Last Chance
Summary: Someone's back, the problem is they're back with no recollection of their life, or even their name. He's remembered, but the people that knew him are just wondering how he is back. Second chances are few, but how will he use his last chance?
Notes: Paige and Phoebe never moved out but everything else in Chris Crossed has happened.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Charmed, sadly, doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the WB network and all those happy people.
A man opened his eyes as he awoke from what seemed like an eternal slumber. He peered around him, his brown eyes sparkling with curiosity, 'Where am I?' he thought. Slowly he rose from his crouching position on the ground. It was night, the sky was filled with thousands of stars and the moon was full from what he could tell. As his thoughts began to come to him he realized he had no idea where he was, or who he was for that matter.
"Hello?" He asked into the darkness. There was no reply. He looked down; he was wrapped in a white robe without any shoes. Then it hit him, he remembered –gold robes? That didn't sound right, but he remembered gold, hooded robes. It was the only thing he could remember. 'This makes no sense, who am I? Where am I?' He asked himself trying to remember something, anything at all.
"Is anyone there, please?" He asked getting desperate now. To his distress he was alone. He looked down at the grown where green grass was growing with slight dew covering it already. 'This is not a good time to be sleep walking, or what ever is going on.' He walked slowly and unsurely through the grass, he was guessing it was a park. Unconsciously he ran his fingers through his short brown hair. Then, he felt his face he could feel a five o'clock shadow forming. 'Funny, I know how to talk and I know what a five o'clock shadow is but I have no idea who the hell I am.' He thought then began to speak, "What is this somebody's idea of a stupid joke?" He asked into the darkness.
Joke. He remembered that word from before...he remembered himself asking "Are you for real, after everything I've done, is this a joke?" As he walked he could see a light, it was a streetlight. The streetlight was right next to a sidewalk. 'Thank gawd, I don't know how much more wondering I could take.' He walked to the sidewalk and decided to follow it deeper inside of the city.
He saw someone walking into the small corner store, "Hey, can I ask you something?"
The man looked him up and down curiously then said, "I guess, go ahead." He said leaning against the side of the building.
"Where am I?"
"We're right by Prescott Street, in San Francisco. Are you ok?" The man asked him, he had bright blue eyes and hair that hung into his face; he had a visible freckle on the side of his nose. "I'm...I'm fine, just a little confused." He said then continued walking down the sidewalk as the man behind him shrugged and walked into the store.
Phoebe Halliwell sat up in bed quickly, "Oh no..." She said softly looking at the clock it was 10:30 P.M. 'I must have fallen asleep.' She thought as she rubbed her eyes sitting up. Paige walked by her door, and then walked back after she saw Phoebe was awake.
"Hey, you must have been really tired after that headache." Paige said leaning against the doorframe.
"What? Oh...yeah, that." Phoebe said and then self-consciously looked down at her hands.
"What's the matter?" Paige asked concerned as she walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to her sister.
"I just, I had this dream...maybe a premonition? I'm not sure." Phoebe began.
"That would explain why you had that headache, it was your body telling you to take a nap or something, what was it about?" She asked her as she pulled her light red hair behind her head and out of her face.
"Cole." Phoebe said softly as she looked to Paige for her reaction.
"You must be really stressed out or something and it couldn't have been a premonition because we vanquished him in the alternate universe, well me and alternate you and Piper." Paige said not so sure herself, she wasn't scared of a lot of things but Cole was one person that scared her, mostly because of his immortality.
"I think it was real, I know I haven't dreamt about him in a long time, but it wasn't bad and he wasn't doing anything wrong. He was just so lost, kind of like he didn't know where he was?" She said half asking her self, "I could feel him, he was so confused."
"You used your empathy in your dream? Are you sure it wasn't just your feelings, about you moving to Hong Kong with Jason, you have been confused about what to do." Paige suggested.
"I don't think so...it was so real. He was in the city to, in one of the parks and he started walking up to someone but I woke up." Phoebe said rubbing her temples in an attempt to calm herself down.
Just then Piper walked in the room with Wyatt on her hip, "Geeze, Chris takes forever to pick up baby food doesn't he?" She asked and then saw the looks on their faces, "What's wrong with you two, it looks like you've seen a ghost."
"Oh you don't know how right you can be sometimes." Phoebe said looking at her older sister.
"What? Are you saying there's a ghost in the house? That's horrible, someone's going to have to die temporarily, or we're going to have to find the bones or..." Piper said then was interrupted.
"No, there's not a ghost in the house. Phoebe had a dream about Cole." Paige explained putting her arm around her sister.
"Oh honey, don't get worried, it was just a bad dream." Piper said in a motherly tone.
"She thinks it was a premonition." Paige said before Phoebe could talk.
"I can speak for myself." Phoebe said sternly and Paige looked away hurt, "I'm sorry Paige, I'm just a little on edge. You know, I've finally gotten used to him being gone, but now I start dreaming about him again? It makes no sense, and it felt so real."
"I've had dreams that have felt real before to, but it's usually just a dream." Piper said trying to comfort her as Wyatt began to cry, "CHRIS, HURRY UP!" She shouted into the air.
"I'm here, rejoice!" He said as his orbs formed in the room then turned into him carrying a bag filled with mashed foods, "I didn't know how many to get so I got every kind."
"I told you to get peas and carrots. Not..." Piper said as she took the bag from his hand, "Ham, and asparagus and every other kind that the company makes."
"Sorry, I forgot, because the weirdest thing happened. Well not necessarily the weirdest because I've seen a lot of things, but this guy in a plain white robe walked up to me and asked me where he was. I think he might be an innocent for you guys to save, I just don't understand why he would come to me instead of one of you." Chris said then began to explain his appearance, Phoebe's eyes widened as Piper and Paige tensed up.
Phoebe got off of her bed and walked to her night stand. She opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a picture frame. The picture was of her and Cole smiling in the park. "Was this him?" She asked Chris.
Chris took the picture frame from her and looked at it then back at her, "Who is he?" He asked her cautiously.
"Don't beat around the bush, Chris. Was it him or not?" Paige asked worriedly.
"Yeah, it was him. What's the big deal is he an ex of yours or something?" Chris asked the only one confused be all of it.
"He's Balthazar. He was the one who was immortal, couldn't be killed. You know, he made the different timeline where he was the Source still and Phoebe was still his Queen, he got vanquished. You know the whole story; I know you've read the Book of Shadows a thousand times by now." Piper said to him.
"That's crazy; you vanquished him, didn't you?" Chris asked.
"We thought we did, Paige you were there, we vanquished him didn't we?" Piper asked as she turned to look at Paige.
"He wasn't immortal then, we said the spell and vanquished him, I saw him blow up, there was no way he was coming back after that." Paige said making sure she didn't just make it up in her mind.
"He's back, and he's lost and confused. What is going on?" Phoebe asked rhetorically as she went to the window so they couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. How could Cole be back? She had spent so much time trying to get over him, and then she found Jason and things were perfect, right? No more big bad evil, no more evil Phoebe everything was good, or as good as things could be being a Charmed One.
"Don't worry Phoebe, everything is going to be ok, maybe Chris is mistaken." Piper said trying to calm her down and Wyatt down all at once.
"I can't make mistakes, too many things could happen, so believe me I know that the man that talked to me is the same as the guy in that picture." Chris said slightly annoyed.
Piper looked at him sternly and walked out the door with the bag of baby food jars in hand to go and feed the fussing Wyatt.
"The question isn't whether or not you were wrong, Chris, the question is why Cole is back." Paige said shaking her head, apparently fears do come back to haunt you.
"No, I don't think he even knows what's going on. He obviously didn't know where he was, and even if he didn't why wouldn't he just shimmer out of there? It would be much easier to go and talk to a demon then to go up to a white lighter witch who is buying baby food." Phoebe said simply.
"That's a good point I'll go check it out with the Elders." Chris said nodding, then orbed out.
"Don't worry sweetie, everything's going to be ok." Paige said hugging Phoebe; she didn't know who she was trying to comfort more, her sister or her self.
"I hope so." Phoebe whispered.
Cole wandered down the sidewalk further as the stores around him shut off their lights. 'It must be getting pretty late and I don't know where I even live. Wonderful.' He wrapped the white robe around himself tighter to keep out the cold that was setting in. When he first awoke he remembered that he didn't feel a thing, he felt...he didn't know how to explain it but perhaps at peace? 'I can never have peace.' A voice in the back of his mind said. He said it aloud. It sounded familiar, too. He realized it started to get bright around him, he looked around and the store owners who were going to their cars had frozen in place.
"What's going on?" Cole shouted into the night, whoever he was he didn't know how he could put up with this kind of stuff, or even if it was a normal occurrence. 'Don't worry.' An unfamiliar voice said to him, though he didn't hear it, then suddenly he watched himself turn into blue orbs and felt himself rising.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, he let out the breath he had been holding when he turned back into a solid person. Around him he could see the hooded gold robes, the ones he could remember before.
"We gave you a new chance, and you couldn't even remember what we had told you." One of them said as they walked up to him, he didn't dare move. It was a female voice who was trying to sound comforting, "We decided you, and just you not the other half needed, a chance at living by yourself, you tried before." She touched her palm to the side of his head and a golden light radiated from it. Cole's eyes widened as pictures and memories filled his head, though there was no memory of any Charmed Ones, or of a wife and child he once had.
"Do you know what you were sent back to do now?" One of the other hooded figures asked him, male voice this time.
Cole nodded, finally understanding, though not comprehending how he could forget so much.
"You have a job now, much like your old one, you're an attorney once more. You live in an apartment, by yourself, and you will help people. You will repay your debts to the world as your live, and you will live with a second chance. You will protect people and guide them, the best that you can."
Cole nodded once more and felt it was time to go, he concentrated and he orbed out of the gold robe-filled area and down into his apartment. He would collect his thoughts later.
Summary: Someone's back, the problem is they're back with no recollection of their life, or even their name. He's remembered, but the people that knew him are just wondering how he is back. Second chances are few, but how will he use his last chance?
Notes: Paige and Phoebe never moved out but everything else in Chris Crossed has happened.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Charmed, sadly, doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the WB network and all those happy people.
A man opened his eyes as he awoke from what seemed like an eternal slumber. He peered around him, his brown eyes sparkling with curiosity, 'Where am I?' he thought. Slowly he rose from his crouching position on the ground. It was night, the sky was filled with thousands of stars and the moon was full from what he could tell. As his thoughts began to come to him he realized he had no idea where he was, or who he was for that matter.
"Hello?" He asked into the darkness. There was no reply. He looked down; he was wrapped in a white robe without any shoes. Then it hit him, he remembered –gold robes? That didn't sound right, but he remembered gold, hooded robes. It was the only thing he could remember. 'This makes no sense, who am I? Where am I?' He asked himself trying to remember something, anything at all.
"Is anyone there, please?" He asked getting desperate now. To his distress he was alone. He looked down at the grown where green grass was growing with slight dew covering it already. 'This is not a good time to be sleep walking, or what ever is going on.' He walked slowly and unsurely through the grass, he was guessing it was a park. Unconsciously he ran his fingers through his short brown hair. Then, he felt his face he could feel a five o'clock shadow forming. 'Funny, I know how to talk and I know what a five o'clock shadow is but I have no idea who the hell I am.' He thought then began to speak, "What is this somebody's idea of a stupid joke?" He asked into the darkness.
Joke. He remembered that word from before...he remembered himself asking "Are you for real, after everything I've done, is this a joke?" As he walked he could see a light, it was a streetlight. The streetlight was right next to a sidewalk. 'Thank gawd, I don't know how much more wondering I could take.' He walked to the sidewalk and decided to follow it deeper inside of the city.
He saw someone walking into the small corner store, "Hey, can I ask you something?"
The man looked him up and down curiously then said, "I guess, go ahead." He said leaning against the side of the building.
"Where am I?"
"We're right by Prescott Street, in San Francisco. Are you ok?" The man asked him, he had bright blue eyes and hair that hung into his face; he had a visible freckle on the side of his nose. "I'm...I'm fine, just a little confused." He said then continued walking down the sidewalk as the man behind him shrugged and walked into the store.
Phoebe Halliwell sat up in bed quickly, "Oh no..." She said softly looking at the clock it was 10:30 P.M. 'I must have fallen asleep.' She thought as she rubbed her eyes sitting up. Paige walked by her door, and then walked back after she saw Phoebe was awake.
"Hey, you must have been really tired after that headache." Paige said leaning against the doorframe.
"What? Oh...yeah, that." Phoebe said and then self-consciously looked down at her hands.
"What's the matter?" Paige asked concerned as she walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to her sister.
"I just, I had this dream...maybe a premonition? I'm not sure." Phoebe began.
"That would explain why you had that headache, it was your body telling you to take a nap or something, what was it about?" She asked her as she pulled her light red hair behind her head and out of her face.
"Cole." Phoebe said softly as she looked to Paige for her reaction.
"You must be really stressed out or something and it couldn't have been a premonition because we vanquished him in the alternate universe, well me and alternate you and Piper." Paige said not so sure herself, she wasn't scared of a lot of things but Cole was one person that scared her, mostly because of his immortality.
"I think it was real, I know I haven't dreamt about him in a long time, but it wasn't bad and he wasn't doing anything wrong. He was just so lost, kind of like he didn't know where he was?" She said half asking her self, "I could feel him, he was so confused."
"You used your empathy in your dream? Are you sure it wasn't just your feelings, about you moving to Hong Kong with Jason, you have been confused about what to do." Paige suggested.
"I don't think so...it was so real. He was in the city to, in one of the parks and he started walking up to someone but I woke up." Phoebe said rubbing her temples in an attempt to calm herself down.
Just then Piper walked in the room with Wyatt on her hip, "Geeze, Chris takes forever to pick up baby food doesn't he?" She asked and then saw the looks on their faces, "What's wrong with you two, it looks like you've seen a ghost."
"Oh you don't know how right you can be sometimes." Phoebe said looking at her older sister.
"What? Are you saying there's a ghost in the house? That's horrible, someone's going to have to die temporarily, or we're going to have to find the bones or..." Piper said then was interrupted.
"No, there's not a ghost in the house. Phoebe had a dream about Cole." Paige explained putting her arm around her sister.
"Oh honey, don't get worried, it was just a bad dream." Piper said in a motherly tone.
"She thinks it was a premonition." Paige said before Phoebe could talk.
"I can speak for myself." Phoebe said sternly and Paige looked away hurt, "I'm sorry Paige, I'm just a little on edge. You know, I've finally gotten used to him being gone, but now I start dreaming about him again? It makes no sense, and it felt so real."
"I've had dreams that have felt real before to, but it's usually just a dream." Piper said trying to comfort her as Wyatt began to cry, "CHRIS, HURRY UP!" She shouted into the air.
"I'm here, rejoice!" He said as his orbs formed in the room then turned into him carrying a bag filled with mashed foods, "I didn't know how many to get so I got every kind."
"I told you to get peas and carrots. Not..." Piper said as she took the bag from his hand, "Ham, and asparagus and every other kind that the company makes."
"Sorry, I forgot, because the weirdest thing happened. Well not necessarily the weirdest because I've seen a lot of things, but this guy in a plain white robe walked up to me and asked me where he was. I think he might be an innocent for you guys to save, I just don't understand why he would come to me instead of one of you." Chris said then began to explain his appearance, Phoebe's eyes widened as Piper and Paige tensed up.
Phoebe got off of her bed and walked to her night stand. She opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a picture frame. The picture was of her and Cole smiling in the park. "Was this him?" She asked Chris.
Chris took the picture frame from her and looked at it then back at her, "Who is he?" He asked her cautiously.
"Don't beat around the bush, Chris. Was it him or not?" Paige asked worriedly.
"Yeah, it was him. What's the big deal is he an ex of yours or something?" Chris asked the only one confused be all of it.
"He's Balthazar. He was the one who was immortal, couldn't be killed. You know, he made the different timeline where he was the Source still and Phoebe was still his Queen, he got vanquished. You know the whole story; I know you've read the Book of Shadows a thousand times by now." Piper said to him.
"That's crazy; you vanquished him, didn't you?" Chris asked.
"We thought we did, Paige you were there, we vanquished him didn't we?" Piper asked as she turned to look at Paige.
"He wasn't immortal then, we said the spell and vanquished him, I saw him blow up, there was no way he was coming back after that." Paige said making sure she didn't just make it up in her mind.
"He's back, and he's lost and confused. What is going on?" Phoebe asked rhetorically as she went to the window so they couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. How could Cole be back? She had spent so much time trying to get over him, and then she found Jason and things were perfect, right? No more big bad evil, no more evil Phoebe everything was good, or as good as things could be being a Charmed One.
"Don't worry Phoebe, everything is going to be ok, maybe Chris is mistaken." Piper said trying to calm her down and Wyatt down all at once.
"I can't make mistakes, too many things could happen, so believe me I know that the man that talked to me is the same as the guy in that picture." Chris said slightly annoyed.
Piper looked at him sternly and walked out the door with the bag of baby food jars in hand to go and feed the fussing Wyatt.
"The question isn't whether or not you were wrong, Chris, the question is why Cole is back." Paige said shaking her head, apparently fears do come back to haunt you.
"No, I don't think he even knows what's going on. He obviously didn't know where he was, and even if he didn't why wouldn't he just shimmer out of there? It would be much easier to go and talk to a demon then to go up to a white lighter witch who is buying baby food." Phoebe said simply.
"That's a good point I'll go check it out with the Elders." Chris said nodding, then orbed out.
"Don't worry sweetie, everything's going to be ok." Paige said hugging Phoebe; she didn't know who she was trying to comfort more, her sister or her self.
"I hope so." Phoebe whispered.
Cole wandered down the sidewalk further as the stores around him shut off their lights. 'It must be getting pretty late and I don't know where I even live. Wonderful.' He wrapped the white robe around himself tighter to keep out the cold that was setting in. When he first awoke he remembered that he didn't feel a thing, he felt...he didn't know how to explain it but perhaps at peace? 'I can never have peace.' A voice in the back of his mind said. He said it aloud. It sounded familiar, too. He realized it started to get bright around him, he looked around and the store owners who were going to their cars had frozen in place.
"What's going on?" Cole shouted into the night, whoever he was he didn't know how he could put up with this kind of stuff, or even if it was a normal occurrence. 'Don't worry.' An unfamiliar voice said to him, though he didn't hear it, then suddenly he watched himself turn into blue orbs and felt himself rising.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, he let out the breath he had been holding when he turned back into a solid person. Around him he could see the hooded gold robes, the ones he could remember before.
"We gave you a new chance, and you couldn't even remember what we had told you." One of them said as they walked up to him, he didn't dare move. It was a female voice who was trying to sound comforting, "We decided you, and just you not the other half needed, a chance at living by yourself, you tried before." She touched her palm to the side of his head and a golden light radiated from it. Cole's eyes widened as pictures and memories filled his head, though there was no memory of any Charmed Ones, or of a wife and child he once had.
"Do you know what you were sent back to do now?" One of the other hooded figures asked him, male voice this time.
Cole nodded, finally understanding, though not comprehending how he could forget so much.
"You have a job now, much like your old one, you're an attorney once more. You live in an apartment, by yourself, and you will help people. You will repay your debts to the world as your live, and you will live with a second chance. You will protect people and guide them, the best that you can."
Cole nodded once more and felt it was time to go, he concentrated and he orbed out of the gold robe-filled area and down into his apartment. He would collect his thoughts later.
