CHARMED
"Power of the Call"
by shel
© october 2005
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: an unconscious call forces phoebe to re-evaluate some major decisions she's made in her life…
timeline: begins three days after season 8's 'desperate housewitches'…
archive: please don't without expressed permission…
notes: this was written before season 8's 'rewitched' and does not take any of those events into account…there is some reference to season 7's 'the seven year witch'…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
"You're wrong!"
"Calm down, Phoebe!" Darryl requested as he tried to restrain her from bolting off the bed. "The doctors won't release you if you work yourself up into hysteria."
He didn't need to hold her down, she was dizzy enough as it was and she gingerly touched the heavy bandage wrapping her forehead. "I'm not hysterical," she hissed at him as she slowly leaned back into the cushion of the emergency room's bed. She closed her eyes but the darkness still kept spinning. "I'm also not delusional. You're the one hearing things!"
Distressed by the green tinge coloring her face and the fact that her eyes had practically rolled upwards before she'd closed them, he grabbed her hand, "Hey, you feeling sick? You still with me?" He was about to yell for some help when she tugged his hand.
"I'm okay," she tried to assure him, "just the concussion taking its toll. You've got to admit," she unsuccessfully chuckled, "it's more than a bit surprising to hear what you said. I mean when I asked if I'd said anything to the medics at the scene, I meant about magic. You're wrong, you must've misheard."
"I wish I had," he muttered. This was the last thing she needed now.
Phoebe opened her eyes and found her vision slightly blurred by tears that refused to fall. "I unexpectedly have to travel here on business and all I want is to use the opportunity to catch up with some dear friends at a sidewalk café only to have some drunk driver slam into us. Some reunion, huh."
"Typical day for a Halliwell, I'd say," he teased.
"Bennett," she suddenly reminded him. "Julie Bennett." She wished it didn't still sound so strange. "My sist--cousins and I have to be more careful when we're in public," she sighed. "The last thing we need is for someone to overhear and make a connection between us and those sisters."
He glanced around her curtained bed and didn't see any shadows, "Thank you for trusting me with the truth."
She wiped her cheek with the back of her free hand, "After all we put you through, thank you for wanting to be trusted…I miss you, y'know, and not just because you'd always help us. I miss you, you and Sheila…It's funny, we made the best decision we could, one we'd probably make again if we had to, but we didn't have time to think of the consequences of what it really meant to start over."
"It's not just the names, is it?" he realized. "You've had to find new jobs, new --"
"Friends," Phoebe interrupted. "Which is why you're wrong, Darryl."
"Honey, they may both be one-syllable first names but they don't even come close to rhyming." He tried to keep his tone light but he could see the tension already knotting her body.
"Dex is in my life," she declared. "He's a good man and I know he'll make a good father."
"You've only known him, what, a few months," he countered, "and how often do you actually go out, once, twice a week?"
She pulled her hand free, "Don't start. I finally convinced Paige to drop the attitude. Dex isn't a demon and he's not out to kill me."
"But you still don't know him that well," he apologized. "Can't you see that you're rushing things?"
She shook her head and immediately regretted the action. She gulped down the nausea and waited a moment before saying, "I saw us married and I know I was happy."
"You trust your vision that much?"
She nodded but could only reply in a whisper, "I have to."
"Then maybe you have some unfinished business to deal with before you can make that premonition a reality," he suggested. "I'm not wrong, I know what I heard. Sheila heard it too. You called for him not once, not twice, but three separate times."
"It was the pain," she argued. "I didn't know what I was saying, thinking. I'm going to be a mother, Darryl, I'm going to marry Dex, and I'm not going to let anyo--"
"Calm down," he encouraged. "You don't need to convince me, I believe you…But it's not me you have to convince, is it?"
"What d'you mean?" she wondered in a small voice, unable to look at him.
He smiled sadly when he looked at her. She knew exactly what he meant so he patiently suggested, "Don't ignore it, Ph--Julie. Your heart cried out the truth three times this afternoon and maybe you can't deal with it right now while you're hurt but you have to deal with it soon or it will tear you apart and then what will happen to your premonition?"
"I'm scared," Phoebe whispered.
Mindful of her cuts and bruises, he carefully pulled her into his arms, "I know you are, honey, but you're not alone. You have your sisters and, while I may be a couple of thousand miles away, you do have me and that's a promise."
She could no longer find her voice but let him feel her thanks as she burrowed herself deeper into his embrace and finally accepted the reality of the incident.
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Embarrassed that her eyes had been on the pair of brown boots in the window instead of on the others around her, Paige quickly apologized to the one she'd collided with, "It's my fault, I wasn't watching where I was--Dex? Hey, how are you? It's been a while since you've been around to see Julie."
His amused smile faded and he grew uncomfortable, "Two weeks, one day, to be exact, since she dumped me. Look, great seeing you, I'm running late."
She grabbed his elbow as soon as he'd turned away, "Wait a minute, what are you talking about?"
"Thought you were so close to your cousin," Dex accused before he apologized. "I shouldn't have said dumped. Julie was very open and very upset and I guess I'm a bit disappointed. I really liked her, y'know, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."
Paige was still confused, "I don't understand. She's crazy about you, why would she break up with you?"
"Maybe you should ask her," he suggested. "I don't know, maybe you'll understand it better."
She sensed his discomfort and didn't want to keep him, "Um, maybe it would help if you told me your side. What exactly did Julie tell you?"
"That things happened so fast, the circumstances of our meeting so soon after Phoebe's death, her new job," he sighed. "She needed time to process it all."
Paige frowned, "That doesn't sound like her. I know she's seemed quieter lately but I thought that was still due to the accident."
"The accident's what triggered it, she said," Dex continued. "He must have really been something."
She gave a quick shake of her head, "Who?"
"Her ex," he shrugged.
"Her ex?" she whispered. "She told you about him?"
"Not really," he admitted, "and I wasn't ready to hear details at that moment."
"Then how does he figure into it?"
"Julie told me that she'd called his name when she was hurt," Dex replied.
Paige paled, "That can't be, she'd have said something."
He shook his head, "She assured me she'd had no conscious idea of having done it, but it upset her to learn that she had. It made her wonder how much he was still a part of her life and she wanted some space to figure it all out."
"He's gone, what's to figure out?" Paige murmured before she caught the hurt in his eyes, "I'm sorry, Dex. I had no idea but she didn't either and I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know," he agreed, "I told you she was pretty upset by it, like it took her by surprise. Look, Jo, I'm guessing she had her reasons for not telling you so I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't say anything to her."
"I won't," she promised. But she was certainly going to have a talk with Piper and Leo. "I'd better get going. Thanks for telling me and…hang in there, Dex. She's worth the wait."
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"Dammit, I'm not kidding!" Piper exclaimed as she glanced around the empty attic. "You get your butt here right now!" She was just about to say the spell again when he greeted her.
"Piper," he grinned, "we've got to stop meeting like this or Leo will think you've been a naughty little witch."
But she wasn't in the mood for his quips or his smirks and would've blown him up on the spot if she didn't know he was already dead. "Dammit, Cole, I thought you wanted her to be happy! How could you pull her into your world and confuse her? Why can't you let her go?"
All amusement drained away instantly and he frowned, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Paige just told me all about how Phoebe broke up with Dex," Piper went on as she began to anxiously pace the length of the room, "and she never said a word to us about it. Sure, she's been keeping to herself but that's understandable considering that she'd nearly been killed but I do--"
"What?" How could he not have known that Phoebe had been in an accident? "What happened? When?"
She waved away his concern, "Three weeks ago, a car jumped the curb and ran into some tables at the café where she was having lunch but that's not the point, Cole."
He folded his arms across his chest, "Then by all means, Piper, tell me what is the point?"
She pointed her finger at him, "Your time with her is over and if you meant what you said to me in limbo about wanting her to find love, if you want her to be happy, then you have to let her move on. And if she thinks it's with Dex then you have to stay out of it."
"You know damn well I want Phoebe to be happy," he snarled. "I don't want her ending up lost in limbo with me."
"You don't seem so lost to me," she accused.
"It's not heaven," he glared at her. "Now why don't you start over and tell me exactly what's going on?"
Piper stared at him and finally realized, "You really don't know."
"At least you're quicker this time around," he muttered. "Now, who the hell is Dex? Don't tell me," he suddenly groaned, "he's not that artist in her building, is he? Tell me she's not seeing him."
"You know him?"
Cole shook his head in annoyance, "Dammit, he was supposed to be seeing that art dealer."
Her gaze narrowed on him, "What did you do?"
"He's not right for Phoebe," he replied unapologetically.
"Of course he is," Piper glared at him. "He's an artist, very creative, insightful, thoughtful, and he --"
"Come on, Piper," he interrupted in exasperation, "the guy is plaid boring. No offense to Leo, of course."
"None taken, of course," she lied. "I thanked you for your help with me and Leo but what gives you the right to interfere in our lives anymore? In the lives of innocents?" And her eyes suddenly widened, "You're jealous!"
"Of him?" he snorted. "Of course not. But Phoebe needs someone who can match her passion, her lo--"
"Someone like you?" Piper knew she'd hit a nerve and softened her tone, "Phoebe had a premonition, one where she was married to him, to Dex. All she wants is for it to come true."
"Not all her premonitions are meant to come true," he countered, "and sometimes they're seen out of context. All Hallows Eve is coming, maybe she saw themselves in costume."
Piper sank down into the sofa and shook her head as she stared at the floor, "You can't do this, Cole. It's not good for her or for you. You have to let her go, let her lead her own life, make her own choices."
"I have let her go," he angrily insisted. "But I won't let her throw the rest of her life away on some cardboard cutout who will never make her happy the way she deserves."
"Dex is a good man," she declared, "and she is happy."
"Then why am I here?" he snapped. "You want me out of Phoebe's life, why call me? Why get me involved?"
"Because you're already involved," she sighed. "Because Phoebe called for you." She glanced up and saw his surprise, "She didn't know. She doesn't even know we know. Paige only found out because she ran into Dex today who told her that Phoebe had broken up with him two weeks ago…because of you."
Cole's head was spinning from all the information, "Slow down, Phoebe told him about me? Does he know she's a witch?"
Piper shook her head, "She said the accident made her realize things were moving too fast and that it was for a number of reasons including her 'ex' and it wasn't hard for Paige to figure out which 'ex' Phoebe meant."
"How badly was she hurt? Is she okay now?"
"Some scrapes, bruises, and a nasty concussion but she's fine now. At least that's what we thought." She stood and stepped closer to him, "We didn't realize there were some emotional issues going on until Paige talked to Dex. I called Darryl who filled us in on the rest. Both he and Sheila heard Phoebe call your name while they were waiting for the ambulances. And they weren't mistaken, she called for you three different times."
"I didn't hear," he whispered.
"That's a good thing," she quietly told him.
Cole took a deep breath, "So, square one, you want me uninvolved in her life, what do you expect me to do?"
She touched his forearm, "Help her find closure. She was on the East Coast and didn't call out for me or for Paige or even Leo who can't heal her anymore. She cried for you. She wanted you and that's scared her. She'd finally put you in the past, healed her broken heart, but suddenly discovers you're still part of her unconscious thoughts. Set her free, Cole. You're the only one who can."
"I thought I had," he admitted.
She smiled as she shook her head, "No, you haven't. You're as much in love with her today as you were the day you were vanquished. And you still have a hold on her heart."
"I have to go," he suddenly said. "I'll…I'll think about what you've said."
"Thank you," she nodded before she watched him fade from the room. "But I hope you'll do more than think…"
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