"You know, Leo..." Piper glanced at her husband, raising an eyebrow suggestively. "We'll have the house ALL to ourselves tonight..."
"Really?" Leo grinned, wrapping an arm around Piper's shoulders and pulling her in for a fleeting kiss.
Piper scooted closer to him, leaning her head on his chest. She sighed in contentment as he ran his fingers through her hairs. Cuddling next to Leo, she closed her eyes and relished in the peace they shared in that moment.
The Halliwell sisters had been demon-free for nearly a month, giving them a break from their Wicca duties and a chance to relax. Phoebe had her college classes and she spent most of her time with Cole. Prue spent her time at work, which left Piper free to work at the club and spend time with Leo. The couple was currently sprawled across the couch, watching old reruns of westerns and cooking shows. They had decided to have a movie day, since Piper had taken her first Friday night off work at the club. She finally trusted Allison, her assistant manager, enough to work the club by herself for the night. Leo had bought tons of snacks, so they sat on the couch all day, relaxing and enjoying each other's company.
Piper reached up to cup Leo's cheek. "What are you thinking about, honey?" She inquired, noticing his thoughtful expression.
Leo shrugged nonchalantly ."I'm just glad we get to spend some quality time together." He assured his wife sweetly.
"But?" She pressed, feeling that he was holding something back from her.
Leo blanched slightly and his expression darkened. "I don't know... it's just-" He shrugged again helplessly. "There's been no demons for weeks and... you don't find that strange?"
Piper sighed. "Of course I do, Leo. But if I spent all my time worrying about demons then I would have no time for us." She explained, her voice tinged with desperation. "If there's one thing I've learned from being a witch, it's to enjoy every moment. Especially this one." She added, grabbing his hand for emphasis.
Leo ran his thumb over her palm. "You're right. I didn't mean to ruin the mood." He laughed apologetically.
"It's okay." Piper answered sincerely, feeling the tension dissipate from the room.
"What have you been doing in all that demon-free time of yours?" Leo asked softly, moving on to a lighter topic.
"I've spent a lot of time at the club," Piper said after a moment's thought. "You know, keeping up with maintenance. I've been training Allison a lot, too." She went on.
"Your new assistant manager?" Leo interjected.
Piper nodded. "Yeah. I had her work the club tonight so that I could spend the night alone with you." She pecked him on the cheek.
Leo smiled. "You know, not that I'm complaining... but why are we alone tonight?" Piper looked up at him, quirking an eyebrow, which prompted Leo to continue. "Um- I mean- I know I'm not always here, but usually I at least SEE Prue or Phoebe. I haven't seen either of them in a while." He stammered, trying to amend the misunderstanding.
Piper laughed. "It's okay, Leo. I was messing with you."
Leo let out a breath of relief, glad that she hadn't taken his observation the wrong way.
"Phoebe's spending the night at Cole's... again." Piper tilted her head curiously. "You know what's funny? Now that we're demon-free, all Phoebe wants to do is spend time with her demon. I do NOT want to know what they're doing right now..." Piper grimaced at the thought.
Leo chuckled at Piper's expression. "Piper, Phoebe's a big girl now." He reminded her.
Piper scoffed. "I know that! I'm not the one who's worried about her." She corrected Leo almost defensively.
"Prue?" Leo asked, already knowing the answer.
Piper nodded. "She worries way too much." She affirmed.
"She can't help it." Leo reminded Piper once again. "She feels responsible for you two. Always has, always will." He stated before looking around curiously. "Speaking of, where is Prue?"
Piper sighed and shook her head. "You know, I'm not really sure. Probably at Buckland's. I swear that Prue is gonna work herself to death before her thirties." She grumbled, thinly veiling her obvious concern.
Leo glanced down at his watch. "You really think she's working this late on a Friday night?"
"Where else would she be? I mean, it's not like Prue to just disappear without telling us..." Piper trailed off, recalling all the times that Prue had gone chasing demons on her own. "Wait, that's exactly like her. Do you think something happened? Maybe I should call her..." Piper moved to get up from the couch.
"Hey, Piper, wait!" Leo gently grasped his wife by her shoulders and guided her back down. "I'm sure she's fine. Prue would call if something was wrong." He reassured her, giving her shoulders a calming squeeze.
Piper shook her head. "I don't know, Leo. You know how she gets sometimes. She's always trying to save the world..."
Leo sighed. "I'm sorry, Piper. I didn't mean to get you worked up about this. I'm sure that Prue is fine. If you want, I'll go check on her tomorrow." He offered.
Piper laughed dryly. "I'm being hypocritical, aren't I? I just talked about enjoying the moment."
Leo smirked at her. "That's one of my favorite things about you." He leaned closer and pulled Piper in for a kiss. "Let's start by enjoying this moment."
Piper lost herself in Leo's loving kiss and all of her worries slipped away.
Earsplitting police sirens broke the quiet darkness of the night. Red and blue flashing lights lit up the brick walls of the alley, reflecting off shards of broken window glass. The stench of garbage, sweat, and blood hung heavy in the cold winter air. The sound of a car door slamming and the metallic clink of handcuffs echoed in the dim alleyway.
Darryl looked at the typical alley, trying to deduce what had happened. The alley was crawling with police officers; a bad neighborhood meant more units on patrol. A few paramedics were loading a man into the back of an ambulance. From what Darryl could make out, the man was conscious and relatively unharmed, apart from a few scrapes and bruises. A few officers were pushing a tattooed man with stringy, shoulder-length brown hair into the back of a cruiser. Darryl sighed heavily, pulling his notepad out of his jacket pocket. This was gonna be a good one... especially since he, a homicide detective, got called in.
"Detective Morris!" A voice called from his left.
Darryl turned to see a young cop walking towards him. The officer's sandy brown hair and green eyes looked vaguely familiar. Darryl glanced down at the man's name plate. Grayson. Darryl grunted, remembering the time he worked with Grayson on a particularly gruesome missing person's case.
"What do we got?" Darryl asked once Grayson was within earshot.
"Dirk Peters, CEO of RiseTech Medical," Grayson began, "was reportedly being followed since the intersection of Woodrow and Crane. Tried to lose the guy but ended up here. He got jumped by a few guys, but managed to fend them off. Kirkland just took him in for questioning." Grayson relayed the story to Darryl.
"Were there any bodies?" Darryl asked, glancing at the bloodstains on the dirty concrete.
"No. Peters got away with a couple bruises." Grayson replied.
"How is it that a CEO of some medical company was able to fight off an entire gang of attackers without so much as a broken bone?" Darryl wondered, beginning to question why he was even called to the scene in the first place.
"Oh, he had some help." Grayson recalled, shrugging. "Almost unheard of in this part of town, am I right?" The officer chuckled at the irony of the situation.
"Help?" Darryl repeated, feeling his heart sink.
"Yeah, we got a witness. She's the one who called in." Grayson glanced towards the bench at the end of the alley.
"Who?" Darryl demanded, already making his way towards the bench.
"Uh-" Grayson flipped through his notepad. "-Miss Halliwell." He read aloud, looking up again. "Detective Morris! Where are you going?!"
Darryl pushed his way past a slew of officers to get to the bench. Prue was sitting down facing a medic, who was bandaging a cut on her arm. Darryl stared at the scene in disbelief. Prue was wearing grey sweatpants and a thin lilac t-shirt, meaning she was severely underdressed for the winter weather. Her hair was done in a high ponytail, as if she had been exercising. Her makeup was surprisingly impeccable, even though she'd apparently been in a fight. As he looked her up and down, he wryly realized that this was the only time he might ever see Prue in appropriate combat footwear.
"Prue!" He shouted, his voice significantly less gruff than he'd intended.
Prue jumped at the sound of his voice, looking around wildly. "Darryl?" She murmured in surprise when her nervous grey-green eyes met his concerned brown ones.
"Please relax, Miss Halliwell." The paramedic instructed, attempting to steady her forearm.
Prue took a deep breath to ground herself before facing Darryl again. "What are you doing here?" She asked curiously.
"I could ask YOU the same question." He fired back.
"He's here to investigate an attempted murder." Grayson caught up to Darryl, somewhat breathlessly. "You two... know each other?" He asked, glancing between the two of them.
Prue opened her mouth to respond, but Darryl beat her to it. "Yeah, we're friends. She helps out on cases sometimes." He explained, turning to face Grayson. "Thanks." He said dismissively.
"Have a good night, Detective." Grayson said, taking the hint and heading back to his cruiser.
Darryl turned back to Prue, practically bursting with unanswered questions. He noticed that the paramedic was nearly done, so he waited to ask until they were alone. The medic finished with the snap of a butterfly clip.
"You'll be alright, Miss Halliwell. Just take it easy for a few days and come into the clinic if there's any complications." The paramedic instructed, standing up and grabbing his kit.
"Thanks." Prue's voice was grateful, but tired.
Prue stood up as the paramedic left, leaving only her and Darryl standing in the dim alley, apart from a few straggling forensics investigators.
"We need to talk." Darryl growled so nobody but Prue could hear. "Alone." He emphasized, gesturing towards the empty street.
Prue nodded and reluctantly followed him out of the alley. The street was a lot cooler than the alley was. A cold winter breeze nipped at the witch and the detective as they stood in the light of a flickering lamp post.
"You wanna tell me what the hell is going on?" Darryl asked, only when he was positive that their conversation would be private.
Prue sighed, wringing her hands together. "Darryl, I already answered all of the officers' questions. It's in the report-"
"Nuh-uh." Darryl interrupted, not putting up with Prue's attempts to dodge his question. "You and I both know that half of whatever you told them is a lie. I'm not gonna buy some crappy, 'I was on a run,' excuse." He challenged, eyes boring into the shivering woman in front of him.
"I-" Prue began, her eyes darting back and forth in search of some sort of answer.
"Better yet, why are you somehow involved in almost all of the nightly cases I keep getting called to?!" Darryl went on. "Does this have anything to do with you-know-what?" He lowered his voice.
"Yes- no- I don't know!" Prue burst out, her chest heaving. "I don't- I don't know, Darryl. I'm sorry." She said, her voice defeated.
"Prue-" He tried, feeling guilty for his interrogation.
Prue held up a hand to stop him. "Please, Darryl. I don't know anything right now. I promise I'll tell you as soon as I can, but..." She trailed off, not knowing what else she could say.
"But you can't." Darryl sighed, finishing for her. "I get it."
"I'm sorry," she whispered, turning away. "Please be safe."
Darryl watched Prue walk away, eyeing her bandaged forearm. As she disappeared into the dark night, Darryl whispered after her, "I'm not the one I'm worried about." He pulled out his cell phone and mashed the buttons with urgency. He had a few phone calls to make.
Piper padded down the stairs, shivering slightly at the cool wintry air flowing in through the stairwell window. She wrapped her bathrobe tighter around her midsection and closed the window. Shaking her head in exasperation, she continued down the stairs in search of her husband. Piper couldn't help but smile when she remembered the time they had shared together the previous night.
Piper reached the bottom step and looked around the living room, expecting to find Leo lounging on their couch. Instead, her eyes widened in pleasant surprise. The living room was spotless, a far cry from what Piper expected to see. All of their candy bar wrappers and empty soda cans had been cleared away, leaving the coffee table clean. Their blankets had been neatly folded and draped over the mottled tan loveseat. The decorative pillows were replaced and the DVDs had been stacked on the entertainment center.
She sighed happily, silently thanking her thoughtful husband. 'Speaking of my husband,' Piper thought to herself, 'where is he?' As if on cue, she heard a commotion from the kitchen. She tilted her head to one side curiously, stepping towards the kitchen archway.
"Leo?" She asked, surprised.
Leo whirled around, nearly dropping his spatula in shock. "Piper!" He exclaimed upon seeing his wife.
Piper quirked an eyebrow at him. "You're wearing an apron?" She teased, her voice tinged with laughter.
"I- uh-" Leo stammered, running an oven-mitt clad hand through his sandy hair sheepishly. "I was gonna surprise you... you were supposed to be in the shower." He explained, smiling at her.
"Aw, Leo!" Piper grinned, warmth swelling within her chest. "That's so sweet! But you know I love you too much to be away for too long..." Piper stepped closer, wrapping her arms around Leo and giving him a kiss.
Leo sighed happily, looking down at Piper. "So... you like your surprise?" He ventured.
Piper smirked and pulled away, eyeing the stove. "That depends. What are you making?" She teased.
"Well, since I don't really cook much as a whitelighter, this is about the only thing I can make." He admitted, gesturing to the pan. "I call them Leo's Famous-"
"PANCAKES!" Leo was interrupted by the scream of the youngest Halliwell accompanied by the sound of the front door slamming shut.
Hurried footsteps echoed on the wooden floor. Phoebe burst into the kitchen, her hair a barely combed mess. With a chuckle, Piper realized that Phoebe was dressed in the same outfit she'd worn the previous day. Her big brown eyes were wildly excited as she looked around the kitchen.
"Oh." Her excitement dimmed as she looked at Piper and Leo. "Am I interrupting something?" She asked nervously.
Piper and Leo exchanged humored glances. "No, Pheebs, you're fine. Leo just surprised me with breakfast." Piper explained.
"Uh, if you want a pancake, there's some on the table. I'm just using up the rest of the batter." Leo awkwardly gestured to the table with his spatula.
"Great! I'm starved!" Phoebe plopped down at the table and doused four pancakes in maple syrup, creating a sticky mess on her plate. "Fanks Teo!" She exclaimed, her mouth full of pancakes.
"You're welcome." Leo responded, unperturbed.
Leo flipped the final pancake into the air, smoothly catching it atop a plate piled with more fluffy pancakes. He grinned smugly at Piper, wiggling his eyebrows. She laughed, playfully batting him away as they joined Phoebe for breakfast.
"Wow, Phoebe... you must really be hungry." Piper eyed the rapidly disappearing pancakes on her younger sister's plate. "It's really a shame that Cole didn't give you breakfast." She smirked as Leo choked on his milk.
Phoebe shot Piper a withering look. "Very funny, Piper." She spat before adopting a lighter tone. "Cole had a morning meeting and had to leave early this morning, BUT-" she continued, "-he invited me to dinner at seven o'clock tonight and offered to let me stay at his place." Phoebe looked up at her sister and brother-in-law. "If you don't mind, that is." She added, unsure of their reactions.
"I don't mind." Leo said quickly, looking to Piper for affirmation.
"Of course, Pheebs. Why would we complain about another night ALL to ourselves?" Piper placed a warm hand over her husband's.
"To yourselves?" Phoebe repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Her companions both blinked confusedly at her in response.
"Hmmm... last time I checked, there were... let's see..." Phoebe pretended to count on her fingers, "THREE of us living here?" She quipped, emphasizing her previous question.
Piper's eyes widened as she comprehended what Phoebe was saying. "Phoebe... Prue's not home." She began, realizing that Phoebe probably didn't realize what Prue was doing. "I know you haven't been around here much lately, but Prue's usually at work." She explained.
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "I get that Prue's a workaholic, but don't you think she'd at least come home on a Saturday night?" She challenged, glancing at the calendar.
Piper sighed. "I don't know, Pheebs. Prue didn't come home last night." She suddenly recalled her conversation with Leo from the previous night.
"She spent the night at Buckland's?" Phoebe asked, somewhat shocked.
Piper shrugged, feeling worry begin to bubble up in her chest. "I guess so."
The youngest Halliwell shook her head in exasperation. "I know Prue's pulled all-nighter's before... but that's not like her. What could she possibly be working on?" Phoebe wondered aloud.
Piper stood suddenly, her concern getting the best of her. "I'm gonna go find out." She declared, heading towards the phone.
"I'll- uh- I guess I'll clean up. Here, I'll get that." Leo offered, extending his hand to take Phoebe's plate.
"Thanks, Leo. Need any help?" Phoebe asked, standing up.
Leo shook his head, stacking his and Piper's plates atop Phoebe's with a clink.
Phoebe smiled. "Alright. I'm going to shower." She decided, going up the stairs. She passed Piper on the way, who was anxiously pacing the floor as far as the phone cord allowed her.
"You've reached Buckland's Auction House! This is Monique speaking. How may I help you?" A cheery female voice answered the call on the third ring.
Piper's heart sank when she didn't hear Prue's voice. "I'm sorry, I must have dialed the wrong number. I was looking for Prue Halliwell." Piper explained, trying to remember if Prue's office phone number had changed recently.
"You called the right number, ma'am!" Monique assured quickly. "I'm Miss Halliwell's executive assistant. May I ask who's calling?" She inquired politely.
"Oh!" Piper realized that she'd forgotten to introduce herself. "I'm Piper Halliwell, one of Prue's younger sisters. Could I talk to her?"
Monique paused as if trying to remember something. "That's right! Prue has mentioned her sisters quite a few times. It was Phoebe that I was thinking of. I'm sorry; Miss Halliwell is currently in a meeting right now. I could have her call you back?" Monique offered, her tone switching from friendly to business-like nearly instantaneously.
"No, no, that's alright." Piper answered quickly, not wanting to bother her sister. "Will you just tell her that I called?"
"Of course, Miss Halliwell. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Monique questioned, her voice light but sounding clipped.
"Um... yes, actually." Piper stammered. "This may seem a bit unprofessional, but was Prue working all night last night?" She ventured awkwardly.
"I'm not sure." Monique didn't even bat an eye at Piper's question. "Miss Halliwell always works later than I do and comes to work earlier than most. She's the hardest worker I know." Monique gushed.
"Yeah..." Piper agreed, her mouth feeling dry.
"It wouldn't surprise me if she worked all night, though. With all the new shipments coming in and the company-wide audit going on, we're all drowning in work right now." Monique added, somewhat despondently.
"Thanks, Monique." Piper responded, her voice sounding distant even to her own ears.
"Have a wonderful day, Miss Halliwell." Monique ended the call.
Piper hung up the receiver with a foreboding click and swallowed harshly. Looking around at the empty entryway, she wondered if she should feel any less worried.
Darryl plopped the thick file on his desk, sitting down as the metallic thud rang in his ears. He swallowed harshly, feeling a lump lodged in his throat. It pained him deeply to go through Andy's things. It had only been two years... his heart still ached.
All officers got a locker at the stationhouse. No locker was ever reused; if more officers were hired then more lockers were built. Andy's locker looked the same as it had the day he died, despite the thin layer of dust that was omnipresent over the fallen officer's things. Darryl tried to avoid looking at his partner's locker, but actually going through it was more painful than he'd anticipated. Darryl blinked back tears, trying to remind himself of why he'd broken into his partner's locker. He stared down at the overflowing file, the faded letters spelling Prue Halliwell seemed to glare up at him. Andy had stolen this file from the archives to cover Prue's tracks years ago. It had lain on the floor of his locker ever since. Before knowing her secret, Darryl had longed to analyze the very file he held in his hands, but he had refrained from doing so, knowing that Andy wouldn't want him to. This time, though, he had to, both for his own sake and for Prue's sake. Andy would want him to.
Darryl flipped through the file, not really knowing what to look for. There were dozens of newspaper clippings, pictures, and sticky notes with Andy's handwriting. There were countless police reports that either listed Prue as a witness or suspect, but they were all evidence in unsolved cases. He kept flipping and reading, flipping and reading, flipping and reading...
"Inspector Morris?" A voice suddenly came from behind him.
Darryl whirled around. "Grayson!" He breathed in relief.
"You're here early, Detective. Working on something?" Grayson asked innocently, offering Darryl a Styrofoam cup.
Darryl accepted the the steaming cup of coffee gratefully. "Just looking through some old files." He said offhandedly. "You're on the clock again?"
Grayson chuckled. "You got me. I'm trying to get some overtime in so that I can take Christmas and New Year's off next month." He explained, sipping his own cup of coffee.
Darryl smiled at the determined young officer. "I'll put in a good word for you." He promised.
"I'd appreciate that." Grayson grinned. "Well, I suppose I should get changed. See you on the streets?" He glanced towards the hallway.
"See you out there." Darryl repeated, turning back to the file.
After Grayson left, Darryl sighed helplessly, wondering what on Earth was going on.
Darryl pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily. He'd been at this for hours, compiling all the recent reports that listed Prue as a witness. The stack of files reached his eye level and they were all dated within the past month. Darryl grabbed a red pen and circled a date on his wall calendar. October 31st must have been when Prue got involved with the police suspects. He fought the urge to laugh at the cruel irony. All Hallow's Eve...
With more questions than answers, Darryl pushed the tall stack of files aside, moving on to the cases he'd been neglecting so far that night. Darryl flipped open the most recent one from the previous night, booting up his computer in preparation to log the details into the digital database. He read over the report as the computer loaded.
Over the past few months, Darryl had been called to several murders... or "attempted" murders, as of late. Most could be attributed to violent gang activity, but they happened so often that it was impossible not to wonder if there was some sort of ulterior motive behind the nightly crimes, or some sort of method to all this madness. The only connection between the attacks was the location. All of the attacks seemed planned and they all occurred in the southwest side of town.
"Detective Morris!" The gruff voice of his chief shattered his reflection.
"Sir?" Darryl asked, standing up to face him.
The chief, Sergeant Mangrid, was a bear of a man, all biting gruffness. He was over six inches taller than Darryl, which was no easy feat. His thick shoulders were as broad as a doorframe. His scruffy brown beard was peppered with graying hairs, but his piercing blue eyes dared anyone to doubt his competence as a chief. Sergeant Mangrid currently towered over Darryl while leaning against the cubicle wall, cell phone in hand.
"We've got another one. Corner of Quincy and South Gordon." He barked, not looking up to see Darryl's reaction.
"Is there a body?" Darryl asked, already shrugging his coat on.
"No, but it sounded bloody." Mangrid answered, turning around.
Darryl sighed and shut off his computer. He fumbled with the latch on his file cabinet before dumping everything on his desk into an empty drawer and locking it. Grabbing his badge and notepad, he grimaced before stepping away from his cubicle, knowing it was going to be another long night.