Once again, thanks to -O-charmed-freak-O- and LoveAngel 1705 for the reviews. It's your interest in the story that keeps me motivated to write.
Chapter 4: Seeing Double
"Demons!" shouted Paige in order to get the attention of her two sisters.
Both Piper and Phoebe had their backs turned towards the fireballs that were now heading in their direction.
Unfortunately, before Phoebe could react, one of the fireballs skimmed the side of her arm. "Ouch!" she exclaimed, throwing herself to the floor to avoid making contact with anymore.
At the same time, Piper and Paige were engaged in warding off the attempts being made against their own lives.
"Fireball!" Paige had called and instantly she sent it flying back in the demon's direction. He flamed up and evaporated on impact, leaving a loud wail in his wake.
Meanwhile, Piper lifted her hands to try and freeze the two remaining demons and the fireball aimed directly at her head. However, instead of freezing them in time, the fireball and two remaining demons turned to solid ice. They proceeded to shatter, falling to the floor in tiny bits and pieces. "Hey now!" she exclaimed in shock, lifting her two hands to take a closer look at them.
Phoebe looked to where the remaining pieces of what used to be demon flesh, lay sprawled all over the floor. Her right hand was covering the burn on her upper arm where the fireball had made contact moments ago. "Ick!" she remarked. "That's going to be one gross clean up. Rock, paper, scissors on who gets stuck with the clean-up?" she threw out her other fist. "On second thought," she immediately pulled her hand back. "Maybe you shouldn't be touching anybody right now."
Both Phoebe and Paige turned their attention to Piper, questioning looks plastered across their faces.
"What?" declared Piper, in a high-pitched tone, feigning that she was just as shocked as they both were with what had happened.
Paige placed her hands on both sides of her hips and went in for an interrogation. "Okay, Missy, give it up?"
"Give what up?" Piper threw up her hands. "There's nothing to give."
"Uh, what's with the ice making? That's what. Did your powers grow again and you forgot to tell us?" Paige continued to tease.
Phoebe laughed and added, "Yeah, that sure gives new meaning to your power and what it means to freeze someone. I guess they didn't like the cold."
Piper just rolled her eyes, beginning to laugh. "No, one minute I was trying to freeze and the next thing I knew I was ... " she was dramatically waving her hands around in the air when Paige interrupted her with some more playful banter.
"Making ice cubes?" she finished for her.
Phoebe laughed in response to Paige's barb.
"Hey, you looking for your own time out in the freezer section, Missy Paige?" Piper returned with a retort of her own.
"Well, lucky for me, you can't freeze good witches," Paige nonchalantly voiced back.
All three sisters laughed and made their way into the kitchen.
"Okay, but this definitely isn't freezer burn on my arm here and it's stinging like a bitch," interjected Phoebe, still holding her arm. "Damn, I know it hasn't been that long, but I forgot how much demon vanquishing can hurt. Think you can help a sister out?" she turned to Paige.
"Ha, see! I wasn't overreacting about my shoulder," Piper teased, pointing at her sisters.
"Yeah, yeah," Phoebe begrudgingly acknowledged as Paige used her power to heal her sister's arm.
"And good as new," cracked Piper, waving her arm at it. "Welcome to the club."
"Um, getting serious here," Paige interjected, feeling legitimate concern. "A sudden and surprise attack? Those demons weren't playing around."
Phoebe went to pull a glass from the cupboard as Piper made her way to the refrigerator to get started on dinner. "Yeah, but before the deep dive into demon territory, I think there's something I should tell you guys first. I was going to wait but seeing as how were back on the demonic radar again like every other five minutes," Piper sarcastically remarked as she closed the refrigerator door, "might as well have it out in the open."
"Yup, that six months was fun while it lasted," sighed Paige.
Piper made her way over to the countertop, placing down the packaged food items she had retrieved.
"What is it?" inquired Phoebe, sharing a brief look with Paige.
Piper turned around to face her sisters, placing her hands on top of the kitchen island and gathering her thoughts. Realizing she already had their full attention; she sighed and began to break the news. "Well, Leo and I paid a trip to the doctor's today."
"Wait, is everything okay, sweetie?" Phoebe jumped in with concern, placing her glass on the table and heading over to her sister.
"No, no, it's nothing bad," Piper immediately waved her off. "It's just that we're ... I'm kind of pregnant that's all. Again. And apparently in the midst of demons gone wild," she cracked, turning around to grab for the butcher knife and a head of lettuce on the counter for a salad. "Again." She began slicing roughly, with force. The loud sounds of chopping could be heard against the cutting board and Paige's brows rose, following all the movements of the large knife, as it went up and down, side to side.
"What?" exclaimed Phoebe, distracted by the revelation. "Well, honey, that's great news!" She was all smiles at the prospect of being an aunt again. Hopefully, one day soon, she would be a mom to her very own little girl. Sensing Piper's unease, she turned for Paige's reaction, hoping to receive back up support. "What do you think?"
"I'm thinking, when did that head of lettuce get on your bad side?" cracked Paige, her attention still on Piper and the mangled pile of veggie greenery. Then, she looked over and caught Phoebe's expression. "Wait, what?"
"The baby news, Paige," Phoebe quickly turned back to smile at Piper and neither of them noticed the solemn expression that crossed Paige's face. "The upcoming birth of a new Halliwell is always something to celebrate, right?" she nodded at Paige.
"Right," Paige nodded with Phoebe for effect. "Hey, congratulations," she delivered, trying to sound cheerful but failing miserably at it.
Piper picked up on it, looking between her two sisters. "Listen," she smirked, briefly closing her eyes, "you two don't have to put on the act for my benefit. I know the timing sucks. Big time!" her eyes widened.
"No, honey, no," Phoebe rushed to reassure her, "nobody is putting on an act."
"Piper, really, that's awesome," Paige responded right after Phoebe, covering up her slight frown as quickly as she could. She didn't want Piper, or Phoebe for that matter, to think that she was unhappy about the news or that she was being unsupportive. In truth, it had nothing to do with them. Personally, it was just a sore subject for her right now. Information she hadn't shared with her sisters.
Phoebe made her way up to Piper again to offer her a supportive hug. As she did so, she noticed the solemn expression on Piper's face instead of the one that had graced Paige's just a few short seconds ago. They broke apart from the hug and Phoebe gently rubbed her back in a comforting manner. "Honey, what's the matter? And for the moment, just forget the whole demon crisis thing brewing over our heads," she rolled her eyes. "You still seem kind of upset about it; you don't want to be pregnant?"
Piper shook her head. "No, it's not that. It's just that for so long our lives have revolved around fighting demons and using our magic to serve the greater good. And now that we finally had a break, a real break," she stressed, "I was hoping that we wouldn't have to put another child through what Wyatt and Chris have already had to go through. I mean, is that too much to ask for?"
Phoebe sighed as Paige just continued to listen. "No, sweetie, I guess not, but that's just part of who we are. It's a part of who they are, and I don't think there's any other way around that do you? We found that out the hard way when we tried to fake our deaths." She tried to express this with as much understanding as possible. "Besides, the demons never promised they'd never come after us again. They just said the Underworld would take time to reorganize itself."
"Yeah. That and the little fact that they were still demons," Paige added. "Which means, they lie." She got up from the table to offer her big sister a hug. "Listen, honey, don't worry about it. You have Leo. You have me and Phoebe. And there's even Billie for some extra added fire power if needed. It's all going to work out."
"Yup, and we won't let anything happen to you or the wh'ittle one," Phoebe brought her head down to Piper's stomach using her best baby dribble impersonation.
Oh brother, here we go again, thought Piper as she smirked and rolled her eyes at her sister's open display. Then, both sisters proceeded to squash their sister in a giant bear hug. "Hey, the pregnant woman needs room to breathe!" she squeaked.
"So does this mean the baby is the new ice freezer in the family?" Paige wondered aloud as they all broke apart. At the same time, they were interrupted by what sounded like the front door of the manor closing. "Who's that?" she asked.
"It could be Leo," offered Piper.
All three sisters made their way to the front of the house.
"He went over to Dad's to spend some time with the boys. We asked him to keep a watch on them for a while until we figure out some more regarding this whole Triad and Ultimate Power situation," Piper shared. "I'd like to expose them to as little as possible right now, especially with demons attacking us at the manor again."
"Oh, so you already told him what's going on?" inquired Paige.
"Not in so many words but Victor's been around long enough now to know there's a big enough problem we need to deal with. Plus, add in the fact that Leo doesn't have his powers anymore. Which means I'd definitely like to try and keep him out of the line of fire as much as possible. I don't want to risk losing him again," Piper explained as they made their way into the foyer to make out Billie just in time.
"Yep, Leo might want to take cover," Paige joked.
"Billie?" exclaimed Piper. "Did you just get back?" She walked up to greet her, and the other two sisters followed.
Billie wore a face covered with worry and concern. She didn't know how the sisters would react to her news, so she left Christy waiting back home but she wanted to be completely honest with them. So, here she was, willing and ready. Besides, maybe they could help her get to the bottom of the whole situation.
"How did it go, sweetie?" asked Phoebe. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it but it's just that there's a lot that's been going on around here lately."
"Yeah, it's no problem," Billie responded in a hurry. "But I really need to talk to you guys about something. It's really important!" she stressed. Then she noticed the pile of what appeared like shattered glass spread across the floor. "Hey, what's that?" she asked, suddenly distracted. Squinting her eyes to get a better look, she added, "Hey, I think it's melting!"
Everyone turned to look at the watery mass of ex-demon.
"Uh demon cube?" Piper stammered out, turning to look at Paige with a big smile plastered across her face. "But Paige was on her way to clean that up, weren't you Paige?"
Paige glared back at her and then rolled her eyes before responding. "Yeah, I guess I was!" she declared before heading back to the kitchen closet to collect a mop.
Billie just looked on, a bit amused, before her attention was pulled back to her entire reason for being back here.
"Okay, so what did you need to tell us?" asked Phoebe, turning her attention back to Billie and her announcement before the distraction. She and Piper waited patiently for her revelation.
Billie took a deep breath and responded. "It's Christy. She's back!"
X
Central Park (New York City)
The busy hustle of the traffic could be heard close by in the distance.
Marie was taking a casual stroll down a pathway in Central Park. Looking around, hands resting comfortably inside her jean pockets, she took in the different sounds, watched passersby walking their dogs on leashes and even inhaled the aromas of various foods coming from vendors nearby. She needed a break. Her husband had reported to his new job today while the movers had just finished delivering the remainder of their belongings. Boxes were spread everywhere and the clutter gathering around their new apartment was starting to grate on her nerves. She knew it would take some time to get there but Marie liked organization. Order and not chaos. She figured the walk might help to clear her head a bit.
At some point during her walk, the amusement park section came into view. The big carousel kept spinning around while a number of children were excitedly running around close by. Next, her sight landed on one woman in particular, and her children, as they caught Marie's attention. The woman stood there preoccupied behind a baby stroller, two small children at her side, and a third one only a few feet away feeding a small flock of birds. While balancing the baby in one arm, the mother appeared a bit flustered trying to keep the other kids in line. After offering the two children something to eat, the little girl appeared to be in the beginning stages of a temper tantrum.
"You can cry but I already told you no ice cream," the mother gently scolded the child, "and, Mikey, eat your food, you're going to be hungry later," sounding exasperated, her attention went to the child a few feet away.
"No, I'm not hungry!" he argued back, continuing to break apart his food, throwing it down for the birds.
"Let's go, we're leaving," she told the boy.
The woman started to walk away. The boy begrudgingly began to drag his feet, following behind his mother and siblings.
Marie was about to continue on her way too when she suddenly noticed the distracted mother had left her purse behind on the bench. "Oh, oh." Running over, she grabbed it and called out. "Um, excuse me?" she shouted, rushing to catch up with the woman a few feet ahead of her. "Wait!"
Stopping, the woman turned her head to locate the source of the yelling.
"Here," Marie caught her breath after catching up to her, "you left this behind and something tells me you'll be needing it."
After looking down and catching sight of the purse, the woman brought her hand up to her chest and let out a giant sigh of relief. "Oh my god! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, grateful for its return. "Kids, you know?" the woman laughed, looking up and directly into the face of the other woman, her eyes widening with instantaneous recognition. "Prue?" she managed to get out past her shock.
Prue?
Marie looked at her confused. "I'm sorry?" she questioned back. "Uh, no," she shook her head, "Marie," she corrected. "Marie Holloway." She smiled warmly, extending her hand for the introduction.
"Of course," the other woman accepted, nodding her head, but still in awe with the uncanny resemblance. "Shelia," she reciprocated with an uneasy smile as they shook hands. "Shelia Morris," she continued to study the other woman's face.
"Right, Sheila, nice to meet you," Marie nodded.
Silence ensued.
Sheila tried hard to conceal the reaction but couldn't help but stare.
The gawking was getting a little uncomfortable. Clearly, this woman had mistaken her for someone else, thought Marie.
Sheila knew she had heard the expression 'everyone out there has a twin' before but even this went way beyond that. It was too eerie. This woman actually looked like she could be the identical twin of Prue Halliwell. Giving her head one good shake, she broke herself out of her stupor.
Marie cleared her throat, looking to one side.
"I'm so sorry," Shelia finally apologized. "I don't mean to be rude or stare," she attempted to break the ice with the reaction she was sure the other woman had picked up on. "You just look exactly like someone we used to know, and I mean, a lot," she stressed.
"No, it's fine, I understand. Don't worry about it," Marie smiled in return, trying to brush off the very strange encounter. She knelt down to reach eye level with the two children. The little girl made her think of her own daughter. "And hi there. What are your names?" she asked them.
"Darryl Junior," the little boy exclaimed proudly. "She's my sister and her name is Marissa."
"Really?" Marie smiled. "I like those names."
"Thanks!" replied little Darryl. "We do too!"
Marie and Shelia shared a smile and a laugh as Marie stood back up.
"And that's my brother," Darryl Jr. pointed behind him, "but he doesn't like talking to strangers."
"Well, that's probably a good thing," Marie winked at the little boy.
"C'mon, can we go now?" the other boy called out impatiently, stomping his foot against the cement.
"Michael Morris, you're really trying my patience today. Watch that tone and attitude with me, otherwise we can take it up with your father later, are we clear?" Shelia reprimanded him. Marie seemed to remain calm though and take it all in stride. "That's rude, now apologize," she nodded at Marie.
He crossed his arms, looking at Marie. "Sorry, ma'am."
Marie gave the little boy a thumbs up and smiled back at Sheilia. "No worries, I get it, I don't mean to keep you."
Shelia was still very curious about the woman standing with her. Darryl would freak if he saw her, she couldn't help but think to herself. "Yeah," she sighed, "so I guess you must know what it's like then, huh," she smiled, figuring the other woman must be used to kids and their antics. "How many do you have?"
Caught off guard, Marie's face shifted into a look of devastation.
After witnessing this sudden change, Shelia rushed to apologize. "Oh, hey, I'm sorry," she voiced her concern, bringing her hand up against her chest. "Was it something I said, I didn't mean ..."
"No, not at all," Marie cut in, quickly covering up. "No kids," she denied, plastering on a smile.
"How thoughtless of me, I just assumed; you seem so natural with them," remarked Shelia in an attempt to clear the air.
"Yeah, thanks, uh, I used to do a lot of babysitting back when I was in high school so ... " she lied to cover up her uneasy reaction.
"Right," Sheilia nodded, accepting the explanation in spite of the body language speaking to the contrary. She decided not to pry or press the issue any further because, quite frankly, she had just met this woman and it was really none of her business. Besides, maybe she was reading into something that wasn't there. Must be all those years I've spent married to a cop, thought Shelia.
"I really do have to be going now though," came Marie's hasty reply. "Again, it was nice meeting you." She retreated, waving, and as she turned around and left, Shelia just stared after her at the same time she went to grab for her cell phone.
Prue.
An odd feeling of familiarity hit Marie for the briefest of moments as she walked away.
Morris.
Marie left both the park and the woman behind, feeling like she had just experienced some Deja Vu. Had they spoken to each other before? Did she know that woman from somewhere? Did the woman know her?
No way. It wasn't possible.
"Mommy, who was that woman?" came little Darryl's question.
"I'm not sure yet, baby," came his mother's distracted reply. While she was attempting to dial a number, her cell phone rang in at the same time. The caller ID registered as her husband's number. Good, just the person I wanted to speak with, she thought. She answered. "Darryl?"
"Shelia?" came her husband's response.
"You're never going to believe who I thought I saw today!" came both of their simultaneous responses over the phone.
X
"Billie, are you out of your mind?" came Piper's agitated response. "She could be a demon. What if she had killed you?"
"Yeah, why didn't you come to us right away?" inquired Paige.
Phoebe shut her eyes. "Okay, once again, just so we're clear. We are talking about your dead sister, right? Demon Christy. The same one working for the Triad, the same Triad who tried to kill us, that Christy? And, yes, when I say demon, I do mean it in every sense of the word."
"Yes," Billie groaned.
Billie and the sisters were all sitting in the living room. They had listened to Billie's tale of how Christy had reappeared out of nowhere in their parents' home, claiming to be her sister and insisting she had never even seen Billie since the abduction all those years ago. Then, Billie had offered up her theory about a shape shifting demon who could have taken her real sister's place and that, instead, this was who she had found and killed earlier this year. Not the real Christy.
"Perfect," Phoebe sighed, rubbing the sides of her temple.
Billie tried defending herself. "Look, I was just looking out for you guys, okay? After what already happened this year, I didn't want to put you in any more danger without being sure. You guys have been happy being able to live your lives. Besides, she's been staying with me at my house for a week and nothing remotely weird has happened. I don't think she has any powers at all!"
"Uh huh, sure," mocked Piper.
"Hey, I'm telling the truth," Billie insisted, throwing up her hands. "She hasn't done anything."
"Yet," Piper added.
At this point, Phoebe jumped back in, trying to be sensitive but logical at the same time. "Billie, you do know this can still be a trap, right? I mean, what if it was your sister vanquished six months ago? This girl who is staying with you right now could be a demon. Just because you haven't seen any evidence of powers yet doesn't mean she's not hiding them. It's a possibility you have to consider, sweetie."
"Yeah, and not to bring up a sore spot or anything," added Paige "but it's not like the demonic world doesn't know you killed your sister. What better way to play on your vulnerabilities than to use Christy to break you down. Or some form of her anyway."
Feeling frustrated, Billie sighed. "I know all this," she closed her eyes, bringing up her hands to cover her face. "Believe me, I've considered it all and know it's possible. That's why I took some time to figure out if she was telling the truth or not. And I'm not sure so that's why I'm here now. For your help."
Piper shook her head, still feeling her own frustration with the whole situation. "Billie, you still should have told us. You never should have tried to handle it alone without consulting us first. Especially when a revelation like this concerns us."
"Piper, I'm not going to screw up again, okay? I swear!" Billie protested, standing up. "Can't you at least try and trust me a little bit?" She felt horrible about everything that happened between them and she had no intentions of ever turning on the sisters again. Billie had made that one promise to herself, and she wanted the sisters to be able to trust her again, but Piper just didn't want to give her a break.
"Billie, this has nothing to do with trust!" denied Piper, rising to her feet next. "This is about experience, and we've been around a little bit longer to know right away when something isn't right!"
"No, please, not again," Phoebe muttered, bringing her hands up to cover her face.
This discussion was quickly spiraling down into another heated debate between Piper and Billie. Both Phoebe and Paige tensed at the prospect of another argument involving Billie. Phoebe briefly reflected back to a time when she and Prue would argue in similar fashion only with Piper trying to play the peacekeeper. Paige, shaking her head back and forth, didn't really want to get in the middle of the argument any more than Phoebe did. The two sisters shared a look.
"Uh, time out, you guys?" Paige tried signaling with her hands.
"Look, I get that I'm not as experienced as you guys otherwise I wouldn't be here now asking for help. But I'm not a total idiot either and I think I can handle this," Billie argued back.
"You can handle it?" Piper raised her voice. "Well, you know what? My sister Prue thought that she could handle everything too and guess where that got her? Dead," she retorted. "And you're taking the same annoying risks with your life that she did with hers!"
"Piper, hey, " Phoebe reacted, shaking her head at her sister.
Phoebe agreed that Billie made a mistake by not coming to them right away; however, defiling the memory of their dead sister in order to make a point was a little too much for her. After all, Billie had made a valid point of her own. It was true, she wasn't completely powerless nor defenseless. There'd be times she would need to make decisions and know how to fend for herself because the sisters wouldn't always be there to assist in every single situation. Besides, the only thing that really mattered this time was that she came to them before it was too late.
Piper glanced over at Phoebe. She attempted an apology. "Billie, look, I'm sorry, ok? That was a bit out of line," she acknowledged, closing her eyes briefly. "You never knew Prue, what happened to her has absolutely nothing to do with you. It's just that with everything that's been going on around here lately, especially with the news that the Triad will be back, we really need to know that we can count on you a hundred percent. And that means letting us know things and coming to us right away so we can look into it."
Billie nodded but her interest was already piqued. This ... Prue, another sister? Apparently, another Charmed One. She wondered what had happened back then to put Piper on edge. In all her time that she had known the sisters, it was a name Billie rarely heard. Nothing substantial was ever brought up nor said about her. Billie was now more curious as to why and, a few times in the past, had been tempted to ask what had happened. Now she kind of had an answer but, at the same time, was glad she had never stuck her nose in it because whatever happened was still a very sore spot for Piper. Billie decided to just let the insult pass. After all, she knew what it felt like to lose a sister and she wasn't one to hold grudges. It was also making a lot more sense to Billie why Piper had reacted the way she did regarding the news about Christy. First, they find out that the Triad's still not fully dead and then Christy is mysteriously resurrected. Yup, she had to admit that she was starting to have more of her own doubts.
"Earth to Billie?" Piper pushed, waving her hands near her face.
"Forget about it," Billie finally brushed it off. "But did you just say the Triad?" she jumped topics. "I thought you already got rid of those guys?"
"Well, we thought so too but apparently not because according to another demon source they're unvanquishable. That and there's still one member left that we knew nothing about," answered Piper.
"And that's only part of the problem. Apparently, the only way they can be vanquished is through the Ultimate Power which also still exists out there somewhere," added Phoebe.
"Which up until now, we thought had been you and Christy," concluded Paige.
"But it's not?" asked Billie. Suddenly, she felt confused. How had she vanquished the Noxen Demon this year if she wasn't a part of the Ultimate Power that she had been told she was? He had been unvanquishable and now he was gone. Unless maybe he wasn't really gone?
"Well, we're not exactly sure about anything right now. The demon wasn't exactly forthcoming with the information on the Ultimate Power. I guess the only real way to start finding out is with this girl claiming to be your sister. If her story turns out, we can help protect her, work with her to open and explore her abilities, and then go from there," advised Piper. "Maybe you and your sister are the Ultimate Power, but they just didn't want us to know Christy was still alive."
"Sounds like an evil plan to me," Paige sighed, rolling her eyes. "Trying to throw us off the trail."
"But why?" Billie threw out, not understanding the purpose in keeping it a secret now.
"Maybe they've been waiting for her powers to show up. Before they didn't, now they have?" Paige shrugged, throwing out an idea.
"Which could support Billie's theory and explain why they might have used a shape shifting demon in her place. To lure Billie to their side while waiting for the powers to show up," speculated Piper.
"But how did a shape shifter pass themselves off in the Ultimate Battle?" Paige poked holes. "No shape shifter would have the kind of power that was used to go up against us."
"Well, I'm going to take it a step further and venture a guess that's why that little girl was needed," Piper drew another conclusion.
Phoebe nodded. "Right, she is a witch, and the shape shifter would have needed to pass off as a witch. That means witch-powers to convince Billie it was really her sister."
"Wait, what little girl?" Billie inquired. It was the first she was hearing about that. However, the sisters were too focused on their own speculations to even notice that she had asked them the question.
"Why Molly though?" Paige thought to ask.
"What do you mean?" Phoebe wasn't quite sure what her sister was getting at.
"I mean, if Christy is part of the Ultimate Power, with the power they needed, what good was some young witch-ling new to her magic?" Paige elaborated.
Phoebe only shrugged.
"Hello? Stay with me," Paige asserted. "Stealing the magic for some lower-level demon to pass off is one thing, but that little girl couldn't have been that powerful to begin with. So why did the Triad think her power could be used in the Ultimate Battle to destroy us and, better yet, how did it almost destroy us?" she cringed at the memory.
"They probably banked on having Billie if it really came down to it," Piper surmised. "Christy's powers not showing up was probably some fluke they weren't counting on, and they took a chance with a demon, and some stolen powers, in her place. But, at this point, who cares why they thought it, you're right, it did almost work," she reinforced, recalling what could have been their demise.
"Okay, so demon Christy is toast, real Christy is still alive somewhere this whole time, powers suddenly surface, and now they decide to just let her go? Yeah, that doesn't sit right with me," Phoebe shook her head.
"Nope, me neither," Piper sighed, having to agree with Phoebe on that one.
"Maybe, but bright side?" Paige proposed.
"We dare you," Piper threw the sarcasm over at her.
"Human Christy should be easier to reach than some fake demon version we never had a chance with. And at least this time, we'll have them both on our side," Paige added, referring to Billie and Christy together, and happy to contribute to what they may have figured out.
"We'll probably have to work with her for a while before she and Billie would even be anywhere near ready to go up against the Triad and vanquish them for good," Phoebe made the reality of the situation clear. "Are we up for that task?"
"Except like I've already told you, she hasn't used any magic," Billie interjected yet again, reminding them. "And, you guys, hello! What little girl?" She really was curious; however, once again her question went ignored.
"I really don't see any other choice, do you?" returned Piper. "We'll have to make time to do it if we want the Triad off our backs and to be able to have some semblance of the normal lives we've had these past months."
"And we still have to work on tracking down where Molly came from too," Paige inserted.
"Yeah, don't remind me," Piper sighed. "That one already feels like a needle in a haystack somewhere."
"Hopefully, the parents are still alive, and we can return her home safe and sound," Paige was keeping her fingers crossed.
"Hopefully," Piper repeated.
Billie rolled her eyes. It annoyed her when the sisters would sometimes act like she wasn't even in the room with them. However, she felt a twinge of guilt by not telling the sisters about her possible unknown origins because something didn't make sense here. She could feel it and while she hated to admit it, her gut was telling her that the Nauscas demon may have been telling the truth. She and Christy were not the Ultimate Power, especially if Christy was only a mortal, which she strongly suspected. So, darn it, she was probably going to have to tell them sooner than she would have liked. Maybe she could start with Phoebe but first they needed to find out if Christy was really back.
"Hello?" Billie shouted out this time around. "You guys do realize I'm still in the room with you, right?" She looked at each one of the sisters for confirmation.
"Oh, sorry, what did you say?" mocked Piper.
Billie rolled her eyes again. "I was asking about this little girl you all keep talking about," she clarified.
"Oh, well, she's this young witch we believe a Triad member had kidnapped but then she escaped. A Nauscas demon was tracking her down," explained Phoebe.
"Yeah, and I conveniently happen to be her new social worker so I'm trying to track down the parents," added Paige.
"Wait, Nauscas demon. I think I remember reading about them in the book," Billie remarked. "Don't they go after witches that are still children or something like that and try to steal their powers?"
"Well, they don't have to be children, but they usually are. The Nauscas demons track down any witches that are new to their powers which, in turn, makes them more vulnerable," Piper finished.
"Oh! So, you think the Triad kidnapped her so they could steal her powers for a shape shifter pretending to be Christy?" asked Billie.
"Well, yeah, that's the running theory," confirmed Paige. "For now."
"Okay, everything remains speculation until we find out if Christy is really still alive and whether there ever was a shape shifter demon to begin with. Remember, Christy may be dead because you vanquished her, Billie. This girl, person, whatever, claiming to be your sister can very well be a demon. Are you sure you're prepared for this?" Piper's eyes were on Billie.
"Yes, absolutely," Billie assured her.
Piper sighed. "Good, let's get to it then. Where is she?"
"I left her at the house until I cleared all of this with you first," answered Billie.
"Alright. Paige, why don't you and Billie go orb and pick her up? Bring her back here and Phoebe and I will get started on trying to find a way to track down this last Triad before we have to deal with all of them."
"And we'll prepare some potions for back up," Phoebe nodded. "Just in case."
Billie and Paige left the manor while Piper and Phoebe made their way to the attic determined to find more answers.
X
Inside one of the many high-rises found in the city, Darryl and Shelia Morris stepped off of the elevator and onto the seventh floor. They were slowly making their way down the long corridor looking for apartment 733. Both were clad in their dress attire, prepared to go out for dinner. Their children had been left at home with a babysitter for the evening.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Shelia hissed to her husband while walking beside him. "What on earth are we even supposed to say? Hey, you two are dead ringers for two dead people we used to know so we thought we'd waltz on by before dinner to let you know about it. Darryl, it's crazy," she stopped, ready to turn around.
Darryl rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest, Shelia. We'll think of something to say but I need to see this for myself. There's no way that two people identical to two dead people we knew happen to show up here at the same exact time and they're married to each other? Sorry, but I'm a cop and that's even too much of a coincidence for me!"
An older looking man passed by them on the way down the hall and they flashed him an uneasy smile.
"Let's go," Darryl reached out for his wife, and she let out a sigh of frustration, walking beside him. When they reached the apartment door they were looking for, Darryl proceeded to knock. When the door opened, he was instantly greeted by a woman, a woman he thought he would never lay eyes on again, at least not in this lifetime. There she stood before them in a long-sleeved yellow shirt and a matching pair of night pants. Her long hair was flowing over her shoulders and down her back.
"Hi. Can I help you?" came her question. She came off a little guarded.
It took a few moments before Darryl finally pulled himself together enough so he could respond. He couldn't help but stare and quickly covered up. "Oh, wow," he immediately began to play off. "You know, I think we have the wrong apartment," he lied. "We're looking for our friends, the McCallister's. I can't believe it; I could have sworn this was the right number ..." he trailed off as he made the pretense of searching his coat and pant pockets for something with the correct address on it. "Hey, I'm so sorry about this."
Marie relaxed. "Don't worry about it," she smiled, about to shut the door.
As Darryl played his part, Shelia quickly jumped in with a rescue. "Hey, have we met somewhere before?" quirking her eyebrows in concentration to make it look convincing. "You look familiar?"
Darryl looked over to his wife as she grabbed the woman's attention.
"Uh ..." Marie began to shake her head.
"Oh wait, I know, it was at the park today," she exclaimed, faking a surprised reaction. "I left my purse behind ... Was it Maureen, no, Marie, right?" she squinted her eyes.
Dawning realization finally hit. "Oh, right. The purse. Sheila, I remember," and she smiled a bit.
"Yes," she replied, while giving her husband a sideways glance. Her body language was silently expressing to him it was time to find a way to leave now that he had seen what he needed to see.
However, just as Darryl was about to attempt a way out of the conversation, a man's voice could be heard traveling up to the front of the apartment. He suddenly came into view. Shelia couldn't believe it. This man looked exactly like Darryl's old partner, Andrew Trudeau. He was a bit older, of course, was sporting a facial goatee matching his hair, but it was definitely him. She was struck speechless.
"Somebody at the door?" he was inquiring.
"Not for us," Marie answered, turning around, but he already recognized the man standing there, "but Shelia and I actually met earlier today," she shared.
"Captain Morris?" he cut in, now standing beside his wife at the front door. "Is there something ..."
"Michael," Darryl cracked a smile for show, "what a small world. You can relax, nothing's wrong," he put up his hands, trying to put their minds at ease. "So, you actually live here too, huh," he covered up some more.
Michael gave a silent nod. "You live in this building or ..." he trailed off.
Marie answered. "I think they're looking for their friends who live in the building ... so wait," she began pointing between the two men, "you two already know each other?" She looked to Darryl again.
Michael nodded. "Yeah, Darryl's actually my boss," he explained.
Darryl felt a chill run through him. What the hell was going on? He had to admit it was eerie looking at the two of them standing together side by side. "Yeah, sorry to disturb you." He turned to address his wife. "And, honey, I think I definitely lost that number so we're going to have to go check on it again."
"Sorry we can't help you there," offered Michael. "We just moved in and don't really know anybody ourselves," he smiled. "And we'd invite you in but as you can see there's really nowhere to walk," he nodded over at piles of boxes.
"Or sit," Marie threw in.
Both Darryl and Sheila could make out piles and stacks of boxes through the doorway.
"The joys of moving," Michael Holloway shrugged.
Darryl and Shelia both smiled back. "We remember fondly," Sheila supplied.
"Thanks for the offer, man, but we wouldn't want to be any later for that dinner date than we already are," replied Darryl. "So, hon, we better get going." Shelia smiled back at her husband. "See you later, Michael."
Michael waved them off. "Yeah, take care."
As he was beginning to shut the door, Daryl and Sheila turned to leave. As the two couples parted ways, they waited to speak until the door of the Holloway residence was closed and they were a safe distance away down the hall.
"So, what now?" asked Shelia.
"Well, it was enough to convince me. I want to do another background check and dig deeper. If things don't add up right, it's time for a little cross-country call to the sisters," he decided.
The couple proceeded to exit the building for their evening out as Darryl briefly reflected on the same older gentleman who had just passed by them in the hall again. He didn't know why, but he sensed trouble.
X
The sisters sat huddled in a circle, each pulling together ingredients for a potion mix, while Billie sat with Christy across the attic. They had been observing her closely ever since she had arrived about an hour ago.
"Well, she seems harmless enough," commented Phoebe in a low whisper.
"Yeah, well, looks can be deceiving," Piper replied back looking over her shoulder. "And until we know for sure, we keep a close watch and remain on guard."
"And she barely said anything when we got back there," added Paige. "It was like trying to pull teeth getting her to talk about anything."
"And that's not much different than the Christy Billie brought back before," replied Piper.
"I know and doesn't all this just seem a little too convenient? First the Triad. Now Christy?" Paige offered up.
Phoebe observed the scene with interest. Billie was talking and smiling along with Christy. Christy seemed to be comfortable within her sister's presence and a few times she could have sworn she heard her laugh. However, while the scene looked touching on the outside, it brought a slight frown to Phoebe's face. Billie appeared relaxed, too relaxed, which meant one thing. She was probably letting her guard down which could prove dangerous in the end. It was the one thing she and her sisters had feared. Billie was vulnerable right now whether she wanted to admit it or not.
Paige was watching her sister and picked up on what she was thinking. "They sure are cozy over there, aren't they?" she muttered to Phoebe.
Piper turned her head back around to watch with her other two sisters.
"Yeah, well, for Billie's sake let's just hope that really is Christy. She may appear strong on the outside, but I doubt she could handle having to kill her sister twice," Phoebe reflected.
The sisters returned to what they were doing. All of a sudden, a draft could be felt. Piper looked up and around to see if she could locate the source.
"Hey, did you just feel that?" she asked the other two sisters.
"Feel what?" asked Paige.
Phoebe looked at her other two sisters. "I don't feel anything. Wait!" she exclaimed. "I can feel it now, what is that a breeze?"
"I don't know but I don't like it," Piper responded as she pulled herself up from the chair. Phoebe and Paige did the same thing, each looking around for anything amiss.
Suddenly, before their eyes, a bright flash flickered throughout the attic, temporarily blinding them and sending them to the floor.
"Billie?" Phoebe had shouted out.
At the same time, Billie had thrown her sister to the floor. Christy, in return, had let out a scream. "We're okay!" she had shouted back.
However, everything wasn't okay. When everyone regained use of their sight a few moments later, they could see a young woman standing in the middle of the attic. All eyes turned to Christy and then back to the woman. Because standing there before them was a woman identical to Christy. She remained in position with a smirk plastered across her face, alluding confidence.
"It's a shape shifter!" yelled Billie.
"We know Billie, we got it!" Phoebe yelled back.
All three sisters released potion bottles aimed at the demon. Then, all of a sudden, they got the shock of their lives. The woman used her hand to deflect the vials which in turn flew back toward the Charmed Ones, exploding, and sending them all flying off their feet. The three sisters hit the ground with a loud thud. Billie, witnessing the whole disaster, panicked when she saw the woman turn in her direction. She stepped in front of her sister to protect her and lifted her hand to send the woman flying. However, the end result was the same for Billie as it had been for the sisters. The demon deflected her power sending her flying backwards and crashing into the attic wall. The impact was so hard it left Billie unconscious.
"Now, what I came for," the female demon stated.
The demon approached the young woman huddled into a ball near the corner. The woman didn't fight nor resist when the demon proceeded to touch and shimmer out with her. Piper, still on the floor, rolled over in time to see the demon shimmering out with Christy.
"Ah, damn it!" she exclaimed.
To Be Continued: dun dun dun dun. Lol, just kidding. I'll be back with another update in a few days.