CHARMED

"Blessing In Disguise"

By J. B. Tilton

Email: K

Disclaimer: "Charmed" and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.

(Authors' note: This story takes place between season 4 episodes "Hell Hath No Furry" and "Enter The Demon".)

When Paige is attacked by a demon, a homeless man comes to her aid, leading the Charmed Ones to a house in the neighborhood inhabited by demons.

ONE

Paige came out of the electric company office and looked around the street. She had been able to get the electric bill paid before they had disconnected her. It was the same every month. The bills came in in plenty of time and yet she always seemed to wait until the last minute to pay them. Then she'd have to rush around and hope she got to the offices in time to prevent them from disconnecting her services.

And things were even crazier now. It was a mere three weeks ago that she had been nothing more than a social worker for the Bay Area Social Services. Then, two weeks ago, she had discovered she had an entire family she had never known about. And she was a witch and half White Lighter to boot. It was a great deal to take in and she still wasn't sure she had adjusted to it all.

Piper, especially, seemed to resent her. She really couldn't blame her. She had dealt with enough people to know Piper had her own issues to deal with. Her eldest sister killed fighting demons she had suddenly discovered a younger sister. Well, half sister really. And it must seem to her like was trying to replace that sister even though that would never be possible. Slow and easy, that was the way to take things until everyone was comfortable with the changes that had taken place.

She turned and hurried up an alley. It was a shortcut she often took to get back to her office. If she hurried she'd get back before her lunch hour was over. God knows she was late often enough. And she was not interested in listening to her boss lecture her yet again on the importance of punctuality. Suddenly a figure stepped out from behind a nearby dumpster startling her.

"Oh, lord," she gasped. "You scared me. I didn't see you there."

"You weren't meant to, witch."

The man swung out and struck her across the face with the back of his hand. Paige was knocked back across the alley and slumped against the wall. Other than a sore jaw she seemed to be unhurt. She looked as the man drew an athame out of his belt.

Demon, she thought. She hadn't seen that many demons but he had called her a witch. It wasn't hard to figure out that this "man" must be a demon come to kill her. Instinctively she orbed out but immediately orbed back into place. Leo had told her she would eventually learn to orb properly but that would take time. Time she did not have at the moment.

"White Lighter?" questioned the demon. "How can you be a White Lighter? You're a witch."

"I'm both, slime ball," said Paige. "Dumpster."

She extended her hand and the dumpster the demon had been hiding behind suddenly sprang to life and slid across the alley. It struck the demon from behind sending him sprawling away from Paige. The athame he was holding was knocked from his grasp as he rolled with the blow.

Paige stood up and gauged her distance to the street beyond. If she could make it to the street the demon wouldn't dare attack with so many people around. She turned and headed for the street, running as fast as she could run. Suddenly the demon shimmered and appeared in front of her, athame in hand.

"You don't get away that easily, witch."

The demon struck out with the athame. Paige brought her hands up in a reflex action to fend off the weapon. The tip of the blade cut through her skin creating a gash from her elbow to her wrist. It wasn't deep and if she had it treated right away she might even escape without a scar. But at the moment her only thought was to get away from the demon.

"Don't fight me, witch. I want you alive. You're worth a great deal to me alive. Kumak wants a live witch for his experiments. You aren't worth anything at all dead."

The demon began to advance on Paige holding the athame menacingly. Paige glanced around but saw no way to escape. There was nothing close by she could use as a weapon and her orbing was of little use to her. Desperately she tried to think of a spell that would help but she had little practice with spells.

Suddenly a figure rushed past her and struck the demon full in the chest. The demon went sprawling on the alley and the athame it was holding was knocked from its grasp. As the demon came up on his knees a very large dog stood in front of him, its ears laid back, snarling, and showing a mouthful of extremely sharp teeth.

"A canine?" questioned the demon. "You have no canine with you."

"It's not hers," said a man picking up the athame the demon had dropped. "And if you don't want Sheba to tear out your throat you'll sit there quietly until the police arrive."

The demon eyed the human. He had picked up the athame by the tip and stood holding it in a manner that suggested he was ready to throw it if the demon made a move. And at that distance not even a human could miss.

"There will be another time, witch," said the demon. Suddenly he shimmered and was gone.

"What the?" questioned the man. The dog looked around for the demon. "How did he do that?"

"It's hard to explain," said Paige, nursing her wounded arm. "It would probably be best if you just forgot all about it."

"You're hurt," said the man, pulling a shirt out of a knapsack he was wearing. He handed the shirt to Paige and she used it to wrap around her cut arm. "That's probably going to need stitches. We'd better get you to the hospital."

"Oh, uh, I'll be okay. I have a relative who's a doctor. I think I can drive well enough to get home and let him have a look at it."

The man appeared to be about thirty years old. His clothes were dirty but seemed to be in reasonably good shape. His hair was long and unkempt and he was badly in need of a shave. The knapsack he was carrying seemed to be filled to capacity and he was leaning on a cane.

"This is an interesting knife," said the man. "Not sure I've seen anything like it before."

"It's called an athame. Oh, my name is Paige Matthews."

"Scott. Scott Drayson. Well, Paige Matthews, you'd better go have that arm looked at. I imagine it hurts pretty bad."

"Yeah, it does. Where can I get hold of you? I'd like to replace the shirt you let me borrow."

"Don't bother," said Drayson. "It's no big deal. Come on, Sheba. Let's leave Miss Matthews alone so she can get some medical help."

Paige just watched as the man partially limped up the alley with the dog close at his side. Paige winced at the pain in her arm as she watched her benefactor move away from her. As he disappeared down the alley she turned and headed for her car.