2011 Authors Note - It has probably been years since anyone read this story, but in response to some confused reviewers - this story is Part II of a Trilogy. The order of which is:

Part 1 - Opening Up The Can of Worms

Part II - Letting the Cat Out Of the Bag

Part III - Spilling the Beans.

It is best if you read Opening Up the Can of Worms first.

This is set sometime mid season 7 (in my screwed up timeline, I have brought the battle of Zanku forward so that it happened instead of the Avatar debacle)

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Charmed!

Chapter 1: Are we sitting comfortably? So I'll begin…

"The past is a different country, they do things differently there". Christopher Perry Halliwell stood in his makeshift bedroom in the attic, the opening lines of L.P Hartley's "The Go-Between" resounding in his head. He'd never really understood what it meant, dismissed it as the bemused ramblings of some old bespectacled British author. That is, until he had come to the past, exactly 18 months ago today. His life here was so far removed from the life he had left in the future, that he really did feel as if he was in a different country, a different continent, a different world. More importantly- he was enjoying it. Christopher Perry was actually happy for the first time in years. There was no more worrying about Wyatt turning evil, no lying to his parents. Just the usual demons fights, nothing new there.

In fact, such was his state of contentment; he was surprised to find himself humming as exited his room and made his way downstairs. He passed the door to his mother's room, finding it ajar, he stuck his head in. He found Piper, half dressed in day wear, half still in her night clothes, attempting to wrangle baby Chris into a clean baby grow, while Wyatt sat orbing soft toys at the back of her head.

"Wyatt!" she exclaimed through gritted teeth as a stuffed Nemo bounced off her.

"Having fun?" Chris enquired.

"Two minutes that's all I ask" the exasperated witch cried. "Two minutes of calm so that I can finish getting dressed and run a brush through my hair, but someone is attention seeking. Where's your father when I need him!"

"You know where dad is, and I think Wyatt just misses him"

Leo was up in elderland, after the fall of Zanku, all elders had been on high alert to try and put the magical world back to right. Leo hadn't wanted to go, it had been Pipers insistence that he go help, something that she was now rapidly coming to regret.

"I know, I could just do without it right now"

"I'll take him, c'mere Wy" Chris summoned.

"Kiss" the little boy orbed into his brothers waiting arms.

"Thank you sweetie, I appreciate it, I'll be down in a minute"

"No probs mum, you know I'll do whatever I can to help you, that's why I'm here"

"Yes I know" she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Now scoot!"

Chris smiled, rested Wyatt on his hip and continued on his way to the kitchen. He arrived on the bottom floor to hear the sounds of a rather animated conversation radiating from the kitchen.

"Paige you have to!" Phoebes voice rang out into the hall way.

"Yes mum you do" Jo chimed in.

"No I don't, tell me where it says that it is illegal not to, am I going to be arrested?" the youngest charmed one countered.

"Hey, what's going on?" Chris entered the room, swapping Wyatt onto his other hip.

"Tell her!" Jo pleaded.

"Tell her what?" Chris moved round the centre island and handed Wyatt to his cousin. "Telepathy is not one of my many powers"

"That she has to go to her high school reunion"

"And I repeat. There is no law that says I have to go"

"Why wouldn't you want to go?"

"Gee lemme think…. Piper went to her high school reunion and got possessed by the essence of slut, and nearly started a bar room bitch fight, You went to your reunion and got possessed by the spirit of youth and helped a killer get set free. Now what reason can I possibly think of for not going…?"

"That's not going to happen to you" Jo reassured her.

"Pff! Plus my reunion is going to be twice as long, hence twice the agony"

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"There's some dumb reunion lunch that you can take friends and family to, then there's the actually reunion party in the evening..talk about a slow painful death"

"Paige I've already told you I'll come with you, Jo can orb me back to the manor if anything were to happen to you. It'll be fun, meeting new people, get reacquainted with old friends"

"Yeah, right. Because you haven't got an ulterior motive have you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're hoping that this might give you the chance to meet Robert Clune aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Really? Because to be fair, I think the furniture even knows what you mean. Ever since Chris told you that the love of your life was Robert Clune, you have been hell bent on finding him, so going to this reunion will give you the chance to meet a whole bunch of new people, one of whom could be this dude"

"That's so not true"

"She googled his name the other day" Jo interrupted. "I went to check my emails and when I checked the search history, his name came up"

"What? I am not that obsessed"

"Yes" Piper called as she entered the room "you are..or was it your imaginary twin I caught going through all the local telephone directories?"

"People" Phoebe seethed, slightly embarrassed that her searching had been that obvious "I think we are missing the point here, that is, that Paige should go to her reunion"

"Why wouldn't you want to go?" Piper asked

"Don't you start!..Look I didn't exactly hang round with the greatest bunch of people at high school, they are probably all in jail or junkies, and I don't really want to see them again."

"What about Glen?"

"I haven't seem him since he swanned off into the sunset with that Jessica woman, I don't even know if he's going"

"You won't know unless you go" Phoebe added

"ENOUGH!" Paige stood up "Come on Jo we're going to be late"

"Where are you going?" Phoebe asked

"I'm dropping Jo at her grandparents, and then going to the Dentist. Why? Do you want to come with me? I don't think there are any Roberts who work there, but I could always ask."

"Ha Ha"

"Or you could come to the supermarket with me and Chris" Piper suggested "I think there might be a Bob who works on the deli counter"

"Very funny, the lot of you! Thanks but no thanks, I'm going to stay here and work on my column for this week"

"Well you know where we are if you need us" Chris called as the crowd gathered their belongings and trooped outside

"Have fun y'all" Phoebe drawled as the front door slammed shut.

She sighed, gathering her laptop and her papers from the side, she strolled into the sunroom to begin work. She hadn't minded the banter from her sisters, but some of it had hurt. Was it so wrong for her to want to find love again? To well and truly lay the ghost of Cole to rest, find happiness with another man, someone who unlike Jason, must truly have accepted her witchly powers.

The sound of the back door flying open and foot steps in the kitchen drew her attention. Paige. Phoebe thought, her little sister despite having the ability to orb objects to her, was always forgetting things.

"what did you forget?" she called, making her way back toward the kitchen, to help Paige find whatever it was that she had misplaced, most likely her car keys. She pushed the door open, looked up and froze on the spot. Cole Turner, dressed in black, a wild look in his eyes, and sporting a 5 o'clock shadow, stood brazenly by the centre island.

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"dammit!" Piper cursed as she trapped her fingers in the buckle in her attempt to strap baby Chris into his car seat.

"Let me" Chris flicked his wrist and the buckle flew into the holder.

"Personal gain" Piper admonished, but she didn't really mean it.

"well they owe us a few" Chris settled Wyatt into his seat, Piper watching him closely.

" You don't have to come with us Chris, it's only the supermarket"

"I don't mind, I like spending time with you" he replied, instantly regretting it when he caught the look on his mothers face. It was the taboo subject, always avoided yet still present in the back of his mind: her death. He kept wondering, was she still alive in the changed future? was it merely Wyatt turning evil that had unleashed the chain of events leading to her death? Or was her destiny a separate entity? If so Wyatt could be elected pope and she would still die within weeks of Chris'14th Birthday. These were the unspoken questions, to which he had no answers.

"Still, you should be out and about, hanging out with your friends"

"I don't have any friends in this timeline remember"

"Well, you..ARRRRRRRRR" Piper screamed and threw herself onto the back seat of the car as a loud boom echoed down the street. Chris jerked his head up, a car had back fired, 5 houses away.

"Mom, it's okay it was just a car"

He looked at her pale and shaking on the back seat, hugging Wyatt and baby him close to her.

"Oh" She began to laugh nervously at her overreaction. "Oh right, shall we go?"

Chris watched her as she got out and walked round to the drivers side of the car, still visably shaking but trying to hid it. He frowned, she'd been rather jumpy lately, a little highly strung, but he had put that down to hormones and her not sleeping very well. Getting into the passenger seat he made up his mind to keep a closer eye than usual on her.

Ntocing him watching her, Piper looked at him "I'm fine, honestly" with that she put her foot down and they sped away.

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Phoebe was rendered temporarily speechless-if some one had paid her millions of dollars to speak at that moment she really couldn't have uttered a word.

Cole took a tentative step forward and deposited a pile of blankets on the table. So good so far he thought. Just Phoebe on her own, this was working out better than planned, he had imagined that he might have had to cause a diversion in order to get rid of Piper and Paige, but they didn't appear to be near.

"What are you doing here?" she stuttered, finally regaining her voice.

"Hello to you too" the half demon replied, stalling as he wondered how best to explain his current predicament.

"Don't get funny with me Cole, you're supposed to be dead, we vanquished you, and what is it now? Twice nearly 3 times?"

"You know me, never stay dead for long" he quipped before his voice suddenly took on a serious tone. "You have to help me.."

"What? You shimmer in here after 4 years of being dead, give me the fright of my life, and suddenly I have to help you? What is this?" Phoebe was determined, every time he came back into her life had had won her over somehow, but oh no, she was stronger this time; she would not allow herself to be manipulated again.

"You don't understand"

"Damm right I don't"

"I don't have time to explain right now"

"Well you see Cole, that's where you're going wrong, if you want my help, and I can't possibly think why you would, you need to start explaining pronto"

"Phoebe!"

His voice was so forceful that just for the tiniest fraction of a second she felt something that she had never felt before when with him, not even when he was possessed by the Source, she felt: fear.

"A demon attacked, and a friend of mine was injured "Cole offered by way of an explanation "he was poisoned by a cursed sword, and we need an antidote."

"How does this affect me? Surely you are as capable as anyone of mixing together a potion"

"I need your help because..." He took a deep breath, knowing that she was not going to like what was coming next. "The antidote required needs the blood of a charmed one to work"

"What? No, No, No!"

"Hear me out"

"Well, if we suspend reality for a second and forget all that you have done to hurt me and my sisters, all the lives you have ruined, the damage you have inflicted, the pain you have put me through…if we pretend that I have temporarily lost my mind and agreed to help my demon of an ex-husband who has been missing assumed dead for the past 4 years…How do I even know which demon this is? You could be making this all up…. No! The blood of a charmed one? Do you know what kind of danger could be brought about by the blood of a charmed one getting into the wrong hands, how do I know you won't take the blood and sell it to the highest bidder?"

"It's the Kyriad Demon and I'll mix the antidote myself here in front of you"

"The Kyriad demon? I'll have to and check the book of shadows first before I think about.."

"We don't have time, an innocent could lose his life"

There was an urgent almost begging tone in his voice, something that Phoebe had never seen before, a pleading look in his eyes. She almost gave in, except almost wasn't enough, the image of the man she loved, proclaiming to be the source of all evil flashed before her eyes.

"An innocent? I don't think anyone can be that innocent if they are hanging around with you Cole"

Cole stepped over to the table and moved the pile of blankets to reveal a young boy, around Wyatts age, dark hair and pale skinned, his eyes shut, his breathing slow and heavy as if in a deep sleep.

"It's a little boy Phoebe, just a little boy" the pleading note returned to his voice.

"I..." be strong her inner voice was saying, he's deceived you in the past, it could be a trick.

Cole began to panic, this wasn't as easy as anticipated, there was only one thing left for it: emotional black mail.

"How would you feel if it was Wyatt?"

"That is below the belt, even for you" Her eyes flashed with anger. "You know that my sisters and I would do anything and everything to prevent him coming to harm"

"So why not for him" Cole pointed to the sleeping child. "He's just a little boy too"

"How do I know that? How do I know that this isn't some kind of spell that we give him the antidote and he turns into a 6ft demon who then proceeds to attack me?"

"You know, because it's me, you know because deep down you trust that I'm telling the truth."

"Trust you. I couldn't trust you as far as I could throw you!"

It was an empty gesture, she was beginning to weaken, he could tell, as an empath, the middle sister was more in touch with her emotions than the other, and she wouldn't

stand to see a child suffer, even if that child was associated with him.

"I'm begging you"

Begging you. The words unsettled Phoebe. Cole Turner did not beg. Cole Turner, the mighty Balthazar, one time Source of All Evil, and powerful DA, demanded, he asked, cajoled, deceived, killed and fought people. Begging is what people who are desperate do, and Cole was not that kind of person, he had too much power. She looked up, met his gaze properly for the first time since he had reappeared. There was a certain sense of vulnerability in his eyes.

"Alright. I'll help" as usual he mouth was one step ahead of her brain.

Cole smiled, he knew it, he knew he would win her over; patience was one of the few virtues he did possess.

"But if I find out that this is all a trick then, I will not stop until I have vanquished your sorry ass again."

"Good" He replied, a feeling of relief washing over was all going to plan. "I'll show you what to do."

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