Chapter Three
The three were wrapping up their dinner when Cole and Leo looked at each other at the same time.
"Something's not right," they said in unison.
Piper looked at them both. "What?" she asked.
"Phoebe and Paige," said Leo, getting up from his seat. "Phoebe more than Paige. In fact," he continued, a worried expression on his face. "Phoebe a lot more than Paige."
"Where are they?" asked Piper, rising from her chair as well. Cole had already begun to put on his coat.
"Wait," he replied, trying to sense them. "They're in the city. Not somewhere I've been before though. Look like a—club? Kind of ritzy. Red decorations, fire-like decorations, actually, and lots of people..." Leo got a funny look on his face. "Rubbing up against each other."
"Don't tell me they're in the Fire Den?" Piper exclaimed. "How did they get in there?!"
"The Fire Den?" Cole repeated. "Sounds kind of ominous, don't you think?"
"We have to go there," Leo insisted urgently. "I'm worried about Phoebe. She keeps slipping in and out of focus..."
"OK, let's go," said Piper, alarmed. She and Cole reached for Leo's hands as they orbed out.
They were in a dark, spacious room with roving strobe lights and rowdy music, though the raucousness of the music was nothing compared to the people dancing to it. "Where are we?" yelled Cole over the din, looking about warily.
"The Fire Den," Piper yelled back. "Huge on the hardcore club scene."
Leo motioned to his wife, pointing to the whooping crowd to the left of them. "Over there," he said tersely. They pushed pass the throng and tried to see what was going on.
Cole saw it first. "No," he whispered, his eyes glazing over in horror.
Piper and Leo followed his gaze. They saw Phoebe, up on the bartop, her coat and sweater gone, and her white tank top pulled up so a guy could lick whipped cream off her stomach. She was participating in some sort of contest, though it was obvious that she had all of the crowd's approval. What made the sight almost unbearable, though, was how Phoebe seemed to enjoy it all, one hand in her partner's hair, one tracing down his back, her head thrown back.
Piper's first reaction was a violent one; shock, then terror. Was Phoebe being possessed by a demonic spirit? Piper shuddered when she remembered what it was like when she was taken over by Terra, the feeling of life slipping away from her. But as Piper looked a bit more closely, she became convinced that Phoebe was not going through what she herself went through a year ago. There wasn't a certain stiffness to her moments, which was how Piper had fought the spirit. And that look of utter bliss...Piper looked over to Leo and saw in his expression her own thoughts. "No," he said, closing his eyes momentarily. "She isn't. I didn't feel any different when you were possessed, but now with Phoebe it seems like she's on a brink."
Piper nodded and shot a glance at Cole, ready to stop him if he started to run up and punch the crap out of the guy. But he didn't. Instead, he turned in the opposite direction and stumbled blindly away as the crowd cheered because Phoebe and her partner had won. Phoebe decided to reward her partner by grabbing him and kissing him hungrily.
Piper held her hands out in front of her, unsure of what she should do. Freeze the crowd? Blow up the disgusting display in front of her? She looked uncertainly at the direction Cole had taken off in, wondering if she should chase after him or if she should stay and watch after Phoebe.
Leo shook her out of her slight reverie. "Piper," he said urgently. "We have to find Paige."
"And leave Phoebe like this?" she waved her hands wildly and someone's drink blew up in his hand. The man looked down at his glass, bewildered, but Piper couldn't care less. "Not to mention Cole. You don't know how glad I am that he doesn't have the power to blow up things anymore."
Leo put his hands gently over hers, apparently remembering that though Cole could not do those things, his wife could. "At least we know where she is," he pointed out. Piper assented, now worried about her other sister's safety, and together she and Leo searched through the mob.
Cole staggered around the club, searching desperately for the exit and cursing his humanity. He couldn't shimmer out, couldn't just blast a hole in the wall and get away, couldn't turn back to Belthazor to escape the pain. To escape her.
How did this happen? he thought miserably, completely ignoring a brunette who tried to walk up to him. He was wrong, even Piper was wrong. She didn't love him at all. And that was just too much to bear. The look of happiness on her face, her hand gripping that bastard's hair...no wonder she can't marry me, she has absolutely no intention to be with me at all. He bitterly took a drink left on the countertop and crushed the glass in his fingers.
Suddenly, he heard Phoebe's name, spoken in a conversation. Cole fully intended to walk on past, to ignore it, but he paused nonetheless. Just as he was berating himself on how weak he was, unable to even resist her name, he heard something that made him stop cold and cautiously move in to listen.
"The Charmed Ones?" inquired a man in a bartender's uniform to his friend.
"Keep your voice down," hissed his friend, looking around, though failing to notice Cole's presence. "Two out of three, anyways," he continued when he was confident that they weren't being heard. He had jet black hair, a goatee, and quick, sharp eyes. "Phoebe and Paige. I was particularly interested in meeting Phoebe, the passive witch, the one who so deftly took Belthazor's heart. I don't think literally," he laughed. "Though that would be quite interesting. But Belthazor, of all demons? In love? I remember when he took my Brew for the first time. Didn't affect him in the least!"
Cole paled as he continued listening, realization dawning on him. "So how many drinks did you serve our two girls?" asked the goateed man to the bartender.
"For the dark haired one, just the one you asked me to serve. For Belthazor's witch, three in total," recited the bartender-demon solemnly.
His friend grinned wickedly. "I've never seen anyone respond to it the way Phoebe has—demon or mortal. And you know why?" He leaned forward conspiratorially. "Belthazor. Ironic, isn't it?" He leaned back and sipped on a drink. "It's her Charmed blood that keeps her alive even after three drinks, but its her problems with her boyfriend that brings her back for more."
The man finished his drink. "Well, I must go. Innocents are out there, in need of my corruption. Remember to light the drink when Phoebe asks, it makes it stronger. She'll be down in no time." He disappeared.
Cole stood there, his mouth slightly open in shock, realizing that the love of his life was in danger because of him...
A/N: Sorry for the slight wait, I had some tiny details to sort out in my story, especially since I'm such a perfectionist about that. Also, I hope the story doesn't come off as a ripoff of "Coyote Piper" (in fact I didn't even know about that episode until a few days ago when I saw a re-run of it—hence the details that needed to be sorted out), because I seriously did not mean to have it be like that, and that will become even more clear in the next chapter.
Also, I would really appreciate it if someone would give me some info on Prue and Andy's relationship. Also, Piper and Dan's. I'm in the midst of creating a new story and I need the info, since I haven't seen and Season 1 or 2 episodes. Thank you!!
