Author's Note (8/17/2022): The Vampirus and Nosferatu are my way of differentiating between Charmed vampires and Buffy vampires. As well as their individual explanations. Vampirus are Charmed vampires and Nosferatu are Buffy vampires. Also I remember a review, I don't know if its on this story or another where a reviewer was saying that Willow had used magic on vampires. On the Buffy vampire that might be the case, I don't honestly remember. On Charmed vampires that is not the case as it was established in Charmed canon that they were immune to witch's powers. Which from a story telling standpoint could be somewhat of a backstory for the Slayer and why the Slayer was created for the Buffy vampires. If vampires are immune to magic then create something that can fight them without the use of magic.
Chapter 16: Bite Me Part 1
April 18, 2002 – Thursday
Halliwell Manor
A month had passed since Phoebe and Cole and Dawn and Faith were married. Since then Cole in an attempt to conceive an heir had the Seer create some chocolates. Dawn and Piper each had a piece of one of the chocolates and found later their libidos amped up. Not that either woman or Leo and Faith complained one bit. Then a couple weeks later ghosts who knew Leo tried to get revenge on Leo, even trying to kill Piper. Piper herself vanquished them. At the same time Cole and Phoebe moved out of the Manor.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"LOOK OUT!" Piper yelled at her mother, tackling Buffy to the ground as their attacker fired a blast of energy from her palm. "Behind the couch, behind the couch!" she ordered shuffling Buffy behind it, taking cover as their attacker fired again, the beam blasting a large hole in the wall directly beside them.
Buffy poked her head up from behind the couch. "Do you know how much it's going to cost to fix that!" she yelled. She ducked back behind the couch as the demon fired off another blast of energy towards the couch that Piper and Buffy were hiding behind. The blast managed to blow half of the couch to pieces.
"Dawn has two powers, why don't I have something other than a freezing power that doesn't work right now against this demon?" Buffy asked her daughter.
"No idea," Piper said.
"Being the Slayer in this instance means nothing if I can't get close to fight her!" Buffy said frustrated.
Piped peeked up over what was left of the couch, shrieking loudly as another blast was sent her way. "Okay." She then stood up and screamed, "PAIGE! WHERE ARE YOU?"
Both Phoebe and Paige arrived in a shower of blue and white lights, with their backs to the demon, unaware of the danger.
Piper raised her hand in the direction of the demon. "Look out!" she squeaked.
Phoebe and Paige whipped around at their sister's warning just in time to see the demon getting ready to shoot again. Just before the demon fired, Phoebe redirected her hand with a forceful swipe and the blast flew into the piano skinning off the whole front side of it.
Taking advantage of their momentary distraction, the demon struck Phoebe across the face and sent her flying into the glass mirror above the fireplace, knocking Paige to the floor as she went.
"Phoebe!" Piper yelled as she jumped up from behind the couch, running to her daughter.
Buffy flipped across the room while the demon was distracted and landed a kick to the demon's stomach, which knocked her to the ground. She then turned to her daughters, crouching down next to them and pulling the spell from her back pocket, holding it out for them all to see.
"Claws of pain we have dissevered. Demon you are gone forever," Piper, Phoebe and Paige recited and the demon started to convulse and scream as she was engulfed in flames and finally blew up.
Piper let out a breath of relief and turned to Phoebe. "Sorry to bother you but she was immune to our powers," she explained pulling her to her feet as Buffy and Paige stumbled up.
"What about Aunt Dawn?" Phoebe wondered.
"She's with her wife," Buffy answered. "Are you okay? She threw you pretty hard," she asked concerned as she looked Phoebe up and down for injuries.
Phoebe smiled softly, "I'm fine just a little scratch on my shoulder." she pointed out the scratch before she looked towards Piper and responded to her comment. "And it's okay, I was just getting ready to leave work."
Piper smiled at Phoebe. "So how's it goin'? How's the new place?"
"Great and great," Phoebe answered with a smile, "How about you guys and Aunt Dawn and Aunt Faith?" she asked looking between her mother and sister.
"Dawn and Faith are still in the newly married phase," Buffy said. "Leo's been doing a lot of orbing back and forth to Sunnydale as a result. Some nights they stay in Sunnydale, others their here. Either way Leo is having to orb back and forth every single day just about." She smiled at Phoebe. "And as far as I'm concerned, I can't complain."
"Ditto," Piper added nonchalantly.
"Double ditto," Paige quipped, pulling a smile from both of her sisters and her mother.
"Well, it's good to know that we can live apart and still kick some butt if we have to, right?" Phoebe chuckled looking between her sisters and mother, from her place beside the table in the foyer. "So do I want to ask about this demon with the bad manicure?" she quipped not failing to notice how Buffy, Piper and Paige stood together across from her.
"Oh, Harpy, part of a faction," Buffy informed her. "Tried to kill Piper to move up in the world."
"Pretty standard stuff." Piper shrugged with a smirk.
Hearing the tinge of sadness in her voice, Buffy wrapped an arm around Piper, feeling Piper lean into her touch slightly.
"Why? Are you okay? Is everything okay?" Phoebe asked her eyes looking to her mother and both of her sisters a little worriedly.
Piper nodded looking down at the ground, "Yeah, everything's fine," she assured Phoebe with a smile." I just thought maybe we could catch up." She shook her head and shrugged. "Another time."
Trying to clear some of the tension in the room Paige looked at Phoebe and asked. "Do you want me to orb you home?"
"No." Phoebe shook her head and her hands. "Cole's not so crazy about you orbing in without...calling… first," she trailed off slowly at Buffy, Paige and Piper's unimpressed expressions, and felt the tension spike again. "Except for emergencies, you know?" she asked softly. "You understand?"
Buffy arched her eyebrows as she glanced at Piper who rolled her eyes looking to the floor.
Paige nodded. "Sure," she replied stiffly and shrugged. "Whatever."
Phoebe nodded as well, playing nervously with her hands, before looking at each of them individually. "Okay, I'm going to go."
Piper looked up at Phoebe again, while Buffy nodded slowly, Paige remaining still, her arms folded across her chest.
Phoebe waited a little longer, hoping for something from any one of them but was only met with silence. "I'll call you guys," she promised, turning and walking to the door slowly.
As soon as the door clicked shut behind her sister Paige's eyes rolled a little as she turned to Buffy and Piper. "No orbing?"
Piper let out a breath at her sister's comment. "Don't start with the suspicions Paige. Cole's probably just trying to protect their privacy." she defended her brother-in-law tiredly as she started walking up the stairs.
"He's trying to protect something," Paige muttered suspiciously as she looked at Prue.
"Don't start, Paige," Buffy admonished her youngest daughter. She then threw an arm around her youngest daughter's shoulders and kissing her head. "Love you," she murmured before heading up the stairs after Piper.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
A soft knock, echoed throughout Piper's otherwise silent room and her lips turned up slightly, laughing silently at her accurate prediction. "Come on in, Mom."
Buffy pushed open the door, smirking. "Knew it was me, huh?" she stated, flopping onto the bed beside Piper.
Piper snorted. "You're kind of predictable, Mom," she teased and Prue smacked her leg.
"Yeah, probably I am," Buffy agreed. "Especially when it comes to you, or Phoebe, or Piper or even Dawn. It's part of mother and big sister's right to worry about her daughter and younger sister you know." She smiled, shifting on her back slightly, "So…." She drawled with a shrug, "What's on your mind?"
"Uh…" Piper hesitated. This was a subject she wasn't comfortable talking to her mother about.
"Let me guess," Buffy said noticing the hesitation and accurately assessing what Piper was hesitating on. "It's going to happen, Piper," she assured her daughter and Piper sighed, squeezing her eyes closed.
"I'm not so sure about that, Mom." Piper countered sadly.
Buffy frowned, holding out her hand which Piper quickly took. "It takes time, sweetie. After all look at the age gaps between Prue, you, Phoebe and Paige. Some of that time, well, you know. And some I wasn't trying."
Piper exhaled sharply. "I just…I really want this, Mom," she whispered quietly, inching closer to her mother.
Buffy bit her lip, as tears stung her eyes, the desperate want in her daughter's voice making her heart ache. "I know you do, sweetie," she whispered back, placing her free hand on her daughter's arm, "And you'll get it. You just got to be patient," she advised and Piper sniffled.
"Yeah," Piper breathed, turning on her side a little, to rest her head on Buffy's shoulder, squeezing her hand. "Thanks, Mom. By the way on the one hand it's kind of embarrassing talking to my mom about this stuff. But at the same time…"
"Because I'm younger than you, it's easy to forget and pretend your talking to one of your sisters," Buffy said in understanding.
"Yeah," Piper agreed. "Sometimes its just nice to have someone to talk to you know?"
"Believe me, I know," Buffy said. "Back in Sunnydale, Willow was that way for me. Since moving in here, it's been Dawn. But now my baby sister is married…"
"Maybe we both can pretend?" Piper offered.
"I'd like that," Buffy said. "And, Piper, it will take time. You will have that little girl you saw in the future."
"Thanks, mom," Piper said as she smiled at Buffy.
Phoebe and Cole's Apartment
"I am just trying to protect our assets," Cole informed smoothly. "And the only way to do that, is to cut our losses, consolidate our resources." He turned away from the window to the demon filled table before him. "Keep the competition from killing you. Us," he corrected with a smile.
"Fine," came the gruff reply from one of the present demons. "What are you proposing?"
"A merger," Cole announced. "Everyone here has similar agendas, right?" he asked and the demons nodded. "So...why don't we work together to accomplish them?" he suggested carefully as a Fury demon smoked in.
Cole looked at her seriously. "You're late," he stated darkly. "Sit down."
The Fury did as told at the same time, Julie led a Grimlock to his seat.
"Where was I?" Cole asked the table, thrown off by the rude interruptions.
"You were just encouraging us to hold hands and be friends," the same demon from before answered, unimpressed.
"It's a new millennium," Cole reminded them. "We need to think of new ways to ensure our own survival," he explained as he circled the table slowly. "Let's face it, it's a demon-eat-demon world out there," he quipped and an ugly looking man with horrendous teeth chuckled, clearly that statement was quite literal for him.
Cole flashed him a stern glare and he silenced. "Each one of you leads a faction," he continued as Julie poured glasses of what looked to be dark, crimson blood. "But that is the problem. You're too busy trying to kill each other." He placed his hands on his hips, looking from demon to demon pointedly. "In the end, everyone loses."
"Tell that to the Grimlocks," the Harpy leader spoke up as she lifted her glass. "They tried to vanquish us just last week."
"You had it coming," the Grimlock spat from beside her.
The Harpy set down her glass and rose to her feet. "Care to try again," she taunted, the Grimlock taking the bate.
"My point exactly!" Cole growled loudly, silencing both. "Infighting has always been our undoing. And I have learned from the humanity in me. The only way for us to defeat good is to work together to achieve common goals."
The Harpy rubbed her taloned hands together and sat down, the Grimlock following suit.
"And who will decide what these goals are? You?" the demon nodded to Cole.
"Unless someone wants to challenge me," Cole replied evenly as the elevator beeped and all demons froze. "Meeting's adjourned," he ordered and they all, shimmered, smoked, flashed, whatever else out. Cole waved away the table, eyes fixed on the door, getting rid of the large table and replacing it with one for two, decked out for a perfect romantic night in.
The elevator doors slid open and Phoebe looked over at him.
"Hi honey," Cole greeted leaning against one chair. "You're home early."
Phoebe looked at him, then back to the table and smiled.
April 19, 2002 – Friday
"Vegetarian egg-white omelet, just the way you like it," Cole presented with a wide smile and a kiss to his wife's head.
Phoebe smiled lovingly up at him. "That's sweet honey but I think my stomach has other plans," she informed him apologetically, moving off to pack her bag.
"What's the matter?" Cole asked her, worry clouding his eyes.
"Headache, upset stomach," Phoebe explained touching her stomach warily. "It's going around right now."
"So...maybe you should call in sick?" Cole suggested walking over to her.
"While so many relationships are in peril?" Phoebe quipped with a smirk. "What would San Francisco do without my advice column?"
Cole grinned down at her and nodded his head.
"I got to go," Phoebe informed him, reaching up to kiss him. "Um...I want to invite my Aunt Dawn, Aunt Faith, Mom, Piper and Paige over for dinner this weekend," she offered up cautiously. "Is that okay?"
Cole's face fell. "Well, we just moved out."
"Yeah I know." Phoebe nodded. "But I want to show them the place," she explained excitedly. "Besides, I don't want them to think that they're not still part of my life, you know?" she asked with a shrug.
Cole sighed resigned. "Fine," he relented and Phoebe grinned happily. "Just no orbing, alright?"
"Already taken care of," Phoebe assured him with an affirmative nod.
Cole smiled gratefully leaning down to kiss her. "What happened?" he demanded as his hand pushed down the sleeve of her top to reveal the Harpy's scratch.
"Oh, nothin'," Phoebe assured him, looking down at her shoulder. "My shoulder just got in the way of a Harpy's claw, that's all," she explained sliding her sleeve back up.
"A Harpy? You got attacked? Why didn't you tell me?" Cole fired at her, one after the other, anger contorting his features.
"Because I didn't think it was that big of a deal," Phoebe defended herself calmly. "That's why."
"Well, it is to me," Cole countered tensely.
Phoebe's eyebrows jumped up and she looked down.
Cole sighed inwardly. "I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, taking her into his arms. "I'm sorry. It's just...I think I deserve to know when my wife gets hurt."
"You're right. You do," Phoebe agreed, nodding her head and kissing his lips as the click clack of heels signaled a third party's arrival.
"Excuse me, Mr. Turner?" Julie interrupted politely. "You're 9 o'clock is waiting in the lobby," she informed him with a smile.
Phoebe frowned at her presence then plastered a smile on her face. "Julie, what you doing here?" she asked brightly turning to her husband and through gritted teeth. "You didn't tell me she was here."
Julie rolled her eyes at the witch's not so subtle tone of aggravation.
"Well, we're working out of the apartment today. They're painting my office," Cole explained innocently. "You don't mind, do you?"
"No," Phoebe answered quickly, shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders. "No, of course not," she assured him then leaned to kiss him slowly, moaning loudly and pointedly.
Julie rolled her eyes again and looked away.
Phoebe extracted herself from her husband's arms and scooped up her bag. "Make yourself at home," she directed to Julie as she passed.
Julie turned, following her with her eyes. "I will, thank you," she assured with a smirk, waiting until the elevator doors closed before speaking again. "Pretty little witch, if you're into that sort of thing."
"I am," Cole assured her and Julie's eyes widened slightly, as if startled by his presence.
"Get the leader of the Harpies," he ordered walking towards her. "I want to explain to her the consequences of attacking my wife."
Julie shot him a sidelong glance before obediently shimmering out, leaving a severely pissed off Cole in her wake.
Halliwell Manor
"Plenty of leftovers," Leo announced to his wife, who was aimlessly drying dishes that Buffy was washing. "Probably won't have to do any cooking for a week."
"Leo," Buffy said as she glanced at her son-in-law. "Piper likes to cook. Or did you forget you married a chef?"
"Well, there's less dishes to do, and that's a good thing, right?" Leo tried again, knowing how much both Piper and Buffy missed both Dawn and Phoebe.
Piper breathed deeply, placing the dish down. "I guess." She shrugged turning to him. "It's just with Phoebe and Cole gone and Aunt Dawn and Aunt Faith floating only here part time, there's less mouths to feed and it's a little quieter around here."
"Well we could do something about that," Leo commented suggestively and Piper smiled, although it was saddened. "We have an extra room now, right?" He smiled and kissed Piper slowly, stroking her cheek softly.
Buffy sighed. "Excuse me, I think I forgot something in another room," she said as she moved past them toward the door into the dining room just as Paige appeared in the doorway.
Leo nodded as he looked at his mother-in-law. He knew because of Buffy's age that very likely that Buffy and Piper sometimes would pretend they were simple girlfriends, or even a fourth sister, having girl talk. But at the same time Buffy was also Piper's mother, and as her mother he was sure she didn't want to hear about Piper having sex. "Actually I need to get going," he told Buffy, dropping his hand from his wife's face. "There's an upsurge in demonic activity and the Elders wanna figure out why."
"Hmm, well since that demonic activity spilled into our living room last night..." Paige spoke up as she poured herself some coffee. "I'm assuming it has something to do with us."
"Well, keep an eye out and I'll let you all know if I find anything out," Leo advised them as Buffy and Paige nodded. "I love you," he told Piper, running a hand down her back.
Piper smiled. "I love you too." She then tilted her head back to kiss him before he orbed away.
"Isn't that frustrating?" Buffy asked having noticed he orbed out in middle of the kiss. "You know orbing out in the middle of…"
"Kind of gotten used to it," Piper replied with a shrug.
Paige watched her sister silently before asking. "You okay?"
Piper glanced at Buffy before looking at Paige sharply. "Me? Yeah, I'm fine."
"She's lying of course," Buffy said as Piper glared at her. "Hey I'm not the only one who sees it you know. And you want to know something. Phoebe isn't your only sister. You can talk to Paige too, you know."
Piper looked away and sighed. "I know, mom. But it's—it's just silly," she warned staring into space. "My uh...period was late this month by a couple of days," she explained evenly.
"You never mentioned that last night," Buffy said in surprise.
"It's already embarrassing talking to you about sex to begin with even when we pretend we're just two girlfriends having girl talk," Piper admitted. "Anyways as I got my hopes up a little."
"That's not silly, honey," Paige countered gently. "You want kids, right?"
"Yeah," Piper nodded as she glanced at Buffy.
"Just pretend," Buffy offered.
Piper nodded as she closed her eyes for a second. "It's just that we've trying and—"
"For a couple of months," Paige cut in with a shrug.
"Four. But who's counting?" Piper retorted sadly coming to stand next to Buffy and Paige.
"You remember what I saw last night," Buffy said. "It takes time."
"Mom's right," Paige agreed.
Piper chuckled a little before her face became sullen once again. "I guess I was just worried that, you know, something could be wrong," she admitted wringing her hands nervously. "Getting flung around by demons isn't exactly conducive to making babies."
"You didn't mention that either," Buffy sighed as she wrapped an arm around her daughter. "And just so you know that didn't stop me. I had four beautiful girls over the course of eight years. And I was battling warlocks and demons that entire time."
Paige bit the inside of her lip. " I don't know if you've noticed this but you are just as stubborn as mom is, so it's my guess that if you've set your mind on this baby thing, it'll happen eventually."
"Yeah...I hope so," Piper sighed, shaking her head lightly.
"Do you remember what I told you last night?" Buffy said. "You had a girl in the future you went to. Then there is Paige. Or need I remind you that I was dating Sam, my Whitelighter, when she was conceived."
"Mom's right," Paige agreed. "I am living proof that magic happens when Whitelighters and witches get together," she enthused as Piper smiled. "So, the sooner you stop worrying about it, the sooner I will be an Aunt and mom will be a grandmother."
Piper smiled at Buffy and Paige. "Thanks."
"See I told you it helped if you pretended I wasn't your mother," Buffy said as Paige and Piper smacked her playfully on the arms.
Phoebe and Cole's Apartment
Cole looked down at the taloned hand resting atop his glass table then up at his assistant expectantly.
Julie smiled innocently. "The leader of the Harpies won't be coming to see you," she stated the obvious. "I'm afraid things got out of hand for her."
Cole smiled. "Nice work," he praised and she bowed her head. "What's next?"
"Rowan's waiting to see you," Julie informed him. "Apparently the Vampirus Queen would like in on the new alliance."
"Send him in," Cole ordered.
Julie pointed two finger at each window in the room, closing the blinds and washing the room in darkness before she walked to the darkest most shadowed corner of the room. "He'll see you now," she informed before leaving.
Rowan walked out confidently looking stark white against his black clothes. "Thank you for the audience," he told Cole gratefully.
Cole merely stared at him expectantly, his impatient apparent.
"The Queen sent me to tell you—"
"Tell your Queen, that if she steps a foot inside my realm..." Cole interrupted, walking around the table to his chair, "...she will beg me to banish her again."
"—Sent me to tell you that we've learned our lesson." Rowan picked up where he left off, entirely unfazed. "And we're willing to serve you."
Cole smiled. "No thanks. I already have enough demons betraying me," he refused, pointing one finger at the Harpies severed hand and it smoked away.
"You haven't even heard our offer," Rowan pointed out, unimpressed.
"I think you should be leaving now," Cole ordered darkly as bright lights appeared behind Rowan and the youngest Halliwell appeared.
"Paige." Cole shot out of his seat, eyes widened.
"Oops," Paige shrugged. "I just thought I'd pop in." She glanced at Rowan.
"From where?" Rowan asked, playing the oblivious human role.
"Uh...the kitchen," Paige covered up with a smile then looked behind him at Cole. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"No. We're done here," Cole told her, looking at Rowan pointedly. "Elevator's that way, Rowan."
Paige smiled at Rowan as he passed, sending him a nod of acknowledgement.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Cole demanded of her harshly. "This is exactly why I don't want you people orbing in here."
Paige stared at him affronted. "You people? Nice," she stated deadpanned.
"What do you want?" Cole snapped, Rowan listening in from the other side of the door.
"Phoebe," Paige replied simply.
"Well, you missed her," Cole stated the obvious, smiling condescendingly. "But why don't you orb on over to the newspaper," he suggested wryly. "I'm sure those journalists can keep a secret."
"Just tell her I stopped by okay?" Paige asked rolling her eyes. "And dare I ask, why is it so dark in here in the middle of the day?"
"Migraine," Cole answered, voice clipped. "Which you're only adding to."
Paige rolled her eyes again. "You know what, Cole, just bite me," she spat and he snapped his jaw at her as she turned to the door, Rowan backing away and hitting the elevator button.
"After you." He smiled charmingly at her following in behind. Rowan scoffed, crossing his arms as he lent against the back of the elevator. "Nice guy, huh?"
Paige turned to him with a frown.
"Oh uh..." He threw his hands in the air. "Cole."
Paige scoffed. "You a lawyer?"
Rowan looked at her. "No. Why?"
"Because only another lawyer would think that," she explained slowly.
"No, I was being sarcastic," Rowan explained.
"About being a lawyer?" Paige arched her eyebrows and smiled.
"No, about thinking he was a nice guy," Rowan corrected her and Paige laughed nodding her head.
"Sorry." Paige grinned. She looked him up and down, admiring his chiseled features and strong jaw line.
"I'm Rowan," he introduced himself, snapping her from her trance.
"Paige." She held out her hand for him. "Nice to meet you. So...how long have you disliked Cole?"
"Ever since I first met him," Rowan replied and Paige laughed. "You?"
"Uh...pretty much just recently, ever since he married my sister," she explained. "Do you have any siblings?"
"Oh yeah." Rowan nodded. "My family's real big."
Paige nodded. "Then you know what it's like to have to bite your tongue."
Rowan smirked to himself. "Been there, done that." He looked her up and down as silence fell. "Listen uh...I'd like to continue this, but we've just run out of floors," he pointed out as the elevator chimed. "Any chance we could get together?"
"Well, my sister—my other sister owns this nightclub called Dawn's P3." Paige chuckled. "And I'll be there later if you want to stop by," she offered with a smile.
Rowan nodded. "I'll drop in."
"Okay." Paige smiled heading for the open doors. "Are you coming?" she asked when he failed to follow.
"Oh no, underground parking," Rowan explained and Paige nodded, disappearing around the corner as the doors closed once again.
Vampirus Cavern
"You're certain of her identity?" the Queen asked cautiously as her 'children' bathed her.
"She's the sister of the Source's new bride," Rowan informed her eagerly. "That makes her a Charmed One."
"This might be our lucky day," the Queen gushed excitedly. "And you said meeting with the new Source would be useless," she fired at Keats.
"He refused your offer, didn't he?" Keats pointed out smugly.
"Yes, but he gave us something much more valuable instead," the Queen smirked. "If we can get a Charmed One on our side, we can use her magic to take over the underworld before the new Source can." She shared with a grin. "We can destroy him and anyone else who opposes us."
"Yeah but first she's a witch," Keats pointed out. "They don't change sides on a whim. And second she and her family are protect by a Slayer. Rumor has it, the Slayer is the mother reincarnated."
"Hmm," the Queen said as she looked at Rowan. "What do you think, Rowan? Could they both…"
"It will be difficult, but yes I do believe we can get them both to see things our way," Rowan assured the Queen as he came up beside Keats. "With your permission of course."
"By all means," she granted. "Take whomever you need."
Rowan nodded and strode away, Keats brushing off his jacket, disgust contorting his features as the Queen merely smirked.
Dawn's P3
"Hey," Buffy smiled at her youngest daughter, as she bounced over to the bar beside her. "Any luck yet?" she asked scanning the crowd.
Paige shrugged. "No," she huffed, crossing her arms petulantly. "How bout you?" she questioned.
"Same," Buffy said sadly. "You know I want what Dawn, what Piper and what Phoebe have. But I swear I've been out of the game too long."
"Well you just have to get back on the horse," Paige offered as chewed on her bottom lip. "I went to Phoebe's place today," she said nonchalantly.
Buffy narrowed her eyes. "You did?" and Paige nodded. Her hands flew to her hips. "Paige, why do you look so guilty?" she demanded, one perfectly arched eyebrow raised in an intimidating manner.
"Um...I might have, sort of, maybe orbed there," Paige admitted reluctantly. "OW!" she yelped as Buffy slapped her arm. "That hurt!"
"And if we were at home, I would bend you over my knee," Buffy glared. "Paige, what were you thinking? You're going to push Phoebe further away."
Paige sighed. "I know."
"Was Cole pissed off?" Buffy questioned and Paige nodded sheepishly. "While I will admit the no orbing thing is silly. It was still wrong."
"You worried about Piper?" Paige asked suddenly.
"I'm always worried about you girls. Comes with being your mother," Buffy replied. "And I understand why you are asking. Yes I'm afraid she could be right, that there could be something wrong." She sighed. "This is not something I know how to deal with. While yes I see you girls as my daughters and you see me as your mother and that's all thanks to Patty's memories. You have to remember I've never given birth myself. It's all stuff remembered from my previous life, not from this one. I've never experienced it. So I don't really know how to help her, except tell her stories of stuff that I remember."
"I know, Mom," Paige sighed. "And sometimes we forget that, because its nice having you in our lives. I don't mean to overstep my bounds and I know this is kind of private. But there is ways of having a baby without having sex. Maybe you can help Piper by…"
"By having a child of my own through artificial insemination?" Buffy asked as Paige nodded. "I've thought about it actually. A lot since just this morning. I've even thought about offering Piper if she would like me to be a surrogate. That would give me the experience of carrying a baby to term and give Piper her daughter."
"You would actually do that?" Paige asked in surprise.
"Maybe." Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. It's something I would have to think about long and hard first."
"There you guys are!" Piper cried loudly over the music and Buffy and Paige stood up straight. "I thought you both had gotten lost in the crowd." She looked at Buffy. "Any guys out there peak your interest, Mom?"
"Sadly, no," Buffy answered.
Piper winced turning to Paige. "How 'bout you? Your mystery man still pulling a disappearing act?"
Paige nodded with a pout and a petulant foot stomp. "I can't believe he stood me up," she huffed as they made their way back to the bar.
"Well, I'm glad I'm not dating anymore," Piper grinned at her husband who was by her side.
"Yeah, well I should've known better than think I could meet a guy through Cole," Paige chided herself.
"Paige..." Piper warned, "I have two words for you: Broken and record," she said reaching the bar, the other three standing on the customer side. "If you keep this up, you're just going to end up pushing Phoebe further away."
"Now you sound like mom," Paige informed her sister with a roll of her eyes.
"Paige," Buffy sighed as Phoebe approached the bar.
"Hi," Phoebe greeted stopping next to Buffy at the bar. "Do I still get free drinks here or do I have to pay now?"
"I think Dawn said you have to pay," Buffy said jokingly. They all knew that Piper wasn't intending to hand over the club to Dawn till after Dawn turned twenty-one or till Piper finally opened her own restaurant whichever came first.
"Hardy har, har," Phoebe said with a role of her eyes.
Piper reached across the bar and smacked her mother sharply.
"I was joking, Piper," Buffy defended herself with a shrug.
"Really?" Phoebe asked quietly, looking downwards.
"Yes, really," Buffy answered. "You three should all know that. Especially you, Piper, who has said you don't intend to hand over the reigns till after Dawn turned twenty-one."
Piper turned her eyes back to Phoebe and frowned. "Whoa, you don't look so good," she stated as she looked at her sister more closely. "Are you okay?"
"That's partly why I'm here," Phoebe answered playing with her hands. "I thought it was just a bug, and now I'm not so sure. I'm wondering if maybe it has something to do with.." she glanced down at her shoulder pointedly, "...you know, the scratch."
"Maybe you're turning into a Harpy." Paige suggested, only partly joking. "Oh god, are you?" she asked with wide eyes, taking in her sister's expression.
"Well, that's how Piper turned into a Wendigo," Phoebe reminded them then frowned. "Or was it how you turned into a Fury?"
"Wendigo," Piper replied.
"You know, I wouldn't worry," Leo informed her casually. "You can't turn into a Harpy just by getting scratched."
"Yeah but still." Phoebe turned towards him. "Do you mind—you know."
Leo nodded and stretched across Buffy to heal her shoulder.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Buffy cried with wide eyes pushing him back. "What do you think you're doing?"
Leo frowned in confusion. "Healing Phoebe's shoulder?"
"Not here you're not!" Buffy cried smacking his hands away.
"Yeah, c'mon honey," Piper agreed glancing around. "A little discretion in public," she reprimanded him, smacking his arm before making her way around the bar.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Feel any better?" Leo asked, humoring Phoebe, as he removed his hand from above her wound.
"A little, I think," Phoebe answered with a frown, fixing the sleeve of her top.
"So, any word from the Elders on what's going on?" Piper asked her husband, hands in her back pockets.
Phoebe's frown deepened. "Why? What's going on?"
Piper folded her arms tensely. "A lot of bad guys, apparently, more than usual."
"Should we be worried?" Phoebe questioned, glancing between her mother, sisters and her Whitelighter.
Piper shook her head. "Nope. Not until after dinner," she decided firmly. "Want to join us?" she asked hopefully.
Phoebe pursed her lips in thought then nodded. "Sure why not." She smiled at Piper who smiled back.
"I'm not going to go," Paige informed them, rising to her feet. "I don't want Rowan thinking, I was waiting for him, if he shows up this late," she pouted, folding her arms across her chest.
"God forbid," Piper drawled and Paige rolled her eyes. "What about you, Mom?" Piper shot at her mother.
"I think I am going to call it a night," Buffy said. "Maybe call Dawn see if she and Faith are staying in Sunnydale tonight or coming home?"
Piper smiled. "Well if they stay in Sunnydale tell Aunt Dawn and Aunt Faith hello for me." She kissed Buffy's cheek then turned to her husband and smirked. "You buying?"
"Uh...you kidding?" Leo retorted, brow creased.
Buffy leaned towards Paige and elbowed her, nodding to Phoebe before saying. "I'll meet you at the bar, sweetie."
Paige nodded, chewing on her bottom lip as Buffy left the office, throwing over her shoulder to Phoebe. "Talk to Piper, Pheebs."
Phoebe frowned. "Why?"
Buffy stopped short and backed up, turning to Phoebe. "Because she needs all of us right now," she replied cryptically then silently left the office.
Phoebe frowned turning sharply to Paige. "What happened?"
Paige shrugged. "Piper's just a little sad right now, that's all."
Phoebe eyes widened with worry. "Why?"
"Talk to her and find out," Paige responded pointedly and Phoebe nodded. "Wait." She caught her sister's arm before she could leave. "There's something else."
Phoebe narrowed her eyes. "Oh-kay..."
Paige bit down on her lip and wrung her hands together nervously. "Um...I kind of...orbed over to your place this morning to talk to y—"
"Wait!" Phoebe cut in sharply. "You orbed to my place?" she gawked her anger already evident. "After I specifically asked you not to? Paige what were you thinking?"
"I was just trying to help Piper," Paige replied sharply. "That's why I was there: looking for you."
"Was Cole upset?" Phoebe demanded looking drained.
"A little," Paige answered reluctantly then cringed. "A lot."
"Great, Paige," Phoebe droned, shaking her head. "Just great."
Paige sighed as she watched her sister walk away. "I was just trying to help," she explained to no-one before following her out.
"Well?" Buffy asked expectantly as Paige met her at the bar. "How'd it go?"
Paige dropped her head onto the counter. "Horribly," came her deflated reply.
Buffy jutted out her bottom lip sympathetically. "Aw, sweetie," she rubbed her back comfortingly and assured her. "Phoebe will get over it."
Paige groaned lifting her head. "When?"
Buffy shrugged. "Sorry. That's another thing I don't have an answer for," she admitted. "Can you take me home now, please!" she begged.
"You didn't drive?" Paige asked.
"I came with Piper," Buffy replied throwing an arm around her daughter's shoulders and leading her to the stairs.
"Mom, I feel like I'm always screwing up with Phoebe," Paige said quietly.
"I think the person you would want to talk about that to is Dawn," Buffy admitted. "After all I'm the older sister, remember? But if you want to know something. I think that is exactly the way Dawn felt growing up in my shadow."
Paige raised her head. "Really?"
Buffy nodded. "Yeah. Sister of the Slayer deal. Always in the shadow, never with powers of her own. Not till a little over a half a year ago anyways. That's why she was so excited to get a Warren power. It meant she could step out of my shadow. Just give it time, Paige. I'm sure Phoebe will forgive you, just as I forgave Dawn for a lot of things."
"Thanks, Mom," Paige said, stopping abruptly when she heard something squeak behind her. She spun around, frowning when she found nothing there.
Buffy regarded her sister carefully. "What?"
Paige tilted her head a little. "I don't know I—I just thought that—never mind." She shrugged dismissively, shaking her head and mother and daughter continued to walk to her car until Paige stopped again. "Okay did you hear that?" she demanded rounding on her older sister.
Buffy nodded slowly, glancing around the otherwise deserted parking lot, anxiously. "Let's just get out of here," she ordered pushing Paige towards her car.
The squeaking turned to high pitched shrieks and Buffy, her Slayer senses beginning to scream at her. "Hurry, Paige!" She whirled around as Paige dug through her purse for the car keys.
Buffy's eyes widened at what she saw coming at her. "BAT!" she yelled just as the animal sunk its teeth into her neck. "AH!" she yelled and Paige looked up, only to be bitten on the shoulder, the force sending her down.
"Paige!" Buffy barked, bending down to her daughter only to be caught on the shoulder also and tumble to the ground.
"MOM!" Paige screamed as she tried to swat away the crazed bats.
Buffy was too busy swatting, with Slayer strength, the bats across the parking lot to answer, only glancing towards her daughter when she fell silent.
"Paige!" Buffy gasped seeing his daughter's closed eyes and prone body.
The remaining bats attacked the Slayer, sinking their teeth into whatever piece of flesh they could reach, until her eyes too slipped closed and the bats rose into the sky and flew away, leaving mother and daughter bleeding and unconscious on the concrete ground.