Lover's Leap
Chapter 5
Phoebe drifted back to consciousness. She didn't want to, the darkness beckoned with its soothing nothingness. Yet the pain in her body didn't allow her to remain in limbo any longer. With a groan she opened her eyes. She stared at the back of the couch, Cole's couch; a soft pillow rested beneath her cheek. Bit by bit her memory returned. Cole, hurling fire at them. She sat up. She moved too fast and pain lanced her skull. Phoebe moaned again. In other corners of the room, her sisters sluggishly pulled themselves to sitting positions. "You okay?" Phoebe croaked.
"That blasted demon!" Prue muttered. She crawled around on hands and knees and overturned this and that object in the debris. "Damn, he took the potion."
Phoebe took the small pillow and pulled it tight. She wrapped her arms around it as tears fell. How could everything come crashing down so suddenly? She hissed when the premonition struck her, unwanted and sudden as always.
"What? What did you see?" Piper and Prue asked as one when Phoebe reopened her eyes.
"Cole," she said. "In the mausoleum. With the potion. I think he's planning to vanquish himself."
"Good riddance," Prue muttered, all but inaudible. Piper gave her a withering look.
"We have to stop him," Phoebe begged. "It wasn't Cole that hurt me. It was Belthazor." She had to believe that, or she would lose her mind.
"Phoebe, Cole and Belthazor are one," Piper said gently. "Perhaps this is for the best."
"No!" Phoebe cried. "There has to be a way to make it work! All we need to do is find it!" She jumped to her feet. "I'm going after him."
Piper and Prue shared a look. "Phoebe, wait! We'll come with you. Here," Prue shrugged out off her jacket and handed it to her sister. "You better put this on if you plan to go traipsing around a graveyard in the middle of the night."
"Thanks." Phoebe's throat was choked with tears and she couldn't say anything else.
A short time later Prue engaged the brakes near the entrance to the cemetery. Before the car came to a full stop, Phoebe jumped out and began running down the lanes. She had to get to Cole before it was too late.
"Phoebe, wait!" She never looked back.
* * *
Cole crouched beside the burn mark that his vanquished shirt had left and brushed his fingertips along the edge of the scorched granite. He clutched the tiny bottle to his chest. "Phoebe, I'm sorry," he murmured into the still air. "If you hadn't shown compassion, none of this would have happened." His voice shook. It was so unfair that she had to go through so much pain. If only he could take the pain away from her. But he couldn't. He clenched his jaws. At least he could make sure he would not cause her any more harm. He held the bottle high.
"Belthazor. I expected you would come back here." Something moved in the shadows. Cole whirled around, ready to hurl a fire ball. A distant part of his mind found this grimly humorous: he was about to extinguish his life, why would he want to defend himself?
A woman walked out of the deep shadows. She looked young and beautiful. Curls brushed her shoulders. She was Elz'pax. Cole's eyes widened as he recognized her. "Mother! What... how..." Understanding dawned. "What did you do to me?"
"I spiked your drink, to subdue your human side," she said. "Someone needed to help you reclaim your true self. This," she waved a hand in disgust at his human body, "isn't who you are. It's not how I trained you to be. You are Belthazor. The Source wants you dead but with the witch gone, he may offer you a second chance. Disavow your humanity and I'll bring you back into the fold. I'm positive I can convince the Source to let you live."
"I don't want to live, Mother," Cole said. "Not as a demon. Not anymore. Father was right: evil has no future."
"You're a fool," Elz'pax hissed. "He was nothing except the means to an end. I am the one that raised you, I taught you everything you know."
"And see what it got me." Cole again lifted the bottle.
"Cole? Cole!" Phoebe stumbled down the steps. She stopped short when she saw the woman, and Cole with the potion held high.
"You idiot!" Elz'pax spat. "Why haven't you killed her?" Fire leaped from her hands toward Phoebe.
"Eeps!" Phoebe ducked away behind a stone column.
"No!" Cole shouted. He flung a blue bolt at his mother.
She deflected it with ease. A flick of her wrist and Cole slammed against a sarcophagus. "Don't even try," she said. She shook her head and her dark curls danced. "Remember, honor thy Mother and all that. You are of my blood; you shouldn't be trying to kill me."
"Your mother?" Phoebe peeked out from behind the column and stared at the woman that didn't look much older than she was.
"Phoebe! Phoebe!" Prue and Piper ran into the vault.
Elz'pax swore. "More witches!" Her gaze had turned fiery red. She held up her hands to call for more fire.
"'Of my blood', you say..." Cole muttered. His eyes narrowed. He realized that his powers were useless against her; she was so much stronger than he was. And he was desperate to protect Phoebe. From his mother. From himself. There was only one way to get rid of Belthazor. He popped the small cork off the bottle and lunged for the succubus.
"Nooo!" Phoebe wailed.
When the dust settled, moonlight shone in through a gap in the roof. Piper and Prue wrapped their arms around their sister and her sobs shook them. The three Charmed Ones stared at the fire in the middle of the tomb, riveted by the flames, which were already dying down.
--END--
More author's notes: There are several points I'd like to address here.
First, the name of Cole's mother. In 'Coyoto Piper' her name was established as Elizabeth Turner. I assume that this is a pseudonym and not her demonic name. I then went from Elizabeth to Elspeth to Elz'pax, which sounds more demonic to me. If a different name has been established within canon, please let me know and I'll change the story accordingly.
Second, the title of the story: it was taken from a quote from 'Heartbreak city'. I don't remember the exact context, but this is the quote.
--Phoebe: Come on, they don't call it Lover's Leap for nothing.
--Cupid: Uh, Phoebe, actually that's a reference to suicide.
I just liked it and it seemed to fit the subject matter.
Thirdly, Cole/Belthazor. I make a clear distinction between the two of them, that is bordering on the edge of schizophrenia - except the two personalities are very aware of the other's existence. I feel that they are like two different entities, living within the same being and striving for control. I think Cole is the stronger and smarter of the two (lucky for Phoebe!). To put it bluntly, Cole is the brain and Belthazor the hands.
There are several scenes that seem to support my ideas. In 'Power outage' Cole makes a conscious decision to not kill Phoebe but instead to hide the knife behind his back. Belthazor on the other hand doesn't think twice about attacking the sisters, even after Andras has been cast out of his body. Andras also triggers Cole to morph into Belthazor by riling him, supporting my theory that Belthazor can only come forward if Cole lets him (either consciously or because he's enraged). Scenes in 'Sleuthing with the enemy' further support this: Cole is weakened by his injury and at times has trouble holding on to his human form. He seems reluctant about it but consciously morphs into Belthazor to tear up his shirt for bandages. And when Krell shows up with Piper and Prue, Belthazor springs forward in what seems to be a combination of shock, perhaps fear, and the need for self-defense.
Last but not least, my thank yous! Thanks go to JP for helping me with the drinks bit. Thanks also to everyone that sent feedback or wrote a review while the story was developing. Always much appreciated!