Third Time Charmed

Size Matters (Part 3)

When Cole and Prue Shimmered into the attic, Prue wasted no time heading to the open Book of Shadows. "Alright. We're not having much luck with Spirit Eaters, and they were never likely suspects to begin with," she read off the spirit classification page, "we've ruled out Spirit Killers, Spirit Movers will be hard to track, so that leaves Spirit Extractors."

"Come on, Prue, none of these are likely suspects," said Cole. "Don't you want to take a moment to reflect or something?"

Prue was confused by this. Was he losing motivation? "Reflect? Reflect on what?"

"You just saved eight Innocents from a living nightmare. More if you include all the other people stuck working for that loser."

She didn't see what he was getting at with this. "Sure, but we didn't learn anything about Phoebe."

Cole didn't know what to say. Even if he possessed the tact required for talking through deep issues, Prue was touchy at the best of times. Nothing he could say would be right, and selfishly, even if he knew she would benefit from slowing down, he wanted to keep searching for answers too. "Right," he said simply.

"Any ideas where we should start this time?" she asked, not sounding particularly hopeful.

"Well, Extractors aren't a group of beings like Spirit Eaters. The term refers to Soul Extraction, a rare demonic power, so any could possess it—"

"That's helpful," she mumbled, rapping her knuckles on the book impatiently.

"That said," Cole continued calmly, "the first thing I would recommend...is a shower."

Prue looked up, confused, and then she eyed her ratty getup and touched her messy hair. "Oh, right. Damn. All this backcombing is going to take forever to untangle. Well, why don't you head out for a bit, and I'll summon you later?"

"Fine," Cole agreed, "but before I go, there was something I was wondering about. What's going on with your power?"

"What about my power?" Prue replied distractedly, returning her attention to the book.

"That apartment door..." Cole started, one eyebrow raised in intrigue. "It wasn't a straightforward turnkey lock. How did you open it?"

"Oh, noticed that, did you?" Prue nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I used my new power."

"Your what?"

"Well, I'm not actually sure if it's new or not, to be honest, or even if it's a new power or just an advancement of my primary one, but I can use Psychokinesis now," Prue elucidated disinterestedly, returning to the book.

"Psychokinesis? So, now, you can affect things that you can't see? Could be handy."

"Could be," said Prue, absentmindedly flipping pages. "I did it for the first time while we were in Limbo recently. I reached out with my mind and pulled a flying dagger out of the air from behind me. I'm not sure whether the magic of that place unlocked the ability or just gave me the boost needed to realize I could do it, but yeah...."

Cole frowned. "It might have been helpful to tell me about this, you know. Partners are supposed to be aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses."

Prue couldn't help but throw her head back and let out a hearty cackle of derision. "We are not partners, Cole. We are associates. Allies at best," she clarified, feeling the euphoric aftereffects of her first genuine laugh in what must have been months.

A vein on Cole's temple bulged, but he didn't take the bait. "Regardless, I should have known. It could affect our planning and coordination," he reasoned. "Besides, if you don't have the hang of this new power yet, I might be able to help you master it."