Summary: Buffy Summers and Prue Halliwell died. That Powers that Be foresaw that Willow would resurrect Buffy and slide the balance of power from neutral to good. To prevent that from happening. They placed Buffy in Prue's body.

Pairings: Buffy/? TBD

A/U: Buffy post season five. Charmed post season three

Disclaimer: I own neither BTVS or Charmed. Buffy is owned by Joss Whedon and Charmed is owned by CBS (I assume since they had been trying to get a reboot off the ground recently)

Chapter 1: Say What?

Unbeknownst to Buffy and Dawn Summers the tower they stood on had not been stable, it had been built by crazy people after all. And with one burst of mystical energy from the portal and Buffy and Dawn fell over the edge. The sisters held on tightly to each other as they fell. "I love you," they said to each other knowing that once they hit the portal and then the ground below they would be dead.

As the sisters passed through the portal, a million jolts of electricity surged through their bodies, electrocuting them almost instantly. If it had not been a quick death, it would have been a most painful death and as the portal closed they fell to the ground below, dead.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Leo Wyatt orbed into the Manor in San Francisco. "Prue! Piper!" he yelled upon seeing his wife and sister-in-law. He rushed to Piper and healed her. As Piper woke he turned to Prue and tried to heal her as well, but it was too late. Prue Halliwell was dead.

"Leo, heal her," Piper said.

"I can't," Leo said, "I can't heal the dead."

As Leo took his hands away from Prue and turned to face his wife, Prue's body began to glow.

"Leo?" Piper said and Leo turned back to face Prue.

"I don't know," he said.

"I do."

Piper and Leo turned to face a man neither of them recognized. Piper raised her hands ready to freeze him.

"You're powers won't work on me," the man said. "The name's Whistler. I'm a balance demon, I work for the Powers that Be."

"Leo?" Piper asked questioningly as she wondered who these Powers that Be were.

"There are three factions," Leo said interpreting Piper's gaze as the question it was surely meant to be. "You've known about two of them. Good and Evil. The Source, darklighters, warlocks and demons are one faction. Elders, Whitelighters and witches are the other. The Powers that Be are the third. They strive for balance between good and evil." He looked at Whistler. "What do they want with Prue?"

"With Prue? Nothing. With her body, everything. One of their Champions along with her sister died in a battle. The Powers foresaw that if events were allowed to continue the Champion would be resurrected in a few months due to an extremely old spell by an extremely powerful witch. If events were allowed to play out the balance would slip from balance to good, irrevocably."

"That's good though isn't it?" Piper asked.

"I'd think so," Whistler said. "But the Powers are about balance, and believe good cannot exist without evil. Therefor they will do what they can to maintain balance. Hence what they are doing now. Your Prue is dead, her soul has gone on to Heaven, or whatever afterlife dimension you all believe in."

"You're putting your champion in Prue's body?" Leo asked as understanding entered his mind.

Whistler nodded. "Yes. The Powers knew that she would want to continue the fight against evil and are giving her the way to do that, even though it effectively removes her from their prevue."

"Who is she?" Leo asked.

"Buffy Summers," Whistler said. "The Slayer."

"The Slayer?" Piper asked.

"She fights mostly vampires and low level demons," Leo said. "She has several physical abilities, instead of magical powers, that help her. She can be an extreme force of good, if the Powers would allow her to be."

"There are one or two other things. To help Buffy she will receive Prue's memories. That is to help her integrate into your life. The other is that she is now pregnant."

"The sister?" Leo asked realizing that Whistler had mentioned the sister dying as well.

Whistler nodded. "She had it bad that kid. Created to hide the Key that opened the doorway between dimensions, then to die alongside her sister. Originally she was supposed to survive and live. But events can change with every choice that is made, as is the case here. So the Powers decided that she should have a normal life, or as normal as being the daughter of a Charmed One will be. But the thing is she will have a normal life, no fake memories. Well she like her sister will remember her old life, sure. But she will grow up this time around." He looked toward Prue's body. "I better go. Once the former Slayer wakes she won't be happy to see me. Something about wearing my ribcage as a hat." He then vanished.

Piper sighed as Cole shimmered in with Phoebe.

"I can't stay long," Cole said. "The Source likely will have bounty hunters on my tail. I will check in when I can." He shimmered out.

Phoebe noticed that Prue's body lay on the floor and then looked at Piper. "Prue?"

Piper sighed. "You explain it. I just …" she turned and walked up the stairs.

"Prue is dead," Leo said. "But she's not at the same time. Well her body is not anyways. Her soul went on to the afterlife." He proceeded to tell Phoebe everything that Whistler had told him and Piper. When he finished Phoebe was sitting on the couch overwhelmed.

Phoebe let out a sigh. "So she's our sister, yet she's not."

"That's pretty much it. As soon as she wakes. She may not remember you at first till Prue's memories surface," Leo said.

"Oh, what a headache. Will? Giles? Is Dawn okay?" Buffy said as she sat up. She looked around and frowned. Where was she? Then she spotted Leo and Phoebe. "Who are you two? Where am I?"

"Buffy Summers?" Leo asked.

Buffy nodded. "Yes."

"My name is Leo Wyatt and this is Phoebe Halliwell," Leo said as he introduced himself and Phoebe. "This is going to come as a shock to you. But you and your sister died."

"This doesn't look like heaven or any other afterlife dimension. So want to try that again?" Buffy asked.

Leo looked to Phoebe who sighed and walked over to her purse on the table next to the front door. She returned and handed a compact mirror to Buffy.

Buffy looked into the mirror and her eyes went wide. What she saw in the mirror was a face not her own. "What's going on?"

"Buffy," Leo said. "Are you familiar with a balance demon by the name of Whistler?"

"Yes," Buffy said. "And if I see him again I will wear his ribcage as a hat. Is he responsible for the way I look?"

Leo sighed. "In a roundabout way, yes. The Powers that Be foresaw that a powerful witch would resurrect you and if that happened the balance of power would shift firmly to the side of the good. And being they are neutral, that was not a situation they wanted. And so they made it so you could not be resurrected. They placed you in the body of another who had died at the same time you had and then healed the body."

"Oh great, and I thought I would be done," Buffy said and then she remembered that Dawn had fallen off the platform with her. "What about Dawn? Did he say anything about my sister? Did she get to go to heaven?"

"No. Let me explain before you curse the Powers that Be or Whistler," Leo said when he saw that Buffy was about let loose on the profanity. "Whistler explained how she came to you. Created to hide a mystical artifact that you were meant to protect. That in itself made it bad for her, especially when she found out."

"Yeah," Buffy said. "Dawn questioned her mortality. So what did they do?"

"Congratulations," Phoebe said. "You're pregnant."

Buffy's eyes went wide as she looked down at her stomach.

Leo glared at Phoebe before turning his attention back to Buffy. "They decided to give her a new start in life. A start she should have had from the beginning. She like you will have her old memories. But the thing is she will grow up."

Buffy smiled as she thought about it and nodded. Out of everything the Powers had down to her over the years. She had to agree they had been specifically nice to Dawn. If she had to be pregnant with her sister, no she corrected herself, daughter. She would be happy to watch her get the chance to grow up.

"That said," Leo continued. "With time, how much time I don't know, you will get Prue's memories of her life."

"Wow," Buffy said. "I guess that will be nice since it seems I was stuck into someone elses family."

"Phoebe," Leo said. "Maybe you should show Buffy to Prue's room? Let her get some rest?"

Phoebe nodded and led Buffy up the stairs. Leo orbed out and up to Elderland.

"We know, Leo," Roland said. "We sensed Prue Halliwell's death and the Power that Be's meddling with her body. Is it true that the Slayer has been placed in the eldest Halliwell sister?"

"It's true," Leo said. "One of their balance demons told Piper and I about Buffy and her sister Dawn."

Roland sighed. "What do you recommend? Bind her powers? Wipe her memories?"

"I don't think Phoebe or Piper would allow that," Leo said. "While yes, Prue is dead. It is still her body. Besides they will need her for the Power of Three."

Roland nodded. "You are correct, of course. Ease her in gradually."

Leo nodded. "Alright."

In the Manor of the attic, Piper angrily placed five lit candles in a lose circle on the floor in front of the Book of Shadows. "I'm a witch, damn it. I've summoned people before and I'm gonna summon Prue now whether you like it or not! No more games, no more playing the good witch," she said as she moved to the Book of Shadows. "I want to talk to my sister. I need to talk to my sister. At the very least, you owe me that." She took a soul-cleansing breath, and then glared at the Book. "Here these words. Hear my cry spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the Great Divide."

Inside the circle, white magical lights, ever-so-slowly began to appear as Piper looked up, her anger replaced by hopeful wonder as she stepped closer, anticipating Prue's appearance, but is, instead, surprised to see the ghost of Grams.

"Grams?" Piper asked.

Grams smiled. "Hello, my darling. How are you?"

Piper sighed. "How am I? Are you kidding? Do you guys not get the news up there?"

Grams nodded in understanding. She knew about Buffy Summers being placed by the meddling Powers that Be in Prue's body. "I meant, how are you holding up?"

"Not very well," Piper said. "I'm a little lost."

"I know, dear," Grams said. "In essence you've gained a new sister."

Piper nodded. "Which was why I was trying to summon Prue. I needed her advice."

Grams sighed. "You will just have to do with me."

"Why?" Piper asked.

"Because you're not allowed to see her, at least not for a while anyway."

"But, why?" Piper asked.

Grams sighed again and shook her head. "Because seeing Prue right now, speaking to her, keeps her alive for you. Which keeps you from being able to move on with your life, to continue with your destiny."

"A destiny with someone I don't know, that is walking around in Prue's body," Piper said.

"I know, sweetie. I know…" Grams said. "But if there's one thing you've learned over the last three years, it's that there's a reason for everything… which means there's a reason for this, too."

"What reason could there be?" Piper asked.

"Why don't you ask me," Buffy said from behind Piper.

Piper turned to face Buffy her eyes wide. She wondered how long Buffy had been standing there. "How …?"

"How long?" Buffy asked. "Long enough. Long enough to know you have doubts and wanted to speak to your real sister about them. I can understand that, believe me. I understand better than you think." She looked down at her stomach. The one person she could talk to out of everyone she had known was inside her.

Piper's gaze followed Buffy's to Buffy's stomach in understanding. In essence they had both lost someone. Unlike herself she knew the woman in front of her could get her sister back in the form of a daughter. But would it be the same? Especially when it would be several years before the baby would be old enough to understand let alone talk about any of this. "Let me introduce you to someone," she said. "Grams, this is Buffy Summers. Buffy, this is my grandmother, Penny Halliwell. We call her Grams."

"Hello, Mrs. Halliwell," Buffy said.

"Please, call me Grams. I am in essence your grandmother now, too," Grams said.

Buffy nodded. "Maybe, in time."

"I understand," Grams said. "I think I will leave you two to chat." She then disappeared in the same swirl of white lights that brought her.

Piper moved to the couch and sat down. She then motioned for Buffy to join her as she sighed. "I've not been the most welcoming."

Buffy nodded as she sat down. "I understand. Your sister wakes up and is not the person you know. I can relate. I actually had the whole body swap deal once before. I wish I could swap your sister back for you."

"Can I ask you," Piper said. "How did you …"

"Die?" Buffy asked as Piper nodded.

"The balance demon, Whistler," Piper said. "Only mentioned a battle and that both you and your sister died in it."

Buffy sighed. "Whistler told you that Dawn was created to hide the Key?"

"Yes," Piper said. "He told us that much."

"There was a Hellgod, called Glory. She was after the Key to go home. That was her whole plan, to go home. Not caring what would happen to us or this dimension in the process. She kidnapped Dawn and opened the portal. You see the portal would only open when blood was spilt at a specific time and place. I was too late to stop the portal from opening. But I knew since Dawn had been made from me that I could close it. You see it had to have the blood and when the blood stopped …"

Piper let out a gasp as she realized what Buffy was saying. "When she was dead, it would close?"

Buffy nodded. "And so since she was made from me I intended to jump, intending to close it. But well we were on top of this tower that was created by crazy people."

"Crazy people?" Piper asked.

"Glory did something to suck out their minds, making them crazy. But at the same time implanted them with instructions or knowledge that they needed to build the tower at a certain place. Anyways energy from the portal hit the tower and Dawn and I fell into the portal together. Short end of it, the portal basically electrocuted us and we died."

"Pretty much you died literally to save the world," Piper said as Buffy nodded. She looked at Buffy with new found admiration. Whistler and Leo had only mentioned briefly about the Slayer. She wondered if someone with Buffy's knowledge had been fighting alongside them the last three years, if things would have changed. Would Prue not have died?

Piper nodded slowly to herself. It would take time for her to come to love Buffy and her niece after she was born. But she was sure she would with time. "Thank you for telling me."

"You're welcome," Buffy said.

"Now," Piper said. "I think its time we start your training."

"Training?" Buffy asked.

Piper smiled and nodded. "Prue, Phoebe and I are witches. Not your everyday witches, either. We have magical powers."

"Powers? Really?" Buffy asked. "Willow, never had powers."

"One of your friends?" Piper asked.

Buffy nodded. "Probably the one that was going to try and resurrect me."

Piper sighed. "That is so personal gain."

"Personal gain?" Buffy asked.

Piper nodded. "You know the Wiccan rede? That's not how it's supposed to work. We can't use our powers for our own personal gain, only for the benefit of others."

"That makes sense," Buffy said. "Kind of like with my, guess its my old Slayer abilities now. I never used them for personal gain. Though I am sure I could have gotten a job as a female wrestler or a bouncer at a night club or something."

"Okay," Piper said. "Prue seemed to always channel her anger into her power and then mentally moved something with her mind. It's called telekinesis."

Buffy looked around and then at the Book of Shadows. She concentrated on it as the podium on which the Book sat shook, but nothing else happened.

"That's a good first try," Piper said. "Work on that for a bit and we'll move on from there. If you need me I will be downstairs."

Buffy nodded as Piper headed down the stairs.

Piper passed her bedroom door as Leo walked out. "How's Buffy?" he asked.

"She's okay," Piper said. "She's practicing Prue's telekinesis in the attic. I thought I would have her practice that before moving on to astral projection."

"Good idea," Leo said. "How are you doing?"

Piper sighed. "I won't say its not been rough. I know that's not Prue. But seeing Buffy walking around in Prue's body, and knowing that Prue is dead …"

Leo nodded in understanding. "It will take time. Especially when you and Phoebe effectively don't get time to grieve."

"I'm grieving, Leo," Piper said. "I'm just …" She sighed as she laid her head on Leo's chest as tears flowed down her face. "I just didn't want to show it in front of Buffy. She already has it hard. She doesn't need me breaking down in front of her."

"You can still be Piper, Piper," Phoebe said from her bedroom door having heard the conversation. "If Buffy is anything like Prue. And from what we've learned so far she might be. You can still be yourself. I don't think she would expect you not to grieve for Prue."

"How are you holding up?" Piper asked.

"About the same," Phoebe said. "I was thinking of taking Buffy over to Social Services." Piper and Leo looked at her shocked at the suggestion. "Oh not to give up the baby. Dawn when she is born will be our niece after all. But none of us has any experience in having a baby. Maybe they can help direct her to someone that does or can help her in other ways in planning for Dawn's arrival."

"That is a good idea," Leo said.

The next day Phoebe and Buffy walked into South Bay Social Services.

"Yes?" the receptionist said as she spotted them.

"My sister," Phoebe said. "Is having a baby. And while she is keeping him or her. We just thought you might be able to help us with information and planning for when he or she arrives."

"Of course," the receptionist said. "Paige!"

A brunette woman walked over to Phoebe and Buffy and smiled. "Hi, I'm Paige Matthews. What is it I can do for you?"

"I'm looking for information and maybe some help in planning?" Buffy said. "I'm having a baby."

"Congratulations," Paige said. "Mrs. …?"

"Bu … Prue, Prue Halliwell," Buffy said as she shook Paige's hand. "And Ms."

Phoebe smiled. "Phoebe," she said as she took Paige's hand and gasped.

"You alright, Phoebe?" Buffy asked.

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Uhm. Is there a restroom I can use?"

"Sure," Paige said as she motioned toward the ladies room. "Over there."

"Thank you," Phoebe said as she walked into the restroom and locked the door behind her before pulling out her cell phone and dialing.