Vengeance

I do not own any of the characters from Charmed, I'm just going to use and abuse them for the sake of my story. So, don't sue me. This is set in early season 2, but no Dan and Darryl knows about them. So, I guess that makes it a bit AU.


It was well past midnight when the door of the manor finally opened and the three tired sisters stumbled in. After closing down the club, the Halliwell’s had left by the back door, only to find them selves face to face with a small group of what at first appeared to be drunks. As they tried to go around them, the men suddenly straightened, attacking them from all sides. Piper was struck right away, unable to avoid a fist, she went down and stayed down, fighting to stay conscious as the melee continued.

Prue and Phoebe saw their sister fall, and both of them saw red as they turned to the four men before them. To attack the middle sister was the wrong move, as they were about to find out. Phoebe leapt at the man closest to her, hitting him in the chest with her feet, slamming him back against the wall, driving the air from his lungs. From behind her, she heard the sound of another body hitting the metal dumpsters.

Turning, Phoebe saw that Prue had taken down two of the men, one laying at her feet, his hands holding his face as blood seeped from between his fingers and the other laying motionless against the dumpster. Behind her, the one who had struck Piper stood holding a board, ready to bring it down on her when he too suddenly crumpled, and Piper dropped the pipe she held as her knee’s buckled.

"Piper!" her sisters cried, rushing to her side.
"I'm ok, just kinda dizzy." she told them, trying to focus her eyes.
"We need to get you to a hospital." Prue said, helping her to her feet.
"What about them?" Phoebe asked, looking at the four men laying in the alley.
"Call Darryl, they are just a group of thugs." Piper said as she cleared the last of the fog from her vision. "I saw them trying to shake down some off the area businesses earlier. And I'm ok, I don't need to go to the hospital."
"Are you sure?" Phoebe questioned her.
"Yes, lets just go home, I'm tired, my feet hurt, and I need some aspirin." Piper told her, walking towards her jeep.

Not long after, they arrived at the manor, Prue parking behind Piper's jeep as Phoebe got out of the drivers seat. It had taken them five minutes to convince Piper to let her drive, and as Prue moved to the passenger door, she felt a momentary pang of fear when the door did not open right away.

"Relax, she's just asleep." Phoebe told her, "and don't worry so much, she's going to be fine."
"You shouldn't have let her fall asleep, what if she has a concussion."
"Prue, she's fine, and it has nothing to do with getting hit tonight.
She has been working all week with very little sleep. You know how she gets, full speed and then she just kinda crashes."
"But.." Prue started to say.
"I'm fine. Just need sleep." a soft said, breaking into the conversation. "Can we just go in?" Piper asked, sounding like a little kid. Moving to her side, the three went inside.

"Hey, Morris, did you talk to the Halliwell's yet?" Officer Laruent asked, as he saw the Inspector walk in.
"No, why?" the inspector asked.
"We got a call to go down there last night to the club they run, seems someone nailed those shakedown artists that have been terrorizing the area."
"Any idea who?" Darrly asked, thinking he already knew.
"Nope, but those guys haven’t said much yet."
"I'll give them a call, see what they know." he told the young officer, picking up his phone. Dialing their number, he couldn't help but wonder why he was always the one to have to cover their tracks. He loved the sisters like they were his own, but sometimes, he wondered why he helped them. His chief was starting to get onto him for his lack of solved cases, and he didn't want this to be another one.

"Laurent, I'm going to head over to their house." he said, putting the
phone down.
"Everything OK?" the younger man asked.
"I'm not sure, I didn't get an answer." he said as he almost ran out the door.

Twenty minutes later, Darryl stood on the front steps of the manor, drawing his gun. The door was open ever so slightly, and he knew they always made sure it was shut tight. In there line of work, it was a smart thing to do. Between that and the unanswered phone, he knew something was not right. Reaching out, he pushed the door slightly, opening it enough for him to peer inside, and what he saw scared him.

The hallway was full of broken glass and wood fragments from what appeared to be the grandfather clock, and a table lay shattered by the wall. Dirt from a plant pot covered the floor by the living room door. Sliding inside with his back to the wall, he started to inspect the rest of the house. The rest of the down stairs was also a shambles, but the upper floors were fine, and there was no sign of either the sisters or who might have done it except for a blood covered arrow he found in the kitchen.

"Leo!" Darryl shouted, feeling a bit foolish. "Leo, get down here!" he said again. The sisters had told him what to do in the event that he ever needed help, and he had a feeling this was one of those time's, not just for him, but possibly for them as well.
"What?!" Leo said, orbing in behind the inspector, startling him.
"Damn it, cant you do that with out scaring me!" Darryl said.
"What do you.." Leo started to say, then he saw the mess in the room, and the black arrow lying on the table, and he knew. The girls were in trouble, and it was all his fault.

She slowly awoke, her body feeling like she had been sleeping on sharp rocks all night. Looking around, she was disorientated, realizing she was not in her room at the manor, and that she was in serious trouble. Standing up, her legs buckled on her, sending her to the cold cement floor and bruising her knees. Brushing the hair from her face, she looked up and saw bars. Suddenly fully awake, she realized she was in some type of cell, with no memory of how or when she had gotten there.

"Prue? Phoebe?!" she yelled, hoping that they were not here and were even now trying to find her, she was rewarded with an answering voice.
"Piper? Are you OK?" Phoebe said, sounding like she was right beside her.
"I could really use that aspirin now, but other then that I'm OK. What about you?" she asked, moving to the bars and looking for where her little sister was.
"Same here." Phoebe said, her voice coming from the cell right beside her. "Do you know where Prue is?"

Looking out, Piper saw that she was in what appeared to be the end cell, with a view down a long corridor, and on each side of her were two other cells facing each other. Movement drew her attention to the cell across from Phoebe.

"Oh my god." Phoebe's whispered voice said as she saw her oldest sister. Her right arm was covered with a blood soaked bandaged and she seemed to be fevered.
"Piper, we are in a lot of trouble here." she said.
"More then you know witch!" a man said as he orbed in a cloud of black smoke.

"Leo, what is going on?" Darryl asked seeing the Whitelighter pale as he looked at the arrow laying in front of him.
"I got to find them." Leo muttered, not hearing the other man.
"How could I have missed this."
"Leo!" Darryl said, grabbing his arm and turning him. "What is going on!"
"That’s a Darklighter arrow."

"What do you want!" Piper asked
"What does anyone want. I want a nice place, a good meal."
"Why are we here, and what did you do to my sister!" Piper said, her anger getting the best of her.
"Well, well, well, we are just full of questions and accusations aren’t you." he said, stepping in front of Pipers cell. "But, I don't think I will tell you yet."

As he started to turn, Piper threw her hands up, calling on her powers.
"Tsk, tsk that won't work on me." he told her, waggling his finger at her. "Your powers are useless on me. I can't freeze, thanks to a
'friend' of mine. Just relax, and I might tell you more." with that he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

"Piper we're in big trouble aren't we?" Phoebe asked, peering through the bars at her older sister.
"No, we can get out of here, we just need to..." she stopped when she heard Phoebe gasp, and she saw her body clench, knowing the young witch was caught in a premonition. After a minute, she saw her eye's open as she stumbled back. a small sob escaping her as she sat on the bed.

"Phoebe? What is it?"
"Oh, that was to intense." was the reply.
"Phoebe?"
"It was the past, I think. I saw what looked like a man being beaten.
He was wearing prison garb, but it looked like it was from about eighty years ago. I could almost feel his pain."
"OK, that does it, we have to get out of here now!" Piper said, pacing in her cell.
"I'm all for that, any ideas?"
"We need to wake Prue up."

"Can you sence them?" Darryl asked, standing in the attic as Leo flipped through the book
"No." Leo said, frustrated. "but their not dead, I would know if they were."
"What is a Darklighter?" Darryl asked.
"They are like me, but they work on the side of evil. Where I help good witches, they try to stop good. We faced on last year who was after a woman who he thought he loved, and we almost lost."
"What can I do to help?" Darryl asked.
"I don't know."
"You give up to easy." a voice said, as a man formed from a dark smoke in the attic.
"Malik!" Leo said "Where are they!"
"Now Leo, you know I'm not going to tell you, and tell your foolish friend to put that toy away." he said, looking at Darryl’s gun.
"Why, you nervous?"
"No, but if he shoots me, I wont tell you what you need to do to find your precious little witches."

Catching Darryl's eye, he gave a faint nod letting him know it was ok. Reluctantly he did but he did not put it away. He was still fairly knew to the world the sisters lived in and he was not going to relinquish his only weapon. Stepping back, he moved to an area were he could still watch the newcomer, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Why are you here?!" Leo said, facing the Darklighter.
"Oh, that’s easy, I want what you stole from me." Malik said.
"And what was that? I didn't steal anything, I just helped stop you."
"NO! You took the one thing from me that meant anything! You took my wings!"
"You lost them on your own. I can't give them back to you."
"That’s were your wrong. And, if you want to save them, you have forty-eight hours to get me what I want." as he started to vanish, he tossed something on the floor.

"Prue!" the sisters shouted, trying to rouse her. From their vantage point, neither one could tell how she really was and that scared them.
The fact that they were facing a Darklighter, and the blood on her arm had them worried for if they couldn’t wake her to use her powers, they could lose her. The last time they had faced a Darklighter, Leo had almost died from the poison on his arrow and now it seemed that Prue had been hit as well. The only thing they had going for them was that it worked slower on a witch then a Whitelighter.

"Prue, you have to wake up!" Phoebe shouted.
"Phoebe?" a weak voice answered from the other cell.
"Prue, come on, wake up>"

Her head spun as she forced her eyes open, the light blinding her. A sharp pain lanced through her arm as she rolled onto her side. Everything seemed to move in a surreal motion as she tried to sit up. She could hear her sisters calling her name but it seemed to be coming from down a long tunnel. Sitting up, her head pounded in time with her heart, and she felt weak.

"Piper, Phoebe?" she called, shocked to hear her voice. It to was weak, and a chill ran through her body.
"Prue, are you ok?" Piper asked
"No, I.." she said as another shiver ran through her. "I don't feel to good."
"Can you use your powers to open your cell?"
"I.. think so." Forcing her head up, she tried to concentrate, but the fever made it hard. She couldn’t focus enough o make her powers work.

"What is that?" Darryl asked, looking at the paper Leo was holding.
"It's a picture, of Malik and me."

Leo's thoughts turned back to when he was first a Whitelighter, and the man who trained him. His mentor. He could still remember the day he had been lost, turning on the Elders and joining the dark forces.

"You can not keep me from them!" Malik shouted at the Elders sitting in judgment before him
"We can and will. You will have nothing more to do with them."
"No, your wrong! You can not stop me! They are my family, and I will see them."
"Do you have any idea what kind of torment you are putting them through? The fact that you have been going to them all this time shows that you are more concerned with yourself then your charges." the figure said, pointing to a wall. A woman appeared in it, facing a warlock. "Do you recognize her. She was your charge, but she died because you were with your mortal family."
"No, she died because she would not listen to me. I told her she was not ready to face him. She should not have gone after him." Malik said, not backing down.
"She died because you failed in your duties! He came after her! For this, you will be made mortal once more, but you will not find what you sought. Remember this, you have lost your powers, what happens now will be on your head."

The Elders formed a circle around Malik, placing their hands on his shoulders and a brilliant white light seemed to fill the entire room. When Leo could see once more, Malik was gone, and the Elders stood there with their heads bowed.

"What will happen to him?" Leo asked fearfully.
"He will have to live with the consequences of his actions." he was told. "I just wish we had not had to do this. You were not at fault here, and you still have much to learn." the Elder said, leading him from the room.

"What happened to him? Why is he still alive?" Darryl asked.
"His family died when an epidemic struck his village. In an attempt to save them, he begged the Elders for his powers back, but they refused. He made a pact with a demon, to be come a Darklighter and get back what he feels was stolen from him. He thinks he can force 'Them' to give him what he lost. But they can't. If they do, he will do what no one else has been able to."
"What?"
"He will be able to kill the Elders."

He orbed into the a room where he could see his captives. His one chance to regain the powers he had lost, the Charmed One's. He had known that Leo would be their Whitlighter, and had bided his time to get them. For years he had studied the prophesy, finding out everything he could about the powers they would have. He had known from the moment the youngest was born that he had found his means of revenge.

Watching them, he smiled coldly, knowing that as soon as he had what he wanted, they would die, he was not about to take the chance that they would stop him. When their grandmother had died, he had set his plan into motion, following them, watching them, but never seen. The oldest was the protector, the middle the peace keeper and the youngest the spirit. Their bond would be their undoing.

He thought back on the night before, remembering seeing just how tired the three were, and the fight with the men in the alley and saw his chance. He had orbed into the manor where they lived, waiting for them to come home, unaware that he was waiting for them. Had they not been so tired he knew he would not have succeeded. What he had not expected was the oldest moving just before he struck.

The potion he used had effected the middle one the fastest, and she had fallen where she stood, hitting her head on the table in the hall as she fell, asleep before she hit the floor. The youngest had not been far behind her, taking only two or three steps before the sleep potion took hold and she too crumpled to the floor.

As her sisters fell, the oldest had stepped back from the cloud of magic that hung in the air, the outer edge just barely touching her. Raising her hand she managed to send him flying into the old clock, shattering it under his body weight. Before she had a chance to use her powers again he called forth his cross bow, sending an arrow streaking across the short distance between then, she had no chance to dodge the shaft, going faster then a bullet at that range, it struck her in the upper arm.

The fight had not lasted long after that, the witch finally fell to the effects of the magic sleep potion that had gotten to her. Before he had taken his prize, he pulled the arrow free, leaving it for Leo to find, then he and his captives vanished to the cells he had prepared just for them.

"Leo, will 'They' do as he asks?" Darryl asked as the other man returned.
"No. The risk is to great. If Malik manages to get 'up' there, he could kill everyone, and evil will win."
"What are we going to do? We can let this 'person' win."
"I know, I just don't know what to do. He could have them anywhere, and even 'They' cant find them." Leo told him, his own fear and grief at the thought of losing the sisters hiding his real pain, the thought of losing Piper for good.

Piper looked at her watch, the only thing that could give her a clue as to how long they had been here. It had been three hours since the Darklighter had left, and things were going from bad to worse. Prue had fallen silent, the poison and the wound had caused her to pass out. The fact that she could not focus enough to use her powers left the three trapped, and on the other side of her, Phoebe was suffering as well.

In the time she had been awake, she had lost count of the number of premonitions the youngest had suffered through. Some, like the first one were strong, violent, evil, while others were insane views of what had happened. Each one left her weaker then the last, drawing her into the pain and horror of what had happened in this place.

"Piper." she heard Phoebe call out, her voice shaking, "make it stop, please."
"Phoebe! Phoebe, listen to me!" she said, desperately trying to reach her, to hold her with just the sound of her voice. "You have to will them away. Please, try."
"I.. I can't.. They are to strong." Phoebe cried, just as another one struck.

In her mind, an image of a man, naked, filth, alone flowed. His face a mask of pain and loneliness as he scribbled on the floor around him. The image changed, flickering to another shot, the same man hanging on some bars, his feet of the floor as what looked like guards used batons to beat him, then, a man in a suit approached, jerking his head back, whispering to him, just before a burning pain shot threw her foot as the man sliced the tendons there.

"Phoebe!" Piper screamed, hearing her whimpers turn to a cry of pain.

Grabbing the bars she shook them helpless to do anything else. She had to get out of her, to help her sister. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing either one of them. Crying in frustration, she sunk to her knees as the tears flowed unchecked down her face.

"My, my, my, what is all this noise." Malik said as her orbed in on a cloud of black smoke. "Don't you find your accommodation to your liking?"
"You bastard." Piper said, standing and facing him. "Why are you doing this!"
"Because I can." he told her. "Do I need another reason?"
"Let me out of here! I'll show you what I can do to you." Piper hissed at him. The strain was getting to her, the shy quiet sister wanted nothing more then to reach out and strangle the man before her.
"And why would I do that? I have the three most powerful witches of all time as my helpless prisoners," he said as he looked around him, seeing the fevered oldest and the wild look on the youngest face as she rocked on the floor of her cell. "At least for as long as you last. Don't worry, you won't have much longer to wait. As soon as I have what I want, your suffering will end. Ta-ta." He said and disappeared.

"Piper." a voice whispered to her from where Prue was. She had come to while he was taunting Piper, his image shifting, blurring and multiplying as her vision swam. The damp air in the rooms cooled her brow but sent violent chills through the rest of her, and her arm hung useless beside her as she pushed herself up.
"Prue, your awake." Piper said, straining to see her.
"You have to... get out." Prue told her, her voice weak.
"I can't. I don't know how."
"Think it through." Prue told her, leaning her head back against the coolness of the cinder block walls.

Knowing that neither of her sisters were going to be of any use, Piper fell to the cot, burying her face in her hands, letting the tears fall once more.

"Leo!" Darryl shouted, finally breaking the others concentration.
"What is it?"
"I felt, for just a second, I thought.."
"What!?"
"Piper, she's terrified."
"Could you find them?" the inspector asked.
"No, but I do know their close, in the city."
"Anything else?"
"No, just a feeling fear, but there was something else, I just don't know what it meant."
"What was it?"
"Bars. She wanted to break the bars." Leo told him, trying to figure out what it meant.
"Well, thats a start, right? Maybe we can find them my way." Darryl told him, seeing the grief on the others face.

He knew he was grasping at straws, but he had promised Andy he would look out for the sister. They had found a place in his heart, sisters he had never had, but loved all the same. When he had first learned about who and what they were right after Andy died, he had not wanted to believe it. All his belief had been tested until he realized they were the good people they had always been. Their world still scared them, but Darryl would do everything in his power to help them.

Malik stood watching them once more, his hand hovering over the lever he had installed. Was it to soon to kill them? Would Leo want proof they still lived? Pulling his hand back, he waited, it was to soon, but after he showed his former student the witches, he would throw the lever, washing the cells clean in flood of salt water.

"Ok, this is what I found in the city and the surrounding area's for old building with bars in them." Darryl said as he pulled a paper from his pocket.
"How many are there?" Leo asked, seeing the list.
"About twenty in a fifteen mile radius. Sorry," Darryl said seeing the look on Leo's face, "it's the best I could do."
"I know, I just feel so helpless. "
"And so you should." Malik said, appearing in the living room, his feet up oh the table. "You can't find them. I made sure of that."
"Where are they!" Leo said, taking a step towards him, only to have his progress stopped when a hand grabbed his arm.
"Let him talk." Darryl said.
"Yes, let me talk, then you can give me my answer. You had better hurry though, the poison might be slower, but it will kill a witch."
Malik said, swinging his feet to the floor. "I don't think you want the witch to suffer like you did Leo."
"If any of them die.." Leo threatened.
"Don't bother, your a pacifist, what can you do to me? Stare me to death? Besides, if you do anything to me your precious little witches will die." he said, walking up to Leo and tapping his face several times.
"Why are you here!?" Leo asked him, his hands clenched to his sides.
"I know you have talked to 'Them." Malik said, contempt in his voice. "And I want to hear their answer first hand."
"You already know what it will be."
"So, humor me. I want to hear them give the verdict. I want them to know they are killing the one's they have waited so long for. I want to hear them sentence those witches, just like they did my family!"

The last was almost shouted, as he looked toward the ceiling, the anger on his face making Darryl take a step back.

Being a cop, he had seen what grief and rage could do to people. Often times they became so violent they only thing that they could do was to lash out at the one's around them, or the one's they held responsible for their grief. Malik was going to kill the sisters no matter what, he was suddenly sure of it.

"Phoebe? Are you awake?" Piper asked, peering into the dark corner of the other cell.
"Yes." her sister answered, her voice shaking, fear in the once confident youngest.
"You need to hold on just a little longer, can you do that?"
"I'll... I'll try, but.. the visions, there so, vile. And they are coming faster." she said, wrapping her arms around her legs to try and stay warm.
"I think I might know how to get us out, but it's going to take me some time." she told the youngest. Prue was to far out of it to hear her, the blood loss and fever had won the battle and she was unconscious in her cell.

Piper had hatched a desperate plan to escape and set to work on it.
Using a piece of strapping from her cot, she started digging at the mortar around the bars in her cell. She didn't know how long she had till he returned, but she didn't have any other options left. Sitting on the floor, she went to work.

"They said no." Leo told the Darklighter who was once his friend. "You knew they would. Why go through all this."
"Because I know you Leo."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You love the middle sister. If they wont give me their powers, you will. You have till midnight to decide, then I will kill one of them." Malik said, orbing out in the dark swirls of his kind.
"I can't." Leo whispered, sinking to the floor.

"He is out of control." a mans voice said.
"Yes, he will fail."
"What are we going to do about him?"
"We let him fail, then we will kill the witches."
"How long must we wait?"
"Until the battle is joined."

"Are you sure about this?" Leo asked Darryl as they looked out over the bay.
"Yes, it's the only place he could be, the others are all to public."
"But so is this one. It's a tourist attraction."
"Not all of it. There are places on that rock that have been sealed off ever sense they closed it down. He couldn't have picked a better location. We cant get there unseen, and they can't get off with out a boat."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"I want to look at the old plans, see what the likeliest place for them to be is." Darryl told him, rolling out the blueprints he had 'borrowed' from city hall.

Piper pushed on the bar, feeling it give a little more. She had managed to loosen three so far but had not taken them down for fear their capture would return. Her hands were raw and bloody, her knuckles scrapped from hitting the unforgiving cement floor. Stopping to catch her breath, she looked at her watch, seeing that it was now close to midnight.

She was tired and hungry, but her sisters were in worse shape, neither one of them replied when she called them, and she was starting to fear the worst. What if she didn't get to them in time, what if Leo wasn’t able to help them. She Didn't know what she would do if she lost one of them, never mind both, the thought was to terrible to bear, yet at the same time her mind could not help but dwell on that thought. What if she managed to escape, but she couldn’t get her sisters out?

"What do you think your doing!" Malik shouted as he orbed into the hall out side the cells. "You think you can get away from me!" He shouted even louder. "I'll teach you! With that he disappears, and a sense of panic over came Piper.

Forgetting about everything else, she started yanking at the loose bars, putting everything she had into knocking them loose. She had to get out of the cell, or they would all die, she was her sisters only hope.

He appeared in the room he had taken over. The control room for the cells housed in the very bowels of the old prison. He would get what he wanted by force from Leo after he rid the world of those witches that had brought about his downfall. Reaching out, he pulled the lever, and the flood waters raced into the cell block.

Piper heard a dull roar, like water rumbling through the pipes of the manor. Looking up, her heart started to bear wildly against her chest as she frantically pushed and shoved at the old bars. A torrent of water was filling the area, as she worked. Pushing harder and harder, her feet started to slip an the slick floor and she lost her footing, the force of the water tossed her against the back wall.

A creaking noise drew her attention, as a metal desk, long abandoned came into view, riding the water as it headed for her. With a jolt, it struck the front of her cell, knocking the bars loose from there mooring. Before she could get out of the way, they slammed into her small frame, pinning her to the wall. And the water continued to rise.

Trapped, she heard one of her sisters scream out in fear just as the water level reached her chest. Panic filled her. They were all going to drown, just like their mother had. And she could not stop it. She needed to do one last thing. She had to let her sisters know before she died. Desperately, she pulled herself up, taking a deep breath.

"I love you!" she screamed, just before the water engulfed her, pushing her up, pinning her to the ceiling.

The water filled the entire level as Malik watched, transfixed.

Malik watched as the water sealed the fate of the Charmed One's. He had done what others had failed at, he had killed them. He knew he had to get to Leo fast, before they found out about the witches. Orbing out, he headed for the manor, and his prize, Leo's powers.

"Darryl, we have to go." Leo said, a look of fear clouding his face.
"Why? Whats wrong?"
"I just, I just have this feeling." he told him, unable to vocalize just what it was he felt.
"Well, this spot her is the most likely to be were they are." Darryl said, pointing to a spot on the blueprints.

The plans for Alcatraz prison were old, and he just hoped they were still accurate. He was not looking forward to orbing with the Whitelighter but it was the only way they could get to the fortress like prison in the middle of the Bay. Looking at his watch, he saw their time was almost up. In less then thirty minutes Malik would kill one of the sisters.

"Let's go." he said to Leo, tensing as the other man held his shoulder and the unfamiliar sensation took over his body. When he opened his eye's, they were inside.

Her lungs were burning, starving for oxygen, and she could hear the sound of blood pumping in her ears. The water covered her, as panic filled her mind, and she tried desperately to move the bars that were pinning her against the wall, or was it the ceiling, of the cell. Bracing her feet, she pushed with all her might, feeling the weight shift and suddenly she was free.

Pushing herself off, she swam to the opening, needing to find her sisters, and air. As she cleared the doorway, she saw light shining down into the water, and with swift strokes, propelled herself towards it, praying it would be a way out. As her head broke the surface, she drew in a deep breath, gulping the air like a man dying of thirst gulped at water.

Leo looked around, trying to see if her could spot them, when the sound of splashing water reached his ears. Looking down, he saw her as she tread water.

"Piper!" he shouted
"Leo!?" she said, hearing his voice. "Help me. Their trapped!"

With out another sound he jumped into the dark water just below him, Darryl hitting the water a bare second later. Taking a deep breath, both men dived under the water, following Pipers motion towards where her sisters were. The light from above pierced the watery gloom just enough for them to see the walls, but they could not see into the two locked cells.

Darryl grabbed the bars of the nearest cell, pulling his gun free, praying that his plan might work. Placing the barrel of his pistol flush against the lock, he pulled the trigger and the lock disintegrated. Pulling Leo to him, he tugged on the door, feeling it move before he turned and pushed off towards the other cell. Repeating the process, he felt that door spring open as well and he swam inside.

Leo felt around inside the dark confides of the room, not sure who he would find but praying he found them fast. Reaching out, he touched a soft surface, and grabbed hold. Reaching out with his other hand, he found what felt like a foot and orbed. A shower of blue lights and he was on the catwalk over the water, kneeling beside Piper where she lay panting on the cold grating.

Seeing her sister, Piper reached out and gathered her into her arms, holding her as she coughed, turning her on her side as the water she had inhaled was forced from her lungs. One was safe, but where was Darryl and her other sister.

"Leo! Help!" Darryl sputtered as he too broke the surface, a limp form in his arms. Jumping back into the chilly water, Leo broke the surface, and swam the short distance to where the inspector was holding the sister he had found. Grabbing onto them, Leo once more orbed, placing them beside the other two.

Piper cried out, grabbing onto her hand, but what she made her world tilt on its side.

"Leo! She's not breathing!" she said looking down on her sisters ashen face.

Darryl was the first one to move, leaning over the unmoving Phoebe, he felt for a pulse. Finding one, he quickly searched his memory, reminding himself of the steps he needed to do. Tilting her head back, he made sure her airway was clear, then he started breathing for her. One Two Three Four, deep breath, he thought, counting as he went, repeating the steps over and over.

Piper sat there, her arms wrapped around Prue's shivering body as she watched her friend work on Phoebe. Her thoughts turned to what had happened, and she knew that if Phoebe died it would be her fault. She had been caught trying to escape, and now Phoebe was paying for it, maybe with he life.

Leo sat there stunned, he never thought he would see this, the image of the girls mother flashing into his mind. He had not been her whitelighter, but he had been shown how she died before being assigned to them. Looking up, he saw Pipers fear, the thought of what she must have been feeling pulling at his heart. He wanted nothing more then to take her into his arms and tell her everything would be all right, but he did not dare, not here, not now. But there was something he could do.

Moving to were the two older sisters were, he placed his hands over Prue, willing his powers to work, hoping he was in time to stop the Darklighter poison coursing through her body. As the glow spread, he could almost see the poison being reversed, the dark taint leaving her blood stream, but before he could finish, his powers were cut short. The Elders did not want him to finish.

Darryl blocked everything from his mind except the repetitive chant he followed, counting over and over as he tried to get the youngest sister to breath. It seemed as if he had been doing nothing else for an eternity. Then he felt it, deep in her chest she coughed. Rolling her onto her side, he held her as she too expelled the water that was in her lungs. Deep racking coughs shuddered her small form as she struggled to breath.

"Can we go home?" Phoebe asked, just before she passed out.

Malik arrived at the manor, his cocky grin fading when he realized he was alone in the room. Where were they! he thought to himself, moving from room to room. How dare they leave when he was feeling so triumphant, how dare they spoil his fun. Marching up stairs, he found the second floor as empty as the first and proceeded to the attic.

His eye's were drawn to the stand in the middle of the room, the Book of Shadows lay there, unprotected, his for the taking! Walking up to it, he laughed, for there with in his grasp was his mean to not only destroy the Elders, but to also kill the Source. He had won! In awe, he stood there, then unable to take it anymore, he reached out. Before he realized what had happened, he found himself lying on the floor half way across the room, his hand seeming to burn.

Cursing, he stood up, stalking back over to the stand, glaring at the accursed book, knowing it held all the secrets he needed, but knowing he would not be able to take it with him. He started to laugh, realizing he could still get the knowledge, if he was smart. Years earlier he had convinced a demon to show him how to take a witches power, and wanting to test his knowledge, he sought out a young witch who had the power to control the breeze, taking it for his own.

Summoning up the weak winds she had possessed, he blew them across the page, wishing for a brief second that he had been able to duplicate his deed, but unfortunately, he had only succeeded the one time. Leaning forward, he scanned the spells, turning the pages until he found the one he wanted. Reaching out, he grabbed a nearby notebook and scribbled it down. With and evil laugh, he orbed out, needing to study the spell before he used it.

"Phoebe?" Piper cried, seeing her baby sister slump in Darryl's arms.
"She's fine, but we really should get out of here." he told her, brushing the wet tangled hair of Phoebe's face. "And you two don't look much better."
"Prue, she.."
"It's ok, I stopped the poison." Leo told her, "but she's still weak." Reaching out, he picked her up, allowing Piper to stand.
"How are we going to get out of here?" Darryl asked, standing up with the sleeping Phoebe in his arms. "Can you take us all?"
"I don't know, I've never tried to orb so many at one time." Leo told him.
"Please, try." the middle child asked, looking at him imploringly. "I don't want to leave them."

Knowing he could not deny her, Leo motioned her close, moving to Darryl’s side. Placing Prue in Pipers arms, supporting her as best he could, he placed an arm around each of them, closing his eye's as he concentrated on the manor. The familiar sensation washed over him as the innate magic all Whitelighters possessed started working, and in a flurry of blue lights they vanished.

"Why did you stop him!?" Penny Halliwell said, storming into the Elders chamber. The formidable older woman, though dead had long ago learned that she could still intimidate others, and the Elders, were sometimes the victims of her anger. "Why didn't you let Leo heal them!?"
"We did it to protect ourselves." said one, finding it easier to just answer her then not.
"What!"
"Malik thinks they are dead, or dying. When he returns to finish what he started, he will find them as he expects, but, in truth, they are well."
"What are you talking about! You make no sense!" Penny practically shouted at them.
"Watch and you shall see. Have faith, we have done what needs to be done."

In the attic of the old Victorian manor, a sparkling of blue appeared, in it's midst, five shapes formed slowly. When the light died down, Leo staggered, his energy drained by the mass transportation he had just done. Sinking to her knee's, Piper to felt the loss of strength, the events of the last few hours finally catching up to her.

"Are we safe here?" Darryl asked, laying Phoebe on the floor and taking Prue from the other two.
"We should be, for a little while." Leo told him. "Lets get them into one of the rooms."
"Shouldn’t we... I mean...we can't.." Darryl said, a dark flush spreading over his face as he looked at the three sodden women.
"Relax." Leo said with the faintest of smiles, looking up. "I have some 'friends' who can help.

Confused, Darryl just looked at him until he saw more lights forming around them Three women appeared, two he knew, from pictures in the manor. Before him stood Penny and Patty Halliwell and another woman, dressed in something right out of a history book, from the colonial times. Shaking his head, he headed for the stairs, thinking he needed to find a good therapist if he was going to continue to help the sisters.

With the help of their own magic, the three woman soon had the girls in dry clothes, sleeping in one room, their dreams peaceful for at least one night. Motioning to Leo, they moved into the hallway.

"We need to talk." Patty told him, her voice holding the steely tone that said 'you will not like this'.

Malik returned to the old prison, his temper having calmed a bit with the acquisition of the spell. He now had with in his means the power to take what he wanted. With a bit of rewording, he knew he could make the spell work to his advantage. Walking to the wall, he pushed the lever that had flooded the lower regions of the prison, opening the valve that would allow the water to drain out. He would distract Leo with their bodies, just long enough to cast the spell.

"What’s going on?" Leo asked, sitting down on the couch as he looked at Penny, "and who is she?"
"I am Prudence Warren, and I am here to help thee." the woman said, her words in the stylized speech of the colonial times.
"I still don't understand? Why did 'they' stop me? Why won't they let me heal them?"
"Because dear boy," Penny told him, "this is not their fight."
"Not their fight! They almost died tonight! If we had not gotten to them when we did, they would have."
"Leonard, you must calm thy self. What is happening is not for them to fight. This battle ist for thee." Prudence told him. "Calm thy self down and listen to wast we must tell thee."

Piper woke as the bright morning sun streaming in the window made it's silent way across her face. Squinting at the brightness, she turned onto her back, her arm falling on someone beside her. Startled, Piper looked quickly to her side, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Phoebe's sleeping form laying there, just over her body she saw Prue's shoulder.

Slipping softly from the bed, she made her way to her room, her sleep fogged mind needing nothing more then a shower and some coffee before she tried to figure out how she had gotten there. Twenty minutes later, feeling clean and somewhat awake, she headed towards the stairs, stopping just long enough to check once more on her sisters. Suppressing a giggle, she watched as Phoebe rolled over, snuggling up to Prue, and the oldest almost falling off the edge as she tried to give her room.

Descending the stairs, the smell of fresh brewed coffee reached her, and she headed for the kitchen. Stopping in the doorway, she gaped at the sight before her as various ingredients floated about the kitchen. In the middle of the flying object, Leo and Darryl sat talking with a woman she didn't know.

"Gram's, what’s going on?" Piper asked, looking at the source of the food hanging in mid air.
"Why dear, I'm making you breakfast." Penny told her, a smile lighting her face as she went about her job.
"Hello sweety." a voice said from behind the confused witch.
"M.. mom?" she said, tears coming to her eyes as she looked at the woman standing there before her. "How... why?"
"We will tell you everything, when your sisters are awake. You look so... lovely." Patty said, wishing she could take her daughter in her arms, just once, to tell her just how much she loved her, and how proud she was of her.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration, looking at the empty rooms around him. Picking through the water sodden mess, he looked fora body, ant body, but his search proved to be futile. Standing, he peered about him, his rage starting to build until, in a fury, he grabbed the cot beside him, flinging it against the wall.

"NOOO!" he screamed. "You can not stop me! THEY can not stop me!" his voice echoed through out the empty cells.

Prue woke up, her head pounding and a heaviness seeming to weigh down on her chest. She tried to sit up but her body protested, feeling lethargic and a deep cough built up inside her. Why do I feel like this? she thought as she sat on the side of the bed, coughing. Feeling the bed shake, she turned to look behind her, seeing Phoebe laying there. Reaching out a hand, she placed it on her sisters head.

"No!" Phoebe shouted at her touch, rolling away from her, her eye's open in fear.
"Phoebe, it's me, Prue."
"No, stay away, don't touch me." she said, scrambling off the bed andslipping into the corner.
"Prue. Phoebe." Piper said as she ran into the room.

Stopping in the door, Piper looked from one sister to the other, one confused, the other terrified. She had never seen Phoebe looking so lost and scared, not even when they were children. Walking around the bed as Prue joined her, they both knelt down before her.

"Phoebe, sweety." Prue said, noticing Piper look at her. "I'm fine." she said, trying to turn her attention to Phoebe.
"No, I won't misbehave anymore, please, let me out." Phoebe said.
"Honey, your safe." Piper said as she reached out to her. "No one is going to hurt you."
"I won't try to escape again. Please don't put me back there."
"Prue, she's still caught in her premonitions." looking at Phoebe's face, seeing the far away look there.
"Piper, what are you talking about?" Prue asked, as another cough shook her body.

Pipers mind went blank for a second, caught between wanting to help Phoebe and the realization the Prue couldn't seem to remember what had happened. Looking at her older sister she could see that her eye's were still fever bright, and that the bandage on her arm was fresh. She remembered Leo healing her, but she had been watching Darryl save Phoebe, why hadn't she noticed this before?

"Prue, you get back in bed, I will deal with Phoebe."
"I'm fine." Prue protested.
"No, your not. Your sick, and you won't be much help like you are." Piper told her, her tone telling her sister that this time she would listen.

Prue knew that tone, and the few times her sister had used it on her were when she would not take no for an answer. Sitting back on the bed, she watched as her gentle sister spoke soothing words to the youngest. It never ceased to amaze her just how much Phoebe looked to Piper until she saw the soft spoken words reach her. As the trembling youngest fell into her embrace, tears coursed down the middle one's face.

Patty stood unseen in the doorway, watching her daughters as they comforted one another. She wanted nothing more then to go to them, hold them and wash away all their pain, but it was not to be. She cursed the fate that had torn them from her, even as she had watched them grow. She had seen Prue take over the roll of mother for the others, cutting her own childhood short. It was something she could never get back.

Phoebe had spent her life without ever knowing her, and now as she thought back on the time they had traveled back to stop the pact with the warlock, she understood the pain she had seen in the youngest eye's. She had known Phoebe had wanted to tell her something at that time, but she had stopped herself, preventing the future from being changed. Turning, she left the room, she was not ready yet to face them all at once.

With one last look at the spell, Malik crumpled the paper and stood. Moving to the desk in the corner of the room, he picked up his crossbow, loading it as he prepared to face his true destiny, killing the Elders. He just had one stop to make before he did that. Picking up the small canister sitting there, he smiled, thinking of how devastated Leo would be when he killed the witches he was charged to protect, especially the middle one, the one he loved.

Dark lights swirled as he orbed to the manor, arriving in the hallway of the manor. Looking in the door, he saw them sleeping on the bed. With a feral grin, he removed the grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and tossed it in the room. He orbed out again just as the timer reached zero, and a blast blew the room apart.

Patty sat in the living room, talking with Prudence while her mother and Leo were in the kitchen. As she told her ancestress how she felt about missing out on so much of her daughters lives, she could not help but notice the brief flash of sorrow cross her face.

"I know what thou doest speak of, but from the other side of the same trouble. I too mist out on knowing my mothers love. Fear not, my granddaughter, they wilst be fine."
"How can I not worry. I see the hurt on their faces when then don't know I'm there. I have seen Prue cry herself to sleep, and the look on Phoebe's face when she sees other mothers and daughters together. I watched Piper withdraw into herself when she was a teenager. I feel as though I abandoned them."
"They do not thinkest that. They know thou didst not choose to go. But
fate can not be denied." Prudence told her, placing a hand on her arm in comfort.
"Patricia, it's time." Penny Halliwell said, stepping into the room.

With a nod of her head, Patty ghosted out, appearing behind the door of the room where her daughters slept. As she watched, a small object was tossed into the room, and with a wave of her hand, time stopped. Peering around the door, she was relieved to see Malik frozen as well, but they could not stop him for he was already to insubstantial.

"Leo!" she called, watching as the Whitelighter orbed in. Leaning over, he orbed out again, leaving the bed empty of it's occupants. Knowing her girls were safe, she cast one last look at the dark lights that were Malik before she set time back on course, ghosting out as she did.

From a safe distance away, they watched as the windows in one of the second floor rooms was blown out, and knew their plan had worked. Now to lay the trap to stop the deranged Darklighter. While Leo orbed the confused Charmed One's to the attic, Penny, Patty and Prudence cast a glamour spell, transforming them into a likeness of their descendants. The spell worked perfectly, for they all looked like they were severely injured and burned.

Ghosting into the wrecked room, the placed themselves under and around the devastation in the room, the trap was set, now they awaited their prey. After making sure the girls were ok, Leo orbed into the smoke filled room, ready ti play his part as he knelt over the fallen body of 'Piper'.

Malik waited, counting to himself, knowing it would not take long for Leo to arrive. All he waited for now was to give the Whitelighter timeto be over come with his grief. Looking at his watch, he saw it had been almost four minutes, long enough for his plan to take effect. Dark lights swirled around him as his body vanished in the magical glow of his powers.

"NO!" Leo cried out, burying his face in the hair of the one her loved.

He could feel the presence of Malik, but knew it was not his job to stop him, not yet, he had to let Patty act first, or everything would be for naught. The next thing he knew, the woman in his arms was gone, and the six Warren witches stood around Malik's frozen form. Joining hands, they started to chant the spell they had been given.

"Powers lost, and powers gained,
Strip them from this broken soul.
Remove as well the evil stain,
Send him to his final goal."

As the six witches held hands and repeated the spell, a glow spread from their joined hands, and a brilliant golden light formed over Malik's head. Finishing the chant for the third time, they stopped and watched as it decent over him. A scream filled the air as the darkness was stripped away, sinking into the light that spread over him. With a flash, it vanished, and their stood Malik, his body almost transparent.

"Thank you." he said, his voice calm, soft and then he was gone.
"Someone want to tell us what just happened?" Phoebe asked, looking around in confusion.

They gathered in the living room, the sisters on the couch. Phoebe sat between her older sisters, their closeness helping to support her as she focused on what was being said. She could still remember the horrible visions she had seen, but she also knew that with her sisters help, she would work through it.

Beside her, Prue sat wrapped in a blanket. After vanquishing Malik, the Elders had allowed Leo to heal her arm, but the cold remained. She had not said much yet, her thoughts lost deep with in her as she looked at her mother. She wanted to touch her, but the Elders had also removed the spell that let the three deceased witches have solid form. Sipping at her tea, she to listened.

"They knew what Malik was going to do, but they had no way to stop him, not on their own." Penny said, speaking to all of them. "They planned to use you three to stop him."
"I knew Malik, when he wast a Whitelighter, and I did not think he should be vanquished as it was." Prudence said, taking up the tale.
"So I went to speak with them, when your grandmother came in to the room."
"I was a little upset." Penny said, defending herself.
"Mother, you were just being you." Patty told her with a chuckle.
"Always watching out for my girls."
"When they stopped to listen to Penelope," Prudence said, evoking a laugh from the sisters, "they agreed to give her plan a try."
"What was your plan anyway grams?" Piper asked.
"It was really very simple, let him think he was getting away with killing you, then vanquish the darkness from his soul that the death of his family sparked. Then, let him find the peace he had always wanted."
"So, what did happen to him?" Prue asked.
"He is now like us." Patty told her, "and he is with the one's he was destined to be with."
"Come, it is time to go." Penny told her, hearing the Elders 'call'.
"Just remember we love you, and we are never far away. Good-bye my darlings."
"I love you all, and I am always with you, in your hearts, and your dreams." Patty said to her daughters as she too ghosted away, leaving Prudence. Motioning to the eldest sister, she led the way into the kitchen.

Piper watched confused as her sister left, wondering what she was going to hear from the woman she was named for. Pulling Phoebe close, she looked at Leo and saw the love in his eye's, wishing things could be easier for them, but knowing, in her heart that one day they would be together.

"There calling." Leo said, looking up. Standing, he moved to her, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead before he orbed out.
"What did she have to tell you?" Piper asked as Prue returned.
"She just gave me a bit of advice." the oldest sisters said, sitting back down on the couch. "What's say we order out for Chinese tonight? Tomorrow we have a lot of work to do."
"Yeah," Phoebe said, "I need to redecorate my bedroom."

With a laugh, the three sisters looked at each other, grateful for the other two, and a new respect for the middle sister and the strength she had shown when faced with an impossible challenge. No longer would they look at her the timid sister, for she had proved she had more inside then even she had believed.

Patty and Penny stood side by side watching as their girls fell asleep that night, knowing that they were truly charmed, not because they were witches, but because of the love they shared with the others.