Author's Note (June 24, 2016): Up a little early as I have to be at work early in the morning.

Illustration Dog: While a good theory, no that is not the case here. How Buffy has her powers and Patty's memories, and how Dawn is a witch also, will be explained in Chapter 3: Enter the Demon.

Chrisv002: I have part 3 of Still Charmed and Kicking, for Charming the Slayer, half-way done. Hopefully I get it finished and uploaded soon.

Chapter 3: Hell Hath No Fury Part 1

October 11, 2001 – Thursday

Streets of San Francisco

Piper, Buffy, and Phoebe sat in the car as Cole sped down the road. Piper was in the passenger seat, and Buffy and Phoebe were in the backseat. Since Buffy and Dawn had moved into the Manor, Buffy had gotten Dawn enrolled in school and except in extreme circumstances she didn't pull Dawn out to help with demons, vampires or anything. It was back for Dawn to school, then homework before dinner and then possibly patrolling after dinner before bedtime.

The car screeched around the corner as Piper gave Cole directions. "Okay, turn left up here. And can you step on the gas a little?"

Cole screeched around the corner and nearly hit a taxi. Phoebe let out a yelp as the taxi driver honked his horn.

"Cole!" Buffy tensed as her hands gripped the Cole's seat for dear life. Sure she had ridden in cars before but nothing like how Cole was driving.

"Off the gas!" Phoebe hurriedly patted him on the shoulder, "Off the gas!"

Cole scowled. "Does somebody else want to drive here?"

"Don't look at me. I never got my license. Mom had always been worried I would wind up in a ditch someplace." Buffy said. "Now that could all change of course as I get more of Patty's memories, in particular those of driving."

"Guys..." Piper turned to the backseat momentarily, "The demon is not waiting around for us to come and vanquish him."

"Okay, Piper..." Buffy tensed again as Cole narrowly missed another car, "We don't even know what we're dealing with right now. We have no idea if you and Phoebe even have enough power to vanquish him without Paige here."

Phoebe nodded, "Scrying for random evil tells us nothing."

"It tells us where the demons are and since we vanquished two already this week, I say it's working pretty well." Piper replied.

"Yeah, thanks to Cole for saving our butts." Buffy scoffed, "Three witches, sometimes four and I remind you Dawn is still in training, and a demon does not the Power of Three make."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Piper asked with a glare at Buffy. She and Phoebe had yet to come to terms with how they felt about Buffy, if they felt anything at all. "Sit around and wait for them to pick us all off? If we weren't going after them, they'd be coming after us."

"They're coming after you anyway, Piper." Cole shook his head. "The Source is coming after you."

"We should be following Buffy's example with Dawn and we should be spending our time training and teaching Paige so she knows how to use her powers." Phoebe nodded. "You know, so we don't get killed. But instead of that we're out hunting for every Tom, Dick and Beelzebub in San Francisco."

"Speaking of…" Buffy motioned. "Do we have any kind of plan here or…?"

Piper cut Buffy off. "The plan is to vanquish the demon."

"Great." Cole rolled his eyes. "Any chance you've mastered your powers or are you still freezing and exploding at random?"

"Random," Piper answered him with a glare while Phoebe hit Cole lightly on the shoulder. "But you know what they say, there's nothing like field practice. Turn here!" Cole screeched around another corner and drove down an alley, "Stop!" He slammed on the breaks as a bald demon was in the middle of strangling a man and the four of them got out of the car, "Hey! Big scary demon!"

The demon turned around, allowing the man to escape from his grip and run away. The demon's eyes glowed bright red in anger directly aimed at Piper. She lifted her hands and used her power on him. The demon's face turned red as his entire body bloated up.

"He's going to blow!" Cole shouted. He, Buffy and Phoebe quickly jumped back into the car and shut the doors. The demon exploded and green goo splattered on the front windshield. Cole turned on the windshield wipers as Piper walked over to the car and opened the passenger door.

Piper grinned as she hopped back into the car and sat down. "Next!"

Buffy shook her head at Piper as Phoebe and Cole shared the same look with one another. They a

South Bay Social Services

Paige was at her desk quietly reading a Witches and Witchcraft book. The page read:

'Throughout history, witches have been misunderstood, persecuted and destroyed. The public hanging, drowning, and burning of women suspected of witchcraft is a far more recent chapter of our history then most people realize.'

"Paige."

At the sound of Mr. Cowan's voice, Paige quickly put down the book and picked up a folder, "Yeah?"

"What's the hold up on the O'Brien application?"

"Well, at the moment, the only hold up is my boss, who's standing over me distracting me from my work." She smiled awkwardly at him.

"Nice teeth." He sighed and walked back to his office, "Have it on my desk by noon."

"Lila!" After he was out of earshot, Paige hurriedly whispered to an employee standing across the room, "What's the O'Brien application?"

"Adam O'Brien, the foster kid we're trying to get into the boarding school?"

Paige went stiff, "Oh my God."

"The scholarship application is due, like, today."

Paige groaned, "I am so lame." Billy, a young guy with bad acne, pushed the mail cart in front of Paige's desk before setting her mail down in front of her, "Aw, Billy, I thought I told you to throw anything from creditors in the trash."

He smiled shyly as another man, Donnie, approached them cockily.

"Hi, Pizza-face. Look, I understand how difficult it is to tear yourself away from the cleavage in this section." He smirked at Paige who grimaced back in disgust, "But I'm gonna need my mail sometime today. Okay?"

Billy frowned but nodded, "No problem."

"Go, go."

Billy hurriedly walked away as Donnie gave Paige a sleazy look and walked across the room.

She scoffed, "Nice rug."

Donnie's toupee then orbed off his head and into Paige's hand, revealing his bald spot.

He gasped at the sudden loss, "What the hell?"

Donnie hurriedly looked around to see where it fell. Paige, shocked at her accidental use of her powers, dropped the toupee in a trash can. Employees laughed and giggled at Donnie as he covered his head with a sheet of paper and hurried away. Paige quickly left her desk.

Halliwell Manor

Piper, Buffy, Phoebe, Cole and Dawn, who had just arrived home from school, were all gathered in the attic. Piper crossed out their latest demon, the Kevmay, with a sharpie as both Buffy and Phoebe grimaced.

"Oh, I know that you're happy that we got him Piper, but is it entirely necessary to disfigure the book?" Phoebe asked.

"I have to agree," Buffy added.

"Hmm, this one could incinerate human flesh with his eyes." Piper ignored Buffy and Phoebe as she read about the demon. "That must sting."

"You think that's funny?" Cole scoffed as he walked over to Piper with an angry glare and towered over her. "You could have gotten yourself killed. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, Cole." Piper's eyes pierced his with her own pain. "I understand killed very well."

"Then why would you want to keep risking your life and Phoebe's and Buffy's and sometimes Dawn's, not to mention mine? There's a legion of Bounty Hunters on my ass. I'm supposed to be laying low but instead, I'm out protecting you guys."

"And I'm still learning." Dawn added.

"You know what, Cole? Dawn?" Piper never wavered from Cole's angry glare. "Next time, you both can stay home."

"If you insist on taking these suicide missions, you force me to be there." Cole continued as the doorbell rang, "There's no way in hell I'm about to let Phoebe lose another sister. Or a mother she just got back."

"The same goes for me, Piper," Dawn said. "I am not going to lose my sister again. So when I can I am going to be at her side to help her come home." Buffy smiled at her with obvious pride.

"Okay, I think we all just need to separate and take a deep breath." Phoebe intervened as she stepped between them and shuffled Cole back. She touched his shoulder gently. "Why don't you go see who's at the door for us, okay?"

"Sure. If it's the Source, I'll just ask him to come back later." Cole turned from Piper to Buffy and Phoebe pointedly. "We need to talk."

When he left the attic, Phoebe sighed. "Piper, Cole's right. We have a system for fighting demons and it's worked pretty well for the last three years."

Piper's scowl returned. "Prue being killed counts as a pretty big glitch in the system."

Buffy shook her head and looked at Dawn. "Piper…"

"We all know that you're angry, Piper." Phoebe stepped in with an apologetic look at Buffy for interrupting. "I don't know about Buffy and Dawn but I'm angry too—"

"Then w—why are you three fighting me on this?" Piper said. "What—what's the problem with getting a little proactive?"

"Because you're not ready to get proactive." Buffy said. "That's what's wrong with it. You're barely ready for anything right now."

"Just dealing with our everyday normal lives is hard enough," Phoebe added.

"That is precisely the point. The faster we get rid of these demons, the faster all of us can get back to our everyday normal lives or at least what is left of them." Piper said.

"Knock, knock." The attic door opened before Paige walked in. "I uh..." She faltered at Piper's slightly annoyed look but cleared her throat. "I'm sorry to just drop by without calling."

"Uh, it's okay." Phoebe gave Piper a worried look but managed to smile at Paige. "Don't worry about it."

"I don't know exactly why I'm here," Paige admitted. "I'm just kind of having a hard time being surrounded by people and..."

"And not being able to tell them that you can move things with your mind?" Dawn asked. "I can relate."

Paige chuckled. "It does not exactly roll off the tongue."

"Yeah..." Phoebe nodded with a smile. "Well, being a witch is tough on friendships. That's why the whole sister thing comes in so handy."

"Piper, we're not done." Buffy sighed in irritation as she watched Piper pick up a map, a crystal and head towards the door. "What are you doing?"

"Um, it's a little chatty up here, so I'm going to go scry for evil in my room." Piper said.

Dawn frowned. "Scry?" she asked looking at Buffy.

"Yeah, uh..." Piper motioned to her sister as she headed for the door, "Phoebe will explain." She looked at Paige. "I'll see you later."

"Think of it as being like one of Willow's locator spells," Buffy explained. "But instead of following a glowing light to your destination you scry using a crystal and a map. Scrying can be much faster and easier as it pinpoints what your looking for before you leave."

"Well, why don't you use that big book? I mean..." Paige walked over to the book curiously. "It is a book of spells, right?"

"Oh, it's a lot more than that. It's kind of hard to explain," Buffy said.

"I probably should be getting started on my homework," Dawn said as she walked toward the door. "Buffy, if you need me…"

"I'll give you a holler, promise," Buffy said as she smiled at her sister.

"See you later, Paige," Dawn said as she headed downstairs.

"Bye, Dawn," Paige called after the teen before running a hand over the book. "It looks so old."

"Yeah." Phoebe nodded. "It has survived a lot. Fortunately, it protects itself from evil."

"It protects itself. How?" Paige asked.

Buffy smiled. "Magic."

Paige motioned toward the book. "May I?"

"Yeah. I mean technically it's yours too." Phoebe sighed as she too made her way to the door. "I would walk you through it right now, but I have to go talk to Cole."

"Ditto it seems." Buffy said as she followed Phoebe.

"Well, maybe I can just take it back to my office." Paige suggested.

"Oh, no, no, no." Phoebe chuckled a little tensely. "It doesn't leave the house. But just feel free to thumb through it and then Buffy or I'll be back in a few minutes."

When Phoebe and Buffy left the attic, Paige flipped through the Book and stopped at an 'Instant Karma' Spell. She pursed her lips as she read through the page, "This could solve a lot of problems." She got out some Post-its and a pen and started writing down the spell.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Phoebe, Buffy and Cole stood waiting for Leo, the latter becoming more and more irritated. They had discussed the situation about Piper and agreed that they needed help with her.

"What? What is it?" Leo asked when he orbed in. He looked between them hurriedly. "What's wrong?"

"You've got to talk to your wife," Cole said.

"Okay, Cole..." Phoebe tried to reign him in. "Remember what Buffy and I said about being gentle?"

Leo glared, "What about my wife?"

"She's out of control," Cole answered.

"Cole!" Phoebe and Buffy admonished him simultaneously.

Leo scoffed. "What?"

"It's just..." Buffy stepped forward and took over. "We're very worried about her. I mean, even Dawn is."

"What happened?" Leo asked.

Phoebe sighed. "She's very, very angry."

Leo nodded. "Well, of course she's angry. She's grieving."

"Right, and if she were punching walls, I would happily call a repairman, but…" Phoebe said.

Cole cut in, "The problem is she prefers to punch demons."

"Well..." Leo sighed worriedly. "I'll talk to her."

"She has no regard for her life or anyone else's." Cole said as he moved closer to Leo with a deeper glare. "She's Charles Bronson, cubed.

Leo nodded getting Cole's reference. "I said I'd talk to her."

"Guys, guys." Phoebe stood in between the two to diffuse the tension but frowned, "Who is Charles Bronson?" Leo and Cole both gave her a look to which she waved off. "Just, never mind."

Leo sighed as he looked up the stairs, "Dawn's calling." His eyes moved between Phoebe, Buffy and Cole. "I'm assuming for the same reason as you three."

"Probably," Buffy agreed. She moved over to the stairs and called up. "Dawn, your supposed to be doing homework, not calling for Leo."

"It's alright, Buffy. You and Dawn are my charges also," Leo said as he headed for the stairs. "I'll check and see what she says before I go talk to Piper."

Phoebe sighed as she watched Leo head up the stairs. She looked toward her boyfriend. "Can Buffy and I have just have a minute alone?"

Cole nodded. "Sure."

"Thank you." Phoebe said as Cole left the room. She and Buffy walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. "I don't know how to deal with this," she sighed. "She's completely dismissive of Paige. She's dismissive of you and Dawn. Not that I blame her on you or Dawn. I kind of am to a degree also. But that's simply because neither Piper or I have found out yet where you and Dawn fit in our hearts."

"I know," Buffy said as she smiled at Phoebe. "Strange isn't it? Now on top of everything else, you have to play the middle sister when you've always been the, uh…"

"Screw up?" Phoebe suggested as Buffy laughed.

"The youngest." Buffy finished.

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah. I look at Paige and Piper and it makes me think back to all those times that Piper had to play mediator between me and Prue."

"Not a lot of fun, huh?" Buffy asked. While she and Dawn had no other siblings. She remembered being mediator between their mom and Dawn, especially when Dawn had cut her arm and questioned her own mortality after finding out about the Key.

Phoebe nodded. "It's not a job I would have asked for. And I'm not sure it's a job I'm going to be any good at…"

"No one said you had to be good at it, Phoebe," Buffy offered. "Just be you, and the rest will come naturally."

Phoebe smiled. "Thanks," she said as she hugged Buffy.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Dawn sat on her bed doing her homework as Leo walked through the door. "You wanted to see me," he said.

"Hey," Dawn said as she sat her notebook aside. "You know it would be easier to do this on a desk. You think I could get one in here?"

"I'll see what I can do," Leo said. "But that's not what you wanted to see me about."

"No," Dawn sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about…"

"Piper?" He let out a worried breath. "Yeah, I just talked to Phoebe, Buffy and Cole."

"I'm just worried about her, Leo." Dawn nodded after a deep sigh.

"I kind of figured with how protective you are with Buffy," Leo admitted as he sat on the bed next to her. "That you were kind of a natural empath."

"I don't blame her of course," Dawn said. "But Piper is dismissive of Paige, me and Buffy. Of course she's more dismissive of me and Paige than Buffy. At least with Buffy she sees her as an ally because of the Slayer half of my sister. But still with the fact all three of us are new to this family, both Phoebe and Piper have yet…"

"To find a place for you all in their hearts," Leo said.

Dawn nodded. "Yeah. On top of that. Even though I have only known Piper for about a week, even I have seen that she's acting nothing like herself. She's like, obsessed with demon hunting right now. And not in a good way. In a very, very angry and dangerous way. I'm kind of at a loss, Leo. I'm…"

"Stuck on the outside looking in, wanting to help but not knowing how, like you did with Buffy," Leo said as Dawn looked at him in surprise. "When you and Buffy were made my charges. I was filled in by the Elders on everything that happened in Sunnydale with the two of you. I know about the Key and I know that Buffy died. I'm not going to tell Piper or Phoebe as I believe you and Buffy should do that when you are both ready."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Paige now had Post-its stuck all over the Book Of Shadows. When she ran out she frowned and looked around for another pad of sorts. Instead, an idea popped into her head. Closing the book she carried it over to the open window.

"Okay, Book." She dropped the book out and watched as it landed in the grass. "Protect yourself."

"Paige!" Phoebe's voice sounded from downstairs, "Buffy and I'll be right up!"

Before they could come up, Paige hurried to the door. She came around the corner nearly bumping into Buffy and Phoebe who was already near the top.

"Whoa!" Buffy giggled "Where's the fire?"

"Uh, you know, work," Paige said as Phoebe and Buffy followed her as they walked back downstairs. They were joined on the second floor by Dawn. "Lunch break's over. Got to go."

"Well..." Phoebe frowned, "We didn't even get to talk."

"Uh, yeah, it's alright. Don't worry."

"Will you come by later?" Dawn asked.

"Sure. Yeah. Absolutely." She waved to Dawn, Buffy and Phoebe as she hurried out the door. "Bye!

Buffy, Dawn and Phoebe looked from her retreating form and then back up the stairs suspiciously. "Bye..." they called after her.

"Am I the only one…" Dawn started.

"No," Buffy and Phoebe said simultaneously.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Look, honey..." Leo sighed as he watched Piper scry for evil on their bed. "It isn't just that it's dangerous."

"Leo, Whitelighters are supposed to guide. Not judge." She dropped the crystal irritated as her voice rose with anger. "Just because I'm doing things a little bit differently doesn't mean that there is a problem."

"Piper, I'm your husband, not just you're Whitelighter. When you speak to me like that, there is a problem. I can't help you unless you talk to me."

"It hurts to talk, Leo. It hurts to breathe. So unless you have some idea of how to bring Prue back, I don't want to talk right now."

"Is that what you don't want to say?" Guilt and sadness filled Leo's face and voice, "Is that you still blame me for not being able to bring her back?" He then looked in the direction of where he sensed Buffy. "Or do you blame Buffy because she was reincarnated and came back to you and when Prue was reincarnated she didn't come back?"

"No, Leo. I don't blame you or Buffy. Or even Prue," Piper said. "I blame evil. Why—why do you think I'm doing all this? For kicks?"

"Honestly, I think you're doing it because it's easier than confronting what you're really feeling," Leo said.

Without acknowledging his statement Piper started to scry again and the crystal pointed to an area on the map, "Demon."

"What?"

"I have work to do." Slipping past him she walked out of their room, "Cole, Phoebe, Buffy, Dawn! Let's go!"

South Bay Social Services

Paige was in the copy room trying to copy the pages of Book of Shadows, but everything was printing out blank.

Donnie walked in and blatantly checked out Paige's butt as he fixed his toupee. "Nothing like a copy room with a view." He poured himself some coffee as Paige sent him a glare and straightened up and as Billy walked in. "Hey Clearasil, what's popping?" He laughed as he left the room.

"Don't worry about him, Billy." Paige shook her head/ "He's a jerk to everybody."

"Yeah, I know. That's why his mail gets lost... frequently."

Paige smiled as she turned back to the copy machine. "Is there something wrong with this copier?"

"The copier? I don't think so. I just ran off a whole bunch."

She frowned. "Everything keeps coming up blank."

He walked closer to her to get a better look. "Are you trying to copy a book?"

"Nah." She pushed the lid of the copier down as she tried to hide it from his view. "It's nothing. It's cool."

"Well, if you need me to do it for you..." He shrugged and sent her a shy smile. "Just say the word."

"Thanks. You're sweet."

He smiled shyly again as he blushed and poured himself some coffee. Studying him for a second, Paige bit her lip and turned over the Book of Shadows to read a Vanishing Spell. "'Let the object of objection become but a dream, as I cause the seen to be unseen.'" Billy groaned as a magical light surrounded his face, "You okay, Billy?"

"Yeah. I just, uh..." He turned around to face Paige and she gaped in pleasant shock when she saw his acne cleared up to reveal quite a cute face. "Got a little head rush."

"Oh my God, it worked." She whispered to herself as she closed the Book, picked it up, and walked over to Billy. "Oh my god."

"Paige, is, uh..." He shifted and blushed under her amazed stare. "Is everything okay?"

She kissed him on the cheek before leaving, making him grin. "It will be from now on."

Streets of San Francisco

"Piper, Cole, Buffy, Dawn and I do not support you in this," Phoebe said as she, Cole, Piper, Buffy and Dawn hurried down the alley. "If you insist on doing it, you are going in alone."

"Okay," Piper answered, the ultimatum not phasing her the slightest. "I'll see you at home."

Phoebe turned to Buffy with a scowl. "I told you that wouldn't work."

Buffy shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

"Wait a minute..." Dawn stopped them from walking further. "Do you smell smoke?"

Piper pointed to a large wooden door where smoke was rising out from under it. "It's in there."

"What is that? What is it?!" A man's panicked voice could be heard from inside. "Stop! Stop!" Cole walked over to the door as the man continued yelling. "Who is th—What are you?!"

"Get back, I'll blow it up." Piper commanded. "Go on."

Cole backed away from the door but when Piper used her power, instead of blowing the door up, she froze Cole and the smoke.

"Uh, Piper…" Phoebe said.

"Yeah, yeah. Crap. Okay." Piper said as she took off her coat and threw it on the ground. She wiggled her arms to relax herself before using her power again. This time the door blew up, but the blast sent Cole flying across the alley and landing on a car before falling off onto the ground.

Phoebe gasped as she ran to his side. "Piper!"

"What?" Piper turned her satisfied smile into an apologetic grimace when she saw Cole. "Oh."

A man then bolted outside, knocking Piper over in his hurried escape. Three demon women ran out after him as Piper stood and Phoebe helped Cole up. They had three long talons as hands and dark tribal tattoos on their faces and arms.

"Piper!" Buffy yelled as she saw Piper was ready to use her power. "Let them go!"

Instead of listening Piper used her power and missed. Instead of hitting them she blew up a car directly in front of them, stopping their chase.

"Buffy?" Dawn asked worriedly.

Angrily they turned to face her. Her eyes widened, "Uh-oh." She raised her hands and tried to freeze them but, once again, only froze Cole, "They're- they're immune to my powers."

Phoebe readied herself for the fight that was about to come, "Unfortunately, Cole isn't!"

"Phoebe get Piper's keys from Cole and give them to Dawn," Buffy ordered as Phoebe nodded. She looked at her sister. "Go back to the car, start the engine. Okay? We'll be right behind you."

Dawn nodded as she took the keys from Phoebe and headed back down the alley.

A fury attacked Piper but she dodged its hits as the other two went for Buffy and Phoebe. Piper picked up a trash can lid and the fury slashed a hole in it with its talons. In tandem Buffy and Phoebe kicked their furies, knocking them to the ground.

"Piper, unfreeze Cole," Buffy called out.

Piper dodged another attack. "What if I blow him up?"

"You won't! Just do it!" Buffy ordered.

Cole unfroze just as a fury knocked down Piper and blew smoke into her mouth making her cough.

Worry sliced through Buffy and Phoebe. "Cole!" they shouted.

Cole threw an energy ball at the fury and she was quickly engulfed in flames. The other two furies growled at him before disappearing together in a puff of smoke as Piper continued to cough.

Halliwell Manor

Piper walked through the front door of the manor and tossed her jacket to the side, "I'm going to take out those chain-smokin' bitches if it's the last thing I do."

Cole followed closely behind Buffy, Dawn and Phoebe. "It might be the last thing you do," he said as he shut the door.

"That's very supportive, Cole. Who's side are you on?" Piper asked.

"At the moment, I'm on Phoebe's side." Cole replied.

"Well, the last time I checked..." Piper coughed. "Phoebe is still my sister so, technically, that puts her on my side. Why are we arguing?

"We're not arguing. We're discussing, Piper," Buffy corrected. "You are arguing." She motioned as Piper had another coughing fit, "And look, you're already hurt."

Piper took out a water bottle from the fridge and sipped it. "I'm fine."

"Piper," Dawn crossed her arms as Piper had yet another coughing fit, "I don't even know what the hell happened since you guys were supposed to be right behind me when I ran back to start the car. But even I know that you're not fine. You can't stop coughing."

"And your control of your powers seems to be getting worse, not better," Cole added.

"Okay, well..." Phoebe sighed as they all walked out of the kitchen, "Our powers are tied to our emotions, so it would make sense that they would be a little off right now."

"All the more reason to lay low. These demons are dangerous," Cole said.

"All the more reason to vanquish them, okay?" Piper interjected. "That is what we do. Eliminate evil."

"Regardless of the consequences." Cole scoffed as they all stopped at the stairs. "Now you sound like Prue."

Dawn wrapped an arm around her sister in comfort. She knew the only thing worse for her sister than the fact Buffy had not got Patty's memories back till after Prue died, was the reminder that Buffy had not gotten those memories back till after Prue had died.

Cole noticed the look on Buffy's face as he leaned over and whispered, "Sorry."

Buffy nodded as she smiled at Cole in appreciation for the apology.

"Okay, Cole." Piper whirled on him. "I'm going to vanquish the cancer girls with or without your help. So either tell me what you know or get out of the way."

Cole looked between Dawn, Buddy and Phoebe all of whom shrugged their shoulders and rolled his eyes. "They're called Furies."

"Like from mythology?" Dawn asked.

"The dog-faced women from hell?" Phoebe added.

"They're modern knockoffs." Buffy shrugged, "Their M.O. is the same, though."

"How do you know that?" Dawn asked her sister.

"Came across them once," Buffy said. "It was after Faith accidentally stabbed Finch, around the time she sided with the Mayor. We were at the docks and they attacked. When I told Giles about them afterwards, he told me what they were and told me not to go looking for them."

"Okay..." Piper nodded. "So they punish evildoers?"

Cole nodded. "Exactly."

"Wait." Phoebe frowned. "Wouldn't that make them good?"

Cole shook his head. "Well, these furies are no temptress. They'll go after a shoplifter as soon as a murderer and they take great pleasure in the kill."

"Great." Piper grinned before turning to go up the stairs. "Then we'll take great pleasure in the vanquish."

Dawn sighed deeply before sharing a look with Buffy and Phoebe. She and Buffy followed Piper up the stairs. Phoebe, however, stood in front of Cole so he couldn't follow.

"What aren't you and Buffy telling us?" Phoebe asked as Cole sighed.

"This Faith apparently got off easy," Cole said as he motioned toward the stairs to indicate Buffy and Dawn.

"What do you mean?"

"They go after evil doers," he gently reminded her.

Phoebe nodded in realization. "Have they attacked you before, Cole?"

Cole nodded. "When they focus their thoughts on you, they force you to hear the cries of all your former victims."

Phoebe gingerly touched his face. "You're not the demon who did those things anymore."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy stood wide-eyed as Piper let out a scream at what they and Dawn saw. Or rather what they didn't see, the Book of Shadows. It was missing.

Phoebe and Cole burst into the attic and immediately looked around for the demon who was attacking. Instead they found Piper, Buffy and Dawn standing in front of the book stand staring at it.

"Evil got the Book of Shadows," Piper squeaked. "How did evil get the Book of Shadows?!"

Phoebe paled as her hands instinctively went to cover her face. "Oh, no."

"Uh, 'Oh, no', Phoebe?" Piper turned and waved her hands around erratically. "A demon has the Book of Shadows!" She ran a hand through her hair. "Oh no doesn't quite cover it."

"Let me go see what I can find out." Cole said.

"No, wait." Phoebe stopped him when he turned to leave before hesitantly turning back Piper, Buffy and Dawn. "Okay, now, i need both of you to promise me you aren't going to over react."

"Is that even possible?" Piper asked.

"I think you know where it is…" Phoebe said as she looked at Buffy who reluctantly nodded having spotted the open window. "I think that, uh, maybe..." She cleared her throat as she nervously looked at Piper. "Well, it—it might be feasible that, uh, Paige borrowed the book."

"Why would you even think that?!" Piper said as her voice rose.

"See?" Phoebe's finger motioned at Piper. "Now this is what I meant about overreacting. It's just that—"

"You let Paige take the Book of Shadows out of the Manor?" Cole asked.

"No," Buffy huffed, "Phoebe and I didn't let her." She tried to explain hurriedly but was met with an irritated look from Piper. "When she left she wasn't carrying the Book, and of course a tome that large would have been hard to hide under her blouse. I believe…" she cleared her throat as she motioned to the open window behind Piper, "…that she…"

Piper gaped even more. "Out of the window?"

"Piper, I don't…" Phoebe said.

"Phoebe, why would you even leave her alone with it?" Piper said. "No offense to Buffy or Dawn but I don't even leave them alone with it."

"Piper Penelope Halliwell!" Buffy admonished.

"Well, because she's our sister," Phoebe said. "While I will agree it's too soon to call Buffy, mom. She and Dawn are still family also. They do after all carry Warren blood just as you and I do."

Piper laughed angrily. "Paige isn't family for long!" She stormed out of the attic with Buffy and Dawn following behind. Phoebe frowned and hurriedly followed, but Cole pulled up a chair and sat down.

Phoebe ran back in. "Are you coming?"

"To vanquish your sister?" Cole shook his head in dismissal. "I think I'll sit this one out."

With a roll of her eyes, Phoebe ran back out and left Cole sitting there twiddling his thumbs.

South Bay Social Services

Lila was studying Billy's face, "It's unbelievable."

"Maybe it was the light from the copy machine," Billy suggested.

"God, this day is amazing" Lila gaped as they started to walk through the office with Billy pushing the mail cart. "I mean, you went and got cute—"

Billy smirked. "You think?"

"Totally. And then my car loan comes through, like, out of nowhere." They passed Paige's desk as she was on the phone smiling at them. "My credit is worse than Paige's. You know, I still can't believe all of this."

"It's amazing."

Paige continued her own conversation as the two of them walked out of the room. "Sir, I am taking full responsibility for being late with the application. I'm simply asking for a deadline extension."

"Well, I can't give you a deadline extension."

"Well I'm asking that you not punish Adam O'Brien who's already had a tough enough life for my mistake." She paused as she listened. "Sir, all I'm saying is..." Looking down she started to read off of the Book of Shadows that was resting in her lap, "'These words will travel through the minds of stubborn parties and unbind, the thoughts too rigid to be kind, a compromise they'll disentwine.'"

The man's tone immediately changed. "How does six o'clock on Friday sound?"

Paige grinned. "Six o'clock Friday is perfect. Thank you so much." She hung up happily just as Lila and Billy circled back around. "Victory!"

Lila's eyes widened. "You got the extension?"

"Yeah!"

"Unbelievable." Lila hurried over to Paige. "You're into all that witchy stuff, right?"

Paige's smile was immediately wiped off her face. "Excuse me?"

"Well, I'm just thinking there must be something in the stars today. I mean, Billy's face, my car, now this. Is there a full moon or something?" Lila said.

"I don't know, but whatever it is..." Paige nervously smiled. "I'm going to call my student loan sharks and take full advantage of it.

"Ooh, good! Me too!"

Paige chuckled as Lila walked away. Immediately a disgusted frown was on her face as Donnie came up to stand behind her. "You know, Paige?" He leaned over to talk closely in her ear. "As a lawyer, I can get those nasty creditors off your back so easily. And if you can't afford to pay me, we could always just take it out in trade."

Paige stiffened. "Or I could just sue your ass for sexual harassment and pay you with my big fat punitive settlement."

"The way you dress..." His eyes raked her body. "The judge would admire my restraint."

She scoffed angrily as he walked away. "That's it." Looking back down to the Book she flipped through it until she found the 'Instant Karma Spell' and smirked, "Perfect. I'll just change demon to dirtbag."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy, Dawn, Piper and Phoebe hurried out of the car and walked towards Paige's building.

Piper glared. "I don't understand how someone can be that stupid."

"I don't understand why you haven't stopped ranting since we left the house." Phoebe said.

Buffy and Dawn looked at each shaking their heads. "We're we like that?" Dawn asked.

"You're right. You're right." Piper took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

Buffy smiled at Dawn and nodded. "At times, yes. You would get on my nerves at times and I would get on yours. That didn't start to change till…" Dawn nodded in understand, till Buffy had died. She looked at Piper. "Paige simply made a mistake, Piper."

"A mistake?" Piper scoffed. "She stole from Phoebe and I."

"She borrowed," Phoebe corrected hurriedly. "Borrowed."

"She- she-" Piper's anger boiled to the top all over again, but it came out as a stiff laugh. "She threw our family heritage out of the window!"

"Well, that's because we never took the time to explain its significance. It was just a book to her." Phoebe said.

"Okay it is not just a book. It's like, it—it—it is like a part of our family." Piper said as she coughed.

"Paige is not a killer," Phoebe said as she placed an arm around her older sister. "She didn't kill anyone. And she's not a demon that we're on our way to vanquish."

Piper brushed Phoebe's arm off. "I get that Phoebe."

"Do you? Because I don't think that you do," Phoebe said.

Buffy frowned as Piper coughed even harder, "You alright, sweetie?"

Piper looked at Buffy, she still wasn't used to the fact that her mother was in the body of a twenty-one-year-old woman. Which made the fact that Buffy had just called her sweetie a tad bit weird.

"Hey!" They were interrupted by Donnie running out of the building with a crowd of women following him, "Hey!" He panicked as they all surrounded him. "Get away from me! It's not funny!"

"Um..." Dawn's eyes widened as she watched in confusion. "What the hell is happening?"

"Come on." Lila cooed at him, "Give Mama some sugar!"

He sank to the ground and they all fell all over him. Paige then hurried out of the building holding her bag so it covered her chest. Once the girls spotted her they intercepted her escape.

"You!" Piper pointed her finger at Paige angrily, "Are so..." She trailed off as the four of them noticed something was off and she moved Paige's hands to reveal that Paige's breasts had gone from an obvious C cup to at least an F cup. "Busted?"

Dawn looked at Paige as she leaned over to Buffy. "I'm glad mine aren't that big," she whispered as Buffy nodded in agreement.

Phoebe's eyes widened in shock. "Hello!"

"Paige!" Piper glared, "You stole our sacred book so you could perform magical plastic surgery on yourself?"

"You think I did this on purpose? My body was perfectly fine just as it was!" Paige scoffed. "Thank you very much."

"I mean it!" Donnie screamed again, irritating Piper further. "Get away from me!"

Irritated, Piper flicked her hands over the crowd and froze them. The action had Buffy, Dawn and Phoebe reeling.

"Piper!" Buffy admonished. "You could have blown up a dozen innocents!"

Piper shrugged. "I took a chance."

"Okay, seriously," Dawn forced Piper twin to meet her eyes. "Do you even hear yourself? Your worse than Buffy was!" Buffy sighed. "Sorry, Buffy."

"It's okay, Dawnie," Buffy said using her sister's nickname to show there was no hard feelings. "I know how much I was hurting." She turned towards Paige. "So, what happened?"

"I don't know. They just..." Paige frowned, "Grew."

"Oh, right." Piper rolled her eyes. "And you had nothing to do with that."

"Alright, you enough," Buffy huffed before turning back to a frowning Paige. "How many spells did you cast?"

"One." Phoebe, Dawn and Buffy each gave her a look. "Five."

"Tell me she isn't trying to…" Dawn said.

Buffy sighed knowing what Dawn was getting at. "Looks like. The only difference is Willow had years to get to that point."

"Okay, okay." Phoebe said taking over. "What did you do just before you turned into Betty Boop?"

"Well, I cast a spell on this slimeball I work with so I could give him a taste of his own medicine." Paige said.

"Uh-huh." Phoebe motioned to Donnie. "That the slimeball?"

Paige looked back at Donnie and nodded earning a sigh from Buffy who motioned to her breasts once more. "And that's the consequence of casting a spell for personal gain."

Paige frowned. "Consequence?"

"You misused magic to make him the object of ogling," Phoebe explained. "The spell backfired and did the same thing to you."

"Which you would have learned if you had bothered to ask." Piper interjected angrily. "But now instead of vanquishing demons, we're going to have to spend the afternoon fixing your mess."

"Okay, Piper, call Leo and get him to orb this guy back to the Manor." Buffy quickly intercepted Piper's angry rant with instructions. "We have to protect him until we can figure out a way to reverse the spell." She motioned to Dawn and Paige, "The three of us will grab the book and meet you two there."

Piper gave one last disappointed look to Paige before shaking her head and walking away. Phoebe sighed as she turned and followed Piper.

Paige frowned again before grimacing down at her large breasts.

"I know you don't think of me as your mother. But would it do any good to scold you?" Buffy asked as Dawn rolled her eyes.