A/N: Weee! I'm on a roll man! ^.^ Okay, so this one's obviously a bit longer and it's not exactly an episode in Charmed. It's what I hope, kind of like a missing scene or a prologue, so to speak. I hope the inspiration keeps on coming, coz there are HEAPS of episodes in Season 3. This is pretty much going to be kind of AU, sticking to the plot line of the episodes. As the title implies, it's about what all the producers and writers couldn't see. I hope you guys like it!
DISCLAIMER: Pffft... Like you'd believe me if I said I did own them. XD Unfortunately, I don't own FM Static either. *sigh* Their songs are awesomely awesome though!
Chapter 1: A Tentative Smile
I met you at the club that night
Where I was spinning records
And my heart said hey now, hey now
Hey now, hey now.
You said you were pleased to meet me
Through the sweet smell of your perfume
And blew me away now, away now
Away now, away now
- Secret Song (FM Static)
Cole Turner, Assistant District Attorney and century-old half demon, half human, took the three manila paper folders from his desk. Shifting the lamp on his right to focus more on the papers, he eyed through them again.
The files on his desk piled up like a rocket ship ready to launch. Launching where to, one would never know. It was already ten-thirty four on the clock by his wall, but he needed to get these done. A guy beating up his wife with the wife not willing to testify, a missing kid who turned out to have gone with one of his divorced parents, ensuing another custody battle… Most of them were so irritating, it made him question why he even bothered with the appearances. I mean, one energy ball and problem solved, right? He had more important matters to deal with anyway, three in particular.
"We have heard many things about you Belthazor" the dark voice under the hooded cloak said. "We believe you have been of exceptional skill in all your assignments?"
"Well, you heard right" he answered.
"Indeed. Then, this particular assignment should be one to your liking I suppose." the one on his right said. "What do you think of three powerful witches?"
"Three… That should be easy. Unless of course…" he hesitated. There must be something more to their proposal.
"Unless of course they are the most powerful witches to be prophesied? Yes, you do well to be cautious." the third one answered.
"You want me to kill the Charmed Ones?" he asked, although it was more of a confirmation rather than an inquiry.
"Yes. You will be greatly rewarded, not to mention the glory you will receive and enjoy once you have killed the most powerful witches in a thousand years…"
Yes… He would very much enjoy the glory. The rewards were not bad either, but those paled in comparison to the reputation he would earn, being the most powerful demon in the Underworld, even to rival that of the Source. It would all be worth the effort he had exerted over the last six months gathering information, establishing an identity and patching up any holes to his disguise. Now, he would just need to wait for the right moment to strike. It was all about careful planning, it was the way he worked, and so far, it had never failed him. Other than that, force and intimidation would most likely get him to where he wanted to be.
The three sisters' pictures cascaded through the file. Re-reading their bios, their work and anything and everything he had gathered about them, there were many ways he could infiltrate them, but he had to find a key weakness.
Their heel, you could say, if they were Achilles.
Men would most likely be the way to go. Looking at their track record, seducing them would be a very plausible option if he didn't get them in any way or other. There was a reason why demons were always handsome in their human form. It was what they had in common with flesh-eating flowers. Like any predator, they needed to be attractive to naturally draw their prey to them. In any case though, if his plans went well, he wouldn't even need to try and get close to any of them. Maybe not even reveal his human self to them in such an overt way, just the fact that he was an ADA would be enough. Also, their history with unsolved cases would be of much value to him.
Whitaker Berman, Mark Chao, two boys kidnapped, the series of unexplained murders of the prosecutors of a criminal in Alcatraz, a robbery at Bucklands, kidnappings at P3, even the death of Andrew Trudeau, a police officer. The list just went on and on…
And he'd make sure there were many more, if he could help it. Soon enough, they would need a lawyer on their case, and he'd be right there like fate's blessing. It would only be a matter of whom to seduce. Perusing the files, he noted their powers. The two oldest ones had active powers, and rather powerful ones at that, and yet the youngest one…
Premonition? Interesting… Maybe I can scare the hell out of her in a vision.
He chuckled. She would be of no consequence, so long as she was not with her sisters. Alone and vulnerable, just the way he liked his witches. With the second one, he would have no problems either. It took a lot more to freeze him than just the wave of some witch's hand… The oldest one though would be a problem. Telekinesis. Maybe Shimmering could do the trick, but he would not be able to run away from it forever. She appeared to be the strongest one of the three: clean-cut record, straight-A student, successful, determined…
Beautiful…
He did have to admit that all three of them had their own beauty to boast of. Seducing and killing them would be more enjoyable then. The thought of course did not have anything to do with feelings or anything of the sort, he reassured himself. He was a member of the male species after all. He could appreciate the beauty of women where it was due.
Focusing on his strategy, he opted for the youngest sister. She seemed to be the most irrational of them all and was drawn to danger, seeing she had had a smuggler for a boyfriend, and many others at that… Clay was it? If anything went wrong, he would have a back up plan.
You can never be too careful.
Looking at the clock again, he packed up the files and touched them with his hand, making them shimmer off where it would be safe. He still had some time to do a bit of recon. It never hurt to keep an eye on things now, did it?
P3 was bustling, as usual. The lights flashed as people danced the night away, the band strumming into the next song, the drums setting the beat for everyone to bang their heads to. It was Prue's turn to watch over the club tonight, ever since Piper disappeared off with her boyfriend.
If you can hear me 'up there' Piper, you better come down soon! she yelled in her mind, directing her thoughts to the roof, half hoping they'd hear her. It was just not right to disappear for a whole month just like that! Even if it were with Leo, where she could be perfectly safe. Even if it were Heaven itself! She had responsibilities for crying out loud!
Like her own club to run! Sisters to feed!
Ever since Piper had gone away, they had barely eaten a decent homemade meal through the month. She and Phoebe could cook obviously, but it was different when the chef in the house was a blood relative. Their expenses on takeaways, meals at restaurants outside the office and many other things were going to take their toll soon. Thank god for Abby though, who could run the club with minor supervision. It had been a bit hard to explain her disappearance without any notice to the staff…
What do I say to them? That my sister went off to Heaven with her boyfriend who's an angel? Souvenirs anyone? They'll bring you back a cloud!
Looking after the club was quite stressful. Although Abby could handle the bar and most of the maintenance, she and Phoebe still had to come up with the bands to play at the club. For the first two nights, there had only been music blaring from the stereos, with no live guitarists whatsoever, until they found Piper's lists and scrap papers in a drawer in her room. She had apparently already made a list of potential bands to come play at their place, so all they needed to do was contact them and do the sound check during the day so they could play at night. The list was limited though, and they spread out the bands, mostly making them play during Fridays and the weekends where there were more people out partying. It worked well, and for the rest of the month, they managed to hire a pretty good DJ, Justin, a guy Phoebe met at college.
Tonight was one of the only nights she could finally have some semblance of peace. There had been a minimum of demons coming out, which was unusually quite fortunate for them. This had actually made her even more suspicious… There was always a catch to these things, especially when they were this lucky.
"It's like the perfect time to make demons come after us!" Phoebe had said. "Just two witches, with the third sister nowhere to be found, no Power of Three… They should be having a hey day by now!"
She was right, it was all too good to be true. Maybe demons were planning something bigger, deadlier… Except having constant vigilance and always being on her toes was getting a bit too tiring though. Hence Phoebe making her look after the club tonight. Apparently, pouring through the Book of Shadows to be prepared wasn't a healthy pastime.
Yeah, as if delayed martini orders are going to help me relax.
Glancing around, she found her date.
Duty date… Again… the voice in her head droned on with an exasperated voice.
Okay, maybe this one wasn't so bad. He was hot, that was for sure. Strong jaw, well-built body, neatly-cut dark hair and the cutest dimples she had ever seen every time he smiled. Physically, he was just too good to resist. Except his eyes. His eyes reminded her of someone too painful to remember. Especially when she was supposed to be getting over him instead of constantly thinking of what could have been. She mentally kicked herself again for having asked him out when she knew the shade of his eyes were exactly the same as Andy's. That was just wrong. So wrong.
Oh well… You made your bed. You better sleep in it now…
"Hey Jake! Over here!" she waved at him, her voice going through the noise of the crowd and the music.
And there goes his smile.
She could multi-task: looking after the club and dating at the same time should be alright. She had gone through worse.
Jake walked over to the bar where she was sitting and sat on the stool next to her.
"So… This is the almighty P3 I've heard about so much." he said while ordering a drink.
Jake was new in town, moving from Arizona to San Francisco on his on-call job.
"Yup. Although almighty, I'm not so sure about." she smiled "It's kinda hanging on the brink of disaster every few minutes."
"Really now? Well, if this is disaster, it looks pretty good" he said, looking at her. By the way he was eyeing her though, she got the feeling he wasn't talking about the club at all.
She chuckled. "Uhuh, wait till you see it in all it's full-flung glory…"
"Oh, I would definitely like to see that…" he added, taking a sip of his drink. "Say, care to dance?"
Cole entered P3 and went down the stairs. He wondered which one of the sisters would be present tonight. So far he had only seen two of them, the oldest and the youngest. It seemed like the middle one had taken a holiday of some sort.
Finding the couches, he sat down and took in the ambiance of the place. The posters over the walls announced a band called FM Static, not that he would care… Petty human details were the least of his worries right now. A waiter approached him with a tray of drinks and he took one of them, settling in the couch a bit more while taking a sip. The drink tasted sweet and tangy on his tongue. He continued observing the room, scanning for any of the sisters.
Voila.
There she was. The eldest one, Prudence. But, by the way she was dancing, she didn't seem to be living up to her name at all. She was wearing black tight leather pants, with a backless halter top showing off her porcelain white skin. The guy she was dancing with seemed to be watching something else on the other side of the room for the moment, as if the beautiful siren in front of him didn't exist at all. Her hips swayed to the music, her arms and her hands raised up as she felt the beat. She was enthralling to watch, every move sensuous and fluid.
Prue felt someone's eyes on her, and she looked up at Jake. He was looking at something behind her. Nope, that was not it then. And yet she still had that tingling feeling on her spine, the one that kept telling her someone was watching her. Looking around the shimmying bodies around her, she looked for anyone who might be looking back. Everyone seemed to be on their own worlds though, worlds only connected by the same dance floor. No one was paying attention to her much, except for the guy sitting by the couch.
She kept dancing, making eye contact with him, and he gave her a faint smile while taking another sip from his drink. She felt a bit self-conscious and broke the connection, trying to turn her attention back to Jake in front of her. His eyes though felt like they were burning a hole through her clothes and she was drawn back to him. He was still watching her intently and she gave him a tentative smile but broke off contact again. She wasn't supposed to be flirting with a guy while on a date with another guy.
Especially when said guy's dancing right in front of you! What's wrong with me today?
She shook the feeling on her spine, getting her head straight and focused more on Jake. The next time she looked on the guy's direction, he wasn't there anymore, like he'd disappeared when she ignored him.
Well that's strange... And if anything, strange would always visit them whenever it could, as if they were the honey in a city full of bees.
"Who were you looking for?" Jake asked.
"Huh?" Prue answered, feeling a bit disoriented. She could swear he was there a minute before.
"You've been distracted for a couple minutes. Am I that boring?" he smiled at her. Even though he was clearly joking, the question did have some semblance of hurt feelings behind it.
"Oh no, no, no…" she answered, emphasizing the 'no's. "Sorry. I just thought I saw someone I knew, that's all."
Still dancing with Jake, she felt a tug at the back of her halter top. Turning around, she saw nothing. Just another couple dancing behind her.
"Is there something wrong?" asked Jake.
"Ah don't worry about it, it was probably an accident…" she answered. Even though she was having fun with him and he was clearly showing some concern for her, she still couldn't shake the feeling of that other guy.
"The band's pretty good!" he said through the loud music.
"Thanks! It took us ages to-" she stopped mid-sentence. There it was again. The tugging. The nerve of some people, really.
"HEY YOU CREE-" she turned around sharply this time, ready to give whoever it was a piece of her mind.
Her face bumped into a nice silky material draped over what she could only imagine was a wall. Interestingly enough, the wall also smelt of a nice perfume she couldn't exactly place, but wouldn't mind staying there long enough to figure it out.
Suddenly remembering why she turned around so fast, she backed up a little and looked up. It was that guy. The one who had been looking at her so intently from the couch.
Well THAT explains why he was smiling so much.
Feeling anger welling up within her, she pushed him with her arms.
Hard.
So hard, he made a beeline cutting through the crowd and onto the other side of the room, crashing on the wall and breaking the table full of stacked up glasses on the process.
Oh CRAP!
Everyone stared at her. The whole club fell to silence to gape at the guy lying by the broken glass. Prue looked around sheepishly at the crowd that had stopped dancing to watch the spectacle. How the hell she was going to explain this, she had no idea.
"Urm… I guess those nights at the gym are paying off…?" she said, not really aiming for anybody.
How would anyone believe her anyway, when she couldn't even believe what bull crap was coming out of her mouth? Wait. Maybe there was a better way…
"That's for trying to take my top off you JERK!" Prue screamed at him. "Security!"
There, that didn't look so bad… At least it would take the attention away from her and her apparently incredible muscles and super strength. It worked. One of the bouncers from outside, Marco, came in and carried him off. The band continued playing and the people, although a bit shaken, started dancing again as if nothing happened. Thank god for humanity's superficiality.
"Well, remind me never to piss you off!"
The comment brought her back down from her thoughts. Jake was still there. Right.
"Seriously! That guy!" she said.
"For what it's worth, I would've beaten him up for you." he grinned at her. Really, he was adorable. She couldn't understand why she wasn't drooling at him right now. "Not that you needed help of course… Which gym do you go to again?"
He hadn't seen that one coming. Maybe this was going to be easier than he thought. The little witch hadn't been as guarded or in control of her powers as he'd initially assumed. That slip had been like some miracle to him. Although at first he had been planning to sweep her feet off by beating up the sleaze who had been trying to take her top off (maybe he should have waited until the guy succeeded…?) and avoid the additional pain it caused being a human, this could be a good consolation prize. If she was the oldest, then that meant the rest of her sisters were not going to be as experienced as demons thought the Charmed Ones were. But then again, it never hurt to be cautious. There must be a reason why so many before him had failed.
She had smiled at him though. A beautiful, shy and tentative smile. It wasn't an outright invitation, but that would be enough for a night's work. Soon enough, he'd make a move and there would be nothing to stop him.
Soon…
A/N: Okay now go and press that button right there and review. ^.^ Thanks by the way for those who even made an effort and sent me a message just to review my other story when the button didn't work. You guys are awesome!
