A/N: Oooh.. I feel so blessed. I just found the statistics link in my account. 1860 hits! And I'm on 8 people's alert lists! Woo-hoo! Go me!

Ok, enough of the author patting herself on the back now.

Thanks to the following:

Saver: I love Chris too. Thanks for the review!

Tima: I'm glad the Cole thing works. Thanks for your review and for putting me in your C2 archive. I appreciate it!

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"Cole" Phoebe breathed out the word as awe-induced as if she'd just seen Jesus.

"It's been a long time." Cole took a step forward towards Phoebe. He held up his hands in protest at Piper's instinctual step forward, hands raised, ready-to-blast protection of her younger sister.

"Hmm… And yet... not long enough." Paige retorted. She wasn't moved by Phoebe's emotion or Cole's sincere looks. They'd been fooled by him before, it would never happen again.

"Yeah, didn't we vanquish you? Several times?" Piper asked angrily.

"I already explained that. You can't kill what you love most." Cole had firm control on his temper, knowing that if he showed any demonic tendencies towards the girls all his hard work would be for naught and they would vanquish him. Again.

"We don't love you. As a matter of fact, there's no one we hate more!" Paige screamed at him.

"You and Piper may hate me. But Phoebe doesn't. And never did. She couldn't have hated me even when she tried her hardest. Young Chris here said it best. You can't choose who you love. Do you two really think that if I had had any choice in the matter that I would have fallen in love with a witch? Much less a Charmed One? Demons devote their entire lives to killing the three of you. You know that. So why would I, Balthazor, heir to the Underworld, choose Phoebe? Maybe it started out as a way to break up the Power of Three; I'll be honest and admit that. But somewhere along the way, I fell in love. I didn't want to kill her. I wanted to keep her. "He grinned charmingly. "Granted, I probably didn't go about it in the right way. But I did make her my queen. And I cherished her enough to become human for her. But my demon blood just can't be denied. So instead of reaching my full destiny and being with my soul-mate like you." He nodded at Piper and Leo, "I am stuck, watching while the woman I love is married and has children with another man. A mortal man." His face twisted into a pain filled grimace. "And I can't even fulfill my demonic destiny, because to do that would be to kill the Charmed Ones. And I cannot kill Phoebe. Therefore, I'm stuck. Half a man, half a demon, and wholly miserable."

Phoebe's eyes were filled with unshed tears. "Cole… I do love you. I have to admit that. But only the human you. The one that asked me to marry him. The demon in you scares me. It always has. That part of you is what tore us apart. I love Les now. He is my future. He's not magical, but he is honest. He'd never trick me into anything. Certainly he'd never make me into something he knew that I would detest. You made me EVIL, Cole! How can you think I'll forgive that?"

Cole gathered his pride around him and visibly swallowed. "I don't expect you to forgive me. I was hoping, but I didn't expect it. You hold a grudge, Phoebe Halliwell. But I'm not here because of us. You made your choice, as I made mine. Instead, I'm here to help you."

"Help us? How? By supplying the foot that kicks us into the grave?" Paige screeched.

"God, I always hated you, Paige. You really are worse that Prue ever thought of being. If Phoebe wasn't your sister…" Cole dropped the threat at the look of anger in Phoebe's eyes.

"Aunt Paige. Stop it. I told you. Cole helped us. He didn't have to. But he did anyway. He deflected the darklighters attention from us to you guys. It let us blend in as demons." Wyatt started angrily.

"Welcome to the Thunder Dome, Ladies & Gentlemen. In this corner hailing from the devil's playground is Cole!" Chris playfully intoned the fake play by play into the conversation. Sometimes, his brother really needed to lighten up.

"Wyatt. Chris. Stop. Paige has the right to be upset. You weren't around when Cole was the first time. He caused this family a lot of heartache." Leo's voice was calm. "I'll only ask you this one time,Cole. Do you mean this family harm? And don't bother lying. In this room alone we have two empaths and an elder. We will know it."

"No. I do not want to harm anyone with Halliwell blood. Maybe one St. Clair, but I will control that urge. I came only to help with the Sextet. And to see Phoebe one more time." Cole's voice was steady and quiet, and full of conviction.

"He's telling the truth." Chris announced.

"Chris? Wyatt? I think something is off with my powers! I keep sensing a demon in the house, but there no sense of a threat. Is Maya here again, Chris?" Phyra's voice floated down the stairs.

"It's ok, Phy. It's not Maya, but you don't have to worry about it." Chris yelled back up to her.

She landed in front of him in a wash of blue & silver orbs. "What you mean don't worry about it? My powers are screwy! I keep sensing there's a demon here, Stupid!" she yelled at her amused cousin. Wyatt snorted with laughter. "What the heck is so funny Why-snot?" She shot her cousin a glare after using his hated nickname.

Chris laughed this time. "Turn around, short stuff."

Phyra turned, and saw Cole standing in front of her. "Oh My GOD! Is that… I mean… who brought… how… That looks like Balthazor's human side!" She finally gasped out, shocked.

"That's because it is, Phy. So, see nothing is wrong with your powers. There is a demon here." Chris explained.

"Have you all lost your minds? He possessed you, didn't he? I'll fix that!" Phyra shot a fire stream directly at Cole's head.

"Phyra, NO!" Chris shot the fire telekinetically into the bathroom shower. "He's not here to hurt anyone."

Cole snorted. "Let me guess, Paige's daughter?"

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"Ok. The Sextet lives in a green house. It is somewhere on this block, although I don't know for sure which one." Cole was sitting in the attic, making plans with Chris and Wyatt. Leo, Piper, Paige & Phoebe were in the attic, listening to the plans, still not totally sure they trusted Cole. Phyra had been calmed down and was in her room.

"A green house? How can you know that?" Wyatt asked curiously.

"Green is their sacred protection color. They have a protection shield up all the time around their home. It works about the same as your shield Wyatt, except that it deflects all sources of good. The shield is colored green, which will make the house look green. They won't risk ever putting the shield down, because it makes them vulnerable to attack."

"Hey, Wy. When this is over, you should work on putting your shield over the manor. Just think, no more screaming girlfriends when a demon attacks in the middle of se… uh, studying." Chris joked, his cheeks turning pink as his mother raised an eyebrow at him.

Wyatt smiled, but didn't say anything.

"Anyway" Cole continued with a grin of his own, "no mortal or good magic will be able to see the Sextet as anything other than a normal average human. Unless they attack you. However, demonic magic can see through their human shell. So, I came up with a plan that I think will work."