Title: Business Deal
Disclaimers: Can you imagine me getting money for this? Of course I don't own anything. Also, the idea occurred to me while reading one of Nina's fics and it has some similarities with it, so I'm giving her credit too.
Genre: kind of satirical I guess.

Rating: PG-13. Nothing you couldn't deal with.
Summary: It's about the unlikely alliance of Coop and Cole.

Set: Sometime after Coop and Phoebe get married.

Pairing: Coop/Phoebe/Cole.

Notes: I don't know much about Coop, in fact hardly anything, cause I haven't seen many episodes with him in it, and I don't wish to! So please excuse my mistakes, but point them out to me at the same time so I can improve.

And I don't feel sad for him. Not one bit!

Coop stepped out of their bedroom and leaned on the door frame outside after having watched his wife sleeping warily and rather woefully for the last two hours. Their drunkenness last night had cost them so much and Phoebe didn't even know about it. She had been too inebriated to remember the things she mumbled in her sleep, the name he called him when making love. And if only that would've been the most hurtful thing she'd said! Coop always knew that he'll never be able to enter one bit of Phoebe's heart, but he didn't think he could only be a somebody she settled with eventually when she wanted a family. He was at a good place at a good time for this, that was it and he was himself so drunkenly in love with her that he didn't care back then how much she loved him, a tiny bit was enough so that he could stay with her. It always caused him pain to imagine his wife was thinking about another, so he just didn't think about it. He didn't count with the stab in the heart later, he was a cupid, he was supposed to be able to make her warm up to him over the years even without spells or potions, anything was possible. But it was the other way, their relationship was more off than ever. He didn't read the signs before cause he didn't want to read them. The initial sparkle from her eyes was gone a long time ago, she somehow seemed melancholic and conflicted a lot, her body language sad or tired towards him. She was the one breaking kisses, hugs, stepping back as if to avoid him. He thought it was just the way she was, not big on actual sex, just fantasies, he thought they didn't have secrets after she told him how she even had sexual thoughts about their arch enemy, Zankou in the past. Of course, she's always been drawn to demons. If not for last night she would've carried her secret with her forever or at least for a very long time. He didn't know her at all! He was angry with her. She was mean and didn't love him like she should have. He loved her with all his heart and got nothing in return! He should leave her. There was nothing there for him, it would've just hurt more and he didn't want a wife who kept such important things from him, nor did he wish for a wife who was so miserable with him. It would've been the best course of action, leaving her, logically, but did he go with logic? He was a cupid after all. There were feelings there he couldn't discount now that his muddled mind started to settle. Although they would both be suffering this way, he still wanted her, even now. Maybe if she knew Cole had stopped loving her? Had Cole stopped loving her? He had to know. It seemed likely, as his ghost/limbo form stopped coming a few years ago. Cole used to bother him a lot, taunt him a lot, anger him popping in and out as he wished without Phoebe being able to see or know about him when she was in danger. He sometimes helped, sometimes just stood by making sure she was okay. Nevertheless, Cole had given up, he said so himself. After that he hasn't seen him, or felt him about. It could've only been because he indeed didn't come, otherwise as a cupid he would've seen a creature in between worlds and realities. What if he paid Cole a visit this time? He felt drawn to him all of a sudden, Cole might have a chance to have a good laugh at the expense his ill-fated marriage, but would that not help his confused state? Were they not so alike? Both have been in love with the same woman, a woman who doesn't know how to love back. Neither of them were supposed to fall in love with her either, she was only an assignment. Maybe Cole could tell him how to fall out of love with her or well, or just bad mouthing her, that would do him a lot of good. He had access to all dimensions to be able to infect creatures with love everywhere. Although his assignments have never taken him to limbo yet, all he had to do is sparkle himself over thinking about Cole. The next thing he felt was suffocating and although there was no ground level or floors in limbo, it seemed as if his legs were wriggling well up in the nothingness.

Cole reacted automatically as somebody materialized behind him. If people occasionally rightfully ended up in limbo, it wasn't that way, anybody arriving like this was likely to pose a threat so he grabbed the intruder by the throat without waiting to find out who it was. When he actually recognized the cupid he looked on for a second in astonishment at the weird occurrence, releasing him in his surprise. Then on second thought he used one of his powers he had restricted usage of in limbo instead and grabbed the man's heart as if with a fist and squeezed, producing a much worse effect in him than suffocating. "Just the man I was looking for. Or don't say you've got an assignment to show me love and who I'm to love." He waited for the answer, but then realized the object of his hatred was in too much pain to do anything, so he let go.

"She doesn't...love...me," Coop struggled to get his physical composure back, as his emotional one would never come anyway, "why doesn't she love me?" He tortured both of them with the question.

"You just realized that? Good on you. And now what? I'm supposed to help you with that?? Aren't you the cupid? It's a real bummer though. Reminds me of this other non human, a truly doleful case. But of course that didn't concern you. Smoothing out the way for demons is not what your kind does," he said, hurt over the way of the world and the unfairness of his fate lingering in his green eyes, "I guess you can't blame her. You can infect her with anything, show her other ways to love and why it's worth it, when that wears off she remains who she is. She simply doesn't know how to love you."

"That's right and she never will, because I'm not you!"

"Ah, and this is how she shows her love to me? By shutting down all emotions and remaining pissed off with the entire male race? Did it actually occur to you, or even her, that she might like girls instead? She seems to trust them anyway. I feel nothing but pity for her," he said fierily, but you could've thought it was hate instead from the way it sounded. "I've came to accept her ways. I thought she did love me once, but now I'm not even sure of that. This is just her, pal."

"I'm leaving her. But I'm not sure I could be a cupid either...spreading love? What for? People are not more qualified to love than demons."

"Funny you mention that. Cause I have a plan to make it all worth your while. I stumbled upon a spell that stopped demons from loving thousands of years ago. All I need is a cupid to reverse it and then we'll see who's capable of what and whether it would even be a war between good and evil. Interested?"

tbc

Chapter 2: Spick And Span