Fic: Comes Out of Darkness, Morn (11/37)
Title: 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...
*****
Paige heard a distant scream as she went over the edge of the building, and she saw a pair of faces staring down at her in horror. Paige blocked the people out, taking a deep breath as she honed her concentration, focusing on the spot she'd been standing on a few seconds earlier. A familiar weightlessness took her over, and then she was standing on the roof, again.
The people who'd watched her fall were staring at her in amazement, the woman's mouth hanging open in shock. Paige was startled to recognize Prue's youngest sister.
"Oh, my God," Phoebe breathed. "You're a Whitelighter?"
"Oh, my God," another voice echoed, and Paige whirled around to see Shane staring at her. She started toward him, but stopped when he took a step back from her, his hands held up as if to ward her off.
"Shane-" she started, but he clearly wasn't listening to her, his eyes wide with panic.
"What the hell are you?" he demanded, hoarsely.
"Shane, I can explain," Paige tried to tell him, but the younger man was shaking his head in denial, backing away from her like she had the plague.
"Stay away from me, you freak," Shane snapped, when she tried to get near him, again, and then he whirled around and bolted for the stairwell access, the door banging shut behind him.
"Damn it," Paige swore softly, under her breath, starting after Shane. Phoebe and her companion moved toward her, but Paige dodged out of their way. "Excuse me," she said, brusquely.
"A demon just tried to kill you," the man called after her, and Paige filed the reference away for future use.
"And I got him pretty good," she retorted, "so I doubt he's going to be coming back any time soon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go keep my boyfriend from exposing me on the eleven o'clock news."
She darted past the couple and wrenched the rooftop door open, wincing as the movement jarred her sore shoulder. She jogged down the stairs, praying that she was going to catch up to Shane at any moment, but she reached the main level without seeing him. Pulling the door open, she emerged into the main hallway of the hospital, heading for the exit.
She didn't make it, though, because one of the nurses saw the blood smearing the side of her forehead, and bustled her into an exam room in the ER before she could even begin to protest. And with the wound in her head starting to pound like a tympani drum, she didn't put up too much of a fight.
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Leo listened to Piper clatter around in the kitchen, his heart aching at the pain he knew that she was in. He'd tried to get her to talk to him, but Piper just shut him out at every opportunity, wrapping her anger and grief around her like a cloak. She wasn't letting anyone in - him, Phoebe -
His musing was cut off suddenly as a sharp pain lanced through his head. He grimaced, lifting a hand to his forehead, half expecting to see blood on his fingertips. When his fingers came away clean, he knew that the pain had to be a charge's. And given Phoebe's premonition, earlier, he had a feeling that he knew who was in trouble.
"Piper?" he said, softly, poking his head into the kitchen. "A charge is in trouble; I have to go."
The sound of dishes clanging together was his only answer, and he orbed away with a sigh. He materialized in what seemed to be a janitorial closet, and he stepped out to find himself in the hospital. He could feel a pull down the hallway toward Paige, his head throbbing again in concert with her injury, and he'd just started in her direction when someone slammed into his shoulder, knocking him back. He was about to say something to the person who'd run into him when he recognized the young man that Paige had been dating for the last month.
"Hey, don't I know you?" he asked, as he reached out and grabbed the younger man's arm, pulling him around to face him. "You're a friend of Paige's, aren't you?"
"Not - not anymore," the young man stammered, his eyes wide with something that looked like panic. "She's - she's not human, man; she's some kind of freak-"
'This is not good,' Leo thought, grimly, tightening his grip on the young man's arm to keep him from running away.
With his free hand, he dug into his pocket for the memory dust he'd stored there, earlier, when he'd been using it to help another charge. He blew a handful of the dust into the young man's face, watching him splutter indignantly for a second before going lax and compliant.
"You're going to forget what you saw," he said, quietly. "You never saw Paige use her powers. You didn't see anything out of the ordinary."
The young man blinked at him, and Leo knew that the dust was going to wear off, soon, so he needed to act, fast.
"You're going to go the ER and get your injuries treated," he went on, quickly, taking in the young man's dirty clothes, and the way he was unconsciously favoring one leg. "And then you're going to go home and you're going to go to sleep."
He released his grip on the young man's arm, watching him stumble away down the hall. Then, he turned and tried to find Paige. He wandered through the hallways, focusing on the dull throbbing in the back of his mind that guided him to his charge, and he eventually wound up in the ER. He found Paige in one of the exam rooms, getting a nasty gash in her head stitched up by a talkative doctor.
He was about to go to her, even though he had no idea what he was going to say ("Hey, guess what, I'm not just your handyman; I'm your guardian angel,"), when he heard Phoebe calling him. She sounded anxious, and Paige looked to be in good hands. There wasn't much he could do, since he couldn't very well heal her in public.
He waited a couple more seconds to make sure that Paige really was all right, and then he orbed back to the Manor. When he materialized in the kitchen, he found Piper still working on the dishes at the sink, while Phoebe and Cole were arguing quietly at the table.
"I'm telling you," Cole was saying, his tone insistent, "the Source wouldn't send Shax after a Whitelighter. Shax can't kill a Whitelighter; only a Darklighter can. Right, Leo?" he added, upon seeing a potential ally.
"We are rather resistant when it comes to demonic attacks," Leo replied. "Your Innocent?" he asked Phoebe, even though he knew full well who they were talking about.
"She orbed," Phoebe told him, emphatically. "Bright, white lights and all. That means that she's a Whitelighter, right, Leo?"
Phoebe and Cole were both staring at him, like they expected him to pick their side of the argument. Leo felt like he was being not-so-subtly pulled in two different directions. Three, if he counted Piper's icy, persistent silence from the other side of the kitchen.
"You're both right," Leo said, with a quiet sigh, silently apologizing to Sandra for breaking the silence that she'd imposed on him. "Look, there's something that I need to tell you, all. Something that I should have told you a long time, ago."
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...
*****
Paige heard a distant scream as she went over the edge of the building, and she saw a pair of faces staring down at her in horror. Paige blocked the people out, taking a deep breath as she honed her concentration, focusing on the spot she'd been standing on a few seconds earlier. A familiar weightlessness took her over, and then she was standing on the roof, again.
The people who'd watched her fall were staring at her in amazement, the woman's mouth hanging open in shock. Paige was startled to recognize Prue's youngest sister.
"Oh, my God," Phoebe breathed. "You're a Whitelighter?"
"Oh, my God," another voice echoed, and Paige whirled around to see Shane staring at her. She started toward him, but stopped when he took a step back from her, his hands held up as if to ward her off.
"Shane-" she started, but he clearly wasn't listening to her, his eyes wide with panic.
"What the hell are you?" he demanded, hoarsely.
"Shane, I can explain," Paige tried to tell him, but the younger man was shaking his head in denial, backing away from her like she had the plague.
"Stay away from me, you freak," Shane snapped, when she tried to get near him, again, and then he whirled around and bolted for the stairwell access, the door banging shut behind him.
"Damn it," Paige swore softly, under her breath, starting after Shane. Phoebe and her companion moved toward her, but Paige dodged out of their way. "Excuse me," she said, brusquely.
"A demon just tried to kill you," the man called after her, and Paige filed the reference away for future use.
"And I got him pretty good," she retorted, "so I doubt he's going to be coming back any time soon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go keep my boyfriend from exposing me on the eleven o'clock news."
She darted past the couple and wrenched the rooftop door open, wincing as the movement jarred her sore shoulder. She jogged down the stairs, praying that she was going to catch up to Shane at any moment, but she reached the main level without seeing him. Pulling the door open, she emerged into the main hallway of the hospital, heading for the exit.
She didn't make it, though, because one of the nurses saw the blood smearing the side of her forehead, and bustled her into an exam room in the ER before she could even begin to protest. And with the wound in her head starting to pound like a tympani drum, she didn't put up too much of a fight.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Leo listened to Piper clatter around in the kitchen, his heart aching at the pain he knew that she was in. He'd tried to get her to talk to him, but Piper just shut him out at every opportunity, wrapping her anger and grief around her like a cloak. She wasn't letting anyone in - him, Phoebe -
His musing was cut off suddenly as a sharp pain lanced through his head. He grimaced, lifting a hand to his forehead, half expecting to see blood on his fingertips. When his fingers came away clean, he knew that the pain had to be a charge's. And given Phoebe's premonition, earlier, he had a feeling that he knew who was in trouble.
"Piper?" he said, softly, poking his head into the kitchen. "A charge is in trouble; I have to go."
The sound of dishes clanging together was his only answer, and he orbed away with a sigh. He materialized in what seemed to be a janitorial closet, and he stepped out to find himself in the hospital. He could feel a pull down the hallway toward Paige, his head throbbing again in concert with her injury, and he'd just started in her direction when someone slammed into his shoulder, knocking him back. He was about to say something to the person who'd run into him when he recognized the young man that Paige had been dating for the last month.
"Hey, don't I know you?" he asked, as he reached out and grabbed the younger man's arm, pulling him around to face him. "You're a friend of Paige's, aren't you?"
"Not - not anymore," the young man stammered, his eyes wide with something that looked like panic. "She's - she's not human, man; she's some kind of freak-"
'This is not good,' Leo thought, grimly, tightening his grip on the young man's arm to keep him from running away.
With his free hand, he dug into his pocket for the memory dust he'd stored there, earlier, when he'd been using it to help another charge. He blew a handful of the dust into the young man's face, watching him splutter indignantly for a second before going lax and compliant.
"You're going to forget what you saw," he said, quietly. "You never saw Paige use her powers. You didn't see anything out of the ordinary."
The young man blinked at him, and Leo knew that the dust was going to wear off, soon, so he needed to act, fast.
"You're going to go the ER and get your injuries treated," he went on, quickly, taking in the young man's dirty clothes, and the way he was unconsciously favoring one leg. "And then you're going to go home and you're going to go to sleep."
He released his grip on the young man's arm, watching him stumble away down the hall. Then, he turned and tried to find Paige. He wandered through the hallways, focusing on the dull throbbing in the back of his mind that guided him to his charge, and he eventually wound up in the ER. He found Paige in one of the exam rooms, getting a nasty gash in her head stitched up by a talkative doctor.
He was about to go to her, even though he had no idea what he was going to say ("Hey, guess what, I'm not just your handyman; I'm your guardian angel,"), when he heard Phoebe calling him. She sounded anxious, and Paige looked to be in good hands. There wasn't much he could do, since he couldn't very well heal her in public.
He waited a couple more seconds to make sure that Paige really was all right, and then he orbed back to the Manor. When he materialized in the kitchen, he found Piper still working on the dishes at the sink, while Phoebe and Cole were arguing quietly at the table.
"I'm telling you," Cole was saying, his tone insistent, "the Source wouldn't send Shax after a Whitelighter. Shax can't kill a Whitelighter; only a Darklighter can. Right, Leo?" he added, upon seeing a potential ally.
"We are rather resistant when it comes to demonic attacks," Leo replied. "Your Innocent?" he asked Phoebe, even though he knew full well who they were talking about.
"She orbed," Phoebe told him, emphatically. "Bright, white lights and all. That means that she's a Whitelighter, right, Leo?"
Phoebe and Cole were both staring at him, like they expected him to pick their side of the argument. Leo felt like he was being not-so-subtly pulled in two different directions. Three, if he counted Piper's icy, persistent silence from the other side of the kitchen.
"You're both right," Leo said, with a quiet sigh, silently apologizing to Sandra for breaking the silence that she'd imposed on him. "Look, there's something that I need to tell you, all. Something that I should have told you a long time, ago."
Continued here