The rest of the group was huddled around the pedestal flipping through the Book. This was more out of habit than the expectation that they'd actually find anything. Not to mention it gave the elder sisters a distraction from the awkward situation of being confronted with a living, breathing Prue. Piper hoped her big sister couldn't see the melancholic joy that weighed on her heart at this reunion, but wasn't confident.
"So, I'm still the go-to girl for scrying, huh?" asked the younger Phoebe.
"We all have our talents," answered her older self lightly.
"Speaking of talents," pried Phoebe, "Do I, er, you, have that neat head scrambly thing I saw in the future?" She paused a moment. "Not that frying Cal Greene was neat..." she added, backpeddling.
The older Phoebe scrunched her eyebrows. "Huh. Y'know, I haven't thought about that in ages? But now that you mention it, I don't think that's the direction my powers are heading. Boy, how inaccurate was that future? There aren't even voice controlled TVs."
"Well," chimed in Piper, "we did get those Hybrid cars. Besides, an iPod beats a hands-free TV any day."
"And eye-what?" asked her past self.
"Nothing," answered Phoebe in a singsong tone. Suddenly the crystal pulled from her fingertips and sped to a spot on the map, landing with a thump. "Got him!" she announced, "Tyler Street. Little Italy."
"Let's go," offered Prue.
"Shouldn't we bring Leo in on this first?" asked the older Piper. "It does concern him, after all."
Her past self looked at her strangely. "We're keeping things purely professional," stated Piper. Her voice betrayed her annoyance at the situation. "So, not if we don't have to. Besides, we have two Whitelighters already, don't we?"
The married Piper paused at her past self's comment, considering how she remembered her feelings at this, time before unconsciously shifting into big sister mode. "Fair enough. I get it . Really, I do. And we can handle this for now, but we're going to need to talk to him at some point. He may know who would have it out for him. So… we may as well talk to him and find out what we're up against instead of going in blind. Once we're done, you can go back to the adolescent dramatics all you like, okay?" she said with a sharp but teasing tone.
The younger Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks. It was eerie how much this Piper had just sounded like their big sister. Prue didn't seem to have noticed, though, and merely nodded, "Agreed. Leo!" she called, without waiting for her Piper's input.
A swirl of white lights quickly coalesced into the form of Leo, his hands on his hips. "What's going on? Something wrong?" he asked. Prue just looked at Leo, then pointed behind him, and twirled her finger to indicate he should look behind him. He turned around to see another Piper, Phoebe, and two strangers wearing matter of fact smiles.
Older Piper's smile broke into a broad grin as their eyes met. "Leo. Hiii."
Leo's head darted rapidly back and forth between the two sets of sisters. "Huh? What's..?"
"Long story short," replied the older Piper, crossing over to his side, "we're from the future and... here to save a loved one." Her eyes softened, as did her voice, as she said this last bit. She then glanced down away from his gaze, as she displayed the hand with her wedding band on it. "You…actually." Leo's eyes widened slightly. Piper steeled herself and straightened up. "And we need to know if you know of anyone out to get you. You know - revenge, vendetta, something like that?" Leo eyed her a little suspiciously, obviously not believing what he was hearing. "Oh, for – Ok! You were an army medic, died at Guadalcanal, Gideon was your mentor when you became a whitelighter…"
Still unconvinced, he replied, "That's a good start, but with a little nosing around any demon could find out any of that out."
"Fine. I didn't want to go here, but… I know you're still..." she searched for the polite terminology. "Hot. For me. Uh, her."
"Well, that's not hard to-" interrupted Prue.
"-and, you're questioning the wisdom of the Elders because of it. Thinking maybe it's worth breaking the rules. Saying 'screw what they want'? And you've probably talked to Gideon at this point about how to hide a relationship from the Elder's sight? You don't really want me share the very embarrassing story of your first kiss, do you?" She smiled playfully.
Leo's mouth dropped open slightly. "How do you... ?"
"Future, remember. Believe us now?"
"But how?"
"Details later. Info now," said Piper hurriedly.
Leo blinked. "No one. I mean, not that I can think of. But I've helped fight a lot of evil over the years. And I'm the Whitelighter to the Charmed Ones. I'm sure plenty of demons would like me out of the way if they could find me."
"No," the older Phoebe chimed in, "something here doesn't add up. This attack, the spell, it all seems very personal." She placed her hand on Leo's shoulder and immediately gasped, seizing up at the onset of a vision. Images of men standing around a large pot flashed before her mind's eye. They wore tattered tabards emblazoned with the symbol of a dagger against a quarter moon. One poured black sand out of an hourglass into the bubbling brew.
When Phoebe came to her senses, she heard her own voice, from across the room. "Is that how I look every time?"
"What did you see?" asked Prue, ignoring the query.
Leo nodded. "I know them. Demonic hit men of sorts. Called the Lunar Hand. They usually work for a Hawker, a –"
" – service demon. Takes contracts for goods and services. Hang out at the demonic market," said Paige. "We've met. Niice guy," she finished sarcastically.
"Ok, this is good!" said the older Piper. "Basic warlocks, easy vanquish, and we get our info with minimal danger!"
"So, what's the plan?" asked Prue.
"Just follow our lead, " answered Piper. "Watch our backs?"
"I'll drive," said Paige with a smirk.
"Alright!" Older Piper clapped her hands together. "Leo, it's probably best if you stay here, in case they have any of that potion. Chris, will you watch out for him?" she asked more gently.
Chris nodded. "No problem."
With that, the six sisters clasped hands and orbed out. Leo looked at the young man he did not know was his son. "You're the girl's future whitelighter then right? I mean, I must have clipped my wings."
Chris smiled mysteriously. "Something like that."
The girls materialized in a large abandoned warehouse. "Why don't demons ever hang out in a nice cheery house or meadow, or something? Always with the dark abandoned hole-in-the-walls! It's not like they can't use magic to clean up a little," mused the younger Phoebe.
Paige laughed. She kinda liked this flippant Phoebe. It kind of reminded her of herself not so many years ago. Paige turned to face her sister just in time to see a fireball hurtling toward her face. "Fireball!" she cried and orbed it back towards its maker, bursting him into flame.
The leader, judging by the red cloak draping his shoulders, nodded his head in the direction of the witches. The obviously well-trained warlocks simultaneously shot a wave of fireballs at the sisters. The more experienced Phoebe stepped into the barrage, co-opted their powers, and sent three fireballs back into the warlocks who threw them. Her younger counterpart, meanwhile, had instinctively dodged away, rolling across the ground. Just as the 20-something Piper's fingers were clenched, ready to flick and freeze the remaining fireballs, she saw them one by one rapidly burst into puffs of smoke. "Nice reflexes there, 'quick draw'," she said to her older self, wryly.
In the meantime, Prue flung two warlocks across the room, but before they crashed into the nearest wall a large wooden crate, hurtling at high speed, orbed into their path, doubling the impacts they recieved. Prue glanced at Paige. "Nice move."
"Thanks," answered Paige with an appreciative smirk.
Prue turned back to see Piper exploding the last two generic warlocks, so she turned her attention to the one in the red cloak and flung him at a large iron hook. "Wait!" cried Piper. She threw out her left hand and froze him mid-air just as her right hand finished blowing up the last warlock. "We need him, remember? Phoebe?" said Piper. Both Phoebes looked up and Piper gestured up at the frozen warlock. While the younger Phoebe just looked confused, the other walked over to just below him before levitating up, grabbing hold, and slowly lowering him to the ground. Piper glanced around. "Ready?" she asked. After a nod of affirmation Piper focused back on the red-cloaked man.
With a small twist of her hand his head unfroze, in the midst of a roar.
"I didn't know I could do that! Can I do that? Now?" exclaimed the young Piper.
The man sneered as he realized his predicament. "What's this, witches?"
"We'll be asking the questions, I think," replied the younger Phoebe, relishing having the upper hand for a change.
"Free me, witch!" the warlock snarled.
"Your death," he replied, clearly non-plussed.
"Yeah... I don't think so." With that she blew off a chunk of the flesh on his thigh. "Think I'll stop there?"
This seemed to alarm him slightly, his bravado quelled, and he merely replied, "Lexam."
"Good. See? Not so hard."
"So, who are you working for?" asked Paige.
"The demon who paid me," he sneered.
"Wow. You just don't get how this works, do you?" remarked Piper and she blew off his left hand. He roared in pain.
"The Hawker! The Hawker hired me!" he roared.
"We already know that," replied Paige. "So hows about you tell us who hired him, hm?"
"I don't have that knowledge!"
"Yeah. Don't really have the patience for this game," warned Piper.
She blew off his left ear and he bellowed. "Aargh, okay! I don't know who! Just that he's an upper level demon. He has to be, with the power he lent into that hourglass. And, and," he searched his mind for details, "he manipulates time, or bends it, or something!"
"Tempus?" asked the older Phoebe.
"No, no. He wouldn't need the likes of us. This one channels his powers, infuses things with it. But he cannot contact the underworld long."
"Why?" At his silence, Piper raised her hands as if to blast him again.
"No! Please! I – I don't know! Truly, I don't! You'd have to ask the Hawker. Only he dealt directly with the demon!"
"Great. Wild goose chase," said Paige.
"Thanks!" said Piper, who blew him to pieces before he could raise protest. She suddenly became aware of their younger selves staring at her. "What?" she asked, self-consciously.
Younger Piper opened her mouth but hesitated a moment before starting, "Nothing… it's just… you're so much like – I mean you – "
"Kick ass! Take no prisoners. Like Grams," finished the younger Phoebe.
"What? Me? Nooo, " said Piper flustered.
The older Phoebe smiled in contemplation. "Y'know, I've never really thought about it – I mean we've all changed so gradually, but actually…" she shrugged. "I can see it. Badass demon hunter, takes no prisoners, no nonsense… that's Grams all the way." Piper scrunched her nose, not entirely pleased at the comparison. "- but without the bitter aftertaste, of course!" Phoebe quickly added.
"Anyway," interjected Prue, "we've got what we're after. We should get out of here before any other demons show up." She turned to the future Piper. "And that was a compliment. Never knew you had it in you lil' sis," she said with a smile.
Younger Piper cocked her head to one side and slowly said, "Neither did I."
Chris, meanwhile, had filled Leo in on most of what the sisters of this time had been told, but excluding more details, of course. Considering that he'd almost given up on the idea of even dating Piper, let alone getting married, Leo had taken the news of becoming a father surprisingly well. For Chris, it was refreshing to not have to fight against his father's protective suspiciousness, unlike the first time he'd visited the past. Chris got to his feet, as did Leo, when the sisters reappeared. "Everything alright?" the men asked in unison.
__________________________________________________
"How cute. Bonding already," Prue smirked. The guys glanced at each other, embarrassed.
Leo waved for Chris to continue. "Did you find anything out?"
Paige nodded, "And got rid of a few warlocks in the process.," she said, smiling in satisfaction.
"You what?!" exclaimed Chris.
"Bad guys. Poof," stated Piper. "Got a problem with vanquishing demons, now?"
"Yes! When it comes to past demons, I do! What if they're pivotal to some future event? The whole future could be messed up now!"
"Oh, c'mon, how important could a few warlocks be?" asked the younger Piper. "It's not like we recognized them. I don't think. Did you?" she asked her other self.
That Piper shook her head in the negative, but the older Phoebe spoke up, sheepishly. "Actually… I kinda did."
"What?" cried Piper.
"Well, sort of," explained Phoebe. "I kinda remember Co- uh, you know who, kill that whole Order back when I was 'Queen'."
The younger Phoebe's eyes widened. "I get to be a queen?"
The other Phoebe winced, "Queen of all evil," she explained. At her younger counterpoint's horrified and confused expression Phoebe merely stated, " Don't ask. You don't want to know. Really. On the bright side, I don't think they were consequential to us! Until all this happened, anyway."
"Lucky this time," said Chris, "But you can't just go around killing demons willy-nilly without considering the consequences!"
Paige smirked. "Willy-nilly?" Chris shot her a withering look.
"Chris is right," interrupted Leo. "Like it or not, those demons serve a purpose. They play a part in the grand design and in everyone's destiny. You need to avoid killing them if at all possible or else you may not have a future to return to. You'll just have to figure out another way."
Piper sighed. She knew he was right. "You always did have that reasonable, wise Elder type thing down didn't you?" She smiled at him. "Keep it up. You've got plenty of years convincing this stubborn gal to deal with." She hiked a thumb at her younger counterpart.
"Hey!" exclaimed the other Piper.
"Oh, you know we are! It's not always a bad thing. After all, it got me the family life we've always wanted."
Prue cleared her throat to interrupt. "Ok, so how do we deal with this Hawker if we can't kill him?"
"Not to mention, if we leave him alive what's to stop him from coming after us later when we don't have our buffed up future selves for backup?" asked Phoebe.
"I think I have an idea," said Paige. "Something I suspended a kid for in Magic School, actually."
"Magic School?" asked Phoebe. The idea that there was a place she could possibly catch up on the time they'd missed developing their powers was an appealing one.
"Not important," answered Paige. Disappointed, Phoebe let the subject drop. ‘Besides,’ she thought, ‘I obviously do catch up. And how.’
Paige continued. "A boy was sneaking peeks into the ladies dorm showers. When he was seen he used a spell to make them forget that they'd ever seen him. It was eight weeks before someone walked in on him reciting the spell. Creepy little kid." She grimaced. "But clever. He'd worked out a wording that let them remember everything except who he was, and left them totally disinterested in finding his identity out. If only I knew what that was, we'd be back in business!"
"You don't remember?" asked Piper.
"It was in Elvish. Kid thought he was the next friggin' Gandalf," replied Paige, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, if a 14 year old can come up with that, I'm sure we can."
"Ok," said Prue, "but that still doesn't get us a way to get this Hawker to talk if we can't leave a lasting mark on him."
"Well…" started the older Piper slowly, "I can still intimidate him – blow stuff up. And I believe I know just the truth potion to whip up." She turned and started for the kitchen. Prue followed, which prompted the rest to follow in turn.
A rapping on the kitchen window startled Piper as she swung open the potions ingredients cabinet door. She turned to see Dan, her former neighbor and very distant Ex, at the window smiling. He was carrying a brown paper grocery bag. "Ooooh, crap, crap, crap! Out! Scoot!" she gestured at the group. "You and you - in!" She pointed at Prue and the younger Phoebe. "Everyone else out! Shoo! He already saw me!
"But he's going to notice you look-" protested her Phoebe.
"He's a guy - he'll never notice!" she said hurriedly. "I'll get rid of him! Go!" The doubles and the rest hustled back into the living room and dove behind the couches just as Dan opened the back door. Piper smiled a little too broadly at him as he crossed the threshold. "Daaan! Hi! How've you been?" Phoebe busied herself by grabbing a portable coffee mug as Prue got the hint and began to brew a pot of her favorite blend.
"Same as last night, I guess." He said slightly confused. "Uh, what happened to your hair?"
"Huh?"
"Your bangs. They look-"
"Oh! Uh they're still there," she interrupted before he could finish the thought. "Obviously. I just… brushed my hair differently today. It's a girl trick." She smiled nervously, hoping that would satisfy him.
"Huh. Well, it looks good," he said with admiring smile.
"Thanks..." She paused, looking awkwardly at her sisters for a cue, but they looked as if they could barely contain their laughter. She sighed, exasperated, then put her hands on her hips.
Dan put the bag down on the counter beside her, moving into her personal space. "Everything okay?" he asked as she seemed to back away from his presence. Finally, Piper slid one hand behind Dan's back, flicked her fingers, and froze him.
"Little help?" she cried. The two sisters snickered.
"Sorry, it's just – he noticed!" laughed Phoebe.
"I guess that's what comes from living with a 14 year old girl," added Prue.
"Yeah, yeah. I just need to know one thing. Piper?" she called into the adjoining room. ‘That will never cease to be weird,’ she thought.
"Yeah?"
"Are we, I mean you and Dan, dating yet?" she asked.
"Yet? No, um, just flirting, mostly," she replied slightly embarrassed.
"More like a lot!" added younger Phoebe. "I mean, just get it on already!"
"Who's asking you, Phoebe?" said the younger Piper, exasperated.
"HA!" Future Phoebe blurted out in amusement. Paige and the older Piper smirked as well.
"What?" asked all three younger sisters in unison.
"Oh, nothing," said Phoebe smiling.
"Yeah. Who would 'Ask Phoebe'," Paige said, making air quotes.
"Ok, back on track people. Places, places, places!" Phoebe sidled into place next to Prue. Piper eyed them both, expectantly and then jerked her chin to the side, indicating something behind them.
"What?" asked Prue.
"The coffee..."
Prue still looked back at her blankly.
Piper pointed at the pot. "It's full. It wasn't full when I froze Dan."
Prue's eyes widened for split second. "Oh! Duh." She turned around and quickly dumped most of the coffee down the drain, feeling a bit foolish. "I should've-"
Piper shook her head. "Don’t worry about it. But you've gotta be more careful, or else..." a shadow crossed her visage for a moment as she trailed off. "Ready?"
When everyone had returned to their pre-freeze positions Piper unfroze Dan. "So, what's in the bag?" she asked, doing her best to act coy and nervous in his presence. The latter wasn't so difficult given how very uncomfortable she was right now, especially considering Leo was in the room and could hear all of this.
"Awww, thank you!" Piper said genuinely. ‘I remember this now!’ she thought. "Maybe you can come over Friday night? I'll whip up a dinner we can enjoy this with?" A small gasp emanated from the living room. Dan glanced in the direction of the sound.
Quickly, Prue covered, "That's just Kit! You know, our cat? She's got a little cold, or something."
"Oh," said Dan disinterested in her explanation. "So, Friday night? Sure. Is seven okay?"
"Perfect!" said Piper, "Now, we were just heading out so…"
"Oh, yeah, ok. I'll see you later, then. Friday at seven." Dan's face beamed.
"Uh-huh. Ok, bye, bye, now!" Piper escorted him to the door, grinning too broadly again. When he was out of sight, she sighed in relief.
"Coast is clear!" announced Prue.
Leo stood up and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I think I'll go, uh, check with the Elders. See if they know anything about the Hawker's recent activities." He quickly orbed out and the older Piper frowned at his retreating light trail.
The others quickly joined them in the kitchen. Piper was staring at her future self in horrified disbelief as she crossed into the room. "I can't believe you just asked him out like that! What happened to not changing the future?"
"I didn't. I just did what I remember doing the last time."
"I did? Huh. Well, it was a thoughtful present."
"Not to mention one obviously intended to be shared. He so set you up!" teased the older Phoebe.
The younger Piper shrugged. "I suppose so. When did you get so insightful?"
"Have to be, with my job," answered Phoebe.
"What do you do?" pried the younger Phoebe again.
Her older self just smiled apologetically. "Sorry, consequences."
"A girl has to try!"
Meanwhile, the more experienced Piper had donned a worried look. "If we're going to be here much longer we're going to have to do something about this," she said motioning between herself and her other self. "A glamour or something. We can't be seen walking around with doubles."
"Can we try and focus here? We can worry about that later," Chris said urgently. "We should get back to that potion and spell before someone realizes those Lunar Hand thugs are toast."
"Yes, son, we can," said Piper pointedly. She turned to her younger self. "We'll need some Rumersbane, a Woodnymph's Tear, and Caraway seeds, in addition to the usual basics. Are you stocked in that?"
"I've never even heard of the first two. Do they have more modern names, like the whole Eye of Newt is just mustard seed kinda thing?" asked Prue.
"Nope. Just obscure," replied Piper as she pulled the potions book out of the false bottom on a drawer and flipped to a page near the back. "Here's the ingredient list. There's a small herbal shop in Chinatown – on the corner of Clay Street and Spofford Lane – called 'Qiger and Herb S'. They specialize in more powerful reagents."
Prue nodded and took the book. "Alright then. I -" she began.
"Can you and Phoebe go get whatever we need?" They nodded. She then gestured at her other self. "We'll get started on what we can of the potion, while Paige and my Phoebe work on the spell."
Chris spoke up, "I'll go along in case you two need help with the Chinese."
"You speak Chinese?" asked Prue.
"No, I just know the symbols of what we're looking for. And it's better to look like you know what you're buying in there. If Fung's dad is anything like his son in my time, he won't sell to just anyone."
"Oh," Prue replied flatly. She grabbed her keys and the trio headed for the door. It was reassuring to see her sisters would be taken care of when she was gone. Even though they were plenty capable adults, she'd always worried about their welfare if something happened to her. But it seemed Piper had learned to take the lead, and trust in herself, and she wore the role well. And if she were completely honest with herself, Prue could see that Piper probably wore the role even better than herself. She still played the peacemaker, but led comfortably and decisively as well. Nonetheless, Prue couldn't help finding herself mildly annoyed each time this future Piper stepped in just as she was about to offer direction. She may be older than Prue, but looking at her, she still felt like she knew what's best for her little sister. It was just… strange to think of her as a woman with so much more life experience than her. 'She's a wife, a mom, a successful businesswoman – not to mention a pretty badass witch,' she thought to herself. "I'd say we'll be back asap, in case you need anything," said Prue as she shrugged on a coat, "but you seem to have it all under control," she finished as she unconsciously shot a glance at Piper.
It may have been six years since she'd seen Prue, but the 35 year old Piper had noticed the tell-tale signs that something was bothering her big sister.
"Wait – Prue. Can I talk to you for a second? Before you go?" They were working against time, but her long lost sister's feelings were just as important to her at this moment.
"Just what is this mystery job?" asked Prue.
"You know I can't." A tinge of regret colored her voice.
"Alright, well, if you're not going to share then I guess I should get going," Prue said with a genial smile. "Demons don't vanquish themselves, after all."
"Oh, you know there's no stopping me when I know you're wrong," Prue said half-jokingly.
Piper blinked back her tears, pulled back to meet her sister's eyes, and saw that Prue's were as welled up as her own. "And you know I wouldn't have it any other way." She smirked. "Well, most of the time." Prue slapped her sister playfully on the shoulder.
When the pair returned to the foyer Phoebe was pestering her future self for information on the future. Again. "A doctor?" she asked.
"Not gonna spill," replied the other Phoebe, crossing her arms.
"Firefighter? Lifeguard?" She lit up suddenly, "Ooh! A sex therapist!"
"No!" yelped the older Phoebe, horrified.
"She was closer…" said Paige, amused.
"Shush, you! This is your fault, anyway! Mentioning details about my future boyfriend in front of me!"
"All I said was that he helps people," protested Paige. "How was I supposed to know you're so incorrigible? I never got to meet ‘Flighty Phoebe’."
"Hey! I'm not flighty! I'm… effervecent!"
"Flighty," admitted the older Phoebe with a nod.
"Well, I think it's cute on you," finished Paige.
"Ready to go?" said Prue and she walked out the door without waiting for an answer, making it clear it was more order than suggestion.
"Male stripper?" asked younger Phoebe giving it one last try as she headed out the door.
"How does that help people?" the other Phoebe yelled after her self.
“Oh, I think you know exactly how,” replied the younger Phoebe mischievously.
She rolled her eyes and smirked incredulously as her past self disappeared out of sight. "Can you believe me?"
"Alright!" Paige clapped her hands together. "Let's get on that spell!"