FIVE

"I was wondering when you guys would be getting home," said Snake. "Hey Pheebs. Seems your sisters are trying to keep us apart. Now that wasn't very nice of them."

"I can't believe you broke into my house," said Phoebe.

"Who broke in?" questioned Snake. "The front door was wide open. I just thought I'd wait for you in here."

"Not likely," said Prue. "We don't leave the door unlocked."

"I guess you just forgot this time," said Snake.

"You'd better get out of here," said Prue. "Leo's due here any minute. I don't think you want to be here when he shows up."

"That old guy?" questioned Snake. "He don't scare me none. I gotta admit he threw me for a loop the last time I was here. But this doesn't concern him. You guys just need to get out of this and let me and Pheebs get reacquainted."

"Snake, I," began Phoebe.

"You what?" questioned Snake, smiling at her. "Face it, Pheebs, you can't do nothing without me. You never could. You need me."

"Oh, good you're home," said Leo coming down the stairs. He looked at Snake. "What are you doing here? I thought we made it clear you weren't welcome here."

"I think that's for Pheebs to decide," said Snake smiling at Leo. "This doesn't concern you. I suggest you stay out of it."

"Maybe you'd like to explain that to me," said a voice behind Snake.

When Leo came down the stairs, Prue and Phoebe had turned to look at him. When they looked back another man was standing behind Snake. Snake turned and found himself looking in a mans chest. Slowly he looked up. The man standing behind him was at least a foot taller than he was. And his arms were bigger than both of Snakes' arms put together.

"Sorry I'm late, Pheebs," said the man, staring down at Snake. "I know we were supposed to go out this morning. I got tied up at work."

"I told Jack he could wait for you," said Leo, winking at Phoebe. "I knew you wouldn't be long."

"Oh, uh, right," said Phoebe. "Uh, thanks Leo. Err, that's okay, uh, Jack. Prue asked me to go to the store with her."

"So, Snake," said Jack, looking down into the smaller mans' face, "I think you were just leaving, weren't you? We've got plans."

"Uh, yeah, sure," said Snake backing away from Jack. "I'll catch you later, Pheebs. Count on it."

Quickly Snake hurried out of the manor and down the street.

"Thanks, Jack," said Leo, shaking the big mans' hand. "You really came through for us."

"My pleasure," said Jack. "Anything I can do for the Charmed Ones."

"Uh, Leo," said Prue, confused. "What's going on here?"

"Prue and Phoebe Halliwell," said Leo, "Meet Jackson Myers. He's one of the White Lighters who helped train me when I first became a White Lighter."

"Call me Jack," said Jack. "And it was a pleasure. I've met scum like that Snake before. I'm glad I could be of assistance."

"So, this was your plan?" questioned Phoebe. "You set me up with another White Lighter?"

"That's what Snake was supposed to think," said Jack. "Sometimes my size can be quite intimidating."

"So we saw," said Prue, smiling at Leo. "So this was what you had planned. You could have said something to us."

"I didn't want to say anything," said Leo. "I wasn't sure Jack would be available when Snake showed up again. He does have his own charges, you know?"

"Leo told me what's going on," said Jack. "Now, don't be upset with him. As a White Lighter I'm bound to confidentiality so you don't have to worry about me saying anything to anyone. He thought I might be able to help."

"What can you do?" questioned Phoebe. "You're a White Lighter. You don't even have any offensive powers. And you'll find that Snake spooks easily at first but after he's had a chance to think things through he'll be back. Probably after he's had a few drinks. He gets real brave after he's been drinking. Brave and really mean. Trust me. I've seen it first hand."

"So you know him pretty well, huh?" questioned Jack.

"I guess so," said Phoebe. "We lived together for a while. After a while I just couldn't take it any longer. So one day when he was out I packed my stuff and came back here. I thought I'd seen the last of him."

"You've never confronted him, have you?" Jack asked.

"Confronted him?" questioned Prue. "Confronted him about what?"

"About how he makes Phoebe feel," said Jack. "It's obvious he has some kind of hold over you. My guess is he's had this hold over you for some time. And you probably have little or no idea how to deal with it."

"You're right," said Phoebe. "I've never been able to put it into words before but you're absolutely right. I could never stand up to Snake. Even after the way he treated me I could never stand up to him. I was hoping that once I left New York it would all be over."

"Which, of course, it isn't," said Jack. "You haven't solved your problem. You ran away from it. Problems are never solved by avoiding them. You have to meet them head on and face them. Until you do you'll never be free of it."

"You sound like a shrink I used to know," said Prue.

"Well," said Jack smiling, "before I was a White Lighter I was a psychologist. Of course, they weren't called that back then. But I've seen my share of this type of situation."

"That's the other reason I asked Jack to help out," said Leo. "I figured his size would help put Snake off. But after what you told me about what was going on with Phoebe, I figured he might be able to help out."

"I appreciate it," said Phoebe. "But I'm not sure a psychologist is exactly what I need right now."

"I wouldn't discount it," said Jack. "I'm not here to solve your problems for you. I'm just trying to help you identify what they are. Other than Snake, of course. He's just the outward manifestation of your problem. Once we've identified what the core problem is, you can begin to deal with it. And find a way to overcome it."

"Okay, doctor," said Phoebe. "What's my problem?"

"It's very simple," said Jack. "That's the way men are supposed to treat women."

Phoebe stared at Jack a look of total disbelief on her face.