DISCLAIMER: THE CHARACTERS AND STORY OF CHARMED DO NOT BELONG TO ME. SOME PLOT LINES IN THIS STORY ARE ALSO INSPIRED BY OTHER FAN FICTION.

Phoebe awoke with a start as the visions were still swirling through her head. Cole holding a knife behind his back with a smile on his face, Cole shrieking in rage and becoming Belthazor, Cold dying, one, two, three, four times . . . Cole's betrayals replayed in her dreams again and again the last two weeks. But when she woke, the only visions she had were simply of Cole. Cole's smile, Cole's eyes, Cole's love.

There was no way to reconcile the two in her mind. She both hated and loved him. She both wished he would come back and that he was gone for good. It had been two weeks since he had left her in the attack with one look that said it all: That after all they had been through, he still loved her, but had finally realized there were more important things than their love. Ironically, this was just what gave her desire to be with him the upper hand – for now. She was still so frightened of Cole and of herself on so many levels. She shivered. As a breeze came in through the open window, but suddenly she got a strange feeling.

"Cole?" she whispered under her breath.

Suddenly he appeared at the foot of her bed as if simply casting off an invisible layer. His muscular arms crossed at his chest over which a light cashmere black turtleneck sweater laid flawlessly. His pants too were crisp and wrinkle-free black. His hair was perfectly in place.

"It's nice to know you can still feel me."

As he spoke she realized how truly beautiful he was. When she had first met him, 5 years ago, she had been in total awe of him – a silly girl. In retrospect she inwardly smiled knowing that it had been more than just his wit, charm and devilishly good looks that had snared her. It was his eyes – which showed his true age and a beautiful sadness.

He stood there, smiling at her, looking perfect and she was wondering if it were intentional or if he always looked this good now. Her mind trailed off . . .

"Phoebe?", Cole looked at her somewhat anxiously.

She blinked rapidly as she came back to her bedroom from a blank stare and cleared her throat. "Huh?", she stammered.

"Are you mad?", he asked quickly with his head cocked, his face braced against any potential outbursts.

"Sh… uh, no, of course not . . ." she said with a forced laugh as she pulled her covers around her, suddenly aware of how 'just woke up' she looked.

"Was it a premonition?", he asked in a business tone.

"Ummm . . . no.", she said fidgeting a little.

He seemed to recognize her expression and a small smirk emerged.

"Don't worry. I've never seen you look more beautiful."

She laughed appreciatively. Amazed at how perceptive he still was. Cole always had a way of reading her thoughts. Suddenly she realized that might be exactly what he was doing. She pushed her suspicion aside as he just stood there smiling at her, waiting for her to say something.

She cleared her throat nervously again and got out of bed, turning her back on him to straighten the covers, and hide her not-made-up face.

"So, what's up? Are you on watch duty or something?".

"Not exactly," he answered as he walked around the other side of the bed to help her, still beaming into her face. She tried to not look self-conscious.

"What does that mean?" she asked forcing the conversation forward.

"What?" he asked back, not able to cover up his distraction this time. He was evidently very pleased that she wasn't screaming at him yet.

"Not exactly."

"Oh, well, I'm not here on assignment, if that is what you mean. But I guess I am sort of 'guarding'".

"Oh. Why? Are you worried about something?"

"Yeah – you."

"Cole, we've been through this before . . . I don't need you to protect me. I am a powerful witch with two other powerful witches, one whitelighter, one avatar and two little future magical people living with me in a magically protected house with the most powerful magical tome known to man or demon at my beck and call. I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF." Even she was surprised at the harshness of her own voice.

Cole's expression had changed back to the worried, bracing face. He put his hands up as if to physically shield himself from her words. She let out a deep sigh.

"Woah, woah, Pheobe. I didn't mean to upset you. I know you can take care of yourself. I'm not here to 'protect' you from something so much as to 'guide' you through something."

Her tone changed to astonished amusement.

"What, you mean like a whiteligther?" she couldn't help the sarcasm.

"Well, sort of, I guess." He said it lightly – he was walking on eggshells.

Phoebe forced a laugh as she threw her throw pillows on the bed distractedly.

"Okay, spill it, Cole." She straightened up and looked at him squarely.

He looked at her for a second with hesitation and then another with delight. He sat down on the freshly made bed as he began to talk.

"Alright, here it is. Now, don't get mad at me, I'm just the messenger. If you want, Leo can back all this up." She nodded expectantly and he continued. "Well, you know what our new goal is. I mean, our common goal. Frankly, I'm not sure if it is going to work. But if it is, then the Charmed ones will be key to it. You will have to be at your peak of power. "

"And?"

"And, apparently, now I haven't been around, but I'll take their word for it, the elders seem to think that you are holding the Charmed ones back."

"What?" she asked reproachfully. He stumbled on, as gently as possible.

"Well, not you per se, but your pain and your anger and your sorrow and your hatred . . . for me."

"Well, that is ridiculous."

"I really don't know Phoebe. As I said, I am just the messenger. But apparently, the elders think that your powers should have developed much farther by now. They think that all these feelings you are holding onto are blocking your energy and thus, the power of three. They think, well, they hope that I can succeed where others have failed."

"At what?" She asked with a bite.

"At helping you heal." He said it with sincerity. Pure, honest. It was unfamiliar turf for them both.

Phoebe sat down, stunned. Her eyes were stinging and she was trying desperately not to let Cole see her cry. In all this time, all she had wanted to do was cry and be held by him and to rage at him and to forgive him. She could feel it pounding in her chest but she was afraid if she let any of it out, it would pour out of her without control. She calmed herself.

"So the elders think I am endangering our plans because I'm not as powerful as I should be?".

"No, because you're not as powerful as you could be. And because the reasons for that lack of power have created a strong energy barrier around you. It makes you vulnerable . . . weak. . . . And it puts all of you in danger."

"So, you agree with them?"

"I think, maybe I do. After all, I know I have plenty of issues of my own. But one of the perks about being an Avatar is that you can choose to rise above human emotions."

She scowled at him as she wondered if this meant he was completely devoid of feeling now – numb.

"Selectively, luckily." He added quickly as he caught her thoughts.

"All I will say is that it might be worth considering that the Elders have your best interest at heart. And by your I mean all earth dwellers."

"Phoebe looked pensive, then her thoughts drifted back to her recurring dreams. Maybe Cole could help her, one way or the other. The one thing she was sure of was that his intentions were not selfish.

"I'll think about it." She said.

"Okay. Well . . . if you decide you want to talk about it some more, I'll be around. Just call me." He said it while looking up, with a casual flick of his wrist.

She nodded and he orbed out. She thought that the orbing was a nice touch. After all, Cole could appear and disappear any way he pleased – shimmer, blink, appear, flame, orb, smoke, whatever. He probably thought that the orbing put her at ease. He was probably right.