My loves!:

CardboardCreative: I know, it was crazy. And now it's happening again! ...another year later...
charmedbaby11: well good. All socks could use a good rockin' now and again!
minako366: here you go? heh?
wiccanforever: i think leo is safe – teh angst can run rampant even without him under the spell :-P
charmedfan0102: this is true. I appreciate it grinz
Laby Anne Boleyn: poor Paigey :(
Firemaiden100: sure thing! Hope you like this one too
cellochick003: haha i'm glad! And w00t for natalia fics. seriously, there needs to be more!
Chickabilly: I appreciate the offer, but keep your laptop! Write some stories for ME to read :)
charmed-darkangel: here here here here!! :)


Recap (as much for me as for you guys...):

Chapter 1 – Paige had nightmares about her sisters hating her; Corathon and Trisa begin scheming
Chapter 2 – Piper and Paige fight; Paige meets "Greg" aka Corathon; Phoebe has a premonition
Chapter 3 – Corathon reveals his true form and rapes Paige
Chapter 4 – Piper and Phoebe find Paige; Leo doesn't answer so they take her to a hospital
Chapter 5 – Piper and Phoebe wait in the hospital; unconscious Paige misunderstands Piper's words
Chapter 6 – Piper and Phoebe decide Paige isn't worth waiting around for
Chapter 7 – Paige wakes to find her sisters gone; the elder girls and Leo discover the triquetra is broken
Chapter 8 – Paige is angsty; Piper is pissy; Leo talks to the Elders


Chapter Nine: Leo and Paige


Paige leaned against the park bench, slowly lowering herself down onto it. The doctor had released her with nothing more than a prescription for pain medication and a hefty bill. The worst part had been his asking if she had anyone who could take her home – weren't those her sisters at her bedside earlier? She had come up with some half-wit excuse for their not being there anymore and had limped out the doorway on her own.

It wasn't long before she realized that not only did she not have her car, she didn't even have her purse with her anymore. So she couldn't take the bus, and she couldn't even call anyone to come pick her up. Thus her current predicament on the bench.

She drew her knees up to her chest slowly and took a deep, shaky breath. Lost in thought, Paige failed to notice as blue sparkles rained down from the sky and materialized next to her into her brother-in-law.

"Paige," Leo started, calmly.

Paige jumped slightly, her breath leaving her at the unexpected sound. As her wide eyes saw it was only her brother-in-law, she struggled to calm herself and get her breathing back to normal.

"Woah, I didn't mean to scare you," Leo apologized. He looked her over, concern evident on his face. "What happened? Piper and Phoebe said you were fine, but you look more than just a little banged up."

"They said-" Paige hesitated. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She stood up abruptly. "Don't worry about me."

Leo jumped up and started to follow her. "Paige wait!" He reached out and grabbed her arm.

Paige gasped slightly and jerked her arm away. "Don't touch me!"

Shock spread across Leo's face as he pondered her reaction. "Paige, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to hurt you, I just want to heal you and figure out why the power of three is broken."

"The power of-" Paige covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh God. No wonder Piper and Phoebe hate me. Oh God, what have I done?" Paige's face slowly started to crumble into tears. She slid down onto the ground, her back scraping against the rough bark of a tree as she went. She cradled her head in her hands and let the sobs come.

Leo stood, watching in awe, not knowing how to react by this sudden dramatic change in one of his girls. But he soon got a hold of himself and kneeled down gently beside her. Tentatively, he reached his hand out to her. Paige flinched at first, but soon allowed Leo to wrap his comforting arms around her as she cried.

Neither of them knew how long they sat like that before Paige's tears finally subsided. Leo pulled back just a little, just to look at her, questions written all across his face.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Paige, what happened?" Leo asked softly. She didn't respond. "You need to tell me."

Paige drew in a long and shaky breath. "I got into a fight w-with Piper. It was my fault. I forgot- I don't know, I forgot something she asked me to do." Her voice was so quiet, so small, as she went on. "I went to a club. I was drinking." Leo frowned at this, knowing of his sister-in-law's struggles with alcohol before she had met them "And I met this guy."

Paige's face crumpled again but she managed to regain her composure. "Only he wasn't a guy. He was a demon. He followed me outside and- and into an alley. And he- he said he was going to destroy the Charmed Ones, and that I was the weakest, that he would- break me. And now-" Paige let out a choking sob once again. "Oh God, now Phoebe and Piper can't protect themselves because I'm too weak. Because I let this happen, and I let him-"

Leo didn't like where this was going. Not one bit. But he didn't wait for Paige to finish crying before continuing to question her this time. "Paige, what happened? What aren't you telling me?"

Paige quieted. After a moment she bit her bottom lip thoughtfully, and whispered, "He raped me."

Leo reeled back, as if he had been punched in the face. Raped? A demon RAPED Paige?? his thoughts raged inside his head. Then another thought came to his mind: Why did the girls insist she was okay? The doctor had to have told them. There's no way they couldn't know.

Paige didn't fail to notice Leo's withdrawal. She turned her head from him as he turned inside himself, her heart filled with shame. Leo was just as disgusted by her as her sisters were. She didn't notice as he finally turned back to her, still confused, only now with different questions in his mind.

"Paige-" he started, but she cut him off.

"It's okay, I understand."

This didn't help Leo's confusion at all. "Understand what?"

"That you don't want anything to do with me anymore, any of you," Paige told him, not a trace of doubt in her voice, only pain.

"Paige that's ridiculous! Why would you think that?" Leo was just as shocked as he had been at the girl's first revelation.

"I let everyone down. The power of three is broken, and it's because of me."

"The power of three is broken, but we don't know why," Leo explained. "The Elders don't know why either. And whatever happened – EVERYTHING that happened – none of it was your fault Paige. You didn't do anything wrong. You may be a witch, but you're still only human."

Paige looked up at him, wanting to believe him, wanting to believe her family still loved her. "But Piper said…"

"What did Piper say, Paige?" Leo urged her on.

Maybe…maybe I just misheard. Maybe I was imagining things. "Nothing." She shook her head, both as a signal to go along with her word and to clear her thoughts."

Leo took her hand gently into his, and stared right into her eyes, willing her to trust him. "We're going to figure out what's going on. Your sisters love you Paige – you know that. And so do I. We're going to get through this, together."

Salty tears trickled down her cheeks as Paige willed herself to embrace that tiny bit of hope inside her. She didn't say anything, but Leo thought he'd gotten through to her, maybe at least a little.

"Come on, let's orb back to the manor," he told her.

"Are you sure my sisters want to see me?" Paige asked, once more scared of having to face them.

"Of course I am."

But as the blue and white lights began to engulf them both, he heard Piper's venomous voice resounding in his ears: "We don't go carelessly wandering around in the middle of the night. And even if we did, we would be able to take care of ourselves just fine, unlike our sister."

He hoped he was right. For the sake of Paige, and for the sake of the Charmed Ones.


!trumpet blares!

w00t new chapter! heh. obviously it's been awhile so if you guys notice any odd inconsistencies between chapters, please feel free to let me know. also, i'm in school for screenwriting these days, so it's been ages since i've actually written any prose. let me know if it sounds weird or choppy :)

oh yeah and also, no this is not gonna become paige/leo shippy, so don't worry.

love to all of you!