Title: Halfway Point
Author: Wicked dR
Disclaimers: Definitely Kern's. I forgot who the lyrics belong to...sorry.
Genre: Romance/Angst
Rating: same as good aul' Charmed.
Summary/Set: What if that visit when Phoebe went to ask Cole if he killed two criminals in a bar went another way?
Pairings: Leo/Piper, Cole/Phoebe.
"Spare me the judgmental crap," Cole snorted bitterly, "you have no idea what I'm going through right now. What is this anyway? Your toy doesn't behave you way you wanted it to? You lift me, you make me miserable, you give me the hope, you make me miserable, you offer a hand, you make me miserable all over again..."
"Even if I don't want you anywhere near, that doesn't mean we can't stay on the same side, but only if you want it too. Come on Cole, you're stronger than this, it is not me you should be wanting to be good, it's for yourself."
"But what does anything mean without love? We fight our wars, hurt ourselves, we live and die in the name of Love! We lose all things, to find the one, in the name of Love…did I just rhyme? Must be infectious…I was good. Hell, I could still be. But what for? You don't want me anyway, simply because I am a demon. Why does that matter I will never understand. Humans do unthinkable things, race is not what matters. It all depends on circumstances, genes, you know the drill. It isn't the race that's making an individual good."
"All right, in that case why did you kill all those two people in the bar? No answer? maybe because you're a demon! You know, a predatory animal that depends on the destruction of life for its existence? Actions, consequences Cole, as easy as that…"
"That is not true. I was frustrated."
"And that is an excuse?"
"It is god damn it, cause you didn't help me! I knew I was weird as a child, the other demons didn't really like me. I could never be happy down there. This is the only other place I could try. How do you think I can fare in an alien world without any guidance?"
"Did you feel, well, not right when you did all that killing?"
"Of course I did afterwards."
"But don't you understand? Guilt still doesn't make it right."
"Come on, Phoebe. Evil is not a real entity. It is relative."
"Relative, right. Yes, it would be your relative. Close relative," she mused.
"Nietzsche's relativity theory? You don't read up the textbooks while on boring university years?" Cole looked surprised, "Nietzsche holds evil to be purely relative. Its moral aspects at least, a transitory and non-fundamental concept. Besides, if I can not be human, had to find a place in the world. Or pretend that I did. Evil contributes to the perfection of the universe, as shadows to the perfection of a picture, or harmony to that of music. God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist, so in that way, one has to be imperfect, evil even to be able to strive towards excellence. It should be observed that the universal perfection to which evil in some form is necessary, is the perfection of this universe, not of any Universe. Metaphysical evil, that is to say, and indirectly, moral evil as well, is included in the design of the universe which is partially known to us. Evil is the temporary discord between what is and what ought to be. What I'm saying is, maybe what you see evil is not, just in your eyes. It's simply a side in the war."
"So? Now is that anything that justifies it? Evil is a matter of choice. I know that for sure. Grams' schooling," Phoebe added.
"We are on a different page, Phoebe."
"Look," she sighed, "people would be willing to give you a chance at doing good since you have a soul. But you can't afford any more mistakes," Phoebe encouraged Cole, "if not for me or anything else, but for the fact that there's actually one very good argument for taking our side. The Bible claims that good were to be victorious and evil were to be expelled from the world. Well, eventually. Interesting reading, I recommend it," she fought back with her own literal experience.
"So what you gonna do? Are you going to give me another chance?"
"One more Cole. But it's the last one. After that we will vanquish you," she stepped back into the elevator to leave.
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"Cole's perfectly aware of the fact that some whitelighters have a surveillance team on him day and night," Phoebe sat down on arrival from work a few weeks later.
"Do you know that for sure? Did he talk to you about that?" Piper questioned.
"Yes, he mentioned it. He is completely ok with it. A step further in our direction than he was before."
"Speaking of which…I'm happy that you talk to him now."
"Really? I wouldn't though the opposite, that you would all be worried. I have no right to endanger everybody. I mean, look, we all know what happens if…"
Piper shook her head, "if what? If he looses it? There's more chance of that if he is isolated."
"I told him I'm just there as a friend. We don't stand a chance if we give in to our love again. I can't let it go too far."
"Demonic emergency!" Paige orbed in, "and believe me, it's not what you'd expect."
tbc
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Chapter 2: Strong Suit
Right after he solidified in the manor, it became apparent for Cole that something was wrong. Again. This wasn't a good year, especially physically. So really wasn't. First, he was chased around and hurt by bounty hunters down left and centre, lost his powers, got overpowered by a stronger force, got vanquished, then felt so lost all the time. And Phoebe...the thought stung him every hour. Although she has given him another chance to prove himself, he wished she could completely relax when being with him. Sleeping in a bed that was at the other side of town from her and not making love to her was getting increasingly difficult. This wasn't going to be a good day either, he could see that as Piper stood in the hall, rapidly mumbling something into the phone, jolting something down at the same time. He could see and smell the after marks of some smaller fires in two different spots of the hallway. He stopped to survey the scene.
That was when she noticed him. She put down the phone, "thank God you're here! Leo already went after you. How you feeling?"
" How am I feeling! Piper, what's going on?"
"Uh, you know nothing about it?"
"Nothing about what?"
"That's great, it means you're ok. At the moment. What it is that there is something strange going on today with the demons that attacked us today. Before they could do anything, they started collapsing and/or bursting into flames unexpectedly all over the place. And we have done nothing to cause that…point is, there is something happening to them. Leo says it's everywhere. Like an epidemic."
"I can take care of myself," he said firmly, happy to see her concerned.
"No, you can't take care of yourself, at least not now with this. We saw two patterns for developing this disease. One raises your temperature slowly, the other just erupts suddenly as a spontaneous combustion. And even if you don't have the infection or whatever this is, Leo could use you to figure out why you don't have it."
"Why? I mean, don't you want all demons to die anyway?"
"We do, but we don't like having no clue about anything."
"Riight," Cole hesitated a bit, just to sort out his thoughts on the matter, "okay. So what does Leo want with me?"
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Piper had sprawled out a big map all over the table. It was marked with red crosses in several places.
Leo was speaking, "huh, don't ask so many questions at the same time! With no other clues, one of the Elders had decided to consult with an ultimate force they hardly ever contact. Don't ask me what, I don't know much. What I know is that he was told the way the geographical landscape is right now on Earth, it leaves way for several hot spots, portals to other worlds, demonic worlds we had once been associates with, that was around the time of the druids."
"Wait," Piper stopped, "in ancient times, human allied with demons?"
"Apparently...we forgot the portals existed because nobody in our dimension uses them. At least not from this side. I'm not sure any demon would have known about them at all. Anyways, as far as the illnesses are concerned, when you measure radiation in hot spots, it seems like interplanetary radiation, something that is more likely to harm us rather than demons. But looked at it carefully, it seems like an odd spectrum of background radiation, containing several molecules that potions contain as well. Similar enough to hurt Cole and the others. But it would definitely make them sick on the long term. As to why different demons got sicker: it depends on how much time they had spent next to just closed portals. Thing is, we either need to keep Cole up there where he is with the Elders in protection all the time, which I must say they would object strongly to, or find a way to close those portals from the other side an... "
"But," took over Paige, "we could just let them all die and be happy for the rest of our lives."
"No. Demons are more susceptible to these particles, but there was an increase of human spontaneous combustions in the last week all over the world. Eventually it will harm you too."
"So," Piper concluded, "we don't actually know what kind of treats could face us at the other side of those portals, but they want us to go save the world again."
"Like as soon as possible," Leo admitted, "according to an exponential model one of our Elders worked out," Leo said, "there is a portal on Potrero Hill. Could you Phoebe write a spell to get us to the other side?" He organised, "it will give everybody the chance to collect some weapons, books, potions, put self protection spells into application, whatever..."
Piper sighed as her sisters went upstairs, "so, we're ready to go to an alien world to do the Elders 'job? Why? I never understood why they don't get involved if they are so powerful. They could help us occasionally you know. But no, they run scared."
"I never said I agree with them," Leo pulled her close, and his lips towards hers.
Pulling back a bit, the witch gazed into her whiteligher's eyes and lovingly caressed his face.
He laid her hand on her shoulder, "better now?" he asked him tentatively.
"Maybe," she kissed him one again, then pushed him away abruptly, "weren't we supposed to get some potions?"
tbc
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Chapter 3: In The Company Of Gods
The sisters braced themselves for the shock, or whatever expected them at the other side, but nothing happened, so Phoebe lifted her piece of paper again to enable everybody to repeat the spell, "we call the spirits,
To help undo
And send us off
To the other side through."
"Great," Paige acknowledged their failed attempt.
"Any ideas people?" Piper asked.
"Maybe the power of three is not enough to open this portal," Phoebe offered.
"That is correct," a humanlike, but definitely not human creature told them. They couldn't say if the being was male or female, and it was even possible gender didn't matter where it came from. They could see its mouth moving, absolutely certain she wasn't talking English, yet they could understand it. Its body was covered with blue soft looking scales, its eyes were blue too, its big pupils were shaped a lot elliptical than what a human's would be, and its hair was spilling down in the back, reaching its tail, "you're too weak of a life form to able to cross our shields. We're quite surprised actually that you exist. We regularly travel to other planets taking on invisible forms as not to interfere with their worlds, but haven't been to yours in what you call thousands of years. We were sure you would be extinct now, no life can survive very long without accepting an alliance with demons. Demons can only exist with humans around, and also the other way round."
"Ah, yes," Leo interrupted diplomatically before the girls could state their affiliation, "we tried to contact you because there is a problem with the demons. They get sick because of your portals."
"Well, of course, we didn't know you existed. The portals become approachable by themselves at this side sometimes, depending how the landscape moves. We will rectify the problem immediately," the creature turned to Phoebe, "you have a love interest here don't you, but you keep him a safe distance from the emissions?"
"We thank you," Leo still stood in front of the girls, before Phoebe could ask how it knew that, although she couldn't imagine anything else than mind reading. She was just thinking about Cole.
"Very well, young adviser," it addressed Leo, "now go. Do not dare to contact us again," with that it was gone.
"Don't start," Leo lifted his palm to stop the slack coming, "you might have the power of three, but they are the ones you don't mess with. They have their own world, it does not concern us. Especially that it is better for us if they think we co-operate with demons."
"And the Elders wanted to send us in their world?" Piper complained nevertheless, "how come I'm not surprised?"
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Piper and Phoebe were filling potion ingredient jars and having chitchat. They could afford it, the demon plague, now completely eradicated thanks to them, had the side effect of having a toll on demon numbers who would've wanted to attack them.
"What's up with you and Cole?" Piper asked.
"What should there be?" Phoebe answered, "zilch. He's keeping his distance, like I told him I'd expect from him if he wanted us to stay friends. I mean, I still care about him, but who wants the complications?"
"But you are aware of the fact that he is still totally and madly in love with you. You can tell by the way he looks at you. He is waiting around for you to give in."
"All the more reason I should start dating again. Maybe it gives him the clue."
"Maybe...Leo!" Piper frowned as her husband orbed in, "why do you keep interrupting our conversations about...Cole?" She stammered as the very demon blurred into the manor as well.
"We have a problem," both the whitelighter and the demon said at the same time.
"What? I thought every demon who got the plague is convalescing," Piper held.
"The Foldonkivulis," Cole said.
"The whos?" Phoebe retorted, "I never saw a demon called so complicated in the book."
"That is because they are aliens Phoebe," Leo answered, "the demon kind we met when going to the portal. Apparently they came over to sightsee now that they know we exist and found a witch vanquishing a demon. They were not very happy about it and are coming to fix the problem."
"Like about now," Cole's sword collided with the first scaly alien demon to materialize, followed by about a few dozen more. Right after that, the roof was taken off by a see through jellylike dragon. Or more so, a dragon like jelly.
tbc
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Chapter 4: Clatter Of The Titans
Cole thrust his weapon he charged with the enormous energy that resided in his body since the wasteland towards the demon's head so that he could finish it as quickly as possible. Concentrating all his energy into the tip of his blade, anything that the sharp edge touched has been vanquished on spot. Powerful beings these might have been, but they didn't think that a demon as powerful as Cole will fight against them. The dragon like creature was flying so close now he felt the air being moved by its wings.
The rest of the group was engaged by several demons at a time. Cole tried to keep some of his attention reserved for the dragon because, as if sensing who was volunteering to be its adversary, it started to circle above his head. He was occupied with the other demons when the being floated exactly over his head.
It started to let its legs down to get him when there was a large crossbow fired into the its undefended underbelly. It let out a horrifying howl and then thick and yellow blood rain poured on them. The dragon drew back and trembled. At that moment, with a rasping snarl, it opened its mouth and let out a breath of fire. Demons squealed and wailed loudly as the wounded dragon missed aim and set several of them on fire.
In the commotion caused by this Cole had time to look into the direction the arrow came from and saw that Leo had orbed us on top of what was left of the building.
Leo winked at him, as if saying, who says whitelighters can't have poisonous arrows? He flew more arrows into the dragon, incapacitating its wings until it lost equilibrium and knocked dozens of demons down by its fall. Leo orbed down next to him, drawing more arrows while Cole surprised the Foldonkivulis by continuously working with his energy filled sword.
The area in front of them only emptied for a few seconds until the demons reached fighting distance again, cornering, or materialising at the other side of the large jello that was covering their front garden now, flowing everywhere and killing off the flowers.
A demon materialized in front of Leo. Its weapon landed in his chest and the pain lanced through him. He stumbled and fell onto his back. A slim demon stood over him, proud, ready to deliver a final blow, saying something that translated as "stupid lackey..." as they understood it.
Cole, easily slaying through demons, could not let it conclude its attack. Leaping with all his strength, he cut it with his sword, causing a large gash on the neck of the fish like demon. It backed away, looking in disbelief while it fell to the ground. Cole turned to face the attacking crowd with blood running down his clothes, with his hair dishevelled and with a feral grin on his features.
Leo wasn't sure he wasn't hallucinating when everything seemed to start to happen in slow motion. But no, only the demons moved in slow motion behind a current of some sort that Cole created with the wave of his hand. When the oscillation reached the hoard of demons, it slowed their movements down even more. As they tried to get near to Cole, Leo and the sisters, they were practically stationary. The girls, able to move in real time had it easy slashing back at as many demons they wished to.
"How did you do that?" Leo asked Cole as the demon was grabbing him from the back at his armpits and hauling him across the ground a little bit further away from the demons and placed him with his back to the wall to give him a few seconds to reconstitute.
"I've drown from the energy of the demons around us," Cole specified his actions, "but it will only be temporary!" He joined the others, his handsome figure already dancing with the sword.
Piper directed a worried look at her injured husband. Because no matter how slow they were moving, the demons were still enough in numbers, and materialising in larger and larger numbers around them to push through towards him.
Leo grunted, pushed himself to his feet, and stumbled back towards the wall, leaning on it as Piper could see that the gash on his shirt was closing as well.
"Look!" Cole said, reaching for him and pointing backwards.
"What?" He asked. He wasn't for dividing his attention just now.
"What's that?" Cole pointed past him again, towards where the sunroom used to be. They all glanced to where he had pointed, "I think it's a portal…I can sense it," Cole said.
"More demons? Exactly what we needed," Leo staggered closer to them.
"No! That's it! That was a the weird unconnected premonition from this morning!" Phoebe exclaimed, "I saw this. Walk though it! Come on, quickly!"
"Not that I like it here, but who knows what is at the other side!" Paige protested, orbing demonic energy directed at them right left and centre, "why don't we just orb where we want to?"
"They would follow," Cole shouted.
"It makes sense now," Phoebe levitated in her direction so that she can hear all of what she said previously too, "I saw it, the premonition showed me what to do. I just didn't know at the time this was it because it didn't look like a premonition at all…"
Piper fell to her knees and Leo grabbed her, himself quite with it now, "come on!" He was walking over with her to the rainbow coloured hole that was right at the tattered rose bushes behind them.
The portal oscillated when he touched it, "Cole! Do you know what this..." and suddenly it sucked him in with Piper.
"Over with the heroics, we flee now?" Cole mused, "you coming, Phoebe?"
Paige jumped at the same time as them.
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Leo looked around at the other side, feeling dizzy from the jump. It was hard for him to make everything out at first. But as the group started to file out from behind him, the portal shut, the sparkling colours disappeared and he could see now that they were standing in a large, but ordinary looking underworld cave.
"Everybody okay?" He heard Phoebe's concerned voice.
"Uhmm…yeah. What are we doing here?" Paige marvelled.
Cole just stood there for a moment, arms crossed, looking at the six demons in front of them. He looked around at the others and then back to Phoebe, who was standing next to her sisters.
"Wouldn't be appropriate if you made the introductions?" A blonde demon addressed him.
Cole cleared his throat, "eee...this is the new chamber who rules the underworld in absence of a sole leader."
"I wish I knew which was worst," Paige cogitated, "the situation we were in a minute ago, or this."
"Shut up human cockroach or I squash your verminlike brain!" A demon with big floppy ears said.
"Hey, Hey!" Cole stepped closer in defence of his people.
The demon who just talked walked over and looked him over thoroughly, "you are the most powerful. There are such kinds of dark forces within you we are not even sure where it originates. Why don't you use them?"
"Yeah, well," Phoebe took a fighting stance, "please somebody tell me whether I'm meant to kick ass or…"
"No, let's see what they want," Piper looked at Cole, "right?"
Phoebe gazed at him for a long minute as well, then complied.
"I don't understand why you can't silence your supporters," the it creature they once met at the portal appeared, similar to the ones that attacked them, "and why do you wish them to have intimate intercourse with you," she turned towards Cole.
"I wish what? Ah, that. Well, not all of them," Cole started at it befuddled. Even if the creature possessed mind reading powers, he wasn't thinking about that right then. Well, in that exact moment anyway.
Leo took the initiative again, "we actually don't exactly know what is happening here."
"We shown you our immense power," the creature said, "you've got a chance now. Make a peace treaty with the demons and we'll let you live. Demons, state your conditions."
"As the only alive member of the Brotherhood, the ex Source and the most powerful demon that gives," the nasty demon that addressed them previously said, "we want Belthazor to take part in a dark rite that would appoint him as our protector. With him with us, we will never have to fear any witch. How about that?"
Cole refused to look anywhere near the direction of Phoebe, pedalling backwards unconsciously, as if wanting to get out the deal somehow. However, "we can't fight the Foldonkivulis. I'd give an hour and we'd be dead," he said.
"There's no deal," Phoebe said, hoping her sisters would agree.
"I thought you would say that," the Foldonkivuli said, "we are from a far away galaxy. Everything is so primitive here, even the demons. It will take a few hundreds of years before you learn to coexist, if so, we understand that."
"Then what is it you want?" Leo asked.
"We want your most precious asset on this planet, energy wise, for both sides, whichever one he would choose. He is out of place here and we could like to study how such a jump in evolution was possible. Give us Cole."
"I'm yours as you wish," Cole offered, before the Foldonkivuli would change its mind again. It wasn't a matter of choosing. He would've sacrificed himself for Phoebe any day. Sacrifice. Was one thing demons would never understand. How better could he prove himself to Phoebe? Even if he had to die in the process, although he doubted the Foldonkivulis would kill him. He would find a way back eventually. He nodded in the direction of the creature.
"I'll never be ready to say good-bye!" Phoebe cried out, but by that time they were back to a somehow untouched manor with Cole and the Foldonkivuli gone.
tbc
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Chapter 5: Drop In
Because Phoebe experienced it in a premonition before, the chime of the doorbell in the new house they lived in three years along the line had her heart pounding every time it clanged. She rushed to the door this time as well, to find the man of her dreams at the other side, the man she once rejected but now had the experience and knew she couldn't live without. She folded her arms around him as much as she could and wept.
Cole held her, "it's okay, Phoebe. They won't come back for me or anything else, I was able to make a deal with them."
She pulled him inside, "I missed you so much," she looked into his eyes, smiled and softly brushed her lips against his, "I want to do everything right. It could be too perfect between us to let it go."
The End.