SEVEN

"I call Piper Halliwell to the stand," said Cole.

Nervously Piper got up and walked over to the witness stand. Once she was seated Cole walked over and stood next to the stand.

"Piper, you've sat in the courtroom and listened to the testimony given by the witnesses for the plaintiff," said Cole. "How would you characterize their testimony?"

"Well," said Piper nervously, "I guess that technically it was mostly true. The facts are accurate but there were a lot of assumptions made by many of the witnesses."

"Are you saying that some of them have lied?" Cole asked.

"No, not lied exactly," said Piper. "But I think some of them made some inaccurate assumptions. Not the least of which is that we provoked the Source into attacking us so we could vanquish him."

"Are you saying you didn't provoke the Source?" questioned Cole.

"Absolutely not," said Piper. "In the first place, we were terrified of him. He had the entire power of the Underworld at his disposal. Even though we later found out that it was our destiny to vanquish him, we had no way of knowing if we could even do it."

"And all the vanquishings you and your sisters are responsible for," said Cole. "It's a matter of public record that you've vanquished more than the normal number of demons even for three witches. Why have you vanquished so many demons?"

"I guess you could say it was our job," said Piper. "We didn't ask to be born witches. And there were many times I wish I had never been born with any powers at all. That I was nothing more than an ordinary mortal. Both of my sisters have felt the same way on numerous occasions. But we were born witches and a lot of the vanquishings were in self-defense. Demons would attack us and we had to vanquish them to keep from being killed."

"What about the other vanquishings?" Cole asked. "The demons that weren't after you. Do you deny that you vanquished demons that were no threat to you personally?"

"No," said Piper. "We're the Charmed Ones. We've been tasked with fighting evil and protecting the innocent. It often becomes necessary to vanquish demons to accomplish that mandate. We only vanquished demons who were a threat to an innocent that couldn't protect themselves otherwise."

"Piper, did you at any time attempt to provoke the Source into attacking you for the express purpose of vanquishing him?" Cole asked.

"No, we never did," said Piper. "All we ever really wanted was to be left alone. If the demons had left us alone we would have left them alone. But there always seemed to be some demon that thought they could make a name for themselves by killing us. We simply had no choice but to defend ourselves or someone else."

"Your witness," said Cole, returning to his seat at the defense table.

"Now, Ms. Halliwell," said Caldwell, walking over to the witness stand, "do you honestly expect this jury to believe that you held no animosity toward demons? You're a witch, after all. Doesn't that mean by the very definition of the word that you are mortal enemies with demons?"

"I guess so," said Piper. "But it wasn't my choice. I was sort of born into it you might say."

"And you've never vanquished a demon out of anger or hatred?" questioned Caldwell.

"Well, I wouldn't say that exactly," said Piper. "I'm only human after all. I do loose my temper from time to time."

"Like the time when your older sister Prue died," said Caldwell. "Didn't you go on a demon hunting binge that nearly caused you to turn into a Fury?"

"Yes," said Piper uneasily. "I was grieving. I had just lost my older sister. We were very close. When she died I sort of lost it. If it wasn't for my other sisters and my husband I don't know what would have happened."

"You would have become a Fury," responded Caldwell.

"Objection," said Cole. "Counsel is testifying, Your Honor."

"Objection sustained," said the judge. "Mr. Caldwell, please stick to asking questions only."

"Piper," said Caldwell, "what would you have done if you had encountered the Source during your 'period of grieving' as you put it?"

"I would probably have ripped his heart out with my bare hands," said Piper deliberately.

"So it's fair to categorize your feelings toward the Source as hatred?" Caldwell asked.

"I suppose so," said Piper.

"Intense hatred?" questioned Caldwell.

"He had just murdered my sister," retorted Piper. "How would you have felt?"

"I'm not the one on trial today," said Caldwell. "So, when exactly did you get over your hatred of the Source?"

"I don't understand," said Piper.

"It's quite simple," said Caldwell. "At what point did you stop blaming the Source for your sister's death?"

"I never did," said Piper.

"You still hold him responsible for her death?" questioned Caldwell. "Even though he's been vanquished?"

"Yeah, I guess so," said Piper. "He did kill her after all even if he didn't do it personally. It was done on his orders."

"And you still hate him for that, don't you?" Caldwell asked.

"Yes," said Piper. "It's not something you get over easily if at all."

"And yet by your own testimony you said it was an intense hatred," said Caldwell. "As you put it, you would have ripped out his heart with your bare hands. And you expect this jury to believe that you wouldn't have done whatever it took to make him pay for her death? Even to the point of provoking him to attack you so you could make him pay for what he did to her?"

"Objection," said Cole. "Asked and answered."

"I'll allow it," said the judge. "The witness will answer the question."

"Yes, I do still hate him," said Piper. "And I do still hold him responsible for her death. But as I said, at no time did we ever provoke him into attacking us just so we could vanquish him. If we had wanted to do that we wouldn't have beat around the bush about it. We would have gone to the Underworld and vanquished him if that's what we wanted to do."

"So let me see if I have this straight," said Caldwell. "Your sister is violently and brutally murdered. You know who murdered her and you even admit that you hate him for it. And yet even with all the power at your disposal you simply go about your life as if nothing had happened. You never once tried to make the demon that murdered your beloved sister pay for what he did. Even though you had the reconstituted Power of Three at your disposal. A power that by all accounts should have been powerful enough to vanquish even the Source of All Evil. Do you honestly expect this jury to believe that you would simply forget about the Source after all that?"

"Look," said Piper, trying to hold her temper in check, "I've all ready said we weren't sure if we could vanquish him. We've been told that the Power of Three is the most powerful good magic that's ever existed. But there was no guarantee that it would be powerful enough to vanquish the Source. Yes, I wanted to make him pay for what he did. And I'm not sorry he's gone. But I wasn't crazy enough to deliberately go after him. For all we knew that was pure suicide."

"Not even when you went on your demon killing spree after your sister died?" questioned Caldwell.

"I don't know what you mean," said Piper.

"Well," said Caldwell, "if the Source had killed your sister, why go after lower level demons to avenge her death? Demons who by all accounts had nothing to do with your sister's death."

"I . . . I don't know," said Piper. "I wasn't thinking clearly. I was so filled with anger at what had happened. I just lashed out at any demon I could find."

"Even knowing that the one demon that had murdered your sister was sitting safely in the Underworld in all likelihood gloating at the great victory he had just won over you," said Caldwell.

"I don't know," said Piper. "Like I said, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Isn't it possible," questioned Caldwell, "that even subconsciously you felt that if you vanquished enough demons that the Source would soon grow tired of the vanquishings? That he would be feeling confident at killing your sister that he would eventually come himself to stop you from vanquishing his underlings?"

"I don't know," said Piper. "I wasn't thinking that clearly. I just wanted to vanquish as many demons as I could. To repay them for all the years they had bothered us and for Prue's death."

"To repay them for Prue's death," repeated Caldwell. "But the only way to adequately do that would be to vanquish the demon that had actually caused her death. Isn't that true?"

"I . . . I don't know," said Piper.

"Well, until the Source had been vanquished wouldn't her death go unavenged no matter how many demons you vanquished?" Caldwell asked. "I mean, let's face it. You just say you wanted someone to pay for Prue's death. Doesn't that necessitate that the Source had to be vanquished? So that Prue's death would be paid in full? So long as her killer lived, wouldn't her death go unavenged?"

"I guess so," said Piper.

"Well then I would submit to you," said Caldwell, "that whether consciously or sub-consciously, your desire to make the Source pay for the murder of your sister was a driving force in your life. That you would do whatever it took to make sure that he paid for what he had done, not only to your sister, but also to your entire family. And that the only way to accomplish that was to get him to attack you in the manor where you and your sisters are the strongest. Can you honestly say that this is not the case?"

Piper just glared at Caldwell. She knew they hadn't deliberately tried to provoke the Source into attacking them at the manor. But was it possible that Caldwell was right? Could she have subconsciously attacked demons to provoke the Source? Caldwell was right. She would have done anything to punish the Source for murdering Prue. Could she possibly be guilty of what Caldwell has accused her?

"Ms. Halliwell, please answer the question," said the judge.

"That's okay, Your Honor," said Caldwell. "I believe the question has been answered. I have nothing further for this witness."

"Your Honor," said Cole, "I would request a short recess so that Ms. Halliwell can compose herself."

"We're in recess for ten minutes," said the judge, pounding his gavel on the bench.