CHARMED
"The Apple Peel"
by shel
© july 2006
disclaimer: the charmed ones, cole, and leo, and the rest of the cast of characters we've come to know and love, belong to spelling television, inc. and possible other copyright holders. i intended no true infringement on their copyrights; i only wanted to borrow these marvelous characters for a short time in my own scenarios and hopefully return them no worse for wear; the only things i've gained from this story are the satisfaction and pleasure of having written it and in knowing that others may have enjoyed it too…
rating: pg-13
summary: a deadly attack will change still-newlywed phoebe's life forever…
timeline: about ten months after phoebe marries coop…
archive: please don't without expressed permission…
notes: reference to s7's 'seven year witch,' s3's 'all halliwell's eve,' and s8's 'forever charmed'…please let me know if you enjoyed my tale and why and, if not, why not…and, please, don't bother wasting your time or mine by sending any flames…
Part One
"I love you."
Coop smiled as he held the cell phone next to his ear, "You don't have to say that every time you hang up with me."
"I just want you to know."
"Of course I know," he chuckled, "I'm a Cupid, remember? Besides that, I'm also your husband and we're connected."
"And maybe later we'll see just how well connected…"
"I love you," he grinned, mulling the different possibilities of proving that fact. So caught up by his imagination, he nearly missed a step and he grabbed for the banister which he then firmly held as he continued down the stairs.
"You don't have to keep saying that, y'know."
"Yeah, I do," he responded more seriously than her tease required.
"I'm not insecure or lost anymore," she assured him. "We love each other, Coop, and I have no doubts we're meant to be so what's wrong with saying it out loud as often as we want, whenever we want?"
"Not a thing," he replied distractedly as the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly bristled. He stepped off the last of the stairs and looked around the empty foyer. "How soon 'til you call it a day?"
"Is something wrong? Are the boys okay? Maybe you should call Pi--"
"The boys are fine and Piper needs to handle the mess at the club," he interrupted. He wished he felt as confident as he sounded instead of this wave of anxiety. "I just left Chris who's napping peacefully and Wyatt's playing in the sunroom."
"You could be playing too…"
Despite the suggestive offer, Coop recognized the wariness in her tone. "Everything's fine, Phoebe."
"Then why am I suddenly so scared?"
He frowned, unhappy to have worried her, "Has your empathy come back?"
"You know it's not fully back but like you just said, we're connected. C'mon, Coop, I hear it in your voice. Something's wrong. Y'know, it'll be faster if you come here and pick me up."
He shook his head, "No, sweetie, we're fine here and you need to stay at work. You can't tell me Elise isn't thrilled that for weeks you haven't run out in the middle of the day for a family emergency."
"So I'll say I'm not feeling well."
"Nothing's --"
"I can afford to take the rest of the afternoon."
"Nothing's going on, Phoebe. The boys are fine. I'm fine."
"Coop…"
"I love you, Phoebe," he declared. "See you soon." He'd barely heard her reply in kind when he disconnected the call and shoved the phone into his pocket. He continued to scan the doorways though unsure of what he expected to find.
A sudden wave of hatred flowed through him and he staggered as he rushed to the sunroom. "Wyatt, put up your shield!"
When he lurched into the sunroom, he found Wyatt alone, silently watching him from within the protective bubble. "Good boy, Wyatt." But before he could take a step towards the youngster, a powerful force hit him from behind, throwing him across the room, sending him crashing into the wicker furniture. Dazed, he shook his head to clear it as he scrambled to his knees and yelled to Wyatt, "Go to Chris and shield him!"
Wyatt immediately obeyed and Coop was about to follow in order to bring the boys to safety when he was hit again by a wave of energy. Smacking his head against an end table, he was too stunned to react when he was suddenly grabbed and lifted off the ground by his shoulders. Talons pierced them and shook him as if he weighed nothing at all.
His nose wrinkled from the overwhelming smell of sulfur and rotten eggs behind him and he tried to jerk free but new sets of claws now dug into his ribs. His vision blurred with stinging tears and his heart seized when he realized what was attacking. A Terrdestruamor. Not that the Cupids called their enemy by that name. No, "leech" was more appropriate and, as Coop's unsuccessful struggles to free himself were proving, this attack was no different than cases in the past.
Pain radiated from each spot the claws drew blood and he squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth. Even worse, though, were the waves of negative emotions that began pulsating through him. "Damn Phoebe for not coming home."
His eyes popped open with immediate shame and regret. It wasn't him. It wasn't how he felt. Phoebe was the light of his life, his soul. It was the leech. It was part of the attack. Flood the victim with negative emotions while drawing out all the positive ones until nothing remains of the victim's true soul. "Oh, Phoebe, I'm sorry," he groaned as the creature dug deeper, getting a tighter grip on his body.
Already, hopelessness was filling him. There would be no escape. "No." That was the leech talking. He couldn't give up. He wouldn't. Phoebe needed him. They needed each other. "I love you, Phoebe." Instead of the pain, he concentrated on her. Focusing his energy on love, his love for her, gave him the strength he needed to twist himself free.
Though not without cost. Panting, sweat pouring down his face, Coop fell to the floor, bleeding heavily from the places where the claws had torn skin from his body. He didn't have the strength to transport to safety and had managed to crawl only a foot or two away before he felt a sharp sting to the side of his neck as it was suddenly yanked back. Caught in the vice of the claws once again, his neck now tethered to the demon, he succumbed to the agonizing pain after a last-ditch fruitless struggle and he collapsed limply in the demon's grip.
Unable to fight it any longer, he felt his very essence being pulled from within him and, as consciousness slipped away, the image of Phoebe, radiant at their wedding ceremony, filled his mind and he barely heard the sound of a distant scream before it all went dark.
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"Chopping knife!" Paige demanded before she hurled the orbed item at the demon attacking her brother-in-law. From the corner of her eye, she saw Phoebe standing next to her frozen with horror. Her ears still ringing from Phoebe's scream, her eyes riveted to Coop's torn body, it hadn't yet registered that the insect-like creature was sucking some sort of pink energy from Coop's neck through the tentacle extended from its torso.
The knife was uselessly sticking out of the demon's body. Paige thought it didn't even realize it was injured and immediately called for another of Piper's knives. This time, her attack was met with a high-pitched series of angry clicking sounds.
Simultaneously, Phoebe had snapped from her shocked state and launched herself at the demon hurting her husband. But, to her renewed horror, while her successful attack had torn the creature from Coop, blood now gushed from his neck.
Sprayed with her husband's blood, fury replaced fear and she began pummeling the demon. Unconcerned by the scratches and gouges she was receiving in return, she managed to grab each of the knives from its side and began stabbing at the tough skin. Not even hearing the high-pitched shrieks, she attacked with a vengeance until the demon finally burst apart in a rain of black confetti that turned to ash the moment it touched the floor.
Knocked to the floor, it took Phoebe a moment to recover and, when she did, she raced back to her husband's side where Paige was already attempting to heal him. Not wanting to interfere with Paige's aid, she simply squeezed Coop's hand tightly, "I love you. Don't leave me. We're meant to be, you can't leave me now. I love you, Coop. Please stay with me. We have our whole lives ahead of us. Please don't leave me…Please…"
Though she concentrated on the worst wound, Coop's neck, it didn't take long for Paige to realize she'd be unable to save him. She glanced at her pleading sister and her heart ached knowing that Phoebe was, once again, about to lose the man she loved. Taking a deep breath she tried again and, as she concentrated solely on Coop and sealing the wound, her hands glowed once more. But the glow wasn't as strong as it should have been and Coop was still bleeding heavily. With a tearful sigh, she knew Coop had only minutes left and, wanting to give her sister some semblance of privacy, Paige withdrew her hands and began to move away.
"Wait, what're you doing?" Phoebe gasped when she realized her sister had scooted back. "He's still bleeding." When Paige didn't answer and couldn't look her in the eyes, she shook her head in denial and squeezed Coop's hand tighter, pressing it close to her heart. "No," she whispered to him. "No," she more forcefully ordered to her sister, "you come back here, Paige. You're a Whitelighter. You heal him. Now, Paige. You have to help him." But tears fell from Paige's eyes and Phoebe cried to her, "I love him. I'm begging you, Paige, please, please, help him."
Paige, trying to contain her emotions, was forced to admit, "He's dying, Phoebe."
"No!"
"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry, but I can't help him. I wish to God I could but I can't."
"Then, dammit, get someone who can!"
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