Third Time Charmed

Charmed Again (Part 4)

Since returning to the manor for the wake, Prue had been keeping an eye out for the girl who had interested her at the funeral. It wasn't easy because she kept getting drawn into conversations with the mourners, who were only too eager to share stories about Phoebe as they drank coffee and ate cold cuts.

Prue didn't want to seem disinterested, but the girl's face just kept coming back to her. She was sure they had met somewhere and knew it was going to bug her until she figured it out.

Walking over to Leo and Cole, she mumbled, "I don't see her anywhere."

"Who?" asked Leo.

"The girl I told you about. I thought she would be here."

"You sure you don't recognize her from anywhere?"

"Well, she did look familiar, like I've seen her somewhere before. But I think it's more than that."

"You mean something supernatural?"

"Maybe."

"You're probably just imagining it," Cole suggested. "It would be understandable given what you're going through. I know I—"

"I'm not imagining anything, and please don't psychoanalyze me. Just stick to doing what you do best," Prue sniped.

"And what might that be?" challenged Cole.

"Killing," Prue said bluntly, earning her some looks of alarm from nearby mourners, and a reaction from Cole that resembled a boxer taking a body blow.

"Prue, you gotta be more careful," Leo chastised, pulling her to a more private area.

Ignoring this, Prue asked Cole, "Speaking of, are you about ready to get going? You've cost us two chances at a Zotar already today, so I'm going to try Scrying again."

"Why not?" said Cole stoically. "I suppose it's better than sitting around waiting for the next bounty hunter to attack."

Carrying a tray of hors d'oeuvres, Piper watched in disbelief as Prue ascended the staircase at a run. Here she was, barely holding it together, feeding their guests with the food she had prepared for them alone, after planning Phoebe's funeral alone, and spending the morning of the funeral and much of the last week alone, while Prue was swanning off somewhere again. Well, that was it, she was done...with all of it.

After laying down her tray, Piper crossed the room, and asked her husband in an accusatory fashion, "Where's she off to?"

Leo sighed, "To Scry. I think she and Cole are heading out again."

"To do what exactly?" Piper directed at Cole. "Even if you two find Shax, you can't defeat him without the Power of Three."

"You and Prue did," said Cole.

"Or so the Source told you," Piper retorted, an eyebrow raised. "But you don't know for sure that we beat Shax. Your old boss might have been lying to you to trick Phoebe into accepting his crazy deal. We don't know what happened in that other reality. Leo might have been able to tell us if he had stayed with you, but he didn't, did you, Leo?"

"Piper... None of that changes the fact that Shax is still active, taking out innocents left and right," reasoned Leo. "You and Prue are going to have to deal with him eventually."

"Says who? Why do we have to?"

"Piper..."

"What? Do you really expect us to keep doing this stuff after what happened? To keep risking our lives? Do they?"

"Piper, keep your voice down."

"No, Leo, I won't. I don't want to do this anymore, okay? It-It's over! You can tell them that we buried their precious Charmed Ones when we buried our sister." With that, Piper spun on her heel and stalked up the stairs.