Phoebe opened the package that Paige handed her. It was from Kim in Florida, judging by the return label; she had been corresponding with her for several weeks and had become rather fond of the younger woman, and was more determined than ever to help her. Just as she had promised Kim had sent Phoebe something from her studio. As soon as Phoebe reached her hand into the little box and her fingers made contact with the object within, the all too familiar jerk of a premonition overtook her senses.
A young woman with Carmel colored hair in what appeared to be either her late 20's or early 30's dressed as a typical sports coach, was attempting to fight off a thing that looked like it walked out of a 60's horror film. It looked like a cross between a snake and something humanoid, with shale gray scaled skin, and a face more reptilian than human in its features. Narrow, slits for its yellow eyes, a pitch black flickering tongue, and the tips of fangs that were too big for its mouth yellowed to the same sickening shade as is eyes dripping with venom of the same color. Dressed in dirty, tattered, rag like clothes that were no longer recognizable for whatever they might have once been.
The office they were in was trashed from their fighting, and for the moment she seemed to be holding her own. Until the thing flung out its right hand, palm out, an energy bolt shot from his hand. It collided with the chair behind her on her left causing it to explode violently, knocking her off her feet and forward to her hands and knees. Before she could regain her footing under her the thing had pounced on her grabbing her with its talon like fingers, and jerking her to her feet in front of her. Holding her in its vice-like grip with one monstrous hand, while she struggled futilely against it, it took its other hand and roughly grabbed her chin and shoved it aside bearing her throat. Then quickly opened its mouth and sunk its fangs into the exposed and vulnerable skin. Her body jerked once or twice then went completely limp. The thing then quickly and roughly dropped her to the ground among the debris of the room. As soon as her body hit the floor it started to glow reddish brown color of partially dried blood, while the wound on her neck slowly oozed a mixture of venom and blood.
With that the vision closed and released its grip on her senses dumping her back into reality as quickly as she had been ripped from it.
"Oh my God!" shouted Phoebe as she withdrew her hand from the box.
"What did you see?" asked both Piper and Paige simultaneously.
"Kim, in her office, is being attacked by something demonic. Quick, Paige you have to orb us there!" demanded Phoebe.
"To Florida?" asked Paige.
"Yes, and hurry!" answered Phoebe.
Without another word Paige orbed the three of them off to Florida to save Phoebe's innocent. They arrived in Kim's office too late though, because the first thing they saw upon their arrival was the demon sinking its fangs into Kim's throat then dropping her just like in Phoebe's premonition.
"HEY!" shouted Piper.
The demon looked up just long enough to recognize the Charmed Ones, but before it could react, Piper flicked her hands out and with a quick gesture used her power to blow the demon to smithereens. All that remained was a charred bit of carpeting where it once stood. For those who knew what to look for, the tell-tale sign of a vanquish. They all then looked at Kim, her body was still glowing that strange reddish brown color.
"Why is she still glowing? Shouldn't whatever spell that thing put on her have broken when piper blew it up?" asked Paige.
"Not necessarily, if it infected her with some kind of venom then there might be a counter spell or magical antidote needed," said Piper.
"Well try healing her first Paige, the answer might be that simple," suggested Phoebe.
"Since when is it ever that simple when it comes to magic" retorted Piper with a snort of derision.
"It's worth a shot," said Paige as she knelt down and put her hand over the wound on Kim's neck. Paige's hands started to glow with a golden light, but then quickly faded away.
"Ugh! Whatever this is, it's blocking my healing powers," responded Paige in a very agitated manor.
"Fine grab her and we will bring her back to the manor, maybe we can look up in The Book of Shadows what this is, or at least what that was, cause that might be the key to figuring out how to fix this problem," said Piper.
Paige and Phoebe each manage to grab Kim under an arm and pick her up between them. Piper grabbed each of her sisters' arms and they all orbed back to the manor in San Francisco. They arrived in the attic and quickly put Kim down on one of the couches, then went over to The Book of Shadows to find some answers. After about twenty minutes of leafing through the book, Phoebe recognizes the face of the demon.
"Here it is," says Phoebe then proceeds to read the contents of the page aloud.
"Dreypers: Lower level demons, viper hybrids. Have the capability to blink and throw energy balls. They feed off the life force of broken hearted lovers, drawn to its victims by the call of their pain, similar to banshees. Biting its victims and infecting their blood with its venom. As the venom spreads through the victim's veins it slowly and painfully drains away the life force. The pain of the broken connection of love is then used against the other lover by reaching out to also drain them as well by making them feel the other's pain.
The only known cure or reversal of dreyper venom is a kiss from the one who's love caused the victim's heart pain to start with, even if the demon responsible is vanquished."
"So we have to get the guy she originally wrote that email for here to kiss her?" asked Paige.
"Sounds like it, and the sooner the better," says Phoebe.
"Okay, so phoebe you get Coop to take you and Paige to where the guy is and bring him here. So that he can do the storybook thing and kiss Kim to save her," says Piper.
Phoebe nodded her head and closed her eyes and let her mind and its thoughts reach out to her husband. By the time she opened them he was there.
"Coop you need to take me and Paige to find the guy that Kim wrote about." Phoebe said in a rushed tone.
"Sure, but why?" asked Coop.
"She has been bitten by a dreyper! And he the only way to save her," answered Paige in the same hurried tone.
"Ok here take my hand," Says Coop, as he holds his hands out for each of them to take. Having seen once before the damage a dreyper can do, he knew there was no time to lose.
Both Phoebe and Paige take one of Coop's out stretched hands, and in a flash of heart shaped light were gone. They reappeared in what looked like a generic enough looking science class room that could have been housed in just about any school in the country. The room was empty, with the exception of one man seated at the teacher's desk, who looked like he had been trying to both eat and work at the same time. But at the sudden appearance of the three new comers he stopped everything and stared at them.
He then put the sandwich he was holding down and said in a very neutral, almost un-phased tone, "I'm retired." He sighed, and looked very much worn down in that moment, but it passed as quickly as it came.
Paige, phoebe and Coop all looked very confused at his comment, which was evident on their faces as they looked at each other. "Retired from what? What the hell is he talking about?" Paige asked being the first to voice the confusion of the group.
Phoebe pushing passed this confusion suddenly says, "Hi there, you don't know me, and I don't really have the time to explain this, but we need your help, and for you to come with us..., like right now!"
He took his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose in a slightly exasperated manor, then looked up at them and then said in a rather stern and suspicious tone, "I'm not going anywhere till you tell me what this is about."
Coop let go of the sisters' hands and stepped forward and spoke in a very calm but urgent tone, "Remember you first love? Well, she is in desperate need of your help, a life or death kind of need."
In answer to Coop's question, the name of said girl slips from him in an almost unbidden whisper. His gaze changes suddenly from passive to steely, as the expression on his face suddenly hardens to match it, at the mention of her in harm. He abruptly stands up and quickly spits out his next words, "What have you done to her?" his tone was fairly cold and almost threating, and his eyes seem to flicker green for an instant, but it happens so quickly it's hard to tell if it actually just happened or a trick of the light.
As the three of them all involuntarily take a step back from the hostility rolling off him, Paige throws both of her hands up palms up in a stopping gesture and quickly says, "Whoa! We didn't do anything to her we are the good guys, we just didn't get there in time to stop the bad guy from hurting her."
He stares them down for a minute before he asks, "Why should I trust you? How do I know this isn't a trap?" He suddenly puts a hand to his chest as a sudden pang of pain strikes him and his other hand grabs the corner of his desk to steady himself.
Phoebe steps forward and says in the calmest tone possible, "That pain your feeling, sort of like heartburn." and he nods his head. "Well, what you're feeling, that is her pain. She is dying and only you can save her." phoebe continued on to say.
"She hasn't much time left, will you come?" asks Coop.
Without hesitation he says "Yes, of course! What do I need to do?" his tone quickly softening from cold to concerned before shifting to determined, as the look in his eyes went from harsh to shocked and almost scared for a moment. The expression on his face softened considerably before settling into one that matched the determination in his voice.
"Just take my hand," Paige says softly but firmly, as she extends her hand out to him. He swiftly walks from around the desk and takes Paige's hand securely in his own and they orb out.
Piper and Leo, who is holding baby Chris, turn to look when they see the incoming orbs. Moments later they solidify into the shapes of four distinct people. All eyes focus on the unfamiliar face in the room. While he seems confused, it's clearly written on his face what his first and top priority is.
"Where is she?" he asks, but in a way where it sounds more like a demand.
"She is over here on the couch," says Piper as everyone steps out of the line of vision, allowing him an unobstructed view of her.
He sees Kim's body stretched out upon and old couch. It is encased in an intense, sickening reddish brown glow. She is unconscious, but her body is twitching slightly but uncontrollably, and she is whimpering softly. It breaks his heart to see her lying there is such obvious pain. Especially when on closer inspection he sees the brutal, slowly oozing wound on her neck.
"What happened to her?" he asks as he rushes over to her side.
"She was bitten by a dreyper," answers Leo.
He looks utterly confused, but before he can ask the obvious next question Piper says, "We will explain later, right now you have to save her."
"How?" he asks, as the pain he felt before suddenly doubles in intensity, causing him to physically shutter and grimace in response, making him gasp for breath.
"All you have to do is kiss her. It will neutralize and reverse the effects of the venom," answered phoebe.
"Just look at it as if she is sleeping beauty and your prince charming," says Leo in a reassuring manor.
He nods his head and kneels down next to the couch by her side. He takes hold of her hand, and just the simple act of his touch, stops both her twitching and whimpering. He brushes the hair from her eyes, and says, "I'm going to fix this Kim, I promise you that." He then slowly leans down and softly and gently kisses her cold lips. Within that moment of contact, the reddish brown glow changes to a blinding flash of golden light, which rivals even the brightest rays of the sun.
As soon as the light dies away and everyone can see again, just in time to see him drawing back from her. She gasps deeply and suddenly, and then slowly opens her eyes. She blinks a few times to focus her eyes enough to make out the face in front of her. "Tommy is that you?" Kim asks in a slightly slurred and weary voice.
"Yeah beautiful it's me." He answers her as he smiles down at her.
"Am I dreaming?" she asks unsure of what she was seeing was real or not.
"No, this is defiantly real." He responds to her in a warm yet soft tone of voice.
As he looked at her, he noticed that the wound on her neck had completely vanished without a trace of ever being there to start with.
"I had the worst nightmare, what the hell happened?" Kim asked. As she looked around at her surrounding she suddenly realized that she has no idea where she was. Sitting up as quickly as her body can manage, she suddenly asks, "Where are we?"
"I have no idea what so ever. But these people are going to tell us what is going on," he said in answer to her questions.
Phoebe walked over to where she would be in Kim's line of vision and says," Hi Kim, I'm Phoebe. It's nice to finally meet you, even under these circumstances. I know you both must have a lot of questions, and my sisters and I are going to try to answer them all for you."
Phoebe smiles and takes as deep breath and exhales slowly before launching into the long difficult explanation ahead of her.
"Well, to start off with the easy question, you both are in the attic of my sister, piper's house, which just so happens to be in San Francisco, California," stated Phoebe.
"What?" exclaimed Kim. "How did I get to San Francisco? What the hell was that thing in my office? What the hell is going on?" Kim rambled off one question after another, stopped only when Piper whistled catching the attention of the room.
"Okay, everybody take a deep breath. We will answer all of your questions, but one at time," responded Piper.
"First off my sisters and I brought you here to help you," answered Phoebe.
"How?" asked Kim.
"In a word, magic," said Paige.
At Paige's statement both, Kim and Tommy's eyes suddenly go wide.
"We are witches," Says Piper.
"Good witches," Phoebe quickly adds when she sees them both suddenly get these harsh expressions on their faces.
"Well my sisters and I are, but not Coop he a cupid, and not Leo he mortal…now. He used to be a whitelighter just like I am from my father's side," states Paige.
"We protect the innocent," says Piper as the rest in the room remain silent.
"So what the hell was that thing that attacked me?" asked Kim.
"It was a dreyper," Answered Phoebe as she walked over with the Book of Shadows and showed her the page.
"You don't have to worry those, Piper blew him up he won't be back," commented Paige.
As the two read the page he then asks, "So this is why you needed me?"
"Yes, you were the only way to save her, and in doing so you saved yourself as well." Coop answers.
"You didn't know that at the time, though. Yet it was without a thought that you were willing to help when you heard she was dying. It should be obvious then, that you don't need a cupid to tell that you are still in with her. Kim you never would have written me that email to start with, if you weren't still in love with him," stated Phoebe.
After hearing Phoebe's words they both turned and looked at each other, as if seeing each other anew for the first time.
"Now I know that you are going to have a lot of issues to work through, but I think this is a pretty clear sign that just maybe the two of you are meant to be together," says Phoebe.
At her words Kim looked over at him and smiled as he meet her eyes, then back to Phoebe and says," I think I like the sound of that. In fact I think I like that a lot!"
A few months later, and Phoebe is sitting in the living room of Halliwell manor after another of Piper's family dinners. Coffee mug in hand, as the conversation continues over from dinner. "Oh, by the way have you heard any more from Kim lately? How is she doing anyway?" asks Piper.
"Funny you should ask, because I just got an email from her today," answers Phoebe.
"What did she say?" asks Paige.
"She said they are both doing well. They have worked through the majority of their problems. In fact he is moving to Miami to be with her, and they are going to live together." answers Phoebe.
Coop smiles from his place next his wife and says, "If I didn't know any better I think you were after my job," he jokes.
"I have my hands full with my own job thank you very much! I do not need to do yours," and laughs along with the rest of them.
It was then that Phoebe noticed the mug Leo was drinking out of is bubble gum pink.
"Where did you get that?" Phoebe asked laughing as she does so.
"Oh, this?" Leo asked as he looked down at the mug in his hand.
"You left that here, it was, what was in that box Kim had sent you," answered Piper.
"Can I see it?" asks Phoebe.
"Sure, it's yours," answers Leo.
Phoebe got up from her place on the couch and walked over. She reached out to grab the mug, and as soon as her fingertips brushed against the ceramic surface she was suddenly pulled into a premonition.
With the viewpoint of being at the back of a very crowded room looking up towards the front, the room is decorated with white and pink roses. The mass of people are all seated in long pews, dressed very formally. At the very front of the room there is an alter decorated with even more white and pink roses. There a man and woman stand in front of priest in the traditional robes. The woman is in a beautiful flowing white satin and lace gown, with pink roses interwoven her caramel colored hair. The man in a crisp black suit with a pink tie and rose on the jacket lapel. The priest is then heard saying "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride." And with that the man and woman smile at each other as he pulls her close and kisses her deeply!
With that the vision closes and Phoebe is dumped back into reality. She takes a deep breath and smiles as she looks up at her family.
"What did you see?" asks Piper.
"They are going to be just fine. Things are going to work out for them," answers Phoebe as she smiles even brighter!