4x03: The Pain Game
It was a beautiful June day in San Francisco as Prue Halliwells Black BMW SUV sped through the cities early morning traffic, in the vehicle Phoebe Halliwell held onto the door as her boyfriend Cole Turner maneuvered the vehicle through lanes of traffic. "You should've taken a left back there" came the voice of Prue from the back passenger seats; she had a map laid out and a scrying crystal in her hand. "Do you want to drive" Cole shot back as he made a sharp left turn.
"I would gladly drive, Phoebe however doesn't want to do the demon scrying so I have to" Prue replied still focusing on the map, the crystal had yet to drop.
"It's not that I'm against getting slightly proactive Prue" Phoebe spoke up, "I just think instead of chasing down random evil all day we should be helping Paige like we agreed" she carried on saying.
"We didn't agree anything, you did" Prue responded, "Besides what's wrong with thinning down the demon population, and it needs doing anyway with The Source out the picture" Prue said.
"The Source isn't out the picture Prue I told you Paige's power only weakened him, if anything the more time he has to rest the greater threat he'll be when he strikes again" Cole informed her not taking his eyes off the building traffic.
"And instead of training Paige how to be ready we're chasing every demon down in San Francisco" Phoebe added as she brushed her hand through her long blonde hair.
"Look the less demons out there, the less allies The Source has" Prue replied, the crystal in her hand pulled suddenly dropping to the map, "Cole right!" she shouted quickly, Cole had to swerve aggressively nearly hitting a cab as he went round the corner, "There in that parking structure" Prue told them pointing ahead through the gap in the front seats. The car screeched through the structure until it came to a stop in front of three men, all three looked similar, greasy black hair, long trench coats and old clothes with holes in; Prue was first out the car followed by Phoebe and Cole, she swung her right arm in a sweeping motion using her Telekinesis on the demons, to all there surprise her power was ineffective. "Hmm, demons resistant to magic who'd of thought" Prue said, sounding somewhat impressed by this fact. Two of the demons started advancing on Phoebe, as they came towards her she launched herself into the air with Levitation, she kicked the demons square in the chin before she landed on the ground and turned quickly to face them again, as Cole saw this he launched an energy ball at one of the demons, the attack hit square on and stunned the demon, Cole launched another in quick succession, the demon stumbled back, he launched a third energy ball hitting the same spot as the last two, this attack caused the demon to burst into flames and be vanquished.
The leader of the pack saw this and was furious, he spat out a yellow spray at Prue, and she instinctively lifted up her hands as the attack was reflected back, the demon screamed as the spray melted him. There was just one demon left; Phoebe kicked him square in the chest knocking him off guard. Cole was also quick to launch energy balls in quick succession. "I've got this" Prue told the pair as she pulled out a potion vial with purple liquid inside, she threw the vial and it collided with the demons chest, he screamed fighting the potion and reconstituting from the attack, Cole launched one last energy ball and the demon exploded in flames. "Well that was exciting" Prue expressed with a smile on her face as she headed back to the car, Cole shook his head and let out an exasperated sigh as he and Phoebe followed her back to the vehicle.
Opening Credits
The song Female of the Species sung by Space is played as shots of San Francisco are shown, the camera follows the traffic through downtown and then pans round showing cable cars, the camera then changes and shows the exterior shot of South Bay Social services.
Paige Matthews was sat at her desk reading a book called Buckland's complete book of witchcraft, she was so engrossed in the book she didn't notice her boss Mr Cowan coming towards her work station, he let out a small cough as he stood in front of Paige's workstation, his subtle act of getting her attention went unnoticed. "Paige" he said looking down at her. Paige was quick to drop the book and look up at her boss, "Mr Cowan, hi. How can I help?" she asked smiling up at him.
"Instead of indulging in personal reading how about doing what you're paid to do and tell me the hold up on the Samson adoption" he replied to her.
"The Samson adoption, well there's no distraction here with regards to that, unless you count my boss talking to me and stopping me from working" she replied again flashing an even bigger smile at him. "Well ok then" he said to her, "Nice teeth" he added before he walked away from her station.
"Hey Lila come here a sec" Paige shouted over to her friend and colleague.
"What's up?" Lila asked walking over to Paige's workstation.
"Please tell me you know what the Samson adoption is" Paige said to her whilst she was looking through all the folders on her desk.
"Of course I do everyone does" Lila responded, as Paige shot her a look to say she didn't, "Oh ok, well it's the case to finally get that girl Lillian Samson adopted, she's been in and out of foster care since she was three, her last foster family want to adopt her" Lila told Paige filling her in.
"Oh crap" Paige replied suddenly remembering all about the case, "That's the one that the courts needed the paperwork for by noon" Paige said looking over at her desk clock, it was already eleven thirty. "Yeah and you know what the courts are like strict time deadlines and very little wiggle room" Lila said to Paige.
"Do you think I'd be able to get a deadline extension?" Paige asked hopefully.
"Doubtful, I missed a court deadline for paperwork the other month and Mr Cowan flipped" Lila told her.
"That's great Cowan's still upset about my vanishing act the other week and now if I fail to get this paperwork submitted I'll be out the running for that junior position" Paige said putting her head in her hands in defeat. "Sorry Paige but unless you can magically get a miracle then you're out of options" Lila told her, on the mention of magically Paige shot her head up and jumped up from her desk, she quickly gathered her stuff. "Where are you going?" Lila asked.
"Out I've just had a brilliant idea, if Mr Cowan asks I'm taking my lunch break early" Paige replied as she hurried out knowing just where she could go for some magical assistance.
XXX
At the manor Prue, Phoebe and Cole were heading up towards the attic, as they entered Prue set the map and crystal down on the table before she headed over to the book of shadows. "So we're looking for demons immune to witches magic, reconstitution abilities and a funky sort of venom or acid spray" Prue said to herself as she used her power to flip through the pages of the book, "Aha" she said as the pages stopped on one titled scabbar demons, Prue quickly read over the page. "Scabbar demons, pack demons who attack there victims with an acid spray from their mouths causing them to burst into flames. Well that would've hurt am I right?" Prue said looking at Phoebe and Cole. "Are we supposed to find this funny?" Cole questioned.
"Cole please don't" Phoebe said trying to stop her boyfriend she knew if this conversation began it would end with an argument between him and Prue.
"I'm sorry Cole is there a problem here?" Prue asked.
"You know damn well there is" Cole answered back, "Phoebe keeps telling you over and over about taking a step back and you refuse to listen and now I've got to help to keep you safe" he added.
"I never asked for your help Cole and frankly I don't need or want it" Prue shot back.
"Well it looks like you do because if I hadn't been there this morning, then those scabbar demons would've been taking credit for killing two of the Charmed Ones" Cole said to her, Phoebe quickly but herself between the pair as the doorbell rang from downstairs. "Honey could you please go and get that for me" Phoebe said to him.
"Sure" he replied bluntly before leaving the attic, Prue now moved to going back over to the table with the map and crystal as she started scrying again.
"You know Prue, Cole's right we can't keep on relying on him to bail us out if demons are too strong, that's what we have the power of three for" Phoebe said to her sister, Prue however didn't seem to take any notice. "Besides we've had a pretty good system for tackling demons and warlocks over the past three years" she added, Prue now stopped scrying and looked over at her sister. "I'd call Piper dying a pretty big glitch in our system wouldn't you?" she asked "Anyway if we keep this up once we take out The Source there'll be no demons left to fill the gap. We'll be free to lead normal lives again no more danger or fear of death coming for another Halliwell again" she added.
"If we take out The Source Prue. Right now without giving Paige the proper training we're sitting ducks and you know it, she needs to learn the craft and fast" Phoebe told her sister. "Phoebe enough!" Prue shouted an old typewriter that was being stored in the attic suddenly smashed against the far wall, Prue's power had activated from her immense frustration and anger. "This is the way I'm doing it now, you can either join in or sit it out" Prue told her, a light knock on the attic door brought the pair out of their conversation. "Knock, knock" Paige said as she stood sheepishly in the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt, I just thought I could drop by see how you're doing" she said to the sisters as she slowly walked into the attic. "Of course Paige, never feel you can't just swing by to see us, right Prue" Phoebe replied looking over at Prue for her agreement.
"Yeah of course" Prue replied before she gathered the map and crystal into her arms, "It's getting a little loud in here, so I'm going to scry in my room" she said walking towards the door, "I'll shout when I find something if you want to come" she added looking at Phoebe before leaving. Paige felt as though she was a bother to Prue, Phoebe had been more than welcoming, Prue on the other had always seemed cold towards her. "Sorry, next time I'll call and maybe you can warn Prue" Paige said to Phoebe.
"Don't be ridiculous" Phoebe responded, "Prue's still a little off right now, she's off from work still and I think demon hunting's keeping her busy" she explained to Paige.
"Well I bet there's a lot to hunt, I mean this books full of them right?" Paige questioned as she looked at the book of shadows.
"Yeah, but not just that there's potions and spells in here too" Phoebe told her, "I've got to speak to Cole real quick, you can stay here and skim through the book if you like till I'm back it's yours too after all" Phoebe said.
"Sure no problem, take your time if it's important" Paige replied, Phoebe smiled and headed out the attic and down to Cole, Paige felt kind of bad deceiving Phoebe about her true intention for her visit but as Lila had said she was going to need some magic, and this book was all the help she needed, she went through her bag and pulled out a small notepad and pen and started looking through the book for spells that would help her.
XXX
Downstairs Phoebe found Cole sitting on the wicker sofa in the sunroom. "She's getting worse you know" Cole said to her as she walked towards him, "And if she keeps going after evil without knowing who she's up against it won't end well", Phoebe knew he was right and that he was trying to look out for her and on some level Prue as well.
"I know Cole, believe me I do, plus just now in the attic she got so pissed off she smashed Grams old typewriter. I think all this grief is messing with her powers" Phoebe told him.
"Then you need to call Leo" Cole replied, the pair had agreed to only get Leo involved when Prue's actions had become too out of hand.
"Leo" Phoebe said allowed looking up towards the ceiling, not long after her call blue orbs cascaded down and formed into her brother in-law.
"Phoebe what's wrong?" Leo asked.
"We need to talk about Prue, her actions are getting out of hand, she's hunting demons on a daily basis and she won't even acknowledge Paige's existence" Phoebe informed him. "Plus she keeps putting her life and ours in danger and now it's having an effect on her powers" Cole added to the list, Leo sat down on the couch in the entry way as Phoebe sat opposite him. "She's grieving you know that" Leo replied.
"I know Leo and if she was punching walls over demons then I could deal with it, but I can't risk losing another sister" Phoebe told him.
"Besides as their whitelighter shouldn't you be here to deal with problems like this as well, especially when it effects there powers" Cole abruptly told Leo.
"What" Leo responded in a raised voice as he stood up and squared up to Cole.
"Well it's no secret you haven't been around as much lately, as the girls whitelighter you should guide them, and be there for Paige, she's a new witch after all" Cole said making the situation worse. "Listen here!" Leo shouted as he grabbed Cole by the collar, "I've lost my wife as well you demonic bastard, and I'm helping the girls as much as possible and I don't need you telling me how to do my job" he told Cole.
"Hey, hey break it up you two" Phoebe intervened pulling Leo off of Cole and standing between the pair, "All the testosterone in here is crazy, Cole can you leave me and Leo alone for a while please" Phoebe said her boyfriend, Cole sorted out his collar and sighed.
"Fine, but he better stay around to help" he said before walking off to the kitchen, Phoebe sighed and sat back down on the couch.
"Leo honey I'm sorry about Cole, please sit back down and we can talk" Phoebe said to him as she patted the space beside her, Leo relaxed a little and sat down beside Phoebe. "I know you're grieving and so is Prue we all are still and right now it's hard but we need to be teaching Paige the craft and right now I can't play the mediator between her and Prue, I'm still Prue's baby sister and now I'm" Phoebe was saying before Leo spoke up.
"And now you've become the middle sister, the voice of reason between Prue and Paige" Leo said to her.
"Exactly, I never envied what Piper had to do between me and Prue and I didn't ever want to do what she did and now here I am" Phoebe told him, "But besides that, I need Prue to work with me not against me and we can't when she's hell bent on hunting demons, somethings holding her back from fully grieving and breaking down and I can't help her and it's killing me" Phoebe told Leo, tears forming in her eyes as she rubbed them, Leo leant in and gave her a hug.
"Look I'll go and have a word with her, maybe we can help one another with our grief, although totally out of line Cole's words had some truth I have been slightly distant since Piper died, the manor's not the same without her, the smell of her cooking's missing and the sound of her working on the club, it's all so different" Leo opened up to Phoebe.
"I know, but trust me it will get better" Phoebe replied, Leo let out a faint smile, "And I hate to take away from this heart to heart but she's currently scrying in her room", as soon as Phoebe finished her sentence Leo orbed up to Prue's room, she sighed and brushed her hand through her hair hoping Prue would listen to Leo.
XXX
Up in her room, Prue had the map of the city sprawled out on her bed; the crystal wrapped round her hand spinning over the map, blue orbs came up from the floor and formed into Leo beside her. "Prue do you have a minute to talk?" Leo asked her, Prue just ignored his request and carried on with her scrying. "Prue please" Leo pleaded.
"What Leo?" Prue asked still scrying, "Has Phoebe got you here to try and talk me round, because I don't need a talking to I'm a big witch and I can handle myself and I don't need any help in doing it" Prue told him.
"I think you do need help Prue, I know how much pain you're in trust me I'm in pain to, we didn't even get to say goodbye to Piper and now all we're left with is this void and we need to talk about it" Leo told her, Prue turned to face Leo, still scrying however.
"Leo, I don't want to talk ok, it just hurts the pain is too much, so instead I'm going to inflict that very pain on demons" Prue let Leo know, the crystal pulled suddenly and fell to the map, "Now if that was all you can excuse me because I have a demon to deal with and I don't think we'll need a whitelighter for that" Prue told him grabbing the crystal and map and leaving the room, Leo felt defeated he was supposed to be a voice of reason and wisdom for his charges and right now he was failing.
XXX
Meanwhile in the attic Paige was oblivious to what was going on with her sisters and Leo, she was still filling her small notepad with spells, she turned the page to continue writing and saw she was out of paper. "Damn" she said to herself there were so many spells in the book that she felt could help her, suddenly an idea hit here. "Phoebe did say you're my book too, so I might as well take you with me for some help" she said to herself, she closed the book of shadows and took it from its pedestal and put it in her large summer bag she rearranged the contents of the bag to cover the book and lifted the back onto her shoulder, "Man this things heavy" she complained as she headed out the attic. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she saw Phoebe come up from the foyer. "Paige hi, I was just coming back up to you sorry I had some issues to deal with" Phoebe told her. "Oh it's fine it's no problem at all, anyway I've got to go now you know lunch breaks over got to get back to work" Paige replied quickly trying to get away while not letting Phoebe see the strain her bag was causing. "Oh really, well I wanted to show you more of the book" Phoebe told Paige, just then Prue came out of her room.
"Phoebe come on I've got another lead lets go unless you still have an issue" Prue said to Phoebe, Phoebe looked at Prue and then back to Paige.
"Go its fine like I said got to get back to work busy, busy" Paige told her as she walked off.
"Will we see you later?" Phoebe asked shouting after her.
"Yeah I'll drop by after work" Paige shouted back as she disappeared down the stairs.
"Come on grab Cole I'll meet you in the car" Prue told her as she headed off leaving Phoebe alone before she followed after her sister.
XXX
Prue's car came to a screeching halt near the docks in the San Francisco bay, Prue Phoebe and Cole all got out the SUV. "Ok Prue just remember Cole and I feel completely different to you regarding this hunting" Phoebe told her sister.
"Whatever Pheebs stay in the car if you want till I'm done" Prue responded as she walked ahead.
"Told you that wouldn't stop her" Phoebe said to Cole as the pair quickly followed behind her.
"So what are we looking for exactly? Or don't we know again?" Cole asked.
"Like I told you Cole we're hunting evil, the crystal landed on the docks and here we are so there's something evil lurking round here somewhere" Prue responded. The trio all split up all searching around the dock for what the crystal may have picked up on, behind Prue a vortex of red smoke rose forming into a red headed demonic woman, she was dressed in a scarlet dress with a slit up the left leg. "So you're who I can sense" she said to Prue, Prue spun around and came face to face with the woman, the demon let out a blast from her palm and Prue went soaring into a chain link fence. "Prue!" Phoebe shouted as her sister collided with the fence, she ran at Prue's attacker, Levitating into the air to attack, the demon stopped Phoebe's head on attack with Telekinesis and used her left hand to send Phoebe sailing into Cole, the pair collided and fell to the concrete floor. The female demon now looked forward at Prue and walked towards her, she held out her left arm and used her power to raise Prue up against the fence; she held Prue in place and then used her right hand that pulled an aura out around Prue. "So much pain and anger inside you, oh this is amazing, there'll be so much to take from you" she said to Prue.
"You better let me go you bitch" Prue told the demon as she struggled against her power.
"Hush now my dear, I'll take this pain from you and feed upon it" the demon said, just then an energy ball collided with the demons back, she screamed as the aura round Prue faded and she was released from her telekinetic grasp, Prue threw out her right arm and the demon flew through the air and collided with a pile of wooden crates, she quickly rose up from the debris and turned glaring at Phoebe and Cole who were now on their feet again. "Annoying pests" she snarled as she ran at Phoebe and Cole, again Phoebe Levitated up into the air, this time she was able to land a kick on the demon knocking her back and stunning her, she then landed back on the ground. The demon let out an unholy scream as she advanced on Phoebe, Cole released an energy ball at her to defend Phoebe; the attack collided and stunned her. "Take a seat pretty boy" the demon said sending Cole flying into a dumpster as she still went towards Phoebe, there was then a smash followed by the demon screaming as she was engulfed in flames before she was vanquished, Phoebe could then see Prue in front of her and the remains of a glass potion vial on the ground. "Close one right" Prue said to her as she Phoebe went over to Cole and helped him up off the floor. "Too close Prue, she was really strong and by the sounds of it she was expecting us" Phoebe replied as Cole patted himself down. "We need to get back to the manor and check the book on her" Cole told the pair as they headed back to the car, Prue let out a long sigh.
"Fine but she's been vanquished I doubt the book will help us" she replied as they all got back into the car and left the dock.
XXX
Back at South Bay Social services Paige was in the copy room trying to photocopy the pages she needed from the book of shadows before she had to return it to the manor. "Paige there you are" Lila said to her as she entered the room, "Cowan's been asking for you since you left and I'm not sure I can stall him much longer" she told her as she walked over to the copy machine, "What are you trying to copy a giant book?" she asked as Paige pulled the lid of the copier down trying to cover the book.
"Yeah but everything's coming out blank, I'll just have to use it as it is" Paige replied.
"What kind of book is that anyway it looks really old?" Lila asked again trying to get a better look at the book.
"Oh just an old book on social law from the library" Paige was quick to reply as she stood in front of the copier completely covering Lila's view of the book.
"Ok then, well you better get back to your desk before Cowan does another sweep of the office" Lila told Paige as she left the copy room. As soon as the door closed behind Lila, Paige pulled the book out the copier and started flipping through the pages looking for something to keep Mr Cowan busy whilst she worked on the adoption; she stopped when she came to a page that read sleep spell. "Perfect, Mr Cowan can catch up on his sleep whilst I work" she said to herself as she read over the spell in front of her. "Let he who's awakened from his sleep, return at once to the slumbers deep" Paige chanted a small set of wiccan orbs appeared in her palm and swiftly flew out the room, they travelled through the building until they went into Mr Cowan's office, he was just about to get up from his chair when the orbs entered his body, as soon as they had he fell back into his chair and fell to sleep. Paige closed the book and huddled it under her arm as she left the copy room, on the way back to her desk she quickly looked through Mr Cowan's window to see him sound asleep in his office chair. "Perfect" she said under her breath as she walked over to her desk and sat down, she flipped through the book again and found a spell to promote compromise, she kept the book open to the page as she reached for the phone at her desk and dialed the number for the San Francisco children's court. "Hello, this is Paige Matthews from South Bay Social Services; I was calling about the Samson adoption I know the paper work needed to be completed and into you today at noon, but I was wondering if I could possibly get a deadline extension for the end of the week?" Paige asked the man on the other end of the phone, the man on the other end wasn't impressed as he told Paige that deadline extensions weren't handed out, "I know you don't normally hand out the extension but this little girls needs it and I ask that you don't ruin her adoption because of my lack of time keeping" Paige pleaded back, again the man replied even more adamant that Paige wouldn't receive an extension. "Well what I'm saying is, these words will travel through the minds, of stubborn parties and unbind. The thoughts too rigid to be kind, a compromise they'll disentwine" Paige chanted down the phone, the spell took effect on the man as he agreed to give Paige a deadline till the end of the week. "Thank you so much" Paige said to him before putting the phone down, "This book is going to sort a lot of problems" she said to herself.
XXX
At the manor Prue, Phoebe and Cole had just arrived back after battling the demon at the dock. "Look you two I don't know what good you think looking in the book will do. She's dead now anyway so we might as well start looking for the next lot of evil" Prue told Phoebe and Cole.
"Because Prue that demon was clearly waiting for us or at least you and we need to know what she did to you when she pulled that aura out of you" Phoebe replied, as she and Cole followed Prue into the kitchen. "Besides who's to say she'd truly vanquished, some demons are good and making it look like they're dead" Cole told Prue.
"Well you were a pro at that weren't you" Prue quickly replied.
"Prue" Phoebe shot at her sister.
"Well he was" Prue said as Phoebe gave her a dirty look, "Fine I won't mention Coles sordid past, but when I go up to the book and show you both that demonic tramp is really vanquished you better be ready to hunt again" Prue told the pair as she left the kitchen and headed off to the attic.
"Is it me or is she getting even worse?" Cole asked.
"Quite possible" Phoebe replied, "I had Leo talk to her but it looks like she hasn't taken any of it to heart, so I don't know what to do with her any more she just seems hell bent on hunting demons and causing them pain" Phoebe told Cole. Cole was just about to reply when Prue shouted down from the attic.
"Phoebe! Get up here now!" Phoebe and Cole looked at one another before they rushed off to the attic.
As they came through the door they saw Prue stood in front of the pedestal that normally held the Book of Shadows with her arms folded. "What's wrong?" Phoebe asked her sister.
"Seriously what's wrong the Book of Shadows is missing Phoebe that's what's wrong" Prue responded pointing at the empty pedestal.
"Oh no" Phoebe simply said.
"A demon maybe" Cole mussed as Prue just looked at Phoebe.
"The books missing and all you can say is oh no" she said to her sister.
"Well I might know what's happened to the book and if I'm right you won't be happy" Phoebe told Prue.
"Try me" Prue quickly replied.
"Well I think we could assume that maybe Paige has borrowed the book" Phoebe explained.
"What!" Prue shouted in response, "Why the hell would you think that Phoebe?" she asked.
"See this is what I meant, well you remember Paige came here this afternoon and I left her here in the attic with the book because she was asking about it" Phoebe told Prue. "Why the hell would you leave her with it Phoebe, she doesn't even know how to use the book and she doesn't get to be left to just look through it" Prue ranted.
"Well yeah Prue because it's just a book to her with spells in she doesn't know the value of it because we haven't been here to teach her about it because we're hunting demons all day" Phoebe shot back; she was trying to get through to Prue and make her understand Paige's thinking.
"You don't have to come along Phoebe it's not like you have a power to help anyway, you can maybe sit and talk with Paige and maybe then she wouldn't be stealing from us and doing god knows what with our family heritage!" Prue shouted back, neither the sisters nor Cole noticed the red energy crackling between Prue's fingertips as she got more and more frustrated. "Now I'm going to the little witches work and getting our book back" Prue added before she stormed out the attic, Phoebe was quick to follow her but stopped to see Cole stood still. "Aren't you coming?" she asked her boyfriend.
"As fun as hunting with Prue is, I think going after your new sister's a step to far for me" Cole replied, Phoebe sighed as she quickly chased after Prue.
XXX
Prue's car screeched into the South Bay car park and pulled up near the door, Prue quickly got out the driver's side followed by Phoebe who was still trying to calm Prue down. "Now remember Paige is our sister, not a demon or a killer and we're not here to vanquish her" she said to Prue.
"Speak for yourself" Prue shot back coldly, "She stole from us Phoebe her own flesh and blood, is this the kind of person we want in our lives?" Prue questioned as the pair walked through the social services sliding door, Prue scanned the desks as her gaze fell on Paige's "You!" she shouted as Paige looked up in shock.
"Uh oh" Paige said to herself as she quickly got up from her desk and ran over to Prue and Phoebe. "Phoebe, Prue hey what brings you guys here?" she asked.
"We thought we'd come and collect our stolen property" Prue replied bluntly as people looked at the trio.
"About that look I'm sorry, maybe we should talk about this outside" she said as she took the pair outside and round the side of the social services and stood with them beside a grass bank. "What the hell were you thinking?!" Prue shouted at Paige.
"I said sorry ok, besides Phoebe said the book was mine too" Paige said.
"I meant to look at in the manor Paige not to take it anywhere with you" Phoebe replied, "Did you use it to cast any spells?" She asked her younger sister.
"Only a couple to help me out with work" Paige replied sheepishly.
"Oh great a thief and now you're using your magic for personal gain. Can you get anymore selfish" Prue said to her, her voice rising.
"What Prue means is we should be teaching you this stuff, about how personal gains a bad thing and how we shouldn't use our magic to help ourselves" Phoebe added trying to defuse the situation. "No Phoebe, I'm saying it how it is, she doesn't know what she's doing and you keep making excuses for her" Prue interjected, "This never would've happened if Piper was still here she never would've been so selfish" Prue spat.
"Prue that's not fair and you know it" Phoebe jumped to defend Paige as she moved over to her younger sisters' side.
"No Phoebe what's not fair is we lost Piper and got left with her!" Prue shouted, the red energy sparked round her hands again, she threw out her arms and Phoebe and Paige were sent flying into the grass bank, they both looked up at Prue just before she disappeared in a vortex of red smoke.
"What the hell was that about?" Paige asked as Phoebe helped pull her back to her feet.
"I'm not completely sure, but it may have something to do with a demon we fought earlier" Phoebe answered, "Have you got the book at your desk?" she asked Paige.
"Yeah I do" Paige replied as they headed back to the entrance.
"Ok then let's grab it and head back to the manor, we're going to need to help Prue" Phoebe replied as they headed back in, "Oh and we're going to need your car, we came in Prue's" Phoebe added.
XXX
Paiges green VW Bug sped down the highway as Phoebe sat in the passenger seat trying to find something on the demon they'd fought earlier in the day. "Will Prue ever warm up to me?" Paige asked as Phoebe stopped looking to look up at Paige.
"I wouldn't worry honey; Prue's just grieving right now you know. She always acted like a mom to us more than a sister at times and I think she feels like she failed us when Piper died" Phoebe told her, "Although if you want her to warm up to you, maybe less swiping of irreplaceable family heirlooms would probably be a good place to start" Phoebe added with a smile. "I know I'm sorry, I've just got behind at work with everything that happened these past few weeks and I thought I could use this new magic thing to help me get on track, I didn't know the book was so important" Paige explained as she focused on the road ahead.
"I know and that's our fault, once this is over I'm going to work on teaching you as much as we can, I made a lot of mistakes when we first became witches but we don't have time for you to learn that way" Phoebe told Paige before she returned to looking through the book as Paige let out a smile. "Oh god here's the demon" Phoebe suddenly said breaking the silence,
"Ok, oh god and demon don't sound like they should be in the same sentence you're going to make me panic" Paige replied as she turned onto Prescott Street and pulled up outside the manor, she turned off the engine and looked over at Phoebe. "Ok so we fought a demon today when Prue was scrying for evil, and it looked like she might've been after Prue just as much" Phoebe told Paige as she showed her the pages. They were illustrated with a woman tied to a pyre flames surrounding her, the flames then flowed over to the second page and showed the woman now dressed in a red outfit similar to the she demons dress from earlier. "Demons of pain?" Paige questioned as she looked at the top of the first page. "Yeah, the book says they're an all-female race of demons, the first was burnt at the stake and then resurrected as a demon of pain, they can sense pain in other beings and use that pain to feed themselves and then kill the victim" Phoebe informed Paige.
"But you said you vanquished her earlier so what's the issue?" Paige asked, Phoebe then pointed to the second page and continued to read aloud.
"When a demon of pain is vanquished, the next to take its place is normally the last woman the demon was in contact with".
"Oh dear" Paige said realising the severity of the situation.
"Yeah and it gets worse, these demons are kinetic beings, it's what fuels there powers" Phoebe told Paige.
"What does that mean?" Paige asked.
"Well Prue's powers are already kinetic which means her Telekinesis will probably be a lot stronger now so we need to be careful when we try to turn her back" Phoebe told her. "And how are we going to turn her back?" Paige questioned.
"Now that I don't know we'll have to go in and ask Cole" Phoebe replied as the pair got out of the car.
XXX
Prue stood alone in a small clearing in Golden Gate Park; she could feel nothing but her pain and grief rising to the surface, tears streaming down her face as she looked up at the sky. "Why did you leave me!?" she shouted, "You were my baby sister and I failed you" she cried, she let out a blood curdling scream before she released a kinetic blast from her right hand, the blast collided with a tree and wood scattered everywhere, red smoke rose again and covered her transforming her clothes, her pants changing into red leather pants, and her top into a silk black tank top with a black shawl, her finger nails now painted scarlet red and red streaks through her brown hair.
XXX
Phoebe and Paige sat in the foyer of the manor, the book still open to the page about demons of pain; Cole was pacing back and forth behind Phoebe. "So is Prue a demon now?" Paige asked.
"Not fully, not until she kills an innocent like a demon of pain would" Cole replied putting his hands on the back of Phoebe's chair.
"Don't worry though it wouldn't be the first time one of us has become a demon" Phoebe added.
"It wouldn't" Paige said slightly shocked.
"God no, I mean a few months back I became a banshee" Phoebe told her.
"A banshee?" Paige questioned.
"Yeah a demonic screamer that feeds on pain, kind of similar to this actually" Phoebe told her, "Although not as bad as the time I got possessed by the woogyman, the blood lust that time was intense".
"A woogyman, what kind of demons that?" Cole asked her.
"Doesn't matter, what I'm saying is that if the pulls that strong then we need to get her here and turn her back" Phoebe told the other two.
"And any ideas on that or are we going to wing it?" Paige asked, Phoebe turned around in her seat and looked up at Cole.
"Any suggestions?" she asked him.
"If she hasn't killed then it should be easy, you need to get her to open up about her pain and then she should hopefully turn back to the normal Prue" Cole told her.
"Then all we need to do is get her here right?" Phoebe asked, Cole nodded in reply.
"And how will we do that, she didn't look very cooperative when she was sending us flying to the ground" Paige said to the pair.
"I've got a plan for that, we're going to use this summoning spell" Phoebe told Paige as she turned the pages of the book and stopped at the page titled Belthazor summoning spell. "Who's Belthazor?" Paige asked looked over at the picture on the page of the Belthazor entry.
"That would be me" Cole replied.
"What that's you" Paige said in shock.
"You knew Cole was a demon honey" Phoebe said to her sister.
"Yeah but not that demonic" Paige replied a little uneasy.
"And what are you going to have as well as the summon, she's going to be hunting for someone in immense pain" Cole said trying to steer the conversation away from his demonic persona. "I was thinking about that, I think we should ask Leo to help, he's got to be in pain he's just lost a charge and his wife" Phoebe replied.
"Let's hope he's willing to assist then" Cole told her.
"Leo" Phoebe shouted to summon her brother in-law; orbs came down from above and then formed into Leo. "Phoebe, Cole" he said looking at the pair, he then looked over and saw Paige sat at the table. "Paige you're here to, what's going on?" he asked the trio.
"Leo we need your help, Prue's become a demon of pain" Phoebe told him.
"She's what?!" Leo replied shocked.
"Don't worry we have a plan to turn her back we just need a little bit of your help" she carried on telling him.
"Ok, but what can I do?" he asked Phoebe.
"We just need you here, Paige and I are going to summon her, I'm hoping with you here as well as the summons she'll be able to pick up on your pain it should be enough to draw her here" Phoebe told him.
"But what about you?" Paige asked as she looked up at Phoebe, "Leo and Prue aren't the only ones feeling the pain of grief Phoebe, you lost Piper too and if Prue picks up on that then won't she be able to turn you to".
"I know, and I'm hoping not, Prue's not a full demon of pain yet so when we free her I should be fine" Phoebe replied.
"Ok then let's get her back" Paige said, Leo moved over to the centre of the foyer as Phoebe and Paige both took hold of one another's hand. "Ready?" Phoebe asked her.
"Ready as I can be" Paige replied.
"Good, now remember we're changing the word demon for sister and Belthazor for Prue" Phoebe told her as she looked down at the summoning spell in the book.
"Got it" Paige responded as she also read over the page in front of her, the pair then began chanting the incantation.
"Magic forces black and white, reaching out through space and light. Be she far or be she near, bring us our sister Prue here". As soon as the spell was finished a vortex of magic was swept up in the foyer, Paige took a hold of Phoebe's hand tighter than when they were casting the spell, the vortex dyed down and before them stood Prue, she looked at Phoebe and Paige ignoring them and instead turning to face Leo. "Poor, poor Leo, so much pain kept just below the surface" she said to him as she walked towards him. "Prue leave him alone" Phoebe spoke up, "It's us who summoned you deal with us". Prue turned and flicked her wrist Phoebe, Paige and Cole were all sent sailing into the sunroom. "But it's not your pain I want, it's his" she said turning back to Leo, she held up her left hand and summoned Leo's aura. "You see it all, all the pain, the anger, the grief just waiting to boil over" she said to him, flecks of red and black flowed through his aura. "Come on Leo let it all out, let me feed on your pain" Prue said to him, she then let out a scream as an energy ball collided with her shoulder, the aura around Leo disappeared, Prue turned and saw Cole stood in the foyer. "That wasn't very nice" she said to him, she thrust out her hand and Cole was sent flying through the kitchen door, he lay in the wooden debris unconscious. "Cole!" Phoebe shouted as she looked at him. "Ok Prue, it's you and me, I know you blame me for Piper's death. I know you think if I hadn't gone to save Cole that I'd have been here to help you both" Phoebe said to her. Prue let out scream as she charged at Phoebe, Phoebe ran forward to and engaged Prue in hand to hand combat. Both sisters were well trained in martial arts, Prue kept trying to land punches but Phoebe was quick to block her sister, she then tried to kick Prue back but Prue was just as quick to avoid it, Prue's palm then made contact with Phoebe's abdomen and she used her Telekinesis, Phoebe went flying backwards across the foyer she was quick to activate her Levitation and stopped herself from colliding with the far wall, she then lowered herself back down to the floor. Prue screeched as Phoebe landed back on the ground, the energy in her hand crackling she looked down at her palm and then released a kinetic blast at Phoebe who was quick to leap out the way of the attack which collided with the far window causing it to smash. "Prue you need to stop this, deal with your pain and come to your senses" Leo said speaking up. Prue turned to face him.
"Take a time out, whitelighter" she told him before she sent him sailing into the corner of the lounge wall with her power.
"Prue stop, it's not Leo and Phoebe you're angry at its yourself isn't it?" Paige then spoke up as she came out the sunroom.
"Shut up!" Prue shouted releasing another kinetic blast; Paige panicked and orbed out the blast then collided with the grandfather clock causing wood and glass to shatter everywhere. Paige then orbed back into the room. "Leave her alone Prue" Phoebe said as she ran at Prue and Levitated into the air and landed a kick knocking Prue to the ground as she floated down. Prue was quick to rise back up and back handed Phoebe. Paige watched as both her sister resumed there fighting, she wished there was something she could do to help them, she was a witch now but still felt so powerless to help. She looked up and saw the chandelier above Prue and thought she'd be able to use it to stop her or at least slow her down. Prue then used her powers and sent Phoebe into the wooden cabinet against the wall. "Phoebe" Paige shouted worriedly as she was pulled from her thought, Prue turned and stared at her as Paige looked up at the chandelier again, she held out her hand and focused all her frustration and anger as her power activated, the cord holding the chandelier dispersed in orbs as the chandelier then fell from the ceiling, Prue's hand rose as she caught the falling chandelier with her power and chucked it across the foyer, as it crashed to the ground Phoebe stirred and pulled herself up. "Paige run" she told her, Paige listened to Phoebe and ran up the stairs, Prue turned and got ready to chase her. "Prue no stay here deal with me" Phoebe said as she pulled herself up. Prue looked at Phoebe and then her head fell limp as she activated her power of Astral Projection, Paige just reached the top of the stairs when Astral-Prue appeared before her, she let out a scream as Astral-Prue reached to grab her and orbed out in her panic. She orbed back down to the foyer and saw Prue stood unconscious she quickly ran beside Phoebe as Prue's eyes reopened as she returned to her own body. "What are we going to do, she won't keep still long enough for us to get through to her" Paige said to Phoebe.
"I've got a plan" Phoebe told her as Prue came towards the pair, "Open Prue's heart to feel, the pain and grief which will help her heal" Phoebe chanted, a red trail left Phoebe's palm and collided with Prue's heart causing her to stop moving, her heart was glowing as Prue began to cry. "Why couldn't I save her?" she questioned. "I'm her big sister and I failed her how can I live without her?" Prue then fell to her knees and began sobbing, a red vortex surrounded her and transformed her back to normal before it rose to air and exploded. Phoebe and Paige both moved over to her as Phoebe dropped to the floor to comfort her sister. "Prue honey it's ok to talk to me, none of this is your fault ok the three of us risked our lives every day to protect innocents we knew what we were doing and what the risks were" she told her as she comforted her, Leo was now conscious and slowly rose to his feet watching Phoebe comfort Prue. "But she shouldn't have died Phoebe, I wanted to protect her from Shax and I still don't understand what went wrong" Prue told Phoebe.
"It's ok Prue" Paige spoke up, "When both my parents died I blamed myself as well, I had so much pain and guilt directed inwards. But I took every day as it came I learnt to live with the pain and guilt and worked through it and you will too" Paige told her, Phoebe helped pull Prue back onto her feet and brushed her hair back.
"Just don't keep it all hidden inside anymore ok, talk to me" she told her older sister.
"I just want to be alone tonight ok" she replied as she ran off upstairs to her room. Leo watched the scene unfold tears in his eyes and he then orbed out unnoticed. Phoebe and Paige looked over to where Leo had been. "Where'd Leo go?" Paige asked.
"I think he has some things to work out himself, he's still upset over losing Piper even if he won't show it and I think all of this has made him realise his own grief" Phoebe told her as the pair went over to Cole who was still lying in the remains of the kitchen door. "Cole, come on sweetie wake up" Phoebe said to him as she knelt beside him, Cole slowly came to as he sat up, Phoebe then helped him get to his feet. "What happened? Did you save Prue?" he asked the pair.
"Yeah I think so, she's back to herself she just wants to be alone tonight" Phoebe told him.
"I just wish we could've done more" Paige added.
"Don't worry honey, I think what you said will help Prue she might now start grieving and healing" Phoebe told her.
XXX
The morning sun rose into the sky and filtered light into the manors kitchen as Prue came down the stairs into the foyer; she saw the wreckage from last night as she walked through the foyer into the kitchen the remains of the door swung open. Her eyes landed on Phoebe who was sat eating at the table. "Prue hi" Phoebe said as she saw her sister enter the room. "How'd you sleep?" she asked her.
"Better actually than I have for a few weeks, that little spell of yours certainly helped" Prue replied as she sat down opposite Phoebe. "Thank you by the way for bringing me back to my senses" she told Phoebe.
"Don't worry about it, you've been a dog and a man to save me before so it's the least I could do" Phoebe replied as she smiled, Prue smiled in response.
"How'd Paige take it all anyway, was she freaked?" she asked Phoebe.
"Surprisingly no, she just wanted to help she's definitely taking to the magical life, I think we just need to work on the rules with her" Phoebe replied.
"Yeah no more swiping the book of shadows" Prue added as she grabbed her keys off the hook, "I'm going to grab my car and just clear my head some more I'll be back later ok" she told Phoebe.
"Yeah sure take all the time you need I'll be here when you get back" Phoebe responded with a smile as Prue went out the back door.
XXX
Prue stepped out of her cab at South Bay Social services she saw her car still in the same space that she'd parked the previous afternoon, as she pulled out her keys she turned and looked at the entrance building, as she processed her thoughts she walked off towards the building hoping to find Paige. As she stepped through the door she scanned all the desks and saw Paige working away at hers, she walked towards the desk and slowly sat down; Paige stopped typing and looked up at Prue.
"Morning" she said as she met the gaze of the eldest Halliwell.
"Hey, I was just dropping by to pick up my car after yesterday and I just wanted to say thanks, you know for helping me out last night" Prue told her, a sense of guilt rising up within her. "Oh it was nothing you know, you and Phoebe saved me from The Source of all evil so you know I kind of owe you both" Paige replied to her, "And I just want to say how sorry I am about the whole Book of Shadows swipe, I didn't get how special it was to your heritage" she added wanting Prue to know how bad she felt about her actions, Prue brushed her hands through her hair as she looked up at Paige, she recognised the look of guilt and apology on the young woman's face. "Our heritage" Prue added as Paige let out a slight smile at her words, "The book belongs to all of us and we should've told you how important it is, I've always been the one to hunt down the demons and try to stop them before they stop us you know" Prue told Paige, "But after losing Piper I felt like I needed to kick it up a notch, keep myself busy and get rid of as many demons as I could, now I know that wasn't the best plan" she finished saying.
"I get it, when my parents died I hated the silence those weeks afterwards, I just wanted to fill it with something so I turned back to drinking, partying, anything to stop the pain" Paige told Prue as she opened up to her a bit more, "Luckily I had Glenn and other friends to stop me from doing anything stupid, I learnt the pain doesn't go away but it does get better Prue you can take it from me" she told her.
"Thank you Paige" Prue replied as she gave her a faint smile and stood up from the desk, "I think I just need to clear my head for a bit longer, but I do appreciate all this Paige truly" she said to her before she turned and walked off.
XXX
Prue pulled her SUV up at the beach her Grams used to take her too as a little girl; she turned off the engine and excited her vehicle. She looked out at the sea as she sat down. The beach had always been secluded, it had always been part of the reason Grams brought her and her sisters there as kids, she cleared her throat as she got ready to speak. "Spirits of air, sand and sea, converge to set the angel free. In the wind I send this rhyme, bring death before me before my time". She chanted a cold gust of air blew around her before The Angel of Death wisped in front of her. "Why have you summoned me?" he questioned as he looked on at Prue.
"I need some answers and you're the only one who can give them too me" she told him, "The last time we spoke on this beach you told me it wasn't my time yet and I excepted that, when Shax attacked and I saw him go for Doctor Griffiths I knew what you'd wanted me to prepare for, I was ready to die for what I knew was right and I excepted it" Prue told him as she felt her emotions building up again. "Yet I somehow ended up on the ground again and Piper was blasted through that wall first and I want to know why, why tell me to prepare if you weren't going to take me?" she asked Death.
"I feel we know each other well enough by now Prue to skip pleasantries" he informed her, "It's true you were on my list and had been for some time, anyone of the demons you fought after my visit could've killed you and I wanted you to be ready, to accept me and make sure your sisters were prepared for the inevitable" he told Prue.
"Then why change that, why take Piper instead what sort of sick joke was it, did you want to show me how powerful you are, how easily you can turn the tables?" she asked him as tears streamed down her cheeks. "This actually had nothing to do with me; I was prepared to collect your soul that day and was just as shocked and surprised when I couldn't, and now this is a matter we are working on" he told her, Prue took in all Death was telling her. "Wait we, whose this we?" she asked him.
"At this point in time that isn't important, you just need to know that you are safe from this moment on, you aren't intended to be on my list, move on with the gift you have been given and live your life now and I will be in contact when I have more answers for you" before Prue could respond to him The Angel of Death wisped out leaving Prue alone on the beach with more questions now than ever.
Credits:
Starring Shannen Doherty as Prue Halliwell, Alyssa Milano as Phoebe Halliwell and Rose McGowan as Paige Matthews with Brian Krause as Leo Wyatt and Julian McMahon as Cole Turner.
Guest Starring: Becky Wahlstrom as Lila and Simon Templeman as The Angel of Death.
Next Episode 4x04: Witch Switch: As Phoebe starts teaching Paige the basics of being a witch, Paige's first spell brings consequences for her and her sisters. Also Prue returns to work only to bump into an old flame on assignment.