Chapter 79: Hell Hath No Fury
Buffy, Piper, Phoebe and Cole are on the road in Piper's car. Cole is driving, Piper's in the passenger seat, and Buffy and Phoebe are in the backseat. The car screeches around the corner.
"Okay, turn left up here. And can you step on the gas a little?" Piper says.
Cole screeches around the corner, nearly hitting a taxi.
Phoebe lets out a yelp, and the taxi driver honks his horn. "Off the gas! Off the gas!" She pats Cole on the shoulder.
"Does somebody else want to drive here?" Cole says.
"Phoebe, the demon is not waiting around for us to come and vanquish him." Buffy says.
"We don't even know if we have enough power to vanquish him. Scrying for random evil tells us nothing." Phoebe says.
"It tells us where the demons are and since we vanquished two already this week, I say it's working pretty well." Piper says.
Phoebe nods, "Yeah, thanks to Cole for saving our butts. Three witches and half a demon is not the Power of Three make."
"So what are we supposed to do? Sit around and wait for them to pick us all off? If we weren't going after them, they'd be coming after us." Buffy says.
"They're coming after you anyway, Buffy. The Source is coming after you. Especially now that he knows that with Paige and you, that you can bring the Power of Four."
"And we won't be ready for him because instead of teaching Paige how to be a witch, we're out hunting for every Tom, Dick and Beelzebub in San Francisco." Phoebe says.
"Speaking of, do we have any kind of plan here or…" Cole says.
"The plan is to vanquish the demon." Piper says.
"Great. Any chance you've mastered your powers or are you still freezing and exploding at random?" Cole asks.
Phoebe hits him lightly on the shoulder.
"Random, but you know what they say, there's nothing like field practice. Turn here!" Piper says as Cole screeches around another corner and drives down an alley. "Stop!" Cole slams on the breaks. A bald demon is in the middle of strangling a man. Buffy, Piper, Phoebe and Cole get out of the car. "Hey! Big scary demon!"
The demon turns around and the man escapes from his grip and runs away. The demon's eyes glow bright red. Piper uses her power and the demon bloats up. His face turns red.
"He's gonna blow!" Cole says.
Phoebe and Cole quickly jump back in the car and shuts the doors. The demon explodes and green goo splatters on the front of the car. Cole turns on the windshield wipers. Buffy and Piper walks over to the car and opens the passenger doors.
"Next!" Piper and Buffy says and they grin as they get in the car. Phoebe and Cole look at each other, then at Piper and Buffy, who are still grinning.
Back at the Manor Buffy, Piper, Phoebe and Cole are in the attic. Buffy and Piper crosses out a page in both Book of Shadows while Phoebe looks on.
"Oh, I know that you two are happy that we got him, but is it entirely necessary to disfigure the Books?" Phoebe asks.
"Hmm, this one could incinerate human flesh with his eyes. That must sting." Piper says.
"You think that's funny? You two could have gotten yourselves killed. Do you understand that?" Cole says as he walks over to Piper and Buffy.
"Yes, Cole, We understand killed very well." Buffy says.
Cole nods, "Then why would you want to keep risking your lives and Phoebe's, not to mention mine? There's a legion of Bounty Hunters on my ass. I'm supposed to be laying low but instead, I'm out protecting you guys."
"You know what, Cole? Next time, you can stay home." Piper says.
Cole frowns, "If you insist on taking these suicide missions, you force me to be there because," the doorbell rings, "there's no way in hell I'm about to let Phoebe lose another sister."
Phoebe goes over to him and touches his shoulder. "Why don't you go see who's at the door for us, okay?"
"Sure. If it's the Source, I'll just ask him to come back later." Cole says. "We need to talk." He leaves the attic.
"Buffy, Piper, Cole's right. We have a system for fighting demons and it's worked pretty well for the last three years." Phoebe says.
"I think, uh, Prue being killed counts as a pretty big glitch in the system." Buffy says.
Phoebe sighs, "I know that you two are angry. I am angry too."
"Then w-why are you fighting us on this? What-what's the problem with getting a little proactive?" Piper says.
Phoebe shakes her head, "Because we're not ready to get proactive. That's what's wrong with it. We're barely ready for anything right now. I mean, just dealing with our everyday normal lives is hard enough."
"That is precisely the point. The faster we get rid of these demons, the faster we can get back to our everyday normal lives or at least what is left of them." Buffy says.
The attic door opens and Paige walks in. "Knock knock. I uh… I'm sorry to just drop by without calling."
"Uh, it's okay. Don't worry about it." Phoebe says.
"I don't know exactly why I'm here. I'm just kind of having a hard time being surrounded by people and…" Paige says.
"And not being able to tell them that you can move things with your mind?" Phoebe asks.
Paige nods, "It does not exactly roll off the tongue."
Piper picks up a map and a crystal.
"Yeah, well being a witch is tough on friendships. That's why the whole sister thing comes in so handy." Phoebe says. "What are you doing?"
"Um, it's a little chatty up here, so I'm going to go scry for evil in my room." Piper says. "Coming Buffy?"
Buffy nods, "Yeah Piper."
"Scry?" Paige asks as Buffy and Piper heads for the door.
"Yeah, uh, Phoebe will explain. We'll see you later." Piper says as she and Buffy leaves the attic.
"It's kind of like a, um, supernatural lojack." Phoebe says.
"Well, why don't you use that big book? I mean, it is a book of spells, right?" Paige says as she walks over to the Charmed Book. She notices Buffy's Book. "Two?"
"Oh, it's a lot more than that. It's kind of hard to explain." Phoebe says. "The other Book is Buffy's like our Book was handed down from mom and Grams. Buffy's Book was handed down from her mom, Aunt Joyce."
Paige nods, "Ours looks so old."
"Yeah. It has survived a lot. Fortunately, it protects itself from evil." Phoebe says.
"It protects itself. How?" Paige asks.
"Magic." Phoebe says.
"May I?" Paige asks.
Phoebe nods, "Yeah. I mean technically, it's yours too. I would walk you through it right now, but I have to go talk to Cole."
Paige nods, "Well, maybe I can just take it back to my office."
Phoebe shakes her head, "Oh, no, no, no, no. Neither Book leaves the house. But just feel free to thumb through it and then I'll be back in a few minutes." She heads downstairs.
Moments later Leo orbs in, "What? What is it? What's wrong?"
"You've got to talk to your wife and Buffy." Cole says.
"Okay, Cole, remember what I said about being gentle?" Phoebe says.
"What about my wife? Or Buffy?" Leo says.
"They're out of control." Cole says.
"Cole!" Phoebe says.
Leo frowns, "What?"
Phoebe sighs, "It's just, we're very worried about them."
"What happened?" Leo asks.
"They're very, very angry." Phoebe says.
"Well, of course they're angry. They're grieving." Leo says.
Phoebe nods, "Right, and if they were punching walls, I would happily call a repairman, but…"
Cole nods, "The problem is they prefer to punch demons.
Phoebe nods, "I've tried talking to them with no luck."
Leo nods, "Well, I'll talk to them."
Cole moves closer to Leo. "They have no regard for their lives or anyone else's. They're Charles Bronson cubed."
Leo sighs, "I said I'd talk to them."
Phoebe stands in between the two. "Guys, guys. Who is Charles Bronson?" Leo and Cole give her a look. "Never mind." She looks to Cole, "We - can we please just have a minute alone?"
Cole nods, "Sure."
"Thank you." Phoebe says as Cole leaves the room and she and Leo walk in the living room. "Uh, it's not just that they're violent, Leo. They're acting nothing like themselves. Piper and Buffy are completely dismissive of Paige and I don't know what to do anymore."
They sit on the couch.
"Strange isn't it? Now on top of everything else, you have to play the middle sister when you've always been the, uh…" Leo says.
"Screw up?" Phoebe says.
Leo laughs. "The youngest. Even after Buffy moved in you were still the youngest of the actual sisters."
Phoebe sighs, "Yeah. I look at Paige, Buffy and Piper and it makes me think back to all those times that Piper had to play mediator between me or Buffy and Prue."
"Not a lot of fun, huh?" Leo asks.
Phoebe shakes her head, "It's not a job I would have asked for. And I'm not sure it's a job I'm going to be any good at, but I just, I don't have time to really worry about it right now."
Leo nods, "I'll talk to them."
Phoebe smiles, "Thanks Leo." They hug. "And not to worse this tender moment, but Piper's already started scrying." Leo orbs out and Phoebe falls head first on the couch. "I didn't mean you couldn't use the stairs!"
Moments later in Piper's room. Buffy, Piper and Leo are there. Piper is scrying.]
"Look, honey, it isn't just that it's dangerous." Leo says.
Piper shakes her head, "Leo, Whitelighters are supposed to guide. Not judge. Just because I'm doing things a little bit differently doesn't mean that there is a problem." She drops the crystal.
"Piper, I'm your husband and Buffy's friend, not just you're Whitelighter. When you speak to me like that, there is a problem. I can't help you unless you talk to me." Leo says.
Buffy shakes her head, "It hurts to talk, Leo. It hurts to breathe. So unless you have some idea of how to bring Prue back, we don't want to talk right now."
Leo sighs, "Is that what you both don't want to say? Is that you both still blame me for not being able to bring her back?"
Piper shakes her head, "No, Leo. We don't blame you. We blame evil. Why-why do you think we're doing all this? For kicks?"
Leo sighs, "Honestly, I think you both are doing it because it's easier than confronting what you're really feeling."
Piper starts scrying again and the crystal points to a place on the map. "Demon."
"What?" Leo asks.
Buffy looks to the map and nods, "We have work to do." She and Piper walks out of Piper's room. "Cole, Phoebe! Let's go!"
Later Buffy, Piper, Phoebe and Cole are walking down an alley.
"Buffy, Piper. Cole and I do not support you in this. If you insist on doing it, you are going in alone." Phoebe says.
Piper nods, "Okay. We'll see you at home."
"I told you that wouldn't work." Phoebe says.
Cole nods, "It was worth a shot."
"Wait a minute. Do you smell smoke?" Phoebe asks.
They stop walking.
"It's in there." Buffy says and points to a large wooden door. There is smoke rising out from under it.
"What is that? What is it? Stop! Stop!" A Man inside says as Cole walks over to the door. "Who is th- What are you?"
"Get back, I'll blow it up. Go on." Piper says.
Cole backs away from the door and Piper freezes Cole and the smoke.
"Uh, Piper…" Phoebe says.
Buffy nods, "You froze."
"Yeah, yeah. Crap. Okay." Piper says and takes off her coat and throws it on the ground. She wiggles her arms to relax herself then uses her power. The door blows up, sending Cole flying across the alley, landing on a car and falling off on the ground.
"Piper!" Phoebe says and she runs over to Cole.
"What? Oh!" Piper says.
A man runs outside, knocking Piper and Buffy over. Four furies follow. Phoebe helps Cole up. Piper and Buffy gets ready to use their powers.
"Buffy, Piper, let them go!" Cole says.
Piper blows up a car in front of the furies. They turn around. "Uh-oh." Piper tries to freeze them but only freezes Cole. "They're-they're-th-th-they're immune to my powers."
Phoebe nods, " Unfortunately, Cole isn't." A fury attacks Piper but she dodges their hits. Another goes for Phoebe. And another goes for Buffy. Piper picks up a trash can lid and the fury puts a hole in it.
Buffy throws a fireball vanquishing her fury.
Phoebe levitates up and kicks the furies, knocking hers the ground. "Piper, unfreeze him."
"What if I blow him up?" Piper asks.
Cole unfreezes. A fury knocks down Piper and blows smoke in her mouth. She coughs. Another fury knocks Buffy down before she can throw another fireball and blows smoke in her mouth.
"Cole!" Phoebe says.
Cole throws an energy ball at Piper's fury and she is engulfed in flames. The other two furies disappear. Piper and Buffy continues to cough.
Later Buffy, Piper, Phoebe and Cole enter the Manor.
"I'm gonna take out those chain smokin' bitches if it's the last thing I do." Piper says.
"I'm in agreement." Buffy says.
"It might be the last thing either of you do." Cole says.
"That's very supportive, Cole. Who's side are you on?" Piper says.
"At the moment, I'm on Phoebe's side." Cole says.
Buffy and Piper coughs. Phoebe and Cole follow them into the kitchen.
"Well, the last time I checked, Phoebe was still our sister. Which technically puts her on our side. Why are we arguing?" Buffy says.
Phoebe shakes her head, "We're not arguing, we're discussing, Buffy. You and Piper are arguing. And look, you both are already hurt."
Piper shakes her head, "We're fine." She takes a water bottle out of the fridge and has a sip.
Buffy grabs a water bottle also.
"You two can't stop coughing." Phoebe says.
"And your control of your powers Piper seems to be getting worse, not better." Cole says.
They walk out of the kitchen.
"Oh, well, our powers are tied to our emotions, so it would make sense that they would be a little off right now." Phoebe says.
Cole nods, "All the more reason to lay low. These demons are dangerous."
"All the more reason to vanquish them, okay? That is what we do - eliminate evil." Buffy says.
They stop at the bottom of the stairs.
"Regardless of the consequence, you both sound like Prue." Cole says.
Piper shakes her head, "Okay, Cole. Buffy and I are going to vanquish the cancer girls with or without your help. So either tell us what you know or get out of the way."
Cole looks at Phoebe. She shrugs her shoulders. "They're called furies."
"Like from mythology?" Buffy asks.
"The dog-faced women from hell?" Phoebe asks.
Cole nods, "They're modern knockoffs. Their MO is the same though."
"They punish evil doers." Piper says.
Cole nods, "Exactly."
"Wait. Wouldn't that make them good?" Phoebe says.
Cole shakes his head, "Well, these furies are no temptress. They'll go after a shoplifter as soon as a murderer and they take great pleasure in the kill."
"Great. Then we'll take great pleasure in the vanquish." Buffy says.
Buffy and Piper goes up the stairs
Phoebe stands in front of Cole. "What aren't you telling us?" Cole sighs. "So they go after evil doers. Have they attacked you before?"
"When they focus their thoughts on you, they force you to hear the cries of all your former victims." Cole says.
Phoebe touches his face. "You're not the demon who did those things anymore."
Buffy and Piper screams from upstairs. Phoebe and Cole go up the stairs.
Buffy and Piper are standing in front of the empty Charmed Book of Shadows stand, mouths open in shock.
"Evil got the Book of Shadows. How did evil get the Book of Shadows?" Piper says.
"Though why didn't it take mine?" Buffy asks.
"Oh no." Phoebe says.
"Oh no, Phoebe? A demon has the Book of Shadows. Oh no doesn't quite cover it." Piper says.
Cole shakes his head, "Let me go see what I can find out." He turns to leave but Phoebe stops him.
"No, wait. Uh, Piper, promise me you're not going to overreact." Phoebe says.
"Is that even possible?" Piper says.
"I think that, uh, maybe… well, it-it might-might be feasible that uh, Paige borrowed the book." Phoebe says.
"Wait, why-why would you think that?" Piper asks.
"See? Now this is what I meant about overreacting. It's just that…" Phoebe says.
Buffy looks at her Book and then at the empty stand, "Make sense why mine would be here and yours isn't."
"You let Paige take the Book of Shadows out of the Manor?" Cole asks.
"Well, no, I did not let her. It's just she left pretty quick, and she looks like she might have…" Phoebe says and she looks at the open window.
"Out of the window?" Piper asks.
"Piper, I don't…" Phoebe says.
Buffy shakes her head, "Phoebe, why would you even leave her alone with it?"
"Well, because she's our sister." Phoebe says.
Buffy and Piper laughs.
"Not for long!" Piper says as she and Buffy storms out of the attic. Phoebe follows. Cole pulls up a chair and sits down.
Phoebe runs back in. "Are you coming?"
"To vanquish your sister? I think I'll sit this one out." Cole says.
Phoebe runs back out and Cole sits there twiddling his thumbs.
Later outside South Bay Social Services Buffy, Piper and Phoebe get out of the car and walk towards the building.
"I don't understand how someone can be that stupid." Piper says.
"I don't understand why you two haven't stopped ranting since we left the house." Phoebe says.
"You're right. You're right. I'm sorry." Piper says.
"I'm sorry," Buffy says.
"Yes, Paige made a mistake." Phoebe says.
"A mistake? She stole from us." Buffy says.
"She borrowed. Borrowed." Phoebe says.
Piper nods, "She-she threw our family heritage out of the window!"
"Well, that's because we never took the time to explain its significance. It was just a book to her." Phoebe says.
"Okay, Phoebe, it is not just a book. It's like, it-it-it is like a part of our family." Buffy says as she and Piper coughs.
Phoebe puts her arms around Buffy and Piper.
"Paige is not a killer. She didn't kill anyone. And she's not a demon that we're on our way to vanquish." Phoebe says.
"We get that Phoebe." Piper says.
"Do either of you?" Phoebe asks. "Because I don't think that either of you do." Buffy and Piper coughs. "You two alright?"
Donnie runs out of the building with a bunch of women following him. "Hey! Hey! Get away from me!" They surround him.
"What the hell is going on?" Buffy asks.
"Come on. Give Mama some sugar." Lila says.
Donnie sinks to the ground and they fall all over him. Paige comes out of the building holding her bag so it covers her chest. She goes over to Buffy, Piper and Phoebe.
"You are so…" Piper says as they notice something wrong and Piper opens Paige coat to reveal her very large breasts. "Busted?"
"Hello!" Phoebe says.
"You stole our sacred book so you could perform magical plastic surgery on yourself?" Buffy asks.
Paige shakes her head, "You think I did this on purpose? My body was perfectly fine just as it was. Thank you."
"I mean it! Get away from me!" Donnie says as Piper freezes the crowd.
"Piper, you could have just blown up a dozen innocent people." Phoebe says.
"I took a chance." Piper says.
"See? Are you listening to yourself?" Phoebe asks.
"What happened?" Buffy asks Paige.
"I don't know. They just… grew." Paige says.
"Oh, right. And you had nothing to do with that." Piper says.
"Did you cast any spells?" Phoebe asks.
"One." Paige says and Phoebe gives her a look. "Five."
"Five?" Buffy asks.
"Okay, what did you do just before you turned into Betty Boop?" Phoebe asks.
"Well, I cast a spell on this slimeball I work with so I could give him a taste of his own medicine." Paige says.
"Uh-huh. That the slimeball?" Phoebe says pointing at Donnie.
Paige looks at Donnie and nods.
"And that's the backfire." Piper says.
"Backfire?" Paige asks.
"You misused magic to make him the object of ogling, and the spell backfired and did the same thing to you." Phoebe says.
Buffy nods, "Which you would have learned if you had bothered to ask. But now instead of vanquishing demons, we're gonna have to spend the afternoon fixing your mess."
"Okay, Buffy flame this slimeball back home. And we have to protect him until we can figure out a way to reverse the spell. Piper head on home. Paige and I will grab the book and meet you there."
Buffy and Piper looks at Paige and shakes their heads. Piper and Buffy walks away.
Paige looks down at her breasts.
Later at the Manor Donnie lands on the couch.
"Easy, Buffy." Leo says.
"What, are you protecting him now?" Buffy asks as Piper walks in the front door.
"Wh-wh-what the hell is going on? And what's with the chicks? They've gone crazy." Donnie says.
"These chicks just saved your ass you sniveling ingrate." Piper says.
Donnie gets up. "Do you see what I mean?"
"Who said you could get up?" Buffy asks and she pushes him over the back of the couch.)
"What's the matter with you two?" Leo asks. "I don't know what's going on, but we really need to talk."
"Leo, you know what? I'm sick of talking." Piper says.
"As am I." Buffy says.
Piper tries to blow Leo up but Leo orbs out in time. She and Buffy goes over to Donnie.
Leo orbs back in. "Now we really need to talk." Buffy powers up a fireball. "Buffy, Piper, you do not use your powers on a mortal." He stands behind her. "Do you hear me?"
Cole stands at the doorway. "Back away slowly, Leo."
"What?" Leo asks.
"They've becoming a furies. Buffy and Piper grows large black fingernails. "There's no reasoning with them now." Cole says.
Leo stands in front of them. "Buffy, Piper, you're good witches. Do you hear me? Fight this."
Piper touches Leo's face, then pushes him over the couch.
"Oh God! Help!" Donnie says.
Buffy and Piper goes over and scratches Donnie. Cole gets an energy ball ready. Piper picks up Donnie and she and Buffy blows smoke. Cole throws an energy ball at Buffy and Piper which pushes them back. Phoebe and Paige walk in.
"Cole!" Phoebe says.
"I, well…" Cole says.
"That wasn't very nice." Buffy says as she and Piper disappears.
Later Phoebe is looking through the Book of Shadows in the living room, and Leo is kneeling beside Donnie, who is asleep on the couch.
"Cole hit them with an energy ball." Leo says.
"Leo, it was a low voltage. Would you prefer he'd let them kill an innocent?" Phoebe says.
Leo shakes his head, "I'd prefer that he wouldn't use his demonic powers on my wife. I can't believe that you let him go look for her or Buffy."
"Oh, this all my fault. I shouldn't have stolen the Book of Shadows." Paige says.
"You stole the Book of Shadows?" Leo says.
"Leo, Leo. Concentrate please." Phoebe says as Leo heals Donnie's scratches. "I just hope he finds them fast because if this is anything like the time I turned into a Banshee, they're gonna be hungry for a kill."
Leo stands up.
"I'm sorry. A Banshee?" Paige says.
Phoebe nods, "Yeah. Demonic screamer, kinda trampy, feeds on pain."
"I think I need to sit down." Paige says as she sits on the couch next to Donnie.
Donnie wakes up and sits up and stares straight at Paige's breasts. "Whoa."
Paige punches him in the face, knocking him out.
"Paige!" Leo says.
Paige stands up. "What? You only said I couldn't use magic to punish him."
Phoebe stands up. "Okay, Leo, you orb Donnie back to his office, heal him there, then make sure he doesn't nark us out for being witches."
"How?" Leo asks.
"I don't know. Be creative." Phoebe says.
"What about Piper and Buffy?" Leo asks.
"You have to do your job. And let us do ours. We'll get your wife and our baby sister back. I promise."
Leo touches Donnie and they orb out. Phoebe and Paige sit on the couch.
"Um, I hate to ask, but how are we going to get his wife and Buffy back? I mean, they're kind of… full on demon." Paige says.
Phoebe shakes her head, "No. They're not full on. They don't have the talons yet. That probably comes with the first kill. Besides, if we were able to save Piper when she turned into a Wendigo…"
"A Wendi-what?" Paige asks.
"Um, a Wendigo. It's kind of like a werewolf, only meaner." Phoebe says.
Paige nods, "Can I ask you something. I know Buffy is our cousin. But you called her our baby sister…"
Phoebe nods, "Aunt Joyce died 3 years ago, she's Buffy's mom. Buffy's dad, Hank couldn't take care of her, his work at the time took him all over the world. And he didn't want to drag her around with him. So he asked she be placed with us. Over the last 3 years we've come to love Buffy like she was our sister. And naturally we just started referring to her as such."
Paige nods, "And the name? I remember Piper renamed the club after her. But the name of the club is Payson's."
Piper nods, "Buffy was born Buffy Anne Summers. When she moved in with us she wanted to honor her mom and changed her name to Halliwell. Then because of a warlock we cast a spell that took us back to 1975. After that trip Buffy learned that Aunt Joyce had wanted to name her Payson Patricia, keeping to the family tradition of P names. But Hank wouldn't let her. When Buffy found out she changed her name to Payson Patricia. We still call her Buffy because it's what we and her are used to calling her. But it's just her nickname now. Oh and in case you're wondering. The club is Buffy's. Piper, Prue and I agreed last year that Buffy deserves something normal. She has it tougher than the rest of us because she's also the Slayer."
"Slayer?" Paige asks.
Phoebe smiles, "I'll let Buffy's Watcher, Giles tell you about the Slayer later. Anyways when Buffy turns 21 she gets the club." She finds the Instant Karma Spell in the Book of Shadows. "Is this the spell that you used?"
Paige nods, "Uh-huh." Phoebe picks up a notepad and pen. "Is there some sort of spell I could do, you know, in advance so I could, uh, not become maybe a Banshee or…"
"What word did you substitute demon with?" Phoebe asks.
"Dirtbag." Paige says.
Phoebe nods, "Dirtbag." She writes something down and scrunches up the paper up. She stands up. "Okay." She gets Paige to stand up. "Hand." They join hands. Phoebe burns the tip of the paper with a lit candle. "Guided spirits, hear our plea, annul this magic, let it be."
"Please let it be." Paige says as her breasts return to normal size. She looks down and groans. "Do you think it worked a little too well?"
In an Alley a man pushes another man against the wall. He holds a knife to his throat.
"Anything you want." Innocent Man says.
Man frowns, "Shut up."
Two furies come up behind him and one scratches his back. He spins around and the innocent runs away. The man hears voices in his head. He drops the knife and falls to his knees. The fury blows smoke in his mouth. He coughs and is engulfed in flames. He disappears. Buffy and Piper appears in a puff of smoke behind them. They turn around and make purring-like noises.
"We've been looking for you." Piper says.
Back at the manor in the dining room Phoebe is scrying. "Damn it."
"Why isn't it working?" Paige asks.
"Because Buffy and Piper aren't witches anymore." Phoebe says.
"Can't you just scry for evil then?" Paige asks.
"Do you have any idea how much evil is running around San Francisco?" Phoebe says as she stops scrying. "Damn it, Piper. Buffy." Cole shimmers in. He is bruised and scratched. "Cole. Thank God." She hugs him.
"Don't thank me yet." Cole says.
"You didn't find them?" Paige says.
Cole sighs, "I didn't get a chance to look. Every time I used my sensing powers, a bounty hunter sensed me. I fought off three of them." He sits down at the table. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's-it's okay. I mean, somehow everything's gonna be okay. I-I don't have even a little idea of how everything's gonna be okay." Phoebe says.
"Phoebe..." Paige says.
"You know why? Because nothing is okay."
"Phoebe." Paige says.
Phoebe sighs, "My sisters are furies, my boyfriend is a demon... Oh baby, you're bleeding." She kneels down next to Cole.
"Phoebe." Paige says and Phoebe looks at her. "Didn't you say you found me because Buffy cast a spell to find a lost witch?"
Phoebe nods, "Yes, but I also said that Buffy and Piper are not witches anymore."
"Yes, but if I can substitute the word 'dirtbag' for 'demon', why can't we substitute the word 'sister' for 'witch'?" Paige says. "It should at least lead us to Piper and Buffy will undoubtly be with her."
"Will that work?" Cole asks.
Phoebe shakes her head, "Well, n-no. Not if she's already looking for a kill. The call won't be strong enough."
"Why not?" Paige asks.
"Because of the pull of evil. When I was possessed by the Woogie, the blood lust was so strong…" Phoebe says.
"Woogie?" Cole asks.
Paige shakes her head, "Don't ask."
"The point is… I don't think they'll answer the call." Phoebe says.
"Then we'll add bait." Paige says and she glances at Cole, then looks at Phoebe.
Phoebe looks at Cole and he looks back. "No. No. Uh, no. Are you kidding me? No."
"The furies go after evil doers, right?" Paige asks.
Phoebe sighs, "Paige, we are not using the love of my life as bait."
"Oh, yes we are. It's perfect." Cole says and he stands up and goes near Paige.
"Cole, you have been a demon for over a century. That is a lot of victims. The pain of their cries alone can kill you." Phoebe says.
Cole nods, "Yes, but as you said, I'm not the demon that did those things anymore. And if facing my crimes helps save your sisters…"
Phoebe sighs, "Cole, I…"
"Phoebe." Cole says and he sits back down next to her. "I would do almost anything for you, you know that. But I will not be a coward for you. Please don't ask me to be."
Phoebe touches his face. "We'll need some of your blood."
"Right." Cole says.
"Knife." Paige calls out as a knife orbs from the table and into Paige's hand. She holds it out in front of Cole.
Later Phoebe and Paige are standing at the table. Phoebe is holding a knife above a lit candle.
"Power of the sisters rise, course unseen across the skies, come to us who call you near..." Paige and Phoebe says.
In the alley the furies are touching Buffy and Piper's hair. They are wearing fury clothes and have talons on their faces. They hear Phoebe and Paige chanting.
"Come to us and settle here. Blood to blood, I summon thee, blood to blood, return to me." Phoebe and Paige says.
"I know where evil dwells." Piper says.
"Yes he has done many evil deeds." Buffy says.
At the Manor Phoebe and Paige are waiting as Cole paces.
"Are you sure about this?" Phoebe asks.
Cole shakes his head, "I'm good at a lot of things. Waiting is not one of them."
Paige makes a noise and throws her arms down.
"Honey, what are you doing?" Phoebe says.
"I'm trying to do that orb thingy. I can't seem to get the hang of it though." Phoebe says as Cole yells in Paige's face and she orbs in and out.
"What happened?" Paige asks.
"You orbed." Phoebe says.
"I did?" Paige asks.
"It's a fear response." Cole says.
Phoebe nods, "So until you learn how to control it, you just have to…"
"Get scared?" Paige asks.
Phoebe nods, "Pretty much. Don't worry about it. Buffy can teach you how to control it."
"Assuming we save her and Piper. How though?" Paige asks.
Phoebe smiles, "Buffy does something similar to orbing called flaming."
"Oh." Paige says.
Phoebe nods, "Then we will orb, we will levitate, we will juggle knives if we have to, just to keep the furies distracted from Cole."
Paige smiles. "Okay, but what I don't get is how we un-demon Buffy and Piper when they get here."
"Well, we have to close the portal of unexpressed fury." Phoebe says.
"Unexpressed? I think they've been raging for days." Cole says.
Phoebe nods, "That's 'cause there's something they're not saying."
"Which is?" Paige asks.
Phoebe shakes her head, "I don't know, but I think I have an idea." Cole yells out in pain and drops to his knees. He hears voices. Phoebe kneels beside him. "They're close?" Paige gets scared and orbs out. Phoebe stands up. "Paige?"
Paige orbs back in. "I did it again."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Cole says.
Two furies barge in through the front door. Phoebe levitates and kicks them, knocking them down. She gets up and attacks Phoebe. Phoebe blocks and kicks her back down. Buffy and Piper appear behind Phoebe near Cole. Phoebe spins around.
"Phoebe!" Paige says.
"Nice decoy, Buffy, Piper. Two points." Phoebe says and she levitates and kicks both Piper and Buffy, knocking them down. She sees Cole lying on the floor. "Cole. Come on. Come on." She tries to get him up. The furies surround them.
"Lamp!" Paige says and the lamp orbs out and it flies across the room hitting a fury. The furies turn around. "Sorry." The furies go over to her. "Really sorry."
Cole throws an energy ball at the two furies and kills them. Buffy and Piper pushes Phoebe out of the way and scratches Cole's chest.
"Cole is not your problem, Piper, Buffy, and you both know it." Phoebe says.
Buffy and Piper attacks Phoebe and Phoebe blocks their hits.
"Book!" Paige says and the Book of Shadows orbs to her. She starts flipping through it. "Please let there be something in here."
Phoebe kicks Buffy and Piper down. Cole gets an energy ball ready.
"Cole, don't!" Phoebe says and he stops the energy ball. "You both think I abandoned you. You both think it's my fault that Prue died. You both blame me. You should just admit it."
Piper sends Phoebe flying straight into a cabinet, smashing it.
Buffy goes over to Paige. Piper moves to join her.
"You don't want to kill me, Buffy, Piper, you don't even know me." Paige says as Cole goes over to Phoebe. "It's not about me. It's not about Phoebe, is it?"
"Leo!" Phoebe says.
Leo orbs in. Buffy and Piper tries to scratch Paige, but she orbs out and back in behind Piper and Buffy. Buffy and Piper spins around.
"Phoebe's not the sister who abandoned you. It's Prue, isn't it?" Paige says as Piper grabs Paige by the neck.
"Leo, do something." Phoebe says.
Leo grabs Buffy, Piper and Paige and orbs out.
"Where'd he take them?" Cole asks.
"To what Buffy and Piper's really angry at." Phoebe says.
Leo orbs in to the mausoleum with Piper, Buffy and Paige. Buffy and Piper backs away when they see Prue's plaque.
"Tell her, Piper, Buffy. It's alright to hate her." Buffy and Piper tries to get out but the doors are locked. "You both should hate her. When my parents died, I hated them for it. I was alone, and I hated them. It is okay to hate Prue."
Buffy and Piper looks at Paige.
"How dare you!" Piper says as she and Buffy runs over to Prue's plaque and bangs on it.
"How dare you leave us!" Buffy says.
"How could you go and die and leave us here all alone?" Piper says.
"Please come back. We need you." Buffy says as she and Piper start to cry.
"Please come back." Piper says.
Piper and Buffy scream and sinks down on the ground. They sit there and cry as they change back to normal.
Leo kneels down beside them. "It's okay. It's okay."
Piper shakes her head, "It's not okay. She risked her life every day and she never thought about what would happen to me, Buffy and Phoebe if she was gone."
Paige starts to cry for the sister she never knew.
"I know." Leo says.
"How did she think that we could live without her?" Buffy says.
Leo hugs them. Tears well up in Paige's eyes as she looks at Prue's plaque.
The next morning Piper is in the kitchen pouring three cups of coffee. Buffy is sitting on a stool as Phoebe comes in and sits on the other one.
Piper hands them a cup of coffee.
"Did either of you sleep?" Phoebe asks.
Piper nods, "Yeah, actually, better than I have in a while."
Buffy nods, "Yeah, what she said."
"Mmm. It's quiet, isn't it? Early and late. It's just really, really quiet." Phoebe says.
Piper nods, "Prue was always the first one up, and the last one down."
Buffy nods, "It's strange, the things that you miss. So, how scary were we?"
Phoebe laughs. Piper sits next to them.
"Heck, I've seen worse. I've been worse. But uh, but Paige…" Phoebe says.
Piper nods, "She completely freaked."
Phoebe shakes her head, "No, uh, she handled it… better than most people would, I think. She saved your lives. She definitely is a Halliwell, last name or no."
Buffy nods and looks at Piper, "We know we haven't been the most welcoming."
Piper nods and looks back at Buffy, "We just… we both miss Prue so much."
"It's hard to imagine opening up to someone else. With everything that happens in our lives, love just feels like an invitation for more pain." Buffy says.
"So maybe, um… maybe you don't start with love. Maybe you just start with thanks." Phoebe says.
Later at South Bay Social Services, Buffy and Piper walks in. Piper is holding a basket of muffins as they spot Paige at her desk and walks over to her. Piper puts the basket on Paige's desk.
Paige looks up at them, surprised. She looks in the basket. "Muffins. Thanks."
Piper nods, "Busy work. I'm best in the kitchen. Prue was the one that liked to, uh, chase demons."
Paige sees Donnie. "Man, he's like a whole new Donnie. What did Leo say to him?"
Buffy and Piper looks over at Donnie. He smiles and walks past them.
"Um, I don't know. He's a miracle worker, that husband of mine." Piper says.
Paige nods, "So, how are you two?"
Buffy sighs, "We've had, uh… bad hours." She and Piper sits down. "And hours that aren't quite so bad. I guess you know how it is."
Paige nods, "Yeah. When my parents died, there were some days I didn't think I'd survive the sadness."
Buffy nods, "I guess I was lucky when my mom died. I had Prue, Piper and Phoebe to help me through it. But this time …"
Piper nods, "We were all grieving."
Paige nods, "It'll never be okay that she's gone, Piper, Buffy. But I promise, it will get better."
Buffy and Piper see the scratches on Paige's neck.
"You know, Leo could fix that for you." Piper says.
Paige smiles, "It's my first war wound. I think I'll wear it with pride."
"Unfortunately in this family, it will not be the last." Buffy says. "And only I have accelerated healing. Part of the Slayer package."
Paige nods, "Well, every family has its pros and it's cons. A couple of demon battles in exchange for the power to clear up my friend's skin? I'd say it's worth it."
Piper frown, "The power to what?" They see Lila and Billy chatting across the room. Lila flirts a little.
"He's cute, isn't he? Well, you should have seen him yesterday." Paige says, laughing.
Piper nods, "Okay, uh, you saved our lives, so I guess we're even on the Book of Shadows swipe, but, um, Paige, there are rules to being a witch, rules that you will have to learn and follow."
Paige nods, "Well, not to be difficult, but… you're married to our Whitelighter and Phoebe's shacking up with a demon. So, on balance, maybe my friend could stay cute?"
"Okay." Buffy says, holding up a hand to silence any objections from Piper.
Mr. Cowan comes up to them. "My, my, my. That pile looks about the same size as it did about an hour ago."
Buffy and Piper stands up.
"Oh, that was our fault. We distracted her with muffins." Piper says.
"And you two are?" Mr. Cowan asks.
Buffy and Piper looks at Paige then back at Mr. Cowan.
"We're her sisters." Buffy says.
Mr. Cowan nods and walks off.
Paige looks at Buffy, "Buffy I've been meaning to ask. What is the Slayer. I've heard you mention being it and Phoebe did. She mentioned someone named Giles explaining but that's it."
Buffy pulls out her cellphone and dials, "Giles it's Buffy. I need a favor. Can you come by the Manor about 7pm tonight. I need you to explain about the Slayer. Who? She's my newest sister." She hangs up and looks to Paige, "Tonight about 7pm?"
Paige nods, "I'll be there."
Buffy and Piper smiles at Paige and leaves the office. Paige smiles a little to herself.