TWO
"I think I found one," said Paige, holding the crystal over the map of San Francisco. "It didn't take long. According to the crystal it's in a building downtown."
"That looks like one of the government buildings," said Phoebe looking at the location where the crystal was indicating. "If I'm not mistaken that's the place where they issue marriage licenses."
"Why would a demon be at the licensing bureau?" Piper asked.
"That would depend on what human they were impersonating," said Leo. "Whichever demon has hired that doppelganger may have a particular mission in mind that involves marriage licenses. That's why the doppelganger would be there."
"And the human they're impersonating?" questioned Paige.
"Probably disposed of," said Leo. "They couldn't risk the human coming back and ruining their plans."
"So I guess we'll have to vanquish this doppelganger once we've learned what it has to tell us," said Piper.
"If it thinks you're going to vanquish it then it doesn't have any incentive to be honest with us," said Leo.
"You expect us to just let it go after it killed a human?" Piper asked.
"Piper, you can't save everyone," said Leo. "And finding out how demons were able to duplicate the Power of Three has to have top priority right now. You can always go after the doppelganger later if you want to."
"Why don't we just let him think we're going to let him go and then vanquish his butt once we have the information we need?" Paige asked.
"No, Leo's right," said Piper reluctantly. "One of the things that sets us apart from the demons is that people can trust our word. I guess this time we'll have to let one get away for the greater good."
"Isn't that my line?" Leo asked, smiling slightly. "I do recall mentioning that once or twice to you before."
"Okay, okay, stop gloating," said Piper. "You're right. Sometimes we have to let one scumbag go to get an even bigger scumbag. But that doesn't mean we can't scare the begeses out of it. Maybe get it to move on to something else."
"I guess throwing a little scare into him can't hurt," said Leo.
"What about Billy?" Phoebe asked. "What are we going to do about her? She'll want to come along to help and I really don't think she's ready to go up against a demon who's capable of doing something like this."
"I wouldn't worry about her too much," said Leo. "She said something about tracking down another lead about her sister. I think she's liable to be tied up for a while."
"So, what's our plan of action?" Paige asked. "We can't just go down to the license bureau and confront a demon in front of how many innocents."
"Well, it's nearly time for the office to close," said Piper. "Most government offices close at 5:00 p.m. That should leave only a few innocents around. Then we can follow this doppelganger out of the office if we have to."
"And what if it tries to shimmer away?" Phoebe asked.
"We'll have this," said Piper, picking up a vial from the countertop. "It's a doppelganger vanquishing potion. If it tries to shimmer away we'll just vanquish it before it can. Then all we have to do is find another one."
"Just be careful," said Leo. "Not all doppelgangers have the same powers. Chances are this one is low level but there's no guarantee of that."
"We'll be careful," said Piper. "I doubt even a doppelganger is willing to go up against the Charmed Ones especially after we just vanquished Zankou and the Nexus."
"Be careful all the same," said Leo. "There are still some pretty powerful demons out there. And there's no telling just how powerful the doppelganger you're going against really is."
"We will," said Piper. "Paige why don't you orb us to the license bureau. You have my curiosity up. I'd like to find out just who is powerful enough to duplicate our power so precisely."
Paige orbed them into an empty office in the building. Like most offices, even though this one was locked, opening it from the inside was easy. They peered out the slightly open door down the hallway toward the license bureau.
"I expected it to be a lot busier than this," said Paige. "I always imagined government offices busy until they actually closed."
"It depends on the time of month," said Paige.
"Oh, really," giggled Phoebe. "I wouldn't think that would have anything to do with it."
"Not that," said a slightly annoyed Paige. "Some days are busier than others. It can go in spurts. Some days you can be swamped with work other days you can have almost nothing to do. And I would imagine with an office like this certain times of the year would also be deader than others. This is the end of January. Not exactly the traditional time of year for a wedding."
"Well, it's five o'clock," said Phoebe. "Depending on how much closing they have to do our doppelganger should be coming out in a little bit."
"Any idea how we're going to identify which of the people in the office is the doppelganger?" Paige asked.
"I thought we'd just ask them," said Piper. "Come on. Let's go find out."
They left the office and walked up to the window where the licenses were being dispersed. A woman was standing at the window organizing some papers while another younger woman sat at a desk entering some information into a computer. A man was at the back of the office was busy filing some files into a filing cabinet.
"I'm sorry," said the woman at the window, "we close at five. If you want to come back at nine tomorrow we'll be glad to issue you a license then."
"Oh, we aren't here to get a license, honey," said Piper, holding up the potion vial. "We're looking for some information and if we don't get it I'll probably end up using this."
The woman looked at Piper like she didn't know what she was talking about. The man, overhearing the conversation, looked up from his filing cabinet wondering what was going on at the window. The young woman sitting at the desk, however, was a different story. She looked up at the window and a look of fear came over her face. She glanced at the girls and then at her two co-workers, then immediately got of from her desk and headed into a back office.
"Well, I'd say we found who we came looking for," said Piper. "Come on before she gets away."
They left the woman standing at the window and hurried down a corridor to their right. When they turned the corner of the next corridor they found themselves alone.
"Paige, orb us out behind that office," said Piper. "If we're lucky we'll catch the doppelganger before it can get away."
Paige orbed them into a room behind the office where they had just been. The woman who had run from the office was busy unlocking a door that presumably led out of the building. She turned and looked at the girls with fear in her eyes.
"Don't hurt me," she pleaded. "I'm just doing what I was told. I don't want any trouble."
"Well, that's certainly different," said Piper. "Okay, we'll make a deal with you. You tell us what we want to know and we'll let you go."
"I'll tell you whatever you want to know just please don't hurt me."
"Well, this is certainly different," said Phoebe. "A cooperative demon."
"I'll tell you whatever you need to know just don't hurt me," the doppelganger kept repeating.