ACT III
"So you think that the demon was after Kevin's little thingamajig?" Paige asked.
Phoebe and Paige were driving along in Piper's car, heading towards the address Chris had given Phoebe. Phoebe was driving while Paige looked at the map to direct them to the address.
Phoebe shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. Nevertheless, that still doesn't explain why the demon ran away from the woman. If he, or rather, it was after whatever that thing was, why didn't he just kill the woman and take it? The demon obviously knew the woman had it."
"Maybe the demon heard someone coming and decided to make a break for it. Turn right up here."
Phoebe turned right at the stoplight, and then replied, "That makes sense. But that also makes me wonder how the woman got it in the first place. I mean, we had it last. After Kevin, uh, disappeared, so did his object."
Paige didn't reply; she hated thinking about that day that Kevin had mysteriously been vanquished… that was the day that Kevin had promised to bring Prue back. He almost succeeded. Almost.
"Well," Phoebe started, after a few moments of silence, "let's hope that we find more clues at this address. Are we almost there yet?"
Paige nodded and added, "We better be. I really have to pee."
Phoebe smiled at her sister's comment as they drove along the long stretch of road in silence. Suddenly, Paige asked, "Why didn't you tell Chris what you saw in your premonition?"
Phoebe stared out at the road in front of her. She wasn't sure how to respond to Paige. Phoebe couldn't really explain it; it was just something inside of her was telling her not to trust Chris. She always felt a bit uneasy when he was around, plus, Phoebe found it strange that Chris had never heard a single word from Leo ever since he became an Elder and Chris the sisters' new whitelighter.
"Phoebe?" Paige asked again.
"I'm just not sure if I trust him," Phoebe responded, keeping her eyes on the road. "He just doesn't seem to be… forthcoming with information, most of the time, other than what demon-of-the-day we need to track down."
"Well, he is our whitelighter. Moreover, he's just our whitelighter. Maybe this is just how most whitelighters are. Leo was a special case, considering the fact that he was married to our sister."
"And why exactly hasn't Chris heard anything about Leo?" Phoebe countered. "Unlike Leo, Chris isn't here all the time so I'm assuming he spends most of his time up there. So, wouldn't he have heard, at least, some little tidbit about Leo up there? Like how is he, what is his life like now as an Elder, does he think about Piper after abandoning her and their baby… these are stuff that I would think Chris should know."
"Maybe he didn't want to upset Piper about news of her ex-husband. He doesn't know that she can't remember him."
"I know, but--"
"Hold up," Paige interrupted, suddenly. She pointed to an apartment complex in front of them. "There's the woman's apartment up above. Turn to the right."
Phoebe rotated the steering wheel to the right. The girls' car drove beyond a gate that opened as they passed through. The apartment complex was very orderly and nice.
"What's the apartment number?" Phoebe asked.
"'749'," Paige replied.
Phoebe careened through the complex until she found where the woman's apartment would be. The girls' parked, and got out of the car. As they headed to the apartment number, Paige asked, "So what are we going to say to her?"
"Uh, I'm not sure. I guess just see if she knows anything more about the demon who attacked her. And what happened to the object she had."
Paige nodded. Finally, Phoebe and Paige reached the woman's door. Paige knocked. Moments went by but no one came.
Paige knocked again. "Hello? Is anybody there?"
"They might not be home," Phoebe said, worriedly.
Paige was just about to knock again when the door abruptly opened. Standing in the door was a man, approximately in his thirties.
"What do you want?" he asked, gruffly.
"Uh," Paige said, unsure of how to proceed, "is there a woman living here, by chance?" Phoebe could barely suppress a groan at Paige's opening question.
The man stared at them for a moment, then said, "I don't have time for this." He began to close the door.
"Wait!" Phoebe said, quickly. "Please. We just want to talk."
The man just stared at them. Suddenly, a woman's voice came from inside.
"Let them in," the voice ordered.
The man looked as if he wanted to do the exact opposite of the request, but he opened the door and let them walk in, anyway.
After their eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room hall, Phoebe saw that the voice came from the woman Phoebe had seen in her premonition. The woman seemed to also be in her thirties. She was very pretty, but her eyes appeared to be permanently etched with sadness.
"I understand that you want to see me?" the woman questioned.
"Uh, yeah," Paige replied. "We need to talk to you about something. Um, maybe we should all sit dow-"
"You're the Charmed Ones," the woman interjected, unexpectedly.
Paige and Phoebe looked at each other, a bit freaked.
"Uh, how did you know who we were?" Paige asked.
The woman laughed, although the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "I knew that you were coming. Please come in and sit so we can talk." She walked into her living room.
After one final look at each other, Paige and Phoebe quickly followed the woman.
As they walked into the small parlor, the woman motioned to the sofa. "Sit, sit."
The girls sat on the comfortable couch as instructed. The man who had opened the door walked into the parlor.
"Evelyn, what is all this about?" he asked, angrily.
"You'll have to excuse my husband," Evelyn told the sisters. "He isn't very open to new people." She turned to her husband. "Can you please give us a minute, Alex?"
Once again, Alex looked as if he really did not want to do what his wife had asked of him, but he turned and left the room, nevertheless.
"Well," Evelyn said, turning back to Piper and Paige, "I'm sure you're here to talk about what happened this morning."
"Uh, yes," Phoebe replied. "You reported that a, uh, 'big mutant' attacked you, right?
"I thought that mutant sounded better than demon."
"Right," Phoebe replied, slowly, thinking that demon sounded a lot better than mutant. "Anyway, we were wondering if you could tell us anything more about the, uh…"
"Demon," Evelyn finished.
"Right," Phoebe said once again. "The demon that attacked you. Like what he looked like or if you had any idea why he attacked you."
Evelyn sighed. "I never actually saw my attacker's face… I'm not sure if it even had one. The only thing I can tell you was that it was wearing a long, black cloak, but I'm sure you already knew that. I mean, one of you gets the premonitions, right?"
Phoebe leaned in closer to the woman, interested in what she had to say. "Yes, that's me. Phoebe. How do you know about our powers? Are you-"
"A witch? No, no. I have no powers myself. I'm just a normal mortal."
"Well, then, how do you know so much about us?" Paige inquired.
"When I was about seven, both my parents died in a car crash." Evelyn hesitated for a moment, sighed, and then continued. "I was an only child, and, after the accident, I moved here to California to live with my father's sister. It took me a surprisingly long time to figure out she was a witch, but when I did I was absolutely fascinated with it. I never did actually try becoming a witch, but I read every single book I could get my hands on about it and I would beg my aunt to tell me everything she knew about witches and warlocks and demons."
"Did she tell you about us?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes, she told me about the Charmed Ones, the three most powerful witches of our generation. She told me about you all being sisters, each with a different power—the power to freeze, the power of premonitions, and the power to move things with the mind… although I did hear about one of you dying. I'm very sorry about that."
"Uh, well, thank you," Phoebe responded, uncomfortably, not wanting to get into a whole conversation about Prue. "So how did you know we were coming today?" she asked, quickly changing the subject.
"My aunt told me that wherever a demon is, the Charmed Ones are not far behind it. I just figured that you would hear about my attack today and come."
"Um," Phoebe started, "by the way, in my premonition, I saw you holding some-"
"Excuse me," Paige interrupted. "Sorry, Phoebe, but I really have to go."
Phoebe was confused. "Go? Go where?"
"To the bathroom." Paige turned to Evelyn. "Is it okay if I use your bathroom?"
"Of course. It's down the hall and the second door on the right."
"Alright. Thanks." Paige quickly hurried out of the room.
Phoebe sighed and turned back to Evelyn. "Well, as I was saying, in my premonition I saw you holding this small object."
The look on Evelyn's face was one of confusion. "An object?"
"Yes, it was small and very shiny. It was kind of diamond shaped."
"Oh!" Realization dawned on her face. "Oh, yes, I had that. I think I must've dropped it after the attack. But," a look of puzzlement returned to Evelyn's face, "why do you ask about it?"
"Well," Phoebe said, "it was something that belonged to a, uh, friend of ours, but we lost it. I was just wondering where you got it from and if you still had it."
"Well, my aunt gave it to me a couple of days ago and told me to keep it safe. She wouldn't tell me why. It seemed very important to her, for some reason."
"Where did she get it from?"
"Well, she told me it's her husband's—she married him a few months ago, but... I don't know. It seemed like there's something more that she's not telling me about it."
Phoebe leaned back in her seat, deep in thought. So how did Evelyn's aunt get it? Phoebe wondered. I'd have to find her and ask myself. There's so much mystery around this little thing and we don't even know the name of it. I wonder if-
"I hope I can find it before Chris and my aunt realize it is missing. They are going to kill me."
Phoebe's ears perked up at that comment. "Chris?" she questioned.
"Yeah, a new friend of my aunt's. He, too, seemed very interesting in that thing."
"Um, Evelyn, this Chris person, he wouldn't happen to be brunette and kind of skinny, would he?"
Evelyn nodded. "Yeah, that's what he looks like."
"Sort of bossy?" Phoebe continued.
"Very, actually. Serious, too. My aunt tells me that he is a... whitelighter? I think that's what she called him."
How is Chris involved in all this? He, obviously, knows something about the object. Still, I can't suspect him of any wrongdoing. Not yet.
"Phoebe?" Evelyn asked.
Phoebe snapped out of her deep train of thought and looked at her. "Huh?"
"I asked if you knew Chris."
"Oh, uh, yeah. Not very good, though," Phoebe responded, not wanting Evelyn to know that Chris was their whitelighter, also. There was some stuff that Phoebe had to figure out first.
"I'm back!" Paige bounded back into the parlor. "Did I miss anything?"
"No," Phoebe answered, quickly. She stood up. "We should get back."
"Oh, but did you get everything you needed?" Evelyn asked, rising, too.
"Yes, I think we did. Let's go." Phoebe hurried to the door. Paige hesitated, then followed Phoebe out of the door.
"And remember that time that Jenny caught us making out in your bedroom?" Piper asked, laughing so hard she could barely get the words out.
"Oh, yeah," Dan replied, laughing hard, also. "Do you remember that all she said was 'Well, at least my uncle is finally getting some', then she turned and left the room."
Piper nodded. "I do," she laughed. "She didn't even seem to really care at all."
"She never even mentioned it again. It was as if nothing had happened."
Piper and Dan shared another good laugh together. They had walked to this little coffee place after they had left P3. Dan had then driven Piper home (since Phoebe and Paige had taken the car). Along the way, Dan and Piper had spent a lot of time recalling times of the past.
As Dan walked Piper up the steps to the manor, Piper thought about how many good times she and Dan used to have. Thinking about it now, Piper realized how much she had really missed Dan.
Piper and Dan reached the door to the manor. They turned to each other, both not wanting to really end the night.
"Well, I guess this is it, huh?" Dan commented.
"Yeah. Um, thanks for bringing me home. I hope Paige and Phoebe don't go back to P3 looking for us, but, on the other hand, that should be their punishment for taking the car and making you bring me home."
But Dan shook his head. "No, Piper, it was no problem, really. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed talking to you again."
Piper smiled at him. "Me, too."
They gazed at each other for a moment before Dan cleared his throat and said, "Well, I better be going."
Piper nodded. "Okay. I'll see you around?"
"You can count on it." He raised his hand as a goodbye, and turned to head back to his car. However, he hesitated for a moment, before turning back.
"You know, I have something to admit to you, and I figured that I might as well get this off my chest now."
Piper's heart began to beat just a little bit faster. "What is it?"
"You know how I said I was here on business?" Piper nodded. "Well, that's not entirely the truth. I mean, I do have things that I need to do here, but… when I heard that I had to come back to San Francisco, I was mostly excited at the thought of… seeing you again."
Piper's heart seemed to stop for just a moment as she stood, stunned at Dan's revelation. She didn't know what to say.
Dan misunderstood the impression on Piper's face, and started to regret his confession. He sighed. "Is it too late to take that back?"
Piper opened her mouth to reply, but Dan interrupted her. "That's okay. You don't have to say anything. Let me—let me just go. No hard feelings." He turned and started heading down the steps.
Piper hesitated then called out, "Dan, wait!".
He turned back towards her. "Yeah?" he asked.
She only hesitated for a split second more before running down the steps to him. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Dan slowly leaned in to kiss Piper. Piper put her arms around him as their kissing became more passionate.
Just then, Phoebe and Paige pulled up to the house. As Phoebe was about to get out of the car, Paige suddenly grabbed Phoebe's hand and pointed with her other hand to Piper and Dan kissing fervently on the steps.
"Is that who I think it is?"
END OF ACT III