The Premonition. Part one.

Part Three

Once 11 PM rolled around the girls all met in the living room and then got in the car and headed for the docks.

They searched around for Pier 60 and soon found it and Phoebe parked the car a couple blocks away and they got out and walked up to the pier and saw a phone booth right below the sign and at precisely 11 PM the phone rang and Phoebe grabbed it instantly.

"Hello?"

"I'm glad you made it on time. I really do like punctual people."

"What do you want?" Phoebe asked bluntly.

"Impatience is not something I admire Phoebe. Do not interrupt me again or you will be sorry."

"Fine. I'm sorry. Continue."

"That's better. Okay, I know you and your sisters are witches. I know what you and Paige have been doing to. Naughty, naughty Phoebe. If you don't want either of these secrets to get out you will do something for me."

"What would that be?"

"You have all heard of Fort Knox I assume?"

"Yes, why?"

"I think that's fairly obvious don't you? I want you and your sisters to help me redistribute the contents of Fort Knox to my own private holding company if you would."

"Are you insane?"

"I really don't like that word much. Nor do I like your tone. If I wasn't clear before let me make myself very clear now, this is NOT a request. You will do this or risk exposure. And I don't just mean for being witches. Somehow I think the secret you and Paige share might be even more damaging, but I'll let you decide."

Phoebe put her hand over the phone and told Piper and Paige what he wanted and they were as stunned as she was and yet they had no real options at the moment but to agree and hope to find out who was behind this before they had to pull off this impossible bank heist.

"You do realize we are not bank robbers right? We are good witches. Were not really capable of doing something like this."

"Oh I think you underestimate your talents. I think it would be as simple as Piper freezing the entire building while my men remove the contents. It would be a snap."

Phoebe paused and could not think of anything to say to contradict his plan and let out a deflated sigh, "Fine. It's not like we have a choice."

"Of course you do Phoebe. We all have choices. Life is about choices. But you and your sisters have chosen to keep the fact your witches a secret from the world and as you know the world hates being lied to, so once they find out you know the witch hunters will be after you and you know every demon alive will know where to find you and you know the people above who help you will be very disappointed if this happens to. So there is alot for you to consider. The added bonus of your wild little affair with your half-sister is just icing on the cake to get you to do what I want."

"You are one sick bastard." Phoebe yelled, unable to control her emotions any longer.

"Now, now. Temper, temper, " the voice said in a highly mocking tone, "As for sick, well once the world finds out about you and your sister perhaps that's a word you will hear alot yourself. So as they say, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Now, enough games. Do we have a deal?"

"It's not a deal. It's blackmail and we do not have a choice."

"Good then. I will send you a package with the details of when and where I want this to take place. There will be no discussions about this. There is a strict timeline to follow in order to have this go without a hitch."

"Whatever. Is that all?" she said in a huff.

"Yes, I suppose it is. Have a nice night now. Give Paige a kiss for me to." the voice said with a laugh and with that the connection went dead and Phoebe slammed the phone down and was visibly angry and ready to scream and Piper and Paige held her until she had calmed down and they walked back to the car with Phoebe giving them a rundown on all the things the person told her and they were at a loss as to what to do next.

They got in the car and sat there for awhile just silent and staring out into the stars pondering what few options they had left.

Piper finally broke the silence, "Okay, were in a pretty bad situation here but it's not hopeless. We've been in worse predicaments and always find a way to come out on top and we will here to. Now, the one thing that comes to mind is this does not seem like the work of Cole any longer. So we have some very tough choices to make. All of us. We may need some help on this. If we have to ask Leo for help then so be it. And if it's even remotely possible Cole could help then we have to look into that as well."

"No way. No way will Cole be helping us or knowing what is going on. If he wasn't an enemy of us before he will be if he finds out about Paige and I. As for Leo I don't know. If he can help us without knowing all the details then fine. But can't we just tell him about the blackmail of us being witches? I think that's enough to get him to help." Phoebe was adamant about Cole not being involved but the other two weren't so sure that was the best way to go.

"Listen Phoebe, I'm not really keen on the idea of Cole finding out about us either, since I have no doubt he would not be happy and that means we might both be in danger, but if there is any humanity left inside him and if he loved you as much as he claims he might just be willing to help you one last time." Paige added not willing to close any doors at the moment.

"Look, Cole is in my past. I want to keep it that way. He's continually shown us that he has chosen to be evil and he has lied and double crossed us before and I'm not sure we can deal with that now." Phoebe said, pointed out the obvious yet again.

Piper was listening to all this and trying to figure out what was the best course of action, "Here's what I think. Leo does need to know about the blackmail and as for the other stuff we can leave out for now but, you will have to tell him at some point, if you continue on with whatever it is you two are doing. Now just might be the best time. As for Cole I'm not ready to get him involved either. He's way to unpredictable and unstable right now to count on."

"Paige looked at Phoebe and then back to Piper, "I agree with that. We should tell Leo and see what he can find out." she then turned to Phoebe and looked into her eyes, "Well, what do you think? If we are going to keep seeing each other we are going to have to face some pretty tough questions from Leo and anyone else who won't understand so I say let's get it out there so we don't have to hide any longer. I don't want to anyway. I'm happy to be with you and I don't care what others think."

Phoebe smiled at Paige's attitude and she was about to give her a kiss when she saw Piper looking on with a very disapproving look, "Sorry. But, you are going to have to get used to us doing that you know. Leo isn't the only one who will have to deal with this. Can you?"

Piper knew there was no right answer here and decided to just be honest about what she was feeling, "You both know I love you, right? And that is not going to change no matter what. But I can't tell you I'm happy about this. I have no idea what to think about it right now. Everything about it seems wrong, but and this is a big but, I'm willing to give this a try. I want to be fair and as much as it scares the hell out of me I hate to stand in the way of you two being happy, as unconventional as this may be."

"Thank you so much Piper." Phoebe said with a smile and reached over and hugged her big sister and Paige reached over the back seats and hugged them both before they all pulled away and Piper drove them back home.

They were all tired and went upstairs and got some sleep.

The next morning Piper was sitting drinking her morning coffee and reading the paper and she almost jumped out of her seat at what she saw on the inside of the second page. It was a picture of Phoebe and Paige kissing in Phoebe's office with the headline above it reading, "Sisters of Sin" and a whole article about how there were actually evil witches and this is what they did and she didn't know what to do or say or think.

She got up and ran oue ane and next door and grabbed their paper and opened it up and there was a completely different article on the second page and she let out a huge sigh of relief and ran back inside and as she got back to the kitchen she saw Leo reading the article and then he turned to look at Piper in shock and just then Phoebe and Paige came into the kitchen giggling and fooling around until they saw the look on Leo and Piper's face and new something was very, very wrong.

"Leo, you need to sit down. Let me explain this." Piper had to help Leo to the chair and he was still looking at the picture and then back and Phoebe and Paige, who quickly separated and then back at Piper.

"Did you know about this. Is this true? This can't be true can it?" he then looked at Phoebe and Paige and the looks on their faces told him everything he needed to know, "It is true then. Okay what is going on here?"

Phoebe stepped forward and then sat down beside Leo and put her hand on his, but he pulled away making Phoebe feel even worse, "This is not easy to say Leo and it's hard for all of us to understand right now. But, something has been happening between Paige and I and our feelings for each other have kind of changed and grown and now it's....well.....it's love. I love her. And she loves me. Not just like sisters or half sisters, but as lovers. I know this is very confusing to hear and I wish I could say something to have it all make sense, but love doesn't always make sense."

Leo didn't say a word and Paige then moved over beside him and took her turn at explaining this, "We know this is not something you can probably accept right now and that's okay. Please give it some time to sink in. Hopefully in time you can be happy for us. I just hope this isn't going to get in the way of trying to find the people that blackmailing us."

Piper stood by Leo and was rubbing his back and shoulders, then looked at the almost blank expression on his face, "Are you okay?"

"I don't know. This is just not something I ever expected to hear. It's just so out there. I think you can tell this has took me by surprise. I just need some time to figure out what I think about all this. Right now is not the time to say anything." Leo said as calmly as he could and then got up and looked at all three girls, "I will look into the blackmail situation and see what I can find out. I'll be back when I know something."

"Leo!. Leo!. Wait." Piper's words were to no avail as he had warped out of the Halliwell house and she would have to wait to see how angry he was at her for not telling her about this earlier.

"Well, what now? I guess we go to work since I'm not sure where they will send the package. If I get it I will let you both know and you can do the same." Phoebe watched as both girls agreed and they got ready for work.

Paige was sitting at her desk trying to concentrate on the work in front of her when a message came across her computer screen, "Check your mail." it said in bold letters. So she got up and went to her mailbox in the lobby and saw a package with her name on it and went back to her desk and called Piper and Phoebe and told them to meet back home and she grabbed her coat and purse and took off.

Once back home Paige opened the package and it had blueprints of Fort Knox in it with camera surveillance photo's of the whole building and surrounding area as well as codes for the alarms and keys for the many locked gates that are scattered throughout the highly secure building.

There was a note attached to a video tape and Phoebe read it to the others, "Now that you have all the information it's time to start the second phase of this operation. Piper, your the key to all of this. With one flick of your cute little hands the whole world can stop and that's your job. Freeze everyone in the area and then we can do our job. Phoebe and Paige will simply be there in case something goes wrong. That's right, scapegoats. And if Piper decides to unfreeze the guards at the most inopportune time, well, Phoebe and Paige will be killed instantly, how's that grab you for incentive? I thought it might. Glad we understand each other. Now, once we get all the gold and our safely out of the city, state and country, you may unfreeze them all. We will commence this plan on Friday at 11 PM. Now Phoebe, the video is for you and Paige. I'm sure you will want a memory of that first time, well here it is in laminated plastic for you to look at for all eternity. I have to say though, it was one heck of a tape to watch. Thanks for the show and good luck with that very interesting relationship of yours." Phoebe was furious again and wanted to smash the tape immediately but Piper grabbed it from her hands before she could.

"I know your upset but as hard as it might be to watch this tape I think we need to just to be sure it is what he says it is. Plus if there are any clues on the tape we have to look at them. I will just try and keep my eyes of the screen when you two are, you know."

"Fine, that's just what we need. For you to continually be watching us in these very intimate moments." Paige turned away as Piper put the tape in the VCR and it started up with Paige and Phoebe kissing and just kept right on going until there were both naked and having very passionate sex all over the bedroom.

Phoebe was watching and actually looking for some clues and Piper was watching with her hands covering her eyes through most of it and Paige wasn't even looking at the tape but was looking through the blueprints instead.

Half way through the tape Phoebe yelled out, "Stop the tape!!!"

Piper hit the stop button and then Phoebe grabbed the remote and hit ply and then rewind and then paused it and said, "Look at that? What do you think it is?"

Piper had no idea what Phoebe was pointing to and looked at the screen again and then back at Phoebe, "I have no idea. All's I see is your ass in the air and I don't even want to say what else I see."

"No, not that. Look in the right corner. There is a shadow there. It looks like a reflection of some kind." Phoebe was pointing on the screen where she meant and Piper up up and had a closer look and her eyes seemed to light up for a second, "I think your right. Can we enlarge this somehow? I know they can I've seen it on TV. I just don't know how. We need some video editing material to work with."

"I think I can get a hold of some. I know Darryl uses this kind of thing from time to time and I'm sure he'd let us borrow it. And he knows we can't always tell him everything so hopefully we can do it in private. Point is, if we can find something on this tape it might help us alot. I'll get right on it." Phoebe said, her voice finally showing some of her usual enthusiasm and she grabbed the tape and was out the door before anyone could stop her.

Piper realized she wouldn't be able to stop her and just waved at her and told her to be careful and then sat back down with Paige, "Well it's just you and me now."

"Yep, it is." Paige smiled awkwardly and tried to stay focused on anything so she wouldn't have to talk to Piper about her and Phoebe.

"I'm not sure the book of shadows would be of any help, but sometimes we can find things like a spell we could use or just something that might help us later on. It's worth a try."

Paige looked at Piper and nodded her head yes and the two of them headed up to the attic and began looking through the book.

Phoebe was sitting across from Darryl's dexplexplaining to him the problem they were having and told him she needed to use the editing room to help with this problem.

"I don't know Phoebe. The use of police materials by civilians is not allowed. Why don't you give me the tape and I will have a look at it for you?"

"NO!!" Phoebe yelled, then instantly smiled at Darryl and changed her tone, "I'm sorry. It's just that this is very important and I really need access to this equipment like now."

"I'm sorry to Phoebe, but I just can't give you access to this room without supervision. Even that's stretching the rules more than I should."

Phoebe got up and walked over and stood right beside Darryl, "Okay, I know this is not fair and I wish I could tell you what this is about and maybe some day I can, but this is an emergency. An extremely important piece of information is on this tape and I have to find out what it is. I know your job is on the line every time you help us, but I'm begging you to let me use this room for 30 minutes tops. That's all I sh nee need. Please help us Darryl. It's that urgent. I am not exaggerating one bit."

Darryl could tell Phoebe was serious and against all his instincts he agreed to help her and so he got up and told Phoebe to wait there and he would check out who was using the room right now.

A couple minutes later he returned and said Detective Timmins was using it but was almost finished and he called in a favor to use it next and told her she had 20 minutes and that's it.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek and called him a lifesaver and he led her to the back room and she locked the door behind her and she sat down in front of a maze of TV's and VCR's and countless other pieces of equipment she wasn't familiar with and tried to figure it all out as best she could.

Once she put the tape in the machine she started fiddling with the computer and soon had the video on the computer and then she figured out how to increase the size of a frame and found the scene she was looking for and multiplied it about 200 times and she could make out the silhouette of a person in the corner of the room and how they didn't see them at the time was a mystery they would have to solve later.

She zoomed in even closer and could see a large tattoo of a snake on the man's neck and then noticed a huge scar across his right hand and also that he had a full beard and long hair and was wearing a three piece black Armani suit with diamond cuff links and a Rowatcwatch to match so whoever this was he was very, very rich.

Phoebe blew up the picture of his face and printed it out and then printed out the tattoo and scar for reference and then took the tape out of the machine and erased all record of it from the computer and put it in her bag and left the room.

She walked back to Darryl's desk and showed him the picture of the man and the tattoo and scars and asked him to put it through his computer and see if anything turns up.

He studied the picture very carefully and then opened his desk and pulled out a folder and compared a picture in the folder to the one Phoebe gave him and looked up at her with a smile, "Here he is. He's wanted in connection of about 20 bank robberies and other high profile thefts over the past 10 years and he's considered the mastermind behind the $22 million dollar jewel heist in Monte Carlo just last month. How and why you ended up being connected to him I really do not know. If he's the man blackmailing you then it's more than likely for some type of robbery. Now please don't tell me that's what your planning to do?"

Phoebe didn't have time to answer Darryl and instead changed the subject, "Thanks for the information Darryl and for using your editing room. Is there anything else you know about this guy that might help us?"

He looked through the man's file and then handed Phoebe a piece of paper, "This says he has ties to a number of cult's and was thought to have used magic in a number of his crimes. The only other thing they say about him is he has a genius level IQ with degree's in computer technology, computer programming and best of all he has a law degree. He is also known for playing twisted games with his employees as well as those he was planning on robbing. That's it. Everything we have on him. One other thing I guess you might want to know, his name is Enrique Costa, a native of Venezuela, but who was raised in the USA and got his many degrees at Harvard, Columbia and Yale so he is a very educated criminal."

"Thanks so much Darryl. This is great. Way more than we had before and hopefully enough to figure out what were up against." she grabbed her purse and the tape and took off out the door.