Charmed
Another Side, Another Story
II
Seeing is Believing
(Part 4)
Graham appears in Phoebe's room in a flash of light. If they are to keep up appearances, they have to stick close to each other. Stray too far from each other, and it would mean the end for all four of them.
With his arrival, the maid and the servant immediately leave the room, shimmering and blinking respectively.
Phoebe has short auburn hair in curls. She's much thinner than she was before. She looks surprised to see him. She crawls out of bed, in manner he hasn't seen in years, and walks right up to him.
"Graham," Phoebe says, "am I glad to see you."
Phoebe sees herself in the full body mirror she notices to her right. "Look at me," she says. "Finally lost that baby fat. Look at my hair. I never thought red would look good on me. Hmmm, not bad."
Graham feels she is acting strange. "I delivered the newspaper to Prue," he says, walking up close behind her. Phoebe gets a little warm from his presence. "All we can do is hope it snaps her out of her present state."
Phoebe turns to him and steps back. There is something about the look in his eye and the expression on his face. She feels as though he might kiss her, and she feels as though she wouldn't mind if he did. She wants to kiss him too. The way he looks at her...But she's not here to live her future self's life. She's here to find the truth and save her sister.
"Graham," Phoebe says, "I'm not the Phoebe you know." Next, she speaks hurriedly. "My past self, along with my sisters, cast a spell, and now, apparently, we're ten years in the future, as our future selves."
Graham wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her close. In a flash of light, they disappear. They reappear on Black Beach, near San Diego.
"You're serious," Graham says.
"Could you always do that? Phoebe questions, amazed by his ability to...flash. She decides this is what she'll call his method of teleportation.
"Ten years ago," Graham says, "not so much. This power was triggered by my want to escape a tragic turn of events." Phoebe watches as his gaze leaves her and focuses across the beach and out to sea.
"You don't want to know," Graham says grimly.
"Oh," Phoebe says, "but I really really do. That's why we cast the spell: to find out what went wrong and brought about this future. If we find that out, we can go back and prevent it."
"What makes you think you can?" Graham says. He has yet to look at her.
"A spell," Phoebe tells him, making him turn to look at her.
"In the Book of Shadows," Graham says. Phoebe is surprised he knows about it but obviously she and her sisters eventually told him about it. "Your future selves probably already used it."
Phoebe opens her mouth and quickly closes it. She and her sisters didn't think about that.
"Besides, you can't change the past," Graham says. "It could lead to a worst future."
"Or it could lead to a better one," Phoebe says. "Where is the Book of Shadows?" She can tell he wants to believe her. He doesn't say anything for a few moments. She grabs hold of both his hands. He looks down at their hands and looks back to her face.
"Prue hid it," Graham says. "I suspect she did so before she had herself committed."
"No," Phoebe says. "Prue? Commit herself?" Phoebe laughs. "The only way that would happen is if she ran into a problem she couldn't fix, and the only problem Prue Halliwell couldn't fix would have to involve death, hers or somebody else's."
Graham did not respond. Phoebe looked upon the grave expression on her face.
"Worse than that," Graham finally says.
Worst, Phoebe thinks, what could be worst than death?
Mommy! Before Phoebe can ask Graham the question that's on her mind, she hears a voice. Phoebe looks around. Mommy! Daddy!
"Just tell me one thing," Phoebe says. "Did this happen because we failed to protect Whitney?"
"No," Graham says. He pulls his hands from hers. "This was because of me."
"What do you..." Phoebe steps back. She hears a young boy's voice again. His voice interrupts her. She watches Graham extend a hand toward her, but he returns it to his side. He looks as though he wants to explain himself, but he looks apprehensive. She wants him to explain himself, but that voice...
"Are you hearing a voice?" Graham asks, noticing the puzzled expression on her face.
"Yeah," Phoebe answers him in a whisper.
"Telepathy," Graham says. "One of the powers he gained through my family line. That voice? Our son Wills."
Another flash of light, a little boy, around the age of five, with sand colored skin, curly dishwater blond hair in a short ponytail, with a patch of white hair in the front, and hazel eyes, appears, resting on his father's shoulders.
"Phoebe," Graham says. "Meet Wills Victor Donahue-Halliwell."
Phoebe makes a strange sound and covers her mouth. "How? I mean, I know how, but how?"
"Mommy!" Wills shouts, super excited. "Daddy!" He punches a fist into the air, smiling.
"He's so cute," Phoebe says, but she's flipping out in her mind and heart. She turns away from them. She holds a hand to her heart and tries to breathe.
"A lot happened after you became Queen of the Underworld," Graham says, the tone of his voice somber.
She quickly turns back to him. "What?"
"You did it to help me," Graham says. "Whitney too."
Phoebe lets herself fall into the sand.
"I've already said too much," Graham says.
Another flash of light, and Wills is on Phoebe's back.
Phoebe looks at Wills. His smiling face looks into her face. She can tell he's a hyper one. He reminds her of her when she was a kid. She can't believe he's real. She can't believe she gets with Graham. She finally notices the rock on her hand, but her mind brings her back to the crazy part of all this: She's Queen of the fricking Underworld. Concentrate, she tells herself. Piper.
"Did Whitney become evil?" Phoebe asks. She's fishing, trying to decide if Whitney's defection started she and her sisters down this road.
"No," Graham says.
"And we..." Phoebe trails off. She glances at her rock.
"We fell in love despite the circumstances," Graham says.
Phoebe shakes her head because she realizes it's all too much, especially right now. She sees this as one of the reasons people wouldn't want to know their future. It's all too overwhelming. She holds onto Wills and stands up.
"You've got," Phoebe waves her finger at him. "We've got a lot to discuss." Graham smiles.
Wills giggles. "Mommy, you're acting silly. You never act silly. Daddy never smiles." He whispers in Phoebe's ear.
"For now," Phoebe says, "Take me to Prue, so we can save Piper. You and Whitney too."