So, this is my first foray into any fanfiction other than HP, and I'm slightly nervous. This idea randomly popped into my head one day when I was thinking about Garcia and how much with the awesome she is. Then I started wondering what would happen not only to her, but to the team, if she suddenly became this weird, conventional person. And of course you can't have anything supernatural without involving the boys. Naturally. So they get to join in the hijinks as well. This is based inbetween episodes of the fourth seasons of both shows. I've twisted some details to make things work, so for all you Charmed purists out there, apologies, but *blows raspberry* it's my fic so ya boo sucks to you.

Mirror, Mirror.

Prologue

This body was strange. She had thought that it would be an interesting experiment to try being in a male's body, but clearly she was not cut out for this sort of thing. For one, having never had to deal with anatomy of any kind before this all started, having to deal with what men had was . . . something she would really prefer not to do on a daily basis. And so with difficulty she curbed her instincts, hiding away, using only the host's eyes to see out into the world, looking for a better, female host.

While the need to be free was literally singeing her being, she knew that a proper host was needed. She couldn't survive without one. And she didn't want to keep hopping from body to body. Someone was bound to notice the people dropping like the proverbial flies all over the place, if they hadn't already. She needed to find a host, one that she could stay in and not have to jump out of in a matter of days. Life was within her grasp, and she could be controlled for a time, but the need to be free was getting stronger with each passing day.

She came to a decision. The next half decent female this male encountered would simply have to do. She couldn't wait any longer! She wanted to feel soft skin again, be her own person again, have a life again!

'Delivery!'

Her host was a delivery boy. At the time, she had had no real concept of what that was, but after two days of stagnating in this body, she was more than ready to leave it and its menial business behind. All his other deliveries had been to people she had been unwilling at the time to shift to. Now she knew that even if this one was just as bad, she'd be leaving. And that time couldn't come soon enough.

'Oh thank you, you're a life saver! A man who brings chocolate on time is worth his weight in, well, chocolate.'

Aaah, this was much better than the last few female, and full of life and vigour. Which could be bad, all things considered, but it was the curse that went with what she wanted. She wanted to have a life, and to do so she had to choose someone who was full of life themselves. However, that meant that their souls were strong, and much more likely to fight, and fight hard, than someone of an older age who was looking forward and seeing only the golden light shining from above. Or the black shadows creeping from down below, but enough talk about that. Homesickness never helped anyone. Because no matter how much she wanted to live, and get away, noone ever forgets home.

No matter how cloying, repressive or boring it was.

And now was not the time to start weeping.

' . . . and keep the change. Really. For delivering this late, you deserve it. Thanks! See ya!'

No no no! The door was closing. She had to work fast. Quick as thought, she took over her host, and a strong palm slapped against the door to prevent it from closing. The young woman was rather shocked at this sudden behaviour, and it showed on her expressively beautiful (yes!) face.

'Hey, what -'

Poor thing. Didn't even have time to react.

Just before she left her male host, she squeezed tight around his heart, stopping all those necessary things that were keeping him, well, alive. And then she was out. Silvery light flowed like mist out of the young man's mouth, coalescing around his head before swiftly streaming upwards towards the face of the young woman. Her scarlet-dipped lips parted in a surprised 'oh' and she attempted to move back into her apartment, but she was too slow. Her quick intake of breath merely sped the process along, and before she could blink twice it was over. The young delivery man slowly crumpled at her feet.

'Oh. It does so feel good to be female again!' Slowly, she stroked her hands over her new body, feeling smooth skin and luscious curves. She pulled the silken kaftan tighter around herself, belting it snugly. Wiggling her toes in the fluffy bunny slippers that encased them, she looked down at her new body.

'Oh! Oh, this will not do. Much too much colour. We don't want to draw attention, now, do we?' Saying this, she walked over to the small mirror that she could see hanging on the wall. How she saw it admidst all the clutter was a mystery, but see it she did. She vowed to clean everything up as soon as she was used to this new form. Thinking of where she would start, she gazed into the mirror and saw not herself, but an angelic reflection of the young woman whose body she had stolen.

'It will be much easier if you don't fight, dear. Just relax, and let go.' The face in the mirror glared at her, a stubborn glint in her eye.

'Yeah, I'll get right on that. You don't know who you're messing with, whatever the heck you are. I have friends, people who love me, and since I'm not telling you squat, they're going to know something's wrong when they see me acting all . . . not get ready to move on, sister.'

She looked surprised. This one had asked no questions, begged not for mercy. This one had accepted the fact that she had invaded her body, and was now preparing to fight. A futile battle, but the young woman didn't know that yet, and she would find out soon . . there were no boring questions for her to answer like she usually had to when she took a new host. And that surprised her.

'You . . . have no questions?' The young woman rolled her eyes.

'Of course not. Sure, I don't know exactly what you are, but you can't be anything nice. You must be something of supernatural origin, obviously. Not a demon, otherwise we wouldn't be conversing. Perhaps a wraith, or a spirit. Why do you look so surprised? My boyfriend's a sci-fi fiend, not unlike myself. And spend enough time around Reid, some facts and theories are bound to- ' Gasping, she quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late.

She looked into the young woman's eyes, a feral smile touching her lips.

'So you have a boyfriend, do you? And you clearly spend time with this Reid person, so that's one name I now know. Anything else you care to inform me about?'

The young woman slowly lowered her hands, the look of horror on her face clearing to show again that same stubborness that was most definitely at home there, before crossing her arms and glaring back at her.

'I'm not saying anything else. So good luck navigating my life. Don't get used to it. You'll be gone soon.'

Poor, deluded young woman. Shaking her head, she laughed and turned from the mirror, wincing yet again at the chaos that the room was filled with. About to get started on transforming the place into something she could actually inhabit, she glanced towards the still ajar front door, and saw a slightly more pressing problem.

'Ah,' she said, looking down at the corpse at her feet, 'Now, what are we going to do with you?'

A/N

Right, so I know that's a short start, but it does set the stage somewhat. I don't see this fic being too drastically long, but who knows! My characters sometimes get away from me. : ) Anyway, hope you enjoy it!