AT WYATT'S…

Wyatt took Sam's temperature for the third time in the last two hours.

"I'm OK" Sam reassured him as she handed him back the thermometer. He placed it on the bedside and kissed her forehead. He got some stray hair off her face, contemplating her beauty.

"All my life, I'd never truly feared death…" he kissed the tip of her nose. "until it set its sights on you"

"Thank you for taking care of me"

"As long as I'm living, nothing bad will ever happen to you again" he pressed his lips against her forehead once again. She knew he was overshooting it, but it meant the world to her that he spoke from the heart. He meant every word, no matter how impossible.

"How are the kids?"

"Doing great. They were down for their nap, but they'll be up for lunch"

"Bianca around?"

"No, she left to meet Chris" there was a sadness in his eye as he mentioned his little brother's name.

"Are you alright?" she caressed his face. He kissed the palm of her hand before lying next to her, his head propped against the headboard.

"Yeah. I just wish they understood what we're trying to do"

"They will, in time" she cuddled beside him, her hand caressing his chest.

"It worries me to think what'll happen if they don't… what they would force us to do"

"It won't come to that" she climbed on top of him. "And if it does… we'll get through it" he smiled.

"Somebody's really feeling better" his hands rested on her hips.

"You bet" she bent over him to kiss him. His hands slid lower down to her bottom. She took a moment to contemplate him as well. Caressing his face tenderly. She noticed the dark spots below his eyes and ran her thumbs over them, as if trying to erase them from her beloved's face. "You need to rest now. Did you even sleep?"

"I scheduled a nap for next Friday" he grabbed her waist and lay her on the bed. "Don't think you're getting away that easy"

"I wouldn't dream of it" he sunk into his beloved body and soul. His body claimed for rest, but it was inconceivable not to touch her. He kissed every inch of her skin within his reach, while her hands ran up and down his back, playfully resting on and off his bottom, igniting his passion beyond restrain. The two lovers worshipped each other intensely, wondering how they could ever be apart from one another at all. Fearing in the end it would be up to them to set the world straight, their embrace merging them on a deeper level, they felt safe in each other's arms.

As the afternoon slipped them by, Wyatt wished they could stay in each other's arms forever. As his thoughts focused on this single thought, things around them slowed down beyond possible. Without really meaning to, he had immersed them into his first motion thru time. Something his future self hadn't quite specified when he would develop. What felt like hours to them, were merely thirty minutes to the rest of the world.

AT THE HALLIWELL MANOR…

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" asked Leo bouncing Melinda in his arms.

"Yes. Now wanting to do it… is a totally different matter" Piper went to hug them both.

"Then don't" Leo said kissing her head, now on his shoulder. "I know things have been somewhat dark with our son, but other than reckless behavior, they haven't really shown us any signs of evil. Maybe… they're going through a phase. Like they did when they were kids or we did one time or another"

"Leo, I know you've been back and forth with this, but this would be a pretty accurate way of knowing if we're right about them or not"

"I thought you had already cast a spell for that"

"We did, but remember it was all very confusing in the end. Chris saw their dark selves but also our eldest grandchildren, happy and healthy. For all we know, their dark counterparts came out of Chris' head, not Wyatt's future" Leo sighed.

"Alright. You girls do what you need to" Piper kissed her husband as Paige and Phoebe orbed behind them.

"Hello, lovebirds" said Phoebe coming to hold Melinda. Paige was still a little distant after her advice for dealing with Wyatt a little more harshly had been effectively ignored.

"Are we ready for this?" she said checking the table in the middle of the room. "Got the spell ready"

"Yes" said Piper just as dryly. She went for one last kiss from her husband as Phoebe walked up to him to hand over Melinda. Leo left the room without another word as the baby fuzzed over leaving mommy behind.

Piper walked to the left side of the table while Paige stood on the right. Phoebe was standing in the middle facing the fuming cauldron and taking deep breaths to control the tension she was undoubtedly feeling in the room.

She finally grew tired of it and set down the herbs in front of her a little too hard, exhaling in exhaustion.

"I know you both have issues over this and I feel for you both, I really do, but… I can barely stand straight with all of the resentment coming from you both. I don't think I can do any spell until we clear the air out a bit" she wiped her forehead. "Well?"

"Well, what? We clearly don't see eye to eye on this, but we're figuring it out" said Piper, still not making eye contact with her youngest sister.

"Are you? Cause it seems to me you've been avoiding it like the plague"

"Piper's right" Paige said finally making eye contact. "I don't think we'll be able to agree on this, so let's not…"

"No, let's! I know you guys are trying, but you're driving me crazy!" said Phoebe starting to pace back and forth. Piper took a deep breath, not breaking eye contact with Paige.

"OK" she looked down. "I believe something's happening to my son, so we need to figure what it is before he harms himself or others"

"Well, I think you're right. However, if we don't put a stop to whatever it is before it gets too bad, there might not be anything we can do about it later. Maybe it's all a mystery to them, but to us…" Paige paused letting the memories sink in. "we've been trying to save him almost since he was born"

"And I will never stop"

"That's the point. Chris already had to go back to the past once because things got out of hand. Are we gonna wait around till that's our only choice?"

"I am well aware of how we've been dealing with Wyatt turning evil all of his life, and I wouldn't blame you if you decided not to continue doing so…"

"It's not that, Piper…"

"But…" Piper drowned her words. "There is nothing your children could ever do, that would cause you to give up on them. So you'll understand that I cannot afford to do even remotely the same as you when it concerns mine" they kept staring at one another.

"As hard as this is, we need to go through with it together" Phoebe held her sisters' hands on either side. "We're all scared and you both make valid points" Piper threw her a dirty stare. "But you need to see that whatever's affecting Wyatt is already affecting us too" they both exchanged much more understanding looks. "We need… to work… together" she stepped on every word this time, holding tightly to her sisters. She herself could feel the spirits on the room being a lot friendlier already, considering.

"Let's umh… hope this tells us more of what we're dealing with…" Paige cleared her throat.

"Yeah… the more we know…"

"The faster we can save us all from whatever it is" right there, Phoebe could feel her sisters back to their normal feelings for each other. It was almost immediately followed by those mixed feelings again but there was hope.

"Shall we?" she asked taking the herbs in one hand, ready to toss them in. Paige unfolded the paper and held it in front of them.

Let us see beyond the veil,

Where the choices made today,

Might cause us to go astray,

Show us if we're on the right way

After they completed the chant, the sisters were transported to a distant future, result of the choices made till that very same day.

THE SISTERS…

Piper, Phoebe and Paige appeared amongst bright lights on a deserted alleyway.

"Wow, is it just me or did that jump take your breath away?" said Paige catching her breath a little.

"We're getting too old for this sh…"

"No. She's right" Phoebe had her hand on her chest for a second as if the spell had sucked the air around them momentarily.

"Well, whatever it was, we're here" said Piper with that sense of dread invading her chest. If the air had indeed changed, she wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

The sisters walked out of the alley expecting to see chaos of some kind, but it was uncomfortably peaceful.

"Looks awfully normal round here" said Paige.

"Yeah, I don't like it either" Piper agreed.

"Should we get a sandwich?" suggested Phoebe to both her sisters' stare. "What? We do want to interact with people a little… and I didn't have lunch" Piper grunted, but followed her into the Deli nearby just the same.

"Hello, welcome. What would you like to order today?" said a perfectly smiling employee.

"Hi" Phoebe said through a toothy smile. "We would like some of your magical sandwiches" she stressed the word as much as she could. Mission accomplished. The girl's enthusiasm faded and was replaced by a nervous and hesitant smile.

"Will you be paying for your meal today?" the girl tried to go back to her smile, visibly gulping at the sight of the sisters.

"Of course we will, why wouldn't we?" Piper asked logically.

"You aren't demons?"

"No" Paige replied. "Demons come here a lot?"

"The usual. But our only witch in staff isn't powerful enough to fight them off. Even if he's stronger than the last one they took down. What kind of sandwich would you like?" she asked with a more relaxed smile.

"You have a witch employed?" Piper asked in awe of her acknowledgment.

"Of course, it's better to just give the demons what they want, but sometimes having some kind of magical leverage comes in handy I have to admit"

"Leverage?"

"Yeah, if a not very powerful creature comes around, we can fend them off, with demons however, the losses are considerably higher. Last time, we had to rebuild almost from scratch, not to mention only I survived the attack. Our special today is roast beef on garlic bread, would you like to try it?" The sisters were having a hard time fitting this very different reality into their psyche. The fact the girl took this as the norm in their "regular" lives and talked about it as casually as could be, made it even more boggling.

"We'll have three of those" said Phoebe trying to keep their unawareness on the situation out of the equation. She turned to Paige who was wearing a shoulder wallet.

"Hey!" she said as her sister started rummaging for some cash. She found a twenty and gave it to the Deli's, apparently, owner.

"Keep the change" Phoebe told her and walked towards a nearby table. Paige rolled her eyes at the loss of her money but said nothing.

"Thank you. Your order'll be right out" she said gratefully, before walking to the back, into the kitchen.

The sisters sat down at the table, still trying to make heads or tails out of it all.

"So, this is… interesting" Phoebe was the one to talk first, as the other two were still hesitant on what to say around the other. "They are fully aware of the magical world and still found a way to cope with demons and the like"

"They shouldn't have to, though" Paige stared over the counter feeling for the staff.

"Agree. Nobody should be ok with being attacked on a regular basis" said Piper.

"Weren't we… to some extent?" said Phoebe.

"So this is better? Everybody living in terror, instead of a few of us who can actually do something about it?" Paige finally let her thoughts escape her mouth unfiltered.

"I didn't mean it like that, Paige. I just mean that however weird this all sounds, they try and make it work. I'm not saying it's not… not…"

"Unsettling" completed Piper to Phoebe's agreement. "Maybe we should…" her words were interrupted by a shimmering couple, two female demons. The manager came running back as soon as she spotted them, every employee trying to avoid staring without much success.

"Ho…How can we help you today?" said the manager visibly scared.

"It's lunchtime and we're craving for something… fresssssh" one of them said enjoying how uncomfortable she made everyone around, licking her lips in delight. The sisters were holding back with every fiber of their being. Phoebe held Piper's arm in an attempt to peacefully restrain her. If they were going to see the bigger picture, they needed to let things unfold.