Thank you so much for the reviews! By the way, to charmed-greek (one of my regular reviewers!), Piper was with Leo because he got lasted through the glass. Sorry, I thought I had put that in the story.

Also, I would like to dedicate this story to my best friend Greg, who encouraged me to write this story, thank you Greg!

Well, anyway, back to the story, where the plot thickens....

CHAPTER FIVE

Even after a full night sleep, Paige felt ill. She had a throbbing headache and she found it hard to focus on anything with her eyes. Oh well, that's the price for letting your guard down, she thought miserably to herself. Rubbing her head, she walked to her wardrobe and grabbed a simple blue skirt with a matching top.

She slipped her clothes on and pulled her hair back in a simple braid. She limped over to the door, finding that she had other injuries as well, mainly bruises and aches. It's a shame whitelighters can't heal internal injuries, she cursed. She moved down the stairs and walked through to the kitchen, in search of aspirin. Her mind was only focused on the wonderful medicine, and she did not notice that Wyatt was sitting in his arm chair behind her. That is until he decided to start screaming for food.

The sudden noise made Paige hit her head on the open cupboard door, doubling the pain in her skull. She cursed in every language god had given, hoping that Wyatt did not understand Aunty Paige's wide vocabulary.

She only stopped when Piper entered the kitchen to feed her son. Hoping that Piper did not hear her outburst she grabbed the aspirin bottle and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. Swallowing the two capsules she gulped down the water, thinking that it would improve matters.

It was then she found out that what she had considered water was actually clear cooking oil. Paige spat out the accursed 'drink' and started to curse again. She grabbed a real bottle of water and tried, to no avail, to eliminate the oily taste in her mouth.

Piper looked at her for a moment then burst out laughing. Infuriated, Paige walked out of the room and into the living room. Collapsing on a sofa, she drew a blanket around herself and waited for the headache to subside.

After about five minutes of this peaceful state, Piper entered carrying a steaming mug of herbal tea and a hot water bottle.

"Piper, you are the most wonderful person ever to grace the planet with your presence." Paige said. Piper smiled at her response and laughed out loud when she slapped the hot water bottle on her head, and begun to drink the tea that not only soothed her mind, but also eliminated the taste of oil.

Piper sat on the sofa next to Paige and drew the blanket around so it covered both of them. Is she being, well, nicer because now she doesn't think I have replaced Prue? Paige didn't like the thought, even though she knew it was true.

Paige didn't really care what made her older sister even closer to her, she was just glad that it had happened. "Piper?" Paige said after a moment. Piper nodded to show that she was listening, "Don't ever put oil in the fridge again, especially not in a water bottle."

Her voice was so sweetly suggestive that even she had to laugh. She got an affirmative from Piper and closed her eyes. It was then she realised that she was still tired. Maybe a nap would cure my headache, demons can wait....

..................

Paige woke up when she heard voices from the parlour just outside the living room. She sat up and realised that her headache had subsided a bit, leaving to actually think and not be in pain.

After a few more seconds of gathering herself and dusting away the remnants of sleep, she recognised the voices; they belonged to Leo and Prue.

That's odd, I didn't think that Leo had regained consciousness yet from the blast, her confused thoughts did not improve as she heard their conversation.

"Just do your job and leave without looking back." Leo was saying. She could hear her older sister sobbing, but her hunger for knowledge made her stay put instead of comforting her. Prue said something then but it was indistinguishable from the sobs, or at least to her.

Leo seemed to have heard her as he replied in a comforting tone, "Just tell them truth, they'll understand."

Paige was very confused by this conversation, but then she heard Prue heading for the living room, and she immediately pretended to be asleep. She heard Prue sit down on a couch and try to gather herself.

After a minute or so, Paige pretended to wake up again. With a fake yawn, she looked across at her sister and saw her eyes were red and swollen. Prue looked up at her and tried to smile.

"Are you okay Prue?" Paige asked in a concerned voice. She was about to say 'sweetie' but decided against it, knowing that their 'relationship' was new, and being a social worker had told her to take things slow.

Prue nodded and spoke to her in the calm calculating voice that she remembered. "Yes, I need to talk to you, Dad, Phoebe and Piper." Paige nodded and stood up. She quickly folded the blanket she had been using and smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes.

Paige walked across to the kitchen where she found Piper talking to Leo. She glanced at Leo warily and then talked to Piper directly. "Prue wants to talk to us, meet her in the living room."

Piper looked a little confused and shared a suspicious glance with Leo, but she nodded and smiled at Paige in a distracted way.

Paige left the warm kitchen, feeling slightly confused by her sisters behaviour. She climbed the stairs slowly, smoothing out her dishevelled hair as something to do. She approached the nursery in Piper's bedroom where Wyatt and Chris slept. The room was cramped and would never hold a proper bed, but it was just the right size and had the right feel of cosiness for two young children.

She saw Victor leaning over Chris' cot, watching him sleep. Paige smiled at the image and then went on to talk to the man that was Phoebe's and Piper's father.

"Prue would like to talk to us in the living room." Paige said in a whisper, as to not wake the sleeping children. Victor jumped at hearing Paige's voice but smiled when he realised what she had said.

Smiling to herself, she went to find Phoebe. Seeing that Phoebe's room was empty, she climbed the next set of stairs to the attic.

For a long while, she felt drawn to this room. The wooden surroundings and the endless boxes of heirlooms and objects, the room had a distinct sense of home in it, although Paige had not lived in the house for that long, she felt that this was always her home. It had just taken her awhile to find it.

She glanced at Phoebe, standing over the Book of Shadows with rings under her eyes, her long dark hair looking as dishevelled as Paige's from constant fingers running through it.

"Phoebes?" Paige asked timidly. Phoebe was usually in bad mood after not finding anything for hours in their beloved book. She seemed to take it as a personal insult when the book held no clues to solve anything.

Phoebe looked up and saw Paige. She seemed slightly dazed so Paige talked to her with caution.

"Prue wants to talk to us in the living room. Come on, I'll take you down there, and after that you will get some rest and I will continue looking for the demons in the book."

Phoebe allowed a smile to enter her good looks as she linked her arm into Paige's. "How did you know I had not found the demons?" Phoebe asked as they were walking down the staircase to the ground floor of the house.

Paige laughed and looked at Phoebe with mock seriousness, "Because you always give the book evils when it is useless."

Phoebe laughed at Paige's honesty and the two sisters entered the living room and sat down on the couch that Paige had slept on earlier.

They were joined with Victor next and then Piper and Leo. Once everyone was seated, everyone head turned to look at Prue, who was sitting waiting for everyone.

Prue opened her mouth and started to talk, just as she had done in the solarium. "Well, I know last time we talked we never got around to explaining the truth; I never even told Paige if her theory was right."

Everyone looked at Paige for a second before turning back to the raven haired woman who was speaking. "Was I right?" Paige asked, wondering what would happen if she was.

"No."

Paige felt her stomach drop. She had been so sure, it would all make sense. She glanced up at Prue who was looking sympathetic. She gave Prue an urging look; after all, if she was wrong she deserved to know the truth.

"I am here for a week, to help you to defeat the new Source of all evil."

Paige was even more shocked at these words. There was silence for a while, no one wanted to speak. I have only just met her, and soon she will be leaving again, Paige wanted to cry in dismay, but decided that it would make it worse for her two older sisters, who would lose their sister, again.

She looked up and saw that Piper, Phoebe and Victor were all wearing the same looks of upset, knowing that they would have to lose Prue all over again. No one spoke for a long while, it was only when Paige realised the other part of her statement did she realise that things were worse. A lot worse.

"The new Source? Why would we need help for that? We have defeated so many now." She locked eyes with Prue for a moment and understood the meaning under Prue's intense gaze.

"You mean the demon we were up against? The one that duplicates when he dies?"

It was only when these words left Paige's mouth did she realise why they needed as much help as they could get.

"Only a week?" Phoebe said, speaking for the first time since she entered the room. Prue looked at her sister and smiled, although it had no humour in it.

"He will have his coronation in a week."

Everyone but Victor was left horrified at these words, although he had a shrewd idea that this was a big uh-oh for the world.

Piper summed up what was Paige was feeling in two words.

"Oh Dear."

........................

Well, this is not really a cliffhanger is it? It is just an ending with a lot of suspense?

I will update soon, but I have to finish a dreaded Macbeth essay. Shudders. Yes, that is why I wrote this chapter. To stop my mind thinking about the horror that is more commonly called Shakespeare. Whoever says the English like Shakespeare will be personally hunted and killed, okay?!?

Now that you think I am mental I will leave you and just say.

I HATE SHAKESPEARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dan