Fic: Comes Out of Darkness, Morn (8/37)
Mar. 20th, 2012 08:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sara_wolfTitle: Comes Out of Darkness, Morn
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: Pax's disappearance shattered Paige. Losing Prue, three years later, reopens old wounds that she thought she'd managed to close off, forever. But, through tragedy comes a sliver of light, and discovering that she's a witch is only the beginning...
*****
Prue hung up the phone, looking over toward Piper, who was pacing anxiously across the conservatory.
"Hey, away from the windows," she scolded, as she slipped her phone into her pocket. "You never know what one of those people is going to pull, especially after that nut job broke into the house, earlier."
"Oh, come on," Piper said, dismissively. "No one's shooting at us. Besides, I can freeze bullets, remember?"
"Piper, that's not funny," Prue said, and her sister shot her a tight, humorless smile.
"We've been exposed to the world as witches, we're prisoners in our own home, and Phoebe and Leo are stuck in the Underworld," Piper reminded her. "Nothing about this situation is funny."
"Still," Prue said, gesturing, "get away from the windows. Just in case."
Piper sighed, but complied with Prue's request. She had her arms wrapped around her torso, a pensive expression on her face as she continued her pacing in the foyer.
"Leo and Phoebe are going to be fine," Prue said, soothingly, but Piper just shot her a look.
"They're in Hell, surrounded by demons," Piper shot back, her voice sharp. "They're making a deal with the Source of All Evil – and the last time we were in this position, we were willing to let you die, rather than deal with the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which should tell you just how freaking dire this whole situation is – and the Source could kill them both at any time. How is any of that fine?"
"We have to trust that Phoebe and Leo know what they're doing," Prue told her. "As loathe as I am to say it, we also have to trust that Cole can protect them. We have to trust that everything is going to be okay."
Piper gave her a shaky smile. "I don't know if I have that much faith," she replied, softly.
"Change of subject," Prue declared, abruptly. "You were talking about talk shows, before we were so rudely interrupted?"
"I think we should do a couple," Piper told her, with a slow smile. "Maybe a book deal – oh, and you know that someone is going to want to make a movie about all of this."
"A television series," Prue corrected her. "Just think about it. Week after week, millions of people tuning in to see the adventures of three sisters who fight evil."
"And then, once our fifteen minutes of fame are up," Piper sighed, "we'll be dissected by the CIA."
"So, we'll milk our celebrity while we've got it," Prue said, flippantly. "Enjoy our lives before they're over." She punctuated her statement with a brisk snap of her fingers. Then, she frowned when Piper stumbled forward, suddenly, a surprised look on her face. "Piper?"
"I – I hurt-" Piper stammered, and then she collapsed into Prue's arms, dark, sticky blood covering her hands.
"Leo!" Prue screamed, but there was no answer. The Whitelighter was in the Underworld, and he couldn't hear her. "Leo!"
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Prue sat in the dark hospital room, staring down at Piper's lifeless body. Her hands were still covered in her sister's blood.
"I'm going to fix this," she whispered, her voice hoarse, as she wrapped her bloody hands around Piper's cold fingers. "Once time is reset-"
She was cut off by a bright light forming in the center of the room, and she looked up, hopefully, to see Leo standing there. He looked around for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, and then his gaze landed on Piper. Horror flashed across his face as he rushed to his wife's side, a choked sob torn from his throat as he ran a shaky hand across her hair.
"Why?" he gasped, a pleading look in his eyes as he silently demanded an explanation from Prue.
"They killed her, Leo," Prue told him, tears choking her voice. "After all we've given up to protect them, after everything we've lost, everything we've sacrificed – they think we're the demons, now."
"I'm so sorry," Leo whispered, brokenly, brushing a kiss across Piper's forehead, carefully closing her unseeing eyes with a shaking hand. "I'm so sorry."
"Did the Source agree to the deal?" Prue asked him, brusquely. "Can we fix this?"
"Yes," Leo said, slowly, "but-"
"No buts," Prue told him, pressing her lips into a tight line as she struggled not to cry. "Just do it. Whatever it takes. We can't lose her, Leo. We can't-"
Leo nodded, orbing away a moment later. Prue bent and kissed Piper's forehead, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
"Leo's going to fix this, you'll see," she said, tearfully. "You're going to be fine. I promise."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
May 17, 2001 (after the time reset)
"Hey, you've reached Paige, leave a message-" The voicemail message was interrupted by a sudden burst of breathless laughter. "Henry! Stop tickling me! Geez, you're like a little kid."
Henry, when he came on, sounded completely innocent. "I'm not doing anything. I'm all the way over here."
"You're a dork," Paige scolded him, and Prue could just about see her rolling her eyes. "Anyway, this is Paige, leave a message at the beep. And ignore the idiot; God knows I try to. Henry, I have to erase this, I can't use this as my voicemail-"
A beep cut off the rest of her statement, and Prue took a minute to be amused at the way that Henry had obviously persuaded her to keep the original message intact.
"Hey, Paige," Prue started. "I guess you're at work, which means that I've missed you, again, which makes this almost two months, now, that we've been playing phone tag. You're it, by the way."
She paused, taking a moment to gather her thoughts.
"It's taken me two weeks to return your last phone call," she went on. "I've been busy – what am I saying? I'm always busy. You're always busy. I haven't even congratulated you on your new promotion at work. I am so proud of you for making social worker; you deserve it. You know what, we need to go out to dinner to celebrate, have a girl's night, like we did before we both got lives."
The sound of footsteps on the stairs had Prue looking up, and she covered the mouthpiece of the phone as she glanced at Piper.
"Okay, Phoebe's up with the Book, researching our demon," Piper said, as she came down the stairs. "You and I are going to go after Griffiths and bring him back here. You ready?"
"Yeah," Prue replied. "Just give me a minute."
Turning her attention back to her phone, she added, "So, yeah, we need to get together some time. Just you and me, though; the girly stuff freaks Henry out. I'll talk to you later, okay? I love you. Bye."
Continued here
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: Pax's disappearance shattered Paige. Losing Prue, three years later, reopens old wounds that she thought she'd managed to close off, forever. But, through tragedy comes a sliver of light, and discovering that she's a witch is only the beginning...
*****
Prue hung up the phone, looking over toward Piper, who was pacing anxiously across the conservatory.
"Hey, away from the windows," she scolded, as she slipped her phone into her pocket. "You never know what one of those people is going to pull, especially after that nut job broke into the house, earlier."
"Oh, come on," Piper said, dismissively. "No one's shooting at us. Besides, I can freeze bullets, remember?"
"Piper, that's not funny," Prue said, and her sister shot her a tight, humorless smile.
"We've been exposed to the world as witches, we're prisoners in our own home, and Phoebe and Leo are stuck in the Underworld," Piper reminded her. "Nothing about this situation is funny."
"Still," Prue said, gesturing, "get away from the windows. Just in case."
Piper sighed, but complied with Prue's request. She had her arms wrapped around her torso, a pensive expression on her face as she continued her pacing in the foyer.
"Leo and Phoebe are going to be fine," Prue said, soothingly, but Piper just shot her a look.
"They're in Hell, surrounded by demons," Piper shot back, her voice sharp. "They're making a deal with the Source of All Evil – and the last time we were in this position, we were willing to let you die, rather than deal with the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which should tell you just how freaking dire this whole situation is – and the Source could kill them both at any time. How is any of that fine?"
"We have to trust that Phoebe and Leo know what they're doing," Prue told her. "As loathe as I am to say it, we also have to trust that Cole can protect them. We have to trust that everything is going to be okay."
Piper gave her a shaky smile. "I don't know if I have that much faith," she replied, softly.
"Change of subject," Prue declared, abruptly. "You were talking about talk shows, before we were so rudely interrupted?"
"I think we should do a couple," Piper told her, with a slow smile. "Maybe a book deal – oh, and you know that someone is going to want to make a movie about all of this."
"A television series," Prue corrected her. "Just think about it. Week after week, millions of people tuning in to see the adventures of three sisters who fight evil."
"And then, once our fifteen minutes of fame are up," Piper sighed, "we'll be dissected by the CIA."
"So, we'll milk our celebrity while we've got it," Prue said, flippantly. "Enjoy our lives before they're over." She punctuated her statement with a brisk snap of her fingers. Then, she frowned when Piper stumbled forward, suddenly, a surprised look on her face. "Piper?"
"I – I hurt-" Piper stammered, and then she collapsed into Prue's arms, dark, sticky blood covering her hands.
"Leo!" Prue screamed, but there was no answer. The Whitelighter was in the Underworld, and he couldn't hear her. "Leo!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Prue sat in the dark hospital room, staring down at Piper's lifeless body. Her hands were still covered in her sister's blood.
"I'm going to fix this," she whispered, her voice hoarse, as she wrapped her bloody hands around Piper's cold fingers. "Once time is reset-"
She was cut off by a bright light forming in the center of the room, and she looked up, hopefully, to see Leo standing there. He looked around for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, and then his gaze landed on Piper. Horror flashed across his face as he rushed to his wife's side, a choked sob torn from his throat as he ran a shaky hand across her hair.
"Why?" he gasped, a pleading look in his eyes as he silently demanded an explanation from Prue.
"They killed her, Leo," Prue told him, tears choking her voice. "After all we've given up to protect them, after everything we've lost, everything we've sacrificed – they think we're the demons, now."
"I'm so sorry," Leo whispered, brokenly, brushing a kiss across Piper's forehead, carefully closing her unseeing eyes with a shaking hand. "I'm so sorry."
"Did the Source agree to the deal?" Prue asked him, brusquely. "Can we fix this?"
"Yes," Leo said, slowly, "but-"
"No buts," Prue told him, pressing her lips into a tight line as she struggled not to cry. "Just do it. Whatever it takes. We can't lose her, Leo. We can't-"
Leo nodded, orbing away a moment later. Prue bent and kissed Piper's forehead, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
"Leo's going to fix this, you'll see," she said, tearfully. "You're going to be fine. I promise."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
May 17, 2001 (after the time reset)
"Hey, you've reached Paige, leave a message-" The voicemail message was interrupted by a sudden burst of breathless laughter. "Henry! Stop tickling me! Geez, you're like a little kid."
Henry, when he came on, sounded completely innocent. "I'm not doing anything. I'm all the way over here."
"You're a dork," Paige scolded him, and Prue could just about see her rolling her eyes. "Anyway, this is Paige, leave a message at the beep. And ignore the idiot; God knows I try to. Henry, I have to erase this, I can't use this as my voicemail-"
A beep cut off the rest of her statement, and Prue took a minute to be amused at the way that Henry had obviously persuaded her to keep the original message intact.
"Hey, Paige," Prue started. "I guess you're at work, which means that I've missed you, again, which makes this almost two months, now, that we've been playing phone tag. You're it, by the way."
She paused, taking a moment to gather her thoughts.
"It's taken me two weeks to return your last phone call," she went on. "I've been busy – what am I saying? I'm always busy. You're always busy. I haven't even congratulated you on your new promotion at work. I am so proud of you for making social worker; you deserve it. You know what, we need to go out to dinner to celebrate, have a girl's night, like we did before we both got lives."
The sound of footsteps on the stairs had Prue looking up, and she covered the mouthpiece of the phone as she glanced at Piper.
"Okay, Phoebe's up with the Book, researching our demon," Piper said, as she came down the stairs. "You and I are going to go after Griffiths and bring him back here. You ready?"
"Yeah," Prue replied. "Just give me a minute."
Turning her attention back to her phone, she added, "So, yeah, we need to get together some time. Just you and me, though; the girly stuff freaks Henry out. I'll talk to you later, okay? I love you. Bye."
Continued here
