Note: You know, I was wondering if any of you would figure out who was trying to help them. I had almost lost hope but then... Give Michelle the prize!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At first, the voices were just faint sounds coming from far away. Slowly, as Cole regained his consciousness, they became closer, until he was able to recognize their owners and the meaning of the words:

"He's been unconscious for too long, Leo. What if he hit his head when he fell?" -- Phoebe sounded anxious.

"He didn't, Phoebe; you saw it yourself," Leo explained patiently. "He's not hurt: he's just exhausted: you have to understand that Cole single-handedly accomplished what the Power of Three couldn't."

Then there was the sound of tiny feet growing closer, and Cole winced as Ben's hand grabbed his nose.

"Dada!" he called, impatiently.

"Sweetie, let dad... Oh, baby, you're awake!" -- Phoebe's face lightened when she saw Cole open his eyes and give her a confused look.

As he sat up and hugged her tight, Cole looked at Leo over her head and was glad to see that, even though he still looked pale and tired, the Whitelighter had lost that ominous translucent quality.

"Is the portal closed?" Cole asked, while helping Ben as the toddler struggled to climb up the sofa. He couldn't help but smile as he pulled his son towards him with one arm, while the other was still wrapped around Phoebe.

"Yes," Leo said, smiling, "thanks to you."

Cole gave him a curious look, then turned his eyes to the left, where he could see Piper and Paige sitting side by side on the two-seat couch. The tension of earlier had left their faces, but there was something in the way they were looking at him, a mix of curiosity and expectation.

Then the previous events came back in a rush, and he swirled his head to the right with a start, gasping at the sight of the man who had been sitting on the green stuffed chair, patiently waiting.

Cole was barely aware of the fact that Phoebe was gently taking Ben from his arms; his eyes were locked on the blue eyes that looked exactly like his own, and like his son's as well. He, Ben and the newcomer also shared the tan complexion and the strong jaw line, but not the dark hair that had come from his mother: the man gazing lovingly at him had russet hair and mustache.

"Dad?" Cole said, with a hesitant, almost fearful voice. His father's presence at that house, even as a ghost, was impossible. It was against all logic, and Cole knew that. But at that moment he was beyond logic, beyond the rational thinking of a grown up. Right then, Cole wasn't a grown up; he was three again, frightened and confused, wondering where dad was and when he would come take them back home.

Cole cautiously stood up, moving ever so slowly, as if any abrupt movement could cause his father to vanish into the air. His heart was pounding furiously inside his chest, and his throat felt closed tight. The two men looked at each other in silence for a moment, then Benjamin simply opened his arms and his son fell into his loving embrace without a word.

Benjamin Turner felt hot tears pricking behind his eyes. Was this tall man -- a few inches taller than him, actually -- the three-year-old boy that used to look at him with eyes round with wonder as he sat on the edge of his bed and told him bedtime stories? Yes! his heart screamed in joy, Yes! My son! Taken away from me in the past, and now brought back to me!

"Son..." he whispered hoarsely, holding Cole tight against his heart.

Father and son stood like that for a while, until Benjamin unwillingly pulled away to look Cole in the eyes. He'd like to hold his son for a lot longer, for another 116 years if possible, to compensate for the time they had been kept apart, but there were things that must be said, and he wasn't sure of how long he'd be allowed to stay there with his son now that the shield cast by Frederick and Anthony had been removed.

"So," he said, examining Cole's face with some concern, "how do you feel? Closing that portal took an enormous amount of energy."

"I'm fine. I think," said Cole, even though he still felt slightly shaken. It had indeed taken a huge amount of energy, and he found it quite unsettling not to know where the hell all that energy had come from.

He gave his father an intrigued look and asked:

"Did you... Was that you, helping me say the words?"

"Yes," said Benjamin, smiling. "I figured out you'd need some help there."

"You'll bet," Cole said, smiling back at him. "But, dad, how did you do that?" He hesitated, then asked: "How did I do that?"

Benjamin looked at his son in silence for a while, wondering what he was going to say.

"Son," he finally said, resting his hand on Cole's shoulder, "we need to talk." He thought a little, then added: "And I think you'd better sit down."

Cole gave him a puzzled look as he obliged and sat by Phoebe's side on the sofa. He held her hand in his and looked at her, then back at his father:

"Uh, I believe you've met my family?..."

"Yes," Benjamin said with a smile that encompassed everyone in the room.

He had a warm, captivating smile that made one want to smile back at him. Looking at him, Phoebe wondered if Cole would have been like that, too, had he been raised in a different environment. She knew by then that the charming smile Cole so often showed, the one that had won her over the minute he had turned it in her direction, was more of a cultivated feature, a skill he had developed when he was a demon blending in the human world. His "real smile" as she called it, the one that actually came from his heart, was reserved for the few privileged ones that he trusted and loved. It was frequently directed towards her and Ben; and over the past months, she was glad to see that it had started to show up more and more frequently when he was around the rest of the family.

Benjamin, on the other hand, seemed to be a man who smiled often and to everyone. "Like Ben," Phoebe thought. It occurred to her that it was the smile of a man who loved life and his fellow men, who as a rule expected the best from everyone and had an unshakable faith in Good. In short, not the kind of smile one would expect from a man who had been killed by his own wife and whose son had been taken to the Underworld and raised as a demon.

"Hi!" -- Ben's voice cut her musings as he greeted his grandfather with his typical enthusiasm.

"Hi," Benjamin said, smiling at him.

Ben was already squirming in her arms, trying to climb down the sofa again, so Phoebe placed him on the floor and watched with a smile as he took some short, tottering steps towards Benjamin. This one reached out and helped him through the last steps of the way, scooping him up and sitting him on his lap.

"Hi," Ben said again, grinning. The only other words he knew were "no", "dada" and "mama", so "hi" would have to do.

"Hi, again," Benjamin said, with an amused smile. Then turning to Cole: "It's quite the young man you two have here. You should be proud of him."

"Was it you who told him to give me the paper containing the history of Frederick and Anthony?" Leo asked, curious. Most of the color had already come back to his face, mostly thanks to the magic that had been unleashed when the portal had been closed, but also to the fire that Phoebe had lighted again first thing as her powers had been returned to her.

"Yes," Benjamin said. He gave Cole and Phoebe an apologizing look as he explained: "Under normal circumstances, I'd never pull a child into this, but I couldn't contact the rest of you, and I just had to prevent you from unknowingly opening the portal..."

"That's alright," Phoebe said, understandingly. "But I'm surprised that you weren't able to contact us: usually, we can see ghosts. I mean," she added, with some embarrassment, "you're a ghost, aren't you?"

"Yes," Benjamin said, smiling, "I'm a ghost. But I was also trying to contact you from another dimension, so..." -- he frowned slightly -- "Oh well, I quite don't understand it myself..." -- he shrugged -- "The fact is, I couldn't. So, this little one here was my only hope. And," he added, playfully unsettling the boy's hair and making him giggle, "he did very well."

"And in the library," Paige said, "was it you who threw that drawer on the floor?"

"No, uh... Paige, right?" Benjamin said, giving her an interrogative look. She nodded and he proceeded, explaining: "That was Frederick and Anthony, trying to lure you into reading the spell."

"It was quite a risky move, wasn't it?" Leo said, putting his arm around Piper and watching Benjamin with great interest. "I mean, considering Cole was here, too. Do you think they didn't know who he was?"

"They probably didn't know when you arrived here," Benjamin said. "But I'm sure they figured it out when they saw the effects of the spell. Which, by the way," he added, turning that killing smile towards Phoebe, "was a first rate spell, too, if I may."

"Thanks," said Phoebe, beaming with pride.

"Okay, how long was I unconscious?" Cole asked, starting to feel uncomfortable. "Why do I have this feeling that everyone knows something I don't?"

"I'm sorry, son," Benjamin said with an apologizing smile, reaching out and placing his hand on Cole's arm. "Actually it wasn't that long, even if it felt like an awful lot of time for us, sitting here and waiting for you to regain your consciousness."

Cole smiled back at him, but he couldn't help to feel some apprehension as he wondered what his father had to tell him.

"But, you see," Benjamin explained, "I had to introduce myself: the way your family was looking at me, I was afraid they were going to send me back to the very place I had so much trouble leaving."

As Cole averted his eyes, Benjamin promptly assured him:

"Of course, it was much better than the place I was before you sent me there, son."

Seeing the look in the eyes of Phoebe, Leo, Piper and Paige, he added, raising his eyebrows:

"But I see your family doesn't know this story..."

"Hum, no," Cole said, uneasy. He could feel the stares of the others, so he sighed and explained: "When I first came after the Charmed Ones, I had a deal with the Triad: I'd kill the Charmed Ones and they'd release my father's soul."

"Release?" Phoebe repeated, surprised. "Were you being kept prisoner?"

"Yes," Benjamin said. He didn't say why or how evil had imprisoned him, though, and Phoebe thought she'd better let him tell his story at his own pace.

"But Cole, you didn't keep your part of the deal," Leo said, intrigued.

"Not then," Cole said, lowering his eyes and staring at his feet. "But I had a... second chance. When I killed that witch at the manor."

"You told me that Raynor had put a spell on you," Phoebe said, shocked.

"He did," Cole said, almost in a whisper. What he wouldn't give not to have to think of that awful night again! "But he also said that he'd give me back my father's soul if I killed her."

Phoebe had tears in her eyes; she didn't bother to wipe them away as she cupped his face between her hands and kissed him gently.

"You should've told me then, baby," she said, softly.

"So," said Leo, "Raynor kept his part of the bargain?"

He wasn't any less dumbfounded than the others by what Cole was just telling them; since Phoebe and Cole had left the Underworld for good, and he and Cole had grown to be friends, Leo always felt terrible as he thought of how long it had taken for him to accept Cole, to even give the other man the benefit of the doubt. Leo would be glad to talk about it later, but right then he, just like Benjamin, didn't expect the Elders to allow that family reunion to last indefinitely: he expected them to summon him and Benjamin up there at any moment, and he wanted Cole to learn all the truth about his past before that happened. Actually, Leo intended to make the Elders wait for as long as he managed to resist their summoning. Damn, I bet they knew it all along! Couldn't they have told me? I'd have been able to help him, then. And of course, we wouldn't have nearly died in this hellhole. Leo pushed those angry thoughts aside as Cole answered his question.

"He did," Cole said, slowly relaxing as he felt Phoebe's loving arms around him, and saw no reproach in the eyes of Leo, Piper and Paige. "But I couldn't help my father go back to, uh... well, wherever it is that the souls of the innocents go. So I had this sorcerer I knew release his soul at this dimension..." -- he gave his father a sheepish look -- "I didn't know which dimension you'd be sent to, but I didn't know what else to do."

"Considering the circumstances," Benjamin said, patting his arm and giving him a reassuring smile, "you did your best. And," he added, "it ended up being a very good thing, because if I wasn't there I wouldn't have been able to help you today."

He looked down at Ben, who had fallen asleep, leaning against his chest, so trusting as if they had known each other forever. Benjamin felt a pang of longing as he thought of his own little boy, who had looked so much like this one and used to fall asleep in his arms the same way. A shadow crossed his face briefly before he turned to Cole and said:

"Maybe I should hand him back to you now."

As Cole carefully took his son from Benjamin's arms, the toddler protested in a sleepy voice, without even opening his eyes:

"No. Mama."

"Okay, then," said Cole, smiling as he gently placed him in Phoebe's arms. "Here is mommy."

He glanced at his watch and realized with some surprise that it was past 8 p.m. While Phoebe snuggled Ben in her arms, Cole turned to his father again and asked:

"Dad, what happened here? Why did you want me to read the spell? And," -- he looked at Leo -- "how did Leo knew that I was the one who should read it?"

"Only you could send Frederick and Anthony back through the portal, son," Benjamin explained, gravely, "because I was the one who sent them to that dimension the first time."