Chapter 2
He sat there and started at her. She was biting her fingernails. She was scared of him, he could tell.
Cole was confused why Phoebe was here. Why he couldn't get away. Shimmering wouldn't work. Well he would shimmer out but would shimmer right back where he started.
The longer Cole thought about it, the more sure he was that this was a test. He didn't do this and he was certain that Phoebe didn't either. They must be there for a reason, and it was too much a coincidence that he couldn't get out and Phoebe had followed him.
She interrupted his thoughts. "Please let me go home." Phoebe searched his ice-cold eyes for any sign of warmth at all. She thought she saw a flicker, but as quickly as it had come, it was gone. She wasn't even sure if she really saw it or if it was her imagination.
He slammed his two hands onto the nearby wall open palmed and hard. Very hard. He was nearly thrown back and realized he had absentmindedly conjured two energy balls as he slammed his open palms on the wall. His shoulders felt like they had been ripped from their sockets and he cursed again.
"Do you do anything but curse?" she snapped at him.
"Do you do anything but find faults in every single action I have ever made?" he yelled at her.
She jumped, startled. It wasn't really a yell, more like a roar. Phoebe was scared, she knew Cole used to love her and would never hurt her, but he'd become a monster, and even worse, unpredictable.
"What is the point of this?" he muttered to himself. He went back to his thought to when they were previously interrupted all the while glaring at the girl in the room. That's all she is, a girl.
Like every other girl he's ever faced and killed.
Right, let's get back on track. Someone wanted them here, so it had to be a test. This would be in no way a freak of nature. This had to be planned.
Had to be, because if there was no purpose of this, he would not be stuck with her forever. His thoughts were jumbled and he was surprised when a memory of his training with the marines came to life.
"Rule number one" Captain Barnaby was saying "is knowing what you enemy wants. Whatever they want, you want to counter."
Nah, Cole thought, If I give them what they want, it'll be the end of this torture and I can finally leave.
"To know what they want, you need to know who they are. French paratroopers are going to want something difference from Russian terrorists."
So who was doing this? There were three sides; good, evil, and neutral. Evil was obviously the striking and most obvious option. She was one of the best good witches in history, she was weak and venerable at the moment.
So kill her. Can't be that hard, right? She didn't have a deflection power like Paige, and couldn't stop his attack like Piper when freezing time. Her guard was down; she wasn't even looking at her.
Cole had decided long ago that this was an end of an era. The phase of his life where he flirted with the other side of the cause had to be over. She would end it all.
He fought with himself internally. What the hell was wrong? He'd been doing fine, scaring Piper and destroying Phoebe bit by bit. He never felt all of this before. Why the hell now?
He could do the job but never finish it. Cole looked down into his hand and saw the energy ball form.
He threw it at her.
--
"Where did she go?" Paige demanded. Leo shrugged. "Probably somewhere in the Underworld. I can sense she's alive, but I don't know where she is."
"I'm going to kill that son of a--" Paige started but stopped when she realized Piper was crying. Leo hugged her.
"My family is falling apart," Piper whispered. "Prue was always so much better at being the eldest."
"Piper." Leo and Paige said at the same time. Paige paused, but Leo continued. "Our family is not falling apart, it's being destroyed. There is nothing more --"
"Prue would have found a way".
--
"You tried to kill me!" Phoebe Halliwell yelled at her ex husband. "You bastard!" "I'm evil, honey, what do you expect?"
"Don't ever call me that!" she shouted. "I am not your honey! I can't believe you tried to kill me." Phoebe was stunned. Somehow, previously it sounded unbelievable. He'd try to kill her sisters, but never her.
"As if you haven't tried.. Wait, scratch that. You did kill me!" Cole yelled. "You're so self centered. Hypocritical! I can't try to kill you, but you can try to kill me? What a hell of a relationship we've got going."
"We don't have any relationship going!"
"Hence the try to kill part."
Phoebe studied his face. Finally he was showing emotion and didn't have an ice-cold gleam in his eye. He actually was hurting.
Good.
He sat there and started at her. She was biting her fingernails. She was scared of him, he could tell.
Cole was confused why Phoebe was here. Why he couldn't get away. Shimmering wouldn't work. Well he would shimmer out but would shimmer right back where he started.
The longer Cole thought about it, the more sure he was that this was a test. He didn't do this and he was certain that Phoebe didn't either. They must be there for a reason, and it was too much a coincidence that he couldn't get out and Phoebe had followed him.
She interrupted his thoughts. "Please let me go home." Phoebe searched his ice-cold eyes for any sign of warmth at all. She thought she saw a flicker, but as quickly as it had come, it was gone. She wasn't even sure if she really saw it or if it was her imagination.
He slammed his two hands onto the nearby wall open palmed and hard. Very hard. He was nearly thrown back and realized he had absentmindedly conjured two energy balls as he slammed his open palms on the wall. His shoulders felt like they had been ripped from their sockets and he cursed again.
"Do you do anything but curse?" she snapped at him.
"Do you do anything but find faults in every single action I have ever made?" he yelled at her.
She jumped, startled. It wasn't really a yell, more like a roar. Phoebe was scared, she knew Cole used to love her and would never hurt her, but he'd become a monster, and even worse, unpredictable.
"What is the point of this?" he muttered to himself. He went back to his thought to when they were previously interrupted all the while glaring at the girl in the room. That's all she is, a girl.
Like every other girl he's ever faced and killed.
Right, let's get back on track. Someone wanted them here, so it had to be a test. This would be in no way a freak of nature. This had to be planned.
Had to be, because if there was no purpose of this, he would not be stuck with her forever. His thoughts were jumbled and he was surprised when a memory of his training with the marines came to life.
"Rule number one" Captain Barnaby was saying "is knowing what you enemy wants. Whatever they want, you want to counter."
Nah, Cole thought, If I give them what they want, it'll be the end of this torture and I can finally leave.
"To know what they want, you need to know who they are. French paratroopers are going to want something difference from Russian terrorists."
So who was doing this? There were three sides; good, evil, and neutral. Evil was obviously the striking and most obvious option. She was one of the best good witches in history, she was weak and venerable at the moment.
So kill her. Can't be that hard, right? She didn't have a deflection power like Paige, and couldn't stop his attack like Piper when freezing time. Her guard was down; she wasn't even looking at her.
Cole had decided long ago that this was an end of an era. The phase of his life where he flirted with the other side of the cause had to be over. She would end it all.
He fought with himself internally. What the hell was wrong? He'd been doing fine, scaring Piper and destroying Phoebe bit by bit. He never felt all of this before. Why the hell now?
He could do the job but never finish it. Cole looked down into his hand and saw the energy ball form.
He threw it at her.
--
"Where did she go?" Paige demanded. Leo shrugged. "Probably somewhere in the Underworld. I can sense she's alive, but I don't know where she is."
"I'm going to kill that son of a--" Paige started but stopped when she realized Piper was crying. Leo hugged her.
"My family is falling apart," Piper whispered. "Prue was always so much better at being the eldest."
"Piper." Leo and Paige said at the same time. Paige paused, but Leo continued. "Our family is not falling apart, it's being destroyed. There is nothing more --"
"Prue would have found a way".
--
"You tried to kill me!" Phoebe Halliwell yelled at her ex husband. "You bastard!" "I'm evil, honey, what do you expect?"
"Don't ever call me that!" she shouted. "I am not your honey! I can't believe you tried to kill me." Phoebe was stunned. Somehow, previously it sounded unbelievable. He'd try to kill her sisters, but never her.
"As if you haven't tried.. Wait, scratch that. You did kill me!" Cole yelled. "You're so self centered. Hypocritical! I can't try to kill you, but you can try to kill me? What a hell of a relationship we've got going."
"We don't have any relationship going!"
"Hence the try to kill part."
Phoebe studied his face. Finally he was showing emotion and didn't have an ice-cold gleam in his eye. He actually was hurting.
Good.