Till Death Do Us
(Part 3)
Leo was very surprised at Piper's idea. He had not expected her to be in the mood to go out, let alone plan such an elaborate dinner and evening. By dessert, Piper smiled happily at him, and he got the feeling that at the very least the healing process had begun for her. If not for Prue, who was giving them serious reasons to worry, in spite of some show of emotions on her part.
Piper:
"Leo, I have something to tell you," she said with such a smile that he really started to wonder, a bit nervous actually.
Leo:
"What is it?"
Piper:
"What would you say of a little whitelighter running around the house?"
At first, it took him a moment to even understand what she was talking about. Then his stunned expression told Piper that her surprise was complete.
Piper continued when he said nothing:
"Hey aren't you happy?" She had asked this half-seriously.
Leo:
"Sorry, I needed a moment to take it in. Is it for real?" His face now the picture of pure happiness, which brought back the smile on her face.
Piper:
"The doctor confirmed it today. I wasn't sure before and I didn't want to get your hopes up."
Leo:
"This is wonderful," he says bending toward her over the table and knocking down a glass. He was confounding himself in excuses but contrary to her usual obsession with neatness, she just laughed and closed the gap between them to kiss him.
Leo:
"You're finding new ways to make me happier every day…"
Piper:
"I'm trying," she answers with a little twinkle in her eyes.
Cole had been looking around for some sign of his mother. He had made great efforts until now to stay well away from her circle of influence, but obviously, she had somehow found him anyway. And now he knew, she was punishing him for what she considered his betrayal.
It had taken her a long time to erase every part of humanity in him at first. She had even gotten help from the worst demons to drill him in her ways. Before he had met Phoebe, what he had been had just been a vague memory. Evil had eventually taken him over and purged every trace of his humanity. But Phoebe had given this back to him. Just thinking about her hurt him again and he had to force himself to focus on the task at hand. That had also been a big part of his training. "Be the best," she had said, "you owe this to me. I made you to be the most powerful of demons, and I intend to see it happen."
And it had. Now he was thinking of how proud of her son she had been then. How vile and monstrous she had managed to make him. But in all honesty, he had to admit that it had not been so difficult. In retrospect, he thought, maybe I never even really tried to fight my instincts. Thinking about this shamed him.
However, in this dark place, he had to keep his wits about himself and he moved slowly but with all the assurance that he could muster. He had to look the part if there was even one chance in a million that it could bring her back. There, some of his mother's underlings were milling about and he had all intention of learning everything he could from them. By any means…
It never occurred to him that he should have asked for help from Phoebe's sisters. He had always thought that he worked better alone.
At the manor, Paul had spent the evening with Prue. Ever since Phoebe's death, she had had many ups and downs. But now he couldn't quite figure out what was the matter with her. She seemed almost serene by moments, then her mood would darken again. In either state, it was almost torture to get her to even talk. He didn't mind this too much, but he knew that there was something the matter with her, something more.
Paul:
"Prue, is there something you're not telling me, something that changed?"
Prue:
"Well yes, but I cannot quite decide whether I should be happy about it or not. I mean it is great news but at the same time it just makes me so mad that Phoebe was robbed of her happiness."
Paul is now very confused and surprised at her sudden outburst:
"What are you talking about?"
Prue turns to him, a bit irritated, but then she remembers that he doesn't know:
"I probably should not tell you, since it's her affairs of course…"
Paul:
"You're confusing me more by the moment."
Prue almost smiles at the look on his face:
"Well ok, but you have to promise me to look very surprised when Piper tells you."
Paul:
"Promised, now get me out of my misery."
Prue:
"Ok, Piper just got great news today. Her and Leo are pregnant."
Paul:
"Oh that's great! Isn't it?" He ads when again her mood darkens.
Prue:
"Yes it is. But why couldn't Phoebe…"
Paul:
"Prue, I know that what happened was terrible, but life has to go on, and you still have so much to do."
Prue:
"Why do I put this burden on you? I know that you have your own reasons to grieve."
Paul:
"Your happiness is important to me Prue. When you're ready to talk, you know that you can."
She smiles, but still sadly:
"Maybe soon…"
Paul:
"I'll be there whenever you need me."
Prue leans on his chest, grateful for simply his presence, which has been the only thing that kept her from insanity those last few weeks. Him, as well as Piper and Leo, who gave her time to heal and, at the same time, kept her going. That thought also brings back to her that Cole didn't have the benefit of a shoulder to cry or someone to talk to. She can't help but think that it could be the end of his efforts for good, and she is surprised herself at how much it pains her.
Cole had finally found someone to talk to, or at least who would talk to him. The demon had not been very cooperative at first, as he was aware of his change of heart, but Cole had been very convincing…
He was now following the tip the demon had given to him.
And there she was, exactly as the demon had told him. It never occurred to him that it might have been a little too easy.
He went to her with all the rightful anger that he felt, and all she did in response was to smile triumphantly:
"Son, you're back…"
Cole:
"Yes and if you don't tell me what you did with her, you'll feel my wrath."
Elizabeth:
"What makes you think that I have her?"
But the look she gave him told him everything he needed to know. She had not even tried to hide it.
Cole:
"Is she alive," he asks almost pleadingly, which displeased her?
Elizabeth:
"I see that you haven't completely returned to me," she says with a sharp intonation. "All I can say is, maybe."
Cole comes closer to her, his expression hard and determined:
"Tell me now," he says in a low and threatening voice. But his mother won't be intimidated:
"We're not there yet. You will have to earn the information…
However, I will make this one easy for you."
Cole, still angry, towers over her.
Elizabeth:
"As much as you may want to kill me now, know that if you do, you will never know whether of not she is alive. And if she is, you will be the cause of her death."
Cole takes a step back, but he still looks at her with the same anger:
"What do you want?"
Elizabeth:
"That's more like it. Well, what I want is for you to get me rid of your father."
Cole gasps:
"You can't be serious."
Elizabeth waits a moment and then she smiles cruelly:
"For a chance to save your witch, it's not that much to ask. You don't even really know him…And besides, it's his fault."
Cole:
"What do you mean?"
Elizabeth:
"He's the one who led me to you."
Cole is incredulous:
"How can you try to put this on him."
Elizabeth:
"He knew that I was watching him, but he still went to get a look at you.
After this, all I had to do was lead him astray, while a human did the job for me. No one ever suspected."
Cole is now thinking back to their conversation and the expression his father had when he told him that he felt responsible. In spite of himself, now he was angry with him too.
Elizabeth continues in a persuasive tone of voice:
"You see, he did this to her and you, just as much as I did. If you kill him, I'll even let you go to her.
Cole is now thinking about this and can't help but ask:
"If I'm going to do this…"
Elizabeth:
"Go on…"
Cole:
"I want to know if she's alive first."
Elizabeth moved her hand in a circle and the image of Phoebe came in front of him. At first, he saw her still immobile on a bed. She seemed dead, and his heart sunk, even though he tried to hide it from his mother. But when Phoebe was released from the paralysis in front of him, he couldn't help but show his emotions and his mother told him then:
"Do it and you better hurry. She might not be worth your while for much longer…"
The image faded away.
Elizabeth:
"The kind of life, if you can call it that, she has now will most certainly drive her insane very soon…"
Cole again moves toward her threateningly, but he knows as much as she does that he won't risk killing her.
Then in a hoarse voice he says:
"I'll do it…"
Elizabeth:
"Don't think that you can fool me, I'll be watching you as I have been for quite a while now. "
Cole doesn't answer this, for he knows that she's telling the truth.
He doesn't lose any more time there, and shimmers out. Elizabeth grins at her own cleverness:
"Yes do it and then you'll be mine again, no matter what you think."
Cole started to plan his kill, he knew just the way to get one of those bows that would end his father's life, and he set out to get it right away…
At the manor, Piper and Prue were in a good mood for a change and talked about the pregnancy, making plans and hoping that this time everything would be for the best.
The doorbell interrupted them. Outside, when Prue opened the door, she found only a note on the porch. The note was short and rather mysterious:
"I need to talk to you, come to the mausoleum. It's about your sister."
The note wasn't signed but Prue thought that it looked like Cole's handwriting, albeit a little shaky. She wasn't sure that there was a point in going to see him now anyway, but the tone of the note intrigued her.
Piper came to her and read the note over her shoulder:
"What does that mean?"
Prue:
"Your guess is as good as mine. Why would anybody want to talk to us about Phoebe. I assume that is who they meant?"
Piper came to the same conclusion as Prue:
"Do you think it's him? After all, the mausoleum is where he always goes when upset."
Prue:
"It's possible, but after what we saw, what will be his state of mind?"
Piper:
"I still think that we should go and see. But maybe we should have Leo come along, just in case."
Prue:
"I guess…"
At the mausoleum, Cole was now waiting. He knew that his father would come back. He had been too insistent in wanting to talk to him.
He didn't have to wait long. As if his father had been watching him, he soon arrived…
The girls were just getting to the cemetery, and now they could see him outside the mausoleum, but he wasn't alone…
He seemed to have an animated discussion with another man and Leo reacted at this.
"What is he doing here?"
Piper and Prue turned to him askance:
"Who is that?"
Leo just moved faster toward the two men.
They were facing each other and Cole seemed really angry with the other man. Then this one took a step back, as if to ward his attack and Cole materialized the Darklighter's bow he had procured. Without waiting, he shot his father with it and then shimmered out rapidly.
The girls had watched this, horrified.
Leo ran to the falling whitelighter, but was afraid that he could not do much for him.
The shadow had been observing and now she vanished from behind a tomb nearby.
She returned to the place where they had met before and he was already there, waiting for her. The look on his face was now very different from before and she knew right then that she had been right. Killing an innocent had brought back his instinct fully.
Elizabeth:
"How do you feel son?"
Cole:
"What do you care?" He asks, almost offhandedly.
Elizabeth smiled:
"Do you want to see the witch still?"
Cole:
"I want you to get me there, yes. She carries my child and I want him."
Elizabeth:
"And her?"
Cole smiles cruelly:
"I think that I'll have some fun with her. But if she doesn't agree with me, and after she gave me the baby of course, I'll let you decide what you want to do."
Elizabeth:
"Don't think your mother is a fool Belthazor, I will be observing you…"
Cole:
"Suit yourself. But don't get in my way."
Elizabeth:
"Then, come with me." She took his arm and transported him to her hideaway…
In the cemetery, Leo had just gotten at the spot where Benjamin had fallen and he quickly bent toward him, hoping that he could still heal him. But when he touched him, Benjamin opened his eyes and took his hand away from himself. Then he pulled the arrow out of his chest with a grimace of pain and a scream. Leo was looking at him in astonishment. By all account, the whitelighter should have been dead or dying by now.
When the sisters arrived in turn they also looked at him uncomprehending.
Prue:
"How?"
Benjamin seemed surprised at first to find them there but somehow a look of understanding dawned on his face as he was getting up.
Then he said cryptically:
"She really wanted to cut everything away."
Leo:
"What the heck are you talking about? And what just happened," he asked impatiently?
Benjamin still looked around for a moment. Even though, he couldn't feel her presence around, he still wanted to make sure that she wouldn't find out what they had done. Then he turned back to the others:
"She wanted you here to make sure that you would not trust him ever again, probably just in case killing me didn't wake his instincts…"
Leo:
"You know that you were not allowed to see him," he says angrily. "Let alone consort with him. And who is "She"?"
Prue:
"More to the point Leo, Who is he?"
Benjamin answered for him:
"I'm Cole's father and I'm here to help, even if it costs me my wings."
Leo:
"What happened?"
Benjamin:
"Maybe we should go to the manor. I don't want her to find out that I'm still alive, it would ruin everything."
The others don't understand and they make him promise that he will explain himself before moving away with him.
Cole and his mother materialized in the room where Phoebe had been returned to the bed and paralyzed. Cole had to make a great effort not to run to her, but he maintained the façade for his mother, and prepared to give her the show that she wanted to see:
"So, you got her real quite there. Good for you... I never could do that."
Elizabeth gave a look of contempt toward Phoebe:
"Yes she's a feisty one, but right now she can be all yours at your whim if you want that…"
Cole gave Phoebe a cold look and turned back to his mother:
"I prefer my women a little more animated."
Elizabeth looked at him questioningly, but then:
"Well, since you're being so receptive I might give you the chance. But won't she be a little less cooperative now," she asks with a smile, letting him know that Phoebe could hear everything that was said.
Cole:
"I also enjoy a little resistance. It heightens the pleasure," he says, smiling luridly. "That's going to make for a nice change, I was starting to get bored with her."
Phoebe couldn't believe what he was saying, yet the fact that he was here confirmed her worst fears. When Elizabeth had told her what he was going to do, she had sunk into despair but then, she had also hoped that Elizabeth was lying. Now she could see that it had been the truth. All at once, she remembered everything that they had been to each other and it all took a dark and horrible meaning.
He was coming closer now, and all she wanted was to be able to hurt him as much as he was hurting her.
Elizabeth was giddy with her complete victory. She had her son back, she was now sure of this.
"Would you like to try this right now son?"
Cole turns to her coldly:
"Like I said women on their back are rather boring."
Elizabeth:
"Seeing that you are now more cooperative, I'm sure I can arrange that."
She gestured toward Phoebe to release her. This one didn't lose time. As soon as she was free, she jumped out of the bed and slapped him as hard as she could across the face. But instead of anger, she just saw the hard smile widening.
"Stay away from me, you bastard. How could you?"
He didn't answer, and instead he took her arm rudely, twisting it, the sharp pain made her scream in spite of herself.
Elizabeth is pleased and laughs:
"Well, I'll leave you lovebirds at your little exercise," she says before leaving the room, still laughing.
As soon as she has left, Cole releases her arm and Phoebe steps away from him, not looking at him anymore.
Turning around, she told him:
"Go away, you won't get my child or me; I'll kill myself first."
Cole:
"Phoebe, I'm so sorry." This was said in such a low and pained voice that she couldn't help looking back at him.
However, she was still angry in spite of the little hope that she now felt:
"Sorry for what? Hurting me or killing your own father?"
A knife twisting in his chest would not have hurt him more. He tried to explain:
"Phoebe I…"
She stopped him:
"Don't play games with me, I just had about enough of this from you."
Cole is now almost angry and he moves toward her quickly, not leaving her time to step away.
"You will listen," he says harshly.
Phoebe:
"Or what? You'll call her back to put me in that bed again? Maybe a woman on her back is all you can hope for…"
Cole feels every word painfully:
"It is not what you think…"
Phoebe:
"And what is it? She told me that she would not let you come here until you had done what she asked, and you are here," she says with a suddenly colder voice.
He wanted so much to tell her everything, but at this moment he sensed his mother watching and knew that he had to act accordingly or she might kill Phoebe just to punish him, no matter what she said.
Rather than answering her, he took her by the waist and kissed her passionately as she was hitting him, trying to get away. But even as she tried, she couldn't help but feel the need for him and hated herself for it.
Cole could feel that his mother, satisfied, had stopped watching, but at this point they were not exactly fighting anymore.
Still when he let go of her, she pushed him away.
This time he was not going to let her interrupt, time was of the essence:
"Phoebe you have to listen to me now. I don't know how long we have before she comes back."
Phoebe was about to tell him off, but his tone of voice stopped her.
She didn't know what to think anymore, but somehow the little hope that was growing in her allowed her to let him finish.
Cole:
"My father is alive," he said in a very low voice that made her doubt that she heard right:
"What did you say?"
He came cautiously closer:
"He's alive, I did to her what she did to us, and we faked his death."
Phoebe feels like an enormous weight is being lifted from her chest. But she still asks:
"And all that you told her…"
He grimaces:
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean a word of it. You know that, don't you?"
Almost back to her old self she can't help but ask:
"Not even the part about it being boring now?"
He smiles at her change of attitude:
"Definitely not," he says taking her in his arm and kissing her to prove it.
"You have no idea how horrible it was."
Phoebe:
"Oh I think I do. But can you get me out of here?"
The painful expression that appears on his face tells her it will not be an option.
Cole:
"I can't, she holds almost all the cards Phoebe. But that doesn't mean that I won't do anything. I have a plan that will convince her to let me come and go from this place as I want. Then we will be able to escape."
Phoebe:
"What plan?"
Cole hesitates:
"The one where I kill your sisters…"
Phoebe:
"What?"
But before he could answer, the demoness reenters the room and Cole changes attitude immediately:
"You may resist me now, but believe me I'll have what I want from you soon…"
Elizabeth:
"The little girl is giving you trouble?"
Cole:
"Nothing that I can't handle, but for now I have more interesting things to do."
Elizabeth:
"Like what?"
Cole turns to Phoebe with pleading eyes and she tries very hard to believe that there is a good explanation to what he said, then she starts on the role assigned to her, but doesn't find it too difficult to look angry given what he has said.
When he looks back at his mother, the cold smile has returned to his lips:
"I'm going to kill me a couple witches…"
Elizabeth is surprised:
"Really?" She questions.
Cole:
"They have been on my back since day one, now I will give them what they deserve at last. What I should have done a year ago."
Phoebe:
"How could you," she asks, angry and horrified?
Cole gives her his best evil look:
"What do you expect from a demon?"
Elizabeth:
"I knew that you couldn't be lost to me. Come with me, I'll help you."
Cole:
"I don't need help to kill them, I would have succeeded last year if I had not gone crazy. It's over now."
Elizabeth:
"At least let me go to observe. I'll take great pleasure in seeing them die," she says, turning a cruel smile toward Phoebe.
Phoebe throws herself on the bed as they depart, and although she is grateful that the demoness let her free, she feels the weight returning and choking her now. "Please let everything be alright." She thinks to herself.
Meanwhile, Benjamin was explaining his part in all of this:
"I know that I was wrong, but I couldn't resist coming to see him. I should have known that she was watching me. She was always so clever, but I couldn't come and tell him that she was there by my fault. I failed him once already, and I couldn't let him know that I had done it to him again. So I followed her to try to prevent anything bad from happening, but she figured it out and devised another plan. Using, from what I learned, a voodoo priestess and her own powers afterward, she faked Phoebe's death. While I was watching her, the priestess was doing the deed for her. Elizabeth probably made sure that any procedure that they could have done to her didn't happen. Keeping her alive to use her against Cole…"
He pauses a moment, then after the awkward silence, he continues:
"Then afterward, I was too ashamed to tell any of you. It took me a long time to get to him. Eventually I have been able to tell him about his mother but she told him about me. He was truly angry, but not enough to hurt me. And he told me what he had planned to do. She added your presence, hoping that it would be the last nail in his coffin. Now that you would think he was evil, he couldn't have returned to you anymore, and the only choice left to him would have been her.
But there is something else…"
Prue:
"What?"
Benjamin:
"He told me that the only way that she would ever let him free to take Phoebe back is if she thought that he truly was evil. And the way to do this has to do with both of you," he says looking intently at Prue and Piper.
Prue asks suspiciously:
"What exactly do you mean by that?"
Benjamin hesitates but he knows there is no time to lose:
"He will come here and try to kill you."
Piper:
"What?"
Benjamin:
"You got to listen to me if you want your sister back. This will have to look very convincing…"
Prue:
"Believe me if he tries to kill us, he will die very convincingly…"
Benjamin is horrified by her reaction:
"He won't really do it, but he told me of your friend the wizard and that he had thought of something."
Barely calmer, Prue says:
"We're listening…"
Outside the manor, Cole and his mother materialized a few hours later, after he had made his plan. He had tried as much as he could to stall this so that his father could have time to convince Prue and Piper. But even so, right now he had to hold back a sigh of relief at seeing Paul's car in the driveway. He had been afraid that Prue would be too stubborn to believe him. Although his mother had unwillingly provided them with at least some proof that he wasn't completely evil.
Cole:
"We should wait until the wizard has left."
Elizabeth:
"What, you're scared," she asked dejectedly?
He just looked at her calmly, in spite of the insult:
"I was not considered the best for nothing mother. I'll get the wizard when it's the time. Now I don't want anything or anyone to interfere with me."
She's not quite convinced yet, but the look of determination on his face leads her to believe that it might be true. Still, she promises herself to punish him harshly if he lied.
She knows that in spite of what he said, he still lusts for the witch, and she wouldn't hesitate to take her away from him.
Cole ads:
"At any rate what's one more hour or two? They still will be just as dead then than now."
Elizabeth is fooled by his attitude, or at least Cole thinks that she is…
Inside the house, the girls are preparing for the worst:
Prue:
"Piper you are sure that you will be ok?"
Piper:
"That is the only way to save Phoebe and I will help, no matter what."
Prue:
"But the baby?"
Piper:
"The baby will be fine and Paul assured us that there would be only minimal risk. I think that we can trust him."
Prue:
"I wish I could say the same about Cole. If only he would have told us about it first, maybe I would be more inclined to believe it…"
Piper:
"I think that I just figured out why you and him fight so much," she says with a little laugh, "I don't know why I didn't see it before."
Prue:
"What are you talking about?"
Piper takes a step back just in case, then she says:
"That's because you're acting exactly the same…"
Prue is offended:
"How could you compare me to him?"
Piper:
"You both try to do things by yourself all the time and we always have to tell you about teamwork…"
Prue feels that her sister hit the nail, but she won't admit it:
"Don't compare me to him. He's a demon for Pete sake."
Piper just smiles knowingly and doesn't insist.
Meanwhile, Leo and Benjamin had returned to the Elders. Benjamin knew that they would not be very happy with him, but he still had to try and explain himself. Leo, for his part was getting ready to play his role in the little scheme they had devised. He didn't relish his particular role but knew that it was necessary for believability. Still, he was really hoping that Cole was truly on their side at the moment…
For all the planning, the whole thing lasted but a few seconds. Cole moved into action the moment that Paul had left the house and, not waiting for his mother, shimmered inside. She followed right away but staying in her shadow form, as an observer. She relished every bit of what she saw then:
Cole had shimmered in the living room and quickly moved toward the dining room when he didn't find them there. He entered the room in his demon form and the girls showed genuine surprise at seeing him there. He barely hesitated, and threw a fireball in Prue direction, which she deflected, then she tked him away going closer to Piper to try and give him a stronger front, but he didn't attack them like that anymore. Instead, he shimmered behind Prue and before she could react, he put his hands on her head and twisted it until a terrible crunching sound was heard, then he materialized a knife and a distraught Piper didn't have time to react before he planted it in her chest. Right then, Leo orbed in, and Cole seeing that he might try to heal them jumped at him and threw him violently against a wall. The whitelighter fell heavily on the floor and didn't get back up. Cole then looked upon his handiwork with a triumphant smile and waited for his mother to come and verify that it was real, as he knew she would.
He didn't have to wait long as she materialized right beside him with a cruel smile on her lips:
"Son, I knew you had it in you. Now the Source won't be on your back anymore, and you will be able to return to your old ways."
Cole says harshly:
"I want the witch and my child."
Elizabeth:
"Of course, but only if you promise to share his powers with me."
Cole:
"We will see mother," he says with a hard expression and she is now more convinced than ever that he is back.
"Come with me, she'll be all yours to do as you please."
Cole smiled as if imagining the tortures he was going to inflict on her or so his mother thought. Then he looked again at the now dead witches and the unconscious whitelighter before following his mother to claim his prize…