Chapter Five

"You son of a bitch," Paige angrily whispered as she stared at the demon standing next to her brother-in-law. The demon that hadn't aged a moment from when she'd witnessed his final vanquish two years earlier.

Leo realized Paige's comment wasn't directed solely at Cole and, disappointed by her lack of trust in him, he promised the sisters, "He's going to help."

"Yeah, help destroy us," Paige spat.

Piper glared at Cole who hadn't taken his eyes off Phoebe. "I hate this too but I'd work with the Source himself if it means getting Chris back."

Paige frowned when she noticed Phoebe staring at Cole, "Same thing."

"No, it's not. He's not the Source and he's not an Avatar," Leo assured them. He'd known his decision would be met with outrage but couldn't they understand that Cole was their only chance at getting Chris back safely and defeating Zankou? Even the Avatars admitted that Cole was unique in knowing both the good and evil worlds.

"So, what, he's human, an innocent?" Paige grimaced as if the thought left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"I am what I was when I first met you," Cole finally said. Her hairstyle was different again but Phoebe still took his breath away.

"Belthazor," Phoebe realized in a whisper. Given that Belthazor's mission had been to destroy the Charmed Ones, a part of her, ironically, felt relieved by this revelation.

He nodded, "It's as if he'd never been stripped."

Knowing how he'd wanted to be rid of his evil side but how lost he'd been without it, she quietly asked, "Are you okay?"

Taken aback by her quiet show of concern, he wasn't sure how much she genuinely wanted to know. Deciding to wait until he had a better sense of her position, he gave her a simple answer, "For the moment."

"And that makes it all better?" Paige practically shouted. "Have you all forgotten what he was like before we got rid of him for good?"

"He's not super-powerful, he's not invincible, and he's not insane," Leo clarified.

'Not anymore,' Cole thought to himself, amazed at how clearly he now saw himself. Oh, he'd known she wasn't really his Phoebe when she threw the vanquishing potion at him but the look in her eyes and the realization of how badly his alternate-self had hurt her, combined with the reluctant acknowledgement that he and Phoebe ended badly no matter what the reality, filled him with as much pain as that of the physical burning he'd suffered from the potion. Since his escape from the Wasteland, he'd been obsessed with reuniting with Phoebe, obsessed with proving himself to her and her sisters. But it wasn't until he'd felt himself once again being torn apart by the potion that he realized he'd not only failed her but failed himself. And the knowledge of that failure made his anguishing vanquish a welcome end to what had become an unhappy bitter life. What had Leo done? Would he ever find eternal rest? Would he ever deserve it? Paige's sharp curse brought his thoughts back to the present and he momentarily wondered if it was even remotely possible for her to consider that he'd had no choice in his return.

"Paige…" Leo sighed. "All of you, please, trust me, I know what I've done."

"Do you?" Paige retorted. "He's fooled us before. This could be another trick and it won't be just us who'll pay the price. It'll be your sons, not to mention the rest of the world."

"Paige, please, this is hard enough," Phoebe quietly said. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to ask. But all she could do was watch him and wonder what she'd done to deserve this chance to find closure. If that's what she truly wanted…would they even have time to find out?

"Mama!"

Piper spun at her son's cry and quickly lifted him from the playpen. She kissed him and rubbed noses with him and murmured comforting phrases until he completely wakened and smiled back at her. The last thing she wanted was for him to become upset again. So, lightly bouncing him in her arms, she told Paige in a calm, even, tone, "I want my son back. Cole helps, end of story."

Phoebe watched her younger sister reluctantly nod to Piper. She stole a glance at Cole, who eyed Wyatt with intrigue, and added, "He doesn't have to help."

"What?" Paige screeched.

"What?" Cole uttered at the same moment.

Wishing her heart would stop pounding with excitement, Phoebe resisted the urge to stroke Cole's cheek and kept her distance as she told him, "You didn't ask for this and, after everything we've been through, you don't have to help. You're free to walk away right now, no strings…"

"After everything we've been through, I want to help," he declared to her.

"Cole…"

He knew she wanted to talk, needed to talk, just as he did, but he shook his head, "Later. First we have to find your nephew."

Feeling betrayed by Phoebe, Paige warned her sister, "He put us all through hell and I'm gonna make sure it doesn't happen again." She strode to the table, picked up the athame, and headed for Cole.

Phoebe quickly stepped in front of Cole. "No one can change the past," she told her sister, "and maybe it's time we acknowledged other perspectives on what happened."

"Of course you feel this way," Paige exclaimed as she threw her hands up, "you're still in love with him! But smell the roses, Phoebe, demons and witches aren't meant to be together. Or haven't you had enough tragedies to prove it?"

Cole hadn't heard anything past Paige's claim that Phoebe still loved him. With a new critical eye, he stared at his ex-wife who, to his surprise, now held the athame in her hand. When did she take it from Paige? He frowned, now spotting the sadness radiating from deep within her. Was he still the cause of her pain? Leo said that it'd actually been two years since he'd last been in her life but, while he no longer saw the anger and bitterness he'd seen just a week ago in his time, did that mean Phoebe had forgiven him? Maybe his presence was merely a painful reminder to her of a painful chapter in her life. Maybe she still wanted nothing to do with him. She glanced back at him and he wondered if Paige was right. Could Phoebe still be in love with him?

"The only tragedies about to be suffered will be in the Underworld for the loss of Zankou," Phoebe sharply informed her sister. But, when she caught Cole's hopeful gaze, she quickly averted her eyes and turned to leave, "I have to check on the potion."

"Sure, run away," Paige grumbled, "'swhat you do best."

Cole saw Phoebe stiffen and knew Paige's comment hit home. Obviously, Phoebe still delayed confrontation whenever possible. Phoebe, though, turned back to face her sister and he realized that, in addition to a great sadness, there was a new hardness about her and he wondered if he'd helped place it there too.

"By all means, Paige, finish the potion yourself even though you've never made it before," Phoebe sarcastically encouraged. "Don't worry about our nephew's life hanging in the balance. It's certainly more important for me to chat with Cole about the good old days."

"Phoebe…"

"What, Piper?" Phoebe snapped. "You wanna dig in your two cents about good old Phoebe always choosing the demon over her family?"

"That's not true," Cole gently reminded her, "and they know it."

But Phoebe didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to be reminded of how she'd made her choices, and how everyone had suffered for them. Especially not now when Chris was in danger. Her hands went to her hips and she demanded of Paige, "What's it gonna be then, Cole or potion?"

"Finish the potion," Paige acquiesced.

"No, Phoebe," Piper disagreed when Phoebe muttered an acknowledgement. "I'll finish it with Paige. You're the only one who saw the demons in that vision. Work with Cole to identify them in case we need to prepare a different vanquish. I don't want any surprises when get to P3."

"Fine," both her younger sisters nodded.

Just as Paige and Piper were about to head down the stairs, Cole impulsively called back Paige. When she flashed him a look of annoyance, he grabbed the athame from Phoebe's hand and, before anyone could react, swiftly transformed himself into Belthazor and sliced away a small piece of his left forearm.

"Cole!" Phoebe cried out as Belthazor morphed back into Cole.

Handing Paige the piece of flesh, Cole offered, "Make the potion."

She stared at it before warning both men, "This'll do but it'd better not be a trick."

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A fireball exploded a stack of glasses. "Can you not shut it up?"

"That's it, pal," Phoebe muttered from her spot behind the curtain of the back passageway that led to Piper's office. She'd watched the demons that sat at the bar long enough. It was time to rescue the baby who lay screaming on the floor.

"We're to leave it unharmed until we receive further instructions," the other demon snapped.

"You distract 'em, Cole," Phoebe whispered, "while I grab Chris." She took a step forward but Cole's arm restrained her and she suddenly felt herself being shimmered. "We had them…" she angrily complained to Cole when they appeared in the manor's kitchen.

"Well? Did they have Chris?" Piper immediately demanded.

"They're Triavs, all right," Cole announced, "and they have Chris." Wryly, he noticed the familiar pink potion already bottled and ready on the counter. He looked to Paige who hovered over a boiling potion.

Paige caught his expression and smugly smiled. She was an old pro now at making the Belthazor vanquish.

Gulping down another wave of nausea, Phoebe missed the exchange and questioned, "Why'd you shimmer us out of there? Without their third partner, we could've taken them."

"He was probably invisible, keeping watch," he replied. "We weren't ready to attack." He knew she was antsy and he couldn't help but wonder if it was more to rescue her nephew or to send him away before he turned her life any more upside-down.

"We could've taken them," Phoebe insisted with a groan. She'd forgotten how nauseous shimmering made her feel in the beginning. It had taken her a while to develop a taste for it. Or was it a taste for who shimmered with her? She shook her head, forcing herself back to the situation at hand. "You warned us the demon would've picked up two new partners but we only saw the two and they were frustrated and on edge."

"Making them more dangerous, not less," he lectured.

"Cole's right," Leo interjected, "you were there to observe. You weren't prepared to attack them. Listen to me, you can't take risks now."

"They were probably drunk," Phoebe continued. "There had to've been at least five empty bottles lying there."

"Again, doesn't mean they would've been less dangerous," Piper commented. "Now, how was Chris?"

"Most upper level demons can hold their liquor," Cole simultaneously informed Phoebe.

"Voice of experience?" Paige taunted. To her annoyance Phoebe cringed at the insult. "Don't you dare apologize for his drinking."

Phoebe glanced at Cole and was tempted to ask about those last few weeks but she couldn't bring herself to speak about anything personal. During the time they'd been alone in the attic, all their comments to each other had strictly concerned the demons that had taken Chris. Was he unsure about confronting their past too? Was that why he hadn't made any moves? Or was it that he no longer felt anything for her? Had they hurt each other irreparably? Would it even be possible to find closure now?

Piper, growing more upset by their lack of response to her questions about Chris, worried, "What about Chris? I have to know. Did you see him? Was he all right?"

"I told you I would know if something happened to him," Leo quietly told Piper as he put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. He was relieved when she didn't pull away this time. She wasn't truly angry with him for not coming when she called but she wasn't quite ready to embrace his new duality either. His acceptance of Avatar powers was something they would have to deal with together. 'If only it wasn't under these circumstances,' he wished.

Phoebe reached out and touched her sister's arm, "Other than being unhappy with his demon babysitters, he seemed fine, sweetie. Lungs're as powerful as ever."

"He's missed his feeding," Piper whispered and leaned into Leo's embrace.

Phoebe patted her sister's arm again and turned to her younger sister, "How's that new vanquish coming along?"

"Finished," Paige declared as she shut off the stove's burner.

"Boiled for three minutes?" Cole inquired.

"To the second," she insisted. "Now let's get this show on the road." The sooner they got Chris back, the sooner Cole would be gone.

"Leo, maybe you oughtta take Wyatt somewhere else," Piper requested as Paige began to pour the potion into three bottles, "just in case something goes wrong."

Leo shook his head, "We'll be fine here." He kissed her forehead, "Be careful."

"Remember," Cole cautioned, "don't show off or get cocky. The mission is to rescue the baby first, defeat demons second. And the key to defeating them is: Divide and conquer. Got it?" When all three sisters agreed, he nodded curtly, "Then let's go."

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