DISCLAIMER: I sadly do not own most of these characters. Except for the Master which is a slight ripe off of Star Wars, and Daniel. You can contact me with comments by clicking my name above.
Chapter One: Tricks of the Trade
"Hey Piper!" Phoebe yelled, motioning her over towards her. It was a Sunday and Phoebe had talked Piper into going to the mall. Piper casually walked over to where Phoebe was standing. Phoebe was staring intently across the store.
"What is it?" Piper asked.
"Look at that cutie!" Phoebe exclaimed, and Piper rolled her eyes. She drug Phoebe out of the store and began walking down the stretch of the mall. They grabbed a couple of tacos for lunch and sat down on the benches that lined the mall. Prue was supposed to be meeting them at this time but so far she hadn't shown up. Phoebe got up and started to pace. She walked a distance and then turned back around running straight into the man they had seen earlier.
"Uh, hi, sorry!" she answered nervously. Up close the man was as cute as they had thought, and more, he was gorgeous! He was tall and strong and his eyes were a dark blue. He backed away from her, but then seemed to think better of it.
"Hi, that's okay, you just caught me off guard. I'm Daniel."
"I'm Phoebe."
"I didn't mean to seem mad, I'm just a little nervous, work has been hell lately," he said
"Oh really what do you do?" Phoebe asked, interested and putting her flirting mode on high.
"I'm a journalist."
"Well at least you have a job." Phoebe said shaking her head slightly.
The man smiled, but Phoebe didn't catch it.
"Well, are you any good with computers?" he asked.
"Yeah," she answered. Something was wrong here and her instinct told her to go back to Piper, but she couldn't help but stay.
"Well, if you want to work typing up stories for the newspaper, I might have a job for you."
Phoebe was taken back, "But you just met me?"
He took out a piece of paper and wrote an address, and a time down on it and handed it to her. "I trust you," he said slyly, and walked away. Phoebe stared down at the piece of paper in her hands.
"And may I ask, where you dug that one up?" The voice behind her made her jump, even though she recognized the voice to be Prue's. "Where's Piper?"
"Jeez you scared me, Piper's over there." Prue and Phoebe walked back to Piper.
"Where were you anyway?"
"Claire wouldn't let me get away. And it's supposed to be my day off!" Prue said, then concentrated on Piper. "What a second, how'd you get away from Quake?"
"Well the new cook caught the kitchen on fire. So we can't very well make food without the kitchen. It happened three days ago Prue. Where have you been?" Piper asked teasing.
Phoebe remembered the note Daniel had given her; she pulled it from her pocket and waved it in front of Prue and Piper.
"What is that Phoebe, quit waving it around so I can see it!" Prue snatched the note and read it aloud for Piper to hear. "304 S. Maryland St., 8:00 am, tomorrow morning."
"That doesn't sound like a date, Phoebe, not in the morning?" Piper asked questioning.
"That guy we saw earlier Piper, and Prue you saw him while he was leaving. Well I bumped into him and we got to talking..."
"Go on, go on." Piper said urging her on.
"Well, he offered me a job! Isn't that crazy, I mean he doesn't even know me, for all he knows I could be a psycho killer or something." Phoebe laughed and looked at her sisters for a reaction. They were both frowning.
"What?" she questioned.
"Well, what do you know about the guy?" Piper asked.
"Look it's nothing, he's a journalist, he asked me if I knew anything about computers. I can do computers!" Phoebe said smiling.
"I don't think it's a good idea, Phoebe." Prue said sternly, elbowing Piper to back her up.
"Uh, absolutely." Piper stammered.
"Guys, I don't need your permission. I'm gonna check it out, if I don't like it, then I'll go back to my normal jobless state." Phoebe said, sarcasm evident in her voice. Prue and Phoebe both looked pretty steamed so Piper tried to break the ice.
"You guys ready to do a little shopping!"
Phoebe shook her head, "I'll see you guys later, I've got things to do," she said and hugged Piper and Prue. She tried a small smile for Prue, but it didn't do much good. She turned around and headed for the nearest exit.
"Listen Piper, I'm gonna head back to Bucklands, Phoebe's kidda ruined the day for me, see ya." Prue also hugged Piper and headed for the exit.
"Well what a nice time we had!" Piper said sarcastically.
* * * Phoebe didn't feel too good when she got home. She was happy about the prospect of a job, but she didn't want to disappoint Prue and Piper again. Her head was pounding as she climbed the stairs. She lay down on her bed and fell asleep.
* * * Prue was back at Buckland's concentrating on their next auction coming up in a week. At least this time Claire had given her fair warning, unlike when Prue had first met her. There was a knock on the office door and Andy came in. Prue straightened up, it'd been a while since she had seen Andy and even though they weren't going out, she was still attracted to him.
"Andy," she said, "What brings you here?" He plopped down in the chair in front of the desk and smiled. Andy seemed happy today, it didn't look as if he had come here to complain or accuse her of anything.
"Listen Prue, I know we're not a couple anymore. But I've been wanting to see you, and well..." Andy trailed off. It wasn't his usual style to be so bold about taking relationships into his own hands. "Well if you would want to have dinner with me tomorrow? It could be a double date or something, if Piper wanted to go out with Morris?" he looked at her.
Prue smiled, "So Morris put you up to this didn't he, so he could get at my little sisters?"
"Yup right on."
"I'd love to, and I'll talk Piper into coming." Prue said, surprising Andy by her cheerful response.
"You sure Phoebe's gonna be okay about this?" Andy asked, remembering he hadn't gotten anybody for her.
"She got a job today, and she'll start tomorrow so she'll probably be too tired." Prue said. She was so excited, she hadn't felt like this since she first started dating Andy.
Andy got up from the chair, and instead of his usual handshake at their parting, he leaned over the desk and kissed her softly on the cheek. "Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow." He walked out the door.
* * * Andy walked out the door, and practically ran down to the car where Morris was awaiting the news.
"Morris, it's all set up. Oh and I was feeling kinda awkward, so I told her that you put me up to it so you could go with Piper." Andy chuckled as Morris punched him in the arm.
* * * Piper had gone back to Quake and made sure everything was getting fixed and she was on her way home, when she decided to stop off and get Prue. Prue hadn't taken her car that morning, because it was in the shop. So Piper parked the car, and got out in search of Prue. She could get off now probably. I mean it was supposed to be her day off! She stepped into the office and was caught off guard when Prue came up to her and hugged her.
"Prue. Ouch that's a little tight of a squeeze. Prue!" Piper said trying to work her way out of the hug.
"Piper, Piper, Piper! Today Andy came in."
"And?" Piper asked.
"Well he wanted to know if we could have a double date tomorrow night."
"Well that's great, Prue. You and Phoebe will have a great time!" Piper said.
"No, no, no, Morris is going to take you out with us, so we can have a double date!"
"Prue, I don't know that I..."
"Please! I'll be your servant, I'll..."
"Okay, okay, as long as Phoebe's okay with it." Piper relented. Prue was acting so weird. She was normally hard to excite, calm, in charge. But in a way it is nice to have her so happy for once. "Alright, but I really dropped by to pick you up, so we could all be home around the same time."
"Sure, just hold on one sec." Prue grabbed her purse and, they both walked out of the building and towards the car, and home.
* * * "Hey Pheebs, are you home?" Piper called when they got in the door. Prue had volunteered to help with dinner tonight, so she went into the kitchen to start making preparations. Piper went upstairs to look for Phoebe. She walked into her room to find her asleep. Piper had always had a best friend, motherly instinct when it came to her sisters, just like Prue always worried about the guys we were dating and stuff. Piper was about to tiptoe out of the room when she noticed that Phoebe hadn't changed into her sweatpants, which is what she always wore to bed. Piper leaned over to check her temperature. It was hot, not burning but pretty hot.
Piper walked quietly downstairs and retrieved the thermometer, from the cabinet where they kept all the medical supplies.
"What's that for?" Prue asked, as she passed her.
"Phoebe's upstairs asleep and I think she's got a little bit of a fever. Not bad though, don't worry."
Prue took the thermometer from Piper. "Let me go then. I need to apologize to her about today." Piper nodded and they switched positions.
Prue always hated it when her sisters got sick. No matter what the circumstances, she always felt like it was her fault. She shook Phoebe gently to wake her. She groaned a, "go away" and Prue smiled shaking her a little more.
Phoebe relented finally and sat up enough to take the Tylenol and take her own temperature.
Prue took the thermometer and read it, "101. Yup, you got yourself a little fever there."
"Hey Prue? I wanted to apologize for jumping at you like that today."
"My fault too, don't worry about it." Prue said, "Hey you want any food?"
"No, I'm not really hungry, but thanks."
"Okay then get some sleep."
"Hey Prue, don't let me forget to get up tomorrow. I want to go try that job," Phoebe said as she started to drift off.
"Okay, night Pheebs."
Prue wandered downstairs and told Piper that they would just be cooking for two that night. Piper and Prue gave up on thoughts of a big meal, and settled for easy turkey sandwiches. They decided to watch a movie because neither one of them wanted to go to bed until they made sure Phoebe's fever went down more.
* * * Daniel bowed before his master. He had done his part for today. He had located the witches and even made sure that one of them would be working near him at all times. His kind were called Galations, they were able to drain power, and health right out of a person, but they hadn't walked the earth for a long time, until now that is. A good witch back in the 1600's had banished his line and all the Galations into hell. Most of his kind were still there, but he and his master had made a bargain. If they were able to kill the Halliwells and cut off their family line, then there would be no more Charmed Ones, enabling the rest of the Galations to become free. The other pathetic witches on earth would not be able to stop them if the Charmed Ones were gone. He had drained a little bit of health and strength out of the youngest today, but it was not nearly enough. He would take her strength, a little at a time, then she would be too weak to help her sisters defeat his master. They would be no match. So many witches underestimate the power that the young one has.
"Have I done well master?" Daniel asked the man concealed in the shadows.
"I am pleased, do not foul this up, if you fail, I shall personally rip you to shreds. Our entire existence rests on our work alone.
Daniel nodded, and rises. "Thank you master, I will not fail you."
* * * Piper woke up on the couch on a blank blue screen. Prue was in the chair across form her where they had both fallen asleep during Austin Powers. The cover to Liar, Liar, was crushed under the remote, which was the movie they had watched prior to Austin Powers. It was only 5:00, and they usually didn't get up until or 6:30 or 7:00. There was a faint buzzing coming from the screen, but the volume was way down, but some miracle. Piper decided against waking Prue up just yet, but Piper figured she might as well get up, get ready, fix breakfast, and check on Pheebs.
Piper climbed the stairs and walked into Phoebe's room. Phoebe was still asleep when Piper placed a hand on he head. The fever had almost disappeared. She would probably be feeling a little weak today, but the fever was definitely gone. Piper smiled, things were starting to feel more normal. She knew Phoebe would want to get ready for her new job so she shook her awake.
"Pheebs, it's pretty early but I thought I'd give you a chance to get up now if you want?" Piper said. Phoebe rolled over mumbling something under her breath about, the best dreams being interrupted, when she suddenly sat up. Piper grabbed her shoulders confused.
"Piper, oh my god! I'm glad it's you. I had this dream about Mom, and she was warning us about these creatures. I had an extra power, and there was a really good looking guy there too!" Phoebe was spilling out all these things very rapidly.
"Well, let's be glad all that was just a dream." Piper said calmly. Phoebe got up and looked at the clock.
"Why'd you wake me up so early?"
"You're job, silly. I thought you'd want to have a head start."
"Oh right, thanks Piper. And thanks for taking care of me last night." Phoebe said quickly as she rummaged through her closet and grabbed some stuff. Piper left the room in search of breakfast and Phoebe quickly changed and got ready. She went downstairs to find Prue on the phone with Andy.
Prue hung up after a little bit and turned to Piper, "Okay it's set up. Tonight 7:00, they'll pick us up." Prue and Phoebe sat down at the table.
"Are you and Andy going out again, Prue?" Phoebe asked.
"Yeah, he and Morris are taking us out tonight." Prue said and quickly added,
"If that's okay with you? We don't want to leave you hanging, especially if you're not feeling good."
"Nope, I'm feeling good, you guys have a good time. I really not up for any dates tonight and we do need to get Piper dating again." Phoebe joked and Piper gave both of them the look.
Prue finished her breakfast and got up. "And I'm off. I see you guys tonight, and Phoebe you be careful with this new job and guy!" Prue said and hugged her sisters before heading out the door.
The other two finished up their meals, and cleaned up a bit. "Hey Phoebe do you want a ride?" Piper asked.
"No thanks. I think I need to do this alone." Phoebe said and Piper nodded.
"As long as you be careful, I understand." Piper and Phoebe walked out the door. Piper got in her car and Phoebe got a cab. Piper had a bad feeling about that job, and she just hoped that Phoebe would be on her toes at all times. She started up the car and drove to Quake. When she walked in, she was happy to smell the food cooking again, and the kitchen functioning properly.
* * * When the taxi driver pulled up to the warehouse, he looked back at the young woman. "Are you sure this is where you want to be Miss?" Phoebe nodded and paid the man. She thanked him and got out of the taxi.
Phoebe walked through the door of the huge building and looked around. She heard a voice behind her and whirred around to find Daniel.
"Hello Phoebe, I'm glad you came."
"Yeah, well Daniel I am kinda wondering where we actually work?"
"Please call me Dan, or Danny, if you prefer. Anyway, I just wanted to get acquainted first." He said and Phoebe instinctively backed away. "Don't worry, Phoebe I'm not going to hurt you."
There was something about his voice that drew her toward him. He stepped closer to her and led her to the only furniture in the whole warehouse, a couch.
"This is kind of my secret hideout, if you wanna call it that." He started off. Dan talked a little bit, not trying to probe her to talk or give away any details, and it made Phoebe relax a little. She was comfortable around this guy.
It was an hour or two after she had arrived there when he asked her a question directly. "Phoebe, do you feel threatened by me, or are you comfortable with me?" he leaned closer to her and placed his hands gently on her hips. She hesitated to answer. He pulled her closer and started to kiss her. She wanted to pull back, but she felt something strange overtake her. It was like something was taking her ability to think or refuse. He kissed her more passionately than she had ever been kissed. He held her tight and looked into her eyes. For some reason, she was feeling more and more tired. He suddenly let go, as she slumped over onto the couch.
He stood over her, and smiled. He refrained from taking all her strength because it was not in the Master's plan, yet. He picked her up in his arms and carried her out to his car. He would take her back to his apartment, and then take her home once she was revived. He had to have her alone tonight to complete the plan, and if the sisters thought she was still sick they would never leave. He drove on, thinking how pleased the Master would be. It was all working out perfectly.
* * * Phoebe woke up slowly and was quite surprised when she found her self on an entirely different couch with Dan staring blankly across the room at her. She was very tired and felt about ready to collapse but she wasn't in pain, like she was last night. Dan finally noticed she was up and smiled cheerfully at her, keeping up the show.
"Wow, Phoebe, you must have been really tired. You just slept through the day, it's nearly 5:00!" he said faking surprise.
"Oh god, I'm sorry Dan." Phoebe said struggling to get up.
Dan jumped up to help her, and gave her a look with his beautiful eyes, that made Phoebe almost float. Oh he was so gorgeous. She thought.
"Don't worry about it, Phoebe. I can give you a ride home if you want?" he said smiling.
Phoebe nodded, "Prue and Piper are probably pretty worried, if they have gotten home. I told them I'd be back by 4:00."
"Well don't you worry, I'll take care of you."
* * * Prue had gotten back from Bucklands at 3:00, having finished the work on the auction, Claire had told everybody to go home. Claire actually seemed to be getting more laid back. She seemed to be more comfortable now that she had been with Bucklands for a while. Piper would be home by 5:00 or 6:00, she knew and Andy and Morris would be picking them up at 7:00. The only thing bothering her was Phoebe. Where was she? She was supposed to be home by 4:00. I wonder if she liked the job? These questions were running through Prue's head since she had arrived home. To occupy her brain, she had even tried to clean the house a little, although it didn't need much cleaning considering Phoebe hadn't been home to mess everything up.
She was sitting on the couch watching TV, when the doorbell rang. She hurriedly got up and answered the door, to find the young man that they had met in the mall.
"Hi." Prue said suspiciously.
"Hello, I just dropped by to bring Phoebe back. She did a great job at work, she even stayed overtime." He said brightly and Prue looked over his shoulder to see Phoebe grinning up at him.
"Yeah, uh thanks." Prue said and moved out of the way so Phoebe could get in. She started coming in the door, when she turned to say goodbye, and he leaned in and kissed her. They broke apart and Prue shut the door, once Phoebe was in. Prue was giving her a startled look.
Phoebe was looking tired and happy, almost dream like. "I take it you liked the job?" Prue asked.
"Prue it was so great, we didn't even work yet. We just sat and talked and got to know each other."
"But he said you worked hard and had to stay overtime?" Prue said.
"Oh, he was just covering up for me, so you wouldn't be mad that I was late. Isn't he sweet?" Phoebe grinned.
Prue groaned and stomped away exasperated.
Piper got home later that evening and got ready for the date. Prue was ready when she finally came downstairs, but she seemed frustrated.
"What's the matter, Prue?" Piper asked.
"Have you talked to Phoebe about her new job yet, Piper?"
"No, why?"
"Today, that guy brought her home, and..."
"His name is Dan, Prue, and don't be mad he's a nice guy." Phoebe had shown up in the room and sat down in a chair. Piper looked at both her sisters.
"Why do I get the feeling, I'm not hearing everything?" she asked.
"Because, when he brought me home, we kissed and Prue finds it necessary to disapprove of anybody I really like." Phoebe said and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not mad tonight, and you shouldn't be either, Andy's gonna come cheer you up."
Prue relaxed, "Yeah, I just want you to be careful."
The doorbell rang and Phoebe ran to get it, "You guys stay here and attempt to look sexy, I'll go get the door." She giggled as Piper swiped at her. She went to answer the door and opened it to find Andy and Morris, all dressed up. She smiled and greeted them, and Morris was even kind enough to give her a peek on the cheek, saying something about, "Thanks for letting us take your sisters out tonight."
She looked as the boys escorted Piper and Prue out the door. Piper gave her a hug, and made her promise not to get into any trouble, and then they left. The moment the door closed, Phoebe felt overwhelmingly tired again. It was coming and going and this time, a headache was attached. She started for the living room when she bumped into the picture of her mother on the desk; she jumped when she started having another vision. It wasn't like the others she had had. It was like a message, her mother and Grams were there and they were motioning toward the attic. She shook her head and made her way upstairs. She didn't know what was going on, but she might as well have a look.
She got upstairs and started flipping through the Book of Shadows when she came upon a page with Galations written on top in her mother's handwriting. It was written hurriedly and it had no description of the creatures themselves. The only thing that struck her as odd was that it was addressed to her. It read, "Dear Phoebe, when you are older, I know you will have to face them. You must beware of the Galations. If you have come to this page, then you must say the chant below. It is the only way. Love Mom"
It was a vague message and it sent chills up her spine. She read on, and started to say the chant like her mother wrote her to.
In case of the improbably
The youngest holds the key
The gifts to stop the evil
They must be set freeThe message made no sense, but once she stopped reading a smoke started to rise from the book, and her head started to pound even harder. She held her head and looked at the smoke and was startled to see her mother's face in it.
She was speaking words softly, barely above a whisper, "The two gifts you have received are not powers, they are gifts. You must use them only once, and only in the most serious situation. You have the gift to heal, and the gift to condemn. You must use them in your fight against the Galations..."
"But I don't even know of any Galations!" Phoebe said confused, but her mother seemed not to hear it and continued.
"Be wise, they are smart and will try to kill the Charmed Ones. Protect your sisters and yourself!" she started to fade away and Phoebe tried to grab at the smoke uselessly.
"I don't understand, how do I use them? When do I use them?" the smoke was cleared and her headache was also clearing. It was times like this when she wished Leo were here. She heard a knock at the door and got up to get it. She made her way downstairs and answered it. Daniel was standing there, smiling as usual.
Chapter 2: In Case Of The Improbable
"Hi," he said softly.
"Hi," she said back, "Do you want to come in?"
"I'd love to," he replied.
He walked in with her and she led him to the couch. He sat down, and she motioned toward the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink?"
"Sure, whatever you got is fine with me." He said and she went in the kitchen and grabbed two Bud Lites. She handed him one, and sat down next to him.
"So where are your sisters?" he asked casually.
"They had dates."
"And they left you hear alone? Oh was your sister mad at me today, she didn't look to happy when I brought you home?"
"Don't worry about it, that's the way she always looks." Phoebe giggled and he grinned. She should be a lot more tired by now; taking strength from a witch has proved more of a challenge than he had originally thought. The master had talked to him tonight and had told him to speed things up. He would finish with her tonight.
"Phoebe, were you offended by what I did today?" Dan asked.
"No, you're a really great guy from what I can tell, Dan, and I liked being with you today." Phoebe said seriously. He moved towards her and pushed her gently backwards. He started his kissing again, and Phoebe felt strange again. She knew something was wrong and she wanted to push back. She couldn't find the strength too, though.
He was on top of her now, feeling her breasts and trying to get the buttons on her shirt undone. She pushed him back, and got up.
"That's enough Dan. I don't want to screw up this relationship!" Phoebe was getting scared; he had a fierce look on his face and was getting angrier by the minute. She got his coat and held it out to him. "I think it's best that you go now." She was about to give the coat to him when she felt something in the pocket; she reached in and found a gun. She looked up at him bewildered. He lunged at her, knocking them both to the floor.
He landed on top of her and the gun went flying across the room. He reached for it and she kicked him hard in the groin.
* * * Piper, Morris, Andy, and Prue when out to eat at a little Italian place called Eddie's. Morris and Piper were chatting away, and Andy and Prue were getting along fine, maybe a little more than just fine...
"I gotta tell you Prue, I miss seeing you like this." Andy said smiling, making Prue blush.
"I miss you too, Andy."
Morris and Piper turned back towards the couple interrupting the moment; "Well I must say you ladies look dazzling tonight." Morris said.
"Thank you Morris, that was sweet of you." Piper said, then elbowing Morris, she said. "Morris and I are going to take a walk, aren't we Morris?"
Morris taking the hint nodded, "Whatever you say."
They got up and left, and Andy and Prue were left alone. "That's really sweet of them, you know." Prue said. Andy nodded. The waiter came and brought the check. Andy had insisted on paying so he paid the bill, and they started to get up.
"Prue I had a wonderful time tonight." He took her arm and led her to the car, with Morris and Piper following.
* * * Dan staggered at the blow to his privates, and Phoebe got up to get the gun when she felt him grab onto her leg pulling her back down. He climbed back onto her and slapped her. "I wanted to do it the easy way, and get to have a little fun, where I'm from they wouldn't let you have sex." He grabbed the gun. "Too bad." He slammed the gun down on her head, knocking her unconscious. He placed his arm on her chest and closed his eyes.
He could feel her strength draining into him, and he knew his work was almost done. He took the last of it, picked her unmoving form up and laid her on the couch. He ran out to his truck and moved it quickly so no one would know he had been there. He grabbed the rope and raced back into the house. He could feel it, his master would be expecting him and the sisters were probably coming home. The end was near.
* * * They pulled up and Prue and Piper started to get out.
"Do you want us to walk you to the door?" Andy asked.
"No I'm sure we can make it." Prue answered. "Thank you Andy we had a good time." He rolled down the car window and leaned out to give her a kiss.
He whispered in her ear, "I got you home in time to watch Bewitched." He chuckled, and Prue hit him lightly. "Good night my Princess!" he shouted at her as she and Piper were walking up to the house.
The car pulled away as Piper and Prue were giggling. "That was great, Piper! Thanks for coming."
"I hate to admit it but I had fun too," she said excited. "I can't wait to tell Pheebs about it!"
The two of them walked into the house and Piper started upstairs to se if Phoebe was awake, when she heard a voice that caught her off guard.
"Hello girls. Have a nice night?"
Piper jumped back next to Prue and they looked around trying to find the source of the voice. They walked slowly into the living room and found Phoebe unconscious on the floor, her hands tied behind her back.
"Oh my god." Piper said and she and Prue bent over Phoebe. Prue straightened up after she made sure Phoebe was still breathing. Piper was untying her hands and looked to be in a state of panic. She was trying to look at the gash on Phoebe's forehead, but Phoebe kept mumbling something about Galations?
"Who are you? What are you, and where are you?" Prue shouted, beginning to get scared too, considering that they couldn't even see the guy.
"I'm right here!" Daniel popped out form behind them and they both jumped back. Piper tried to freeze him but he just stood and laughed.
"Your powers will not work on me with out all three of you! And as you will find out, your sister is to weak to help you."
"Oh my gosh, you!" Prue shouted. "I knew something was wrong with you the moment I saw you."
Dan pulled out his gun and aimed it at them. "Surrender to my master and me now."
Piper and Prue continued to back up, and they finally started to run when they ran into someone incredibly tall. They looked up; he was a tall sinister looking man, in all black. He kinda looked like some evil bad guy off of Star Wars. He grabbed them and threw them backwards into Dan, who held onto them tight, tying them up too.
"This is my master, ladies, say hello." Dan said. The master looked down at them and motioned for them to follow. Dan stayed behind them, cutting off the escape routes. They were taken to a green truck about a block down. The master got in the passenger seat, and the girls were put in the back. Dan disappeared back into the house and reappeared with Phoebe draped over his shoulder.
Piper cradled Phoebe's head, as they started to move. Phoebe was started to wake up. She blinked and looked up. "Prue, Piper?"
"Hey, yeah it's us. Is your head okay, are you okay?" Prue asked.
"Yeah, my head's fine, I'm just really tired." Phoebe tried to get up, but she couldn't. "Piper I can't get up!" Phoebe was starting to panic.
"It's okay, Pheebs, he said something about you being too weak at the moment. What did he do to you?"
"Piper, I don't know, he was a really nice guy, and then he attacked me and I told him he had better leave, and then I found his gun." Phoebe rattled off.
"It's okay, Phoebe we're not mad at you." Prue said.
"There's more, guys. I had this vision, with Mom and Grams, and they told me to go to the attic. Well I went up there and I found this page about Galations. I think that's what these things are." Phoebe said and was scared half to death when a hand came back over her mouth. It was that Master guy's hand and he clamped his hand tight over her mouth.
Piper hit at the hand, and it backed away.
"Quit talking or I'll make all your deaths miserable." Daniel shouted from the front.
"I'm so sorry you guys." Phoebe whispered. Prue and Piper hugged her tight.
* * * Andy drove Morris home and then drove back to his house. He went inside and was getting settled in front of the TV, when he heard a knock on his door. He answered it and was surprised to find Leo. Leo looked frustrated and concerned. Actually Andy was surprised to see Leo. He had seen Leo before with the Halliwells, but they didn't know each other very well, certainly not well enough for him to know where Andy lived.
"Andy, hi. I can't stay long. I'm not supposed to interfere this time, but I can't help it." Leo said urgently, handing Andy a piece of paper. "Go to this address. It's important, go now, and bring your gun!"
Leo turned and left hurriedly. Andy stood there confused, he looked down at the address, and decided he had better go and check it out. Leo knew the Halliwells, and for some reason disaster was never far behind those three. He grabbed his jacket and gun. He considered calling Morris, but if it had something to do with the Halliwells secret, he didn't want to put them in danger.
* * * Dan drove them to the warehouse that Phoebe had come to earlier that day. He ushered the three of them out of the van. Piper held on to Phoebe, and Prue steered the way, looking so pissed off that even the master who trailed behind them kept his distance. They entered the warehouse and saw what Phoebe had seen earlier. It was a huge building with only one piece of furniture, the couch. Except this time, Daniel led them to the far end of the warehouse pushed on the seemingly solid wall. It opened up at his push and they started climbing the stairs.
"Bet you didn't know that was there." Dan remarked.
"If you want to kill us why not just do it back at the house?" Prue asked.
"Because the Master's plan is to be here." Dan finished as they reached the top of the stairs and stopped.
"Why do you even take crap from him, you look like you could over power him." Piper stated.
Daniel whirred on the three of them, "You don't know anything about him, you don't know anything about us, it is not your place to be saying things like that!"
"Then tell us what you are." Prue said, barely above a whisper.
Daniel smiled; he pointed toward five chairs in the corner, and sat down in one of them. The others followed and he looked up at his Master to explain. The Master nodded down at Dan, and Dan told up the job of explaining. "You might as well know what killed you." He paused. "We're Galations, beings that can suck strength and health out a people, and witches. The only thing that can stop us is the Power of Three. But even that has to involve all three of you. And Phoebe can not help you."
"You bastard!" Phoebe attempted to lunge at Daniel, but he just laughed.
"Don't be trying any of your moves on me again. We've already done all that once." He laughed, "You do put up a good fight though, I'll give you that."
A deep throaty voice came from the Master; "This is taking too long, do it."
"You heard him, times up." Daniel rose from his chair and pulled the knife from his pocket. "Say goodbye." Prue stood up quickly and kicked him in the stomach. Maybe she should try training with Phoebe; it does come in handy. The knife fell and Daniel backed up some. We don't have to do it the old fashioned way.
He pulled his gun and raised it. "Thanks for volunteering Prue." Prue didn't have time to move; it hit her dead on in the side. She slid to the floor, hearing Piper and Phoebe call out. Piper jumped out of her chair and jumped for the knife, while Phoebe mustered enough strength to stand up, pulling Dan's attention to her instead of Piper. Piper grabbed the knife and freed her hands, then moving on to her sister's side. She cut the ropes and tried to stop the flow of blood. She felt someone next to her. She looked up in time to see the Master raise his hand to her. She knocked into the chairs and tried to shake it off.
Phoebe stood in front Daniel, with the Master behind her. She remembered the gifts. The gift to condemn. She looked around, something told her to find the knife. Piper had had it, and now it was lying next to her feet. She grabbed the knife and concentrated. She could hear words in her head and she tried to repeat them.
I condemn this evil
Into this knife
May he forever stay there
For the rest of the world's life.The Master shouted something from behind her, and she turned on him, holding the knife out. He screamed as a smoke issued from the floor surrounding him and sucking him up into the knife.
"Master, no. Don't leave me, to hell with them!" Daniel shouted. He was not going away when Phoebe remembered that she could use her gifts only once. The Master got sucked all the way in and Phoebe dropped the knife, shaking. She knelt down by Prue and looked for Piper.
"You will pay." Daniel had his gun up again, raised and pointing at Phoebe. She heard Piper scream and then two guns went off.
Piper looked toward the door, to see Andy, gun smoking. Phoebe was hit and dropped down by Prue. Daniel took Andy's hit through the head, killing him instantly. Phoebe looked down at herself. She had taken a shot through the chest like Prue. She could feel life being drained from her, and she looked at Prue, who was as pale as Phoebe had ever seen anyone.
Andy and Piper hurried over toward the two of them, Andy pulled out his cell phone and called for an ambulance and Piper tried to put on a calm face for them. Phoebe closed her eyes, and tried to concentrate on the healing gift. She had to save Prue.
The gift of life and healing
Always comes at a heavy cost
Take care, in using it,
For lives may be lostShe mumbled the words, and Piper looked at her strangely. Phoebe reached for Prue and concentrated again. The same smoke as before seemed to gather around Prue, before Andy and Piper's astonished eyes.
"I'm sorry, Piper." Phoebe managed before she collapsed. Prue started choking and Piper hugged her. She looked down at her wound, to find nothing but a small scar. They looked over to Phoebe, and Piper started to cry.
Andy bent down and checked her pulse. He shook his head; "She's gone."
Piper was crying freely and Prue grabbed on to her dead sister's body, holding it and calling to it. "Phoebe don't you dare leave. Please!"
Andy grabbed Piper and Prue and tried to pull them away, even though his own emotions were running high.
"Leo, get down here!" Piper shouted.
"He sent me here to get you guys, I'm sorry, I didn't get here on time." Andy said. He leaned back over Phoebe and pushed her eyelids down, so they didn't have to deal with a blank stare.
Chapter 3: For Lives May Be Lost
The police had come and taken Daniel's body, while they loaded Phoebe's body in a truck to take it to the funeral home. Andy was taking care of Piper and Prue, tending to Piper's head, and making sure they could get home all right. Prue and Piper were sitting in Andy's car, all the tears they could manage having already been spilled.
"I just don't understand, Prue, when did she get those powers? And if she had the power to heal, then why didn't she heal both of you?" Piper shook her head, the whole situation being too much for her to handle.
"We need to get home, I need answers and the other way we're going to get them is through the Book of Shadows." Prue dried her eyes for the first time in at least an hour, and walked over towards Andy. "Andy, we want to leave now."
Andy turned to her and nodded, she had had a hard night, it was about time that all of them got home. Just then he heard a familiar voice, "Andy, Prue!"
They turned around to find Morris running up to them. Morris too in the tear stained faces, and the looks of the people around them. "I heard something big was going down, what's going on, and why are you two here?" he asked pointing to Piper and Prue. He noticed the bandage on Piper's head. "Are you okay? Were you guys involved with this?"
Piper started to cry again, and Andy glared at Morris." What?" he asked.
"Phoebe..." Prue started but had to turn and comfort Piper, not to mention the fact that she didn't want to say it herself. Andy took Morris aside so as not to upset the girls anymore.
"Phoebe's dead Morris." Andy said, "I'm gonna get them home, I'll explain later, or you could get the details from the police."
Morris nodded gravely, and Andy ushered the girls into the car, shutting the door after them. He slid into his car seat.
"Let's get you guys home."
* * * Phoebe awoke on a soft carpet. She was panicked at first remembering the recent events. She looked down at the place where her wound was supposed to be, but she could see no sign of it. She was a soft white gown and she appeared to be alone in the room. She could see no sign of Piper or Prue, when a thought hit her. Was she dead? She looked around the room again, this time seeing another person lying about 10 feet from her. He was dressed in black however. She was sure it was a he because of the way he was built.
She got up and walked slowly toward him, not recognizing him because he was lying face down, in a more uncomfortable position than she had been in. She bent down and rolled him over, jumping back when she realized it was Dan. She had seen Andy shoot him, his death had been instantaneous, hers had been slower. She backed away, was this all a dream? This was not heaven, and this was not hell, where were they? She heard him groan and start to come to; it didn't look like the peaceful way she had woken up.
A voice startled her turning her around. A man stood there in all white, the way she had always thought of angels, only without wings.
"I'm glad you two are finally up. My name is Don Whitelighter, I'm the leader of the Whitelighters and I've been sent to tell you two a message."
"You're a Whitelighter like Leo?" Phoebe said, more of a statement than a question.
"Yes, I'm sorry we couldn't let Leo help you out this time, Phoebe. He did tell your friend where you where, which prevented your sisters' deaths. I'm sorry we couldn't save your life." He paused. "The reason you are not in hell, Daniel, and the reason you are not in heaven Phoebe is because this was not supposed to happen. We can not change it, but your sisters will try."
Daniel was up by now, standing behind Phoebe making her very nervous. "So what do you want with us?" he asked.
"Daniel we have decided that if Phoebe is returned to life then so will you." "What are you talking about, he's evil!" Phoebe shouted.
"He will have a chance to redeem himself, you two will have to stay here until the beings on earth figure out what to do. I will send Leo to help them." The Whitelighter said evenly.
"Is this some sort of punishment, putting us together like this?" Phoebe asked, looked nervously over her shoulder at Dan.
"If you would like to think of it that way, then it is a small price to pay for your life. He can not harm you." The Whitelighter stepped backwards and disappeared through the wall.
Daniel walked passed her and tried to do the same, only to slam face first into the wall, the funny thing was it didn't hurt. Phoebe contained a laugh, and he glared at her. Sat down on the carpet and was amazed that if she leaned back, it felt as if something was supporting her. "I guess this is a little taste of heaven," she whispered.
Daniel sat directly across from her, so they both could keep a close eye on one another. Phoebe felt her eyes begin to sag, as she drifted off.
* * * Andy dropped them off, and walked them in, making sure they were all right. As soon as he left, Prue raced up the stairs toward the attic. Piper followed, still trying to convince herself that this was all a dream. When she reached the attic, Prue was already looking furiously through the Book of Shadows. Piper walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders.
"Calm down, Prue. Let the book help us search." Piper started flipping pages more calmly when suddenly the pages started to turn by themselves. Prue started to calm down. The pages stopped turning on the page that Phoebe had seen earlier. It was addressed to Phoebe in their mother's handwriting. They put the pieces together.
"So she could only use each of the gifts once, it wasn't like a power." Piper mumbled.
"What are we gonna do?" Prue asked.
"We can't do anything, she's dead."
"But we're witches, there's gotta be something we can do, bring her back to life, or... oh I don't know!" Prue said disgusted. The book started to turn again, and both girls looked down at it anxiously. It stopped on a page that was almost completely blank except for one spell.
Embark on this journey
And take care,
For one day of chaos
Darkness will ruleTo save the one,
You will get two
If you use this spell,
The end could be nearThe two returning
Must defeat the darkness,
If good will ever
Rule again"That's a strange spell, it doesn't rhyme and it carries a pretty serious message. Do you think that if we did this, it would bring Phoebe back?" Piper asked.
"I don't know, I think we need some help to do this one." Prue sounded unsure, the spell contained some pretty serious stuff.
"Would this fall under the personal gain category?" Piper asked.
"We need Phoebe back or we don't have the Power of Three, and if we don't have that, then how are we going to protect the innocent? I don't think this is too much of a personal gain thing." Prue was trying to talk herself into it, but the thing was she wasn't really sure. Somebody rung the doorbell and Piper rushed out to get it leaving Prue to think about it. Prue heard the door open and then heard Piper talking to someone, and she heard the footsteps starting up the stairs.
Prue didn't know what to do; she couldn't shut the book they needed to keep it on that page. She rushed to the door of the attic to see who it was. She looked down to see Leo. She rushed down to hug him, surprising Leo with her behavior.
"I was sent down here to help you guys. The Whitelighters don't think this was supposed to happen."
"So are you gonna help us bring her back?" Piper asked.
"There's only one spell that can do that, and I bet you two have already found it." he said.
"Leo we're confused. The spell we found looks pretty dangerous, and it mentions something about bringing two back, and them fighting the darkness?" Prue said, "I don't want Phoebe to have to go up against whatever it is by herself."
Leo shook his head," It has to do with the other person coming back, they must defeat it themselves, and for each person it is different. For them, the darkness maybe in themselves, or something else. It's not something that one can physically fight."
Prue nodded, "Well then, let's do it."
"Are you sure?" Leo asked them, they both nodded their heads and stepped around the book. Leo stood back. "You two must do it with out me, I'll be right here."
"Embark on this journey
And take care,
For one day of chaos
Darkness will ruleTo save the one,
You will get two
If you use this spell,
The end could be nearThe two returning
Must defeat the darkness,
If good will ever
Rule again"A smoke was filling the room, circling everyone and everything, when they stopped chanting the smoke began to disappear. The both looked around eagerly for their sister, looking at Leo when she did not appear.
"Be patient, the spell will take place tomorrow, as soon as today becomes tomorrow, it will all begin."
"Will you stay with us?" Piper asked sliding closer to him.
"Oh course I will, I won't leave you guys until it's all over."
"I'm going to stay up here until tomorrow comes." Prue stated," I think I want the Book of Shadows handy."
"Then count of in too." Piper said looking to Leo. "Looks like we have a long night ahead of us."
Chapter 4: One Day Of Chaos
Phoebe felt someone staring at her, she knew no one could hurt her so she wasn't scared, just curious. A hand reached out and gently stroked her cheek; she reacted quickly grabbing the hand to see who it was. She opened her eyes to find Daniel caught red handed.
"Just what were you doing?" she asked him coldly, the red hot anger she had felt toward him had subsided a little bit, but she was still angry with him. He had lied to her, attached her, tried to hurt her and her sisters, and killed her!
Dan seemed different here, without his Master there he seemed to be that cute man, she had met the first time. She never wanted to look him in the eye again, because she knew that would melt her anger, and she needed to be angry with him, he was pure evil.
"I'm sorry, Phoebe. I'm evil, and that's my nature. I tricked you, and I pretended to love you, or care for you, when I never had any feelings for you. I'll go back to hell when I die, I know. I'm sorry though." He softened a bit, "I don't know, we've been up here for a while, and I keep thinking about how much I screwed up. I think I could have loved you."
Phoebe turned away, she was always a sucker for apologies, but this couldn't work. She wiped her eyes quickly; she couldn't and wouldn't forgive him for what he had done. "No." she stated simply.
He looked at her, and remembered when he had kissed her, held her. He suddenly stood up and pulled her up. She looked wide-eyed at him when he pulled her closer. He kissed her, and this time she felt no need to pull back, and she knew that if she wanted to she could.
Smoke swirled around them, but they were too deeply involved to notice that there setting had changed, and that three people were now watching them astonished. "Phoebe!?" Piper and Prue shouted, doubt mixed in it when they saw whom she was kissing. Leo even seemed a little bit surprised.
Dan and Phoebe separated and looked around in surprise. Phoebe looked up at Dan, and backed away a bit. "What did you just do?" she asked him.
"Me! I didn't do anything!" he said back, the two engaged in a little argument, until Leo kind of broke it up.
"Slow down, you two, before things get crazy."
"Too late." Prue mumbled under her breath a little too loud. Phoebe turned towards her sisters as if for the first time noticing where she was.
She ran and practically bowled them over. "Are we alive?"
Piper squealed with delight, "We missed you so much!" Phoebe felt something wet on her shirt, and she looked down to see that her clean clothes had been replaced with the ones that she had died in. The dark red stain from her blood remained, but the wound was only a scar now.
Leo was eyeing Dan suspiciously, putting on the big brother protective stance. After all, had he not been a Whitelighter, he and Piper might be married, making the other sisters his sisters-in-law. Dan looked pretty trapped. He was in a room with three people he had tried to kill, one of those he was beginning to have feelings for, and one man who appeared to be their bodyguard.
"Umm, can I say something here? What did you guys do?" Dan spoke up.
Prue turned viciously on him, "You just shut up, after all you did, I can't believe that we just saved you."
Leo stopped her, "You saved Phoebe too though."
Prue sighed. "Dan this is Leo, Piper's boyfriend, and a Whitelighter. Leo this is Dan, a Galation, evil, conniving..."
"Okay I get the point," Leo said stopping her from giving Dan any further grief, even though he probably deserved it. When he looked at the guy though, he looked like he'd changed. He looked like a good man. "Does Andy know about you three being witches?"
"Yes." Prue answered.
"Well then you better call him, we could use all the help we can get."
Piper crossed to Leo's side, and stared at Dan.
Phoebe almost felt bad for him, everyone was looking at him, if they didn't need his help, then Piper and Prue would have already pounced on him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him downstairs. Piper looked ready to protest but Leo gently slapped a hand over her mouth.
Once they were downstairs, Phoebe stopped him. "Listen, Dan. I want you to know I've forgiven you. I don't trust you, but I don't hate you. I wish so much that this had been done differently."
"It could still work Phoebe." Dan answered.
"I don't trust you, a relationship like that doesn't last very long. Don't get in Piper and Prue's way, I don't want you to get hurt, and they are pretty angry right now."
* * * Andy answered the phone to hear and excited Prue, telling him to hurry up and get over there. He hung up the phone quickly, grabbing his jacket once again, and leaving. As he was driving down the road, he noticed a lot of violence going on, gangs were meeting, people were arguing and fighting, and all sorts of stuff. He normally would stop but right now his priority was Prue and Piper. He drove up to the house that was becoming his home-away-from-home, and ran up to the door. He didn't even bother to knock he just walked in. Nobody was around the door, and the he heard footsteps coming from upstairs. He was about to climb the stairs when he heard a shockingly familiar voice talking in the living room downstairs. He turned that way and was shocked to see Phoebe talking to the very man that had killed her, and in turn Andy had killed.
His gun flew up pointing towards Dan. "Freeze!" he yelled. "Phoebe get away from him!"
"I can't deal with any more guns right now." Phoebe muttered as she kicked the gun from Andy's hands. "Andy, calm down!"
* * * Prue, Leo, and Piper heard the shouting from upstairs, Leo led the way as they raced down the stairs. They slid to a stop, when they saw Andy. Prue ran up to Andy, and hugged him, "Thanks for getting here so fast."
Andy stood there, "Are you all insane, you have two dead people in your living room. Don't get me wrong Pheebs, glad you're back, but what the hell is he doing here!" Andy was getting upset. "And you!" he said pointing at Leo. "What are you doing here?"
"Andy calm down, we'll explain." Prue said sitting him down. "First off, those two are not dead, they're alive. Second, he's on our side." She said pointing at Dan, "As much as I hate it, some of us have developed a liking to him." She glared at Phoebe.
"Oh, that was subtle Prue." Phoebe remarked quietly.
Prue talked to Andy about everything that had happened and by the end of her lecture the man was looking quite bewildered. None of them had had much sleep, except Phoebe and Dan, and they knew that they probably wouldn't until it was over.
"Prue, you guys." Andy said after thinking for a little while, "When I was on my way here, there seemed to be a lot more violence on the streets than I was used to seeing. Gangs, arguments, fights, you name it."
"It's starting." Phoebe said, looking to Dan. "Andy, did your people find a knife at the crime scene?"
"Yeah, but it's in evidence now."
"Can you get it out?"
"Not with out getting fired, I've tried that before with you guys, I have to have proper authority now." Andy answered her.
Andy's cell phone began to ring; he picked it up, irritated at the interruption.
"Hello."
"Andy, its Morris. I got a call from the funeral home that they sent Phoebe's body to, well they can't find it."
"It's okay, her sisters are kinda glad she's dead." Prue and Piper exchanged glances, and then looked over to Phoebe. They winked at each other. Piper and Prue converged on Andy and started hitting him playfully.
"Okay, Andy, but I think you're acting awful strange." Morris said hearing the commotion in the background. We'll be searching for the body..." Phoebe had a thought. She taped Andy on the shoulder, and he put the phone in his shirt to keep Morris from hearing.
"What?" he asked.
"Tell him that if he finds the body, bring it to the department with Dan's body for evidence."
Andy frowned, not understanding, but did as she asked. "Hey Morris."
"Yeah?"
"If you find that body, can you put it with the other fellows for evidence. I think there are more people involved and I need it for evidence."
"Did Prue and Piper say it was okay?"
"Yeah they're here, I'll have them sign the papers, once you find the body."
"Andy one more thing. We can't find the other guy's body either and it was locked up tight in the evidence section at the department."
"As I said buddy, there's more involved. See you later, Morris." Andy hung up his phone to look at Phoebe strangely. "And just why did you have me do that?"
"Because," she answered, "Dan and I are going to be found. They won't check for pulses because they think that they know we are already dead, and they'll put us near the evidence section at the department. So we can get at that knife." Phoebe said.
"Why do we need the knife?" Prue asked.
"Because if evil is ruling the world for one day, then we don't want to let that knife out of our sights." Piper finished for Phoebe.
They nodded and Piper took a hold of Phoebe and Dan's hands and took them upstairs to put a little makeup on them. "You two have too much color to be dead," she remarked.
With in a half an hour the three of them were downstairs again and Prue, Leo, and Andy applauded the work done. "You look pretty dead to me Pheebs." Prue said and smiled.
"We need to talk when this is all over." Phoebe nodded and looked up to Dan, "That goes for you too."
All of them piled into Piper's car, and they were on their way.
"You know having the knife and the Book of Shadows is helpful, but it won't en this. The world will stay like this," Leo said, pointing at the streets filed with violence and evil. "If we don't do something to end it by the end of today.
It's 11:00 already you guys, we can't fool around."
Everyone was quiet. "How do we beat this thing?" Piper asked.
"It isn't some thing that we have to beat." Leo said stressing the word, thing, "Evil is in everyone. As the day progresses, we will all start to give in to it. Who ever is left, has to fight the evil with in themselves, for us to win." The car was silent again. "How are you guys gonna get out of there?"
"Easy, they walk out, once you're inside, there is no lock keeping them in. So they walk outta there, the security will be too scared to stop you." Andy said. "Piper stop here, let them out. You guys go down that alley and act dead. It's only a few blocks away. Then the rest of us can say that we wanted to help search for the bodies. We'll just happen to find you two." Andy smiled, it was perfect. Piper let Phoebe and Dan off, and Prue yelled out the door, "Dan, you lay one figure on her and you're dead meat!"
They walked down the alley and Dan laid down in the filth. Phoebe wrinkled her nose; "They want us to lay in this junk?"
Dan laughed, "We're dead, remember, I don't think it matters." She relented and lay down.
"This is soooo gross!" she said making Dan laugh even harder. She looked over at him, looking him straight in the eye. They made her melt, she forgot about all the horrible things he had done, and saw only those sweet eyes. She turned away quickly and they both became silent waiting to be found.
* * * "Sure, we could use the help Andy. Fact is I'm getting kinda bored out here."
Morris laughed and leaned closer to Andy. "And I know something's up, but I don't want to get you into trouble again."
"Thanks Morris. I owe you one."
"You owe me a lot more than that!" Morris shouted as Andy and his friends wandered down the street. Prue and Piper looked awful happy, the last time he had seen them; they looked about ready to die. He shrugged, with the Halliwells, you could never tell.
* * * They made it appear that they were looking, until they got to a place where they could turn off. They went down a back road, and then made a beeline for the alley that Dan and Phoebe were in. They walked made sure they were all ready, then the girls started to cry to keep up the show. Andy called Morris, and he said he'd get some people down there to work on it. With in five minutes there were three detectives down there to load them up.
Piper and Prue were doing a great job, crying and carrying on, making a big show. When one of the detectives put on gloves.
"What are you doing?" Piper asked sniffling.
"I just want to check for a pulse, Miss."
"No, you can't, I don't want anyone to disturb her eternal rest except for Andy and Leo, the same goes from the other one." Prue said crying.
Leo breathed a sigh of relief, good thinking Prue. The detective looked at the other two. "Listen Miss, we don't usually deal with the dead, we were just the only ones available. So as long as those two bodies get in the van and back to the department, I don't care who does it." He pulled some fresh latex gloves out of a box, and handed a pair to Leo and Andy. The two of them lifted the 'bodies' into the van.
"Thank you, officer." The detective said to Andy once the bodies were in. "We will be sure to put it down that you found these two for us."
Andy smiled and nodded. "Have nice day." The van drove away and out of ear shot, "Idiots." Prue was the only one who heard that last comment and she burst out laughing, leaving Leo and Piper thinking she was going mad. Andy looked at them all strangely and turned around.
"What do we do now?" Piper asked.
"How should I know, Piper, why don't you think once in a while!" Andy shouted at her. The other three stepped back a bit.
"Calm down Andy." Leo said, "Maybe you should..."
"Shut up Leo." Andy said. Piper, Prue and Andy exchanged glances. It was happening.
* * * Phoebe was about ready to punch these idiots. They had dropped Dan twice, and they had just dropped her again, making that three times. I sure hope nobody ever says being dead's easy. This was hard stuff, you couldn't move, could flinch or shout when they dropped you, and you can't even warn yourself that it's going to happen because you can't open your eyes. She was glad when she heard the lock on the door click, which signaled that they were alone, and that no one could get in with out a key. She threw the sheet off quietly and pulled Dan's down.
He was still pretending, "Dan, it's okay they're gone." She looked at him closer, was he sleeping? She shook him, I can't believe he could sleep through that. She thought.
"What? Quit doing that." Dan murmured, she shook him harder. "Okay, why are you doing... oh." He sat up." Sorry, I guess I fell asleep." He said sheepishly.
She rolled her eyes, "Come on we have work to do."
He got up, "Why didn't they put us in the body freezers?"
"I don't know but what ever the reason I sure am glad. We wouldn't have been able to get out of those things, and it would've killed us to be in them all night." Phoebe said, there were two doors in the room, the one they had come in and the other one, "Well it looks like that's our door."
They went through the door, to find themselves in the evidence storage spot. "Bingo." Dan said, as he began searching through the cabinets. Phoebe shook her head and wandered around until she saw a black binder that had been left open. She went over to it, and looked at the written stuff in it. It had everything that was in here, and what cabinet to look in.
"Dan," she called out, "look in cabinet 127."
"How do you know that's the one?"
"Instinct, just trust me."
"You don't trust me." he shot back.
They stared at each other for a moment and then Phoebe shook her head, "Just forget it. I'll get the knife." She walked over to cabinet 127, and pulled out the bag with the evidence from the crime scene. She pulled out the knife and replaced the bag, smiling. Dan sighed frustrated.
Phoebe and Dan started out the door, when they heard voices from the other side. "Well, I left both of the bodies right here, it's not as if they could just get up and walk away." The detective that brought them in today say puzzled, "I don't usually deal with these types of cases, I'm a detective for heaven's sake."
Phoebe looked wide-eyed at Dan. They listened to footsteps on the other side of the door, and then silence. The door swung wide open and the two men yelled in surprise when they found the two people that they were supposed to autopsy staring back at them. Dan grabbed Phoebe's hand and they pushed through the shocked men.
They ran out the door, and down the street, the men had come to there senses and now about five of them were running down the street after them. They went down the street that Prue, Andy, Piper and Leo were supposed to meet them but they didn't see Piper's car anywhere. Phoebe looked around in panic, "Where are they?" she said. The police were catching up and they would have an awful hard time explaining all this.
"Phoebe, Dan!" Piper called out. Phoebe looked over to see Piper holding open the door to her Jeep and motioning for them to come quickly. Piper wanted to freeze the police but Prue insisted that she shouldn't do it, because it would freeze Andy. The two jumped in the car and Prue roared down the street in the car.
"Slow down bitch!" Andy said, surprising both Phoebe and Dan. Leo was sitting close to Andy, making sure he didn't do anything violent in the car.
"He's been like that since the officers took you two away. He just snapped like that." Piper said.
"We may all be like that before the day ends. You two will be the last to snap, that's the way the spell works." Leo said, "We'll have to tie Andy up at home so he doesn't do any damage. If anybody else goes bad the remaining people will have to do the same to them."
Prue got them home in record time. Dan took the knife and they took it upstairs to the Book of Shadows. Dan handed Prue the knife. "Tell me again, why it was so important for us to get this knife?" she asked.
"That knife carries our biggest threat, with all this evil, some one might have tried to free him. We need the knife nearby anyhow." Leo said.
Leo was still holding on to Andy who was struggling with him. "I'm gonna kill you!" Andy kept yelling. Dan helped Leo tie Andy down to a chair.
"Sorry, Pal. This is for your own good." Leo said.
"Leo, tell me something what exactly are we fighting?" Phoebe asked him.
"I told you, we aren't fighting anyone, we are fighting evil itself."
"So what we walk around town, stop fights and try to resist evil as long as possible?" Prue said.
"Yes, the solution to the problem, will present itself. That is how it's supposed to be." Leo said. They all went downstairs, except for Andy who was still thrashing about screaming threats.
Piper got up and walked into the kitchen. Dan and Phoebe were sitting across from each other again, eyeing each other. Leo was doing his best to explain, but everybody was starting to feel the stain from their work.
In the kitchen Piper put her head down. She knew the evil was beginning to win her over, she tried hard to stop it but she was too tired. She rose up, feeling stronger than ever. She walked upstairs to the attic, towards the knife. She passed by Andy, and picked up the knife. She felt words that she didn't know start to rise up in her throat. She said a few words in a language she wasn't familiar with and held the knife high. In a flash, the man she had been so afraid of was again standing in front of her. The Master.
* * * He walked downstairs quietly and gracefully. He listened quietly to the four people in the living room. He would not confront them now; he would just make a quiet escape. He was making his way out the front door, when he caught eyes with his one time pupil, Daniel. Dan's eyes told everyone that something was wrong, Phoebe and Prue jumped up facing the Master again. He squinted his eyes in frustration. He did not have time for this. He held his hands out in front of him and a blinding white light issued from them.
By the time Leo and Dan could see again, he had made his escape. Prue and Phoebe were standing there, with their hands over their ears and eyes. Leo got up and touched Prue gently. She flinched. "Leo is that you?" she questioned opening her eyes. Dan and Leo exchanged confused glances. Leo touched Phoebe's arm and her reaction was much the same.
"Prue, Phoebe, can you guys see anything?" Dan asked hesitantly, as if they needed anymore problems.
Phoebe nodded, holding back tears. "I can't see a thing."
"Oh boy." Dan said.
"What, do you know anything about what he did?" Leo asked.
"He told me one time that it was not always wise to stand and fight with your enemies. He told me about a power that only true masters of our kind could do it. It was a temporary blinding power. It's very hard to master." Dan said.
"Well how long does it last?" Prue asked.
"A day or so. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter."
"Where's Piper?" Phoebe asked, somewhat out of the blue.
"I'll find her." Leo said, he went to the kitchen but didn't see her so he went upstairs. She was sitting in a chair next to Andy muttering little curses of her own.
Leo tied her up gently, kissing her on the head. "I'm sorry, Piper." He went back downstairs. "We've lost her, she was probably the one that let that monster out."
"And we can't see." Prue said, "This is hopeless."
"We'll help you two, you've got to trust us." Dan said.
"Trust you!" Phoebe said loudly. Dan looked a little hurt, but Phoebe couldn't see that.
"The problem has presented itself. We must defeat the Master." Leo said, the shook his head, "Does he have any real title, or does everybody just call him Master. Because it sounds pretty corny." Dan smiled at Leo's attempt at a joke.
"Palpatine, that's what I heard one fella calling him."
Phoebe giggled. "What?" Prue asked her.
"Nothing, except that was the name of the emperor off of Star Wars." Phoebe smiled, "It's just funny, that he has the same name." Prue was shaking her head.
"This is no time for jokes Phoebe." she said.
"Do we now where we can find him?" Leo asked, ignoring the squabbling girls. "The warehouse, that's his place of evil. There is no where else he'd go," Dan said confidently.
"You better be right." Prue said, "I am not in the mood to take a lot of wrong turns." Prue seemed to be getting more and more aggravated. Leo just hoped she could last for a little longer, they needed all the help they could get.
Dan ran upstairs one last time to make sure that Andy and Piper were safely secured. He did so and came back downstairs where the others were waiting. Well let's go, already!" Prue said impatiently.
"Wait a second, you two can't see, I don't want to see either of you get hurt." Leo said, he was saying it in vain of course. Neither of the sisters would be left behind and to end the spell Phoebe needed to be involved. He took Dan aside. "Dan listen. If Prue gets too angry, I'll help you any way I can but I am not going to let Prue get in there and hurt one of you or herself."
Dan nodded, "If Prue can't make it, then you get her outta there, then you can come back to help us. He's already got better odds than us, we don't need Prue on his side."
"You watch out for Phoebe, her sister's will have your head, not to mention me and Andy if she gets hurt." Leo said and then looked over to notice that the girls were getting a little nervous. "Let's go then. Are you guys ready." He asked, taking Prue's hand. Dan tried to take Phoebe's hand to help her get to the car, but she pulled away.
"Just tell me where the steps are and which way," she said flatly. Outside of the house, chaos was definitely reigning. Gunshots could be heard everywhere and be were fighting and throwing things at each other everywhere they looked. They all made it out to the car, and drove toward the warehouse.
* * * The Master was expecting them, he knew they were on their way. He had effectively blinded his toughest adversaries, but they were still very strong. The evil had taken over one of the Charmed Ones. They would not be able to defeat him. On his trip over to the warehouse, he had noticed that everyone seemed to be taken over by an evil. Everyone! It was perfect; his kind would rule the Earth. His timing was impeccable.
Soon the Charmed Ones would be part of his legion and he would have their wills and powers to command.
* * * They reached the warehouse, and Leo helped the girls out. Phoebe reached her hand out until she found Prue, pulling her in for a quick hug. Prue pulled away, and Phoebe was left confused with a hurt look on her face. Dan looked at Leo, silently communicating about their predicament. Leo pulled Phoebe in for a hug, and to make her feel better.
"Leo don't let anything happen to Prue."
"We'll all be in there together, we just have to trust each other." Leo said. Phoebe threw a look toward where she thought Dan was, clearly not willing to trust him.
Leo rolled his eyes and showed both of the girls the way. They got in the door, and Dan and Leo stepped back a little when they saw the Master. He seemed calm and it seemed as if he had been waiting and expecting them. Phoebe and Prue looked around panicked.
"What's going on, guys, give us some hints?" Phoebe muttered. Prue backed away a little until she bumped into Leo who pushed her gently behind him. Prue snarled angrily and tripped on something. She fell and picked up the brick she had fallen on. She stood up behind Leo and brought the brick down on his head.
"Leo, Dan, Prue! What happened?" Phoebe asked quickly. Dan was staring in horror at Prue who was still holding the bloody brick. Phoebe knelt down and felt around for a person. She found him and checked for a pulse. "He's alive." she said, "Who did that."
Prue laughed answering her question. She was smiling devilishly, and Dan was looking frantically from the Master to her. They were caught in the middle of madness. He felt in his pockets. When he had gone up to check on Piper and Andy he had taken the knife that was on the floor from when Piper freed the Master. He thought quickly. He pulled it out and lunged at Prue. He didn't want to hurt her, but he could let her join the fight. She screamed as Dan tried to bring the end of the knife down on her head.
"Dan don't hurt her!" Phoebe called out.
Prue grabbed at the weapon and Dan tried to pull it away, accidentally swiping her with the tip of the knife along her arm.
"You cut me, you bastard!" Prue yelled. There was a roar of a car behind them and Piper and Andy came running in. Prue turned on them, all her anger venting on the nearest person. She used her power on Andy smacking him into the wall, while Piper charged her. Dan took the advantage of her attention being elsewhere to concentrate on the biggest threat. He turned around, to find Phoebe standing close to the Master, looking up defiantly at him talking to him.
"My dear, this warehouse stands on the gates of hell," he said, "If you attempt to get rid of me, it will swallow you whole.
Dan looked quickly back at the others. Piper and Phoebe were wrestling; Andy and Leo were unconscious. He put his knife up again, and walked towards the Master and Phoebe.
He neared them and he felt a force ripe the knife out of his hand and into Phoebe's. She looked as confused as he did. "Ah, Dan. You have done a good job fooling these mortals," the Master said.
Dan looked confused, "What are you talking about. I'll never work for you again!"
"You can quit the act, we have them."
Phoebe's eyebrows went down, in an expression of being hurt, and confused. Dan wanted to scoop her up and tell her he was lying, but the master kept interrupting.
"Oh yes, Phoebe. He doesn't care about any of you. He's a good actor, isn't he?"
"Dan? How could you?" she looked in his direction. "You..." she stopped, there was a scream from the other direction, and Piper was down on the ground holding her leg. Phoebe was scared now, she couldn't see, and she didn't know whom to believe.
Prue was also on the ground, still holding her arm and rubbing her eyes in frustration, because of her blindness.
The Master placed a hand on Phoebe's shoulder. She jerked back and he reached out quickly grabbing Dan by the throat. "Kill him, Phoebe!"
"Phoebe, trust me, I love you. I didn't betray you. You've got to help me! Kill him, kill him." Dan struggled.
"Phoebe pay him back for all his deeds, kill Dan!" the master shouted.
"Phoebe you have to trust me!" Dan shouted. To Phoebe the world was spinning.
Then she remembered Leo's voice from earlier. It's not a thing that we're fighting; it's something inside of us all. You two must work out something or other and fight this thing from the inside! That was it, she had to trust him. The whole time they had never even thought about it.
"Dan, tell me where you and the master are."
"Take a step forward, another one, there now lean forward..."
"And kill him!" the Master said, finishing his sentence.
Phoebe stepped forward, and lunged with the knife, plugging it into the Master's side, forcing him to release Dan. Dan jumped up off the struggling Master. He was flailing until he grabbed hold of Phoebe's shoulders. Dan eyes showed panic but Phoebe was calm. The Master was dying, they had almost won!
He let his hand slid down to her wrists, and Phoebe started to struggle, realizing his intent when he started to squeeze tighter and tighter.
"Dan, stab him again, he's..." she started. He didn't have to hear anymore, he grabbed the knife and stabbed the Master again and again. The master let go of one of her arms but the other held fast, still going tighter. There was a snapping sound and Phoebe screamed, grabbing her arm away from the Master. Dan looked alarmed, as he grabbed her and pulled her farther back. He sat her down.
The Master was close to death now, but he was laughing at that one small victory he had just had. He laughed until they heard a gurgling noise and then all was quiet. There were no more gunshots to be heard on the street; all the loudest fighting had been silenced. They had won. Dan knelt down by Phoebe, and shuddered.
"Is it over?" she asked. He smiled, being careful of her arm; he pulled her in for a passionate kiss.
Chapter 5: Epilogue
It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning and all three of the Halliwell girls were reclining in the living room, talking and relaxing. This was only the third day that all three of them had been home. Prue and Phoebe had gotten their sight back, and Prue had gotten the arm wound stitched up. Phoebe had her broken arm treated, and Piper was admitted to the hospital for her broken leg. They looked like a sight to be sure. With all the bandages and casts, and medical stuff around it looked like they were running their own hospital.
Dan and Leo had decided to stay and were over staying with Andy. Leo had had a concussion and had actually just been released from the hospital. Andy had a head wound also, but more minor, so he was not taken in the hospital for any over night stays. Dan had not suffered any major injuries save a few bruises and scraps. All and all, Prue kept saying that it was a small price to pay for saving the world and all that was good.
They were sitting around talking having finished cleaning up and getting ready for their dates to arrive. The guys had promised to take them out to lunch that day. They had all joked that it was a little hard to look stunning with bandages and casts on.
"So Phoebe, is Dan going to be staying around a while?" Piper asked, while Prue just sat and grinned.
"I guess we can forgive him, but just because he saved us." Prue said.
"I sure wish that I could have seen you two wrestling around, that would have been amusing." Phoebe said laughing. The doorbell rang and Prue went to answer it. The three men were standing there, all dressed up and each one had a rose in their hands. Piper and Phoebe came to the door in time for each of them to be greeted and kissed by their respected guys. Dan and Phoebe were last, and their kiss was definitely the longest. When they finally broke it off, the Prue and Piper started to laugh joined by Andy and Leo.
"You two have definitely earned the title of the best kissers." Piper said between laughs. Phoebe blushed somewhat, and Dan smiled. Dan winked at Leo and Andy, who took the cue. All three of them grabbed their girls and kissed them.
Prue looked up smiling, "I don't know... Andy's a pretty good kisser!"
