Piper

I was alone at my club, P3. The staff hadn't yet arrived for work, so I had the place to myself. I was still a little bit shaken from me and my sister's encounter with a demon. We still didn't know who he was and he took the Book of Shadows. Now it feels like I'm so vulnerable. I'm scared that he or some other demon or warlock will come and try to hurt my sisters or me. Plus, I haven't seen Leo and he always comes with information when a demon attacks us.

I see a light appear behind me and, thinking it's Leo, I turn around with a smile on my face. But my smile quickly fades when I realize it's not Leo, it is Jeremy.

I backed up until I was against a wall. He looked the same as he did when my sisters and I had vanquished him a year ago. He was closing in on me. I tried to freeze him, but it didn't work. I was terrified, what would he try to do to me and why couldn't I freeze him?

"Hello, Piper dearest, miss me?" he said, menacingly.

"What do you want from me?" I asked with a shaky voice, tears already running down my cheeks.

"That's easy, Piper. I want the satisfaction I never got from you when we were dating. And I will get it from you, sweet Piper, because there's nothing you can do to stop me."

My eyes widened, the fear growing inside of me. What did he mean by satisfaction? What was he going to do to me?

Before I had time to react, he grabbed my wrists and pulled them above my head. I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but it was useless, I was completely at his mercy. He transferred his hold on my wrists to one hand. He began running the other hand down my side and around my waist.

It dawned on me, I knew what he wanted from me, I couldn't believe I had been so naive. He wanted me to give him sex. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I was going to be raped and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Still holding my wrists, he lifted my shirt up and over my head. I tried struggling and I received a slap across the face. He grabbed my face and roughly kissed me.

"You better not fight back, or something might happen to one of your sisters, or better yet, your beloved whitelighter."

Before I knew what I was doing, I let out a high-pitched scream, hoping someone could hear me. He kicked me in the stomach in response. He was now more focused than ever on getting rid of my clothes and having his own way.

He stripped me of my clothes and quickly took his own off. As he forced me down to the ground, I prayed that Leo would come and save me from this monster. I was too scared to speak or even acknowledge what he was doing to me. I just kept praying in my heart to Leo.

Then, he forced himself into me and my mind went blank, tears still rolling down my face.

Leo

I orbed down to earth outside of Piper's club. I wanted to surprise her, actually walking into the club. The Elders had given me a couple days off and I planned to spend every second of them with Piper. I hadn't gotten a chance to spend much time with her lately (barely any time at all) and I wanted to make it up to her. I loved her so much, her smile that brightens up any room, her silky long brown hair, her face that looked like an angel, and her shining bright brown eyes that lit up her entire face.

I slowly opened the door and let myself in. I walked down the steps and looked around, hoping to find Piper. There was no one in sight. That's when I heard it, a soft crying, almost-whimpering sound. I followed the sound to the back corner…and my heart stopped at what I saw before me.

Piper was lying on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest, crying quietly. Her clothes were gone and she was covered with bruises and blood. My heart ached for her, what had happened to her? Who did this to her?

I took my jacket off and kneeled down beside her. Seeing her not acknowledge my presence, I gently placed my hand on her shaking shoulder. At my touch, she jerked weakly away, shaking more violently than before. I placed my hand under her quivering chin and lifted it to look me in the eyes.

I softly pleaded, "Piper, baby, look at me. It's Leo, I'm not going to hurt you. Please trust me, what happened to you?"

She looked at me briefly, not believing if it was me of not, then she fell into my arms sobbing. I held her close, trying to comfort her.

In a shaky whisper, she answered my question, "H-He…r-raped…m-m-me."

I felt sick to my stomach. It was quickly replaced with anger. Who would do this to Piper? I vowed to myself, whoever hurt my sweet girlfriend was going to pay tremendously for what they had done. My responsibility right now, though, was Piper. She needed me more than anything right now.

I gently placed the jacket I was holding around her shoulders and pulled her away from my chest so I could look her in the eyes.

"Piper, is it okay if I orb you back to your room, away from here?"

She nodded slightly and buried her face in my chest once more. I took that as a yes. I gently lifted her in my arms and orbed out and into her bedroom at the Manor.

Piper

Everything was a blur to me. The only thing I was sure of was that Leo was here to protect me.

I felt Leo lift me up in his arms and I tried to muffle a cry of pain. The pain flooded through my body every time I moved.

Next thing I knew, Leo was orbing me away from the club. Then, Leo laid me down on a bed, my bed. I felt him pulling away from, so I reached my arm out and stopped him.

I looked him in the eyes with my own tear-filled ones and pleaded, "Please don't leave me, Leo. I don't want to be alone. Please hold me and make it all go away."

I was crying again. I watched him walk around to the other side of the bed and lay down. He scooted over to me and carefully gathered me into his arms. I relaxed into them, my face buried in his chest. I finally felt safe and protected.

I knew Leo was worried about me; he had every right to be. He still didn't know practically anything about what had happened. I didn't want to talk about it, though, or relive any of what happened. I could still feel him on my skin and it made me sick. I wanted it all to go away so badly.

My last thought as I drifted off to sleep in Leo's comforting arms was that I prayed that the Elders wouldn't take Leo from me.

Leo

It was the middle of the afternoon; I still lay in bed holding Piper. She had fallen asleep a few hours ago, but I knew her sleep was far from restful. She kept mumbling and whimpering, trying to get away from an invisible force that I knew was real in her nightmares. I wanted more than ever to be able to have protected her. Why hadn't I been there? More importantly, why hadn't the Elders told me what was going to happen so I could've prevented it? If they were supposed to know everything that happened and was going to happen, why hadn't they known about this? Why did this happen to her?

I couldn't think of a person more undeserving of this than Piper. She had the kindest, sweetest soul that I had ever known. She never wanted to hurt anybody, she never wanted to fight, she just wanted to get along with people. She always put herself last. She didn't need this added to all of the pain she had been forced to endure already in her life. Why couldn't everyone just leave her alone and let her be happy?

While I was wracking my brain, Piper became shaken by another nightmare. She started tossing and turning in my arms and mumbling something that I couldn't understand. I wrapped my arms tightly around her and started whispering soothing words in her ear. It didn't sooth her this time, though. It just got worse. I knew she was reliving this morning. I noticed the tears running down her bruised cheeks. It broke my heart to see her in so much pain. I lifted my hands up to her face and wiped the tears away as more fell. All of a sudden, she screamed and sat up, covered in sweat, tears still running freely down her face.

I sat up immediately, wrapping my arms around her shaking body consolingly. She tried to pull away at first, unsure it was me, but then she sunk into my arms. She was crying as hard as she could, her body shaking uncontrollably.

"Leo.." she said in a shaky whisper that I could barely understand. "Please help me. I'll do whatever it takes to get rid of Jeremy forever. Please help me Leo."

Jeremy…the name stood out like a sore thumb. Piper's ex-boyfriend, a warlock, but he thought Piper and her sisters had vanquished him when they first received their powers. Something was really wrong here, how was Jeremy able to come back from the dead?

"Don't worry, baby, he won't hurt you again. When your sisters get home, we'll get them to help us. Try to get some sleep while we wait for them to come."

"No! Please don't make me sleep anymore. I keep seeing him in my nightmares and I can't stand it. Why won't he just leave us alone?"

"We'll make him, Piper, okay? We'll vanquish him so he'll never come back to torment you again. Do you want to go to the bathroom and clean up?"

"Sure, help me?" she says, her wide, red eyes staring up and me, almost pleading.

"Of course, beautiful," I said.

I disentangled myself from her embrace and walked around to the other side of her bed. I found her looking up at me with the most innocent, sweetest expression that I had ever encountered. I saw the Piper I knew and loved once again. I bent down and gently picked her up, not wanting to cause her any more pain. She winced slightly at the movement, but then relaxed. She wrapped her bruised arms around my neck and rested her head on my chest.

"I love you, Leo. Thank you for taking care of me," she said in a whisper.

"I'd do anything for you, angel. No thank you required."

She smiled at my words and I knew everything would be okay.

Piper

After Leo helped me wash off all the blood and dirt covering me and I put my pajamas on, he carried me downstairs to the sun room. Leo was such a sweetheart; he cared about me so much. I am so glad that he is here; I don't think I could've made it without him. The one thing I wondered, though, was why the Elders hadn't called him yet. They had never allowed us to spend the entire day together, why were they this time?

"Leo?" I asked from my position with my head resting on his chest, his arms wrapped around me.

"What is it, baby?" he asked, concern already evident in his voice.

"I just wondered, why haven't the Elders called you away yet? They never let us spend this much time together."

"Well, actually, this morning, when I…found you in the club, I was going to tell you that the Elders have given me a couple days off. I wanted to spend them with you, of course."

"I'm sorry, you must be disappointed about not getting to spend your time doing something better than laying here with me."

"What? Piper, I don't care what I'm doing, as long as I'm with you. I want more than anything to be able to protect you and be with you, you know that, right?"

My heart melted, he really was a sweetheart.

"Yeah, I know, I just wish we could've spent our time together a better way," I replied.

Just then, the front door swung open and Prue and Phoebe walked in. They were talking and laughing, not noticing Leo or I. I looked up at Leo and smiled slightly, I was nervous about telling them what happened. I knew they would over-react, making things worse than they already were.

"Hi, Prue and Phoebe," Leo said, startling both of them.

Prue was the first one to speak, "Piper, Leo, what are you doing here? Piper, why aren't you at the club?"

Even the mention of the club send a cold dread through my body, if only my sisters knew what had happened just hours ago. And they would in a couple minutes, I had to tell them, I just didn't know if I was ready. I knew I had Leo, though, and he would help me if I couldn't explain it calmly enough for them to understand.

Leo answered for me, "Something happened to Piper, I think you're going to want to sit down for this."

They looked at me curiously before complying, sitting down on the couch facing Leo and I.

"Jeremy came back…and he hurt Piper," Leo said slowly.

For the first time, they noticed the bruises on my face and arms. I looked away, tears threatening to start rolling down my face. The mention of Jeremy still scared me.

Prue stood immediately, concern on her face, "Hurt? What do you mean, hurt? What happened, Piper? Why didn't you call me on my cell phone?"

I knew she would panic, she always did when something threatened or hurt Phoebe or I.

I looked up at her, the tears starting to roll down my face, and said in a shaky voice, "He raped me, Prue. I don't know why I didn't call you sooner."

She was speechless, both of my sisters were. Tears were falling rapidly down my face now. I turned my head and buried it in Leo's shirt. I didn't want to face any of this any more, I wanted it to all go away. I felt Leo kiss my head and his hand run up and down my back, reassuringly.

Prue

Raped? Piper was raped? How could it be true? One look in those wide, frightened, tear-stained, brown eyes, though, and I knew it had to be true. I had never seen such complete terror on anyone's face, let alone my little sister's. I wanted to cry (something I almost never did) when I looked at the bruises on Piper's body. I knew those probably weren't the worst of the bruises, there was probably a lot more painful bruises concealed under her clothes. I didn't want to believe that anyone could have done this to my sweet, loving, little sister. She had never hurt anyone, but look how she got repaid. At least she had Leo.

He was the so protective and caring with her. I knew Leo was the right man for her, the one she deserved. She needed his protection right now and I knew she'd get it. I also knew that this whole incident was hurting Leo far more than it was hurting me. I could tell his need to protect her and he obviously hadn't been there when she'd needed him most. It had to be tearing him apart, although he didn't show it. His attention was completely focused on Piper and the comfort he had to provide.

I carefully sat down next to Piper and Leo. Her head was buried in his chest and she was crying bitterly, her whole body shaking. I gently ran my hand down her silky brown hair.

"It's going to be okay, sweetie. He won't hurt you again. You have three people to protect you and we won't let you out of our sight. We will get Jeremy, I promise you," I whispered to her.

She lifted her head and looked at me, her eyes still wide and frightened. She threw her arms around me.

"Thank you, Prue. I love you so much," she whispered through her tears.

"I love you, too, sweetie. Why don't you have Leo take you up to your room so you can get some rest, okay? You look exhausted."

"Okay."

I watched Leo gently pick her up and take her up the stairs. God, how did this happen? Why couldn't Phoebe have had a premonition or something so that we could have stopped this? If only we had the Book to help us. I couldn't help being scared of what was to come.

Leo

It broke my heart to see Piper cry. I carried her upstairs after just talking to her sisters. I laid back down on her bed with her and held her close. She turned and buried her head in my chest once again.

"Leo, do you think Jeremy will come back? What if we can't vanquish him? What if he hurts me again?" Piper asked, obviously still scared of Jeremy.

"Sweetie, I promise you, he won't hurt you. We will vanquish him, just like you and your sisters did last time. You don't have to worry about him. Please trust me," I said, hoping to get her to calm down.

"I do trust you, I just can't help being scared," she whispered, her crying subsided.

I knew I couldn't do anything but to try to comfort her. Nothing could take away her fear, not until Jeremy was gone forever. Her cries slowly subsided as she drifted off back to sleep. I held her close, wishing I could do something to ease her pain.

I wanted to go talk to the Elders to find out why Jeremy had come back. Someone had to have brought him back to life, but who? I didn't think it was possible to bring warlocks back to life.

And also, why hadn't Piper been able to freeze him? Did she even try or was she too scared? I knew that Piper could become paralyzed with fear, maybe that was what happened.

God, I hoped we could find a solution soon. I knew Piper couldn't live with this dread much longer, we had to get rid of Jeremy. It's the only way Piper would learn to feel safe again.

I looked down at her angelic face and I knew I had to do everything possible to protect her. I saw her breathing slow and her body relax. I could tell she was finally asleep. Although I didn't want to, I knew I had to go to the Elders. I had to find out why Jeremy had come back and how to get rid of him. That meant leaving Piper. As much as I didn't want to, I knew I had to.

I carefully slid out from under her and laid her on her bed. I pulled the blankets over her, stopping to look at her beautiful face. I ran my hand down her bruised face and kissed her forehead.

I whispered in her ear, "I love you."

I heard her mumble it back.

I walked downstairs to find Prue and Phoebe in the family room, thinking of ways to get rid of Jeremy. They looked up at my entrance, questioningly.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to go talk to the Elders about what happened and ask what we should do about it. Could you please go sit with Piper? She's asleep, but I don't want her to wake up alone."

Prue stood up, "Of course, Leo, hurry back. Piper needs you."

With that, I orbed out and up to the heavens.

Prue

I watched Leo orb out, praying that he could find something to help Piper.

I turned to Phoebe, "Come on, let's go upstairs and talk in Piper's room."

"Okay," she answered.

We climbed the stairs and walked to Piper's room. I pushed open the door to find Piper tossing and turning, becoming entangled in her covers. I hurried to her bedside and shook her shoulder.

"Come on, Piper, wake up, it's okay," I said, hoping to wake her from her nightmare.

"Leo!" she screamed, sitting up, trembling.

I pulled her into a tight hug, "It's okay, Piper. Leo went to the Elders. He'll be back soon with a solution."

I pulled away from her to look in her eyes. She had started to cry and she was staring at me with wide, frightened eyes. She was trembling and I could tell she needed to be held (preferably by Leo, but he wasn't here). I untangled her from the blankets and pulled her into my lap. She immediately curled up like a little girl, still trembling. I ran one hand up and down her back and the other through her hair. Nothing seemed to calm her, though. I tried rocking her back and forth, but it just made her tremble more.

"Piper, it's okay, sweetie. You have to calm down. You're going to make yourself sick."

"I…I..I…c…can't, it h..hurts too much."

I looked down to where she was desperately clutching her stomach. She wasn't just scared, she was in pain because of her bruising.

"Oh, Piper, what can I do? I don't know how to help you."

Piper just cried harder. She needed Leo, he would know what to do. I looked up at Phoebe helplessly.

Phoebe stood up and said, "I'm going to go get an ice pack and warm washcloth. I'll be right back."

She hurried out of the room. I continued trying to sooth Piper. I whispered soft words in her ear and ran my hand through her long brown hair. God, where was Leo? I wish he'd hurry back.

Phoebe rushed back into the room with the supplies. I pulled Piper from her tight grasp on me and moved to lay her on her bed. She wouldn't let go, though; she clung to me, desperate for comfort. I pulled her back into my lap and told her to stretch out her legs so we could put the ice pack on her stomach.

She shook her head and whimpered, "It hurts too much."

"Come on, Piper, it's okay. I know it hurts, but this will make it better. I promise, Piper, please put your legs down."

She hesitated slightly before allowing me to gently push her legs away from her stomach. She let out an agonized scream and tried to pull her legs back up. I held her legs down and kissed her forehead. She just started crying harder again.

With tears rolling down my face at the sight of her in pain, I said, "It's okay, baby. I don't know any other way to make it better. I'm so sorry it hurts you."

She didn't reply, she just clung to me, crying and trembling. She was whimpering softly and I had to lean closer to her to understand what she was saying. I heard it; she was saying "Leo" over and over again. She needed her angel so badly.

Phoebe sat down quietly next to me. She still had to warm washcloth in her hand. She gently used it to wipe the tears and sweat from Piper's face and arms.

That's when I noticed the blue orbs forming in front of me. Leo appeared and he was carrying the Book of Shadows! He was smiling, definitely good news. His smile faded, though, when he saw Piper, still crying in my arms. He quickly shoved the Book in Phoebe's arms and stepped closer to Piper and I.

Leo

The sight of Piper crying bitterly made me forget everything else that I was supposed to be thinking about. Unknowingly, I thrust the Book in Phoebe's arms. I stepped over to where Piper was and ran my hand carefully down her back. She jumped slightly before looking up at me with tear-filled eyes. The recognition sparked in her eyes and she held out her arms to me. I gently took her quivering body in my arms and pulled her off of Prue's lap. I carried her over to her rocking chair and sat down with her in my lap. She immediately buried her head in the crook of my neck, her body still shuddering. I started gently rocking her back and forth, running my hands through her hair and down her back. Her cries slowly subsided and her body stopped trembling. I gently took her face in my hands and started wiping the tears from her cheeks. She finally looked up at me with pleading eyes; I knew she needed to know that Jeremy was gone. I smiled at her, and he was gone.

"Baby, it's okay now, you don't have to worry about Jeremy anymore. He's gone, I promise," I said, unable to hid my smile. I knew Piper was going to be okay.

"What? How is that possible? We never found a way to get rid of him," Piper said, not ready to believe that he was gone.

"Let's just say that it was a very powerful demon that took the Book and set Jeremy free and that the Elders took care of him. They personally made sure that Jeremy won't ever be able to come back and hurt you, I promise," I said, pulling her closer to me.

Prue stood up, amazed, "You're sure he's gone?"

"I'm positive."

I looked down at Piper to see her smiling up at me. It was a sight that I hadn't seen very much recently. I kissed her forehead, murmuring in her ear, "I love you."

I looked up at Prue and Phoebe and asked, "Do you think we could have some time alone?"

"Umm..yeah, of course, Leo," Phoebe said.

"I love you, Piper," Prue said before they both left the room and went downstairs.

I gently took Piper in my arms and stood up. I carried her over to the bed, pulled back the blankets, and tenderly placed her in her bed. I pulled back, but she kept her arms around my neck, unwilling to let go. I smiled at her and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. I pulled out of her grasp and walked around to the other side of the bed. I slid in next to her and took her in my arms again. She reached up and gave me a kiss, a long, deep kiss. I savored her lips against mine, so soft and gentle. I found myself running my hands through her hair and keeping her head close. I didn't want to let her go. I ran my hands under the bottom of her tank top, caressing her skin. I gently rolled us over and pulled back, looking into her dark brown eyes. I ran my hand down her still bruised face, wishing I could take it away. I had been told I couldn't, though.

"I love you so much, you know that, right?"

She smiled, "I know you do, Leo. I love you too."

"I found out that the Elders are letting me have the next week off to spend with you. They promised that they weren't going to call me away for anything, no matter what it is. They are really sorry about what happened."

She held my hand against her cheek, "I'm glad they finally realized that I need you. This is going to be the most amazing week."

"I know it will. I want to make a promise to you, Piper. I promise you that from now on, I will do everything possible to protect you. I won't let anything like this ever happen again."

"I know you will, Leo," she said before pulling me down for another kiss.