Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or X-Files. I also don't own the idea behind the virus. That comes from the X-Files movie.
A/N: Like the title says, this is the original version of the story. Personally, I like the new version better, but this one has its high points too. Anyways, to anyone that takes the time to read this, it is extremely different from the new version. Some things are the same, but most is different. Also, the formatting is different for one reason and one reason only. I originally wrote it this way and am too lazy to change it. Anyways, hope you enjoy it.
The Original Version
"It's practically the same virus as before."
"Practically?"
"Just like the one before, it is the black eye virus and probably extraterrestrial. The virus mutated. This is a different version of the original virus. The one you had. The main difference is even after you get it you are still mobile. As far as anyone knows there is no cure. That means there is no way to stop it as of right now. If there is a way, no one in this bureau and no one in any medical field know about it. The good thing is it goes through each of the stages really slow. So far everyone that is infected is alive and as well as they could possibly be."
Just as Mulder finished explaining, Agent Dogget walked in. "I got us plane tickets for tomorrow. The virus just broke out in San Francisco. It might be best to start there."
"Hey Phoebes," Prue Halliwell said to her sister Phoebe, as she walked in. "What's up? How was your class?"
Phoebe had just come home from her college class the legends and mysteries of San Francisco. "OK, I guess. We were talking about something weird. I mean we always do, but today we talked about some weird virus that has been spreading across the US. It just recently reached San Francisco. It's called the black eye virus."
"What kind of name is that?"
"Supposedly when you get the virus your eyes turn black."
"Hi guys. Wait a minute. A virus that makes your eyes turn black? Did I miss something?" Piper said as she walked in the door.
"Oh. It was just something I learned about in school," Phoebe said. She walked out of the room. Just over a year ago, she and her sisters found out who they really are. They are witches, the charmed ones. The most powerful of all witches, and they are good witches. Their job is to protect the innocent. It isn't a fun job though, because something is always after them.
Mulder, Scully, and Dogget arrived in San Francisco. They went to the detective office to see if they could find out where to start. They met up with one detective, Darryl. Darryl is a very good friend with the Halliwells. He is one of the few who know their secret. They talked for a while about the basics.
"So far it has mainly been around where CMU is. Not many people have it, but every one who is infected is acting weird. They don't act like themselves," Darryl said.
Dogget asked, "Where is CMU located?"
The three of them waited in their car for a little bit, and then got out to investigate. They went inside and into all of the classrooms. They pulled students aside randomly to question them. Most of them didn't know anything, but it was worth a shot. Then they arrived at the classroom that Phoebe was in. They asked her to go outside with them so they could ask her some questions. They reviewed her records, like they did with all the others. They recognized something odd, and question her about it.
"According to this, you have been absent quite a few times. What happened?" Scully asked Phoebe.
Phoebe replied, "Well, I have a lot of family problems. We're kind of accident prone." She handled it really well, but she wouldn't have a year ago. She, along with her sisters, have gotten used to not telling the whole truth. It's hard at times, but they have no choice. Besides, it's not far from the truth.
"What all do you know about what has been going on?" Mulder asked.
"Not much, but..." before she could finish, Mulder's watch alarm went off.
Mulder said, "We've got to go. Is there some way we can reach you?"
"You can drop by at my house. I'm there most of the time." She quickly wrote down her address, and handed it to them. Then she hurried off to her car to go home. As she unlocked her car door, she got a feeling that someone was watching her. She cautiously turned around, but saw nothing. 'It must just be my imagination,' she thought. Then she drove home. A college student, who was infected with the virus, ran away from his hiding spot in the bushes.
3 hours later... at Halliwell manor
All three sisters were at home. Phoebe was studying, while Prue and Piper were in the kitchen talking.
Ding-dong! The doorbell rang. Phoebe got up and walked over to the door. She answered the door, and recognized that it was the three FBI agents who had started to interview her earlier that day.
"Hi. Come on in, and make yourselves at home," she said. "Do you want any thing? We've got coffee, Pepsi, water..."
Mulder, Scully, and Dogget all said in unison, "coffee."
Prue and Piper walked into the living room.
"These are my sisters Prue and Piper. Prue and Piper, this is Mulder, Scully, and Dogget. I'll be right back with the three coffees." She walked to the kitchen and headed to the stove. She emptied the coffee pot and refilled it. Then she turned the stove setting to high.
Flash...
There's someone lying on the floor.
A girl.
Phoebe.
Someone is standing next to her about to leave.
The person is strange.
His eyes are black
He's infected with the black eye virus.
'It felt so real,' Phoebe thought. It was a premonition. She stood there for a little bit to try to recover from it. Even though she'd been having them for over a year, they still fazed her. They always had. Then after a minute of standing there, she realized something. The coffee was done. She poured it into three mugs, and then carried them out to the living room. She carefully set them down, and then sat down. She had to forget about the premonition, – she had been able to other times – for now, anyways. She couldn't tell the agents, but she should tell her sisters... after the agents leave.
"Phoebe... Phoebe... Earth to Phoebe," Mulder said. He had been trying to get her attention for a while. It was almost as if she was there physically, but not mentally. Finally she had come out of the trans she was in, and looked up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something. It's nothing important," Phoebe replied. She wasn't very convincing this time. It was obvious that it was a lot more serious than she made it out to be. The agents didn't buy it.
"If it's not that important, then why do you still look like you're worrying about something?" Dogget asked. There was a long pause. Phoebe struggled on whether she should tell them or not, but decided yet again that she shouldn't. If she didn't tell them, though, what would she say? Obviously, she wasn't very good with lying right then.
Finally, after a long pause, she answered, "I... I don't know. Did you find anything else about your case?" She hoped that maybe they would drop the subject of what she was worrying about. Luckily it worked.
"No. There's really not much we can find out. We stopped at the detective office earlier to see what they knew. They didn't know much," Scully said, still not convinced that everything was okay. But she took the hint. She could tell her partners had too. Right now their first priority was solving this case. So for now it would be best to drop it. "So how much do you know?"
"Pretty much just what I learned in class. That it just broke out here a few days ago. It spreads quickly. All the people who have it are acting really weird. So far, outside of causing those infected to act different, nothing major has happened." Phoebe quickly summed up what she knew, leaving out the detail of her premonition.
Dogget glanced at his watch. He then got up and so did his partners. "Thanks. We've got to go. We have to go pick up a colleague of ours. Bye."
"Bye," Phoebe said as she closed the door. Then she leaned against the door. Why hadn't she been able to forget about what she saw? Normally she could if she had to. Oh well. What's the worst that could happen? "Prue, Piper!" Phoebe yelled as she walked back into the living room.
"What is it?" Her sisters asked in unison as they dropped down on the couch. They shoved a pillow aside to make room for Phoebe. Phoebe walked over to the couch and sat down.
"Well... I had a vision. It involved an infected person and me. It was a person infected with the black eye virus."
Mulder, Scully, and Dogget arrived at the airport. It was perfect timing. Their colleague, Reyes, had just gotten off the plane. "Hi guys. Did you find anything yet?" Reyes asked, even though she pretty much already knew the answer. It was no.
"No," Dogget said, "we pretty much hit a dead end. We went to CMU and talked to some college kids to see what they knew. No one really knew anything except for one. I think she knows more than she's telling us."
"Well, why would you go to CMU?"
"That's where all the breakouts have been so far," Scully replied.
"Why don't we go back there and stake out. We might have our best start there."
They left the airport and drove over to CMU. They didn't have to wait long before something happened. They saw Phoebe walking. She went towards the back of the campus, down an alley. Not many people go there, especially not at night. "What's she doing here?" Mulder thought out loud. Then he got out and the others followed.
Meanwhile, Phoebe had to do a little research. She didn't want her sisters to come along. She didn't give them specific details. If they knew what kind of research they wouldn't have let her go. They would have gone instead...without her. This was something she wanted to do herself. She wanted to find out what was going on. Then, after she made it to the back of the campus, she found who she was looking for. She ran to catch up. She chased him until they reached a dead end. He then turned around and stared directly at her. He was infected with the black eye virus. She didn't know him, but she got the feeling that he knew her. He then smiled and said, "You walked right into a trap."
Phoebe started to panic. She worked up some courage, and then asked, "What do you want? All of you." She had to know what she came to find out. Otherwise this would have been a wasted trip.
"I think you already know," he replied. Then slowly he began to walk towards her. He picked her up and was about to throw her...
"Freeze!" Mulder said when he caught up. "Put her down."
The infected guy dropped Phoebe just as Mulder's colleagues caught up with Mulder. Then he started to walk away. "What do you want?" Scully asked him.
"Why don't you ask her?" he replied, indicating Phoebe. He then ran away.
Phoebe got up as the others walked over. "Are you ok?" Dogget asked. Phoebe nodded. "Why did you come out here alone? It's dangerous."
Phoebe paused, not sure how much to say. She took a deep breath then said, "I have my reasons." She could see on all four faces that stared at her, that they wouldn't let her go with that answer. She sighed. "I have a major test tomorrow. I have a lot of studying to do, and it's kind of hard to concentrate at home. And as to being out here alone, I highly doubt Prue and Piper would want to study with me," she smirked as she said this. "Phoebe?" Reyes asked. She had just realized that the girl that they all were talking to was her roommate when they lived in New York. "Wait a minute. Monica? So I guess you got the job you wanted in D.C." Phoebe said when she recognized Reyes. "You know each other?" Mulder asked them. "Yeah. We were roommates in New York," Reyes replied. "So Phoebe, what are you really doing here? You never were good at lying." "When have I lied?" Phoebe asked. "When you told me why you were moving out. You said you wanted to go home to make up with your sisters, but I knew that you really were dreading going home. You didn't want to face Prue. You lost your job. You were broke, that's why you went home." "Prue and I don't fight much anymore... Can I please go to the library now? So far I'm doing very well with my classes, and I don't want to screw that up. So, can I go?" "I don't know..." Scully said.
Reyes looked at Phoebe. She could tell that Phoebe was lying, but she also knew that Phoebe wouldn't tell the truth if she hadn't broken down already. "Go ahead." Everyone else was surprised. Especially Phoebe. She didn't think they would let her go. She walked to the library, then back around to her car.
After she left, Mulder asked Reyes, "Why did you tell her she could go? We need to know what she was really doing here."
"Even if we kept her here to question her, she still wouldn't have told us the truth."
"How could you know that for sure?" Dogget asked her.
"I lived with her for a while. Once she tells a lie, she sticks with it." Then she walked away. Everyone followed her. They got in their car and drove back to the detective agency. Maybe Darryl, who they had talked to earlier, might know the Hallowell's. And if so, maybe, since they were at a standstill with the virus, they could figure out what was up with Phoebe.
After driving for about five minutes they arrived at their destination. They got out of their car, walked inside, and met up with Darryl.
"Did you find anything out?" Darryl asked.
"Not a whole lot more than we knew before... but we did talk to someone else about it. We think she knows more than she's telling us," Scully replied. 'Uh oh,' Darryl thought. "Let me guess...one of the Halliwells?" "Actually yes. Phoebe Halliwell. You know them?" Mulder asked.
"Yeah. Her, her sisters, and I are really good friends. They're practically family... Why... Is something going on with her?"
"We're not sure. We were kind of hoping you would know," Mulder said in reply.
"Do you want me to go talk to her?" All four agents nodded.
Ding Dong. The doorbell rang. Phoebe ran to answer the door. She opened the door. "Hi Darryl. What's up?" She could tell that he didn't stop by just to visit.
"The FBI agents that are in town came in and asked me about you. What's up?"
"Do you know that case they're working on? Well, I did a little investigating of my own. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye. I think it might be supernatural."
Darryl looked at her for a while with a worried expression. He knew what that meant. "So in other words, you think they might be after you guys." Phoebe nodded slowly.
"I don't know what else it could be. When I talked to one of them at the college, I got the feeling that he knew me. I know I don't know him. When I asked him what they want, he said I already knew. So if that doesn't spell trouble, I don't know what does."
"Do Prue and Piper know yet?"
"No, I didn't get around to telling them yet. They were both at P3 late last night and went to work before I woke up."
"Be careful. OK?" Darryl waited 'til Phoebe nodded, then he left. He was sure the agents wanted to know as soon as possible. He got back in his car and drove to where they are staying. He went to the room that Dogget and Mulder shared and then knocked. Dogget answered the door.
"Hi. Come on in," Dogget said. When Mulder saw who it was, he called Scully and Reyes. They were there in less than a minute.
"So what did you find out?" Reyes asked. She could tell by the expression on his face that it wasn't good.
Darryl carefully edited what Phoebe said. "She said that there is more to this case than meets the eye. When she talked to that guy at the college, even though she didn't know him, she got the feeling that he knew her. When she asked him what they wanted, he said she already knew." He paused a minute letting it sink in. "I think Phoebe and her sisters are in trouble. I think they are in the middle of all of this."
"Are you sure?" Scully asked.
"It wouldn't surprise me. Something's always going on with them. They are accident-prone. The problem is their accidents aren't normal. Not only that, most of the time they're dangerous."
Prue sat at her desk in Bucklands. Bucklands is an auction house where Prue works. She was thinking about what Phoebe had said the other day. She was hoping that they weren't too late. Neither she nor Piper had seen Phoebe since they had finished talking. Just then, Jack came in. Jack was her boyfriend, and they worked together.
"Hi," Jack said. "Did you hear about that weird virus?" Prue nodded. "I heard that now it's spread out farther than CMU. There are some people who work here that are infected. How do you think it's spread?"
"I don't know. But I know that Phoebe will try to figure it out. She said they've been talking about it at school. I know Phoebe's probably curious. And if Phoebe wants to figure it out, she'll figure it out."
"Do you really think she'd try?"
Shocked that she had spoken her worries out loud, Prue said, "If Piper and I have any say in it no. But even if we don't let her, and she wants to, she will." Prue was hoping she was wrong, but doubted she was. "I think I better go."
"Hi," Prue said as she walked in the door. When she walked in the living room, she just about got sick. Both of her sisters were sitting there. The look on their faces told her something was going on. They were in trouble. "What's up?"
Phoebe filled them in on everything. How she went to the college to figure out what was going on. How she thought he knew her. What they wanted. "Unfortunately, I think there is a lot more to this than meets the eye. I don't know exactly what they want, but it has to do with us. Everything spells trouble."
"I think whatever this thing is, it is spreading fast. I was talking to Jack today, and he said that it has spread farther than the college." Prue wondered what they could do about it. Unfortunately, at the time, even if there was something they could do, they didn't know what.
Ding-dong. "I'll get it," Piper said as she got up and walked towards the door. She then opened the door. "Come on in."
Mulder, Scully, Dogget, and Reyes walked in and followed Piper into the living room. They could tell by the look on Prue's, Piper's, and Phoebe's faces that Phoebe had told her sisters everything that was going on. "Is everything okay?" Reyes asked.
"...Yeah. There's just a lot going on," Prue replied. She knew they were asking Phoebe, but her sister had a lot on her mind. Phoebe wasn't even paying attention.
"Phoebe... What's going on?" Dogget asked.
Phoebe looked up. She took a deep breath. She started to get up. "It's a long..."
Flash
There were about twenty people.
They were in some kind of park.
All of the people had black eyes.
"... story." Phoebe was confused. What did that mean?
"Well, we don't have anywhere we have to be for a while." Luckily they didn't notice anything weird.
Ding Dong. "I'll be right back," Phoebe said as she walked over to answer the door. Saved by the bell, literally. She opened the door and almost shut it immediately. He was infected. She didn't know what, but something stopped her.
"I can help you. There are things you should know about what's going on," the man outside said.
Puzzled, Phoebe said, "Come in." She backed up to let him in and then closed the door behind him. They walked back in the living room. Everyone in the room knew something strange was going on by the look on Phoebe's face. She was baffled.
"There are a lot of things you don't know about what's going on," the man said. Then he looked over at Phoebe. "You guessed right about one thing. The thing that they want has to do with you three. What you don't know is that they want you on their side. They think that if you are on their side, they will be unstoppable."
"Why would they think that?" Piper asked.
"I think you already know that answer. For the same reason that even though you don't know us, we know you. For the same reason that everyone and everything else you have encountered knew you. The same reason why they, as well as I, know where you live. For now, that's all I can tell you."
"Why are you helping us?" Prue asked.
"I still have a mind of my own, and I was hoping that, maybe you could stop them before it's too late."
"How?" Phoebe asked him as he walked out, but it was too late.
"What was that all about?" Scully asked.
"I don't know..." Phoebe replied, still not sure of what just happened.
"Why would they think that they would be unstoppable if you are on their side?" Mulder asked.
They paused, and no one answered.
"What aren't you telling us?" Reyes asked.
Phoebe, Prue, and Piper looked at each other. They all knew that they couldn't tell them unless it was an emergency. As of right now, this didn't qualify as an emergency. Phoebe looked down. There was so much going on right now she couldn't think straight, and neither could her sisters.
It was obvious that there was something that they weren't telling them, but when no one said anything, Dogget said, "Darryl told us what you said." Phoebe looked up. She kind of figured he would. "There is something going on, isn't there?" Phoebe stared at him for a few seconds and then looked down again.
"You have to tell us what's going on so that we can help you," Reyes said.
"We can't," Piper said.
"It would be best if you lay low until all of this is over," Mulder said.
"Well, be careful. Bye," Scully said. Then they left.
Later... at P3
Prue and Piper went to P3, the club that Piper owns. There wasn't a band playing there at that time. Piper didn't schedule any for that night. "Prue, can you get more pop from the store room?" Piper asked.
"Sure," Prue replied, then walked over to the storeroom. She walked into the storeroom, and left the door open. Then she went towards the back, which was where the pop was. She picked up each of the different kinds and put them in a bin to carry them over to the bar counter. She turned back around to walk out. 'I don't remember closing the door...' Prue thought. 'The back exit is right by here. Wind must have blown it shut.' She looked down at the cart to make sure she had everything, and found that she had missed one kind. She turned around. There was someone standing in front of her. He was infected with the virus...
"This is everything," Prue said as she set the bin on the counter.
"Thanks," Piper said. Piper glanced over at Prue. Prue was fidgeting like she didn't want to be there. "If you don't want to stick around you don't have to." After that Prue left without saying a word.
"Hi," Phoebe said as Prue rushed in the door. Piper had gotten home two hours earlier. "Where were you?"
"Mind your own business Phoebe!" Prue snapped. She didn't want her sisters to know anything that was going on right now. It was her life. 'What's happening to me? Why am I so mean all of a sudden?' Prue thought.
"Gees Prue, it was just a question. You didn't have to jump all over her," Piper said to Prue.
"I know. I'm sorry. I just had a bad day." Prue truly was sorry. She didn't know what had come over her. "I've got to wake up early tomorrow. I better go to bed."
"Good morning," Prue said. "Oh, and I'll be late tonight. Don't expect me home before 1am. Bye." Then Prue walked out the door to go to work.
"I think I better go too. I've got to book a band for next week. Do you want to come?" Piper asked.
Phoebe thought about it for a minute then said, "Uh... No, I think I'll stay here." Then Piper left, too.
Phoebe sat there a minute, thinking about everything that was going on. Then, she started to get up. She went over to the door. She was going to go see if she could figure out anything else that was going on. But when she opened the door, Mulder, Scully, Dogget, and Reyes were standing there ready to knock. "Hi, come in," Phoebe said when she saw them standing there. "You can sit down if you want. Do you want anything?"
"No, we're good," Mulder said. Phoebe walked over to sit down. "Did anything else happen?"
"Not really. Did you find anything else out?"
"Nothing much, no," Scully said.
"You still haven't told us why they would think you and your sisters are so important," Dogget said. When Phoebe didn't say anything, he said, "Why won't you tell us? Do you know why?"
"You do know, don't you? You have to tell us," Reyes said. She knew that Phoebe and her sisters were hiding something, but she didn't know what.
"I can't tell you. It's very... complicated. I really don't want to get into that right now. Besides, even if I did tell you, you wouldn't believe me. All it would do is waste time." Phoebe already had a headache from everything else that was going on. She didn't need to add on to it.
Ding Dong. Phoebe got up to answer the door. It was that man that had told them what was going on the other day. She let him in and led him to the other room. Both of them decided to stand.
"This is the last time that I can talk to you. I won't be able to fight off the effect of the virus much longer. I have to warn you about what will happen if they win. I want to show you what will happen." He walked over to Phoebe and placed his hand on her forehead.
Flash
There were thousands of people.
The whole world was infected.
The virus spread very quickly.
Every one was listening to one man.
He wasn't infected.
He was controlling everyone like they were robots.
He took his hand off her forehead. Her knees buckled as the premonition ended. It was too over whelming. She looked up at the man as he left. How could they be so important in their plan? She decided right then and there that she would not let them win. At least not too easily. She wouldn't give up without a fight. Mulder and Dogget walked over to help Phoebe get up. When she was standing again she saw that all four of them were confused about what had happened, and they wanted answers.
"Are you okay?" Reyes asked. Phoebe nodded. "What happened? Did you see anything? What did you see?"
"He showed me what they think will happen. For all I know, it could be what will happen." Phoebe sat down before she could fall again, and looked down. Her headache just got worse. "Whether it will or won't happen, they won't win without a fight."
Phoebe went to bed early that night. Her headache was so bad, that she had to take medicine to help control it. She could hardly stay awake. It didn't take her long to fall asleep. It was a long dreamless night. By the time she finally woke up, it was already afternoon. She got up, took a shower, got dressed, and went down stairs. Right when she was about to sit down, the phone rang. She went over and picked it up. It was Jack.
"Hi, Phoebe," Jack said. He was at Bucklands. He was on his lunch break.
"Hi, Jack, what's up," Phoebe asked.
"Do you know where Prue is? She was supposed to be here at 9 this morning. She never showed up."
"I don't know." Phoebe was confused. Prue never missed work without calling in.
"Do you know what's going on with Prue? She's been acting weird lately."
"I don't know yet, but I'll let you know when I find out. If Prue gets home before your date tonight, I'll tell you then."
"Do you really think that's a good idea? Prue will probably be ticked at you."
"I've spent most of my life with Prue mad at me. I think I can handle it. Bye." Then Phoebe hung up. As soon as she did, Prue walked in the side door. She was talking to someone. Phoebe quietly snuck over to listen to the conversation. She couldn't hear most of it, but this is what she did hear:
"So do you know your orders?" (Unknown)
"Yes, I do. I will carry them out as soon as I can." (Prue)
Then the man Prue was talking to left. Phoebe quietly snuck away from her hiding spot to avoid suspicion from Prue. She went out into the living room and waited for Prue to come out. The best way to figure out what was going on with Prue was to talk casually with her and try to – gently – force the answer out. But before she could say anything, she already knew the answer. Prue had the virus. Prue was standing right in front of her. Prue's eyes were black.
"Prue, what's going on?" Phoebe asked nervously. She stepped backwards every time Prue advanced a step.
"I have orders," Prue said flatly.
"What kind of orders?"
Prue silently advanced another step. Prue then used her telekinetic ability to throw Phoebe across the room into a wall, which knocked Phoebe out. When Prue realized this, she walked over to Phoebe. She was about to infect Phoebe, but the doorbell rang. She looked over at the door, then ran out the side door.
Mulder, Scully, Dogget, and Reyes were standing outside in front of Halliwell manor. They wanted to make sure that everything was okay. After what happened yesterday, they weren't sure how out of control this situation had gotten so far. They rang the doorbell. They heard movement inside, but no one answered. They rang it again. Once again, no one answered. They were about to leave.
Before they did, Reyes spoke up. "Something's wrong. I can feel it." She then walked back over to the door and tried the doorknob. Luckily it wasn't locked. The four of them walked inside. They went over into the living room. They looked around and found Phoebe unconscious against the back wall. They went over to Phoebe and checked her pulse. Then they checked over Phoebe to make sure she was okay. The only thing they found was a bump on the back of her head. Then Dogget went to get a glass of water. Then he went back out to where Phoebe was and threw it in her face to wake her up.
Phoebe moved her head to the side, and then came to. For a second, when she saw the four of them sitting around her, she was confused. It was only a few seconds later that everything came back to her. 'Well, my headaches back.'
"Are you okay?" Mulder asked Phoebe. Phoebe nodded. "What happened?"
"I tripped." Phoebe looked down to avoid the questioning looks. The agents knew she was lying. They got up and helped Phoebe up. To avoid having to convince them of a lie that they didn't believe, she asked, "How's the case going?"
"We haven't gotten any closer to solving it, but unfortunately I think that if we stay here with you long enough, we will," Reyes said. "There's still a lot that you're not telling us. What's going on? Why won't you tell us?"
"Because I can't," Phoebe said.
"You can't or you won't?" Dogget asked, not sure if he should believe her.
"Both. It's very complicating. It's nothing bad."
"Is it dangerous?" Scully asked.
Not wanting to, but knowing that she couldn't lie again, she said, "Yes, but it can't be changed. Prue, Piper, and I have given up worrying about it. It's just a waste of time."
They agents waited 'til Piper came home, and then they left. Piper and Phoebe didn't have any time to talk before Dan and Jack came. Piper and Prue were going on a date with Dan and Jack. Prue didn't get home yet, and she hadn't been home since the incident earlier. Piper let Dan and Jack in.
"Where's Prue?" Jack asked.
"Not here," Phoebe replied.
"Did she forget about our date?"
"I don't know. She was only here a couple of minutes, then she left again."
"Do you know what she's doing when she's supposed to be at work?"
"She didn't go to work?" Piper asked surprised. Unless something major was going on, she never missed work. Not only that, if Jack was asking where Prue was going, that meant Prue hadn't called off.
"Whatever it is, it's not good," Phoebe answered Jack.
"Is something going on?" Dan asked. He glanced at Jack, Piper, and Phoebe. He could always tell when something was wrong. Though, he never really got any answers.
"Phoebe?" Piper used the tone that meant it was more of a demand, than question.
"Now might not be a good time," Phoebe replied, glancing over at Prue who had just walked in the door. Phoebe then got up and went upstairs into her room.
"Don't listen to anything she says. She hit her head earlier. She's delusional," Prue said. She started upstairs. "I'll talk to Phoebe to see what's bothering her."
Wondering if something weird was going on between Phoebe and Prue, Jack asked, "Can I use your bathroom?"
"Yeah, there's one right upstairs," Piper said. She was thinking the same thing Jack was.
"What's going on?" Dan asked again.
"I don't know," Piper replied.
Jack went upstairs into the bathroom. He saw that right across the hall was where Prue and Phoebe were talking. He left the bathroom door open a little crack so that he could hear and somewhat see what was going on.
In Phoebe's room, Prue and her were talking. Jack had missed most of the conversation, but he did hear the end of it.
"Don't talk about this with anyone," Prue said. "Maybe I'll leave you alone, for now, that is." Then Prue left Phoebe's room.
Jack finished up in the bathroom and opened the door. He paused and looked at Phoebe. His look told Phoebe he heard enough to know what was going on. He then went back downstairs to go out on the date.
Phoebe sat in her room for a little bit after they left on the date to think things through.
Prue, Jack, Piper, and Dan went to see a movie. It wasn't starting for another ten minutes.
"Hey, why don't we go get some popcorn," Dan suggested
"Sure," Jack said.
While Jack and Dan got popcorn, Prue and Piper went to the ladies room.
Jack and Dan got back before Prue and Piper. "Do you know what's going on with them?" Dan asked.
Jack paused a moment. "Not much. All I know is that Prue is not herself."
"You know more than me." As soon as Dan finished, Prue and Piper came back.
After they left Halliwell Manor, Mulder, Skully, Doggett, and Reyes went back to their hotel to review what they knew so far, which still wasn't too much. All they knew was that this was definitely a typical X- File, that this virus was not normal, and that somehow the Halliwells were involved. How? They didn't know yet, but so far, it was their best lead. It was their only lead.
Of course, they weren't sure if the Halliwells were victims in need of protection or the reason behind all of this (in which case they would have to be good at acting). All they needed to do was hang around Halliwell Manor undercover, and eventually, they would figure out what in the world was going on. The agents already decided that they needed a break from all of this. They would start looking into this more tomorrow. Until then, they were just going to chill out.
Phoebe waited until Prue, Piper, Jack, and Dan made it back okay (that is without being infected, so it appeared), then, without saying anything to anyone, she went to bed. She wanted to avoid a confrontation with Prue, and interrogation from Piper, and most likely, also from Jack and Dan.
The next morning Mulder, Skully, Doggett, and Reyes went to the police station as soon as they got up. They found all of the unsolved "freaky" cases, and took them back to the hotel. They knew that there were a lot of these cases in San Francisco because they had gotten copies of them at their office. They were part of the X-Files. They never really looked at them in depth though.
Once they got back to the hotel, Skully, Doggett, and Reyes checked the files while Mulder decided to see if he could find anything on the Halliwell's history. Skully, Doggett, and Reyes noticed that in many of the case reports, at least one of the Halliwells was mentioned. And in each case, they were either witnesses or suspects.
Mulder found something very interesting on the internet. He found the entire Halliwell family tree, dating all the way back to the time of the witch trials in Salem Massachusetts. When he got to Melinda Warren, the beginning of the Halliwell's family line, he noticed that there was a link to another page. When he looked at the page, this is what he found:
Melinda Warren lived in Salem Massachusetts. She was tried and
convicted of witchcraft. She was burned at the stake. Before she
died, she said that the Warren line would continue on. Each
generation of Warren witches would grow stronger and stronger
until there are three sisters. They will be the most powerful
witches the world has ever known. They will be known as the
Charmed Ones.
After he read this, he went back to the family tree. He scrolled up from Melinda Warren, until he got to the end of the family tree, where the Halliwell's names were. He noticed something. Each family only had one daughter, until the Halliwells, who had three. He called the others over to show them what he found.
"It can't be. I know Phoebe. She's smart enough to know that stuff doesn't exist. And even so, she wouldn't mess with stuff like that," Reyes said, not wanting to believe that about her friend and former roommate.
"I hate to say it, but it sure seems like it's the Halliwell's causing this. Everything points to them," Doggett said. "Don't worry Reyes, we'll just question them before we consider arresting them."
Phoebe woke up late that morning. Even though she had gone to bed earlier the night before, she hadn't slept well. She also didn't feel much better. She got dressed and started to go downstairs. The phone rang. She ran downstairs to answer the phone. She stopped when she heard the answering machine pick up. It was the agents. They wanted to question her and her sisters about the recent events. She knew better than to pickup. They thought the Halliwells were behind all of this. She would have to avoid them until all of this was over. She heard a car pull up. She looked out of the window and saw that Piper was just coming home from the club. Piper came in and told Phoebe that something was definitely up with Prue. They decided that they should try to get Prue back. Jack and Dan came over. Dan wanted to talk and, hopefully, finally know what's going on. Jack, on the other hand, wanted to know where Prue was. Piper suggested that they go find her.
So, the four of them got in Jack's car. Piper told Jack where to go. She said that she had a nagging feeling that Prue would be with everyone infected at the park. Sure enough, when they got to Golden Gate Park, Prue was there. They got out of the car and went towards the crowd.
Something wasn't right. Phoebe could feel it. She couldn't make the nagging go away that was telling her to run while she still could. Normally, she would listen to her instinct. Her instincts never let her down. But, she set that aside and went with Piper. If anything went wrong Piper was there with her. Besides, she took self-defense classes for a reason.
When they got to where the gathering was, Piper just stopped. She didn't even move.
"Piper, are you okay?" Phoebe asked, worried.
Piper turned around, and Phoebe froze in horror. Piper had the virus. Then Phoebe said in a more panicked voice than she would have liked to, "Jack, Dan. Run!" She then turned around to join them, only to find out that they, too, were infected. Knowing that fighting right then would have been suicide, she chose to sprint out of there as fast as humanly possible. She ran until she ran into someone... the demon behind all of this.
The agents were following a hunch based on the rumor that virus central was Golden Gate Park. They cautiously walked along, ready to pull out their guns if necessary. They started to wonder if they had made a wasted trip, until they heard a loud crash. They quietly ran towards that noise. When they got there, they saw Phoebe lying unconscious on top of rubble from the wall she had broken through. They looked up and thought that they had seen a man standing there, only as soon as they saw him, he vanished into thin air. Therefore, they dismissed the thought that the mysterious man was even there a moment ago.
"She must be in this deeper than we thought," Dogget said. This incident only added to their theory that the Halliwells were the culprits. If the group had found out how close the FBI agents were to finding out, that would put Phoebe in danger, since she is the one their spotlight was on.
"I hate to say it, but you're right," Reyes said. She had been reluctant to believe that her friend was behind all of this, but it was hard to think otherwise now. Knowing that this time Phoebe would need medical help, the agents took her to the hospital. "She will be fine," the doctor said. "You can go in now. Let me know when she's up. There are a few questions I need to ask her." With that said, the agents went into Phoebe's room. They didn't have to wait long before she regained consciousness. Phoebe slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She knew immediately where she was... a hospital. She didn't even wonder why she was there. She vividly remembered what had happened. She remembered how both of her sisters and their boyfriends turned against her. She remembered that she ran into the demon behind all of this. He looked very familiar, but she couldn't quite figure out where she had seen him before. And, of course, she remembered how the agents once allies, that, now, she needed to avoid at all costs- and the agents were right there in the room with her. All of them were angry, yet concerned. She knew that even if their concern would win out first, it would shortly turn ugly. She didn't have the time to deal with that here, let alone deal with the doctor. She had to get home. She got up out of bed, and took the hospital bracelet off. Then she began across the room to change so that she could get out of there. "What do you think you're doing?" Scully asked, her anger winning over concern. Phoebe replied, "I'm getting out of here." "This is a hospital. You can't just leave. The doctor has some questions he needs to ask you. Besides, you may need more medical help before you can leave," Mulder said, choosing a gentler tone, hoping he could get through to Phoebe that way. Choosing to reply to Mulder's last comment first, Phoebe declared, "I'm fine, and I can't answer anything that the doctor would ask anyways. Besides, I hate hospitals." While Phoebe began to carefully change, Reyes said, "The doctor isn't the only one who has questions. We won't let you go without answers. You're in a lot of trouble here, Phoebe. The only reason we haven't arrested you yet is because we don't have enough evidence to convict you and your sisters yet." Phoebe, ready to go said, "Look, I know what you guys are thinking, and to be honest with you, I don't blame you for thinking that. If I were you, I would be thinking the same thing. There are a lot of things I can't tell you, but I will tell you what I can. I'm leaving here with or without your help, so, what's it gonna be?" "Come on," Reyes said, leading the way.
When they got back to Halliwell manor, the interrogation began. "Look, Phoebe. You are in a lot of trouble here, and not just with the law. We can help you with both if you level with us. You need to tell us everything. And don't even bother saying you're innocent, you're acting too guilty," Reyes said. Phoebe sighed and sat down. This was going to be a long night. Then she calmly said, "Like I said at the hospital, I can't tell you everything. All the details are very complicated, and you wouldn't believe me anyways. I will, however tell you what I can. As to me 'acting guilty,' all I am doing is trying to figure out all of this without exposing my sisters and myself. If we ever get exposed, it could turn ugly, and one or all of us could get killed. But anyways, it wouldn't be good, and not just for us. But I won't go there right now. "As to what's going on, what I know as of now is that this is a lot worse than I thought it would ever get. This guy is really good at covering his tracks. I saw him right before he 'threw' me through that wall, and I know I've seen him somewhere before, but I can't figure out where. He's got the classic evil villain plan for taking over the world. It sounds crazy, I know, but I couldn't think of anything else it could be. Everyone that has been infected with the virus is under mind control. They aren't capable of thinking or doing anything unless they're told to do so. They are like zombies, more or less, except that unlike zombies they weren't really poisoned, and as far as I know this isn't stemmed from voodoo. He's using this virus to control them, which is why no one has been able to find a cure. This virus can't simply be cured by using a vaccine.
"And, as to how my sisters and I are involved, believe it or not, we are innocent. Believe what you want, because right now I really don't care. I don't have the time to argue, and I can't prove it without telling you our secret..."
"Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just tell us your secret?" Dogget asked, growing impatient with Phoebe's dance around the truth.
Phoebe took a deep breath to keep from blowing up, then calmly stated, "It's not that easy. You would never believe it. Not only that, you would think I'm nuts."
"Fine. Then can you at least tell us how you are involved if you are innocent?" Scully asked.
Phoebe began, "When that man came here and said that 'they' wanted us on their side because they would be invincible, he lied. It was a setup. What 'they' want is actually completely opposite. His key words were that he thought we could stop them. My sisters and I are a threat to them. With us out of they way, they figure they will be unstoppable. They must figure that we are the only ones that can stop them. I haven't figured out why yet, though."
There was a long pause. Mulder was the first one to speak up. "You really expect us to believe that? I'm the most gullible person here and even I didn't fall for that. You're right. Whatever secret it is that you have, we wouldn't believe you if you told us. Either you are acting crazy so that you can get a chance at an insanity plea, or you hit you head one too many times."
"Maybe you're right. I may have hit my head one too many times. That would explain why I even thought for a second that you might believe that. Of course then again, maybe I was just hoping that you could help. I'm in the deep end here, and I know it. My sisters are infected with the virus, and therefore, they have turned against me. Even their boyfriends are infected. Of course, Prue and Piper are strong. They'll fight off the effects of the virus. They are in danger and could end up worse off than me. I'm alone here, and I'm afraid that I might lose one or both of my sisters. I can handle a lot, but not that. Go ahead. Arrest me, for all I care. I don't have any allies, and in the end, if evil wins, whether I'm in jail or not won't matter. You wouldn't even know the difference, and I wouldn't be around to have to worry about it anyways. So what are you waiting for?" Phoebe vented all her frustration and fear of failing... of evil winning. What she said was true. She didn't care anymore. It was hopeless, and she was giving up, something she never would have done if the circumstances were different. If she didn't feel as vulnerable as she did.
Concerned for her friend once again, Reyes said, "It's been a long night Phoebe. Maybe you should get some sleep. We'll talk in the morning. Do you have any spare rooms that we can stay in for the night?"
"You can stay in Prue and Piper's rooms. They're not coming home tonight," Phoebe said. She led the way upstairs. Once the agents were settled into their temporary rooms, Phoebe started towards hers. Then she stopped. The hope that was destroyed was back. It was only a glimmer, but that could easily grow. She had realized that she hadn't looked for solutions in the Book of Shadows yet. She quietly went up into the attic to retrieve the book, and then went down to the kitchen. It could take all night to find what she was looking for. With as tired as she was, she would need to rely on caffeine, or rather coffee, to stay awake.
She was flipping through the pages when something caught her eye. She had found what she was looking for.
Black Eye Virus
There is a demon that is sent to take over the world. To rule over, take over, and make evil, all that is good. He uses the virus to control his victims. Once under his spell, the victim is only capable of doing what he or she is told. He must never gain control. I, Cassandra Wentworth, was not strong enough to vanquish him, but I was able to imprison him. He will only be released once the Charmed Ones are in existence with the hope that they may be strong enough to defeat him. Be fore warned.
"That would explain why they're so sure we're the only ones who can stop them. The spell placed on him more or less says so," Phoebe muttered to herself. She looked on the next page and saw a sketch of a man, or what appeared to be a man. He looked very familiar. Then it hit her. It was the demon behind all of this. She read on.
Rasptin
Rasptin, or the black eye demon, is very powerful. Among his many abilities, he is capable of mind control, strongest with the use of the black eye virus, and the ability to appear as if he too is infected...
As she read that, memories of that man that came and said he wanted to help flashed through her mind. He appeared to have a mind of his own, yet he was infected. The premonition he triggered was very powerful. He told her the lie. When she saw it was him at the door, something stopped her from slamming the door in his face. The man that supposedly wanted to help, and Rasptin were one and the same. She continued reading.
A/N: Like the title says, this is the original version of the story. Personally, I like the new version better, but this one has its high points too. Anyways, to anyone that takes the time to read this, it is extremely different from the new version. Some things are the same, but most is different. Also, the formatting is different for one reason and one reason only. I originally wrote it this way and am too lazy to change it. Anyways, hope you enjoy it.
The Original Version
Note
- Black eye virus breakout over US
- Spreading rapidly
- Virus spread through air up to a mile away from infectee
- Highly contagious
- May be extraterrestrial
"What is this?" Scully asked Mulder."It's practically the same virus as before."
"Practically?"
"Just like the one before, it is the black eye virus and probably extraterrestrial. The virus mutated. This is a different version of the original virus. The one you had. The main difference is even after you get it you are still mobile. As far as anyone knows there is no cure. That means there is no way to stop it as of right now. If there is a way, no one in this bureau and no one in any medical field know about it. The good thing is it goes through each of the stages really slow. So far everyone that is infected is alive and as well as they could possibly be."
Just as Mulder finished explaining, Agent Dogget walked in. "I got us plane tickets for tomorrow. The virus just broke out in San Francisco. It might be best to start there."
"Hey Phoebes," Prue Halliwell said to her sister Phoebe, as she walked in. "What's up? How was your class?"
Phoebe had just come home from her college class the legends and mysteries of San Francisco. "OK, I guess. We were talking about something weird. I mean we always do, but today we talked about some weird virus that has been spreading across the US. It just recently reached San Francisco. It's called the black eye virus."
"What kind of name is that?"
"Supposedly when you get the virus your eyes turn black."
"Hi guys. Wait a minute. A virus that makes your eyes turn black? Did I miss something?" Piper said as she walked in the door.
"Oh. It was just something I learned about in school," Phoebe said. She walked out of the room. Just over a year ago, she and her sisters found out who they really are. They are witches, the charmed ones. The most powerful of all witches, and they are good witches. Their job is to protect the innocent. It isn't a fun job though, because something is always after them.
Mulder, Scully, and Dogget arrived in San Francisco. They went to the detective office to see if they could find out where to start. They met up with one detective, Darryl. Darryl is a very good friend with the Halliwells. He is one of the few who know their secret. They talked for a while about the basics.
"So far it has mainly been around where CMU is. Not many people have it, but every one who is infected is acting weird. They don't act like themselves," Darryl said.
Dogget asked, "Where is CMU located?"
The three of them waited in their car for a little bit, and then got out to investigate. They went inside and into all of the classrooms. They pulled students aside randomly to question them. Most of them didn't know anything, but it was worth a shot. Then they arrived at the classroom that Phoebe was in. They asked her to go outside with them so they could ask her some questions. They reviewed her records, like they did with all the others. They recognized something odd, and question her about it.
"According to this, you have been absent quite a few times. What happened?" Scully asked Phoebe.
Phoebe replied, "Well, I have a lot of family problems. We're kind of accident prone." She handled it really well, but she wouldn't have a year ago. She, along with her sisters, have gotten used to not telling the whole truth. It's hard at times, but they have no choice. Besides, it's not far from the truth.
"What all do you know about what has been going on?" Mulder asked.
"Not much, but..." before she could finish, Mulder's watch alarm went off.
Mulder said, "We've got to go. Is there some way we can reach you?"
"You can drop by at my house. I'm there most of the time." She quickly wrote down her address, and handed it to them. Then she hurried off to her car to go home. As she unlocked her car door, she got a feeling that someone was watching her. She cautiously turned around, but saw nothing. 'It must just be my imagination,' she thought. Then she drove home. A college student, who was infected with the virus, ran away from his hiding spot in the bushes.
3 hours later... at Halliwell manor
All three sisters were at home. Phoebe was studying, while Prue and Piper were in the kitchen talking.
Ding-dong! The doorbell rang. Phoebe got up and walked over to the door. She answered the door, and recognized that it was the three FBI agents who had started to interview her earlier that day.
"Hi. Come on in, and make yourselves at home," she said. "Do you want any thing? We've got coffee, Pepsi, water..."
Mulder, Scully, and Dogget all said in unison, "coffee."
Prue and Piper walked into the living room.
"These are my sisters Prue and Piper. Prue and Piper, this is Mulder, Scully, and Dogget. I'll be right back with the three coffees." She walked to the kitchen and headed to the stove. She emptied the coffee pot and refilled it. Then she turned the stove setting to high.
Flash...
There's someone lying on the floor.
A girl.
Phoebe.
Someone is standing next to her about to leave.
The person is strange.
His eyes are black
He's infected with the black eye virus.
'It felt so real,' Phoebe thought. It was a premonition. She stood there for a little bit to try to recover from it. Even though she'd been having them for over a year, they still fazed her. They always had. Then after a minute of standing there, she realized something. The coffee was done. She poured it into three mugs, and then carried them out to the living room. She carefully set them down, and then sat down. She had to forget about the premonition, – she had been able to other times – for now, anyways. She couldn't tell the agents, but she should tell her sisters... after the agents leave.
"Phoebe... Phoebe... Earth to Phoebe," Mulder said. He had been trying to get her attention for a while. It was almost as if she was there physically, but not mentally. Finally she had come out of the trans she was in, and looked up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something. It's nothing important," Phoebe replied. She wasn't very convincing this time. It was obvious that it was a lot more serious than she made it out to be. The agents didn't buy it.
"If it's not that important, then why do you still look like you're worrying about something?" Dogget asked. There was a long pause. Phoebe struggled on whether she should tell them or not, but decided yet again that she shouldn't. If she didn't tell them, though, what would she say? Obviously, she wasn't very good with lying right then.
Finally, after a long pause, she answered, "I... I don't know. Did you find anything else about your case?" She hoped that maybe they would drop the subject of what she was worrying about. Luckily it worked.
"No. There's really not much we can find out. We stopped at the detective office earlier to see what they knew. They didn't know much," Scully said, still not convinced that everything was okay. But she took the hint. She could tell her partners had too. Right now their first priority was solving this case. So for now it would be best to drop it. "So how much do you know?"
"Pretty much just what I learned in class. That it just broke out here a few days ago. It spreads quickly. All the people who have it are acting really weird. So far, outside of causing those infected to act different, nothing major has happened." Phoebe quickly summed up what she knew, leaving out the detail of her premonition.
Dogget glanced at his watch. He then got up and so did his partners. "Thanks. We've got to go. We have to go pick up a colleague of ours. Bye."
"Bye," Phoebe said as she closed the door. Then she leaned against the door. Why hadn't she been able to forget about what she saw? Normally she could if she had to. Oh well. What's the worst that could happen? "Prue, Piper!" Phoebe yelled as she walked back into the living room.
"What is it?" Her sisters asked in unison as they dropped down on the couch. They shoved a pillow aside to make room for Phoebe. Phoebe walked over to the couch and sat down.
"Well... I had a vision. It involved an infected person and me. It was a person infected with the black eye virus."
Mulder, Scully, and Dogget arrived at the airport. It was perfect timing. Their colleague, Reyes, had just gotten off the plane. "Hi guys. Did you find anything yet?" Reyes asked, even though she pretty much already knew the answer. It was no.
"No," Dogget said, "we pretty much hit a dead end. We went to CMU and talked to some college kids to see what they knew. No one really knew anything except for one. I think she knows more than she's telling us."
"Well, why would you go to CMU?"
"That's where all the breakouts have been so far," Scully replied.
"Why don't we go back there and stake out. We might have our best start there."
They left the airport and drove over to CMU. They didn't have to wait long before something happened. They saw Phoebe walking. She went towards the back of the campus, down an alley. Not many people go there, especially not at night. "What's she doing here?" Mulder thought out loud. Then he got out and the others followed.
Meanwhile, Phoebe had to do a little research. She didn't want her sisters to come along. She didn't give them specific details. If they knew what kind of research they wouldn't have let her go. They would have gone instead...without her. This was something she wanted to do herself. She wanted to find out what was going on. Then, after she made it to the back of the campus, she found who she was looking for. She ran to catch up. She chased him until they reached a dead end. He then turned around and stared directly at her. He was infected with the black eye virus. She didn't know him, but she got the feeling that he knew her. He then smiled and said, "You walked right into a trap."
Phoebe started to panic. She worked up some courage, and then asked, "What do you want? All of you." She had to know what she came to find out. Otherwise this would have been a wasted trip.
"I think you already know," he replied. Then slowly he began to walk towards her. He picked her up and was about to throw her...
"Freeze!" Mulder said when he caught up. "Put her down."
The infected guy dropped Phoebe just as Mulder's colleagues caught up with Mulder. Then he started to walk away. "What do you want?" Scully asked him.
"Why don't you ask her?" he replied, indicating Phoebe. He then ran away.
Phoebe got up as the others walked over. "Are you ok?" Dogget asked. Phoebe nodded. "Why did you come out here alone? It's dangerous."
Phoebe paused, not sure how much to say. She took a deep breath then said, "I have my reasons." She could see on all four faces that stared at her, that they wouldn't let her go with that answer. She sighed. "I have a major test tomorrow. I have a lot of studying to do, and it's kind of hard to concentrate at home. And as to being out here alone, I highly doubt Prue and Piper would want to study with me," she smirked as she said this. "Phoebe?" Reyes asked. She had just realized that the girl that they all were talking to was her roommate when they lived in New York. "Wait a minute. Monica? So I guess you got the job you wanted in D.C." Phoebe said when she recognized Reyes. "You know each other?" Mulder asked them. "Yeah. We were roommates in New York," Reyes replied. "So Phoebe, what are you really doing here? You never were good at lying." "When have I lied?" Phoebe asked. "When you told me why you were moving out. You said you wanted to go home to make up with your sisters, but I knew that you really were dreading going home. You didn't want to face Prue. You lost your job. You were broke, that's why you went home." "Prue and I don't fight much anymore... Can I please go to the library now? So far I'm doing very well with my classes, and I don't want to screw that up. So, can I go?" "I don't know..." Scully said.
Reyes looked at Phoebe. She could tell that Phoebe was lying, but she also knew that Phoebe wouldn't tell the truth if she hadn't broken down already. "Go ahead." Everyone else was surprised. Especially Phoebe. She didn't think they would let her go. She walked to the library, then back around to her car.
After she left, Mulder asked Reyes, "Why did you tell her she could go? We need to know what she was really doing here."
"Even if we kept her here to question her, she still wouldn't have told us the truth."
"How could you know that for sure?" Dogget asked her.
"I lived with her for a while. Once she tells a lie, she sticks with it." Then she walked away. Everyone followed her. They got in their car and drove back to the detective agency. Maybe Darryl, who they had talked to earlier, might know the Hallowell's. And if so, maybe, since they were at a standstill with the virus, they could figure out what was up with Phoebe.
After driving for about five minutes they arrived at their destination. They got out of their car, walked inside, and met up with Darryl.
"Did you find anything out?" Darryl asked.
"Not a whole lot more than we knew before... but we did talk to someone else about it. We think she knows more than she's telling us," Scully replied. 'Uh oh,' Darryl thought. "Let me guess...one of the Halliwells?" "Actually yes. Phoebe Halliwell. You know them?" Mulder asked.
"Yeah. Her, her sisters, and I are really good friends. They're practically family... Why... Is something going on with her?"
"We're not sure. We were kind of hoping you would know," Mulder said in reply.
"Do you want me to go talk to her?" All four agents nodded.
Ding Dong. The doorbell rang. Phoebe ran to answer the door. She opened the door. "Hi Darryl. What's up?" She could tell that he didn't stop by just to visit.
"The FBI agents that are in town came in and asked me about you. What's up?"
"Do you know that case they're working on? Well, I did a little investigating of my own. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye. I think it might be supernatural."
Darryl looked at her for a while with a worried expression. He knew what that meant. "So in other words, you think they might be after you guys." Phoebe nodded slowly.
"I don't know what else it could be. When I talked to one of them at the college, I got the feeling that he knew me. I know I don't know him. When I asked him what they want, he said I already knew. So if that doesn't spell trouble, I don't know what does."
"Do Prue and Piper know yet?"
"No, I didn't get around to telling them yet. They were both at P3 late last night and went to work before I woke up."
"Be careful. OK?" Darryl waited 'til Phoebe nodded, then he left. He was sure the agents wanted to know as soon as possible. He got back in his car and drove to where they are staying. He went to the room that Dogget and Mulder shared and then knocked. Dogget answered the door.
"Hi. Come on in," Dogget said. When Mulder saw who it was, he called Scully and Reyes. They were there in less than a minute.
"So what did you find out?" Reyes asked. She could tell by the expression on his face that it wasn't good.
Darryl carefully edited what Phoebe said. "She said that there is more to this case than meets the eye. When she talked to that guy at the college, even though she didn't know him, she got the feeling that he knew her. When she asked him what they wanted, he said she already knew." He paused a minute letting it sink in. "I think Phoebe and her sisters are in trouble. I think they are in the middle of all of this."
"Are you sure?" Scully asked.
"It wouldn't surprise me. Something's always going on with them. They are accident-prone. The problem is their accidents aren't normal. Not only that, most of the time they're dangerous."
Prue sat at her desk in Bucklands. Bucklands is an auction house where Prue works. She was thinking about what Phoebe had said the other day. She was hoping that they weren't too late. Neither she nor Piper had seen Phoebe since they had finished talking. Just then, Jack came in. Jack was her boyfriend, and they worked together.
"Hi," Jack said. "Did you hear about that weird virus?" Prue nodded. "I heard that now it's spread out farther than CMU. There are some people who work here that are infected. How do you think it's spread?"
"I don't know. But I know that Phoebe will try to figure it out. She said they've been talking about it at school. I know Phoebe's probably curious. And if Phoebe wants to figure it out, she'll figure it out."
"Do you really think she'd try?"
Shocked that she had spoken her worries out loud, Prue said, "If Piper and I have any say in it no. But even if we don't let her, and she wants to, she will." Prue was hoping she was wrong, but doubted she was. "I think I better go."
"Hi," Prue said as she walked in the door. When she walked in the living room, she just about got sick. Both of her sisters were sitting there. The look on their faces told her something was going on. They were in trouble. "What's up?"
Phoebe filled them in on everything. How she went to the college to figure out what was going on. How she thought he knew her. What they wanted. "Unfortunately, I think there is a lot more to this than meets the eye. I don't know exactly what they want, but it has to do with us. Everything spells trouble."
"I think whatever this thing is, it is spreading fast. I was talking to Jack today, and he said that it has spread farther than the college." Prue wondered what they could do about it. Unfortunately, at the time, even if there was something they could do, they didn't know what.
Ding-dong. "I'll get it," Piper said as she got up and walked towards the door. She then opened the door. "Come on in."
Mulder, Scully, Dogget, and Reyes walked in and followed Piper into the living room. They could tell by the look on Prue's, Piper's, and Phoebe's faces that Phoebe had told her sisters everything that was going on. "Is everything okay?" Reyes asked.
"...Yeah. There's just a lot going on," Prue replied. She knew they were asking Phoebe, but her sister had a lot on her mind. Phoebe wasn't even paying attention.
"Phoebe... What's going on?" Dogget asked.
Phoebe looked up. She took a deep breath. She started to get up. "It's a long..."
Flash
There were about twenty people.
They were in some kind of park.
All of the people had black eyes.
"... story." Phoebe was confused. What did that mean?
"Well, we don't have anywhere we have to be for a while." Luckily they didn't notice anything weird.
Ding Dong. "I'll be right back," Phoebe said as she walked over to answer the door. Saved by the bell, literally. She opened the door and almost shut it immediately. He was infected. She didn't know what, but something stopped her.
"I can help you. There are things you should know about what's going on," the man outside said.
Puzzled, Phoebe said, "Come in." She backed up to let him in and then closed the door behind him. They walked back in the living room. Everyone in the room knew something strange was going on by the look on Phoebe's face. She was baffled.
"There are a lot of things you don't know about what's going on," the man said. Then he looked over at Phoebe. "You guessed right about one thing. The thing that they want has to do with you three. What you don't know is that they want you on their side. They think that if you are on their side, they will be unstoppable."
"Why would they think that?" Piper asked.
"I think you already know that answer. For the same reason that even though you don't know us, we know you. For the same reason that everyone and everything else you have encountered knew you. The same reason why they, as well as I, know where you live. For now, that's all I can tell you."
"Why are you helping us?" Prue asked.
"I still have a mind of my own, and I was hoping that, maybe you could stop them before it's too late."
"How?" Phoebe asked him as he walked out, but it was too late.
"What was that all about?" Scully asked.
"I don't know..." Phoebe replied, still not sure of what just happened.
"Why would they think that they would be unstoppable if you are on their side?" Mulder asked.
They paused, and no one answered.
"What aren't you telling us?" Reyes asked.
Phoebe, Prue, and Piper looked at each other. They all knew that they couldn't tell them unless it was an emergency. As of right now, this didn't qualify as an emergency. Phoebe looked down. There was so much going on right now she couldn't think straight, and neither could her sisters.
It was obvious that there was something that they weren't telling them, but when no one said anything, Dogget said, "Darryl told us what you said." Phoebe looked up. She kind of figured he would. "There is something going on, isn't there?" Phoebe stared at him for a few seconds and then looked down again.
"You have to tell us what's going on so that we can help you," Reyes said.
"We can't," Piper said.
"It would be best if you lay low until all of this is over," Mulder said.
"Well, be careful. Bye," Scully said. Then they left.
Later... at P3
Prue and Piper went to P3, the club that Piper owns. There wasn't a band playing there at that time. Piper didn't schedule any for that night. "Prue, can you get more pop from the store room?" Piper asked.
"Sure," Prue replied, then walked over to the storeroom. She walked into the storeroom, and left the door open. Then she went towards the back, which was where the pop was. She picked up each of the different kinds and put them in a bin to carry them over to the bar counter. She turned back around to walk out. 'I don't remember closing the door...' Prue thought. 'The back exit is right by here. Wind must have blown it shut.' She looked down at the cart to make sure she had everything, and found that she had missed one kind. She turned around. There was someone standing in front of her. He was infected with the virus...
"This is everything," Prue said as she set the bin on the counter.
"Thanks," Piper said. Piper glanced over at Prue. Prue was fidgeting like she didn't want to be there. "If you don't want to stick around you don't have to." After that Prue left without saying a word.
"Hi," Phoebe said as Prue rushed in the door. Piper had gotten home two hours earlier. "Where were you?"
"Mind your own business Phoebe!" Prue snapped. She didn't want her sisters to know anything that was going on right now. It was her life. 'What's happening to me? Why am I so mean all of a sudden?' Prue thought.
"Gees Prue, it was just a question. You didn't have to jump all over her," Piper said to Prue.
"I know. I'm sorry. I just had a bad day." Prue truly was sorry. She didn't know what had come over her. "I've got to wake up early tomorrow. I better go to bed."
"Good morning," Prue said. "Oh, and I'll be late tonight. Don't expect me home before 1am. Bye." Then Prue walked out the door to go to work.
"I think I better go too. I've got to book a band for next week. Do you want to come?" Piper asked.
Phoebe thought about it for a minute then said, "Uh... No, I think I'll stay here." Then Piper left, too.
Phoebe sat there a minute, thinking about everything that was going on. Then, she started to get up. She went over to the door. She was going to go see if she could figure out anything else that was going on. But when she opened the door, Mulder, Scully, Dogget, and Reyes were standing there ready to knock. "Hi, come in," Phoebe said when she saw them standing there. "You can sit down if you want. Do you want anything?"
"No, we're good," Mulder said. Phoebe walked over to sit down. "Did anything else happen?"
"Not really. Did you find anything else out?"
"Nothing much, no," Scully said.
"You still haven't told us why they would think you and your sisters are so important," Dogget said. When Phoebe didn't say anything, he said, "Why won't you tell us? Do you know why?"
"You do know, don't you? You have to tell us," Reyes said. She knew that Phoebe and her sisters were hiding something, but she didn't know what.
"I can't tell you. It's very... complicated. I really don't want to get into that right now. Besides, even if I did tell you, you wouldn't believe me. All it would do is waste time." Phoebe already had a headache from everything else that was going on. She didn't need to add on to it.
Ding Dong. Phoebe got up to answer the door. It was that man that had told them what was going on the other day. She let him in and led him to the other room. Both of them decided to stand.
"This is the last time that I can talk to you. I won't be able to fight off the effect of the virus much longer. I have to warn you about what will happen if they win. I want to show you what will happen." He walked over to Phoebe and placed his hand on her forehead.
Flash
There were thousands of people.
The whole world was infected.
The virus spread very quickly.
Every one was listening to one man.
He wasn't infected.
He was controlling everyone like they were robots.
He took his hand off her forehead. Her knees buckled as the premonition ended. It was too over whelming. She looked up at the man as he left. How could they be so important in their plan? She decided right then and there that she would not let them win. At least not too easily. She wouldn't give up without a fight. Mulder and Dogget walked over to help Phoebe get up. When she was standing again she saw that all four of them were confused about what had happened, and they wanted answers.
"Are you okay?" Reyes asked. Phoebe nodded. "What happened? Did you see anything? What did you see?"
"He showed me what they think will happen. For all I know, it could be what will happen." Phoebe sat down before she could fall again, and looked down. Her headache just got worse. "Whether it will or won't happen, they won't win without a fight."
Phoebe went to bed early that night. Her headache was so bad, that she had to take medicine to help control it. She could hardly stay awake. It didn't take her long to fall asleep. It was a long dreamless night. By the time she finally woke up, it was already afternoon. She got up, took a shower, got dressed, and went down stairs. Right when she was about to sit down, the phone rang. She went over and picked it up. It was Jack.
"Hi, Phoebe," Jack said. He was at Bucklands. He was on his lunch break.
"Hi, Jack, what's up," Phoebe asked.
"Do you know where Prue is? She was supposed to be here at 9 this morning. She never showed up."
"I don't know." Phoebe was confused. Prue never missed work without calling in.
"Do you know what's going on with Prue? She's been acting weird lately."
"I don't know yet, but I'll let you know when I find out. If Prue gets home before your date tonight, I'll tell you then."
"Do you really think that's a good idea? Prue will probably be ticked at you."
"I've spent most of my life with Prue mad at me. I think I can handle it. Bye." Then Phoebe hung up. As soon as she did, Prue walked in the side door. She was talking to someone. Phoebe quietly snuck over to listen to the conversation. She couldn't hear most of it, but this is what she did hear:
"So do you know your orders?" (Unknown)
"Yes, I do. I will carry them out as soon as I can." (Prue)
Then the man Prue was talking to left. Phoebe quietly snuck away from her hiding spot to avoid suspicion from Prue. She went out into the living room and waited for Prue to come out. The best way to figure out what was going on with Prue was to talk casually with her and try to – gently – force the answer out. But before she could say anything, she already knew the answer. Prue had the virus. Prue was standing right in front of her. Prue's eyes were black.
"Prue, what's going on?" Phoebe asked nervously. She stepped backwards every time Prue advanced a step.
"I have orders," Prue said flatly.
"What kind of orders?"
Prue silently advanced another step. Prue then used her telekinetic ability to throw Phoebe across the room into a wall, which knocked Phoebe out. When Prue realized this, she walked over to Phoebe. She was about to infect Phoebe, but the doorbell rang. She looked over at the door, then ran out the side door.
Mulder, Scully, Dogget, and Reyes were standing outside in front of Halliwell manor. They wanted to make sure that everything was okay. After what happened yesterday, they weren't sure how out of control this situation had gotten so far. They rang the doorbell. They heard movement inside, but no one answered. They rang it again. Once again, no one answered. They were about to leave.
Before they did, Reyes spoke up. "Something's wrong. I can feel it." She then walked back over to the door and tried the doorknob. Luckily it wasn't locked. The four of them walked inside. They went over into the living room. They looked around and found Phoebe unconscious against the back wall. They went over to Phoebe and checked her pulse. Then they checked over Phoebe to make sure she was okay. The only thing they found was a bump on the back of her head. Then Dogget went to get a glass of water. Then he went back out to where Phoebe was and threw it in her face to wake her up.
Phoebe moved her head to the side, and then came to. For a second, when she saw the four of them sitting around her, she was confused. It was only a few seconds later that everything came back to her. 'Well, my headaches back.'
"Are you okay?" Mulder asked Phoebe. Phoebe nodded. "What happened?"
"I tripped." Phoebe looked down to avoid the questioning looks. The agents knew she was lying. They got up and helped Phoebe up. To avoid having to convince them of a lie that they didn't believe, she asked, "How's the case going?"
"We haven't gotten any closer to solving it, but unfortunately I think that if we stay here with you long enough, we will," Reyes said. "There's still a lot that you're not telling us. What's going on? Why won't you tell us?"
"Because I can't," Phoebe said.
"You can't or you won't?" Dogget asked, not sure if he should believe her.
"Both. It's very complicating. It's nothing bad."
"Is it dangerous?" Scully asked.
Not wanting to, but knowing that she couldn't lie again, she said, "Yes, but it can't be changed. Prue, Piper, and I have given up worrying about it. It's just a waste of time."
They agents waited 'til Piper came home, and then they left. Piper and Phoebe didn't have any time to talk before Dan and Jack came. Piper and Prue were going on a date with Dan and Jack. Prue didn't get home yet, and she hadn't been home since the incident earlier. Piper let Dan and Jack in.
"Where's Prue?" Jack asked.
"Not here," Phoebe replied.
"Did she forget about our date?"
"I don't know. She was only here a couple of minutes, then she left again."
"Do you know what she's doing when she's supposed to be at work?"
"She didn't go to work?" Piper asked surprised. Unless something major was going on, she never missed work. Not only that, if Jack was asking where Prue was going, that meant Prue hadn't called off.
"Whatever it is, it's not good," Phoebe answered Jack.
"Is something going on?" Dan asked. He glanced at Jack, Piper, and Phoebe. He could always tell when something was wrong. Though, he never really got any answers.
"Phoebe?" Piper used the tone that meant it was more of a demand, than question.
"Now might not be a good time," Phoebe replied, glancing over at Prue who had just walked in the door. Phoebe then got up and went upstairs into her room.
"Don't listen to anything she says. She hit her head earlier. She's delusional," Prue said. She started upstairs. "I'll talk to Phoebe to see what's bothering her."
Wondering if something weird was going on between Phoebe and Prue, Jack asked, "Can I use your bathroom?"
"Yeah, there's one right upstairs," Piper said. She was thinking the same thing Jack was.
"What's going on?" Dan asked again.
"I don't know," Piper replied.
Jack went upstairs into the bathroom. He saw that right across the hall was where Prue and Phoebe were talking. He left the bathroom door open a little crack so that he could hear and somewhat see what was going on.
In Phoebe's room, Prue and her were talking. Jack had missed most of the conversation, but he did hear the end of it.
"Don't talk about this with anyone," Prue said. "Maybe I'll leave you alone, for now, that is." Then Prue left Phoebe's room.
Jack finished up in the bathroom and opened the door. He paused and looked at Phoebe. His look told Phoebe he heard enough to know what was going on. He then went back downstairs to go out on the date.
Phoebe sat in her room for a little bit after they left on the date to think things through.
Prue, Jack, Piper, and Dan went to see a movie. It wasn't starting for another ten minutes.
"Hey, why don't we go get some popcorn," Dan suggested
"Sure," Jack said.
While Jack and Dan got popcorn, Prue and Piper went to the ladies room.
Jack and Dan got back before Prue and Piper. "Do you know what's going on with them?" Dan asked.
Jack paused a moment. "Not much. All I know is that Prue is not herself."
"You know more than me." As soon as Dan finished, Prue and Piper came back.
After they left Halliwell Manor, Mulder, Skully, Doggett, and Reyes went back to their hotel to review what they knew so far, which still wasn't too much. All they knew was that this was definitely a typical X- File, that this virus was not normal, and that somehow the Halliwells were involved. How? They didn't know yet, but so far, it was their best lead. It was their only lead.
Of course, they weren't sure if the Halliwells were victims in need of protection or the reason behind all of this (in which case they would have to be good at acting). All they needed to do was hang around Halliwell Manor undercover, and eventually, they would figure out what in the world was going on. The agents already decided that they needed a break from all of this. They would start looking into this more tomorrow. Until then, they were just going to chill out.
Phoebe waited until Prue, Piper, Jack, and Dan made it back okay (that is without being infected, so it appeared), then, without saying anything to anyone, she went to bed. She wanted to avoid a confrontation with Prue, and interrogation from Piper, and most likely, also from Jack and Dan.
The next morning Mulder, Skully, Doggett, and Reyes went to the police station as soon as they got up. They found all of the unsolved "freaky" cases, and took them back to the hotel. They knew that there were a lot of these cases in San Francisco because they had gotten copies of them at their office. They were part of the X-Files. They never really looked at them in depth though.
Once they got back to the hotel, Skully, Doggett, and Reyes checked the files while Mulder decided to see if he could find anything on the Halliwell's history. Skully, Doggett, and Reyes noticed that in many of the case reports, at least one of the Halliwells was mentioned. And in each case, they were either witnesses or suspects.
Mulder found something very interesting on the internet. He found the entire Halliwell family tree, dating all the way back to the time of the witch trials in Salem Massachusetts. When he got to Melinda Warren, the beginning of the Halliwell's family line, he noticed that there was a link to another page. When he looked at the page, this is what he found:
Melinda Warren lived in Salem Massachusetts. She was tried and
convicted of witchcraft. She was burned at the stake. Before she
died, she said that the Warren line would continue on. Each
generation of Warren witches would grow stronger and stronger
until there are three sisters. They will be the most powerful
witches the world has ever known. They will be known as the
Charmed Ones.
After he read this, he went back to the family tree. He scrolled up from Melinda Warren, until he got to the end of the family tree, where the Halliwell's names were. He noticed something. Each family only had one daughter, until the Halliwells, who had three. He called the others over to show them what he found.
"It can't be. I know Phoebe. She's smart enough to know that stuff doesn't exist. And even so, she wouldn't mess with stuff like that," Reyes said, not wanting to believe that about her friend and former roommate.
"I hate to say it, but it sure seems like it's the Halliwell's causing this. Everything points to them," Doggett said. "Don't worry Reyes, we'll just question them before we consider arresting them."
Phoebe woke up late that morning. Even though she had gone to bed earlier the night before, she hadn't slept well. She also didn't feel much better. She got dressed and started to go downstairs. The phone rang. She ran downstairs to answer the phone. She stopped when she heard the answering machine pick up. It was the agents. They wanted to question her and her sisters about the recent events. She knew better than to pickup. They thought the Halliwells were behind all of this. She would have to avoid them until all of this was over. She heard a car pull up. She looked out of the window and saw that Piper was just coming home from the club. Piper came in and told Phoebe that something was definitely up with Prue. They decided that they should try to get Prue back. Jack and Dan came over. Dan wanted to talk and, hopefully, finally know what's going on. Jack, on the other hand, wanted to know where Prue was. Piper suggested that they go find her.
So, the four of them got in Jack's car. Piper told Jack where to go. She said that she had a nagging feeling that Prue would be with everyone infected at the park. Sure enough, when they got to Golden Gate Park, Prue was there. They got out of the car and went towards the crowd.
Something wasn't right. Phoebe could feel it. She couldn't make the nagging go away that was telling her to run while she still could. Normally, she would listen to her instinct. Her instincts never let her down. But, she set that aside and went with Piper. If anything went wrong Piper was there with her. Besides, she took self-defense classes for a reason.
When they got to where the gathering was, Piper just stopped. She didn't even move.
"Piper, are you okay?" Phoebe asked, worried.
Piper turned around, and Phoebe froze in horror. Piper had the virus. Then Phoebe said in a more panicked voice than she would have liked to, "Jack, Dan. Run!" She then turned around to join them, only to find out that they, too, were infected. Knowing that fighting right then would have been suicide, she chose to sprint out of there as fast as humanly possible. She ran until she ran into someone... the demon behind all of this.
The agents were following a hunch based on the rumor that virus central was Golden Gate Park. They cautiously walked along, ready to pull out their guns if necessary. They started to wonder if they had made a wasted trip, until they heard a loud crash. They quietly ran towards that noise. When they got there, they saw Phoebe lying unconscious on top of rubble from the wall she had broken through. They looked up and thought that they had seen a man standing there, only as soon as they saw him, he vanished into thin air. Therefore, they dismissed the thought that the mysterious man was even there a moment ago.
"She must be in this deeper than we thought," Dogget said. This incident only added to their theory that the Halliwells were the culprits. If the group had found out how close the FBI agents were to finding out, that would put Phoebe in danger, since she is the one their spotlight was on.
"I hate to say it, but you're right," Reyes said. She had been reluctant to believe that her friend was behind all of this, but it was hard to think otherwise now. Knowing that this time Phoebe would need medical help, the agents took her to the hospital. "She will be fine," the doctor said. "You can go in now. Let me know when she's up. There are a few questions I need to ask her." With that said, the agents went into Phoebe's room. They didn't have to wait long before she regained consciousness. Phoebe slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She knew immediately where she was... a hospital. She didn't even wonder why she was there. She vividly remembered what had happened. She remembered how both of her sisters and their boyfriends turned against her. She remembered that she ran into the demon behind all of this. He looked very familiar, but she couldn't quite figure out where she had seen him before. And, of course, she remembered how the agents once allies, that, now, she needed to avoid at all costs- and the agents were right there in the room with her. All of them were angry, yet concerned. She knew that even if their concern would win out first, it would shortly turn ugly. She didn't have the time to deal with that here, let alone deal with the doctor. She had to get home. She got up out of bed, and took the hospital bracelet off. Then she began across the room to change so that she could get out of there. "What do you think you're doing?" Scully asked, her anger winning over concern. Phoebe replied, "I'm getting out of here." "This is a hospital. You can't just leave. The doctor has some questions he needs to ask you. Besides, you may need more medical help before you can leave," Mulder said, choosing a gentler tone, hoping he could get through to Phoebe that way. Choosing to reply to Mulder's last comment first, Phoebe declared, "I'm fine, and I can't answer anything that the doctor would ask anyways. Besides, I hate hospitals." While Phoebe began to carefully change, Reyes said, "The doctor isn't the only one who has questions. We won't let you go without answers. You're in a lot of trouble here, Phoebe. The only reason we haven't arrested you yet is because we don't have enough evidence to convict you and your sisters yet." Phoebe, ready to go said, "Look, I know what you guys are thinking, and to be honest with you, I don't blame you for thinking that. If I were you, I would be thinking the same thing. There are a lot of things I can't tell you, but I will tell you what I can. I'm leaving here with or without your help, so, what's it gonna be?" "Come on," Reyes said, leading the way.
When they got back to Halliwell manor, the interrogation began. "Look, Phoebe. You are in a lot of trouble here, and not just with the law. We can help you with both if you level with us. You need to tell us everything. And don't even bother saying you're innocent, you're acting too guilty," Reyes said. Phoebe sighed and sat down. This was going to be a long night. Then she calmly said, "Like I said at the hospital, I can't tell you everything. All the details are very complicated, and you wouldn't believe me anyways. I will, however tell you what I can. As to me 'acting guilty,' all I am doing is trying to figure out all of this without exposing my sisters and myself. If we ever get exposed, it could turn ugly, and one or all of us could get killed. But anyways, it wouldn't be good, and not just for us. But I won't go there right now. "As to what's going on, what I know as of now is that this is a lot worse than I thought it would ever get. This guy is really good at covering his tracks. I saw him right before he 'threw' me through that wall, and I know I've seen him somewhere before, but I can't figure out where. He's got the classic evil villain plan for taking over the world. It sounds crazy, I know, but I couldn't think of anything else it could be. Everyone that has been infected with the virus is under mind control. They aren't capable of thinking or doing anything unless they're told to do so. They are like zombies, more or less, except that unlike zombies they weren't really poisoned, and as far as I know this isn't stemmed from voodoo. He's using this virus to control them, which is why no one has been able to find a cure. This virus can't simply be cured by using a vaccine.
"And, as to how my sisters and I are involved, believe it or not, we are innocent. Believe what you want, because right now I really don't care. I don't have the time to argue, and I can't prove it without telling you our secret..."
"Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just tell us your secret?" Dogget asked, growing impatient with Phoebe's dance around the truth.
Phoebe took a deep breath to keep from blowing up, then calmly stated, "It's not that easy. You would never believe it. Not only that, you would think I'm nuts."
"Fine. Then can you at least tell us how you are involved if you are innocent?" Scully asked.
Phoebe began, "When that man came here and said that 'they' wanted us on their side because they would be invincible, he lied. It was a setup. What 'they' want is actually completely opposite. His key words were that he thought we could stop them. My sisters and I are a threat to them. With us out of they way, they figure they will be unstoppable. They must figure that we are the only ones that can stop them. I haven't figured out why yet, though."
There was a long pause. Mulder was the first one to speak up. "You really expect us to believe that? I'm the most gullible person here and even I didn't fall for that. You're right. Whatever secret it is that you have, we wouldn't believe you if you told us. Either you are acting crazy so that you can get a chance at an insanity plea, or you hit you head one too many times."
"Maybe you're right. I may have hit my head one too many times. That would explain why I even thought for a second that you might believe that. Of course then again, maybe I was just hoping that you could help. I'm in the deep end here, and I know it. My sisters are infected with the virus, and therefore, they have turned against me. Even their boyfriends are infected. Of course, Prue and Piper are strong. They'll fight off the effects of the virus. They are in danger and could end up worse off than me. I'm alone here, and I'm afraid that I might lose one or both of my sisters. I can handle a lot, but not that. Go ahead. Arrest me, for all I care. I don't have any allies, and in the end, if evil wins, whether I'm in jail or not won't matter. You wouldn't even know the difference, and I wouldn't be around to have to worry about it anyways. So what are you waiting for?" Phoebe vented all her frustration and fear of failing... of evil winning. What she said was true. She didn't care anymore. It was hopeless, and she was giving up, something she never would have done if the circumstances were different. If she didn't feel as vulnerable as she did.
Concerned for her friend once again, Reyes said, "It's been a long night Phoebe. Maybe you should get some sleep. We'll talk in the morning. Do you have any spare rooms that we can stay in for the night?"
"You can stay in Prue and Piper's rooms. They're not coming home tonight," Phoebe said. She led the way upstairs. Once the agents were settled into their temporary rooms, Phoebe started towards hers. Then she stopped. The hope that was destroyed was back. It was only a glimmer, but that could easily grow. She had realized that she hadn't looked for solutions in the Book of Shadows yet. She quietly went up into the attic to retrieve the book, and then went down to the kitchen. It could take all night to find what she was looking for. With as tired as she was, she would need to rely on caffeine, or rather coffee, to stay awake.
She was flipping through the pages when something caught her eye. She had found what she was looking for.
Black Eye Virus
There is a demon that is sent to take over the world. To rule over, take over, and make evil, all that is good. He uses the virus to control his victims. Once under his spell, the victim is only capable of doing what he or she is told. He must never gain control. I, Cassandra Wentworth, was not strong enough to vanquish him, but I was able to imprison him. He will only be released once the Charmed Ones are in existence with the hope that they may be strong enough to defeat him. Be fore warned.
"That would explain why they're so sure we're the only ones who can stop them. The spell placed on him more or less says so," Phoebe muttered to herself. She looked on the next page and saw a sketch of a man, or what appeared to be a man. He looked very familiar. Then it hit her. It was the demon behind all of this. She read on.
Rasptin
Rasptin, or the black eye demon, is very powerful. Among his many abilities, he is capable of mind control, strongest with the use of the black eye virus, and the ability to appear as if he too is infected...
As she read that, memories of that man that came and said he wanted to help flashed through her mind. He appeared to have a mind of his own, yet he was infected. The premonition he triggered was very powerful. He told her the lie. When she saw it was him at the door, something stopped her from slamming the door in his face. The man that supposedly wanted to help, and Rasptin were one and the same. She continued reading.
...The only way to cure the victims of the virus is to vanquish Rasptin. There is no known way to do this for he was only imprisoned before.
"Great, that was a big help," Phoebe sarcastically muttered under her breath.
The next morning, once everyone had woken up, the interrogation continued. The agents could see that something was different about Phoebe. She had a confidence that she hadn't had the night before. A courage they had never seen in her before. Of course, they had no idea that her defeat the night before had led to her realizing that there was still a chance that good would prevail, and she was going to stretch that little bit of hope to the breaking point.
"You seem a lot... calmer this morning," Reyes said.
"Yeah, well, last night I was ready to give up. That is something that I would never do, I'd never even consider it. I was just really frustrated and scared last night," Phoebe admitted. She still had some hope that maybe, just maybe, the agents could help.
"You should have told us you were scared. You should have leveled with us. We can't help unless you tell us what's going on," Scully said as the doorbell rang.
Phoebe went over to answer the door. She opened it and.... "Hey, Darryl... What's wrong?"
Darryl hurriedly walked into the living room, greeted the agents, and then turned back to Phoebe. "Look, I know I normally don't want to get involved, but I am really worried about you and your sisters. I know you have gone through this kind of thing many times before, and I've only seen one of the things that you three have gone up against, but this guy looks pretty dangerous."
"Will someone please tell us what's going on?" Doggett said, aggravated.
Ignoring him, Phoebe said, "Darryl, we'll be fine."
Darryl pulled out a surveillance tape. "There's something I think you should see." Then he walked over to the TV and put the tape in the VCR.
Darryl, Mulder, Scully, Dogget, Reyes, and Phoebe crowded around the TV to watch the tape. At first, all you could see was an empty hallway.
"I thought you said that there was actually something to see on this tape, or were you just talking about the hallway?" Mulder sarcastically asked.
"Keep watching," Darryl said. He barely finished speaking before Rasptin appeared out of thin air. Everyone was shocked except for Phoebe and Darryl, who stood there unfazed. Then Rasptin walked up to the camera and started talking.
"Wow, technology has really advanced since I was last able to walk on this earth. Of course, I was imprisoned by that pesky witch in the late 1600s. It was in the spell that imprisoned me that I found out that I would have to face the Charmed Ones. You three are very popular targets. Everything evil wants to be able to brag that they were the one to finally defeat you. All of them so far have failed, for you three are very powerful. Don't worry witch, it's nothing personal, but I have been led to believe that in order to succeed I must defeat you and your sisters. Your sisters are safe, for now. They will be safe for as long as they are infected with the virus. They are a big help. But sooner or later, they will manage to fight off the virus. When that happens..." Rasptin then threw a fireball at the camera, and all that you could see was static.
Then, there was a silence. All the four agents could do was stare at Phoebe in shock. Calmly, Phoebe went over to the VCR and hit the eject button. The minute Phoebe touched the tape, her body jerked and she saw a bright light flash. A sure fire sign of an impending vision.
Flash
Darryl, the agents and Phoebe were standing there
Rasptin appeared and threw an energy ball at them
Before she had time to fully recover from the vision, she screamed, "DUCK!" When everyone just stared at her, she pleaded with them saying, "Just trust me on this." As soon as they did as Phoebe said, Rasptin appeared and through an energy ball at Phoebe. She easily dodged out of the way. Then Rasptin disappeared again.
Still on alert, without looking at Darryl and the agents, Phoebe said, "Go in a different room now. He'll be back. I don't want any of you getting hurt. Go." Reluctantly, they obeyed Phoebe's request. Before they were out of sight, Rasptin appeared behind Phoebe. Darryl and the agents turned back around to make sure everything was okay.
Rasptin grabbed onto Phoebe from behind. Phoebe immediately fought to get out of his superhuman grip. She stopped struggling for a little bit while he spoke. "Why don't you just give up witch? You may be strong, but without your sisters, you are just as vulnerable as your friends."
With that, Phoebe quickly bent over, sending Rasptin flying over her and onto the floor. He quickly recovered and swept his legs at her ankles, causing her, too, to fall to the ground. Rasptin quickly got up. "Did you really think that you and your sisters could defeat me?" Phoebe struggled to maintain consciousness. A picture of what would happen if her and her sisters failed flashed through her mind. That image gave her the strength to open her eyes and roll out of the way before Rasptin hit her with a fireball that disintegrated inches away from Phoebe. She got up again. Before she could do anything else, Rasptin readied another fireball. Then, aiming the fireball at Darryl, Reyes, Dogget, Mulder, and Skully, Rasptin looked directly at Phoebe and said, "If you come with me willingly, I'll spare your friends." When he saw that Phoebe was coming towards him in apparent defeat, he extinguished the fireball. With that Rasptin and Phoebe disappeared. After the immediate shock wore off, Dogget asked, "What just happened?" Darryl looked at the four agents. "Welcome to their world," he said meaning the Halliwell's world. "What exactly is their world?" Scully asked. "Normally I wouldn't tell you, since they entrusted me with their secret, but after what you just saw, I think you have the right to know. Phoebe and her sisters are witches. They're not phonies, they're the real deal. They're the good guys. There's always something evil after them, wanting to destroy them because of what they do," Darryl explained. "What exactly do they do?" Mulder asked. "Well, I guess you could say that they are kind of like undercover cops, except that they deal with things that most people don't even know exist. They have saved a lot of people... Am I right that you have seen all of the unsolved cases?" All four agents nodded. "Well, the Halliwells have stopped the culprits. They are good people." After a long pause, Reyes said, "We have to do something. Let's go. They're probably at the park."
At the park, Rasptin ordered three of his infectees to restrain the Charmed Ones. "Well, I would have thought that you three would be a lot smarter than this. I can't believe that I was able to fool you so easily. Although, being that you are good, you are inclined to be trusting. Because it would be a shame to let all that power of yours go to waste, I will give you an option," Rasptin said. As he was talking, Darryl and the agents fought their way through the crowd. When they got to a clearing, they saw that Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were far from being scared. In fact, if looks could kill, they figured that the demon would be torn to shreds.
Rasptin continued, "If you join me with ruling a world of evil, I will spare you. Think of it. Together, we would be powerful. We would be unstoppable. You would be queens. All would obey you. Join me."
"NEVER!" all three sisters screamed in unison. With that, they broke free of their captors.
Seeing that they were getting away, Rasptin hurled a fireball at the three sisters. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe bravely went ahead to face Rasptin. Instead of ducking out of the way of the fireball, they stood their ground. Then, Prue used her telekinetic ability to send the fireball back at Rasptin. Rasptin went up in flames and was gone.
"There are going to be a lot of very confused people," Prue said. When Phoebe gave her a questioning look, she said, "The last thing I remember before this was right before I was infected. Everything else in between is just a big blur."
"It's the same with me," Piper said, confirming that it would be the same with everyone else. Then a thought hit her. "Uh oh. What am I going to tell Dan?"
"Just give him the run around, as usual," Phoebe said. That was the way they always handled the sticky situations.
"Not this time. He was infected too. So was Jack," Piper said, as she looked at Prue. "We'll have to tell them part of the truth, just not the whole truth. Our relationships are too new for the full truth."
"They'll always be too new for the full truth," Prue said. That was one of the major downfalls of being a witch. It majorly complicated dating. Not that they could do anything about it.
"Why don't you two go find your boyfriends and smooth things over? I'll meet you at the club," Phoebe said. After Prue and Piper agreed, Phoebe went over to talk to the agents.
Knowing what the agents must have been thinking, Darryl said, "Why don't you guys take the evening off of your work. I'll take care of cleaning things up here. You've seen a lot tonight. You need some time to sort all of this out. I know I did when I found out about all of this." The four agents nodded in agreement, and Darryl left.
They looked over as Phoebe joined them. "Hi," Phoebe said, knowing that this would be awkward for the agents. "Look, I know this is a lot to handle. I had only two days to get used to this before the first warlock came after us... Reyes, I am the same person that I was when we were in New York. The only difference is, now I am caught in a never-ending battle between good and evil."
"I know, Phoebe," Reyes said. "But why would you choose to become a witch?"
"I didn't. Prue, Piper, and I didn't have any choice in the matter. We were destined to become the Charmed Ones. We could fight it all we want, but that doesn't change who we are. And besides, while there are many downfalls, the good that comes from it makes it worthwhile." Then Phoebe thought of something. Didn't the agents have to write a field report? "You have to promise me something... You can't tell anyone about my sisters and I. If we're ever exposed it could get ugly. It could be the Salem witch trials all over again. My sisters and I wouldn't be the only one's endangered by that."
After thinking for a while, Mulder said, "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with us. We do have to write a field report, but we won't mention you and your sisters."
Relief flooded through Phoebe. "Thank you."
"Do you know of anywhere to hang out around here? We're taking the night off," Dogget said.
"Why don't you come with me? I'm supposed to meet my sisters and their boyfriends at Piper's club P3. Food and drinks are on the house for family and friends. I think that there's a band playing their tonight," Phoebe said.
"Sounds like fun," Scully said. Then they went to the club.
A/N: I apologize for the long paragraphs I found in here. There was no easy way to fix it and stay in format.