Prue's Agony

"Maggie has made a remarkable turn around," the doctor told the sisters. "Severely depressed this morning, now suddenly she's smiling, laughing, helping others. However, I'm afraid her recovery is only temporary."
Prue frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"Once you've been on that ledge, Miss Halliwell, you can never forget it. That deep dark place never goes away. It haunts you, beckons you back."

"That's not true." Phoebe said firmly and the doctor raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, are you a psychiatrist?" he asked, his tone slightly mocking.
Phoebe squared her shoulders. "No, but I still don't think that that's true. Lots of people recover from depression. Bella went through it but she's fine now." Phoebe pointed out, glancing at her younger sister before glaring at the doctor.

"Not people in Maggie's rather unique situation. She still feels responsible for all the tragedies in her family's life. That pain doesn't just magically go away."

"No, but it also doesn't come back like you're saying." Bella said, though she was unsure. She was hoping it didn't. She hated how she'd felt during those few months after her grams died and really didn't want to go back there.

"Um, may we see her?" Prue asked, quickly changing the subject.

The doctor nodded. "Of course."

All three of the sisters were happy to get away from the doctor. They walked down the corridor and into a large room full of people. Maggie was helping an old woman into her chair, she looked up and smiled brightly when she saw Prue.

"I hoped you'd come so I could thank you and ask you. I have so many questions." She gushed.

Prue blushed, especially when Phoebe and Bella smiled proudly at her. "Maggie, I-I-I think you may have the wrong idea about me." She stuttered awkwardly.

"You saved my life." Maggie said firmly.

That just made Prue blush even more. "Yeah, but there was so much going on this morning. I mean, it was really confusing, there were so many people." She sighed.

"That doesn't change what you did. Who are you?"
"My name is Prue. These are my sisters, Phoebe and Bella."

"Hey, Maggie." Bella said while Phoebe sent her a small wave.

Maggie looked at them in awe. "Three angels."

"No," Bella said quickly. "Trust me, Phoebe is anything but an angel." She giggled when Phoebe slapped her shoulder softly.

"Maggie, how are you?" Prue asked. "Better I hope."
Maggie smiled again. "Honestly, I feel great. I couldn't be happier."

"Even though you're here?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm alive and more importantly I feel alive again. I'm able to give, I'm able to help people. I haven't been able to do that for a while."

Bella smiled at her. "That's a nice way to look at it."

Maggie smiled back before noticing Prue's camera bag. "Are you a photographer?" she asked her.

"Yeah, sort of." Prue shrugged.

Bella rolled her eyes at her sister before speaking to Maggie, "She's working for Four One Five magazine."

"Oh, yeah. They're doing an article on me." Maggie's smiled faltered slightly and she looked up at Prue. "Is that why you were at my place this morning, to take my picture?"

"Yeah, but believe me, that was the last thing on my mind." Prue assured her in a rush.

"No, no, no, it's fine. Maybe the article will help others. Help them realize not to give up either. Where do you want me?"

"Oh, uh," she looked around. "I guess here is fine." She grabbed a chair and pulled it more into the middle of the room.

Maggie sat down and waited patiently as Prue got her camera ready. "I just can't get over how everything's changed suddenly. I mean, I know I'm stuck here for a while but I feel like a thousand pound weight's been lifted off me." Prue knelt down on the floor and began taking pictures as Maggie spoke. "I feel like my own self again."
"Um, Maggie, I'm taking a psychology class in school and I was wondering if I could ask you a question?" Phoebe asked, as she and Bella leaned against a table.

"Sure, anything."

"I was wondering why you… how you…"

A haunted look appeared on Maggie's face that made Prue pause. "How did I get on the ledge?" she finished for Phoebe, who nodded.

"Yeah."
"I really don't know. All I know is I just wanted it all to stop." Maggie whispered.

"Wanted what to stop?" Bella asked.

"The voice in my head that kept telling me that I was hurting people not helping them. That I was causing pain and trouble wherever I went. That it's all my fault... It was like I was cursed."
"Maybe you were cursed." Phoebe suggested and Maggie frowned at her.

"I'm sorry, what was - ?" Maggie started to ask but cut off when Prue stood up.

"Prue?" they watched as she packed up her things quickly.

"Um, I have to go get these to the magazine right away." She explained when she saw their expressions.

"Didn't you hear what she just said?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah...look, um, can you two take a cab and take his back to the house?" she asked, handing Bella her camera bag.
"Why don't I drive you?"

"No, it's fine." Prue forced a smile onto her face as she looked at Maggie. "Bye Maggie."

Maggie smiled back. "Bye." She replied before Prue practically ran from the room.

...

"There's a whole section in here on Darklighters somewhere." Piper told Leo and Joey as she flipped through the pages.

"Someone should really index this thing," Joey muttered.

"Are you sure about this?" Piper asked Leo.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Piper, I've been a whitelighter for over fifty years."

"Old man." Joey coughed, smiling slightly as Leo sent him a mock glare.

"Prue's in trouble." Leo reminded them as the phone rang. "Maybe that's her."

Piper quickly answered the phone. "Hello? Prue?"
"No, it's me, Dan." He chuckled.

Piper tried not to groan. It wasn't Dan's fault her sister was in trouble after all. "Dan, hi."
"You miss me?" he asked.

Leo motioned to Piper to see if she wanted him and Joey to leave.

Piper shook her head. "No."
"...Really?" Dan asked, sounding nervous. Piper cringed.

"Um, I was talking to the cat. Are you in New York?"
"Yeah, I'm in my hotel room. So what are you doing?"
"Uh...just reading." Piper told him as she watched Joey go through the book. "How was your flight?"
"It was fine. Hey, listen, maybe it's just my imagination but I sensed a little...something going on. Or not going on at all, if that makes any sense."
"Um, everything's fine." Piper lied.

"So that feeling that you had something important to tell me but didn't want to ruin my trip, that's just all in my head?" Dan asked. Piper didn't answer straight away as she glanced over at Leo. "Piper?"
"Huh? Um, I'm sorry, I'm just a little distracted here. Can we talk when you get home?"
"Right. Um, hey, listen, you know what? You don't have to worry about picking me up from the airport. I'll...I'll just catch a cab back to my place and maybe we can go out to dinner."
"Great."
"Okay, I'll see you soon."

"Okay, bye."
"Bye." Dan said and Piper hung up.

She sighed when she saw Leo's expression. "I'm sorry. It's just, it's difficult. I am going to break up with him but I can't do it when he's three thousand miles away. I have to be fair to him."

Leo nodded. "I understand that, totally. I really do. I'm glad that you're the kind of person that would give him that kind of respect."
"Thank you."

Joey rolled his eyes at the pair of them. "Let's worry about this first," he said, turning to book of shadows for them to read;

Darklighter - Forces good souls into suicide through telepathic suggestion. Very dangerous.

"You've gotta be kidding."

...

"I-I don't understand." Prue stuttered as she and Mr Corso looked through the blurry pictures of Maggie. "I checked it in my camera myself, it was fine."
"What am I supposed to print with the article? What am I supposed to do, huh?" he snapped, glaring at her.

Prue flinched. "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry? I gave you a chance. I believed in you and this is what I get? You're a fraud!"
"Wait a second, look - "
"No, you look. Lady, you're fired. No, you're worse than fired. I will make sure nobody hires you again. Now go on, get out, screw someone else's life."

Prue walked out of the room, trying to hold back tears. As soon as she was far enough away from the room she stopped and leant against the wall, taking deep breaths. "All right, I can handle this. Everything's gonna be fine."

No, it's not, says a small voice in her head. He's right. I'm a fraud. I only hurt people. It's all my fault. I'm responsible.

Prue took another deep breath before starting to walk again.

...

"Hi," Bella said as she and Phoebe walked through the front doors to see Piper, Leo and Joey coming down the stairs.

"Where's Prue?" Piper asked with a frown.
"Um, probably at the magazine, why?" Phoebe asked.
"There may be a darklighter after her." Leo explained. "We need to find her fast."
Bella's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah, when you got into that car wreck, was is right after Prue cast that spell on Maggie?" Leo asked and Bella nodded.

"Yeah, why?"
"The Darklighter must have seen her cast it." Joey said as Piper picked up the phone and began dialing.

"Why isn't this going through?" Piper muttered to herself when it didn't work before trying again.

"Maggie thought she was cursed."

"She probably was until Prue turned her luck around. See, there's a certain type of darklighter that drives future whitelighters to commit suicide."
"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked.

Leo took over from Joey. "Well, the only way to keep a whitelighter from becoming one is to have them take their own life. To lose their souls forever."

"They curse them." Piper said, as she tried dialing Prue's number once again. "They bring their victims self doubt, bad luck, the kind that hurts other people."
"And then reinforce that by praying on their thoughts, make them think they're responsible for all the pain when they're actually not."

Bella bit her lip. "But that's murder, not suicide."
Joey shook his head. "Not technically. They never actually push their victims, they just always compel them to jump."
"So, Prue didn't save Maggie from herself. She saved Maggie from him," Bella sighed.

Piper let out a small scream of frustration. "What is wrong with her phone?!"
"And that's why the darklighter's after Prue." Leo said. "If he destroys Prue, he destroys the good luck spell and leaves Maggie unprotected."
"Well, he's not gonna get to Prue. I don't care what he tries." Phoebe said firmly as Bella took Prue's camera bag over to the cupboard.

"Phoebe, he knows her thoughts, he can make her think anything he wants her to think." Piper pointed out.

"Piper, this is Prue we're talking about, okay. She is so... She wouldn't even think off - " Phoebe was cut off when Bella gasped loudly and everyone turned to her to see that she was in the middle of a premonition, a roll of film in her hand.

"What?" Piper asked nervously when Bella opened her eyes.

"You guys are right. We have to get to Prue."

...

"Try calling the magazine." Piper suggested when Phoebe had no luck with Prue.

Phoebe sighed. "I already did, they said she left a half an hour ago."

"Okay, then keep trying her cell." Piper told her before looking at Bella. "Are you sure your vision was of the past and not the future?"
"Positive." Bella nodded.

"Could you tell how old she was?" Phoebe asked.

Bella bit her lip as she thought. "About...twenty. I think it was the same time that we had that other accident."
"What happened?" Joey asked.

Phoebe didn't look up from the phone as she spoke. "Oh, Prue was driving and she ran a red light. We didn't even hear the other car honk."

"Phoebe and Bella were the only ones hurt. Phoebe was in hospital for over a week but Bella stayed in longer." Piper explained. "It scared the hell out of us."
"Prue never forgave herself." Bella told the whitelighters. "It was a rough time for her. For all of us."
"Why?" Leo asked.

"Well," Piper said. "Phoebe, Bella and I were still practically kids and Grams was extremely over protective.

"But she was hardest on Prue. She kind of made Prue take care of us. She didn't let Prue go away to school. She wanted to go back east to be a photo journalist."

Piper sighed. "But Grams knew that we were gonna be witches and she wasn't gonna let anything jeopardize that."
"Still, you know what? I don't care what was happening, Prue would never even consider - " Phoebe started to insist but was cut off by Bella.

"I know. But I saw her, Phoebe."

"You said that you saw Prue taking a picture and she was very sad but that doesn't mean that she was gonna jump."
"Yeah, but the darklighter will make her think that she was going to." Leo pointed out. "He'll mess with her head and try and take her back to the same dark place. And he'll say whatever he has to and make her do something she would never otherwise do."
"Okay, so if we can't find Prue, how do we find the darklighter?" Piper asked.

"You can't without a whitelighter." Joey told them grimly. "We sense each other."
All eyes snapped to the phone in Phoebe's hand when it started ringing and she answered it quickly. "Prue?"
"Hey, Pheebs." Prue said.

"Is it her?" Bella asked

"Yeah." Phoebe nodded before speaking down the phone again. "Where are you?"
"I don't really know but I can't start my car and-and this day just really sucks." Prue said, sounding upset.

"None of what's happening today has anything to do with - " Phoebe cut off as the phone started crackling. "Prue, can you hear me?"
"You have to tell her about the darklighter." Joey pressed and Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"I'm trying! Prue?" she tried again but she got no answer. "Hello? Damn it. I lost her."

...

What's happening to me? the voice asked as Prue walked down the street. What's the matter with me? I gotta keep moving, keep walking. I've been in this dark place before, I remember. No one can help me. I'm all alone. Keep walking, yes, keep walking.

"Okay, Prue, keep it together." Prue whispered to herself. "This isn't me. I'm a good person. I do good things."

Just then, a boy was skateboarding down the pathway on the other side of the road when his skateboard suddenly went out of control. Prue pauses, seeing that he's about to hit a woman and her baby, she moves him away by using her power...straight in front of a car.

Prue's eyes widen. "Oh god." She breathed as the car managed to stop in time.

I almost got him killed. Just like I almost got Phoebe and Bella killed. Run... Run!

Tears were running down Prue's face as she did what the voice said.

...

"Maggie, hi." Phoebe said as she, Bella and Piper walked over to her. "Remember us?"
Maggie smiled brightly. "Of course."
"We need your help finding Prue."

"Prue?"

Bella nodded. "Your angel."
"She's in trouble. Big trouble." Piper said, as the three of them lead her away from the other patients. "The kind of trouble you can relate to."
"What can I do?" Maggie asked instantly.

Phoebe unfolded a map and held it out to show her. "We need you to point anywhere on this map."
"We could really use your luck right now." Bella told her when Maggie looked confused.

"But I don't understand how - " Maggie started to say but Bella cut her off.
"Please, it will help, trust me."

Maggie closed her eyes and pointed to the map. "Here."

The sister leaned closer to look at the spot Maggie had pointed out. "It's close by." Piper said, closing up the map.

"Thank you." Phoebe said to Maggie before they walked off.

...

Prue looked up at the bridge with a shaky breath before making her way towards it.

It's okay, no need to be afraid. I know what needs to be done. It's the best thing. The best thing for everyone. It's something I should've done a long time ago...

As soon as Prue was on the bridge she walked towards the edge slowly.

That's it. It's the only way. It's the only way to save the one's I love. I should've done it before. Four years ago.

"I didn't want to," Prue protested to herself.

But if I had, loved ones would still be alive today. Like Andy. I'm responsible for Andy.

Prue began sobbing. "Andy."

It's all my fault... Jump... Jump!

...

"Are you sure this is right?" Piper asked as they got out of the car.

"This is where Maggie pointed to." Bella said, looking around for Prue.

"But she's not here."

"She's gotta be here somewhere." Phoebe said as they looked up at the bridge and froze when they saw Prue standing near the edge, the darklighter standing right behind her.

"Oh my god!" Piper exclaimed.

"Prue!" Bella yelled up at her before she and Piper began running up the hill at the side of the bridge.

"Wait, wait, we'll drive there." Phoebe said but Piper shook her head.

"There's not time. Come on." The three of them ran as fast as they could, all the while yelling to Prue;

"Get away from the railing. Prue! Prue, this isn't you! The darklighter is making you do this!"

"He tried to kill Maggie and he's trying to kill you."

"He put a spell on you just like he did with Maggie."

"You're stronger than he is."

Prue seemed to be torn between listening to the darklighter or believing them. Finally, when Phoebe yelled over to her, "He's there, turn around, Prue." She listened and surprised the darklighter by turning around to face him.

"It's true." Prue whispered.

The darklighter's eyes were wide, seeming lost for words. "How did you..."

"You bastard. How dare you hurt people this way." Prue glared at him before using her power to throw him backwards and he hit the railing.

Piper, Phoebe and Bella finally made it to Prue's side as the darklighter stood up with a smirk. "It's a gift. You'll jump for me sooner or later. I haven't lost anyone yet."
"You lost two today." Prue said firmly.

"But remember, you can't stop me." He said, walking towards them. Suddenly, Leo and Joey appeared in orbs and tackled him to the ground.

"Leo?!" Piper yelled in shock while Bella just stared at Joey, her heart sinking as she realised what this meant.

"You alright?" Leo asked Prue.

She nodded. "Yeah, I think so." She said as her sisters hugged her.

"We gotta go." Joey said, his eyes on Bella as he and Leo orbed off with the darklighter.

...

"Well, the bridge hasn't changed much, has it?" Prue asked as the four sisters looked at the picture.

"But you sure have." Piper murmured.

Prue nodded. "Well, we all have, for the better."

Bella scoffed. "Tell me about it." The sister laughed but it was cut short quickly.

"Prue," Piper started carefull. "We were wondering - "
"What? Why I was on this bridge four years ago. Why I took this picture?"

Phoebe and Bella nodded while Piper said, "Well, yeah."
Prue looked back at the picture and for a moment it didn't look like she was going to answer. "I don't know. I guess I was just in a really bad place then. Anyway, I was out scouting for a shot and I found myself on the bridge and I just wanted to take a picture of it to remind myself of that particular moment and how I was feeling."
"But you weren't going to..."
"No." Prue said firmly. "No, I would never do that."
"But why didn't you develope it?" Bella asked.

"I guess I wasn't ready to relive the pain. But now I am. Especially since a demon tried to take advantage of it. But that was then..." Prue said, getting up from the sofa and throwing the picture into the fire, "and this..." she opens a magazine and shows them the article about Maggie, "this is now."
"What's this?" Piper asked.

"Hi, it's me, I'm a professional photographer. Look." Prue pointed to her name underneath the picture of Maggie.

"Yay!" Phoebe cheered as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Piper said, starting to walk towards the hall way but was stopped by Phoebe.

"Wait, what if it's Dan? What if he's back early from his trip?" she asked.

"Well, then I'll tell him the truth. Just because Leo has his wings back, doesn't change anything." Piper said, gaining a smile from her sister, before she walked towards the door. She opened it and looked at Leo in surprise. "Leo, you rang the bell?"

"Yeah, I wasn't sure how you'd feel about me orbing in." Leo said as he walked inside.

"I'd feel okay."
"Look, I just want you to know that this wasn't their idea. It was mine and it...it's not something I wanted to do, it's just - "
"Leo, I meant what I said and I thought about this a lot. Whitelighter or not, we can find a way to make this work. Somehow, someway."
Leo smiled at her. "I'm gonna hold you to that."
"You do that." Piper said as Leo pulled her into a hug.

...

Bella knew he would be there in her room when she went up so she stayed up with her sisters for as long as she could, but she knew she couldn't put it off forever. At two in the morning, she walked into her bedroom and saw him sitting on her bed.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Bella walked past him and sat down on her rocking chair, pulling her legs close to her chest.

"Is this goodbye?" Joey asked.

"I..." Bella took a deep breath. "I can't keep waiting for you to pop into my life now and then. I love you but I can't do it."

Joey stood up from the bed and knelt down next to the rocking chair, taking Bella's hand as he stared up at her. "So you never want to see me again."
"Don't." Bella pleaded, closing her eyes.

Joey didn't say anything for a moment before he sighed. "I know you're gonna hate me for leaving - "

"Can you blame me?!" Bella snapped, opening her eyes to glare at him. "Piper and Leo are fighting for their relationship. They love each other. You can't wait to leave which makes me think that you don't love me at all."
Joey moved away from Bella, pulling at his hair in his frustration. "I DO love you and that's the problem."
"How is that a problem?"
"Because you can't look me in the eye and say that you want me to stay to be with me." Joey said, looking back at Bella who got to her feet.

She frowned. "What?"

Joey walked towards her slowly until he was standing right in front of her. "You don't love me as much as you say," Joey started softly, tucking a piece of Bella's hair behind her ear. "The only reason you want me to stay is because you want EJ."

Bella opened her mouth to protest but no words came out.

Joey smiled but it seemed very forced. "I can't stick around for that. He doesn't exist and I'm sorry, but he never will. And I don't want him to." He went to move away but Bella grabbed his arm tightly. Joey kissed her forehead as he took his arm back. "Just call my name if you need me."

Bella closed her eyes again as she felt Joey move further away and didn't open them until she heard him orb.

R&R