To Be Charmed
Chapter Three
The Power of Three Plus One
Disclaimer: Charmed is not owned by me.
After finding nothing in the Manor, Phoebe and Paige spent two hours tidying up their rooms. Neither of them spoke of the weird happenings, preferring to let the music from the radio wash over them. Once everything was in its place, they heard Grams' heels on the hard wood floor below.
"Girls, I'm back. Where are you?" Phoebe poked her head out of the room.
"In here!" she called out. Grams followed her granddaughter's voice and ended up in Paige's room. "Oh, wow," she said, taking in the nicely decorated room, "This is nice. How long have you girls been working on this?" she asked. The girls glanced at each other.
"About two hours," Paige said. Grams nodded appreciatively.
"Dinner will be ready soon," she said.
"Okay," Paige and Phoebe said together. Grams left the room and Phoebe sighed.
"Should we tell her what happened?" Paige pursed her lips.
"About the keys, yes. About the door opening and you having a weird reaction to the guy with boxes, no," Paige said. Phoebe bit her lip, if anything weird happens again, Grams would have to know.
Grams hadn't left the second floor. She had stayed to eavesdrop. If she had the right theory, the girls experienced their powers. From the way it sounded, Paige had telekinesis. How could that be? Prudence had telekinesis. Prue is also a Charmed One, whereas Paige isn't. Perhaps Paige's Whitelighter side created a new hybrid power of sorts that resembled telekinesis. Whatever Paige's power, Grams was just happy for the girls to experience their powers.
Since the mall incident, Prue had been on the phone with her boyfriend Roger. Prue and Roger met at the museum where they both worked. Piper, fed up with her sister being on the phone for almost three hours, was tempted to unplug the cord.
Instead, she picked up another phone and very loudly said, "It's time for dinner, Prue. Get off the phone." Prue, embarrassed and angry, said her goodbyes and slammed the phone back its cradle. "What the hell, Piper!? That was a very important call!" Piper rolled her eyes.
"Important? You call weekend plans important?" Piper walked to the kitchen table and sat down. She reached for her fork when it suddenly flew off the table. She pulled her hand back in shock. "Did you see that?" she asked Prue. Prue didn't answer. She was too angry with Piper. "Prue?"
"What?" Prue asked irritably.
"Did you see that? My fork just flew off the table!" Piper said, shocked.
"Yes, I saw," Prue said.
"What is going on? I think we need to see Grams," Piper mused.
Monday dawned bright and early. Grams drove Paige to school while Phoebe's friends picked her up. Grams noticed that Phoebe was getting more premonitions and Paige…Paige was subconsciously using her power. It wasn't anything like telekinesis...okay, sure. It moved objects, just not in the way she'd expect it. Unlike Prue and herself, Paige only had to say the name of the object and it would move. The small movements of her head directed where the object went. Grams would bet money that, pretty soon, Paige would be able to call for objects and they appear right in her hand and then she could use her hands to call and direct them! Getting excited, Grams didn't see the cyclist until she was right in front of the car!
"Grams!" Paige shouted, "Look out for that bike!" Paige tilted her head sideways as a message to the cyclist. The cyclist and her bike were suddenly pushed backwards by an unseen force. Grams shook her head, attempting to clear it. "Do you need glasses? I think it's time you went to the optometrist!" Paige said, trying to calm her heart down. As soon as Grams parked, Paige flew out the door and power walked into the building.
Back at the Manor, Grams had a surprise visitor waiting for her.
"Penny, we need to talk. You're going to summon Patty and we're going to talk," Sam said. Grams had enough sense to look contrite. She led Sam to the attic and, with a wave of her hand, sent five candles into a circle on the floor. Sam knelt down and lit all the candles as Grams started to chant. With the spell complete, Sam awaited for the appearance of his former love. Patty appeared, accompanied by glowing white lights.
"Sam? Mom? What's going on?" she asked, rather confused. Sam walked towards her.
"Your mother unbound our daughter's powers," he said. Grams rolled her eyes.
"Oh, please. I unbound all their powers. Patty, they need to get along fast if they're going to be Charmed and the only way is to let them face demons now instead of later." Patty crossed her arms. "Do the Elders know?" Grams paced back and forth.
"I'm sure they know." Sam stared at Grams.
"The Elders know about Paige? We have to do something! They'll kill her!" he exclaimed.
"I meant Prue, Piper, and Phoebe, not Paige. I stripped her of her Whitelighter powers," Grams said, "As of now, she is only a witch, and a powerful one, at that." Patty stared in disbelief as Sam was thanking his lucky stars.
Prue groaned for the fifth time. She was supposed to be at work thirty minutes ago, but of course, things went wrong! Her alarm didn't go off, her slacks needed to be ironed, and the gas line was sitting on empty in her car. The nearest gas station was crowded, so she had to travel ten more miles to the next one. This gas station was also crowded, but not as much as the previous one. Prue tapped her fingers against the steering wheel, waiting impatiently for the huge SUV in front of her to move. She squinted her eyes in anger when a pink Bug squeezed its way between her and the SUV. The Bug suddenly jerked forward into the SUV. "What the?" Prue asked herself. The drivers of both cars got out and immediately assessed the damage the collision had caused. Shaking her head, Prue maneuvered over to the next aisle and finally got gas and on her way.
Piper, on the other hand, smiled as she greeted customers at the bank at which she worked. "Good morning. What can I do for you?" she asked. The woman in front of her stall was a brunette with dark blonde streak in her hair. Her clothing was dark, too dark for the sunny San Francisco sun. Oversized sunglasses hid her eyes and half her face. Piper cleared her computer and readied herself to make a deposit or withdrawal.
"You can put all the Benjamin Franklins you got in this bag!" the woman yelled. Piper looked up and saw a handgun pointed at her. She screamed, which caught the attention of her co-workers and other patrons.
"Stay where you are! Don't move! If you do, you'll get shot!" the woman threatened. Piper calmly took the bag and opened her cash drawer. There were only three hundred dollar bills, so the robber wouldn't rob the place raw. She placed the cash into the bag and pushed it towards the robber.
"That's it? There better be more, you better not be cheating me, lady!" the robber screamed. Piper shook her head.
"No, that's all I have!" she pleaded. The robber didn't seem to believe her as she cocked her gun and pulled the trigger-straight at Piper's face!
Piper gave a strangled cry as she heard the gun shoot and brought her hands up in front of her face, as if they would stop the bullet. She waited for the pain…and waited some more. Finally, she removed her hands and stared in shock. The bullet had stopped a mere inch away from the gun. In fact, everything had stopped, almost as if time had stopped. "Oh, my God," Piper whispered, holding her hand to her heart. She knelt down to retrieve the phone hidden behind the desk. Just as she had finished dialing 9-1-1, she heard the bullet make contact with the concrete wall behind her.
"Where the hell did she go?" the robber asked angrily.
"Robber," Piper calmly stated to the dispatch on the other end. Since the police station was just around the corner, the police arrived in two minutes. The robber, realizing she was not going to get away with money, attempted to get away without the money. Before she made it out the front door, two police officers grabbed her and handcuffed her, hauling her to the squad car. The bank erupted in cheers and hand claps. Piper smiled, ecstatic that she helped in the capture of a bank robber. However, her smiled faded when she remembered the strange occurrence.
Phoebe laughed with her friends as they left the cafeteria. Their lunch conversations were so weird and funny! "Urgh! Back to nap time with Sullivan," Phoebe said. Her friends sighed in sympathy. "Sorry," Ramona said. Phoebe smiled, with friends like hers, who needed classes? "I'll see you after school," she said, entering the classroom. As she passed the teacher's desk, she tapped her fingers against the wood. She gasped as imagoes appeared in her head. Mr. Sullivan passing out papers. Students groaning. A paper with 'Answer Key' written on the top. Phoebe felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Ms. Halliwell? Something wrong?" It was Mr. Sullivan. Phoebe shook her head.
"No, sir, just tired," she said as she headed to her seat. As more students filed in, Phoebe fiddled her fingers. The images in head pointed towards a pop quiz, and Phoebe did not like pop anything, except popcorn. The last student straggled in and took his seat. Mr. Sullivan called roll and the period officially started.
"Okay, class. Since you all decided that you were smarter than the sub Friday and blew off my assignment, you will be taking a pop quiz." Phoebe gaped at the teacher. No way, she thought. She was handed the quiz and instructions to not talk. Phoebe skimmed through the quiz; she could answer some questions correctly, but others she couldn't. Wait a minute, she thought, I saw the Answer Key in my head! And with that, she answered all twenty questions and was the first person to turn her quiz in. Okay, head, mind coming up with the answers to the final?
Paige was in a rut. Finals were in December, which was three months away, and she had major catching up to do. The day of her parents' deaths, she had been sent to a temporary home and hadn't gone to school for the rest of that week. She had been absent for close to four weeks. Four weeks may seen such a little time, but in four weeks, there had been major tests and projects. Her teachers were kind enough to excuse her from all the major projects, but not kind enough to let her not make up the tests. So, here she was, making up a history test, during her hour lunch period. The test was easy enough, but the student behind Paige wasn't helping. He would kick her chair, causing her to mess up in an explanation and sigh as loudly as humanely possible. Paige restrained herself, until the last five questions. The teacher wasn't around. Paige tossed her pencil onto the desk and whipped around the face the kid.
"What is your problem? Do you have ADHD?" she asked. The boy narrowed his eyes and stood up. Paige noted that his student ID said he was a freshman, but he was a good inch or two taller than her. "I have no problem, and I don't have ADHD." he said. Paige crossed her arms.
"Well, will you quit with all the noise? I'm trying to take a test here in case you haven't noticed!" "Maybe you should take your test somewhere else, then." With that, the boy swung his arms out at Paige. Paige backed away.
"I'm guessing you have anger issues? Take it up with your parents, not me," Paige said. The boy swung again. "Keeping swinging and I will throw this desk at you!" Paige tilted her head towards the boy. He laughed.
"You're a girl, so you can't pick up a desk!" he said condescendingly. Before he could take his next breath, however, the desk nearest him lifted a centimeter off the ground and knocked him down. He shook his head in shock and stared at Paige. Before Paige could say anything, he picked himself up and ran out of the room at top speed, leaving Paige to finish the rest of her test in peace.
~TBC Chapter Three~
Once Sam and Patty had left, Grams did what she does best-make potions. She made random potions like common vanquishing potions and the like. Thirty minutes in, a warlock attacked. He blinked in opposite Grams and attempted to stab her with the athame. Grams jumped back and flung him against the kitchen table. The athame flew out of the warlock's hand and onto the floor. Grams spotted it and sent it flying into the warlock's chest. The warlock was vanquished in a swirl of dust.
"It's only ten and the first warlock appears," Grams said, "I hope they don't attack the girls anytime soon."
She went back to her potions for the rest of the day.
Piper was told to take the rest of the day off. She hightailed it out to her car, still in disbelief over what happened. She believed the robber part, that kind of thing happens when you work at a bank. She couldn't believe she froze the bullet and the entire building! She had to call Prue!
Prue made it to work at last. Her boss-slash-boyfriend excused himself from the meeting he was presiding over to talk with her.
"Where have you been?" he asked. Prue kept a calm façade, even though she was partially shaking on the inside.
"My alarm didn't go off and I needed gas in my car, Roger, but I know that is still no excuse. But this is: a car accident. There was a car accident at the gas station." Roger put his arms around her.
"Are you hurt?" he asked with concern. Prue shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. Go back to your meeting," Prue said. Roger turned and reentered the conference room. Prue went straight to her office.
"I've got to tell Piper and Grams."
"Grams, I'm telling you! I saw these images in my head! I saw Mr. Sullivan passing out papers, which turned out to be pop quizzes! And it came true!" Phoebe excitedly told her grandmother. She had just gotten home after a long day of school and Grams was standing by with a sandwich. Phoebe grabbed the sandwich appreciatively and took a seat at the dining room table. Grams folded her arms and smiled. Phoebe's power might be passive and useless in battle, but it helped in understanding and being prepared. The three main Warren powers were used in a system: the witch with the premonition sees the demon's next attack, the freezing witch freezes the demon, and the telekinetic finishes off the demon. With Paige added to the mix, Grams would bet that every demon, even the Source himself, would fear the Halliwell sister witches!
"Are you listening, Grams?" Phoebe asked. Grams nodded.
"Yes, dear. Go on," Grams said. Just as Phoebe was about to finish her story, Paige came in through the door.
"You will not believe what happened at school today!" she said in a playful tone.
"Wait. Don't tell me! You saw future events in your head, too? Oh, my God! It's not just me, Grams, it's Paige as well!" Paige took a chair across from Phoebe.
"What? No. I-I was making up a test when this boy wouldn't stop kicking the back of my chair. So, I confronted him. We exchanged words and suddenly, the desk moves and pushes him to the floor!"
"Something weird is going on! Grams, did you do anything out of the ordinary today?" Phoebe asked. Grams was saved from answering by the phone. She went to answer as Phoebe and Paige talked amongst themselves.
"Halliwell residence. Penny speaking. Piper? Slow down, sweetheart, I can't understand you! Piper? Piper, do you want me to come and get you? Okay, are you at your place? I'll be right over. Bye." Grams turned to face Paige and Phoebe.
"Girls, I'll be right back. I need to go get your sister." Paige and Phoebe looked at each other, mystified.
Piper stayed close to the front door. Ever since she had left work for the day, weird things have been happening. Every time she panicked and raised her hands, time would literally stop. She didn't know if she was going crazy or not, she just needed her grandmother.
"Piper? Are you inside? It's me, Grams." Piper jumped to open the front door. "Piper, hurry to the car, now, it's about to storm." Piper power walked as fast as she could and slumped in the passenger seat. I'll call Prue when we get to the Manor, she thought.
"What are you doing?" Phoebe stared as Paige moved her head in every direction and mumbled under her breath.
"I am trying to move something, anything," Paige answered. "Napkin," she said, tilting her head sideways. The napkin closest to Phoebe suddenly flew off the table.
"Did you see that?" Paige asked, excited. Before Phoebe could affirm the question, Piper walked in, followed by Grams.
"Girls, Piper is going to stay with us for the night. It is pouring rain outside and we all know that I can't drive at night, much less when it's raining cats and dogs," Grams stated, taking a seat at the head of the table and Piper sat next to Phoebe.
"Did anything weird happen today, Piper?" Phoebe asked. Piper looked at her like a deer caught in headlights.
"Weird? Wha- No! Why?"
"Because you look scared and nervous. Tell us about your day, I'm sure Grams would love to know," Phoebe pushed. Piper huffed and moved her bangs out of her eyes. Trust Phoebe to pull the truth out of you!
"There was a robbery at work today. The robber came to my booth." Three gasps and Phoebe put her arms around Piper.
"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" Piper shook her head.
"No, Grams, I'm fine. And the robber didn't get away, the cops came just in time, thank God. The weird thing is, when she pulled the trigger on the gun to shoot me, I raised my hands and the bullet stopped!" Grams could tell where this was heading, so she opted for running for the hills.
"Girls, I'm a little tired, so I'm going to bed. You three behave. Call me if you need anything." She kissed all three on the forehead; Paige stiffened as she received her kiss, but Grams pretended not to notice.
"Night, Grams," Piper and Phoebe chorused. Paige followed with a soft spoken "Good night."
"So, the bullet just stopped in mid air?" Phoebe prompted, eager to return to the topic at hand. Piper nodded.
"Not only that! Everyone in the bank stopped, it was like they were frozen!"
"And you weren't?" Paige asked, intrigued.
"Oddly enough, no," Piper replied. Phoebe looked from her older sister to her baby sister.
"We should call Prue and ask her if anything weird happened with her," Phoebe said. Prue and Phoebe might have their differences, but they still cared about each other, even if they didn't say it out loud.
Prue had just gotten home from the office. After doing research after research on a new item that was being shipped to the museum, she was beat! The answering machine was beeping very loudly when she entered. Strange. It normally stays quiet. People always call Piper or me at work. She walked to where the phone machine sat an pressed the button. The first message was from Piper.
"Hi, Prue. I'm at the Manor. Grams picked me up, which is why my car is still in the garage. Call back when you get this." Prue hadn't seen Piper's car in the garage, because she parked on the middle floor instead of the bottom where Piper parked, but it was good to know that Piper was safe. The second message, oddly, was from Phoebe.
"Hey, Prue. Um, Paige, Piper, and I want to know if anything weird happened to you today. Paige moved a desk, Piper froze a bullet, and I saw a pop quiz coming. Call back." Typical Phoebe. Always playing around. But something weird did happen. I caused the accident at the gas station. Now, Prue was very logical when it came to things, but she couldn't explain it better than that. The Bug had break lights on, for Pete's sake! Prue decided to go against her instincts and drive to the Manor. If Phoebe was serious, which was rare, Prue would tell her everything.
"Prue, of course I'm serious! How could I make this up?" Phoebe stared down her oldest sister, outraged at the accusation. Okay, sometimes she made things up just to get on Prue's nerves, but this was totally beyond that.
"If this is serious, explain what happened. All of you," Prue asked of the three. Her eyes landed on Paige. She still couldn't get over the fact that they were sisters. Half sisters, but flesh and blood nonetheless.
Phoebe groaned in aggravation at having to go over the day's events for a third time. Calm down, you remember everything that happened. Just say what you said earlier and you won't have to repeat yourself. She repeated her story, as did Paige and Piper. It was Prue's turn now.
"I caused a car accident." There. I said it. I admit to it. "I pushed a Bug into a SUV."
"Wait, wait, wait. How do we know for sure this all happened?" Piper had her hands in a cease-fire position.
"One way to find out," Phoebe said.
"We attempt to do the same things?" Paige asked. Phoebe nodded.
"Yep."
~TBC Chapter Three~
~August 17, 1994~
"Happy birthday to you," the crowd sang. A toddler girl, no older than three, smiled, and with assistance, blew out the candles.
"Yay, Ryleigh!"
Tyler and Regina stood by as Ryleigh took a finger of icing and fed Rhiannon.
"How old is she?"
"Three, Gran."
"And she and her sister have the powers?"
"We're not totally sure, yet."