Chapter 44: Cat House Part 1
March 12, 2003 – Wednesday
Restfield Cemetery, Sunnydale
Giles had brought the Potentials back from the desert, including the newest one Chao-Ahn, and as they patrolled through one of Sunnydale's cemeteries he was explaining to them all how he had managed to survive the Bringers' attack back in London—the same attack that had felled his colleague, Robson.
"It was extraordinary good luck, of course," he said with typical British modesty. "And training. Years of training." To the new girl, he said, "Chao-Ahn, keep up. You're new here, Chao-Ahn, so take note. Remember about the training. But I honestly feel the largest part of it was instinct. Instinct and reflexes. There's a sort of watchfulness I've developed over the years. It's like another sense—"
And from out of nowhere, completely catching the watchful Watcher by surprise, Spike tackled him and threw him to the ground.
"Spike!" Faith cried, as both Watcher and vampire shouted, "Hey!"
"You're not in pain," Giles said with astonishment.
"You're not The First," Spike said in like fashion.
"What?" Giles demanded.
"Anya said you were The First," Spike told him. "Said you were evil. You're supposed to be all go-through-able." He stood and walked over to Faith.
Giles stood as well, regaining his composure as he said, "Then what the hell did you tackle me for, you berk? What's that supposed to do?"
Spike was abashed. "I, uh, didn't think of that."
"More importantly," Giles continued, "you just hit me. Why didn't your chip go off."
"Yeah, well . . ." Spike looked down.
Faith stepped up to the plate. "Well, uh, when we were the Initiative . . ." She glanced at Spike, who looked back at her.
"There was a choice . . ." he ventured.
Faith turned her attention back to Giles. "Right." She bobbed her head. "Either repair the chip, or to remove it."
Giles was astounded. "You . . . had it removed . . . you removed the chip?"
"Yeah." Faith replied.
"Had to make a choice," Spike chimed in.
"It really is okay," Faith told Giles.
"What's a chip?" Amanda piped up.
"They removed the chip?" Kennedy put in.
In Chinese, the new Potential, Chao-Ahn, said, "I don't understand a word any of you are saying."
Halliwell Manor
Dawn, Buffy and Phoebe sat on Buffy's bed looking through a photo album while Paige stood beside the twins and Joyce's bassinets.
"So Piper was engaged before Leo?" Dawn asked.
Phoebe nodded. "Yep, she was."
"Well, lucky for you two, that did not work out." Paige said to Wyatt and Elizabeth.
"Actually, lucky for all of us. She was engaged to a warlock." Phoebe said.
Buffy frowned. "A warlock?"
Phoebe looked at her mother sheepishly. "She didn't know he was a warlock."
"Dan was a warlock?" Paige asked in clear surprise.
Phoebe shook her head. "Oh, no, before Dan. Way before Dan. Two bankers, a rock climber, and a ghost before Dan," she explained. "Actually, the ghost was the best of the bunch."
"See, now that's what I call critical sisterly information," Paige admitted as she smiled at her sister. "How am I supposed to be petty and judgmental without all the info?"
"Yeah, but sweetie, what do you expect?" Phoebe questioned. "You didn't know her back then. It doesn't mean you're any less apart of us though, you know that, right?"
Paige sighed. "Yeah, I know. It would've been cool though," she admitted. "Hang out with you, see what you guys were like, maybe meet Prue."
Buffy sighed at the reminder that she had not regained her memories of being Patty till after Prue had died. "Now you know how I feel Paige," she told her youngest daughter. "I missed out on so much of them while they were growing up."
"Sorry, Mom," Paige replied apologetically.
"Well, if it makes either of you feel any better, you didn't miss much with me," Phoebe admitted. "I'm pretty much the exact same person I was back then."
"Yeah, right." Dawn scoffed.
Phoebe smiled at her aunt. "No, I'm serious, Aunt Dawn. I mean, I have a job now and that's good," she explained. "But, uh, you know, I'm still living at home, I'm still single, the only real difference is that I'm five years older. I need to use more expensive night cream."
"There is one other difference," Dawn added as she smiled at her niece. "Your living with your mom who till last year you hadn't seen since you were three years old."
"There is that," Phoebe agreed smiling at Buffy.
It was then that they heard Piper and Leo arguing out in the hallway.
"That is not what happened and you know it," Piper told her husband.
"That's exactly what happened and it's not the first time it's happened, either," Leo replied.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Piper wondered.
Leo sighed. "You know what? Forget it, Piper."
Buffy, Dawn, Phoebe and Paige looked at each other and then moved to the door.
"Don't walk away from me. Leo," Piper told her husband when she noticed her sisters, aunt and mother watching from the door to Buffy's room. "Leo!" She moved to follow her husband toward their bedroom. "I am talking to you!"
"I'm tired of you mocking me, especially in front of our friends." Leo countered.
Piper frowned. "Oh, I resent that," she told him. "I don't mock you."
"You always mock me," Leo countered. "I work my butt off around here, I quit my job, I quit my career, so you wouldn't have to, and I get no respect for it, none."
Piper sighed as she looked at her husband. "I never asked you to give up your career."
"The hell you didn't!" Leo yelled at his wife.
"You're right, I didn't!" Piper said before looking at her sisters, aunt and mother. "Did I?"
"Oh, right," Leo scoffed, "turn to them for support like you always do."
Piper turned back to Leo as she glared at him. "Oh, what, so now you have a problem with them too?"
"No, I have a problem with you!" Leo turned and walked into his and Piper's bedroom.
"Leo, don't you dare walk away from me again," Piper yelled as he slammed the door behind him. "I mean it!" She pointed her finger at the door and by accident blew it and the wall surrounding it up.
"Whoa," Dawn, Phoebe and Buffy said as they looked at the damage in shock.
March 13, 2003 – Thursday
Summers Home, Sunnydale
"You know this is very dangerous," Giles said, stopping in the doorway, watching Faith.
Faith cocked her head. "You mean Spike not having a chip. Free range Spike?"
He did. "I have to ask. Why on earth did you make that decision?"
Faith shrugged. "I guess it was instinct, like you were talking about."
"I made that up!" He walked into the room. "I knew the Bringer was there because his shoes squeaked." He perched on the edge of her dressing table and gazed at her with real concern. "Faith, it's crucial that we keep these girls safe. I can't count the dangers. The First, the Bringers, random demons, and now Spike."
"And the Principal," Faith added helpfully.
"What?" he demanded.
"Tara found him in the school basement, holding a shovel, acting evasive. She's looking into it." Faith told him as she folded her laundry. "Nothing's changed, G-man. Spike had a chip before, remember? When The First had him kill all those people?"
"We have no idea if his chip was working then," he said, then took off his glasses, a sign that he was quite stressed, weary, and flummoxed. "A new chip might restrain him should The First attempt to activate him again."
"Spike has a soul now," Faith arguing, facing him. "That's what's going to stop him from hurting people."
"Faith . . ." Giles began.
"He can be a good man, Giles. I feel it. But he's never going to get there if we don't give him the chance." Faith walked to the closet to put away the clothes.
He came up behind her and said, very seriously, "Faith, I want more for you. Your feelings for him are coloring your judgment. I can hear it in your voice." Faith sighed, and he pressed on. "That way lies a future filled with pain. Need I remind you what he did to you? I don't want that happening again. I don't want to see you or Dawn hurt."
Faith looked down at her shoes. "I don't want to see Dawn hurt either, Giles," she told him. She looked up at him. "But Spike, he's changed since he came back."
He did not skirt the issue. "It doesn't matter if he may not rape you again. There's a connection. You rely on him, he relies on you. That's what's affecting your judgment."
"You think I'm losing sight of the big picture, I'm not," Faith assured him. "When Spike had that chip, it was like having him in a muzzle. It was wrong. You can't beat evil by doing evil. You know that I know that better than anyone given what I did my first year in SunnyHell."
He walked out of the room, and Giles called after her calmly, "Well, I hope you're right. You're gambling with a lot of lives."
Halliwell Manor
Piper stood outside her bedroom looking at the damage to her room. She sighed as Buffy, Dawn, Phoebe and Paige walked out of Buffy's bedroom and approached Piper.
"Hi! Come on," Phoebe said taking her eldest sister by the arm.
"What?" Piper said dragging her heals. "Where are we going?" She was sure she knew where she was going. And she didn't want to see her husband, not quite yet.
"You'll see, let's go," Paige replied.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
In the living room Leo was curled up on the couch asleep. He woke when he heard Piper, Phoebe, Buffy, Dawn and Paige coming down the stairs.
"Will you stop dragging your feet!" Phoebe told her sister.
"I don't want to talk to him," Piper countered.
"Piper, just get in there, young lady," Buffy ordered her daughter.
"What's going on?" Leo asked as he watched his wife, sisters-in-law, mother-in-law and aunt-in-law enter the room.
"We are going to stay here until we figure this thing out," Paige told her brother-in-law. "That is what is going on."
"Figure out what?" Leo asked. He had to wonder why they were butting into his and Piper's problems. "This is between us, it has nothing to do with you four."
"You know what?" Phoebe said as she blocked Piper, who was trying to make a hasty escape, from leaving the room. "I don't know what the problem is but it's affecting Piper's power, and if her power is out of control then it's our problem too."
"Plus, we love you guys and we want to help, that's all." Dawn added with a gaze that begged them to let them help.
Piper sighed as she looked at her aunt. After all Dawn had been the one to help her after Prue died and to help Phoebe after Cole died the first time. But this time, she wasn't sure how her aunt could help. "We'll figure it out," she told them.
"Really?" Phoebe asked looking at her sister pointedly. "Before the next demon attacks?" She pulled a business card out of her pocket and handed it to Piper.
"What is this?" Piper asked looking down at the card.
"Dr. Berenson," Phoebe explained. "He's a marriage counsellor that Aunt Dawn and I use to help us with our column. Aunt Dawn and I called in a favor and he's expecting you at one o'clock today."
"What?" Leo asked in surprise.
"He cancelled all his other appointments," Dawn told her niece and Leo. "So you'll have the whole day to talk this out."
Leo shook his head. He had to wonder what good would a mortal do when they couldn't tell him half of what was wrong in his and Piper's lives. "Come on, this is ridiculous," he scoffed. "You expect us to go to some mortal and spill our guts?"
"What you need is a mortal doctor, Leo," Buffy told her son-in-law. "Your problems are marital, not supernatural. So, you know, speak in euphemisms if you have to."
"I don't know." Leo said as Piper walked over to a cabinet and looked at her wedding photo and the cake topper from her wedding cake. She turned and looked at Leo. "What do you think?"
"I think it might be a good idea," Piper admitted. "Although I don't know realistically how much we're going to accomplish in one day."
"So use magic," Phoebe suggested. "Cast a spell. Don't worry about the consequences, you've already got them. In spades."
"Phoebe's right," Dawn agreed.
"Well, who's going to watch Wyatt, Elizabeth and Joyce?" Piper said looking at her family. "Aren't you all busy?"
"I've already taken care of that, it's Darryl's day off," Buffy said.
"You didn't tell him why, did you?" Leo asked suddenly worried.
Buffy shook her head. "No, I did not tell him why."
"There's nothing to be ashamed of. You've been through so much, it's a wonder you've made it this far without professional help. It's a wonder we all have. You owe this to yourselves... and the twins." Phoebe said.
Bay Mirror Newspaper Offices
Paige entered Phoebe's office noticing that Dawn was absent. She glanced over at her sister. "Bad time?" she asked Phoebe who was busy on the computer.
"No, no, not at all," Phoebe said looking up at Paige. "My advice sucks today anyway. What are you doing? I thought you had a lunch date."
"I was, I was just kind of distracted," Paige replied before motioning toward Dawn's desk. "Where is our favorite aunt?"
"With Aunt Dawn's wedding anniversary tomorrow," Phoebe explained glancing over at the other desk. "Mom took her out for lunch." She looed back at he sister. "I take it Aunt Dawn isn't…"
"No," Paige replied with a sigh. "I kept thinking about Piper and Leo."
"I know, me too," Phoebe agreed. She then waved at Dawn's desk. "So was Aunt Dawn."
Paige sighed. "It's just so unsettling. They've always seemed so solid, until recently. It's kind of scary."
"Yeah," Phoebe agreed. "They'll work it out."
"Yeah, if you say so," Paige replied, she wasn't so sure. "It's just strange, not having seen them fight like that before."
"Are you kidding?" Phoebe chuckled. "How many times has Piper blown up Leo?"
"She's blown him up literally?" Paige asked, clearly surprised that her eldest sister had blown up her husband.
Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, but you know Piper, she didn't mean anything by it," she told her baby sister. "Look, Paige, don't worry. They love each other so much, and they've been through a lot worse than this."
"If you say so, you know them better than I do," Paige admitted as Phoebe's cell phone rang.
Phoebe looked down at the caller ID that read: Home Calling. "Hey," she said as she answered the phone. "Piper, what are you still doing at home?"
"This isn't Piper. I'm an innocent. Someone is after me, a warlock," came a voice Phoebe didn't recognize.
"What is it?" Paige asked looking at her sister with concern.
"Who is this?" Phoebe asked wondering who had broken into her house.
"I don't have time to explain," the woman replied. "You need to come home with your sisters. And Leo. I need healing."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Phoebe told the woman. She mouthed to Paige, 'Someone is in our house.'
"Where's the disinfectant?" the woman asked. "Didn't it used to be kept in Prue's bathroom?"
"No, it's in the kitchen," Phoebe clarified with a frown.
"Hurry, please, before he kills me," the woman begged.
Outdoor Cafe
Buffy and Dawn were in the midst of having lunch at the outdoor café before heading to the nearby stores to do some shopping when Buffy's cell phone rang.
Buffy looked down at the caller ID that read: Phoebe's Cell. "Phoebe?" Buffy said as she answered it.
"Mom, someone broke into the house. Whoever it is seems to know we're witches," Phoebe said.
"Ok. Dawn and I are on our way home." Buffy replied as she and Dawn got up to leave. She dropped some money on the table to pay for the drinks and food.
Dr. Berenson's Office
Dr. Berenson opened his office door and smiled at Piper and Leo who stood on the other side.
"Dr. Berenson?" Leo asked.
Dr. Berenson nodded. "Yes, hi. Is it Leo?" he asked.
"Yeah," Leo answered before motioning toward his wife. "And Piper."
"Nice to meet you," the doctor told the couple. "Nice to meet you both." He made a sweeping gesture to indicate they could come in. "Why don't you come in and make yourself comfortable."
As Piper and Leo walked through the door Piper laughed. "Sorry," she said.
Dr. Berenson closed the door as Piper and Leo sat on a couch apart from each other. He sat in an armchair across from them. "Well, uh, Dawn and Phoebe have told me a lot about you."
"Oh, really?" Leo said surprised. "Like what?"
"Oh, I—I don't mean about what brings you here, just that they think the world of you," the doctor clarified as Piper and Leo look around uncomfortably. "So, what does bring you here?"
"Uh, well, I guess we've been, uh, sort of fighting a lot lately," Piper hesitantly admitted.
"Is that unusual in your marriage?" Dr. Berenson asked the couple.
"No," Leo answered while Piper said, "Yes."
Leo and Piper glanced at each other and then back to the doctor. "We just had two babies, a boy and a girl," Leo explained.
"Right, the babies," Piper agreed.
"Is that what you guys have been fighting about?" the doctor questioned the couple.
"No," Leo and Piper answered with a shake of their heads.
Dr. Berenson nodded as he looked at the two of them. "Maybe it would be better if we started at the beginning, huh?" he suggested. "Why don't you tell me about your childhood."
"Ugh. For god's sake," Piper groaned as she flicked her wrist freezing the doctor.
"Piper, what are you doing?" Leo asked shocked. "You can't freeze the shrink, we're on the clock."
Piper stood up. "Yeah, well, forget about the clock, because you know what?" she replied with a scowl. "We're going to need a calendar because this is going to take months."
Leo sighed. "Okay, well, if you remember, you're the one that wanted to do this. I did not."
Piper glanced at her husband. "Yeah, well, Leo, we need to," she admitted. "For all the reasons that Aunt Dawn and Phoebe said and you know it. Look, we've lost our way and we need to find it back, fast."
"So you really think a spell will help?" Leo asked with a slight tone of concern.
"It has to," Piper hoped.
Halliwell Manor
At the Manor a Warlock threw the woman that had phoned Phoebe hard against the wall. He grabbed her by the hair and pushed her onto the floor. "Not so fast. I want to enjoy this." He grabbed her by the neck and pulled her up. He pushed her against the wall and held her there. He moved the knife towards her neck as Paige orbed in with Phoebe, Buffy and Dawn.
"Hey!" Dawn said as she telekinetically threw a candlestick which hit the warlock across the face. "Orb her out of here."
Paige rushed over to the woman and orbed out with her. The warlock grabbed Dawn by the arm.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
In the living room Paige orbed in with the woman and sat her down on the edge of the couch. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think so. You really got that orbing thing down, don't you?" the woman told the youngest Halliwell sister.
"Who are you?" Paige wondered.
"Someone from your past," she replied cryptically.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
In the dining room Dawn and the Warlock landed on the dining room table as the Warlock pointed a knife at her throat. Buffy and Phoebe grab him and pull him off her. Phoebe grabbed the Warlock's arm and twisted it behind his back. She held his knife against his neck as Paige orbed in.
"Need any help?" Paige asked.
"What do you want? Who are you?" Phoebe asked.
Suddenly, Buffy, Dawn Phoebe, Paige and the Warlock disappear from the room.
Sunnydale High School
Tara snuck into Principal Wood's office and pretended not to realize that she was looking through the files on his desk. "Now, if I were a sign of being evil," she murmured, "where would I be?"
She had just tiptoed over to a big wall cabinet when Principal Wood called her name from the doorway.
"Principal Wood," Tara said with the big innocence. "It's you."
"You looking for something?" he asked.
Uhhh . . . "File folders," she decided. "And mechanical pencils. Well, I want to write on a file folder with a mechanical pencil."
"The supply cabinet in the outer office has those things," he said, not without warmth.
"Oh. This isn't a supply cabinet?" Tara asked, trawling on more well intentioned oopsiness. "My bad. Okay. Thanks!"
She started to leave, when he stepped in her way and said, "Hey, Tara, what're you doing tonight?"
As if this were a test that she could easily pass she said, "Preparing for tomorrow's counseling sessions?"
He smiled faintly. "No, really."
"My girlfriend and I have a date tonight, why?" Tara confessed.
"Well, I was going to offer to take you out to dinner."
"I have a friend that might be interested," Tara told him with a sly smile. "If you don't mind a blind date. She's a feisty brunette."
He thought about it. He knew that Tara was a witch and she worked with a Slayer. It was possible the brunette she was talking about was said Slayer. "I'd like that."
Dr. Berenson's Office
Piper walked across the room holding a small piece of paper. She sat down beside her husband.
"I'm just worried about the memory part of the spell, that's all," Leo admitted as he looked at Piper with concern.
"Look, we're gonna have to make our memories real and everything around them real or we're never gonna get through this," Piper admitted. "Now scoot over, we weren't this close." Leo rolled his eyes and moved over. She let out a sigh and then began to read from the paper. "Let the truth be told, let our lives unfold, so we can relive our memories, and stop being enemies." She lit the paper and watched it go up in flames. "Ready?"
Leo nodded. "Yeah," he said as Piper flicked her wrist unfreezing Dr. Berenson.
"Do you smell something?" the doctor asked catching a break scent of the smoke.
"No," Piper told him. "Look, we were thinking we just skip the childhood part and just cut to the chase and go straight to us."
"If that's alright with you," Leo agreed.
Dr. Berenson smiled. "Oh, sure, sure," he agreed. "Um, why don't you tell me how you first met."
November 18, 1998 – Thursday
Halliwell Manor
Buffy, Dawn, Phoebe, Paige and the warlock all appeared on the front porch. As the girls looked around the warlock took advantage of their distraction, grabbed his knife and blinked out.
"He must have blinked us outside here." Buffy said. "You okay, Dawn?"
"He must have." Phoebe agreed.
"I'm fine, Buffy," Dawn told her concerned sister.
It was then that they heard Piper and Leo's voice coming from inside.
"Well, I think I see... yep, there's definitely something here, Miss Halliwell."
"Definitely."
"Piper?" Phoebe and Buffy said confused.
"When did they get home," Dawn wondered as they walked inside.
Phoebe looked around the corner into the conservatory, her mouth dropped in surprise as she pulled everyone away from the room. "You are not going to believe this."
They peeked around the corner and looked into the living room where they saw... Piper and Leo. Leo was bent over with his head up in the fireplace, looking for something.
Phoebe, carrying a mug of coffee, entered the Conservatory, but stopped when she caught sight of Leo. "Oh my. Santa, you've changed," she spoke up as she moved carefully around Leo to stand next to Piper.
"He's looking for Kit," Piper explained to Phoebe, glad that Leo hadn't caught her little sister's comment.
"The cat. Right. Four legs, fur. I remember," Phoebe replied distractedly, not looking away from Leo until he began to move away from the fireplace. She glanced at Piper, apparently impressed with Leo. 'Oh my God,' she mouthed to Piper before Leo turned to face them. Piper just smiled slightly and looked up at Leo, who was cat-less.
Buffy, Dawn, Phoebe and Paige pulled back into the living room. "Is that you?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, from about five years ago," Phoebe whispered.
Buffy, Dawn and Paige's jaws drops before they peek around the corner again.
"Sorry. You know, have you tried the shelter?" Leo suggested in an apology.
"Yeah, nothing," Piper answered sitting forward and frowning ever-so-slightly.
"Well, she had her collar on, right? With your number on it and everything?" Leo asked optimistically.
"A very distinctive collar actually," Phoebe responded before Piper could say anything. She took a sip of her coffee so as to ignore the warning glance Piper sent her.
"Anyways…" Piper began bringing Leo's attention back to her before he could question what Phoebe meant. She stood up and took several steps toward him. "Uh, thanks for looking. I'm sure you must be hungry after all that work," she continued with an innocent smile.
"All what work?" Leo laughed as Piper stopped next to Phoebe.
Phoebe, recognizing Piper's flirting, was unwilling to let her sister take Leo quite so easily. He was still fair game. With that in mind, Phoebe joined in her laugh with Leo's and put her arm around the shoulders of the elder Halliwell. "Oh, that's just Piper. She's got to be everyone's mom. Think of her as your mom. I know I do," Phoebe explained to Leo, causing Piper to narrow her eyes slightly at her younger sister.
Phoebe rolled her eyes and shook her head as Dawn and Paige gave her a confused look.
"Are you hitting on Leo?" Buffy asked as Phoebe let out a sigh and nodded.
"Isn't she a scream?" Piper joked, unwilling to let Phoebe embarrass her too much.
Leo looked away and sat his tools down next to the fireplace. "Well thanks, um… let me go put up these flyers first and I'll be right back, okay?" he suggested before taking the 'REWARD' flyers from Piper and heading out nearly tripping over the fireplace screen that he had moved.
"Oh, careful," Phoebe spoke up immediately as Leo caught himself.
"You alright?" Piper asked with concern.
"Yeah, yeah… I'll just…" Leo began but trailed off as he moved the screen back in front of the fireplace where no one else would trip over it.
"Antique," Piper added, biting her lip slightly.
"Gram's," Phoebe finished as Leo left.
"Mom's," Buffy added.
Piper and Phoebe both turned to watch him leave, checking him out as he left. "Oh. Quite possibly the finest glutes in the city," Phoebe muttered to herself and Piper.
"In the state," Piper corrected, neither pair of eyes leaving Leo.
"In all the land," Phoebe took it a step further with a little laugh.
"I saw him first," Piper immediately stated.
"Uh uh," Phoebe disagreed, casting a glance at Piper.
"Uh huh," the elder Halliwell argued.
"Uh…" Phoebe sighed in defeat.
Dawn reeled back into Buffy's arms as she collapsed, a memory surging forth into her mind.
San Francisco Memorial
Prue was finally admitted to Aunt Jackie's room after explaining that she was taking care of Jackie's niece Aviva. The news reached Aunt Jackie who allowed the eldest Halliwell in and sat up with interest when Prue finally entered and sat down in the chair next to Aunt Jackie.
"I don't understand. Why is Aviva staying with you? I don't even know who you are," Aunt Jackie stated suspiciously.
"Um, actually we just met your niece. We lost our cat and she found it for us," Prue explained again while Aunt Jackie nodded in understanding, several events clicking together for her.
"Oh, that's what she was hiding," Aunt Jackie realized.
Prue cocked her head in confusion. "Hiding?" she pressed.
"In the closet. She wouldn't let me go anywhere near it. You're lucky she didn't sacrifice the poor thing," Aunt Jackie replied with a roll of her eyes at her niece's habits. At least that's what she got from all the alters, candles, and other black magic artifacts.
"I'm sorry?" Prue questioned narrowing her eyes uncertainly. Aviva had never set well with Prue though she might be a little prejudiced against the teenager for ruining her dates with Andy, but maybe there really was more going on.
Aunt Jackie looked around the room before leaning closer to Prue. "She's a strange kid. Very troubled. Into all sorts of weird stuff. Black magic, voodoo. God knows what else. No wonder she doesn't have any friends," Aunt Jackie elaborated, lowering her voice so only Prue would be able to hear her.
"What makes you think she's into black magic?" Prue wondered and Aunt Jackie hesitated a moment before answering.
"You should see her room. It seems like every time I pass by there she's in there… chanting or something. Sometimes, I swear, I even hear other voices. I know she's not happy there. I'm only taking care of her until her mom gets out of rehab."
Prue was silent a moment, processing what Aunt Jackie had told her. Maybe something in Aviva's room would lighten the mystery behind the teenager. "Uh, do you mind if I stop by your place and pick up some things for Aviva?" Prue asked carefully.
"No," Aunt Jackie allowed with a shake of her head.
"Great, thanks. Feel better," Prue wished, grabbing her jacket and leaving the room.
Halliwell Manor
Dawn looked up into Buffy's concerned face.
"What happened?" Buffy asked.
"Prue's memory," Dawn replied. She looked at Phoebe. "Did Prue go to see this girl's aunt? The one that had your cat?"
"Yeah," Phoebe replied. To this day she had wondered why her aunt kept receiving her eldest sister's memories.
Dawn looked at her sister who helped her to her feet. "I'm okay, Buffy."
Buffy nodded as she addressed her sister and daughters. "We have to figure out a way to get out of here," she said. "We can't risk changing our history otherwise we'll have no future to go back to."
"Yeah, but what if that's what the warlock wants us to do?" Paige asked.
"We've got to get to the book," Phoebe suggested as Buffy, Paige and Dawn nodded.
They heard Piper and Phoebe's voices coming towards them and quickly hid.
"I'm telling you, he's not your type. He's nice." Piper said.
"Oh, oh, really? And I don't like nice?" Phoebe replied.
Piper shook her head. "No, Phoebe, you don't. You like dangerous, you like bad boys, you always have," she said as she and Phoebe walked into the kitchen.
"Before or after you started seeing Cole?" Dawn wondered.
"Before," Phoebe answered. "A couple years before."
Suddenly Dawn, Buffy, Paige and Phoebe disappeared.
March 13, 2003 – Thursday
Dr. Berenson's Office
"Then Phoebe and I went upstairs to fight over him a little bit more," Piper said.
"And I went out to put up the fliers," Leo added.
Dr. Berenson nodded. "You know, it's uncanny how well both of you seem to remember exactly what happened. Especially after five years."
"Oh, well, you know, it just seems like yesterday to us," Piper admitted cryptically.
"Except that yesterday Piper almost blew up the house," Leo said with a chuckle. He noticed the look Piper was giving him and sighed. "Figuratively speaking. I mean, Piper's got a bit of a temper."
"I do not!" Piper countered glaring at her husband.
"Oh, no?" Leo said with a raise of his eyebrows.
Summers Home, Sunnydale
In the living room, Tara and Willow were folding the laundry of the vast commune of Potentials and their socks and underwear as Willow asked, "So, he was going to ask you out to dinner?"
"Yeah," Tara said as she looked at Faith. "But I suggested you go out with him on a blind date, Faith. So you can check him out."
"Sounds five by five," Faith agreed. "What should I wear?" she asked as she looked down. "Dawn never cared if I wore my normal on our dates." She looked up at the couple before her.
"Maybe something sexy?" Willow suggested.
Then Giles and the new Potential, Chao-Ahn, burst through the door. Both were carrying large and colorful shopping bags.
"Dear Lord," Giles said. "I hate that mall. The shop assistants are rude. And everything in the food court is sticky."
"That's gotta be rough," Xander said coming up beside Tara, Willow and Faith. "Getting pulled out of your home, being told you're a Potential Slayer, not being able to bring anything."
"Yes," Giles concurred, as Chao-Ahn looked on blankly. "And the language barrier is formidable. I was concerned that my Mandarin is a little thin, but as it turns out, she speaks Cantonese, which is . . . thinner. But we muddled through." He beamed proudly. "And, as I suspected, ice cream is a universal language."
In Chinese, Chao-Ahn told them, "Like many from Asia, I am lactose intolerant. I'm very uncomfortable."
"She's grateful to be in the land of plenty," Giles translated. To the new girl, he said in a loud, slow voice, "Let go and put away your new clothes."
"Hey, Will, do you think you can do a computer check on Principal Wood?" Faith asked. "See if you can find anything out?"
"Yeah. Sure." Willow replied.
February 8, 2001 – Thursday
Halliwell Manor
Buffy, Dawn, Phoebe and Paige appeared behind the table in the attic.
"What happened?" Dawn asked looking around.
"I don't know. Let's get the book and get out of here." Paige said.
"No," Buffy whispered. "We can't we're not home yet. We can't move anything otherwise it could change time. Besides Piper and Phoebe are right over there."
They looked where Buffy indicated and saw the Piper and Phoebe were indeed hiding in the shadows. They were lucky that the two of them had not overheard their conversation.
Dantalian flamed in and picked up the Book of Shadows. "That was easy."
"Too easy," Piper said, as Phoebe kicked Dantalian from behind.
Dantalian fell to the floor as she and Phoebe walked over to her.
"Where's our sister?" Phoebe asked.
"I can help you. I can teach you evil. You're new at it. You don't know how to realize its full potential," Dantalian said.
"I don't know, I think we're getting the hang of it," Piper said.
"Want to see?" Phoebe asked, as she held the knife closer.
"Where's Prue?" Piper asked.
"Kill me and you'll never see her again," Dantalian told them.
"Hmm, so maybe we should just torture you instead," Piper said as she stepped on Dantalian's arm. With a flick of her wrist she turned Dantalian's hand to ice. Dantalian screamed.
"Why don't you just shatter her hand and see what happens," Phoebe suggested looking at her older sister.
Piper picked up a candlestick. "Last chance," she said. She received no response. "Fine." She smashed Dantalian's hand with the candlestick and Dantalian screamed in pain.
"I was under a spell. Evil." Phoebe whispered to her sister, aunt and mother.
"Evil? You were blonde." Paige retorted.
"Now the really weird thing is, we could do that to the other hand and then go down to your feet," Phoebe said.
"Actually, we could work up, piece by piece all the way to her head," Piper suggested. "Where is Prue?"
In that moment Leo arrived in bright orbing lights. "I just couldn't leave like that, Piper," he told Piper as the sisters turned to him. Behind the sisters grabbed the Book and shimmered out. "What's going on?"
"Well, you just helped her escape, that's what's going on," Piper said as she glared at her fiancé. She flicked her wrist and froze Leo into a solid block of ice. "Smash him," she told her sister. who kicked Leo, smashing him into a million little pieces. "Bastard."
As they watched Piper and Phoebe leave the attic Dawn reeled back and collapsed into Buffy's arms, another memory surging forth.
Dantalian's Chambers
Piper and Phoebe blinked into the underground room. "Whoa," Piper said.
Dantalian looked over at the sisters.
"Are we there yet?" Phoebe asked looking around. They saw Prue lying on an altar. "Prue."
"Too late. I've got the book," Dantalian said.
"Yeah, well, you know, it takes a while to learn how to use it. Trust us," Phoebe said.
"How about in the meantime, I freeze your head and shatter it?" Piper suggested.
"I may not be powerful enough to fight you yet, but they are." Dantalian said smiling at the sisters. She then chanted something under her breath and Prue and a warlock woke.
"Whoa, Prue, hey, hi. You don't look so good," Piper told her elder sister.
"Zile, Prue. Eliminate them," Dantalian ordered.
"Prue, ignore her. Come on, come with us. We're your sisters," Piper begged.
"I'm his wife, not your sister and best friend" Prue retorted, before using her power on her sisters sending them flying.
"Alright, I'll take that as a no," Piper said glancing at Phoebe.
"Okay, we have to figure out a way to get Prue on our side and fast," Phoebe said looking at her middle sister. "How about we get her a divorce?"
Zile smirked as he shapeshifted into Prue. He and Prue blinked out and then reappeared in different places.
"Don't want to shatter the wrong sister, now do you?" Dantalian asked smirking at Piper and Phoebe.
"I love you," Prue 1 said.
"Me too," Prue 2 returned.
Piper rolled her eyes. "Welcome to Planet Narcissus," she said.
"Wait a minute. Cole said that evil can't love," Phoebe said as she smirked.
"Cole?" Piper asked in confusion.
"Uh, never mind. The point is she didn't say I love you too," Phoebe explained.
Dantalian made a dagger appear in both Prue's hand. They walked toward Piper and Phoebe.
Phoebe pointed toward one of the Prue's. "Uh, she's the warlock. Freeze her"
Piper flicked her wrist and turned one of the Prue's into a block of ice. "Well, shatter her. Hurry"
"No. Zile," Dantalian screamed.
Phoebe kicked the frozen Prue shattering her and breaking the spell on the real Prue.
"What's going on?" Prue asked.
"I think we're back. All of us," Piper said as she smiled at her sisters.
March 13, 2003 – Thursday
Dr. Berenson's Office
"I—I'm sorry, um, when you say she shattered you, I assume that's..." the doctor said obviously confused.
Piper smiled. "Metaphorically speaking," she replied as Leo gave her a look.
"Perhaps we should try to explore all this a little more fully," Dr. Berenson suggested.