A week had passed since the Halliwell siblings had stumbled onto their destiny, and things didn't really seem any different. Prue was still looking for work, after quitting her job at the Natural History museum. Xander had gotten a part-time job waiting tables at Quake, while Piper was the manager. Although, she had originally been hired as a line chef, things had taken a turn for the worst. Chef Moore had abruptly left to open his own restaurant, leaving Piper in a bind. The owners of the restaurant named her manager, and said nothing else. Unlike her brother and sisters, Phoebe was still fully accepting of their shared destiny. She had fully embraced the idea of being a witch.
"Oops, sorry," said Phoebe, as she dodges a customer making her way to the bar, where Piper was working.
"I'm gonna kill him," muttered Piper, stress crossing her features.
"Who?" asks Phoebe.
"Chef Moore. He, of the phony accent, hires me, and then quits to open his new place. Thank you very much," seethes Piper.
"I don't see any customers complaining, and Xan seems to be doing well as a waiter," says Phoebe, nodding to their brother, wearing a black vest and taking orders.
"Hello, I'm a chef, not a restauranteur. I have no idea what I'm doing. Are you wearing my dress?" asks Piper, just as a friend of the family's, Brittany Reynolds, approached them.
"Hey Brittany. Ooh, I love your tattoo," says Phoebe, noticing the green angel tattoo on the back of Britney's hand.
"Thanks," says Brittany.
"I thought it was illegal to get them on your hand because of the veins," says Phoebe.
"In the States yeah, but I'm got mine done in Tahiti. Keep the change, Piper. I gotta jam," says Brittany, handing money over to Piper and leaving the restaurant.
Xander comes over to join his sisters at the bar for his break. "What is going on in the world of Phoebe?" he asks, taking a seat.
"Okay, you see the poster boy to your left. Just a glance, don't be obvious," says Phoebe. Xander does a sideview glance, and nods to his sister.
"I give him my brotherly seal of approval. Who is he?' asks Xander, naturally suspicious of any random guy that interests one of his sisters, since the last new boyfriend turned out to be a warlock.
"His name is Alec, and he's about to come over and ask if he can buy me a martini," answers Phoebe, with a wide grin.
"How do you know?" asks Piper, joining the conversation.
"Let's just say I solved the age old problem of who approaches who. I had a little premonition," explains Phoebe.
"What? Phoebe, you are not supposed to use your powers. We agreed," hisses Piper.
"No, you and Prue agreed, I abstained, and Xander pretended to agree with you two, even though he is secretly on board with me," responds Phoebe. Piper turns to glare at her younger brother.
"Way to throw me under the bus, Pheebs," mutters Xander.
"That's not the point, Xan. The point is that I can't control my premonitions. They just pop into my head," says Phoebe.
"That's exactly the point. We can't control our powers. That's what scares me. I could panic and freeze the whole restaurant or Xander gets spooked and then goes to jail for arson," argues Piper.
"Shh, here he comes," says Phoebe, as Alec the poster boy approaches her.
"I was just sitting over there, and wondering if I could buy you a martini or something?" he asks.
"Martini, hmm. Imagine that. Alec right?"
"Yeah, how'd you know my name?" Alec asks.
"Wild guess. Do you wanna grab a table?" she asks.
"Yeah," he nods.
"Prue is gonna be pissed," whispers Piper, before Phoebe leaves with Alec.
"Newsflash, stop worrying. You'll get wrinkles," says Phoebe, as she goes to join Alec.
"Phoebe is a big girl, Piper," says Xander, hoping to calm down his older sister.
"Get back to work, traitor," responds Piper.
Brittany makes it to her car, and gets in. She adjusts the mirror and sees someone sitting in her backseat. They have flashing eyes and she screams.
Prue wakes up from a good night's sleep. She turns to her left to find Andy still asleep. She gets up and proceeds to pick up her clothes off the floor, only to be interrupted by Andy's alarm clock. Using her new found power, she flings the alarm clock out of the opened window to the ground below. She hastily puts her clothes on , and leaves instantly regretting what had transpired the night before.
"Prue," calls Andy, waking up and hoping to see his current lover, but she's no longer there. He also notices that his alarm clock is gone.
~Opening Credits~
Shannen Doherty as Prue Halliwell
Holly Marie Combs as Piper Halliwell
Nicholas Brendan as Xander Halliwell
and Alyssa Milano as Phoebe Halliwell
T.W. King as Andy Trudeau
Dorian Gregory as Darryl Morris
Morning had come to Halliwell Manor. Piper was whisking eggs while watching a special on the History Channel. Xander was eating a slice of buttered toast, watching tv, and barely stopping to chew. They were both engrossed in the special on the Salem Witch Trials. Being a witch was still kinda scary for them, and this show was not helping them any.
"Morning," says Prue, as she enters and pours herself a cup of coffee.
"Morning," say Piper and Xander, at the same time, still engrossed in the show.
"What are you guys watching?' asked Prue.
"Nothing," says Xander, turning the tv off.
"Just a show," murmurs Piper, her mind still reeling from the images of witches burning.
"About witches? Are you two worried about being burned at the stake?' asks Prue.
"Yeah, right. By the way, Andy called," says Xander, helping himself to the coffee.
"When?" asks Prue.
"When you were in the shower," says Xander, sipping his coffee and munching on toast.
"Bad date?" asks Piper.
"No, no, no. Not at all. It was great. Dinner, movie, sex," admits Prue, her cheeks reddening, as she continues to stare into her coffee.
"Excuse me? On your first date? You sleaze," laughs Piper.
"And you call the girls I date easy," says Xander.
"The girls you date are easy, and it wasn't exactly our first date," responds Prue.
"High school doesn't count. That was last decade, before Xander could reach the countertop, so spill it," says Piper.
"It was good. We were naked, but that's beside the point. I told myself that things would be different this time. That we'd take thing slow. This just shouldn't have happened, yet," explains Prue.
"What shouldn't have happened?" asks Phoebe, coming down the stairs.
"Prue slept with Andy," says Xander, in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Hello," says Phoebe, with a whistle.
"Thanks a lot, mouth," sighs Prue.
"Wait, you were gonna tell them, and not me. Family meeting," says Phoebe.
"Speaking of last night, what time did you end up rolling in?" asks Prue, turning to her youngest sister.
"No, no, no, do not change the subject," says Phoebe, trying to steer the conversation away from her.
"It must been at least three, cause Piper and I arrived home around one," says Xander.
"I must still be on New York time," says Phoebe, with a leer at Xander.
"Actually, that would make it later," responds Prue.
"Or maybe you and Alec..." Piper started to say.
"Who's Alec?" asks Prue.
"Some hottie she hit on at the restaurant," answers Piper.
"Excuse me, he hit on me. Remember the whole vision thing?" protests Phoebe.
"Excuse me, vision thing? Please tell me that you didn't use your powers," says Prue, anger seeping nto her words. Prue looks to Piper, but she doesn't answer. She then turns to Xander. Xander could never stand up to a Prue glare. Even though he was taller and had the muscle mass, Prue was still pretty scary to him.
"Don't put me and Piper in the middle," says Xander.
"I'm not. Piper was born in the middle and you are supposed to be the sweet little brother who would never lie to me. Look, I thought we agreed," snaps Prue.
"No, we didn't. You agreed. You laid down the law. There's a difference," argues Phoebe.
"Phoebe, our powers are not toys. We have to be careful or they could get us killed," says Prue.
"She's right. We don't want any warlocks finding us," says Xander.
"Look, it was just a lousy premonition, that's all. Nobody died. Besides, you guys can't control your powers any better than I can. And FYI, nothing happened last night. At least nothing that I'm ashamed of," says Phoebe.
"There's another reason we have to be careful. Andy thinks someone's been abducting women in our area," explains Prue.
"Abducting women? What do you mean?" asks Phoebe.
"I mean warlocks aren't the only evil we have to watch out for. And FYI, I'm not ashamed of anything," responds Prue.
At the San Francisco Police Department, Andy and Darryl were going over the facts of the missing women case. Andy was studying a picture of Brittany Reynolds, while Darryl interviewed Brittany's live-in boyfriend, Max, who was obviously distraught.
"She didn't come home last night. That's not like Brittany, believe me," says Max.
"Tell me Max, what time did she leave for Quake?" asks Darryl.
"Eight-thirty and she called at ten to say that she was on her way home, and I'm really worried," he answers.
"Chances are that she'll show up. Usually do. The best thing you can do right now, is to go home and see if she called," says Andy.
"Alright, thanks," says Max, as he leaves.
"Fourth one this week," mutters Andy.
"Yeah, but they can't be disappearing into thin air," says Darryl.
"At least, we narrowed his feeding pool down to the area around the restaurant," says Andy.
"Yeah, well better tell your sweetie to lock her door at night," says Darryl.
Piper and Xander had stopped by the local church before heading to work. All they could think about was what they saw on that documentary. Being witches was still new to them, and the thought of being persecuted like that frightened them. They continued to watch the church from the jeep.
"We're not gonna be tried as witches," says Xander, with a tone of uncertainty lacing his voice.
"Right," murmurs Piper. A knock on Piper's window draws them out of their revery. Xander's hand immediately ignited. "Put it out," hissed Piper. His fireball dies out, as she rolls down the window. "Pastor Williams, you scared us," says Piper, with a tense smile.
"I'm sorry. Aren't you two here a little early dropping of the unused food from the restaurant? I thought you weren't coming by until this afternoon" asks Pastor Williams.
"We are. I mean, we're coming back with everything later," says Piper.
"Great. So what are you doing here now?" asks Pastor Williams.
"Nothing really. Just uh thinking," answers Xander.
About?" asks the good pastor.
"Mary Estee," Piper admits, referring to one of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials.
"Who?" he asks.
"It's just this stupid doocumentary we saw. By the way, is it true that evil beings can't go inside a church without being...," says Xander, using his hands to simulate lightning striking causing his sister and the pastor to laugh.
"Evil beings? You mean like what? Vampires?" asks Pastor Williams.
"Vampires, no. We were thinking more along the lines of witches," answeres Piper.
"Witches huh? Let me put it this way, I wouldn't wanna risk it. Gotta go, but I'll see you two later," says Pastor Williams, waving as he leaves them.
"We can do this," says Xander, grabbing his big sister's hand as they exit the jeep.
"Yeah. Right. Absolutely," she says, as they walk up the cement steps. They both grab ahold of the old iron handles on the wooden doors of the church. Just as they're about to go in, there's a flash of lightning. Scared out of their minds, they break into a fast run to the jeep.
While Piper and Xander were having their freakout, Prue was waiting to be interviewed for a new job. It wasn't her dream job, but still, being a specialist at Buckland's Auction House would give her a chance to use her art history degree and give her a steady income. "Hold the door," she yells, rushing towards the elevator with her files in hand. She makes it ito the elevator, but ends up dropping her briefcase, her files scattering. "Damn it. Can you push twelve please?" she asks the gentleman, who was the only other person in the elevator.
After he pushes the plastic button, the man bends down to help her gather her papers. "Here let me help," he says. "Eighteenth century French art. Do you work in the auction house upstairs?" he asks in a suave British accent.
"No, just interviewing, if I ever get there," answers Prue, just as her cell phone begins to ring. "Hello? Uh Andy, how did you get this number?" she asks in a hushed tone.
"Prue, I think we should talk," says Andy, immediately cutting her off.
"Yeah, it's just that I'm really late for this interview," Prue says, trying to get him to hangu up.
"I didn't mean for what happened last night to happen. You have to know that, Prue," says Andy.
"Of course, I'm you know, totally wrong for it anyway, stuffy old auction house. I don't even know why they called," says Prue, trying to stray from the topic at hand.
"Come on, Prue. Listen to me. We've known each other a long time . We just couldn't help ourselves. It's nothing to be ashamed of," says Andy, trying to defend their actions.
"I know, Andy," says Prue.
"All we did was make love," he responds.
"I know, Andy," she acknowledges in a hushed tone.
"Talk to me. Help me out here, Prue. Why did you sneak out like that?" asks Andy.
"I did not sneak out. You were asleep and I didn't wanna wake you. And I did write a not, you know. I just didn't leave it," she hisses into the phone. She hears a crackling noise making her realize she just lost reception. The man to her left didn't say a word.
"Here you go," says Phoebe, handing the menu to the familiar looking guy and his date. She's covering Xander's tables while he helps the shorthanded dishwashers.
"Thank you," says the man in a sophisticated tone.
"Excuse me, but aren't you Stefan?" she asks, once she realizes where she knows him from. It turns out that the man is a famous fashion photographer,
"Yes. I'm sorry, do we know each other?" responds the now-named Stefan.
"Oh, highly doubtful, but I'm familiar with your work. Like everyone else in the world," says Phoebe.
"Well, I don't know about that, but, I will take a compliment from a beautiful woman," he says, with a smile that made Phoebe melt, until she saw the severe look the photographer's date was giving her.
"I'm sure your girlfriend appreciates it," says Phoebe, motioning towards the angry-looking beauty.
"She's not my girlfriend," whispers Stefan.
"Then, why are you whispering?" Phoebe whispers back.
"Excuse me," huffs the woman, as she leaves the table.
"Ooh, Ooh, okay. Well, it was nice meeting you," says Phoebe, as she turns to leave.
"You too. Listen, I'm in town for a couple of days doing a shoot. If you're interested, I'd love to shoot you. You do model, don't you?" he says.
"Only in my dreams, yeah," says Phoebe, her voice taking on a giggly tone. He hands her a card with his address and number on it. She smiles, and immediately heads over to Piper to tell her about what just happened.
"A driver called in sick. Can you make a quick delivery?" asks Piper, looking a little harried and harassed.
"Sure. Is that guy at the bar still staring at me?" asks Phoebe.
"There are a lot of guys at the bar, staring at you," says Piper.
"The one at the far end. Tall, dark, brooding, very New York," responds Phoebe.
"Sorry, no," says Piper, with a shake of head. Phoebe turns around to find Stefan gone, leaving her rather disappointed.
Meanwhile, in an old warehouse, set up as a photography studio, the woman, who had previously been at Quake, is lying strapped to a table, crying.
"Let me go. Please Stefan," she cries. The scuffling of feet against the floor reveal the photographer, except for one thing. He looked liked he had aged about a century in the span of an hour. His eyes glowing a menacing bright red.
"Not Stefan. It's Javna," growls the gnarled man. His eyes flash, shooting some type of beam from them into the crying woman's. The once beautiful woman rapidly ages leaving nothing more than a geriatric, while Stefan becomes his previously handsome self.
"Are you ready?" asks the receptionist at Buckland's.
"Yeah," said Prue, taking a deep breath and pulling herself together. She enteres the office to find a relatively young man standing at the desk. Prue immediately realizes that it is the same man who overheard her conversation with Andy in the elevator.
"Rex Buckland, this is Prue Halliwell, interviewing for the new specialist position," says the receptionist.
"Actually, we've met. Welcome to my stuffy auction house," he says with a smile. Prue looks somewhat abashed.
"How many divisions did you correct? " he asks, beginning the interview process.
"Seven, including the colonist estate. It should be on my resume," she answers.
"Franklin Carlton. That's quite a coup," Rex says, acknowledging her skills.
"Well, I tend to be on the persistent side. I usually get what I want," Prue says, with a smirk.
"A no doubter. It's a shame though that you think you're... how did you put it in the elevator? Totally wrong for the job," he comments, off-handedly.
"That was a private phone conversation," she says.
"Hardly."
"You called me, remember. Not the other way around. And while we're at it, I think it's incredibly unfair that you eavesdrop on a private call and then you judge me based entirely on what you thought you heard," she rants, feeling rather offended by this man.
"I apologize. It was unfair of me. I'm new to all of this. I've only just taken over the house from my father, so I'm very protective of it. But knowing that, what you did at the museum, attracting the younger market, it's totally consistent with what I want to do here. It's just when all these qualifications are signed, it's very important to me that whoever I hire, truly wants to be here," Rex explains, in a earnest manner before being interrupted by his intercom. "Yes?"
"Excuse me, Mr. Buckland. Your next interview is waiting. Should I reschedule him?" asks the receptionist.
"No, I think we're done here," he answers, all the while looking at Prue.
"Well, thanks for your time," she says, heading for the door before stopping and turning around."My area of expertise ranges from Ming Dynasty to a Mark McGuire rookie baseball card. You name it - I can identify it. Now, I may not have sought out this job originally, but I do want it. And I am definitely right for it," Prue says, before leaving.
Piper, Xander, and Phoebe arrived at the church to hand out the food. Piper and Xander, still apprehensive, about being anywhere near a church, just listened to Phoebe yammer on, while they continued to pull the food out of the van.
"You would think that after last night, Prue would be a lot mellower. I mean, how long had it been? Six months? Which is worse," says Phoebe.
"It's just so un-Prue like to have sex on the first date. I mean, everything's changing since we've become... you know," says Piper, as she stacks boxes of food for Xander to carry.
"Why are talking about Prue's sex life? I, as the baby brother, should not be subjugated to this torture," says Xander.
"Well Xan, you have to admit we've always been closer than most siblings. I think it has to do with the fact that Mom died and Dad left, so we really only had each other and Grams in a time of need," says Piper.
"Yeah, yeah," he mutters.
"As I was saying, you've never had sex on a first date?" asks Phoebe, with a lingering leer at her brother and sister.
"I have, but not all the time, besides I'm seeing this waitress from the restaurant right now, and I rather not divulge personal information," says Xander, honestly, even though he was still uncomfortable sharing his sex life with his big sisters.
"No, have you? Wait, don't answer that, and which waitress?" says Piper, wondering which of the waitresses her brother would go for.
"Skye Russell. We met up for coffee after the late shift the other night, and we went back to her place," answers Xander, thinking about the pretty blonde waitress.
"I'm not sure how I feel about one of my waitresses doing that with my baby brother," respond Piper, emphasizing the word "that".
"Well, now that I'm a witch, I can see if it's gonna be any good or not, before it actually...," Phoebe starts to say, before being interrupted by an elderly man waiting for food. "Hi," she says, handing him a food tray, before he walks away
"What's the matter with you? Are you out of your mind?" Piper and Xander both ask, at the same time.
"Come on. It's not like he took me literally," huffs Phoebe.
"You don't know that, he could of. I just think we need to be extra careful. In bed and out," says Piper, in a cautious tone.
"Okay, well there's careful and then there's paranoid. Do you wanna talk about it?" asks Phoebe, obviously referring to Piper's warlock ex, Jeremy.
"Talk about what?" asks Piper, in an "I don't wanna talk about it" tone of voice.
"Hey, Phoebe, I didn't know you were back in town," says Pastor Williams, as he comes to join the siblings.
"Hey," says Phoebe, with a smile, as she gives him a hug.
"Say goodbye to the Big Apple did you?" asks the pastor.
"Oh, I ate the worm. Hey, I'm gonna go get some gum. Do you guys want anything?" she asks her siblings.
"No thanks," says Xander, while Piper just shakes her head.
"Okay, good to see you," Phoebe says to Pastor Williams.
"You too.," he says, as Phoebe begins her trek down to the corner mart.
"Okay, here's the deal. Xander and I have this friend. Has a little problem. Could be bad. Not quite sure what to tell her," says Piper, as she tries to approach the topic of witches again.
"You wanna go inside?" he asks the pair of siblings.
"No. I mean, We've gotta get going, right Piper?" says Xander, rather loudly causing the people that were receiving food to look at him strangely.
"So what's the problem?" asks the kind pastor.
"Well, she kinda, sort of thinks she might be a witch," answers Piper.
"Witches again, huh?" asks Pastor Williams, grinning.
"Not a good thing is it?" asks Xander, nervously, his skin starting to crawl.
"Certainly not a question I get everyday. How well do you remember Sunday school lessons? I suggest 22:18. Thou shall not suffer a witch to live," answers Pastor Williams.
"Meaning what?" asks Piper.
"If you go by the old school, it means put them to death. They're evil," explains Pastor Williams. This makes the brother and sister's skin crawl, and seemed to reinforce the belief that they might be evil.
Phoebe stood in line holding a magazine and a pack of gum. She places the items on the counter, and waits to pay.
"$3.52.," says the cashier.
"Here you go," she says handing over the money. The elderly gentleman behind looks at her with a smile. She sees that he's holding onto a set of lottery tickets.
"Should be used on the grandchildren's birthdays. It's a ten million dollar jackpot. Who knows? I mean, today may be our lucky day. If not, we're gonna lose our house," says the old man, in a kind voice. Phoebe smiles, as her arm briefly touches one of the tickets. She gasps as she sees a flash of the lottery drawing. She smiles.
"4, 16, 19, 30, 32 and 40. Those are the winning numbers," she says, with the upmost certainty.
"Yeah, yeah, right lady. You want this stuff or don't you?" mutters the cashier, gesturing at the magazine and gum.
"4, 16, 19, 30, 32 and 40. Trust me, mister. Today is your lucky day," Phoebe says to the old man. "And I think I'll buy one of these lottery tickets too."
Back at the church, Piper and Xander are waiting quietly in the car for the return of their sister. They hadn't said anything since the talk with Pastor Williams. Both of their minds reeling from the conversation. Phoebe hops into the van, a smile adorning her face.
"Ready? Let's go," said Phoebe, smiling away.
"What are you smiling about?" asks Piper, suspicious of her sister's sudden good mood.
"Nothing," says Phoebe. Xander doesn't say anything, but he knows that Phoebe probably did something that Prue and Piper would never approve of.
Outside of Quake, Andy and Darryl sit in their squadcar waiting. They know that the creep abducting that was abducting women was using the trendy restaurant as a feeding ground. Now, all they could do was wait, and hope they could catch the guy before another woman vanished into thin air.
"What do you want me to say? This does not feel right to me about this, I can't help it," says Andy, in a sincere tone.
"Here we go again," his partner sighes, knowing that Andy was going to go off on another freaky tangent.
"I mean, where are they, alright? What's this guy doing to these poor women?" Andy asks.
"Thinking alien abduction are ya?" Darryl chuckles.
"I'm serious, Morris," responds Andy, his eyes blazing.
"I know, that's what scares me. Let me guess, favorite movie when growing up - Ghostbusters? Look, we got a crazy, Trudeau. Likes the pretty ladies. That's it, the end. If he goes back looking make the world a safer place. That too hard to follow?" argues Darryl, trying to stay away from the weirdness that Andy seemed to believe in so fervantly.
"Evil Dead II. Favorite movie growing up. Just for the record," responds Andy, sarcastically, as he sees a familiar car park in Quake's lot, and Prue get out of it and head for the restaurant.
"Bank across the street, I think we should grab the ATM tapes and see if...," Darryl starts to say, but is cut off by Andy's sudden exiting of the squadcar. "Whoa, whoa, where are going? No, no, forget it Romeo. You're not blowing our cover."
"Come on, Morris. Cut me some slack. I have to talk to her. Please? Five minutes, that's all I need," requests Andy, wanting to finally be able to talk to Prue, since their last converation got cut short.
Inside Quake, Piper is trying to run a kitchen with Xander assisting her. She hated this job, but unfortunately she needs the money.
"Cindy, come on, your salmon's up. Hector, way behind. We need clean plates," she says, trying to speed up the servers.
"Either of you give Andy my cell phone number by any chance?" asks Prue, as she approaches her working siblings.
"No, why?" asks Piper
"Wasn't me, Sis," says Xander, as he hands a large batch of orders to Piper.
"Never mind," mutters Prue, figuring that Phoebe probably gave him her number.
"Remind me I wanted to do this for a living, right?" asks a scatterbrained Piper, sweat glistening off her her face.
"Just think of the funny green paper and the plastic cards that buy us things," responds an equally harassed looking Xander, setting up a full tray for pickup.
"Looks like you're the only two of us who's going to be doing anything for a living. Look how badly my interview went," says Prue.
"I can't imagine you were less then stellar," says Piper.
"Yeah, you deserve that job, Prue," says Xander, while Prue's eyes wander over to a private table where Phoebe is sitting with a very good looking guy, and wearing a very expensive-looking dress.
"What's Phoebe doing here?" she asks her brother and sister.
"Flirting," Piper and Xander answer simultaneously, sparing Phoebe only a slight glance.
"Yeah, and she's wearing Armani. Where did she get that?" asks Prue, suspicion written all over her face.
"Not from my closet. We gotta get back to work," says Piper, pulling Xander back into the kitchen. Prue walks over to the table where her youngest sister and the dark-haired man are sitting rather close.
"Prue, hi. This is my other sister. Prue, this is Stefan the photographer," says Phoebe, with a wide grin.
"Pleasure," Stefan says, reaching for Prue's hand.
"Likewise," says Prue, shaking Stefan's hand. "Nice dress."
"Don't worry, it's not yours," says Phoebe, trying to assuage Prue of any wrongdoing she may or may not have done.
"I know. I could never afford it," says Prue, glaring at her baby sister.
"Will you excuse me for one minute? I'll be right back," Phoebe says to Stefan, leading Prue back towards the kitchen. Neither one notices that Stefan's hand starts to age.
"How are you gonna pay for that? You're broke," asks Prue, as soon as they enter the kitchen.
"Not for long," Phoebe answers, without really giving an answer.
"What does that mean? You didn't use your powers again?" asks Prue, an accusatory air lingering.
"Maybe. Are you telling me you haven't?" retorts Phoebe.
"No, I'm not telling you that but we're not talking about me are we?" Piper and Xander approach their sisters, holding out a sliver of hope that they aren't arguing again.
"What are you guys doing in here?" asks Piper, apprehensively.
"Same thing we do at home," responds Phoebe, her arms crossed.
"What, did you go to the tracks, play the market, what?" asks Prue, her voice rising an octave.
"The lottery," answers Phoebe, succumbing to the stares from her siblings.
"Phoebe!" hisses Piper.
"What did you want me to do? Ignore the premonition? Not help a needy family. That's what we're supposed to do, right?" asks Phoebe, in a rhetorical manner.
"No, we are not supposed to use our powers for our own personal gain. That's what it says in the Book of Shadows," responds Prue.
.
Uh guys, not so loud," says Xander, quietly.
"You said we needed money, right? Well, I'm getting some," says Phoebe, defending her actions.
"Come on, you guys," says Xander, once again trying to calm down his older sisters.
"Well, get a job like everybody else," suggests Prue, disregarding Piper and Xander for a moment.
"I'm using my mind instead," sniffs Phoebe. A second later Andy enetsr the kitchen looking for Prue, and ends up bumping to a waiter with a large tray of plates. The tray ends up alling to the ground, or it would have, had Piper not been there.
"Watch it!" shouts Piper, her hands immediately going up and freezing the scene, and successfully stopping the plates from hitting the ground. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, not again," she moans.
"Now look what you've done," says Prue, pointing the finger of blame onto Phoebe.
"This is my fault?" Phoebe questions.
"You guys aren't freezing?" says Piper, curiously.
"I guess it doesn't work on witches. Piper, how long does it last?" asks Xander. Prue looks outside the kitchen door and finds that the entire restaurant is still in motion.
"I don't know, not long," Piper answers weakly.
"Uh, it doesn't work out there either," says Prue, pulling her head back into the kitchen.
"Oh, tell me this isn't happening." Panic sets into Piper's being. Xander tries to soothe his older sister.
"Calm down, it's okay. It's all gonna be okay," he says, although not really believing himself. Prue looks out the kitchen door again, only to find Darryl coming through the front door and heading towards the kitchen.
"Oh, God, Andy's partner just came in and he's headed this way," says Prue.
"What are we gonna do?" asks a frantic Piper, on the verge of a mental breakdown.
"Stall him," Phoebe directs her eldest sister. Prue runs out of the kitche and straight into Darryl.
"Hey, Inspector Morris, right?" she says.
"That's right. Is Trudeau in there? " he asks.
"Uh, Andy? I don't know is he?"
Back in the frozen kitchen, Phoebe is fanning Piper with a menu, while Xander continues to try and calm her down, to no avail.
"Okay, breathe, Piper, breathe," he says, even though on the inside he is having a major panic attack. A second later Darryl opens the kitchen door, with Prue trailing behind, having failed in stopping him. Piper's freeze immediately wears off, and the plates come crashing to the tile floor.
"I really think we should talk," the now unfrozen Andy says, before noticing Darryl standing there."What are you doing here? I thought I had five minutes."
"Yeah, I gave you ten," responds Darryl
"Guys, you know, we're really busy in here," says Piper.
"Yeah, sure," says Andy, even though it is obvious that he does not want to leave yet.
"Uh, I'll call you later, I promise," says Prue, with a rather tense smile.
"Okay," he nods. He and Darryl head for the kitchen door, as Prue watches with a longing in her eyes.
"I hate being a witch," seethes Piper, the stress of the afternoon and dealing with thoughts of being struck down when ever, weighing heavily on her mind.
"Not crazy about it either," agrees Xander. His mind kept going back to the images from the television program, the ones that prominantly featured burning and torturing witches.
Back at the manor, Xander and Piper sequestered themselves into the attic. They both had a lot of thinking to do, and with the information provided by the Book of Shadows, currently resting in Xander's lap.
"We're really screwed, aren't we?" Xander asks his older sister.
"Yeppers," she nods, with a grim look crossing her features.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?" asks Phoebe, upon enetring the attic, and spying the Book of Shadows in her brother's posssession.
"Reading. Thinking," Xander and Piper say at the same time.
"About what?" asks Phoebe, wondering what's got both of her siblings down at the same time.
"About how totally screwed we are now that we're witches," Xander answers.
"Oh, that," she responds.
"You don't understand, you don't think we are. You're never afraid of anything. I envy that about you, I always have," says Piper, earnestlly, while Xander nods in agreement with her.
"Yeah, well, don't because it gets me in trouble sometimes. Come on guys, talk to me," Phoebe says.
"I don't know, it's like our whole lives have 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. And Xan and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Piper admits.
"Are you kidding? It's a great thing!" exclaims Phoebe.
"You don't know that. We don't know anything about these powers. Why we have them, what they mean, where they come from. I mean, how do we know it's not... how do we know it's not from evil?" counters Xander.
" Xander, Piper, we've been through this. We're good witches," Phoebe says.
"What about Jeremy? What about all the other warlocks he said would be coming after us. How do we know we're not just like them? That is what scares me. We don't know. I just wanna be normal again. As messed up as that was. Is that too much to ask for?" says Piper, on the verge of tears.
"I wanna go back to being just Xander. I don't wanna have to worry about burning down the house everytime I watch a scary movie or get thrown a surprsie party. And another thing, why give me a fire power cause fire makes me think of hell," Xander rants.
"Guys, listen to me. You are the sweetest person, Piper, and Xander's the most caring person I've ever met. No, I mean that, you two are. You're always there to help anybody, even strangers. You've been doing it your whole lives. So there's no way we've been given these, these gifts if it wasn't to do good things with them. To protect the innocent just like the Book of Shadows said. Besides, if anyone is concerned of being bad, it's me, right? You've got nothing to be afraid of. And now, I am going to get my picture taken," she says, giving them a little fashion pose and twirl before leaving them alone to think.
"I think we should go to church," says Piper, turning towards her brother.
"I'm with you all the way," responds Xander.
At Quake, Prue and Andy are having coffee, and sitting in silence. Prue is unsure of what to say. She had been avoiding Andy for the last day, and she wasn't sure on how she wanted to handle things with him yet.
"I'm not sorry it happened, Prue," Andy finally speaks up.
"Well, I have to be honest with you, Andy, I am. I mean, not because I didn't enjoy it, I did. Especially the, um...," she starts, her face reddening.
"Yeah, that was great," he agrees.
"Yeah, but, you know, that's not the point, it's... I haven't seen you in almost seven years. Just starting right back where we left off is..." she says, not sure of where exactly she is going with this.
"I know, I know, believe me. I just wanna know why you left, that's all. Why can't you tell me? What's the big secret?" Andy asks, taking ahold of her hand.
"Believe me, you don't wanna know," she responds, still not wanting to reveal the family secret.
"Try me," he says.
"Well, my life, it's gotten a little complicated and I just don't think that I should get involved in anything right now," Prue tries to explain.
"Prue, we had sex. It doesn't mean we have to elope. Okay, about this, why don't we just pretend it never happened?" Andy asks.
"Do you want me to toss you a life preserver now, or just let you sink on your own?" she asks, causing him to laugh.
"No, no, I'm serious. Why don't you just count that one as part of our old relationship and we'll slow down, we'll start another. Prue, we've been given a second chance here, I don't wanna blow it this time," Andy says, just as his pager beeps and Prue's cell phone rings.
"Hello? Uh, yeah, absolutely, I'm sure I can make that. Okay, thanks," Prue says to the person who called her. After she ended the call, she turns back to Andy. "Uh, just give me a little time to think things over, okay?" she says, getting up from the table and leaving the restauarant and Andy behind.
At the church, Piper and Xander are sitting Piper's jeep. Both looking rather nervous, but seemingly calmer than before.
"We can do this," says Xander, taking a deep breath, stepping out of the vehicle.
"We have nothing to be afraid of. We have nothing to be afraid of," Piper repeats, holding onto Xander's hand for support. They both walk up the cement steps, reaching for the iron doorhandles. They pull the wooden doors open, and each cautiously poke a foot inside of the church, and nothing happens. They gingerly step inside, smiles in place.
Xander then, pulls Piper into a hug. "We're good," he says happily.
"Definitely good," she says back. They go to leave the church, only to run smack dab into an elderly woman with curly grey hair. Piper momentarily glances down while Xander apologizes to the old woman, and notices a familiar-looking green angel tattoo on the back of the woman's hand.
"Brittany?" she says.
"You know me? Is that my name?" asks the old woman, with hope in her eyes.
"Prue, thanls for coming back in," says Rex Buckland, shaking her hand.
"Well, thanks for having me back, although I must say I didn't expect it," she says.
"I told you I was interested and I am. But first of all I decided to test your expertise if you don't mind. See how good you really are. This is Hannah Webster, one of our assistant specialists," he says motioning to the woman with her curly blonde-brown hair pulled into a bun on top of her head. Prue shakes the now-identified Hannah's hand.
"Nice to meet you," says Prue,
"Please, tell us about this piece," says Rex, motioning to the painting that Hannah set up.
"Well, Madonna of the Meadow, Giovanni Bellini, 16th century, a fabulous piece. Worth three or four million if it wasn't a copy," says Prue, feeling in her element.
"What makes you think this is a copy?" asks Hannah.
"Too well preserved, no yellowing. Besides, the frame support is in pine and Italian painters used poplar back then," responds Prue.
"Um, what about this one?" asks Rex, motioning towards a sculpture on display.
"Degas. Actually, this was the only sculpture that he exhibited himself," she answers, not noticing Hannah purposefully bumping into a stepladder holding a large opened cannister of white paint.
"Watch out!" hollers Rex, as the paint comes down in full force. Prue, immediately throws her hands up in her defense, using her power, to move the paint, which conveniantly hits Hannah's pumps.
"Are you okay?" asks Rex.
"Yeah" says Prue, nodding happily, as it seems that Rex and Hannah completely missed her using her telekinesis.
"You sure? I'm sorry, I can't believe that happened," says Rex.
"It's okay," Prue reaffirms.
"Well, uh, I really don't know what to say, except you're hired, if you still want the job," says Rex.
"Are you serious?" asks Prue.
"Can you start Monday?" asks Rex.
"Yeah, absolutely," she answers.
"Terrific. It's done then. Yeah, we can sort out the details when you come in. In the mean time, welcome aboard," he says, shaking her hand.
"Thanks. Bye," says Prue, with a smile, as she exits the office.
"Well, what do you think?" asks Rex.
"I think she's either the luckiest woman alive or she's a witch," answers Hannah, with a devious grin acrossed her face.
Prue arrives home twenty minutes later, bursting with excitement. She is so happy, that something is finally going her way.
"Piper? Phoebe? Xander? Guess what?" she hollers, as she enters the manor. She is stunned to find an elderly woman there.
"What?" asks the old woman, in response to her question. Piper arrives from the question holding a bowl of soup.
"Prue, thank God you're home," says Piper, with a relieved look.
"Yeah, who, uh... ," Prue starts to ask.
"Here you go, Brittany. Why don't you go sit down at the table, okay? There you go." says Piper, handing the woman the bowl of steamy soup.
"Um, sorry, Brittany?" asks Prue, obviously confused.
"You're not gonna believe this. I'm not sure I do. I think... no, I know, this woman is Brittany Reynolds," says Piper.
"Yeah, right, Piper and I'm Rosie O'Donnell," laughs Prue.
"No, I mean it. Brittany had a tattoo, right? An angel on her hand, remember?" says Piper, pointing at the noticeable tatoo on Old Britt's hand.
"That can't be," murmurs Prue.
"That's what I thought at first but then I started asking her some questions. Things only Brittany would know. She may be senile but it was enough to convince me. So I had Xan go and check the Book of Shadows for whatever could have done this," explains Piper.
Phoebe arrives at Stefan's warehouse rady for her big break. She makes it to the door, and knocks.
"Stefan, it's me, Phoebe," she yells through the steel door. She touches the handle and gets a flash of herself strapped to a table, and an ancient-looking warlock hovering over her with glowing eyes. She immediately runs back to the van, but as soon as she gets in, someone grabs her.
"Xander, what did you find?" asks Prue.
"Javna feeds one week out of every year, stealing the life force from the young," he says showing his sisters the page he found.
"By evoking the black magic power of the evil eye to sustain eternal youth," reads Prue.
"It's gotta be what happened to Brittany," surmises Piper.
"Yeah, but there must be some kind of incantation to reverse it," says Prue.
"There is. The Hand of Fatima. It says that the Prophet Mohammad created it centuries ago to banish Javna back to where ever the hell he came from," says Xander, pointing to the page opposite the Javna page.
"Yeah, well, the problem is we don't know who Javna is, let alone where he is," says Prue, just as a loud thud resonates through the house.
"Brittany? Oh my God, what happened?" asks Piper, as they find Brittany passed out on the kitchen floor, something clutched tightly in her hand.
"Brittany, are you alright?" asks Prue.
"I'll call 911," says Piper, reaching for the cordless.
"And tell them what? That she's dying of old age at 25? What is this?" Prue asks holding up a white piece of paper.
"It's a cocktail napkin from the restaurant. With Stefan's address on the back," answers Piper.
"Javna," moans Brittany.
"Prue, that's where Phoebe went," says Xander, with a feeling of dread forming in the pit of stomach.
"Wait, Stefan or whoever you are, let me go," begs Phoebe.
"It's Javna," says the withered old crone, as he appears, his eyes glowing a menacing red.
"Piper, that's the van from Quake," says Xander, pointing. Prue stops the car, and the three get out.
"Do you see anything?" asks Prue.
"No. Prue...," answers Piper.
"Look, we'll find her," says Xander.
"Maybe we should call the police," suggests Piper.
"No, if Javna has her then we're the only ones who can stop him," says Prue.
"But we need Phoebe to do it. The incantation only work with the four of us," says Piper, only to interrupted by a familiar scream. They threesome rushes inside the warehouse to find a very old warlock firing some kind of beam from his eyes into Phoebe's. Xander throws a fireball at the demon's back, and Prue flings him into a far wall.
"Phoebe, we don't have a lot of time, okay?" says Piper, as she unties Phoebe and tries to steady her.
"Prue, grab the mirror," says Phoebe, pointing at a small hand mirror on the table. Prue grabs a mirror and puts it in front of her face and reflects the light back into Javna's eyes.
"Now," says Prue, signaling the others to start chanting the spell.
"Evil eyes look unto thee,
may they soon extinguish forevermore,
bend thy will to the Power of Four,
eye of earth, evil and accursed."
Javna shoots his beam at the siblings, only for it to be reflected back at him. He soon turns into a skeleton, and then into dust.
"Very cool," says Phoebe and Xander together. They then exit the warehouse to find the police arriving led by one Inspector Andy Trudeau.
"Prue? What are you doing here?" he asks.
"Well, we were just trying to get the van started," says Xander.
"Yeah, Phoebe called. She was having car troubles," says Piper.
"Stefan was gonna take some pictures of me, but he never showed," says Phoebe.
"Do you have any idea how lucky you are? This guy's a stalker," says Andy, a little disturbed that his sorta girlfriend was here at a crime scene.
"No sign of him inside. His car's here so he might still be around," says Darryl.
"Excuse me," says Andy, reaching into the van and starting it.
"Hey, how about that. You fixed it!" exclaimes Piper.
"How about that," says Andy, suspicious about what exactly was going on here.
"Maybe we should go," suggests Xander, leading Phoebe and Piper away, leaving Prue with Andy.
"Uh, thanks. Call me?" asks Prue.
"Sure," he says, figuring that whatever just happened had to do with this big secret Prue and her siblings share.
Once again, the Halliwell four are meeting at Quake. Prue, Piper, and Xander are having drinks at the bar, just as Phoebe enters.
"Whoops, excuse me," she says, immediately recognizing the woman she bumped into as Stefan's date from the other night. "How are you?" she asks. The beautiful woman just stares at her oddly, before walking. Brushing that aside, Phoebe goes to join the others.
"Do you know that girl?" asks Piper.
"I almost was that girl. She was one of Stefan's victims. Obviously doesn't remember," explains Phoebe.
"Lucky her," says Prue.
"No, lucky me. I learned my lesson. I have got to be more careful," says Phoebe.
"Excuse me, did I just hear it? Did she actually admit to doing something wrong?" asks Xander, in mock shock.
"That's what I heard," says Piper.
"Frame it. It won't happen again," laughs Phoebe.
"At least we helped those people. I mean, it's nice we know our powers really are good," says Piper, sharong a knowing glance with Xander.
"Yeah, good for everything but love lives unfortunately. Although I must admit they do come in handy once in a while," says Prue.
"I can use mine to light fireworks on the Fourth of July," jokes Xander.
"Uh huh. Hypocrites," says Phoebe, as she watches the lottery drawing on tv "The winning numbers. I've won," she says, pulling out her ticket only for the numbers to disappear.
"See, I told you. You can't intentionally use your powers for your own personal gain, remember?" gloats Prue, with a smile.
"It's a good thing I didn't take the tags off that dress. Oh, well. At least that old couple didn't lose their house," says Phoebe, with a smile.
"A toast to the power of four. Whether we like it or not," says Xander, holding up his club soda.