A.N Phew sorry for the wait guys! Had an extreme case of writers block but good news is I'm back on a bit of a roll. And you'll be happy to know I'm finally getting the point, hurrah! Hope you enjoy, as always please review.

Disclaimer I don't own Charmed.

Chapter 10

When she was a teenager Phoebe had thought that meditation was a crock. Grams had once tried to get her to embrace it, to centre herself so that if she got angry or, maybe, the urge to steal something, she would know to take a deep breath, close her eyes, and in Grams' words, "Stop being such a delinquent who is trying to put me in an early grave."

Phoebe had always thought that to be centred you had to know who you were; how could you be at peace in your mind if it was still trying to figure out what your own personal 'peace' was? When she became a witch (Became a witch, that's not what happened. We were always witches!) Phoebe finally knew who she was. She was a Charmed One, she was powerful, she helped people, she got visions that saved innocents, she fought alongside her sisters.

After Prue had died Phoebe lost herself again. In those few days between the death and the funeral, those days when she had stayed so strong on the outside for Piper's sake, she had tried to meditate but it never worked. She wasn't calm, she wasn't peaceful or centred. She was a wreck.

But then she had Paige to focus on. She had to save Paige, and then she had to welcome Paige as their sister and be the accepting one because Piper sure as hell wasn't going to be. And Cole. She had to focus on Cole, especially when they stripped his powers. Cole needed her, she had to help him.

Just like she had to help him now. Now he needed her, more than ever, and she had been talking about vanquishing him. What kind of 'saviour of the innocent' am I?!

So that's why she needed to meditate. She had been right before, she needed to clear her mind so that she could centre herself and focus on the task at hand, on the spell she had to write. Not on what the Seer had said, not on the pain in her heart whenever she thought of Cole, not the aching deep in her gut for the baby, her little Prince of darkness, that she knew would turn her evil but she wanted so badly.

That was another thing that changed. Phoebe never wanted kids. When they were growing up that had been Piper's gig, Piper was going to be a supermom with a whole litter of little boys and girls. Prue and Andy would probably have kids too, maybe one or two, and Phoebe would just be the fun aunt they went to whenever they needed booze or condoms or were in trouble with their parents. And meeting Cole hadn't changed that, she had never seen her and Cole raising a family. Not until now.

Phoebe exhaled slowly and rested her hands down on the notepad lying on her lap. Thinking about her vision was not helping and she straightened her back and did her breathing exercises again, allowing her mind to wander. She could hear Piper and Leo up in the attic, moving around and talking but she couldn't make out what was being said. She could hear Paige in the bathroom taking a shower in an attempt to wake herself up. She was singing softly, it made Phoebe smile.

Reaching to pick up her pencil and still with her eyes closed and her breathing slow, Phoebe started to write. Just a few lines, then a couple more. When she finished she opened her eyes and expected to see the words Paige had been singing.

"The Source of evil in inno…wait." Phoebe grabbed the pad up close and read the words. She had done it.

Piper's heart had leapt to her mouth when she heard the shriek coming from downstairs. "Phoebe?!" She had been feeling awful for what she said, the frustrations that had poured out of her mouth and the anger directed at her little sister, misdirected anger. She wasn't mad at Phoebe, as usual Piper was mad at herself for letting their family get in this situation. Because I'm the big sister now, I should be protecting them. I should've known.

"Phoebs I'm coming!" Piper yelled, brushing Leo off as he tried to stop her but it was Phoebe coming through into the attic with a grin on her face that actually stopped the eldest witch in her tracks. "I heard you yell what-"

"I've done it! I've got the spell!" Phoebe was practically giddy as she thrust the notebook at Piper. "It's a little rhymey but it'll work I know it'll work. It's got everything."

Piper's eyes moved slowly over the spell. They had always been more Phoebe's deal than hers, she was the potions maker after all. "It rhymes, a lot."

"It'll work," Phoebe nodded quickly, "I know it will, Piper you've got to trust me."

"I do, I do of course I do," Piper said looking up, "But-"

"Trust me."

Piper looked up at her sister and had to smile a little at the determination on her face. "You look like Prue right now." A blush spread across Phoebe's cheeks and Piper passed the notebook back to her and went back to the pedestal. "I found the warlock we should use. His name's Lobe he's low level, minimal fire power, your standard witch-killer."

"Sounds perfect," Phoebe nodded, "Two birds with one stone right."

"Right," Piper laughed a little.

"You're laughing? Is she okay?" Paige quipped as she came into the attic, running her fingers through her still-wet hair.

"She is fine missy Paige," Piper smirked rolling her eyes and Paige blushed wrinkling her nose a little.

"Did I miss something?"

"We have the spell, we have the warlock and we have the potion," Phoebe said, "And I still have the Source vanquishing spell here too."

"So here's how it'll go," Piper said moving back to her sisters, "We summon Lobe the warlock and I freeze him. We summon Cole, trap him in a crystal cage just as a precaution. We do the power switching spell, I freeze Cole, we use the Source vanquishing spell, then when we're sure the Source is gone we use the power stripping potion on Cole." She sucked in a breath. "All agreed?"

"Agreed," Paige and Phoebe both nodded quickly.

"Good plan," Leo nodded as he watched the sisters.

"Thanks honey," Piper smiled over her shoulder before clapping her hands, "Right, lets summon us some evil beings."

Cole awoke with a jolt, gasping for air. He had been dreaming that he was suffocating, but he knew it wasn't a dream. He was so weak now, the Source had taken him over almost completely. Soon his thoughts would be nothing but a whisper, a vague annoyance. He forced himself to sit up and rubbed his eyes hard before forcing them to focus.

The Seer was standing on the other side of the room, facing him but her eyes were white. She was in the throes of a vision and her face was contorted in anger. It must be Phoebe and her sisters, Cole thought to himself, she must be seeing what they're planning.

"Seer."

His voice was hoarse, barely Cole's anymore. He swallowed hard and said the word again but it came out in the same way. He was losing, the Source was winning.

No. No!

Cole opened his mouth to say it again when he suddenly felt a lurch in his stomach. This is it, I'm dying and he's taking over. I've failed. He expected the cold to overtake him finally but a warmth was spreading through his body and he frowned a little and closed his eyes. This was good magic, he was being summoned. Don't fight it, don't fight it, don't fight it. The Source screamed in his head but Cole allowed the golden lights to overtake him, and the Seer came out of her vision just in time to see him disappear and be taken from her.

"Not yet, witch," the Seer hissed, "I see you." Her fists clenched she shimmered out of her lair, following the golden lights. She would not lose, she would not be thwarted. She would have her power one way or the other.