"AAAHHHH" The Seer fell over grasping her temples.
The Source glanced down to her "What is it?" He asked, his tone being slightly concerned
"The timeline, it has just been reformed." She answered with a whole lot of effort, "AHHH" she screamed again as she tried to view it an additional time. "No, it's still in fluctuation, I cannot view it, it's overflowing with temporal energy."
"What does that mean?" The Source grabbed her by the shoulders and yelled impatiently. "What did you see before that?"
"I saw…a" she tried to answer with all energy she could muster, "a…skull."
"What of the charmed ones?" He picked her up by her shoulders, losing his patience further.
"I'm afraid they may be the least of our worries..." Her eyes started glowing as she involuntarily peered into the timeline to complete her vision "…A…doctor?"
Phoebe was shaken awake by Cole. It was early morning and a sense of terror was gripping her.
"Are you ok? Cole asked with a high level of concern in his voice, "Did you have a premonition? You were thrashing around like crazy."
"Yeah," Phoebe answered as she remembered her dream. "It seemed like a premonition, but I can't really remember much of it. All I remember is a skull with a pentagram on its forehead…it was glowing with a golden aura."
"Doesn't sound familiar." Cole answered somewhat relieved, "You should probably ask Leo to look into it."
"Yeah." Phoebe responded still somewhat lost in thought.
"Well, time to get up anyway." Cole stretched and stood up out of bed, "After that mess at the social service office, it may be difficult to find a job."
"Yeah," Phoebe responded as Cole left the room, "you could always be an anger management councilor"
Cole descended the stairs and was met by Paige in the kitchen "Hey," she started as she approached him and started wagging her finger in his face "I was able to convince the social service office to give you one more shot, mainly because they are short staffed, but if you pull anything like that again, it's your last chance. Got it?"
Cole paused in shock for a second, caught off guard by the news. "Uuh, sure, ok"
"Good, now get ready, we're going to be late." She responded as she orbed a piece of toast to her hand and exited the kitchen.
"You probably could have told me this yesterday…sometime…or something…" Cole pause again, still taken back by the surprise, shook his head, and then headed upstairs to get ready.
"I can't believe this!" Piper exclaimed at Leo as they entered the kitchen. "We had plans today, and we talked about you standing up to them, it's your day off."
"I know," Leo rebutted, "but you know I have other charges, they need me too, and the elders were very clear that this was a huge emergency."
Piper glared at Leo as he orbed away. "This isn't over!" she yelled at the sky.
"Called off to work again?" Paige inquired as she finished her slice of toast.
"Yeah," Piper responded in a rather annoyed tone, "speaking of which, aren't you going to be late."
"Crap," Paige exclaimed rather exasperated "Cole! Get your butt down here."
"Already here" Cole stated as Paige turned around and almost ran into him.
There was a knock on the door as they both headed in its direction. Paige opened the door to see a tall, skinny man wearing thick rimmed glasses and a blue pin stripped suit with spikey hair standing on the porch.
"Hello there, I'm with federal gas line inspectors," he proclaimed with an English accent while holding up a leather wallet with his credentials contained in a plastic pouch, "I'm inspecting the connections in all the houses in this area for…safety reasons."
"Piper! Someone's here to inspect the gas line!" Paige yelled into the house as her and Cole exited the house. The man quirkily leaned backward, placed his hands behind his back and widened his eyes as she yelled. "Have at it." She directed to the man. He nodded as he entered the house.
"What's wrong with the gas lines?" Piper asked as she entered the entrance hall.
"Uuummm, nothing as of yet, but we intend to keep it that way." He answered as he looked around the house curiously. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver device with a blue knob on the tip. He pointed the device in various directions while pushing a button that illuminated the tip and caused the device to emit a quiet buzzing sound.
Piper looked at it with a raised eyebrow.
The man looked over at Piper while still pointing his device. "Basic gas detection apparatus." He explained briefly before continuing.
"Riiight," Piper replied with an obvious look of disbelief on her face, "can I see your badge or whatever?" she asked while shaking her head.
The man stopped and looked at Piper for a few seconds while scrunching his nose. "Of course." He obliged as he pulled his leather wallet out of his pocket and flashed his credentials.
"Can I take a closer look at that?" Piper asked while motioning him to hand it to her.
"Yeah." He answered a little nervously as he moved it closer to her face.
She grabbed it and tried to pull it from his grasp while he held tight. "Can I?" She growled under her breath.
"Well, I mean, I really shouldn't let a civilian hold it…" The man tried to explain as he lost his grip on the wallet.
"Ummm…" Piper flipped the wallet around and looked extremely puzzled, "I'm not sure how I didn't notice this sooner, but this is a blank sheet of paper!"
"Yeah…" the man sighed with his tongue in his cheek. "Can I just have that back?"
"Not until you tell me who sent you!" Piper yelled falling into a defensive posture. "Phoebe!"
The man raised an eyebrow at her. "Nobody sent me." He started to explain as he carefully reached out and retrieved his wallet. "I am The Doctor, and this is psychic paper." He continued waving it in the air then placing it in his coat pocket.
"What's wrong!" Phoebe yelled as she ran down the stairs.
"Hi, The Doctor." He reiterated looking over to Phoebe and pointing to himself while grinning. "I've actually detected a relative continuum displacement zone somewhere around your house." He answered, "Hoping to fix it for you before I continue with my search." He continued distractedly as he looked at the two sisters intently. "With any luck, it's a byproduct of what I'm looking for."
"So…that pen is a…whatever zone detector then?" Piper inquired pointing to his device.
"Wha.." he started before realizing what she was pointing at. "Oh, no this is my sonic screwdriver, although it can easily detect a relative continuum displacement zone, time is kind of my specialty." He answered with a big grin on his face.
Phoebe scuttled over to her sister. "What is he talking about?" she whispered, rather irritated, into Piper's ear.
"I don't know." Piper whispered back in an equally irritated tone.
"Just freeze him for now." Phoebe suggested.
"really though," The Doctor began, "A relative continuum displacement zone is quite danger…" He was cut off mid sentence, frozen in place by Piper's magic.
"Check his pockets." Piper recommended. "He has a leather wallet in his coat pocket, he called it psychic paper, maybe you can get a premonition from it."
Phoebe reached into the doctor's coat pocket and grabbed his leather wallet. She immediately fell backward as visions of the TARDIS, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, and a very lonely existence filled her mind. After sitting in a stupor for a long while experiencing her visions, Phoebe collapsed into a comatose state.
"Oh my god!" Piper shrieked as she ran to her sister's side. "Phoebe, are you ok, wake up!" she exclaimed as she shook her vigorously. "Leo!"
There was a brief flash of blue light as Leo orbed into the living room. "Whoa, what happened?" Leo inquired as he knelt down next to Piper.
"Well, this guy showed up," Piper began gesturing to the frozen Doctor, "carrying a blank paper, waiving that thing around," Pointing to his sonic screwdriver, "claiming to be some sort of doctor, so I froze him so that Phoebe could try to get a premonition from his psychic paper and she passed out."
"Wait, what's psychic paper?" Leo puzzled.
"It's his blank paper!" Piper yelled impatiently.
"Of course it is" he replied with a look of banality on his face. He stood up and studied The Doctor for a moment. "He doesn't look like much, how long have you had him frozen?"
"For a bit." Piper answered quite irritated.
"Well then he either isn't very strong, or he isn't a threat." Leo reasoned. "Maybe you should unfreeze him and ask him about his paper." Leo bent over, picked up Phoebe and moved her to the couch.
"Fine." Piper agreed and undid her magic.
"erous and I really should…" The Doctor stopped and looked around in bewilderment.
"What's the deal with this paper?" Piper asked The Doctor very point blank.
"I'm sorry," The Doctor started, "but I'm not sure what just…"
"I'm the one asking the questions here, bub." Piper interrupted.
"But, you were just…" The Doctor continued, "and he…" he continued to look more puzzled as he gestured toward Leo.
"Hey!" Piper forcefully interjected, snapping her fingers in front of The Doctor's face, "Focus, what did your psychic paper do to my sister?"
"Well, I don't know!" The Doctor shouted rather annoyed at this point. "your clock has moved forward about 7 minutes since I last looked, I have a feeling I may have missed just a bit!"
"Oh no!" Piper yelled back, "you're not going to yell at me in my own house while my sister is…"
"Whoa, Piper…" Leo interjected and grabbed Piper by the shoulders, "Piper, calm down" Piper glared wickedly at Leo. "Ok, honey, just let me talk." Leo continued as Piper turned away from him.
"Fine." She grunted under her breath making it crystal clear that she was extremely irritated.
"Hi" the doctor extended his hand to Leo, "I'm The Doctor."
"Umm, hi, I'm Leo" Leo extended his hand and shook The Doctor's. "Sorry about that, they kinda get carried away sometimes."
The Doctor nodded his head in agreeance with wide eyes.
"Umm, anyway," Leo continued sheepishly as Piper Glared at him intensely, "As you've probably guessed, these women are witches, and Piper there froze you with her magic so that Phoebe could try to get a premonition from your paper, or something, and then she passed out."
"Oh…Yes! I see" exclaimed The Doctor excitedly, "So these women have heightened psionic abilities…" The doctor paused for a moment and puzzled, "No…a human possessing that level of ability is unheard of…"
"Excuse me!" Piper interrupted his train of thought, "The Paper!"
"Ah, yes!" The Doctor redirected his thoughts, "if she tried to read the spectrum of energies on my psychic paper," he continued as he pointed his sonic screwdriver at Phoebe's head and turned it on, "then her brain is probably just experiencing a neuron storm," he concluded as he placed his sonic screwdriver in his chest pocket, "she should be conscious within the hour." He knelt down and grabbed his psychic paper from the floor and replaced it in his coat pocket and stood up with a small grin.
Leo and Piper both stared at The Doctor in bewilderment.
"Anyway," The Doctor continued while leaning back and forth, "I really should repair the relative continuum displacement zone, it's somewhere upstairs."
"What's that?" Leo asked rather confused.
"Simply, it's a hole in time." The Doctor responded as he distractedly walked toward the stairs. "If disturbed, it could cause a direct continuum implosion, the tiniest of which could obliterate your entire planet."
"Wait." Piper specified as she froze The Doctor again. "I still don't trust this guy, Leo, would you go ask the elders about him and his psychic paper…oh, and his sonic screwdriver."
"Ummm," Leo interjected, a little concerned, "what he just said sounds pretty serious, and the Angels of Destiny have just lost power and vision over all destinies in all timelines." He continued as he shrugged his shoulders "Maybe this hole in time has something to do with it."
Piper glared daggers at Leo, "Just go!" She roared at him with unbridled rage.
"ok." Leo responded as he orbed away.
Piper paced for several minutes concerned about the news she had just received and the strange man in her house before hearing a knock at the door. "What now?" Piper stormed to the door and flung it open to see Darryl on the porch.
Darryl was somewhat taken back by his reception. "Is this a bad time?" he asked.
"A little bit." Piper growled angrily, "What do you want?"
"Well, I responded to reports of a body found in an alley," Darryl replied. "He looked like he had been dead for a while, but as we were investigating the scene; he was decomposing before our eyes."
"So you think magic was involved." Piper completed the thought as she stepped aside and motioned for Darryl to come inside.
"Yeah, I was hoping one of you could help me look into it." Darryl requested as he stepped in. His gaze was distracted shortly after. "What's with that guy?" He asked, pointing to the frozen Doctor on the stairs.
"I don't know yet." Piper responded, becoming agitated at the thought of The Doctor.
"Ok, so does rapid decomposition sound familiar to you?" Darryl inquired.
"No," Piper answered shaking her head, "but I can go check the book of shadows, keep an eye on him." She finished, gesturing at The Doctor as she headed up the stairs.
Darryl waited awkwardly for about fifteen minutes before Leo orbed into the living room and Piper came down the stairs.
"I've got nothing." Piper and Leo said in unison.
"Really?" Piper whined.
"But they all agree that a hole in time sounds bad," Leo recapped, "and that we should let him fix it if he can." Leo noticed Darryl once he finished talking and looked at his surroundings. "Hey Darryl."
Darryl acknowledged Leo. "So you got nothing?" he asked Piper.
"No." Piper stated as she unfroze The Doctor.
"Oh, come on!" The Doctor moaned as he noticed the new man in the house. "You have really got to stop doing that." He looked over at the clock. "I was out for a good twenty minutes that time!"
"Hey, less whining, more…time fixing." Piper interjected.
"How are you doing that anyway?" The Doctor inquired as he jumped down the stairs and turned on the sonic screwdriver in Pipers direction, Piper looked away from the tip as it illuminated and slightly blinded her. "Ah, you can psychically manipulate the molecules in a relative dimension of space," he explained as he continued pointing the sonic screwdriver at her, then flicked it off and looked at it while adjusting something. "I can counter it by setting the frequency to a destructive interference wave…"
"Hey!" Piper interrupted while bringing both hands up to either side of The Doctor's face. "Focus."
"Right," The Doctor snapped out of thought and stood up straight, turning toward the stairs. "Allons-y!" He exclaimed pointing his sonic screwdriver up and flicking it on, following its signal up the stairs.
"Wha.." Darryl asked with a bewildered look on his face.
Leo shrugged at him as Piper followed The Doctor up the stairs.
The Doctor continued to follow the signal of the sonic screwdriver until it brought him to the attic.
"You can't go in there!" Piper exclaimed as she stepped between The Doctor and the door.
"If you want me to fix the hole in time, you're going to have to let me in." The Doctor explained as he pushed up his glasses.
"It's ok." Leo assured from behind The Doctor.
After a few moments of hesitation, Piper moved from the path. "Fine." She pouted angrily.
The Doctor continued into the attic and made his way to a cardboard box labeled 'Penny'. He opened the box and scanned each item inside with his sonic screwdriver until he pulled out a pair of red go-go boots. "These boots!" he exclaimed, "They have been carelessly linked to your past."
"Boots?" Piper asked unamused.
"Yes," The Doctor responded scanning them meticulously with the sonic screwdriver, "they appear to be linked to your 1960's, a simple adjustment to the space-time continuum…" he continued as he adjusted his sonic screwdriver and moved it back and forth from the boots, "and viola."
"…that's it?" Piper asked with an angry undertone, her annoyance becoming more and more apparent. "You didn't even do anything."
"Oh, but I did," The Doctor replied as he took off is glasses, pulled out a pair of paper, red and blue 3d glasses and placed them on his face, "unfortunately, it wasn't caused by the creature I'm looking for."
"This is ridiculous!" Piper roared clearly reaching her last nerve, and turning to Leo stated, "He's playing with toys!"
"I assure you, this is no toy." The Doctor specified as he waved the sonic screwdriver then put it away. "And these," he removed the 3d glasses and placed them on Pipers face, "have a purpose."
Piper looked around the room and then fixated on The Doctor. "You're covered in…stuff." She observed.
"Yes!" The Doctor affirmed. "Void stuffs to be precise; you see I picked it up as I traveled between my universe and yours, which is why nobody else in this room has it on them."
"Another universe?" Piper asked in complete disbelief as she removed the 3d glasses.
"Yes, I found a connection between your and my universe being held open by psionic energy," The Doctor explained as he grabbed his 3d glasses and put them in his pocket, "I believe a creature from my universe has taken residence here and hope to find and extract it before it causes any irreversible damage."
"That would explain why the angels have lost their control over destiny." Leo interjected. "Something that was never meant to be here would mess all of that stuff up."
"Wait," Piper interjected, rather lost, "We've dealt with things from other universes before, and it never messed up the timelines."
"Ah, those were likely pocket universes tied directly to your own universe." The Doctor answered, "My universe is entirely parallel and has no business contacting this universe."
"Hold up," Darryl interjected, "this thing you're looking for, could it cause rapid decomposition?"
"it's entirely possible." The Doctor answered.
"Do you want to come take a look then?" Darryl queried.
The Doctor donned a big grin. "This one's getting very fun." He stated. "By the way, I'm The Doctor."
"Doctor who?" Darryl asked.
"Just The Doctor." He replied.
"Well, ok, I'm Darryl."
"Well, Darryl, shall we?" The Doctor responded gesturing toward the doorway.
The four of them exited the attic, Piper leaving last, and descended the stairs. "You should probably go with them, Leo." Piper suggested. "I'll stay here and watch over Phoebe and call Paige."
"Ok," Leo agreed, "That's probably a good idea."
The three of them exited the house.
"What is going on?" Piper asked to herself as she flopped down into a chair and grabbed the phone. "It's as bad as when we first discovered our powers."
Phoebe began to stir on the couch, emitted a barely audible groan, then bolted up to a sitting position and looked around the room frantically.
"Phoebe, you're ok!" Piper exclaimed with great excitement as she hopped over to the couch and hugged her.
"Umm, yeah," She responded with a bewildered tone, "what happened?"
"You touched The Doctor's paper, then passed out." Piper answered, a little concerned.
"Oh yeah," Phoebe remarked as if she had just remembered a long lost memory, "and I had another premonition about the glowing skull." She added turning to look at her sister.
"What glowing skull?" Piper asked firmly.
"Oh," Phoebe began, still fighting through a haze. "This morning I had a premonition, all I could remember about it was a glowing skull with a pentagram on its forehead…and then The Doctor showed up…" Phoebe lost herself in thought again.
"Sis?" Piper probed with a troubled tone. "You ok?"
"Huh?" Phoebe snapped out of her thoughts, "Yeah, I will be, sorry."
"You just need to rest." Piper recommended as she laid her sister back down.
"Ok." Phoebe agreed, then rolled over onto her side to nap.