"I wonder where they are," Piper said after calling Leo for the fourth time. "Probably catching up," Phoebe joked, exhausted after a full hour of vanquishing. A nervous Paige entered the room after answering the door. "Like we should be doing," a male voice from behind her said. Cole wandered out from behind Paige, "We really need to ta..." He began. Phoebe stamped her foot and squealed in the onslaught of a full fledged tantrum. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING PAIGE! LETTING HIM IN OUR HOUSE?" Paige murmured quietly, "erm...he was at the door. I thought it would be rude to leave him there." She grinned weakly then dashed up the stairs anxious to avoid the impending scene. Piper hid herself beneath her book, knowing in her heart that Cole was harmless but also knowing that her sister will kill her if she left. "I HAVE NOTHI..." Phoebe began, interrupted by a flash of light as Leo orbed in trying to control the vehement teenager.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Faith spat out, "YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" "I can and I will." Leo responded finally fed up, punctuating each statement with a stinging swat to her rear. The entire room fell silent, amazed at Leo's stern reaction. "Piper, can you please show Faith to the guest bedroom. And keep and eye on her, oh and make sure the windows are locked." Faith glared at Leo angrily and kicked him in the shin. Leo cringed, and landed another swat to Faith's butt. "NOW!" Piper nodded, shocked by this different side of her husband. She put a not-so-comforting arm around the girl and led her upstairs.
Meanwhile, Cole and Phoebe had a seat on the couch opposite Leo, who sat rubbing his shin holding his head. "What happened?" Phoebe said. Leo began the long story... "Well when we got to the school, she was OK. A little shook up, but all right. I had to leave, to check on Wyatt and discuss something with a teacher, but I told her I would be right outside. After having a good cry in my arms she consented. When I came back, with lunch," Leo added meaningfully, "she was gone. The window was open so I guess she must have climbed out." "But Leo," Cole interrupted, "The school has a spell on it, so that students can't sneak out." "I know," Leo said, "She's very powerful." "Keep going," Phoebe encouraged. "Well I chased her all the way to the surrounding woods. I caught her and tried to calm her down. She kept on yelling and stomping like a little brat..." At this comment Phoebe turned a bright shade of pink, remembering just a little while ago, Cole noticed and grinned to himself. "So I sat her down, not so gently and told her to calm down. And she punched me. So I told her if she didn't calm down I'd have to punish her. And she said, 'who the fuck do you think you are anyway, my fucking father?' I got fed up, I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her onto my lap and gave her a good spanking. She shut up for a minute, long enough for me to orb her here, then she started up again."
Phoebe looked on amazed at her brother in law. "What?" Leo snapped, "Just because I'm usually a push over doesn't mean I don't have my limits. You can care about someone so much that you need to do something that they aren't going to like, even if it's in their best interests." Cole agreed to himself, he might need to have a talk like that with Phoebe. Before he got carried away however Pipers voice erupted from upstairs, "LEO! SHE'S GONE!." Leo stood, tired from the long day. Cole stopped him. "Let me go, your exhausted."
Leo nodded and wandered upstairs to talk to his wife. Phoebe opened her mouth to say something to Cole, but he interrupted. "No...stop, let me talk now. I'm going to go find Faith. I'm going to bring her back here, and she'll go to sleep because it's getting really late. Then you and I will talk." Phoebe nodded dejectedly.
Cole stormed out the door. He found Faith, smoking a cigarette and drinking a diet coke in an alley way. He snuck up behind her silently, so as not to give her a chance to run away and said firmly, "put that out." Faith spun around and tried to run, but Cole had already grabbed her wrists, and orbed to his apartment. "It really is a filthy habit you know," he began sitting her firmly on the couch. "Damnit, you people show up out of nowhere," Faith protested recognizing Cole from the living room, when she was having a tantrum. "Well, Leo's not here can you let me go then." "Not a chance sweet heart." Within a moment Cole pulled Faith across his knees, and pulled her tight jeans down. Landing a hard swat to her raised rear-end he began to lecture.
YOU CAN'T JUST RUN AWAY- SMACK SMACK- FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING- SMACK SMACK- TO HELP YOU- SMACK SMACK SMACK- LIKE IT OR NOT- SMACK- YOU ARE JUST A KID- SMACK SMACK- AND YOU NEED PEOPLE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU- SMACK SMACK SMACK- AND...(Cole realized he was very new to this parenting bit, and ran out of things to lecture about...he soon remembered) – AND NO MORE SMOKING- SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK- AND WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE- SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK- AND THIS ATTITUDE HAS GOT TO BE KEPT IN CHECK- SMACK SMACK SMACK. The lecture stopped but a volley of swats continued to befall Faith's poor butt. She finally stopped struggling and lay limp across Cole's lap sobbing.
Not just about her two little spankings today, but about her life. Being guarded her entire life, laughed at, spit on, only for brief periods of freedom that were severely punished. Faith felt punished right now, but it was different. Cole kept stressing how much they cared about her, this family who barely knew her. How much she had hurt Leo when she said what she said, and how they only wanted to help her. Suddenly Faith was being scooped up into Cole's large arms. She snuggled her face into his chest as she continued to cry. "Don't worry, sweetheart, everything's OK now." She mumbled something that sounded like I'm sorry, and Cole grinned. "Ready to go home?" He asked when she seemed to have stopped sobbing. Faith was startled, "HOME?" "Yeah," he replied lifting one eyebrow. "Unless you feel obliged to run away again, in which case the idea of not sitting comfortable for a few weeks must appeal to you." Faith looked him over, Cole was testing her, but she really didn't mind. Returning his glance she said firmly, "OK, home it is."
And soon they were orbed back into the manor's living-room. Cole put a reassuring hand on Faith's shoulder and pointed her up the stairs. "Leo and Piper's bedroom is the first on the left," Cole suggested grinning. Faith nodded and wandered up the stairs at the same time Phoebe wandered down, they exchanged weak tired smiles. "Oh Phoebe," Cole called out. Phoebe's face went pale and her stomach did a somersault, "Come here, we have to talk." Knowing it was true Phoebe trudged toward him.
Faith knocked timidly on the door, and a very tired Leo opened it. His face spread into a happy smile when he saw Faith, and he said, "Hey Faith, I'm so happy your back." "Erm..." Faith began twiddling her thumbs and staring intently at the floor. "Yes, Faith?" "I...I'm sorry...and...and I really hope you don't hate me or anything...because I'd hate me if I were you, but I hope you don't...because I don't know why I..." Leo cut her fumbling apology off, by scooping her into his arms. "Aww, kid…" He cooed, "Everything's alright now. I forgive you. I still care about you. Nothing you could do would ever make me hate you." She snuggled close and he carried her over to the guest-bed, sitting down and holding her close. "Leo?" Faith asked while yawning. "Yes, dear…" "Well…how can you care about me if you don't even know me?" "Well, it works this way. You are an innocent, maybe not technically, but for this time of night you are. That means that it's our job to protect you. Because no matter how strong and independent you may appear to be, a kid your age still needs some help every once in a while. Wouldn't you agree sweetheart?" "Well only one in a very very long while…" Leo laughed, and tucked the girl into bed. Piper smiled at this gentle exchange. He kissed her on the forehead, and turned off the light. Piper followed his lead and kissed her gently, and wished Faith goodnight. They watched her for a while in the doorway, then walked back to the room holding hands.