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"Hey, if we don't vanquish Ames,
can we at least vanquish Natalie?"
-Phoebe
It's morning
at the manor and the two oldest Halliwells are slaving away over their
respective creations. Piper's cooking breakfast, while Prue's cooking up
a not so nice smelling potion. Her
goal...
to give something to Phoebe to use on Reese, the DA investigator, just
to make sure he's on the human end of the spectrum. Poor Pheebs has yet
another meeting with him regarding Cole.
As Piper and
Prue work, Leo comes in, wondering about the funky smell. Prue happily
tells him that it's Piper's breakfast, but being the good fiancé,
Leo still insists that he's starving. That doesn't work so well on Piper
though, who's annoyed that he missed dinner the previous evening. Leo was
off with other charges doing things he can't tell her about. And that doesn't
sit well with Piper. As they discuss this, Piper accidentally cuts her
finger. Leo rushes over to heal her as Phoebe comes in. Prue hands over
her concoction, as Phoebe explains how nervous she is about her meeting.
But Piper tells her not to worry. After all, there's nothing for Reese
to find. Cole's gone.
Meanwhile, in
some unknown place, a demon is chasing a witch. He tries to use his power
against her, but she deflects it using her own power. Unfortunately for
her, the demon blinks behind her and stabs her. As she collapses to the
ground a whitelighter named Natalie appears. But it's too late. The witch
is already dead.
Piper and Leo
finally sit down to their breakfast, but she's still not done questioning
him about his occupation. It's obvious that his secrets are bothering her.
She's worried about all the rules that the elders have imposed and concerned
that their probation will never be lifted. As Leo promises that they'll
never be kept apart, Piper leans in to kiss him. The moment is ruined though,
when Natalie appears behind them, holding the athamay that killed her charge.
Prue comes rushing in, ready to
fight,
but Leo stops her, hastily introducing his old whitelighter friend. Natalie
is all business and explains about the other witch and the fact that all
whitelighters have been put on alert. Poor Leo is forced to admit that
he knew nothing of the alert. He didn't attend the meeting. He had to be
at the manor, to heal Piper. His fiancé quickly lifts her finger
to prove his point. Natalie starts to scold him and then suddenly she and
Leo switch to some weird clicking language. Piper jumps in surprise and
Prue eyes the two whitelighter, clearly confused. The only word that they
can understand is PIPER. Prue finally stops them and heads upstairs to
get the book.
Elsewhere, Phoebe
is talking things over with Reese. She spikes his coffee with Prue's potion
and he coughs as he drinks it, but otherwise appears to be normal. However,
he's convinced that she's hiding something, possibly to protect herself.
He has come to believe that she's afraid of Cole. But
after
insisting that he is wrong, she leaves.
Prue and Piper
sit in the conservatory flipping through the book as the two whitelighters
watch. Piper starts to get annoyed as Leo and Natalie finish each other's
sentences and discuss how long they've worked together. Finally they discover
that the demon they're hunting is called Ames. He has the power to clone
himself, the power to turn himself into other objects, and now the power
to deflect their powers. It's not sounding too good.
Natalie politely
tries to get the sisters to leave the room so that she can start planning
with Leo. But that's all Piper can take. She freezes Natalie, wondering
who put her in charge. Finally she stalks out of the room, unfreezing the
whitelighter as she goes. Leo rushes after her, while Prue just grins at
the confused Natalie, informing her that Piper just froze her.
In the kitchen,
Leo isn't happy with what Piper did. He's worried that she's going to anger
the elders. But Piper is still upset about being virtually excluded from
his life. Unfortunately Phoebe walks in on their discussion. She wants
to talk to Leo, but obviously it's not the best time. So he tells her to
go meet Natalie. When Phoebe asks who she is, Piper is only too ready with
a response. Luckily Leo interrupts her before she can finish her sentence.
Back in the
conservatory, Prue is scrying for the witch's power, hoping it will lead
them to Ames. As Phoebe comes in and starts to introduce herself to their
guest, Prue finally finds him. Just then, Phoebe has a premonition of Ames
killing someone, possible a male witch. As Piper and Leo walk in, the sisters
agree that they have to go help him. But Natalie is against the idea. She
wants to check
with
the elders first. Prue seems to like that idea, much to Piper and Phoebe's
surprise. Once Natalie is gone however, it becomes obvious that Prue was
just trying to get rid of her. They quickly hurry off to find Ames.
Prue, Piper,
Phoebe and Leo arrive at the warehouse, just in time to see Ames. He deflects
their powers and disappears. Moments later a man appears, wondering who
summoned him. Turns out that Phoebe's male witch is a darklighter. He turns
to shoot his crossbow at Leo, who hastily disappears. And then Ames returns
and kills the darklighter much to their surprise. He steals the crossbow,
then vanishes.
The sisters
return to the manor where Leo is waiting for them. No one can figure out
why Ames didn't try to kill them. Just then Natalie arrives, warning them
to hold off on their plan. When they tell
her that it's already too late, she becomes rather angry. She gives a whole
speech about the greater good and being prepared. Then she and Leo get
called away. As they leave they hold hands, much to Piper's annoyance.
She's ready to vanquish the demon, if only to get rid of Natalie.
Up in whitelighter
land, Natalie explains how worried the elders are about the Ames situation.
Leo stands out like the black sheep of the family in his jeans and shirt.
Everyone else is in white robes. Natalie is concerned about him and all
the rules that he's breaking. She thinks the Halliwell sisters seem too
impulsive and untrained. But Leo defends them. Still, she believes that
his feelings for them, and particularly Piper, are clouding his judgment.
And then she tells him that the elders have put her on watch, to see what's
happening with the two. Just then Leo hears Phoebe calling.
Back on Earth,
Phoebe waits for the whitelighter. He finally arrives and she confesses
the truth about Cole. Leo is stunned, and Phoebe quickly tells him that
Cole is good and that he'd never hurt
her
or her sisters. But Leo doesn't buy it. He is angry and he blames himself
for not watching them more closely. As he leaves the room though, he collapses
in pain. Phoebe rushes to him as Prue and Piper appear. Another witch is
being killed. Leo is ready to go help her, but Prue stops him, warning
him that it might be a trap. Then Natalie orbs in, backing Prue up. All
whitelighters have been put on lock down. Only she and Leo have been allowed
to remain on Earth. Apparently, Ames wants to kill a whitelighter with
the crossbow so that he can orb into the whitelighter land. If he could
wipe them out, then that would leave witches everywhere unprotected. So
the group is forced to let the witch die in order to protect the greater
good.
Prue, Piper
and Phoebe are obviously upset about having to let the woman die. They
need to come
up
with a spell to vanquish Ames. They try to talk to Leo in private, but
he tells them that he's put Natalie in charge of them for now. None of
the sisters are happy about his decision, but he assures them that he's
doing it for all of their safety. He tells Piper to listen to Natalie then
leans in to kiss her, disappearing as they do. Piper finally turns back
to Natalie, who immediately starts in on another speech. They need to prepare,
and her plans don't involve their bra-less, strapless, fearless attire.
She's obviously not fond of the Halliwell wardrobe, and Prue worries that
she'll have nothing to wear under Natalie's supervision.
Funny thing
though, as they begin to train, Prue is wearing something rather revealing.
Their new drill sergeant, Natalie, has them all in some alley practicing
their fighting skills. She gives another
speech,
and becomes even more aggravated when they don't take her seriously. Finally
she tests them on their skills. Prue manages to run up a wall, but Natalie
sneaks up on her. Phoebe tries a levitating kick, but ends up spinning
helplessly in the air, sticking her tongue out at Natalie as the whitelighter
pushes her. And poor Piper, after flipping and jumping and freezing, still
manages to get zapped by her.
Later that night,
the trio sit at the bar in P3, each working on a portion of Ames' vanquishing
spell. All of them seem pretty fed up with the whitelighter, especially
since she's insisted on checking their spells. But when she comes over
to look at them, she explains her new plan. She's going to use herself
as bait to lure Ames. Piper objects but Natalie assures her that the plan
will work fine. If they
follow
the rules, they will succeed.
So follow the
rules they do... Natalie orbs in next to the dead witch as Prue, Piper
and Phoebe hide in the bushes. Ames shows up and shoots at Natalie who
quickly disappears. Then Prue knocks the crossbow out of his hands. As
Piper hurries to grab it, Ames vanishes. The plan went so smoothly, it
was almost too easy, and anti-climactic as Phoebe points out.
Back at the
manor they hand over the crossbow to Natalie, who is pleased at their work.
The trio of witches and their new whitelighter finally seem to be getting
along. Natalie's sure that Ames didn't fight back because their plan was
so good. But then as she looks down at the crossbow, she realizes her mistake.
It quickly transforms into Ames. Prue and Piper try to fight him, but their
powers are deflected. He stabs Natalie with the arrow and then disappears
with her.
Later that night,
Prue is mad that she didn't trust her instincts, and Piper's bitter that
they followed the rules. It's time to break them. She calls Leo, who appears
immediately. He's been watching. Time for a new plan, a real rule bender.
Piper realizes immediately what he's talking about. Prue and Phoebe just
look at each other.
Meanwhile, Ames
is waiting for Natalie to die. Finally she does, and he steals her power,
orbing up to the whitelighter land. As he spots the robed forms, he takes
aim and fires. But unfortunately for him, he has shot at Prue. She uses
her power to deflect the arrow which Piper freezes. And then Phoebe kicks
him straight into it. With the whitelighter's power that he's stolen, he's
now susceptible to the poison. But he's not dying quickly enough, so they
use their spell to vanquish him.
Leo appears
a moment later, feeling rather proud of his favorite charges. Piper apologizes
for not being able to save Natalie. But Leo tells her that Natalie would
have wanted to die for the greater good. Now though, they must leave, since
they were never supposed to be there in the first place. Prue's mad
that she doesn't get a tour, and Piper's bitter that she won't remember.
But Leo assures her that this time she will. Yay!
That night at
P3, Piper's concerned about Leo. She's worried that the whitelighters will
take him away now that they've broken the rules yet again. Finally she
goes back to work. Prue wants to know what's been bothering Phoebe, but
her sister explains that she was just worried about Leo. And speaking of
the whitelighter... he finally appears. Prue goes to find Piper as he sits
down next to Phoebe. She
apologizes
for being a "screw up," but Leo insists that he should be apologizing to
her.
Just then Piper
comes rushing over with Prue, wondering what happened up in whitelighter
land. As Leo stands, he explains that they're reviewing the whole Natalie
situation and that...they unanimously agreed to lift the probation. Piper
and Leo are officially engaged. Piper looks stunned as Prue throws her
arms around her sister. Phoebe hugs Leo's legs from her seat on the couch.
Then Prue plops down next to Phoebe, and they both watch as Piper reaches
out to hug Leo.