Heaven's Mistaken Gift
by: Piper Chris Melinda Halliwell
Co-written by: That70sShoLova
Chapter 15: The Forgotten Months
Paige pushed herself off the wet, dewy grass, rubbing her head. When drinking the potion, her head smacked the floorboards of the attic. That's going to hurt in the morning, she thought. She looked around the yard and smacked her older sister's leg.
"Piper! Wake up!"
Piper's eyes snapped open and she glared. "What?"
"What if she can see us?" Paige asked while motioning towards memory Phoebe.
Piper gasped, grabbed her sister's hand, and pulled her behind a bush. Paige landed on top a thin form.
"Ouch!" Phoebe complained. "Paige, get off me!" she stopped. "Paige?" she pushed her sister off her and then hugged her. "You're here!"
"Well, of course," Piper said. "We needed to make sure you were okay."
"Where are we?" Paige asked, even though she already knew.
"My mind." Phoebe supplied helpfully.
"That's not good..."
Memory Phoebe crawled down the side of her house, gripping the tree tightly, the bark scraping her palm and causing it to bleed. She scampered down it, her skirt riding up her thigh practically becoming one with her thong. She licked her palm, lapping up the blood and rubbing her saliva covered hand on her leg. She shimmied her skirt down her thighs and lifted her tank top so it uncovered her midriff.
She slipped her heels back on and ruffled her hair. She touched a finger to her red coated lips and looked across her yard. A girl with dark black hair and charcoal painted lips, dressed just as scarcely, sat in the front seat of a car parked in the driveway. She motioned for Phoebe to hurry up when she saw her jump to the ground. The car was old and obviously not worth putting money into. The muffler roared, sputtering loudly. Gray smoke puffed from the tailpipe and little bits of rust floated to the ground.
Memory Phoebe rushed over to the car, her pumps clicking loudly in the night. Nothing could be more loud than the junk that sat in front of her house, so she didn't worry. Memory Phoebe climbed into the passenger seat and the girl slapped her arm.
"Rookie mistake," Paige berated. "You don't meet the person in front of your house and that causes too much attention. You meet them down the street."
"Oh will you shut up!" Phoebe snapped. "I was fifteen."
Paige muttered something that sounded like, "I could do better at thirteen."
"Dude!" she snapped. "Could you have taken any longer? I swear, I about had a heart attack whenever I heard something move. If your grandmother caught us she would have killed me."
Phoebe snorted. "No, she would have killed me. Take a chill pill, Stace."
Stacey rolled her eyes and put the car into drive, the car jumped and made a loud groaning noise as it pulled out of the driveway.
The future Charmed Ones worried that they would have to run after the car to keep watching.
"This is why I didn't join track," Piper growled as she slipped off her unpractical shoes.
Suddenly, they were transported to the backseat of the car. Paige shrieked and Phoebe slapped a hand over her mouth, telling her to shut up.
Neither Memory Phoebe nor her friend Stacey, turned around though. It was as if they didn't hear them.
"Well, that makes sense, they are just a memory..." Piper mused.
Phoebe leaned into the mirror on the visor, she pulled out her eyeliner pencil and reapplied it. She made a large mark across her eye as once again the car stalled. "Damn it, Stacey!"
Stacey glared at her. "It's not my fault, and it damn as well isn't my baby's." she rubbed the torn seat fondly.
"Whatever, Stace."
Stacey pulled to the side of the road, right behind a red car with steamed windows. Memory Phoebe got out and shivered in the night air.
Not remembering that they were automatically transported to where Memory Phoebe went, real Phoebe got out of the car, pulling her sisters with her.
She ditched her Gothic friend and walked into the smokey house. She waved her hand across the room and coughed. She walked to a table with red plastic cups and a keg of beer, side stepping a couple that were sucking on each other's faces.
"You sure do know how to pick a party," Piper grimaced.
"Get a room!" Paige shouted.
She stopped and leaned on the table, coughing harshly. The cigarette smoke was something she hadn't expected. She breathed slowly, becoming accustomed to the smoke. It didn't seem like smoke, she thought. A man holding a joint bumped into her and laughed hysterically before coughing with a grin. "H-hey. S-sorry 'bout that." he held out the joint. "Want some?"
"U-uh..." she shook her head, "no thanks."
"Suit yourself." He shrugged and walked away.
She coughed again, becoming dizzy. Suddenly a plastic cup full of frothing liquid was offered to her. She took it gratefully and took a big gulp. She looked up into blue eyes. "Thanks..."
He smiled. "No problem." he held his hand out. "I'm Jared."
She shook it. "Phoebe."
"And I'm guessing it all went downhill from there." Paige sighed. "Okay, we saw how you guys met…what's next?"
Piper grabbed her sister's hands. "I don't know, but I think we're about to find out," she said as she felt a sensation similar to orbing as they landed in the Manor.
"Where are we?" Paige asked.
"At a hospital," Piper bit. Paige rolled her eyes. "We're at the Manor. Where the hell do you think?"
"Geez! I was just asking!"
Phoebe yanked on Paige's shirt. "Will you shut up so we can figure out what's going on?" She said as she saw her younger self dressing in provocative clothing.
"You look like a slut, you know that?"
She smiled bitterly. "Gee, that's always what I wanted to be called by my family," she shot back.
"Man, Prue was a bitch!" Paige said.
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Try living with her."
Piper patted Paige's shoulder. "Be glad you didn't."
"Part of me is, but…"
Phoebe wrapped an arm around her. "We know, but you have us," she said kissing her cheek.
Piper grabbed her hand. "And you always will."
"Going out?"
"Why do you even care?"
"I worry about you, Phoebe."
"It's not your job to worry about me," she said, hoping to end the discussion.
"But I do! You're my sister," Prue said. "And as much as we fight, I do love you."
She scoffed, sitting down on her bed. "I know that."
"Then," she walked in, pulling a chair sitting backwards on it and continued, "why, my dear sister, do you fight me? I just want what's best for you."
"Because," she said, getting right in her face, "you smother me with affection. I never get the chance to be my own person! I should have that damn it!" Phoebe stood up. "You do! Why don't I?"
"It's called being rebellious," Paige said.
"No," Phoebe interjected, "its called having two older sisters. One who tries to be 'responsibly rebellious'.
"Name Prue," Piper said.
"And the other who's the nerdy outcast and tries to remain invisible."
Piper pointed to herself.
"You nerdy? You've gotta be kidding!" Paige laughed.
Piper sighed sadly. "I'm not. I had huge thick glasses and almost a 4.0 GPA in high school. No real friends, no boyfriend, picked on constantly. If it wasn't for Prue defending me, I might not have made it through all the crap."
"Or be encouraged enough to attend culinary school," Phoebe pointed out.
Piper nodded.
"I'm sorry. I…didn't know," Paige said, hugging her.
"Thanks," Piper said as they continued to watch.
"You're younger than me, Phoebe! I've made mistakes," she sighed. "Mistakes that I'd never want you to make."
"Is there a point to this rant? Because I'd really like to get the fuck out of this house!"
She flinched when her sister's hand make contact with her face. "Language!"
"Yes, mother!" she replied sarcastically.
"I just don't want anything to happen you, Phoebe," she said softly. "People . . . people dressed like that are usually—"
"—hoping for a great time?" she finished with a smile on her lips. "Why yes, I am."
"Is Prue implying that she was—" asked Paige.
Piper beat her to it. "Yes, she did. With Andy."
Phoebe laughed.
"What?" Paige asked. "You were young, how could you have—"
"The heater vent downstairs is connected to Prue's room." Piper said. "Now can we get on with this?"
"Did she ever have a scare?"
"Pregnancy scare?" Piper asked. Paige nodded. Piper thought a moment. "Not that I remember. Grams probably would've killed her."
"Ain't that the truth?" Phoebe quipped.
On the inside, Prue wasn't appalled, but Phoebe usually wasn't that direct unless she was going to do something out of spite. But, somehow, Prue knew that wasn't the case. "Phoebe, I don't think it's worth anything to give yourself to the first avail—"
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Look Prue, enough with the birds and the bees talk, I know how everything works."
"I know that, but—"
She pulled a little case from her purse. "Problem solved. I know you want me to be safe. Stop worrying."
"Birth control? So…what, you forgot to take it?" Paige asked.
Phoebe shrugged. "Must have." Piper hit her over the head. "OW! Hey, that hurt!"
"Well…" was all she said. Phoebe nodded guiltily, knowing she was right.
In an instant, the scene changed.
Once school was over, she walked into the kitchen where her older siblings and grandmother sat.
"G-Grams?" Phoebe asked hesitantly.
"Yes, darling?"
She walked over to the table and sat down. "Grams, something bad — well not bad, but scary— happened."
Penny looked up from her tea and glared at her granddaughter, sighing. "What did you do now Phoebe?"
Phoebe gulped and hung her head in her hands. "I-I'm pregnant," she whispered. The words seemingly close to 'you have permission to kick my ass' in her mind.
Piper gasped and looked at her younger sister. "Phoebe, really?" she nodded nervously. Piper hopped up and hugged her sister. "Oh, Phoebe."
Prue glared. "Fuck, Phoebe!" she cursed angrily. "You promised! You promised me you'd be careful and now look what you did! You went and got knocked up!"
Phoebe cried. "I was drunk. I barely knew what was happening!"
"Oh and that makes it so much better!" she growled.
Penny held her hand up. "Girls, leave. Let me talk to Phoebe alone."
Future-Phoebe rubbed her head, falling back against the hallway wall. "Oh, OW!"
Piper grabbed her. "Phoebe! Phoebe, what's going on?"
Paige, who had been engrossed in the memory before her, turned around. "What's wrong?"
Phoebe shook her head, tears pouring down her face. "It hurts! It hurts!" she said, sliding down the wall to the floor.
"What hurts?" Piper asked, dropping to her knees. "What is it?"
Phoebe just fell into her arms. "My head. It's gonna implode!"
Piper looked to Paige. "Can you-can you heal it?" she asked, falling apart at her sister's state. Paige could see her shaking.
She bit her lip. "I can try, but I don't think its gonna work."
"WELL TRY, DAMN IT!" Piper screamed.
Paige flinched, but understood how she felt as she placed her hands on her head, but nothing happened and Phoebe continued to cry.
"Wh—why didn't it w-w-work?"
Paige stroked her cheek, causing Phoebe to open her eyes. "Phoebe, listen to me. I think I might've figured this out. These memories triggered whatever wiped them, so you're remembering what happened."
"Will it go away? Please make it go away! I don't wanna know!" Phoebe said.
"What happens next? What did Grams tell you?" Piper asked.
Phoebe shook her head.
"You know." Phoebe nodded. "You'll feel better."
"She-she told m-me to get an abortion or leave." She looked at Paige. "You're right, Paige. I am getting my memory back."
"I have a feeling it'll stop once the original memories are back," Paige said. "You'll be hurting for a little while longer."
Phoebe rubbed her temples. "Yeah, figured that much out, thanks."
"Are we going to see any more?" Piper asked.
Paige shrugged. "Well, we haven't moved, so I'd guess no."
Phoebe swallowed. "S-so how do we get back."
"You already are, dear," Grams said as she and Patty walked down the stairs.
"Wait… Since when?" Piper asked. "I don't remember waking up."
"After you three passed out, your bodies disappeared and when Phoebe's head began to hurt, signifying the return of her memories, you came back," Grams explained.
"Okay that's…"
"Anticlimactic?" Piper asked as they went to sit on the couch, Phoebe leaning on her and holding on tight.
"Yeah, I mean, I kinda expected to wake up gasping for air," Paige answered.
Penny laughed. "Not all potions have that effect, Paige."
"Okay, good to know."
Patty walked back out with a tall glass of frothing liquid, handing it to Phoebe. "Here, drink this."
Phoebe untangled her arms from Piper and took it from her. "What is it?"
"Something to help with the pain. Drink it."
She nodded, draining the glass. "So what now? Do I wait for her to kill me?"
"Positivity isn't your strong suit," Paige said.
Phoebe stood up. "Well, excuse me, Paige, but I have more important things on my mind then your idiotic comments!" She yelled, standing up and running upstairs.
"Phoebe wait!" Paige called, making to run after her, but Piper stopped her.
"Don't. She needs time."
"Time? For what?"
"Everything. She knows she has a daughter. She believes it now and the fact that she hasn't been in her life is taking a heavy toll," their mother said.
"But if we don't go after her, what's to stop her from going to the Underworld and getting herself killed? And that would be way before they even met," Piper objected.
"I don't think she'd do that."
"We don't know that, Paige! She's in pain and wanting answers!"
Paige rested a hand on her knee. "True, but give her a little credit. She didn't it when we first found out."
"That's because she was just too shocked, Paige! I know her and something's gonna happen that no one in this room wants!"
"Piper—"
"Mom, I don't need a lecture now. I need to find Phoebe!"
"Just listen," she said, sitting beside her. "After I—" she swallowed the lump in her throat, "—gave Paige away, I went through all of this too. Regret of giving her up, loss over never getting to know her, be there for her when she was hurt. Phoebe's feeling that too."
"How did you cope with it?"
"I eventually knew that you and Phoebe would befriend her, that I would know her and then things just worked out."
"Why are you telling us this?" Paige asked.
"Her daughter wasn't alone all those years, Paige," Grams said.
"Of course not. Jared was there," Piper commented. "Demonic bastard."
"No, it wasn't him, though from what I saw we have every right to call him that, believe me," their mother said.
"If he wasn't there, then who was the girl calling daddy?" Paige asked.
"His best friend who promised Phoebe he'd take care of them," Grams said. "Cole Turner."
Phoebe walked upstairs. She was going to go lay down, but her feet steered her toward the attic. Walking in, she took notice of the open Book of Shadows.
Did we leave that open? She thought as she walked over. She found it on a spell she'd never seen.
I want to find what used to be,
In that picture was me smiling happily,
In his arms I'd be,
Bring him to me and make it now
So I may find what never died.
White lights swirled from the ceiling and into a man she barely remembered, but she knew his face was etched into her soul.
He walked over to her, cupping her tear-streaked face. "You weren't supposed to know."
"Why not?" she asked stepping out from behind the podium.
"You know why not, Phoebe. I told you years ago." His eyes burned into her. She was just as her remembered her. Fun-loving, passionate, sucker for romance. He'd give anything to be able to stay and it broke his heart that he couldn't. "I can't stay."
"Then take me with you," she pleaded. "I want to meet her."
"No, you don't."
"But she…misses me, doesn't she?" she asked as his hands caressed her face.
"From what she knows of you, yes."
"Please, I can't bear to stay away. Now that I know she's real it's not fair."
He sighed. He knew exactly how dangerous this was. If she left with him, chances were she wouldn't be able to come back. Not that she wouldn't want to. He knew she'd miss her sisters terribly. But going back now was like signing her life away.
"Well?"
"You shouldn't. You might not be able to come back."
"What does that mean?"
"You won't be able to help people anymore. You won't be on the good side anymore. It's like a pact with the Devil himself…"
"But I'll be with you. Just where I want to be."
He kissed her hand. "No, you don't. Being evil really isn't all its cracked up to be."
"But I really don't want to stay here if you're not here. Someone's been missing from my life for ten years about my daughter," she brought his hand to her face, "its you too. Don't you miss me?"
"We were kids then, Phoebe. Who's to say I haven't moved on?"
"The look in your eyes. The love you still have for me."
"But you don't even remember—"
"So help me," she said, wrapping her arms around him.
The sound of footsteps cut off their conversation and what happened next made everyone flinch . . .
Author's note: So what do you think? Okay, that wasn't a lot of memories, but it got the point across, don't you think? Now what will happen? Who walked into the attic? Will she leave?
Reviews are much appreciated. Please?
Review thanks to: That70sshowlova
Thanks to my co-writer: That70sShowLova!
Piper Chris Melinda Halliwell & That70sShowLova