Her Charming Little Secret

Summary: A new girl, with no past, shows up, claiming to be a third year medical student. Carter takes her under his wing. When Abby finds out the girl's secret, she tries desperately to keep her own secret and the girls from Carter. Unfortunately, Carter finds out and demands to know the hidden meaning behind Lucy's death.

A/N: X-OVER ALERT! CHARMED/ER (bet you never saw this one coming!) Crossover with Charmed but no Charmed watching is essential to understand this story for all unfamiliar things to ER watchers will be explained as thoroughly as possible. If it is still confusing, say so in the reviews and I will try to explain more in an epilogue or the next chapter.

Disclaimer: Piper, her sisters, and the rest of the cast of 'Charmed' belong to the WB. The cast of ER belongs to NBC and stuff.

Cast:
Piper Halliwell: Holly Marie Combs
John Carter: Noah Wyle
Abby Lockhart: Maura Tierney
Lucy Knight: Kellie Martin

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The woman drummed her fingers against the admit desk, impatiently waiting for someone to notice her. She bit her lip and looked around. Her long raven hair flowed gracefully down her shoulders. She was slender and attractive, but she had a dark secret she couldn't tell anyone.
"Yes?" Randi finally acknowledged her.
"It's about time!" Piper said, impatiently.
"Can I help you?" Randi put on a sarcastically polite voice.
"Well, people here sure are friendly! I guess I should be overjoyed!" Piper said with equal sarcasm.
"Why?" Randi asked.
"Because I'm going to be working here. My name is Piper Halliwell, I'm the new medical student," Piper held out her hand. Randi didn't shake it.
"Oh are you now?" Randi asked. She didn't like Piper, "Hold on," she looked through a few files, "We aren't expecting a med. student today."
"Yeah, I know, I was supposed to come tomorrow, but why not start a day early?" Piper was getting nervous.
"OK. Do you know your resident?"
"Hm?" Piper asked.
"Your resident. Who you're going to be working under?"
"Uh..." Piper had no idea. Randi shuffled a few more papers.
"Your name's Claudia Stanley?" she asked. Piper, forgetting, nodded, vigorously, "Hm. I thought you said your name was Paper or something..."
"Paper?" Piper said, annoyed at the girl for calling her a piece of stationery.
"So, do you remember your resident?"
"It began with a C, didn't it?" Piper guessed.
"Carter," Randi answered for her.
"Carter, Carter, right, yeah!" Piper said, "I knew that! It just slipped my mind!"
"I'll get him," she paged Dr. Carter.
"Hi!" Abby said, seeing Piper.
"Hi..." Piper said.
"Can I help you?" Abby asked.
"Oh, no, no, I'm just waiting for Dr. Carter," Piper smiled.
"Really? Why?"
"I'm his new med. student," Abby looked Piper up and down.
"Well, won't you bring back memories. I'm Abby Lockhart. Good to have you with us," she held out her hand.
"Thanks," Piper glanced over her shoulder at Randi, "Really, thanks."
"Aren't you a little old to be a med. student?" Randi asked.
"No, unless 26 is too old for you!" Piper snapped.
"Hi, I'm looking for-"
"Piper Halliwell? That's me, you must be Dr. Carter," Piper held out her hand, politely. Carter shook Piper's hand, though his expression was puzzled.
"But, I thought-"
"They always get my name wrong, I know, you were expecting Claudia Stanley," Piper laughed, nervously. Randi watched them, suspiciously.
"OK then, but I don't see how they could get Claudia Stanley and Piper Halliwell mixed up..."
"Yeah, well," Piper laughed again. Abby, who had been silent since Carter arrived, spoke up now.
"Well, Dr. Carter, why don't you show Piper around?" Carter nodded.
"Come on, Piper," he said. He showed Piper around the hospital.
"Fun little place, isn't it?" Carter asked with some sarcasm. Piper laughed.
"Trust me, this line of work is a lot safer than my last job!" she said.
"Really, what was your last job?"
"Um..." but before Piper could make up an answer, Mark Greene and some paramedics began to wheel in a woman on a gurney. Her skin had a slight green complexion. Carter ran over to help them and Piper followed him.
"24-year-old female found on the streets. Deep marks on her left arm and discoloration of the skin," Mark told Carter. Piper looked at the woman blankly as they wheeled her into a trauma room. She had seen this before. She bit her lip.
"OK, Piper, listen-" Carter started.
"No," Piper said, still looking at the girl. Mark and Carter both looked at her.
"What?" Carter asked. Tears began to stream down Piper's cheek as she shook her head.
"I can't do this," she choked and ran out of the trauma room. She leaned against the wall, beginning to wheeze. She couldn't believe it. He was back. She thought she and her sisters had destroyed him, yet here was another one of his victims.
"Piper, are you OK?" Abby asked, approaching the girl.
"I'm fine," Piper lied. Abby gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Come on, talk to me!" Abby said. Piper looked back into the trauma room.
"Ah, your first trauma," Abby nodded, understanding but Piper shook her head.
"No, it's not that."
"What is it then?" Abby asked.
"My... My sisters," Piper's eyes began to well up with tears again, "I tried to... escape from... my past but it just... keeps coming back!"
"Calm down, girl!" Abby said, "What about your sisters?" Piper stopped crying and looked at Abby, seriously.
"They were bitten."
"Bitten? By what?" Abby asked, shocked by the answer.
"The same thing that got her," Piper nodded at the patient. She made a decision and walked into the trauma room.
"Piper, what's-" Piper ignored Carter and walked straight over to the girl. She looked her straight in the eyes.
"What's your name?"
"Katie," the girl panted. Piper held up her hands and everything was at a standstill. Even the clock had stopped. Carter and Mark were caught in a motion, unable to see or hear anything. Abby watched the room from outside with horror. Only Piper and the patient were moving. Abby saw the girl ask Piper a question. Piper nodded and said something to the girl, who nodded as well and explained something. Piper nodded. The girl pointed at Abby and Piper spun around in time to see Abby's shocked face. Piper's face took on an expression of fear and everything in the room began to move again. Abby wanted to run, but her feet were glued to the ground. Piper came out of the trauma room.
"Can you hear anything through this stuff?" Piper asked, casually.
"No," Abby said.
"Good," Piper smiled and walked away.
"Piper, wait!" Abby called, but Piper just kept walking, "Piper, if you don't stop right this minute and speak to me, I will tell everyone in this hospital what I think you are!" Piper stopped. She turned around, slowly. She walked up to Abby.
"In here," Piper said, pulling Abby into an empty room, "What do you think I am?"
"I believe you are a witch," Abby smiled. Piper stared.
"Why would you think that?" she asked, nervously. Abby continued.
"You have the power of temporal status, correct? You know, the power to freeze time?" Abby's face had a smug expression.
"Really?" Piper acted surprised, "What do you mean by 'freeze time' exactly?"
"You can make time stop for everything and person in the room except it doesn't work on witches. So everything stops, like Dr. Carter and Dr. Greene in that trauma room. They were caught in a time freeze. So when you unfroze them, they had no idea that any more than a nanosecond of time had past since the time you froze them. But the one thing that bothers me is why that girl didn't freeze. Did you intend for her to stay unfrozen?" Abby inquired.
"Maybe she's a witch too. And maybe that's why the demon wanted her."
"What demon?" Abby asked, growing more interested.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, before I say anything more, tell me. How do you know I'm a witch?"
"I saw you freeze time! I was outside the room, you couldn't freeze me! Your powers don't work on the people outside of a room."
"No, I mean, how do you know all this?" Piper asked. Abby smiled, mischievously.
"I have my ways," she said, "Let's leave it at that. So, to more important matters at hand: why are you here and why are you trying to escape your past, and by the way, what is your past?"
"Too many questions!" Piper held her head as if a migraine was coming on. Abby laughed, "But OK. First of all, I am here for two reasons: Number one, to get away from San Francisco, and number two: as a favor to a couple friends..." It was Piper's turn to be mysterious.
"What do you mean?" Abby asked.
"Well, the demon that bit that girl in there, he got my sister's friend, Claudia. I held Claudia in my arms as she died. As her last wish, she wanted someone to inform the hospital she was going to be interning at that she couldn't make it. Then, my husband's friend orbed in and-"
"Orbed?" Abby asked, only slightly familiar with the word.
"Um, materialized. She's a Whitelighter, like my husband."
"Whitelighter? But I thought Whitelighters and witches couldn't fall in love?"
"I know, it was a supernatural Romeo and Juliet. But, he's gone now," Piper sighed.
"A Whitelighter..." Abby tested her memory, "Is defined as an immortal being that used to be human... refresh my memory on how he died?"
"Well, you're right. All Whitelighters were humans at one point. Alive. But then, they die. My Leo served in World War II as a medic. He was shot. And so the Elders, a council of older Whitelighters, tell the recently deceased humans their destinies as Whitelighters."
"Whitelighters are guardian angels for witches, aren't they?"
"Sort of. Actually, a lot like that. They watch over witches and when the witch is injured, unless it's their time to leave this world, they heal them with their magic."
"Ah, I remember. So how did your husband die?" Abby asked.
"There is one thing that can kill a Whitelighter. My Leo was hit with an arrow, soaked in a special poison meant to kill Whitelighters," there was a moment of silence.
"So, what happened with Leo's friend?" Abby broke the tense air.
"She orbed in and told me to go in Claudia's place. This was after my sisters were killed by the same demon Claudia was murdered by, so I had nothing to loose. I needed to get away, I didn't want to be a witch anymore. Being a witch means having to protect the innocent and fight demons. It's too hard for me. I'd give it all up if I could," Abby put her arm around Piper, "It's all right, Piper, you have a friend in me. And I think Carter's taken a liking to you."
"Really? Lucy thought he would..." Piper trailed off. She then looked up and saw Abby's shocked expression.
"Lucy?" Abby asked.
"Yeah, she's Leo's friend. She's my Whitelighter now. You look like you've seen a ghost, is something wrong?"
"When was the last time you saw Lucy?"
"Last night. Oh God! You know her!" Piper was shocked. Abby nodded.
"February 14, 2000, Lucy Knight and John Carter, stabbed by a schizophrenic. Lucy, in her 4th year of medical school, died that night. And now, she's a Whitelighter." Abby was only slightly shocked, "Of course she seems like the type."
"How so?" Piper asked, anxious to know of how Lucy was in life.
"Well, she was really sweet, you know? But I didn't know her very long before she was stabbed. I hear she was quite a gal, though."
"That she is, Abby, that she is..."

Piper didn't come in the next day. She called in sick. Neither Abby nor Carter believed her.
"It's her second day and she calls in sick! Shows how devoted she is!" Carter couldn't understand it.
"Relax, Carter, give the girl a break! A lot has happened to her in her life," Abby said.
"Whatever!" Carter sighed.
"You don't want to be too hard on her, do you?" Abby asked, "Look what happened last time you did that."
"Leave that out of this! That never happened!" Carter yelled. Abby was shocked. Sure, Carter had pined over Lucy's death, blamed himself even. He thought of 'what ifs' and 'maybe I should haves,' and everything. But never had Abby heard him deny the fact that he had ever *met* Lucy.
"You mean to tell me that you don't know who Lucy Knight is?" Abby asked him.
"Who? Never heard the name before!" Carter said, through gritted teeth. Abby gave a frustrated sigh and began to leave. When she reached the door, she turned, ready to get in one last word.
"You know, you can't deny that Lucy didn't touch your life, Carter, and if you pretend that she didn't, that you never met her, then you are denying yourself something wonderful. I, myself, didn't know her long, but it is easy to see she did touch your heart and it is a sad, sad day when John Carter forgets that!" and with that, she left. Carter looked after her. Abby was right. Lucy had made Carter feel special. She had touched his life and made a big impact on it. She had made him feel happy. Now, she was gone. But there was something else. Something else that touched his heart. One other thing that made him happy again, something he hadn't felt in a long time. There was one thing that kept him going. It kept him from going crazy and on the rare occasions he contemplated suicide, it made him stop and reconsider. It was something named Abby Lockhart.

"She's a real snob," Randi whispered to Connie, "Thinks she's better than the rest of us."
"Come on, you have to be overreacting! This new girl can't be all bad!" Elizabeth said, overhearing.
"You wanna know what she did yesterday?" Haleh asked. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "she refused to help a sick woman."
"Do you know why?" Elizabeth asked.
"I heard it was because she didn't want to get her hands dirty!" Haleh said, "And now, Carter's pissed because she's taking the day off!"
"Honestly!" Elizabeth said, exasperated, "Whether these are true or not, I don't think you should be speaking of the girl behind her back!" before anyone else could say anything, Carter came bursting out of the lounge. He picked up the receiver for the telephone and began to dial. Everyone was silent. Carter waited, unaware of the group of nurses waiting with him. Elizabeth, about to leave, heard Carter slam down the reciever.
"Damn!" he swore, and stomped off. Everyone looked at each other.
"What do you suppose *that* was about?" Randi asked. Elizabeth watched the door to which Carter disappeared into. Suddenly, out of a different room, across the hall, Abby burst out in the same manner Carter had, only not as furious. She picked up the receiver, as Carter had and began to dial. Again, déjà vu as everyone waited for Abby's next words.
"I knew it!" she said, hanging up with triumph. Knowing the others were anxious to know what those calls were about, Elizabeth spoiled their fun.
"Abby, I need your help in exam three for a moment, please," Elizabeth asked, politely.
"Certainly, Dr. Corday, but could I just-"
"Now, please," Elizabeth said, stubbornly. Abby looked at Elizabeth curiously.
"OK..." she said, and followed Elizabeth to exam three, "What's wrong?"
"I suggest you avoid the gossip queens. They are eager to dig up dirt on Carter's new student."
"Thanks. Is that all?" Abby asked, beginning to leave.
"Actually..." Elizabeth couldn't believe she was asking this, but her curiosity got the better of her, "I was wondering... I know, it's your business and you don't have to answer, but--"
"What's going on with the new student?" Abby asked. Elizabeth nodded, "Don't worry. She's a really sweet girl who's lost her family recently. She came here to get away from the depressions of home. She just took the day off today to finish some unfinished business. I called her house, she wasn't there, so I know that's what she's doing. Enough said."
"Yes. Thank you, Abby," Elizabeth smiled. Abby left the room and glanced at her watch. Great, she had two minutes left on her shift. No one would miss her. She exited the hospital and jumped into her car. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Piper's number. Piper had given it to her the day before. Piper wasn't picking up.
"Damn!" Abby swore, "she's going to kill herself!" Abby tried to remember Piper's address. She opened her purse and brought out a piece of notepaper with Piper's address on it.
"Right, OK," Nodding, she started up the car and headed for Piper's house.

Carter wiped his name off the board.
"Excuse me," a small voice asked with a lisp. Carter looked down and saw a small child, around three, with raven black hair.
"Yes?"
"Have you seen my friend?" she asked, "Or my mommy?"
"What's your name?" Carter asked.
"Melinda Halliwell," Carter frowned.
"No, I haven't seen your mother here at all today, I'm sorry! Wait... What are you doing here? Your mother is Piper Halliwell?" Carter thought Piper was at home.
"Yeah, but my friend was watching me. I'm not s'posed to say her name."
"What's your friend look like?" Carter asked.
"Well, she's very pretty!" Melinda giggled.
"Tell you what, why don't you have a seat right here and when she comes, you can tell me, OK?" Carter led the girl to a seat in the waiting room and got back to work.

She orbed in right outside of Piper's new apartment. She wished so bad that Leo was there. She tried opening the door. Suddenly, a brown haired woman came running at the door. She was panting and knocked hard. As she caught her breath, Abby noticed the blond woman there.
"Hi," Abby panted, not realizing who it was. She waited, "Damn!" and she tried opening the door. The blond woman giggled.
"I think you need to push, Abby," she smiled. Abby looked at her. She looked her up and down and the she smiled.
"Lucy," Abby sighed, "So, you're Piper's new Whitelighter now?" Lucy was surprised at Abby's casual reaction.
"How did you-"
"No time for that, I think Piper's in trouble!" Abby burst open the door. The room was ransacked and Piper was nowhere to be found.
"Too late," Lucy sighed.
"Then where is she?"
"There's only one place she could be," Lucy said, "With Galdon. The monster that killed her sisters... has now targeted a new victim."
"Piper..." Abby sighed. Lucy smiled, mysteriously. *Let Abby believe Galdon's after Piper,* she thought. But she knew the real reason Piper was in Chicago. It was to protect an innocent person Lucy had known before. But if Galdon had his way, that certain person would soon perish. And Lucy would never forgive herself.