"He's around here somewhere," said Leo as he and the sisters got out of Piper's Jeep.

“There!” said Prue, spotting Cole lying against a tree, and kneeling to examine his bloody wound. His eyes were rolling back in his head. “It’s bad, Leo.”

Piper took a breath, and raised her hands, freezing Cole to buy him time. “Heal him,” she ordered her husband, noticing his hesitance.

“You know that it's against the rules,” Leo responded. He had been severely reprimanded by the Elders for healing Cole on a previous occasion, and he hadn’t even known the man was half-demon at the time.

“Hold on, Cole. The job’s not done yet,” Prue told him, then turned to Leo. “As much as it pains me to say it, we need him, and so do the Elders if they want us to take down the Source. That’s clear after what happened tonight.”

“Prue’s right, Leo. Cole’s proven himself as an ally, and Phoebe would want us to help him,” she said.

Kneeling, Leo waved a hand over Cole’s abdomen, and explained, “Even if I could, I could only heal his human half and that…wouldn't be enough power to save him with a wound like this.”

“Aren’t I half-Whitelighter?” Paige interjected meekly, recalling Prue’s words at the church, and what Leo had done for the inspector. “I mean, couldn't I use my half to offset his half?”

“It's worth a try. Take my hand," Leo answered after some consideration, taking Paige's left hand in his right, and pulling her down to kneel beside him. "Hold your other hand over his wound.”

Paige complied, feeling a warmth radiate from Leo’s right hand into her left, then through her body, as if they had completed a circuit. After a few seconds, both of their free hands began to emit yellow light, which shone down into Cole’s wound, affecting the tissue there. As if watching a video on rewind, the damage there began to reverse itself. Soon, no evidence of a wound remained.

Suddenly, Cole unfroze and gasped for air. He clutched at his stomach, taking in the people looming over him. Even without Phoebe’s urging, they had come for him. Leo had even broken his rules and healed him. He figured that when the time came, Prue would have been glad to see the back of him, but she was here, even if she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Thanks,” he breathed.

“That was good, right?” Paige asked, only too aware of her recent flirtation with evil.

“That was very good,” Piper assured her. “Let's just hope it wasn't all for nothing.”

***

Cortez had expected to return to the station that evening with the evidence needed to expose the Halliwell sisters. When he reached his desk with a recording that did just that, he wasn’t sure what to do with it anymore.

The video showed what kind of freaky stuff the Halliwells were into, something that probably got their sister and the doctor killed, but it also showed him getting…shot, he supposed, by some sort of…monster, then being saved by the husband, a “Whitelighter,” which was what, some kind of angel? Then there was Paige Matthews, a potential victim. She didn’t seem afraid of the sisters.

Darryl Morris had tried to explain things, but so sure he was on to the bust of a lifetime, Cortez hadn’t listened, hadn’t wanted to listen. In the back of his mind, he had been searching for something like this, something that might prove the existence of the supernatural, ever since his sister, Ana’s mysterious death.

What if Morris was right about the Halliwells, and they were the good guys? What if trying to save Dr. Griffiths had cost them their sister? Would turning them in stop them from saving others like him, like Ana? Was that why Morris was covering for them?

Morris was sitting at his desk, watching Cortez with a glum expression, probably wondering where he had been, what he might have learned about the sisters. He looked nervously in the direction of the captain, who was still in his office, awaiting a report from Cortez to justify the continued surveillance detail on Prescott Street.

Cortez walked over to Darryl, video camera still in hand. He hesitated for a moment, then without a word, ejected the tape, and offered it to him.

Darryl accepted the tape in silent understanding. As Cortez walked away, he let out a long sigh of relief. It seemed Cortez had got what he wanted. More than he bargained for.

***

“What a day,” Piper exhaled as she, Prue, Leo, and Cole returned to the manor after dropping Paige at her apartment. “I don’t know about you guys, but I need a drink! P3?”

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“Make mine a double. After we’ve eaten. I’m starving,” said Leo.

“Prue, Cole?” Piper asked when both shifted uncomfortably.

“I think I’ll pass. I’m not hungry. I just want to do some reading, then turn in early,” Prue answered.

“Yeah, and I should get going,” said Cole. “The Source probably knows I’m alive by now. Not good to stay in one place with bounty hunters looking for me. I’ll check in tomorrow.”

Piper sighed as Cole Shimmered away, and Prue made for the stairs. They exchanged good nights before Piper rested her head on Leo’s chest. “Our little gang just doesn’t work without Phoebe, does it?” she said sadly.

“We’ll figure it out,” Leo assured her with a kiss on the head. “Come on, dinner, then later, how about Cosmopolitan’s, in Phoebe’s honor?”

Piper smiled, kissed her husband on the lips, and then went to the kitchen to make dinner.

***

When Piper and Leo Orbed to the P3 later that night, a great crowd awaited them. After downing a couple of Cosmos, Piper relaxed a little before a wave of melancholy came over her. Part of the fun of owning the club, other than having a private table when they wanted it, was enjoying it with her sisters. Now Phoebe was gone, and Prue was… Well, she wasn’t here.

“You okay?” Leo asked her, noticing the shift in her mood.

“I'm not sure,” she answered honestly.

“Phoebe?”

“Yeah. We barely got through the funeral and then everything started to go crazy, and we haven't had a chance to mourn yet. And that's just not right.”

“There will be time for that,” said Leo considerately. “It’s not an overnight process.”

“Especially not for Prue,” Piper quipped. “Every time I think she’s about to move through a grieving stage, she takes a step backward. She hasn’t even cried yet. I’m not sure how to help her.”

“All you can do is be there for her when she needs you.”

“I guess. I'm still not sure about continuing with this destiny thing, though. I need some time to think about it. I hope you're okay with that?”

“They may not be, but I am,” said Leo, taking Piper’s hand.

At that moment, Paige appeared, wearing an asymmetrical hot pink dress. “So, does this mean I get free drinks now?” she joked. “Oh, I didn't mean it like that. It's not that I really drink or… Okay, I'm just gonna go.”

“No, Paige. You belong here, remember?” Leo told her, indicating for her to join them.

“You sure? I don't want to intrude.”

“You’re not intruding,” said Piper.

“I won't stay long. I just wanted to, uh, come by and thank you.”

“For what?”

“For what?” Paige repeated in consternation. “You mean, besides saving my life? I feel like I should bake you a cake or something.”

“Do you cook?" Piper asked, intrigued by the possibility that her new sister might share her passion for food.

“No, no. Not really.”

“Did Shane get in touch? He wasn’t at the manor when we got home,” said Leo.

“Yeah, he's okay, I guess,” Paige explained awkwardly. “Except, I'm not too sure he wants to see me anymore. He was with me a few minutes ago, actually, but he’s gone now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Piper.

“No. Can't say I blame him. You know? He doesn't know exactly what happened to him, but he knows it’s something bad, and he knows it's somehow connected to me.”

“Yeah, well, you're not truly one of us until you've dated a demon, so, welcome to the club.”

Paige laughed at this, trying not to dwell on the fact that she had slept with Shane earlier that day, probably while he was possessed. “So, Prue’s not with you?” she pivoted.

“Err, no, she wanted an early night. It’s been a rough week.”

“Of course.”

“I’ve been wondering,” Piper started with some apprehension. “Why did you come to Phoebe's funeral? Prue said you told her you didn’t really know Phoebe.”

“I never did meet her. I don't want this to be taken the wrong way, but... I just feel like a part of me lost her too, and I just... I felt drawn to her, to all you guys. I guess it was just a part of me trying to find out who I was.”

“And you found who you were supposed to be, where you came from,” Leo remarked, looking to his wife with a raised eyebrow.

Piper bit her lip contemplatively, “Come on. There's something we need to show you.”

“What?” Paige asked.

“What good magic can do.”

"Oh, okay, but before we do that, there's something magic-related that I need to tell you, and I'm not sure I even understand myself, so it might not mean anything… Or it might be important, I don't know—"

"Paige," Piper interrupted, "you can tell us anything."

“The weirder the better,” Leo added.

“Okay, well…” Paige started, taking a deep breath. “The other night, in your house, after we, err…”

“Vanquished?” Piper offered.

“Yeah, after we vanquished that demon…I saw something…when I touched your magic book.”

“You had a Premonition?” Leo asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” Paige confirmed. “I didn’t know at the time, but when you and Prue told me about my power….”

“Okay, what did you see,” asked Piper, tensing up.

“Well, I wasn’t sure at first. It was a lot of images, and they all blurred by really fast, so I couldn’t make out anything except…three faces. Our faces.”

“You saw our faces? You, me, and Prue?”

“Actually, no,” Paige clarified, wringing her hands unconsciously. “I saw you, me…and…Phoebe. Like, a lot. Countless images of the three of us together.”

Piper stared blankly at Paige, unsure what to say, trying to comprehend what such a Premonition could mean. Eventually, she turned to her husband with a quizzical expression, “Leo?”