Hey, charityf1915, thanks for reading and reviewing! It certainly looks like Perry's a witch, so we might see her powers awakening soon. I hope you'll like it!
"It doesn't work out here either," Prue told them, after peeking at the restaurant's dining room.
"Oh, tell me this isn't happening!" Piper said desperately.
"Piper, how long does it last?" Phoebe asked.
"I don't know. Not long."
"Calm down, it's okay," the twins tried to calm Piper down while Prue kept watch on the other room, "It's all gonna be okay."
"Oh God..." their oldest sister said nervously, "Andy's partner just came in and he's headed this way."
"What are we gonna do?" Piper asked helplessly.
"Stall him," Phoebe told Prue.
While Prue went outside, and Perry picked up the plates frozen in mid-air to her hands, Phoebe told their sister, "Breathe, Piper. Breathe," and fanned her with a menu. It didn't seem to work, but thankfully just as Andy's partner opened the door, the room unfroze.
Andy looked around in confusion. Somehow Prue moved to the other side of the room, with Inspector Morris standing next to her. Hector the busboy, however, just looked at Perry gratefully as she handed the pile of plates back to him.
"What are you doing here?" Andy asked his partner, "I thought I had five minutes."
"Yeah, I gave you ten," he answered, pointing at his watch.
"Guys, you know, we're really busy in here," Piper said in a shaky agitated voice, interrupting Andy who tried to make sense of this.
"Yeah, sure," Andy said, still unsure what was going on, nodding weakly.
"I'll call you later. I promise," Prue told him, directing the inspectors out of the kitchen.
"I hate being a witch," Piper said angrily, quiet enough that only her sisters could hear, and walked away to deal with her job.
Her three sisters looked at each other, nervous and guilty. Adding more stress for Piper was the last thing they wanted. But they also couldn't help but wonder if Perry really was a witch, and what kind of powers she might have.
The following morning, Phoebe found Piper sitting alone in the attic and reading in the Book of Shadows. Her older sister looked sad and worried.
"Hey," Phoebe said cheerfully, but there was some concern in her voice as well, "What are you doing?"
"Reading," Piper said with a small sigh, "Thinking..."
"About what?"
"About how totally screwed we are, now that we're witches."
Phoebe sat on a chair in front of Piper, a small sarcastic smile on her lips, "Oh, that."
"You don't understand. You don't think we are. You're never afraid of anything. I envy that about you, always have."
"Yeah, well, don't – because it gets me into trouble sometimes."
It made Piper smile for a second, but she still looked upset.
"Piper, talk to me."
"I don't know, it's just... our whole lives, we've been like everybody else. Rushing off to work, going out on bad dates, buying shoes... And suddenly we wake up one day and everything is different. We're witches now. I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad thing."
"Are you kidding? It's a great thing!"
"We don't know that. We don't know anything about these powers. Why we have them, what they mean, where they even come from... I mean, how do we know it's not... How do we know it's not from evil?"
"Piper..." Phoebe shook her head softly, "We've been through this – we're good witches."
"How do we know? What about Jeremy? What about all the other warlocks he said will be coming after us? How do we know we're not just like them?"
Phoebe sighed, frustrated that she can't seem to convince Piper.
"That is what scares me," her older sister continued, "We don't know." She paused for a few seconds, and said in a broken voice, "I just... I just wanna be normal again. As messed up as that was. Is that too much to ask for?"
"Piper, listen to me. You are the sweetest most caring person I have ever met." Piper laughed softly, but her younger sister smiled and said, "No, I mean that. You are. You're always there to help anybody, even strangers. You've been doing that your whole life. So, there's no way that you've been given this... this gift, if it wasn't to do good things with it. To protect the innocent, just like the Book of Shadows says."
Piper smiled, seeming to come around, and Phoebe added, "Besides, if anyone should be concerned with being bad it's me, right?" making both sisters laugh. "You've got nothing to be afraid of," Phoebe told her sister, and then added in a lighter voice, "I gotta run. I am going to get my picture taken."
On their way back home, after Piper helped Perry deliver a big order to a theatre, the older sister stopped her Jeep for no apparent reason. "Is everything okay?" Perry asked her, looking around them, "Why did we stop?"
Piper didn't answer, just stared at the church across the street.
"Is this about the Mary Eastey thing?" she asked, remembering the documentary Piper watched yesterday morning. Piper didn't answer but looked a little embarrassed.
"It is, isn't it? Piper, don't tell me you believe that... Those women weren't witches, just victims of over-zealous misogynistic persecution."
"She was struck by lightning when she reached for the doors, Perry," Piper finally answered, "Pastor Williams said according to the Bible, witches are evil. Thou shall not suffer a witch to live."
"And..?" Perry said, "I don't think that Pastor Williams is a fan of LGBT people either. Am I going to be struck by two lightnings? You are good, Piper. You're the best. You don't need some old building to tell you that."
"Phoebe said the same thing, basically."
"See? You've got smart sisters everywhere you look. And we're good witches."
"So, you really think you're a witch?"
"It never really made sense that I wouldn't be," Perry said, shrugging, "I mean, Charmed or not, I'm still mom's daughter and your sister. Why wouldn't I be?"
"And you're fine with that?"
"Yeah, I'm honestly starting to look forward to it," Perry said, wondering what her power could be, and added, "Look, maybe I don't get it. But if you want to do the doors thing, I'll go with you."
"Thanks. I know it's a little silly, but I do."
"Three bolts of lightning, please!" Perry called to the sky as they got out of the car, "And make 'em fresh!"
Ignoring her sister, Piper told herself in determination as they walked across the street, "I have nothing to be afraid of. I have nothing to be afraid of. Nothing. Nothing to be afraid of. Nothing."
When they reached the church's doors, Piper put her hand on the handle and paused, but Perry took the other door's handle and smiled at her. "You seriously have nothing to be afraid of, Piper."
Together, the sisters pulled the doors open, and Piper hesitantly took a step inside. Smiling brightly, she pulled Perry in a hug. They went back outside, but before going down the stairs from the church's doors, Piper raised her arms in victory and shouted, "I'm good!"
However, the sisters' joy didn't last long. As they walked back out to the street, they saw a confused elderly woman. More precisely, a confused elderly woman with an angel tattoo on the back of her hand, who looked a little like-
"Brittany?" Piper asked, worried and confused.
"You know me?" the woman, Old Brittany, smiled gratefully and asked the sisters, "I-is that my name?"