Chapter 5- Henry Almighty (of the A Wish Gone Wrong Two-Parter)
August 2nd 2006 (following directly after Chapter 4)
Paige sat in a wicker chair in the conservatory, enjoying her gifts: Clothes, a new pack of tarot cards, an Eternal Light lamp from the Heavens given by Piper and Leo (which required persuading from the Elders), a cream to magically heal any wounds Paige may receive, and a weekend at the spa.
"Thank you so much," Paige said, hugging her sisters and Leo one by one.
"And this is my gift," Billie said.
Paige gasped at what Billie placed in her hands: a beautiful blue crystal that shot off small beams of white light and looked as though it contained orbs within it. "What is it?"
"It's a crystal I had a sorceress enchant specifically for you," answered Billie, smiling. "It reads your powers, shows you how tuned in you are to them." She grinned at the crystal. "And from the look of it, I'd say you're tuned in pretty damned well."
"If I lost my powers, the light inside the crystal would vanish?" Paige asked.
Billie nodded. "It also detects your magic. So, if you think a demon has your powers, look at the crystal. It'll tell you."
Paige grinned. "I can use something like this." She hugged Billie. "It's great! Thanks!"
Then she saw a sealed envelope, the one gift left. "Envelope," she called, extending her hand; the envelope orbed into her grasp. She read aloud the handwriting on it, "To My Wife on Her Birthday."
"Is that the surprise from Henry?" Billie blurted.
"Billie!" Phoebe reproached her. The girl blushed and clamped her hands over her mouth.
"A surprise from Henry?" asked Paige.
"You sound like he never gives you anything," Piper commented amusedly.
"No, he showers me with presents, but you make this sound like a huge surprise," Paige replied as she opened the envelope. She gasped as she pulled out a photo of a white house with a black roof and a beautiful front lawn. She flipped the picture over, her eyes bugging as she read aloud, "Our new home."
She stared at her sisters, Billie and Leo, who smiled at her. "You knew?"
"Piper and I helped Henry choose it several weeks ago," said Leo. "He originally planned to go house-hunting with you, but he wanted to surprise you on your birthday,"
"He told me how you needed more space to practice your witchcraft," Piper added, "and how much you both wanted a house of your own."
Paige's eyes brimmed with joyful tears. "I have to find Henry," she said, putting the photo back inside the envelope. "And I'm going to apologize when I do. Is that okay that I go?"
"Sure," nodded Piper with a smile. "I can use this time to go to P3 to work on shipment orders."
"I'm heading up to Magic School," Billie announced.
Paige turned to her in alarm. "You can't! That place is Demon Central!" Demon Central was always said as the school didn't even appear as a school anymore. No more students, only forces of Evil.
"That's why I'm going. I want to lay traps so I can reclaim the school from Evil."
"No, Paige is right," Piper said. "It's not a one-witch job. I'd come out of retirement to help, but now isn't the time. Paige has to find Henry, I have to head to the club --"
"And I have to go home," Phoebe interjected, "to reply to a letter or three. But, Billie, I promise we'll all save the school when the time is right."
Billie sighed in defeat. "Okay," she said, looking crestfallen.
"I have to get going if I'm to find Henry," Paige said, rising from her chair. "I'll call you guys later."
She ran out the front door.
(X)
Henry walked along the sidewalk, going wherever it took him.
An audible growl came from his stomach. Damn, he thought ruefully, I should have finished dinner. He crossed a street and caught the smell of food. He turned in the direction of the odor and spotted, through an alleyway, a diner directly across the street from the alley. "Oh, good," he said, smiling with relief.
As he walked through the alley toward the diner, the two Power Brokers shimmered in behind him. Each opened his hand, conjured a glowing sphere, hurled them straight at the parole officer's back, and shimmered out.
Henry stumbled as the spheres hit him and were absorbed by his body. He fell onto his hands and knees, feeling an odd rush as the magic released by the Power Brokers flashed through his entire body in a white glow. When the sensation had passed, Henry picked himself up from the rough ground and turned to see what he had tripped over. He saw nothing. Puzzled, he brushed the dirt from his jeans and was about to continue on to the diner when he felt a vibration in his pocket and realized it was his pager. He saw the phone number; the head of Henry's parole department was calling him.
Henry opened his cell phone. "Mitchell," he responded. "Hey, Ben, what's up?"
"Something you won't believe," said Ben on the other end. "Carol's been spotted."
"Carol?" Henry asked, concern spreading across his face. Carol Franks was a problem parolee, a hot-tempered woman who tended to get into fights. She used baseball bats, but never in self-defense. She was always the perpetrator. For the last several weeks, Carol had been evasive, not meeting with Henry when she was supposed to, not being at home when he came looking for her, and generally dropping out of sight. So, he was a bit shocked that she had been seen in public. "When was this?"
"About three minutes ago. A woman had called 911 to say she was being chased by a man. Apparently she was screaming for help; someone saw her being chased and phoned the police. SFPD's sending a squad car, but they called me first to say she was one of ours."
"How do they know it's her?"
"How many blonde women in San Francisco have a green baseball bat tattooed on their foreheads?"
Henry sighed. "That's Carol all right. Where was she seen?"
"Garrison Street. Get over there." Ben hung up.
Henry groaned and rolled his eyes. "I don't have my car! How am I supposed to get there?"
Suddenly, a violet glow enveloped his body and he teleported away.
Henry had only a moment to recover from his unexpected journey into an alley before a woman's scream reached his ears. He turned to see Carol Franks across the busy street, running from a man in black jeans and a gray top.
Just then, Paige orbed in behind him. "There you are!" she said as she looked around at the street that was very distant from the Halliwell manor. "How did you get here without your car?"
"Not now, Paige!" Henry shouted, charging out of the alley.
"Henry!" Paige shouted and took off after him.
Henry raced into the street, drivers honking their horns as he darted in and out of traffic. He dodged a red mini-van, skidded to a stop to let a silver Toyota pass, and continued across the street at a run. Suddenly, a supply truck bore down upon him, its horn blaring. Henry leaped forward and flipped onto his back in a roll; the truck whizzed by, just missing him. At Carol's scream he jumped up and ran into the alley to see her sprawled on the ground and her pursuer standing over her with a knife, ready to strike.
"Hey!" Henry shouted.
The man spun around, snarled angrily, and threw a fireball at the parole officer.
Henry realized he faced a demon. "Whoa!" he yelped and jumped sideways, landing on his side as the lethal fire exploded into a wall. The demon let fly with another fireball, which Henry dodged by rolling quickly to the side.
Paige came running down the alley. "Henry!" she called. She saw her husband on the ground and the demon a short distance away from him. "Oh my god!" The Charmed One gasped as the demon growled and flung a fireball at her.
"No!" Henry shouted, reaching out. To his amazement a lightning bolt shot from his hand and blasted the astonished demon's fireball into oblivion. The parole officer stared at his hand. "What the hell?" he murmured, seeing tiny electric currents leaping from finger to finger.
Paige ran up to him and knelt beside him. "Henry! Are you all right?"
"I'm --" he began, but then saw the demon conjure another fireball. "Look out!" he cried as the being hurled it at them. Paige grabbed her husband and orbed them both away; the fireball exploded into a wall.
They came out of orb to the sound of an approaching police siren. "I'll finish this," said Paige. Extending her a hand, she shouted "Demon" and orbed him into a wall. He thudded hard on the ground and lay stunned.
"Spell-winging time," Paige muttered. "Demon before me --"
She gasped and jumped as two lightning bolts shoot past her and hit the demon, vanquishing him. She turned to see her husband on his knees, both hands extended.
"Henry!" Paige exclaimed, staring at him in astonishment. "You --"
"You bet I did!" he said gleefully. "And just how freaking cool was it?"
"It isn't! How did it happen?"
Before he could answer, a squad car pulled up outside the alley; two police officers stepped out and approached. Henry caught their eyes going to Carol, who lay motionless on the ground, and back to Paige and himself.
"It's all right," he said calmly. "I'm a parole officer. My badge is in my inside pocket." One of the police officer's walked over to Henry, reached inside his jacket pocket and produced Henry's wallet when he pulled his hand out. He inspected the insides and handed it back to Henry, satisfied.
"And I'm his wife," Paige added.
The two policemen nodded, went to Carol, and knelt down beside her. One of them stood and approached Henry and Paige. "What happened here?" he asked.
"My wife and I were out walking," Henry said without missing a beat, "when my superior called me on my cell to tell me that a delinquent parolee of mine, Carol Franks, had been spotted on this street." He gestured at the blonde woman on the ground. "That's her. My wife and I weren't too far away, so we came here. As we approached this alley, we heard Carol scream. We ran to help her and saw her on the ground with a man standing over her with a knife. He took off when he saw us."
"Can you describe the suspect?" the officer asked.
Henry and Paige glanced at each other; never in a million years would the policeman ever believe that Henry's parolee had been attacked by a demon. "He left too quickly for us to get a good look," Henry said, feeling a twinge of guilt at the deception. "All I can tell you is that he wore a grey top with black jeans."
"Is she going to be all right?" asked Paige, looking at the inert blonde woman.
"The policeman turned toward his partner, who was examining Carol. "How is she?"
"She's alive," the first officer said, "but she's unconscious. She's got a bad wound on the back of her head. I'll radio for an ambulance."
(X)
A short time later, Carol Franks was admitted to the hospital in critical condition, diagnosed with a head injury that had been inflicted by a blunt instrument. Since Carol still had her purse, the policemen believed Henry and Paige had interrupted a mugging in progress. After they had answered more questions, Paige discretely orbed her husband and herself back to the foyer of Halliwell Manor. They walked into the living room, where Billie sat on the couch with her feet propped on the coffee table, watching a movie on cable TV.
Hearing their footsteps, Billie turned and brightened. "Hey, there you are!" she said, flashing a smile at quickly faded when she saw their expressions. "What's up?"
"Something fishy," Paige answered. "Henry now has magical powers."
Billie gaped at them both. "What?!" she exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.
Paige nodded grimly. "Somehow he gained the ability to teleport and shoot lightning bolts. I have to figure out how he got them and strip him of them."
"Strip me of them?" Henry interjected. "Paige, these are my powers! How do you know they weren't meant for me?"
"You're mortal, Henry; you've been so all your life," countered Paige. "And you suddenly get powers? That spells f-i-s-h-y to me!"
"I was adopted, like you were, so maybe I'm from a witch family too and I'm now coming into powers meant to be used on demons." He became passionate. "Who knows? Maybe I'll find my real family one day and discover I have two brothers who I was meant to join as part of a male Power of Three! Maybe their first names start with 'H' --"
"Henry, this is ridiculous!" Paige interrupted. "You're not a male witch and you're certainly not a male Charmed One! I think a sorcerer or a demon gave you these powers!"
A horrible thought suddenly flashed through her mind. Could it be Power Brokers that did this? Five years earlier, shortly after Phoebe had married Cole Turner, Paige had discovered that Cole had reverted back to his old demonic ways, only at that time she hadn't been aware of just how demonic; the vanquished Source of All Evil had taken possession of Cole's body. Realizing Paige had stumbled upon this, the Source had a Power Broker infect her with the demonic ability to shoot sonic blasts. The Source had played with her mind to make her violent enough to attack him with the power. When it began to kill her, her family had taken her down to the Underworld to make the Brokers remove it from her. They had refused until the Source, to keep Leo, Piper, and Phoebe unaware that he had taken over Cole, blew up a Broker or two until they had exorcised the power from Paige, leaving her with no memory of her actions while she had been infected.
She turned to Billie. "Go upstairs to the Book of Shadows. Look up Power Brokers and get started on an exorcism potion."
"Power Brokers?" the girl asked "Why does that sound familiar?"
"Probably because you studied our Book for as long as you did. Now, hurry to the attic and make that potion. I need it quickly before Henry's new powers kill him."
As Billie ran past the couple, Henry turned to his wife. "Who the hell are Power Brokers?" he demanded.
"They're demons that trade in powers. They store them in mortal people until a buyer wants them, but the powers can make mortals unstable and --"
"You know what, Paige?" he cut in. "I don't even care. You're not taking my powers!"
Paige felt a chill go down her spine when she saw her husband's face. It was a mask of pure rage; sparks of energy danced in his eyes.
"Henry, calm down. You don't understand what these powers can do. In mortals they get out of hand and make those people really --"
Henry didn't let her finish; he raised a hand and shot a lightning bolt straight at her. She leaped out of its way and took cover behind the couch.
"You don't trust me, Paige!" he growled. "You always think that because I'm mortal I can't handle anything magical. Well, I'll show you what I can do with these powers. I'll be great. You just watch!" Henry shot another bolt at the couch, blasting a hole through it. Paige screamed in pain as the bolt hit her shoulder and caused a bloody gash.
The sound of running footsteps came seconds later. "Paige!" Billie shouted as she and Leo entered the living room. Leo dived for cover as Henry whirled and let fly with a lightning bolt at Billie. She quickly deflected it into the near-by grandfather clock, blasting it to smithereens.
"This isn't over!" declared Henry as he teleported out with a dark scowl.
Leo came out of hiding to scan the living room. "Paige?" he called. "Where are you?"
"Behind the couch," she answered.
"Are you okay?" asked Billie, both she and Leo following the sound of Paige's voice. They found her cowering behind the couch and helped her up. Billie gasped when she saw the bloody gash in Paige's shoulder. "Oh my god! Leo, go to the medicine cabinet and --"
"Hold on," he interrupted and looked at Paige. "What happened? How did Henry get those powers?
"I think Power Brokers got to him," Paige explained.
"Why did he attack you?"
"The powers are making him unstable."
"I barely got a chance to start the exorcism potion," said Billie, "let alone finish it."
Paige shook her head worriedly. "I can't wait; I have to stop Henry now. He's out to prove himself with his new powers. I don't know what he plans to do, but it can't be good. Maybe I can sense him and then orb to him."
"Or we can go down to the Underworld and confront the Brokers like we did before," Leo said.
"But where are they down there? It's not like we know their hangout."
"Yeah," Billie added. "I haven't spent much time in the Underworld. I'm more of a Magic School-type chick."
"I'll get my sisters," Paige said. "Piper's freezing power might fend off Henry's attacks without hurting him."
"No," Billie said. "You don't want them back in the demon-fighting business just yet. Let me help. Leo can have Piper come home, finish the potion, and give us a call when it's done."
"Billie's right," Leo concurred. "Let her help out. I'll call Piper at the club."
Paige ran her hands through her hair. "Okay, here we go." Hoping their bond was still strong, she closed her eyes and tried to sense her husband's location. After a couple of minutes, she opened her eyes. "Nothing," she sighed.
"That might mean he's in the Underworld," said Leo. "You'll have to go down there. You'll have a better chance at sensing him."
"Let's get some grenade potions before we go," Billie suggested. "We might need more of a punch."
Paige nodded and looked at the gash in her arm. "I guess I can use my healing cream now. Phoebe must've seen this one coming." The two women went upstairs.
Leo was about to make his way to the phone when Piper entered, carrying a box of supplies from the club. Her face fell when she saw the destroyed grandfather clock.
"That's it," she muttered. "From here on, whatever demon wrecks it, buys it."
(X)
Paige and Billie came out of orb inside an Underworld cave, armed for battle with fully-stocked potion pouches slung over their shoulders, a vial already in Paige's hand in case she needed a quick vanquish. With two vials of her own out and ready, Billie was set to use them and her telekinesis on any Underworld evil that dared show its face. In her boot slit was a dagger in case she had to use that as well.
Paige stood with her eyes closed, concentrating. "Can you sense Henry?" Billie asked.
A screaming wind came up from nowhere and buffeted them. "I don't like this," commented Billie, looking around her warily.
"Me neither, but we can't chicken out. We have to find Henry before he gets himself killed." Paige braced herself against the wind and continued to stretch her Whitelighter sense. Suddenly, she opened her eyes. "I feel a pull."
She held her free hand out in front of her, using it to channel her sensing power, and felt what seemed like a magnetic tug that filled her with hope. "I think I may have – "
Suddenly, a trio of demons flamed in before Paige and Billie, but Paige didn't lower her hand. "Demons!" she called and telekinetically orbed them into a wall of the cave. As they crashed onto the ground, Billie hurled one of her vials and hit one demon in his chest, vanquishing him in a fiery blast.
Undeterred, the two other demons scrambled to their feet and launched a series of energy balls at the women. Billie dodged them by diving into the air and flipping over onto her back.
"Energy balls!" shouted Paige, still extending her free hand. She orbed the lethal energies to her before sending them back at the two demons with a sweep of her arm. The balls crashed into the pair, exploding them on impact.
Billie grinned up at Paige from the ground. "That's always so cool," she said as Paige approached and helped her to her feet.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of screams coming from ahead of them. "The wind again?" Billie asked.
Paige extended her hand and gave a grin of her own. "Judging by the pull, I'm guessing it's my husband kicking ass. Come on!"
The women charged through the cave and entered another, where they spotted seven demons peaking over boulders and launching energy and fireballs. At the other end of the cave stood their target: Henry, exploding the balls in mid-air with lightning bolts.
"You tackle the demons," Paige said to Billie. "I'm going to try and stop Henry."
Billie nodded. She pulled her dagger out from her boot, charged at the demons, and engaged them in a fierce battle.
Paige began running toward her husband. "Henry!" she called. "Henry, stop!"
He turned and aimed at her a pair of hands that surged with electricity. "No! This ends here!" Several massive bolts blasted forth, flashing jaggedly across the cave. Paige quickly orbed out of the way and the bolts ripped into the wall, leaving in their wake a cloud of smoke and rock debris.
Paige rematerialized and continued to approach her husband. "Henry, please stop!" she pleaded. "You don't know what you're doing. It's the powers making you act this way."
"Save your breath!" Henry bellowed. He released another bolt at Paige before she could orb -– and the bolt came to a sudden stop.
Paige stood frozen, too shocked to react, until she heard a familiar voice drolly comment, "That's no way to treat a wife on her birthday." She turned and sighed with relief to see Piper a short distance away, her hands extended before her. Beside Piper stood Phoebe with a potion vial in her hand.
"Need help?" Piper asked her youngest sister with a grin.
Paige ran to them and threw her arms around them. "Am I glad to see you! Did Leo tell you about the potion?"
"Yep," Phoebe said, showing the vial. "We have to make sure Henry doesn't destroy it."
Ducking a fireball, Billie came running up to them, her face and clothing covered with dirt. Panting, she gestured with her head toward three remaining demons, armed with more fireballs. "I've already vanquished four of them. But I don't know if I can still handle this. Those guys are nasty!"
The demons hurled the fireballs at Billie and the Charmed Ones; the quartet dodged them. "I see what you mean," said Phoebe wryly.
A blinding white bolt suddenly tore into the wall beside them. The women darted behind a large boulder and peered around it to see Henry shoot more lightning bolts in their direction, several of them threatening to blast the boulder into a series of pebbles. Piper continued to freeze them until the surviving demons began hurling more fireballs.
"This is getting out of hand," she said. She flicked her hands at Henry, unleashing a controlled blast that knocked him to the ground. Paige gasped in shock.
"Sorry, Paige, it had to be done," said Piper. She then gestured at the fallen Henry with her head. "Phoebe, the potion if you please."
With all her strength, Phoebe threw the potion vial across the twelve-foot distance separating them from Henry. But he rolled over onto his back, saw the vial flying at him, and exploded it in mid-air with a lightning bolt.
"Damn it," Piper cursed in frustration.
Now armed with blazing fireballs, the remaining three demons rushed at the Charmed Ones and Billie. As Henry blasted more lightning bolts, Paige swiftly extended her hand, pointing at the bolts, and swept her arm in the direction of the oncoming demons. Several of the bolts orbed into them, exploding them on the spot, while others tore into the cave wall.
Her sisters and Billie stared in utter amazement. "Wow! How did you do that, Paige?" asked Billie as Piper whistled in awe.
"Uh, yeah," interjected an astonished Phoebe. "You didn't even call out to them."
Paige shrugged, looking just as surprised. "I don't know. I simply went on instinct and --"
"Look out!" Phoebe suddenly shouted. All four women flung themselves to the ground once again and lightning bolts sizzled by, above their heads. They looked up to see Henry still firing away, but he was now looking weak and tired. He was breathing heavily, fighting to stay on his feet.
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Paige in horror. "Look at his eyes!"
They did and, to their own horror, they saw that Henry's eyes were no longer filled with blazing sparks. His gaze had suddenly gone black. "The powers are starting to kill him," Piper said tensely. "If we don't get them out of him –"
Paige didn't wait to hear any more. Spotting the puddle of potion a short distance away from the boulder, she took advantage of her husband's weakened condition. As he uttered a groan, she waved her hand at the puddle and orbed it directly into his open mouth. Henry swallowed it with a startled gulp and fell to the ground, glowing whitely as the powers were released from him.
Paige raced to him and gathered him into her arms. "Henry! Are you all right?" She felt bad about orbing a puddle that was on the filthy ground into his mouth, but it had to be done, even if he got sick again. She seemed to be becoming an expert in orbing life-saving fluids into him.
He looked at her, confusion in his now-normal eyes. "Paige?" he said. "What's going on?" He tried to sit up, but slumped back into his wife's embrace. "Whoa, I feel so spent, foggy. What happened to me?" He gazed about him and his eyes went wide. "Uh, why do I think this is not a diner?"
Paige laughed with relief, hugging him tightly, as an equally relieved Piper, Phoebe, and Billie looked on with smiles.
(X)
Hours later, Paige, Henry, Piper, Leo, Phoebe, and Coop were seated in the living room of the manor, discussing the day's events and explaining to Henry what had happened.
He turned to his wife, shamefaced. "I am so sorry," he apologized. "You know I can get mad, but never to the point where I would ever harm you in any way."
"I know," Paige sighed. "But some of this is my fault. My birthday wish was for you to understand both magic and me, and in a way it came true. The problem is that my wish was a form of personal gain, so as a result it came with consequences. I'm glad no one got hurt, though." She smiled. "You even managed to save your parolee, an Innocent."
Henry shook his head wonderingly. "I never thought Carol would be chased by a demon. Why did it happen?"
"Maybe the demon thought she was a Potential Recruit for Evil," suggested Leo.
"A Potential Recruit?" Henry said, puzzled.
Leo nodded. "Mortals who demons feel they can lure to their side to use for their purposes. Your parolee must have resisted him, which is probably why he wanted her dead."
Coop decided to change the subject and gave Henry and Paige a smile. "Have you decided whether or not you'll be moving into the new house?"
"I'm all for it," Henry said. He smiled at Paige. "I'm waiting for the birthday girl's decision, but it doesn't have to be made right now."
Paige sat back, pretending to ponder the question. "Hmm, an extra room to practice my witchcraft in would be useful, so I say we go for it." Her family smiled as she pulled her husband to her for a kiss. "A two-story house sounds great! Thank you, Henry."
"You're welcome," he replied, returning the kiss with a grin. "Happy birthday, Paige."
(X)
Hands folded behind his back, Avo, accompanied by Vilo, materialized in the Power Brokers' lair and confronted the duo he had sent after Henry. "The Witchlighter has saved her husband's life," he said to them angrily.
"That's not our fault!" the first Broker protested loudly.
"Yeah, it isn't!" shot back the second Broker.
Vilo, his eyes closed during the brief exchange, opened them. "They're scared, Avo," he sneered. "Trying to be bold, they are."
"They bore me," said Avo contemptuously. "And this is what I do to demons who bore me as well as fail me." From behind his back he produced a pair of violet-colored fireballs.
"Thermal balls," he snarled. "An appropriate punishment for failure!"
"No! Don't!" begged the second Broker.
Avo savagely hurled the thermal balls at the Brokers. They screamed as they were engulfed in flames that exploded and left behind nothing except a few curling wisps of purple smoke.
The Darklighter-demon turned to his wide-eyed, frightened minion. "Don't worry. I'll spare you. Come. We must discuss our next move."
Avo dark-orbed away, the intimidated Vilo shimmered out behind him.
End of Chapter
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please read and review as punishment for me posting the chapters late. –Smiles- Seriously, please review and comment what you like and such. Thanks readers who review. I really appreciate it. Also thanks to everyone that has been putting my story on alert, adding it to their favorites and adding me to your favorite authors list. I really appreciate it.