Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
A Charmed Love Story
by Laura Picken

Hi all! This was my first attempt at Charmed fan fiction. I really like Prue and
Andy, but TPTB did a *terrible* job at handling their relationship. Trust
should be the first facet of any relationship, and Andy's absolutely right to be
upset that Prue won't trust him. So, being a habitual fan fiction writer, this is
my response to that.

DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I don't own these characters, or you'd be seeing
this next Wednesday night. These lovely men and women are owned by Aaron
Spelling, E. Duke Vincent and Warner Brothers. They own the rights, I own
less than nothing, and the characters can go back to your world when they're
done, I promise! Please don't sue - you wouldn't get anything anyway.

And now, on with the show...


It was a beautiful night for a walk-the fog was just low enough to make even
the dingiest of city streets into a place of mystery, yet you could still look up
and see some of the stars in the sky. Martin couldn't believe the incredible
beauty he found himself lucky enough to be walking with. Even her name
rolled off the tongue like sweet wine. Squeezing the arm he had draped around
her petite shoulders, he repeated the name to himself once more. Samantha...

Leaning in just slightly, he found himself unable to resist inhaling the
perfumed aroma of her blond hair. He was an old-fashioned kind of guy, he
thought, and a voice in the back of his mind tried to convince him that this was
-way- to far for him to be going on a first date. His body's response to her
nearness, though, shut those thoughts down quickly. My God, he thought, just
being next to her is intoxicating...

Just as he was about to pull away, though, she turned her head to look up at
him. Blue eyes locked on brown, and the attraction was unstoppable. At first,
he kissed her tentatively, not sure if she was feeling as strongly as he was about
what was going on between them. All hesitation was thrown to the wind,
though, as she deepened the kiss quickly, returning his feelings with more
enthusiasm than he thought a woman of her small size could possibly be able to
produce.

Martin was so caught up in the passion he was feeling, he didn't notice
Samantha forcing them into a nearby alley. Didn't notice how the fog had
grown thicker, seemingly enveloping them in its own private curtain.
Didn't notice how her kiss seemed to be draining the very life from his body...

When the fog lifted, Samantha pulled her hair back into a relaxed ponytail,
sighing in annoyance that Martin had done so much to mess up her usually
pristine appearance. Quickly touching up her makeup and reassuring herself
that she did indeed look fabulous, she picked up her pace just slightly, walking
with the confidence of a woman who knew she could take on the world even as
she left the body of one Martin Jeffries behind to rot in that dark alley...


It looked like the parting of the Red Sea.

In reality, it was simply one of those things that was becoming a fact of life in
the San Francisco PD. When Inspector Andy Trudeau was in a bad mood, your
best course of action would be to get out of the way before he shoved you out of
the way. And Andy looked like he was ready to do some shoving tonight.

Morris whistled as he took in his partner's appearance. He was the only one
who could get away with talking to his partner when the man was in this bad a
state, and he knew it. "Whew, Andy! Should I alert the National Weather
Service, or is this storm going to blow over quickly?"

Andy groaned. Even he could tell the joke was lame. "Morris, can it, all right?
Tonight's not a good night for this."

[Boy, he's -really- in a bad mood! This could only mean one thing.]
Sympathetically, Morris asked, "It's Prue again, isn't it?"

Drawing in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Andy nodded. "She stood
me up."

"-More- sister stuff?!"

At Andy's nod of confirmation, Morris drew an hand back through his hair. By
this point, he was almost as frustrated as his partner about this. "What -is- it
with those three, anyway?"

Andy simply shook his head. "I wish I knew, Morris. I really wish I knew."
Bitterly, he added, "It's not like Prue's ever going to tell me..."

Morris caught on immediately. "That's what's bugging you, isn't it? You think
that Prue doesn't trust you." Andy nodded.

Morris couldn't help it. He started laughing. "Man, that's gotta be a first. A
man feeling betrayed because a -woman's- keeping secrets from -him-!"

Andy thought for a moment, then couldn't help but let out a small chuckle
himself. Stepping back from the situation, it was pretty absurd. Too bad he
couldn't step back from the situation every time Prue had 'sister stuff' going
on...

The Inspector shook the thoughts out of his head, realizing that if he dwelt on
what was going on between himself and Prue, they would be there all night.
And both he and Morris had better things to do. "So what do we have here?"

Flipping open his notebook, Morris used his notes to brief Andy on their crime
scene. "According to his wallet, the name of the deceased is Martin Jeffries,
Single, age 35."

"Cause of death?"

"Asphyxiation."

"-Again-?" As Morris nodded, Andy's eyes widened slightly. He shouldn't be
surprised, not after the cases he'd investigated this year. Then again..."Isn't
that the third case this month?"

Morris nodded. "Looks like we've got a serial killer on our hands, my friend."


Piper looked at her watch for what had to be the thirtieth time that day. 1:30.
Andy was going to be there any minute.

She had reserved them a quiet table, far away from the kitchen where they
could relax, and talk. Piper felt absolutely horrible about the way things were
going between him and her sister. It was clear to her that Prue loved Andy as
much as he loved her, and in some ways, she felt partially to blame for the way
things were going between them. After all, if it wasn't for the fact that they
were witches...

Shrugging off all thoughts of unmentionable subjects, Piper resolved that she
would just sit and listen and try to help Andy in any way that she could without
telling Andy about their powers...The young chef nearly jumped when she
finally spotted Andy near the entrance to the restaurant. Crossing the busy
floor, she intercepted him before he made it very far. "Hi, Andy! How's it
going?"

Andy still didn't know what to make of Piper's invitation to lunch. While never
one to pass up a free meal - especially at Quake - he had a feeling this had
something to do with the fight he and Prue had gotten into the night before. A
fight that Andy was not ready to discuss yet...particularly with his supposed
girlfriend's sister. Shoving his hands in his pockets to keep himself from
fidgeting, Andy replied, "All right, I guess. What's this about, Piper?"

Piper deliberately avoided the question as she suggested, "We'll have plenty of
time to talk when we get to the table. Why don't you get us a couple of drinks
from the bar and I'll go see if our table's ready? I'll take a white wine."

And before Andy had any possible chance to prod Piper further, she was gone-
halfway across the restaurant before he even blinked. [How in the world does
she -do- that?] Setting aside -that- impossible question for the moment, Andy
made his way to the crowded bar to try and get the bartender's attention.

It was then that he saw her, out of the corner of his eye. Normally, blondes
weren't his type, but there was something about this one...Andy had crossed the
entire length of the bar and was at her side before he could even think about
what he was doing.

Finding himself at a loss for words, he soon found out he didn't need them as
the woman spoke first - but only after looking him up and down
appreciatively. Strangely, he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was intensely
flattered as she greeted him, "Hello, handsome."

Smiling, he answered her, "Hello, yourself." Trying to muster up courage he
wasn't feeling, Andy spoke before he thought. "So what's an amazing woman
like you doing in a place like this?"

The woman groaned, a sound which was as seductive as it was defeating, as she
turned away from Andy to take a sip of her drink. "You know, that's got to be
the oldest pick up line known to man."

"Absolutely," Andy agreed, "But it was all I could think of to say at the
moment."

The woman laughed appreciatively. "Well at least you're honest." Setting
aside her drink, she sat up slightly as she offered her hand. "The name's
Samantha."

Andy shook her hand in return. "Inspector Andy Trudeau."

Samantha raised an eyebrow in surprise. "-Inspector-? Really?"

"Yes ma'am. Just recently promoted."

Samantha smiled. "Well then why don't we go out for a drink sometime, to
celebrate this...recent promotion. Say, tomorrow night?"

Andy was almost taken aback. It had been a while since he was with a woman
this assertive. Then again, it had been a while since he was interested in
anyone other than Prue...shaking all thoughts of her aside for the moment, he
agreed, "Pick you up at 6?"

"Sounds great," agreed Samantha.

Their conversation was interrupted by someone calling out, "Andy!" from the
other end of the bar. Taking his eyes off Samantha, Andy turned to the sound
of his name being called, and immediately recognized Phoebe as the one doing
the calling. Muttering something about the Halliwell sisters and their
impeccable timing, Andy turned back to excuse himself from Samantha's
presence...

Only to find her gone. Letting out a soft string of curses to try and express
some of the frustration he was feeling, he commented to no one in particular, "I
don't even have your-"

Before he could say 'number', the edge of the cocktail napkin caught his eye.
There, just above the Quake logo, was a note for him:

555-6660
Don't be late! -A

Smiling, he picked up the napkin and folded it into his inside coat pocket just
as Phoebe caught up with him. Before he could say a word, though, Phoebe
spoke up first. "Andy! What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?"

"Actually, your sister Piper invited me for lunch-"

"What a coincidence," interrupted Phoebe, "I'm here to drop off some papers
for her to sign. Why don't I walk you to the table?" Not letting Andy argue
with her, she offered, "Is this your drink?" She picked up the glass to hand it to
Andy...

*FLASH*

The world faded to black and white. She saw Andy lying in a hotel room bed, a
thin sheet barely covering the lower half of his body. She could hear a woman's
laughter in the background, but that wasn't important to Phoebe. What -was-
important was that in Phoebe's mind's eye, Andy was no longer alive...

"Phoebe? Are you all right?"

The young witch shook off her disorientation when she felt Andy's hand on his
shoulder. Looking up into the eyes of the man she just saw as a corpse was, to
say the least, uncomfortable. Shoving the envelope into his hands, Phoebe
rattled off a quick excuse. "I'm fine. Listen, I gotta run. Can you give these to
Piper for me? Thanks. I'll see you later!"

And she was gone before Andy even had a chance to respond. He was
beginning to wonder if that disappearing act was a genetic trait when he saw
Piper trying to flag him down from their table. Adding that train of thought to
his mental list of questions marked "Later", Andy got the drinks from the
bartender and made his way over to Piper's table.


Piper was beginning to wonder if Phoebe was going to wear a hole in the floor
that would go straight through to the basement. "Will you just -sit- -down-,
Phoebe? Prue's going to be home any minute."

Hearing that did nothing to improve Phoebe's mood. "Really?" she replied,
"And what are we going to tell her when she gets here? That the man she
loves, who she's currently in a huge fight with, is going to sleep with some
woman and die because that woman's actually a demon?"

"Who's going to sleep with a demon and die?"

The sound of their sister's voice caused both Phoebe and Piper to jump. Taking
in a deep breath to strengthen herself, Phoebe figured it was best she just say it.
"I had a flash this afternoon when I went to Quake to drop off the insurance
paperwork. Andy's going to go out with another woman tomorrow night, sleep
with her, and end up dead."

Prue felt like someone had just sucker punched her in the gut. "What?"

Piper replied, with a calmness she wasn't feeling, "Do you really need her to
repeat it?"

Weakly, Prue shook her head. "No, I heard her the first time." A chair slid up
behind Prue, and she collapsed into it. She rested her head in her hands, trying
to absorb what her sister had told her. "Phoebe, are you -sure- it was Andy you
saw?"

Phoebe nodded. "I saw his face, Prue. He was dead."

"And you think he was murdered?"

Phoebe nodded again. "I heard a woman laughing in the background. Not
something you normally do when there's a corpse in your bed."

Prue leaned her head back against the chair, letting out a deep breath she barely
knew she was holding. Phoebe had a point. "So do you have any idea -what-
killed him?"

Phoebe nodded, pulling out a crumpled sheet of paper with notes she had taken
from the Book of Shadows. "He wasn't stabbed or anything like that - I didn't
see any blood. So he had to have been drugged, or strangled, or suffocated in
some way. Then when I looked in the Book of Shadows, I found this."

Taking the paper from Phoebe's hand, Prue read over the notes quickly. "A
Succubus...a demon who takes the human form of a woman to steal men's souls
through the art of seduction...and only the power of true love can destroy her."

Piper suggested, "That means we have a good shot, right? We can stop her?"

Prue got up and started to pace the room herself. Watching her sister trace
Phoebe's path back and forth across the room, Piper muttered, "Maybe we
should build a track..." Composing herself, she then asked Prue out loud, "You
do love him, don't you, Prue?"

Prue's only response to her sister's question was a deep, pained sigh. "I don't
know, Piper. I honestly don't know. And even if I did..." [We couldn't be
together because I'd have to keep our secret from him and he couldn't handle
that.] Prue didn't finish her thought out loud.

It didn't matter; her sisters already knew what she was thinking. But before
they could call her on it, Prue suggested, "If Andy doesn't go on that date,
though, that means he won't sleep with that woman, doesn't it?"

Phoebe and Piper caught on to Prue's train of thought immediately. It was
Piper who suggested what they all were thinking. "So all we have to do is stop
him from going on that date."