AN: I'm sorry for the delay! Again! I have to face the truth: I'm a slow writer... Anyway, here's the next chapter! Thank you for reading it, I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 8.

Piper and Chris arrived not much later. Phoebe was already overwhelmed by the large amount of emotional turmoil in the cave but when their sister and whitelighter joined them, she felt something largely different. She couldn't even pinpoint the accurate feeling, but she was sure that it must have come of Chris as Piper's emotions were blocked. She felt fear, confusion and strangely happiness at the same time and something else… maybe relief.

But neither Chris nor Piper said a word about what had happened to them: Chris just shrugged and Piper said 'later!' in a voice that brooked no opposition. However Phoebe decided that she will find out later.

Now she was very much occupied by Cole and his emotions. Since they came into this cave he didn't even move he just sat there, his back leant against the cave-wall and staring into nothingness. Phoebe wasn't sure if he knew where he was.

Chris started to arm the explosives. Where he knew about such thing was another thing that Phoebe decided to find out later! He worked quickly and a few minutes later they a little bit back further and Chris blasted the dynamite. It cause a huge rumble, the banging noise echoing off the walls of the cave. Smoke and dust filled the room but it sank down quickly and they found a huge opening where there the back-wall of the cave had been before and behind the opening a tunnel led somewhere.

Meanwhile Phoebe tried to look out not just for Cole but for the humans as well. There were seven of them: five men and two women and they were still quite scared. She could still find out that much that they haven't spent here a long time. One of the men – whose name was Phil – spent here almost two months and this was the longest time amongst them. After some persuasion they decided that they could trust Phoebe and her sisters.

So they all started off into the tunnel. Chris and Paige went forward, after them the prisoners huddled together, then Phoebe with Cole – she didn't feel like releasing his hand! – and Piper was the rear-guard.

They didn't walk for long when they heard noises from the cave they'd just left behind. And those were furious voices of some demons.

They immediately went into a higher gear.

Then the voices died out and a few seconds later another explosion shook the walls of the tunnel… Phoebe felt the wave of enormous magical power then everything around them seemed to collapse and she knew only darkness…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Phoebe opened her eyes again nothing changed. She saw only blackness and heard nothing.

"Somebody…?" she choked out and coughed.

She massaged her ears and they literally cracked. She realized that they must have been stuck because of the huge explosion. Now she could hear something… somebody moving around.

"Piper?" she asked and started to groping around.

Soon she touched rocks and not much time later a human hand. She would have realized it everywhere: it was Cole. He was awake, that much was sure because he drew his hand away instantly.

"Phoebe?" it was Piper's voice from further away.

"I'm here. Are you okay?"

"I think so… my temple is bleeding… but I don't think it's serious. You?"

"I'm fine."

"Paige?"

There was no answer and Phoebe meanwhile reached the spot where Piper was, then she crashed into rocks again.

"I don't think anybody else is here…" she mumbled soon as she realized that they were in a small pit that was created by the explosion.

"Chris!" Piper cried out for their whitelighter.

Nothing happened.

"Paige!" Phoebe tried as well but there was no answer either.

"Do you think that they…" Piper started but didn't finish the question.

"No!" Phoebe said categorically. "I'm sure we would know if something happened to Paige!"

"You are right."

Phoebe meanwhile moved back to Cole.

"Hey, dear" she started gently, "are you okay?"

She didn't expect an answer so she was more than stunned when she heard the faint question:

"Phoebe…?" his voice was barely audiable and Phoebe thought that she only imagined the word, but then Cole touched her hand and squeezed it slightly.

"Yes, it's me" she felt tears in her eyes. "It's me…"

"Where…?" he couldn't finish the question because he started to cough.

"We are still in the Underworld, in a cave" Phoebe said. Meanwhile she registered that Piper came closer to them. "The cave collapsed in and we can't get out."

She felt that Cole started to move and struggled into a sitting position.

"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked however she knew that he probably wasn't… still it was a great improvement that he spoke again.

Now he didn't answer though.

"Hey, Cole!" Piper said and Phoebe felt him tense to the sudden voice.

"It's okay!" Phoebe tried to calm him immediately. "It's only Piper."

"I'm sorry" Piper added. "I just wanted to ask… if maybe… couldn't you try to shimmer us out of here? Because I tried to call Chris but he doesn't answer…"

"Don't know…" Cole answered hoarsely. It sounded as if he had forgotten how to use his voice.

There was a longer silence then he added.

"Maybe…"

"All right, then. Maybe you should try. What could happen?" Phoebe encouraged him.

"We could fall into pieces…" came the quiet answer from the darkness.

"Great…" Piper mumbled under her nose.

"Then maybe we should still wait. Chris might come…" Phoebe said.

After that they sat in silence for a while. Phoebe moved closer to Cole and she felt that he wanted to pull away.

"Please, don't!" she said quietly. "I won't feel anything…"

He didn't answer but stayed where he was.

"Thank you…"

"It's quite airless here" Piper said and the sudden sound made even Phoebe jump not to mention Cole. "How long do you think it will last?" she asked carefully.

Phoebe hasn't thought about this so far.

"Shit!" she said.

"I hope somebody shows up here soon…" Piper added.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Paige was pacing back and forth in the attic. She was more than anxious… she was frantic. Where the hell was Chris so long! After the explosion they orbed out the prisoners and Paige went to Daryl and asked him to care about them. They probably were in a hospital right now. Chris meanwhile went back to bring out the others but now almost an hour went by and he wasn't back. Paige tried to sense her sisters but she wasn't too good at it especially not when she was this nervous. She even tried to orb back to the place where they were separated. But she had no luck, she guessed she didn't find the exact place.

So now she was pacing around and looking at her watch every two seconds.

Suddenly there were blue orbs but the relieved sigh died on her lips when Chris appeared alone.

"What happened?" she asked, or rather shouted.

"I couldn't sense them."

"Does this mean…?"

"No!" he cut in.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I would know if Piper… and Phoebe were dead…"

Paige missed his little hesitation, she was too much engulfed in her own worries.

"Any suggestions?" Paige asked.

"I'll go back to search for them… maybe we should call Leo as well…"

"Really? Is it that bad?" Paige knew that Chris never asked for Leo. Every time they met, it ended in an argument… or a shouting match.

Now he nodded though and Paige shouted immediately for her brother-in-law.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"How much time do you think passed?" asked Phoebe after a longer silent period. Nobody answered.

"Piper?"

"Hmmm…?" her sister mumbled.

"You mustn't sleep in!"

She suddenly realized that they must do something. She also started to feel light-headed. Clear symptoms that they didn't get enough oxygen.

"Cole?"

He squeezed her hand indicating that he was listening. Since they were here he didn't speak much: only a few words and no full sentences.

"I think you should try to shimmer us out after all…"

"What's wrong?" Piper asked clearly more awake now.

"We are short on air here. If we don't get out soon, we won't get out at all."

She could easily imagine the frown on her elder sister's face.

"If Cole feels up to it…" Piper said then hesitantly.

There was a long silence. Too long for Phoebe's liking but she didn't want to urge him into anything.

"Okay…" he said then quietly.

Phoebe heard Piper coming closer and felt Cole shudder. She knew that Piper must have touched his other hand.

"Let's go to the Manor…" Piper said.

Phoebe has shimmered with Cole plenty of times but this was nothing like those. It didn't go too smoothly. It was as if they were driving a car on the edge of breaking down. They appeared somewhere with a crash. Phoebe felt dizzy and felt Cole stumble forward. She made an attempt to hold him but with no use. She only achieved that Cole pulled her with himself and they both fell.

"This was like a rollercoaster…" moaned Piper.

Phoebe staggered into a kneeling position next to Cole. He was lying on his back breathing heavily.

"Are you all right?" she asked and Cole nodded slightly but he watched the ceiling of the room they were in and didn't look into Phoebe's eyes.

This was the moment when Phoebe realized that they were nowhere near the Manor. She looked around. They were in the Mausoleum: Cole's favorite hiding place. What did he tell? The second safest place he knew…

"Can you stand up?" she asked but Cole didn't react at all. "It seems we are back at the same point…" she said quietly.

"No," Piper who meanwhile walked to their side said, "he will get better. I'm sure."

In that moment between blue orbs two figures appeared Chris and Leo.

"You are okay!" the Elder ran to her wife and hugged her tightly.

"Yes. Let's get back home!" Piper gave out the order and they all disappeared together.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx