Episode 2: Window of Opportunity
Prue woke up the next morning feeling guilty. She had been moody and bitter all week and Piper didn't deserve that. Piper was acting like the older sister and she had been acting like the younger one. It wasn't right. Prue vowed to make it up to Piper somehow. She went into her closet and picked out the nicest black dress that she had. After taking some time to beautify, she walked downstairs to the kitchen. Piper was standing up, watching the news and drinking her usual cup of coffee.
"Hi, sweetie. Your breakfast is on the table." Piper said.
"You didn't have to make me breakfast." Prue replied.
"It's no problem. I wanted to. It's been a hard time on you and I wanted to do something nice." Piper replied.
Prue walked over to her sister and kissed her on the cheek.
"Have I told you how much I love you?" Prue asked.
"Not nearly enough." Piper replied.
"Well, I love you and don't forget it." Prue said.
Piper couldn't help but smile.
"You seem to be in a better mood this morning." She said.
Prue sat down at the table and began eating.
"I'm still worried about Phoebe but I'm confident we can figure something out and besides, I have my health and I have yours and –"
"You have another sister to love." Piper added.
Prue remained silent.
"I don't really want to talk about that." She said.
Piper walked over to Prue and sat next to her.
"Come on, Prue. We need her, not only for the power of three but for us as sisters."
Prue stood up suddenly, brushed her hair out of her face and walked over to the sink to wash her hands.
"You know what, maybe I should just go out and look for a job." Prue said.
Piper turned around to face her.
"Why are you avoiding this?"
"I'm not avoiding anything." Prue said suddenly.
Piper shot Prue her classic disbelieving look.
"Don't give me that look." Prue added.
"Prue, you need to face this sometime. We don't have Phoebe right now and the only way to complete The Power of Three is with Paige. We're vulnerable right now until you accept this."
"I really have to get out there and find a job. I'll talk to you soon."
Prue leaned down to give Piper a kiss and left the room. Piper turned her attention back to the news.
"What was thought to be one random act of violence turns out to be something much deeper. The sister of the recently deceased Julie Harris was murdered sometime late last night. It is believed that the entire Harris family may be in danger."
Piper turned off the news and wondered if there was anything supernatural about the double murder.
Paige was on the company computer responding to emails when she overheard her boss, Rob Cowan, having an intimate conversation with another man. Paige's curiosity got the best of her and she listened at the crack of the door.
"I'm sorry, sir. We are incredibly busy at the moment. We will do the best we can."
"You don't understand. I have a special case. My daughter was almost killed. My wife and my sister-in-law were both killed and it wasn't even human that did it."
"What does that mean?" Mr. Cowan asked.
"I don't know. I'm not even sure if it was from this world. It didn't look human. Please, I'm begging you, take my daughter away from my home and with a set of foster parents. Please, she's in danger if she stays with me."
Paige accidentally tripped and hit her head on the door. Mr. Cowan heard the noise and opened his office door.
"Paige! Completely unacceptable!" Mr. Cowan barked out.
"I'm so sorry. I just lost my contact lens and I – " Paige started.
"Nonsense. Get back to your post. We will discuss this later."
Paige's head went down and she went back to her desk. While she was guilty about eavesdropping, that man's words kept circling in her mind. It wasn't human. It wasn't from this world. Maybe she hadn't completely put the supernatural side of her life completely behind her as she had originally thought.
Paige sat in Mr. Cowan's office with her legs and arms crossed. She knew she would not like what he had to say.
"Paige, you know better than to spy. You know better not to eavesdrop."
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't know what came over me. I just am eager to help. I think I know people who can help that man."
"What are you talking about?"
"He said that his daughter was in danger and that some thing was after her. I know people who can help."
"Don't be ridiculous, Paige."
"I'm not being ridiculous. I'm being serious, sir." Paige said.
"Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm feeling fine."
"It doesn't seem –"
Suddenly, Mr. Cowan froze. His mouth was still open but no words were coming out.
"Mr. Cowan?" Paige asked.
"He can't hear you right now."
Paige turned around. Standing in the doorway was Piper.
"You!" Paige yelled out.
"It's actually, Piper but I suppose acknowledging me is a start." Piper replied.
Paige stood up and walked over to her.
"Bring him back. That's my boss."
"Relax, he's not in pain. I just did that so we could talk."
"About what? I don't have anything to say to you."
"That's no way to talk to your older sister."
"You're not my sister. I don't even know what you are."
Paige stormed out. Piper followed her.
"Paige, please. You know how much we need you. This attitude of yours is hurting all of us."
"Oh and Prue's attitude was any better?" Paige snapped.
"No, it wasn't. She's a work in progress too. You know, you really are a lot like her."
Paige crossed her arms.
"Excuse me?"
"You're both stubborn."
"I am not stubborn."
"Uh-huh. Look, Paige please just come by the Manor. I'll call Prue and we can talk as sisters."
"I don't want to do that."
"Please."
Paige shook her head.
"Look, I don't want to be a witch but I still want to help people. There was a man here who said that his wife and sister-in-law were killed by something not human. I think it could've been one of those demons of yours."
"Really? Okay, well did he say anything about this demon?"
"No, just that it wasn't human."
"Well this gives us a chance to work together to find out what this thing is."
Paige shook her head.
"No, Piper. I'm not interested in doing any of your witch nonsense. I just want to be left alone to rot in my minimum wage secretary job."
"Paige, I really thought you'd be happy to find out you have sisters."
"Yeah, regular sisters. Not freaky sisters."
Piper couldn't help but feel hurt at her sister's comment. Suddenly, a warlock shimmered in. Paige dropped a set of papers from her hands to the ground, in shock. The warlock shot an energy ball at Piper who froze it in front of her face. Piper pushed Paige out of the way and the ball unfroze and burnt a hole in the wall. Piper tried to blow the warlock up but kept destroying various desks instead.
"Paige, I could use some help here." Piper said.
"I'm not a witch." Paige replied.
"Yes, you are."
The warlock conjured up a knife and threw it right at Paige. Paige yelled and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she saw that she had levitated about five feet in the air.
"How did I do that?" Paige asked herself.
Suddenly, she fell down and hit her head on a desk.
"Are you okay, Paige?" Piper asked her.
"No." Paige replied.
The warlock shimmered behind Paige and made contact with her shoulder. Paige felt a tugging sensation. She then saw an evil figure with red and black skin firing a fire ball at a little girl, who screamed and then fell to the floor. She then saw a girl dressed in all black, smile and kiss the figure before disappearing with him.
"You just had a vision, didn't you?" Piper asked.
Paige didn't have time to answer as the warlock grabbed her by her hair and shimmered away with her.
CHARMED
STARRING:
SHANNEN DOHERTY AS PRUE HALLIWELL
HOLLY MARIE COMBS AS PIPER HALLIWELL
ROSE MCGOWAN AS PAIGE MATTHEWS
BRIAN KRAUSE AS LEO WYATT
JULIAN MCMAHON AS COLE TURNER
AND ALYSSA MILANO AS PHOEBE HALLIWELL
Paige realized that screaming would be worthless. No one could hear her and no one could save her. All she had wanted was a normal life away from the demons and witches but it looked like that wasn't going to be possible. She was tied to a hot, black rock that was burning her back. She had been left alone for a while and the loneliness drove her crazy. Suddenly, two men appeared in front of her. One of them was the one that attacked her earlier and the other man was unrecognizable to her. He was tall, had short brown hair and was very muscular. Paige may have thought he was attractive if he wasn't a demon.
"Who the hell is this?" The attractive man asked.
"One of the Charmed Ones." The other demon replied.
"That's impossible. I know all of The Charmed Ones."
The demon shook his head.
"She's a new one. Pretty powerless, she was very easy to kidnap."
"Hey!" Paige shouted.
"Shut up." The demon snapped.
"Are you sure she's a Charmed one? I thought they were finished."
"No, they're still active."
"Well, why did you bring her? Don't bother setting up a trap for Prue and Piper, they'll see right through it."
"It's not a trap. It's an assignment. The Source sent me to take her."
"Wait."
The muscular man waved his hand and Paige instantly fell asleep.
"That's better." He added.
"As I was saying, The Source wants Phoebe's first assignment as an evil witch to turn this new witch evil during her window of opportunity. If she really is a Charmed one, having two Charmed ones on our side would be a huge for our side. We could put an end to the Charmed ones and the Halliwell line permanently."
"I don't know."
"Come on, Bathalazar. What are you afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid. If this girl is a Charmed one, she must be related to Phoebe somehow. Phoebe made me promise to not let her hurt any of her sisters."
"Phoebe only has two sisters. There was nothing said about a fourth sister."
Cole scratched his head and looked at Paige before looking back to the other warlock.
"Very well. Get Phoebe. This will prove to the Source that Phoebe is evil and she won't be in danger anymore." Cole said.
"I'll get her immediately."
The warlock shimmered out. Cole waved his hands and Paige woke up.
"What's going on?" Paige asked.
"An initiation, so to speak." Cole replied.
"Who the hell are you?" Paige asked.
Cole shrugged.
"It really doesn't matter."
"Go to hell."
"Actually, we're already here."
Paige looked around. She noticed the dark red and black color schemes around the walls and the ground.
"Well, take me back. I have a job to do."
"You certainly have a sense of humor."
Prue was waiting patiently for her first job opportunity after she was fired from her photography job last Spring. Prue was just about to walk in when her phone rang. She saw it was from Piper and picked it up.
"Now's not a great time, Piper."
"Well you've got to make time, Prue. Paige is gone."
"What?"
"She was kidnapped by a warlock."
"Well, call Leo see if he can sense where she is."
"Prue, I need your help. I think something serious is going on here. Paige's disappearance isn't the only warlock slash demon thing going on."
"What are you talking about?"
"Didn't you see the news? Two sisters were just killed. Paige overheard a man claim that the killer wasn't human. I think it was a demon and I think his daughter is the next target."
"Look, why don't you go home and look in The Book of Shadows? I'll get back as soon as I can."
"Prue, I need you now." Piper said.
"Prue Halliwell." A young man said.
"I'm sorry, I have to go."
Prue hung up the phone despite Piper's protest. Prue walked with the man and sat down into an office."
"He'll be right with you." The young man said.
Prue nodded. She waited a few minutes and grew impatient when Mr. Rogers, the school principal, still didn't appear. Someone did appear in the next minute, but it wasn't her possible future employer. It was Leo.
"Leo, what are you doing here?" Prue asked.
"Piper really needs you, Prue."
"I told her, I can't. This interview is important. I have a good shot of getting the History teacher position."
"Prue, your sister's been kidnapped, your other is turned evil and there's a murdering demon killing innocents and you're concerned about a job interview?"
"Well when you put it like that, it makes me seem like a jerk."
"Prue, come on."
"Ok, fine. I give up."
Prue held out her hand to Leo, who orbed himself and Prue out of the office. Several seconds later, Mr. Rogers appeared and was shocked that Prue wasn't waiting there for him.
Prue and Leo appeared in South Bay Social Services. The place was a pigsty, there were desks on their sides, papers all over the floor and a distraught and pissed off Piper giving Prue the death stare.
"What happened here?" Prue asked.
"That was me attempting to control my stupid powers." Piper replied angrily.
"You'll get the hang of them soon, Piper." Leo replied.
"But that's not why I'm pissed. Prue, I get that you want a job and I respect that but your sister has been kidnapped by a warlock and if we don't find her soon, who knows what'll happen."
Prue looked at Piper with a look that she hoped was one of concern and guilt.
"I'm sorry. I'm all yours to help. What did this warlock look like?" Prue asked.
"Tall, dark and definitely not handsome. I don't know. I didn't pay too much attention."
"Well, how can we find him then?"
"Can you sense Paige, Leo?" Piper asked.
Leo closed his eyes and focused his attention on finding Paige. After a few minutes, Leo opened his eyes and shook his head.
"I can't sense her. I'm guessing they must have taken her to the underworld."
"Why would they do that? What good would that do?" Prue asked.
Piper thought for a moment before answering.
"Prue, remember what Grams told us the first time she talked to us after we got our powers? She said, stay away from evil as long as possible in the beginning because they'll try to turn you during your window of opportunity. I think that's what they're trying to do to Paige. They're trying to turn her evil."
"Ok, well how do we stop them if we can't find her?" Prue asked.
"Paige has to choose to be evil. They can't force her. They can try to tempt her but it ultimately has to be her choice. I think to properly turn her evil, they would want to take her back to a place that's personal to her."
"She did say she was unhappy at her job. Maybe they'll take her here." Piper said.
"So what do we do? Just wait, then? I hate waiting." Prue said.
"It's too dangerous to go down to the Underworld, especially without The Power of Three." Leo replied.
"Maybe we can focus now on learning more about The Demon that killed the two sisters."
"Let's check The Book. Leo!" Prue exclaimed.
Leo orbed Prue and Piper back to the Manor.
Paige continued to struggle against the rope that was tying her to the rope with no avail.
"Ok, I can levitate in the air. I can get out of this." Paige said.
Paige tried to focus on levitating but nothing happened.
"Damn it! How do I get my powers to work?" Paige asked herself.
Suddenly, a woman who looked a little older than Paige shimmered in right in front of her. She had dark, brown hair and was dressed in all black. She had a sweet face, yet she looked as though she didn't have even the slightest hint of kindness in her at all.
"So is this the little witch?" She asked.
Cole shimmered in right next to her and nodded.
"Yes, this is her."
"Very well. Why don't I just kill her?" Phoebe asked.
"Because she can be an asset to us. I've heard rumors that she's a powerful witch." Cole said.
"All the more reason to kill her."
"Phoebe, it's not what The Source wants. You don't want to cross him. He's still angry that Shax was vanquished."
"Fine, whatever. I won't kill the little witch." Phoebe said.
"Excuse me, this witch has a name you know." Paige snapped.
Phoebe shot a fireball at Paige which missed her by inches.
"Shut up, witch. You don't get to talk. You're lucky you're not dead right now."
"Yeah, well you're gonna be dead once my sisters come for you."
Phoebe laughed a deep, laugh.
"Your little witch sisters? I'm not scared of your stupid sisters. I'll look forward to killing them and destroying your spirit."
Paige suddenly felt her bravery slipping. However, this woman was, she was powerful and very evil. She barely knew Prue or Piper but she didn't want either of them getting hurt.
"Just focus on the task at hand, Phoebe."
"Right."
Phoebe waved her hands and the ropes around Paige fell.
"You're letting me go?" Paige asked.
"No, we thought we would take you on a little journey." Phoebe said.
"A journey to a place where you are constantly underappreciated." Cole said.
Cole and Phoebe grabbed Paige and shimmered to South Bay Social Services.
"Your job." Phoebe added.
"Why am I here? Even hell is more appetizing than here." Paige snapped.
"Take control, Paige. You have the power to be a social worker. You have the power to take care of your ungrateful boss." Phoebe said.
"I do?" Paige asked.
Phoebe nodded. She waved her hands and Mr. Cowan magically appeared on the street.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Kill him, Paige. You can do it. No rules, no responsibility. You won't have to get him coffee or do any meaningless tasks. You take control. It's your power." Phoebe said.
Paige looked at Mr. Cowan and felt all the anger she had felt for him over the years.
"Paige, what the hell is going on?" Mr. Cowan asked.
"Put him in his place, Paige." Phoebe said.
Just then, Leo, Prue and Piper orbed in. Prue and Piper both stopped dead when they saw Phoebe. That wasn't her. It couldn't be. The three of them walked out into the open.
"Well, look what we have here: the remaining Charmed ones." Phoebe said.
"Phoebe?" Piper asked.
"I don't like that name. I think I'm going to have to change it." Phoebe said.
"Phoebe, this isn't you." Prue said.
"Oh, Prue, you were always the tough one. I personally look forward to killing you." Phoebe said.
Prue withdrew in terrible shock.
"But today isn't about the remaining two Charmed ones. It's about turning this witch evil. Kill him, Paige!" Phoebe yelled out.
"Leo, orb him out of here now." Piper commanded.
Leo nodded and orbed to Mr. Cowan and then orbed away with him before Phoebe or Cole could stop them.
"Damn it! That was our innocent!" Phoebe shouted.
"Phoebe, let's go. Just forget it." Cole said.
"No. I have a job to do for the Source and I'm not gonna stop until that witch is evil."
"We can't let you do that, Phoebs." Piper said.
"And why the hell not?" Phoebe snapped.
"Because that's our sister." Prue replied.
"That's ridiculous. There's no other sister!" Phoebe shouted.
"Yes, there is and that's her. Paige completes The Power of Three without you." Piper said angrily.
"Piper." Prue said.
"No! You know what? Screw this. Phoebe, this isn't you. Snap out of it!" Piper shouted out.
Phoebe threw a fire ball at Piper but Prue sent it flying out of her way. Prue then stood up and sent Phoebe flying backwards. Prue then ran up to Paige.
"Are you alright?" Prue asked.
Paige nodded.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Paige replied.
"Get behind Piper."
"No! I want to help."
"Paige, you're a new witch. You're vulnerable."
Cole shimmered towards Paige and Prue and Prue was shocked to see that Paige levitated in the air and kicked Cole right in the head, sending him right back to Phoebe.
"Nice hit, sis." Prue said.
"Thanks."
Piper ran up to Prue and Paige. She froze Cole and Phoebe.
"It's so weird to see Phoebe frozen." Piper said.
"Yeah, it does." Prue added.
"I had a weird sort of vision. I know it sounds random but I saw what I guess was Phoebe and this red and black demon thingy killing a young girl. I think it may have been that woman form the news, Julie Harris, her daughter."
"Black and red demon? That has to be Bathalazar." Piper said.
"Who's that?"
"That's him in his demon form. Do you have an address? Do you know where they are?"
Paige shook her head.
"No, I'm sorry. I just saw the murder, I didn't see any address."
"Leo!" Piper called out.
Leo appeared alone.
"What's going on?"
"Where's Mr. Cowan?" Paige asked.
"Oh, he's back in his house. I wiped out his memory. He shouldn't remember any of this."
"Oh, great. So we basically kidnapped and drugged my boss today. Being a Charmed one is awesome." Paige said sarcastically.
"Leo, do the Elders know anything about a woman named Julie Harris?" Piper asked.
"Yes, she was just murdered and the Elders believe that her daughter is in danger." Leo answered.
"Where do they live? We need to save them. Phoebe and Bathalazar are going to try to attack them." Piper said.
"I'll orb there now and find them a safe place." Leo said.
"Good!" Piper said.
Leo nodded and then orbed out.
"Do you have Leo on speed dial or what?" Paige asked.
"He's our whitelighter. He can sense where we are and come when we call him. He's kind of like a dog." Prue answered.
"Hey that's my husband you're talking about." Piper snapped.
"Sorry!" Prue called back.
"Now what do we do with these two?" Piper asked.
"I don't know but it looks like they're coming back." Paige said.
Sure enough, Phoebe and Cole both became unfrozen.
"I don't care about you witches anymore. I have another innocent I can kill to ensure my evil." Phoebe said.
"You mean Julie Harris' daughter? Because she's already safe now." Piper said.
"What?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes, while you were frozen, we took the liberty to save her but good try Phoebs, really." Piper added.
Phoebe yelled out angrily.
"And don't even try to stop The Power of Three. You can't." Piper said.
"There is no Power of Three without me on your side." Phoebe said angrily.
"Actually, there is. Meet the new Power of Three. Prue, me and Paige." Piper said.
Phoebe screamed and then vanished in a circle of fire. Cole shimmered out.
"Well that's Phoebe." Prue said.
"Definitely not at all the way you made her sound." Paige said.
"That wasn't Phoebe. That's not my sister." Piper said.
Prue knocked on Mr. Rogers' office door.
"Come in."
Prue walked in. Mr. Rogers look surprised but invited her to have a seat.
"I'm sorry that I didn't get the chance to meet you earlier today." Prue said.
"From what I was told, you simply vanished."
"I had a family emergency and I'm very protective of my family."
"I like that. I had the chance to review your file. Very impressive, Ms. Halliwell."
"Thank you. I know I don't have any teaching experience but I do have a lot of experience with History and I'm ready to do as much training as it takes to ensure that I can be the best possible teacher I can be."
Mr. Rogers smiled.
"I know, that's why you've got the job."
"I do? Oh, thank you so much. You won't regret it, I promise."
"I'm sure I won't. Be here first thing Monday morning for orientation."
"I can't wait." Prue said with a smile.
Paige was at her desk, typing away on her keyboard when she saw Mr. Cowan walk in.
"Mr. Cowan, are you alright?" Paige asked.
"I had the strangest dream. You were a witch and you were trying to kill me." He said.
Paige laughed a nervous chuckle.
"Sir, a witch? That's crazy." Paige said.
"Yeah, right. It was just a silly dream." Mr. Cowan said.
Paige sighed and then went back to her work.
Phoebe and Cole returned to the underworld.
"You knew, didn't you?" Phoebe asked.
"Knew what?" Cole asked.
"You knew she was a Charmed one. You knew that she replaced me!" Phoebe yelled.
"I didn't want you to find out."
"Why not? I would've killed the little bitch while I had the chance."
"Phoebe, you made me swear you wouldn't hurt your sisters. I want to hold you to that."
"Cole, that was when I was good. I don't care about them anymore. All I care about is killing the next innocent, proving to the Source that there is no good at all in my body. Now, are you going to help me or not?"
Cole looked at Phoebe and even he too knew that this wasn't Phoebe anymore and he realized he didn't love her this way.