Aftermath
The pain was dull and pounded in her head. It was as if there were elephants stomping around within her mind. The last thing she remembered was pushing Dr. Griffiths out of the way of Shax's attack. Shax, the pale blue demon they had been tracking for the last two days. He had already killed two innocents, and Dr. Griffiths was to be his third. They didn't know why he was killing innocents. At the end of the day it didn't matter. Their job...her job was to vanquish as many of them as she could. It's the least she could do after they took her mother.
"PRUE!" Piper screamed yet again.
It had been five minutes since Leo healed them. Five minutes with a solid pulse, but no movement. Five minutes of no rapid eye movement. Leo was there with her, he assured her she was healed. Though he did say that sometimes a charge doesn't wake up even when the body is healed. Fractured soul, Leo had called it. A coma, a special kind of hell reserved for witches whose whitelighter was just a moment too late. She feared that Leo was too late for her big sister, her mother in many ways.
Then, a sound was heard from the body. A low, soft groan. Prue was alive.
"Prue! Can you hear me? Please, come back to me." She called desperately.
With another moan Prue began to open her eyes. She looked to Piper then to Leo and said, "Le...o, Pi...per."
After those words were gurgled Prue lost consciousness again.
Slumber
She felt the warmth on her face. That was the first thing she noticed. Then she felt the familiar softness of her comforter. Ever so slowly she stirred, then opened her eyes. She was in her bedroom. That didn't make any sense because Shax had just attacked. Leo healed her and Piper and then...nothing. She couldn't remember anything. She knew she had to find answers. Slowly she moved her body and it ached, oh gods did it ache.
Eventually though she made her way to standing. That's when she noticed she wasn't wearing her cute outfit. She was wearing her comfy sweats. They were her favorite outfit for those far too few lazy days of developing her personal photos or just hanging out with her sisters. She must've been out for a few hours. that means that Dr. Griffiths is dead. She sighed at that thought. Another lost innocent, a soul lost to evil.
That's when she heard it...orbs. The very light jingling sound was something she grew accustomed to. It was similar to hearing a phone ringing from a few rooms away. When she turned around the orbs combined into a girl, one she didn't know. Clearly she was a whitelighter, but why was she there? The girl was nearly her height, pale, jet black hair much like her own, and wearing an outfit that, if she were honest seemed a little too young even for her. The girl stared at her and didn't say a word, her mouth slightly opened.
"Hi, I'm Prue. Not to be rude, but where's Leo?" Prue said as she forced a small smile.
The girl blinked twice then shouted, "LEO! PIPER! PHOEBE!"
Time Lost
It was surreal. She didn't believe it, well she wouldn't if she hadn't seen so much evidence. It had been two months since her 'accident' as they called it. Accident, that's a crock of shit. She had been in a fucking coma because of Shax. Shax, the demon who not only killed another innocent, but stole precious time from her and her sisters.
Sisters...that was going to take some time to get used to. So much had changed in that time. Phoebe wasn't blonde anymore and seemed much more her own person that she had yesterday. No, two months ago not yesterday. Cole was different too. He was human, fully human. Apparently the morning she woke up was only a few hours after the battle with Sykes. Piper was distant. She was glad to see Prue awake and all things considered alright. However there was something weighing on her, Prue could tell. Leo was pretty emotional, apologetic that he couldn't heal her in time. That it was his split focused on both Piper and herself that cause the coma. She assured him it was the right choice, but he didn't seem to buy it. Then, there was Paige.
Paige, her baby sister...half-sister she corrected herself. Apparently Phoebe saw Paige being attacked by Shax on P3's roof a week after the accident. They didn't hear anything from him in that week prior, then as Phoebe was caring for Pure WHAM the premonition hit. Once that happened, Phoebe convinced Piper to rescue their supposed innocent with Cole while Leo stayed with her at her bedside. When they went to stop Shax's attack on Paige they saw something that wasn't supposed to happen, Paige orbed.
What happened next was a whirlwind of information and experiences. They discovered that Paige was the child of their mother and her whitelighter, Sam. Because of The Elders she was given up in the hope of being safe. However The Source was alerted to her existence thanks to his Oracle. The Source was satisfied that The Charmed Ones were neutralized, but Paige changed things. Once Paige vanquished Shax with her sisters they learned more about each other.
Paige was twenty-four years old, seven years younger than herself. She was currently an assistant social worker at South Bay Social Services, a career she loved. She had no other living family other than her Aunt and Uncle, something she wouldn't go into more detail on. Paige was half whitelighter and because of that held some amazing powers. She could orb, something that came to her rather quickly according to Leo. She could sense evil, a talent that came in handy a few times since Prue was 'resting'. The most fascinating thing though were her witch powers. Like all magical witches she could scry, make potions, and create spells. Most unique to her though was her primary power. Now this wasn't one of the traditional Warren powers, it was an orb-shield. Apparently it was a hybrid power of shielding, a loose relation to telekinesis that allows a witch to create barriers between themselves and other people and powers, and a whitelighter's orbing. As Phoebe said, it was "wicked cool". That made Prue laughs, her first laugh since waking up.
With Prue in a coma and The Source on a warpath, Paige had stepped up to help her sisters. Surprising to them all, Paige was able to channel the Power of Three. While not a true conduit of it because she didn't hold one of the three powers required by the prophecy, she was able to 'sub in' for Prue as they started to call it. The Elders believe it was because Prue was both alive but also magically damaged. She was no longer able to be an active member of The Charmed Ones, but she wasn't dead. Had she died, they believe Paige would have taken her spot in The Power of Three permanently. Probably developing telekinesis on her own as a by-product. Similarly, if Phoebe or Piper were to die, Paige would develop their required power as well. Destiny demanded The Charmed Ones survive at all costs, and so there was Paige.
Truth is Paige seemed to handle this all amazingly well. She didn't see herself as a poor replacement for Prue. Rather, she saw herself as helping the family she always wanted to get to know. Now that Prue was awake though, they weren't sure what to expect.
Then, as always so timely was Leo. He orbed in after having been gone the last few hours. Prue took that time to absorb what she had learned and to reconnect with her sisters.
"Well, I trust everyone has been playing nice while I was gone" Leo said with a smile.
Piper snorted and said, "Yeah just peachy."
"Piper!" Phoebe corrected with a sigh.
"Oh you know what I mean. We'll work it out, don't worry about it" Piper retorted.
At that Prue gave a small smile and said, "Yes, we will".
Leo cleared his throat then said, "Well, according to The Elders Prue was in fact in a state of fractured soul, a type of limbo." He looked to Prue then said, "You never crossed over into the afterlife, but you weren't conscious either. They believe your astral projection power must've protected you until such time you were able to be naturally healed."
With that Prue smiled and nodded for him to continue.
"Now that Prue is awake and as we've seen her powers are active, although weak, The Power of Three will begin to return to the three of you" He said looking from Piper to Phoebe, and finally Prue.
Paige looked a little uncomfortable and said, "What does that mean for me? Am I back to being forbidden?"
"No. Absolutely not. You saved us Paige. Right Leo?" Piper said slightly panicked.
Leo smiled and said, "Yes, that's right. The Elders have evaluated all that Paige has done since meeting her sisters and they have decided that she can stay. They wouldn't ever kill a living person, and Paige has actually had them reevaluate the anti-witch and whitelighter rule for relationships." He then looked directly at Paige and said, "Your unique abilities have shown them that the mix of witch and whitelighter can create a powerful force for good."
"But what will she do now that she can't channel The Power of Three?" Phoebe asked
"Oh, that's the very special news. Paige, you will begin whitelighter training officially once The Power of Three has been restored to Prue."
Paige grinned wide and said, "Really? I get to be a whitelighter, like with charges and everything?"
"That's right. Although your only charges will be your sisters for now. Once you've gained some experience you'll be assigned other charges." Leo said.
"What about witch duty? Paige has been incredible...so I've heard" Prue said sheepishly.
Paige held her hand and smiled while Leo said, "Paige will be available to help you all at any time, especially because she is your whitelighter along with myself. The Elders feel that only having one whitelighter for three charges who are so..."
Piper narrowed her eyes and said, "So what, Leo?"
Nervously Leo said, "Only that you three can be a challenge for any whitelighter. Which, you know to be true." He paused then said, "Having two whitelighters increases the chance of never leaving one of you alone again, say in The Underworld."
At that Phoebe scoffed and said, "Yeah, that would've been nice. I had to hide for hours before Cole finally found me and shimmered me back home".
"Yeah, and I'm not a demon anymore. So no taxi from hell to get your girls out of trouble" Cole said with an impish grin.
"Anyway, like I was saying, Paige will still be here to help as both your whitelighter and another Halliwell witch..." Leo said but was cutoff by Paige, "Matthews-Halliwell. I've decided to hyphenate it."
All five of them smiled at that information before Leo continued, "As a...member of the Warren line, Paige will continue to grow in her witch powers too. So it'll be a big advantage to your three."
"Well, looks like everything worked out as it was supposed to" Prue said as she headed to the coffee pot.
The others shared a look of concern, then Piper said, "Prue..."
"It's fine Piper, really. I'm glad that Paige was brought into the family. She never should've been given up in the first place."
Piper sighed and ran a hand through her hair, then said, "What I was going to say was that what happened to you wasn't fair. It hurt, all of us in one way or another. But we're here for you to help you get through this."
With that Prue smiled and said, "Thanks Piper. Thank you all."
Stories That Followed
Not long after that night Prue's powers came back to their full strength. With that came the return of the original Charmed Ones. It was a rough few months with warlocks, muses, and ghosts. Then The Source trying to kill them using The Hollow. By using Paige's orb-shield to contain The Source, The Charmed Ones were able to draw on the power of the entire Warren line and finally vanquish him. However it didn't come without a cost. Because of being mortal when infected with The Hollow, Cole became The Source.
He nearly lost them all and himself in the days that followed. However Paige's ability to sense evil helped them to notice that something was wrong. She was able work with Phoebe to get the needed premonition that showed Cole was possessed. After a fierce battle, The Charmed Ones were able to separate Cole from The Source's essence once and for all. Paige then used her orb-shield to contain the essence as her sisters cursed it into a crystal prism. The once shining crystal was turned black as onyx and sealed away in The Heavens with a little help from The Elders.
Having fulfilled their destiny as The Charmed Ones, the Halliwell sisters were offered a chance to relinquish their powers. All except Paige. She learned that being a whitelighter was a destiny left unfulfilled. If The Charmed Ones gave up their powers she would still be a target. After much discussion and a run in with a witch hunter, The Halliwell sisters decided to maintain as they are, Charmed.
With that choice made, The Angel of Destiny decided to give them a different reward. Each was shown a glimpse of their future.
Piper saw that she was destined to become a mother as she was already pregnant. She and Leo welcomed the first of the next generation on the Vernal Equinox giving birth to the prophesized Twice Blessed Children, beings of immense magical power. Melinda Elenore Halliwell and Christopher Wyatt Halliwell were a force to be reconned with and would grow to follow their own destiny in the magical and mortal worlds. Piper herself continued with P3 until the twins were in school. At that point she sold P3 to open her own restaurant, The Cauldron. Leo continued as their primary whitelighter through many challenges and eventually was offered the chance to become an Elder. However he declined in favor of staying with his family. Eventually he became headmaster of Enchanted Academy aka 'magic school'.
Phoebe learned was it meant to finally find her voice. After all the struggles between her and Cole, they decided to have a long engagement and not rush into marriage. Phoebe took her job at The Bay Mirror to new heights and became quite successful. She even began to appear on local talk shows to offer advice. Once Cole was no longer possessed by The Source, he and Leo made a case to The Elders. They petitioned for him to be given good magic as he was still vulnerable to evil's possession of his body without something to fill the hole left by Balthazor. With a reluctant agreeance, The Elders made Cole a Protector. Protectors were an extinct race of magical creatures who were the counter part to Bounty Hunters. They had the ability to fade, similar to shimmering and to conjure physical objects. This combined with his experience made Cole a lethal force for good. He eventually decided to use his vast experience and shady connections to become a licensed private investigator. Once both Phoebe and Cole were established as their own individuals they decided to get married. They had a rough time, including losing a pregnancy early on due to a demon attack. However with love and perseverance they eventually had a daughter, Penelope (Penny) Lynn Halliwell, she inherited her mother's attitude along with her power of levitation and her father's power of conjuring. Penny was a fierce Halliwell and did just as Melinda Warren foresaw, continued the tradition of "many more generations of beautiful daughters".
Paige saw that her destiny was always meant to be with her sisters...her family. She continued to support the Charmed Ones both as a witch and whitelighter, although she liked to think of herself as a witchlighter, the perfect combination of both her heritages. Paige's powers continued to grow, granting her all of a whitelighter's powers and her orb-shield grew as well. She could now create orb-fields and use them similar to telekinesis. Any object held within an orb-field she could move with expert control. Paige even learned to use her orb-field power offensively by crushing lower-level demons with it. It was an effective if rather violent use of the power. Shortly after becoming a full whitelighter Paige was made a fulltime social worker. It was a lot for her to juggle, but thankfully she had a flexible schedule and oddly many of her charges were also her clients in social services. During one case she met Henry Mitchell, the sexy and kind parole officer. After a long period of dating, Paige found herself pregnant. This led to a quick wedding soon after. Henry found himself comfortable with his wife being a witch, though it took some time. He found he had a lot in common with Paige's step-father, Victor. The two bonded over "being married to a witch" as Victor used to say. Their little witchlighter was born not long after Penny was, a son named Mitchell Samuel Matthews-Halliwell. The boy was a born whitelighter like his mother, though he had the power of premonition to boot.
Prue learned that although it was her destiny to be a Charmed One, it wasn't her whole identity. The coma really drove that home for her. Since she had lost her job at 415 Magazine she decided to go back to college and get her MFA in fine arts. Using her extensive experience in art history from Bucklands and her passion for photography Prue became an Adjunct Professor at Berkley, while also building her photography into a popular gallery in San Francisco. Along the way she was reunited with Bane who was released from prison early for good behavior. they fell into a relationship quickly and soon were pregnant. Together Prue and Bane had a daughter named Brianna Patricia Halliwell who had the strong power of cryogensis, and a son named Victor Warren Halliwell with the powers of astral projection and astral possession. Bane used his experience with real estate to become an agent in the Bay area, even going so far as to build the dream house for he, Prue, and their children not far from Halliwell Manor.