Part Seven

They're staring,' Cole realized. They were expecting him to make the first move but he had no intention of doing so until he figured out what the hell had just happened. One minute the Charmed Ones were sending him to hell and the nextOf course, he wasn't entirely convinced they hadn't succeeded. Maybe his punishment for a lifetime of evil was to be vanquished over and over again by those witches. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. Even though he couldn't feel it, he grimaced as he recalled the pain of the flames engulfing him. Worse than that first vanquish when he'd been Source because, on that night, he'd been the one to spur Phoebe into acting. Not like now. Now, she had willingly, almost eagerly, thrown the potion at him. He'd taunted her but had truly expected her to be unable to go through with it. Her eyes told him the truth, though. They'd reflected back to him nothing but hate. From the moment he'd stepped through the front door of that manor, it had all been wrong. Nothing was how he'd intended it to be. The Avatar should've warned him. No,' he acknowledged with a sigh, he did. He tried to stop me. It was me. I should've been more careful in creating that world. I first should've considered the possible consequences of a time lapse from my chosen point in time. Because of my recklessness, instead of loving me, Phoebe hated me and it doomed me.'

"Hey, you gonna stand there all day?" Paige boldly called. His ignoring them was completely irritating.

Cole opened his eyes and gave them a weary grin. "The thought crossed my mind. Near-death experiences bring out my meditative side while, of course, death gives me all the time in the world."

"Well, not today, pal," Paige snapped. "We don't have -- Why're you staring at Piper like that?"

Cole blinked. He hadn't realized he was staring at Piper but suddenly figured out why. "What'd you do, have the baby last night at home?" She looked confused and he added, "Didn't know hospitals released new mothers that quickly."

"Of course not," she responded as she automatically looked down at her body before she stared back at him with annoyance, "Wyatt's nine months old."

"Not nice to play mind games with the nearly-vanquished," Cole muttered, "or is that completely-vanquished?"

"No game. You have been dead for almost a year," Paige declared a little too smugly.

"A year?" Cole tried to comprehend that nearly a year had passed since he last saw them. As far as he knew, he'd seen them just yesterday. Could they be lying? Setting him up for some other vanquish? Or was he truly dead after all? "I don't understand," he confessed.

"The world you created last January," Leo explained, "was replaced by the original reality as soon as you were vanquished. It's November now, almost Thanksgiving. Time's moved on in this world, ColeAnd so have the girls."

"Then how" Cole was at a loss for words. He felt alive. He could feel his heart pounding. But, if he'd indeed been vanquished, then how was he back here. And, more importantly, why.

"They cast a spell to bring you back," Chris interrupted, eager to move forward with the plan. "So now that it worked, can we all please move on?"

"Who the hell are you?" Cole suddenly barked.

"Their Whitelighter," Chris announced while he took a step toward the demon.

Cole indicated to Leo, "They fire you or something?"

"Actually, I'm an Elder now," Leo stated, "but we don't have time to catch you up."

Chris didn't give Cole a chance to react. He quickly poked Cole's chest with his index finger and continued, "Bottom line, Turner, you're being given another chance and if you ever told them the truth about wanting to be good, you'd better prove it now." The look Cole gave him was all the warning he needed and he immediately lowered his hand back to his side.

As Chris stepped back, Cole demanded, "What the hell is going on?"

"Unfortunately, we need your help," Paige told him.

"Now," Piper insisted.

They needed him. How original,' Cole nearly laughed out loud. "Being vanquished wasn't enough for you?"

Piper glared at him, "Look, we all know how we feel about each other so let's just get this over with."

Well,' Cole decided, whether it's hell or not, I'll be damned if I'll make it easy on them.' He stared back at the sisters, shrugged, and asked, "Why?"

"Why what?" Piper uttered in surprise.

Cole tentatively stepped out of the circle and grinned when he realized he was still solid. "Why should I? If I help you, what's in it for me, aside from another vanquish?" He indicated to the multi-colored vials on the table, "Quite a supply you've got there. Am I just target practice until you get it right?"

"I knew this was a bad idea," Paige muttered. She glared at him, "Look, you're not our first choice. You're not even our fourth choice. But it seems you're the only one who might save --"

"Who?" he demanded. "I'm not doing a damn thing until you tell me what the hell's going on!" Whether they'd intended it or not, they'd saved him from the vanquish in that other world and the last thing he wanted was to be indebted to them for it.

"Cole," Phoebe whispered when she froze in the doorway as soon as she saw him.

Cole spun at the sound of her voice. "Phoebe."

Time stood still for her. The spell had worked. He was there. Actually standing before her. And he looked as gorgeous as he did the last time she'd seen him, in spite of those circumstances. She had always loved him in black. Her heart was pounding and, unconsciously, her hand reached out for him. But, when she realized what she'd done, she quickly brought it back and covered her mouth in shock.

Cole recognized the longing in her eyes. A look he hadn't seen in months. When he'd first come back, when she'd insisted their relationship was over, love and longing had still been reflected in her eyes. But, through the next few months, that love had been replaced by mistrust, anger, and even apathy. And, in that alternate world, it had finally become hate. Pure hatred. When Phoebe reached out to him, he took a step closer. But he stopped the moment she brought her hand to her mouth. He watched her. She was still beautiful and, in hell or not, he still loved her. He took another step toward her and softly said, "I like your hair."

She was about ready to cry. "Liar," she hoarsely replied. "You hate me with short hair."

"You might've warned me first but it didn't take me long to get used to it, remember?" he smiled before he remembered how much it bothered her to remember their life together. "I could never hate anything about you," he quietly, and seriously, assured her.

"Liar," she repeated as she nervously ran her fingers through the hair on the back of her head.

"Phoebe, I --" he began when he noticed the tip of a dark pink star peeking out from her shirt collar. Stunned, he reached for it, "Tell me that's not"

She quickly stepped out of his reach, rubbed the mark, and nodded.

He spun back to the others, "How the hell did a Dark Starling get her? Who sent it? Don't you know there's no way to stop the transformation?"

"That's why you're here," Piper announced.

"Didn't you hear me?" he snapped. "There's no way to stop it. Not even I have that kind of power."

"Sure you do," Paige declared, "you're Super-Demon. You can do anything."

Cole laughed bitterly, "You may as well vanquish me now."

"You're refusing to help?" Piper asked incredulously.

"No," Phoebe quietly said. She hesitantly touched Cole's arm, "What is it?" He didn't answer and she added, "I can feel your fear. What's wrong?"

"I can't help you," he helplessly informed her. He focused on Paige and questioned, "Why didn't you have any powers in that world?"

Confused by the change in topic, she still answered, "In that world, I was already dead. Killed by the Source, no doubt."

He ignored her glare and ordered, "Go on."

Paige glanced at Piper but continued, "Leo figured out that, because she wasn't there for me to take over her life, I didn't have her, my, powers." Realization suddenly hit her and she exclaimed, "Oh, my God!"

"What?" Piper asked in confusion.

"Cole no longer existed here," Paige turned to her but pointed at Cole, "but we brought him back so now he's powerless."

"Dammit!" Piper shouted as she blew up an old toy in frustration.

"That was unexpected," Chris murmured to himself.

"And a complete waste of time!" Paige glared at Chris. "I told you this was a bad idea."

"He was our only chance," Piper said with disappointment. She glanced at Phoebe who stood to the side, quietly watching Cole, and apologized, "I'm sorry, sweetie, but don't worry, we're not giving up. We'll get some other demon."

"No." Leo approached Cole and announced, "You're not powerlessI pulled a few strings and gave their spell an extra boost. You are now what you were in that other world."

"Belthazor," Paige realized. "Will it still work?"

"Will what still work?" Cole asked even as he began to familiarize himself once again with that missing part of himself. He wasn't thrilled to welcome back his evil half but, then again, it wasn't such a bad feeling either. For the first time in what seemed like ages, he felt whole.

"Complete," Phoebe whispered. His immediate glance of surprise to her made her realize she'd read his feelings again and, even worse, spoke aloud. Before she did anything, or said anything, to confuse herself even further, she quickly excused herself, "I should change into something more comfortable."

"Phoebe, wha--" Cole began, but she'd already run from the room. From him. "What's your plan?" he questioned the others when he turned back to face them.

"Can you find a Dracken?" Chris wondered.

"I've never done it before but I probably could," he honestly replied. At their disappointed expressions, he explained, "They're not exactly demon of choice among the upper levels and I always found other means to get the job done. But what's that got to do with -- a Dracken can track a Dark Starling!" He glanced from one face to another, "You don't know that it would work. It's too risky."

"We've got potions," Piper stated with a confidence she didn't completely feel.

"Potions won't help with a Dracken," Cole told her. "All right, this is the plan. We --"

"Already have a plan," Paige interrupted.

Cole glared at her and established control, "There'll be no arguments. You'll either work with me or stay the hell out of my way."

Piper placed a hand on Paige's arm to stop her sister from retorting and reminded Paige, "This's for Phoebe." She turned to Cole and nodded, "Agreed. What do you have in mind?"

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