The Halliwell Manor

"How am I supposed to know what his deal is?" Phoebe questioned in a short voice as she led the way through the front door with Piper following behind her. "He likes moonlit walks, thinks holding hands is over-rated, and enjoys in his spare time killing witches," she deadpanned.

Piper rolled her eyes at Phoebe's dramatics. "It was a question for discussion, Pheebs. When a demon makes a house call, my curiosity gets piqued." The two sisters paused to take in their eldest sister who was standing next to her hard-at-work-cleaning-the-room husband. "Hey, Andy, when did you get home?" Piper asked while carefully avoiding eye contact with Prue who was glowering in their direction.

The inspector glanced over from sweeping the pieces of the broken grandfather clock into a pile. "Fifteen minutes ago," Andy admitted.

"I assume Prue filled you in on the demon," Phoebe guessed upon noticing his less than thrilled expression.

"Of course I did," Prue interrupted anything Andy had been going to say. She turned from Andy and took several steps toward Piper and Phoebe. "Why didn't Leo come when I called?" she demanded of Piper.

Piper let out a loud sigh. "I'm sure it was because he's making sure all his charges are taken care of so there won't be any interruptions for us tonight," Piper offered hastily.

Prue narrowed her eyes suspiciously and then glanced over at Phoebe, who ducked her head at the attention. "Correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't he been too busy to come get me a lot lately?" she inquired.

Phoebe exchanged a looked with Piper before smiling what she hoped was an innocent smile. "I haven't noticed…"

In response, Prue huffed and spun on her heel. "I'm going to bed," she snapped before hurrying up the stairs.

"You told her?" Piper stated as much as asked while Phoebe's fake smile dropped.

"I wasn't going to lie to her when she asked directly," Andy returned.

"As in, he didn't want to sleep on the couch tonight," Phoebe elaborated, crossing her arms across her chest.

Andy glared at them before continuing to sweep up the debris. "Thinking she wouldn't realize Leo was ignoring her for two and a half months was ridiculous," he argued.

"He wasn't technically ignoring her all the time. Only when demons were involved," Phoebe countered half-heartedly.

Andy didn't immediately reply. "What happened with the demon?" he inquired.

"Vanquished," Piper answered.

"That was fast," Andy remarked with a faint look of surprise crossing his features.

Phoebe's jaw suddenly dropped. "Wait a minute. He followed me home. I knew I recognized him from somewhere. He was at the movies and he followed me home," she realized.

"Well, he's gone now," Piper pointed out.

"Are you sure? How'd you vanquish him?" Andy demanded in his police voice.

"Oh, I just combined the spells we used for the bunyip and the one for the demon with the horn coming out of it's…" she trailed off, pointing at her head.

"… forehead?" Piper finished.

Phoebe nodded slightly. "Yep. Anyways, there was a lot of smoke and he was gone. Typical vanquish signs."

Andy appeared to relax a little and glanced at his watch. Piper followed his gaze. "What time is it?"

"8:30," Andy answered.

Piper's eyes widened before she let out a faint curse. "Oh my god, I'm late," she exclaimed. "I'm so late. I have to get ready. I'll help when I get back," she called over her shoulder as she raced for the bathroom.

"Don't worry about it," Andy assured her.

Phoebe frowned as she watched Piper fret. "Keep your hands down," she reminded her elder sister just as the bathroom door shut with a thud. She exchanged a glance with Andy before reaching out for the broom. "I'll finish this. You better go talk to Prue if you expect to avoid the couch," she laughed. Andy made a face at the thought but agreed and passed the broom to Phoebe.

The Restaurant

Piper hastened her way through the crowded restaurant toward where she could just see a bored looking Leo playing with the straw of his drink while apparently waiting on her to show up. She smiled wide as she made her appearance. "How's the date going so far?" she asked with a jovial note to her voice.

Leo immediately brightened in his seat. "It just got better," he admitted as Piper slipped into the seat across from him.

"You can do your homework, pick the right restaurant, the perfect wine waiting and chilled, but it helps if you show up," she rambled in her nervousness at her blunder. "I'm sorry," Piper apologized.

Leo waved it off good-naturedly. "It's alright. You're here now," he assured her. He narrowed his eyes slightly as she lowered her gaze. "What?" Leo asked, concern lacing his tone.

"Nothing," Piper lied but then allowed the words to leave her mouth. "It's just this guy, warlock or demon or something, burst into the house and somehow Phoebe managed to vanquish him, but we still don't know who he was. Something just feels off," she explained before catching herself. "I'm sorry, no work talk, we promised…"

"It's alright. You're the one who wanted to keep tonight magic-free. I'm okay with it," Leo insisted soothingly.

Piper smiled a little sheepishly at him. "Wanna start over?" she suggested.

Leo chuckled softly. "Okay," he agreed before leaning across the table to give Piper a quick kiss.

"Pardon me," a waiter interrupted their moment to place an appetizer in front of the couple.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind. I got the munchies," Leo admitted.

"No, not at all," she assured him before glancing over at the waiter. "Thank you," Piper appreciated. She started to reach for the salt when she noticed that there wasn't any on the table. "Uh, there's no salt. Could you ask that table for theirs?" she asked Leo.

Leo nodded in agreement. "Sure…" he agreed and turned around in his seat to the couple behind him. "… Um, excuse me, may we borrow your salt?"

To Piper's horror and Leo's surprise, Dan turned around to face them curiously at their request. "Leo. Piper," he greeted hesitantly.

Piper silently cursed while Leo appeared to find the situation too awkward to say anything. "Hi, Dan… and Dan's date," Piper offered without looking at Leo.

Dan glanced over at his date. "Amelia, this is Leo and… Piper," he introduced them.

"Amelia," Piper repeated as if trying to figure out why the name sounded familiar.

She shrugged it off as unimportant as Dan handed them their salt shaker. "Here's your salt."

"Thanks," Piper managed to force out.

Leo took it and quickly turned back to Piper with it. "Well, he's moving on," he pointed out in an attempt to look optimistically at the awkward conversation.

Piper didn't reply and just began shaking salt over her appetizer, perhaps harder than necessary. Piper appeared to shake it even harder as an accordion player began playing next to her. Finally, she slammed the salt down on the table and flicked her wrists. Thankfully, the room froze. She laughed humorlessly for a moment before waving a hand at Leo who unfroze and looked around him uncertainly. "Okay, so I'd like everything to be normal but there's only so much a girl can take. Here's to our first real date," Piper explained as she held her glass up. Leo copied her motion and they were just about to clink glasses when he froze upon hearing the whitelighters call him. "What are you doing?" Piper asked just as realization dawned on her. "They need you?" Leo just nodded a bit sheepishly. "Okay, well, I guess it would be the same if I were dating a doctor, right?" Piper let out a deep sigh. "I just wanted tonight to be perfect," she admitted.

"Well, it was. I was with you," Leo insisted, earning a faint smile from Piper.

He started to orb out when Piper's voice gave him pause. "Wait a minute."

"What's wrong?" Leo inquired.

"If we can't have a normal date, can we at least have a normal exit? Enough with the disappearing guy stuff," Piper pleaded hopefully.

Leo quickly agreed with a smile. "Okay," he allowed.

"Okay," Piper repeated and nodded in satisfaction. Leo suddenly looked nervous as Piper raised her hands but she didn't think twice of flicking her wrists before he managed to say anything in warning. The room unfroze and Leo let out a breath of relief. He stood up from his chair and walked over to give Piper a quick kiss on the cheek.

Piper caught Dan stealing glances at her as Leo left so she turned to the nearest waiter. "Check," she called.

415 Magazine Studio

Prue led Paige through the hallways of the studio with Paige carrying most of Prue's camera gear over her shoulder. "Aren't you so glad I happen to be out for the summer to carry your stuff around?" Paige asked in a falsely chipper voice.

Prue glanced over at her youngest sister and sighed loudly in reluctant agreement but she made no move to actually reply.

Paige shook her head and sped up in front of Prue before stopping abruptly, forcing Prue to stop as well. Prue raised her eyebrows questioningly while Paige crossed her arms across her chest. "Okay, we need to talk about this," she explained seriously.

"Okay, you start," Prue offered and waved her hand expectantly.

"It's nothing against you personally. Can you really not understand why we wanted to keep you out of demon fights?" Paige questioned.

Prue nodded faintly. "I understand that. Why couldn't you just tell me or better yet, just ask?" she returned.

"Andy mentioned it once and you shot it down without a second thought," Paige pointed out, her voice echoing exasperation.

"Yeah, two months ago," Prue argued. Paige didn't say anything earning another sigh from Prue. "Look, I accept the conditions, okay? Does that make you happy?" she pressed.

"No," Paige admitted which had Prue giving her a confused look. "You're still mad at me," she mumbled, giving her eldest sister her best puppy eyes.

Prue allowed the faintest of smiles to cross her face. "I'm not mad… I'm just frustrated," Prue corrected.

Paige didn't appear convinced. "So it was frustration and not anger that had Andy sleeping on the couch?" she asked in disbelief.

"I only left him out there for an hour," Prue insisted. "… so he would realize I was serious."

"I don't think anyone could think you weren't serious after what I heard," Paige stated. The two Halliwell sisters exchanged a look that ended with the two of them smiling in a silent truce. They turned upon hearing the approach of someone from the hall behind them which revealed Mr. Corso talking on his cell phone.

Prue's boss acknowledged them with a slight wave of his hand that silently ordered them to follow him. "…Talk to anyone who was in the movie theatre at the time… Well, find out what happened before the fight broke out… No, but I got a location which is where you should have been fifteen minutes ago…" Mr. Corso chided the caller before hanging up.

Prue's eyebrows raised thoughtfully at the mention of a movie theatre. "Are you talking about the revival house on Larkin?" she asked curiously.

"Not unless you know something I don't," Mr. Corso stated. He paused with his hand on the door knob and faced the two sisters. "Do you?"

Prue flashed a disarming smile. "Probably not about this," she admitted.

Mr. Corso studied her for another second before apparently deciding to let it go. "Okay, you're going to be working with one of our staff writers." His gaze fell on Paige. "I feel inclined to tell you there will be traveling between buildings…"

"Get used to seeing me. I am Prue's official unpaid pack mule," Paige interrupted with a wave over the camera gear.

"Very well," he agreed and then opened the door in front of him and allowed the two women to go before him. "Now, Finley's running late to the interview so you're going to have to shoot him…"

Prue's eyes lit up at the mention of Finley. "Finley? Finley as in Finley Beck? Finley Beck?" Prue demanded while Paige shook her head at the too familiar name.

"You know him? And here I thought you were just a beginner," Mr. Corso remarked offhandedly.

"As if. Even I know that name," Paige mumbled under her breath. Mr. Corso actually appeared mildly amused by the comment while Prue was so lost in her ramblings she missed it.

"Okay, he is the whole reason this beginner got started. He is amazing. Have you met him?" Prue demanded.

"Not in person. I just know him through his press," he offered as he turned his attention to the schedule he was supposed to follow for the day.

Prue didn't appear put out in the slightest by her boss' lack of enthusiasm. "Alright, well…" Prue paused to grab a Finley Beck's biography off the table that they passed by. "… I mean, the prose in this is mediocre at best. They didn't even cover his- his period in Germany. Not only is he a gifted photographer but he just seems so-so giving and warm," she exclaimed while looking fondly at the book.

"A fan?" Mr. Corso stated more than asked.

Paige rolled her eyes at her eldest sister's actions. "Prue, have you ever heard the word 'composure' before?" she teased although her tone was partly serious.

Prue seemed to think over it a moment and reluctantly dropped the book and shut her mouth. "Occasionally…" she mumbled in embarrassment.

Paige nearly laughed but was interrupted by the door flying open hard enough to slam against the wall. Finley Beck strutted in (Prue's eyes lit up with barely restrained excitement) while glaring behind him at some unseen person. "…And you can tell him I said so," he snapped, slamming the door closed behind him. Paige narrowed her eyes and risked a glance at Prue only to find her completely oblivious. Beck's hard gaze turned to Mr. Corso. "Can we get started? I'm on a schedule," he pointed out impatiently. Prue started to rush forward to introduce herself but Paige grabbed her arm. "So when's this photographer gracing us with his presence?"

"That would be me," Prue blurted out before Paige could stop her.

Beck's eyes flickered over the eldest Halliwell and appeared unimpressed. Paige stepped forward quickly. "So it sounds like you're busy, so let's get this started," she suggested already setting the camera bag down and pulling out Prue's gear.

"Oh, please tell me you're not planning on shooting me in digital…" Beck's scandalizing voice froze Paige. "… Oh, no, no, no, not now, not tomorrow, not ever. Digital is for amateurs…" he leaned toward Prue whose gaze at some point narrowed. "… Careful, dear, your true colors are showing," Beck spun back to Paige. "… why don't you do something useful and get me some tea," he ordered before stalking past them.

Prue opened her mouth as if to tell him off for talking to her sister that way but Paige met her gaze with a look that clearly told her to let it go.

The Halliwell Manor

Piper stood by the sink, absently washing the dirty dishes when Phoebe dragged herself in and dropped her bag on the floor before collapsing into a seat with a groan. Piper cast a curious glance over her shoulder. "Hey, honey, how was school?" she asked.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Can someone please tell me what is up with guys?" she returned instead.

Piper smiled in amusement. "You don't really expect me to have an answer to that do you?"

"Okay, so I have lunch with this guy in lab, right?" Phoebe started, earning a faint nod from Piper. "… he is totally melatonin boy," she explained.

"That bad?" Piper questioned while making a face.

Phoebe glanced up to meet her sister's eyes. "I'm keeping his number in case I have trouble sleeping," Phoebe insisted.

"That bad," Piper repeated sympathetically.

"So I'm sitting there trying desperately not to fall asleep and all I kept thinking about was yesterday," Phoebe admitted.

Piper nodded in understanding. "I know, we still have no idea who he was or how you vanquished him…"

Phoebe narrowed her eyes in confusion before she realized what Piper was thinking. "No, not that," she cut her elder sister off. "… Billy. The guy from the movie and I know that this is reality but why can't a guy like that exist in my reality?" Phoebe ranted. She paused as a swirl of blue and white lights filled the space next to Piper until Leo materialized. Phoebe couldn't resist a sigh. "Here I am talking about the shortage of perfect men and in orbs yours," she groaned.

Piper smirked. "I found one of the good guys," she admitted. She leaned forward and gave Leo a quick kiss.

"Unfortunately, I'm here to talk about the bad guys," Leo explained a bit reluctantly.

"No shortage of those," Phoebe grumbled.

Leo turned back to Piper and pushed a strand of her hair away from her face. "Yeah, they sent for me last night so I could warn you."

Piper frowned a little at that but didn't appear surprised. "Okay, fill in the blank, it's the demon of…?"

"Illusion," Leo finished. "Apparently he uses magic somehow to create violence in society. They told me he's here to make San Francisco his retreat. He's got a scar below his eye…"

"…and a goatee?" Phoebe guessed to which Leo nodded. "No problem, we vanquished him last night," she assured him.

Leo looked confused. "Are you sure? Cause they wouldn't send me…" he trailed off with a shrug.

"Unless the demon isn't really gone," Piper finished for him.

Phoebe groaned loudly and pushed herself up from her seat. "Okay, you call Prue and Paige. I'll go to the Book of Shadows. We gotta get back to that revival house," she decided.

The Revival House

All four sisters found themselves pulling into the parking lot of the Revival House almost two hours later. To no one's surprise, multiple police cars with flashing lights were parked near the entrance complete with Andy and Darryl as was the norm. At least for them. The two inspectors shared a hushed conversation as the four women approached them.

"Fancy seeing you here," Andy commented as a way of greeting.

"Isn't it?" Prue returned.

Darryl scanned over the sisters with a sigh. "I expect you want to get in," he guessed and without waiting for an answer, waved toward the side of the building. "The side entrance is still open."

"Wait, you guys are here and it's not closed down?" Phoebe inquired curiously as she watched several other officers walk into the building.

"The captain had us take over this case after the lead officer had an emergency she had to take care of…" Andy explained sounding as if the circumstances were suspicious. "I'm less surprised now, but this was little more than a brawl. No reason to shut down," he assured them.

"Great. Let's get this over with," Piper decided before making her way toward the side entrance that was functioning as the front for the moment. Phoebe and Paige, with a wave at the Inspectors and Prue, followed while Prue reluctantly stayed behind.

~PO4~

"Alright so we vanquished him here in aisle six," Phoebe offered as she searched the empty theatre (although for some reason the movie was still being played) for any sign of the demon.

Paige placed her hands on her hips. "Are we sure he would be in the same theatre? I mean, I would at least migrate over one if I thought someone was gonna try and magic me to vanquishment," Paige pointed out.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "Magic you to vanquishment? Maybe you shouldn't have taken the condensed semester…" she joked.

Paige opened her mouth to retort but Piper waved her hand to silence them. "He's on the screen," Piper interrupted.

"What?" Paige questioned as her and Phoebe's heads snapped back to the screen in surprise.

Sure enough the demon of Illusion stood among the movie, watching them with a thoughtful expression. "Actually I was just leaving. I should've known the disappearing demon routine wouldn't fool you for long," he admitted.

Paige held out her hand as if to call him out of the movie only to have Phoebe shove her hand down as lightning crackled through the air from Paige's hand and into the floor. The demon laughed but seemed to think twice before leaving the movie he was in.

"Piper?" Phoebe whispered, uncertain how to attempt to get him out without anyone blowing the theatre up.

"I vote we just destroy the screen," Piper suggested.

The demon of Illusion smirked at the thought. "This is the world of illusion…" he waved his arms around him "… and you girls are reality. Your powers, unlike mine, cannot pass between the two."

"Well, that shoots down the screen plan," Paige grumbled. "We need some way to get him out into reality," she mused, her hand twitching at her side.

"Do not try that again," Phoebe warned.

Piper ground her teeth in frustration when Billy ran onto the screen, fulfilling his part in the movie. She felt Phoebe tense beside her. "Sally Mae? Sally Mae, where are you? It's getting dark and…" Billy stopped his lines as he noticed the demon. "I thought you said you weren't going to cause anymore…" he started while glaring at the intruder.

"Shut up!" the demon interrupted with a look of disdain at the character.

"Hey!" Phoebe snapped in Billy's defense. Purely out of instinct, of course. Billy's gaze shifted to Phoebe as did Piper and Paige's. Phoebe only seemed to care about Billy's. "Oh my god, I think he's looking at me," she swooned.

Billy offered her a bright smile. "Hi," he greeted.

"Hi," Phoebe barely managed to get out.

"Uh, Pheebs…" Piper began.

"… What is the matter with you?" Paige finished, clearly thinking Phoebe had gone insane.

"… We're supposed to be demon vanquishing," Piper reminded.

The demon appeared amused by that. "Oh is that what you're supposed to be doing? How cute. How clever of you," he taunted while Phoebe continued to be more interested in keeping Billy's attention. "Any idea how you intend to do that? Or are you just going to flirt me to death like your little tarty sister?"

Phoebe's smile fell and Billy immediately turned back to the demon. "Watch your language in front of the ladies. Consider that a warning," he ordered in a dramatic tone.

The demon rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, was it the word 'sister' that bothered you? How about 'bitch?' Does that go down easier?" the demon countered only to be met with Billy tackling him right out of the movie where they proceeded to throw punches at each other.

"Oh do something," Phoebe yelped, grabbing hold of Piper's arm. Paige just appeared to be enjoying the good old-fashioned fighting.

The elder Halliwell flicked her free wrist and a blast hit just next to the struggling men. The force broke the two men apart with the demon flying into the wall on the left and Billy rolling across the floor on the right. Billy scrambled to his feet and glanced down at himself to find he was still in black and white.

The demon also regained his feet and stared in surprise at Billy and the three sisters. "You're off the screen. How did you…?" he trailed off with a grin crossing his features. "Thanks for the inspiration, sport," he gratified before disappearing out the exit behind him.

Piper and Paige exchanged a look before they turned to find Phoebe grinning over at Billy. She waved at the movie character who shyly waved back. "Okay… orb them home. I'll get Prue and the car," Piper decided and with one last glance at Billy, hurried out. Paige just made a face at being stuck with a lovestruck Phoebe and her target of affection.