A/N. Thanks for the reviews; they made me very happy!
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Chapter 18"Come on," Phoebe muttered under her breath, tapping a manicured nail on the steering wheel of her little mini. She was, felling boiling hot, stuck in what felt like a mile long traffic jam on possibly the worst day to be in one. She desperately needed to get home quickly to save Michael Shaw, but at the moment that seemed pretty unlikely.
"Come on lady," a gruff voice from the car behind her called. Accompanying it was a loud beep.
Phoebe stuck her head out the open window and glared at the burly man behind. It was obvious neither of them were going anywhere, so what was the point in irritating people further? Phoebe moved her head back in the car and cranked up the volume on the radio, hoping to drown out the incessant car horn beeps.
"Finally!" Phoebe cried as the cars in front of her began to move.
The cars continued at a steady pace and Phoebe eventually reached her street and pulled up outside the Manor.
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Tears carried on sliding down Paige's face as she stood shakily from the edge of the bath. She deposited the test and its packaging in the bin. How could she be pregnant? She and Ryan had only been married a month. Could they handle this massive responsibility. ' There's only one way to find out,' Paige decided as she splashed her face with ice cold water. She had to tell Ryan.
Paige moved towards the door, attempting to make her face and movements as confident as possible. She stepped out of the bathroom and crashed straight into Phoebe.
"Paige!" Phoebe cried, grabbing her little sister before she fell over. "I'm sorry."
"That's okay," Paige mumbled, trying to get past Phoebe.
"Hey, are you okay?" Phoebe asked, concern evident in her voice. She gripped Paige tighter to stop her escaping and studied her face. The youngest Charmed One's skin was deathly pale and blotchy and her eyes were blood shot.
"I'm fine," Paige replied, her tone annoyed.
Phoebe decided to let the matter go. Paige clearly didn't want to talk, and they had an innocent to save. She would speak to Paige later.
"Good, where's Piper?"
"In her room." Paige shrugged off Phoebe's grasp, but didn't move.
"Let's go." Phoebe marched towards Piper's room and Paige followed. Phoebe seemed distracted and Paige figured it might be magical. Her new would just have to wait.
"Piper," Phoebe said, bursting into her older sister's room.
Piper and Leo both looked up at the middle sister, their eyes shining with pride.
"Guess what?" Piper asked. "Prue orbed," she continued without waiting for a reply.
"She did? Oh, my niece is a genius!" Phoebe exclaimed, scuttling over to Prue and lifting her from her mother's arms, the vision temporarily forgotten.
At Phoebe's words, Paige felt a little pang. Phoebe or Piper could be saying that to her daughter in the future. The fact that she was excited about having a baby surprised her. Paige had never considered herself the maternal type, but here she was, only half an hour after discovering she was pregnant and she already loved her baby more than she thought possible.
"Paige, are you all right?"
Piper's words pulled Paige from her reverie and she focused her gaze on her oldest sister. "Yeah," she replied.
Apparently unconvincingly, before Piper climbed from the bed and walked over to Paige. "Are you sure? You look a little pale." Piper put her arms around Paige's shoulders and guided her to the bed.
"Don't I always," Paige joked as she sat down. "I'm fine," she added to end the conversation. It wasn't that Paige didn't want to tell her sisters, she'd just rather tell Ryan first. And to do that she needed to deal with whatever had happened to Phoebe.
"What did you want, Phoebes?" Leo asked.
Phoebe glanced up from pulling funny faces at Prue to her brother – in – law. "Oh!" she exclaimed, the vision rushing back to her. She placed Prue in Leo's arms and explained what she saw.
"I'll check the book," Phoebe offered, when she had finished. She was the only one who could ID the female warlock, so it made sense.
"I'll look in the directory then," Piper said with a sigh. She couldn't even enjoy an afternoon with her husband and daughter without some evil threatening them or someone.
"I'll help," Paige said immediately. She knew Piper would not press the matter, whereas Phoebe would be more likely to.
The sisters went their separate ways, leaving Leo and Prue behind.
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An hour later Piper, Phoebe and Paige stood in the dingy hallway of an apartment building. A single, dim light bulb lit the hallway, and the place stunk of stale urine and mould.
Phoebe had discovered that the warlock's name was Elina, and unlike most warlocks, she killed for the sake of killing, instead of targeting witches for their powers. There was also no vanquishing spell, so presumably Elina could be killed with their individual powers. Just encase, Paige had concocted an exploding programme, the smell of which made her sick. Paige had lied to her sisters and said it was something she ate. Neither sister believed her, as Paige had been vomiting for a few days in a row, They had let it drop, and concentrated on the vanquish.
"Ready?" Piper asked. After nods from her sisters, she gave the front door a hard shove with her black boot. It swung open with a creak and Piper stuck in her hands to freeze whoever was inside. The Charmed Ones stepped through the front door.
The scene was just as in Phoebe's premonition. Michael Shaw cowered in the corner, his blue eyes wide with terror. Elina towered over him, the athame inches from her prey's stomach.
Paige glanced around the small apartment. It was a typical bachelor pad. Minimalist. Cheap chairs, sofas and furniture filled the space. An expensive looking T.V and stereo were pride of place, and posters of beautiful actresses and singers lined the walls. It amazed Paige how men could go without the essentials, yet spent half their yearly pay packet on new gadgets.
"Okay, Paige, help me restrain Elina. Phoebe get Michael out of here," Piper instructed.
All three sisters got into position; Piper and Paige holding one of Elina's arms each and Phoebe next to the warlock. Piper flicked her fingers and time unfroze.
Elina lurched forward, not knowing what had happened while she was frozen. Phoebe kicked the athame from her grasp and pulled Michael to his feet.
"Who are?.."
"Don't ask questions, just go," Phoebe interrupted.
Michael did as instructed and fled his apartment.
"Let go of me!" Elina demanded, wriggling in the sisters' grip. Piper and Paige complied, and the warlock fell forward. Instantly she spun to face the Charmed Ones. Paige flung out her arms to orb Elina into a wall, but a silvery grey mist shot from her fingertips and encased the warlock in ice. Paige stared down at her hands, felling power radiating from her.
"You've got a new power?" Phoebe asked. It was meant to be a statement, but was more of a question.
"I, uh, no," Paige admitted.
"Then what?" Piper wondered.
Paige realised there was no point in lying, so she came straight out with it. "I'm pregnant."
Piper and Phoebe let out squeals of joy and excitement and jumped on Paige, smothering her in hugs and kisses. "Congratulations," and "I'm so happy for you," could be heard from the bundle of sisters.
"Thank you," Paige said sincerely. "I would've told you sooner, but I wanted to tell Ryan first."
"Oh, don't be silly!" Phoebe gasped, as if the idea that they would be offended was preposterous.
"Yeah," Piper agreed. "We totally understand."
"So, my little niece is cyrokinetic," Phoebe said proudly.
"Yeah. Actually it was Ryan's grandfather's power."
"Aww," Piper and Phoebe cooed.
"Okay, I really can't be bothered with long vanquishes today," Piper announced, blowing up the iced warlock.
"That was easy," Paige said as she bent down to retrieve the fallen athame.
"Thank goodness," Phoebe replied, leading the way from the apartment.
Michael was hovering outside and pounced on the sisters as soon as they emerged from his home.
"What happened. Wait a minute, I know," Michael said suspiciously to Phoebe.
"Yeah, I saw you earlier at the Golden Gate Park."
"I'm remember. Is that woman gone?"
"She won't be bothering you anymore," Phoebe confirmed.
Michael's face flooded with relief. " Thank you so much."
"No problem," Paige said simply and the Charmed Ones strolled from the building.