SEVEN

Wellington was gone for several hours. Paige tried the door but found it securely locked. She considered trying to orb out of the room. But the collar around her neck made her think better of it. She didn't know why but she was completely convinced that Wellington had been telling the truth about it being a bomb. And if she orbed out of the room she might not live long enough to complete that orb.

She also noticed a video camera in one corner of the room at the ceiling. It moved with her whenever she moved about the small room. They were obviously keeping a very close watch on her. There was no place in the room she could move that the video camera couldn't see her. Finally, after several hours, Wellington came back into the room.

"I trust you've thought over my proposal," said Wellington, sitting in a chair next to Paige.

"Proposal?" Paige questioned. "More like an ultimatum."

"Well, let's see," Wellington said, looking in a file folder he was carrying. "We've learned a bit more about you since our last visit. You're a Charmed One, half White Lighter, which is very interesting since we didn't even know about White Lighters before this. Your powers seem to be related to something called orbing. And as I understand it, you and your sisters recently killed someone called the Source of all Evil. Vanquishing I believe the term is."

"You seem to know quite a bit about me and my sisters," said Paige.

"Yes, well your friend, Inspector Morris, was quite helpful in that respect," said Wellington.

"You're lying," said Paige. "Darryl would never betray a friend like that."

"Oh, you'd be surprised what most people will do when given the right motivation," said Wellington. "Everyone has their price. It's just a matter of finding what that price is."

"I still think you're lying," said Paige.

"That's your right," said Wellington. "But since you haven't bothered to deny anything I've said I'll just assume that the information is correct."

"Okay, fine," said Paige. "Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that you are right. That everything you've said is true. It seems to me you don't really need my sisters or me. You have ways of getting the information you need."

"Only some of it," said Wellington. "There's other information only you can provide. Like that Book of Shadows. Inspector Morris said it somehow protects itself but he didn't know how. Is that why no one can seem to touch it?"

"It only protects itself from evil," said Paige. "So if you can't touch it that means you must be evil."

"No one is evil," said Wellington. "We're simply doing our job to protect the American people."

"By sacrificing whomever it takes to do that job, right?" Paige asked.

"You listen to me," said Wellington, suddenly becoming very agitated, "less than six weeks ago this country was viciously attacked. Two of the tallest buildings in the world were completely destroyed. The Pentagon was attacked and a good portion of it was totally demolished. A plane crashed in Pennsylvania totally obliterating it. More than three thousand people died because the people behind those attacks were too cowardly to face us openly.

"We are in a war, Ms. Matthews. Do you honestly think all of that could happen without demonic intervention? That a plane could violate the airspace over the Pentagon – one of the most secure buildings in the world – and crash into it without being stopped? That a second plane could crash into the World Trade Center Towers less than an hour after the first one did? Do you think any of that would be possible if it was only humans behind it?"

"You're saying the attacks were demonically related?" Paige asked.

"That's what our intelligence tells us," said Wellington, becoming calmer. "Oh, the people who actually pulled it off were quite human. But it was orchestrated by demons. And many of the terrorist attacks being carried out in the world today are orchestrated by demons. So we have to use every weapon at our disposal."

"Before I make any decisions," said Paige, "I want to see my sisters. And Leo."

"I can arrange that," said Wellington. "But I'm afraid there will have to be a minor adjustment."

"What kind of adjustment?" Paige asked as a man in a white lab coat entered the room.

"Well, the collar you're wearing," said Wellington. "As I said, if you move farther than ten feet from this room, it will detonate. So we have to do something about your powers."

Paige watched as the man in the lab coat removed a syringe and a small bottle of what looked like medicine. He inserted the syringe into the bottle and withdrew a small amount of the fluid. He turned to face Paige.

"The injection won't harm you," said Wellington. "It's a special drug that will inhibit certain portions of your brain. The only noticeable affect you will have is that you won't have access to your powers. I'm afraid it's a necessary requirement if you are to leave this room."

"That's all it will do?" Paige asked.

"You have my word," said the man in the lab coat. "We've been able to determine that utilizing your powers requires that you access a specific area of the brain. This drug simply inhibits that specific area of the brain that allows you access to your powers. As long as you have an injection every twenty four hours it will simply render you powerless."

"Okay," said Paige. "Anything to get this damned collar off."

The man injected Paige with the drug. He told Wellington it would take affect within thirty minutes when the drug hit her bloodstream and they'd be able to remove the collar after that.

Wellington waited an hour before removing the collar. He explained that he wanted to be sure the drug was firmly in Paige's bloodstream before he risked removing the collar. Paige was glad to get the collar off. After the collar was removed, Wellington escorted her to what he called the cafetorium so she could speak with Piper and Phoebe.

"I'm afraid I do have some unpleasant news, however," said Wellington. "It regards your brother-in-law, Leo Wyatt."

"What?" Paige asked with a sense of foreboding. "What have you done to him?"

'We didn't do anything," said Wellington. "But I'm afraid Mr. Wyatt chose not to heed my warning about leaving his room. A short time ago he chose to orb out of his room. I don't know where he was going but I can guarantee you that he never arrived. The second he was more than ten feet from the room the collar he was wearing would have detonated. He'd be dead before he knew it."

Paige just stared at Willington in shocked disbelief.