Chapter 8

Andy entered the attic, and found Paige whipping the pages of The Book Of Shadows, so hard, that he feared she may rip one. She stopped when he came in.

'Hey, find out anything?' he asked, approaching her.

Paige closed the book.

'No. Not that I was looking that hard. How is Phoebe holding up?'

Andy looked confused.

'Phoebe?'

'Yeah, I mean, Cole is alive! That and Prue appears to be as well. That has to be a big shock for her. I'm sorry I haven't been able to help her with this.'

Andy reached out and touched her shoulders.

'Paige, Phoebe is worried about YOU. Phoebe is a tough one. She'll get by. We all will.'

Paige didn't answer. Andy shook her gently.

'What is it?'

Paige shook her head.

'I made a mistake telling Prue she was dead.'

'We'll fix this.'

'No, you don't understand, Andy. If you were in Prue's shoes, and you had a chance to keep yourself from dying, wouldn't you do everything you could to make sure that you could stop it from happening?'

Andy smiled thinly at her.

'Actually, it was that chance that 'killed' me in the first place.'

'Huh?'

'Never mind. The point is, we will fix this. And we will banish Cole.'

Andy looked up towards the ceiling, then looked at Paige.

'The Elders...'

Paige nodded.

'Go. We'll be fine.'

Andy suddenly kissed her. Paige responded, until she finally touched the side of his face and pulled away.

'Go,' she repeated, 'maybe they know something that can help.'

Andy nodded slighly, before orbing away. Paige sighed and walked out of the attic, down to the second floor, then began making her way downstairs, when she stopped short.

Phoebe was standing in the hallway, and she was not alone! Paige slowly descended the stairs, as Cole looked up at her. He winked and smiled devilishly. Phoebe looked up at her, concern adorning her face.

'Paige, where's Andy?'

'Andy? That's the new Whitelighter that Prue and Paige here, have the hots for, hey? Well, good luck Paige. I mean that sincerely.'

'I really don't give a damn what you mean.' Paige sniffed quietly.

'Oh, well, I'm sorry that you feel that way, Paige, I mean, considering our closeness...'

Paige attempted to leap at him! Phoebe blocked her way. Cole did not even flinch.

'Phoebe, are you going to tell your sister, or shall I?'

Paige stopped struggling and looked from Cole to Phoebe.

'What? What now?'

Phoebe did not say anything. From the look in her eyes, Paige knew it was something bad. She wrenched away from Phoebe, and walked up to Cole.

'What have you done now, you sonofabitch?!'

Cole scratched his cheek.

'You know, Paige, I find your constant profanity towards me, really hurtful and offensive. I mean, we're practically family here, for God's sakes!'

Paige turned from Cole to Phoebe.

'What's going on, Phoebe?'

Phoebe looked up towards the ceiling and sighed.

'Cole has offered to fix it so that Prue can actually stay here...if I agree to go back to him and live with him as his wife.'

'In every way.' Cole quietly reminded her. Paige whipped back around to glare at him. He grinned at her.

'Never!' Paige hissed.

'I think it's up to Phoebe. But let me remind you, Paige, that this would not only enable the Charmed Ones to still exist with the Power of Three, but, you would get to know your big sister, finally. Unless you don't want to know her...you know...because she would be a rival for your Whitelighter's affections.'

Paige reached up to slap him! Cole grabbed her wrist and began applying 'heat pressure'. Paige screamed and punched him in the stomach with her other free fist! Cole immediately let go of her, and doubled over.

Phoebe moved in by her sister.

'Give me one hour. I'll have made my decision by then.'

Cole coughed, then stood straight up.

'Good. I'll be back in one hour.'

Cole then looked at Paige.

'Paige, a pleasure as always.'

Paige said nothing, but glared at him. Cole then shimmered away, instead of using the door. Paige turned back to Phoebe.

'Tell me you're not considering that beast's offer?!'

'Paige...'

'Phoebe!'

'Paige, Prue adds a strength that would only make the three of you stronger. My powers always were the weakest.'

'Phoebe, honey, that is not true! And that is no reason to make a decision like that! Besides...I always felt closer to you than Piper.'

'Don't say that.'

'It's true.' Paige insisted. 'And if you entered into that allegience from hell, I would be stuck with two sisters that hated me.'

'That's not true, Paige.'

'Well, we don't have to think about that, because the only solution is to send Prue back to her own time, and let nature take it's course with her lifeline. Now, I want you to come upstairs so we can look for a spell. Andy is up with The Elders now.'

Paige pulled on Phoebe's hand. Phoebe then stopped in her tracks. Paige looked at her.

'What?'

'Was there just the teensiest bit of truth to what Cole said?'

Paige scrunched up her face.

'I'm sorry, Phoebe. You just used the words 'Cole' and 'truth' in the same sentence. What are you talking about?'

'Paige, you know what I mean. Is part of the reason that you are so down on Prue, is because of her connection to Andy? Are you afraid of losing him to her?'

Paige swallowed.

'I don't know. But she hasn't been the most welcoming sister either.'

'I know. Look, we'll figure this thing out. Hopefully, Andy has as well, up there.'

****

Andy stood beside Leo...and Prue.

'What do you think?' Andy asked Leo. But he was staring at Prue. She was more beautiful than ever. She was wearing white.

Leo looked to Prue, who spoke.

'I think that I need to go down there and have a heart to heart with myself, if you know what I mean. If we can get her to agree to return to her own time, then the power of three will still be in balance, in this time.'

'What about Cole?' Andy asked.

Leo looked at Prue again. Andy didn't like the look.

'What?' he asked.

Leo spoke.

'We don't think that Cole will ever be vanquishable. '

'No, that is not acceptable. I mean, Paige is strong, but I don't think that she could take looking at a man that had used her like that, all of the time. We have to get rid of him!' Andy insisted.

Prue walked up to Andy. She held his hands in hers.

'From what I've observed of my little sister, she's stronger than you think.'

Andy squeezed her hands.

'Okay, but what about Phoebe? She had peace of mind when she thought she'd never have to see that creep again.'

'We're Haliwells. We'll get by.' Prue said. She then reached up and touched his hair.

'I can feel your love for Paige.'

Leo looked away sadly. He still loved Piper with all of his heart. To see Andy going through this with one of his charges, brought back painful memories. He moved away from them for a bit.

'Prue, I will always love you, you do know that, don't you?'

Prue continued to touch his hair.

'You are a Whitelighter now, Andy. There is a part of you that lives in the here and now. Your love for Paige is there. Our love, is up here...in the hereafter. You've been given a second chance at life and love. Don't let anything or anyone get in your way. We'll have our chance in another lifetime.'

Prue then reached up to kiss him. Andy felt her lips touch his briefly, before moving away again.

'Orb me down to where myself and Piper are.' she said.

****

Piper and Prue from 3 years ago, sat on a park bench in the dark. Prue was crying.

'Honey, this is our second chance. We're not going to let anything happen to you.' Piper said.

Prue sniffed and looked at her younger sister. There was something different about her. It was almost as if their brith orders had been switched, and now Piper was the big sister she could turn to.

Prue sniffed again.

'What is going on, Piper? I mean, why is Andy our...your Whitelighter? Where is Leo?'

Piper tried to look away, but Prue reached out and turned her face towards her.

'Tell me what's going on? Did a Darklighter get to him? Because I know he would never just leave you.'

'Well, that's what he did!' Piper snapped.

Prue stared at her, not really surprised by her tone. Piper was like that when she was upset, or stressed about something. Piper, finally just told her everything: about Paige, Cole, Leo becoming and Elder, and Jarod, the next door neighbor, who she could've come to love, not as much as she had Leo, but damned close.

'He was the second man that was just ripped from me, Prue.' Piper said sadly.

'Honey, from what you told me about his life, he had to leave. And he did it because he cared about you and Wyatt. Until these people stop chasing him, he can't afford to endanger anyone else.'

'I know that! But it just incenses me that people would practically enslave another human being like that! And I wish there was more we could've done to help him! Andy told us that Jarod's going to be a future Whitelighter. I just hope and pray that he finds some peace on this earth now.'

'I can see you really cared for him...and that his leaving hurt you.'

Piper looked down.

'I think there was something about Jarod, that reminded me of Leo. They both had the same gentleness to them...I don't know. They're both gone now. There's nothing I can do but move on. And we will, Prue. We'll find a way for you to stay.'

Prue looked away. It was almost as if in a strange way, Piper was trying to keep her there, in order to make up for her other disappointments. Prue looked back at her.

'So, that A.D.A is a demon?'

'The worst type.' Piper confirmed. 'And Phoebe married him.'

'Ah!'

'What?' Piper asked.

'That would explain the looks I saw between them. He's been hitting on me like crazy, yet, there's no feeling behind it. It's as if he's going through the motions.'

Piper nodded.

'The same as what he did to Paige.'

Prue raised a brow.

'What do you mean? What did he do to her?'

Piper took a deep breath.

'Cole has the ability to morph into anyone he wants. He posed at the ER Paige was working at as some kind of doctor...she's a social worker you know....anyway, Jarod worked there as well. He warned us, before Andy orbed him out of here, that this doctor, who Paige was dating, mind you, looked like someone he knew to have died.'

Prue slowly stood up from the bench.

'God, please don't tell me she slept with him?!'

Piper stood as well.

'Well, Prue, she thought he was someone else! Believe me, when Paige orbed back here, she was a different color! I mean, I thought she was going to puke right on Gram's antique carpet!'

'That bastard!' Prue hissed.

Suddenly, blue light appeared before them. Piper and Prue from three years ago, watched as Prue from the hereafter, appeared before them with Andy. Prue took a step back. Piper just stared at her.

Prue looked at Piper. She was an apparition. She smiled.

'Hey, Piper! How are you holding up?'

Tears formed in Piper's eyes.

'I've been trying like hell to fill your shoes!' she squeaked, wanting to hug her very badly. Andy walked over to her.

'Piper, we have to leave them alone. We need to get back to the manor.'

'No! I haven't seen my big sister in years! I'm just not going to leave now! And I don't give a damn what The Elders...oh, scratch that...I mean LEO thinks!'

Andy gently took her arm.

'Prue is not here for you. We have to go. Phoebe and Paige need you.'

Piper stared at Andy, then at the two Prue's, as if what Andy was trying to tell her, had finally sunk in. Prue from three years ago, nodded to her, as if giving her permission to leave.

Andy let go of her arm. Piper then took hold of his hand. He then orbed them out of there.

Apparition Prue, walked up to Prue from three years ago.

'We need to talk.' Appartion Prue said. Prue from three years ago nodded, entranced.