9x01: Billie's Inner Demon (Part 1)

The picture of the manor is present. It has this peaceful nature about it as the sun's rays basks it in complete beauty. Within the manor, Piper, Phoebe and Paige are coming down the stairs and they are putting up with Phoebe's rambling.
"I don't know actually..." Phoebe states as she rushes down the stairs, " I feel like the future is already planned but I do not know where to begin."

"Phoebe, you're thinking too hard," Paige said as she is trying to catch up to Phoebe and Piper is trying to do the same. They walk from the stairs into the foyer and then into the conservatory, " you should just to, you know, relax."

"Relax? Relax? How am I supposed to relax? With all the informatiion we received from Wyatt and Chris, its kinda overwhelming...you know?" Phoebe says in panic.

"Well, its not like you're getting married or anything...at least not yet...its just you two need to figure out where you stand and pretend that you dont know anything about what is in store for you two..." Piper advises.

"Which is getting married in the near future." Paige butts in. Piper gives Paige an ugly look and looks back at Phoebe who sits down and Piper sits next to her.

"Haven't you guys been on a date yet?" Piper wonders as she sits in the chair across from Phoebe.

"Um, I think they went on a date yesterday...the breakfast date." Paige answers.

"Yeah, it is not considered a date...a breakfast is not a date. Lunch is probably a date. Dinner, definetely a date but breakfast is just a very, very cheap imitation of dinner." Phoebe explains. Piper looks at Paige who rolls her eyes at Phoebe and Phoebe lets out a frustrated groan.

"Oh, come on, honey...at the risk of advicing an advice columnist, here it goes." Piper begins, "You cant pretend that you dont know what's coming to you. You already know it, Coop knows it. For the last eight years, you have been searching for love and you actually found it, literally and what better love can you find than the Angel of Love? You already know that you two get married in the future..."

"Yeah, but that's the thing. We are supposed to get married, I dont really know what to do before we get there..." Phoebe interrupts.

"Well, pretend this is like a premonition you just had...of you two getting married. You have to take one step at a time to get there. Its not like its gonna happen overnight." Piper continues.

"But maybe for now, you need to start from the beginning and work your way up, from a breakdast date to eventually a wedding date." Paige concludes. Piper looks at Paige and smiles. Paige nods her head at Phoebe who begins to smile and takes a huge sigh. Billie walks into the manor, "Hi! Bye!" she says as she runs up the stairs.

"Billie!" Paige calls to her. Billie stops and turns around. The sisters walk to her on the stairs. "Hey, honey, how are you holding up since...you know?"

"I'm fine...I mean Christy was evil and I had no choice but to vanquish her, right?" Billie says as she folds her arms.

"You can let your feelings out. You dont have to suppress them. It's not good to keep your emotions about this bottled up inside. Its very dangerous...especially for witches" Piper suggests but Billie just nods.

"Well, if you need to talk, remember that we are here for you, ok?" Phoebe says as she holds Billie's hand.

"I know...can I, um, can I look at the Book?" Billie asks.

"Yeah, sure." Paige answers. Billie runs up the stairs and brushes past Leo, who was walking down the stairs with Chris in his arms. Leo looks to Billie and then to the sisters.

"Where's the fire?" he asks as he arrives at the bottom of the stairs.

"I dont know. She's been quiet since Christy died and she doesnt talk about anything to anyone anymore." Paige says as she keeps looking up the stairs and then at Leo.

"I just feel this vibe from her that she's blaming herself for everything, but I'm not sure." Phoebe states.

"Well, I think that we can relate to what's she's going through, you know, losing a sister, like we lost Prue." Piper says.

"I feel like alone time is the only thing she needs right now but suppressing emotions can lead to serious consequences." Phoebe says.

"Like Piper did when Prue died, turning to a fury" Leo reminices.

"Ugh, dont remind me." Piper blurts out as she takes Chris from Leo and begins to rock him from side to side, "I think that Billie can handle it. I mean she was able to handle her parents' death really fine."

"Well, I hope you are right, Piper..."Paige says, "I really hope you are."

-x-x-x-

Upstairs in the attic, Billie stands there staring at the book. A tear strolls down her face as she stares blank mindedly at the book. She wipes the tear and reads the spell from the book.

"Guiding spirits, hear my plea
Take me to where I wish to be.
To the place I have in mind
To seek what I may find."

White swirls of golden lights surround Billie and she disappears from the attic. She reappears in a dark spot, where there's nothing but darkness and the only thing that breaks the darkness was a circular platform with a glowing white surface. Billie stands there and looks around. She walks closer and a door is seen before her. Right next to the door, a scorch mark on the floor could be seen. Billie squats and touches the scorch mark. She closes her eyes and time begins to ripple around her. She opens her eyes to see herself in the past standing next to the Halliwell sisters. The Charmed Ones had just vanquished the Triad and Piper blew up Past and Future Dumain and he explodes out of sight.

"I dont understand! How could this happen?" Past Christy wonders as she stands there feeling trapped.

"Billie projected us here." Past Phoebe explains.

"By focusing on you" Past Paige adds. Quietly, Past Piper calls to Past Paige. Past Paige holds out her hand and calls out loud, "Ring!" The Cupid's ring orbs into Paige's palm. Feeling betrayed, Christy glares at Past Billie. "How could you?!"

Past Billie steps forward, away from the Charmed Ones and begins to plead with Christy. "Christy, please, its over, just come home."

Christy still glares daggers at Past Billie. She telepathically forms a fireball and hurls it toards the Charmed Ones and Past Billie, but Past Billie holds out her hands and deflects it back at her, engulfing Christy in flames and finally exploding. Past Billie falls to the ground and begins to sob. Present Billie who continues to watch begins to cry and the tears she fought so hard to hold back were strollin gdown her face. She closes her eyes and she teleports herself back into the present. She sits on the floor in a meditating position and begins to cry thinking about what she had just seen, Billie herself vanquishing her older sister.

-x-x-x-

I am the son, I am the heir.
I am human and I need to be loved just like everyone else does.
See, I've already waited too long, and all my hope is gone.

-x-x-x-

In the manor, Piper walks into the kitchen. She is cooking a feast to celebrate the fact that Leo is back. She puts on her mittens and pulls a huge turkey out of the oven and sets it on the table. As she places the turkey on the table, many other dishes can seen. She takes the mittens off and she carries the other dishes into the dining room and sets them on the table. Piper turns around to go into the kitchen but Paige orbs in infront of her.

"Woah..." Piper blurts out, "Wtach where you're orbing to"

"Sorry," Paige apologizes to Piper and follows Piper into the kitchen. She walks into the kitchen and whistles at what she sees. "What is this, thanksgiving?"

"Well, it might as well be, in order to celebrate Leo's return, I'm throwing a surprise party for family and friends." Piper explains.

"Wow, so where is Leo?" Paige asks as she sits on a stool and grabs a cookie from a cookie jar.

"He's in Magic School with the Elders..."

"Uh-oh, why is he there?" Paige asks

"Well, I'm assuming that they want him to resume his job as the headmaster of the Magic School. I mean he does deserve it since he's been cleaning up after the demons who made it a mess. Besides, he's been so distracted that he doesn't have the slightest idea that I'm throwing him this party." Piper elaborates.

"Well, you better hope that he has time to enjoy a sumptous feast as this..." Paige says as she tries to grab a bite from the platter on the table but Piper slaps her hand.

"No one touches that yet...this is all for tonight...which is in about five hours" Piper says as she checks her watch,

"Well, you better keep this away from Wyatt because if he sees this..."

"He's not because he's in preschool right now and Chris is at dad's." Piper says.

"Where's Phoebe?" Paige asks

"She's at work." Piper answers as she pulls out some wrap and covers the platters one by one, "Which reminds me, I have to go audition DJ''s for the club and I won't be back until later so if Leo comes home before I do, try to keep him away from all of this."

"It's gonna be hard to hide this from him though. Any idea how I do it?" Paige asks.

"Well, remember how you guys try to hide the surprise party from me before I found out? Well, try that...bye!" Piper says as she storms out the back door leaving Paige speechless. Paige stands up and looks at the table and sighs.

-x-x-x-

At the Bay Mirror, Phoebe sits at her desk typing. Someone knocks on her door. She looks up. Its Elise.

"Phoebe, you have no idea how glad to know that you're back. I mean you disappeared for days and we thought that the paper was gonna go down because of it but you managed to rejuvenate the people's interests." Elise compliments. Phoebe takes off her glasses and smiles.

"You make it sound like I run a business." Phoebe says.

"No, you are actually amazing and I mean it. We are glad that you're back." Elise praises.

"Well, I'm back for good and I have a lot of work to do so I better get started."

As soon as Elise leaves, Phoebe begins to type again and a pink glow appears on her table and a dozen roses appear. Phoebe gasps and stands up. She wonders who sent it and a second later, she figures it out. She gets up and smells the roses and Coop appears behind her.
"Surprise!" Coop says. Phoebe jumps and turns around.

"Coop! What---" she stops herself and closes the door behind Coop and shuts the folds and she continues, " What are you doing here?"

"I decided to come and visit you and sent you these roses to break the ice between us. Do you like them? "

"Yes, I do, actually. They are beautiful." Phoebe responds as she smells them.

"Well, the reason why I came here is to ask you on a date. Well, I think you are a very classy woman and I believe that I'm here to ask you to a classy date, at least better than yesterday's breakfast date." Coop explains.

"Well, I'm flattered, Coop, but I am kinda busy right now, I just got back from the chaos with the Triad and Christy and I have a lot of work to do that..."

"I understand...totally understandable" Coop says, "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to try, right? I guess I can try another time."

"I think that's best." Phoebe agrees. Coop nods and smiles, plants a kiss on Phoebe's forehead and disppears. Phoebe walks over to her desk and smells the roses one more time places them in a vase on her cabinet. She smiles, and looks at a letter. It was titled, "Confused in San Francisco." Phoebe reads the letter and then looks up. She runs her fingers through her hair and drops her head on her folded arms on the desk.

-x-x-x-

Henry walks out of Dunkin Donuts and bumps into Paige.

"O, hey honey." Paige says as she kisses him, "I've been looking for you everywhere."
Henry just stares at her and walks away.

"What's the problem? Henry? Henry?" Paige calls out.

"What?" Henry says as he turns around.

"What's the matter? What's gotten into you?" Paige asks.

" I dont know. I have stayed in the same room with my wife in three days and when I finally do, she says that she's tired. Frankly, I dont know what to think."

"Well, Henry, you gotta give me credit. I didn't know that you felt neglected. You should have told me."

"You're a witch, you're supposed to know it without me telling you." Henry blurts out

"First off, I dont have the power to do that, if anyone of us can do that, it's Phoebe. Secondly, I'm sorry." Paige apologizes as she hugs him "Piper is throwing Leo a welcome back party, we can go and after that, we can have our own little party?"

Henry smiles as he wraps his arms around his wife. He kisses her and then raises her chin a little bit. "Ok, you promise?"

"Yeah, I promise." Paige smiles, "I'll meet you at home before 8. We have to be at the Manor around 8:30. See you there."

-x-x-x-

In Victor's apartment, Victor looks for clothes to wear and looks for clothes for Chris to wear also. He walks to Chris with little toddler's outfits in each hand.

"So which one do like the most, little guy? This one or this one? " Victor says as he holds up both of them.

Chris blinks and points at one of the two and it orbs out of Victor's hand and into the drawer. Chris smiles at his grandfather as his grandfather has the scared look on his face.

"I guess that's one way of choosing, huh, Chris?" Victor says as he picks up his grandson. Chris orbs the sneakers, the pants and all the other clothing onto Victor's bed aligned from the top to bottom. The shirt to the pants to the socks to the sneakers. Victor smiles at Chris and then picks up the shirt.

"Well, I guess we have to start to get you dressed for your father's party, huh?"

"Yeah!" Chris cries out.

Victor takes a toddler's belt from his closet and shuts the door.

-x-x-x-

"Rex, why dont you set up over there? I mean it has worked perfectly fine for the last seven years." Piper suggests. The phone begins to ring and Piper answers it. "Hello, P3, Piper Halliwell speaking"

"Hello to you too!" Phoebe says as she continues to type and chat at the same time, "Guess who stopped by to say hi.."

"Coop?" Piper guesses.

"Yeah...and he brought flowers too."

"Are you sure he came by just to say hi or there's more to the story than you're letting on." Piper asks as she's writing on a clipboard and she waves her hands at Rex, "No, Rex, stock the beer in the back and put some in the fridge so that they can be chilled for tonight."

"Look at you! Your life is almost, dare I say it, normal?" Phoebe says as she teases Piper.

"Ha, ha...your life is getting that way too. No demons for three days and look what we have turned to. Well, we better milk this as much as we can." Piper says.

"Well, what do you say to 'Confused in San Francisco' who has been searching for love basically her whole life and when she finally finds someone she knows is a perfect guy, she lets her judgements and errors of her past relationships keep her from taking the leap that love offers?" Phoebe asks as she reads the question to Piper from the letter.

"Well, I say that she should shut up and take a chance..." Piper jokes.

"I cant write that. I mean, I have to write something that makes it more...sensible and sensitive." Phoebe says.

"You're the advice columnist, so dont ask me. You'll figure it out. Are you gonna come to the welcoming party I'm throwing for Leo?"

"I have to be there, dont I? I, for one, am glad that he's back and I would wanna celebrate it as much as we can" Phoebe says, "hey, is Billie invited?"

"I should assume so but she hasn't been around long enough for me to invite her, why?" Piper asks.

"I think that the best thing she needs is to be surrounded by people she cares about and care about her. To ease her pain a little bit." Phoebe advices.

"Well, I'll try. I gotta go, Pheebs. I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah, sure..."

"With Coop?" Piper adds.

"Um...sure." Phoebe says hesistantly.

"Ok, then. bye." Piper says as she hangs up. Phoebe looks up and stares at the letter. She sighs and she begins to type once more.

-x-x-x-

Billie still sits in Magic School and continues to replay the time she vanquished her sister in her head over and over again. She tries to project herself back to the past once more but this time, she is not traveling through time. Her body begins to glow and then it is cut short when Leo walks in. Leo looks at Billie and taps her on the shoulder.

"Hey, are you ok?" Leo asks as he helps her stand up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just--" Billie sniffles and wipes her tears, "Just thinking about stuff."

"Christy?" Leo asks.

"I dont think it was fair for her to be turned evil. And I keep trying to go back in time to before she was turned but I end up going to the time I--"

Leo walks up to Billie and hugs her. Billie sobs uncontrollably in Leo's arms. Leo comforts her.

"It's ok, it's ok. Let it all out." Leo says to Billie. Billie backs away from Leo and steps back.

"I have been here too long, I have to go back to do something." Billie says.

"Ok, well, then I guess I'll see you later, I have to clean this room anyway."

"Ok." Billie answers. She chants the spell one more time and is engulfed in white swirly golden lights.
Leo watches as the lights disappear. He sighs and turns the switch on and begins to move some stuff around.

-x-x-x-

The grandfather's clock chimes eight times as it turns 8:00. Piper walks down the stairs with Wyatt fully dressed casually and Victor walking behind her with Chris dressed casually as well. The bell rings and Piper sets Wyatt in the pen and opens the door and its Phoebe.

"Since when did you have to ring the bell?" Piper asks.

"Since I don't live here anymore?" Phoebe replies.

"That never stopped you before." Piper uttters back.
Phoebe smiles and walks in. Not long after, Paige and Henry walk into the door and greet Piper. Phoebe plays with Wyatt and Chris and they greet each other. The doorbell rings again and Piper opens it again. Paige walks up to Phoebe and begins to chat.

"So how's things going on with Coop?" Paige asks.

"He asked me out and sent me flowers and I said no...dont wanna talk about it right now. Lets get through tonight first, ok?" Phoebe says and she puts Wyatt in the pen and walks to her seat.

Billie comes down the stairs and bumps into Phoebe.

"Hey, Billie, you wanna join us? A celebration for Leo's return."

"Ok, give me a second." Billie says. She looks at herself and she changes into a glamourous dress with her hair pulled back. Phoebe's eyes widen and she looks at Paige and Paige tells them to come and sit. The bell rings and Piper answers the door and it is Darryl and Sheila. Piper walks into the dining room and announces that Darryl Sheila and Coop are here. Everyone cheers except for Phoebe. Leo walks down the stairs and sees the people down stairs.

"Surprise!!!" Everyone yells to him. Leo feels flattered and walks down the stairs. He exchanges handshakes with everyone and hugs the ladies. Time passes and they clink their drinks and enjoy yhrmselves merrily. Billie sits by Phoebe and she is very silent.

"Billie, what's wrong?" Phoebe asks.

"It doesnt feel right...smiling knowing that I killed my sister" Billie answers.

"I know but she left you no choice." Phoebe says.

"No choice?!" Billie yels out loud. Everyone is silent as Billie begins to yell. "I could have saved her, I just didnt try hard enough!"

"Billie--" Piper begins but Billie cuts her sentence short. Billie begins to cry and she begins to glow again.

"Its not fair! It's not..." Billie begins to tranform. Her dress turns into leather and her eyes glow black. She looks at Phoebe. Phoebe stands up and back away.

"Billie, calm down." Phoebe advises.

"No one tells me what to do!!!" Billie yells as she throws a fireball at Phoebe but she ducks and it hits the lamp. She hurls another at Piper but Piper freezes it in mid-air and Paige orbs it away.

"What has gotten into you?" Piper asks Billie.

"That's not Billie anymore." Leo says as Billie's eyes turn red then black. She looks around and flames out. Everyone looks around and are in shock at what they have just witnessed. The Charmed Ones look at each other.

"What are we gonna do?" Phoebe asks. Her sisters look at each other once more and look at the spot where Billie once stood.

TO BE CONTINUED.