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Timeline - Doorway Dan was still Piper's man!

A Look Inside (Vignette)

by Poto

Leo Wyatt stood at the bar watching the small, dark haired figure move around, giving orders and signing the myriad pieces of paper shoved under her nose. To him, Piper Halliwell looked like blur of light. The darkness of the club could take nothing away from her glow. Energy pulsated from her with every step, every wrinkle of her nose, every bombastic wave of her hand.

He chuckled to himself. Being mortal had certainly augmented his sentimental side.

He suspected it was because his mind wasn't being pulled in twenty different directions at once. It was a whole different level of concentration, the difference between making sure all the witches under his protection stayed safe, and making sure none of the good beer glasses got washed with soapy water. He could wipe the bar, count inventory, check the stocks of vodka on the shelf, and constantly keep one eye on Piper as she buzzed from one place to the next, overseeing every detail of this dream of hers that was slowly coming to fruition.

She was amazing.

He shook his head to clear fuzziness from his thoughts. It never ceased to astonish him how little he missed being a whitelighter. Nowhere to go, nothing to do. Not for a second had he regretted his decision to help save Piper's life. Wings or no wings, depriving the world of the vision that flittered around before him would have been the greatest tragedy of his long life. As he watched her, he was all too aware that he would have given up so much more than just his wings to save her.

His stomach lurched as the main door opened and Dan strode in to the bar. It took all his self-control not to scowl. He noticed Dan scanning the room, his eyes falling first on Piper and a smile coming to his lips. Then Dan saw him, and the knot at his temple betrayed his tension. While the two men stared briefly at each other Leo felt an odd sensation ripple up his spine.

The room was frozen, and he wasn't.

"Do the two of you have to glower at each other like that?" Piper called irritably from across the room. Leo shrugged and set down the glass he was wiping, pretending nonchalance while secretly revelling in the fact that he could be together with Piper in this part of her life, while Dan was frozen with a scowl plastered on his face at the top of the stairs.

"I'm not glowering."

"No, you're right. You're gloating." Piper rebuked brusquely, and frowned at Leo.

"Well, you gotta admit, he does look kind of funny."

Piper looked strained, and Leo immediately regretted the remark. She was right, he wasn't making life very easy for her. But then again, if he was going to fight to keep her, he had to make her see why being with him was the best choice for her life.

"Leo, could you just try to get along with Dan?"

"It's not me that seems to have the problem Piper. It's Dan who looks like he's wishing for an earthquake to happen under my feet every time he lays eyes on me."

"He's just jealous, it's natural." Piper's face betrayed her uncertainty.

"Listen Piper, I can't pretend not to love you when you're around. But I'll try to stay out of Dan's way. Especially when he looks like that."

The frozen expression on Dan's face looked pained, like he'd been caught in a snapshot while stepping on something sharp. Piper's mouth opened to say something, stopped, and curled into the briefest of smiles. "Yeah well, you don't look exactly beautiful either when you're frozen. More mischievous, like a kid that's just been caught in the cookie jar."

"Guilty as charged." He joked, staring down at her, his eyes boring into hers.

She stopped for a second, caught, and then backed away. She walked to her place on the other side of the room on her way to greet her lover, and time suddenly continued. Dan's look disappeared as quickly as it had come, his face showing nothing but love for Piper as she settled herself into his arms.

Leo knew his own eyes now looked a lot like Dan's had when he walked in the door.

Well, Dan. Enjoy it while it lasts. Leo thought, bitterly. This witch might be the most sensitive, caring, beautiful witch alive, but she's still a witch. See how that fits into your white-picket- fence dreams of the perfect wife, the ideal family...

He bent down behind the bar, ostensibly to put away a rack of glasses, but more to block the sight of Piper nestled in Dan's arms. Strength threatened to fail him, and he bit back tears.

She'll never be what you want her to be. But she's everything I've ever dreamed of.

He was mortal now. And he knew Piper, better than anyone, except maybe her sisters. There was nothing he wouldn't do to win her back.

THE END

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