Piper, Phoebe, Victor, Leo, Cole, and Kritt gathered around the kitchen table. None of them knew quite what to say. Piper, Phoebe, and Victor were overcome with worry for Prue, while Leo, Cole, and Kritt were preoccupied with wanting to find out more about the ancient prophecy that was coming true in the form of her child.
"So what's our next move?" Kritt asked after a minute.
"What do you mean, 'our'?" Piper shot back. "I'm still not sure I trust you."
Kritt nodded. "Fair enough. I don't suppose I've given you much reason to. But then again, what reason have I given you to distrust me?"
Piper raised an eyebrow. "For starters, you showed up with him," she said, pointing to Cole. "Also, you've admitted to being half-demon, you haven't given us any real explanation as to how or why you're here, and you just know too damn much about my sister's kid."
Kritt flashed her an annoyingly adorable smile. "For starters, I may have shown up with Cole, but you're the one who lives with him. Also, my other half is a witch like you, I haven't exactly had time for a full explanation, and I don't know shit about your sister's kid, just a prophecy that may or may not affect her."
Piper stared at Kritt, for the first time really sizing him up. Leo looked at Piper, trying to anticipate what would happen next. He could tell from Kritt's rebuttle that Piper had finally met her verbal sparring match. He wasn't sure yet whether this was good or bad. No one had ever been able to out-argue his wife before. Her stubborn wit was one of the things he loved most about her.
"Okay," Piper said finally. "You've got time now. Explain. Why are you here?"
Kritt sighed, and sat back in his chair. "I'm not sure exactly. I'll just start from the beginning. Cole and I go way back. We were in the Academy together. He was my tutor, since he was a year above me and his mother was a higher-level demon than mine. We've been best friends practically our whole lives. We drifted apart as he rose higher into the evil hierarchy. My demonic powers were strong, but the witch in me fought them, and so I didn't advance as much or as quickly as he did. Anyway, when I heard that he'd turned good, I guess my demonic side felt betrayed, weakened. Something like that. Whatever it was, it was enough for my good side to overtake my bad. My soul was able to gain control of the rest of me, and I don't plan on giving up that control. Ever."
"Why didn't you ever mention this to me?" Phoebe asked Cole.
"Because it was part of my past, and I wanted to concentrate on our future," he replied.
She narrowed her eyes before giving him a kiss. "Good answer. Almost too good."
He smiled. "That's me. Too good."
Piper snorted, while at the same time Victor coughed loudly. Cole sent them both a hurt look.
"Okay, Kritt, that still doesn't explain why you're here," Piper continued.
"I told you it was a long story," he replied. "I'll try to make it shorter. After I turned good, I tracked Cole down. I found out that every bounty hunter in the Underworld was on his ass, so I decided to play demon just a little bit longer and hope they didn't find out I was bullshitting. Down there, you can hear a lot of things when you listen carefully enough. I heard that Cole was involved with one of the infamous Charmed Ones. Some time later, I heard Aarden bragging about how he seduced another Charmed One. The connection interested me, so I kept an ear out. Eventually, I heard about the prophecy. Bits and pieces mostly, and I never really made the connection between it and what happened between Aarden and Prue, but it was still enough to seriously worry me, so I finally located Buddy-Boy over here and filled him in. We did a bit of reconassaince, enough to either make the Source proud or majorly piss hiim off. Probably both. Anyway, a few weeks passed, we started running out of information, and Cole didn't hear anything on the home front, so we dropped it, assuming it was all a load of shit. A couple more weeks passed, and then this afternoon you all found out that Prue's pregnant. When she told you who the father was, it rang a bell for Cole, which is surprising to say the least because I only mentioned Aarden's name in passing. I'd focused more on the prophecy, so it's a damn near miracle that Cole remembered the name. Anyhoo, he came to ask me if I knew where he'd heard the name before, I refreshed his memory, and then we started putting two and two together. See, until then, we'd alternatively focus on finding out who's pants Aarden had gotten into or what the prophecy really meant, but we'd never really considered that one had anything to do with the other until we found out that Aarden had knocked Prue up. It started to make sense. Unfortunately, the rest of the Underworld figured it out around the same time we did. We came to the conclusion that Prue would need my protection. If what I've heard about this afternoon is any indication, we were right."
"What makes you think you can protect my sister?" Piper asked.
Kritt raised one hand. A ball of fire appeared, which he instantly extinguished. With his eyes, he turned the kitchen sink on and off. "Seen enough?" he asked lightly. "Psychokinesis isn't always the most exciting power, but my demonic powers should be more than enough to guard Prue."
"No," Victor interrupted. "You are not using any demonic powers near my daughter and grandchild."
"Well how the hell else am I supposed to protect her?" Kritt asked. "Even if I don't use my powers around her, other demons will, and believe me, you'd rather have me than them."
"He's right," Cole said. "Like it or not, you need him. Prue needs him."
Phoebe sighed, looking up at her boyfriend. "I may not trust him, but you know I trust you. Do you really think this is necessary? Do you believe that he's good?"
Cole put his arms loosely around Phoebe's neck, looking into her eyes. "I trust Kritt with my life. I'd trust him with yours, and you know how much that means for me."
"But you're asking us to trust him with Prue's life, and the baby's," Phoebe pressed. "If I'm going to do that, I need you to promise me that Kritt is good. I don't want Prue getting hurt again."
Cole looked over at Kritt, then nodded. "I promise you, he's good. Phoebe, he's like a brother to me. If he were evil, I'd know, okay?"
Phoebe nodded. Cole's faith in him was enough to quell her suspicions, but not Piper's. The elder sibling pointed at Kritt and said menacingly, "If I find out you ever even come close to hurting my sister or her baby, I swear I will put you through every hell imaginable, and then if you're lucky I'll vanquish you."
Kritt shrugged. "Then I guess I've got nothing to worry about. Don't worry, Piper, you'll learn to love me."
Piper let out a frustrated sigh. Phoebe and Cole, who'd seen Piper angry before and didn't particularly want a repeat performance, started to lead Kritt out of the room.
"If you're going to stay here full-time, we should probably get you settled," Phoebe said. "Let's go upstairs. You can have the room across from Prue's, it'll be safer that way."
Piper watched them go, then clenched her fists and turned back to the sink. Washing dishes, and just about anything else around the kitchen, was something she usually did when she was seriously pissed off. Leo and Victor both recognized this, and tried to calm her down.
"Maybe he's telling the truth," Victor said. "And if it'll help Prue, then that's a good thing."
Piper shook her head. "I don't trust him, Dad." She turned off the water, and looked at her husband. "Leo, I want you to go to the Elders. Find out everything you can about Kritt, and tell me what they say. If he's going to pose any kind of a threat to Prue, I want him gone."
Leo nodded. He was curious about what the Elders would say himself, so he kissed her good-bye and immediately orbed out. Piper paused briefly to order her father to go check on Prue, and then turned back to the sink and resumed washing the dishes.
"So what's our next move?" Kritt asked after a minute.
"What do you mean, 'our'?" Piper shot back. "I'm still not sure I trust you."
Kritt nodded. "Fair enough. I don't suppose I've given you much reason to. But then again, what reason have I given you to distrust me?"
Piper raised an eyebrow. "For starters, you showed up with him," she said, pointing to Cole. "Also, you've admitted to being half-demon, you haven't given us any real explanation as to how or why you're here, and you just know too damn much about my sister's kid."
Kritt flashed her an annoyingly adorable smile. "For starters, I may have shown up with Cole, but you're the one who lives with him. Also, my other half is a witch like you, I haven't exactly had time for a full explanation, and I don't know shit about your sister's kid, just a prophecy that may or may not affect her."
Piper stared at Kritt, for the first time really sizing him up. Leo looked at Piper, trying to anticipate what would happen next. He could tell from Kritt's rebuttle that Piper had finally met her verbal sparring match. He wasn't sure yet whether this was good or bad. No one had ever been able to out-argue his wife before. Her stubborn wit was one of the things he loved most about her.
"Okay," Piper said finally. "You've got time now. Explain. Why are you here?"
Kritt sighed, and sat back in his chair. "I'm not sure exactly. I'll just start from the beginning. Cole and I go way back. We were in the Academy together. He was my tutor, since he was a year above me and his mother was a higher-level demon than mine. We've been best friends practically our whole lives. We drifted apart as he rose higher into the evil hierarchy. My demonic powers were strong, but the witch in me fought them, and so I didn't advance as much or as quickly as he did. Anyway, when I heard that he'd turned good, I guess my demonic side felt betrayed, weakened. Something like that. Whatever it was, it was enough for my good side to overtake my bad. My soul was able to gain control of the rest of me, and I don't plan on giving up that control. Ever."
"Why didn't you ever mention this to me?" Phoebe asked Cole.
"Because it was part of my past, and I wanted to concentrate on our future," he replied.
She narrowed her eyes before giving him a kiss. "Good answer. Almost too good."
He smiled. "That's me. Too good."
Piper snorted, while at the same time Victor coughed loudly. Cole sent them both a hurt look.
"Okay, Kritt, that still doesn't explain why you're here," Piper continued.
"I told you it was a long story," he replied. "I'll try to make it shorter. After I turned good, I tracked Cole down. I found out that every bounty hunter in the Underworld was on his ass, so I decided to play demon just a little bit longer and hope they didn't find out I was bullshitting. Down there, you can hear a lot of things when you listen carefully enough. I heard that Cole was involved with one of the infamous Charmed Ones. Some time later, I heard Aarden bragging about how he seduced another Charmed One. The connection interested me, so I kept an ear out. Eventually, I heard about the prophecy. Bits and pieces mostly, and I never really made the connection between it and what happened between Aarden and Prue, but it was still enough to seriously worry me, so I finally located Buddy-Boy over here and filled him in. We did a bit of reconassaince, enough to either make the Source proud or majorly piss hiim off. Probably both. Anyway, a few weeks passed, we started running out of information, and Cole didn't hear anything on the home front, so we dropped it, assuming it was all a load of shit. A couple more weeks passed, and then this afternoon you all found out that Prue's pregnant. When she told you who the father was, it rang a bell for Cole, which is surprising to say the least because I only mentioned Aarden's name in passing. I'd focused more on the prophecy, so it's a damn near miracle that Cole remembered the name. Anyhoo, he came to ask me if I knew where he'd heard the name before, I refreshed his memory, and then we started putting two and two together. See, until then, we'd alternatively focus on finding out who's pants Aarden had gotten into or what the prophecy really meant, but we'd never really considered that one had anything to do with the other until we found out that Aarden had knocked Prue up. It started to make sense. Unfortunately, the rest of the Underworld figured it out around the same time we did. We came to the conclusion that Prue would need my protection. If what I've heard about this afternoon is any indication, we were right."
"What makes you think you can protect my sister?" Piper asked.
Kritt raised one hand. A ball of fire appeared, which he instantly extinguished. With his eyes, he turned the kitchen sink on and off. "Seen enough?" he asked lightly. "Psychokinesis isn't always the most exciting power, but my demonic powers should be more than enough to guard Prue."
"No," Victor interrupted. "You are not using any demonic powers near my daughter and grandchild."
"Well how the hell else am I supposed to protect her?" Kritt asked. "Even if I don't use my powers around her, other demons will, and believe me, you'd rather have me than them."
"He's right," Cole said. "Like it or not, you need him. Prue needs him."
Phoebe sighed, looking up at her boyfriend. "I may not trust him, but you know I trust you. Do you really think this is necessary? Do you believe that he's good?"
Cole put his arms loosely around Phoebe's neck, looking into her eyes. "I trust Kritt with my life. I'd trust him with yours, and you know how much that means for me."
"But you're asking us to trust him with Prue's life, and the baby's," Phoebe pressed. "If I'm going to do that, I need you to promise me that Kritt is good. I don't want Prue getting hurt again."
Cole looked over at Kritt, then nodded. "I promise you, he's good. Phoebe, he's like a brother to me. If he were evil, I'd know, okay?"
Phoebe nodded. Cole's faith in him was enough to quell her suspicions, but not Piper's. The elder sibling pointed at Kritt and said menacingly, "If I find out you ever even come close to hurting my sister or her baby, I swear I will put you through every hell imaginable, and then if you're lucky I'll vanquish you."
Kritt shrugged. "Then I guess I've got nothing to worry about. Don't worry, Piper, you'll learn to love me."
Piper let out a frustrated sigh. Phoebe and Cole, who'd seen Piper angry before and didn't particularly want a repeat performance, started to lead Kritt out of the room.
"If you're going to stay here full-time, we should probably get you settled," Phoebe said. "Let's go upstairs. You can have the room across from Prue's, it'll be safer that way."
Piper watched them go, then clenched her fists and turned back to the sink. Washing dishes, and just about anything else around the kitchen, was something she usually did when she was seriously pissed off. Leo and Victor both recognized this, and tried to calm her down.
"Maybe he's telling the truth," Victor said. "And if it'll help Prue, then that's a good thing."
Piper shook her head. "I don't trust him, Dad." She turned off the water, and looked at her husband. "Leo, I want you to go to the Elders. Find out everything you can about Kritt, and tell me what they say. If he's going to pose any kind of a threat to Prue, I want him gone."
Leo nodded. He was curious about what the Elders would say himself, so he kissed her good-bye and immediately orbed out. Piper paused briefly to order her father to go check on Prue, and then turned back to the sink and resumed washing the dishes.
