Charmed
Season Nine
Original US Air Date: February 21, 2009
Writer: Arlandra (AdrienneMichelleHudgens)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer
"Charmed", "The Charmed Ones" and all other related entities are owned, ® and © Constance M. Burge, Aaron Spelling Television, Inc. (A Paramount/Viacom Co.), and WB (Warner Brothers). All rights reserved.
Description
Charmed
Season 9 Episode 1
Living With The Halliwells
Starring:
Holly Marie Combs as Piper Halliwell
Rose McGowan as Paige Matthews
Alyssa Milano as Phoebe Halliwell
Brian Krause as Leo Wyatt
Ivan Sergei as Henry Mitchell
and
Victor Webster as Coop
Guest Stars:
Kristopher and Jason Simmons as Wyatt Halliwell
Finley Arthur Donoho as Chris Halliwell
Kaley Cuoco as Billie Jenkins
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Living With The Halliwells
Piper sighed tiredly into the phone from her current position on her husband's lap. Leo gave Piper a pointed look but she ignored him and their youngest son, who was eating near them, spat a bit of applesauce at them. Piper smiled at him, lost in thought. She was interrupted by a loud bang on the other end of the phone line.
"Paige, I understand-"Paige cut her off, sitting up on her bed.
"No Piper, I don't think you do. She tried to kill us!" She paused for a moment, thinking of a way to change her sister's mind. "The normal Piper would have blown her up." Piper straightened up and glared at the air in front of her, imagining it was her youngest sister.
"What do you mean 'the normal Piper'?" She growled into the phone.
"The one who loved black, the one who preferred to spend time with her family than go to work. Piper, go look in your closet. I swear on every one of my powers, that there are only bright sun-shiny colors in there. You work all day at P3 and rarely see the boys because their either at Victor's or magic school." Piper's mouth fell open.
"What's wrong with blue instead of gray?" Unbeknownst to Piper, Paige smiled on her end. "And I have to work at the club because Leo has to run magic school. And besides, I think the boys prefer magic school and Dad's over anything else." She smiled triumphantly.
""See, I was right. You have changed." Paige muttered.
"Oh really?" Piper clicked the end button, glaring at the phone. "Still got enough in me to do that, huh?"
The front door opened.
"Hello, anyone home?" Phoebe called out, hang her coat on the hook and placing her keys in her purse.
"In here, Phoebe!" Piper yelled from what Phoebe assumed to be the kitchen.
"Aww, look at my favorite nephews!" Phoebe gushed, rushing in to kiss each of the boys.
"We're your only nephews Aunt Phoebe." Wyatt reminded her in his independent three year old voice. His birthday had just passed and Phoebe had taught him some words. Now she regretted it.
"You know, you were so much cuter when the only word you knew was 'no'." Phoebe joked.
"Actually, it wasn't. You weren't the one who had to try and feed the negative child. Who taught him that anyways?" Piper asked, moving off her husband's lap.
"Billie. That was her favorite word too." At the mention of Billie, Piper frowned. "What?"
"Nothing. It's nothing!" Upon Phoebe pressing look, she sighed. "It's just Paige. She still doesn't trust Billie. She even accused me of changing." Phoebe gave her a look to continue but Piper pressed her lips together. "No, it's my problem. Besides, she's probably right." Phoebe taps into Piper's thoughts, frowning when she was done.
"Regret?" Phoebe whispered. Piper turned and walked out of the kitchen, knowing her sister would follow. Phoebe did, leaving Leo behind confused.
"You know, it would mean a lot to me if you didn't use your empathy on me Phoebe. My feelings are the only private thing in my life right now and I'd like to keep it that way." Piper said softly. Phoebe bit her lip, struggling to accept Piper's new feelings. "Phoebe, please."
"Alright, Piper. I'll respect your wishes. But as a sister, I have a right to ask you what's up." Phoebe gave her sister a hug and Piper began to cry on her younger sister's shoulder, something she hadn't done since Prue had died.
"I don't understand Phoebe. She's our sister. How can she not trust our opinion?" Piper sobbed as Phoebe sat them on the couch.
"Piper, we haven't always trusted her opinions either. And she may have a point. She does have that weird sixth sense for creepy things. Remember that creepy house? And Cole? And pretty much everything else in our Charmed lives?" Phoebe sighed, realizing she too was feeling Paige and Piper's doubts.
"Is there any way we can be on Paige's side and trust Billie?" Piper asked wistfully.
"If only it was that simple." They sat for a moment in silence until Piper broke it.
"Remember when Prue went to prom with Andy and there was a storm?" She smiled.
"Yeah, and we got worried when she didn't come home and thought she got stuck in the storm. Oh how innocent we were." Phoebe joked.
"We called her cell every five minutes and Grams didn't even try and stop us." Piper continued.
"Prue was so happy when she came home the next morning, dressed in the same clothes, hair sticking out everywhere, and that stupid grin on her face." Phoebe finished. "And we were dumb enough to ask where she had been."
"I got the sex talk that day. I swear I blushed so hard Grams thought I was choking." They laughed.
"She tried to give it to me but Cosmopolitan magazine had beat her too it." Piper rolled her eyes at her younger sister and Phoebe prodded her. Piper smiled at her.
"Let's go to magic school and raid Paige's office." Phoebe grinned up at her older sister's suggestion. Even though she had given up the headmistress position at Magic School to Leo two years ago, the kids missed Paige. And after the great battle was fought, she was offered a spot as a TK teacher.
"I really can't believe you just said that! But I won't argue!" She ran up the stairs, Piper chasing behind her.
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At magic school, Paige was telekinetically rearranging her office while mumbling obscenities.
"Who the fuck does she think she is? I try and help her and she hangs up on me! If she wasn't my older sister and she didn't have the power to blow me up, I'd orb her ass to Africa."
"As a teacher, isn't it wrong for you to curse like that in front of children?" A voice said behind her interrupted. She dropped a glass paperweight but it froze mid-air. Before turning around completely, Paige put the paperweight in its correct spot.
"Eavesdropping is very rude." Paige said curtly, before promptly walking out the room. Piper and Phoebe followed her.
"Paige it's only eavesdropping if it was intentional." Piper sighed. Paige took a deep breath and continued walking.
"Paige, wait. Hear her out." Phoebe reasoned. At this point, Paige was clenching her fist in anger.
"So now you're taking her side too? I should have known. I never really was a part of this family was I? Just the girl who could reform the Power of Three." She started to walk away but Phoebe clutched her.
"Now Paige, don't you dare imply that. We love you and you are our sister." Phoebe said.
"But I'm not as perfect as Prue am I? Tell me, if she came back today, and told you not trust Billie, would you listen or argue with her too?" The two sisters didn't answer for fear of betraying either sister because they knew Prue was watching. "That's what I thought." She turned away one last time. "Goodbye." Tossing her black teacher's robe off her shoulder, she orbed out.
"Get your ass back here! Paige Matthews, I will not lose another sister! Do you hear me?" Piper screamed through tears. When Paige didn't return, Piper collapsed on the floor. Phoebe grabbed her grief-stricken older sister comfortingly. She threw a potion at their feet and they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
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Paige orbed angrily to the only person could her calm down. Her husband, Henry Mitchell, the parole officer. She materialized in his office, not caring if anyone saw.
"Paige, what- you can't just-"Henry hurried to close the door, hoping no one saw his wife's demonstration of magic. "Paige what were you thinking? You could expose you and your sisters!" She sat on his desk and he walked over to her.
"So what. Then at least I wouldn't have to deal with them again." He stroked her cheek, drying her falling tears.
"Paige, what's wrong?" She didn't reply. She grabbed his face and kissed him passionately. He didn't pull away. She wound her hands around his neck, pulling him closer to her. He pulled back reluctantly. "Paigey, we can't do this here." She smirked mischievously.
"Fine." She grabbed him and orbed them back home to help her loosen up.
*******************************
"Anything?" Phoebe asked her determined sister. Piper shook her head and continued to scry for the younger witch.
"Hey what's going on?" Billie asked she descended the staircase. Phoebe smiled up at her innocently.
"So Sleeping Beauty finally awakes!" She grinned.
"Yeah, didn't realize I was asleep that long." Billie said sheepishly.
"Long? You were holed up in your room for almost three weeks." Piper muttered. Off Phoebe's warning glare and Billie's look of surprise, she apologized. "Sorry, just worried about Paige."
"Paige, what happened to Paige?" Billie began panicking. Phoebe exchanged a wary glance with Piper.
"We, uhh, had a fight and Paige orbed away and obviously cloaked herself." Piper answered, stopping her scrying.
"What did you fight about?" Billie asked concernedly. Again, Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks of worry.
"She didn't like some of our decisions and then she just went off, saying she wasn't a real Halliwell." Phoebe explained.
"She even went as far as putting Prue in the middle." Piper murmured sadly. Phoebe went to hug Piper but Piper stood up. "I'm alright; I just hope Paige is too." Billie looked to the ground.
"Wait, wait. Back it up here. What decision did you guys fight over?" Billie sighed when the two didn't answer. "It was me. She doesn't trust me." Phoebe watched as a tear slide down her cheek. "You just know you've fucked up when you lose your Whitelighter's trust." Without another glance or word to the sisters, she went back up to her room.
"Let's just focus on Paige right now. That's between her and Billie." Phoebe assured her sister. Piper nodded and picked up the scrying crystal. Suddenly, it spun out of Piper's hands and flew against a wall. It broke on contact and Phoebe yelped, shocked.
"Did her protection spell do that?" Piper asked. Phoebe nodded. "I think we should just give up. If Paige is powerful enough to break our crystals from a distance then maybe we should let her come to us." Piper sighed, defeated.
"No." Phoebe muttered, determined.
"No?" Piper asked incredulously.
"No. This isn't a magical problem really. It's a mortal, sisterly problem." She picked up one of Paige's bracelets they had used to scry with. "Paige is feeling like she did when she first met us. Scared, distrustful, confused, hurt that we weren't fully blood sisters. I just wonder what made her feel like that." Phoebe concentrated on trying to get a premonition.
"You know, those Pych classes you've been taking are going to your head.
Almost instantly after her sentence was finished, she got a premonition. Paige was in her bed, lying beside a nude Henry who was fast asleep, crying silently. Phoebe came back to reality.
"What did you see? Is she okay? Is she hurt?" Piper fired questions immediately at her little sister.
"She at home with Henry. She's okay, but she's in so much pain. It was like I was there beside her, watching her cry, feeling her pain. And all I felt was pain. Nothing but sadness and betrayal. Piper, we hurt our sister. I thought I was going to die right there. I felt my heart break in pieces as I channeled all her feelings. How can we fix something like that?" Phoebe broke down crying. Piper's heart split in two pieces as well she watched her sister fall apart.
"Shhh, honey, it's alright. We'll fix it. We have to." Piper comforted. "Please help us." She mouthed to the heavens, to whoever was watching them. Prue, Grams, Mom, even the Elder's could fix it. She knew it. They had to.
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Just as in Phoebe's vision, Paige was crying her eyes out as quietly as she could so she wouldn't wake her husband. She hated being a witch sometimes, just as much as she hated being half Halliwell. Suddenly she knew how Hermione from Harry Potter felt. Half witch half mortal. In a world where you really didn't belong but tried your best to fit in. And in the end, it really didn't matter because you never would.
"Paige." Her head flew towards the door but no one was there. Someone, something, she couldn't see was whispering her name incessantly in her mind. "Paige. Help me. Help me." It began to drive her crazy.
"Damn it! Stop whispering!" Her yelling woke Henry up. He wrapped a sheet around himself and carried his distraught wife back to bed. "Make them stop Henry. Make them stop whispering." She murmured through her tears.
"Paige, who's whispering?" Paige didn't answer. "Paige is it a charge? A demon? Your sisters?"
"No! Stop whispering! Stop please! God, it hurts!" She screamed. The whispering got louder and then suddenly stopped. Her body arched for a moment and then she fell back onto the mattress silently. Henry left her to be as she cried herself to sleep.
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A little while later, Henry arrived at the Halliwells. He knocked softly, knowing that whatever was going on with Paige had to be supernatural and was bothering her sisters as well.
Moments later, Leo and Coop, Phoebe's cupid boyfriend, answered the door.
"Hey Henry." Leo greeted.
"Leo, are the girls alright?" He hurried in, shutting the manor's door behind him.
"Kinda. Paige has them upset." Coop replied, showing him the crying sisters on the sofa.
"Paige? That's what I came over here for. Something's wrong with her. Are they hearing the voices too?" This alarmed Leo and Coop.
"Voices? No, but I think we need to talk about this. Is Paige somewhere safe?" Leo asked, his old Whitelighter instincts coming back in.
"She's home, asleep." Instantly, Coop grabbed his jacket.
"I'll go and watch over her. You two stay here and watch the girls." And with that, the Cupid teleported himself to Henry and Paige's apartment, leaving behind a fading pink heart.
"Show off." Leo muttered. Henry laughed, despite the situation. They went into the living room, where the girls had quieted down, though tears could be seen flowing down Phoebe's cheeks.
"Girls?" Henry approached them carefully. Really, Piper more than Phoebe. You didn't want to startle Piper; you just might get your head blown up.
"Hey Henry." Phoebe smiled softly, wiping her tears away but more replaced them. "What's up?"
"Is Paige alright?" Piper asked, alarmed. Henry didn't answer her. "Henry what's wrong with Paige?"
"She's hearing voices and they're driving her crazy. She was screaming and then she just got quiet and cried herself asleep." Phoebe and Piper jumped up.
"What? We have to go see her." Phoebe said.
"She fine, Coop went to check on her." Leo assured them.
"She is not fine if she hearing voices." Piper snapped. Phoebe rubbed her back softly. "Sorry. Henry, did she mention anything about fears? It could Barbas" Phoebe frowned.
"No, we vanquished him already." Piper shook her head.
"It wouldn't be the first time he came back." Leo agreed. Phoebe sulked, defeated.
"Wait, who's Barbas?" Henry inquired.
"Demon of Fear; kills witches using their greatest fears." She turned to Phoebe. "And it would explain her behavior earlier. Her greatest fear is not being able to live up to Prue's legend." Phoebe groaned.
"But how can we know for sure? Psychologically speaking, this could just be Paige's conscience speaking to her." Piper glared. "It wouldn't be the first time toady I've been right about Paige's emotional problems." Phoebe reminded her.
"Leo, what do you think? Is it paranormal or psychological?" Piper turned to her husband. Both sisters smiled sweetly at him. Henry smirked at Leo's uncertainty.
"Uhh, I think…" Leo began, slowly. He moved out of Piper's range, just in case she didn't like his answer. "That it may be Paige's Whitelighter subconscious. So in a way, you're both right." They accepted this answer.
"You, sir, are a good husband." Piper cooed. She kissed him.
"Kiss later, Paige now." Phoebe said, pulling her away. They left the house, leaving behind two defenseless, confused, mortal men and two magical children.
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Paige woke up to her dimly lit apartment. She looked at the clock to see it was nearing five o'clock. She had been asleep for almost an hour. She stretched slightly. She cocked her head to see if the voices were still there.
"Hmm…they're gone. That's weird." She looked over at a chair where a sleeping Coop sat. She smirked and held her hand out. "Pillow!" She called. The pillow orbed out from under him and onto the bed near her. Coop fell out of his chair and looked around. Paige smiled innocently. He glared.
"So that's what I get for protecting you while you were asleep? Remind me never to babysit ever again." Paige stuck her tongue out. They sat quietly for a moment. "So…are you alright now? Henry said…"
"Henry needs to learn to keep his big mouth shut." Paige snapped. "That was none of your business and I'm guessing now my sisters are on their way." Her bedroom door opened.
"Actually we're already here." Piper said.
"God! I can't even be alone in my own home!" Paige rolled her eyes. White lights began to surround her.
"Paige, don't orb out, we have to talk." Coop got up quietly.
"I'll go check up on the guys." He teleported himself out, not wanting to be in the middle of their drama.
"You can't stop me from leaving." Paige argued. Phoebe tried to tap into her emotions, only to find that her powers bounced off Paige's protection shield. The bounce alerted Paige and she got a sharp pain in her forehead. She glared at Phoebe. "Damn it! That hurt!" Piper glanced warily between her sisters. "If I can't use my powers, you can't use yours!" Paige yelled. Her anger triggered her orbing telekinesis and things began to fly around the room, nearly missing the girls. Piper froze all of the items fearfully. This made Paige even angrier.
"I hate being a witch! I hate being your sister, I hate not having a normal life, I hate the fact that Prue was better than me, and most of all, I hate both of you!" She turned to the door and telekinetically opened it. It slammed behind her.
"At least she didn't orb out." Phoebe said softly. Piper stared blankly at the door. Phoebe tried to use her empathic powers but felt nothing, nothing whatsoever.
TO BE CONTINUED