Disclaimer : My name’s not Aaron Spelling, so I don’t own them. But I really, really, really like to write about them.

This is a follow-up story to several others I‘ve written. Reading them first isn’t necessary, but you may not understand Rion’s connection to the Charmed Ones.

Think I’m Going Out Of My Head
by Freaky Fan

Prologue

The black eyed demon smirked as his shadow whispered in his ear. “Excellent. I shall continue to do my part here. Now go. And do not return unless it is absolutely necessary. We cannot afford to be caught together.”

He made sure the shadow was gone before leaving his rooms, the smile never leaving his face as he glided toward the main chamber. So far everything was going according to plan. It would not be long before he....

“She has my powers.”

He heard the steely edged whisper as soon as he rounded the corner into the main chamber. He felt someone grab the front of his robe a split second before his back slammed into the cool stone wall behind him.

“My POWERS!”

“What?” The demon struggled to keep his breath as whoever held his robe pushed him further into the wall.

Sabian glared at him, a maniacal look in his eye. “The WITCH has my POWERS!! Gain access to her powers, you said. Make yourself invincible. And I listened to you!”

“It must be another side effect of the ritual. I warned you that there may be some.”

“Obviously not enough!” Sabian spoke through clinched teeth. “First the whole I feel what she feels fiasco and now this! I had the youngest one! All I had to do was say the word and she would have given me her powers! But no.... Rion had to shimmer in using my powers and save the day by killing that damned Felari! And she did it with true demonic flare! How do you explain that?!!”

“I....” The demon swallowed hard, knowing if he said the wrong thing he was dead. “Perhaps the presence of your powers is tainting her goodness. But I cannot be sure.”

“Then I suggest you consult with the texts or mystics or whatever form of black magic you used to concoct that damned ritual and get me a different answer!” Sabian took a deep breath and let go of the demon, smoothing the front of his robe before tapping him on the cheek. “I absolutely hate getting upset. So you fix this and I’ll concentrate on introducing myself to the middle Charmed One. Now get out of my sight until you have something for me.”

The demon and walked out of the chamber, a murderous look in his eyes. Soon. That was what he had to keep telling himself. It would all be over soon.

*************

Piper watched Rion as they finished putting away the week’s shipment in the back room of P3. Her little sister had always been the strong silent type, but this was bordering on ridiculous. It had been two days since they brought Phoebe home from the clinic and Rion had barely said a word to anyone. The tension between her and Prue was thick enough to cut with a knife and Phoebe didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong, but she did. That was why she had invited Rion to the club tonight. In the hopes that a change of scenery would make her sister relax a little. But it looked like she was going to have to go with a more direct approach.

“Thanks.”

At first she thought Rion was going to ignore her and was about to try again when a quite, “For what?” reached her ears.

“Thank God.”

Rion frowned as she looked up at her. “What?”

Piper shrugged. “I thought you had gone mute on me or something. Usually you talk my ear off when we’re pulling supply duty but tonight it’s been quiet enough to hear a pin drop.”

Rion looked away from her again. “Sorry. I guess I’m not in a talkative mood.”

Piper sighed when she felt her sister shutting her out again. “That does it.” She threw down the checklist she was using and grabbed Rion by the hand.

“Piper....”

“We need to have a talk, Rion.” Piper spoke as she dragged her sister back out to the bar and sat her down on one of the stools. “I’m not letting you up until you tell me what the hell’s going on.”

“You tell me. You’re the one who drug me out here.”

Piper gripped Rion’s chin, forcing her to face her. “Look at me.” She was shocked by the turmoil she saw in her sister’s eyes. “Whatever it is, you know you can tell me.”

Rion pulled away from her. “No I can’t.”

“Rion....”

“I said I can’t Piper. Now stop doing the big sister thing and let’s get back to what we were doing.”

“No.” Piper was shocked when the word came out of her mouth. Standing up to someone else had never been one of her strong suits. But she knew something had to give with Rion if the four of them stood a chance against Sabian. “You’ve been stalking around the Manor with a chip the size of Nebraska on your shoulder for two days now. It’s about time you tell one of us what’s going on. And since I’m here, it’s going to be me.”

“Pi....”

“Don’t even try it, Rion. You still haven’t told us where you were the other day. There Phoebe was, sick as a dog, and you just vanish. Do you have any idea how worried Prue and I were? How scared?”

“Yeah, I think I do.”

Piper was shocked by the anger in Rion’s voice as she sprang up off the barstool and walked out into the middle of the club.

“I mean, I’m supposed to be your protector, right? Imagine how it made me feel to hardly be able to stand, let alone think clearly enough to come up with a way to help Phoebe. Sabian had already hurt Prue and Pheebs was burning up and I knew deep down in my heart that you were next on his list. That’s why I listened to him.”

“Him?”

“Shalaman.”

Piper was surprised her jaw didn’t hit the floor. “Shalaman?!”

“Yeah.” Rion nodded. “He showed up right after you and Prue left. I tried to ignore him. I really did. But what he said made sense. He told me Sabian was drawing off of my energy. That’s why I was so weak. Then he said if Sabian could do it to me, I should be able to do it to Sabian. So I did. And with it came a taste of his powers.” She turned her back to her sister, not wanting to see her reaction to what she was about to say. “I can shimmer. That’s how I got to Darryl’s. And how I got to hell to get the antidote for the poison used on Phoebe.”

“I....” Piper shook her head, completely blown away. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You think that’s bad?” Rion chuckled. “You haven’t even heard the worst of it yet. I had to kill the demon who shot Pheebs to get the antidote, but I didn’t stop with him. I took out his kid and brother too. Not because I had to. Because it felt good. And I can’t get rid of this feeling of.... I wanna say anger but it goes so far beyond that.” She shook her head. “I think I’m turning evil.”

Her words were like a fist to Piper’s stomach. “What? No. You’re not turning evil.”

“It sure feels like I am. Did Prue tell you I threatened her at the clinic? That’s why I’ve been avoiding her. Why she’s been walking on egg shells around me. I think she’s scared of me.”

“OK, give me a second here before you throw anything else at me.”

“There’s nothing else to throw.” Rion sat down at one of the tables. “But I’m glad I told you.”

“Me too.” Piper crossed the room and sat down next to her sister. “And we’re going to tell Prue and Phoebe just as soon as we get home. We’ll figure this out.”

“Yeah.”

Piper squeezed Rion’s hand. “We will. But until we do you have to promise me you won’t use Sabian’s powers anymore. Maybe using them is what’s making you feel this way.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t used them in the last two days and....”

“Just promise me.” Piper looked her sister in the eye. “Please.”

“All right.” Rion nodded. “I promise.”

“Aw. How sweet. A sisterly moment.”

They both jumped when they heard Sabian’s voice.

“Hello.” He extended his hand as he started toward Piper. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Sabian. Tormentor of your sisters and future ruler of the Underworld.”

Rion jumped to her feet. “Stay away from her, you bastard!”

“Rion!” Piper sprang up next to her sister. “Remember your promise.”

“Yes, dear. Remember your promise. But you won’t be much good if you don’t use my powers, will you? So why don’t you take a little nap?” Sabian punched himself as hard as he could in the jaw.

“Rion?!” Piper tried to catch her sister, but she was too slow. She watched as she sprawled on the floor. She glared at Sabian. “Damn you!!”

“Oh come now, Piper. Is that any way to talk to the man who’s taking you on an all expenses paid trip?” Sabian smiled as he grabbed her arm.

“Piper?” Rion sat up, her world still slightly off kilter. She looked up in time to see Sabian shimmer away with her sister. “NO!” She climbed to her feet, looking around the room blindly. “PIPER?!”
The black eyed demon stood against the wall of the chamber, not wanting to get in Sabian’s way as he strutted excitedly around. He mentally kicked himself for falling out of Sabian’s good graces. Perhaps if he had been the one to tell the boy about the witch having his powers he could have avoided it. But his true master had given him the ability to render himself invisible in case just such an incident occurred. He had hoped he would not have to use it, but even the most well laid plans had a tendency to disintegrate before one’s eyes.

He turned his attention to the unconscious woman laying on the slab Sabian was pacing around. He had to give the boy credit where the Charmed Ones were concerned. Countless others had been destroyed by the witches before they even had a chance to consider launching their plan of attack and Sabian had successfully captured each of them in turn without so much as a struggle. Not to mention his original plans for the protector.

Thoughts of the quickly straying witch brought his true master to mind again. The master who was willing to give him an unheard of second chance. All he had to do was make the plan already set in motion a success and he would regain his rightful place at his master’s side.

He turned away from the scene before him and started back to his own chamber. He needed to be prepared when his master called upon him. His very existence depended upon it.

*************

“Get your ass moving!”

The sound of her own voice echoing through her mind brought Rion out of her catatonic like state. She had no idea how long she had been standing there staring at the spot where Piper disappeared. Not that it really mattered. Every second was a wasted opportunity to help her sister. She knew Sabian wouldn’t kill her outright. It wasn’t his style. But it was hard to tell what kind of sick, twisted game he would play with her.

Maybe she could use their sisterly connection to track them. But what was she going to do once she found them? There wasn’t much she could do to Sabian without hurting herself. There wasn’t much anyone could do to him without hurting her.

Prue. She would know what to do. Her big sister always knew what to do. She needed to get to the Manor and let Prue and Phoebe know what was going on. Not whatever it was that was happening to her, just what had happened to Piper. Nothing else mattered until they got her back. She concentrated on her sisters and started to shimmer.

“Whoa there you little demon wannabe. You can’t shimmer. No using Sabian’s powers, remember? Or does your promise to Piper mean nothing to you as long as she’s not around?”

She clinched her jaw as the voice filled her mind again. Of course her promise meant something. But this was an emergency. She had already wasted enough time.

“Yeah, but a promise is a promise. That’s what Piper would say.”

She told herself to shut up as she headed to the bar to get the Jeep keys out of Piper’s purse. So she couldn’t shimmer. She could still set a new land speed record on her way to the Manor. That’s when she remembered that Piper had left her purse in the Jeep, slipping the keys into her pocket as soon as she unlocked the club door. Wasn’t that a kick in the pants? A perfectly good vehicle sitting just outside the door and her with no way of getting it started. If only she had learned to hotwire cars instead of pick locks when she was twelve.

A cab. She leaned over the bar and grabbed the phone, dialing a number she somehow knew by heart. She spoke as soon as she heard the line pick up.

“Yes, I need a cab at P3, the nightclub.” Her jaw dropped open as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line. “Forty-five minutes?! You’ve got to be kidding me!!” She listened for half a second before speaking again. “Know what? I’m really not interested in your excuses. If there’s a convention in town, you should have more cabbies on duty! Personally, I think you suck!!”

She growled as she slammed the phone down on the counter. So much for a cab. Which left her with only one option if she intended to keep her promise to Piper. It sounded crazy even to her, but it was all she had left. And it would give her a chance to think before she saw Phoebe and Prue. She raced up the stairs and dead bolted the front door before flying back through the club and out the back door, which locked automatically behind her. She might have been in a hurry but that didn’t mean she had to leave the club open for just anyone to stroll in and take whatever they wanted.

She didn’t bother to stretch before she took off. After all, she might not have to go all the way to the Manor. Maybe Darryl would be home. His apartment complex was along the way.

She resisted the urge to take off at a dead run and set the pace at a brisk jog instead. No use in wearing herself out from the get go. If Darryl wasn’t home, she was going to have a long run ahead of her.

Her thoughts turned to Piper as she put the first block behind her. It worried her that Sabian had actually taken her. He had mentally tortured Prue and Phoebe but he didn’t physically take them. Maybe her having access to his powers had tipped his hand. Great, now she had something else to feel guilty about.

The blaring of a horn made her look up just in time to see the car bearing down on her. It was too late to stop so she decided to try speeding up instead, but it didn’t work either. The fender smashed into her right leg, throwing her into a parked car. The last thing she saw was the car that had hit her coming straight for her.

*************

Darryl looked up when he heard the squelling of tires just outside the apartment complex. He ran to his window and threw back the curtain in time to see a car hit someone, throwing them into another car parked on the side of the street. As if that wasn’t bad enough the driver of the car couldn’t stop, crushing the victim between the two cars. He knew there probably wasn’t much he could do, but he ran out of the apartment anyway.

He reached the sidewalk just in time to see the car speeding away. He tried to get the license plate number but whoever was driving was going too fast. And he had a body to check on. He had been a cop for nearly twelve years now but nothing prepared you for this kind of thing. To see a life snuffed out from your apartment window. Probably some poor homeless guy. Or a hooker. They liked the corners a few blocks over.

“Ow!”

He stopped in his tracks when he heard the voice.

“Or should I say lack of ow?”

He hurried around the car. “Rion?!”

“Darryl?” She looked up when he heard his voice. “What are you doing here?” She suddenly realized where she was. “Damn! I was making good time.”

“Good time? What the hell are you talking about?” Darryl put his hands on her shoulders, inspecting her for damage. He couldn’t see any other than the still painful looking bruises from her run in with Sabian a couple of days before. “Are you all right?!”

“Yeah.” Rion nodded. “I am.”

“Thank God you’re a healer. That guy really creamed you.”

“That’s just it, Darryl. I didn’t heal.”

Darryl frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Rion sighed and shook her head. “I mean I didn’t feel a thing. Literally.”

They stared at each other, her words confusing them both.

*************

“Ah.” Sabian rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Well, my dear Piper, it’s time for me to have a little fun with you. Just a sip of this potion....” He help lifted her head, pouring the contents of a small vial into her mouth. “And your worst nightmares will be my....”

Pain ripped through his right leg, forcing him to the ground. He jerked forward as what felt like a steel anvil slammed into his back. He took a few shaky breaths and was about to try and stand when even worse pain exploded through his body. All thought ceased as a curtain of blackness dropped over him.

Piper groaned when she felt herself coming around, her head throbbing in perfect rhythm with her heartbeat. No wonder Rion had passed out at Darryl’s if this was how shimmering made you feel the first time you tried it. And she had thought orbing was bad.

“Piper?”

She frowned when she heard the voice. Orbing had never affected her hearing, but shimmering must have because she could have sworn it was....

“Piper, can you hear me?”

It was. Her eyes shot open and she found herself staring into the concerned green eyes of her husband. “Leo?” She was shocked at how weak her voice sounded.

“Oh, thank God.” Leo pulled her into a hug. “I thought I had.... I thought you were....”

“Leo, what are you doing here? I thought your weren’t allowed to be involved.” Her blood suddenly ran cold. “Unless he succeeded. Did he, Leo? Did he....” She pushed away from him, the question dying in her throat when she saw who was laying next to her. “No.” The word was little more than a whisper as she forgot all about Leo and concentrated on her sister. There was so much blood. “Prue?”

“I’m sorry, Piper.”

She barely heard him as she leaned over Prue, her vision blurred by tears. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. Her hand shook as she reached for her sister’s cheek. “Prue? Come on, sweetie. Don’t do this.”

“I tried to help her, but I was too late.”

Her shoulders shook as she laid her head on Prue’s chest. So Sabian had succeeded in killing one of them. He had fulfilled his prophecy of destroying the Charmed Ones by robbing her of her big sister.

“Where’s....” She swallowed a sob. “Where’s Phoebe?”

“In the Underworld with Cole.”

She furrowed her brow. What would Phoebe be doing in the Underworld? Sure Cole had been missing ever since he went to find a cure for her, but she hadn’t said anything about going to look for him.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened today, Piper. I healed you and Prue once and you vanquished Shax.”

Shax? What the hell was Leo talking about?

“But a news crew caught it live on TV and you were exposed as witches. Phoebe had gone to the Underworld to try her potion on Cole and missed the whole mess. I went to get her and while I was gone you were shot and....” Leo hesitated, a pained expression on his face.

“And I died.” The wheels started turning in Piper’s brain. “And Phoebe made a deal with the Source to reset time. And Cole was supposed to warn us about Shax attacking but couldn’t because he was attacked by some other demons.”

Leo looked at her in awe. “How do you know that?”

“Because it’s happened before, Leo. A year and a half ago to be exact.”

“Piper, you’re not making any sense.”

She mumbled, “Oh yes I am,” as she took one last look at Prue before climbing to her feet. It was hard seeing her sister laying there like that, but everything would be all right again soon. All she had to do was convince Leo that she was a Piper from the future sent back to the past by a psychotic demon who liked to play mind games with people. How hard could that be?

“It’s like this, Leo. I’m not your Piper. Well I am, but I’m not. See, I’m from the future. All of this....” She made a sweeping motion with her hand. “Happened a year and a half ago for me.”

Leo frowned. “You must have hit your head harder than I thought.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “All right. I just need to come up with something to convince you. Something the me from your time wouldn’t have known about.” She snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “Rion.”

“What?”

“Not a what, a who. Rion.” She looked at him expectantly, sighing when she saw the confusion in his eyes. “Oh for crying out loud. I know about her Leo, so lay off the innocent act.”

Leo gave her a look. “What innocent act?”

“That innocent act!” She pointed at him again.

“It’s not an act. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about Rion! My other sister!!”

“Piper, you only have two sisters.”

“No, I have three!” She growled as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “OK, technically I won’t know she’s my sister for almost a year, but that doesn’t mean you have to act like you’ve never heard of her.”

Leo shrugged. “I’m still not acting.”

Piper closed her eyes. “You’re not actually going to make me do it, are you?”

“Do what?”

“The whole ‘I’ll go up to the attic, find the pictures, read the journal, find the spell in the Book of Shadows’ thing. We could save a lot of time if you’d just admit I know what I’m talking about.”

“Piper....”

“Fine! We’ll do this your way!” She stormed toward the stairs, seeing red. She should have been concentrating on finding a way home or trying to figure out what Sabian was up to, but no. She had to play let’s convince the Whitelighter I really know what I’m talking about first. How ridiculous was that? Why couldn’t he just admit she was right about Rion?

She told herself to calm down as she reached the second floor and headed for the attic. Being mad at Leo wasn’t going to solve anything. And all she had to do was pull out the box of pictures and possibly show Leo the spell in the Book of Shadows. Then they could get down to getting her back to her own time.

“All right, Leo. I’ll PROVE to you that I know what I’m talking about.” Piper spoke as she stepped into the attic, sensing that her husband had orbed in behind her. She quickly went to the old shelves and moved the old projector. “See, the box is right here where Grams....” Her voice faltered as she reached for the box, her hand finding nothing but air. She told herself not to panic and pulled down the other boxes of pictures. “OK, so maybe it got moved. But it’s here. I know it’s....” She cut herself off again when she realized what she was looking for wasn’t in the stack of boxes either. “All right. Where are they?”

“Where are what?”

“The pictures, Leo! The ones that originally led to me remembering Rion.”

“Honey.” Leo took her by the shoulders. “What do I have to do to convince you that I don’t know whoever it is you keep talking about?”

“Yes you do! Orion Marie Matthews!” Piper looked at him pleadingly. “Please, Leo. Tell me you remember.”

“I can’t, Piper.”

Tears filled her eyes again as she leaned against him. What the hell was going on?
Trouble was brewing. After so many years on the force he could practically smell it. That and Rion was sitting in the passenger seat, her left leg bouncing a hundred miles an hour as she clinched her jaw and drummed the fingers of her right hand on the door handle. Definite something was up behavior. But she wouldn’t talk to him. She had simply said she needed to get to the Manor and climbed in his car. He had thought about putting his foot down and telling her no but quickly changed his mind. How was he going to find out what was going on if she was mad at him?

His mind shifted gears to what he already knew. First there was her appearing out of thin air at his apartment looking like she had been used as a punching bag. Seeing her like that had made his heart hammer out of his chest and all he could think about was getting his hands on the demon or warlock or whatever that was responsible. Then she passed out and all he could do was sit on the edge of the bed and pray she wasn’t slipping into a coma or something. And just when he thought things were going to be all right, she disappeared. He still didn’t have an explanation for that one. Then there was tonight. No one should have been able to walk away from being smashed between two cars. Not even a healer. Yet she had done it without so much as a scratch.

All that and he still thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

He felt himself blush and tore his eyes away from her. Now wasn’t the time or the place. He would know when it was right. And when it was, he would finally tell Rion what he had realized on their last date but been too much of a chicken to say.

He was finally going to tell her he loved her.

*************

Rion breathed a silent sigh of relief when Darryl went back to watching the cars around them. Maybe now it would be satisfied and stop telling her to ask him what the hell he thought he was staring at.

It. The voice in the back of her head. The one that had made its presence known just after her talk with Shalaman. The one that walked her through the torture of the demons. The one that was getting louder. More persistent. Harder to shut out.

She closed her eyes, willing herself to get a grip. She couldn’t lose it now. Not while Sabian had Piper. Maybe Prue or Phoebe would be able to come up with some way for her to keep control. But that would entail telling them what was going on. She couldn’t have them concentrating on her instead of Piper. If anything happened to any of them she would never forgive herself. Never.

“Rion?”

She jumped when she heard Darryl’s voice. “Huh?”

He pointed up at the Manor. “We’re here.”

“Right.” She quickly climbed out of the car, not bothering to wait for Darryl before sprinting up the front stairs and into the house. “Prue?! Phoebe?!” She shouted as she threw the door open.

“Rion?” Prue came in from the kitchen, Seth close behind. The color drained from her face when she saw the look on her sister’s face and Darryl standing behind her in the doorway. “What’s going on? What’s the matter?”

“Where’s Phoebe?”

“She’s....”

“Did someone yell for me?” Phoebe spoke as she came down the stairs. “I’m trying to scry for Cole here, people.” She gave Rion a halfhearted smile. “Glad you’re home. Where’s Piper?”

“Sabian has her.” Rion instantly kicked herself for blurting it out like that.

“WHAT?!” Phoebe came down the last few stairs, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. “When? How?”

Prue motioned for her to be quiet as she took Rion by the hand and led her into the living room. “Tell us what happened.”

“Well....” Rion remained on her feet while her sisters sat on the couch. “We were at the club when Sabian showed up out of nowhere. He grabbed Piper.”

Prue swallowed hard. “He took her?”

Rion nodded.

Phoebe threw her hands in the air. “Well that’s just great! Now what the hell are we supposed to do?”

“Calm down, Phoebe.” Prue slipped her arm around her little sister’s shoulders. “We’ll come up with something.”

“And that’s not all that happened.”

Rion shot Darryl a look. “Not now.”

Prue looked up at her. “What’s he talking about, Rion?”

Phoebe looked up at her too. “Yeah, what are you trying to hide from us?”

“I’m not trying to HIDE anything. I just think we need to concentrate on getting Piper back, that’s all. One problem at a time.”

Prue raised one eyebrow. “Problem?”

Darryl started around the couch. “Either you tell them or I will.”

Rion sighed. “Fine. I was trying to come up with a way to get here to tell you guys about Piper but she has the Jeep keys and the cabs were backed up for nearly an hour, so I decided to run.”

“Run?” Phoebe looked at her like she was crazy. “Why didn’t you just call us to come and get you?”

“I don’t know, Pheebs! I wasn’t exactly thinking straight, all right?” Rion swallowed hard, trying to keep control of her temper. “Anyway, I was running and kinda....” She hesitated, knowing how her sisters would react. “Got made the creamy sweet filling between a speed demon and a parked car.” She saw her sisters start to get up and motioned for them to stay put. “But I’m fine. As a matter of fact, I didn’t feel a thing.”

Phoebe frowned. “How is that possible?”

“I think the connection Sabian and I share works both ways. I feel his pain, and he feels mine.” Rion couldn’t help but grin at the idea.

“Well then let’s test your theory, witch!”

Rion looked up in time to see the demons materializing behind Seth but couldn’t get out of the way of the energy ball headed in her direction. It slammed into her shoulder, throwing her into the grandfather clock.

“Rion!!” Prue was on her feet in an instant and started throwing demons around. “Phoebe....”

“I’m on it!” Phoebe started toward her sister, stopping when she saw Rion was already climbing to her feet. “What the....”

“Prue!!”

Rion screamed her sister’s name as she saw a demon shimmer in behind her. She raised her hand to warn her and a fireball shot out, narrowly missing Phoebe’s head. It streaked toward the demon, who shimmered out at the last second, leaving it to slam into whoever was behind him.

“And you didn’t disappoint.” The original demon beamed as he motioned for the other demons to end their attack. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.”

Phoebe turned to Rion as the demon’s shimmered out. “What the HELL was that? You....” She pointed at Rion. “You threw a fireball. And that whole thing at Darryl’s a couple of days ago. You shimmered, didn’t you?” Her eyes got big as saucers. “You’ve got Sabian’s powers!!”

“Phoebe....” Rion wracked her brain for something to say.

“Seth?”

They both turned when they heard Prue’s voice. She was staring at a pile of ashes on the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Oh my God!” Phoebe hurried to Prue’s side.

“No.” Rion shook her head. “I didn’t.... I couldn’t have....” It felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. The voice in the back of her head cackled. She felt her sisters looking at her and shook her head again. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know I could....” She looked down at her hands, whispering a barely audible, “I’m sorry,” as she shimmered out.


Uniformed officers had formed a perimeter around the outside of the house, an impenetrable blue wall to keep onlookers from stumbling onto the crime scene. Two more officers stood at what remained of the front doors, ready to spring into action if someone managed to get past their fellow brothers in arms. On the inside, the first floor of the Manor was literally crawling with cops. Forensics people were dusting for prints and collecting samples of this and that and bagging up anything they thought might provide them with a clue. Inspectors, like Darryl, were taking notes and talking in hushed tones. Still more men in suits stood around posturing, trying their best to look important.

Piper knew they were there, but she could have cared less. The only person she was interested in was Prue. That meant watching anyone who came into contact with her. First it was a couple of young paramedics who halfheartedly examined the eldest Halliwell and proclaimed that she was in fact deceased. One of them kept staring down at her, making Piper want to go wring his neck until she remembered him as a regular at P3. It probably seemed odd to him to see one of the owners of his favorite nightclub laying there dead. That or he was kicking himself for never asking her to dance. Either way Piper forgave him.

Then it was the balding forensics guy and his skinny as a rail female sidekick. They took Prue’s temperature and assessed her injuries before gathering samples. Watching them was like watching a well oiled machine. The man would see something he found interesting and give it to the woman, who would quickly label it and put it away for safe keeping. They had been at for half an hour now.

“Piper?”

She looked up as Leo’s voice pulled her from her musings to find him coming up the stairs toward her.

“Come on, honey. It’s time to go upstairs.”

“What?” She frowned up at him. “Why would I want to go upstairs?”

The skinny woman, who had disappeared a few minutes earlier came back into the house with the paramedics, who were pushing their gurney between them. On the gurney was what looked like a black garment bag.

“Piper....” Leo took her by the arm, lifting her to her feet. “We really need to go upstairs now.”

She watched, mesmerized, as the paramedics laid the bag on the ground next to Prue and unzipped it. “What are they doing?”

“Honey....” Leo tried to make her face him.

“No.” She pulled her arm away from him and continued to watch as Prue was lifted off the ground and put in the bag. “NO!!” She ran down the stairs, not stopping until she fell to her knees at her sister’s side. She grabbed the hand of the paramedic who had been staring at Prue as he started to zip the bag.