"Again, again she goes back to the demon!" Shouted the First voice.

"Will she not learn?" Asked the Third voice.

"I fear she is too far gone, little can be done to save her." Sighed the Second Voice."

"The other two are beginning to realise its up to them." Stated the Fourth voice.

"But will they be willing after all that's happened to them?" Enquired the Third Voice.

"If all goes as we think there will only be one option." Said the Fourth.

"Prue." Breathed the other voices.

* * *

"Hear these words,
Hear my cry,
Spirit from the other side,
Cross now the great divide."

Chanted Piper and Paige, as they intently watched the centre of the candles. The usual flickering of light appeared and then condensed into the incorporeal form of their grandmother.

"Grams." Said Piper as she smiled. Grams always knew how to make her feel better.

"My darlings, minus one I see. Phoebe trouble?" She enquired airily, as she looked around for Phoebe.

Paige nodded and addressed her estranged grandmother. "Yes. Big, big trouble. Surely you have seen from 'up there'?" Said Paige, as she gestured up.

Grams sighed and pursed her lips before speaking. "I don't see everything Paige, I am not omnipotent… not yet anyway." She added with a grin.

Piper couldn't help but laugh. "Grams be serious. We really don't know what's going on or what do to. And now Phoebe has run off somewhere."

"To Cole." Spat Paige, obviously showing her distaste for that name.

"Well why don't you fill me in then? I can't help if I don't know what has actually happened." Prompted Grams, as she crossed her arms. Piper began; explaining from the moment Paige called her into the bedroom.

Paige took over at the end. "So I threw her into the wall and then she ran off."

Grams exhaled angrily. "Oh that dratted child! When hasn't she been trouble? But Paige, really, did you have to throw her into the wall?"

"Well…" Began Paige, a fleeting look of embarrassment crossing her face.

Piper interrupted. "She only did it to protect me Grams, she thought Phoebe was out to get me."

"And was she?" Asked Grams.

Piper shrugged unhappily. "I don't really know anymore. I just don't know."

A bright light began to form next to Piper, and Leo orbed in. His face was grave. "Piper. I have…news."

She cocked her head and squinted. "News? Well they say no news is good news. You might as well spill it."

He sat down next to her. "I tried to speak to the Elders but."

Paige interrupted him. "But? There's but? Why is there a but?"

Leo raised his eyebrow and spoke. "Well if you let me finish them maybe I could tell you." Paige stuck the tip of her tongue out and Piper rolled her eyes. "Ok, so I tried to speak to the Elders. But," he gave Paige a sidelong look, provoking a small grin, "They wouldn't let me speak to them. I don't know why but whatever's going on its big."

Piper sniffed disgustedly and got to her feet. "Once again we have been let down by them. I honestly don't know why we bother. Come on Paige we obviously have to sort their mess out for ourselves… as usual. Grams, try and find something out… anything out."

"I will Piper, be safe my darlings." She said as Piper blew out the candles.

Paige turned to Leo. "Try and locate Phoebe." He shut his eyes and focused. After about a minute he opened them and shook his head.

"Damn it. What now Piper? What do we do?" Paige continued

"Leo, you… just, well. Stay here. If they aren't talking there's not much you can do. Lets go Paige." Piper said, as she took Paige's hand and pulled her towards the door. Leo was left standing there, looking slightly bemused.

"So Piper. Where exactly are we going and what are we going to do?" Asked Paige, as she shut the door behind them.

"Phoebe. We need to find Phoebe." Said Piper, as she looked around. There was no sign of her anywhere.

"San Francisco is a big place. It'll be hopeless. Unless…" Mused Paige.

"Unless? Unless what? What are you thinking now Paige?" Asked Piper, a curious look on her face.

Paige pursed her lips. "Maybe you could get a premonition of where she is."

Piper almost laughed. "Are you serious? Oh god, you are. I have had this power all of 15 hours, and only had one of them so far. Phoebe had the power for more than four years and never mastered it."

Paige coughed awkwardly. "From what I've gathered Phoebe didn't really do much of anything after Cole made his appearance. Who knows how far she could have got with her power if she had tried?"

Piper remained silent. She didn't want to agree with Paige but she wasn't entirely sure that Paige was wrong.

"Maybe I touched on a sensitive subject, but really. It's basically our only chance. Unless we did a spell to call a lost witch." She continued, trying to guess what Piper was thinking.

Piper finally spoke. "Its worth a try. The question is what do I touch to set off a premonition?"

They carried on walking in silence. Each trying to think of a solution. Paige stopped suddenly and dragged Piper into an alley. "I've got the perfect thing… place rather." Without waiting for Piper's reaction she orbed them off.

* * *

Phoebe looked around at her surroundings. It was all too familiar. The Underworld. It brought back feelings and memories. The senses of power and evil were strongest. She didn't find them unwelcome. There was something reassuring and almost comforting.

Cole walked into the room, carrying a bouquet of flowers. Black roses, tied in a blood red ribbon. "For you." He said, kneeling in front of her as he handed them over.

There was a part of her that was flattered. Another that was slightly scared. Was there some symbolism in the black and blood red? A different part of her felt the old stirrings of love she had once felt for him. "Thank you, they're beautiful."

"Like you." Said Cole sincerely. Realising the clichéd reply he'd given her, he did a self conscious laugh.

Phoebe laughed with him. The reality of her situation struck her and suddenly she stopped. She was in The Underworld, a witch with no powers, laughing with a demon… an ex source no less. "Cole… I don't think we should do this. My powers… my sisters. It's all a big mess."

He took her hand and held it close to his body. "Let me help you out. Please. Please Phoebe." Her hand tightened over his and she told him everything.


* * *

Paige and Piper appeared in the penthouse. A horrified look appeared on Piper's face. "Paige, why here. Ugh, I hate this place."

Paige nodded in agreement. "I know. But I figured this would be the best place, what with Phoebe and Cole spending so much time here. Just touch stuff and think of Phoebe."

Piper gave her a dubious look but started to anyway. She walked around the room, pausing every few seconds to lay a hand on a random piece of furniture or trace her hand across a section of wall. After five minutes she walked over to Paige, a defeated look on her face. "It's hopeless. I either can't get a premonition or there is nothing to get one off."

Paige sighed and walked to the window. She pushed it open and looked out over the city. "She could be anywhere out there. Hell, she might not even be out there."

Heaving a sigh Piper walked over to Paige and shut the window. "There's no point mooning over it. We just have to find another way finding her. We can always try and summon Cole, he always has some contact with Phoebe… whether we like it or not." As she fastened the window shut a premonition hit her.

*** Phoebe and Cole in the penthouse… Phoebe in The Underworld with Cole… Phoebe using a demonic power ***

Paige tapped Piper's arm worriedly. "Piper, are you ok?"

Her sister rubbed her eyes and nodded. "Yes… I just got a premonition. They were here earlier on. Cole and Phoebe that is. Something bad is going to happen if we don't get there soon."

"Bad?" Asked Paige apprehensively.

"She is going to get a power. An evil power. And we all know her track record with the dark side. It doesn't take much at all to sway her. Come on, we need to go to The Underworld." Said Piper.

Paige took her arm and they orbed out.

* * *

Phoebe choked out the last few words and dissolved into a weeping mess. Cole pulled her close and rocked her. "It's ok now. Its all going to be ok, now we're together again."

She turned her face upwards, surveying his face. "How do you know Cole? I am useless now. A witch with no powers. Ha! I'm a joke. A sorry excuse for a witch and a person."

Cole grabbed her shoulders and shook her, shouting angrily. "Don't you say that! Don't you ever say that again. You mean more to me than life itself. Haven't I shown you that enough times?"

She looked at him with a shocked expression. "I… uh…" Her lower lip trembled and she began to cry again.

"We'll sort it out Phoebe. I know where to get powers… if that's what you want?" Cautiously asked Cole.

Phoebe got to her feet and backed away slightly. "Demonic powers Cole. I don't want demonic powers. Not again."

Cole stood up and began to move towards her. Suddenly Paige and Piper orbed in. Piper saw Cole and tried to freeze him.

He shuddered out of the freeze and stood with his arms crossed. "Oh good. It's the sisters dear. Phoebe has nothing to say to you. Now get out."

Piper looked scornfully at him and then walked over to Phoebe, unashamedly ignoring Cole. "Phoebe, come with us. We need to get you away from him and find a way to fix this… mess." Phoebe opened her mouth to speak, when Cole unexpectedly threw a fireball at Piper's back.

"I said get the hell out! She wants me, you treated her too badly!" He yelled, a murderous look decorating his face.

"Fireball!" Screamed Paige. The fireball disappeared in a blur of orbs and Paige redirected it at Cole. It hit him hard. With a shout of pain it scorched his arm and knocked him into the wall. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious. "That bastard! Can you believe it?"

"Cole! What have you done Paige?" Shrieked Phoebe, while she began to run to Cole. Paige stood stock still, stunned by Phoebe's lack concern for Piper.

Piper grabbed Phoebe's arm, spinning her back around. Her eyes glinted furiously. "Phoebe. What the hell do you think you are doing? You can't come running to this… this… maniac every time something goes wrong! He just tried to kill me! He tried to kill me Phoebe." She added softly.

Phoebe stared at Piper and then to Cole. Her eyes betraying the conflict she felt. "He only did it because he cares for me! He cares for me when no one else does!"

Paige took a sharp intake of breath and looked as though she was going to rip Phoebe limb from limb. "If you didn't constantly drive people away then maybe, just maybe someone would care for you."

"You don't know me Paige. You've only been a member of this family for two years, if that." Phoebe snapped back.

"Surprising how well you can get to know someone in that short amount of time. I tried to get along with you, honestly I did. When I first became a witch you always seemed for inclined to accept and treat me properly. I was grateful for that, if you hadn't been there I might have just run off." Paige said, her expression clouded with memories.

"Paige… is this true? Was I really that bad to you?" Stammered Piper.

Paige nodded. "I know that you were hurt by Prue's death. It affected you more than anyone else."

"Are you saying that I didn't care about Prue dying? I don't know how you could even think that!" Gasped Phoebe incredulously.

"Yes, yes I am. It wasn't anything specific, you just gave off an air of not caring. You resented her, didn't you Phoebe?" Shot Paige accusingly.

"I did not. You didn't even know her, you can't go making all these groundless accusations, Paige" Retorted Phoebe.

"Ah but you did. You felt like you were always living in her shadow. She was perfect and you know that. You were, are, a screw up. Then you became witches. As if to add insult to injury you got the weakest powers and Prue got the strongest." Paige argued, not stopping her seemingly endless barrage of accusations at Phoebe.

"Piper, make her stop! I can't deal with this." Moaned Phoebe while looking imploringly at Piper.

Piper crossed her arms defiantly. "You better start dealing. You aren't always going to have someone to be your crutch and fix your mess. At least listen to Paige and try and learn from it. Facing your faults is never easy."

Phoebe pushed past Piper and towards Cole. Paige pushed her back. "You will listen to me! You only seem to care about yourself and gaining power. That's why you became The Source's queen, isn't it? You saw that the path of evil leads gets you power faster than the path of good. Answer me damn it!" Shouted Paige, when confronted with Phoebe's morose silence.

"Alright. ALRIGHT! I admit it! God, can you blame me? Can you really blame me? I got the weakest power. It wouldn't grow, it wouldn't do anything. Would you like to be stuck in the background while your sisters went off fighting? The helpless feeling? Pah of course you wouldn't, and neither would you Piper." Spat Phoebe

"What's that suppose to mean?" Said Piper and Paige at the same time, both sporting the same confused look.

"You could always do something Piper. Your powers grew and grew. You seemed to get stronger everyday. And then you got your exploding power. What did I have? I had scant control of my premonitions and could levitate a few feet. Big whoop. Then Paige came along. Her powers were stronger than mine from day one! Do you know what its like to be surpassed by an amateur like her?" Phoebe entreated, trying to pardon her actions.

"I resent the amateur comment. My powers only grew because I practiced them all the goddamn time. Do you think it came easy to me? Nuh uh. And there's more to being a witch than the powers. The spells and the potions… the sisters. You abandoned all of them without a second thought." Paige replied, eventually trailing off. She stood quietly, feeling emotionally drained.

Piper stared at Phoebe, who lowered her eyes. "There's still time to repair the damage. You just have to try, to want to try." She offered. Phoebe said nothing.

Cole began to stir and Phoebe ran over to him. "I can't Piper. Not anymore. Its over. The Charmed Ones are no more." She took Cole's hand they shimmered out.

Piper and Paige gazed at the spot where Phoebe and Cole had been. Paige walked over to Piper and held her. Her older sisters body was shaking slightly, and the tears began to wet her shoulder. She silently orbed them out.