Chapter 2: Hell Hath no Fury

"Paige," Mr. Cowan called out.

"Yeah?" Paige asked as she looked up at Mr. Cowan.

"What's the hold up on the O'Brien application?" Mr. Cowan asked.

Paige smiled. "Well, at the moment, the only hold up is my boss, who's standing over me distracting me from my work."

Mr. Cowan nodded. "Nice teeth. Have it on my desk by noon," he said as he turned and walked away.

Paige lowered her voice to a whisper as she looked over at Lila. "Lila! What's the O'Brien application?"

"Adam O'Brien, the foster kid we're trying to get into the boarding school," Lila said.

"Oh my goddess," Paige said. "I forgot."

Lila nodded. "The scholarship application is due, like, today."

"I am so lame," Paige said as Billy pushed the mail cart in front of her desk. He put her mail on her desk. "Aw, Billy, I thought I told you to throw anything from creditors in the trash." He smiled as another co-worker, Donnie, approached them.

"Hi, Pizza-face. Look, I understand how difficult it is to tear yourself away from the cleavage in this section," Donnie said as he looked at Paige. "But I'm gonna need my mail sometime today. Okay?"

Billy nodded. "No problem."

Donnie smiled. "Go, go."

Billy walked away as Donnie gave Paige a sleazy look and walked across the room.

"Nice rug," Paige said, sarcastically.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Paige knocked on the attic door of the Manor. "Knock knock," she said as she glanced at Phoebe and Piper, who was scrying. "I uh … I'm sorry to just drop by without calling."

Phoebe smiled. "Uh, it's okay. Don't worry about it."

"I need to have a look in the book. Faith …"

"Faith?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh, that's right you haven't met her or Willow," Paige said. "Faith is Buffy's lover. And Willow is Dawn's."

"Ah," Phoebe said. "So, you were saying."

"Faith has been tracking this demon and wanted me to see if there was anything about it in your Book."

Suddenly Piper picked up the map and scrying crystal and headed for the attic door.

"What are you doing?" Phoebe asked as Piper walked past her.

"Um, it's a little chatty up here, so I'm going to go scry for evil in my room," Piper said.

"Scry?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, uh, Phoebe will explain. I'll see you later," Piper said as she walked down the stairs.

"It's kind of like a, um," Phoebe said.

"I know what it is," Paige interrupted. "I mean why is she scrying?"

"She's scrying for evil," Phoebe said. "For the next demon we'll go after. Anyways go ahead, technically the book is yours also. I'll be back in a few minutes; I need to talk to Cole."

"What's the deal with him anyways?" Paige asked.

"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked.

Paige sighed. "That night I saw you and him together he cast some kind of spell or something."

"He's a demon," Phoebe said.

Paige's eyes went wide. "A demon. And you go out with him?"

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Let's just say I know the attraction of the dark side," Paige said.

"You do?" Phoebe asked. "Who did you date?"

"Not me, Buffy," Paige said. "A vampire. And I saw what he …" She noticed Phoebe's questioning gaze when she said 'he'. "Buffy wasn't always gay. Well she's more bisexual actually. Anyways I saw what he did to her. Not physically but emotionally." She let out a sigh and then orbed out. She decided right now was not the time to look through the Book. She could come back later. She needed to clear her head.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Later back at South Bay Social Services Paige was in the copy room, copying some files for Mr. Cowan as Donnie came in and checked out Paige's ass while he fixed his toupee.

"Nothing like a copy room with a view," Donnie said as he poured himself some coffee. Paige straightened up as Billy walked in. "Hey Clearasil, what's popping?" He laughed as he left.

Paige sighed. "Don't worry about him, Billy. He's a jerk to everybody."

Billie nodded. "Yeah, I know. That's why his mail gets lost … frequently."

"I've had about enough of his sexual harassment statements," Paige said. "I think I will go talk to Mr. Cowan."

"Good luck," Billy said.

Paige marched out of the copy room and over to Mr. Cowan's office door and knocked.

"Come in," Mr. Cowan said as Paige opened the door and walked in. "Ah, Paige. Did you get those files copied?"

"Almost," Paige said. "I wanted to talk to you about Donnie. I want to report him for sexual harassment."

"Did he do something?" Mr. Cowan asked suddenly concerned.

"No," Paige said. "Just his comments to me."

"I'll talk to him. You let me know if he does it again," Mr. Cowan said.

Later Paige was on the phone talking to someone about Adam O'Brien's case. "Sir, I am taking full responsibility for being late with the application. I'm simply asking for a deadline extension."

"Well, I can't give you a deadline extension."

"Well I'm asking that you not punish Adam O'Brien who's already had a tough enough life for my mistake." Paige said as she heard the man sigh. "Sir, all I'm saying is that Adam is a hard working kid. Who just needs a break in life. Please."

"How does six o'clock on Friday sound?"

Paige smiled. "Six o'clock Friday is perfect. Thank you so much," she said as she hung up. "Victory!"

Lila looks over at her. "You got the extension?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah."

Just then Donnie came up to her and stood behind her. "My apologies for the comments I made."

"Let me guess, Mr. Cowan told you to apologize or he'd fire you?" Paige asked as Donnie nodded. "Just so you know he told me to let him know if you ever made another comment like those again."

Donnie turned and walked away.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Later Paige returned to Manor check the Book for Faith. As she walked in through the front door she heard Leo and Phoebe talking in the living room.

"Cole hit her with an energy ball," Leo said.

"He hit who with an energy ball?" Paige asked as she entered the living room. Phoebe and Leo looked up at her. "Remembered I need to check the Book for that demon Faith's been tracking."

"Piper is turning into a Fury," Phoebe said and then she looked back at Leo. "Leo, it was a low voltage. Would you prefer he'd let her kill an innocent?"

"I'd prefer that he wouldn't use his demonic powers on my wife," Leo said.

"I would prefer that also," Paige said as Phoebe looked at her. "I'm not going to pretend to like him, Phoebe. He is a demon. And for that I will never ever trust him."

"You can't let your past judge your future," Leo said as he turned to look back at Phoebe. "And I can't believe that you let him go look for her."

"Listen to yourself, Leo. You're trying to defend him to me. But at the same time you don't like what he did to Piper," Paige said. "He's a demon for crying out loud. He should have been vanquished a long time ago. Instead you all are letting him date Phoebe."

Phoebe glared at Paige. "It's not their choice to make, it's mine. He's good, Paige. He's helped save a lot of innocents," she said.

"So was Angel," Paige said as she returned Phoebe's glare. "But he still hurt Buffy in the long run."

Phoebe sighed as she looked at Leo deciding to quit worrying about trying to defend Cole to Paige. "I just hope he finds her fast because if this is anything like the time I turned into a Banshee, she's gonna be hungry for a kill."

"So how are you going to save Piper?" Paige asked.

"Not sure yet," Phoebe said as she set the Book on the coffee table. She got up and walked into the dining room where she had set up a map and a scrying crystal and began scrying. After a few minutes she gave up. "Damn it."

"It's not working because scrying is saying she isn't a witch anymore, right?" Paige asked. "That's the problem with scrying."

"Yeah," Phoebe said as Cole shimmered in, covered in bruises and scratches. "Cole. Thank God." She got up and hugged him as Paige glared at him.

"Don't thank me yet," Cole said.

"You didn't find her?" Paige asked.

Cole shook his head. "I didn't get a chance to look. Every time I used my sensing powers, a bounty hunter sensed me. I fought off three of them," he said as he sat down at the table. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's-it's okay," Phoebe said. "I mean, somehow everything's gonna be okay. I—I don't have even a little idea of how everything's gonna be okay."

"Phoebe ..." Paige said as an idea came to her mind.

"You know why?" Phoebe asked. "Because nothing is okay."

"Phoebe," Paige repeated.

Phoebe sighed. "My sister is a fury, my boyfriend is a demon ... Oh baby, you're bleeding," she said as she knelt down next to Cole.

"Phoebe," Paige said as Phoebe looked at her. "Now I could cast a spell that could locate Piper. But I'm not going to because I have an idea. What I am thinking about is the spell Piper used to find me, the TO Call A Lost Witch."

"But as you yourself said, Piper's not a witch anymore," Phoebe said.

Paige smiled. "Correct, but if we substitute the word 'sister' for 'witch'? Buffy, Dawn and I have done that before in spells we've cast with some success."

"Will that work?" Cole asked.

Phoebe shook her head. "Well, n-no. Not if she's already looking for a kill. The call won't be strong enough. I don't think she'll answer the call."

"Which comes to the next part if Cole is up to it," Paige said.

Phoebe looked at Cole and then back at Paige. "No. No. Uh, no. Are you kidding me? No."

Paige smiled. "I know what you're thinking, Phoebe. Just because I don't trust Cole is not why I am suggesting this. The furies go after evil doers."

Phoebe sighed. "Putting aside your trust issue, Paige. I am not using the love of my life as bait."

Cole looked at Phoebe and smiled. "Oh, yes we are. It's perfect." He stood up and moved beside Paige.

"Cole, you have been a demon for over a century. That is a lot of victims. The pain of their cries alone can kill you," Phoebe said.

Cole nodded. "Yes, but as you said, I'm not the demon that did those things anymore. And if facing my crimes helps save your sister …"

"Cole, I …" Phoebe started.

"Phoebe," Cole said as he sat back down next to Phoebe. "I would do almost anything for you, you know that. But I will not be a coward for you. Please don't ask me to be."

Phoebe reached up and touched Cole's face. "We'll need some of your blood."

Cole nodded. "Right."

"Knife," Paige called out as a knife orbed from the table and into Paige's hand. She held it out in front of Cole.

"So why is it you don't trust me?" Cole asked as he sliced his hand, drawing blood.

"Put it simply Cole," Paige said. "You're a demon. The long part of that story is. My sister, Buffy dated a vampire. He even had a soul."

"Angelus," Cole said as Phoebe looked at him shocked that he knew who Paige was talking about. "I heard about him in the Underworld. He was cursed with his soul around the time I was born."

"Yes, Angel," Paige said as Phoebe took the knife from Cole and held it over a candle. "Even with his soul, he hurt Buffy. Not physically but emotionally. So, you understand why I don't trust you or really like you much. I'm looking out for Phoebe here and my experience shows you will hurt her. Not physically, but emotionally."

Cole nodded in understanding. "All I can say here is, I will never do that. But even I know you won't take my word for it. You will have to see it."

"Paige," Phoebe said. "The spell, please."

Paige nodded as she joined Phoebe. "Power of the sister's rise," they said as they recited the modified spell that Phoebe had quickly wrote up, "course unseen across the skies, come to us who call you near. Come to us and settle here. Blood to blood, I summon thee, blood to blood, return to me."

And then they waited.

"Are you sure about this?" Phoebe asked as she watched her boyfriend pace back and forth several minutes later.

Cole smiled. "I'm good at a lot of things. Waiting is not one of them."

"Okay do we have any idea how to we un-demon Piper when she gets here?" Paige asked.

"I thought about it and we have to close the portal of unexpressed fury," Phoebe said.

"Unexpressed?" Cole asked. "I think she's been raging for days."

Phoebe nodded. "That's 'cause there's something she's not saying."

"Which is?" Paige wondered.

Phoebe sighed. "I don't know, but I think I have an idea," she said as Cole yelled out in pain and dropped to his knees. She knelt beside him. "They're close?"

"I'm sorry," Cole said. "I'm so sorry."

A fury barged in through the front door as Phoebe levitated and kicked her, knocking her down. The fury got back up and attacked Phoebe. Phoebe blocked and kicked her back down a second time just as Piper and the other fury appeared behind Phoebe near Cole and Paige.

"Phoebe!" Paige called out as Phoebe turned around.

"Nice decoy, Piper. Two points," Phoebe said as she levitated and kicked both the fury and Piper down. She looked over at Cole who lay on the floor. "Cole. Come on. Come on." She tried to get him up as the furies surrounded them.

"Lamp!" Paige called out as a lamp orbed out and it flew across the room hitting a fury. The furies turned around to face her. As the furies moved toward her, she dropped into a combat stance. "Just so you two know I've trained alongside the Slayer. "

Cole threw an energy ball at the two furies and vanquished them. Piper pushed Phoebe out of the way and scratched Cole's chest.

"Cole is not your problem, Piper, and you know it," Phoebe said as Piper attacked her. She kicked Piper down as Cole got an energy ball ready. "Cole, don't!" She looked to Piper. "You think I abandoned you. You think it's my fault that Prue died. You blame me. You should just admit it."

Piper sent Phoebe flying straight into a cabinet, smashing it. She then turned and headed for Paige.

"You don't want to kill me, Piper, you barely even know me," Paige said as Cole went over to Phoebe. "It's not about me. It's not about Phoebe, is it? Phoebe's not the sister who abandoned you. It's Prue, isn't it?" Paige said as she grabbed Piper. "Time to go for a ride." And then they orbed out.

"Where'd they go?" Cole asked.

"To what Piper's really angry at," Phoebe said.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

At the mausoleum Paige orbed in with Piper who backed away when she saw Prue's plaque.

"Tell her, Piper," Paige said as Piper tried to get out the locked doors. "It's alright to hate her. You should hate her. When Buffy died, I hated her for it. It was just me and Dawn. I hated Buffy because she left me and Dawn alone. It is okay to hate Prue."

Piper looked at Paige. "How dare you!" she yelled as she ran over to Prue's plaque and banged on it. "How dare you leave me? How could you go and die and leave me here all alone? Please come back. I need you. Please come back." She screamed and sank down on the ground, crying as she changed back to normal.

"It's okay," Paige said as she knelt down next to her sister. "It's okay."

Piper shook her head as she looked at Paige. "It's not okay. She risked her life every day and she never thought about what would happen to me and Phoebe if she was gone."

"I felt the same way when Buffy died," Paige said. "I was the eldest sister. But Buffy was the strongest. We had just lost mom to an aneurysm and then Buffy went and sacrificed herself so Dawn wouldn't have to. She was gone for a few months. And I felt lost." She pulled Piper into an embrace and hugged her tightly.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The next day at South Bay Social Services Piper walked in and over to Paige holding a basket of muffins. She set the basket on her desk as Paige looked up at her, surprised to see her standing there. Then she glanced into the basket and smiled as she saw the muffins. She was sure Piper was feeling a little better today than she had yesterday. "Muffins. Thanks," she said.

"Busy work," Piper explained. "I'm best in the kitchen. Prue was the one that liked to, uh, chase demons."

"I know what you mean," Paige said. "Well not entirely. None of us really liked to chase demons. But it was Buffy's job, we just helped her out. So, how are you?"

Piper sighed. "I've had, uh … bad hours," she said as she sat down. "And hours that aren't quite so bad. I guess you know how it is."

Paige nodded. "Yeah. When Buffy died, there were some days I didn't think I'd survive the sadness. It'll never be okay that she's gone, Piper. But I promise, it will get better."

"Can I ask you," Piper said. "You keep saying Buffy died, but…"

"There is a gypsy spell," Paige said. "Someone who died of mystical means can be brought back. Before you ask it won't work for Prue. It needed the Urn of Osiris and the last known one was destroyed during Buffy's resurrection. Besides I wouldn't do that, even if I wanted too. When Buffy came back she was a mess. See she had been ripped out of heaven. She remembered being in Heaven, the happy feelings it generated. She was mess after her resurrection."

"Oh god," Piper said as her hand went to her mouth.

"Exactly," Paige said as she saw the realization in Piper's eyes. "It was months before she finally was able to put it behind her."

Piper nodded. Even if they could find this Urn of Osiris and could get the spell from Paige, she would not cast it because she would not want to traumatize Prue like that.

Just then Mr. Cowan came up to them. "My, my, my. That pile looks about the same size as it did about an hour ago."

"Oh, that was my fault," Piper said as she stood up. "I distracted her with muffins."

"And you are?" Mr. Cowan asked.

Piper looked at Paige then back at Mr. Cowan. "I'm her sister."

"Sister?" Mr. Cowan asked as he looked at Paige confused.

"Biological," Paige said. "Buffy and Dawn are my sister's by my adoption. Piper here is my sister by birth. We were just reunited. And before you ask Mr. Cowan. No I didn't use the resources here to track Piper down. I've been looking for my birth family for a long time. Longer than I've been working here, since I was about twelve."

Mr. Cowan nodded and he turned and headed for his office.

"You've been looking for us that long?" Piper asked.

"Yeah," Paige said. "When I started coming into my powers I just wondered where I came from. Or more precisely where my powers came from. Then when Buffy and I turned sixteen and Dawn was fourteen, I stopped looking. Something else took up my time for a while then."

"When Buffy was called as a Slayer," Piper said as Paige nodded.

"Then when mom, followed by Buffy, died, I started looking again. I think I wanted to get back what I had just lost and I knew if I could find our mom and you guys then it would somehow make up for mom and Buffy dying. But it didn't last …"

"The grief," Piper said in understanding. "It was hard for you, losing both your mom and then your sister in the space of a couple months."

"It was," Paige said. "Even though it was a personal gain spell, I was blessed the day that Willow cast her spell. It gave me back my family. And then in time to find you. If Buffy hadn't come back I'm pretty sure I would never have started looking again. When I started after Buffy died I was alright, but as time went by I got more and more depressed, and more and more angry. If it hadn't been for Dawn keeping me grounded I don't know what would have happened."

"I know the feeling," Piper said. "Prue to me is like Buffy to you. And you saw what happened to me. If it hadn't been for you actually, I might not be sitting here now. I would have completed the transformation to becoming a Fury."

"Well tell you what," Paige said. "We'll keep each other grounded."

"Alright," Piper said. "I better let you get back to work."

"Yeah," Paige said. "Don't need my boss complaining that I'm not doing my job. Tell Phoebe I said hi."

"I will," Piper said as she smiled at Paige and then turned and left.

Paige smiled a little to herself. 'Sisters,' she thought. 'I have two sets of sisters. Two sets of the Power of Three.'