"What do we have to do," Phoebe was the first one to speak after Bobby's announcement.
"Please, don't tell me that we have to execute a numerous amount of ridiculous events that will create the desired affect after some very memorable screw ups that will prolong this entire thing," Paige said and everyone stared at her. "What? That's the general summary of all my sisters' magical tales from what I've gathered from story telling. There's got to be a simpler way," she said looking at Piper and Phoebe.
"Actually, all you would have to do is change one thing," Cole said. "One major event in your past that would change everything for the Charmed ones."
"It was Cole who gave me the idea," Bobby went on. "We were talking theory and more of the unique ways in which demons have tried to end the Charmed line."
"And," Dean said trying to progress things along.
"I went back in time once to decimate the entire line," Cole explained. "I figured that by either killing Melinda Warren or turning her to evil that her entire line would have to follow so I went back in time to the day she was born."
"That was you," Piper said looking pissed.
"Piper, sshh!" Phoebe turned back to Cole. "Go ahead, honey."
"Anyway, I was telling Bobby-"
"And I thought that it was the perfect plan," Bobby said.
"Okay, but we're not trying to decimate their entire line," Dean said unsure of what the guys were getting at.
Sam caught on quicker than his older brother. "But if we could go back in time, we could tell Melinda or whoever that the prophecy needs to include four sisters. It would change everything."
"I would grow up with all of you," Paige whispered.
"And the sisters would be strong enough to face Shax, hopefully with no casualties," Cole said.
"But won't changing the past change everything," Dean asked. "What happens to my daughter?"
"Somethings are meant to be," Cas said a split second after he arrived. "Your daughter will still be born."
"WHO the HELL are you," Piper demanded.
"Piper, Castiel; Castiel, Piper," Sam said. "He's an angel of the Lord. He ressurected Dean after he died and went to hell. Dean can tell you all about it another time."
"Who are these people," Piper whispered to Phoebe. For once they had met people stranger then themselves.
"I thought we couldn't change the past," Dean said to Cas, remembering when Cas had sent him to the past to stop Anna from killing his parents.
"Certain things should not be changed, and you and Sam were destined to be born to fulfill your purposes. So were the witches, but human error has been involved. Penny Halliwell is famous among her kind for being a strong and fierce witch, but her interference in family matters created this situation and it is hard to know whether she was influenced by the prophecy or if she influenced it. It would be of great help in our fight if all four of the sisters grew up with each other."
"And Tricia," Dean asked.
"Is destined to be. For important destinies a certain level of cherubs, what humans incorrectly call cupid, mark two souls with identical marks."
"It's how the term soul mate came to be," Leo told the sisters.
"Correct, whitelighter. Just like your parents, Mary and John, were marked so have you and Prue been."
"I should go to the Elders," Leo said. "They can open a portal for you."
"It's not necessary. Your Elders are my subordinates. I can send those necessary right now," Cas said. "The three females, Sam and Dean will go, along with Leo and the demon," he said acknowledging Cole as little as possible. "They can guide you and watch for any potential threats."
"Wait a minute," Piper said. "What about our counter parts from 2000? Won't they be there?"
"By going to the past and changing what was you assure that they will not be there this time," Cas told her. "Because you will arrive earlier then they had, they will not be summoned. We must not waste any more time. Grab a hold of each other," he ordered and as the group awkwardly held hands Castiel placed one hand on Dean and another on Piper and the group appeared instantaneously at the witch's altar that Phoebe and Piper had visited years earlier.
"We have to go now," Piper told them. "Witch hunters are on the way. Leo, Cole, do you think you can take us to the coven?"
Leo closed his eyes and try to sense any source of good magic. "I've got it." He grabbed onto Piper, Paige and Dean, leaving Cole to grab Phoebe and Sam. "Follow me," he told Cole and they vanished in a succession of orbs and shimmering.
They appeared at a threshold and everyone walked through except for Cole. "This doorway will alert them to me," Cole told the sisters.
Phoebe turned to him and took him by the hand. "You're with me," she said. "Don't worry; I'll protect you," she said with a grin.
"Who are you," Eva said stepping forward.
"We're the witches that you sent for," Piper said taking the lead. "We know about your predicament and we've come to help."
"And him," she asked looking at Cole. "The doorway alerts us to the presence of evil. While I believe you to be good I know him to be evil."
"Cole is half-mortal," Phoebe said. "You can trust him."
"Evil is strong," Eva said as she thought to argue with the sisters.
"So is love," Piper replied. "Cole's love for Phoebe has saved him. He's here to help."
Eva cast her head down. "We don't have much time. No one can suspect that you've come to us from the future," she continued as women provided them with clothing. "Witches must not have to hide in your time. What year are you from?"
"2001," Piper told them. "We know that a sorceress has kidnapped a witch named Charlotte-"
"And that she hopes to deliver her child and raise her in evil," Phoebe added.
"So what's the plan," Paige asked.
"You, Leo and Cole still have the power to orb," Piper said. "But we probably don't have our powers. Anytime we go to the past we tend to lose them because they don't technically exist yet."
"But what can you do if you do not have your powers," Eva cried.
"We didn't have any powers last time, either, but we still managed to save Charlotte and her baby," Phoebe tried to reassure Eva.
"Last time?"
"Don't worry about it," Paige said.
"Anyway," Piper said taking back control of the conversation, "We have to go to Ruth, the one who has Charlotte. We will need Leo and Cole handy so we can make a quick escape with Charlotte."
"What about the witch hunters," Phoebe said reminding Piper of another problem.
"Sam and Dean are good at handling people. We will need you to stay there so that when they realize Charlotte is gone you can stop the witch hunters from coming after us."
"We get to be the muscle, great," Dean said. "How do we get out of there later?"
"Leo will come back for you," Piper said. "What about the talismans," she asked Phoebe.
"I'll deal with the talismans," Cole said. "I was the one who charmed them," he told them.
"You know those things knocked me on my ass last time," she said to Cole through narrow eyes.
"Sorry."
"Do we all need to go? Shouldn't some of us go set up the altar for the birth," Phoebe reminded Piper.
"Okay, revision. Cole will take Phoebe, Sam and Dean to go get Charlotte while Leo, Paige and I work on the altar. We're going to need some supplies though. Eva, do you have any apples, lavender, laurel leaves and rosemary?"
"Yes, we do," she said gathering up the requested herbs.
"What about a broom?"
"Seriously," Dean said.
Piper threw him a look. "The broom's traditional purpose is to sweep evil from your path," she told him. "Alright, let's go."
Leo took Piper and Paige by the hand and orbed out, leaving Cole to take Sam, Dean and Phoebe to Ruth's party.
"Wow, hold on a minute," Phoebe said holding Dean back. He had been ready to cross the talismans. "You and Sam should take these masks. No one should recognize you but it is a Halloween party and since they don't know you they might be suspicious. Once we've gotten Charlotte to the altar we will wait for your call. Just shout out to Cole or Leo when the witch hunters finally realize that Charlotte is gone. We don't want anything bad to happen to you guys. Be on the look out for past Cole, too. We don't want him to realize anythings going on."
"Alright," Cole said. "The talismans are disabled. You should be able to pass. We'll walk in with you. Phoebe, follow from a distance. I should be able to convince Ruth that I'm the Cole that she knows. We'll have to wait for my counter part to leave."
Sam and Dean moved around the party, which seemed as normal as possible considering they were in 17th century Virginia. Men were drinking and boasting, while women flitted around trying to catch their attention.
Phoebe followed Cole through the house, and hung back as they made it up the stairs to Charlotte's room. Cole turned back to Phoebe and pressed her into a small alcove, clamping a hand over her mouth. He turned to to see his other self walk down the steps. "I must be going to the party to see if you and your sisters have arrived yet. Give me a moment, and when you see Ruth leave join me," he told her. He moved down the hallway and entered Charlotte's room.
"Back so soon," Ruth said.
"Hurry, the women you saw in the cards are downstairs. You must go set the witch hunters after them before they try to rescue Charlotte."
Ruth put her cards down and hurried to the door before turning back to Cole who made as if to follow her. "No, stay here and keep guard over her. You're the only person I know to trust," Ruth told him.
"Alright, but hurry. I may need your help if the witches make it this far."
Ruth nodded and hurried out of the room. Phoebe quickly joined Cole and saw Charlotte in pain and in labor.
"Who are you? Please don't take my baby," Charlotte begged.
"Don't worry," Phoebe said. "We're here to rescue you," she told her as she made her way to her side. "Cole," she called and she could hear running coming up the stairs. "Cole, now!"
Cole grabbed a hold of them and shimmered just as Ruth and past Cole came running in. "Damn it," past Cole said.
"How are we supposed to cast this circle," Paige asked, still new to the whole witch thing.
Piper handed her the broom and when Paige rolled her eyes said, "Just sweep away evil."
Turning to Leo, she handed him the lavender. "Can you make a perimeter with this? Follow Paige in order to keep evil out."
Piper took the apples and cut them in half before placing laurel leaves in the center and throwing them to the four directions when Cole and Phoebe shimmered in with Charlotte. "Oh, quick," Phoebe told them. "She's having the baby."
"Whose gonna deliver it," Paige asked.
"Not me," Piper and Phoebe called at the same time. "I did it last time," Piper said to which Phoebe replied, "exactly."
"Why don't you rock, paper, scissors it," Paige suggested.
Phoebe and Piper looked at each other. "I'm not doing it, you do it," Piper said.
"Nuh uh, you do it."
"No, Paige does it," Piper said and Phoebe agreed.
"What!" Paige said and stopped sweeping. Phoebe took the broom from her and pushed her towards Charlotte. "Your half-whitelighter. You...heal people and take care of them. Go help Charlotte," Phoebe said and started sweeping.
"This is so not far," Paige said and gave Piper a nasty look when she snickered.
Sam and Dean watched as the band of men prepared their horses to ride out after the witches. They had been ordered about and ''joined'' the group of witch hunters, giving them the perfect opportunity to accidentally set the horses loose before the men could do anything to stop it.
"No," Ruth cried. "They're helping the witches, take them!"
"Leo," Dean called and he and Sam started backing away from the men. "Damn it, Leo!"
The whitelighter appeared and swooped in to grab Sam and Dean before making a hasty escape.
"Good," Piper said seeing Sam, Dean and Leo arrive. "How soon do you think we have before they find us?"
"Sam and I let their horses loose so we probably have a couple of hours."
"Uh, guys, she's crowning," Paige yelled out.
"Sam, go help Paige," Piper told him and watch him hurry to her sister. Sam and Paige coached her through her breathing as her labor progressed and more and more time passed. Horses could be heard in the distance and Phoebe and Piper went about finishing last minute details on the protective circle.
"One more push, Charlotte. One more and you'll have your baby," Paige told her. A minute later a baby cried and Paige dried her off and handed her to Charlotte.
"You've got to give them credit," past Cole said to Ruth. "They're awfully good."
Everyone was back with the coven and Eva smiled at the sight of Charlotte holding her daughter. "I promise my daughter will know about you," she said. "Of the three powerful witches who came to bring her into the world. And we'll always be grateful, won't we Melinda?"
"Uh, that's kind of the problem," Piper said. "There aren't three of us."
"What do you mean, are you not all witches," Eva asked the three women.
"We are," Phoebe said. "But we have an older sister, one that didn't come back with us to help you. She's the reason why we were able to come back and save you," Phoebe said being vague.
"Then I shall tell Melinda of the four powerful witches who helped protect her, but I must ask -why did you come back to help us?"
"We're kind of related," Paige answered and locked eyes with Charlotte, before they snatched from the past and delivered back to the future.
Patty Halliwell put her youngest daughter down to bed before closing the door and making her way down to the conservatory to join her mother. Sitting on the sofa, she pulled her legs up curled into herself.
"Well," Penny said. "You said you wanted to discuss something with me. Please tell me you aren't thinking of getting back together with Victor again," Penny said.
"No, mother. I don't plan on reconciling with Victor, but I do have some very important news."
"Well, spill it," Penny demanded.
"I'm the mother of the Charmed ones," Patty finally said.
"How can you be the mother of the Charmed ones, Patty? You only have three..."
"I'm pregnant," Patty said confirming what Penny had only just put together. "And it's not Victor's child; it's Sam's."
"Your whitelighter? Oh, Patty, no. They won't allow this," Penny blustered.
"They will if they want their precious Charmed ones," she replied. "It's not like I can hide this, and I don't want to."
"Well, I always knew I would deliver the Charmed ones," Penny said with a giggle and then became serious at the look her daughter gave her. "Once removed of course."
"Mama," Prue called from the bottom step.
Patty turned to see her eldest daughter and walked over to the stair to see what she needed. "What's the matter, honey? Can't you sleep?"
"I'm thirsty. Can I have some water?"
"Of course," Patty said and picked her up. "Let's go get you some, okay?" Patty brought her to the kitchen and put her up on the island they had just recently purchased. "Here you go honey; drink."
"Thanks, mommy," Prue said and Patty pushed a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear.
"Prue, do you want to know a secret before Piper or Phoebe," Patty asked in a hushed tone. When Prue nodded she leaned in close and said, "you're going to be a big sister."
"I'm already a big sister," Prue said.
"I know, but mommy's going to have another baby."
"Does that mean daddy's coming home?"
Patty's heart broke a little bit. Prue had always been a daddy's girl and their splits had been hard on her. Victor still made time to see his daughters but Penny never made it easy on him. "No, honey. You see, this baby is going to have a different daddy then you and Piper and Phoebe."
"Oh. Will daddy be mad?"
"Maybe, but mommy and daddy aren't married anymore. Besides, he's always going to love you and your sisters. Are you ready for bed now?"
"Yes, mommy. Can I tell Piper and Phoebe?"
"In the morning. Right now you need to go to sleep," Patty said and lifted Prue off of the island. "Good night, Prue."
Patty went back to her spot on the couch where Penny was grinning. "Are you ready for another one of those," Penny asked knowing what handfuls her granddaughters were.
"They are the Charmed ones, mother. I'm sure it will all be fine," Patty said.