A.N Phew it's been a long time! Having just started re-watching Charmed (thank you on-demand tv!) this fic just won't leave my mind. I am a big Phoebe fan, but she really did just give up on Cole in Season 5. Here is my attempt at making it a little better. This bears no relation to my other story, as you'll see the timings no longer fit together, and I'm not sure whether I will go back and revisit that one after writing this. 'Saving Cole Turner' is not meant to be a long one, but we'll see how it goes. This is set at the end of Season 4 Episode 14 'The Three Faces of Phoebe' and is AU after that.
Disclaimer I do not own Charmed etc.
Chapter 1
Cole wasn't sure how he found the strength. He knew the Source hadn't completely overtaken him, how else could he explain saving the old lady or the affection he felt every time little Phoebe called him her Prince. He heard the lie come out of his mouth, the lie that he was fine, no he wasn't hiding anything, there was nothing Phoebe needed to know about him, and something just snapped. A rage built unlike nothing he had felt since Belthazor, the three faces of his beloved Phoebe flashed through his mind; the innocence of little Phoebe, the love of his Phoebe, and finally the bitter truth that awaited in the face of old Phoebe. It was that face that stuck, that face that at first he could barely recognise belonged to Phoebe Halliwell but, at the end, when she had saved him even after all the pain he had put her through, all the heartache, he saw her. Really saw her. And he saw what would become of the Phoebe in his arms now if he kept up the lie.
"Phoebe…"
"Hm?"
Cole pinched his eyes closed, a raspy voice deep in his mind screaming at him to just give up and die already, the voice of the Source, but all he was concentrating on was the face of old Phoebe, and he let out a breath.
The premonition hit Phoebe so hard that for a moment she thought that the breath she sucked in would be her last. She saw the past; Cole taking in the Hollow and saving them all from the Source, the Seer's cryptic message that the vanquished Source's powers had gone 'into the void', Cole flaming, using the Source's powers, plotting with the Seer…then she saw the future. She saw herself, evil, the Queen of the Underworld standing beside Cole at his coronation, Piper and Paige broken and sobbing as the Power of Three was broken once again, fire so much fire, then she saw herself chanting as Cole, her Cole, the Source, was vanquished. The premonition suddenly changed again. She was older, men were leaving her, family wasn't fulfilling her, she was bitter so bitter and angry, and then she was old Phoebe, sitting alone in a cold room and sobbing over a picture taken many years ago, the picture which now in the present sat pride of place on her dresser.
The premonition ended as violently as it had begun and Phoebe lurched forward, head between her knees as she gasped for air. She felt a hand on her back, heard her name from the lips of the man she loved, the man who had lied to her… Slowly she looked up, brown eyes brimming with tears and when she turned slowly to look at Cole, saw the anguish on his worn face and the light slowly dimming in his beautiful eyes, she knew what she had to do.
"Save me Phoebe…"
The words caught in Cole's throat and he felt the familiar sensation of the Source beating him down, felt the tingle in his stomach of a pull he couldn't resist, and Phoebe shielded her eyes as Cole flamed out of her bedroom.
