Handy Man
The next morning dawned brightly. Prue climbed out of bed. She had a good feeling about today. Sure she had to deal with Victor but had done something for them. He had bought the house. She padded down the hall towards the bathroom. Just as she reached it, she saw the door to her mother's room closed. It bothered her slightly that he was in there. But she had to remind herself that he had slept in that room eight years. The ten-year-old shut the bathroom door and climbed into the shower. She emerged twenty minutes later feeling clean and energized. After she'd gotten dressed and dried her hair she headed downstairs. She found Phoebe seated on the couch, eyes glued to the television screen. She had a bowl of cereal in her lap, tilted at such an angle that the milk was in danger of spilling onto the carpet.
"Morning Pheebs," Prue greeted, taking the bowl and putting it on the table.
"You smell good," the five-year-old commented, tearing her eyes away from the screen briefly.
"Thanks…I think," her older sister muttered.
"So when did you get up?" she asked of the younger child.
"I don't know. Three episodes ago," Phoebe answered with a shrug.
"I'm happy Daddy bought the house," she said with a smile after a mouthful of cereal. Prue was about to say something when footsteps on the stairs caused her to turn her head. Piper appeared in her pajamas, her hair disheveled.
"Morning," Prue called but Piper just walked into the kitchen without so much as a word. Prue followed her, her brow furrowing with concern.
"Piper, are you ok?" she asked, finding her sister pouring herself a bowl of cereal.
"I had a bad dream," Piper mumbled. She sounded almost ashamed of the fact.
"What was it about?" Prue probed. Piper rarely had bad dreams anymore.
"Grams," Piper muttered. Prue wrapped her younger sibling in a forceful hug.
"We all miss her. It's going to take time to make it hurt less," Prue consoled.
"But I just saw her and then…she was dead," Piper sniffled, trying to fight the tears.
"Shh. It will be ok," Prue added, stroking her hair.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be crying," Piper apologized after a few more loud sniffles.
"You can cry. I won't tell," Prue replied with a soft laugh.
"Come on. Let's go make sure Phoebe doesn't start growing roots to the couch," Prue said, quoting a phrase Grams used to say when she thought the girls were spending too much time on the couch. The walked back in and once more Phoebe's bowl of cereal was precariously positioned in her lap.
"Phoebe watch out before you spill," Piper chided, setting her own bowl down. Phoebe didn't appear to be listening. She'd turned the volume up so loud that she'd even brought Victor downstairs.
"What's going on down here?" he asked, taking the remote from Phoebe's small hand and hit the minus sign on the volume.
"I was watching TV," Phoebe answered.
"With the volume so loud?" he asked. She just giggled, and her cereal finally landed on the floor.
"Phoebe!" Piper cried, cringing at the mess on the carpet.
"Oops," the five-year-old squeaked. Without a word, Piper ran into the kitchen and grabbed towels and a sponge. She tossed the towels at Prue who began cleaning up the mess while Piper tried to blot the milk stain out of the carpet. Phoebe just watched as her sisters worked. She could tell Piper was upset. She was a lot like Grams. Victor watched too. They could certainly take care of Phoebe.
"Next time, be more careful, Phoebe," Prue said before Piper could yell at her.
"I'm sorry," she whimpered, knowing how mad it was making Piper. She hated messes.
"It's ok, kiddo. It was an accident. How about you go get dressed and we go to the park," Victor suggested.
"That's lame. It's boring at the park. At the toys are for little kids," Prue remarked.
"I was trying to cheer your sister up," Victor stated once Phoebe was out of hearing range.
"Well then I want to stay here," Prue replied.
"I'm not leaving you alone in the house," he countered.
"I'm not a baby," she shot.
"And you're not old enough to stay by yourself," he retorted. She opened her mouth to say more but he stopped her.
"We're going to get something straight right now, Prudence. I am in charge now. I know you don't like that but you're going to have to accept it," he said sternly. Piper could sense the tension in the room and headed upstairs to get ready for the park too. Prue began to storm off towards the stairs too when Victor caught her by the wrist.
"You're coming with us," he stated and she knew the conversation was over. She didn't like losing, especially to him but she just walked away. She didn't want her morning to suck any more than it was already.
Down in the Underworld, Janice and Robert were pacing around each other. They had consulted a Seer and she had confirmed that the girls had come into their powers. The Power of Three had been born in them. Janice stopped walking and reverted to her demonic form. Her dark red flesh shone with excitement.
"They have their powers. We should attack while they still don't know how to use them against us," Janice said.
"Well do you suggest we go in as the people they trust?" Robert asked. He was in his demonic form as well.
"Do we want to traumatize the little witches?" she asked. He scratched his chin with a clawed finger.
"I could pose as the real estate agent come to collect the rest of the money and attack him," he suggested.
"But you got to kill the old witch. I want to kill him. To feel the life leave him," she complained.
"Fine. Go as the social worker then," he snarled. He hated arguing with her.
"You don't have to be so grumpy about it, Ravus," she chortled, using his demonic name.
"Just go," he bellowed. She shimmered out. He followed shortly afterwards to make sure she didn't screw this up. He wanted the Power of Three.
Back in Halliwell Manor Phoebe and Piper had finished getting dressed. Prue was sitting in her room, just staring at her hands. She really didn't want to go to the park. She didn't like the park. She wasn't sure why but it made her feel unsafe. Suddenly there was a soft knock on her door. She got up, slightly startled by the sound and opened it. Piper stood there, looking expectantly at her older sister.
"What, are we leaving or something?" Prue asked.
"No…can I come in?" she asked. Prue nodded.
"Is it about your dream?" Prue pressed.
"No…I just…felt really mad at Phoebe for spilling the cereal. I know she's just a kid and she didn't mean to but I felt….kind of like Grams was right there standing next to me and wanted to yell too," Piper explained.
"You were always really close to Grams. You liked to help her in the kitchen and stuff," Prue muttered as if to offer an explanation.
"I guess I just don't want to let her go," Piper sighed. Prue could understand. She had felt that way when their mother had died. Downstairs Victor had finished his breakfast when there was a shark knock on the front door.
"Who the hell?" he mumbled to himself as he pulled the door open. Janice stood before him with a smile on her lips.
"Uh…can I help you?" he asked, barring her way.
"I just came to check up on the girls. To make sure everything is ok," she lied, trying to get by.
"They're doing fine. We're getting by," Victor answered tersely.
"Well I'd like to talk to them, if that's alright," she tried, hoping that would get him to let her in.
"Well we're on our way out. So you'll have to come back later," Victor said and started to shut the door.
"Wait, Mr. Bennett. Please. I actually came to talk to you about custody," she said. That made him stop in his tracks. He made a noncommittal noise but let her in. He began leading her towards the conservatory, his back to her. She flicked her wrist and an athame appeared.
"Have a seat," he offered. She took one, concealing the weapon behind her back. He sat across from her and folded his hands in his lap.
"So what exactly did you need to talk to me about custody wise. They're my daughters," he began.
"Well…you're wife…and then your mother-in-law had custody of the girls. I'm not sure you're really fit to be raising them," she explained.
"Two days ago you were thrilled that I showed up to take the girls," he countered.
"Yes well that was before I looked into your history. Face it, Mr. Bennett, you've been an absent father," she accused.
"I had my reasons. And it wasn't because I didn't love my daughters," Victor shot back angrily. In the next room Ravus watched the exchange, cloaked by invisibility. His ears pricked up at the sound of footsteps. He caught Janice's eye. She cleared her throat and stood.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to take the girls away from you, Mr. Bennett. It's in the best interests of the children," she said. Victor jumped from his seat.
"I'm going to fight this, every step of the way," he shouted at her. Just then Piper appeared in the doorway. Seeing that Janice wasn't acting quickly enough, Ravus summoned the athame and uncloaked. Piper's eyes widened as a grotesque creature appeared out of nowhere and started running towards her father.
"No!" she shouted and threw her hands out, as if trying to stop him. For a second the two adults and the creature froze in mid motion. She took a step back, not knowing what she'd done.
"Prue!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Footsteps thundered on the stairs and soon Prue and Phoebe had joined their middle sister.
"Whoah. What…happened?" Prue asked.
"I…I don't know," Piper admitted just as the room unfroze. Ravus lunged at Victor, plunging the knife into his stomach. He gave the girls a distorted smile before shimmering out. Janice, taking the opportunity that the girls were distracted bolted from the room. She would have shimmered but she didn't want to blow her cover. Once out of the Manor she shimmered back to the cave.
"How long do you think it will take for him to die?" she asked, annoyed that she hadn't been able to do the deed herself.
"Soon enough. They will be in shock. Two tragedies in a few days will paralyze them. By the time they call for help it will be too late," Ravus assured her.
Back in the Manor Victor lay on the ground, his hands trying to cover the wound, a halfhearted effort to keep the sight away from his daughters and to apply pressure.
"Prue do something," Piper demanded, her voice shrill.
"I…I…what do I do?" she asked, starting to panic.
"Call the ambulance," Piper ordered, starting to take charge. Prue began to move away towards the phone. Phoebe was seated by Victor's side, her eyes welling with tears.
"It's going to be ok, Phoebe. I'm not going anywhere," Victor spoke softly, trying to conserve his energy.
"Daddy," was all she managed to squeak out. Prue picked up the phone and simply stared at it. It was as if she was numb and couldn't move. She couldn't be losing all the adults in her life, even if she disliked Victor. She found that she could not deny that he was family.
"Prue what's taking so long?" Piper begged, snapping her older sister out of the daze. She started to dial the number when a bright swirl of blue and white lighters appeared, depositing a man in his mid twenties in the room. She girls looked at him in shock and fear.