Fic: Comes Out of Darkness, Morn (34/37)
Mar. 16th, 2012 10:51 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...
*****
After Paige and Leo had gotten back to the house, Paige retreated to the living room, collapsing on the couch with exhaustion. She let her eyes fall shut as she dozed, but she was too wired up, too full of adrenaline to even think about falling asleep, again.
She didn't know how long she'd been lying there, staring at the wall, before the sound of someone coming closer pulled her back to wakefulness. Looking over, she cracked a smile at the sight of Henry hovering in the doorway.
"Leo called me," he said, by way of explanation. "I came over after my shift was done."
"Your turn to babysit the crazy person?" Paige asked, wryly, sitting up to give Henry room on the couch.
"You're not crazy," Henry said, "but, yeah, kinda." He winced when Paige whacked him with a throw pillow. "Hey, I brought you chocolate and chick flicks," he added, defensively, putting the first DVD in the machine.
"Sense and Sensibility is not a chick flick," Paige protested, but Henry just shrugged as he dropped down in the seat beside her.
"Chick flick with plot?" he suggested, and Paige rolled her eyes.
Henry grabbed the abandoned throw pillow, resting it across his lap. Paige stretched out on the couch, resting her head on the pillow, and Henry idly combed his fingers through her hair. Paige tried to concentrate on the movie, but in contrast to her earlier restlessness, now she couldn't keep her eyes open. And as she dozed, she dreamed.
She hadn't told Piper and Phoebe, but there were times when she slept that she was aware of Barbas's presence in her mind. She could even communicate with the demon, as disturbing as that sounded. Like now, when instead of the peaceful dreamscape she'd been hoping for, she found the demon prowling around the recesses of her mind.
"You know," Paige remarked, with a sigh, "you're not nearly as scary as some of the things you've been throwing at me. Nice job with Prue, by the way."
"Thank you," Barbas said, with an exaggerated bow.
"And, I'm going to kill you for it," Paige went on, conversationally.
"I'd like to see you try," Barbas challenged her. "Unless you're getting bored of me," he continued, in a speculative tone. "I don't have to keep haunting you; I could always go after someone else. Your new charge, maybe," he suggested. "The old, drunk guy."
"Don't touch him," Paige snapped, angrily, immediately protective of the older man, and Barbas laughed at the look on her face.
"Someone else, then?" he asked, a creepy smile on his face. "Your sisters, maybe? I've never played around with Piper's head; she might be interesting. Or, that cop you're so fond of. I'll be he's fun."
"Stay the hell away from them," she snarled, her hands balling into tight fists at her sides. "Or, I swear to god-"
"He doesn't scare me," Barbas told her, "and neither do you. But, I scare you, don't I?" he went on.
"You piss me off," Paige growled. There was no way that she was going to admit to Barbas that he terrified her. "Why are you even doing this to me?" she demanded.
"Do I have to have a reason?" the demon chuckled. "Can't I just want to have a little fun?"
"You're sick," Paige sneered.
"What do you expect?" Barbas asked, an airy note in his voice. "I'm a demon." When his words failed to produce even a tiny reaction from Paige, Barbas practically pouted. "Maybe I will go elsewhere," he said, "if you're not even going to properly appreciate me-"
Paige glared at the demon, feeling something inside her just snap at his words. She reached out without thinking, and a wave of silvery light left her hand to surround Barbas. The light solidified into a wall, stopping Barbas short as he tried to disappear.
"I am not going to let you hurt my family," she told him, coldly.
"What did you do?" Barbas demanded, and Paige smirked at him, crossing her arms across her chest.
"You wanted in my head?" she reminded him. "Now, you're never leaving."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Piper and Phoebe came down from the attic, but they'd barely made it into the kitchen before Stimple astral projected about a foot away from where they were standing. Phoebe let out a shriek and levitated up to the ceiling. Piper rolled her eyes, climbed up on a chair, and snagged Phoebe by the ankle to drag her back down to the floor.
"Don't tell me that you've already changed your mind," she snapped, but the demon sighed in irritation.
"I'm here to fulfill my end of our bargain, actually," Stimple informed her, and Piper stared at him, incredulously.
"Now?" she demanded. "He's going after Paige, now?"
"If you want to kill Barbas, now is the time," Stimple said.
"Great," Piper declared. "Phoebe-"
"I left the spell upstairs in the attic," Phoebe said, suddenly, and Piper pushed her toward the door.
"Go get it," she snapped. "I'd like to be able to tell Paige that her hell is over with."
Phoebe bolted for the stairs, her heavy footsteps thudding over their head as she ran to the attic. She was back in about a minute, a ragged-edged piece of paper in her hands.
"Got it," she announced, waving the paper. "Okay, let's-"
The rest of her sentence was cut off by Leo's arrival into the kitchen, a somber look on the Whitelighter's face as he materialized in the middle of the room.
"You're just in time," Piper started, but Leo shook his head, quickly, stopping her.
"We have a problem," he said, quietly.
"Leo, this whole last month has been one, huge nightmare," Piper pointed out. "How could things possibly get worse?"
"The Elders have been monitoring Paige," Leo told them, a grave note in his voice. "Something's changed. Barbas's shadow isn't fading away from her."
"Well," Piper started, hesitantly, "Ava did say that Paige was unconsciously containing him, somehow. Reining him in, kind of."
"Well, I think it's just switched over to conscious containment," Leo replied.
"You think that Paige deliberately trapped Barbas inside her own head?" Phoebe asked, exchanging a horrified look with Piper. "How?"
"Do you remember the shield that our baby manifested last week," Leo asked Piper, "when that demon attacked? The Elders think that it's something similar to that, only instead of keeping things out, she's keeping Barbas in."
"Why?" Piper demanded, when she finally felt like she could speak without yelling. "Why would Paige possibly do this?"
"She's protecting us," Phoebe said, softly. When Piper looked at her, she shrugged. "It only makes sense. For the last month, Barbas has been focusing on Paige. But, if he suddenly decided that he wanted to go after one of us-"
"She's protecting us," Piper echoed, bitterly. "Great. Just great. So, our sister is going through hell, and we just keep dropping the ball!"
She made an aborted gesture with her hands, the slight movement enough to blow out the kitchen window with an explosive crash. Then, Henry came running in from the other room, an angry look on his face.
"Would you keep it down?" he ranted, but then he stopped short as he caught sight of the looks on their faces. "What's wrong? Is it Paige?"
Piper sighed, heavily. "Barbas is trapped inside Paige's head," she told him, and Henry gaped at her, wordlessly.
"How do we get him out?" he finally asked.
They all looked hopefully at Leo, waiting, and the Whitelighter sighed in frustration.
"You're not going to like it," he warned them.
"We're talking about the Demon of Fear, here, Leo," Piper shot back. "I didn't think that the solution was going to involve sunshine and roses. We'll do whatever we have to. Paige will, too."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Leo replied, quietly. "See, with Barbas inside Paige's head the way he is, the Elders are worried that he could possess her, take her over. They're worried that he could use her to gain influence over the Power of Three."
"We're all agreed that it's bad, Leo," Phoebe snapped, interrupting him. "Now, how do we stop it?"
"There's only one way that the Elders can see," Leo said, sounding like the words were being ripped from him. "It – it could potentially destroy Barbas for good. At the very least, it would severely cripple him. His power-"
"What is it, Leo?" Henry snapped, suddenly, making both Piper and Phoebe jump from the sheer volume of his voice. "Damn it, Leo, how do we get this thing out of her head?"
"We kill her," Leo said, and Piper felt the blood drain from her face. "The only way to stop Barbas," Leo went on, "is to kill his host. Kill Paige."
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...
*****
After Paige and Leo had gotten back to the house, Paige retreated to the living room, collapsing on the couch with exhaustion. She let her eyes fall shut as she dozed, but she was too wired up, too full of adrenaline to even think about falling asleep, again.
She didn't know how long she'd been lying there, staring at the wall, before the sound of someone coming closer pulled her back to wakefulness. Looking over, she cracked a smile at the sight of Henry hovering in the doorway.
"Leo called me," he said, by way of explanation. "I came over after my shift was done."
"Your turn to babysit the crazy person?" Paige asked, wryly, sitting up to give Henry room on the couch.
"You're not crazy," Henry said, "but, yeah, kinda." He winced when Paige whacked him with a throw pillow. "Hey, I brought you chocolate and chick flicks," he added, defensively, putting the first DVD in the machine.
"Sense and Sensibility is not a chick flick," Paige protested, but Henry just shrugged as he dropped down in the seat beside her.
"Chick flick with plot?" he suggested, and Paige rolled her eyes.
Henry grabbed the abandoned throw pillow, resting it across his lap. Paige stretched out on the couch, resting her head on the pillow, and Henry idly combed his fingers through her hair. Paige tried to concentrate on the movie, but in contrast to her earlier restlessness, now she couldn't keep her eyes open. And as she dozed, she dreamed.
She hadn't told Piper and Phoebe, but there were times when she slept that she was aware of Barbas's presence in her mind. She could even communicate with the demon, as disturbing as that sounded. Like now, when instead of the peaceful dreamscape she'd been hoping for, she found the demon prowling around the recesses of her mind.
"You know," Paige remarked, with a sigh, "you're not nearly as scary as some of the things you've been throwing at me. Nice job with Prue, by the way."
"Thank you," Barbas said, with an exaggerated bow.
"And, I'm going to kill you for it," Paige went on, conversationally.
"I'd like to see you try," Barbas challenged her. "Unless you're getting bored of me," he continued, in a speculative tone. "I don't have to keep haunting you; I could always go after someone else. Your new charge, maybe," he suggested. "The old, drunk guy."
"Don't touch him," Paige snapped, angrily, immediately protective of the older man, and Barbas laughed at the look on her face.
"Someone else, then?" he asked, a creepy smile on his face. "Your sisters, maybe? I've never played around with Piper's head; she might be interesting. Or, that cop you're so fond of. I'll be he's fun."
"Stay the hell away from them," she snarled, her hands balling into tight fists at her sides. "Or, I swear to god-"
"He doesn't scare me," Barbas told her, "and neither do you. But, I scare you, don't I?" he went on.
"You piss me off," Paige growled. There was no way that she was going to admit to Barbas that he terrified her. "Why are you even doing this to me?" she demanded.
"Do I have to have a reason?" the demon chuckled. "Can't I just want to have a little fun?"
"You're sick," Paige sneered.
"What do you expect?" Barbas asked, an airy note in his voice. "I'm a demon." When his words failed to produce even a tiny reaction from Paige, Barbas practically pouted. "Maybe I will go elsewhere," he said, "if you're not even going to properly appreciate me-"
Paige glared at the demon, feeling something inside her just snap at his words. She reached out without thinking, and a wave of silvery light left her hand to surround Barbas. The light solidified into a wall, stopping Barbas short as he tried to disappear.
"I am not going to let you hurt my family," she told him, coldly.
"What did you do?" Barbas demanded, and Paige smirked at him, crossing her arms across her chest.
"You wanted in my head?" she reminded him. "Now, you're never leaving."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Piper and Phoebe came down from the attic, but they'd barely made it into the kitchen before Stimple astral projected about a foot away from where they were standing. Phoebe let out a shriek and levitated up to the ceiling. Piper rolled her eyes, climbed up on a chair, and snagged Phoebe by the ankle to drag her back down to the floor.
"Don't tell me that you've already changed your mind," she snapped, but the demon sighed in irritation.
"I'm here to fulfill my end of our bargain, actually," Stimple informed her, and Piper stared at him, incredulously.
"Now?" she demanded. "He's going after Paige, now?"
"If you want to kill Barbas, now is the time," Stimple said.
"Great," Piper declared. "Phoebe-"
"I left the spell upstairs in the attic," Phoebe said, suddenly, and Piper pushed her toward the door.
"Go get it," she snapped. "I'd like to be able to tell Paige that her hell is over with."
Phoebe bolted for the stairs, her heavy footsteps thudding over their head as she ran to the attic. She was back in about a minute, a ragged-edged piece of paper in her hands.
"Got it," she announced, waving the paper. "Okay, let's-"
The rest of her sentence was cut off by Leo's arrival into the kitchen, a somber look on the Whitelighter's face as he materialized in the middle of the room.
"You're just in time," Piper started, but Leo shook his head, quickly, stopping her.
"We have a problem," he said, quietly.
"Leo, this whole last month has been one, huge nightmare," Piper pointed out. "How could things possibly get worse?"
"The Elders have been monitoring Paige," Leo told them, a grave note in his voice. "Something's changed. Barbas's shadow isn't fading away from her."
"Well," Piper started, hesitantly, "Ava did say that Paige was unconsciously containing him, somehow. Reining him in, kind of."
"Well, I think it's just switched over to conscious containment," Leo replied.
"You think that Paige deliberately trapped Barbas inside her own head?" Phoebe asked, exchanging a horrified look with Piper. "How?"
"Do you remember the shield that our baby manifested last week," Leo asked Piper, "when that demon attacked? The Elders think that it's something similar to that, only instead of keeping things out, she's keeping Barbas in."
"Why?" Piper demanded, when she finally felt like she could speak without yelling. "Why would Paige possibly do this?"
"She's protecting us," Phoebe said, softly. When Piper looked at her, she shrugged. "It only makes sense. For the last month, Barbas has been focusing on Paige. But, if he suddenly decided that he wanted to go after one of us-"
"She's protecting us," Piper echoed, bitterly. "Great. Just great. So, our sister is going through hell, and we just keep dropping the ball!"
She made an aborted gesture with her hands, the slight movement enough to blow out the kitchen window with an explosive crash. Then, Henry came running in from the other room, an angry look on his face.
"Would you keep it down?" he ranted, but then he stopped short as he caught sight of the looks on their faces. "What's wrong? Is it Paige?"
Piper sighed, heavily. "Barbas is trapped inside Paige's head," she told him, and Henry gaped at her, wordlessly.
"How do we get him out?" he finally asked.
They all looked hopefully at Leo, waiting, and the Whitelighter sighed in frustration.
"You're not going to like it," he warned them.
"We're talking about the Demon of Fear, here, Leo," Piper shot back. "I didn't think that the solution was going to involve sunshine and roses. We'll do whatever we have to. Paige will, too."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Leo replied, quietly. "See, with Barbas inside Paige's head the way he is, the Elders are worried that he could possess her, take her over. They're worried that he could use her to gain influence over the Power of Three."
"We're all agreed that it's bad, Leo," Phoebe snapped, interrupting him. "Now, how do we stop it?"
"There's only one way that the Elders can see," Leo said, sounding like the words were being ripped from him. "It – it could potentially destroy Barbas for good. At the very least, it would severely cripple him. His power-"
"What is it, Leo?" Henry snapped, suddenly, making both Piper and Phoebe jump from the sheer volume of his voice. "Damn it, Leo, how do we get this thing out of her head?"
"We kill her," Leo said, and Piper felt the blood drain from her face. "The only way to stop Barbas," Leo went on, "is to kill his host. Kill Paige."
Continued here
