ONE

"Damn," swore Cole as he clattered around the kitchen in the manor.

"Having problems?" asked a slightly perturbed Piper standing in the

doorway to the kitchen.

"Oh, hi," said Cole, smiling uncomfortably. "I, uh, was just trying to

fix some breakfast. Only I can't seem to find the right pan."

"Lower cabinet to the left of the sink," said Piper. "And I usually fix

breakfast around here, you know that. What's with the desire to fix breakfast

all of a sudden?"

"I don't know," said Cole. "I've had my powers stripped and I'm

completely human now. Just thought I might try to not be a burden on you.

Before I could help with vanquishing demons or information or something like

that. Now there's not much I can do."

"You can still help with information," said Piper, starting to fix

breakfast. "Only your demonic half was vanquished, not your knowledge."

"Doesn't really seem like a fair deal," said Cole.

"Fair or not it's the only one we have," said Piper.

"Only one what we have?" asked Phoebe, coming into the room. "So here you

are. I was wondering where you were when I woke up and you weren't in bed."

"He thought he'd try his hand at breakfast," smirked Piper.

"I just don't want to be a burden," said Cole. "I'm human now. I have to

pull my own weight."

"So what's this deal you're talking about?" Phoebe asked.

"That Cole can still provide us with a lot of information," said Piper.

"In return he gets to sponge off us until he works something out."

"Hey, he's not sponging," said Phoebe, putting her arms around Cole.

"It's going to take him some time to adjust, that's all. I'm sure everything is

going to be just fine."

"I'm sure it will," said Piper. "No offense, Cole. I was just having a

little fun."

'Well, our sense of humor leaves something to be desired," said Cole.

"This isn't easy for me. I have no powers whatsoever. I used to be able to

shimmer across town in a matter of seconds. Now I have to take a cab or bus or

something. I used to be able to vanquish powerful demons with fireballs. Now

there are humans out there who will be able to take me out despite the remnants

of my demonic strength that I still retain. It's a lot to take in."

"You'll adjust," said Phoebe. "It's not that hard, really."

"Well, I think I'm going to start after breakfast," said Cole. "You all

have things to keep you busy during the day. I need to find something to keep

me busy. I thought I'd go out and look around for a while."

"Just be careful," said Phoebe. "The Source still wants you dead. You

might run into a demon or something and you'd be unprotected."

"I'm going to make sure there are plenty of people around," said Cole.

"Demons won't attack if there are people around. It's too risky. So I'm just

going to go out and look around for a while and I'll be home very early."

"Well, keep your cell phone handy," said Piper. "If you do run into

trouble you can give us a call. You're only an orb away."

"Thank God for that," said Cole. "Now, I may not be any good at cooking

but I can wash dishes. So I insist on doing the breakfast dishes when we're

done."

"I'll help," said Phoebe.

"You're going to help do the dishes?" questioned Piper in surprise.

"Sure, why not?" asked Phoebe. "Just trying to help Cole adjust."

"Uh huh," said Piper.

"By the way," said Cole, "where are Leo and Paige? I thought they'd be

down by now."

"Leo orbed out early this morning," said Piper. "He said something about

one of his charges calling. He didn't seem very concerned so I don't think it

was an emergency or anything. Maybe it was like we do sometimes. A charge

calling just for some information."

"That makes sense," said Phoebe. "I'm sure not all of his calls are life

and death situations."

"Probably not," said Cole. "You guys call him enough just for some

information."

"Yes, we do," said Piper. "Maybe too much."

"Well, now you have me," said Cole. "Especially when it comes to demons

I'm sure I know more about them than Leo and the Elders."

"Probably," Phoebe said. "What about Paige? She wasn't in her room when

I came down."

"She was gone when I got up," said Piper. "I think she might have gone

into work early. She was saying something last night about how she was really

behind in her paperwork. I think she might have gone in to catch up on it."

"So, anything I can do to help with breakfast?" Cole asked.

"Sure," said Piper. "Get out of my kitchen and let me work."

"Come on, honey," said Phoebe taking Cole's elbow. "She can be a regular

tyrant in the kitchen. Best to just leave her alone."

"Only because some of you can't even boil water," said Piper, as Phoebe

led Cole out of the kitchen.

After breakfast was over Phoebe drove Cole downtown. While they were

waiting for Piper to finish preparing breakfast Phoebe had finally convinced him

to at least let her drive him. At least he wouldn't have to be concerned about

being alone while he went downtown.

"Okay," said Phoebe as Cole got out of the car, "remember, meet me here at

three. I'll take you home."

"Really, Phoebe, this isn't necessary," said Cole. "I'm not a child."

"No, you're an ex-demon under a death sentence by the Source of all Evil,"

said Phoebe. "Please, just humor me. I'll feel better if you just let me do

this at least for a couple of days."

"Okay," said Cole, smiling. "Just don't worry too much. Like I said, no

demon is going to attack while I'm in the middle of a crowd."

"Okay, honey, see you later," said Phoebe. "Give me a call if you need

anything."

Cole watched Phoebe drive away and then looked around. Where to start

first? Well, maybe he'd get a cup of coffee at the diner across the street. He

could get a paper and try to decide where to go first. He crossed the street

and started to enter the diner. Just as he passed through the door, Cole Turner

suddenly vanished.