Third Time Charmed

Charmed Again (Part 2)

Prue Halliwell hadn't felt right since the day Shax, the Source's assassin, had quite literally blown into the manor like a storm, leaving destruction in his wake. That was to be expected, of course. She had lost a sister that day, but there was something else, something...off. The feeling had been nagging at her ever since Leo revived her with his Healing Touch, with seconds to spare by all accounts.

Looking back, she and Piper had believed Phoebe to be upstairs, retrieving the vanquishing spell for Shax, but she never returned from her trip to the attic. Not alive, anyway. Without her to call for Leo following the attack that left Prue and Piper on the verge of death, their Whitelighter had to be alerted to their plight by Phoebe's demonic, on-again, off-again boyfriend, Cole, of all people.

Leo heard Cole's desperate call just in time to save them, but not fast enough to save the Innocent they were supposed to protect, Shax's target, Dr. Griffiths. And as for Phoebe....

***

After taking in the reality of their situation—Piper lying next to her amid the debris of the wall they had evidently both been blasted through, Leo tending to the doctor's lifeless body, which hung limply out of the shattered dining room window, and Phoebe nowhere to be seen—Prue flew into a panic, racing up the staircase in search of her youngest sister, pushing Cole aside as she did, even as he tried to communicate with her.

Somehow, she knew something had happened to Phoebe. When there was no hide nor hair of her upstairs, Prue tried to ignore the tears she had seen streaming down Cole's face, tried to convince herself that Shax had kidnapped Phoebe, but the truth was worse. Much worse. It was Piper's howl of grief that confirmed it.

Prue rushed down to the first floor, where she found Piper bawling uncontrollably, draped over Phoebe's body, which lay motionless on the living room sofa. Cole was crying too, slumped against the wall, covered in wounds. "Piper," she called. "Piper, move out of the way, so Leo can get to her!"

Piper only sobbed harder at this, so Prue turned to Leo, her eyes wide with accusation. "Why are you just standing there? Move her. Do something!"

Leo looked to Prue with watery eyes, "I'm sorry, Prue. I tried. It's too late. She's gon—"

"Don't say that! Don't you dare say that!" Prue chastised in a menacing tone, relinquishing Piper's grip on their sister by force, and taking Phoebe's pulse by the wrist, then the neck. "Phoebe? Wake up, sweetie. Wake up!"

"Oh, God, Prue, how can this be happening?" Piper sobbed.

"Piper, please, I can't hear!" Prue snapped, her ear to Phoebe's chest, listening for a heartbeat. She then dragged the body down to the floor, interlocked her fingers, and began chest compressions.

"What are you doing?" Cole rasped, his face contorted with disgust.

"CPR, what does it look like?" she retorted before angling Phoebe's head back and performing the breath of life.

"Prue..." Leo said with concern.

"Oh, God," whined Piper again.

"Stop," Cole demanded, visibly perturbed by the sight and sounds of the headstrong woman's futile efforts. "Stop it, you'll hurt... You'll break something!"

"Better a broken rib than dead," Prue asserted as she continued to pump away to no avail.

Cole got to his feet and grabbed Prue by the arm. "I said stop, damn it!" he barked.

"Get your damn hands off me!" Prue expelled, whipping her arm out of Cole's grip, sending him flying across the foyer with a wave of Telekinesis in the process.