Disclaimer: Charmed belongs to other people. My name is not other people, so don't look at me! (I love a show that doesn't start with THE)
AN: This will be a joint story between Aqua (that would be me) and Daisy, so this is why you will end up seeing two different authors for this fic.
A Journey Cut Short
PART I: Weathering Woes of Wilt
Aqua
"Phoebe!" Paige's voice reverberated off of each slab of wood leading down the hallway as she pounded with a bitter early morning rage against the oak door leading to the upstairs bathroom. She turned at the creaking whine of Piper and Leo's bedroom door while a very pregnant Piper waddled toward her, stopping to stare her dead in the eyes and with a blunt and deliberate voice spoke, "Again?"
"Yep," Paige threw her hands up into the air referring to Phoebe's inhabitation of the bathroom, then saw Piper's pouting face, "again?"
"Yep," Piper replied with a sigh and added mock perk to her ragged voice, "my husband has orbed away from his very pregnant wife once again because he hears freakin *voices in his head* calling for him."
"I'm sure he had a good reason, Piper," Paige shrugged while pounding on the door once again, "Phoebe!"
"Yeah, well I'll agree that Phoebe is hogging the bathroom all the time if you agree Leo needs to orb his butt back here."
"Works for me," the red-headed sister affirmed with a nod, "Its 9:30, Phoebe!" At last, the long awaited sister swung the door open with a towel wrapped around her securely and a shocked look on her face at the time. "Just kidding. Did you have enough time to wash behind your ears and between every toe?" Paige muttered sarcastically.
Phoebe eyed her and with displeasement shook her finger, "Can you say 'good morning'?"
"Can you say 'caffiene and showerless sister'?" she replied with the slam of the door.
"Well, someone's not in a very good mood this morning," Phoebe stated, then turned to her elder sister, noticing her dissappointed face, "I guess that makes two of you."
"He left. Again. Just left," Piper groaned and with a turn walked down the stairs mumbling, "I'll go make the caffiene-happy coffee for those of you who can actually drink it."
*****
At the kitchen table sat Piper with a glass of orange juice, bacon, scrambled eggs, and waffles topped with strawberries while she skimmed the newspaper for anything remotely interesting. Phoebe bustled in and poured a cup of coffee.
"Would you like some buttered toast, Piper?"
Her head darted up and glared at her little sister, "I am eating for two need I remind you!"
Phoebe smiled and paused to embrace her sister, speaking to her stomach, "Hey in there! Good morning!"
"Phoebe, you really don't need to say stuff to the baby as well every time you see me you know."
"I know, but I'm going to be the best aunt in the world so I'm starting now."
Piper waved a hand in the air and smiled, "Could you hand me a banana? I don't generally feel like moving these days."
Paige walked into the kitchen just as Phoebe tossed the banana toward Piper, but she caught it instead, "this yours?"
"Please," Piper whined with a gleam of amusement in her eyes. Paige laughed and let the fruit make an arch as it landed in Piper's palm, "thank-you."
A mystical shower of blue lights suddenly illuminated the room and they all looked on expectantly as Leo's figure took form.
"Morning ladies. Hi, Honey," he greeted with a smile for his wife. Piper firmly attached a plastic smile to her face and threw the banana at his chest, "what was that for?"
"You left me again!" she folded her arms over her chest, no easy task.
Leo looked desperately at his wife's sisters, but Phoebe just smiled, "You're on your own this time Angelboy. I'm late for work."
"Maybe you wouldn't be if you spent less time in the bathroom!" Paige yelled after her, causing Phoebe to turn and jut her tongue out childishly, "And you sing badly, too!"
Phoebe pretended to gasp as the front door slammed and Paige stared between the married couple.
"I'm not about to get into this. I just want to drink my coffee and eat my eggs in peace, ... and maybe watch a good fight to start the day off right." She sat down at the table beside her sister and sipped her steaming coffee.
"How come you never just wake me up and say 'Piper, I'm off to go save the world, goodbye now.' Its really not that hard!" she said with a serious look of unhappiness on her face.
Leo came to sit down on the other side of her, grasping her small hand, "I didn't want to wake you. I just know how long its been taking you to fall asleep lately. I didn't want you to worry."
"Me, worry? Do I do that?" she smiled, lighting up the room with its glow.
He laughed and shook his head, "Never."
Paige dropped her jaw in mock disgust, "That's about the lamest fight I have ever seen you, Piper Halliwell, have."
"Maybe I'm just special," Leo bragged with a hand bracing his chin to his sister-in-law, who smirked in reply.
"Don't get too cocky, Mister." Piper chastized.
Paige laughed as she stood, swinging her bag over her shoulder on her way out the door, "That's right. This woman is invincible, large and in charge. She could send you to the hospital anytime she wants."
"Speaking of hospital!" Piper jumped at the oppurtunity, "I really need to go to one."
Leo sighed, "But Piper, we've already decided that it would be too risky to have the baby at a hospital. What if it orbs the doctor away or something?"
"Then we get a new doctor. I know we can make this work, I'll be good and the baby will be healthy and I won't be mad at you!" she debated, but continued when his expression didn't change, "I'm the one who's having the baby, shouldn't it be my decision?"
He hesitated at this, because either answer he was considering could result in a tearful Piper, "I guess you're right."
Piper smiled and comforted him, her hand rubbing his back, "how bout we go check out the place, meet some doctors, see the cute babies, and then decide."
Leo smiled, "Deal."
*****
"Darryl, slow down. I can only comprehend but so much while I type my next column at the same time," Phoebe said while wrestling the phone into a jam between her shoulder and ear. She paused for a moment to push her glasses back up her nose and take a sip of coffee.
"Stop writing, and listen to me, Phoebe," Darryl's voicie came through the telephone speaker, "there have been three infants reported missing in the last twelve hours all from the exact same hospital."
"Sounds like one phsyco kidnapper. Why are you calling us though?" she inquired, tapping a pencil against the keyboard.
"They are all girls from the hospital near your house whose mothers have connections with certain wicca programs. I have one of those gut feelings that you should be the ones to solve this one. Phoebe, I havn't spread the news around the station, but I can only withhold the information for so long."
"Okay, Darryl. I'll go home, check it out and we'll see what happens."
Phoebe ended the conversation and proceeded to call Paige on her cell phone.
"What?" Paige greeted.
"Is that the proper way to answer the phone nowadays?" the older sister lectured.
Paige groaned, "I knew it would be either you or Piper with a demonic problem. I'm right aren't I?"
"Got it in one. Turn around and head back to the manor to look in the Book of Shadows for demons who steal newborns or something to that extent at least."
"All right, I'll see you soon right?" Paige delivered bluntly.
"Yea yea, I'll be there."
Phoebe put the phone back onto the receiver and sighed, shutting down her computer after saving the file and quickly exiting the office discreetly before Claire could catch her.
*****
Paige sat in the attic flipping through the thick pages of the sisters' spell book. "Nothing, nothing, nothing," she muttered to herself. She was about to close the book when something on the next page caught her eye. A stunning blonde woman was painted onto the page and on the top in old century type font were the words," The Demon of Vitality."
*****
"Isn't this nice?" Piper asked as she and Leo walked down the hospital's corridors touring anything and everything baby related.
"Mm hmm."
"Oh come on, you could at least act interested," Piper replied.
"I'm sorry, I just don't see how it could work," her husband defended himself.
She sighed and then perked up. Cupping her hand around Leo's ear, she whispered, "Hey, lets go see the new babies."
"Piper, that blonde doctor said that that was off limits at the moment, that they're doing something to one of the little girls," Leo whispered back.
"So, we need to see them 'do stuff' anyway. For our baby!" she pleaded, tugging his wrist.
"Fine! How do you do that? You always win."
"Its a gift," she took his hand and led him toward the glass window where the new infants were being held. However, there was only one child there and the doctor they had spoken to earlier stood over her. In an air of drama, she turned so that she was visible, her eyes burnt scarlet and she placed her hand over the baby's tiny chest and to the shock and dismay of Piper and Leo, the baby rapidly began aging before their eyes until a woman who was at least years older than Piper lay on the floor bawling. The stunningly blonde woman cackled and dissappeared into a smoky haze. The door handle slowly turned as someone entered the room and Piper, still in shock, felt Leo grasp hold of her as they disappeared into a galaxy of blue lights.
REVIEWS of any sort are demanded ... I mean requested ... yea sure! PLEASE!
AN: This will be a joint story between Aqua (that would be me) and Daisy, so this is why you will end up seeing two different authors for this fic.
A Journey Cut Short
PART I: Weathering Woes of Wilt
Aqua
"Phoebe!" Paige's voice reverberated off of each slab of wood leading down the hallway as she pounded with a bitter early morning rage against the oak door leading to the upstairs bathroom. She turned at the creaking whine of Piper and Leo's bedroom door while a very pregnant Piper waddled toward her, stopping to stare her dead in the eyes and with a blunt and deliberate voice spoke, "Again?"
"Yep," Paige threw her hands up into the air referring to Phoebe's inhabitation of the bathroom, then saw Piper's pouting face, "again?"
"Yep," Piper replied with a sigh and added mock perk to her ragged voice, "my husband has orbed away from his very pregnant wife once again because he hears freakin *voices in his head* calling for him."
"I'm sure he had a good reason, Piper," Paige shrugged while pounding on the door once again, "Phoebe!"
"Yeah, well I'll agree that Phoebe is hogging the bathroom all the time if you agree Leo needs to orb his butt back here."
"Works for me," the red-headed sister affirmed with a nod, "Its 9:30, Phoebe!" At last, the long awaited sister swung the door open with a towel wrapped around her securely and a shocked look on her face at the time. "Just kidding. Did you have enough time to wash behind your ears and between every toe?" Paige muttered sarcastically.
Phoebe eyed her and with displeasement shook her finger, "Can you say 'good morning'?"
"Can you say 'caffiene and showerless sister'?" she replied with the slam of the door.
"Well, someone's not in a very good mood this morning," Phoebe stated, then turned to her elder sister, noticing her dissappointed face, "I guess that makes two of you."
"He left. Again. Just left," Piper groaned and with a turn walked down the stairs mumbling, "I'll go make the caffiene-happy coffee for those of you who can actually drink it."
*****
At the kitchen table sat Piper with a glass of orange juice, bacon, scrambled eggs, and waffles topped with strawberries while she skimmed the newspaper for anything remotely interesting. Phoebe bustled in and poured a cup of coffee.
"Would you like some buttered toast, Piper?"
Her head darted up and glared at her little sister, "I am eating for two need I remind you!"
Phoebe smiled and paused to embrace her sister, speaking to her stomach, "Hey in there! Good morning!"
"Phoebe, you really don't need to say stuff to the baby as well every time you see me you know."
"I know, but I'm going to be the best aunt in the world so I'm starting now."
Piper waved a hand in the air and smiled, "Could you hand me a banana? I don't generally feel like moving these days."
Paige walked into the kitchen just as Phoebe tossed the banana toward Piper, but she caught it instead, "this yours?"
"Please," Piper whined with a gleam of amusement in her eyes. Paige laughed and let the fruit make an arch as it landed in Piper's palm, "thank-you."
A mystical shower of blue lights suddenly illuminated the room and they all looked on expectantly as Leo's figure took form.
"Morning ladies. Hi, Honey," he greeted with a smile for his wife. Piper firmly attached a plastic smile to her face and threw the banana at his chest, "what was that for?"
"You left me again!" she folded her arms over her chest, no easy task.
Leo looked desperately at his wife's sisters, but Phoebe just smiled, "You're on your own this time Angelboy. I'm late for work."
"Maybe you wouldn't be if you spent less time in the bathroom!" Paige yelled after her, causing Phoebe to turn and jut her tongue out childishly, "And you sing badly, too!"
Phoebe pretended to gasp as the front door slammed and Paige stared between the married couple.
"I'm not about to get into this. I just want to drink my coffee and eat my eggs in peace, ... and maybe watch a good fight to start the day off right." She sat down at the table beside her sister and sipped her steaming coffee.
"How come you never just wake me up and say 'Piper, I'm off to go save the world, goodbye now.' Its really not that hard!" she said with a serious look of unhappiness on her face.
Leo came to sit down on the other side of her, grasping her small hand, "I didn't want to wake you. I just know how long its been taking you to fall asleep lately. I didn't want you to worry."
"Me, worry? Do I do that?" she smiled, lighting up the room with its glow.
He laughed and shook his head, "Never."
Paige dropped her jaw in mock disgust, "That's about the lamest fight I have ever seen you, Piper Halliwell, have."
"Maybe I'm just special," Leo bragged with a hand bracing his chin to his sister-in-law, who smirked in reply.
"Don't get too cocky, Mister." Piper chastized.
Paige laughed as she stood, swinging her bag over her shoulder on her way out the door, "That's right. This woman is invincible, large and in charge. She could send you to the hospital anytime she wants."
"Speaking of hospital!" Piper jumped at the oppurtunity, "I really need to go to one."
Leo sighed, "But Piper, we've already decided that it would be too risky to have the baby at a hospital. What if it orbs the doctor away or something?"
"Then we get a new doctor. I know we can make this work, I'll be good and the baby will be healthy and I won't be mad at you!" she debated, but continued when his expression didn't change, "I'm the one who's having the baby, shouldn't it be my decision?"
He hesitated at this, because either answer he was considering could result in a tearful Piper, "I guess you're right."
Piper smiled and comforted him, her hand rubbing his back, "how bout we go check out the place, meet some doctors, see the cute babies, and then decide."
Leo smiled, "Deal."
*****
"Darryl, slow down. I can only comprehend but so much while I type my next column at the same time," Phoebe said while wrestling the phone into a jam between her shoulder and ear. She paused for a moment to push her glasses back up her nose and take a sip of coffee.
"Stop writing, and listen to me, Phoebe," Darryl's voicie came through the telephone speaker, "there have been three infants reported missing in the last twelve hours all from the exact same hospital."
"Sounds like one phsyco kidnapper. Why are you calling us though?" she inquired, tapping a pencil against the keyboard.
"They are all girls from the hospital near your house whose mothers have connections with certain wicca programs. I have one of those gut feelings that you should be the ones to solve this one. Phoebe, I havn't spread the news around the station, but I can only withhold the information for so long."
"Okay, Darryl. I'll go home, check it out and we'll see what happens."
Phoebe ended the conversation and proceeded to call Paige on her cell phone.
"What?" Paige greeted.
"Is that the proper way to answer the phone nowadays?" the older sister lectured.
Paige groaned, "I knew it would be either you or Piper with a demonic problem. I'm right aren't I?"
"Got it in one. Turn around and head back to the manor to look in the Book of Shadows for demons who steal newborns or something to that extent at least."
"All right, I'll see you soon right?" Paige delivered bluntly.
"Yea yea, I'll be there."
Phoebe put the phone back onto the receiver and sighed, shutting down her computer after saving the file and quickly exiting the office discreetly before Claire could catch her.
*****
Paige sat in the attic flipping through the thick pages of the sisters' spell book. "Nothing, nothing, nothing," she muttered to herself. She was about to close the book when something on the next page caught her eye. A stunning blonde woman was painted onto the page and on the top in old century type font were the words," The Demon of Vitality."
*****
"Isn't this nice?" Piper asked as she and Leo walked down the hospital's corridors touring anything and everything baby related.
"Mm hmm."
"Oh come on, you could at least act interested," Piper replied.
"I'm sorry, I just don't see how it could work," her husband defended himself.
She sighed and then perked up. Cupping her hand around Leo's ear, she whispered, "Hey, lets go see the new babies."
"Piper, that blonde doctor said that that was off limits at the moment, that they're doing something to one of the little girls," Leo whispered back.
"So, we need to see them 'do stuff' anyway. For our baby!" she pleaded, tugging his wrist.
"Fine! How do you do that? You always win."
"Its a gift," she took his hand and led him toward the glass window where the new infants were being held. However, there was only one child there and the doctor they had spoken to earlier stood over her. In an air of drama, she turned so that she was visible, her eyes burnt scarlet and she placed her hand over the baby's tiny chest and to the shock and dismay of Piper and Leo, the baby rapidly began aging before their eyes until a woman who was at least years older than Piper lay on the floor bawling. The stunningly blonde woman cackled and dissappeared into a smoky haze. The door handle slowly turned as someone entered the room and Piper, still in shock, felt Leo grasp hold of her as they disappeared into a galaxy of blue lights.
REVIEWS of any sort are demanded ... I mean requested ... yea sure! PLEASE!