Power Surge

Meanwhile- Down In The Kitchen

         "Move it or lose it, sis," Phoebe barked as she pushed her way in front of Paige, who stood in front of the open refrigerator. "Hey, excuse me!" Paige snapped as Phoebe grabbed the last cold bottle of water off of the shelf. "I wanted that."

"Too bad," Phoebe shrugged. "I got it first."

"Only because you shoved your way in front of me to get it," Paige retorted. "Look, you can comfortably make your way down to the basement to get more... I can't, as I can no longer see my feet, okay?" Phoebe answered. "And when you get to be this big with that little bump you've got going on there, you can just orb yourself, so quit bitching."

"Fine, I'll go down and get more water," Paige grumbled as she closed the refrigerator door a little harder than necessary and stomped through the kitchen to the basement door. "Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the litter box this morning," Phoebe murmured under her breath as she headed into the dining room with her bottle of water and one of Piper's freshly made blueberry muffins.

As Phoebe sat reading a magazine at the dining room table, she suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of emotional pain. Thinking it came from Paige, she looked up and called out. "You've really gotta get control over those hormones, lady! Crying over a bottle of water? For Pete's sake!"

"What are you rambling about?" Paige asked through a mouthful of banana as she poked her head through the swinging door. "That wasn't you?" Phoebe queried. "What wasn't me?" Paige questioned with an expression of confusion. "Can't you hear that? Somebody's crying like their heart is breaking; where's Piper?"

"Right here, why?" Piper inquired as she entered the room with Peyton resting in one arm and Garrett in the other. "Here you go, Momma," she said as she handed her niece over to Paige. "Lady, you're out of your mind," Paige scoffed. "Who, me?" Piper inquired. "No, her..." Paige trailed off, pointing at Phoebe. "Go on, tell her," Paige prompted Phoebe. "I-I heard someone crying like their heart was breaking, and I thought it was Paige. It's obviously not, so you were my next choice," Phoebe explained. "Well, it wasn't me either," Piper stated the obvious, shaking her head. "Paige is right... you're out of your mind."

"I am not!" Phoebe insisted vehemently. "I can still hear someone crying, and it sounds like they're in trouble."

"I still don't hear anything," Paige answered with a scrunched up facial expression. Piper nodded her head in agreement with Paige, and both looked to Phoebe again. "Leo, can you come in here, please?" Phoebe requested as she heard footfalls on the staircase.

"What is it, Phoebs?" Leo asked as he entered the dining room. "I keep hearing someone crying like their heart is breaking, but nobody else can seem to hear it... you're a whitelighter... can you?"

Leo listened intently for a moment and then shook his head sadly, stating, "No, sorry Phoebe... I don't hear anything like that."

"Uggghhhh!" Phoebe groaned a few seconds later. "I'm going nuts here!" As she finished speaking, she buried her face deep into her arms, which were crossed in front of her on the dining room table.

'Going?' Piper and Paige thought to themselves. Since Phoebe's mind was otherwise occupied, she did not hear the insulting thought. Piper looked to her baby half sister and grinned widely. Paige was barely able to hold back a snicker of amusement, and instead, cleared her throat to cover it. "Maybe I should go check with the Elders... it may be an advancement of your powers," Leo suggested. "How can it be an advancement of my powers, Leo?" Phoebe asked as she raised her head. "I levitate... I get premonitions... how can I be hearing voices in my head?"