Disclaimer: Oh, Charmed, I love you so, why can't you be mine?
Ch. 43:
Chris had one hand on each of his aunts, while Meredith had her head buried in her arms on her knees.
"No." he whispered. "No, you can't be dead yet. It's not your time. I know it's not your time."
He heard Meredith sniffle and he turned to look at her.
"Mer." He said softly.
"They can't be dead." She said, her voice thick with tears. "They just can't, Chris."
They turned back to the sister's bodies as their spirits rise from their bodies. Chris and Meredith got to their feet as the hazy forms rose towards the ceiling.
"I'm sorry." Chris said, his voice breaking. "I'm sor – this – I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. She was gonna kill mom and dad."
Meredith wrapped her hand around his and leaned her head into his shoulder.
Piper found herself floating, looking down at her body next to Leo on the couch.
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "Leo! Wake up!"
Leo shifted in his sleep, his hand unconsciously moving over her heart…and started to glow as he healed her.
"But…how?" she asked as she felt her spirit being pulled back into her body.
Then she was back asleep.
Paige and Phoebe's spirits lowered until they were standing on the floor.
"Hey, Chris…" Phoebe said. "We're not moving on."
"Why aren't we moving on?" Paige asked.
"Who cares?" Meredith replied. "You're still here. Thank god."
Paige and Phoebe looked at each other.
"Got any unfinished business?" Paige asked.
"No, you?" Phoebe replied.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, it would've been nice to find out I had another nephew before I died." Paige said petulantly.
"I was gonna tell you, but I just didn't get a chance." Phoebe shot back.
Paige sighed.
"Guys, we can fix this." Chris interrupted. "We can reverse the magic. All we need to do is get the bottle."
"That's true." Phoebe said. "We're ghosts. We could possess Jinny. Where is Jinny?"
"Well, she was planning to conjure the lost city." Paige said.
"Don't worry." Phoebe told them. "We're gonna take care of this. Should we go check on Piper first?"
"No, no, no." Chris replied. "Piper's fine. I mean, she has to be, right? If she was dead, I would have vanished."
"How do we reach Jinny?" Paige asked.
"You're ghosts." Meredith told her. "You can haunt anybody you want. Just concentrate, and you should wisp right to her."
Paige and Phoebe looked at each other before closing their eyes and concentrated. Their forms wisped quickly away in a ghostly white blur.
"Wait for us!" Chris called, grabbing Meredith's arm and orbing them away.
Jinny walked toward the newest discovery, the bottle clutched in her hand.
"You sure this is the site?" she demanded.
The Head Thief pointed to the ground in front of them where the skeletal remains of a two-headed animal had been discovered.
"One of the hounds of Zanbar." He told her. "They guarded the city for the sultan."
"I could use a few of those myself." Jinny said, lifting the bottle to look in at Richard. "You ready in there?"
She turned and held the bottle out in front of her toward the desert.
"I wish to resurrect the lost city of Zanbar." She wished.
It took a moment, but then the ground immediately began to rumble. From under the desert sands, the buildings of Zanbar began to rise.
Jinny watched with glee as the city continued to rise, until, finally, Zanbar stood before them.
"Finders, keepers." She murmured with a smile.
"I wouldn't unpack if I were you."
Jinny turned and saw Meredith, Chris, Ghost Paige and Ghost Phoebe.
"Why haven't you moved on?" Jinny demanded. "You're dead!"
"So are you." Phoebe replied.
She jumped, turning back into ghostly mist, and dove straight into Jinny, who gasped and dropped the bottle. Meanwhile, the Head Thief drew his sword and stepped forward to attack, only to be thrown into a wall by Chris' power.
Two other thieves drew their swords and headed for Chris and Meredith, who simply summoned two fireballs and blew them out of existence.
"I think I've got control of her body." Phoebe told them from inside Jinny's body.
Meredith moved forward, grabbing a sword from the ground, and used it to kill the Head Thief.
"Okay, all clear." Paige said as Meredith lifted the sword to rest on her shoulder.
"Good." She said. "Can we get this show on the road, then?"
Phoebe used Jinny's body to pick up the genie's bottle.
"Richard, I wish you free." She called.
The grey smoke shot out of the bottle and surrounded Jinny as Phoebe's spirit vacated her body. As she joined her sister's ghost, they watched as Jinny once again became a genie.
"No!" she yelled futilely.
In a flash, the smoke turned pink and Richard was standing in the middle of the cave, holding the bottle.
"Hi, honey." Paige told him, smiling.
Richard looked into the bottle and saw Genie Jinny inside.
"Let me out of here!" she demanded.
Richard just ignored her.
"I wish the Charmed Ones alive again." He said.
"Yes, master." Jinny said through gritted teeth, as she clapped her hands together and nodded her head.
Phoebe and Paige both disappeared, leaving the other three behind. Richard looked at the bottle thoughtfully as Chris made his way over to Meredith. He took the sword from her and set it against the wall of the cave before wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her to him, kissing her.
"Mmm." She said as he pulled away. "Can we do that every time we win?"
Chris just laughed and guided her over to Richard.
"You okay?" he asked the other man.
"Take this." Richard said, holding the bottle out to them. "Get it out of my sight."
"Sure." Chris agreed. "Could you get rid of that thing first?"
He nodded over Richard's shoulder to the city behind him. Richard turned and saw what he was talking about.
"Yeah." He agreed, nodding. "No problem."
Paige entered the mansion to find Richard sitting on the couch, studying a vial in his hands.
"Hey." She said softly, walking over to him. "What's going on?"
"Just thinking." He replied.
"Oh, yeah?" she asked, looking down at the vial. "What about?"
"Everything." Richard answered. "I mean, sometimes it feels like my life's just one big disaster after the next, you know? Like right from the start, being born into that stupid feud, all that family hatred…I mean, it's amazing that I've gone this far without ending up like one of them."
"Well…Richard, you have." Paige said, sitting down. "And that's what's important, right? And you are here for a reason, for a purpose, you just…have to figure out what it is."
"How can you have so much faith, Paige?" Richard asked. "I mean, with everything out there, all the evil."
"Well, it's because I don't just see all the evil." She replied. "I see all the good, too. Especially in you."
"Sometimes I'm not sure." He admitted.
"I am." Paige assured him.
"Well, I hope you're right, because I'm giving up a lot…to see it, too." He told her. "Like – I – my whole life I've had powers and magic, I mean, even if I didn't use it, it was – it was just a part of me. Now, uh, it's kind of scary that I'm gonna be losing it. And losing you, too."
"Well, you have to take care of yourself first, right." Paige said, tears filling her eyes. "And as long as I'm around, and I'm…bringing magic into your life…you won't be able to."
"I know." Richard said.
"So have you taken the power-stripping potion yet?" Paige asked after a moment.
Richard sighed heavily and tipped the empty bottle over to show her. Paige smiled sadly, tears falling down her cheeks.
The clock chimed midnight as Chris paced nervously, and Phoebe and Meredith sat on an armchair.
"They're not waking up." Chris said, motioning to his parents. "How come they're not waking up?"
"Can you please relax?" Meredith asked him.
"Relax?" Chris repeated. "I'm sorry, did you say relax? Because I'm about to disappear, vanish forever, cease to exist – "
"Are you getting shirty with me?" she asked blandly, making Chris swallow.
"Oh, my god, you're so dramatic." Phoebe said at the same time.
"Mmm." Leo murmured as he and Piper began to stir.
"Hey." Phoebe said. "You okay?"
"I think so." Piper said, sitting up and looking at Leo. "What – what – what are you doing?"
"Uh, I don't know, I swear." Leo replied. "Um…"
He quickly got to his feet and stood away from the couch.
"What's going on?" he demanded.
Piper looked at Phoebe.
"Arabic sleeping potion." Her sister told her. "Very strong. Not good."
"You mean Jinny did this?" Piper asked.
"Who else?" Phoebe replied.
"Well, we gotta stop her – " Piper said, starting to get up.
"We already did." Meredith said, smiling. "Kicked her ass while you guys were napping. She's back in the bottle."
"Which we were sort of hoping you could, uh, take care of for us." Chris said, picking up the bottle and handing it to Leo.
"So that's it?" The Elder asked. "It's all over?"
"Pretty much." Chris said. "I mean, you still forgive me, right?"
"Of course." Leo replied.
"Good." Chris said.
"I still want to know why we all didn't die." Phoebe said.
Chris and Meredith both glared at her.
"What?" she demanded. "I'm curious."
"Oh, sure, you don't mind them knowing that they almost died, but not that I – " Chris said, making Meredith and Phoebe glare at him now. "…never mind."
"What are you talking about?" Piper demanded as Chris sat down on the arm of Meredith's chair.
"Jinny made a wish for the Charmed Ones to die and we almost did, but then we turned into ghosts, and – " Phoebe said.
"Huh." Piper interrupted. "So that wasn't a dream I had? I was floating over my body and then, uh…" she turned and looked at Leo. "…you healed me."
"I did?" Leo asked, surprised.
"Yeah." Piper said. "I called to you when you were sleeping and somehow you must've heard me and…you wouldn't let me go."
Leo smiled softly and shared a look with Piper.
"Well, that must be the reason why Phoebe and Paige's spirits didn't move on." Chris said. "See, the wish was for all the Charmed Ones to die, so saving you must've saved them."
"That was really sweet of you." Piper told Leo.
"Anytime." He replied. "So, do you want to go with me to get Wyatt?"
"Sure." She replied.
Leo stepped closer and took her hand as Piper got to her feet, orbing them out.
"Wait!" Chris called, getting to his feet to stop them. "What about - ?"
They were gone and he sighed heavily.
"What about me?" he asked softly.
Meredith reached up and took his hand, squeezing it and smiling softly.
"I wouldn't give up." Phoebe told him thoughtfully. "There may be hope for you yet."
A/N: So that's it for I Dream of Phoebe. Let me know what you think.
Abbey