Phoebe splashed cold water on her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Forced into a corner and made to choose between her husband and her sisters...she couldn't do it. She loved them all too much.

She heard the sound of orbing, then Paige's voice. Pressing herself against the door, she prayed to wake up, prayed it was a dream. She couldn't do this. Couldn't choose. Her heritage, her sisters...her love, her husband. She was caught in a tornado, twisting winds pulling her in opposite directions. Family and duty and sisterhood, the sweet ease of darkness, the desperate longings of her heart.

"Phoebe, get out here and help us, damn it!" she heard Piper call, followed by a cry of pain and the sound of a body striking a wall.

"Don't make me kill you," Cole said in a deadly voice.

"Phoebe, you heard what he said. He's gonna kill us!" Piper shouted. "Help us!"

She couldn't breathe. "I can't, I can't," she whispered. "Please don't make me. Please." Her hand moved to the doorknob against her will. "Forgive me," she said, not even knowing who she asked for absolution.

Cole faced her sisters and Leo, a ball of fire in his hand. There were crystals around him, an incomplete prison. The last lay on the ground before her, and she bent to pick it up. Cole turned his head toward her. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's...it's for the best."

Piper looked at Phoebe, her despairing eyes saying what her voice did not. Phoebe looked away. "I know it is," she said, moving to Cole's side. She reached up and pulled his head down to hers, kissing him passionately. "I love you, Cole," she whispered. She looked deeply into her eyes, and for a moment she thought she saw a flicker of realization in his eyes. He knew what she was going to do.

"Phoebe?" Piper said, one last desperate attempt to reach her sister.

Phoebe backed away from Cole. "I'm sorry, too," she said, placing the crystal on the floor, completing the trap. She closed her eyes as white energy leapt up to surround Cole.

"Phoebe," Cole said, disbelieving. "No. No!"

"I'm sorry, baby," she said, unable to look at him. "I'm so sorry." Please forgive me, she added silently. She couldn't let Cole kill her sisters. She couldn't bear to kill Cole, either, but he would want it this way. He wanted to be a good man, and however this had happened to him, however he had become the Source, she knew in her heart he would rather die than do harm to her or Piper or Paige. But even now she could feel the soft pull of evil, like a seductive voice whispering in her mind. Don't do this, go to him, be with him, your love...

She steeled herself against it, taking strength in the feel Piper's comforting hand on her arm. Her sister began the spell to vanquish the Source. "Prudence, Penelope, Patricia, Melinda..."

Fire sprang up around Cole. Phoebe fought the urge to run to him, free him from the prison and beat the flames out with her own hands. She choked out the next line of the spell. "Astrid, Helena, Laura and Grace."

Cole looked straight at her. "I will always love you," he said, and she knew it was Cole who spoke, not the Source.

"Halliwell witches stand strong beside us," Paige called out in a clear voice.

Phoebe's throat constricted as she fought to say the next words. She looked at Cole, struck by what seemed to be relief in his eyes. Set me free, she read in them, and she started to force the words out. "Vanquish this --"

Cole cried out in pain, falling to his knees. Phoebe stopped, her heart wrenched by the sound. Piper tugged at her arm. "Finish it!" she hissed. "Phoebe, please!"

"Wait, something's wrong," Phoebe said. Then a cloud of black energy rose from Cole, buzzing angrily in the crystal prison. Not stopping to think, Phoebe darted forward, kicking one of the crystals aside and throwing herself over Cole as he collapsed heavily to the floor. The dark energy spun and vanished.

"What the hell was that?" Paige said warily.

"The Source," Cole said weakly, cradled in Phoebe's arms. "It...left me."

"Riiight," Piper said. "Phoebe, get back over here. It's a trick!"

"No, it's not!" Phoebe said, her voice shrill with hysteria. "The Source knew we were going to kill it again and it left Cole. It's gone, it's gone!" She kissed Cole, sobbing. "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't know what to do." Feeling something wet on Cole's head, she drew back her hand and found it red with blood. He'd fallen on one of the crystals and it had cut his scalp deeply. "Leo!" she called, seeking out her brother-in-law. "Heal him!"

"Wait just a minute," Piper said suspiciously. "I'm not buying this. The Source just went away?"

"Leo, please!" Phoebe cried. "If you can heal him then he's not a demon and he's not the Source, right?"

"Yes," Leo said slowly. He exchanged a look with his wife. Piper nodded reluctantly, moving opposite Cole and Phoebe as Leo crouched beside Cole. She held her hands ready to blow Cole up should he so much as flinch.

Leo held his hand over Cole's head. Golden light bathed Cole, and Leo nodded. "It's working. He's human."

Phoebe helped Cole sit up, tears of relief still streaming down her cheeks. "We did it, baby," she said. "You're back, you're safe."

"Umm, am I the only one who is horribly confused here?" Paige said. "How did the Source get into Cole, and why did it just leave? This seems way too easy."

"The Source is eternal," Cole said as he rose to his feet. Phoebe clung tightly to him, afraid to let him go. "It can't truly be destroyed. Vanquish its host and you weaken it, but it will move to another and regain its strength."

"Well, why the hell didn't you tell us this before?" Piper said. "It might have come in handy."

Cole coughed, and Phoebe finally released her hold on him. "Let me get you a glass of water, baby," she murmured, moving toward the kitchen.

"I didn't know," Cole said to her sisters. "I only know now because I saw the Grimoire when I was possessed. It's usually a great honor to be chosen to bear the power of the Source, but the transfer of power is secretive. No one outside the Source's inner circle knows just how the new Source is made. The chosen successor undergoes rituals to be a suitable vessel, unless it's a blood heir, and then the transfer of power can be made more easily. The last Source didn't have an heir yet, but the Seer made use of the Hollow to bend the rules...house the Source in me until I underwent the proper rituals to be able to contain it. You may not believe me but I fought it. I tried to tell you what was happening, but it wouldn't let me."

"So if it left you, where is it now?" Paige said.

"It didn't have anywhere else to go but me," Cole said. "Nowhere but...no." He spun around.

Phoebe laughed. Her eyes turned to fire as she spoke. "I've never been in a witch before, let alone a Charmed One. This should prove interesting. See you later, baby." She blew Cole a kiss, then vanished in flames.