Wicked Game
Summary: AU. When Cole is back in town and after the sisters again, Phoebe is forced to reveal a secret that she never meant to keep.

Chapter Three: A Little Less Hocus Pocus, A Little More Witches of Eastwick.

Adelie was barely able to respond to the stranger's question. "Yes, I'm Pandora Ayres," she replied quietly. The image of this man killing Everett kept replaying in her mind, making it hard for her to concentrate on her words. "But I go by Adelie," she finally managed, after what seemed like hours of silence. "W-Who are you?"

"My name is Cole," he replied. "I need to talk to you about something very important. If you'd let me come in…"

"Right now's not a good time," she said quickly. She narrowed her eyes on him. No one had ever called her Pandora, and even less actually knew that it was her real name. She had always wondered why her foster parents didn't change it. "How'd you know my name?"

Cole mentally scorned himself. Again, a plan would have been better. He never was a fan of improvising. "I can explain if you'd just let me in. I'll only take a minute of your time."

Adelie paused. Nothing promised that whatever she had seen when she touched the doorknob was the truth. As far as she knew, Everett was alive and kicking, and this man was as innocent as the next. But she had to find out for herself. Something deep inside her, in her heart, told her to trust her vision. Not this Cole. "I'm sorry."

She closed the door in his face, though softly.

Cole growled, a demonic tone coming through because of his anger. He disappeared in an eruption of flames.

- - - -

Paige stared at her sister. That was all she was able to do after she had been told what had been kept from her. She didn't say a word for at least a couple minutes, but her eyes were more piercing than anything she could ever say. The whitelighter-witch was hurt, yes, but she still loved Phoebe. And she was having a hard time seeing why she would do such a thing.

But Paige was a Whitelighter. Moreover, she was a sister. And now, maybe more than ever, her sister needed her guidance. And she'd be there for her no matter what.

"React later, Paige," Piper said. "We've got to get to Pandora before Cole."

Piper flipped through the Book of Shadows furiously, looking for any information on the warlocks that had attacked the earlier day. She was only half paying attention to the old, worn pages of the book, though, and a voice in the back of her mind whispered calm down, concentrate. But she ignored it and kept flipping.

Phoebe knew what her sister was doing: keeping her hands busy. She had done it for as long as the psychic could remember, a trick she had learned from Grams. God, that had been so long ago. She took some comfort in the fact that some things never changed- Piper's coping mechanism, the way she panicked and put herself through hell because she didn't know any better. Phoebe had seen her sister in this state many times, but this time, this time it was different. It was her fault.

Piper suddenly stopped and stared down at the open book. Paige and Phoebe joined her, one sister on each side of her. A picture of one of the warlocks that had attacked a day earlier took up the top right corner of the page.

Piper read aloud from the page. "Warlocks of Tempest, the only known clan of warlocks. They've killed witches for centuries and stolen their powers. They cultivate in this power and train themselves.."

"This is in Prue's handwriting," Phoebe said, running a finger down the side of the page.

"Okay, so we know now that Cole's directing a whole clan of warlocks," Paige said. "That means he has gained rank in the past twenty years."

"We need to get to Pandora fast," Piper said.

Downstairs, Everett left the confines of the kitchen to take a break from all the emotions he was receiving from his sister and their cousins. Confusion, anger, fear- he couldn't block them all out. For a moment, he pondered about heading upstairs and checking on his mother and aunts- but he quickly relinquished the thought. If Paris and his cousins were taking it this hard, then he couldn't even begin to fathom what emotions were swirling around the attic.

He made his way through the living room and stopped at a window that faced the street. Though it was barely past eleven, the sky gave way to a nice, warm day; white tufts of clouds here and there, harmless entities that reminded him of childhood summers spent imagining them being animals and other objects.

Everett was snapped out of his daydream when heard a knock on the front door. He went to the foyer and opened the door.

On the other side was Adelie, his coworker from The Bay Mirror. Something about her was different, however. Her face wasn't the smile that seemed to come so natural to her. And her black hair was messily pulled back into a ponytail.

"Everett? Thank god."

Everett chuckled. "Adelie, I didn't expect you to be here. Right now's not really a good time…"

"Do you know a man by the name of Cole?"

Everett's breath caught in his chest. He took a few steps back and opened the door wider. "Come on in, Adelie."

She came in, sheepishly looking around the Manor but not taking any of it in. She turned around when Everett shut the door. "So, do you?"

"Uhh… why do you ask?"

Adelie looked down. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

She paused. Everett could tell that she was fighting with herself. Finally, she said, "I had a… vision. This man, Cole, he came to my apartment this morning and wanted to talk to me. I wouldn't let him in, but…" She looked at him. "When I touched the doorknob, I felt like I was going to puke. And I saw him kill you."

Everett didn't say anything. It all came to him, in that moment after her words had been processed in his mind. Adelie Ayres. Pandora Adelie Ayres. God, he had been working next to her for months and it hadn't even hit him. Now that he looked at her, he could see his- their mother in her, and Cole as well.

"I'll be right back, Adelie," he said quickly. "Don't go anywhere."

Moments later, Everett came down the stairs with his mother and his aunts. Once Phoebe's eyes drifted to Adelie, she stopped in her tracks and gasped. Before anyone said anything, three demons shimmered into the center of the foyer- Adelie screamed.

"Piper! Freeze her!" Paige yelled.

Piper flicked her wrists in Adelie's direction, but nothing happened. "What's going on?" Piper asked, panic in her voice.

"You can't freeze her," Phoebe said quietly. "She's family."

Piper looked at Phoebe, then at the demons. Simultaneously, Piper flicked her wrists and Paige slashed the air with her arm. One demon flew backwards in a flurry of orbs and the other exploded.

Everett summoned a thermal ball, a mixture of psychic and fire energy, in his palm and threw it at the demon that had been thrown backwards. He screamed as he was killed.

Phoebe levitated into the air and kicked the remaining demon to the ground. She kneeled beside him, putting her hands close to either side of his head. Electricity-like bolts traveled from her hands to his brain and he began to scream in pain. Then he exploded.

Piper, Paige, and Everett looked at Adelie as soon as what had just happened settled into their minds. Slowly, Phoebe stood and looked at her daughter.

"Oh my God," Adelie whispered. She longed to be home- and she suddenly shimmered there.

- - - -

When she reached solid ground, it felt as if her stomach was going to rise up her throat and out her mouth. Adelie held onto the kitchen counter and doubled over, coughing, trying to process what had just happened.

How did those three men just magically appear in the foyer? And how had those women defeated them? And what was with that purple fireball thing that Everett had held in his hand?

Oh God, she thought to herself. This was a headache waiting to happen.

- - - -

"Well, we found Pandora," Piper said, walking into the kitchen. She was followed by Paige, Phoebe, and Everett.

"More like she found us," Everett said, leaning against the island. Mel, Perry, Paris, and Peyton were sitting at the kitchen table. "I can't believe I was working with her. I had no idea."

"Well, we know she has her powers and that she's safe," Paige said.

"She may have her powers, but she doesn't know how to use them," Phoebe said. "She could've shimmered anywhere in the world."

"I doubt it," Everett said. "She probably wanted to be home… so that's where she shimmered."

"Wait, what happened?" Peyton asked.

"Pandora- who obviously goes by her middle name, Adelie- had a premonition that Cole killed me. She came to check up on me and three demons attacked. We used our powers in front of her and she kind of freaked, and shimmered away."

"Where do we go from here?" Mel asked.

"I can get her address at the office," Everett said. "Paris, you can come with me. We'll go to her apartment and try to explain things."

"I don't think she'll be too receptive," Piper replied.

"It's worth a shot," Paris said.

"Mel, Peyton, Perry, you three stay here," Paige said. She looked at her sisters. "We have a demon to deal with."

- - - -

Paris kept quiet. The fact that she had an older sister had hit her harder than anyone had expected- and no one had noticed. That was fine by her, she didn't want them to worry about her. Everett had always been the one to take charge- though she wasn't a pushover, she'd much rather keep everyone else safe. Defensive rather than offensive.

She followed her brother through the doors of The Bay Mirror office. The building was filled with the sound of ringing telephones and keyboards clacking. Everett muttered some short greetings to his coworkers and went straight for what Paris assumed was Adelie's office.

"We each have business cards," he explained to her. "So her address should be on her business card."

Paris just silently acknowledged the information and shut the door behind her as her brother searched their sister's desk.

"Calm down."

"What?" Paris asked.

"You're nervous," Everett said, without stopping the search. "I can feel it. Your nervous, scared, angry."

"I wish you would stay out of my head," she snapped.

Everett plucked a card from the mess of papers on the desk and turned around to face his sister. "I don't need to be a telepath to know what you're going through. I'm going through it too, sis." He took a step towards her. "I know you hate mom for keeping our sister from us, and I did too, at first. But she is our mother and she had her own reasons for doing what she did."

Paris sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm fine, really."

She was lying and he knew it. And she knew he knew that she was lying. But some things were better saved for later, when time allowed for them to be discussed.

Everett put on his all-famous smile and held up the card. "Let's go get our sister."

- - - -

"Table!"

The dining room table was covered in orbs and disappeared; it reappeared on its side, a cover for Mel, Perry, and Peyton. The trio quickly hid behind it when three energy balls were sent their way.

"And silly me thought it'd be easy to just stay home," Perry said. He rose his arms into the air and flicked his wrists blindly towards the five demons in the dining room. His blasts only hit one, but it only sent him stumbling backwards.

Mel counted to ten slowly before she stood up and stretched her arms out. "Energy balls!" Luckily, all five of the demons had energy balls in their palms. They disappeared and suddenly reappeared, flying towards their original masters.

Perry and Peyton stood up, a collective sigh of relief moving through them. But then five more demons materialized in front of them.

Peyton's hand shot up and his force field surrounded them. The demons summoned energy balls and threw them, but the force field neutralized them.

"Well, this is pretty much a stand-off," Mel said, her voice raised.

"Do you think you could let down your shield quick enough to let us attack?" Perry asked.

"No," Peyton replied. "They're not letting up at all."

"Then can you make so that our powers can go through your shield?" Mel asked, after hesitating a moment.

"I've never tried before."

"There's a first time for everything."

- - - -

"Cole!"

Paige's voice reverberated off of the mausoleum's walls. She stood in the center of the stone tomb and looked towards the sky.

"You're looking the wrong way," Piper said, walking towards her. "Besides, he can't hear you."

"Hopefully," Phoebe said quietly.

"Cole!" Paige shouted again. Once more, no response.

"Even if he could hear us, what do you plan to do, Paige?" Piper asked, her eyes scanning the mausoleum. "He's obviously more powerful than he used to be. The Power of Three might not be enough."

Paige sighed and looked at her elder sister. "When has the Power of Three never been enough? Damn it, Piper, stop being so pessimistic. Yeah, okay, Phoebe made a mistake. But she's come clean now and that's all that matters. She's still your sister. Nothing's changed."

Piper started to say something when Cole flamed into the mausoleum.

"You called?"

- - - -

Perry flicked his wrists, but the blast just hit the shield.

"Come on, Peyton," encouraged Mel. "You can do it."

The whitelighter-witch closed his eyes and concentrated. Perry flicked his wrists again and this time, the blast hit one of the demons in the chest.

"Yes!" shouted Mel. "Demon!" She sliced the air and a demon went flying backwards.

Perry flicked his wrists again and again and the demon finally blew up. He opened his palm and froze the remaining demons.

"Peyton, go invisible. Put your shield down. We'll move and surprise them from behind," Perry said.

The force field disappeared and so did Peyton. Perry and Mel moved behind the remaining four demons and took fighting stances. Perry unfroze them and delivered a roundhouse kick to the demon in front of him. He fell to the floor and growled.

Mel astral projected behind the demon she faced when he realized she was behind him. "Over here!" she called. He turned around and she sent him flying with orbs. Midair, Perry blew him up.

Peyton took a hold of an athame that he kept in his back pocket and sliced the demon's throat. He fell to the ground and burst into flames.

The last demon stood up and growled at the trio, then shimmered away.

- - - -

"Cole!"

Cole squinted his eyes when he felt the orbs cover him, the blinding light disorienting him as well as throwing him backwards. He hit the stone wall hard and slumped to the floor.

Piper flicked her wrists several times in secession and several blasts hit Cole's chest.

"Why isn't he dead yet?" Piper asked, panic in her voice. "We've hit him harder than we've ever done it before. I don't think even the Source could've put up with that."

Cole laughed and then stood up. "You're wrong, once again, Piper. I am the Source." He summoned a fireball in his palm and threw it at the sisters.

Phoebe pushed against the air with her arms and, using her empathy to tap into Cole's powers, sent the fireball back to him. He extinguished it before it hit him.

He summoned another one and threw it at Piper, but it phased through her. "Nifty little power, eh?" she said sarcastically. She opened her palms again and again. He stumbled backwards.

"Cole!" He disappeared in orbs again and appeared against the opposite wall.

"Damn it," he cursed, standing up. He straightened his black suit. "You're not going to hurt me. The only way you could come close is with Phoebe's mind link, and I highly doubt that she wants to get that close to me."

He smirked at Phoebe. She smirked back. Tapping into his powers again, she disappeared in flames and appeared behind him. She rose her hands to either side of his head, made the link, and started to kill him.

Cole strained to raise his arms and take a hold of hers. Once he gripped her, he flipped her over him, throwing her towards her sisters. Paige raised her hand and her sister disappeared in orbs, reappearing beside her, standing.

"I underestimated you," Cole growled, obviously still in pain. "A mistake I won't make again."

He began to flame out, but Phoebe stopped him by calling out his name. "I swear, if you go near our daughter one more time, I will kill you. We've vanquished the Source before, we're not afraid to do it again."

Cole's face sobered immediately. He disappeared.