Chapter 3: Within Reach
It was minutes later that Cole opened his eyes and noted that the pain was gone. Phoebe sat beside him, with her eyes focused on him.
Relief washed over them when she saw him moving, "thank God," she said, pulling him towards herself and wrapping her arms around him in a firm hug.
"What happened?" He managed, "where is everyone?"
"All is well. They are taking care of nobody ever being able to free the Source again. How do you feel?"
"Fine," he stood with his wife's help, just as Piper stormed in, ready to cash on her earlier explain yourselves comment.
It was Cole who instinctively reached after the object that his sister in law has thrown in their direction, managing to catch it without damaging it. It was the Book Of Shadows, "good test," he complimented the witch.
"See? He is good," Leo orbed in.
"Oh, yeah, I'm good at many things," the ex very recently demon tried to lighten up the mood.
"Now Phoebe," Piper urged.
Cole handed his other half the book, and as she reached towards it, the book jumped backwards, knocking Cole onto his butt again.
"No, no, this can't be," Phoebe panicked, "it doesn't make any sense."
"Unfortunately, it does," Cole picked himself up once more, "you have no evil in you as such, if we don't count the child..."
"Why would you think our baby is evil?" Phoebe freaked out even more.
"He was conceived in evil. Even if the Seer didn't make sure certain circumstances were just right for his conception, being close to a force as strong as the source is bound to have some effect if you are left alone with it and it has the chance to start influencing you and trying to make you do all sorts of things. Believe me, I know," Cole eyed his wife, still quite shocked by the revelation.
"Leo! Where is Paige?" It was Piper's turn to be alarmed, "is she alone with the thing? Orb me there right now."
"Oh, no," Phoebe continued muttering and plumped herself down onto the couch, "we really are damned."
"That's not true and you know it," Cole disagreed, "we overcame so many obstacles. The triad, my own demon half, assassins, ghosts, bounty hunters, loosing our powers, getting too much power, loved ones, Elders' disapproval and we can not say we did it because we stayed out of harm's way. You had to vanquish the Source and we didn't know it was going possess another person. It's over a year we've been together now, against all odds."
"All that means is that it lasted for a while, not that we're not doomed. And I didn't mean just the two of us, I mean the whole family," she held.
"I know you don't believe that, daughter of the Halliwells, the strongest witch dynasty there is," he knelt down in front of her and caressed her face tenderly with the back of his fingers. From the outside, he needed to be there for her, but his heart twisted at her words, given how responsible he felt about not being able to hold on to their love more in the first place, "I'm sorry for not being able to defy the Source," it was all he could think of.
"I understand, don't worry," it was her turn to comfort him and reach to touch his face now, making him to tremble with the same emotion that made her cry.
He pulled his wife into a hug, eager to calm both of them down. In spite of everything, it felt good to cling to her as it always did, "we could think of a sign the Source doesn't know. Say if I say I love you and touch you like this," he traced the lines of her right ear, "there's a problem to do with some kind of sinister plan of evil's and that might help us not land in similar situations ever again. Because if I could tell you weeks ago..."
"But what we gonna do now? With the baby? Get rid of it?" She looked down, with new tears forming in her eyes.
"I have an idea..." He started, but stared up past her, "what's going on Piper?"
"Well, let's see. I have a sister who is carrying an evil child and is still currently the queen of the underworld, and one who is afoot with the Source, hopefully still in the jam jar and not inside her. I think there's one thing left to do. Scream."
tbc
