A/N: I know my chapters are really short, I'm sorry. I can combine them together but that'll just mean less updates. I can try to write the scenes longer, but seeing as how I write at a snail's pace and I only have time to indulge in this during the weekend that's liable to result in even less frequent updates. Anyway, I don't think I have it in me. I'm by nature a person of few words. There's a reason why I barely passed English class back in the good old days of school. Try handing in a 1200 word essay when the assignment asked for 3000. (But I ask you, how much analysis can a person do on a 10 line poem!.?) One feedback said I was concise, another told me I need to develop my ideas more. Po-tay-to, Po-ta-to. Having said all that, I suppose I'm rambling on here so never mind. On with the story.

5.

Cole walks aimlessly down a deserted street. It was the middle of the night and he has nowhere to go. After leaving the manor, he had debated what to do next. He briefly considered the mausoleum but there was really nothing there left for him. He tried shimmering, not necessarily to the Underworld but just to anywhere but where he was. He found he couldn't do that either. It seems he no longer has any magical powers; he is now inexplicably completely mortal. Cole isn't sure how to feel about that, he has been bombarded with too many emotions in the past few hours to sort it all out.

With no place to go, Cole found himself wondering the streets of San Francisco and going over what had transpired earlier at the Halliwell house. Phoebe said she had brought him back, that they have another chance. What he wouldn't have given to have her say those words to him when he had came back from the waste land all those years ago. But now? Now it's too late. Did he still love her? Absolutely, but as Phoebe herself once said to him in one of a million times she shattered his heart, love isn't enough.

Funny thing about being stuck in a cosmic void, you're left with nothing but your own thoughts. And with eternity to think a person can go one of two ways. Completely crazy talking to oneself or obtain a celestial clarity. Having already gone one way while he was alive, Cole had nowhere to go but to the other end of the spectrum. Looking back he realized it never could've been. He was a demon and she a witch. Nothing could've been more opposite; black and white, night and day. Everything literally from heaven to hell and in-between stood in their way. Their pairing had brought unspeakable perils to both their lives. It was a wonder they managed to survive as long as they did as it was.

But you're not a demon anymore, a little voice in Cole's head piped up now. For all intent and purposes you're mortal now. Maybe Phoebe's right, maybe there's another chance. Cole shook his head vigorously to get rid of the stray thought. It's too late. Even if he is mortal, he can't do it again. Phoebe claims she wants them to try again, but what's to say she won't change her mind when circumstances change? She had certainly gone back and forth enough times over the years they had known each other. No, he won't subject his bruised and battered heart to her fair-weathered love. If that means he has to shut his heart then so be it. He can't get hurt if he won't let her in.

Besides which, he wasn't entirely convinced of her intentions despite what she said. That blast Phoebe jolted him with hurt. A lot. Not too long ago or maybe it was, time becomes inconsequential in the cosmic void, he saw Zankou appear briefly there before disappearing to the waste land and beyond. He had no doubt it was the Charmed Ones that had vanquished him. Maybe after getting rid of the demon that even the Source of All Evil had feared, the sisters had nothing else better to do than to summon old foes just to torture them for the fun of it. Could Phoebe really be that cruel? Cole shook his head again. He wasn't going to stay and find out that was for certain.

A deep growl from his stomach brings Cole back to his current predicament. He has no money, no place to go, nothing more than the clothes on his back. He hadn't needed any nourishment when stuck between life and death. But now that he is back in the land of the living, it feels like he hadn't eaten in... well, years.

Cole nearly jumps out of his skin when a car horn blasted. He barely makes it off to the sidewalk from where he was standing in the middle of the road lost in his thoughts, when a car sped past. Cole distinctly smelling the scent of alcohol out of the open window where the driver was waving his arm and yelling about damn homeless people getting off the streets.

Looking up at the building he's standing in front of, Cole sighs resignedly as he pulls open the door to the homeless shelter and walks in. This will at least give him something to placid his stomach and rest for the night until he can figure out what to do.

----

"Morning Piper!" Paige said brightly as she sat down at the kitchen table grabbing a plateful of the delicious breakfast her sister had laid out, careful not to spill anything on her newly pressed pant-suit.

Taking in her youngest sister's appearance which normally consists of overall PJs and bunny slippers this time of day, Piper inquires "You're all dress up this morning. What's up?"

"I got a call from my old boss at Bay Social Services yesterday. Seems there's an influx of cases lately and they're short staffed. He practically begged me to come back. I figured since I'm not heading Magic School anymore I can give this another try. It's a source of income. I want to contribute around here. I mean, you've got P3 and Phoebe has her column."

"Paige, we've had this discussion before. You contribute plenty to this household, it's more than about just paying the bills."

"I know, I know. But it's something I want to do. Speaking of Phoebe, how is she doing?" Paige said by way of changing the subject.

"I don't know. She hasn't come out of her room. I'm really worried about her. She has gone through so many highs and lows in the past week. From thinking her premonition will never come true, to learning the truth about Cole and the hope that came with it, then finally to have him back after so many unsuccessful attempts, only for him to run out on her. It's enough to push even the Dalai Lama off the deep end."

"I know what you mean. But this isn't something we can fix. No spell or potion will mend Phoebe's heart. Only Cole can. We need to find him somehow."

Piper nods in agreement. "But I don't know where to go from here. We already tried scrying for him last night. He's nowhere to be found."

"You don't suppose he went down to the Underworld do you?" Paige asks nervously.

"I hope not. That will really destroy Phoebe. Maybe his essence is just not leaving any magical trails for us to scry for." Piper theorizes more to assure herself than anything else.

"Maybe I should call my boss and tell him I can't go in today. I don't want to leave Phoebe in this state."

"No, you should go. You don't want to make a bad impression on your first day back. I'll look after everything here. I can try scrying for Cole again and try whatever else I can think of."

"Alright, if you're sure." Getting up Paige gives her sister a quick kiss on the cheek. "Call me on my cell if you need anything. Love you."