Love's Learning Curve
Synopsis: Cole's first assignment as a member of the Love Squad.
PG13 rating based on language and love scenes.
Disclaimer: For entertainment purposes only and not meant to infringe on legal copyrights to these characters. These rights are owned individually by the WB, NBC, and Universal.
Chapter One
In Ere:
"Great grandfather I don't mean to sound difficult but there is no way I can pull this assignment off. I'm not ready. Isn't there someone with more experience who could handle this one? It's going to be such a difficult case and I'm a complete greenhorn. In fact, wouldn't it be great if either you or Aphrodite could take care of this matter personally? I mean you two were probably the coauthors of the Book of Love right? You're the absolute best and shouldn't our subject have the best?"
Erin smiled at him and poured him another cup of an unidentifiable but rather delicious tasting brew. It must be a specialty of his great grandparent's cook," Cole thought. He and Erin were sitting on a balcony of Morrigan and Erin's castle after finishing a delicious meal. Their wives had disappeared together right after dessert to give the two me some bonding and discussion time. "Cole, I do so love you and your brother John. The two of you do wonders for my image. No doubt your inborn talent for blarney has served you well in the courtroom. You cannot, however, fool your greatest grand da," Erin said. He'd adopted the title John gave him as promised. I was created with it too remember and have been perfecting it longer. You are not getting out of this one."
"I don't understand why John can't do it. He's known Bailey a hell of a lot longer. Heck the man has been like a father to him." "You've already answered part of your own question my boy. John is too close to the situation to be objective; besides even though I am equally proud of both of you as men, in matters of the heart you will always have a slightly deeper understanding. You will always be the more powerful god of love because of the intensity of the bond you share with your bride."
"John has Prue," Cole said feeling a need to protect John's honor. Erin raised his hand to stop his great grandson's automatic defense of his twin. "Don't misunderstand me lad. I'm not saying John's love for his wife is not strong. It is just relatively young when compared to yours for Phoebe. The two of you have been together for more past lives and your current relationship is also more steady and mature. John and Prue will be inseparable that I can guarantee. They are more volatile, however, due to their personalities and they are still learning their way. While their love is passionate yours and Phoebe's is what legendary romances are made of. The two of you are the kind of couple that sonnets and love songs are all about. Are you beginning to understand a little bit more why I want you for this job?"
"Yes! It's just that I love to win. Damn it! It must be the lawyer in me. Trying to get Bailey to let go of the feelings he's harbored for Sam for so long is going to be difficult at best. Helping him find and recognize his true soul mate seems damn near impossible. I can't believe there's anyone strong enough to handle him. He's rather formidable and this is coming from me. Someone who single handedly killed the Triad and went up against the Source. Maybe Cupid could loan me one of his arrows?"
Erin chuckled and put his arm around Cole's shoulders. "If you were listening at the last meeting of the Love Squad instead of sharing telepathic love notes with Phoebe you might have heard Cupid explain to you the purpose of his arrows. They are for people who have lost their ultimate love due to the sometimes-random cruelty of the universe. They are also for those unfortunate few who aren't lucky enough to have the fates bless them with a soul mate. Those arrows make it so those lonely people will at least have a chance at finding companionship and the warmth of another form of love in their lives.
Bailey is not meant to be one of the lonely. He has a true love he just doesn't know it yet and he needs you to guide him. You need to teach him how to open his eyes and his heart wide enough to recognize her when she enters his life."
"Okay if you say so but how the hell am I supposed to know who she is?" Cole asked. He was feeling so frustrated and it didn't help any when Erin smirked at him. "All right you made your point," Cole conceded. I should have been paying attention but hey I was perfecting a new power. How did you know what we were doing anyway?" he asked fighting a sense of embarrassment that the very intimate silent conversation between he and his wife had been picked up. There were some things meant to be intensely private and not shared in a kiss and tell.
"You upstarts forget that while we original gods may not be omnipotent like the Light or as wise as Zeus we still know quite a bit about what is going on around here. Don't worry you are not in trouble for it. In fact we all found it rather endearing especially Dite. Those kinds of things just tickle her as pink as her robes. There is work to be done, however, so I shall once again fill you in on the information you missed." "I would be so grateful," Cole replied.
Before we begin that discussion, however, I thought we might talk about something else. A distinctly uncomfortable feeling crept through Cole. He knew where
his great grandfather was most likely headed and he really didn't want to go there. "And what is that," he asked.
"Oh for instance what's been happening to you recently. Those were some pretty tough shots you took with having to come face to face with Belthazor again and then being forced to watch him escape. Not to mention your meeting O'Doyle for the first and last time." "I've already dealt with those issues great grandfather and I don't mean you any disrespect here but both those topics of conversation are permanently closed with the only exception being strategic talks about how to bring Belthazor to justice."
"I'm sorry lad but I know you say you've dealt with them but I don't believe you. You've been as rock solid as a mountain for John, Phoebe and the rest of the family. . You even have the granite-faced expression down to a science but you will never convince me that it isn't a mask to hide the pain you have to be feeling inside. Trust me enough to know I will think no less of you for expressing your grief. Let me help you. Talk to me."
Cole couldn't deal with this right now and was unable to contain his angry outburst: "What part of I don't want to have this conversation didn't you understand? Just let me be." He orbed out of the room and onto the castle's grounds. Like Olympus Ere had areas of land, grass, trees, flowers, and water masses to keep those who had come to think of earth as home from getting too homesick.
Stalking off to a darkly shaded glen Cole sat down on the ground with his back against a snarled old tree and buried his face in his hands. He was so glad that while he and Phoebe could communicate telegraphically they had agreed never to intrude on one another's individual thoughts unless invited. He knew how much she hurt when he hurt and there was no way he wanted to cause her this much sorrow and despair. He fought like hell from surrendering to it himself but no matter how hard he tried he could not keep the gut wrenching sobs from wracking his body.
Synopsis: Cole's first assignment as a member of the Love Squad.
PG13 rating based on language and love scenes.
Disclaimer: For entertainment purposes only and not meant to infringe on legal copyrights to these characters. These rights are owned individually by the WB, NBC, and Universal.
Chapter One
In Ere:
"Great grandfather I don't mean to sound difficult but there is no way I can pull this assignment off. I'm not ready. Isn't there someone with more experience who could handle this one? It's going to be such a difficult case and I'm a complete greenhorn. In fact, wouldn't it be great if either you or Aphrodite could take care of this matter personally? I mean you two were probably the coauthors of the Book of Love right? You're the absolute best and shouldn't our subject have the best?"
Erin smiled at him and poured him another cup of an unidentifiable but rather delicious tasting brew. It must be a specialty of his great grandparent's cook," Cole thought. He and Erin were sitting on a balcony of Morrigan and Erin's castle after finishing a delicious meal. Their wives had disappeared together right after dessert to give the two me some bonding and discussion time. "Cole, I do so love you and your brother John. The two of you do wonders for my image. No doubt your inborn talent for blarney has served you well in the courtroom. You cannot, however, fool your greatest grand da," Erin said. He'd adopted the title John gave him as promised. I was created with it too remember and have been perfecting it longer. You are not getting out of this one."
"I don't understand why John can't do it. He's known Bailey a hell of a lot longer. Heck the man has been like a father to him." "You've already answered part of your own question my boy. John is too close to the situation to be objective; besides even though I am equally proud of both of you as men, in matters of the heart you will always have a slightly deeper understanding. You will always be the more powerful god of love because of the intensity of the bond you share with your bride."
"John has Prue," Cole said feeling a need to protect John's honor. Erin raised his hand to stop his great grandson's automatic defense of his twin. "Don't misunderstand me lad. I'm not saying John's love for his wife is not strong. It is just relatively young when compared to yours for Phoebe. The two of you have been together for more past lives and your current relationship is also more steady and mature. John and Prue will be inseparable that I can guarantee. They are more volatile, however, due to their personalities and they are still learning their way. While their love is passionate yours and Phoebe's is what legendary romances are made of. The two of you are the kind of couple that sonnets and love songs are all about. Are you beginning to understand a little bit more why I want you for this job?"
"Yes! It's just that I love to win. Damn it! It must be the lawyer in me. Trying to get Bailey to let go of the feelings he's harbored for Sam for so long is going to be difficult at best. Helping him find and recognize his true soul mate seems damn near impossible. I can't believe there's anyone strong enough to handle him. He's rather formidable and this is coming from me. Someone who single handedly killed the Triad and went up against the Source. Maybe Cupid could loan me one of his arrows?"
Erin chuckled and put his arm around Cole's shoulders. "If you were listening at the last meeting of the Love Squad instead of sharing telepathic love notes with Phoebe you might have heard Cupid explain to you the purpose of his arrows. They are for people who have lost their ultimate love due to the sometimes-random cruelty of the universe. They are also for those unfortunate few who aren't lucky enough to have the fates bless them with a soul mate. Those arrows make it so those lonely people will at least have a chance at finding companionship and the warmth of another form of love in their lives.
Bailey is not meant to be one of the lonely. He has a true love he just doesn't know it yet and he needs you to guide him. You need to teach him how to open his eyes and his heart wide enough to recognize her when she enters his life."
"Okay if you say so but how the hell am I supposed to know who she is?" Cole asked. He was feeling so frustrated and it didn't help any when Erin smirked at him. "All right you made your point," Cole conceded. I should have been paying attention but hey I was perfecting a new power. How did you know what we were doing anyway?" he asked fighting a sense of embarrassment that the very intimate silent conversation between he and his wife had been picked up. There were some things meant to be intensely private and not shared in a kiss and tell.
"You upstarts forget that while we original gods may not be omnipotent like the Light or as wise as Zeus we still know quite a bit about what is going on around here. Don't worry you are not in trouble for it. In fact we all found it rather endearing especially Dite. Those kinds of things just tickle her as pink as her robes. There is work to be done, however, so I shall once again fill you in on the information you missed." "I would be so grateful," Cole replied.
Before we begin that discussion, however, I thought we might talk about something else. A distinctly uncomfortable feeling crept through Cole. He knew where
his great grandfather was most likely headed and he really didn't want to go there. "And what is that," he asked.
"Oh for instance what's been happening to you recently. Those were some pretty tough shots you took with having to come face to face with Belthazor again and then being forced to watch him escape. Not to mention your meeting O'Doyle for the first and last time." "I've already dealt with those issues great grandfather and I don't mean you any disrespect here but both those topics of conversation are permanently closed with the only exception being strategic talks about how to bring Belthazor to justice."
"I'm sorry lad but I know you say you've dealt with them but I don't believe you. You've been as rock solid as a mountain for John, Phoebe and the rest of the family. . You even have the granite-faced expression down to a science but you will never convince me that it isn't a mask to hide the pain you have to be feeling inside. Trust me enough to know I will think no less of you for expressing your grief. Let me help you. Talk to me."
Cole couldn't deal with this right now and was unable to contain his angry outburst: "What part of I don't want to have this conversation didn't you understand? Just let me be." He orbed out of the room and onto the castle's grounds. Like Olympus Ere had areas of land, grass, trees, flowers, and water masses to keep those who had come to think of earth as home from getting too homesick.
Stalking off to a darkly shaded glen Cole sat down on the ground with his back against a snarled old tree and buried his face in his hands. He was so glad that while he and Phoebe could communicate telegraphically they had agreed never to intrude on one another's individual thoughts unless invited. He knew how much she hurt when he hurt and there was no way he wanted to cause her this much sorrow and despair. He fought like hell from surrendering to it himself but no matter how hard he tried he could not keep the gut wrenching sobs from wracking his body.