Who: Prue & Phoebe Halliwell When: Backdated to the 18th Where: 504E while Phoebe’s roommates are out Rating: Probably high for feels, talk of character death, etc
As she waited for her sister to arrive, Phoebe paced her room. She was more than a little nervous about how this conversation was going to go. She had almost three years to fill Prue in on - from everything that had happened with Cole to Paige to Wyatt and Christopher. And she wasn’t sure how her sister would take any of it. Well - the news about nephews would make her happy, of course, but in the end she had no idea how the rest would go over.
Prue had no idea what to expect from her talk with Phoebe but she was sure the three years between them had been eventful. Their lives had been nothing but eventful since their powers had reawakened and she had died trying to save her sisters. And there was Andy...but no, she wasn’t going to think about that right now. Right now she was going to see her sister and whatever this place was, it would be much easier because she was here. It didn’t take her long to find the apartment and she knocked, waiting for Phoebe to answer the door.
At the sound, Phoebe took a deep breath, then walked over to the door and opened it. Seeing Prue standing there was nearly as much of a shock as it had been that first day, and before she could help herself, she had stepped forward to hug her sister. Again. For the twentieth time since Prue had shown up. After a moment, she let go and gave a faint, embarrassed laugh, letting her go to catch her hands and tug her inside.
“Sorry! I swear one of these days I’ll stop doing that every time I see you.”
Prue laughed and stepped inside the apartment. “It’s okay. I’d do the same thing if I were in your shoes,” she knew she would be brokenhearted if she lost one of her sisters, she’d been brokenhearted leaving them but she’d had no choice. “and hugs are never a bad thing. I will gladly take all the hugs you want to give me. This place kinda makes you need hugs. Can’t say I’ve ever lived inside a mountain before.”
She nodded at that, pushing the door shut after Prue entered and leaned against the wall for a moment. “You’re right about that - and honestly I’m not really a fan of living here. I miss the manor. I miss windows,” she said, her nose wrinkling slightly. Moving to one of the couches in the living room, Phoebe sat and motioned for Prue to join her. “I know that you have a lot of questions...and I’m really not sure where you want to start.” Her sense were open, picking up on her sister’s feelings and looking for any cues that might help her get her sister through this.
“Windows. Yes, those would be nice. It could get claustrophobic in here after a while. Especially if the blizzard out there is any indication of what winter is like.” Having grown up in northern California, blizzards weren’t something Prue was used to and the idea of being inside for three months or so didn’t appeal to her. “I don’t even know where I want to start,” she said with a sigh. “I suppose with what happened after I died. Clearly you survived, I assume Piper did too? I…..can’t talk about Andy. Not yet. Maybe some time but I don’t want to think about that right now. Just us, the three of us. Or the two of you I mean.”
Phoebe sighed slowly, then nodding as she curled up on the couch, wrapping her arms around her legs. “I survived. Piper did, too. But...Shax was still out there, though the Source wasn’t sending him after us anymore. Not at first. The Charmed Ones were...broken,” she said quietly, her eyes falling to the floor. After a minute, Phoebe took a deep breath, then let it out slowly and looked up at Prue again. “There’s...something I need to tell you. Now, before we go any further - or none of this will make sense. Prue...we have another sister. A younger half sister. Her name is Paige Matthews.”
Prue stared at her sister for a moment, surprised at her words. “How?” she asked. “Our father had another daughter? How could she….our powers come through the female line. You said ‘at first’ so that tells me that Paige...took my place? As the third charmed one, I mean.” It was a shock and she couldn’t believe it but at least the demons hadn’t gotten her sisters.
She shook her head, reaching out to touch Prue’s hand. “No - mom. She...well, it turns out witch/Whitelighter romances run in our family. She had an affair, and never told us. Grams said that it wasn’t just forbidden, it...it couldn’t happen. They had to give Paige up,” she said quietly, then swallowed tightly. “No - she didn’t take your place. She could never replace you. Paige...she reconstituted the Charmed Ones, yeah, but she never tried to replace you. I promise you that.”
It was hard to believe that their mother had had an affair but it made sense, it was the only way that this half sister of theirs could have been part of the Charmed Ones. “And she found you after I died?” Prue squeezed her sister’s hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound jealous, it’s just hard to believe that she was out there all that time and we never knew about her. What about her father? Was he still alive? Did you meet him?”
She nodded. “Yeah...she actually showed up at the funeral - but mostly because she felt a connection, and she was also grieving for you.” Phoebe had to pause and look down at their hands. Talking about this was stirring up so many emotions that it was difficult to get through, particularly while feeling her sister’s emotions, too. “We did, yeah - he was mom’s Whitelighter, like I said. Paige worked things out with him.” She let out a slow breath, then looked back up to her sister. “I really think you’d like Paige.”
“I think I would too,” Prue replied softly. “I’m glad that she found you, that the Power of Three didn’t end with me.” She had given her life to save her sisters and Prue would never regret that but she was also glad that the legacy lived on. “It would be nice if she and Piper would show up here, wouldn’t it? We could all be together.”
“Either of them showing up would be terrific, but both of them? That would be perfect.” Phoebe shifted around on the couch until she was leaning on her sister, still holding her hand. “There’s more I need to tell you. Do you want the good stuff or the bad stuff first?”
Prue rested her head on Phoebe’s. It felt good to be here with her, to have a second chance at life. “Bad stuff. That gives me the good stuff to look forward to,” she said.
“Right…” She took a deep breath, then sighed slowly. “I guess the biggest thing to tell you...you were right about Cole. I never should have trusted him. I should have made sure he stayed vanquished and never came back.”
“I really wish I hadn’t been right about that,” she said. “I know you loved him. What happened? Nothing good, I’m sure.” Prue hated knowing that her sister had gotten hurt but something about Cole had never felt right to her.
She kept her eyes on their hands, unwilling to look up. “At first...it wasn’t bad. He helped us while dodging the Source’s bounty hunters. And then Balthazar was vanquished and for the first time in more than a century, Cole was human. He proposed and...I said yes.” Phoebe paused, swallowing hard, then continued. “Between that and the wedding...we managed to vanquish the Source - and then he somehow became the Source. Cole did, but we didn’t know. We...we got married and...I became pregnant.” Closing her eyes as tears formed in them, Phoebe shook her head. “I found out what he was and...I didn’t care. He was turning me evil, Prue, and I turned my back on Piper and Paige and I let him corrupt me. Our baby...it wasn’t human, and...eventually I went back to them and they helped me. I….I vanquished him again. I thought it was for good that time.”
Prue watched her sister’s face. horrified at what she was hearing, knowing what she had gone through. “Oh Pheebs,” she said and let go of their hands and pulled her sister into her arms. “You didn’t know...how could you know? Don’t blame yourself. Love can be a powerful thing and warlocks and demons..they know how to use that.” she held her tightly for a moment then let go and pulled back to look at her. “You said ‘that time’....he came back? How?”
Phoebe let Prue draw her close and slipped her own arms under one of Prue’s to hold her close, resting her cheek against her sister’s shoulder. “He...He didn’t do it on purpose. I know he didn’t. Cole wasn’t evil, it’s just...he went evil,” she whispered. After a moment, she went on, “He was trapped in a sort of Purgatory, powerless. I went in and told him goodbye, and thought he was gone, but somehow...he managed to take powers from other demons who ended up there, and he escaped. He...he tried to woo me. He tried to be good, but eventually things went bad again and he became evil...and we vanquished him for good - I hope, at least. I haven’t seen him since, and that was almost a year ago.”
“Well maybe that’s a good sign,” she replied. “if it’s been that long.” Prue hoped that her sister was right and that Cole was truly gone from her sister’s life. “At least he’s not here and if he does show up and he’s from a time after he became evil, we’ll know.”
“It doesn’t matter if he shows up from before going evil,” Phoebe insisted. She lifted a hand to wipe her eyes, then draped the arm back across her sister. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t love him anymore. Not after everything...I don’t trust him. I can’t.”
Prue nodded. “I understand. It would be hard to trust someone after all that,” she touched her sister’s cheek. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I wish I’d been there for you, I really do but I’m here now and if you need to talk to me about anything, you can. I want to hear the good stuff now. You said there was good stuff too?”
She tilted her face into Prue’s hand and opened her eyes to give her a faint smile, just glad she was there. At the next question, she nodded, the smile easing a little more. “Yeah...really good stuff,” she said, wiping her eyes one last time. “I’m happy to tell you, you’re an aunt. You have a nephew and his name is Wyatt Matthew. And Piper was pregnant again, when I came here, with another boy...Christopher Perry.”
“Oh wow, that’s great! I wish I could see them,” she sighed. “but I’m glad good things happened too after all the bad and now we get to be together again.” Prue smiled. She had no idea what this place might bring them but they were together, that was all that mattered right now.
Phoebe nodded, smiling a little, and hugged her sister again. For now, she’d be glad that Prue was there. “And with any luck, both of our sisters will show up and then we’ll see how we do with the Power of Four.” She gave Prue a small squeeze, then just relaxed, resting her head against her sister’s shoulder.