Chapter Twenty Five: P3 H20 (And High Emotionality)

2.5 hours to go

Paige dropped her phone to the floor as she stared at her hands. Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Andy had all taken a step back from Paige, as her hands were still glowing with blue and white orbs.

'Well, I guess we did say that I needed to get highly emotional to trigger this power again,' said Paige.

'If that is a witch power, it looks like your white lighter side is interfering with it, hence the blue and white orbs,' said Prue.

Phoebe frowned. 'Everyone gets a cooler active power than me!'

Piper sighed, scratching her face. 'Sorry, Paige, but I don't think we can cover your hands up with gloves this time for you to go to work.'

'Good, because I am not going today! We are going straight to that camp!' said Paige.

Prue raised her eyebrows. 'What camp?'

'I don't know,' said Paige. 'I only heard about it on the phone from you guys. I think Piper said something about a camp that you used to go to…'

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe exchanged glances.

'The only camp that we used to go to was… Skylark,' said Prue.

'That's where…' Piper paused to scratch her arm again. 'That's where Mum…'

'You don't have to finish the sentence. You said it had something to do with the demon involved in… you know… how she died,' said Paige tenderly.

The doorbell suddenly rang. Piper ran downstairs to answer it, scratching all over as she descended the steps.

'Is Piper okay?' Paige asked, referring to the scratching.

'If we really did go to the camp yesterday, then Piper could have gotten poison ivy,' said Phoebe. 'I remember Prue getting that once.'

'At least this means I am not the only sister you guys want to avoid at the moment,' said Paige, managing to smile a little.

'I think I would rather take the risk of getting poison ivy than acidified,' said Phoebe. 'No offense, Paige.'

Paige scowled for a second before sighing. 'I guess you're right.'

'Okay. We need a memory boost and the only way is to get the one person who hasn't forgotten anything to get back here!' said Prue determinedly.

'Er, what about my..?' Paige trailed off, referring to her currently blue and probably acidic hands.

'We'll worry about that later. Just don't… don't touch anyone or anything until it dies down for now,' instructed Prue. Then looking up at the ceiling, Prue began to shout: 'Leo!'

This was immediately followed by Piper shouting from downstairs: 'He's down here!'

Prue, Phoebe, Paige, and Andy made their way downstairs. Prue reached the foyer first. She quickly pushed Paige back up the stairs to the upper hallway before Paige could even reach the foyer.

Prue and Paige were now alone in the upper hallway.

'What was that for?' asked Paige. 'Am I not allowed downstairs?'

'Piper is speaking to Dan at the front door,' said Prue. 'I don't think we can explain your little visual power display to him without magical exposure.'

Paige sighed. 'Why won't this power just go away?'

'I think you need to relax,' said Prue. 'That might help.'

'Relax? Relax? With everything that has already happened this morning, I am finding it hard not to be stressed!' Paige hissed.

'Just wait here for now,' said Prue. 'I will go and see if Piper can get rid of Dan.'

Paige nodded. While Prue walked back down the stairs, Paige took a deep breath, trying to gain some control of the acidic power that currently would not go away.

'Paige! He's gone!' Prue shouted after a couple of minutes.

Paige took that as her cue to go down the stairs. She took the steps two at a time, making sure not to hold onto the railing as she went.

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Leo, and Andy were standing in the foyer. When Paige joined them, Prue decided to ask Leo the question.

'Leo, what happened yesterday?' asked Prue.

Leo frowned. 'You don't remember?'

'Well obviously not,' said Piper, rolling her eyes. 'Why else wouldn't we be at the lake that you orbed here to moan at us for not being at?'

'The lake? The one at the camp? Leo, we need you to tell us what happened yesterday!' said Prue.

Leo shook his head. 'Sam…'

'Sam? Sam… That sounds familiar,' said Phoebe.

Leo looked over at Phoebe. 'Good. Hopefully I can trigger your memory so as you remember. That camp needs shutting down today. Kids are already on their way and it's dangerous with the demon out there.'

'The demon… The demon that killed your mother…' said Andy, who was also beginning to remember now.

'Sam, he made us forget, didn't he?' said Piper, scratching her back.

'Oh yeah! Now I remember! You three made me stay behind in Sam's shack, while you went to check out why Mrs Johnson had screamed!' said Andy. 'I waited for a while, and then, when you did not come back, I went to look for you three… When I couldn't find you at the camp and noticed your car was gone, I phoned Paige to see if she knew… That's when I saw Sam. I went up to him to ask him and then…'

Leo nodded. 'Sam must have dusted you too.'

'Is Sam an innocent?' Paige asked the occupants of the foyer. Then she turned to Prue and added, 'Or… Is he the strange man that you said I need to meet?'

Prue furrowed her brow as she tried to remember that part. It was as if Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Andy all remembered at once, as they all suddenly stared at Paige with wide eyes.

'What? Is it my hands again?' asked Paige, becoming a little self conscious. Then she noticed Leo was avoiding any eye contact with her.

'Paige, Sam is… He's…' began Phoebe, but she did not know how to say it.

'Phoebe, we cannot just tell her,' said Prue. 'She has to meet him in person first.'

'Can one of you tell me, please?' yelled Paige, waving her hands around again. This caused everyone to take a step back again.

'I guess your power has finally displayed itself,' said Leo quietly, and still not making eye contact with Paige.

'Don't change the subject! Who is this Sam guy?' asked Paige.

'Paige, how many Sams do you know?' asked Piper innocently, scratching her shoulder.

Paige frowned. 'Well, I don't think I know any… I mean the only time any of us have mentioned a Sam is…' Paige trailed off as she realised. She put her hands to her face in shock.

'Paige! Careful!' shouted Phoebe, worried that Paige would injure herself due to her power.

Paige pulled her hands away from her face, unscathed. She had briefly forgotten about her acidic power, but fortunately it looked like the power had no effect on herself.

'Sam's my… He's my… You met my…' faltered Paige, unable to get a full sentence out.

Piper nodded. 'Apparently Leo knew he was there the whole time.'

Paige looked over at Leo, suddenly realising why he had been avoiding eye contact with her over the past five minutes. He had known the whole time where her real father was, but had not told her.

Paige scowled at Leo. 'You knew?'

Leo looked at the ground sheepishly. Not looking up, he said, 'You should be getting to the camp. Especially with all those kids on the way.'

'Let's go then,' said Phoebe, trying to break the tension, picking up her coat.

Prue did the same, passing Paige and Andy their coats. Paige's coat began to melt in her hands as she took hold of it. She dropped it to the ground.

'Er, I think I will be fine without a coat,' said Paige.

Piper went to grab her own coat, but Prue stopped her.

'You are not going anywhere,' said Prue.

'You are contagious,' said Phoebe. 'You have to stay here.'

After convincing Piper to stay behind in the company of Leo, the other four left the manor, getting into Prue's car. Prue did not want Paige destroying her car, so Paige reluctantly let Phoebe do her seat belt up for her. Paige felt like a little child.

1.5 hours to go

When Prue, Phoebe, Paige, and Andy turned up at the camp, they decided to split up. Prue and Paige were going to look for Sam. Meanwhile Phoebe and Andy were going to stop the kids from going in the water.

Andy would have partnered with Prue, but Prue had to see Sam because she wanted to confront him again and Paige had to because he was her father as well as the fact that she could not exactly walk into a room full of children with blue and white orbs glowing around her hands. Therefore that had left Phoebe and Andy as the two that would end up with the job of stopping the children.

Prue was walking quickly in the direction of Sam's shack. Paige was keeping up easily.

'Meeting your real dad is no excuse to stop us from meeting your adoptive dad,' said Prue as they walked.

'I know,' said Paige, whose heart was pounding at the idea that she was about to meet her real father. 'Can we not talk about him right now?'

'Sam?' said Prue, puzzled.

Paige shook her head. 'My adoptive dad. I am annoyed at him at the moment.'

Prue frowned. 'He knew and didn't tell you…'

'What?' said Paige, stopping to look at Prue in surprise.

Prue stopped too. Realising what she had said, Prue added, 'Oh, I was assuming you found something out that your adoptive dad did not want you to. It was only an assumption – I never really got along with my dad, so there is a whole list of things that could be the reason. That just seemed the most likely.'

Paige narrowed her eyes at Prue suspiciously. If she had not been so close to meeting her real father, the thought that had crossed her mind less than a week ago would have crossed her mind now: Does she know? There's no way that she knows. No, she doesn't. She can't. There's no way. Of course she doesn't know.

'Come on. We have to find your dad,' said Prue, beginning to walk again. Paige followed.

1.25 hours to go

Not bothering to open the metal door manually, Prue swept her arm forward, causing the metal doors to burst open telekinetically. Sam looked up from sharpening his axe and muttered something about the fact that he should have given them a stronger dose.

Prue began to rant at Sam about his complete disregard for the safety of the children at the camp. Paige was not listening to one word that her sister was saying. Paige was too busy staring at her father from her position at the door. Paige's legs were feeling weak as nerves overwhelmed her. She gripped the door to keep herself steady.

Ever since she had learnt that her father was a white lighter named Sam Wilder, Paige had not really tried to imagine what he might look like. Leo had always been such a good father to her that she had never really felt the need to find him before. That was except for the time that Piper told Paige she had forgotten about when she found out who her father was. That was probably the only time that Paige had really wanted to look for him. Now that he stood not too far away from her, defending himself from the rants of the eldest Halliwell, Paige had no idea what to do.

Sam suddenly turned around, noticing Paige at the door. 'Hey! What are you doing to my door?'

Paige noticed that the area around where she had been gripping was now melting metal. Paige quickly let go, blushing a little.

'Sorry,' Paige uttered. Great job. The first word my father ever hears me say is 'Sorry'. That's just great! Paige thought sarcastically.

'Don't talk to her like that,' Prue said to Sam angrily. 'You don't deserve to talk to her like that.'

Sam frowned. 'Your witch friend is wrecking my home, because she can't control her powers. Hasn't her white lighter taught her better?'

'Her white lighter is Leo and he does a great job. Thank you very much,' said Prue, scowling at Sam. Paige slowly entered the shack, stopping next to Prue, facing Sam. Prue continued, 'Besides her power is new and it is triggered by emotions, and everything you did yesterday and have done this morning has not helped.'

Sam looked puzzled. 'I have never even met her before!'

'She had to help us piece together what we had forgotten yesterday. She had to wait until we remembered for us to tell her who you are,' said Prue. 'Oh and by the way, you have met her before. At least, I hope you have. Or are you as much of a dead beat dad as mine? Or was Mum just a one night stand to you?'

'Woah! Prue!' interrupted Paige as she finally found her voice. 'Vent your father issues somewhere else!'

The words that Prue had expressed had gotten to Sam. He was now staring at Paige in disbelief. He took a few steps towards Paige. 'You… You're…'

Paige nodded and said quietly, 'Hi.'

Prue nodded. 'If you could let me borrow some of that forgetful dust, then I can leave the two of you alone to talk.'

Sam pulled a bag of the dust out of a nearby drawer. He handed the bag to Prue. Prue thanked him before rapidly leaving the shack to go and find Phoebe and Andy.

Sam offered Paige a chair to sit down on. Paige took a seat, making sure not to rest her blue-glowing hands anywhere. Sam took a seat opposite Paige.

'I guess I should have known when I heard that Leo was their white lighter,' said Sam, more to himself than to Paige.

'Was Prue right about you leaving Mum before I was born?' asked Paige, hoping that Prue's assumption was incorrect.

Sam shook his head. 'I was with Patty until the very end. It was a joint decision to give you up. We never wanted to, but we had to. It was for your safety as well as your sisters' safety.'

Paige nodded slowly. 'You left me with Leo…'

Sam nodded. 'We considered leaving you at a church, but in the end we decided that you would be better off in the care of a white lighter, specifically Leo.'

'Has he always known that it was you who left me on the doorstep?' asked Paige, addressing the fact that Leo had known where Sam was all this time and had not told her.

'No. Although he did come to find me a few months ago. He confronted me about my affair with Pa – your mother. He told me that you had found your sisters a while ago and that he had recently been alerted of the situation. With the promise that he would not tell the Elders, he asked me to tell him more about what had happened. His main interest seemed to be the idea of keeping a white lighter-witch relationship secret.'

'Piper,' Paige muttered under her breath.

'Excuse me?' asked Sam.

'Nothing,' said Paige. 'I wonder why he never told me that he knew where you were.'

'Maybe he knew that I did not deserve to meet you, Paige,' said Sam. 'Your sister is right. I am a dead beat father.'

Paige did not want to make a reply to that statement. She wanted to change the topic slightly, to something less depressing, but something that would allow her to learn more about him. 'How long have you been a white lighter?'

'I have not been one since I clipped my wings when I was unable to save your mother,' said Sam.

Paige's eyes widened. 'You're mortal now?'

Sam nodded. 'I have remained here ever since the day I lost your mother.'

Paige's eyes were tearing up a little. She did not want to show any signs of weakness in front of the father she had only just met, so she tried to change the subject slightly again.

'I know Leo became a white lighter in the forties… How about you?' asked Paige.

Sam smiled weakly. 'I became a white lighter in the late seventies.'

Paige furrowed her brow. 'I thought you were Mum's white lighter for years before I was born.'

'Not the nineteen seventies, Paige. I meant eighteen seventy eight,' said Sam.

'Wow… That's… That's… Just wow,' said Paige, having not expected her real father to have been around for that long. 'Did you have a family before you… er… before you became a white lighter?'

'Before I died? You want to know if you have any half siblings from my side of the family, don't you?' said Sam, smiling a little.

'I was curious,' said Paige, shrugging. 'Considering you died in the nineteenth century, I doubt I would have any living half siblings left on your side of the family, but I may have some great great great great great great great great half nieces or nephews from your side of the family.'

Sam chuckled a little. 'I think there may have been a slight over exaggeration on the number of greats there.'

Paige shrugged. 'I couldn't be bothered to work it out.' When she realised that Sam was not going to answer the question, Paige said, 'So what did you do in your previous life?'

'I lived in New York. I was a teacher,' said Sam.

Paige nodded. 'Typical potential white lighter job.'

'What do you do?' asked Sam.

'I am training to be a social worker,' said Paige.

Sam nodded. There was a brief silence. Sam decided to break it after a little while with, 'Leo told me that you found out about your powers after meeting your sisters.'

Paige nodded. 'Yep. As you may be able to tell, I have only recently gotten my first active power.' Paige held up her hands for Sam to see. 'Unfortunately I cannot do anything useful until I learn to control this and turn it off.'

'Wilders are fast learners and Halliwells can do whatever they put their mind to,' said Sam supportively. 'You will be able to control it within no time at all.'

Paige was interested in finding out about her family heritage – hence she was intrigued by Sam's background and history – however she could not accept the status as a member of that family. Therefore, Paige said: 'I may be a Wilder by blood, but I don't see myself as part of your family, Sam. I grew up as a Wyatt, but now I see myself as more of a Halliwell than anything else.'

A/N: The change in Paige's behaviour towards him in that final paragraph shouldn't seem too out of character. Remember, part of this reunion is having to be based off Sam I Am. Also the part where Paige asked Sam about whether he had a family in his first life is something that I wished had been brought up in an actual episode, considering we know the answer to that question when it comes to Leo (Dan tells Piper about Leo's wife), but it never got brought up in regards to Paige having family on her father's side. Please review!