Phoebe grimaced as she and Paige stepped out of the lift and into the

penthouse. They would have orbed there but quite a lot of people suspected

that Cole wasn't mortal, and the sisters didn't need that extra exposure either-

especially since there were probably people watching them. Besides, Cole's

magick was still guarding the penthouse- which meant that Paige wouldn't

have been able to get in anyway; which meant that neither could Leo. Which

is exactly why Phoebe and Paige hadn't told Piper where they were going.

Cole had surrounded the penthouse with charms that didn't allowed pure

benevolence inside its barrier and since whitelighters fell into that category,

Leo wouldn't be able to protect them if anything happened. Piper would have

been set against letting her sisters go somewhere when unprotected-

especially Cole's place.

Paige looked around. The room was completely trashed due to all the

magickal activity that had occurred lately. The only thing that was still intact

was a picture of Phoebe and Cole from when they were still together. Paige

suspected that Cole had spelled it so that it wouldn't be harmed. On one

hand, it was clingy and pathetic but, on the other hand, it was still undeniably

sweet. Paige stopped trusting Cole over a year ago- when she discovered the

ugly truths about his demonic half, Belthazor, but she secretly admired Cole's

determination to get Phoebe back- despite how vile, twisted and irritating his

attempts were. Even Paige would have to admit that no matter how much of a

crackpot Cole had become, he never stopped loving Phoebe. Or his father, for

that matter.

Once again, Phoebe was hit by a tidal wave of memories- it was like a

battle between the two halves of her heart: the half that spat out legit reasons

to hate Cole, and the other that gave out compelling arguments to prove that it

was okay to still want Cole nearby. Phoebe squashed the thoughts as soon as

they arrived. No matter how confused her feelings were over Cole, she wasn't

here for him- she was here for Ben. She turned to Paige,

"Can you sense him?" Paige shook her head,

"Haven't tried yet. Hold on a second."

Paige closed her eyes and cast out her senses, feeling around for any sign of

a presence other than herself and Phoebe. There was nothing.

"I can't sense him, Phoebs." Paige apologised, "Maybe Cole's leftover magick

is still blocking the signal."

"Cole wouldn't want to block the signal from a whitelighter would he?" Phoebe

replied, "Try again."

Paige sighed and cast out her senses again. This time, she felt something. It

was like a little light, with a small cry emanating from it.

"Wait- I think I sense him." Paige announced, "He's over there." Paige pointed

to her left. Phoebe walked in the direction her sister had pointed, closely

followed by Paige. Sure enough, there was a glass orb- no bigger than a

paperweight- sitting in the corner of the living room.

Gingerly, Phoebe picked it up and used the hem of her blouse to wipe

all the dust off of it. She hugged Paige,

"It's him, all right. Thanks for helping Paige- I owe you one." Paige returned

the embrace,

"No problem, Phoebe." Paige stepped back, "What do we do now that we've

got the orb?"

"We go to Leo and ask him to help us set Ben free."

"When Piper finds out, there's gonna be Hell to pay." Phoebe shrugged,

"She'll get over it, I hope. After all, innocents come first."

Phoebe slipped the orb into her handbag, and she and Paige headed back

out of the penthouse.