These characters do not belong to me. I'm merely taking them out for a
walk and promise to deliver them back to the writers and producers of
"Charmed" completely intact and unharmed. I hope you enjoy this first
installment of my very first fan fic for "Charmed." If you like it, I'll
be happy to write more. Feedback will be greatly appreciated.
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It was a showdown between two determined and gifted athletes on the racketball court. It was Cole's serve and he was down by one. The sweat dripped down his cheeks, glistened on his naked and well defined torso, and nestled in the patch of hair on his chest. The determination in those intense blue eyes would have broken any richter scale and sent shivers of fear into any other opponent, but this one.
If Cole lost this point the game would be over and he'd owe Darryl lunch. Of course as a partner of Jackman, Carter, Kline and Turner, he could afford the lunch, but that wasn't the point. Cole didn't like to lose, in fact he hated it. Losing Phoebe was proof enough of that. He'd even tried to kill himself over it not long ago, not that Phoebe cared or anyone else for that matter except Darryl. What a surprise he turned out to be. If it weren't for Darryl, he wouldn't have been here today, sane, sober and more alive than he'd felt in over a year.
It all began the morning Cole woke up in the ruins of his penthouse with the worst hangover of his life and wished for the second time that he was dead...but he wasn't. Instead of finding release from the pain that gripped his heart like a vice, he was being made to suffer for his past crimes in the worst way he could imagine, by becoming invincible. Karma really was a b**ch.
Just as he'd decided to sleep off his depression and hangover for the next one hundred or so years, and wake up in another century on his bi- centennial birthday, an urgent knock on the door ended this plan and Cole barely managed to scoop himself off his couch and shuffle to the door. He couldn't imagine who would have bothered to visit him. He'd taken an indefinite leave of absence from his law firm, he had no friends or family with whom he was on speaking terms and the only person he actually cared anything at all about declared the night before that she wanted to vanquish him on her own terms. Of course at this point, there wasn't much left of him to care about.. He was a shell of his former self, a love sick puppy with a bleeding heart dripping blood all over the Halliwell's fine, white carpeting. They never could stand messy situations or complicated ones.
Everything always had to be black or white with them. If he didn't have his powers, he was good. If he had them, he was evil, and if he was the Source, he had to be vanquished without deference to how he became that way or why. There was no room for explanations. Once a demon, always a demon. He seemed to be the only one who knew all the sacrifices he made for Phoebe's sake to prove he was good. He even gave himself up to the Hollow, suspecting the Seer was up to no good, but did it anyway to save her and her sister's lives. He laid down his humanity on Phoebe's doorstep, and she stomped on it till he was finally broken.
Cole opened the door and nearly shut it again on Darryl, except that he'd cleverly wedged his foot in the doorway and entered forcibly. He'd come to answer complaints about what neighbors described as a "bomb blast" that occurred the night before.
Cole kept his eyes and his head leveled on Darryl while over his shoulder, he waved an arm and everything was like new again. The windows were repaired the holes, sealed and the furniture reassembled. Cole smiled and said, "Problem solved. You can go now."
"I can go now. I oughtta tell you where to go, Cole. The problem's not solved. You're the problem, one I'd like to see removed. You were gonna leave town a few months back. I told you then it was a good idea. It's an even better one now. Why don't you just go and leave the Halliwells alone, especially Phoebe. You've put her and her family through enough."
Cole laughed. "If you only knew just how far I tried to go last night...only I couldn't."
All the telltale signs were there; the break in his voice, the manic desperation in his eyes. Darryl had been a detective long enough to know that this man was teetering very near the edge if not already over it. Beside the couch, he saw four empty bottles of Chivas Regal neatly stacked in a row on the floor and a note lay beside it.
Darryl instinctively felt for his gun, making sure it didn't unexpectedly fall into Cole's hands with a wave of his arm and looked around the room for weapons he might have used to kill himself. Over the two and a half years he knew him, Darryl never really did make up his mind whether he liked Cole or not. The only thing he did know, which was in his favor, was that he'd give up his life for Phoebe. Other than that, Cole played it close to the vest, and wasn't exactly the most welcoming kind of guy, unlike like Leo, the poster boy for warm and fuzzy. And yet, something about seeing him in his place, alone and vulnerable, made Darryl more curious than usual to know what made this guy tick.
"Look man, I can't pretend to know what you're going through right now, but I can listen."
Feeling the need to unload, without knowing why exactly, Cole wordlessly led Darryl into his living room where the two men talked for the next three hours. Darryl listened while Cole relayed the events that occurred before and after the Hollow. Darryl listened with skepticism while Cole painted himself to be the martyr and Darryl was not buying a word of it until his eyes drifted to the floor and he read the opened letter that was addressed to Phoebe. It got to him. Cole's words penetrated the thick layer of doubt and a connection was made. Darryl listened with an opened mind after that and the pieces fell correctly into their rightful places.
He believed him, believed there had to be good in any man who could beat down his own demon to love so deeply and decided then and there that he was going to help Cole, not to get Phoebe back but to expand on the kernel of humanity that got him to this point. He had a plan already in mind and within two weeks with Cole's reluctant consent, Darryl enrolled Cole in the Big Brother program he'd begun at the precinct.
That's it for tonight. Will write more soon.
*********************************************
It was a showdown between two determined and gifted athletes on the racketball court. It was Cole's serve and he was down by one. The sweat dripped down his cheeks, glistened on his naked and well defined torso, and nestled in the patch of hair on his chest. The determination in those intense blue eyes would have broken any richter scale and sent shivers of fear into any other opponent, but this one.
If Cole lost this point the game would be over and he'd owe Darryl lunch. Of course as a partner of Jackman, Carter, Kline and Turner, he could afford the lunch, but that wasn't the point. Cole didn't like to lose, in fact he hated it. Losing Phoebe was proof enough of that. He'd even tried to kill himself over it not long ago, not that Phoebe cared or anyone else for that matter except Darryl. What a surprise he turned out to be. If it weren't for Darryl, he wouldn't have been here today, sane, sober and more alive than he'd felt in over a year.
It all began the morning Cole woke up in the ruins of his penthouse with the worst hangover of his life and wished for the second time that he was dead...but he wasn't. Instead of finding release from the pain that gripped his heart like a vice, he was being made to suffer for his past crimes in the worst way he could imagine, by becoming invincible. Karma really was a b**ch.
Just as he'd decided to sleep off his depression and hangover for the next one hundred or so years, and wake up in another century on his bi- centennial birthday, an urgent knock on the door ended this plan and Cole barely managed to scoop himself off his couch and shuffle to the door. He couldn't imagine who would have bothered to visit him. He'd taken an indefinite leave of absence from his law firm, he had no friends or family with whom he was on speaking terms and the only person he actually cared anything at all about declared the night before that she wanted to vanquish him on her own terms. Of course at this point, there wasn't much left of him to care about.. He was a shell of his former self, a love sick puppy with a bleeding heart dripping blood all over the Halliwell's fine, white carpeting. They never could stand messy situations or complicated ones.
Everything always had to be black or white with them. If he didn't have his powers, he was good. If he had them, he was evil, and if he was the Source, he had to be vanquished without deference to how he became that way or why. There was no room for explanations. Once a demon, always a demon. He seemed to be the only one who knew all the sacrifices he made for Phoebe's sake to prove he was good. He even gave himself up to the Hollow, suspecting the Seer was up to no good, but did it anyway to save her and her sister's lives. He laid down his humanity on Phoebe's doorstep, and she stomped on it till he was finally broken.
Cole opened the door and nearly shut it again on Darryl, except that he'd cleverly wedged his foot in the doorway and entered forcibly. He'd come to answer complaints about what neighbors described as a "bomb blast" that occurred the night before.
Cole kept his eyes and his head leveled on Darryl while over his shoulder, he waved an arm and everything was like new again. The windows were repaired the holes, sealed and the furniture reassembled. Cole smiled and said, "Problem solved. You can go now."
"I can go now. I oughtta tell you where to go, Cole. The problem's not solved. You're the problem, one I'd like to see removed. You were gonna leave town a few months back. I told you then it was a good idea. It's an even better one now. Why don't you just go and leave the Halliwells alone, especially Phoebe. You've put her and her family through enough."
Cole laughed. "If you only knew just how far I tried to go last night...only I couldn't."
All the telltale signs were there; the break in his voice, the manic desperation in his eyes. Darryl had been a detective long enough to know that this man was teetering very near the edge if not already over it. Beside the couch, he saw four empty bottles of Chivas Regal neatly stacked in a row on the floor and a note lay beside it.
Darryl instinctively felt for his gun, making sure it didn't unexpectedly fall into Cole's hands with a wave of his arm and looked around the room for weapons he might have used to kill himself. Over the two and a half years he knew him, Darryl never really did make up his mind whether he liked Cole or not. The only thing he did know, which was in his favor, was that he'd give up his life for Phoebe. Other than that, Cole played it close to the vest, and wasn't exactly the most welcoming kind of guy, unlike like Leo, the poster boy for warm and fuzzy. And yet, something about seeing him in his place, alone and vulnerable, made Darryl more curious than usual to know what made this guy tick.
"Look man, I can't pretend to know what you're going through right now, but I can listen."
Feeling the need to unload, without knowing why exactly, Cole wordlessly led Darryl into his living room where the two men talked for the next three hours. Darryl listened while Cole relayed the events that occurred before and after the Hollow. Darryl listened with skepticism while Cole painted himself to be the martyr and Darryl was not buying a word of it until his eyes drifted to the floor and he read the opened letter that was addressed to Phoebe. It got to him. Cole's words penetrated the thick layer of doubt and a connection was made. Darryl listened with an opened mind after that and the pieces fell correctly into their rightful places.
He believed him, believed there had to be good in any man who could beat down his own demon to love so deeply and decided then and there that he was going to help Cole, not to get Phoebe back but to expand on the kernel of humanity that got him to this point. He had a plan already in mind and within two weeks with Cole's reluctant consent, Darryl enrolled Cole in the Big Brother program he'd begun at the precinct.
That's it for tonight. Will write more soon.