CHARMED
"Disorder In The Court"
By J. B. Tilton (a.k.a. NoAzMale) and Teri Thibeault (a.k.a. K
Disclaimer: "Charmed" and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.
Cole has to defend the Charmed Ones when they end up in the Otherworld court system charged with the wrongful death of the Source of All Evil. And he has to face one of his most formidable opponents. Another demonic attorney he has never been able to beat in court.
ONE
Cole Turner sat in his office looking over the case files he would be handling in the next few days. Most of them were pretty straightforward, even routine. He didn't foresee any problems with most of them. Even though his real motivation was to prove to Phoebe that he was no longer evil he still had to maintain the personae of a lawyer. And that meant handling cases as any other attorney.
That wasn't a problem for him. He had been an attorney for a very long time. It was easy for him to work out deals with the opposing council that was mutually beneficial for both parties. Of course, that meant he had to choose the cases that were easy to handle. In a law firm of this size he had no trouble picking and choosing his cases.
Suddenly a paper simply appeared on an inbox sitting on the top of one of his filing cabinets. Casually he got up from his desk and walked over. He pulled the paper out of the inbox and glanced at it. It was a docket for the Otherworld Court system. Even though he no longer practiced law in the Otherworld realm he was still receiving the docket for the courts there. He made a mental note to notify the court clerk to stop the notifications.
He had been receiving the docket for many years now. Even as he practiced law on the mortal realm he had also practiced law in the Otherworld realm. As a lawyer he was required to handle a certain number of cases each year to maintain a member of good standing in the Otherworld Bar Association. Since he was no longer interested in maintaining good standing in the Otherworld court system it was no longer necessary for him to handle any cases. In a few months a year would have elapsed and he wouldn't be able to practice law there any longer. Which was just as well with him.
As he was about to toss the docket into the trashcan a name caught his eye. He paused a moment as he read over the docket. He couldn't believe his eyes. He passed his hand over the inbox and a small pile of papers appeared in the box. He pulled the papers out and looked at them.
This was ridiculous. What he read was almost beyond belief. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined something like this. This was a civil action and normally he didn't handle civil cases. But considering the circumstances he decided to make an exception. He moved back over to his desk and picked up the phone to notify his secretary that he was going to be out of the office for the rest of the day.
"Phoebe, are you ready?" Paige called from the foot of the stairs.
"Just finishing up," said Phoebe, coming out of the second floor hallway. "I couldn't find the earrings to go with this dress. I finally found them in the bathroom. I don't remember taking them off in there."
"Well we have to get going," said Piper, coming out of the kitchen, Leo close behind. "With my bartender out with the flu I'm going to need all the help I can opening the club. You guys promised to help and if we don't leave now we'll never get it open in time."
"I'm ready," protested Phoebe. "I found the earrings and we can leave now."
"Why bother with earrings when you're just going to be working anyway?" questioned Leo. "Does it really matter what you look like while you're washing glasses?"
"Men," said Phoebe, mock scoff in her voice. "Once we get the club set up the guests will start arriving. You never know who may show up. I want to look my best in case someone interesting comes in."
"Okay, okay," said Leo, "I get your point. But Piper has a point. We need to get going now if we're going to have enough time to get everything set up before opening time."
"You could orb us there," suggested Phoebe. "Or Paige could. That would save us quite a bit of time."
"You know that's not allowed," said Leo. "My orbing is for demonically related incidents only. It's not supposed to be used as a ferry service every time you need to go somewhere."
"I've seen you bend the rules plenty of times," said Paige. "Besides, I'm not under the same restrictions. I'm only half White Lighter so I'm not under the same restrictions. I could orb us all there in no time."
"And possibly attract the attention of some demon in the process," said Piper. "No thank you. I'd just as soon do this the old fashioned way if you don't mind. Let's just save the orbing for some time when we really need it."
"If that's the way you want it," said Paige. "But we'd better get going."
Together they all turned and headed for the front door. Paige was the first one at the door and as she opened it she nearly collided with a young man who was about to knock on the door. He stepped back to keep from running into her.
"Whoa, sorry lady," said the man. "I wasn't sure anyone was home. Thought I'd take a chance."
"Can we help you?" Paige asked.
"I hope so," said the young man. "I'm looking for Piper or Phoebe Halliwell or Paige Matthews. My information is that they live here."
"Well, you have the right place," said Piper, stepping up to the front of the group. "And just who might you be?"
"Name's Eddie," said the young man. "Eddie Cantor."
"Like the actor?" Leo asked.
"Actor?" questioned Cantor. "There's an actor with my name?"
"There was," said Leo. "He died a long time ago."
"Oh, okay. Well, I was just hired to deliver this." Cantor took some papers out of his jacket and handed them to Piper who opened them to look at them. "Well, that's all I was supposed to do. Oh, yeah. I'm supposed to say, you've just been served. Have a good day."
They all watched as Cantor suddenly turned and scampered down the front steps.
"Served?" questioned Phoebe. "What does he mean we've been served?"
"Just as he said," said Piper, looking over the papers. "This is some kind of a legal document. I think we're being sued?"
"Sued?" questioned Paige. "Sued by whom? And for what?"
"Someone named Leshna," said Piper. "This is a summons to appear in the 3rd Judicial Court of the Otherworld Supreme Court to answer to claims of the wrongful death of someone named Klen-Nash. This doesn't make any sense."
"Actually, it does," said Leo. "That particular court is in the Otherworld court system."
"Otherworld court system?" questioned Phoebe. "You mean someone in the Underworld is suing us?"
"The Otherworld court system handles more than just cases for the Underworld," explained Leo, taking the papers from Piper and looking them over. "It handles any case involving magical beings. As you've learned in the past, since you're witches you fall under the jurisdiction of the Otherworld court system in certain cases."
"Boy, do I remember," said Paige. "I almost had to leave Earth because I hadn't declared my citizenship when I turned 21. Never mind that I never even knew I was half White Lighter at the time."
"If I'm reading this correctly," said Leo, "you're being sued for the wrongful death of the Source."
"What?" Phoebe cried. "We vanquished him in self-defense. How could anyone claim it was a wrongful death?"
"I don't know," said Leo. "But before becoming the Source he was a demon called Klen-Nash. Once he ascended to the throne he simply went by the Source."
"Didn't Cole once tell us that the Source's real demonic name was unpronounceable by the human tongue?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes," said Leo. "Klen-Nash is the human translation of his demonic name. It's the closest any non-demon can come to pronouncing it. Anyway, it's been five hundred years since anyone has called him that."
"Not exactly," said Cole, walking out of the kitchen. "A couple of close family members used to refer to him by that even after he became the Source. Oh, never in public, mind you. But for some reason he tolerated it from them."
"What are you doing here?" Phoebe demanded. "It thought I made it perfectly clear I never wanted to see you again."
"You did," said Cole. "But when I saw you names appear on the Otherworld docket I knew you wouldn't be prepared for this. Plus you're going to need an attorney to represent you. And I may be prejudiced, but I think I'm the best one qualified to represent you in this matter."
"We don't need your help, Turner," said Piper. "We're quite capable of taking care of ourselves."
"Against demons, yes," said Cole. "But not in a courtroom. And certainly not in an Otherworld courtroom. You're going to need a top notched attorney to represent you. And if I do say so myself, I am one of the best."
"Look," began Paige.
"No, he's right," said Leo. "He may be a demon but he's still an attorney. And a very good one at that."
"Not to mention I'm still licensed to practice in the Otherworld court system," said Cole. "And believe me when I tell you you're going to need my help on this one. A wrongful death case can be as tricky as a murder case. I'm not sure who the opposing attorney is but you can bet it's going to be someone extremely competent.
"Look, I know you aren't thrilled to see me. And ordinarily I'd honor your wishes to stay away. But this is nothing personal. It's strictly business. I'm willing to represent you in this matter to the best of my ability. And you're going to need every bit of my expertise if you plan to beat this thing."
"Well," said Paige hesitantly, "it might take time to find someone in the Otherworld realm to represent us."
"With no guarantee they would work as diligently in your favor," said Cole. "While most attorneys, even demonic ones, are normally very competent and represent their clients fairly and honestly, not all are as aggressive as they could possibly be. Especially when their clients are humans."
"It's up to you," Piper said to Phoebe.
"I don't suppose we have much choice," said Phoebe. "But we don't really have a lot of time to deal with this now. We have to get the club open for Piper."
"We can discuss it later," said Cole. "It will give me a chance to research the case and find out some specifics about it. What say we meet back here after the club closes and we can go over what I've been able to find out?"
"Okay, but that's all," said Phoebe. "We discuss only the case. I don't want to hear even one word about us getting back together again. That's not going to happen."
"You have my word," said Cole who then shimmered out of the manor.
Without much enthusiasm for the club the rest of them left the manor and headed for the club.
