Chapter 9

Manor

Leo, Prue, and Phoebe have just arrived back at the Manor, they were about to split up to tackle different tasks but a loud noise and Piper's moan of anguish rush them to the kitchen. Standing by the island covered in watermelon guts is Piper, the expression of her face is a mix between 'gross' and 'why me'. "Piper?" Phoebe questions.

"Was it a demon sweetie?" Prue grabs a towel and tries to help Piper wipe off the pieces and goo.

"No, it was watermelon."

Phoebe blinks not sure what her sister had been trying to do. "Honey, why did you vanquish watermelon?" See no sense at all.

"I didn't vanquish watermelon. I threw it up in the air and I tried to freeze it and it exploded." Frustrated she throws her hands out and a potted plant explodes. Piper screams and throws her hands out again this time causing the glass cupboards to smash to pieces.

After a few more minutes of talking Piper yells at Leo to help her. He tells her he'll go to the Elders and maybe they'd know who or what gave this power/curse to her. As he orbs Prue tries to tell him to ask about the second witch but his orbs are already gone. "Dammit, we need to find her."

From behind them Cole and Liz shimmer in, Phoebe immediately notices their embracing bodies. "We know where to find her." Cole tells the sisters; slowly he eases his arm from around Liz's waist seeing Phoebe's sudden anger at him holding Liz.

"Cole?" Isn't he going to introduce her to his little friend? And when she says little she means little, she can't be more than 5'1 or over a hundred pounds, she doesn't even look older than eighteen.

"Liz this is Phoebe and her sisters Prue and Piper they're the Halliwell sisters." Cole doesn't even have a chance to introduce the sisters to her because Liz pushes him slightly grabbing his undivided attention.

"Halliwell? I'm helping a fucking Halliwell? Why the Hell didn't you tell me this Belthazor, their grandmother killed my mother." Elizeran throws her hands up in frustration, "You goddamn irritating demon, I should incinerate you where you stand for not telling me." She growls out.

Instead of getting angry, as all three sisters expected him too, he turns her around. "You won't incinerate me," He says with absolute confidence, "besides knowing which witches I'm helping would you have changed your mind?" He's fairly certain he knows the answer but it's not a hundred percent sure on it.

How could he just spring this on her out of the blue? At least if he had told her at her apartment she could have had her freak out there and not in front of her loves new love. "No, it wouldn't have changed my decision. I couldn't exactly let you fuck up and get yourself killed. But if you ever lose any of that handsome charm I love so much which you seem to have been born with I'm throwing you to the wolves." She teases.

Cole knows she's kidding. One night while they were lying in bed she told him she'd love him even if he were a leper. Then immediately following that serious sentence she said she'd get some action on the side of course needing her 'hottie' fix on a regular basis.

"Excuse me, first off don't speak to him that way, I thought you were his friend and second, he's not the demon anymore, he's been suppressing it, the only reason he's using powers now is because he needs information." Phoebe argues, she doesn't like this demoness at all. If her mother is anything like the daughter Phoebe understands why their Grams killed her mom.

Liz ignores Phoebe but latches onto the second point she made. "Wait, you're suppressing your demon? Like trying to separate human from demon? What are you trying to do kill yourself Cole?" She demanded to know. Yes, she had her suspicions that's what he was doing but now those concerns are confirmed and she can now pounce on him for his idiocy without guilt.

He doesn't answer just turns his gaze toward Phoebe, then to the floor, finally raising his eyes again to Liz's. He doesn't have to answer, Liz knows why he's smothering his demon and she's not at all happy about it.

"What do you mean he's trying to kill himself? Cole is trying to redeem himself for all the evil he's done, how is that killing him?" Phoebe questions, what the Hell does this bitch know.

"You really are a complete and utter moron aren't you?" Liz blinks unable to believe that someone as magical as the Halliwell's don't know the repercussions of denying your other half. It's one thing to hide who you are from the world but to deny it to yourself is suicide.

"Cole can I talk to you out in the living room please?" Phoebe can't stand being in the same room as Liz. Before Liz showed up he would have followed without question but now he stares down into her rival's eyes. He wants to make sure she'll be fine by herself. Phoebe's teeth clench together in anger and irritation.

Swallowing she nods. Cole strokes a hand down her hair and hesitantly leaves her side to go speak with Phoebe. Prue watches Elizeran's eyes trail after Cole with longing. She still wants him; this could definitely end up becoming a problem for her little sister.

"So, is that like the company uniform?" Prue raises her eyebrows, that skirt is so short it should be illegal, even she doesn't have skirts that scandalous. If Elizeran bends over nothing will be hidden.

"One of them yes." With ease she rises up and sits on the kitchen table crossing her legs seductively, the move automatic when wearing a skirt like this. She's been wearing this skirt for so many decades she knows exactly how to show a great deal and yet keep her goodies concealed.

"What did you mean by Cole killing himself?" Piper briefly takes her mind of her violent powers to concentrate at the problems at hand. "I mean isn't it a good thing that he wants to leave that world behind…not good for the Underworld mind you but for our side?"

Deciding to take pity on these two she breathes out and begins her explanation. "Yes, it is good for the side of light to get a "changed" demon. Changed in the sense that he now wants to do good. However because he's denying his other half, his stronger half, he's slowly dying. I'm surprised your Whitelighter didn't tell, at least Phoebe, the consequences of this."

"Be kind rewind." Prue asks.

"Alright, if Cole has made the decision to be good that doesn't mean he has to suppress his demon half. He can still use his demonic powers and fight on the side of truth and justice. If Cole the human side wants to be good then Belthazor the demon has that same want, they aren't separate beings. Separate names yes, but Belthazor and Cole share the same soul."

Piper gazes down at the island. "So it'd be like us restraining our magical side?" Why haven't any of them thought about that before?

"Exactly. You could do it but it would be slowly killing you or you'd go insane which ever came first. Some choice huh?" Liz smirks at them. Now they're getting it.

"But wait why do you seem perfectly fine? In the book it said you'd been in hiding for years isn't that suppressing your demon half as well?" Prue leans against the island behind her ready to hear her explanation for that.

"Yes, I was in hiding. However that is completely different from smothering." Liz reclines back putting her arms behind her supporting her upper body. "See I never denied being a demon, I never told myself that in order to be good I had to keep my demon side down and not even admit to myself I'm demon. For these past years I have learned that being good isn't as appalling as I originally thought it was."

"You couldn't use your powers though, if you did bounty hunters would come after you." Piper points out. It's odd that she's relatively at ease with a demon in her home, normally she's on edge, even around Cole still.

"Again that's true, but Cole is fully denying that he is a demon. He could stop using his powers today if he admitted to himself that just because he's a demon it doesn't make him evil. Don't get me wrong it certainly helps but regular humans can be just as ruthless, just as traumatizing then any demon."

"Sounds like you have personal experience with that." Piper's heart goes out to her.

Liz shakes her head. "No, a friend of mine though was tortured for hours by a human. He had no special powers and he caused so much hurt for Max that he had nightmares for months after. Still does on occasion, thankfully they've diminished over time but that pain will always be with him."

"You must care for him very much." Prue states. Liz's voice didn't change but her eyes held sorrow and guilt.

"We're not exactly on good terms right now but yes I care about him." She admits. Liz will always feel guilty that she left Max during a time when he could have used her support but unfortunately she had no choice. She had received word that a small army of bounty hunters were on their way to capture or kill her.

After she left Max in the desert with Tess, Michael, and Isabel she packed her things and fled the city. She headed for the most remote place she could find and waited for the army. They came and she took care of them destroying them. Afterwards she took the next two months recovering from her various injuries and then she came back, but by that time Max was over the major hill of emotional pain having worked through it with his alien family.

"From what I see the only reason Cole is smothering his demon side is because of Phoebe. He knows what can and will happen if he continues on this path." When it comes to Cole she could care less about the rest of the world; the only thing that matters is Cole. She has to try to get him to see what he's doing is dangerous not only to himself but to the woman that claims to love him.

TBC