Part Eight
Moments Later…
May 16, 2002
There was something about the way Piper held her. Even without her powers, Phoebe could always sense things about her sister. She sniffled, pulled back, and rhetorically questioned, "You're not sorry, are you?"
Piper brushed some of Phoebe's hair behind her ear and thought first before answering. "I'm sorry you're in pain, sweetie. I never wanted you to be hurt by Cole or by anyone. Believe me, you're my sister and I love you." She waited for her words to sink in before she continued uncomfortably, "But I'd be lying if I said I was sorry about the baby, especially when you were so terrified that he was evil incarnate. And I'm angry. I hate what you became and I hate that you forced me to vanquish you and that you ended up in this hellhole. But I do love you and you're alive and you're free of all the evil. So how can I be sorry that you, we, don't have to worry about an evil baby taking over?"
"I wanted that baby," Phoebe cried as she fell into her sister's arms again. "I didn't know at first, I thought he was ours. I thought…Oh, Piper, once I realized…I thought maybe it could've been different this time…I mean, for the past few months I've gone overboard just to find out who the father is so I could have the family I always wanted and now I actually had a chance to--"
"Wait a minute," Piper gasped, "Cole wasn't the father?"
Phoebe immediately realized Piper still didn't know the truth. "Of course Cole was the father," she quietly acknowledged. "I'm not sure I know how to explain…"
Piper rubbed Phoebe's back and, before stepping back, encouraged her sister, "Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."
Phoebe took a deep breath and confessed, "When I appeared in the hallway that night calling for you and Paige, I thought I'd been thrown back in time."
"You accused Cole of doing it," Piper recalled. "You also said something about him creating an alternate universe."
"But that's not what happened," Phoebe commented in a tone of resignation. "Nothing from the past two years has happened yet. Nothing more than a premonition," she quietly added, more to herself than to her sister. Piper's confusion clearly showed so Phoebe took a deep breath and continued, "The last thing I'd experienced in my time was fighting a demon in the lot after closing P3. I'd gone to the mausoleum, feeling sorry for myself for not having had my powers, and the next thing I knew Cole was shaking me awake. I couldn't believe where I was. He'd been gone for over a year and suddenly there he was. And the timing. He was the Source. I was pregnant. And it was that night. How could I not think it was a trick?" Thankfully, Piper hadn't yet interrupted. It was a lot to absorb and Phoebe wasn't sure how much more she should reveal. Her original plan had been to get back home without changing a thing but the opportunity to try was too hard to resist. But it all happened so impulsively. She hadn't planned to kill the Seer and then she had no choice about the vanquish. And now she was trying to help Cole deal with his feelings? Even if it was to only alter his path, she was still changing things. What was she entitled to tell her sister? They'd changed their futures before. What guarantee was there that everything she'd experienced would still happen? What about Wyatt and Chris? Would they still be born? Or had she already changed their fate too? She nearly jumped when she heard her name called and when she felt a hand on her arm. Piper immediately apologized for scaring her but Phoebe shook her head, "I'm sorry, my mind wandered. It's been happening quite a bit since Cole and I got here. There's so much to think about, to deal with."
Piper didn't know where to begin with her questions. What did Phoebe mean she had no powers or that Cole had been gone for over a year or that she'd experienced two years of the future? She'd barely been Queen. Did she somehow have the power to travel through time? Did Cole send her? But Piper kept coming back to one specific thing Phoebe mentioned. "What'd you mean about it being a premonition? You saw the Seer come after you? That Cole tried to kill us? You saw the vanquish?"
Suddenly, she couldn't feel any of the heat from their environment. Phoebe shivered, hugged herself, and quietly said, "I lived it." Her throat suddenly dry, Phoebe swallowed a few times before continuing, "At least, that's what I thought…It was all so detailed, so real. But Cole…He told me he figured it out that morning. Maybe that's why he believed me. Maybe that's why he put a guard on me. Maybe he was worried about the Seer. God, I can't believe I killed her myself. We needed the Power of Three that last time. She'd become so powerful." She sadly smiled, "Guess I should be relieved it all worked out in the same way. No more Seer or Source or evil baby. Cole even ended up in the Wasteland again."
"With you," Piper frowned. But was Cole lying to her sister? Was he trying to cover up his own evil actions just to keep Phoebe on his side? "Your power isn't that strong. You've only been able to catch glimpses of events. How long have your premonitions been, a few minutes? And now you're telling me that you've seen two full years in the space of a few hours? That you lived it? How is that possible?"
Phoebe turned from her sister and walked to the edge of the plateau. She couldn't spot Cole. "Last year, or I guess about six months from now, my power of premonition advances." She faced Piper again, "When I have one, I become part of it. So much so that I've gotten hurt."
"And Cole thinks that's what happened?" Piper wondered as she cringed from the sight of another falling, screaming, demon.
Phoebe didn't even look up. Instead, she watched for Cole who'd undoubtedly go after the worm. She replied, "Maybe, if I hadn't been pregnant, I'd've only seen a glimpse of Cole's vanquish or a glimpse of his return and subsequent vanquish. Instead, I lived the premonition. Cole believes that, while I was sleeping, I subconsciously tapped into the baby's power and that its raw power gave my premonition a power boost the likes of which I'd never experienced before."
"Or will again," Piper uttered in relief.
Phoebe merely stood silent and watched the worm's track as it headed for the vanquished demon.
Piper's gaze followed her sister's and she sighed, "I'd better get back to Paige and Leo and see if we can figure something out." Phoebe turned with a worried look on her face so Piper smiled encouragingly, "Hang in there, we'll get you out. I promise."
"Cole too?" Phoebe asked in a surprisingly challenging tone.
Piper slowly nodded and solemnly assured her sister, "Cole too."
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