DISCLAIMER: The Halliwell sisters, all other characters previously seen on the show, and all locations belong to Spelling Productions and are the creations of Constance M. Burge. All other characters were created by me. Reproduction of this story for commercial use without permission of the author is prohibited. (Timeline: This story takes place right after "Animal Pragmatism.")

Piper stops at the bottom of the stairs and turns back toward the kitchen. "I'll see you guys later tonight, right?" she yells to her sisters.

In the kitchen Phoebe is reading from one of her textbooks while Prue is looking over some proof sheets. "Yeah, Piper. We'll be at the club," Phoebe yells back.

Piper grabs her keys and leaves. Prue straightens up her things and puts them in her equipment bag. She finishes her coffee in a quick gulp. "Okay, Pheebs. I've gotta go. You're sure you don't need me to drop you anywhere before I go to work."

"Nah. I've got some studying to do. My psych professor cancelled class today, so I figured I'd get a jump on the midterm," Phoebe replies.

"All right," Prue says as she shoulders her equipment bag. She leaves the kitchen and Phoebe walks with Prue on her way up to her bedroom. "I'll pick you up tonight, Pheebs."

"See you," Phoebe answers and heads upstairs as Prue leaves.

Piper meets Leo at P3 and they start to go over the checklist before the Beth Hart concert tonight. Leo is staring at Piper, and Piper can feel him doing so. She tries to ignore it. She can't let Leo get to her. She's with Dan now, and that's just how it is. It's too late for Leo. 'Or is it?' Piper wonders to herself. She shakes her head to dispel that thought.

"So, are we okay?" Leo asks.

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't we be?" Piper asks quickly, momentarily thinking Leo was talking about something other than their concert checklist.

"I'm talking about the concert, Piper," Leo says.

"I know. Did you think I was talking about something else?" Piper asks defensively.

"It sounded like it," Leo says with a smirk. "Weren't you?"

"I was talking about the concert. Everything's ready," Piper replies, making sure she steers clear of any talk about what she was really thinking about.

"It just sounded like you thought..." Leo begins, but Piper cuts him off.

"I was talking about the concert. That's all," Piper says. She points to a box near the bar. "What's that?"

"Oh, it's that case of wine that was on back order. It came in a couple hours ago," Leo explains.

"Could you take it back to the stock room, please?" Piper asks with a smile.

"Sure," Leo turns away and walks toward the wine. Then, a dark, ominous-looking man and two thugs burst into the club. Before Piper can freeze them one of the thugs grabs her and holds her arms. She struggles but can't get free. Leo turns to help her, but one of the thugs grabs him and throws him over the bar, breaking several bottles of alcohol. Leo falls unconscious.

"Leo!" Piper yells, still struggling with her captor. The dark man walks toward her and she stops struggling a bit.

"Forget about him, Piper," he says in a deep voice. "You can't help him now."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Piper asks. She wishes that she had been the one to get the power of astral projection so she could go to her sisters and tell them what was happening.

"Your sanity," he says. Then Piper's captor hits her over the head and her world goes black.

An hour and a half later, Phoebe is taking a study break. She decides to do the dishes. The kitchen is Piper's room in the house; there is no question about that. And if it isn't clean, she gets a little peeved at her sisters. She doesn't outright say anything, but if Prue and Phoebe make a mess in the kitchen and don't clean it up, Piper gets very quiet and broody until she has finished cleaning up her sisters' messes.

Phoebe doesn't like it when Piper is quiet and broody, and the added stress of Leo's current mortal state has made Piper more tense than usual. So, Phoebe fills the sink with water and adds some dish soap. She starts placing the dishes in the hot soapy water. But when she grabs Piper's coffee cup a familiar feeling washes over her. Phoebe is bombarded with the vision.

A dark, ominous-looking man
Leo being thrown over the bar
The thug knocking Piper unconscious
Leo and Piper being drug out of the club

Phoebe comes out of the premonition, nearly dropping the cup on the floor. She sets it in the sink and then dries her hands. Phoebe grabs the phone and dials the club quickly, hoping that her vision was of the future. She lets the phone ring four times, but when the machine picks up, Phoebe breaks the connection. 'Maybe she and Leo had to go get some supplies or something,' Phoebe thinks hopefully. She dials Piper's mobile, but she only gets the voice mail.

"Damn it!" Phoebe yells in the empty kitchen. She quickly dials Prue's number.

Prue is showing some proofs to her supervisor when her mobile phone rings. The man stares at her quietly, and Prue knows that answering the call is not a good idea. She lets the phone ring.

Phoebe grunts in frustration as she gets Prue's voice mail. She waits for the beep and begins her message.

"Prue, why didn't you answer? Piper's in trouble. Get to the club now!"

Phoebe hangs up the phone and then pulls out the phone book to call a cab.

"Very good, Prue," her supervisor compliments. "I hope to see more work like this."

"You will, sir," Prue says with a smile as she leaves his office. "That's a promise."

Prue walks down the hallway and pulls out her mobile phone to check her voice mail. When she hears the frantic tone of Phoebe's voice, Prue almost doesn't finish listening to the message. She drops her phone in her purse and runs down the stairs to the parking garage.

Phoebe arrives at the club to see she is too late. She can see the broken bottles behind the bar. A feeling of pure dread fills her. 'Now what? Piper left for P3 two hours ago. How long ago had they been taken? Was it minutes? Or was it right after she got here?' Phoebe hopes that nothing else has happened to Piper and Leo.

Then Prue rushes into the club. "Phoebe, what happened? I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone. Where's Piper?"

"She and Leo were taken by some guy. Maybe a warlock, maybe a demon. I don't know. I had a premonition, but apparently it was of the past because they're already gone," Phoebe spits out quickly.

"Calm down, Phoebe," Prue says. She lays her hand on Phoebe's shoulder. "You had the premonition so I'm sure they're still okay. We can still find them."

"Yeah, but how long till they're not okay?" Phoebe wonders. "What if we can't find them?"

"We'll find them," Prue says. "Let's get back to the Manor."

They drag Piper into a medium sized room, holding her arms and being sure that she cannot freeze the room. She is frightened, but tries her best not to lose her senses to her fear. They force her to her knees and then chain her hands behind her back. The two men, if they could even be considered men, still hold her arms tightly and are sure that she stays on her knees before their master. Piper's head is still ringing from when they knocked her out. She wonders what happened to Leo, but fears the worst. Then, as if he knew what she was thinking about, Datura enters the room dragging the tied up Leo behind him. He throws Leo to the floor five feet in front of Piper. She tries to go to him, but Datura's minions hold her in place.

"So, you love him do you?" Datura asks. Piper says nothing. "Would you give your life for him?"

"Piper, don't," a very groggy and beaten Leo says. Datura shoots a bolt of energy into Leo to silence him. Piper screams.

"Please, stop!" Piper yells.

"You have not answered my question, witch," Datura says sharply. "Would you give your life for this angel turned mortal?"

"What's the point of answering that? You will kill us both whether I say yes or no," Piper says.

"No answer, then?" Datura says. "You will soon find out that you should have answered. The point is your lover will die quickly no matter what. You, however, will now live your last days in agony." With that Datura shoots an energy bolt into Leo. He cries out in pain and falls to the ground. Piper screams.

"Leo! No!" she cries out. She tries to go to him, but again Datura's minions stop her. Piper watches helplessly as her lover is killed by this demon. Tears are streaming down her face. "Leo!" After Leo is dead, Datura nods to his servants. The one on Piper's right takes out a blindfold and ties it on Piper while the other holds her still. Datura smiles an evil grin.

"You will spend your last days with only that vision, nothing else. You will starve here and no one can save you from your death or your guilt," Datura says. He laughs maniacally as his minions pick up Leo's body and then lock Piper alone in the empty room. The only sound remaining is the sound of sobbing as Piper mourns the loss of her lover.

"Phoebe, we have to find her," Prue says as she paces back and forth at the foot of Piper's bed. Phoebe is sitting on Piper's bed with a pile of Piper's belongings in front of her. She has gone through almost half of everything in Piper's bedroom, trying to call a premonition.

"It's not like I have any control over this, Prue," Phoebe says frustratedly. "I haven't perfected calling premonitions yet." Phoebe tries one more thing from the pile, but nothing happens. "I've tried everything Prue. I don't know what else to do."

"What about the club?" Prue says. "Maybe something at the club could trigger a premonition since it was the last place she was at."

"I guess we could try that," Phoebe says. They leave Piper's room and head for the club. Phoebe touches the bar, but nothing. Chairs, tables, walls...nothing, nothing, nothing. Phoebe touches every bottle behind the bar and not a single one gives her a premonition.

"Piper was pouring herself a drink as we were leaving the club last night," Prue says, thinking. "Damn, what was it?"

"She was making a screwdriver," Phoebe says. She checks the vodka and orange juice bottles. "Neither of these have been opened."

"Trash," Prue says. Phoebe goes to the trash, but it's empty. She holds the trashcan up for Prue to see.

"Dumpster," Prue says. Phoebe gives her a "you're kidding" look. Prue points to the door. "Pheebs, Piper could be hurt and stranded somewhere for all we know. We have to find her." Phoebe reluctantly heads out to the alley with Prue following behind. She gets near the dumpster and covers her mouth, gagging at the stench. Prue steps back a couple feet.

"Woah, I'm not even in there yet. What kind of trash could the club possibly have that smells that bad?" Phoebe wonders. She sort of just stands there and stares at the dumpster for a moment, reluctant to go in.

"Come on, Pheebs," Prue prods. "We all have to make sacrifices."

Phoebe looks to Prue and then approaches the dumpster. She grabs the edge and hoists herself up and into the dumpster. When she lands she is shocked to find a body. A man. Phoebe bends closer to see in the darkness who it is. Horror fills her as she realizes that it's Leo. He's dead. Phoebe reaches down to find a pulse, just to make sure. When she touches Leo's neck she is pulled into a premonition. She sees Datura's minions pull Piper into an empty room and restrain her so she can't freeze anything. Then Datura comes in and kills Leo. Phoebe watches Piper scream for her lover and then cry as Datura leaves Piper blindfolded and alone in that room with that image of Leo's death embedded in her mind. Phoebe comes out of the premonition, feeling Piper's sorrow and fear.

"My God," Phoebe says quietly, forgetting that Prue is out in the alley with no clue of what is happening.

"Pheebs, did you find something?" Prue asks, pulling Phoebe back to reality.

Phoebe looks down at Leo sadly. "Yeah," she says. Her throat starts to close up and she knows if she stays in the dumpster any longer she'll burst into tears. She hoists herself out of the dumpster and stands in front of Prue, silent.

"Well?" Prue asks.

Then something unexpected happens to Phoebe. The combination of the smell and Piper and Phoebe's combined sadness causes Phoebe to throw up. She lurches over to the side of the alley and vomits until it hurts. Then she leans against the building, sobbing. Prue is confused. She pulls Phoebe over and holds her.

"Phoebe, what is it? What's wrong?" Prue asks. Then horror fills Prue. "Oh God. Piper's not..." Prue can't even bring herself to say it.

"No," Phoebe sobs. She tries to regain her composure. It takes her a moment to collect herself enough to explain what happened. "Leo is dead. He's in that dumpster." Prue is drawn aback by this news. "A demon killed him, right in front of Piper. Now she's alone somewhere. She was left to die there. The last thing she saw was Leo dying."

"Oh my God," Prue says. She just thinks about this for a moment. "We should call someone. Darryl, I guess. Something has to be done with Leo's body." Then they hear a noise. It sounds like chimes ringing softly. Prue and Phoebe look around the alley and then toward the dumpster. It's enveloped in a soft white light. Leo's spirit walks toward them from the dumpster. Prue and Phoebe are both confused.

"Leo, are you...what are you?" Phoebe asks.

"I'm a spirit. I'm dead," Leo says quietly. He looks back to the dumpster. "Don't worry about my body. 'They' are taking care of it. I've died once before, so 'they' will make sure my body is not found by anyone else. You don't have to call anyone."

"But what now? We have to find Piper," Prue says.

"I know. Unfortunately, I don't know where she is and I won't be able to find her," Leo says. "All I can tell you is that the demon that killed me is called Datura. You have to find her fast. The longer she's alone, the worse it will be for her...and I don't mean physically."

"What do you mean?" Phoebe asks. "I mean, I saw what she saw and felt her sorrow, but what's going to happen from there?"

"Datura is using her love for me to drive her mad before she dies. He's amplifying it even," Leo says. "While she's alone there she is slowly going insane. You two have to get to her before it's too late. She could go insane long before she dies of starvation."

"But how can we find her?" Prue asks.

"I don't know," Leo says. "I don't think you'll have time for scrying. The only suggestion I have is to find Datura and get him to lead you to her somehow. I have to go now. Tell Piper I love her and I'll always be with her. That goes for both of you, too. It's like you were my sisters, too."

Prue and Phoebe are sad for Leo. They let a few tears slip down their cheeks. "Good bye, Leo," they both say as he disappears from their lives.

Prue wipes away her tears and then looks to Phoebe. "We have to get to the book and figure out how to find Datura." They both hurry to Prue's car and go back to the Manor.

Piper lies in the darkness, still weeping for her lost love. She feels nothing but sorrow and despair. She feels no sense of hope that her sisters will save her. It's almost as if she doesn't want them to save her. She just wants to be dead right now. She wants to be with Leo. All this time he had been within her reach, but she denied it. She wanted something she could never get, a normal life, and she had denied the one thing that could have made her happy. Now it's gone. Leo's gone.

Piper then thinks she hears a noise, maybe a door opening. Could Prue and Phoebe have found her? Or is it the demon coming back, having changed his mind and wanting to kill her right away? 'Go ahead,' Piper thinks. 'Kill me. I don't care.'

"Piper," a familiar voice says. It's Prue. "Piper, sweetie, are you okay?"

"Prue," Piper says, her voice hoarse from crying. "Prue, Leo's dead. He just killed him. Please, get me out of here."

"I'm so sorry, Piper," Prue says. It doesn't seem like Prue has any intention of getting Piper out of this room.

"Prue please get me out of here. Get this blindfold off me," Piper says frantically. "I just want out of here. Prue?"

Then Piper hears maniacal laughter. It wasn't Prue talking to her. "You'll never get out of here, Piper," a deep evil voice says. "You will die here knowing that your love died because of you."

"No, he didn't. No," Piper sobs. The blindfold is soaked through with her tears.

"You are to blame," the voice says and then leaves Piper alone.

"Leo said we don't have time for scrying, but I don't see any other option," Phoebe says. Prue keeps looking through the Book of Shadows for Datura, while Phoebe sits on the floor holding a crystal over a map. She's trying to find Piper, but so far nothing has worked. "I should have found her by now. I don't see why this isn't working."

"Maybe Datura took her out of San Francisco," Prue says as she flips the pages in the book. "Or maybe she's on another plane of existence. The book says that there's eleven planes of existence."

"Yeah, I know, Prue. But if she was in a different plane I'd still find where she is," Phoebe says. "We would just have to go to that place and figure out how to bring her back to this plane of existence."

"So, maybe she's not in San Francisco," Prue repeats. Phoebe shakes her head and keeps trying to find Piper. Prue stops flipping the pages. "Got it. Datura. Demon of despair and insanity. Drives witches mad with despair by taking the life of a loved one. That's our guy. There's a spell to vanquish him, but there's nothing here that could help us find him."

"Right now, I'm more worried about finding Piper. We can vanquish Datura after we find her and make sure she's okay," Phoebe says while leaning over the map. Then the crystal settles on a place along the coastline. The location is right along the edge of the map and that is why it took so long for the crystal to settle on it. "Got her. I've found Piper."

Prue kneels next to Phoebe and looks at the map. "That's about an hour away."

"Do you think she has that much time? I mean she could be starting to go insane as we speak," Phoebe says, worried that they won't be able to get to Piper in time. "Maybe you should go to her. If you're there with her it might help keep her sane."

"Good idea, Pheebs," Prue says. Prue sits on the floor Indian style. She hands her car keys over to Phoebe. "Here's my keys. I'll stay with her until you get there." Prue lowers her head and astral projects out of her body. Phoebe grabs the map and then heads out of the attic.

"Piper," a familiar voice whispers. Piper tilts her head up quickly. "Piper, what happened?"

"Leo?" Piper asks. She can see nothing, but she is sure that the voice is Leo's. "Leo, are you there?"

"Why didn't you do anything? Why didn't you save me?" he asks.

"There was nothing I could do," Piper says through her tears. "I wanted to, but I couldn't have helped anything."

"You could have tried, Piper," he says. "I thought you loved me."

"I do love you," Piper says. "I wanted to help you."

"But I'm dead," he states frankly. "And you just let it happen. You let me die Piper."

"No, Leo," she says sorrowfully. She is sure she heard a hint of anger in his voice. "I couldn't have done anything. He would have killed us both."

"So, that's it," he says angrily. "This was because of your selfishness. You wouldn't give your life trying to save me. I saved your life, lost my wings and now my life, and you couldn't even try to save me. You never loved me. You just used me as your own personal Jesus."

"No, Leo," Piper says. She is sobbing now and is barely understandable as she speaks. "That's not what I meant. If I could die to bring you back I would. Leo, I do love you."

"This is your fault, Piper," he says. "I hope you can live with your guilt."

"It's my fault," Piper says quietly. "Leo's dead, and I'm to blame."

On another plane Datura returns to watch Piper suffer. His plan is working. He knew if he appeared as her lover and blamed her, it would make her even more susceptible to madness. He looks at her through a rift between the two planes of existence and smiles at the sight of her cowering in the dark, blaming herself and going insane.

Prue appears in the dark room and sees Piper crouched on her knees on the floor, rocking back and forth, crying and saying something quietly over and over again. Her hands are tied behind her back and she's blindfolded. Prue gets closer to Piper and hears what she's saying. Piper is repeating the sentence, "I'm to blame." Prue tries to keep herself from crying, knowing that she has to be strong for Piper.

"Piper," Prue says softly. Piper stops saying "I'm to blame" but she doesn't acknowledge Prue's presence in the room. "Piper, sweetie, it's Prue." Piper continues rocking back and forth on her knees, crying. Prue crouches down next to Piper and places a hand on her shoulder. Piper jerks away quickly, frightened by this touch. "Piper, it's okay. I won't hurt you. Phoebe is on her way here. You're going to be okay." Piper still says nothing. "Piper, if you let me untie you and take off that blindfold, you'll see that it's really me. I know you're scared, but please just let me take off the blindfold." Piper says nothing, but doesn't recoil this time when Prue reaches forward and takes off the tear-soaked blindfold. Piper squints from the light, even though the room isn't very bright. She stares at Prue fearfully, still not ready to trust what she sees. After being tricked before she is not ready to believe that she is saved. Prue reaches around to untie Piper's hands, with Piper staring at her silently and suspiciously. When Piper's hands are free she immediately tries to freeze Prue. Prue jumps a little at the sudden movement of Piper's arms, but then realizes that Piper's just frightened, thinking that Prue isn't real. Prue waits for the realization to kick in. Piper stares at Prue for what seems like an eternity. Prue does nothing, knowing that Piper has to accept her before Prue can help at all.

"Prue?" Piper says in a barely audible whisper. Tears stream down her face as she crumbles into another sobbing fit. Prue slowly and carefully takes Piper in her arms. Finally, remembering the gentle touch of her sister, Piper falls into Prue's embrace, sobbing uncontrollably. Prue holds her sister, gently rocking her back and forth.

"It's okay now, Piper. Just let it all out. You're safe now," Prue says softly. "You're safe."

Phoebe drives down the highway, looking for the exit she needs to take. She almost misses it and screeches quickly over onto the exit, ticking off a couple drivers behind her. She ignores their horns and speeds up the exit. She runs a red light and hurries down the road. She's worried about Piper. She hopes that Piper hasn't gone insane. She just wants her sister to be all right, for all of this to be over. She finds Altman Street and makes a right turn. Then she slows down. She marked on the map where the crystal came to a rest, but she can't be certain of which building Piper is in. She parks Prue's car at the corner and starts walking down the street. She passes several homes and comes across an apartment building. She has a gut feeling that the apartment building is where she needs to go. Phoebe lets her instincts lead her to apartment 2B on the first floor. Phoebe tries the door and finds it locked. She knocks, but gets no answer. 'This is the right place,' Phoebe thinks. She steps back and kicks the door open. The apartment is dark, but not too dark for Phoebe to see that there is nobody in this first room. She sees a short hallway and heads that way. "Prue!" she yells. "Piper!" Then she hears a muffled cry from behind her. 'No, not behind me,' Phoebe thinks. 'Below me.' Phoebe looks down and steps back, seeing the trap door in the floor. She pulls on the small ring and the trap door creaks open. "Prue!" she yells again. This time the yell is understandable.

"Phoebe! In here!" Prue yells from somewhere in the dark. Phoebe takes the ladder down and finds a small dimly lit hallway. It's barely wide enough for one person to walk through. Phoebe walks down the hallway feeling the walls for doors.

"Prue, where are you?" Phoebe asks loudly. "Yell, honey. I can't find a door."

"Here, Phoebe. In here!" Prue yells. Phoebe keeps feeling the walls and finally finds a section of wall about 3 feet wide that's a little deeper than the rest of the wall. She feels around for a handle but doesn't find one. She looks at this section and knows that it's the door to wherever Prue and Piper are. She pushes on it but nothing happens. Phoebe feels all of the wall around the door and finally finds a piece of cement that's chipped away. The hole is just big enough for her hand to fit in. Phoebe slowly reaches in and finds a latch. She pulls the latch and the door swings inward away from Phoebe. Phoebe steps into the room and sees Prue sitting on the floor, holding Piper, who is still sobbing. She hurries over to Prue. Prue looks up; she's been crying quietly as well, frightened by the state that Piper is in. Phoebe puts her hand on Prue's shoulder.

"I'll get her home, Prue," Phoebe says softly. Worry is spread across her face. She's worried for both her sisters. "Get back to your body."

Prue nods her head and slowly moves Piper over to Phoebe. Piper doesn't really even notice that she's moving. Phoebe takes Piper in her arms and Prue disappears. Phoebe has to slowly get Piper to stand up. It takes a while, but she finally gets Piper to stand. Piper's crying has toned down some. Phoebe walks behind Piper with her hand firmly clutching Piper's arm. The hallway is too narrow for them to walk side by side so Phoebe wants to make sure Piper knows she is still there. Piper walks slowly and deliberately in front of Phoebe. Everything seems to scare her now, even walking. They reach the ladder and Piper stops. Phoebe tries to coax her up the ladder, but Piper won't go.

"It's okay, sweetie," Phoebe says. "I'll be right behind you. You're safe now." Piper reluctantly goes up the ladder and waits at the top for Phoebe, kneeling next to the opening with her arms folded across her chest and her head down. Phoebe gets to the top of the ladder and quickly wraps her arm around Piper's shoulders. She leads Piper out of the apartment and to Prue's car. Then they head home to the Manor.

Phoebe drives down the highway, looking over at Piper every once in a while. It took a while to get her to wear her seatbelt. Phoebe guessed that any restraints probably remind Piper of the ropes that bound her in that dark prison. Phoebe wants to know what Piper is thinking, but Piper isn't talking. She's just sitting in the passenger seat, looking out the window. Phoebe is afraid that they came too late, that she has already lost her sister.

A lot of thoughts are going through Piper's mind, but there's one voice in the back of her mind that has started to break through. It's the voice of Datura, but Piper doesn't realize this. The voice is telling her that she's a failure, that she got Leo killed. It's her fault. If she hadn't fallen in love with him, if she had pushed him away harder, maybe he wouldn't have died. Piper can't help but listen to this voice. It's penetrating. The only thing she hears is this voice telling her what a failure she is. Then the voice starts saying new things.

"You'll get your sisters killed. They're next," the voice says. "They'll die and it will be your fault. You're sisters aren't safe when you're around."

Piper can't stand it anymore. She wants to get rid of the voice. Suddenly, she screams, "Stop it! Get out of my head! Leave me alone!" She puts both hands over her ears as if it will keep the voice out. Phoebe is startled by Piper's screams and nearly swerves off the road. She manages to pull the car over onto the shoulder, but not before several other cars swerve and lay on their horns. Piper is still screaming. "Leave me alone! Get out!" She's leaning her elbows on her knees and still covering her ears with her hands. Phoebe unbuckles both their seatbelts and leans across the car to try and comfort Piper.

"Piper, it's okay," Phoebe says, not sure what exactly she should do. "Nobody is going to hurt you."

"It won't stop. It won't leave me alone," Piper says, sobbing. She allows Phoebe to hold her while she cries. It takes almost fifteen minutes for Phoebe to calm Piper down enough so she can start on the route back home. They end up stopping again when Datura continues his assault on Piper's sanity.

Prue's sitting on the couch in the living room. She's still tired from when she astral projected to Piper. It was the longest amount of time she had ever astrally projected herself and it took a lot out of her. She is also tired from worry. It has been almost an hour and a half and Phoebe still isn't back with Piper. 'Where are they?' Prue wonders.

Then she hears the front door open. She hurries out into the foyer to see Phoebe leading Piper into the Manor. Piper is silent. There are dark circles under her eyes and they are red from crying. Phoebe nods her head towards the stairs to let Prue know she is taking Piper upstairs. Prue lets them pass by her and then she follows them up to Piper's room. Phoebe manages to get Piper into bed and then stands with Prue in the doorway.

"What took you so long?" Prue asks, not even looking at Phoebe, but at Piper instead.

"We had to stop a couple times," Phoebe explains. "She just started screaming for no reason. It scared the hell out of me. The first time I almost got into an accident. It was a long drive." Prue just nods her head. Phoebe gets an expression of anger on her face. "I really want to get this demon. Piper doesn't deserve this. She's never hurt anyone. All she's ever wanted was for everyone to be happy."

"I know," Prue says. "We'll find something." They watch Piper fall into a restless sleep. Prue turns to Phoebe. "She's asleep. We should probably eat something." Prue looks at Phoebe for a response.

"Yeah," Phoebe says quietly. "There's spaghetti left over from lunch yesterday." They both reluctantly leave Piper's doorway to get something to eat.

Later that night Piper tosses and turns in her bed, still suffering Datura's barrage on her sanity. She is having a nightmare fueled by Datura's magic.

Piper is standing in the dark room, but no one is restraining her. Then Datura appears in the room, as if he had blinked into the room. With him is Prue and Phoebe. They are bound and gagged and kneeling on either side of the demon. Datura points a long, bony finger at Piper's right hand and in a puff of black smoke a jeweled dagger appears. Piper just looks down at the dagger, not surprised by it. Datura steps away from Prue and Phoebe and makes a sweeping gesture, as if saying to Piper, "All yours!" Then Datura points to Piper and she steps forward, gripping the hilt of the dagger tightly. As Piper approaches her sisters Datura points to Prue. Quickly, without any thought at all, Piper lunges forward and buries the dagger deep in Prue's chest. Prue's scream is short and muffled. She falls to the floor as Datura points to Phoebe. Piper removes the dagger from Prue's chest, wipes Prue's blood off on her shirt, and then thrusts the dagger deep into Phoebe's chest. Phoebe's scream is also short and muffled. Piper pulls the dagger out of Phoebe's chest and looks at the blood on the dagger, her hands and her clothes. She stares wide-eyed at the dead bodies of her sisters. Datura points to Piper and says, "You will be the death of the Charmed Ones." Then without any thought at all, Piper turns the dagger upon herself and thrusts it into her own chest. She cries out in pain and then falls dead.

Piper wakes up quickly but doesn't scream. She looks around. She no longer recognizes her own bedroom. She looks at it like it is a foreign land. Piper clumsily slips out of her bed and then walks down the hallway, mumbling to herself, "The death of the Charmed Ones. The death of the Charmed Ones." She continues down the stairs and into the kitchen, still mumbling to herself. She sees Phoebe asleep at the table, her head resting on the Book of Shadows. Piper stops mumbling and stares at her sleeping sister. She recognizes Phoebe, but not as her sister, only as one of the Charmed Ones. Piper shuffles across the kitchen and pulls a long sharp knife out of the knife holder. She looks at it in the moonlight and seems mesmerized by the reflection of light in the blade. She grips the handle of the knife tightly in her right hand and steps toward Phoebe. Piper has lost control of herself. She belongs to Datura now. Piper grips the handle of the knife in both hands and raises it above her head, ready to thrust it into her sleeping sister. Just as Piper is about to bring the knife down and end Phoebe's life, Phoebe mumbles something in her sleep. Piper doesn't quite hear what Phoebe says, but she wants to know.

"What?" she asks in a monotone. She waits and hopes that Phoebe will answer.

"Why can't I help you, Piper? You can't leave us. I want to help you," Phoebe mumbles. This activates something in Piper's memory, something of the old Piper, the sane Piper. She remembers when she was 17, Phoebe had been keeping a secret from her. Phoebe had never kept a secret from Piper before; she told Piper everything. So, when Piper heard Phoebe start saying something in her sleep, she had asked Phoebe to repeat what she had said. Piper held an entire conversation with Phoebe while she was sleeping, and she found out Phoebe's secret.

This memory helps the old Piper try to surface. Tears roll down her cheeks as she lowers the knife and backs away. "Please help me, Phoebe," she says, but Phoebe does not wake up or respond. But no sooner has the old Piper surfaced than Datura's Piper starts to take control again. She approaches Phoebe again with the knife and raises it, but the old Piper would not give up that easily. She shakes her head and says, "No!" She tries to defy the presence of Datura within her. "I won't do this!" Piper yells, all the while standing near Phoebe with the knife, poised to strike.

Phoebe finally awakens when she hears Piper's defiance of Datura. Phoebe stands quickly and backs away from Piper. "Piper, listen to me. Put the knife down. I know you don't want to hurt anyone."

"I don't," Piper says, but she can't gain enough control against Datura to drop the knife. "I won't hurt Phoebe. I won't hurt Prue."

Phoebe realizes that Piper isn't talking to her anymore. She is talking to someone, or something, else. Datura is the first possibility that comes to Phoebe's mind. It also occurs to Phoebe that Piper could be fighting for her sanity right before her very eyes. "Piper, you can fight it. Just like you fought the Wendigo blood. I know you can do it."

"Kill her!" Datura screams in Piper's mind. "Kill her now!"

Piper succumbs to this order momentarily and lunges toward Phoebe, but Phoebe is able to dodge Piper's attack. Piper stands again, poised for attack but obviously struggling within herself for control.

"Piper, fight it. You don't want to hurt me. I know you don't," Phoebe says stepping backwards away from Piper to the other side of the kitchen.

"I won't do this. You can't make me," Piper says. "I won't let you." Then, Piper realizes that she might not be able to gain enough to control to release the knife, but perhaps she could gain enough control to do something else. "You can't have me," she says as she struggles to gain control of her right arm. Slowly the point of the knife turns, away from Phoebe and toward Piper.

Phoebe sees what is happening and tries to do something to get Piper to fight harder. Phoebe thinks Datura is now trying to get Piper to stab herself. "Piper, no fight it. Don't let it win. Don't let it kill you."

Piper just shakes her head. Finally, she gains enough control and shoves the knife into herself. Simultaneously, Phoebe - in the Halliwell kitchen - and Datura - on another plane of existence - scream, "NO!"

Piper drops the knife to the floor and starts to fall, but Phoebe rushes forward and catches her sister before she can hit the floor. Phoebe gently lays Piper on the floor and cradles her sister's head in her lap. "Hang on, Piper," Phoebe says. She looks at the growing pool of blood on Piper's stomach and tears flow down her cheeks. "Oh God! Prue!" Phoebe screams, wanting her big sister to come down and somehow make things right. It always seemed like Prue knew what to do.

Prue is already on her way down when Phoebe screams her name. Prue had heard Phoebe's earlier yell when Piper had stabbed herself, but Prue has no idea what has happened. When she enters the kitchen she is horrified by what she sees. She kneels next to Phoebe and Piper, eyes wide with shock. "Phoebe, what happened? Why is she bleeding?"

"She...she stabbed herself. I think it was Datura that made her do it," Phoebe says through her tears.

"Oh God, I'll call an ambulance," Prue says, jumping up from the floor and heading for the phone.

Phoebe holds Piper gently, wishing that she could turn back time and keep this from happening. Piper is gasping for air and just looking up at Phoebe. "Hang on, Piper. Don't leave me. Please hang on. We'll get Datura and he won't hurt you anymore."

"It wasn't Datura," Piper says quietly. She slowly reaches up and takes Phoebe's hand. "He wanted me to hurt you. I couldn't hurt you. This was the only way. I had to..." Piper trails off, becoming too weak to talk. She starts to close her eyes.

"No, Piper," Phoebe says, not wanting to let her sister go. "Stay with me. You can't go yet."

Piper opens her eyes quickly, much like a you would when you doze off in class. She smiles at Phoebe. "It's okay," she says. "I love you." Piper lets her eyes fall closed. Her breathing slows and then stops altogether.

"No, Piper. Oh God, no!" Phoebe cries holding Piper's limp body in her arms.

Prue returns to the kitchen moments later. "The ambulance is on its way. How is..." Prue trails off when she sees Phoebe sobbing over Piper's body. "No," Prue says. She shakes her head and then falls to her knees. "Oh, no. She can't be. Phoebe, tell me she's not."

Phoebe says nothing; she just continues sobbing. Prue sits Indian style on the floor and sobs into her hands, stricken with the grief of losing her sister.

Prue and Phoebe are sitting next to each other on the couch in the living room. Both are silent, their faces devoid of emotion. They are in shock and denial. Piper can't be dead. She just can't be. They both glance up as the paramedics wheel a gurney with a black body bag on it, with Piper inside that bag. Then they both resume staring at nothing. The police are clearing out of the house, per the instructions of Inspector Darryl Morris. He has a feeling there has to be something odd about this whole situation. He wants as few personnel around as possible when he finally talks to the remaining Halliwell sisters.

Darryl glances over his shoulder and watches the last of the uniformed officers close the front door to Halliwell Manor behind him. Then Darryl enters the living room and sits on the coffee table in front of Prue and Phoebe. He looks at them sympathetically. "I'm so sorry about this. Piper was a wonderful person. And I know you three were close." He feels awkward talking about Piper. He didn't really know her that well. He'd met her and she seemed nice. That's about all he knew. "So, I understand if you two don't want to talk now, but...what happened? Did this involve you-know-what?"

"Yes, but Piper stabbed herself," Phoebe says quietly in a monotone voice.

"So, it was suicide?" Darryl asks, not sure what Phoebe's saying.

"It's complicated," Prue says in a voice possibly even more emotionless than Phoebe's. "You can say it's suicide. That's really all you need to know for your report or whatever."

"But Piper killed herself to protect us," Phoebe continued. "She died for us."

"So, what made her do it?" Darryl asks.

"It was a demon named Datura. We'll find him and we'll vanquish him," Prue says. "You know all you need to know, Darryl."

"You should probably go now," Phoebe says. "We need to find Datura. And we don't want you to get hurt."

"Okay," Darryl says. He's not quite satisfied with the explanation he has received, but he's gotten used to that feeling. "If you two need anything, you know where to reach me."

Darryl leaves the Manor, and Prue and Phoebe walk quietly into the kitchen. Phoebe goes to the laundry room and pulls the Book of Shadows out from underneath some clothes in the laundry basket. Just as the ambulance arrived she realized the Book was on the kitchen table. She quickly hid it in the laundry and is relieved to see that the police did not find it.

"We still don't know how to find Datura," Prue says quietly, momentarily glancing down at the drying pool of blood on the floor. She closes her eyes and then makes herself concentrate on the task at hand.

"He failed in getting Piper to kill us," Phoebe says, opening the Book to the page about Datura. "Maybe he'll come and try to do it himself now."

"Maybe, but I'm not satisfied with maybe. I want this bastard. He's the reason Piper and Leo are dead, and we're the only people who can get rid of him," Prue says angrily.

"We'll figure something out, Prue," Phoebe says. She looks at the page about Datura closely. She sees something written in the bottom corner of the page and squints to read it. "Look here, Prue. It says 'see planes of existence.' Maybe Datura is on another plane of existence."

"Okay, so let's look up planes of existence," Prue says, quickly turning the pages of the Book. They find the page that talks about the eleven planes of existence and read through the information. "Here. There's a spell to bring forth something that's on another plane of existence. And you don't have to know what plane he's on."

"We need a potion and there's a diagram here of how to set things up," Phoebe says. "I'll make the potion. You get everything set up in attic."

A half hour later, Prue and Phoebe are in the attic and ready to bring Datura to them.

"Okay, Prue," Phoebe says as she looks at the page in the Book about planes of existence. "Are you ready?"

"Definitely," Prue says. Rage is filling her body and all she can think about is making Datura pay for killing Piper and Leo.

"Okay, let's do it," Phoebe says. She and Prue are standing on opposites sides of an ancient marker that Prue drew on the attic floor. There are four candles surrounding the marker. Phoebe sprinkles the potion over the marker, and the sisters begin chanting with their arms raised in a V shape.

On another plane, a blue mist forms around Datura. He looks around, confused by it. "What the hell is this?" he growls. He can feel himself slipping out of this plane into another one. He does not know where he is going.

A blue mist forms over the marker and Prue and Phoebe continue chanting. Slowly, Datura appears, dark and hunched over. When the mist dissipates, he stands tall, towering over the sisters, and he looks around.

"How have you brought me here?" he asks angrily. Prue walks around Datura to stand next to Phoebe. She waves her hand and Datura goes flying across the attic, causing the house to shake when his enormous form crashes against the wall.

"Get the spell to vanquish him, Phoebe," Prue says. Phoebe goes to the Book of Shadows to find the vanquishing spell, but every time she gets to the page about Datura the Book's pages flip on their own to a spell to travel back in time. Datura starts to pick himself up off the floor. "Phoebe, come on."

"I'm trying, but the Book won't let me," Phoebe says frantically. Prue joins her to look at the time travel spell.

"What do you mean it won't let you?" Prue asks, trying to turn to the page about Datura. But the Book turns back to the time travel spell.

"See, you can't defeat me," Datura says with a sadistic grin. "Even your own magic has turned against you."

"I don't get it," Prue says. "Why won't the Book let us vanquish him?"

"I don't know, but it seems that it wants us to use the time travel spell instead," Phoebe says. "The Book has never steered us wrong before. Maybe we should listen to it."

"But if we travel back in time, will we be able to come back here?" Prue asks.

Phoebe notices Datura lurking towards them. "No time for questions, Prue. If the Book won't let us vanquish him, we've gotta get out of here. Now!"

Prue and Phoebe start chanting:

Take us back
Before this day
Take all our pain away
Let us change the future
By changing the past
Take us back, take us fast

There is a glow and Datura reaches out for Phoebe and Prue. But he is too late. They disappear from his sight and he howls with rage.

Prue and Phoebe reappear in the attic. They hear voices downstairs, but they can't tell whose voices they are. They quietly sneak down the attic stairs to see if they can hear who is downstairs.

"I'll see you guys later tonight, right?" they hear someone say. Prue and Phoebe look at each other, both surprised by the voice they heard. They sneak further down to the top of the stairs to see Piper standing at the bottom.

"Yeah, Piper. We'll be at the club," past-Phoebe yells from the kitchen.

"This is yesterday morning," Phoebe whispers to Prue. "I had the premonition about Piper about two hours later."

"So, we need to follow Piper to P3 and keep Datura from grabbing her and Leo, right?"

"Right," Phoebe says. "We just need to get past our past-selves."

"What?" Prue asks, confused by the statement Phoebe just made.

"Nevermind, let's just go. We don't know exactly when Datura took Piper and Leo," Phoebe says.

She and Prue sneak down the stairs once Piper is out the door. Prue sees her keys sitting on the hall table and grabs them. Just then, past-Prue and past-Phoebe walk into the room.

"Uh oh," Phoebe says, at the sight of their past-selves.

"Who are you?" past-Prue asks. "And why are you taking my keys."

"Ugh! We don't have time for explanations," Prue says. "We've gotta go catch Piper."

"Not in my car," past-Prue says. The two Phoebes are staring at each other.

"It's my car, too," Prue says. "Can't you even trust yourself?"

"What?" past-Prue asks.

"Oh, nevermind," Prue says. "Come on, Pheebs."

"Right," Phoebe says, peeling her stare away from her past-self.

"Hey!" past-Prue and past-Phoebe say together. Phoebe continues, "Where did you come from?"

Prue and Phoebe ignore them and leave. Past-Prue goes to the phone and calls Piper's mobile.

"Hey, Piper. Be careful when you get to P3. There's a couple of women who look exactly like me and Phoebe, and I think they're following you there...I don't know. They could be shape shifters or they could be something else, just be careful...Yes, I know you're always careful...I was just putting you on the look-out. They took my car so Pheebs and I will try to get to P3 as soon as we can...bye." Prue hangs up the phone and then calls a cab.

Prue and Phoebe arrive at P3 and find Piper sitting by the bar with Leo, apparently waiting for them. "Piper, good, you're still here," Phoebe begins, but Piper freezes both of them before Phoebe can say another word.

"Now what?" Leo asks.

"I'm not quite sure. Prue just put me on the look-out for them. And since they froze, I know it's not the real Prue and Phoebe," Piper says. She walks around the two women, not sure what she should do.

Past-Prue and past-Phoebe rush into the club and see their alternate-selves frozen, and Piper is standing next to them.

"So, who are they?" past-Prue wonders.

"I don't know. I figured I'd wait for you guys before I asked any questions," Piper says. "So, should I unfreeze them?"

"Go ahead," Prue says. "I think the three of us can handle them if they try anything."

Piper unfreezes them, and they both jump when they see their past-selves and Piper standing around them.

"She froze us? How could she freeze us? We're not supposed to freeze," Phoebe says to Prue.

"Remember when we went to the 70s to stop mom from making the pact with Nicholas? Little Piper froze us because only one set of us can have powers at one point in time," Prue explains to Phoebe.

"Oh, right," Phoebe says, not sounding totally convinced.

"Wait a minute," past-Piper says. "Who are you people? Where did you come from?"

"We're from the future. A little less than 24 hours in the future," Prue explains.

"So, why are you here?" past-Phoebe asks. "What was so important that you had to go back in time a few hours?"

"Piper and Leo's lives," Phoebe answers herself.

"Maybe you two should tell us your story," past-Prue says.

"Well, we don't have a whole lot of time," Prue replies. "But here goes. A demon, named Datura, grabbed Piper and Leo. It killed Leo, drove Piper nuts, and then she killed herself to keep the demon from using her to kill us. We called the demon from another plane of existence in order to vanquish him, but the Book of Shadows wouldn't let us vanquish the demon. It kept turning back to a time travel spell. So, we came back in time, we're guessing, to stop Datura from ever taking Leo and Piper in the first place."

"Woah, slow down and back-up a little," past-Phoebe says. "You're saying you're here to stop this demon. How do you know that's why you're here?"

"Why else would the Book want us to come here?" Phoebe asks. "You three have to vanquish Datura before he has a chance to do any damage."

"When was Datura going to take me and Leo?" past-Piper asks.

"We're not sure, but in about..." Phoebe looks at her watch. "an hour and a half, I had - or am supposed to have - a premonition of Datura capturing you. And by then he already had you. Or will have you. Ugh! Time travel is confusing."

"So, there is a spell to vanquish this demon, right?" past-Prue says. "You two said you found it."

"Yeah, but I don't think we have time to go to the manor," Prue replies. "You'll need to astral project to the attic and get it."

"Okay, but what if he shows up while I'm looking for the spell?" past-Prue asks.

"Stand off in a corner," Phoebe says. "I'll keep Datura's guys away from you."

"Okay," past-Prue says. She walks off to a far corner of the club and as she starts to astral project, Datura and his henchmen burst into the club. Phoebe goes into a defensive stance, ready to take anyone on if they try to get to past-Prue.

One of Datura's henchmen grabs Leo and another grabs Piper. Past-Phoebe hits the one holding Leo over the head. Piper is struggling with her captor and Prue is about to help when Datura shoots an energy bolt at her. Prue is thrown across the club by this and she falls in a heap.

"Prue!" Phoebe yells, but she doesn't leave her post of protecting past-Prue. Phoebe knows that her Prue is dead, but if they can vanquish Datura, it doesn't matter.

The henchman that past-Phoebe had hit with a bottle is doing his best fighting Leo. Past-Phoebe kicks the one that is holding Piper and he falls to the floor. Piper freezes the room, but soon realizes that Datura is not frozen. The two henchmen are frozen, along with Leo and Phoebe. Past-Phoebe looks at Piper, not sure what to do.

"Prue doesn't have the spell yet," past-Phoebe says. "Try freezing him again."

"I am," Piper says, frantically waving her hands. She decides to unfreeze the room and let things work out on their own. Leo slugs the henchman he has been fighting and that guy falls to the ground, unconscious. Past-Phoebe kicks the other one and he falls unconscious too.

"So, you've beat my men. Big deal. You can't beat me," Datura says. He looks over to the corner and sees past-Prue and Phoebe. He looks from past-Prue and Phoebe to their counterparts, seeming entirely confused by the presence of the pairs of women. "Who are these people?"

"Haven't you ever heard of twins?" past-Phoebe asks.

"I know you have no twin," Datura says pointing his finger at Phoebe. The tip of his finger is sparking with electricity. "I don't really care. I'll kill you all." He moves his pointed finger and aims it at past-Prue. Phoebe knows what she has to do. Just as Datura shoots the energy at past-Prue, Phoebe jumps in front of her. The energy hits Phoebe and she falls to the floor, dead. Piper and past-Phoebe run over to past-Prue. Piper motions for Leo to stay back.

"Come on, Prue! Come back!" past-Phoebe says. Almost as if Prue heard her, she returns to her body.

"I've got it. Follow my lead," Prue says, seeing Datura standing in front of them. Prue starts chanting. As she finishes saying the spell once, Piper and Phoebe join her. Datura howls with anger as he starts to melt in a black mist. It almost looks like he is evaporating. As Datura disappears, his henchmen start to wake up. They see that their master is not winning and decide to make a break for it. The two of them run out of P3 as Datura disappears.

The sisters look down at Phoebe sadly, but are shocked when she simply disappears. They look over at Prue, and she disappears as well.

"What? Where'd they go?" Phoebe asks.

"They changed the future," Leo begins. "A future that they were a part of. Since that future will not happen, they cease to exist."

"What?" Phoebe asks.

"Here's what I caught from what they told us," Leo explains. "In their past, Datura killed me, and he caused Piper's death. But their past was changed because Piper and I are still alive and Datura is vanquished."

"I think I'm catching on," Piper says.

"I don't think it really matters if we understand it. It would be impossible for them to exist in our time anyway," Prue says. "And it's probably better that they disappeared. How would we explain them to the police?"

"I'm not going to worry about it," Phoebe says. "My counterpart was right. Time travel is confusing, and whether or not I understand it really doesn't matter. Just as long as it works out for the good."

"Very true," Piper says. "I think you'd have to be a genius to fully understand time travel. And right now, all I need to worry about is getting Beth Hart set up for the show tonight. Her crew is going to be here in half an hour."

The concert is going well and the crowd is really enjoying the show. Piper, Prue and Phoebe are sitting off to the side enjoying the music. Leo is at the bar. Every few minutes he glances over at Piper. She knows that he's looking at her, but she doesn't want to acknowledge it yet. She's not quite sure what to think about the small amount of information the alternate Prue and Phoebe gave her. She went crazy after Leo was killed. What did that mean? Was it the demon that made her crazy?

Phoebe notices that Piper's not really paying attention to the concert and decides to see what her sister is thinking about. "Hey, Piper. Penny for your thoughts?"

Piper chuckles. "Save your penny, Pheebs."

"Come on. You love Beth Hart, but you're not even paying attention," Phoebe says with a curious smile. "What are you thinking about?"

"Well, I was just thinking about you guys' alternates and what they said," Piper replies.

"They didn't get a chance to say much," Prue says, not quite sure what Piper's talking about. "What did I miss?"

"They said that after the demon killed Leo I went crazy. I was just wondering if the demon caused that or...if it was because of Leo."

"What do you think it was?" Phoebe asks.

"I don't know. Everything is so confusing with Leo around, and me being with Dan. But I can't help thinking that if that situation actually happened it would be more because of Leo than the demon," Piper explains.

"What are you saying, Piper?" Prue asks.

"What I'm saying is," Piper begins, "that Leo is really important in my life, and I'm starting to think that I'm just kidding myself with Dan."

"Really?" Phoebe asks with a smile.

"The more I think about telling Dan who I really am, the more I think he won't understand," Piper explains. "I don't have to tell Leo anything. He already knows."

"So, what are you going to do?"

Piper looks over at Leo and they make eye contact. "I don't know."