Sara Pezinne stared out her window at the New York skyline. It was something that she had found would occupy her senses while she thought. She had rare chances now a days, to simply stop and think. The few times that she did have, were often interrupted by the Witchblade. The Witchblade did not enjoy doing nothing, and it now let Sara know that. It sent a "friendly" shock up her arm, telling her it was bored, and wanted attention. Even though Sara had worn it for nearly a month now, she didn't understand how it could actually want attention. But maybe it was because the Witchblade was not really inanimate, it was, contrary to appearances, very alive. She looked at it.
"What?" she asked. Oh. Of course. "Ian, I'm surprised. A house call in the middle of the day."
"Not really the middle. More like the afternoon."
She turned to stare at him. Since when did Ian start being sarcastic?
"I have a message," he said.
"Now really? A message? Imagine that." She turned back to the window. She did this because, subcontioiusly, she had a form of trust with Ian, and she knew he would not harm her. He was, in fact, something of a protector.
"Let imagine something else." She paused. "It's from Irons."
She would not have turned her back to Irons, his reasons for not hurting her were completely different from Ian's.
"Actually, it is."
"And he wants me to come and see him?"
"Well-"
"Don't bother to tell me what for, because I don't really care. You can tell him no, whatever it is."
Ian hesitated. "Um, are you sure? It might be important."
Sara turned to face him again. "Nothing Irons has to say is important. It's nothing new, it won't make sense, and I've got my own sources. I don't really need him for information anymore."
"Fine. But remember, even if you don't care, the Witchblade might."
Was it her imagination or was Ian acting very strange? As she watched him leave, she decided no, it wasn't her imagination. Ian was acting very...not Ian. Very strange.
******
Piper fingered the ring she had just found. She had been going through the trunk in which the Book of Shadows had been found, looking for a set of candle holders, when her hand had brushed the jewelry. It had been like an electric shock had gone through her, and had left her gasping. She stood up, and with the ring in her hand, she made her way down stairs to the living room. She would be able to see it better down there, there was more light. But just as she stepped off the last stair, Phoebe, who was reading a school book as she walked, collided with her, knocking her down. The ring flew up in the air, and Piper, who had been hit in the face by Phoebe's book, did not see where it landed.
"Pheebs," Piper groaned.
"Sorry," Phoebe said, helping her up. "Didn't see you. Chemistry is just so fascinating."
"So it seems. Did you see where that ring I was holding went?" Piper asked.
"Ring? No. Want me to help you look for it?"
Before Piper could answer, Prue burst in, practically hopping up and down with joy.
"Calm down Prue, you look like you just got named Supreme Ruler of the Universe," Phoebe said.
"Not quite, but close!" Prue exclaimed.
Phoebe looked at Piper. Piper shrugged.
"I got a promotion! A big one! I am now the head photographer of 24/7!"
Piper and Phoebe hugged her.
"That's fantastic Prue!" They told her.
Prue bounced up and down some more.
"I know. And the best part is, a promotion means pay raise!" Prue giggled slightly.
"Well, at least now we know how we're going to pay for the constant demon/warlock repairs," Phoebe commented.
"What's the celebration?" a voice behind them asked. The girls turned. It was Leo, their Whitelighter and Piper's husband. Piper went over to him.
"Oh, Prue just got a promotion and a pay raise," she told him.
"That's great Prue." Leo's voice changed to a business like tone. "The Elders sent me to tell you that there was a disturbance in the Magic."
Prue's happy mood vanished. "Oh? Good or bad, where and when?"
"Well, it was a few minutes ago. Here. And I don't know if it was good or bad yet."
"We can't really start to look in the Book immediately. I need more information than that," Phoebe said.
Leo shrugged. "They didn't tell me anymore."
Piper snorted. "I guess they want us to this one on our then, huh." She looked at her sisters."Even if we don't completely know what it is, that doesn't mean that we can't start on it."
Phoebe nodded. "Be right back."
******
Ian walked back from Sara's to Irons, wondering what he would say. He knew that he should have tried harder to talk to Sara, but he just didn't see the point of trying to make her listen when she didn't want to. She could be very stubborn. He hadn't really been sent by Irons, he had just thought that maybe she would listen if he said he was. He stopped. Still, stubborn or not, this was an important piece of information. A very important piece of information. He went back in the direction to Sara's house. He had to make her listen, he had to....
******
"Sara? Sa-ra."
Sara didn't open her eyes. She had fallen asleep on the living room couch and was enjoying a Bladeless sleep.
"Oh Sara...."
Why couldn't whoever it was go away. Wait a second..who was in her house?
"PEZ!"
Moving lightning fast, she grabbed her gun from the coffee table and aimed it at the voice.
"Hey, Sara, it's just me."
Sara tossed he gun back onto the table.
"How on earth did you get in here Jake?"
Jake smiled. "Your door was open. I came in to see if you were okay."
Curse Nottingham, Sara thought. Leaving doors and windows open for anyone who wandered by.....
"Can I sit down..?" Jake motioned to a chair by the couch.
"Oh yeah...'course. Where are my manners? Anything to drink? Tea and crumpets perhaps?"
Jake gave a small laugh. "Water, hold the crumpets."
A few minutes later, Sara returned with drinks.
"So, what's the real reason you stopped by?" She asked, sitting down.
Jake shrugged, setting his glass on the coffee table.
"Ah ah ah, coaster!"
Jake made a sort of bowing motion. "Sorry you Ladyship." He grabbed a magazine and set his glass on it. Sara rolled her eyes, but said nothing.
"Well, I just thought you might like to know that we're being moved."
Sara sat up straight. "Moved?"
"Hey, calm down, it's just to a different room, not another department or something."
"Oh." Sara leaned back again. "When?"
Jake opened his mouth to tell her but at the same time, there was a heavy knocking on the door.
"Just a minute Jake."
The person knocked again.
*******
Jake watched as Sara opened the door. He saw a flash of black clothing before Sara stepped into the hallway and shut the door behind her. She was whispering angrily. He caught a bit of a sentence before the door closed.
"....company....told you..leave me alone..."
He thought for a second. Then jumped from the chair and ran to press his ear against the door. He liked Sara, he trusted her, but he had a feeling this was part of one of her big secrets. And he couldn't stand being in the dark much longer. Surprisingly, the door was not very thick and he could hear the conversation quite well.
*******
"Why can't Irons ever take no for an answer?" she hissed. "I'm not going to do what he wants anymore and-"
Ian cut her off. "I didn't go to Irons yet. I came back because you absolutely have to know."
"Then tell me. What is so freaking important, huh?"
He took a deep breath. "There's more than one part of the Witchblade."
Sara stared at him. "Huh?"
"There are at least two parts to the Witchblade that I know of. The bracelet that you wear, and a Ring."
"Where's the Ring?"
"No one knows. I was hoping..I was hoping you might be able to, find the ring."
"How?"
"Ask the Witchblade."
Sara blinked.
"Ian, what's up with you? First your crying, then your being sarcastic...."
"Just ask the Witchblade Sara," he said, and lifted his head to look her in the eyes. Sara took an unconscious step back.
"Right then. Tell ya' later. Shouldn't be to hard to, ya' know, find..you..." Sara trailed off. Ian lowered his eyes again.
"Right. And Sara: Irons doesn't know. So I wouldn't mention it." He started to walk away.
Sara stared open mouthed after him. When did Ian keep things from Irons? And if Irons didn't know, how had Ian found out?
*******
Jake sped back to his chair, sure that she would discover what he had been doing. What had possessed him? Somehow he managed to get to his chair. Sara closed the door behind her.
"Sorry about that."
"Who was it?"
"Oh, you know, those annoying door-to-door salesmen. We should throw them all in jail."
Jake forced a grin. "I'll help." He filed the conversation he had just heard in the back of his mind. He had to concentrate on making it look as though he wasn't weirded out.
"Where were we? Oh yes, pool...."
*******
The three sisters and Whitelighter gathered around the kitchen table and the Book of Shadows. Phoebe had just announced that she had found the section on Magical Disturbances. She told the sisters about what she had read.
"Basically, this is saying that disturbances usually mean something bad."
"Bad as in evil?" Prue asked.
"Yes. But it can be a good object, maybe a good object in a bad situation, a powerful good thing coming in before everything else is ready for it, or it can just mean the arrival of something very powerful."
"Okay, how does this help us?" Piper asked.
"It doesn't really," Leo said. "It only helps if any of you guys can think of something you found in the last half-hour or so."
Prue and Phoebe shook their heads, but Piper raised her hand, like she was in school.
'Um, I did." Leo looked at Piper. "But I lost it when Phoebe knocked into me."
"What was it?" Leo asked her.
"A ring. I found it in the same trunk that we Phoebe found the Book of Shadows in. I was looking for candle holders."
"You were looking for candle holders in that old trunk?" Phoebe shook her head. "The places we get our stuff."
"A ring?" Prue asked. "Like the one Phoebe is wearing now?" She pointed at Phoebe's hand.
Phoebe blinked. "Huh?"
"Yes! That's the ring. How did you get it?"
Phoebe brought her hand close to her face to study the ring. It was solid metal, except for a thick orange-gold-reddish line that ran all the way around the ring.
"Phoebe, where did you find that?" Leo asked.
Phoebe answered, puzzled. "I-I don't know. I don't remember picking it up or anything. Here-" She was starting to take it off, when she had a premonition.
There was a woman, 5'6, she was wearing a bracelet with identical coloring to the ring. The woman screamed, her long brown hair flew out behind her, and suddenly she turned into a knight, flickering back and forth. There was a landmark: New York Police Department District 11, and a name, Pezinne.
When Phoebe opened her eyes, she found herself sitting on the floor grasping a butter knife.
"Phoebe?"
"I'm okay. At least, I think I am." She stared at the butter knife, and maybe it was her imagination, but she thought she saw the ring glow, for just a second. And for no reason, she laughed.
Prue knelt next to her.
"Phoebe, can you stand?"
"I think so...Why am I holding a butter knife?"
"You started yelling, grabbed the knife from the table, waved it at us, and sat down," Leo told her.
"I did?"
"Yeah." Prue helped Phoebe to her feet. She swayed a bit, but she could stand.
"I had a premonition."
Piper stepped forward. "What did you see?"
Phoebe tried to think. The truth was, she didn't really remember, except that it was placed in New York, at Police District 11. She relayed this to Piper, Prue, and Leo.
"I really can't remember the rest."
"New York? Leo, why would Phoebe be getting premonitions from New York? Isn't that kind of far?"
"Evil must have figured out that it's having to hard a time here in San Francisco because of all the good forces. You guys, other witches, The Slayer, people like that. There's a lot more opportunity in New York City."
"So, we have to go to York City? We can't. I have school, Piper has the club, and Prue has new responsibility's with this promotion," Phoebe said. "And what if something, supernatural, happens while we're away?"
Next to her, Prue sighed heavily. "If you had a premonition Pheebs, we have to go. Me and you call in sick, and Piper, well, Piper doesn't have to."
"An advantage to being my own boss," Piper said.
"And we'll just have to hope that nothing will happen while we're gone."
"I'll go check airline prices," said Piper, and she started to leave when.
"Wait a minute Piper," Prue said. She turned to Leo. "Couldn't you just orb us there? It would be a lot faster."
"I think so, but I'll go check." Leo went to ask the Elders.
"Well," Phoebe said smiling. "We'd better get packed."
********
Ian stood on the roof across from Sara's apartment. It was dark enough that anyone looking up wouldn't see him. He was supposed to be watching the apartment, but he didn't se it. In fact, he didn't even see New York. Then the vision ended, and he stared at the dark windows once more. Three women. They were very special, as special as Sara. They were coming, looking for Sara, he was certain. But he didn't know their intentions. The visions were a result of an accidental encounter with the Witchblade. As a little boy, he had found it. He had not yet known it's importance, and had placed it on his wrist. And nothing had happened. The Witchblade didn't fight him, but it didn't welcome him either. He had taken it off and walked away. Two days later, he learned what it was, and what it was capable of. Even though nothing had happened in the brief time that he had worn it, the Witchblade had left him with the power to see important future or present events. He was never shown the details, just that it happened, or was going to happen.
The wind began to pick up, and a lightning bolt flashed in the distance. It was going to be a long, wet night.....
*********
"Everybody packed?" Leo asked.
"Everybody's out of whatever important things they're supposed to do this week?" Prue asked.
"Somebody called Daryl and told him what we're doing?" Piper asked.
"Anybody have to go to the bathroom before we leave?" Phoebe asked.
"Anybody not want to play twenty questions before we leave?" Leo said.
"Ready," the girls said in unison.
"All right, everybody grab your luggage, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the movie."
The sisters felt themselves going up and......down. BEEP BEEP! The girls shot to one side. Even though Leo had made sure that they would materialize out of the view of other people, he had put them right in front of a Semi Truck that was using the ally as a shortcut. The girls were still for a second as they looked at their luggage. Phoebe and Piper's bags were fine, but Prue's had been crushed and shredded.
"Nice going, Leo," Piper muttered.
"Sorry. I'm not used to transporting other people."
Phoebe picked up a bright yellow shirt that had a tire track straight across it. She started to laugh.
Prue looked at her. "What's so funny?"
The ring was burning....Who are you?
Phoebe simply continued to laugh and sat down on the pavement.
Oh it hurt...but it felt so good.....Who are you?
Piper looked at Prue. "What's wrong with her?"
It was charging her, empowering...........Are you mine?
Prue shook her head. "What was ever right?"
It was sure to leave a mark.............Tell me!
At this remark, Phoebe positively howled.
Confusion, chaos..........What is this?
Then all at once, she stopped.
"Pheebs..?"
"Ew!" Phoebe jumped up, startling her sisters. "I'm sitting in an ally! On the ground!" She began to brush her pants off. "Why would I do that?"
"Um, Phoebe, are you sure your feeling okay?" Leo asked.
"Except for discovering that I was sitting in some ally, yeah, I'm fine. In fact, I feel great. Wonderful. Ecstatic. CHARGED."
For a while, no one said anything. Piper broke the silence.
"That's a nice mural. Behind you, Phoebe."
Everyone looked. It was of a brown haired woman, who was charging an enemy that had not been pictured. She had blue-grey eyes, and was wearing a very interesting metal "glove" on her right hand. The site gave Phoebe a premonition.
There was a man. It was hard to tell how tall or how big he was because of the way he was dressed. He was putting the ring on his finger-
Then something blocked the premonition, stopped her from learning the important part, and she passed out.
*******
Sara sat in her office chair, thinking. She hadn't meant to doze off, but she had, and she had dreamed. What had it been about? There was a lot of nonsense to sort out, but there was always a core at each dream, she just needed to look for them. What had she seen? A woman laughing, the same woman passing out in an ally. Ian, Ian, and more Ian. Dominique. Irons. Jake turning into a monkey? Okay....... Jake and this lady were the only new events, and she figured she could ignore the Jake thing, so she focused on the woman. Petite, blond, no, brown hair, brown eyes, maybe 5'3. She had been looking at something..but what? Sara concentrated harder. A picture....of....Sara's eyes snapped open. It had been a spray painting of her.
******
Piper fanned Phoebe while Prue lightly slapped her face. Piper stopped fanning. Looking down for a second, she saw the ring on Phoebe's finger. She took it off of Phoebe's finger.
"Geez this is hot."
Prue looked up. "Huh?"
"This ring." Piper tossed it p and down in her hand. "It's really hot." She slipped the ring onto her own finger. It fit perfectly.
"Ahhhhhhhhhg, oh oh ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Piper screamed.
Your not my master!
"Piper! Leo! Leo, Piper!"
Piper could barely feel Prue touching her....barely hear what Prue was saying......
"Arrrrrhhhhggggg!"
"LEO!"
YOU ARE NOT MY MASTER!
"Piper what's wrong; Piper; LEO!"
I WILL NOT SERVE YOU!
"The RIIIIING!" Piper screamed. "Oh AHHHHH!"
Suddenly the pain stopped. She lay there, hair in her face, her breathing shallow and rapid.
'What.....oooh.....happ...ened....."
Leo brushed the hair from Piper's face.
"Prue took the ring off. Don't move," he instructed when Piper tried to sit up. "Just relax for a minute. Breath."
*******
Sara grabbed her wrist that had the Witchblade on it. Pain! Not for her, and not from the bracelet. It was all filtered. But still, even filtered, it hurt.
"Sara, you alright?"
Sara nodded. "Yeah, fine Jake, fine." She pointed the car's air vents at her face and fixed her eyes at the passing scenery. Jake had insisted on lunch together. Having no other plans, she had agreed. She noticed they were taking a lot of short cuts, down this ally, up that one. Sara really didn't care. Suddenly, the Witchblade began to buzz. Louder and louder. Sara snuck a glance at Jake to see if he noticed. He, of course, did not. It was silly of her to think like that. The Blade was specially tuned to her, no one else.
*******
Ian's ears were suddenly filled with a humming sound. It was getting louder. Ian had been fallowing Sara and her partner from the roof, but the sound had taken him by surprise, making him stumble. The humming was very distracting. He stopped and looked around, trying to identify from which direction it was coming from.
*******
Sara's ears were starting to hurt. But the louder it got, the happier she became.
*******
Here I am! Here I am!
Ian looked to his left. That's where the humming was coming from...... And for once, Ian forgot that he was supposed to be watching Sara, forgot about Irons, forgot about everything, and ran towards the sound.
*******
"Um, Jake?"
"Yeah?"
Sara felt very silly. "Do you think you could take the next left?"
"What?"
"Take the next left."
"What for?" They getting close to where Sara wanted to turn.
"I know it sounds really stupid, but please."
"Sara-"
"Just do it!" Sara yelled.
"Jeez. Fine, if it means so much to you." Jake turned left. The humming grew louder and Sara began to get excited, like a small child on Christmas day.
"Now right. There we go...."
*******
Jake didn't know what was wrong with Sara. All he could was fallow her instructions. He didn't know where she was taking them. Maybe she didn't know either, maybe the tough Sara Pezienne had finally, after all these years, cracked.
************
"How's your arm?" Prue asked. Leo had finished healing Piper. Her whole hand, arm, and part of her shoulder had been badly burned and scarred by the ring.
"It's been better. I've been better."
Prue held the ring delicately in her hand, studying it. The line, which had gone completely red, was now regaining the flecks of orange and gold.
"I wonder why you had that reaction," Prue said.
"Why? It hurt! That's why."
"No, I mean I wonder why it hurt. I wonder why this is special."
Phoebe's voice came from behind them. "That's because it's mine."
Prue turned to look at her. "Feeling better?"
Phoebe glared. "It's mine. Give it to me." She held out her hand.
"Wait a minute Phoebe," Leo said. He looked from Phoebe to Piper and back again. "We need to figure out-"
"We need to figure out nothing. Hand it to me."
Prue turned to Piper. "Do you hear a car?"
************
"Turn here!" Sara was beyond happy. Not far now, not far. She didn't know what it was she was looking for, but she knew where it was. "Turn turn turn! Right!"
***********
Prue looked back at Phoebe. "Um, Phoebe.." she didn't know what to say. Suddenly, they heard a tire screech. A blue car turned into the ally they were standing in.
***********
Jake hit his brakes. What were obviously not homeless doing in the middle of some back way? Sara started getting out of the car.
"Sara what-"
Sara got out and brought her gun up. "Freeze! Police."
The three women and man looked at her.
************
"Oh dear," said Piper.
"We didn't do anything though," Prue said. "She doesn't need to have a gun trained on us like that."
"Put your hands in the air!" the woman cop shouted. Her partner, though he looked a bit unsure of what was going on, copied her.
"Make that 'they' don't need guns trained on us like that."
***************
Ian surveyed the scene below him. Sara and her partner Jake had pulled guns on the newcomers. He didn't bother to think why. Suddenly, the man that was with the women looked up....and saw Ian. For a moment, they stared at each other. Then Ian ran. He needed to jump behind them, not on top of them. The man looked away.
**************
Sara looked up to see what had caught the man's attention. Ian.... He ran. Instantly she knew what he was going to do.
"Throw the Ring behind you! Down the road!" Sara blinked. Had she just spoken? But... Oh wow, she realized. The Witchblade had spoken through her.
*************
"NO!" Shouted Phoebe. "IT BELONGS TO ME!"
"Leo, how does she know we have a ring?" Piper asked.
"Throw it!" the cop yelled back.
Prue raised her hands high over her head. "I'm going to do what she says."
"Prue, no," Leo said.
"What if we just-"Piper started to say.
Prue raised her voice. "All right! I'm going to toss it!"
************
Ian jumped down. His coat billowed out around him as he landed. He saw the woman toss the Ring hard over her shoulder. It hit the ground and started to roll...straight to his feet. He picked it up, and the ring sparked happily.
************
Phoebe watched as the man in black picked up the ring. It was the person from her premonition. She hadn't been able to finish watching, she had blacked out. Was this what she had seen? No, these were not the proper surroundings. Her hand was electrified.
************
It had worked. Ian had the Ring. Somehow, Sara knew that something very important, a turning point, had just happened. Ian raised a fist of triumph into the air.
"Sara! Sara, I got it! I got it!"
Sara had to smile. Jake on the other hand, was more confused then ever.
"You know that guy Sara? He's the one who knocked me out at the theater!"
"It's okay, he's on our side Jake. Pretty much, anyway." She felt the Witchblade recede, and give her back control. She saw Jake adjust his gun to point at Ian. "Not him, Jake. The women."
"No way. I don't like that guy."
*********
A thought struck Piper. "Prue? Why are we so scared?"
"Because we are looking down the muzzles of two guns, that's why."
"But we have powers. I already have my hands raised. I could drop them and-"
"Not on innocents. Even if they're crazy, you can't blow up innocents."
"Not them. Just the guns. Then we could run."
"With our luggage?"
"Well.."
"Piper, what about that guy back there?"
"What about him?"
"Obviously they know him."
"So?"
"Would you two shut up and do something?" Phoebe snarled.
"Oh so you have a plan?"
"Yeah, I do. This is what is going to happen...."
**********
"What are they doing? Sara? What are they doing?" Jake asked.
"I'm supposed to know?"
All the women had lowered they're hands. One had turned to face Ian. Ian didn't see her, he was to busy looking at the Ring.
The other two were starting toward Sara and Jake. The man, well, he did nothing, simply looked around nervously.
"Halt!" Jake shouted. The two women ignored him. "We'll shoot!" At this, the two women looked at each other. Then they started forward again, faster. Jake fired.
"Jake NO!" Sara yelled.
"Prue!" The man yelled.
Then an amazing thing happened. The Victorian looking one, perhaps 'Prue', waved her hand. The bullet redirected itself and hit a car light. Jake fired again. Another car light bit the dust. Jake stared, open mouthed. The woman waved her hand again. Jake's gun flew out of his grip. The other one raised her hands at the gun and it exploded.
"Sara...?"
***********
Ian placed the Ring carefully in a buttoned up pocket. He could not lose this. He looked up. One of the women was making her way to him, none to slowly. They locked eyes for a second. This time it was Ian that took a step back. There was something wrong with her eyes, no one had eyes like that........
Flames washed over her brown eyes, yet at the same time they were reflective, he could see himself in the flames.
She stopped, five feet from him.
"You have something of mine." He could have ice skated on her voice, it was so cold.
Ian stared at her nose so that he wouldn't have to look into her eyes. "No, I don't."
"Don't act like I'm simple. Give me the Ring." She held out her hand and took a step forward. "Give it to me or I will take it from you."
He sized her up. Small, thin, toned. Hardly a threat. But what gave her eyes that quality? That would be a threat. Still, now that Ian had the Ring, nothing, no one, would make him give it up.
She retracted her hand. "Fine."
********
Sara felt the Witchblade stew. It wanted to fight. But how to fight what you don't know?
And why? She heard a cry from farther down the road. She had been so fixed on Jake's gun exploding, that she had nearly forgotten about Ian and the other woman. Chancing a look at what was happening with them, her jaw dropped. What were these people?
*******
Ian hung on to his opponents hand. They were suspended one yard above the ground. When she attacked, she had sone so at such a speed that even his advanced mind had had trouble tracking her movements. She had smashed him into a wall then jumped into the air, pulling him along. But they hadn't fallen back down. They stayed there, hovering. Ian's mind reeled. How could this be? How could he turn this situation to his advantage?
He jerked, pushing himself up by pulling her down, and jabbed a knee into her stomach. Her only reaction was to kick him in his stomach full force. He flew back, letting go of her hand, and hit the mural. The boards groaned. Ian slid to the ground, momentarily dazed. From her place in the air, the woman dived at him.
********
Jake stood, awestruck. He didn't know what was going on, or why it was happening, or who all these people were. But they all seemed to know each other, Sara included. How did he get dragged into this? The one time they were going to lunch together, something had to happen. Not that lunch would have lasted very long anyway. Jake had planned to question her about everything, he had finally gotten the courage to confront her. The sword marks, the unknown metals, the strange people, how every case seemed to lead back to Vorshlag Industries.
But it would have to wait.
*********
Sara felt the Witchblade do something of a scream. It was of frustration, Sara had been holding it at bay. The Witchblade wanted to FIGHT. And for some, strange reason, so did she. Slowly, Sara lowered her gun and placed it in her pocket. Just as slowly, she stepped out from behind the car door and shut it. Placing both hands behind her back, she felt the Witchblade go from bracelet to glove. The sword would have to wait. Sara began to walk forward.
*********
"Prue, what's she doing?" Piper asked. "She just saw us do some weird stuff, so why is she walking forward, as in towards us, and not away?"
Prue didn't answer. She was just as puzzled as Piper. The now gunless policeman had an expression that any normal person would have. But the lady acted like she saw this every day. Unless, she did see this sort of thing every day, which would mean she was a-
"Piper, I think she's a demon."
"What?"
"Look at how calm she is. It's like she encounters this all the time."
"Why would a demon want to be a police officer?"
"I'll figure that out in a minute."
"Okay, if she is a demon, what are we going to do about it?"
**********
Now! Sara thought. She broke into a sprint. Pushing past the startled women, she ran at the one on one battle near the end of the ally. She not only wanted to fight, she wanted to fight for something in particular......
**********
"Leo!" yelled Prue. "Stop her! She's a demon!"
**********
Suddenly, Sara felt herself be tackled from behind. Leaning best she could, she smashed a metal covered fist into his face. He only seemed to half feel it, but she was able to get up. She fixed his name in her mind. This was Leo. Leo jumped at her again, but she was too agile, and he fell onto the concrete.
**********
Jake looked over the dash board. He had used Sara's run as a distraction and had hid in the front seat. It had occurred to him to run away, but he had banished that thought. He needed to see what happened.
**********
Ian forced the woman's hand away from the pocket containing the Ring. She tumbled. Neither of them were giving away any weaknesses. It was a gridlock. Then he saw Sara coming, the Witchblade's glove glinting. She would help him.
***********
Sara was only a few feet away when she realized: She had no plan. The glove's blade extended. She smiled. But then, who needed a plan?
***********
Jake gasped as he looked at the sword. It looked like it was coming straight out of Sara's hand. So it was Sara who had killed those people. She had denied it. But then he thought back to her exact words: "I didn't kill all those people." Well, maybe she hadn't killed all of them, but she was definitely responsible for most of them.
************
Phoebe looked at this new arrival. Who was this woman? Why didn't she go away? Couldn't she see that no one had time for her? But this gave Phoebe a momentary advantage, for the man she was brawling with was distracted by the cop. She went for the pocket, and before he could stop her, she had the Ring.
************
Leaving the bewildered normal policeman in his car, Prue and Piper went to join Leo.
Piper raised her hand. "May I say something? I am seriously lost here!"
"It's okay Piper, none of are very sure of what's going on," Prue said.
"Phoebe seems to know exactly what she's doing."
"Maybe, but Phoebe is not acting like Phoebe. Like something's controlling her."
"What, like that ring she's wearing? Leo?"
"I'll go find out what's going on. I'll be right back." Leo orbed away.
"Well Piper, looks like it's just you and me now."
"Yep. Hey, is that a sword?"
***************
The woman dropped Ian from the air again. Ian stared up at her. The Ring! She had it!
***************
Phoebe slipped the Ring on. Ah! Perfect. The power! It wrapped around her, enveloping her whole being.
***************
Sara watched from the ground as the Ring took over the woman's body. It moved quickly, vine like, over her. How could Sara fight her from the ground? It's not like the Witchblade would make her fly or anything. But if she jumped, high as she could, maybe she could pull the woman down. Sara jumped up.....and like the woman, stayed up.
"What the...?"
****************
"Piper? Piper ohoh what's that what's wrong with Phoebe?"
"That's it. That is it." Piper raised her hands.
"Piper, no!"
"Relax, I just going to try and freeze them."
'Can you still do that?"
"We'll find out."
***************
Time was slowing, Sara and the woman's movements were jerky, like they were fighting through thick mud. Ian looked at the two women on the ground. Come to think of it, he was just as slow as Sara, he could feel it.
***************
"They're freezing! Well, sort of."
"Prue, Phoebe's not supposed to freeze. She's a good witch."
"So, what, she's not a good witch any more?"
"You're asking me?"
***************
Jake summoned his courage. Okay, he had not gone through Police training to wind up hiding in a car. Not that Police training called for dealing with this. Slowly, he got out and began to make his way down the road. Suddenly, one of the women turned around and waved her hands at him and-
***************
Phoebe could feel herself struggling, and she could see the sword's wielder struggling as well. Of course, Phoebe new what was happening, the other lady didn't. What she didn't know, was why, and how they were both in the air, as opposed to just her. The Ring formed a shield on Phoebe's, metal plating on her other hand. The Ring was forming armor, protecting her. No matter. Time went back to normal.
"Yaaaaaiy!"
****************
"Prue, knock them out the air."
"What? Oh, duh."
"Hurry!"
****************
Sara struck with her sword, but her opponent blocked with her shield and hit Sara with her metal fist, like Sara had done to others so many times. Suddenly-
"Ahh!" Sara was flying. Not hovering, like she had been doing, but flying. Her back hit the wall opposite of the woman.
Ian ran to help her, but a pipe flew through the air and hit him, knocking him out.
The Witchblade returned to it's bracelet, and the armor to it's Ring. Then Sara lost consciousness.
**************
Ian was sitting on the floor of a building, probably something old and abandoned. Two female voices had brought him back to the waking world.
"Aren't they up yet? Prue, how hard did you hit them?"
"Oh please. Beside's it's a good thing their still out. What would they do if they were awake? What would we do?"
Okay, so the second voice was 'Prue'. Ian tried to move his hands, just a little bit, and he realized he wasn't bound by anything. He could escape.....No, he couldn't. He couldn't leave Sara. And he knew Sara wouldn't leave without Jake. It was all or nothing.
"Wonder why they didn't freeze."
"Remember what the Book said? 'The arrival of something very powerful'....." Prue said.
Freeze? It wasn't that cold. But they aren't talking about cold, Ian realized. They were talking about when time had slowed, but had refused to completely stop. He opened his eyes just enough to see. On his left was Jake, on his right, Sara. The woman that had fought him was sitting apart from them, leaned on a different wall. 'Prue' and the other woman were standing away from their captives. Slowly, so that the movement would be unnoticed, he moved closer to Sara. Jabbed her in the ribs. She didn't move. Hit her again, a little harder this time to wake her up.
Ian hoped she would wake up, and not make any noise. She moved her head to the side. Good! Now just stay quiet, just stay quiet, Ian thought.
"Huh?" Sara murmured.
The two women snapped their attention to her.
Dang.
"Ia......."
"Hey, Piper, she's up."
The response dripped sarcasm. "Great. That's wonderful. Absolutely fantastic. Now what?"
"Why don't we start with names." Prue and the now identified 'Piper' walked over to Sara.
"Hey. Are you awake enough?"
Sara moaned in response, obviously not.
Prue shook Sara a bit. "Hey. What's your name?"
All of a sudden Sara's eyes shot open, and she tried to push Prue away and go forward. But she hadn't completely recovered, and was easily sat back down.
"You're not going any where missy," Piper said. Sara glared. Okay, forget Jake. They could come back for him. Ian jumped up grabbing Sara's hand, pulling her along with him and surprising Piper and Prue. They made it to the doorway and were starting down the hallway when a person simply, appeared, a few feet in front of them. Ian skidded to a halt, but Sara, unable to stop barreled into him. It wasn't the same man that had been in the ally, that man had been smaller and blond. This person was larger, and when Sara ran into him, it seemed to affect him. This, unfortunately, gave Piper and Prue enough time to catch up with them. Time slowed again.
**************
When Phoebe cam to her senses, she found herself, once again, on the floor. Why do I always wind up on the ground, she thought. Surveying the room, she saw a guy sitting on the floor, knocked out. Where were Piper and Prue? They had some major explaining to do.....
**************
Prue looked at the slow moving escapees."Nice timing Cole."
"Uh, thanks." He gestured. "Who's would they be?"
"We don't really know yet. We just know that the lady is a cop and pulled a gun on us, Prue thinks she's a demon, and they were both fighting with Pheebs for this." Piper held up the Ring.
"Is Phoebe all right? Where is she?"
"She's physically fine, the guy was getting the worst of it, and the lady didn't have much time to fight."
"Physically fine?"
"Yeah. She's been acting all weird ever since she put this ring on. Or as they call it," Piper motioned to the two people, "THE Ring."
"Well, I can tell you one thing: Neither of them are demons," Cole said. "She's strange, but she's not a demon. He's strange too, but in a different way."
"Great. That's great. They won't freeze properly and all we know is that their 'strange'. Piper? Can you freeze them again? Their making me nervous," Prue said.
"But their still half frozen." Piper saw the look on her sisters face. "Okay, fine." She waved her hands again. But this time, instead of freezing them, she did the opposite.
"Piper!"
"Sorry, sorry."
The two newly un-frozen people looked around, silent.
**************
What do we do? What on Earth do we do? thought Sara. Wait a second; we? Oh well, she thought. Ian is trying to help me...... Sara sighed. Why keep running? This was her fault, pulling a gun on seemingly innocent people. No, it was the Witchblades fault, it had gotten her to do what it wanted. And Jake......where was Jake?
**************
Ian watched Sara watched Sara carefully, trying to think the way she did. Stop fighting them, he thought. That's what she's doing. But what about the Ring? He remembered what had happened perfectly....except for which person had the Ring.
************
Prue was the first to speak. "Are you two done running away now?" she asked.
The man looked at the woman, like he was waiting for her to speak first. She did.
"How can you do that? What are you?"
"We ask the questions, you give us the answers," Piper snapped. But before she could say anything else, Phoebe came into the hall.
"Piper? Prue? What's going on? Where are we? Hi Cole."
Prue looked surprised. "You don't remember?"
"I-I remember levitating, but that's it." Phoebe caught site of the two people. "Hey, who's that?"
"Why don't we all move out of the hall and into the room," Prue suggested.
"Room? That's what you call it? I thought it was a moldy, leaky, wet, rat invested place."
"No, Phoebe, it's a room. Cole, would you make sure those two don't try anything? Thanks."
*****************
Jake sat temporarily forgotten. Water had dripped on his head, rousing him to consciousness. That and the voices. He strained to hear.
"....try anything? Thanks." Footsteps were coming from somewhere, a hallway. From the sound of it, it was quite a few people. He surveyed the room. Warehouse. Great. It really didn't help that all warehouses look the same on the inside. Jake started to stand, then quickly sat down again. The first person had come through a doorway that he couldn't see. It was one of the women from the ally. Well duh, Jake, he thought. Who were you expecting, the Easter Bunny? He gasped. was that Yancy Butler? Oh no, duh again. That was Sara. He must have hit his head, really hard......he passed out again.
****************
Prue turned to the woman. "Okay, lets start with a name."
"Clair."
"And you?"
"Benjamin."
Prue glanced at her sisters. "I'm Sue, this is my sister Dawn, my sister Rachel, and Dan."
'Dawn' 'Rachel' and 'Dan' said hello.
'Dawn' stepped forward. "Now, why did you try to shoot us?"
Clair stared at her. "I didn't try to shoot you."
"You had your gun out, whatever. You threatened to shoot. Why?"
Clair opened her mouth but Benjamin answered. "You had the Ring. We wanted it. You still have it, don't you."
'Rachel' rubbed her eyes again. "A ring? What's so important about a ring?"
Clair and Benjamin looked at each other. Piper took this opportunity to mouth Dan? at Prue. Prue shrugged.
****************
Ah, so 'Leo' had said 'Sue' not 'Prue......Think Sara, think. Jeez. Before Sara could stop him, Ian/Benjamin gave them an explanation.
"It's pretty."
Sara didn't know if she was going to laugh or hit him upside the head. And he was the one with the advanced mind? Oh dear....
"Okay, Sue? I really don't think that was the reason. I really don't think that was the reason," Dawn said.
"Oh for a truth spell."
'Clair' practically saw Ian's ears stick straight up.
"A truth spell?"
Rachel glared at Sue. "An expression."
Yeah, right.
*************
Why were these women lying about their names? He and Sara weren't exactly being honest either, but what did these four have to hide? Ian started to talk again but Sara cut him off.
"Shut up." She looked straight at Sue. Sue looked straight back. "You don't tell us your story, and we tell you nothing."
*****************
Prue was at a loss. She was used to being in charge, bossing other people around, and those people obeying. This wasn't happening now. Obviously, Clair was in charge of Benjamin. And this woman, maybe not used to giving orders, was also not used to taking them lightly. Well, she was Prudence Haliwell, the oldest. Now known as Sue. This lady was just Clair.
"No. See, we have you, not you have us. So you answer our questions." She looked at Piper, and saw her sister thinking this-is-pointless. She sighed. Maybe it was. Phoebe whispered to Piper. Piper frowned.
"What?"
Piper motioned to Prue. "Phoebe's wondering if we should just tell them we're witches. They're obviously magical," she whispered.
Prue didn't whisper. "No! Absolutely not!"
Phoebe sighed. She was getting tired of this. "I'm a witch." She heard Cole choke his laugh behind her. "Shut up," she muttered.
Clair looked at her like she had said that pigs were natural flyers. Benjamin was unfazed.
"Pho- Rachel!" Prue exclaimed. Phoebe shrugged.
"Well, we weren't getting anywhere."
"So you're a witch?"
"Yup."
"Hmm." Clair looked at her thoughtfully. "That's funny, because I know someone would have mentioned an escape from any mental institutions. Maybe it wasn't local enough."
"No, really, I am. Sue, do something." There was no response. "Sue. Do. Something."
"What? Oh. No! No way! I'm not a witch. I just met you!"
"It would explain the levitating, and time slowing," Benjamin stated. "So even if your not a witch, which you probably aren't, you're definitely something."
*******************
Sara was torn. She knew that witch's weren't real, they didn't exist. But how to explain all the weird stuff? She couldn't just blame the Witchblade, like she normally did. Her mind stopped. The Witch-Blade. As in, witches. The witch's glove.
"I'm a wielder."
Now it was Dawn's turn to stare. "You're a welder?"
"A wielder."
"I've never heard of that before."
Rachel piped in. "What does a 'wielder' do?"
"Wear the Witchblade."
************
The Witchblade? Piper really did not like the sound of that. It sounded like....like something that attacked witches. That is, if this lady was telling the truth.
"Prove your story," Phoebe said. "Prove that you have a 'Witchblade' ."
"You first," Benjamin said.
Prue sighed.....and simultaneously astral projected.
Clair gasped, and Benjamin looked, instead of startled, interested.
"How can you do that?"
"I have the power to astral project myself, to sort of be in two places at once," Astral Prue said.
Clair reached out and touched astral Prue. "Wow." Astral Prue rejoined normal Prue.
"Now you."
**********
Sara held out the arm with the Witchblade. The red center flamed. She yanked her arm back.
"How is that special?"
"It...it helps me," Sara said, unsure of how to describe all the Witchblade was. Besides, to tell these people exactly what she could do might not be a very smart thing, though they had already seen it in action. She glanced at Ian. He stayed silent.
**********
Where do we go from here? Phoebe wondered. What do we say?
**********
Just then, the long forgotten Jake moaned from one side of the room. So that's where he's been, Sara thought. She watched as he shakily got to his feet. He peered at the darkness.
"Sara?"
***********
Jake squinted at Sara. There were a bunch of four other people standing with her. Oh, he hurt all over. Well, it wasn't as if he'd thought rooting out the White Bulls was going to be a cushy job. Suddenly, everything came flooding back to him, along with the realization that he now had no weapons. Slowly, he made his way over to the group that was standing in the patch of darkness. He heard rumbles, but he couldn't quite make out what they were saying.
****************
Sara winced as Jake used her real name and looked at the women that called themselves witches. "Look, he can't know anything, you can't tell him a single thing, especially about me," she rambled. "He-"
"We won't say anything," Dan promised. Sue threw him a look.
Sara sighed inwardly. She was going to have to trust people who, just a few minutes ago, she had been fighting.
***************
So her names not Clair, Prue thought. Well, that was just another strike against her already marred record. But we lied too, she thought. We have a good reason! She continued to argue with herself.
**************
Jake stoped walking and squinted again. Was that-? He bit his tongue. There weren't four other people, but five. It was that creep that was always following Sara around. His usual black garb had blended in with the darkness. Even though Jake had seen the petite woman kicking the crap out of him, Jake felt no sympathy. This guy worked for Irons, and the F.B.I. was beginning to link the billionaire to the White Bulls. But Jake kept his mouth shut.
"Hey Jake." Was it just him, or did her voice seem sort of strained. He squared his shoulders. It wasn't that he hadn't been scared out of his skin by what he had seen in the ally, he had been. Jake was pulling on everyday of training to keep it together. Even though he was a quite scared of what Sara Pezinne and these newbies could do to him if he asked the wrong questions, he knew he had to. He was under cover. He could handle this. No matter how weird it got.
*****************
Ian glared at the undercover agent. He didn't like Jake at all, possibly because Ian simply found him annoying. But there was something else, some kind of under current, and Ian couldn't tell what it was.
"Who're your friends Sara?" Jake asked, sounding just like the rookie he was supposed to be. Ian grinned slightly. Jake may of sounded like a rookie, but he wasn't acting like one. He was too cool. Any normal rookie would have beat the coop by now.
*******************
I wouldn't exactly call them friends, Sara thought.
"Jake, this is Dawn, Rachel, Sue, and Dan. And you already know Ian."
A moment passed. He's going to ask. I can't really blame him, any normal person would.
"How did you guys do all that stuff?" He started rambling. "I mean, you were flying, then my gun was flying, then my gun exploded...and...things don't just explode like that I mean...."he trailed off.
****************
How where they going to answer his questions? The fact was, they couldn't. Think, Phoebe, think. The whirling red of the witchblade caught her eye, Suddenly, Sara leapt forward and thrust the glowing eye onto the forehead of her partner. He gave a startled cry before sinking to the ground.
****************
"What did you do to him?!?" The woman who claimed her name was Sue exclaimed.
Ian of course, already knew: If a Weilder had too, she could erase a persons memory---to a point. Lady Sara had simply made Jake forget about the ally. It would be a clean slate.
***********
Sara looked at Jake on the floor, puzzling at how she had known to do that. She looked at the Witchblade, but it was silent. She looked at Ian. He ripped his gaze to the floor.
**********
Prue didn't like this, all this silent communication going on. She had to know what everyone was doing all the time. It was just how she was and (Authors Note: Unfortunetly) could not be helped.
*********
Phoebe stared open mouthed. The fog around her mind had been begining to clear, when suddenly, the haze had returned. At the same time, the cop had collapsed.
***********