Desire Within
When Piper had dinner ready, she sent Prue upstairs to get Phoebe. Prue knocked on Phoebe's door. "Phoebe, dinner's ready."
Phoebe groaned softly and opened her eyes, realizing she had dozed off at some point. "Ok, I'll be right there." She sat up with a yawn and stretched. She slid out of bed, pulled on a sweatshirt and headed downstairs. She was still wondering how to deal with these feelings she had.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize she was ignoring her sisters and was barely touching her food. At least until Prue reached over and waved her hand in front of her face.
"Hello Earth to Phoebe, are you in there?" Prue asked. Phoebe shook out of her trance.
"Huh? Oh sorry, I must still be half asleep." She said and took a bite of her food.
"When you're half asleep, you at least respond by grunting at us." Piper said. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm fine." Phoebe said and poked her food with her fork. After all, how could she tell her sisters that she was in love with one of them?
"Vernados is gone, so you don't have to worry anymore, Phoebe." Prue said.
"I know, I just feel really violated by him. He could hear my thoughts and he responded to them all the time." Phoebe said with a soft sigh. "I know he's gone, but I feel so completely violated."
"It'll be ok Phoebe. With time that feeling will fade away." Piper said.
"How do you know? You don't know what it feels like to have someone listening to your most secret thoughts and making comments about them." Phoebe snipped at Piper, frustrated that they didn't understand how she felt. She got up and walked up to her room and locked her door behind her, just wanting to be alone.
Piper bit her lip and sighed heavily. "I was only trying to help." She said softly. Prue gently rubbed her arm.
"I know and I think Phoebe knows that too. But it'll take a little more for Phoebe to get over this. You heard what mom said about Phoebe taking this one hard. I think this is what she meant." Prue comforted.
"I'd feel a little better if she had at least eaten something." Piper mumbled and continued eating her dinner.
"We can take some food up for her later. She needs some time alone to help get rid of the feeling of being violated." Prue said, and then looked out towards the staircase, knowing how Phoebe felt in being violated. She too had felt violated when Phoebe had kissed her and touched her earlier, though she didn't blame Phoebe at all, she blamed Vernados.
Phoebe sat by the window in her room, gazing out of it. She wondered what she should do with these feelings and how she could even face Prue knowing what they were. Then she remembered how she had kissed her and touched her earlier and inwardly wondered if Prue would ever forgive her for that.
iHow could she? I wouldn't forgive me if I was her./i She sighed heavily and pulled her knees against her chest. She didn't know where to go from here. It was times like these that she really wished her mother was alive. Being the youngest, Phoebe hadn't gotten much time with her mother before she'd died. Phoebe had grown up without a mother, and she knew she had acted out a lot because of it. Grams had done a good job stepping in, but she was her grandmother, not her mother. She had always felt this hole inside of her that her mother's death had left and she had tried everything to fill it.
Now that she had found these feelings for Prue, it felt like that hole was being filled. Her love didn't make her feel so empty and lonely. Instead, they made her feel complete, something that she had never felt before. More than anything she wished to be complete, but she knew it was wrong to be with Prue. She also feared Prue rejecting her love. Phoebe knew she'd rather live with these secret feelings for the rest of her life and keep Prue as a sister than to confess her feelings and lose her forever, and possibly Piper too.
iWhy do feelings have to be so complicated? I want to be happy and Prue makes me happy. But I fear losing my sisters more than I long for Prue's love, don't I?/i It started to occur to Phoebe that these feelings ran much deeper and were much stronger than she had expected them to be. She hung her head and wondered why she had to be cursed with this. Maybe something she had done in a past life was coming back to haunt her now.
Unknown to Phoebe, she was being watched. Two of the watchers were Grams and Penny, fearing what would come next and knowing they couldn't stop it any longer. The other watcher was none other than Ms. Halifax.
"You liked my little demon, didn't you Phoebe? He unlocked your hidden feelings and now it's only a matter of time before they tear you and your sisters apart." Ms. Halifax said with a smirk. "It's too bad really, you are such a nice girl. But Prue needs to die for flinging me into the wall. If you play nicely, I'll let Piper live so you won't be alone." Her game of chess was an intricate one. Both sides had lost a couple pawns, and now Ms. Halifax was about to make a bold move to see if the Charmed Ones responded how she expected them to. Ms. Halifax stepped away from her crystal ball, which she used to watch Phoebe, and went off to put the next stage of her plan into action.
From the other side, Grams and Patty watched Phoebe closely. They knew they had to warn Prue and Piper, but they greatly feared their reaction.
"What should we do?" Patty asked.
"We can't leave them in the dark about this. But at the same time, if they know that we've known about this and not told them, it could destroy everything." Grams replied, her voice laced with extreme worry. "If only I hadn't bound Phoebe's love for Prue all those years ago this wouldn't be happening."
"It's not your fault, mom. You did what you believed was right. I'm sure Phoebe wouldn't have been able to handle those feelings." Patty said, watching her youngest daughter closely and intently. "Do you think we should get them to cast a spell to make us flesh and blood so we can be there to help?"
"Do you really think they'd want to even talk to us after telling them? We'd be lucky if Prue didn't throw Hell itself at us. I don't even want to know how Phoebe would react."
"Well I think we both know that Phoebe all ready knows her feelings for Prue. It would be harder for her swallow the fact that we kept those feelings from her for so long." Patty said, a note of sadness in her voice. "I just want to hold her and shield her from all of this."
"I know you do, but if we want them to get through this, I think we need to convince Prue to be the one to shield Phoebe from all of this. After all, it is Phoebe's love for Prue that will either break the power of three or make it unbreakable."
"And the only way for it to be unbreakable is if Prue doesn't reject Phoebe." Patty said. Grams nodded in return.
"We've got some explaining to do, then we'll have a lot of damage control to do. So we'd better get going with that."
After they finished dinner, Prue helped Piper clean the dining room and the kitchen. Prue headed upstairs to her room, glancing at Phoebe's closed door for some moments on the way. She walked in and sat down on her bed, trying not to think too much about what happened earlier. She tried to focus her thoughts on Phoebe when she got a feeling of being watched. She looked up and watched as Patty came into view.
"Mom?" She asked, startled by the sudden appearance.
"Yes it's me. Grams and I need to talk to you and your sisters. Go to the attic and do a summoning spell." She explained. Prue nodded and was about to ask something when Patty disappeared. She got up and went to get Piper, then she went to knock on Phoebe's door.
"Phoebe? We need you to come to the attic with us. Mom just appeared to me and said she and Grams needed to talk to us." Prue and Piper waited silently outside the door. A few moments later, Phoebe opened the door and came out.
"Ok," she said softly and slightly distantly. Prue linked arms with Phoebe and Piper did the same. The three of them headed up to the attic, got things set up, then summoned Grams and Patty once again.
"All right, so what do you need to talk to us about?" Prue asked.
"It's about Phoebe." Patty said. "It would be best if you three sat down for this." All three sisters gave their mother and grandmother strange looks, but complied and sat down on the couch, Phoebe being in the middle.
"This will be very difficult for you three to hear and even more difficult for you to understand, but we have to tell you before anything else happens." Grams paused and glanced at Patty, then looked back at the sisters. "I not only bound your powers all those years ago, I also bound something else inside Phoebe."
Phoebe looked at Grams uncertainly. "What was it?" She asked, though she was starting to think it was these feelings for Prue that seemed to have come out of nowhere.
"When you three were very young, Phoebe always followed Prue around everywhere. Sometimes we'd catch Phoebe doing things she shouldn't have been doing, especially not at her age." Grams explained.
"What sorts of things?" Prue asked, not liking where this was heading.
"She would touch you inappropriately and acted as though she was your lover, not your sister." Patty said. Phoebe froze and stared at the two ghosts.
"I did that?" She asked, her voice soft and faint. Patty nodded.
"At first, we'd passed it off as you just exploring and getting to know the world around you. Sometimes you'd do the same to Piper and anyone else that would come close enough to, but you did it to Prue the most. Then I heard a prophecy concerning the Charmed Ones." Grams paused, hesitant to go on. "It said that the youngest of the three would harbor love for the oldest that was unnatural. It would either lead to the permanent breaking of the power of three or it would make it unbreakable."
After those words were spoken, a long silence filled the attic. Phoebe looked at Grams and Patty for the longest time, hating how Grams had locked her own feelings away from herself. Prue stared at the ghosts dumbfoundly, truly not knowing what to do or say in response to that. Piper looked at her sisters, then at Grams and finally broke the tense silence, trying to make sense of everything.
"So are you saying that Phoebe is in love with Prue?" Piper asked.
"Yes, she is." Patty replied, looking at Phoebe. Phoebe hung her head a bit and closed her eyes.
"But…but how can that be?" Prue asked. "I thought Vernados made her that way."
"No, Vernados only took her feelings and brought them to the forefront of her consciousness. He couldn't create something that wasn't there. He always took what was there, that's how he go so far because he used what was real instead of making illusions." Grams explained.
Again, silence fell over the attic. Phoebe still had her head down. Piper looked at Prue for several moments, then looked at Phoebe. Grams and Patty both anxiously waited for Phoebe's response. Phoebe finally lifted her head and looked at the ghosts. Her gaze was full of anger and resentment, but also held pain and sadness.
"How could you do that to me?" She asked, her voice soft but anger could be heard clearly in it. "How could you take my emotions and hide them away deep inside me? How could you violate me like that?"
"Sweetheart, I did what I thought was best. I didn't think you wanted to grow up having those feelings to deal with on top of everything else."
"But they are apart of me whether you like it or not! They're my feelings! How dare you do that. I hate you!" Phoebe exclaimed, got up and ran out of the attic, tears fighting to stream down her cheeks.
"Phoebe, wait!" Patty exclaimed, wanting to go after her.
"No, let her go." Grams said. Piper looked after Phoebe, knowing it would be better if she stayed put.
"So you're telling me that Phoebe is in love with me, but that you bound her feelings just like her powers." Prue said, looking at Grams and trying to keep her anger inside for now.
"Unfortunately, yes…" Grams said.
"What the hell were you thinking? How could you play with her feelings like that?" Prue exclaimed. "I don't care what kind of feelings they are, but you don't just make people's emotions disappear like that! How dare you!" Prue's eyes narrowed and she was incredibly angry that Grams had done this. Without warning, the huge stained glass window shattered into billions of tiny pieces.
"Woah woah woah!! Prue calm down!" Piper exclaimed, ducking for cover with Prue from the flying shards of glass.
"How can I calm down when our grandmother hid Phoebe's feelings from her? And how do we know she didn't do the same thing to us?" Prue glared at Grams. "What else did you mess with besides binding our powers?"
"I didn't do anything else, I promise you."
"How are we supposed to believe that?" Prue spat, truly pissed off. A moment later, there was a series of loud crashes downstairs, as though lots of glass was shattering, then there was a loud shriek shortly after.
"Phoebe…" Piper said as her heart stopped. Both her and Prue ran downstairs to find Phoebe cowering in the front hallway of the house.
"Oh God, Phoebe!" Prue cried out and ran over to her, trying her best to avoid the shattered glass covering the floor. Her and Piper gently brushed some loose glass shards off of Phoebe. All the glass in the house had shattered from Prue's anger sending her power spiraling out of control. "Are you all right?"
Phoebe looked up at Prue, some tears having made their way down her cheeks. "No, I'm fine." Prue kneeled down and gently brushed some tears away from Phoebe's cheek. Phoebe also had a few minor cuts on her face and neck from the glass. Phoebe sniffed and gazed at Prue, so many emotions running through her she didn't know what was showing through the most.
"I'm sorry, Phoebe, I hope I didn't hurt you." Prue said softly, reading the storm of emotions in Phoebe's eyes. "I got so angry at Grams that my powers went out of control."
"No, I'm fine, really." Phoebe looked up at Piper, afraid of what she thought of her. Piper knelt down and gently stroked Phoebe's hair.
"It was wrong of Grams to have done that to you. I don't care who you love or what you do, you're still my sister and I love you." Piper said. Unable to control it anymore, Phoebe broke down and started sobbing. Both Piper and Prue wrapped their arms around her and held her tightly. Phoebe buried her face in Prue's shoulder.
Phoebe felt so betrayed by her grandmother and her mother. She didn't think people she loved could do this sort of thing to her. She couldn't understand why this had happened, why Grams had done what she'd done. Everything she had believed in was crushed down to the ground and just as shattered as all the windows in their house.
"Shh it's ok Phoebe, we aren't leaving you alone." Prue soothed, rubbing Phoebe's back and doing her best to keep her powers in check before she blew the house up around them. Piper looked at Prue and started feeling her anger starting to rise. Her shock was starting to subside and was being replaced by anger.
"How could they do this to her? To us? How could they keep this from us?" Piper said, a note of anger creeping into her voice.
"I don't know, but please don't talk about it unless you want me to blow up our house, or even this whole planet." Prue warned, feeling a surge of anger inside her. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths to keep it from boiling over.
"Why is this happening to me?" Phoebe asked between sobs as she clung to her sisters.
"I don't know and I wish I had the answers and that I could make it all better." Prue said. She truly meant what she said. Being the oldest sister, she wanted to take care of her sisters and keep them both safe. She'd go to any length to make sure they were all right. Even though her and Phoebe had their extreme differences in the past, including several years of Prue hating Phoebe for allegedly seducing her ex-fiancée, they had moved on and patched up their differences, for the most part anyway.
"All right, I think Phoebe needs some food and some nice hot cocoa, so I'll go get some for her." Piper said, then got up and went to the kitchen. After she left, Phoebe looked at Prue and sniffed.
"Prue…I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable at all…about this."
"Don't worry about that right now. No matter what, I love you and I'm always here for you." Prue said with a smile. Phoebe smiled back at her and hugged her.
"Thank you," she said gratefully.
After a minute, they stood up and started sweeping up the glass shards. Prue made a note to call a window guy. They worked their way towards the kitchen where Piper was finishing some food for Phoebe and hot cocoa for them all. They took their food and drinks to the kitchen table and sat down.
Instead of talking about the obvious matter of Grams having bound Phoebe's feelings, they chit chatted about everything else. Piper had started the conversation, wanting to lighten the mood and see her sisters cheer up a bit. For a while, they laughed and joked as though nothing had happened. And for a while, they had forgotten anything had happened.
After they finished their cocoa, they went about cleaning up all the shattered glass all over the house. Prue made a call and managed to get a guy to come out in the morning to start replacing the windows. Once all the glass was cleaned up, they put plastic over the windows to keep bugs out. Once they had covered all the windows, it was getting late and after an exhausting day, they all went to bed.
However, Phoebe's dreams were troubled. She dreamt of her and Prue. She was trying to get Prue to let her be with her, but Prue turned her down. When Phoebe kept insisting Prue give her a chance, Prue turned her back on Phoebe and left her behind. Piper did the exact same thing, only she turned her back on Phoebe for trying to force herself on Prue, their sister.
This dream was followed by a vivid wet dream, causing Phoebe to sweat in her sleep. It was a dream just like the ones she'd had the other night. They were of her and Prue making love in the hottest, most erotic ways. Phoebe hadn't even known people could do such things, then again she'd only ever been with men not women.
Little did she know that Ms. Halifax was manipulating her dreams. Ms. Halifax was determined to see that Phoebe's love for Prue would break the Charmed Ones' bond, thus rendering them powerless. It would be then that she'd step in and kill them, taking their powers. Though she hoped that she wouldn't have to kill Phoebe. In stead, she wanted Phoebe to turn evil and use her power to aid Ms. Halifax. The best way to corrupt someone was through his or her emotions, and Ms. Halifax could sense just how strong Phoebe's love was.
"That's right, Phoebe, soon you won't be able to help yourself, no matter how many times your sisters forgive you." Ms. Halifax had done her homework on the Halliwell sisters and knew about Prue and Phoebe's strained relationship. She knew they tended to fight more than get along, and she was counting on the fact that Prue would grow to hate Phoebe and spurn her and her love. The only potential thorn in the plan was Piper who was always the peacemaker. Piper was a wild card, the one who could go either way. So Ms. Halifax needed to take out some insurance to make sure Piper did what she wanted her to do.
Prue laid awake in bed, thinking over everything that had happened the past couple days. She had been shocked speechless when Phoebe's feelings had first come out under Vernados' influence. When Phoebe had first kissed her and touched her, she had felt violated, yet when she had taken a moment to think about it, deep down she had iliked/i it.
iBut why did I like it?/i Prue thought in confusion, trying to make sense of her own feelings. She had been caught in a whirlwind ever since she broke up with Andy after putting the truth spell on him and not getting the answer she'd expected when she told him she was a witch. But suddenly, things seemed so perfectly clear yet twisted at the same time.
A thought occurred to her. Perhaps she felt the same way about Phoebe that Phoebe felt about her. It would explain why she always disapproved of the guys Phoebe dated and why she got so jealous seeing Phoebe with other people. It would also explain why she wanted Phoebe to stay with her all the time.
iIf that's so, then why do I always end up fighting with her so bitterly?/i She thought and scratched her head. That was the golden question that she pondered for a good long while before she fell asleep. Her dreams played out her inner thoughts and emotions, seeming to give her answers that she was looking for. The trick would be to remember the dreams when she woke up.
The next morning, Prue was up bright and early to greet the window guy. She took him around the house so he could inspect the windows. He gave her a price and when she agreed, he promptly went to order the glass and get a team out there to help him. Piper was up not long after and got ready for her shift at work.
"All right, I've got to get to work. Call me if you need anything, ok?" Piper said to Prue as she grabbed her purse and car keys.
"I will. See you later." Prue said, having her morning coffee and browsing through the newspaper. Piper headed off to Quake, dreading her boss and how he worked her like a dog, but it was money and she knew it would cost a lot for all the new windows, she she'd go to work and not complain.
Prue glanced at the time and saw she needed to get to work herself. Phoebe wasn't up yet, so Prue left her a note about the window guys and if they finished before she got home to write them a check. Prue left her checkbook next to the note, grabbed her things and headed off to Buckland.
Phoebe woke up in a cold sweat. She felt like she'd been run over by a parade of semi trucks. She slowly worked her way out of bed and downstairs in a half-awake daze. When she got downstairs, one of the window guys nearly ran her over as he turned the corner to head towards the front door.
"Oh I'm sorry, miss, I didn't hear you." He said with an awkward smile. Phoebe smiled sleepily at him.
"It's ok, no harm done." She let him go on his way, then headed into the kitchen. She read Prue's note and rolled her eyes a bit, truly hating how her sisters always assumed she would get things done without giving her credit for doing it.
She made herself some coffee and toast, then sat down at the kitchen table to read the newspaper. She did her best to stay out of the way as the new windows were being put in. Every so often she'd have to show the guys where windows were and answer some questions, but aside from that they didn't interact with her.
When the window crew had moved upstairs to start work on the bedrooms, Phoebe moved into the living room and sat down on the couch. Her thoughts turned towards Prue, as they always seemed to do now when she didn't have anything else to focus on. She sat back against the couch and drifted back to thoughts of kissing Prue. It made her heart race as she remembered the way Prue's lips felt when she'd kissed her.
Her temperature started rising as her thoughts turned towards the dreams she'd been having of Prue. She couldn't deny that she longed for Prue's touch. She truly wanted to be with Prue and didn't know how much longer she could control herself. If she got this worked up when she was alone, she wasn't sure how much longer she could control herself when Prue was around.
The rest of the day passed without incident, which worried Prue and Piper since it was a very rare occurrence that uneventful days passed. Though at least now they had new windows. The window crew had managed to replace all the windows save for the stained glass ones, they would be back in a day or two to replace those. The sisters sat at dinner, mild chit chat filling the air.
"So were any of the window guys hot?" Piper asked.
"Eh I don't know, I didn't really pay attention to them." Phoebe said and took a bite of food. "Though one of them almost ran me down, he was kinda cute. But he wasn't my type."
"Oh really? Not your type, well maybe he's my type then." Prue said with a smirk.
Phoebe gave her a little glare. iHe's not my type because you're my type, Prue./i She took a breath and continued eating. She tried hard to not let Prue's words get to her, but she was also quite vulnerable especially after learning what Grams had done to her. And as soon as that thought entered her mind, her face grew grim and anger, sadness and betrayal resurfaced within her.
"Phoebe?" Piper asked as she stared at her.
"What?" Phoebe asked with a heavy tone of bitterness in her voice.
"Are you ok? You suddenly got this heavy look on your face." Piper said.
"Oh, I had just remembered what Grams did to me." She glanced at Prue. "I guess I should be glad I don't have an active power otherwise we could homeless right now." Prue reached over and gently rubbed Phoebe's arm.
"I know it's hard for you, but you've got me and Piper and we're on your side. We both hate what Grams did. It's ok to be angry, Phoebs, we are."
"Prue's right. We've got your back and we'll do anything we can to help you feel better." Piper said, rubbing Phoebe's arm gently.
"Thank you, both of you. It really means a lot to me." Phoebe said with a soft smile. Phoebe was very grateful, and she was still a bit surprised at Prue's support since they still had a rocky relationship.
After they finished dinner, Phoebe headed up to the attic and started looking through the Book of Shadows. She wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for, but it didn't take long before she found it. It was something that hadn't been there before. It was none other than the prophecy Grams had told them about. Phoebe read it, hoping to find some sort of answer in it.
"Hello Phoebe," a voice said from behind her. Phoebe gasped and whirled around, but found no one there.
"Hello?" Phoebe asked but she got no answer. Then suddenly, she was grabbed from behind and her nose and mouth were covered with a cloth. She tried to scream, but the cloth and hand muffled them. Her world went black, but she kept trying to scream for Prue and Piper.
Piper finished cleaning up after dinner and headed upstairs. She was going to check on Phoebe and thinking her and Prue could take Phoebe out somewhere tonight. When she didn't find Phoebe in her room, she headed to the attic, all ready knowing she wasn't downstairs. When she got to the attic, she found it empty.
"Phoebe?" She asked, getting a really bad feeling about this. She walked towards the Book of Shadows and found a note resting on it. Her eyes went wide and her heart stopped. "PRUE!! GET UP HERE RIGHT NOW!!" Piper screamed. Moments later Prue came running in.
"What is it?" She asked, out of breath from running.
"Phoebe's gone. Ms. Halifax took her." Piper pulled the note off of the Book of Shadows and showed it to Prue. Prue took the note out of Piper's hands and read it.
"How did she get in here?" Prue said. The note said if they wanted to see Phoebe again, they should come to her house and be prepared to give up their powers.
"I don't know, but what should we do?" Piper asked, trying to stay calm. Prue crumpled the note.
"We're going to get Phoebe, but we are not giving up our powers to that bitch." Prue said with a slight growl to her voice.
"We need a plan, Prue."
"The plan is to go in there, you freeze her, I grab Phoebe and we get out."
"But what if Ms. Halifax comes after us again? And how did she even get in here?"
"She's probably a warlock and blinked here. Now come on, we're going to get Phoebe. I swear I will rip Ms. Halifax apart with my bare hands if she harms just one hair on Phoebe's head." Prue grabbed Piper's arm and dragged her downstairs, grabbed the car keys and they made their way to the car.
Phoebe groaned softly as she started regaining consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open and she lifted her head. Her head was foggy and her thoughts disorganized. She shook her head, trying to clear it. She tried to move her hand to push her hair out of her face, but it met resistance. She grunted and looked up, then saw her hands were shackled to the wall above her head.
"Is your head feeling cloudy? I do apologize for that, it's a side effect of what I used to render you unconscious." Ms. Halifax said, stepping out of the shadows.
"Where am I?" Phoebe asked and tried to move her legs, but they too were shackled.
"At my house. No doubt your sisters will show up soon to play hero."
"Why did you abduct me?"
"Because you're the one I want and in order to make your sisters do what I want, I needed to take you. Once they come here, they'll fall right into my plan where I want them to." Ms. Halifax smirked evilly.
"They'll never do what you want them to. We will beat you." Phoebe said in defiance.
"Oh yes they will. You see, they don't want any harm to befall their precious baby sister. I do apologize ahead of time, but I will have to inflict some torture on you to convince them to surrender."
Suddenly, the front door was blown in. Phoebe could tell they were in a room not far away. She heard Prue and Piper calling for her.
"Prue! Piper! I'm in here!!" Phoebe called back, keeping an eye on Ms. Halifax. "But be careful, she's in here, too!"
Prue and Piper followed the sound of Phoebe's voice, came into the doorway and Piper promptly froze Ms. Halifax. Prue ran over to Phoebe and tried to free her.
"Are you all right, Phoebe?" She asked.
"Yeah I'm fine." Phoebe was about to suggest Prue check Ms. Halifax's pockets for the keys when Prue just used her powers and managed to break the shackles. Phoebe fell forward into Prue's arms, her body refusing to cooperate as she was still drowsy. "She used some sort of drug to knock me out. I just came to and feel like I'm in a fog."
"It's ok, we'll get you out of here." Prue said, picking Phoebe up and running for the door.
"Hurry up, I don't know how much longer she'll stay frozen." Piper said as they hurried back towards the front door. But the front door was gone, replaced by a wall.
"What the hell?" Prue asked. She tried to blast a hole through the wall, but it didn't do anything. Suddenly they heard Ms. Halifax's laughter.
"You are caught in my labyrinth now, witches. There's only two ways out. One is to surrender your powers to me. The other is through the Minotaur and defeat him, but I assure you the less painful way will be to surrender your powers."
"We will never surrender!" Prue said, narrowing her eyes.
"Prue, how the hell are we supposed to defeat a Minotaur?" Piper asked.
"The only way we know how to. Now come on." Prue held Phoebe close to her and started following the corridor. Phoebe slid her arms around Prue's neck and rested her head on her shoulder, unable to hold it up for very long.
iShe's so strong and brave. If she manages to get us out of this, I'm going to give her a great big kiss./i Phoebe thought. Piper followed close by Prue's side, keeping an eye out as they turned corners and made their way around the labyrinth.
They turned a corner and suddenly heard a roar right behind them. They stopped running, eyes wide with fear, then slowly turned and looked behind them. There stood the Minotaur, his eyes red and blazing with anger and his muscles equally as bulging.
"He really doesn't look happy." Piper said, taking a step backwards.
"Piper, run." Prue said, then turned and started running but since she was carrying Phoebe she was slow and Piper was getting far ahead of them.
"I'm holding you back, Prue. Just put me down and save yourself." Phoebe said.
"I'm not leaving you behind, so don't you dare argue with me." Prue did her best to follow the path she saw Piper taking. The Minotaur wasn't far behind them. Prue turned around, squinted her eyes and flung the Minotaur backwards, sending him crashing into the wall. She turned and continued following after Piper.
"You can't defeat him, so just surrender!" Ms. Halifax demanded with a laugh.
"I told you we will not surrender!" Prue cried out. Piper had slowed down enough so Prue could catch up. They stopped running and Prue set Phoebe down as they caught their breath.
"We need to set a trap for him." Phoebe said, still looking like a limp rag doll, though she was starting to regain the use of her limbs and her head was clearing. "Leave me here, then you two hide and ambush him with something."
"But what if he hurts you?" Prue asked, clearly worried and not wanting to leave Phoebe alone for a single second.
"We need to defeat him to find the way out of here and if we keep running we won't do that. It's either this or running until we drop dead." Phoebe said.
"Ok you're right, but we aren't going far." Prue said. Piper looked around and got an idea.
"We can hide around the corner there. There's a torch on the wall that you can use to kill him with. I'll freeze him if he tries to hurt Phoebe."
"Ok sounds good." Prue looked at Phoebe, gave her an encouraging smile and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I love you, Phoebs."
"I love you too, Prue." Phoebe smiled back. Then Prue and Piper rushed off to their hiding place. Piper kept an eye on Phoebe, ready to freeze as Prue went to grab the torch off the wall.
The Minotaur came around the corner and saw Phoebe sitting on the floor, propped against the wall. He snorted and stalked over to her. Phoebe shivered with fear as he came closer. She took a deep breath and just as he reached back to lash out at her, Piper froze him. Prue couldn't get the torch out of it's holder on the wall, so she stepped back and managed to work it free using her powers, then she thrust it at the Minotaur. It buried itself deep in his chest. He came unfrozen and screamed an inhuman scream as he grabbed the torch and stumbled backwards. He struggled for survival, but it was in vain. He crumpled to the floor and met his end.
The moment he died, the front door reappeared. Prue ran over to Phoebe, picked her up and the three sisters made their escape. They jumped in the car and sped off for home. Ms. Halifax came out of the shadows and glared at the door.
"Damn those witches. I under estimated the strength of their powers. I will need to plan my next move very carefully before I try again."
Once they got back home, they locked the door and debated putting a protection spell on the house. Piper went to consult the Book of Shadows for such a thing, leaving Prue and Phoebe alone together.
"Thank you for saving me, Prue."
"You don't need to thank me. No one captures my sisters and gets away with it." Prue said with a smile. Phoebe smiled back at her, then before she could think about it, she leaned in and kissed Prue deeply on the lips, just as she said she would. Prue went wide eyed as Phoebe kissed her, but didn't do anything to push her away. After some moments, Phoebe broke the kiss gently and gazed at Prue.
"I'm sorry if that made you feel awkward, but I just really wanted to kiss you."
"No it didn't, it was fine. I mean, it was more than fine, it was great." Prue said, obviously flustered from the kiss. "You are a really good kisser."
"Thank you." Phoebe said with a little chuckle. "I really do love you, Prue…" Prue gazed back into Phoebe's eyes and smiled.
"I know you do." Prue said, then gently brushed some hair behind Phoebe's ear. "It was quite the shock and hard to take at first, but I'm getting used to it now. It doesn't matter to me who you love, you're still Phoebe and I still love you."
"I know this may be too soon to ask and I shouldn't really ask it, but I need to. In your heart, do you think there could ever be anything between us?" Phoebe asked, feeling as though her heart was hanging by a single thread and only Prue had control over its fate.
Prue thought that over for several long moments, not wanting to give a hasty answer. With each moment that passed in silence, Phoebe felt like she'd go insane from waiting. It seemed like an eternity before Prue finally gave her answer.
"In my heart, I feel like we could have something, yes." Prue said, looking at Phoebe. "The truth is, ever since I found out about your feelings, when you were possessed by Vernados, I did a lot of thinking when I was alone. I haven't really slept much because I've been thinking about it. But I've realized why I've always been so critical of the guys you've dated and why I've never liked any of them." Prue licked her lips and took a breath. "It's because somewhere inside, I wanted you for myself." Phoebe felt her heart race in her chest and a wide, genuine smile crossed her face.
"Really?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes really. When Grams said that you had always run around after me and touched me in ways you shouldn't have, it brought back memories. I remembered you doing that and I actually had liked it. I don't think Grams counted on that because I've always felt this need for you, but I always hated myself for it. I think that's why I always fought with you because I thought if I pushed you away I wouldn't feel like that anymore." Prue paused, gazing into Phoebe's eyes deeply. Phoebe felt a blush come to her cheeks and her smile turned a bit shy.
Before anything more could be said, Prue leaned in and kissed Phoebe. Phoebe closed her eyes and kissed Prue back, thinking this felt so perfect. Phoebe slid a hand up brushed her fingers through Prue's hair and gently cradled the back of her neck. Prue slid a hand up and gently cupped Phoebe's cheek while they kissed. For the first time in a long time, Prue felt her heart flutter and butterflies in her tummy.
"All right, I found a protection spell that should keep Ms. Halifax out until we find a oh my God…" Piper said as she came downstairs and walked in on the kiss. She promptly turned her back. "I am so sorry and this is so awkward so I'm going to the kitchen." Piper headed to the kitchen, feeling so incredibly awkward at walking in on her sisters kissing.
Prue gently broke the kiss and her and Phoebe couldn't help but giggle at Piper. They looked at each other shyly, a faint blush able to be seen on both of their faces. Phoebe took Prue's hand and laced her fingers with hers, then headed to the kitchen after Piper, a silly yet shy grin on her face. There was an equally silly yet shy grin on Prue's face as they entered the kitchen.
"What about the protection spell?" Phoebe asked.
"Is it safe to look?" Piper asked, her back still to her sisters.
"Yes don't worry." Prue said with a giggle. Piper turned around slowly, then raised an eyebrow as she looked at Prue and Phoebe.
"Did I miss something? I mean aside from the kiss I saw because you both look like giggly schoolgirls with crushes." Piper's words only received giggles in response. "Ok so you both are giggly schoolgirls." She smiled a slightly awkward smile. "Anyway I found a protection spell, so help me put it together if you two can stop giggling long enough to do it."
"Yes, ma'am." Prue said and saluted Piper, which earned her a glare from Piper. Her and Phoebe helped Piper gather the things they needed, then proceeded to do the spell. After they finished, Piper let out a sigh of relief.
"All right, that makes me feel better. Now if you two don't mind, I'm going to my room and get some sleep. I have to work a double shift tomorrow." She rolled her eyes, hating how her boss always over-worked her.
"All right, good night Piper." Prue said. Phoebe smiled and hugged Piper tightly.
"Thank you for saving me earlier, Piper." She said as Piper hugged her back.
"You're welcome. I'm glad you're ok." She smiled warmly and gently stroked Phoebe's hair. "Good night, Phoebs."
"Good night, Piper." Phoebe said and watched as Piper headed off to her room once again leaving Prue and Phoebe alone. When they looked at each other, they couldn't help but giggle.
"Look what you've done to me, Phoebe, you've turned me into a giggling schoolgirl." Prue said in mock resentment. Phoebe stuck her tongue out at Prue defensively.
"You deserve it for making me one." Phoebe's words only made them giggle again. Prue stepped close to Phoebe and slid her arms around her.
"Would you like to watch a movie with me?" Prue asked as Phoebe leaned against her.
"I would love to." Phoebe smiled. "Though let me change into more comfortable clothes first."
"Of course. I'll go pick something out for us to watch." Prue leaned in and pecked Phoebe's lips, then went to her room to pick out a movie and change into her pajamas. Phoebe went to her room and changed into a tank top and pajama pants, then went to Prue's room and knocked before entering and closing the door behind her.
"All right I'm ready." Phoebe said and was all excited to be able to spend time with Prue. Prue looked at Phoebe and grinned.
"And I'm ready too." She put the tape in the VCR and started it, then slid into her bed. Phoebe slid in beside her and snuggled up to Prue. She rested her head on her shoulder and wrapped her arms around her middle. Prue smiled warmly and wrapped her arms around Phoebe tightly.
It didn't take long before Prue found she couldn't focus on the movie, only on Phoebe who looked so beautiful and how it felt so perfect and right to hold her close. After so many years, they could finally have the chance to explore their feelings for each other. Prue found it comforting that Piper didn't think it was wrong but instead seemed to support them.
Phoebe let out a soft purr as Prue caressed her bare arm gently. She snuggled closer and also found herself focusing solely on Prue. It was perfect, she was finally able to be in Prue's arms and be close to her. Prue's hand slid further up and her fingers ran through Phoebe's hair gently. Phoebe tilted her head back and looked up at Prue.
"You know, this is perfect. I'm happier being here in your arms than I have ever been in my entire life." Phoebe said with a warm smile. Prue returned her warm smile.
"I have to agree with you for once." She giggled and Phoebe gave a mock offended look to her. "No really, it feels wonderful to be here with you."
Phoebe grinned, leaned up and kissed Prue, feeling her heart flutter in a way she'd never felt it do before. Prue kissed her back, still caressing Phoebe's hair. For the first time in her life, Phoebe felt completely whole and at peace with herself. Always having been the one to be the rebel and get under everyone's skin, she finally found the peace she had been searching for her whole life.
Prue felt at peace as well. For the first time, she truly felt at home in someone's arms, able to let down all of her defenses. She had no secrets to hide from Phoebe, besides Phoebe probably all ready knew all of her secrets. Prue didn't have to fear being rejected because she was a witch, after all Phoebe was one herself. For the first time in her life, Prue let go of all her restraints and simply let herself feel.
They deepened the kiss, neither one wanting to pull away from the other. Phoebe slid her fingers along Prue's cheek, then down to her neck. Prue's skin was soft under her touch and more intoxicating than the strongest drug known to mankind. Phoebe wanted more, her love burning hot inside her, bursting to get free after being imprisoned for so long.
Prue's hand slid from Phoebe's hair down to her shoulder and along her arm. Prue slid her other hand along Phoebe's back gently, wanting to feel as much of her as she possibly could. She took a deep breath through her nose, no longer caring that Phoebe was her sister and things of this nature were taboo. All Prue cared about was feeling and being with Phoebe without being judged for being who she was. More than that, she wanted to make Phoebe happy.
The kiss grew deeper in passion and they pulled each other closer. However, despite the rising heat and passion between them and within them, they took their time just kissing, touching, feeling and being with each other.
From the other side, both Grams and Patty took a peek at the girls. When they saw Prue and Phoebe locked in a passionate embrace, they could only stare in shock for a minute before they let them be in private.
"Well it seems that this will turn out to make their bond unbreakable." Patty said with great relief evident in her voice.
"It does, but that Ms. Halifax still worries me. If the girls aren't careful, she could take this and turn the girls against each other." Grams replied with a soft sigh. "Regardless of what is to come, it's good to see that Prue and Phoebe each have finally gotten happiness."
"Me too and I hope they can hold onto it for a good while."
"Only a good while? Why not forever?" Grams asked giving Patty a puzzled look.
"They are sisters, they can't possibly keep a relationship like this forever. Not only that, but they can't make it public knowledge either. I'm sure they will discover they won't like that."
"Patty darling, don't you think the fact they don't have to hide anything about who they really are far outweigh the fact they can't make it public knowledge?"
"You do have a point, but I just think they don't have a future together. They will eventually give up and find love somewhere else."
"You really don't have faith in your daughters do you? Can't you just be happy for them that for once in their lives they can let go of everything that holds them back from having relationships with people?" Grams said with a note of annoyance creeping into her voice. She could understand her daughter's concern, but she would rather see the girls be happy than have to have relationships where they would have to hide part of themselves away from the one who loves them.
Meanwhile, Ms. Halifax was planning her next move. She knew she would have to change the focus of her attacks from Phoebe onto one of the other sisters. Or better yet, she could focus her attack on their feelings. She peeked in on Prue and Phoebe and watched their passionate embrace for a couple minutes as a plan formed in her mind.
"I know just the thing!" She rubbed her hands together, the smell of triumph filling her nostrils. In her extensive research of the Charmed Ones and their lives, she had discovered Prue's recent break up with one Andy Trudeau. She could use this to try and convince Phoebe that Prue was using her as a rebound and that she really didn't care for her in the way she thought. If she did this in just the right way, it would break Phoebe once and for all and give Ms. Halifax the Charmed Ones on a silver platter.
Ms. Halifax decided that giving Phoebe a premonition of Prue meeting Andy behind her back would get the ball rolling. Then she'd have to get Prue into a compromising position, or put a spell on her to make her act the way she wanted. After debating for a couple minutes, she settled on putting Prue under a spell to make her act the way she wanted her to.
"Soon you will all fall prey to me." Ms. Halifax said with an evil cackle. She started weaving her magic on Prue and Phoebe.
As Prue and Phoebe fell asleep in each other's embrace, they were blissfully unaware of the treachery that was about to befall them. Their emotions would be pushed to the limits as well as their perseverance and belief in each other. Soon they would be proving to themselves and to the Powers That Be once and for all what they were made of. The Charmed Ones would be put to the ultimate test and no one knew for sure if they would stand tall or fall.