Unlucky 13
The bell rang and the rest of the kids in Prue's class sprinted for the door to the playground. She slowly stood up and pushed in her chair. She thought she was alone so she squinted her eyes and watched as the chair finished sliding across the floor.
"Hi Prue," a familiar voice called. Prue spun around, coming face-to-face with Andy.
"Andy," she gasped. She started to panic that he had seen her use her powers. She knew that Leo would not be happy.
"You want to play red rover with me?" he asked, not seeming to have noticed her little magic act. She looked at him and had to think. She didn't really like to play those kinds of games.
"Ok," she answered with a shrug before she could stop herself. He gave her a broad smile as he led her outside to the soccer field. A few other fifth graders were standing around, as if waiting for Andy to arrive.
They picked teams and lined up facing each other. The game actually seemed fun to Prue as she sprinted between people to avoid being caught. She elicited a shriek as Andy tackled her to the ground.
"I got you," he said triumphantly.
"Ok. Now get up," she said, trying to push him off of her. As Andy helped her up they received a nasty look from one of the teachers on duty.
"Do you want to walk home from school with me?" Andy offered. They did live next door to each other after all.
"I can't. My dad is picking us up and he doesn't let me walk home," she explained. Normally she would have said yes and ditched Victor but she didn't want him to freak out on her again.
"Ok. Maybe you can come over sometime and we can hang out," he offered. Prue just rolled her eyes. She had yet to hit that phase where boys were no longer disgusting.
"Maybe," she said with a shrug as the pair headed back inside with the rest of the class.
Across town a police car pulled up to a brownstone. Two men climbed out and headed into the building. They walked into the second story apartment, ducking under the crime scene tape and surveyed the body. It was a young woman who appeared to be in her late twenties or what was left of her that is. Parts of her had been left all over the room. The one thing that caught the lead detective's eye was her shock white hair.
"This is the tenth girl we've found like this in the last week and a half," Alex Trudeau sighed as he bent to examine the body more closely.
"Well actually Trudeau, we haven't found any other bodies this mutilated," his partner commented.
"I meant the hair, Porter. The last nine victims have had shock white hair, just like this one," Trudeau explained.
"Oh, right. You think we've got some kind of wacky serial killer on our hands?" Porter questioned.
"Honestly, I don't know. It doesn't make sense. Ten women all found dead, shock white hair but cause of death is different for each one. There's really no pattern here," Alex muttered. He hated having a rookie for a partner.
Little did they know but a certain whitelighter had been eavesdropping on their conversation. Leo backed away from the scene and managed to avoid walking into a crime scene technician. He headed down the hallway and hurriedly disappeared in blue and white orbs. He appeared in the heavens and approached a robed Elder.
"Rowan," Leo called out. The Elder turned around and lowered his hood.
"Leo, what can I do for you?" he asked.
"I think Barbas has escaped and has been attacking witches," Leo informed the Elder.
"We haven't felt any changes. We would know if he had escaped Purgatory," Rowan assured Leo.
"I'm telling you it's him. The girls, I think that's what happened. I think he attacked them a few weeks ago," Leo protested.
"I'm sorry Leo but it's not possible. It would take someone like the Source to bring Barbas here before his time," Rowan argued back.
"Fine. Don't believe me. But there are ten dead unmarried witches down there. He only needs three more before he will be on this plane for eternity. He's going to go after the Charmed Ones," Leo grumbled.
"They are your charges Leo. It is your job to protect and guide them," Rowan commented.
Leo couldn't believe the Elders were denying the fact that Barbas was back. How could they not sense his power? He was an upper level demon. He had to at least warn Victor. He owed the man that much since he had saved them once before. Leo disappeared once more in orbs and reappeared in the hallway of Victor's work. He walked in and walked up to the secretary.
"Hi, may I help you?" she asked.
"I need to speak with Victor Bennett. It's urgent," Leo answered.
"Do you have an appointment?" she inquired.
"No…just please…tell him Leo is here to see him," Leo pressed upon her. She eyed him strangely but got up and went into a corner office. She stepped out a moment later and motioned for the whitelighter to follow her. Victor looked up from his desk.
"Leo?" he asked as he motioned for the other man to shut the door.
"Victor, this couldn't wait. The girls are in danger," Leo said in a hushed tone.
"Haven't they been in danger since their grandmother died?" Victor asked.
"Barbas is back," Leo explained.
"But you said…." Victor trailed off.
"I said it was a possibility but I didn't think it was a very strong one. Well now it is. He's killed ten witches already. He has to kill three more and will be able to exist on our plane for eternity," the whitelighter continued.
"You don't think….he'll go after the girls do you?" Victor asked, his voice shaky.
"I think that's exactly what he's going to do. If he can take the Charmed Ones not even the Source could challenge his power," Leo answered, not sounding happy at all about the prospect of his newest charges having to face such a powerful enemy. He wasn't sure they were ready for that kind of battle. But he also knew that Barbas wouldn't care if he was evenly matched or not. He was only interested in self-preservation.
"I don't think you need to worry about the girls right now. They should be safe at school. He wouldn't attack in a crowd. There'd be too many people around to save them," he continued.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Victor snapped.
"Actually…yes," the younger of the two men answered.
"Look, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with this information. If you didn't notice, I'm not magical. There's nothing I can do to protect my daughters," Victor sighed.
"I think it would be safer if you drive home and I orb you to pick up the girls. It gives him less of an opportunity of attacking while you're on the road," Leo suggested. Victor just nodded. Just then there was a knock and the door opened.
"You're one fifteen appointment is here Mr. Bennett," the secretary announced. Victor motioned for her to see the client in.
"I'll see you at the Manor in a couple hours," Leo said and walked out of the office. He thanked the secretary and disappeared once more in light. Back at school, Piper was on her way back from the bathroom when she ran into Prue.
"I saw you playing with Andy," Piper said, stopping in her tracks.
"It was fun," Prue admitted.
"He likes you," Piper snickered.
"You sound like Phoebe," Prue muttered.
"Do you think we'll ever figure out what happened?" Piper questioned suddenly.
"I don't know. Maybe. I trust Leo. If anyone can find out what it was, it's him," Prue reassured her younger sister. Prue couldn't entirely believe that she had said she trusted Leo. Apparently neither could Piper because the eight-year-old just gawked at her sibling for a moment before moving on back to her class.
Prue wandered into the bathroom and checked to make sure no one else was in there. She faced the sink in front of her. She needed to get away from everyone else. She had wanted to practice controlling her power. She had a feeling she was going to need it, and soon. She squinted at the faucet and the tap turned, water pouring out. She smiled to herself. This wasn't so hard. Within a few minutes, Prue had all four sinks almost over flowing with water. She quickly shut them off, not wanting to flood the bathroom and watched the water start to recede.
"Cool," she muttered to herself, pulling the door open and walking back to her class. An hour later all three girls were reunited and looking for Victor's car in the line to be picked up.
"Girls," Victor called out, waving them over to where he stood. Prue took Phoebe by the hand and led her sisters to where he was.
"Where's the car?" Prue wanted to know.
"Well…Leo is taking us home. He thinks it will be safer that way," Victor explained as Leo stepped out from behind the edge of the building. They all joined hands and in moments they were back at the Manor.
"That was fun. Can we do it again?" Phoebe begged, tugging on Leo's sleeve.
"Not right now, Phoebe," Leo answered, suddenly growing stern.
"Why do I feel like we have to do something magical?" Piper asked. Leo couldn't help but smile at her.
"I know what came after you. It was the Demon of Fear. Someone let him out early," Leo explained.
"What do we do?" Prue asked.
"We need to get the Book of Shadows. There is a potion in there to vanquish him," Leo answered. Prue immediately sprinted up the stairs, returning shortly with the hefty tome. They all crowded around the dining room table and flipped through the book until they found the page on Barbas. The ingredients were listed on the bottom of the page as well as the recipe to make the potion. Leo led them into the kitchen and began gathering what they'd need.
"Can I do anything?" Victor asked, feeling awkward standing there watching his daughters brew a potion.
"Can you cut these up?" Leo asked, pointing to some odd looking roots. Victor nodded and began to chop them as quickly as he could.
"Damn," he cursed as he nicked the tip of his finger.
"Is the pot boiling yet, Piper?" Leo asked over his shoulder. Piper peered into the large pot.
"Yes," she reported.
"Ok, we need to put this in first," he said, pointing to some dried herbs. Prue eyed them, sending them into the pot.
"You're getting better at controlling your power, Prue," Leo commented, sound quite pleased.
"I practice," she announced.
"I want to put that in," Phoebe said, pointing to what Victor was cutting. Leo nodded and Victor pushed the root over to the five-year-old. Carefully Phoebe placed them in the pot. Leo was about to read off the next instruction when a noise caught his attention.
"Stay here," he told the Halliwells as he ventured out into the hallway. He was momentarily sent flying backwards. Victor figured that was not a good sign and took over reading the instructions for the potion. Just as Prue dropped the last ingredient in, Barbas sauntered into the kitchen.
"What do we have here?" the demon snickered. Victor grabbed Phoebe and put himself between his daughters and demon before him.
"Still trying to keep them safe," Barbas sighed as he shook his head.
"You're not going to hurt my girls," Victor spat defiantly.
"Hmm…let's see what dear old Daddy's fear is," the demon sniggered. He was about to wave his hand in front of Victor when Leo jumped on him. He eyed the potion. It was about to bubble over.
"The potion!" Leo managed to shout before Barbas struggled from his grip. Prue's gaze flitted between the pot and the demon struggling with Leo. She had an idea forming but she wasn't sure if her powers were strong enough to do. She grabbed Phoebe and Piper by the hands and concentrated. The concoction in the pot began to rise from the container. It hovered in mid-air as Prue realized what she was doing. She started to get excited and the substance began to slide back into the pot.
"Prue, focus," Victor called out, placing a hand on her shoulder, hoping she would feel his support.
The ten-year-old's brow furrowed as she concentrated again. She could feel her sisters concentrating too. Together they managed to use enough collective power to send the potion hurdling towards the demon. Leo orbed out just as the potion hit Barbas.
"I'll be back! I always am. Fear never goes away," he cried as he burst into flame, leaving a faint scorch mark on the kitchen floor.
"We did it!" Piper squealed, jumping up and down, swinging her sister's arm vigorously.
"I couldn't have done it without you and Phoebe to help me focus," Prue addressed her sisters.
"So he's going to come back?" Victor asked, referencing the demon's parting words.
"Eventually. But I'm pretty sure we won't see him for a long time," Leo replied. Just then the room was filled with bright lights as Rowan appeared.
"Rowan," Leo said, standing up.
"I owe you and apology, Leo," the Elder said, surveying the kitchen.
"Who….are you?" Victor asked.
"He's…one of my bosses," Leo said hurriedly.
"I see you made sure nothing befell your charges. You have done well," the Elder complimented Leo.
"I'd say thank you but it was really the girls. It was the Power of Three that vanquished Barbas," Leo muttered. Rowan took a step closer to Leo.
"They may be young but they have the Halliwell spirit," he whispered, making Leo smirk. With that, Rowan disappeared in orbs, leaving the family alone again.
"Who wants to help clean up the kitchen?" Victor asked, knowing none of the girls would volunteer.
"I do," Phoebe said, raising her hand as high as she could.
"We all will. We made the mess," Prue replied. Victor smiled as he watched his three girls clean up the kitchen. He'd worry about the scorch mark on the floor later.
Hours later, Victor was tucking Phoebe into bed. He kissed her forehead and told her loved her. He moved over to Piper's bed and did the same thing.
"Night Dad," Piper sighed, curling up under the covers.
"Good night, Piper," he breathed as he shut the door and knocked lightly on Prue's door. She pulled it open, already in her pajamas.
"Night. I'm proud of you," he said. Prue averted her gaze. Just because she was calling him Dad now didn't change the fact that she still harbored some hard feelings and trust issues for him.
"Thanks," she mumbled and shut the door.