"Why didn't you call for us?" Phoebe asked Piper after they had told her and Paige what had happened.
"There really wasn't time," said Leo. "If we had, Talent would probably have just shot me and then vanished."
"Not before I used the vanquishing potion on him," said Piper.
"Why didn't you use it right away?" asked Tru. "He was standing right there. You couldn't have missed him."
"And he could have gotten a couple of shots off with his pistol," said Piper. "Even if he missed Leo, you were still in the line of fire. I couldn't risk your getting hurt."
"Well, it's over, I hope," said Paige. "At least for a while."
"I don't think he'll be back," said Chris. "I did find out some interesting things about him. He's not your typical Dark Lighter."
"We know that," said Phoebe.
"No, I mean he's sort of like Paige and me," said Chris. "Like a Whitelighter, Dark Lighters become that way after they die. Talent never died. His mother was a Dark Lighter and his father was a demon. That's why he's more powerful than a normal Dark Lighter. But he inherited powers from both of them."
"Oh, now there's a nice thought," said Paige. "My evil twin."
"Well, I don't think he'll be back any time soon," said Piper. "We still have the vanquishing potion and he seemed concerned with it. Plus the threat I gave him seems to have rattled him. I think he'll think twice before trying to mess with us again."
"I hope so," said Leo. "We won't have Tru around if he does."
"Yeah," said Tru. "I have to be getting back to New York tomorrow. I'm not sure what I'm going to tell Davis. He wants to know all the details about the days that reset. And I don't think he's ready for demons and witches and Dark Lighters. I'm not sure I am."
"Just tell him that we were able to stop the guy," said Piper. "We have a friend who's a police officer. Just tell him that Darryl was able to catch the guy and that ended it."
"I guess," said Tru. "It's not like Davis is going to call here to confirm what I tell him. Just give me enough information on this Darryl to make the story believable and I think he'll buy it."
"Well," said Phoebe, taking Tru's arm as they all wandered into the kitchen, "Darryl Morris is a detective with the San Francisco police department. Only here they're called inspectors, not detectives. He's African-American and he's helped us out a few times."
"You think Talent is really gone?" Piper asked Leo.
"I don't know," said Leo. "At least we have his Whitelighter killing bullets. If he wants to kill any Whitelighters in the future, he'll have to do it the old fashioned way. By using a crossbow like the rest of them."
"Yeah," said Piper, looking at the pistol in her hand. "I'll give this to Darryl. He can get rid of it for us. Too bad you can't just orb it into a volcano or something."
"Well," said Leo, looking at the pistol, "if it does have Dark Lighter poison in it, just handling it could be fatal to Paige, Chris, or me. I'm sure Darryl will be able to dispose of it so it won't be used to hurt anyone else ever again."
"True," said Piper. "Shall we go into the kitchen? It's nearly lunchtime. What do you say to some vegetarian lasagna?"
"Sounds good to me," said Leo. "And I know Phoebe will like it. Next to chocolate, it's her favorite food."
Laughing, the two walked into the kitchen to join the others.
"So, how was San Francisco?" asked Davis when Tru returned to work. "How did things work out with Leo and Phoebe?"
"Great," said Tru. "They have a friend who's on the San Francisco police department. Turns out the guy had some kind of grudge against Leo. They were able to catch him before he could shoot Leo again."
"Good," said Davis. "And the handouts from the conference?"
Tru opened her purse and pulled out the voluminous amount of paper for Davis.
"They sure give a lot of information out at those conferences," she said setting the stack of papers on the desk.
"There are always new advancements being made," said Davis as he started to sort through the papers. "Most of it can actually make our job easier."
"Well," said Tru, "any new arrivals tonight?"
"Not yet," said Davis. "But I heard there was a car accident near the Verrizanos Bridge. Pretty bad from the sounds of it. I think we can expect one or two anyway."
"I just hope that none of them ask for help," said Tru. "The past few days have been exhausting."
Davis just laughed as Tru went into the other room. Tru thought about Piper, Leo, and the others. She hoped what they said was accurate. That she'd never have to deal with demons. She also wondered if any of the people she had already helped might have been demons. Or if she would help a demon sometime in the future. It was a thought that persisted in the back of her mind for quite a while.
The End
If you've enjoyed this story, you can find more "Charmed" stories at my website, You can also post your own "Charmed" stories if you like to write fan fiction.
