Cole sat wearily on the end of Phoebe's bed at the manor. He'd retreated to the solace of her room -- their room -- trying desperately to find something to give him hope. The photo of the two of them on her dresser brought fresh pain to his heart. There had to be a way to save Phoebe. There had to. He buried his face in his hands, wishing he didn't feel so helpless.

After Phoebe had vanished, Piper had turned on him. "What did you do to her, you son of a bitch?" she wailed.

"The Source," Cole said, still stunned. "She's the Source."

"How?" Piper said. "You said there were rituals. Or a...oh god."

Cole nodded. "The baby. It's in the baby, and since it's part of Phoebe, it controls her. That's why it left me -- it had somewhere else to go. Somewhere...you won't dare vanquish."

"So we just have to find a way to get Satan's spawn out of her, right?" Paige said.

Cole whirled around to face her. "That 'spawn of Satan' is my son," he said angrily. "And an innocent. It's not his fault he was caught up in this. I won't just let you kill him..."

"What if there's no other option?" Piper said quietly.

"There has to be," Cole said.

"And if there's not?" Piper persisted. "Can you kill your baby?"

He met her probing gaze with his own. "Can you kill your sister?" he shot back. Piper closed her eyes and looked away.

"Why don't we go back to the manor and try to figure this out?" Leo said.

"What about him?" Paige said, looking at Cole. "We can't just leave him here..."

"Why not?" Piper snapped.

Leo put his hands on her shoulders. "Piper, I know you're upset, but Cole's human and therefore an innocent, and if what he says is true, he's still vulnerable to the Source. We can't just abandon him. Phoebe wouldn't want it that way. She'll never forgive you if you leave him in danger."

Piper tensed, then waved her hand dismissively. "All right. Let's get the hell out of here."

"Wait," Cole said. "The Grimoire. We can't leave it here. She'll...the Source will come back for it. It's in the bedroom."

"Bedroom?" Paige repeated. "Ewww. I don't want to know why. Gimme a sec." She orbed out, then back again with the bag she and her sisters had prepared to let them carry the evil book. "I'll go get it," she said, walking into the bedroom.

They'd all orbed to the manor. Leo left to consult with the Elders, and Paige went to hide the Grimoire somewhere, leaving Piper and Cole in awkward silence. Piper paced the living room anxiously, waiting for Leo to return. Finally she turned to Cole and said, "How did this happen? How could you let this happen?"

His own patience snapped. "How couldI let this happen? How could you? Took you long enough to figure out something was wrong with me, didn't it? Then when you finally did you were so quick to condemn."

"You're a demon!" she said hotly.

"One who saved your ass more than once," Cole snarled. "I took on the Source for you, Piper, or have you conveniently forgotten that?"

"If it wasn't for you, Phoebe would be here and safe!" Piper accused.

"If it wasn't for me, you'd all be dead," he said. "I took in the Hollow to save you. I didn't know I would become the Source myself. And you were so quick to want to vanquish me once you figured it out. Didn't bother to try to figure out a way to save me. Once a demon, always a demon, is that it? I must've wanted the power for myself, right? I'd expect that from Prue, but not from you, Piper."

"Don't you dare bring Prue into this!" Piper cried.

Cole regretted his words as Piper burst into tears. Her nerves were on edge as much as his, and she was desperately looking for a way to vent her fear and frustration. She'd lost one sister not long ago and now stood on the precipice of losing another. "Piper...I'm sorry," he said, reaching out to awkwardly pull her into his arms.

She beat her fists against his chest, crying. "We have to get her back. I can't lose her, too. Please, Cole, don't let me lose her, too." She sagged against him, struggling to breathe through her sobs.

"We will. We'll find a way," he murmured, patting her back. "I promise, Piper, we'll find a way."

She drew back after a moment, wiping her eyes, embarrassed. "I, uh...I'm going to make something for dinner," she said. "Make yourself at home." She scurried from the room.

He'd come up here after that, to Phoebe's room. While Piper sought fleeting comfort in cooking, he tried to find it here, surrounded by the belongings of the woman he loved.

He felt a sudden rush of heat and knew without even looking up that Phoebe now stood before him. "You look unhappy, baby," she said. "Why so sad?"

He slowly raised his head to look at her. "Get out of her. Leave her alone."

Her laughter was no longer the carefree sound he loved. "You act like we're not one and the same now. Phoebe Halliwell, Charmed One, and the Source of All Evil, we're one. You know it."

"There was part of me that fought you every step of the way," Cole said.

"And she's fighting, too," she said with a shrug. "Doesn't matter. She belongs to me, as did you. As do you. Isn't the irony delicious? After all this time I defeat the Charmed Ones -- by becoming one of them. And I have you to thank for planting my heir in her womb."

"What do you want?" Cole said.

"You," she said simply. "You know as well as I do that her desires become mine. You wanted her, so I had to have her. Now I am her, and she wants you. So I will have you."

"Go to hell," he snarled.

"I rule it," she said, sliding smoothly into his lap, straddling him, her arms around his neck. "And every queen needs a consort." He twisted his head away from her; she roughly grabbed his jaw and jerked him back. "Of course, I can't have a pathetic human at my side," she said, pressing her lips to his.

He tried to break free, but her grip was too strong. Helplessly he gave in and returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her as she pushed him down on to his back. His senses told him she was Phoebe -- she looked like her, sounded like her, tasted like her -- and his body reacted to that. His heart wanted Phoebe, while his mind told him this was wrong and dangerous. The room seemed to spin around him, and he felt a strange heat rush through his body, emanating at Phoebe's lips and working its way through him.

She drew back, looking down at him, smiling. "Much better," she purred.

"What...what did you do to me?" he said. He tried to sit up, but dizziness made him sink back down.

"Given you back what you lost," she said. "A witch may have stripped your demonic half from you, but I can restore it. Welcome back, Belthazor."

"No," he groaned, still struggling to rise.

She pushed him back down and ripped open his shirt and scratched her nails down his chest, drawing blood. Catching his wrists, she kept him pinned down as she rocked her hips against his. "Don't fight, my love," she whispered, nibbling at his ear. "You want this. You want me. Together we can rule the Underworld and create a realm others have only imagined. The world is at our feet. We just need to claim it. Start by claiming me..."

He lost the fight against his desires. It was madness and he knew it, but he couldn't stop. "Phoebe," he moaned, entangling his fingers in her hair and pulling her head back down to his.

Laughing in triumph, she let him roll them over so that his body covered her. "That's it, baby," she said. "Give me the demon. Let me feel your hunger." She arched her back, pressing herself against him. "Show me I'm still yours."

He silenced her with a bruising kiss. He was lost, drowning in darkness, then he heard Piper's earlier words repeated in his head. "Please, Cole, don't let me lose her, too." Reason finally won out over passion, and he pushed himself away from Phoebe, scrambling from the bed. "No."

"So stubborn," she sighed, sitting up. She rose from the bed and stalked toward him as he backed away. "As if I expected anything differently. You really need to give up this resistance. It's tiring, baby, and in the end it won't make a difference."

"I will find a way to stop you," Cole vowed.

"No, you're not," she said. "You're going to take my hand and come with me to the Underworld. You're going to help me rule. My legions will have trouble coming to terms with their leader wearing the face of one of their greatest enemies. I need you to help me keep them in line...make sure they don't attempt to test me. Hard enough to see her as queen, after all. They'll have a fit calling me master."

"No," he said evenly.

She circled him, drawing her hand along his chest and back. "And I want you by my side for other reasons. I have certain...cravings...that only you can satisfy. But if you refuse me, then I suppose I'll just have to seek to fulfill them elsewhere. And your little witch will feel every second of it, I'll make sure of it. Then even if you found some way to restore her, do you think she could live with the memories of being so helpless as demon after demon took its pleasure with her?"

Cole shot his hand out as she moved in front of him again. He grabbed Phoebe by the throat, slamming her against the wall. "Don't. You. Dare." he said through clenched teeth.

Laughing, she reached out to pull him closer against her. "There's my demon," she said. "There's the fire I need." She pried his hand from her throat then drew it down her body, over her breasts, to rest on her belly. "The fire I need to protect me...and our son. Our baby needs his father. And I need you. You're going to be my figurehead, Source in name if not in fact, at least until I'm ready to reveal the truth."

"Then why not just take me back now?" Cole said. "Do it. I won't fight you. Just let her go."

"But the Charmed Ones have already proven they'll vanquish you," she said. "Their sister is another matter. They won't dare. This is just too perfect. I have her, I've broken the Charmed Ones, I have my heir, and I have you."

"You do not have me," Cole said.

She looked at him, her eyes filling with tears. Her lower lip quivered as she spoke. "Please, Cole. Don't leave me alone."

"Bitch," he growled. Even though he knew they were fake, her tears still tore at him.

The tears vanished and she grinned. "What's it going to be, baby?"

Piper opened the bedroom door and walked into the room. "Dinner's ready. Paige and Leo are back and--Phoebe."

"Just dropping by to pick up a few things," Phoebe said. "You'll hardly even know I was here. Or am I invited to dinner, too?"

Piper made an inarticulate noise of despair and flashed her hands at Phoebe. Her sister exploded into a black cloud of energy, then drew herself back together in a matter of a seconds. "Ouch," she said crossly. "That hurt." She conjured a ball of fire in one hand and bounced it. "Want me to return the favor?"

Cole stepped between the sisters. "Phoebe. Don't."

She extinguished the fireball. "Spoilsport," she said petulantly. "We should be going anyway." She held out her hand to him. "Coming, baby?"

"Cole?" Piper said, confused.

He couldn't meet her eyes. "I'm sorry, Piper," he murmured. "I don't have a choice." He took Phoebe's hand, and together they disappeared in a blaze of fire.

"Oh, crap," Piper said.