Chapter 4: Switch

Prue couldn't sleep. She didn't bother trying. She knew it would be no use. After she got back from work earlier that morning, she had found Paige lying on the floor, completely motionless. At first, she thought Paige was dead but Leo told her that he could still sense her which means she wasn't. Leo tried to heal her but he wasn't able to. Cole also tried to use some of his demonic powers to bring her back to life but it was no use. Piper returned home an hour later and was devastated to see Paige in this state. Prue tried to comfort her sister as best as she could but even Prue had trouble coming up with a bright side. Not only was the power of three inactive again but they also may just lose another sister. Prue was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." Prue answered.

Piper eased the door open. She was dressed in a white nightgown that extended from her shoulders to her feet.

"I couldn't sleep." Piper said.

"Come in bed with me." Prue stated.

Piper nodded and jumped into bed with her sister. She rested her head on Prue's shoulder.

"I can't lose another sister, Prue. I just can't." Piper said.

"We won't lose her. We'll figure it out." Prue replied.

"How do you know? What if we never do? Unless we have yet another long-lost sister we can't complete the power of three. It'll only be a matter of time before the demons finally kill us."

Prue turned to face her younger sister. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and titled her head up so she could look her right in the eyes.

"Piper, nothing is ever going to happen to you. Look at me. I will never let anyone hurt you. That's a promise."

"Prue, you can't protect me forever. What would happen if something happened to you? What then?"

"I'm not going anywhere. I never will. I'm always going to be here to protect you."

Piper turned away from her sister and put the covers over her head. Prue went under the bed so she could see Piper's face.

"Why are you hiding?" She asked.

"Remember when we were little and we always heard those weird noises. Grams always told us it was just the wind but now I know it must've been demons or warlocks. Whenever I was scared, I would always run in here and you would always let me sleep in your room with you. I always felt safer with you and when I was under the covers."

"I was just as scared as you were. I wanted to put on a brave face for you but I was terrified."

"You don't always have to be so brave, you know?"

"Yes, I do. Always."

"I wish that I could be a kid again. I really wish all those noises were just the wind."

Prue gave Piper a kiss on her forehead.

"You're going to be safe, Piper. We're going to save Paige and we're going to save Phoebe and our lives will return to normal. Well I guess as normal as they can be."

Piper laughed.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Prue."

"I couldn't last very long without you, Piper."

Suddenly, the girls heard a loud crashing sound.

"Showtime?" Piper asked.

"Showtime." Prue replied.

The two girls got out of bed, put on a pair of shoes and ran downstairs into the living room. A man dressed in a black trench coat was down there, waiting for them.

"Ah, the two oldest Charmed ones. What a honor it is to finally meet you."

"Get out of here or we'll vanquish your sorry ass." Piper snapped.

The man laughed.

"Oh, really? Can you manage that?"

"Yes, we can. So why don't you just leave now?" Prue asked.

Suddenly, Leo orbed into the room and Cole shimmered in.

"Prue, Piper, I came to warn you guys about –" Cole started.

But the man sent Cole and Leo flying into the air. He produced a white and black ray of light, which he directed at Leo and Cole. The white light went from Leo into Cole and the black light went from Cole into Leo. Both of them hit their heads against the wall by the stairs and fell unconscious.

"Leo!" Piper called out.

Piper raced up to the warlock and tried to freeze him but she accidentally blew up the grandfather clock in the hallway.

"God damn these new powers!" Piper yelled.

Prue waved her hands at the warlock but he escaped her attack just in time. He then produced a blue light from his hands, which caused two sources of blue light from Piper and Prue to leave their bodies, and then go into the other's. The warlock then sent a fireball at Piper. Piper put her hands together to try to freeze it but instead the fireball went flying back to the warlock who shimmered out just in time.

"What just happened?" Piper asked.

"I don't know."

Piper went up to Leo and Cole, who were just about to wake up. She put both of her hands up which caused Leo and Cole to rise into the air and knock into each other.

"Oh my gosh, Prue. I think I have your powers." Piper said.

"What? That's not possible."

"Try to move them."

Prue waved her right hand but instead of moving, Leo and Cole froze. Piper went to check to make sure that it worked.

"Yup. They just froze."

"What? I don't understand."

"That warlock must've switched our powers."

Suddenly, Leo and Cole both unfroze and stood up.

"Well I guess my warning was too late. Hopefully, he didn't get you two." Cole said.

"Oh, he did alright." Piper said.

"I'll go to the Elders." Leo said.

Leo tried to orb but instead he shimmered. A few seconds later, Leo returned, looking panicked.

"I just went to the Underworld, not to the Elders." Leo said.

"You just shimmered." Piper said.

"Wait, so does that mean you two switched powers too?" Prue asked.

Cole tried to shimmer but he found that he instead orbed. When he returned, he simply nodded.

"Looks like I'm a Whitelighter, Leo's a demon, Prue's a freezer and Piper's a telekinetic. Combine that with Paige being unconscious and Phoebe being an evil, psychopath we have quite the situation on our hands." Cole said.

Piper and Prue looked at each other with concern.

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

WITH ALYSSA MILANO AS PHOEBE HALLIWELL

AND INTRODUCING THE NEW CHARACTER "EVAN"

Prue walked into her office where Mr. Roberts was waiting for her.

"Hello, Mr. Roberts. I am so sorry about all of the unexplained absences. I promise you it won't happen again." Prue said.

"It's alright, Prue. I don't like it but family comes first. I understand that. I don't wish to be rude but we really do need you to be here. We can't just simply make you a teacher over night. You need to be properly trained. You need to design your curriculum for the year and have it approved by the staff. These things take time and we need you to be here to complete them promptly."

Prue nodded fervently.

"Mr. Roberts, you have my word. I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you, Prue. Now I'll –"

Out of the corner of her eye, Prue could see Cole orbing in. She quickly held up her hands and Mr. Roberts froze.

"Are you out of your mind, Cole?" Prue asked angrily.

"I'm sorry. I still haven't got a hold of the whole sensing power yet." He said.

"What are you doing here? I'm very busy." Prue snapped.

Cole walked up closer to her.

"I'm sorry but it's important. It's about Paige."

"What about her?"

"When I was in the underworld, I learned about a demon that could help turn other demons into witches by knocking them out unconscious and imprinting their body types on another demon."

"So you think this demon took Paige's appearance and attributed it to another warlock or demon?"

"Yes. That's all I know. Either way, the only way to save Paige is to destroy the link between her and the warlock or demon impersonating her."

"Ok, well then I'll go look in the Book of Shadows and see if I can find anything."

"Isn't this kind of urgent?"

"Of course it is but so is being at work. I want to keep this job." Prue said.

"What about saving your sister's life?" Cole asked.

"I'll be there for lunch. I'm doing the best I can here."

Cole simply shook his head in response and then orbed away. Prue put up her hands again and Mr. Roberts unfroze.

"..leave you to your work then." He finished.

Mr. Roberts closed the door and left Prue alone.

Piper was opening several different bottles of wine the best she could but she found it was much harder than she would've hoped.

"God, these bottles must be ancient." Piper said.

"Need a hand?" Leo asked.

"I've got it, thanks." Piper replied.

Piper was trying to open the cork but the pressure she put on the bottle caused it to slip off of the table and fall to the ground. Piper put up her right hand and the bottle sailed through the air and crashed against the wall.

"God damn it! I want my old powers back." Piper said.

"You're telling me? I hate being a demon." Leo said.

"Well, you've always been a demon in bed." Piper said coyly.

Leo blushed.

"We just have to make do right now. We owe it to Paige and to Phoebe." Leo said.

"You're right. It's just hard enough to vanquish demons every week with my own powers, let alone with Prue's which I don't even know how to use."

"Just focus."

When another bottle fell from Piper's grasp, Piper held her right hand steady and the bottle levitated in the air.

"It's working."

Suddenly, Inspector Sheridan and Daryl Morris walked into the door. Piper panicked and let the bottle crash to the floor.

"What was that?" Sheridan asked.

"Nothing. Just an accident. What can I do for you?" Piper asked.

"You can give me an explanation. My cousin who lives in Australia told me she saw someone who matched Phoebe's description over there last night. Another cop told me he saw Phoebe in San Francisco this morning. Now, there is no way that she could've flown from Australia to San Francisco in only one night. There's something you're hiding from me, isn't there?" Sheridan asked.

"Sheridan, let it go." Daryl replied.

"You're hiding something too, aren't you?" Sheridan asked.

"I'm sorry but I'm very busy tonight. TLC is coming to the club tonight. I need this place to be perfect!" Piper said.

"You can't keep avoiding us, Piper. I'll find out the truth somehow. There's no way just some innocent family would be involved in so many unsolved cases."

"Have a lovely day, Inspector Sheridan." Piper said.

Sheridan and Morris left P3. Piper turned to Leo and sighed.

"I don't know what I can do, Leo. She's onto us." Piper said.

"Don't worry about her. Just focus on saving Paige. You and Prue are vulnerable without The Power of Three." Leo replied.

Piper dropped another wine bottle and swore. Leo waved his right hand and a black light materialized around the broken glasses, which restored all of the old wine bottles to their original format.

"It just feels so evil." Leo said.

Piper shrugged.

At lunch, Prue returned home to find Cole waiting in the living room. He stood up when he saw her and crossed his arms.

"Took you long enough." Cole said.

"I came as fast as I could. Where's Paige?" Prue asked.

"She's on the sofa." Cole said.

Prue walked over to Paige, who was still unconscious.

"Ok, I'm going up to the book. You watch over her."

Prue then walked up the stairs. Cole noticed that suddenly, Paige was stirring.

"Prue! Prue!" Cole called out.

Prue returned downstairs with the Book.

"What?"

Cole pointed out Paige, who was now standing up.

"Paige? How is this possible?" Prue asked.

"Hey Prue and ah- Cole, was it? Wait! Cole? Oh god, Prue! Why is he here?"

Paige quickly ran next to Prue.

"He's not going to hurt us, Paige. Don't worry about it. He wants to turn Phoebe good again, just like us." Prue said.

"I still don't trust him." Paige snapped.

"I don't blame you." Prue said.

"Prue!"

"Well, you did try to force her to kill her boss." Prue snapped.
"I don't understand how this is possible. I thought for sure Paige was taken over by a demon imprinting." Cole said.

"Well, maybe there's another reason." Prue said.

"Clearly, I'm fine. So let's focus on trying to save Phoebe." Paige said.

"Yes, I agree. I am all ears tonight but right now, I should go back to work." Prue said.

"Prue!" Paige called out.

Prue returned to her youngest sister and gave her a big hug.

"I'm really happy that you're okay and I know Piper will be too. I was worried about you." Prue said.

"Thanks, Prudence. I'm glad to be back." Paige said.

Prue looked slightly confused but shrugged.

"Ok, you two go look in the Book, see if you can find anyway of reversing evil." Prue said.

"Will do, Prudence!" Paige called out.

Again, Prue was confused but simply nodded and left the Manor.

Leo found Cole on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, where he would meet with The Elders.

"I need you to do me a favor." Leo said.

"What?" Cole asked.

"Go up there and ask the Elders if there's a way that we can save Phoebe."

"Wouldn't they freak out about seeing me up there?" Cole asked.

"Explain to them that you're a whitelighter now or at least that you have my powers. Prove it to them quickly and then ask."

Cole simply nodded. Leo watched him orbed away. After a minute, Leo shimmered back to the Manor.

"Paige?" Leo asked.

Paige nodded.

"Hello, Leo. How are you?" Paige asked.

"I'm fine. How is this possible? You're cured already?" Leo asked.

Paige simply nodded.

"Yeah, it was weird. One minute, I just woke up and now I'm good as new." Paige said.

"Oh, ok. Well, I sent Cole up to the Elders to see if they knew anything about being able to save Phoebe." Leo said.

"Save her from what?" Paige asked.

"Return her to the side of good." Leo replied.

"Look, Leo. I'm all for being able to meet Phoebe for who she actually is but is there really a rush to make the change now? I mean, we have the power of three with me already."

Leo looked at Paige with shock written all over his face.

"Maybe being unconscious changed you because this doesn't sound like you at all, Paige." Leo said.

"I'm sorry. Forget I said anything. I just struggle because sometimes I feel like I don't matter." Paige said.

"Paige, don't feel that way. You matter a lot. Without you, Prue and Piper wouldn't even be alive."

Paige nodded.

"I know that but I mean Prue and Piper have been doing this for three years and I just started and I still don't know how to levitate right. Besides, Phoebe was the real witch in the Power of Three, not me." Paige said.

"Well, you are now and you've done a great job so far."

"Maybe amateur at best but nothing like Phoebe's done." Paige said suddenly.

"Well, give it some time and you can be an excellent witch just like Phoebe was."

Paige gave Leo a half-smile to look at.

"I guess." Paige said.

She simply shrugged and walked away into the kitchen. Cole orbed back into the Manor to see Leo.

"The Elders know of one way that we can save Phoebe." Cole said.

"How?" Leo asked.

Before Cole could answer, the warlock from the other night reappeared. Cole orbed out in panic and Leo sent out an energy ball at him that instantly killed him. Leo assumed that his powers would return to him but he found that he still had demonic powers. Leo heard a loud thud come from the kitchen. When he walked in, he saw Paige lying on the floor. He tried to wake her up but there was no response. He then saw Phoebe, who orbed into the kitchen.

"Phoebe. What are you doing?" Leo asked.

"Killing you. I heard you weren't a whitelighter anymore."

Before Leo could react, Phoebe sent an athame flying towards Leo, which collided with his chest and killed him.

Cole was able to heal Leo just in time. Prue was comforting Piper, who was crying.

"We can't keep doing this, Prue. We can't keep just avoiding this." Piper said.

"I know. We won't, anymore, I promise." Prue replied.

"This is my husband, we're talking about here." Piper said.

Prue then hugged her sister again as she continued to cry. Leo stood up and took Cole aside.

"I think now would be a good time for you to tell me what the elders said about how to save Phoebe." Leo said.

Suddenly, the same warlock that Leo thought he had killed appeared again.

"How is that possible?" Leo asked angrily.

"You could call me invulnerable." He replied.

He shot a fireball directly at Cole but he orbed away to avoid it. Leo shot en energy ball at the warlock but he shimmered out of the way. Piper waved her right hand but the attack had a minimal effect on the warlock, who only moved back a few feet. Prue put her left and right hands together, which caused him to freeze.

"I don't know how much time he'll stay frozen. Cole, orb up to the book and bring it down. We need to find out who this son of a bitch is." Prue said.

Cole nodded and quickly orbed up to the attic. He was able to grab the book and returned to Prue and the others downstairs. Prue was worried that she wouldn't be able to find the warlock in the book but she found that the book automatically flipped to a description of the warlock.

"Yes, here is. His name is Thantos; he has the power to switch witches, demons and whitelighters powers. He switches their powers so he can attack them when they are most vulnerable. The only way to vanquish him is by returning our original powers to each other." Prue said.

"How do we do that?" Piper asked.

"I don't know. The book doesn't say." Prue said.

Thantos unfroze and shot a lightning ray at the girls. Piper sent the ray away. Leo shot more energy balls at Thantos but he always avoided them.

"I think I know what we have to do." Prue said.

"What?" Piper asked.

Prue pulled Piper away from one of Thantos' energy balls.

"We have to show him that we're more dangerous with our powers switched than with our powers in their original places."

"But we can't vanquish Thantos with switched powers."

"No but we can put him through hell."

Piper looked stunned as Prue stood in front of her. She put her hands together and Thantos froze. She took a deep breath, focused as hard as she could and then waved her left hand, which caused Thantos' head to unfreeze.

"What's going on?" Thantos asked.

"You're going to give us our original powers back." Prue snapped.

"No way."

"Then suffer the consequences."

Prue moved her left and right hands in unison and imitated a pushing sensation. Thantos screamed as his left hand was blown away from his body. He screamed in pain.

"Whoa." Piper said.

"Would you care to lose any other limbs?" Prue asked.

"It's only a flesh wound." Thantos said.

"Okay." Prue said.

Prue imitated the pushing sensation again with her hands and this time, Thantos' right leg was blown from my body.

"Ok, damn it, witch. You win." Thantos said.

Prue unfroze Thantos' remaining hand. He switched Prue and Piper's powers back and then Leo and Cole's.

"Now can I leave now?" Thantos asked.

Piper quickly froze him.

"Yes, I did it the right way finally." Piper said.

"Maybe having a break from your original powers was just what you needed to get them working again." Prue said.

"Maybe."

Prue and Piper quickly ran over to the Book of Shadows. Under Thantos' description, they found a vanquishing spell.

"Hear now, the witches who cry, banish this demon, let him die." Pure and Piper chanted.

Thantos unfroze and screamed as he was burned to death.

"Well that worked well." Piper said.

"All in a day's work." Prue said with a smile.

Leo went up to Cole again to ask him the same question for a third time.

"Ok, now this time, there won't be any interruptions, what did the Elders tell you about saving Phoebe?" Leo asked.

"I don't remember." Cole replied.

"What?" Leo asked.

"I'm really sorry, Leo. I don't remember. It just went out of my head, almost like magic."

"You must've lost the information when you return to your demonic form. I'll go up to the Elders."

Leo orbed up to them. Cole shrugged and then shimmered out of the house.

"Now that the issue of our powers it taken care of, let's focus on Paige."

Piper and Prue found Paige in the attic, trying to find something.

"Hey, guys. I'm trying to find The Book of Shadows." Paige said.

"It's right here." Prue said.

Prue returned the Book to its nightstand.

"Great, thanks." Paige said.

"Why don't you look through it?" Piper asked.

"I was hoping you guys would since you're the experts and all." Paige said.

Piper and Prue didn't move. They both simply crossed their arms and stared at her.

"You know, I don't ever remember you calling me Prudence." Prue said.

"Isn't that what I called you?" Paige asked.

Prue shook her head.

"Also, Leo said that you told him that you thought that Phoebe didn't need to be saved because you were a perfectly satisfactory replacement to the Power of Three." Piper said.

"I didn't mean that." Paige said.

"Not to mention, the fact that you can't seem to touch The Book of Shadows."

"I can explain." Paige replied.

Prue waved her right arm and Paige immediately fell unconscious and Phoebe appeared before them.

"Nice try, Phoebe. You had me fooled for most of the time but you don't know Paige well enough to impersonate her." Prue said.

Phoebe laughed.

"I don't care to know her. She's a waste of a witch. Now that she's still unconscious, you two are vulnerable without your little power of three." Phoebe said.

Piper froze Phoebe quickly before she could attack them. She went up to the book of shadows and found the page about demons imprinting on witches.

"We don't have to vanquish Phoebe to get Paige back, we just have to find the demon that did it."

"How do we do that?" Prue asked.

"He should come to us. He'll disturb the connection was broken unwillingly and will investigate." Piper replied.

Suddenly, the demon that attacked Paige appeared before them. Piper froze his body but left his head unfrozen.

"Let me out!" He demanded.

"Actually, no. Break the connection between Paige and Phoebe, or else." Piper said.

"Or else, what?" He asked.

"Are you particularly fond of your p-"

"Piper!" Prue called out.

"I think you know what I mean. Break the link or I'll break your – well you know." Piper said.

The demon nodded and he cast a black ray of light on Phoebe, which caused her to vanish and be replaced with Paige. Piper unfroze him and he shimmered out.

"What happened? Where am I?" Paige asked.

She was almost about to fall over but Prue and Piper helped her sit down on the sofa behind her.

"It's a long story. I wouldn't worry about it." Prue answered.

Paige simply shook her head and passed out on the couch.

"Poor thing." Piper said.

"There's nothing like being knocked out and impersonated or several days." Prue said.

Piper laughed. Prue looked at her watch and swore.

"Oh so you can say that word but I can't." Piper said.

"I was supposed to be back at work forty-five minutes ago." Prue said.

Prue quickly ran over to put on her jacket, kissed Piper goodbye and left the house. Piper simply chuckled. She walked outside the Manor and was tending to some of the flowers when she noticed a handsome man at the house next door.

"Hello." She greeted him.

The man looked over to her.

"Oh, hello. How are you?" He asked.

"Fine. How are you?"

"Doing well, thank you. I just moved in."

"Oh, did you? I didn't see any moving trucks."

"I don't have much stuff. I moved from Arizona, most of my stuff I just left there with my parents."

"Ok. Well my name is Piper."

"I'm Evan. It's nice to met you."

"Listen, when you're all set, you are welcome to come over and have dinner with me and my sisters."

"That sounds nice, thanks." Evan said.

Evan smiled and then walked back into his house. Piper smiled and then closed the door.

Later that night, Prue and Piper were eating dinner and talking.

"We have to make a choice, you know." Piper said.

"I know. I just can't get myself to vanquish my little sister." Prue said.

"I know, I can't either but she almost killed Leo and she had her demon friend imprint on Paige. If we let her stay alive, this long she could destroy this family." Piper said.

Prue sighed.

"You're right. And Leo still isn't back from the Elders but I doubt there's any way to save her."

"If we wait until we can vanquish The Source, Phoebe could've killed tons of innocents even one of us."

Prue took in a deep breath and then looked at her sister.

"It's decided. We're going to vanquish Phoebe once and for all."

Prue and Piper looked at each other and then gave each other another big hug, trying to comfort the other as both were in tears.

A/N: The mid-chapter finale will be titled "The Waters of Avaylon" and will be posted on Saturday, November 30th. There will be a short hiatus after this chapter. Thanks for your support!