A/N: Geez... what is it with you guys and liking the chapters I hate? Well what can I say about this one? The ending is superb.
A/N: Heather, wow. You liked that chapter a leetle *too* much. But yeah, random rhyming IS fun! Thanks.
A/N: Thanks to Kit and Falcon for... pointing out spelling errors. Honestly you guys, you'd think you'd have something constructive other than small stuff like that but... *sighs* Yes, in otherwords, I had Kit check it again. *shudders*
A/N: Wow, four A/Ns today! Once again (though I think you've come to expect it) language. Damn Paige and her mouth!
Psychosis
Paige traced over her lips with her index finger. She felt pain in her abdomen but ignored it, passing it off as repercussions from the latest demon attack. Fighting without Piper was like eating without food: it just didn't work. But she was practically a vegetable most of the time, or babbling or jumping about like a deranged kangaroo and frankly they couldn't afford to utilise her in battle; it was far too dangerous.
If only the demons would take a vacation just now until Piper got better. Who was Paige kidding - Piper get better? That was a joke at any rate. You only had to look at her for an instant, unqualified yet accurate, diagnosis: insane.
At the moment Paige was sitting on the edge of her bed playing with the remote for her CD player. Nothing was playing, but she just wanted something to distract herself with. Being in her own apartment, alone, didn't feel the way she thought it would. She had thought it would be great to get some peace and quiet, some time to herself, some space, but that wasn't the way it was working out. Instead the place had an eerie silent atmosphere about it, and she wasn't used to feeling quite so lonely.
Especially after her midnight visit from a demon last night. She'd awoken to see a man standing across the room, his outline framed in the window by the moonlight. She didn't move because if he attacked her, she couldn't protect herself or orb out. But he seemed to only be watching her, calculating. He looked like someone she recognised. He looked like Cole.
If she told Phoebe, the idiot would probably go running after him crying love or something. Paige didn't want the extra hassle. Maybe she should tell Leo.
Still, she managed to feel annoyed when Leo himself orbed in with Phoebe clutching onto his arm. "Don't you guys know how to knock?" she snarled, then her frown relaxed. "I'm sorry, you just startled me, that's all."
Phoebe apologised and let go of Leo who promptly orbed out. Either this was something he didn't want to stand in on or it was true: Leo was starting to make their relationship strictly business. Phoebe didn't sit down. She was here with a purpose. "This isn't working," she said shortly.
Frowning, Paige glanced up. "What isn't?" It sounded as if Phoebe was about to break up with her or something.
"You, living here," Phoebe continued. "It's just... no. Paige. Enough is enough. You have to come back right now." On Paige's silent response, Phoebe felt herself begin to get angry but bit her sharp tongue. "Look, you can't even orb, anymore. None of us have our powers, and the last thing we need is to be separated. Demons knock even less than I do." Her attempt at a joke did nothing to remove the scowl on Paige's face, or her own. "Somebody could get hurt, or worse, all because we're not together."
Standing up, Paige placed the remote control beside the CD player and turned to face her sister, her skin bristling at the prospective argument she could sense. "Phoebe we've been through this and I understand where you're coming from. But I'm staying put."
Anger sprung onto Phoebe's face. She didn't know whether she'd expected Paige to agree or not, or if she even cared; perhaps she was just here looking for a fight, and if the latter was what she wanted, she was about to receive it. "Why? Why are you being so selfish?"
"Oh I'm being lectured on being selfish by you?" Paige glared. "That's a new one."
This wasn't what Phoebe had expected - she had no idea what Paige was talking about, unless it was just a throwaway insult. But her suspicions were that it wasn't. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"I've heard enough of the stories to know all about your Cole issues. You couldn't keep your stupid hands away from him! You risked Piper and Prue's lives countless times all in the name of so-called love!"
"It was love!" Phoebe returned. "I mean- it, it is love! We... Cole... he, he would never hurt us because he loved me!"
Paige shook her head in disgust. "If he's so in love with you, how come he's roaming the Underworld right now, probably planning how to off us once and for all? I wouldn't doubt he knows we're powerless right now and is probably on his way here!"
Clenching her hands into tiny little fists, Phoebe glowered at Paige. "That's not true," she spat. "Evil or not, Cole would never come near me or my sisters."
"Then who was in here last night?"
Silence. Phoebe froze, shocked. That was an extremely unexpected statement. "What?"
Paige's jaw tightened. "I had to pretend to be asleep. I had no protection and couldn't orb. From photos I'd seen, it looked like him. He was standing there, just watching me. Then he disappeared."
Not knowing what to make of this, Phoebe was quiet for a moment longer while her brain registered what Paige had just told her. Then she went straight into denial. "No, it wasn't him," she told Paige as if she knew better. "You were dreaming."
"I wasn't dreaming."
"Then you're lying!" It wasn't something Phoebe could handle right now, the prospect of her ex-lover returning with an alternative agenda. "You're just saying that to get to me!"
Paige rolled her eyes. "Knew I should've told Leo and not you," she muttered.
"Shut up!" Phoebe yelled. "You don't know Cole! You're just making it all up! He'd never hurt us!"
"That so?" Paige challenged. "Are you willing to risk it?"
Deciding that she couldn't bear any more Cole talk, Phoebe swiftly changed the subject. "Come home," she demanded sternly and with a hardened look in her eye.
"This is my home," Paige retorted. "Phoebe, are you here to fight with me? Because that's fine with me. If you must know, I've been feeling a little edgy too recently, worrying my ass off that your demon ex is gonna come and kill us all now that we're powerless and vulnerable. So I'd quite like to get some of that out, and we had such a blast last time I figured hey, why not? Beats therapy!"
Sweat was beginning to touch Phoebe's brow and her eyes narrowed. Paige was making her feel so damn enraged! What was it about this woman that could get her so angry? "Paige. I'm not here to fight," she lied. "This is for the best in the interests of the Charmed Ones." That part wasn't a lie. If they were to fix the Power of Three, they needed to be together. But the way this was going, it didn't look like the Power was going to be back in one piece anytime soon.
"It's always about the Charmed Ones with you isn't it? Well you know what? I quit. I've had enough of all this shit, the innocent saving, the innocents we lost, the death, the goddamn staring down the barrel of a gun every fucking day of our lives that is being Charmed. It's not charming at all. It's stupid and it's crap and it's us begging to be killed."
Obviously Paige was feeling just as loathsome as Phoebe was. They completely repelled each other, and both weren't shy on making it clear. "How are you my sister?" Phoebe cried. "I don't understand how someone as conceited as you could be related to me!"
"Oh believe me the idea's even uglier from this angle," Paige shot back and her eyes flickered up to Phoebe's hair; something she clearly wasn't a fan of.
So not only was Paige insulting her personality, but she'd moved onto her looks. Phoebe felt murderous. "Now you're just being petty," she growled.
"No, what's petty is your excuse to come over here and fight with me. We both know that's why you're really here, Freebie-"
"Name calling now, Paige? Oh that's mature."
"And that's the oldest comeback in the book. You're just here to fight and you know it, but you're being so pathetic as to make up some dumb excuse that you want me back in that mental hospital house of yours!"
The final straw: attacking Piper.
With one sudden move, Phoebe had delivered a slap to Paige's cheek. The noise of it resounded around the room like an everlasting echo, the first time either sister had blatantly struck the other.
Looking away from Phoebe for a moment, it took Paige a few moments to register what had just happened. Then she glanced up and saw Phoebe looking just as shocked as she felt. It sunk in: that bitch had just hit her! It didn't hurt much physically, but to Paige's ego... a cold glaze washed into her eyes and she fixed Phoebe with a harsh stare.
Phoebe regretted what she did as soon as she realised she'd done it. How could she hit her own sister? She was about to apologise when she saw the look in Paige's eyes. 'Sorry' wasn't going to cut it. As Paige took a step forward, Phoebe took a step back. She had suddenly realised just how big a deal this whole thing was. She didn't want to fight with Paige anymore.
But Paige still did. Her tight fists began to shake with pure rage as she began slowly walking towards Phoebe, her eyes glittering with anger and hatred. She couldn't speak; or do anything. All she knew was that once she reached Phoebe, she was going to do something she was going to regret.
"Paige I-" Phoebe began, not quite knowing what to say. "I'm, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I just, I was angry, that's all. I didn't mean to hit you. I'm sorry."
Baring her teeth in animal passion, Phoebe's words simply washed over Paige. The eldest sister had tapped into a rarely seen temper that Paige had hardly ever felt before. Sure she got annoyed and angry at things, but this was the real deal. A cool, contemplatative demeanour had pushed itself on top of her stiflingly hot rage, and the two emotions were working together to fuel her mind. She was beyond control. And she was going to kill Phoebe.
The glint in Paige's eyes told Phoebe that something was not right. "Paige," she tried again. "Calm down and we'll talk this over like adults, okay?"
As Paige walked towards Phoebe who was pacing backwards hurriedly, she stooped to pick up a metal baseball bat which was lying by the window.
"Oh god," Phoebe uttered. "Paige, you're kidding right? Paige?"
Still advancing, Paige's hard eyes never left Phoebe's. "I usually keep this beside my bed, for protection," she explained in a cool and monotonous voice. "But last night when Cole was in here it was gone. And here it is, all the way over by the window. I wonder how it got there."
Phoebe was almost at a wall now. She didn't have many options. She couldn't hope to fight Paige when the girl had a heavy weapon like that, and she could see the door was locked. It would take too long to unlock it and make her escape. She was trapped. She was trapped and useless and terrified. "Paige, listen to me," she began in a shaking voice. Her entire body was shuddering with fear.
"I don't want to listen anymore," Paige told her simply. "I want to play."
"Paige, look at yourself! You don't want to do this!"
A slow smirk crept onto Paige's face. "Oh but I do," she sneered, and raised the bat over her head.
A/N: Heather, wow. You liked that chapter a leetle *too* much. But yeah, random rhyming IS fun! Thanks.
A/N: Thanks to Kit and Falcon for... pointing out spelling errors. Honestly you guys, you'd think you'd have something constructive other than small stuff like that but... *sighs* Yes, in otherwords, I had Kit check it again. *shudders*
A/N: Wow, four A/Ns today! Once again (though I think you've come to expect it) language. Damn Paige and her mouth!
Psychosis
Paige traced over her lips with her index finger. She felt pain in her abdomen but ignored it, passing it off as repercussions from the latest demon attack. Fighting without Piper was like eating without food: it just didn't work. But she was practically a vegetable most of the time, or babbling or jumping about like a deranged kangaroo and frankly they couldn't afford to utilise her in battle; it was far too dangerous.
If only the demons would take a vacation just now until Piper got better. Who was Paige kidding - Piper get better? That was a joke at any rate. You only had to look at her for an instant, unqualified yet accurate, diagnosis: insane.
At the moment Paige was sitting on the edge of her bed playing with the remote for her CD player. Nothing was playing, but she just wanted something to distract herself with. Being in her own apartment, alone, didn't feel the way she thought it would. She had thought it would be great to get some peace and quiet, some time to herself, some space, but that wasn't the way it was working out. Instead the place had an eerie silent atmosphere about it, and she wasn't used to feeling quite so lonely.
Especially after her midnight visit from a demon last night. She'd awoken to see a man standing across the room, his outline framed in the window by the moonlight. She didn't move because if he attacked her, she couldn't protect herself or orb out. But he seemed to only be watching her, calculating. He looked like someone she recognised. He looked like Cole.
If she told Phoebe, the idiot would probably go running after him crying love or something. Paige didn't want the extra hassle. Maybe she should tell Leo.
Still, she managed to feel annoyed when Leo himself orbed in with Phoebe clutching onto his arm. "Don't you guys know how to knock?" she snarled, then her frown relaxed. "I'm sorry, you just startled me, that's all."
Phoebe apologised and let go of Leo who promptly orbed out. Either this was something he didn't want to stand in on or it was true: Leo was starting to make their relationship strictly business. Phoebe didn't sit down. She was here with a purpose. "This isn't working," she said shortly.
Frowning, Paige glanced up. "What isn't?" It sounded as if Phoebe was about to break up with her or something.
"You, living here," Phoebe continued. "It's just... no. Paige. Enough is enough. You have to come back right now." On Paige's silent response, Phoebe felt herself begin to get angry but bit her sharp tongue. "Look, you can't even orb, anymore. None of us have our powers, and the last thing we need is to be separated. Demons knock even less than I do." Her attempt at a joke did nothing to remove the scowl on Paige's face, or her own. "Somebody could get hurt, or worse, all because we're not together."
Standing up, Paige placed the remote control beside the CD player and turned to face her sister, her skin bristling at the prospective argument she could sense. "Phoebe we've been through this and I understand where you're coming from. But I'm staying put."
Anger sprung onto Phoebe's face. She didn't know whether she'd expected Paige to agree or not, or if she even cared; perhaps she was just here looking for a fight, and if the latter was what she wanted, she was about to receive it. "Why? Why are you being so selfish?"
"Oh I'm being lectured on being selfish by you?" Paige glared. "That's a new one."
This wasn't what Phoebe had expected - she had no idea what Paige was talking about, unless it was just a throwaway insult. But her suspicions were that it wasn't. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"I've heard enough of the stories to know all about your Cole issues. You couldn't keep your stupid hands away from him! You risked Piper and Prue's lives countless times all in the name of so-called love!"
"It was love!" Phoebe returned. "I mean- it, it is love! We... Cole... he, he would never hurt us because he loved me!"
Paige shook her head in disgust. "If he's so in love with you, how come he's roaming the Underworld right now, probably planning how to off us once and for all? I wouldn't doubt he knows we're powerless right now and is probably on his way here!"
Clenching her hands into tiny little fists, Phoebe glowered at Paige. "That's not true," she spat. "Evil or not, Cole would never come near me or my sisters."
"Then who was in here last night?"
Silence. Phoebe froze, shocked. That was an extremely unexpected statement. "What?"
Paige's jaw tightened. "I had to pretend to be asleep. I had no protection and couldn't orb. From photos I'd seen, it looked like him. He was standing there, just watching me. Then he disappeared."
Not knowing what to make of this, Phoebe was quiet for a moment longer while her brain registered what Paige had just told her. Then she went straight into denial. "No, it wasn't him," she told Paige as if she knew better. "You were dreaming."
"I wasn't dreaming."
"Then you're lying!" It wasn't something Phoebe could handle right now, the prospect of her ex-lover returning with an alternative agenda. "You're just saying that to get to me!"
Paige rolled her eyes. "Knew I should've told Leo and not you," she muttered.
"Shut up!" Phoebe yelled. "You don't know Cole! You're just making it all up! He'd never hurt us!"
"That so?" Paige challenged. "Are you willing to risk it?"
Deciding that she couldn't bear any more Cole talk, Phoebe swiftly changed the subject. "Come home," she demanded sternly and with a hardened look in her eye.
"This is my home," Paige retorted. "Phoebe, are you here to fight with me? Because that's fine with me. If you must know, I've been feeling a little edgy too recently, worrying my ass off that your demon ex is gonna come and kill us all now that we're powerless and vulnerable. So I'd quite like to get some of that out, and we had such a blast last time I figured hey, why not? Beats therapy!"
Sweat was beginning to touch Phoebe's brow and her eyes narrowed. Paige was making her feel so damn enraged! What was it about this woman that could get her so angry? "Paige. I'm not here to fight," she lied. "This is for the best in the interests of the Charmed Ones." That part wasn't a lie. If they were to fix the Power of Three, they needed to be together. But the way this was going, it didn't look like the Power was going to be back in one piece anytime soon.
"It's always about the Charmed Ones with you isn't it? Well you know what? I quit. I've had enough of all this shit, the innocent saving, the innocents we lost, the death, the goddamn staring down the barrel of a gun every fucking day of our lives that is being Charmed. It's not charming at all. It's stupid and it's crap and it's us begging to be killed."
Obviously Paige was feeling just as loathsome as Phoebe was. They completely repelled each other, and both weren't shy on making it clear. "How are you my sister?" Phoebe cried. "I don't understand how someone as conceited as you could be related to me!"
"Oh believe me the idea's even uglier from this angle," Paige shot back and her eyes flickered up to Phoebe's hair; something she clearly wasn't a fan of.
So not only was Paige insulting her personality, but she'd moved onto her looks. Phoebe felt murderous. "Now you're just being petty," she growled.
"No, what's petty is your excuse to come over here and fight with me. We both know that's why you're really here, Freebie-"
"Name calling now, Paige? Oh that's mature."
"And that's the oldest comeback in the book. You're just here to fight and you know it, but you're being so pathetic as to make up some dumb excuse that you want me back in that mental hospital house of yours!"
The final straw: attacking Piper.
With one sudden move, Phoebe had delivered a slap to Paige's cheek. The noise of it resounded around the room like an everlasting echo, the first time either sister had blatantly struck the other.
Looking away from Phoebe for a moment, it took Paige a few moments to register what had just happened. Then she glanced up and saw Phoebe looking just as shocked as she felt. It sunk in: that bitch had just hit her! It didn't hurt much physically, but to Paige's ego... a cold glaze washed into her eyes and she fixed Phoebe with a harsh stare.
Phoebe regretted what she did as soon as she realised she'd done it. How could she hit her own sister? She was about to apologise when she saw the look in Paige's eyes. 'Sorry' wasn't going to cut it. As Paige took a step forward, Phoebe took a step back. She had suddenly realised just how big a deal this whole thing was. She didn't want to fight with Paige anymore.
But Paige still did. Her tight fists began to shake with pure rage as she began slowly walking towards Phoebe, her eyes glittering with anger and hatred. She couldn't speak; or do anything. All she knew was that once she reached Phoebe, she was going to do something she was going to regret.
"Paige I-" Phoebe began, not quite knowing what to say. "I'm, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I just, I was angry, that's all. I didn't mean to hit you. I'm sorry."
Baring her teeth in animal passion, Phoebe's words simply washed over Paige. The eldest sister had tapped into a rarely seen temper that Paige had hardly ever felt before. Sure she got annoyed and angry at things, but this was the real deal. A cool, contemplatative demeanour had pushed itself on top of her stiflingly hot rage, and the two emotions were working together to fuel her mind. She was beyond control. And she was going to kill Phoebe.
The glint in Paige's eyes told Phoebe that something was not right. "Paige," she tried again. "Calm down and we'll talk this over like adults, okay?"
As Paige walked towards Phoebe who was pacing backwards hurriedly, she stooped to pick up a metal baseball bat which was lying by the window.
"Oh god," Phoebe uttered. "Paige, you're kidding right? Paige?"
Still advancing, Paige's hard eyes never left Phoebe's. "I usually keep this beside my bed, for protection," she explained in a cool and monotonous voice. "But last night when Cole was in here it was gone. And here it is, all the way over by the window. I wonder how it got there."
Phoebe was almost at a wall now. She didn't have many options. She couldn't hope to fight Paige when the girl had a heavy weapon like that, and she could see the door was locked. It would take too long to unlock it and make her escape. She was trapped. She was trapped and useless and terrified. "Paige, listen to me," she began in a shaking voice. Her entire body was shuddering with fear.
"I don't want to listen anymore," Paige told her simply. "I want to play."
"Paige, look at yourself! You don't want to do this!"
A slow smirk crept onto Paige's face. "Oh but I do," she sneered, and raised the bat over her head.