"You took an awful chance," Prue said to Phoebe.
"We didn't have anything to loose," responded Phoebe. "I figured there wasn't any reason not to try. And I didn't have time to explain anything."
"If you had said anything," said Hobart, walking into the kitchen, Leo close behind, "I would have shimmed out to stop you. I was so convinced I was right."
"Shimmered," said Piper pouring a liquid into a cup. "It's called shimmering. How's our guest Leo?"
"Perfectly healthy," said Leo. "My healing ability seems to have cured his insanity completely. I have to admit I had no idea why Phoebe wanted me to heal Hobart when he didn't have any apparent injuries."
"Tell us little sister," said Piper, "what made you think Leo's healing ability was the answer?"
Phoebe picked up one of her college textbooks and flipped through several pages. She finally stopped and began to read from the book.
"Insanity can have many possible causes," she read. "Injury, chemical imbalance, even traumatic shock can cause insanity. In many of these instances, medical treatment can correct the problem, restoring sanity to the affected individual. Advances in medical research continue to provide relief and remedy to many people who were once thought incurable."
Phoebe put the book down.
"We were studying insanity in my psych class a few weeks ago," said Phoebe. "I'm surprised I didn't think of it earlier. That much power had to be a traumatic shock to Hobart's mind. Not to mention it must have sent his chemical balance haywire. Since Leo's healing ability can cure just about any injury to someone's body, I figured it just might cure his insanity. Plus, it should have healed any damage all that power might have caused to Hobart's brain."
"Little sister, you did good," said Prue.
"What now?" asked Hobart. "I have my sanity back but I can also feel all this power inside me. It's just a bit uncomfortable. What do I do now?"
"You learn to use your power for good," said Leo.
"Or," said Piper, handing the cup to Hobart, "you can drink this. It's a power-binding potion. It will bind your powers so you can't use them. Your life should go on pretty much as it did before."
Hobart looked at the cup, then at Piper.
"What about demon attacks?" he asked.
"Before he left," said Leo, "Mal Nosh said without your powers, you aren't a threat to them. So they wont be bothering you anymore."
"And I can reverse this potion if you ever decide you want your powers back," said Piper.
Hobart looked at the cup again. He considered his options for a few moments. Then he drank the contents of the cup and set the cup down.
"Now what?" he asked.
"Now you can go home and get on with your life," said Piper. "Just as if none of this ever happened,"
"That's easy to say," said Hobart. "How do I go on as normal knowing that there are demons out there?"
"You do the best you can," said Leo, "knowing they aren't interested in a third grade teacher with his powers bound."
"I'll try," said Hobart.
Leo orbed the two out of the manor.
"That was too close," said Piper. "I was afraid there wouldn't be anything we'd be able to do about Hobart."
"I'm glad Phoebe finally thought of it," said Pure. "Thank goodness for her psych class."
"And my bad grades." Said Phoebe.
"What do you mean, sweetie?" asked Piper.
"The only reason I remembered it," said Phoebe, "is because I failed that particular test."
"You mean you risked all this on a test you failed?" asked Prue.
"Well it did work," said Phoebe. "If I had passed that test, I may not have remembered it."
"Well they do say you learn more from your failures than your successes," said Piper.
Epilogue
A gray haired man wearing a white scientific lab coat sat behind a desk looking through a folder. The nameplate on the desk read "Dr. Jeffery Morgan". Another man, wearing a suit and tie, entered the office.
"Dr. Morgan," said the man, laying a folder on the desk, "this just came in sir. I thought you'd like to see it sir."
"Thanks, John," said Morgan. "I'll get to it in a bit."
"I think you'll want to look at this immediately, sir," said John.
Morgan looked at John, and then picked up the folder. He opened the folder and read over the single sheet of paper inside the folder. His eyes betrayed nothing of what he was thinking.
"Damn," he swore. "Thank you, John."
John turned and left the office. Morgan picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Mike?" questioned Morgan when a man answered. "This is Jeff Morgan. We're talking on a secured line."
"What have you go?" asked Mike.
"Subject number 714-4361-C has been compromised," said Morgan.
"When?" asked Mike.
"Approximately 1915 hours three days ago," said Morgan. "It appears three civilians became involved with the subject. I don't have much. Just that these civilians were about to prevent the completion of the experiment."
"Who are these civilians?" asked Mike.
"Three sister who live in San Francisco," said Morgan reading from the paper. "Their last name is Halliwell. There's also an indication of a fourth individual. A male. I have no information on him at this time."
"This was a long term project, wasn't it?" asked Mike.
"Yes," said Morgan, "approximately thirty years. The subject was scheduled to come to completion at approximately 1900 hours three days ago."
"What was the specific nature of this particular experiment?" asked Mike.
"It was one of the demonic projects," Morgan replied. "The subject had demonic DNA spliced into his genetic code. A volunteer agreed to carry the embryo full term. After he was born, we maintained surveillance on him. We were about to pick him up when the civilians became involved. I don't know what happened but we have confirmed a hostile on site at the time."
"What is the subjects current status?" asked Mike.
"Normal," replied Morgan. "No apparent change."
"All right," said Mike. "Maintain surveillance of the subject for now. And find out what you can regarding these civilians. If they can prevent the completion of an experiment of this nature, they bear watching."
"I'll take care of it immediately," said Morgan.
"Good," said Mike. "Send me a full report. I'll decide on other measures once I've analyzed the situation."
Morgan put the phone down on the receiver. To say these civilians bore watching was an understatement. No one should have been about to abort the project right at completion. Clearly these sisters were not normal individuals. There would be something special about them.
He began to draft the order to begin a thorough background check on these sisters. Very soon he planned to know everything there was to know about the Halliwell sisters and their friend.
The End
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