"You're blonds " Daryl said suddenly. "In fact none of you look like you usually do."

"Glamour spell, to hide us in plain sight." Prue answered. "How did you know who we were?"

"Besides the fact that you're the only ones who appeared to be in trouble?" Xander asked, frantically trying to think up a way out of this situation. "Part of the spell I worked to bring us here was specifically worded to bring us to our loves, we're seeing with our hearts right now, where you guys are concerned. Everyone else is still seeing just the disguise."

Andy examined Prue for a moment since he hadn't realized it himself. "Huh, it's like some kind of hologram laid over your face and hair, but I see the real you though it. I didn't realize it. Kinda cool and very smart."

"Thanks, Cordelia suggested we think like Xander, since he's good at thinking of alternatives and multiple ways of dealing with problems. Our first attempt involved just trying to walk in there and get Charlotte and her unborn baby out. We were knocked out by the Magic and nearly caught by the witch hunters."

"First time in my entire life anyone's ever said my way thinking is useful for something." Xander joked. "Okay, I honestly have no idea how long I can hold the shield in my current condition. And I really need to find Cordelia and make sure she's okay too. And we have to be careful not to kill anyone, we could change the past, time travel is a tricky thing in science fiction and we're living it for real right now. What's so special about this baby, anyway?"

"It's magical and there's a prophecy about it's birth." Piper answered. "A dark partitioner wants to raise the baby evil. The mother is part of a coven trying to protect them both. They're afraid good Magic now and in the future is at risk if that baby grows up evil."

"And someone evil came from the future to help the dark practitioner." Phoebe added. "But we have no idea who that person is."

"Okay, I think we're caught up now." Xander nodded. "Now to find a way out of this mess."

"Ah, there's more actually, Xander." Prue told him. "The dark practitioner is drawing on the power of All Hallow's Eve to make herself stronger. And we've been finding out a lot of information about Magic that's apparently been lost."

"All Hallow's Eve?" Xander asked.

"A witches most sacred day, according to Eva, the Head of the local coven." Prue answered. "A day in which the source of all Magic can be tapped into."

Xander's head whipped over and he stared at her. "That story's real?!" He demanded. "The source of Magic?"

"You've heard of it?" Piper asked.

"References to it in the Chronicles. The Seed of Wonder, the All. Different names for it, but if this Eva is right and it's real..." He was brainstorming now. Xander's knowledge base had always included the things he enjoyed reading, science fiction, fantasy, comics. If the Seed, the All, was real and could be tapped into today of all days... "We may just be able to get out of this mess."

"How?" Leo asked. "I've heard the story of the All, it's a Nexus point, somewhere in a desert. Nexus' are neutral, like the one under the Manor, they can be used by either side. I've also heard, tapping into it could allow a person to experience what their power could ultimately become, but I don't know if that's true. It's also said that the first witch and her mate tapped into it and created the Higher Realm where the Elders now live."

"The Elders are a problem for another day, but I intend to have a word with them regarding their rudeness." Xander said shortly. "Getting out of here, collecting Cordelia and ensuring that baby survives are our current to-do list. As for tapping into the source of all Magic, Magic is in the world itself, an energy that runs through everything, including the Earth itself. And the Earth is an element in Wicca and I'm an elemental witch. I can draw energy from the Earth and use it, more than normal if you're right about the Source of Magic being accessible today."

"Use it how, though?" Andy asked.

"First a shield that doesn't draw from my energy reserves which are working overtime right now between traveling here, the bullet and the shield." Xander knelt down on the ground and placed his palms flat on the ground.

Outside the energy shield Cole and Ruth had been watching and talking themselves. The villagers had run when the vortex appeared, afraid. Only they and the witch hunters had stayed and the witch hunters were now searching for Charlotte.

"They aren't who I was expecting." Cole told Ruth. "Unless they've managed to disguise themselves and at this point I wouldn't put it passed them, I've obviously underestimated them. And there's far more of them than I was expecting."

"I tried to warn you, the tarot warned of a second force."

"You're annoying me, Ruth." Cole warned. "That's not a good idea." He saw one of the men who appeared out of the vortex, the one that was wounded, drop to his hands and knees. "What is he doing?" Cole wondered.

And then he didn't have to wonder anymore as a circle of solid rock grew up out of the ground and rose about thirty feet into the air. He absently wondered how thick it was.

######

A/N In Buffy, the Seed of Wonder, the Source of all Magic, is refered to in the comics. In Charmed, the All, the Source of all Magic, is refered to in their comics and the story that tapping into it could bring a witch's power level to what they're ultimately capable of also appears in the comics.

Some stories say the reason Willow became the most powerful witch is because she tapped into the Source to work the activation spell on the Potentials.