Piper sat at the kitchen table going over P3's books. The house was fairly quiet until she heard a large crash coming from the basement, Prue's darkroom. Then she heard Prue yell, "Damn it!"
Piper stood and walked to the basement door. "Are you okay down there, Prue?" she asked.
Prue looked up the stairs. "Yeah, it's nothing to worry about. I hope."
"How long have you been down there?" Piper asked, not recalling even seeing Prue all day. Piper headed back to the table.
"Uh, since early this morning," Prue yelled as she picked up the mess was created when the shelf fell.
"Maybe you should take a break," Piper suggested, making sure she spoke loud enough for Prue to hear her.
"I don't think I have time to take a break," Prue mumbled to herself. "But I need one." She dropped what she was doing and headed up the stairs that led from the basement to the kitchen.
"So, how's P3 doing?" Prue said with a smile.
"Very good, thank you for asking," Piper said, laying her pen down for a short break. "This club really was a good idea."
"Of course it was, because it was your good idea," Prue said as she pulled a bottled water out of the refrigerator. "I knew it would work well; otherwise, we wouldn't have taken out that mortgage on the house."
"Well, thanks for the faith, Prue," Piper said. "I don't think the club would have turned out so well if you and Phoebe hadn't believed in me."
"That's what we're here for," Prue said with a smile.
Then Phoebe came in after a long day of classes. "Good, you're both here. I need a favor."
"If it has to do with my clothes, no," Prue said with a smile.
"Geez, Prue. You're so protective of your wardrobe," Phoebe said. "And you should know by now, I don't ask. But anyway, my sociology professor is doing a research project. She wants to study the social ramifications of the personal ads."
Before Phoebe could continue, Prue and Piper both interrupted her. Piper laughed somewhat as she spoke. "No way, Pheebs. I'm with Leo. I'm not getting involved in this little project."
"Count me out, too. I'm not going to place a personal ad. Do you have any idea what kind of people answer those things?" Prue asked. "Psychopaths, anti-socials, con artists."
"Normal people answer them, too, Prue," Phoebe argued. "And you don't have to place your own ad. You can just answer other people's ads. Who knows? You could meet Mr. Right."
"And I could meet Mr. Lecter. Hannibal Lecter," Prue said sarcastically. "I don't like the idea of dating people who I only know by the one-inch square box of print that they paid to have put in the newspaper. And they could easily be lying. A guy who says he's a dead-ringer for John Travolta and a corporate lawyer could easily be a dead-ringer for John Lovitts and a corporate janitor. I don't think so."
Piper couldn't control her laughter. Phoebe glared at her and then continued to try to convince Prue. "Come on, Prue. It could be fun. I'm doing it. We could even answer the same ads and compare notes. How bad could it be?"
Prue looked at Phoebe's pleading face and sighed. "I am so going to regret this," she said. Phoebe smiled triumphantly and then turned to Piper with an expectant smile. Piper shook her head vehemently.
"Not a chance. I told you, I'm with Leo," Piper said.
"'I'm with Leo. I'm with Leo,'" Phoebe mocked her sister. "You should record that on tape and just play it back when you need to."
Piper stuck her tongue out at Phoebe.
"I'll give you a copy of her objectives later, Prue, so you know exactly what she wants us to report about our dates," Phoebe said as she left.
Prue just looked at Piper as if to ask, 'What the hell am I getting myself into?' Piper looked back at her as if to say, 'Don't ask me. I was able to say no to her.'
Prue returned to her dark room, wondering why she let Phoebe talk her into this personal ad project.
Prue walked into P3, which had been her designated spot to meet all her personal ad dates. So far she had been on two dates. One guy was a thirty-year old investment banker who had actually been fairly good looking. Unfortunately, he had about the same effect on Prue as a handful of valium, and she had to excuse herself before she fell asleep right in front of him. Prue's second date was a janitor at Phoebe's college who had actually been talked into placing an ad by Phoebe's sociology professor. They talked about the project for a while, but they mutually agreed they had little else in common and went their separate ways.
Prue's date tonight had placed an ad that said he was a free-lance writer with an interest in hiking and photography. Prue liked to read, she liked hiking, and obviously she liked photography. She figured this one might actually be fun.
Prue looked around P3 for her date. He had said to look for him by the bar, wearing a 49ers jacket. "I'll take it off when you get there," he had joked. "It's just something for you to distinguish me by."
She could see him sitting at the bar drinking a beer. He was good looking, and he didn't seem like the type who needed to put out personal ads. 'Looks can be deceiving,' Prue reminded herself. 'Remember the investment banker.' Prue approached him.
"Derek Richards, I presume," she said, extending her hand to the only man in the bar wearing a jacket, let alone a 49ers jacket.
"None other," Derek replied, shaking her hand. "But you knew that. Not many people would wear a 'Niners jacket here."
"You're right," Prue said. She motioned to the bartender.
"What'll it be Miss Halliwell?" the bartender asked.
"Dry martini, Kiefer. Thanks," Prue replied. Derek raised an eyebrow as he removed his jacket.
"Come here often?" he asked.
"That's supposed to be a pick-up line," Prue laughed. "Actually, my sister owns the club."
"Ah, friends in high places," Derek said. Kiefer served Prue her drink. "Good way to avoid cover charges. So, is it purely your sister's club or do you have some kind of investment in this place?"
"Piper considers me a partner, as well as our other sister, and I help out sometimes," Prue explained. "It's kind of a group effort. But it's Piper's baby."
"And what a fine baby it is," Derek said.
They talked for a while and then set out for the dance floor. After dancing until they were tired, Prue and Derek found a quieter corner of the club and talked some more.
"So, auction house to professional photography. Interesting career move," Derek said.
"To make a long story short, I was forced into a detour after our grandmother died," Prue explained. "I'm back on track now. But I want to know what you do. What kind of stuff do you write?"
"Short stories, mostly. I sell them to magazines and literary digests. I'm working on my first novel right now, though," Derek said.
"What's your novel about?"
"Witches," Derek said quickly. Prue sucked some of her drink down her windpipe and went into a coughing fit. When she finally regained her composure, Derek asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Just…wrong pipe," Prue said, trying to recover herself. "So, it's about witches."
"Well, not just witches. It's kind of a supernatural thriller," Derek explained. "Sort of along the lines of Stephen King, but not quite as gruesome."
"I'd love to read it," Prue said, half-honest.
"I'm sure you would," Derek said. "But enough about me. We were nowhere near finished talking about you."
They talked all night, not even realizing that P3 was closing. Piper approached them and cleared her throat. Prue and Derek looked up. "Do you want to lock up, or should I?" Piper asked with a smile.
Prue looked around the club, finally realizing that they were the only ones left. "Oh, wow, Piper. I'm sorry. We just were talking and we kind of lost track of time. Piper, this is Derek. Derek, my sister Piper."
Piper shook Derek's hand. "This is a great club you have, Piper," Derek complimented.
"Thank you," Piper said with a smile. Then she looked expectantly at Prue.
"Oh, right. We're leaving. See ya, Piper."
"Bye, Prue," Piper said with a laugh as she and Derek left the club. Piper shook her head, picked up her jacket, shut down the club, and headed home.
The next day at around one o'clock, Phoebe and Piper were sitting on the front steps strapping on their roller blades. Phoebe had promised Piper she would teach her how to roller blade. Just as Piper finished lacing up her roller blades, Prue walked up the front walk. Piper started rolling and couldn't stop herself. She rolled directly toward Prue.
"Uh oh. Prue, help," Piper said with her arms out in front of her. Prue put her arms out to help stop Piper. Except when Piper reached Prue, she didn't stop. Piper rolled completely through Prue and managed to stop herself by falling on the sidewalk. She just laid there on her side staring at Prue, who was staring down at herself. Phoebe, who hadn't been looking, finally finished lacing her blades.
"Okay, Piper," Phoebe said as she stood. She looked up, saw Prue staring at herself and Piper lying on the sidewalk with an expression of shock on her face. "What? What's wrong, guys? Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not," Prue said.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm a ghost," Prue said. She turned to look at Piper, who had pushed herself into a sitting position.
"What are you talking about? A ghost? What are you saying?" Phoebe asked.
"She's saying she's dead," Piper replied solemnly.
The three of them adjourned to the attic. Phoebe was frantically looking through the Book of Shadows, denying that Prue was actually dead.
"There's gotta be some other explanation," Phoebe said as she flipped the pages of the Book.
Piper sat on the loveseat, leaning on her knees. "Phoebe, I don't want to believe it either, but it's kinda hard not to believe it when I rolled right through her."
"Prue, what do you remember since last night?" Phoebe asked, ignoring Piper's comment.
"I went to Derek's after we left P3. We talked and then watched a movie and I fell asleep," Prue explained. "When I woke up he wasn't there. He left a note saying that he had a meeting with his editor."
"And how did you get home?" Phoebe asked.
"You know, I actually don't remember," Prue replied. "It's like I just sort of showed up at the Manor."
"Seems typical for a ghost," Piper said.
"No, it doesn't mean that," Phoebe said in denial.
"Phoebe," Prue said, looking at her little sister sadly.
"What?" Phoebe asked sharply.
"You have to accept the possibility that I really am dead," Prue replied.
"Okay, it is possible that you are dead," Phoebe said quickly. "But even if you are a ghost, we usually only see ghosts when we're supposed to help them so we would still need to find something in the Book to explain this. But I don't believe you're dead, so I'm looking for something to explain what is wrong with you."
"And if you're wrong, Phoebe?" Piper asked. "You'd be wasting your time trying to find a way to help Prue as a live person instead of possibly helping her spirit."
"She's not wrong," a male voice said. A familiar bluish-white light transformed into the shape of Leo. "Prue's not dead, yet."
Prue looked at Leo skeptically, but she was happy that she still had a chance.
"What do you mean, yet?" Piper asked. "What's going on?"
"Prue is astral projecting," Leo explained.
"But Piper passed through me. I can usually touch stuff when I'm in astral form," Prue argued.
"You've been projecting for ten hours," Leo explained. "The longer you project, the more it drains you of your energy. That's what I meant when I said 'yet.' If you project too long you could die."
"I don't understand. How does it kill her?" Piper asked.
"What we're seeing now is basically like a television image of Prue's consciousness, but the longer we leave the tv on the more likely it is to break," Leo explained by way of analogy. "Any number of things could go wrong with Prue's body. Her heart could stop, her liver could fail, but most likely the problem would occur in her brain."
"So, what? I would go brain dead?" Prue asked, now even more worried.
"Yes, the other bodily failures would be fatal, but if the problem occurred in your brain it would be like you were in a permanent coma," Leo said. "Your body would function, but you would be gone."
"So, why didn't she know that she was projecting?" Phoebe asked.
"Something has been done to your body that is forcing you to astral project. You can't return to your body until you find it and reverse whatever is keeping you in astral form."
"And how exactly do we find her body?" Phoebe asked.
"Where were you last?"
"I was at Derek's," Prue said.
"Do you think he did this?" Piper asked.
"I suppose it's possible," Prue said. "Damn it! He seemed so nice."
"Believe me, Prue," Piper said. "I know how you feel."
"Okay, so anyway," Leo said. "Phoebe you should try scrying to see if you can find Prue that way. Piper and I will go to Derek's and see if Prue's body is there."
Prue gave Piper Derek's address, and she and Leo left. Meanwhile, Phoebe went to get what she would need to find Prue's body.
Piper and Leo arrived at Derek's apartment. Piper tried the door, but it was locked. "Now what?" she asked Leo.
"We orb in," Leo said. Piper smiled and leaned against Leo as he took them both inside the apartment. Piper pushed away from Leo and stumbled a bit.
"You know, I'd like to know how long it's going to take me to get used to that," Piper whispered as she sat on the couch.
"It took me about five years," Leo whispered with a smile. They were in the living room and it was empty. There was a hallway leading to the bedroom and bathroom. Piper stood and led Leo down the hall. She looked into the bedroom and saw Prue lying on the bed with a glowing amulet around her neck.
"Bingo," Piper said as she stepped toward the door. But when she tried to go through the door there was an electrical explosion and Piper flew down the hallway and all the way across the living room, hitting the wall and landing face down on the floor.
"Piper!" Leo yelled as he went to her. She groaned as Leo turned her over. He didn't see any obvious injuries. "Piper, are you hurt?"
"What in the hell?" Piper asked as she rubbed her head and sat up. She leaned on Leo as she stood. "Ooh! My back. Ow. I think that slam into the wall must have hurt something." Leo looked at her and smiled. He placed his hand on her back and tried to heal her. Piper shook her head. "Nothing. They're really arbitrary with what they'll let you do, aren't they?"
"Yeah, it's a real pain sometimes," Leo said.
"Tell me about it," Piper said, grimacing as she walked. "So, what now? Do you think you can orb in there?"
"I'll try," Leo said. He helped Piper sit on the couch and then he disappeared. A couple seconds later he reappeared, shaking his head. "I can't. We're going to have to go back to the Manor and look for a way to get in. He has some kind of force field around the room. Unless…do you need to see a doctor?"
"I don't think it's too bad," Piper said. "I'm gonna have one hell of a bruise, though. I'll go after we figure this all out." Then Piper looked at Leo. "When's the last time you drove a car?"
"Why?" Leo asked. Then he realized what she was suggesting. "Oh, I don't know if I'll be able to drive your car. I mean, I drove a jeep during the war, but that's not quite the same. And it was about 60 years ago. How about we just orb back to the Manor and get your car later?"
"Sure, but someday I'm re-teaching you how to drive," Piper replied. She leaned up against Leo and they orbed back to the Manor.
In the attic, Prue and Phoebe looked up when they saw the bluish-white light characteristic to Leo's entrances. He helped Piper sit down on a loveseat.
"Are you okay, Piper?" Prue asked. "You look hurt."
"Derek has some kind of force field around the room that your body is in," Piper explained. "It threw me into a wall. My back is just a little sore. But the bad news is that Derek's force field also prevents Leo from orbing into the room. So, we need to figure out how to bring it down. Then, we need to figure out who Derek really is."
"There's an amulet around your neck that is keeping you from returning to your body," Leo explained further. "With any luck, if we can find that in the Book it will say something about Derek."
Leo and Phoebe went over to the Book and looked for the amulet, but they found nothing. Then they tried looking under force fields. A few moments later they found it.
"Okay, there's five different kinds of force fields," Phoebe said. "There's ones that keep bad people out. Ones that keep good people out. Ones that keep witches out. Ones that keep mortals out. And the last are ones that keep all but one person out, the person who created the force field."
"Well, then we have two options. The one that keeps good people out or the last one," Piper said. "Because Leo couldn't get in, and he's not bad, a witch, or mortal."
"Hmm. Looks like we better be sure about which one we choose. There's spells here to lower all the different force fields, but if you use the wrong one for the wrong force field," Phoebe began, looking down at the page on force fields. "Well, let's just say Independence Day is an understatement for what would happen."
"What do you mean? If we use the wrong spell, the city will blow up?" Piper asked.
"Try the state," Leo replied, reading over Phoebe's shoulder. "There's some serious consequences if you use the wrong spell."
"I think we need to find out what Derek is before we try anything," Prue said. "I don't want to be the reason that there's only 49 states in the U.S."
"Well, I already looked for something on Derek, and there's nothing," Phoebe said. "We have to try one of the force field spells."
"But we don't know which to use," Prue said.
"It's 50/50. Those are good odds considering what we're used to," Phoebe replied. "We pick one."
"How do we pick one?" Prue asked.
"Flip a coin?" Piper suggested.
"You're kidding," Prue said, looking at Piper wide-eyed. "The fate of the state of California is decided with a coin toss? I don't think so."
"Prue, unless you have any better ideas, we have to try it," Phoebe said with determination.
"Prue, has a point," Leo said, temporarily forgotten. "You remember what happened the last time you weren't sure, don't you? When you tried to go against the four horsemen."
"The odds are better here," Piper said. "I think it's worth a shot. And actually my vote goes for the force field that keeps everybody but Derek out of the room."
"Mine too," Phoebe said.
"Well, it doesn't look like you guys are going to listen to me," Prue said in frustration. "But I agree on which spell you should try, if you're really going to do this."
"So, that's three votes on the same spell," Phoebe said. She turned to Leo. "Are you going to argue your point?"
"I've realized that when you three agree on something I'm not going to win an argument," Leo said, admitting defeat.
"All right, Piper, let's go. I'll call a cab," Phoebe said, after she had written the spell on a piece of paper.
"What about me?" Prue asked, feeling somewhat useless.
"I don't really think there's much you can do," Phoebe said.
"Once the amulet is removed from around your neck, you will go back to your body," Leo explained.
"All right, see you soon Prue," Piper said as she followed Phoebe out of the attic.
Leo sat down and watched Prue pace back and forth across the attic.
"You feel useless, don't you?" he asked.
"That's an understatement. It's just frustrating. I mean, Piper and Phoebe are out there saving my ass because I was careless and went home with a guy I hardly knew. If they get hurt doing this, it's my fault. Especially if they blow up the city with the wrong spell."
"They'll do fine, Prue. Don't worry about them," Leo said, trying to reassure Prue.
"Yeah, I suppose they will. I'm just not used to being stuck on the sidelines," Prue said.
"I know, you're used to leading your sisters into battle," Leo said. "You can't always do that Prue. Sometimes they have to do things on their own."
"I know."
Leo noticed the disappointed look on Prue's face. "They will always need you, Prue. As their sister. You just can't always protect them like you're used to."
Prue looked at Leo and smiled. "You know, Leo. I'm starting to see why Piper loves you so much."
Leo laughed, but then his smile faded. He realized he was starting to be able to see through Prue. Prue looked down at herself, shocked by what she saw.
Leo said ominously, "You don't have much time."
"Okay, what's the plan if he's here?" Piper asked Phoebe.
"You freeze him and we do our best to get Prue home before he unfreezes."
"That's really not a fool-proof plan," Piper said skeptically.
"Well, it's the best we can do," Phoebe said as she picked the lock to Derek's apartment. "If he unfreezes I'll take care of him. You just make sure Prue's okay."
"I really wish we had gotten a little better prepared for this," Piper said as Phoebe swung the door open.
"All right, so far so good," Phoebe said. "Where's Prue?"
"Back in the bedroom," Piper said. "Just don't try to go through the door."
They went to the bedroom and looked in, seeing Prue on the bed as she was before.
"All right, now for the spell," Phoebe said.
Invisible guard that blocks the way
Relieved of your duty by words that we say
Lower your guard so that we may pass
We break through you as a stone through glass
Nothing spectacular happened and for a moment the two believed that the spell had not worked. Piper pulled her keys out of her pocket and threw them through the door. They landed on the floor inside the room.
"Do you think that really means anything? Maybe the spell just keeps people out of the room," Phoebe said.
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Piper replied as she reached her hand forward. She stepped through the door without any problems. Phoebe followed close behind and they approached Prue's body. Just then, Derek blinked into the room, grabbing Piper from behind and throwing her into the wall. Phoebe went into a defensive stance, hoping that she can keep Derek busy. Piper slowly got up off the floor, the pain in her back had doubled after Derek threw her. She waved her hands and Derek froze just as he was going to attack Phoebe.
"Oh man," Piper said, looking angrily at Derek and rubbing her lower back with her left hand. "I'm definitely going to have to see a chiropractor or something."
"Let's get that amulet off of Prue," Phoebe said, approaching the still body of her oldest sister. She yanked the amulet off quickly just as Derek unfroze.
In the attic, Leo watched Prue disappear. He hoped that was a good thing.
Derek attacked Piper again. Piper hit the wall, falling unconscious. Phoebe jumped onto the bed and then leapt off of it, tackling Derek to the ground. She punched him a couple times and kneed him in the groin. She stood and went into a defensive stance.
"Damned witches!" Derek growled as he lifted himself off the ground. "I should have known that you two would screw up my plans."
"And what was that exactly?" Phoebe asked, stalling him. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Prue was starting to wake up.
"To kill Prue of course," Derek said. "She killed my brother."
"What? She didn't kill anybody," Phoebe argued.
"Oh really?" Derek said. "Does the name Whitaker Berman ring any bells?"
"Whitaker who?" Phoebe asked, not recognizing the name.
"Berman," Prue said from her position on the bed. She was rubbing her forehead, but she didn't rise. She was too weakened from astral projecting for so long. "The dream sorcerer."
"But he didn't have any powers," Phoebe protested. "He was just a regular human who got a little carried away at work."
"Whitaker was not related to me by birth, but he was still my brother. Who do you think taught him how to use the dream world to his advantage? Do you think some mortal could just figure that out on their own?" Derek laughed. "Not likely. But your sister killed him. And now I'm out for revenge. Time to die, wi-"
Suddenly, Derek stopped moving. Piper was lying on the floor still, but she had managed to freeze Derek. "This guy is really getting on my nerves," she said, slowly pushing herself into a sitting postion.
Phoebe turned to Prue. "Are you all right, Prue?"
"I feel like my head is going to explode," Prue said, rubbing her temples.
"Piper?" Phoebe went to Piper and helped her off the floor.
"Ow," was Piper's response as she sat on the bed. She grimaced with pain and then looked at Derek. "What are we going to do with him?"
"I have no idea," Phoebe said. "We never found anything in the Book about him, let alone a spell to vanquish him."
"I remember one time seeing a spell to strip a warlock of his powers," Prue said. "Could we do that?"
"Sounds good to me," Phoebe said. "But we would have to go home and get it."
"How about a little express transport," Leo said as he orbed into the room.
"Leo, how'd you know the coast was clear?" Phoebe asked.
"Well, after Prue disappeared I figured you had gotten the amulet off of her," Leo replied. "I didn't know he was here."
"All right, I'll stay here and keep Derek frozen," Piper said. "Leo, you need to take Phoebe back to the attic so she can find a spell in the Book of Shadows."
Leo orbed out with Phoebe. Piper had to refreeze Derek a couple times before Leo and Phoebe returned. She was starting to get tired, and the shooting pain in her lower back wasn't making her any happier.
"Okay, I've got it," Phoebe said, holding up a piece of paper. Prue was too weak to move so Piper and Phoebe sat on either side of her as they read the spell.
Evil that is in our midst
No more shall you persist
A mortal shall you ever be
We take your powers as sisters three
Derek unfroze as they finished the spell and he fell to his knees. "I feel so weak. What have you done to me?"
"We made you mortal," Phoebe said. "And as a mortal, you can be arrested for kidnapping."
"No, it can't be!" Derek yelled. He pointed his finger at Phoebe. Phoebe flinched, but nothing happened. "No fire? Damn you witches!"
"No, I don't think so," Piper said. She stood and pulled out her cell phone, dialing the police. Derek tried to run, but Leo held him back. Derek tried to fight Leo, but found that he was a weakling as a mortal.
"Wow," Phoebe said. "If that's the best you can do, you're gonna have a really rough time in jail."
"The police are on their way," Piper said, turning off her phone. She sat back on the bed, wincing from the pain. She saw that Leo had Derek under control and laid back. "Man, I just wanna go home." A moment later, Piper disappeared from the room.
"Hey, where'd she go?" Phoebe said. "Piper just disappeared."
Prue and Leo were staring at the bed in shock. Leo managed to get control of himself first. "The spell. It said we take your powers not we strip your powers. I think you received his powers."
"What does that mean? That we can blink, too?" Prue asked.
"Maybe. Or maybe you each received a different power," Leo guessed.
Seconds later, Piper returned. "Okay, I think I know what just happened. I just went back to the attic, somehow. I looked at the page with that spell on it. We took his powers as our own. So, whatever powers he had, we all have."
"So, we all can blink," Prue said. She looked inquisitively at Derek. "What other powers did you have? I'd prefer to know, so we don't figure out the way we did when we first received our own powers."
Derek looked as if he wasn't going to answer at first, but then he said, "I could shoot fire. That's all."
"Well, Pheebs," Piper said, sitting on the bed next to her little sister. "You finally have active powers."
"Not to sound selfish, but I was hoping it would be something you guys don't have," Phoebe said with a grin. "But oh well, this will do."
A few minutes later the police arrived, with Darryl Morris leading the group. "Hello, ladies. Once I heard it was you who had called I figured I should check this out. Not that I'm eager for cases that involve you three."
"Nice to see you, too, Darryl," Phoebe said with sarcasm dripping from her words.
Leo turned Derek over to the uniformed officers. Everybody gave their statements, leaving out the supernatural elements of the previous 24 hours. Darryl sat on the bed and talked to Prue. "So, what's his deal? Why'd he kidnap you?"
"He thinks I killed his brother," Prue said with a look of disbelief. "I don't even know if he has a brother. Personally, I think he's a little whacked in the head."
"Whacked in the head? You mean, there's nothing about this that has to do with the fact that you three are you-know-whats?"
"Not anymore," Piper replied, having just finished giving her statement to a police officer.
"Are you three okay?" Darryl asks.
"Well, I think I need to make an appointment with a chiropractor, but other than that..." Piper said with a pained smile.
"I'm just really tired," Prue replied to Darryl's question.
"Well, it looks like we're done here, then," Darryl said, seeing the uniformed officers escort Derek out of the apartment, yelling and carrying on.
"They're witches! I'm telling you! You can't arrest me! I did nothing wrong! She killed my brother. Arrest her!"
Phoebe helped Prue off the bed while Piper walked next to Leo. Darryl looked at Derek, then at Prue. "You're sure this has nothing to do with you-know-what?"
"Don't worry about it, Darryl," Phoebe said with a smile. "What you don't know won't hurt you."
"I'd like to believe that," Darryl mumbled as he led the Halliwells and Leo out of Derek's apartment. "My life would be so much easier."
Prue and Piper both went to see a doctor. Prue's doctor told her to get a good night's sleep and she should be back to normal. Piper's told her to stay off her feet as much as possible for the next 24 hours. Piper wasn't extremely happy about that, leaving P3 in the hands of her new assistant and herself in the hands of Phoebe and Leo.
The next morning, Piper started to head downstairs to make herself breakfast, when Leo caught her. "Where are you going?" he asked, turning her around and leading her back to her room.
"I'm going to make myself breakfast," Piper said, turning away from Leo and starting toward the stairs. She turned to quickly though and caused a pain in her lower back.
"Come on," Leo said, grabbing Piper's arm and once again turning her back to her room. "Phoebe can handle breakfast."
"She's going to blow up my kitchen," Piper protested. "I remember leaving her in charge of Quake when I worked there and she flooded the place."
"I think Phoebe will be fine," Leo said, guiding Piper to her bed. "The doctor told you to stay off your feet."
"I'm sick of being waited on. I know it sounds crazy, but I like to take care of myself," Piper said.
"Stop being stubborn and let us take care of you," Leo said.
"Fine," Piper said, with a little disappointment in her voice. Then she sniffed the air. "Do I smell smoke?" She tried to get up, but Leo made her lie back down.
"You don't smell anything," Leo said. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"
"You've met my sisters. You tell me," Piper replied with a smile. "We're self-sufficient women."
"Believe me, I know," Leo said. He leaned down and gave Piper a kiss.
In the kitchen, Prue entered to see Phoebe making pancakes, or trying to. Prue looked at the mess Phoebe had made. "You better hope Leo can keep Piper upstairs until you clean this up," Prue said with a laugh.
Phoebe turned and smiled. "I know. Piper's probably freaking out enough just knowing that I'm cooking. She's so protective of the kitchen."
"I know," Prue said, pouring herself some coffee.
"So, how are you feeling?" Phoebe asked as she flipped over the pancakes on the skillet.
"I'm still a little tired, but otherwise I feel fine," Prue replied, sitting at the table and flipping through the paper. "You know, I keep thinking about Whitaker Berman, and Derek was right. I did kill him."
"Yeah, but it was self defense, Prue," Phoebe said. "Whitaker was trying to kill you. And it doesn't give Derek the right to pick up where Whitaker left off, warlock or not."
"I guess you're right, but I don't think I ever really thought about the fact that Whitaker was human," Prue said. "I always thought Ms. Hellfire was the first human we killed, but she wasn't."
"Don't worry too much about it, Prue," Phoebe said as she scooped the pancakes off the skillet. She put a couple on a plate and set it in front of Prue. "We all know that we would never kill anybody unless it was an us or them situation. The fact that you feel bad about it is a good thing. It's healthy."
"Thank you, Doctor Phoebe," Prue said. "Maybe you should go for a degree in psychology."
"I've been debating it," Phoebe said quickly. "Okay, try the pancakes. I need your opinion."
Prue poured some syrup on them and took a bite. She got an expression of disgust on her face, quickly swallowed the pancakes and drank a big gulp of coffee. "Ugh! Whatever you decide to do, Pheebs, I advise against becoming a chef. And I suggest that you not serve those to Piper."
"They're that bad?" Phoebe asked, looking slightly hurt.
"I have a feeling Kit wouldn't even eat those," Prue said with a smile. Phoebe threw away the pancakes. "I suggest you go with cereal and toast. I don't think you can screw that up."
Phoebe laughed and took off the apron she was wearing. "Well, Piper's the chef in the family. And we're stuck with take-out and frozen pizzas."
"I like frozen pizzas," Prue said with a smile. Just then Piper walked into the kitchen. She got a look of utter horror on her face.
"Oh my God!" she said. "Pheebs, what did you do to the kitchen?"
Leo hurried into the kitchen. "Sorry, she snuck by me."
"Leo, she's been walking around like an old granny. How did she sneak by you?" Phoebe asked sarcastically.
"Hey, whitelighters use the bathroom, too, you know," he said defensively.
"Boy, do I know," Prue said with a smirk, remembering when she saw Leo in the shower. Piper realized what Prue was thinking and hit her on the arm.
"Stop thinking about that!" Piper said with a smile. "My eyes only!"
"Well, sorry. I can't help it," Prue said with a laugh. "Now, you get back to bed. I will keep Phoebe from destroying your kitchen. I promise."
Piper reluctantly left the kitchen with Leo and Phoebe made a breakfast that she couldn't screw up.
THE END