Betray a Lamb
As morning came, Piper and Prue were up early and fighting for the bathroom in the rush to get to work. Phoebe laid in Prue's bed, her face buried in Prue's pillow, a goofy yet sleepy grin on her face as she took in Prue's scent.
Phoebe reflected on last night and thought it was the most perfect and beautiful night of her entire life. There had been no sex involved, which had made it even more special. Phoebe knew Prue wouldn't take advantage of her and knew when the time was right, it would happen. Until then, she was more than content with basking in the simple joy of kissing and holding Prue.
"Prue come on I need the bathroom too you know!" Piper exclaimed as she pounded on the door.
"I'm almost done, Piper, just hold your horses!" Prue shot back as she was meticulously applying her make-up, which always took much longer than necessary due to Prue's perfectionism.
"That's what you said 20 minutes ago! And if you used up all of the hot water I'm going to throw a hissy fit at you!" Piper hissed.
"Please Piper, what are you going to do, freeze me? Here's a newsflash for you, I can't be frozen by you." Prue's comment earned a frustrated groan from Piper.
"Just hurry up! I need to shower!"
Phoebe finally slid out of bed and went out into the hallway. "Is Prue hogging the bathroom again?" She asked. Piper gave Phoebe a little glare.
"What do you think?" She replied with a slightly sarcastic tone.
"Leave it to me…" Phoebe winked at Piper, opened the bathroom door, went over to Prue, pulled her close against her and gave her the deepest kiss she'd ever received in her life. Immediately, Prue went stupid in the head and was in Phoebe's complete control. Phoebe pulled Prue out of the bathroom, giving Piper the signal to steal it.
"Uh thanks!" Piper said with a raised eyebrow as she watched her sisters then promptly stole the bathroom and went about her morning routine. After Piper was safely in the bathroom, Phoebe broke the kiss, earning a playful glare from Prue.
"You little devil…"
"What can I say? I love being evil…but you love it…" Phoebe said with a playful yet slightly devious grin.
"You're so very right." Prue said, mirroring Phoebe's grin. She leaned in and kissed Phoebe again for several moments, then pulled back. "But now I have to be the evil one as I have to run off to work." At the mention of that, Phoebe's grin took an even more devious look. Prue raised an eyebrow. "Dare I ask what that look is for?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out." She giggled ominously and poked Prue's nose.
"Well whatever that is I hope to find out sometime soon. Do you want to go to lunch with me today if Claire isn't treating me like a slave?"
"Of course I would! I'll meet you at your office around lunch time." Phoebe grinned, a devious glint in her eyes as well as on her lips.
"All right, I'll see you then. And you'd better tell me what that devious look is about soon, missy." Prue said shaking her finger at Phoebe who batted her eyelashes innocently. Prue stole another kiss from Phoebe, then headed off to work.
The police department was turned upside down. There had been a triple homicide during the night. Andy and Darrel had been to the crime scene. Andy suspected the murders were different, like his other unsolved murders that always seemed to involve the Halliwells in some way, shape or form. He had expected them to show up at the crime scene, but when they didn't, he wondered what was going on.
After numerous interviews, the police had no suspects. There were a couple clues suggesting the deaths had some connection to the occult, but beyond that there wasn't anything else to go on. Andy sat at his desk reading through everything he could get a hold of about the victims, trying to find some sort of clue. It wasn't long after that that the story hit the morning news. After not gaining any leads, the police decided if the story aired, maybe someone would come forward with a lead.
Phoebe turned on the TV and started channel surfing, once again putting off chores until a little later. She came across the morning news, which was running a story about a triple homicide. She was about to change the channel when she got a premonition.
The three victims were sitting in the living room of an apartment. One of the three got up and answered the door, revealing Ms. Halifax as the visitor. There seems to be a brief discussion before Ms. Halifax produced a ceremonial knife. Before anything else could happen, she stabbed the three victims, killing them.
As Phoebe came out of the premonition, which was really a vision of the past, she took a deep breath. "Oh this is not good…and why didn't I see this earlier?" Phoebe rushed to the phone and called Prue, needing to tell her about this.
For once, Prue was actually in her office reading over documents of some antiques that had just arrived at Buckland's for authentication before being put into an auction. As her phone rang, she finished reading the sentence she was on as she grabbed the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Prue it's me, uh I just had a premonition." Phoebe said as she was still trying to make sense of the premonition.
"What was it?" Prue asked as she immediately set the papers down and gave her full attention to Phoebe.
"It was of something that all ready happened. Three people were murdered last night and I just saw who did it." There was a note of nervousness in her voice. "It was Ms. Halifax."
"What? Are you sure?"
"Yeah I'm sure. I saw her. She stabbed the three of them. The story is on the news right now. The police have absolutely no leads and are looking for anyone who has any information about it. What should I do?"
"First of all you do not leave the house. This could be a trap and Ms. Halifax is trying to lure you out of the house. Second of all, I'll come home for lunch so we can figure this out. Do not call Andy. If he comes there looking for any of us, don't tell him anything, just tell him to talk to me, I'll handle it."
"But why should he talk to you? I could just as easily say we don't know anything. I mean we weren't at the crime scene."
"True you can, but the bottom line is do not leave the house. The protection spell will keep Ms. Halifax away from there. I'll be home as soon as I can, ok?"
"Ok I'll call Piper and let her know."
"All right sounds good. I'll see you later. Bye."
"Bye." As soon as she hung up, Phoebe called Piper.
Piper was standing at the bar, checking some numbers when the bartender answered the phone, then looked at her. "Piper, your sister's on the phone." Piper groaned softly, not needing this right now.
"Thanks," she said with a forced smile and flat tone as she took the phone. "What is it? I am busy so make it quick." She had no idea if it was Prue or Phoebe but right now she didn't care.
"I had a premonition of something that happened last night. Ms. Halifax killed three people and the story is all over the news."
"What?" Piper said and promptly put her clipboard down, her full attention being given to Phoebe in much the same manner Prue's had been.
"I all ready called Prue and told her. She's coming home at lunchtime to figure this out. The police are stumped on who did this."
"And you will not be talking to Andy about it either. Speaking of him, has he tried to contact you or Prue yet?"
"No he hasn't. Prue put me under order not to tell him anything and if he does come around to tell him to talk to her."
"Ok I don't know if I can get away, I'm pretty much stuck here. I promise I'll try to get away, but if a crisis occurs call me and I'll do something about it. But for now I've got to get back to work."
"I'll keep you posted."
"Ok bye."
"Bye." Phoebe hung up and started pacing, wondering why Ms. Halifax killed those three people. Perhaps Prue had been right in thinking this was a trap to lure them out into the open.
Back at the station, Darrel went up to Andy's desk and dropped a folder in front of him. Andy looked at it, then up at Darrel.
"What's this?" Andy asked, setting down the file he held in his hand.
"It's the report of the findings on the murder weapon. There are four sets of prints on it. Three of them belong to the Halliwell sisters, the other we can't identify yet."
Andy's face grew a bit pale and stern at Darrel's words. He picked up the file and read through the report. "It's a positive match for Prue, Piper and Phoebe," his words weren't a question, but more of a statement laced with the tone of disbelief. "Are there any clues as to who the fourth set belongs to?"
"No, there are no records matching in the database. The guys are starting to look through birth records of everyone in San Francisco."
"This is going to be a problem if the fourth person wasn't born here or doesn't have a record. Meanwhile, I'm going to go question the Halliwells and see what they have to say." Andy closed the file, stood up and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair.
"Wait a minute, you're going to go question them? Andy, their prints are on the murder weapon. If anything they need to be brought down here to the station and be interrogated."
"I know that, but I know I'm not the only one who saw evidence that only four people were in that apartment and three of them are dead. So before we drag them down here for intense interrogation, I'm going to question them on their own turf. If they give me reason to suspect anything, I'll bring them in."
"Ok but just know that if word gets out that their prints are on there, they'll be arrested on the spot."
"I know, but do your best to keep this under wraps as long as you can." With that, Andy left with the file and went off to begin his interrogation. He wasn't sure which sister he should question first. He decided to go to their house and see who was home. If no one was there, he'd go to Buckland to see Prue.
Within minutes, Andy was at the front door of the manor and rang the bell. He had a pit in his stomach and hoped the Halliwells really didn't commit this murder, that there had been some mistake made. Moments later, Phoebe answered the door and at seeing it was Andy, she remembered Prue's words and her premonition. She smiled a bit too widely and tightly for it to be a genuine smile.
"Hi Andy, what brings you here?" She greeted.
"I need to ask you a couple questions. Can I come in?"
"Of course, come in." Phoebe stepped aside and let Andy in, then closed the door behind him. She looked up at him, a sense of dread overcoming her. "So what's up?"
"There was a triple homicide last night." He took a breath and stumbled for words, not knowing how to get this out. "The lab found four sets of fingerprints on the murder weapon. Three of them matched you, Piper and Prue." Phoebe just stared at Andy dumbfoundly.
"Wait what? Our fingerprints were on the murder weapon? But that's impossible, the three of us were home all night last."
"I can't just ignore this, Phoebe. Three people are dead and while I don't think you and your sisters did this, I need to investigate and find out what really happened." He pulled out a picture of the murder weapon and showed it to Phoebe. "Do you recognize this?"
Phoebe looked at it for several moments and shook her head. "No I've never seen it before." She said and wondered how her fingerprints ended up on it.
"Are you sure? You didn't touch this at some point, even just in passing?"
"Yes I'm sure. I've never seen that before nor have I even touched it." Phoebe insisted and looked at Andy. "I know you may not believe me, but I swear me and my sisters have nothing to do with this."
"Then how did your prints get on the murder weapon?" He asked as he put the photo back in the file.
"I don't know. For all I know it could've been an item Prue put into auction and me and Piper happened to touch it too, I don't know."
"Ok, I'm going to go talk to Prue. Be aware that I will be back if I can't find something to prove that you all are innocent." Andy said even though it pained him to say so.
"I understand, Andy." Phoebe replied. Andy nodded.
"I'll see you later. I'm sorry this wasn't a happier visit."
"It's ok, I understand." Phoebe smiled softly. Andy let himself out and went off to Buckland. Phoebe ran to the phone and called Prue frantically.
"Hello?" Prue answered after the sixth ring.
"Prue! Oh thank God, you remember that premonition of mine I told you about about those three dead people? Well Andy was just here questioning me about it. Apparently our fingerprints are on the murder weapon."
"What?! Are you serious?!" Prue exclaimed and nearly had a heart attack. "How is that possible?"
"I don't know. I told him I'd never seen the knife when he showed me a picture. The only thing I can think of is that Ms. Halifax somehow used a spell to place our fingerprints on there to frame us for this murder."
"Dammit. Well where is Andy now?"
"On his way to talk to you." There was a long pause and Phoebe swore she could hear Prue screaming through the silence.
"All right, call Piper and tell her. I'll deal with Andy." At that moment, Andy walked into Prue's office. "Uh sorry, can I call you back? I'm going to have to check the documents you sent me before I can answer that." Prue said, doing her best to not seem like she was talking to Phoebe. Phoebe understood that Andy had just walked in.
"Yeah ok, talk to you later."
"Bye." Prue hung up and smiled at Andy. "Andy, hi." She greeted warmly.
"Hi Prue," he replied, not sounding like his normal warm self. "I'm sorry to come to you like this, but there was a triple homicide last night. Your prints were on the murder weapon along with Phoebe's and Piper's." Prue looked at Andy in complete shock and horror.
"But that's impossible. We aren't murderers and we were home all night last night." Prue said, taking a deep breath to keep herself calm and centered. Andy went through the same routine of showing the picture of the weapon to Prue, who gave the same answer Phoebe had.
While Andy was busy questioning Prue, Phoebe called Piper and gave her the heads up about what Ms. Halifax might have done and that Andy was going to come her way. After getting off the phone, Phoebe felt incredibly anxious and just couldn't stay put. She figured Andy would be done questioning Prue about now, so she decided to go over to Buckland to meet up with Prue. She practically ran out the door, forgetting all about the protection spell on the house and how she wasn't supposed to leave it.
After Andy was satisfied by Prue's answers, he started to leave, but stopped and looked back at her. "Do you have a couple minutes? I was hoping we could talk."
Prue felt her heart clench at his words. The truth spell she had put on him to find out his reaction to her being a witch and everything that happened between them as a result still tore her apart. Being the ever-strong Prue, she wore the mask of the brave woman and showing that she wasn't weak. However, inside she was so sad and heartbroken, but she wouldn't dare show that to anyone. To show emotion, to cry, was to be weak in Prue's opinion and she had to be the strong one for her sisters. She always had been the strong one. Ever since their mother died, Prue had stepped in to help Grams raise Piper and Phoebe. Prue had grown up too quickly and perhaps that was one reason she resented Phoebe's carelessness and child-like behavior.
"Yeah sure," she replied, feeling a pit in her stomach and wanting to just run out of the room or throw herself at Andy to make the pain go away. No thoughts of her and Phoebe crossed her mind due to the spell Ms. Halifax had put on her. Prue was right where Ms. Halifax wanted her to be. She had also taken the liberty to put a little spell on Andy to make sure things played out the way she wanted them to.
"I know you probably don't want to hear this Prue, but I just have to tell you that I still love you. Whatever I did to make you break up with me, I'm sorry and I really want to fix it." The way he gazed at her made Prue's heart do back flips in her chest. His blue eyes were so piercing yet gentle and warm.
"Oh Andy," Prue said, desperately trying to keep a firm grip on her emotions.
Phoebe got off the elevator and headed to Prue's office. When she saw the door was closed she figured either Andy was still there or Prue had a client in there. Being the ever-sneaky sister, she silently turned the knob and cracked the door open enough for her to see who was in there with Prue. She could see Andy's back and part of Prue's head through the crack in the door.
"I don't expect a positive answer, but I really do want you back, Prue." Andy said. He reached out and very gently ran his fingertips along Prue's cheek. Prue gazed into his eyes, so completely lost in them that she wasn't aware of anything else.
"I still love you too, Andy. More than anything I want to be with you." Prue replied with a soft smile as she leaned into Andy's touch. As Phoebe heard those words, her heart clenched and leapt into her throat. Had she heard Prue right? If so, then what was last night?
Before any more words could be said, Prue leaned in and kissed Andy deeply and passionately as she slid her arms around his neck. He kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her back. The kiss sealed the deal and Phoebe felt her heart shatter. Tears welled up in her eyes and she closed the door, then ran off quickly, trying to hide them from any prying eyes.
Phoebe ran out of Buckland, picked a direction and just ran. She couldn't believe this. Would Prue really be that heartless? Why had Prue shared all those things with her last night and make her believe they could actually be together? Had Prue just been using her as a rebound from Andy? Phoebe just kept running, having no destination in mind.
After Andy left, Prue shook her head slightly as she felt dizzy. She leaned against her desk and closed her eyes as the spell Ms. Halifax put on her fell away now that it had done its job. A deep frown came over her face as she realized what just happened.
"God dammit why did I just do that?" Prue cursed herself. "I want Phoebe, not Andy…" She grabbed her things, left the family emergency excuse with her secretary and rushed home. She'd have to find some way to fix this without Phoebe knowing.
When she got home and found Phoebe wasn't there, she freaked and called Piper. "Piper have you by any chance seen Phoebe? She's not at home."
"No I haven't. You don't think Ms. Halifax took her again, do you?"
"No, not unless Phoebe left the house. But where would she go? She knew not to leave the house."
"I don't know," but before Piper could finish her thought she saw Phoebe walk in looking as though she'd just been sobbing her heart out. A deeply worried look crossed Piper's face. "Wait, Phoebe just walked in here. She looks like she's been crying. Do you want me to bring her home?"
"First calm her down and get her to tell you what happened, then bring her home. I'll be here waiting and call me right away if something happens."
"Ok bye." Piper hung up and quickly ran over to Phoebe, wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a tight, protective hug. "What's wrong, Phoebe?" Phoebe sniffed loudly and clung to Piper.
"Can we go somewhere private?" Phoebe asked between sobs. Piper nodded and led Phoebe to a private room and sat her on a chair, then sat down next to her, keeping her arms around her.
"Tell me, what happened? Was it Ms. Halifax?" Piper asked, studying Phoebe's face very carefully. Phoebe shook her head.
"N-No…" She said as her voice cracked. "It was P-Prue…" Prue's name was followed by another heartfelt sob. "I went to Buckland after I told you about Andy, I got so anxious and wanted to be with Prue to find a solution as quickly as possible." She sniffed loudly, her voice shaky and cracking as she spoke. "Her door was closed, so instead of barging in there, I cracked the door open enough to see who was in there with Prue. It was Andy…and Prue…Prue said she still loved him and wanted to be with him…after last night I don't understand…"
Piper's brow furrowed in worry. "What happened last night?" She had a very good idea of what happened after she had gone to bed, and she still felt really weird knowing that her two sisters were attracted to each other, but she was supportive of them regardless, they were still her sisters after all, they hadn't changed at all.
"Prue and I watched a movie together and just held, kissed and caressed each other. It was the happiest I've ever felt in my life and Prue said the same thing. Then I catch her saying she still loves Andy." Phoebe looked at Piper with a tear-streaked face. "Tell me she's not so heartless as to use me as a rebound or as a way to forget her pain from breaking up with Andy. Please tell me this is just some cruel joke…please Piper…" Phoebe's words tugged at Piper's heart and she knew they had to get to the bottom of this right away. She stroked Phoebe's hair and looked her in the eye.
"Prue isn't heartless, you know that as well as I do. I'm sure this is just some big misunderstanding and we'll get this cleared up right away."
"But she kissed him, Piper! I saw it with my own eyes!" Phoebe exclaimed as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks at the memory.
"All the more reason to get to the bottom of this. I promise you I'm here for you, Phoebe. I've got your back no matter what, you got it?" Phoebe nodded slowly. "Ok now let's dry your cheeks and go back home before Ms. Halifax decides to lock us inside another labyrinth." She helped Phoebe up, grabbed a lot of Kleenex and dried her tears. She then took her lunch break to drive Phoebe back home and to get to the bottom of this. Piper wasn't going to have either of her sisters be heartbroken and she also had a feeling Ms. Halifax had caused this mess. She knew it was probably a bad idea to not warn Phoebe that Prue was home, but it would probably be a worse idea to tell her. Being the middle sister that she was, Piper was all ready trying to devise a way to solve this once and for all before something worse happened.
When they got home, Piper linked her arm with Phoebe's and walked inside. "Well we managed to get home without Ms. Halifax kidnapping us." Piper said as she closed the door. Before she could even blink, Prue came running out of the living room.
"Oh Phoebe, thank God you're ok!" Prue exclaimed and moved to hug Phoebe tightly. Upon seeing Prue, fresh tears cascaded down Phoebe's cheeks and she pulled away and half-hid behind Piper.
"No, you stay away from me," she said through a shaky voice. The look on her face and in her eyes was one of complete and total pain and sorrow.
"What? What's wrong?" Prue asked, clearly confused by Phoebe's reaction. However, she knew that look on Phoebe's face all too well. It had been the way Piper had looked after their mom had died.
"She was at Buckland and heard what you said to Andy…and saw you kiss him." Piper explained trying to do it as gently as possible for Phoebe's sake. Prue went wide eyed and looked at Phoebe and felt her heart stop beating.
"Phoebe, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean what I said to Andy, really I didn't."
"How could you do that after what we shared last night? How could do that?" Phoebe gave Prue a deeply hurt look. "I never thought you could do something like that to me. But I guess I was wrong about that."
"Phoebe please, be gentle." Piper said gently. "I'm sure there's an explanation for all of this." She gave Prue a pointed look that said she thought Ms. Halifax had something to do with this. Prue looked back at Piper and nodded once in response.
"Please believe me, Phoebe. I meant every word I told you last night."
"And then you turned around and said it to Andy today. How could you?" Phoebe sniffed loudly, then ran off to her room, not wanting to be around Prue anymore right now.
"Phoebe, wait!" Prue started to go after her, but Piper grabbed her arm.
"No, leave her be. She won't believe you until we prove that Ms. Halifax was behind it."
"I can't believe this is happening. I am really wanting to be with Phoebe, not Andy." Prue said with a heavy sigh.
"My guess is that Ms. Halifax wants to break the power of three by turning us against each other. Right now the best way to do that is by using Phoebe's love for you."
"We really need to get rid of this bitch. I'm getting really sick of her doing all of this." Prue narrowed her eyes slightly in determination.
"Me too. We need a plan, but I have a feeling we'll need the power of three so we should go about proving Ms. Halifax made you say that to Andy so we can get Phoebe back."
"Ok so how do we do that?"
"Consult the Book of Shadows and see if there's any sort of spell to help us prove magic was used?"
"Oh you are so smart, Piper. To the attic!" Prue declared and headed up to the attic with Piper. Prue was determined to prove Ms. Halifax had made her do that to Andy. She hated seeing Phoebe hurt and she hated it even more that she was the cause of Phoebe's pain right now. Prue was determined to make it up to Phoebe when this was all over.
Piper and Prue started looking through the Book of Shadows. Prue momentarily thought about using the truth spell, but after what happened the last time they used it she was very hesitant to use it. They searched through every single page but didn't find anything else.
"Well so much for that idea." Piper said with a heavy sigh.
"I thought about using the truth spell, but after what happened last time…"
"Though I don't think this time we'd be using it for personal gain. I mean, we're just trying to prove to Phoebe that the evil witch is behind this. That's not personal gain."
"No it's not, though it could be seen as personal gain because we need Phoebe to help us and by doing this we would be swaying her to do what we want."
"But it's also what Phoebe wants. Remember she was the one Ms. Halifax kidnapped and put that demon inside her." Piper reminded her.
"That's a good point. So I say let's do this and hope nothing else we don't want coming out comes out." Prue said, still a bit skeptical about using this spell again but without having any other choice, she gave in. Prue and Piper said the spell together and once again the three sisters and anyone who encountered them in the next 24 hours would only be able to tell the truth.
"All right, let's go get Phoebe." Prue said and suddenly became really nervous about confronting Phoebe. "Do you think Phoebe will bitch me out when we talk about what happened earlier?"
"Oh yeah, you'd be lucky if she didn't beat you up. You should be very glad she doesn't have an active power, and oh God I hate this spell." Piper said with a heavy groan.
"Don't worry, I know how Phoebe gets and am fully prepared to be beheaded." Prue fiddled with her hands a bit nervously. "Hold my hand?" She asked almost sheepishly, but mostly in a slightly frightened tone.
"Oh come on you big baby. Oh God I did not just say that…" Piper bit her tongue, took Prue's hand and they went to Phoebe's room. Piper knocked on the door. "Phoebe?"
"If Prue's with you tell her to go away." Phoebe replied, her voice laced with venom and sorrow and sounded like she was still crying.
"Phoebe please, let us in. We need to talk." Prue said as she squeezed Piper's hand tighter.
"I said go away!"
Piper tried the door and found it was locked. Prue used her power to open the door and her and Piper walked into the room. Phoebe was lying on the bed, her back to the door. She sniffed and didn't move as she heard the door open.
"Phoebe we need to talk."
"No we don't. You want Andy back, so just go be with him." Phoebe's voice grew softer and a bit sadder as the image of Andy and Prue kissing flashed in front of her eyes again.
"I don't want Andy. I want you, Phoebe."
"Then why did you kiss him? Why did you tell him you wanted to be with him?" Phoebe turned her head and half-glared at Prue.
"I told him that because something made me do it. Ms. Halifax must have put a spell on me and wanted me to do something with Andy and have you see us to put a wedge between us." Prue answered and she was really liking this spell this time around. Though of course it would only be helpful if Phoebe asked the right questions. Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Right blame it on the evil one. I know you still care about Andy deeply. Do you think I'm so stupid as to think that you could get over Andy so quickly and want a relationship with me?"
"No, you are a smart woman, though sometimes your recklessness and disregard for following the rules irritates and frustrates me." Prue grimaced, as she hated the spell for making her say that last bit, but tried to shake it off. "What I'm saying is that I don't think you're stupid and I wouldn't ever think you couldn't figure anything out." As Prue mentioned her recklessness and disregard for following rules, Phoebe frowned slightly in confusion.
"Prue, was that a jab at me or did you cast a spell?"
"We cast a spell," Prue said, pulling Piper a bit closer to her for support. Phoebe gave them both a pointed look as she moved to sit up and face them.
"Which spell?"
"The truth spell." Piper said and tried to give a hopeful smile, but it came out as an awkward half-smile.
"The truth spell? Why did you cast the truth spell?"
"Because I want you to hear the truth from my lips and believe me." Prue replied. Phoebe looked at Prue in silence for several long moments before she spoke again.
"Do you want Andy back?"
"No, I want you." Prue replied, her gaze never wavering from Phoebe's. Phoebe felt her heart skip a couple beats as she gazed back into Prue's eyes.
"So it really was Ms. Halifax that made you do that today?"
"Yes, at least we think so. After Andy had left, I got this really weird feeling. I felt dizzy, like a spell had worn off." Prue explained.
"Seeing as Ms. Halifax is dead set on sticking a wedge between the three of us, it's highly likely that she's now preying on your feelings for Prue since the direct approaches didn't work out the way she intended." Piper added.
"You know, I am really sick and tired of this woman. We need to vanquish her sorry ass right now." Phoebe said as she felt the fire of hate well up inside her. One way or the other, Ms. Halifax would pay for all of this heartache she'd caused.
"Now that's the Phoebe I like to see," Prue said with a soft smile as she saw the fire return to Phoebe's eyes. Phoebe looked at Prue.
"You really meant everything you said to me last night?" Phoebe asked softly.
"Yes I did, with my entire heart." Prue replied. "I know you're really hurt, and I really hate myself for doing that to you, but I promise you that I really do want to be with you." Prue sat down on the edge of the bed, reached a hand out and gently ran the backs of her fingers along Phoebe's cheek as she gazed at her. Phoebe smiled softly and leaned into her touch.
"I believe you, Prue." Phoebe reached out and gently brushed her fingertips along Prue's cheek.
"Now kiss and make-up," Piper said gleefully. Both Prue and Phoebe gave her playful glares. "You both owe me, you know."
"For what? It was the truth spell that got us here." Prue said.
"No, Piper did do her usual thing of being a buffer between us and playing peacemaker." Phoebe said and smiled at Piper. "Thank you, I don't know what I'd do without you as the middle sister." Phoebe got up and gave Piper a big, tight hug.
"Aww you're welcome, Phoebs. I'd do anything to help my sisters get along smoothly." Piper hugged Phoebe back tightly.
"Thank you, Piper. Phoebe and I would be so lost without you." Prue joined in on the hug, hugging both of her little sisters tightly and a bit protectively.
Unknown to them, Ms. Halifax was watching them, though she wasn't pleased with what she saw. "God damn those witches! Why do they keep thwarting my plans? I've hit them where it hurts, yet nothing seems to be enough." She huffed. "Well it seems I'll just do things the old fashioned way. I'll just have to kill them."
Despite her plans not working out the way she wanted them to, she was pleased with the chaos they had inflicted. Ms. Halifax was confident that part of her grand plan had worked and that she'd laid the blueprint for future problems to arise between the sisters as a direct result of unleashing Phoebe's love for Prue. Sure it could make the power of three unbreakable, but it would always be the weakest link. After all, nothing is more vulnerable than lovers.
The sisters were deep in debate about how to get rid of Ms. Halifax. So far the only plan they had was bursting into her home again. Piper of course had kindly pointed out the Minotaur and labyrinth thing again and not wanting to repeat the experience. Prue had suggested luring Ms. Halifax to them by setting a trap. Phoebe had said that Ms. Halifax would most likely come to them since she'd taken to that pattern all ready. Unable to come to an agreement on what to do since Piper's swing vote hadn't swayed to one side or the other, the sisters remained in debate. Well, more like Phoebe and Prue argued about their plans. Prue, being the all-proud and sometimes over-confident one, pointed out and picked at the flaws in Phoebe's plan, going so far as to say it wasn't even a plan since it involved waiting around for the enemy to come to them. Phoebe, always the headstrong and stubborn one, wasn't going to admit defeat and defend her plan with a vengeance. Piper could only sit there and watch, every so often interjecting her calming effect so there wouldn't be any cat fighting, though she had a passing thought that Prue and Phoebe would like a cat fight.
Before they could get much further, the doorbell rang. Phoebe tilted her head a bit. "I wonder who that could be?" She then glanced at her sister, hoping it wasn't Andy back to do more questioning or to get Prue. Phoebe got up and headed to the door, her sisters close behind her with similar thoughts on their mind. Phoebe opened the door and went a bit wide-eyed as she saw Ms. Halifax standing there.
"Hello Phoebe, I'm so glad you're the one who answered the door." She said in a sweet voice as she pulled out a revolver and pointed it at Phoebe.
"Oh oh oh!" Phoebe exclaimed as her eyes popped out of her head in fear while Ms. Halifax took off the safety and pulled the trigger.
"Piper!!" Prue cried out as she saw the gun.
"Whoa!" Piper exclaimed, waved her hands and froze Ms. Halifax and the bullet an inch or two before it would have hit Phoebe in the chest.
"That was TOO CLOSE!!" Phoebe squealed and stumbled backwards, then out of the path of the bullet. Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest. Prue ran up and turned the bullet around to face Ms. Halifax.
"This will take care of her." Prue said and stepped back, wrapping an arm around Phoebe's back and holding her close to calm her down. A few seconds later, Ms. Halifax and the bullet unfroze. She went wide-eyed and gasped as the bullet hit her in the chest.
"Damn you witches," she cursed.
"No, damn you, Ms. Halifax." Prue said.
"I hope you burn in Hell for all eternity for what you've done to us." Phoebe said, glaring at Ms. Halifax. Ms. Halifax stumbled backwards, but instead of falling down and dying, she instead went up in flames. She screamed as she met her demise and ceased to exist.
"Thank God, now we can get back to our lives." Prue said. Piper shut the door.
"Are you guys hungry because I sure worked up an appetite after this." Piper asked. Prue and Phoebe nodded and they went to the kitchen to make some food.
Back at the station, the police were still hard at work on connecting the dots of the triple homicide. Andy was going over the notes he took when he'd questioned the Halliwells earlier. He was convinced they were innocent, but still tried to figure out how their prints on got the murder weapon. He did buy the possibility that Prue's got there through Buckland, so he'd had records of all knives sold there faxed to him. Sure enough, Prue had sold the knife a couple months before to a woman named Sonja Preston.
The name Sonja Preston jogged something in Andy's memory. He looked over at his partner, Darrel, who was busy going over the crime scene photos again, looking for any new clues.
"Darrel, does the name Sonja Preston ring any bells?" Darrel looked at Andy, his brow furrowed in thought. After some moments the light bulb went off.
"Yeah, wasn't she murdered a couple weeks ago?" Darrel got up and went over to a stack of files, then after a minute of picking through them, pulled one out and opened it. "Yeah here it is." He set the file down in front of Andy. Sonja had been murdered. In looking at the pictures of her body, it was obvious a knife had been used. And the knife wounds on her body were eerily similar to the ones on the victims they had found the night before.
"Is it just me or do these wounds look a lot like the ones on our triple homicide?" Darrel leaned closer to inspect the pictures closer.
"No you're right. It has to be the same killer. The patterns are too close not to be." Darrel said.
"I found that Prue did sell the knife used to kill those three people to Sonja a couple months back. I'm ruling Prue out as a suspect, and I don't think her sisters would be capable of this either. They both could have easily have touched it if Prue had brought it home or they saw it in her office."
"Sounds good to me, but where does that leave us with a suspect?" Darrel had just barely gotten those words out of his mouth when his phone rang. He answered it and talked to the person on the other end for a few moments before hanging up and looking at Andy. "Forensics got a match on the unidentified fingerprint on the murder weapon. It belongs to a Melissa Halifax. She apparently had been living in Sonja Preston's house, but is no where to be found."
"She must have fled. Get people out looking for her. Alert airports, she might flee the country if she hasn't all ready." Andy stood up and grabbed his coat.
"What are you going to do?" Darrel asked, giving Andy a pointed look.
"Going to tell the Halliwells they aren't suspects anymore. I don't want them to be on edge longer than they have to be." Darrel nodded and Andy left and headed to the manor.
The sisters were just finishing their food when the doorbell rang again. Phoebe looked at Piper.
"It's your turn to answer the door. At least you can freeze them before they kill you." Phoebe said. Piper gave her a pointed look.
"Gee thanks, Phoebs, that comforts me a lot."
"You're welcome, Piper." Phoebe said with a bright, cheerful smile just to rub it in even more. Piper rolled her eyes, but went to answer the door regardless. "Oh hi, Andy," she greeted.
"Hi Piper, I just came to tell you and your sisters something."
"This doesn't sound good," Piper said and was afraid they were going to get arrested or brought to the station. She let Andy in and closed the door behind them. "Prue, Phoebe, Andy's here." She also got a sinking feeling and hoped Phoebe wouldn't go off the deep end at the mention or sight of Andy.
Prue and Phoebe came out of the kitchen some moments later. Phoebe had put a calm mask on her face to cover up the storm of emotions that the mere mention of Andy's name stirred inside her.
"Andy, hi," Prue greeted, also masking the storm of emotions inside her, which were mostly regret and guilt.
"I thought I'd come tell you three we just eliminated you from the suspect list on that triple homicide." This statement was followed by silence and stunned reactions from the sisters.
"We aren't suspects anymore?" Phoebe finally asked, having forgotten about that in light of other events.
"No, I did find that Prue sold the murder weapon to Sonja Preston a couple months back, so that explained her fingerprints on it. I also don't think you or Piper are capable of murdering anyone and that you could have come in contact with it while Prue had it." The sisters breathed easier.
"Oh thank God, I'm glad you got that sorted. But doesn't that mean you don't have a suspect anymore?" Phoebe asked.
"Actually we found the culprit. We finally got an I.D. on the unknown fingerprints on it. They belonged to a Melissa Halifax. We found she'd been living at Sonja Preston's house for the past couple weeks, but she wasn't there when our guys got there. She's probably fled so we're conducting a full scale manhunt." The sisters looked at each other knowing they'd all ready gotten their suspect.
"Well I hope you're able to find her." Prue said with a smile. It suddenly occurred to her that they'd taken matters into their own hands and punished the guilty party in this and it was against the rules to punish the guilty. But it was quickly followed by the realization that Ms. Halifax had been a warlock and it was their job to vanquish warlocks.
"Thank you," Andy smiled at Prue. "Could I talk to you for a moment, Prue?" Phoebe cast a pointed, jealous look at Andy, but Piper quickly stepped in before anything bad happened.
"I'll just take Phoebe into the kitchen and leave you kids alone." Piper gave her thousand-dollar smile as she grabbed Phoebe's shoulders, turned her around and walked off to the kitchen with her.
"Prue, I just want to apologize about this afternoon. I really hope I didn't make thing too awkward for you."
"No no, it's all right. I mean, it was unexpected. I don't know what came over me this afternoon, but I'm not sure I was in the right state of mind when I said all of that to you." Prue looked at Andy, hating having to hurt him like this again and her blue eyes were full of sadness and regret.
"To tell you the truth, I just thought it was weird how it came out all of a sudden when I hadn't even thought about it." As Andy said the word truth, it reminded Prue about the truth spell. She bit her bottom lip as she knew Andy wouldn't remember this tomorrow and wondered if they'd have to have this conversation again. Then she briefly wondered if she'd even remember it since this time the spell hadn't been used for personal gain.
"You really hadn't thought about it?" She asked, wanting the truth.
"No I hadn't. I respected your wish. All I want is for you to be happy, even if it's not with me." Andy looked at Prue a bit sadly and longingly. "But I want you to know that the time we were together, I cherished every moment and I'll always remember what we once had." Prue smiled a bit sadly.
"Me too. You are a really wonderful guy, Andy. No matter what we will always be friends. I'm just really sorry things didn't work out."
"Sometimes that's just how things are. You know if you ever need anything, and I mean anything, don't hesitate to ask me. I'm always here for you, Prue."
"Thank you, Andy. The same goes for you." Prue said with a smile. Andy smiled back softly and warmly.
"Well, I'd better get back to the station. I'll see you later."
"All right, bye Andy." Prue walked Andy to the door. After he was gone, she took a deep breath, feeling like this was a good closure for them. She hoped that they wouldn't be having this conversation again, but knew if they would it would come out the same way.
That evening after the sisters finished their chores, Phoebe headed to Prue's room, ready to have another movie night with her. She knocked on the door once, then slipped inside. She was about to call Prue's name when she stepped out of her closet. Phoebe's jaw hit the floor as she saw what Prue was wearing.
"Whoa mama…" Phoebe said as she swallowed some drool that was forming in her mouth.
"I'm not your mama, so don't call me that." Prue said as she walked closer to Phoebe. She was wearing a very sexy and sensual black lace bra with matching thong and a black silk robe that was tied at her waist, but was open enough to expose her bra.
"Damn you look so hot," Phoebe breathed out and licked her lips. Prue smiled sensually, looked at her door and squinted her eyes as she locked it, then she looked back at Phoebe.
"You don't need to restrain yourself, Phoebe, just let yourself go like I am." Prue stepped close to Phoebe, slid her arms around her waist and pulled her tight against her. Prue's lips found Phoebe's and she kissed her deeply and passionately, pouring all of her emotions into the kiss. Phoebe groaned and kissed Prue just as deeply and passionately. She slid her arms around Prue's neck and pulled her closer against her. Phoebe felt a fire ignite deep inside her and her heart started to pound against her chest.
After some moments, Prue backed Phoebe to her bed and laid her down on her back. Prue laid down on top of Phoebe and kissed her deeper. Prue's hands slid along Phoebe's sides slowly, tracing the natural curve of her body. Phoebe shivered slightly and pressed her body tighter against Prue's. She slid her hands along Prue's back and caressed it gently with her fingers.
The kiss grew more passionate and before long it seemed as though Prue and Phoebe were kissing and caressing each other's souls. Prue shivered and tingled under Phoebe's touch like never before. For the first time in her life, she felt truly and completely alive. She always wanted this feeling, and she hoped that she made Phoebe feel the same way.
Longing to feel Prue's skin, Phoebe slid her hands to the belt holding the robe closed and undid it. She then gently slid the robe off of Prue's shoulders down to her elbows. She slid her fingers along Prue's upper arms to her shoulders, then along her back. Prue shivered again and pulled her arms free of the robe and threw it aside. She broke the kiss gently and sat up to give Phoebe a good look at her body. Phoebe's gaze slid over Prue and she took in every single detail, every single curve with her eyes. She licked her lips and smirked as her gaze returned to Prue's eyes.
"And you said I was the slutty one…"
"I'm more of a closet slut, I only come out in times like this." Prue said, mirroring Phoebe's smirk, then winking at her. Prue leaned back down and kissed Phoebe deeply and passionately again. Phoebe returned the kiss whole-heartedly and caressed Prue's back passionately, sliding her fingers along her skin.
Before Phoebe went any further, she rolled Prue onto her back and broke the kiss gently. She trailed her mouth to Prue's neck and pressed soft kisses along it and gently caressed it with her lips. She slid a hand under Prue and skillfully unhooked her bra and pulled it off of her.
"You know, that's the quickest anyone has ever gotten my bra off." Prue said with a little giggle. Phoebe smiled and placed a little nip to Prue's earlobe.
"I've had much practice with my own bra," she replied with a giggle. She slid her hands to Prue's breasts and started caressing them gently. Prue tiled her head back and groaned loudly as she arched into Phoebe's touch.
Phoebe trailed her kisses down Prue's neck to her chest. She flicked her tongue along the soft skin, earning another shiver and groan from Prue. Phoebe's mouth made a trail to one of Prue's nipples and she flicked her tongue against it before taking it into her mouth. Prue moaned and threaded her fingers into Phoebe's hair and held her head close. The moment Prue did that, Phoebe was graced with a premonition.
Prue was on top of Phoebe. Both of them were sweaty and naked and looked like that had been making love for hours and were nowhere near stopping. Prue was licking and sucking on Phoebe's neck while her hand was between Phoebe's legs.
Phoebe moaned loudly as Prue's fingers rubbed her clit. Phoebe gasped utterly loudly as Prue slid a couple fingers inside her, searching for her g-spot. Once she found it, she started rubbing it, then started rocking her hips against Phoebe's slowly. Phoebe tightened her arms around Prue's back and pressed against her tighter. She was so lost in ecstasy that she was only aware of Prue and the way she made her feel.
"Oh fuck," Phoebe mumbled breathlessly.
"What is it?" Prue asked, recognizing the signs of Phoebe having a premonition and hoping this wasn't going to stop them from being together. Phoebe gazed at Prue, her brown eyes so deep and vivid.
"Tonight is going to be a night we will never forget. And damn you have the right touch, I can't wait to feel it." Phoebe said and felt herself burn hotter. She kissed Prue again, this time deeper and more heatedly.
Phoebe and Prue spent most of the night making love to each other and letting their passion and love burn so brightly. Never before had either of them felt pleasure like this and never before had they felt so complete.
It was nearly dawn when they finally collapsed and could no longer move. They laid in each other's arms, their legs entwined, sweat covering their bodies, their breath heavy and labored. They both still felt their bodies tingling from the passion and the pleasure they had both received.
"I love you, Prue." Phoebe whispered breathlessly, her head resting on Prue's chest.
"I love you too, Phoebe." Prue replied softly, pulling Phoebe closer. She pulled the covers up around them. "Sweet dreams," she said.
"Sweet dreams yourself," Phoebe said, then tilted her head up and kissed Prue gently, before placing her head back on her chest, closing her eyes and falling asleep. Prue smiled, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
It was the beginning of something new. Even though it was taboo for them to have this relationship, they were determined to make it work and damn the world if they thought it was wrong. Love is love and knows no bounds, not even ones of gender or blood ties. Prue and Phoebe knew there would be trials for them to go trough in the future and problems they would face, but they knew they were stronger together. This relationship may be a sin, but Prue and Phoebe would be happy sinners. After all, she was her sin.