Title: "Potion Unleashed" (Stand Alone Piece)

Fandom: G.I. Joe - Duke

Characters: Duke, Scarlett (Crossover - Paige and Phoebe Halliwell from "Charmed")

Prompt: 023. Lovers

Word Count: 1,284

Rating: G, I hope.

Author's Notes: None at this time. If I think of any, I'll let you know. G. I. Joe is owned by Hasbro, and licensed to Marvel Comics Group and Devil's Due Comics through Hasbro Properties, Inc. If I wanted to steal anything, I'd be in real trouble.

Okay, I'll confess. This is a flight of fancy - a cross between Charmed and G. I. Joe. Sometimes unnatural methods make soldiers fall in love...
I forgot the official owner of the Charmed characters and such. But, again, it's not my intention to make trouble, okay?

***

City of San Francisco, Nob Hill District

The manor house of the Charmed Ones, the Halliwell sisters, was resplendent in its bright red paint and colorful growing flowers that cascaded down the sloped front yard like a waterfall in Technicolor. Its windows were opened wide, allowing cool Pacific breezes to blow in from the ocean.

Sounds of chirping birds and the soft chatter of passers-by talking among themselves wafted in the windows, as Phoebe Halliwell sat in the kitchen, sipping at a cup of coffee and wistfully thinking about the latest man in her life.

The sister who was most unlucky in love, Phoebe was a portrait of opposites. She was beautiful, with flowing, auburn hair, and most men took double glances at her smoking hot figure. Her day job as a gossip columnist for one of the local, trendy San Francisco papers allowed her the chance to meet numerous, interesting men. However, her lifestyle never wanted to cooperate. She was one of the Triad, the Charmed Ones who were charged with defending good against evil.

No one else was in the house, or at least as far as Phoebe knew. Piper, the oldest sister had plans with Leo, her husband, to take their children to the park. Paige, the younger of the sisters, was busy teaching at a mystical Magic School. The manor house was all Phoebe's.

The trouble is, when Phoebe was alone, she was prone to scheming. She schemed because she hated her unending loneliness. She and the other sisters were often at odds over their beliefs - that the magical powers they all shared should also be used to better themselves.

Most of the time, use of magic was supposed to be in the protection of innocents. Usually, when one of the sisters even considered doing something for themselves, the scheme would backfire, unless something demonic had gotten involved.

Phoebe had tinctured love potions before, and decided that one more try wouldn't hurt. No one was around, and none of the stuff she intended to mix could blow the manor house to bits...

***

Nearby, walking the streets of Nob Hill, Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara and Conrad "Duke" Hauser, two members of the elite Special Forces (Counter- Terrorist) Operational Group - Delta, also known as G. I. Joe, followed their noses as they explored and admired the historic homes in the neighborhood.

Scarlett, the fiery, redheaded counter-intelligence operative of the team, seemed ill at ease. It wasn't her attire of "garrison-type" Class B uniform, which didn't allow for the concealment of any weapons. Rather, it was the quite disturbing fallout of her relationship with Snake Eyes, the silent and introspective commando of the team.

Their relationship had started a long time before, and after an aborted courtship with marriage, had fallen upon hard times. Recent changes to the force, and the aftermath of major operations against the Joe Team's bitter enemy, had done the job of splitting Scarlett and Snake Eyes up better than their own lack of bliss.

Duke, the blond-haired, blue eyed Boy Scout of a team leader, was the Joes' senior non-commissioned officer. He also wore a Class B uniform set while the two Joes were in town. He secretly burned a candle in his heart for Scarlett, but Snake Eyes had beaten him to the punch. As most honorable men did, he chose to step aside rather than make life impossible for the longtime teammates by fostering an unhealthy love triangle.

"Aren't these houses beautiful, Scarlett?" Duke asked absently, admiring the row of houses rising up the slanted roadway.

"Yeah. I wish we... er... Snakes and I... had the chance to own one. We would've loved living out here. At least I would've."

"I'm sorry that things went south for the two of you," Duke offered. "Life is tough for all of us, trying to live our lives at the tip of the spear."

Scarlett tucked her arm into the crook of Duke's, like two old friends would on a trip down memory lane. "It isn't your fault. It isn't anyone's, really. We couldn't make it work. Whether you chalk it up to bad timing, bad luck or bad circumstances, we just hung on too long."

"Well, life goes on, Red," Duke said, stopping to admire the Halliwell manor from the sidewalk.

***

Phoebe was whistling softly over a boiling pot of potion ingredients, stirring them together with one of her family's enchanted mixing spoons. Her eyes were busy glancing through the recipe book that held her love potion spell, as the bubbling of the pot grew louder as the magical ingredients mingled inside.

She was thinking about the latest sexy man in her life, a young executive at the paper where she worked. Despite Piper's warnings about how their magic should never be used for personal gain, she always thought that a little wouldn't hurt.

The concoction boiled down for a few moments, as two voices approached outside and stopped near the kitchen windows. Phoebe bottled a small portion of the mixture in a tiny glass bottle, intending to stash it with her column drafts for work the next day. She knew there was enough to make her intended beau fall madly in love with her.

Just as she corked the potion bottle, a bluish haze appeared in the kitchen, as Paige materialized in the room. Her teleportation powers allowed her to "orb" between locations faster than supersonic jets could cover.

"Well, well, Phoebe!" Paige said happily. "Is this dinner?" She sniffed at the mixture in the boiling pot.

"It is not dinner, Paige," Phoebe replied. "I'm just practicing my potion mixology, if you must know."

Paige sniffed at the mixture again. "If I didn't know better, you laced this with wolfsbane. Lots of it." Her voice took on a childish mocking tone. "You're making a love spell... you're making a love spell."

"I am not!" Phoebe exclaimed. "I'm not using our magic for personal gain!" She gestured so wildly by accident that she released the glass bottle in her hand, casting it out the window in a graceful arc. It landed and broke on the sidewalk, mere inches from Duke and Scarlett's feet.

The love potion smoked and steamed, as Scarlett and Duke looked down at the broken glass, wondering just what the heck had gone on. They inhaled the potion's gases deeply, and then turned in unison to face one another.

From the window of the manor house, Phoebe shook her head sadly, cursing herself for causing another backfire. Paige simply smiled, with a smug expression crossing her lips.

Duke's nostrils flared as the potion took effect instantly. "Scarlett?"

"Yes, Duke?"

He took her hands into his. "I need you to know something."

"What is it?" Scarlett asked.

"I've had a... feeling... in the pit of my soul for you." He brushed a foot nervously on the concrete in front of her. "It's been a long time."

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Scarlett asked, the potion causing her to look at Duke a lot differently in that very moment.

"I didn't want to ruin our ability to be a team - you, Snake Eyes, and me."

Scarlett leaned in closer, to gaze into Duke's steely blue eyes. "Well, you and I are the only ones in the picture right now." Her lips parted slowly and Duke initiated a long, gentle kiss.

"Aww," Paige whispered, watching the events unfold. "Phoebe, you're a bad liar."

"Who said they didn't need a little help, you tart?" Phoebe retorted, shoving her sister away from the windows. "Let the lovebirds have some privacy, will ya?"

At least, fate seemed to smile on two people that day. One witch's mishap didn't turn out to be a mishap at all.

-The End-