Title: Exit Strategy

Author: Dez/Jezebel Jinx/VampireQueen21

Rating: Mature

Couple: Liz/Cole, slight Phoebe/Cole

Set During: Exit Strategy S3 and post-Harvest but pre-Wipeout

Summary: Cole has to go back into the Underworld and rejoin the Brotherhood to find out what they know about the upcoming evil plans. But he has someone watching his back, his ex-demon lover Liz Parker.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, absolutely nothing I swear. The characters all belong to people who aren't me. I'm also borrowing lines from the episode Exit Strategy. The lines don't belong to me.

Warning: I'm not nice to Phoebe, there will be slight bashing of her character, and really did you expect her to not get burned in someway.

A.N. Alex is still alive, Tess never killed him. More than likely Tess won't be evil in this fic, I'm sure she'll have her bitchy moments like all the characters but for the most part she will be fairly good.

A.N. 2: This is not a part of the Hidden Demon Series, this is completely separate. With that series it's set mostly in the Roswell world with a bit of Charmed thrown in. This fic will be mostly set in the Charmed world with a bit of Roswell thrown in, there's still plenty of Roswell but for the most part it will be set in Charmed.

Posting Schedule: I already have up to Chpt 10 done so for about the first 2-3 months the chapters will be pretty regular but after that it will start to slow down a little bit.

Prologue

Halliwell Manor

"They've sent me on an assignment." Cole whispers against Phoebe's lips, he's missed her so much, it's only been a week but its felt like months. He grips her close not willing to let her go just yet. "One that I…if I turn down…"

Phoebe clutches the lapels of his all black suit and stares lovingly at his kisses swollen lips, "What assignment? What kind of assignment?" Her gaze rises to his eyes, such conflicting emotions are seen in the depths of his dark green eyes. Pain. Love. Confusion. What kind of assignment is so bad that he has that expression?

"I can't tell you." He snorts out; she's not going to like that, Phoebe always has to know everything that's happening even if she doesn't truly want to know.

"W-Ah," She can't even start her sentence let alone finish it, why can't Cole tell her. He takes her hand and guides her to the foot of her bed and they sit side by side. Phoebe only has to wait a few seconds For Cole to tell her.

"They've, ah, asked me to steal an amulet, from a witch." There it's out in the open, he loves his little witch but she's not going to be happy about this development. He wasn't either but he doesn't see any other way to get Raynor off his back.

Wait a minute, did he just say… "A witch?"

"Don't worry, I won't hurt her." Cole tries to reassure her but his small laugh at the end of his statement doesn't help matters much.

"Well, that's good news Cole. You can't do this." Phoebe can hardly believe he's even considering seeing this assignment through. It will destroy him and he doesn't seem to care.

Cole shoves off Phoebe's bed. "Do you think I want to dammit? Phoebe I just have to buy some time so I can figure a way out, in the mean time I have to at least pretend to be evil." Please understand my love, he thinks to himself, it's killing him to see her face scrunched up in pain at what he has to do.

"No but don't you see…if you turn into Balthazor than you will be evil." She wants to believe Cole is strong enough to fight back his demon half but Phoebe isn't sure she has that much faith anymore. Cole is so disheveled and sweating profusely, he looks like he's close even now while he's speaking to her. He's hanging on by a thread.

"What makes you think I'll have too?" Doesn't she trust him anymore?

"Well because an amulet protects, it takes someone of great strength to overcome that." Does he have the strength to fight his demon, she knows he had it but does he still? "Why do you think they chose you?" As Balthazor he is powerful and more determined than any other demon she's ever met.

"To set me up perhaps." How could he have been so blind? "Raynor may be on to me." Cole moves back to the bed and stares across the room at nothing.

"Whose Raynor?" Phoebe questions.

"He's the head of the Brotherhood and my old mentor he has the power to read thoughts," he shrugs his shoulder, "if he's read mine…" Cole leaves the sentence unfinished Phoebe knows exactly what he's going to say if he completes that sentence.

Phoebe kneels down beside him and stares up into his gorgeous green eyes. "Prue and I will come with you," she strokes his face, "and watch your back—"

Cole cuts her off sliding her hand away from his face, he was afraid she would volunteer to come along. He couldn't let her do that; he already has someone else in mind that will watch his back. Someone he trusts probably more than Phoebe. "No, no, you can't, that could be exactly what Raynor expects you to do, he could be setting me up to get to you. I know someone who can help me though."

"Who? Can he be trusted?" Automatically assuming that this old friend of his is a 'he'.

"She, and yes she can be trusted, but dammit I don't want to do this to her. For the past four years she's been living a normal demon free life." He scrubs his hands over his face.

"Who is she?" Phoebe asks again, what was it about this woman that Cole trusted completely? And he did trust her completely, no way would he put his life in someone's hands unless he did.

Sighing and coughing uncomfortably he tells her. "She used to go by the name Elizeran, I'm sure you'll find her in the Book of Shadows your mother tangled with her on a couple occasions. Now that she's hiding from assassins and demonic bounty hunters she calls herself Liz Parker."

TBC