Barb6 - thanks for your thoughtful comments, much appreciated;
Sweetone41185, they don't call me HotandCole for nothing, but sorry to
torture you with Cole and Phoebe's hot and cold feelings, LOL;
PlasmicFemale - you should, I hope, be happy by story's end.
***********************
"The Moment of Truth"
This time it was Phoebe who nervously paced while Cole stood motionless as if in a trance. He was planning his moves and working on keeping his human side suppressed as best he could.
From inside Cole's bedroom, Paige and Piper each firmly gripped their vanquishing potion. "Look at his eyes, Piper. Cole looks like pure evil. I say we waste him now and deal with the other demon later."
Piper was just about ready to agree to this. She didn't like the way Cole looked either, so dark and deadly was his gaze. "Okay, you convinced me, let's go vanquish us a demon."
At the very same time Piper and Phoebe stepped out into the open, Vector shimmered in and spotted the two sisters. "What's the meaning of this?" Vector raged. "You've betrayed me, Mr Turner."
"What?" both Phoebe and Cole replied together. "What do you mean betrayal, Cole? You and the demon of innocence are in this together?"
Cole turned around to stare at an unexpected Piper and Paige each holding what was most likely vials of vanquishing potion and replied, "look who's talking betrayals. You brought your sisters in," Cole muttered through clenched teeth.
"No, I didn't," Phoebe argued back.
"Of course he betrayed you," Paige said, "that's what demons do best, Phoebe. You're just lucky we've got your back."
"Vector, this wasn't part of the plan, I swear and it changes nothing. I can handle them," Cole answered.
"Really Cole?" Piper said, "well, handle this!" she screamed and hurled her vial at him.
Phoebe's brain and heart were quickly taking in the situation and the information presented and rendering a decision that appeared not to reside in Cole's favor until something subtle though powerfully important caught her eye. Since Vector had entered the room, Cole had slowly inched his way closer to Phoebe, inconspicuously placing himself in between Phoebe and this demon he called Vector. He was guarding her, trying to shield Phoebe from harm instead of worrying about protecting himself from her sisters' vanquishing potion. This was significant and told Phoebe all she needed to know about Cole's true motives.
Once the decision was made, Phoebe acted quickly and with lightning quick reflexes, she dove and caught the potion Piper threw, mid-air, and saved Cole from what would have been yet another painful death.
"No!" Phoebe screamed. The sisters and Cole thought that Phoebe was reacting to the threat on Cole but she was instead reacting to the demon's attempt at trying to pull Phoebe toward him. He'd opened up the great whole in his forehead and was sucking Phoebe in. Cole reacted fast, grabbed hold of Phoebe's hands and held on. However, Vector refused to let go as well. Cole tried to free one of his hands in order to reach into his pocket to pull out the vial that would kill Vector, but if he let go with even one hand he knew Phoebe would be sucked in.
"If you don't let go of your girlfriend now, Mr. Turner in moments she will be pulled apart by the force of my vacuum. I can assure you, she will die much more mercifully at the hands of my father. Which will it be, Mr. Turner?"
Phoebe looked into Cole's eyes and felt his pain as he reached his impossible decision. Phoebe nodded to Cole, understanding what was about to happen and whispered, "I love you," a moment before Cole released his hold and allowed Vector to pull her in just enough to shimmer them both away.
"How could you let her go, you monster!" Paige screamed staring at the empty spot where her sister fought for her life and she made a move to throw her vial of vanquishing potion at Cole. With a restraining hand, Piper stopped her from making that mistake.
"Wait! We can't kill him now. We may need him to help rescue Phoebe."
"Is there a Phoebe to rescue, Cole?" Paige asked, "Or is she already dead?"
"No, Vector hasn't killed her yet. He has to wait until the new moon tonight to do that and if you two interfering witches hadn't ruined my plan Phoebe would not be in danger at all."
"What do you mean?" Piper asked and Cole explained all of the events leading up to the present time.
When he was through explaining, Piper was somewhat mollified, but still angry with Cole. "Okay, maybe there was a method to you madness this time, but you never should have gotten Phoebe into this mess, to begin with."
"I'm not the one who got her into it. She did that all on her own and once she became Vector's target I had no choice but to form my plan to save her and to destroy Vector's father who's even a bigger threat than his son."
"Well maybe it wasn't your fault this time, Cole, but isn't it funny how Phoebe's life always seems to be in jeopardy whenever you're around?" Paige pointed out with unconcealed hostility.
"It's who she is, who all three of you are that puts you all at risk. You can't go on blaming me for everything, Piper, and this whole discussion is accomplishing nothing but exhausting the time we have left to save Phoebe."
"I hate to say it, but Cole is right, Paige. We need to find Vector's father's lair before nightfall or Phoebe's dead, so let's get cracking."
Cole followed Piper and Paige to the manner where they began their search for Phoebe. Piper called Leo to help but as usual he and the other elders were unable to shed any light on where Vector's father dwelled.
For the better part of an hour, Piper used her scrying crystal to locate Phoebe, but it seemed that she was nowhere to be found on earth. Paige, meanwhile, aimlessly flipped through the pages of the Book of Shadows, but found nothing while Cole had retrieved his mother's book and desperately rummaged its pages for an answer, but found none.
Next they tried a series of spells which included the "to find a lost sister" spell but that failed as well.
"This is useless," he thundered. "We're getting nowhere and we're running out of time!"
"Maybe researching isn't the key here," Paige said. Maybe this is something we need to talk out."
"Paige, we don't need a social worker, we need a miracle," Cole replied.
"No, maybe Paige is right. We tried everything else. Maybe we do need to think this out loud."
"Cole," Paige asked, "I'm curious why you let Phoebe go on thinking it was the demon of innocence you were after when you'd learned early on that he was really the demon of conflict?"
"It just seemed easier to completely keep her in the dark so Vector wouldn't suspect I was up to anything," Cole answered wearily. He didn't see the point in answering a bunch of fool questions when the hour glass on Phoebe's life was running out.
"Are you sure it was to keep things simple or did you have another reason for not filling her in?" Paige asked.
"I don't know what you mean, Paige, and I think we're just wasting more time here," Cole said impatiently.
Paige ignored Cole's anger and pressed on. In her experience as a social worker, she understood that when people became uncomfortable it was usually a sign that some major truths were being uncovered.
"I mean, Phoebe was obviously conflicted about her feelings for you, otherwise the demon would have never targeted her in the first place. But what I'd like to know is whether you are conflicted about her as well?"
"What's that got to do with finding Phoebe?" Piper asked.
"I'm getting to that," Paige said as she watched Cole grow even more uncomfortable and sensed that she was heading in the right direction.
"Look, Phoebe was able to connect to you in the Wasteland, Cole, because her feelings for you were still buried deep within her and unresolved and in order for her to make that connection with you, there must have been something to connect to. You can believe and claim all you want that your feelings for Phoebe are gone, Cole, and that you've moved on, and that may be true to some extent, but somewhere inside of you, you can still feel her, isn't that also true?"
Cole thought about Paige's words and began to realize what she was getting it. "You're saying that a connection between us still exists and you want me to feel for her now the way Phoebe felt my presence in the Wasteland?"
"Yes, Cole, that's exactly what I'm getting at. I'm asking you to find Phoebe."
"Do you think you can do that Cole?" Piper asked feeling her first rays of hope that they might have a shot at actually finding their sister before it was too late.
"I could try. But I wouldn't get too excited about it if I were you. I'm hardly an Empath and I'm not as sure of my connection to Phoebe as you two seem to be."
"Never mind that, Cole. We've run out of options here, so just try this," Piper urged.
Cole nodded and closed his eyes and drifted into a meditative state using first his demonic senses to track Phoebe and when that didn't work, he lowered his guard and reached out with his heart and as soon as he did, he was hit with a wave of feeling that caused him to audibly gasp.
"Cole, what is it?" Piper asked.
"It's Phoebe..." he whispered, barely able to get the words out. "I found her."
***********************
"The Moment of Truth"
This time it was Phoebe who nervously paced while Cole stood motionless as if in a trance. He was planning his moves and working on keeping his human side suppressed as best he could.
From inside Cole's bedroom, Paige and Piper each firmly gripped their vanquishing potion. "Look at his eyes, Piper. Cole looks like pure evil. I say we waste him now and deal with the other demon later."
Piper was just about ready to agree to this. She didn't like the way Cole looked either, so dark and deadly was his gaze. "Okay, you convinced me, let's go vanquish us a demon."
At the very same time Piper and Phoebe stepped out into the open, Vector shimmered in and spotted the two sisters. "What's the meaning of this?" Vector raged. "You've betrayed me, Mr Turner."
"What?" both Phoebe and Cole replied together. "What do you mean betrayal, Cole? You and the demon of innocence are in this together?"
Cole turned around to stare at an unexpected Piper and Paige each holding what was most likely vials of vanquishing potion and replied, "look who's talking betrayals. You brought your sisters in," Cole muttered through clenched teeth.
"No, I didn't," Phoebe argued back.
"Of course he betrayed you," Paige said, "that's what demons do best, Phoebe. You're just lucky we've got your back."
"Vector, this wasn't part of the plan, I swear and it changes nothing. I can handle them," Cole answered.
"Really Cole?" Piper said, "well, handle this!" she screamed and hurled her vial at him.
Phoebe's brain and heart were quickly taking in the situation and the information presented and rendering a decision that appeared not to reside in Cole's favor until something subtle though powerfully important caught her eye. Since Vector had entered the room, Cole had slowly inched his way closer to Phoebe, inconspicuously placing himself in between Phoebe and this demon he called Vector. He was guarding her, trying to shield Phoebe from harm instead of worrying about protecting himself from her sisters' vanquishing potion. This was significant and told Phoebe all she needed to know about Cole's true motives.
Once the decision was made, Phoebe acted quickly and with lightning quick reflexes, she dove and caught the potion Piper threw, mid-air, and saved Cole from what would have been yet another painful death.
"No!" Phoebe screamed. The sisters and Cole thought that Phoebe was reacting to the threat on Cole but she was instead reacting to the demon's attempt at trying to pull Phoebe toward him. He'd opened up the great whole in his forehead and was sucking Phoebe in. Cole reacted fast, grabbed hold of Phoebe's hands and held on. However, Vector refused to let go as well. Cole tried to free one of his hands in order to reach into his pocket to pull out the vial that would kill Vector, but if he let go with even one hand he knew Phoebe would be sucked in.
"If you don't let go of your girlfriend now, Mr. Turner in moments she will be pulled apart by the force of my vacuum. I can assure you, she will die much more mercifully at the hands of my father. Which will it be, Mr. Turner?"
Phoebe looked into Cole's eyes and felt his pain as he reached his impossible decision. Phoebe nodded to Cole, understanding what was about to happen and whispered, "I love you," a moment before Cole released his hold and allowed Vector to pull her in just enough to shimmer them both away.
"How could you let her go, you monster!" Paige screamed staring at the empty spot where her sister fought for her life and she made a move to throw her vial of vanquishing potion at Cole. With a restraining hand, Piper stopped her from making that mistake.
"Wait! We can't kill him now. We may need him to help rescue Phoebe."
"Is there a Phoebe to rescue, Cole?" Paige asked, "Or is she already dead?"
"No, Vector hasn't killed her yet. He has to wait until the new moon tonight to do that and if you two interfering witches hadn't ruined my plan Phoebe would not be in danger at all."
"What do you mean?" Piper asked and Cole explained all of the events leading up to the present time.
When he was through explaining, Piper was somewhat mollified, but still angry with Cole. "Okay, maybe there was a method to you madness this time, but you never should have gotten Phoebe into this mess, to begin with."
"I'm not the one who got her into it. She did that all on her own and once she became Vector's target I had no choice but to form my plan to save her and to destroy Vector's father who's even a bigger threat than his son."
"Well maybe it wasn't your fault this time, Cole, but isn't it funny how Phoebe's life always seems to be in jeopardy whenever you're around?" Paige pointed out with unconcealed hostility.
"It's who she is, who all three of you are that puts you all at risk. You can't go on blaming me for everything, Piper, and this whole discussion is accomplishing nothing but exhausting the time we have left to save Phoebe."
"I hate to say it, but Cole is right, Paige. We need to find Vector's father's lair before nightfall or Phoebe's dead, so let's get cracking."
Cole followed Piper and Paige to the manner where they began their search for Phoebe. Piper called Leo to help but as usual he and the other elders were unable to shed any light on where Vector's father dwelled.
For the better part of an hour, Piper used her scrying crystal to locate Phoebe, but it seemed that she was nowhere to be found on earth. Paige, meanwhile, aimlessly flipped through the pages of the Book of Shadows, but found nothing while Cole had retrieved his mother's book and desperately rummaged its pages for an answer, but found none.
Next they tried a series of spells which included the "to find a lost sister" spell but that failed as well.
"This is useless," he thundered. "We're getting nowhere and we're running out of time!"
"Maybe researching isn't the key here," Paige said. Maybe this is something we need to talk out."
"Paige, we don't need a social worker, we need a miracle," Cole replied.
"No, maybe Paige is right. We tried everything else. Maybe we do need to think this out loud."
"Cole," Paige asked, "I'm curious why you let Phoebe go on thinking it was the demon of innocence you were after when you'd learned early on that he was really the demon of conflict?"
"It just seemed easier to completely keep her in the dark so Vector wouldn't suspect I was up to anything," Cole answered wearily. He didn't see the point in answering a bunch of fool questions when the hour glass on Phoebe's life was running out.
"Are you sure it was to keep things simple or did you have another reason for not filling her in?" Paige asked.
"I don't know what you mean, Paige, and I think we're just wasting more time here," Cole said impatiently.
Paige ignored Cole's anger and pressed on. In her experience as a social worker, she understood that when people became uncomfortable it was usually a sign that some major truths were being uncovered.
"I mean, Phoebe was obviously conflicted about her feelings for you, otherwise the demon would have never targeted her in the first place. But what I'd like to know is whether you are conflicted about her as well?"
"What's that got to do with finding Phoebe?" Piper asked.
"I'm getting to that," Paige said as she watched Cole grow even more uncomfortable and sensed that she was heading in the right direction.
"Look, Phoebe was able to connect to you in the Wasteland, Cole, because her feelings for you were still buried deep within her and unresolved and in order for her to make that connection with you, there must have been something to connect to. You can believe and claim all you want that your feelings for Phoebe are gone, Cole, and that you've moved on, and that may be true to some extent, but somewhere inside of you, you can still feel her, isn't that also true?"
Cole thought about Paige's words and began to realize what she was getting it. "You're saying that a connection between us still exists and you want me to feel for her now the way Phoebe felt my presence in the Wasteland?"
"Yes, Cole, that's exactly what I'm getting at. I'm asking you to find Phoebe."
"Do you think you can do that Cole?" Piper asked feeling her first rays of hope that they might have a shot at actually finding their sister before it was too late.
"I could try. But I wouldn't get too excited about it if I were you. I'm hardly an Empath and I'm not as sure of my connection to Phoebe as you two seem to be."
"Never mind that, Cole. We've run out of options here, so just try this," Piper urged.
Cole nodded and closed his eyes and drifted into a meditative state using first his demonic senses to track Phoebe and when that didn't work, he lowered his guard and reached out with his heart and as soon as he did, he was hit with a wave of feeling that caused him to audibly gasp.
"Cole, what is it?" Piper asked.
"It's Phoebe..." he whispered, barely able to get the words out. "I found her."