Outtakes Part 36:
1x03 Part 07: Family Reunion

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They hadn't been long there, standing at the entrance before Victor came. Piper starred at him, almost speechless. There he was, after 20 years... looking just like back then. He smiled a little as he approached them and Piper slowly saw, he had changed a tiny bit after all. There were little wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. Strong wrinkles which accentuated his face the more.
"You really came"
he said smiling as he looked Piper over. He nodded slightly to himself.
"All your mother's"
he said smiling, brushing a hand over her cheek
"Prue's the one most like mom"
Piper said, trying t not to be charmed right away by him
"you've got a great deal of her as well... can see that in your eyes"
he told her proudly. Piper smiled a little and didn't know whether to hug him, thank him, kiss his cheek or what. Phoebe, however wasn't so shy and right after Victor had a good look at Piper, almost jumped into his arms
"hey, hey, hey... easy, Phoebe... I'm only an old man"
"no, you're our dad..."
Piper corrected him. Victor smiled and just like 20 years ago, when he left he asked with a cheerful smile
"do I get a hug?"
Piper couldn't help but smile and fly into his arms. It felt so right. It felt like home.
"I think... we should get to our table, now don't we?"
He said pulling away and letting them go again. God, how he had missed his little girls. He loved them dearly and the only picture he had of them, together as family, was burning in his wallet. He'd protect them. Even if it meant, to give his won life away. He let them to their table and sat down. He was a little disappointed, Prue wasn't there, but he knew he hurt them. He couldn't just expect them to be all fire and flame. Prue was stubborn; he knew she'd be the hardest to talk to. But maybe, after a little while, she'd learn to trust him again as well.
"I ordered for us already... I Hope you guys don't mind"
Piper smiled
"not at all"
she said shaking her head
"as long as you didn't ordered brain of some animal or anything alike... I'm fine"
Phoebe said smiling brightly.
"It's so nice to see you. It's not like we don't have a lot to talk about..."
he told them unfolding his napkin and placing it, like a gentleman, on his lap. Piper, nervous as she was, grabbed a carrot and started nibbling at it, just to keep herself busy
"We do."
Phoebe agreed, Piper just nodded, to show, that she agreed as well. Phoebe sighed. Great, piper was in complete distract. It'd be her turn to talk all night
"I mean, yeah, we have a few questions..."
Victor's smile slowly faded as he looked down for one single second, then looked back up and straight at Piper. He saw, her nibbling at the carrot and smiled.
"You know, the last time we ate dinner together, you would only eat food that was white. I'm glad to see you've out grown it."
he said, trying to get her to open a little more up
"That's right. I was six."
She answered, laughing a little, a hand in front of her mouth to keep the contents of it inside
"Phoebe, You know, when you were one... you couldn't walk yet but you could swim..."
he told her, recollecting the memories of his precious girls. The once which still were there, with a far away, kind of dreamy look
"You were a fish..."
he said smiling again, as both started to laugh.
'and look at you now...'
he thought, so proud, and yet hating himself once more for missing everything, but glad he might could have a chance to change this. He just needed them to get back to trust each other. He'd get the book out of the way and finally... they'd be a happy family. Like it was supposed to. Like it always should have been. Like it would have been without magic. Like it would have been without whitelighters. Like it could have been, if Patty just had stood up to him and his opinion. They could have been so happy. He sighed lowly
"This feels right doesn't it? This feels natural... almost like normal."
He told them, sharing his thoughts
"Almost."
Piper admitted with a nod and looked down
"It's just... umm..."
she couldn't push that thought back. She loved him being here. She loved him, right away playing the daddy. But all of that didn't make up for the last 20 years. She collects all her strength, to look at her father
"well, why? I mean, after all this time, why here, why now?"
she asked Victor sighed again. He didn't want to go there yet. He wanted to bond with them a little more before he started with the whole witchcraft crap. With the whole... your grandmother was such a bitch crap. He cleared his throat and smiled a little
"Well, I heard the food is pretty good here and it is dinner time."
He told them, trying very hard to stay serious and not bursting into laughs, especially when Phoebe started to. Piper just screwed her face. That wasn't exactly the answer she wanted. She expected. But with the charming smile of her father in her eyes and the laughter of her little sister in the ear, it was impossible, to not feel home and comfortable. He'd explain. At some point. So she finally relaxed and smiled as well, just as a waiter steps up to them and places a plate in front of Phoebe.
"Here you are, ma'am."
"Thank you."
Phoebe replied
"Bon appetite."
Victor wished them, as the waiter placed a plate in front of Piper as well. After the first course was through
"sooo... how have your lives been?"
Victor asked. He wanted to know so much
"oh nothing exciting... school... work at a bank... and a few weeks ago I became a chef..."
"a chef? Piper, are you kidding! You run that thing! She's fabulous, dad"
Victor smiled
"I remember you always were the one begging your mother to make cookies for the whole house and when she was home and promised you to make some, you'd stand up at 5 a.m., too excited to wait a second longer. You'd wind up in our bedroom, snuggling up to your mother, whispering in the sweetest voice you had 'mommy... can we now finally make cookies?' Your mother always tried to sooth you, to go back to sleep, but she never made it. when I came downstairs about an hour later, you always were merrily sleeping in front of the oven, since you fell asleep in front of the it, watching your precious cookies"
"yeah... that was the thing I missed most when mom died... Grams cooked with me, too... but she'd never give into my pleas."
Piper said, smiling sadly.
"I never had any doubts you'd become a cook. There was nothing you did with such passion as you did those cookies."
"ya... that's cause you missed out the whole... 'I'm gonna become a vet' disaster"
she said smiling. That had been when she was about ten. She had the most wonderful dreams about it, till she realized, being a vet included to kill animals and also to do something against bleedings and alikes.
"What about you Phoebe?"
he asked
"oh... you know... there was nothing too big with me... I went to new York... a year ago... to search you..."
"ya... I was placed in Chicago back then"
he answered
"but... c'mon... there ahs to be more..."
"nope... I'm college-less, I'm job-less... boyfriend-les..."
she told him smiling, trying hard to hide her wild years of him. She glanced at Piper from time to time making sure, she didn't spill anything. Victor noticed immediately
"and I'm supposed to believe that? You know, Phoebe... I wasn't a saint either... never was..."
Phoebe looked guiltily down.
"I'm sure you didn't screw up as much as I did..."
she said smiling sadly
"in front of me is sitting a beautiful, fully grown woman... it can't be that bad"
"well... there was shoplifting... there were drugs... there was... freebie... cause everyone could actually have me... pick one..."
"and still you're not any of that anymore, now are you? Everyone ahs a hard time. Everyone has a freak out from time to time. The question is, if you keep screwing up or if you try to change something and it seems like you succeeded"
Victor told her.
"What about you? Are you talking about your screw up right now as well?"
Piper asked carefully. Victor swallowed.
"Leaving you girls and your mother... was the biggest mistake I ever made..."
"why didn't you return?"
"I was ashamed. I had run away, like a coward. Run away from all the problems between your mom and me. Your grandma and me. I knew your grandmother never would have let me into your guys' life again..."
"does that mean... you're here... because... she's... she's dead?"
"partly. I heard from Julia, that Patty had died. Your mother always was the one... keeping me out of your grandmother's shot and so I didn't dare to come to her funeral. I didn't want to make everything worse for you. I couldn't do that to your mother. I couldn't screw her funeral. I sneaked after you a few weeks later. You were doing pretty well and so I ran again. You girls had so much of your mother inside of you. It just hurt too much. It's hurting now. I was in town, for business... I had thought about contacting you guys... but... I thought, you wouldn't even want to see me. Not after 20 years and no single word. Turns out I was partly right..."
he said, looking at the empty chair on his left side.
"I went to your mother's grave, to lay down some flowers... there I got to know Penny was dead... I... actually wanted to talk to Prue... about... well everything. I didn't think she'd react this extreme. I didn't think... she'd tell you... but then Phoebe came here..."
Piper's attention moved form her father to Phoebe
"what? You saw him?"
"after Prue told us, he was here... I just couldn't wait... I would have told you, but you know how Prue freaked about the whole subject."
Phoebe defended. Victor smiled a little "the whole truth is, that your father is a big fat looser... who ahs done more than only one mistake"
he told them
"you can't be so much of a looser, affording a hotel like this... a meal like this"
Phoebe answered honestly
"I got fortune two years back... caught myself a pretty good job and suddenly there I was... working myself up..."
he told them. just as the next course came
"I think... we slowly should let the past rest... we after all have a future to look on to..."
he said smiling, trying to finally get away from the topic.
"A future with you?"
Piper questioned
"hopefully"
Victor said smiling. His plan had to work. And if I worked, he had no problem to stay in San Francisco. With his girls. Protect them form whatever he could. As soon as the whole witchcraft factor was gone. The truth was, he didn't want them to have their powers, because he knew exactly, he couldn't protect them of these kind of things. He could protect his girls from much. But not from that. That's why he had left 20 years ago. He was a greater danger to them than he was a saviour. They kept chatting along, joking about, throughout the main course. They had a great time, and as soon as they were ready, the plates were carried away again. They had a very good time, when suddenly something caught Victor's eyes. A woman was storming into the restaurant. He swallowed a few times. She had come. He took a big breath and got up
"Prudence..."
he said smiling. She had come. The rest didn't matter. She accepted his offer, which meant, he wasn't something completely out of her world. Piper and Phoebe had turned when their father had gotten up. They looked shocked at the oldest. Scared about what would happen. They saw how Prue and Victor started to stare each other down and were afraid, Victor was ripped into pieces by Prue's immense anger and the powers she still wasn't able to control properly.
"Did I miss much?"
she asked coldly
"Umm, just catch up. Dad was filling us in... Memory lane."
Phoebe tried to break Prue's anger just a little. It was only a small rescue for Victor, since he was at least able to break the eye contact.
"Has he mentioned where he's been all our lives?"
Prue asked, furiously. She had planned so hard to stay calm. She had been going over her words over and over again in the car. But now that she faced the man worse anything she ever had to face... she knew she just couldn't stay calm.
"Prue..."
Piper tried as well to sooth Prue. To calm her, at least a tiny bit down.
"I don't understand. If you can afford a spot like this, why didn't you help out when Mom died?"
she asked sharply and looked at Victor who was sitting back down in his chair on the table. No response came.
"We actually could've used it then."
"Give him a chance, Prue. Dad's explained. The money, all this, it's new..."
Piper said silently
"It's okay, Piper. I'm a big boy... I didn't come back earlier because I was afraid I might disappoint you."
"Too late."
Prue answered coolly. Pipers noticed nothing was working, not with Prue and not with her father either anymore. she was desperate and looked around, searching desperately for something to change the topic
"I wonder what's keeping that dessert?"
there was not much reaction to her cheery enquire. The only signal, she really had said it out loud, was coming from Phoebe, who smiled sadly at her
"Please, sit down. Have something to eat..."
Victor tried, the whole time starring into Prue's eyes. There it was again, this same challenge as in her office. Trying to stare the other down. Showing who the mightier one was.
"I'm not hungry..."
Prue put in, showing that she didn't need hi. Not if she didn't want him.
"Always in a hurry, Prue."
He almost sang, showing her, he till was the one in control, he stopped for a second
"You skipped crawling and went straight to walking."
Prue never would have let him go through with it and right away shot back
"ooh, we're sharing memories... Well, I got one of my own, you're back walking out the door!"
hit and sunk. Victor immediately broke the eye contact, leaving Prue as the superior. But no one really seemed to like this. Piper and Phoebe sighed. Prue was screwing everything. They seriously wished right now, she had stayed at home. Piper looked up to find a waiter with a big desert approaching. Victor turned, to see what had caught her attention. Maybe it was something he could use. He too spotted the waiter. This was his chance. And so just as a waiter walked past them holding a flambeau, Victor put out his foot and tripped him. Piper froze him and the restaurant immediately. Piper was the first to notice the restaurant was frozen and looked wildly around for intruders, but there were no one. Phoebe noticed it too and looked around as well, praying no one would enter the restaurant just right now. Finally Piper got up and took the flambeau out of the waiter's hands. Everyone unfroze and the waiter, despite being rid of the flambeau, fell flat on his face.
"Who wants flambeau?"
Piper asked, trying to cheer. Victor looked down and settled his thoughts for a second. He had been right. Their powers had been set free with Penny's dead. They were in great danger, for a while already. He again had failed them. But maybe it wasn't too late after all. They still were alive. They still were okay. The waiter finally recollects himself and takes the flambeau off Piper
"Nice reflexes."
Victor just commented chuckling slightly and patiently waited till the waiter finally was gone
"Now let me get this straight."
He said, not looking at any of them while carefully folding his napkin, to keep himself busy, so he could secretly study the girls' reaction without them even noticing
"Piper, you freeze time. Prue,"
he looked straight at her. Who was the superior now?
"Don't you move objects?"
Prue held her breath for a second and then looked somewhat guiltily down
"And what's you special trick, Phoebe? Premonitions?"
Phoebe stared at him speechless and then just nodded slightly
"Maybe we should talk about this elsewhere, huh?"

He asked, looking straight at Prue. The sisters again exchanged glances, agreeing more or less telepathically on what to do next