting for an answer on what was going on.

"Okay, bye-bye now, Agent Murphy. Thanks so much, we appreciate all your help. We'll be in touch," Phoebe cut him off and ended the call. She let out a groan.

"What did he say?" Prue was anxious to know. "And will hanging up on him like that come back to bite us in the ass?" she raised her voice a notch.

"Uh, definitely a yes to that last question," Phoebe nodded, avoiding all eye contact. "As for the rest, you know, the usual. Basically, we're pretty much screwed," she handed the phone back to her sister. "So so screwed."

"Phoebe?" Prue pressed her.

"Hello?" Paige waved her hands to push for a better explanation. "Vague!"

"Meaning, if he pulls a miracle out of his agency hat," Phoebe elaborated snidely, "he practically owns us for life. Is that far less vague enough for you, Paige?" she cheesed at her younger sister.

"Lovely," Paige rolled her eyes. "Just the answer I didn't want to hear."

Prue sighed. "Fine, look, one problem at a time."

"Yes, but when the times comes, I vote for you and Piper getting the first assignment," Paige narrowed her eyes at Prue.

Prue grinned. "Listen, I get it, okay? You guys aren't going to let us live this down."

"Not for a very long time," Paige drew out playfully. "So, what is it you suggest doing in the meantime?"

Prue gave it some brief thought and turned to peer over at Andy.

"What are you thinking?" Phoebe followed her line of sight.

"I don't know yet," Prue answered.

"Do we have a problem?" Future Chris called out.

"Not at the moment," Phoebe moved to rejoin the others along with Prue and Paige. "Ask us again before the night is over."

Future Piper looked at each of her sisters.

Andy came to Prue. "Is everything really okay?" he wanted to know.

"Not exactly but we'll deal with it," Prue shrugged, not sure if she wanted him to do what she intended to ask of him. "Richardson's going to be a problem soon."

Andy nodded. He understood why. "Right. We got him to back off for a little bit when Agent Murphy got a warrant to release you into his custody," he explained, because Prue had already been gone when the arrangement had taken place.

Prue didn't say anything, but Andy was reading her face.

"What?" he pressed. "You have that look."

"Nothing, forget it," Prue shook it off.

"Prue?"

"Andy, I said forget it," she asserted strongly.

"Prue, don't ask me to forget it, because I know you're not going to forget it unless you get it off your chest," he argued. "So, what is it?"

"No, because what I was thinking about asking you to do might be too dangerous," she admitted to him.

"Okay. Then how about sharing first and then letting me decide," he countered.

Prue took a moment to reconsider it. "You're his partner. If there was a way for you to keep tabs on Richardson, then maybe we could be better prepared and keep one step ahead of him."

Andy released a heavy sigh. "You mean, can I potentially put my job at risk by spying on him and gathering whatever information I can?"

"Andy, like I said ... " Prue was about to shoot the idea down again.

"Prue, I didn't say I can't," Andy jumped in. "Or that I'm not willing to consider it. I would just need to be careful."

Prue nodded, "I know."

"Let me think about it," his eyes met with hers.

"Hey, has anybody seen Billie?" Paige suddenly inquired. "Where'd she go?"

x

Billie sat on the bed, scrying crystal in hand.

The Book of Shadows was opened to a page about revealing secret or hidden locations one sought to unveil. She was considering it a last resort.

"C'mon, give me something," she muttered, the crystal swinging over the map. "Just hold on, JD, I promise I'll figure something out."

The mission to recover JD had been put on hold due to the current crisis at hand but Billie was growing more and more concerned as the time passed by. Lana was gone. Therefore, the trade off with the mystery demon what's his face, Marco or whoever, was no longer an option. The fact that he was also Lana's father, or so he claimed to be, was the other unsettling factor. He was another Triad, or at least, a former Triad member.

"Damn it, this isn't working," she felt her frustration growing and she threw the scrying crystal onto the map. She had even attempted her projection power. No luck. "Okay, then maybe one of these potions can send me back to you?" she referred back to a page in the Book of Shadows.

There was a loud knock at the door.

"Billie?" a voice called out. "Billie, are you in there?"

It was Prue.

For some reason, Billie had been expecting Phoebe. "Uh, yeah?"

"Everything okay? You kind of just disappeared," Prue made a face on the other side of the door.

"Fine," she lied, calling back.

"Can I come in?"

Billie quickly contemplated what to do. Saying no would definitely suggest something was wrong but letting her in would undoubtedly lead to questions. Then she'd have to get into a lengthy explanation.

"Billie?"

She finally relented. "Um, yeah, sure. Come on in."

Billie closed the Book of Shadows and moved the scrying map over.

Prue opened the door and stepped in. "Hey."

"Hey," Billie reciprocated.

Prue folded her arms and stopped in front of the bed. Her eyes quickly found the Book of Shadows and the map. "Scrying crystal. Looking for something?"

"Actually, someone."

"Is somebody in trouble?" Prue's face showed her concern.

Billie tucked some hair behind one ear. "Yeah," she nodded, being truthful about it. "Somebody is."

"Who?" she asked.

"A friend," Billie answered quickly, a little too quickly she realized after it came out. "A very good friend."

Prue nodded knowingly. "Right." There was also the faint hint of a smile. "That whitelighter. JC or ... "

"JD," Billie corrected. "He's definitely in some serious trouble and, to be honest, I have no idea how to fix it."

Prue sat on the edge of the bed. She opened the Book of Shadows to the page Billie had marker-ed. "Did you get a location?"

"No," she admitted to Prue, feeling frustrated, "but I was there."

"Why the scrying if you've been there before?" Prue was a little confused.

"Because I don't know how to get back and can't do it on my own. And as far as this map is concerned, it's like the place doesn't even exist," Billie explained dejectedly.

"How did you get there before?" Prue questioned.

"Remember when Phoebe called me to help you guys but I never made it back?"

"Right, I remember. What happened?" Prue wanted to know.

"Long story short? A demon happened," Billie shared. "Turns out, he was some exiled Triad member. Or something like that."

Prue visibly tensed at the revelation and Billie saw it.

"But he got to JD too," Billie recounted solemnly. "Not just me."

Prue closed her eyes, shaking her head despondently. "Great," she sighed. "And now we have yet another unknown Triad to deal with who's running around on the loose somewhere."

"Former Triad!" Billie stressed. "And, hey, am I going to get the third degree for not spilling the beans on this sooner when you weren't even here? Piper was gone too, and I literally had to play babysitter to the younger you while everybody else was starring in some super weird version of Future Family Members Gone Wild," she wanted to know, slightly cowering at the possibility of receiving backlash.

Prue took in a deep breath. "No," she shook her head. "No, of course not. There's been a lot going on."

Billie visibly relaxed.

"Did you find out what he wanted?" Prue asked the next obvious question. "How were you able to get away?"

"Well," Billie sighed, "he wanted Lana. And that's just it, I didn't get away," she explained. "He let me go to bring her back."

"Lana?" Prue was a little taken back but thought about it some more. "What did he want with her?"

"He said he was her father," Billie revealed.

That revelation actually made sense to Prue. They had been informed by Billie earlier on that Lana was part Triad. In some weird way, it fit that such a demon could potentially be tracking her down.

"Although, I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore since she's vanquished," Prue shared in hindsight.

"But it does matter!" Billie corrected that assumption.

Then it clicked into place for Prue. "JD's the leverage," she pieced together and then voiced it aloud. "He let you go and then you were supposed to trade off."

Billie nodded. "He used JD to get to me." Her eyes were filled with regret.

"That definitely sucks," Prue's brutal honesty flew straight out, "especially seeing as there's nothing to exchange. But, Billie, it's not your fault," she tried to reason. "You can't blame yourself for JD."

"Oh, you mean the same way you never blamed yourself for Andy?" the retort came out tersely and then Prue flinched. It had flown out of Billie's mouth before she could even think to stop it; however, she instantly regretted it. "Sorry," she rushed to apologize. "I didn't mean that the way it came out. I'm just really really frustrated and don't know what to do," she sighed wearily, rolling her eyes at the ceiling.

Prue took in a deep breath. "Hey, you don't have to apologize," she offered back, following a short spell of silence. "I get it, I do." Then she looked down. "And it's true; I did blame myself over Andy. For a long time," she nodded in acceptance. "In some ways, I still do," she admitted, thinking about their current dilemma.

Billie felt bad. She hadn't meant to open any wounds by lashing out.

Andy was alive again, and Prue was grateful for it; however, being together again did come with a cost. A familial life tethered to magic, and demons, hadn't been the life he wanted for himself. And when she thought about it, could she really blame him? This life was hard enough for those with a magical destiny, Piper was definitely right about that, and his choice had been taken away. The decision was made for him after Gideon and the Elders had intervened. She didn't voice any of these thoughts, but her eyes did land on the ring sitting on her finger. For a brief moment, she could have sworn it shifted colors.

"I didn't mean to imply you should be blaming yourself for anything that happened before ..." Billie began but then her voice faltered off.

Prue gave a faint smile.

Billie actually wanted to open up about the mixed feelings she had regarding the 'Lana' arrangement in general, so she quickly shifted the direction of the discussion. "What's bothering me is I'm not even sure the trade was the right thing to do."

Prue listened.

"I know you guys didn't think so," she referenced Prue and the other sisters, "and I didn't think so at first either, but there really was this other side of her starting to come out. You guys didn't get to see it yourselves, but I think that human part of her was looking to connect. That's why she wanted JD, wanted me, to help find her family."

"Which lead to Coop," Prue inserted.

Billie nodded. "And I get why Phoebe was upset and probably never going to be able to accept that. The possibility that somebody like Lana could be helped, that she could maybe change for the better, probably seems impossible," she reflected. "Especially after everything she went through with that Cole guy."

Prue finished listening and carefully contemplated how to respond in return. "Yes, well, that Cole guy as you put it," she smiled back at Billie, "I think represented everything Phoebe put her faith into only to have it backfire on her and go horribly wrong," she reflected on the past, remembering how Phoebe was determined to stand by Cole to the very end. "Phoebe would wear her heart on her sleeve. I wasn't here for the ending of it all, but I can only imagine the wall she needed to put up around her heart in order to let go. To move on."

Billie nodded in understanding.

"Cole struggled to stay connected with his human side too," Prue shared.

"And if you're comparing them, I get why, I do, I really do," Billie acknowledged, "but I just don't think this is the same thing. Lana has done some terrible things, I mean, she used me, she hurt Phoebe, Piper, and Paige, but she's never actually killed anyone. Other demons, maybe, but never an innocent. In a lot of ways, I think she was just as much of a pawn as I was."

"Didn't she try to kill us, though?" Prue squinted her eyes and referenced the Ultimate Battle with Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. She saw the despondent expression cross over Billie's face. "Okay, look, all that might be true," she accepted. "Maybe she could have overcome where Cole failed, I really don't know. But given the outcome, I don't think it matters that much anymore. Do you? Lana's gone."

"But we don't know for sure that she's gone for good," Billie proposed. "I mean, she came back once before. What if she does it again?"

Prue sighed again. "I think we cross that bridge if and when we come to it."

Billie still felt downtrodden.

"So, JD," Prue attempted to shift the subject. "The demon never gave you a way back for the trade?"

Billie shook her head.

"Well, there must be a way," Prue reasoned. "Otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible to deliver Lana back to him."

That was likely true but, for Billie, it did little to ease her worry.

"Unless he planned on coming directly to you," Prue offered up the next logical presumption. "In which case, we better stay on guard and keep a lookout. But, hey, either way, we'll figure something out," she placed a reassuring hand on Billie's knee. "Promise."

"I hope so," Billie bit down against her lip. "For JD's sake."

"Well, like you said. Lana could come back. That makes the trade an option again," Prue reminded her.

"Is that really fair to hand her back over to the very thing she's been trying to escape from?" Billie challenged. "Maybe there's another way, like stripping her powers?"

Prue smiled. "Billie, listen. I think it's great that you have a heart and you're open to giving second chances," she told her. "But be careful." She went to get up. "And until that time comes, we could actually use your help downstairs with preparing some of the potions if that deal goes through. But, uh, take a few minutes if you need it."

"Sure," Billie smiled back. "Be down in a sec."

As Prue went for the door, she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot," she turned around, retrieving something from her back pocket. "Here," she looked down at it and then gently reached out for Billie to take it.

"What is it?" Billie's brows furrowed. She took it.

"It's for you," Prue nodded.

Billie looked down at the folded piece of paper in hand. Recognition lit up in her eyes. It was a letter. Her stomach began to churn.

"I don't remember anything from the time you were born," Prue admitted regrettably. "I'm really sorry about that." She realized she was apologizing for something that technically wasn't her fault but still felt responsible anyway. "But I did find that in my diary."

Using her fingers, Billie gently fiddled with it before looking up to meet Prue's eyes.

"I didn't read it," Prue rushed to tell her. "And I don't remember what I wrote but I hope maybe it can offer you something or give you some answers you were looking for."

Billie gave a faint smile. "Thanks," she lifted it.

"Right, sure," Prue nodded back. A little bit of awkward energy passed between them as Prue stood there not really knowing what else to say. Billie decided to wait and read it when she was alone. "Yeah, so I'm going to be going now," she pointed at the door, moving to leave.

Billie lifted a hand to signal bye.

Prue reached for the door and then closed it gently on the way out.

x

Future Molly and Melinda orbed into a dark alleyway.

"Remind me again why I agreed to wear this outfit?" Future Molly complained. She tried once again to stretch the black leather of the mini-skirt to at least make it appear like it reached mid-thigh.

"Because we're not supposed to be ourselves," Future Melinda threw back. She did a quick inspection of the outfit. "Don't worry, nobody's going to know it's you."

"Yeah, and thank god," Future Molly sighed. "That's only thanks to the magical disguises." They had opted to use the glamouring potion so their entire physical appearance could be altered. "Ick," she shuddered.

They were somewhere in the north side of the city and this particular area was sketchy at best. The perfect cover of darkness for a demonic interlude. Around the corner, what resembled to be a discreet drug deal taking place had caught their attention as they did their best to discreetly walk by and remain unnoticed. However, they weren't that lucky. When the dealer made direct eye contact with Future Molly, she quickly averted her eyes.

"Great," Molly whispered, closing her eyes. "We're not alone."

"Just don't look, don't look," Future Melinda coached through some clenched teeth as both girls sped up their walking.

After they retreated far enough away, they stopped, waiting and watching for any impending sign of a demonic visitation. After a little bit of time passed, Future Molly became preoccupied with her dress apparel once again. While fidgeting and focusing on her chest area, she squeezed and pressed down against her breasts, insecure with the idea that she might be exposing herself too much.

"Okay, would you stop that already!" Future Melinda had it and grabbed for both of Molly's arms. She forced them down to her sides. "You're fine; there's nothing wrong with you," she groaned. "Trust me."

"Says the one who got first dibs on the leather pants and jacket concealing her entire body!" Future Molly hissed back.

"Fine. Let's do a trade," Future Melinda smirked back, going for her jacket, and making for like she intended to start undressing right there in public.

Future Molly grabbed for her arm. "Stop that, what are you doing?" she admonished, slightly embarrassed for her.

"Relax, softy, " Future Melinda laughed at the look on her face. "I'm kidding and besides, nobody's even looking. We're stuck in the back alley that time forgot," she snorted, looking around.

Molly shook her head and then leaned back against the cement wall right before something to the side caught her attention. "Oh great, eight o'clock creepers," she nudged her cousin, using clock speak to signal the direction. "And I don't mean demon."

Future Melinda just lifted her head to look when one of the men had approached Molly's side and was leaning beside the wall next to her.

"Hey there, pretty thing!" the eyes leered up and down the length of her entire body while the voice gave Molly the chills. But not in a good way. Next, the man reached out to grab for Molly's waist.

"Don't touch me!" she immediately pushed him away.

Her rejection went completely ignored. "Aw, don't be like that, baby. Playing hard to get isn't really all that it's cracked up to be, wouldn't you agree?" the lewd suggestion followed.

"Yeah, well I would definitely agree and say you're cracked up on something!" accused Future Molly, while giving the man a death glare.

Future Melinda was carefully studying the two men.

Suddenly, a hand was squeezing Molly's butt.

The unexpected contact made Molly jump. "Hey, I said to keep your hands to yourself, slime!" Future Molly angrily spat back.

"Ooh, look-y here, we got ourselves a real mouthy one," the man jeered, sharing a laugh with the other man standing beside him.

Both girls realized these were the two guys involved in the drug transaction, the same men they had made an initial attempt to avoid.

"You're not gonna' be a tease now and say you weren't inviting us back here to have a good time? Not after that look you gave me back there and certainly not dressed like this," he brought his mouth within inches of Molly's face.

The second man began whistling and making cat calls.

"I think I actually prefer the demons to the human scum," Future Melinda muttered. "Hi, hey there?" she waved her hand at the man intruding on her cousin's space. "Wanna' take a step back? I can practically smell your bad breath."

"Back off and shut it, sweetheart!" the man brushed her off, not bothering to gaze at her. "You'll get your turn."

"Sweetheart?" Future Melinda laughed. "He didn't."

Future Molly rolled her eyes. "I hate alleyways," she groaned.

The man reached his hand back out for Molly's hair, but this time Future Melinda intervened. "Maybe you didn't hear her the first and second time?" she spat, grabbing for his hand. "She said to keep it in your pants. Now beat it!" she ordered.

The man pulled his hand free from hers. "Oh yeah, bitch? You wanna' see what I got in my pants?" he sneered, quickly moving for something in his pocket. "Here!" He revealed a switchblade and both girls flinched.

The bearded man beside him snickered and began laughing. "Time for some real action."

Future Melinda and Molly put up their hands.

"Put it down!" Future Melinda demanded.

"And if I don't? What are you going to do about it, huh?" the man swung the knife at them and the girls jumped backwards.

"You need to seriously back off," Melinda warned the man. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."

"Is that so?" the man mocked in return. "Enlighten me," the man swung the knife again. Both men continued to jeer.

"Dude, you're crazy," Future Molly fumed. "This isn't funny."

"Last chance, man," Future Melinda issued a final warning. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

While the man brandishing the knife had both girls distracted, the other guy began circling them from behind only to finally make a very fast grab for Molly. She gasped when his arms encircled her, however, she instinctively orbed out.

The man was in utter shock. "What the hell?" he was left holding onto nothing but empty space.

Future Melinda sneered. "Time for some real action," she threw back.

"Where'd she go?" the man with the knife inquired. His head was shifting around in every direction.

It was enough to distract the man holding the knife. Melinda used it to her advantage and shot out her hands. The man watched in terror as the knife, and then his arm, began to crystalize and turn to ice. The entire length of his arm, all the way up to his shoulder, including the knife, was frozen solid.

"You bitch!" he hollered back. "What did you do to me?"

The other man stood there gawking in shock.

"What are you staring at? Don't just stand there. Help me, idiot!" the man with the frozen arm ordered of him.

The ice began to suddenly melt until an arm was visible once again.

"Make another move like that and this bitch will make sure the ice comes back for good!" Future Melinda threatened him. "There's nothing sweet about this sweetheart, got me, pal?" she mocked him.

"What kind of weirdo freaks are you?" the other man with the beard shouted out.

Future Molly orbed back in. "The kind that can do this?" she retorted. There was a loosened manhole cover nearby and Molly immediately called for it. It was flung in the direction of both men, knocking them to the ground. She walked closer. "Now get lost."

Both men were now cowering away from them and scrambling to get back on their feet. However, soon after they did, the men very suddenly burst into flames. Melinda and Molly's faces were reflecting their shock. The agony of their perpetrators, along with their wailing screams, were the last things to be seen and heard as they burnt up and fell back to the ground. Their remains disintegrated into ash.

"That wasn't me," Molly immediately shot her hands up.

"No, you're right, it was me," a new voice was now present on the scene.

Future Molly and Melinda found themselves standing face to face with a group of demons. Each side began to carefully inspect the other, regarding each other with suspicion. Both girls were hoping they hadn't witnessed the use of whitelighter magic, or their cover could already be effectively blown.

"Show time," Future Melinda got out just before the newcomers were close enough to hear.

"Scatter demons," Future Molly identified them. Not too bad, lower level, she thought. It appeared they had been sent in as scouts for Gideon.

The Clan leader stepped forward. "Mortals," he tilted his head at the remains. "And now that we've gotten that minor nuisance out of the way," he nodded at the burnt ashes, "we can get down to business."

Melinda and Molly quickly glanced over at the ashy display. It was still smoking.

Melinda cleared her throat, stepping out, and coming into closer contact with the Clan leader. "And I don't believe that business is with you!" she retorted.

"It is until we say otherwise!" the Clan leader sneered back.

"No! We were promised an audience with the holder of the artifact!" Future Molly feigned her annoyance with the accusation, doing her best to portray the likeness of a demon. She joined Melinda's side.

The Clan leader shifted his gaze between both girls. "You don't see the goods until we see the offer!" he held firm.

"Oh yeah?" Future Melinda asserted her moxie. "That's what you think. You don't see the offer until we see the goods," she inverted the proposition. "Do we look stuck on stupid to you? This can all be a lie, a ploy to take away our powers!" came the accusation.

The Clan leader sneered again. "I guess that's a chance you'll have to take."

"It's not a lie," one of the scatter demons was quick to defend. "Other demons can attest to the boost in power!"

The Clan leader held up his finger to silence his minion.

"Sire," the scatter demon gave a nod. He retreated back into the shadows.

"We didn't come here to meet your demands," the Clan leader exclaimed. "Only for the offer. The Holder will make the final decision."

"Take us to the holder of the artifact, then!" Future Molly issued her demand anyway. "We need to see it for ourselves."

Nothing but silence ensued for several seconds. Future Molly and Melinda could practically hear their own rapidly beating hearts jumping out of their chests. Would this work? Or turn into another dead end? They were preparing themselves to bail the scene if it became necessary. The Clan leader was unreadable but did appear to be considering it.

"Very well," the Clan leader relented. "But we do this my way!" He instantly threw out a black dust, aimed at the girls faces.

Future Melinda and Future Molly felt their eyelids drooping. They felt themselves becoming sleepy until finally passing out. Both fell to the ground.

X

(Future - 2029)

Piper and the others had managed a safe return back to the Zone. Prudence, Julie, and Laura all reunited while Piper had watched from the sidelines. The relief had been evident in Laura, who had stayed behind, keeping things in check.

Piper was now sitting on a ledge observing Wyatt, Chris, and Molly. They were playing with a small group of kids, laughing and running around in circles.

"Here," an out-stretched hand was offering a small plastic cup.

Piper looked up. It was Prudence.

"It's ginger tea," she told Piper. "Packs a little bit of a punch."

Piper took the offering and sipped as Prudence sat down on the ledge next to her. "Phew, you ain't kidding?" she made a face.

Prudence tilted her head back and gulped the rest of hers down.

"Julie seems to be doing okay," Piper broke the ice. She took one last gulp of the remaining tea and handed the empty cup back to her niece.

Prudence took the cup and didn't say anything right away. "She is," she squashed Piper's cup in hand, lifted her arm and then aimed for the small garbage pit. She pitched it and watched it make a perfect landing. "Thanks to your son."

Piper's gaze fell to the ground. "I get why you're not his biggest fan," she spoke honestly. "Here and now. But you need to understand that's not the Wyatt I know."

"I know," Prudence conceded.

Piper sighed. "I just don't want things to turn out like this. I've seen the good version of him, the man he can be, I've met with him face to face," she shared. "And we fought so hard to make it happen, to avoid all ... this," she waved at their surroundings. "I don't understand what went wrong, what did we do or miss to mess it up again?"

"It wasn't your fault," Prudence turned to face her. "But you refused to let go," she told her, not mincing words. "Refused to do what needed to be done."

"Which was what exactly?" Piper challenged. "Vanquish my own son?"

"Nobody wanted that," Prudence countered. "But it became necessary, and you were all we had left. The last remaining Charmed One," she sighed wearily. "We needed to be able to count on you."

"And, what, you couldn't?" Piper thought to the arrangement her future-self had with AJ, the Avatar. They must have been searching to find a way to stop Wyatt without having to resort to the unthinkable. But at what cost?

Prudence considered the best way to explain things. "Julie remembers things a bit differently from the way I do," she opted to share. "About mom."

Piper felt herself tense. "Yeah. How so?"

"The truth is," Prudence shook her head, "the division began inside this family long before it ever got to us."

Piper shut her eyes for a brief moment. "Good to know," her tone dripped with heavy sarcasm. "Have any other news to brighten my day?"

Prudence and Piper were now sharing a look.

"Never mind," Piper just let it go, looking away first. "You were saying about Phoebe?"

"Mom loved being a witch. She was always about the family," Prudence carried on with her own recollections.

One thing Piper certainly observed in her short time here was that Prudence kept up a very thick wall. You didn't really see her become soft or sentimental, but she certainly became a bit emotional when talking about the memory of her mother.

"If she could find a way to help, she would. If there was a way to make things better, she wouldn't give up until it happened. She fought to make it happen," a sad smile crossed over Prudence's lips.

"Yep," Piper sighed, "sounds about right," she acknowledged, thinking of Phoebe while gazing at the ground.

"But after she lost her sister, your sister," she looked at Piper, "it changed her."

"Changed," Piper repeated. "Changed how?"

"She became more of a realist, I guess," Prudence shrugged.

"You mean because of whatever happened to Prue?" Piper locked eyes with her niece.

Prudence nodded. "I think so."

"Can I ask how she died?" Piper wanted to tread carefully. "Prue?" she broke the eye contact.

Prudence only responded with another shrug.

Did that mean she didn't know, or she didn't want to tell? Piper wondered.

"I suppose a little part of her died that day too," Prudence offered. "When Aunt Prue died. She was just different."

"From what I do know, Phoebe is hardly a pessimist," Piper voiced the skepticism she felt, instantly shifting the inquiry away from Prue's fate. "Even in some of our darkest hours, she's always been the voice to pull us through. She sees the best in anything." It was true, even during the Ultimate Battle when things seemed virtually hopeless with Billie and Christy, Phoebe still wanted to believe they could find another way, a better way. After they thought Prue had died, Phoebe had been the rock, the glue that held them together and she created the bridge for Paige, while she herself had fallen apart.

Prudence shrugged it off. "Things change."

"I find it hard to believe she could ever change that much. That things," Piper emphasized, "could change that much."

"It did for me!" Prudence delivered the retort. "Look, believe whatever you want," she shook her head firmly. "I'm not here to convince you of anything, that's not my job, okay? I just meant she became less attuned to all the hopium," she elaborated. "And who could blame her," she defended her mother.

"The Hopium?" Piper made a face. "Sounds like some kind of magical shroom."

Prudence smirked. "No. Meaning, more in tune with accepting the way things had to be," she clarified. "I don't think the real pessimism settled in until Wyatt actually killed Aunt Paige," came the startling revelation.

Piper felt herself involuntarily shudder.

"Things got pretty dicey after Aunt Prue died, but Paige was when you and mom had your major falling out," Prudence explained further. "She wanted to stop him. Really stop him," she stressed, which clearly meant that Phoebe was full onboard for a kill. "Before the damage got any worse. But you wouldn't."

"Great," Piper felt the despondency overtake her like a tsunami. "So, what you're really telling me is I'm the reason Paige and Phoebe are dead," her tone reflected her disappointment. "What's next, I let Prue die for the greater good?"

"No, Wyatt's the reason they're dead," Prudence asserted strongly. "Why none of you are here anymore. Well, aside from Aunt Prue," she corrected. "Obviously," she added on as an afterthought.

"Obviously," Piper parroted. "Apparently she got to check out without us ahead of time. Again. Only this time for real."

Eh, except the part concerning herself wasn't true either, Piper was left thinking to herself. She was still alive, or rather, the future version of herself existing in this place. Doing what exactly, she really didn't have a clue, aside from the few bits and pieces of details AJ had provided her with. It was even a secret to her own children that she hadn't died like the others. When considering the end result, it all felt so empty. Good magic had virtually gone extinct, their family legacy was destroyed, and all her sisters were gone. She was alone, carrying the burden solo. Even Leo was no longer around to share in the fight.

"Hey, look, I'm not trying to guilt you or make you feel bad on purpose," Prudence read Piper pretty easily and felt for her. "You just wanted the killing to stop. All the killing and, for you, that also meant protecting Wyatt."

There was some silence and reflection.

"So, Prudence, huh?" Piper changed the subject rather abruptly. "That doesn't really require any stretch of the imagination, now does it?" she made reference to why Phoebe chose the name.

A genuine smile came from Prudence. "No, I guess not."

X

(Present -2007)

Underworld

Future Melinda let out a groan. She was coming to and could feel light shoving at her side.

"Mel, wake up," a voice was pleading. "Mel!"

"Leave me alone," Melinda grumbled. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt heavy. Part of her just wanted to drift off into more sleep.

"Mel, you have to get up!" the persistent voice wouldn't let up.

A loud bell suddenly went off. Finally, her eyes shot open. She took in a deep breath and let out a deep gasp. She shot up and her hands immediately went to cover her ears to block out the deafening sound.

"What the hell is that?" she turned to see that Molly was beside her, hands covering her own ears against the shrill sound.

Future Molly could only shake her head to signal she had no clue.

"Good evening," a familiar voice broke in.

The bell chiming stopped as suddenly as it had begun. When Future Molly and Future Melinda looked and were able to place the voice with the identity of the face now in their presence, they went on the immediate defensive. Instantaneously, an orbing wall was erected between them and the familiar intruder.

"Well, if Molly calling out for you hadn't given it away before, that certainly has," Wyatt sneered in response to the shielding. "Is that really necessary?"

Future Melinda did her best to maintain the facade. "It's necessary. We stole this power in exchange for what the stones can offer."

"Hmm. Is that so?" Evil Future Wyatt disbelievingly played along.

"Where are the Scatters?" her head turned in search of the demon clan. "They were supposed to take us to the holder of the stones."

"They're gone," Future Wyatt began pacing the length of the orbing shield. "I've sent them away."

"But why? You're not the holder of the stones," Future Molly accused, trying her best to keep up with the magical disguise, much like Melinda was doing in spite of being caught off guard.

Future Wyatt stopped pacing. "No, I'm not," he declared with an emotionless tone.

"Then bring us to him and stop wasting our time!" Future Melinda retorted.

"Maybe you can start first and stop wasting our time by dropping this little magic schoolgirl charade," Future Wyatt retorted back. He tilted his head. "Sis." Then he turned. "Molly."

The girls exchanged glances.

"Don't look so surprised," Future Wyatt offered. "You might have pulled it off IF you were actually meeting with Gideon."

"We have no idea what you're talking about," Future Melinda still tried to play it off. "We're here to speak with Gideon, not you."

"Drop the magical disguises," Future Wyatt demanded. "Now."

"What disguises? There are no disguises!" Future Molly denied, backing Melinda up.

Future Wyatt remained silent for a moment, eyeing them both back and forth. "So, this is how you want to do this?"

Future Molly swallowed over the growing lump in her throat.

"Like we said," Future Melinda spat out venomously. "You must have us confused with someone else."

"Very well, then," Future Wyatt responded cryptically. His hand was thrust forward to reveal what resembled a plasmatic golden bell. The loud chiming resumed only this time it was directed solely at Molly.

Molly dropped to her knees covering her ears.

Melinda turned to look. Her cousin was clearly in pain. "Stop it!" her eyes darted back to her brother.

Future Wyatt ignored her. Instead, the ringing only intensified, and Molly was now keeling over. Blood was beginning to drip from both ears. Future Melinda couldn't conceal the worrisome expression breaking across her face.

"I never knew a demon to care so much for another demon," Future Wyatt exclaimed in mock surprise. "And just think, you could've gotten the use of those stones all to yourself."

"I said stop it!" Melinda yelled. "Stop it now!"

The hardened expression on Future Wyatt's face didn't budge. "Stop me then. As you can clearly see, your shield is pointless against this particular demon."

"Demon?" Future Melinda sent an incredulous stare towards the bell. "What the hell kind of a demon is that?" She had never seen anything like it.

"The kind that's going to be her end very soon," Future Wyatt nodded at a writhing Molly on the ground, "unless you do as I've instructed. Drop the act!" he ordered one last time.

Future Melinda was seething, her fists pummeling at her sides. "Fine!" she spat. "You win." She dropped to the ground to assist Molly. "Molly! Molly, look at me," she cupped her face in her hands to get her to focus. "Wyatt, please stop it, you're going to kill her," she desperately pled with him.

Future Wyatt's eyes locked with his sister's.

Finally giving in, she mumbled a few choice spell words and the magical disguises vanished. The demon bell was silenced. Molly stopped writhing on the ground, the bleeding ceased; however, she remained unconscious. Melinda slowly arose from the ground.

"Happy now?" she glared at her evil brother.

"Hardly," he rebuked her. "But this was merely child's play compared to what Gideon would have done if he figured out who you were."

"Gideon?" Future Melinda narrowed her eyes. "How would you even know that? Are you working with him now?" she sneered in disgust.

"More or less," Future Wyatt shrugged. "That depends on you."

Future Melinda snorted.

"Gideon is blinded by revenge," Future Wyatt revealed to her. "His obsession is to rid himself of the Charmed Ones for good and to possess their power. Only, I'm not stupid, I know it doesn't end with them. He'll eventually come for us too."

"Well, if you knew that, why would you have ever agreed to help him in the first place?" she accused point blank.

"As long as he believes I am helping him, it works to my advantage," Future Wyatt reasoned with ease. "Besides, all of our mutual sparring aside, I think at the end of the day, we both want the same thing. To get back home."

Future Molly began to stir. She was regaining consciousness.

"Just in time for the grand finale," he directed at her as Molly slowly sat back up.

"And what might that be?" Future Molly retorted, standing back up. She was a little off kilter, off balance, so Melinda leaned over to help steady her.

"He knows," Future Melinda rushed to let her know after Molly's eyes started to widen at the absence of her cousin's magical disguise.

"The way I see it, the only way out of this hole in time is through the Charmed Ones," Future Wyatt cut in. "And the only way they can do it is with these," he waved his hand as a pile of stones magically appeared along with a box.

Future Melinda and Molly knew what they were looking at.

"How did you get those?" Melinda interrogated.

"And more to the point, why should we believe you'd help us get back anywhere?" Molly challenged him.

"I don't care whether you believe me or not," he retorted. "But I'm getting myself out of here whether you're coming for the ride or not! Figure it might be easier to get the sisters onboard and go along with the plan if the two of you are part of it."

"Well, I got news for you, okay? The 'sisters'," Molly put in air quotations, "were planning on getting that done anyway without you."

"Perhaps," Future Wyatt relented, "but I'm the one with the box and the stones in my possession, aren't I? Not them. And if they were desperate enough to send you two in, I doubt they have any other sure-fire way to get these away from Gideon."

Future Melinda and Molly glanced at each other. He had them there.

"If Gideon was willing to help you get back home, which I am going to assume he offered, why bother? Why should we trust you?" Future Melinda argued.

"Why should I trust Gideon?" he asserted.

"You shouldn't, but that wasn't the question," Future Melinda snidely retorted.

"Look, we're running out of time here. Gideon is going to figure out these are missing sooner or later. We're either doing this together or we're not. Call it a temporary truce," Future Wyatt settled on.

Melinda and Molly thought about it. Slowly, Melinda brought up her hand and lowered the orbing shield.

Future Wyatt took that as their consent on the matter.

X

(Future - 2029)

"Mom and Aunt Prue were pretty tight knit from what I could remember," Prudence opened up. "I wasn't much older than a toddler, maybe four, so what little memories I do have about her aren't that much," she reflected, gazing into her own empty cup.

Piper felt her heart constrict.

"Mom told me it was more than just a name to her, though," Prudence smiled at the memory she was clearly recalling with her mother. "She said it represented everything her sister was and everything she wanted me to be."

"Hey, you got lucky," Piper teased, "cause I actually had first dibs on it," she was recalling how she and Leo had once settled on Prudence Melinda to honor the memory of her dead sister. They hadn't even considered preparing for a boy. "Now I know to go with Melinda," she placed a hand on her protruding belly. It had been the original name from the first future she, Prue, and Phoebe had been taken to.

"Good to hear. I know I'm not the only one who will appreciate it; I'm sure Mel looks forward to returning home to her own name," Piper heard sincere laughter coming from Prudence for the very first time while joking about a potential name switch.

"But do you know what happened to Prue?" Piper went blunt, trying for a second time.

The mood fell back to somber.

Prudence kept silent.

"Yeah, I didn't have much luck with the Avatar either," Piper sighed, hoping to maybe gleam a bit of information on what to look out for once she got back home. "Not that it matters, I guess," recalling she wouldn't remember anyway.

"It's not that," Prudence refuted quickly, "believe me, if I thought it was the answer to erasing this entire miserable existence of ours, I'd tell you in a heartbeat," she readily admitted. "It's just that ... " she trailed off, appearing to think hard.

"Just what?" Piper pushed.

"I don't know," Prudence shut her eyes.

"Something we couldn't stop, something we didn't know how to stop?" Piper continued to pry. She thought about it some more. "Just whatever it is, leave the word destiny the hell out of it. I'd rather not heave today," she cracked, thinking to the conversation with Gram's years back when they actually believed Prue to be dead. The last thing she needed to hear again was that Prue was destined to die.

"No, I mean, I really don't know," Prudence clarified for her. "It was never talked about," Prudence shared what she could recall from her childhood.

"Never talked about?" Piper thought that was strange. "Why?" she shook her head.

Prudence shook her head. "No idea. I just remember it got really weird. Aunt Prue was there and then one day she wasn't," she reflected. "The visits with mom suddenly stopped, so did some of those cool trips to her studio. I have this one clear memory of Aunt Prue," she recalled with a grin. "She was standing there with her camera, the brightest smile, saying something and laughing with us."

(Quick Memory flash)

Prue pushes some of her long hair back over her shoulder. "C'mon, you guys, let's not keep Mr. Squiggles waiting," she calls out affectionately, her smile growing wider. She then takes a quick peek at the time on her cell phone before adjusting some settings on her camera as the kids gather together.

The kids sit down in front of a wooden chair.

Prue brings her eye to the camera. Mr. Squiggles, the teddy bear, is sitting on the chair. Both the kids and the bear all appear visible to her in the frame. Using a quick wave of her hand, the arm of Mr. Squiggles suddenly moves, coming to rest on little Prudence's shoulder.

The kids laugh.

"That's so much better," Prue laughs with them, poised with the camera.

"Say ... Gotch'a"

(Quick Memory flash ends)

"She would take these pictures of us, just for fun, and we'd make these silly poses. She'd even let us take some pictures too," Prudence laughed. "I remember her being happy."

(Quick Memory flash)

Prue takes a photo.

Click.

The kids are laughing, making faces, and a couple of them strike a pose. Prue then takes another photo.

Click.

"Okay, my turn," she announces and dives for her daughter on the floor, engulfing her in a big playful bear hug. "Who's turn to play?"

"Me, me!" Little Prudence begins jumping up and down, her arm raised high up in the air.

Prue gets up. "Okay, me," she squeezes her affectionately. She retrieves the camera.

Little Prudence laughs and is handed the camera just before Prue hits the floor again.

Click. Click. Click. Flashes go off.

(Quick Memory flash ends)

Piper couldn't help but smile at Prudence's recollections. "I'm glad you have some memories."

"Yeah, but the pictures disappeared too," Prudence now took on a more solemn demeanor again. "Even from the Manor. Mom let me keep one in my bedroom on my nightstand but that was about it."

Piper fell silent.

Prudence didn't say anything else.

"Your mother banned photos? I banned photos?" Piper's face contorted in disbelief. It didn't make sense.

"Hey, I was just a kid," she reminded her aunt. "Growing up, it's just how it was. Mom would sometimes share things when we were alone."

Piper lifted her eyebrows waiting for elaboration on that.

"Not the bad stuff," Prudence rushed to clarify.

"Of course not, not things typically shared with a four-year old," Piper acknowledged with moderate sarcasm. She didn't expect her sister to share with her own child any excruciating detail on what happened to Prue. Hell, she wouldn't have either but the secretive nature surrounding it was no doubt weird.

"It pretty much sucked the most for Molly, though."

At the mention of her name, Piper couldn't help but take a quick glance at Molly still playing with the other kids. "Why do you say that?"

"After it happened, they were taken away," Prudence told her.

"Taken away?" Piper's stomach dropped.

"Uncle Andy didn't take it very well," Prudence made reference to the aftermath of Prue's death. "He started to drink a lot and distanced himself. I remember a time when he actually was, I don't know, nice?" she settled on. "Eventually, I think he just wanted as far away from the magical world as possible."

Realization hit Piper and she began to connect the very unfortunate dots.

"We were all a constant reminder of it."

"And Prue," Piper added on.

"I guess," Prudence shrugged. "Molly kind of kept mostly to herself," she reflected on some of her memories. "She could remember things the most. Her mom. The magic. But then to just have everything and everyone ripped away from her like that," she shook her head while thinking about it.

"That would suck," Piper felt bad.

"We got to see them here and there," Prudence recalled, "but not very often. And those visits always came with conditions," she rolled her eyes.

"No talk of Prue?" Piper threw out.

"And no magic," Prudence nodded. "That was the biggie. There was this one Thanksgiving a pod of Spike demons attacked and that was it," she shared. "They weren't even allowed back at the Manor after that. We only met up at parks or out to eat somewhere. I guess he didn't feel right about completely cutting us off."

"That's just not right," Piper shook her head in a solemn manner.

Piper figured that she and her sisters must have agreed to the conditions, or some variation of them, just to be able to keep Prue's kids in their lives after her death, regardless of how limited the contact may have been. It was the only thing that would explain the secrecy. She sighed, recollecting some of the marital issues Prue and Andy were now currently facing. Unfortunately, it made sense to her that if anything happened to Prue, especially if it involved the magical world, Andy would certainly want to cut his ties. He had wanted a normal life to begin with but was obviously living beyond that only because he loved Prue. Billie, of course, would have been an adult and capable of making her own decisions regardless of what Andy chose to do. But the others? Not so much.

"It just got really uncomfortable," Prudence recollected some more, "because it was the most natural thing in the world to the rest of us."

"Andy probably thought leaving was for the best," Piper concluded. As unfair as it sounded, could she really fault his reasons for it? There was a time when even she wanted to cut all ties to being a witch so she could live a normal life. The difference was, Andy could. They couldn't. Prue couldn't.

"Maybe," Prudence considered that possibility.

"Thinking out loud," Piper admitted. "Doesn't mean it was the right thing to do."

"Molly did have a falling out with him and eventually came back to live in the Manor," Prudence told her aunt.

"Why, what happened? Andy allowed that?" the incredulous tone was hard to mask after hearing about the events that had transpired.

Prudence shrugged. "I don't think he had much choice. She was mad after finding out he was basically the one who pushed you guys into binding her powers. Her dad wouldn't allow any magic. I think she felt kind of betrayed."

This was shining a light on all the secrecy. Andy wanted his kids to forget about magic. He was going to leave regardless, and she and her sisters probably reluctantly agreed to the binding spell in order to keep Prue's kids safe, and off the demonic radar, while being raised solely by a mortal parent and kept away from them. Talking about Prue, or her death, risked opening up the entire magical can of worms about her having been a witch, about the powers, especially if her death was connected in any way to the magical world. The rest of the Halliwell's all openly used their magic amongst each other, demons could attack at the Manor, and it would only be a matter of time before the kids had questions. However, from the sounds of it, the decision to sever ties appeared to eventually back-fire on him.

"You and Uncle Leo took her in."

"Yeah, well, it's hard pretending to be something you're not," Piper thought about Molly having to pretend she wasn't a witch.

"Yep, sad," Prudence surmised, finally pitching her cup at the garbage pit and disposing of it.

"I don't think sad even begins to cover any of this," Piper brought her hands up to cover her face in light of the nightmare their lives were destined to turn into if they couldn't do anything to change it. "If I could drink right now, I would."

"Hey, it may be too late here, but you've still got a shot to make it better once you get back," Prudence tried to offer some encouragement.

"How?" Piper argued. "I won't even remember any of this. I just wish I knew what happened to Prue so we could stop it. If we could manage that, at least we'd still have the Ultimate Power on our side," she rationalized.

"Am I interrupting anything?" the Avatar broke in.

Piper and Prudence were pulled out of their verbal exchange.

"Yes, actually ... " Piper began only to be cut off.

"Nope, not at all, " Prudence rose to her feet. "Have at it," she dismissed herself, walking away.

"But wait, I ..." Piper threw her hand up and sighed. "Bye now," she rolled her eyes at the abrupt departure.

AJ began to whistle.

Prudence met back up with Julie, Laura, and a couple new faces Piper hadn't recognized in their group before. They were gathered around the box.

"They're another coven," AJ revealed, answering the question she had clearly thought but had not yet asked regarding the strangers. "Witches. They operate the Zone; help keep it guarded. At least, that's what I was able to find out."

"Thanks for the intel report, buddy," Piper cracked, "but do you expect me to believe your timing was just coincidence?"

"I have no idea what you mean," AJ denied.

Piper shook her head, closing her eyes. "You can relax, your secret's still safe, as unfortunate as that is for me. She couldn't tell me anything about Prue either."

AJ became flustered. "It's not my secret," he refuted.

Piper folded her arms. "Then what's with the long face?" she observed his abrupt change in body language.

The Avatar took a deep breath in and presented a quick recovery. "No idea what you're talking about. See? No long face," he provided for her. "I came back because I have some news for you."

"What news and where did you go before?" she thought to ask after he disappeared shortly after their return from the Manor.

"That would be part of the news I'm about to offer," he nodded. "I think I may have found a way to get you back to where you belong."

"How?" she stood up. Everything else was momentarily blotted out.

AJ unfolded his hand, revealing a vial.

"What's that?" her eyes shot to the vial in his hand.

"You drink it," he explained.

"And what does it do?" Piper wanted clarification before agreeing to drink anything. "Is it safe?"

"You'll fall into a deep sleep," he told her. "I can't just transport you directly from here to your time all by myself, but this will actually take you outside the boundaries of time. From there, I can send you back home."

Piper's eyes widened in surprise. Could it really be that easy? Then her eyes narrowed. "Where did you get it?" she reached out to take it, carefully inspecting the vial.

"Don't ask," came his simple reply.

"Will you get in trouble?" she wanted to know.

"None that I can't get myself out of," he assured her. "There should be enough in there for the four of you, but you'll need to get the young ones to drink."

Piper rushed forward and embraced him. AJ was a little taken back by the open display of affection but hugged back. "Thank you," her open and heart-felt gratitude followed.

AJ pulled away.

Piper turned to look over at the kids. She smiled. The relief washed over her in waves. Finally, they were going home.

X

(Present - 2007)

Manor

Phoebe stood by Billie at the stove inside the kitchen, instructing her on which ingredients to include for the newest potion.

"Here, a little more of the marigold too," she handed the herb over to Billie who threw it into the boiling pot.

A small smoke blast with a golden hue erupted from the pot.

"Cool!" Billie admired the spectacle.

Future Piper quietly entered the scene, observing at first, before making her presence known. "How's it coming along in here?"

Phoebe and Billie shot their heads up.

"Oh hey," Phoebe shifted her gaze away, her mood almost instantly deflating. She began busying herself again with the potion making.

Future Piper took immediate notice and frowned.

Billie felt the shifting energy in the air and glanced between the two women.

Phoebe cleared her throat. "Billie, the burdock root?" she nudged her, trying to pull her attention back. "Focus!"

"Right, burdock root," Billie nodded, bringing her attention back to the task at hand.

"Actually, Billie?" Future Piper interrupted. "I think they can use you out there for a minute with the crystal gridding."

Phoebe and Billie looked back up at Future Piper.

"Crystal gridding?" Phoebe shook her head. "Why?"

Billie shared a full-on expression of confusion with Future Piper until she finally caught on. "Oh, oh right," she jumped in and played along. "Yeah, actually, I did promise Paige I would help her with the set up," she nodded at Phoebe.

"Doesn't that job require like only one person?" Phoebe shot them both a questioning look. "It takes ten minutes tops."

Billie started backing away. "Yeah, but I think it's more of a cosmic thing, you know, that whole Feng shui type of deal, finding the right places," she made up on the spot. "Gotta' go, be back later," Billie rushed out, then turned around to flee the kitchen.

Phoebe rolled her eyes, catching on to what just happened. "Okay, Piper, you didn't need to get rid of Billie just so we could talk," she moved away from the kitchen island and towards the kitchen table. "Besides, I don't think there's really anything left to say," she pulled out a chair and signaled with her hand for Piper to take it. "Is there?"

Future Piper moved to sit down. Phoebe returned to the stove.

"Phoebe, I know you're upset with me for not telling you want you wanted to know," Future Piper dove straight in.

"Yeah, and what gave it away?" Phoebe kept herself distracted with filling up some vials.

"I gave it some more consideration," Future Piper sighed. "And what I can tell you is that the threat against Prue really has nothing to do with the magical world."

The admission stopped Phoebe cold. "Wait, what?" she dropped the lid back on the pot and scurried back over to the table. Pulling out a chair, she sat down. "Explain."

"You heard me," Future Piper nodded, closing her eyes. "It's not a magical problem. Which, we both know that means," she hesitated, "there isn't any magical solution to fix it. I don't really know if it can be stopped," she sighed in resignation to Prue's looming death on the horizon.

"Wow, I don't even know what to say to that," Phoebe was at a complete loss for words. "Except how depressing," she brought her hands up to cover her face.

Future Piper reached out, resting a hand on her sister's arm. "It's why I didn't want to burden you with the details on something you can't do anything about," she admitted with regret. "And why burden Prue with it either?" she proposed. "She should be allowed to enjoy the time she does have."

Phoebe thought long and hard about this revelation. She considered Piper's own thoughts on it. Truth be told, the possibility of Prue's death being connected to the mortal world, rather than the magical one, hadn't even crossed her mind. She had just assumed that their destiny as The Charmed Ones eventually caught up with Prue, like it apparently had for the rest of them inside Piper's future, only much sooner for their eldest sister. Perhaps something similar to what went down with Shax. Seems that assumption was way off the mark.

"Well, can't we at least try?" the desperation was flowing through Phoebe's voice, and it could be read across her face too. "I mean ..." she shook her head, looking away.

"Honey, I understand that's not what you wanted to hear," Future Piper offered her support, a sad smile in place.

"No, of course it's not what I wanted to hear," Phoebe felt numb all over. "But I definitely needed to," she let out a heavy sigh. "You were right earlier, you know. When you said that time was a precious thing and to make the most of what we have together," her voice broke a little, her watery eyes meeting with Piper's. One tear managed to escape.

"Oh sweetie," Future Piper used a hand to wipe it away. "I'm so sorry." She hated to see her sister's hopes dashed.

Phoebe nodded and then wiped at her eyes. "Me too."

"The rest of it, meh, perhaps there's a way," Future Piper ventured further, sounding cautiously optimistic. "If we can figure out what went wrong with Wyatt, maybe the rest of us can actually make it. I already tried, I did," she relented, sounding tired and defeated from the years of constant battle. "But maybe the four of you in the here and now can still give it a shot. Together."

Phoebe was about to respond when their attention was grabbed to the situation currently brewing elsewhere inside the Manor. The sound of a loud shrill entered the atmosphere and both women sitting at the table moved to cover their ears.

"What the hell is that?" Phoebe yelled. There was chiming. Was it a bell?

"Piper? Phoebe? Get in here, we need you!"

---

To Be Continued ...

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