The One With Magic

Summary[coauthored with writerchic16 Phoebe and Paige go with Piper to a cooking competition in New York City, where they meet an unusual group of friends. ["Friends" xover, slightly AU

A/N: To make the story the best and funniest it could possibly be, writerchic16 and I have decided to alter the Charmed timeline a bit. Phoebe is still with Cole, and Wyatt is a baby. Leo and Paige are full time whitelighters. In the "Friends" universe, it takes place after the finale, before Joey moves to L.A.

This is a collaborative effort with writerchic16, author of both "Charmed" and "Friends" stories. We don't know each other, but met through because of our mutual love for both shows. We hope that contact through AIM will be enough to write a great story. The system we have figured out is that writerhic16 will start off, and we'll alternate writing chapters…wish us luck that it works, lol. Feel free to let us know if the story stops making sense at any point.

Enjoy the story!

"Taste this," Piper ordered, shoving the meat-loaded fork into Paige's mouth. An old friend from her restaurant days had emailed her recently. The friend saw the advertisement for a cooking contest in Manhattan and thought of Piper, who he remembered to always, be an outstanding chef.

At first, Piper declined, making up excuses about her Charmed duties and her responsibility to the club. But both her sisters and Leo made her see reason. P3 could be closed for a week or two, and demons probably wouldn't attack her if she was away from the manor. Plus, Phoebe and Paige were experts at kicking demonic behind – they would be fine on their own.

Piper slowly came around to the idea. She, Leo and Wyatt had never been on a family vacation before…and New York did sound like an interesting place, from the stories she'd always heard Phoebe tell. And this would be a good opportunity to use her long-dormant cooking ability.

However, once she'd signed up for the competition, anxiety started to set in. She hadn't cooked professionally in years.

To prepare herself, Piper was spending every free minute cooking up her fanciest dishes. The competition was in a week and, darn it, she'd be ready. Even if it meant she had to use her sisters as lab rats.

Willing lab rats, but still lab rats.

"Ah…ouch! I think you burnt my tongue," Paige whined, grabbing a nearby cup and filling it up with water from the sink.

Wiping a stray strand of hair out of her eyes, Piper said, "Quit your complaining. What does it taste like? Does it taste done? Does it need more thyme?"

"It's…good?" Paige replied, wincing as Piper groaned and went back to mixing the contents in a sauté pan.

Phoebe, who'd been watching the scene from her seat on the kitchen island, chuckled. "Piper, honey, calm down. Everything you make is fabulous."

"Not fabulous enough," Piper muttered, almost to herself. "It needs something…salt…no…not pepper…maybe some type of liquor?"

"I think you're the one who needs some type of liquor," Paige mumbled, making Phoebe laugh again.

About to retort, Piper looked up as blue and white orbs appeared in the kitchen. Leo stood before her two seconds later and greeted her with a kiss on her cheek. "Hi, honey. What are you making now?"

"The latest in tongue burners," Paige answered for her, gulping down some more water.

Recovering from her giggle-fit, Phoebe instantly became serious. Leo had been out trying to find Cole. "So, did you find him?"

"Yeah, he's okay," Leo replied, causing Phoebe to sigh with relief. "He's going to be hiding out up here for a while. He wants to see you but just doesn't know if it's safe enough."

Piper nodded. "Good. If he's not sure he lost the bounty hunters, I don't want him coming around here, especially with Wyatt."

"Where is Wyatt, by the way?" Leo asked.

Gesturing in the general direction of the living room, Piper answered. "In his room. I think he's sick of his mommy forcing 'yucky' food on him."

"Aw, don't take it personally. You know kids. Anything that's fancy is usually 'yucky,'" Leo reminded her.

After a few moments of idle chatter, Phoebe began, "You know…if Cole's looking for a place to meet up…I'm sure no bounty hunters would think to look in New York City…"

"Oh, no you don't. This is our family vacation," Piper interrupted. She was all for her sister finding love, but she'd been really looking forward to some private time with her own family.

"Please, Piper?" Phoebe begged. "We'll pay our own way, take separate flights, or shimmer there…heck; we'll even stay in another hotel…"

Piper tried to stay strong, she really did. But Phoebe's begging face was hard to say no to. And Leo and Paige were on Phoebe's side, both giving Piper pleading looks. Sighing, she said, "Alright, fine. But you might as well stay in the same hotel. Competition contestants get reduced rates for two rooms for them and family."

"Thanks, Piper!" Phoebe squealed, getting out of her seat to hug her sister, then Leo. "Can you take me to him now? I can't wait to tell him the good news!"

Hesitating, Leo smiled at her after a second. "Yeah. He's safe at the moment." Leo kissed Piper good-bye, assured her that they would be back soon, and orbed off with Phoebe.

Once they left, Paige sat down at the island, giving an exaggerated, depressed sigh. "I guess I'll stay here…all alone…by myself…where demons could attack…"

"You can come too, Paige," Piper chuckled.

Paige immediately perked up, hugging Piper from behind. "Thank you! I've never been to New York before!" She then grabbed the fork Piper had put aside, took another large bite of the stew, and threw the spoon in the sink. When Piper raised an eyebrow, she shrugged. "What? I said it was good."

"Get out of here," Piper retorted, ushering her sister out of the kitchen. When Paige happily went up the stairs, Piper put her hands on the counter and her head down.

What just happened?

In a manner of minutes, her quite vacation with her husband and son had turned into a vacation for the whole Halliwell family. Shaking her head, she went back to her cooking.

Look out, Manhattan. The Charmed Ones are coming.

Chandler Bing hesitated as he walked up the steps to the front porch of his Westchester home. He sniffed the air. A combination of odd smells was coming from his home, and he knew he wasn't the one who created them.

Well, they weren't odd, per se. Just…unusual for his house. It smelled like someone was cooking a complex meal. And while his wife, Monica, was a professional chef, lately she'd been bringing home leftovers from her restaurant for him. Something he really didn't mind, considering he'd once been used to Captain Crunch cereal and toast during his bachelor days.

He opened the door, which had been left unlocked and walked into the living room. It wasn't empty.

Ross Gellar and Rachel Green sat on the couch, wrapped up in each other's arms while they watched television. Ross was his brother-in-law, best friend first though, and Rachel was his…fiancée, to give the simplest explanation. Their three-year-old daughter, Emma, was playing with his adopted twin son and daughter, who each were in their carriers on the floor.

"Hello…unexpected company…" Chandler greeted. Granted, the scene wasn't too uncommon – the drive from Manhattan wasn't long. He could come home from work on a Wednesday night and find all four of his friends gathered around the table for dinner, his wife dishing out restaurant leftovers. It was just that Monica usually mentioned if someone was coming when he called her during the day.

"Uncle Chandler!" Emma squealed, running over to give him a hug.

Her parents were less enthused. Barely glancing at him, they both waved hello. "Hey, man," Ross replied.

Kissing Emma hello, Chandler began to make his way to the kitchen to find his wife. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you," Rachel warned. "I've already been swatted on my hand with a spatula."

"She nearly took off my finger when I tried to taste something," Ross added, holding up his black-and-blue left index finger.

Chandler winced, not doubting their testimonies. His wife was known to get…anal in the kitchen at times. The question was, why now?

Chancing a glance in the kitchen, his jaw dropped. It was organized chaos, and the only reason he knew it was organized was because there was no way his wife would operate without some kind of system. Pots and pans were everywhere, stacked neatly of course, complimented by open cook books and stray ingredients on every available surface.

In the midst of it all, Monica was stirring ingredients in a large bowl, gripping a wooden spoon so hard her knuckles were turning white.

Deciding to take Rachel's advice, he backed out of the kitchen without Monica noticing and reentered the living room. He gave his friends a confused glance. "Is there some major holiday coming up that I don't know about?"

"Cooking competition," Rachel explained.

Chandler's shoulders sagged. He should've known.

A few days ago, Monica's coworker put up a flyer for a cooking competition in Manhattan. Since the contest was mostly for amateurs, Monica didn't consider it, even though competing was one of her favorite activities. No question that some real or invented excuse drove her to sign up since she'd told him about the competition last night. "What happened?" he asked.

"Some idiot called her chicken for not signing up," Ross answered, not a trace of disbelief in his voice.

Chandler sighed. Picking up Erica, since her brother Jack was sleeping, he carried the infant toward the kitchen. "Come on, sweetie. Mommy can't yell at Daddy with you in the room."

With Erica securely leaning against his shoulder, he made he slowly made his way into the kitchen. "Honey, I'm home!" he called, approaching Monica as he would a sleeping tiger – very carefully.

He let out a relieve breath when she gave him a smile. "Hi honey!" she greeted, kissing him on the cheek. "I decided to enter that competition. I'll show that jerk…"

"What did 'that jerk' do?" Chandler asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.

Monica's eyes narrowed, as if reliving an unpleasant memory. "Well, I was passing as he was signing up. He asked me if I was, and I said I wasn't…he just looked at me funny. So of course I need to show him now."

"Of course," Chandler muttered. Clearing his throat, he questioned, "Why are Rachel and Ross over?"

"I needed tasters," Monica answered. "I want to get a survey of what you guys think are my best dishes, then work on those until the competition next week."

Chandler raised an eyebrow. "Next week? How long is this competition?"

"The contest lasts five days, with the awards dinner on the weekend," Monica explained, ignorant of her husband's surprise. "I was planning on staying with Joey, since he offered."

Gaping at her, Chandler exclaimed, "Were you planning on discussing this with me? What if I wanted to come?"

Monica gave him a placating smile. "Sweetie, of course I want you there. But I just thought that with the twins, we wouldn't be able to stay with our friends, we'd have to stay in the hotel the competition rented out…"

"So let's do that then!" Chandler replied, growing used to the idea the more he thought about it. It'd been ages since he'd been in the city to visit his best friend, not to mention that he missed his former home – both Joey's apartment and Manhattan in general.

Staring at him, Monica asked, "But what about your job?"

"Screw my job!" Chandler exclaimed. At Monica's disbelieving face, he added, "I mean, uh, I have a few sick days I could use. But still screw them because I won't be sick, hah!"

Monica chuckled, kissing him again. "Aw, you're so sweet for wanting to support me. This will be so much more fun with my family there…" She paused, glancing down at the table. "Have you seen my wooden spoon?"

"I thought you left it in the bowl…" Chandler trailed off. He whirled around at a fast movement, and then wrinkled his brow. Erica was holding the spoon, chewing on the handle. Taking it out of her mouth, he handed the drool-covered spoon to his wife. "Here it is."

"I wonder how she got this," Monica wondered, looking at her daughter with curiosity while she wiped the spoon down with a nearby napkin.

About to reply, Chandler hesitated when he felt Erica's diaper moisten. Giving his daughter a playful, accusing glare, he remarked, "Well you're just full of surprises today, aren't you?"