Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Charmed.
Author's Note: Sorry if this is behind at all, but I live in Aus. So we're a bit slow. The last episode aired was the one with the Muses.
Chapter 3: Murder On The Dance Floor
Piper, Leo, Phoebe, Cole and Paige settled into a booth at P3, discussing the movie they'd seen earlier. Paige was swearing blind she'd seen it before, and that someone had changed the ending.
"That guy wasn't supposed to die! Hey, that rhymes," she grinned. Phoebe laughed, and Piper managed a grin.
"But who would change the end? I'm telling you, Paige, it's a different movie. You just got mixed up." Leo said kindly. Paige shook her head violently.
"Meg and Aaron got married at the end of 'A Wish and A Prayer'. This movie, just so happening to be called 'A Wish and A Prayer', shows the same Meg watching the same Aaron die in the blazing inferno that was supposed to be the house they got married in." She chewed her straw thoughtfully as the waitress handed her a drink. "And that guy, did you see him?"
"The one you flinched from because he was wearing a hawaiian shirt?" Piper asked.
"The very same. Hey, hawaiin shirts went out years ago," she complained as both of her sisters started to giggle. She continued more calmly, "he said just as we were leaving, 'didn't you like that ending much better than the last, Charmer? I sure did. And then he laughed at me." All four of her companions sat bolt upright at this news.
"It's probably just a coincedence," Cole said uncertainly. Piper shook her head.
"No," she said. "We've been in this business long enough to know that there are no coincedences. He knew."
"He knew who I was?" Paige asked, her voice shaking. "But how? And why? I mean, why me?" Paige looked around as if afraid that someone would jump out and grab her.
"Do you think that it was another Chameleon Demon?" Phoebe asked. Cole shook his head.
"I doubt it. There was a roumor going round a while ago that The Source had some sort of 'secret weapon.' Nobody knew what, but apparently it was big. Maybe it was a demon he was training. So he must have been out scouting. Or, he's after you."
"Typical," Phoebe said. "So, do we go home and look for a vanquish?" she looked in no hurry to leave.
"Upper level demon," Piper said. "You know what that means." She grimaced. "Slicing and dicing."
"Fun," Paige joined in. "I'm not doing it this time."
"Lets just wait until he attacks - if he does." Phoebe objected.
"I'm sick of just waiting!" Paige flared.
"Got a better idea?" Piper retorted. "we go after him, we run the risk of being exposed," she faltered. "Again."
"Well, what do we do?" Paige asked. All at once the three of them began arguing, tossing in opinions and objections, or casting in a point and sitting back to let the other two chew it out.
"Hey-" Leo began, but Cole cut across.
"Shut up!" he said forcefully. "Do you have to argue so much?" Three shocked faces turned to him.
"We like arguing," Piper asserted.
"In peace," Phoebe added.
"Without interupptions," Paige said grandly.
"Don't speak to Cole that way, you two." Phoebe objected.
"Oh, but you can." Piper said sarcastically.
"Yeah," Paige added.
"Think up your own objections, Paige," Piper said.
"Exactly," Phoebe said with a grin. It might have turned into antoher fight, but Leo cut in again.
"Really, who cares? Lets figure out what we're going to do," Leo said. They were distracted at that moment by a woman falling on the dance floor. Her friends screamed. Piper ran forward and stopped short, soon afterwards joined by Phoebe and Paige. The woman was gasping, a stab wound in her sotmach. Piper semed to have frozen. How could this happen? Of all things to go wrong. She had to do something.
"Phoebe, call 911!" Piper shouted. Phoebe ran for the office. Paige stayed, and took the woman's scarf off.
"What -" Piper bagan, but Paige was folding the cloth and pressing it against the womans stomach.
"We have to stop the bleeding," she said, "and keep her throat free of anything. Here, you do this," she indicated to one of the friends clustered around. she came forward and took it. "Press hard," Paige instructed. Piper was asking people what had hapened, but no-one seemed to have seen anything. The ambulance came soon, and Piper watched it go with scared eyes. Phoebe came out and put an arm around her shoulders. Leo did the same from the other side. Cole and Paige stood near.
"Are you Ok, Piper?" Paige asked finally.
"I think so," she answered carefully.
Three very glum sisters sat in The Manor the next day. Piper was the worst of all. That was her club - and now it wasn't safe. She'd dropped the security tape in to Darryl after she'd left, and was waiting to see what would come of it. She got up and went into the kitchen.
"I feel sorry for Piper," Paige said.
"I know. That club was hers, she built it up all by herself, and now look whats happened." The doorbell chimed. "I'll get that."
It was Darryl. "Oh, hey. Did you look at the tape?"
"Yeah, but you might want Piper in here first. I'm assuming it was demonic?"
"Not everything is related to a demon, you know. It could have just been an ordinary criminal. "
"Trust me, this one is. You'll see." Phoebe called Piper out and she sat down nervously.
"Hows the woman?"
"She'll be fine, providing no complications set in. The Doctor said the weapon was either dirty or rusty. It was definitely a dagger, but that isn't the weird thing."
"Oh no," Paige said. "It gets weirder?" He nodded.
Phoebe slipped the tape into the video player.
"Now, thats the woman," he said, outlining the scene. "She was right near the camera, which is good. Now, here's the attack," Piper flinched as the woman went down, "but the odd thing is-"
"Look," Phebe gasped. "The person leaving, slipping the dagger into the bag. It's-"
Piper sat mutely. She couldn't say anything if her life depended on it. It couldn't be. Impossible, and sickening.
"Who?" Paige asked, staring at the screen. Then she knew. "How -"
"It's not." Piper said finally. "I don't believe it. It couldn't be."
"Prue," Phoebe said quietly.
"I was hoping you wouldn't say that," Darryl said dejectedly. "That means it's a demon, right?"
"Yes," Piper said, recovering from her daze. "Look at the fingernails. They're all sharp and pointy. Prue wouldn't do that. And besides, she's not able to." Nobody said anything. She shook her head. "It looks like The Source's weapon has surfaced. Normal orders to. Paige, what did that guy look like?"
"Oh, I don't know, I was too distracted by the shirt." Phoebe laughed but Piper didn't.
"Come on this is serious. Now, Paige, what did he look like?"
"Tall, slim but muscly, brown hair and eyes, very nice dark brown eyes, ummm, thats about it. No tattoos or anything that the detective finds so conviniently," she said, eyes closed to concentrate better. Phoebe grinned. "Trust you to remember the important details. Other than the shirt." The tension broke, and all three of the sisters stared laughing. Piper sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Hey, about the woman. Is she -"
"She and her friends decided that it wasn't your fault. They're not doing anything about what happened except trying to find the person. Though," he added, looking at each of them in turn, "I have a feeling this is going to be stamped as unsolved if this demon is important as you say he is."
Piper nodded. "Oh well." Darryl excused himself as his cell phone rang. In a few minutes he was back, looking serious. Phebe asked him about it as soon as he sat down. He glanced and Piper and said slowly, "well, now we're looking for a murderer. The doctor says that a slow acting poison was used.
"Poison?" Paige asked.
"Ouch," Phoebe said absentmindedly. She was thinking about the guy. Piper said nothing, but sat silently and thought about how unlucky she had to be. She'd tried everything to keep P3 from becoming part of a demon hunt, but it just hadn't worked.
"Piper? Hello, earth to Piper?" Phebe asked. She shook herself.
"Yes?"
"What do we do now?"
"Well, since we are dealing with an upper level demon and a secret weapon rolled into one, it's a pretty safe bet that we'll have to slice and dice, but seeing as he won't be in the Book we can't go after him."
"But..." Phoebe said, understanding what Piper was getting at. They both looked at Paige.
"What? No, not me. You are not volunteering me for a suicide mission." Both girls nodded. The guys came in at this point. "Leo, tell your wife and Cole, tell Phoebe that I am not going on a suicide mission. They won't listen to me."
"Oh, it wouldn't be like that," Phoebe protested. "We'll cover you. Besides, it's the best plan we've got, and if we keep you public,he won't do anything."
"He did before," Paige muttered darkly.
"In another form. If he doesn't know you know he's a demon, he won't try anything so he can get information from you about the Charmed Ones." Leo said.
Darryl just sat looking extremely confused. Cole interuppted to say, "It's not like he's just going to expose himself straight away. He won't come to you, so you'll have to find him." This seemed to make some sense to Darryl, who nodded and stood up.
"I'll leave you to it." Piper saw him out, then came back.
"Theres no other way, Paige. He's not going to come and find us. He's not stupid enough for that. Please."
"Fine, Ok, I'll do it." Paige said wearily. "But I want a full reinforcement team following me in the shadows."
"You can have two witches, a whitelighter and a former demon turned human," Phoebe offered.
"That will have to do, I guess," Paige said, pretending to look mortally disappointed. But really, she was glad someone was going to be watching out for her. She leaned back. "We'll get the bastard that did this. But what if I let someting slip about us?"
"You'll have to be careful, won't you?" Cole said.
Paige shook her head and they started to plan the first stage of their plan.
Author's Note: Sorry if this is behind at all, but I live in Aus. So we're a bit slow. The last episode aired was the one with the Muses.
Chapter 3: Murder On The Dance Floor
Piper, Leo, Phoebe, Cole and Paige settled into a booth at P3, discussing the movie they'd seen earlier. Paige was swearing blind she'd seen it before, and that someone had changed the ending.
"That guy wasn't supposed to die! Hey, that rhymes," she grinned. Phoebe laughed, and Piper managed a grin.
"But who would change the end? I'm telling you, Paige, it's a different movie. You just got mixed up." Leo said kindly. Paige shook her head violently.
"Meg and Aaron got married at the end of 'A Wish and A Prayer'. This movie, just so happening to be called 'A Wish and A Prayer', shows the same Meg watching the same Aaron die in the blazing inferno that was supposed to be the house they got married in." She chewed her straw thoughtfully as the waitress handed her a drink. "And that guy, did you see him?"
"The one you flinched from because he was wearing a hawaiian shirt?" Piper asked.
"The very same. Hey, hawaiin shirts went out years ago," she complained as both of her sisters started to giggle. She continued more calmly, "he said just as we were leaving, 'didn't you like that ending much better than the last, Charmer? I sure did. And then he laughed at me." All four of her companions sat bolt upright at this news.
"It's probably just a coincedence," Cole said uncertainly. Piper shook her head.
"No," she said. "We've been in this business long enough to know that there are no coincedences. He knew."
"He knew who I was?" Paige asked, her voice shaking. "But how? And why? I mean, why me?" Paige looked around as if afraid that someone would jump out and grab her.
"Do you think that it was another Chameleon Demon?" Phoebe asked. Cole shook his head.
"I doubt it. There was a roumor going round a while ago that The Source had some sort of 'secret weapon.' Nobody knew what, but apparently it was big. Maybe it was a demon he was training. So he must have been out scouting. Or, he's after you."
"Typical," Phoebe said. "So, do we go home and look for a vanquish?" she looked in no hurry to leave.
"Upper level demon," Piper said. "You know what that means." She grimaced. "Slicing and dicing."
"Fun," Paige joined in. "I'm not doing it this time."
"Lets just wait until he attacks - if he does." Phoebe objected.
"I'm sick of just waiting!" Paige flared.
"Got a better idea?" Piper retorted. "we go after him, we run the risk of being exposed," she faltered. "Again."
"Well, what do we do?" Paige asked. All at once the three of them began arguing, tossing in opinions and objections, or casting in a point and sitting back to let the other two chew it out.
"Hey-" Leo began, but Cole cut across.
"Shut up!" he said forcefully. "Do you have to argue so much?" Three shocked faces turned to him.
"We like arguing," Piper asserted.
"In peace," Phoebe added.
"Without interupptions," Paige said grandly.
"Don't speak to Cole that way, you two." Phoebe objected.
"Oh, but you can." Piper said sarcastically.
"Yeah," Paige added.
"Think up your own objections, Paige," Piper said.
"Exactly," Phoebe said with a grin. It might have turned into antoher fight, but Leo cut in again.
"Really, who cares? Lets figure out what we're going to do," Leo said. They were distracted at that moment by a woman falling on the dance floor. Her friends screamed. Piper ran forward and stopped short, soon afterwards joined by Phoebe and Paige. The woman was gasping, a stab wound in her sotmach. Piper semed to have frozen. How could this happen? Of all things to go wrong. She had to do something.
"Phoebe, call 911!" Piper shouted. Phoebe ran for the office. Paige stayed, and took the woman's scarf off.
"What -" Piper bagan, but Paige was folding the cloth and pressing it against the womans stomach.
"We have to stop the bleeding," she said, "and keep her throat free of anything. Here, you do this," she indicated to one of the friends clustered around. she came forward and took it. "Press hard," Paige instructed. Piper was asking people what had hapened, but no-one seemed to have seen anything. The ambulance came soon, and Piper watched it go with scared eyes. Phoebe came out and put an arm around her shoulders. Leo did the same from the other side. Cole and Paige stood near.
"Are you Ok, Piper?" Paige asked finally.
"I think so," she answered carefully.
Three very glum sisters sat in The Manor the next day. Piper was the worst of all. That was her club - and now it wasn't safe. She'd dropped the security tape in to Darryl after she'd left, and was waiting to see what would come of it. She got up and went into the kitchen.
"I feel sorry for Piper," Paige said.
"I know. That club was hers, she built it up all by herself, and now look whats happened." The doorbell chimed. "I'll get that."
It was Darryl. "Oh, hey. Did you look at the tape?"
"Yeah, but you might want Piper in here first. I'm assuming it was demonic?"
"Not everything is related to a demon, you know. It could have just been an ordinary criminal. "
"Trust me, this one is. You'll see." Phoebe called Piper out and she sat down nervously.
"Hows the woman?"
"She'll be fine, providing no complications set in. The Doctor said the weapon was either dirty or rusty. It was definitely a dagger, but that isn't the weird thing."
"Oh no," Paige said. "It gets weirder?" He nodded.
Phoebe slipped the tape into the video player.
"Now, thats the woman," he said, outlining the scene. "She was right near the camera, which is good. Now, here's the attack," Piper flinched as the woman went down, "but the odd thing is-"
"Look," Phebe gasped. "The person leaving, slipping the dagger into the bag. It's-"
Piper sat mutely. She couldn't say anything if her life depended on it. It couldn't be. Impossible, and sickening.
"Who?" Paige asked, staring at the screen. Then she knew. "How -"
"It's not." Piper said finally. "I don't believe it. It couldn't be."
"Prue," Phoebe said quietly.
"I was hoping you wouldn't say that," Darryl said dejectedly. "That means it's a demon, right?"
"Yes," Piper said, recovering from her daze. "Look at the fingernails. They're all sharp and pointy. Prue wouldn't do that. And besides, she's not able to." Nobody said anything. She shook her head. "It looks like The Source's weapon has surfaced. Normal orders to. Paige, what did that guy look like?"
"Oh, I don't know, I was too distracted by the shirt." Phoebe laughed but Piper didn't.
"Come on this is serious. Now, Paige, what did he look like?"
"Tall, slim but muscly, brown hair and eyes, very nice dark brown eyes, ummm, thats about it. No tattoos or anything that the detective finds so conviniently," she said, eyes closed to concentrate better. Phoebe grinned. "Trust you to remember the important details. Other than the shirt." The tension broke, and all three of the sisters stared laughing. Piper sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Hey, about the woman. Is she -"
"She and her friends decided that it wasn't your fault. They're not doing anything about what happened except trying to find the person. Though," he added, looking at each of them in turn, "I have a feeling this is going to be stamped as unsolved if this demon is important as you say he is."
Piper nodded. "Oh well." Darryl excused himself as his cell phone rang. In a few minutes he was back, looking serious. Phebe asked him about it as soon as he sat down. He glanced and Piper and said slowly, "well, now we're looking for a murderer. The doctor says that a slow acting poison was used.
"Poison?" Paige asked.
"Ouch," Phoebe said absentmindedly. She was thinking about the guy. Piper said nothing, but sat silently and thought about how unlucky she had to be. She'd tried everything to keep P3 from becoming part of a demon hunt, but it just hadn't worked.
"Piper? Hello, earth to Piper?" Phebe asked. She shook herself.
"Yes?"
"What do we do now?"
"Well, since we are dealing with an upper level demon and a secret weapon rolled into one, it's a pretty safe bet that we'll have to slice and dice, but seeing as he won't be in the Book we can't go after him."
"But..." Phoebe said, understanding what Piper was getting at. They both looked at Paige.
"What? No, not me. You are not volunteering me for a suicide mission." Both girls nodded. The guys came in at this point. "Leo, tell your wife and Cole, tell Phoebe that I am not going on a suicide mission. They won't listen to me."
"Oh, it wouldn't be like that," Phoebe protested. "We'll cover you. Besides, it's the best plan we've got, and if we keep you public,he won't do anything."
"He did before," Paige muttered darkly.
"In another form. If he doesn't know you know he's a demon, he won't try anything so he can get information from you about the Charmed Ones." Leo said.
Darryl just sat looking extremely confused. Cole interuppted to say, "It's not like he's just going to expose himself straight away. He won't come to you, so you'll have to find him." This seemed to make some sense to Darryl, who nodded and stood up.
"I'll leave you to it." Piper saw him out, then came back.
"Theres no other way, Paige. He's not going to come and find us. He's not stupid enough for that. Please."
"Fine, Ok, I'll do it." Paige said wearily. "But I want a full reinforcement team following me in the shadows."
"You can have two witches, a whitelighter and a former demon turned human," Phoebe offered.
"That will have to do, I guess," Paige said, pretending to look mortally disappointed. But really, she was glad someone was going to be watching out for her. She leaned back. "We'll get the bastard that did this. But what if I let someting slip about us?"
"You'll have to be careful, won't you?" Cole said.
Paige shook her head and they started to plan the first stage of their plan.
