Hi everybody. Sorry it took so long for the new chapter. But it's finally finished. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 15

One month later the Schwarzlight Mansion was hosting a meeting between the most unusual partners. Elizabeth Turner- the Source of All Evil- was sitting in a comfortable chair enjoying a glass of champagne, which her son just handed to her. She was dressed in a black business suit and looked as if she just left the boardroom of the multinational corporation. Opposite her in his usual white robe sat one of the Elders - Leo Wyatt.

"The situation is very simple," the demoness looked around the table and fixed her gaze on Leo. "If the Elders Council does not climb down from the "cloud land" where they seem to be stuck and quickly become more demon friendly the results of all our efforts will be zilch."

Three pairs of eyes turned to Leo who hid his face behind his glass of water. This meeting was not going well for him. Hey, the last months were not going well for him. And he did not seem to be making any progress. Elizabeth on the other hand had achieved amazing results in just one month. Evil had become more interested in buying shares than in killing witches. The unfortunate side was that the Elders Council did not try to channel the activities of their charges into a different field. And the consequence of it was that the peace deal they had been working on was still as far away as ever. Just as a conformation of his thought Elizabeth pointed out.

"I can channel demonic activity into business as much as I want, but if they fear for their safety they would defend themselves in a very demonic way." She paused and let everybody appreciate the meaning of her words.

Cole shot Nicole a discrete look, since by their unspoken agreement she did most of communications with Leo. But the young woman sat quietly and stared somewhere into space. So the half demon turned to his ex brother-in-law and said carefully choosing for the words, "Leo, what is the Elder's Council view on the current situation?"

The former whitelighter wished he did not have to answer this question but he knew that there was no choice, "The Elders think that the new Source does not have enough power to do anything particular dangerous to the side of good. Therefore they consider the time perfect for attacking the Underworld and this way slowing down the reorganisation of power."

When Leo finished he shot a quick glance at the demoness. Her face was completely unreadable and it reminded him of Cole. Leo inwardly sighed, coming from a member of Turner family such blank expression was not a good sign. The half demon did not have to look at his mother to know that she was furious. He wanted to say something to prevent the fireworks from going off but was too late. Elizabeth's lips twisted into a caustic smile, "Well, I am not surprised that this bunch of old fools has such a low opinion of me. In a sense I can take it as a complement. But my question is what are you doing there? I thought your job was to make the Elders Council agreeable to the peace deal. And from what you are telling us it is the last thing on their minds, which means that you have failed to deliver on your task so far. And I am interested to know why is that and what are you going to do about it?"

Leo sighed. No matter how much he would have liked to disagree with the Source of All Evil, she was absolutely right. He knew it himself, but he also knew that he had not been sitting around wasting his time in the Elders realm. He tried, he tried hard to sway the Council to his side. But he never even imagined that a group of, all in all, very intelligent people could be so damn narrow minded.

Elizabeth watched his face and raised her eyebrow, "Oh, boy," she muttered under her breath but loud enough for everyone to hear, "I think somebody here is out of his depth."

"I am not out of my depth," Leo snarled, "But unlike you I am not the Head of the Elders Council. And even if I was it is not a dictatorship up there. You can't just go and order the Elders around. It's a bloody democracy and therefore it takes time to bring up a change."

"Well, we don't have time," Cole finally decided that he had to step into the conversation.

Leo was about to snap, but Nicole who seemed to finally wake up interrupted him. "Look, Leo, we know you are trying very hard. And we know it's not easy. We've arranged this meeting not to criticize you but to find a way how to speed up things. So let's just analyse the situation. From what I understood the Elders are set on trying to fight the Underworld to the end, right?"

Leo nodded in agreement.

"What about the whitelighters?"

"They are much more open," he answered, "I mean a lot of them trust the Elder's explicitly, they would do whatever the Council decides. But there are others, especially Henric, the whitelighter of the powerful Swedish coven, who says we should find different ways of dealing with evil since vanquishing demons does not get us anywhere. And he is not the only one, who thinks this way. But the rest is much less outspoken. "

"Well, that's something," Cole got up from his seat and walked around the room, "We need more of such whitelighters on the Council." He turned to Nicole. "Do you think we should use a little ... uh... persuasion on some of the Elders."

Before she replied, Leo snorted, "How about all of them?" he asked sarcastically.

Cole gave him a dark look and Nicole hid a smile, "That bad?" she arched her eyebrow and when Leo shot her a dirty look, asked in a business tone. "Are there any Elders, which can be cooperated with?"

Leo shrugged, "To my knowledge only one, Elder Rhiannon, she is the most liberal Elder and might be a good ally. But at the moment she is completely suppressed by the rest of the Council."

Cole and Nicole exchanged glances. To replace one Elder was not that difficult but to substitute almost all of them was a big job which was bound to take a long time. And time was exactly what they did not have. With the Underworld geared up for the change it was difficult now to put things on hold. But on the other hand they did not seem to have any alternatives. After a short pause Nicole nodded to her husband and Cole returned to his chair.

"Okay," he said. "We will start with the replacement of the Council. Leo, you have to give us the list of Elders in the order they should be replaced. I and Nicole will think about the best way to go about it and then consult you. We have to do everything exactly right so that you would be under no suspicion and the Council is fully operational at all times." He turned to his mother. "And you I am afraid will have to hold on a little longer. We'll try to be fast."

Elizabeth nodded and shot a wary look at Nicole who seemed to be deep in thoughts. The demoness got up and followed by Leo and Cole headed to the exit. Cole closed the door behind his visitors and was almost ready to get back into the office when a knock on the door stopped him in his tracks. He frowned and turned to open the door curious who had come round for a visit.

"Leo?" Cole was a great deal surprised to see his ex brother-in-law standing on the porch. "Did you forget something?"

The former whitelighter shook his head, "No, I just wanted to talk to you without witnesses."

Cole's eyebrows shot up but he refrained from questions and stepped outside the house shutting the door behind him. Leo shifted from one foot to another. He did not know how to start and decided to jump into the deep end.

"I have been to the Manor," he blurted, "to check up on Piper and her sisters." He paused and looked up at the bright blue eyes which now had a slightly puzzled expression in them. "They are not doing too great," he continued. "After Phoebe tried to crash your wedding, she has become very subdued. She goes to work, comes home and spends all her time crying in her room. She is not interested in being a witch anymore and does not want to talk to Piper and Paige." He paused again hoping that Cole would say something but the latter stayed silent and Leo did not have anything left than to carry on. "I want to ask you a favour," he added quietly, "can you go and talk to Phoebe? Try to calm her down somehow." He stopped and stared at Cole.

The half demon shook his head, "I don't think it's a good idea, Leo."

"Why not?"

"Because I have nothing to say to Phoebe," Cole explained patiently. "I've told her when she tried to stop my wedding that whatever we had was long over. There is nothing left between us." The shocked expression from Leo made the half demon smile lightly, "Look, I know it was maybe a bit harsh on her, but she needs to know the truth. And I don't want to keep her hopes up with a lie, would not be fare to her."

"But you can't be completely indifferent to her," Leo exclaimed. "You must feel something, reminiscence of love, gratitude that she had awoken your humanity, at least compassion as you are the one who had moved on. You have shared so much! Even the memory of your times together should be enough for you to want to help her!"

Blue eyes became icy and Leo was reminded that he was standing opposite the over a century old half demon who was the Source of all Evil less than a year ago, "Leo," Cole's voice sounded calm but there was a dangerous edge to it, "it would be better for all of us if we left my memories where they belong, in the past."

The shoulders under the Elder's robe sagged, but Leo had come here with a mission and he was not going to give up now, "It was not just her fault, Cole. All of us are guilty, me more than them. As a guardian angel I should have thought about the possibility that you were a victim. But I did not." He lifted his head and stared at his former brother-in-law, "I know we should be grateful that you are not seeking revenge on us. And believe me I will work till the end of my life to try and redeem myself at least to the point that I can look at myself in the mirror again. But now I feel that though it was my failure and the doing of all of us Phoebe is the one who is paying for it. And I can't just stand and watch her sink into depression. You are the only one who has any chance of helping her and I'll be damn if I am not going to beg you for this help." He took a step forward and stared at Cole, "Everybody deserves forgiveness and a second chance. If anyone, you should know it..."

The passion with which he spoke touched Cole. But he still shook his head. "Leo, I can't help Phoebe. She regrets not what she has done, but what she has lost. So even if I could and wanted to I would not be able to offer her forgiveness because she does not know what she has done. I can't tell her that everything is going to be okay, because it won't. We are never going to be together again."

"But you can tell her that things will get better," Leo cried out. "Give her some hope that her life is not over. Don't order her to move on but point out that she has a lot to live for: her sisters, her job, her powers. At least tell her that what you had was special and don't lie to me saying that it was not. Because I've been there, I know that you loved her even if you don't feel that way anymore." He stared at Cole pleadingly, "Please, Cole, just tell her that you would never forget her, even if the two of you were not meant to be."

Leo could see that for the first time his former brother-in-law hesitated. Cole ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "You don't know what you are asking, Leo," he muttered. "I can't talk to Phoebe. I am a married man now."

"I am not asking you to sleep with her!" Leo yelled exasperated. "I am asking you to spare 30 minutes of your time and talk to the woman who desperately needs help."

"And in this house there is a woman who desperately does not need any more pain than she already had," Cole's voice sounded angry. "And I love this woman. I swore that I would do everything to make her happy. And talking to Phoebe is not on the list."

The whitelighter stared at him puzzled and Cole finally showed emotions that he was feeling, "Leo, wake up," he snapped, "Do you think that Nicole does not care about my history with Phoebe. How do you think my wife would feel if I went to talk to my ex-wife who by the way is portrayed by everybody as the love of my life, who tried to ruin our wedding by asking me back and who is now too depressed because I said "no"? I can't do this to Nicole. And I won't."

They fell silent both of them surprised by each others' openness. Leo was the one to speak first. "I am sorry," he said. "I understand that you don't want to put Nicole through this and I don't want to hurt her either. It's just I need to help Piper and her sisters because no one else will. And I don't see another way." He looked at Cole and said in a business tone. "I have tried talking to you like your ex brother-in-law. Now I will talk like an Elder to the associate of Lugels. The Charmed Ones are important for the balance of powers. And the way things are looking now we are not going to have them for long. Phoebe's powers are going completely haywire. So unless you take the trouble to get her out of this depression the magic world would lack its most powerful witches."

In the silence that followed Leo allowed himself to breathe out and when he looked at Cole wide-open blue eyes were his reward for the bravery. The half demon sighed, shook his head and then muttered, "You learn too quickly." He then looked at Leo and his blank face gave the former whitelighter shivers. "I will speak to Phoebe," Cole's voice sounded distant. "The fact that you decided to blackmail me like this proves that the situation is really bad."

He noticed how Leo breathed out in relief. Cole's eyes sparkled coldly, "Don't ever again try to play this game with me. Whatever I owed the Halliwell sisters I have paid in full. And this is the last bit of interest."

With these words the young Lugel gave a curt nod to the Elder standing in front of him and disappeared behind the door.

Xxxxxxxxx

An hour later Leo stood in his place among other Elders. The urgent meeting was called by Elder Arcan who was now the Head of the Council. And as always since the beginning of his spying mission this call made Leo's heartbeat increase and he felt sick in his stomach.

The voice of Elder Arcan interrupted his worried musings. "I called you to discuss a very important matter," the Head Elder announced gravely. In recent months we have observed the growing trend among whitelighters to disagree with the Council decisions. They seem to think that vanquishing evil creatures is not the right way to go in our mission to protect good. Though thankfully the majority of whitelighters don't share such views there is still a worryingly high percentage of those who does. I am sure that I don't have to tell you that we cannot afford such behaviour to last any further. Therefore I am asking the members of this Council to speak their opinions openly so we can decide on the best way to tackle this problem."

While the other Elders nodded in agreement with the words of their leader all the alarm bells in Leo's head went off. Though he knew he was very careful and the help he received from Cole and Nicole allowed him to cover his tracks, he still had to prevent anybody from even suspecting that he was the one behind these new ideas among whitelighters.

"What I don't understand," Elder Gareth remarked, "is how did they even arrive to such ideas? We have been fighting evil for centuries. And whitelighters always were the foundation of this battle inspiring witches and being the link between them and us. And I don't see what had changed?!"

Elder Patricia, a middle aged woman, stepped into the discussion, "I think that somebody is stirring them up," she said thoughtfully in her tame voice, which Leo always hated.

"What do you mean?" Elder Arcan stared at her in shock.

"I mean that somebody is feeding the whitelighters these ideas," the female Elder remarked calmly.

The buzz of alarmed voices followed her words and Elder Gareth expressed everybody's shock, "But who can possibly be doing that?" he cried out, "What kind of demon would have powers to do that?"

Patricia's tight mouth became even thinner. "It's not a demon" she explained, "Whitelighters would never trust him, at least not enough to openly question the orders of the Council. I think that we have a traitor among us, who is of course in league with the Underworld, maybe even with the new Source. I have heard that she is a very sneaky demon herself. Plus she has Belthazor by her side who unfortunately knows way too much about the way we operate." She shot Leo a dark look and continued, "The evil has failed to destroy the Powers to Be by simple killings. Now they are trying to go through the back door, and target the core of good – its guardian angels.

The members of the Council exchanged worried glances and Leo, who for the past five minutes was concentrating really hard on forcing himself to breathe, asked hoping that his voice wouldn't treble as much as his knees. "Do you mean that one of the whitelighters is a traitor?"

Elder Patricia nodded approvingly, "Yes, I do," she said and Leo had to hide his relief, "and I even think I know who it is." She made an effective pause and looked around the Council enjoying the shock, which was clearly written on the faces of her colleagues.

"So who is it?" Elder Arcan urged.

"I think it's whitelighter Henric Keisa," Patricia stated simply and Leo could see how Elder Rhiannon paled.

"Why would you think so?" usually calm Elder Francis asked anxiously.

"Because of everything," Elder Patricia explained confidently. "He is always talking about the impossibility of destroying evil. And when the Charmed Ones vanquished the Source he thought it was a mistake."

"But it does not mean he is a traitor," Elder Rhiannon objected passionately.

"No, it does not," Elder Patricia agreed giving the younger woman a condescending look. "But it makes a good start for becoming the ally of Evil. Let's look at the facts," she continued, "The Turku coven has been and still is one of the most powerful witchery covens. But since Henric became their whitelighter they became much less willing to kill demons. During the past five years they let go almost a dozen demons and warlocks and "by mistake" destroyed the ice-cream man. And if you ask me the explanation Henric gave us was a complete and utter nonsense. Moreover the last three months Turku coven killed one demon, one! It's lower than anywhere else."

"But it might be because they have not had a chance," Elder Rhiannon exclaimed. "The demonic activity has been low in recent months, ever since the new Source was crowned. You can't assume that Henric is a traitor just because the witchery coven does not kill enough demons."

Triumphant smile touched Patricia's lips, "Oh, I know that," she said coldly. "That's why I have set up a trap for Henric." She raised her voice and called, "Whitelighter Tamara!" The young female whitelighter appeared in front of the Council. Elder Patricia nodded to her, "Tell the Council about the task I gave you last month and also what were your findings."

Tamara shifted from one leg to another, "Last month Elder Patricia instructed me to keep an eye on whitelighter Henric and if possible become friends with him. She also told me that I should pretend to be unhappy about the decisions taken by the Council. I started by telling other whitelighters that the Elders did not keep up with the changes in the mortal realm, that many humans are capable of things which no demon would ever do and that we should rethink our attitudes towards dealing with Evil. At first Henric did not say anything. But after a few weeks he approached me and after carefully probing my views told me that I was right, that he thought the same and that there were others who shared our views. I told him that I wanted to do something. On which he replied that I should be careful and don't antagonise the Elders too much, though I should try and gently steer them towards more practical position to evil. And when I complained that it was too little, he said that it was just the beginning and the more whitelighters share our views the easier it would be to convince the Council that the changes had to be made. In the meantime I should do my job, protect my charges and teach them to pick and choose their battles." Tamara took a deep breath and continued eyeing Elder Patricia warily. "I also followed Henric to his meeting with his charges and found out that he advised them not to allow their magical duties to destroy their normal lives. He said that they should put their knowledge and efforts into progressing in their careers, building healthy families and serving the good through helping others not just killing demons. He met several other whitelighters, mostly in the mortal realm, but they always had some protective spell around them so I could not hear what they were talking about."

She finished and Leo for the upteens time felt grateful for all the amulets and potions Cole and Nicole supplied him with. These precautions not only prevented Patricia's spy from finding out what Henric was talking about with his friends but also allowed Leo to meet with the whitelighter in complete safety when nobody could even see them not to mentioned listen to their conversation. Even Henric himself had no recollection of speaking to Leo, but a firm confidence that he had a powerful ally.

While Elder Wyatt was saying his gratifying prayers the other members of the Council were expressing the shock of these revelations. The gloomy voice of Elder Arcan restored the relative order. "Thank you, whitelighter Tamara," he waived his hand allowing the young woman to leave and turned to Elder Patricia, "I have to say, Patricia, that we have a lot to thank you for. Your vigilance and resourcefulness allowed us to avoid a great danger. If it was not for you, we could have still be in the dark about the betrayal of Henric and who knows what consequences could it have had."

The female Elder smiled her face glowing from such acknowledgement of her efforts. The Head Elder looked around the Council, "Now," he announced, "we have to decide, what should be done next."

Elder Patricia was the first to speak up, "May I, Elder Arcan?" she asked knowing full well that it was her moment to move up the unofficial Elder's hierarchy and being determined to make the most of it.

"Of course," the Head Elder nodded at her encouragingly.

"I think we need to act firmly and quickly in order not only to nip this rebellion in the bud but also to prevent any future uprising. Whitelighter Henric has to be detained and his wings should be clipped. But I also suggest that we put him on trial in order to find out everybody he had contacts with. Then we will learn who was involved with him and maybe even his allies in the Underworld." The female Elder spoke quickly and clearly and Leo was convinced that she had been thinking about this for a long time and with every words she uttered the former whitelighter was more and more convinced that he hated Elder Patricia's guts and she would be the first one he would tell Cole and Nicole to replace. This woman had the habits of the Spanish inquisition and had to be stopped before she could ruin any more of his undertakings.

The voice of Elder Rhiannon snapped him out of his thoughts. "You cannot possibly be serious," she exclaimed and the rest of the Council stared at her. The young Elder reddened but continued determinedly, "Henric is not guilty of the betrayal. He always expressed his opinions openly and we all knew them. And even according to your own spy, Elder Patricia, he told her not to do anything except tell us about her concerns and thoughts. The fact that he spoke to other whitelighters about it shows that he wanted us to hear everything not only from him and I don't see how this can be called a betrayal. If so many whitelighters agreed with Henric maybe it is time we listen to him as well."

"Elder Rhiannon," Gareth gasped, "what are you talking about? How can you defend this traitor if he went against his oath as a whitelighter?"

The young Elder shook her head impatiently, "He did not go against his oath," she cried out, "His duty is to protect his charges and follow the orders of the Council and this is exactly what he did. His advice to his charges was more than reasonable. The members of the Turku witches have to pick their fights carefully or we won't have a coven left. And regarding building their careers it's not like we are paying them salaries. They live in the mortal realm and they need to be able to pay the bills. This is the fact of life. More and more witches decide to bind their children's powers and some of the younger generation simply don't want to hear about their heritage. And there is a reason behind it. Being a witch is dangerous and difficult both financially and emotionally. And you can't blame parents for wanting to protect their children and children for wanting a better life than their parents had. Plus there are so few witches left that most of them have mortal partners who are not very kin on their spouses and children going round risking their lives."

"Enough," the voice of the Head Elder roared in the room interrupting the young woman and making the rest jump in surprise, "Elder Rhiannon, I can't believe you are saying things like that?! You sound just like this traitor Henric and I am shocked that a member of this Council can even have such poisonous thoughts. You behave as if it was you standing behind Henric's rebellion."

Elder Rhiannon paled and was about to reply but Leo interrupted her, "Elder Arcan, let me say a word. I think that Elder Rhiannon is just simply too impulsive. You all know that she put a lot of efforts into the Melini coven and the fact that they decided to bind their powers was a big shock for her. Losing a charge is a big blow that makes you doubt yourself and your actions. I think that we need to think about the best way to act. Elder Patricia's suggestions are obviously very useful but we have to think about our charges as well. We do not want to antagonise such big coven as Turku and from what I know they really trust Henric. Plus it would be useful to know more about who is involved in the rebellion and in what capacity. So my suggestion is to ask whitelighter Tamara to continue her difficult task and collect more information. In the meantime we can introduce a new whitelighter alongside Henric to the Turku coven under the excuse that there are too many of them for one guardian angel. This way we will keep the witches on our side and be able to devise a better plan of action."

Even listening to himself Leo was surprised how well he has learnt to lie. His voice was full of honest concern and his face expressed nothing but desire to suppress the rebellion with the outmost success. Only his thoughts were different but thankfully they were effectively protected by the amulet, which hanged on his neck.

The Elder Council buzzed again discussing the proposal of their newest member. A lot of them were nodding along and Leo was almost sure that he would manage to convince all of them. Even Elder Patricia could not find any objections to his suggestion no matter how much she wanted to. Elder Rhiannon stared at Leo in surprise and wanted to say something but he gave her a warning look and the female Elder stayed quiet. Leo on the other hand spoke up again. He saw that several Elders and especially Patricia were not completely convinced by his logic and decided to use flattery to ensure his success. "Elder Patricia," he turned to the older woman, "Remember you told me that the new Source is gathering powers and trying to unite the Underworld?" The older woman nodded and Leo continued, "I was thinking about what you said that Evil was looking for new ways of fighting us. It was a great thought of yours that the unity of Evil is the most dangerous threat to us. And in the face of this threat it is important that we stay united as well. This rebellion is aimed at creating split between Powers to Be: whitelighters and Elders, Elders and witches. And the best way to counteract it is by preventing any further division in our ranks. If we stay focused and use all the powers at our disposal we will succeed, but we need to be patient and careful."

He looked around the council noticing contently that all the Elders listened to him very attentively. He was almost there and hopefully the meeting would not last too long. He had to go and see Cole and Nicole and perhaps Elizabeth to discuss everything. This development would probably change their plans. They could not openly start replacing Elders after the rebellion was suspected. Now that Elders were alert to having a traitor they would be much more careful making Lugel's task even more complicated. They would need to come up with a new plan in order for their mission to succeed. And Leo was convinced that the four of them would be able to come up with something. In spite of their differences and maybe because of them they were efficient in solving the problems and achieving their goals. At first Leo felt very uncomfortable to be working with the former and current Sources of All Evil and the woman whom he killed with his own hand. But now he felt strangely at ease with them. They had a common aim and Leo did not care how they achieved it. The goal was everything. Plus he did not have time to think that he was collaborating with the enemy, going against everything he was ever taught or believed into. He had to save Piper and his son. And if he had to act like a demon: manipulate, spy or even kill then so be it. It was worth it.

The voice of Elder Arcan snapped Leo out of his thoughts.

"I think that Elder Wyatt's suggestion is a good one. And if there are no objections we should proceed accordingly."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When Cole and Nicole blurred into the Penthouse the young woman disappeared into the bedroom and the half demon decided to fix himself a nice drink. He was planning to tell Nicole this evening about the promise he made to Leo and felt that a small portion of scotch would help him to gather the courage. He was already half way through his glass when Nicole finally returned to the living room. She flashed him a brief smile and plopped on the sofa picking up remote control and starting to flip through the channels.

Her distracted and slightly tensed look made him decide that his revelations could wait. For the whole day he felt that his wife was on edge but he attributed it to the upcoming meeting with Leo and Elizabeth, which promised to be tough. But now the half demon was sure that there was something else. He expected that Nicole would tell him as usual about her worries and the fact that she did not say a word made him uneasy. He put his glass down, "Are you going to tell me?" he asked trying to sound calm and gentle.

Green eyes turned to him for a second, "Tell you what?" she returned her attention to the remote control in her hand.

Cole sighed, "Tell me what is bothering you so much."

Her lips twisted into a curt smile, "Well, there are so many things," she started vaguely, "you know them better than me. This meeting with Leo was enough on its own. We have to replace the whole of Elders Council. If this is not a reason to worry I don't know what is. Your mother was clear enough that we need to be fast and I just don't see it happening. Plus I have to constantly pretend with my warlock "relatives" that I am their faithful daughter when all I am, is just a big fraud and considering that my real mother is somewhere in town I think I have all the reasons to be bothered."

Cole listened to her and then rolled his eyes, "Very good," he admitted trying to hide his annoyance, "you proved that you are a good liar. I am impressed with both the logic and the performance." He got up from his seat and bent down to face her, "Now can you please tell me what is really wrong?"

She stared at him, her face reddening slightly. "Why are you so certain that there is something wrong?" she arched her eyebrow. "As far as I remember we decided not to use our mind reading powers on each other."

Cole lost his patience, "I am your husband, Nicole," he shot, "and I don't need any God damn powers to know that you are upset." He noticed her lips trembling and tried to calm down, "I am worried about you," he said quietly taking her hands into his, "Please tell me what's wrong?"

Nicole paled and looked at him helplessly, "I am late..." she said barely audible. He stared at her. The young woman cleared her throat, "It's not certain yet, I have not been to the doctor but I bought one of these home pregnancy tests and it's positive." She lowered her head so he could not see her face and added, "All three of them."

She finally said it. She had been panicking the whole day since she took the first test in the morning. And now when she was almost certain that she was pregnant, Nicole did not know what to do. Everything seemed to be happening so fast to her and Cole. She doubted even if she was ready for it. But mostly she did not know how he would react. Though their marriage was especially planned by their Underworld relatives and allies so they could produce a suitable heir, both her and Cole had an unspoken understanding that it was not on the agenda in the near future.

"Are you so upset about us having a child?" she heard Cole's voice. Something in his tone made her jerk her head up and look straight into his blue eyes, which had a strange expression in them.

"No," she shook her head, "it's not that. I... I always hoped we would have children at some point. But I did not think it would happen so soon. With everything going on, so much danger and uncertainty, I just don't think it's a good time. And I know that you feel the same way. That's why we were so careful all the time, except..." she reddened and faltered.

"Except for the wedding night," he finished and Nicole turned purple. She could not say it herself, since one thought of their wedding night made her body shiver. The things he did to her and the things she did to him... It was wild, almost animal. She pushed these images out of her head.

"I did not know how you would react," she admitted quietly.

Cole felt that a massive load had just fallen from his mind. For a minute there he thought that Nicole did not want to have children. Though he always had a feeling that she would want to have a family, they never really talked about it. And since she did not tell him herself and admitted being pregnant only when he forced her, he feared that he might had been wrong assuming that Nicole would want children from him. Cole was always aware that Nicole knew about his past more than any living creature in the world. She saw Belthazor in all his "glory" and though she might have been ready to risk herself by staying next to him, the innate motherly feelings might have prevented her from bringing a child into such risky environment. If that had been true, he would not have known what to. But thank God, the green eyes that he was again drowning in had only love and worried expectation in them.

He set next to her on the coach and pulled her closer so she looked straight into his eyes. "I am happy," he said smiling at her. "I know it might not be the ideal time, but there never is. We maybe have not planned it, but it happened and I am all for it." He paused and watched how a warm smile lit up her face. "I love you, Nicole, and knowing that we are going to have a child is the best end of the honeymoon month I could have possible imagined."

Nicole could feel how all her body relaxed from his words, her fears and worries disappearing. She moved closer to him so he could put his arms around her and looked straight into his eyes, "If you are happy," she said in an emotional tone, "than I am happy too."

"Honestly?" he asked.

"Honestly," she confirmed lifting her face so he could kiss her. When they pulled apart he saw her sparkling emerald green eyes staring at him, "Under one condition," she added in a demanding voice. Cole looked at her questioningly slightly suspicious if the mood swings had already started. "You can't treat me as if I am ill and can't take care of myself."

"Well," he started, "I will have to make sure that you and the baby are safe..."

Nicole seared him with a glare. "Cole Turner, if you even think that I would allow you to turn me into an archaeological artefact that have to be put under a safety glass, you are wrong. I will sooner divorce you."

The next moment Nicole found herself pressed against the coach with Cole's body looming over her. "Never ever say it again," he whispered into her lips. "Don't even joke about it. I will never let you go. And if I have to tie you to myself, well, then so be it."

They stared at each other for a minute, him daring her to disagree and at the same time pleading her not to. A defiant smile touched her lips but her eyes looked at him with love and understanding, "Fine," she agreed, "but you still have to promise that you won't treat me like a patient?"

Cole laughed at her stubborn expression. He could feel himself relax and return into his usual happy state as always when she was in his arms. "Fine," he answered copying her tone, "If you promise to be extra careful, I will try to control my protective instincts."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Leo returned to his chambers he sat down on his bed and rubbed his face with his hands. He had a lot to do and not much time. First he had to meet with Cole and Nicole. It was already late and Leo was hoping that they had not gone to bed yet. He did not fancy waking up his ex brother-in-law and even less to interrupt something if he was not asleep. But he could not wait till tomorrow. They had to take care of whitelighter Tamara and Elder Patricia and he needed Cole and Nicole to use their powers to manipulate the female Elder and her associate in believing that they had been wrong about Henric. If it came to it, whitelighter Tamara could be killed by a darklighter or something. And then he could take care that the next whitelighter would be loyal to him not to the Elder's Council.

"Elder Wyatt," the voice of Elder Gareth interrupted Leo's planning. "You are leaving?"

Leo hid a tingle of anger mixed with worry that rang in his head, "I want to check up on my ex charges," he explained calmly. "Piper is due any day now."

The other Elder nodded, "You should not worry about them too much," he said trying to sound supportively, "They are very strong women and can deal with whatever comes their way."

Leo's lips twisted into a wan smile, "It would be good if they did not have to be that strong all the time," he remarked quietly.

Elder Gareth shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I think that the lives of the Charmed Ones have improved significantly during the last year. Especially since they got rid of that demon. I have to tell you, Wyatt, we were really worried here when Phoebe agreed to marry him. Thank God, that the Source's spirit went into him - solved all of our problems."

For a moment Leo just stared puzzled at the other Elder, "What do you mean by the Source's spirit?" he asked finally.

"I mean that when the Charmed Ones vanquished the old Source after Belthazor stole his powers using the Hollow, the Source's spirit filled the void left by Belthazor's demonic half and took possession of his body." Gareth looked at Leo who just stared at him in confusion. The older man smiled at his younger colleague's surprise, "It was a perfect chance," he continued his explanation. "It finally made Phoebe realize what mistake she had made by bringing this demon into the family."

Leo felt as if somebody just hit him over the head with the baseball bat. His mind was in complete disarray but the scales had fallen from his eyes. He stared in shock at the other Elder, "So you knew all the time that Cole was possessed?" he asked trying to make his voice sound calm.

"Of course we knew," Gareth shrugged, "well, from the moment we found out that he was the Source. There was no other explanation."

"Why did not you tell me?" Leo questioned his eyes sparkling dangerously.

Elder Gareth squirmed uncomfortably, "Please, don't take any offence, Elder Wyatt, but you were too close to your charges. We were not sure you would keep this information from the Charmed Ones. And if they had found out, I am sure that Phoebe would not have the heart to vanquish her husband and even if she had done it, she would have taken him back when he returned from the Wasteland. We could not risk that."

"But he was an innocent human," Leo exclaimed fighting a strong urge to put his fist into the Elder's face.

Gareth just snorted, "Don't be so naïve, Wyatt," he said in a caustic voice, "Belthazor-an innocent human? What a load of nonsense. Yes, he was stripped from his powers but he still had his demonic blood in him and his demonic genes. If you and Piper are able to produce such a powerful child, can you imagine what kind of evil creature would be born from Belthazor one of the most powerful demons ever and such a rebellious witch as the middle Charmed One? Even as a foetus their child was powerful enough to destroy the High Council of Underworld."

By now Leo's face was as pale as a blank sheet of paper. He stared at the Elder in horror. "You mean..." he whispered and felt silent fearing to say out loud the terrible thought that entered his mind. Finally he cleared his suddenly dry throat, "you mean their child was..." he paused again, "it was not the old Source's child?"

The Elder shrugged. "What's the difference? The old Source or Belthazor? It was a demonic spawn of evil. That's what really matters."

Leo felt as if the floor under him was spinning around. He could not believe that human lives meant so little to the people who were representing the great powers of Good. The defenceless mortal and an unborn child were sacrificed to the altar of fear of Powers to Be. And the Charmed Ones, who risked their lives day after day for five years following the orders of the Elders were made into cold blooded murderers so that the Council of Good could sleep better. And now it was the Halliwells and himself who were paying the price of this murder. For a second Leo imagined what would happen to Phoebe if she found out that not only she had killed her innocent husband but also that she had lost her innocent child. And then another thought came into his head. What if Cole ever found out that the Elders knew. With his powers would he go and wreck vengeance on them?! And would he be wrong in doing that?

Gareth looked at his younger colleague. The young Elder was very pale, his forehead glistering with sweat. "Elder Wyatt," he called out. "Are you OK?"

Leo looked at the older Elder. Gareth's eyes expressed deep concern and sympathy and it infuriated Leo. Phoebe's tear stricken face stood in front of him and in his mind he could hear the chilling cry which haunted his dreams, the cry of his ex brother-in-law when he was vanquished by his own family. In a second Leo's insides curled with anger and pain. He raised his fist and slammed it into the face of Elder Gareth. The old man hit the wall and sank down unconscious.

"Elder Wyatt!" he heard a shocked voice behind him. Elder Rhiannon stood at the doors of his chambers, her face expressing utter horror.

The former whitelighter reached into his robes, "I am sorry about this, Rhiannon," he said softly, "this is none of your business." And with these words he threw a bottle with the potion at her and the female Elder slowly dropped to the floor.

Xxxxxxx

Nicole woke up covered in sweat. She lifted herself on the elbows and looked around. Cole was asleep next to her and the young woman frowned trying to understand why she felt so anxious. She remembered having a nightmare but now she could not say exactly what it was. Everything around her seemed to be normal and Nicole took a deep breath in order to calm down. Suddenly she felt really hot and a wave of dark magic washed over her. Something was not right.

She touched Cole's shoulder and when he stirred whispered, "Cole, wake up, something is wrong."

The half demon immediately became alert and set up in bed, "Something with the baby?" he asked worriedly.

"No," she shook her head, "Something magical is happening, I can feel it. It's not right."

Cole concentrated for a moment. He could feel an immense magical power floating in the air. In spite of air conditioning the room was roasting hot. At first he thought that it was something in the apartment but when he extrapolated his senses he understood that the change was on the much grander scale.

"Will you check it with your mother?" Nicole asked.

"Of course," he said getting up. "Would you come with me?"

She shook her head. "No, I'll wait for you here." He frowned and was about to object but she interrupted him, "Cole, we especially put a protective spell on the Penthouse so it would be safe. Nobody except your mother, Lugels and Leo can enter the Penthouse without being trapped. Nothing will happen to me and I don't want to barge on your mother in the middle of the night. I'll stay here and wait for you."

Cole sighed and opened his mouth to say something but Nicole put her finger to his lips and smiled at him, "I'll be fine," she assured him, "Don't be too long..."

He kissed her finger showing that he resigned to her decision and pulled on pair of trousers and a sweater. After her husband disappeared Nicole pulled on her bathrobe and set on the bed waiting for him. Suddenly an alarm rang in her head. Somebody tried to enter the Penthouse and fell into the trap they set up. Nicole's hand clasped into a fist ready to release a fire ball. But the familiar voice made her stop. She rushed into the living room and saw Leo standing in the middle of the room and an unconscious figure lying in the place of the trap.

"Leo," she exclaimed, "What's going on?"

The whitelighter stared at Nicole, his eyes looked distort, angry and lost and finally he said in a hoarse voice, "I have released the Titans."