Charmed and Dangerous—Part 6

Summary: A new evil threatens the Charmed Ones…or are they after something else? The latest installment of my Phoebe/Paige saga.

Rating: R

Paige's ascent to wakefulness was slow and murky. She felt so tired; it was as if her whole body was made of lead, and she could feel herself sinking lower and lower, right to the center of the earth. She wanted to open her eyes, but it was so hard. Everything was dark and hazy; her thoughts were like molasses. She couldn't seem to find anything to hold onto, and she was in pain.

"Paige…wake up, sweetie…" Phoebe. It was Phoebe's voice, calling her from somewhere very far away. She wanted to answer; she tried to call out. But she couldn't seem to open her mouth. She wasn't sure she even had a mouth. Her body felt like it was dissolving into a sea of pain. Phoebe, help me! She thought desperately.

"I'm right here, baby…don't be scared…it's just a bad dream, love, come back to me…" Phoebe's voice was so soft, gentle and full of love. It was like warm water being poured over the ice she felt trapped inside; she could feel her senses returning, feel her fingers and toes moving. Gasping, Paige opened her eyes.

"Phoebe!" She screamed, sitting bolt upright in bed, arms flailing.

"I'm here, baby, I'm right here," Phoebe said soothingly, arms wrapping around her shaking lover.

"Ohhh…" Paige groaned, collapsing in Phoebe's strong embrace as the waking world filtered in. She closed her eyes against the painfully bright morning light and buried her face in her girlfriend's warm, inviting neck.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Phoebe asked, drawing back to look anxiously into Paige's face.

"Like I came down with a 24-hour case of the Black Plague," Paige groaned, curling into a ball with her head resting on Phoebe's chest. Her stomach was churning, as if a million angry insects were trying to claw their way out. Her head was throbbing, her sinuses were all stuffed up, and her eyes and nose felt raw and sore, as if she'd been stuck in a sandstorm.

"I think you cried yourself sick, honey," Phoebe said sympathetically, holding her whimpering girlfriend and rubbing her back. "Want me to rub your tummy?"

"Phoebe," Paige ground out through clenched teeth, "I think I'm gonna throw up." Phoebe leaned down and grabbed the wastebasket from beside her bed, and put it in front of Paige, just in case.

"Relax, baby, I'm here…everything's okay…just lean back against me…" Phoebe's hands wormed around Paige's tense body as she spoke, getting between her raised knees and her stomach, rubbing her distressed tummy in gentle, soothing circles. "Listen to the sound of my voice, baby…stay with me…" Paige's body began to relax, her eyes sliding closed as she leaned back against Phoebe. Phoebe's eyes closed, too. "I love you, Paige. I will never stop loving you." With both their eyes closed, neither of them saw the brilliant, golden light that emanated from Phoebe's hands as she spoke. Paige let out a long, slow breath as the nausea receded. Her body went completely limp as she dropped her head back against Phoebe's shoulder.

"Wow," was all Paige could manage to say as Phoebe moved one hand up to brush the hair off her forehead.

"Does that feel better, honey?"

"Yeah," Paige nodded dumbly. "It feels amazing…what did you do?" She glanced up curiously into Phoebe's eyes.

"Just what I always do…" Phoebe kissed the end of Paige's nose. "Love you."

"Cornball." Paige giggled. The action caused a sharp, shooting pain through her head, reminding her of the rest of her aches and pains.

"Your head really hurts, huh?" Phoebe said sympathetically.

"Yeah…" Paige was too disoriented, and in too much pain, to stop to wonder how Phoebe knew her head hurt.

"I know just what you need." Phoebe got up and tugged Paige down the hall to the bathroom. She turned the shower on to a good, hot blast, and then went into the medicine cabinet, returning with a small vial of some sort of liquid, and a ceramic aromatherapy cup. Pouring out a few drops from the vial, she hung it over the top of the showerhead. Paige was immediately hit with the fragrant scent of eucalyptus.

"Ooooh," Paige sighed, "that's nice."

"Hop in," Phoebe said mischievously, waggling her eyebrows as she stripped off her clothes and jumped into the shower. Paige was right behind her, sighing happily as the hot water hit her tense muscles and began to wash away her aches and pains. The steamy clouds of eucalyptus were doing an incredible job of clearing up the stuffiness in her head, and soothing away her headache at the same time.

"Baby, you are some kind of miracle worker," Paige moaned happily, as Phoebe's warm and soapy hands came around her waist and began lathering her up with sandalwood scented bubbles.

"Mmmm, a hot shower will cure almost anything," Phoebe agreed. "And the eucalyptus always clears up a sinus headache…Grams would always throw me in here when I had a cold as a kid." Paige turned in Phoebe's arms, smiling into the adoring brown eyes that were focused completely on her.

"Thank you for taking such good care of me," she said seriously, capturing Phoebe's soapy hands in her own.

"Thank you for letting me," Phoebe replied. They started into each other's eyes for several long moments, neither feeling the need to speak as the hot water pounded over them, soothing them almost as much as each other's presence. Then Paige leaned in and gave Phoebe a soft and gentle kiss.

"I love you so much," she murmured, her hands running through Phoebe's wet hair as their bodies entwined. "Can't believe…how scared I was last night…" Their breath became erratic as the kiss deepened.

"Nothing could ever make me leave you," Phoebe gasped, pressing herself more fully into Paige's warmth. Then they both lost all ability to speak, as their passion overtook them. Phoebe hoped her sisters had already had their showers today, because she knew for certain that there wouldn't be any hot water left by the time she and Paige were through.

Later, dried and dressed, Phoebe and Paige found their way to the kitchen, where Prue and Piper were finishing their breakfast.

"Strawberry pancakes!" Phoebe squealed happily. "Yay, Piper!" Phoebe went around the table to give her big sister a kiss on the cheek. "You are in for a treat, Paige."

"Oh, I'm sure they're awesome, but I can't have any," Paige said apologetically.

"Why not?" Phoebe asked, looking as crestfallen as if she had made them herself.

"I'm allergic to strawberries."

"What now?" Piper gave Paige a dubious look. "You're an angel, Paige. Angels don't have food allergies."

"How many times do I have to tell you crazy people that I am half human?" Paige said with a roll of her eyes. "And my human half is allergic to strawberries. So unless you all want to spend the rest of your Sunday afternoon in the ER, I'll just have a bowl of cereal."

"No, no, don't be silly," Piper said with a wave of her hands as she rose from the table. "I can make other kinds of pancakes! Name your favorite."

"Uh…" Paige stammered. She was used to Phoebe spoiling her at this point, but the idea of her sisters going out of their way to make her breakfast took her completely by surprise.

"C'mon, Paige, Piper always makes us special breakfasts on Sunday. She'll feel insulted if you reject her."

"Oh, I wasn't rejecting"

"Okay then!" Piper clapped her hands in her usual 'order in the court' manner. "What'll it be? Blueberry? Banana? Ohh! I can do lemon poppy if you wanna try it!"

"Blueberry's great…thanks." Paige smiled shyly at Piper, feeling altogether undeserving of such pampering, but realizing she had little choice but to acquiesce in the face of the Charmed Ones at work—even if it was only in the kitchen.

"You don't have any siblings, do you Paige?" Prue asked, looking up from the paper.

"No…" Paige said uncertainly. "How did you know?"

"You just seem like someone who's used to doing everything for yourself," Prue said wisely. "I hope you won't feel too overwhelmed by 'team Halliwell' here."

"No, actually I…I like it," Paige said, looking at Phoebe. They shared a shy smile, which Prue observed wordlessly. The two sat down at the table with their coffee, while Piper went about making more pancakes for the late risers.

"So," Phoebe drawled, holding Paige's hand and drawing patterns over her palm, "If I have the strawberry pancakes, can you still kiss me?" She grinned impishly up at the matching glint in Paige's brown eyes.

"Hmm, I dunno…could be risky…maybe we better stock up now, just to be safe…" Prue rolled her eyes at Piper as the two insatiable young lovers kissed.

"You do know you're still in the kitchen, right?" Prue said dryly. Without acknowledging that they had heard Prue, Paige and Phoebe orbed out.

"Breakfast in ten minutes!" Piper hollered after them. Prue was laughing. "I hope they don't think I'm gonna make them more pancakes if they forget about these," Piper groused, flipping the perfect pancakes.

"Oh, please. You're just mad cause you and Leo aren't in the orb-to-your-room-every-five-minutes stage anymore."

"That is not true!" Piper exclaimed. Prue looked at her with one eyebrow cocked. "Okay, yes, that is true," Piper conceded grumpily. "I mean, we can't all go to Paris on the drop of a dime…but would it kill him to show a little of that insatiability?" she asked, jerking one thumb up toward the ceiling, where they both knew Phoebe and Paige would now be.

"It's brand new for them, Piper," Prue said, smiling affectionately at her little sister. "You are Leo were exactly like that in the beginning, too…when the one you love is like this completely new world, and it's all yours to discover. Big, romantic gestures come easily then. And then time passes…you know each other better and better…and eventually, those kinds of romantic impulses become more deliberate. You're not just swept up in the passion…you're steering it. And one might even argue that it's better then," Prue finished with a flourish, sipping her coffee innocently.

"Aaaah, who made you the wise old witch of the northwest?" Piper groused. But she was smirking over her pancakes.

"Who are you calling old, sister?" Prue asked, eyes narrowed. They smiled at each other as Leo orbed in.

"Leo!" Piper said happily, going up to him and giving him a big, fat, wet kiss.

"Hi honey," Leo said dazedly, a wide, goofy smile on his lips. "What was that for?"

"Just cause I love you," Piper said sweetly, smiling back. "So what did you find out from the elders? Who is this demon queen bitch, and what does she want with white lighters?"

"Well, the elders don't think it's white lighters she's after." Piper raised both eyebrows expectantly. "They think…well, they think it's Phoebe and Paige." Prue's eyebrows raised to join Piper's.

"And why exactly do they think that?" Piper asked dangerously.

"They wouldn't say," Leo admitted, looking down at his feet.

"They WOULDN'T SAY?" Piper repeated incredulously. "Some royal demon is after my baby sister, and they won't tell us what they know? Leo, what is going on?"

"Wait," Prue broke in, "Phoebe and Paige are 'The Children of the Light'?" That doesn't make any sense. Why Phoebe?"

"Look, guys, I really don't know any more than you do," Leo insisted, looking back and forth between them with a slightly panicked expression. Which wasn't necessarily uncalled for, as they were both eyeing him like angry mother lions. He knew they weren't about to literally rip out his jugular, but the protectiveness that Prue and Piper held for their little sister was quite frightening nonetheless.

"Leo…" Piper said sternly, folding her arms.

"Okay. All I can tell you is, that there's a prophecy involved. You know how much the elders frown on us knowing too much about our own futures…we could start second-guessing everything we do, and mess up what's meant to be. We all just have to trust ourselves to handle this demon, just like we've always handled them."

"Oh, did we get the scoop on the demon?" Phoebe walked in smiling brightly.

"Not exactly…" Prue glanced distractedly at her youngest sister. "Where's Paige?"

"Freshening up." Phoebe grinned saucily and looked down at the floor as a blush colored her cheeks. "She'll be down in a minute."

"Well you might wanna go get her, I think she'd want to hear—" Piper began, but stopped abruptly when Phoebe gasped and clutched her stomach. "Phoebe? What did you see?"

"Paige is in trouble," Phoebe gasped, looking up at the ceiling. Everyone bolted for the stairs. Before they'd even left the kitchen, though, Paige orbed in, slightly out of breath, behind Leo.

"Demon!" She screamed, a split second before another yellow-eyed demon appeared in the kitchen, exactly like the one from the night before. A fat blue energy ball rested in his hand.

"The queen of shadows—" he roared, but Piper blew him up where he stood before he could finish.

"Will rise, yeah yeah, we know," Piper finished, putting her hands on her hips and staring at the new scorch mark on the kitchen floor. Phoebe rushed over to Paige, running her hands all over Paige's body in a frantic search for injury.

"Baby, you okay?" She asked urgently.

"I'm fine, Pheebs. Your sister's a total bad-ass."

"Yeah, I am," Piper smirked. "Oh! Pancakes are ready!"

"Groovy," Paige smiled, taking Phoebe's hand and leading her back to the table. "So what do we know about these medieval losers, anyway?" Prue watched this exchange and smiled. With everything that had happened in the past twelve hours, most boyfriends—or girlfriends—would have run for the hills by now. Of course, Phoebe's girlfriend wasn't exactly 'normal' by any human standard, but even so, the Charmed Ones had always had a rough run when it came to love. Most people were scared off once they saw a glimpse of daily life in the Halliwell manor. Prue was glad to see that Paige wouldn't be one of them.

"Apparently," Piper said when Leo remained stubbornly silent, "the elders are under the impression that the two of you—" she eyeballed Phoebe and Paige as she put their pancakes down in front of them—"are the 'Children of Light,' and there is some sort of prophecy about you. But they won't tell us what it is." She said this part directly to Leo, who still wasn't looking at her.

"There's a prophecy…about us?" Paige asked softly, a dazed look falling over her face.

"Wait," Phoebe held up a hand. "Are they saying that there's a prophecy about these 'Children of Light' and the elders think that we're them…or, that the prophecy is actually about Phoebe Halliwell and Paige Matthews?"

"That's a good question," Piper said, narrowing her eyes. "Leo?" All eyes were on Leo then. Leo was still looking at the floor. He sighed.

"The prophecy concerns the youngest Charmed One, and her true love…one who was born to the human world, but blessed with the light of divine grace." No one quite knew what to say to this. It was, undeniably, Phoebe and Paige in the prophecy…but the words 'true love' had left them all a little shell-shocked, especially Paige. Was she really Phoebe's true love? Could she ever live up to a prophecy like that? Was Phoebe going to get hurt, or worse, because of her? Suddenly she completely lost her appetite, and pushed her pancakes away.

"Phoebe," Prue finally said, "what exactly did you see in your premonition?"

"Huh?" Phoebe looked up dazedly.

"The premonition you had, just before Paige was attacked."

"I didn't have a premonition," Phoebe said, shaking her head.

"Phoebe, we saw you. You jumped like a live wire hit you, and you said Paige was in trouble. Two seconds later, Paige orbed in here with a demon on her tail. You're saying that wasn't a premonition?"

"No, it wasn't," Phoebe reiterated firmly. "I'm not sure what it was…I just knew that Paige was in trouble. I could feel it," she said softly, one hand going unconsciously to her stomach, as if to demonstrate where she'd sensed it. Paige's hand went to Phoebe's leg, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"Well that's just weird," Piper said finally.

"Maybe her powers are growing, " Prue said thoughtfully.

"Maybe," Phoebe nodded absently, though in her gut she knew that wasn't it. "I really want to know more about this prophecy thing."

"You already know as much as I know, and the elders won't say any more," Leo insisted with a shake of his head.

"Then you go back up there and you MAKE them say more, Leo," Prue said in her most dangerous voice, eyes flashing. "Do NOT come back down here unless it is to give us some answers!" Too intimidated to answer, Leo orbed out. Paige looked at Prue, and made a mental note never to get on her bad side.

"I guess we should hit the book of shadows and see what we can dig up about this queen demon," Piper said brusquely as she drained the last of her coffee. "Prue, wanna help?" Prue nodded, and the two rose and cleared their dishes from the table.

"We'll come help too," Phoebe offered, rising from her chair.

"No, Pheebs, eat your breakfast," Piper said, pushing her back into her chair.

"Yes, Mom," Phoebe grinned. Piper swatted her arm and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, guys, for breakfast, and…everything." Paige looked shyly from Prue to Piper.

"Don't worry about it, Paige," Piper said lightly, but her eyes were very serious. "Anything that wants to hurt you, has to get through the Charmed Ones…and we are the resident bad-asses in this town." Paige smiled and nodded. She wasn't worried for herself…she just hoped that Phoebe and her sisters wouldn't end up getting hurt because of her.

TBC…