Chapter 11
Cole slowly opened his eyes to find his own eyes staring right back at him. He found it really creepy. That was until a sharp pain in his head reminded him of where he was and what had happened earlier.
He tried to smile at Vicky who was sitting on a chair beside the bed but it came out more like a grimace. "Hey."
"Hey. How are you doing?"
He rubbed his forehead with a wince. "I have one hell of a headache."
"That's to be expected. Here, take these." She gave him some painkiller pills and a bottle of water.
He accepted them gratefully. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." She Vicky gave him a smile. "You gotta eat to get your strength back."
He took the plate of sandwiches offered to him and began consuming them. "So, what happened downstairs after I passed out?"
Vicky shrugged, her own plate on her lap. "Nothing much. I got rid of our unwelcomed guests and then took you up here."
Cole looked up at her nonchalant tone, suspicious. "Really, you sure that's all that's happened?"
She dropped her gaze on her wringing hands. "Ok. I lost my temper and sort of… threw aunt Paige against the wall."
"Vicky!"
"I know!" She crossed her arms and pouted petulantly. "It's not my fault. You're not her favorite person and therefore, we're not her favorite nephews and nieces. She doesn't really try to hide it and I lose control over my powers every time. She does it even when she's never seen me before."
Cole gave his daughter a sad look. He couldn't believe that his and Paige's dislike of each other could have that effect on the witch's relationship with her nephews and nieces. "She's not my favorite person either but she's still your aunt."
"You don't know how it is, daddy. We're not half angels like her kids or aunt Piper's. Even if she tries to pass it off as a joke we're little demons for her."
He could see that she was getting upset over the subject and took her hand in his, squeezing it in comfort. "That'll just be another thing we'll have to change then." She gave him a grateful smile. "So, tell me more about yourself."
Vicky laughed. "You know, my siblings and I have this amazing gift of traveling through time and I'm really rubbish at it and keeping time intact. We have it since being very little and you always have to fetch us when we accidently travel to another time. But despite all that, there's one thing I know for sure: I can't give you all the answers about me, future consequences and all that. You'll just have to discover them the normal way. Believe me, it'll be more fun that way."
Cole laughed as she batted her eyes at him. "Somehow, I get the impression that you're very much of a handful."
She sniffed and crossed her arms again. "It's a genetic trait. You'll have to blame mom for that one."
That made Cole laugh harder. "Oh I've heard it all. She gave her grandmother a hard time when she was younger." He shook his head. "Anyway. How come you've got all these powers when I don't?"
"Oh. Even if you weren't Belthazor anymore your children would have inherited the powers. You were born with them, they are part of who you are. But that doesn't matter, you have much more than that."
"What do you mean?"
"The whole thing with the Source happened because you had lost a part of yourself, literally. It had left you vulnerable in every sense of the word but I changed that. You have powers now, more than before."
Cole shook his head in refusal. "You shouldn't have done that. My powers were the reason we had so much trouble before with your mother."
"No. The powers weren't the problem. Her wanting to change you was. You have to stop bending your life around the Charmed Ones. Do something for yourself for once."
Cole looked down and sighed. She was right. When he had no powers he did nothing but walk around the manor or get out of the way when there was a fight. He hated it but he did it because Phoebe told him to. He had no job, no friends nor family. All his life turned around Phoebe. At least when he was a demon he had a purpose.
He gave Vicky a fond smile. "You are more like your mother than I thought."
She beamed at him. "Thanks." She then became serious. "I'm not asking you to give up on mom. Heck that would be suicide on my part. I'm just saying, have a little more perspective, see what else is out there and then you can both move forward."
"I know you're right. You didn't hear me contradicting you, did you?" She shook her head no. "Now, since you can't tell me anything about you, tell me about these powers."
Again, she beamed at him before launching herself into a long tale. Cole listened, all the while committing her face and mannerism to his memory since he wouldn't get to know her for a long time. She was a talker, again a trait she got from Phoebe, and they spent the night doing just that.