Part Three

"Of all the fool-hardy, stupid, irresponsible, idiotic things you've ever done," he ranted as he approached her, "this one beats them all. I'd been indulging Piper when I called her the smart one but it looks like the joke really is on me."

Utterly confused by the anger radiating from him, Phoebe simply stood there and took in the sight of him striding towards her. In a casual black jacket, black T-shirt, and black jeans, he looked as handsome as he ever had when he'd been alive. Of course, the man was a veritable stud-muffin who could make a white sheet look like the latest in designer wear but when he wore all black…She giggled at the memory of his indignant reply when she'd dared call him a stud-muffin to his face back when he was Source.

Annoyed by her laughter, he drew upon all his strength not to strangle her. "Are you even listening to me?" he shouted.

She'd been attracted to other men, Drake most recently, and while Drake certainly was yummy, not even he held a candle to the way she could react to Cole. Even fully-clothed, a mere raise of the eyebrow by Cole could send her pulse racing. And after two years of only being able to view him from memory or a scattered photo, she didn't waste the opportunity to check him out again from head to toe before deciding with a sigh, "Sexy and gorgeous as hell."

"What?"

Startled, Phoebe not only realized that she'd spoken aloud but that she'd completely missed out on what he'd been saying, "What'd you say?"

Cole mentally counted to ten. But he'd only made it to three before he muttered through clenched teeth, "Of course you weren't listening. Why should it be different just because I'm in limbo?"

"What are you talking about?" She glanced around, "Is that where we are? I thought Piper said she was in the house." She noticed that her father was following the stretcher toward the ambulance and she mentioned, "Kind of strange to be watching them work on me like that and take me away. Should we follow or do we stay here? What happens next? And what'd you mean it's not my time? What exactly's going on here?"

Cole sighed. At least she seemed to be focusing on the situation now. "You're in another realm, one between life and death." Then he warned her, "But trust me, this isn't where you want to be. This isn't your fate, Phoebe, so go back. Go back to your life and live happily ever after."

"Yeah, right," Phoebe snorted. "Like I just got through telling my Dad, that doesn't happen in real life, certainly not in my real life."

"I thought you were just letting off some steam," he complained.

"How d'you know what I said?" she glared at him. "Were you spying on me?"

He ignored her and questioned instead, "What about Piper and Leo? Hasn't their happy ending taught you about the importance of true love?"

"Piper and Leo are different," she argued, "and I really don't want to get into this with you."

"Why not?"

"Because this isn't something that we can discuss rationally," she replied. "Look," Phoebe held up her hands in front of her, "thanks for what you did for Piper. You made her remember what she fought so hard for in the beginning but that's got nothing to do with m--"

"I didn't do it for her," he exclaimed, "I did it for you!"

"What?" she whispered.

Cole turned from her and watched the ambulance, lights and sirens activated, speed down the block. "I set it all up so you would believe. Didn't Piper tell you?"

"Tell me what?" she sharply asked. "All Piper told us was that you were in limbo, atoning for your sins, and that you convinced her she needed to believe in Leo and their love."

"Great going, Piper," he fumed, "you shot my plan straight to hell."

"What did you do, Cole?" she wondered with growing suspicion. "What plan?"

Realizing his mistake of blurting out his frustration, he reluctantly admitted, "The Thorn Demons didn't attack by accident."

"You…you tried to hurt my sisters?" The world spun around Phoebe and she could barely forgive herself for having considered mourning his passing again. Betrayed once again, she cried out, "How could you? How could you do it?" But she couldn't hear his excuse as light dissolved into darkness and she was pulled away.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888

"Dad?"

Victor looked up from his seat in the waiting room to find Piper rushing towards him with Paige close behind. He quickly stood and held his arms open for his daughter. "She's in surgery. She regained consciousness in the ambulance but it wasn't more than a few seconds and she wasn't very coherent. I don't know, maybe it was a minute or two, I just kept telling her over and over that I loved her and that she would be okay, that she had to get better and get back to her family…She lost so much blood, Piper. It was --"

"But she's gonna be okay, right?" Piper pleaded. "Dad? She's gonna be okay, right?"

He tightened his embrace, "The doctors said the bullet missed all vital organs and that she should be fine."

Paige, whose hand still covered her heart, murmured in relief, "Thank God."

"What happened?" Piper asked as she looked up at him.

"We were in the park, by the playground, just talking," he told them as the three sat down, "when we heard a gunshot. Phoebe ran to try and help."

"Of all the idiotic things," Piper muttered. "She doesn't have any powers and she's in public. What was she thinking?"

"She thought she could help," Victor helplessly repeated. "It's all my fault."

"What? No, Dad, it isn't," Piper consoled him, taking his hand into hers. "It was an accident."

"You know how stubborn Phoebe can be," Paige added. "She can't resist helping an innocent."

"But I should've stopped her," he bemoaned. "There was a gun involved and she's not invulnerable."

"Tell us what happened," Piper requested. "You said on the phone something about an assault."

"A teenager," he wearily replied as he leaned back in his seat, "who'd been followed into the park by some guy. She said he'd grabbed her and dragged her behind the trees and that he had a gun." He glanced at the dark rust-colored stains on his shirt before continuing, "She was afraid to scream but couldn't help struggling and the gun went off."

"Was she hurt too?" Paige asked.

He shook his head, "It was a wild shot but she used the opportunity to run. Unfortunately, he grabbed hold of her hair and managed to throw her to the ground. She said she'd squeezed her eyes shut so she wouldn't see him while he raped her but the next thing she knew she was free."

"Phoebe…" Paige realized.

He nodded, "Phoebe had tackled him. The girl said there was a moment when it seemed as if Phoebe didn't even care that he still had the gun." He closed his eyes, trying not to imagine the scene, "The girl said it couldn't've been more than a few seconds at most. The gun went off and Phoebe went down."

Piper kissed her father's cheek and rested her forehead against his shoulder, "You saw it?"

"No," he croaked, "I just missed it. The son of a bitch ran after shooting her, practically knocked me down, but I managed to hold him for the police who just arrived. But I swear, Piper, if I'd've known what he'd just done to your sister, I'd've done more than hold him. I'd have killed him."

"It's still not your fault," Paige reasoned. "And the important thing is that Phoebe's alive and that she saved an innocent."

"But it is my fault," he insisted, "because if I hadn't confronted her on her feelings about love and Cole, she might've been thinking more clearly and might not have risked her life so carelessly."

"It wouldn't have changed anything," Piper decided. "Paige is right. Phoebe can't resist helping an innocent."

"The girl said that Phoebe didn't care," he shook his head. "What if Phoebe didn't just give up on love? What if she gave up on life?"

"That's not true," Piper uttered in disbelief. "Phoebe would never --"

"You didn't hear her," he interrupted. "She's thrilled for you and Leo but she's so disillusioned with love."

"I told you," Paige announced to Piper. "I knew it was more than just Drake dying."

"Fine," Piper commented in a shaky voice, "we'll lecture her when she wakes up."

"If she wakes up," Victor whispered.

"I don't want to hear that," Piper sprang to her feet. "Phoebe is not giving up. She will recover from this. And she will find love again."

Paige quickly stood and hugged her sister and placated Piper, "Of course she will. Now let's sit down, okay?"

"'Kay," Piper murmured as Paige led her back to her seat. With one hand holding Paige's, she reached with her other one for her father's hand before leaning against him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she closed her eyes, praying for her sister.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888

"I didn't give up on life," Phoebe muttered from the far corner of the waiting room. "Dad makes it sound like I wanted to be shot."

"Didn't you?"

She sighed at the interruption and turned to face him, "Don't you have somewhere else to be, Cole?"

He shook his head, "Right now, you're my case."

She threw her hands up in exasperation, "What case? You're in limbo. You can't have a case."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't have any powers, for one," she replied in a smart-aleck tone.

"Who told you that?" He leaned back against the wall and folded his arms across his chest, amused by her stunned reaction.

"But, but you're stuck here…"

"Just because this," he spread his hands far apart, "is part of my eternal fate, doesn't mean I'm powerless. I can spend small amounts of time in the real world, travel to the Underworld, or even head up there. I can be seen by and speak to others if that's what I wish, I can influence others. And I can --"

"You're the little bird!"

This time, Cole was confused. "What bird?"

"That's what he was hiding," Phoebe seethed before striding across the room, stopping short of "bumping" into her father. "That no good, two-faced, dirty, demon…He lied to me!"

Realization dawned for Cole and he followed her but she immediately stalked in the opposite direction. Intent on setting her straight, he informed her, "Drake never lied to you."

Phoebe spun to face him and accused, "You set me up! You're as obsessed with me as you were before. God, I'm such a fool. I let Drake get to me. I let him remind me of -- Did you enjoy watching? Of course you did and dragging Piper into it probably only added to your thrills."

He quickly stepped up to her and, short of grabbing her and shaking her, he growled, "You're wrong. I've been trying to save you!"

"Yeah, right!" she shot back. "You can't even be honest with me now." She shoved him out of her way, "I can't believe I was mourning you. You haven't changed a bit! You're nothing but an evi--"

"Dammit, Phoebe, I love you!" he shouted before grabbing her, spinning her around, and clamping his mouth down on hers.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Phoebe fought for control. But the rest of her ignored that little portion and was screaming for Cole's touch. Instead of pushing him away, her arms wrapped themselves around his waist and pulled him closer. And when he finally drew back, a mixture of love and anger flashing in his clear eyes, she gazed back at him with nothing but confusion, "How can I want this?"

"Because it's right," he softly told her, fingering one of her loose locks, "because it's love."

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888