Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading and reviewing.
Chapter Fourteen
Entering South Bay Social Services, Henry made an immediate beeline for Paige's desk. He couldn't help the goofy grin that lit up his face when she glanced up at him, and after a few seconds, she returned his greeting with a weak smile of her own.
"Hey," she said, quietly, as he stopped beside her desk. "What are you doing here, Henry?"
"Well, I figured that you probably haven't eaten, yet," he told her. "So, I came by to see if you wanted to go get some lunch."
"You came all this way to see if I was hungry?" Paige asked, in disbelief.
At the confusion in her voice, Henry was reminded, forcibly, that he and Paige weren't married, any more. He wasn't even sure how she really felt about him, other than regarding him as a neighbor and a burgeoning friend. The thought of Paige not being in love with him in this time suddenly made him very uneasy.
"Well, actually, I just wanted an excuse to see you, again," he admitted, waiting for Paige's reaction.
To his happy surprise, she actually smiled at that, a genuine expression that lit up her face.
"You did?" she asked, and her smile got wider when he nodded. "I missed you this morning when Tyler said that you had to run into work early," she continued, and then the smile abruptly dropped from her face.
"What's wrong?" Henry asked, concerned by her sudden change in mood.
"It's Tyler," Paige told him, with a quiet sigh. "His birth parents are back in the picture."
"And, this is bad?" Henry guessed, and Paige's eyes filled with tears as she nodded in confirmation.
"They're taking him away," she said, her voice choked with emotion, and the unexpected words were like a blow to the stomach.
He'd gotten close to the kid in the few days that he'd known him, and even more, he'd seen how much Paige had cared for Tyler. And how much Tyler had cared for her. And he could see how much just admitting any of this was hurting Paige.
"I'm so sorry," he said, gently, and Paige nodded.
"It's just so frustrating," she told him, anger coloring her voice. "I don't understand how these people could be absent for so much of his life, and then just want to waltz right in like they have any rights to him."
"Well, they are his parents," Henry hedged, hating himself for having to play the devil's advocate for something that had her so upset, but needing to point it out, anyway.
Paige glared at him, and for a moment he wondered if she was going to yell at him. But, then she took a deep breath, visibly calming herself down before she spoke.
"I know they're his parents," she said, shaking her head in frustration. "And, of course, they have rights to him. It's just – I want to hate these people," she told him.
"Go right ahead," Henry told her. "In fact, I think I'll even join you in hating them. We'll beat the Christmas rush."
Paige quirked the corners of her lips in a tiny grin at his words, and she grabbed her coat off the back of her chair as she stood up.
"I believe you said something about lunch?" she asked, and Henry offered her his elbow with a gallant bow.
"This way, my lady," he started, but then he trailed off at the sight of Paige's boss walking toward them.
"Looks like lunch might be delayed," Paige said, with a sigh, freeing her hand from the crook of his elbow. "Did you need something, Mr. Cowan?"
"Just wanted to see how you were doing," the older man said, and Henry was impressed by the obvious concern in his voice.
"I'll be doing better if you tell me that our appeal against Tyler's parents is getting somewhere with the juvenile judge," Paige told him, but the older man sighed.
"The judge is holding firm to his decision," Cowan told her. "Tyler is to remain with his biological parents."
"Great," Paige said, a tight tone in her voice. "I hate this," she continued, her hands clenching into fists. "I promised him that I'd do everything I could."
"And you did," Cowan reassured her, while she worked to keep her temper under control. "This is just something that is out of our hands, now."
When Paige just shook her head, clearly not convinced by his words, the older man switched tacks. "Take the rest of the day," he offered. "Come back tomorrow when you've had some time to rest, all right?"
"Yeah," Paige said, quietly, hugging her coat to her chest as she offered the older man a weak smile. "Thanks, Mr. Cowan."
"Get out of here before I change my mind," her boss said, gruffly, and Henry took the opportunity to gently steer Paige out of the office.
"Do you want to take separate cars and just meet somewhere for lunch?" Henry asked, fully expecting Paige to turn him down, altogether.
"Can we just walk?" she asked, instead. "I just – my head is spinning, and I don't know what to think-"
"Yeah, we can walk," Henry said, gently, cutting off her rambling. "If you want to talk about anything-"
"Thanks," Paige said, softly, but she was quiet for the first few minutes as they started walking down the sidewalk.
As they started walking, Henry instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist before he even realized what he was doing, and then he almost kicked himself for the overly-intimate gesture. But, to his surprise, Paige just fitted herself against his side while they walked, matching her pace with his.
"I told Tyler that he could stay with me," she said, softly, after a few minutes of silence. "I told him that he had a home with me, that I wanted him."
"I'm sure he knows that," Henry told her, not sure what else to say.
"It's just so frustrating, you know?" Paige asked, clearly not expecting a response. "I mean, the one defense we have at Social Services against deadbeat parents is that it takes forever to do anything. There's so much red tape involved in these kinds of cases that it can take months for anything to get through the courts."
"But?" Henry prompted, when Paige fell silent, again.
"But, these people managed to get everything rushed through in less than a day," Paige told him. "And that's not possible."
"Then, how did they do it?" Henry asked, even though he already had an idea in mind. And he didn't know what it said about him that his first thought was that magic was involved, somehow.
"I don't know," Paige said, angrily, her hands clenching into fists.
Then, a second later, Henry jumped away from her as a shock ran through his body, making him feel like he'd just been electrocuted. The feeling faded as he broke contact with her, but there was a ringing in his head and the hair along his arms was standing on end. And when he reached up gingerly to feel the top of his head, he could feel his hair sticking straight up.
"What the hell?" he gasped, when he could breathe, again.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" Paige demanded, reaching out to him.
Another shock jolted through him when her hands touched his arms, and she jerked her hands away, quickly.
"Oh, god, I'm so sorry," she said, apologetically, carefully not touching him. "I guess I don't have that one under control, yet."
"Under control?" Henry echoed, feeling like he was several steps behind and struggling to catch up. "Wait a minute," he said, when he got what Paige was saying, "you electrocuted me?"
"I'm really sorry," Paige said, a miserable expression on her face. "I guess this happens when I'm upset, or something. I had to replace my cell phone, earlier."
As he tried to digest what she was saying, Henry took a closer look at Paige, his eyes widening when he saw the little sparks of lightning that were running through her hair and over the surface of her skin.
"That's new," he managed, and she gave him a weak smile.
"It all started happening last night," she said, clearly anxious to see his reaction. "I made it rain, this morning, and I created wind and fire earlier this afternoon."
"And I thought orbing was cool," Henry muttered, getting a curious look from Paige. "Nothing," he told her, quickly, although he was starting to wonder how long he could manage to keep lying to her about everything.
"You're not freaked out?" Paige asked, cautiously, and Henry shook his head.
"No way," he reassured her. "This is really cool. So long as you stop electrocuting me, I mean."
"I'll try," Paige said, smiling at him.
Then, her cell phone rang, and she pulled it out of her purse, checking the display, automatically.
"At least I didn't fry this one," she said, wryly, as she answered it. "Hello?"
Then, her whole demeanor changed, drawing in a sharp breath as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line.
"Tyler?" she asked, incredulously.
"Put him on speakerphone," Henry told her, abruptly, getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach at the sound of her voice.
Paige hit a button on her cell phone, holding it out so that he could hear Tyler.
"Tyler, what's wrong?" she asked, and Henry found himself waiting anxiously for the boy's reply.
The line was ominously silent for a few seconds, and then when Tyler finally spoke, his voice was slurred, his words slow and awkward.
"I don't feel good," he mumbled, incoherently. "Paige, I'm scared. That woman had a knife."
Beside him, Paige's breath hitched at his words, but she took a deep breath struggling to keep calm.
"Tyler, buddy, where are you?" she asked, and Henry could hear a quiver of fear in her voice.
"Don't know," Tyler said. "I hear water."
"That could be anywhere," Henry said, quietly, frustrated. "Tyler," he added, pitching his voice so that the boy could hear him. "What do you see around you?"
"It's dark," Tyler said, his voice growing quieter by the second. "I'm cold."
"Tyler, baby, stay with us," Paige interjected, abruptly, her voice tight with tension. "Can you tell us where you are?"
"I think I'm-" Tyler started, and then his voice cut off, suddenly, leaving only dead air over the phone.
"Tyler," Paige snapped, urgently, but there was no answer. "Tyler!"
"Damn it!" Henry swore, furiously, when the phone remained silent.
Paige, meanwhile, was dialing a new number on her phone, her hands shaking as she pressed the buttons. Henry could hear the other phone ringing, and Paige was staring desperately at her phone.
"Come on," she muttered, trying to will the other person into answering the phone. "Please pick up the phone."
But, her call switched over into voicemail, and Paige's voice was shaking with suppressed emotion as she left her message.
"Piper, it's Paige," she started, and Henry had a moment of surprise when he realized that Paige must have met her sisters. "My son – Tyler – he's in trouble, and I need your help. Please call me as soon as you get this. Please."
Henry could feel his heart clenching at the heartbroken sound of her voice. When she hung up her phone and looked at him, there was a despairing look in her eyes.
"Come on," Henry said, abruptly, grabbing her elbow and starting to steer her back down the sidewalk. "We'll talk to the police, or something. We'll find Tyler, don't worry."
"We can help you find your son," a new voice spoke up, and they whirled around to see a pair of scantily-dressed women walking toward them.
"You," Paige snarled, her hands curling into fists, electricity sparking along her hands. "What are you doing here?"
"Do we really want to recruit her?" one of the demons asked, a bored tone in her voice as she looked Paige over. "She's such a good, little witch."
The last word was spit out like a curse, and Henry's hand instinctively went to the gun in his shoulder holster, reacting to the hate he heard in the demon's voice.
"Don't make me laugh, mortal," the other demon scoffed. "Do you really think your weapons can hurt us?"
"Try me," Henry challenged, but Paige stepped between him and the demon, her hands still throwing off sparks.
"Don't touch him," she snapped, furiously, and Henry watched in amazement as her hands uncurled, revealing long, wickedly-sharp talons instead of fingernails.
"Paige," he said, quietly, and when she looked back at him, for a second, a completely alien expression was written on her face.
Then, her expression cleared and she visibly shuddered, taking a shaky breath.
"I can't stop it," she whispered, clearly scared. "Henry, what's happening to me?"
"Fight, Paige," he encouraged her, but one of the demons laughed.
"You can't fight us," she purred, smirking at Paige when she whirled around to confront the demons, again. "Don't even try."
"You want to find your son, don't you?" the second demon asked, also circling Paige, a predatory gleam in her eyes. "Your little boy, helpless in the grip of those who want only to hurt him."
"Come with us," the first demon said, as Paige tried to resist. "We'll help you hunt down your evil."
"Don't listen to them," Henry entreated, but any further words were cut off by the first demon, who backhanded him hard enough to send him flying.
He slammed, hard, into the ground, and Paige cried out as she tried to get to him. But, the demons clamped down on her arms, leaning in close and whispering things he couldn't hear. Then, to Henry's horror, all three of them disappeared in clouds of smoke, leaving him alone on the sidewalk.