Chapter 21

Buffy was asleep on a chair while Phoebe watched the heli-pad across the way. Cole covered Buffy up gently and walked over to Phoebe with a thermostat cup of coffee. "Here."
Phoebe lowered the binoculars and turned to take the cup. "Oh, thanks. I think this is the right place. But maybe we should try one of the other rooftops just to make sure."

"Or maybe we should follow your first instincts and stay right here."

"Ok. But, what if I'm wrong? That girl will get killed."

"You can't save every innocent, Phoebe, or stop every demon."

"Yeah. Well, I have to stop this one. I just hope that by me saying the vanquishing spell, it wounds him enough that you can take him out."

"I got a better idea. How about you and me go someplace? You know? Drop off the face of the earth together, disappear?"

"Hmm. Don't tempt me." Phoebe glanced at Buffy. "Besides, I'm not leaving her."

"Things have changed, Phoebe. We can't pretend we can go on like this. It's only a matter of time before The Source finds me, which means every minute you're with me, you're in danger."

"I've lost too much already Cole. I'm not losing you, too." Phoebe held his look. He wasn't going anywhere. Then, he kissed her and looked up past her, squinting.

"Ooh, looks like your instincts were right."

"We've gotta shimmer over there!"

"And tell her what? That a demon's gonna attack? I think we should stay right here." They waited as the girl, oblivious to the looming danger, lead a reluctant guy to the center of the heli-pad. She let go of his hand, then spun around, arms out wide, looking up at the stars. She took off her jacket slightly and the guy kissed her. Meanwhile, Phoebe lowered the binoculars and turned away. Cole was still looking.

"All right, any ideas?" Phoebe asked.

"A couple."

Phoebe smacked him. "I meant about what we do now. I mean, we can't just keep watching, it's not right."

Cole took the binoculars from Phoebe. "You're right. We shouldn't just keep watching." Phoebe blocked his view. "Ok, very good."

A moving tornado materialized out of thin air and raced toward the unsuspecting lovers. The demon, Shax, appeared and fired a concussive blast. Buffy heard the commotion from all the way across the buildings and shot up out of the chair. "What's going on? Where is he?"

Phoebe pointed. The blast made the guy go flying backwards, knocking him out. The girl screamed as Shax threw another concussive blast at her. She screamed and orbed out and back, realizing that she was still alive, somehow. She turned the other way and ran to the roof access tower. Shax, surprised at her ability to orb, turned back into a tornado and followed.

"She orbed! She orbed…. Did you just see that?" Phoebe asked.

"Come on!" Cole grabbed her and Buffy and shimmered out with them.

The girl was running for her life, scampering down the stairs onto the catwalk then stopping as she heard the ominous sound of the tornado approaching. She slowly turned to see Shax standing there. But before he could throw another concussive blast, he stopped as he saw Cole, Buffy, and Phoebe shimmer in.
The girl turned, just in time to see the tail end of the shimmer, shocked. "What the hell?"

"Get outta here! Hurry! Go! Go!" Buffy said. Cole fired an energy ball at Shax, but it barely fazed him. He fired another one as the girl, freaked, took off running up the stairs. "Say the spell, Phoebe!"

"Evil wind that blows, that which forms below. No longer may you dwell. Death takes you with this spell." Phoebe chanted. Shax, though, managed to get off a concussive blast at Cole, which knocked him over the stairway rail just as Shax, in agony, turned into a ghostly wind and streaked away from the scene. Phoebe, panic-stricken, ran to the edge. Cole plummeted five stories, but just before he pancaked, he recovered enough to shimmer out. "Cole!" Cole shimmered next to Phoebe, who gasped and emotionally hugged him, afraid she almost lost him. "That was too close…."

"It's ok, I'm all right. I just don't know about your innocent." Cole said.

******************
"Are you sure she orbed? Are you sure that it wasn't something else?" Leo asked. They were all standing in the kitchen.

"Leo, she disappeared." Phoebe said.

"Bright white, shiny thingies came and then she reappeared." Buffy said.

"What else could it be?"

"It just doesn't make any sense." Leo said.

"Why not?" Cole asked.

"Because why would Shax want to kill a White-lighter?"

"Maybe he doesn't know she's a white-lighter."

"Right, the Source sends out his personal assassin, but doesn't know who he's after?" Leo said just before Piper clattered the pots that she was washing, noticeably.

"Is it possible that she didn't know that she was a white-lighter?" Buffy asked.

"No. Why?"

"Because she acted as if she didn't." Cole said. "She acted just as surprised as we were when she orbed out."

"Well that doesn't make any sense either."

"Ok, why don't you go up and ask the Elders what does make sense so we don't go risking our lives again?"

"I'll be right back." Leo orbed out.

Phoebe covered her eyes and Cole said, "Maybe I should, uh, go to the other side and see what I can find out."

"No." Phoebe said.

"I'll be careful. Nobody'll see me. Besides, it could be good to me to go back down, confused any bounty hunters that might be trying to track me. Don't worry. I won't disappear." Cole kissed Phoebe on the cheek and shimmered out.

Piper was hunched over the sink and Phoebe moved closer to her sister. "Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah. Sure, why not?" Piper said. "We could have a couple more funerals tomorrow. I mean, all the dishes are out and we pretty much know who to invite."

"Piper…." Buffy walked over to her cousins.

"Just tell me one thing. Are you both insane or are you just plain stupid? We bury Prue this morning and you two go off tonight and nearly join her. What the hell is the matter with you?"

"We were trying to save an innocent." Phoebe said.

"No. You were trying to get yourselves killed, which is what this family does best is get killed." Piper threw the towel onto a counter in frustration and anger. "Isn't it obvious by now that our only destiny is to die? And you two are making it way too easy for them. You're just walking right into it!"
Buffy looked at Phoebe and then hugged Piper tightly. "I am so sorry."

"I cannot handle anything right now, and I certainly cannot handle losing any more sisters."
Buffy scrunched up her face in confusion and said, "You consider me your sister?"
Piper lightly smacked Buffy's arm. "Buffy Anne Summers! Of course I do! I held you when you were first born. I've been there for everything! I…."

"Ha! Got ya!" Buffy smiled brightly and Piper had to smile at her.

Buffy and Phoebe sat next to the fireplace in the living room. Piper walked toward them and handed each of them a teacup. "Here, this should help. It's chamomile. I had three cups."

"Thanks." Buffy said. She took a sip and set it aside.

Phoebe looked around. "Doesn't seem real, does it?"

"No."

"What are we gonna do with all of her stuff?" Piper asked. "What are we going to do with her car?"

"I don't know. Sell it, I guess." Phoebe said.

"Unless you want it."

"No. We're gonna get through this, you know. We just have to stick together." Leo orbed into the room. "Well?"

"Well, they don't know anything about her, so she's definitely not a whitelighter." Leo said.

"Then why can she orb, Leo?" Buffy asked.

"They can't explain it."

"Then how is it possible that they don't kn…." Cole shimmered into the room, interrupting Phoebe.

"Whew. Sorry I took so long. I had to dodge a couple of bounty hunters." Cole said.

"Did you find anything out?" Leo asked.

"You have no idea what I found out. Turns out the Source doesn't think she's a whitelighter at all. In fact, he thinks she might be another…. Charmed One. That's why he put Shax on it. He thought he ended the Power of Three. Now he's worried that this girl may somehow reconstitute it."

"No, but that's not possible. Is that possible?" Buffy asked. Leo shrugged and Piper began to take off. "Piper?"

"Piper?" Cole called. The others followed her. Piper went to the attic and straight to the Book.

"What's going on?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm going to ask Grams what's going on, actually." Piper said.

"Grams?" Buffy asked.

"Mm-hmm. Your destiny still awaits, she says. There's a reason for everything, she says. So, it's time to summon her transparent butt back here and find out exactly what that reason is."

"Ok, but what should…." Piper shot Buffy a look. "Ok."

"'Here these words. Hear my cry spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the Great Divide!'" Piper let out a semi-satisfied sigh as Grams appeared in a bright light.

"Piper? Why are you calling?" Grams asked. "P-Phoebe, Buffy, wha-what's going on?"

"Grams, why does the Source think that the Charmed Ones can be reconstituted?"

"I don…. I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know what, Grams? You were a lousy liar when you were alive, and now as a ghost, you're worse."

"If you know something, Grams, you have to tell us. We deserve to know." Phoebe said.

"I can't. I'm sworn to secrecy."

"By who?" Buffy asked.

"By me." Patty appeared right next to Grams in a bright light. "By me."

"Mom?" Piper asked.

"It's true. You have a younger sister. We didn't tell anybody because we were afraid that there would be reprisals, afraid that, you girls would be denied your powers. Your birthright. It happened after your father and I were divorced, when Sam and I were together."

"Sam?" Cole asked.

"Her whitelighter." Leo said.

"Hmm. Apples don't fall far from the forbidden tree, I see."

"Shh! Go on." Piper said.

"Buffy wasn't even born yet and you two were both toddlers. You just thought Mommy got a little fat. You never knew I was pregnant." Patty said.

"I was the only one who knew." Grams said.

"And Sam, obviously."

"Right. Well, yes, of course."

"We wanted to keep the baby, of course. But mother…."

"Well, I-I knew it would be disastrous. You know, before you and Leo, Piper, it wasn't just forbidden. It was unthinkable for witches to be with whitelighters. I mean, let alone have children with them."

"So, that's why we had to-why we decided…. To give the baby up. Sam and I took her to a local church as soon as she was born. And we asked the nun there to find a home for her, and she found one. A very, very good home."

"Yes."

"Explains why the Elders didn't know about her." Leo said.

"All right, hold it. Wait just one minute." Phoebe said. "Are you telling me, that that girl, our innocent, is really…. Our sister?"

"Your baby sister." Patty said.

"Their baby half-sister." Grams corrected.

"But by my half, which makes her a sister witch. Well, actually, not yet anyway. Not until all three of you are here together by the Book. Just like before."

"Charmed. Again."

"And I thought my family was screwed up." Piper gave Cole a look.

Cortez walked into the attic, seeing the two ghosts there. Everyone was a bit stunned so they didn't move. Darryl walked in right behind Cortez. "Well, I'll be damned."

"Darryl, do something!" Buffy said.

"He's a cop, Buffy. And he's got a search warrant." Darryl said.

"And believe me, I've found what I've been searching for." Cortez said. Cole moved slightly towards Cortez. He aimed his gun at him. "Ah-ah-ah-ah. Don't move. I'll shoot."

"Then so will I." Cole warned.

"Cole…." Leo said.

"Ok Inspector, just put the gun down." Phoebe said. "There is a very good explanation for all of this. Feel free to chime in anytime, guys."

"My whole life, I suspected evil magic was real, that there was something more." Cortez said. "I've seen too many horrible things in the job to suspect otherwise, not the least of which are the two murders that happened here."

"Wait. Are you accusing us?" Piper asked.

"I've just begun to accuse you, lady!"

"All right, fine. You caught us. Congratulations." Grams said. "So what are you gonna do about it? Shoot us?"

"Easy, Grams. Not all of us are dead, remember?" Buffy said.

"All right, look, you can't arrest us, especially not them. Nobody will ever believe you." Leo said.

"Maybe not at first." Cortez said. 'I'm putting this whole place under constant surveillance. I'm taping your every move. Sooner or later, I'll catch you doing something uh, supernatural, and then…."

Darryl knocked Cortez out with the but of his gun. "I think you've been through enough today, huh?"

"Thank you." Piper said.

"Darryl, go, get out of here. We don't want you to take the fall for this." Phoebe said.

"No, it's ok." Darryl said.

"No, it's not. This is our problem. He wants to expose us, not you. Let us take care of this, please?"

"If you need me, you know where to find me, huh?" Phoebe nodded and turned to Cole as Darryl left the Manor.

"It doesn't solve your problem. He's gonna wake up eventually. You've just bought yourself some time." Cole said.

"What you're gonna need, especially if you're wanna save your…." Leo said.

"Sister?" Phoebe finished.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Just write a spell. Get rid of him." Grams said.

"Uh, get rid of him?"

"Well, you know what I mean. Dump him somewhere. Anywhere. With all the witches in this room, we ought to be able to do something with him. I mean, just start rhyming. Uh, take him back, take him away. Remove him now. Don't let him stay."

"Oh. Uh. We call the spirits to help undo and send him off to…. Timbuktu." Cortez vanished from the floor. "Whoa. It worked."

"Timbuktu? You sent him to Timbuktu?" Buffy asked.

"All right, well, it was the only thing I could think of that rhymed with undo."

"Don't worry. Uh, I'll find him." Cole shimmered out.

"Ok, well this is way too much for me to handle. Way too much." Piper said.

"Nobody can blame you for being angry, sweetie." Patty said.

"Angry? Yeah, I'm angry. Um, I'm confused and you know what? This-this is just crazy. You cannot float in here after all these years and go, 'Oh gosh, I forgot, by the way, you've got a sister.' Especially not today of all days."

"I know it's a lot, sweetie. More than anybody should have to deal with, but you're going to have to deal with it the best way you know how. Losing Prue, learning about another sister…. This is your path. This is your destiny. Get angry at it, cry about it, but don't fight it. Or it'll consume you."

"Come on, Patty. The rest is up to them." Grams said. She and Patty disappeared.

Buffy, Piper, Phoebe, and Leo headed downstairs. Leo closed his eyes for a second and said, "I can't sense where she is because she's technically not a witch yet."

"All right, so all we have to go on is that church that Mom mentioned and the nun." Phoebe said.

"Ok, let's get one thing straight. I am only doing this to save her. I'm not remotely interested in reconstituting…. The Charmed Ones." Piper was cut off to find the girl, their sister, waiting for them. The door was left open.

"I…. The door was open. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here." She turned to leave but Phoebe stopped her.

"No, no, no, no, no. We were just coming to look for you." Phoebe said.

"You were?"

"Yep. Come on in. Welcome. I'm Phoebe." Phoebe hooked her arm into the girl's and walked over to Buffy, Piper, and Leo. "And this is Piper."

"I know. I've been to your club. Pretty great."

"Thank you." Piper said.

"I'm Buffy. And you are?" Buffy asked.

"Paige. My name is Paige."

"Hmm. Another P. Imagine that." Piper said.

"It's nice to meet you." Paige shook Piper's hand. A bright blue shined over the girls. "Ok. What was that?"

"I think that means you're supposed to be here." Buffy said, smiling up at Leo.
Suddenly the door slammed open and a strong wind knocked Buffy, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige backwards. Leo was knocked down on the stairs. Shax materialized and walked closer. He was about to strike when Leo jumped on his back. "Run! Get upstairs!"

"Leo?" Piper, Phoebe, and Paige ran upstairs. Shax threw Leo off his back and Leo was knocked out. Shax then looked upstairs.

"Gray is so out." Buffy said, kicking Shax in the small of the back. He turned and threw a energy ball, but the Slayer ducked and kicked Shax again. "Maybe you should try a summer color." She jumped and kicked Shax back into a wall with both feet, running up his body, kicking his head, and then flipping to a standing position. "Wow! How cool was that?" Shax threw an energy ball at her again and she ducked, but he threw another that connected painfully with her arm. She fell to the ground with a scream and pulled her arm tightly to her chest as Shax ran up the stairs.

***************
"Shax broke your arm?" Angel asked.

"Pretty much." Buffy said. "But he was vanquished and Leo healed me as soon as he woke up."

"But you lost Paige."

"We didn't lose her." Phoebe said.

"Not exactly." Buffy said.

"She just ran out."

"But we knew where to look."