And here is another chapter and the longest and most emotional one that I have written so I hope you enjoy. For those of you looking for specific episodes they will come but some will be missed so please keep that in mind.
Disclaimer-Nothing here is mine just the fact that Andy survived Season 1.
Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.
And TRIGGER WARNINGS for this episode (2x12 Awakened)
Anything to do with Andy's mother is my own headcannon and not connected to the show.
Before And After
Chapter 9-I Feel Good
Piper is seriously ill leaving the sisters in a perilous position and Andy is accidently caught in the crossfire when the spell they cast to rectify the situation goes terribly wrong.
The worst days of your life don't start out as the worst days of your life. Here Andy spoke with some experience. The worst day…the second worst day…began like any other.
They were at the club, Piper, Phoebe and him. He had told Piper that he would review her security before she chose a new team to work with (the Barker incident with he girls and the demons and Dishwalla) had not exactly endeared her to the old one and they were waiting on Prue who had insisted on going home to change before she came out and joined them.
Piper was slicing up some fruit that in Andy's not so humble opinion looked like it should be left in whatever country she had found it from. He was doubly sure of this opinion when she told him and her sister that one of her guys had a friend at the docks who had connections.
"Please. Would it kill one of you to remember that I used to be a cop!"
"But your not anymore"
"That doesn't want to mean that I want to hear about your mob connections that come with the friends you have at the docks"
Piper smiled but said nothing. Not for nothing though had Andy been a detective and the more he looked at Piper the worse she looked. And it was clear that he was not the only one who witnessed it.
Phoebe did too.
He sat at the bar nursing his beer watching them both bicker. Experience had given him a sharp knowledge of when to get involved in the fights from the sisters and when not to.
But then there was a crashing sound and Phoebe was shouting and he turned to see Piper on the floor unconscious.
His first aid training kicked in. "Call 9-1-1" he barked at Phoebe. "And then call Prue and tell her to meet us at the nearest hospital" Phoebe nodded glad to have something to do and reaching for her cell in her back pocket. Andy gently turned Piper onto her back. She was freezing though she was breathing. Her whole body was convulsing in shivers.
"Hey can someone throw me my jacket on the chair?" he shouted to the watching crowd.
"Here man" someone said and it was passed into his hand. He wrapped it around Piper's body but as he did he touched her. She was scorching with a fever.
"How long" he said to Phoebe who was watching with fear etched in her wide brown eyes.
"Ten minutes"
"Tell them they need to be quicker." Was all he said.
Phoebe said nothing.
The fear remained.
Piper stayed mostly unconscious until the next morning. By that time they were all boned tired and aching and Prue who had arrived from home looking as if she had been halfway through getting changed to meet them. They spent the night together the three of them and Andy marvelled at how easy it was. The four of them had gelled together in a way that was almost unnerving.
Then Piper woke up. Clearly she was not out of the woods yet. Andy who had seen what illness could do to a person knew when they were besieged by the disease and he did not need some fancy doctor who earned more in a day than he had earned in a week to tell him that.
Christ he hated the damn places. He had spent far, far too much time in them recently.
It wasn't that he wasn't thankful beyond words that the doctors and nurses had managed to save him. It was that seeing Piper on the bed all sick and white and shaking reminded him of his mother when she had been at the end of her battle with cancer.
He had not thought about her in years.
Well he had but only when he was thinking of that vision of that girl from the future.
Anna.
Anna Trudeau had battled breast cancer for most of Andy's earlier childhood. She had died before he had hit teenager status and that had been one of the things that he and Prue had had in common.
He didn't know why it was throwing his emotions all over the show.
He just knew it was.
Piper insisted that she didn't want magical intervention for this. Andy said nothing but kissed her as he left.
"You want breakfast?" he asked Prue quietly. She shook her head.
"No" she said finally. "Can you just drop me off at the office?"
"Sure" he said just as quiet as she was.
Buckland's was dead when they got there but Prue didn't seem to care.
"You know I was thinking…well…it doesn't matter know but…but how did you know you were done being a cop?"
"You mean aside from the knee that still plays up?" he asked dryly. Prue rolled her eyes.
"Don't give me that Andy. I know you, if you wanted to you could have stayed. They gave you pretty good options, they wanted you and I've never known you to back away from a challenge. Hell you live in our house where demons literally appear from hell trying to kill you"
"Don't joke we haven't had any of that for a month" he said surreptitiously touching the wood of her desk.
"You know what I mean"
"I just…I got to this point I guess where I realised that I didn't want to do it anymore. The paperwork and the red tape and the constant risk. And…and they hurt me, they turned on me and I know a lot of that was Rodriguez or whoever he was but I was getting to this point where I knew that I couldn't keep feeding the meter. And this job's different. There are more options. It's still helping people, still police work, still what I've always wanted to do. It's just…easier…"
Prue said nothing but just looked at her hands.
"I've seen a lot you know. A lot. But this…this scares me. She's my baby sister. It's my job to protect her—"
"From demons, boyfriends or bad retail purchases yes. From illness? Come on Prue not even magic can solve this"
Prue nodded but her face did that little crumpling thing that Andy knew was her way of trying not to break down. He wrapped her in his arms and she shuddered against his jacket.
"Come on Piper's tough."
"I know" Prue said. "It's going to be alright."
It wasn't but for another fifteen minutes until they got the phone call they didn't know it.
Piper was dying.
That was the gist of what the Doctor had told them, her, Phoebe, Andy and Dan. Dan had gone home in a state of shock and Andy had driven them both home. Phoebe had been sobbing for most of the car ride but Prue had been dried eyed.
Now was the time to do something.
Leo was no help. She had not really been expecting him to be, to be honest but she was getting really pissed off with being hampered by Them. They had given them this intense burden and responsibility—They had asked them to put their lives on hold and had cost them so much already that they deserved to be thrown a bone.
"You already got one from them" Leo said quietly.
"What does that mean?" she snapped but Leo had given her a long forlorn, puppy kicked look and then had orbed away.
"Right fuck personal gain" she said turning to the book.
"Do you think if magic could cure sickness then anyone would be sick?" Phoebe asked scepticism in her tone but Prue was far beyond anything but herself and her sister and keeping her sister alive.
Andy leaning against the wall eyed the book with curiosity but said nothing. Had she not been in mission mode she would have noticed that was strange in itself. Andy always viewed the book from the furthest corner of the room with apprehension. The first time he had gotten too close to it he'd had a rather rude awakening into not only their world but into their relationship and Prue didn't blame him for not wanting to go near it. Daryl wouldn't even cross the threshold.
"I don't care" she said. "Awakening spell look. Sounds easy"
"Do you mind If I stay?" Andy said finally. "I just…this seems like something that you can do"
Prue looked at him.
"Are you ok?"
"I just…this reminds me of my Mom"
Shit. She had forgotten that Andy's Mom had died of cancer. That one morning she had been outside and the next she had collapsed in the grass as if her body weakened by all the drugs and the pain had finally given out. His Dad had all but thrown Andy at their Grams and had taken her to the hospital and she had never come out.
"Of course" she said leaving her other sister to grab the ingredients and the spell and kissing him.
"I'm sorry"
"Don't be. She's your sister. Go save her life and we can talk later ok?"
She nodded.
In hindsight it was a terrible idea.
Not just the spell.
But leaving Andy with the book.
Terrible.
The second he heard the front door slam shut he was moving towards the book.
He was not entirely sure what he was looking for and he was sure that deep down what he wanted was not going to happen. But then again…if there was a spell that stopped people from getting sick then perhaps there was a spell that could…
"It wont work"
He jumped. He had been leafing through pages and despite it all had not seen Leo in the corner.
"What?"
Leo rolled his eyes.
"Don't play stupid Andy. I know what you are looking for. You're looking for a spell to raise the dead"
Andy said nothing.
There was nothing to say.
Except.
"I wasn't going to conjure up the dead or anything like that" he defended. "I was just wondering if—"
"If you could?"
"Well…yeah"
"No. Not really. The sisters could speak to their Mom or Grams when they were ready which is not now but they have the magic in their blood. You don't. Besides, your Mom…she's moved on"
Andy nodded. In truth it had been a stupid idea but it was just—
"You can't bring them back?" he asked finally to make sure.
"No. No spell can awaken the dead"
He leaned against the book and stared at Leo.
"Are you alright?"
"What do you mean?"
"Piper. You love her. She's with someone else, she's sick and you can't help. I'd be a nervous wreck if it was me"
Leo pulled a face but his eyes showed a different story.
"What's he like? Dan?"
"I could tell you he's a dick if it makes you feel better but he's not. He does in his own way love Piper but…I fear that it is more of a human love. Understanding all of this…this takes some doing believe me. I knew from the second I woke up in that hospital bed that Prue was all I ever wanted and even I have to take a minute from time to time"
Leo nodded.
"Can I ask you something?" Andy said
"Sure?"
"When you said fate had thrown the sister's a bone, was that me?"
Leo titled his head to the side and thought about it.
"I don't know" he said truthfully. "There are somethings in this world that even my bosses can't control. You were supposed to die that day Andy, and in doing so Prue was suppose to…I don't know evolve perhaps or something was supposed to happen that would see you reunited again but you surviving…it was something that nobody could see"
"What they don't want the sisters to be happy?"
Leo pulled a face. "It's not that. But to Them there is a job that has to be done and if that job means that something has to be sacrificed then to Them it doesn't matter as much."
"Sounds like their dicks"
Leo smiled. But again it didn't meet his eyes.
But there was one other thing that he needed to know.
"Leo…you know when the sisters went to the future to save Phoebe?"
"Yes"
"Well…you know what they saw? Piper and Prue?"
"Children"
"Is that…will that happen? I mean…my son and my daughter? Or is that indicative of that time…I mean they stopped the future from happening in the sense that Phoebe is not longer going to be burned alive so…"
"So does that mean that your children and my daughter no longer exist?"
"I wouldn't say so. The future's complicated. There are many paths that a person can do down in the present that completely change their future but for somethings…life…death…birth…the balance has to stay the same. I would think that your children with Prue are your children with Prue regardless of what world they live in"
Andy nodded. He had a lot to think about now.
His phone chimed.
"They did the spell" he said looking up. "Piper's awake"
"Good" Leo said though his face didn't show that.
"What?"
"Nothing" Leo said shaking his head. "I just have a feeling…this might be too simple. I just…just keep an eye out. I don't think this is over yet"
And then he was gone.
They had all gone out to the club to celebrate including Dan. It wasn't that Andy didn't like him because he did. Sometimes it was nice to find a spot at the bar and talk sports with someone who understood actually got how important March Madness was.
Piper looked better than she had ever done before. In fact she was flying all over the place sometimes so fast it was hard for the naked eye to keep up with her. Dan (after a lengthy debate on baseball) eventually succumbed to Phoebe's pleas and took her out on the dance floor.
"You know" she said to Andy with a wink. "There is only so long that you can keep up the pretence of a bad knee. Especially when you take Prue on the dance floor" Andy, in response stuck his tongue out at her. It might not have been very mature but he was feeling wide awake and rather reckless.
Actually he was not sure he could sleep at all tonight. Perhaps it was just the adrenaline that was coursing through him. Piper had been in hospital for just a day and a half and he had not slept since then. Now when his body and his mind should be craving and aching for sleep he was wide awake and knocking back tequila shots as if he was a rookie all over again Prue on his arm in her silver halter top that hid absolutely nothing.
"Hey" she said jumping up and down like a jack in the box. "Do you wanna go home?"
"If you wanna sleep you go. I'm good here. I don't think I could sleep."
"I think it might be the consequences of the spell"
In another life that might have freaked him out. Hell, yesterday it might have freaked him out. It might be something in the spell, he was feeling young and electric and…and awake.
"For side effects this isn't bad"
Prue grinned though her eyes were suddenly bright.
"What?"
"I just…I just…I didn't think that it would be this easy. You understanding and accepting this—had I known I'd have told you that night"
"If you'd have told me the night you became a witch what you were I'd have thought you were mad" he said dryly.
Prue smiled at him and her hand slid around his waist.
"I do love you Andy. And I love that your on this crazy ride with me. And that we can do this together"
He kissed her long and slow.
"I love you too Prue."
He hadn't been lying when he had told her in the hospital that it didn't matter. It didn't. She was it for him. And the witchcraft part—well—that was manageable. As mad as it sounded. Dying, or nearly dying did that to you, it put things into perspective, it sharpened your reality and what he wanted.
And he wanted Prue.
He would always want Prue.
Prue's hand slid around his waist and one hand came to rest against his arse.
"I don't want to go back to the house to sleep" she said grinning.
Ah.
"Alright then" Andy said grinning. "How long did you say this spell would keep us awake for"
Prue's smile was practically feral.
"I didn't"
"After you"
They made love all over the Halliwell house that night. It was feral and dirty and neither the couch, the wall, the stairs (which he knew would really fuck up his back at some point) and the bedroom. Andy still wide awake said he was getting a drink afterwards but instead found himself looking at the Book of Shadows in the attic.
He touched the cover for a second and stared at the book.
"I am not afraid of you" he said sternly.
It was the tequila, the tequila and the spell, he though sternly. Because otherwise he was just a guy naked talking to a book.
Prue was awake and she came down to the kitchen naked. Christ she was beautiful.
She kissed him on the cheek as he was pouring them two vodka's.
"Guess you really are awake huh?"
"Well I guess were gonna both feel it when this spell ends and we sleep"
"Probably. But Piper's alright so I don't really care"
He chuckled.
"Come on. Let's go back to bed."
And that was where they were when the doctor's found them.
The door banged as if someone was knocking again and again and Prue who had been staring at the ceiling started. She was still awake but she was reached for Andy whose eyes were drooping but who was suddenly wide awake.
"Demon?"
"Has a demon ever knocked?"
They dressed in whatever clothes that they could find and Prue opened the door just in enough time to see the men in white enter.
"Miss Prudence Halliwell?"
"Yes."
"And you are?" he said through his mask and Andy raised one eyebrow—Prue didn't even have to look at him to know that was the case.
"Andrew Trudeau, former police"
"Do you two live together?"
"Yes"
"Then you need to come too sir"
"Come where?"
"I have a court order to take you and your sister's into custody"
He held out the paper but it was Andy that took it.
"The CDC is taking us into custody? Why?"
"We have an outbreak of Aurora Fever"
"What Piper had?" Prue breathed. "But you said…I mean the Doctor said it wasn't contagious?"
"We need to do more tests, please come with us"
"Let us get changed then" Andy said and he made to move to the stairs and Prue was painfully aware that he was in his boxer shorts and she was in her panties and something that might have been his shirt. But before he could make a move three men in white descended on him to stop him.
"We need to take you now Sir. We will provide scrubs for you when you get there. Already we have the others and we've quarantined the club."
Prue closed her eyes and though the people downstairs didn't see it she used her powers to lock the attic door. If they were searching the house she wasn't going to make it too easy. She doubted even a battering ram could get through the attack door when the house felt that the book was under threat.
She opened her eyes just in time to hear Andy say flatly.
"She's not leaving this house half naked"
She had to stifle a grin. When it came to Andy verses the CDC she was putting her money firmly on Andy.
They went because in reality there was not much to do but the one of the CDC men went and found her jeans and Andy some sweats. It made no difference because they had to take them off when they got to the hospital but she appreciated it all the same.
"When you awakened me you awakened everything in the room including the disease" Piper was saying.
"Actually that makes sense" Andy said nodding. "None of us have been able to sleep and we've been up nearly three days. You did say Prue that it could be a side effect"
Prue nodded.
"Then there's no choice then is there" Piper said shaking her head. She looked resolute and Andy got to the conclusion of where she was coming from just as Phoebe pointed out there was a very good chance she could die.
He watched out the small window they had been granted as the three of them went back and forth on the options. Piper was steadfast in her commitment that nobody else could die because she was alive and Prue was adamant that she didn't have the power to go back and find the spell.
Eventually though she did and Andy was still peering out the window. One nurse came to peer through them but he shot her a look and she disappeared though he noted she went straight to her phone.
"Were gonna have company" he said as Prue returned. "If your gonna do something Piper do it fast"
He didn't know what to say to her and he didn't want to say it to her either. She was like his sister and this whole thing was making his head spin.
In the end he didn't have to look. He knew from the sound and Phoebe's scream what had happened but the aftershocks of the spell had hit him too and he staggered backwards as a bone deep exhaustion and a horrendous hangover hit him all at once.
Prue her eyes on her sister watched in horror as the Doctor's worked in vein to try and save Piper and he wanted to go to her but all he could do was stagger to Dan who had come crashing through the room looking horror-struck. Dan grabbed him and the two of them helped each other watching.
Even if he had wanted to go near the sisters he couldn't. Prue and Phoebe were interlocked so tightly that they couldn't be pried apart.
And then Piper flatlined. Phoebe broke down and Prue turned her head away as if she couldn't look. Dan let out a wet noise and Andy closed his eyes as the time of death was called feeling like he was going to sink to the floor and never look up again.
Piper was dead.
Piper was dead.
It didn't seem real.
And then she wasn't.
And Andy knew that just like that fate had thrown them another bone. Or well…perhaps not fate but Leo. Andy knew little about magic but he knew about love and he knew that there was no way that Leo was ever going to let the woman he loved die even if it did mean that he had to break all the rules, even if that did mean that he had to watch her be happy with another man.
And Andy got that.
Man, he should have asked Leo out for a beer when he had the chance.
Actually when he could stand he should ask Dan out for one. Andy was not a heartless man despite who he thought Piper should end up with. The heartbreak and the confusion on Dan's face when he heard her say Leo's name was enough that even Andy felt sorry for him.
Piper was kept in hospital. Dan went home. Phoebe went straight home grabbed the vodka bottle and went to her room and Prue watched her in concern before going to find Andy. After tonight they all needed sometime to be themselves and when she knocked on the door she saw that he was looking at the photo of his Mom.
"This brought back memories?" she said coming into the room and shutting the door.
"Yes" he said shortly getting into bed. "But then again it doesn't take much. She's my Mom"
Prue said nothing.
"I'm sorry Andy"
"No need. It all worked out in the end"
Prue smiled.
She wanted to tell Andy about her decision to quit her job at Buckland's but as she turned around she saw that he had fallen asleep under the covers. Exhaustion was playing at her as well—the spell had kept them awake for days and the adrenaline that was coursing through them had not helped.
She pulled the covers closer to her and thought that she would be awake for ages but as soon as she turned on her side she was asleep.
And this time when she slept, she didn't dream.
And there we go, let me know what you think.
Please Read and Review.
And I will bring you the next chapter sooner rather than later.
Next Chapter-Phoebe goes back to the past and somethings will always stay the same and as her Aunt Gail steals her powers Prue is forced to consider what life for her and Andy would be like if she wasn't a witch.