Disclaimer: Angel and his respective adversaries belong to Joss Whedon and Co., and all of 'Charmed' belongs to Constance M. Burge; I'm just using them for the moment
Feedback: I'd like that, believe me
AN: As always, what you don't see here- such as the sisters' capture of Selena- happened the same way as it did in the show
Sent to the Witch
Paige wasn't sure if it was the fresh air, the freedom from the 'confinement'- a bit of a strong word, but it did technically apply; she'd been inside a bit too long recently- of the manor, or just the ability to think about whatever she wanted without being distracted that did it, but after walking around for a couple of hours, she finally came to a conclusion that she was certain was the right one.
Regardless of the risk involved in casting the curse, Angel had been a good man, a powerful warrior and an incredible boyfriend to her during those beautiful few months they'd had together after they'd started dating but before the whole mess with the Judge.
If that didn't mean he deserved another chance to redeem himself for Angelus's sins, Paige wasn't sure what did; she knew, more than she'd ever known anything, that she needed to do this.
If she and her sisters couldn't use their powers to save someone she cared about from a gate that was, if not actually worse than death, possibly that very same thing for them- she'd never actually asked Angel if he had any memories about what his soul had experienced while Angelus was active that first time around; did it go on to some kind of hellish afterlife while the body was still active or did it just hang around in some kind of limbo until the vampire actually bought it and it went on to wherever it would go after something like that?-, then what was the point in her even becoming a witch in the first place?
No matter what the risks were, she would get Angel's soul back in his body; she was determined to achieve that goal at least, even if it was the last thing she ever did with her magic.
All she had to do now was convince her sisters to help her with at least this one last spell; even if she couldn't convince them to keep their powers on a permanent basis, she could still get Angel back.
As she approached the house, however, she swiftly froze as she saw a man she didn't recognise, dressed in a brown leather jacket, brown trousers and a white shirt, walk out of the front door and head towards a van that had been opposite the house when she left.
Crap, Paige thought to herself. If that's not that damn FBI agent, I don't know who it is…
Hiding behind a nearby car, Paige waited a few more seconds as the van drove away, before she closed her eyes, concentrated…
And then, a few seconds later, she was standing inside the dining room, her arms folded as she looked at Piper and Phoebe.
"OK, quick question; what was the FBI guy doing inside our house?" she asked, turning to look at Piper as she tried to call on memories of Angel's old authoritative manner; she may have been the youngest sister, but she hadn't spent several months with an over two-hundred-and-forty-year-old vampire without picking up some useful tips about asserting herself. "I thought we were trying to avoid him, not invite him in for a quick chat about stuff!"
"Uh, funny story on that front…" Piper admitted, smiling uncertainly at Paige. "Turns out he's actually an occult killings speciality who wants our help in capturing some witch hunter."
Paige blinked.
"Witch hunter?" she repeated incredulously. "People still do that?"
"Well, this woman does, at least; according to Agent Jackman it's pretty much in her blood," Phoebe explained, indicating a plastic bag on the table. "He apparently had her in custody for a while before she got away; we help him track her, he'll chuck the files he has on us into the fire and all's well and good."
"Ah," Paige said simply, studying the bag for a few seconds before shaking her head. "I don't buy it."
"Yeah, me neither," Phoebe agreed, nodding slightly as she studied the bag. "Maybe we should just let the Angel of Destiny take our powers; he can't exactly blackmail us with them if we don't have them any more-"
"OK, sorry to reign on your parade, but I really don't agree with that," Paige interjected, raising a hand as she glared at Phoebe. "We got these powers to do good, remember? If we don't use them to try and help people, why did Angel pretty much dedicate the last few months when he was in control of his body to help me learn about them? He knew I'd need everything I had to use them properly; we "
"You don't know the hell I've lived through since I got these powers, Paige!" Phoebe countered, walking around the table to stare her younger sister directly in the face. "You didn't live it-"
"Oh, really?" Paige countered, folding her arms as she stared at Phoebe. "Let's see, not only did my boyfriend go psycho on me just because I triggered some dumb loophole in the curse that made him a good guy, but I was turned into a vampire- and a cheap second-rate imitation one at that; I wasn't even one of the tough ones-, I was shrunk, you and I actually switched bodies at one point, and-"
"Well, imagine going through that for years," Phoebe stated grimly, shaking her head slightly as she sat down in a nearby chair. "All I'm asking is for my life back…"
"And all I'm asking for is a chance to save my boyfriend by giving him back his soul!" Paige retorted, glaring resolutely back at Phoebe. "Y'know, I didn't even ask for any of this, but now that I've got it-"
"OK, guys, enough; we need to focus," Piper interjected, raising her hands as she stood up to stand between her two sisters, looking resolutely between the two of them. "Right now, the best thing we can do is what the Angel suggested, so, Paige, you are going to head over to Angel's apartment and sort out the curse thing with Jenny, and Phoebe, you are gonna go up to the attic and get started on this stuff."
With that, she handed Phoebe the stuff that had been so recently left behind by the FBI agent and waved her up towards the attic, before turning to look critically at Paige. "What are you still doing here? Keep moving; Jackman hasn't met you yet, and I'd rather he didn't unless he has to!"
"Uh… you do know he's probably got files on me too, right?" Paige pointed out slightly sheepishly.
"Yeah, but I'm assuming the full details of your time with Angel aren't exactly the kind of thing he can just dig up from anywhere; it's pretty likely he's got no real idea who Angel really was and what he taught you, so I'd prefer your full skills such as your hand-to-hand abilities remain a secret unless we know everything about him," Piper clarified, before she shook her head and waved Paige towards the door. "Anyway, just… try and make contact with Jenny, OK? Phoebe and I'll let you know if we're available to re-do the curse when she gets here, but in the meantime I think it might be best if you two just… had a minute to cool off, you know?"
Paige didn't reply; based on Piper's attitude at the moment, it was clear that further attempts at protest wouldn't get her any further than they had done up until this point. Nodding briefly at her eldest sister, Paige simply tilted her head back and orbed out of the manor, heading for Angel's old apartment building.
If nothing else, Piper had a point with that last comment of hers; right now the wounds caused by the loss of Angel and Cole were just too fresh for Phoebe and her to be sure of spending any amount of time together in this current crisis without it turning into a yelling match…
A couple of hours later, Paige lay back on Angel's old bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying not to focus too much on the fact that Angel's scent still seemed to surround the sheets even after he hadn't been in this apartment for months (She wouldn't have lain on the bed if she'd had a choice, but the chairs in the apartment hadn't been purchased with comfort in mind given that Angel had never really invited anyone over to his place that often, so the bed had been the only option if she wanted to remain comfortable). So far Jenny hadn't arrived at the apartment and Paige's phone remained silent, but she saw no harm in remaining comfortable while she waited for one of the two to show up; she'd be doing nobody any good if she was uncomfortable and cranky when somebody either arrived to prepare to restore her boyfriend or called to let her know her presence was needed at the mansion…
The question of which of those two events would occur first was finally answered when her mobile phone rang in her pocket, prompting her to pull the phone out and hold it to her ear after a quick glance at the caller ID.
"Yeah?" she asked, sitting up on the bed as she spoke. "What's up?"
"Well," Piper's voice said at the other end of the line, "firstly, Darryl confirmed that there is a serial killer out there doing what Jackman told us about, so that part's legit at least- oh, and Leo confirmed that the Angel of Destiny's genuine, just so you know."
"OK, got that; anything else?" Paige asked, determined to move past that part of the issue as swiftly as possible; she may be trying to convince herself to respect whatever decision her sisters came to as far as the whole 'giving up our powers' thing went- so long as they at least tried to help her get Angel back first-, but she didn't want to talk about it any longer than she had to.
"Unfortunately," her eldest sister continued, "it seems that Jackman has more information on us than he shared with us originally."
"By which you mean…?" Paige asked waving a hand promptingly before she reminded herself that Piper couldn't see the motion.
"By which I mean that his files include our entire genealogy, dating all the way back to Melinda Warren," Piper clarified.
Paige blinked.
That couldn't be good…
"He's traced us back that far?" she said, raising her eyebrows in shock as she spoke. "Well, that definitely isn't too encouraging; why'd he go to all that effort if he just wants our help with this one case?"
"You're not the only one worried about that; Phoebe has already made it clear that she has no interest in us turning into witch-style 'Charlie's Angels'- or should that be 'Jackman's Angels'?- because of this guy," Piper confirmed, her own distaste for the idea clear in her voice.
"Yeah… too bad we still have to stop the bad guy even if the other guy isn't that great either," Paige sighed, standing up and stretching slightly before she returned her attention to the conversation. "Just let me leave something in case Jenny shows up while I'm away, and I'll be right with you."
"A note?" Piper repeated. "You sure that's a good idea? I mean, what if Angelus finds it-"
"Piper," Paige interjected, pressing the phone against her ear with one shoulder as she picked up a nearby pad of paper- Angel had shown her where he kept his drawing supplies on a couple of occasions, although he'd declined to show her any of his work at the time-, "given that he's currently trying to wake up a demon who could suck Earth into hell just by breathing- and we have got to remember to get that sucker somewhere safe when we're done with Angelus, by the way; maybe the Elders can dump it somewhere-, I somehow doubt he'll have someone keeping an eye on the flat he abandoned months ago that nobody's even thought about visiting for months. See you in a tick, OK?"
With that said, the half-Whitelighter terminated the call, wrote the last sentence on her brief note- JENNY- WILL BE BACK SOON; DON'T GO ANYWHERE- PAIGE-, placed it on the bed- she had already removed anything worth stealing after Angelus had first 'woken up', so she rarely ever bothered to lock the door even when she left by that route- and then orbed away.
Had Paige glanced at the apartment window at that moment- the sun having vanished from the sky as she lay thoughtfully on the bed-, she would have noticed the figure hanging off a drainpipe, staring at the note that now lay on the bed with a slight smirk on his face.
Something tells me that Angelus is going to be very interested in this… he mused to himself, beginning the rapid descent down the drainpipe as he considered the potential implications of his latest discovery.
After all, the boss's 'good side's' main squeeze leaving a note in his old apartment after all this time? There was definitely something interesting going on there…
A couple of hours later, Paige stood resignedly in the living room, her arms folded as she looked at the unconscious body of the 'witch hunter' that they had been practically forced to target; the fact that they might have had to deal with her eventually anyway wasn't something that made Paige like the situation they were in any more. Glancing up as the sound of footsteps approached the room, Paige saw a somewhat bulky man in a suit- whether the bulk was from fat or muscle Paige couldn't be sure- with slightly receding dark brown hair walk in, the man instantly glancing in her direction in a manner that was clearly intended to seem casual but that Paige's combat training instantly identified as probing for information.
"Paige, right?" he said after a moment's pause. "Agent Jackman-"
"I know who you are; can we just move on?" Paige retorted, jerking her head towards the sofa as she folded her arms. Maybe it was Angel's 'get-in-the-enemy's-face' attitude rubbing off on her- he generally operated on the principal that if you confronted a known enemy with your own lack of fear as soon as possible it tended to throw them off by making them question their control of the situation-, but as far as she was concerned the situation here was simple; she didn't like this guy and she wasn't going to make a secret of it.
"Did she put up much of a fight?" he asked, looking briefly at her before he looked back at the sisters.
"No, but her bodyguards did," Phoebe added, omitting the fact that it hadn't been much of one; the guns had been unexpected, but it wasn't the most challenging thing they'd ever encountered.
"Bodyguards?" Jackman said, in a tone that Paige could have almost thought was concerned if it wasn't for the fact that this was the guy who was blackmailing them. "She had bodyguards?"
"Yep," Piper confirmed with a brief nod. "Lots of them, with lots of guns, and they weren't exactly shy about using them."
"Oh," Jackman said briefly as he looked back at the figure on the sofa before shrugging dismissively. "She must have known that we were on to her."
"Yeah, on that topic, isn't it a bit strange that a serial killer- someone who generally doesn't socialise with other people- had hired guns?" Paige countered, glaring critically at the FBI agent as she spoke. "Last time I checked, that's a pretty solitary profession…"
"Maybe she had accomplices," Jackman said dismissively. "It's not important; what's important is that she's out of the way."
"Oh, and the fact that you might not be telling us everything isn't something we should be concerned about?" Phoebe interjected, glaring at the man before them.
"Maybe I'm not," Jackman replied, looking coldly back at her. "What are you going to do about it?"
"Well," Piper said, staring at the man as she folded her arms and walked over to stand between him and Selena, "for one thing, we're not going to let you take her out of here without a warrant."
For a moment, Jackman simply stared back at Piper, and then he shook his head with an almost condescending smile.
"You know," he said as he looked coldly at Piper, "you're all the same. You think that just because you have gifts, powers, that you're above it all, you're special-"
"Oh, please; if we really thought we were 'above it all', would we even have bothered trying to work with you?" Paige interjected, walking forward to glare at the man before her. "Newsflash, buddy; did it ever occur to you that if we genuinely thought that our powers made us 'better' than everyone else, we'd probably be using them to make sure that we get whatever we want whenever we want it, regardless of who we hurt in the process? I'll have you know I only used magic in my job once since I got my powers, and that was because a demon I was dealing with had made me miss an important appointment-"
"And you 'just wanted to make up for it', right?" Jackman retorted, a smug look on his face as though Paige had just confessed to something. "My point exactly; you think your powers give you the right to bend the rules-"
"If I hadn't, a good person would have lost custody of her child; you think that's what I should have done?" Paige fired back, glaring at Jackman. "You accuse us of setting ourselves above everyone else, but let me ask you this; does conventional law enforcement really have a means of stopping a guy who can teleport from one place to another? Could cops even come close to taking out a guy who's technically already dead? Can-?"
"You're always so arrogant, you know that?" Jackman interrupted, looking coldly at her as he spoke; evidently her attempts to defend their powers had fallen on death ears. "So certain that you and you alone can handle a situation; you never even bother to think about other ways the problem could be dealt with without your involvement."
"Such as?" Paige asked scathingly.
"That would be telling," Jackman replied, the same smug little grin once again on his face before he turned to Piper and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Getting back on topic, here's your warrant."
"Yeah, great, good to see it; when do we get our files?" Paige said, drawing the man's attention back to her.
"When she's in jail and I feel safe," Jackman replied simply.
Paige's eyes narrowed at that statement.
"Are you implying something?" she asked, glaring at the man before her. "If you want to accuse us of something, come out and say it; we have never-"
"Leave it," Piper said simply as she looked at Paige.
With that the three sisters simply stood in silence, Paige continuing to glare at Jackman as he picked up Selena and left the mansion.
"OK, that isn't good," Paige said after a few moments, looking over at her sisters.
"I knew he'd never give those files up…" Piper sighed, shaking her head as she looked at her family. "In case anybody's wondering, we are officially screwed."
"Not necessarily," Phoebe said, looking over at Paige.
The half-Whitelighter's eyes narrowed angrily.
"What is this, 'Deny-Paige-what-she-wants-Week'?" she asked, glaring at the advice columnist. "I mean, what about Angel? You're just going to give up our only chance to get him back just because you don't want to have to deal with your powers any more?"
"Jackman's just going to keep using us unless we wipe the slate clean, Paige; this is the only way we're going to have any kind of a normal life," Piper said, looking apologetically at her sister. "And we have to face facts; who's to say that this curse is even going to work? We could be-"
"What if it does work?" Paige countered, glaring back at Piper resolutely. "I get the risks, but I'm not going to give up without even trying to bring him back; he deserves better than that! Besides, as far as this Jackman thing goes, have you even thought about the fact that serial killers don't have that kind of hired help; if I've learned anything from Angel, it's that serial killers either work solo or only have a couple of allies, they do not hire people for protection!"
For a moment Piper opened her mouth as though she was about to reply, but then she simply stood in silence, looking uncertainly at her youngest sister with a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Point…" she said, looking at Paige thoughtfully as she spoke. "Plus, well, how do you account for Jackman's amulet?"
"His amulet?" Paige repeated, looking in confusion at Piper.
"He had this power-negating amulet that stopped me from freezing him when he got inside the house; it's complicated," Piper explained, before she looked back at Phoebe. "The point is, Paige has a point; how could he have come up with those kind of resources?"
"And…" Phoebe said, raising an uncertain hand as an uncomfortable expression crossed her face, clearly uncertain about what she was about to say but feeling obligated to say it anyway, "as long as we're on the topic of stuff that doesn't add up… since when do FBI agents pick up notorious serial killers on their own?"
"Another good point," Piper admitted, nodding briefly at her sister before turning around to look at Paige. "Gotta admit, when you start looking at it like that, this whole thing with Jackman does seem a bit strange…"
Standing back slightly, she tilted her head back to look up at ceiling. "Leo?"
No sooner had the name left her mouth than her husband appeared in the traditional swirling balls of light, the unexpected addition of Darryl Morris right beside him.
"We were just coming to find you," Leo said by way of explanation. "It turns out that Jackman has another genealogy besides yours."
"Oh, Selena's?" Piper said, shaking her head reassuringly. "We already know she's a descendant of witch hunters-"
"Actually, turns out that's Jackman," Darryl put in.
"What?" Phoebe yelled, spinning around to look at Darryl in shock. "He's the witch hunter?"
"And Selena's the witch; she was the victim, not the suspect," Darryl explained, a grim expression on his face as he looked at them. "She was in a safe house because someone's trying to kill her."
Paige would never have thought that she could feel as bad as she had felt when she learned that she was the reason that Angel's curse had been broken those long months ago when Angelus had first come into their lives.
This wasn't that bad, but it came a damn close second as far as she was concerned.
"We just handed the witch over to the witch hunter who's been after her?" she said, groaning in frustration. "Great…"
Just then her phone went off.
"What the…?" she muttered glancing up at Piper and Phoebe in confusion as she pulled the phone out of her pocket and pressed the 'Accept Call' button. "Hello?"
"Paige Matthews?" a now-familiar voice said at the other end. "This is Jenny; I'm at the apartment. Where are you?"
As soon as she heard the gypsy's voice, Paige glanced up to look anxiously as her sisters, fresh concern over her new dilemma now dominating her thoughts.
"It's Jenny; she's at the apartment," she said by way of explanation, looking apologetically at her sisters. "Sorry to cut and run, but, y'know…"
Piper held up a hand.
"No worries; we've got it covered," she said reassuringly. "You go to Jenny and see about setting up the curse; Leo can take Phoebe and me to get Selena out of Jackman's clutches while he and Darryl see about the files- that isn't going to be a problem, right?"
"What interest could anyone have in files on victims this guy might have gone after?" Darryl pointed out with a slight smile before his expression became more serious. "We'll handle that; you just get that girl out of there."
"Glad to hear it," Piper said, smiling thankfully at him before she turned to look at her family once again. "OK, everyone; orb on out and move on out, we have an innocent to save and a curse to begin casting."
Even as she began to orb out, Paige couldn't stop herself from inwardly cheering in triumph.
Piper hadn't specifically said so, of course, but the fact that she was being this confident about going into a combat and magic-related situation when earlier she had been contemplating giving up her powers for good seemed to suggest that she was, if not actively changing her earlier position on the subject, at least thinking about changing it.
Maybe she would get to have her cake and eat it too…
"Well well well…" Angelus reflected as he sat in a chair he'd positioned opposite Alcathla, casually rotating an amulet he'd picked up a while back in his left hand as he contemplated the latest news he'd heard. "So… something's going on in the old apartment, huh?"
Looking over at where Drusilla was currently sitting with some of her dolls as he attempted the ritual to awaken Alcathla- he'd currently taken a break to reflect on the news he'd just received; the ritual wasn't coming along that well anyway-, he raised a curious eyebrow. "Any recommendations, Dru?"
"The daughter of the naughty angel's going to be looking for you later, Daddy," Drusilla replied, as she 'poured' a cup of tea for one of the group before her. "Her sisters, the newer naughty angel, and their guest will be back in the soul's apartment, planning to force him back… she will be alone and they will be alone…"
"Hold on; you're telling me the army medic, the chef and the columnist have a guest in my apartment who's come to restore my soul?" Angel asked, looking with a slight smirk at Drusilla as he stood up. "What is it with people these days; leave an apartment for a few months and they think you don't want it any more…"
Shaking his head slightly, he glanced over at where some of his men were currently waiting for his next orders while playing a few rounds of what looked like poker from where Angelus was sitting. "Get ready to go; I have a few… uninvited decorators… who need to be reminded of their manners."
Plus, of course, Angelus mused to himself as his 'gang'- for lack of a better term- got to their feet to begin the preparations for the attack, there's always the possibility that the Whitelighter's direct access to the Elders means he knows a little more about waking Alcathla up than I do….
