A/N Lots of big changes already and this particular arc isn't even done yet. Cole doesn't even know for sure Phoebe is even here, let alone have confirmation that she might have an interest in him. How does that affect the progression of their relationship?

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Xander followed the others into the cave, praying Cordelia was here and everything would be just fine soon. Without saying anything out loud, no use tempting Murphy. Gods, had they even been here an hour yet? No, he really didn't think so and checking his watch wouldn't do any good given it had been daylight when they'd left and now were somewhere that the moon had risen in the night sky, whenever they were now.

"You did it!" One of the women rushed towards them. "You saved Charlotte and her baby!"

"Has the baby been born yet?" Prue asked.

"Yes, only minutes after Cordelia appeared with her."

"Where's Cordelia?" Xander asked, looking around, confirmation of the baby and it's mother being alright was great, but he also needed confirmation that Cordelia was alright.

"She had used too much energy and collapsed moments after their arrival." The woman told him. "Our archway tells me you are not evil, but it does not tell me who you are." She said pointedly.

"Alexander Chase, Cordelia's husband."

"Eva," the woman answered, gesturing st herself. "We were told you are a witch yourself and would attempt to find her. We laid her on a pallet to the back of the cave so she could recover. It was extraordinary how she was able to save Charlotte and her baby."

"She's not a person who lets obstacles slow her down." Xander smiled fondly. "Please show me where she is, now that we know your friend and her child are safe, we really need to get home. Our presence here may be affecting your world and we have no idea if that's good or bad."

"I understand, if the force from the future that came to help Ruth had succeeded or if they hadn't come at all, our situation would not have been so dire, we might even have been able to figure out how to save them ourselves."

"You probably did originally and it was that person coming back that changed that possibility." Xander frowned over the idea. Time travel stories were fun to read and watch, but actually being involved in one made his head hurt considering the myriad of possibilities. He followed the woman to the back where he found Cordelia, still unconscious. He remembered passing out after calling the lightening the first time and how it had taken nearly an hour for him to recover and that had been with a blood bag to help him. Cordelia didn't have that option at the moment, both of them needed to get home and fast or there could be unfortunate repercussions from this expedition. He gently picked her limp body up and carried her back to the front of the cave.

"So now what?" He asked the group of women. "How are you going to keep them safe? The witch hunters are combing the woods, sooner or later they'll find this cave. And that dark practitioner the girls mentioned is still out there, I don't think she's going to just give up trying to get her hands on the baby."

"We're going to use the power of this night." The woman told him. "And the ability to tap into the Source of Magic, that's why Charlotte's baby had to be born before midnight and in a protective circle. You're right, if we stay here, Ruth and her men will eventually find us and she will get her hands on the baby. So we won't be here when they get here. We'll be miles from here, maybe hundreds of miles, depending on how much power we can gather amongst ourselves." She smiled serenely.

"You're going to teleport yourselves." Xander realized. "And you couldn't take the risk before the baby was born with a blind mass transport, it might not have made it. And All Hallow's Eve ends at midnight and with it the chance to tap into that power and that's also why you didn't use that power to try to save her, you need every bit of it to get them as far from here as possible."

"Exactly." Eva nodded. "It's our best chance of keeping them safe, of ensuring the very first natural born witch of our coven survives and with her, good Magic."

"I promise my daughter will know of you." A woman sitting on another pallet holding the newborn baby in her arms told them. "I'll make sure she knows about the people, the very powerful witches, who traveled from the future to ensure her safe arrival." She looked down at the baby in her arms. "I'll make sure you never forget their courage and strength, Melinda Warren."

Gasps from the Halliwell's and Xander as they registered the name of the magical baby in her mother's arm. "Did you say Melinda Warren?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes." Charlotte glanced up. "Is something wrong?" She asked, seeing the looks of astonishment on their faces.

"We know the name." Phoebe smiled. "And if it's the same Melinda Warren who's name we're familiar with, than we're related. Keep her safe, she has an extraordinary life ahead of her."

A vortex began to spin and the eight visitors from the future were pulled into it, Xander clinging tightly to Cordelia's unconscious form.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that." Eva announced, then got back to business. "Midnight is fast approaching and we need to go." Fortunately everyone was prepared, ready to sacrifice the life they had known to protect this precious child. Charlotte was helped to her feet, her sister witches holding her upright as she held tight to her daughter, the beginning of an extraordinary legacy of powerful witches who would fight for good down through the centuries. The women gathered power from the Source of Magic and they, along with the newborn, disappeared from the cave, never to be seen in the colony of Virginia again.