Part Seven

Two Weeks Later…

May 16, 2002

"I'm fine," Phoebe told Piper, or rather, Astral-Piper. "Sure took you long enough to figure out how to find me…Us."

"It's only been two weeks," Piper retorted, slightly miffed that her sister didn't seem more grateful. Phoebe had no idea what she and Paige had gone through. The grief of their loss combined with the anxiety of trying everything to bring her back. "I'm just happy you're alive," she sighed as she finally hugged her sister.

"Two weeks in the Wasteland is as bad as an eternity," Cole wearily commented. He stood apart from the sisters and kept watch on the sandy ground, dozens of feet below them.

Phoebe gave him a sympathetic smile and excused him to her sister, "Don't mind him, he just had a nasty run-in with the Worm-from-Hell."

Piper suddenly noticed the scrape on Cole's cheek and the tear in his shirtsleeve. And then, the fiery desert landscape registered in her mind. "How'd you get here? What's this Wasteland anyway? Another dimension? Can't you get out?"

"We're here because we have souls," Cole stated and awaited her reaction. She didn't disappoint him and he smirked, "That's right, the former demon, former Source, actually has a soul."

Phoebe put a hand on his arm. Even without her empathic power, she knew the true emotions that lay behind his remark. He may be baiting Piper but she'd witnessed his shock when he'd discovered where they'd appeared after being vanquished. She hadn't been there the first time he'd been trapped and never fully realized what he'd gone through. Of course, this time he also felt guilty because she was with him. So she'd put aside her own mixed feelings at their situation and concentrated on him. On getting him past his own conflicted feelings. She lightly squeezed his arm before she turned and quietly informed her sister, "We're also trapped here because we have souls."

"What d'you mean?" Piper nervously asked.

"We lost our powers," she replied after a quick glance back to Cole, "so I hope you're ready with our escape because I, for one, can't wait to get the hell out of here."

"You lost your powers?" Piper gasped. Phoebe's powers were such an integral part of her being. "How can that be?"

"It's what happens after a vanquish," Cole answered distractedly as a scream filled the air. He pointed to the orange sky and indicated to the falling figure. "Demon. His powers are all that'll be left of him."

"Until the worm gets them," Phoebe reminded him with a shiver. How could she have forgotten about the worm?

"Yeah," he considered, "I'm still working on that one. Gotta be something about it we can use." He saw, in the distance, the sand move in a straight line towards the spot where the demon fell.

Phoebe caught sight of the same motion and scolded Cole, "Don't antagonize it! You've already gotten hurt once. That thing could kill you."

"It's welcome to try," he muttered.

"Cole!" she snapped with frustration. She'd had more than enough of his self-pity. That was something she'd never seen in him until the end and, at that time, she'd been so consumed with her own anger, she hadn't given him a second thought. And now, now, she had to nip those feelings at the start or she might set him off on that same path again. "Don't go after it," she requested in a calmer tone. "We've already seen two and don't know how many more there are. It's not safe."

"Don't worry," he assured her, pleased by her concern for him, all things considered. "I've been watching its moves and I think I'm ready to show it a thing or two."

"Big bad Source," she teased before she gasped at her own words. "Okay, not even remotely funny," she whispered.

Cole watched the various emotions cross her face and couldn't help but gaze at her stomach. "Phoebe…" he quietly said. She slowly looked back at him and, knowing and accepting his role in their situation, he honestly said, "It's okay…There was no other way…"

Nearly in tears, Phoebe gulped, turned to her sister and, after clearing her throat, asked, "So, how do we get out?"

Piper, who wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to know more, shrugged apologetically, "Until today we didn't even know if you were still alive. Not even Grams. And Leo couldn't sense you at all. You didn't seem to be dead but you weren't alive either. I'll go back and we'll search the Book for the Wasteland and we'll figure something out."

Cole rolled his eyes and groaned, "Why am I not surprised?"

Piper faced him with her hands on her hips, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," he responded, "that you have always been unprepared. So uninspired. Always running off to do research after the danger's begun. It really is amazing that you haven't been killed by now."

"Not for lack of trying, though, eh, Cole?" she intimated.

"Just get the Grimoire," he instructed with a sigh. "It'll have the answer." Both sisters stared back at him, mouths agape, and he shrugged, "What? It's not like I can get it."

"Neither can I," Piper exclaimed, "and I'm sure as hell not sending Leo or Paige after it. You're crazy to even suggest it."

Angry herself, Phoebe declared, "No more evil. I will not be a party to it any more, not even for you."

"Then get used to the scenery, babe," he retorted, "because we're gonna be here a while." Without waiting for her response, he jumped off the edge of the plateau and landed on the level below.

"Cole, come back here!" Phoebe shouted in a mixture of annoyance and concern.

Cole ignored her and continued down until he reached the sandy ground. Then he charged off in the worm's direction.

"It's not safe!" she called after him, now more worried than anything else. "Cole, come back!"

"He'll be okay," Piper snorted, unconcerned. "It seems we can't get rid of him no matter how hard we try."

"Not fair," Phoebe softly complained. "He didn't ask to become the Source. And you were happy he was around until then."

"I'd grown used to his presence," Piper corrected, "I wasn't happy about it. You know I was concerned about having a demon in the family."

But Phoebe believed Piper had truly supported her and was taken aback by her older sister's statement. "So you were lying to me? You didn't want me to marry Cole?"

"I wanted you to be happy," Piper assured her younger sister, "and he made you happy. But I guess, deep down, it always worried me what your marriage would mean. He can't change, Phoebe. No matter how hard he tries, he will always be a demon."

The hologram of Cole killing those men in the bar flashed through Phoebe's mind and she nodded sadly. "I tried to be understanding but I was so angry." Piper's image wavered due to the tears in her eyes and she added, "He hurt me so badly, Piper. I lost so much because of him."

Confused, Piper still pulled Phoebe into a hug. "He won't hurt you anymore," she promised. "We'll get you out of here and you'll come home to us, where you belong." Her sister didn't answer and she hesitated before finally asking, "What about the baby? Have you thought about what you'll do?" Unfortunately, Phoebe burst into tears and Piper rubbed her sister's back, "Shhh, it'll be okay, sweetie. Paige and I will help you. You won't go through this alone." She felt Phoebe's head shake and she pulled away slightly, "Are you saying you want to raise the baby with Cole?" She stepped back, "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Pheebs. Maybe you owe him something but a life with him? He's not exactly the best influence when it comes to --"

"You don't understand," Phoebe interrupted in a choked voice. "There is no baby." Her sister seemed surprised so she explained, "The baby wasn't ours. I told you right before you, we…I told you he, it, was evil. When we were vanquished, all the evil was vanquished. No more Source…No more baby. Vanquished forever."

Piper didn't know what to say so she simply embraced her sister again.

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