"All right, your turn," Piper laughed as she reached over to turn down the radio. Jingle Bell Rock was playing for the bazillionth time. But before she could touch the volume control Phoebe had slapped her fingers away. Piper pulled back immediately, putting her hands on the wheel again as the road curved ahead.

"I like this song," Phoebe insisted even as Piper groaned in disgust.

"And the fact that they've played it non-stop for the past two weeks doesn't bother you?" Piper glanced over at her younger sister who was fiddling with the heater. Phoebe moved one of the vents and Piper held up her arm as a blast of hot air hit her full in the face. Quickly, Piper leaned over and switched off the heat, determined not to let Phoebe take over her car. "I swear if I hear this song one more time, I'm going to send the Christmas tree flying out the window."

"No, 'cause that would be Prue's job. She's the grinch and I think the telekinesis would make an evergreen fly that much higher." Phoebe grinned as she sat back in her seat. "And besides when did you become the Ebinezer of the family? It's a festive time, Piper. Why don't you trying joining me in this thing we call Christmas?"

"Fine." Piper couldn't help but smile as Phoebe turned the radio up even louder. The rain that was pounding on the jeep could hardly be heard now over the chorus of the popular Christmas carol. "But it's still your turn."

"All right, all right. Favorite Yule time memory..." Phoebe clasped her hands together and Piper could tell she was deep in thought. Phoebe lived for these types of games. She was great at remembering every funny, embarrassing, wonderful moment in the Halliwell household. "Oooh, I so have one. That time when you bought that lingerie for Prue, remember? And you accidentally gave it to Grams instead. The look on her face, that was way beyond priceless. And then-"

"Whoa, hold on there." Piper stopped Phoebe before she could get any farther. She'd almost forgotten that one. But Phoebe's memory, while almost perfect, was highly selective. "First of all, that was you who gave her the present. And second you were way too young to even know where the lingerie store was."

"What can I say?" Phoebe shrugged, giving her an innocent smile. "I was always ahead of everyone else."

"Uh-huh."

"Okay, back to you now," Phoebe said. Piper could hear her sleigh bell earrings as her sister turned her head in anticipation. "Second favorite Christmas memory."

Piper pressed her lips together, letting her brain search back through the years. Finally she seized upon one memory and the smile on her face grew even larger.

"That Christmas with Mom just after you were born," she said. It was weird how the image suddenly appeared in her mind, but the memory was there, perfectly preserved. "We got all bundled up and stood on the front porch so Prue could watch for reindeer." Piper felt a slight ache in her heart as she thought back. "I remember Mom smelled like the cinnamon from the cookies."

"Okay, no fair." Phoebe shook her head, causing her earrings to jingle once more. She was still grinning, but Piper could hear the pain in her voice. Phoebe, however, wasn't one to let her sadness show, so instead she wagged a playful finger at Piper. "My brain was hardly even working then. I have no way to judge whether that's worthy of the Halliwell Christmas moments award."

"Believe me, it was." Piper nodded staring out at the road. She had realized too late that she shouldn't have brought up their mother. It wasn't fair to her younger sister. Piper had so many memories that Phoebe would never have. She and Prue had agreed not to bring up their mom, not unless Phoebe asked. And she hadn't asked in awhile.

They both fell silent for a few moments as Jingle Bell Rock played through. Piper tapped the brake lightly as the car ahead of her slowed. The rain was getting worse and she had to lean forward in order to see through the darkness. She reached over and turned down the radio. This time Phoebe didn't protest.

"I think this is the street."

"It looks like it." Phoebe pressed her nose against the glass to get a better look at the sign. "Turn left here."

"Demon hunting during the holiday season," Piper mumbled. It felt as if all the energy had been sucked out of the car. An automatic switch had gone off somewhere within her. It was time to get serious. "It's sure not something they write Christmas songs about."

"Well yeah, I mean Santa killing big, gnarly looking creatures probably wouldn't make for a good bedtime story," Phoebe said, checking over the map she had laid in her lap. "'The Demon Hunt Before Christmas' just doesn't have the same ring to it."

"I guess there's a reason why witches claim Halloween as their national holiday," Piper said. "Christmas just isn't for us."

"Hey now." Piper could feel her sister's disapproving stare as they drove down the street. "Let's not bag on the best time of the year just because we had to suspend our shopping time for a little witchcraft."

"Well I'm thinking Nordstrom's would have been my preferred destination this evening. They were having a half-off sale," Piper said. "I'm still minus a gift for Prue and you know she gets cranky if we don't get her something... how did she put it?"

"Thoughtful?"

"Perfect," Piper corrected her, feigning her older sister's serious tone. "Something that reflects the true essence of Prudence Halliwell."

"First of all, that's not what she said."

"But that is what she meant."

"All right I'll give you that one," Phoebe said. Piper had figured she would. They were all aware that Prue was picky about her gifts. Phoebe knew that best of all from her days of giving three-day late birthday cards.

"See, I'm just doubling my danger duty now, facing demons and a bitter, giftless sister."

"Piper, hello?" Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Innocents to protect, evil to get rid of... A little more important than Christmas consumerism."

"Oh look who's talking, little Miss Yule Time." Piper took her eyes off the road just long enough to give her sister the once over. Phoebe looked more like one of Santa's elves than a protector of the innocent. Her hair was done up in little red and green barrettes and she'd somehow managed to sneak mistletoe up onto Piper's rearview mirror. Piper had considered taking it down, but she'd promised to drive their neighbor, Dan, to work the next day, so Phoebe had insisted on leaving it up. "Tell me your mind isn't more focused on what will be sitting under the tree than on vanquishing spells."

"Hey, I have balance in my life." Phoebe lifted her chin with an air of superiority. "I am the every witch, able to mix my supernatural world and my regular one."

"Well good for you." Piper nodded. "But in the meantime, you want to remind me why we're out here at midnight three days before Christmas?"

"I got a visit from the premonition fairy."

"All right, let's re-run the explanation here." She knew Phoebe had been over this already when she'd visited Piper's club earlier in the day. But the truth was Piper had been too busy scheduling for the holiday season to listen that carefully. "A short summary will do."

"The instant replay?"

"Exactly."

"Okay, from the top," Phoebe said. Piper could hear the impatience in her voice, but never the less Phoebe explained again. She had always been the most eager to discuss their work, or impending doom as Piper liked to call it. So she never passed up a chance to clue her sisters in.

"I was watching the news and they came up with the story on that little church over in Marin," she said quickly. "And they were talking about the Christmas pageant or whatever that they were putting on."

"And?"

"And boom-killer premonition." Phoebe seemed a little exasperated with her sister's questioning. "There was this woman and she was attacking some priest. She was kind of tossing him through the air, except she never touched him."

"So she was a witch?"

"Yes Piper. She was a witch."

Piper could almost hear the unspoken "duh" hanging at the end of that sentence.

"A very bad witch. And she did the, you know-" Phoebe squinted then waved her arms in the air, "-the hand thing, like Prue does."

"Telekinesis?"

"Yes! I so knew that word two minutes ago." Phoebe wrinkled her nose, a little disappointed with herself. But then she smiled and patted Piper on the shoulder. "You're catching on though."

"This is what we're going on?" Piper was suddenly feeling a little bit nervous. "A bad witch who has the power to move things?"

Phoebe was always a little eager and sometimes she lacked the preparation research that Piper was so fond of. A little knowledge went a long way in their line of work. And sometimes Phoebe forgot that. She was big on the Book of Shadows and all of its info, but sometimes she was a little overconfident.

"Pheebs, premonitions are nice and all, but previous contact and knowledge-usually helpful."

"Well Pheeb TV was enough for Prue." Phoebe said with a shrug. There was a slight defensiveness in her tone, but Piper was used to it by now. They all knew that Piper's role was that of the slightly paranoid sister. Phoebe was great at getting things done and Piper was great at making sure they didn't get killed in the meantime.

"All right," Piper bit her lip and tried to calm her nerves by concentrating on the familiar rumble of the engine. She liked that sound a whole lot more when they were driving away from danger, as opposed to straight at it. But at this point she didn't seem to have much of a choice. "Okay, so what's the plan for getting rid of the evil witch?"

"Well Prue has the spell."

"Prue has the spell?" Piper's voice rose a notch as she gripped the steering wheel tighter. She tried to keep her eyes on the rain soaked windshield, resisting the urge to stare at her sister. "But Prue's not here. I thought you had the spell. Why don't you have the spell?"

"Because Prue's bringing it from work." Phoebe was suddenly very preoccupied with her nails. "I was sort of showing it to her at Bucklands and then I kind of-"

"Forgot it? You forgot the spell?" Piper couldn't believe it. All they had in their favor now was Piper's power to freeze. Phoebe's premonitions had gotten them there, but now it would be left to the sister with the active power. Piper sighed. They were going up against an apparently mean and powerful witch with one active power between them and no spell. "What the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Well Prue has to be there anyway," Phoebe said. "That's why she's meeting us."

"Oh god," Piper could feel the panic rising within her. Yes, she was the paranoid sister, but she was beginning to believe that paranoia had given her the upper hand sanity wise.

"Piper, stop worrying," Phoebe said. "Maybe we should go back to the Christmas game."

"Forget the Christmas game. We're going to die. I knew I shouldn't have let you talk me into this." Piper nodded to herself. "I was perfectly happy on the couch watching 'It's A Wonderful Life.'"

"Relax." Phoebe smiled and turned up the radio again. Jingle Bell Rock had somehow found itself back on the airwaves. Piper gritted her teeth as her sister tapped out the beat on the dashboard. "Prue will be there. We'll go, we'll see, we'll vanquish."

"Uh-huh." Piper kept her eyes on the road. She was scared to look over at Phoebe, because if she did she knew she'd see her sister's total lack of worry. In the last few months things had been going well in the fighting evil department, a little too well, and Piper was beginning to wonder if they were all getting cocky.

It'll be okay though, she reminded herself. Phoebe was right. Prue would be there, ready with the spell. Prue was the big sister, the most powerful of all of them. She always took care of everything. Of course she would be there…