The room had turned silent. Phoebe had stopped talking and all three of the sisters were at a complete loss for words. The silence was broken suddenly, making Piper and Paige flinch, when they heard sniffling coming from where Phoebe was seated. Looking over at their long lost sister, they saw that Phoebe had finally broken down and was sobbing silently – rather unsuccessfully. Paige's heart reached out to her sister when she saw her cling on to a loose pillow, her only hope for comfort. She wanted so badly to wrap her arms around Phoebe and never let her go. She wanted to help her, to cry with her, and yet she couldn't. She felt like she was paralyzed. Even though she was unable to move or comfort her hurting sister, it didn't stop a few stray tears of her own from sliding down her cheeks.
"Phoebe," Paige struggled as her increasing emotions entangled within her cracking voice. "There has to be some mistake. I don't care about that stupid premonition – it's wrong. It's wrong and I know it, because I know you. No matter how evil you could ever get you would never hurt any of us."
"Paige, you don't understand!" Phoebe stuttered between sobs. "Look at Piper! Just look at her! She knows what I'm capable of."
Paige stole a quick glance at her older sister who sat next to her and noticed that she had hardly even reacted to Phoebe's confession. She just sat there, motionlessly; staring at Phoebe.
"Piper!" shouted Paige as she shook her sister's shoulder in an attempt to release her from the trance that she was submerged within. "Piper! Listen to her! Say something, damn it, anything! Tell her that's she's wrong! Come on Piper, help me!"
Piper shook her head and released herself from Paige's grip. While continuing to stare into Phoebe's eyes, she stood up and started, "I can't handle all of this right now. I have to go. I'm sorry, but I have to go."
Paige called out to her as she made her way up the stairs, stopping only when Phoebe began, "She just needs to be alone right now, and can you blame her? I've screwed this family up enough and I'm sorry for that. I wish that I could make it better somehow, but the only way I can do that is to leave, and I'm not leaving."
"Phoebe, I know you're not evil," Paige started again.
"It's no use, Paige!" yelled Phoebe. "I know what I am – hell, Piper understands! I've always been the black sheep of this family. Not only was I troublesome growing up, but I continued to be even after I discovered that I was a Charmed One – which is pretty much symbolic of everything good and righteous. Everyone knows that I'm the weakest link of the Halliwell family – demons prey on the fact that I'm easily tempted into the dark side. I was married to the Source once upon a time, and let's not forget that I became the Queen of the Underworld, for god's sake! Do you need anymore proof?"
"You're not evil - no matter what you think!" Paige argued exasperatedly. "Your good side has always outlasted your dark side, Phoebe. In the past, no matter how evil you became, or how hard it was to change, you always made it home."
"Well this time it's different," Phoebe started. "It... it felt different. Even though it was just a premonition, I could feel the evil pumping through my veins. It was like there was no good left in me.
"I just wish that you had told us before you ran out like you did. We could have helped you," Paige said quietly as more tears trickled down her cheeks.
"Right!" Phoebe laughed through her tears. "Couldn't you have just pictured it? Hey guys, guess what? Cole's back in town and I'm pregnant with his baby! Oh, and by the way, I just had a premonition that I killed Piper! Now doesn't that paint a pretty picture? I knew that you both would convince me to ditch Cole and get rid of the baby, and I couldn't have that. I wanted... no, I needed that baby so much. Despite all of the pain that I've caused everyone, I feel so lucky and grateful now that I have her. Maybe I was just being selfish, but... you've seen her, isn't she perfect? She's my perfect little mistake. I know that I acted on my first impulse, but I was terrified. I wanted to protect Piper – to protect my family at any cost. And I have, so far. I'd do it all over again if I had to, if it meant saving one of you."
Paige looked up to see her sister bury her face deep within her hands, in a desperate attempt to calm the sobs that were wracking through her body. She couldn't take it anymore. Paige crept silently beside her, feeling Phoebe flinch in surprise when she carefully wrapped her arms around her shoulders and embraced her into a comforting hug.
"Shh honey, it's alright," Paige cooed as she stroked her sister's hair. "As much as I hate you for leaving, I can't hide how happy I am now that your back."
While sitting on the couch, submerged within the intensity of their embrace, Paige was unable to think of anything to say. But, no words were needed. It would have broken the trance that they remained silently enveloped within. For Phoebe, this was enough. It was all that she needed to continue, the reminder of what she had left behind. Although Paige was by birth the youngest of the Halliwell clan, Phoebe had always remained the youngest in spirit. She was always quick to jump into things, often doing so without thinking twice and was considered by far, to be the most free-spirited of all the sisters. Phoebe was also known to fall in love hard and fast, reminding Paige of the countless hours that she and Piper had spent comforting her after difficult break-ups. She was always the one who needed to be protected. Paige wasn't surprised then, to find herself consoling Phoebe yet again, and to be taking on a motherly role. She had missed this however, as after Phoebe had disappeared, Piper took on the role of "Supermom," which included keeping everything remotely emotional to herself. Finally, Paige felt needed again.
The moment ended at last, when Phoebe's tears began to subside. She sat up and released herself from the embrace, and wiped her eyes with one hand, while fumbling for Paige's hand with the other.
"I know this has been so hard for both you and Piper," Phoebe began. "I understand. The last thing I want to do is make this worse, but there is a reason that I'm here."
"That's what we figured, Phoebe," Paige started. "But, you don't have to do this now. I mean, wouldn't you rather wait for Piper?"
"There's not enough time Paige," Phoebe explained, the urgency evidently laced within her voice. "I really hate doing this to you now, but I have to. Something's happening, Paige, something big. Have you noticed how quiet the underworld has been lately?"
Paige nodded, "But how would you know?"
"Just because I wasn't here for a few years doesn't mean that I completely abandoned my Wiccan duties." Phoebe started rather bitterly.
"What?" Paige hesitantly questioned.
"Believe it or not, but demons do exist outside San Francisco," she answered.
"But... how?"
"Do you mean how could I vanquish them by myself?" Phoebe asked as Paige nodded her head in agreement. "Let's just say it was no walk in the park, but I did adopt a few more active tricks of my own."
"What do you mean?" Paige questioned curiously.
"Well, you obviously know that I don't have any active powers, apart from levitation, which is nothing compared to what you and Piper have," Phoebe started. "I also didn't have the luxury of a whitelighter – which could have come in handy a lot! So, I needed to come up with a solution, some way to help me in a desperate situation. I met a group of witches who didn't have any powers per say, but had devoted their life to the study of Wicca, and they helped me out. I discovered several, more conventional ways to help protect myself, without them, I probably wouldn't be here right now."
"I still don't understand, Phoebe," said Paige.
"I'll explain it all later, with Piper. It may come in handy," Phoebe settled. "Right now, we have more important issues to deal with. The Underworld's been quiet lately because they've been rebuilding their forces and preparing - -"
"Preparing," Paige interrupted. "Preparing for what?"
"Halloween," Phoebe finished.
"I think Piper and I would have been able to handle Halloween by ourselves this year," Paige laughed. "I mean, no offence Phoebe, but it's come and gone three other times in your absence, and we've never had much of a problem."
"Yeah, but this year it's different," Phoebe started. "It's an event that's been prophesized for hundreds of years. Halloween has always been a field day for demons because it's when the veil between worlds thins. This year however, the veil is going to cease to exist – only for twenty-four hours, but it's going to be a pretty hellish day, if you know what I mean. Most of the demons that we've vanquished in the past ten or so years, they're all going to come back and with quite a vengeance, as you can imagine."
"But we've vanquished... hundreds of demons, maybe even more!" Paige panicked. "How the hell are we ever going to survive? This can't be it. There has to be some sort of catch."
"That's what I thought," Phoebe stated. "But I haven't been able to find anything. I'm hoping... no, I'm praying that there might be something in the Book of Shadows. Otherwise, the only thing I can think of, is that an extremely powerful upper level demon or something, has control over the veil, but if not, I'm completely dumfounded."
"Ha!" Paige yelped, causing Phoebe to jump. "I should have figured that the only reason you'd come crawling back home was because of demon problems! I mean, what was I thinking? That you missed us? That you couldn't live with out us? God! I've been so naive!"
"Paige!" Phoebe shouted as Paige leaped off of the couch and headed towards the stairs. "That's not true and you know it! Leaving this family was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do – but I've told you that already. What's going on? I thought that you understood!"
"Let's just say that I've finally come around. I understand who you really are," Paige finished as orbed out of the house.
"Ugh!" Phoebe exclaimed as she slumped back into the couch. "What am I going to do?"