Part Five

"Well," Paige impatiently asked Leo when he orbed into the attic, "what'd they want?"

"Nothing to do with the Dark Starling," he replied simply. He noticed several vials set in a row on the table in front of her. "They're all ready?"

"The vanquishing potion we concocted's still cooking in the kitchen and won't be ready for at least another hour." She pointed to a pink vial, "That's to remove any protective shields from the Dark Starling once it's here." She pointed to a green one, "That one, in addition to Piper's freeze, should immobilize it completely." She finally pointed to a blue potion, "And that one should weaken it long enough for the vanquishing potion to destroy it and save Phoebe."

"Theoretically," Leo murmured. He indicated to a slightly larger vial filled with an orange potion. "What's that one for?" When Paige cast a nervous glance to Chris, he turned to Chris, who was sitting on the sofa. "Well?"

"My idea," Chris admitted. "Something I'd only heard about back home and -- Doesn't matter, it should work."

Leo stared at Chris with renewed suspicion. Chris had proven himself on a number of recent occasions but was still much too secretive and the way Chris and Paige were acting about the potion led Leo to repeat his question, "What is it?"

Paige uncomfortably answered, "Our last resort." She picked up the vial and lightly shook it. "If we can't destroy the Dark Starling, or we see that time's running out, Phoebe'll drink this and fall into a state of suspended animation. She'll stay that way until we're able to stop the transformation and then can release her from that state with this antidote." She picked up another vial of red liquid, held them both up to the light, and stared at them.

Leo wasn't happy with that scenario and took both vials from Paige and set them down. "The only way to stop the transformation is to kill the Dark Starling who marked her. You would be condemning Phoebe to an eternity in limbo."

"At least she wouldn't be evil!" Paige retorted.

"Not exactly how she put it," Chris commented when he remembered Phoebe's reaction to hearing of the potion.

"She'd rather us kill her," Paige reluctantly whispered.

Chris he placed his elbows on his knees, leaned forward, and boldly suggested, "Might be for the best." The words were barely out of his mouth when he received a fist to his jaw that sent him sprawling across the sofa. He rubbed his jaw and sat up, "It's what she wants, Paige. Do you want Phoebe to suffer?"

"She wouldn't suffer if she drank it in time," Leo interjected. He caught Paige's grateful expression but tempered it by adding, "Even if Phoebe won't realize she's doing evil, she knows now what she'll be like and we all know how she feels about being evil. But it's going to be next to impossible to kill that Dark Starling. Either way you're going to lose her."

She grabbed at his shirt, "No! We'll save her! We'll find a way. What'd they say?"

"I'm sorry, Paige," he shook his head as he hugged her, "but the Elders don't --"

"Dammit, Leo," Paige shouted again and broke free from his embrace, "you are the Elders! And this's Phoebe we're talking about! One of the Charmed Ones! I can't believe no one up there can come up with something. Or is it that they won't?"

"You know better, Paige," Leo patiently said. "You also know there isn't anything I wouldn't do for Phoebe or for you or for Piper and Wyatt. But there isn't anything that can be done." He warily hugged her again and rubbed her back when she wrapped her arms around his waist. He softly repeated the disappointing information he'd given them earlier, "The only way to save Phoebe is to kill the Dark Starling before the change is complete but the Dark Starling's impossible for us to track. No one's ever escaped after being marked. It's impossible."

"Maybe not," Chris finally spoke and rose from his seat. "Maybe there is a way after all."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Paige demanded as she quickly pulled away from Leo. "Or'd you wanna wait til the very last minute to play hero?"

Chris ignored her comment and questioned Leo, "The Dracken can track Dark Starlings, right?"

Leo nodded in confirmation but reminded him, "But only a demon can find a Dracken and I don't see any demons lining up to help us."

"Maybe we can call for a demon and force it to help," Paige considered with growing hope. "Bargaining with it might work. It's been done before." She caught Leo's skeptical look. "We've all worked with demons before, even Prue. Maybe we can come up with something."

"But she hated it," Leo disagreed, "and it was never her first option."

"It's not mine either," Paige insisted, "but, face it, Leo, we have no other choice."

"It's never a good idea to start working with demons," Leo sighed with frustration. "Too much can go wrong."

"So it's better to do nothing?" she argued. "We can't. Not with Phoebe's life on the line." She stared intently at both, "I'm sure Piper and Phoebe'll both agree it's at least worth the try." Neither man spoke and, with a sense of relief, she placed both hands on her hips and asked, "So, what demon's our best shot?"

"Not what," Chris corrected as a plan continued to form in his mind, "but who."

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