Second Life

by Nodakskip

Xander and Cordelia find out that life after high school is not going to be easy sans the Hellmouth.

6. Chapter six a

Note 1: This is the episodes I have to plow through to get to the episode I want to do fully. This jumps through several season two episodes of Charmed. Plus an episode of Nash Bridges and mentions of the Buffy and Angel shows. The Charmed episodes are 2.04-2.10, 2.12, and 2.14. The Nash Bridges episode is 6.1.

Note 2: www(dot)charmed-net(dot)com/en/ and www(dot)tvtome(dot)com/NashBridges/index(dot)html

Note 3: As said before this jumps around to the key points of those episodes and omits the rest. So it might not flow perfectly.

Chapter 6a

Previously on Second Life...

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

August, 2000

Prue and Cordelia were talking in the kitchen talking over coffee, when a very exited Piper came running in. "Guess what I did? Guess what I did? All by myself!"

Cordelia looked at her, amused. "What?"

"You ready for this?"

"Yes!" Cordelia said, semi-exasperated now. "What is it?"

Piper quickly dropped her coat on the counter, and tried to control herself. "Get this...Dishwalla...playing in my club tonight!"

"You can't be serious!" Cordy exclaimed, as she shared a look with Prue.

But Piper was just ecstatic. "I networked. Sent out feelers, sent off press releases and wouldn't you know it? Dishwalla decided to put P3 on their schedule. How about that? P3 has officially been validated as 'the' place to be!"

She moved to her two sisters, and hugged them from behind. "We're on the map! I couldn't have done it without you, you patient," she kissed Prue on the cheek, "most generous," she then kissed Cordelia, "sisters in the whole wide world!"

The doorbell rang and Piper called out, "I'll get it!" as she nearly skipped out of the room in joy. Her two sisters followed her out to the foyer.

And when she opened the door, Piper's smile got bigger. "Leo, this day just keeping getting better. Hi!" The woman quickly pulled him into a hug.

The guardian angel looked a little awkwardly at her, as he came in closing the door. "Hi, uh, Piper, we have to talk."

"Yeah...okay, uh...are you free tonight? Better be, 'cause you're my date!" the witch told her sort-of boyfriend, as they joined Cordelia and Prue. "We have backstage passes, all access, baby, to see Dishwalla at P3. And I made it happen!"

Leo grimaced a little at having to tell her this. "Uh, no, actually, 'I' made it happen."

It took a second for his words to pierce the club owner's bubble of happy thoughts. "You?"

"Yeah, look, I wanted to tell you sooner, but I didn't have time. I had to move fast," Leo told the Charmed One, getting right to it. "There's a demon involved..."

---

P3 club, San Francisco, California.

Later that night

With the concert going out on stage, Inspector Daryl Morris of the SFPD looked confused as he walked into P3's back area. "Prue, what's going on here?" he asked, as the cop recognized several of the missing girls he'd been searching for. "Someone wanna clue me in?"

"You're arresting a kidnapper," Prue answered, in no mood to explain.

"And rescuing his victims. Good job!" Cordelia added, patting him on the back as she and Piper helped out the girls.

"Trust me," Prue then told the Inspector. "That's all what you wanna know."

Darryl looked over at the band's manager who he suspected all along. "I guess that's all I need to know."

---

Laser Precision Inc., Oakland, California.

A few days later

"So she just stands in the pose, and the computers get every detail," the company's vice-president told Xander and Kennedy, as they looked out the windows to the other room - where the large rotating scanner was located. "We can get everything these days, even her eyelashes - if we set it to a high enough setting."

"Yeah," the video game designer named Royce Santone told them. "This is going to save us at least a year's work-"

Kennedy looked back to him. "So they full-body scan Cordelia in there, with the outfits and poses that's in the game, and then you can just drop her image into the darn thing?"

"That's right," Santone told her. "I swear, it can be a real pain to create a new game heroine from scratch. I mean, first you have to do concepts - and then those have to go past several reviews just for, say, the hair color. And even after all that, the character often looks way too much like a computer mock-up..."

He looked over the dozen or so concept drawings of outfits. "After we get her scanned in all the various outfits for the game, we can use the same scans and use them for action figures."

"Really?" Xander asked.

"Yep!" The tech pointed to a Lara Croft action figure hanging on the wall. "That's from an English model we scanned in two years ago. Long before they were making the movie."

"And it could make your friend very popular," Santone added. "The Lara Croft models have posters, T-shirts, book cover art, comic books, you name it. In a year, Cordelia Halliwell could be a household name..."

Xander looked over the costume drawings again. "Which one are you doing first?"

"The evening gown one," he was told. "The hair and makeup for that one takes the longest..."

"She's ready for the first one, sir!" another tech guy said, poking his head into the door.

"Very good," Santone said with a smile. "How does she look?"

The twenty-ish tech mulled it over for a moment. "This pans out right, I think I might be buying this game myself..."

Another door opened, and Cordelia came out. "Damn!" Xander muttered, his eyes wide.

The dress was a Gothic corset two-piece. The corset was a red satin with black lace overlay, with a traditional adjustable lace-up back. The black ball gown skirt was also satin, with an elegant drape, and it was enough to almost make Harris start drooling...

Cordy's hair was done up in a light bun, with two ivory and crystal red hair sticks holding it in place. The look was completed with a black shawl draped around her arms. As she did a turn on her three-inch heels, Cordelia asked, "So, I take it you like?"

"Oh, we like. Don't we, Kennedy?" Xander asked. When he got no reply, the young man saw the Slayer staring at Cordelia with her mouth open, and he gave her a little jab with his elbow. "Right?"

The jab brought the girl out of her thoughts. "Oh yes, we love it."

"I figured you two horn dogs would!" Cordy said with a smile.

"May I escort you to the scanner, my dear?" the young tech asked the witch, holding out his arm.

"You may," Cordelia said regally, taking the man's elbow.

As they left the room to the scanner, Kennedy looked towards Xander. "She's keeping the dress, right?"

"Oh God, I hope so!" Xander replied with a grin.

It was odd how Cordy being the object of 'both' their affections had only strengthened their friendship, instead of destroying it. But in any case, the carpenter and the Slayer then watched silently as Cordelia posed on the platform. Then as the main tech hit the button in the next room, four large brown panels very slowly scanned down Cordelia's body.

A few minutes after it was done, the tech showed the two friends the result. "Now that is majorly cool!" Xander said in delight, as they watched the image of Cordelia in her dress appear as a grey image, and then get filled in with color and skin tone.

"Excellent," Santone said absently, as he watched as well.

"How long till we can see the first pass at it?" Kennedy asked him.

"Not that long," Santone told her. "We just need to imprint her over the wire frame figure in the game's movie scenes. And sync in the voiceover she already recorded, so...maybe two and a half months..."

---

San Francisco, California.

Late August, 2000

Cordelia growled low in her throat, as she looked through the binoculars. "Have I mentioned how much I 'hate' this?"

"Yes, many times. But we didn't have any choice, Cordy!" Piper told her sister, as she also watched Xander having dinner with a girl from the dating service within the sidewalk restaurant. "We needed a man to smoke out the bad guy, and since the succubus has to be one of these two women-"

"Okay, but does the dorkhead have to actually 'try' to impress her like that?!" the youngest Halliwell demanded. "My God, that slut has more cleavage than the Grand Canyon! You can't convince me otherwise - they are so fake!" (God damn San Francisco. Succubae are like mosquitoes around here!)

---

SFPD Special Investigations Unit, San Francisco, California.

A few days later

"Is this everything?" Daryl Morris asked, as he looked over the folder while he and Xander walked down the gangplank of the unusual waterfront unit headquarters.

"Yeah, that's my statement and everything. Do ya think I'll have to testify?" the former Slayerette asked the cop. "I mean, I didn't even see his face when I nailed him..."

"You did when we pulled the mask off-"

Their conversation trailed off, as they watched Daryl's new captain, Nash Bridges, using a crow bar to pop open the trunk of a car. And when it was opened, a lot of gasps and a few curses were heard.

Darryl and Xander came over and looked. "Whoa!" the younger man exclaimed, as he saw the contents of the trunk.

Over one hundred pounds of plastic explosives all wired to a timer, with 55 seconds left on the counter.

"Damn!" Bridges called as he saw it.

A man that Xander guessed was an expert on this sort of stuff shook his head. "No way. It's going to take me at least ten minutes to defuse it!"

Captain Bridges didn't like that. "Jimmy, you better come up with a solution to this - fast!"

(Good luck!) From what Xander could see - this bomb had been put together by a pro, not like the one Jack O'Toole had created. And that he had reused months later, to help blow the demon mayor-snake sky-high...

"You want a solution?" the guy asked. "I'll give you a solution. Run!"

And that was what he and several of the people around them did. A young black Inspector didn't, however. He took the crowbar, and smashed open the driver's side window of the car.

"What're you doing, Bubba?" Captain Bridges asked him, as the guy jumped into the driver's seat and quickly hot-wired the car.

But without a word, he peeled rubber out of the small parking lot and over to a small pier that the car almost didn't fit on. Xander, Daryl, Captain Bridges and the others ran to the other side of the lot - to see the cop drive the car down the narrow pier and jump out, a few seconds before the car flew off the end.

Everyone held their breaths as the car crashed and quickly filled with water, sinking in moments. And just as the trunk vanished from sight...

...a muffled boom was heard, along with a huge violent plume of water shooting far into the air.

"I like this guy!" someone said next to Xander.

"He sure knows how to make a splash on his first day!" Captain Bridges told his partner, before he and the rest of crowd of cops burst into applause. The young cop stood up from his spot on the pier, and did a little bow to the applauding audience.

"This sort of thing happen here all the time?" Xander asked the young long-haired female cop he had met a while back.

The woman just gave him a grin, before she went over to meet the guy walking back from the pier.

---

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

September, 2000

In the solarium Leo was getting short tempered with the teen. "Innocent people are going to die, are you willing to live with that?"

"No, no, don't you lay that crap on me!" Kyle growled at the whitelighter.

"Oh, does that make you mad?" Leo taunted. "Good! At least that means finally you're being the real you."

"Screw you!"

"That's right, get pissed at me. Show me your anger!" Leo growled back. "Maybe you'll figure out what you're really angry about, huh?"

He threw the wand back to the blond teen. "You don't think you're the chosen one, you think you're the forgotten one!" Leo continued to taunt the boy, as Kyle's anger kept growing. "Sick and tired of it too, aren't you. Well, aren't you?!"

Kyle finally lost it and yelled, "Shut up!" On instinct he held up the wand, and the crystal on its end glowed brightly. As it did, an unseen force picked Leo up and hurled him through the large wall of colored windows, out to the backyard - with a loud crash.

Kyle was stunned at what had just happened. "Leo?" he asked timidly, as he moved over to look out the destroyed window.

Leo orbed back in behind him, unharmed. "Not bad."

"What was that crash?" a woman's muffled voice demanded from outside.

At that moment Prue, Piper, Cordelia and Xander ran in from the front door. "What the hell happened in here?" Cordelia demanded, as she saw the devastation within her home.

As if it was nothing, Leo just shrugged. "A little training, that's all."

"That's all?" Prue repeated. "Do you have any idea how much that's gonna cost to fix?"

Xander just groaned at the upcoming day's work ahead for him and Leo. "Not another damn window!" Not knowing that in another life, the exact same thing with the Magic Box and 1630 Revello Drive would have been his focus.

---

The wand hovered in mid-air, as the ancient evil witch and the male teen used magic to fight over it in a game of tug of war. After a few tense moments, the wand flew back into Kyle's hands. The crystal glowed as he angrily declared, "I wish you gone forever!"

The redheaded evil witch called Tuatha screamed, as her body started to glow and distort. "Noooo!!!" She then exploded in a ball of light, leaving a burn mark on the floor as the only clue that she'd ever been there.

When she was vanquished, Prue and Piper found themselves able to move again. "Leo!" a worried Piper called out, as she ran over to the spot that the other three members of their group lay - after being knocked around by Tuatha.

The whitelighter regained consciousness, as she helped him into a nearby lounge chair. As she moved, Piper was careful not to step on the other two people present...

But she couldn't avoid noticing how Cordelia moved but didn't wake up, she just rolled over in her sleep and into Xander's arms - without either of them coming out of dreamland.

Piper just shook her head at that, before turning her full attention back to Leo. "You're hurt-"

"I'm okay," the man said, looking up at her.

His charge just checked the cut on his forehead. "Let me get you some ice."

But Leo gently took hold of her wrist. "Really, I'm fine!"

Piper looked at him, annoyed, thinking of earlier - when she'd refused to let him heal her. "Are you getting even?"

"Just finally getting it," Leo Wyatt told her sadly. "What you deserve. A normal life, or at least a normal life as you can get, which means a normal relationship - which I can't give you."

He paused, as the couple just stared into each other's eyes. "I guess we know now why witches and whitelighters aren't supposed to fall in love, huh?"

Without another word he orbed out, leaving Piper to think over what had happened - and the true reality of their relationship.

---

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

Mid-September, 2000

Prue ran into Piper's room, as she was packing some clothes for her trip. "Ooh, ooh! I think Jack's a warlock."

"Who?" Piper asked as she continues to stuff clothes in her bag.

"Jack, uh, Jack Sheridan. The Internet auction guy I met, remember?" the oldest sister reminded her sibling. "I went to go get coffee, he was standing in front of me and then I went straight to the newsstand - and 'wham!' He was right there, reading a magazine."

Piper stopped what she was doing, to look at Prue. "He went from one place to another in a blink of an eye. So, you think he blinked?"

"Well, yeah, that's what warlocks do - right?" Prue said, before she had an idea. "Wait, you have to know if there's a warlock test!"

Piper looked at her, confused. "How on earth would I know?"

Prue smiled at her teasingly. "I mean, well, you 'are' a warlock magnet-"

"Am I never gonna live Jeremy down?" the middle sister asked, annoyed. "You know, you had that Rex and Hannah thing at work."

"Okay, fine," Prue conceded. "You get them in your love life, and I've got them at the water cooler." She finally looked at what her sister was doing. "What's up with the suitcase?"

"A little overnighter," Piper told her, as she put in another blouse. "Dan's friend is getting married in Tahowan. And Dan invited me to come along."

Prue sent her a knowing smirk. "In the same hotel, in the same bed type of thing?"

"That is yet to be decided."

"Oh," Prue said, looking into the suitcase and pulling out a frilly black negligee. "So then, this is just..." she held it up to her torso. "A tennis outfit?"

Piper growled, as she grabbed at the piece of clothing. "Give it!"

After Prue held on for a few seconds to get her sister more annoyed, she wondered, "You did test him though, right? You know, he's not a warlock?"

"He's not a warlock," Piper droned out. "No cats have hissed at him, he has not blinked, he has not tried to kill me or my sisters and steal our powers - which as you know, is a key indicator..."

---

Uncle Sam's Deli, San Francisco, California.

Wednesday, October 4th 2000

6 p.m.

"Los Angeles?!" Cordelia screeched out at the young Slayer across from her. "Why the hell would you want to go there?"

"Uh, Cor?" Xander asked, as he nibbled on his sandwich. "You were originally going to move there yourself, after your little stopover here - remember?"

Cordelia just waived him off, as Kennedy spoke up. "Look, I don't 'want' to relocate there. But the Council has found out that you guys' old friend Angel, he's fired all his staff to go on some sorta crazy vampire crusade - and so duty calls..."

Xander and Cordelia swapped a concerned look, before Cordy looked back at the only Slayer she had ever genuinely liked. "Angelus is back? Oh no. This, this could be very bad-"

"Well, they don't know for sure if he's lost his soul," Kennedy told her friends. "All the Tweed Men know is that a bunch of lawyers that were his enemies got killed by two vampires - all at the same time."

Xander didn't waste any time. He whipped out his cell phone, and called the one man he knew would know the answer. "Hey, Giles?" Harris spoke into the phone, as both girls watched him. "Yeah, we're doing good...uh, odd question I know - but has Buffy gone south to see Angel lately?"

He listened a little longer, before the young man's face became very dark with anger. "I see...no, thank 'you' Giles. Gotta go, I'll talk to you again later. Bye-"

Xander pushed the 'end call' button, and just kept staring at the cell phone with almost unreadable eyes. Cordelia nudged him. "Xander? What's wrong?"

When he finally looked up at her, his ex-girlfriend was shocked by the look on Xander's face. "Wesley called Giles with the 411. Drusilla and...Darla are back."

"Darla?" Cordy asked, trying to place the name. "Hey, wait a minute - isn't that the vamp that-"

"Killed my best friend Jesse? Yeah."

"Oh, crap..." was all that Cordelia could say in response to that.

---

Office building, Los Angeles, California.

Two nights later

Xander and Kennedy stood in front of the new office for Angel Investigations. And Harris thought briefly about what a drama it had been, to even get here...

His idea to drive down to the City of Angels had not been a popular one. Both Prue and Cordelia had ganged up on him about coming here by himself, stating it would be running a great risk for little possible gain.

And Xander was sure that if Piper hadn't been busy at P3, then she would have added her voice against this as well. (Typical, I suppose; when the women-folk get it into their heads that they know best about something, they just won't listen to what 'I' want...)

Plus, Xander simply couldn't let this slide. Darla, the vamp that originally created Angelus, had been brought back out of retirement somehow...and he just could not let her go on killing like that, in her second life.

And so, Xander Harris decided it was time for him to act like a man. He promised Cordy he would sleep on it, and then snuck out in the middle of the night while everyone else was sleeping.

Unfortunately for him, Kennedy had been coming back from a late patrol when she spotted the guy getting into his car. She knew about Cordelia's feelings by now, and so made up her mind to come along - to make sure Xander wouldn't get hurt.

After all, the young Slayer didn't want him going on a suicide mission, anymore than the others did. And the Chosen One knew that while Xander could handle himself, these two vamp chicks were big-league Big Bads.

They decided to double-check the address again. "Looks like an old accounts office," Kennedy told her companion. "They went from some big old hotel, to this?"

"Ah, hello?" Xander called out, as he came into the small front office.

"Welcome to Angel Investigations. I'm Tina, how can we help you?" an attractive blond woman asked him. Behind her stood a young bald black man, one that was watching Xander like a hawk.

Xander just ignored him. "Well, if this is the new place for Angel Investigations, I need to speak to Wesley."

"You look a little young to be a friend of English," the black man said, as Tina went into the back room.

"Well, I'm not really," Xander told the former gang leader with a shrug. "More like an...unwanted associate."

"Xander Harris?"

Xander turned at the surprised voice, and was surprised himself. "Wes? What are you doing in a wheelchair...and without a suit on?"

"I'm only going to be in this chair temporarily," the British man said, annoyed. "And since I'm no longer a member of the Council, I don't need to clothe myself by their dress code any longer. Now, why would you be here looking for me?" he asked, ignoring Kennedy for the moment. "Have you and Cordelia moved to LA now?"

"Ah, no," Xander replied, as he took a chair. "We still live with her family in San Fran. I talked to Giles on the phone, and he gave me some very bad news." His face then took on a very serious look. "Is it true? That somehow Darla's back among the undead?"

That name caused a reaction between the three LA people. "You know Darla?" Gunn demanded.

"Only met her briefly a few times, but the first was the night she turned my best friend," was the tense reply. "I'd like to hasten her trip back to Hell for that. And-"

"No," Wesley said sternly, cutting him off. "Mr. Harris, we can't afford to have you bumbling around right now. And I would prefer not have to deal with Ms. Chase's anger, at letting her boyfriend getting himself killed-"

"Bumbling?!" Xander growled out. "You have 'got' to be kidding me! This, coming from the guy who freely sold out Angel to that thighmaster-needing demon years ago, before you wet yourself!?"

And as an afterthought he added, "And hey, I am not Cordy's boyfriend! We're in this weird holding pattern at the moment, but - no, wait, 'why' am I explaining myself to you-"

But Tina cut off Xander's tirade. "Hey, Wesley would never sell out Angel!"

"Maybe not nowadays, I wouldn't know. But if his kneecaps were threatened back then, that's a different story - right, Wes?" Xander taunted the former Watcher.

"Don't you-" Wesley said angrily, before he winced in pain. "Damn it!" he grunted in sudden agony.

The two Angel Investigations team members were around him in less than a second. "English?" Gunn asked in concern.

"Ah, I think I pulled a stitch or two," Wesley said through pain. He lifted up his thin sweater, to show some blood seeping though his white tucked-in T-shirt.

"Oh man," Xander said surprised, the animosity temporarily forgotten. "What the hell happened to you, Wesley?"

"Nothing you need concern yourself with," the man told Xander with a grimace. "Just go home," Wesley added with an air of superiority, instantly causing Xander to get agitated.

"Go home?" Harris mocked the older man back, with a parody of a British accent. "Sorry, but I don't take orders from James Bond's dork of a cousin-"

"Ah, Xander?" Kennedy said, interrupting him. "He's still kind of bleeding. And it's getting worse-"

"Come on, Wes," Tina said, as she came over. "We'll take you to the hospital."

Xander stopped her. "That won't be necessary." Before anyone could say anything else, he looked up and called out, "Leo!"

---

Halliwell Manor Attic, San Francisco, California.

The same time

The Charmed Ones were gathered in the attic, all in their nightclothes; Leo alone wasn't. And the mood of the assembled ones was neither happy nor carefree.

"I should have known he would do this!" Cordelia seethed. "The dorkhead gave in way too easily, earlier on!"

"It's okay, Cordy," Prue told her youngest sister. "We'll find him-"

"How!?" Cordelia demanded. "Our magic doesn't work on him, remember? That means no scrying spell, or whatever. Besides, he's probably already there by now!"

"Even if he is already in LA," Piper spoke up, from flipping through the book. "It's not likely he would have had time to find those two vampires before now, is it?"

Cordelia just snorted at that. "Oh, please! With Xander's luck, he could have-" She trailed off, when she saw Leo tense up. "What?" the young woman demanded. "What is it?"

"Xander's calling me..." The whitelighter closed his eyes for a moment to concentrate. "But he doesn't sound hurt."

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Cordelia exclaimed. "Shoo! Now! Go get him, and while you're at it tell him I am 'so' going to rip him a new one for this!"

The guardian angel quickly orbed out from the attic without a word...

...and didn't return for ten minutes. And when he did come back, he did so alone. "He's okay," Leo quickly told the youngest Halliwell.

"He's okay?" Cordelia fumed. "That's it?! Leo, for God's sake he wouldn't have called for the guy who can heal wounds, unless he needed some wound healing!"

The so-called handyman backed up a little. "All right, he did call me for healing, but it was for another man. Some guy named Wesley."

"Wesley?" Cordelia asked, very surprised. "Wesley Wyndam-Pryce?" When Leo nodded, she just got more upset. "Oh, this is just great! His only backup over there is 'Wesley'?"

"No, Kennedy's there as well," Leo told them. "Seems she went with him, to make sure he didn't do anything stupid."

"Too late!" Cordelia growled.

"What was Wesley's injury that you needed to heal?" Prue asked, knowing already who Wesley was - from her talks with her sister about her old hometown. Cordelia had called him the guy she'd flirted with, way too much.

"Apparently, he was recently shot by a zombie cop," Leo responded.

"Uh...well, that's a new one," Piper said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, this just keeps getting better and better!" Cordelia grumbled. "Leo, just take me to-" She stopped mid-sentence. "Oh, now what!?"

All three sisters were used to seeing the man look and listen skyward by now, and wondered what orders he was getting from the Elders. A few moments later, Leo looked back at his charges. "They're saying we have to stay out of this one. There's something Xander has to do alone."

Of course, when he finished speaking Leo saw the look on Cordelia's face - just as she was about to explode. (Oh, crap!) he thought, before retiring to the whitelighter realm up above.

---

South Los Angeles, California.

The same time

Xander held the seat back to allow Kennedy to get out, before he looked around. The fully healed Wesley had driven them to an old exercise gym, that looked closed down from the outside. "So what's this big thing you wanted to show us, ex-Watcher man?" he asked.

"Well, not you," Wesley said, pointing past him. "Her. But I suppose you might find this interesting as well..."

The Englishman used a keycard access to get into the building. As they walked up a flight of stairs to an office area Wesley informed them, "This building was purchased by a friend of ours, a rather rich friend that we met last year. It's a safehouse of sorts. So please, don't mention anything about it to anyone."

They entered the bare office, and Wesley stopped Kennedy from turning on the light. He just motioned them over to the large window, one that overlooked the lower level.

When Xander looked down into the lighted area beneath them he saw a boxing ring, several new workout machines and one more thing. "Oh my God-!?"

"What?" Kennedy asked, not liking the look on his face. "Who is that chick?"

---

Faith the vampire Slayer, decked out a black tank top and sweat pants, pounded on punching bag. She tried to go easy on it, but she was nervous. Gunn had called and said that Wes was bringing over two people. An annoying guy named Xander something, and a Slayer.

(Why the hell would Wes bring those two over here now?!) she thought in anger. (Boy toy is one thing, but to bring B along?) The last time Buffy had come to see Faith, she had ended up in a coma.

The brunette let out one last blow on the bag, before walking over to the bench and grabbing her water bottle. She tensed up when she saw the door open. Wesley had in fact brought Xander Harris, but the other girl was definitely not Buffy Summers.

"Okay," Xander said, when they got near each other. "I'll get right to it...how the HELL is it you're still alive?!"

"Cutting right to the chase there, huh boy toy?" Faith said with unease.

"Don't!" Xander responded coldly. "You lost any right to even 'think' of calling me things like that, when you got off on trying to choke the life out of me that night!" He paused to let what he'd said sink in before adding, "And since the last I heard the Council took it upon to themselves to turn you into fertilizer...I think you can understand my current confusion."

"Yeah, well, I have Wes to thank for me still being alive and kicking," Faith said downcast, nodding to the older man.

"Actually - I took a leaf out of your book, Mr. Harris," Wesley said with a shrug. "I was ordered by Quentin Travers to terminate Faith, because despite everything - I was still her Watcher. But I recalled what you did for Ms. Summers back then, and well - here we are."

"You gave her CPR or whatever?" Xander asked. "No way, they had to have someone watching her!"

"They did..." Wesley said, as he thought something over.

"Might as well go ahead and tell them, Wes," Faith told him. "I mean if I'm going to be working with the newbie here," she pointed to Kennedy, "then they're eventually going to know everything anyway."

"Very well," the Englishman replied. "Kennedy, I - along with your own Watcher - worked for another within the Council. Someone...very high up."

"Oh, that just clears up everything!" the youngest Slayer exclaimed. "Terry is working with you?"

"He was. You see, there are those amongst the Watchers who think that Travers has...how shall I put this...lost the plot completely," Wesley told her. "And those people think that it would be in everyone's best interests, to have two Slayers following the Council's directives."

"Two?" Kennedy asked, sharing a worried look with Xander. "Are they going to go after Buffy Summers?"

"No," Wesley said quickly. "They're planning to just let Ms. Summers have her time away from the Council. She 'is' still guarding the Hellmouth, after all. And she occupies Mr. Travers' anger very nicely. You and Faith are to be the 'true' Slayers."

"How exactly does Terry factor into all this?" Xander demanded.

"My old friend knew that I was doing some favors here in the U.S. for some Council members that shall remain nameless, during my free time," Wesley answered. "He was not informed about Faith though, till Kennedy was assigned here." He looked directly at the lesbian girl. "The plan was to let you meet her in a few days, when you and he moved down here-"

Looking over to Xander he continued, "Mr. Harris - Xander - Ms. Summers must not be informed of this. Please. She has Sunnydale, and we will have LA. This is the way it must be, for everyone's sake."

Harris just looked at the slightly older man for a few seconds. "What you really mean is you don't want her coming here, to gut Faith again."

"Frankly, yes," the ex-Watcher responded. "She needs to be able to make up for her-"

"You CAN'T be serious!" Xander yelled. "Granted Faith and those of us in the 'dale back then didn't get on that great. But she tried to KILL us, Wes! She worked with the Mayor, who was going to use ALL of us as Scooby snacks!"

He angrily looked to Faith. "But now she just wakes up, said she's a good guy, and you trust her just like that!?"

Kennedy had been watching Faith, during the time the two males were arguing. Even knowing all the bad stuff she'd heard from everyone about Faith, she was still a sister Slayer.

"No, it's not that simple. She and Angel...well, settled a few things. We also had her sing for Lorne-" Wesley started but was cut off by Xander. "Oh, then that makes it just fine!"

"Lorne is an empath demon," Wesley said with an edge to his voice. "If he said she's trying to achieve redemption, then she's trying!"

"I cannot believe this!" Xander called out, as he growled. "I'm supposed to go hunting Darla with a Slayer who would gladly knife me in the back?"

"We don't need your help with Darla, Xander," Wesley stated. "No one asked you to come here, and quite frankly no one apart from Kennedy 'wants' you here. How would you feel if 'I' showed up in San Francisco, acting like you are right now?"

"Listen to him, Xander, please!" Kennedy pleaded with him. "I swear to you, we will get her and the other one. Please, let us do this. I mean, it would devastate Cordelia if you got killed-"

"She killed Jesse! Don't you get it? I can't let that go!" Xander raged. "She picked him out of the Bronze, like it was a damn supermarket! He was my best friend for my entire life, and I had to kill him!"

Kennedy was going to respond to that, but Xander Harris orbed out at that moment. "Xander!"

The two Slayers looked on in mute shock at the spot the young man had been standing at. However, Wesley just frowned. "Interesting. I take it your whitelighter friend took him back to San Francisco?"

"No..." Kennedy said nervously. "Leo - he has to be touching you, to orb you anywhere. This must be something different. If something happens to him-"

"Calm down," Wesley told her. "From what I know, whitelighters are good people, they wouldn't harm Xander in any way. And that was one of their 'orbing' effects, correct?"

"Yeah, but-" Kennedy managed to get out, still upset.

"Then I suggest you call Ms. Chase, and tell her what's happened."

"Oh no, 'you' talk to her!" Kennedy said, knowing what her friend's reaction would be that she'd lost Xander like this.

---

Halliwell Manor Foyer.

Saturday, October 7th, 2000

8 a.m.

Cordelia rushed to hug him, as Xander walked in through the front door behind Kennedy. "Oh, thank God you're all right! Don't you ever do anything like that to me again, Xander Harris, or I'll kick your ass! We're supposed to be a team here-"

Xander made no attempt to acknowledge her rant. He just kept his arms at his sides, and looked straight ahead - lost in his own thoughts. Kennedy and the others watched him with worry, not knowing what he'd been subjected to after leaving LA.

Cordelia also noticed the state he was in, and backed off. "Xander? What is it?"

He said nothing, and just moved to the stairs. So his ex reached out, and caught his arm as he was on the second step. "Xander?" Cordy asked again softly.

She was shocked at the look he gave her. Buffy's former White Knight looked just plain...defeated. "Please - not now, Cor...." he said distantly, and then resumed walking up the stairs to his room.

When Harris was out of sight on the upper level, Cordelia turned back to Kennedy. "What the hell happened to him?!"

The Slayer shook her head, as she sat on the padded bench. "I don't know," she told her not-so-secret crush. "One minute, they were arguing over Faith and Darla-"

"Faith!?" Cordelia literally hollered. "She's dead!"

"Apparently, she got better," Kennedy told her with a shrug. "Xander and that other Watcher or ex-Watcher or whatever...they were arguing, and then Xander was just orbed away!"

"Don't look at me," Leo told the four women glancing at him. "I already told you, I don't know who orbed him out."

"And when he came back, he acted like he's doing right now," the Slayer finished up. "I don't know where he went-"

"Actually, I believe I can fill in the blanks."

Everyone spun around, to look into the living room. A tall, balding black man in a white robe with gold down the front of it was standing there. "Hello, Leo."

"Zola," Leo said in shock. "What are you doing down here?"

"Who is this guy?" Cordelia demanded.

"He's an Elder," Leo told her. And all the sisters plus Kennedy heard the respect in his voice.

"An Elder?" Piper said, surprised. "Well, good, I finally get to-"

"Not now, Piper!" Leo told her gently. "An Elder wouldn't come down to the earthly plane, unless something was seriously wrong."

"Hey! I do not like to hear the words 'seriously wrong', when we're talking about Xander Harris!" Cordelia grumbled.

"Let me put your mind at ease, then. We merely took him to face the truth," Zola told her.

"And just what is the truth?" Prue asked, standing next to her youngest sister.

"That Alexander's rage was misplaced," the Elder told them all. "Darla and her companion vampire did indeed take Jesse and Willow that night, years ago. But it was not Darla who turned Jesse into one of the undead, later on."

"What the hell are you saying?!" Cordelia demanded.

"He was turned by the vampire that was then known as the Master," Zola looked to Cordelia. "And you personally know for a fact, he was defeated months later."

"Well, duh!" Cordelia exclaimed. "It's kind of hard to forget hanging upside down, over those smelly bones..." The witch thought about it for a moment. "No, I don't buy it."

"Cordelia," Leo said aghast, coming over to her. "An Elder wouldn't lie-"

"Oh, it's not that!" Cordelia insisted. "But I know Xander. He would 'not' just take this guy's word for it - not for something as major as this."

"Indeed. And he did not, as you say, take my word for it," Zola said with a shrug. "For it was not I who told him the truth of the matter."

"Then who told him?" Cordelia pressed.

A new orbing effect took place next to Zola. A teenage looking boy said, "I did."

Cordelia covered her mouth, as she let out a shocked gasp. "Oh my God! Jesse?!"

"Jesse?" Prue demanded, as she had to hold up her sister. "As in Xander's Jesse? The one that he went after Darla to avenge?!"

Cordelia just numbly nodded, as her eldest sister lowered her into a chair. Old memories flooded back, days of innocence when young Mr. McNally - who 'still' looked 15 years old here - had panted after her like a lost puppy, desperately trying to win her love.

And she had constantly spat in his face, wanting to put said faithful puppy to sleep...

Jesse gave Cordelia a concerned look. "Ah, long time no see?" He looked towards Leo. "There really 'isn't' a guide book for this kind of thing, is there?"

Piper noticed the shocked look on Leo's face. "Leo? What's he talking about?"

The so-called handyman couldn't believe it. "He's a whitelighter."

That statement was the final push needed for Cordelia to faint.

"Cordy!" Prue called out in concern. "Leo, help me get her to the couch!" Without a word the whitelighter in question present took Cordelia's legs, and helped gently lay her on the sofa.

"How can you be one of us?" Leo then asked Jesse. "I've never seen you before-"

The question was intended for Jesse, but it was Zola who answered. "He's been undergoing training in seclusion, for some time. For a job that we feel that he will be well suited for."

Piper assumed the worst at hearing that. "No way, we already have a whitelighter!"

"We do not intend to replace Leo on his assignment here," the Elder stated calmly. "But a witch on the Hellmouth has need of a guide."

"That Willow girl?" Kennedy asked. "Uh, just curious, but from what I've heard - if she was going to get her own Leo, shouldn't it have been a long time ago?"

"It's not Wills," Jesse told the Slayer. "Her new girlfriend, Tara."

"Girlfriend?" Prue asked in confusion. "I thought she was dating a guy? A werewolf?"

"I don't get it," Piper said, dismissing that. "The vampire that killed you..." she indicated Jesse, "...is dead, and now you can see Xander again. So why was he acting like someone just gave him the worst news, ever?"

Jesse just gave Zola a dirty look, before the Elder answered for him. "For the time being, Jesse is to be with his charge in Sunnydale."

"You're keeping them apart?!" Piper fumed, her feelings for the Elders coming up to the surface. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Ask Leo," Zola told her simply, before he nodded to Jesse and the two orbed out at the same time.

All three conscious women looked at the whitelighter, and he answered before they asked. "When you become a whitelighter, you give up all aspects of your past life. No more ties, no more connections. Although, granted, this situation is unusual - I myself didn't have a charge in San Francisco, 'til the 50's..."

It was at that moment Cordelia stirred on the couch. "Ohh..." She looked around for a few moments. "Did I just dream that my old stalker 'orbed' in here, or what?"

---

Camp Skylark, California.

Early 1980's

On a large dock sticking out into the lake, several cops were looking around - while two medics were placing a dead woman in a body bag.

"What's with this place?" one medic asked the other. "This is the third drowning this year."

"Hey!" a state trooper called to the others. "Is that her little girl? Get her away from here. We don't want her to see her mother like this!"

A young officer came over, and quickly scooped up a young Prudence Halliwell. "Come on, let's get you back inside with your grandmother."

As he carried her away, young Prue kept calling to her mother as the body bag was zipped up. "Mommy!"

---

Camp Skylark, California.

Monday, October 9th, 2000

10 a.m.

Piper looked at her younger sister, before back to the old camp counselor. Xander was due back some time today to pick them up, but unfortunately he couldn't stay - his carpentry business was already in enough trouble, given all the accumulated delays whenever the guy had to ditch his day job to help save the sisters and the world from evil.

"Um, we were wondering if you might help us with something. Prue was up here yesterday and she mentioned a man, um, older, a bit...off," Piper said.

"Crazy was the word she used, actually," Cordelia pointed out.

"Yes," Piper continued. "Anyway, we were wondering if you might know who he is."

Mrs. Johnson nodded in understanding. "Sam. Only one it could be. The man's not wired together properly. He showed up when the drownings started. He just stayed here, no friends, no life of his own. You know, with someone like that, you have to wonder what he's capable of..."

After the old woman had left, both sisters looked at each other knowingly. "He shows up when the deaths start up again?" Cordelia asked. "Kind of makes our case, doesn't it?"

"We can't jump to conclusions," Piper told her, getting out her cell phone. "We better get Prue out here, in case we need the Power of Three."

---

Sometime later in a lived-in boathouse, the three sisters walked in cautiously. "Sam?" Piper called out lightly.

"Don't be afraid, we're just three super-powered witches here to vanquish you," Cordelia said, as she took in the dirty surroundings.

When no answer came, Piper mused, "I guess he's not home..."

All three started to look through the piles of papers and files around the room. Prue took the pile of newspapers near a desk, and examined them. A third of the way into the pile, she pulled out something that surprised her. "Oh my."

Cordelia saw it, and gasped in surprise. She took the old picture from Prue, "Mom?"

"What?" Piper asked, coming over and getting shocked as well.

"What's he doing with a picture of her?" Prue asked, with a little edge in her voice.

"Who is this guy?" Piper then asked the even bigger question.

"Or 'what' is he?" Cordelia was worried.

Prue returned to the stack of old newspapers. "Okay, he has articles on every single drowning at the lake."

Nearby, Piper found something else - an old award. "Sam Wylder, New York teacher of the year...in 1872?"

"Okay," Cordelia said, feeling how it was all coming together. "So, this guy is what? 130 years old, or..."

"A demon," Piper finished for her, as she put the award back.

"Named Sam?" Prue asked, not fully buying it. "A demon named Sam? I mean, can't it be his grandfather's certificate?"

Piper considered that, as she opened a drawer to look around and found some letters. The way they were folded, she could easily see the name of the writer. 'Love Patty'.

"What are these? Guys, I found..." She jumped, as Leo orbed in right next to her. "Whoa!" Piper quickly gave him an unpleasant look before adding, "Leo, what are you doing here?"

The whitelighter didn't answer her question; he just stared at all of them. "Come on, we gotta get outta here. Sam could be back at any minute!"

Cordelia still held the picture of her dead mother. "Wait, you know Sam?"

Leo just nodded. "Come on, we gotta-"

Prue shook her head, not budging. "We are not going anywhere, until you tell us what you know. Who is Sam?"

When he saw all three sisters giving him a nasty glare after finding things of their mother's here, Leo admitted, "Sam was your mother's whitelighter."

---

Halliwell Manor.

Tuesday, October 10th 2000

In the kitchen, Leo was at the table - looking through the Book of Shadows. Well - he was holding his hands over the book and the pages were flipping magically, all on their own. Which was more-or-less the same thing.

Looking up when Piper came in carrying a basket of laundry, he said, "I can't find anything."

"Well, then you don't have to stay with me," Piper told him. "Um, why didn't your healing touch work? I mean, what, you can save a life - but you can't cure poison ivy?"

Leo sent her an apologetic look. "It's not really up to me. I can only heal when they allow me to, when I'm meant to."

"Well, why weren't you meant to help me? Why wouldn't I be meant to help my sisters?" Piper asked him, upset, as she went into the tiny laundry room.

"There's always a reason," Leo responded. "Maybe you're meant to be here."

Before she could respond, the brunette woman saw something sticking out of the pocket of the sweater she'd worn yesterday. "Leo."

"What is it?" the heavenly messenger asked from the table, as he saw her holding the letters she had found.

"Letters that my mom wrote to Sam," Piper told him. "I must've forgotten about them, because of the magic forgetting powder he used on us..."

The witch then read out loud the first letter. "Dear Sam, where are you? It's been two weeks since you were last here, and I wonder - are you alright? Do they have you off guiding someone? And I wonder when they will send you back to San Francisco. To me."

"Is this a..." Leo started to say, but Piper finished the question. "A love letter?"

She sat down at the table beside him. Piper Halliwell then read another one aloud, "Sam, yes, you were clear. My eyes were open to the difficulties, the risks, but my answer is the same as it was when you were still here with me. No one understands me the way you do, no one can."

Leo read another one from the pile. "What I wouldn't do for what other people consider ordinary. A conversation that gets finished, a night spent uninterrupted. A night with you."

"It's like I could've written these," Piper commented, looking semi-freaked.

Leo looks at her sadly. "I wish you had."

"What would it have changed?" the witch responded, just as sad. A moment passed between them, before Piper went back to the letters.

"Looks, like this one is about our water demon. 'You can't be with me up at the lake. This demon is too strong and I can't risk losing you, not for myself or the others you protect. They must as always come first. You know I'd never face this demon if I didn't think I'd be home in time for dinner to see my girls, to see you.' She never came home," Piper commented softly, remembering that night when she was very young. "When did this happen? Where was our dad?"

Leo couldn't answer those questions. "Your sisters need to know about Sam and your mom, Piper."

"If this demon is as strong as she thought, then they're going to need me - but how do we get there in time to..." Piper looked at her companion, worried. "Can you? I mean, is that breaking the rules?"

Leo shrugged. "What rules haven't we already broken?" They quickly stood up. "I'll have to hold you."

The middle sister moved close to him, letting him put his arm around her. Piper closed her eyes at his touch, since she knew this was as close as they could ever get now. (Man, this sucks...)

"Here we go," Leo told her, before they both orbed out.

---

Camp Skylark, California.

A short time later

After the demon was vanquished - Sam lay on the dock, mortally wounded. Prue held him while Leo, Piper, and Cordelia rushed up.

"It's gone," Sam gasped out. "It's gone."

"Leo, do something!" Cordelia ordered the active whitelighter.

Leo did indeed try, but his powers failed to work for the second time that day. "Why isn't anything happening?" Prue demanded, upon seeing this.

"Because it's not meant to," Piper said in understanding.

Sam looked straight at her, as he felt his life slipping away. "It's okay, it's time to go. I did what I've been waiting to do. History won't repeat itself."

Cordelia felt helpless. "But you're going to-"

"I'm gonna see Patty again," Sam told her, as he turned to Leo and Piper. "Don't lose her."

On the edge of the dock, the spirit of Patricia Halliwell appeared. "Patty?" Sam asked very softly, as his eyes drifted closed.

"Say hi for us," Prue said simply, as she watched Sam's spirit appear next to her mother's. The two spirits joined hands, and then just disappeared.

---

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

Wednesday, October 11th 2000

In the manor's kitchen, Leo was talking to Piper while she was making tea for herself and Cordelia. "It's just this, this whole situation you know - Sam, your mom, those letters. He loved her," Leo said, as he looked at her heartbrokenly. "Like I love you."

"Leo, we've been through this before," Piper replied. "We both know how we feel, but there are other people involved now."

"Can you tell Dan the truth, Piper?" the angel pressed the issue.

"That's between him and me," the woman told him firmly. "You and I have a job to do, and I thought that we agreed to try and put that first."

Leo shook his head. "So did Sam and your mom. Look at the outcome."

When he said it, Piper didn't know if it was the way he'd said it - but... "You're leaving, aren't you? For good this time."

"I don't know," Leo said to her honestly. "But I do know we have to stop working together, because I can't stop loving you. Which means I can't do my job."

"And I can't do mine." Ms. Halliwell looked down for a moment to collect herself, before looking back at him. "I don't know how to say goodbye."

"Then don't," Leo told her softly, before he orbed out of the kitchen and possibly out of her life.

---

Halliwell Manor.

Friday, October 13th 2000

Early that morning, Cordelia and Prue looked amused as Piper came in via the back door with an overnight bag. "Oh, look who it is!" Cordy said sarcastically.

"Morning," Piper told them, as she dropped her bag on the dining room table.

Cordelia looked to her older sister. "Do you recognize that person?"

"I don't know, she looks vaguely familiar. Kind of like a sister we used to have?" Prue asked, thinking. "What was her name? Pi...P..."

Cordelia frowned. "Pi...Pippy?"

Prue replied, "Pipper?"

"Whatever happened to her?" Cordelia wondered.

"I don't know," Prue riposted. "She fell in lust with the next door neighbor, and started spending all her time there."

"That's because she could," Piper shot back, not amused. "For the first time in months, her life was nice, calm and normal. It's going so good that I don't even care that it's Friday..."

"Shh!" Cordelia quickly stopped her. "Don't even say it!"

"The 13th!" Piper declared. "See, I said it and nothing happened."

Suddenly, a rapid-fire stream of bullets started shooting through the windows, impacting the wall a few feet from them. All three screamed and ran...

Prue and Cordelia made it into the living room, diving behind a couch. Piper dove behind a set of old thick shelves, on the other side of the room.

"I told you not to say it!" Cordelia yelled, as she covered her head from the still-flying bullets.

"Oh, so this is my fault?" Piper demanded from her hiding place.

Prue quickly told her younger sister, "Run!"

"No!" Cordelia ordered her, "Piper, get your butt over here right now!"

When the bullets stopped, Piper growled and made a break for it. However, when she got to the middle of the room another cluster of bullets came at her. Without even thinking, Piper used her power and froze them in mid-air. The witch took a spilt second to look at them in surprise hanging like that, before she ran and dove down to her sisters.

After a few moments no more bullets came, so Prue casually started to rise over the couch to look - and that caused more bullets to be let loose at them. "Oh, like I need this today!" Prue cried, as the bullets stopped again when she was under cover.

"Since when the hell do demons use bullets?" Cordelia demanded.

"Maybe it's not a demon," Piper offered, as she tried to crouch lower.

Prue shook her head. "Who else would want to kill us?"

"Well, you know, you were a little sharp to the mailman yesterday," Cordy told Prue. "And we all know how testy they can be..."

All three looked up sharply, as the doorknob on the front door made some noise. They braced themselves for the attack; double-checking their normal plan, as Piper started to say... "Freeze."

Cordelia added, "Kick."

"Send flying," Prue finished off the scenario.

They waited for the door to open, but the front was a diversion - as an armed woman in black leather came out of the kitchen. She wasted no time shooting, either.

Only Prue hearing the sound of the assassin's boots crushing fallen glass saved the witchy trio, as she directed her powers just in time. The multiple bullets stopped in mid-air, and reversed back onto the intended killer.

And so, the bad guy fell from the impact of five slugs after they slammed into her. The sisters waited a few seconds after the woman fell back into the kitchen, to go find out what their attacker was.

But Prue gasped, when they saw the truth. "Oh my God, she's not a demon..."

---

A little while later, the sisters were going through the dead woman's belongings - looking for clues as to why the hell she'd shot at them.

Cordelia looked at all the passports. "Multiple aliases. I've seen enough cop movies with Xander, to know that isn't good."

"Foreign currency and throwing stars?" Piper asked questioningly, as she looked over the pile dumped onto the table.

Prue wound up a lipstick, and a mini-blade popped out. "Definitely not Avon calling."

"Wait," Piper said, as she picked up a building keycard. "Sutro Heights Apartments. That's a little scary. She didn't live too far from here."

"I'd bet any money that she's been watching us!" Cordelia said, looking over the other items. "But what's even scarier, is that we've never been attacked by a mortal before-"

"Yeah, I've never killed a mortal before either," Prue said, upset.

"Prue, you had no choice," Cordelia told her older sister.

Prue shook her head about that. "Still doesn't make it any easier."

Looking over a day planner, Piper asked, "Does it make it easier if the mortal was a hit woman?"

"A list of names. So?" Prue asked, not getting it.

"Yeah, look closer," the middle sister told her. "We're on it. Or at least, one of us is. "P. Halliwell" and other than a "M. Steadwell", we're the only other name not crossed off."

"Someone obviously hired her," Prue said, as Piper flipped to the next page. "Someone who knew we have powers. I mean, look!"

Piper read the three lines, "Prue - telekinesis, Piper - power to freeze, Cordelia - negligible."

"What? Negligible?!" Cordelia complained. "I am 'so' not negligible!" Her upset face changed, when an old memory hit her. "Oh! Does she have a really gaudy-looking ring on her finger?"

The other two sisters looked at her weirdly. "I didn't bother to check out her fashion accessories, Cordy-" Piper told her.

"No!" Cordelia insisted. "Back in high school, a bunch of hit men tried to kill Buffy during junior year. I think one of them was human."

"And this has what to do with a ring?" Prue asked.

"Because," Cordelia said, annoyed. "Xander told me that Giles said that they all wore a really bad-looking ring. They called it the Order of tacos, or something."

"Can you call Xander, and get him back here to fill in the blanks?"

Cordelia shook her head. "Forget it, he won't have his phone on. Remember, he left early to go to that stupid convention? No way he would have his cell on, while Tim the Tool Man is on stage!"

"So, a demon could have hired these Order guys to kill us?" Prue wondered. "But why give the 'glory' of killing the damn Charmed Ones to someone else?"

Piper shrugged. "I just wish we knew about that part of the equation, before we called..."

"Hello?" Daryl stuck his head in the door.

The sisters all turned to look at him. "Darryl, hi - thanks for coming," Prue welcomed him into their home.

The police Inspector walked slowly over to them. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I actually want to be here. Depends on whether or not you tell me the truth, this time."

"Someone tried to kill us," Cordelia informed him.

Morris's face perked up at that. "Did you see who it was?"

Prue pointed to the entrance to the kitchen. "She's in there."

"She?" Daryl asked, as he walked into the kitchen.

"We were just sorta standing here talking - when she suddenly started shooting up the place," Piper told him, as he saw the body.

"A hit woman, we think," Cordelia added. "She obviously wanted us dead, we were on her stupid list-"

Darryl just looked at them, disbelieving. "And that's why you're standing here alive, and she's in there riddled with bullets?"

"It was self-defense!" Prue told him firmly. "You can check her gun, if you don't believe us. The only fingerprints you're gonna find on it are hers."

"Begs the same question," Morris responded. "How come she's got the bullets in her body, if you didn't fire the gun?"

Cordelia had gotten 'way' annoyed at his questioning. "Do you really wanna know, Daryl?"

The cop nodded, sick of the long line of flimsy excuses. "Tell me."

"We're witches!" Cordelia told him, dead serious - not trying to sugarcoat it at all. "We have powers."

Morris looked around, "Where's Harris? I need to tell him you three have gone nuts-" But when Prue levitated him off the floor, he screamed, "What the FU-"

---

San Francisco, California.

Some time later

Piper looked at her older sister, not knowing what she'd just seen. "What the hell just happened?"

"I don't know," Prue told her, looking back at the boardroom at Buckland's. "I think it was some sort of astral projection."

"How did you do that?" Piper demanded.

Prue shook her head. "I don't know. I just had this desperate need for there to be two of me, and all of a sudden - there was."

"Do you think this is part of your powers growing?" Piper asked.

"Maybe." Prue figured out. "I mean, if I can move things with my mind, why not my body?"

---

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

Friday, November 3rd 2000

7 a.m.

Cordelia stretched in her PJs, as she walked out of the bathroom. She moved over to Piper's bedroom door and knocked before going in, "Piper, you still asleep?"

She frowned at her sister's still-made bed. "Guess not..."

Next, Cordy crossed the hallway in her bare feet to Prue's room. Another quick knock, and she entered. "Hey, Prue, guess who got lucky last night-"

But another empty bed greeted her. Annoyed now, Cordelia headed to Xander's door. "Hey, Dweeb-O, at least I can count on you to be..."

Unbelievably, her ex-boyfriend was also absent. However, at least his bed had been slept in.

Guessing Xander was already eating breakfast, Cordy headed down the stairs. When she got to the bottom, the former princess noticed a note next to her car keys on the small table.

'Got up early to go to the Y, see you tonight after work. Xander'

As if on cue - when Cordy set the note down, the phone rang. "I'll get it!" Ms. Halliwell yelled, annoyed knowing that no one was there to hear her. "Hello?"

#Morning!# Prue's voice came through loud and clear on the phone.

Cordelia instantly got an amused grin. "Hey, Prue. Did that coffee date keep someone 'up' all night?"

#Believe it or not, all we did was talk,# her sister replied over the line.

"Yeah, right!" was Cordelia's reply to that.

#No, I swear!# Prue said amazed herself. #We just talked about everything, it was really great!#

"Really?" Cordelia said into the cordless device. #How'd he react to the witch part?#

#Cute,# Prue said, annoyed. And gleefully, Cordelia could almost see her sister's look in her head. #Alright, where's Piper?#

"Oh, she's still at Dan's," Cordelia informed her. "Hey, if only I'd bagged Xander - we could have scored a Halliwell hat trick last night, huh?"

#Don't be mad at me about that part of it,# Prue told her. #You know full well it's long past time for you to just claim him, already!#

Cordelia rolls her eyes. "No, I'm not mad..." But then the youngest witch of the family stopped cold, when she felt someone behind her.

"You're gonna need a new lock on that back door," a man's casual voice informed her.

Without even looking, Cordelia dropped the phone and did a high spin kick on the intruder. It connected with his jaw, sending him falling to the bottom of the stairs.

---

Jack Sheridan's apartment.

The same time

Prue was sitting by herself on her maybe-boyfriend's red leather couch, grasping the phone. "Cordy?!"

Getting no answer, the oldest Halliwell paused only long enough to grab her jacket - before she rushed out to her car.

---

The Halliwell Manor.

A short time later

The man looked up from the floor, holding his jaw. "Well, that wasn't fun."

Cordelia kept her ready stance, waiting for the guy to try anything. "Okay, who are you and what do you want?" she demanded.

The intruder groaned, as he got up. "More importantly I know who you are, Cordelia, that's why I'm here. I need your help. Charmed Ones kind of help."

"I'll ask again," Cordy said, all business. "Who are you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," the guy sighed at her.

"Try me," Cordelia bit back.

"You can call me...Cupid."

---

The sidewalk outside a coffeehouse, San Francisco, California.

The same time

The demon named Drazi watched a young couple sit at a table, holding hands. Rubbing the ring on his finger as it glowed, he grinned to himself. "Why hello, young lovers..." his evil mind already planning the couple's downfall.

---

Halliwell Manor.

A short time later

Prue and Piper were now sitting with a dressed Cordelia, as they watch the man leaning against the fireplace. "So, we're actually supposed to believe that you're Cupid?" Prue asked, not buying it.

Cupid looked straight at her, surprised. "You believe in warlocks and demons, but you can't believe in me?"

Piper looked him over. "Where's the chubby baby?"

"And the bow and arrow?" Prue added.

"Guys..." Cordy instinctively tried to stop them.

But Cupid just shrugged, as he looked at the two sisters. "Where's the warty chins, hooked noses and pointy hats?"

"Alright then," Prue said, dismissing that. "Show us something supernatural."

Cupid shook his head. "I can't. Drazi took my ring. It's my powers, how I get in."

The oldest sister didn't understand. "Get in?"

"People's hearts, to awaken love!" Cupid said, as if it was obvious. "See, but Drazi's all about hate - and he's gonna use the ring to get in the same way."

Piper was not budging. "You're still gonna have to back up the Cupid claim."

Cupid groaned. "Okay, fine." He pointed to Piper, Prue and Cordelia in order. "Dan, Jack, Xander."

Back to Prue he said, "Andy, my sincerest condolences by the way. Eric in London, Alec in college." Back to Piper he said, "Not Jeremy the warlock - Joe in college, Barry in high school, Tim in eighth grade." His gaze finally settled on Cordy, "Kyle, Steve, Mitch, Kevin, Devon, Xander, John Lee, and Xander again? Yeesh, but you're not picky!"

Cordelia threw up her hands. "Okay, you know I didn't love 'all' those guys, right?" she asked. "I mean, John went all nutzoid on me!"

Cupid nodded, as he sat down. "Yeah, well - you didn't care who you were with then. You just wanted the pain to stop."

Cordelia looked away at that comment. Prue saw the look on her sister's face and asked Cupid, "Okay, so wait, our past relationships - you made those happen?"

"Well, actually," he started to say. "My assignment here's only two years old. I helped you two meet Jack and Dan, but your prior loves were works of fellow agents."

Piper looked up at that. "Agents?"

"Oh, yeah," Cupid said with a smile. "I'm just one of many. We work in secret all over the world, making connections."

"Did you connect me and Leo?" Piper asked.

But Cupid instantly told her, "Uh, no. That was the work of you two. Those connections are forbidden to make, for obvious reasons."

"What about me and Xander?" Cordelia asked, suddenly coming back into the conversation.

"As I said, that wasn't me," the man said softly. "You and him were the work of another Cupid. Someone who's been at this for a very long time - huh, I'm not surprised at all that she matched you two up, actually."

"Why?" Cordy wanted to know.

"Well - Cupid is very big on that type of love. She said it works very well, almost every time she does it," the guy told the witch with a grin.

"What type?" Prue wondered.

"The Princess and the Pauper..." Cupid answered, while still looking to Cordelia. "Plus - she had just watched 'Can't Buy Me Love', a few hours before she saw you two trapped in that basement."

As Cordelia looked at him in surprise at that revelation, the love master looked away to the other sisters. "I don't want to sound pushy, but we gotta finish the potion so we can vanquish Drazi - before it's too late."

Prue agreed. "Okay, so how are we supposed to find him?"

"The same way he can find me," Cupid said sadly. "We can sense each other. We're connected in a cosmic way. There's a fine line between love and hate."

"Oh, brother!" Piper said at that line.

But Cupid wasn't kidding. "Hey, don't take Drazi lightly. You guys are in danger as well, you know."

"We're in danger every day," Cordy told him. "We're used to it."

"Not like this," Cupid said firmly. "Look, if Drazi succeeds, eventually he'll kill your ability to love. And believe me, that's a fate worse than death..."

---

Somewhere in San Francisco, in a closed-off alley.

A few hours later

"What?" Drazi yelled in surprise, as Prue's astral form appeared right in front of him.

"Surprise!" she told him confidently, as the Wiccan waved her hand to shove him away with her powers.

However, Drazi just grinned at her as nothing happened. "Uh, whoops, that didn't work..."

Prue quickly grabbed a piece of wood sticking out of a garbage can, and nailed the advancing demon in the chest. As he fell in pain, Prue's astral form vanished...

...and reappeared a half a block away, surrounded by Cupid and her sisters. "Ah!" Prudence said, as her senses come back to her.

"Prue?" Cordelia asked her. "Are you back with us?"

"I think so," Prue said, before taking a deep breath. "Wow, I really gotta get a handle on that."

Cupid looked between them. "I don't understand."

"She astral-projected," Piper quickly filled him in.

"Did you get him?" Cordelia asked her sister.

Prue shook her head. "No, I just slowed him down - but you guys go get him, hurry. I'll be fine." The other three did as she said, and ran off after the demon. As she watched them depart she said to herself, "God, I love this new power!"

The two Charmed Ones and Cupid reached Drazi, as he was leaning on a nearby dumpster getting his breath back. "Hiding behind witches' skirts?" the demon taunted Cupid.

"Stealing things that don't belong to you?" Piper said, before freezing him. "Okay, do it!"

Cordelia quickly threw the potion at him. Drazi unfroze the moment after it hit him, "What the-?"

The demon looked on in shock, as his hand turned pitch black followed by his legs. He started to melt quickly, and his screams were silenced when all that was left of him was a large puddle of black tar-like liquid.

Moments after that, Prue caught up to them. Looking at the puddle she asked, "Did you get him?"

Piper looked at Cupid. "Did we?"

"Sure looks like it," the man responded, taking in the sight of the puddle. "Though, I don't know what happened to my ring. It shouldn't have been affected by what we did to Drazi."

"So that's it, right? We're done?" Cordelia asked, very relieved. "You can just move on?"

"In that much of a hurry to get rid of me, Cordelia?" Cupid asked knowingly.

She cast him a dirty look. "Look, Cupid. I know you're just trying to help - but did you ever think that I may not be ready for love right now?"

"No, because you're more than ready," he told her simply. "You and Xander-"

"Don't start!" the former cheerleader warned him. "Just go."

The agent of love told her simply, "Well, I need the ring to get back."

"Wait, you're stuck here?" Prue - now fully recovered - asked.

"No, actually, you can help me get back home!" Cupid said to the sisters. "One more potion, some well-chosen words from the Charmed Ones - and I'm on my way." He looked directly at Cordelia. "Care to help me with that potion?"

"Me?" Cordelia demanded. "Why me?"

"Because you're free tonight," Cupid shrugged, pointing to her sisters. "'They' have dates."

"Hey, how'd you know..." Piper started, but then trailed off. "Never mind, scratch that."

Prue and Piper walked off back to the car, but Cupid just stood there smiling at Cordelia. "What are you smiling at?" she asked, not liking it.

"You." Cupid responded warmly. "And your capacity to love..."

"I told you, don't start!"

Soon, they too walked back the way they'd come. And once they'd done so, the black puddle of liquid started to move. Drazi's screams were heard again, as he reformed into human shape...

The demon looked around in shock for a moment, before seeing the ring glowing brightly. "Well, it looks like you can't kill love after all."

Catching sight of Cordelia's back, the ring automatically did its job and filled in the blanks of her love life - causing Drazi to grin nastily. "But you sure can screw with it..."

---

The Halliwell Manor.

Later that night

"You cheated on me!?" Xander demanded, royally pissed off.

It was unfortunate, in one sense. Cordy had helped Cupid, and once that was over with Xander had come home - and the ol' male love machine had knowingly made himself scarce. The two young people had curled up in each other's arms on the couch, watching TV - before Drazi had worked his mojo, poisoning their hearts against one other.

"No, I 'didn't' cheat on you!" Cordelia yelled back at him, just as angry. "I was drunk! I hardly remember more than a few flashes!" She stuck her finger right in his chest. "And don't forget, 'you're' the one that constantly made out with that bitch behind my back - before you got caught red-handed!"

"And 'you're' the one who dumped me, just because of what people that you didn't even care about thought!" Harris swatted her hand away, unreasonably angry after another bad day on the job. "I should have known after that, that you wouldn't be able to tell me what happened like an adult would!"

"Don't you 'dare' take that tone with me, mister!" Cordelia screamed back at him. "If you had been a real man and not used your hands like a blind idiot with Alzheimer's back then, you might have gotten more than just making out! The guys I dated in 'eighth grade' knew more about the female body than you did, in senior year!"

"That's it!" Xander yelled, grabbing his jacket from the bench. "I'm out of here! And don't expect me back anytime soon!"

Cordelia didn't give him a chance to say anything more, as Harris walked down the steps to the street. "Fine! And ya know what? I won't! You can keep your lame ass out of my house, for good!" With that, she slammed the door hard.

Hidden from sight by the ring, Drazi watched the show with a large smile plastered on his face. "Now 'this' is more like it!" he said happily, as Cordelia stomped up the stairs to her room. "Now to hit the other two..."

---

Hours later...

Prue shook loose the angry feelings that seemed to have been filling her. "Hey, what the hell is going on?"

Cordelia quickly sat next to her sisters. "Drazi's back. He's still alive - and if Cupid's right, he's on his way here as we speak. Whatever bad feelings you had for Dan and Jack, Drazi did it. He's twisted your relationships with hate..." Her voice grew cold. "Just like he did with mine."

Prue looked at her, confused at her last statement, but Piper wanted to know. "So what do we do now?"

"Exactly what you're doing right now," Cordy told her. "You let Dan and Jack into your hearts."

Prue stopped her at hearing that one. "Okay, hold on. I don't 'love' Jack."

"No, but you like him a lot. And it's helped you open up to love," Cupid gritted out in pain.

"Hello, lover boy!" Drazi said cheerfully, as he appeared out of nowhere. The girls jumped in surprise as the demon plunged his hand into Cupid's chest, going for the heart.

Cupid yelled out in pain. "I should have finished you off the first time!" the demon hissed in rage and hatred.

Piper quickly froze them both. "Okay, so much for loving him to death. What do we do with him now?"

"Same thing, only different," Cordelia answered, going over to the frozen pair.

Prue didn't agree. "Been there, blew that!"

"Yeah, but the difference is this time - the ring won't be protecting him..." Cordelia said, as she took the ring off Drazi's finger and placed it on Cupid's. "It'll be protecting the good guy."

Piper looked uncertain. "How can you be sure?"

"I can't," Cordelia said, as she grabbed the last of her vanquishing potion. "But love is a risk. If he's taught me anything, it's that."

She threw the potion onto Drazi and as before, when it hit - they unfroze. "No, no. No, not again!" the demon yelled, as he started to melt once more.

Everyone watched as he melted completely to the floor, and this time - the puddle vanished, without any remains on the carpet. Only Cupid was left standing - whole and hale, with love restored.

---

Halliwell Manor.

Saturday, November 4th 2000

Early in the morning, Cordelia watched as Xander threw his bags into the back seat of his car. "Xander...you don't have to do this-"

"Yeah, I do," the man replied, closing the back door. "I need some time alone to think all this over."

"But I told you already, it was that demon who made us..." Cordy broke off, misty-eyed.

"Yeah - I know, Cor," Xander said, as he gave her a brief hug. "Look, I know you didn't mean it about me leaving the manor, and that what happened in Mexico wasn't really your fault. Because hell, I know better than anyone in this house about people doing stuff...while drunk..."

Cordy winced at the reference to the Harris family nightmares. "Then stay," she told him hopefully. "We can work this out-"

"We will, 'cause I'm not leaving for good," Xander told her gently. "It's just for a few weeks, at most."

Cordy whimpered when she heard that. "But what about your business? The Bradshaw account, for example-"

"Oh, I already lost that job, because of what happened with Ms. Hellfire. And 'White Knight Carpentry'? It's now officially out of business. Well, it was only a matter of time anyway..." He smiled, trying to take the sting out. "Look, Cor, after the fluke...seeing you lying there on that factory floor, with that rebar sticking out through you...I still have nightmares about that moment. The moment that I caused, because I couldn't control my hormones."

She quickly told her ex, "I told you, I don't blame you for that anymore-"

"You should know me well enough by now to understand, that doesn't just make the guilt magically disappear." Harris sighed. "Cor, I felt lower than dog crap for almost two months after that. I tried to make it up to you so badly, but you cut me down every chance you had. Granted, I deserved most of it, but with the Mexico thing - you should have at least heard me out, before that day in the park."

Looking down Cordelia replied, "I...with how my parents were like...you were the 'one' thing I thought I could count on. You have no idea what it felt like, afterwards."

"Oh, I think I have a good idea..."

The former snob looked up at Xander as he went on, "When you dumped me, that Valentine's day. Cordy, I had to live with the fact that you cared more about what a few girls that you would never see again after we graduated thought, than maybe spending your life with me."

The woman was shocked to see his eyes moisten a little. "Before I met you...the real you, that is? I thought that how my mom and dad ended up...that's how 'I' would end up. And when I was dumped like that at the Bronze, it hit me that maybe I'd been right to be so cynical, all along..."

She hugged him tightly. "No. Forget that, 'cause it ain't gonna happen. Look - can we just start all over, please? Simply put the clock back to yesterday?" Cordy practically begged him.

"Cor - if we try to start over like this isn't hanging between us, then you know as well as I do...that it'll just come back to bite us again, eventually. Those who are ignorant of the lessons of history, and all that-" He took her hand in his. "I just think we need a little time away from each other, to let us both figure out what we want."

"I already know what I want!" Cordelia yelled, before saying more softly with her heart on her sleeve, "I want you."

"I want you too," Harris responded with another sigh. "But every time we've hooked up, it's been on impulse. And Cordelia - we're not in high school anymore. We need to think this through like adults, and know for sure. Because I don't want what happened last night, to ever happen again."

Xander then moved for the driver's side door, only to be pulled back by Cordelia. (Cordy-) he thought impatiently.

"Here's what you have waiting for you, when you come home where you belong!" Ms. Halliwell told him - before she leaned in, and gave the former Zeppo the most sensual and passionate kiss the young woman could manage.

Xander instinctively responded, as Cordelia draped her arms around his neck. The young woman moaned in delight, her tongue halfway down his throat as she felt Xander's resolve weakening - and she had the urge to jump up, and wrap her legs around his waist...

But moments later, Xander gently pushed her away. "No. When I get back...maybe." He then gave her a long look, before he got into his car and drove away - as the sun was just coming up.

With tears in her eyes, Cordelia Halliwell watched him leave. "I'll be waiting, when you get back..."

---

San Francisco Memorial Hospital, San Francisco, California.

Early January, 2001

Cordelia dodged a nurse, as she and Dan ran down the corridor. "Prue!" she called out when she saw her older sister standing outside Piper's room. "Prue, what's going on?"

Prue kept her eyes on her sister in the bed, who had an oxygen mask on her face. "I don't know. All they said was that her condition has worsened."

"What?" Cordelia asked. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't worry," Dan told her. "We're not gonna go anywhere until we find out."

Prue acknowledged the head doctor, as he came over to them. "Dr. Williamson?"

The medical man got right to the point. "Unfortunately - your sister's immune system isn't as strong as we thought it would be, and the antibiotics are having no effect on the disease."

"So what do we..." Cordelia started before demanding, "What do 'you' do now?"

"Well, there's nothing more we can do," the doctor answered after a beat.

"What do you mean by that?" Prue asked, trying to keep it together. "What are you saying?"

The look Dr. Williamson gave her was not good. "Well, either Piper pulls out of the coma on her own, or I'm afraid your sister's not going to survive."

He was quickly called back into the room, as Cordelia threw up her hand to cover her mouth and the tears came pouring down. "No..."

Prue came over and took her youngest sister in her arms, as they both started to cry. Dan tried to offer what support he could, and desperately thought, (Xander, where the hell are you? This is no time to leave Cordelia all alone...)

---

Halliwell Manor Attic.

A short while later

Cordelia and Prue charged into the attic, heading for the Book of Shadows. "Okay, we can't let Piper die."

"No, we can't - but Prue..." Cordelia pointed out. "This isn't a demon or a warlock that we're up against."

"Alright," Prue said, as she flipped through the Book quickly. "There are spells in here to vanquish demons, then there's got to be a spell in here to vanquish a lousy bug!"

"Okay, but even if there is a spell, how do we get past the personal gain issue?" Cordelia asked. "Or the consequences?"

"What consequences?" Prue asked, sure of herself. "The Power of Three remains unbroken, future innocents are saved. I don't really see a downside to that, do you?"

Cordelia grabbed her arm. "Prue, think about it. If good witches really could vanquish diseases like that, do you think there'd be even one sick person in this world?"

Her words took some of the wind out of Prue's sails. "We have to save Piper."

"I agree, 100 . I just found you guys, I'm not losing a sister now," Cordelia told her. "All I'm saying is before we resort to the Book of Shadows, maybe we should call Leo."

Prue looked at her, unsure. "No. She told us not to."

Cordelia didn't budge. "So? Let her be pissed at us, at least she'll be alive to do it!"

Prue had to agree with that. In her opinion, it was better to have an upset sister than a dead one. "We don't even know how to contact him. He's always just sorta been around."

Without knowing what exactly to do, both sisters started yelling in unison for the whitelighter. "Leo?!"

"Leo?" Cordelia called out. "Are you here?"

Both of them jumped, when Leo orbed in right behind them. "Cool, it worked!" Cordelia grinned.

Prue didn't waste any time. "Alright, Leo, look...Piper is very-"

"Very sick, I know," their former handyman said. "That's why I could hear you calling. I've been nearby, watching."

Cordelia looked at him, shocked. "Wait, you've been watching this whole time - and you haven't healed her?"

The pain was clear on his face. "I can't." He looked up, "They know about Piper too, and they won't let me interfere. I'm not even supposed to be here right now."

Prue was well and truly stunned. "Leo, you can't just let Piper die!"

"Don't you think I would do something about it, if I could?" Mr. Wyatt snapped back at her.

Cordelia couldn't understand it. "But you love her."

Leo didn't like to say it, but did so anyway. "I know. But I'm not her whitelighter anymore. And besides, even if I could help her - my powers probably wouldn't work, if they don't let them." He looked up again suddenly. "I have to go, they know I'm here."

They both gave him disbelieving looks. "I'm sorry. Tell Piper I love her." And with that, Leo orbed out.

"Okay, that's it. Screw the consequences," Cordelia said tightly, as she started to search the book.

---

Later at the hospital, Cordelia and Prue had joined the awakened Piper in the isolation ward. "You can't keep us here!" Cordelia demanded of the doctor.

"Actually, I can - by law," Dr. Williamson told her in a no-nonsense voice. "Not just because your sister circumvented it by opening the uninspected fruit, but because she's carrying a rare disease that has every possibility of spreading to epidemic proportions."

Prue didn't like the sound of that. "I thought that you said it wasn't contagious?"

Dr. Williamson nodded. "Arroyo fever isn't 'supposed' to be contagious."

"Well, then maybe you misdiagnosed it?" Cordy suggested tightly.

"I didn't," Dr. Williamson said in a similar vein. "And aside from the fact that I have no idea how this disease is being spread, there's another little mystery that's concerning me..."

He turned to Piper. "Your recovery makes no clinical sense. Your blood has no antibodies, which means your immune system never fought off the disease. By all medical standards, you should be dead now, Miss Halliwell."

Piper didn't know how to answer that. "What's the matter, doctor? You don't believe in miracles?"

"Not the kind that doesn't leave traces, no." The doctor pointed to the door. "I've got six people infected out there, and there's nothing I can do to save them unless I figure out how it is you survived. I'm gonna run a series of tests on all three of your blood work. Even DNA sampling. Maybe it's a genetic marker, I don't know. But I'm gonna find out, and you're not leaving until I do."

After he left, Cordelia frowned. "Well, his bedside manner sure could use a little work."

Piper stared at her sisters. "Six people? How's that possible?"

"When we did the spell, we must have awakened everything in the room - including the disease..."

---

Not long afterwards Dan entered the room, to see a sight he wished he hadn't. Prue and Cordelia were holding each other crying, while Dr. Williamson and a few nurses were hovering over Piper in the bed.

"She's not responding to CPR!" Williamson called out. "Come on, Miss Halliwell."

No one in the room saw Piper's spirit rise out of her body. "What's going on..." the witch said - before she found herself in a dark place, with a bright light ahead of her. Piper suddenly could see the shape of a man walking from it to her. And it was no small shock when she saw...

"Leo?"

"Hurry, take my hands," the whitelighter ordered her. "We don't have much time."

"Am I dead?" Piper asked, unsure.

"No, not yet," Leo said. "Not if you take my hands."

"I don't understand-"

"It's the only way I can heal you," he responded. "The only chance I have of them not finding out."

Back at her body in the hospital, it was not looking good. "Give me the paddles!" Dr. Williamson demanded.

A nurse grabbed them and handed them over. "Charging."

When the machine beeped, Williamson called out, "Clear!" Piper's body jumped a tiny bit from the shock, as he zapped her.

"No response," the nurse said, checking the readout. "I'm not getting anything."

"Again."

The nurse hit the button. "Charging."

"Clear!"

In that other place, Leo gazed into Piper's eyes. "I don't want to lose you."

That was all Piper needed to hear. She held out her hands, letting him place his over hers.

Back in the hospital room, the machine was emitting a very bad constant tone. The droning noise that every red-blooded American dreaded these days, after a generation of cultural conditioning from TV and the movies.

The grim-faced nurse looked at the clock and called it, "Time of death, 9:40 a.m."

Prue and Cordelia were clutching each other as they sobbed hopelessly, watching the doctor about to place the sheet over Piper's face.

"Beep, Beep, Beep..."

The nurse couldn't believe it. "Wait, I think she's responding. There's a heartbeat!"

"What the hell? This is incredible..."

Dan hardly heard the stunned doctor's words. He rushed to Piper's bedside, just in time for her to speak a name... (Piper, thank God-)

Which was not his.

"Leo."

---

Auburn State Park, California

The same time

Cole Turner, a.k.a. the demon Belthazor, shimmered into existence on the trail above the river. He had seen the results of his handiwork farther upstream. As in the destroyed remains of the rented canoe, bobbing in the water.

It had only taken a little effort to change the direction of the boy's craft from the calm water, to the rock-filled rapids. A nice little boating accident, to fit the bill just fine. It would certainly open up Cordelia Halliwell for him later on, after the Triad finally let him do what he did best.

His planting of the virus had kept the lovesick whitelighter busy long enough...

However, a small reflection caught his eye. And as Cole looked on with his demon senses, he swore. "You have 'got' to be kidding me!"

Near the left shore of the surging rapids, Alexander Harris was holding onto a set of rocks for dear life. His watch face was catching the sun, as he tried to pull himself up to safety.

"I am 'really' starting to hate that kid!" Cole growled, as he produced an energy ball in his hand. He couldn't hit Harris with it, after all - you can't have burn marks on the corpse from a drowning accident. But the base of the rocks he was clinging to was an easy shot.

Morphing into his demon face, Belthazor wound up to throw it...and then swore again.

---

The fairly new whitelighter Jesse McNally appeared, standing on the rocks. "Oh, damn!" he said, when the boy saw Xander at his feet. "Hang on, buddy!" Reaching down, Jesse grabbed Xander's hand and then orbed them both to the shoreline.

Harris's tired body collapsed onto the sand, when it realized solid land was under him. Thus, Jesse could now see the rest of him. His friend's right leg was badly cut up; the guardian angel could see the white bone sticking out, a souvenir from the harrowing adventures of this day.

The whitelighter acted quickly; he held his hands over the gruesome wound, and let his healing powers work. When his leg was all patched up, Jesse moved to Xander's head in case he had hit it on anything in the water. "What the hell happened to you, Xan?"

"Don't know..." Xander started, still lying flat. "I'm not - I was just paddling along, when the damn thing suddenly took on a life of its own." He lifted his head slowly. "Couldn't get Leo, so I gambled that the Elders might let 'you' hear me."

"Don't know why they did," Jesse told him, speaking honestly. As the harsh fact was, his mortal life and brief unlife in Sunnydale was just part of the past now. His friendship with Xander, his feelings for Cordelia - the whole enchilada. It had been nearly 5 years, after all. "They made it real clear that I was only to take care of Tara, ya know."

"Yeah. How's that been going, dude?" Xander asked as he recovered.

"Okay, for the most part," Jesse replied. "Tara and I get along great, but Willow..." He shook his head. "Man, has she ever changed. She used to be this little mousy girl that hung out with us, packed her own lunches and always wore floods, but now - talk about headstrong! Plus, I think she's a bit miffed because I'm not 'her' whitelighter..."

Xander stared at his one-time best friend, remembering their conversation in the guardian angel realm - even if he couldn't remember what the place was like now. About how he had to let go - that Darla had her own role to play in the scheme of things, and the Master had already paid for his crime. Harris then pulled himself together, and focusing on Willow said, "Maybe I should go pay her a visit?"

Jesse instantly shook his head. "You don't belong there anymore, pal. And given this thing with that hellgod Glory...well, Buffy doesn't need or want the extra headaches your presence would bring. Trust me on that..." he finished up, before orbing out.

Xander mulled over his friend's words. (Guess so. Well, damn. What now? Oh, don't be an idiot - you 'know' what now! That near-death experience, you were only thinking of one person...)

---

Prue's office at Buckland's Auction House, San Francisco, California.

The next day

The witch put her nameplate and plastic plant into the box, with her other belongings. Jack watched her clean out her things, "So, what are you gonna do?"

Prue really didn't have a solid answer for him. "I don't know. Just take some time. Figure it out. Look, I had a little wakeup call - and I realize that life is too short to be wasting my time doing something I really don't wanna be doing."

Looking at the stack of new policy memos on the desk she added, "This place has changed. They care more about the sale, than what they're selling..."

---

P3 club, San Francisco, California.

That night

The sisters were at one end of the bar. After Piper asked if Dan had called, Cordelia told her gently, "Uh, you know, Piper, Dan heard you call out Leo's name when you were coming around at the hospital."

"He did?" Piper asked, grimacing. "That wasn't me thinking about Leo, that was just..."

"Him saving you," Cordy replied. "I know."

Prue frowned. "Still, how are you gonna explain that to Dan?"

When Piper's face showed she had absolutely no idea, Cordelia pointed out, "Well, at least you're alive to try. That's what's important."

Prue agreed at once. "Yeah, I mean, just because we're witches, doesn't mean we're above the laws of nature."

"Or the Wiccan ones," Cordelia said.

"I know, you don't have to tell me twice," Piper told them both. "I'm not taking anything for granted anymore."

"Ditto," the oldest Halliwell replied.

Cordelia grinned, and put an arm around her sister. "Yeah, Prue, welcome to the ranks of the unemployed. I'm proud of you. I think what you did was very brave."

"Thank you," Prue said modestly, as she glanced towards the stairs. She easily noticed the man walking through the crowd. "Ooh, Piper!" Pointing, she added, "Leo."

When Piper got up to head over to him, Cordelia patted her on the back. "Tell him thanks for us too."

More than a little nervous, Piper walked over and tapped Leo on the shoulder. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," he replied. "How are you feeling?"

Piper gave the man a sincere smile. "A little tired, but okay. Leo, thank you for everything you..."

He stopped her at once. "I couldn't let you die, Piper."

That meant a lot to her. "I'm very glad you couldn't. Did you get in trouble?" the club owner asked, worried.

"Yeah, actually," Leo said, shrugging. "A lot. They found out what I did." He paused for a moment. "They clipped my wings."

Piper's eyes went huge at hearing that. "What?"

Leo nodded. "It's not permanent. It's more like a suspension...I hope."

"Leo, I-I-I don't know what to say," Piper stumbled out. At one time, this was the one thing she'd wanted more than anything else...

"You don't have to say anything. You didn't do anything, I did," the former whitelighter told her. "I guess in a way I always hoped someday, somehow you and I would get a second chance."

It kind of hurt her to say it, but Piper did so anyway. "I'm with Dan now."

Leo acknowledged that. "I know. But I also know now that I'm a mortal, I'm gonna fight for you." Off of her stunned look he added, "May the best man win."

---

Halliwell Manor.

Tuesday, January 9th 2001

Not long before midnight, Cordelia Halliwell wasn't thinking about today being her 20th birthday, and that Xander wasn't here for it - not anymore. As she was laying on the floor in the living room, Cordelia's body shook a little as her soul was switched back with that of her past life in 1924.

Her eyes sprung open, and her hand felt around her neck where her past life cousins had been strangling her. "Piper...Prue?" she gasped out.

Piper made the decision. "Okay, it's her. Put it back on, fast!"

Prue quickly refastened the enchanted amulet back around Cordy's neck. Just in time too, as it glowed - signaling the past life soul curse trying to kill her. It took a full 30 seconds for it to stop.

"It's okay!" the woman then told her youngest sister in relief.

Piper helped Cordy sit up. "You're safe."

Cordelia leaned against her, and looked at both her sisters. "Thank you, guys...for saving my life. 'All' of them."

---

Halliwell Manor.

Wednesday, January 10th 2001

In the morning in the manor entryway, Piper was talking to Leo as he was leaving. "So I, uh, hope you're not still upset with me. You know, for not telling you about our past lives together," the man babbled.

Piper shook her head. "I'm not letting you off the hook for that just yet. I'm still not quite sure what it even means."

Leo gazed lovingly at her. "Well, I'd like to think it means we're destined to be together..." Then the doorbell rang; the guy opened the door, and saw Dan standing there.

"Leo, what are you doing here?" the man in question asked, surprised.

Piper quickly stepped up. "Leo was just leaving. Bye."

Leo headed out at once. "Okay. I'll see you at work." He nodded politely to Dan, as he passed him by. "Dan."

Dan frowned, as he closed the door behind Leo. "You know, Piper, I'm just going to come right out and say this. Even if you get mad at me, but I know in my gut that something's not right with him. He worries me."

Piper tried to play it cool. "Uh, are you talking about Leo?"

Dan scowled. "If Leo is his real name. You know, I had my brother-in-law who works for the State Department check out his army records. But the only Leo Wyatt they came up with, died almost 60 years ago in World War II."

"Well, there must be some kind of mistake," Piper said with a shrug.

"Piper. There is no record of him anywhere. Nothing," Dan said, concerned. "It's almost as if he doesn't have any past at all. I'm sorry. It's...just...just do me favor, and watch your back when you're around him. Okay? At least until I figure out who he really is."

She nodded. "Okay, I will."

---

Up in Cordelia's room, she was sitting on the bed with the Book of Shadows - when Prue walked in. "Hey, you all right?"

"Yeah. I think so," Cordy answered, looking up. "I'm just writing a little warning in the Book, about Anton."

"Why?" Prue asked, sitting across from her. "You don't think that we actually vanquished him?"

"I just don't want to take any chances," Cordelia replied firmly. "And I hope the future me is somewhere near this book, if he ever strikes again."

Prue laughed. "Something tells me that we're always going to be near it. Always have been. Always will be."

"Yeah. You're probably right," Cordelia admitted. "Of course, the warning won't do much good if the future me turns out to be bad..."

"It's not just you, you know," Prue told her. "I mean, we all have a little bad in us. It's just that when 'you' turn bad, things tend to catch on fire."

Cordelia had to laugh at that, after seeing what her past life's power had been. "This is supposed to be making me feel better?"

Prue leaned in a little. "What I mean is, that it's just as natural to be bad as it is to be good. That's how we know what good is. That's how we're able to make the choice to 'be' good." Making sure she'd made her point Prudence added, "Remember, Anton wouldn't have needed evil Past Cordelia, if you hadn't evolved into good Present Cordelia."

"Ah, about that - there's something I didn't tell you guys," Cordelia said reluctantly.

"What?" Prue asked, interested.

Cordelia dropped the marker. "Remember how Leo said we tend to cluster with the same souls, in all our lives? Family, friends, enemies, lovers? How our souls recognize each other, in our little soul clique?"

"Yeah," Prue answered. "Like how Past Piper was married to Dan, but Leo was her lover?"

"Right," Cordy told her. "Well - when I was trapped back in the 20's, I saw an old photograph that the past you had taken of the past me..."

"Cordy?"

The young woman looked down, as she told her big sister the rest of it. "It was of me and Past Xander. We looked...pretty close, when it was taken." She got a disgusted look on her face, "That's what burns me up inside. That somehow, the past me was turned against the past Xander in favor of Anton. She picked the evil shape-shifting immortal warlock, over the guy who was willing to die to protect all three if us..."

"I'd say that your soul learned more than one lesson back then," Prue told her.

A car door closing was heard from the open window, and it caused Prue to lean over and look out. "Well, well. Look who's home!"

Cordelia looked out the window as well, and bolted out of the room when she saw Xander getting out of his car in front of the manor. Prue stayed and watched, as her youngest sister ran out the front door - meeting Xander, as he was coming up the drive.

"Well, it's about damn time!" Prue said to herself, watching Cordy almost tackle Xander to the ground with an embrace and a deep kiss, which the young man returned wholeheartedly.

On the way out of the bedroom, Prue checked the date and time on her watch. (Gotta check the board, and see if I had today down in the betting pool...)

TBC...