A big thanks to my reviewers from the last chapter:
AlyssaP3, Princess-charmed100, PrUe AnD AnDy, du1387, and Love Angel 1705. It's good to know that you're still out there and interested.
AlyssaP3: Yup, Piper is pregnant and the baby was conceived at the time Leo had his powers, the ones given back to him as an Elder to run the magic school. I really hope that the movie was good, I still want to see it, lol.
And now onto a new chapter:
Chapter 35: Enchanted Doll
She heard it. Walking back into the conservatory, Prue had heard what sounded like Piper's yell in the distance. Andy, who was heading in the direction of the living room, turned around to share a knowing look with her. He had heard it too.
"Uh-oh," Prue muttered. Something was wrong upstairs.
The insulation in the house was never really good and most sound in the house traveled anywhere throughout the manor. However, because of the witch destiny and the possibility for one too many uninvited guests, this turned into an advantage. With the looming threat of demon attacks on a daily basis, and their lives hanging on the line, there was never a definite way of knowing when one of them could run into some trouble alone.
After their quick ascent up the winding staircase, Prue and Andy ran into Leo in the hall. He had also been alerted to the call and came rushing out of the bedroom. After looking at them briefly, he joined the two of them, all three making their way up into the attic. The sight that greeted them was a shock.
"Oh my god," Prue cried, rushing inside and kneeling at her sister's side almost immediately.
"Piper?" Leo exclaimed, seeing her lying on the floor.
He came to his wife's side just as quickly as Prue. Andy stood in the background, concerned but feeling unsure of how he could help in the situation.
"Piper?" Prue called out to her. "Sweetie, wake up!" she pleaded, noticing that her sister appeared to be unconscious. However, she got no response back from her.
"What happened?" Leo cried. But the answer became apparent to them when they all saw the arrow sticking out from her backside.
Prue turned to look at the center of the attic. Lana was gone. The crystals were spread across the floor, and she had somehow managed to escape her place of imprisonment. Which meant that the darklighter who shot her sister, most likely the same one that had shot her not too long ago, had probably been the one to set Lana free.
"A darklighter," Leo stated, feeling helpless. "Prue? You're going to have to try and heal her," he looked directly across from her, his face a mask of desperation. "I don't have my powers to do it. Which means I can't call for help either."
Prue stared back at him incredulously. "Heal her? Leo, I don't know how to or I else would, believe me," she argued. She saw the desperation he was feeling and felt even worse about how powerless she felt.
"Prue, I thought this new power let you guys tap into each other's powers," he retorted. "Paige can heal, which means you should be able to."
"We don't know how to control it like that yet," Prue shot back. "Look, we need to get Paige." She attempted to get up from the floor; however, Leo immediately reached out to grab her wrist, stopping her.
"There's no time for that," he argued back with urgency. "I can't orb to get her and if what you're telling me is true, then it sounds like you can't control doing that either. Try calling for Sam," he suggested out of the blue.
"What?" Prue exclaimed, confusion spreading across her facial features. "Why?"
"Call for Sam," he instructed again. "He's a whitelighter. And your father, isn't he? There should be a connection there. Try and tap into it, Paige was able to do it before."
"Leo?" Prue shook her head she was skeptical.
"Just try it," Leo interrupted.
"Leo, I don't even have the powers of a whitelighter," she pointed out for him, gesturing with her hands right in front of her. "How is Sam supposed to hear me?"
Leo discovered the revelation from Piper. Andy, standing with his arms crossed, listened to Leo's open admission and then shot a confused, questioning look in Prue's direction. She glanced back at him, catching his reaction to the news. It was something she hadn't opened up about yet and knew what was probably coming.
"Some more secrets, huh?" Andy threw out at her.
Prue closed her eyes, feeling frustration. "Andy, not now, please."
"You're right," he retorted, looking his wife in the eyes. "Our concern should be for Piper, so why don't you stop arguing against every one of Leo's suggestions and just try doing it." He knew that could have just as easily been Prue lying on the floor. Like the last time when he wasn't here.
Prue could tell he was upset. Probably over the whole incident.
"Or you can try calling out for Paige. You may not have the active powers of a whitelighter, but the connection is innately there," Leo encouraged. "One of them should be able to sense you. Just hurry up and try to do it. We may not have much time."
His attention fell back on Piper, still unconscious but barely breathing.
Prue took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then focused all her energy into calling out for either Sam or Paige with her mind. Both Andy and Leo watched from the sidelines, in nervous anticipation, when suddenly she felt it. A type of pulling connection sprang to life. After a few more moments of hardened concentration, lights suddenly materialized inside of the attic, bringing three surprised faces into view.
"Dad?" Paige called out, shocked to be running into Sam, as she turned to see him standing next to her. She had orbed into the attic along with Phoebe, who was also standing beside her. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard a call for help," he admitted honestly. "I thought maybe it was you."
"No, it was me!"
The three stunned faces looked straight ahead of them, turning in the direction of the voice making that announcement. They saw Prue standing up, coming towards them, and then all eyes shot to the figure lying on the floor.
"And we don't have time to waste because Piper is hurt. She needs one of you to heal her," Prue announced, getting straight down to business.
"Oh my god, Piper!" exclaimed Phoebe, immediately sprinting in the direction of her injured sister.
Both Sam and Paige followed in her footsteps, Paige glancing over to where Lana should have been surrounded by the crystals. Sam and Paige knelt beside Piper. The arrow was removed and each one of them extended their hands over her. Everyone stood back and watched as the healing light appeared and did its work. A few seconds later, Piper regained full consciousness and began coughing. Leo was back at her side, assisting her in sitting up.
"Thank god," came his relief. He turned to Prue. "Knew you could do it," he smiled in her direction.
"Ow, my head," Piper reached out, placing her hand behind her. Her head had hit the floor after falling down. "What happened?" She fought to regain awareness, while standing up on her feet.
"Well, that's certainly what we'd like to know?" Paige retorted. She stood up and placed her hands against her hips. "One minute I was trying to sleep and the next thing I know I'm feeling this overwhelming sense of panic when Phoebe calls to tell me she's feeling the same thing. I orbed to her and then as if that wasn't bad enough, I felt a pretty strong call hit me for help on our way here. Figured it had something to do with you guys."
Phoebe looked at Piper. "Close call. Thank god you're okay."
Paige turned to look once again in the direction of the empty space no longer occupied by Lana. "Looks like I was right."
"Looks like your new power is growing," Leo added. "I mean, if the both of you felt the empathic connection to each other before Prue even called out for help?"
"Hm," Phoebe reflected, looking at her oldest sister. "Tapping into the whitelighter part of ourselves, are we?" she teased.
Prue closed her eyes, shaking her head in denial. "Uh, no. Not exactly," she negated the insinuation. "I think it's just the new power growing. I'm not a whitelighter; that definitely had nothing to do with it," she was firm in her resolve.
Sam glanced in her direction as did the others.
Leo took on a serious look before responding. "Prue, of course it did," he jumped in against Prue's denial. "It was bound to happen eventually, especially now that you're aware of it."
"Awareness has nothing to do with it," Prue countered.
"Okay, if you say so," Phoebe let out a light laugh.
Prue threw Phoebe one of her looks and then Phoebe threw up her hands in surrender.
Leo looked down, deciding to drop it. Arguing would be for nothing, he knew it.
"Ah, no worries about the denial, people," Piper interjected for the others. "It's all familiar territory for Paige anyway, right Paige?"
"Hey!" Paige gave Piper a gentle swat.
"Hey, what, it's true," Piper laughed. "And I'm sure when you're ready, Paige can walk you through it," she spoke up, offering Paige's services to Prue. "And the sooner the better, please, since as we can see, almost everything seems to effect all of us now."
"Great, so we're moving on from personal gain consequence to group punishment instead? Can't wait," Paige mocked, sighing.
Phoebe snorted. "Sure gives new meaning to taking the hits all together, doesn't it?"
"Okay, look, fine," Prue relented, her frustration getting the better of her as she tried her best to blow this off. "Can we not have this conversation right now? Let's at least leave it for another time because we have other things to worry about right now. It's just a good thing you guys knew something was wrong and came when you did," she completely turned the direction of the conversation.
"Smooth, Prue." Paige rolled her eyes around playfully, noting how her sister had cleverly maneuvered the discussion away from herself with a little bit of logic.
Prue tried to ignore the passing comment but couldn't resist shooting her a look anyway.
"Yeah. And not a second too soon," Phoebe commented on their convenient arrival. She turned to notice that Lana was missing as well. "Guys, what happened here?" she immediately inquired, complete concern shining through. "Where's Lana?"
"How exactly did it happen?" Paige asserted.
"What does it look like?" Piper snapped with some humor. "I was shot. That's the last time I use my attic to jail a demonic homicidal maniac."
Phoebe smiled. "No," she sighed. "We know that. We mean what happened before you got shot. What did you see?"
"I don't know," Piper straightened herself out. "I was trying to sleep and then I heard some noises from downstairs, but she was already gone before I got up here," she gestured with a wave of her hand towards the empty spot a few feet away from them.
"Which means the darklighter had to be the one who freed her. He got around the crystals somehow, but how?" Prue interjected. She stood with her arms folded, trying to come up with an answer. "And why did he wait around for you if he already got what he came for?"
The sisters shared a look before they heard the loud yell coming from the second floor.
HEY!
It definitely sounded like Billie. It took all four of them about one second to reach the same conclusion. "The kids!" came their simultaneous declarations.
Everyone ran to exit the attic as they descended the stairs in the direction of the bedrooms.
X
The darklighter's orbs reappeared inside of a bedroom found inside the manor.
After looking around, he realized his plan to distract the others had worked. Sleeping in the bed, just a few inches away from him, was one of the children. She was the little girl child that the Triad had managed to successfully kidnap once before. Shooting down the former oldest Charmed One definitely placed all of the remaining family members concentration on saving her life. Which meant he was now free to move forward with his plan to snatch up the children. His steps towards the sleeping child brought him closer to that goal.
It was dark so the approaching darklighter didn't see the small clutter near the bed. As a result, he almost tripped over the pile but he quickly caught his balance on the bed post. He cursed to himself silently, as the careless act managed to make some noise. His eyes darted to the sleeping child. Fortunately, it hadn't been enough to wake her, she merely stirred a bit and then rolled onto her other side. He kept still a few more seconds. However, curse his luck because just as he was about to make his move whoever was passing by on the outside must have heard it.
A voice traveled from behind the door. "Molly, is that you? Are you awake?"
What if the person walked in on what he was about to do?
Instantly, the darklighter knew he would have to alter his plan. He hadn't gotten close enough to the child yet with the stones to ensure protection against the use of any powers she might have. He thought fast. Instead, eyeing the doll that lie beside her, he orbed it out of her grasp and into his waiting hand.
He was about to orb away when the door opened and the person waiting on the other side received the shock of their life.
X
Billie was positive she heard something.
After coming back home, she was so exhausted that she just let herself fall to the bed, her head hitting the pillow. Within a few moments, she was drifting near the edges of a deep sleep. However, that was pretty short-lived when a loud call startled her out of it. She waited a few moments, not sure if it was something she really heard or not, but then thought she heard others in the hall.
Maybe a new spell had gone wrong or something and the others were on it?
To be on the safe side, Billie forced herself out of bed and exited her bedroom. Turning down the hall, her steps taking her in the direction of the attic, she suddenly heard something while passing by a door. She was near to Prue's bedroom. Quickly, Billie made the assumption that Molly might have woken up. It was late. Quietly tiptoeing over to the door, she placed her ear up against the door to listen.
"Molly, is that you? Are you awake?" she called out gently but loud enough to be heard.
However, she suddenly received the shock of her life when she opened the door and it revealed who had been the cause of the disturbance.
"You!" Billie exclaimed in an accusatory manner.
The darklighter sneered.
She recognized him immediately. It was the same darklighter who had taken her and delivered her to Gideon. The same one who had tried to lure JD and was tracking down Lana. Was he back for her? Glancing quickly past him, she took in Molly's sleeping form. It wasn't about to stay that way for long as things were about to get much louder.
"Yup. Me!" the darklighter began advancing on her.
Billie took instinctive steps backwards. "Stay back!" she warned, "Or I'll ..." but she didn't finish after she became distracted.
Casting her gaze downwards, she took notice of what he was doing with one of his hands. He was trying to hide something behind his back. She didn't have much time to contemplate it as the darklighter summoned his crossbow with his remaining free hand. He pointed it directly at her.
"'Or you'll what?" he mocked her, an evil laugh following his words.
"Or I'll have your sorry ass vanquished," she returned his sneer with one of her own, trying to put on a brave front while pushing down the fear she was really feeling at such a vulnerable moment. "All it takes is one scream and the others will come."
"Go ahead. I dare you."
She kept eye contact with him, preparing to use her powers to thwart his attack. Suddenly, she was completely taken aback when he quickly changed target and turned to point the crossbow in Molly's direction. Her sleeping form was starting to stir from all the commotion occurring near the bedroom door.
"HEY!" Billie shouted, waving her hand and sending both him and the crossbow flying backwards across the bedroom.
A dresser in the background broke his fall; however, it completely startled Molly.
"There's more where that come from," Billie threatened, hoping the others finally heard the commotion.
"Mommy!" the child cried out after seeing the dark figure in the room.
The darklighter glanced between the startled child and Billie and made the decision to quickly orb out. Billie turned her attention to Molly.
"Hey," Billie attempted to soothe. "That bad man is gone now, okay?" she took a seat beside Molly on the bed. Soon after, Billie was alerted to the sound of footsteps rounding the corner and then coming into the bedroom.
"Will he come back?" Molly asked just as Prue appeared first, followed closely by Piper and then Phoebe and Paige.
Billie didn't get the chance to answer as Prue grabbed for Molly and held on tightly. The mere idea that her daughter could have been taken again petrified her. She glanced between Billie and the broken pieces of furniture found on the floor.
"What happened?" Prue asked in a panic.
"That darklighter," Billie explained.
"You two okay?" Paige immediately inquired, feeling a little bit out of breath.
"We heard a shout," Phoebe's concern mirrored her sister's.
"Everything's okay, he's gone," Billie tried to calm everyone in the room. "We're fine."
"The darklighter you said?" Paige pushed for confirmation again and Billie nodded.
The men had been behind the women and Andy suddenly rounded the corner with Leo following behind him. In his own state of panic, Andy rushed straight over to Prue, who was standing next to the bed holding Molly close.
"Is she alright?" he asked reaching out to her.
While Prue and Andy were attending to Molly, Piper went over to flick the light switch on and then walked back over in the direction of the debris spread in a pile on the floor. She remained the quietest. Glancing around the room, she stood still with her hands at her sides, remaining completely vigilant for any signs of the darklighter or Lana. "I'm going to go check on Wyatt and Chris," she broke her silence, suddenly craving the confirmation of her own children's safety. "I'll be back." She made her move to exit Prue's bedroom with Leo following.
"Gee-zus," Andy ran his hand over his face, the night's events taking their toll. He let out a deep breath.
Sam had remained in the background. He glanced over at Prue and her family briefly before breaking in with what seemed pretty obvious to everyone left in the room. "That darklighter is still on the loose?" he looked between the two who were his daughters and then over to Phoebe. "It's been kind of quiet on the whitelighter front. We haven't been having as many attacks by the one who was luring us in."
"Well, that's probably because that particular darklighter's focus shifted to us," Paige informed her father. "He's been working with the Triad and coming after us. And apparently the kids too."
Sam stood with his arms crossed. "Sorry to hear that." His voice was laced with genuine concern. "Just be careful. All of you," he offered, looking between Paige and Phoebe. Then his attention turned back in Prue's direction. He observed Molly for a moment and then smiled. "I'm glad she's safe," he offered.
Prue offered an awkward smile. "Thanks."
"And I really wish there was more I could do to help but I really need to be going," Sam quickly changed the focus onto his impending departure. "Of course, don't hesitate to call if you do need me again. For anything." He looked pointedly between Paige and Prue.
The small group watched as Sam was the next to depart from the scene inside of his blue and white orbs.
X
The darkighter orbed back inside of an Underworld lair inhabited by other darklighters.
"Dammit!" he cursed out loud.
This drew the attention of all the other darklighters inside of the cave dwelling. Feeling the mounting frustration of such incredibly bad timing, he took quick strides through the crowd, pushing some aside and out of his way. Others either attempted to move out of his way first or just observed from a safe distance. The child's doll swung back and forth in his hand. He should have at least had the little girl but now he would have to alter his plans on how to get the task done. The Triad would want a report soon.
"Crate?" he hollered for the fair-haired darklighter who usually accompanied him on his missions, including the one to take out the whitelighter JD months ago. However, this mission had been an exception. "I need you now."
Crate turned to address his superior counterpart with a touch of fear mixed in. "Why?" he dared to ask, eyes narrowing.
In a rough manner, the agitated darklighter grabbed Crate by his black collar, pulling him within inches of his own face. "You dare to ask me why?" he gritted through clenched teeth. "I said I need your help and that's all you need to know," he spat. "Any more questions?"
"Like I said," Crate's voice shook. "How can I be of service?"
The darklighter released him from his grip with a hard shove.
"These side missions of yours are starting to draw too much attention, Jarad," Crate warned the other darklighter, discreetly shifting his gaze to his right.
Jarad followed his line of sight to another darklighter who stood close by in the distance, supervising the work of the others who were hard at work building crossbows and manufacturing the poison that would taint the arrows. "And what of it," he arrogantly blew it off.
While keeping a close watch on the others, the darklighter in charge kept an eye on Jarad's interaction with Crate, the absentee darklighter who suddenly made another random reappearance. His eyes narrowed while listening in. He was well aware of the other darklighter's recent dealings with the Triad, as were most darklighters by now, something that had been going down for months. Most of them chose to stay clear of him because of the unnatural power boost he had received for being in league with a Triad member. The rumors about the Triad being in possession of the Vicarian Stones were well known too but to the supervising darklighter, the other darklighter's actions had been called into serious question. Jarad had gone vigilante but not only that. His loyalties had also shifted to the Triad.
"Well, well, well," the supervising darklighter decided to interrupt. He walked over to the two darklighters, his hands behind his back. "Jarad," he addressed the darklighter by his formal name. "So, to what do we owe this honor?" he mocked him openly.
Crate stepped back.
"Stay out of this, Dalihel," Jarad warned the supervising darklighter. "I'm here on business."
"Ah, yes," he continued to mock Jarad. "Now would that be official Triad business?" Dalihel paused momentarily, his features growing even darker. "There's just one problem. I don't see the Triad anywhere around here. Do you?"
Jarad was internally seething at his former comrade's persistence with mocking him. He came here for assistance, and he wasn't leaving until he got it. "Look," he sneered, challenging Dalihel's authority. "I need a place to bring the next generation back to. Just until I can secure their release over to the Triad."
"The next generation?" Crate suddenly questioned, looking to Jarad. "Do you mean the children of the Charmed Ones?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Well then I suggest you take that business elsewhere," Dalihel ordered. "Our only business right now is in bringing down the whitelighters standing in our way. Whitelighters, Jarad, you do remember those don't you?" he mocked a third time, placing his hand underneath his chin and feigning contemplation. "Or has working with the ranks of the Triad gone to your head and our kind isn't good enough for you anymore?"
"I thought you were handling that by killing and taking on that whitelighter's image," Crate interjected. "JD?"
"Change of plans," Jarad threw back at Crate. "It's just temporary," he shifted back at Dalihel. "And then I'll be out of your way in no time."
"We don't need the Charmed Ones coming after us!" Dahilel hollered. "And they will if their magical offspring can be traced back here. The answer is no! Let the Triad be the ones to deal with them and the Ultimate Power."
By this point, their argument had drawn the attention of most of the other darklighters who had stopped working, were listening, and observing the growing conflict around them.
"Yes, and when they finally have it," Jarad took the opportunity to point out regarding the Ultimate Power, "You'll be punished for your insubordination. All of you," he then turned to address all the darklighters as a whole. His shot his glare back at the supervisor. "Now you can either help me secure our place in the Underworld when that time comes, or you can stand here and argue with me about what it means to be a darklighter. Things are changing, Dalihel. Time to accept it."
Crate nervously shifted his attention back to their supervisor.
Jarad reached for the inside of his dark suit and pulled out the Vicarian Stones handed to him by Gideon in order to complete his mission. He slammed them down onto the large working station for them all to get a good look at. "There!" he announced, letting them all know he meant business. "The rumors are true. The Vicarian Stones are real and in the possession of the Triad. Besides, if the rumors are also true about the return of the oldest Charmed One, all of their existing offspring pose a threat as possible future whitelighters."
Crate's eyes widened in disbelief. "They're real?"
"Indeed, they are." Jarad sneered again, waiting for the supervisor's response.
Dahilel opted to keep his cool, remaining in place with his hands still behind his back. His eyes darted between the stones set out before him and then back to making eye contact with Jarad.
"Which is it going to be?" Jarad pushed, refusing to back down.
Dahilel finally decided to give in. "What did you have in mind?" he relented, still less than thrilled with the prospect of making themselves the targets of the Charmed Ones.
"This!" Jarad declared, flashing the doll in full view of everyone.
Using some magical assistance from the stones, he created an opening inside the doll. A red sparkle had appeared, magically pulling the plastic apart. He placed one of the stones inside and then when he was finished the hole magically sealed itself closed.
"We need a magical cage or contraption to hold them. We'll put one stone inside of the cage to draw them into it," Jarad instructed. "And with the right amount of dark magic, we'll use the doll to create a portal to pull them back here."
"Very well. We'll prepare that from our end," Dahilel remarked, grabbing for one of the remaining stones. "But do hurry. My patience is not my strong suit," he warned.
Jarad merely grabbed for the last Vicarian Stone on the workstation and then orbed himself out with the doll in his possession.
Dahilel turned back around to face the others. "Well, what are you all staring at? Get back to work!"
Crate swallowed over the growing lump in his throat.
"You follow me," Dalihel ordered Crate.
X
It was in the early hours of the morning and all the sisters had met up in the kitchen to discuss the events from the night before. In the aftermath, none of them had been able to get much sleep. They knew an impending showdown with the Triad was just around the corner, something none of them were looking forward to. Their other concern was Lana, especially now that she was back in the Underworld.
"Mommy, mommy," they were suddenly interrupted by a voice as Molly ran into the kitchen.
"Oh, Babygirl, what are you doing up, it's too early," Prue wailed, resting her head against her hand. She was feeling the effects of no sleep.
"I can't find Emma." A small pout was set firmly in place and then she began pulling roughly on her mother's arm.
"Molly," Prue protested. "Stop it."
"Help me get her," she began to plead with her mother, jumping up and down on the kitchen floor. "She's lost."
"I'll help you find her later, but right now you're being rude," Prue scolded her daughter. "We're in the middle of a grown-up talk."
Molly folded her arms, putting on a pout.
"Emma?" Paige crinkled her nose, taking a sip from her coffee. "Who's Emma?"
"I need more coffee," Prue grabbed for her empty mug and stood up. She needed it, her eyes felt droopy. Paige was about to say something against it when Prue put up her finger, beating her to the punchline. "Don't say it."
Paige shrugged, turning her attention back to her niece.
Molly was tilting her head at Paige. "Emma is my doll," she threw up her hands, making a face at Paige, responding as if the answer should have been obvious to everyone in the room. In fact, the reaction was so matter of fact that Phoebe had to swallow very quickly so she wouldn't choke on her own coffee.
"And our newest bedtime addition," Prue rolled her eyes, while standing at the counter and pouring her coffee. "I think it's time for Emma to go back to sleeping with her other toy friends," she suggested in a playful manner.
"But she likes the big bed," Molly protested, stretching her arms wide.
"Oh," Paige acknowledged, eyes widened, and head nodding to play along. "I see."
Prue sat back down at the table.
"She went to sleep with me and she's gone."
The most logical conclusion seemed to be that maybe the doll fell off the bed.
Paige placed her cup back down on the table and brought her voice down to a low whisper. "Well, maybe she's just playing hide and seek?" she suggested in a teasing fashion. "Did you check under the bed?"
Molly shook her head. "No! I look."
"Oh. Okay. Well, then I give up, " Paige shrugged. "Sorry kiddo," she teased lightly, bringing herself back up to face her sisters. She made a face which only added to the amusement felt by her other sisters. "Hey. I tried," she threw at them. "One of you do better."
Piper looked between her sisters. "Yeah, well, I think I smell a Wyatt," she cracked. She was more than aware that the two of them had been sparring over toys lately and she assumed it was possible that Wyatt had gotten his hands on the doll somehow.
"Hey, little missy," Phoebe got up from her seat. She picked up her coffee cup and carried it with her. "What do you say that you and I go and check underneath that bed again," she sung in a saccharine voice. "I'm sure she's still waiting for you."
Molly nodded happily.
Phoebe reached out her hand which Molly accepted. She threw an approving look back over her shoulder as the two of them left the kitchen. She needed a break from the seriousness of their discussion anyway. The darklighter, Lana, Gideon and the rest of the Triad would still be waiting for them in a few hours anyway.
"Have fun with that," Prue told her sister.
"Well, unfortunately ladies, there's no fun for me. I need to get going myself. I've got a lot of work waiting for me at the office," Paige informed them. "But, uh, no worries 'cause will figure it all out." She made another face as she thought about her words. "Somehow. Besides, these kitchen meetings are becoming so frequent maybe we should just add them into our day calendars," she got up from her seat.
"I thought these meetings always were," Piper cracked. "Seven years and counting, people."
"More like eight now," Paige thought about it. "For you at least."
"You get my point," Piper delivered back.
Paige smiled and reached across for some of her sister's hair. "Nice. The new highlights suit you. I think they give you more of a 'sister Piper' vibe. 'Mother Piper' was way overdue for a break. Too bossy. Ta-ta," she waved her sister off.
"Ha ha, funny," Piper retorted. "Just give Henry my best. He lives with you."
Prue smiled.
"I heard that," Paige sung over her shoulder, now out of sight.
Actually, Piper was grateful for the slight change too, it made her feel somewhat back to normal again but had been a little weary of doing things like that herself, contemplating the personal gain rule. Even with the best intentions, things of that nature tended to backfire for them with some consequence attached, no matter how small. She had woken up early in the morning, and after looking herself over in the mirror, her assumption had gone straight to Billie. Which meant that some type of spell had to have been cast overnight. Hey, it saved her a trip to a salon.
Prue sighed. "And then there were two?" she made a face, referring to themselves.
"Yup. I guess I'll go upstairs and start to work on finding them," Piper offered, referring to the Book of Shadows and scrying to get a possible location. She got up and brought empty bowls to the sink. "Care to be of any help?" She began rinsing a bowl.
"Yeah, sure. I'll be up in a minute."
Piper turned around to face Prue. It was an answer but a distant one. Piper knew the tone. Her sister was distracted, which meant something else was bothering her. She had two other sisters she was used to dealing with over the last five years and Prue really hadn't changed all that much either. She recognized the signs.
"Okay, spill it, sister," Piper went for it. "What's on your mind?" The clean cup was placed inside the dish rack, and she made her way back over to the table to take a seat again. This time she was facing her sister directly. "And don't deny it, you've been a little distant all morning."
Prue sighed. She took her spoon and moved it around her cereal bowl causing the milky liquid to swirl around. "I'm not denying it. I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to handle it."
Piper took a moment to think. "Prue, if it's about going up against the Triad, we'll make sure you're ready," she hazarded a best guess.
"No, it's not that," she denied. "I can handle the demons." There was a brief pause. "Unlike somebody else."
Piper nodded silently and understood what her sister was getting at. "It has to do with Andy." She paused to think. "So, I guess he got pretty freaked out about last night, huh?"
"Yeah, but it's more like he's just freaked out period. About everything and I just don't know what else to say because I can't make him stay if he doesn't want to."
"Wait, he said he wants to leave you?" Piper was surprised.
"No, not exactly. Just more like the more distance he puts between us, the better off it'll be for him type of thing." She made a face.
"Well, Prue, maybe some space isn't such a bad thing," came the suggestion.
"Actually, it's not like I have much of a choice, Piper. He said that's what he wants to do. It's what he's going to do. He needs the time and space and I just get to wait around until he decides otherwise." Prue began to fiddle with her coffee.
"Righttt," Piper drawled out, "I get it, but just let it be and then hope for the best," she offered. "I mean, Leo and I actually parted ways a few times until we finally got it right," she shared. "And we both knew what we were getting into."
"Meaning?" Prue narrowed her eyes a bit.
"Meaning, I think Andy will eventually come around but the magical world effects everyone differently," Piper tried her best to offer support. "He quite literally got thrown back into all this without much of a say. Can't be that easy."
Prue shot her sister a glare. "Thanks for the guilt trip."
"Prue," Piper laughed, "that's not what I'm trying to do, and I don't mean to make you feel bad but it's just the truth. Andy came back married to a witch. His daughter, or rather, daughters," she stressed, correcting herself, "are witches too and he has a lot to process. It's a pretty dangerous world to be caught up in just by choice let alone when there's no choice involved whatsoever. He needs some time to adjust. If you force it, it might just push him away more."
"Right," Prue sighed, "and all I keep flashing back to is Victor walking out the front door all over again and never coming back," she covered her face with her hands.
"Prue," Piper asserted, "Dad carries a lot of regret. You already know that, but he's also done so much to make up for it. Besides, it's not the same thing."
"Oh yeah," Prue challenged her sister, "and why shouldn't history repeat itself? Especially in this family."
Piper moved to get up. "Because Andy's not Dad."
There was silence.
"Oh, I don't know," Prue suddenly plastered on a fake smile. "Maybe I'll just go plunge myself head-first into the San Francisco Bay. If I just give into my old fear of drowning, Gideon and the rest of the Triad won't even be able to find me. It can save Barbas the extra trouble too if he ever decides to come after us again."
"Hey, not funny," Piper scolded lightly. "You already conquered that fear and, besides, it wouldn't make Andy or your children any safer to find you floating around like a frozen popsicle. Now we love you and we're here if you need anything," she stressed. "So, stop with the self-loathing already and meet me up in the attic. Contrary to what your stubborn self may like to believe, you're not all alone in this."
"Tell that to Andy," Prue sighed, getting up from her own chair.
Piper headed in the direction of the dining room. "Okay, do we need to get Coop in on this?" she shot over her shoulder in a teasing fashion.
A puzzled expression washed over Prue's features. "Why? What does that mean?"
An amused laugh flowed from Piper. "Well, go ask Paige. She can tell you all about it," she was recalling Paige and Henry's own marital intervention not that long ago.
Prue followed her sister still not fully understanding.
X
Andy sat at his office desk, going back and forth between staring into the empty space ahead of him and reading from the same folder which sat open on his desk for the last thirty minutes. He tried but just couldn't fully concentrate. He had too much on his mind, starting with things on the home front.
"Inspector?" a voice called out to him.
Andy was pulled away from his distraction. "Yeah, what's up?"
"There's someone looking for you."
"Who?" he inquired, looking around.
"The woman over there," the other officer informed him, nodding in the direction of an attractive woman waiting close by the door. "Quite a looker too," the man whistled, admiring her figure. "She was waiting by your desk earlier while you were in a meeting with the captain. Must have decided to come back."
Recognition filled Andy's eyes. "Ah, thank you, Simon."
"You know her?" the other officer's curiosity got the better of him.
When Andy made eye contact and locked stares with the woman, she smiled wide in his direction. "Uh, yeah, we know each other," he cleared his throat.
Simon smiled, looking back over. "Well, if doesn't work out, let me know will ya?" he cracked.
"Thanks, Simon, that'll be all," Andy remarked uneasily.
The other officer walked away, taking an occasional glance backwards.
Andy got up from out of his chair and approached the woman.
"Andy," the woman greeted with a smile. "Long time."
"Susan," he smiled in return, surprised to be seeing her. "How are you? It's good to see you again." He immediately bent over to kiss the side of her cheek but in a friendly platonic fashion. "What brings you here?"
She laughed lightly. "Well, I heard you were back in town and thought I'd drop by to see an old friend," she answered, reaching out and brushing the tips of her fingers down his sleeve.
He was a little taken back by the obvious flirtation but tried to ignore it. "Uh, back?" he questioned, pulling back a little and feeling momentarily confused.
"Yes, if I recall, didn't you transfer to New York some years back?"
Right. The made-up history, Andy reminded himself.
"With your girlfriend, or fiancé ..." she played dumb for the briefest of moments.
"My wife," he corrected. "Prue and I are married now. Almost six years."
"Ah, yes, Prue," she feigned a smile. "Well, I guess congratulations are in order. It's lasted longer than our marriage."
"Thanks," Andy attempted a smile but the personal nature of the exchange was starting to feel a bit awkward.
"So, how is she?" It was a question born out of common courtesy, not real interest. "Our one and only meeting wasn't exactly the most ideal," she laughed, recalling the incident at Quake years back when Prue happened upon them during a lunch together.
"Good," he replied vaguely, breaking eye contact.
Susan picked up on the strain in his face and voice. "Good," she repeated. "So, how does the east coast fare from the west coast?" she inquired after a brief pause. "You must have been pretty homesick if you decided to venture back this way," she laughed.
"No. Just a job transfer. Plus, Prue gets to be closer to her family," he shared.
"Wow, they must be pretty close."
"You have no idea," he laughed through gritted teeth, knowing full well that he'd be the only one to fully understand the meaning behind that. He sighed. "Look, Susan, not that it's not great to see you again, but I do really need to be getting back to work," he attempted to break off the short reunion. "It was nice of you to stop by."
"Oh, of course, I don't mean to keep you," she accepted in a sweet tone. "Maybe we can do dinner sometime?" she suggested in a very forward manner. "We can get reacquainted." When she caught his expression, she laughed. "Just a friendly dinner of course," she tried to pacify him. "Between old friends."
"Maybe," he accepted, not completely comfortable with the offer.
Susan leaned in, kissing the side of his cheek, inches away from his lips. He closed his eyes. "See you later," she pulled back.
"Bye," he pulled back on reflex, waving her off. He knocked into the man walking behind him, almost tripping over him. "Sorry about that," he quickly offered to the man whose files went flying everywhere.
"Yeah, thanks," the annoyed response followed from the other man as he bent down to retrieve the pile of papers and folders strewn everywhere.
Andy covered up the embarrassing encounter with a nervous laugh and darted back to his desk.
Completely amused by the encounter, Susan Trudeau flashed one last warm smile and then turned around to exit through the doors.
X
The darklighter orbed into the first floor of the manor, careful to remain undetected by anyone who may be inside the house. He glanced around the living room area, trying to figure out the best place to leave the doll. It had to be somewhere the adults wouldn't find it first but where the kids could get to it easily. However, his moment to decide was short-lived as he heard the front door opening.
"Hello? Prue, Piper? Anyone home?" a woman's voice called out.
Damn, the darklighter cursed.
Quickly, Jarad's eyes scanned the lay out for a place to temporarily stash the doll. He chanted over the doll, infusing the dark magic necessary to affect the children but not the adults should they come into contact with it. Glancing over at the grandfather clock, he decided he could just hide it inside there and then come back. Opening the clock door, he deposited the doll but before he could shut it, he was forced to orb out as the woman turned the corner and just missed catching him.
"Hello?" Paige called out. "Weird, swear I heard something in here," she muttered to herself. "Oh well," she shook it off. "Piper?" she tried again.
Taking a quick glance around, she was about to turn and leave but then her eyes landed on the open door to the front of the grandfather clock. That was odd. She walked over to close it but when she got there, she was greeted by a surprising discovery. Hidden inside the grandfather clock was Molly's doll Emma.
Paige reached inside for it and pulled it out. "Well, I'll be darned, there you are, you elusive little imp," she held the doll out in front of her, talking to it. "Wyatt put you in there, huh?" she mused, narrowing her eyes.
Walking back into the foyer, she placed the doll on the table stand and then made her way for the kitchen. As she left, the doll suddenly came to life. The eyes of the doll turned and followed the movement of Paige. When she was out of sight, Emma Doll removed herself from the table stand by hopping off and falling to the floor. The two tiny plastic legs made a fast dash for the stairs leading to the second floor.
After a few minutes had passed, Paige returned with a bowl of cereal in hand. It was her lunch break and she decided to go with something simple and fast before heading back to the office.
"Okay, Emma, it's you and me ..." but her line of thought trailed off after she came back to where she had left the doll. Her eyes widened when she saw no doll, and she immediately began checking her entire surroundings. "Hey, what the ..."
Did the doll fall under the table stand?
Nope not there.
Did the doll slide somewhere on the floor?
Nope nowhere in sight.
Was she going crazy? She hadn't taken the doll to the kitchen with her. She headed back to the kitchen in a hurry to check it out.
Nope not there either.
She ran back into the living room to check the clock. Nope, Emma wasn't back there.
"Okay, Paige, this is nuts; you are officially sleep deprived if you're seeing dolls that aren't even there," she told herself, shaking her head in disbelief before deciding to orb upstairs.
X
Piper sat inside of the attic, Billie close by her side. Prue had taken a break to go and check on the kids, so a deafening silence now covered the space between them. Earlier, Prue and Piper had walked in on Billie already in the attic. She had been thumbing through the Book of Shadows, contemplating how she would break ground with the others.
Piper finally decided to open up. "You know, almighty blond one," she cracked "my hair thanks you lots, but that still doesn't get you completely out of the doghouse," she informed her. "But it's a start," she quickly amended light-heartedly.
Billie's face broke with a smirk as she closed the Book of Shadows on her lap. She had been examining the book and collecting any new spells or potions that would be helpful in protecting the manor against sudden demon or darklighter attacks, especially since it appeared as if the crystals wouldn't be completely effective on their own anymore.
Piper sat at the table, using the scrying tools to try and locate a place where Gideon and the Triad could be shielding themselves.
"I know. And I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to walk out on you guys, it's just that I thought I was helping. I guess I won't do it alone next time. I mean, I know it's safer to come to you guys first."
"Mm. Uh-huh," Piper murmured, without taking her eyes off of the scrying she was still in the middle of doing. "Well, easier said than done, right? But you're forgiven. For now," she teased.
Billie's smile widened. "Thanks."
The moment was interrupted with the appearance of Paige's orbs. She stepped out of them and into the interaction taking place between Piper and Billie.
"Hey, there," Paige greeted.
"Hey, yourself," Piper greeted in return without breaking her concentration.
"Know where Leo is by any chance?" Paige inquired.
"At magic school. Where else. Why?" Piper asked in a distracted manner.
"Well, for one, maybe he can use some of the magic from there to keep that stupid doll in one place," she cracked, rolling her eyes in the process.
"Why, you found it?" Piper glanced over at her. "Because Phoebe had no luck with it this morning."
"It was hidden inside of the grandfather clock, if you can believe that," Paige informed them. "I found the door left wide open."
This even caught Billie's attention. "That's a weird place for it to be. Wyatt thought of that place all by himself?" she asked with skepticism.
"No, what's weird is that I placed it down on the table stand and left for a second and when I came back to get it, the silly thing was gone. Again."
Piper's brows arched in disbelief. "It was gone?"
"That's what I said," Paige reinforced. "I looked and couldn't find it anywhere. Had me questioning my sanity for a bit."
Piper shot Paige an amused look next. "Okay, well Paige, it couldn't have just gotten up and walked off by itself."
"Really?" Paige squinted her eyes. "Because in this house, one can never be too sure," she retorted.
Suddenly, a shuffling sound grabbed the attention of everyone in the attic.
"Did you guys hear that?" Piper shared a look with Billie and Paige, then began moving her head in search of anything.
"Yeah, old manor, house settling," Paige shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal. "And?"
"Nah, that sounded different," Piper countered.
"Mice again?" Billie winced.
"Nooo, bite your tongue," Piper shot down immediately. "We're still trying to make a financial come back after that last extermination bill from the Rat-Man vanquish," she shuddered, recalling the pesky consequence that accompanied that particular demon.
"Hey, it's your own fault," Paige jokingly scolded. "Nobody told you to put out those cheese traps to lure the demon in the first place."
"Hush," Piper threw up a finger, "it was either that or a trip into that Underworld sewer that neither you nor Phoebe were too keen on, if I remember correctly," she reminded her sister. It had been right after the Ultimate Battle. Following that one vanquish, things then stayed pretty quiet on the demon front, that was until very recently with the revelation of the Ultimate Power.
The tiny doll made a quick dash across the floor, careful not to be seen, and then hid behind the attic couch. Taking a peek around the side, it smiled as the confused faces looked around some more, searching for the source of the disturbance. Taking note that none of its intended targets were present in the room, the doll quietly made its way back to exit the door. Then, after hearing movement coming from below the stairs, it suddenly dropped lifeless on one of the steps.
Inside the attic, the three women shook off their jitters, resuming their previous discussion.
"Actually, never mind the stupid doll. I needed Leo for something else. I think I just got a new charge today that came through social services," Paige informed them. "He's a kid, around twelve, an orphan. No other relatives. I was hoping maybe there would be some possible way that we could get him into the magic school?" she shrugged.
"How?" Billie asked the obvious question. "Without social services finding out?"
"Yeah, I don't think that's going to work, Paige," Piper agreed. "But you can still talk to Leo about it. Maybe he has some ideas."
"I'd like to come up with something because I don't think it's a good idea to let this kid be shuffled through a ton of foster homes without any proper magical guidance whatsoever," she shared her concerns.
"Maybe they can find him adoptive parents who are magical," Billie half-joked, shrugging her shoulders in the air.
Paige narrowed her eyes in at Billie playfully. "Not helpful. Maybe someone should be in class right now and staying out of trouble for a change."
"Day off," Billie quickly lied in her defense. She immediately turned her attention back to the Book of Shadows, flipping it to the first page it opened to.
"Doubt it," Paige arched her brows not really believing a word of it.
The three women were now alerted to the presence of another as Phoebe waltzed in through the attic door. Taking her designer jacket off and throwing it over an antic chair, her smile widened, and she offered her greeting.
"Hey you guys."
"Hey," they all greeted back one by one.
"On my lunch break," Phoebe shared, "just thought I'd stop by and see what two of my favorite sisters were up to."
Nobody answered back.
Awkward silence ensued as Phoebe stood waiting for an answer, looking back and forth between everybody in the attic. Billie had her nose in the Book of Shadows, Piper continued to scry, and Paige appeared lost in deep thought.
"So," Phoebe tried again. "What are you up to?"
"Sorry, what was that?" Piper glanced over at her, taking a break on the scrying.
Phoebe closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Nothing, never mind," she began walking towards them. "Just more in the lifestyles of the not so rich and magical, I see? Oh, wasn't that Molly's doll on the stairs?" she decided to ask, pointing over her shoulder. "I can't believe you guys found it; I looked everywhere this morning."
Paige made a face. "Uh, we didn't," she stressed. "I thought I did though," she looked baffled. "But the last time I saw the thing, it was supposed to be downstairs. And then it was gone."
"Gone?" Phoebe interrogated.
"Yes!"
"What do you mean by gone?"
"I mean, gone. "Like, poof! Abracadabra!" Paige became quite dramatic, using her arm to imitate her words. "That type of disappearing act."
"Well, Paige, my vision may not be what it used to be but that was definitely a doll I saw sitting on the stairs," Phoebe laughed.
"Well, my vision is just fine," Paige threw back, "and I'm telling you it was downstairs so how is it upstairs?"
Phoebe couldn't help but be amused. "Okay, well Paige, it certainly didn't just get up and then walk up here by itself."
"And is that so out of the realm of possibility in this house?" Paige reinforced yet again.
Phoebe thought about it. "No, I guess not, but that would require magic. Did any of you guys cast a spell to try and find it?"
"That would be some serious magical backfire," Billie mused. "Did you say the attic staircase? I didn't see it earlier, must have missed it."
Phoebe shrugged. "It's there."
"Okay everybody, look, so maybe Prue tried a spell or something," Piper surmised. "Let's just put an end to the mystery of the voodoo doll once and for all so we can get on with what matters," she rolled her eyes, getting herself up to move and check it out.
"Actually, I'd say not likely," Phoebe shook her head in reference to Prue. "Magic, any magic, is probably the last thing on Prue's mind right now."
Piper stopped. "Why, what do you mean?"
"She's actually downstairs in the kitchen," Phoebe shared. "With Andy. Having another argument. He must have decided to take a lunch break too."
"Oh, great timing." Piper exclaimed on her way out the door. "Right in the middle of demon-duty detail," she vented over her shoulder.
"Yep," Phoebe nodded. "Now you know why I'm standing up here and not down there."
"Great, must have just missed the fireworks," Paige sighed. She hadn't encountered Prue nor Andy while in the kitchen before coming up here.
When Piper came back into the attic, she was empty-handed but sent Phoebe a strange look instead.
"What?" Phoebe threw her a confused look back.
"Answer me something. Are you and Paige feeling okay today?"
Phoebe and Paige shared a look.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Phoebe took slight offense.
Piper smirked. "I mean, there's nothing there."
"What? Yes, there is," Phoebe protested, waving her arm in the direction of the attic door. "I almost tripped over the darn thing, nearly twisted my ankle too."
"No," Piper shook her head. "Go ahead and see for yourself."
Phoebe made quick strides for the attic stairs while Piper and Billie shared a look of their own.
"Piper, that's so not funny, okay," Phoebe moaned coming back inside the attic. "Not after the week I've been having."
Piper's eyes widened. "Wait, what did I do?"
"I'm telling you the doll was there," Phoebe insisted.
"Well, don't look at me, I didn't take it," Piper laughed, slightly amused by the underlying accusation but she also felt a twinge of unease now regarding the situation.
"See, I told you, Paige isn't sounding so crazy after all, now is she?" Paige threw back at Phoebe. "I'm telling you, that doll was downstairs."
Phoebe just shook her head. "Okay, look Piper, whatever you say. But you're the one who's living under the same roof with Molly who's going to continue to whine on and on about that doll so god speed," she saluted her.
"Hey, I said I didn't ..." Piper began but was cut off by Paige.
"Wait, forget the doll a minute, back to all this talk about Prue and Andy fighting again?" Paige narrowed her eyes playfully after turning the topic back to Phoebe's earlier announcement. "Maybe it's time we think about some sisterly intervention."
Piper's eyes widened with that predictable suggestion coming from her. "Paige, no, don't even think about it," she warned. "Absolutely not," she declined.
"Hey, you didn't even hear my idea out," she pretended to be offended, standing with her hands against her hips.
"Paige, we don't need to hear your idea out," Phoebe jumped into the mix with a light laugh. "Meddling is meddling, period. And I have all the experience in the world to prove it, with your sisterly interventions."
"Well, someone else might actually appreciate it, thank you very much," Paige shot back playfully before orbing out.
"Uh, Paige, wait ... " but Piper's protests were only met with the sight of her orbs disappearing in front of them. She closed her eyes and opened them back up before sharing a look with Phoebe. "Prue's going to kill her!" Piper cracked with a tight smile that she shared with Phoebe.
"Let her live and learn I say," came Phoebe's comeback.
Piper, Phoebe, and Billie all shared amused looks before resuming what they had been doing prior to the discussion. Phoebe jumped into help for a little bit before having to return back to work.
X
The doorbell rang sometime later in the evening.
Prue exited the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream in hand. She and Piper had been sharing a carton from the fridge. "Expecting anybody?" she called out, leaving the bowl on the dining room table.
"No," Piper answered, following behind but keeping a bit of distance in the background as Prue went to answer the door. "Not this late."
"Well, the good news," Prue threw back at her sister, "I don't think the demons use doorbells."
"Not yet you mean," Piper retorted.
Prue smirked, opening the door.
A woman smiled.
"Uh, hi," Prue stammered. "Can I help you?" The woman looked familiar, and she was trying to place her face.
"Yes, actually, I believe you can," the woman nodded, "is Andrew home by any chance?"
Prue arched her brows. "Andrew?" she repeated. "You mean Andy?"
"Yes," she gave Prue a strange look. "Of course."
"And you would be?" Prue narrowed her eyes, questioning the woman's business. Oh, wait, that was it. She suddenly recalled Andy's first wife. This other woman reminded her of his ex.
"Oh, yes, how rude of me." The other woman immediately extended her hand. "I'm Susan Trudeau," she confirmed Prue's suspicions. "His wife." Susan caught Prue's reaction and look of distaste to how she introduced herself and quickly decided to amend it. "Or rather, his ex-wife," she made it a point to laugh about it. "Sorry. I think we actually met once before; do you not remember?" she pushed.
Prue looked back over her shoulder to share a quick look with her sister.
Piper took a few steps to get closer.
Taking note of Susan's attire, Prue scanned the very form-fitting evening dress intended to show off her figure. Why she felt it was necessary to show up to her house in that, this late in the evening, to rendezvous with her husband, was beyond her but it suddenly made Prue feel inadequate regarding her own appearance. Looking down at herself, here she was nearly five months pregnant, hiding her own expanding figure under loose garments.
"Then again, we didn't really get that acquainted, did we?" Susan offered up.
"Right, Susan," Prue forced herself to smile, reaching for her hand. "Sorry. Andy's not home right now."
Piper cleared her throat, looking down.
Prue glanced over at her sister then shot her attention back to Susan. She had made it a deliberate point to stress the use of Andy rather than Andrew. Nobody who knew him well ever called him that.
"Oh, really?" Susan questioned. "They said he left the station hours ago and I just assumed that was his car parked out front."
"Oh, it is, but like I said, he's just not home," Prue reinforced. "But I'll let him know you stopped by." She made a quick attempt to shut the door to get rid of the other woman until she heard and felt the protest.
"Oh, but wait, it's nothing like that," Susan put her hand out to stop the door from closing in her face.
"Nothing like what?" Prue opted on playing dumb with Susan. She didn't want to get into this and just wanted to be done with the encounter.
"Uh, Prue?" Piper tried to grab her sister's attention; arms folded.
Susan made a bold move to step inside of the doorway and Prue was forced to take a few steps back. "I just wanted to return this to him," she reached inside her bag. "He forgot it earlier when we met," she reached over to hand Prue his wallet.
"I'm sorry," Prue shook her head. "When you met?" she questioned, taking the wallet from her.
"Oh boy," Piper muttered to herself, watching the exchange closely. She felt the growing tension and worried if Prue would be able to control her powers if this exchange continued in the direction it appeared it was going. The last thing they needed was a scene with Prue tapping into a power she had very little experience with. They were all still getting used to this new Ultimate Power boost.
"Yes, today, at the precinct, we had a wonderful chat," she bragged, batting her eyelashes.
"Huh," Prue huffed and nodded. "Really?"
"Susan, hey," Piper made the decision to interject, plastering on a smile full of fakeness. "Why don't you come in and have a seat, Andy could be home any second now," she laughed, throwing Prue another one of her looks.
Prue's eyes widened in annoyance.
"Well, thank you, I appreciate that," Susan accepted, moving further into the manor and taking steps past Piper.
With Susan's back to her, Prue threw up her arms signaling for an answer from Piper on what the hell she was doing. Piper waved her sister down.
Susan turned back around to face the sisters. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name?"
"Piper, Prue's sister."
"Nice to meet you, Piper," Susan nodded.
"Uh, Piper?" Prue was about ready to lay into her sister.
"Living room is that way," Piper directed, ignoring her sister's protest.
Susan entered the living room and began observing the entire layout.
The sisters followed behind Susan and Prue took advantage of Susan's momentary distraction to rip into her sister. "What are you doing?" she glared, hissing underneath her breath. "I want to get rid of her," she mouthed the rest.
Piper nudged Prue's side and then Prue nudged back.
"Your home is beautiful," Susan swooned. "Different."
Piper nodded. "Different is definitely how I'd choose to describe it," she laughed through some clenched teeth, thinking of the shock this other woman would most certainly encounter if a demon decided to attack in the manor at this very instant.
A small doll caught Susan's attention next. It was sitting on a love seat. Picking it up, she decided to comment on it. "Cute doll."
With their attention now drawn to the doll, both Prue and Piper found themselves perplexed. They didn't recall the doll being there earlier.
"You found the doll?" Prue gritted through her teeth.
"Nope, we thought maybe you did," Piper gritted back.
"Definitely not."
Susan sighed, placing the doll back down. "So, you have kids?"
"Yep, sure do," Piper answered.
"Andrew and I talked about having kids," Susan laughed, taking an uninvited stroll down memory lane. "It was just never the right time for us, I guess. Actually, our marriage probably would have lasted a lot longer if we had made more time for one another," she shared. "We were both so focused on other things. Makes one wonder what could have been, you know?"
"No, not really," Prue refuted. "I try not to live too much in the past."
"Hm, interesting," Susan observed Prue.
"What?" Prue shrugged with indifference.
"That you and Andrew ever hit it off," Susan remarked, tilting her head a bit to the side. "You seem so ... different. Detached and in control while I can absolutely recall his sentimentality and desire to be unrestrained. You know ... "
"Listen, with all due respect, I don't need you to tell me about myself or my husband," Prue cut her off, her impatience taking over.
"Of course, and I meant no disrespect," Susan brought her hand to her chest, presenting herself as misunderstood. "And you know what they say, opposites do attract."
Piper rolled her eyes, maybe this hadn't been the best idea.
"Yeah, so they say," Prue played along.
Susan took a seat on the couch. "So," she sighed, crossing one leg over the other, "I guess we need something to talk about until Andrew comes back. How many children do you have?" she looked between the sisters.
Neither sister answered.
"What are their names?" Susan plastered on another smile, faking idle chit chat and being friendly.
Oh, hell no, Piper wasn't doing this. "Okay ..." she turned to look at her sister. "Prue? Want to come help me with something in the kitchen?" she nodded her head towards the living room exit, hoping her sister would follow her cue.
Meanwhile, Prue was barely resisting the urge to hurl something at the woman and, well, Piper, couldn't really blame her. The empathetic connection was transmitting all of her sister's very strong mix of emotions and they were all over the place. The truth be known, Piper was resisting her own urge to tell Susan off for her obvious attempts to get under Prue's skin.
"Excuse us," Prue moved to follow Piper but they were stopped in their tracks.
"I forgot but I also wanted to confirm our dinner date," Susan threw out, moving to halt the departure.
"Forgot?" Prue parroted, making a face.
"Yes, our day and time," Susan pulled out a compact mirror from her bag and began reapplying lipstick.
"Something wrong with your phone?" Prue shook her head and purposely shot her a sneer. The absurdity that this required a house visit.
Piper closed her eyes.
Susan glared but then quickly covered it up. "It's just to get reacquainted. He didn't tell you about it?" she feigned in complete innocence.
Prue was trying hard to squash the desire to tap into her powers. She was this close to throwing Susan out a window if she didn't get rid of her soon. She was so not in the mood for this tonight. Could always just blame it on the hormones, right? The temptation was short-lived.
"No, it must have slipped his mind," Prue sighed, her arms crossing in a defensive stance while forcing herself to remain calm. "Was there anything else, Susan?"
Piper glanced side-ways at her sister.
"Of course, you're welcome to attend too," she suddenly extended an invitation to Prue, as if she were doing her some big favor by asking her along.
Prue glared. "Gee, thanks."
Susan attempted to clear her throat, then coughed. "Unless perhaps you'd like to hold off on the dinner invitation for another time. If it's a bad time? There's no rush."
"Probably," Prue confirmed.
The next remark broke all of Prue's wavering restraint. "Forgive me," Susan squinted her eyes, focusing on Prue's midsection, "but you do appear to have put on more weight since the last time we met, no?" she remarked. "Is everything ok?"
Prue's eyes immediately bulged, her hands flying up into the air. Piper sensed exactly what was about to happen and reacted instantly. She grabbed for her sister's arms, thrusting them back down.
"Okay," Piper laughed to cover over the reaction. "Wow, look at the time, time to go," she approached Susan, pulling her from the chair, and then began pushing her in the direction of the front door.
"But ..." Susan attempted to argue but it didn't deter Piper.
"We'll tell Andy you stopped by," Piper jumped in.
"Well ... " Susan stammered as she was thrust out the front door.
"Bye-bye now," came Piper's parting remarks in spite of the protests. "Thanks for coming."
After slamming the door behind her, the fake smile fell, and Piper turned around. "Dinner date? That must have been some chat," she delivered sarcastically. Next, she gave her sister a stern look. "Are you crazy?" she admonished, walking back towards Prue. "You can't just blow up the ex-wife, what are you, nuts?!" she scolded in typical Piper fashion.
"Oh yeah, watch me," Prue retorted, advancing in the direction of the front door but was blocked by Piper.
"Prue, no, stop. Take a second and calm down," she instructed.
"Piper, this is me being calm," Prue countered. "Otherwise, she'd be flat on her ass right now."
"Ok, granted, she's someone I wouldn't mind going a few magical rounds with myself but that's not what our powers are for. You know that," Piper stressed. "Right?" she began rubbing her hands together.
"What I know is there is no way that she-devil mistook me for being fatter," Prue complained.
"No, I'm sure she knew you were pregnant," Piper laughed, "but, Prue, she just sounds jealous, that's all; you heard the same pathetic rantings I did."
"She was sticking it to me on purpose and I don't buy her story for one second," Prue argued.
"Still, we can't blow up witchy ex-wives."
"Witchy?" Prue's brows shot up.
"No pun intended," Piper amended on quick reflection. "I was just trying to be polite," she cracked. "Substitute the W for a B and we both know what I really mean."
"Well, no arguments there," Prue crossed her arms.
"Besides," Piper sighed, "if we could blow up mortals just because we found them annoying there would probably be hardly anyone left in the world."
"Piper, why did you invite her into the house?" Prue interrogated.
Piper shot her sister an incredulous look. "Uh, let's see, because if I hadn't intervened, Susan was mere seconds away from being invited into the afterlife on our front doorstep," Piper couldn't help but laugh before turning a little more serious. "By the way, try having that discussion with Andy and see how far your marriage gets. He's already struggling to come to terms with our way of life and being in it, remember?"
"Yeah, well, now I'm stuck questioning how far our marriage is going to get at all with her back in the picture and Andy wanting a normal life," Prue couldn't help but share her concerns.
"Andy and Susan? Don't be ridiculous," Piper shot the idea down.
"Andy didn't mention to me at all that he ran into her today," she shared in all seriousness.
Piper sighed, understanding how her sister's fears could possibly be founded. "Prue, I'm sure it's nothing," she tried offering some reassurance. "Susan probably exaggerated," she rolled her eyes. "To get to you. Don't let her."
"I don't know," Prue shook her head, still uncertain.
"Well, if you're really that worried about it just ask him."
While listening to her sister, Prue reached out for the ice cream bowl left on the table and headed back towards the kitchen.
Piper followed.
"And ask him what exactly?" Prue retorted. "If he's still got a thing for his ex, the same one he met in secret today? Which, by the way, he conveniently forgot to mention," she vented. "Ask why she's showing up on our front doorstep with his wallet and invitations to have dinner with her?"
"And ask why you lied in the first place when you knew Andy was home?" Piper couldn't help but throw in there.
"Piper?" Prue wasn't in the mood for a mini lecture over the situation.
"What, I'm just saying," Piper laughed, "you could have had Andy come down and maybe gotten the whole thing cleared up. Actually, that was what I intended to get you to do, if she would have stopped talking long enough for us to make it an inch out of that living room," she made a face over it. "But, more importantly, why have Andy find out you lied about it when they run into each other again?"
Prue didn't say anything.
"Okay, okay, I get it," Piper relented. "Well, she's certainly not subtle, is she?" she cracked, thinking about how this Susan could potentially spell trouble, especially with the fragile state of Prue and Andy's relationship right now. She wasn't going to voice that to Prue though.
Prue rinsed the bowl and discarded it in the sink. "No," she answered Piper, turning back around and leaning against the sink. "And why do I have this sinking feeling that won't be the last I see of her either."
"Because she's persistent," Piper was straight to the point. "And annoying."
"Annoying? Try psychotic. In that perky kind of way," Prue described. "Which is even more fake than that horrible implant job."
Piper laughed. "Wait a minute, are you saying you noticed she had a boob job?"
"Ew, quick glance, I didn't stare," Prue clarified.
"Okay," Piper nodded, letting it go.
"I'm off to bed, I'm exhausted and I'm sure Andy's already asleep by now," Prue yawned, finally giving into the exhaustion she felt. While walking past her sister, she reached out to hug and kiss her. "Love you. See you in the morning."
"Night," Piper threw back, sighing. Left alone in the kitchen by herself, she was contemplating the compiling list of issues they were all facing in their personal and magical lives.
X
After daybreak, Paige had gotten up early, at the crack of dawn, intent on heading out so she could follow Coop until he agreed to do what she had requested from him the other day. He was still hesitant about giving in to assist, so she decided the extra push was necessary.
"Paige, you do know I'm on assignment here," he informed her as she continued to follow him around after orbing into his location.
"Just say the right words and I'll be gone," Paige mused with a smile.
Coop stood on a busy street, following a young man on his way to work. Every day, the young man would stop and watch the young woman with the curly red hair from across the distance. Each morning, she would grab a coffee from a local cafe. The funny part of the whole story was that the two of them worked at the same place. The young man just never gathered up enough courage to walk over and ask her out.
Coop walked a little closer and Paige trailed behind.
"Who are they?" Paige whispered over to him, as she stared across the way.
"Just two people who are perfect for each other but need a little push and the right amount of inspiration to get things moving," Coop relayed to her, lifting his ring up. The red light suddenly enveloped him, and Paige too, who had latched on. The light carried them to the young man.
"Paige?" he admonished, finding her there beside him. "You can't keep doing this."
"What? Can anyone see me?" she glanced around nervously. "Can he see me?" she suddenly shot her attention in the young man's direction. She waved her hand in front of his face.
Coop reached out and grabbed her arm. "No, he can't see you. But you don't belong here with me while I'm working."
"C'mon, Coop" she pleaded. "I need your help on this one. If you can inspire two people that don't even know each other yet, then the least you can do is offer a little bit of that inspiration to two people we do know. And, uh, might I remind you people who incidentally are family!" she stressed. "People who will soon be your family too."
"Paige, I can't interfere with Prue and Andy's marriage," he stated firmly. "You know that because I already told you the same exact thing yesterday when you came to me and wouldn't take no for an answer."
"Yeah, that's because no is the wrong answer," she hissed in whisper. "You helped me with Henry when we were having newlywed issues," she pointed out to him.
"That's because I had your permission to do it!"
"So, then we get permission. No biggie," she argued back. "C'mon. There has to be something you can do," she begged.
Coop sighed, giving up on the relentless debate. "Fine," he relented. "Get both Prue and Andy," he stressed that it had to be both of them, "to be willing to sit down with me, and then there might be something I can do to help. Or, at least, based on what you've told me their issues seem to be."
Paige began jumping up and down. "Thank you, you're the best," she declared triumphantly. Then she reached over and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Yeah, now just orb out of here so I can finish what I started, please?" he nodded in the young man and woman's direction.
Paige flashed him a wide smile and a wave while orbing out of sight.
X
It was the start of another new day and Phoebe was left alone at the manor babysitting her niece and nephews.
She had taken the day off. Prue had to attend the job interview that was rescheduled, Piper had another doctor's appointment, Andy was at work, and Leo was assisting the new Elder Dimitri with the magic school. Billie was also back on campus, making up her own schoolwork, for the classes she had fallen behind in between all the demonic and personal crises.
As she began walking upstairs to check on the kids, she felt something move beneath her and trip her. When she looked down, she saw Molly's doll there. She then picked it up and took a hard look at it.
"Okay, this doll is really starting to creep me out," she noted out loud to herself, shaking her head against the weird vibes she was feeling.
Phoebe carried the doll with her the rest of the way to the second floor. Making her way to the boy's room, she opened the door to find the three young children playing with an assortment of toys. Without disturbing them, she smiled and then placed the doll on the floor. Molly would be happy to have her doll back. She then quietly walked back out of the room.
Molly was alerted to the sound of the door closing and turned to see her doll sitting against the wall. Her eyes widened and a big smile broke out on her face. "Emma?" she exclaimed, getting up and preparing to retrieve her lost doll. "Auntie Phoebe found you," she laughed
Next, the children received the surprise of their lives when the doll came to life. The doll named Emma jumped onto her feet, eyes narrowing and plastic lips forming into a sneer, as the girl child approached the toy with a look of astonishment. As Molly approached, Emma suddenly darted away from her grasp, into the opposite direction. The doll found its way underneath the toddler bed.
Molly laughed and chased after her. "Emma, come back and play with me."
She knelt down as Wyatt and Chris watched her. She reached her hand under the bed and when she had a tight grasp on the doll, she pulled it out. Molly smiled and stood up, hugging Emma close to her. Suddenly, a dark red light zapped from out of the doll and surrounded Molly and then in a quick flash, she had disappeared. The doll, Emma, dropped back onto the floor.
Wyatt stared, looking on with a surprised expression. "Uh-oh!" he announced. "Bad dolly."
He watched the doll suddenly resume to life again as it lifted itself off of the floor, only to run to the door and pull the unlocked door open from the bottom. Then the doll named Emma proceeded to slip through the opening.
"Aunt Phoebe," Wyatt called out, as he too ran for the door and followed the doll.
Little Chris was left sitting in the room by himself, completely confused about what had just transpired in their bedroom.
To Be Continued: Okay. That's the end of that chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed it and I'll be working on the next chapter, as I already have a working title for it, lol.
Stay Tuned: Please don't forget to review. Thanks a bunch.