A/N: It is about time that Leo gets a chapter title with his name in. So far Piper has had three, Paige has had one. Technically Prue has had one, as well as Andy has had the same one. That now leaves Phoebe in need of a chapter title with her name in; then again she had plenty of episode names with her name in the canon show. Anyway, I suspect you want me to stop rambling so as you can read the chapter.
Chapter Fifty Two: The Power of Two (And Leo Knows)
'Is Piper telling the truth? Are you really her sister?' thought Leo.
'Leo, we have to tell her the truth about you,' thought Paige, trying to change the topic.
'Paige, we cannot blow my cover,' thought Leo. 'Besides, I want your answer. Are you really her sister?'
Piper was now standing up, staring at Paige and Leo, waiting for a response. Paige and Leo were both staring back at Piper. Paige was communicating telepathically with Leo.
'If we do not tell her the truth, she will think we are here together as a couple,' thought Paige. 'That makes me gag just thinking about it.'
'I cannot blow my cover, Paige. I am in big enough trouble with the Elders for letting Phoebe find out,' thought Leo. 'Now tell me, are you her sister?'
'What do you expect me to tell her?' thought Paige.
'I don't know what to tell her. All I want right now is for you to answer my question,' thought Leo.
'Paige, does he know about magic? I only ask because you two have been staring at me without a reply for the past five minutes, and I feel like you are having a telepathic conversation without me,' thought Piper.
Paige looked from Piper to Leo and then back to Piper.
'Piper, I should leave you and Leo to talk,' said Paige out loud.
Paige turned away but felt two hands pull her back. Both Piper and Leo had decided that she should stay for the conversation.
'What is going on, Paige?' asked Piper.
'Why don't you ask Leo?' asked Paige.
'You are my sister, Paige. I expect you to tell me this sort of thing,' said Piper. 'Are you and Leo dating?'
'No, we are not dating, Piper,' said Leo.
'So it just so happens that the two of you both jumped on a plane to Hawaii?' said Piper.
'Not on a plane, per say…' said Leo.
'Piper, I did not even know Leo and I were in Hawaii. If I did, I would never have bumped into you like this,' said Paige.
'How can you not know you are in Hawaii?' asked Piper. 'You knew I was here! You must have gotten the very next plane from San Francisco! How long have you and Leo been together?'
'Piper, we are not dating!' said Paige.
'Then how do you explain your being here together?' said Piper.
'Leo is…' began Paige hesitantly.
'Paige, don't…' said Leo.
'Don't what?' said Piper. 'Leo, last time we spoke you broke up with me because you were 'geographically unavailable'. I was able to understand that, but now you are here and you are here with my sister!'
Leo had obviously decided on a new tactic to get answers about the sister thing, because he said, 'In all my time as your handyman, the three of you always said that Paige was your friend, not your sister.'
Piper ignored the fact that Leo had pointed out her mistake, and focused on something else that he had said. 'Is that all you think I ever saw you as? You think that after all that time we spent together, I only ever thought of you as the handyman?'
'No, of course not, Piper! We had something special!' said Leo.
'If we had something special, why did you break it off? Geography does not seem to have kept you and Paige apart,' said Piper.
'Paige and I are here for business matters,' said Leo.
'Business matters? So is Paige a handyman now too? And she decided not to tell me? Strange, I thought the only convention here was the restaurant one,' said Piper sarcastically.
'Piper, Leo is…' began Paige again, but Leo stopped her.
'Paige, I should be the one to tell Piper, not you,' said Leo.
Paige nodded.
'Piper, we should go somewhere less public for this,' said Leo. 'Let's go to my hotel room.'
'Are you two sharing a room?' said Piper.
'Oh gosh no,' said Paige in disgust. 'Separate rooms. Ugh, the thought of sharing with him.'
Piper looked slightly relieved at Paige's response. The three of them left the beach and as Paige's hotel room was closest, the three of them went there.
Piper sat down on Paige's bed. Leo paced the room. Paige remained by the door.
'Do you want me to leave while you explain this?' asked Paige. 'I can continue searching for Daisy.'
'No, Paige, you should stay,' said Leo.
Paige remained by the door, feeling like the third wheel. Leo stopped pacing and faced Piper.
'Piper, I believe Paige told you and your sisters that she was your guide and that you did not have a white lighter,' began Leo.
Piper froze Leo there and then. She turned to look at Paige.
'Paige, is Leo about to tell me that he has been our white lighter this whole time?' asked Piper intuitively.
Paige hesitated. 'Maybe.'
'Even though when Phoebe told Prue and me that he was our white lighter, you denied it,' said Piper.
'Maybe,' said Paige sheepishly.
'So you knew all along that Leo was our white lighter. Hang on, which means Phoebe must have known too!' said Piper.
'Phoebe found out by mistake. Leo had to keep it a secret from the three of you, just like I did. Leo asked me to make sure you and Prue did not find out, so I had to make Phoebe look like she was making it up when she told you,' said Paige.
Piper shook her head. 'Every time I think you have told me everything, I always find out that you were keeping another secret from me.'
'Piper, I am sorry, okay? I kept the secret for Leo. He has been training me. I am like his white lighter apprentice even though I am not a white lighter,' said Paige.
Piper sighed. 'Is there anything more I need to know that you are keeping from me?'
'No,' lied Paige.
'Why did I even bother asking? You probably are lying again,' said Piper glumly.
'Piper, trust me, okay? I am your sister. You can trust me,' said Paige. She felt extremely guilty saying this, because of course she was not telling Piper everything again. Then Paige decided to change the subject a little. She was angry at Piper. 'Why did you tell Leo that I am your sister? He is a white lighter! Now that he knows, the Elders are sure to find out!'
'I told him what? Oh my gosh, I did, didn't I? Paige, I was jealous at seeing you two together. My mind went straight to thinking that you were together together, and I forgot all about the fact that he did not know you were my sister,' said Piper apologetically.
'It is okay… I just need to think of a way around this…' said Paige. 'Don't unfreeze him until after I have closed this door.'
Paige went to open the door.
'You are leaving?' asked Piper.
'Leo and I have a job to do here. You and Leo can talk while I go to start on that job,' said Paige.
Paige left the room and closed the door behind her. She had been able to sense for her mother's whereabouts when they had been in stuck in the 70's all those months ago. She wondered whether she could sense where Daisy was.
Paige closed her eyes. Her instincts told her to start walking down the corridor. So she did. Up the stairs. Two more flights of stairs. Walk along another corridor. Eventually she came to a stop at the door of a hotel room.
Paige knocked on the door.
'Who is it?' asked the person on the other side of the door. It was Daisy's voice. She sounded worried.
'It is Paige,' said Paige.
Slowly Daisy opened the door. She let Paige come in.
'Paige… What are you doing here?' asked Daisy.
'Leo sent me,' said Paige.
'Why did he send you?' asked Daisy.
'You know why,' said Paige. 'He wants you to move to San Francisco. You will be safer there.'
'Safer? Am I not safe now?' asked Daisy. 'Leo cloaked me. Ever since Leo cloaked me, I have not seen Alec.'
'If you think you are safe, why did you run away to Hawaii?' asked Paige.
'If Leo thinks I am safe, why does he want me to go to San Francisco?' countered Daisy.
'Leo never said you were safe,' said Paige. 'The Charmed Ones can protect you.'
'I wanted to try and get away from it all… to hide… that is why I came here…' said Daisy, refusing to look at Paige.
'Unfortunately, you can never hide from the things that scare you, however far you run…' said Paige. 'Leo can take you to San Francisco. You will be safe there until we finally deal with Alec.'
'Deal with Alec? What do you mean by deal with him?' asked Daisy.
'My sisters, the Charmed Ones… Their job… Our job is to vanquish evil. If Alec is killing again, we will have to vanquish him,' explained Paige.
'Promise me that you will not vanquish him unless you have proof that he is killing again,' said Daisy.
Paige sighed. 'I promise.'
Paige and Daisy stood up.
'I should check out of this hotel room,' said Daisy.
Paige nodded. 'You won't need to catch a flight back. I am sure Leo will orb you.'
Daisy smiled.
Suddenly the room filled with a blue glow as Leo orbed in. Piper was with him. Piper let go of Leo and fell forward.
'Orbing is… strange,' said Piper, trying to regain her balance.
'You will get used to it,' said both Daisy and Paige.
'Daisy, this is one of my sisters, Piper,' said Paige. 'She is one of the Charmed Ones who will be protecting you.'
Piper smiled at Daisy.
'Does this mean that you are agreeing to go to San Francisco?' Leo asked Daisy.
Daisy nodded.
Leo smiled. 'Okay. I have an apartment rented in San Francisco for you to stay at. I will orb you there now.' Leo turned to Paige, and said, 'I will be back in half an hour to orb you home.'
Paige nodded. Leo orbed out with Daisy.
Paige laughed. 'Looks like the hotel room is going to find it has unpaid bills considering there will be three guests that have fled without checking out.'
'You, Leo, and Daisy?' said Piper.
Paige nodded. 'I assume you are staying for the rest of the convention.'
Piper nodded.
'So you and Leo had a talk?' asked Paige, wanting to know what had happened.
Piper nodded. 'Leo told me everything that you told me while he was frozen. He told me that he will always be there for us. If we need him, we are supposed to call his name…'
'Piper, I don't care about that part. I want to know what you two discussed about your… relationship,' said Paige directly.
Piper smiled at Paige's directness. 'You sure do like getting to the point.'
'I am a Halliwell,' said Paige.
Piper's smile melted away as she said, 'Leo told me that the reason he left me was because it is forbidden for white lighters to have a relationship with their charges. He offered to clip his wings. I told him that I could never let him do that. We only went on a few dates… It was never anything serious…'
Paige could tell Piper was lying to herself, to try and make it hurt less.
'So you broke it off with Leo for good?' asked Paige softly.
Piper looked Paige in the eyes. There were tears forming in Piper's eyes now.
'I had to,' said Piper. 'We have no possible future together.'
Piper broke into sobs. Paige hugged her sister.
Piper's pager suddenly went off. Piper wiped her eyes and looked at it.
'I am supposed to be at a talk right now,' said Piper. 'I should go.'
Piper went to leave. Paige stopped her.
'Piper, are you okay with me going back home?' asked Paige. 'Do you want me to stay?'
Piper sighed. 'I can survive the rest of this week without my sisters. Go back to Prue and Phoebe.'
Paige nodded. Piper said goodbye and left the room. As soon as the door closed, Leo orbed in.
'Attic?' asked Paige.
Leo shook his head. 'Elders. They are ready to tell you your punishment.'
Leo took Paige's hand and orbed her up there.
After the Elders had told Paige her punishment, Leo had orbed her straight to the attic. Fortunately for Paige, Leo had not mentioned to the Elders about his knowledge that Paige was related to the Halliwells. However, Paige was wondering why Leo had decided not to broach the subject with her yet.
Before Paige could ask him on his opinion of the news, he orbed out of the attic.
The attic door opened. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe entered.
'Hi guys,' said Paige weakly. 'Wait, what are you doing here, Piper? There is no possible way you could have gotten back here this fast…'
'What do you mean, Paige?' asked Piper. 'It has been a whole week since I came back from Hawaii.'
'Huh?' said Paige in confusion. She was sure she had only been up there for a couple of hours. 'Are you trying to say that it has been almost ten days since I last saw you, Piper?'
Piper nodded. Paige was annoyed. When she had gone up there for her original hearing, the Elders had used magic to make sure that the time up there ran parallel to the time on Earth. However, this time the Elders must not have done that.
'It was a little annoying to find out from Piper that you had been in Hawaii,' said Prue.
'Oh, I never got around to reversing that spell, did I?' said Paige guiltily.
Prue shook her head.
'As soon as we vanquished the Alcatraz ghost, I managed to find a reversal spell,' said Phoebe.
'What is this about an Alcatraz ghost?' asked Piper.
Paige laughed. 'You never told her?'
'We did not want Piper to worry,' said Prue.
'Well, it is too late because I am worrying now,' said Piper.
'Relax, Piper, we took care of it, and we did not even have the Power of Three to help us,' said Phoebe.
'Sorry!' said Paige again. 'I swear I thought I had only been gone for a day!'
'A day? Where did you go after Leo orbed you out of Hawaii?' asked Piper. When Paige quickly looked from Piper to Prue and back to Piper, Piper added, 'I told Prue the moment I got back. All of us know about Leo now. So where did you go?'
'I had to go and receive my punishment for keeping the secret about being a witch,' said Paige. 'Apparently time up there goes slower than time down here.'
'Did Leo keep his word and not tell them about you being our sister?' asked Piper.
Paige nodded. 'Hang on. 'Keep his word'? Did you ask him not to tell them?'
Piper nodded. 'I told him your fears and concerns, and asked him to keep it a secret. He promised me that he would.'
Paige smiled. 'Thank you.'
'So what was your punishment?' asked Phoebe curiously.
'The usual. They have taken away my powers. Considering I only had one – telepathy – it cannot be too bad. I can still cast spells and stuff like that,' said Paige.
'Will you ever get it back?' asked Prue.
'When I have proven myself trustworthy, yes,' said Paige.
Trust. That was a big issue at the moment, wasn't it? Leo had found out that Paige had been keeping a big secret from him for a while; Piper had found out that Paige had been keeping another secret from her for a while; the Elders still knew nothing of the family relationship between Paige and the Halliwells…
Suddenly, Paige noticed that Prue was wearing a bikini.
'What is with the bikini?' asked Paige.
'The four of us are off to Cabo any minute now,' said Prue. 'I figured we could do with a holiday. I was also hoping you would show up soon. We only have forty eight hours there, so I don't want to waste time getting changed after I get there.'
Paige nodded. 'Do I have time to pack?'
'Prue packed your stuff already,' laughed Phoebe. 'She really did not want to waste time.'
'Standing here chatting is wasting time,' said Prue. 'Let's get on the road.'
The four of them were about to leave the attic when Paige heard the familiar sound of someone orbing in, followed by a loud thump on the attic floor. The four of them turned around to see Leo lying on the floor with an arrow in his shoulder.
A/N: I thought it would be interesting to end this episode with the beginning of Love Hurts, which you should recognise as the impaled Leo in the attic incident. The next chapter will be the continuation of Love Hurts, an episode I have been waiting so long to get to! Please review!
