"You know we really should try to do something so that Cole can't be possessed again. That whole void in him thing seems like its just asking for trouble, and it seems like it makes him very susceptible to possession" Paige said.
"Actually, you're right. We really should do that now, just in case the source gets the bright idea to take him over again" Phoebe said.
"But how do we do that? I mean the void was cased by vanquishing Balthazar, so what can we do, get him back?" Piper asked.
"God no!" Phoebe exclaimed.
"Well maybe there is some way to, I dunno, stretch his humanity to cover it all, a spell or potion or something" Paige said.
"Alright, we should look into that" Phoebe said.
"Well you're gonna have to do that without me" Paige said.
"Why" Piper asked.
"I have to go to work, I can't just keep missing days" Paige said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot" Piper said.
"Alright, so then Piper and I can work on that" Phoebe said.
The girls turned when they heard the doorbell ring. And all three headed to the door.
"I wonder who that could be" Piper said and opened the door to reveal Darryl.
"Darryl!" Phoebe exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Piper asked.
"No, nothings wrong, not this time. Actually I wanted to talk to Cole, is he around?" Darryl asked.
"Yeah, I think he's in the kitchen with Leo" Piper said.
"Cole!" Phoebe yelled.
"What?" Cole said walking in.
"Darryl wants to talk to you" Phoebe said with slight suspicion in her voice.
"Oh" was all Cole said.
"Cole, good to see you" Darryl said.
"It is?" Cole said with confusion.
"Yeah, I came to talk to you about what you talked to me about several weeks ago" Darryl said.
"Come again?" Cole said.
"About becoming a cop" Darryl said.
"What!" Piper said.
"You want to be a cop?" Paige asked.
"How come you did not tell me about this?" Phoebe asked.
"I did not tell you because when I mentioned the idea to Darryl he was not agreeable about it, so I thought that was the end of it. And yes Paige, I thought it might be nice to actually do something, help people, get back into the good verses evil game again" Cole said.
"Umm back to what I was saying" Darryl said.
"Oh yeah, go on" Cole told him.
"Well I thought about it, and thought you might have a point. I mean you do know the law and the streets and are quite capable of handling yourself in a fight. And I thought you just might be an asset to the force. Also the department has been looking for a good partner for me ever since Andy, but none of them have worked. A lot of that is because I have to go off covering and helping with magical problems and I can hardly take partners with me. And maybe, just maybe you might be the perfect partner for me. I wouldn't have to hide the magic stuff from you, in fact you'd be able to help me cover up for the girls. And although I don't totally trust you, the girls do, and I know you love Phoebe so I'm pretty sure I can trust you at my back" Darryl said.
"Are you serious?" Cole asked.
"Yes, and there is a training program starting up next week, so if you are interested in trying this out, let me know" Darryl said.
(I'm not totally sure how police officers get trained, so I'm going to be making it up as I go, sorry for any errors)
"So are you interested?" Darryl asked.
"Well yeah, I mean as long as it's okay with you Phoebe" Cole said.
"Well, if it's what you want then yeah, I'm okay with it. It will be good for you to have something to do" Phoebe said.
"Then yes, I'm definitely interested" Cole said.
"Good, then I'll drop off some paperwork later today" Darryl said and left.
"Well wow, that's unexpected" Piper said.
"Well I guess I have just gotten tired of being a liability around here. I wanted to be useful, and I know how useful Darryl has been over the years and I thought that it would be even more so to have an officer in the family. I know I can't be a big help magically, but this way I thought I could still help you. I am sick of being so useless. Besides I need to get a real life" Cole said.
"Well yeah, I mean it probably will be really helpful, and it will be a relief for Darryl not to have us always coming to him" Piper said.
"I really just can't see you as a cop, no offense" Paige said.
"Well I couldn't either, till just recently" Cole replied.
"Phoebe, you haven't said anything" Piper said.
"I guess I'm in shock. I mean it's great that you found something to do and a way to help, I'm really proud of you. I guess I'm just scared. I mean like Darryl said, he hasn't had a partner since Andy, and look what happened to him. I just hate the thought of you in more danger" Phoebe said.
"But I'll always be in danger as long as I live here" Cole said.
"I know, and that's why I'm not objecting to your getting this job. But I can't help worrying. I know I can't wrap you up with wool and keep you safe, but I want to. I am happy for you, I just need to get more used to the idea" Phoebe said and walked off.
"I don't understand, I thought she'd be happy, with me being on the good guys team and going out into the world like she wants. I'm going to be helping people and I thought she wanted that. I just wanted to help, both with you guys and your charmed duties and just all other people too. And I figured it would also help money wise. I don't know exactly how that works around here but I want to help" Cole said.
"Oh money wise, that will be nice. What with Leo and Phoebe both not working having you here was also a strain. So having a third income would be great. Typically we just put all the money into one account. And we pay the bills out of it, or rather I do. Ever since Prue died it was just easier to keep only one account. And since Paige moved in she has just been putting her money in there too. Its strange I know, how we just share it all but it's worked for us" Piper said.
"That great, so just tell me how and I'll have it so that what I earn goes into the joint account too" Cole said.
"Yeah, thanks that will be nice" Piper said.
"But I still don't understand why Phoebe is upset" Cole said.
"Well, she's just been getting used to the idea that you are human and vulnerable, and the idea of loosing you scares her. And now the idea of you going out and putting yourself in the line of danger, just scares the hell out of her. She's not actually upset, just scared" Piper said.
"So what do I do?" Cole asked.
"Let her be, she needs to work this one out on her own. To realize that she needs to trust you and to let you live. She knows that intellectually but emotions and logic rarely go hand in hand. She just needs time to work out how she feels and deal with it, don't worry" Pipe said.
"Alright, if you say so. You know her best" Cole said.
"True, but don't worry, you'll reach a point where you know these things too" Piper said.
"I did not understand why she was upset either, so will I reach that point too? " Paige asked.
"Well yeah, you both haven't known Phoebe, or even me and Leo that long" Piper said.
"I've know you guys for two years now" Cole said.
"Yes, and you do know a lot about us, I'm not saying you don't. But the little things, the moods, the quirks, those you have yet to learn. Although I know you know more than Paige, but you still both have a lot to learn about us" Piper said.
"Gee thanks" Paige said.
"What?" Piper asked.
"Saying he knows you better, I mean I'm your sister, I should know you better than him" Paige said.
"But you don't. As Cole said he's known us two years and been through a lot with us. Actually Cole was at my wedding, and Prue's funeral. He knows a lot about us because he knew our other life, with Prue. And he has been through a lot with us and helped us a lot. You've only been with us a few months, give it time, you'll learn more about us and get to know us better" Piper said.
"But I'll never have what he does" Paige said.
"What do you mean?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, what do you mean?" Cole echoed.
"Well you said it yourself, one of the reason he knows you guys so much better than me is that he knew you guys with Prue in your other life as you put it" Paige said.
"Paige I really don't know what to tell you about that. Yeah its true, Cole has had experiences you never will. He knew Leo and I before we were married and watched us get married and watched that marriage progress. He was there while Phoebe was still in school and finding herself, actually he helped her find herself. And yes, most importantly he knew Prue. And actually eventually gained her acceptance, although they still fought like cats and dogs. But yeah, those are things that you can never have, its true. But you will have other memories that we will build, ones that are equally important" Piper said.
"I will?" Paige asked.
"Of course, you will be there for Phoebe and Cole's wedding, for us having kids and for other great memories to come" Piper said.
"I guess you're right. Its just hard sometimes knowing you had this whole other life that I was not a part of, one that you were really happy with and that if that life had kept going you would kept living it perfectly happy without me in it" Paige said.
Piper looked shocked and said "Honey thinking about things like that are pointless, who knows what would have happened. I mean mom might have told us about you eventually and we might have found you still. But that doesn't matter, it did not happen and never will" Piper said.
"Yeah, I know" Paige said.
"Look Paige, yes things have changed, but that's good. And now we will go on with our lives and live them making new memories that, while not replacing the old ones, will come to mean just as much to us. So don't worry. You and Cole are now a part of our lives, for good, you guys are stuck with us. And I know the whole family thing and sister thing is new for you two, but with time you'll come to love it and will wonder how you ever lived without it" Piper said cheerfully.
"You're right, sorry" Paige said.
"No apologies needed, this is a tough transitional time for all of us, we will have to work things out, but no worries, we will work them out, we always do" Piper said.
"Oh I just can't wait" Cole said sarcastically.
"Sorry you two, you are now Halliwell's, and there is really nothing you can do about it" Piper teased.
"I'm a Mathews not a Halliwell" Paige stated.
"Do you really have to be one or the other, can't you be both?" Piper asked.
"What like change my name to Mathews-Halliwell?" Paige asked.
"If you want" Piper said.
"I don't know, I mean I actually kinda like the idea. I mean seeing my parents a few weeks ago, and them saying that they were okay with me being with you, before that I would have said no off hand, but now I kinda like the idea of showing that I'm actually a part of this family. I'm kinda glad you came up with the idea, I think I may actually go this weekend and have it changed. That is okay with you right?" Paige asked.
"Of course, we'll be thrilled. Nothing would make me happier" Piper said.
"Does this mean I have to change my name to Turner-Halliwell or something?" Cole asked.
"Well, maybe once you get married. Because I know Phoebe won't get rid of her name completely. She probably will become Phoebe Turner- Halliwell. I mean I became Piper Wyatt-Halliwell, it's kinda a thing in this family. So it would be nice if you and Phoebe have the same last name" Piper said.
"Well maybe, but only if Turner comes first" Cole said.
"I'm sure that would be fine, Turner-Halliwell sounds the best anyway" Piper told him.
"Did Leo take the Halliwell name?" Paige asked.
"Yep, he is Leo Wyatt-Halliwell" Piper said proudly.
"Boy, this family is gonna have confusing names" Paige said.
"Oh what's one more confusing thing in this family, I mean we have so many already, why not add one more" Piper said.
"Oh what have I gotten myself into?" Paige asked.
"Well you have just entered the wonderful world of Halliwell, good luck!" Piper said jokingly.
"You joke, but we really do have our own little world here" Cole said.
"Maybe, but despite the flaws and cracks in it, it's not a bad one to live in" Piper said.
"Well so long as this world has Phoebe in it I'm fine" Cole said.
"Yeah, I think I can survive it too" Paige said.
"Alright, we'll now that we've decided you're Halliwell's you can be really family like and help me with the dishes" Piper said and headed to the kitchen.
"Is she serious?" Paige asked.
"With her? Who knows?" Cole said.
"Would you two stop dawdling and get your butts in here" Piper said.
"I guess she's serious" Cole said.
"Is it too late to go back on that whole joining the family thing?" Paige asked.
"Yep" Cole said and headed the kitchen with Paige trailing behind him.
