Disclaimer: Not mine, obviously.

Chapter 4: The Suicide Mission.

Paige squared her shoulders and walked in. There was no reason to be scared, she told herslef. She was only walking into a shady bar with at least one potential demon. Her sisters, with Leo and Cole, trailed behind. She looked around her.

The dimly lit bar was exactly where the crystal had pointed, and Paige felt a ripple of unsease as the customers glanced at her, seemingly without interest. But she couldn't shake off the malevolent, resentful feelings their looks had left her with. As though they sensed she was different, and for that, they hated.

She could feel their eyes on her back as she moved closer to the lights of the counter. A flash of silver and she stopped, heart thudding painfully. A dagger? Coins. The man had put two quarters on the table. She shook herself mentally. Now you're being stupid. This is probably a normal bar filled with people getting something to eat or drink.

"What in the Hell are you doing here!" a voice demanded in a roar. Paige's heart stopped and seemed to disappear as she turned around slowly. It returned and beat painully fast; yet it seemed to have filled up with lead in it's absence.

He was short and squat, with a head like a bowling ball. His face was bright red, as were his lips, a bright full red that dominated the rest of his small, rat like features. His eyes were watery and pitch black, but the whites were red rimmed and bloodshot. He scowled, showing pointed teeth. He's a vampire, she thought distractedly. Thats it. I'm dead.

She held her breath...

And the man passed right by her. "What are you doing in here?" he asked again, and Paige breathed a huge sigh of relief as he grabbed another man and carried him bodily towards the doors that were the exit. She laughed a little at her stupidity, then bacame aware of a tall man laughing at her from the other side of the room. How dare he! A little laugh at herself was Ok, but him laughing was wrong. He hadn't been in the path of a ... a... hmm.

"Think he was going to attack you?" the man asked, appearing suddenly at Paige's elbow. "Old Frankie's the owner, and Jacko was kicked out of here two weeks ago." Paige shrugged as he said this. She looked toward the window and saw Piper watching her. Paige gave her a discreet thumbs up. "They're all demons here," he continued. "You'd have to be, to stand this place. I'm Joshua."

"I'm, um -" Paige stammered, trying to lie. But her name tumbled out, betraying her. "Paige." He held out a hand and we she took it, instead of shaking it, kissed it.

"Charmed, I'm sure." he said. Paige panicked. She had to get out of there.

"That's old fashioned," she said warily. He just shrugged.

***Meanwhile, outside...***

"What's taking hr so long?" Phoebe grumbled. "I could be home, eating. Or inside there, eating. Damnit Piper, I'm hungry."

"Shhh," Piper replied absently. "That's the guy from the movie, but I don't know what's going on. Whats that noise?"

"What noise?" Leo asked quietly.

"That grumbling noise."

"That," Phoebe informed them grandly, "would be my stomach. As I said before, I'm hungry. Piper, lets go home for lunch."

"We promised to stay behind Paige," Piper recalled Phoebe, "and besides, why me?"

"Because I hate the kitchen even worse than before," Phoebe returned. Everyone chuckled and froze as someone came out of the bar.

It was Paige all right, and the guy with her. They all pretended to be inconspicuous. She stopped and turned. The guy started to turn to, but Paige turned back and smiled at him. Apparently reassured, he took her arm and kept walking.

"What the hell?" was Cole's colourful response.

"Not a good joke in this family honey," Phoebe said. "Maybe she figured it wouldn't look good if she stopped. Like, you know, it'd be obvious."

"Well, lets go." Piper said, and was met with a chorus of groans. "Up!" she said sharply. She tugged on Phoebe's arm.

"Lunch?" Phoebe asked hopefully.

"No, silly." Piper frowned. "Follow Paige."

"But why?" Phoebe whined. "She has the situation well in hand. We can go home."

"No," was all Leo said, and grumbling, Phoebe got up.

They followed at a discreet distance, constantly stopping and starting. Piper was starting to feel her sister's irritation. Paige didn't stop, and although she knew they were there, as she made frequent checks behind her, she never gave any indication of what was going on. Obviously she was trying to get him somewhere. Not home? Piper grew sick at the very thought. If he decided to attack...

"Stop," Leo said quietly in her ear, pulling her arm. She obediently stopped and Phoebe started talking.

"I've figured out whats going on!" she said triumphantly, motioning for them to come closer. "Paige isn't leading him anywhere. It's heaps subtle, but he is actually leading her. So we have to be doubly careful. He could do anything. He doesn't know we're following him."

Suddenly a scream echoed through the air. "Paige!" Piper cried, and started running. She and the others, slightly behind, curved into an alley.

A man had Paige pinned up to a wall. He was short, bald, and his bloodshot eyes were narrowed in intense dislike. His pointed teeth gleamed in a ferocious smile. But what made the problem worse, if possible, was that she was pressed against the wall in midair! "Blow him up, Piper!" Cole shouted.

"Don't!" Paige shouted back. "If you do, I'll fall!" She was at least twenty feet up, and Piper stopped, dizzy. She couldn't freeze her, but she had an idea. She prayed it would work.

"Phoebe!" she shouted. "Can you get up there and hold her, do you think? That way we can blow our friend, and Paige'll be Ok."

Phoebe looked from the ground to her sister, pinned against a wall, and Piper, then nodded. "I'll try." She stood ready.

Piper nodded, and she rose into the air and grabbed Paige around the waist. Piper waved her hands,and in the next second jumped back as an explosion of purple slime rocked the alley.

She looked up in time to see Phoebe and Paige land safely on the ground. "Wow," she said. "That was worse than the last one."

"They're all worse than the last one," Phoebe said grimly. "Are you Ok, honey?"

"Fine," Paige said, still a little dazed. "It's just... why didn't he fight you guys, and let me fall?"

"I don't know,"Piper said.

"It's like he was ... frozen," Leo added.

They walked out of the alley, puzzled by the strange circumstances. Paige, who was in front, suddenly shrieked in surprise as she rounded another corner. The others ran up behind her quickly.

The guy from the movies stood on the road, laughing as hard as he could. As they all stared in astonishment, he spoke to Paige in the manner of someone saying 'I told you so' to a friend.

"I told you they were all devils," he laughed, happy with their obvious amusement. "And the owner was the worst of them all." He laughed harder at their even more mystified expressions. He smiled at Paige.

"You want to come over for dinner?"

"That was abrupt," Paige said in shock. "Are you sure?"

"Yup," Joshua said. He grinned at her sisters and held out a hand. "Hi, I'm Joshua."

"Um, I'm Piper, and this is my husband Leo."

"Phoebe." Phoebe nodded at him, without actuallly meeting his eyes. "This is Cole."

"Piper," Paige whispered, "over her a minute." She pulled Piper aside and began begging. "Please, will you let him come over? I know it isn't that safe, but it's probably a lot safer than just me going over."

"Hmm, you're right." Piper said slowly. "But the others have to agree."

The others did agree, and Paige gave them all looks of gratitude. "Seven, then?" Joshua asked.

Paige took a steadying breath. "Yes, seven."