Another Week Another Demon

a/n: Okay so this might be a bad idea, but it might also be a good one. What if Piper was paralysed and decided to go down the route of physics rather than cooking. So we have Piper with her normal powers, but she can't walk and she knows how to remotely access a telescope. Anyway, based on season 4 in the blissful period where Phoebe and Cole were Married before the sources coronation and Cole is not the source. The word for this chapter is prelate, which means bishop or other churchman of high rank. Enjoy! :)

Chapter 1

Piper was in her office, or rather in her work station trying to figure out what is on the inside of a nebula (a baby star). Unfortunately for her, this required remote access to the telescope on the international space station. And that was something she couldn't get without permission, or risking a prison sentence. So as you can guess Piper was stuck. Instead she started to work on a theory in her other chosen field of experimental physics. This was mainly working with lasers and right before she hit the on switch of her laser her phone rang. Pulling down her safety goggles Piper answered her phone.
"Hello."
"Hey sis it's me. Cole and I were wondering if it's okay for you to come home. We were jumped by a demon."
"What did he look like?" Piper asked switching on the lights.
"I think he was skeletal. Not really sure though. How quickly can you get outside?" Phoebe asked her. Piper checked her watch.
"It should take no more than five minutes Pheebs. Wait did you come to the University before calling me."
"Piper, there is a really dangerous demon on the loose you might want to hurry and out here."
"Fine see you five minutes." Piper hung up and put her goggles on the table before grabbing her jacket and laptop (which was in it's bag) leaving the room. On the way out she seen the principle of the University. "Hey, I need to work from home for the rest of the day, so I will email you if anything comes up on the paper I'm working on." Piper said to him and he nodded at her before letting her go out of the door.

Finally Piper made it to her sister. "Hey Pipes what took you so long."
"I had to clear up some equipment that I was using, then I ran into my boss." Phoebe nodded in understanding. Her boss Elise wasn't much happier than Piper's when it came to the sisters' unexplained absences over the years or in Phoebe's case weeks. "So can we hurry up and get home so that we can check the book. I already called Paige, and it is Leo's day off."
"I know he was going to meet me for lunch in the cafeteria." Piper told her sister.
"You have been eating in that cafeteria since you were writing your first doctorate in physics and you still do, what is wrong with you." Phoebe commented.
"Can I once again remind you two that we there is a demon trying to kill you." Cole interjected as he lifted Piper into the car. Phoebe put her wheelchair in the boot of the car and climbing into the drivers' seat.

Paige was in the attic when they got there. "Hey Phoebe, just checking the book. What took you guys so long?" She asked. Piper placed her laptop on the sofa before going over to the book.
"Are you sure you seen it Phoebe, Skeletal alone is not enough to pin down a single demon, there are plenty who are between life and death." Piper commented bringing the book down to her level and placing it on her lap. "We might be searching for a while, someone make some coffee. And wake up Leo we may need him to visit the elders." Piper flicked through the pages as Phoebe went to make coffee.

Leo came up. "We might need you sorry for waking you up." Phoebe told him.
"It's okay, I was going to get up to meet my lovely wife anyway." He responded, Piper smiled at him sarcastically from the other side of the room. "Piper are you okay?" He asked her.
"I'm fine, I was about to finalize my experiment with the massive laser in my lab." Piper responded.
"I want a job where I get to play with lasers." Paige said in a mocking tone.
"Then write a doctorate in physics." Piper commented laughing a little. "Sorry." She said when she realised that it was mean to say that.
"It's alright you were just joking Piper." Paige smiled. "A laser in my hands probably wouldn't have been a good thing." The two sisters laughed at that and Piper turned the page on the book of shadows again.
"Piper wait that's him." Piper read into herself.
"You said that he was skeletal. This thing isn't skeletal at all." Piper complained. "In fact the only way to vanquish him is to bury his remains in a cemetery or he will continue to resurrect himself."
"It says here that he isn't immune to a witches powers, so all we would have to do is let you blow him up and then bury him." Paige took the book from Piper as she read.
"If he was buried though, who let him out?" Phoebe asked. Cole put his arms around his new wife.
"Maybe it was the seer, she was pretty mad when we got married in a ceremony of light. I think she thought I was going to be the next source or something."
"Does she even have the power to resurrect one of these demons. It says here that as a breed they resurrect. If there is more than one then it might be a problem."


Meanwhile the Lazarus demon was looking for the sisters as he was walking around the city trying to find them. It was important that they didn't find him before he was ready as they would probably take him straight to the cemetery. He thought about what he knew about the Charmed Ones and smiled. One of them was confined to a wheelchair. It would be easy to stage an accident for her at work or anywhere for that matter, but he didn't have the power to cause her pain the way he was planning to. He was going to need some help with that. So he shimmered out to the demonic market to recruit someone who did have the power to manipulate Piper in the way that he was wanting.

He found a demon that was willing to do just that and the next day said demon stalked Piper as she set about getting permission to use the telescope again. She had heard of another astrophysicist that was doing the same research as her, and that whoever it was had run into the same problems as Piper had herself. So she found their contact details and was attempting to see if the physicist was willing to join up with her to publish the paper. "Hello, this is Dr. Piper Halliwell, I work for the University of San Francisco and I heard that you were having some trouble gaining access to the international space stations telescope. I am also working on nebulas and was wondering if you would like to work together on the paper." Piper grabbed a pen off of the cluttered desk and wrote down the date and time that they were both available for.

The demon made his move when the conversation was finished. He used his powers to access the flow of information and oxygen into Piper's mind. Piper still didn't realise that the demon was there and fell unconscious in her wheelchair. Feeling the need to make the situation worse the unknown demon tipped her over. He then induced a seizure before shimmering away just in time as the door to her lab opened. A friend, Micheal, that worked with her was coming to ask if she wanted to get some lunch. "Oh my God, Piper." He said running to her side when he seen her on the floor thrashing about. Pulling out his phone he called an ambulance to get there as soon as possible. Michael had been friends with Piper since they were studying physics together in college themselves. And had always been good friends. They had even set each other up with different guys throughout the years.

Later on in the hospital Piper's eyes slowly opened and she took in the scene before her. Lifting her hand to her head she felt someone place it back down by her side. "Try to stay still Pipes. Leo is on his way with your sisters.
"Michael?" She asked weakly. "What happened?" Michael smiled at the simple question.
"The doctor said that you had a seizure. You should be alright, but they want to keep you here overnight." He told her. As he finished his sentence Leo's form appeared at the door.
"Piper honey, how are you feeling?" He asked walking over and giving her a kiss.
"Weak, tired. That's about it." Leo smiled at his wife as she attempted to sit herself up.
"Piper, the doctor said that he wanted to run some tests, and that you have to sit still until he can figure out why this happened." Michael explained that. Leo nodded silently and sunk into one of the chairs. He was scared, sacred that this was an ongoing problem that he couldn't fix. Paige and Phoebe entered with coffee. "Hey, thanks for calling the ambulance Michael. How's Alistair?" Phoebe asked. Michael explained that Alastair was the best husband a man could have. And that he was more worried about Piper than Alister.
"It was lucky you came in when you did, might not have found Piper if never." Paige told him. Michael nodded he looked at Piper.
"I guess that was just my fate." He said jokingly. Piper laughed. She had always appreciated how he could always turn the situation around and make it funny. Piper felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier until she settled down into a peaceful sleep.

a/n: Not very long but it wasn't bad for a first chapter.