Chapter 4: The Good, the Bad, and the Cursed Part 3
Cole chanced a peek out the window of the tiny church they were hiding in. He'd heard the thunder of hooves only a minute earlier and looked out to confirm his suspicions. At least four armed men waited outside, with an untold number waiting in the shadows. He couldn't see Sutter, but Cole knew he was out there. Even to a half-demon such as himself, the situation contained notable threats.
"Sutter's men just showed up," Cole reported, carefully straightening up and pulling away from the window so they wouldn't see him through it. "We need to get Bo out of here."
"What? How did they find us?" Isabel exclaimed.
"We must have been followed," Cole surmised. He glanced at Bo. Although he'd been relieved to have the bullet out of his body, he was once again looking a little weak. The blood loss was taking its toll, and he needed urgent attention. "I'll shimmer him back to Leo, then come back for you two."
But Prue disagreed. "No."
"What do you mean, no?" Cole demanded. Phoebe was her sister, she liked to save people; Prue ought to want this as badly as he did! He reminded her, "He dies, Phoebe dies."
"Taking Bo out of here will not break the time loop," Prue pointed out; the time loop was the reason all of this was happening.
Cole didn't understand. "It'll save Phoebe," he said and truly, that was all that really mattered to him. Everything else was secondary.
Prue just looked at him. For once in her life, Prue thought she might actually understand him. No, she might actually empathize with him, something she never thought she'd do with a demon. Phoebe was her sister; Prue desperately wanted to save her, too. But she was still a witch, and defending innocents was still her job. She sighed, "There's more than just Phoebe's life on the line here, Cole."
Of course there was. Cole thought about the life that was growing inside the woman he loved, a life that was created by both of them. It needed, he needed, a chance for it to come to fruition. Quietly, he responded, "I know that."
Given Cole's contrary attitude, Prue knew that he wouldn't ordinarily agree with her that quickly. She didn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what he was thinking about and amended her statement, "There's a lot more at stake here than their lives." Prue thought for a moment, and then added, "If you really want to be good, you have to learn that."
Their conversation was abruptly interrupted with a yell of, "We know you're in there Bo! Come out with your hands up and nobody gets hurt! What's it gonna be, Bo!"
Two out of the four occupants of the church jumped. In the emotional turmoil stirred up by their conversation, they'd actually forgotten that they were in danger from the very thing they were trying to stop. Cole could have kicked himself. That sort of distraction could get them all killed.
Cole looked back at the others. Clearly, Prue was unwilling to leave the town to fend for itself; from the looks on their faces, the other two felt the same. And he couldn't deny that there were inherent risks in doing just that, namely that Phoebe would continue to suffer the effects of this never-ending day. He sighed. "Alright, how do we break the curse?"
"I don't know, but I do know that it hinges on keeping Bo alive," Prue replied. They couldn't let Bo die, or Phoebe would, too.
Much to their surprise, Bo shook his head. "No, it doesn't," he contradicted. Bo had been thinking about this, thinking about the vision, thinking about everything his father had told him about curses, and had come up with the only possible answer. He went on to explain, "The curse isn't about me or Sutter. It's about them. The townspeople who stood there and watched me die. The only way is for me to give myself up."
"No," Isabel immediately denied.
"It's okay, Isabel. Have faith," her brother reassured her.
Cole pointed out, "They'll kill you." If Sutter killed Bo, he killed Phoebe. He couldn't let that happen.
"Maybe," Bo admitted. "This curse came from my father's people. It's meant to heal, to teach the townspeople to act without shame. I have to give them that chance."
"Helping them to save you saves themselves," Prue realized. Why hadn't she thought of that? It seemed so blindingly obvious now.
It was. Once again, Cole sighed.
The men outside grinned cruelly as the object of their ill will strode out the door as if he owned the ground he walked on. The quiet pride he carried with him was unbelievable. Sutter and his men would be sure to relieve him of that, and show him just how bad a mistake he'd made by standing up to them. With that thought in mind, the men readied their ropes.
Several minutes later, the relative quiet on the main street of the town was interrupted by the thunder of hooves. The townsfolk tensed; such sounds usually heralded the arrival of Sutter and his men and that was something all of them dreaded. Fearing what they might see, a few terrified souls peered out their windows while a few braver ones dared to venture outside. What they saw made them cringe.
Bo Light Feather was being dragged behind the galloping horses, his hands bound to a rope that was tied to a saddle while his body was ravaged by the rough ground beneath him. The horses stopped, but that brought no relief. No one dared breathe while the battered man was hauled to his feet and yanked over to a man they all feared and hated in equal parts: Sutter.
The man in black, a veritable devil, turned to face him after he had cut away Bo's bonds. "I want you all to see what happens when people cross me!" he thundered.
Distracted as they were by the horrible man's words, no one noticed the arrival of three more horses. Prue, Isabel, and Cole arrived just in time to see Sutter shove Bo to the ground. Someone handed him a whip. Knowing what was about to happen, Isabel lunged forward, screaming, "No! No!"
Prue caught her just in time. Knowing what it would do to Phoebe, she didn't want to see this anymore than Isabel did, but they didn't have a choice. "Don't! He knows what he's doing!" she shouted, struggling to restrain the near-hysterical woman.
Cole's heart pounded as he watched Sutter take the whip to Bo's flesh. Over a century in the future, the object of his heart's desire screamed once again as she felt the ripping bite of the whip against her back, opening long, raised, burning gashes and welts the likes of which she had never dreamed of before. Nearly delirious with pain, Phoebe sobbed for them to stop. And back in 1873, Cole had never wanted anything more in his life than to make that happen. But he couldn't. If they were to break the curse, and Phoebe's suffering, everyone would have to endure it just a little while longer. Thus powerless to ease his lover's pain, Cole clenched his fists and imagined the worst possible death on the man who was causing it.
Prue turned to the townspeople; it was time to play their part in this spectacle. The gathered townsfolk started and stared as she began shouting, trying to rally them to their defender's aid.
"What are you people doing?" Prue's voice carried up and down the small street. "Look at him! He has the courage to fight Sutter for all of you! You can't just stand there and watch him die! You have to do something! You can take him down!"
A low murmur spread through the crowd. Cole stepped forward, hoping to reinforce Prue's words. He called, "Sutter can't take all of you! You need to do what's right!" And what was more astounding than the words coming from the formerly-evil half-demon's mouth was the fact that he meant them. Cole shocked himself with the truth of his words. Phoebe must have rubbed off on him more than he'd thought. Seeing people idly standing by while the man who was fighting for them was killed bothered him. Or maybe it was the similarities between said man and Phoebe. Cole hadn't thought about it before, but now that he did, the two were very alike. And the pain they were feeling was one and the same.
Sutter watched, in growing rage, as the townspeople began to murmur in reaction to these two newcomers' words. "You cannot just stand by and let this happen!" the woman was calling as she moved up and down the street. "Stand up to him! Don't be scared."
But Sutter would make sure they would be. "Nobody crosses me," he snarled, revealing his gun. People gasped when he pointed it at the beaten man's head. He removed the safety, intending to let his bullets do the rest of the talking.
He never had the chance. Sutter's hand exploded in pain and he screamed, dropping the gun. Blood streamed from his fingers and he whirled to see who had done this to him. It was the bartender. The man who had previously flinched before his step was now aiming a rifle at him. His expression bore no sign of the fear he had previously expressed. In its place was only hatred, disgust, and a determination to do whatever needed to be done.
"I think you just oughta leave Bo alone, Sutter," the bartender warned, taking aim once more.
Prue smiled. They had succeeded.
"You just signed your own death certificate," Sutter snarled. But his rage turned into shock once more when the man who had led him to the one whose death he desired, the one whom he had trusted to do his bidding or suffer the consequences, turned on him.
Cal, the same man whom Sutter had stabbed earlier that day in the saloon, pointed his gun at the man who had dared think of himself as his master. The words of the pretty lady who had saved him before had struck home, leaving him with no other choice than to do the right thing for the first time in months.
"If you wanna kill Bo," he stated, clearly and calmly, "you'll have to kill me, too."
Sutter watched in astonishment and horror as, one by one, every townsperson who owned a gun (and it was the West, so there were many) pulled it out and pointed it at him. In that moment, Sutter knew that, no matter how good the men still loyal to him were, he could never take on this many people and win. Cole smiled; in the mood he was in, a defeated enemy was the very definition of success.
And then Isabel, able to contain herself no longer, burst from the protective circle of the townspeople. She ran to her brother's side. She would pay for it dearly.
Seeing this opportunity, the only opportunity that he would have, Sutter grabbed it. More specifically, he grabbed Isabel, yanking her away before she could even finish asking her brother if he was okay. Isabel screamed as she was roughly crushed against the front of his body, and a gun was pointed at her head.
"Anybody comes after me and she's dead!" he roared, enraged, desperate and yes, scared, in about equal measure. The townspeople tensed once again; Sutter was desperate, and a desperate, evil man would do just about anything to get away, including kill the innocent girl he was holding hostage.
Cole watched as Sutter backed away from the angry crowd, towards his horse, still towing Isabel with him. Now was there chance. He murmured to Prue, "Now can we do something?"
They most certainly could. Prue watched as Sutter let go of Isabel to jump on his horse. He spurred the animal into a frenzied gallop, hoping to get away before anyone's bullet could find its mark. That was a mistake. Prue joined the rush of people that moved to chase him, leaving Cole behind to deal with the remaining thugs. He did so willingly and eagerly, relieved to finally be able to release the pent up aggression that had been choking him all day.
Despite the jerky, slightly alien motion of the horse beneath her, Prue's aim was steady. She thought of the townspeople Sutter had terrorized, making them unknowingly repeat the same day thousands of times and preventing them from moving on with their lives. She thought of Bo, who had been betrayed and wounded and had still held strong to his beliefs. She thought of Isabel, who had been forced to watch helplessly as her brother was shunned by the people he protected and brutalized by the people he protected them from. Last but not least, Prue thought of her own sister Phoebe, who was being forced to suffer from an act that had been committed over a century before she had even been born.
Prue fired. Her first shot failed as Sutter veered slightly, but it was his own motion that caused him to topple from his horse. Now even more vulnerable than he had been before, the now-terrified man tried to run away, but Prue fired again. Sutter's body jerked as the bullet found its mark in his back and tore through his chest. Prue gave the dying man no time to take anybody else with him. Instead, she used her telekinesis to send him flying back into the post office. For a moment, everyone halted, listening and watching. Sutter did not get up.
Slightly shaken, Prue took a deep breath. Killing an evil human was not that different from killing an evil demon, but it was the first time she'd done it. Hopefully, it would be the last. "I don't think Sutter's gonna be a problem anymore," she stated.
Bo came up to her. "What about the curse?" he wanted to know.
In response, Prue pointed to the sunset. "It's a beautiful sunset, isn't it?" she asked, smiling. "I don't think there's been one quite like it in 128 years."
XXX
One hundred and twenty-eight years in the future, Phoebe's cries of agony slowed to a halt as the pain throughout her body abruptly vanished. Piper, who had been steadying her and was thus the closest, gasped. Realizing what had to have happened, Phoebe slowly brought her hands to her stomach and raised her shirt. The bullet wound was gone. So were the whip lashes on her back, and the cut on her lip. Even the blood and the bruises had disappeared. Free of pain for the first time in hours, Phoebe breathed a deep, shaky sigh of relief. The time loop, and the psychic connection that had been forged with it, had been broken. Everyone—Cole, Prue, Bo, the townspeople, and Phoebe herself—was safe.
Piper didn't even bother to wait for her sister to utter a word. Instead, she threw her arms around her in a bear hug. She would not be losing her baby sister today. For that, she would be eternally grateful.
Phoebe grunted as two more pairs of arms joined her sister's. Victor and Leo were hugging her as well; Victor had apparently forgotten his anger from earlier. But still, this was uncomfortable.
Phoebe squirmed. "Guys, I can't breathe," she gasped.
Everyone jumped away from her as if they'd been scalded, or as if they'd scalded her. "Sorry," they all apologized at once.
"Thank God you're alright, sweetheart," Victor professed. The relief he felt was so profound that it was indescribable. The one thing a parent feared more than anything was losing their child. He would not be facing that fear today.
Phoebe nodded, almost euphoric at being alive. And she had Prue and Cole to thank for that.
"See?" Victor was still talking. "I told you your sisters wouldn't let you die." Except her sisters weren't the only one that had worked to ensure his youngest daughter's survival. There had been another person, a demon—no, a man—whose intentions Victor had doubted. He could doubt them no longer.
"You were right about Cole," Victor admitted. "I'm sorry about that. And I'm sorry for how I reacted about the baby."
"It's okay, Dad," Phoebe comforted. His reaction to her pregnancy was far from the worst one she'd had. Still, though, there was something she felt—no, she knew—she had to say. With a faith and certainty she had never possessed before, Phoebe asserted, "Cole may be a demon, but he loves us. Our baby was made out of love."
The room was silent for a moment, and Piper realized what it really meant: Phoebe had made her choice. Still, though, she had to confirm it. "You've decided what to do about the baby, haven't you?" she asked quietly.
Had she? Phoebe herself was electrified when she realized that, yes, she had. Despite the risks involved and all the hurdles she would have to jump, she was keeping her baby. Once again, Phoebe felt as if the breath had been stolen from her lungs as she realized that she was going to be a mother. Honestly, the thought was a little terrifying.
Piper sighed, but she was smiling. "Just please refrain from telling Prue until after the wedding," she requested.
Phoebe nodded willingly. She didn't want any more drama right now, and telling Prue was bound to be dramatic. Besides, now that a great deal of uncertainty had been cleared out of her life, Phoebe was actually looking forward to the wedding; she didn't want to do anything to spoil it.
"And…" Piper thought about it before she made an offer she never thought she'd make. "If you want, you're free to invite Cole. To the rehearsal dinner and my wedding."
The smile that lit up her sister's face made just about any mishaps her decision caused worth it, Piper decided. Besides, Cole had proven himself today. Whatever reservations they might still have about him, he deserved to be rewarded with at least a little of their trust, and Piper could think of no better way than to invite him to events usually reserved for those one trusted most.
However, they couldn't invite him if he wasn't there to invite. For over an hour, they waited with increasing agitation for their missing members to shimmer in. The minutes passed slowly, and they began to imagine the worst. What if someone had been hurt? Leo couldn't get to them. What if they had been killed? Those thoughts were unbearable, and they were made all the worse by the knowledge that if something terrible had happened, Piper, Phoebe, Leo and Victor might never know about it. They'd just be left wondering and waiting for people who would never come home.
Nearly overcome with such dark thoughts, everyone in the living room jumped when the air in front of them was suddenly distorted. The objects of their fears shimmered in, with Cole's arm wrapped casually around Prue as if he hadn't a care in the world.
"Ew!" Prue shoved his arm away from her, making a face. And just like that, the tension in the room was broken.
"What took you so long?" Victor demanded. "We've been worried sick."
"Sorry, we had to tie up a few loose ends," Cole apologized distractedly. They had had to make sure that Bo and Cal were treated, and that Sutter was really dead, before departing quietly in a back alley. Now he had eyes only for Phoebe, and the relief he felt upon seeing her standing strong and unharmed was indescribable. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Phoebe replied, smiling back at him. For a moment, it was just the two of them staring into each other's eyes. The tension that had been keeping them apart before had vanished, leaving only the love that had brought them together in the first place.
Leo, feeling a little uncomfortable in the suddenly intimate atmosphere, interrupted it by asking, "And the time loop?"
"Broken. They will never have to live through that horror again," Prue said firmly.
"So where are they?" Victor wanted to know. As far as he knew, history hadn't suddenly been changed, so something else must have happened.
Prue shrugged. "I don't know. Probably living out their lives in a parallel plane, I guess."
"You don't think about it too much, Victor," Leo told him. "It'd just give you a headache."
Piper's stomach took the opportunity to remind everyone of the time. Suddenly remembering the reason she had wanted everyone to gather here today, Piper asked, "Anyone up for a rehearsal dinner?"
"Absolutely. I'm starving," Phoebe immediately declared. If anything, it was even more important that she eat now that she was eating for two.
Stomachs grumbling, everyone sans Cole moved to head for the kitchen. Believing that he was no longer needed here, Cole turned to leave. Phoebe stopped him. "Wait," she called.
Cole stopped, and look back at her. Phoebe wrung her hands. "There's something I need to tell you," she said finally. They sat down together on the couch. Anxiety curled in Cole's stomach. He knew what this was about. He just didn't know what decision she'd made.
Phoebe took another deep breath. "I've decided to keep the baby," she declared.
For a moment, Cole was speechless. For weeks, he'd worked himself into knots wondering what decision she would make and fearing what it would be. But now it appeared that his fears were no longer necessary; that which he feared would not become a reality. "You are?" he finally croaked.
"Yes," Phoebe nodded. Unable to contain himself, Cole drew her into his arms and kissed her passionately. Phoebe lost herself in the kiss. It had been so long that she'd gone without it. When they finally separated due to lack of oxygen, Phoebe leaned her forehead against his. She reveled in the newfound intimacy between them, and somehow had the presence of mind to add, "When I was dying, I realized I wanted it. I want to be a mother to our baby."
Love, fiercer than anything he had ever felt before, bloomed in Cole's heart. Love, and hope for a future he never before thought he would ever have. "I don't know how much I'll be able to be around," he admitted. Cole wished dearly that he could be there every step of the way to raise their child. But he was an outlaw, now, and sticking around too much would only put his new family in danger. "But I'm definitely going to try," he promised. Yes, he would do his very best to be a good father; Cole just hoped his best would be enough.
"It will be," Phoebe promised him right back, and Cole realized he must have spoken those words aloud.
The moment was once again interrupted by the sound of a rumbling stomach, and they looked at each other, smiling. "Yours or mine?" Phoebe giggled.
"Yours, of course," Cole replied, placing his hand over her still-flat stomach. "You've both had a rough day. You should eat."
"Oh, right," Phoebe suddenly remembered Piper's offer. "You know, you can come, too. To the dinner and the wedding."
Cole raised an eyebrow. "Piper okayed it?" he wanted to know. If he wanted a life with Phoebe, he would become part of the whole family. It would be much harder to do that by crashing their parties.
"Yes, Piper told me," Phoebe told him impatiently, pulling him to his feet. "Come on. Let's eat."
Thus reassured, Cole followed her to join the others at the table. He had to admit that he was touched that they sat him in the place they had set aside for their mother, who was still attending 'in spirit,' as Piper claimed.
The mood at the table was jovial, with the discussion focused mostly on the wedding. No one noticed Prue watching the second happy couple. As she watched them eat and interact, it was all too obvious to Prue that the two of them were rekindling their relationship. She sighed and took a sip of wine. Now that she had spent several hours almost alone in his presence, watching him work to save her sister, Prue realized that Phoebe was right about Cole loving her. She was right that he wanted to change for the better. Prue was not completely convinced that Cole was good, or that the danger he posted to them had completely passed. But she could recognize that she might have been wrong in condemning Phoebe so strongly for the choices she had made in the recent past. Prue just wondered what dangers they would face from the relationship reborn…and what Phoebe and Cole were going to do about the baby.
Author's note: I decided not to have Cole kill the guy with a fireball. After all, he has an added incentive to be good now