We open with Phoebe leafing through the Book of Shadows, just looking to see what kind of interesting spells are listed.

Meanwhile, Prue and Piper are downstairs. When Prue asks where Phoebe has got to, Piper replies that she saw Phoebe heading towards the attic. Both look at each other, realizing what has happened whenever Phoebe has tried to cast spells alone (the love spell comes to mind, although Piper did also play a part in that). Both dash upstairs to stop Phoebe.

Phoebe has stumbled on a spell of time transference. Interested, she begins to recite it. Prue and Piper burst into the room, demanding that she stop, but it is too late. All three Halliwell sisters vanish in a blue mist.

Coming to their senses, the Halliwells realized that they are still in their attic, but the place has changed, it is all dusty and full of cobwebs, like it has been deserted for years. The rest of the house is in much of the same condition.

Deciding to take a look around, the sisters go outside and see that their house is now just a falling down ruin. Looking around, they see that parts of San Francisco seem to have been destroyed, like in some kind of battle.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man walks up to them and warns them to get off the streets. When he notices their interest in the house, he comments about "the old Halliwell house." When Prue asks the man to clarify, he says that the house used to belong to three young women, the Halliwell sisters. The house has been abandoned ever since the three sisters vanished without a trace. When Phoebe asks when this happened, the man thinks for a minute and then replies "25 years ago." Suddenly, he looks at his watch and hurries away. The Halliwells quickly do the math and realize they are now in the year 2024.

Realizing that they don't belong here, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe return to the attic. They intend to use the Book of Shadows to reverse the spell and return them to 1999, but the Book is gone! The Halliwells realize that the spell that kept the Book in the house must have been nullified when they left 1999, thus diminishing WICCA's influence.

Knowing that they somehow have to retrieve the Book, the sisters venture out into the city. In the parts that are still intact, they see giant television screens, like out of George Orwell's novel, 1984, everywhere. These screens are sprouting out all kinds of propaganda. Suddenly the sisters see something on the screens that freezes their blood. Prue's former warlock boss, Rex Buckland, is now the President of the United States! Hannah is his First Lady.

Now it all becomes clear what has happened. In the time between the sisters disappearance and their return, Rex came back from Hell. Without the Halliwells to stand in his way, Rex was somehow able to take over the country.

At this point, a police car pulls up and three mean looking officers get out. They demand to know why the sisters are out on the streets past curfew. The cops order the sisters to produce their Citizen I.D. Cards. When the Sisters claim they have no such cards, the cops begin smacking clubs in their hands, the message is clear, since the sisters have no cards, the cops can dole out whatever punishment they see fit.

The sisters prepare to use their powers to defend themselves, but before that happens, three scruffy looking people jump out of the shadows and take the cops by surprise. All three cops are knocked unconscious.

Their three rescuers lead the sisters to a secret underground base. There they discover a resistance cell lead by none other than Prue's ex-boyfriend, Andy, who is now in his late fifties.

Andy is amazed at how the sisters have not aged in the intervening quarter century, so Prue decides to come clean with him and tells him they are witches. When Andy doesn't believe it, a quick demonstration of their powers changes his mind. They tell him about how they were accidentally transported to this time.

After that, Andy fills the sisters in on events that happened after they vanished. Rex, it seems, had come out of nowhere and ran in the Presidential elections of 2004. Andy had recognized Rex, and tried to dig up the old charges of murder against him (for the security guard he and Hannah murdered while framing Prue), but somehow the charges had been mysteriously dropped and all the evidence connecting Rex to the murder had disappeared.

To everyone's amazement, Rex soundly tromped his opponents in the polls and was swept to power. Within days of his taking office, Rex had formed a government that consisted of neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and all kinds of people who thrived on hate and fear.

When a series of mysterious bomb blasts ripped through major cities in the US, Rex used the opportunity to declare a State of Emergency. He then suspended the Constitution, dissolved Congress, and locked up all those who opposed him. Over the past 20 years, Rex has slowly turned the United States into a prison. Rumors went around that Rex had been the one responsible for the bombings, so he could use the fear of unknown enemies to seize power. (This idea is not a new one, in 1933 the German Parliament Building, the Reichstag, was mysteriously burned down. Hitler used this incident and the fear it generated to seize power in Germany. Of course it is now commonly believed that the Nazis themselves set the fire so their leader could take over the country.)

When Andy mutters how easily he did all this, the sisters know that Rex had used magic to gain his current position. They know that only one thing was powerful enough, the Book of Shadows. In their absence, the Book had fallen into Rex's hands.

Andy explains that many large American cities tried to resist Rex, but he sent his troops in to loot and kill, hence the burnt out areas of San Francisco. After that, things pretty well calmed down, although a few local resistance groups, such as Andy's survived the purges.

The sisters realize they only have one option, recover the Book of Shadows, get back to their own time, and somehow prevent all of this from ever happening.

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Rex and Hannah are toasting twenty years of their success when their are interrupted by the Chief of Security, a former Klansman named Jay Hawkins. Hawkins has just received a coded message from one of his undercover operatives in Andy's resistance cell: The Halliwell sisters have resurfaced. Rex immediately issues orders for their capture.

Later on, back in San Francisco, the sisters and Andy are discussing their options, when suddenly people start dropping to the floor. The sisters realize it is gas, but it is too late and they too succumb to the gas.

Some time after that, the sisters come to in the Oval Office, Rex and Hannah are there to greet them. Before they can do anything, Rex says that he has Andy and most of the resistance group in captivity and has left standing orders for them to be shot if the Halliwells try any tricks.

Rex then walks over to a wall safe, opens it, and pulls out the Book of Shadows. He tells the sisters that when he returned from Hell, he went to their house and found it deserted. With the place unguarded, he and Hannah broke in and found the Book in the attic. With the powers it provided, Rex was easily able to cast spells to take over the Presidency of the country, but he still wants the sisters to give him their powers.

When the sisters refuse, Rex says that if they do not give him their powers in the next two hours, he will have all the prisoners shot. He has the Halliwells locked up in the Lincoln bedroom while they make up their minds.

Suddenly, the remains of Andy's resistance cell, who had not been present when the others were captured, launches a surprise attack on the White House. Seeing that their guards are distracted by this, Andy and the other prisoners jump their guards and take away their guns. Soon a gun battle is raging inside the White House.

Hearing the gun battle, the sisters take the opportunity to escape. They open the door and Prue uses her powers to hurl the guard clear across the hall. He hits the opposite wall and slumps down to the floor, out cold. Prue walks over and picks up his gun. When Phoebe is uncomfortable with this, Prue assures her that she will only use the gun if she has to.

Sneaking through the White House corridors, the sisters run into Andy, who has become separated from the rest of his group. The sisters tell him that they have to get the Book of Shadows to return to 1999 in order to prevent this future from ever happening. Andy joins them and the four of them set off for the Oval Office.

Elsewhere, Rex and Hannah are getting a report from Hawkins. Hawkins tells them that his men have eliminated all the resistance fighters, both inside and outside the White House, only Andy remains unaccounted for. Suddenly another guard runs up and reports that the Halliwells have escaped. Rex is enraged, he no longer cares about getting the sisters powers. He issues new orders: The Halliwell sisters are to be shot on sight.

Soon a guard manages to get the drop on the sisters, but Andy sees him just in time and pushes the sisters safely out of the way. The guard fires and hits Andy in the chest, Prue fires back, but only wounds the guard, who staggers away, bleeding. Just before he dies, Andy tells the sisters to "Get back to 1999 and stop that son of a bitch (Rex)". Although shaken by Andy's death, Prue is determined more than ever now.

Making it back to the Oval Office, the sisters use Rex's own security system against him. They activate the Oval Office Defense Shields. Large steel shields lower down in front of all doors and windows to the Oval Office, effectively sealing the room off from the rest of the world. Prue uses her powers to rip open the safe and the sisters get the Book of Shadows. Quickly they begin looking for the correct page to reverse the spell.

Meanwhile, Rex, Hannah, Hawkins, and a bunch of troops arrive outside the Oval Office only to see the defense shields in place. Rex orders a bazooka to be brought up from the White House armory.

The sisters finally find the correct page, but then the steel shield is blasted inwards. Although knocked off their feet, the Halliwells are not hurt. Quickly they pick up the Book of Shadows. Rex and the others rush into the room and, seeing what the sisters are doing, Rex orders his troops to open fire. However luck is with the sisters and Piper is able to freeze Rex and the troops just in time. Quickly the sisters reverse the spell and disappear in a blue mist. Rex unfreezes just in time to see the Halliwells fade out and he screams in rage.

Safely back in their attic, in 1999, the Halliwells make a vow that they will keep an eye out for when Rex comes back and say they will do anything to prevent that awful future they had just escaped from.