** Chapter 15: See no evil, Hear no evil **

by Lilian.

lilian413@yahoo.com

AN: See? Just look outside and it'll be raining men. :0 No, you're not dreaming: this *is* chapter 15, barely a week after 14! Am I being a good girl or what?

To Raquel, because you rule girl!


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"Are you insane?".

The way Shier was pacing up and down the chamber would've been dizzying to anyone else; but to Jhiera it only showed just how much of a wild idea she had come up with. And that made it all the more fun.

"No. Just pissed".

She lounged on the bed, aware of the way Shier's eyes strayed from their path in front of him to look at her naked body every now and then. She loved having this amount of power over him... over a demon whose name was spoken in hushed tones and with reverence. He was known for his uncanny abilities at doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it--- as a matter of fact, she could not think of anyone else who deserved to be called a 'mercenary' more than he did.

"But Jhiera--- should he ever find out, we'd be yesterday's history!".

She grinned at him, pushing her long hair out of the way. "But if he doesn't, we will have lost an enemy and won ourselves fame".

He stopped his mad dash across the stony room, and looked at her straight. She put on her best poker face, and made sure her breasts heaved in time with her breathing, knowing a victory when she saw one.

She was surprised at her own boldness. Decades ago, she had worshipped the ground he walked on, and would've done practically anything he asked her to. He had been fully aware of that, and had used that power over her without mercy or hesitation.

She had once sworn he would pay. Time had not healed her wounds, and her hatred for him had grown within her like a well nourished rose bush, developing blood red buds every time she heard of the amazing feats Shier accomplished.

One day, had been her motto. One day, he would pay.

And now, the tables were turned. Maybe in old age, or over-confidence from his part... whatever she wanted to call it, she had Shier eating out of the palm of her hand and it was beautiful.

What a marvelous way to get rid of him *and* the witch at the same time. It was almost orgasmic in its perfection... besides, she got a kick out of it, she thought, as the heat of their recent activities reasserted itself in her belly.

To be able to get revenge, get rid of the nuisance *and* experience heights of pleasure no other lover had ever taken her to, well, she must've been a pretty damn good girl in her past life to deserve this opportunity.

"We're really doing this", he said, brushing his dark hair with his left hand. Yes, we are, she thought--- or at least I am. Not letting her glee shine through her purple eyes, she beckoned him to join her in the bed, and he did not refuse.

As she lost herself in the bliss of his embrace, her eyes found the ceiling and fixed on a certain spot. As her back arched under Shier's attentive ministrations, the vicious smile that curled her lips was lost to the tall demon.

Jhiera was not a demon you messed with, she thought, as her mind fled from her body and into the whirlpool of rapture Shier provided.

********************


Prue was in heaven. Not only was Auntie Paige singing to her, but she was also being rocked about the room just the way she liked. Now if only her Dada would get there, her happiness would be complete.

Or that was what Paige thought Prue was thinking, as she cradled the smiling baby to her breast and danced across the room, humming a tune to herself.

She had gone on a date with Glenn last night. She had really being looking forward to it, had even worn her best dress and her special make-up. Glenn had been the chivalrous gentleman (not too much as to get annoying but just enough to make her feel special), and she had really had a great time.

But...

She sighed, trying to put her feelings into words. She had first gone out with Glenn because she felt attracted to him. That was why relationships happened, right? Maybe it had been the rebel in her, or maybe it was simply that female gene women deny to posses, that compel them to fall for the tall, dark and handsome, *dangerous* type.

But that was the problem, wasn't it?

She had gone from one tall, dark dangerous guy to *another* much taller, much darker *definitely* more powerful guy. She looked down at Prue, and stopped singing. The baby frowned, and in her cuteness, seemed to be ready to ask her what was wrong. Paige walked up to the window and pushed the curtain aside.

As she looked at the sunny day outside, she sighed again. "Never, *ever* listen to anything Aunt Paige has to say, Prue. She has a knack for doing the wrong thing".

Her date had been splendid. Glenn had been great. And she--- well she could've well been on another planet for all she had contributed to the conversation. She had just sat there twirling her drink, dying for a lollipop to entertain herself with as Glen went on and on about Nepal and its many wonders.

Any other time, she would've been thrilled to listen to him--- hell, she might've even offered him suggestions on what to take and not to take in his next trip (she had done quite a few hitchhiking in her time)... but last night, she just--- wasn't there.

She was miles away, her mind threatening to leave her body and make sure everyone was safe at the manor, while Glenn sat across of her in the fancy restaurant, oblivious that his date was dreaming about someone else.

There she went again...

She felt like stomping her foot, but Prue's presence stopped her. Besides, this old house creaked every time she moved--- if she as much as jumped to get something off the top shelf of her closet, in would burst a worried family demanding to know what was wrong.

And she didn't feel like seeing them right now. Not Leo, not Piper, not Cole.

Especially not Cole.

She cursed herself when her heart did a little jump inside her chest as she thought of him. It had all started about three weeks ago, or maybe it had been in there forever. Maybe the sudden flush she had felt when she had first laid eyes on him had not been the fear of Shax about to kill her, but the immediate response to his masculine presence.

Maybe she had pushed it all into the back of her head when she had seen he was taken. She had been genuinely happy when she had learnt he and Phoebe were a couple, and truly horrified when she had first seen what Belthazor looked like.

Not because she feared him, but because she feared herself. She felt disgusted by the thrill of the forbidden as she had laid eyes on the harrowingly real picture in the Book of Shadows.

She closed her eyes, and threw her head back, letting Prue act as the balance to keep her from toppling over. She hated feeling like this! Half-remembered dreams and daytime fantasies only worsened the problem. Damn it!

He wasn't even human. He was a demon, for crying out loud! But she knew better... she had seen him go to hell and back to protect (at first) Phoebe, and then Piper and her. She had seen him crying over the loss of his love, she had seen the way his eyes softened whenever he spoke of her--- she had been there when he had changed Prue's first diaper, and she had felt her heart melt at the delicious wonder when she had grown her first tooth.

How could she love him? And worse, how could she *not* love him?

Was it love? Was it lust? Was it a late high school infatuation? Falling for the rebel-with-the-bike syndrome she had seen so many damn times in kids half her age? She brushed her temples, trying to fight off the impending headache.

She had tried telling herself that Cole belonged with Phoebe. She had forced herself to remember the happiness the two of them had shared, the way whenever they looked into each other's eyes the entire world seem to fade away. It hadn't worked.

Every time she pictured them together, Phoebe's form twisted and changed into her own, and it was *herself* the one Cole promised undying love to, and it was *her* the one Cole kissed the breath out of and---

"You look good together".

She started at the sudden interruption, and Prue giggled as she jumped in Paige's arms. "Dada!". The baby stretched out her arms at Cole, who leaned by the door in such a casual manner, one would've thought he practiced that position every day.

Paige fought the blush threatening to cover her cheeks, and refused to look at him in the eye until she was more in control of herself. Handling the baby to him and pretending to be busy rearranging her cosmetics in the vanity beside him was easy, and taking deep breaths, she steadied the thundering of her heart.

Cole, oblivious to the turmoil going on beside him, cooed and tickled Prue, and the baby giggled in response, clapping her hands happily and giving him a sloppy kiss in the cheek. "My, aren't we happy today?".

Waving Prue's little hand about, Cole turned to Paige and asked: "Piper's going out grocery shopping. She wants to know if you need anything?".

Paige looked up before she could stop herself, and she found herself looking into the most cerulean eyes she had ever seen. Cole towered almost a foot above her, but she knew that if she stood on her tiptoes and he bent his neck, their lips would brush just the right way...

Feeling the blush creeping up her cheeks again, she shook her head and looked away. "I'm fine".

Cole looked at her questioningly, but said nothing. Paige wasn't sure she wanted to slap him or thank him for that. Instead, she grabbed her jacket and walked out of the room swiftly, refusing to acknowledge the fact that his manly scent was slowly beginning to permeate her entire bedroom. There went her good night sleep, she mused sadly, as her heels click-clacked on the hallway's parquet.

"Where are you going?". His voice came from beside her, and she jumped a little. She had forgotten how quick and silent he could be when he wanted to--- damn him and his demonic stealth! Damn him and his gorgeous blue eyes and perfect body!

"To take a walk. I need some air".

She kept on going without looking back, because she knew that if she did, she would be blushing like a school-girl and stammering for words that would not come for as long as he was looking at her.

"Paige?".

His voice sounded urgent this time, and that stopped her. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself grounded, and turned slowly, finding Prue's eyes rather than his own.

"What?". Her answer came out a little sharper than she had intended it to, but her blood was boiling at the sight of his powerful arms stretching as they held Prue close. She had seen those hands fire deadly electric bolts that had killed demons and saved their lives so many times. To see them now, tenderly cradling a gurgling baby was so anti-climatic, she had to consciously tell herself *not* to reach out and feel the potent muscles underneath misleadingly soft skin.

"Is everything all right?".

She nodded quickly, eager to get out of the suddenly claustrophobic room. Was it her or was the corridor getting smaller? She felt heat spreading through her as he move closer, so goddamned close she could actually *see* the way his sleeves brushed the inside of his wrists and she suddenly needed to run her fingers on that precise spot...

"You sure? You look kinda pale".

Oblivious... completely oblivious. Ignorant of Paige's feelings for him, Cole reached out and placed a hand against the young woman's forehead, trying to get a feel of her body temperature. He had barely graced her skin when she jumped away like a wildcat, a frantic look of despair in her blue-green eyes.

"Don't!". Her cry rang out like thunder in the otherwise quiet house, and Paige knew she was overreacting but damn it!, when he touched her it had been as if an electric current was running down her spine.

"Don't", she repeated, quieter this time. But the damage was already done. Cole had taken back his hand so quick, a distant corner of her mind wondered if he hadn't gotten whiplash, and was looking at her with so much hurt in his eyes she felt horrible for causing it.

She tried to make it up to him, but she wasn't thinking straight and he was still too freaking near!. "I'm just--- I need--- I'll see you later", she finished dejectedly, ashamed at herself and her lack of control. Before he could utter another word, she ran downstairs and slammed the door behind her, hot, burning tears streaming down her cheeks.

Upstairs, Prue giggled. And Cole tried to understand what the hell had just happened.


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Shier was nervous. That in itself was a strange occurrence--- a demon as old as he was knew better than to let emotions take control of his actions, but he couldn't help himself.

Today would be the day he would meet Phax.

And here he was, giddy as a teenager, shuffling on his feet as he waited for the proper moment to enter. Around him, the grunts and huffs of Phax's training session were loud and clear, and he wondered for the umpteenth time if this wasn't all a huge mistake.

Jhiera and her charms usually chased the shadow of doubt away from his mind, but Jhiera wasn't around to assure him right now. As a matter of fact, she was right inside the next chamber, sparring with Phax.

"It will perfect, Shier. It has to be. She's smart, and she'll know something's afoot unless we divert her attention... it has to be at the right time".

Actually, Jhiera's plan was quite good. Ingrate himself with Phax, get her to lower her defenses. Make her trust him, and get her to tell him just what the hell made her so powerful... and how to destroy it.

Shier had heard about such tales in the human world. Samson and Dalilah were well known amongst the demon world for the sheer craftiness with which Dalilah had discovered the one weak point for such a herculean warrior.

He just hoped Phax hadn't heard of it too, or they could kiss their whole plan goodbye.

He hadn't really planned all this.

All he had wanted was to see the purple-eyes temptress one more time, and to finally get her out of his head for good. Honest, that had been all. But when he had seen her again, had laid eyes on that voluptuous body of hers--- he hadn't been able to contain himself.

He knew it was a weak man's addiction the way he panted whenever she moved, but he was incapacitated whenever she looked at him from underneath her long eyelashes--- handcuffed to her like a dog in heat. A sad smile crept up his lips, and he shook his head slowly.

Jhiera was too simple to actually realize the power she held over him. The beautiful demoness was young and impulsive and by far means too self-centered to notice that she could've asked him to defy the Source and he would've--- he was going to, now that he thought of it.

It scared him, the fact that he was willing to risk an eternity of torture just to see the way her eyes lit up at the prospect of betrayal and treason. He had been surprised to see the depth of almost maquiavelican purity of her plan.

Jhiera hated Phax, that much he knew. He also knew she was using him to get to her--- a means to an end if you will. But he didn't mind... he didn't mind the endless nights spent in her arms, or the supple pressure of her breasts against his skin when they coupled... whatever the case, he was just fine being her boy toy, and until he tired of her, he could keep on doing it.

A cry of victory reached him from afar, and he realized that was his cue.

Taking a deep breath and putting his best killer smile on, he walked into the chamber, and greeted his new lover-to-be.

Because in order to get what they wanted, he needed to be close to Phax--- and what better way into her mind than through her body?


**********************


"She was feverish?", said Piper as she scrubbed the dishes and pans with a renewed strength, and brushed a few bubbles of soap away from her cheek.

"Yes. When I touched her, she almost burnt me... but she looked normal".

Cole handed her the next pile of plates, as he sat at the kitchen table, Prue sitting on the baby-chair and happily playing with a plush animal. Piper never halted in her dishwashing, but simply turned the water warmer.

"I thought it was hormones, or maybe that time of the month--- but she isn't due for another two weeks".

The way Piper's eyes widened and the sudden shriek that left her lips was enough to make Cole look up from Prue and at the young woman's offended eyes. "You can tell that?".

Cole smiled sheepishly, and tapped his nose as if apologizing. "Much acuter than yours...".

Piper ignored the dripping water falling from her wet hands as she kept looking at him. "You can--- every time--- both of us?", she finished, embarrassed beyond belief.

The small nod that answered her sent her into a fit of blushing, and she had to hold on to the sink behind her to keep herself from falling. "Oh boy", she whispered more to herself than to anyone else, as she took the gloves off of her hands and placed them aside.

"Yeah", he answered simply, unsure as to what else to say. What *could* he say, anyway, that wouldn't mortify Piper even further? He hadn't meant to tell her, but it had just come out. What could he possibly say to make her understand that he had been able to feel the changes in all three of the Halliwell sisters even before he became another member of this dysfunctional family?

Piper sat in front of him and absently tickled Prue's belly with her right hand, her left folding at her chest as she rested on the stool. Cole could see the faint traces of a deep blush still flushing her cheeks, but he said nothing. Instead, he addressed the original issue that had brought them to where they were.

"Anyway, Paige was--- I think there's something wrong with her".

The mention of a potential problem was enough to shake Piper out of her stupor and into witch-mode. "Did she say anything weird?", she asked, a frown beginning to cloud her beautiful features.

Cole shrugged helplessly, wondering if he wasn't looking into things much harder than he was supposed to. Maybe Paige hadn't been feeling well and had taken her discomfort out on him. Maybe he had just heard wrong, maybe---- so many maybes, so many doubts--- too many, he thought, as he realized he should be trusting his gut instinct rather than pushing it aside.

And his gut was telling him something was wrong.

"She just seemed--- off, somehow. Like she wasn't really there".

He contemplated and then dismissed just as easily thoughts of a Body Snatcher and/or Shape Shifter. There hadn't been something wrong with Paige, just--- different. And besides, he should've been able to feel the faint itch of magic at work had he encountered a demon that morning rather than Paige herself.

"Maybe she was coming down with something. The flu's been going around lately", offered Piper, all too willing to take the human-everything's-all-right-there-are-no-demonic-forces-at-work-here way out. But she also knew better.

Not that she had felt anything per se, but in this house, particularly in this *family* things were rarely what they seemed to be.

"Maybe", Cole replied, feeling the certainty they were forgetting something. When no warnings went off in his head, he wondered if he wasn't growing paranoid... could happen, with the life they were leading.

"I'll talk to her when she gets home. We oughta ask her what's wrong before jumping to any conclusions".

He nodded.

The demon in him wanted solutions right away, but he knew things did not work out that way.

Actually, the demon in him had been rather busy these days. For the past months it had laid dormant, almost lulled into a mere presence in the back of his mind, the roar of its anger no longer clouding his judgment. He wanted to believe he was finally gaining control over it, slowly acquiring the ability to draw strength from it without actually *changing* into him.

But he knew--- all the nights he woke up drenched in sweat, panting for breath and clawing at non-existent bonds marring his skin, it was there. Waiting... planning, patiently waiting for him to call for him one more time.

He shook his head.

Whatever the case, he had vowed not to let the demon control him anymore. With Prue in the house and the fragile stability of the Halliwells at stake, he could not risk losing his tight hold on his own psyche, as much as it took out of him. He had promised never to let Prue see him as the demon he really was--- the red-skinned warrior would remain buried forever, and it would be Dooms Day before he shifted into his bulky alter ego again.

But--- something was wrong. Something was bugging him, and for the life of him he could not say what.

It was as if the storm was gathering, the few moments before lightning strikes--- the buzz of electricity, the thrill of power--- it was around him all the time, just on the edge of his senses, taunting him, drawing him in... It wasn't unpleasant, just... disturbing.

Because he didn't know what it was, didn't know if it was dangerous and most of all, didn't know how to fight it if it proved to be unsafe.

Besides, the memory of Phoebe was still fresh in his mind... he had been having dreams lately. Erotic dreams, to be exact. Memories, even, of the times when things were right and they were together, and they made love every morning when they woke up together in the bed he now slept in alone.

Their last encounter amongst the black of the Underworld, in a world he had once called his own still came to him in the strangest of moments.

He had seen the doubt in her eyes, and he hadn't been mistaken, he was sure of that--- she had wanted to reach out to him, had so desperately needed to take his hand and let him rescue her--- what had stopped her then?

He felt like slamming his fist on the table, but he knew it would scare the living daylights out of Prue and get Piper all worried.

He had been tempted to sneak out of the house during the night, and shimmer into the Underworld to bring Phoebe back. But something in Piper's eyes had stopped him--- the plea in her wide chocolate eyes, glistening with unshed tears that he suspected she did not know were there, was binding, and he had been unable to refuse her.

One day, not so long ago, whatever Piper thought might not have made a difference. Back in the old days, he couldn't have cared less what Phoebe's sister's thought. Today--- he was whipped, and he knew it.

Whatever they asked of him, he would do.

And besides, he understood the fear in Piper, the underlying terror of losing yet another family member. It wasn't that Piper didn't love Phoebe--- as a matter of fact, the young woman had cried every night as she tried to understand just *why* was her family cursed to be taken down one by one as sitting ducks on a shooting range--- it was that she also loved *him*.

Loved...

The concept was so strange to him he sometimes had a hard time assimilating it. In a world where there were no friends and perfidy ruled, he had never known the concept of love. Maybe when he had been a small child, too small to remember now, his father had showed him what it meant to care.

He couldn't even remember his face, much less any contact he might've hand with him. His mother had taken him away from his father and aside from their namesake, Cole felt no attachment to either of them.

Why was he so drawn to this family? Why did he feel as if it was his need, his obligation to protect them?

Maybe because Piper had taken him in with open arms--- maybe because in this family he had found what he had lacked for over a hundred years. Love, friends and support.

But it was that same love that kept the ever-reducing Halliwell nucleus together that had torn him in between two women. How could he break the promise he had made to Piper, and ever look at her straight again? And how could he *not* break it, when it meant leaving Phoebe in the clutches of the Source?

Ah, to be human... with all their flaws and lacks, they sure were the most complicated beings he had ever met.

"Err, Cole?".

He came to it with a start, the sharp sound of Piper's fingers snapping in front of his face bringing him back to his own self.

"Sorry. Daydreaming...", he commented, shaking off the feeling of fragmentation as his mind rebelled against being pulled back into his body. In front of him, Piper shrugged and took Prue out of her baby-chair.

"*Someone* needs to be changed. *You* need to rest. *I* am going upstairs and fixing this. You watch dinner, and if Leo comes in to pry around that pan, *you* are to scare him away. Capish?".

Before he could actually answer her, Piper was out the door, and the sounds of her coos for Prue were lost amidst the thick wooden walls of the house. Left alone in the kitchen, Cole looked at the empty baby-chair sitting on the table, and shivered unconsciously.

Why did he feel this would be the last time he would see his daughter?

Brushing aside the ill mentality, he rose from his seat and walked up to the boiling pan of--- what were they eating tonight anyway? -- and leaned into the counter.

There it was again, the hum of magic around him... it enveloped him like a protective cocoon, and the sounds of the house faded into the back of his mind as he closed his eyes and opened up his senses, trying to get a clear feel of it.

There was a smell of strawberries in the air, and he let his uberhuman faculties spread outward through the manor.

Keeping his path steady through the chaotic mass of ley lines that converged into this very house was enough to give him a headache, but he pushed forward and forced himself to continue. Tracing the line up from the basement and upwards, he wandered through the rooms following the tracks left by generations of Halliwells...

Living room, dinning room, stairs...

The portraits seemed to wink at his mind's eye as he passed by them, and he fought the urge to look back at them.

Bathrooms, bedrooms... Piper and Leo's, his own, Paige's...

What the hell?

Backtracking, he focused his attentions on the bedroom that had once been Prue's and that now belonged to Paige. A considerable amount of ley lines met in it, but that wasn't what drew him to it.

It was the distortion in them. Bent and folded within themselves, the clear indication that there was magic at work. Powerful magic, drawing its power from the lines themselves. Finding a pattern within the seemingly random twists, he retraced them back to the origin--- as if unrolling a knot, he kept looking until he found the one line that begun it all.

And he gasped.

Swirling atop of Paige's bed, a whirlpooling mass of crimson particles... spell!, screamed his mind as he was pulled back into his own brain. He had to tell Piper!

"No, Belthazor. That is a secret between you and me".

The voice came from behind him and even before turning around he knew what he would find.

The last thought that ran through his head was that dinner was going to burn.


******************


Tbc...


Remember this is *my* Universe... Paige did not go through super-witch mode, she did not have Phoebe to confide into. She has been thrown about like a ragged doll by the circumstances, and well, if you put adrenalike and Cole-the-Hunk-of-Man together, what do you get? Although I don't think we need adrenaline to want to do the hubbahubba with Cole, right? :0

Guesses as to who the misterious voice of the last few lines was? I'm taking bets!