SIX

"Leo, what's wrong?" Phoebe cried as Leo struggled on the floor.

"What's wrong with him?" Paige asked.

"He's acting like he's choking," said Phoebe. "That shouldn't be possible. Why isn't his healing power kicking in?"

"I don't know," said Paige. "But we have to do something. Without his healing he's as vulnerable as anyone else."

"What can we do?" Phoebe asked. "You don't have any healing powers.

"Let's get him on the sofa," said Paige. "Maybe he has something caught in his throat. I took a course in First-Aid once."

Phoebe and Paige grabbed Leo and began to lift him onto the sofa. As they did a soft yellow glow began to emanate from Paige's hands. The glow began to cover Leo's body. At the same time the glow spread to Phoebe and Paige covering both of them. It lasted only a few moments and then subsided. Leo stopped struggling and began to breathe normally.

"Thanks," he said. "For a minute there I thought I was going to asphyxiate."

"What just happened here?" Paige asked as they all sat down on the sofa.

"I'm not sure," said Leo. "All of a sudden I couldn't breathe. Lucky for me you were here."

"Yeah, but why?" Phoebe asked. "I know she's half White Lighter but she's never had any healing ability before. Do you think her powers are beginning to increase?"

"I don't think so," said Leo. "I think she tapped into my healing ability and redirected it through her own body. She did it before, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," said Paige. "But why didn't your natural healing ability work? And why would my redirecting it cause it to work in the first place? I didn't think White Lighters needed to actually breathe."

"We don't," said Leo. "And redirecting it through your body is like a different White Lighter using his healing ability. Kind of like filtering it. I don't know why it didn't work for me. I didn't have anything caught in my throat. I just couldn't breathe."

"It sounds like an allergic reaction to something," said Phoebe.

"That's impossible," said Leo. "White Lighters don't have allergies. But apparently filtering my healing through Paige allowed her to purge whatever it was from my system. The healing doesn't affect just wounds. It can affect other things as well."

"Well I'd like to know why the healing also affected Phoebe and me," said Paige. "Neither of us was injured."

"The healing would have passed through me to anyone who was touching me," said Leo. "But that would mean there must have been something in your systems as well. The healing doesn't have any affect unless something is wrong."

"But what could it be?" Phoebe asked. "It couldn't be the same thing that was affecting you. Neither of us have had any apparent symptoms of anything."

"Maybe you have," said Leo. "You've both been acting a little strange this morning. Both of you blew off work for no reason. That's not like either of you."

"He's right," said Paige. "I don't know what I was thinking. I just didn't feel like going in so I decided not to. That's not like me at all."

"Me either," said Phoebe. "But you're half White Lighter. If it was the same thing Leo had wouldn't it have affected you the same way?"

"Her human half might have protected her from it," said Leo. "But we need to find out what it was. We seem to be okay now but it could happen again."

"The food," said Paige, looking at the plate of food scattered all over the floor. "Leo, you seemed okay until you started eating breakfast. You think there might be something in the food?"

"What could it be?" Leo asked. "I don't know of anything that would affect a White Lighter the way it affected me."

"Or Piper," Phoebe said. "If there's something in the food that affected us it must have affected Piper, too. She's always sampling while she's cooking to make sure it tastes right."

"And she was acting strange this morning," said Paige.

"Strange how?" Leo asked.

"She's getting along with Henry Pettigrew," said Phoebe. "You remember the cook she used to work with at Quake? She actually said he was a pretty decent guy."

"She called him a pig," Leo said. "She even threatened to turn him into a real pig."

"I know," said Phoebe.

"I'm going to take some of that food to the Elders," Leo said. "They might be able to figure out what's in it that caused that reaction. In the mean time you guys need to get to Piper. Whatever is going on she could be in danger. If she's been affected the same way you were she might not recognize any danger. I'll join you as soon as I know something."

"Stay handy," said Paige. "We might have to call for you."

"I'll be listening," said Leo as he headed for the kitchen to get some of the food.

"Think we should check the Book of Shadows before we go?" Paige asked.

"We can do that later," said Phoebe. "After we make sure Piper is okay. Besides, if Leo didn't know what was going on there's no guarantee there's anything about it in the book. We need to make sure Piper is okay first. She's still under the affect of whatever this is and has no idea anything is wrong."

"I'll orb us there," said Paige. "It will be faster than driving."

Phoebe took Paige's arm and Paige orbed both of them out of the manor.