Episode 9 - The Fourth Halliwell

The next morning, Piper and Phoebe were in the kitchen. "So, what are we going to do about Paige?" Phoebe asked, as Piper handed her a cup of coffee, she blew on it and took a sip. "I mean, growing up with two sisters was a lot, let alone one we didn't know about for 24 years." Piper sighed. "Well, I guess we do what mom and grams said, and welcome her into the family." "Piper, we don't know anything about her though, I mean, do we even know if she knows what she is?" "No, we don't know anything about her, but we'll learn. She's family, and we can't just leave family alone. Especially family members that get put in the hospital by a demon specifically sent by The Source." Piper said. "We might need her to defeat him." "Yeah, if she ever wakes up. She's been in a coma for almost a month now." "I know." Piper said, as she took a sip of her steaming coffee. Prue entered the kitchen while the two of them were down there, and went straight for the coffee pot. "Morning." She said, to them, only focusing on the coffee pot. "Hey, what's your opinion on welcoming Paige into the family?" Piper asked her. She poured herself a cup of coffee. "Well, we know she's safe right now. But when she wakes up, we should probably go talk to her, I mean, The Source sent is assassin to her for a reason. We may need her to defeat him." Prue took a sip, it warmed her soul up. "I'm not talking about the witch part. I'm talking about the sister part. Do we welcome her as one of our sisters?" Prue paused for a moment, taking another swig of coffee. "Let's just see how this plays out. She's still in a coma, so I think we have some time to think about it." She replied, then the phone rang. "I got it." Phoebe said, going over to the receiver, and picking it up. "Halliwell Residence." She answered. "Phoebe, it's Daryl. Is Prue around?" "Sure, hold on Daryl." Phoebe said, then looked at Prue. "For you."Prue walked over and grabbed the hand set. "Hello." "Prue, she's awake." "Who is?" "Your innocent. She opened her eyes last night, and has been reacting to external stimulation. She can talk but she's weak. Maybe you wanna get down to the hospital?" Prue's eyes widened at the news. "Okay, I'll meet you there in 15." She replied and hung up. "What's up?" Piper asked. "Looks like we have less time than we thought. Paige is awake. I'm going down to the hospital to meet Daryl." "Do you want one of us to come with you?" Prue shook her head. "Not yet. She just woke up last night, I don't want to push her too much. I'll call you as soon as I get done." She said, grabbed her keys, her purse, put her coffee in a to-go cup, and walked out. "So, wanna talk about welcoming her now?" Phoebe asked, as Prue left for the hospital. Piper sighed. "It's never a dull moment in this house. We either have demons and warlocks or long lost relatives paying a visit." Phoebe smiled. "I think we should welcome her. She is our sister after all." Meanwhile, Prue had met Daryl at Bay Memorial, he met her at the main entrance. "Okay, so she's talking, but again, she's weak, she's awake right now, but don't push too hard, she's got some PTSD from the attack." Daryl warned. Prue nodded. "I got it." "Lets go." He said, and the two of them went inside and to the nurses station. One of the nurses directed them to Paige's room. She was laying in her bed, partially propped up. She looked at the two of them. "W-who are you guys?" She choked out, her voice cracked when she spoke. "Ms. Matthews, I'm inspector Morris with the SF PD, and this is Prue Halliwell. She's with me." Paige got brighter when Daryl said Halliwell. "Halliwell?" Paige asked, her voice cracking again. "That's me. I'm Prue." She said, walking over to her bed. "Well, this is weird." Paige replied, weakness still in her voice, but there was a hint that it was getting stronger. "What is?" "It's a really long story." "Well, I'm all ears, if you're up for it." Prue replied to her. "Pull up a chair." Paige said, reaching for the water that was just out of her grasp. Daryl walked over and moved her table next to her so she could reach it, she was still in a bit of pain. Prue grabbed the chair that was in the room, and pulled it closer to Paige's bed, and sat down. "Okay, lay it on me." Paige smiled,  halfheartedly. "Okay, well, long story short, I was adopted. My adopted parents died when I was in High School. . ." She swallowed hard, and took a sip of water. "It was a car accident. My Aunt and Uncle took care of me until I was old enough to take care of myself. Well, I decided it was time to find my birth mother. It took a lot of digging, but I found a woman named Patricia Halliwell, everyone called her Patty, she had three girls, once I took the DNA test, I found out that she was indeed my mother, even though she died not too long after I was born. I was actually going to try to find you and your sisters, the day after I got attacked. But apparently, I've been in a coma for a month." She explained. "Well, I'm here now. Piper and Phoebe wanted to come, but I told them since you just woke up, we didn't want to overwhelm you so quick." Paige smiled. "Thank you. I would like to meet them though. I'm not sure how long it's going to be until I get out of here." Prue smiled, but then her face got serious. "Paige, what do you remember about the night you got attacked?" She took a sip of her water. "I don't remember. It's all fuzzy." "Think back. You were in an ally way, right?" Paige looked confused. "Y-yeah, I was, how did you know that?" Prue shook her head. "Another long story. I don't know if I can make that one short with out shock value." Paige nodded. "One minute, I'm walking through the ally way to get to my apartment, and the next, I'm waking up freaking out in the hospital last night.""Well, the good news is, the guy the attacked you is gone." Prue said. "That's good, that at least makes me feel a little better." "Paige, I know it's hard, but please, think back to that night. What sounds did you hear? Smells you may have smelled? What were you doing?" Daryl asked. Paige thought for a moment with her eyes closed. "I was walking home from work. . .I took my regular short cut through the ally way, it's dark, but there's a street light on." "What else." Daryl pressed. "It's calm. . .but then it's not." "What do you mean?" "It got windy, like storm windy, and then." She stopped, and shook her head. "I don't remember." Prue looked at Daryl, they both knew she remembered, but was trying to hold it back, she thought she'd sound crazy telling them a large man appeared with the wind and threw some crazy energy at her. She felt crazy already. "Okay, that was good. Thank you." Daryl said. Prue rubbed Paige's hand. "Paige. . .I think you already know this, but I'm your sister." Paige smiled. "Yeah, I already knew that. I was so excited to meet the three of you. I've always wanted siblings." "Well, don't worry, you'll get the chance too, right now we have to focus on getting you better. They spoke for about a half hour, then the nurse came in and gave her pain meds, Prue promised to bring Piper and Phoebe back tomorrow, and once the pain meds kicked in, she was out cold. Prue and Daryl left after that. "She knows what happened." Prue admitted when they got outside. "I know. I just think she think's we won't believe her." "She said she always wanted siblings. I think she got more than she bargained for. If she can't handle the thought of Shax, I don't think she's going to do well against any other demons we go up against." Prue said. "Yeah, I don't really need to know any of that. I'll call you when I get more information." Daryl said. Prue nodded and went to her car, as soon as she got in, she called the manor. Piper answered. "Hello?" "Piper, it's Prue. I just left Paige. She knows we're her sisters. Apparently, she did some digging and found out that our mother is her's." "Does she know about the other part?" "No, that's what I want to talk to you guys about. I'll be home soon. I'm on my way." "Rob is here, he's waiting for you." "Ok, see you soon." Prue said, and hung up. She started her SUV, and drove back to the manor. She pulled into the driveway, and went inside. "Hello!" She called. "We're in the kitchen!" Phoebe called. Prue made her way to the kitchen where Piper was baking something, Phoebe was writing something, and Rob was sitting at the table, perfectly still. He only turned around when he heard Prue walk in. "Hey!" He greeted her with a wide smile. She smiled. "Hi, Rob. Please tell me we don't have to fight anything today." He laughed. "Nah, not today, I just decided to come see what my favorite sister witches were up to." "Yeah right, you came for Prue and we all know it." Phoebe said, smiling. He shot her a glance, which validated her comment, and she smiled. "So, what did you find out?" Phoebe asked. "Well, she knows we're her sisters. I think she knows more than she's saying when it comes to her attack. Daryl managed to get some stuff that happened out of her, but once she got to the attack, she stopped, and said she didn't remember." "Does she know her assailant is dead?" Piper asked."She knows he's gone.""Does she know he was a demon?" Phoebe asked. Prue looked at her. "No, I don't think she knows anything about magic. If our powers were bound as kids, I'm sure her's were too. But she explained that she did some digging and found out about our family, and even had a DNA test taken to validate it." "Well, we didn't need a DNA test to figure that out." Piper said. "No, we found out magically." Prue said. "She wants to meet you two. I told her I'd bring you by tomorrow.""So, she doesn't know the big bad secret?" Piper asked.Prue shook her head, "So I mean, what do we do? The poor girl just woke up from a coma, and we're gonna go tell her we're witches, and it was a demon that attacked her? I think we'll put her back in one." Phoebe stated. "You're right. We don't tell her when we visit, we have to wait until she's 100% healed." "I have an idea." Leo chimed in, he'd orbed into the kitchen while the girls were talking and heard what they were saying. "Where did you even come from?" Prue asked. "I orbed in when you were talking, it's not my fault I heard you guys." "You're just lucky we weren't talking about something you don't wanna hear about." Piper said, looking at him. "What's your idea?" "Well, you said she needs to heal right?" "Right.""Okay, well obviously, when they release her from the hospital, she's not going to be fully healed, why don't we introduce her to magic in a lighter way, by me healing her." Prue looked at Piper. "That could actually work. He's a keeper." Piper smiled. "That's why I married him." They all sat together, and talked about what was going to happen with Paige, and how they were going to tell her what she was, with out totally freaking her out. Rob took Prue aside at around 4pm that afternoon, the two of them went into the conservatory together. "What's up?" Prue asked, turning on her heal to face him. He smiled. "I just. . ." He stopped. "You just what?" Prue asked. Rob sighed. "I'm not very good at this. I never really had to do this before, but I really need to tell you something." "Then just tell me." Rob sighed. "Prue, I think. . .I think I'm falling for you." Prue's heart skipped a beat. She was feeling the same way, but also felt guilty that she wasn't with Andy, even though he told her to be with Rob, she was all sorts of confused. "Rob, I-" She started. "No, no, you don't have to say anything. In fact, I don't want you to. I just wanted you to know. You take your time, and think on it. Okay? Just let me know when and what you decide." He said smiling. "Okay, I will." "Maybe this will help you make up your mind." He said, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her in closer to him, so their bodies touched. He then slid his hand up her back, and grabbed her face with both of his hands, and kissed her passionately. It took her breath away. He was a great kisser. "Mmm." She hummed, when she pulled away, and opened her eyes slowly. "That will definitely help aid in my decision." She smiled, and went back to find her sisters. The next day, all three of the were going to the hospital."Okay, so what's our game plan?" Prue asked, while they were having their morning coffee."Keep talk of magic to a minimum." Piper said. "Don't mention anything about demons or warlocks or powers." Phoebe said. "Okay, I think we're ready." They took the rest of their morning to prepare for going to see Paige. This was the first time Piper or Phoebe would meet their younger sister, and both of them were excited and nervous at the same time. They left the manor around 1pm that afternoon, and drove to the hospital. And went directly to Paige's room. They didn't need a nurse to show them anymore. Paige was asleep when they walked in, but there was a demon standing over her with an athame. "Hey!" Piper shouted and went to freeze him, but ended up blowing him up. "Okay, that works too." Phoebe had shut and Prue was telekinetically keeping it shut, but the nurses had heard the small explosion and were trying to get in. Prue finally let go, but they walked in to see nothing. Paige was just waking up. "Is everything okay?" Phoebe asked the two nurses. "Did something explode in here?" The three looked at each other, and shook their heads, like they had no idea what the nurses were talking about. They shook their heads in confusion and left. Prue shut the door all the way, and Paige was now awake. "Good Morning." Piper said, softly. Paige smiled. "Hi." She said, her voice groggy. "My name is Piper, I'm your older sister." Paige smiled again. "It's nice to meet you Piper, my name is Paige.""And I'm Phoebe! Your other big sister." She said cheerfully. "It's so nice to meet you all. Thank you guys for coming." "We're family." Piper said, smiling. "How are you feeling?" Phoebe said. Paige struggled a little bit to sit up, but was able to. She sighed. "I hurt, a lot. But other than that I feel okay." "Do you know when they're going to let you out of here?" Prue asked."The day after tomorrow. I have to get hourly neuro checks, and a repeat MRI, just to make sure there aren't any neurological deficits." Paige explained. "Are you up for talking a little?" Piper asked, refilling Paige's water cup. She smiled, and grabbed it. "Thank you." She took a sip of ice water, and put it back on her table. "Yeah, I'm up for it." The four of them talked about their mom, and their grams, and explained that she had a different father than the three of them. "So, what happened to my father then?" Paige asked, once they'd explained Patty and Penny. "We don't really know." Prue lied. Paige didn't deserve to know the last time they'd seen her father he was held up at the lake their mother died at. "So, do you know anything about magic?" Phoebe blurted out, Prue and Piper both shot her a glance, and she knew she messed up, but had to follow through. "Like, do you believe in it? I'm just asking because I am really into astrology and tarot." "Well, I mean, I believe that magic exists, I like astrology and tarot too." Piper looked at Prue, wondering if this is the time to mention Leo. Prue gave a nod. "You know, we have an in house healer, back at our house." Piper said. "What do you mean?" Paige asked. "You said you believed magic existed, right?" "Yeah?" "Well, when you get out of the hospital, we can show you what magic really is. . .if you're up for it." Piper replied. "What are you guys witches or something?" "Mhmm. You are too." Phoebe again, blurted out. Paige laughed. "Yeah, right. Look, I know I'm the youngest, but I figured since we were all grown, the right to pick on me was voided.""We're not picking on you, and we're not joking. Do you want to see?" Prue finally asked, since the cat was out of the bag anyway. Paige didn't answer, but watched Prue, who gently moved the empty chair across the room. Paige's eyes widened and her monitors started beeping, indicating that she had a high heart rate and her blood pressure was starting to go up. "Okay, maybe that was too soon." Piper said. Paige took a minute, and the monitors slowed down. "N-no. It's okay, it's just, not something you see everyday." She paused. "So, you're telling me, I'm a witch?" "Half." Piper said. "What's the other half?" "That's where we lied to you." Prue said. "I just met you guys and you're already lying?" "Well, we weren't sure how you would handle this information." "What information? The fact that I'm half witch and magical?" "No, the information where your father was actually our mother's whitelighter, they had an affair, and you were the product." Phoebe said. "There, don't we all just feel so much better? I know I do, getting that off my chest." "So, you do know him? You know where he is?" "That's the problem. We have no idea. Last we knew he was held up in a cabin at the lake were mom died. That was the last we've seen of him, and it's been over a year." Prue replied. "So, I have powers?" "Yeah, you do." Phoebe said. "But probably not until she's at the book with us." Piper said. "Book? What book?" "That's a story for a different day, I think you should rest now." Piper said. Paige was exhausted, and still in a lot of pain. Piper had the nurse come in and give Paige her meds, and the three of them left. Once they got back to the manor, they explained to Leo what happened, he told the Elders and got special permission to put a cloak over Paige, so evil couldn't find her while she was in the hospital."Well, now that the cats out of the bag, how do you think she's going to react?" Phoebe asked, once they got home. "I think we told her a little prematurely." Prue said. "Yeah, but she took it pretty well." Piper replied, getting the kettle and putting it on the burner on the island in the kitchen. "I'm just glad we got there when we did, or she would have been dead." Phoebe said. "That's why the Elder's agreed for me to cloak her, at least until we can keep her safe ourselves." Leo replied. "I think we should offer for her to stay here when she gets out of the hospital. We could tell her it's the only way we could take care of her, then we can have Leo heal her." Phoebe suggested. "That's a good idea, even if Leo heals her, she's bound to have some traumatic side effects from being attacked." Piper replied. "Okay, it's agreed. She comes home with us." Prue replied.