3 months later
"Urgh!" Reese proclaimed groggily, scuffing her slipper clad feet as she moseyed into the kitchen in sweat pants and a singlet, seeing both Wyatt and Chris sitting at the counter bent over steaming cups of coffee and generally feeling just as good as she was. She quickly swiped Chris's cup from the bench and downed the cup in large gulps, while he protested with a startled and annoyed, "Hey!" before grabbing back his cup and staring down into it with a grimace. Reese pulled up a bar stool beside Chris and put her head in her hands and sighed deeply.
"Please tell me again why we decided it was a good idea to go demon hunting last night? I swear I've had about five minutes sleep." Wyatt whined, sliding back his stool to sidle over to the brimming coffee pot to fill his mug again. He refilled the cup in Chris's outstretched hand and brought over a similar steaming mug and plonked it in front of Reese who murmured some form of thank you that he couldn't quite make out.
"Consider yourself lucky you got that." Chris replied, sipping his second cup of coffee.
"Agreed. I didn't even close my eyes." Reese chimed in, looking up with a smile when she noticed the full hot cup of coffee in front of her. She eagerly took it into her hands and began sipping it as fast as she could without scolding her mouth and sighed before scooting out of her seat to refill her mug again, slipping easily up onto the counter, swinging her legs back and forward as she continued to drink her coffee. The three of them sat in silence for some time, sipping their coffee and clearly wishing they could still be in bed but the truth was the adrenaline was still pumping in all of them from their successful vanquish and they were always too hyped up afterwards to get any form of shut eye.
"I've gotta go to work." Reese finally said, sliding back down to the floor and placing her empty mug in the sink before rubbing her aching temples.
"You're kidding, right?" Chris asked, clearly shocked that Reese was evening attempting to do anything today let alone work.
"Yeah, double shift. A Perfect Circle is playing tonight so it's gonna be crazy." She explained, making her way toward the kitchen door.
"Orb me over in ten?" Reese asked and Chris nodded, his head in his coffee cup again.
"I can't believe she has to work." Wyatt said with a shake of his head, leaning his face against his arm, his eyes tired and blood shot.
"I can't believe we managed to talk her into demon hunting with us last night. She must know by now they always turn into an all night deal." Chris added, gulping down the last dregs of coffee in his cup and licking his lips.
"Ah, the collective charm of the Halliwell brothers. Gets them every time." Wyatt explained with an impish smile and Chris laughed.
"I'm afraid your mistaken. The Halliwell women are the one's with the charm." Melinda Halliwell informed them, entering the kitchen in her flannelette pyjamas and pouring herself a glass of milk from the fridge.
"Morning to you too, sis!" Wyatt greeted sarcastically before getting to his feet.
"Ready?" Reese asked, re-entering the kitchen in her signature hipster black pants and short sleeve work shirt, her hair slicked back into a bun and her eyes dark with mascara. She skipped over to Chris's position on his stool and wrapped her arms casually around his neck as he groaned in protest and slunk further down in his stool.
"C'mon sleepyhead! I'm the one who has to work right now and with a killer headache I might add!" Reese explained and finally Chris gained the courage to stand and grabbed Reese's hand before mumbling, "Be back in a few" and orbing out of the kitchen.
Reese stared groggily down at the numbers on her wrist watch, squinting slightly as her left eye blurred for a moment and came back into focus, blinking before discerning the time as 10:30pm and the thirteenth hour of her shift. Admittedly she had meant to be home by 7:30pm at the latest but Kara, the night time manager, had abruptly rung her at 7:00pm and quit and had then proceeded to burst into tears and tell her her life story and how much stress she was under and that she couldn't possibly keep working under such pressure. Reese knew that there was no way either Chris or Wyatt would be available to take over as she knew Wyatt would be seeing Emily and Chris would be down in the underworld, cloaked as some low level demon to get information. She knew better than to call for him when he was in the underworld, it was always to dangerous to even risk it unless it was life threatening. Reese rubbed at her temple and took a sip of icy water, trying to settle the nausea in her stomach before letting out a deep sigh, steadying herself before she slipped out from behind the bar to clean glasses off tables and wipe them down, watching couples laughing and groups mingling and generally having a good time. Reese watched for a moment as a couple sat close beside each other in a booth in the corner, him whispering something in her ear and her turning to laugh with him, both staring into each other's eyes, both so close but not touching except for his breath playing across her neck as he continued to whisper to her.
"Reese!" She only just heard her name being called over the commotion and turned to see one of the bar staff, Candice, motioning over to her urgently. Reese sighed heavily and swore under her breath, wondering what could possible be wrong now after a string of broken glasses and abusive customers. When she reached the bar she saw a stocky man with a stain on the front of his shirt looking about ready to punch something and when his eyes rested on her name badge "Reese: Manager" he stood up and leant across the bar and asked, "You the manager?" His breath smelt of strong liquor and he was sweating and stumbling slightly, clearly another drunk disgruntled patron.
"Yes, that's me. What seems to be the problem?" She asked, trying to keep her tone even and striving desperately to ignore the white hot pain shooting through her forehead.
"The problem is your incompetent bar staff spilling a drink all over me! Then she offers to clean me up like I'm a child!" He spat at her, pointing his finger in her face and generally being a, well, an asshole.
"Sir, I do apologise for anything Candice may have done to offend you, it wasn't her intention. Can I offer you another drink?" Reese enquired, trying to sound sincere as possible. Usually she wouldn't have offered a drunk man another drink but if it kept him from yelling any more then she was happy.
"I don't want another drink! What I want is an apology!" His voice rose into an irate yell and Reese's head suddenly exploded with pain. She turned to Candice who was standing back against the till, clearly worried by the whole display and probably wondering whether she was going to be fired.
"Candice, just apologise so we can get him out of here, please." Reese didn't mean for her voice to sound so stern but her voice was low and strained and her eyes filled with pain. Candice mistook this for anger and she saw tears fill the girl's eyes as she stepped forward and stammered a drawn out apology while the angry man looked on smugly.
"That's better, you dumb girl." He growled, then stomped off back into the crowd. Reese took one look at Candice and then she burst into tears, trying to wipe them away even as more began to flow down her face.
"Hey, it's okay Candice. You did the right thing. I just really wanted to get rid of him so he wasn't abusing us all night, okay sweety?" Reese tried to explain and Candice tried hard to stem her tears and give her a small nod.
"Why don't you go into the back room and relax for a minute and count the stock for me?" Reese offered and Candice smiled and grabbed the count sheet from her outstretched hand and said, "Thanks Reese" in a small voice before heading out the back. Shattering glass caught Reese's attention instantly and she groaned, trying to force the knot of agony in her head to the back of her mind before slipping out of the bar and helped the waiter, Byrant, clean up the mess of glass strewn across the floor.
"I am so sorry!" He tried to apologise and Reese tried to smile but the thumping in her head was like a spade in her face and she grabbed the tray of glass from his hands instead and handed it to Devin across the bar who began sweeping it into a nearby bin with a dustpan and brush. Reese turned around again, the motion causing her head to swim phenomenally and the pain in her scull to come crashing down on her all at once. She tried to breath as sweat broke out on her brow but all she felt was the room swirling, the searing pain and the stinging of her eyes and blackness enveloped her.
Reese felt sluggish and heavy and like she had ear plugs in her ears. Every noise sounded muffled and far off and the thumping in her head was dull yet evident. She tried to open her mouth but it felt stuck down with cotton wool and tasted like vomit. She opened her eyes slowly, the bright fluorescent light overhead making her eyes sting and her head swim. Reese took in a breath, instantly feeling a tube in her nose and wiggling her fingers to feel the catheter she knew would be jabbed into the back of her hand. Her heart jumped in her chest, confusion and anxiety overtaking her at the unfamiliar smells and sounds surrounding her and she called out softly, the only person she wished to see.
"Chris?" Her voice was croaky and hoarse and she blinked furiously, finally opening her eyes fully and focusing in on the faces staring down at her, sick with worry. Reese took in the sight of Chris bent over her, his hand stroking her hair softly and his green eyes soft and concerned.
"I'm here." He breathed softly, sitting down again by her side and taking her hand gently. Reese looked up again and saw Wyatt sitting on her opposite side leaning forward in his chair, his hand squeezing Piper's tightly as she sat beside him, rubbing the back of his hand comfortingly.
"Hi." She said in a small, weak voice and tried to sit up slowly, pain washing over her and forcing her back down on the bed.
"Oh." Reese said with a groan, swallowing hard to stop the bile from rising in her throat and bringing up her hand to her head.
"What happened?" She wondered out loud, feeling the bed shift as Chris positioned himself next to her and began stroking her forehead again.
"You had one of your bad migraines, sweety. You passed out at work. Candice contacted us at home and let us know you were here." Piper told her, smiling and rising from her seat to run a soothing hand across her cheek.
"God, Candice...I was such a bitch to her. There was a customer, he was yelling at her and I forced her to apologise. I don't remember what happened..." Reese said all at once, her voice trailing off as she swallowed hard again.
"Can we go home?" She added, looking up into Piper's face and she crossed her arms over her chest and answered, "I'll go get the doctor" and left the room.
"Hey Ree, how you feeling?" Wyatt asked, sitting on the edge of her bed and leaning down to kiss her forehead.
"I feel like someone hit me in the head with a shovel." Reese pronounced, a tinge of sarcasm in her voice. Wyatt smiled at his brother across the bed, reassuring him that Reese was going to be okay.
"Reese Lawson, how are we feeling?" An unfamiliar doctor questioned, coming into the room and smiling before skimming over her chart.
"Better." She lied, her voice clearly sounding weak.
"Well, your blood work and scans came back normal, looks like you just ran yourself down and your migraine didn't help matters but if you would prefer being home tonight we can sort out your release papers. But if you feel any worse call me straight away." He ordered in a stern voice and Reese nodded and smiled.
"Thank you." Reese answered and the doctor excused himself from the room. Soon after a nurse entered and began removing the catheter and explaining Reese's medication for her, all the while chipper and smiling. Piper took in all the information for Reese, seeing her only just being able to sit up with the help of Wyatt and Chris who were looking at her, concern shining brightly in their eyes and Piper couldn't help but smile at the way Chris had begun to look at Reese. It was different from anything she had seen between them when they were growing up and somehow Piper knew this was just the beginning.