"Where are we?" Paige whispered. Wherever they were was blank. Like being trapped inside of a box, painted white. All white. There was nothing for as far as the eye can see. Whiteness, emptiness, surrounded them.
"I have no idea." Piper answered.
"Hello?!?!" Phoebe called, her voice echoing.
"Shhh… what if there's some sort of evil lurking?" Piper warned.
"We'd see them coming from a way off." Phoebe pointed out.
"Good point."
"What's that?" Paige asked, pointing to an odd looking thing coming towards them. Phoebe and Piper stared to see what Paige was pointing at.
"I think it's us." Phoebe said.
"It is us." Piper said. Realizing that they were right, the three began to walk towards them. Halfway there, they met each other. Although, there were a long way off. When Paige first spotted them, they were on the horizon. With nothing to interfere with their view, the "kids" could have easily been 20 miles off. Piper stared at herself. (From here out, the past Charmed Ones will be P. Piper, P. Phoebe, and P. Paige.)
"You're me!" P. Piper said to Piper. Piper smiled. The other two looked at themselves in surprise.
"We need to get you girls home. Your mom will be coming to be pick you up, in shoot! Twenty minutes!" Phoebe said, looking at P. Paige. "Ready for the spell?"
"Can we trade places first?" Piper asked.
"Uh sure. That only takes a couple of seconds." They were talking amongst themselves and forgot about the others.
"Excuse me, could you tell us what's going on?" P. Paige politely asked.
"No time now. We'll explain when we get home. I need each one of you to take our hands." Phoebe instructed.
"Phoebe, do you have my potion?" Paige asked.
"Didn't I already give them to you?"
"I didn't get mine either." Piper said.
Frantically, Phoebe searched her bag full of potions. Not seeing them, she sat down and began to take out the bottles one by one.
"Pheebs, this isn't funny." Piper said.
"Phoebe's eyes grew very wide. A look of terror spread across her face. "I left those bottles at home. There's no way I can write a spell in the little time we have left."
"What is little time?" Paige asked.
"Well, I was planning on having five minutes to spare. In case your mom arrived early. So like, five minutes. It took you an hour to develop the first potion!"
"We'll just say the spell." Piper said.
"Phoebe, is your watch set right?" Paige asked.
"I think so. Why?"
"I just looked at my watch; we only have a minute left."
"What? Why did you ask me how much time we have?"
"Too lazy."
Piper turned to their "younger" counterparts. "I need you three to say this together. We're going to the same after you."
"Why?" P. Paige asked.
"I'll explain later." Paige replied.
"No, or I don't go." P. Paige demanded,
"Ok then. Phoebe, Piper, you need to grab our hands as we say this." Paige said. P. Phoebe and P. Piper quickly grabbed Phoebe and Piper's hands.
"Wait! Do you promise to tell me everything? Right down to how you know these two?" She said, pointing to P. Piper and P. Phoebe.
"Promise. Ok, you three are going separate. Say this. You should end up back in the kitchen.
The three looked at the one paper, reciting it word for word. In a swirl of lights, they were gone.
"Our turn." Phoebe said. They knew the drill better. Reciting the spell with no precious time to spare, they left the white universe in an orb of white lights. Just as they had hoped, they landed back in the kitchen.
"Now, explain." P. Paige demanded. Paige opened her mouth to say something but was cut short by the doorbell.
"I bet that's your mother." Grams said. "Paige, we'll have to get you tomorrow from school too." Both Paiges began to follow Grams. "Dear, you'll have to stay here tonight." She said. P. Paige opened her mouth to protest, but Grams glared at her. She turned to rejoin everyone in the kitchen.
"Will one of you two tell me?"
"Paige, do you believe in magic?" Phoebe asked.
"No." She said flatly.
"Then this will be a lot harder." Piper said.
"Are you trying to tell me that magic is real?"
"As real as, um, this apple." Leo said, holding the apple up.
"And we're witches." Phoebe said. Inside she felt that there was enough beating around the bush. It was time to give the ducks a gun."
"Witches? Where's your broom?" P. Paige asked. Phoebe and Piper snorted.
"You think we fly?" Piper said.
"I kinda do, but not with a broom. The only thing we use the broom for is to clean up messes." Phoebe said.
"I fly?" P. Phoebe skeptically asked.
"Sort of. It's complicated." Leo interrupted.
"I understand this. I belong in that body, and we spent two days in some sort of place filled with, well, nothing, and you're who exactly?" P. Piper exclaimed.
"You must be hungry. Would you like me to cook you anything? I think better when I'm cooking." Piper offered. P. Paige, and P. Phoebe, and P. Piper nodded excitedly. "Any requests?"
"Can you make," Phoebe started. She opened the fridge to reveal next to nothing. "There's Macaroni and Cheese."
"Pheebs, used to be a chef. I can't do Mac and Cheese."
"Then do that nifty thing, and make it beyond normal Mac and Cheese. Add hot dogs."
"Phoebe." She said, but began to cook anyway.
"Ok, sorry, back to your question. We're from the future, and you are in our bodies."
"Future. Sorry if I'm not believing you, but magic doesn't exist." P. Paige said.
"It doesn't does it?" Grams questioned. "Then how did you get to that alternate universe? How is it that you are in your future bodies? Please, I'd like to hear this."
"It's a bad dream." She stated, but Grams had an answer for that too. She walked over to P. Paige and pinched her on the arm. "Ow!" P. Paige screamed. Everyone else laughed.
"You're not dreaming. Now do you believe magic is real?"
"For what its worth, I believe you. Especially after what Piper did to that guy." P. Phoebe said.
"What? There was another someone up there? What did Piper do?" Leo demanded.
"There was this creepy guy, and well he suddenly just um, blew up. And we think Piper did it because she and I were running fast away. And Piper; she froze, just staring at him, and he just blew up." P. Phoebe explained.
"If you saw a drawing of him, could you pick him out?" Piper asked. All three nodded. P. Leo got where Piper was going. He went into the dining room and retrieved the Book of Shadows. With two hands he handed it to Piper who now had found their demon twice. She turned the book around for the others to see. "Is that him?" She asked.
The three nodded.
"Thanks!" Phoebe said. "You did us a huge favor."
"We did?"
"Because other wise we would have had to vanquish him ourselves." Piper said.
"Grams, could us two trade places even though Paige isn't here?" Phoebe sweetly asked.
"It wouldn't be fair to your sister. No."
"BUT I'M RIGHT HERE!!! AND WHAT'S THIS ABOUT SISTER?" Paige yelled.
"Never mind the sister. It was a term for good friend. And we were talking about the other Paige." Grams smoothed. "I want you two to do your homework now. You still have school tomorrow even though they are going in your place."
"Huh?" P. Piper and P. Phoebe said.
"Just do your homework. Get them for help." Grunting the two left for their rooms to do their homework.
"It just doesn't make sense. How does Katie fit into all of this?" Phoebe said.
"Are you sure it was Katie?" Piper said.
"We've gone over this."
"Sorry. Listen Pheebs. We'll figure that out later. Come on, let's prepare to go home."
"Paige has the spell."
"You guys are serious about this magic thing, aren't you?" P. Paige asked.
"Yes, would you like to see some magic?" Piper tempted.
"Just no rabbits out of a hat. That is so lame."
"No rabbits. Phoebe wouldn't allow it." Piper said, smiling. She looked around for someone to freeze, but everyone in the room was magical. She picked up a glass from the counter. "Leo, throw this." She ordered. She handed the glass to Leo. As it was in the air, she made it stop. P. Paige watched, horrified.
"How did you do that?" P. Paige stammered. She went over and put her hand all around the glass, looking for wires. Finding none, she picked the glass up.
"Magic." Piper said. She began to dish out some macaroni and cheese into bowls. "Leo can you grab this tray for, um, the other me?"
"Anything for you and you." Leo replied. He and Piper laughed at the little joke.
"I hate to tell you this, but Flannel Boy, that wasn't even funny."
"And neither is calling me Flannel Boy."
"What, is Piper's husband any better?"
"No, fine." P. Leo's eyes grew large. In the time he had been there, discovering that he would marry Piper was not accomplished.
"Then you remain Flannel Boy." Leo glared at her, and then turned, knowing there was no point in arguing with a Halliwell.
"How will I know you guys?" P. Paige asked.
"You finally accepting magic?"
"No, but you seem to be close."
"Paige, I'd love to get into it, but I can't. The Leos will have a hard enough time dusting you with the little that you know."
"Dust?"
"You're just digging a deeper hole." P. Leo commented.
"Hey, stay out of this Flower Boy. Could you do a big favor and see what the elders know about Katie? Maybe they can see the future or something."
"Yeah. Do you want fries with that?" He joked. Phoebe stared at him blankly. P. Leo's smile quickly faded.
"And ten became three." Prue said.
"Ten became two. I've got to go see if I can summon a future spirt. I'm going to ask Kate, get it straight from her mouth."
"You can do that?" Prue asked.
'Who is Katie?" P. Paige asked.
"Someone you shouldn't concern yourself with. Someone from a premonition." Phoebe answered. She took her macaroni and walked to the attic. She didn't get very far before a blood curling scream arose from downstairs. She dropped her plate, spilling food all over the carpet and ran to the source of the scream. "Piper!" She cried as she ran down the stairs. But her sister had also heard the scream and was also running frantically down the stairs. Phoebe jumped over more noodles from where Piper and Leo had dropped their plates. P. Paige was lying on the ground, un-hurt, passed out from terror. Prue stood her ground and waited for her two younger sisters to stand beside her.
"Prue, remember that spell I taught you this afternoon?" Phoebe said.
"Yeah."
"This is where we use it." She said. The three began to recite the spell. This demon was much more stubborn than the first. They said the spell almost 20 times before he finally melted like a pile of acid. Piper and Phoebe looked around them, surveying the damage. The clock was broken, but Leo could fix that. There was food all over the upstairs hall, and there was one melted demon on the floor.
"Do you want the small demon mess, or the large food mess?" Piper offered Phoebe.
"You cooked, I'll clean." Phoebe said. Piper shrugged her shoulders, and they went to the closet to get cleaning materials. Phoebe just needed a sponge and a broom. Piper had to survey the damage.
"What do you think?" She asked Phoebe.
"We're out of that cleaner that works on melted demons. I think you're going to need that." Phoebe said.
"What do we have?"
"Two ordinary carpet cleaners." Piper pondered this for a minute.
"I think I'm going to go get some. Prue?" She turned to Prue to ask for her keys. Prue was attempting to wake P. Paige. She reached into her pocket and tossed Piper her keys. "Thanks." She said. "Grams, I'm going to the store." Piper informed Grams. She was standing at the top of the stairs with P. Piper and P. Phoebe, just watching all of the drama downstairs.
"Ok, hurry home. I want that mess cleaned before you go to bed tonight." She instructed. Piper nodded and left.
"Guys, Paige isn't waking up." Prue said, her voice filled with panic.
Leo dropped the clock, halfway through with fixing it, and ran over to where P. Paige was laying. Phoebe and Grams also came running. P. Piper and P. Phoebe still stood at the railing, taking it all in.
"Was she hit?" Phoebe asked.
"I don't know. She was going to the bathroom, and I heard a yell and a thud. I can me running and she was lying there."
"She's not hurt. Who ever it was just sprayed her with a low dosage of sleeping potion. She'll be asleep for a couple of hours." Leo said, looking over P. Paige.
"Lets put her on the couch and let her sleep in peace." Grams suggested. The four moved her to the couch gingerly. Then Grams took a blanket and covered P. Paige. "Phoebe I want you to clean up this mess of food, then go to bed."
"And leave the mystery of who this evil was for the morning? I don't think so."
"You have school in the morning."
"I think I can handle it Grams. My work stats at 8 and I'm normally helping, or hanging at the club until at least the wee hours in the morning, or I'm up late on a demon hunt. 9:30 is not late."
"You're teenage body needs more sleep."
"Grams, I need to do this."
"Rubbish, I can do it."
"Who knows what kind of history we altered by vanquishing him."
"And you want to check the book, because?"
"I want to see if we've vanquished him before."
"Wouldn't you have recognized him?" Leo teased.
"Get this mess cleaned up. I want you getting ready by 10:30. You may be 28, but that body is only 13."
"Yes Grams." Phoebe said. She picked up the broom and began to sweep up the food on the stairs. "I can not wait to be myself again." She mumbled. Quickly scrubbing the noodles out of the hall carpet, Phoebe flew down the stairs to see what the book said. Page after page she turned, but the vanquished demon wasn't on any of them. Phoebe began to grow tired. Maybe Grams was right. She thought. At 10:30 she did as she was told, and went to bed in the living room floor, leaving the open book on the chair in the sun room.