CharmedNeptune47, don't worry -- all in good time... This would be a very boring story if it was all about Paige and Prue sniping at each other...
PrueAndyForever, great, another long comment... are you doing this to me on purpose? LOL It was no problem answering your previous comments, my pleasure. The differences between the sisters is what makes them so powerful, I think. If they all approached things the same way and agreed on everything, where would the fun be? I loved how Phoebe had to take on the middle-child role in S4, and I think Piper did it very well before that, so I wanted the two of them to share the role. Introducing the two demons from different points on the show was just another way to show that even thought Paige and Prue are different, they do have some things in common... which will show up next chapter. It's hard for Phoebe and Piper to find a middle between Prue's ways and Paige's ways, and hopefully I can find a way to implement both!
ishouldberunning, thank you for commenting! I try to make it as 'realistic' as possible...
piperspeanut, I had to throw the guys in there, so far all they've been doing is house-sitting, lol. I thought I had put that explanation for Victor's absence in earlier, apologies that I didn't. And LP rocks, but they're not as good as Evanscence... lol
PeterPanTinkerBell27, I'm the same, I love how the writers made them so different yet so alike at the same time!!
WelshCanuck, just more dialog to bring a smile to your face. :-) Bringing back demons from both parts of the show is a lot more fun than only bringing back some of them. Prue will be feeling a bit off for a little while longer, but she'll adjust. She is a Halliwell, after all...
ChristineRudd, thanks for your comment! I try to write the characters as closely as I can to the way they were on the show. Prue's the hardest to write for because she was on the show the shortest amount of time, but it's half the fun, figuring out what she would say! And Henry's remark was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I was originally going to have Paige say something, but I have the sisters so busy in this story they don't have the time to watch TV. Lol
jiejei1, Paige and Prue will work it out, no worries. And that discussion was funny, I had fun writing it!
"I just think you may have overreacted," Phoebe said to Prue early next morning.
"Did you see the look on her face?" Prue said, ignoring Phoebe.
"Yes, and I will lecture Paige about that later, but I don't think you should have taken it as hard as you did. Remember the way I was, growing up? If you'd have reacted like that every time I did it, we would have never seen you again."
"Whatever," Prue said, sighing. "I think I'm just gonna have to stay home today."
"Fine," Phoebe said, "I just wish you and Paige weren't so goddamn stubborn."
Phoebe left the apartment, and Coop went with her.
"Why are you following me?" she asked him.
"What? You think I'm staying in the apartment when she's fuming like that?"
Phoebe had left a lot earlier than usual, so she drove to the manor. "At least you can stay here," she told Coop in the car. "Until Prue's done steaming."
"Yeah, so now I can be with Paige while she's furious. Great…"
Phoebe laughed. "If I had to pick, I would've stayed with Prue, only because she's less likely to do something out of the blue."
They went into the house, but no one was in the living room. They heard voices in the kitchen, so they approached, stopping in the dining room when they heard that those voices were not happy.
"Paige, you are being so hard-headed!" Piper was yelling. "We all saw that look you gave Prue!"
"So now what, I can't look at her?" Paige demanded, getting a cereal box and slamming it on the counter.
"You know what I mean," Piper said, hurling a carton of milk at her. "Be careful, it might be expired," she said, meaning the milk.
"I don't care, I was right about winging it! I should be allowed to rub it in her face that she was wrong." Paige poured some milk and drank it. "It's fine."
"You were right this once," Piper said, adding 'milk' to her list of groceries. "Prue has been known to make it up as she goes along. But, sometimes it's better to have a plan. Think about how we vanquished the Source."
"That wasn't a plan, Piper. That was Cole becoming the Hollow and helping us. Not in our plans, remember?" Paige shook an empty cereal box. "You need more corn flakes."
"Why are you here, anyway?" Piper scowled at the empty box.
"Henry said he was too tired to hear about me gripe over Prue."
"Well, I think he's on to something," Phoebe said, entering the kitchen at last. Paige sat there and skulked while eating her cereal.
Piper motioned Phoebe to leave the room with her. Once out of Paige's hearing range, Piper said to Paige, "Oh, I am going to strangle her! She came here an hour ago, ranting and raving about Prue, and now she's eaten up all my corn flakes," Piper said angrily.
"I know, Prue's been the same way… Where's Leo?"
"Sleeping," Piper answered. "Paige orbed into the room and began her rant, so I told Leo I'd handle it and for him to go back to sleep. Except I don't know how to handle it… It's not like they're Wyatt and Chris, where I can yell at them or send them to their rooms."
"And Cole and Billie?"
"They were tired from searching all of yesterday, so they're also sleeping. Cole rented a small room for them somewhere where they can just come in and out without disturbing anyone, at least until this whole thing is over."
"Hi guys," Henry said, walking in the front door. "I felt bad about the way I treated Paige this morning," he explained, "and I kept thinking, 'What if something happens to her,' and the last thing that I ever said to her was that I was sick of her complaining."
"Aw," Phoebe said.
"Well, she's in the kitchen, devouring my food," Piper said.
"Thanks."
"I have an idea," Coop said. "Maybe the trick isn't to yell at them or send them to their rooms. Maybe you need the advice of someone who's dealt with raising three stubborn woman." Coop grinned at Phoebe.
"Grams?" Piper was pleasantly surprised. "Now, why did I think of that?"
"Because my husband is a genius," Phoebe said, kissing Coop. The three ran upstairs to the attic and summoned Grams.
"Hello," she said, appearing in the attic. "What's the matter, girls?"
Phoebe and Piper exchanged glances.
"How's Prue doing?"
"Uh, that's kind of what we wanted to talk to you about," Phoebe began. "We're having an issue with Prue and Paige…"
"They're fighting over who has a better tactic when it comes to dealing with demons," Piper continued.
"Oh," Penny said. "Well, that is a problem, because it divides your focus."
"That's why we're worried," Coop said.
"Have you tried reasoning?"
"Yes," Phoebe replied.
"Oh dear, if reasoning is not an option, then you're going to have to take it to Plan B."
"Which is…?" Piper asked.
"Oh, Phoebe, you know it well. What was it that I used to do when you and Prue began going out it and you refused to listen to me or Piper?"
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "You sent me shopping with her."
"What did that do?" Coop asked.
"Well, the girls had completely different favorite foods," Penny explained. "Phoebe liked sweets, Prue was partial to things like potato chips; Phoebe liked soda, Prue liked juice; Phoebe liked vanilla ice cream, and Prue liked chocolate ice cream. So I would tell them that they both got an equal number of picks, so I would send them out to pick up groceries and they would have to learn to compromise."
"Couldn't Prue or Phoebe just split it the same way every time, and never have to compromise?" Coop asked.
"Well, see who would want to just get their choice in ice cream but not in snack foods," Penny said. "It worked pretty well. At least, until Phoebe stole some of Prue's boyfriends… no amount of shopping would solve that." Penny gave Phoebe a look.
"Uh, I didn't steal her boyfriends," she insisted, "I was just very friendly with them."
"Uh huh," Piper said, not believing it for a second. "Anyway, I guess Gram's solution is to send them out shopping."
"That doesn't work," Coop said. "Why would Paige go shopping for Phoebe and me, or Prue go shopping for you and Leo?"
"I know," Phoebe said. "Sunday brunch. It's Paige's turn, anyway. Have her take Prue out to show her what needs to be picked up."
"True, we usually compromise in that whoever is shopping that week gets their pick… I love that idea! Thanks, Grams!"
"Bye, darlings," she said, leaving. Suddenly, crashing and yelling was heard downstairs. "Piper, Phoebe!" Paige called.
Downstairs, vampires were attacking left and right. One tried to bite Henry. "Chair!" Paige called, throwing it at the vampire, who was knocked unconscious. Henry held his neck nervously.
Piper blew a few up, and Phoebe knocked one into the sunlight with a kick. "Didn't pick a good time to strike, huh?" Phoebe taunted.
A vampire leapt at Coop and knocked him into the wall. Phoebe grabbed the vampire by the throat and slammed her against the wall, hard enough to fall on the ground. "You hit the wrong cupid," she said, picking her up by the back of her top and shoving her into the sunlight.
"Vampire!" Paige orbed a vampire into the sunbeams.
"Fight all you want," the Queen appeared, taunting. "You'll be too late anyway."
"Prue," Phoebe realized. "Oh my God, Paige!"
"Uh huh," Paige said, orbing out immediately. Whether or not they were fighting, losing Prue was not a chance they could take.
Paige orbed in, just in time to see some hairy beast push Prue into the wall. It resembled a werewolf, but Paige had never seen it before. Before my time, I guess.
"Couch!" The couch landed on top of the creature.
"Paige," Prue breathed in relief, running up her. "Thank God! The Wendigo was brought here by some skanky females who left and said they were going after you guys at the manor!"
"Yeah, those must have been the vampires that are attacking right now," Paige said, backing up as the Wendigo got back up. Prue waved her arm to send the Wendigo into the wall. "Careful," Paige warned when it almost went out the window, "that thing gets outta here and we'll have even more problems."
"I don't get it, it should only turn when the full moon's out, I thought," Prue said, puzzled.
"Knowing the power Christy has," Paige reasoned, "she was able to force the Wendigo to change."
"Phoebe doesn't have anything silver in here, and the only fire she has is a stove," Prue observed, waving her arm when the Wendigo got back up to send it into the wall again.
"I don't think it'll be up for that," Paige said. "How the hell are we gonna vanquish it?"
"Need some help?" Cole asked. "Where's Phoebe?"
"Fending off some vampires at the manor," Paige answered. "And yes, help would be appreciated."
Cole hurled an energy ball at the Wendigo, and it caused a decently sized wound, but not enough to kill it. It roared in pain and slashed at Paige, who orbed out and back in to dodge the attack.
Prue threw it into the wall again to stun it. Cole took the opportunity to strike again, and this time the Wendigo burst into flames.
When the echoes of its screams finally faded away, Paige asked, "Where's Billie?"
"She wasn't with me all of today," Cole said. "I just took her to the Underworld and she insisted she'd be fine alone. We bumped into each other – we'd both found nothing – and she asked to go back to the manor, and I came here to check on Phoebe."
Paige grabbed Prue's hand. "Then let's go check."
Billie telekinetically pushed a vampire into the sunlight, but more were coming. "Uh, I've killed at least a dozen by now and more keep appearing…!"
As she punched one vampire and elbowed another in the chest, Phoebe replied, "We have to vanquish the queen; it's the only way!"
"Where the heck is she?" Piper yelled from a corner, where vampires were gathering and she was blowing them away, piece by piece.
"She left," Coop answered.
"After Paige orbed out, she left. Probably didn't want to risk it," Henry added. The two men were throwing golf balls, still out from the other day, at vampires.
Paige orbed in with Prue, accompanied by Cole, who shimmered in. Seeing their entrance, Phoebe said, "Cole, make an energy ball as large as you can! Prue, protect Cole; Paige, orb Billie next to Cole."
Realizing what Phoebe was thinking, Cole began to form an energy ball as big as he could. Prue flung vampires coming at them away, and Paige called, "Billie!" Billie orbed from the dining room, where she had been fighting, near the front door.
Piper also realized what Phoebe had been scheming, and blew a path up the stairs and into the attic. Just as she suspected, the vampire queen was standing near the Book of Shadows. As soon as one of the Charmed Ones died, the Book might weaken and the queen was probably hoping that she could seize the opportunity to take the sacred tome. "Wow, vampire queen and a thief," Piper snapped. "If you really tried, you could probably be better than Ocean's Eleven."
"You can't vanquish me," the queen said, grinning evilly. "Even throwing me in sunlight may not work, not if I can get out quick enough."
"Oh, can it, Vampira," Piper said. "Paige!"
Paige orbed in, immediately realized what Piper and Phoebe were up to, and grabbed the queen, orbing her to the living room, where everyone was still battling a large vampiric army. "Cole," she cried.
The queen, also seeing what was transpiring, elbowed Paige and shoved her out of the way. Prue saw this, and waved the queen into the wall. The queen sprang back up, but Piper came running down the stairs and froze her. "Quick!" The queen was fighting the freeze.
Cole released the energy ball, which was now as big as a watermelon, and threw it at the queen. Unfortunately, the queen had now come out of the freeze and dove out of the way. Simultaneously, Billie and Prue held their arms up, holding the energy ball in place. "I can't hold it for much longer," Prue said, tired from fighting the other vampires. Billie agreed.
The queen got back up and made a run for it, but Phoebe came up and kicked her back on the ground. "Paige!"
Paige called, "Vampire queen," and threw the figure at the energy ball. The queen hit it, and as she screamed in pain, her underlings joined with their anguished howls. A minute later, the smoke finally cleared and it was just the sisters and their lovers, Cole, and Billie standing in the living room.
"Wow," Henry said, covered in scratches and bruises. "Talk about a combined effort…"
"Talk about a plan," Prue said pointedly at Paige.
"Oh, pfft," Paige scoffed. "That did not go according to plan, we didn't plan for the queen to beat Piper's freeze and dive out of the way!"
Before the fight could continue, Piper shouted, "Shut up! Both of you! I am so sick of the two of you bickering like little old ladies."
"You two are not children," Phoebe yelled. "You two are full-grown women, witches. If you guys gave half a crap about Piper and me, you'd realize that the sooner you stop whining that your way is better, the quicker we could take care of this stupid situation!"
"We have had it with your arguing and petty issues!"
Prue and Paige shut up and looked down at their feet.
Piper sighed angrily. "Go out and buy stuff for this Sunday." She pushed Henry towards Paige. "You drive," she said to him. "Paige, show Prue what we need. And you two compromise on what you want to get."
"But what if—"
"No buts!" Phoebe shouted. "Get your tushies out to the market and buy everything we need!" Piper and Phoebe shoved them out the door and slammed it, locking it before they had a chance to say anything else.
"Oh my God, being the middle sister sucks," Phoebe sighed, sitting down.
"See what I had to deal with?" Piper said, plopping down next to Phoebe.
"Well, at least you can be grateful we didn't have powers back then," Phoebe said, smiling, "otherwise I would have been levitating around the supermarket to beat Prue to the ice cream isle, and she would have been telekinetically pushing my cereal brands away from me." Piper laughed, imagining it.
Author's Note:
More good feelings between Prue and Paige... XD
No worries, they'll work it out next chapter. This one was to continue setting it up for the next one, and to give you readers more action to have fun with. Lemme know what you thought!
Comments, questions, demands, responses, criticism, or mistakes -- no hesitation!
KateB819