San Francisco, Saturday morning
Drake had set up camp in the living room, watching over wee Wyatt and baby Chris and Piper's still body. He was so very tempted to make popcorn as he discretely watched Piper's spirit snapping at Cole as he tried to explain to her what was going on.
("I'm not quite sure what's so hard to grasp," Cole said. "Love transcends every plane of existence. All you need to do is believe in it with every fiber of your being and just send it out to Leo.")
Drake beamed. He'd totally taught Cole that.
("What does that mean? I don't understand," Piper said, shaking her head.)
("I could never get through to you," Cole sighed. "I could always sense when there was something wrong with Phoebe.")
("Well, clearly Leo is not sensing that something is horribly wrong with me," Piper sulked.)
Drake rolled his eyes. Witches were so stubborn. He subtly made a "move it along" hand motion at Cole. C'mon, they talked about this.
He continued to listen as Cole tried to explain to Piper that she could get through to Leo, and as Piper demanded to know Cole's motives. Cole confessed that he didn't want Phoebe to give up on love, but went off-script and forgot to tell Piper that she was, oh, family, too. Unfortunately, Drake couldn't exactly point out to Cole that he skipped a part without Piper knowing he could see them. But Piper finally seemed to warm to Cole's plan.
("Okay," she said. "All right. So how do I do this love beacon thing?")
("All you need to do is let go so that you can move onto the next cosmic plane," Cole said.)
("Oh, I see. You mean the one where I'm dead," Piper said.)
("I know it sounds crazy," Cole admitted. "But it's the only way to get through to Leo.")
(Piper shook her head. "No. I can't. I have a family. I have boys that need me. Besides, that doesn't even make any sense.")
Moving so he was out of Piper's range of vision but still in Cole's, Drake grabbed his throat, rolled his eyes back, and stuck out his tongue. Then he dropped his hands and did a meerkat impersonation, an exaggerated perking up and looking around motion. C'mon, Cole, tell her.
("Yes, it does," Cole said. "Think about how a person halfway across the world knows the instant their loved one is hit by a car. It's because they're struck with a sudden burst of love, a psychic shock, the kind of shock that can only come from the total loss of a loved one. You need to let go. You need to die.")
("And what happens when that doesn't work?" Piper said, though not as skeptical as before. "What happens when he doesn't feel this psychic jolt? Then I'm just plain dead. I can't take that chance. Besides, my sisters will figure out a way to save me. They always do.")
("But then you risk losing Leo and your boys for good," Cole said. "Can you take that chance?")
Drake could tell she was wavering. Time to move on to the next step. He called Wyatt over. "Hey, kiddo, can you do your Uncle Drake a big favor?" he said. Can you stay right here with your mother and your brother while I go get your aunties? I know you can protect them with that fancy shield of yours, so I'm going to leave you in charge, okay?"
Wyatt nodded solemnly. He was only two, but Drake knew he was powerful enough to kick any random evil's ass that might come through, so he felt safe leaving them for five minutes while he fetched Phoebe and Paige and told them Piper seemed to be getting worse. They'd just missed getting hold of Leo again when he'd been orbed away by a totally cheating Elder, exactly as Cole had predicted. Limbo spirit or not, he still knew his stuff.
"I got to you as soon as I could," he explained when he shimmered back in with the sisters.
"The damn Elders," Phoebe seethed. "None of this would be happening if they didn't take Leo."
"Okay, you know what?" Paige said. "You're right. We have to get the Elders down here. They're the only ones who can help now."
Drake shook his head. "That won't do any good. Even if they heal her body, only Leo can heal her soul."
"Well, unfortunately, the Elders cheated," Paige said. "It's not like we can get him here and force him to remember his wife."
("But you can," Cole said to Piper. "And you'd better do it fast. Trust me. It's your only hope. And hers. Your destiny is with Leo. You need to learn to trust that.")
(Piper nodded, too desperate to argue anymore. She closed her eyes and let her spirit be drawn back into her body.)
"This can't be a dead end," Phoebe said.
"You know what?" Paige said. "Let me double-check the book."
"I was very thorough," Drake said, trying to get her off that train of thought. "There's nothing there."
On the couch, Piper gasped, her eyelids fluttering. "Leo," she moaned.
"Wait," Phoebe said. "I know what to do. Orb us to the bridge." She grabbed hold of Paige's hand.
"No, she just woke up," Paige protested. "We can't just leave her."
"I'll stay with her," Drake assured them. "You go work on her spirit."
"Bridge, now!" Phoebe demanded. Paige nodded and orbed them both out.
("You can do it, Piper," Cole encouraged, moving over to the couch.)
"You can do it, Piper," Drake echoed. "C'mon, it's the power of love. Don't make me bring a few bugs from Fandom to start singing Celine Dion to you."
Baby Chris could sense something was very wrong and started to wail in his crib. Wyatt was fretting, too. "C'mere," Drake said, beckoning to him. "Let me tell you something. Everything's going to be all right, ok? You're going to grow up and if you're lucky, you're going to meet a smoking hot girl from another planet and fall in love and make your mommy complain about grey hairs when you make her a grandma. But first you're going to heal your mom. We just have to wait just a little bit longer, okay?"
Piper's breathing was more labored now, and her eyes closed again. "Leo," she whispered as her hand fell limply from the couch.
"Okay, go, Wyatt," Drake said. "Do your thing. Heal your mommy."
A few moments later, Paige orbed into the living room with Phoebe and Leo, whose face was scraped and bruised. "You're too late," Drake said solemnly, rising to his feet. "Wyatt already healed her."
"Wyatt?" Paige said.
"Oh, thank god," Phoebe whispered.
Piper sat up on the couch, smiling at her son. "Good job, baby!" she said.
Leo rushed over to Piper's side and Paige looked at Drake. "How did you know he could do that?"
"Call it a lucky guess," Drake said. "He could heal from the womb, couldn't he? I figured it was worth a try to see if he could still do it. He's a second generation Whitelighter and all."
Phoebe crouched beside Wyatt and took his hands. "Did you heal your mommy? You’re such a big boy. I’m so proud of you."
Piper was hugging Leo. "I thought you were never gonna find your way home," she said.
"It was your faith that brought me back," Leo said. "I could hear you calling me, like you were right there next to me."
Drake looked over at Cole and gave him a long distance high-five, then dropped his arm before the Charmed Ones could see.
"I had a good coach, an old friend," Piper said. "I’ll explain later."
"You should do that," Drake said. "He deserves it."
Piper gave him a stunned look. "How did you...?"
Drake looked at his wrist. "Whoa, look at the time!" he said. "I gotta jet off to a wedding, but I'll be back for dinner, if that's all right. Besides, you guys probably want to have family time for awhile. See you in a bit!" He shimmered out before any awkward questions could be asked.
[NFB due to distance. Dialogue swiped from "The Seven Year Witch," and altered to remove some of the stupid comments like "Gee, Wyatt's a Whitelighter? With the orbing and the healing we never would've guessed!" God, writers.]
("I'm not quite sure what's so hard to grasp," Cole said. "Love transcends every plane of existence. All you need to do is believe in it with every fiber of your being and just send it out to Leo.")
Drake beamed. He'd totally taught Cole that.
("What does that mean? I don't understand," Piper said, shaking her head.)
("I could never get through to you," Cole sighed. "I could always sense when there was something wrong with Phoebe.")
("Well, clearly Leo is not sensing that something is horribly wrong with me," Piper sulked.)
Drake rolled his eyes. Witches were so stubborn. He subtly made a "move it along" hand motion at Cole. C'mon, they talked about this.
He continued to listen as Cole tried to explain to Piper that she could get through to Leo, and as Piper demanded to know Cole's motives. Cole confessed that he didn't want Phoebe to give up on love, but went off-script and forgot to tell Piper that she was, oh, family, too. Unfortunately, Drake couldn't exactly point out to Cole that he skipped a part without Piper knowing he could see them. But Piper finally seemed to warm to Cole's plan.
("Okay," she said. "All right. So how do I do this love beacon thing?")
("All you need to do is let go so that you can move onto the next cosmic plane," Cole said.)
("Oh, I see. You mean the one where I'm dead," Piper said.)
("I know it sounds crazy," Cole admitted. "But it's the only way to get through to Leo.")
(Piper shook her head. "No. I can't. I have a family. I have boys that need me. Besides, that doesn't even make any sense.")
Moving so he was out of Piper's range of vision but still in Cole's, Drake grabbed his throat, rolled his eyes back, and stuck out his tongue. Then he dropped his hands and did a meerkat impersonation, an exaggerated perking up and looking around motion. C'mon, Cole, tell her.
("Yes, it does," Cole said. "Think about how a person halfway across the world knows the instant their loved one is hit by a car. It's because they're struck with a sudden burst of love, a psychic shock, the kind of shock that can only come from the total loss of a loved one. You need to let go. You need to die.")
("And what happens when that doesn't work?" Piper said, though not as skeptical as before. "What happens when he doesn't feel this psychic jolt? Then I'm just plain dead. I can't take that chance. Besides, my sisters will figure out a way to save me. They always do.")
("But then you risk losing Leo and your boys for good," Cole said. "Can you take that chance?")
Drake could tell she was wavering. Time to move on to the next step. He called Wyatt over. "Hey, kiddo, can you do your Uncle Drake a big favor?" he said. Can you stay right here with your mother and your brother while I go get your aunties? I know you can protect them with that fancy shield of yours, so I'm going to leave you in charge, okay?"
Wyatt nodded solemnly. He was only two, but Drake knew he was powerful enough to kick any random evil's ass that might come through, so he felt safe leaving them for five minutes while he fetched Phoebe and Paige and told them Piper seemed to be getting worse. They'd just missed getting hold of Leo again when he'd been orbed away by a totally cheating Elder, exactly as Cole had predicted. Limbo spirit or not, he still knew his stuff.
"I got to you as soon as I could," he explained when he shimmered back in with the sisters.
"The damn Elders," Phoebe seethed. "None of this would be happening if they didn't take Leo."
"Okay, you know what?" Paige said. "You're right. We have to get the Elders down here. They're the only ones who can help now."
Drake shook his head. "That won't do any good. Even if they heal her body, only Leo can heal her soul."
"Well, unfortunately, the Elders cheated," Paige said. "It's not like we can get him here and force him to remember his wife."
("But you can," Cole said to Piper. "And you'd better do it fast. Trust me. It's your only hope. And hers. Your destiny is with Leo. You need to learn to trust that.")
(Piper nodded, too desperate to argue anymore. She closed her eyes and let her spirit be drawn back into her body.)
"This can't be a dead end," Phoebe said.
"You know what?" Paige said. "Let me double-check the book."
"I was very thorough," Drake said, trying to get her off that train of thought. "There's nothing there."
On the couch, Piper gasped, her eyelids fluttering. "Leo," she moaned.
"Wait," Phoebe said. "I know what to do. Orb us to the bridge." She grabbed hold of Paige's hand.
"No, she just woke up," Paige protested. "We can't just leave her."
"I'll stay with her," Drake assured them. "You go work on her spirit."
"Bridge, now!" Phoebe demanded. Paige nodded and orbed them both out.
("You can do it, Piper," Cole encouraged, moving over to the couch.)
"You can do it, Piper," Drake echoed. "C'mon, it's the power of love. Don't make me bring a few bugs from Fandom to start singing Celine Dion to you."
Baby Chris could sense something was very wrong and started to wail in his crib. Wyatt was fretting, too. "C'mere," Drake said, beckoning to him. "Let me tell you something. Everything's going to be all right, ok? You're going to grow up and if you're lucky, you're going to meet a smoking hot girl from another planet and fall in love and make your mommy complain about grey hairs when you make her a grandma. But first you're going to heal your mom. We just have to wait just a little bit longer, okay?"
Piper's breathing was more labored now, and her eyes closed again. "Leo," she whispered as her hand fell limply from the couch.
"Okay, go, Wyatt," Drake said. "Do your thing. Heal your mommy."
A few moments later, Paige orbed into the living room with Phoebe and Leo, whose face was scraped and bruised. "You're too late," Drake said solemnly, rising to his feet. "Wyatt already healed her."
"Wyatt?" Paige said.
"Oh, thank god," Phoebe whispered.
Piper sat up on the couch, smiling at her son. "Good job, baby!" she said.
Leo rushed over to Piper's side and Paige looked at Drake. "How did you know he could do that?"
"Call it a lucky guess," Drake said. "He could heal from the womb, couldn't he? I figured it was worth a try to see if he could still do it. He's a second generation Whitelighter and all."
Phoebe crouched beside Wyatt and took his hands. "Did you heal your mommy? You’re such a big boy. I’m so proud of you."
Piper was hugging Leo. "I thought you were never gonna find your way home," she said.
"It was your faith that brought me back," Leo said. "I could hear you calling me, like you were right there next to me."
Drake looked over at Cole and gave him a long distance high-five, then dropped his arm before the Charmed Ones could see.
"I had a good coach, an old friend," Piper said. "I’ll explain later."
"You should do that," Drake said. "He deserves it."
Piper gave him a stunned look. "How did you...?"
Drake looked at his wrist. "Whoa, look at the time!" he said. "I gotta jet off to a wedding, but I'll be back for dinner, if that's all right. Besides, you guys probably want to have family time for awhile. See you in a bit!" He shimmered out before any awkward questions could be asked.
[NFB due to distance. Dialogue swiped from "The Seven Year Witch," and altered to remove some of the stupid comments like "Gee, Wyatt's a Whitelighter? With the orbing and the healing we never would've guessed!" God, writers.]