Chapter 5: Drag

Cole slowly came down the stairs with a throbbing headache. He looked at his surroundings, realizing where he was. It took him a few seconds to remember how got there.

"Hey, you're up and about…" Piper addressed him as Cole continued to look around in puzzlement, "what? Are you okay?" She asked apprehensively.

"Phoebe?" Cole whispered since that seemed like the only plausible idea he could think of.

"She's at work. But I can call her if…"

"No… give me a second okay?"

"Cole, what's wrong?" She asked when she saw that her ex brother in law looking even more confused, holding his head in his hands for a moment.

"Nothing," Cole lied feebly, "I'm just out of it."

"Does your head hurt? I'll get you some ibuprofen. They're easy on the stomach."

"Thanks," Cole managed to respond weakly when she shoved them in his hand. He took them and sunk against the couch. It must've been light years later that he heard Leo orbing in.

"Hi, how are you hanging in there?" Leo sat down next to him smiling

supportively. Cole didn't see the smile, turning his head away and groaning weakly, which Leo took as a sign of conducting a small medical examination on him, just as much as he could without any equipment. Having been quite satisfied with the results, he offered, "I would be happier if we could do some blood tests, but I guess it's not absolutely necessary right now. How about some tranquillisers? They knock you out until the worst is over."

"Look, I'm really touched by the kindness of the family, but frankly, I don't understand it. Since when do I deserve all this?"

"Nobody's an angel, Cole. Not even me. I think we all have learnt that by now."

"Why what have you done? Cursed in front of the children?"

"I've killed two elders."

"You killed two elders?" Cole straightened up, suddenly very interested.

"Not so loud please. They still don't know about one of them up there."

"Interesting."

"You could say that."

"Why?"

"Because I was upset for Barbas killing my son from the future and my powers got out of hand, if that sounds any familiar to you. Now you can understand why we are all sympathetic towards you."

"Wait a minute. Barbas? He's out again?"

"I've trying to hunt him down in the underworld several times. I only proved I can't fight him successfully. But I got a few scalps in the way…"

"Demon hunting, huh?"

"At least it breaks the tension for a while."

"Tell me about it…how about…we deal with the tension right now?"

"You're not suggesting…no, the sisters will kill us if I orb you underground."

"So, what new?"

"New is you're trying to stand up to Phoebe's expectations, right?"

"Not as her lapdog. Come on Leo, I need this. I need the adrenaline rush to get through this. Need it to feel alive, to know that I'm still worth something. They don't have to know. Tell them you took me to the park or something."

"Well, show me you can sprint up and down the stairs without getting your blood pressure to a hazardous level and I'll think about it," Leo suggested, himself running more on adrenaline than good sense lately…

tbc