Sugar & Spice

Chapter 5 (Conclusion)

By JewWitch

When Leo orbed in and saw Paige holding a crying, bleeding Phoebe in her arms, he didn't ask questions, but went straight to them with his hands outstretched. When he was done, Phoebe looked up at him in wonder, her tears stopped.

"Hey Phoebe," Leo grinned, gently patting her head. "You okay?" Phoebe sniffed, and nodded mutely, gripping Paige more tightly around her neck. "Paige, what happened?"

"Everything's going crazy, Leo! Their p-o-w-e-r-s started to come back on the beach, then I turned around for one second and Piper was gone, and from what Phoebe said I'm pretty sure a d-e-m-o-n has her," Paige finished breathlessly, spelling out the words she thought would scare her sister. "I've got to fix this-- you take Phoebe somewhere safe, okay?" She tried to pass Phoebe off to Leo, but her sister's arms and legs locked around her.

"No!" Phoebe yelled, her tears starting up again. "Stay with you!"

"Honey, I know you're scared right now, but Leo loves you very much, and he won't let anything hurt you," Paige said tenderly, attempting to extricate herself from her tiny sister's iron grip.

"No, no, no!" Phoebe shrieked, her face growing red as her little chest heaved. "Find Piper! Find Piper!" She cried so hard, she couldn't breathe. Paige rocked Phoebe and patted her back as she coughed, looking at Leo helplessly with a what now expression on her face. Paige had done her best, but she wasn't really a parent; and she was reaching the end of her rope. Before any of them had time to react, a field of bright blue orbs erupted around Phoebe, wrenching her from Paige's grip. She didn't fall, but floated in midair for a few moments, hovering inside the field of light; then a full-grown Phoebe stood before them, gasping for breath, her cheeks still wet with tears. She blinked, looking back and forth between Paige and Leo with a bewildered expression.

"Paige...? What's...what happened? I feel so..." Phoebe rubbed her head, stumbling slightly. Paige and Leo both reached out to steady her.

"The spell must have had a safety mechanism," Leo said as Paige steered Phoebe toward the edge of the tub, sitting down next to her with a steadying hand on her arm. "As soon as she felt real fear and pain, the conditions of the spell were compromised, and she reverted to normal."

"Okay, this is good," Paige nodded, thinking fast. "Do you think the same thing happened to Piper?"

"Let's hope so," Leo said grimly.

"Wait a minute," Phoebe said, holding up one hand. "Whathappened to Piper?"

"I don't have time to explain everything now, Pheebs...short version, she's in trouble, we gotta go kick some demon ass. Are you up to it?"

"Yeah, of course," Phoebe nodded shakily. "But, um...maybe I should put on some clothes first?" Paige looked down and realized Phoebe was still in nothing but a bathing suit, which had, thankfully, grown to adult size with her, though it still bore the rainbow and smiling cloud pattern it had when she'd been a toddler. Phoebe frowned in confusion.

"Right," Paige nodded, snickering despite her anxiety. "Oh! I have an idea. Leo, go get the scrying stuff, quick." Leo didn't question her, and immediately orbed out.

"Paige," Phoebe said slowly as she crossed the room and pulled out her suitcase, "was I...were Piper and me just...?"

"Kids, yes. Very cute ones, no time to explain, but Piper might still be six years old, and without her powers-- or, well, without any control over them, anyway."

"Okay, the demon that took her-- what do we know?"

"Basically nothing, but I think we can find him with..." Paige rooted around in the bedside cabinet for a moment. "This!" she exclaimed triumphantly, pulling out a scrap of paper with a phone number written on it.

"The demon gave you its phone number?" Phoebe asked, one eyebrow shooting up.

"Hey, at least I didn't marry him," Paige shot back with an evil grin. "Anyway, I didn't know he was a demon."

"So how do you know he is one now?" Phoebe asked, pointedly ignoring the jibe.

"I don't," Paige shrugged. "But it's our best shot. Last night you had a premonition, do you remember?"

"Sort of," Phoebe frowned.

"Well I thought it was just a nightmare, but you kept talking about a bad man and a monster taking Piper away...and this guy David has been kind of hanging around us all week with his kid. I thought he was just a single dad, you know," Paige shrugged helplessly.

"What about the kid?"

"Well you were gaga over him, so even odds say he's a demon too," Paige deadpanned.

"I'm so glad that in the midst of a crisis, you still find time to be funny," Phoebe said dryly, pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. "All right, let's go get our little sister back."

They orbed into a dimly-lit cave, 60 miles off the coast according to the map they'd use to scry with. They felt sure now that David and Jackson were Phoebe's "bad man and monster," for what other explanation would a normal human father and preschool-aged son have for relocating to the remote cavern? They tiptoed into the cold room, gripping each other's hands tightly, alert for the slightest sound or movement. The sound of chanting echoed from deeper inside, and they followed it, until they rounded a corner and found an enormous, muscled demon, his skin red with black markings, baring his many pointed teeth as he stood above a rough stone altar. Lying on the altar was an unconscious Piper, still six years old, with dried blood caked over the left side of her face. Phoebe gasped, squeezing Paige's hand painfully tight. Paige felt her own heart seize in her chest as she gazed upon the scene, and was ready to charge in and start throwing punches when Phoebe pulled her back around the corner.

"Paige," she hissed, "that's an upper level demon! You can't just run in there, we need a plan."

"Okay," Paige agreed, her mouth very dry. "I'll orb you across the room, and you can hit him from behind-- just distract him long enough for me to nab Piper, then I'll orb us all out."

Phoebe bit her lip, and nodded. They both knew that without Piper's blasting power, they'd need a vanquishing potion. But before they could worry about that, they needed to get their sister somewhere safe. Steeling their resolve, the two sisters tiptoed back around the corner. Paige noticed a horrible, troll-like little creature scurrying up beside the larger demon, tittering excitedly as he approached Piper's limp body. With a flash of cold fury, Paige waved her hand and orbed Phoebe to the far side of the cave.

"Hey!" Phoebe yelled, drawing the demons' attention toward herself and away from Paige, who hurried up to the altar. "Get your slimy demon claws off my sister!" She levitated and kicked the taller demon square across the jaw, sending him stumbling back. Paige gathered Piper up as quickly as she could, her movement jostling the confused child enough to wake her slightly. Piper's eyes blinked open just in time to see Phoebe get thrown into the wall. She screamed, eyes wide and terrified. The demon turned and saw Paige, making off with his prize, and grinned.

"Clever little witch," he sneered, with an inhuman growl. "Now you can die together!" For the second time that night, Paige felt a strange, electrical charge as Piper was enveloped in a field of orbs, and wrenched from her arms. The demon, who looked even more surprised than Paige, snarled and threw a fireball, but it just bounced off Piper's orbs and ricocheted back, grazing his huge red shoulder. He howled, clutching at the wound.

"Hey." When the demon looked up, he saw a grown woman in place of the little girl he'd stolen, a fierce, almost predatory look in her hazel eyes. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Piper jeered. Then she blew him to kingdom come. The little demon turned on his heels, ready to run for it, but Paige orbed the thick silver blade lying beside the altar, and sent it into his back at top speed. He burst into flame, and was gone.

"Piper, oh my god, are you okay?" Paige panted, hugging her sister tightly and gently probing the gash on her head.

"I think so," Piper said slowly, blinking bemusedly as Phoebe rushed over and threw herself onto her sisters, too. "I just have one question..." She looked down, examining her Winnie-the-Pooh beach cover-up. "What the hell am I wearing?"

Epilogue

Piper yawned as she wandered into the kitchen, surprised to find both her sisters already up, talking quietly over their coffee. "Hey, early risers," she smiled sleepily.

"Morning, Pipe," Phoebe smiled.

"Actually, it's almost eleven," Paige clarified, raising one eyebrow. "How are you feeling, sweetie? Still sniffly?"

"Just a little," Piper shrugged, pouring herself a cup of coffee. Paige raised one eyebrow. She hopped off her seat, going over to Piper and smoothing her hair back gently from her face, laying her hand against her sister's forehead and then her cheek. Piper just blinked at her in surprise.

"Well...no fever, that's good," Paige frowned thoughtfully. "But I heard you coughing and sneezing half the night, and you're still a little pale." She plucked the coffee from Piper's hands, and poured it out. Piper's jaw dropped open in outrage. Phoebe bit down on her fist to keep from laughing, as Paige went to the sink and made up a cup of tea, handing it to Piper, who was now looking at Paige as though she had three heads.

"Hey, I just spent the past four days wiping your nose," Paige said defensively, with a shrug. "There's no going back from that, you know." Phoebe, despite her best efforts, burst out laughing.

"Oh, you think it's funny?" Piper quipped, grinning evilly at Phoebe. "At least I'm not the one who ralphed on her." That shut Phoebe up quick.

"We never did exactly thank you for taking such good care of us all week, did we, Paigey?" Phoebe asked, cocking her head thoughtfully.

"Oh, yeah, well..." Paige blushed slightly. "Seeing as how it was my spell that turned you into kids in the first place, I'd say we're about even." They all grinned at each other. "Piper, you're not drinking your tea," Paige prodded. Piper stuck out her tongue. Phoebe laughed. Paige raised her eyebrow sternly.

"Yes, Auntie Paige," Piper said contritely. Grinning innocently, she picked up her mug and drank.

THE END

...Hope everyone enjoyed my little romp:)