Part Nineteen
Minutes Later…
May 9, 2004
"I don't believe you," Phoebe hissed as she leapt up from the chair and slammed her palms down on Gideon's desk.
"Phoebe!" Piper quickly placed her hands on Phoebe's back. "Let him finish."
"No!" Phoebe spun back to face her sister, refusing to let the motion's dizziness affect her. "I won't listen to any more of this crap! Cole is not after Wyatt and you know it!"
After spotting Gideon sadly shake his head, Piper reluctantly suggested, "Maybe he had no control…It's happened before."
"No!" Phoebe vehemently denied. "Cole is good. He loves me, he loves Wyatt, he loves this family."
"I know," Piper quietly acknowledged. "But that doesn't mean he couldn't've been possessed again. Y'know, I think I've reached a point where I can honestly say I wouldn't blame Cole but, honey, what if it did happen? Let's listen to what Gideon has to say."
"Why? You've already convicted him!" Phoebe lashed out. "I'm telling you Cole's good and there's no way he had any part in an attack on Wyatt in the Underworld."
Worried about Phoebe's stress levels, Leo placed a calming hand on her shoulder. Wyatt had finally settled against him and he hoped his son wouldn't react to her distress. "Did he give you any explanation, Gideon? Is it possible you misread the situation? Maybe Cole was trying to undo something another demon did."
Once again, Gideon shook his head, "If only that were true, Leo." He withdrew from his robe a wand and showed it to the others. "He was using this to draw the powers from Wyatt. If I hadn't discovered them when I did, it would've been too late to help Wyatt. Please understand, Cole left me no alternative. I did what I did for the greater good."
"Justice served, is that it?" Phoebe snidely commented.
Piper ignored her sister and nuzzled her son's neck if only to reassure herself that he was safe. Leo had wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him, "He's okay, isn't he, Leo? I mean, he had the power to orb to the house and then orb us both to Gideon so he's okay, right?"
"Physically, he's fine," Leo assured her just as Wyatt whimpered. "But he's obviously been traumatized," he added as he kissed his son.
"With time," Gideon consoled them, "Wyatt's memories of his ordeal will fade so that he won't remember it ever happened."
"How do you know?" Phoebe snarled. "Maybe this…this…this sham of yours, is what turns him evil."
"Wyatt is not evil!" Piper pulled Wyatt protectively into her arms. "I know how much you love Cole but Gideon wouldn't make up a story like this."
Phoebe glared at her older sister and sharply replied, "Keep this up and there's no telling how Wyat'll be affected." She suddenly sucked in her breath because of a stitch in her side and she rubbed the spot. "Fine," she relented as she exhaled slowly, "explain what happened to Paige and Chris."
"I believe Cole set them both up in order to make sure Wyatt remained here alone," Gideon patiently sighed. He knew Phoebe would be the toughest one to convince and he had to tread carefully. Plant the seed of doubt in her mind and she would take care of the rest. "Cole knew he could lure Wyatt away without anyone else taking notice because Wyatt trusted him and would follow him anywhere. And everyone here has seen how much that child adores the demon." He apologized immediately to Phoebe, "Former demon."
"No," Phoebe quietly admitted, "that much is true. Cole will always be a demon. It's who he is. But he uses it to do good now. To be good. And I'm telling you, all of you, that I've been through too much with Cole to miss the signs. If anything caused him to change sides again, I'd've known." One look to Piper, however, and she threw her hands up in exasperation, "So now you don't trust me?"
Piper wrung her hands and hoped she wouldn't make the situation worse. "I trust you, Phoebe, but I think you'll always have a blind eye when it comes to Cole."
"Just because I let him go for a couple of verbal rounds with you or Paige doesn't mean I don't see," Phoebe snapped. "For the record, again, I will never repeat my mistake of living in denial where Cole is concerned. If something's off with him, I will know and I will deal with it."
Piper was about to comment when Paige suddenly appeared. "Where have you been?!"
Confused by her older sister's short-tempered outburst, she replied, "I was with Darryl and couldn't leave my phone on." At her sisters' annoyed reactions, she explained, "Cole asked me to see him 'bout a murder case where I might've known the victim. I didn't get your messages until just now."
"Now do you see?" Gideon asked of the others.
"See what?" Phoebe exclaimed. "If Cole was evil like you claim, Paige wouldn't've been sent out of the line of fire."
"Evil?" Paige looked from Phoebe to Piper, "Um, what's going on? Where's Cole?"
"That's what we're trying to find out," Piper replied just as Chris orbed in. She eyed his bruised face, "What happened to you? It wasn't…it wasn't Cole, was it?"
"Of course not," he retorted. "Demon fight," he explained with a wary glance to Paige who managed a tiny shrug of her shoulders. "I've been at P3 and couldn't get away with everyone around getting ready for tonight's gig."
"Ever heard of a phone?" Piper chastised. "Oh, right, Gideon told us about Melora and the demons of darkness. Why didn't you?"
Chris stared at the floor and sullenly replied, "We could handle it without you."
"We?" she pointedly asked as she glanced from him to Paige.
"Cole didn't want you or Phoebe to be under any more stress," he replied, "and I think --"
Gideon nodded sympathetically and broke in, "Cole again…"
"What's that?" Paige wondered when she discovered the pile of clothing on Gideon's desk. "Isn't that what Co--"
"Wait a minute, you left Wyatt alone to see Darryl?" Phoebe interrupted in an accusatory tone towards Paige. "After all our steps to protect Wyatt, you deliberately left him alone? You knew where Piper was and you couldn't bring him to her?"
Paige exchanged a guilty look with Chris, "I…"
"Was trying to set up Cole," Phoebe whispered in horror. 'Was Gideon right? Had Paige taken advantage of Cole's suggestion and disappeared deliberately allowing Cole to take Wyatt?' Her mind began reeling from the implications and the room swam around her. "No!" she shouted, to herself and to the others. "I don't believe it! I don't believe you!"
"What? No! Phoebe!" Paige tried to correct her sister but Phoebe had grabbed the clothing and backed away from them all. "Phoebe, please, I wouldn't do anything like that," she beseeched but tears fell from Phoebe's eyes which stared back at her with a mixture of horror and betrayal.
Paige had taken a step towards her but Phoebe clutched the clothing tightly and insisted, "Cole's innocent and I'll prove it!" And before anyone could respond, she spun and ran from the room.
Paige turned back to her other sister, "Piper, what's going on? Where's Cole?"
"I'm afraid he's gone…forever," Gideon replied instead. "He used you," he added, with a nod to Chris, "both of you."
"I don't understand," Paige uttered as she continued to stare at the doorway through which Phoebe just ran.
Piper placed her sleepy son back in Leo's arms and broke the news to her sister, "Gideon caught Cole in the Underworld trying to drain Wyatt's powers." She watched Paige's face as her words sank in and she nodded, "Gideon told us how Chris came here after the fight. He thinks Cole planned on Chris coming straight to you and that you'd leave Wyatt alone in the safety of the school."
"Cole knew we'd never risk putting you or Phoebe in danger," Chris murmured. "Clever." He heard Paige's gasp of outrage and continued in a tone he hoped she'd understand to mean that she should follow along, "Sure, Paige, Cole pulls our strings and manages to convince us that Gideon's behind everything."
"Gideon?" Piper gasped in shock. "Why on earth would we believe that?"
"C'mon, Piper," Chris suggested, "think about Cole. He's a lawyer. He knows how to convince an audience and, believe me, he was very convincing."
Paige realized Chris was still trying to protect their secret which meant he either knew what really happened to Cole or he was still hoping to catch Gideon so she played along and apologized to Gideon, "We should've known better than to trust him again. Once a demon, always a demon."
"Enough, Paige," Piper warned, even though Phoebe was no longer in the room. "Right now, Cole is gone and we have to concentrate on helping Phoebe."
Paige nodded, "We'd better go after her."
But Piper stopped her and shook her head, "She's in shock and the last thing I want is for a confrontation with us to send her back into labor. Leave her be for now."
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From her vantage point atop the plateau, Phoebe scanned the Wasteland's crimson horizon and screamed Cole's name again. All she was rewarded with, though, was the sight of a demon dropping from the sky.
She hoarsely cried Cole's name again but, with an aching heart, was forced to consider the real possibility that Cole might be gone for good. She sank to her knees just as pain constricted her abdomen. Faced with the fact that it was more than a simple twinge, she massaged her belly and tearfully ordered, "It's too early, baby. I love you but I'm not ready for you yet." The tears flowed faster and she could barely speak between her sobs, "And I have to find your daddy first."
But by the time the worm came to absorb the demon's powers, Phoebe had pulled herself together. "Okay, kiddo," she murmured as she caressed her belly, "time for your mommy to start thinking with her head." She sat up straight and stared out at the horizon, "Your daddy's not stupid. He'd know if he was being set up." The baby kicked and she smiled, "Glad you agree. So, Daddy senses a plot and, what does he do? Well," she considered, "he doesn't tell me, for one, which, you can bet, I'm plenty pissed, I mean, mad about." The baby kicked again and she winced, "Don't worry, I'll forgive him…eventually. Y'see, your daddy has to learn that we are a team no matter what and that means we share everything."
Phoebe ignored the cries of another falling demon and continued, "So, where was I? Right, Daddy's found the traitor who's after your cousin and gets Paige involved, maybe even Chris. All to avoid bringing in me and your Aunt Piper. But somehow Aunt Paige becomes convinced that Cole's the traitor. Now, even if he doesn't always like her, your daddy does trust her. So, kiddo, here're the questions, who got to Paige and would Cole fall for her plan?"
Phoebe stopped stroking her belly and her eyes widened in realization. "He wouldn't," she whispered. "He'd play innocent to see what would happen so he used himself as bait! I'm gonna kill him!" The baby kicked sharply against her ribs and she apologized, "I didn't mean that. I love Daddy more than anything but he was playing with fire. I mean, look what happened. He's gone."
She scanned the horizon again, "So if he's not here in the Wasteland, where is he? The combination of his demonic powers and soul should've sent him back here. And I don't exactly picture him hanging out with your Great-Grams or Aunt Prue." She suddenly sighed, "Oh, baby, what're we gonna do? Even if we know your daddy didn't do everything Gideon said, how're we gonna prove it without him? I tried calling for him but it didn't work and now we didn't find him here and – Oh, my God, Gideon!" She nervously rubbed her belly and whispered, "Gideon's the traitor. It's the only thing that makes any sense. He's been so good and helpful to us, welcomed us with open arms. Of course we'd never suspect him. And now he's convinced everyone that your daddy's the guilty one."
Phoebe carefully got to her feet, "Well, kiddo, let's hope I've learned a few things from watching your daddy in court because I will prove to everyone that Daddy's innocent and then Gideon will pay for what he's done. But it'll be justice, my way."
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