Part 3

Paige continued to sit there and watch as Zankou outlined his vision for the future of the Underworld. She figured if nothing else she could learn something about his plans which she could use to help her sisters. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Cole take a bottle of pills out his pocket and pop a pill into his mouth.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I saw you put a pill into your mouth. What's it for?"

"What makes you Halliwell's so nosy about everything?"

"I'm a Matthews as well as a Halliwell, and you better watch the remarks you make about my sisters."

"I'm not saying anything that isn't completely true, so there. Besides, how many times was I blamed for things that were not my fault? Before and after I was gone in fact."

"Oh come on, we didn't blame you that much."

"Yes you did."

"No we didn't"

"Yes you did."

"Okay, name something."

"Phoebe blamed me for the problems with her premonitions. She blamed me for the evil in the manor. She blamed me for her nightmares. Want me to keep going?"

"Cole, she was hurting! She hadn't completely, uh........"

"Gotten over me yet? She still hasn't. She never will, no matter how much she and you and Piper want it that way. Soul mates do not just fall out of love with each other. She'll find love again. True love. But deep down in her soul, some little part of her will always remain connected to me. I on the other hand will most likely live out the rest of my existence pining for the lost love I didn't appreciate enough when I had it. Believe it or not, that is my penance and my salvation. I've come to terms with it."

"Because of the subway station?"

"Partly yes. There are things in life that you have to learn to accept. That's why I sent Drake to Phoebe. She needed to accept what she was and move on."

"What do you think she is?"

"Phoebe is an emotionally fragile woman who has been burned too often. She gives in to her dark impulses because she feels that is what is in her nature and is expected of her. She was burned in New York, she was burned by Clay, she was burned by Prue..."

"Hold it! What do you mean she was burned by Prue?"

"Prue died on her. Prue was the one who didn't always want this. She wanted a life, she wanted love, she didn't want the magic. It got harder for her after her true love died and she relied on her sisters to get her through those rough times. Phoebe liked the magic. It was exciting to her, she felt wonderful and free for the first time in her life. When Prue died, Phoebe felt betrayed. Not by Prue like Piper did, but by magic itself. Phoebe felt that she should have been taken instead, that Prue had already lost too much. And that just fueled her anger."

"Wow. I never looked at it that way. You know, it hurt me back when you were possessed by the source. You seemed to take everything out on me. I hated you."

"Do you know why you felt that way?"

"I thought you were my friend."

"And?"

"You were the first magical being other than my sisters and Leo that I thought I could trust."

"Exactly. Do you trust people now?"

"Not like I used to. I keep expecting to be betrayed, you know?"

"Welcome to the life of a demon. You seem to be trusting me now."

"Yeah well, you remind me of what you were like when I first met you. You were cool then."

"And hot too if I remember the body switching incident correctly."

"'You suck at levitating.' Boy you sure told me. I still laugh sometimes about the prank you pulled. You were naughty."

"I'm a demon. It comes with the territory. Good memories?"

"Yeah. It's just so much different now. Glenn got married, Richard didn't work out and Kyle died. It's not fair."

"They made Kyle a whitelighter."

"Yeah, but the elders are really strict about whitelighters and their charges after the whole fiasco with Leo."

"What about that guy you bumped into in front of your old workplace? What was his name? Matt or Mack or something."

"I forget. But there is no way he is my type."

"Why not?"

"Well for one thing, have you seen his fashion sense? The man wears Daffy Duck ties for crying out loud! What woman could take a man wearing a Daffy Duck tie seriously? Plus, he's balding. I don't date bald guys. As if!"

"Why Paige I never knew you were so....so....."

"Choosy?"

"Shallow. Looks aren't everything you know."

"Yeah right. I bet you dream about blonde demons with big breasts."

"Actually I dream about Phoebe. And occasionally I dream that I'm a plastic surgeon in Miami. Let's not go there. Why can't you give Mack a chance?"

"Okay. Let's say I go on a date with 'Mack'. Let's say I fall for the guy. All that will probably happen is that he will dump me after finding out that I'm a witch. And if he doesn't dump me, some demon will kill him, he'll become a whitelighter and then I'll be back in the same mess all over again. It's not worth it."

"Oh Paige you do have your demons don't you? If it makes you feel better Phoebe will find happiness. I can't tell you when or for how long, but she will find it. All I can tell you is that he's not the prince of Edenoi or the kid with the lab and he will give Phoebe what she wants and needs most. At least for a little while."

"What?"

"That's all I can say. Except for I'm sorry about everything."

"No big whoop. What are the pills for?"

"Cramps."

"What?"

"You heard me. I get really bad cramps sometimes. Do you have a problem with that? Can't a demon get sick every once in a while with cramps or fever or something? Some demons even get the chicken pox."

"Okay, don't get upset. What do you do when you get sick?"

"Go to a demonologist of course."

"Ha! Cute guy. My legs hurt, I need to walk around a little."

"Go ahead."

Paige stood up and stretched. She turned around to get a better look at Zankou, but went flying instead when she tripped over Cole's deliberately stretched out foot. She cursed loudly then stood up to her full height to make sure nothing was broken. That was when she noticed that she had fallen into the council chamber. All the demons were looking at her with curiosity written all over their faces. Zankou was also looking confused but then his look turned to delight as a wide grin broke out over his face. Paige knew at that moment that she was in deep trouble.

"Oh shit."