Phoebe opened glassy eyes and blinked a few times. Relief swept through Piper and she felt a weight being pushed off her shoulders. She momentarily forgot about David, until he stood up abruptly. His eyes were wide and he was shaking slightly.

"I have to go," he said and rushed out of the room.

Piper really wanted to follow him out. His behaviour was highly suspicious and it seemed more and more likely that he was involved somehow. However, her primary duty was to her sister. She rushed to Phoebe's bedside and held her hand.

"Phoebe? Are you alright?"

Her only answer was a slight moan. Piper resisted the urge to shake her sister, anything to bring her to full awareness. All too soon she was pushed back by a nurse who fretted over Phoebe, checking her vitals and speaking in reassuring tones. Piper stepped back, not wanting to get in the way, but kept a close eye on her sister.

For a long moment, it seemed like time had slowed down without any intervention on Piper's part. It seemed to take forever for the nurse and then a doctor to assess Phoebe's condition, checking her responses to light and other stimuli, asking her a few questions, until the doctor took Piper aside, right outside the little hospital room.

He explained to her that Phoebe was going to be fine. She didn't appear to suffer from any head injury, though she still felt a bit disoriented. "She'll probably feel exhausted, so don't overwhelm her with too many visitors. In fact, I'd recommend keeping it to one visitor at a time for now. At least until she gets a full night of sleep."

"Of course. Thank you, doctor," responded Piper distractedly. The man nodded once and took off. She re-entered the room and her gaze fell on Phoebe, now in a sitting position on the hospital bed. Colour was already coming back to her cheeks, but her eyes were still a bit glassy. She looked up at Piper, frowning slightly.

"Phoebe, what happened?" asked Piper, approaching the bed slowly. It had felt strange to sit beside her estranged sister when she was unconscious after not seeing her for so long. Though she was happy to see her sister had woken, it felt stranger still to speak to her. They had gone their separate ways almost a decade ago, and, even though they had exchanged a few words here and there over the years, it felt like they were now strangers.

"I dreamt," Phoebe said. Her gaze drifted to the corner of the room. "This feels like a dream too."

"It isn't! You were in a car accident and…" Piper hurried to say.

"I know. It's just…" Phoebe looked back at Piper. Her eyes were swelling with unshed tears. "I really missed you."

Piper felt something tightening in her throat. She grabbed her sister's hand and squeezed it. "I missed you too." She felt tears fall down her cheeks, but didn't brush them off. "I've wanted to reach out to you for so long. I just didn't know how."

"Me too," said Phoebe with a brittle smile. She sniffed once and wiped the tears away from her face. "But we can talk about this later. I don't know how much time I have."

"What do you mean?" asked Piper, alarmed.

"I shouldn't be awake right now. I can feel the curse trying to bring me back there."

"Bring you back where? Phoebe, what are you talking about?"

"It's a demon. He only exists in some sort of dream world, but he wants to come here, to our reality." Phoebe's eyes grew wide. "Piper, he can't crossover, he's too powerful, and he can only be defeated in his realm. I've been trying to hold him off while I was there, but how do you fight dreams?"

"Pheebs, you're not making any sense. You were fighting a demon in your sleep? Does it have anything to do with the accident?"

"Yes, but I'll explain more in a bit. First, can you tell me how it is I'm awake right now? Did you use a spell to bring me back? Did Leo heal me?"

"No. Well, he healed your injuries, but he couldn't wake you. You just… woke-up. Your boyfriend came over, held your hand and then you opened your eyes."

Phoebe started. "My boyf…. Do you mean David? He was here? Shit. Okay." Her mind seemed to be going a thousand miles an hour, and she nodded to herself like she had solved a puzzle.

"Who's David? How does he fit into this," asked Piper, growing irritated. Couldn't she just get a clear answer out of her sister?

"Well, he's not my boyfriend for one. He's… well… a research partner?"

"A research partner," said Piper wryly, raising an eyebrow.

"On half-demons."

Piper remained quiet, so Phoebe elaborated. "Since, well, since I moved out of the manor with Benjamin, I've been looking up ways to protect him, to make sure he didn't turn out like Cole." Phoebe bit her lip. "I still wonder sometimes what would've happened if the Seer hadn't influenced him…"

Piper squeezed her sister's hand once more.

Phoebe continued chewing her bottom lip, like she was trying to figure out how to organise her thoughts. "Anyway, I didn't know who might be after Ben, because he was the son of the source or because he was the son of a charmed one."

A fear Piper understood all too well, though it helped to have Leo and Paige around to provide extra layers of protection. She felt a sudden wave of regret at the thought that Phoebe had had to manage this all on her own. She opened her mouth to say something, but Phoebe continued.

"I also wanted to help Ben get a handle on his powers so I didn't have to extinguish fires throughout his entire childhood. You remember what my pregnancy was like!" Phoebe and Piper traded weak smiles. "So I spent years researching and experimenting with protection spells, found ways to hide our home from evil and magical being. And I found this… let's call it a support group for hybrid children of demons. That's where I met David and he's been very interested in Benjamin."

"From what I saw earlier, I'd say he's been very interested in someone else too."

Phoebe blushed. Piper resisted the urge to roll her eyes, then paused as a thought hit her. "Wait, is David a half-demon?"

"Yes, but he prefers to be called a curse-eater," Phoebe explained. "He feeds off spells, which is probably why I'm awake now, though it won't last much longer."

"So you're dating another half-demon," Piper couldn't help but ask.

Phoebe crossed her arms defensively, "It's not like that. I mean, there might've been a casual thing, but… Anyway, that's not important right now. I need you to do me a favour."

Piper felt uneasy at the topic change, but nodded.

"I don't know how long I was sleeping, but I'm assuming that Ben has been staying with you?" When Piper nodded once more, Phoebe released some tension and leaned back against her hospital bed. "Good. I know you didn't think I should've kept him…."

"I'm sorry about that. I was wrong. I can see he's a good kid," Piper interrupted, the words rushing out before she could hold them back.

Phoebe smiled sadly. "You and Paige are the only ones I trust to look after him. Promise me, you'll do it when I go back to sleep. And tell him that I love him and that I'm sorry I can't be here for him."

Piper narrowed her eyes. "You're talking like you don't think you'll wake-up again."

Phoebe opened her mouth to replied, but was interrupted.

"Oh my God, Phoebe, you're awake!" exclaimed Paige behind them. She had orbed into the room without hers or Piper's notice. Paige rushed towards Phoebe and threw her arms around her. After a few seconds, she let go awkwardly of her sister, as though only just remembering she and Phoebe had been estranged for years.

For a moment, all three sisters remained silent. They stared at each other, unsure of what to say to melt the tension that remained between them, despite their seemingly shared desire to cross the bridge.

It's Phoebe who spoke first, though Piper had a million questions she wanted to ask.

"Now that Paige is here, I need to explain what happened." Phoebe visibly struggled with her words for a few seconds. Then, her eyes flashed with determination, a look Piper had often seen her sport right before throwing herself into a fight against a particularly dangerous demon. "We have a demon to fight and it'll take the Power of Three to take him down."


A.N. Sorry it took a while to post this chapter. I started a full-time job, which is great, but it means I don't have as much free time to write anymore. I'm also working on two other stories which are also keeping me busy, but I'll do my best to update this story at least once every two weeks.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!