Second Life

by Nodakskip

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

9. Chapter 8

AN: This chapter was a long one at 60 pages. It has the Charmed eps Apocalypse, Not & Be Careful What You Witch For. Also I fudged the Charmed timeline and had a season 5 ep 'Magic Wears A Mask' happen in mid season two instead.

----

Chapter Eight

P3 club, San Francisco, California.

Friday, May 4th 2001

7:29 p.m.

Tucked away on the couch within their little alcove, the Charmed Ones were dressed to kill - and were watching the crowd dance the night away.

"Look at them all," Cordelia Halliwell said with a nod to the crowd. "They'll all live to dance another day, and what do we get? Bupkus! We saved the whole friggin' world. The least we should get is a thank you, you know..."

"Ladies," Leo said casually, as he came over from the bar.

"Hey, Leo!" Cordy said sweetly.

"I know this has been hard on all of you..." the whitelighter started to say.

Cordelia nodded at once. "Yeah, well, we sort of made it hard on you too."

Piper quickly added, "Leo, it's just..."

"It's okay, Piper," he told his girlfriend. "We were all just doing our job."

"Job?" Cordelia repeated, amused. "Okay, monsieur master of understatement, is there anything else?"

"No," Leo replied with a headshake. "But you should know that I was just at a meeting with them, and the Elders told me that it was your act of complete selflessness that stopped the Source's plan from going forward."

Prue looked up. "So the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were destroyed, because Piper and Cordelia were willing to sacrifice me?"

Leo nodded to the eldest sister. "The Horsemen's bosses said that it was a sign that there were still too much good in the world, to make the apocalypse successful."

"So are they giving up?" Piper asked, hopeful.

"No, in fact they'll probably try even harder from now on."

"Great!" the middle sister sighed.

"Do you wanna have a drink with us, Leo?" Cordelia offered, as she moved to make room on the couch.

"No, you need time together." The decades-old guardian angel looked at all of them. "Just you three." With one last look to Piper he told her, "I'll see you..."

Prue mused over the day's events, as Leo quickly joined the crowd. "You know, you two faced an incredibly hard thing and, um, you made the right decision. Through your own free will."

Cordelia curled up to her big sister. "I am so, so, SO sorry, Prue!" Then she frowned, remembering how one of the Horsemen had tried to hit on her at the manor - before she'd put the jerk back in his place, by telling him she already had a boyfriend. And that the asshole didn't even come up to the soles of Xander's feet...

"So am I," Piper said as well.

"There's no apologies necessary," Prue said firmly. "Like Leo said, you were just doing your jobs, and I just have to deal with that. It was either me, or the world..."

At that moment Ronnie, one of the bartenders, came up holding the book Cordelia had bought the day before. "Everyone has to vote on this!" He opened to the saved page and ethics question. "What if a building was on fire? Do you save five strangers, or one sibling?"

All three Charmed Ones looked up at him with a smile. "Five strangers," they all said at once.

---

The other end of the club.

A few minutes later

Leo walked over to find his other charge, Xander Harris, clearing off a few empty tables. "So, this is where you've been hiding?"

"Don't know if I'd use the word 'hiding', old buddy," Xander replied, as he dropped some rubbish into a bin. "And until we hire someone to replace Mike, guess I'm Overtime Boy here. Oh well, at least nothing major has been happening the last few days..."

Leo's eyes went wide. "The sisters didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Xander asked absently, as he moved toward another table. "Haven't seen the girls all day, since I was only home long enough for a shower this morning-"

"Xander? Prue, Piper and Cordelia stopped the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from eventually destroying the world."

"Say what!" Xander jerked his head up.

"Well, first they had to call a truce to get Prue and War back..." Leo started, as Xander stared open-mouthed at him. "Ah, long story short, Prue got shifted to another dimension, I went undercover at the Horsemen's base, and since the girls were willing to sacrifice their sister for the world...the Source killed the Horsemen he'd created, as a penalty for failure."

"So, no apocalypse?" Xander asked, going for the bottom line in a very Giles-like manner.

"No apocalypse," Leo replied.

"Well, that's of the good," Harris said with a sigh, as he sat down at the table he'd been cleaning.

But Leo Wyatt could tell something was wrong with his young friend. "Why would that be depressing?"

Xander looked up, "Don't get me wrong, man...hey, I really don't want the world to end..."

"But?" Leo prompted, as he sat down himself.

"But..." Xander sighed again. "What is that now? Four end-of-the-world scenarios that have happened that I didn't even know about, till they were over?"

"Well, you were working on every occasion," the whitelighter replied. "And don't think your contribution doesn't count - I mean, someone has to keep the club going in order to bring in the money for that household..."

"I know," Xander said simply. "Guess I just hate being out of the loop, is all."

"You haven't exactly been on the sidelines this entire time, if that's what you're thinking," Leo pointed out. "It's just that some things need the Charmed Ones-"

"And not the former carpenter," Xander said wistfully, as he leaned back. "I know, dude. It's the Charmed Ones after all, not the Charmed Ones and their boyfriends."

"This isn't about what happened in Sunnydale back then, is it?" Leo asked, recalling past talks.

"Oh, heck no," Xander replied quickly. "And I don't think they're going to start sending me on any life-or-death donut missions, or anything like that..."

The young man smiled a little, to take the sting of past bitterness out of his words. "It's just - I guess I knew it was going to happen, sooner or later. That I would end up being the normal one, amongst all the supernaturals."

Leo cocked his head. "And this bothers you?"

"It's not that, Leo - look, back in Sunnydale, Cordy would usually hide behind me when we went out to patrol - if it ever got too nasty. But now, she's one of the superhero pros! And I don't mean to sound sexist here, but have you looked through the history of the Warren family line? I can count the number of guys mentioned in it, on one hand even! It kinda seems like it gets to a point where...we're there just for making more baby girls to pass the legacy onto, and that's pretty much it..."

"There have been a disproportionately large number of females in Melinda Warren's lineage," Leo conceded. "But that doesn't mean every guy was just a stay-at-home dad, while mom went off to kill all the demons-"

"Well, in case you were wondering, I don't feel like the Zeppo here," Xander said. "Cordy's made it very clear she doesn't think that way, anyhow. But back in Sunnydale, I didn't have any powers - and too often for my liking, I was pushed to the rear 'for my own good'. And the demons here now in San Francisco are getting stronger and stronger. Can't help wondering, how long till I don't know where the hell I fit in again?"

"Everyone wants to have a purpose in life," Leo replied, wishing he could tell his friend and protégé about the special destiny that he supposedly had. And wondering when - or even if - Xander would enter the ranks of the whitelighter corps. "But if you ask me, and you did, I think I know one person who knows what your purpose is."

The man looked through the club, to see the three sisters talking on the couch. "And for sure, I'm not the only one who sees her eyes instantly light up whenever you're around..."

Xander looked in that direction as well, and saw Cordelia talking to Prue. When the former Chase girl saw him watching her, the youngest Charmed One gave her significant other a light wave along with a big smile. After Xander returned the wave and smile, Cordy went back to talking with her sister.

"You know," Leo said as he patted Harris on the back. "Everyone looks for the big, grand reason they exist in this world. To save the planet from destruction, or cure AIDS, or end world hunger, or fly to Mars...not everyone sees the smallest but best reasons of all."

"And they would be...?"

"They all come back to love, Xander. It's what makes the world go round, after all."

---

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

Saturday, May 5th 2001

Cordelia sat on her bed, with soft music playing. A stack of old photos surrounded her, with a large book with blank pages sitting nearby. "And if we just cut him out..." the brunette said to herself, as she started to remove the image of Charles Chase from a photo.

"So, this is what you've been doing ever since we came home?" Prue commented, as she came in through the open door.

"Well, I didn't have one," Cordelia said, pointing to the book.

"Yes you did-?" Prue asked, confused, as she held up the leather-bound book with the title 'Cordelia Chase Baby Book'.

"If you look at that book," Cordelia said, then briefly paused. "Well, it looks like I'm an expensive art object or something!"

She shivered a little. "There was an almost identical one, for my adopted father's Lamborghini! When I saw yours and Piper's, where our mom and dad put so much into it by hand...and then I looked back where my adopted mother didn't even do it herself? I can just tell that so many of those pictures are just poses, she never changed my diapers like in those photos..."

"I see..." Prue commented. "But there were some happy times, weren't there?" She looked at a few photos. "See, isn't that Xander here?"

"No, that's Percy West, I think," Cordy said, as she looked at the photo from her fifth birthday. "And God - that guy was a complete jerk, before he underwent a personality transplant towards the end of senior year!"

"Wait a minute," Prue said, as she noticed something odd about the book Cordelia was creating. "How come there's no name on these?"

"I guess I'm just in one of those moods," Cordelia responded. "Prue - I was born Phoebe Halliwell, not Cordelia Chase. I just don't know if I should put both names on there, or just one."

"For me, that's easy," Prue told her. "You may have been born Phoebe, but you became and are still Cordelia." She added as a tease, "That is what Xander constantly screams out loud at nights, after all!"

"Oh, shut up!" Cordelia laughed, as she tossed a small pillow at her sister.

"Just saying what I've been hearing, ever since February," Prue giggled back.

"Oh, like I never hear anything coming from your bedroom?" Cordelia grinned. "Oh, Johnny!" the youngest Charmed one imitated in a falsetto tone, referring to Prue's most recent boyfriend.

"Well..." Prue shrugged, then she threw the pillow back from whence it came.

"But seriously," Cordelia said, deciding to change the subject. "I've been wondering a lot lately, what it would be like to be Phoebe."

"Really?" Prue asked. "But how would it be any different? I mean, you're still you, no matter what name you use."

"I know, but I just want to see what it's like," Cordy said, before she grinned. "And I also wanna see how Xander takes it, being forced to call me another girl's name..."

---

House of Soul Nightclub, San Francisco, California.

The same time

"Have either of you seen him yet?" Lt. Briony Branca asked the two other cops at her table.

"Can't say that I have," Darryl Morris replied.

Inspector Kate Lockley shook her head as well. "Don't know if I really want to, either. I mean, the flying thing sounds cool, but with all the stuff I've seen over the years...I can't help it, I just don't care much for people who try to operate above the law!"

The redheaded lieutenant nodded. "I know what you mean. For every criminal we catch...we have to go to court, even on traffic offences. Then this Nightman character drops off a guy he says is a serial killer, and we're supposed to just send him off to the gas chamber on that man's say-so?"

"Still hung up on that flying guy, Lieutenant?" Johnny Domino asked, as he walked up to their booth.

"This is real life, Johnny," Briony told her friend. "We don't need a guy with a comic book fetish messing up the status quo around here!"

"Well," Johnny shrugged. "I'll save my reviews till I see him in action..." The blond man that was Prue's new boyfriend looked around, and saw his friend Raleigh Jordan waving him over. "Ah, sorry, but looks like work beckons-"

Minutes later when Johnny had entered the back room with his friend, he asked, "What's up?"

Raleigh turned to the TV set. "A big fire down at the docks. The reporters interviewed a..." he made quotation marks with his fingers. "...'drunk' man, who claims he saw a guy with fire shooting out of his hands."

"Damn!" Johnny swore. "You think it's another guy like me?"

"I don't know many other people who just happen to have powers like that," Raleigh responded.

"And not many demons we've seen look completely human either," Johnny finished up, as he went to grab his Nightman outfit from its hiding place.

---

Somewhere in the desert, southern California.

Sunday, May 6th 2001

The Knights and Clerics of the Order watched, as the young male exited the car. "You are the healer?" one of the Knights of Byzantium demanded.

"I guess so..." the intern named Ben said, with a little uncertainty from eyeing the many swords visible.

"Heal that heathen in there, and then attend to our General's needs," Dante ordered him.

"General?" the guy asked. "Okay..." Ben said simply, as he walked through the busted door to the abandoned gas station.

As they watched the energy shield reform behind the young doctor, one of the clerics grinned. "Our spell must have worked!"

"So it would seem," Dante replied, as he put his sword back in its sheath. "Had they been able to call for that child healer of the witches, then all would have been lost..."

---

A bit later inside the old building Ben stood next to Giles, tending to his wound, wearing surgical gloves. Buffy stood beside him, her Watcher's injuries weighing heavy on her mind. "Is he going to be okay?"

Ben cleaned up some dried blood from Giles' chest. "Buffy, he needs to get to a hospital. I've done what I can, but I don't think he'll last for much longer without surgery..." As the young doctor took off his gloves, he looked directly towards the Slayer. "You, uh, forgot to mention the costume party outside?"

Buffy looked down. "Sorry. I-I didn't know who else to call..." She briefly looked over to see Joyce comforting Dawn in the corner. (Oh, God, what am I gonna do now?)

"No, it's okay," Ben replied, trying to play it off. "I mean, yeah, not...how I pictured seeing you again, but, uh...I'll take what I can get."

---

Halliwell Manor Basement, San Francisco, California.

The same time

"You want me to call you what?" Xander asked, thinking he had heard his girlfriend wrong.

"Phoebe. Phoebe Halliwell," Cordelia said, as she did a side kick at the worn practice dummy.

"And, why should I do that?" the dark-haired guy asked, holding her water and towel.

"Just humor me, please..." Harris's beloved said, before she launched several blows on the dummy's upper body.

"Sorry Cor, but it sounds kind of stupid-" Xander said, before Cordy spun on him in her attack pose and launched a kick at his head...that stopped just before touching him.

"Well, now you're just showing off," Xander smirked, as her foot pulled back. "You know, if you could help me with my moves like that..."

"Sorry, honey," Cordy said, cutting him off and grabbing the towel from him. "But we were told in class not to teach others. I even got in trouble for showing a kick like that, to a guy who missed a class!"

Xander shook his head. "Maybe I should just join up, or something-"

"Really?" Cordelia's head snapped up. "That would be so great!" Unfortunately, her face fell at that point. "But we wouldn't be in the same class...you'd be in with the newbies."

"Wouldn't the demon fighting thing for the last five years let me skip ahead a little?" Harris asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"Nope," Cordelia told him, as they walked up the stairs to the kitchen. "But anyway, I do want you to start calling me Phoebe. At least for a little while, okay?"

Xander stopped to think it over, at the top of the stairs. "Hmm, well, I suppose I can do that - for the woman who helped stop the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and all..."

Despite her boyfriend's joking manner, Cordelia cringed at the reference. She turned around and said, "Um...have I mentioned how sorry I am that I didn't tell you about all that, before now?"

"It's okay," Xander told her simply, as they went into the kitchen and placed her water bottle into the dishwasher. "I've lived with hot girls saving the world for a long time now. My ego isn't tender-"

"I know that," Cordelia said. "But I just don't want you to feel left out, alright? While we saved the world, you kept working double shifts at the club to keep the lights on around here." She kissed him on the cheek. "You're my superhero, sweetheart."

Xander tried not to blush. This was the one thing that he knew Willow still couldn't believe about Cordelia; that she could show kindness. And now with this new life that she had, his girl had almost lost the Queen C mindset completely...

At least, until she met someone that she didn't like. "It's nothing much, 'Phoebe'. I just run the bar-"

"And balance the books, and keep the bands and their managers happy whenever Piper has to run off and help us vanquish something," Cordelia told him. "And you know what? When I went shopping with Prue and Piper the other day, before all the fun began...I got you a little reward for all your efforts."

As expected, Xander Harris instantly got a very big grin. "Oh you did, now, did you?"

"Uh-huh," Ms. Halliwell grinned. "You know that poster of the Black Cat you just got?"

"The one you won't let me put up anywhere, even in my old bedroom?" Xander teased.

"That's the one," Cordy joked. "Well, I found this great costume shop...and they even had the white fur and wig!"

As Xander's eyes briefly glazed over, Cordy laughed to herself - and thanked God there were thousands of comic book babes out there, whose costumes she could surprise her boyfriend with.

---

Stonington Federal Prison, California.

The same time

Charles Chase looked through the few websites set up for his adopted daughter. He had very little contact now with his ex-wife; for even when it had been her idea to not pay the damn taxes in the first place, she'd gotten off almost scot-free...

The middle-aged man had assumed that after graduation Cordelia had left Sunnydale with her mother, but now when he used the prison's library resources to look for his ex-wife - he had found nothing about their little girl. Just some stuff about Alexis Baker - who, having gone back to using her maiden name, was trying to become a well-to-do woman in LA.

That had seemed to be the most logical place to find Cordelia being a model for a videogame, but no such luck. And as he'd guessed, the videogame website gave only a brief bio on Cordelia 'Halliwell'.

Basically, that she lived with her boyfriend and two sisters in San Francisco. And all that the fan websites showed were pictures of her game character, and talk of her getting a limited comic book deal so her character could interact with the better-known Lara Croft.

Charles had found a few convention photos as well. They showed Cordelia signing autographs, and boxes of her new action figures. One had her with that Harris boy, signing a large box that held the complete set of her action figures bought by her male companion. The fan who had taken the photo called Harris 'one lucky bastard', as Cordelia kissed him on the cheek...

The only thing he noticed out of place was a short, young, blond girl watching them in the background of one of the pictures.

"So, what they're saying is true?" a voice asked from behind him. "That model is your daughter?"

Charles looked up to see Marvin Tresa looking over his shoulder, one of the few friends he had in this prison. "Seems like she's making a name for herself. Doesn't surprise me, really..." Mr. Chase responded as a proud father. "I just don't get all this stuff about her having sisters, or having a new last name-"

"It's not your ex-wife's maiden name?" his friend asked.

"No," Charles said simply. "It has to be her birth family, but Lord only knows how she found them. Except for a brief attempt back after she was found...no one ever looked for them, she just became Cordelia Chase."

"You going to try and contact her?" Marvin asked, as he sat down next to his friend.

Charles shrugged with a heavy sigh. "I want to...but Marvin, I'm not even sure what to say to her. God knows I wasn't exactly the best father in the world, to my little girl! Keeping my businesses going took so much time and effort, I know she felt abandoned...hell, I'm sure that's why she started dating that lowlife Xander Harris! Just to piss me off. To get me to notice her."

"Tell you what, Charles," Tresa said. "When our time here is up in a month, I have some friends I'd like to introduce you to. Maybe if you can rebuild your life a bit before you see her, it'll go better when you two finally catch up."

Charles thought about it for a moment. "What friends?"

"A friend from college contacted me last week, his company went public and they need good executives fast to keep the riffraff in line. And as a favor to me, I'm sure they won't ask you too many questions - about what you've been doing for the last two years," Marvin responded.

Charles appeared to consider it. And a little while later, Marvin went to see a friend in the visitor area.

"Is it done?" the older man in the suit immediately asked him.

"Yes, sir," Marvin answered. "He's agreed to join the company, upon our release."

"Very good," the older man responded, with a hint of glee. "To find the father of one of the Charmed Ones in jail..."

"With all due respect, sir," Marvin said. "He is only her adopted father. The witch knows her true ancestry now."

"Possibly, that will just make it easier," the suited man thought. "When he finds out our true purpose, he might be less inclined to hinder our efforts."

"If he tries to stop us - I'll kill him myself, sir," Marvin said, deadly serious. "Our holy quest cannot afford to be stopped-"

"No, indeed it cannot," his superior responded. "The 'Charmed Ones' prophecy has come true, after all this time. The great evil is finally among us. If they were to create even more of their witch spawn..." He shuddered. "No. When the time is right, we strike and kill anything alive in that house, before burning it down and salting the earth."

"What if they already have children by then?" Marvin asked. "Charles mentioned that Cordelia is living in the same house as her boyfriend from high school. And if he truly is the "Judged One" mentioned in the prophecy, he could easily sire a child upon her, before we're ready to storm the place - for all we know, she could be pregnant right now-"

The man in the dark suit stood to leave, but before he did so he said, "Have faith in the rightness of our cause. And keep in mind the Devil always hides its worst horrors in pleasant forms, brother."

---

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

A few minutes later

Xander was helping Leo move some furniture around in the sitting room when he asked, "Why do we even bother having anything nice down here?"

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"Well, look at this," Xander picked up a very old black and white photo of a Warren woman from 100 years ago. "I doubt we can replace even half of these old family photos...we keep fixing that grandfather clock so often, that the guy at the store knows us by name...hell, so many windows around here have been destroyed, the insurance guy wants to investigate us for fraud!"

Leo nodded in understanding. "So that's why you and Cordy didn't get that plasma TV?"

"Best Buy doesn't really cover demon-tossed energy balls in their money-back guarantees," Xander said, just before his cell phone rang. "Hello?" he then said into the phone.

Then Xander's eyes went wide in alarm. "Whoa, calm down Mrs. S! Now...who took little Dawnie?"

---

Maple Court, Sunnydale, California.

Fifteen minutes later

Spike ground his cigarette underneath his boot, as the group drove up to the Magic Box. For Xander had loaded everyone into the Hemi Cuda and then Leo had orbed the car to the outskirts of Sunnydale, in case they needed the vehicle to get away fast. "About time you wankers showed up!"

"Nice to see you too, Spike," Cordelia growled at the vampire, as she got out of Xander's Cuda. She looked to her boyfriend, "I can charbroil him, right?"

Xander shook his head. "It's your turn to play nice with a vampire. We save Dawn and stop Glory, then you can just roast his undead ass already-"

"Like you even could," Spike replied with a malevolent sneer.

"Wait, we're working with a demon?" Leo asked, unsure.

"I think the world about to end might let you bend the rules a bit, honey," Piper told him as they walked into the store.

"Xander?" Willow asked in surprise, as they came in. "I didn't know you were coming-"

"I called him," Joyce Summers said sharply. "I am not losing either of my daughters!"

"I thought it was just Dawn who was in trouble?" Prue asked, as they took seats around the lighted table.

"She is," Giles said weakly from his seat. "Glory has her, however - Buffy has reacted very badly to that."

"She, she's in a coma or something," Tara told her fellow witches.

"Is Jesse with her?" Xander asked, as he saw the bandages on the Englishman's skin.

"We haven't been able...to contact him..." Giles winced out.

"Not good," Xander sighed. "Okay, Leo - heal Giles here, and then head upstairs to get Jesse..."

"Right," Leo replied, as he moved over to the wounded Watcher. "Keep still," he told the British man, before his healing hands went to work.

"Oh..." Giles said with suddenly renewed strength. "Thank you."

"Anytime," Leo replied, before he orbed up to the higher plane of existence.

"Now then, let's-" Xander started to say before he was cut off by Spike.

"Just who do you think you are, mate!" he demanded. "You and yer women come prancin' into town, and start givin' us orders? Sod that - you're not in charge 'ere!"

"Oh, please!" Xander sighed. "All right then, what's your master plan - Overbite?"

Spike growled at the insult, but swaggered a little. "We wake the Slayer up, and then go beat the crap out of that Glory bint! Then when I save the Little Bit..."

"Buffy swoons all over you?" Joyce demanded hotly of the vampire. "Get this through your head once and for all, Spike; my daughter is not that damned mechanical sex toy, that you decided to create in her image!"

William the Bloody cringed a little at that, as the new arrivals looked at him in surprise and/or disgust; and he understood how Joyce had now lost all traces of friendliness towards him, ever since his feelings towards Buffy had become known to her.

After all, she had gotten rid of Angel for Buffy to have a future with someone human, who could give her children and a life beyond the Slayage; and the British vamp knew, deep down, the parental unit would never tolerate his presence in Buffy's personal affairs.

Still, without a soul, it wasn't like that would prevent Spike from chasing after Buffy anyway...

"Joyce," the now-recovered Giles said softly, as he put a hand on her shoulder. "We're wasting time."

The oldest Summers woman nodded, but cast one quick last glare at the vampire. "Sorry, Rupert. You're right, we can deal with all that afterwards-"

"Ah..." Piper spoke up. "Just outta interest, how do we wake up your daughter? Is she under some sort of spell?"

"No," Willow told her. "She's retreated into herself, she thinks she failed her sister. I'm getting ready to go into her mind-"

"You are?" Xander asked, worried. "Willow, that sounds kind of dangerous..."

"I can do it!" Willow said, a little too loud. "This is my job, since Tara isn't exactly up to this right now!"

Prue ignored the outburst that annoyance and stress had caused. "Maybe we should cast the spell?"

Willow looked hurt. "She's my best friend, I won't just abandon her - like some people," she said with mean look towards Xander.

"Look," Prue pressed, ignoring Cordy's frown and Xander's wince. "This isn't about who's the better witch, or poaching on someone's territory! We have more power to ensure that it's cast correctly...but you know her better, she's your friend. That's why you should go into her mind, and pull her out."

"Fine," Willow said in a huff. "Come on, she's in the back room..."

"Nice to see Will's getting along fine with us being here," Xander said with another deep sigh.

"I'm sure she just wants to prove herself," Joyce told him, although the middle-aged woman looked worried too.

"She shouldn't have to," Xander commented.

Tara nodded, speaking up, "She thinks she does, anyway."

---

Downtown construction site, Sunnydale.

A short while later

Glory was looking out the window, as the now-mindless crazy people kept working on the tower. The noise was starting to get to her, when the hellgod heard something from behind her.

"Ushering in the long and bloody reign of the great..." the demon priest was chanting, as he put a symbol on Dawn's forehead. The young teenage girl was trembling in fear.

"What are you doing!" the blond, slightly unhinged, but nonetheless babe of a goddess suddenly demanded.

"I must anoint the Key," the demon responded.

"No, you really don't," Glory ordered him. "Go."

The priest looked confused. "But the time is near..."

Glory just looked at him in fury. "Out! Get out, get out!"

The demon quickly left while he could, while Glory looked out the window next to Dawn. Motioning to the crazy people outside she said, "You know...you recapture your godhood and unleash Armageddon..." The hellgod wiped off the stuff on Dawn's forehead. "All of a sudden, everybody wants to be a part of the inner circle!"

As the god tossed the cloth away, she looked directly at the scared child. "You okay?"

Dawn tried not to sound like a scared little girl, trying to think of how Buffy would act. "I wanna go home."

"Sweetie..." Glory said, before she grabbed a chair and sat across from Dawn. "You're about to."

Those words gave Ms. Summers some hope, but it was quickly killed off as Glory went on, "Not that fake suburban nightmare those monks cooked up for you. I mean, your real home!"

Glory remained unmoved by Dawn's new tears at that revelation. "As the Key! You fit the lock. Well, it's like a lock. Hey!" she wondered for a moment. "You want a pizza?" Glorificus then asked, if nothing important was going on.

"No," Dawn said softly.

"Pillow?" the hellgod asked, as she looked around. "I don't know if this place has got cable. Doubtful-"

"Please. Stop," Dawn pleaded.

"You nervous?" Glory asked, still acting as if nothing important was happening today.

"Yes," the young girl said through the tears.

"I know how you feel," Glory told her honestly. "It is your last night."

Dawn's eyes went wide at that, as Glory kept going, "As, you know...a human." She picked up Dawn's hand by the wrist, and shook it around. "This body...it's just a rental, Dawnie. Being human? It's like a costume, for girls like you and me. Being something else, that's what we truly are."

"Don't."

"Don't what?" the hellgod asked.

Dawn looked at her enemy as firmly as she could. "Don't call me Dawnie."

Glory let out a surprised laugh, and let go of Dawn's hands. "Huh. Wow. You know, that actually hurt my feelings."

Dawn just whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Not the point," Glory shrugged. "I'm just thinking, here I am trying to make you feel better, when comforting others...not part of my life. And I'm doing it, so I can stop...feeling so...um..." She snapped her fingers, trying to think of the word. "Help me out here?"

"Guilty?" Dawn asked.

"Guilty!" Glory cried. "That's it!" She laughed, a little. "But I'm not supposed to feel guilty! I'm not supposed to feel anything. I'm, I'm...I'm a god. I'm above it. I'm..." She suddenly looked angrily at the teen. "You!"

Dawn suddenly got very scared, as Glory strode back to her. "You did this to me, didn't you? Some sort of spell, you've been hanging with the wicca, you could've..." The insane creature paused for a moment. "But no. It's not magic. It's something else. Still, it is you doing this-"

Dawn quickly shook her head in fear. "I...I'm not doing anything. I swear!"

And it came to pass that Glory was convinced of that; as she finally corrupted her host Ben into betraying Dawn, and out of fear - joining forces with the bane of his existence.

---

The Magic Box, Sunnydale, California.

Monday, May 7th 2001

Midnight had come and gone; and after some time and effort, Willow was able to bring Buffy out of her...well, her own head.

The two wouldn't discuss the topic of what had happened during that time, but the Slayer was truly happy to see the Charmed Ones present; as that meant the entire thing didn't just depend on her, now.

Things did briefly go downhill when Giles mentioned that they might have to kill Dawn to save the world, as an ultimate last resort. Buffy and Joyce both looked at him with great anger for that, but to his credit the Brit stuck to his guns; and said it was an option that, however horribly cold-blooded, they could not afford to just simply dismiss. Given how over six billion lives were on the line, here.

Xander got some dirty looks as well when he suggested killing Ben, Glory's human vessel, after he learned the situation. Giles rejected it because the upcoming event was too close, and Glory almost certainly wouldn't revert back to him anytime soon. But Buffy didn't exactly relish that choice, as she was obviously feeling conflicted about the young doctor; and that was something Spike didn't like at all.

It was interesting to note, as well, how the two whitelighters arrived the same time as Anya and Jonathan came to the shop. The young lovers wouldn't say what had occupied them while the world was about to end, but Xander for one didn't need explanations.

"Hey, Jonathan. Been a few years," the one-time Zeppo said to the would-have-been member of the Trio, after dragging him outside of the Magic Box for a moment.

Levinson looked around. "Yeah, I guess. Is, is there something you wanted to say to me?" the short guy semi-babbled.

Xander paused. "Well, y'know. You, uh, you seem to have sorta taken my place here. I mean, from what I've been told by Giles over the last few months, you like looking after Buffy and Willow now?"

Jonathan briefly blushed. "Well, I bump into them a lot, given how Anya works with Mr. Giles here at the Magic Box-"

"Yeah, about that...apparently she was all hot for me for a while there, then that girl suddenly decides you're the one for her? How'd that happen, if you don't mind my asking?"

"It was just love at first sight, I guess," the guy said with a slight grin.

Xander nodded once. "Look, Jonathan. We were never what you'd call close in high school...but we did talk a few times. Hell, we probably shoulda inducted you into the Scooby gang years ago-"

"Is, is there a hazing ritual involved with that?" Levinson asked uncertainly. "'Cause, you remember that time with the swim team at the beach that night..."

"No ritual, no secret decoder ring, nothing like that," Harris said, trying to keep his patience. "Look, dude. What I'm trying to say is - Giles, Dawn, Joyce, Buffy and Willow are still family to me, even if we don't always get along and I don't see them too often now. I guess I just wanna say thanks for being there, and if you ever need me for anything in San Francisco, Giles and Joyce have my number. You know what I'm saying?"

This time, the Sunnydalian nodded. "Yeah. So, you and Cordelia, huh?"

Xander shrugged. "I love her, Jonathan. I nearly lost her two years ago, but thank God it didn't work out that way-"

"Otherwise, you'd be the one dating Anya right now?" the younger man interrupted, with a suddenly sick look on his face. (And you'd be the one sharing all those orgasms with her at nights!)

"Whatever," Harris dismissed that, as they both went back inside the magic shop.

"So we have this hammer and sphere that can hurt her," Buffy said, after Xander and Jonathan rejoined the group. "And five super-witches, one Slayer, a robot, and a vampire-"

"And us too," Xander spoke up - gesturing to Giles, Joyce, Anya and Jonathan.

Buffy shook her head. "I know this has been a sore spot between us in the past, Xander, but please! We can't afford any mistakes tonight."

"Yeah, mate," Spike said sarcastically. "I don't think a glorified bricklayer like yerself will be much help on this one!"

"Actually, he helps run our nightclub theses days," Cordy pointed out, upset.

"Fine!" Spike shrugged. "Tell ya what, whelp, you go plan the victory party at the Bronze-"

"Shut up!" Joyce demanded of the vampire. "All of us here are going to do whatever it takes, to make sure my baby girl comes home safely tonight!"

Spike wisely shut his mouth at the sight of a pissed-off mother. Even though it was psychologically impossible for the soulless demon to seriously pay her any heed, when it came to the important things in his existence.

"Do we have a plan, then?" Anya asked. "Come on, people, wanting to stay alive!"

"There's only one way," Buffy declared. "Spike, myself and the 'bot will fight our way to Dawn, while you guys handle her minions-"

"No."

Buffy and Willow stopped in their tracks. "Excuse me?" the Slayer demanded.

"You said it yourself, Buff," Xander said with certainty. "No mistakes on this one. So we need a strategy that has more than one ace up its sleeve, in case something goes wrong with your 'me Slayer, me beat 'em up' scenario."

"Do you have something in mind, Xander?" Giles asked, hopeful as Buffy glared at Harris.

Spike just snorted in amusement, while the Charmed Ones looked at Xander with patient expectancy. "Leo," Xander asked the older whitelighter. "The mind-sucking thing they say Glory does, can you heal that?"

"I...think so," Leo answered with a quick look towards Jesse, who nodded. "The sanity and mind power she took from her victims should be able to be transferred back..."

"Really?" Willow asked excitedly. "You think we could make Glory nuts again?"

"Just what we need," Spike swore. "A crazy hellgod!"

"Don't dismiss it out of hand," Prue reasoned. "If she's off-balance, then we might have a better chance of taking the enemy down with minimum casualties."

"We just have to keep her occupied, then," Piper finished for her sister.

"Doesn't that mean we all line up for her to kill us?" Anya asked, worried.

"No," Xander replied. "If all those brain-sucked people are with her...then we can do them one at a time, while she's fighting us."

"You mean me," Buffy said firmly. "Unless of course, you suddenly turned into Superman in the last few months?"

As soon as the words left Buffy's mouth, both Xander and Prue's eyes lit up. "I can be," Xander replied excitedly, before turning to his former boss. "Leo, go up there as fast as you can - and ask Kevin to help us!"

"You want me to bring an Elder down here? To take part in a fight?" Leo asked, unsure.

"Look, I know that it goes completely against the grain to request this of one of them...but we need that kid's abilities!" Xander pressed. "Tell him, it's a personal favor for me."

"I'll try," Leo said simply, before he orbed out.

"Who's Kevin?" Giles demanded.

"A new Elder," Jesse said. "The sisters helped him stop a demon from getting the power that was his by birthright, not long ago-"

"So, you want us to wear those superhero outfits again?" Cordy demanded. "Xander, you know how that mask did horrible things to my complexion!"

---

Glory's tower, Sunnydale.

Ninety minutes later

"Nice try!" Glory said sarcastically, as she struggled to smash the Dagon sphere to pieces - and then tossed it into the heap that was the remains of the Buffybot. "Slayer and vampire, working together in perfect harmony...oh, even I think that's wrong!" she then said, as the hellgod grabbed Spike and tossed him into the tower's unstable leg, causing the thing to shake slightly.

Buffy tried to nail her with the troll hammer, but Glory ducked and punched her in the gut. The Slayer sailed away, and soon crashed into the mobile trailer Dawn had previously been held in. "Is that all you have?" Glory taunted.

"No, they were just the first wave - you blond bimbo!" a female voice yelled. Causing Glory to turn, and burst out laughing.

"You have got to be kidding me!" the demented deity laughed. "You're just apes in tights, is all!"

"I think my boyfriend might disagree with that theory," Cordelia said in her Wonder Woman outfit, next to the spandex-covered Prue and Piper, as she gestured upwards.

All Glory's eyes registered was a blue and red blur coming at her with incomprehensible speed, before something grabbed her and launched her across the street into a dumpster. When she crawled herself up from the human waste, Glorificus stopped short of the image in front of her.

Xander Harris floated with his arms crossed, proudly wearing the uniform of the comic superhero named 'Superman'.

---

A block down the street

The same time

Joyce was helping another person who had just got his sanity back onto a bench. "It's okay, take it easy..."

"Where am I?" the mailman asked. "I was on my route, and then-"

"No time for explanations right now!" Anya told him impatiently. "Just rest and try not to think about dying, okay?"

Joyce looked to Giles. "How many are there left?"

"I don't know how many people she has at the tower itself," Giles said, looking down the road as another loud crash was heard and a body was seen flying. "We just have to keep going and hope it works," the Watcher then told her, as he gave another mumbling person to Jesse to heal.

---

Glory's tower, Sunnydale, California.

The same time

At the top of the huge tower, Dawn Summers was tied to two posts; looking down helplessly at the battle below between Buffy, Spike and... "The Justice League?"

Something suddenly caught her eye, and Dawnie looked back across the top of the tower. On the other edge of the platform, the demon named Doc was watching her.

"You. You can help me. Untie me. Please. Help me, she's coming!" the Key cried, even though she had never laid eyes on this creature before.

Doc just slowly walked forward. "Well, it seems she's running a bit late, is the thing. And, uh, if her Splendidness can't be here in time to bleed you..."

Dawn instantly backed away as far as she could before the ropes stopped her, realizing this was no friend or neutral with her now. (Oh, God, Buffy...)

"Hey, kid!" Doc winked at her. "Wanna see a trick?"

"No!" Dawn called out horrified, as Doc pulled out a large knife, one like the ceremonial knives Giles once showed her in the Magic Box. "Get away from me!"

"Don't worry, my dear," Doc said with a pleasant smile. "This is what you were created fo-" He suddenly stopped, as the knife was taken out of his hands. The demon angrily turned on the normal-looking man who had taken his knife. "Who the hell are you!"

"The name's Leo Wyatt," the whitelighter said, as he orbed out just as Doc's tongue lunged out at him...and then the guardian angel reappeared next to Dawn. He quickly used the knife to cut her free, the teenage girl instantly trusting the strange man who had apparently come to save her.

"NOOOO!" Doc yelled in fury, as he ran at them full speed...and then fell off the edge of the tower, as the two people disappeared in a blaze of blue-white lights.

----

A block down the street

The same time

"Mom!" Dawn yelled joyfully, as soon as she and Leo showed up at the camp of the good guys.

"Dawn!" Joyce screamed in joy, as she ran to and hugged her daughter. "Oh, sweetie, I was so scared for you!"

Leo went past them, and took over healing the people from a tired Jesse, "Go tell them she's safe!"

Jesse nodded and orbed out, and oddly enough - no one noticed Rupert Giles sneak off by himself...

---

Glory's tower, Sunnydale, California.

The same time

The battle was not going well, as far as Glorificus was concerned.

Overconfidence is a terrible thing, and the hellgod was finding that out right at that moment. As instead of Knights or Slayers, she suddenly had to deal with beings that had powers equivalent to her own...

And like Spike had once said in the good old days, 'Now it's four against one, which are the kind of odds I like to play.'

"Batter up!" Prue yelled, as she used her new super-strength and speed to wield the troll hammer like a baseball bat. The blast of the impact knocked Glory end over end, as she flew into a large pile of concrete sewer pipes on the far side of the lot.

The tower shook one last time from the vibrations of her impact, and it started to wobble and fall. The newly-arrived Jesse just quickly got the Charmed Ones, along with Buffy and Spike, to join hands - before he orbed them away to safety.

In the mess of the large pipes, her energy reserves almost completely drained by the loss of so much brainsuck power, the battered hellgod had to retreat back into her human host, Ben. And as blood poured out of his mouth, the intern saw an older man looking down at him. "You..."

"Can you move?" Giles asked in a calm voice.

Ben shook his head weakly. "No...I'm pinned tight. She could've killed me-"

Giles shook his head. "No, she wouldn't have. Not intentionally, at least." He kneeled down to be eye to eye with the man. "And sooner or later Glory will re-emerge, and...make both the Charmed Ones and Buffy pay for that mercy. And the world with them. Buffy knows that, and yet still...she couldn't take a human life, even if it's her own mother and sister's lives on the line..."

He sighed, looking at all the destruction. "That's why they're the heroes, you see. They're not like us."

"Us?" Ben asked with a confused cough, before Giles' hand jumped out - and covered the young doctor's mouth and nose, cutting off his air supply.

Ben tried to force him off, but with his injuries it only took a few moments before his eyes rolled up towards the back of his head. Giles held on just a little longer to be sure, before he finally stood up - looking at the dead body. "Father, forgive me..."

Without another word the Watcher, who had taken a vow to do whatever his Slayer couldn't in this rotten world, uttered a small prayer for Ben's soul. "Heavenly Father, have mercy on his soul, for the devil trapped within was forced upon him..."

Giles turned around, and saw Xander in his Superman uniform watching him. "It had to be done."

"I know," Xander sighed. "Even though I don't think the man who really wears this uniform would agree...but then I know that sometimes, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one." He looked at the body of Ben in silence for a moment, thinking back to when a few nights ago - Prue had almost been sacrificed by her sisters, almost this exact same way.

Then Harris said calmly, "Want to go back to the family reunion?"

---

1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale, California.

About an hour later

The white hats had finally gotten all the formerly crazy people back to the hospital, so that their relieved relatives could go and pick them up; and then, the last cleanup task over, they all went back to Buffy's house.

Dawn had stripped out of her gown that Glory had forced her to wear, and quickly changed into her sweats. She had then had Xander use Superman's heat vision to set it ablaze in the back yard, wanting no reminders on what she had been through tonight.

The San Francisco people were more than a little surprised though, when Spike walked right into the Summers home. Meaning that he had an open invitation already, to come and go around here as he pleased. Xander said nothing out loud, but his stare spoke volumes to Buffy and Willow about that; still, they made no excuses for it, and Harris knew he had to be content with this. This was their turf now, after all; not his.

Joyce and Giles assured Cordelia that they would soon remedy all that, anyway. But for the moment young Dawn had a set of heroes, and Spike for some reason was a member of it. Cordy cynically figured that when their little unit left, the vampire would try to take all the credit for saving her; hopefully Dawn wouldn't fall for it, but then with Buffy as a role model, the witch suspected that the apple wouldn't fall far from the tree...

While this was going on Xander, now back to his normal self, was washing up in the bathroom. He leaned down into the sink to toss some cold water onto his face, when he stopped cold. Spinning around in a flash, his eyes darted towards the closed door. The figure he thought he had seen for a split second was gone.

"God, I really do have demons on the brain," Xander scolded himself, when he saw Joyce's black bathrobe hanging on the door.

As soon as the young man left the room, the Source of All Evil shimmered into full existence. He pulled back his dark hood to reveal his half-mutilated face. "Most impressive, Mr. Harris. You shouldn't have been able to do that, though...ah, this means I might have to change my plans..."

---

Elsewhere in the house.

The same time

Fourteen years old, and a new whitelighter Elder, the former mortal named Kevin stood in front of the group. He ripped up Prue's drawing in a superhero costume, and instantly the magic his unique power gave the oldest sister vanished. "Okay, I think that's everyone-"

"Ah, hello?" Cordelia walked forward, still in her skimpy Wonder Woman outfit. "Not forgetting me, are you?"

"Oh gee...look at the time," the young Elder said in amusement, checking his watch. "Gotta go!"

"Wait!" Cordelia yelled as the Elder orbed out. "What the hell-?"

Xander chose that moment to renter the living room. "What's all the noise?"

"That...that kid left me looking like this!" Cordelia growled.

"Yes, it's time to put her cleavage away," Anya said quickly, after elbowing her peeping boyfriend.

Cordelia just growled at the girl she would still enjoy firebombing into oblivion. "Why would he leave me like...Xander?"

"Yeah, Cordy?" Xander replied, in a neutral tone of voice.

"Don't even try! I saw that smirk!"

"What smirk?" Xander asked.

"YOU TOLD HIM TO DO IT!" Cordelia yelled out in realization.

Xander tried to hide a smile. "No...actually, I kind of paid him."

"WHAT!"

Xander backed up a little at her outburst. "Well, you know how we always do that sorta stuff...uh, for pretend..."

"You wanted to have sex with Wonder Woman?" Prue asked with a laugh. "You are such a GUY!"

"Where is that drawing, Xander?" Cordelia angrily demanded of her boyfriend.

"It's not here-"

"Where is it?" she demanded again.

"I dropped it off at a post office in Montana, not long ago," Xander finally revealed.

"And why did you do that, oh Superman?"

"It's on two-day air transport to the manor..." Xander again backed up towards the wall, when he saw Cordy's face.

"Xander, I'm all for some fun now and then, but this is..." Cordy stopped mid-sentence and broke out in a huge smile. "You know, honey...much as I hate to admit it in public, I have been reading up on comic book women, and I know all about Wonder Woman!"

"You do?" both Xander and Willow said at once.

Cordelia didn't say a word as she unhooked the golden lasso from her side and threw it around Harris. She used it to drag him right next to her. "The lasso makes you have to tell the truth, right?"

All the men in the room, even Spike, cringed at that. (You idiot...) they all thought in unison.

"Now, what did you really think of the meal I cooked for you last weekend?" Cordy demanded.

"Ah..." Xander tried for a moment to fight it, but then blurted out, "Too salty!"

Prue stepped up, amused. "Was it you that broke my vase last week?"

"Yes," Xander said with a grimace and headshake.

"And you blamed it on the cat!" Prue laughed at his squirming. "You are so grounded when we get home, young man!"

Piper buried her head in Leo's shoulder, laughing helplessly. Giles and Joyce took the hint and took Dawn away to the kitchen, despite her protests. As an afterthought, Rupert kindly yanked Spike along as well.

"Okay, okay, as much fun as this was..." Xander started when Cordelia kept it up. "Do you really think my reading glasses make me look cute?"

"More like a sexy librarian, that I want to nail behind the stacks. Damn it!" Xander admitted, his face going red.

"Why, you naughty horn dog you!" Cordelia teased him. "I just might have to spank you for this!"

Anya just watched the show with a frown. (I should have taken Jonathan home before now! I don't need him to listen to Xander and his three witches talk about sex. On account of he'll be thinking of them, when he gives me my orgasms tonight!)

Cordelia stopped laughing at Xander's predicament. "Last one, Harris; now, what did you really plan to do with me in this costume...and, hey! Whisper it to me."

Xander leaned in, and started to whisper in his girlfriend's ear. As he spoke, Cordelia's face got redder and redder; and even Buffy with her super-hearing only heard the words "lasso" and "whipped cream".

Cordelia quickly took the lasso off of Xander, and put it back on her waist. "Keys!"

Xander quickly got the keys for his car out and gave them to her, and then she gave them to Leo. "Take the long way home!" she ordered him, as she dragged Xander out the front door...and then up into the air.

"Ah, Anya honey?" Jonathan asked, as he watched them vanish into the night. "Could we, ah, go back to your place now...?"

---

Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles, California.

Tuesday, May 8th 2001

Tina smacked Gunn upside the back of his head, after the Fang Gang had arrived back at the hotel that night. "Eyes up here!"

"Hey, come on! You can not blame a guy for checking you out in that outfit," Gunn told his friend.

"What outfit?" Tina growled, indicating her Pylean 'princess' attire. "I mean, I'd get mistaken for a hooker in this neighborhood, if I stayed outside for too long!"

"How's Fred doing?" Wesley asked, as Angel came back downstairs.

The vampire shrugged. "She only came back to Earth less than an hour ago, she's still getting reacquainted with indoor plumbing."

"Hey, guys!" Faith called out. "We have a total of two calls since we've been gone, aren't we the popular people?"

The once-evil Slayer hit play, and Buffy Summers's voice quickly filled the room.

"...Angel, it's me Buffy! Come on, damn it, pick up! This is an emergency!"

Spike's voice also came on, muffled in the background. "Slayer! They're coming...we 'ave to go, now!"

"Angel, if you get this before the world ends-" Buffy tried to say, before a long dial tone was heard.

Angel was already barking orders, when the second message played on the machine. This time Giles' voice came on, "Not in again, I see. Well, never mind. Angel, it's Rupert Giles here - I just wanted to let you know that we handled the annual apocalypse with the help of Xander and the Charmed Ones. Glory is no more, and the world is no longer at risk of being destroyed. However, I suspect Buffy would appreciate getting a call from you so that she can fill you in on what's happened lately...so, please get in touch when you can."

Again, dial tone. And off Angel's suddenly mellow look, Faith just sighed. "Man, they get the end of the world - while we get sucked into a demon dimension?"

"Don't worry, honey," Kennedy told her. "Just wait a month or so, and we'll get our own apocalypse to deal with..."

---

Unknown location, The Underworld.

The same time

Torches lit the perimeter of the large cave. A dark granite circle was floating two feet off the ground, with five male demon figures in robes standing on it bathed in a not-so-white light. They all had dark-colored pentagrams on their backs, and they all stood looking down at the warlock standing in the center of the circle below them.

Their meeting had just started, and already it was not going well. "The Council will remind you of the heavy losses emanating from this San Francisco. From what we have learned, all of the witches there have been Charmed."

The Dragon warlock in the center of the circle let out a small sneer. "I descend from a long line of Dragon warlocks. When my father died, he left me two things. The power of flight, and the passionate hatred of those who killed him – witches. And I will not rest, until I put all witches to rest!"

"The Council is intrigued," another Council member told him. "However, all who have used force on these witches before have failed."

The man that might have been the head of the Council, with his pet boa constrictor around his arm, then spoke up. "There is another way." He reached out his hand, and snapped his fingers. The seemingly normal vase-like item by his feet shot out a large fog-like mist, which then formed into a human-shaped being.

The Dragon warlock rolled his eyes at the man who just appeared. "A genie? You can't be serious!"

"Tell them what you told me," the head of the Council told the new arrival.

The genie looked a little nervous. "Well, actually, that was kind of a 'just between you and me' kind of thing..."

"Tell it!"

Genie cringed at the order. "Okay, okay!" Looking at the others he said, "Right...well, personally I think that the best way to destroy witches is not to treat them like witches at all." As he spoke, he walked around the small inner circle. "You treat them like humans. Most of your evildoers, naughty types, think it's best to deprive humans of what they desire. No. You wanna get them, you give them exactly what they desire. You grant them their wishes, it'll lead to their undoing."

"If Council agrees, how do we proceed?" another council member wondered.

"Just make sure that the bottle crosses paths with the witches!" He then pointed his thumbs at himself. "And let el genie grande, take it from there."

"With all due respect, genies only work for themselves," the warlock demanded to the Council members. "If he grants them three wishes, he goes free. How do you know that he won't betray you?"

A Council member agreed, as he cautioned the genie, "Remember, getting your freedom does not make you free from us."

"As long as you are a genie we can find you anytime, anywhere," another member pressed further.

---

The Sun Room, Halliwell Manor, San Francisco.

Wednesday, May 23rd 2001

Two of the sisters, along with Xander and Leo, were sitting around on the wicker furniture. Cordelia was complaining, as Xander tried to bandage her ankle, "Check my to-do list. It says bank, dry cleaners, pedicure. Nowhere on the list does it say kick-box a beast! Just walking along, minding my own business and 'wham!' It was like a random attack," she ranted. "A demonic drive-by!"

"Nothing in our lives is random anymore," Piper told her.

Cordelia shook her head. "You know, we keep saying that - but what does it really mean? Like, is there some kind of cosmic order to all this? Are we on some kind of list? And if so, how many points are we worth?"

"Cordy..." Leo started but was cut off by the former May Queen. "What? We've had a great year, we've wiped out a ton of nasties. Even helped take out a hellgod's ass! I just wanna know if we've tripped some supernatural alarm or anything...owie!"

The youngest sister smacked Xander on the arm. "Not so tight!" Looking back at Leo she finished up, "So, are we ever gonna learn what it really means?"

"Well, not to sound all whitelighter-y," Leo said with a nod. "But everything happens in its own time. You can't rush what's to be."

Piper looked at him, "Okay, how about what already is? Dan is back in town."

Leo shrugged, "So?"

"So, what am I gonna tell him?" Piper wanted to know. "The last time I saw him, he handed me proof that you were killed in 1942. He's gonna expect a reaction from me!"

Cordelia grinned "How about "Hey Dan, you're right, I am a necrophiliac"?"

"Cordy!" Piper snapped, annoyed.

"Ow! Ow," Cordelia said, as she set her hurt foot down. "And why does everyone always 'Cordy' me like that? I can take a hint! And like I said, I want to be called 'Phoebe'-"

She didn't get an answer, as Prue picked that moment to walk into the room. "Hey."

When Piper saw her sister's outfit she asked, "Where are you off to?"

"Lunch date with Dick," Prue said with no excitement.

"Dull Dick?" Cordelia cringed. "Prue, you are way too hot to have to duty date!"

"Yeah, well, all demon hunting and no play has made me a lot less picky," Prue sighed. "I gotta figure out a way to put some more balance in my life."

Piper looked at her. "Yeah, but you don't need Dick..." Everyone smiled at that little unintended word choice as the middle sister glared, "What I mean is, you should be excited to see the guy you're dating. You look like you're off to the Inquisition!"

"It's not that bad," Prue commented.

"What happened to Johnny?" Xander asked. "Another instance of where I was out of the loop, again?"

"No," Prue shook her head. "He just - he seems to be so busy, these days. He's also making up even worse excuses than I do, when we have to go demon killing!" She gave Xander a quick smile. "But then of course, you know how men are."

"On behalf of my gender. Hey!" Xander responded playfully, indulging in a bit of nostalgia.

Piper stood up. "Okay, I have to go open the club. As well as...other stuff, so let's go, Xander..." Looking back to Cordy she asked, "Are you gonna be alright, Cordy?"

Cordy nodded, as they all headed out the front door. "I've got a bit of free time here, so I think I'll try to loosen up my ankle..." As she hopped along holding Xander's arm, the young woman stopped when Prue opened the front door.

"What's that?" Piper wondered. "We get a Fed Ex?"

"I don't think so," Prue said, as she brought the medium-sized box into the house. "It's not packaged for any trip. It looks old, though," she commented, as the oldest Charmed One opened the lid.

"Somebody got a secret admirer?" Piper asked, as she took a capped vase out of the box.

"Not that I know of," Cordelia denied it. "Most of my friends know I have a boyfriend." She wrinkled her nose a bit at the vase. "Eww, it's so dusty. Who would send us something so dusty?" She wiped away a big bit of dust absently, and then jumped back into Xander's arms - when the genie shot out in a mist.

"Your wish is my command," Genie said, looking happy to be out of the bottle.

After several minutes of fast-talking by the genie to make the sisters not try to vanquish him, Cordelia pressed Genie a bit by saying, "I don't get it. You've been stuck in that bottle for 200 years, someone finally sends you to us - and you have no idea who licked the stamp?" She pressed her finger into his chest. "I kinda find that hard to believe..."

"What, and a genie man standing in our living room wearing...that...you can believe?" Prue wondered.

Genie just looked at the group in annoyance. "Well, I don't get it. You win the lotto, and you're asking for explanations?"

"Actually," Piper said slowly. "We'd just like to know who to send the thank-you note to."

"All I know is that you rubbed, and now I serve," Genie told her.

Xander frowned. "No, I can't. That's way too easy to make fun of!"

"Oh, look at that. Mmm. Snacks!" Genie walked over to the table, and picked up a peanut from a glass bowl. "What I wouldn't give to taste food just once. Smell it, even."

"You know, I'm beginning to like this guy," Xander said with a shrug, and a slight smile.

"I don't trust him," Leo told the sisters. "Genies are tricksters by nature. They can and will do anything just to be freed."

Genie just looked at him, annoyed. "What are you, the butler?" Looking at the three women he said, "Come on, everybody's got wishes. I mean, most people spend their entire lives with their wishes never coming true. Here's your chance!"

"This is so not real," Cordelia responded.

"Oh, you don't think so?" Genie said, still annoyed. "Well, I'll tell you what is. I stay until I grant three wishes. One from each of you, those are the rules-"

"You mean, I don't get one?" Xander asked facetiously. "Isn't that a bit sexist?"

Genie ignored him. "Bottom line? No wishes, permanent houseguest. And I snore, I make long distance calls I can't even pay for, you think I'm gonna be putting the CD's back in the right case? No." He stopped and gestured to the women, "Alright, talk amongst yourselves, I'll be over here, alright? I have a hunch that I'm going to be here for a while!"

The genie then walked into the dining room, "It's a nice house..." they all heard as he started looking around.

"Glad you like it!" Xander called out, as it's always nice for someone to appreciate your handiwork.

Prue got annoyed at Genie's antics. "He's enjoying this!"

Piper turned to her boyfriend. "Alright, Leo, what else do you know about genies?"

"Well, the good thing is they're not evil by nature," he told her. "They can't harm you, unless you wish for something."

Xander listened, as he watched the genie start to juggle some items. "A wish from this guy can be bad? Like, from say, a vengeance demon?"

Leo nodded. "Well, yeah. With genies there's always a catch, an unseen consequence." He took a moment, to think of a way to illustrate his point. "For example, say a man wishes for a new car; the next day his dad will die, and he'll inherit a car."

Piper understood. "So as long as we don't wish..."

"You're free and clear," Leo responded.

Prue looked hopeful. "Clear enough to make a lunch date?"

Cordelia leaned on the couch for support. "If what Leo says goes, you two go on ahead. Leave the genie with the cripple, and the big dweeb here."

"Thank you, gimp!" Prue said with fondness, as she gave her a kiss on the cheek and hurried out the door.

"You sure?" Piper asked her younger sister.

"Yeah," Cordy said. "We'll look through the Book, see if we can UPS him back to wherever he came from."

"Alright," Piper said simply. "Xander, get over to the club as soon as you can!" the witch called out, as she and Leo left.

The genie saw them leave, and came back over. "So, uh, what's it gonna be, master?" he asked Cordelia.

She just looked towards Xander, annoyed. And so the former carpenter replied, "We'll get back to you on that. And dude, please - no Major Nelson jokes, okay?"

Genie just looked insulted, and instantly vanished.

---

Cafe Le Blue, San Francisco, California.

Later that day

Prue sat at the table with her date, Dick. They were looking at menus when the oldest sister suddenly said, "So, um, have you been here before?"

Dick never even looked up. "Oh, it's close to the office. I don't like to take long lunches."

Prue tried again, "What's good?"

Dick said, not even having to think about it, "Caesar's fine, pasta's fine, fish is fine, steak is..."

"Fine," the oldest Charmed one finished up for him.

Dick finally looked up. "Yeah, actually, how'd you know?"

Prue tried not to roll her eyes. "Wild guess." Then she mumbled behind the menu, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Unfortunately for her, the genie chose that moment to appear. However, he was using his magic to manifest in a tiny human form, barely an inch high; and the trickster stood on the top of Dick's menu. "Hey, Dick!" he said with a grin.

Genie then jumped into Dick's mouth, and travelled down his throat. Instantly possessed, Dick then started acting like the genie. The guy dipped his fingers in the butter, and said, "Don't you just love butter? Oh, creamy goodness. To your health!"

Prue watched her so-called date lick off the butter of his fingers, and said in amazement, "Ah, Dick, are you-"

"Sick and tired of trying to pass myself off of being halfway worthy of dating you? You betcha! Look, you and I both know I'm dull as mud. I can't help it. I know who I am. I know I'm not the guy you're looking for," the genie said, using Dick's mouth. Trying to goad the young witch into making a wish.

Prue didn't know what to say. "I..."

But Genie wasn't done yet. "The question is, what are you looking for? I mean come on, how did we make it to date three and you really know I'm not the guy?"

Prue was stunned and replied, "I don't know. I, I mean, at this point I feel like...dating's kind of a job, you know? I mean, you get none but you feel like it's your duty to stay out there. I just want to feel excited by love again. I wish it was like it the first time-"

(Finally!) the genie thought to himself. Then using Dick's mouth he said to the woman, "Your wish is my command."

He clicked his fingers, and at once Prue Halliwell fell under his spell.

---

Halliwell Manor Attic, San Francisco, California.

The same time

Cordelia was sitting in one of the old chairs with her foot propped up, and flipping through the Book Of Shadows. "Well, if you're gonna go, you better hurry up..."

"You're sure you don't want me to stay?" Xander asked her.

Cordelia shook her head. "Nah, if all he's going to do is get wowed by the stuff in the fridge...then babysitting duty is going to be easy. Go, go to work."

Xander didn't like it, but he figured his beloved Charmed One could handle herself if she'd taken out the Four Horsemen. "Okay, I'll go. But if you need anything..."

"I'll call my hunky badass demon killer boyfriend," Cordelia joked, as he leaned down and they shared a long and passionate kiss.

About five minutes after Xander left, the genie appeared sitting on the chair from Cordy. "Hi. How about great fortune? You want that?" he asked with the pressure of a door-to-door salesman.

Cordelia, now pretty much used to people just appearing out of nowhere, simply shook her head. "I've had enough fun with the IRS in my life, thank you."

"No?" Genie asked, slightly surprised. "Land, power...beauty?" he tried.

Cordelia looked up, annoyed. "Do I look like I need to wish for beauty, buster?" she snapped.

Genie held up his hands. "No...sorry. Musta lost my mind for a moment."

"Damn right you did," Cordelia said before asking suspiciously, "Why are you not in this book?"

"Because you don't vanquish a genie," Genie rolled his eyes. "The only way to get rid of me is to make three wishes. Come on, large or small. I do all kinds." He quickly added, "Only no world peace, though - I can't do that."

"The fine print of wishing," Cordelia said, making a mental note. "Your job has limitations."

"Yeah, well, so does yours," Genie smiled, looking towards Cordy's bandaged foot.

Cordy just shrugged. "Occupational hazard. I've had worse, after a tough cheerleading practice."

"You know..." Genie said with a nod to the foot. "You could wish to be as powerful as you want."

Cordelia again shook her head. "Nope, not interested."

Genie really rolled his eyes. "You're not interested in riches or power...yeah, you're a rocket scientist alright-"

"Hey!" Cordelia offended. "Just so you know, I had plenty of money and power in my former life, bucko. High school freshmen would kiss my feet, for the honor of being called cool by me! So keep the wisecracks to yourself!"

---

P3 club, San Francisco, California.

A short while later

Piper was sitting with Leo at a table in the club, while she was going over the beer sales. They were lightly chatting, "I mean, poor Dan. It would be so much easier if I could be honest with him, but other than saying 'Leo is a whitelighter' what am I gonna tell him?"

"What more does he need to know?" Leo wondered.

"Well, maybe it's about what I need to know," Piper told him. "I mean, you've been watching me my whole life, and I don't even know where you spend yours."

Leo looked at her, with his arms wide open. "If there's anything you wanna know..."

"It's not exactly about knowing, it's more about experiencing it with you," she told him, trying to explain. "I mean, I have no idea where you go when you orb out. Do you have a house? Friends? A CD player? A cranky landlady?"

Leo smiled a little. "It's not really like that. Up there, there's not much of the norm..."

He was cut off when another man walked down the stairs into the club, and then stopped dead at seeing them together. "You have got to be kidding me!"

Piper got up in surprise, not ready to talk to him yet. "Dan!"

Her ex-boyfriend ignored her and started to leave, making Piper have to run over and catch him. "Uh, uh, wait. I think it's time we talked-"

Dan just looked at her like she had grown another head. "I don't think there's anything to talk about, Piper. It's your life," he said in annoyance, throwing his hands up.

Piper couldn't help it, she looked very uncomfortable. "Uh, Leo, can you give us a second please?"

"Yeah," Leo said, getting up and going over to the other side of the club to check on the stage. And while this soap opera-like drama was going on, no one noticed the face of the genie show up in one of the music posters. He watched Leo leave, and looked back to the other two humans.

"What do you expect from me? I'd really like to know, because at this point - I really don't know what to expect from you," Dan told her, upset. "How can you be with this guy, after everything I found out about him? He's a fraud. He could be anyone..."

Piper didn't want to admit this, but she had to. "Dan, I know who Leo is. I always have."

"What!" Dan looked at her like disbelievingly.

"It's not that I don't appreciate everything you..." Piper tried to say.

"Wait," Dan stopped her. "I've spent all this time worrying about you, worrying about who the hell he is - and you've known all along?"

Piper nodded. "Well, uh, it's very complicated."

"Complicated," Dan stated, as he tried to understand how that was all she was going to tell him.

It was pointless though, so he just turned around and left. "Complicated?" Dan demanded to himself, before he stalked up the stairs towards the exit.

Piper didn't have a happy look on her face, watching him leave. When Leo came back she looked at him and said, "He's right, he deserves to know. But what am I gonna tell him, what am I gonna do? I wish there was some way he could just move on with his life..."

Again, no one noticed Genie watching them and start to smile. Foregoing the talking for once, he just clicked his fingers and vanished.

---

Halliwell Manor Attic, San Francisco, California.

A few seconds later

Cordelia was flipping through a travel book on Paris, when the genie popped back in. "So, figure out how to get rid of me yet?"

"Yeah, all I have to do is get you back in the bottle," Cordelia said, flipping a page. "I have no idea how to do that yet, but I will."

"Well, wish and it will be so," Genie told her. "Otherwise, your only shot is if I volunteered to leave willingly and, uh, newsflash..." He sat on the stool her foot was resting on, and lightly hit the bandaged appendage. "That's not gonna happen."

"Oww!" Cordy yelled in pain. "Don't do that!"

"I'm sorry," the genie said sincerely, thinking he might have gone to far. "Look, could you stop trying to banish me just long enough for me to try a little something on you? It's-it's wish free." He gently started to massage her foot.

Cordelia started to feel pain again, before her face changed expression drastically. "Ooh, oh. How'd you learn how to do that? You do it even better than Xander..."

Genie just grinned. "Little something a sultan taught me."

Cordelia waited till he was done with the foot rub to wonder, "Um, just out of curiosity, what would you wish for yourself? I mean, you must've heard them all, right? So what would be your wish?"

Genie instantly had a fond smile come over his face. "That's easy. I'd wish for the little things, you know. Things people take for granted. I mean, the feeling of a suntan, taste of ice cream, preferably chocolate. Sex! That one looks like it could be a lot of fun-"

"If you do it right, sure," Cordelia commented. "And heck, I oughta know!"

"Being human. Yeah, that's what I'd wish for," Genie shook his head with a sigh. "So, what did you do to yourself here?"

"I was demon dueling," Cordy said absently. "One of my kicks was a little off-center."

Genie saw a possible opening. "So, uh, did you finish them off with your scary witchy power?"

"Nope, my witchy power is a little hard to control," Cordy admitted. "Unless I get really pissed off. So don't make me so mad I'll set you on fire!"

Genie looked at her. "That's it? That's all you can do?"

"Well, there's that and the premonitions," the witch replied somewhat defensively.

Genie was going to say something else, when he spotted a notepad nearby. "Doing some writing too?"

"Just thinking last night," Cordy told him. "And for the record? It's not easy to get your boyfriend to call you another name, at the moment when all the blood is rushing down south from his head!"

"But why would you even want to?" Genie asked her, looking at the name 'Phoebe Halliwell' written over and over again.

"It's just one of those what-ifs that everyone has in their lives, I guess," Cordelia admitted. "You know...how would it have been if I was Phoebe and not Cordelia, if I had another power, if I was able to drive a-"

She stopped when the genie quickly stood up with a big smile. "Thank you! And it's about time!" he said.

"What are you talking about!" Cordelia demanded, as she stood up.

"Your wish," Genie told her. "It's a two-parter, but no problemo - I know just where to get the second bit!"

"No! I so did not wish for any of that!" Cordelia said hotly. "I mean, I have experience at this...I didn't say the W word!"

"Close enough," Genie said happily. "That's three, and I am out of here!" When he snapped his fingers, the small metal band around his neck vanished...and reality changed.

At a gas station where Xander filling up the Hemi Cuda...both human and car vanished in an instant, as if they'd never even existed.

"Three?" the young woman now known as Phoebe, even if she still looked like 'Cordelia', demanded. "That's not even one!"

Genie just waved to her, as he left the attic. Still on a bad foot, she who had now called herself Phoebe Halliwell all her life yelled after him, "Okay, if you're free then where's my power? Hey!"

---

The exterior of 1329 Prescott Street, San Francisco, California.

The same time

Piper and Leo pulled up in her Jeep to see Dan talking to an unknown guy, and a For Sale sign on his lawn. Piper started to walk over, but then stopped. "Um, I'll be right back," she told Leo, before she headed over to Dan.

"Well, thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it," Dan told the man next to him.

"You kidding?" the guy commented. "This area is huge, this quarter!"

Piper waited till the other man had left before she asked, "What's going on?"

Dan looked a tad uncomfortable, but not nearly as much as he'd been earlier. "I, uh, I got a job offer in Portland. I just thought I'd take it."

"Just like that?" Piper asked, very surprised.

Dan shrugged. "I just think it's time that I move on with my life, don't you? Look, I, uh, I really gotta go. Got a lot to take care of."

"Right," Piper said, still shocked as Dan went back into his home. Walking back to Leo she told him, "Something's not right..."

"Well, it's probably all for the best," Leo shrugged, unable to help wanting the entire 'Dan' thing to be over and done with.

Piper shook her head. "No, something he said when I asked..." Her words were drowned out though, by the loud screeching of Prue's car coming around the corner. The driver slammed on the brakes right in front of the manor, in Prue's typical driving style...

However, the Prue that these two were expecting to see didn't step out of the car. A teenage version of her did. She was in the same clothes, but now had braces and looked over ten years younger.

"Hey!" the Halliwell girl said, as the young teenager ran up the steps to meet them. "Piper, check it out. So the valet guy said that this cool ride is mine. Can you believe it?"

Then she nudged her sister. "Ooh, who's the cute boy?"

"Boy?" Leo asked in disbelief.

"Prue?" Piper asked.

Prue just looked at her sister for a moment. "Hey, are you okay? I mean, don't take this the wrong way but you're looking kinda...old."

"And, and you're back in braces..." Piper said, stunned.

---

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

A few minutes later

Piper, Leo and Prue walked up the stairs, and quickly headed into the attic. "Cordy?" Leo asked, getting an odd look from Piper before she called out, "Phoebe?"

"I'm up here!" a female voice called from the ceiling, and they saw the Patty's third child floating above them. "And I can't get down. I don't know how I got up!"

Leo quickly floated gracefully up to her, and brought her down. "I've got you..."

Phoebe breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Leo."

Leo nodded. "No problem."

"That is so totally cool!" Prue looked towards Piper and added, "So, do I get a power like that? And do I have to get all old like you guys?"

Piper growled a little, "Alright, let's get something straight. We are not old, we are just older than you are right now - for some reason!"

Phoebe wasn't sure she wanted to ask this, but did so anyway. "Wait a minute. Exactly how old are you?"

"Seventeen," the younger Prue told her.

"Seventeen?" Piper groaned. "Prue was a nightmare at that age! Why would she wish for that?"

"She probably didn't," Leo sighed. "She probably only wished for something she could only get by being seventeen. Which explains why she has no memory of being older."

"Yeah, but how is that even possible? I mean, it's so..." Phoebe asked, confused as she lifted her arms and suddenly started to float again. "Whoa!"

Leo had to grab her and put her arms down. "All right, you know what?" he told her quickly. "How about you just keep your arms down, until you learn how to work the controls."

"Great idea," Phoebe said, as she took hold of the wall just to be sure.

Piper looked over to her now-younger older sister. "Are you sure you don't remember anything about witches? Genies? Dick?"

"No, but it sounds totally bitchin'," Young Prue said with glee, before she grabbed the Book of Shadows and flipped though it. "This is such a cool book. What is it?"

"I'll tell you when you're older," Piper said annoyed, as she grabbed her sister's hands. "Let go of it. Stop it. Stop it!"

Prue sent her a look like a child would send his scolding mother. Leo cut in before she could say anything, "You guys have another problem. At seventeen, Prue didn't have her powers yet, which makes you all more vulnerable."

Phoebe agreed, "Yeah, especially if whoever sent the genie is a demon or something."

A loud bang was heard, and then an unknown male started shouting, "Where's my power? I want it back!"

"Who is that supposed to be?" Phoebe demanded.

"A demon or something," Piper said. As they moved for the door, she turned to Prue. "You, stay here!"

As Phoebe, Piper and Leo head down the stairs, the whitelighter tried to explain. "Remember what I told you about wishes and strings attached? That genie gave you a power, but he must've stolen it from him-"

"So, are we thinking demon or warlock?" Piper wants to know.

"I don't know," Phoebe told her, before Prue came down on her own and spotted the Dragon warlock at the same time. Though her reaction was a little different from that of the others. "Oh my God, who's the hottie?"

"Oh my God, get her out of here now! Go!" Piper yelled at Leo, as the Dragon warlock breathed a large stream of fire at them. Piper hardly had time to use her power to freeze the fire in mid-air...mere inches from their faces.

Both remaining sisters walked sideways to get out of the range of the fire stream, that was still giving off lots of heat. "Okay, that was too close," Piper remarked.

Phoebe ducked, as she slowly went under the fire to get downstairs. Piper slowly followed behind her, "Easy..."

"Okay, now what?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, we can't vanquish him if we don't know what he is," Piper reasoned.

Phoebe thought it over. "So why don't I just fly him outta here, and dump him somewhere?"

"I don't know, can you do that?"

"I have no idea, but I can try," Phoebe shrugged. "I've always wanted an active power, right?" Cordelia's ability to throw fire from her hands unknown to the witch, in this new timeline.

Piper nodded. "Uh-huh."

"So let's see what it can do," the youngest Halliwell suggested.

"Alright," Piper replied, not knowing what else to do.

Phoebe lifted up her arms, and her body suddenly hovered above the ground; she then took on a Superman-like flying position, and grabbed the warlock as she flew out the open door with him hanging on and yelling as he unfroze. His unfrozen fire also suddenly scorching a large picture, on the wall of the stairway.

A short while later, Phoebe dropped the struggling warlock in a field outside of the city. And she hoped to God that she could recall the way back home...

---

Halliwell Manor Attic, San Francisco, California.

A short while later

Leo walked back into the room and came over to Piper, who was looking through the Book of Shadows. "Your new little sister's in her bedroom, checking out the clothes."

"Nice to see some things never change," Piper said, annoyed and recalling Prue's teen years. "On the good side, I found our fire breather."

Neither man nor woman noticed Phoebe fly by the window. "Guys!" she yelled, trying to get them to hear her.

Leo just read from the book, "Dragon warlock..."

Piper looked up, thinking she'd heard something and looking around.

"Most feared witch killer there is. He can fly, breathe fire," Leo kept going. "Has supernatural strength. You're gonna need the power of three to vanquish him."

"Which we don't have right now," Piper stated, as she went to the window and started looking out. "If I ever find that genie again, I'm gonna wish him into oblivion!" She looked back to Leo. "Did you hear that?"

Leo shook his head. "Hear what?"

Piper didn't get a chance to answer, as Phoebe crashed through the window and did a roll to not break her arm. Piper ran to her, concerned, "Oh my God, are you all right?"

As she was helped up, Phoebe just tried to fix her hair. "Flying's awesome, it's the landing part that's a real bitch!"

"Yeah. All right, Leo, how do we fix this?" Piper demanded, as she made sure her sister stayed on the ground.

"Oh, I know how to fix it," Phoebe said, before he had a chance to reply. "According to the Book, we've gotta get the genie back into the bottle. It's the only way to undo the wishes, and make everything go back to normal."

"Right. And we should probably call the club and make sure Xander didn't get caught out making a wish as well," Leo suggested.

Both Halliwell sisters looked at him, confused. "Call who?" they both asked.

Leo looked at them. "Xander. You know, Cordelia...your boyfriend, Xander Harris?"

"Uh, Leo?" Phoebe said, looking at him as if he was crazy. "Two things. A, who's Cordelia? My name's Phoebe, always has been - you know that. And B, I don't have a boyfriend at the moment!"

"Please tell me you're joking," Leo said in sudden fear, but at their looks he said, "Oh, no. You're not joking..."

"Yeah! Like, I think I would recall a boyfriend," Phoebe told him in annoyance. "I'm kind of in a dry spell at the moment..."

Leo quickly ran past them out of the attic, without another word.

"Leo?" Piper wondered, as they followed him. He led the two sisters down the hall, and opened what appeared to be a seldom-used door. The whitelighter then looked surprised, when it creaked from disuse...

"No, no. Damn it..." Leo cursed softly, as the guardian angel saw the room filled with nothing but dusty old boxes. He then tried to sense his charge with his whitelighter powers...but again, nothing. "Damn it!"

"What's so important about Grams's old sewing room?" Piper wondered.

"It was Xander's bedroom, at least before he moved in with Cor...Phoebe," Leo responded, trying to keep it all straight in his head. Luckily, as a whitelighter he was immune to those magicks. "We've got trouble - I can't sense him anywhere! And I guess it's kinda obvious by now, but that guy never lived here in this timeline, did he? Thanks to the wish, history's been changed - damn that genie..."

"Wow. I mean, I had a live-in boyfriend?" Phoebe asked in wonder. "Tell me about him. Was this mystery guy cute?"

"Phoebe!" Piper snapped at her, when she saw the very worried look on Leo's face. "Not now!"

"Sorry!" the youngest Halliwell said sheepishly. "But like I said, 'dry spell'..."

---

Apartment B, 523 Oak Park Street, Sunnydale.

A few minutes later

"I'll get it!" Willow said, as she grabbed the ringing phone. "Rupert Giles's residence."

The male voice sighed in relief. #Willow, this is Leo...is Xander there? I really need to talk to him!#

Willow's entire body grew cold. "Who is this?" she demanded softly, honestly not having a clue who the caller was - thanks to the genie's machinations.

#It's me, Leo Wyatt, I was with you when we defeated Glory a few weeks ago!# the whitelighter replied. #Look, I really need to talk to Xander right now!#

Willow seemed to get over her shock a little, and spoke very angrily into the phone. "I don't give a damn about Glory anymore, Buffy paid the ultimate price to get rid of her! Now, how do you know about Xander Harris?"

#Willow, please. Is he there or not? Look, do you have his number?# the guy on the line said quickly. #He's not at the club, which wasn't exactly a surprise, so I assumed he'd most likely still be there in Sunnydale...#

"Xander is dead!" Willow responded coldly. "And I don't know who you are, but I don't like it when people call up and just-"

#What? He's dead!# Leo demanded. #How?#

Willow just hung up the phone in disgust, causing Tara to come over. "Sweetie, what is it?" the blond witch asked.

"Some guy wanted to talk to Xander," the redhead told her girlfriend with a sigh.

"Xander Harris?" Harmony Kendall asked in surprise, looking up. After all - you don't easily forget a guy who saves you from a Frankenstein monster, and almost gets burned to death for his trouble.

Oddly enough, the blond still had feelings for that guy, even if they'd never gotten together in this or any other reality. And the female who had taken Cordy's place in the grand Sunnydale scheme of things had, unlike Ms. Chase, never been asked to come along when Harris had gone to 1630 Revello Drive...the day the Order of Taraka had come to town.

And either luckily or unluckily, depending on your point of view, Harmony had never realized her feelings for Harris till after he'd died.

"He's been dead for years now," Amy Madison said lightly, recalling how Xander's body had been found in Buffy's basement covered in worm residue.

"Uh, guys?" Jesse asked after he orbed in. "What's with the long faces?"

"Vampire! Vampire!" Harmony yelled, as she jumped out of the way and Amy charged at him with a sword.

"Amy?" Jesse asked, very confused before he dodged the sword just in time. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Not him, too!" Willow cried. "It's Jesse, he's back from the undead!"

"Incindere!" Amy yelled at him, her eyes going black as she dropped the bladed weapon.

Jesse screamed, as his entire body caught on fire. "YEEEEOW!" It took all his willpower to focus, and cause his healing aura to work. Everyone else then jumped back as he glowed with a golden light, and the fire vanished.

"What the hell is going on?" more than one person shouted out.

---

Cafe Le Blue, San Francisco, California.

A short while later

The genie was there sitting at a table, and shoveling food into his mouth. Basically he was just trying everything that was on the menu, when Leo and Piper spotted him. Piper quickly froze him and the rest of the restaurant, as they stormed over to him. "This guy's not a genie, he's a pig!" the witch ranted.

She then unfroze only her target. "Hi. Wanna know what I'm wishing for now?"

Genie looked up from the mashed potatoes. "Look, uh, you're probably a little bit upset, huh?"

Piper leaned into him menacingly "No, I've moved past upset and straight to pissed off! You tricked us, and now there's a warlock that's trying to turn us into witch kebabs!"

"Warlock?" Genie asked innocently. "What warlock?"

"A dragon warlock," Leo told him, upset. "The one you stole the flying power from. You remember him now?"

"Wow, he came already?" Genie said in surprise before adding, "Wait a second. How did he know where to look for it?"

Piper crossed her arms. "I don't know, you tell us!"

"Well, I didn't tell him!" the genie defended himself. "Look, they probably just tracked it somehow, that's all, I don't know. We're not partners. I got this gig on my own."

"Gig?" Leo demanded. "So somebody did send you. Who was it?"

The genie shook his head. "Well, you see - that's it, that's part of the genie-client privilege thing. I couldn't possibly tell." He frowned. "Yeah, plus that and they'll kill me."

"They're gonna have to wait in line!" Piper told him, as she grabbed his arm. "Alright, let's go."

"What did you do to Xander?" Leo suddenly asked, when Genie was on his feet.

"That the guy who Cordelia was making eyes at?" Genie asked. "Sorry, I really didn't talk much to him-"

"So...you know this guy as well?" Piper asked in amazement, not having fully believed it until now. "He really did exist?"

Before he could reply, the genie vanished in a puff of black smoke.

"What happened? Where did he go? I thought you said free genies don't have powers," Piper said to her one true love.

"They don't," Leo told her. "It's gotta be somebody else who does, and they must have wanted him badly..."

---

Unknown location, The Underworld.

The same time

The Council, the Dragon warlock and the genie were all back in the same location as before. And this time, no one was happy about it.

The third Council member said, "It has come to our attention that you have violated our pact. You accuser will speak."

The Dragon warlock snarled, "He used the Halliwells' wishes not to destroy them, but to free himself from his bottle!"

The first Council member nodded. "What do you say to this charge?"

Genie knew he had to talk fast. "It was all part of the master plan, alright? And those witches would be dead right now, if puff over here hadn't screwed everything up!"

The warlock was incensed. "Screwed everything up?" He grabbed the genie by the clothes. "You stole a power from me!"

Genie dismissed that, "Borrowed, okay, the term is 'borrowed'. And I knew that it would, that it would piss you off so bad - that you would be that much more motivated to get out there, and kill yourself some witches, alright?"

The second Council member pointed out the flaw in this logic, as the Dragon warlock let Genie go. "But you plan failed. The dragon's attack was thwarted."

Genie sighed. "Look, you don't go after the witches with powers, okay? You go after the one without..."

---

Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California.

The same time

Phoebe was about to head up to the attic, when the phone rang. And thus, she missed her now-younger older sister climbing down the lattice work, dressed for a teen night on the town. "Hello?"

#When I first got the call, I naturally dismissed it as a crank. But then I realized it was Deputy Marrow on the other end,# Darryl's voice said.

"Okay, Darryl, can you speed this up - because I'm kinda busy right now..." Phoebe quickly told him.

#Doing what, flying?# Darryl demanded, causing the Halliwell woman to cringe. #Now, see, I've learned to interpret those pauses as admission...#

Phoebe sat on the bottom stair and sighed. "What did he see?"

#Actually, it was his wife,# Morris informed her. #She swore she saw a dark-haired young woman fly over the house earlier...without a plane.#

Phoebe tried to lighten the mood. "How about a broomstick?"

Morris didn't laugh; as in this timeline, the rest of the SIU weren't in on the secret. As after all, Xander had never been there for the darklighter to try to drive him into committing suicide back then. #Phoebe, this isn't funny. Just the fact that a call like that got brought up to me, gives you some idea of the pressure that I'm under here. You think I can simply tell my captain that it was just a friend going for a joyride?#

"Phoebe?" Piper called, as she and Leo entered via the kitchen door.

"In here!" Phoebe called back before saying to Darryl, "Okay, Darryl, I'm really sorry okay, it won't happen again - but I gotta go, bye!" And when the young woman only saw the two of them she asked, "You didn't find the genie?"

Piper was trying to keep her anger in check. "We did, but then we lost him. Where's Prue?"

Phoebe pointed with her thumb. "Upstairs, reminding me what a pain she was at seventeen."

Piper nodded in understanding. "Now you know why she was lucky to make it to eighteen."

Leo looked at his girlfriend. "Why? What do you mean?"

"Well, you'd remember it better than I do - I was only what, 10 years old then?" Phoebe asked her sister. "I wasn't even in high school!"

"It was Prue's rebellious stage," Piper filled Leo in. "She thought everything bad was good, especially the guy she thought she was in love with."

"Until he attacked her, right?" Phoebe added.

"Yeah, and Grams went crazy when she found out," Piper added before wondering, "Come to think of it, that guy disappeared not too long after that. You don't suppose Grams..."

"She wasn't a killer," Phoebe said instantly. Then she turned to her whitelighter, "Leo? Tell me more about this vanished boyfriend I had!"

"What, now?" the angel asked. "Cordy-"

"And that's another thing, I'm never gonna get used to hearing that...that name," Phoebe said in disbelief. "I really was called that?"

"Yes," Leo said simply.

"And I was raised in this...Sunnyvale place?"

"It was Sunnydale, and yes," the whitelighter sighed. "The Chases adopted you, after you were found there - when someone kidnapped from your parents. You and Xander grew up there, together. After your high school graduation, you both came here to live - and he stayed on Penny's written insistence..."

"Freaky," Piper said, shaking her head. "And now...this guy's dead, because of Phoebe's wish?"

"It shouldn't have happened that way," Leo Wyatt looked grim, as Phoebe looked ill. "The man has...had...a special destiny, to become one of my kind...maybe. I still don't know for sure, even after all we've been through. But future whitelighter or not, Xander didn't deserve to be cut down like that so early in life..."

The doorbell cut off any further questions, so Piper told Phoebe, "I'll get that. You go watch Prue."

Phoebe headed upstairs, thus missing the shock on her sibling's face when Piper opened the door. She and Leo saw a very old grey-haired man standing there. "Uh, can I help you?"

"Piper, why the hell is this happening to me?" the man rasped out at her.

Phoebe picked that moment to run, well - as fast as she could on a bad foot, back downstairs. "Prue snuck out of her window, we have to go find her!"

When Leo and Piper didn't really move, Phoebe tried to push them towards the open door when she was told, "Phoebe...that's Dan."

"What? Oh, this day just sucks!" Phoebe declared.

---

Somewhere in San Francisco, California.

Thursday, May 24th 2001

Long after midnight Prue was driving her car, or at least trying to, and going way too fast - when she spotted the Dragon warlock standing in the middle of the road.

The teenager skidded to a halt; he then walked to the passenger side of the convertible and asked, "How about a lift?"

Prue gave him her best come-hither smile and he jumped into the passenger seat, before Prue hit the gas again and they roared off.

---

Prue's bedroom, Halliwell Manor, San Francisco.

The same time

Piper was pacing the room, with her cell phone in her hand. After several minutes she frowned, "She's not answering!"

"Well, maybe she doesn't know how?" Phoebe thought. "Were cell phones even around ten years ago?"

Piper got upset, "She knows what a ringing phone sounds like, doesn't she?"

Phoebe kept on touching stuff on the bed, trying to get a premonition. "Maybe I should fly around, and see if I can spot her car..."

"In this city?" Piper asked her. "No, you'll never be able to find it. You have a hard enough time controlling your power in the daytime, let alone at night!"

Phoebe growled a little in response, "Why can't I get a premonition when I want to? If I had one wish right now, that's what it would be!" She tossed Prue's blouse back on her bed.

"At least your wish isn't hurting anyone," Piper said morosely. "Look what mine did!"

"That's not your fault," her sister told her sternly.

Piper didn't buy it, though. "How can it not be? Dan is aging to death, because I wished for him to move on with his life. He would be fine, if it wasn't for me. It's not fair, he doesn't deserve this! It's bad enough the wishes are biting us in the ass, but not him. This shouldn't be happening to him!"

"We have to find the genie," Phoebe told her as she came over to comfort her sister. "It's the only way to save Dan, and this Xander guy that Leo says I'm sleeping with!"

---

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California.

A while later

Prue and the Dragon warlock were sitting in the parked car, nice soft music playing on the radio. "So, um, what you, you don't have a name?" she asked.

"I go by a lot of names," the warlock told her, sounding like a normal human daredevil that a teen girl would love. "Depends where I am."

Prue smiled, the braces shining. "So, why are my sisters scared of you? Why did you come to our house earlier?"

He leaned towards her. "Because they have something that I want. Something's that mine. Are you scared of me?"

Prue laughed, "No."

She leaned in and they started to make out, before her cell phone rang again. Prue angrily grabbed it, "God, it's ringing again. How do you turn it off?"

The Dragon warlock reached over and pressed a button, then they continued making out; but he suddenly started to get a bit rough. "Easy. Okay, hey, hey, hey. Easy!" Prue told him, getting a little worried.

The warlock suddenly grabbed her by the neck, and Prue saw his eyes glow red. In a demonic-sounding voice he suddenly demanded, "Are you scared of me NOW?"

Prue screamed in terror as she yanked the door open, and ran for her life. The warlock just got out and watched her go running off into the dark, as the genie walked up behind him. "Won't be too long before she calls her sisters to come rescue her. It's the perfect trap," the evil Dragon remarked.

Genie looked a little worried. "You didn't hurt her, did ya? Because I thought I heard screams..."

The Dragon warlock looked at him in disgust. "You've spent too much time with humans already. Developing a conscience." He quickly grabbed Genie by the neck, and lifted him up off the ground. "If you want your freedom, you do exactly as I say. You understand?"

"Absolutely," Genie could hardly gasp out.

"Good..." the warlock smiled and dropped him to the ground, then slowly stalked after the terrified Prue.

---

Halliwell Manor Living Room.

A few minutes later

Dan was sitting on the couch, looking even a bit older than before. Piper sat on the end of the couch with him and said, "Dan, I'm so sorry."

"I don't understand," Dan replied. "What is this?"

Piper hadn't want to do it like this, but no longer had any choice in the matter. "This is going to be hard for me to explain, and even harder for you to believe. But we're witches. Prue, Phoebe and myself. And not your everyday kind of witches either. We have supernatural powers that we use to fight off..." she cast a look to Leo before going on, "...demons and warlocks. You know all the family emergencies that I used to have? Um, I never told you before because I didn't want you to be hurt because of it. I didn't want something like this to happen to you-"

"And I'm the same Leo Wyatt that died in 1942," Leo told him. "I'm a whitelighter, a guardian angel for witches."

As much as he could in his geriatric condition, Dan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."

Leo just orbed out, and then back in to the same spot. Dan's eyes went wide in disbelief; Piper reached for his hand, but the old man instinctively pulled it away from her.

The middle sister tried in vain to hide the hurt look on her face. (Yeah, this is going even worse than I anticipated...)

---

Prue's bedroom, Halliwell Manor, San Francisco.

The same time

Still trying to get a premonition, Phoebe picked up some makeup from the bed - and instantly had a full-on vision of the future.

She saw the genie's vase falling under the wicker couch in the sun room. So instantly, Phoebe hurried down the stairs and called for her sister, "Piper!"

Piper and Leo walked out of the living room to join her. "What?" the Halliwell woman asked.

"I just had a premonition," Phoebe told them, excited. "I have no idea what it means..."

Again the phone rang, and this time Piper quickly grabbed it. "Hello?"

---

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California.

The same time

Prue was hiding in some bushes, talking into her cell phone. She was breathing heavily and crying a lot, too. "Piper, thank God, you have to help me!"

#Prue!# Piper quickly said on the other end of the line.

"Piper, he's trying to kill me..." the teen Prue cried into the phone. "...he's trying to kill me, and I don't think he's human!"

#Okay, calm down!# Piper replied, trying to get information. #Uh, where is he now?#

"I don't know!" Prue responded quickly. "I think he's, he's following me. You have to come quick!"

#Okay, Prue, where are you?#

"Golden Gate Park," Ms. Halliwell replied.

#Okay, listen to me. Go to the lake where Dad used to take us fishing, remember?# Piper ordered her. #And hide under the bridge until we get there, okay?#

A noise caused Prue to look up in worry. "I think he's coming!"

---

Halliwell Manor Living Room.

The same time

Piper yelled into the phone, "Prue? Prue? Damn it!"

"What?" Phoebe asked, very worried.

"The dragon's after her," Piper said as she grabbed her coat from the rack.

As Phoebe grabbed hers, Leo came over and said, "It's a trap, you know it's a trap-"

Phoebe nodded in agreement. "It doesn't matter, Leo, we have to go anyway."

"Alright, well, at least go with a plan," Leo told them. "Try using your new power, fly overhead, spot him before he spots you."

"Right," Piper replied before she kissed Leo on the cheek. "Uh, stay with Dan. We'll be back!"

"You better be," Leo responded, not liking this at all.

"We gotta hurry, it's gonna be light soon..." Piper said worriedly, as she yanked open the door.

---

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California.

A while later

The first few rays of daylight were coming through the trees, as Piper and Phoebe pulled up in the jeep. "Okay, you think you can control the power this time?" Piper asked, as they got out of the car.

Phoebe looked determined. "I'll have to, I have no choice. Alright, I'll spot the dragon, you freeze him."

Piper nodded, "Then we find Prue, and get the hell outta here. Alright, go, fly!"

Only moments after Phoebe lifted off into the air, Prue came running towards the middle sister. "Piper! Piper! Piper!"

Piper saw her sibling from across the field. "Prue!" she shouted and took off towards her.

"Piper!" the terrified young Prue called out again.

"No, Prue, shh. Go back! Go, go!" Piper called, knowing that the warlock had to be somewhere close.

However, it was the genie who appeared and grabbed Piper. Only then, did the Dragon warlock appear and grab Prue. "What are you doing? Let go of me!" Prue screamed, as she struggled to get free.

Genie whispered to Piper as he held her firmly, "I'm sorry-"

Piper still yelled to the warlock as she tried to get free, "Let her go! Let go of her, damn it!"

Prue's eyes then went as wide as saucers with fear, as a knife appeared in the warlock's hand. "Piper!"

"NOOO!" Piper cried out in horror.

The warlock then saw Phoebe flying above them. "Come on. Keep coming. Come and save your little sister..."

But before Phoebe could do anything, he plunged the knife into Prue's back.

"Nooo! Nooo!" both sisters yelled out, as Phoebe flew fast towards the ground. "Prue!"

Unfortunately, Phoebe was going way too fast and crashed onto the ground, hard. "Ow!"

"Time to get my power back!" the Dragon warlock declared, as he stalked towards Phoebe - letting Prue fall to the ground.

"Let go!" Piper yelled, and surprisingly the genie did exactly that. And with her hands free, Piper froze the warlock and ran over to her wounded sibling. "Prue!"

Phoebe got up, and ran to her fallen sister as well. She started to cry and panic a little, at the sight of all the blood. "Oh my God, oh my God, what do we do, what do we do!"

"Leo can heal her, I know he can!" Piper told her, gently picking up Prue's head. "We just need to get her home. Go get the car, Phoebe, go get the car!"

Phoebe nodded and ran off, trying to wipe her tears away. "Oh, God!"

Genie just watched her, with a very pained look on his face. "Oh my God, what have I done?"

---

The Kitchen, Halliwell Manor, San Francisco.

A while later

The back door slammed open, Phoebe and Piper carried in Prue and laid her gently on the floor. "Leo! Leo!"

Leo came in, and was shocked at what he saw. "What happened?"

"Never mind, just heal her. Quickly, come on!" Piper told him, as she made room for the guardian angel.

Leo quickly knelt down, and held his hands over the wound. His hands glowed, but there was no healing visible. And this fact was not unnoticed by the sisters...

"What's the matter? Why isn't it working?" Piper demanded.

"Leo?" Phoebe quickly asked as well.

Leo gave up and just looked towards them. "I can't heal the dead!"

Both Halliwell women started to cry a lot harder at that. "Yes, you can!" Piper told him fiercely, refusing to accept that.

---

The Conservatory, Halliwell Manor, San Francisco.

A bit later

Piper and Phoebe were holding each other, crying their eyes out for their lost sister - as Leo brought someone through the front door.

And when the Halliwell duo saw who it was, they stood up, enraged. "What the hell is he doing here!" Phoebe demanded, pointing to the genie.

Leo tried to be the voice of reason. "Wait, wait, just hear him out...he may have an idea."

Genie talked awkwardly, "Listen, I'm so sorry. All I ever wanted was my freedom, that's it, that's all that I was thinking about. I'm just a genie..."

"Get to the point!" Piper demanded, as upset as the whitelighter had ever seen her.

Leo cut in, before Piper tried to gut Genie like a fish or something. "He's willing to give up his freedom. Go back in the bottle, and return everything to the way it was."

Phoebe didn't know if she should get her hopes up or not. "Even Prue?"

"It should work," Genie said quickly. "I mean, technically teenage Prue is the one who got killed, not adult Prue."

Piper glared daggers at him. "How do we know this isn't just another trick!"

"Well, if it gets Prue back, you'll have the power of three to vanquish the Dragon - who'll no doubt be here soon enough," Leo reasoned. "And if it gets Xander back too, so much the better. Basically, at this point; what have we got to lose?"

Piper and Phoebe shared a long look with each other, before Phoebe picked up the vase and took the lid off. "After you."

Genie slapped his hands together, and disappeared back into the bottle.

And just like that, reality changed again.

"Agggh!" the woman now known as Cordelia Halliwell suddenly screamed, as the memories of her old life were returned to her. "Xander-"

"Never mind him right now! Try to fly," Piper ordered her little sister.

Shaking her head and righting herself mentally, Cordelia lifted her arms - but nothing happened. She then checked her other power, as a fireball erupted in her hand; "Okay! I'm me, again!"

Her eyes then went wide, as she ran for the kitchen. Piper and Leo went to check first on Dan; and upon having seen him changed back into his younger self, they ran for the kitchen too.

"It worked! Dan's..." Piper started to say, but stopped at what she saw.

Cordelia had Prue's head resting on her lap, her cooling adult corpse not having been resurrected as hoped. "No, it didn't," Cordy told them with a sob.

Leo came as close to swearing as he could, for someone of his generation. "All it did was turn her back into her adult self, it didn't save her..."

Piper tried to think of something, anything. "Wait, the genie's back in the bottle, so if we can get him out, then we have three more wishes, right?"

Cordelia gently put Prue on the floor. "All we need is one..."

---

The Conservatory, Halliwell Manor, San Francisco.

Two seconds later

Piper came running in, and headed straight towards the bottle. But as she was crossing the room, the Dragon warlock flew through a window and knocked her down, hard.

Piper fell, knocking the table down and in all the confusion - no one saw the genie's vase roll under the wicker couch.

Leo and Cordelia came into the room at the same time Dan did, from the opposite direction. "Piper?" he called out.

"Dan, get down!" Cordy yelled to him.

The man dove back into the living room, just as the warlock let loose with a big breath of fire straight at him. Cordy ran up, and let loose some fire of her own at the evil creature; but the aptly-named Dragon warlock was unfazed by the flames, and shot out a fresh stream of hellfire right back at her.

Leo grabbed his charge just in the nick of time, and pulled her behind a large bookcase. "You see where the bottle went?"

Cordelia shook her head. "No, I have no idea...wait, yeah, in my premonition! You distract him."

"Right!" Leo said, and orbed out.

"Too bad you don't have my power anymore!" the warlock taunted the Charmed Ones, as it stalked its way towards Piper.

At that moment, Leo orbed back in a few feet behind the warlock. "Hey, dragon breath, over here!"

The distraction worked, as the Dragon warlock spun around and shot a deadly rain of fire at Leo; who orbed out before it hit him. Cordelia then jumped up and slid over to the couch, pulling out the vase.

She quickly rubbed it, and Genie appeared. "I wish that Prue was alive again," Cordelia quickly told him.

Genie smiled and snapped his fingers. Cordy yelled out, "Piper, go check on Prue!"

As Piper ran to the other room, the Dragon warlock looked rather...upset at the genie. "Where the hell did you come from?"

Genie grinned at him. "Oh, no, no, that's where you're going!"

The warlock's eyes went wide as Prue and Piper charged in, holding hands and chanting, "The power of three will set us free, the power of three will set us free!"

Cordelia ran to them, joining hands and chanting the chant as well, "The power of three will set us free, the power of three will set us free!"

The warlock screamed, as he lifted himself off the ground and tried to fly out the same hole he'd made on his way in.

"The power of three will set us free. The power of three will set us free!"

"Nooooo!" the Dragon warlock screamed, as he blew up in a storm of hellfire halfway out of the window.

---

P3 club, San Francisco, California.

A minute later

"P3," the bartender named Ronnie said, as he answered the phone.

#Ronnie? It's Cordelia.#

"Oh hey, Cordelia," the man said at once.

#Is Xander there? I...haven't seen him for a while...#

"Xander? Yeah, last time I saw him, he was sleeping in the back."

#What?#

Ronnie nodded to Cordy's question, "Yeah, he guessed you girls had something come up, so the man brought over a change of clothes. Said he was going to take a shower here, and be ready for when 'Third Eye Blind' shows up for their sound checks."

#Well, okay. Oh, tell him we'll be coming tonight for him and the band, will you?# Cordelia told him. #It's been a hell of a night over here, and we have to get some sleep ourselves.#

"Sure thing, Cordelia," the bartender replied. "Betcha he'll be glad to hear that, too."

---

1327 Prescott Street, San Francisco, California.

A bit later

Piper walked up Dan's steps worriedly. The man had split during the fight with the warlock, and since he had caller ID, wouldn't answer the phone when she'd called.

She rang the bell, and when Dan finally opened the door Ms. Halliwell said timidly, "Uh hi..."

Dan shook his head, and started to close the door at once. "Piper, I really don't feel like talking right now."

She stopped him. "Wait, wait, wait. We're gonna have to talk sometime-"

"No, we don't," Dan told her quickly. "I don't know how you expect me to react to your secret, but I don't...I'm really sorry you told me. I wish you never did, I wish I never saw what I saw. I never imagined things like...that...even existed."

"Dan..."

"Please, just go away," Dan told her. "I don't wanna know anymore, and I don't wanna know anymore about you." And with that said, he quickly shut the door in her face.

---

Halliwell Manor Living Room.

A few minutes later

Genie and Leo were with Prue and Cordelia, the two sisters were sitting close together on the couch as they listened to what the magical being had to say. "So, wanna run that by me again?" Cordy asked.

"They call themselves the Council, and they're scary dudes," Genie told them. "Very high up on the evil food chain. And it's only gonna be a matter of time, before they send somebody else looking for you."

Prue understood. "Just means we're doing something right, if we got their attention."

The younger witch agreed. "Plus, it means that there's some method to all this wiccan madness, some...greater purpose. Guess it's nice to finally know..."

"Be careful what you wish for," Leo warned her.

"Oh, I am a reformed wish-a-holic, believe me. Even more than I was in Sunnydale!" Cordelia told him. "And just for the record? Call me Cordelia. All that 'Phoebe' stuff is now fully out of my system!"

"Well, speaking of wishes, you still got two left, you know," Genie informed her.

"Yes, we know and we already know what one of them is - if you're up to it, that is," Prue responded. "We want to make you mortal. Keep you off of the Council's radar, once and for all."

Leo nodded with a smile. "True freedom. And not just from the bottle, although mortality is the consequence."

"And feelings too," Cordelia pointed out to him. "Even the painful ones."

"That's okay," Genie said truthfully. "I think I'm ready, I'm feeling very sensitive these days." As Piper walked in from her talk with Dan, the genie said to the oldest sister, "Let me ask you something. Why would you do that for me? I mean, especially after I helped kill you..."

"Yeah, well, you also helped bring me back," Prue answered him. "And besides, once you're human, we don't have to worry about you tricking us again."

"But there's one wish you have to grant first," Piper said, cutting into the conversation. "One that I need. I want Dan to have peace of mind, to forget about all the horrible things that have happened to him and he's learned about recently. About who we all really are. I wish that Dan could truly move on with his life, without consequences."

"Your wish is my command," Genie said happily as he snapped his fingers twice, and his genie metal choker vanished.

This time there was no reality shift, as Piper walked back outside and saw Dan in his front yard, picking up the paper. He looked over at his ex, and she waved to him as if it was just another day. He waved back, oblivious now of all that had transpired in the last 24 hours.

The genie came out to join her on the front step. "No tricks, right?" Piper asked seriously.

"No tricks. I promise," Genie crossed his heart. "I've got no powers anymore."

Genie then listened to all the sounds of nature, and the city around them. Soaking it all in, and adjusting to the little things. Finally coming to terms with the fact, that he was human now.

After a minute he grinned, walked slowly down the stone steps and off into his new mortal life. Piper just headed back inside, to see her sisters and Leo in the entryway waiting for her.

"Well, that was an interesting couple of days," Prue commented.

"Felt like it was an interesting couple of years," Cordelia said with a yawn.

Leo looked up, as he heard the Elders jingling for him. "They're calling me, I've gotta go-"

Piper instantly shook her head. "Not so fast! If we're ever gonna make this work, I think I deserve to know a little bit more about you, don't you think?"

Leo stopped in mid-orb and asked, "What do you mean?"

Piper stepped up close to him. "I mean I'm going with you, Leo. I'd like to meet some of...them, up there."

"Are you sure?" Leo said slowly, not knowing if this is a good idea.

"Positive," Piper told him, as she put her arms around his neck. "Take me to your leader."

Cordelia looked at her, stunned. "Uh, Piper? Wh-wh-whatta?"

Piper looked back to her siblings. "Don't worry, I'll be back-" she managed to say, before she and her beloved both orbed out.

"Worried? I'm not worried," Cordelia looked to Prue for comfort. "I mean, of course they'll be back, right?"

Prue nodded. "Right, of course, I mean - why should we worry?"

Both remaining sisters then shared a 'look', just knowing something was going to go wrong - given how their lives seemed to work these days.

Cordelia just shook her head and mumbled a little to herself, as she walked away to her bedroom.

Prue looked at the still-open door, and with a flick of her finger closed it, without even touching it.

---

P3 club, San Francisco, California.

Later that night

Cordelia and Prue got to the club, about five minutes before the band was set to go on stage.

While Prue was dressed to take over for Xander tonight, having to both explain the situation and tell Harris he was going to have to manage P3 till Piper came back, Cordelia was dressed to the nines - and looked like a supermodel.

Many male eyes were fastened upon her lithe, bronzed form, as she walked through the club wearing a short blue dress; one with a high slit up the side, and a lot of cleavage showing though the web-like strings holding the dress together.

Cordelia Halliwell walked purposely through the crowd and came up behind Xander, and instantly smacked him upside the back of the head.

"OWW!" Harris yelled, as he spun around to look at his attacker. "Cordy? What the hell was that for?"

"That was for making me worry about you! My God, that's TWICE now you've disappeared into oblivion on me!" Ms. Halliwell told him, before she grabbed her lover and pulled him into a very throaty and soul-searing kiss.

When they came up for air the brunette woman added, "And that's for always being here, for me and my sisters..."

"Okayyyy..." Xander said, rather bemused, before he gave her a full once-over. "I don't think I've ever seen that dress before, have I?"

"I was saving it for a special occasion," Cordy replied, as she took his hand and pulled him onto the dance floor.

As the music started, Cordelia started to give her boyfriend a sexy dance - one that blew the previous one he'd gotten from Buffy years ago, completely out of the water.

A little freaked though, Xander soon pulled her over to the side into the Charmed Ones' special alcove. "All right, 'Phoebe', talk to me-"

"Don't," Ms. Halliwell said at once, putting a finger to his lips. "I'm over all that. For better or worse, my name is Cordelia. I'm your Cordelia, sweetheart."

They kissed again, Xander loving every second of it of course. Finally he asked, "Okay, mind telling me what I've missed out on this time...?"

The former Chase girl explained, as briefly as possible. "So, even though the memories are all pretty much gone now...guess I've gotten my wish. I know what it woulda been like, if I'd been raised Phoebe Halliwell - and never known you."

Xander was silent for a moment. "So what was this second chance at life like?"

Cordy shook her head. "Some parts of it were good, some parts of it weren't. I was raised by my grandmother in a loving home...but I was a real handful for her, I'm sure. As for my sisters - growing up...oh, Piper and I were inseparable, but Prue and I never got along even though I loved them both with all my heart. Oh, when I was eighteen? I took off to New York for six months...big mistake! When I..."

This time, Xander put a finger to her lips. "I get the picture. Uh, but what about me? You said I was dead in that timeline...what happened?"

The young woman was uncomfortable, but eventually confessed, "I called Sunnydale earlier today...apparently, Jesse had a bit of a problem there for a while. No one knew who he was, in that new reality...they all thought he was still a vampire, and tried to kill him..."

Harris smirked, "Yeah - betcha that was a barrel of laughs for him, I'm sure. But come on, sweetheart, quit stalling. What happened to me?"

She sighed, "The day we first kissed in Buffy's basement...? That bug man killed you when you were all alone, then and there."

Oddly, Xander didn't seem upset about that. "So what you're saying is, I'd have been dead for nearly four years if I'd never met you. Is that right?"

"Yeah."

"Then, I owe you my life. But still - after everything over the past two years here in San Francisco...I already knew that!" Xander said with a small smile.

They kissed again, melting into each other's arms and trying to suck out each other's tonsils. Finally they pulled apart as Xander said, "Have I told you that I love you, lately?"

"Well, yeah. 'Cause nothing says 'I love you' better than licking whipped cream off someone's bare chest," the woman said mischievously, recalling their fun-filled night after helping saving Dawn and the world in Sunnydale.

But Xander didn't smile. "Seriously, though. I do love you. Hell, I love you so much that I thank God we got back together, almost every time I wake up in the morning. Living with you and your sisters...it's the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Cordy...I'm, I'm...I'm gonna ask you to marry me when we're both ready, because I want to spend the rest of my life with you. To be your husband one day, and the father of your children..."

Harris suddenly looked embarrassed, as he saw her expression. "Okay, well, I-I-I gotta get back to work, so - I better go. I just thought you'd like to know all that..."

Ms. Halliwell was stunned, both at his offer and the declaration of his feelings; the memories surfacing of what Piper and Prue had told her nearly a year ago, regarding her future marriage to this guy. She and Xander had both obviously come a long way, from the spoiled princess and the high school clown they'd once been.

And later, back at the manor, the young witch found a very appropriate way to respond to Xander's words – one that involved oysters and ice cubes...

TBC...