AN: Phoebe is 19 and too young to be in a club in America but I forgot about this so in this fic you have to be 18 and over to get into P4 :)
I do not own Charmed or Twilight. Please read and review xoxox
Music from the Devil
"So, what you're telling me is that you no longer need a white-knight to rescue you and your sisters from debt." Chris Barker said in a sarcastic voice as he should in front of Prue in her office.
"No!" Prue insisted.
"But we had a deal."
"Well, what we had was an agreement to make a deal and I no longer agree."
Barker smirked. "I see. This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain band choosing to play at P4 tonight, would it? Word travels fast."
Prue looked at him blankly. "Yeah, well, Piper pulled us out of the fire."
"Yes, in a doing so, revealed to me quite a diamond in the rough."
Prue frowned. "Meaning what?"
"Well, meaning, I understand you're showing me the door, but I think I rather like this party. I think your sister's little venture is on its way to great success. Which is why I've already gone to your bank and made an offer to pick up your loan." Barker said, his smirk growing as Prue stilled.
"You didn't..."
"Did!"
"Ok, Mr Barker...we have a relationship..." Prue said, clutching straws.
"Yes and you've brought so many valuable items into my field of view. I just have this feeling that you sister's club is gonna be the best one yet. Could you put me on the guest list for tonight? Me plus one. I'd like to see what I'm buying."
"Ok, I am asking, nicely, for your own sake, not to go through with this."
Barker's eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat, Ms. Halliwell? Be careful. You could be jeopardizing a very profitable relationship. Two passes. I'd like a booth, too, close to the stage." He said before leaving and Prue let out a sigh.
...
"How is this going to work?" Piper asked Phoebe as they make the vanquishing potion.
"We're just slip Masselin a little extra-strength antacid. And if the Book of Shadows is right, the should disappear like a demonic gas bubble, freeing his victims, leaving them safe and sound." Phoebe said and Piper frowned.
"Phoebe, we can't even give our cat a vitamin. How are we gonna get this down a demon's throat?" she asked and Phoebe shrugged.
"In this?" she said, picking up the balloon.
"What is that?"
"It's a balloon."
"Okay, where is it?" Piper asked and Phoebe frowned in confusion.
"Where's what?"
"The spoonful of sugar big enough to hide that thing?"
Phoebe smirked. "You're looking at her."
Piper's eyes widened as she stared at her little sister who was grinning widely back.
"Excuse me?"
"Well, the only way to get to Masselin, is through Carlton, right? So all I'll have to do is get close to Carlton, pretend I'm some choice tidbit. Then we get Masselin to swallow this."
"Right before he swallows you, Phoebe. No, it's too dangerous."
"Well, unless you have a better idea, it's our only choice. You and Prue will back me up. I'll be fine." Phoebe said with a shrug. "How are you going to break the news to Bells?"
"That she can't join the demon fighting? I didn't even think she liked demon fighting. I thought that was more you and Prue, to be honest." Piper said casually but couldn't help but flinch at the reminder.
Phoebe, of course, noticed. "Piper, give it up. You know she's going to freak out. If I recall, when we were kids, you would be the first to give into Bella's pout, and I'm not even going to get started on the tantrum you're going to get."
"She's going to hate me." Piper said before getting angry. "And I hate him!"
"Of course you hate him. He's a demon." Phoebe said, turning round to face her. "Wait, we are talking about the demon, right?"
"He didn't even have the decency to ask me first! He at least could have discussed it with me!" Piper muttered angrily as she put things into the blender and Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Oh, Leo!"
"I mean, can you believe him? He acted as if we've never has a relationship before. Like it was just business." Piper said as she turned on the blender and food went everywhere. "Oh! Oh!"
"Got to put the lid on, honey!" Phoebe yelled and Piper quickly does as she's told.
But Piper still wasn't ready to give up on her rant. "And I saw the future too, you know. Leo and I get married. A marriage in the future imply some sort of relationship in the present ... the question is: where's the relationship?"
"Somewhere between confusing and complicated? Just talk to him, honey? It'll be okay."
"I'd rather just freeze him and kick him in the-" she was cut off by the doorbell ringing and her eyes narrowed. "That better not be him."
"In the shins?" Phoebe suggested with a smirk as Piper headed for the door.
"Not exactly."
Piper opened the door to see Dan.
"Piper?" he asked warily and Piper smiled kindly.
"Dan, hi."
"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked and she smiled before letting him in.
"Sure, what's up?"
"Jenny... Did you tell her she could go see Dishwalla tonight?" he asked and Piper's eyes widened.
"No, no! She can't go!"
"She said, you said it was alright."
"Well, I didn't exactly tell her it wasn't. But the things were happening kind of fast." Piper admitted and Dan nodded.
"Well, she's in her room right now, picking out her clothes."
Piper's eyes widened again. "Oh god! Okay...I'll talk to her."
She opened the door and was about to walk out of it before she saw Leo standing there.
"Hi." Leo said warily and Piper's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Hello." She said stiffly.
"Listen, I was hoping that we could talk."
"Sure...Leo, this is-"
"Dan Gordon!" Leo said and Piper looked between the two men in shock.
"Wait, you know him?"
"What? Are you kidding? He used to play second base for the Mariners. Ha had an all-star season going till he blew out his knee sliding into home. I still think you were safe." Leo said and Dan smiled.
"So do I!"
"I'm Leo."
"Nice meeting you."
"No, it's not." Piper said, turning towards Leo. "You follow baseball?"
"Yeah!"
"You have time for baseball, but you don't have time to tell me about you-know-what, before you-know-who shows up you-know-where?" Piper asked snappily and Dan looked warily between the two of them.
"Uh, Listen. If you two need to talk or something, I can-"
"No, no no. We don't need to talk. Leo stops by occasionally to fix things. Phoebe can show him around." Piper said as Phoebe walked towards them. "Let's go talk to Jenny."
"It was nice meeting you." Dan said to Leo who smiled.
"Yeah, you too."
After the two had left, Leo turned to Phoebe who smiled at him sympathetically.
"She's just a little upset." She told him and he grimaced.
"Yeah...I don't blame her."
...
Darryl smiled when he saw Prue walking his way but she walked straight past him.
"Right... and this is where you say 'Darryl', I say 'Prue' and then you say something like 'what are you doing here?'" Darryl asked and Prue frowned in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" she asked as they walked across the corridors of Bucklands.
"Andy didn't have time to teach me all the steps to this dance but I'm a quick study."
"I have to go."
"To P4?" he asked. "As usual, I barely know what's going on. And I don't like it."
"Look, I will explain everything to you later."
"But you never do. I know it's all about keeping me safe and I respect that. What do you know about Jeff Carlton?"
"I can't." Prue told him and he sighed.
"This is about my job. I'm not saying that you have to tell me everything but whenever you and your sisters are involved, the whole playing field gets a little crazy."
"Yeah and a lot more dangerous."
Darryl frowned. "I'm a cop. Stop protecting me, Prue."
"You have absolutely no idea."
"I'm an imaginative guy. I have plenty of ideas but what matters is that you and I work out some kind of relationship. We're gonna need to communicate or I'm gonna become very unsociable."
Prue looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Okay."
"The three missing girls...and Jeff Carlton..."
"We're working on it."
Darryl nodded. "I figured."
"Look, Darryl, just trust us, okay? We've got this one."
"Sure."
"I've got to go." She said, giving him a small smile before she left, leaving him staring after her.
"Be careful." He whispered to himself.
...
"Jenny, this state can shut me down." Piper said carefully as she watch Jenny pick out clothes.
"How are they gonna find out? Are you going to tell them? 'Cause I'm not going to tell them and Bells said you were going to help us out." Jenny said and Piper sighed.
"Did she now?"
"Mmmm. Do you like read or denim?"
"Jenny..." Dan tried but stopped when Jenny glared at him.
"Yeah! Sure. Let's hear from uncle Dan. Who never in his life faked an I.D or snuck into a bar. Who never did any wrong. Ever." Jenny said sarcastically and Dan closed his eyes for a second before looking back at his niece.
"We're talking about you." He said calmly.
"No, we're talking about Piper and she said I could go see the show."
"I never said that..." Piper said before cringing, not able to look the girl in the eye. "Jenny, I'm sorry, but I can't let you in the club."
"Your mum and dad, they put me in charge." Dan said, drawing Jenny's attention from Piper, towards him.
Jenny looked between both of them with tears in her eyes. "Right...everybody's in charge...but not me. Not ever. Why is that?" she asked but didn't wait for an answer as she ran from the room, the tears now running down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry." Dan said after a few seconds. "She's just feeling a little..."
"Betrayed...yeah, I know the feeling."
...
"Guys, I'm home." Bella called as she walked into the house but paused when she heard a crash from the basement. "Hello?"
She walked towards the basement door warily, not sure she wanted to go down there. She was just about to put her hand on the handle when a voice made her jump.
"Bella! Can you come down here for a minute?" Phoebe called and Bella opened the door, looked down to see Phoebe sitting on the floor, holding her ankle.
"What happened?" Bella asked as she rushed towards her sister who threw her a small glare.
"You startled me, that's what." Phoebe said and Bella shot her an apologetic look. "I was practicing for tonight...I doubt we'll be able to do the plan now."
"What's happening tonight? What's the plan?" Bella asked and Phoebe studied her for a second before shrugging. What's the worst it could do?
She explained as Bella helped her up the stairs, through the kitchen, down the hall and into the livingroom.
"So, I was going to use myself as bait." Phoebe finished. "But I can hardly do it now, stupid foot."
Bella smirked evily as she came up with her own plan and Phoebe watched her warily.
"Okay, what are you thinking?" she asked but Bella didn't have a chance to reply as Prue and Piper walked towards them.
"Hey, what's going on?" Prue asked when she saw them and Bella tried to hide her smirk.
"I think I've sprained my ankle." Phoebe told them grimly and they sighed.
"Well, that's our plan screwed." Piper said as she sat down on the couch.
"Yeah, you can't be bait because you're the owner of the club, they're not exactly stupid enough to use you. And I hardly class as a girl, we're back to square one." Prue said grimly.
"Not really." Bella said, making her sisters turn towards her. "You need someone else for bait, right? Well you're looking at her."
Her sisters stared at her for a second.
"You really are desperate to get in the club!"
...
"You didn't leave any passes for that investor guy, right?" Bella asked as she and Prue walked through the club.
"How do you know about that?" Prue asked in shock.
"You and Phoebe aren't really subtle. Luckily, it was me that noticed and not Piper. You didn't answer my question."
"No chance. The bouncer has his order. Chris Barker is not allowed. The last we need is for Piper to find out she's going to loose her club."
Bella frowned. "But if the bank accepts his offer..."
"One hellish complication at a time. Okay, do you have the poison pill?" Prue asked.
"Yep."
"Good, 'cause here comes demon boy." Prue said, nodding towards Carlton who was walked towards Piper.
"Mr. Carlton." Piper said with a forced smile.
"Nice crowd." He nodded, looking around the club. "Is the band here?"
"Yep, they came in the back way. They're right over there, everything's ready." She told him and he nodded again.
"Better be. I don't want any problems." He said before walking off and Piper's smile slid for her face.
"That's too bad." She muttered.
"Talking to yourself again?" a voice came from behind her and she turned to see Leo.
"What are you doing here?" she asked and he sighed.
"I'm watching over things. It's what I do, remember?"
"I remember when it didn't use to be a job."
"Look!" Leo snapped. "This isn't easy for me either, Piper!"
"Leo, I really can't talk about this right now...excuse me." She said before walking away from him.
Prue and Bella were keeping their eyes on Carlton.
"Okay, Bells. Go get him." Prue said finally and Bella nodded.
"Keep an eye on me."
Prue scoffed. "You're kind of hard to miss in that outfit."
Bella blushed. "Phoebe made me wear it."
Prue smiled at her baby sister and rolled her eyes as she walked over towards Carlton.
"Excuse me? It's Jeff Carlton, right?" Bella said, acting as good as she could.
"Yes." He said, looking over her as if trying to remember where he knew her.
"Yeah, we met earlier. I thought I recognised you. You were from that MTV top ten video things last month." Bella said making him smirk.
"Someone actually saw that?"
"It was really good."
"Taped that almost two months ago."
"I didn't know there was such a thing as a music manager. Let alone what they did until you came on the scene. I mean, who knew? I'm now taking a class in music management at the learning Annex. You're my inspiration." She lied, hoping that for once in her life she could fool someone.
"Really?" Looks like it was working!
"Cross my heart. Hey, do you have any pointers? I would do...just about anything to get the inside scoop."
Carlton seemed to cringe slightly at the word 'anything' but recovered quickly. "Anything, huh? Wanna meet the band?"
"Yeah, sure."
"This way." He said, leading her towards the back.
"This this such a good idea?" Piper asked, watching them carefully.
"Too late to turn back now." Prue said as they watched Carlton lead Bella away. "Where is he taking her?"
"In the back."
"All right, let's go."
...
Bella was starting to panic as she heard Carlton lock the door as he sped up.
"What's the rush?" she asked, trying to be calm.
"No time to waste." Was all he said before pushing her into an empty room.
Bella looked around the room carefully, there was no one there. The demon was either very good at hiding...or wasn't there. Bella jumped when she heard something behind her and turned quickly. Her eyes widened as she came face to face with the demon but she tried to keep as calm as she could. She grabbed the poison pill but as soon as Messelin saw it he disappeared again. Bella sighed.
Before she could do anything else, Piper and Prue came in.
"Are you alright?"
"Did you get him?"
Bella shook her head. "No."
"What?" Piper sighed.
"I think we need a bigger balloon."
"Ok, we're gonna have to regroup. Come on, lets go."
...
"He's huge, and ugly and I really think we need a bigger balloon." Bella told them.
"Maybe we just came in too soon." Piper siggested.
"Maybe he saw the poison." Bella said grimly.
Piper shrugged. "Well, in any case, the spook's spooked."
Bella, however, frowned. "Yeah and took the trapped souls with him. The ones we have to save."
"Look, we don't know for sure that the demon is gone. If he's still here, then he's gonna feed again and Carlton's the one to feed him. Do you still have to poison pill?" Prue asked calmly.
"Yes, but I don't think it's going to be enough."
"Bella, stop." Prue said firmly. "All right, we need to cover the exits, look for Carlton, if we see him grab anybody. Piper you freeze the room and we'll get into positions."
...
Piper jumped as Leo appeared behing her.
She threw him a glare. "I wish you'd quit doing that."
"What's happening?" he asked, ignoring her comment.
"We're on it, Leo. We're just waiting for Carlton to do his thing."
Leo sighed. "Do you think I like this?"
"Leo-"
"Do you think I like not being with you?"
"Ok, can we cut the crap? I know what you have to do. I always have. The question is: what do you want? What do you wanna do? With me? With us? Do you ever think about that?"
Leo looked at her sadly. "All the time."
"You ever want to discuss that with me?" she asked, looking up at him hopefull.
"Yes, it's just timing always seems-"
"Seems to suck." Piper finished for him as she caught sight of Darryl. "Okay, hold that thought. Don't let go, just hold it." She told Leo before heading over to Prue. "Morris is here."
"What?" Prue asked, her eyes widening as she caught sight of Barker. "Woah! Oh, boy!"
Piper frowned at her. "What are you looking at? He's over there."
Prue turned back to Piper. "Huh, yeah, okay." She said quickly, moving them away from Barker.
...
Bella was over by the stage when some security guys came upto her and grabs her purse.
"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked as he began to search through it.
"Weapon's check." Was all the man said.
"There's nothing in there." Bella told him, her eyes widening as he grabbed the poison pill and she grabbed for it too, making the balloon pop and the poisong spill down the borrowed wrap that was over her borrowed jeans.
"What the hell is that?" he asked, frowning at the green stain that seemed to be smoking.
"That is going to be one pissed off sister." Bella told him with a sigh but froze when she saw Carlton leading a young girl away. "Oh god...Jenny..."
...
"Hello, Prue." Barker said as he walked over to Piper and Prue, the latter sighed.
"Hi, Mr Barker." She reluctantly said.
"Where's Bella?" Piper asked distractedly as she looked around the club for her baby sister.
"Let me guess, Piper Halliwell, right?" Barker said with a smirk and Piper turned to look at him.
"Yeah, who are you?" she asked before looking at Prue. "Who is he?"
"The name's Chris Barker and I'm gonna be taking over everything from here on out." He said. Prue sighed while Piper's eyes widened.
"Wait, what?"
"Piper, we've gotta talk." Darryl said as he came upto them.
"Not now." Piper said.
"I'd be willing to discuss you staying on. However, in a dismished capacity, ofcourse." Barker said, still smirking.
"Jenny's here with Carlton." Bella said, appearing at her sisters side.
"What?" Prue asked.
"Jenny's here?" Piper asked, her heart dropping.
"And I lost the potion." Bella said grimly.
"Piper, it's important." Darryl said firmly and Barker glared at him.
"Hey, wait in line, pal!"
Darryl just held up his badge. "Why don't you step to the back?"
Piper had finally had enough. "Okay, everybody hold it." She said before freezing the whole club.
"Look." Bella said, pointing towards Carlton and Jenny who were just walking into the back.
"Oh god." The sisters said together as they rushed towards the two of them as the club un-froze.
"Freeze them again." Bella said.
"They're through the door." Piper said as they ran towards the door. "Move it! Move it!"
"Wait. Hold it." Prue said, making Piper and Bella turn towards her confused.
"Jenny's in there." Piper reminded her.
"Yeah but we can't kill Messelin without the potion."
"Well, we can't just stand here, she's going to die."
As Carlton opened the door, Prue used her power to make him fly backwards into the wall and they stood over him.
"Help us." Prue said firmly but he shook his head.
"He'll kill me. He'll burn the flesh of my bones for eternity."
"Listen up, skid mark. You tell us how to save Jenny and get Elvis out of the building, or spending an eternity in hell is going to be the least of your worries." Piper told him but he shook his head again.
"There's nothing you can do."
"We can break the pact and free you from Messelin."
"Believe me, if I could, I would. But if you go in there, he's gonna swallow you whole and you'll still be alive."
"That's not a bad idea." Piper said, making her sisters look at her as if they worried for her sanity.
"What?"
"Where's the demon?" Piper asked Carlton.
"Through that door." He told them, nodding towards it.
Piper turned towards Prue and Bella. "I got a plan. We get eaten."
Prue and Bella stared at her again. "We get what?" Bella asked.
"And once we're inside, Prue, you use your power to blow him up."
"From the inside?" Prue asked warily.
"Mmmm Hmmm."
"Who's to say that we won't loose our powers once we get in there? Maybe that's exactly what he wants." Bella pointed out.
"Yeah, well, we don't really have a choice, Bells. The poison pill is gone." Prue told her.
"No, it isn't." Bella said, showing them the stain on her wrap before turning towards the door.
"Bella, what are you-" Piper tried to ask but was cut off as Bella broke open the door and walked in. Her sisters wasted no time walking in after her.
"It's time to join your friends, witches." Messelin said as he appeared in the room.
Prue used her power to make the stained wrap fly at Messelin.
"What is going on back here?" Barker asked as Messelin blows up and green slime splates over him. Barker stumbles back in shock.
"Jenny!" Piper said as they saw all the victims on the floor where Messelin had been. "We gotta get her home."
"Prue, what's going on here?" Darryl asked as he turned up. "Someone wanna clue me in?"
"You're arresting a kidnapper." Prue said, nodding towards Carlton who sighed.
"And rescuing his victims, good job!" Bella said brightly as she passed him.
"Trust me, that's all you want to know." Prue said, smiling at him slightly before walking towards Barker.
"I guess that's all I need to know." Darryl said with a shrug before arresting Carlton.
Prue kneeled down next to Barker and spoke in a dangerous voice. "Mr Barker...here's what you need to know. This place is ours. The ups, the down, the good and especially the bad. It's all ours. Now if you ever bother us again, you won't have to ask if I'm threatening you. Are we clear?"
Barker nodded frantically. "Yes!"
"Good."
...
"Paying bills?" Prue asked Piper the next morning.
"Every last one. For this month, atleast." Piper said happily.
"Thanks to Leo." Phoebe said and Piper gave her a look that clearly said 'keep it up and you'll loose the other legs aswell'. "Well, technically if it wasn't for him, you would've never landed Dishwalla."
"I suppose. And technically if we hadn't vanquished a demon, you client, Chris Barker, wouldn't have abandoned his hostile takeover. The bank called... and told me Mr. Barker didn't have the stomach for gruesome stage theatrics. He's withdrawing his offer." Piper told them and they looked at her apologetically.
"I'm sorry." Prue said.
"He was just supposed to help. We didn't expect a double cross." Phoebe said.
Piper nodded. "It's okay, I mean, I understand why you didn't want to hurt my feelings but you could've told me the truth."
Prue gives her a puppy dog look. "I said I was sorry." She said in a cute voice that made her sisters smile.
"We're all sorry." Bella said and Piper's smile grew when she locked eyes with her, making the youngest sister wary.
"Bella." Piper said. "We need to make some rules."
Bella looked at Prue and Phoebe but they looked as confused as she felt. Bella turned back to Piper nervously.
"Number One, you can not drink. Number Two, you must help out at least once. Number Three, if you tell any of your friends about this you're never allowed in my club again." Piper said and Bella's eyes widened as she realised what Piper was saying.
"I'm allowed in you're club?" she asked, not daring to believe it untill Piper actually said it.
"Yes, you are."
"Thank you!" Bella said, hugging her sister tightly and pretty soon it became a very tight, group hug.
I know she's underage but P4 is the sisters hang out and I need to have Bella in there...
R&R