Fic: Comes Out of Darkness, Morn (30/37)
Mar. 18th, 2012 06:50 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...
*****
"Mama! Mama, come find me!"
Paige whirled around at the sound of her daughter's voice. She couldn't see anything through the thick fog that obscured the space around her.
"Pax?" she called out, trying to tamp down the fear that she could feel rising in her chest. "Pax, honey, come on out, now. Come on, sweetheart, come to Mama."
She could hear the ghostly sound of her daughter's laughter, but she still couldn't see her. Around her, the fog was getting thicker by the moment, so thick that she couldn't move.
"This isn't funny, Pax!" she called out, sharply, her voice shaking slightly. "Pax. Come out, now!"
Suddenly, the fog in front of her face parted, and a shadowy, hooded figure stepped through. She couldn’t see a face, but she clearly recognized her daughter in the figure's arms.
"Give me my baby!" she snapped, furiously, straining against the fog that held her restrained in place.
The figure just laughed, a low ugly sound that had a jolt of fear running through her veins. Lifting a hand, the figure slowly pushed the hood away from its face, and Paige gasped as she stared at the Source of All Evil.
"You-" she managed to force out, but even as she stared at the demon holding her child, the face blurred, morphing into a confusing parade of images. Balthazar, Henry, Prue, Nick – and then the blurring stopped, and Paige stared at her own face, her own arms wrapped protectively around Pax.
"You know who's really to blame for Pax's disappearance, don't you, Paige?" her doppelganger said, tauntingly. "If you'd just been watching her more closely, if you'd been paying more attention-"
"No!" Paige cried, reaching futilely for her baby girl. "Please, give me my daughter!"
"You don't deserve her," her doppelganger said, a mocking tone in her voice. "You weren't good enough for her."
"No!" Paige screamed, and then the fog closed in around her, swallowing her daughter and taking her away again…
Paige bolted upright, a wordless scream dying on her lips. She panted, hard, as she collapsed back against her pillow, wrapping her arms around her stomach as she tried to stop shaking. Closing her eyes, she tried to go back to sleep, but sleep eluded her, and she spent the rest of the night staring into the dark.
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One month later
Morning arrived shortly, but still far too long for Paige's liking. She stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing sleep out of her eyes, and then she stopped short at the sight of Prue lounging at the coffee pot.
"Hey, layabout," Prue teased her, sipping from the steaming mug she held in her hands. "I thought you were going to sleep all morning."
"Prue," Paige gasped, getting a lazy smirk from her oldest sister. "What – how-"
"You know," Prue said, conversationally, ignoring Paige's stuttered question, "I have to say, I am honestly surprised that you've lasted as long as you have."
"Excuse me?" Paige demanded, incredulously.
"I've been gone for, what, a year?" Prue went on, nonchalantly. "I didn't think that you were going to last a week. Two weeks, if Piper and Phoebe decided to baby you along. I guess they held your hand more than I expected them to."
She smirked at Paige, who closed her eyes, her heart sinking in her chest.
"You're not real," she whispered, brokenly, her fingers digging into the wood of the doorframe as she fought to keep her balance. "You're not here. You're just in my head."
"Of course I'm here, Paige," Prue said, a mocking tone in her voice. "I practically have to be," she added, with a disdainful snort. "You've been falling down on the job, lately. Someone has to protect my family, and clearly I can't trust you to do it."
"You're not here," Paige repeated, emphatically, not looking at the woman standing in front of her. "You are not real."
"I don't know why I ever thought you could replace me," Prue told her. "It's clear that you're not good enough. You never will be good enough, Paige."
"Shut up," Paige gritted out, her fingers closing convulsively around an empty cup sitting on the counter.
"Piper and Phoebe have just been putting up with you for the last year," Prue went on, the cruel smile on her face indicating that she was enjoying Paige's pain. "They don't like you; hell, they barely even tolerate you. And why would they?"
"I said, shut up," Paige snapped, furiously, and Prue laughed at her.
"You're weak," she sneered, mockingly. "Pathetic. You'll never even be half the witch I was. Everyone knows it; even Mom knew it. Why do you think she dumped you at that church? She didn't want to be saddled with you."
"You're not real!" Paige screamed, hurling the cup and watching as it sailed though Prue's head to shatter on the far wall.
The sound of her yell, and the breaking ceramic, brought someone running, and Paige looked up, wearily, to see Piper watching her with concern in her eyes.
"Paige?" she said, cautiously, "what's going on?"
"There's no one over by the coffee machine, is there?" Paige asked, rather than replying, and Piper sighed.
"Who do you see by the coffee machine?" she asked, warily, and Paige tensed at the careful, 'handling the crazy person' tone that Piper had unconsciously adopted. Not that she could blame her; her entire family had been walking on eggshells around her for the last month. It was starting to get tiring.
"Prue," she sighed, watching as her oldest sister smirked at her, giving her a jaunty wave before disappearing like she'd never existed. Which she hadn't.
"There's no one there," Piper confirmed, although by now, Paige hardly needed it.
When Piper shot her a worried look, Paige returned her solemn gaze with the best smile that she could muster at the moment.
"Happy Monday morning," she said, weakly.
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Piper sighed as she took in Paige's slumped shoulders, the shaking hands as she carefully lifted a mug of herbal tea to her lips. Wordlessly, she sat down at the table beside her baby sister, rubbing slow circles in her back.
"She said that I wasn't good enough," Paige finally whispered, not looking up from swirling pattern of the table top. "That I could never replace her in the Power of Three, that-"
"Stop right there," Piper interrupted her, firmly. "Don't you even for a second believe that. You are our sister, and a Charmed One, and one hell of a kickass witch. And Prue loved you."
"I know," Paige said, softly. Then, softer, she added, "It's just so hard to hang on."
"Paige," Piper said, quietly, and Paige glanced up at her, a surprised look on her face as she took in Piper's serious demeanor. "Paige, you saved us. After Prue died, you brought this family back together. You are the reason that I am still standing here."
Paige stared at her in shock, blinking back tears, and Piper squeezed her hands, gently.
"You are the best of us," she continued, quietly. "Hang onto that. When you've got nothing else, hang onto that."
"Thanks," Paige said, with a shaky smile. "I'm going to go take a shower. Try to clear my head."
Piper watched her go, worriedly. The last month had been more than hard on Paige; it had been practically impossible. And from what she'd seen so far that morning, things were only going to get worse before they got better.
A month ago, Paige had started waking up at night with nightmares that had her screaming herself out of a sound sleep. And instead of getting better, the nightmares had only gotten worse, quickly escalating to waking hallucinations that haunted her everywhere she went.
And that had been more than enough to tell Piper and Phoebe what they were dealing with.
In the back of her mind, Piper had been wondering when they were due to encounter Barbas, again. After all, the Demon of Fear had tried twice, already, to kill them; she very much doubted that he was done with them. But, she hadn't expected the demon to discover Paige, or to focus his torture solely on her.
For the last month, Barbas had been somehow projecting himself out of the pit of Hell that he'd been banished to, using his powers to torture Paige every moment that he could. They didn't know if he was actually trying to drive her insane, or if he was just doing it for his own sick amusement, and Paige's mental fragility was just an added bonus, but there was no doubt that it was working. Paige hadn't left the house in weeks, she wasn't sleeping, and she jumped at every, little sound like she was expecting to be attacked.
It was killing Piper to see her baby sister in such agony, and not be able to do anything about it.
"We need to find a way to vanquish Barbas," she informed Leo, when her husband orbed into the kitchen a few minutes later.
"The Elders are working on it, honey," he told her, soothingly. "They don't like to see Paige suffer any more than we do. But, Barbas is the embodiment of fear; you can't just blow that up."
"Don't think I won't try," Piper growled, under her breath. The ringing of the doorbell cut off anything else she might have said. "Who is coming over this early in the morning?" she grumbled to Leo, and then she pulled open the front door to see Ava standing on the porch. "Oh, hey, Ava. Paige is-"
"No longer taking a shower," Paige spoke up, from behind them, and Piper turned around to see her younger sister descending the stairs, dressed in a loose t-shirt and a pair of workout pants. "The hot water ran out."
"I'm going to kill Phoebe," Piper muttered. "I told her-"
"Phoebe has a big meeting at work," Paige reminded her, and Piper sighed in irritation.
"That is not important," she started to snap.
"Hey," Paige said, cutting her off. "You and Phoebe promised that you weren't going to let this affect your lives."
"Paige, how can we not-" Piper started to argue, but Paige interrupted her, again, with an upraised hand.
"Because I don't want it to affect your lives," she said, sharply. "This Barbas thing is my problem. He's going after me, not either of you, and that means that I am going to handle it. That also means that you are going to take care of your club, and your growing baby, and Phoebe is going to be a hot-water hog and deny us all proper showers."
"Well, I'm glad to see you're in such good spirits about this whole thing," Ava spoke up, before Piper could say anything. "Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?" Piper asked, as she followed Paige and Ava into the sunroom.
"Meditation and yoga," Ava answered, gesturing to the thin, brightly-colored mats that were spread out over the floor. "Want to join us, Piper? It can only be good for you and the baby."
"Sure," Piper decided, taking every opportunity she could to keep an eye on Paige – no matter what she may or may not have promised her baby sister.
Because, no matter what Paige said, there was no way that Piper was going to let her continue to face Barbas, alone.
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...
*****
"Mama! Mama, come find me!"
Paige whirled around at the sound of her daughter's voice. She couldn't see anything through the thick fog that obscured the space around her.
"Pax?" she called out, trying to tamp down the fear that she could feel rising in her chest. "Pax, honey, come on out, now. Come on, sweetheart, come to Mama."
She could hear the ghostly sound of her daughter's laughter, but she still couldn't see her. Around her, the fog was getting thicker by the moment, so thick that she couldn't move.
"This isn't funny, Pax!" she called out, sharply, her voice shaking slightly. "Pax. Come out, now!"
Suddenly, the fog in front of her face parted, and a shadowy, hooded figure stepped through. She couldn’t see a face, but she clearly recognized her daughter in the figure's arms.
"Give me my baby!" she snapped, furiously, straining against the fog that held her restrained in place.
The figure just laughed, a low ugly sound that had a jolt of fear running through her veins. Lifting a hand, the figure slowly pushed the hood away from its face, and Paige gasped as she stared at the Source of All Evil.
"You-" she managed to force out, but even as she stared at the demon holding her child, the face blurred, morphing into a confusing parade of images. Balthazar, Henry, Prue, Nick – and then the blurring stopped, and Paige stared at her own face, her own arms wrapped protectively around Pax.
"You know who's really to blame for Pax's disappearance, don't you, Paige?" her doppelganger said, tauntingly. "If you'd just been watching her more closely, if you'd been paying more attention-"
"No!" Paige cried, reaching futilely for her baby girl. "Please, give me my daughter!"
"You don't deserve her," her doppelganger said, a mocking tone in her voice. "You weren't good enough for her."
"No!" Paige screamed, and then the fog closed in around her, swallowing her daughter and taking her away again…
Paige bolted upright, a wordless scream dying on her lips. She panted, hard, as she collapsed back against her pillow, wrapping her arms around her stomach as she tried to stop shaking. Closing her eyes, she tried to go back to sleep, but sleep eluded her, and she spent the rest of the night staring into the dark.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
One month later
Morning arrived shortly, but still far too long for Paige's liking. She stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing sleep out of her eyes, and then she stopped short at the sight of Prue lounging at the coffee pot.
"Hey, layabout," Prue teased her, sipping from the steaming mug she held in her hands. "I thought you were going to sleep all morning."
"Prue," Paige gasped, getting a lazy smirk from her oldest sister. "What – how-"
"You know," Prue said, conversationally, ignoring Paige's stuttered question, "I have to say, I am honestly surprised that you've lasted as long as you have."
"Excuse me?" Paige demanded, incredulously.
"I've been gone for, what, a year?" Prue went on, nonchalantly. "I didn't think that you were going to last a week. Two weeks, if Piper and Phoebe decided to baby you along. I guess they held your hand more than I expected them to."
She smirked at Paige, who closed her eyes, her heart sinking in her chest.
"You're not real," she whispered, brokenly, her fingers digging into the wood of the doorframe as she fought to keep her balance. "You're not here. You're just in my head."
"Of course I'm here, Paige," Prue said, a mocking tone in her voice. "I practically have to be," she added, with a disdainful snort. "You've been falling down on the job, lately. Someone has to protect my family, and clearly I can't trust you to do it."
"You're not here," Paige repeated, emphatically, not looking at the woman standing in front of her. "You are not real."
"I don't know why I ever thought you could replace me," Prue told her. "It's clear that you're not good enough. You never will be good enough, Paige."
"Shut up," Paige gritted out, her fingers closing convulsively around an empty cup sitting on the counter.
"Piper and Phoebe have just been putting up with you for the last year," Prue went on, the cruel smile on her face indicating that she was enjoying Paige's pain. "They don't like you; hell, they barely even tolerate you. And why would they?"
"I said, shut up," Paige snapped, furiously, and Prue laughed at her.
"You're weak," she sneered, mockingly. "Pathetic. You'll never even be half the witch I was. Everyone knows it; even Mom knew it. Why do you think she dumped you at that church? She didn't want to be saddled with you."
"You're not real!" Paige screamed, hurling the cup and watching as it sailed though Prue's head to shatter on the far wall.
The sound of her yell, and the breaking ceramic, brought someone running, and Paige looked up, wearily, to see Piper watching her with concern in her eyes.
"Paige?" she said, cautiously, "what's going on?"
"There's no one over by the coffee machine, is there?" Paige asked, rather than replying, and Piper sighed.
"Who do you see by the coffee machine?" she asked, warily, and Paige tensed at the careful, 'handling the crazy person' tone that Piper had unconsciously adopted. Not that she could blame her; her entire family had been walking on eggshells around her for the last month. It was starting to get tiring.
"Prue," she sighed, watching as her oldest sister smirked at her, giving her a jaunty wave before disappearing like she'd never existed. Which she hadn't.
"There's no one there," Piper confirmed, although by now, Paige hardly needed it.
When Piper shot her a worried look, Paige returned her solemn gaze with the best smile that she could muster at the moment.
"Happy Monday morning," she said, weakly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Piper sighed as she took in Paige's slumped shoulders, the shaking hands as she carefully lifted a mug of herbal tea to her lips. Wordlessly, she sat down at the table beside her baby sister, rubbing slow circles in her back.
"She said that I wasn't good enough," Paige finally whispered, not looking up from swirling pattern of the table top. "That I could never replace her in the Power of Three, that-"
"Stop right there," Piper interrupted her, firmly. "Don't you even for a second believe that. You are our sister, and a Charmed One, and one hell of a kickass witch. And Prue loved you."
"I know," Paige said, softly. Then, softer, she added, "It's just so hard to hang on."
"Paige," Piper said, quietly, and Paige glanced up at her, a surprised look on her face as she took in Piper's serious demeanor. "Paige, you saved us. After Prue died, you brought this family back together. You are the reason that I am still standing here."
Paige stared at her in shock, blinking back tears, and Piper squeezed her hands, gently.
"You are the best of us," she continued, quietly. "Hang onto that. When you've got nothing else, hang onto that."
"Thanks," Paige said, with a shaky smile. "I'm going to go take a shower. Try to clear my head."
Piper watched her go, worriedly. The last month had been more than hard on Paige; it had been practically impossible. And from what she'd seen so far that morning, things were only going to get worse before they got better.
A month ago, Paige had started waking up at night with nightmares that had her screaming herself out of a sound sleep. And instead of getting better, the nightmares had only gotten worse, quickly escalating to waking hallucinations that haunted her everywhere she went.
And that had been more than enough to tell Piper and Phoebe what they were dealing with.
In the back of her mind, Piper had been wondering when they were due to encounter Barbas, again. After all, the Demon of Fear had tried twice, already, to kill them; she very much doubted that he was done with them. But, she hadn't expected the demon to discover Paige, or to focus his torture solely on her.
For the last month, Barbas had been somehow projecting himself out of the pit of Hell that he'd been banished to, using his powers to torture Paige every moment that he could. They didn't know if he was actually trying to drive her insane, or if he was just doing it for his own sick amusement, and Paige's mental fragility was just an added bonus, but there was no doubt that it was working. Paige hadn't left the house in weeks, she wasn't sleeping, and she jumped at every, little sound like she was expecting to be attacked.
It was killing Piper to see her baby sister in such agony, and not be able to do anything about it.
"We need to find a way to vanquish Barbas," she informed Leo, when her husband orbed into the kitchen a few minutes later.
"The Elders are working on it, honey," he told her, soothingly. "They don't like to see Paige suffer any more than we do. But, Barbas is the embodiment of fear; you can't just blow that up."
"Don't think I won't try," Piper growled, under her breath. The ringing of the doorbell cut off anything else she might have said. "Who is coming over this early in the morning?" she grumbled to Leo, and then she pulled open the front door to see Ava standing on the porch. "Oh, hey, Ava. Paige is-"
"No longer taking a shower," Paige spoke up, from behind them, and Piper turned around to see her younger sister descending the stairs, dressed in a loose t-shirt and a pair of workout pants. "The hot water ran out."
"I'm going to kill Phoebe," Piper muttered. "I told her-"
"Phoebe has a big meeting at work," Paige reminded her, and Piper sighed in irritation.
"That is not important," she started to snap.
"Hey," Paige said, cutting her off. "You and Phoebe promised that you weren't going to let this affect your lives."
"Paige, how can we not-" Piper started to argue, but Paige interrupted her, again, with an upraised hand.
"Because I don't want it to affect your lives," she said, sharply. "This Barbas thing is my problem. He's going after me, not either of you, and that means that I am going to handle it. That also means that you are going to take care of your club, and your growing baby, and Phoebe is going to be a hot-water hog and deny us all proper showers."
"Well, I'm glad to see you're in such good spirits about this whole thing," Ava spoke up, before Piper could say anything. "Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?" Piper asked, as she followed Paige and Ava into the sunroom.
"Meditation and yoga," Ava answered, gesturing to the thin, brightly-colored mats that were spread out over the floor. "Want to join us, Piper? It can only be good for you and the baby."
"Sure," Piper decided, taking every opportunity she could to keep an eye on Paige – no matter what she may or may not have promised her baby sister.
Because, no matter what Paige said, there was no way that Piper was going to let her continue to face Barbas, alone.
Continued here
