"Her power grows already!" Exulted the First Voice.

"She always was the most powerful." Added the Third Voice.

"They came so close to defeating the renegade and the demon." Sighed the Second Voice.

"Will memories and bonds prevent them from accomplishing the task at hand?" Asked the Third Voice.

"We shall see." Conceded the Fourth Voice.

* * *

Cole winced in pain and gingerly pulled his tattered trousers off. The burnt fabric stuck to his leg and he tried not to cry out in pain. Phoebe was still unconscious next to him and he didn't want to wake her up. He got to his feet and walked over to a chest of drawers, opened it and pulled out a pair of trousers.

Phoebe murmured and turned over, slowly opening her eyes. Her hand went to her head and she groaned. She gently probed a large bump on the side of her head. With a sigh, she sat up and looked across at Cole. "Ugh, Honey, what happened to me?"

"Piper threw a saucepan at us." He said nonchalantly. "Count yourself lucky you only got that lump on your head."

Phoebe looked confused for a second, until Cole gestured to his leg. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the blistered and burnt skin. "Baby! Oh, are you ok? Let me help you. Go and sit down." She slid out of bed and began fussing over him.

He pushed her away and pulled the trousers on, before limping towards the door. "Stop it, I'm fine." He saw the hurt look in her eyes and stopped. "I'm fine, really I am. I've already started healing." Cole vaguely waved his arm downwards and walked out.

Phoebe sniffed and sat back on the bed. Why was Cole being so nasty to her? What was his problem? She felt a throb of pain from her head and buried herself under the covers once again.

* * *

Prue stood in front of her body length mirror. She twirled around and stood side on, sucking in her stomach and smoothing her hair. "Does my butt look big in this?" She asked, turning to the woman sitting in the chair a few metres away.

"You mean; does *our* butt look big in this." She said with a grin and went to stand next to Prue. "And yes, it does. Shame really, it's a cute outfit." She looked into the mirror and smirked at the face identical to her own.

"At least you are honest. Brutally honest, actually." Prue smiled and went to swap her clothes. "Hmm, you don't suppose this is personal gain, do you?"

"Oh you already know the answer to that. We are basically the same you know." She went and sat down again. "And yes, it is personal gain, I guess. But they owe us big time for letting us get killed. We should be allowed a few… indulgences, now and then."

Prue giggled and put on a touch of lipstick. "I completely agree. It's so great being able to talk to someone who- "

"Is so amazingly great and cool?" Finished the woman in the chair, an innocent look plastered across her face.

"Well, I'm not *that* cool." Replied Prue, a modest look on her face.

"Yuh-huh we are. And you know it." Argued the woman, as she leaned back in the chair and laughed.

There was a knock at the door and Piper's voice called out. "Prue, can I come in?"

Prue shot the woman a guilty look and beckoned to her. "Quick, come back in. I doubt Piper would approve of… us… doing this."

The woman in the chair sighed and walked over to Prue. She touched Prue's palm and began to disappear into her.

"Oh, and you're right, we *are* that cool." Prue said, as the woman had almost disappeared. She gasped as her astral form returned and quickly walked over to the door. "Piper, hi. What do you need?"

Piper raised and eyebrow and gave Prue a half smile. "And To whom were you just talking to?"

"Talking to? What do you mean? Do you see anyone? I was not talking to anyone." Prue blurted quickly and blushed.

"Whoa. Ok then, lets just take a breather, ok? Ok. We need to sit down and really decide on what to do about… them." Her eyes momentarily shut with pain and she held onto Prue's arm.

Prue squeezed her sister's arm comfortingly and started to walk downstairs.

"Well finally. Hey, looking good, Prue." Paige said as she looked up and saw Prue.

"Well, I had some good fashion advice. So…" Prue started and then trailed off. She looked over and saw Piper sitting next to Paige, nervously picking at a lose thread on her sweater.

Paige looked about her and cautiously spoke, breaking the awkward silence. "I've been thinking about… well. About how we can beat them. So far they've been too powerful. But that could change if we managed to- "

"Separate them." Prue finished, and went to sit in a chair. "Together they are always too strong, the question is; how are we going to be able to separate them?" She looked expectantly at Paige and then to Piper.

"We can… I, I don't know." Paige began, but quickly stopped as she realised that she had no idea of how to split her sister and her boyfriend up.

"Leo." Piper stopped picking at the thread and looked up at Paige. "We make Leo glamour into Phoebe and then lure Cole… well. Lure him somewhere that the *real* Phoebe isn't."

"And what about Phoebe? Leo luring one away won't work if they are always together anyway." Prue tapped her index finger impatiently on the table and stared at Piper.

"I am sure they'll be a spell in here that'll let us do the same thing. After all, there was one for astral projection." Paige held out her hand and seconds later the book appeared in front of her. She immediately began leafing through it.

Prue yawned and leaned backwards in her chair. Almost immediately the sound of a kettle boiling and coffee cups clinking came from the kitchen.

Piper got to her feet and stared at the kitchen, and then to Prue and Paige. "There's someone in there. Do you think they've come back?" She asked cautiously and tried to peer around the door.

"Oh sit down, Piper. Its nothing." Prue replied and put her feet up onto the small coffee table.

"Nothing? How can you say nothing? We're the only ones in the house and there's someone in the kitchen. What makes you so sure its not- " Piper stopped and stared at Prue, who had just walked into the room from the kitchen.

She was carrying a tray with three cups of coffee on. "Coffee, anyone?" She asked them breezily and then set the tray down. She winked at Prue and then disappeared.

"Prue! Do the words 'personal' and 'gain' mean anything to you?" Piper snapped and then went to sit down.

"Oh lighten up. If I don't use my powers now, then how will I get any kind of control with them? Put it this way; would you prefer me to try it in a battle and then end up getting killed due to my lack of control, or would you like me to get a handle on it now and then be able to kick even more ass in battle?" Prue retorted, as she leaned forwards and took a steaming cup of coffee.

Paige shut the book and giggled, and then immediately shot an apologetic look at Piper. "Sorry, it was just funny. Well, bad news is there is no spell. So we will have to write one."

"I'll do it." Piper instantly said. "I just can't get used to your Haikus."

"Oh that was one time Piper! And that was one of my first spells!" Paige pouted and turned to Prue. "She's mean, you are now officially my favourite sister".

Piper opened her mouth to protest, until she saw the mischievous glint in Paige's eye.

"Ah shaddup. Now leave me in peace while I write the spell." She reached out for a cup of coffee and was thrown into a premonition.

***Cole… walking away from Phoebe… both of them alone… her sisters making their attack***

Piper let go of the cup and turned around. "They're alone, now. This will be easier than if we have to do the whole morphing thing. We need to move fast, are we ready?"

Paige held out her hand and the potions and spell appeared on her palm. "Now we're ready." With a nod from her sisters she orbed them out.

* * *

Cole shimmered into a familiar place. The Mausoleum. He looked around and felt crushed by the memories. This place had been so important to him and Phoebe. It was where… where she faked his death so that he could live. Where the betrayal of her sisters began. He felt no remorse that he had ultimately set Phoebe on the path that had led her from her sisters, with that one simple act.

Suddenly he straightened up and looked towards the exit. There had just been a bright flash of light and now there were some all too familiar voices. He saw three shadows at the exit and with a snarl he threw a volley of fireballs towards them.

He was rewarded by a flash of light accompanied by shrieks and muffled swearing. It was a small comfort, considering what they'd come here to do.

Paige orbed back in and gasped, instinctively lifting her hands to cover her face.

Prue put her hand on Paige's shoulder and pushed her sisters hands back down. "Its ok. We're safe; none of his fire hit us. It just shows that he is more prepared than we thought."

"He's alone." Said Piper, "One of us has to go to Phoebe, and quickly. If they get together again then it'll just be too hard."

"I'll go" Paige volunteered and began to orb.

"Paige! Wait!" Shouted Prue, as her hand slipped through the insubstantial bubbles of light. She looked up and watched the bright trail of blue and white disappear. "Damn it! I wanted to tell her something, she shouldn't just go off like that."

"Reminds me of a certain someone…" Said Piper, a grin on her face. "What did you want to tell her?"

Prue lowered her eyes and shuffled her feet bashfully. "That I… loved her."

Piper's eyes misted up and she pulled Prue into a hug.

a/n I had to cut the chapter down to size, I've got another 1000+ words that I had to save for the next chapter... but those are gonna be mostly action, so you have something to look forward too!