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The Hunted

by Tim


We open in New York City, as a ferry approaches Liberty Island. Once it docks, the tourists get off and begin to tour the Statue of Liberty.

As soon as the crowd parts, Rex and Hannah are revealed to be among the tourists. Rex has wonder in his eyes: "I never took the time to appreciate the world around me when I was alive for the first time. I was too busy starving and then selling out my country. I'm glad to have a second chance." Hannah smiles back at him: "Me too, Rex. Did you know that I was actually here in 1886 when they unveiled this statue for the first time?" Rex says he didn't know that. Hannah continues: "My father brought me here shortly after my 20th birthday and we watched as they opened the statue. It was one of the happiest days of my life, considering what was to come," she breaks off as she remembers her subsequent bad marriage, murdering her philandering husband and then committing suicide. Rex takes her in his arms: "Hannah, all that is past now, we have a second chance, thanks to the Halliwells. Let's just leave the past behind and embrace the here and now." Hannah smiles up at him: "You're right," she says. The two of them kiss and embrace, neither noticing the young blond-haired man who is staring at them with fierce intensity.

Later on, that same young man arrives back at his hotel room. After locking the door, he roots through a knapsack on the bed and pulls out what appears to be a crystal ball, which he places on the table. The man stares into the ball and soon the face of a Demon appears in it. "Report, Samos!" the Demon says. "I have located the traitors, Rex and Hannah." Samos replies: "Awaiting further instructions." The Demon considers for a moment and then replies: "Do nothing for the present, but keep them under observation at all times." Samos nods and replies: "Will do." The image of the Demon fades away.

Across the nation, in San Francisco, Prue and Piper have finished their jobs for the day and are now on their way over to St. Joseph's Shelter to pick up Phoebe. "She said they were going to be really busy today. Apparently a new shipment of canned goods has just arrived." Piper says, as they pull up to the shelter.

The head nun, Sister Mary Catherine, is looking through some papers, when Prue and Piper arrive and ask for Phoebe. "You'd be so proud of her." Sister Mary beams: "She worked almost six hours straight, unloading the cans and placing them in the pantry. Finally I sent her up to the little room to get some rest. She didn't want to go, but I insisted."

At that same time, Phoebe is stretched out on the cot in the little room (the same room where she spent the night when she had amnesia). She is dozing, but soon feels somebody shaking her. "What is it?" she mumbles and opens her eyes. Leo is standing there: "Leo?" Phoebe asks the white-lighter: "What are you doing here?" Leo's face is grim. "No time for small talk. Rex and Hannah are in danger. You and your sisters must go to them at once. Here is how you can do it..."

Prue and Piper are ready to go up and get Phoebe, when she comes charging down the stairs. After saying good-bye to Sister Mary, Phoebe all but bundles her sisters out the door.

Driving home, Prue asks Phoebe for an explanation: "Rex and Hannah are in trouble." Phoebe replies. "I just had a vision." She quickly adds. "They're in New York City." Piper frowns at this revelation: "Wow, Pheebs." she comments: "Your powers seem to be getting more intense." She adds in her mind: What is it you are not telling us, Pheebs?

Upon arriving home, Prue says that it will take time to make flight reservations, but Phoebe cuts her off. "There is another way. In the Book of Shadows, there is a spell of trans-location. If we use it, we can instantly send ourselves anywhere in the world for a certain length of time." When asked how she knew this, Phoebe just replies: "I was leafing through the Book the other day and stumbled upon the spell by accident. Come on, we have to get ready." She turns and bolts up the stairs. Prue puts a hand on Piper's shoulder and asks: "Do you believe her? About just finding that spell?" Piper shakes her head and says: "No I don't. She's hiding something from us, and has been for quite some time now. I don't think it's anything bad, perhaps more like a promise she made to somebody."

Soon after, the Halliwells are looking through the Book of Shadows. "Here's the spell." Phoebe says: "All we have to do is name the place where we want to go and we'll instantly be taken there. Trouble is, the spell only lasts forty-eight hours, after which we'll instantly be returned here to the attic, so we'll have to move fast." Prue then looks at the spell. "I think we can do this." she says: "Tomorrow the weekend begins, so Buckland's will be closed. Piper, I think you should call the Quake and tell them you have to leave town for the weekend. Phoebe, you call Sister Mary and say that a family emergency has come up and you have to leave town for the next couple of days. I'll call Andy and ask him to watch the house for us and feed Kit. He still has his key from the time we were dating. We'll meet back here in fifteen minutes."

Fifteen minutes later, the Halliwells are ready to go, having packed their bags and purses. "Okay, I've put a Spell of Sealing on the attic, which will take effect once we leave and will stay in place for the duration of our absence." Prue says. "I guess we're set." She checks her watch. "Well it's 6:00 P.M. here in San Francisco, which means it's now 9:00 P.M. in New York City. Let's set our watches ahead." The Halliwells do so. "Let's say that spell and get going." The sisters pick up their baggage and begin to recite the spell. As they do so, the Halliwells slowly grow transparent until they fade away, leaving nothing but an empty attic:

We of the Halliwell clan,
seek to travel across this land!
Now that we leave our base,
now we must state the place!
New York City!

The Halliwells come to themselves, standing on what appear to be a bike path surrounded by trees. Phoebe instantly recognizes where they are: "It's Central Park!" she says and then notices the sun is starting to set. "I think we should get out of here." Quickly the sisters pick up their luggage and head for the edge of the park. Suddenly, two men jump out of the bushes and demand the Halliwells give up their belongings. "Should you take care of this, or should I?" Prue asks Piper. After a second, Piper says: "You do the honors." Prue quickly uses her powers to throw the two muggers ten feet through the air, they both hit some tress and crash to the ground, neither of them interested in getting up again for quite a while. "Shall we go?" Prue asks and the three sisters head out of the park. Looking back at the unconscious muggers, Piper comments: "I really don't know what you saw in this town, Pheebs."

Once they reach the street, the Halliwells hail a cab. Soon one stops and they get in, the cabbie asks where they want to go. "Trump Plaza Hotel," Phoebe replies. Both Prue and Piper look at her like she has gone crazy. "I always wanted to stay there. Can we? Please?" she gives Prue the "sad puppy eyes" expression. "Oh all right," Prue says. "Just stop looking at me with that face." And she wonders why she's always broke! Prue adds in her mind.

Later, the Halliwells have checked into the Trump Plaza and given their room. A large two-bed suite. This is REALLY going to burn a hole in my pocket! Prue thinks: Why do I let Phoebe talk me into these things? "So who gets what bed?" Piper asks. Prue says she will take one, and Piper and Phoebe can share the other one. When asked why she gets a bed to herself, Prue replies: "Who do you think is going to end up paying for all this?" She can't help adding: "Besides, I'm the oldest."

Later on, after a room service meal, the Halliwells discuss the situation: "Okay," Prue says: "We have until 9:00 P.M. Sunday night to find Rex and Hannah. Trouble is, this is a huge city, I don't know where to begin. Any ideas?" Piper suggests calling various hotels to see if a Rex Buckland or Hannah Webster is registered there. "Well it's a start." Prue says, "But they could be listed under different names. Still it's our only lead for now. I suggest we turn in and get a fresh start in the morning." At this point, Phoebe announces that she intends to take a shower and heads for the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom, Phoebe locks the door and says: "I'm alone now." Soon Leo appears. "Wait." Phoebe says and turns on the shower to drown out their talking. "Do you know where we can find Rex and Hannah?" she asks. "Yes I do." Leo replies: "They are staying at the New York Hilton. You must get to them before Samos does." Phoebe is baffled. "Who's Samos?" she asks. Leo tells her the full story:

"Samos is someone whom you might call a Warlock Bounty Hunter. He hunts down Warlocks who have turned away from evil and brings them back to Hell for punishment. You three started Rex and Hannah on the path to redemption, now you must make sure they are protected from their former associates."

Prue and Piper are almost ready to go to bed, when Phoebe comes out of the bathroom and announces: "Rex and Hannah are at the Hilton. We have to get there now." She makes for the door, but Prue blocks her way and says: "Let me guess, you had another vision?" Phoebe starts to reply, but Prue cuts her off: "Okay Phoebe, I've had just about enough of this as I am going to take. What is it that you are hiding from us? Why is it that you will not tell us what is going on?" At this point, Piper joins Prue: "I think we deserve an answer, Phoebe." Phoebe is stuck between a rock and a hard place, but before she can say anything, Leo's voice announces: "You'll get an answer, Piper." Both Prue and Piper turn and are astonished to see Leo coming out of the bathroom. "Leo?" Piper asks: "But how..." she trails off, totally clueless as to how this could have happened. Leo walks up to the sisters. "You're off the hook, Phoebe." he says and proceeds to tell Prue and Piper the whole truth about himself. "Of course, I had to take on an identity that would not arouse suspicion, so I become a handyman, there to fix up your house." Piper is shocked and angry, she turns to Phoebe: "You knew about this? The whole time?" Phoebe replies that she only found out when Leo returned, during their adventure with that child, Max. "Leo was levitating while fixing the chandelier. I walked in on him and took him by surprise. It was then that he told me he was a white-lighter and swore me to secrecy. She sighs with relief. "I'm just glad this secret is finally out." Leo then fills in Prue and Piper about Samos and his mission to capture Rex and Hannah. "You three must leave now. We can talk later, but first, Samos must be stopped."

Soon after, at the Hilton, Rex and Hannah are enjoying a quite dinner in their room, when somebody knocks on the door. "Who could that be?" Rex asks and gets up to answer it. Once the door is open, Rex gets a shock. "Samos!" he says as the Bounty Hunter pushes him back into the room. "That's right." Samos replies: "It's me. You two have been charged with treason against our Master and I am here to bring you back to face punishment. Like the Pit Of Eternal Pain." he pauses and then adds: "But there still is a chance for you two. Master obviously likes you, as he let you come back to Earth after you failed to procure the powers of the Charmed Ones (this happened in the episode "Wicca Envy"). So if you agree to be reconditioned back to evil, you'll not be punished." Samos pauses and adds: "Well not severely at least. So what's your answer?" Rex and Hannah look at each other for a minute and then Rex replies: "Our answer, Samos, is no. Hannah and I like what we have become, and we don't want to go back." Rex and Hannah then join hands in solidarity. Samos sighs and says: "Very well, you leave me no choice. Pity really but still..." Samos gets no further as the Halliwells burst into the room. "What in..." is all the Bounty Hunter has to say before Prue's powers slam him into the nearest wall and he slumps to the floor, out cold. "How did you three know where to find us?" an astonished Hannah asks. "No time for that now." Phoebe replies: "Get your things together, we're out of here."

Later, back at Trump Plaza, Rex expresses his gratitude. "It seems that once again Hannah and I owe you our lives." Phoebe replies that the Halliwells had helped them break the chain of evil, it was only fitting that they make sure that chain is never reestablished. "Now all we have to do is wait until Sunday evening at 9:00 P.M. when we'll be returned to San Francisco. If you and Hannah are with us when it happens, you'll come along. With that nutcase running around looking for you, it might be the best thing." Hannah then speaks up: "The trouble is, Samos will not give up so easily. I knew him back in Hell and he will stop at nothing to complete his mission." Prue takes a stand: "Let him come." she says: "He'll have to get past the three of us to get to you two."

Later on, the sleeping arrangements are slightly revised, Rex and Hannah take one bed while the Halliwells, all three of them, cram into the other one. "Just like old times." Piper says, remembering when the three sisters used to share a bed when they were very little.

The next morning, Saturday, Phoebe gets up before any of the others and tip-toes over to the windows. She watches as the sun rises over the New York skyline and old feelings come flooding back to her. Most of all she starts to think about her old boyfriend, Clay. During the time she lived in New York, they had gone together; however, they later broke up. A few months ago, during that business with the cursed Egyptian urn, Clay, who had been mixed up in it all, had come to San Francisco. Despite what was happening, he and Phoebe had rekindled their romance. They had even made love, or tried to, before Prue had walked in on them. After it was all over, Clay had left and Phoebe, with her new responsibilities, could not go with him. She had heard from him a couple of times since, and now that she was back in New York, perhaps she should pay him a visit.

Later on, when everyone is up and about, Phoebe announces she is going out for a while. "Be careful out there." Prue advises. Phoebe just laughs. "I'm a big girl, Prue." she replies: "I can take care of myself, besides I lived here. I know what this town is like." She heads out the door.

"Clay?" Piper asks after a few seconds. "Clay." Prue responds. "Who's Clay?" Rex asks.

With butterflies in her stomach, Phoebe rings the doorbell of Clay's apartment. After a few minutes, looking only half-awake, Clay answers the door. "Phoebe!" he says, instantly fully awake. "How did you... What are you..." he can't seem to put a sentence together. Phoebe opens her mouth to respond, then she sees the half-naked blond woman coming out of Clay's bedroom. Clay, who looks like he wants a sixteen ton weight to drop on his head and put him out of his misery, says: "Phoebe, this is Angela." he points to the blond woman. Phoebe formally introduces herself and then turns back to Clay. With ice in her voice, she says: "I just wanted to see if you had missed me. But it's quite clear that you haven't!" Phoebe then turns and storms away. "Phoebe, wait!" Clay calls after her, but she is gone.

In anger, Phoebe stalks the streets. Finally she comes to a small outdoors coffee shop, sits down, and orders a black coffee. "Stupid." she growls to herself. "What the hell was I thinking?" She sips her coffee, lost in thought, when a new female voice asks: "Is this seat taken?" Phoebe looks up to see a girl in her late teens, with long darkish brown hair, standing there opposite her. "No." Phoebe replies: "The seat is free. You can join me if you want." The girl thanks Phoebe, orders a coffee of her own, and sits down. After a few seconds of silence, the girl comments: "Forgive me for prying, but you look like you've had a bad day." Phoebe takes another sip of her coffee and says: "Tell me about it. Oh, I'm Phoebe Halliwell." Phoebe says, sticking out her hand. "Felicity Porter." the girl returns, taking Phoebe's hand. After a second, Felicity continues: "So if you want to talk about it, go right ahead." Something about Felicity's sensitive nature appeals to Phoebe and she starts to talk: "I was in town on business and I decided to look in on an old boyfriend of mine. Well I go to his place and find him with another woman." Felicity looks on and replies: "Well that is a lousy way to start a day. To tell you the truth, I recently had my own heartbreak. I came here from Palo Alto (Phoebe is somewhat delighted to learn that Felicity comes from her (Phoebe's) neck of the woods), because this guy I had a crush on in high school, came here. But I ended up falling in love with my R.A., a guy called Noel. We had gone together for a couple of months, when his old girlfriend, whom he had drifted apart from before he started dating me, comes waltzing back into his life. Next thing I know, he dumps me for her!" It's clear that Felicity is very hurt by this. "I'm so sorry." Phoebe says. "Sometimes men can be so..." she breaks off and looks at her watch. "I have to get going." she tells Felicity. She takes out and piece of paper, writes on it, and hands it to Felicity. "Next time you're back in Palo Alto, give me a call. We can get together and trash the male of the species some more." Felicity takes the paper and replies: "I might just do that. Nice to meet you, Phoebe." Phoebe smiles and replies: "Nice to meet you too, Felicity."

Phoebe is almost back to Trump Plaza, when she is grabbed from behind. Samos whispers in her right ear: "Make one sound and you're dead, little girl." Phoebe feels the point of a knife in her back. "Now let's see where the others are." Samos puts the tip of his finger to Phoebe's right temple and soon she feels him probing her mind. "Ah yes." Samos says: "Thank you."

A short while later, back in the Halliwells room, Hannah stands up and announces: "I'm hungry. I'm going down to the restaurant for something to eat. Can I bring anything back for anyone?" Rex says that he will have a hamburger. Prue and Piper, who are also feeling somewhat peckish at this time, also make orders. Hannah soon leaves.

Hannah almost makes it to the restaurant, when Samos grabs her from behind. "You're coming with me." he snarls.

Samos has taken over Rex and Hannah's old room at the Hilton. Phoebe is there now, tied up on the floor, propped against the bed. She is trying to loosen her bonds, when Samos bursts in, dragging Hannah behind him. "Brought you some company, witch!" Soon Hannah is also tied up and placed beside Phoebe. "Well isn't this my lucky day." Samos remarks: "Not only have I recaptured one of the traitors, but I have also netted one of the accursed Charmed Ones!" He looks at Phoebe. "You know, you and your two sisters have quite a reputation in Hell. The Pit Of Eternal Pain is chock-a-block full of Demons and Warlocks that have gone up against you three and failed. Master does not take failure lightly." Samos then turns to Hannah. "As for you and that traitorous boyfriend of yours, I intend to ask Master if I can personally throw you two into the Pit Of Eternal Pain. Now if you two will excuse me, I have a phone call to make." Samos leaves the room. Phoebe turns to Hannah and asks: "By the way, just what is the Pit Of Eternal Pain?" Hannah looks back at her and replies: "Believe me, you don't want to know."

Meanwhile, back at Trump Plaza, all is not well. "Where is Hannah with the food?" Rex wonders with worry creeping into his voice, "Surely it shouldn't be taking this long." Prue nods in agreement. "You're right, it shouldn't. While we are discussing missing people, just where the heck is Phoebe?" she turns to Piper. "You don't think she stayed with Clay?" Piper shrugs her shoulders and says she doesn't know. At this point, the phone rings, Prue answers it and asks who is calling: "Hello witch!" the voice of Samos replies: "I've got your sister, as well as the one called Hannah. If you want to see them again, the rest of you better come to Rex and Hannah's old room at the Hilton without delay." Samos then hangs up. Prue turns to Piper and Rex and explains the situation. "We have to go." Rex says. "If only to rescue Phoebe. This is mine and Hannah's problem, not yours." Prue walks up to him and says: "It's our fight as well. We don't run out on our friends. Let's go."

Meanwhile, Phoebe and Hannah have maneuvered back-to-back and have successfully loosened each other bonds. "That's it." Phoebe says: "Now I've got a plan."

Samos comes back into the room, only to find Hannah there. "Where is the..." he begins, turning around in the process. He gets no farther as Phoebe comes flying out of the corner and drop-kicks Samos right in the stomach. The Bounty Hunter goes flying backwards and crashes into the television set, slumping to the floor. "Good work, Phoebe." Hannah says, getting to her feet. "Thanks." Phoebe replies. "Now let's make tracks." The two of them bolt out of the room.

Samos slowly gets to his feet, aching all over. "I'll kill that little bitch for this." he vows. He starts to go after Phoebe and Hannah, but then Leo appears and blocks his way. "Who are you?" Samos yells. "Some one who will stop you." the white-lighter replies: "Your days of hunting ex-Warlocks are over. You are going back where you belong." Leo grabs him and soon Samos feels energy coursing through him, banishing him. "No, you can't do this to me! I'll condemned to the Pit Of Eternal Pain forever!" Not without pity in his voice, Leo replies: "I am truly sorry, Samos. However, you chose to plant the seed of evil within yourself, now you must reap it's harvest." Still screaming, Samos vanishes back to Hell, and ultimately, the Pit Of Eternal Pain, forever.

Prue, Piper, and Rex are just arriving at the Hilton, when they meet Phoebe and Hannah coming out. "Glad to see that you two are okay." Prue says. "Now let's go take care of this Samos character." At this point, Leo arrives on the scene. "You don't have to worry about him now. He's gone forever." Rex and Hannah look on, clueless. "Who is this?" Hannah asks. "I'll explain everything on the way back." Leo replies.

Later, the Halliwells and Leo are helping load the last of the luggage into Rex and Hannah's car. "Are you two going to be okay?" Phoebe asks. "We should be." Rex says from the drivers seat, Hannah sitting beside him in the passenger seat. "Your intervention has brought the two of us valuable time to get away. Hopefully our former associates won't send anyone else after us for some time to come." Prue speaks up: "Well if they do, you know where to find us." Rex smiles back at her. "I'll keep that in mind." Everyone says their good-byes and soon Rex and Hannah drive away. "I have to go to." Leo says and looks at Piper, but I will be back, I promise. By the way, you don't have to worry about your hotel expenses, I've already taken care of it." he fades away.

The next evening, the Halliwells are looking at their watches. "Twenty minutes to go." Prue announces. Their bags are all packed and they had found out that their hotel bills were all paid, Leo was true to his word. Suddenly someone knocks at the door. Phoebe asks who is it. "It's me, Clay." the familiar voice replies: "Please Phoebe, I need to talk to you." Phoebe considers: "Okay, I'm coming out." she looks at her sisters: "This shouldn't take long."

Clay is waiting in the corridor when Phoebe comes out and asks: "How did you know where to find me?" Clay replies that he always knew Phoebe wanted to stay at this hotel. After a pause, he continues: "First of all, let me apologize for yesterday. But I need to know, Phoebe, can you give up this responsibility and move back here with me? Can't we give us another chance?" Phoebe sadly shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Clay, but that is just not possible. What I am doing now is bigger than myself alone. Prue and Piper are also very much a part of it." She looks into his eyes: "I'm sorry, but I guess it's over between us." Clay looks down at his feet and says: "Yeah, I guess it is." He then turns and walks away, without a backward glance.

Prue and Piper are waiting when Phoebe comes back into the room. Seeing her face, Piper asks if she is okay. "I guess I am." Phoebe replies: "I guess I just needed some kind of closure on this part of my life. There is nothing here in New York for me now. I'll be glad to get back to good old San Francisco." Prue looks at her watch and comments: "Well Pheebs, you are going to get your wish. In about ten minutes."

Ten minutes later, the trans-location spell wears off and the Halliwells are returned to their attic. Coming downstairs, they see that Andy has indeed made sure Kit is fed. Prue makes a quick call to him to say that they are home.

Later on, the Halliwells are talking in the kitchen, when Leo appears: "I explained everything, about me and Piper, to the white-lighters." he says. "I had to get it off my chest." Phoebe is worried. "I hope you didn't get into trouble because of this." she says. Leo replies that they went easy on him, then adds: "But the down part is that I have been given a new assignment. My fellow white-lighters said 'My objectivity has been clouded by this current assignment.' I have no choice, I have to leave." Leo says good-bye to Prue and Phoebe, who then excuse themselves so that Leo and Piper can have some time alone. Seeing the tears forming in Piper's eyes, Leo walks over to her and puts a hand on her cheek. "I love you, Piper." he says: "I always will. But I can't go against my fellow white-lighters. When I joined, I made a vow to always serve and do whatever was asked of me. I can't walk away from that now." Piper is unconvinced: "But you can walk away from me?" she asks him: "From everything we meant to each other?" She pulls away. "Piper, don't make this any harder than it already is." Leo tries to say, but Piper just turns away. "I just hope that someday you can find it in your heart to forgive me." Leo says and then fades away.

Prue and Phoebe are sitting on the living room couch when Piper, the tears flowing down her face, comes into the room. "Do you think that the Book of Shadows has any spells to fix a broken heart?" Piper asks her sisters. Phoebe gets up and guides her over to the couch. "I don't think so." Phoebe says: "But you have more, you have me and Prue. As long as we're here, you'll never be alone." She helps Piper down onto the couch. Prue and Phoebe put their arms around their heartbroken sister, comforting her, protecting her. "Just let it out, Piper." Prue says soothingly, running her hand through Piper's hair. "Pheebs and I aren't going anywhere." So in the protection of her sisters, Piper gently weeps as we fade out.