"Grams, I think I messed up the potion." Prue greeted them, when they got back at the manor.
"How so?"
"It blew up?"
"That's normal. Didn't Leo tell you that?" Phoebe said.
"It knocked him unconscious."
"Oh dear." The three ran for the kitchen. Sure enough Leo was lying on the floor, and Prue's potion was simmering and smoking. Phoebe went to tend to Leo, and Grams went to the potion.
"What happened?" Leo asked as he came to.
"Prue's potion blew up." Phoebe said.
"Actually, it is done now. We just need you girls to drink it." Grams poured Phoebe a glass and handed it to her. Phoebe took a whiff of it, then sighing drank it in one swallow.
"What ever you do, don't tell me what was in there. I might just throw up." Phoebe commented. "Do you think it worked?"
"You're glowing." Prue said.
"I am?!?!"
"Oh, now you're not." Prue said.
Leo urged Phoebe to levitate. As if she had her powers for years, Phoebe promptly levitated.
"Now that you can levitate again, tell us about the premonition you had." Grams said.
"Well, when I touched Katie today," Phoebe started.
"The one who died in that car crash?" Leo asked. Phoebe nodded.
"Anyway, I saw the manor at our present. There was a demon, and he was throwing fire balls at her. Then Katie pulled me out of it, and I realized that the girl was Katie. Somehow I don't know how, but I connected d my premonition to what happened to us."
"Ok, do you want to look in the book?" Grams asked.
"I've looked through it a million times. I think I would know if she was in the book."
"Then…" Prue started.
"The weird thing is, is that it was the present, because there was wedding pictures in the living room, and she was standing there. Katie has been dead for nine years."
"Maybe she was a ghost?" Grams suggested.
"I dunno. She seemed solid."
"So what makes you think she has anything to do with this?" Leo asked.
"Just a feeling."
"Honey, check the book anyway." Grams suggested. Phoebe pondered this for a moment, and then changed her mind.
"Yeah I guess." She turned.
"I'll call you to lunch when it's ready. As soon as we clean up the potion mess that Pre made."
"It wasn't that big." Prue protested.
"There's powdered toadstool all over. Not to mention the broken glass on the floor."
"Can't we use magic to clean it up?"
"Ha! Personal gain!" Phoebe said. She had stopped on the stairs to listen.
"Phoebe, upstairs." Grams warned. Phoebe quickly ran up stairs. "What Phoebe meant to say, was that magic for anything but good, is personal gain. And cleaning up the kitchen falls under personal gain, which is almost evil."
"Huh?" Prue said, very confused.
"Never mind. No magic. Start cleaning." Grumbling, Prue left the room to get the cleaning stuff.
"Badly explained." Leo said.
"I assume you did better?"
"No, Prue told Phoebe and Piper, and Paige learned from the consequences." Leo paused, thinking a minute. "Twice in fact."
"So Prue was the first no personal gain on? Why doesn't she get it now?"
"Penny, why did you bind their powers?" Leo asked.
"To protect them."
"Any other reason?" He pushed.
"Bingo. She's still not ready for them."
"And the other three were? They're younger."
"No, they're not. They are 14 years older than they appear. You're forgetting that."
"Yes, I suppose I am."
The rest of the day went by fast. Prue, Leo, and Grams were in the basement, practicing Prue's power. Phoebe was upstairs, working on a figuring out what Katie had to do with all of everything, and did the homework, she had picked up. Phoebe was breathing relief. She expected demons to be popping through the door often now that they all had powers. Piper had Paige there before four.
"Phoebe, why did Grams pick you early?" Piper asked.
"I had a premonition." She admitted.
"Ok, you've had them before." Paige said.
"This one was at school."
"So?"
"I think it has something to do with our time travel."
"Then, by all means, explain." Piper urged.
"Um… well, Katie and I bumped heads and I saw us, like normal, not there though. Katie was fighting off a demon, and that's about all I saw."
"Kate. The one who was your best friend through high school?" Piper asked.
"Was? What happened, lost touch?" Paige asked.
"She died in a car wreck the summer after high school."
"Oh sorry." Paige said.
"It's ok. I was really lucky to know her. She was one of the nicest people I have ever met. Second only to my sisters, and Leo."
"She really was." Piper agreed.
"Back to business." Phoebe said, changing the subject. Even though she had moved on, it still made her sad thinking about it. "I've been thinking, our future bodies must be in an alternate universe. So I think we need to get them, and head back. We also need to be prepared for a vanquishing. I suspect we'll get quite a few. We have our powers. And whoever sent Cole-"
"Phoebe, maybe you should call him Balthazar. He's not really Cole." Piper suggested.
"Ok." Phoebe agreed. She started over. "Whoever sent Balthazar will likely send more, and we'll want to be prepared. Hopefully news of our powers hasn't hit the underworld."
"I wouldn't bet on it. News spreads fast." Piper said. "Warlocks were trying to kill us before we were charmed." She said, remembering Jeremy. The door bell rang. Being the closest manor resident, Piper left to answer the door. She laughed out loud, when she saw who it was. It was Leo. He was standing there with a bouquet of flowers, in a delivery boy uniform.
"Flowers for a Penny Halliwell." He said, all official sounding.
"Leo, where did you get that funny outfit? And weren't you just downstairs helping Prue with her powers?" Piper asked, ushering in Leo, and shutting the door. Leo watched it shut, and then turned to Piper. He looked at her like she was a crazy.
"Ms. I'm just here to deliver these flowers to Penny Halliwell, are you her?"
"Leo, it's me, Piper."
"Do I even have the right house?" He checked the card. In disbelief that he was at the right house, he put the card back into the arrangement. "Is Penny home, or should I give these to you to give to her?"
Dumbfounded, Piper decided to investigate. "Stay here for a second. I'll go get her." Piper said, running to the basement.
"I'm not supposed to be in here!" Leo called after her. Piper ignored him. She ran down to the basement and to her surprise she saw Grams, Prue, and Leo down there.
"Leo, Grams, there's someone upstairs I think you'll want to see." She said.
"Who?" They both asked.
"Just come!" Piper turned and left, leaving them to run after her. They stopped dead in their tracks, upon seeing Leo. Although Grams and both Leo's didn't find it unusual, Prue's eyes were wide with fear.
"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" Piper demanded.
"Prue, go get your sisters." Grams ordered. Keeping an eye on the two Leos for as long as possible, Prue went into the other room. She returned minutes later with Phoebe and Paige following her.
"Whoa." Phoebe said.
"And I thought being in our past bodies was weird. This, wow! This almost surpasses this." Paige whispered to Phoebe.
"Now that everyone is here, will you please tell me what is going on?" Piper exclaimed.
Suddenly, flower delivery Leo (from here out, known as P. Leo) sprung to life. "Uh these are for you." He said, handing the flowers to Grams. She accepted them and took the card. She smiled, and looked at P. Leo, smiling. "They just wanted to let you know." P. Leo said.
"HELLO!!!" Piper yelled, feeling very ignored.
"Piper, do you remember when I first came; I was just a handy man?" Leo asked.
"Yeah,"
"Well, there was nothing broken, so the elders sent me down to deliver the flowers to let Penny know that the Charmed Ones live." P. Leo explained.
"Ahh…" Piper said. "Don't the elders know?"
"Know what?" P. Leo asked.
"How can they not know?" Paige exclaimed. "They seem to know everything about our lives."
"No, they just want to interfere with our lives." Piper remarked.
"Not always, they just want what's best for the Charmed Ones." Leo quickly said.
"And it hasn't always worked." Piper barked.
"Hold on. You Flower Boy." Phoebe said, pointing to P. Leo.
"I'm Leo." P. Leo said.
"Yeah so is he. The only way I'll keep you straight is Flannel Boy, and Flower Boy."
"Hey!" Both Leos cried.
"Flower Boy, the elders know nothing, or the did they tell you nothing."
"No. I already said that." He defended. "What's going on?"
"We're from the future." Piper simply stated.
The only thing that P. Leo could say was "Oh."
"Yeah." Paige said.
"Not all of us." Prue piped in. "I wasn't home at the time, and it was them three and Flannel Boy are the only three from the future." She smiled now that the initial shock was over. Prue found the situation almost humorous.
Once again the only thing was P. Leo could say was "Oh." The room fell into silence. No one knew what to say. No one knew what to do. They all stood around, standing nervously. "I think I'll go check with the elders." P. Leo said, breaking the silence.
"Ok." Piper said. He paused for a second, waiting to see if the others would say anything. Nobody was. He looked like they were all crazy and orbed out.
"Yes! We have other help!" Paige exclaimed. "I can be normal again faster."
"Won't that be great?" Phoebe said dreamily.
"Focus girls." Grams said. "Phoebe did you tell them about your premonition yet?" Phoebe, Piper and Paige all nodded. "What do you two make of it?"
"Not sure, definitely weird. I mean, Katie is dead, and there she was, in our present. It's just not adding up." Piper said.
"Phoebe, you checked the book, right?"
"Yeah, there's-"
"Phoebe watch out!!" Paige yelled. Phoebe jumped. Behind her was a very tall warlock. He had red hair, and there were tribal markings all over his face.
"Piper, what's wrong? Freeze him!" Phoebe yelled as they were running form the energy bolts. Piper stopped, and faced the warlock. She threw her hands up, but nothing happened. She tried again, this time it worked. She breathed a quick sigh of relief.
"Two of you get over here quick. My powers will work a little longer!" Piper yelled. Quick as a flash, Paige and Phoebe were standing next to her.
"Any spells in mind?" Paige asked.
"Um…" Phoebe began to think. She saw a hint of movement from the warlock, signaling the end of the freeze. "Power of three spell!" She blurted. Before she had finished what she was saying, Piper had begun to recite the spell. Paige and Phoebe quickly jumped right in.
"The power of three will set us free.
The power of three will set us free.
The power of three will set us free.
The power of three will set us free."
Ten times over they recited the short spell. With a final scream, he burst into little pecies. They all breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close." Prue said.
"There's been worse. Much worse." Piper said, recalling Shax. He was the one that killed Prue. "Grams, did you get the power boosting potion done? It would have been nice to explode him, rather than freeze him."
"Oh yes. Prue finished it this morning."
"Good. Paige, come on, we need to drink it." Piper said.