Author's Notes: My friend Primrose Empath was part of a Role-Playing Game called "Our Screwed-Up Destiny" when she and her friends explored what could've happened if it hadn't been Prue who stood between the innocent and Shax before Shax threw her through the wall the hardest, so she was the one who died. Primrose Empath let me read the RPG. Although she and the gal playing Paige did a magnificent job, neither of us was very happy with the job the other players did with their characters, especially Phoebe. So we came up with the idea of rewriting it as a fic, but a fic done our way. And she gave me permission to post it here. Remember, this is a totally alternate universe, so anything can happen--and does!

OUR SCREWED-UP DESTINY

written by Esmeralda and Primrose Empath

DISCLAIMER:

I don't own anything Charmed--if I had, the episode "Charmed Again" might have been something closer to this! All of these characters belong to Spelling Productions and The WB, now the CW. This fic was not written for sale, but strictly for the enjoyment of other fans.

PART ONE: "No! No! That's not true..."

"Prue! Prue! I laid down on my bed and got a premonition! Cole was lying on it and I couldn't wake him up! Prue, I can't lose him! Not after just losing..."

"Sorry, Phoebe, there's nothing we can do about it. If you can't wake him up, you can't wake him up."

"But...but, Prue, I got that premonition for a reason."

"Yes, I know you did. But you have to ignore it. Don't you understand? Thanks to you, we're not The Charmed Ones anymore. We can't vanquish demons; we can't save innocents, and we most certainly can't save Cole, no matter how badly you want to or how hard we try!"

"Thanks to me?"

"Yes! Thanks to you! If you hadn't gone after Cole, Leo wouldn't have gone after you and if Leo hadn't gone after you, he would've been able to heal Piper after we were attacked! Don't you understand? Piper's death is your fault!"

"My fault?! But, Prue! Cole!"

"Yes. Cole. Your lover. Your half-demon lover who you put above your sisters, above innocents, above everything. Now thanks to you, our sister is dead, my best friend is dead and so is the Power of Three. Since you fell in love with that half-demon, you've lied to me to the point where I can't even bring myself to trust you anymore. If you love him so much more than you love me or the innocents we could've saved, just go! Go! Find your half-demon lover! Concentrate on him and forget all about me! Because I want to forget all about you! I'll never be able to look at you again without thinking of how you're the one responsible for Piper's death!"

Phoebe stared at her big sister. "No! No! That's not true! That's not true! It's not my fault! It can't be my fault!"

Prue just continued to glare at Phoebe, her eyes the pure green of anger and hate.

Start Flashback (Episode 3.22 All Hell Breaks Loose)

Phoebe: Then I'm hoping you won't need me around here for a while. I wanna try a new potion on Cole. One that'll reverse the spell that turned him bad in the first place.

Piper: Phoebe...

Phoebe: I'm not looking for your approval, Piper, just your support.

Prue: Well, Phoebe, it's sort of hard to give you support when you're just setting yourself up to get hurt again.

Phoebe: Cole is good inside, I know it. And if dark magic did this to him, then how come white magic can't save him? I can't just turn my back, I have to try.

Piper: What do you want us to do?

Phoebe: I want you to use the magic to magic spell to send me down there. I reworded it to make it work.

(Phoebe hands Piper a piece of paper.)

Piper: Uh, Phoebe, that's awfully dangerous. If something goes wrong we won't be able to contact each other.

Phoebe: I'll be safe, I'll be with Cole. And he'll bring me back, so don't worry about that.

Prue: You're banking a lot on that little potion of yours, you know.

Phoebe: No, I'm not. I'm banking on Cole.

End Flashback

Needing to get away from that piercing glare, Phoebe spun on her heels and sprinted out the door. She grabbed her bike and began to ride. She didn't know where she was going; she didn't care where she was going; she just had to get away.

To Be Continued If There's Any Interest...