Charmed Role Reversal



The Morning of The Doctor

T he gripman rang the bell and the maroon and white cable car started its turn from Jackson Street on to Mason Street, as it headed towards Fisherman's Wharf. The views from the Powell-Mason Line cable car's route were far less spectacular than those of its sister Powell-Hyde Line car. But it was still a nice ride and on this late June morning, at the height of San Francisco's unique summer season, the cable car was almost full.

Experienced with the tricks of getting good spots on the cars, Stuart Weston had gotten the front standing places on the running board on the left side of the cable car for himself and Phoebe Halliwell, and the two adjacent spots for her sisters Piper and Prue. They had been holding on to the poles and hanging out of the cable car as is the custom, the wind blowing in their faces and hair. But as the cable car began its sharp right turn on to Mason, they heeded the gripman's warning to "pull it in" and pulled themselves back against the legs of the passengers seated on the benches that ran lengthwise beside them.

"I'm so glad The Elders didn't come up with any new demons for us to vanquish today," Piper said, "so we could just relax and ride the cable car for a while. Since The Elders used their powers to change us from being TV actors into our Charmed roles' characters with witches powers in real life, it's been practically non-stop demon fighting. Ten-hour shooting days on Charmed's set seem, in comparison, like they were a vacation."

"Yeah, I need a small break," Phoebe agreed. "Getting outside on this beautiful morning with the sun shining and the air so fresh is just right."

The cable car proceeded for a few blocks along the eastern edge of Russian Hill, then slowly came to a stop at Vallejo Street to let some people off.

BOOM!

"What was that?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know," Stuart said. "It came from down Vallejo."

The four friends jumped off the cable car, hurried around to its right side, and started running down Vallejo. They were half-way down the block when they saw a police car in the middle of the street, smoke coming from beneath it's trunk. Two policemen were standing next to it, looking at the smoke.

"I think I saw someone run into that alley," Prue said to them. They looked at Prue for a second, then in the direction of the alley. Then one of the policemen went back inside the car, grabbed the radio and started talking into it.

"Never mind," Prue said. "Let's go."

They left the policemen at the car and ran into the alley.

"What did you see?" Piper asked.

"I'm not sure," Prue said, "but I don't think it was human."

"Oh great," Piper said facetiously, "a demon for us to chase."

"There goes our small break - along with our whole morning," Phoebe griped.

"There are two ways out of the alley," Prue said. "Phoebe take Stuart on the left one. Piper and I will go on the right."

They split up and Prue and Piper hurried down a curving connecting alley. Coming around the curve, they literally ran into a tall, slim man. He had semi-curly auburn hair lightly parted in the center, falling long in the back and somewhat less so to the sides. He wore a medium brown colored knotted ascot and a double breasted patterned muted gold vest under a dark brown velvet frock coat.

"Oh, so sorry," the man said as he and Piper bumped into each other. He hurried past Piper to her left and went around a small cinder block storage shed.

"No, that wasn't who I saw," Prue said.

With no place else to go, Prue and Piper hurried to the right of the shed and ran down its length to its end. The alley ended just beyond it and they turned left to go around the shed.

And now Prue bumped into the man.

"Oh, so sorry again," the man said. His hands were on Prue's arms and he dithered to try to go around her, their both going left and then right at the same time, keeping them locked on to one another.

"Uh...sorry," he said, as he finally got around Prue. He hurried off down the alley in the direction that Prue and Piper had come from.

Piper made a face and shook her head as she watched him hurry off.

"Well, he's not here," Prue said. "Let's get back to Phoebe and Stuart and see if they found anything."

They walked down on the left side of the cinder block structure and came back to the fork in the alley. Stuart and Phoebe were already there.

"We didn't find anyone," Phoebe said.

"We didn't, either," Prue said, "at least not a demon."

"We were supposed to get away from demon chasing this morning," Piper said.

"If there's a demon around who's a danger to people we can't ignore it," Prue said, as they walked back to Vallejo Street. "Just like on Charmed, we have to try to vanquish any demon we run into."

"We didn't exactly run into him," Piper said. "We couldn't even find whoever or whatever it was."

"Are you sure, Prue, that it was a demon you saw running away?" Phoebe asked.

"Uh...pretty sure," Prue said.

"I think by now we can all recognize a demon when we see one," Stuart said. "If Prue thinks she saw a demon that's good enough for me."

They had reached Vallejo and were walking up the street, past the smoking police car, and continued back to Mason Street.

"OK," Phoebe said, "so let's say it is a demon. Why would a demon attack a police car?"

"I don't know," Prue said. "Maybe it was after someone and the police car got in the way."

"There's a lot of smoke coming from it," Piper said, "but it didn't seem to be damaged."

"You're right," Stuart said, looking behind them back down the street towards the police car. "That doesn't make sense."

The siren of nearby second police car interrupted them.

"They must be responding to the call from those policemen," Phoebe said, as they reached Mason Street. "They didn't seem interested -"

BOOM!

The police car siren abruptly stopped.

"That sounded like it came from around the corner," Stuart said.

They raced up Mason Street and turned right on to Green Street. A police car sat crossway in the middle of the street. Smoke was coming from beneath it's hood.

"Over there!" Phoebe shouted, pointing to a narrow street in the middle of the block. August Alley, barely wider than the width of a car, started in the middle of the Green Street block and ran northwards. They saw a figure run down Green Street and turn into August.

"I'd say that's a demon, all right," Stuart said.

"Oh...goody!" Piper said, facetiously.

They ran down Green Street past the police car to August Alley and turned left up the very narrow street, chasing after the demon.

"There," Phoebe said, as they stopped running, "he went into that setback past the third garage."

They continued towards the setback when they were joined by someone.

"You!" Piper said. It was the man in the frock coat they had twice bumped into by the cinder block shed. "What are you -"

"Look out!" Stuart shouted as the demon came out into the street and faced them.

Prue waived her hand and the demon went flying backwards into the setback. After a moment they carefully walked down the street towards where he had landed.

"That was remarkable," the man said to Prue, just as another demon stuck out his head - and aimed his hand at her.

"Look Out!" the man shouted as he jumped on Prue, pushed her to the ground and landing on top of her, just as an energy bolt struck the wall where Prue had been standing.

Prue lay on her back, the man lying on top of her looking into her eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Uh...yes...thanks to you," she said.

Seeing that he had missed Prue, the demon sent another energy bolt at them as they lay on the ground.

"No!" Piper said, raising her hand. The demon and the bolt both froze.

"Roll over him to the side," Piper said to Prue, the man being frozen on top of her. "I'll unfreeze everything and let the bolt hit the ground. Then I'll freeze him again and you'll roll back to where you were. It will be so fast he won't realize what happened."

Prue rolled the man onto his back and lay on top of him. Piper raised her hand and the energy bolt hit the ground, making a hole in the pavement. Piper quickly raised her hand again but the demon was faster and got back into the setback before he could be frozen a second time.

Prue rolled over onto her back, the man lying on top of her again and Piper raised her hand to unfreeze him and Stuart.

The man seemed momentarily confused.

"We moved...and there was an energy bolt," he said.

"No, you're mistaken," Phoebe said.

"No, I'm never mistaken," the man said. "Well, almost never," he added.

"Where's the demons?" Stuart asked. He and Piper carefully walked down the street past the garages to the setback.

"He must have escaped through these steps leading into the house," Piper said. "There's probably a back exit they can use to escape."

Something on the third step of the setback caught Piper's eye. She went over to the step and saw that it was a metallic grey oblong button. She picked it up, turned it over, then put it into her pants pocket.

She returned to Stuart and they went back to Prue and the man, who were now standing next to Phoebe. The man took out an old-fashioned pocket watch and looked at it.

"Very impressive," he said. "You stopped time."

"What?" Phoebe asked, feigning innocence. "Stopped time? That's ridiculous. We didn't do anything."

"Yes, you did," the man insisted. "My pocket watch's temporal chronometer shows the difference between the time that I experienced and the actual time that elapsed. And it shows a difference of twenty-one seconds." The man showed the watch to Prue and pointed to one of the dials. "See, right there," he said.

"There's no such thing as stopping time," Piper said.

"Of course there is...or can be," the man said.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Stuart said.

"Of course I do," the man said. "I'm a Time Lord."




Click speaker for Opening Credits Theme Song

"A what?" Piper asked.

"A Time Lord," the man repeated.

"Uh, just who are you?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm The Doctor," the man replied.

"Doctor?" Phoebe asked. "Doctor who?"

"Just The Doctor," he answered, "And who are you that you can waive your hand and make beings fly...and stop time."

"You're imagining things," Phoebe said.

"Hardly," the Doctor said. He turned to Prue, put his hands on the sides of her head and looked into her eyes. "Who are you?" he asked.

Prue stared into the man's eyes.

"We're witches," she said.

"PRUE!" Phoebe and Piper shouted together.

"Witches," the man repeated. "There are bad witches who do all kinds of mayhem and there are good witches. You must be good witches after what you just did. But specifically what kind..."

"The Charmed Ones," Prue said. "We vanquish demons."

"Prue - what are you doing?!" Phoebe exclaimed as the man took his hands off of Prue's head.

"He just saved my life," Prue said. "I felt...that he was entitled to know. And besides, he's seen our powers. It's best if we explain it ourselves than having him go around asking questions about us."

"Prue, I don't believe what you just did," Piper said. "You know we can't let anybody know about us."

"Of course you can't," the man said. "But I'm not ‘anybody’. I'm The Doctor. And I wouldn't tell ‘anybody’ anything about you."

Piper squinted at both of them and exhaled.

"Oh no!" the Doctor said, tapping the pockets of his jacket. "The Venali have my sonic screwdriver."

"Sonic screwdriver?" Piper asked.

"The must have taken it when they took the TARDIS," he added.

"Tar...what?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh, boy," Stuart said, shaking his head from side to side.

"My TARDIS," the Doctor repeated.

"What's that?" Phoebe asked.

"Uh, excuse us a moment," Stuart said to the man and motioned for Prue, Piper and Phoebe to come closer to him.

"TARDIS is an acronym," Stuart said. "It stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It comes from the TV show Doctor Who."

"Uh...I heard of that show," Phoebe said.

"This guy is nuts," Stuart said. "On the show, the Doctor is a Time Lord and the TARDIS is the time machine the Doctor travels in. He thinks he's Doctor Who! He's even effecting a British accent like the actors' who played the role."

"Oh-K," Piper said, and turned back to the man.

"Uh, look, whoever you are -" she said.

"The Doctor," he interrupted her.

"Uh...Doctor," she continued, "it was nice to meet you. But we have to be going."

"Uh, no...wait," he said. "We have to stop the Venali."

"Huh?" Piper said.

"That was a Venali," he said.

"A what?" Phoebe asked.

"Venali," the Doctor said. "They're from the planet Korona."

"Aliens?" Piper asked. "No...these are demons. And those were demons' energy bolts coming from their hands."

"Those bolts came from energy weapons that they held in their hands," he said. "But you can call them demons if you like. Demons, aliens...they are the same in that they are evil and do evil things."

"And why are these Koronans - uh, sorry, that's not the aliens' name," Piper said. "What did you call them?"

"They are Koronans," the Doctor said. "There are two groups on the planet Korona. The Morali is the other group. Morali translated into English means builders. They were at war for quite a long time with the Venali, which translated into English means destroyers. The Venali were losing and were on the verge of being wiped out. That's when they left Korona and went elsewhere in the galaxy, looking for a planet to conquer."

"Uh huh," Phoebe said, not trying to conceal her total disbelief in what the Doctor had said. "And now they've chosen Earth to invade."

"Well, not yet," the Doctor said, "they've come to have a look around first. To see if they can easily conquer it. Which they can, of course."

"Of course!" Piper said, mockingly. "We are doomed!"

"No, not yet," he said. "Not if we can stop this advance party, and show them that Earth is stronger than they think we are."

"Why don't you go and do that," Phoebe said in a patronizing tone, "with your uh, TARDIS."

"I can't," the Doctor said. "The Venali took the TARDIS."

"They flew off in it?" Stuart asked, unable to conceal his chuckle.

"No, they couldn't do that," the Doctor said. "Even if they could get inside - and they might if they realized that they stole the key to the TARDIS along with my sonic screwdriver - they wouldn't know how to use the controls. No - they just carted the TARDIS off somewhere and hid it."

"Well, I'm sorry that you, uh, lost your TARDIS," Stuart said. "But we have important things to do. We have real demons to find and stop."

"Yes, of course," the Doctor said, "but don't you see? We have to do this together. I know the Venali and you have your witches' powers. Together we can stop them - we must stop them - to save the Earth."

"We've been saving the Earth for the last five weeks," Phoebe said, "so we can...uh, save it again ourselves."

"But you don't understand the Venali," the Doctor said. "Tell me...why did they attack the police cars?"

"Because the demons were after someone and the police got in the way," Piper said, smugly.

The Doctor shook his head.

"They were testing Earth's defense reaction to an attack," he said. "And they saw the pitiful response of the police."

"Their attack can't be too strong," Phoebe said. "They didn't even damage the police cars."

"They didn't want to damage the police cars," the Doctor said. "They don't want to alert the Earth to an impending invasion. Even without any significant defense to counter, they still want to have the element of surprise on their side. So they only simulated attacks on the police to gauge their reaction. Which re-inforced their opinion of the Earth."

"That what...we're too weak to defend ourselves against them?" Stuart asked, with a half-smile.

"Precisely," the Doctor said.

"Oh-K, I think we've had enough of this," Piper said.

"But you don't even know where to look for them, let alone how to defeat them," The Doctor said.

"Don't worry," Piper said, "we know how to find demons."

"But these are Venali," The Doctor said.

"OK - Venali demons, if you like," Phoebe said. "We still can do this just fine ourselves."

The Doctor turned to Prue and took her hands in his.

"Prue...you have to believe me," he said.

"I...I want to," she said.

"Prue, let's go," Phoebe said.

"I...I...thank you for saving my life, Doctor," Prue said. She wanted to say more, hesitated, then didn't say anything else. Instead, she just looked at the Doctor and exhaled.

"They have to be someplace where there's a powerful transmitter," the Doctor said to her. "To keep in contact with their mother ship."

"Good-bye, uh, Doctor," Stuart said, as he took Prue's hands and started to lead her away.

As she walked down the street with the others, Prue looked over her shoulder at the Doctor. She wished she had told him everything that she had wanted to say.

Phoebe had been at the stand in the attic for almost ten minutes, going through each page of The Book of Shadows that lay open on it.

"Why won't you accept that he's nuts?" Stuart asked. "Why do you keep insisting that maybe he's right about all of this?"

"Because maybe he is right," Prue said. "Maybe there's a fictional Doctor Who...and a real one, too. Maybe the fictional Doctor could somehow have been...based on the real one. Like Shakespeare based Lady Macbeth on the Queen of Scotland."

"Come on, Prue," Piper said. "Do you really believe that the producers and writers of that show -"

"Here it is," Phoebe said, interrupting her. "This is a drawing of the demons that we saw. They're called Perditoris."

"And not aliens called Venali," Piper said in a very satisfied tone of voice, as she walked over to see the page.

"And also not called destroyers, the way that crazy man said," Phoebe added.

Prue exhaled. She walked over and joined Piper and Phoebe by The Book of Shadows.

"There's a potion to use against them," Phoebe said. "The ingredients are here, though they seem rather simple and common."

"What's this below it?" Prue asked. "It looks like a spell."

"A potion and a spell?" Piper asked. "We haven't seen that before."

"No...I don't think it is a spell," Prue said.

Phoebe began to read the words aloud.

   "Pour the potion that you will make    

    Into a glass container and quickly shake,    

    To use the mixture in the apothecary jar    

    Listen to the voice that comes from afar."

"These are instructions, not a spell," Prue said. "Instructions on how to use the potion."

"What does that mean ‘the voice that comes from afar’?" Piper asked.

"I don't know," Phoebe said. "The Book of Shadows is telling us that we have to use the potion in a certain way...but it's not telling us what that way is."

Piper exhaled.

"Let's go make the potion," she said. "We'll figure this part out later."

Phoebe copied the ingredients on to a piece of paper, then headed for the stairs with Piper.

"Coming Prue?" Piper asked.

"In a minute," she replied. Piper and Phoebe went downstairs and Prue looked at the page in The Book of Shadows again. Her fingers were running up and down the side of the page as she tried to understand the cryptic instructions.

Finally she exhaled. With her fingers at the edge of the page, without thinking she flipped the page over.

Prue stared at the reverse of the page. There was a drawing on it. A drawing of a man.

Book of Shadows drawing

That...that drawing, she thought, unable to take her eyes off of the page. That looks like...that could be...

The last line of the instructions played in her mind. ‘Listen to the voice that comes from afar’.

From afar...in space...and in time, Prue thought. She stared at the drawing again.

"The Doctor," she said.

 

Phoebe held the Apothecary Jar up to the light.

"Here's the potion," she said. "I still don't understand why the ingredients are such simple ones, like lavender, that we have in The Manor. I didn't have to go the store for anything. No Mentha arvensis, not even borage or capsicum."

"Nor Araceae, which we've used in almost every potion," Piper said. "This is strange."

"What do we do about The Book of Shadow's instructions on how to use this?" Phoebe asked. "We still don't know what they mean."

"Then we'll just have to use the potion without them and hope that it works anyway," Piper said.

Phoebe frowned.

"OK, I suppose...but we'll have to find the Perditoris first," Phoebe said. "That may not be easy."

Piper exhaled and absent-mindedly stuck her hands into her pants' pockets.

"Maybe it will be," she said, pulling something out of one of the pockets. "I found this button on a step in the setback. I've never seen one like it. It must have fallen off one of the Perditoris that Prue sent flying."

Phoebe took the metallic grey oblong button in her hand.

"It feels...funny," she said. "It's...a lot heavier than it should be, for it's size. And -"

Phoebe stopped and her eyes closed.

"You got a premonition from it?" Piper asked.

"Yes," Phoebe said, opening her eyes. "I saw the Perditoris hiding behind some trees. I didn't recognize the street but I saw the street sign. Uh...Gardenside Drive."

"Stuart knows San Francisco," Piper said, "so I'm sure he'll know where that is. But when is the question."

"There were long shadows being cast by the trees," Phoebe said, "so it must have been late afternoon."

"Like...now," Piper said, looking out the window. "Let's get Stuart and Prue and find this place quickly."

"Gardenside Drive is a short street," Stuart said, as he drove slowly on it. "It isn't straight but the left side is more or less west. The trees casting the shadows had to be on that side."

"These aren't the trees that I saw," Phoebe said, holding the jar with the potion. "They weren't next to houses."

They continued driving slowly, following the gentle curves of the street, and were almost at the end.

"There!" Phoebe said excitedly, pointing to some wild trees on their left. "Those are the trees."

Stuart pulled the car over to the side of the road. Prue jumped out of the front seat and started towards the trees.

"Look out, Prue!" Phoebe shouted as two Perditoris peaked out from behind the trees. Prue quickly waived her hand at them and sent them flying backwards.

"Come on!" she said.

Phoebe started to get out of the car when the Perditoris picked themselves up and started running up the hill behind the trees.

"They ran straight up that steep hill," Phoebe said, in amazement, "as if it was just level ground. And out of our range to use the potion."

"Get back in the car," Stuart shouted. "I know how to get to the top."

Prue and Phoebe got back into the car and they took off. Stuart went left at the end of the street on to Burnett Avenue. In about thirty seconds they came to the end of that street, and Stuart made an almost one-hundred-eighty degree turn to his left.

They were climbing up a narrow two-lane road, quickly getting higher and higher. One hairpin turn was followed by a second one. Prue stared in amazement at what was on top of the mountain where they were heading.

"Transmission towers," she said to herself. The Doctor said that's where they'll be so that they can contact the mother ship, she thought.

"There they are!" Piper said, as two Perditoris scampered across the road about fifty yards in front of them.

"Where are we?" Piper asked.

"The Twin Peaks," Stuart answered, as he pulled the car over to the side and stopped.

"They're running into that red brick building at the base of the tower," Phoebe said.

"Let's go," Piper said.

They jumped out of the car, Phoebe carrying the jar with the potion.

"There's a door on the other side," Prue said. They hurried around the building's corner to the door and went inside.

The room was dark. One small wattage fluorescent lamp gave off a little light, just enough for them to see that the room was a small windowless square, no more than perhaps fifteen feet in any direction. Slowly they moved towards the far wall. In the dim light, Prue barely made out another door in it.

Suddenly the outside door flung open and one of the Perditoris rushed in. He aimed his hand at them but Piper raised her's and froze him before he could do anything.

Two more Perditoris came running in through the open door. Phoebe quickly took off the lid from the jar and threw the potion on to all three of them. The liquid landed on their mouths, chests and hands.

The two Perditoris who had not been frozen stopped, looked at each other and touched the potion. Then they looked at Phoebe and aimed their hands at her.

"Freeze them!" she shouted and Piper raised her hand and froze them.

Another figure rushed into the room. Piper was about to raise her hand again.

"No - wait!" the figure said.

"Doctor?" Prue asked, recognizing the voice.

"Yes," he answered. "It's rather crowded in here with eight of us, isn't it," he said, as he looked at Stuart, the three sisters and the three frozen Perditoris.

Prue saw two more Perditoris outside running towards the open door. She waved her hand at the door and slammed it shut, then waived it a second time and turned the lock.

"These three demons are going to unfreeze soon," Piper said. "I don't want to be here when they do."

"We can't go out the front door," Stuart said. "They'll be waiting there for us. Let's see if there's a way out through here."

He opened the door in the far wall and they all ran through the doorway and shut the door behind them.

Another single fluorescent lamp dimly lit an equally small, windowless room.

"What are you doing here?!" Piper demanded.

"Trying to disconnect the Venali's communication device from the transmitter on top of this building," the Doctor said. "They've soldered them together. If I had my sonic screwdriver I could easily separate them. But the Venali have it.

"Now tell me what you're doing here?"

"Trying to vanquish these demons with a potion," Piper said. "Why didn't it work?"

"I don't know," Phoebe said. "I mixed all of the ingredients that were in The Book of Shadows. It should have worked."

"How did you use the potion?" the Doctor asked.

"I threw it on them," Phoebe said, "the way I always do with demons."

"That won't work," the Doctor said. "The Venali are impervious to any weapon, or potion for that matter. There is only one way to defeat them. They have two soft sockets just below each of their eyes which are their only vulnerability. You have to aim the potion directly to go into those sockets. The Morali became quite expert at doing that with their weapons during their war with them."

There was a noise from the outer room.

"They've unfrozen," Phoebe said.

There was a second noise at the door.

"They're coming in," Stuart said.

But the door didn't open. Slowly, Stuart approached the door and gently tried to turn the handle.

"It won't turn," he said. "They've locked us in here."

"They may be afraid of your powers after they've seen what you can do," the Doctor said. "Locking you in here will keep you from interfering with them."

"There's got to be another way out," Prue said. She made her way to the wall opposite the door they had come through.

"There's another door here," she said. She tried to turn the knob but it wouldn't move. She waved her hand at it and tried it again but it still would not move.

"They've likely put an electronic force field lock on it from the outside," the Doctor said. "You won't be able to waive that open with your hand."

"Or...what it really is," Piper said, "is that there are more than one lock on it and they're probably rusted and broken. They don't have any parts that can move any more."

"Just use your power to push the door out," Phoebe said.

"If this is really that rusted, it may be too attached to the brick wall around it to come loose," Stuart said. "And if it did come loose, it would make so much noise that the demons will be on us in a second. You saw how fast they ran up the side of the mountain."

"I really much prefer the last time I was on the Twin Peaks with you," Phoebe said to Stuart, remembering their romantic evening looking down at the city.

"The view was certainly better," Stuart said dryly, looking around the windowless room.

The Doctor exhaled.

"We could open the door if I had my sonic screwdriver," he said. "And without any noise that would attract the Venali's attention."

"Sonic screwdriver, sonic screwdriver," Piper said, "I'm tired of hearing about your sonic screwdriver - that you don't have." She squinted at the Doctor.

"Maybe we should have a sonic spell," she added, sarcastically.

"A sonic spell," the Doctor repeated. "That's good." He paused for a second. "That's brilliant! A sonic spell! You are absolutely brilliant, Piper.

"The spell must specify a sound of 46dB at 28 GHz, varying progressively to 52.5 dB at 41.75 GHz, while reducing the amplitude -"

Piper squinted at the Doctor.

"Hmm...maybe that is a bit too much detail," he said. He stuck his hand into the inside pocket of his velvet frock coat and pulled out a small, ordinary screwdriver.

"This will be simpler," he said. "Just make a spell that this should become a sonic screwdriver. That should be fairly simple for you to do."

"Simple...really?" Phoebe said.

"Well, you are Charmed witches," The Doctor pointed out.

Piper turned to Phoebe.

"It doesn't matter that he's crazy," Piper whispered in her ear. "If we make up a sonic screwdriver it will be the power of the spell that will make it work, not because there really is such a tool."

"Right," Phoebe said, nodding her head.

"Uh...give me a minute to come up with one," she said to the Doctor, taking the screwdriver.

"I'm really glad that you're here, Doctor," Prue said. "I...I do believe you. About who you are, about the TARDIS."

The Doctor took Prue's hand, held it and looked into her eyes.

"Thank you," he said. "I am truly glad that you trust me and believe me. I want -"

"Is it just me," Piper said, interrupting him, "or is it really getting stuffy in here."

"We're five people in a small place with little air coming in," Stuart said.

"Hurry up, Phoebe," Piper said.

"While we're waiting, would you like a Jelly Baby?" the Doctor asked.  He pulled out a small white bag from his inside pocket and opened it.

"They're really good," he said. "Here Prue, try it."

"Oh, this is just too much," Stuart complained to Piper, as Prue took a Jelly Baby and put into her mouth. "We're locked in here with demons all around us and he's playing with Doctor Who's Jelly Babies."

"This is good," Prue said and took another Jelly Baby from the Doctor's bag.

"OK, OK," Phoebe said. "This isn't the greatest spell but as I'm rushing it will have to do."

She exhaled

"I hope," she added under her breath.

  "Listen to the words as we stand in fear
   This simple tool is all that is here,
   To save us we need a new device
   A sonic screwdriver to be precise."

A green light appeared on the top of the screwdriver along with a set of buttons on its side.

"Ah, that's better," the Doctor said, taking the sonic screwdriver from Phoebe's hand and putting away the bag of Jelly Babies.

"Wow," Phoebe said, staring at the screwdriver. "My spell really worked!"

The Doctor held the sonic screwdriver to the door's lock and pressed one of the tool's buttons. There was a gentle whirring sound and the green light began to glow.

"Is that thing really working?" Piper asked.

"Of course it's working," the Doctor said. "Just a bit more."

He move the sonic screwdriver along the lock.

"There," the Doctor said, and put the sonic screwdriver in his pocket. "Anyone want to leave?" he asked.

He started to push the door back.

"The Venali won't be expecting us to get out," he said. "But just in case..."

The Doctor stuck his head out and peaked around the partially open door. He raised his hand behind himself and motioned for the others to come. Quietly, they each went through the open doorway, looked both ways, then followed The Doctor down to the road.

"Phew...we made it," Piper said.

"There's the car," Stuart said and they hurried to it.

"Where are you going now, Doctor?" Prue asked, as Stuart and Piper got into the car.

"Well, I don't really know," he answered. "The Venali have the TARDIS so I can't go there."

"Then you'll come with us," she said.

"Prue, what are you doing?!" Phoebe said.

"The Doctor saved my life and he needs a place to stay," Prue said. "Just like someone who saved your life."

"Stuart's different..." Phoebe started to say. But she stopped and exhaled.

"OK," she said reluctantly, and slid into the back seat next to Piper.

Stuart had driven the car, with the Doctor in it, around to the back of The Manor. Prue, Piper and Phoebe had gotten out of the car by the front steps to pick up newspaper pages that had blown on to the lawn.

Having collected all of them, they were about to start up the steps to The Manor when a dark car pulled up at the curb.

"How is everything?" Police Inspector Darryl Morris, the Halliwells' friend, asked through the driver's open window.

"We're fine," Phoebe said. "But are you all right? We heard there were attacks on police cars," she added, trying to elicit information about what the police thought happened.

"I'm OK," Morris said, "and so are those policemen. The bombs didn't do much damage. The Chief thinks they're from a gang that's trying to get back at the police for arresting their leaders. The investigation was turned over to the Department's Street Gang Task Force."

"Street gangs, and nothing more," Piper said, giving Prue an I-told-you-so look.

"We're just glad you're not in the middle of that," Phoebe said.

"No, the Task Force took complete control so I'm not involved with it," he said. "So it's actually been a very quiet day for me. The biggest thing I've had has been a patient who escaped from the mental ward at the hospital."

"He could be a real danger," Phoebe said.

"No, they assured me he's completely harmless," Morris replied. "He's just delusional. He thinks he's characters from TV shows. He even has a wardrobe full of costumes he wears so he can dress up like them and act out their parts."

"Really...act out their parts," Piper repeated and gave Prue another look. "Uh...we -"

"Will let you know if we see him," Prue said, cutting Piper off.

"Thanks," Morris said. "Take care." He pulled away from the curb as Piper turned to Prue.

"Why did you stop me from telling him about the ‘Doctor’?" Piper asked. "That explains who and what he is."

"No it doesn't," Prue said. "I still think he's real."

"Prue - he's a TV show character," Piper said.

"And so are we," Prue said. "We're going around living just like Charmed's TV witches, acting out our parts, doing everything they do. And we're very real. So he could also be...real, too. Besides, Morris said the patient who escaped is harmless."

"But he can get himself hurt if he starts up with those demons," Piper said.

"Look, maybe something happened when The Elders made our characters real," Prue said. "Maybe somehow the change to reality affected someone else, too."

"Prue, you're twisting your logic to fit what you want to be the truth," Piper said. "The Elders changed us - and no one else. Period!"

It was almost sunset when Prue and the Doctor found themselves sitting alone in The Manor's living room.

"The Venali aside, it's nice being back in San Francisco," the Doctor said.

"You've been here before?" Prue asked.

"Yes, for about three days at the very end of last year," he said. "That's when I regenerated again."

"You did what?" Prue asked.

"Regenerated," the Doctor said. "When a Time Lord is dying, he can regenerate his body and continue living anew. Each time I do that, I look different after the regeneration."

"You...you were dying?" she asked.

"Yes, but I"m fine. See?" he said with a small smile.

"How many times can you...regenerate?" she asked in amazement.

"Thirteen times," the Doctor answered. "I've gone through seven re-generations. So you can think of me as the Eighth Doctor."

"What did you do in those three days?" Prue asked.

"We stopped the Master from destroying the Earth," the Doctor said.

"We?" Prue asked.

"Grace and I," he said. For a moment, in his mind he was somewhere else. His eyes stared off un-focused. Then he sighed and looked at Prue.

"Who's Grace?" she asked.

"Someone...special," the Doctor said. "She cares about people, she's very dedicated and she's got spunk. And she's a Doctor, too."

"And the Master?" Prue asked.

"An evil Time Lord," he answered.

"I can see that you care about Grace," Prue said.

"I...suppose I do," he admitted.

"Have you seen her since you've been back in San Francisco?" she asked.

"I tried to," he answered. "But she's left the hospital where she worked. I don't know where she is, just that she's traveling somewhere with a group of volunteer doctors." He paused then exhaled.

"I wanted her to travel with me in the TARDIS," he said. "There's so much she could have seen and so much she could have accomplished to make things better and right in the universe.

"You're actually a lot like her, Prue. You care for people and try to make things right for the world, too." He took Prue's hands in his and drew them to him.

"You take risks to do that," he said. "And you're brave and selfless. Just like Grace."

"I'm not special," Prue said. "All Halliwell witches protect the innocent."

"All who?" he asked. "You're last name is..."

"Halliwell," Prue said.

"Oh!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Of course!" He looked into Prue's eyes and held her hands tighter.

"It all fits together. Grace's last name is Holloway," he said. "Holloway...Halliwell. The names are too similar to be a co-incidence. And I don't believe in co-incidences."

"Neither...do I," Prue said, looking into the Doctor's eyes.

"Now I understand...why I've felt what I have since I saw you," he said. "Some things in time are never lost. They're meant to re-appear and happen again."

The Doctor slowly pulled Prue closer to him, then put his arms around her. Prue slowly did the same to him. They embraced.

And then they kissed.

"Water pistols?" Stuart asked. "You're going to vanquish the demons with a water pistol?"

"Yes," Prue said. "Water pistols filled with the potion. This will let us aim the potion directly into the sockets beneath the Venali's eyes."

"Venali?" Stuart asked. "Prue, you're sounding just like him. These are not aliens. They're demons - the Perditoris."

"The potion didn't work when we just threw it at them," Prue said, "so now we're going to try it the Doctor's way."

"We're not doing this because of that crazy Doctor," Phoebe said. "Vampires can only be vanquished in a certain way, with a wooden stake in their chests. These demons may be like them in that respect and can be vanquished only in a certain way. And that's what the Book of Shadows meant. So it's just logical to try aiming for specific parts of them."

"And we're also going to aim for their noses, their mouths, and their ears," Piper said.

Prue exhaled.

"Just fill up the water pistols with the potion," she said. "I'll get the Doctor."

Stuart parked the car in the dark Twin Peaks parking lot. The lights of San Francisco shined below them.

"It's really cold up here," Piper said. "And dark. It's a good thing you warned us, Phoebe, to bring jackets and flashlights."

"I remember how dark and cold it was when Stuart and I came up here," Phoebe said, remembering their visit and Stuart's ‘love music’ CDs. "Of course, we weren't trying to vanquish demons, then."

They carefully made their way along the dark path towards the first red brick building, watching out for the demons.

"Where are they?" Phoebe whispered.

"Probably inside," Piper said. "Remember, it's cold out here."

"Since when do demons care about cold?" Phoebe asked.

"Venali care," the Doctor said. "They can withstand cold when they fight but given the choice they prefer warmth."

"There are two red brick buildings with a transmitter atop each of them," Stuart said. "They're probably in -"

There were footsteps off to their right and Stuart stopped talking. Quietly, they stepped closer to where the noise had come from.

"Demon!" Piper said.

The demon turned and raised his hand. Piper aimed the water pistol at his nose and squirted.

"Grr!" the demon roared. He angrily wiped the potion from his nose and aimed his hand at Piper.

Phoebe squirted the water pistol at his mouth, distracting him from Piper.

"Grr!" the demon roared again, and wiped the potion off of his mouth.

"It's not working," Phoebe said.

"The sockets under his eyes!" The Doctor shouted.

Prue moved closer to the demon, aimed her pistol at the sockets, and squeezed the trigger.

"ARGGH!" the demon screamed. "ARGGH!" He put his hands to his head and started to turn in circles.

"That..actually worked," Stuart said, in amazement.

"Now I understand why the ingredients were such simple ones," Phoebe said. "The potion by itself is not vanquishing them. It's the way the potion is used that's doing it."

The sounds of running came from behind them and they turned around. Four Perditoris were coming from the second red building and heading straight for them.

"Shoot at the sockets under their eyes!" Prue commanded.

They aimed their flashlights at the Perditoris' faces and the water pistols at the sockets under their eyes.

"ARRGH! ARRGH!" they screamed, as the potion found its mark in their sockets.

"Behind you, Prue," Stuart shouted.

Two Perditoris had come from the first red brick building and were closing in on them. Hearing Stuart's warning, one of them aimed his hand at Stuart and shot an energy bolt at him.

"AHH!" Stuart screamed.

Prue and Piper aimed their flashlights at the Perditoris and shot their water pistols at their sockets.

Then they rushed to Stuart as the two Perditoris screamed in agony.

"Are you hurt?" Phoebe asked.

Prue shined her flashlight at Stuart's arm that he was holding with his other hand.

"I moved just in time so it burned only my jacket sleeve," he said.

"Let me see," Prue said, moving his hand away. "And a little bit of you, too. There's a small burn there but most of the blast missed you."

"I'll be all right," Stuart said. "Let's get into this building and see if there are any more demons inside."

Shining their flashlights on the ground, they made their way to the building's front door.

"Ready?" Prue asked.

They were about to answer her when the door swung open. Quickly they shined their lights at the doorway and raised their water pistols.

"Doctor!" Prue said.

"We have to see if there are any more demons in there," Stuart said, trying to push him aside.

"There aren't any," the Doctor said. "You got all of them. See for yourself, if you like."

Stuart brushed past the Doctor and went inside.

"What were you doing in there?" Phoebe asked.

"Using their communication device to send a message back to the Venali Mother Ship," he said, "warning them to stay away from Earth. And that this is a lesson that we're more powerful than they are."

"And these...uh, Venali...they're just going to believe your little message?" Piper asked, in a dismissive tone.

"I sent them proof," the Doctor said. "The bodies of the dead Venali."

"There's no one in there," Stuart said, coming out of the building.

"I told you," the Doctor said.

"You did what with their bodies?" Phoebe asked.

"Sent them back to the Mother Ship with the Venali transporter that they used to come here," he said. "We couldn't very well leave the bodies around to be discovered by people or the police. That would set off a panic.

"See?" the Doctor said, shining his flashlight on the ground all around the two buildings. "There aren't any bodies because I used the Venali's transporter to send them to the ship."

"There aren't any bodies because demons burn up when their vanquished," Piper said, but the Doctor was not paying her any attention.

"Then I used the sonic screwdriver to destroy the transporter so that no one will find any alien technology here," he added.

"How convenient," Piper said and shook her head slowly.

Prue exhaled.

"We're done here," she said. "Let's go home."

"I'll give him one thing," Phoebe said to Piper as they walked back to the parking lot. "His delusions are complete. He tied everything up very neatly in his head."

They drove down from the parking lot and had reached the end of Twin Peaks Boulevard at the base of the mountain.

"Please pull over here," the Doctor said.

"Why?" Stuart asked.

"I think there's something of mine there," he said.

Stuart pulled the car over and the Doctor got out. He opened his flashlight and ran into the trees that went up the Twin Peaks.

"What's he doing?" Phoebe asked, as they all got out of the car.

"I don't know," Prue said, "but we're not leaving him here."

They waited next to the car and in a few minutes the Doctor returned.

"I found the TARDIS," the Doctor said. "And everything is in order. I thought I saw it from the roof of the building when I was destroying the Venali's communication device attached to the transmitter."

"How did you get in to your TARDIS without your key that the Venali had?" Phoebe asked, scoffingly.

"I keep a spare key above the ‘P’," he answered.

"The ‘P’?" Phoebe asked. "For Phoebe of course."

"Ah...no," Stuart said. "The Doctor's TARDIS looks like a London Police Box. The ‘P’ is from the word POLICE over the door."

"A...police box," Phoebe repeated, barely able to restrain her chuckle.

"It's used - or was used in the 60s - for people in the streets of London to call the police," Stuart added, with a smile. "The Chameleon Circuit is broken and it can't change its appearance."

"Actually, I could fix the circuit," the Doctor said, "but I've rather become used to the way it looks."

"And now you are leaving in your TARDIS?" Piper asked, her sarcasm hardly veiled.

"Yes I am," the Doctor said, and turned to Prue. "Come with me Prue."

"Uh...what?" Prue asked.

"Come travel with me through time," he said.

"We've already traveled through time," Phoebe said. "Prue doesn't need you to do that."

"Yes, but this is different," the Doctor said. "I can take you, Prue, into the future and back into the past, further than you've ever been."

"Prue," Piper said. She was behind The Doctor and therefore he could not see her making a circular motion with her finger and hand beside her head.

"And to other planets across the galaxy," the Doctor added.

"Like...Korona?" Stuart asked, chuckling.

"Well yes, we could go see the Morali," the Doctor replied. "But there are more interesting places to visit. Like Paxoh, with its breathtaking blue valleys. Or the third moon of Deron, with its revolving restaurant that provides a fantastic view of the Ralian Nebulae."

"Wow," Prue said, looking into The Doctor's eyes. "That sounds...so inviting."

"Prue!" Piper said even louder, her hand motion going even faster.

"And you wouldn't have to be concerned about using a spell for personal gain," the Doctor said. "You'd be using just the TARDIS."

"How do you know about that?" Phoebe demanded.

"Oh, well...it's a pretty standard rule for Charmed witches," he said.

Prue exhaled.

"I really want to come with you, Doctor," she said. "But...I have a responsibility here. There's a powerful demon we have to stop before the solstice. Before he makes massive destruction. And we don't even know how to find him."

"Of course," the Doctor said. "First things first. And time needs you to finish that up first."

"You mean..." Prue began, "you know that we'll find that demon and vanquish him in time?"

"There are things that can't be told about time," the Doctor said. "Those are spoilers."

"Oh my goodness," Phoebe said, exasperated. "Spoilers...as in a TV show episode. Which is where he thinks he is."

"I understand," Prue said to him, and sighed. "I was told by a wise person its best not to know about the future," thinking about what Melinda Warren had told them. She was the Charmed Ones' six generations back great-grandmother and they had seen her and spoken to her.

"That was a very wise person, indeed," the Doctor said, ambiguously.

The Doctor looked into Prue's eyes and took her face in his hands. Prue put her hands on his arms and he gave her a long kiss.

"Goodbye Prue," the Doctor said, and slowly let her go. "Goodbye," he said, turning to the others. He gave Prue another long look, then slowly turned, walked a few feet and went back into the trees.

"Prue, how could you even consider that nonsense he was saying?" Piper asked.

"As crazy as he is," Stuart said, "we can't leave him out here alone at night."

"He's not alone," Prue said, "at least not outside. He's safe in his TARDIS."

"Prue, you're as delusional as he is," Piper said. "We have to call Morris and -"

Leo's orbing in interrupted her. As the Halliwells' whitelighter, his responsibility is to guide them in their efforts to protect good people and fight against evil, as well as to serve as an intermidiary between the sisters and The Elders. 'Orbing' was his unique method of coming to them, his appearance preceded by a twinkling, white light.

"Where have you been ?" Piper asked, then gave Leo a small kiss.

"Kelly Anderson had to deal with a nasty troll," Leo said, "and The Elders wanted me to help her. I'm sorry I couldn't be here to help you." Kelly was a friend of the Halliwells, a young, twenty-one year old witch, who was still learning how to defeat evil.

"It's OK, Leo," Prue said. "We...we had someone here to help us."

"You did?" Leo asked. "Who was that?"

"The Doctor," Prue said.

"Doctor?" Leo asked. "Doctor...who?"

Piper burst out laughing.

"That was good, Leo," Phoebe said, with her own small laugh.

"I don't understand what's so funny," Leo said. "I just asked which doctor helped you."

"The crazy one," Piper said, through her laughter.

"I don't understand why you won't accept that The Doctor is real," Prue said. "He knew all about the Perditoris, how to find them, where their weakness was, how to use the potion on them, what they -"

"Prue," Phoebe said, "that was pure luck. He probably saw something like that on one of Doctor Who's episodes. When he saw the sockets on their eyes the first time we were there he guessed that was where they were vulnerable."

"The Perditoris?" Leo asked.

"That's the name in the Book of Shadows for the demons we vanquished," Piper said. "Oh, sorry Prue...I should have said the aliens we vanquished," she added, laughing.

"The Perditoris," Leo repeated. "That's Latin." He thought for a few seconds. "It means The Destroyers."

Piper's laughter stopped short and her jaw dropped.

"What did you say?" she asked Leo.

"The Destroyers," Leo repeated.

"That's exactly what the Doctor said their name Venali meant," Prue said, sensing vindication. "Destroyers."

"Uh...no," Piper said. "No...it...it can't be-"

The sudden noise cut Piper off.

"What's that loud noise?" Phoebe asked. "It's coming from behind the trees up the side of the Twin Peaks where the ‘Doctor’ just ran."

"And I can see a light from something flashing there," Piper said.

"It sounds like gears going in reverse," Leo said. "And...groaning."

"And...it's heaving," Phoebe said. "And now that...that high-pitched reverberation."

"I've never heard anything like that," Piper said.

"I...I have," Stuart said. "On...the Doctor Who show." A stunned look was on his face and his unfocused eyes stared straight ahead, dazed.

"What is it?" Phoebe asked.

Stuart hesitated.

"It's the sound it makes when it comes...and when it leaves," Stuart said slowly, his eyes still staring ahead un-focused. "And...the light flashes on top of it as it does."

"When what comes and leaves?" Piper asked.

Stuart looked first at Piper and then at Phoebe. Then he exhaled and slowly shook his head.

"The...the TARDIS," Stuart said, having difficulty saying the words. "That's the flashing light and the sound...of Doctor Who's TARDIS."









Author's Notes

The story's title The Morning of The Doctor was chosen to complement the titles of the two Doctor Who 50th Anniversary episodes: The Day of The Doctor and The Night of The Doctor.

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