Note: A speculative story on what drove Phoebe to kill Cal Greene, as mentioned in Morality Bites.
Fall, 2008
Flash! The light only flashed for a fraction of a second, but it remained in their eyes for longer than that.
"All right, now, DJ turn to your left a little," Prue said. "I'm getting a glare on your sunglasses. Although, this would be easier if you'd just take them off."
"Uh uh, my eyes hurt," fifteen-year old DJ stated.
"DJ knock it off and take off the shades," Darryl ordered his son. "We're trying to get a decent family picture here, and Prue was nice enough to do this for us."
"Pop…"
"Don't give me no 'Pop.' Take off the shades," Darryl ordered again. DJ reluctantly took off the sunglasses. Darryl's wife, Jeannie, grabbed the sunglasses from her son's hands, the patient smile never leaving her face.
"All right, good," Prue said. She focused her camera again and snapped another picture. Flash! Prue stood and backed up. "Okay, let's do one more with all of you. DJ and Darryl switch places, though." They did so. Prue took two shots of that pose. "Okay, DJ you're off the hook now. We're going to get some of just the parents." DJ took his sunglasses back from his mom and left the room. Darryl looked to Jeannie with frustration.
"He's your son. You love him," Jeannie said. "Just repeat that in your head."
"He's my son. I love him," Darryl repeated. "But sometimes he can be such a pain in the…"
"He's your son. You love him," Jeannie repeated. Prue laughed.
"Yeah, this is making me feel real confident about when Kaitlin reaches her teens," Prue said with a smile. "Jeannie, sit on the stool with your body facing at a 45 degree angle from me. Darryl stand with your left side behind her right side at the same angle. Now, look at the camera." Prue checked the shot. "Jeannie tilt your head up a little. Good. Darryl tilt your head down a little. Perfect." Flash!
"It's not as bad as it looks, Prue," Jeannie commented.
"Yeah, and I'm sure Katie won't be too much of a problem," Darryl said with a smirk, knowing full well the problems Prue was having with controlling her daughter and her powers. Prue just smirked back.
"Yeah, well, if I keep letting her hang around with her Aunt Phoebe, that will be a different story." Prue said that comment a little louder than she needed to, knowing Phoebe was near. Something that had developed over the years since the sisters got their powers was the ability for them to sense when they were near each other. Prue had sensed that Phoebe was approaching the room with Kaitlin.
"I heard that, Prue," Phoebe called as she entered the room with her four-year old niece. "How many times do I have to tell you that I am not a bad influence on your daughter. Oh, and by the way, that was Justin that called ten minutes ago. He's going to be late for dinner tonight."
"Ugh! I told him he couldn't be late. We're meeting Piper and Leo at six," Prue said in frustration. "You knew that. Why didn't you say anything to him?"
"Hey, he's your husband. You yell at him," Phoebe commented. "I'm just the designated child wrangler." With that Phoebe wrapped her arm around Katie and started tickling her. Little squeals and giggles erupted from the child. Prue just shook her head and continued to take photos.
"All right, Pheebs," Prue said as she walked through the foyer toward the door. "The numbers for the restaurant and the opera house are by the phone. Tell Justin to just meet us at the restaurant if he calls."
"Make sure Melinda takes her cough medicine. She's been a real pain about it lately," Piper instructed. "And don't let her stay up too late."
"And no pizza for dinner," Prue said. "Katie had pizza for dinner last night."
"Yeah, guys, I've taken care of the girls before," Phoebe said dismissively. "I think I can handle it."
"Okay, and if anything supernatural happens," Piper began.
"Deal with it till you get back. Yeah, I got it," Phoebe said. She started to push her sisters toward the door. "You guys have a good double date. Enjoy the opera."
"Yeah, right, that's an oxymoron," Piper said with a smirk. Prue smacked her on the arm. It was obviously Prue's idea to go to the opera.
"It's La Boheme, Piper," Prue said as they headed down the walkway. Leo was waiting in the car. "You'll like it. I swear."
Phoebe shut the door and then turned to the two little girls waiting on the Manor stairs patiently. "All right, what do you two say to this for dinner? Pizza!"
Later, Phoebe discreetly hid the pizza boxes and then went into the living room to check on the girls. They were giggling and watching probably the hundredth Land Before Time video. Phoebe remembered when the first one came out it seemed cute. When they got to seven she wondered if those little dinosaurs ever aged or anything. But if the kids liked it, Phoebe couldn't complain. She picked up the remote and paused it. The girls whined and asked why she did that.
"It's time for your cough medicine, Mel," Phoebe said. "Then you two can finish the movie."
"But I don't like my cough medicine," Melinda protested. "It tastes like puke."
"It does not," Phoebe said. "Come on, or your mom is going to be on my case big time."
"So?" Melinda asked defiantly.
"If your mom gets mad at me then she probably won't let me watch you for a while," Phoebe said. "Would you rather have me watch you or someone you don't know?"
"You," Melinda said, knowing she would have to take her cough medicine.
"Good," Phoebe said. She started to take the cap off the bottle when Katie came over with something in her hand.
"Aunt Phoebe, what's this?" she asked, holding her find up to Phoebe. Phoebe set the cough medicine on the coffee table and took the object. It was Darryl's drivers license.
"Oh, this is Uncle Darryl's sweetie. He must have—" Phoebe was cut short by a premonition. She could feel immense fear. Darryl was handcuffed to a pipe. Someone had beaten him up pretty severely. He was definitely afraid for his life. There were cuts all over Darryl's body. She could hear him pleading for the person to let him go. But they weren't going to. Then Phoebe saw in savage brilliance as the person brought the knife down viciously again and again. Darryl screamed in pain, but soon his screams disappeared and all Phoebe heard before the premonition left her was the sickening slurp-like noise as the knife was brought in and out of Darryl's flesh.
"Aunt Phoeeeebeeee!" Katie whined. She was tugging on Phoebe's shirt impatiently, still waiting for Phoebe to explain what it was she had found on the floor. Melinda seemed to understand better what Phoebe had just experienced.
"Did you see something scary?" Melinda asked.
"Yeah, Mel, I did," Phoebe replied. She put the license in her pocket and headed for the phone.
"Come on, Darryl answer," Phoebe said impatiently as she listened to the phone ring on the other end. She had called Darryl's house, only to have Jeannie tell her that he was at work. So, Phoebe dialed his cell phone, but hadn't gotten answer yet. All she got was voice mail. "Darryl, it's Phoebe. You're in danger. Wherever you are, leave and come to the Manor. Please, I know you've ignored our warnings before and come out okay, but this time you have to listen to me. Get to the Manor. Piper and Prue should be here soon. Please come. Bye."
"Aunt Phoebe, what's wrong?" Katie asked. Phoebe picked her up and set her in her lap. Melinda was sitting patiently across the kitchen table from Phoebe.
"You know how bad things sometimes come to hurt us?" Phoebe asked. Katie nodded her head. "Well, a bad thing or a bad person is after Uncle Darryl. I'm worried about him."
"Can you find a way to stop it from hurting Uncle Darryl?" Melinda asked.
"I hope so, sweetie," Phoebe replied. Then she heard Prue and Piper come in with Leo and Justin. When they entered the kitchen, Prue and Piper looked annoyed.
"What are they still doing up?" Prue asked. "It's way past their bedtime."
"Did you even give Melinda her cough medicine?" Piper asked.
"I'm sorry. I got sidetracked," Phoebe said. "I had a premonition of someone or something killing Darryl."
Prue and Piper suddenly changed gears. Justin took Katie from Phoebe's lap. "I'll put her to bed."
"I'll take Melinda home," Leo added. Melinda knew not to argue in this kind of situation. She allowed Leo to pick her up and then they orbed out of the Manor.
"Did you call Darryl?" Prue asked, immediately concerned for their friend. They had known Darryl for nine years and they weren't about to let anything happen to him now.
"Yeah, I got his voice mail," Phoebe said. "I told him to come straight here."
"So, what exactly did you see?" Piper asked. She sat at the table across from Phoebe. Prue leaned against the wall with her arms folded across her chest.
"It was horrible. I couldn't tell where it was, but Darryl was handcuffed to a pipe somewhere, and he was beaten up. And then, God, I can see it just thinking about it. And the sound…"
"We'll stop it from happening, Pheebs," Prue said. "We always do."
"Yeah, I know, but I still can't get that sound out of my head," Phoebe replied. "I mean, I've seen plenty of horror movies, but none of them are like this."
"All right. Did you see what is going to do this?" Piper asked.
"All I saw was a hand holding a knife," Phoebe replied, shaking her head. "And then his back as he was bent over Darryl. I mean, he looked human enough, but so do warlocks and some demons."
"The question is why would a warlock or demon want to kill Darryl?" Prue asked.
"To get to us," Phoebe offered.
"Maybe. Maybe this one isn't about us, necessarily," Piper suggested. "Maybe it's a demon that's just randomly killing innocents. It wouldn't be the first time we've encountered that sort of thing."
"Right," Prue said. "So, we can assume that Darryl's just a random victim. Except he's not going to be a victim."
"I'm calling him again," Phoebe said abruptly as she reached for the phone. This time Darryl answered.
"Phoebe, what is it?" Darryl asked. He seemed distracted.
"Darryl, you're in danger," Phoebe said. "I had a premonition of someone or something killing you. You need to get over here."
"I'm on a stakeout. I can't just up and leave," Darryl said.
"There's more than your job at stake here. You don't want to experience what I saw. Because it sure as hell wasn't fast and painless."
"I've been waiting for a break on this case, Phoebe," Darryl said. "I've told you more times than I can remember. I'm not letting your witchcraft crap screw up my life. I have a family."
"Well, if you don't get over here, your family won't have you," Phoebe argued.
"We've been trying to bust Cal Greene for drug trafficking for months. I finally got a lead at the baseball stadium and I'm not giving it up," Darryl said. "Goodbye, Phoebe."
"Wait, Darryl…" But he had already hung up. Then Phoebe realized what Darryl had said. "Oh my God!"
"Phoebe what?" Piper asked.
"What did Darryl say?" Prue asked, concerned even more now.
"He's not coming, but it's not that. Darryl's the person that Cal Greene is going to murder," Phoebe replied.
"What? Cal Greene?" Piper asked, not knowing who Phoebe was talking about.
"Who's Cal Greene?" Prue asked.
"Don't you remember? Nine years ago, the baseball player, me being burned at the stake," Phoebe said.
"Oh, my God! But how do you know?" Prue asked.
"Darryl said that he's been trying to bust Greene for drug trafficking," Phoebe replied. "This has to be what's going to happen."
"Where's Darryl? Did he say? We have to get to him," Piper said.
"Uh, he said he had a lead…at the baseball stadium," Phoebe replied.
"I'll drive," Piper said. She and Prue hadn't even changed out of their evening gowns that they had worn to the opera. They didn't care. The sisters all piled into Piper's car and headed for the baseball stadium.
When they arrived they found Darryl's car outside, but he wasn't in it. If anyone had been around the stadium at that time of night they would have been very suspicious of the two women dressed in evening gowns and one woman dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and tennis shoes sneaking around.
They were about to head for the stadium when Prue looked down. She saw the dark trail on the pavement and her heart filled with dread. Piper and Phoebe looked down and saw what she was looking at.
"Oh God," Piper said. They followed the trail with their eyes until it ended at the rear end of Darryl's car. Prue slowly walked around, her sisters following close behind. She didn't want to look, but she knew she had to. Prue used her power and forced open the trunk. Piper gasped, covered her mouth and quickly turned away in an attempt to keep herself from vomiting. Prue turned away as well with a gasp that quickly turned into a sob. Phoebe couldn't move her body. She was petrified in her spot. She simply clamped her eyes shut to try to shut out the horrible image, but she knew it was etched on her memory forever. She would never be able to forget the sight of Darryl Morris's mutilated body in the trunk of his car.
"So, the line went dead and you three rushed over here. You didn't try to call back or anything," Inspector Morgan said, questioning the sisters. Phoebe was leaning against Piper's car staring at the black body bag that encased the remains of their friend. She hadn't said a word since they found Darryl. She hadn't cried either. Prue and Piper had shed some tears, but Phoebe was stone-faced. Prue had noticed, and it worried her.
"We've known…we knew…Darryl was our friend for a while," Piper said stumbling over her words. She hated talking about Darryl in the past tense like that. She felt it was like acceptance. She didn't want to accept Darryl's death so easily. "It was instinct."
"You didn't think that you would be in danger by coming here?"
"It was instinct," Prue repeated Piper's words. She kept shooting momentary glances over at Phoebe. Her little sister had that look in her eyes. It was the look of guilt. The look that said, 'I saw this, and I did nothing to stop it.' The look that said, 'This is my fault.'
"All right, how did you get the trunk open?" Inspector Morgan asked.
"There's a latch by the driver's seat," Prue replied quickly. She had checked on that before the police arrived. She had to make sure she could cover herself all right.
"You didn't see anyone in the area?"
"No," Piper replied flatly, with a hint of disappointment in her voice. She had even momentarily frozen the parking lot after they had found Darryl, having some vain hope that Cal Greene would be somewhere nearby. But they found nothing.
"All right, well I guess that's all," he said. "I need to contact Morris's family. I hate this part."
"We'll do it," Prue said. Piper nodded her head in agreement.
"You sure? Because I'm trained for this stuff," Morgan said.
"We'll do it," Prue repeated.
"Okay," Morgan said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'll call you three if I have anymore questions." Morgan started to walk away, but stopped when he heard Phoebe say something. He didn't quite catch. "Excuse me? Did you say something?"
"Cal Greene," Phoebe repeated.
"Cal Greene? What about him?" Morgan asked. He knew about the Greene case. He didn't know Darryl had been staking out Greene before he died.
"Darryl said he was staking out Cal Greene," Phoebe replied.
"All right, I'll check on that. Thanks for your help," Morgan said. He walked away and the sisters just stood there for a moment. They couldn't believe that Darryl was dead. They had known him for so long. He had become such a major part of their lives, partly because he knew their secret, but also because he cared about them. He cared about them before he knew their secret. He was a good friend.
Slowly they all piled into Piper's car without a word—Piper driving, Prue in the front seat and Phoebe in back—and they headed for Darryl's house. None of them spoke. Prue looked at the clock. It was past eleven o'clock at night. Jeannie would know for sure that this wasn't a social call. Prue was dreading this, but she knew they had to do it. When they arrived at Darryl's house, Prue and Piper started to get out, but stopped when they saw that Phoebe wasn't moving.
"Pheebs," Piper said, her voice was shaking already in anticipation of what they were about to do.
"I can't," Phoebe said.
"What?" Prue asked. "What do you mean?"
"I can't face her after I lost Darryl," Phoebe said.
"We all lost him," Prue said.
"It was my premonition," Phoebe said. "I could have done more. I should have called the premonition back and got more information."
"It's not your fault," Piper said. "You did all you could."
Phoebe just shook her head. Still she was stone-faced. Prue was growing more worried by the minute. "I can't go in there," Phoebe said.
Prue and Piper gave up for the moment. "Okay, we'll be back in a little while," Prue said. Phoebe watched them walk up the walk to the front door. After a moment the porch light came on and Jeannie opened the door. Phoebe could see that Jeannie was suspicious of why Prue and Piper were there. Then Phoebe saw Jeannie refuse to let them in until they told her why they were there. So, reluctantly, they did. Jeannie's hands rose to her mouth and her body started to tremble. Then her knees started to give. Prue quickly reached forward and caught her, easing her to her knees. Piper knelt next to Jeannie and Prue, and she rested her hand on Jeannie's back while Prue held her as the three of them all cried for Darryl.
It was all like a weird silent movie as Phoebe watched it. Then DJ came to the door, wondering what was going on. Prue had her hands full, literally, with Jeannie. So, Piper stood and explained to DJ what happened. At first DJ looked angry, and then he shook his head in defiance. Piper tried to get him to believe, but DJ just shook his head. He turned and ran back into the house. Piper followed him. A light came on in the living room window and Phoebe saw DJ pick up the phone, probably to call Darryl. Piper came in and gently grabbed DJ by the arm, but he shrugged her off, waiting for someone to pick up the phone on the other end. But there was no answer. DJ let the phone drop down to the hook. His head lowered, his eyes closed and Piper slowly got him to turn into her comforting embrace. He was a tall boy, like his dad, and he was bent over Piper like a reed bent in the wind.
Phoebe lowered her head at this point. She believed that she had failed Darryl. She thought there had to have been something that she could have done to stop this. But it happened. She didn't stop it. She just stood by and let it happen. Cal Greene had to be put away. Phoebe wondered what the technicality was that set Greene free in the future. She had to make sure that didn't happen. Darryl's death couldn't be meaningless.
Darryl's funeral included all the typical regalia that a respectable policeman would receive upon his death. A group of uniformed officers lifted the American flag, folded it and one of them handed it over to Jeannie, who was in tears throughout the entire ceremony. DJ stood beside her with his hand on her shoulder and wearing his sunglasses, which no one told him to take off this time.
The sisters, Leo, Justin and the kids stood on the other side of Jeannie, Prue and Piper in tears and Phoebe as stone-faced as she had been the night Darryl was murdered. Prue and Piper had constantly been worried about Phoebe since Darryl's death. She hadn't showed any emotion, no distress over losing their friend, no tears. Prue and Piper knew Phoebe felt guilty for Darryl's death, and they knew that there was still a possibility that what they had seen when they travelled to the future nine years ago could still happen. It was up to Phoebe to fight to stop that from happening.
After the funeral Inspector Morgan approached the sisters. Leo and Justin took the children to the cars.
"We got evidence on Greene," he told them. "Enough to bring him in. We're going for no bail."
"You did everything by the book, right?" Phoebe said suddenly.
"What?" Morgan asked.
"When you arrested Greene, did you do everything perfect?" Phoebe asked. "I don't want him going free on a technicality."
"I think I know how to do my job," Morgan said, a hint of irritation in his voice. "Look, I just wanted to let you three know how things were going. I was just about to go talk to his wife, too. The arraignment's in two days at ten o'clock in the morning. If you want to be there, just show up at the courthouse. I'll be there." Morgan walked away.
"What was that about, Pheebs?" Prue asked. Her voice was hoarse from crying.
"What?" Phoebe asked.
"The part where you asked Inspector Morgan if he did his job right," Piper said.
"We all know what Leo told us when we went to the future. Cal Greene gets off on a technicality," Phoebe said calmly. "I'd sure as hell like to make sure that doesn't happen."
"Phoebe, you need to take a step back for a minute from this situation," Prue said. "Because we all know what else happened in the future we saw."
"I'm fine," Phoebe said quietly. The three of them started walking towards their cars.
"You're not fine," Piper said. "You're closed off. You're detached. You haven't even cried once since Darryl died. He was our friend for nine years. This isn't how I expected you to react."
"Darryl's dead, and it's my fault," Phoebe said. "I plan to at least get justice for his death, and I don't have time for tears."
"Justice…even if it means killing Cal Greene?" Prue asked. Phoebe just looked at her coldly. Then Phoebe turned, got in her car and drove away. Prue and Piper looked at each other, silently communicating their concern for their little sister.
Prue and Piper just didn't understand how Phoebe felt. She had seen it happen, and now that she had allowed it to happen it kept replaying in her mind. Every night she got less than four hours of sleep because she would relive Darryl's death in her nightmares. She woke up alone in her apartment, her instinct to run to the comfort of her sisters overruled by the realization that she now lived alone. She would go to her kitchen and make herself some tea, hoping it would calm her nerves. She was a wreck. They didn't understand.
Phoebe avoided her sisters until the arraignment. But it was inevitable that she would see them at the courthouse. She wasn't quite prepared for it yet.
"We've got a problem," Morgan said to the sisters when they arrived at the courthouse. They all looked at him confused.
"What problem? What are you talking about?" Prue asked.
"The evidence I told you we had, it was the murder weapon and it's gone, along with any prints we took at the scene. The casefile was ransacked, and anything that could prove anything against Greene is gone, too," he explained. "We don't have a pot to piss in, if you'll excuse the expression."
"What? How could the evidence be gone? It's a police station for Christ's sake! Where could it be?" Phoebe asked angrily.
"I don't know, but it had to have been an inside job," Morgan replied. "There's no way that this stuff could have been taken by anyone but a badge. IA is on it. We're thinking Greene has someone in his pocket. We've been thinking that since the narcotics case against him sprang up. Somebody is wiping up Greene's tracks from the inside."
"So, what now? What happens in court today?" Piper asked. She had a feeling she knew the answer.
"The prosecution has nothing," he replied. "The DA on this one is damn good, and she'll try her best to make this stick. But in all honesty, I think Greene will be walking out of this courtroom today…and he won't be wearing handcuffs."
"So, what he just gets to go free? He gets to go back and make his millions playing baseball and dealing drugs while Darryl's family puts flowers on his grave," Phoebe said. She was beyond angry. She was fuming. "What would Darryl say about this police work? Can't you people even do your jobs right?"
"Phoebe…" Prue began, trying to calm her sister.
"No, I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous," Phoebe said. "What the hell kind of criminal justice system is it when rich people can go around killing whoever they please and breaking whatever law suits them? This is bullshit!"
"Look, I'm trying my best to get this son-of-a-bitch. When a badge goes down because some scumbag is covering his ass, you better be damned sure I'm going to put him away," Morgan said. Phoebe had pushed one too many buttons. "You may think we've lost, and you may think that you have a right to go telling me I'm not doing my job because Morris was your friend, but you just remember this. Greene will go down. Okay? I'm not letting this case get by that easy. And I'm going to pull in all the cops on Greene's payroll right along with him for accessory to murder after the fact. This ain't over till I say it's over. You got that?"
He didn't wait for an answer as he marched out of the courthouse, not even staying to see how the arraignment turned out.
Sure enough, Greene was released because the prosecution no longer had a case. Phoebe was furious. She left the courtroom without a word once the judge had rendered his decision, not even giving Prue and Piper a chance to say anything to her. And two days later Greene was going to return to the field to earn more money hitting homerun after homerun. Phoebe knew that he couldn't get away with this.
Piper came home the day Greene was scheduled to play his first game since he'd been arrested, and she found Melinda playing in the living room. Phoebe had been babysitting her and she was nowhere to be found.
"Ugh! Is she insane? Leaving Melinda like this," Piper said. She knelt next to her daughter, who stood and gave her a hug.
"Hi mommy!" Melinda said happily.
"Hi, sweetie. Where did Aunt Phoebe go?" Piper asked.
"She said that she could feel you getting close to home, so she said to tell you that there's a note for you in the kitchen," Melinda said. Piper took Melinda's hand and led her to the kitchen. She picked up the note and read it aloud.
"Dear Piper, I'm sorry that I left Melinda alone, but I knew it would only be for a couple minutes because you were on your way. I just want to tell you that I love you, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, but it has to be done. Always, Phoebe."
"What's she going to do, mommy?" Melinda asked.
Piper stared at the note, confused for a moment. Then she realized what Phoebe meant. "Oh my God. She can't do this," Piper said. She folded the noted, shoved it in her pocket and knelt in front of Melinda. "Honey, I need you to orb us to Aunt Prue's house. Okay? It's really important."
"Is it something bad?" Melinda asked.
"Yes, very bad. Your Aunt Phoebe is going to do something that she shouldn't," Piper said. She and Melinda wrapped their arms around each other and orbed to the Manor. When they appeared in the Manor, Prue was staring at them curiously.
"What's the matter Piper? Your car not working?" Prue asked sarcastically.
"No, Prue, I wish it was that," Piper said. She began pacing nervously. She handed Prue the note that Phoebe left. "She's going to do it, Prue. She's going to do it tonight." Prue finished reading the note.
"Cal Greene?" Prue asked. Piper nodded her head in agreement. "Okay, so where would she be able to find him?"
"He's got a game today," Piper said. She looked at her watch. "No, he had a game today. It should be over pretty soon."
Prue turned on the television to the sports channel. The sportscasters were talking about the game, which had ended fifteen minutes ago.
"Okay, Justin is unreachable right now. We need to call Leo. We can't leave the girls alone," Prue said. They started calling aloud for Leo. After about five minutes of calling, he finally came.
"What?" he asked, exasperated by their urgent calls.
"What took so long? We've been calling for five minutes," Piper said in irritation.
"I was with another charge," Leo said. "What's wrong?"
"Phoebe is going to kill Cal Greene using her powers," Prue said quickly. "We need you to stay with the girls. We have to go."
"What? Now?" Leo asked.
"Yes. The baseball game is already over. For all we know, we could be too late," Piper said. She gave Leo a kiss as she and Prue rushed out of the house without another word.
Prue and Piper arrived at the stadium just in time. They saw Phoebe waiting to ambush Cal Greene as he came out of the locker room. Piper froze everything just as Phoebe was going to step forward and fry Greene's brains with her power, and then Prue threw Phoebe telekinectically away from Greene. Phoebe hit the wall hard and fell to the floor, stunned. She looked up and glared at her sisters.
"Prue, what the hell are you doing using your power on me?" Phoebe asked, her voice cold and angry.
"Protecting an innocent," Prue said calmly as she and Piper approached Phoebe.
"What the hell are you talking about? He's not innocent. We all know he's the son-of-a-bitch that killed Darryl," Phoebe yelled at them.
"I wasn't talking about him," Prue said calmly.
"What are you talking about?" Phoebe asked.
"She's talking about you, Phoebe," Piper said, both angry and concerned at the same time. "We're protecting you. Do you think we're just going to sit back and let you do exactly what you learned nine years ago not to do? I, for one, am not going to let you sign your own death warrant."
Phoebe didn't say anything. She looked back over to the frozen baseball player. She felt so much hatred and contempt for him. But she also knew that a lot of that hatred and contempt stemmed from her feelings about herself and how she didn't stop Darryl's death.
"He's not worth it," Prue added.
"We've already lost Darryl because of Cal Greene," Piper said. Her voice was shaky with emotion. "We're not losing you, too."
"Pratt's out there, and he's waiting for this," Prue said. "All he needs is this crusade, this witchhunt, to put him in the governor's seat. You can't do it, Phoebe."
"If you don't care what happens to you, at least care what happens to us, to Melinda and Katie, and to all the other witches out there," Piper said.
"Why does he get to get away with this?" Phoebe said finally. Her voice was wavering. For the first time since Darryl's death her emotions were starting to show through.
"We don't know that he does," Prue said. "Inspector Morgan is determined to put Greene away. He's working with IA to find the crooked cop that stole the evidence against Greene. I think he'll find him. But if you kill him, there's no justice. Only vengeance. I know that Darryl wouldn't want that."
"None of this is your fault, Pheebs," Piper said. She took Phoebe's hand in her own. "I know that you've heard us say this so many times since Darryl died, but I don't think it's sunk in yet. You did everything in your power to help Darryl. You did nothing wrong. It just wasn't meant to be. It's the way the world works. You have to accept that there's nothing more you can do. It's out of your hands. It's out of all of our hands."
The tears started to break through. Phoebe couldn't hold them back anymore. She finally started to cry for Darryl. All her pent up emotions released themselves in one big wave. Phoebe's sobs choked her. Prue and Piper stepped forward and embraced their little sister, holding her as she shook with sobs.
"It's okay to be angry and sad. Just don't let that rule your decisions," Piper said. "It'll be okay."
The three of them pulled apart and looked over at Cal Greene. Then they looked up at the security cameras. Phoebe had never been in the camera's line of sight so she was clear in that aspect. Piper waved Prue and Phoebe off.
"You guys go to the car. I'll unfreeze him in a second," Piper said. "I just want to do something."
"Piper, what are you thinking?" Prue asked.
"Nothing illegal," Piper said. "Just go. You'll see when I get to the parking lot."
"Piper…" Prue began.
"Scoot! I'm not going to get myself in any trouble," Piper said. Phoebe and a reluctant Prue walked away, leaving Piper alone with Cal Greene. Piper smiled and approached him, reaching into her purse as she walked.
Piper returned to the car with a huge grin on her face. Prue and Phoebe were waiting for an explanation, but Piper just sat in the driver's seat, her eyes glued to the stadium doors.
"Okay, Piper spill," Prue said. "What did you do to him?"
"You'll see," Piper said with a giggle. "Just watch for Greene when he comes out."
The three of them kept their eyes glued to the doors, waiting for Greene to emerge. Finally, he did and Piper started giggling uncontrollably. Prue and Phoebe stared at him in disbelief, smiles slowly creeping onto their faces.
"Oh my God, Piper," Prue said, starting to laugh. "He doesn't even realize it."
"Pure genius," Phoebe said, her laughter starting to overcome her.
"It suits him," Piper said with a smirk.
"I hope the security cameras got this," Prue said. "Talk about controversy."
"Well, you know, a little makeup never hurt anybody," Piper said.
"Piper, he looks like he could be a male prostitute in drag!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Just give him a dress, some fishnet stockings and a wig."
"I would have if I'd had it on me," Piper said. "Doesn't he just look gorgeous?"
"Beautiful," Prue said. "You should do makeup on people for a living."
"I think I'll stick to my nightclub, thank you," Piper said as she started the car. Phoebe and Prue were still laughing as she pulled out of the parking lot. Finally, after their laughter had subsided, Piper glanced in the rear view mirror at Phoebe. "It's good to see you laughing again, Pheebs."
"Guys, I'm sorry," Phoebe said seriously. "I have been so horrible. And I just want to apologize for everything. It got out of hand, and I forgot who I was. I can't really put into words how sorry I am."
"It's okay, Phoebe," Prue said. "We're just glad that we were able to stop you. And we're glad to have you back."
"Just promise us, that no matter what, you will always come talk to us," Piper said. "If you're ever upset or angry or you feel the way you've felt for the past week, talk to us. We love you and we don't want you to think that you can't ask us for help anymore just because our lives are changing and we don't live together anymore."
"And don't think we don't realize that it's been hard for you since you moved out of the Manor," Prue said. "Just because you have your own place doesn't mean that you're not always welcome at ours. Anytime you want to come over, you're welcome."
"Just call first," Piper said with a smirk. This illicited a laugh from Prue and a smack on the arm from Phoebe.
"I promise that I will come to you guys if I need help or if I need to talk," Phoebe said. "And I've been out of the Manor for over a year now. I'm honestly okay by myself."
"The invitation still stands," Piper said. "And it will never be revoked."
That night the sisters decided they had to have a big family dinner together. So, while everyone else played with Katie and Melinda, Piper and Leo were behind the grill arguing over who got control over it. So far Piper was winning.
As they all sat down to eat the doorbell rang. Prue grunted and started to stand, but Phoebe stopped her. "I'll get it, Prue."
Phoebe opened the door to find Inspector Morgan standing there. "You live here?"
"Uh, no, we were just having a family dinner," Phoebe said. "Do you have news about Greene?"
"Yeah, we caught the cop on the take," Morgan explained. "He'll go down for obstruction of justice, accessory to murder after the fact and plenty of other charges. Greene's on his way in for murder one. They hadn't had the chance to dispose of the evidence. But the weirdest thing is when we found Greene, he was wearing makeup. And I mean, women's makeup…blue eye shadow, red lipstick, blush. It was odd." Phoebe began to laugh and Morgan looked confused. "What?"
"Nothing, you just reminded me of something funny that happened today," Phoebe said with a smile.
"Well, I'm glad to see that you do know how to smile," Morgan said.
"Uh, yeah, look, I'm sorry about the way I've treated you since all this started. I've been a total bitch to you and you didn't deserve it," Phoebe said.
"About what I said in the courthouse…"
"It was warranted," Phoebe interrupted. "I needed to be yelled at. You opened my eyes up to see myself and how I was acting." The two of them just looked at each other for a little while. Inspector Morgan started to get a little uncomfortable.
"Uh, I accept your apology then," he said. "Thanks for your help, Miss Halliwell."
"Please, call me Phoebe," she said. "You know, I don't know your first name either."
"It's Nick," he replied.
"Well, Nick, Piper made way more steakburgers than we can all eat," Phoebe said. "Would you be able to join us? Kind of as a thank you for all the hard work you put into getting justice for Darryl. We need to celebrate."
"I probably shouldn't. I'm on duty," he said.
"What, you don't get dinner breaks?" Phoebe asked. She grabbed his arm and started to shut the door. "Come on, you're eating with us tonight."
Nick couldn't protest as Phoebe dragged him into the dining room with her. When she relayed the news of Greene's arrest cheers erupted from the rest of the family. Then Nick sat down with all of them and enjoyed dinner, fresh from Piper's barbecue.
Several months later Phoebe, Prue and Piper sat in the Manor watching movies, drinking wine and spending some quality sister time together as they celebrated Phoebe's wedding which was taking place the next day. They had just danced the night away at P3, where Phoebe danced with every single guy she could get her hands on. It was the night before her wedding and she was going to do it right. She believed that Nick was, no doubt, doing the same thing at his bachelor party with Leo and Justin and all his cop buddies.
"I still can't believe you're marrying a cop," Piper said as she tried to toss popcorn into Phoebe's mouth. Considering each of them had drank about a bottle of wine a piece, Piper was not very successful in this task. "You who spent her teen years on the opposite side of the jail cell bars from the cops."
"Okay, now you're exaggerating," Phoebe said as she poured herself some more wine.
"I don't know, Pheebs," Prue said. "I recall many times when Andy's dad would escort you home for one reason or another. You know, it's a damn good thing for you we were friends with Andy, or else his dad wouldn't have had any sympathy for you."
"Okay, let's change the subject because this is my bachelorette party and I don't think we need to dredge up bad memories from my teen years," Phoebe said sharply.
Piper continued to try to throw popcorn in Phoebe's mouth. Prue giggled. "Give it up, Piper. You have bad enough hand-eye coordination when you're sober."
"That is so not true!" Piper argued. "I have excellent hand-eye coordination."
"Yeah, right! I seem to recall that one time in gym when you had archery and you shot Ms. Wilkins right in the butt with an arrow," Prue said with a laugh.
"Somebody bumped me!" Piper said.
"Right, the invisible man," Phoebe said. "I remember that. We were in the same class."
"Oh please, like your coordination was any better Pheebs," Piper said. She pulled up her sleeve and pointed to a tiny little scar on her bicep. "Must I remind you of the incident when you hit me with a dart?"
"That was so different," Phoebe said.
"It was on purpose," Prue said with a laugh. Piper threw a handful of popcorn at her older sister.
"And moving on to a new subject," Piper said. "Do you have all your stuff for tomorrow? Your old, new, borrowed, blue?"
"Uh, let's see I have new, blue underwear. Two birds with one stone," Phoebe said, illiciting a snicker from her sisters.
"I'm very glad you didn't say borrowed or old there, Pheebs," Prue said. Phoebe threw more popcorn at Prue.
"That's gross!" Phoebe said. "Anyway, old is Grams' cameo necklace. Oh, borrowed, I so forgot to get it!"
"What? What were you going to borrow?" Prue asked.
"Okay, this might sound kind of weird, and maybe even a little morbid, but I was going to stick Darryl's badge in my garter," Phoebe said.
"Huh?" Piper and Prue both said in confusion.
"Okay, so now that I've actually come to terms with Darryl's death, it kinda got me thinking that I never would have met Nick otherwise," Phoebe said. "I know it's weird."
"It's not all that weird," Prue said. "It's the one good thing that came out of Darryl's death. And I know he would be happy for you."
"Yeah, and I'll drive over to get the badge from Jeannie tomorrow if you want," Piper offered.
"That would be great," Phoebe responded. She looked back to the television to see the credits rolling. "Okay, we missed half the movie because we were talking."
"Oh well, it's not like Thelma & Louise is the best movie for you to be watching the night before your wedding," Prue said as she shut off the television and VCR.
"Well, yeah, but it is a good one for sisterhood," Piper said. "So, Pheebs, how does it feel? You've only got a few more hours as a single woman."
"It feels good. I'm finally settling down," Phoebe said. "I want to have a family before I'm forty."
"Well, you'll get it Pheebs," Prue said. "We've kept every last thing that we saw happen in our future from happening. Now, it's time to enjoy life as normal married women."
"Did you say normal?" Piper asked. "Since when have we been normal?"
"There's no set definition of normal in this world, Piper," Prue said. "Normal is what we make it. And I say, we're normal."
"Prue has spoken," Phoebe said in a deep, mocking voice.
"Amen to that!" Piper said. The three of them lifted their wine glasses, and Phoebe began a toast.
"To our normal lives. To our wonderful men, our wonderful children and those to come. And…to Darryl. Wish you were here. Well, not right now…but you know what I mean."
Prue and Piper giggled and the three of them clinked glasses. "To Darryl."
THE END