ONE

"Look, I understand now," said Paige. "I have to be very careful what I say and how I say it. I get that. Can you just let it drop, please?"

"Once I'm sure you understand completely," said Piper. "Look, Paige, I know you're new to all this. And I do understand that it's going to take time to learn the rules. But it just seems that you aren't taking things seriously enough. First you take the Book of Shadows to work and you saw how that turned out. Now you switch bodies with Phoebe and nearly got us all killed in the process."

"Which was an accident," said Phoebe. "Piper, I think she does understand."

"And you," said Piper. "Trying to hide what happened. What were you thinking?"

"That you'd overreact just as you're doing," said Phoebe. "Piper, look, she screwed up and made a mistake. I get that. So does she. And I think she's learned from it."

"They have a point," said Leo. "You made plenty of mistakes when you first got your powers, remember? And you didn't have anyone around to help you learn from them. At least Paige has the two of you."

"Okay," said Piper. "I guess maybe I did come down on you a bit hard. I just want you to understand how serious this is. It's not like we get a second chance at this. One mistake and someone could . . . it could be very bad."

"I understand," said Paige, knowing that Prue's death was still very fresh in everyone's mind, especially Piper's. "And I appreciate the help, I really do. But I gotta tell you it probably won't be the last mistake I make. I'm only human and I'm not perfect. But I do learn from my mistakes. I really do."

"Fine," said Piper. "As long as you learn I guess that's the important thing. Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Sure," said Paige. "I don't have any plans for the night. And I sometimes get tired of my own cooking."

"I hope you like chicken," said Piper. "And we have a very nice bottle of wine to go with it."

"Oh, uh, no wine for me," said Paige. "I'm kind of on the wagon, you might say."

"On the wagon?" Phoebe asked. "You sound like you're an alcoholic."

"Well, let's just say that I have a small problem with alcohol," said Paige. "When my parents died I got off it completely. Haven't touched it since. Maybe if I had been less rebellious I could have done something to help."

"No, you couldn't," said Leo. "They died because it was their time, that's all. There's nothing you could have done about it."

"Maybe, maybe not," said Paige. "I only know that I caused them way more trouble than I should have."

"Join the club," said Phoebe. "I wasn't exactly the model daughter myself."

"We've all had our rebellious phase," said Cole, coming into the living room. "Some were just more rebellious than others."

"Hey, sweetie, where have you been?" Phoebe asked.

"Just hanging around," said Cole. "What are we talking about?"

"About how I screwed up and how I need to learn from my mistakes," said Paige. "Which I do, believe me."

"I believe you," said Cole. "Let me guess. Piper's giving you the 'we rarely get a second chance and our mistakes can have disastrous results' speech?"

"Something like that," said Paige.

"Well, it's true," defended Piper.

"I'm not disputing that," said Cole. "And you're absolutely right. Mistakes in this line of work can have dire consequences."

"Whose side are you on?" Phoebe asked.

"No one's," said Cole. "You all learned firsthand that battling demons is the most serious business. That's all."

"Okay, okay, I understand," said Paige. "I'll be a lot more careful in the future, I promise."

"That's all I ask," said Piper, heading for the kitchen. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to get dinner started or it will never be ready in time."

"Cole, have you heard about anything unusual in the Underworld lately?" Leo asked.

"Define unusual," said Cole.

"You know what I mean," said Leo. "The Elders said something about a huge bounty being offered but they can't seem to learn any specifics. Just that someone is offering a bounty. I thought you might have heard something."

"I don't exactly travel in demonic circles any more," said Cole.

"But you still have some contacts," said Leo. "And I know you hear things. I just thought you might have run across something."

"You think someone is after the girls?" Cole asked.

"Who isn't?" questioned Phoebe.

"I don't know," said Leo. "From all indications the bounty is big. Bigger than most bounties ever offered in the Underworld. It stands to reason a bounty that big would be about a powerful enemy and there's no one more powerful than the girls."

"Not necessarily," said Cole. "It depends on who they're after and why. There are a number of reasons a demon would offer a huge bounty on someone. It could be on me. The longer a target goes free the higher the bounty becomes on them if the person offering it is serious enough. But I guess it doesn't hurt to be careful. I'll check around and see what I can find out."

"Is that a good idea?" Phoebe asked. "The Source all ready wants you dead. I don't think it's a good idea to go poking around down there and exposing yourself like that."

"I don't necessarily have to go down there," said Cole. "I still have a few contacts on the mortal plane. And I know a couple of places that should have some information. I'll just have to wait until I can go check on them."

"Is there anything I can do?" Paige asked.

"Not unless you have a phone line to the Underworld," said Phoebe. "Information like that isn't exactly available on the Internet."

"I just thought there might be something I could do," said Paige. "I'm still learning, after all."

"It will just take time," said Leo. "You can't learn everything in one day. But you'll see. Pretty soon you'll be an old hand at this."

"That's what I'm afraid of," joked Paige. "Whatever Piper is fixing in there doesn't smell so good."

"Leo," said Cole suddenly jumping up. "Get Piper out of the kitchen now."

Confused, Leo didn't hesitate. He immediately orbed into the kitchen. Piper was at the sink rinsing out a cup when Leo grabbed her and orbed her out of the kitchen. Just as he orbed, a demon materialized next to where Piper had been standing and struck out at her with a clawed hand. Its hand passed harmlessly through the orb. Just then Cole opened the door to the kitchen followed closely by Phoebe and Paige.

"Pastarion," said Cole, glaring at the demon. "I'm surprised you'd have the guts to show up here yourself."

The demon stood just under six feet tall. Its three fingers on each hand ended in long, serrated claws. Its ears were highly pointed and its eyes glowed with an eerie green light. It turned and hissed at Cole.

"What the hell is that?" Paige asked.

"Low level bounty hunter," said Cole. "It normally doesn't go after prey as powerful as a witch. Whoever hired it must really want you guys bad."

"Bounty on witches high," hissed the demon. "As is bounty on Belthazor. And bounty on White Lighter."

"Not very smart, is he?" questioned Phoebe.

"They don't have a very good grasp on the English language," said Cole. "To be honest they don't come to the mortal plane much. The Source must really want us bad."

"Not Source," hissed the demon. "Human put bounty on witches, Belthazor, and White Lighter. Big bounty. More than twice what Source offers."

"Human?" questioned Cole. "What human would put a bounty on the Charmed Ones?"

"Bounty high," said the demon taking a step toward them. ""Pastarion collect bounty on witches and Belthazor."

"Be careful," said Cole, pushing the girls back into the entryway. "One scratch from those claws and you'll turn into one of them. It's how they keep their kind going."

Cole formed an energy ball and cast it at the demon. It was knocked back by the attack but didn't seem to be injured by it. As it was recovering from the attack Cole pushed the girls back into the entryway.

"We can't let it get too close," said Cole. "Besides the altering affects of their claws they can spit a paralyzing poison up to about six feet. We have to stay out of range of that attack."

"Why didn't your energy ball hurt it?" asked Phoebe as they rushed into the living room.

"They have some of the strongest constitutions in the Underworld," said Cole. "It was hurt it just takes more than one to kill it, that's all. I just need to get some maneuvering room."

As they reached the fireplace they turned to face the demon. I was just entering the entryway and turned into the living room. Its eyes narrowed as it anticipated the kill. It stepped into the living room and advanced on the sisters and Cole. Cole formed an energy ball preparing to defend them. Suddenly the demon exploded into a thousand shards but reformed almost instantly. It turned around to see Piper standing at the top of the stairs, Leo standing next to her. Piper raised her hands again and the demon exploded again. This time it didn't reform.

"He was a tough one," said Piper. "I wasn't sure what was going on when Leo suddenly orbed me out of the kitchen."

"I wasn't sure either," said Leo. "But Cole seemed very insistent and I figured there was no time to waste."

"There wasn't," said Cole. "That was Pastarian. It's what's called a Keleron demon. They hire out to any demon that needs them. They don't have any loyalties to any particular demon. They're very low level. I'm surprised it had the guts to come after you alone."

"You keep calling that demon 'it'," said Paige.

"They're asexual," said Cole, "neither male nor female. As I said they perpetuate their species by infecting other creatures with their claws. As a general rule only demons are immune to their poison. But humans as especially susceptible to it."

"Thanks," said Piper. "I had no clue it was there."

"Thank Paige," said Cole. "I hadn't noticed the scent until she mentioned it. Keleron demons give off that scent just before they attack. The scent was weak enough I knew it wasn't attacking in the living room and you were the only one not there so it stood to reason it was after you."

"I wonder what demon sent it after the girls?" questioned Leo.

"It said something about a human offering a bounty on us," said Phoebe.

"Yes," said Cole. "That's very unusual. Kelerons rarely have any contact with humans. And I've never heard of any hiring out to a human."

"Didn't it say that the bounty on us was twice as high as what the Source was offering?" Paige asked.

"Yes, it did," said Cole. "That's odd in itself. With a bounty all ready on us from the Source it doesn't make any sense for someone else to put another bounty on us. And for a human to offer twice what the Source is offering makes it very suspicious."

"I guess we now have an idea about the bounty the Elders have heard about," said Leo. "And now we know who the bounty is on."

"It would seem so," said Cole. "I'll check around like I said. A bounty that big is going to draw the attention of every bounty hunter and mercenary in the Underworld."

"That must be some bounty," said Paige.

"According to rumor, the bounty on Belthazor was the highest ever offered by the Source in the history of the Underworld," said Cole. "So someone offering twice that means something big is going on."

"I shouldn't be long," said Cole. "I'd better check on this right away. Until I get back, everyone be extremely careful. I'll be back as soon as I know everything."

As Cole shimmered out of the manor everyone went into the kitchen to help Piper with dinner. Considering the circumstances they felt it was best if they all stayed together for the time being.