DISCLAIMER: I don't own them, but I so wish I did. All the credit goes to Constance Burge, Aaron Spelling, and those folks over at the WB. I only write them into awkward situations, then write them back out. They are returned just as I found them.

This is a future fiction . . . things could happen this way, but they probably won't. You should probably know that I really, really dislike Richard. I'm convinced he is up to no good, and you can't tell me otherwise, even if he saves the world somehow. I am convinced he will cause the Charmed Ones trouble.

Alright, finally . . . this fic was inspired by my aforementioned Richard hatred and Pink Floyd (odd combo, huh?) The title was actually taken from two Pink Floyd songs. One is easy, cause it's a song title. The other is harder, cause it's a lyric. Gold star to anybody who knows which two songs.

Lyrics used in the fic are from Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. Ah gee, look at that . . . a clue.

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phoebe Halliwell looked up as her assistant walked through her office door.
“Phoebe, your sister is here.”
“Piper?” Phoebe questioned even though she already knew the answer - there was no way it could be Paige.
“Yes. And she says it’s urgent.”
“Well of course I’ll see her.”
Phoebe took a drink of water as her assistant walked back out the door. A moment later, Piper walked in, looking extremely worried and desperate.
“Phoebe, we have to do something. We have to get her out of that place.”
“You’ve been to Whispering Falls.”
“Of course I’ve been to Whispering Falls. I go everyday.” Piper’s voice softened before she added, “She asks about you, you know.”
“Piper, I would love to get her out of there, but Richard petitioned the courts and convinced them she ‘saw’ demons and needed help.”
“She did see demons, everyday of her life.”
“Piper, I know that. I also know we taught her not to talk about that in public. In case you’ve forgotten, she blew that lesson out of the water when she took the stand at her sanity hearing.”
“Yeah, and she couldn’t prove she had powers either - which she was more than willing to do. Which means everything she did in that courtroom was somehow magically induced by Richard! My only hope is that he bound her powers instead of stripped them.”
“What do you propose we do?”
“Magic.”
“You know Jason doesn’t want me to risk exposure. He wants to keep me and the girls safe.”
“That’s just great! The person who shouldn’t be using their powers is using them like he’s on some sort of magic high, even though he was requested not to. And the person who should use their powers for the greater good is refraining because she was requested not to.”
“Piper, even if we did get her out of there with magic, you know that Richard would only find a way to put her back in.”
“We don’t know that. All we know for sure is that she wasn’t crazy when she went into the mental institution, but the doctors and their drugs are making her crazier everyday. She needs to be released - Now!”
“How about legally? Do we have a case legally?”
“I don’t know. We’re not her parents.”
“We could get Paige’s help.”
“Are you crazy. Paige can’t help us, she’s too busy trying to help Richard.” Piper scoffed.
“Piper, that’s not fair. Paige loves Richard. All she’s ever done is try and help him and protect the world from his corrupted magic.”
“Yeah, and somewhere along the way she lost her daughter to that corrupted magic.”
“Not true. Ashlyn has the Halliwell magic strong within her, not to mention her whitelighter powers. Those are the things that saved her from Richard’s corrupted magic to begin with.”
“It’s also the reason that son-of-a-bitch hates her so much. Look, all I know is that we have to get her out of Whispering falls and Paige out of Richard’s mansion.”
“We’ll start with Ashlyn. You go and find us a lawyer. I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“Thanks, Phoebe.” Piper hugged her little sister.
Phoebe returned Piper’s hug and rubbed her back. “Anytime. I love her too.”
“I’ll call you when I find a lawyer.” Piper headed towards the door.
“Piper,” Phoebe caused her sister to turn around, “One spell I have cast recently was a protection spell - for Ashlyn.”
“Let’s hope it worked.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paige was laying on her daughter’s bed, curled up in a ball, holding a teddy bear. Richard had went out hours ago and frankly, Paige wasn’t sure she cared if her ever bothered to come back. She stared at the still full glass of vodka on Ashlyn’s table. She had thought very hard about drinking it, but she had also thought that would disappoint Piper and Phoebe. Paige wasn’t willing to disappoint her sisters further - letting her husband put their fifteen-year-old daughter in an asylum had been disappointment enough.
Truth was Paige didn’t let Richard put Ashlyn there, she had suffered a concussion to attest to that point. Paige wasn’t sure where this whole thing went so wrong. Richard had been good when he didn’t use his magic, and he swore to her he had taken the power stripping potion when the magic had consumed him. She had believed him. After all, his magical elation had almost killed her and her sisters, just because he had grabbed the genie bottle with Phoebe in it quicker than Paige or Chris could.
‘I should have left when I found out he didn’t strip his powers. If not then, at least when I found out I was pregnant. Why, Paige? Why did you stay? At the very least you should have left when he broke Ashlyn’s arm when she was four. Maybe she’s better off in Whispering Falls - he can’t hurt her there.’
No, that wasn’t right either. Paige should have let Piper take Ashlyn when Piper first found out that Richard had hit her niece. Paige could remember the fight like it was yesterday. Five-year-old Ashlyn was sitting in the manor conservatory playing with six-year-old Chris . . .

“Paige, her lip is split!”
“She fell, Piper.”
“Like she fell last week and got a black eye?”
“Ashlyn’s clumsy.”
“Must take after her mother. How did you get that huge bruise on your forearm?”
“Piper, stop over-dramatizing.”
“I’m over-dramatizing? If that’s true, you look me in the eye. You look me in the eye, Paige, and you tell me that Richard isn’t abusing you both.” Piper watched as Paige met her gaze, but was unable to say anything. “I’ll kill him.”
“Piper, stop.”
“That’s it, we’re going to the mansion, we’re getting yours and Ashlyn’s things and you two are moving back in here.”
“No.”
“Paige, you’re not the type of person to take this.”
“Piper, I love him. He doesn’t mean to get that mad. If I leave, he’ll only get worse.”
“I don’t believe you! You’re defending him! Fine, I can’t make you leave, but I’m taking Ashlyn. If you know all his faults and choose to stay, that’s your decision . . . but I will not subject a five-year-old to this!”

Piper had taken Ashlyn. Ashlyn had lived at the manor a month and things were better all the way around. Richard wasn’t nearly as angry all the time and he didn’t use magic as much. It was almost as if Ashlyn’s ability to control the magic he couldn’t angered him. But Paige had been selfish, she had wanted her daughter with her - and after much fighting, begging, and pleading Piper had relented. There really wasn’t much she could do - Paige was Ashlyn’s mother.
‘Great decision, Paige. Look where it got us.’ Paige picked up the vodka and raised it to her lips. She paused before actually drinking and threw the glass across the room, shattering it into hundreds of pieces.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay . . .okay . . . okay
Just a little pinprick {ping}
There’ll be no more Aaaaaahhhhhhh!
But you may feel a little sick

Ashlyn stared at the clean, white ceiling. There wasn’t much else she could do at this point - she was restrained to the bed and nowhere near sleepy.
‘I love that song. Never knew I was going to get a first hand account. Funny, there was no aaaaaahhhhhhh before I came to this place and had the pinpricks. Is it a Catch-22? Probably. I wasn’t insane, so they had to make me so to keep me here. No! I’m not insane. Aunt Piper said I wasn’t and Aunt Piper’s never lied to me. She was here earlier . . . or was that yesterday? I hope it was yesterday . . . that means she hasn’t come yet today . . . Aunt Piper comes everyday. Aunt Phoebe hasn’t come yet . . . she probably can’t take it. And Mom . . . well, he won’t let her. Strange, I should be mad at her too, but I can’t be. It’s all his fault . . . God, how I hate him. I hate my father. Hmmm . . . guess I am insane.
“You’re not insane.”
Ashlyn looked up towards the voice. “Aunt Prue, you read my mind.”
Prue sat on the edge of her niece’s bed and pushed a stray hair out of her face. “Don’t I always?”
“Yeah. You’re late.”
“I had to help Grams and Mom with some things. They send their love.”
“Aunt Prue?”
“Yeah, sweetie?”
“Why are you here? Don’t get me wrong - I’m glad you are, but you and Mom never even met each other.”
“She’s still my sister. You’re still my niece. I love you both. Plus your Aunt Phoebe cast a protection spell on you, so the Elders sent me.”
“Glad they did.” Ashlyn yawned. It was always easier to sleep with Aunt Prue there.
“Sweetie, I need you to listen to me. Your Aunt Piper is going to ask you to do something very soon, and I want you to do exactly as she asks, no matter what. And you can’t tell anybody that you’re doing it because she told you to. Understand.”
Ashlyn nodded her head. “Will you be with me when I do it?”
“I’m always with you, Ashlyn, whether you can see me or not.” Prue watched her niece until she faded off to sleep, then she headed back to Andy.

Piper sat nervously in front of huge desk in a very ornate office. The well-dressed woman behind the desk was flipping through a file folder and making notations as she went along. Finally she closed the folder and looked up at Piper.
“I assume, Mrs. Halliwell, that you’ve been to more than one lawyer in the past week.”
“Yes, I have, Mrs. Parker. Your partner, Mr. Riffe . . . he’s the one who suggested I speak to you.”
“Nobody thinks you have a case. Am I guessing correctly?”
“Mrs. Parker, please . . . please don’t tell me you think they’re all right. There has to be someway . . .”
“I admit, Mrs. Halliwell . . .”
“Piper - please call me Piper.”
“Piper, when I first read the file, I agreed with them, but then, yesterday afternoon, I called and had a copy of her medical records faxed to the office. I read them last night - very interesting reading, by the way, - so this morning, I called Whispering Falls and had them fax over her records from there, along with a list of visitors she has had since she was placed there six months ago.”
“So, you can help?”
“I can’t promise anything, Piper, but based upon the number of ‘accidents’ your niece has had in her short life and the fact that you are the only regular visitor she has, I think we have a chance. It’s a small chance, but it’s a chance, none-the-less. I need you to understand a few things.”
“Like what?”
“This could get very ugly. Especially as far as you and your sister are concerned. I will bring up in the proceedings that Paige hasn’t been to see her daughter since she was placed in the institution.”
“He won’t let her.”
“I understand that, Piper. Just like I expect you to understand, that unless I’m playing the abuse card, that’s is not a fact that I will readily make available.”
“I know it’s hard to believe, Mrs. Parker, but Paige will understand. Eventually, she may even come to forgive me.”
“Good . . . And call me Kennedy. Now, as far as your sister Phoebe is concerned - she supports you in this?” Kennedy watched Piper nod. “You need to get her to accompany you to some visits. You may also want to get at least one of your sons to do the same.”
“Chris will. He and Ashlyn are close.”
“Good. So basically, now I need you to keep doing what you’ve been doing. I will start the paperwork and keep you updated.”
Piper stood up and shook Kennedy’s hand. “Thank you, thank you so much, Mrs. Parker.”
“Just to warn you, Mrs. Halliwell - as soon as the paper’s are filed and we find a judge to hear the case, your brother-in-law will be notified that you are petitioning for Ashlyn’s release and custody of her.”
“Thanks for the warning, Mrs. Parker.” With that, Piper picked up her jacket and purse and left the office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paige came down the stairs just in time to see the phone shatter against the wall. Richard was extremely pissed, that was easy enough to tell. He was shaking slightly, breathing heavily, and throwing things around the mansion. Richard looked towards the stairs and saw Paige standing there. He threateningly pointed at her.
“Your sisters . . .”
Maybe today was going to be better than Paige originally thought. Anything that had Richard this upset couldn’t be bad. Signs of Paige’s true personality poked through and she smirked at her husband. “Problems?”
“Piper is trying to get custody of Ashlyn.”
Paige thought for a moment then looked towards her husband. “Why don’t you just let her have Ashlyn?”
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t want her, that’s obvious. I can’t keep her safe. Piper wants her and she’ll be able to help her.”
Richard charged Paige and grabbed her shirt collar. “Now you listen to me. I need Ashlyn.”
“Her powers, you mean. You need her powers; and obviously you need her on enough drugs to keep her sedated and confused enough to use those powers as you wish.”
Richard looked for a moment as if he could kill Paige. He exhaled deeply and threw her onto the floor. “You will be dressed tomorrow morning by eight. We have to go visit your daughter.”
“I won’t help you keep her from Piper.”
“You’ll do exactly as I ask or you’ll suffer the consequences.” Richard turned and charged off towards his potion room.
Paige sat on the floor a moment, rubbing her knee that had got twisted in the fall. She then got up and headed towards the potion room. She opened the door just enough to peek in, and saw Richard standing there with a short demon who looked very lizard like.
“You will get it for me.”
“I don’t think you understand the consequences. Belladonna is a tricky thing. Too much is fatal - she’s no good to you dead.”
“Do not question me! I don’t need anybody telling me what belladonna does, I just need her to look as insane as she did the day I had her committed.”
Paige closed the door and stepped back. She had officially had enough - well, she had officially had enough years ago, now she was prepared to do something about it. Paige headed back upstairs to her bedroom, grabbed a bag out of the closet, shoved some of her things into it, ran to Ashlyn’s room and placed some of her things in the bag as well. She then leaned her head back and called “Leo! Leo, I know it’s been a long time, but I need you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Phoebe, what we’re prepared to offer you is a monthly advice column in the most popular teen magazine on the market.”
“While my career may enjoy that, I’m not sure my thirteen and eleven-year-old daughters would.”
“Are you kidding? Having your mother write advice to all your friends . . .”
“Can be a source of constant teasing. Isn’t that right, dear?” Phoebe smiled at Jason.
“She does have a point, gentlemen. What we were thinking was . . .”
“Hi. Hey. Don’t mind me. Sister of ‘Ask Phoebe’.” Piper stated as she burst through the conference room door.
“Piper.” Phoebe smiled and talked through clenched teeth. “I’m sure this could have waited.”
“Actually, no it can’t.”
“Piper . . .” Jason stood up.
“Phoebe, it’s important. Trust me.” The look in Piper’s eyes said it all.
“Uh, why don’t we continue this tomorrow morning? Give us all a chance to make the changes we discussed earlier.” Phoebe ushered Piper towards the door.
“Phoebe . . .” Jason didn’t sound happy.
“We’ll discuss it later.” Phoebe shut the door behind them and headed Piper towards her office, leaving Jason to deal with the roomful of people.
Jason simply looked around the table and laughed slightly. “Sisters.”

“This had really be important.” Phoebe glared at Piper.
“Life and death . . . I swear.”
“Whose?”
“Ashlyn’s . . . and Paige’s”
Phoebe looked up at Piper. “What do you mean?”
“Paige called for Leo this morning. Richard knows I’m trying to get Ashlyn. He and Paige had a disagreement, she saw him discussing poisons for Ashlyn with a demon. Richard needs Ashlyn’s powers for something. That’s why he had her put in Whispering Falls, so that she would end up on so many drugs that she would do anything he asks of her.”
“All the while he gets to play the burdened father. At least we know he only bound her powers. He’s going to try and get Paige to help his case. Piper we have to get her out of there. There’s no telling what he’ll do to her . . .”
“Paige is safe. She finally found her backbone again. The reason she called for Leo was so that he could cloak her from Richard. She’s hiding out in a cabin in Montana. She sends her love and told us that if we needed her to not hesitate to call for her. Also, she’ll try and visit often.”
“That can’t be good for his case. What’s our next move?”
“You and I need to go visit Ashlyn this afternoon. Also, you may want to convince Jason to go on an extended business trip. He’s the only one with no powers to protect him.”
“He won’t go.”
“Well, we’ll protect him too.”
“Alright. I’ll go with you on all your visits. If there’s two of us and only one of him, it’s got to look better right?”
“Right. Kennedy says the best route to go at the moment, is the ‘I can handle her’ route. She said that Richard and his lawyers will keep pointing out the results of the sanity hearing, but if I can get her to listen . . .”
“Even if she is sick, you may be able to care for her at home.”
“Exactly. That’s what we have to convince the doctors of.”
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.” Phoebe grabbed her bag and then began ushering Piper back out the door.

Phoebe sipped her latte as she and Piper walked through the big doors of Whispering Falls. They had been visiting Ashlyn together for a week now and today was an important day. Today was the first time the judge hearing the case was going to be present at Whispering Falls. All parties and their lawyers were requested to be there by one o’clock. Phoebe and Piper had shown up at twelve-thirty.
“Good Afternoon, Mrs. Halliwell.” The nurse behind the counter greeted Piper as she started to sign Phoebe and herself in.
“Let’s hope it is.” Piper commented as she started writing Phoebe’s name. She happened to glance as the list as she was signing it. “Wait a minute . . . this says Richard is already here.”
“Yes, Mrs. Halliwell. Mr. Montana showed up forty-five minutes ago to visit with Ashlyn before everybody else got here.”
Phoebe and Piper exchanged a glance, then Phoebe looked to the nurse. “Can we go in? Now, please?!?!?” Phoebe’s words were urgent.
“I can get you Ashlyn’s nurse. Mr. Montana requested that he visit with his daughter alone.”
“Where are they?”
“The community room. There are doctors and staff all around them.”
“Now, please!” Phoebe repeated.
Piper and Phoebe watched as the receptionist paged Ashlyn’s nurse. A few moments later the door opened and a doctor came out. “Mrs. Halliwell.”
“Yes.” Piper and Phoebe answered in unison.
“I’m Dr. Taylor. I’m assisting Dr. Manning this morning. He asked me to take you to one of his conference rooms to wait.”
“Where’s our niece?”
“He said he would be with you as soon as he could.”
“Where is Ashlyn?” Piper’s words were drawn out and enunciated.
“Please, Mrs. Halliwell, if you two will just follow me.”

Five minutes later an anxious Piper and Phoebe turned as the door to the conference room opened and the lawyers and the judge walked in.
“Kennedy,” Piper hurried to the lawyer. “Richard got here early . . . they won’t let us near Ashlyn.”
“I know, Piper. Wait just a minute please.”
“But why?” Piper’s question was answered when the door opened again.
Richard walked in, holding a gauze pad to his head. The gauze pad was stained with blood, as was Richard’s shirt. Richard was talking to the doctor. “I don’t know what happened. One minute she was fine, the next she was attacking me . . . calling me a demon.”
“What happened?” Phoebe demanded.
Dr. Manning looked solemnly at the two sisters. “Ashlyn has had a bit of an episode this morning.”
“A bit of one!” Richard was incredulous. “This may need stitches.”
“What did you do to her?” Piper demanded.
“I didn’t do anything to her, Piper. I know you don’t want to believe it, but your niece has severe mental issues.”
“He did something! He had to have!”
“Piper, there was a staff member around at all times, what could I have done?”
“What were they doing when she attacked him?”
“According to the nurse, they were just drinking a couple of sodas and talking.”
“Where did she get the soda?” Phoebe looked up.
“Mr. Montana purchased it from the machine.”
“He put something in it!”
“Piper, now is not the time to go throwing accusations around.” Kennedy warned.
“Check it, check the soda.”
“We can’t. She threw it across the room. It’s been cleaned up.”
“Does nobody find it strange that she hadn’t had an episode in over a month and now that he’s here this morning she had one.”
“He was here several times last week.”
“Yeah, and the judge and the lawyers weren’t.”
“Piper, you need to calm down. You’re not helping your case.” Kennedy warned again.
“Piper, honey, listen to Mrs. Parker.”
“How is she.”
“The situation has been handled.” Dr. Manning assured Piper.
“You gave her a shot . . . tied her to a bed . . . Is that what you mean by handled, Dr. Manning?”
“She was a danger to herself.”
“Check the records. She only has episodes when he’s here.”
“Piper, don’t be ridiculous.” Richard scoffed.
“Actually, Mr. Montana, I’d like to investigate your sister-in-law’s claim. Dr. Manning, could you have her medical records and visitor records brought to me.”
“Judge Kane, I’m sure that’s not necessary.” Richard’s lawyer began. “You’ll only be sifting through who knows how much paperwork to find her claim untrue.”
“I’ll decide what I will and will not sift through, Mr. Baxter. If you don’t mind.”
“Of course not, Judge Kane.”
Just then there was a knock at the door. A large orderly entered the room.
“Dr. Manning, she’s fighting the medicine.”
“Give her another 20 cc’s of Valium.”
“Right.”
“Wait,” Piper begged. “Let me talk to her. Please . . . I’ll calm her down.”
“Piper, that may not be . . .”
“Look, part of my defense is that I can handle her. Let me prove it to you.”
The judge looked Piper up and down, she then turned to Kennedy. “Any objections Mrs. Parker?”
“No, your honor.”
“Your honor, we object.”
“Well, I didn’t really expect you to do otherwise Mr. Baxter. On what grounds?”
“On the grounds that Mr. Montana doesn’t wish to see his sister-in-law suffer any harm.”
“Mr. Baxter, if you think I’m buying that you’re greatly mistaken. Dr. Manning, can we monitor Mrs. Halliwell and her niece the entire time?”
“There’s a small window in the door.”
“Is there another room . . . one with a larger window?”
“It will be hard to move Ashlyn to that.”
“Mrs. Halliwell, are you certain you can control your niece?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Halliwell, Mr. Montana, Mr. Baxter, you can all watch from the door. I’ll stand back near the door.”
“Your honor, do you really want to place yourself in that much danger?”
“Mr. Baxter, I’m going into a room with a fifteen-year-old teenager, restrained to a bed, heavily sedated, with her aunt who assures me that she’s not a danger . . . but if you’re that concerned for my welfare, I’ll have an orderly accompany us.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘ “Ashlyn . . . Ashlyn . . . come on, Ashlyn, we’re going to let you watch as we destroy the Charmed Ones. You want to see the death of your mother and your precious Aunt Piper, don’t you?”
“Of course she wants to see us destroy them . . . it’s means her ascension in magic . . . she wouldn’t want to miss that.”
Demons . . . surrounded by demons . . . gonna kill Mom, Aunt Piper, and Aunt Phoebe . . .must stop them . . . must stop demons.
We can’t stop the demons . . . they’re too much for us.
We? There is no we . . . there’s only me.
No, that’s not true . . . come on, Ashlyn, you can hear me.
No, you’re not real! I’m not crazy! I am not insane!!!!’
“No, you’re not Ashlyn. I told you that.”
“Aunt Prue, you have to leave. Demons, demons that will try and kill you.
‘ “Oh the oldest Charmed One . . . won’t it be fun to kill her again?”
Gonna kill Aunt Prue . . . must save her.’
Ashlyn struggled harder against the restraints. Prue moved closer to her niece.
“Listen to me, Ashlyn. Remember when I asked you to do what Piper told you. The time has come.”
“But . . . the demons.”
“There are no demons in this room, Ashlyn. As a matter of fact, the only thing resembling a demon in this hospital is your father and he’s headed towards your room right now. Listen, Ashlyn, we have to get you out of here . . . to do that, you have to listen to Piper. Piper is coming in the room now. Your father drugged you, Ashlyn . . . it’s making you hallucinate.”
“The soda?”
“Yes, the soda. Now listen, Ashlyn. She may look like a demon to you at this moment, but your Aunt Piper is here and you have to listen to her.”
“Which one is she?”
“I can’t see through your eyes, Ashlyn. You have to find her yourself. You have to find her and listen to her.”
“Tell me what she’s saying.”
“She’s telling you to look at her.”
“They’re all saying that!”
“Listen Ashlyn . . .listen to them all, you’ll know which one is Piper.”
Ashlyn looked out into the sea of demons.
‘ “Ashlyn, over here Ashlyn.”
“This way, Ashlyn . . . look at me.”
“Fight Ashlyn, fight the restraints . . . they’re trying to kill you.”
“Shhh . . .Ashlyn, it’s alright . . . Ashlyn, baby look at me!”
“No, Ashlyn . . .me, look at me.”
“This way, Ashlyn . . . I’m the only one who can save you now.”
Too many, I’ll never find her . . . Never find her . . . have to choose, have to figure it out . . .must . . .’
Ashlyn opened her eyes and looked straight at the demon she believed to be her Aunt Piper.
“Aunt Piper? Please I just want to go home.”

“Shhh . . . Ashlyn, it’s alright. You have to calm down.”
“Home.” Ashlyn repeated again. Her demons remained in the room, but they all seemed to shrink back when Ashlyn identified Piper.
“I’m working on it, baby.”
“Dad . . . soda . . . demons.”
Judge Kane stepped forward. “Excuse me?”
The orderly stepped forward as well, “She’s hearing voices . . . she always does when she’s violent.”
“She’s not violent at the moment. She’s nowhere near as violent as she was when we walked in the room. Now she’s barely struggling against the restraints.”
“The medicine is finally taking effect.”
“You’ll excuse me if I think there may be more to it than that.”
Ashlyn wasn’t sure what these two ‘demons’ were talking about, but she was sure she didn’t like them that close to her Aunt Piper. Ashlyn pulled against the restraints again.
“See, she’s getting violent again.”
“Because she’s hallucinating.” Piper defended. “I don’t know what he gave her, but I know he gave her something. You saw her recognize me.”
“Mrs. Halliwell, can you make her stop struggling?”
“Ashlyn, shhh . . . Ashlyn, you have to quit fighting the restraints now.”
“They’ll hurt you.”
“I’ll hurt them first.”
“But, Aunt Piper . . .”
“Ashlyn, listen to Piper.” Prue was still standing by her niece.
“But . . .”
“Baby, if you want to go back to the manor with Piper, you have to listen to her.”
Ashlyn looked up at Piper. Piper began running her hand through Ashlyn’s hair. “It’s okay. Nobody is going to hurt me.” Piper watched as Ashlyn calmed and stopped struggling. “Good girl. Now, Ashlyn I want you to go to sleep . . . I want you to . . .”
“Mrs. Halliwell, before we do that, can we mention her father to her, please.”
“She may start . . .”
“I understand that, Mrs. Halliwell. Please, just mention him.”
“Ashlyn, there’s somebody else here to see you . . .”
“Mom?”
“No, baby, but your mom is safe, I promise you that. She sends her love and she’ll see you soon.”
“I know about . . .”
“Don’t tell them I’m here.” Prue warned. “They can’t see me and it won’t be good for you.”
“Who do you know about?”
Ashlyn yawned a little. “Aunt Phoebe.”
“That’s right. Aunt Phoebe is here. You know who else is here? Your Dad is here.”
Ashlyn immediately came out of her half sedated state and started struggling again. “No. No, Aunt Piper. He’ll hurt you and he’ll hurt Aunt Phoebe and Mom. He doesn’t like us.”
“Ashlyn, calm down. It’s okay.” Piper waited for her to stop struggling. “Do you remember the last time he was here?”
“It was earlier today or yesterday, maybe. I’m not sure.”
“What happened when he was here?”
“We talked and had something to drink . . . that was right before the demons showed up.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Halliwell. You can try and get her to sleep now. As soon as she is sleeping, we’ll go back to the conference room.”
“Listen to me, Ashlyn. You’ve had a lot of medicine and I know you can feel it making you sleepy. I want you to calm down and let it work. I want you to get some rest.”
“Will you be here when I wake up?”
“I’ll try. But if I’m not I’ll come back very, very soon.”
Ashlyn yawned again. “Aunt Phoebe?”
“I’ll bring her with me.”
“K.” Ashlyn said softly as her eyelids began to get heavy. “Aunt Piper?”
Piper continued playing with her niece’s hair. “Yes, baby?”
“Love you.”
“I love you too, baby.” Piper watched as the medicine took effect and Ashlyn drifted into unconsciousness. She then stood up and looked at Judge Kane. “Conference room?”
“Oh yes, Mrs. Halliwell. We have a lot to sort out.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Judge Kane looked at the faces around the table. When her gaze fell upon Richard and his lawyer, she stopped. “You know, Mr. Baxter, this may be the shortest sanity or custody case I’ve ever had the privilege to hear. After witnessing the interaction between Mrs. Halliwell and her niece, do you really want to continue this?”
Richard and his lawyer had a very quiet heated discussion for a few moments. When they were finished, Mr. Baxter put his hands back on the table and exhaled deeply. “Yes, your honor.”
“Interesting. Dr. Manning, given the amount of medication that she has had, how long should Ashlyn sleep?”
“Probably until tomorrow morning.”
“Good. You will call San Francisco Memorial Hospital and arrange for an ambulance to come pick her up . . .”
“Your honor.”
“You will arrange for her to be taken to a private room, close to the psychiatric ward. A court-appointed psychiatrist will take over her care. She’s not to be given any mind altering medications for the next week. At which time, the psychiatrist will review her mental state and make a determination. I will use that week to review Ashlyn’s medical and visitation records. Are there any objections so far, Mrs. Parker?”
Kennedy smiled widely. “No, your honor.”
“Mr. Montana, I am issuing a restraining order against you. You are not to come within a two hundred yard radius of your daughter. Any other action by you will result in immediate action by this court.”
Richard stood up. “You can’t do that, your honor.” Richard remained standing despite his lawyer’s trying to get him to calm and sit down.
“I just did, Mr. Montana. You should consider yourself extremely lucky that I don’t order a toxicology report on your daughter’s blood.”
Phoebe leaned over and whispered in Kennedy’s ear. Kennedy promptly looked at the judge. “Judge Kane?”
“Yes, Mrs. Parker?”
“We ask the court to also issue a restraining order against Mr. Montana coming near his wife.”
“That’s a request usually made by the spouse.”
“She’s left him, your honor and she’s hiding from him. We thought that maybe given those circumstances . . .”
“It’s highly unusual, Mrs. Parker, but given Ashlyn’s extremely coherent and clear remarks in the presence of Mrs. Halliwell, I think I’ll make an exception this time.”
“She’s poisoning her sister and Ashlyn against me, your honor.”
“Mr. Montana, if you think for one second that will work with me after I spent more than two seconds in a room with your sister-in-law and daughter . . . you are badly mistaken. Mr. Baxter, I ask you to gain control of your client.”
“So, I can’t see her, but Piper can?”
“Very good, Mr. Montana. I was beginning to wonder whether you were going to get anything right today or not. Now, if we’re all very clear on what we can and cannot do, we are in recess. We will continue this discussion in my chambers, two o’clock, one week from today. Mrs. Halliwell, I sincerely hope there is no irreparable damage to your niece. Good day, ladies and gentlemen.”
Judge Kane stood up, placed several folders and papers into her briefcase, and left the room. Richard pointed his lawyer to the hall where they could have a better discussion. Piper and Phoebe hugged each other, then looked at Kennedy.
“Thank you, so much, Mrs. Parker.” Phoebe smiled at the lawyer.
“Don’t thank me. Your sister did most of the hard work. I’ll be in touch throughout the week. I want you two to understand, we had a major victory today, but this isn’t over. A restraining order is just a piece of paper. Richard may attempt to make a last stand.”
“We won’t let that happen.”
“I hope it doesn’t You have a good day.”
Piper and Phoebe watched Kennedy leave then turned to each other. Piper spoke first. “Okay, we have to come up with some sort of schedule. Once she’s in the hospital, we can’t let Richard or any of his ‘friends’ come anywhere near her.”
“Yeah, there’s no telling what he may try.”
“One of us should go tell Paige the good news.”
“I’ll stay with Ashlyn tonight. You have Leo orb you there.”
“Honey, are you sure?”
“Oh yeah. Jason can handle the girls for one night.”
“Yeah, but you may want to warn Peyton and Parker to have their guard up. It’s no telling what Richard will try . . . and Jason is vulnerable.”

Paige stared into the flames of the fireplace. She was sitting in the floor, with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She had left Richard a week ago and everyday she was away from him, more and more of the old Paige showed through.
‘How did it get this far? At what point did I decide that helping Richard was more important than Ashlyn’s well-being? My own daughter . . . I choose trying to save my husband over trying to save my daughter. I let him put her in that . . . that place. If it wasn’t for Piper - Thank God for Piper. It’s not like me to stay and get beaten by an . . .’
Paige’s thoughts were interrupted by the white lights the entered the cabin. She stared at the lights until they disappeared and two familiar profiles took place.
“Piper!!!!” Paige ran and threw her arms around her big sister’s neck.
“Paige.” Piper’s voice was a low whisper, filled with emotion.
“I’m soooo sorry, Piper. I’ve been trying to figure out . . .”
“Shhh . . . don’t worry about that now. You’ve left him and we’ll fix the rest.”
“I’ll give you two some time alone.” Leo nodded to Piper then looked at Paige. “Glad to have you back. All the Elders are.” With that he was gone.
Paige led Piper over to the couch and the two sisters sat. There was an uncomfortable silence for a second, then Paige could take it no more. “Ashlyn?”
“Phoebe’s with her. They transferred her to San Francisco Memorial Hospital today. The judge ordered she not be given anything to alter her mind for a week, then they would re-evaluate her condition.”
“I bet Richard hated that. I didn’t think you’d be able to accomplish so much on the first visit with the judge.”
“Probably wouldn’t have, but . . .” Piper’s hesitation was not lost on Paige.
“What, Piper?”
“Richard drugged Ashlyn. He showed up before everybody else and drugged her, causing her to have an episode.”
“Oh God.”
“I convinced them to let me try. She was hallucinating, but I made her see me. That’s when the judge put two and two together and made her order. She also issued a restraining order against him. One for Ashlyn . . .and, uh, . . . one for you.”
“What?!?!?”
“He can’t come within two hundred yards of either of you without facing criminal charges.”
“So I can go back and there would be legal repercussions for him if he . . .”
“Yes. I would love that more than anything, Paige, but I want you to think about this.”
“What is there to think about?”
“A restraining order is just a piece of paper, Paige. He could do damage before the cops could stop him. I may soon gain custody of Ashlyn, but she’s going to need you.”
“Need me for what? To throw her to the lions? I shouldn’t have chosen his needs above hers.”
“Paige, you were just . . .”
“Don’t, Piper. Don’t try and defend my actions. I don’t think I could take it. You’re a better mother for her than me. I want you to have her. Take care of her.”
“Fine.” Piper was solemn. “I’ll take her. Take her on the condition that when you can move back into the manor, you do so. We’re going to fix your relationship.”
“She must hate me.”
“She doesn’t hate you. She hates him - not you.”
“Do you really think that?”
“I know that. Just like I know we can fix this . . . we can fix all of this. If that’s what you want.”
“I do, Piper. That’s what I want more than anything. I just want to feel like I did before I met Richard.” Paige fell into Piper’s arms, shedding tears that had been bottled up for years.
“I know, sweetie. I know.” Piper hugged Paige tightly and tried to comfort her baby sister.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashlyn rolled her head slowly to the side and let out a small moan. Her stomach felt as if she had just eaten tons of junk food before going on the biggest roller coaster in the park. Ashlyn tried to raise up, only to find herself restrained.
“Of course.” She didn’t remember what had happened but this was nothing new. Ashlyn opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. This was new.
“Hey.” Phoebe’s voice was soft and anxious.
“Aunt Phoebe? Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital.”
“I really am crazy. This doesn’t look like Whispering Falls.”
“It isn’t. It’s San Francisco Memorial. The judge ordered you here and under the care of another doctor.”
“What doctor?”
“Dr. Allen” a voice drifted in from the doorway. “And how are we this morning, Ashlyn?”
“I’ve been better. My stomach is staging some sort of revolt.”
“Given the information I received, I’m pretty sure that is to be expected. Now I’m going to ask you a few simple questions, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Mother’s name?”
“Paige Matthews.”
“Who’s here with you this morning?”
“Aunt Phoebe. My mother’s sister.”
“Her only sister?”
“No, she has two others - Aunt Piper and Aunt Prue. She never met Aunt Prue, she died before they found out about Mom.”
“How old are you, Ashlyn?”
“Fifteen.”
“What’s two plus three?”
“Five. Does this have a point?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why are you asking me questions I obviously know the answers to?”
“Ashlyn . . .” Phoebe smiled at the doctor as she tried to stop her niece through clenched teeth.
“It’s alright, Mrs. Halliwell. Glad to know she’s aware of things. Now Ashlyn, how do you feel about your father?”
“I hate him.”
“Hate is a very strong word.”
“Take a swim in my ocean, then blame me for hating the shark.”
“Do you want to hurt your father?”
“No. No matter what he’s done, he’s still my father. Aunt Piper taught me that comes with a certain amount of respect . . . though I’m not sure why.”
Dr. Allen looked at Phoebe. “Do you feel safe with her?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Ashlyn, I’m going to remove the restraints. I want you to bear in mind that they can be replaced at any given moment and that you will be constantly monitored. If it even looks as if you’re going to be a danger to yourself or anyone else . . .”
“I get it. Believe me, I get it.”
“Very well. Hopefully I haven’t mis-judged the outside influence on your mental state.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason put his daughter’s on the penthouse’s elevator. Peyton, watch out for Parker downstairs. Hold her hand until the bus comes.”
“I will, Dad.” Peyton rolled her eyes. “Just like I do every morning.”
Jason smiled at his daughters.
Parker smiled back at him and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. “Bye, Daddy. Be careful.”
“You too, my little rugrat.”
“Dad, if Uncle Richard . . .”
“He’s not my uncle!” Parker protested.
“Fine. If Richard shows up . . .”
“Don’t worry about me, baby girl. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay. See you this evening.”
Jason moved back and let the elevator doors close, waving at his daughters until the door was completely shut. He then headed back towards the dining room, reading his copy of the newspaper as he went.
“Must be nice to be able to see your daughters off to school.”
Jason looked up and found Richard sitting at the dining room table, his feet propped up on it. “What do you want?”
“A say so in my daughter’s life. Unfortunately for you, your wife helped take that from me.”
“You don’t deserve a say so in Ashlyn’s life.”
“Maybe I think you don’t deserve a say so in Peyton’s.” Richard smiled evilly at his brother-in-law.

The rain beat down heavily on Phoebe Halliwell and her two daughters, but none of them felt the water. Piper was standing at Phoebe’s side, a protective arm around her shoulder. Paige was on the other side, one arm around Phoebe’s waist, the other on young Peyton’s shoulders. As they solemnly watched Jason’s coffin lowered into the ground, Paige felt an immense amount of guilt . . . and rage.
‘Bastard! How could he? It wasn’t enough to torture Ashlyn and me . . . now he has to bring the rest of my family into it. The family who took me in and accepted me after they had lost Prue . . . the family that means everything to me. And Jason, why did he have to kill Jason? Was it just to flush me out? Did he not know that I would have - sooner than later - came out of hiding for my family?’
The San Francisco Police Department had been unable to prove that Richard was responsible for Jason’s death, but the Halliwell sisters knew the truth. The official cause of the murder had been a breaking and entering gone bad. The funny thing was that nobody suspicious could be seen entering or leaving the apartment building on the security tapes. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige knew that was because Richard had shimmered in. Richard had officially crossed a line with Jason’s death - he had made himself more demon than human - years and years of corrupted magic were working against him.
Phoebe felt nothing. It was as if her heart had stopped along with Jason’s. Part of her knew that she had to be strong for her daughters . . . the other part was struggling with trying to remember how to walk and talk.
“Come on, Pheebs.” Piper gently whispered in her sister’s ear.
“Don’t want to leave him alone.” Phoebe managed.
Piper looked at her oldest son. Wyatt stepped forward, picked up Parker, and extended his hand to Peyton. Peyton took his hand as a reflex, her eyes never leaving the rectangular hole in the ground. Wyatt had to carefully guide her through the cemetery to his car because she refused to look forward.
Once the girls were taken care of, Piper and Paige exchanged glances. Paige used her hand around Phoebe’s waist to try and gently move her backwards.
“Come on, Pheebs. We have to leave now.”
“Not fair.”
“I know, baby.” Piper tried to reason. “But we have to leave now. He wouldn’t want you just standing here in the rain. You have two daughters to take care of.”
“He had no defense . . . he was the only one who couldn’t defend himself.”
“That’s why Richard went after him. We’re going to take care of Richard.” That was a promise to Phoebe that Paige intended to keep.
“How? He’s not exactly a demon we can vanquish.”
“Chris is working on it. He’ll find something, we promise.”
Phoebe still didn’t want to move. Paige whispered in her sister’s ear, crying slightly. “Phoebe, I’m sooo sorry. I’m going to make sure Richard never hurts another one of us again. I promise. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make up for this.”
Phoebe sedately looked at her sister. “You didn’t do this.”
“No. But I’ll spend the rest of my life paying for it.”
Piper didn’t want a huge scene in the middle of the cemetery. She tried to encourage her sisters to leave.
“Piper.” Phoebe somberly looked into Piper’s eyes. “I don’t want to go home. I can’t go home without him.”
“You’ll stay at the manor for now. That’s where everyone is staying. That’s where we are the strongest. That’s where we can come up with a plan against him. Now come on, both of you.” Piper finally managed to get her sisters to walk towards her car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashlyn stared at the rain beating against the window. She rolled her head over and looked at Chris. “Appropriate, don’t you think?”
“It’s nothing compared to what Aunt Phoebe’s cried the last few days.” Chris shut the book, placed it back in his book bag, and leaned against the window.
“Why? Why Uncle Jason?”
“Because your father is an asshole. We figured that out when we were eight, remember?”
“Why did it take us that long?”
“Because we spent the first eight years trying to figure out why my father was never around.”
“Yeah. The whole Elder thing. Did you find anything out?”
“Maybe. We’ll talk about that once we get to the manor.” Chris evaded Ashlyn’s question. The two were only six months apart in age and they had been raised more like siblings than cousins. Wyatt had always been too busy with his friends to have two distractions hanging around him, so in a lot of ways, Chris and Ashlyn were closer than Chris and Wyatt. Once Wyatt had gotten over his ‘I’m the oldest’ attitude, he had settled into Chris and Ashlyn’s confidence, but nobody knew Chris like Ashlyn. Just like nobody knew Ashlyn like Chris.
Right now, Chris knew he had found a possible solution, but he knew Ashlyn well enough not to bring it up to her. They were too close to proving her sane . . . too close to getting her home. He didn’t want to anger her, didn’t want her to say anything the doctors could take the wrong way. The two remained in silence a minute longer, then Ashlyn caught Chris’ attention again.
“Did she make it?”
“Yeah. She came home right after Mom and Dad went and told her. She’s staying at the manor.”
“She say anything about me?”
“She can’t wait to see you.”
“Right.”
“It’s true, Ashlyn. I swear it. She’s even going through the lawyers to try and figure out if her staying at the manor will hurt Mom’s chances at getting custody of you. They’re working on a way we can all live in the manor together.”
“I know a way.”
“Stop. Not here. Not now. We’ll discuss that later.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“I’m the key, aren’t I? That’s what you wanted to discuss when we got back to the manor. It has to be me.”
“I said we’d discuss it when we got back to the manor.”
“There’s my two little angels.” Piper’s voice drifted in from the hospital door.
“Mom.” Chris walked to her and hugged her tightly. “She okay?”
“Yeah. Your father and Wyatt stayed with her and the girls. They were snuggled together on my bed when I left.” Piper proceeded to Ashlyn’s bed and sat on the side of it. She tucked some hair behind Ashlyn’s ear. “And how’s my baby today?”
“Sane. Guilt - ridden.”
Piper grabbed Ashlyn’s chin and forced Ashlyn to look at her. “You have nothing to feel guilty over.”
“If you hadn’t been trying to help me . . .”
“Shhh . . . I won’t have you talking that way. Now is your stomach better?”
“Yeah.”
“She actually managed to eat a couple of cheeseburgers.”
“Good.”
“Mrs. Halliwell?” Dr. Allen’s voice drifted in from the doorway and Piper turned to face him. “I’m ready, if you are.”
Piper nodded and looked back at Ashlyn. “There’s someone here who wants to see you.”
Ashlyn watched as Dr. Allen took a seat in the chair. He had his pen poised above his pad. “And apparently I’m being graded on it.”
Dr. Allen smiled at Ashlyn. Everyday he was wondering a little more how Richard convinced anybody this child was crazy. He had come to the conclusion that a lot of drugs were involved.
Piper looked into Ashlyn’s eyes. “You ready?” Piper watched as Ashlyn hesitated a moment, then nodded her head. Piper looked back towards the door. “You can come in now.”
Ashlyn held her breath. She was fairly certain she knew who was on the other side of the door. Ashlyn wasn’t disappointed. A moment passed. Finally Paige entered the room and stood awkwardly at the door. She was trying hard not to cry - a little unsuccessfully. Ashlyn stared at her a minute. Even if Paige was who Ashlyn expected, she was finding it hard to believe Paige was really standing there.
“Hi, sweetie.” Paige tried to break the tension.
“Mom . . .” Ashlyn exhaled deeply and smiled at her.
That was all the invitation Paige needed. She headed straight for her daughter and wrapped her in a huge embrace.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too, baby.” Paige whispered back as Ashlyn buried her head in her mother’s shoulder. Piper rubbed Paige’s back, squeezed Ashlyn’s hand, then walked over to Chris. Chris put an arm around his mother’s waist and laid his head on her shoulder. Piper kissed the top of Chris’s head and the two stood there, content - if only for a moment - with watching Paige and Ashlyn.

Paige woke with a start. She looked around the darkened room, slightly disoriented for a moment. Then it all came flooding back - Jason’s death, hospital, Ashlyn. ‘Ashlyn!!’ Paige raised up farther in her chair and was relieved to see Ashlyn sleeping in the bed. Paige looked around for another minute, wondering where Chris had went. After a second, she deduced he had went down to the hospital cafeteria for a snack. Paige slowly and quietly walked to Ashlyn’s bed.
“Oh, my sweet baby” Paige whispered lightly as she ran a hand through Ashlyn’s hair and kissed her forehead. “What have I done to you?”
“Nothing compared to what I’m going to do” the menacing voice drifted in from the doorway.
Paige turned quickly, a look of terror crossing her face. “Richard.”
“Did you really think I wouldn’t come see my own daughter? Did you really think that a piece of paper could keep me from the one thing that can hand me the world on a silver platter?” Richard started advancing on Paige.
“Stay away, Richard.” Paige’s fear was becoming replaced by rage. “I’ll never let you hurt another person I care about again.”
“You can’t stop me.”
“Try me.”
“You won’t do anything. You’ll stand by and take it like you have for years.” Richard veered towards Ashlyn’s bed and pulled his hand from behind his back. He was holding a stuffed rabbit that he tucked under Ashlyn’s arm right before he kissed his daughter’s cheek. “Sleep tight, pumpkin. You’re going to need rest to make Daddy all powerful like he deserves.”
Paige looked at her husband in disgust. She stepped forward and pushed Richard away from her daughter. “You stay away from her. You’ll never hurt or use her again.” Paige stood defensively between Richard and Ashlyn. “Not her, not my family, not me. We’re done being your pawns Richard. Move someone else around your board.”
“You really think you can stop me?”
“I’ll stop you. Even if it means I have to kill you. I actually hope it does.”
Richard reached forward and grabbed Paige’s waist. He roughly pulled her into him. “You’ll do nothing of the kind. You’ll stand back and watch me work my will.”
Paige started hitting Richard’s chest with her fists. “Damn you, Richard! Damn you! . . .”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Aunt Paige . . . Aunt Paige.”
Paige suddenly jerked awake to find herself staring into her nephew’s eyes, confused. “Chris.”
“You were talking in your sleep” he offered.
“I was dreaming . . . Richard . . . ASHLYN!!!” Paige quickly started searching the room for her daughter.
“Shhh . . . shhh, Aunt Paige. She’s okay. She’s sleeping. See?” Chris stepped aside to reveal his cousin.
Paige walked to Ashlyn’s bed and held her hand. “I’m sorry . . . sooo sorry, baby. I’m going to make this up to you.” Paige whispered before kissing Ashlyn’s temples.
“Aunt Paige, are you okay?”
Paige lowered her head then turned to her nephew. “As okay as a horrible mother can be.”
“You’re not a horrible mother. She loves you, very much.”
“How could she, Chris? I’ve let her down so many times in so many ways.”
“You’ve also loved her and she knows that.”
“Really?”
“Who else would know?” Chris smiled a cocky smile at his aunt.
“Well, I did one thing right . . . I made sure she knew her cousin.”
“You did us both a favor. You and Mom.”
“Yeah, if it wasn’t for your mother . . . you probably wouldn’t have a cousin left. Why, Chris? It’s not like me . . . to stay with someone so horrible for so long - is it?” Paige was pouring her heart out to her fifteen year old nephew - letting lose emotions she had long ago bottled up.
“No. But it is like you to stand beside someone you love for so long. Like you to stay with them, no matter what.”
Paige slightly laughed “Yeah, sure. You’re a smart one, you are.”
“I was raised by the best.”
“Your mother.”
“And you and Aunt Phoebe. None of us have just one mother . . . we have at least three.”
“At least?”
“Ashlyn has four. She can see Aunt Prue.”
“What?”
“She’s been seeing her as long as we can remember. She usually sees her after Richard hurts her someway. We deduced it was because Aunt Prue was protecting her.” Chris watched as Paige looked at him confused. “She’s not crazy, I swear. She really sees her.”
“I believe you. I’m just glad Prue looks out for her.”
“She takes very good care of her, just like Mom. But neither of them is a substitute to you.”
“How could she possibly still love me?”
“Because she understands why you did it. She doesn’t condone it, she understands it. Him, him she hates. It’s probably a good thing too.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say . . . I’m pretty sure how this plays out and Ashlyn is going to have to have something to get her through.”
“You’re not going to explain that further are you?”
“Looks like Ashlyn’s not the only one who knows me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well, you look better than last time I saw you.” Judge Kane commented to Ashlyn as she entered the hospital room. “Dr. Allen, what are your findings?”
“I’ve found no indication to doubt Ashlyn’s sanity. Quite the contrary actually. Her biggest problem at the moment is withdrawal . . . from her medication and probably an unknown substance.”
“Mrs. Halliwell, I understand that Ashlyn’s mother is now staying with you.”
“Yes, your honor.”
“Ashlyn, how do you feel about that?”
“Great . . . if I get to go there too.”
“Dr. Allen?”
“I’ve observed her interaction with her mother. I see nothing between the two that could be detrimental to Ashlyn.”
“All the same, I’m granting custody to Mrs. Piper Halliwell. Mrs. Halliwell, the restraining order against Mr. Montana is still in effect and you, by no means, have to share any sort of visitation rights with him. Her mother can stay in your home, but you are in charge of Ashlyn. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Judge Kane.”
“Good. We will still keep an eye on Ashlyn. Weekly appointments with Dr. Allen over the next six months, then we’ll re-evaluate. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go give your brother-in-law the good news. Ashlyn, you can go home with your aunt as soon as Dr. Allen releases you.” Judge Kane started to walk towards the door, turning at the last second. “Mrs. Halliwell, my deepest sympathies for your sister Phoebe’s loss.”
“Thank you.”
Judge Kane left the hospital room. Dr. Allen looked at aunt and niece. “Mrs. Halliwell, I’ll get her discharge papers and then . . .” a ruckus in the hallway interrupted the doctor.
“Looks like your father isn’t handling this well.”
“Not my problem.”
“That’s right.” Piper kissed Ashlyn’s forehead. “It is so not your problem. Dr. Allen, her discharge papers?”
“I’ll return with them momentarily, Mrs. Halliwell. I’ll also set up an appointment time for her later in the week.”
Piper and Ashlyn watched as Dr. Allen walked into the hallway where Richard was still expressing his dislike of the decision. Piper just hugged Ashlyn tightly and silently begged her big sister for strength to help them through this ordeal.

“Wow, they’ll let anybody out of the nuthouse these days.”
“Missed you too, Wyatt.” Ashlyn hugged her oldest cousin as his mother playfully smacked his arm.
“You could have at least waited until we were all the way through the door before you started picking on her.”
“Ashlyn wouldn’t have liked that and neither would I.” Wyatt smiled at his mother.
“Ashlyn! Ashlyn!” Parker’s voice echoed off the walls as the youngest child of a Charmed One ran through the house.
“Parker!” Ashlyn scooped the little girl into her arms and swung her around.
“Easy.” Piper instructed as she deposited her keys on the table.
“Where’s Peyton?” Ashlyn looked into Parker’s eyes, which were almost instantly fixated on the floor. “Parker?”
“In Mommy’s room. She’s mad at you.”
“Because of Daddy?” Ashlyn questioned the young child, all Parker could do was nod her head. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry about that.”
“Where were you?”
“Well, uh, that’s . . .”
“Come on, Munchkin.” Wyatt took Parker from Ashlyn’s arms. “I’ll explain it to you and you can see Ashlyn later, okay?”
Parker nodded, perfectly content in her cousin’s strong arms. Wyatt had taken up lifting weights about eighteen months ago and nobody could deny the results - least of all Chris, who always seemed to be on the losing end of their wrestling matches.
“So Peyton hates me.” Ashlyn resigned herself to the fact once Wyatt and Parker had safely cleared the room.
“Baby, she’s just thirteen. She’s confused.” Piper wrapped Ashlyn in a hug.
“I hate him.”
“I know you do. I know you do.” Piper rubbed comforting circles on Ashlyn’s back.
“Where’s Aunt Phoebe?”
Piper thought about trying to avoid Ashlyn, “Well, your mom is probably in the living room. Chris is probably in the attic. Leo had to go ‘up there’ to do some Elder something or other . . .”
“Where’s Aunt Phoebe?” Ashlyn had her Aunt Prue’s focus.
Piper exhaled deeply, “She’s probably in the conservatory. Ashlyn, wait . . .” It was too late, Ashlyn was already halfway to the aforementioned room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phoebe was staring out the window. Her cheeks were tear stained and fresh tears were falling. Phoebe was so deep in thought, she didn’t even hear Ashlyn come in.
“Aunt Phoebe?” It was soft . . .filled with empathy.
Phoebe turned slowly towards the voice. She saw Ashlyn, there was no doubt about it, she just didn’t immediately acknowledge her presence. Ashlyn’s face fell. She lowered her head and turned around, planning to leave.
“Where are you going?”
Ashlyn looked towards the voice. Prue was standing beside her giving her the ‘oh no you don’t’ look. Ashlyn indicated Phoebe by flipping her head backwards a little.
“She’s not mad at you. She’s hurt, not mad. She very much wants your presence right now. Don’t even think about questioning me. Just speak from the heart.”
Ashlyn turned back around. “Aunt Phoebe?” Ashlyn waited until Phoebe was once again looking at her. “I’m sorry, Aunt Phoebe. Sooo sorry. I know . . . know that if you hadn’t been trying to help me . . . I can’t bring him back, but I’ll destroy the one who took him from you. I swear, Aunt Phoebe, if it takes the last breath in my body, my father will not live to hurt any of us like this again.” Ashlyn was crying now as well.
Phoebe stared at her a minute, thinking about what she had said. Ashlyn looked to Prue, who simply gave her a look that clearly said to stay put. Ashlyn looked back at Phoebe, who was wiping the tears with the back of her hand. Phoebe sniffled once then held her arms open to Ashlyn. “Come here, sweetie.”
Ashlyn didn’t give her a chance to reconsider. She was in Phoebe’s arms within seconds, holding to her as if she was a life preserver in the middle of the ocean.
“This is not your fault . . .”
“Yes, it is. If you hadn’t been . . .”
“Shhh . . . I don’t want to hear you say that ever again. I did what I did because I love you and because Jason loved you.”
“But you were watching over me when it happened.”
“Which is exactly where he told me to go. You were his concern and he wouldn’t have had it any other way. Your father, unfortunately, is not such a nice person . . .”
“He’s an asshole.”
Phoebe laughed slightly. “Yes, he is. He did this, not you. You are not responsible for his actions. I have loved you since the moment you were born and my love for you will last long after we’re all gone” Phoebe held Ashlyn’s chin and forced her to look her in the eyes. “You do what you have to do for you, not because you feel you owe it to me.”
“Result’s still the same.”
“That may be true. If it is, make sure it’s what you want - not what you think I want and not something that will put you on his level. Okay?”
Ashlyn nodded her head and Phoebe wiped Ashlyn’s tears away.
“Everything alright in here?” Piper hesitantly walked into the room.
“Yeah.” Phoebe informed her.
“We’re good.” Ashlyn backed her aunt up.
Piper smiled and yelled towards the living room. “PAIGE!!! Paige, your presence is requested immediately!”
“You don’t have to yell, I’m right here.” Paige stepped out of the shadows.
“Spying were we?”
“Maybe a little.”
Piper turned to her niece. “Ashlyn, come on.”
Ashlyn hesitated a moment.
“It’s okay, Piper. Believe it or not, the hospital is a completely different environment. Plus, she’s had time for anger to settle in and that’s okay.” Paige turned to Ashlyn. “I love you and I’ll be right here when you’re ready.”
Piper started to say something to Ashlyn, but Phoebe subtly put up her hand to stop her sister. This had to be Ashlyn’s choice . . . she couldn’t be forced.
“Okay then.” Paige clapped her hands together. “I’ll be in the living room.” Paige started to walk away. Paige made it halfway through the hall.
“Mom.” Ashlyn’s voice was quiet, but Paige heard it and returned quickly.
“You’re not going to leave again?”
“No.”
“You’re not going to protect him?”
“No.”
“You do understand that I’m going to kill him? He crossed a line. Picking on me is one thing, picking on my family isn’t.”
“Baby, you don’t have to worry about him. I’ll take care of him.”
“Nice theory.” Chris stepped into the room. “Too bad you can’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s not an actual demon and you can’t really qualify him as a warlock either. He’s still very human . . . you can tell because he’s being driven by human emotions. Add that to the fact that the feud corrupted the magic and not him and it all adds up to not really his fault.”
“Not his fault?!?!” Phoebe was incredulous.
“Calm down, Aunt Phoebe. That all means one thing. A Charmed One can’t kill him.”
“What am I supposed to do - wait for someone to do it?” Paige yelled. “Better yet, why don’t I wait for him to hurt one of us again?”
“Aunt Paige, I’ve done the research. Only one of us can kill him and come back from it.”
“And who pray tell, would that be?”
“Ashlyn. Ashlyn is the only one who can kill him and not turn over to evil.”

“NO!!!” Paige looked at her nephew as if he belonged in a mental hospital.
“Aunt Paige, it’s the only way. I’ve been over every book I could find. Only Ashlyn can do it and not turn to evil.”
“Chris, do you know what you’re saying?” Piper looked at her youngest son.
“I’m okay with it.”
“Yes, Mom. I know what I’m saying. Believe me, I’ve tried every other scenario . . . they all turn one of you evil.”
“Then I guess one of us is going to be evil.” Phoebe commented.
“I said I’m okay with this.”
“Like that’s really an option.”
“Chris . . .”
“Mom . . .”
“HELLO!!! I said I was okay with it.”
“Ashlyn . . .” Paige began.
“Don’t Ashlyn, me. You gave up that right.” Ashlyn instantly put her hand to her mouth, realizing what she had said. “I’m sorry. I, uh . . . I didn’t mean it.”
Paige tried to hide her hurt. “It’s okay. I understand.”
“No. No, it’s not okay. You see . . . you see the horrible things he puts in my head. He deserves to die.”
“Ashlyn,” Piper moved closer to her niece. “He’s your father.”
“Not really. He was there when I was conceived, he feared my corrupted magic, then he envied me because I could control it, then he tried to control me to control it, then he beat me . . . over and over, and put me in a mental institution. Not to mention, he made me watch him torture my mother and he killed one of the people in this world I consider a father. Uncle Leo . . . Uncle Jason - they’re my fathers.”
Piper sat Ashlyn on the couch. “Baby, I understand that. But I also know you . . . you’re not a cold-blooded killer. And as much as we may think otherwise, your father is not a full-fledged demon.”
“Close enough.”
“You’re speaking out of anger. When the time comes . . . you won’t be able to do it and he’ll hurt you again.”
“I can do it. Chris says I can.”
“Why her, Chris?” Phoebe was genuinely curious.
“Because he gave her corrupted magic. Because he’s made her hallucinate. Because she’s been in a mental institution.”
“Oh the irony.” Ashlyn contributed.
“Explain please.”
“First there’s the corrupted magic . . . that she can control and he can’t. Ashlyn can trick the magic into thinking he’s evil. Even at that, the evil will try and overtake her. It will rise from the Underworld in the forms of shadows and clouds and try and trick her into accepting it - because of the same corrupted magic.”
“How dramatic.” Ashlyn rolled her eyes.
“How can she fight that? Evil is powerful and while she can control it, part of her magic is still flawed - susceptible to that evil.” Piper stared at Chris.
Ashlyn did too, for a moment, then all became clear to her. She looked at Chris. “Aunt Prue?”
“Aunt Prue.”
Piper and Phoebe looked between the teenagers. Piper was the first to speak.
“Prue? What about Prue?”
“Ashlyn can see Prue.”
“What?!?!” Piper’s head flipped back and forth between her children - after all Ashlyn was as much her’s as Paige’s - not sure which way to look for answers.
Ashlyn sighed heavily and looked at Piper, then to next to Phoebe where Prue had moved.
“Go ahead, they need to know now.”
“Ever since I was little . . . when Da . . . when my fath . . . when he would hurt me - Aunt Prue came to take care of me. She would rock me, cradle me, run her fingers through my hair, talk softly to me. She would make sure that I knew I was loved and that Mom was not responsible.”
“She defended me.”
“I have eyes, don’t I? I saw what was happening.”
Ashlyn laughed slightly. “She says she has eyes and she saw what happened.”
“She’s here . . . here right now?” Phoebe’s eyes grew wide.
“Where else would I be? My little sister just lost her husband.”
“She says you just lost your husband . . . where’d you expect her to be?”
Piper was having a hard time wrapping her mind around this.
“Hear these words
Hear my cry, spirit from the other side
Come to me, I summon thee
Cross now the Great Divide.”
Within seconds Prue was standing next to Phoebe, who almost instantly sat down. “Prue?”
“Yes, Phoebe. Did you think she couldn’t see me?”
“I, uh . . . I didn’t expect . . . uh . . .”
“Somebody had to take care of her when you all couldn’t. The Elders thought I was the perfect choice.” Prue held open her arms and Ashlyn slipped into them like she had done so many times before. “Feel better?”
“Oh yeah. Help me destroy him.”
“Can’t do that. What I can do, is bring you back from evil.”
“Will you?”
“Such a silly question.” Prue kissed Ashlyn’s head. “Of course I will.”
“You’re supporting this?!?!?” Piper jumped off the couch.
“Piper, you forget. I have the benefit of seeing how this will play out.”
“Excuse me?”
Prue lightly pushed Ashlyn into Phoebe. Phoebe carefully caught her niece and immediately her eyes rolled back in her head, she gasped, and found herself caught in a premonition.
“Phoebe.” Paige rushed to her side.
The premonition over, Phoebe looked at Ashlyn, then to Prue, then back to Ashlyn. “Prue’s right. It has to be Ashlyn.”
“You’ve both lost your minds. She’s not a cold-blooded killer.”
“No, she’s not.” Phoebe was solemn. “But she’s the one who has to do this.”
“Ashlyn, tell Prue you’ll see her later.”
“Aunt Piper . . .”
“Now, Ashlyn. Then you and Chris go upstairs.”
“See you later, Aunt Prue.” Ashlyn kissed her cheek.
“Yes you will.” Prue returned the kiss and sent her niece and nephew on their way.
Once they were gone, Piper looked at Prue. “How long?”
“Since before she could really remember. Since the first time he hit her.”
“Can somebody narrow that time span down a bit.”
“Eight months old.” Paige supplied quietly.
Not even Piper knew it had been happening that long. She breathed deeply and rubbed her forehead with her thumb and forefinger. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“I told her not to. I was with her as much as any of you, she trusted and listened to me.”
Phoebe remembered something. “When she was little . . . she used to point . . . remember Paige, she would just point to an empty spot in the room.”
“Looks like the spot wasn’t so empty.” Paige crossed to Prue and hugged her. “Thank you. Thank you for protecting the daughter of a sister you didn’t even know.”
“Oh, I know you, Paige. I’ve watched you for years.”
“I can’t even begin to deal with this now. Prue, I’ll see you later. Phoebe, Paige, not another word about Richard until tomorrow morning.” Piper left the room.
“Don’t worry. She’ll come around.” Prue assured her younger sisters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Piper was awakened at three in the morning by Paige rushing into her room.
“Oh God!! Piper, she’s gone. She’s gone. She’s going to try and kill him without us.”
“Shhh . . . Paige, you’ll wake her.”
“Huh?” Paige then noticed Ashlyn tucked safely under Piper’s arm. She sat softly on the bed and tried to calm her breathing. “I woke up and she was gone.” Paige’s voice was a hushed whisper.
“She had a bad dream. She’s been in here about an hour.”
Paige dropped her head. “Why didn’t she wake me?”
“She did what instinct told her to.”
“She really is yours, isn’t she?”
“No. She’s ours. Yours, mine, Phoebe’s, apparently Prue’s. You weren’t as shocked by that as I would have imagined.”
“Chris told me in the hospital.”
“Ah, I need to have a discussion with my son.”
“Piper, she’s going to try . . .”
“I know . . . Just like I know I can’t let her.”
“Piper, I don’t know if we can stop her.”
“We have to try. We can’t let Richard win.”

Piper was lying on her bed with her hands over her eyes. She had a stress headache that was not going to relinquish it’s hold anytime soon. As she tried to get the pounding in her head to stop, she began rehashing the reason for the headache in the first place. ‘Did I raise her to be that stubborn?’ Piper asked herself as she thought about Ashlyn.
Paige had went to the store to pick up a few necessities, Phoebe had taken the girls to the movies and lunch to try and take their minds off their father, and Wyatt had gone to the gym. Everyone had been gone about five minutes before Chris and Ashlyn had tried to convince Piper that Ashlyn was the one who had to kill Richard. Chris had relinquished the argument after a long while. He simply threw up his hands, proclaimed he couldn’t convince his mother of anything, and stormed upstairs.
Ashlyn . . . well Ashlyn was a different story entirely. She and Piper had went round and round about the subject for what seemed like hours. Finally, Piper had enough and had sent Ashlyn to her room, which they fought about for approximately ten minutes before Ashlyn complied. Having sentenced Ashlyn to her room, Piper retired to her own and tried to stop the throbbing in her head.
Piper now rolled her head over and looked at the clock on the night stand. She had been lying there about forty minutes and her head had eased up significantly. ‘Time to try and talk to her calmly.’ Piper knew that would be an exercise in futility. You could really never discuss anything with Ashlyn calmly, she was that much like Prue and Paige. In Ashlyn’s head when ‘she was right, she was right and when she was wrong . . . she was right’. Add that to the normal amount of teenage hormones and it added up to making conversations impossible.
“Ashlyn, we need to talk. Ashlyn?” Piper opened the door to Ashlyn’s room, only to find her niece not there. “Oh, so you and Chris decide to have a conference about Mommy, huh?” Piper mumbled to herself as she walked across the hall to her sons’ room. “Alright, I know you two think I’m being unreasonable, but it’s for . . .” Piper stopped. Chris was playing a video game, but Ashlyn was nowhere to be seen. “Chris, where is she?” Piper had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Who?” Chris was playing innocent, only adding to Piper’s distress.
“Christopher! Where is your cousin?”
“Peyton and Parker are at the movies with Aunt Phoebe.”
“Fine. Where’s your sister?”
“She went to kill her father.” Chris answered nonchalantly, his eyes never leaving the television.
“What?!?!? You let her go?!?!”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Alright, you let her go alone?!?!”
“She said that was the way she wanted to handle it.”
“You are in so much trouble when I get back. Both of you will know the next time you see daylight.” Piper slammed the door behind her and headed downstairs and out the front door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richard angrily walked out of the potions room. His meeting with his little demon minion had not gone as planned. The minion was trying to convince Richard that he couldn’t help him drug Ashlyn - that to go into Halliwell Manor and attack a member of the Charmed line could be construed as an act of war. “What does he think we’re in the middle of now?” Richard wondered aloud. Richard was just about to cross into the dining room when the bookshelf beside him blew up. He looked across the room and came face to face with Ashlyn, who was standing on the bottom step.
“Daddy, I’m home.” Ashlyn teased menacingly.
“Ashlyn! How dare you! How dare you blow something up that close to me. I could have been hurt.”
“You’re right. What fun would it have been if I hurt you with the warning shot. What was I thinking?”
“Ashlyn, you’re sick.”
“No! You’re sick. What did you want me to do for you anyway? What was it that was so important that you beat Mom and I for years? What did you have to have so bad that you had me committed to a mental institution?”
“You needed . . .”
Ashlyn threw her hands forward again. The door frame into the kitchen shattered into bits. “Don’t even try it. I’m perfectly sane. We both know it.”
“Fine.” Richard could see it was pointless. Piper’s influence on his daughter had been too great. ‘Should have killed her when I had the chance’ Richard mentally chastised himself for not dealing with Piper long ago. “I want to rule the magical world.”
“You want to be the source of all evil?”
“No. I want to rule the magical world. All of it. Good and Evil.”
“Well, if that’s all. You killed Uncle Jason.”
“You can’t prove that.”
“You killed one of my fathers and you want me to enable you to rule the other.”
“Now you’re left with me.”
“No. I was never left with you. You’re nothing more than a sperm donor. You stopped being my father the moment you finished with Mom the night I was conceived. I was never yours.”
“Ashlyn, don’t make me hurt you.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Richard.” venom dripped off Ashlyn’s words. “I came here to kill you.”
“Ashlyn . . .” Richard warned as an energy ball formed in his hands.
“Crossed over to demon now, have we?”
“No, just really powerful magic.” Richard threw the energy ball at Ashlyn.
Ashlyn dove off the steps, the energy ball missing her. When she stood back up, Richard had shimmered right in front of her. His hand flew forward and connected with Ashlyn’s face. He then grabbed her by the shoulders and tossed her against the opposite wall. As Ashlyn pushed herself to her feet, she aimed her hands at the chandelier above Richard’s head. It came crashing down quickly, grazing him as it shattered on the floor. Ashlyn orbed behind him, prepared to knock him senseless once she got there.

Piper could hear the battle raging inside when she pulled up the driveway and exited her car. Flashes of light could be seen occasionally through the windows, and it sounded like World War III was occurring inside the mansion. She ran up the steps, praying she wasn’t too late.
“Ashlyn!” Piper screamed as she entered the door. She made her way to the dining room, only to be taken aback at the sight that befell her.
Ashlyn - bruised, broken, and bloody - had Richard - who was in as bad of shape as Ashlyn - pinned to the dining room table. Her right arm extended above her head, ready to plunge the knife into his chest.
“Ashlyn, you don’t want to . . .”
“Shut up, Richard!”
“Ashlyn, please . . .”
“Oh, you’re begging now. Tell me - Did Uncle Jason beg? Did he beg you not to kill him? Did he ask you to let him see his daughters grow up? He didn’t get that option and neither will you.” Ashlyn pulled her hand back further, prepared to make the final blow.
Piper couldn’t do anything. She was paralyzed by the sight in front of her. She watched as Ashlyn tensed, ready to strike . . . then stood in confusion as the muscles in her back relaxed and the knife clattered on the floor below.
A small sob escaped Ashlyn’s body. “I can’t. No matter what you’ve done . . . I can’t.”
Piper moved forward, placing a hand on Ashlyn’s arm. “Come on baby, let’s go home.”
Ashlyn nodded once, and moved towards Piper. This was all Richard needed. He threw Ashlyn backwards and backhanded Piper with such force, he sent her to the ground. As Piper struggled to get up, Richard pinned Ashlyn to the table, pulled a vial out of his pocket, and emptied the contents into Ashlyn’s throat. He then shimmered behind Piper and wrapped his arm around her throat. Ashlyn raised to one knee, coughing and gasping for breath, while shaking her head.
“What did you give her?” Piper demanded.
“Wait for it.” Richard instructed. “Yes, there it is . . . see that look in her eye? Watch her eyes dart about the room.” Richard then yelled to Ashlyn. “That’s it, Ashlyn. The demons have come for you again. You have to protect your Aunt Piper. Here’s the first one you need to destroy . . . it’s tried to look like her.

Paige walked back into the manor, both arms full of grocery bags. As she began unpacking the bags, Chris wandered into the kitchen. He was just about to leave when Paige turned around and spotted him.
“Hey, how’s one of my two favorite nephews?”
“Fine, Aunt Paige. How are you?”
“Not bad, considering . . .”
“Well, I’ve left a video game on pause upstairs, so I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Chris tried for his hasty getaway.
“Okay, could you ask Ashlyn to come downstairs? I bought her something at the store.”
Chris stopped in his tracks. There was no avoiding this now. “She’s not upstairs. She stepped out.”
“Out . . . where?” Paige knew when Chris was being evasive.
“Okay, Mom is already on her way over there to stop her. I’m sure that they’ll be home any minute now.”
“Chris, tell me she didn’t.”
“Okay, she didn’t.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“What do you want me to do - tell you she didn’t or refrain from lying to you?”
“I’ll deal with you when I get back.” Paige orbed out.
“Ashlyn defies them and I get in trouble - go figure.” Chris grabbed a water from the refrigerator and headed back upstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘ “Ashlyn . . . Ashlyn . . . we’re going to kill you Ashlyn. We’re going to kill you as soon as we’re done with your Aunt Piper.”
“You’re not really here!!!”
“Ashlyn, it hurts us when you ignore us like that. Hey I know a way we can avoid that - you know the deal.”
“Never!!! I’ll never accept that deal!”
“Then you shall die with the rest of the Charmed line. Such a waste of powerful magic.” “Go away!!!” ‘
Piper watched as Ashlyn fought with herself . . . fought with the demons Richard had made her see. “How could you? Do you not care the same blood that runs through your veins runs through hers?”
“She doesn’t. Why should I?”
“Maybe because you’re the grown-up.”
“Doesn’t matter. Do you know what it’s like, Piper?” Richard was whispering fiercely in Piper’s ear. “Do you know what it’s like to watch your child master the magic you’ve struggled with every day of your life? Do you? No, of course you don’t. The magic you inherited wasn’t tainted like mine.”
“It’s not her fault. She can’t help it if the Charmed line is strong.”
“Not as strong without the third sister. I’m about to take care of that.”

“Ashlyn! Ashlyn, listen to me!”
“Aunt Prue? The demons are back! Get out of here before they hurt you!”
“ASHLYN!! PIPER!!!” Paige orbed in to find her sister in Richard’s hands and her daughter waging a war with herself. “Richard, let Piper go. Ashlyn, come here.”
“No, Paige!” Piper cautioned. “He forced her to drink something. She’s seeing demons again. She may hurt you.”
“Why? Why, Richard? She’s our daughter.”
“She told me in no uncertain terms that I was not her father. Of course, she’s not really yours either, now is she?” Richard smirked.
“Let go of her!” Paige rushed Richard and Piper.
“Ashlyn, you have to help your mother and Aunt Piper. Ashlyn, listen very carefully to me. I want you to take their deal.”
“What?!?! Their deal is I become evil like them.”
‘ “Listen to her, Ashlyn . . . Listen to her . . . she makes sense.” ’
“Ashlyn, they’re not evil. They’re here to help.” Prue knew the only way that Ashlyn could destroy Richard was if she actually gave over to evil for a very brief time.
“But, you always said . . .”
“And I was wrong. I know that now. They’re fighting a very powerful demon. You have to help them defeat him.”
‘ “We’re not evil, Ashlyn . . . they are. Listen to her.”
Come on, Ashlyn. We can’t fight them . . . let’s join them.’
“I accept.”

Piper looked up from her place on the floor. Paige had managed to help her get away from Richard. The problem was that now Richard had Paige. Piper looked toward Ashlyn - she had heard her niece say that she accepted something, but she had no idea what she was accepting.
One look at Ashlyn, made Piper gasp. Ashlyn’s eyes were completely blacked out and she looked very much demon like. Ashlyn had her eyes set on Richard and Paige.
Piper couldn’t see it, but the demons were whispering in Ashlyn’s ear. To Ashlyn, the demons were now forces of good to listen to.
‘ “See the demon over there, Ashlyn. See all the concentrated evil in one place. You must destroy it. You’re the only one who can.” ‘
“What about the one he’s holding?”
‘ “That’s an innocent. You must protect them.” ‘
“I feel strange.”
‘ “It’s all the goodness inside of you. You have to get rid of the demon.” ‘
Ashlyn slowly advanced Richard and Paige. Richard took one look at his daughter and assumed that the corrupted magic had taken over, assumed that she had became evil. He was right. Too bad for him, Ashlyn didn’t really know she was evil - she simply assumed she was still fighting evil, courtesy of the hallucinations Richard had made her have.
“Let go of her.” Ashlyn’s voice was a menacing growl.
“Ashlyn?” Paige did not like the way her daughter looked. “Piper, what’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know. The last thing I heard was ‘I accept’.”
“Piper, she looks evil.”
“I don’t think she knows she is. I hope Prue is with her.”
“Well, well, well, my little Ashlyn has finally come to my side. Are you ready to do my bidding?”
‘ “Tell him yes. That way he’ll let her go.” ‘
“Yes.”
“Ashlyn?” Paige was more than worried now.
‘ “Tell him to let her go first. Tell him she’s of no concern.” ‘
“She’s of no concern. Let her go.”
“What if I refuse.”
‘ “Then we refuse.” ‘
“Then we refuse.”
Richard thought over his options for a moment. “Fine. It’s not like I need her now anyway.” Richard shoved Paige toward Piper. “Now, I want all the power in the world. Summon it to me.”
‘ “Destroy him, Ashlyn.”
“Don’t stop until the last breath has left his body.”
“Make him suffer, Ashlyn.” ‘
“You want all the power in the world? You want me to call it to you?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.” Ashlyn held her right hand out, palm up and started mumbling in Latin. As Ashlyn mumbled, a huge ball of energy began forming in her hand. The energy ball kept getting bigger and bigger, as did Richard’s eyes and his desire to have the power in Ashlyn’s hand.
“Ashlyn, what are you doing?” Piper couldn’t believe her niece was considering honoring Richard’s wishes.
‘ “Not all at once, Ashlyn.”
“What fun would that be?” ‘
“Wouldn’t.” Ashlyn looked at Richard and smiled evilly. “Is this what you want?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Have it then.” Ashlyn reared her hand back and let the energy ball fly. Her aim was true and it smashed Richard in the chest, knocking him back into the living room and leaving him gasping for breath.
‘ “Now you’ve got him.”
“Remember, don’t stop until the last breath has left his body.”
“Must destroy him.”
“Much more fun with your bare hands.” ‘
Richard was struggling to stand. When he finally got to his feet, he looked back into the dining room at his daughter. Realization came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. “No!” Richard turned and ran towards the staircase.
Ashlyn shimmered in front of him. Once again she was standing on the bottom step, smiling at him. Richard tried to turn quickly, tried to get away, but Ashlyn couldn’t be stopped. Ashlyn grabbed Richard by his shoulders and threw him against the wall as he had done to her earlier. As he tried to stand, she shimmered in front of him and delivered a kick to his mid-section. When Richard doubled over in pain, Ashlyn placed a hand on either side of his head and brought her knee up to his face. She then grabbed him and once again threw him - this time to the other side of the room.
All Piper and Paige could do was watch. There was no way either of them stood a chance against Ashlyn at this moment and there was no reasoning with her. So Piper and Paige watched . . . watched as Ashlyn and Richard went round and round the living room. Richard would get the occasional hit in, but he was no match for Ashlyn and he couldn’t get away from her either. Piper and Paige stood very still in what was left of the dining room doorway, holding each other, and praying that Ashlyn could come back from this.
Finally Ashlyn threw Richard back into the steps. She shimmered in front of the steps and grinned at him as he stood up. Richard was gasping for breath. His abdomen had taken such a beating, he couldn’t stand up straight anymore.
‘ “Now, Ashlyn . . . finish him now.” ‘
As Richard faced his daughter, she placed a hand on either side of his face and forced him to look at her.
“I grow weary of this.”
Those were the last words Richard ever heard. As she finished her sentence, Ashlyn violently moved her hands, effectively twisting and snapping Richard’s neck. He dropped to the floor like a rock and Ashlyn stood towering over him.
“Oh God.” Paige whispered and took a step towards her daughter.
“Wait!” Piper caught her sister’s forearm. “That’s still not Ashlyn.”
‘ “Good job, Ashlyn.”
“You’ve passed your test, Ashlyn.”
“You can be one of us now, Ashlyn.”
“Don’t look back . . . embrace your new power.” ‘
“ASHLYN!!!!” Prue’s voice cut through the demon’s cries.
Ashlyn whipped her head around to see Prue walking towards her. To Ashlyn she looked like another demon, so Ashlyn smiled evilly, preparing to destroy her as well.
“Ashlyn, it’s me. It’s Aunt Prue.”
“Who?” Ashlyn grinned.
“Stop, Ashlyn. This is not who you were meant to be. You will fight his corrupt magic. You will fight against the potion he gave you. You will not stay evil.”
“Riiiight . . .” Ashlyn’s grin widened.
Prue was beside her niece in a flash. She grabbed the back of Ashlyn’s neck and applying pressure, forced her to her knees. She then turned Ashlyn’s head towards Richard. “Look. Look at what this magic has made you do.”
“I killed a demon.”
“Harder, Ashlyn. Look harder.” Prue’s grip tightened.
Ashlyn tried to shake Prue off, to no avail. Prue held her niece tightly, not letting her move, just making her stare at Richard’s dead body. Suddenly, without warning a sob escaped Ashlyn.
“Oh God! What did I do? Aunt Prue, what did I do?”
Prue hugged Ashlyn tightly and stroked her hair. “What he made you do, baby. What he made you do.”
Piper realized what was happening and she lead Paige over to where Ashlyn was. They stood behind her for a moment. “Ashlyn?” Piper ventured.
Ashlyn looked up. Prue whispered in her ear. “It’s okay, baby. Go where your heart tells you.”
Ashlyn stood up and launched herself at Piper. “Aunt Piper, I’m sorry . . . soooo sorry. I didn’t realize . . . I thought he was . . .”
“Shhh . . . baby, shhh . . . I know, I know.” Piper tried to comfort Ashlyn as Paige did all she could do - look on.

Piper was leaning against the closed door into her room, staring at the door across the hall. Phoebe quietly walked up to her.
“That was Daryl at the door. Craig found Richard’s body at the base of the steps this morning.”
“And?”
“Daryl says it is the medical examiner’s opinion that Richard must have fallen down all the steps - based upon the bruises and cuts on his body. They’re not sure at exactly what point he broke his neck, but they’re sure death was instantaneous. They found a vile in Richard’s pocket that had traces of very powerful drugs . . . the initial theory is that he was in an altered state. Daryl says given the situation, Richard was lucky he had made an appointment with his brother this morning . . .otherwise, his body could have laid there for days.” There was an uneasy pause between the sisters. “Uh, Piper, you don’t have to tell me . . . but, in my premonition . . . the house was in shambles.”
“Paige used the ‘Object of Objection’ spell.”
“Oh . . . how is she?”
“Which one?”
“Either of them.”
“Haven’t figured out which one to go to first.”
“They need each other.”
“Yeah, but unfortunately Paige doesn’t see it that way. The last thing she said to me after we got Ashlyn in my bed, before she went in there,” Piper indicated the door across the hall, “was ‘Take good care of your daughter’.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Well, I’m not comfortable leaving Ashlyn alone much longer. I’ll take care of her. You try and talk sense into Paige.”
“Okay. Hopefully I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashlyn had her head lying in Prue’s lap. Prue was gently stroking Ashlyn’s hair as Ashlyn sobbed big crocodile tears. Ashlyn managed to get her tears to subside long enough to talk to Prue.
“Aunt Prue?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Am I evil?”
“No. Not anymore.”
“But I was?”
“For about a second and a half. Then you came back from it, just like I knew you would.”
“I killed my father.”
“You had to. If he hadn’t been stopped, his trail of carnage wouldn’t have ended until all the Charmed line was dead.” Prue turned her head as the door opened. Prue saw Piper enter slowly, re-shut the door, then walk slowly towards the bed. “Aunt Piper’s here.”
Ashlyn rolled over and locked eyes with Piper. No words needed be spoken between the two. Ashlyn rolled back over and buried her head into the pillow. Piper laid parallel to her niece and held her tightly. Piper proceeded to kiss Ashlyn’s temple and rub her shoulder. They laid like that for a few minutes before Ashlyn broke the silence.
“Aunt Piper?”
“Yes?”
“I did some horrible things didn’t I?”
“You did some scary things?”
“Ghosts and goblins on Halloween scary or girl from the Exorcist scary?”
“Scary.”
“Oh, girl from the Exorcist.” Ashlyn laid still another second. “Can you strip the corrupted magic away?”
“Not without taking your Charmed magic as well.”
“I can live with that.”
“No. You can’t. You’re meant to do great things with that magic. That’s why you were given control over the corrupted magic.”
“How much does Mom hate me?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Go away, Phoebe!”
“Hey, I’m sleeping in this room too. Along with Peyton and Parker. I have every right to be here.”
“Fine. I’ll leave.”
“Going to Piper’s room?”
“No.”
“Paige, she needs you.”
“No, she doesn’t. She needs Piper and Prue and you . . . she has no need for the person who allowed him to torture her.”
“You didn’t allow it.”
“I didn’t stop it.”
“Maybe not, but you allowed her to become close to Piper and me. You made sure she had strong influences. You made sure there was someone looking out for her.”
“It wasn’t enough. It cost me a daughter.”
“No it didn’t. It may have gained her a few extra parents, but she knows she’s loved. She also knows she needs you. You’ve made mistakes, I admit that. Piper is like a mother to her, I admit that. But, Piper didn’t give birth to her. And I know you, Paige. The last thing you want to do is continue to make mistakes with her. This has to stop now. Don’t loose her completely, Paige. Yes, Piper holds a special place in her heart no one can touch or replace, but you do too. Don’t lose that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Yes she does!”
“No she doesn’t.”
“How could she not, Aunt Piper? I killed her husband. How could she not hate me?”
“Because her husband almost killed you more than once.” Paige’s voice drifted in from the doorway. “And because you’re her daughter and she loves you more than life itself.” Paige walked over and sat on the bed in front of her daughter.
“I’m soooo soooo sorry. I didn’t realize . . .”
“A lot of what you were doing. What do you remember?”
“Pretty much, just the end. When I actually . . .”
“Shhh . . . don’t think about it. You did what you had to do and you came back from it. Give it enough time and you may actually recover from it.”
“I’ve missed you, Mom.”
“I’ve missed you too, baby.” Paige laid facing her daughter and began brushing her hair out of her face.
“Uh, Ashlyn . . .” Phoebe began.
“Yes, Aunt Phoebe. Prue is here too.” Ashlyn anticipated Phoebe’s next question.
“Well, in that case . . .” Phoebe seated herself on the bed and placed Ashlyn’s feet in her lap.
And that’s how they were when Chris came to check on Ashlyn a half an hour later. Piper was still lying behind Ashlyn, hugging her tightly. Phoebe was laid back on Piper’s legs, holding Ashlyn’s legs and Paige was facing her daughter, stroking her hair and humming. Even though he couldn’t see her, Chris guessed that his Aunt Prue was somewhere near Ashlyn’s head, and he was right. Prue still had Ashlyn’s head in her lap and was quite content with staying where she was as long as the Elders would let her.
Chris smiled to himself as he realized that Ashlyn was sleeping, snuggled tightly in all her mothers’ embraces. Realizing that for the first time, in a long time, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, Chris quietly pulled the door closed and headed off down the hall in search of Wyatt - after all, they had a baseball video game rematch to play.

~FIN~