Disclaimer: Okay, I own no Charmed people, I own this story, but not the characters in it that you recognize from Charmed.

It was Tuesday and the paper was late again. She was agitated and anxious to read it. She wanted to know if the front page was dedicated to the greatest jewelry heist there had ever been in San Francisco. It had occurred only six hours earlier. The wind swept across the porch as she stretched and sat on the steps. She looked up and down the street and waited for the paperboy. The street was quiet. It was after all 5:30 in the morning. She slowly turned the diamond in her hand looking through it to the early morning sunrise. She smiled at the thought of her adventure the evening before. It was so unlike her to go against the greater good but she did and it felt awesome. Not only did it make her heart pound to know that she had designed such an amazing plan, but it also made her dizzy to know that so far she had gotten away with it.

She stood shivering slightly from the breeze, knowing her sisters would soon be waking. She turned and looked up at the Victorian manor in which she lived with her two sisters. They were known throughout the mystical world as the Charmed Ones. Little did they know that among them was a thief, a traitor of goodness, a lover to crime. She opened the door and slowly, quietly made her way back up the stairs to her room, carefully avoiding waking her sleeping sisters. Climbing back under the covers, she thought about the smile that lit her face and knew that she’d have to hide her pride from her family. They would suspect something. They would try to blame it on a demon or higher power, when the truth, the simple truth was that she, a Halliwell, was not the woman she pretended to be.


Diamonds – Part 1

The girls ate breakfast together as they swapped sections of the morning paper. It was a typical Tuesday morning for the three sisters. Prue eating her one piece of toast and glass of juice, Phoebe with her cereal, and Piper with a cup of coffee. Prue was reading the front page.


“Hey, did you guys read about this jewelry heist at the National Treasures Museum?”

Phoebe and Piper merely shook their heads waiting for more.

“Well, it says here that a million dollars worth of diamonds were stolen.”

“That’s not that much Prue, there was a heist last year at the Ritz downtown where they stole like 20 million worth wasn’t there?”

“Yes Piper that’s true, but it also says that the largest diamond in museum possession, The Queen Anne Diamond, is also missing.”

“So, what does the paper say the diamond is worth?”

“Uhhh…hold on Pheebs, let me read the inside. Um…okay. Here it is. The Queen Anne is worth…holy crap! It’s worth $50 million alone.”

“Actually, I think the true value is $62.5 million.”

“Uh, yeah, how do you know that Piper?”

“Um…well, I saw it on TV the other day.”

“Yeah, I saw that too, Prue, actually Piper and I were watching it together, it is worth 62.5.”

“Okay, you two need to start watching less informative shows. I feel as though I’m lacking in intelligence these days.”

The girls continued to eat and read as each took turns reading the day’s headline. Unbeknownst to two, one was having a tough time holding in her smile at the success she had had in not only pulling off the best crime ever, but also pulling the wool over her sisters’ eyes. They didn’t have a clue.

Each left the house one by one. Prue went to a shoot, Piper to P3,and Phoebe to class. Each had an armful of gear. Briefcases, backpacks, camera bags, but only one held $62.5 million in her possession. And she wasn’t about to let it out of her sight.

**************************

Prue arrived at the magazine ready for a full day of work. Her publisher met her at the front of the building.

“Mr. Thomas, what are you doing out here?”

“Looking for you actually Miss Halliwell. I need you to head downtown to the National Treasures Museum. It was heisted last night for about $63.5 million and I want photos of the entire building. I don’t care how you have to get them, just get them. Here comes Johnny right now to help you with your gear. All I want you to focus on is the camera in your hand. Got it?”

“Yes sir.”

Prue smiled. She was happy she was going to get to cover the heist. She watched as Johnny picked up her camera bag and grimaced.

“Damn Prue, what do you have in here rocks?”

Prue simply smiled and opened her car door for Johnny. Together they rode in silence to the Museum. The music was loud as Prue sang along.

“Hey, Prue, what’s gotten into you today? You sure do seem different.”

“Who, me? How so?”

“I don’t know. Like, you’re a little more confident, or something. I don’t know, just different!”

“Hmmm. I did get a good night’s rest. And I had this great dream last night that I did something I never thought I could, maybe that’s it.”

“Girl, I don’t want to know what you’re dreaming about if it makes you smile like that. They’ve got channels for that you know.”

Prue laughed as she directed the car toward the freeway. Headed to the hottest spot in town. She was glad Daryl had been assigned to the case. She had talked to him on her way to work to see what he knew, if anything.

****************************

Phoebe listened to the professor drone on about psychology. She was bored and so far his lecture had not even tempted her interest. She watched Alex who sat in front of her. She liked the way his hair curled and the smell of his cologne. He was beautiful, she thought as she once again turned her attention to professor. His words had jerked her from her boredom.

“So, today, in light of last night’s Jewel Heist, I want us to have a discussion about the criminal mind, delve into it a bit.”

Phoebe’s heart raced. She was waiting for the subject to be brought up. The professor began the discussion by asking what the profile of a jewel thief might be. A girl in the front row spoke up.

“Anyone who steals like that has to be some sort of lowlife. I mean everyone knows that truly good people don’t steal.”

Another girl from the sixth row spoke next.

“Yeah, I agree, total lowlife. I mean what an idiot for stealing the Queen Anne.”

Phoebe could take it no longer. She stood and spoke.

“I don’t think this jewel thief is you basic criminal. I mean he, or she, had to break into one of the most intense security systems in North America. The Queen Anne was surrounded by everything from laser beams to kinetic alarms, temperature detector to ground sensations sensory monitoring. This lowlife, as you put it Mandy, had to be highly intelligent, extremely patient and an incredible planner. It was not your basic pickpocket. It was an amazing feat.”

“You sound as though you have an admiration for this thief.”

Phoebe blushed with the professor’s words. She shifted nervously and sat back down.

“No sir, not admiration, just plain old intrigue.”

Class was over for the day and Phoebe was walking to her next class when Alex stopped her on the quad. He took her backpack and books for her. She smiled and he smiled back. Phoebe really liked him and liked the way he treated her when she was in class.

“Hey Phoebe, what in the hell do you have in this backpack. It weighs a ton.”

She threw a smile at him and kept walking, quietly, smiling with her secret.


******************************

Piper was late to her meeting with her new manager. She rushed in sat her briefcase on the bar and showed Paul Watson to her office. She liked is promptness although hers was lacking. Her sleep the night before had been riddled with anxiety. Hiding anything from her sisters was hard. She knew she would tell them eventually but for now she wanted to keep her secret to herself. She knew they would eventually grow to accept what happened but for now she wanted to keep the peace.

“Okay Mr. Watson. Let’s get started with this interview.”

“You don’t look like you’re feeling well. Are you sure you want to go on with the interview. I can wait if you need me to.”

“No, no really, I’m ready for this. I really need a great manager. First I need you to fill out a…oh wait…where did I put my briefcase?”

“Oh you laid it on the bar. I’ll go get it real quick.”

Paul got the backpack and returned. Sitting it on the floor next to Piper’s feet.

“You must be a really busy woman.”

“What makes you say that, Paul?”

“Well, your briefcase fills like it’s filled with rocks. Must be a ton of work for you to do around here."

Piper smiled and nodded her head, continuing with the interview process.


AN HOUR LATER:

She sat in privacy and pulled the Queen Anne from its hiding place. She watched it sparkle. The diamond she kept with her in her pocket was like a speck of dust compared to the beauty she now held with both hands. She laid it in her lap and laughed to herself. Her giddiness was consuming. She knew there were to be consequences sooner or later. But as for now she was the happiest Halliwell there was, and soon she would be the richest, all three of them would be because she was destined to share with her sisters everything. But for the time being the glory was all hers. They wouldn’t come close to understanding yet. She kissed the Queen Anne before sliding it back into it’s travelling home. So proud, very proud of herself.

Prue looked around the massive National Treasures Museum. Daryl had allowed her access. Her camera felt light in her hand as she snapped shots left and right. She stood close enough to the detectives to hear what they were discussing.

“I don’t know Decker. How in the world would he have gotten in through this security?”

Prue looked toward the ceiling. She cleared her throat and spoke to the small group of men.

“The roof.”

“Excuse me, miss, what did you say?”

“Your thief. He or She came in through the roof. Look at it. It’s so accessible it’s ridiculous. All your thief would have to do its shimmy in on a suspension rope, tie it off, disable the lasers without touching the floor and then swing to the sensor controls over there still without touching the floor. After that, drop to the floor, disable the alarm, lift the glass, scoop the goods, and then rearm the alarm. Hop back onto the suspension rope reset the sensors, swing back to the laser controls, turn those back on then shimmy up the rope, all without breaking a sweat.”

The detectives laughed nervously. A woman had just shown them exactly what had happened and they had no wants to be shown up by a woman photographer.

“Right Miss…what was your name again?”

“Halliwell, Prue Halliwell.”

“Right, I’m Detective Decker. Shimmy up the rope you say? That would have to be one fit man. It’s a 60 foot ceiling.”

“Whatever you say Detective Decker.”

Prue went back to snapping pictures. She had no intentions to argue with San Francisco policemen. She merely pointed out what she knew to be true.

********************

Phoebe sat on the sofa waiting for her sisters to come home. She was smiling dreamily when Piper walked into the living room.

“Hey doofus, what are you smiling about?”

“Hmmm? Oh hey Piper. I was just thinking that’s all.”

“About?”

“What?”

“Okay Pheebs. I told you not to be smoking crack right?”

“I’m okay, Piper really. Just some really cute guy I was thinking about.”

Piper sat on the sofa next to Phoebe. She closed her eyes and then laid her head on her baby sister’s lap.

“Are you tired sis?”

“Yeah, just a long day is all. Bills like crazy and interviewing for a manager. I hate worrying about money. But now, it’s all going to be so different.”

“Why do you say that?”

Phoebe eyed her sister nervously. She watched as Piper sat up and looked at her with shifty eyes.

“Why do you say that it’s all going to be different now. Do you know something you need to tell me?”

“What, I would rather wait until Prue gets home. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, I have something to tell you guys too.”

“Well then I guess Prue needs to hurry it up huh?”

As if on cue, Prue slammed the manor door and ran into the living room where her sisters sat looking melancholy. Phoebe had never seen Prue looking so ecstatically happy before. Her smile was stretched from ear to ear as though she had heard one too many good jokes.

“Prue. Are you okay?”

“Actually Piper I have never been better. What’s going on with you two? You both look like you’ve swallowed the canary or something.”

“Sit big sister. I think Phoebe and I both have confessions to make today.”

“Okay but I get to confess something as well.”

The three sisters looked at each other expectantly.

She watched as her two sisters looked back at her. So, they all had secrets to confess. Would theirs be as big as hers? As criminal as hers? Would she be able to tell the truth when her turn to spill it came around? She sighed and sat back. Looking at herself in the mirror, then at her sisters. Today was going to be the day when their lives changed forever. For the better and for the worse. When they would be bonded together forever by the greater evil or separated by the greater good. What would happen they would never believe.

As the silence grew uncomfortable she began to believe that the time was not quite right to reveal her nighttime activity as a jewel thief. She had indeed pulled off the greatest jewel heist in San Francisco, but she wasn’t quite ready to share that with her sisters. She wasn’t sure if they were going to understand or not. It was so much more complicated than a simple act of thievery. It was a matter of life, and possibly death. But she was also so proud of what she had done, would they understand that.

***********************

Phoebe, Piper and Prue looked from one to the other. Phoebe noticed that Piper was looking a little green.

“Piper are you o…”

She didn’t get a chance to finish her question as Piper ran from the room. Prue and Phoebe could hear her being sick in the downstairs bathroom. Prue winced at the sound ad held her own stomach. Phoebe stared wide-eyed at the chair that Piper had been occupying.

“What’s with her?”

“I don’t know Prue. I’m kind of glad she got sick though. I don’t think I want to reveal my secret yet.”

“Yeah, me either.”

The sisters went to the bathroom and checked on Piper who simply told them she had eaten bad fish at lunch that day. When in fact she knew that the truth was making her sick. And she knew that eventually her sisters would discover her truth. And then money would be an issue.

Phoebe locked herself in her room and began to write in her journal. She wrote down her secret and locked it away in her small safe. She told the truth in detail so that if she wasn’t around Piper and Prue would know exactly what happened and from where their sudden good fortune came. She then turned to her computer opened up Word and began to write again. She could feel the dollar signs in her eyes.

Prue stood on the back porch feeling the afternoon sun warm her skin. It was still chilly outside but the pride she felt on the inside was overwhelming. She knew that she was going to burst if she didn’t tell her sisters soon. Soon they wouldn’t worry so much about money.

***************************
Dinner came and went, they didn’t mention secrets or money, they didn’t ask questions, just enjoyed each others company. Each slept in her own bed. Dreaming of things yet to come. Futures desired and futures feared. Each knowing that some how it would work out.

She had been asleep for hours when her sleep was interrupted by a dream. She was on the rope, slowly inching her way toward the ceiling, the jewels weighing her down. She sat on the roof of the museum basking in a job well-done. Then he stepped onto the roof and she smiled bigger. Her partner, her love. Together they had proven that the impossible was possible. They had committed the greatest heist with permission.

She woke thinking about him and their job. The money, the knowledge that she had done it. But the keeping secrets from her sisters, it was wrong and she knew it. If she told them now they would be angry but if she waited and they found out on their own they would not understand why she hadn’t come to them. And that would cause chaos. Tomorrow she would tell them, and then she would ask them to reveal what they hid.

Piper had called a sister meeting which they all dreaded. They knew they were all about to be completely exposed. Secrets to the wind. Prue, Phoebe and Piper gathered in the living room. Each drew straws to see who would speak first. Shortest went first, then the middle straw then the longest. Piper drew the shortest straw and then drew a deep breath. She was more than ready to tell her sisters the truth that she and Leo had been keeping for the past 48 hours.

“Okay, Prue, Phoebe…my big secret that I’ve been hiding is that I am pregnant.”

Phoebe and Prue jumped from their place on the sofa and happily embraced their sister. They were so happy for Piper and then Prue noticed the frown on her face.

“Piper you don’t look so happy. What is it honey?”

“Money, Prue. I mean I know the club is doing well, and your job at the magazine is going along fine, but we can’t afford another mouth to feed can we?”

Prue looked at Phoebe who was looking back. They both had huge smiles on their faces and each looked suspiciously at the other.

“Well, okay, I drew the middle straw and I think my secret could help resolve your fears Piper.”

“What are you talking about Prue?”

“Well, first of all, I think we’ll have a rather large abundance of money soon, very soon. And I know this because I just started a new business with a partner. It’s an investigative research agency of sorts.”

“That sounds cool, what do you do?”

“Well, Pheebs, I’m glad you ask, but I can’t really talk about it right now, the project we’re working on right now is rather top secret, but when it’s over I’ll tell you what’s up.”

“Sounds criminal.”

“Piper don’t be ridiculous. If you must know what we do I’ll tell you. People hire us to research their buildings and their security systems and we see is they can be penetrated. My partner and I…”

“Who exactly is this partner?”

“His name is Devin Decker. He’s a detective for the SFPD.”

Prue smiled thinking about their encounter at the museum earlier in the week. Undercover was the only way to go with their new business if they expected to collect on the big money.

“Okay, that just really confuses me. We’ll come back to you and your big new business. Phoebe care to take a turn?”

“Thank you Piper, I would love to take a turn and I too think I can resolve your money woes. But I’m afraid I can’t tell you what my secret is, you wouldn’t understand. So instead I’ll just show you and let you decide for yourself.”

Phoebe walked to the hall and dragged her backpack into the living room. She carefully extracted with both hands the object of their attention. She laid it on the coffee table and she watched as her sisters stared at her in confusion and doubt.

“Phoebe…What…in…the…hell???”

They stared at the object Phoebe was now showing them. She looked so proud that Piper had trouble sustaining her disdain. Prue was trying hard not to laugh. Phoebe continued to smile.

“Go ahead and laugh my dear sisters. I am getting a whole lot of money for this.”

“So how much are these worth?”

Prue ran her hand over the object Phoebe held in her hand.

“Honestly. There are four so far and those are about to make me $200,000.”

“Are you kidding?”

“Do I look like I’m kidding Prue. How much is your new business going to make us?”

“No, no, no do not change this subject, this is too much. How did you get to this point Phoebe?”

“I don’t know, all the men in my life, the romances, I think it drove me so nuts that I had to…”

“You had to write trashy romance novels with Fabio on the cover?”

“Basically.”

Phoebe blushed as Prue pointed to the man that graced the cover of her latest publication. He was a definite Fabio look-alike. Piper looked a little closer at one of the other books on the coffee table and gasped.

“Phoebe, I’m going to kill you. Is that woman on the cover of Lust in Limbo me? Is that supposed to be me?”

“So…uh…Prue..tell us more about your business.”

“Okay, but first you have to promise me that this stays between sisters. I don’t want Leo to know, because I definitely don’t want the elders to know.”

“I promise.”

“What about you Piper.”

“Okay, no problem.”

“Well, our first assignment had to do with the jewel heist at the National Treasures Museum. We were hired to go in, break the security systems and grab the Queen Anne along with a million dollars worth of other diamonds.”

“You STOLE the Queen Anne? For God’s sake Prue are you nuts?”

“No, I am not nuts Piper. The Museum hired us to steal it in order to test their security system. We succeeded and now I have the Queen Anne in my camera bag.”

“In your bag?”

Phoebe’s head turned quickly toward the bag that laid next to Prue’s feet. She ran quickly to the bag and unzipped it losing her breath as she pulled out the most beautiful shining thing she had ever seen in her life.

“Oh yeah, this tops my trashy romance novels by a long mile! Oooh. Piper do you see this thing?”

Piper sat on the sofa with her mouth hanging open. She looked from the Queen Anne to Prue. Prue was smiling like a child proud of her criminal-like accomplishment. Piper felt it wrong somehow that her oldest sister managed to pull off what most criminal masterminds could not accomplish.

“You stole that Prue?”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I didn’t steal it. I was hired by the museum to break in and…”

“Steal it!!!”

“Piper calm down. I have to take it back to the museum today. And then I get paid for a job well done.”

“What? Jail time?”

“No Piper. I get paid for giving them pointers on what it would take to keep a real criminal out.”

“But Prue, you had to think like a criminal to do this.”

“That doesn’t make me a criminal Piper. We have to think like demons to capture them right that doesn’t make us evil does it?”

“No. Piper, Prue’s right. She’s actually doing a good thing by stealing diamonds.”

“Phoebe I think you don’t need to help.”

“Sorry.”

Phoebe returned to staring at the Queen Anne. Trying to imprint its every sparkle into her mind. Piper seemed to relax a little as she stared at Prue. Maybe she was just edgy and hormonal. She looked into Prue’s eyes and smiled.

“So, how much do you get paid?”

“A job this big. We just saved them $63.5 million. We get paid 2% of the worth of whatever object we end up protecting for them. By protecting the Queen Anne and discovering the glitches and designing new systems for the Museum we get 2% of $63.5 million which is…”

“Holy shit Prue! That’s $1,270,000.”

Phoebe remained silent as tears of joy rolled down her face. They were so rich. And they all knew it.

“Okay, I can handle it if my daughters aunts are a trashy romance writer and a pseudo jewel thief. It so works for me.”

****************************

Prue shimmied down the rope coming close to, but not touching the floor of the museum. She disarmed the first alarm and by the time she swung to the second control box, she was surrounded by a SWAT team. Her heart raced. She saw Decker standing below her.

“Decker.”

“Miss Halliwell.”

She laughed and swung off the rope onto the floor. She hugged Decker and the SWAT team broke up and began to file out the door. Two men in pristine suits approached the duo.

“Mr. Decker, Miss Halliwell.”

“Mr. Gordon, Mr. Laswell.”

“We are quite impressed with your abilities Miss Halliwell.”

“Thank you. I’m glad to see the new system works.”

“Yes that it does. The silent roof alarm was an excellent idea. Gives the thief time to get cozy before he…”

“Or she!”

“Right, or she, is surrounded by California’s finest.”

Decker smiled at the compliment. The two suits handed Prue the check and escorted the duo to the front doors. Prue looked in disbelief at the check. She never knew being a criminal mastermind could be such a good thing. After stopping at the bank and giving Decker his $30,000 share she stopped by the store. Tonight she and her sisters were going to celebrate in style.

*************************

Piper admired the crib that Prue was slowly putting together, as she sat on the couch waiting for dinner to be done.

“Okay Pheebs. We want to hear it.”

Phoebe nodded her head and began to read from her latest novel, not a trashy romance but a suspense thriller about a lady jewel thief.

“First I want to read the dedication. This is dedicated to my sisters, Piper for keeping me good, and Prue for being my criminal inspiration. This is also dedicated to my future niece, see, girls can do anything guys can do and better.”

Piper rolled her eyes and Prue beamed with pride as Phoebe continued.

“Okay, on to chapter one of Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”