Heaven Can't Wait
Chapter 10
This one, still hiding in the shadow, put his bow back up, preparing to fire at the newcomer…
The arrow flew toward Cole and only Phoebe's warning prevented him from being hurt as he hit the deck just in time. The Darklighter, apparently finding the place too crowded at this point, vanished in a cloud of black orbs.
The tires screeched when Piper stopped abruptly at the alley's entry. She didn't lose time and got out of the truck in a hurry, barely taking the time to verify that her sister and Leo were following, she started running toward the alley. There she found that the warlock had already arrived and was about to strike the boy with a ritual knife. As if he had known that she was coming, he turned toward her right away and looked directly at her. His expression, contrary to what Piper would have expected, was not of surprise but she thought that she saw satisfaction in it. He immediately turned the knife toward her and threw it. She barely had time to freeze it before it hit her. Paige came behind her and gasped, recognizing Gandel at once. She exclaimed:
"Bob!" As it was the most natural thing that came to her mind…
This distracted Piper, and she took too long before trying to freeze the warlock. He used this time to let go of the boy and blink right by her, picking up the knife still frozen in mid air and putting it to her throat. Leo tried to lunge at them but the warlock pushed the knife into her skin, stopping Leo in his track. Paige was very scared but the idea of her sister in danger galvanized her somehow. An intense rage mounted in her:
"Let her go, it's not her that you want…"
Gandel turned a mocking stare toward her:
"How arrogant of you. I'll take care of you soon enough…"
Then he moved the knife quickly, ready to strike Piper.
Paige followed her instinct at this point, and started running toward them. Gandel saw the threat immediately and turned the knife toward her, but this time a fireball came out of the dagger and flew in Paige direction. This one lifted her hands in defense, and a wall of energy seemed to form in front of her, deflecting back the fireball toward the warlock. This one was hit on the shoulder, just enough to hurt him but not quite enough to vanquish. He wailed in pain and rage, and just before blinking out, he retaliated by knifing Piper in the stomach. Piper fell slowly to the ground, her eyes round with surprise.
Paige and Leo exclaimed at the same time:
"NO!" As they were now rushing to her side…
The darklighter had orbed in the alley as well just before the last part of the attack, still hiding in the shadows. He stayed only long enough to see Piper falling, then he orbed out again.
Cole didn't lose time, and as soon as the arrow had passed him he got back up, looking around to try and find the darklighter. However, even as Phoebe came by his side, neither one of them could find a trace of him around, so they got back to Coleridge.
Making sure that no one was watching them, Cole then turned to Phoebe:
"Let's get him home, we'll figure it out there," he told her. She simply acquiesced nervously and he took a hold of her arm as well as Coleridge's. Then, he flashed them both home…
Leo put his hand on Piper's wound trying his best to stop the bleeding as he looked into her frightened eyes. She was breathing shallow and still barely believed that she had been hit. Leo turned his head heaven wise and pleaded with the Elders for help…
When they were home, Cole looked down at his father and realized that he had to act fast as this one was fading away rapidly. He knew that he had to think of something or it would be too late. In desperation, he thought of a radical solution to get rid of the arrow.
"Father, it will hurt really bad, brace yourself."
Coleridge had barely enough strength left to look up questioningly, but it didn't take long for him to understand as Cole extended his hand toward the arrow and set it magically on fire. The arrow disintegrated, scorching Coleridge skin badly, and this one, as well as Cole who felt it, couldn't help a scream. Coleridge thankfully lost consciousness, and after taking a few deep breaths, fighting through the pain, Cole put his hands over his father's wound and managed to heal him. Phoebe could see how much it had taken out of him as he fell back against the couch, apparently exhausted.
Leo turned to Paige who was still stuck in place by the shock of what happened not only to her, but also to Piper. He almost angrily told her:
"Go for help now, you have to find Cole…"
He turned back to Piper, leaving Paige just as confused as to where she should start looking. She had just about decided to go back to the house just in case, when she noticed that Leo's hands were glowing.
She exclaimed:
"Leo, look!"
At this moment, Leo realized it as well and with a deep sigh of relief, he understood that the Elders had heard his plea and given him back his powers. It was very close, as Piper had almost been gone by then. As soon as the wound was healed, she looked down on herself, then toward Leo in amazement. Then horror seemed to wash over her face:
"The baby!"
Leo immediately reassured her about it as he took her in his arms and almost crushed her in relief.
"He will be fine and so will you, thanks to the Elders…"
Piper:
"Well I'm glad that they saw the light…"
She then turned to Paige remembering what happened:
"Hey, I think that we finally found out what your power is…"
Paige was still unsure about the whole thing, it had all happened so fast.
"Huh?"
Piper:
"It's deflection, a very useful power indeed."
When she finally saw that everyone was fine, and had a moment to think back, she started smiling.
The warlock had blinked in another remote area and looked at his wound with eyes still filled with rage. He didn't notice a shadow appearing not far from him and jumped when he heard the voice.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
After a moment, the warlock answered to the unseen interlocutor:
"I was trying to save myself…"
"And doing so, you almost destroyed our plan…"
Gandel replied with irritation:
"She was attacking me…"
"Yes and stupidly you tried to kill her…"
Gandel chose not to respond to this, instead he continued:
"At least, I got the right one!"
"Yes," the voice continued still very irritated, "but that was dumb luck on your part. I don't think that I can work with you anymore," he added somewhat threateningly.
Gandel was still too weak to use his powers or, sensing the danger, he would have tried to at this point:
"I am the one who came to you with this remember?"
"And I am the one who figured out how to make it work… You were going into this blindly, without having realized that powerful witches protected her. One more failing on your part… I will have to find myself a better partner…"
Gandel opened frightened eyes now as he didn't even have enough left to blink out, and he barely had time to realize what was happening before the darklighter approached him from behind and applied a burning hand to his back, just before disappearing again in a cloud of orbs. The warlock felt the burning sensation throughout his body and burst into flames shortly after.
The darklighter's shadow returned to the alley to see the result of his brilliant plan. He had to repress a grunt of frustration though when at once, he saw that the witch was very much alive and almost ready to leave the alley, and that now a whitelighter was present…
Leo felt him right away and turned his head toward a darkened corner, but almost as soon as he had felt his presence the darklighter disappeared. It had been so quick that Leo wondered if it wasn't his newly returned powers that were somehow misfiring and he shrugged it off. The three of them left the alley, picking up the poor little boy, still unconscious. It had not taken long for them to see that he wasn't hurt but only had passed out from fright. They went out of the alley, grateful that the terrible drama that almost cost Piper her life was behind them…
Back at the Turner's house, Cole was recuperating from the efforts he had made to save his father, while this one was slowly awakening only to feel the pain of one of his charges. He was about to orb out without warning when the pain suddenly stopped. This puzzled him, but he assumed that the poison had confused his senses. He then turned grateful eyes toward his son:
"Well son, your healing was somewhat rough but efficient…"
Cole lifted a corner of his mouth in a half smile before replying:
"Well I didn't quite know what else to do right then…"
Coleridge smiled as well:
"That's fine, it worked and that's all that matters…"
Paul had been upstairs taking care of the baby but the screams of pain had alerted him and now he was observing the three of them, relieved that nothing irreversible had happened. Feeling rather domestic at the moment, he offered a round of tea, which they accepted gratefully. Meanwhile, Phoebe went upstairs to check on the baby again. As she told him, it wasn't that she didn't trust him to take care of Jason but…
Paul laughed before going toward the kitchen.
Coleridge still had a question for Cole:
"How did you know?"
Cole:
"Well for one, Phoebe had a premonition and second, I felt it. It was none too pleasant by the way…"
Coleridge was amazed:
"You did?"
"I guess that we are more connected than we thought…"
Coleridge and him just smiled at each other, happy that indeed they had connected. In more ways than one…
Cole continued after a moment:
"Do you know why he came after you?"
Coleridge:
"Well, beside the fact that Darklighters are always trying to get rid of us, I really don't know that there was any specific reason."
Cole accepted this explanation:
"Well then, glad that I could save you…"
Coleridge:
"No more than me…"
The boy woke up as they were driving and opened still very frightened eyes to see strangers surrounding him. Paige noticing this, turned to him and smiled reassuringly:
"Everything is alright, we are bringing you back to your mother…"
The boy asked in a little voice:
"Where is the bad man?"
Paige sighed:
"He is gone, he won't hurt you anymore." This, she really hoped was the truth.
She turned to Piper for approval, and this one smiled confidently.
As soon as they had given back the boy to his weeping mother, they headed home, impatient to know if Cole and Phoebe had succeeded as well. Piper also wanted to compare notes with Phoebe, as she thought that the whole thing had been mighty bizarre and suspicious…
When they got home, it was already late in the afternoon of a very long day indeed. They went straight to the Turner's to find that they were all sitting calmly in their living room as if nothing had happened. It made Piper wonder if indeed there had really been an emergency.
"So," she asked Phoebe, who expressed relief at seeing them back, "what was the deal?"
Phoebe gave her the short version of their afternoon and Piper opened wide eyes, but never as much as Phoebe when Piper told her of theirs…
She turned to Paige and Leo with a large smile:
"Now I would say that it was a full day… And thank god for that," she added hugging Piper even as she talked.
Piper couldn't help but feel ill at ease with the two stories though. Again she was reminded of how bizarre everything felt and she mentioned it around as Phoebe went back to her seat and began nursing Jason.
"Don't you think that it is really weird that those things happened at the same time and what's more, the warlock didn't even seem surprised to see me there…"
Phoebe:
"Are you sure that you didn't read him wrong? After all, what connection could there be between a darklighter attacking Cole's father and a warlock kidnapping a kid? Do we even know yet why he did it?"
Piper:
"I haven't got a clue, there was nothing in the book about any kind of ritual practiced by this particular warlock…"
Leo intervened:
"Speaking of darklighter… I didn't think much of it at the time, but I think that I felt one in the alley, only for a moment."
Piper turned to him curiously:
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Leo:
"At the time, I thought that I was mistaken. However since you are talking about it, maybe there really was a connection between the two events…"
Cole:
"What would have been their purpose?"
Piper:
"I don't know, maybe to divide us…"
Phoebe:
"But how would they have known about the premonitions?"
No one had an answer for that one…
The darklighter was now thinking back to what happened, wondering where he had erred. By now, he had figured that at least one of them would be out of the picture. The problem seemed more complex than he had imagined but he wasn't about to give up. The double prize that awaited him was well worth his efforts. For one there was Paige… No other like her had ever been born yet. She had been the reason why he had accepted to work with the warlock in the first place. And then, there were the charmed ones, he was now absolutely sure that they were the ones, even if he had doubted the warlock at first. He now believed that maybe he had been too hasty in his planning. It had been easy to give the witch those premonitions. A little suggestion and her gift had done the rest.
However, he had to admit now that, what he had thought a full proof plan had been thwarted. Now alone, he had a lot to do before he could get what he truly wanted. He was convinced that he had been right to get rid of the warlock. He had almost destroyed the very reason why the darklighter was ready to do anything to succeed…
Now, he would have to find someone else with the same ambition but with more powers and smarts. No matter, he was patient…
Cole:
"You know what, speculations are nice but at this point I really think that we should try to find this warlock and maybe even the darklighter. Then, we should finish this threat once and for all…"
Phoebe:
"How?"
He smiled:
"I really think that my father, Paul and me could manage that. You had an eventful enough day…"
Piper protested mildly:
"It's our job to do this and well, I thought that you were now in the business of protection…"
Cole:
"Let's just say that it's the same thing here. I didn't want to alarm you with this but, what if now that they have failed, they go to the source or an upper demon, which would have the same result? I am quite sure that the Source doesn't know about Paige yet, since no one has come beside that warlock. However, if they go to him, the attacks are going to start again, maybe even more vicious than before. I think that you all need more time before facing this…"
Piper agreed reluctantly, and even more so because Coleridge and Paul approved of Cole's analysis of the situation.
Leo insisted on accompanying them and they left the girls behind to ponder what Cole had said about the Source.
Phoebe bit her lips pensively while putting the baby, now asleep, back in his cradle:
"Do you really think that it could get any worse than it has been?"
She asked her still troubled sister.
They had already lost Prue in the last battle with the Source and today, they had been caught unprepared. This had almost cost her life. But deep down, she had never truly believed that they were ready in the first place. More often than none in the last 4 years, they had improvised. Once again she was reminded of how difficult it would be without Prue.
To her sister she simply answered:
"I really don't know. I just think that, as usual we'll make do as they come."
Phoebe smiled weakly and nodded in acquiescence.
Paige couldn't help but feel guilty for what happened that afternoon. True, she had found that she also had a witch power, but she had not been good enough to prevent Piper from getting hurt, and she knew in her heart that she was the one they were afraid couldn't cut it.
"I'm sorry for today," she said to Piper, "I wasn't ready for what happened…"
Piper turned to her half sister in surprise:
"No! It's fine; you did good! Believe me, when we found out about all this crap, we weren't prepared either. I would say that in the circumstances, you did really well indeed. It wasn't your fault."
Paige was grateful for Piper's encouragement, but she still felt that she could have done more, reacted faster. She promised herself to do it right next time. Hopefully with better results…
Paul, using his wizards' spell, had found the magic trace that the warlock had left behind, and they were now surrounding a pile of dust that they all assumed must have been the warlock's remains…
"I guess that Paige got him better than we thought," Leo uttered.
Cole:
"Are you sure it's him?"
He was asking Paul, who was still trying to see if there was no other trace of movements by the warlock.
"Positive," he finally answered. "The warlock ended up here and I would bet almost anything that it's him," he added, indicating the dusty remains. The only thing is, if he was hit that bad, how did he manage to blink? And not just once… From the way we had to go to get here, he must have traveled for a while before stopping, no doubts to make sure that he couldn't be traced…Obviously he didn't know about me," he added with a contented smile.
Leo then questioned:
"So if it wasn't Paige, then who?"
Cole:
"I would say, he had a fallout with his partner…"
Coleridge:
"So now, we subscribe to the partner theory?"
Paul:
"I would say that it is the most likely explanation. Can you feel any darklighter's presence around here."
Coleridge:
"Certainly not at the moment. And if he has been here, he covered his tracks better than this warlock."
Paul:
"I would say so too, as I cannot feel him either. If he is a darklighter, then he must be an older one with more powers and experience. Only the most powerful of them could hide their orbings so well."
Leo:
"So what do we do?"
Coleridge:
"I don't think that there is much that we can do. Besides, I doubt that he will come back. Not now that he may have guessed that he was facing the charmed ones. And really, an association between a darklighter and a warlock is practically unheard of. I doubt if it will happen again. Moreover, it is also doubtful that he would go to the source about this, not really the darklighter' style…"
Leo approved.
Cole:
"So we go home then, I think that the girls will be relieved by this news."
At home, Phoebe was still troubled by the warlocks' action.
"Paige would you mind taking care of Jason for a while? I think that I will go have another look in the book. At least if they don't find him, maybe we'll be better prepared the next time he shows up…"
Piper:
"Good idea, you were always luckier with this book than any of us…"
Paige:
"Of course, go. Jason and me will be just fine here."
Phoebe smiled sweetly:
"I'm so happy that we found you."
That brought a bright smile to Paige's lips. In spite of all the resistance that she had put before coming to them, and of the danger that they had already faced together, Paige was already falling in love with her new family. Even if she had thought that it would be difficult to get used to her new sisters, it was getting easier every day. They were such great people and she found herself proud of being one of them now.
Phoebe had been looking through the book only for a few minutes when Cole's arrival startled her. He came to her smiling and she guessed that the news was good.
"You don't have to worry about this warlock anymore. He's dead!"
Phoebe:
"Did you…"
Cole:
"Nope, hardly enough he was already dead when we found what is left of him."
"How convenient," Phoebe replied with a little point of cynicism.
Cole started toward her purposefully, and she suddenly knew that the warlock was the last thing on his mind…
"You know, I never noticed how sexy those glasses looked on you…"
He took the book and closed it casually. Phoebe smiled a bit teasingly:
"At this point, I would have rolls in my hair and you would find it sexy as well."
Cole laughed at that:
"You might be right about this," he said pulling her toward him.
"Paige is taking care of the baby and the others are all coming back here… Our room seems mighty appealing just now…"
He kissed her passionately, then she replied in a whisper:
"What are we waiting for?"
They flashed out of the attic right then…
For the next few days, the darklighter only observed the manor and the other house from afar, planning his new attacks with more care. He had already a few prospects to help him lined up, but right now, all of his ideas had seemed risky. He felt that he needed more time to accomplish his goal. Still, he couldn't help wanting to see her, watch her every move. She was the one, and she was pretty, even really attractive, which didn't hurt one bit. He could already savor his sweet victory over her. How he would make her is, and so doing, gain not only notoriety with his own kind, but the respect from upper demons for breaking the power of three, for good…
Paige was getting more restless every day. She would have thought by now that the young man would only be a pleasant memory. At least, the first moment that she saw him that is. However, every day she thought of him more, and of how much she wanted to see him again. Finally, she found herself in front of the apartment building where he lived. She had also read the address from his identification papers the day she met him. At the time, she had had no intention of seeing him again, or so she had tried very hard to convince herself… Now standing hesitantly in front of the door to the building, she was again wondering what she would say to him. He probably was very upset with her, even if he most certainly didn't know what really happened. Still, she had figured that she might use her concern for his well being as an excuse. Right now though, it sounded pretty lame to her, and she believed that he probably would read in her face the true motive for her visit. Five minutes later, she was no closer to making a decision, when the young man made it for her…
He opened the door and exclaimed in surprise at finding her there:
"Paige!"
She couldn't help smiling at the realization that he remembered her name even now.
However, she still didn't have the nerve to talk to him, as he continued observing her curiously:
"Were you coming to see me?"
Paige babbled:
"Huh well, I…"
She felt so stupid at this point that she wanted to turn around and run away, but then he smiled and she forgot her malaise altogether:
"I was worried about you…"
"Oh! You don't have to worry, it's only a bad memory now…"
Paige was a little disappointed that the conversation seemed already over:
"Well then, I suppose that it's fine. Just wanted to be sure…"
She was already taking her leave of him, albeit reluctantly, when he called her back:
"Are you in such a hurry?"
Paige turned back with a renewed smile:
"Not really…"
"Care for some lunch? I was just on my way to the deli."
Paige felt the pleasant little butterflies forming in her stomach:
"I'd love that…"