Trapped: Leo's Revenge 2 (Finished 6-2-05)

[kowa97]

Apperently when the board was moved, my story was lost, so I am going to repost it.

Trapped: Leo's Revenge 2

Chapter 1

Everything had happened in the matter of moments. One second, Melinda is standing in the attic, surrounded by her family. The next, everything is going wrong. First, she sees her father’s eyes turn jet black. Was that just her imagination, Melinda isn’t sure. However, considering where she finds herself now, she doesn’t think it was.

Looking all around her, she yells, “Hello.” Then she jumps as her voice echoes back at her from all directions. This in itself is strange. But what is even stranger, is the fact that there is nothing around for her voice to echo off of.

Looking to her right, she sees a solitary tree standing on a grass covered hill. From one of the branches, a swing big enough for two hangs. Surrounding the hill is a cloud as thick as pea soup. It reminds her vaguely of the land of the elders. However, the more she tries to remember about what went of up there, the less she can remember.

Melinda sits on the swing and wraps her arms around herself. She is scared. She has no idea where she is or how she got there. But she can’t help but think that wherever she is, her father sent her here. After all, if her father is in fact still evil, he would want her out of the way.

But how could he send her here? The way the spell was worded, it should have sent her back to her time, to her future. Plus, her mother had said that they had used the spell once before. A couple years back, her mother had said that she, Phoebe, and Prue had gone back in time, and the younger versions of themselves had to say the spell to send them back home. It had worked then, why not now?

“HELLLOOO,” she yells again and, once again, her voice bombards her from all directions. Hearing no answer, she pulls her knees up to her chest and lays her head in them and begins to cry.

“There’s no need to cry,” says a voice from behind her, or beside her, or above her, or in front of her, Melinda isn’t sure where the voice is coming from thanks to all the echoes. Then, looking all around her, she sees someone standing behind her that she knows all to well. He looks different, but there is no doubt that this is Christopher.

Seeing him, she gets a weird sensation. He is a little older, maybe five years, than he was when Melinda had been forced to kill him with the athame. But there is something different in his eyes. They did not look heartless like they had on that day that seemed to be three lifetimes ago. “Chris,” she says in an exasperated tone. She gets up and runs to give him a hug.

“Do I know you?”<br>
“Do you know me? Of course you know me. I’m your sister, Melinda.”<br>
“Sister, I don’t have a sister.”

“What do you mean you don’t have a sister?” Melinda is getting angry now that Chris is wasting time with this stupid practical joke.

“I only have a brother, Wyatt.”<br>
Melinda looks in Chris’s eyes and sees only truth. This gets her really confused, but she decides to just forget about that for now and ask the question that she most wanted an answer to. “Whatever, where are we?”<br>
“I don’t know, but I think that this is a place between heaven and hell, just this side of the afterlife. I think we’re in Limbo.”<br>
“Limbo, how can we be in Limbo?”<br>
“By the both of us endangering our own existence.”<br>
“Come again?”<br>
“I came back from the future to save Wyatt from turning evil. I succeeded, but Gideon killed me before I was able to return home.”<br>
“I know all that. But why would getting killed in the past send you to Limbo.”<br>
“I don’t think it has. I think that by changing the past, I’ve created a paradox. In the future I created, Wyatt is good. So, therefore, there is no reason for me to come back. So I don’t travel back and warn mom, dad and the aunts about Wyatt. Since I don’t warn them, he turns and creates my future all over again. So, I go back. See it’s an ugly pattern that has turned me into an echo of a future that might be, or might have been.”<br>
“But then why am I here? I haven’t changed anything, Dad still turns evil, which in turn, will turn you and Wyatt evil.”<br>
“What are you talking about?”<br>
“Dad had to commit a great evil to restore balance between the two worlds. But, it turned him evil in the process. Then over the years, he turned you and Wyatt too.”<br>
“Of course, changing the past has had side effects like you being born.”<br>
“Wait a minute, are you calling me a side effect of something you did?”<br>
“Sorry, bad choice of words, but yah. See, in my future, you don’t exist. You were never born. So something I did has changed the future and caused them to have another child.”<br>
“Hey, do you mind not talking about me like I’m a disease or something?”<br>
“Sorry.”<br>
“Now why would something you change two years earlier, cause me to be born?”<br>
“I don’t know. Maybe, by splitting them up, I made them fall in love even deeper and hve you, or, you said Wyatt and I are evil in your future. Maybe he wanted to create the Evil Charmed Ones. It doesn’t matter. I think you were born for a reason. Maybe, you’re destined to save all of us, the way I couldn’t.”<br>
“But if it is my destiny to fix the future, why am I in Limbo?”<br>
“Don’t you see? By coming back, you have endangered your existence, just I’ve endangered mine. Dad knows you’re on to him. All he has to do is not let you be born. If you’re not born, then there is no one in his way.”<br>
“So, how can we stop him if we are here?”<br>
“My senior year of magic school, I remember learning about Limbo. How did it go? There is no beginning or end. Space and time do not exist in Limbo. With the speed of a thought, you can travel to any point in the past, or an infinite number of possible futures.”<br>
Finally starting to once again see a glimmer of hope, Melinda says, “That’s it. That’s the answer.”

End of Chapter 1

Kowa97
Tom

[kowa97]

Chapter 2

“I think we should probably do a dry run,” suggests Chris, “just to make sure it works.”<br>
“Alright then, can we go back and watch as they try to send me home?”<br>
“Why?”<br>
“I think that I saw something just before I disappeared and I have to see that my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.”<br>
“What did you see?”<br>
Melinda looks at Chris for a moment and decides that this is not the time to be evasive. “I think I saw dad’s eyes turn jet black. But with the lights that were surrounding me because of the spell … I just have to be sure, you know.”<br>
Melinda’s tone and demeanor are such that Christopher can see that she really needs this. Seeing is believing. And to be honest, Chris knows that he has to see it for himself as well. “Ok, we can start there. It is probably better if we start in the recent past anyways, just in case.

“Ok, so how do we do this?”<br>
“Well, if I am remembering right, all we have to do is think about where we want to go and we will just appear there. They won’t be able to see us. We’ll be like a ghost, an underlying echo.” Chris takes Melinda’s hands and says, “We should probably hold hands and concentrate on where we are going whenever we travel. This way, we won’t accidentally get separated or anything. If we got separated somehow, I don’t think we would ever find each other again. Limbo is too vast.”<br>
“Then why don’t we create a rendezvous point. Say, The Torch of the Statue of Liberty, December 31st 1999, at 11:55 P.M.”<br>
“That’s fine, but why the torch?”<br>
“It’s just somewhere I like to go to think.”<br>
“The torch it is.”<br>
Looking into each others eyes, they begin to concentrate. Around them, the horizon starts becoming fuzzy. The entire world begins to take on a spinning sensation. The only thing keeping them from getting sick is the fact that they are looking into each others eyes. The spinning gets closer and closer until it is as if they are standing in the cone of a tornado.

Then the spinning stops so abruptly that they almost fall over. Sitting up, they look at each other. They are transparent even to their selves. In front of them, the corporeal Melinda is hugging her mother. She has tears in her eyes.

“I’ll see you soon mom.” Saying this, corporeal Melinda walks away from her mother and stands in the center of the attic.

Chris and Limbo Melinda watch as their mother joins hands with their aunts and say

A time for everything
And everything in its place
Return what has been moved
Through time and space


They all watch as corporeal Melinda is engulfed in a mass of swirling lights. As she grows dimmer and dimmer, Limbo Melinda moves around the front of Leo for a closer look. As she feared, Leo’s eyes turn the jet black that has been plaguing her dreams for weeks.

Although, in her heart, Melinda knew what she was going to see here, it didn’t make it any easier. On the contrary, it made it final somehow. She had known that she was kidding herself. From the moment she had first appeared in Limbo, she had been trying to rationalize everything. It had just been the lights playing tricks on her eyes, a subconscious fear. Something, anything other that the truth she had known all along.

“I’ve know all along,” she says to herself. On some subconscious level, I knew that we didn’t stop anything. My intuition was kicking in for a week and I did nothing about it. I just wouldn’t listen to myself and look where it’s gotten me, Limbo.”<br>
“Do you think that she made it home ok?” Piper’s question snaps Melinda back into reality. She had quite forgotten that anyone else was in the room.

“I’m sure she’s fine. She’s a tough, extremely resourceful girl. Even if, for some reason, she didn’t make it home, she’ll find a way. I’ve never met a kid with more natural talent.” For just a second, Melinda could swear that Phoebe is looking right at her. This, however, is her imagination, Regardless, Phoebe’s words make the Melinda feel a little better.

“I wish I could do something, but I can’t exactly just go up and ask the elders anymore, not after what I’ve done.” Leo’s voice sounded somewhat indifferent. The sisters miss this. But to Melinda, Leo’s tone rings through loud and clear.

Overcome with rage, Melinda charges at her father. Releasing fourteen years of hatred, she has every intention of causing the one-time Whitelighter great bodily harm. She reaches out to grab his neck, ready to squeeze all the life out of him. She gets there and throws all her weight at him and falls right through. She hits the ground hard and lays there for a moment.

In the background, she hears her mothers voice say, “It’s not your fault honey. You did what you had to do. You had to save Wyatt.”<br>
Hearing her mother say these words is somehow worse than her father’s indifference. He was trying to make this all about him, and she was letting him do just that. “NO!!! DON’T YOU SEE IT?” Melinda is screaming at her mother. “He’s still evil, and now, he’s not even going to let me be born!”<br>
“That’s not what I meant. I attacked another elder, one that didn’t do anything to me.”<br>
“Leo,” says Phoebe, “you saved the world. You had to commit a great evil to restore the balance between worlds. You can’t do something like that without it changing you. But you didn’t kill that other elder, so it didn’t turn you evil. You are a good man. Nothing is going to change that. I think these last few weeks have proved that.”<br>
Chris, unable to just stand back any longer says, “Melinda. We should go. There’s nothing else we can do here.” He walks over to her and helps her to her feet. She is crying uncontrollably now.

“He has never paid me any attention, just you and Wyatt. I’ve always known that I’m a …. Disappointment … to him…but I’ve always thought … that at least on some level…he loves me. But no… given the choice…he would literally… choose… to keep me from ever existing.”<br>
“Of course you are a disappointment to him.”<br>
Melinda can’t believe her ears. Did Chris actually just say that? “Chris, if you’re trying to make me feel better, you’re going about it the wrong way.”<br>
“No, you don’t get me. You’re a disappointment to him because he couldn’t turn you evil like he did to me … my counterpart … and Wyatt. The reason that he has always paid more attention to my counterpart and Wyatt is because they are evil. Evil gravitates towards evil.”<br>
Looking at Leo one last time, Melinda says, “I’ve got to get out of here. Take me back to the tree swing.”<br>
Taking hold of Melinda’s hands, Chris says, “Ok.”<br>
End of Chapter 2

[mcharmed21]

I love your story!! I didnt' get to read it on the old board but this is really good

[kowa97]

Chapter 3

Once again, the horizon starts spinning. It continually gets closer and closer until it is, once again, as if they are standing in the funnel of a tornado. After a moment, the spinning stops as abruptly as it had begun, but this time, they have no trouble keeping their balance.

Melinda walks over to and sits on the swing and gently starts swinging back and forth. “Alright, we know he is evil.” The metal exhaustion she is feeling comes through in her voice. “Where do we go from here?”<br>
“I wish I knew.”<br>
“Why don’t we travel to your future and warn you about the consequences of you trying to save Wyatt?”<br>
“No, we need that to go down exactly as it already has. If we change any of that, you may never even have a chance to be born. And like I said, I have this feeling that you are too important to how we are going to fix this.”<br>
“Alright then, we go to the future and warn me.”<br>
“You know, somehow, I don’t think that will do it. I have a feeling that it’s not even supposed to be us that changes anything.”<br>
“But you just said that you think that I’m important to stopping this.”<br>
“I don’t k now how to explain it. I just don’t think that you or I are supposed to be the ones to stop this. But you are going to be instrumental in how we do it. Does that make sense?”<br>
“Not a lick. But it doesn’t matter. I think I got the gist of what you’re saying. We are supposed to get a third party to stop it.”<br>
“Yah, but I have no clue who to get. I would have to be someone really powerful.”<br>
“Mom and the aunts. I mean, who’s more powerful than the Charmed Ones.”<br>
“No, it’s not them. They are too close to dad. I think that’s why neither of us succeeded in what we were trying to do. I mean you said it yourself. You ignored your instincts because you didn’t want to believe that dad might still be evil. What we need is someone who is powerful, but can be objective.”<br>
But the Charmed Ones are the most powerful good witches in the world… You’re not suggesting that we ask a demon for help, are you.”<br>
“I don’t know what I am suggesting. But no, not a demon. We have to be sure that whomever we get doesn’t kill dad. Otherwise, you won’t be born, so you won’t be able to come back to change anything, which in turn will cause this vicious cycle to begin all over again, and we will be in the same predicament that we are in now.”<br>
“So, where do we go?”<br>
“Trial and error. Let’s start in the future, say twenty years, and we’ll go from there.”<br>
“Alright, let’s get going. I don’t want to hang around here any longer than I have to.” They take each others hands and within seconds they are in the tornado’s funnel one more time.


End of Chapter 3

[kowa97]

Chapter 4

When the spinning stops, they are in the manors’ attic, or what’s left of it. There is a huge hole in the wall where the windows should be. All around, the walls are crumbling. From the look of just the attic, they would have to say that the manor would have been condemned years ago.

Walking through the rest of the manor, they can see just how right they are. The stairs leading down to the foyer looked like they would fall if a fly landed on them the wrong way. There are three stairs that are missing all together. Looking down the hole, they can see the basement floor below.

In the Conservatory, all the windows are shattered. The furniture is all upturned and the grandfather clock is lying on its face. Then making their way into the kitchen, they see the stove and refrigerator are both lying on their sides.

They make their way outside when Melinda says, “Wait, I want to try something.”<br>
Without waiting for Christopher, she runs back inside and back into the Conservatory. Crossing her fingers, she says,

Let the object of objection
Become but a dream,
As I cause the seen
To become unseen.
.

She stands there, hoping that the spell would work. After thirty seconds, it becomes apparent to her that it’s not going to. Unwilling to give up right away, she closes her eyes, and with all the concentration she can muster, she recites the spell again. She can’t look.
She stands there for another minute before she can even bring herself to open her eyes. When she does, she sees that the entire room has been returned to normal. The windows have been repaired. The grandfather clock is standing and fully functional. The furniture is all upright and in place.

Feeling that something has finally gone right, she runs back out the door to find Chris. “Chris, Chris. Where are you? Chris?”<br>
“Over here.”<br>
Following Chris’s voice, Melinda walks around the house. There, she sees Chris standing over what looks like three freshly covered holes, each about six feet long. In front of each hole is a make shift cross made out of two small 2x4’s. Walking closer, she looks at each cross. The one on the far left reads Piper Halliwell. In the center, the cross reads Phoebe Halliwell. The final one reads Paige Mathews. “What happened?”<br>
“I don’t know. There’s not even a date of death. So we can’t even go back and see. So now we have something else to change. I’m starting to think that it isn’t such a good idea to mess with the time line.”<br>
“You think,” asks Melinda sarcastically. “Well, it’s obvious that you…”

“My counterpart.”<br>
“Sorry… your counterpart, dad, and Wyatt are all still evil. Otherwise the manor wouldn’t look like this, and they wouldn’t,” she gets choked up and points at the freshly covered graves. “They would have been buried with a lot more respect, in a cemetery, with Aunt Prue.”<br>
“Where do you think everyone else is?”<br>
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re in the underworld. Maybe they’re at the bridge. They could be just about anywhere.”<br>
“Well, why don’t we go to the bridge and see if we can find them.”<br>
They take each others hands another time. This time though, there is no tornado. Their surroundings just fade away and when they reappear, they see that they are standing at the top of the center pillar of the Golden Gate Bridge. And it’s a good thing they appeared on that column. It’s the only one left standing

On either side of the center column is nothing but emptiness. Due to a thick fog, they can’t see the water below. They can, however, see that the cables that are supposed to hold the bridge up are hanging loosely. They can hear the strain that the standing column is under do to the hanging cables.

In the distance, most of the buildings in view look to have been destroyed. They can see charred remains of those buildings that are still standing. But, even those seem to be only about 1/4 their normal size. Looking up, they see a thick black cloud of ash and soot covering the sky all around them.

“Chris, why does it look like a nuclear bomb was set off in San Francisco?”<br>
“The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It has to have been them.”<br>
“But didn’t they original Charmed Ones vanquish them?”<br>
“Yah, demons get promoted to be a Four Horseman if another one fails. So they would have been replaced. And it looks like they succeed where their predecessors failed.”<br>
“Well, obviously we can’t do anything here. Why don’t we head back to the swing and figure something else out?”<br>
They take each others hands and a moment later they are back at the swing.

End of Chapter 4

[kowa97]

Chapter 5

Back on the tree swing, Melinda, thinking out loud, says, “Ok, so we know that we can’t go to the future that will be if I don’t exist. And you said that you think I’m important to how we fix this. Wait! You said that we can go to any number of alternate futures, right? Well, we go to a future where I do exist, say twenty-five years.”<br>
“Seventy.”<br>
“What?”<br>
“We have to go seventy years into the future.”<br>
“How do you know?”<br>
“I don’t know. It’s just that… ever since I got to Limbo… everything is getting clearer. I just automatically know things. Things like how important you are, and that it’s not supposed to be either of us to change anything. It’s like an understanding about how this is supposed to play out, but I am only getting bits and pieces.”<br>
“Ok, so we go seventy years into a future in which I existed and then go from there.”<br>
“Alright, let’s go.”<br>
They take each others hands and another time they are in the tornado’s funnel. When the spinning stops, they are once again in the attic. “Wait, something went wrong. If we’re in the future, what are mom and the Aunts doing here?”<br>
Sure enough, in front of them are The Charmed Ones. They are standing there looking at three other woman that neither Chris nor Melinda recognize. Wondering what is going on, they stand back for a second and just watch the scene play out.

“Wow,” says Karri. I didn’t see that one coming. How are you here, we haven’t even gone back yet?”<br>
“Never mind that,” says Paige. “The Source Vanquishing spell isn’t powerful enough even with us saying it. You have to go back in time and explain what’s happened, leaving out the part of us already being here. We’ll take care of Madrek here. Just make sure we come to the future with Phoebe’s new Source Vanquishing Spell.”<br>
Melinda thinks to herself, “Maybe we are in the right time.”

“What makes you think you can take care of me,” taunted Madrek. “I killed the three of you more than 50 years ago. Without much of a fight either.”<br>
Unseen, Melinda and Chris flinch at this revelation, just as the sisters do, before Phoebe says, “Thanks for the warning. Then you can consider this some much overdue revenge.”<br>
The sisters pull out a piece of paper and together they read aloud;

“A source of a thousand years
and the human who absorbed him.
A seer with ambitious plans
And the unborn fetus that joined them.
All overcome by the Power of Three,
Now this Source of all Evil shall cease to be.”

With a speed and ferocity they had never encountered before, Madrek exploded, knocking the sisters back, and leaving nothing but bits of residue on the walls.

In their respective time lines, Chris and Melinda had seen the Charmed Ones display immense power as they vanquished many of the most powerful demons that ever existed. But even they are taken aback by the ferocity of the explosion. The power behind that spell, neither one of them had ever seen anything close to that before. In that moment, the both of them fully understood why the Charmed Ones are the most feared witches of their day.

Slowly, Piper gets up and says to Phoebe, “Remind me to never get you mad again. Let’s go home.”<br>
“What once was done is now undone,
Return us to the time from whence we come.
Open a bridge to our time and date.
Take us now, we’ve mended their fate.”

In front of the Charmed Ones, a vortex opens and sucks them in.

Kay, Karri, and Kristin, the three members of the Second Coming, watch as their great grandparents are sucked into the vortex. However, off to the side, Kay sees two figures, illuminated by the vortex, just standing by watching. But as the vortex closes, the figures once again become invisible

“There’s other people here, ghosts or something.”<br>
“What?” asks Karri.

Melinda’s ears however, perk up. She says to
Chris, “Did she just see us?”<br>
Unwittingly answering Melinda’s question, Kay says, “Next to where the vortex appeared. I saw a man and a girl standing there watching.”<br>
“Are you sure?” Kristen’s voice has a hint of worry in it.

“Positive. We need a spell to make the invisible visible.” Kay grabs a pencil and begins to write. After fifteen minutes, she hands both her cousins pieces of papers. Then, in unison, they read;

Apparition unseen, appear to me,
Show yourself for all to see.
Tell of your plight, but shed no tear,
Appear here, you have nothing to fear.

Starting at their ankles and working its way up quickly, a light engulf both Chris and Melina. When the light dissipates, Melinda and Chris are visible to the Second Coming

Realizing that these women can see them, and not knowing anything about them, Melinda smiles and says the only thing that comes to mind. “Hi.”<br>
End of Chapter 5

[kowa97]

Chapter 6

The three cousins, known in demonic circles as the Second Coming, watch as the girl in front of them mouths a single word. It was pretty quick, but Karri is pretty sure that the word was “Hi.”<br>
“I can see them, but I can’t hear them,” says Kristen, stating the obvious.

The smiles that had finally crept back onto the faces of Chris and Melinda fade just as quickly at these words. “They can’t hear us. How can we ask for help if they can’t hear us?”<br>
The Second Coming watch as the young girl in front of them talks franticly to the young man next to her. She is talking too fast, however, for the Second Coming to make out what she is saying. In fact, Kay is the only one that is able to pick up any of what she is saying, and only one word, “Help.”<br>
“We were right about one thing. They need help. But who are they, and why can’t we hear them?”<br>
“That’s a good question,” asks Melinda? “Why can’t they hear us? With the way their spell was worded, they should be able to.”<br>
“To be honest, I’m surprised they can even see us.”<br>
“Why? We’ve seen ghosts before, at least in my timeline.”<br>
“Yeah, but ghosts aren’t exactly in Limbo. Ghosts are spirits that exist just below the surface. That’s why people can sometimes see them. Limbo exists on a much deeper plane of existence. It was some powerful magic that allowed them to see us. That makes me think that these three are precisely the people that can save dad.”<br>
Looking back at the three girls in front of them, they see that they are standing there, staring at them

“Ok, first things first,” says Kay. “Now that we have your attention, can you hear us?”<br>
Both Melinda and Chris shake their heads yes.

“At least that’s something. Now, Can you guys tell me who you are?”<br>
“How,” asks a bewildered Melinda.

Seeing Melinda ask the question, Kay answers, “I can read lips, somewhat.”<br>
Realizing that it’s the best shot they have, Melinda slowly says, “My… name… is… Melinda… Halliwell. This… is my brother… Chris.”<br>
“Did you get any of that,” asks Kristen?

“Some of it. But I must have read her lips wrong. I thought she said that they were Halliwells.”<br>
Hearing this, Melinda starts jumping up and down. With one hand, she points at Kay. With the other she points to her own nose.”<br>
“Well apparently I didn’t read her lips wrong. What did you say your first name was again?”<br>
“Melinda.” She says her name rather fast in her excitement.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”<br>
“Melinda.”<br>
“Belinda? I don’t remember ever hearing about any Belinda Halliwell.” Kay sounds slightly confused.

In front of her, Melinda shakes her head and waves her hands back and forth in front of her in the classic cut-off gesture. When she has their attention, she spells her name out in the air. M-E-L-I-N-D-A.

Kay laughs a nervous laugh. “But you can’t be Melinda Halliwell. You’re a ghost and she only died five years ago.”<br>
Taking a step back, Melinda instinctively asks, “Are you sure.”<br>
Able to read her lips this time, Kay answers, “Yeah, I should be. Melinda Halliwell was my grandmother.”<br>With this new tidbit of information, Melinda just stares at Kay in shock, mouth wide open.

End of Chapter 6

[kowa97]

Chapter 7

This was information overload. Melinda just stands there for a moment trying to comprehend all this new information. She is staring at her grand-daughter, who just happens to be about ten years older than her, and learning that, in this time, she has been dead for five years. What do you say to that?

Then something else hit her. The woman called her a ghost. The woman thinks that she and Chris are dead. Wanting to correct this assumption right away, she shakes her head vigorously while waving her hands in front of her.

“Wait, she’s trying to say something,” says Karri.

Thinking that it would be easier to use charades than try to have them read her lips, Melinda grabs her throat, sticks her tongue out the side of her mouth, lays her head on her shoulder, and rolls her eyes back. After a second, she returns to normal and shakes her head ‘no’.

“I think she is saying that they are not dead,” says Kristen.

Excited again, Melinda touches her nose with one hand and points to Kristen with the other, as if to say, “on the nose.”<br>
“If you’re not dead,” asks Kay, “Than why are you two ghosts?”<br>
Melinda shakes her head “No”. Then, looking around, she spots a broom in the corner. Walking over to it, she points at Kay and Karri, then at the broom.

Walking over to the broom, Karri says, “I hope she doesn’t expect us to fly this thing anywhere.”<br>
Rolling her eyes at Karri’s comment, Melinda gives her an evil looking glance. She then points at the each of the two cousins and then the broom. She holds out her hands as if to say, “Hold it up.”

Kay and Karri do as they are asked and hold the broom up between them. All three of the Second Coming watches as Melinda proceeds to lean backwards and walk underneath it.

“What’s she doing?” asks Kristen.

“Limboing,” says Karri with a quick chuckle.

“Limbo, Limbo, Limbo,” says Kay. “THAT’S IT!!! They’re in Limbo.”<br>
Melinda jumps up and down doing the “on the nose” symbol. When she stops jumping, she runs over to Chris, gives him a hug, and says, “This is going to work.”<br>
Watching the celebration in front of her, Kay looks at her cousins and sees their enthusiasm too. She, however, can’t bring herself to join in the festivities. There was something very seriously wrong here that none of the others seemed to realize. The fact that her grandmother is in Limbo could endanger her own existence.

Not caring that she was breaking up the celebration, Kay asks, “How did you get to Limbo?”<br>
The smiles, once again, fade from everyone’s faces quickly. “Chris,” says Melinda, “I can’t get that through to them using charades. We have to find a way for them to hear us.

End of Chapter 7

[kowa97]

Chapter 8

“I have an idea,” says, Chris. “But it’s risky… for them.”<br>
“I’m listening,” replies Melinda.

“Well, we need them to travel to the past to turn dad good again, right?”<br>
“Yeah, what’s your point,” asks Melinda with a confused look on her face.

“Well, what easier way is there for them to travel to the past than in Limbo?”<br>
“Are you insane!”<br>
“No, hear me out here,” says Chris. “If we could somehow summon them to Limbo, we could explain the whole situation to them. Then, with all of us in Limbo, we go back in time and they can save dad.”<br>
“But what happens if they get trapped with us?”<br>
“There in lies the risk. But I really don’t think there’s anything to worry about. We’re trapped here because we both managed to endanger our own existence.”<br>
“And you don’t think they’ll endanger theirs?”<br>
“No, I don’t,” answers Chris. “This future is just a possible future, so they may never get the chance to exist. So if they manage to put everything right for us, they’re not endangering their existence. Just the opposite, they’re ensuring it.”<br>
Kay is watching this little exchange between Melinda and Chris. She it trying to read their lips, but she’s only getting a couple words here and there. But with what she is able to pick up, it becomes perfectly apparent to her that whatever it is they want to do would entail risk.

She passes this info along to her cousins, and without words, they all agree to let Melinda and Chris try.

“Whatever you need to do,” says Karri, “go ahead. We’ll take the risk.”<br>
Hearing this, Chris asks, “Can we even do anything, or do we have to get them to do it?”<br>
“We might be able to do it,” says Melinda. Do you remember when I ran back into the house while we were in the living hell future?”<br>
“Yeah.”<br>
“I ran back into the house to try the Object of Objection Spell. You know, the one Aunt Paige likes so much.”<br>
“How could I forget?”<br>
“Well, I cast the spell twice. It didn’t work the first time, then, the second time, I used all my concentration. That time it did work.”<br>
“It’s worth a try.” says Chris. “Let’s write a spell.”<br>
*********************************

Over the next fifteen minutes, The Second Coming watch as Chris and Melinda come up with a spell. When it’s ready, Chris and Melinda concentrate with all their might and say:

To create a future in which we’ll be,
We call upon these cousins three.
Here in Limbo, your path does dwell,
To right a wrong and make all well.

Instantly, the Second Coming is engulfed in Lights and colored swirls. When everything dissipates, they are in Limbo.

End of Chapter 8

[kowa97]

Chapter 9

After the light dissipates, The Second Coming sees Chris and Melinda in a new way. They are no longer slightly see-through, as they had been, but solid. Seeing this, The Second Coming is easily able to see that the barrier that separated them from Chris and Melinda is no more.

“Alright, you got yourselves out of Limbo. Nice going,” says Kristen. The color drops from her face as she hears Limbo’s ever present echo.

“Well, not exactly,” says Chris. “See, we needed to talk to you face to face, so we summoned you to Limbo.”<br>
“You brought us to Limbo,” asks Karri? “What if we get trapped too?”<br>
“Well, I don’t think that will be an issue,” says Chris.

Over the next little while, Chris and Melinda take turns explaining their respective parts of how they found themselves in the situation they are in.

It takes a minute for this new info to sink in.
When it finally does, Kay says, “So, Your existences aren’t the only ones that hang in the balance here. If we can’t fix this mess, we will never exist either.”<br>
“In a nutshell, yeah.,” says Chris.

“We’re sorry for bringing you guys into this, but we didn’t have a choice. And, using Limbo to travel back in time is the most surefire way to get to the exact point where we have to go to change this.”<br>
“Then what are we waiting for? We had better get going,” says Karri.

“Ok, then lets all form a circle and hold hands,” says Chris. “You three clear your minds and Melinda and I will take us back.”<br>
Everyone does as told. They close their eyes and Chris and Melinda think of the moment right after The Charmed Ones tried to send Melinda back to her time. This time, the journey to the past is different. Almost as if Limbo is reacting to the extra power, this time the funnel begins in their circle and works its way outward. The result is the same however, as Chris, Melinda, and the Second Coming are once again transported to the past.

When the spinning stops, they are standing in the attic in a time that has long since passed. “Wow says Karri, The attic has hardly changed.” No sooner does Karri finish saying this sentence, than Piper walks in with Leo in tow.

“I don’t know. I just can’t seem to shake this feeling that something went horribly wrong when we sent Melinda back,” says Piper while opening the Book of Shadows

“Piper, we saw her disappear. She’s fine.”<br>
“But how do we know that she made it home?”<br>
“Because that very same spell sent you, Prue, and Phoebe home from the seventies. What make you think it worked any differently this time?”<br>
“Call it a mother’s intuition. I just know that something went really wrong. I just wish I knew what.”<br>
“Well, I think you’re just letting your imagination run away from you,” says Leo. “Why don’t you just close the book and go lie down. Sleep this off and I promise you that you’ll feel better in the morning.”<br>
“LEO! Something went wrong and I am not going to rest until I find out what!”<br>
“Fine, if you are that dead set on this, I have no choice,” says Leo while pulling a potion bottle from his pocket.

Piper looks at him and, for a half a heartbeat; she could swear that she sees his eyes turn the jet black that is synonymous with evil. She doesn’t have time to explore this, however, as Leo throws the potion. It hits Piper Square in the chest and she immediately falls to the ground.

End of Chapter 9

[kowa97]

Chapter 10

In her bedroom, Paige hears a thump above her head. Getting up to investigate, she walks out her door and up the stairs to the attic. Opening the door, she sees Leo standing over Piper. Walking slowly, she goes to walk up behind Leo. She sees him kneel down and brush some hair out of Pipers eyes. She can tell that he doesn’t even know she is there.

Quietly, she gets directly behind. When she is close enough, she reaches out and touches Leos’ shoulder. “So, the sleeping potion I made you worked.”<br>
“Yeah, it did. Thanks Paige. I hate that I had to do that, but she was rambling and she hasn’t slept in the two days since we sent Melinda back. She keeps saying that she thinks Melinda is in some kind of grave danger.”<br>
“Leo, what if the spell didn’t work? I mean, when Piper gets feelings this strong, nine out of ten times, she’s right.”<br>
“After everything that’s happened, she’s irrational. I mean, first she finds out that her first son turns evil in the future. Then her other son dies. In a way, we got him back, and we saved Wyatt and she thinks everything is ok. Then for good measure, another one of her children comes back from the future to tell her that things are ten times worse. Why wouldn’t she be expecting the worst? That was perfectly good spell that they have used before. There is no reason why it wouldn’t have worked this time.”<br>
“I guess you’re right. It’s just that … she’s so sure…”

“Which is why I need your help with something else. I want to put her mind at ease. All she is thinking about is saving Melinda from this imaginary fate that she thinks Melinda has been relegated to. She is ignoring Chris and Wyatt in a time where they really need her. The only thing is that the last time I tried to put her mind at ease, it backfired and she wasn’t allowed to feel.”<br>
“So you want me to write a spell to set her at ease.”<br>
“Yeah, something that will let her forget everything that has happened over the past couple of weeks.”<br>
“What, you want her to forget Melinda and everything that she told us about the future she came from.”<br>
“Well, I wasn’t thinking of all that, but, I don’t know. I mean it’s not like she won’t know Melinda any more if you did. She would probably remember everything when Melinda is born in a couple years. But until then, I guess if she doesn’t remember Melinda, that’s the best way to get her mind back on track. So I don’t know, if you think its best. We would just have to make sure that we don’t mention her.”<br>
“I don’t know. It would be wrong to completely remove Melinda from her memory. She is her daughter after all, and those last several days with her have been nothing but good.”<br>
“Then write two spells. One to remover her memories of Melinda and the future she came from. The other one to return only those memories of Melinda that are good ones.”<br>
“You know, that’s not such a bad idea. I’ll go get started.” Paige walks out the door and Leo turns back and looks at a still sleeping Piper.

“You’re sisters can be so naive sometimes,” says Leo wearing an evil grin. Then, getting serious, he says, “I’m doing this for your own good you know. If you don’t remember Melinda, you won’t realize when she isn’t born. And if she is never born, everything will workout for the best. You’ll see in time when the illustrious future where I will reign supreme comes to be. Everyone will answer to me. I’ll have you by my side and our sons will be with us every step of the way. It’ll be beautiful. In time you’ll see, and you’ll thank me. Only your sisters stand in the way, and soon, they won’t remember Melinda either.”

Then reaching down, Leo grabs hold of Pipers hand and he orbs her to their bed.

End of Chapter 10

[kowa97]

Chapter 11

An hour later, Paige is standing at the foot of Pipers bed with spell in hand. She is about to begin reading when Leo stops her. “Wait a minute. Let me go get Phoebe. I think she should be here for this to give the spell a little extra oomph. I’ll be right back.”<br>
Paige watches as Leo orbs out before turning to a snoring Piper, “I’m sorry. I know how cruel it is to remove Melinda from your memories, even temporally, but it is for your own good. And besides, we’re going to give you back the good memories. So you’ll remember the good times we had, but you won’t be consumed by this feeling of dread. It’ll all work out.”<br>
Chris, Melinda, and The Second Coming are watching this exchange and Karri asks, “What do you think Leo has up his sleeve?”<br>
“I don’t know,” says Chris. “But that spell doesn’t need the two of them saying it for it to work. Whatever he’s up to is going to happen right here.”<br>
****************************************

Reappearing in the hallway of the Bay Mirror, Leo walks into the main news room and continues to Phoebe’s office.

Hearing someone walk into her office, Phoebe looks up from the letter she is currently reading and says, “Leo, what’s wrong?”<br>
“Paige and I need your help. Piper has been obsessed with the idea that some how, some way, something went wrong when we sent Melinda back to the future...”<br>
Interrupting Leo, Phoebe says sarcastically “Don’t I know it,”

Glaring at Phoebe for a second after she interrupted so rudely, he continues, “Yeah, well Paige has written two spells. One is going to make her forget Melinda and everything she has told us about the future. The other will return the good memories of Melinda and everything else over the past couple days. But we need a little extra oomph behind the spell, so if you wouldn’t mind coming home real quick.”<br>
Looking at her watch, Phoebe says, “Alright, but I can’t stay. I have a deadline to meet.” Then grabbing her purse, she gets up and follows Leo out of her office and says to Elise in passing, “I’m going to lunch with my brother-in-law. I’ll be back in a little while.”<br>
They walk out of the newsroom and back into the hallway where Phoebe promptly grabs Leos’ hand and he orbs them back to the manor.

*****************************************
Back at the Manor, Chris Melinda and the Second Coming retreat to a corner in Pipers room and watch as Leo and Phoebe return in a mass of blue orbs. “Hey,” says Phoebe while walking to her sister. “I hear you need some help.”<br>
“Leo thinks that the spell will be more powerful if the both of us read it,” Paige answers indifferently.
Together, they read the spell off the paper in Paige’s hand;

A Halliwell daughter has recently told
Her knowledge of what the future does hold
Remove that knowledge from this Charmed Ones past
Peace of mind is returned at last.

The sisters’ watch as a light begins to appear over Pipers head. They are so enthralled, however, that they don’t notice Leo making the sweeping movement with his hand. They also fail to realize, until it is too late, that the light is now growing to encompass Pipers whole body. In a little more than a blink of the eye, the light is filling the room completely and Phoebe and Paige are now wearing blank expressions.

As the light dissipates, the unobserved observers watch as Paige and Phoebe both collapse into a deep sleep. They see Leo walk over to them and place a hand on each of their shoulders and they watch as he orbs them out of the room.

End of Chapter 11

[kowa97]

Chapter 12

Downstairs, Chris Melinda and the Second Coming are waiting for the Charmed Ones to wake from the deep slumber. With no idea on how to change Leo back, they are having a brainstorming session.

“Well, what if we say a spell to turn him good again,” asks Karri.

“That may well be a quick fix, but he would still be inherently evil. I don’t think that that’s good enough,” answers Chris.

“Alright, let’s look at this logically,” says Kay. “We are obviously missing something. So why don’t you tell us the whole story again, and take your time.”<br>
Seeing as how The Charmed Ones have still not woken up, Melinda and Chris see no harm in going over everything again, a little slower this time. When they are finished, Kay says, “I think I have an idea.”<br>
She begins to tell them what she is thinking when they hear the stirring of the sisters. Piper is the first to get up. Stretching and yawning, Piper feels excellent. She is unable to remember ever sleeping so soundly or waking up so refreshed. In fact, if it hadn’t been for her dream, she would have gladly gone back to sleep. She is actually confused by this somewhat. She has never had such a disturbing dream and woken up refreshed before.

And the dream was a disturbing one. She had dreamed that she had a daughter named Melinda. Melinda had come back from the future and warned her and her sisters about a future that was exponentially worse than the one where Chris had come from.

What Melinda had told them in her dream had been bad. What was worse was that it was a dream. Not the part about the future. She is glad that that had been a dream. The part that depressed her is the part about her having a daughter.

About four or five years ago, She Phoebe and Prue had traveled to the future to stop Phoebe from being burned at the stake. In that future, she had a daughter named Melinda.

Melinda had been a beautiful little girl. She was bright and full of life. In the short time that she and her sisters had been in the future, she had come to love this little girl immensely.

She knows that that future has zero chances of coming to be now. Her sister Prue is dead and she has two sons instead of one daughter. She wanted that little girl more than just about anything, but she would not give Wyatt or Chris up for the world. But that hasn’t stopped the little girl from plaguing her dreams ever since.

But this dream was different from the rest in other ways too. The most notable is the fact that the Melinda in the dream is about five years older than the version that she met in that future that will never come to pass. In the past, she has only ever dreamed about the girl as she was on that day that was both so long ago and so far into the future.

In the background, she hears Phoebe waking up. This is enough to snap Piper back to reality. She watches as Phoebe stretches and listens as she says through her own yawn, “Man, what a dream I just had.”<br>
“Yeah, I had a doozy my self. What was yours about?”<br>
“I dreamt that you had a daughter. And she came back from the future to warn us that the changes we’ve already made have made the future even worse. What about you?”<br>
All the color drains from Pipers face as she registers what Phoebe has just told her. “It was a dream, right,” she asks. Then, without waiting for an answer, she runs over to Paige and shakes her awake.

Very groggily, Paige says, “Whaaattttt? What do you want?”<br>
Hurriedly, Piper asks, “What did you dream about?”<br>
“Ice Cream.”<br>
Now slightly confused, Piper asks, “You dreamt about ice cream?”<br>
“No, I want ice cream. I dreamt about a girl.”<br>
“A girl?” repeats Piper. “Who was she?”<br>
“Hey, you are violating the fifteen minute rule. You know you’re not supposed to ask me any questions until I have been up for fifteen minutes.”<br>
“Paige, we don’t have time for this. Who was the little girl?”<br>
“Your daughter. She said that she was your daughter, Melinda.”<br>
Finally understanding what is going on, Phoebe asks, “What did she say?”<br>
“That we made the future worse.”<br>
“How is it possible that all three of us had the same dream?”<br>
“I don’t know,” answers Phoebe. “It’s like our sub-conscience minds are trying to remind us of something.”<br>
“Like what? None of that really happened. It was all a dream,” says Paige.

“What if it wasn’t,” asks Phoebe? “What if somebody erased our memories and our subconscious minds are trying to remind us?”<br>
“But who would want to erase our memories,” asks Piper?

“I don’t know, but I think we should check the Book of Shadows.”<br>

End of Chapter 12

[kowa97]

Chapter 13

Back upstairs, The Charmed Ones are in a futile search for anything in the Book of Shadows about memory loss. After fifteen minutes, it becomes perfectly apparent to them that there is nothing helpful in the book this time.

Thinking out loud, Piper goes through the times when memories had been removed from themselves or people around them. “Well, there was a spell in here that Prue used once when she wanted to tell Andy that she was a witch. After 24 hours, the spell made him forget all about it. And then there was when we were in the time loop. We didn’t remember anything then. It was only Déjà Vu that let us figure out what was happening. Then there was when Paige’s father used the Whitelighter Memory Dust on us.”<br>
Interrupting Pipers train of thought, Paige asks, “What?”<br>
“Huh?”<br>
“What did you just say about my father and memory dust?”<br>
“Oh, did we never mention that part to you. Before we vanquished the water demon that killed mom, your father tried to protect us by erasing our memories.”<br>
“That’s it!”<br>
“Paige,” says Phoebe, “How could that be it? The only Whitelighter we know that would have access to the stuff is Leo, and why would he want to erase our memories?”<br>
“I don’t know, but it fits, doesn’t it?”<br>
“No, this is different, a different feeling. I don’t know how I know, I just know.” Piper answers with a dismissive gesture.

A little hurt by Piper cutting her off so abruptly, Paige shrugs, put her hands in her pockets and sheepishly says, “I just thought, you know.”<br>
Realizing that she was out of line, Piper says, “Sorry Paige, I didn’t mean it to sound like that.”<br>
But Paige is no longer listening. She has pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolds it. “What’s this,” she asks to no one in particular. Unfolding it, she looks at what is on the paper and rushes to her sisters sides.

Looking at the paper that Paige has just showed them, Phoebe says, “It looks like a reversal spell for a spell to remove someone’s memories.”<br>
“Paige, this is your handwriting. And look, you put the name Melinda in here. It’s like you wanted to return all someone’s memories except those pertaining to Melinda. So she was here.”<br>
Still in limbo, Melinda, Chris and the second coming hear this and Melinda perks up. “They can reverse the spell! We still have a chance.”<br>
Not hearing any of the conversation going on around them, but in Limbo, Phoebe says, “So we reword this spell and we get our memories back.”<br>
Well what are we waiting for,” asks Piper? “Let’s get started.”<br>
They take a moment to reword the spell before saying in unison;

Memories of the Halliwell Daughter that once was here
Her knowledge of the future we do not fear.
Returned to our memories she shall be,
Let us remember what she wants us to see

After a moment, the lights that appeared around their heads at the conclusion of the spell went out. “I remember,” says Phoebe.

“Me too,” says Piper. “We have to act fast. Leo’s still evil.”<br>
“What!” Phoebe’s reply is one of shock. “How do you know?”<br>
“He hit me with a sleeping potion…”

Interrupting, Paige says, “Um, I made him that potion. He didn’t hit you with it because he’s evil. He just thought that you needed some rest. I did too for that matter.”<br>
“You did what!” The anger in Pipers voice is easily distinguishable.

“I’m sorry. But you were running yourself ragged with worry that Melinda didn’t get home safe.”<br>
Raising her voice, Piper replies, “And someone just erased all our memories to make us all forget about Melinda. I wonder why that is.”<br>
Giving Paige a glance that says Shut up, Phoebe uses a soothing voice to say, “Piper, honey, she meant well.”<br>
“She always means well.” Then looking at Paige again, she asks, “Did you turn Leo’s eyes jet black too?” As soon as the words are out of her mouth, Piper sees tears forming in Paige’s’ eyes and she realizes that she has gone too far.

Not noticing the tears, Phoebe says, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean Leo’s eyes turned Jet black.”<br>Seeing the hurt in Paige’s eyes brought Piper back to earth in a hurry, and with her anger replaced by remorse, she says, “Just before he threw the potion, his eyes turned black.”<br>
“You’re sure?”<br>
“Positive.” She is still looking at Paige when she says this and gives her a silent apology.

Paige shakes her head as to say that all has been forgiven before saying, “Come on. We have a lot of work to do.”<br>

End of Chapter 13

[kowa97]

Chapter 14

“We have to help them.” Kay’s voice is filled with determination.

“Right, but how,” asks Karri

“Well,” says Chris, “Having traveled here in Limbo, you should still have your powers. You have to be prepared to use them against him.”<br>
“But you have to be sure you don’t vanquish him,” interjects Melinda. “If you vanquish him, I’ll never be born. If I’m not born,” she looks at Kay, “you’ll never be born. Then you two won’t have the power of three, and that’s the ball game.”<br>
“Alright,” says Kristen, “Find him, stop him, change him, whatever. Just don’t vanquish him or the two of you can never exist. At least there’s no pressure.” The sarcasm in Kristen’s last statement is not lost on any of them. “Where do we begin?”<br>
Answering, Melinda says, “First things first. We have to get the three of you back out of Limbo”<br>
“Then,” continues Kay, “We find Leo and change him back to our side.”]

Then Chris asks, “Do you know how you going to do it?”<br>
“I’m not sure,” answers Kay. “We work best on the fly. Plans only screw us up.”<br>
“Yeah,” Melinda chimes in, “mom and the aunts feel the same way.”<br>
Then, after everyone is silent for a moment, Chris says, “Well then, If you’re ready, I guess we’ll send you on your way. Good luck you three,”<br>
“You too,” says Kay

The Second Coming all join hands and watch as, across from them, Chris and Melinda do the same. They can see the concentration as they hear;

“To create a future in which we’ll be,
We call upon these cousins three.
In the real world your path does dwell,
To right a wrong and make all well”

Once again, the second Coming is engulfed in bright lights and in the blink of an eye; they are back in the real world.

End of Chapter 14

[kowa97]

Chapter 15

Once again back in the real world, The Second Coming walk out of the attic and down the stairs. Once they are downstairs, they continue into the kitchen where they see The Charmed Ones concocting a potion. Then as she and her cousins enter the kitchen, Kay says, “Grams.”<br>
Startled, Piper spins quickly and freezes the room. In front of her, she sees the three familiar looking girls. And although she can’t immediately place them, she and her sisters instantly know there is no danger.

Noticing that these three girls didn’t freeze when Piper froze the room, The Charmed Ones take that to mean that these girls are good witches. But the fact that the girls did not freeze also jars Pipers memory. Quickly, it all comes back to her;

Piper is in the attic looking through the Book of Shadows for a way to banish a pesky Poltergeist. Leo is with her. “Piper, you tried this already. There is nothing in the Book of Shadows about how to get rid of
poltergeists,” says Leo.

“Leo, this thing is acting like am umbrella in the shower and a water balloon for the bath. I have not been able to wash up in three days and that thing is going to pay for that. I mean, we’ve vanquished witches, warlocks, and some of the most powerful demons the world has ever seen. We have even vanquished the Source of all Evil numerous times. After all of that, I am not letting a Poltergeist get the best of me.”<br>
“Well then, why don’t we just call the Ghost Busters,” suggests Leo.

“Leo, be serious. We need a real solution here, not an 80’s movie”<br>
“I am being serious. Ghost Busters really do exist. In fact they were the inspiration for the movies.”<br>
With her excitement growing, Piper says, “Is the Proton Pack real? I have always wanted one of those.”<br>
“Not the way you think. They have the power to send Proton Particle Streams from their hands to capture the ghost. Then they open their mouths really wide while emitting a bright white light. Then they suck the ghost in and digest it. It’s how they feed.”<br>
“So you’re telling me that there are creatures out there that feed on people’s spirits and you want me to ask these things for help? Tell me, please, because right now I’m thinking it would be a whole lot more fun to vanquish them.”<br>
“I know they sound evil, but it’s a necessary evil. First off, they feed on evil spirits. Second, if it weren’t for them, the spirit world would run rampant. They have a big part in keeping the world cosmically balanced.”<br>
“Ok, so how do we call them?”<br>
Just then a vortex opens up in front of them and the Second Coming is thrown onto the floor. Instinctively, Piper goes to blow them up when Leo grabs her hand saying,

“Wait, stop. That was a vortex. They’re time travelers. Freeze the room.”<br>
“What do you…,” begins Piper.

“Hurry,” yells Leo forcefully.

“OOO,” says Piper while flicking her wrist to free the room. “You’re asking for it.”<br>
All of a sudden they hear a strange voice say “Grams.”<br>
“They didn’t freeze. Leo, why didn’t they freeze?” rambled Piper.

“I think you know the answer to that. We’re good witches, and we’ve come for your help Grams,” informs Kay.

“Grams, why do you keep calling me Grams,” asked Piper?

“Because, you’re my great-grandmother.”

Now remembering everything, Piper says, “You’re back. What’s happened? Why are you here?”<br>
“Well,” says Karri, “you helped us out once. Now it’s our turn to help you out.”<br>
Curious, Paige asks, “With what?”<br>
“Leo,” answers Kristen. “Your instincts are correct. Leo is still evil, but it is much worse than that.”<br>
Continuing her cousins’ thought, Kay says, “Because of what he did… does… will do, Melinda and Chris are trapped in Limbo.”<br>
“What!” Paige asks in an exasperated tone. “They’re in Limbo, how?”<br>
Answering, Kay says, “Well, as for Chris, I don’t think there was a place for him in the future he created. See, in that future, he died at a point in time before he actually traveled back to the past. Therefore, he ended up in Limbo rather than the future. Melinda, on the other hand, is never going to be born. Leo will never allow it.”<br>
Then how exactly is it that they landed in Limbo,” asks Paige? “Shouldn’t they have faded completely out of existence?”<br>
Answering, Karri says, “I asked him about that. He seems to think that they are in Limbo precisely because their futures are in Limbo. There is still time to repair the damage before they fade out of existence completely.”<br>
Confused, Phoebe asks, “But how would he know?”<br>
“Well,” responds Kristen, “the longer he is in Limbo, he gets more of a… I don’t know. I guess you could call it an understanding.”<br>
Then Piper asks, “And how is it that you three became involved?”<br>
Karri answers, “Limbo allows you to travel to the past and an infinite number of possible futures. They went to a future where everything works out and recruited our help. They brought us to Limbo and we all came back here.”<br>
Continuing, Kay says, “If Chris is right, and from what I can tell, he has yet to be wrong. The three of you will have the most difficult part.”<br>
Then Phoebe asks “And that would be?”<br>
“You have to be able to do nothing. You have to take a step back and let us handle it.”<br>
“Forget it,” Piper says angrily. “Leo is my husband, the father of my children. I will not be put on the sidelines for this!”<br>
“You’re right,” says Kay. “He is your husband and the father to your children. And with your history together, you are all to close to the situation.”<br>
Still yelling, Piper looks at Kay and says, “Yeah, and what about you? Melinda is your grandmother. If she is never born, you can’t exist either. Doesn’t that put you awfully close to this situation too?”<br>
“Yes, but our personal relationship with him is not what yours is. In our time, Leo is a full fledged Elder. He spends most of his time up there. We never even get to see him.”<br>
Piper tries to come out with another rebuttal when Phoebe stops her. “Piper, they’re right. We are too close to the situation.”<br>
“You’re as crazy as they are. Close is what this situation needs.”<br>
“No Piper,” says Paige offering her two cents.” They are right. We were blinded to the fact that Leo is still evil because of our relationship with him. If we weren’t, we would have picked up on it sooner.”<br>
Reaching, Piper says, “But…but…” but she can’t think of anything to say. Finally, knowing that they all right, she says, “Just be careful.”<br>
End of Chapter 15

[kowa97]

Chapter 16

The Second Coming orb out leaving the Charmed Ones in an awkward silence. Finally, after fifteen minutes, Phoebe says, “Piper, I honestly didn’t think you would agree to stay on the sidelines for this.”<br>
“You know that I don’t want to, but you guys are right. We had our chance, and we failed. I couldn’t save him.”<br>
“Honey,” says Paige. “What do you mean, you couldn’t save him? We were all there. None of us noticed that he was still evil. It wasn’t just you.”<br>
“But neither one of you guys is his wife. I am. I should have noticed.”<br>
After a second, Phoebe says, “Piper, they are right. We’re all to close. We couldn’t see the obvious.”<br>
“I know, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. I mean, it’s Leo. He’s the last person in the entire world that I can imagine as evil. And now, knowing that he doesn’t even want our daughter to be born, I don’t know if I can ever forgive him for that.”<br>
“Honey,” says Paige before getting cut off.

“I mean you’ve met her. How could he not want her to be born? I mean, she’s amazing.”<br>
Realizing that brutal honesty is the best course here, Phoebe says, “Evil doesn’t think like that. This isn’t about Leo not wanting his daughter to be born. It’s evil trying to avoid a threat. Melinda is at threat. She is a means to his end. No Melinda, no threat, Leo wins.”<br>
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”<br>
“Oh, don’t I? I guess it was someone else that was the Queen of all Evil.”<br>
“Yeah, you’re right, I’m sorry. But I just can’t help but feel that we’ve lost him.”<br>
“And you thought that you lost me too. But you got me back. You appealed to my goodness and got me back.”<br>
“No, we appealed to your love of family. In Leo’s case, love of family is what got him into this mess. I just don’t know how we are going to get him back.”<br>
“Just believe in the good in him,” says Paige. “Right now, the evil in him might be the dominate presence, but the good is still there. We just have to figure out a way to appeal to it.”<br>
“But not us, right? We have to stay on the sidelines for this one. I don’t know if I can.”<br>
“No one said it’s going to be easy,” says Phoebe, “but I think that it’s the best way.”<br>
“I hope you’re right.”<br>
End of Chapter 16

[mcharmed21]

WOW! This is an amazing story!

[kowa97]

Chapter 17

After scrying for Leo, The Second Coming tracks him back to P3. Knowing that the element of surprise is the best thing that they have going for them, they orb in on the dance floor in the hopes of surprising him. Unfortunately, he is ready for them.

Already waiting on the stage for their emanate arrival; Leo is able to trap them in a crystal cage by orbing the stones around them as soon as they arrive. “So, you’re on to me.”<br>
“You could say that,” says Kay.

Walking slowly, and with complete confidence, Leo asks, “Do the sisters know anything?”<br>
Answering, Karri says, “They know everything. They know about you, what you did, what you’re going to do. They even know about Melinda.”<br>
Well, that presents a problem there, doesn’t it? I knew that they would remember everything eventually; they’re too good at what they do not to. This is just going to force me to up my time-table.”<br>
“You’ll never win,” says Kristen. “You do realize that, don’t you?”<br>
“I’ve already won. The future has already dictated that. And there is nothing you can do to stop it”<br>
“We’ll just see about that,” says Kay.

“You three are very cocky, aren’t you? Seeing as how you will be dead in a matter of moments, you’re not in a position to stop me. And the sisters haven’t got a chance of stopping me. They won’t be able to get past our history together.”<br>
“You are making the same mistake of every demon before you,” says Kay. “You’re underestimating the Charmed Ones. You, of all people, you know them best and you are underestimating them.”<br>
“You know what? I think that that’s enough out of you.”<br>
“Piper,” yells a voice from the top of the stairs. “Leo. Is there anybody down there? I hope you don’t mind, but I had to bring Derrick to work my babysitter canceled on me.”<br>
Surprised, Leo quickly turns towards the voice and sees P3’s newest bartender, Julie, walking down the stairs carefully pushing a baby stroller.

That’s all the opening Kay needs, she calls, “Crystal.” Instantly, the crystal nearest her vanishes and reappears in her hand. Then, free of the crystal cage, Kristen sends a force projectile at Leo, hitting him squarely in the chest.

Already down the stairs, Julie is pushing the stroller towards the bar when, out of the corner of her eye, she sees Leo flying through the air, passing just behind her. Panicking, she runs the rest of the way to the bar where she and Derrick hide behind it.

Recovering from the blow that damaged Leo’s ego more than anything else, he stands up and shoots two electric bolts at the cousins, one from each hand.

Reacting quickly, Kay orbs away as Kristen shimmers out. Both of them get out of the way fine, but Karri is not so lucky. When she saw the bolts, she dived to her right, but Leo got a piece of her.

One of the bolts clips her in her side, sending her into a quick spin. As she lands, she slams her head against the leg of a table, cracking her head opened. Bleeding profusely from both her side and her head, she lies unconscious, clinging to life.

Angry now, Kristen reappears and sends a force projectile at Leo. He orbs out and the projectile hits the bar behind him. A big whole appears in the bar and the hear a big thump as Julie gets knocked out from the blast and falls to the ground.

Seconds later, Kay reappears next to the bar. Hearing her, Leo spins and sends another bolt of electricity at her. Disappearing again, the electric bolts fly past where she just stood and hit the bar. They shatter the bottles of alcohol on the bar which causes an instant fire to erupt.

Leo was just about to turn and fire at Kristen again when he hears the roar of the fire behind him. Realizing that Julie and he 4 month old baby Derrick are behind the bar, Leo orbs out and reappears behind the bar.

Working together, Kay and Kristen use fire extinguishers to put out the fire as Leo attempts to save Julie and Derrick.
Immediately, he sees that the flames are raging all around them. Careful to avoid the flames, Leo makes his way over and touches both Julie and Derrick on their shoulders and orbs them out of harms way.

Reappearing in safety, Kay and Kristen watch as a black cloud appears to vanish from all around Leo and the jet black in his eyes burst, leaving Leo normal for the first time in a long time.

“What happened?”<br>
“I don’t know,” answers Kristen. “But you have to save Karri.”<br>
Rushing over to Karri, Leo starts to heal her. It takes a couple minutes, but eventually she opens her eyes.
Then seeing Leo has just healed her, Karri asks, “What happened?”<br>
“I don’t know,” says Leo.

“I think I do,” says Kay. “It took your committing a great evil to turn you bad. Committing a great good must have turned you back. You had to save yourself all along”<br>
End of Chapter 17

[CanadianHalliwell]

Short update, but a pivotal one! I am guessing this story is coming to a end, so I hope you will write a sequel and keep the Second Coming around for a bit longer!