A/N: This chapter was written at 2am and it's been a long time since I've written this. And it was written with much haste, my friends, much haste. So excuse the general crappiness *grins* And boy if you thought this was weird before, you ain't seen nothing yet! Thanks for the reviews, they mean a lot.
A/N: *this A/N came after I'd finished*... I hope it's not awful *whimpers*. My firm excuse is I've been up for nearly 24 hours. Well... if it's half 2 now I've been awake for like... um... *counts on fingers... not enough fingers* 20 hours? I deserve to be let off with this one... please?
Psychosis
"Piper," Phoebe whispered in a mournful voice, "What did you do?"
"Prue-" Piper started, but was crying so hard she couldn't speak.
Glancing at Phoebe, Paige realised she had no idea what to do. This was just too weird. Here she was, inside her half-sister's mind, and she'd just witnessed Piper push her already dead other half-sister Prue into a river and act like it hadn't even happened. "Piper," she began uncertainly, "You just pushed... Prue into the river."
Piper stared at her silently, her eyes shining.
"Why?" Paige continued, thinking. "What is this? Your subconscious telling us you feel responsible for her death?
A smile crept onto Piper's face. Paige frowned at her. The smile was so... innocent. It reminded Paige of the kind of smile a child would have. Pure.
"It wasn't your fault, Piper," Phoebe injected. "You should know that by now. It wasn't anybody's fault."
But still Piper smiled on, as if she hadn't heard. It was like Paige and Phoebe were speaking a language Piper didn't understand, so she just smiled and nodded along.
Raising an eyebrow, Paige wondered if she was even listening. She wondered how much of this was getting through to the real Piper who was at present lying unconscious in her bed. "Piper. Please. Talk to us. What happened with Prue just there... why did you do it?"
A sad expression replaced Piper's shy smile and she looked at Paige and Phoebe before slowly making her way past them. She simply walked away.
Sharing a quick glance, Paige and Phoebe followed their big sister.
The suddenly the surroundings changed and they were in an office building. Paige looked around her, confused.
Phoebe blanked. She knew this place. She knew this place and she knew she had wanted to forget it existed. "Bucklands?" she gasped. "What's this place got to do with...?"
They saw Piper wearing a skirt suit and trotting into Prue's old office.
"Let's go see what the current movie is," Paige joked half-heartedly. They followed Piper and found her talking to a man. An English man.
"Rex Buckland," Phoebe snarled. "What's he doing here?"
"Who is he?"
"One of the first warlocks we encountered. And a bad one at that. He was Prue's old boss here and had us fooled he was a normal guy for ages," Phoebe was letting her voice sound her anger as she recalled the blackmail they'd gone through. "Then he turned his... minion partner into a... a... big black cat-"
"A panther."
Phoebe glared at Paige, then relaxed her expression. "Right. And tried to steal our powers. Actually... you know to this day I still don't exactly know how we got them back but-"
"Shh. Something's happening."
Phoebe silenced herself and joined Paige in staring at Piper and Rex's interaction. She couldn't hear what they were saying, which was strange because they were so close, but still, all she saw was their lips move. Then Piper shook Rex's hand.
"What?" Phoebe whispered almost silently. "What is going on?"
"We could always ask," Paige suggested.
Phoebe pursed her lips decisively. "Good idea." They charged into the office hand in hand. Phoebe then placed her hands on her hips as Rex and Piper turned to face the newcomers. "Rex Buckland," she announced sardonically. "Pleasure to see you again."
"Ah, Miss Halliwell," he said pleasantly. "Your sister Piper here has just decided to join the team here at Bucklands."
Piper grinned widely and nodded her assurance.
This caught Phoebe off. Maybe she'd jumped in a little soon - she'd kind of simply assumed that on seeing Rex, he was the demon in this whole scenario. Sure they'd vanquished him before but demons had come back before as well, hadn't they? And the whole mind-control gig Rex had going fit in with this all too well.
The suspicion was probably stemmed from Phoebe's extreme desire that this whole thing was caused by a demon and not some sort of mental dysfunction on Piper's part. Demons could be vanquished, and mostly quite easily at that, but mental demons?
Rex placed his hand on Piper's shoulder, claiming her. Phoebe bristled. "And what exactly does Piper's job involve?" she queried.
Answering simply, Rex pasted a smirk on his face. "To destroy the Charmed Ones and capture their powers for me." He gave Piper's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and she beamed up at him, delighted. Rex and Piper began to converse again, ignoring Paige and Phoebe.
Paige folded her arms and leaned over to Phoebe. "This isn't going exactly the way I imagined," she said quietly. "I didn't picture him announcing something like that as if we were normal people and it was a normal job. I thought this might actually lead to something."
"Maybe it does," Phoebe muttered.
Rex turned to Piper. "Right, my little Hellfire," he smiled, "Go get Phoebe Halliwell. Bring me her powers. And perhaps her head, as a souvenir. I hear she has a delightful new hair style."
"How sweet of him to comment," Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "And Hellfire? This is just getting weird..." She paused. Then added an "...er." She looked to Paige to explain. "Ms Hellfire was a hit woman hired to kill us-"
"Phoebe, details later. I'd be more worried about the fact that he just asked her to kill you," Paige warned. "And I think he meant... 'you' you. Because..."
Phoebe noticed that Piper was looking directly at her with a malicious smirk on her face. "Oh!" she gasped and stepped backwards, away from her advancing sister. "Oh, Paige? How do we make the movie stop?"
"Uh..." Paige dithered for a moment, and began to wave her hands around. "End. Stop. Um... let us back into our own world." She snapped her fingers. Nothing. "Phoebe? Why did we come in here without knowing how to get out?"
"I don't know," Phoebe whimpered, "But I know what we can do."
Paige paused and met her sister's frightened look. "What?"
"Run!"
A/N: *this A/N came after I'd finished*... I hope it's not awful *whimpers*. My firm excuse is I've been up for nearly 24 hours. Well... if it's half 2 now I've been awake for like... um... *counts on fingers... not enough fingers* 20 hours? I deserve to be let off with this one... please?
Psychosis
"Piper," Phoebe whispered in a mournful voice, "What did you do?"
"Prue-" Piper started, but was crying so hard she couldn't speak.
Glancing at Phoebe, Paige realised she had no idea what to do. This was just too weird. Here she was, inside her half-sister's mind, and she'd just witnessed Piper push her already dead other half-sister Prue into a river and act like it hadn't even happened. "Piper," she began uncertainly, "You just pushed... Prue into the river."
Piper stared at her silently, her eyes shining.
"Why?" Paige continued, thinking. "What is this? Your subconscious telling us you feel responsible for her death?
A smile crept onto Piper's face. Paige frowned at her. The smile was so... innocent. It reminded Paige of the kind of smile a child would have. Pure.
"It wasn't your fault, Piper," Phoebe injected. "You should know that by now. It wasn't anybody's fault."
But still Piper smiled on, as if she hadn't heard. It was like Paige and Phoebe were speaking a language Piper didn't understand, so she just smiled and nodded along.
Raising an eyebrow, Paige wondered if she was even listening. She wondered how much of this was getting through to the real Piper who was at present lying unconscious in her bed. "Piper. Please. Talk to us. What happened with Prue just there... why did you do it?"
A sad expression replaced Piper's shy smile and she looked at Paige and Phoebe before slowly making her way past them. She simply walked away.
Sharing a quick glance, Paige and Phoebe followed their big sister.
The suddenly the surroundings changed and they were in an office building. Paige looked around her, confused.
Phoebe blanked. She knew this place. She knew this place and she knew she had wanted to forget it existed. "Bucklands?" she gasped. "What's this place got to do with...?"
They saw Piper wearing a skirt suit and trotting into Prue's old office.
"Let's go see what the current movie is," Paige joked half-heartedly. They followed Piper and found her talking to a man. An English man.
"Rex Buckland," Phoebe snarled. "What's he doing here?"
"Who is he?"
"One of the first warlocks we encountered. And a bad one at that. He was Prue's old boss here and had us fooled he was a normal guy for ages," Phoebe was letting her voice sound her anger as she recalled the blackmail they'd gone through. "Then he turned his... minion partner into a... a... big black cat-"
"A panther."
Phoebe glared at Paige, then relaxed her expression. "Right. And tried to steal our powers. Actually... you know to this day I still don't exactly know how we got them back but-"
"Shh. Something's happening."
Phoebe silenced herself and joined Paige in staring at Piper and Rex's interaction. She couldn't hear what they were saying, which was strange because they were so close, but still, all she saw was their lips move. Then Piper shook Rex's hand.
"What?" Phoebe whispered almost silently. "What is going on?"
"We could always ask," Paige suggested.
Phoebe pursed her lips decisively. "Good idea." They charged into the office hand in hand. Phoebe then placed her hands on her hips as Rex and Piper turned to face the newcomers. "Rex Buckland," she announced sardonically. "Pleasure to see you again."
"Ah, Miss Halliwell," he said pleasantly. "Your sister Piper here has just decided to join the team here at Bucklands."
Piper grinned widely and nodded her assurance.
This caught Phoebe off. Maybe she'd jumped in a little soon - she'd kind of simply assumed that on seeing Rex, he was the demon in this whole scenario. Sure they'd vanquished him before but demons had come back before as well, hadn't they? And the whole mind-control gig Rex had going fit in with this all too well.
The suspicion was probably stemmed from Phoebe's extreme desire that this whole thing was caused by a demon and not some sort of mental dysfunction on Piper's part. Demons could be vanquished, and mostly quite easily at that, but mental demons?
Rex placed his hand on Piper's shoulder, claiming her. Phoebe bristled. "And what exactly does Piper's job involve?" she queried.
Answering simply, Rex pasted a smirk on his face. "To destroy the Charmed Ones and capture their powers for me." He gave Piper's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and she beamed up at him, delighted. Rex and Piper began to converse again, ignoring Paige and Phoebe.
Paige folded her arms and leaned over to Phoebe. "This isn't going exactly the way I imagined," she said quietly. "I didn't picture him announcing something like that as if we were normal people and it was a normal job. I thought this might actually lead to something."
"Maybe it does," Phoebe muttered.
Rex turned to Piper. "Right, my little Hellfire," he smiled, "Go get Phoebe Halliwell. Bring me her powers. And perhaps her head, as a souvenir. I hear she has a delightful new hair style."
"How sweet of him to comment," Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "And Hellfire? This is just getting weird..." She paused. Then added an "...er." She looked to Paige to explain. "Ms Hellfire was a hit woman hired to kill us-"
"Phoebe, details later. I'd be more worried about the fact that he just asked her to kill you," Paige warned. "And I think he meant... 'you' you. Because..."
Phoebe noticed that Piper was looking directly at her with a malicious smirk on her face. "Oh!" she gasped and stepped backwards, away from her advancing sister. "Oh, Paige? How do we make the movie stop?"
"Uh..." Paige dithered for a moment, and began to wave her hands around. "End. Stop. Um... let us back into our own world." She snapped her fingers. Nothing. "Phoebe? Why did we come in here without knowing how to get out?"
"I don't know," Phoebe whimpered, "But I know what we can do."
Paige paused and met her sister's frightened look. "What?"
"Run!"