Full Storyline
At P3 Piper is disturbed by a man who appears to be flirting with her, Prue has a tune she can't place stuck in her head, and Phoebe has an invitation from Justin for the three of them to his annual family barbeque. Prue doesn't want to go, saying it is too early in the relationship to be meeting his folks. The other two think it has more to do with Prue's own "parental issues" problem.
Elsewhere, an ice cream van is playing Prue's song. When a child approaches he is sucked into it.
In bed Prue dreams of a snowy playground in which a screaming girl runs into the arms of a man. Phoebe has spent all night on the internet searching for info about Cole. When she gets an instant message from "An Old Friend" she hastily closes her laptop before Prue can see it. Piper reports that an old schoolfriend says that she saw the girls' father, Victor, in town recently.
Later that day Phoebe and Prue are having lunch in the park when Prue hears a young girl humming "her" tune. Next thing the girl is running off after the ice cream van we saw earlier. Prue and Phoebe follow and when the girl is sucked in, try to save her but only succeed in being sucked in themselves. They find themselves in the playground from Prue's dream. They also find that their powers don't work here. The Ice Cream Man appears and asks them who they are. Just then a hole opens above them and he runs away. The girls run too and meet Ari, a young boy, who tells them that there are others trapped here and that they all fear "The Nothing", the hole that opens up without warning and sucks victims up leaving no trace. They see the girl they tried to save earlier but before they can reach her The Nothing gets her.
Prue is distraught and Phoebe tries to comfort her by saying that without knowing what they're up against, and without their powers there wasn't anything they could do. Ari is immediately interested when he overhears Phoebe's comment about powers and says that they must have been sent there to save him and the others. When Phoebe touches a swing she gets a vision which is a fuller version of Prue's dream. It seems that Prue was here as a girl and that her father saved her. They round up the other kids and find the exit. The Ice Cream Man tries to stop them but they and the three kids escape from the truck onto the street. He makes one last attempt to get hold of Ari, but only ends up with burnt hands. The "children" reveal that they are really demons and run off.
The flirting guy drops into At P3, introduces himself as Caleb and proves to be very nosy about Piper and her sisters. She manages to put him off. Back at the manor she and Leo are relieved when the other two return. The check the Book of Shadows and find nothing about the demon kids, but plenty about the Ice Cream Man. He is a mortal and the tune the van plays is "The Devils Chord", irresistable to demon kids. Once inside the van they are destroyed by "The Nothing". Things look bleak because the Ice Cream Man is the only one who can tell them more about the kids, and he is stuck in the van. Prue and Phoebe both tried, but neither could open the van. Then Phoebe confesses that she has secrtely been in touch with their father for some time (he was the "Old Friend") and since he had been inside the truck in her vision, he can probably help them.
Meanwhile the demon kids are looking for the Ice Cream Van to destroy it once and for all. One of them isn't too bright though and torches the driver of an ordinary ice cream van before getting a telling off from Ari. The demon girl, "Freckles", uses her demonic breath to blow the charred corpse and the evidence away.
At Prue's insistence they meet their father at the more neutral ground of the club rather than at home. While they are waiting, Caleb turns up yet again, full of chat and questions. This time Leo is on hand and tactfully takes him off for a man-to-man talk. Dad arrives and reluctantly tells the girls his story. Little Prue was home sick and tried to save another "girl" from being sucked into the Ice Cream Van. She was sucked in herself, just as happened again earlier in the day. Dad went in after her and pulled her out. Since Dad can open the door, he is the key to their efforts to put things right.
The four of them go to the alley where the truck was last seen but it has vanished. The demon kids arrive and Freckles gives our side a good blowing before the kids run off. The team splits up, Prue and Dad to look for the truck, the other two after the demon kids.
The solution to the missing van turns out to be rather down to earth: it has been towed away! They break into the city impound yard and find the van. Dad opens the door and they go in to find the Ice Cream Man. He is on his last legs. He gives them a valve to repair the truck, but refuses to go with them. He pushes them away and, while explaining that he is replacable while The Charmed Ones are not, he is sucked up by The Nothing. Prue is distraught and The Nothing almost gets her. Dad has to save her a second time!
Meanwhile the other two have followed the demon kids, now doubled in number to six, to the impound yard. One of them knocks Piper out and Phoebe is in big trouble until Prue and Dad come out of the van. Prue "throws" the kids, while Dad lifts the bonnet to replace the valve. A demon kid is just about to barbeque him but Prue returns his earlier favour and saves him. "The Devil's Chord" plays and the demon kids are drawn Pied-Piper-like to the van where they are sucked in. Just then Leo and Caleb arrive. Caleb has explained that he is the new Ice Cream Man and had been told to find The Charmed Ones. That was what was behind his odd chat-up attempts! Caleb puts on his stripey coat and gets about his business.
Back at the manor Dad announces that he has been offered a job based in San Francisco. The girls agree that he should take it. The family appears, at last, to have been reconciled.
