Well here is the final chapter in this story and I hope you enjoy it. I want to take the time to thank HollyShadow, kk241289, fourevercharmed, leo/piper4ever, C.C. Mckenna, Sci Fi Gillian and piperleo4eva for taking time out of your busy schedules to drop me a review. It really meant so much to me and wanted to let you know. If you get the time I would love to hear what you think now that the story is completed.
Side Note: I am putting the finishing touches on my third story. Because my best friend is a Cole fan and was upset that my other two stories did not include him, this next story is for her. It is not a Cole based story but he plays an important part in it. So look for "It Was Never a Question" I hope to have it out in the next week or so. Thanks again
Chapter 7
Piper was exhausted. She had tried everything to break free, only to fail miserably. Her throat was parched. During one of her escape attempts she had accidentally knocked over the jug of water Lauren had left her. Her shoulders ached from sitting against the hard cement of the wall. It had been almost two days she'd been here by her calculations. She was fast loosing hope that Leo or her sisters would find her. Leaning her head against the wall, tears of frustration and fear tracked down her cheeks. The thought of never seeing the ones she loved again was like a knife to her heart.
Then it came! A sight she never thought to witness again. Familiar blue and white lights filled the room. She squinted and put a hand up to shield her eyes from the brightness. When it was over, the most welcome images stood before her.
Phoebe, Paige and Leo stared blankly at the woman chained to the wall. It was not who they were expecting. Phoebe, was the first to recover. "Lauren?"
Piper licked her dried lips before she spoke in a croaked voice. "No Pheebs, it's me, Piper."
At the familiar nickname, three of the newcomers looked at each other. Leo turned to the woman beside him. "Lauren, is that you?"
Knowing there was nothing left to loose, she threw herself at him, tears running down her face. "Yes, it's me. Leo I love you so much. You're everything I ever wanted. Please, please say you still love me too."
Leo pulled her off him, his hands resting on her quivering shoulders. "I don't understand, why?"
Through the tears, Lauren was almost hysterical. "It wasn't fair! Piper had everything and I had nothing! Nothing, do you understand? You were so nice to me, I knew we were meant to be together. That you loved me."
While Lauren rambled on, Phoebe and Paige went to the real Piper. Paige orbed the chain off, allowing Piper to stand, although she need to assistance, since her legs had gone to sleep.
Leo looked at the woman in front of him. "Lauren, I'm so sorry if I did anything to make you think I felt more for you than a friend."
"But you love me! I know you do. When you held me and kissed me."
"Lauren, look at yourself. I love Piper and deep down you know that or you wouldn't have made yourself look like her. I thought I was holding Piper, kissing Piper."
She hated seeing the pity reflecting in his eyes. Eyes that had looked at her in love only a little while ago.
Piper had been observing the whole scene, and while part of her was sick at the idea of Leo holding and kissing another woman, she could almost feel pity for the girl. No, the more she thought about it, she really just wanted to kick her ass. How dare the little witch steal her life, her family, her husband! The latter now gently holding the sobbing trouble maker in his arms. Glancing over, Leo gave an unsure look. What did he do now?
Ever the practical one, Paige said, "So, how do we get them switched back?"
"There's a spell." Informed Piper, still leaning heavily on Phoebe for support.
Hearing this, Leo once again put Lauren from him. "Lauren, you need to undo this." His gentle urging and the genuine compassion she saw in his soft green eyes, made her realize the seriousness of what she had done. "I'm so sorry." She apologized in a low whisper. "Forgive me."
"I'm not the one you should be saying this to."
Reluctantly leaving his embrace, knowing she would never feel it again, she cautiously made her way over to Piper. "I'm so sorry Piper." It came out haltingly and she knew it sounded weak even to her own ears.
"Just say the spell!" Paige demanded impatiently.
"I can't."
"What do you mean?" Phoebe questioned, trying not to let all the anger she was feeling spill out.
"To reverse the spell Piper needs to say it." Lauren explained lamely as she brought forth the spell.
Piper drew her lips into a fine line, trying not to let her temper get the best of her. "Fine! Give it to me!" Scanning the spell quickly, she realized she would have to make a few changes. Again her tongue darted out to wet her dry lips.
For all to know and all to see,
My identity I wish to be.
Switch the body, not the mind,
To have the life I wish to find.
As before, a gray cloud emerged from each woman, crossing the space between then reentering. Piper looked down making sure every part of her was as it should be. Satisfied, she smiled at her sisters. "It's good to be me again."
Leo came up behind her. "Welcome back." Turning, she let him gather her in his arms. She relished the feel and smell of him.
Lauren turned her eyes to the ground, unable to watch. Giving Leo and Piper a few moments, Phoebe asked, "What do we do with her?"
Piper reluctantly stepped out of Leo's embrace. "Well, I know one thing." Pulling back her arm, she let her fist fly into Lauren's jaw. The hold Phoebe and Paige had on the woman was the only thing that kept her on her feet.
"Ow,oww,owww." Piper moaned cradling her throbbing knuckles.
"Piper!" Her husband exclaimed, surprised at his wife's actions.
"What! Like she didn't deserve that! She's lucky I don't blast her to bits!"
Struggling to keep Lauren from collapsing to the floor, Paige said, "Fine, glad you feel better, but back to the original question."
"I'll take her." Offered Leo. At Piper's raised brow he hurried on. "I'll take her up there. There's a place for misguided witches. They will be able to take care of her." He placed his arm around the shaken Lauren and orbed out.
"Just make sure she keeps her hands to herself!" Yelled his wife as the blue lights twinkled out.
"You ready to go home?" Phoebe asked.
"You have no idea."
As the three sisters orbed into the manor, Piper immediately observed the destruction. "What the hell happened here?"
"Demon." Her siblings chimed, as if the one word was explanation enough.
"Ah, did you get him?"
"Actually no." Phoebe answered as though she had just remembered something. "In fact, the demon was the one who clued us in to you not being you."
"Explanation needed."
Paige took up from there. "Yeah, he said we couldn't do a Power of Three spell because we would need the Power of Three."
Phoebe was nodding her head. "Right, somehow he knew Lauren had taken over your body."
Frowning at her sister's words, Piper asked, "How?"
"I...." The unexpected shimmering of the said demon cut off her sister's response.
"I believe we have some unfinished business." He sneered. Not giving the girls a chance to attack, he waved his hand, sending them flying across the room.
Crumbled in a heap on the floor, Paige muttered, "Haven't we been here before."
"Yeah, but now we have Piper." Phoebe replied optomisticly.
Getting to her knees, Piper raised her hands, causing the man to explode in a puff of dust. They had no time to celebrate their success, for the man reappeared as fast as he disappeared.
"Ah, I see Lauren has failed me after all. No, matter, your powers can't destroy me and you haven't had time for a spell." This time he sent one of the large couches crashing toward them, nearly trapping the girls beneath it.
Wiggling our from under, Piper let out a grunt. "Alright, this guy is really ticking me off."
"What are we going to do? He's right, we haven't had time to write a Power of Three spell." Observed the youngest sister.
"Ah, but we do?" Countered Piper smugly. At her sisters perplexed stares, she added, "I'll explain later. Just repeat after me."
The Power of Three we call on now,
To end all evil is what we vow.
Our faith in good will be the key,
To make this demon cease to be.
If the situation hadn't been so dire, the three would have laughed at the shocked expression that past over the demon's face just before he went up in flames. Leaning against the wall, the sisters slid slowly down until they were seated on the floor. Silent at first, still recovering from the last few days.
After a few moments passed, Paige broke the quiet. "Okay, so explain."
Eyes closed, Piper grinned. "Hey, chained to a wall for two days gives a girl time to think. I had to keep my mind busy or I would have lost it. So I just started making up spells. I knew an upper level demon had to be behind all the recent attacks. I just hoped one of them would prove useful.
Putting her arm around her older sister, Phoebe smiled. "Thank God you did. We really missed you."
Lifting an eyebrow, Piper looked at her. Missed me? You didn't even know I was gone."
"Yes we did." Paige defended.
"When?"
"Well...."
"Uh, uh."
Paige not ready to admit defeat went on. "We would have eventually. Besides, Leo didn't know either."
When she saw Piper's expression change at her last statement, she wished she could take the words back.
"I'm sorry."
"Why, for telling the truth."
Phoebe felt she had to defend her brother-in-law and make her sister understand. "Honey, he didn't know, none of us did. She had your face, your voice. She even did things just as you would."
"Yeah, she must have studied you pretty closely." Paige noted. "Cause she had us all fooled."
Piper wanted desperately to ask the one question that had been plaguing her mind since this all started, but was terrified of the answer.
"What is it honey?" Phoebe inquired when she saw the pain mirrored in her sister's eyes.
Piper tried to get the words out, but her throat had closed up with emotion. "Do you..." She hesitated a moment and cleared her throat. "Do you think Leo and Lauren.....you know." She couldn't finish the thought; it was too painful to consider.
Phoebe knew instantly what Piper was asking. Leaning over, she gave her sister a comforting hug. "I don't know honey. You'll have to ask Leo."
Closing her eyes against the pain, Piper nodded her head. "I'm going upstairs. I'm exhausted and I need a shower."
Rising carefully to their feet, they each felt the effects of the last few days. Phoebe and Paige watch in concern as their sister up the stairway.
"Do you think she'll be okay?"
"I don't know Paige. Hopefully, once she talks to Leo all will be fine."
"What if he tells her the one thing she is dreading?"
Phoebe rubbed her tired eyes. "I don't want to think about it."
Piper entered her bedroom a bit reluctantly. Scanning the room unwanted images filled her mind. Images of Leo and Lauren. The rational part of her knew it was Piper, Leo was seeing, but in her minds eye it was Lauren. Her eyes darted to the bed and she quickly looked away trying to banish the thoughts. Turning, she made for the bathroom, hoping a long, hot shower would wash away not only the dirt, but her troubling thoughts as well.
Twenty minutes later, she felt a little better. The shower had helped. A noise brought her attention to the nursery. Her eyes lighting up when she saw her son sitting in his crib, a note attached to one end. Picking it up she read: Piper, I need to tie up a few things. Be back as soon as I can. I love you. Leo.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she read. Bending down, she picked up Wyatt, relishing the feel of him in her arms. Leo must have orbed their son in knowing how badly she'd want to hold him,
After rocking him for awhile he had fallen asleep. Not wanting to put him down, but realizing she should, she placed him gently in his crib. Walking out of the nursery she made her way to the bed. She wanted nothing more than to surrender herself to the blissful oblivion of sleep. There was however, something she had to do first. Bending over and with quick movements, she yanked off the comforter. Then she began the process of stripping the sheets. Putting on new ones, she threw the old into a corner. Maybe it was silly, considering it was her body, which had occupied the bedding, but to Piper it wasn't. It had been Lauren. She had just gotten an old worn comforter back in place when Leo appeared.
"Hi." He greeted quietly.
She answered back similarly.
"How you doing?" He asked as he moved closer, then frowned when she took a step back. "Piper, what's wrong?" He knew her too well, knew things were not fine.
She didn't want to talk about it, didn't want her worse fear confirmed. If Leo had made love to Lauren, she didn't want to know. "Liar!" Her mind screamed back. Again the image of Leo doing things to Lauren, things only meant for her. Squeezing her eyes tight against the vision, she forced the picture away.
Leo, observing the varied emotions passing across his wife's features, worried. He placed a warm hand on her shoulder. "Piper, honey, talk to me. What's wrong?"
She flinched at his touch and looked up, tears shinning in her eyes. They threatened to spill as she saw the concern and love reflecting in the green depths of his eyes.
"Tell me, please." He pleaded and getting more worried by every passing moment.
Before she could stop herself, she blurted out the dreaded question. "Did you sleep with her?"
"No." Was his immediate response, hoping this would relieve her anxiety.
Piper closed her eyes while the sweet feel of relief flooded through her, but it was short lived, as other questions reared their ugly heads. "But you did kiss her, didn't you?"
"Honey, please." He begged.
That was answer enough for her. She turned her face away, unable to look at him.
Seeing he was loosing her again, Leo hurried on. "I didn't know. I mean, deep down I think I did. There was always something there. A tingling sensation in the back of my mind that told me something wasn't quite right. But then I would look at you or hear your voice and I pushed the feeling away."
She felt a little better at hearing his confession. Realistically she couldn't blame him. Lauren had fooled them all. Could she really expect him to see through Lauren's cruel plan? She heard Leo speaking again.
"Piper, I am so sorry. I love you and I'd never do anything to hurt you, ever."
Gazing up, she could see the love and pain mirrored in his eyes and a soft sob escaped her lips as she threw herself into his arms.
Not expecting it, Leo instinctively wrapped his arms around her petite form savoring the feel of her in his arms. He buried his face in her hair and held onto her for dear life, never wanting her to leave.
For her part, Piper relished the feel of his strong arms around her. It made her feel safe, secure and loved. Reluctantly she pulled back a little. "I love you." She whispered.
Eyes moist with emotion, he echoed her words. "I love you." Bringing his lips to hers, he kissed her tentatively first, gauging her response. She returned the kiss without hesitation, causing him to deepen the embrace.
Later that night, they lay in bed, cuddled together. They had spent the last hour dispatching personal demons. Secure in their love and satisfied they had banished any lingering doubts. Piper leisurely ran her fingertips down her husbands smooth, bare chest, loving the feel of him beneath her touch. Leo's hand was entangled in his wife's soft, silky hair, as he massaged the side of her head.
Piper not wanting to bring up the subject, but her curiosity getting the better of her asked, "What happened with Lauren?"
Detecting just a hint of tension in her tone, Leo wanted to reassure hr. "Well, she's being seen to by the right people. Once a doctor evaluates her, they can begin to set her back on the right path. It seems the man in the suit, was the Demon of Unfulfilled Dreams. He preys on weaker humans, using their secret desires against them. From what Lauren has said, he contacted her months ago. He convinced her he was from the MNA and he could get her a position with us. She was the perfect victim, shy, low self-esteem and lonely."
"And he used that to his advantage." Piper interjected knowingly.
"Exactly. It seems he sensed her desire to have a family, children."
"You." She added quietly.
Shifting his position so he could see her face, he said, "Piper, I never meant to lead her on. I mean I talked to her, but it was never anything improper."
Knowing he spoke the truth, she had to smile. Of course Leo would never do anything improper. He was the most honorable; caring man she'd ever met. He honestly could not see that just being him could cause a woman to fall for him. Especially a woman who had never had a man be nice to her.
Witnessing the smile, Leo arched a questioning brow. "What? What's so funny."
Ah, classic Leo, she thought and gave her head a slight shake. "Nothing." Then snuggling back against him, she let out a contented sigh.
Hearing it, her husband asked, "Everything okay?"
"Yes. I'm just thinking how lucky I am."
"We both are." He corrected and drew his arms tighter around her shoulders.
Paige and Phoebe were sitting on the latter one's bed. The middle sister's hair was completely covered in pink lather.
"Well, it's been pretty quiet." Paige said hopefully. They had heard voices coming from Piper's room and knew Leo had returned.
"I know. I think everything is going to be all right, thank goodness."
Raising her fingers, she lightly touched the pink gel on her head. "Are you sure this is going to work?"
The End
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