Chapter 4: Dinner for…
"Phoebe, his life is in jeopardy and binding his powers may be the only way to save him," Piper was still at it downstairs.
"Powers are what saved him. Paige, please help me."
"Well, I think that... ow," she rubbed her shoulders.
Cole walked in, "oh, here, allow me," he started massaging Paige's shoulders, playing along with the macho idea in Chris' plan, "just relax, okay? You keep all the tension in your shoulders."
"Hey, that's my birthday present," Piper opposed.
"Hey, what's going on?" Phoebe addressed the approaching Chris, "I thought you were gonna keep him occupied."
"I was, but then I figured I had to break the impasse between you three, so," he pulled Cole away from Paige and pushed him to do the same massage for Phoebe. Cole raised his hand reluctantly, feeling as if he had been stabbed in the heart as he touched her. Even if he didn't love her anymore, the past still hurt. Half unconsciously, he put his emotional protection wall up, carrying on mechanically.
"Yeah, I like that," Phoebe took pleasure in the massage once she remembered it wasn't really Cole that was doing it, as she thought wrongly.
Darryl and Sheila arrived carrying presents, "knock, knock. Surprise!"
Cole stopped massaging his ex's shoulders, "hey Darryl."
"Um…Phoebe…," the police man whispered into her ears, "isn't he supposed to be, you know, evil?"
"You don't have to worry about that," Phoebe whispered back, "explain later. Promise."
"Actually, guys, the dinner's been cancelled. Sorry," Chris announced, "dinner hasn't been made."
"Oh, I can fix that," Paige started chanting, "on Piper's day set this table, with all the favours you're able," and food and dishes appeared on the table, along with champagne, candles, a cake and decorations, "ah, not bad, huh?"
"No, no, this isn't right, this isn't what they want," Chris told Cole.
"Hey, if it makes them happy, it's what they want," he whispered back.
"So, where have you been, haven't seen you a long while," Sheila told him innocently, her husband still shielding her from most of the demonic world if he could.
"Uh…hell…I mean, here and there. I guess the girls were just busy and I don't like to barge in uninvited, so…"
"Since when?" Phoebe laughed.
"Since we made him," Paige gave into the situation and revealed the partial truth she was aware of, "magically."
"For my birthday. To remind me of the importance of love."
"Love?" Darryl looked at her curiously, "well, yeah I guess Cole would know about all the epic love scenes…"
"I think we're talking about spiritual, emotional, deep in your heart love here," Cole corrected, "the kind you should never ever stop searching for, Piper."
"I know, you're right, I just know."
"You're going to have it too. I swear... your normal life. I believe in you. And you," he turned towards Phoebe, "I understand your fear of having no control over turning evil. You, or somebody else."
"I know you do."
"Is this some kind of demonic thing?" Darryl asked Chris.
"No, it's some sort of messed up thing."
"Maybe we should go," Darryl and Sheila got up.
Piper watched Phoebe and Cole share a moment staring into each other's eyes, "hey, y'all need to make your own present."
Phoebe grabbed the birthday cake and threw it at Piper, but she froze it in mid-air, "oh, I see. We're gonna play with cake now," she took the cake and threw it at Paige.
"Hey, what did I do?" She orbed the cake towards Phoebe that hit her in the face.
"You were staring at my present!" Piper blamed the half witch, laughing.
"Hey, hey, hey," Cole stepped in between them, "you're using your powers against each other! Remember what happened the last time!"
"But this is for fun," Phoebe argued.
"Still, too dangerous to be played with…"
Leo orbed in with Wyatt and put him in the playpen, "what's happening?"
"You don't wanna know," Chris sighed.
A demon materialized, shining a wand in Wyatt's eyes. His eyes started glowing and his shield popped up, sending his father flying across the room, knocking over everybody else while the demon shimmered out with the little boy.
"He's one of them now," Cole mumbled, "evil Wyatt."
"What do you mean evil Wyatt? You're evil, not my son!" Leo faced him.
"Uh, sorry guys," Chris interrupted, "but I already told Cole everything. The only reason I came back from the future was to keep Wyatt from turning evil."
"Wait, don't you mean stopping evil from hurting him?" Paige had the same reaction as her white lighter.
"I didn't think you'd help me if you knew the truth. I knew you wouldn't. The evil from the future I came back to stop isn't a demon. It's Wyatt. He's gonna grow up and terrorise people with his powers, take over. Kill even."
"Why should we believe you after all the lies?" Leo maintained.
"Because you have to."
"No, Chris, we don't, actually," Piper claimed.
"Fine, then don't. Either way, we need to save Wyatt now."
"But how?" Phoebe asked everyone.
"The Order of shape shifters," Cole shared his knowledge, "they used their powers to turn him, to reverse his morality. See, he thinks bad is good now, and good is bad. That's why his shield repelled Leo. They reversed his sense of morality. That means his shield will protect him from you but probably not from me."
"Or me," Chris added.
"We don't need your help," Piper shot the white lighter out, "we will get my son back without you. I don't wanna see you anymore. You're a con artist."
"I'm sorry," he orbed out.
"You trust me to do it?" It was Cole's turn to eye them unbelievingly, "well, it will be easy. I know where to find these demons. When I bring him back, all you have to do is perform a cleansing ritual. Evil is not really engrained into him yet."
"Thanks for everything," Piper pulled Cole towards the privacy of the staircase five minutes before midnight.
"My pleasure."
"I feel like I should apologise or something. For all this chaos and the fact that we were using you and now you have to.."
"Not as if I'm not used to it," he looked away so that Piper is not able to see the pain in his eyes that he knew he didn't hide well this time.
Piper caught on though, "Cole?"
"It's okay. Really."
Piper shook her head, understanding what the look meant and the slight change in his behaviour in the afternoon. He was a gentleman even then, but he seemed to be lost in thought sometimes, "Cole? It's really you, isn't it? None of this no feelings claim is true."
"It doesn't matter. I got to say good bye to you one more time."
"Oh, God. How could we be so tactless?"
"You thought I was just a marionette."
"I'm so sorry, Cole. For…not helping you when we should have. But we can bring you back. We'll find a way. If not any other, than we can bring you back every day with the same spell."
"No. Phoebe was right. Life is too complicated with me around. Especially for me."
"You don't have to come back to her. Come back for me…"
"What about Leo? We were friends once. I can't. He was the one that showed you what love was, I'm sure he will give into it himself one day. Until then, don't forget what love really is, like Phoebe did. This is a reminder," he moved close to her, tenderly touching her lips with his own.
Piper responded immediately and savoured the velvety fullness of his thick lower lip, as she always wanted to do, his lips being the thing she found most attractive on him physically. She arched her body against his. Then suddenly, he pulled away. She looked at him in dazed confusion, "but…"
"If you need me, you know, to help with anything just make that potion anyway. I'll come back even if it tears my heart apart once more. I still love you all…" he vanished as the clock struck one the wall.
The End.
