Act Four
[Scene: Inside Prue’s car. PIPER is waving her arms in the front seat as PRUE is driving.]PIPER: You have got to be kidding me! You don’t honestly plan on breaking him out of prison, do you?
PRUE: You heard what he said-
PIPER: Paige can just orb you in-
PRUE: It’s too risky.
PIPER: Riskier than breaking a convicted conman out of prison?
PRUE: It’s not permanent, Piper. If Leo glamours into Bane-
PIPER: You can’t bring Leo into this!
PRUE: Think of it this way, it’s either Bane or Victor.
(They pull into the P3 parking lot and PRUE stops the car in front of the club.) Who do you care about more?
[Time lapse. PAIGE peeks her head into the living room, where LEO is sitting with VICTOR. LEO looks up.]PAIGE: Um, Leo, can I talk to you for a moment?
LEO:
(to VICTOR) Excuse me a moment.
(VICTOR glances briefly at PAIGE before he turns his head away as LEO walks over to PAIGE.) What’s up?
(They walk into the dining room.)PAIGE: I wanted to ask you about my time power.
LEO: Yes?
PAIGE: I tried to use it today and nothing happened.
(LEO frowns.)LEO: What did you try to use it for?
PAIGE: The father of one of the children I’m assigned to was murdered.
(She looks down at the floor.) And I was right there, down the hall when it happened.
LEO: Well, one of two things is possible. One, you have to remember that you’ve only had this power about a week and even the greatest of witches can’t master a new power that quickly.
PAIGE: And two?
LEO: And two, you might not have been meant to save him, Paige.
PAIGE: Why wouldn’t I have been?
LEO: Because, as cliché as it sounds, everything happens for a reason-
(PAIGE snorts.)PAIGE: Don’t even get me started on that one, Leo.
LEO: Well, not everyone gets a second chance like the one you and your sisters got with Destiny, Paige.
(He places a comforting hand on her arm.) I’m sorry about your innocent.
PAIGE: Don’t be sorry for him, Leo, be sorry for his now orphan son.
[Cut to the hallway. PHOEBE is pacing back and forth at PRUE’s bedroom door. She stops and suddenly bangs her fist against it.]PHOEBE: Prue, you should be out here talking with me instead of locking yourself in your room!
(PAIGE appears in the hallway from the stairs. PHOEBE looks up as she catches her sister from the corner of her eye.) What is she thinking? A convicted con? Is she crazy? Why do we need his help when we’re the Charmed Ones, fully capable of doing this on our own.
PAIGE: She said we needed his connections. Apparently, one of his old buddies went to see him recently-
PHOEBE: One of his old buddies?
PIGE: Yeah, something along the lines of trying to get him to come back and then offered to pull strings to get him out of prison early.
(PRUE’s door opens and PHOEBE spins around.)PHOEBE: I guess you forgot to mention his little friend, too!
(PRUE holds up two lavish outfits. PAIGE looks questioningly at PRUE.)PAIGE: What are those for?
PRUE: To get into the mansion.
(PHOEBE wags her finger.)PHOEBE: Are those two the Ms. Hellfire dresses?
(PRUE says nothing.) I thought you got rid of all those?
PRUE: I only saved two of them…
PAIGE: Wait, so what’s the third one of us going to wear?
PRUE: Actually, I’ve been thinking and…if Leo’s taking Bane’s place in prison, we’re going to need-
(PAIGE gasps and then starts to shake her head.)PAIGE: Oh, no, no, no, no, no! You let Phoebe stay here! I am not going to stay and babysit your father!
(She glares.) I can’t even believe you would suggest that! After all, if you remember correctly, I’m the reason he left last time!
PRUE: You’re also the only one with the power to orb-
PAIGE: Which is precisely the reason he hates me!
PRUE: As I was saying, you can orb in case you need to get him out of there.
PAIGE: But Phoebe has premonitions, if someone’s going to attack-
PRUE: Those are unpredictable, Paige, and you know it.
PAIGE: But…you said you’ve dealt with these guys before, so it’d be safer if I went with you. I’m a fresh face-
PRUE: And because we have dealt with these in a similar situation before, we’ll have more experience dealing with it again. Besides, if Phoebe were to get a premonition, it would be more useful going towards finding out who put a bounty out instead of-
PAIGE: Saving his life?
PRUE: By ending the bounty we are saving his life.
(She holds out one of the Hellfire outfits to PHOEBE.) Go get changed-
(There’s a loud crash from downstairs. The sisters exchange worried looks.)[Cut to the living room. LEO is lying amongst a broken cabinet. Little golden glows emanate from around him as various injuries he sustained in the crash heal themselves. He climbs to his feet just as a red flare drops ASTRAL PRUE into the room. Small strings of energy are popping up from the fingers of a fourth bounty hunter as he readies his attack on VICTOR. ASTRAL PRUE lunges at her father, shoving him to the ground just as a bolt of electricity ripples from the hand of the bounty hunter. At that moment, PAIGE and PHOEBE come bounding into the room. PHOEBE hurls a small vial at the demon and it breaks against his chest, vanquishing him instantly. ASTRAL PRUE vanishes.]PAIGE:
(to PHOEBE) How did you know what potion would work on him?
PHOEBE: It was a generic vanquishing potion I brewed to help Cole on Wednesday. As you know, he’s been having trouble with his own bounty hunters this week.
(PRUE walks in.) Anyway, I had a couple that I’d kept for myself and I hadn’t even thought of them until you guys left earlier.
(She reaches into her pocket.) I’m down to only two left, though.
PRUE:
(to PHOEBE) Why don’t you hand those over to Paige then? In fact, it might be wise if you show her how to make some more?
(to LEO) And we you to go make the switch.
VICTOR: What’s going on?
(to PRUE) What switch?
(PAIGE glances between PRUE and VICTOR.)PAIGE:
(to PRUE) Good luck explaining, because you’re on your own for this one.
(She leaves. After a beat, PHOEBE points after PAIGE.)PHOEBE: I’ll go help Paige with that brew now.
(She leaves. PRUE glances at LEO, who gives her a simple nod of his head.)LEO: Should I go now?
PRUE: The faster we get this over with, the better.
(LEO orbs out. PRUE casts a heavy sigh.)VICTOR: Prue?
[Cut to the kitchen. PHOEBE reaches into the cupboard and pulls out a handful of jars which she hauls over to the stove. She hands PAIGE a jar of black powder.]PHOEBE: Add just a pinch of this.
(PAIGE opens the jar up and cringes.)PAIGE: Oh! That’s disgusting.
(She holds the jar away from her face as she reaches into it and grabs a pinch of the black powder between her fingers.) Do I even want to know what I’m touching?
(PHOEBE wrinkles her nose.)PHOEBE: Probably not.
(PAIGE grumbles something under her breath as she drops the black powder into the pot and quickly caps the jar again. PHOEBE passes her another small glass jar and PAIGE holds it up skeptically.)PAIGE: The salt shaker?
PHOEBE: Hey, salt is cleansing!
(She smirks.) Besides, it works, so don’t complain about it.
(PAIGE shrugs.)PAIGE: How much?
PHOEBE: A couple dashes.
(She pulls a sprig of wormwood out of a jar and tosses it into the pot. A puff of smoke rises up and PAIGE covers her mouth as she coughs.) Oh, sorry, I forgot to warn you about that.
PAIGE: At least it didn’t knock me on my ass again.
(PHOEBE laughs.) Is that all it needs?
PHOEBE: No, the last thing we need is-
(She stops mid sentence.) Bane.
PAIGE: What?
(She looks up to see PHOEBE staring at the entrance to the kitchen. BANE is looking in at them. PHOEBE glares.)BANE:
(to PHOEBE) It’s nice to see you again, Phoebe.
PHOEBE: I can’t say the feeling is mutual.
[Time lapse. PHOEBE and PRUE walk down the stairs, both wearing the Hellfire dresses that PRUE saved. BANE looks PRUE up and down, smiling at her curve-hugging dress with the slit on the right running up to her mid thigh.]BANE:
(to PRUE) You always did look good in black.
(PRUE tries to hide a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. In contrast, PHOEBE is dressed in a scarlet number with a halter backing and a deep sloping neckline. Her hair is pulled back into a dainty bun with a few well placed hanging strands down the sides of her face.) Are we ready?
PRUE:
(to BANE) Somehow, I think you might stand out in that.
(She motions her hand towards BANE’s shocking orange jumpsuit.)BANE: We’re going to have to stop at my loft on the way.
(PRUE raises a questioning brow.) You know, you’re not the only one who kept a few mementoes from back then.
PHOEBE:
(to PAIGE) Don’t forgot to let that potion cool for another
(she glances at her watch) twenty minutes.
(PAIGE gives her a sour nod.)PAIGE: Do try to hurry this up, though, please? I’m still supposed to meet with Kaleb in an hour and my boss is already going out on a limb to let me leave work in the midst of all the chaos down there.
PHOEBE:
(muttering) At least you didn’t have to call in with a lie about a stomach flu.
(PAIGE looks down at her feet.)PAIGE:
(mumbling) I wish I had.
(BANE clasps his hands together.)BANE: Shall we?
(He holds out his arm and PRUE take is. PHOEBE snorts under her breath as she watches the odd sight walking towards the door.)PHOEBE:
(whispering to PAIGE) They kind of look like a mismatched Halloween couple, don’t they?
(PAIGE covers her mouth as a loud burst of laughter escapes her. PHOEBE gives PAIGE a quick hug.) Call me if you need me.
(She pats a small red purse in her hand.) And please-
PAIGE: I know…I promise I won’t let anything happen to your dad.
PHOEBE: Thanks.
PRUE: Are you coming, Phoebe?
PHOEBE: (annoyed) Yes. (She walks over to PRUE and BANE and the three of them leave.)
BREAK