Work Text:
The Secret Ingredient
by Pirate Turner
She wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her free hand's wrist as she dumped the half cup of sugar onto the vanilla ice cream. Tossing the cup into the sink, she picked up the bottle of vanilla, unscrewed the cap, and poured a bit of the dark, sweet liquid into the concoction she was building. A single eyebrow quirked over the eye that carefully surveyed the vanilla being poured, and when she was satisfied that she had enough, she stopped and replaced the lid. She next reached out with both hands. One grabbed a canister of chocolate sauce as the other seized a small bottle of caramel. She slid the containers to her, opened both, and then poured a considerable amount of each into the blender.
Setting both back down on the counter, she turned to the sink and washed her hands before facing her creation again. She stood before it, looking down into its enticing depths as her fingernails absently tapped the table. It needed something else. She had yet to put the milk into it, of course, but there was something else . . . Something . . . Her gaze lifted from the blender and turned instead to sweep over the top shelf of a nearby cabinet, her eyes stopping only when they fell open the small vial that she was looking for. Her lips pulled up into a wickedly mischievous smile that seemed to bring a new light to her dancing brown eyes.
Moving quickly, Piper walked over to the cabinet and retrieved the vial. She pressed it into the palm of one hand, wrapping her fingers around it so that no one could see what it was she held if they were to walk up on her. Returning to the blender, she stole a quick glance around before uncapping the tiny vial. Holding it upside down over the ice cream, she squeezed tightly. While the liquid poured out onto the ice cream, she remained on guard until she had put in enough. Then resealing the bottle, she quickly returned it to its place before darting over to the refrigerator.
Barely two minutes later, Piper Halliwell nearly waltzed out of the kitchen, a cheery smile on her lovely face and a tray of tall drinks balanced perfectly on one hand. Her eyes swept the room but found no sign of any of her family. She cleared her throat, then called out in a voice that, though not overly loud, still easily reached the ears of each one of her family members. "Hey, guys! Who wants a milkshake?"
They seemed to come from everywhere at once. Paige ran down the stairs while Cole and Phoebe darted from the living room, and Leo simply orbed in, appearing before his wife out of mid-air. He was the first to take one of the offered drinks, but when he looked down into the glass, his face fell. He seemed frozen to the spot even as terror etched in his green eyes. Thinking swiftly, the White Lighter snapped to attention. "Sorry, sweetheart," he babbled a quick apology, "They're calling me!" He orbed out, leaving the glass on the tray without ever having taken a single sip.
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "White Lighters," she murmured darkly with a shake of her head as she took one of the drinks. "They just don't know what's . . . " Like Leo's before her, her face fell, terror sweeping instantly into her eyes. When she finished her sentence, her voice was meek and almost squeaked, " . . . good."
Paige, whose fingers had just touched one of the glasses on the tray Piper carried, froze, as well, as she peered cautiously over Phoebe's shoulder into the glass that her sister held. "Oops! I can't!" she exclaimed, her face falling in faked regret rather than fear. "Phebs and I just started these new diets, and we're late for the gym, as well! Come on, Phoebe!" she added as her hand moved to clamp around her frozen sister's elbow.
Phoebe barely managed to grin apologetically to Piper and return the glass to her older sister's tray as Paige pulled, dragged, and all but sent her flying out the door. "Sorry!" she called even as the door shut.
Piper's lips pursed silently as she looked at the closed door with a clearly annoyed expression. Cole, meanwhile, had began to back silently up after seeing the others' reactions. Normally, he would have still rushed forward, eager to try whatever new recipe she had invented this time, but he had witnessed the fear in the others and knew that something must undoubtedly be wrong. Just as he neared the stairs, however, she turned to face him, her brown eyes finding and locking with his across the room. He felt his heart skip a beat and told himself that it was fear. After all, if whatever was in those glasses had even scared her husband -- not only a White Lighter but the White Lighter of the Charmed Ones -- into making such a quick getaway, what chance did he, an ex-Demon, have?
She neared him, her smile growing, even as he continued to back. For each step backwards he took, she managed three forward. The back of his foot collided with the bottom stair, stopping him cold in his tracks, but she continued coming, a sweet, innocent smile on her beautiful face. "Now, Cole," she asked with an enchanting glimmer in her eyes as she reached him, "what's wrong? You don't want to try my new recipe?" Her lips pulled down into a disappointed pout that tore at his valiant heart. "That's not like you!"
He looked down into the glasses, and his stomach churned in horror. No wonder the others had ran for their lives! "Piper, I don't want to disappoint you, but please try to understand," he pleaded with her. "I'm not the one that upset you! Why should I have to bear the punishment just because Leo bailed out?"
"Punishment?" Piper repeated questioningly, her eyebrows rising slightly at him.
He nodded gravely. "Look. I don't know what Leo did and I'm sorry he upset you by whatever it was or angered you, but . . ."
Piper, shaking her head in a movement that set her long, black hair rippling down her slender back, shook her head. "Stop right there," she told him. "Leo hasn't done anything." She stepped closer, closing what little distance had remained between them as the tray's edge pressed against his muscular chest through his T-shirt that was thinned and sticking to him due to the sweat that covered his body. "And why," she demanded as her eyes bored upwards into his, "would you think that eating or drinking any of my food would be a punishment?!"
"I . . . Hum . . . I . . . I . . . " he stuttered helplessly. To avoid her furious gaze, his eyes dropped again to the drinks that stood between them. His blue eyes widened as he stared down at the green liquid. Finally, he demanded, "But why else would it be green?!"
Piper could no longer maintain the charade and suddenly burst out laughing. Cole usually liked to hear the merriment of her laughter, but this time, it unnerved him even more than he already was. "What?" he asked. "What's so funny?!"
"Cole," Piper managed through her laughs, "just drink it!" She held up one of the glasses to him, but he shook his head. "Drink it!" Piper repeated again. "Trust me!"
Her last statement caused him to stop shaking his head, but he still could not make himself drink the awful-seeming liquid. He took the glass from her, though, and their fingers brushed as he did so. Still peering into the glass, he asked cautiously, "What is it?"
She shrugged. "Milkshake."
"But what's in it?"
"You taste it and then tell me."
She was clearly taking too much enjoyment out of the situation, Cole realized even as he wondered why torturing him was so much fun for her. He took a deep breath before finally relenting, "Okay, but only after you."
"Sure," Piper agreed with a slight shake of her head and a wriggle of her nose. Reaching down, she picked up another glass and took a long sip from it. "Aaahhh," she breathed after swallowing and while still relishing the taste on her tongue and in her mouth that was spreading quickly down her throat. She then looked expectantly up at him.
Cole looked again down at the green liquid that stared up at him, almost as if taunting him. He closed his eyes, squared his shoulders, and summoned his courage. Finally pressing the glass to his lips, he took a tiny sip. Incredible sweetness swirled around his mouth, nearly intoxicating him. He took another, longer sip. His taste buds and entire body leapt inwardly for joy as the freezing but smooth and oh-so sweet liquid spread through his system. "Oh Gods, Piper," he moaned aloud, "that's incredible!"
Piper's grin shot into a huge smile that seemed to shine all throughout the room as Cole's eyes fluttered slowly back open. "See?!" she exclaimed. "And to think you almost passed that up because I made it!"
"Not because of you," Cole swiftly assured her, "but because of its color. Why is it green, any way?"
Piper grinned like a cat who had just swallowed a canary whole. "Can't you tell?" she asked him. When he took another delightful swallow but shook his head nonetheless, she explained, "Food coloring." When he looked questioningly at her as he guzzled more of the milkshake down, she explained with a shrug, a wicked grin, and a wriggle of her nose, "I was feeling mischievous."
Even as she said the last, Cole had finished his glass. There was only one thing he still wanted to know: "Can I have another, please?"
Her beautiful face shone with her happiness. "Of course!" she nearly bubbled as she set her own drink down, took the empty glass from him, set it on the tray, and gave him another before returning to drinking and thoroughly enjoying her own.
The End