...she's getting it, folks
ha, it worked! I made a link. now I'm on a roll. the next thing I need to figure out is how to post multiple links on one entry (ie, how to seperate them). I am officially open to constructive criticism.
Charmed & Dangerous-Part 7
Summary: Phoebe and Paige come face-to-face with an evil that will test not only their magic, but their love.
Rating: PG-13
Note on cultural appropriation: I am using real gods & goddesses from eastern mythology in this story, and like everything else in the world of fanfic, the incarnation of these figures is entirely fiction. No disrespect to real-world religions is intended.
As soon as Phoebe walked through the attic door, she knew that Piper and Prue had found something, just as she knew it wasn’t something she was going to like. They were standing over the Book of Shadows with grim looks on their faces, and when they saw her, they looked at her the same way they had when, as kids, they’d had to tell her that her goldfish was dead.
“Okay, you two, poker is definitely not your game. So what did you find? Have we ID’d this demon yet, or what?”
“Well…yes and no,” Prue said hesitantly. Phoebe looked at her, nonplussed.
“What she means,” Piper broke in, “is that, well, we found out who this Queen of Shadows person is…but, um…”
“But what, Piper? Spit it out already!” Phoebe growled, growing agitated.
“She’s not a demon, Phoebe.”
“What, then? A warlock?” Phoebe looked back and forth between her sisters, who both seemed to find their shoelaces suddenly fascinating.
“She’s a goddess, Phoebe.” Suddenly the room began to blur. Phoebe could feel her senses pulling away from her, as the sounds of her sisters’ voices faded and the feel of the floor beneath her feet fell away. The next thing she knew, the floor reappeared under her back, and she was staring up at Prue and Piper’s worried faces.
“Whaaa?” Phoebe groaned dazedly as Prue began to pick her up off the floor. Before she had even risen to a sitting position, however, Paige came bursting in, eyes wild.
“Phoebe! Are you okay? What happened?” Paige rushed to Phoebe’s other side, searching her for hidden injuries.
“I’m okay, honey…I think I just fainted for a second.” Phoebe rubbed her eyes, feeling the acute vertigo drain away as Paige’s fingers ran over her scalp, looking for a bump or a bruise. She leaned into the warm arms supporting her, and allowed Paige and Prue to help her stand up.
“Paige, how did you know?” Piper asked curiously, once they were all satisfied that Phoebe wasn’t in any immediate danger.
“I don’t know,” Paige answered honestly as all eyes in the room fell on her. “I think…I think it was the same thing that happened to Phoebe when that demon attacked me this morning.”
“Did you feel me?” Phoebe asked softly, her hand resting on Paige’s flat stomach. Paige nodded, and they shared a look that was both confused and knowing at the same time.
“Are you two going telepathic on us?” Piper asked nervously, looking between them. “Cause, if you are, it would explain why Maya is after you.”
“Maya Shakti?” Paige asked in a hushed whisper, tearing her eyes away from Phoebe to look at Piper and the book.
“You know about her?” Prue asked, her entire manor changing in an instant from ‘big sister time’ to ‘demon hunter time.’
“Well, I know about her place in Hindu and Buddhist mythology…I don’t know if it has anything to do with, y’know, reality…” Paige trailed off uncertainly, suddenly unsure of herself. The idea of ‘real’ mythology was giving her a bit of a headache. Phoebe reached out and put her hands on Paige’s temples, rubbing them gently. Paige smiled at her.
“You felt that?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Wow.”
“I know.”
“O-kay, you two are starting to freak me out,” Piper said in her high-pitched, I’m-trying-not-to-panic voice.
“We can feel each other’s feelings, Piper,” Phoebe explained calmly. “I don’t really understand it…but I know it’s right. Just like I know that your head feels better now,” she said to Paige, smiling and kissing her temple as she removed her fingers.
“Are we talking, E.T. style, you-hurt-I-hurt, or full on, I-read-the-book-and-you-know-what-it-says?” Prue asked with interest.
“Column A, I think,” Paige said, with a glace to Phoebe who nodded in agreement.
“It’s not words…it doesn’t happen up here,” Phoebe explained, tapping her forehead.
“Yeah,” Paige agreed, “it’s more visceral. I didn’t know what had happened upstairs, just that Phoebe was scared and in pain.”
“Just like I knew this morning with the demon,” Phoebe nodded as the pieces began to click together.
“Is it possible they’re developing some sort of joint power?” Piper mused, looking automatically to her older sister for validation.
“Anything’s possible,” Prue admitted. “We really don’t have enough to go on yet…I’d like to get back to what Paige knows about our bad guy-I mean, gal.” Everyone looked at Paige. Paige shrugged.
“I only know what everyone who took “Intro to Eastern Religions” last quarter knows…” When the sisters looked at her blankly, Paige elaborated. “Okay, Maya Shakti, she’s the Goddess of Illusion. She creates the myth of the self, of separation from the whole.”
“So now we’re the myths?” Piper asked.
“No…” Paige sighed. “See, it’s hard to understand Eastern philosophy with a Western mindset. I’m not sure I’m even explaining it well. See, in Hindu mythology…Buddhist too…the world began in pure unity, a single, great consciousness. That’s what the Ohm represents.” The Charmed Ones nodded, all of them familiar with the soothing mantra from their own meditations.
“So,” Paige continued, “When the perfection of that unified consciousness was broken…all these little pieces of divine consciousness were shattered, and they all fell into the world and they just, you know, kind of play with each other. Each believing in their own autonomy, the idea of self in opposition to other, me versus you, mine versus yours. And they lose sight of the fact that they’re all just refractions of each other.” Phoebe was nodding, but Prue and Piper were still looking at her the way her classmates in study section did when they didn’t want to admit they weren’t following her.
“Okay,” Paige said brightly, settling on a new approach. “Imagine that your foot suddenly sees itself in opposition to your arm. Imagine that all your body parts have their own, separate consciousness, and each one sees itself as an autonomous unit. How well would your body function? How would blood flow through your circulatory system?”
There was a collective Ohhhhhh, as everyone in the room finally came up to speed.
“Everyone in your class knows all that?” Phoebe asked impishly, looking up at Paige adoringly.
“More or less,” Paige shrugged, giving Phoebe a lopsided smile.
“Well I’m starting to get a picture here,” Prue said slowly. “This Maya chick…or goddess…or whatever…she feeds off separation, divisiveness. So anyone who can overcome that, and become part of each other they way you two have, is obviously a threat to her.”
“In the stories we read in class, she came after Buddha and tried to get him to renounce the path of truth by tempting him with all the sins of the flesh…wine and women and everything…kind of parallel to the whole, ‘Last Temptation of Christ’ story.” Paige said musingly. “When he wouldn’t give in to her, she became enraged, and tried to destroy him, but his tranquility in the path of truth was so great, that her powers backfired on her and she ended up sending herself to hell…or at least, something like that. I’m not sure there’s a Buddhist version of hell, per se. Plus, I think Gods and Goddesses have their own afterlife-y deal. I dunno, maybe she got karmically recycled or something.”
“Well she’s here now, maybe she worked her way back up the chain,” Prue mused. “After all, it has been about five thousand years since she took on the happy fat guy.” Phoebe cringed.
“Are you saying she’s been juicing up for five millennia to come after us? We’re not the freaking Buddha!” Phoebe cried, her heart pounding as the enormity of the situation hit her.
“But you are bodhisattvas,” Leo stated calmly as he orbed in beside them.
“Bodhi-what now?” Piper quirked her eyebrows at her husband.
“It means they’re spiritual warriors,” Leo explained serenely. “Those whose purpose is to enlighten the world, to be an example to others by living in truth, love and harmony.” He was looking at Phoebe and Paige as he spoke, both of whom were draining of color rapidly.
“No, Leo,” Paige shook her head stubbornly, “this is some sort of mistake. We’re not-I’m not-it’s just mythology!” She finished desperately.
“Like angels?” Leo asked impishly, smiling benignly at her like a favorite niece.
“And witches?” Prue added, coming to stand next to Leo. Paige continued to shake her head, staring at the floor. Phoebe was staring at nothing, in a complete daze.
“That’s why you never developed an active power like your sisters, Phoebe,” Leo continued in the same gentle, calming voice. “Your path lies in the way of peace…your destiny is with Paige, to usher in an era of utopia, by elevating humanity’s capacity for compassion to a new level. Culminating with your firstborn daughter.” Both Phoebe and Paige jerked their heads up at these words, staring at Leo with mouths agape, like fish out of water.
“Leo, are you trying to give me a heart attack?” Phoebe managed to gasp out, leaning back against Paige for support. She could feel Paige’s heart thudding wildly in her chest, and she hardly needed the new empathic power they shared to know that her girlfriend was freaking out as much as she was. She took Paige’s hand and lead them both to the couch before their knees gave out.
“You wanted to know!” Leo exclaimed exasperatedly.
“The prophecy?’ Paige asked weakly. Leo nodded.
“Maya’s return has tipped the balance between good and evil…and the Universe always maintains its own alignment. Destiny has chosen you two because the purity of your love has enabled you to see past the socially constructed notions of separateness, to a level of consciousness where self and other are flipsides of the same coin. Your magic is elevated at the same time. Only a couple whose love is blessed by divine light can conceive the child who will usher in utopia…the goddess of compassion incarnate.”
“Conceive?” Paige looked daggers at Leo. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Leo, but Phoebe and I don’t exactly have all the necessary equipment between us for any conceiving.” Her eyes blazed.
“Honey-“ Phoebe began, laying a placating hand on Paige’s arm.
“No!” Paige yelled, jerking her arm away. Her eyes shone with tears that spilled down her cheeks as she tried to blink them away. “Do you think that’s funny, Leo? To dangle something like that in front of a couple of girls? You think I haven’t lain awake at night, daydreaming about what it would be like to be able to make a baby with the person you love? To make a life, a real human being, out of love? I can’t have that, Leo!” Paige screamed, hot tears running down her cheeks.
“Baby,” Phoebe murmured, reaching out to take Paige’s face between her hands. As her palms made contact with Paige’s tearstained cheeks, they both gasped and went rigid.
Phoebe saw the scene just like she always did-from outside of herself, like a dream, where she was the invisible narrator. She was not inside her body, or any body, for that matter. She looked down and saw herself, asleep in her own bed, with Paige wrapped snugly around her. It was obviously some time in the future, because they both had different hairstyles; Paige was now strawberry blond, while Phoebe’s hair was jet-black and cut in stylish layers. Phoebe couldn’t help thinking how adorable they looked together. Paige was thinking it, too. Paige was there with her-not the her in the bed, the real her, watching form outside themselves. They couldn’t talk to each other, as they lacked bodies, mouths, and vocal cords, but it didn’t matter. They could feel each other’s presence, and both knew they were together and safe.
Then a tiny field of blue-white lights appeared at the foot of the bed, and a little girl-no more than three or four-orbed onto their feet. The Paige and Phoebe on the bed didn’t wake up. The little girl crawled quietly up their bodies, pulling back the fluffy comforter to reveal a very pregnant Paige. The dark haired child then pushed up Paige’s pajama top and spoke directly to her stomach.
“Good morning, baby,” the child whispered. “Are you ready to be born?” Then she laid her head down against Paige’s bellybutton, kissing it, and looking as if she were listening for a response. She closed her eyes, smiling serenely.
“Good morning, baby girl,” Paige murmured sleepily, her hand ruffling the dark hair spilling over her belly.
“Mama, the baby’s hungry! She wants chocolate,” The little one said with absolute conviction.
“Don’t I know it,” Paige agreed, opening her eyes to gaze adoringly at her child.
“Mmmm…” Phoebe was waking up now, too, nuzzling her face into Paige’s neck, her hand going automatically to the round tummy already being showered with love. “Baby always gets what she wants…” she drawled sleepily, blinking open her eyes. Paige smirked and kissed her. Watching the tender scene unfold, Phoebe couldn’t help but notice the wedding ring that adorned her finger resting on Paige’s swollen belly.
“Mommy,” the child said to Phoebe, “what did I like to eat when I was in your tummy?” She crawled further up to snuggle between her parents, pulling Phoebe’s arm around her as she nuzzled into Paige’s hair, just like her mommy.
“Welllll…” Phoebe grinned, exchanging a mischievous look with Paige, “the first thing you liked me to eat was…Brussels sprouts!”
“It was not!” the little girl shrieked, a grin on her face. “It was watermelon!”
“Oh, that’s right,” Phoebe said, smacking her forehead in a exaggerated way. “Then after that, you were always thirsty for milk. Milk, milk, milk! I drank so much milk I thought I was gonna turn into a cow.”
“I wouldn’t turn you into a cow, silly Mommy,” the little girl giggled, her dark eyes shining with glee.
“I know, honey,” Phoebe smiled. “And I certainly remember the last thing you wanted before you were born…” Phoebe trailed off, looking at Paige adoringly. Paige smiled back.
“Chocolate chip pancakes!!!” The child shrieked, bouncing on the bed excitedly.
“Sound good, baby?” Phoebe asked, stroking Paige’s tummy absently as they got lost in each other’s eyes.
“Sounds perfect,” Paige hummed, leaning forward to give Phoebe another slow, sweet kiss.
“Does that mean the baby will come out soon?” The little girl asked eagerly.
“Hmmm, didn’t she tell you when she’d be ready to come out?” Paige asked teasingly, stroking her daughter’s dark, silky hair and pushing it behind her ears.
“Awww, she doesn’t know,” the child shrugged. “I don’t think she even knows she’s ever gonna come out! She doesn’t know what it’s like!” She looked up at her parents, frustration and confusion evident in her eyes. “If she doesn’t decide when it’s time to be born, and you don’t decide, then who does?” Paige looked at Phoebe, a doesn’t-our-daughter-ask-smart-questions expression on her face.
“Nobody decides, Tara,” Phoebe explained patiently. “Just like nobody decides when it’s time for the sun to set, or the tide to come in. Things happen when they’re ready to happen…just like the plums in the back yard fall off the tree when they’re ripe.” The little girl nodded.
“Nature always knows when things are ready,” she said wisely.
Phoebe gasped and opened her eyes. Paige was next to her, clutching her hand. For a moment they just stared at each other, wordlessly. Then Phoebe reached up and gave Paige the tenderest, sweetest kiss of her life.
“Uh…guys?” Piper asked hesitantly. “Wanna tell us what ya saw?”
“Um…” Phoebe looked up with a blush coloring her cheeks. “Let’s just say, we won’t have to argue over what to name our first child.”
“I wonder what we were gonna name the one on the way?” Paige mused, a giddy grin plastered on her face. Prue and Piper started blankly between the two dazed lovers on the couch, and Leo, who was smiling at them like a proud grandpa.
“Leo, how…?” Piper trailed off, unable to voice her question.
“Don’t you know by now, Piper?” Leo smiled at his wife. “When witches and white lighters get together, there’s enough magic in the air to do anything…creating life comes naturally.” Piper grinned back at her husband. They’d been worried that they might not be able to have a baby of their own lately, after Piper’s doctor had informed her that she had scar tissue in her womb. Apparently, it wasn’t such a problem after all. Piper threw her arms around Leo, and, incongruously, burst out laughing.
“Will SOMEBODY please tell me SOMETHING!” Prue finally yelled, getting fed up with being left out of the loop.
“Sorry,” Phoebe said sheepishly, as she and Paige came up for air. “In a nutshell? We saw our daughter. And her name is…”
“Tara?” Leo asked gently. Phoebe nodded, her mouth slightly open.
“Wait a minute,” Paige said, holding up her hand. “Leo, you said…goddess of compassion incarnate…you didn’t mean…our daughter…she’s not…Tara, like, the green tara? Is she?” Leo and Paige were looking at each other in a knowing way, while everyone else just looked confused.
“I’m cashing in all my chips here, people,” Prue said finally. “So will someone please buy me a clue?”
“Well,” Paige said slowly, “the green tara is the Japanese name for the goddess Avalokiteshvara…she’s like the Hindu archetype of infinite compassion. She was sorta one of Buddha’s right-hand men. Or women. You know.”
“And now she’s coming back as your daughter?” Piper asked incredulously.
“Not now, now,” Phoebe said in a squeaky voice. “I mean, we haven’t even finished college yet! We aren’t even married! We need time and charts and prenatal vitamins and oh god do we need protection? Like, magical safe sex?” Both girls looked at Leo to answer this question, who in turn went several shades of red.
“Um, magical conception only happens when a great force of intention is behind it. You can’t, um…do it…by accident.”
“Oh.” Phoebe gave a huge sigh of relief.
“Good,” Paige nodded. “I mean, I’m as eager as the next girl to be the mother of a reincarnated goddess, but Phoebe’s right, we’re way not ready.” She looked at her shell-shocked girlfriend and smiled devilishly. “You looked so cute with your hair all wild and black,” she murmured, her fingers grazing over Phoebe’s collarbone.
“Hmmm, you were pretty foxy as a redhead, Mama,” Phoebe purred. The look that passed between them raised the temperature in the room several degrees.
“Don’t even go there, you two,” Prue said dangerously, slamming her hand down on the Book of Shadows for emphasis. “We still have a lot of work to do! I think we need to figure out exactly what new powers Paige and Phoebe have, so we at least have a shot of fighting back when Queen whatever shows up.”
“Well, we’ve seen that Paige gets premonitions now,” Piper mused, “and they both have this emotional link with each other…do you think there’s any more?”
“There is,” Leo said. “Paige is beginning to come into her full powers as a white lighter…and she’s sharing them with Phoebe.”
“Are you crazy?” Phoebe looked at Leo like a three-headed monkey. “I can’t orb!”
“Are you sure?” Leo challenged. Then he stood up, grabbed an athame off the nearest shelf, and flung it at Phoebe. Phoebe shrieked and immediately orbed out, reappearing behind Piper.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Paige yelled angrily, glaring daggers at Leo.
“Teaching Phoebe about her new powers,” Leo said simply. “If anything had gone wrong, you could’ve healed her anyway.”
“Leo, you know I can’t heal.”
In the middle of the argument, just as everyone was beginning to reorient themselves, no less than fifteen fire-throwing, yellow-eyed demons appeared around them.
“Prepare for the coming of the darkness!” The lead demon roared, as four of them grabbed Prue and Piper, holding their arms behind their backs so they couldn’t use their powers. Two of them threw potions at Leo and Paige. The remaining demons all jumped on Phoebe, tackling her.
“Phoebe!” Paige screamed, as a gut-wrenching pain lanced through her, as if a part of her own body were being torn away from her. She gasped and doubled over. When she raised her head, all the demons were gone-and so was Phoebe.
Charmed & Dangerous: Part 8
Summary: Paige must band together with Phoebe’s sisters to save her from the Underworld. Part 1 of the conclusion!
Rating: R (for language)
Paige stood rooted to the spot, staring at the place where Phoebe had been moments before. Piper’s groan of pain snapped her out of her daze as she glanced over and saw both her girlfriend’s sisters raising themselves off the floor, looking much the worse for wear. Piper had a trickle of blood running from her nose, and Prue sported a nasty slash mark across her upper arm.
“Leo,” Prue said weakly, holding out her arm to him. He rushed to her side and put his hand out over her arm, preparing to heal her. But nothing happened.
“Leo?” Piper said uncertainly. “What’s the matter?”
“I can’t heal her,” Leo said in a shaky voice. “That potion the demons threw at me…it must have been a binding potion.” He looked up at Paige grimly. “They got you too, didn’t they?” Paige looked helplessly between them all, as guilt poured over her thin frame like molten lead. She nodded. Then she tried to orb. Her eyes squeezed shut as she balled her hands into fists, and appeared to hold her breath for almost thirty seconds. Finally, with a gasp she relaxed.
“Fuck,” Paige whispered brokenly. She glanced around the room in a manic sort of way, eyes glazed, as if searching for a solution in the remains of the ransacked attic. Then she snapped her fingers and ran for the stairs. Piper and Prue glanced curiously at each other, and followed, Prue still pressing a ripped bit of her shirt to her bleeding arm. They found Paige standing in the middle of the kitchen, eyes closed, holding a small spice jar up to her face and breathing deeply. She sneezed violently, but didn’t orb. When she opened her eyes and found herself stationary, she howled in frustration and threw the jar of cinnamon into the corner, where it shattered.
“Fuck…” she whispered again, her voice small and lost. She was staring into space, as if she were in shock. And, they thought, she probably was. Paige wiped her nose listlessly against the back of her hand, and sneezed again.
“Here, sweetie, blow your nose,” Piper said gently, handing her a box of Kleenex from the counter and laying a comforting hand on her back. Paige accepted the offering, blowing her nose and rubbing her eyes roughly, blinking up at Piper as if she had suddenly realized she wasn’t alone in the room. Piper felt a fierce protectiveness rising up inside her for this girl, her sister’s lover. In some intangible way, she already felt that Paige was a part of their family, and her need to protect this younger girl was as strong in her as her need to protect Phoebe. She knew that Paige was her own person, and not just a part of Phoebe; but the connection between them was so palpable, Piper felt as if Paige were her little sister, now, too.
“We’re gonna get her back, Paige,” Piper said quietly, an edge of hard steel in her voice. “That’s a promise.” Paige nodded, as Prue came up on her other side. They all moved to the table, where Piper got out the first aid kit and began cleaning up Prue’s arm as they worked out how to rescue Phoebe from an evil goddess.
“If she’s in the underworld, we won’t be able to scry for her,” Prue pointed out unnecessarily.
“She is,” Leo said. “It explains why I can’t sense her anywhere.”
“I can,” Paige said quietly. All heads in the room turned to her.
“But-“ Piper began, confusion evident on her face.
“That potion Leo and I got hit with, it bound our whitelighter powers…” Paige was staring at the tablecloth, a little spaced out, as if half of her attention were elsewhere. “But Phoebe’s and my connection, it doesn’t have anything to do with that. I can sense her…no matter where she is.”
“What are you sensing right now?” Prue asked carefully.
“She’s unconscious.” Paige said flatly. “Which I guess is good, cause if they wanted to kill her, they probably would have done it already.” Her eyes were still boring a hole in the tablecloth.
“What about the spell to call a lost lover?” Piper said suddenly. “Paige could say it, and if it works it’ll take her straight to Phoebe.”
“No Piper, she’ll astral project straight to Phoebe. She’d be totally defenseless, and without powers.” Piper frowned at this snag.
“Could that work?” Paige asked suddenly, looking up at them for the first time. “Don’t you have to be a witch to say spells and stuff?”
“Normally, yes,” Piper agreed. “But you’re sort of part-witch now, in the sense that you’re sharing powers with Phoebe. I mean, you got a premonition. Have you tried levitating?” Paige screwed up her face in concentration, raised her palms up slightly from her sides, and hovered several feet above the floor.
“That’s great!” Prue exclaimed. “So, even though you can’t use your whitelighter powers, you’re not completely defenseless.”
“Great, where’s the spell?” Paige asked as she touched back down.
“Whoa, nelly,” Piper held up her hand in a move that reminded Paige fiercely of Phoebe. “You can’t just go running off half-cocked, we need a plan. Prue was right, you won’t be able to defend yourself very well, if at all, in astral form. And our powers aren’t very predictable in the underworld, to begin with. We’re not sending you down there by yourself. We’ll find another way.”
“What if there is no other way, Piper?’ Paige asked desperately. “What if they start torturing her while we’re looking for one?” This hit a nerve with everyone. “Just send me down there,” Paige pleaded, “and then you guys can look up some kind of antidote for the binding potion, and come after me.” This suggestion was greeted by dead silence.
“Please,” Paige begged, looking around at all of them. “I can’t…I can’t know that there’s a way I could get to her, and not take it. And if anything does happen to her,” Paige continued with a nervous swallow, “it’ll hurt me just as much whether I’m standing here,” she gestured around the kitchen, “or right next to her.”
“Paige…” Piper reached out and took Paige’s hand, squeezing it hard. “I know you’re scared…we all are. But believe me when I say we will not let anything happen to Phoebe. And we’re certainly not about to lose you, too. Let us at least try to look for another solution, okay? If we can’t…then at least we’ve got a plan B. Deal?”
“Okay,” Paige agreed dejectedly.
Miles below, Phoebe slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a dark, moist cavern, draped in blood red silks. Flickering light danced on the walls from the hanging torches that circled the open area, and there was a trickling sound which turned out to be wine spouting from a fountain, carved in the shape of a woman with four arms, who wore a necklace of human heads. Around her waist was a belt of hands, dangling from jutting white wrist bones. Her face was nightmarish, mouth open as if in a scream of fury, and the wine poured out over her tongue. Glancing around at all of this in a daze, only half-awake, Phoebe had no idea where she was at first. All she knew was that she was cold, she was bruised, and she was alone.
“Paige?” She murmured.
“Ohhh, you won’t be needing her anymore,” a smoky, almost gravelly voice echoed out of the darkness. Phoebe sat up, jaw dropping open, as a figure materialized out of the shadows. This woman was not the four-armed monster that she had expected…if indeed she could be called a woman. She did, after all, have blue skin. But aside from that (any maybe even a little bit because of it), she was quite devastatingly beautiful. She wore a rich, teal colored silk sari accented with gold embroidery, the fabric seeming to literally spill over her body, like a river. It didn’t spill over that much of her body, though, and Phoebe’s mouth went automatically dry at the sight of all that vibrant blue skin.
“Now, shall you be a good girl if I untie you, pet?” Phoebe hadn’t even roused herself enough to realize she was tied up yet. “Or are we in need of convincing?” She smiled in a decidedly sultry way, as if the thought of the convincing gave her great pleasure. Phoebe said nothing. She couldn’t even blink. There was something almost paralyzing in the very air of this place…it was like liquid, like she was dissolving. She could feel the dark magic pouring over her, cold, sharp, like jagged shards of ice. It hurt, she didn’t like it-and yet-there was something, something that was pulling her in deeper, telling her she liked this pain. She felt her own magic begin to reach out to meet the icy tendrils curling toward her.
“So easily you come to me,” The blue skinned goddess laughed mirthlessly. She took an impressive looking silver goblet from a pedestal, and filled it with wine from the statue’s mouth. “Perhaps your little girlfriend is not as powerful as I had presumed.” Phoebe glanced up at her captor, to the tiny gold bindi bead between her eyes. Her dark, brown, almond-shaped eyes.
“Paige!” Phoebe cried, as if calling her whitelighter girlfriend to appear before her. But nothing happened. The cruel goddess laughed again, more wantonly.
“She will not save you!” For a moment the blue-skinned goddess’s eyes flashed with fire-not metaphorical fire, but actual, living flame. “She did not come when you called! I have not masked your essence from her. If she wanted to come to you, she could freely do so!”
“No,” Phoebe whimpered, shaking her head violently as fat teardrops began to fall. “You’re lying. She wants to come…she wants to be with me. You did something to her.”
“Are you sure that’s what you’re sensing, child?” The demon goddess asked like a cruel governess. Phoebe closed her eyes, blocking out the hellish scene before her, trying to focus on finding Paige. Baby, where are you? She called out in her mind, knowing that words were useless. But then she felt something-something warm and breathing in the pit of her stomach. Paige. She tried to focus on it…but when she did, she ran up against a sharp volt of what felt like electric fencing. Phoebe screamed in pain, dark hair falling in her eyes as she writhed.
“You see,” the goddess purred, “She does not want you anymore. I, on the other hand, do.” She held the wine goblet to Phoebe’s lips. Phoebe turned her head to the side, pressing her lips together like a child refusing her medicine. But the heady fumes of the dark, rich liquid were wafting over her like a siren’s call…everything began to be hazy and muddled. She couldn’t remember where she was; only that Paige had left her here. And the goblet in front of her offered escape from the pain coursing through her. After a moment’s hesitation, Phoebe opened her mouth.
In the manor, things were not progressing the way Piper had hoped. The four of them-Piper, Prue, Leo and Paige-had not found any plan A to replace their plan B, and as the hour grew later, all were having trouble keeping their eyes open. Piper glanced at Paige, who was curled up on the couch with a pile of spell books in her lap, eyes out of focus. She nudged Prue, glancing at the couch significantly.
“Paige,” she said gently, putting a hand out to shake the dozing girl’s shoulder gently. Paige started, eyes opening fully as she looked up at Piper and Prue. “It’s getting late…you should stay with us tonight, okay? It’s not safe for you back at your dorm.”
“Yeah,” Prue nodded, “you can stay in Phoebe’s room. We’ll start again in the morning.” They fully expected for Paige to insist that they continue researching, and argue that they couldn’t rest while Phoebe was in danger. But Paige just nodded blankly, and rose to cross the attic. She left without a word.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Piper asked, knowing it was a stupid question as soon as it was out of her mouth. Prue sighed, and Leo just looked at her.
“I think…” Prue said quietly. “I think that in the morning, we’re going to have to let Paige say the lost lovers’ spell. It’s the only way.”
“It’s suicide,” Piper whispered, a tremor in her voice. “We’ll lose them both.”
“We have to trust Paige, Piper,” Leo said gently. “And Phoebe. We have to trust that they can beat this, together…it is their destiny after all.” Piper looked from her husband, to her big sister, and nodded.
“Well, I’m going to bed…after I check on Paige.” Piper sighed.
“I’ll come with,” Prue offered, and left Leo to put away their research books. Together, the two sisters went down to their third sister’s room, both wishing she would be there to greet them with her devilish, playful smile. But when they got there, of course, they did not find their sister. Instead, they found their sister’s other half, another dark-haired, powerfully magical girl, who at the moment was curled up in a ball on the bed, her sobs muffled by the pillow clutched in her arms. Without a word passing between them, Piper and Prue went over to the bed, and lay down on either side of Paige, holding her and stroking her hair. Paige didn’t acknowledge them at first, but after a few moments during which neither of them told her not to cry, or that everything was gonna be all right, she threw herself on Piper’s neck, clinging to her for dear life.
“We’ve got you, Paige,” Piper murmured, her eyes filling with tears as she and Prue looked at each other. “You can cry. It’s okay.” Prue reached out and took Piper’s hand over the crying girl’s shoulder, squeezing her sister’s hand tight. Then she gently began to rub Paige’s shaking back, all of them falling into a light doze as the sobs subsided. Soon, the three of them were fast asleep on Phoebe’s bed.
Paige was walking down a long corridor draped in blue silk. It was cold. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to remember what she had come for.
“Phoebe?” she called out in a small voice, which nonetheless fractured and echoed down the seemingly endless walkway. A thousand Paiges called for a thousand Phoebes as the echo died away. Then a cruel, icy laugh wafted toward her. The very feel of that laugh vibrating through her body made Paige’s blood run cold.
“You shouldn’t have come, Paige.” The cold voice that spoke sent a terror into Paige that ran deeper than any she’d ever known. It wasn’t…couldn’t be…
“Phoebe? …Baby?” Paige asked hesitantly.
“Idiot child!” Phoebe’s eyes blazed with fire as she emerged from out of the shadows. She was dressed in a blood-red sari, hair swept up regally, with a gold bindi bead between her eyes that seemed to wink sinisterly at Paige. “Did you think this would end with kisses and rainbows, Paige?” Phoebe’s eyes, normally full of love for her, were boring into Paige like ice, freezing her from the inside out. She raised her hand, and a lotus blossom flowered out of her palm. Phoebe jerked her own hand across her chest, and the blossom was gone-cut away, leaving a bloody slash across Paige’s hand.
“I’m not leaving you here, Phoebe,” Paige gasped out through the pain.
“You don’t have a choice!” Phoebe spat, and before she knew what was happening, Paige felt a wall of dark magic slam into her like a ton of bricks, throwing her backwards through the cavern, tumbling through the icy vacuum of space that separated the underworld from the earth above.
“NO!” Paige awoke screaming. Prue and Piper were awake in an instant, holding Paige tight as she twisted and writhed.
“It’s just a nightmare, Paige,” Prue said soothingly. “It’s okay, you’re okay.”
“No!” Paige cried again. “It wasn’t a nightmare! It’s real! I have to go, I have to go to Phoebe!” Piper grabbed Paige’s right hand as she tried to jerk free of them, and gasped. Paige’s hand was dripping with blood.
Charmed & Dangerous: Part 9 (Conclusion)
A Phoebe & Paige story
By JewWitch
Rating: R
Piper was so surprised by the blood dripping onto her from Paige’s hand, that she momentarily let go of the writhing girl. Left with only Prue holding her down, Paige wrenched away with a surprising bolt of strength, scrambling from the bed before the sisters could make a grab for her. The moment her feet hit the floor, though, Paige’s knees buckled under her. With a groan, Paige collapsed to her hands and knees. Then she retched, and a large volume of slimy black liquid splattered against the floor, smelling strongly of paint thinner. Tendrils of silvery-blue electrical currents danced across the surface.
“Oh my God,” Prue murmured, as Piper scrambled to Paige’s side, pulling her hair back with one hand and rubbing her back with the other. “Leo!” Prue yelled. A moment later, Leo came running from his and Piper’s bedroom.
“What’s happening, Paige?” Piper asked urgently. “Did something…is something happening to Phoebe?”
“Dark m-magic,” Paige stuttered, shivering madly. Her face and throat had taken on a dark red flush. “Blocking m-my link.”
“It must be Maya,” Prue said as she helped Piper pull Paige back up to the bed. “She’s hurting Phoebe. We have to go down there!”
“N-no,” Paige ground out through her chattering teeth. “N-not Maya…Phoebe. She’s b-b-blocking me. M-Maya…m-made her evil. That’s why…the d-dark m-magic.”
“Prue, she’s so hot,” Piper whispered, her hand resting on Paige’s burning forehead.
“It’s dark magic poisoning,” Leo said grimly. He pulled Paige’s cut hand into the light. The blood oozing from her palm was beginning to turn black, too. He shared a pained look with Piper. “If Phoebe was force-fed a dark potion, it would do the same thing to her. But if she took it willingly…it would, um…” Leo looked at the floor, unable to hold Piper’s eyes as he said the last part. “Turn her evil.”
“Then why is this happening to Paige?” Piper asked desperately.
“Because they’re connected…and Paige didn’t take the potion willingly. There’s dark magic in her now, in the place where Phoebe is, and her body is rejecting it…like a disease.”
“So, what do we do? Make an antidote? Something in the book?”
“Piper, we can’t help her now,” Leo said quietly. “Only Phoebe can. If Phoebe rejects the dark magic, they’ll both be freed from it. If not…” He couldn’t say the rest: if not, Paige dies, and Phoebe becomes the next demon we have to kill.
“B-b-bring me the s-spell,” Paige called weakly. Piper was now holding the trembling girl in her arms, as Paige was too weak to sit up on her own.
“Paige, you can’t,” Piper said firmly. “You can’t even stand up! How do you expect to fight a demon?”
“Don’t n-need to stand up,” Paige insisted, fighting to retain her focus as the room began to swim. “I j-just need to s-say the s-spell…j-just n-need to get to Phoebe.” Piper and Prue looked at each other, then at Paige, who was now slick with sweat. They noticed, too, that the veins in her arms and neck were beginning to darken under her skin.
“It’ll never work,” Piper whispered brokenly.
“It will if you and Prue anchor her,” Leo countered firmly. “If you give her enough of your magical energy to sustain her while she’s projecting…she can do it. It’s the only way, Piper.”
“Leo’s right. We can do this Piper,” Prue swore. “We can do this for Phoebe.”
“Go get the book, Prue,” Piper said grimly.
Cruel laughter echoed through the Underworld as the blue-skinned goddess reclined in her throne, her new pet witch sitting obediently at her feet.
“You were perfect, my darling, simply perfect,” she purred.
“Thank you, my queen,” Phoebe said icily, looking up at her unblinkingly.
“Soon your beloved shall come to us…to you,” Maya amended her statement. “She shall come as long as she thinks she can ‘save’ you from me…tell me, my exquisite little witch…do you want to be saved?” Phoebe smiled wickedly up at her queen, but did not speak. Maya’s cruel laughter pierced the Underworld like ice. “I suppose that question was…rhetorical,” she purred. “Soon I shall have you both…and your powers shall become stronger than you ever imagined. Together, you and your dark angel shall bring the world to its knees. And I shall feed once again!”
A bright white light suddenly filled the room. Phoebe jumped to her feet, startled. A figure materialized in front of the fountain, curled in a ball. Dark hair spilled onto the floor.
“Paige--?” Phoebe looked uncertainly at her lover, as if unsure who she was. Paige looked up, trembling, at the two imposing figured above her. Slowly, she stood up, legs shaking, and looked down at herself. She was wearing a rich lavender sari, in perfect compliment to Phoebe’s, her hair braided elegantly. Then she looked back up at Phoebe.
“That’s right, baby,” she said tentatively. “I’m here to help you get home.”
“I am home,” Phoebe said tonelessly. She didn’t move as Maya reached out a hand and ran her long, blue fingers through her hair.
“No, Phoebe, home is with your sisters,” Paige said firmly. “Piper and Prue…don’t you remember them?” Paige was trembling, her eyes wide and desperate, looking as if she wanted to move toward Phoebe, but was afraid of making her bolt like a scared animal. Phoebe, for her part, was staring at Paige as if she barely saw her, a blank look on her face as she mouthed her sisters’ names.
“Phoebe does not stay against her will,” Maya simpered, her fingers still playing with Phoebe’s hair like a doll. “Do you wish to return to your sisters, my pet?”
“I have no sisters,” Phoebe finally said, in the same cold, toneless voice.
“What about me, Phoebe?” Paige asked quietly, going unsteadily toward Phoebe on shaking legs. “What about us?” Phoebe continued to look at her blankly. “I know you, Phoebe, I know you can beat this. Fight her dammit!” Paige reached out to take Phoebe’s hand, growling in frustration when her fingers passed right through Phoebe’s flesh.
“How did you do that?” Phoebe murmured, blinking up at Paige as if she finally saw her standing there.
“I’m not really here,” Paige explained softly. “I’m astral projecting…your sisters are anchoring me. I said the spell to call a lost lover. It brought me to you, Phoebe.”
“Lost lover?” Phoebe murmured, confusion evident on her face as her jumbled thoughts began to war with her memory.
“That’s right,” Paige nodded. Even though she knew she couldn’t touch Phoebe, she brought her hand up close to her lover’s face, trying to imagine her hand, real and solid, against Phoebe’s cheek. “I love you, Phoebe, more than anything in this world…and you love me. Don’t you remember what you said after the demon attacked?” Paige’s eyes were wide with desperation, and seemed to have taken on a glassy sheen.
“Nothing could ever make me leave you,” Phoebe murmured. Suddenly, her senses were flooded by memory-the two of them, in the shower, clinging to each other desperately as the hot water pounded over them. Those words borne from her own lips, from her own heart. For a moment, she felt it. It was as if there was a magnet inside her stomach, reaching out to one in Paige’s. Then Maya’s icy laughter filled the chamber, and the fleeting sensations were sliced away, along with the memory.
“Is that the best you have, my dear?” Maya asked Paige tauntingly. “I am quite disappointed in you, pet. But no matter. You may yet live…if that is your desire.” She waved her hand, and a silver goblet appeared in Phoebe’s hand.
“Huh?” Phoebe looked from Maya, to Paige, confusion evident in her wide brown eyes.
“Drink, Paige, and you may be with your beloved for all eternity.” Maya smiled down at the two of them, like some twisted version of a thoughtful grandmother.
“No,” Paige said coldly.
“Then you shall die,” Maya said simply.
“Die?” Phoebe said suddenly, a pained expression warring with the confusion in her features.
“Yeah, baby,” Paige said quietly, continuing to run her fingers as close to Phoebe’s face as she could, drawing out the myth of the physical. “You drank a dark magic potion, and it blocked our connection…it’s poisoning me. Both of us. It’s making you forget who you are.” Phoebe looked at the goblet in her hand, and offered it to Paige, an innocent, eager expression on her face.
“No, Pheebs,” Paige shook her head sadly. “I can’t…I can’t become evil to be with you. I…I love you too much to let that happen.”
“Love her?” Maya shrieked gleefully, her long blue body spasming with laughter. “If she truly loved you, pet, she would do anything for you. To be with you. Yet she thinks only of herself!”
“No,” Paige said harshly, wrenching her eyes away from the penetrating stare of the cruel goddess, to the brown eyes before her, that were, undeniably, still Phoebe’s. “I would do anything to save her…even if it means I have to die.” Phoebe reached out to Paige, trying to touch her. Her hand passed through Paige’s face like air.
“I don’t want you to die,” Phoebe whispered, her voice strained, as if it took a great effort to speak. She held out the goblet again, beseechingly.
“Phoebe, this isn’t you,” Paige whispered ferverently. “You’re a good witch, Phoebe. A Charmed One. You protect the innocent, and you vanquish sorry-ass demons like this hell-bitch every week. You’re a hero, Phoebe…you’re my hero.” Phoebe was now glancing back and forth between the passionate young woman standing before her, and the imposing goddess leering down at her from above. Her lip began to tremble.
“Come back with me, baby,” Paige begged. A blurry numbness began to set into her body, and she shook her head, trying to clear it. “Come home with me, please…remember who you are. Remember who we are.”
“Who are we?” Phoebe asked urgently. But Paige couldn’t answer, as her body began to blur and fade. She put one hand to her head, collapsing to the floor as her body continued to melt away.
“Paige!” Phoebe cried, reaching out blindly to hold onto any part of Paige she could reach. They stared into each other’s eyes, tears spilling down both their cheeks as the energy keeping Paige’s image anchored began to bleed away.
“I love you,” Paige mouthed. Then she disappeared.
“Paige, don’t go!” Phoebe cried, her tears falling freely. “Please!” She looked wildly around the room, her eyes finally settling on the goddess, still enthroned, with a patient expression on her face.
“Make her come back!” Phoebe demanded.
“It is beyond me,” Maya shrugged one blue shoulder unconcernedly. “But no matter, my pet…you shall still be my princess.” The cruel blue smirk faltered momentarily, quickly covered by a nervous swallow. “All of the Underworld shall bow down to you, and mortals shall fear to speak your name.” Princess. The title sparked another memory, somewhere murky and hidden, in the back of her mind…Paige’s lips against her ear, the bright sun warming her back where’s Paige’s gentle hand stroked her skin. Paige calling her princess. Paige kissing her. Paige’s hair grazing against her throat, filling her world with the scent of sweet orange blossoms, and her stomach with pure, liquid joy.
“No,” Phoebe growled. Her eyes locked on the demon goddess above her, as the memories welled up inside her, filling her with love. Tendrils of electricity began to dance over her skin as the light magic rose up inside her, fighting the dark invader.
“What?” Maya asked dangerously, straightening herself on her throne.
“I said no,” Phoebe repeated calmly. Her skin began to glow as the dark magic was forced from her body.
“You cannot deny me,” the goddess of illusion laughed incredulously. “You cannot resist me!”
“I can,” Phoebe countered simply, serenely. “I’m a child of light…and I’m going home now.”
“No!” Maya screamed, a bright blue energy ball appearing in her hand. She flung it at Phoebe as hard as she could. But instead of incinerating Phoebe where she stood, it bounced back off a brilliant white forcefield surrounding the young witch, to ricochet back at the enthroned demon. Maya gave a blood-curdling scream as she was hit with her own energy ball, disintegrating into a pile of ash on the sleek, velvet pillowed throne.
For a moment, Phoebe stood rooted to the spot, blinking and confused. Then, in a rush, all the dark magic left her body in a cloud of poisonous black smoke. Coughing and sputtering, Phoebe fell to her knees as her connection to Paige came flooding painfully back. Painfully, because Paige was in agony. The dark magic that had invaded them both had left Paige as it left Phoebe, but it had done a great deal of damage. Phoebe screamed in pain, doubling over, as a powerful wave of vertigo lanced through her from her lover. Looking up at the ceiling, Phoebe remembered everything.
“Hold on, baby…I’m coming home,” Phoebe said firmly into the empty cavern. Then she orbed out.
*************************************************
Phoebe orbed into her bedroom to find Paige lying unconscious on the bed, drenched in sweat. Piper was beside her, holding a wet washcloth against her forehead. Prue was on her other side, running an ice cube over her lips. Both of them looked utterly exhausted; more than that, they looked drained. They were pale as ghosts. Phoebe opened her mouth, but couldn’t speak. Then Prue looked up.
“Phoebe!” she gasped, jumping up from the bed to hug her little sister. Phoebe hugged her back fiercely, falling back onto the bed as Piper hugged her, too.
“Are you-?” Piper asked hesitantly, searching her little sister for signs of injury.
“I’m fine,” Phoebe said softly, looking down at her unconscious lover, reaching out and taking her limp hand in both of hers. It was hot to the touch. “Leo!” she yelled. Immediately Leo materialized beside them. “Heal her, quick,” Phoebe begged. Leo kneeled down beside Paige, putting his hands out over her overheated body. Light emanated from his hands. For almost a full minute no one spoke, then, with a gasp, Leo removed his hands.
“I can’t, Phoebe,” he said quietly.
“But we vanquished Maya! You got your whitelighter powers back!” Phoebe cried desperately. Her hand went automatically to Paige’s stomach, feeling Paige’s pain as if it were her own.
“I know, I did, but…the damage you did…it’s too severe.” Leo said this part gently, almost apologetically. “Her body has been completely ravaged by dark magic…and it came from you.” Tears burned Phoebe’s eyes, and she squeezed them shut, holding Paige’s hand to her face as she choked back a sob. “There’s just no precedent for secondhand dark-magic poisoning like this, but I think…you’re the only one who can heal her now,” Leo laid a brotherly hand on Phoebe’s shaking shoulder.
“But I d-don’t know how,” Phoebe sobbed.
“Yes you do,” Leo assured her, looking at her hand still resting on Paige’s stomach. “You just haven’t realized it yet.” Phoebe continued to sob, leaning over Paige to brush her damp hair back from her burning hot face. Her breathing was shallow and faint.
“Paige, open your eyes,” Phoebe begged, cupping her girlfriend’s flushed cheek in her hand. “Please, baby, please…don’t leave me. I love you so much. Please don’t make me live without you.” Leaning forward to kiss Paige’s forehead, Phoebe’s tears dripped onto her lover’s hot skin. A dazzling light erupted between the two of them, enveloping them both. Everyone gasped, but Phoebe didn’t even look up. She was completely focused on Paige.
“I love you,” She whispered again, closing her eyes and leaning her head against Paige’s, as the light seemed to seep into them. When Phoebe pulled back, Paige was blinking up at her.
“Close shave,” Paige murmured in a hoarse, croaky voice. Phoebe laughed, tears still streaming down her cheeks, and pulled Paige into her arms, kissing her all over her face.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you…” Phoebe murmured over and over, rocking Paige like a baby in her arms.
“Thanks for saving me,” Paige whispered huskily, her eyes half-lidded with exhaustion.
“You saved me first,” Phoebe smiled through her tears.
“I think it’s a safe bet to say you saved each other…and leave it at that,” Prue advised, wiping away her own tears of joy and relief.
“I couldn’t have done it without your sisters, Phoebe,” Paige smiled up adoringly at Prue and Piper, who beamed back at the pair of them. “Thank you both, so much.”
“Hey, no one messes with our family,” Piper shrugged. “Guess you’re stuck with us now, Paige.”
“Fine by me,” Paige grinned up at Phoebe, who was smoothing back damp locks of hair from her face. “Try not to scare me like that again…OK?”
“Right back at ya, gorgeous.”
“Oh, yeah,” Paige rolled her eyes, laughing weakly as Phoebe placed the cool cloth back against her forehead. “I’m sure I look pretty sizzlin’ right about now…literally.”
“You…” Phoebe whispered, kissing her lightly on the lips, “have never…” another kiss. “Been more beautiful.” With the last kiss, a garden of white lotus blossoms suddenly burst into bloom all around the room, raining down on all of them. As the silky flower petals touched their skin, each one of them felt as if they’d just awoken from a refreshing sleep, flushed with health and well being.
“Wowie-zowie,” Prue commented, flexing her hands and hopping in place. “Thanks for the energy boost, guys.” Paige sat up, rubbing her eyes.
“Was that us?”
“You better believe it, mama. We are one magical powerhouse!” Phoebe wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Hmmm,” Paige drawled. There was a familiar, mischievous glint in her eyes. “I guess we better make sure we don’t get, um…overloaded with…energy.”
“Oh, yeah,” Phoebe nodded eagerly. “You are so right. We need lots of practice to make sure we’re in full control of all these spankin’ new powers.”
“Spanking sounds good to me,” Paige purred. Prue, Piper and Leo all turned bright red.
“Paige!” Phoebe smacked her impish lover playfully on the thigh. “Just for that, you have to catch me first.” Giggling, Phoebe orbed out.
“Oh, like you can hide from me!” Paige laughed devilishly, orbing out a second behind her.
“Well, it’s good to know that those two are back to normal,” Prue commented wryly as Leo and Piper exchanged a glance of their own. “Everybody else feeling…good?”
“Very good,” Piper nodded, her eyes locked on Leo’s.
“Super.” Leo agreed.
“Well, this is just great.” Prue threw up her hands. “Phoebe and Paige get all this new power, and everyone gets a magical happy but me.” She crossed her arms sulkily, but her pouting got no response.
“Wanna go catch the sunrise on a nice private beach in the Caribbean?” Leo asked Piper adoringly. Piper nodded, a huge, dopey smile on her face. They reached out and took each other’s hands. But before they orbed out, Leo looked at Prue, a mysterious smile on his face.
“Don’t worry too much, Prue…I guarantee you, your future won’t be a lonely one.”
“Huh?” Prue looked at him bemusedly. “Leo, what--?” But before she could question her whitelighter further, he and her sister had disappeared into a hazy field of brilliant white lights. Prue shook her head bemusedly. Well, she thought, Phoebe was right about one thing…our lives will never be boring.
Epilogue
Leo orbed in to his regular meeting spot with the elders, at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, amid the sounds of poorly muffled giggling. His first instinct was to play along, but he knew that Piper would kill him if he made her be the bad guy again. With a small smirk, he twitched his “disapproving” face into place.
“All right, any Halliwells up here had better come out by the time I count to five…or there will be no dessert for a week! One…” Predictably, two small sets of legs toddled out from behind a large red pole before he’d even reached two. One belonged to a dark-haired girl of about five; the other to his three year-old son, blue eyes blinking up at him in alarm at the suggestion of no dessert.
“Tara, Chris, I’m very disappointed in you,” Leo said sternly. “What have we told you about playing orb-and-go-seek up here?”
“Out of bounds,” Tara said quietly, hanging her head.
“Shhh, Daddy! We hiding!” Chris exclaimed in a dramatic whisper, clinging to his older cousin earnestly. A moment later, two more small figures orbed in, a blond haired boy slightly older than Tara, and a small, dark-haired toddler dressed in pink Osh-Kosh overalls, her hair falling out of its braids.
“Find you!” The littlest one shrieked, running from her cousin to her sister, gripping her tightly around the waist as she bounced ecstatically up and down. “Lindy find you!” She squealed happily.
“That’s right, Melinda. You found us. Good job!” Tara smiled proudly at her little sister.
“Don’t count,” Chris pouted as his brother took his hand. “Daddy cheated.”
“Did not,” Wyatt insisted. “We already knew you were up here.”
“And what else did you know?” Leo prodded. He was directing his disappointed face mostly at the two oldest children, who, he knew, knew better. And, indeed, Tara and Wyatt exchanged a worried glance before they both looked back at him in trepidation.
“Um, not supposed to play on the bridge,” Wyatt said quietly, looking at his shoes.
“We’re sorry, Uncle Leo,” Tara said earnestly. Her lower lip began to quiver.
“Tara no cry!” Little Melinda exclaimed, reaching up to kiss her big sister before a tear had even fallen. “Tara good girl! No bad. No cry!” Tara giggled, her tears forgotten as she smiled at her adoring little sister.
“That’s right, we’re good girls. And we’re gonna do like Uncle Leo says, right?” The toddler nodded ferverently, her wide-eyed innocence a pure, mirror image of Paige’s whenever Phoebe tried to scold her. Then Tara directed her “mama face” at her two cousins, who were indeed regarding her with the same implicit trust they gave to Piper, their bickering of moments ago forgotten.
“Right, Daddy,” Wyatt agreed. “No more playing on the bridge.”
“All right then,” Leo’s stern face dissolved in a moment to his usual fatherly grin. “Then you four better orb home before all your Uncle Elders show up…or we’re all gonna be in trouble!” Giggling, the four small half-witch, half-angel children orbed out, reappearing a moment later in the sunny kitchen of the manor.
“Oh, and where did you all just orb in from?” Phoebe smiled as the empty kitchen was suddenly filled with hers and her sister’s children.
“Mommy!” Melinda squealed, running to her and hugging her mother’s knees.
“Hi baby,” Phoebe greeted her, picking her up and kissing her. “Would you all like a snack?” An enthusiastic round of “yeahs” met this suggestion. Phoebe looked up at the ceiling. “Paige?” She called out to thin air. A scant moment later, Paige’s figure appeared in the kitchen, dressed in her black teacher’s robes, amid a pool of white light. A few pearly flower petals fell at her feet, which Tara picked up and rubbed happily against her cheek, before pressing her face against Paige’s stomach.
“Hi sweetie,” Paige cooed to her oldest daughter, kissing the top of her head. “What’s up everybody?” Phoebe leaned forward and kissed Paige hello, while little Melinda reached out and flung her arms around Paige’s neck, squealing happily as her parents’ love flowed through her.
“Well,” Phoebe drawled as Paige pulled back from her, lifting her other child into her arms contentedly. “I thought if you were done at Magic School for the day, we could take the kids for a walk to Double Rainbow.”
“Yeah!” Wyatt yelled excitedly.
“Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!” Chris and Melinda both chanted in perfect tandem, like a finely-tuned toddler chorus. Paige looked at Tara, always the last to voice her opinion. Her gentle daughter always preferred for others to have what they wanted, rather than assert her own will, and Paige loved her for that. But she and Phoebe had agreed that it was important to make sure Tara’s voice was always heard; that she felt her needs were just as important as her little sister’s and her cousins’.
“What do you think, sweet girl?” Paige asked, smiling beautifully at her child. Tara looked pensively between her parents, her little sister, and her cousins, all grinning at her with anticipation written on their faces.
“Will you and Mommy share a cookie monster sundae with me, Mama?” Tara asked eagerly.
“I think that might be arranged,” Paige said in a mock-serious voice.
“Yaaay!” All four children hollered, running towards the front door.
“Get your jackets!” Phoebe yelled after them, grinning at Paige. “Why look at that, honey…we’re actually alone in a room.” Smiling back, Paige moved into her arms, kissing her much more thoroughly than she had moments before, with their children in their arms.
“Mmmm…five whole seconds of witchy lovin’. I’m in heaven.” They moved back in for another kiss, when the sound of impatient stamping echoed down the hall, followed by Chris and Melinda’s voices calling out impatiently for ice cream. Laughing, Paige leaned in and gave Phoebe one final kiss. “Tonight,” She promised, grinning lasciviously at the woman who held her world in her hands.
“Abso-freakin’-lutely,” Phoebe agreed. They walked out of the kitchen, fingers entwined, toward their children who stood waiting for them in the brilliant afternoon sun.
THE END
Charmed & Dangerous-Part 7
Summary: Phoebe and Paige come face-to-face with an evil that will test not only their magic, but their love.
Rating: PG-13
Note on cultural appropriation: I am using real gods & goddesses from eastern mythology in this story, and like everything else in the world of fanfic, the incarnation of these figures is entirely fiction. No disrespect to real-world religions is intended.
As soon as Phoebe walked through the attic door, she knew that Piper and Prue had found something, just as she knew it wasn’t something she was going to like. They were standing over the Book of Shadows with grim looks on their faces, and when they saw her, they looked at her the same way they had when, as kids, they’d had to tell her that her goldfish was dead.
“Okay, you two, poker is definitely not your game. So what did you find? Have we ID’d this demon yet, or what?”
“Well…yes and no,” Prue said hesitantly. Phoebe looked at her, nonplussed.
“What she means,” Piper broke in, “is that, well, we found out who this Queen of Shadows person is…but, um…”
“But what, Piper? Spit it out already!” Phoebe growled, growing agitated.
“She’s not a demon, Phoebe.”
“What, then? A warlock?” Phoebe looked back and forth between her sisters, who both seemed to find their shoelaces suddenly fascinating.
“She’s a goddess, Phoebe.” Suddenly the room began to blur. Phoebe could feel her senses pulling away from her, as the sounds of her sisters’ voices faded and the feel of the floor beneath her feet fell away. The next thing she knew, the floor reappeared under her back, and she was staring up at Prue and Piper’s worried faces.
“Whaaa?” Phoebe groaned dazedly as Prue began to pick her up off the floor. Before she had even risen to a sitting position, however, Paige came bursting in, eyes wild.
“Phoebe! Are you okay? What happened?” Paige rushed to Phoebe’s other side, searching her for hidden injuries.
“I’m okay, honey…I think I just fainted for a second.” Phoebe rubbed her eyes, feeling the acute vertigo drain away as Paige’s fingers ran over her scalp, looking for a bump or a bruise. She leaned into the warm arms supporting her, and allowed Paige and Prue to help her stand up.
“Paige, how did you know?” Piper asked curiously, once they were all satisfied that Phoebe wasn’t in any immediate danger.
“I don’t know,” Paige answered honestly as all eyes in the room fell on her. “I think…I think it was the same thing that happened to Phoebe when that demon attacked me this morning.”
“Did you feel me?” Phoebe asked softly, her hand resting on Paige’s flat stomach. Paige nodded, and they shared a look that was both confused and knowing at the same time.
“Are you two going telepathic on us?” Piper asked nervously, looking between them. “Cause, if you are, it would explain why Maya is after you.”
“Maya Shakti?” Paige asked in a hushed whisper, tearing her eyes away from Phoebe to look at Piper and the book.
“You know about her?” Prue asked, her entire manor changing in an instant from ‘big sister time’ to ‘demon hunter time.’
“Well, I know about her place in Hindu and Buddhist mythology…I don’t know if it has anything to do with, y’know, reality…” Paige trailed off uncertainly, suddenly unsure of herself. The idea of ‘real’ mythology was giving her a bit of a headache. Phoebe reached out and put her hands on Paige’s temples, rubbing them gently. Paige smiled at her.
“You felt that?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Wow.”
“I know.”
“O-kay, you two are starting to freak me out,” Piper said in her high-pitched, I’m-trying-not-to-panic voice.
“We can feel each other’s feelings, Piper,” Phoebe explained calmly. “I don’t really understand it…but I know it’s right. Just like I know that your head feels better now,” she said to Paige, smiling and kissing her temple as she removed her fingers.
“Are we talking, E.T. style, you-hurt-I-hurt, or full on, I-read-the-book-and-you-know-what-it-says?” Prue asked with interest.
“Column A, I think,” Paige said, with a glace to Phoebe who nodded in agreement.
“It’s not words…it doesn’t happen up here,” Phoebe explained, tapping her forehead.
“Yeah,” Paige agreed, “it’s more visceral. I didn’t know what had happened upstairs, just that Phoebe was scared and in pain.”
“Just like I knew this morning with the demon,” Phoebe nodded as the pieces began to click together.
“Is it possible they’re developing some sort of joint power?” Piper mused, looking automatically to her older sister for validation.
“Anything’s possible,” Prue admitted. “We really don’t have enough to go on yet…I’d like to get back to what Paige knows about our bad guy-I mean, gal.” Everyone looked at Paige. Paige shrugged.
“I only know what everyone who took “Intro to Eastern Religions” last quarter knows…” When the sisters looked at her blankly, Paige elaborated. “Okay, Maya Shakti, she’s the Goddess of Illusion. She creates the myth of the self, of separation from the whole.”
“So now we’re the myths?” Piper asked.
“No…” Paige sighed. “See, it’s hard to understand Eastern philosophy with a Western mindset. I’m not sure I’m even explaining it well. See, in Hindu mythology…Buddhist too…the world began in pure unity, a single, great consciousness. That’s what the Ohm represents.” The Charmed Ones nodded, all of them familiar with the soothing mantra from their own meditations.
“So,” Paige continued, “When the perfection of that unified consciousness was broken…all these little pieces of divine consciousness were shattered, and they all fell into the world and they just, you know, kind of play with each other. Each believing in their own autonomy, the idea of self in opposition to other, me versus you, mine versus yours. And they lose sight of the fact that they’re all just refractions of each other.” Phoebe was nodding, but Prue and Piper were still looking at her the way her classmates in study section did when they didn’t want to admit they weren’t following her.
“Okay,” Paige said brightly, settling on a new approach. “Imagine that your foot suddenly sees itself in opposition to your arm. Imagine that all your body parts have their own, separate consciousness, and each one sees itself as an autonomous unit. How well would your body function? How would blood flow through your circulatory system?”
There was a collective Ohhhhhh, as everyone in the room finally came up to speed.
“Everyone in your class knows all that?” Phoebe asked impishly, looking up at Paige adoringly.
“More or less,” Paige shrugged, giving Phoebe a lopsided smile.
“Well I’m starting to get a picture here,” Prue said slowly. “This Maya chick…or goddess…or whatever…she feeds off separation, divisiveness. So anyone who can overcome that, and become part of each other they way you two have, is obviously a threat to her.”
“In the stories we read in class, she came after Buddha and tried to get him to renounce the path of truth by tempting him with all the sins of the flesh…wine and women and everything…kind of parallel to the whole, ‘Last Temptation of Christ’ story.” Paige said musingly. “When he wouldn’t give in to her, she became enraged, and tried to destroy him, but his tranquility in the path of truth was so great, that her powers backfired on her and she ended up sending herself to hell…or at least, something like that. I’m not sure there’s a Buddhist version of hell, per se. Plus, I think Gods and Goddesses have their own afterlife-y deal. I dunno, maybe she got karmically recycled or something.”
“Well she’s here now, maybe she worked her way back up the chain,” Prue mused. “After all, it has been about five thousand years since she took on the happy fat guy.” Phoebe cringed.
“Are you saying she’s been juicing up for five millennia to come after us? We’re not the freaking Buddha!” Phoebe cried, her heart pounding as the enormity of the situation hit her.
“But you are bodhisattvas,” Leo stated calmly as he orbed in beside them.
“Bodhi-what now?” Piper quirked her eyebrows at her husband.
“It means they’re spiritual warriors,” Leo explained serenely. “Those whose purpose is to enlighten the world, to be an example to others by living in truth, love and harmony.” He was looking at Phoebe and Paige as he spoke, both of whom were draining of color rapidly.
“No, Leo,” Paige shook her head stubbornly, “this is some sort of mistake. We’re not-I’m not-it’s just mythology!” She finished desperately.
“Like angels?” Leo asked impishly, smiling benignly at her like a favorite niece.
“And witches?” Prue added, coming to stand next to Leo. Paige continued to shake her head, staring at the floor. Phoebe was staring at nothing, in a complete daze.
“That’s why you never developed an active power like your sisters, Phoebe,” Leo continued in the same gentle, calming voice. “Your path lies in the way of peace…your destiny is with Paige, to usher in an era of utopia, by elevating humanity’s capacity for compassion to a new level. Culminating with your firstborn daughter.” Both Phoebe and Paige jerked their heads up at these words, staring at Leo with mouths agape, like fish out of water.
“Leo, are you trying to give me a heart attack?” Phoebe managed to gasp out, leaning back against Paige for support. She could feel Paige’s heart thudding wildly in her chest, and she hardly needed the new empathic power they shared to know that her girlfriend was freaking out as much as she was. She took Paige’s hand and lead them both to the couch before their knees gave out.
“You wanted to know!” Leo exclaimed exasperatedly.
“The prophecy?’ Paige asked weakly. Leo nodded.
“Maya’s return has tipped the balance between good and evil…and the Universe always maintains its own alignment. Destiny has chosen you two because the purity of your love has enabled you to see past the socially constructed notions of separateness, to a level of consciousness where self and other are flipsides of the same coin. Your magic is elevated at the same time. Only a couple whose love is blessed by divine light can conceive the child who will usher in utopia…the goddess of compassion incarnate.”
“Conceive?” Paige looked daggers at Leo. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Leo, but Phoebe and I don’t exactly have all the necessary equipment between us for any conceiving.” Her eyes blazed.
“Honey-“ Phoebe began, laying a placating hand on Paige’s arm.
“No!” Paige yelled, jerking her arm away. Her eyes shone with tears that spilled down her cheeks as she tried to blink them away. “Do you think that’s funny, Leo? To dangle something like that in front of a couple of girls? You think I haven’t lain awake at night, daydreaming about what it would be like to be able to make a baby with the person you love? To make a life, a real human being, out of love? I can’t have that, Leo!” Paige screamed, hot tears running down her cheeks.
“Baby,” Phoebe murmured, reaching out to take Paige’s face between her hands. As her palms made contact with Paige’s tearstained cheeks, they both gasped and went rigid.
Phoebe saw the scene just like she always did-from outside of herself, like a dream, where she was the invisible narrator. She was not inside her body, or any body, for that matter. She looked down and saw herself, asleep in her own bed, with Paige wrapped snugly around her. It was obviously some time in the future, because they both had different hairstyles; Paige was now strawberry blond, while Phoebe’s hair was jet-black and cut in stylish layers. Phoebe couldn’t help thinking how adorable they looked together. Paige was thinking it, too. Paige was there with her-not the her in the bed, the real her, watching form outside themselves. They couldn’t talk to each other, as they lacked bodies, mouths, and vocal cords, but it didn’t matter. They could feel each other’s presence, and both knew they were together and safe.
Then a tiny field of blue-white lights appeared at the foot of the bed, and a little girl-no more than three or four-orbed onto their feet. The Paige and Phoebe on the bed didn’t wake up. The little girl crawled quietly up their bodies, pulling back the fluffy comforter to reveal a very pregnant Paige. The dark haired child then pushed up Paige’s pajama top and spoke directly to her stomach.
“Good morning, baby,” the child whispered. “Are you ready to be born?” Then she laid her head down against Paige’s bellybutton, kissing it, and looking as if she were listening for a response. She closed her eyes, smiling serenely.
“Good morning, baby girl,” Paige murmured sleepily, her hand ruffling the dark hair spilling over her belly.
“Mama, the baby’s hungry! She wants chocolate,” The little one said with absolute conviction.
“Don’t I know it,” Paige agreed, opening her eyes to gaze adoringly at her child.
“Mmmm…” Phoebe was waking up now, too, nuzzling her face into Paige’s neck, her hand going automatically to the round tummy already being showered with love. “Baby always gets what she wants…” she drawled sleepily, blinking open her eyes. Paige smirked and kissed her. Watching the tender scene unfold, Phoebe couldn’t help but notice the wedding ring that adorned her finger resting on Paige’s swollen belly.
“Mommy,” the child said to Phoebe, “what did I like to eat when I was in your tummy?” She crawled further up to snuggle between her parents, pulling Phoebe’s arm around her as she nuzzled into Paige’s hair, just like her mommy.
“Welllll…” Phoebe grinned, exchanging a mischievous look with Paige, “the first thing you liked me to eat was…Brussels sprouts!”
“It was not!” the little girl shrieked, a grin on her face. “It was watermelon!”
“Oh, that’s right,” Phoebe said, smacking her forehead in a exaggerated way. “Then after that, you were always thirsty for milk. Milk, milk, milk! I drank so much milk I thought I was gonna turn into a cow.”
“I wouldn’t turn you into a cow, silly Mommy,” the little girl giggled, her dark eyes shining with glee.
“I know, honey,” Phoebe smiled. “And I certainly remember the last thing you wanted before you were born…” Phoebe trailed off, looking at Paige adoringly. Paige smiled back.
“Chocolate chip pancakes!!!” The child shrieked, bouncing on the bed excitedly.
“Sound good, baby?” Phoebe asked, stroking Paige’s tummy absently as they got lost in each other’s eyes.
“Sounds perfect,” Paige hummed, leaning forward to give Phoebe another slow, sweet kiss.
“Does that mean the baby will come out soon?” The little girl asked eagerly.
“Hmmm, didn’t she tell you when she’d be ready to come out?” Paige asked teasingly, stroking her daughter’s dark, silky hair and pushing it behind her ears.
“Awww, she doesn’t know,” the child shrugged. “I don’t think she even knows she’s ever gonna come out! She doesn’t know what it’s like!” She looked up at her parents, frustration and confusion evident in her eyes. “If she doesn’t decide when it’s time to be born, and you don’t decide, then who does?” Paige looked at Phoebe, a doesn’t-our-daughter-ask-smart-questions expression on her face.
“Nobody decides, Tara,” Phoebe explained patiently. “Just like nobody decides when it’s time for the sun to set, or the tide to come in. Things happen when they’re ready to happen…just like the plums in the back yard fall off the tree when they’re ripe.” The little girl nodded.
“Nature always knows when things are ready,” she said wisely.
Phoebe gasped and opened her eyes. Paige was next to her, clutching her hand. For a moment they just stared at each other, wordlessly. Then Phoebe reached up and gave Paige the tenderest, sweetest kiss of her life.
“Uh…guys?” Piper asked hesitantly. “Wanna tell us what ya saw?”
“Um…” Phoebe looked up with a blush coloring her cheeks. “Let’s just say, we won’t have to argue over what to name our first child.”
“I wonder what we were gonna name the one on the way?” Paige mused, a giddy grin plastered on her face. Prue and Piper started blankly between the two dazed lovers on the couch, and Leo, who was smiling at them like a proud grandpa.
“Leo, how…?” Piper trailed off, unable to voice her question.
“Don’t you know by now, Piper?” Leo smiled at his wife. “When witches and white lighters get together, there’s enough magic in the air to do anything…creating life comes naturally.” Piper grinned back at her husband. They’d been worried that they might not be able to have a baby of their own lately, after Piper’s doctor had informed her that she had scar tissue in her womb. Apparently, it wasn’t such a problem after all. Piper threw her arms around Leo, and, incongruously, burst out laughing.
“Will SOMEBODY please tell me SOMETHING!” Prue finally yelled, getting fed up with being left out of the loop.
“Sorry,” Phoebe said sheepishly, as she and Paige came up for air. “In a nutshell? We saw our daughter. And her name is…”
“Tara?” Leo asked gently. Phoebe nodded, her mouth slightly open.
“Wait a minute,” Paige said, holding up her hand. “Leo, you said…goddess of compassion incarnate…you didn’t mean…our daughter…she’s not…Tara, like, the green tara? Is she?” Leo and Paige were looking at each other in a knowing way, while everyone else just looked confused.
“I’m cashing in all my chips here, people,” Prue said finally. “So will someone please buy me a clue?”
“Well,” Paige said slowly, “the green tara is the Japanese name for the goddess Avalokiteshvara…she’s like the Hindu archetype of infinite compassion. She was sorta one of Buddha’s right-hand men. Or women. You know.”
“And now she’s coming back as your daughter?” Piper asked incredulously.
“Not now, now,” Phoebe said in a squeaky voice. “I mean, we haven’t even finished college yet! We aren’t even married! We need time and charts and prenatal vitamins and oh god do we need protection? Like, magical safe sex?” Both girls looked at Leo to answer this question, who in turn went several shades of red.
“Um, magical conception only happens when a great force of intention is behind it. You can’t, um…do it…by accident.”
“Oh.” Phoebe gave a huge sigh of relief.
“Good,” Paige nodded. “I mean, I’m as eager as the next girl to be the mother of a reincarnated goddess, but Phoebe’s right, we’re way not ready.” She looked at her shell-shocked girlfriend and smiled devilishly. “You looked so cute with your hair all wild and black,” she murmured, her fingers grazing over Phoebe’s collarbone.
“Hmmm, you were pretty foxy as a redhead, Mama,” Phoebe purred. The look that passed between them raised the temperature in the room several degrees.
“Don’t even go there, you two,” Prue said dangerously, slamming her hand down on the Book of Shadows for emphasis. “We still have a lot of work to do! I think we need to figure out exactly what new powers Paige and Phoebe have, so we at least have a shot of fighting back when Queen whatever shows up.”
“Well, we’ve seen that Paige gets premonitions now,” Piper mused, “and they both have this emotional link with each other…do you think there’s any more?”
“There is,” Leo said. “Paige is beginning to come into her full powers as a white lighter…and she’s sharing them with Phoebe.”
“Are you crazy?” Phoebe looked at Leo like a three-headed monkey. “I can’t orb!”
“Are you sure?” Leo challenged. Then he stood up, grabbed an athame off the nearest shelf, and flung it at Phoebe. Phoebe shrieked and immediately orbed out, reappearing behind Piper.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Paige yelled angrily, glaring daggers at Leo.
“Teaching Phoebe about her new powers,” Leo said simply. “If anything had gone wrong, you could’ve healed her anyway.”
“Leo, you know I can’t heal.”
In the middle of the argument, just as everyone was beginning to reorient themselves, no less than fifteen fire-throwing, yellow-eyed demons appeared around them.
“Prepare for the coming of the darkness!” The lead demon roared, as four of them grabbed Prue and Piper, holding their arms behind their backs so they couldn’t use their powers. Two of them threw potions at Leo and Paige. The remaining demons all jumped on Phoebe, tackling her.
“Phoebe!” Paige screamed, as a gut-wrenching pain lanced through her, as if a part of her own body were being torn away from her. She gasped and doubled over. When she raised her head, all the demons were gone-and so was Phoebe.
Charmed & Dangerous: Part 8
Summary: Paige must band together with Phoebe’s sisters to save her from the Underworld. Part 1 of the conclusion!
Rating: R (for language)
Paige stood rooted to the spot, staring at the place where Phoebe had been moments before. Piper’s groan of pain snapped her out of her daze as she glanced over and saw both her girlfriend’s sisters raising themselves off the floor, looking much the worse for wear. Piper had a trickle of blood running from her nose, and Prue sported a nasty slash mark across her upper arm.
“Leo,” Prue said weakly, holding out her arm to him. He rushed to her side and put his hand out over her arm, preparing to heal her. But nothing happened.
“Leo?” Piper said uncertainly. “What’s the matter?”
“I can’t heal her,” Leo said in a shaky voice. “That potion the demons threw at me…it must have been a binding potion.” He looked up at Paige grimly. “They got you too, didn’t they?” Paige looked helplessly between them all, as guilt poured over her thin frame like molten lead. She nodded. Then she tried to orb. Her eyes squeezed shut as she balled her hands into fists, and appeared to hold her breath for almost thirty seconds. Finally, with a gasp she relaxed.
“Fuck,” Paige whispered brokenly. She glanced around the room in a manic sort of way, eyes glazed, as if searching for a solution in the remains of the ransacked attic. Then she snapped her fingers and ran for the stairs. Piper and Prue glanced curiously at each other, and followed, Prue still pressing a ripped bit of her shirt to her bleeding arm. They found Paige standing in the middle of the kitchen, eyes closed, holding a small spice jar up to her face and breathing deeply. She sneezed violently, but didn’t orb. When she opened her eyes and found herself stationary, she howled in frustration and threw the jar of cinnamon into the corner, where it shattered.
“Fuck…” she whispered again, her voice small and lost. She was staring into space, as if she were in shock. And, they thought, she probably was. Paige wiped her nose listlessly against the back of her hand, and sneezed again.
“Here, sweetie, blow your nose,” Piper said gently, handing her a box of Kleenex from the counter and laying a comforting hand on her back. Paige accepted the offering, blowing her nose and rubbing her eyes roughly, blinking up at Piper as if she had suddenly realized she wasn’t alone in the room. Piper felt a fierce protectiveness rising up inside her for this girl, her sister’s lover. In some intangible way, she already felt that Paige was a part of their family, and her need to protect this younger girl was as strong in her as her need to protect Phoebe. She knew that Paige was her own person, and not just a part of Phoebe; but the connection between them was so palpable, Piper felt as if Paige were her little sister, now, too.
“We’re gonna get her back, Paige,” Piper said quietly, an edge of hard steel in her voice. “That’s a promise.” Paige nodded, as Prue came up on her other side. They all moved to the table, where Piper got out the first aid kit and began cleaning up Prue’s arm as they worked out how to rescue Phoebe from an evil goddess.
“If she’s in the underworld, we won’t be able to scry for her,” Prue pointed out unnecessarily.
“She is,” Leo said. “It explains why I can’t sense her anywhere.”
“I can,” Paige said quietly. All heads in the room turned to her.
“But-“ Piper began, confusion evident on her face.
“That potion Leo and I got hit with, it bound our whitelighter powers…” Paige was staring at the tablecloth, a little spaced out, as if half of her attention were elsewhere. “But Phoebe’s and my connection, it doesn’t have anything to do with that. I can sense her…no matter where she is.”
“What are you sensing right now?” Prue asked carefully.
“She’s unconscious.” Paige said flatly. “Which I guess is good, cause if they wanted to kill her, they probably would have done it already.” Her eyes were still boring a hole in the tablecloth.
“What about the spell to call a lost lover?” Piper said suddenly. “Paige could say it, and if it works it’ll take her straight to Phoebe.”
“No Piper, she’ll astral project straight to Phoebe. She’d be totally defenseless, and without powers.” Piper frowned at this snag.
“Could that work?” Paige asked suddenly, looking up at them for the first time. “Don’t you have to be a witch to say spells and stuff?”
“Normally, yes,” Piper agreed. “But you’re sort of part-witch now, in the sense that you’re sharing powers with Phoebe. I mean, you got a premonition. Have you tried levitating?” Paige screwed up her face in concentration, raised her palms up slightly from her sides, and hovered several feet above the floor.
“That’s great!” Prue exclaimed. “So, even though you can’t use your whitelighter powers, you’re not completely defenseless.”
“Great, where’s the spell?” Paige asked as she touched back down.
“Whoa, nelly,” Piper held up her hand in a move that reminded Paige fiercely of Phoebe. “You can’t just go running off half-cocked, we need a plan. Prue was right, you won’t be able to defend yourself very well, if at all, in astral form. And our powers aren’t very predictable in the underworld, to begin with. We’re not sending you down there by yourself. We’ll find another way.”
“What if there is no other way, Piper?’ Paige asked desperately. “What if they start torturing her while we’re looking for one?” This hit a nerve with everyone. “Just send me down there,” Paige pleaded, “and then you guys can look up some kind of antidote for the binding potion, and come after me.” This suggestion was greeted by dead silence.
“Please,” Paige begged, looking around at all of them. “I can’t…I can’t know that there’s a way I could get to her, and not take it. And if anything does happen to her,” Paige continued with a nervous swallow, “it’ll hurt me just as much whether I’m standing here,” she gestured around the kitchen, “or right next to her.”
“Paige…” Piper reached out and took Paige’s hand, squeezing it hard. “I know you’re scared…we all are. But believe me when I say we will not let anything happen to Phoebe. And we’re certainly not about to lose you, too. Let us at least try to look for another solution, okay? If we can’t…then at least we’ve got a plan B. Deal?”
“Okay,” Paige agreed dejectedly.
Miles below, Phoebe slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a dark, moist cavern, draped in blood red silks. Flickering light danced on the walls from the hanging torches that circled the open area, and there was a trickling sound which turned out to be wine spouting from a fountain, carved in the shape of a woman with four arms, who wore a necklace of human heads. Around her waist was a belt of hands, dangling from jutting white wrist bones. Her face was nightmarish, mouth open as if in a scream of fury, and the wine poured out over her tongue. Glancing around at all of this in a daze, only half-awake, Phoebe had no idea where she was at first. All she knew was that she was cold, she was bruised, and she was alone.
“Paige?” She murmured.
“Ohhh, you won’t be needing her anymore,” a smoky, almost gravelly voice echoed out of the darkness. Phoebe sat up, jaw dropping open, as a figure materialized out of the shadows. This woman was not the four-armed monster that she had expected…if indeed she could be called a woman. She did, after all, have blue skin. But aside from that (any maybe even a little bit because of it), she was quite devastatingly beautiful. She wore a rich, teal colored silk sari accented with gold embroidery, the fabric seeming to literally spill over her body, like a river. It didn’t spill over that much of her body, though, and Phoebe’s mouth went automatically dry at the sight of all that vibrant blue skin.
“Now, shall you be a good girl if I untie you, pet?” Phoebe hadn’t even roused herself enough to realize she was tied up yet. “Or are we in need of convincing?” She smiled in a decidedly sultry way, as if the thought of the convincing gave her great pleasure. Phoebe said nothing. She couldn’t even blink. There was something almost paralyzing in the very air of this place…it was like liquid, like she was dissolving. She could feel the dark magic pouring over her, cold, sharp, like jagged shards of ice. It hurt, she didn’t like it-and yet-there was something, something that was pulling her in deeper, telling her she liked this pain. She felt her own magic begin to reach out to meet the icy tendrils curling toward her.
“So easily you come to me,” The blue skinned goddess laughed mirthlessly. She took an impressive looking silver goblet from a pedestal, and filled it with wine from the statue’s mouth. “Perhaps your little girlfriend is not as powerful as I had presumed.” Phoebe glanced up at her captor, to the tiny gold bindi bead between her eyes. Her dark, brown, almond-shaped eyes.
“Paige!” Phoebe cried, as if calling her whitelighter girlfriend to appear before her. But nothing happened. The cruel goddess laughed again, more wantonly.
“She will not save you!” For a moment the blue-skinned goddess’s eyes flashed with fire-not metaphorical fire, but actual, living flame. “She did not come when you called! I have not masked your essence from her. If she wanted to come to you, she could freely do so!”
“No,” Phoebe whimpered, shaking her head violently as fat teardrops began to fall. “You’re lying. She wants to come…she wants to be with me. You did something to her.”
“Are you sure that’s what you’re sensing, child?” The demon goddess asked like a cruel governess. Phoebe closed her eyes, blocking out the hellish scene before her, trying to focus on finding Paige. Baby, where are you? She called out in her mind, knowing that words were useless. But then she felt something-something warm and breathing in the pit of her stomach. Paige. She tried to focus on it…but when she did, she ran up against a sharp volt of what felt like electric fencing. Phoebe screamed in pain, dark hair falling in her eyes as she writhed.
“You see,” the goddess purred, “She does not want you anymore. I, on the other hand, do.” She held the wine goblet to Phoebe’s lips. Phoebe turned her head to the side, pressing her lips together like a child refusing her medicine. But the heady fumes of the dark, rich liquid were wafting over her like a siren’s call…everything began to be hazy and muddled. She couldn’t remember where she was; only that Paige had left her here. And the goblet in front of her offered escape from the pain coursing through her. After a moment’s hesitation, Phoebe opened her mouth.
In the manor, things were not progressing the way Piper had hoped. The four of them-Piper, Prue, Leo and Paige-had not found any plan A to replace their plan B, and as the hour grew later, all were having trouble keeping their eyes open. Piper glanced at Paige, who was curled up on the couch with a pile of spell books in her lap, eyes out of focus. She nudged Prue, glancing at the couch significantly.
“Paige,” she said gently, putting a hand out to shake the dozing girl’s shoulder gently. Paige started, eyes opening fully as she looked up at Piper and Prue. “It’s getting late…you should stay with us tonight, okay? It’s not safe for you back at your dorm.”
“Yeah,” Prue nodded, “you can stay in Phoebe’s room. We’ll start again in the morning.” They fully expected for Paige to insist that they continue researching, and argue that they couldn’t rest while Phoebe was in danger. But Paige just nodded blankly, and rose to cross the attic. She left without a word.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Piper asked, knowing it was a stupid question as soon as it was out of her mouth. Prue sighed, and Leo just looked at her.
“I think…” Prue said quietly. “I think that in the morning, we’re going to have to let Paige say the lost lovers’ spell. It’s the only way.”
“It’s suicide,” Piper whispered, a tremor in her voice. “We’ll lose them both.”
“We have to trust Paige, Piper,” Leo said gently. “And Phoebe. We have to trust that they can beat this, together…it is their destiny after all.” Piper looked from her husband, to her big sister, and nodded.
“Well, I’m going to bed…after I check on Paige.” Piper sighed.
“I’ll come with,” Prue offered, and left Leo to put away their research books. Together, the two sisters went down to their third sister’s room, both wishing she would be there to greet them with her devilish, playful smile. But when they got there, of course, they did not find their sister. Instead, they found their sister’s other half, another dark-haired, powerfully magical girl, who at the moment was curled up in a ball on the bed, her sobs muffled by the pillow clutched in her arms. Without a word passing between them, Piper and Prue went over to the bed, and lay down on either side of Paige, holding her and stroking her hair. Paige didn’t acknowledge them at first, but after a few moments during which neither of them told her not to cry, or that everything was gonna be all right, she threw herself on Piper’s neck, clinging to her for dear life.
“We’ve got you, Paige,” Piper murmured, her eyes filling with tears as she and Prue looked at each other. “You can cry. It’s okay.” Prue reached out and took Piper’s hand over the crying girl’s shoulder, squeezing her sister’s hand tight. Then she gently began to rub Paige’s shaking back, all of them falling into a light doze as the sobs subsided. Soon, the three of them were fast asleep on Phoebe’s bed.
Paige was walking down a long corridor draped in blue silk. It was cold. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to remember what she had come for.
“Phoebe?” she called out in a small voice, which nonetheless fractured and echoed down the seemingly endless walkway. A thousand Paiges called for a thousand Phoebes as the echo died away. Then a cruel, icy laugh wafted toward her. The very feel of that laugh vibrating through her body made Paige’s blood run cold.
“You shouldn’t have come, Paige.” The cold voice that spoke sent a terror into Paige that ran deeper than any she’d ever known. It wasn’t…couldn’t be…
“Phoebe? …Baby?” Paige asked hesitantly.
“Idiot child!” Phoebe’s eyes blazed with fire as she emerged from out of the shadows. She was dressed in a blood-red sari, hair swept up regally, with a gold bindi bead between her eyes that seemed to wink sinisterly at Paige. “Did you think this would end with kisses and rainbows, Paige?” Phoebe’s eyes, normally full of love for her, were boring into Paige like ice, freezing her from the inside out. She raised her hand, and a lotus blossom flowered out of her palm. Phoebe jerked her own hand across her chest, and the blossom was gone-cut away, leaving a bloody slash across Paige’s hand.
“I’m not leaving you here, Phoebe,” Paige gasped out through the pain.
“You don’t have a choice!” Phoebe spat, and before she knew what was happening, Paige felt a wall of dark magic slam into her like a ton of bricks, throwing her backwards through the cavern, tumbling through the icy vacuum of space that separated the underworld from the earth above.
“NO!” Paige awoke screaming. Prue and Piper were awake in an instant, holding Paige tight as she twisted and writhed.
“It’s just a nightmare, Paige,” Prue said soothingly. “It’s okay, you’re okay.”
“No!” Paige cried again. “It wasn’t a nightmare! It’s real! I have to go, I have to go to Phoebe!” Piper grabbed Paige’s right hand as she tried to jerk free of them, and gasped. Paige’s hand was dripping with blood.
Charmed & Dangerous: Part 9 (Conclusion)
A Phoebe & Paige story
By JewWitch
Rating: R
Piper was so surprised by the blood dripping onto her from Paige’s hand, that she momentarily let go of the writhing girl. Left with only Prue holding her down, Paige wrenched away with a surprising bolt of strength, scrambling from the bed before the sisters could make a grab for her. The moment her feet hit the floor, though, Paige’s knees buckled under her. With a groan, Paige collapsed to her hands and knees. Then she retched, and a large volume of slimy black liquid splattered against the floor, smelling strongly of paint thinner. Tendrils of silvery-blue electrical currents danced across the surface.
“Oh my God,” Prue murmured, as Piper scrambled to Paige’s side, pulling her hair back with one hand and rubbing her back with the other. “Leo!” Prue yelled. A moment later, Leo came running from his and Piper’s bedroom.
“What’s happening, Paige?” Piper asked urgently. “Did something…is something happening to Phoebe?”
“Dark m-magic,” Paige stuttered, shivering madly. Her face and throat had taken on a dark red flush. “Blocking m-my link.”
“It must be Maya,” Prue said as she helped Piper pull Paige back up to the bed. “She’s hurting Phoebe. We have to go down there!”
“N-no,” Paige ground out through her chattering teeth. “N-not Maya…Phoebe. She’s b-b-blocking me. M-Maya…m-made her evil. That’s why…the d-dark m-magic.”
“Prue, she’s so hot,” Piper whispered, her hand resting on Paige’s burning forehead.
“It’s dark magic poisoning,” Leo said grimly. He pulled Paige’s cut hand into the light. The blood oozing from her palm was beginning to turn black, too. He shared a pained look with Piper. “If Phoebe was force-fed a dark potion, it would do the same thing to her. But if she took it willingly…it would, um…” Leo looked at the floor, unable to hold Piper’s eyes as he said the last part. “Turn her evil.”
“Then why is this happening to Paige?” Piper asked desperately.
“Because they’re connected…and Paige didn’t take the potion willingly. There’s dark magic in her now, in the place where Phoebe is, and her body is rejecting it…like a disease.”
“So, what do we do? Make an antidote? Something in the book?”
“Piper, we can’t help her now,” Leo said quietly. “Only Phoebe can. If Phoebe rejects the dark magic, they’ll both be freed from it. If not…” He couldn’t say the rest: if not, Paige dies, and Phoebe becomes the next demon we have to kill.
“B-b-bring me the s-spell,” Paige called weakly. Piper was now holding the trembling girl in her arms, as Paige was too weak to sit up on her own.
“Paige, you can’t,” Piper said firmly. “You can’t even stand up! How do you expect to fight a demon?”
“Don’t n-need to stand up,” Paige insisted, fighting to retain her focus as the room began to swim. “I j-just need to s-say the s-spell…j-just n-need to get to Phoebe.” Piper and Prue looked at each other, then at Paige, who was now slick with sweat. They noticed, too, that the veins in her arms and neck were beginning to darken under her skin.
“It’ll never work,” Piper whispered brokenly.
“It will if you and Prue anchor her,” Leo countered firmly. “If you give her enough of your magical energy to sustain her while she’s projecting…she can do it. It’s the only way, Piper.”
“Leo’s right. We can do this Piper,” Prue swore. “We can do this for Phoebe.”
“Go get the book, Prue,” Piper said grimly.
Cruel laughter echoed through the Underworld as the blue-skinned goddess reclined in her throne, her new pet witch sitting obediently at her feet.
“You were perfect, my darling, simply perfect,” she purred.
“Thank you, my queen,” Phoebe said icily, looking up at her unblinkingly.
“Soon your beloved shall come to us…to you,” Maya amended her statement. “She shall come as long as she thinks she can ‘save’ you from me…tell me, my exquisite little witch…do you want to be saved?” Phoebe smiled wickedly up at her queen, but did not speak. Maya’s cruel laughter pierced the Underworld like ice. “I suppose that question was…rhetorical,” she purred. “Soon I shall have you both…and your powers shall become stronger than you ever imagined. Together, you and your dark angel shall bring the world to its knees. And I shall feed once again!”
A bright white light suddenly filled the room. Phoebe jumped to her feet, startled. A figure materialized in front of the fountain, curled in a ball. Dark hair spilled onto the floor.
“Paige--?” Phoebe looked uncertainly at her lover, as if unsure who she was. Paige looked up, trembling, at the two imposing figured above her. Slowly, she stood up, legs shaking, and looked down at herself. She was wearing a rich lavender sari, in perfect compliment to Phoebe’s, her hair braided elegantly. Then she looked back up at Phoebe.
“That’s right, baby,” she said tentatively. “I’m here to help you get home.”
“I am home,” Phoebe said tonelessly. She didn’t move as Maya reached out a hand and ran her long, blue fingers through her hair.
“No, Phoebe, home is with your sisters,” Paige said firmly. “Piper and Prue…don’t you remember them?” Paige was trembling, her eyes wide and desperate, looking as if she wanted to move toward Phoebe, but was afraid of making her bolt like a scared animal. Phoebe, for her part, was staring at Paige as if she barely saw her, a blank look on her face as she mouthed her sisters’ names.
“Phoebe does not stay against her will,” Maya simpered, her fingers still playing with Phoebe’s hair like a doll. “Do you wish to return to your sisters, my pet?”
“I have no sisters,” Phoebe finally said, in the same cold, toneless voice.
“What about me, Phoebe?” Paige asked quietly, going unsteadily toward Phoebe on shaking legs. “What about us?” Phoebe continued to look at her blankly. “I know you, Phoebe, I know you can beat this. Fight her dammit!” Paige reached out to take Phoebe’s hand, growling in frustration when her fingers passed right through Phoebe’s flesh.
“How did you do that?” Phoebe murmured, blinking up at Paige as if she finally saw her standing there.
“I’m not really here,” Paige explained softly. “I’m astral projecting…your sisters are anchoring me. I said the spell to call a lost lover. It brought me to you, Phoebe.”
“Lost lover?” Phoebe murmured, confusion evident on her face as her jumbled thoughts began to war with her memory.
“That’s right,” Paige nodded. Even though she knew she couldn’t touch Phoebe, she brought her hand up close to her lover’s face, trying to imagine her hand, real and solid, against Phoebe’s cheek. “I love you, Phoebe, more than anything in this world…and you love me. Don’t you remember what you said after the demon attacked?” Paige’s eyes were wide with desperation, and seemed to have taken on a glassy sheen.
“Nothing could ever make me leave you,” Phoebe murmured. Suddenly, her senses were flooded by memory-the two of them, in the shower, clinging to each other desperately as the hot water pounded over them. Those words borne from her own lips, from her own heart. For a moment, she felt it. It was as if there was a magnet inside her stomach, reaching out to one in Paige’s. Then Maya’s icy laughter filled the chamber, and the fleeting sensations were sliced away, along with the memory.
“Is that the best you have, my dear?” Maya asked Paige tauntingly. “I am quite disappointed in you, pet. But no matter. You may yet live…if that is your desire.” She waved her hand, and a silver goblet appeared in Phoebe’s hand.
“Huh?” Phoebe looked from Maya, to Paige, confusion evident in her wide brown eyes.
“Drink, Paige, and you may be with your beloved for all eternity.” Maya smiled down at the two of them, like some twisted version of a thoughtful grandmother.
“No,” Paige said coldly.
“Then you shall die,” Maya said simply.
“Die?” Phoebe said suddenly, a pained expression warring with the confusion in her features.
“Yeah, baby,” Paige said quietly, continuing to run her fingers as close to Phoebe’s face as she could, drawing out the myth of the physical. “You drank a dark magic potion, and it blocked our connection…it’s poisoning me. Both of us. It’s making you forget who you are.” Phoebe looked at the goblet in her hand, and offered it to Paige, an innocent, eager expression on her face.
“No, Pheebs,” Paige shook her head sadly. “I can’t…I can’t become evil to be with you. I…I love you too much to let that happen.”
“Love her?” Maya shrieked gleefully, her long blue body spasming with laughter. “If she truly loved you, pet, she would do anything for you. To be with you. Yet she thinks only of herself!”
“No,” Paige said harshly, wrenching her eyes away from the penetrating stare of the cruel goddess, to the brown eyes before her, that were, undeniably, still Phoebe’s. “I would do anything to save her…even if it means I have to die.” Phoebe reached out to Paige, trying to touch her. Her hand passed through Paige’s face like air.
“I don’t want you to die,” Phoebe whispered, her voice strained, as if it took a great effort to speak. She held out the goblet again, beseechingly.
“Phoebe, this isn’t you,” Paige whispered ferverently. “You’re a good witch, Phoebe. A Charmed One. You protect the innocent, and you vanquish sorry-ass demons like this hell-bitch every week. You’re a hero, Phoebe…you’re my hero.” Phoebe was now glancing back and forth between the passionate young woman standing before her, and the imposing goddess leering down at her from above. Her lip began to tremble.
“Come back with me, baby,” Paige begged. A blurry numbness began to set into her body, and she shook her head, trying to clear it. “Come home with me, please…remember who you are. Remember who we are.”
“Who are we?” Phoebe asked urgently. But Paige couldn’t answer, as her body began to blur and fade. She put one hand to her head, collapsing to the floor as her body continued to melt away.
“Paige!” Phoebe cried, reaching out blindly to hold onto any part of Paige she could reach. They stared into each other’s eyes, tears spilling down both their cheeks as the energy keeping Paige’s image anchored began to bleed away.
“I love you,” Paige mouthed. Then she disappeared.
“Paige, don’t go!” Phoebe cried, her tears falling freely. “Please!” She looked wildly around the room, her eyes finally settling on the goddess, still enthroned, with a patient expression on her face.
“Make her come back!” Phoebe demanded.
“It is beyond me,” Maya shrugged one blue shoulder unconcernedly. “But no matter, my pet…you shall still be my princess.” The cruel blue smirk faltered momentarily, quickly covered by a nervous swallow. “All of the Underworld shall bow down to you, and mortals shall fear to speak your name.” Princess. The title sparked another memory, somewhere murky and hidden, in the back of her mind…Paige’s lips against her ear, the bright sun warming her back where’s Paige’s gentle hand stroked her skin. Paige calling her princess. Paige kissing her. Paige’s hair grazing against her throat, filling her world with the scent of sweet orange blossoms, and her stomach with pure, liquid joy.
“No,” Phoebe growled. Her eyes locked on the demon goddess above her, as the memories welled up inside her, filling her with love. Tendrils of electricity began to dance over her skin as the light magic rose up inside her, fighting the dark invader.
“What?” Maya asked dangerously, straightening herself on her throne.
“I said no,” Phoebe repeated calmly. Her skin began to glow as the dark magic was forced from her body.
“You cannot deny me,” the goddess of illusion laughed incredulously. “You cannot resist me!”
“I can,” Phoebe countered simply, serenely. “I’m a child of light…and I’m going home now.”
“No!” Maya screamed, a bright blue energy ball appearing in her hand. She flung it at Phoebe as hard as she could. But instead of incinerating Phoebe where she stood, it bounced back off a brilliant white forcefield surrounding the young witch, to ricochet back at the enthroned demon. Maya gave a blood-curdling scream as she was hit with her own energy ball, disintegrating into a pile of ash on the sleek, velvet pillowed throne.
For a moment, Phoebe stood rooted to the spot, blinking and confused. Then, in a rush, all the dark magic left her body in a cloud of poisonous black smoke. Coughing and sputtering, Phoebe fell to her knees as her connection to Paige came flooding painfully back. Painfully, because Paige was in agony. The dark magic that had invaded them both had left Paige as it left Phoebe, but it had done a great deal of damage. Phoebe screamed in pain, doubling over, as a powerful wave of vertigo lanced through her from her lover. Looking up at the ceiling, Phoebe remembered everything.
“Hold on, baby…I’m coming home,” Phoebe said firmly into the empty cavern. Then she orbed out.
*************************************************
Phoebe orbed into her bedroom to find Paige lying unconscious on the bed, drenched in sweat. Piper was beside her, holding a wet washcloth against her forehead. Prue was on her other side, running an ice cube over her lips. Both of them looked utterly exhausted; more than that, they looked drained. They were pale as ghosts. Phoebe opened her mouth, but couldn’t speak. Then Prue looked up.
“Phoebe!” she gasped, jumping up from the bed to hug her little sister. Phoebe hugged her back fiercely, falling back onto the bed as Piper hugged her, too.
“Are you-?” Piper asked hesitantly, searching her little sister for signs of injury.
“I’m fine,” Phoebe said softly, looking down at her unconscious lover, reaching out and taking her limp hand in both of hers. It was hot to the touch. “Leo!” she yelled. Immediately Leo materialized beside them. “Heal her, quick,” Phoebe begged. Leo kneeled down beside Paige, putting his hands out over her overheated body. Light emanated from his hands. For almost a full minute no one spoke, then, with a gasp, Leo removed his hands.
“I can’t, Phoebe,” he said quietly.
“But we vanquished Maya! You got your whitelighter powers back!” Phoebe cried desperately. Her hand went automatically to Paige’s stomach, feeling Paige’s pain as if it were her own.
“I know, I did, but…the damage you did…it’s too severe.” Leo said this part gently, almost apologetically. “Her body has been completely ravaged by dark magic…and it came from you.” Tears burned Phoebe’s eyes, and she squeezed them shut, holding Paige’s hand to her face as she choked back a sob. “There’s just no precedent for secondhand dark-magic poisoning like this, but I think…you’re the only one who can heal her now,” Leo laid a brotherly hand on Phoebe’s shaking shoulder.
“But I d-don’t know how,” Phoebe sobbed.
“Yes you do,” Leo assured her, looking at her hand still resting on Paige’s stomach. “You just haven’t realized it yet.” Phoebe continued to sob, leaning over Paige to brush her damp hair back from her burning hot face. Her breathing was shallow and faint.
“Paige, open your eyes,” Phoebe begged, cupping her girlfriend’s flushed cheek in her hand. “Please, baby, please…don’t leave me. I love you so much. Please don’t make me live without you.” Leaning forward to kiss Paige’s forehead, Phoebe’s tears dripped onto her lover’s hot skin. A dazzling light erupted between the two of them, enveloping them both. Everyone gasped, but Phoebe didn’t even look up. She was completely focused on Paige.
“I love you,” She whispered again, closing her eyes and leaning her head against Paige’s, as the light seemed to seep into them. When Phoebe pulled back, Paige was blinking up at her.
“Close shave,” Paige murmured in a hoarse, croaky voice. Phoebe laughed, tears still streaming down her cheeks, and pulled Paige into her arms, kissing her all over her face.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you…” Phoebe murmured over and over, rocking Paige like a baby in her arms.
“Thanks for saving me,” Paige whispered huskily, her eyes half-lidded with exhaustion.
“You saved me first,” Phoebe smiled through her tears.
“I think it’s a safe bet to say you saved each other…and leave it at that,” Prue advised, wiping away her own tears of joy and relief.
“I couldn’t have done it without your sisters, Phoebe,” Paige smiled up adoringly at Prue and Piper, who beamed back at the pair of them. “Thank you both, so much.”
“Hey, no one messes with our family,” Piper shrugged. “Guess you’re stuck with us now, Paige.”
“Fine by me,” Paige grinned up at Phoebe, who was smoothing back damp locks of hair from her face. “Try not to scare me like that again…OK?”
“Right back at ya, gorgeous.”
“Oh, yeah,” Paige rolled her eyes, laughing weakly as Phoebe placed the cool cloth back against her forehead. “I’m sure I look pretty sizzlin’ right about now…literally.”
“You…” Phoebe whispered, kissing her lightly on the lips, “have never…” another kiss. “Been more beautiful.” With the last kiss, a garden of white lotus blossoms suddenly burst into bloom all around the room, raining down on all of them. As the silky flower petals touched their skin, each one of them felt as if they’d just awoken from a refreshing sleep, flushed with health and well being.
“Wowie-zowie,” Prue commented, flexing her hands and hopping in place. “Thanks for the energy boost, guys.” Paige sat up, rubbing her eyes.
“Was that us?”
“You better believe it, mama. We are one magical powerhouse!” Phoebe wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Hmmm,” Paige drawled. There was a familiar, mischievous glint in her eyes. “I guess we better make sure we don’t get, um…overloaded with…energy.”
“Oh, yeah,” Phoebe nodded eagerly. “You are so right. We need lots of practice to make sure we’re in full control of all these spankin’ new powers.”
“Spanking sounds good to me,” Paige purred. Prue, Piper and Leo all turned bright red.
“Paige!” Phoebe smacked her impish lover playfully on the thigh. “Just for that, you have to catch me first.” Giggling, Phoebe orbed out.
“Oh, like you can hide from me!” Paige laughed devilishly, orbing out a second behind her.
“Well, it’s good to know that those two are back to normal,” Prue commented wryly as Leo and Piper exchanged a glance of their own. “Everybody else feeling…good?”
“Very good,” Piper nodded, her eyes locked on Leo’s.
“Super.” Leo agreed.
“Well, this is just great.” Prue threw up her hands. “Phoebe and Paige get all this new power, and everyone gets a magical happy but me.” She crossed her arms sulkily, but her pouting got no response.
“Wanna go catch the sunrise on a nice private beach in the Caribbean?” Leo asked Piper adoringly. Piper nodded, a huge, dopey smile on her face. They reached out and took each other’s hands. But before they orbed out, Leo looked at Prue, a mysterious smile on his face.
“Don’t worry too much, Prue…I guarantee you, your future won’t be a lonely one.”
“Huh?” Prue looked at him bemusedly. “Leo, what--?” But before she could question her whitelighter further, he and her sister had disappeared into a hazy field of brilliant white lights. Prue shook her head bemusedly. Well, she thought, Phoebe was right about one thing…our lives will never be boring.
Epilogue
Leo orbed in to his regular meeting spot with the elders, at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, amid the sounds of poorly muffled giggling. His first instinct was to play along, but he knew that Piper would kill him if he made her be the bad guy again. With a small smirk, he twitched his “disapproving” face into place.
“All right, any Halliwells up here had better come out by the time I count to five…or there will be no dessert for a week! One…” Predictably, two small sets of legs toddled out from behind a large red pole before he’d even reached two. One belonged to a dark-haired girl of about five; the other to his three year-old son, blue eyes blinking up at him in alarm at the suggestion of no dessert.
“Tara, Chris, I’m very disappointed in you,” Leo said sternly. “What have we told you about playing orb-and-go-seek up here?”
“Out of bounds,” Tara said quietly, hanging her head.
“Shhh, Daddy! We hiding!” Chris exclaimed in a dramatic whisper, clinging to his older cousin earnestly. A moment later, two more small figures orbed in, a blond haired boy slightly older than Tara, and a small, dark-haired toddler dressed in pink Osh-Kosh overalls, her hair falling out of its braids.
“Find you!” The littlest one shrieked, running from her cousin to her sister, gripping her tightly around the waist as she bounced ecstatically up and down. “Lindy find you!” She squealed happily.
“That’s right, Melinda. You found us. Good job!” Tara smiled proudly at her little sister.
“Don’t count,” Chris pouted as his brother took his hand. “Daddy cheated.”
“Did not,” Wyatt insisted. “We already knew you were up here.”
“And what else did you know?” Leo prodded. He was directing his disappointed face mostly at the two oldest children, who, he knew, knew better. And, indeed, Tara and Wyatt exchanged a worried glance before they both looked back at him in trepidation.
“Um, not supposed to play on the bridge,” Wyatt said quietly, looking at his shoes.
“We’re sorry, Uncle Leo,” Tara said earnestly. Her lower lip began to quiver.
“Tara no cry!” Little Melinda exclaimed, reaching up to kiss her big sister before a tear had even fallen. “Tara good girl! No bad. No cry!” Tara giggled, her tears forgotten as she smiled at her adoring little sister.
“That’s right, we’re good girls. And we’re gonna do like Uncle Leo says, right?” The toddler nodded ferverently, her wide-eyed innocence a pure, mirror image of Paige’s whenever Phoebe tried to scold her. Then Tara directed her “mama face” at her two cousins, who were indeed regarding her with the same implicit trust they gave to Piper, their bickering of moments ago forgotten.
“Right, Daddy,” Wyatt agreed. “No more playing on the bridge.”
“All right then,” Leo’s stern face dissolved in a moment to his usual fatherly grin. “Then you four better orb home before all your Uncle Elders show up…or we’re all gonna be in trouble!” Giggling, the four small half-witch, half-angel children orbed out, reappearing a moment later in the sunny kitchen of the manor.
“Oh, and where did you all just orb in from?” Phoebe smiled as the empty kitchen was suddenly filled with hers and her sister’s children.
“Mommy!” Melinda squealed, running to her and hugging her mother’s knees.
“Hi baby,” Phoebe greeted her, picking her up and kissing her. “Would you all like a snack?” An enthusiastic round of “yeahs” met this suggestion. Phoebe looked up at the ceiling. “Paige?” She called out to thin air. A scant moment later, Paige’s figure appeared in the kitchen, dressed in her black teacher’s robes, amid a pool of white light. A few pearly flower petals fell at her feet, which Tara picked up and rubbed happily against her cheek, before pressing her face against Paige’s stomach.
“Hi sweetie,” Paige cooed to her oldest daughter, kissing the top of her head. “What’s up everybody?” Phoebe leaned forward and kissed Paige hello, while little Melinda reached out and flung her arms around Paige’s neck, squealing happily as her parents’ love flowed through her.
“Well,” Phoebe drawled as Paige pulled back from her, lifting her other child into her arms contentedly. “I thought if you were done at Magic School for the day, we could take the kids for a walk to Double Rainbow.”
“Yeah!” Wyatt yelled excitedly.
“Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!” Chris and Melinda both chanted in perfect tandem, like a finely-tuned toddler chorus. Paige looked at Tara, always the last to voice her opinion. Her gentle daughter always preferred for others to have what they wanted, rather than assert her own will, and Paige loved her for that. But she and Phoebe had agreed that it was important to make sure Tara’s voice was always heard; that she felt her needs were just as important as her little sister’s and her cousins’.
“What do you think, sweet girl?” Paige asked, smiling beautifully at her child. Tara looked pensively between her parents, her little sister, and her cousins, all grinning at her with anticipation written on their faces.
“Will you and Mommy share a cookie monster sundae with me, Mama?” Tara asked eagerly.
“I think that might be arranged,” Paige said in a mock-serious voice.
“Yaaay!” All four children hollered, running towards the front door.
“Get your jackets!” Phoebe yelled after them, grinning at Paige. “Why look at that, honey…we’re actually alone in a room.” Smiling back, Paige moved into her arms, kissing her much more thoroughly than she had moments before, with their children in their arms.
“Mmmm…five whole seconds of witchy lovin’. I’m in heaven.” They moved back in for another kiss, when the sound of impatient stamping echoed down the hall, followed by Chris and Melinda’s voices calling out impatiently for ice cream. Laughing, Paige leaned in and gave Phoebe one final kiss. “Tonight,” She promised, grinning lasciviously at the woman who held her world in her hands.
“Abso-freakin’-lutely,” Phoebe agreed. They walked out of the kitchen, fingers entwined, toward their children who stood waiting for them in the brilliant afternoon sun.
THE END