Disclaimer: I own no characters accept Arrianna, and her family.
Author's notes: 1. First Charmed Story so be nice
2. C.O.S.= Change of scenery
3. ""= Dialouge, ''= thoughts
Reviews: This thrives on them.
Chapter #3: Lessons learned
(One month after the first chapter).
'I don't deserve this. I don't deserve such a beautiful wife, and 2 loving kids, whoever's life I fell into had better realized he was blessed. I don't deserve this, after what I've done.' Cole thought to himself, as he prepared for bed. He looked up at Arianna as he turned down the rose- patterned bedspread. He met her clear, sparkling blue eyes, as he sat down on the side of the bed. 'I don't deserve this, he continued to think to himself.'
"Penny for your thoughts?" Arianna asked, wondering what he was thinking about. There was a long pause as Cole figured out how to put his thoughts into words. He smiled uneasily:
"Nerves I guess, I mean I haven't seen these people at work for almost 3 months."
Cole admitted, telling the truth, which, in fact it was. Ever since he made the decision to return to work, he had felt nervous. What if the same kind of amnesia, gripped him there, as here at home? What if he wasn't cut out to be a lawyer anymore? He was about to find out.
"You'll be fine, you have a great support staff. And Leo is a great help in the practice." Arianna assured him.
"Leo, who's Leo?" Cole asked, his tone incredulous.
"Your partner. He was to the hospital to see you everyday, he, and his wife even stayed with Amelia, and Alex." Arianna told him. Cole's face clouded over in confusion.
"You don't remember who Leo is do you?" Arianna asked him, in a downcast tone.
"No." Cole confirmed, feeling a lump well up in his throat, for in truth, he did remember a Leo, just not Leo as she was describing.
"Maybe seeing him will jog your memory." Arianna suggested, as hopefulness returned to her tone.
Cole sighed: "Yeah maybe, well good-night Arianna," Cole told his wife as he turned, and lay down to sleep.
C.O.S.: The next morning
Cole woke up and luxuriously stretched as he smelled coffee being freshly brewed in the pot. He swung his legs over the side of the bed reveling in the feeling of the green plush carpeting on his bare feet. He padded into the bathroom, and turned on the water.
"Cole Leo's on the phone, wanting to know if you want a ride to work Arianna called out, as she entered their bedroom. Silence greeted her in return. 'I guess I'll tell him you'll meet him there,' she thought to herself, noticing the steam wafting from underneath the bathroom door. She put the phone to her ear and replied to Leo, then pressed the off button.
Cole switched off the water and stepped out, beginning to dry himself. He wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom.
"Oh good, you can be my fashion sense." Cole acknowledged Arianna's presence. Arianna gazed at her husband's well muscled stomach, and chest, then wrenched her gaze up into his face, and said: "The black suit and silver tie." Arianna recommended, and forced her gaze to the floor as she got up and left her husband to get ready, with the full knowledge that the vision she had seen would be in her mind all day long.
Minutes later Cole walked into the kitchen, as the coffee was being poured into his cup.
"Just how you like it, black, two sugars." Arianna said, handing him a steaming cup. Cole took the cup gratefully and stood holding it, and savouring the warmth for a moment. He took a sip, as he noticed the basket of croissants on the counter top. He grabbed one, as he glanced at his watch, which read almost 10 am.
"I had better get to the office." He informed Arianna, sipping his coffee. Arianna wished her husband well as he set his cup down on the counter, and picked up his brief case. He gave his wife an awkward hug, and walked out to the truck.
C.O.S.: A big banner hung over the front reception desk saying Welcome Back Cole on it. 'I may be back, but I am not the Cole you thought you knew,' he thought grimly to himself as he passed by the desk, and down the narrow hallway to his office, last door on the left. It was marked by a giant red bow in the middle of a piece of ribbon going from corner, to corner, 'Arianna's touch no doubt' he thought half-smiling, as he opened the door.
He found himself in a spacious office. A desk, lay to his right, with solid oak bookshelves standing behind it. Along the wall opposite the door, was a completely floor to ceiling window, out of which he could see the pristine San Francisco Bay, as well as the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Opposite the desk on the other side of the room was a table with chairs. He walked over to the desk and switched on his computer. Arrayed on the desk were pictures of the children at various ages, and a picture him, and Arianna, his hands resting on her shoulders. They were smiling, and there was a twinkle in her blue eyes. He remembered having a similar photo taken with Phoebe, and as soon as the thought came, he pushed it out of his head.
He sat down at his desk, and noticed a file had already on his desk. He had just begun to read it, when there was a knock at his door, it opened, and Leo tentatively peeked his head into the room.
"Welcome back buddy." Leo greeted his friend, with a smile.
"The more things change." Cole muttered quietly, for Leo looked exactly like the Leo he remembered.
"I just came to see if you had a chance to look at the Halliwell case yet." Leo asked.
"Just started, want to give me specifics?" Cole got to the point.
"One of the sisters has been accused of murder. The evidence looks pretty substantial, it should be open and shut." Leo replied in a business-like tone.
'I guess things really do change.' Cole thought to himself. "Couldn't one of the more junior partners take this?" Cole asked.
"No, they personally requested you. Something about a family contact. I don't know." Leo speculated. Cole walked over to his phone, and pressed a button, and asked his receptionist to get Phoebe Halliwell on the phone. A moment later, Cole picked up his receiver. "Hello?" A sad voice asked. Cole glanced in Leo's direction.
"This is Cole Turner calling from Turner, Smith, and associates, and I was wondering if I could speak to a Ms, Cole paused to look down at the folder, and looked up again in shock Phoebe Halliwell." Cole asked.
"Just a minute." The voice answered. A second saddened voice came on the line.
"Hello Cole?" It was Phoebe; he recognized it in less than a heartbeat. But it wasn't the Phoebe he knew, who was confident, and spirited.
"Can you meet me here, in my office this afternoon around two, it's to discuss your case." Cole struggled to keep his voice business-like.
"Yeah, I'll see you then." Phoebe replied, and hung up the phone.
Cole put the receiver down, and sat back in his chair dumbfounded. Leo just stood in an ever-lengthening silence. Cole gulped, in an attempt to swallow the lump in his throat.
"Leo, if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone for a while." Cole told his partner. Leo left, closing the door behind him.
C.O.S.: Piper/Phoebe's apartment.
Phoebe walked into the living room where her sister was watching television and sank into the cushions with a heavy sigh.
"Well how'd it go?" Piper asked.
"He agreed to see me. You know, he sounds different from the Cole we knew. More confident, self-assured." Phoebe summed up.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Piper asked.
"I suppose so," Phoebe replied nervously twisting her wedding band around on her finger. The sisters sat in companionable silence.
"Well I had better go get ready." Phoebe resignedly told Piper, getting up and leaving the room.
"Want me to come with you?" Piper asked, ever willing to support her sister.
"No, I'll be fine." Phoebe replied. She left without saying a word.
C.O.S.: Cole's office.
Cole glanced at his watch, and then at the door, as he heard a timid knock. Good, right on time, he thought to himself as Phoebe peeked her head around the doorway.
"Come in Phoebe, and make yourself comfortable." Cole greeted her, indicating a chair.
"So this is what you've been doing since college. I'd always thought you'd make a difference, but I never thought you'd be this successful this quickly." Phoebe nervously began making small talk.
"Before we begin, I have one curious question of my own: Why did you choose me? I mean there are tons of other lawyers." Cole asked, keeping his tone professional.
Phoebe considered her words carefully before speaking them: "This has to do with more delicate than normal matters." Phoebe looked down at her hands.
"I see. Care to elaborate?" Cole asked, comprehending the part referring to her powers.
"I'd been out with Jason, he's my husband; Piper was at home babysitting our daughter. And we came back to our apartment after a late romantic dinner. We'd been followed, and were ambushed right outside the building. I immediately pushed Jason aside, and attempted to fight the demons myself, and I was getting beaten pretty badly. That's when Piper saw us from our patio and came running towards us. She blew them up." Phoebe began.
"Do you want some water?" Cole asked, concern beginning to show.
"No." Phoebe answered, looking down, twisting her ring again. Cole was patient, as Phoebe gathered her thoughts to resume her story.
"Making matters worse, I didn't tell my husband about my 'family heritage.' So, that night, he, Piper, and I, had a long talk. And he seemed to get past the fact that I was a witch. He also understood, that it was for his own safety that I had to keep it from him. Things were better, at least for a while. Then I got a premonition not about him, but about his brother. His brother, enraged had come into my house and began terrorizing my family. I didn't know when it was going to happen. A week later my premonition came true. We had invited him over for dinner, and out of nowhere, he stood up and began sermonizing on what a slut I was, what a bad mother I was to Alana what a bad wife I was for Jason. He said some awful things. Of course Jason stood up, and began to defend me, and before I knew it I was standing up. Jason took a step towards him, and he backed up into the kitchen. I placed myself between the two. That's when Jeff reached behind him and picked up the knife. He ran at me with it, there was no doubt in my mind that he was planning to kill me. I managed to turn it on him, and kill him." Phoebe paused again.
Cole stood up, and walked the length of his office to the table and poured her a glass of water, walked back, and gave it to her. She took it silently; nodding her thanks, and took a long sip of it.
"Jason left me that night. He took Alanna, and left. He said he could forgive me killing people who were demons; he said he could even forgive me for lying. But killing his brother. No." Phoebe paused again to get Kleenex from her purse, and wiped her nose, then took a drink of water.
"He just couldn't see, that somehow his brother had become dangerous. He always saw him as an innocent, and refused to see that he had changed. He threatened to kill me for god's sakes. Oh and here's the best part: He won't let me see Alanna, my own daughter is going to grow up thinking her mother is a phsycho." Phoebe finished, allowing her bitterness to show in her tone. There was silence as Phoebe finished her water, and sighed, and began to twist her wedding band around on her finger.
"It sounds like we have a case for self-defense." Cole summed up, and was silent, suspecting that there was more.
"He's asked me for a divorce, and is filing for full custody of Alanna. Cole, I couldn't live without my baby. She's my life." Phoebe ended her story.
"So, you want me to participate in your custody hearing as well?" Cole asked.
"No, Leo's already filed papers." Phoebe answered, draining the last of her water.
"You're case starts on August 22nd, now I think I can win, but I need to know if you're willing to be put on the stand." Cole told her bluntly.
"Why?" Phoebe asked.
"If I can illustrate your state of mind that night, that you felt fear, a threat to yourself, or your child, I can make that much of a stronger case. And an innocent verdict in this case, will help you get your daughter back." Cole explained.
"I will. Anything to see Alanna's smiling face again." Phoebe answered, a faint smile showing on her face.
"What about my custody case?" Phoebe asked.
"I'll take care of that." Cole responded, a plan already forming in his mind.
"Do you still the other thing?" Cole asked, referring to her witchcraft.
"No, the power of 3 hasn't been since Prue died. Because of what happened then, the two of us vowed never to use our powers again. And we nearly succeeded." Phoebe gave a grim smile.
"How about you?" Phoebe asked.
"Married, five years to the same woman. We have 2 beautiful children together." Cole answered. Phoebe sighed heavily: " Always the charmed lifestyle." She said, smiling wryly.
"I'd better get going." Phoebe got up and walked towards the door. Cole held it open for her, and she walked out the door leaving him alone.
"I'll be in touch." He called out shutting his office door. He went back behind the desk, and sunk into the chair.
'This Phoebe is entirely different from the one I knew. Her attitude that life isn't worth living. It isn't like her. And the disbanding of the power of 3, this Phoebe doesn't realize that the world needs them, to fight evil, and provide hope to the world. And this Jason guy, that she's divorcing, something has to be done about him' Cole reflected on the meeting. He activated his intercom:
"Hello Greta, dig up all the information you can about a Jason Dean. Have it for me, in an hour." Cole ordered, as he relaxed back into his leather desk-chair. 'Jason won't know what's coming.' He thought to himself.
Oh, you honestly didn't think I'd completely forgotten about the more evil side of Cole did you?
A.N.: What is Leo's last name? I used Smith here, but I'm pretty sure it's not that.
Reviews are always welcomed.
Peace out, and happy reading.
-A.B.
Author's notes: 1. First Charmed Story so be nice
2. C.O.S.= Change of scenery
3. ""= Dialouge, ''= thoughts
Reviews: This thrives on them.
Chapter #3: Lessons learned
(One month after the first chapter).
'I don't deserve this. I don't deserve such a beautiful wife, and 2 loving kids, whoever's life I fell into had better realized he was blessed. I don't deserve this, after what I've done.' Cole thought to himself, as he prepared for bed. He looked up at Arianna as he turned down the rose- patterned bedspread. He met her clear, sparkling blue eyes, as he sat down on the side of the bed. 'I don't deserve this, he continued to think to himself.'
"Penny for your thoughts?" Arianna asked, wondering what he was thinking about. There was a long pause as Cole figured out how to put his thoughts into words. He smiled uneasily:
"Nerves I guess, I mean I haven't seen these people at work for almost 3 months."
Cole admitted, telling the truth, which, in fact it was. Ever since he made the decision to return to work, he had felt nervous. What if the same kind of amnesia, gripped him there, as here at home? What if he wasn't cut out to be a lawyer anymore? He was about to find out.
"You'll be fine, you have a great support staff. And Leo is a great help in the practice." Arianna assured him.
"Leo, who's Leo?" Cole asked, his tone incredulous.
"Your partner. He was to the hospital to see you everyday, he, and his wife even stayed with Amelia, and Alex." Arianna told him. Cole's face clouded over in confusion.
"You don't remember who Leo is do you?" Arianna asked him, in a downcast tone.
"No." Cole confirmed, feeling a lump well up in his throat, for in truth, he did remember a Leo, just not Leo as she was describing.
"Maybe seeing him will jog your memory." Arianna suggested, as hopefulness returned to her tone.
Cole sighed: "Yeah maybe, well good-night Arianna," Cole told his wife as he turned, and lay down to sleep.
C.O.S.: The next morning
Cole woke up and luxuriously stretched as he smelled coffee being freshly brewed in the pot. He swung his legs over the side of the bed reveling in the feeling of the green plush carpeting on his bare feet. He padded into the bathroom, and turned on the water.
"Cole Leo's on the phone, wanting to know if you want a ride to work Arianna called out, as she entered their bedroom. Silence greeted her in return. 'I guess I'll tell him you'll meet him there,' she thought to herself, noticing the steam wafting from underneath the bathroom door. She put the phone to her ear and replied to Leo, then pressed the off button.
Cole switched off the water and stepped out, beginning to dry himself. He wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom.
"Oh good, you can be my fashion sense." Cole acknowledged Arianna's presence. Arianna gazed at her husband's well muscled stomach, and chest, then wrenched her gaze up into his face, and said: "The black suit and silver tie." Arianna recommended, and forced her gaze to the floor as she got up and left her husband to get ready, with the full knowledge that the vision she had seen would be in her mind all day long.
Minutes later Cole walked into the kitchen, as the coffee was being poured into his cup.
"Just how you like it, black, two sugars." Arianna said, handing him a steaming cup. Cole took the cup gratefully and stood holding it, and savouring the warmth for a moment. He took a sip, as he noticed the basket of croissants on the counter top. He grabbed one, as he glanced at his watch, which read almost 10 am.
"I had better get to the office." He informed Arianna, sipping his coffee. Arianna wished her husband well as he set his cup down on the counter, and picked up his brief case. He gave his wife an awkward hug, and walked out to the truck.
C.O.S.: A big banner hung over the front reception desk saying Welcome Back Cole on it. 'I may be back, but I am not the Cole you thought you knew,' he thought grimly to himself as he passed by the desk, and down the narrow hallway to his office, last door on the left. It was marked by a giant red bow in the middle of a piece of ribbon going from corner, to corner, 'Arianna's touch no doubt' he thought half-smiling, as he opened the door.
He found himself in a spacious office. A desk, lay to his right, with solid oak bookshelves standing behind it. Along the wall opposite the door, was a completely floor to ceiling window, out of which he could see the pristine San Francisco Bay, as well as the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Opposite the desk on the other side of the room was a table with chairs. He walked over to the desk and switched on his computer. Arrayed on the desk were pictures of the children at various ages, and a picture him, and Arianna, his hands resting on her shoulders. They were smiling, and there was a twinkle in her blue eyes. He remembered having a similar photo taken with Phoebe, and as soon as the thought came, he pushed it out of his head.
He sat down at his desk, and noticed a file had already on his desk. He had just begun to read it, when there was a knock at his door, it opened, and Leo tentatively peeked his head into the room.
"Welcome back buddy." Leo greeted his friend, with a smile.
"The more things change." Cole muttered quietly, for Leo looked exactly like the Leo he remembered.
"I just came to see if you had a chance to look at the Halliwell case yet." Leo asked.
"Just started, want to give me specifics?" Cole got to the point.
"One of the sisters has been accused of murder. The evidence looks pretty substantial, it should be open and shut." Leo replied in a business-like tone.
'I guess things really do change.' Cole thought to himself. "Couldn't one of the more junior partners take this?" Cole asked.
"No, they personally requested you. Something about a family contact. I don't know." Leo speculated. Cole walked over to his phone, and pressed a button, and asked his receptionist to get Phoebe Halliwell on the phone. A moment later, Cole picked up his receiver. "Hello?" A sad voice asked. Cole glanced in Leo's direction.
"This is Cole Turner calling from Turner, Smith, and associates, and I was wondering if I could speak to a Ms, Cole paused to look down at the folder, and looked up again in shock Phoebe Halliwell." Cole asked.
"Just a minute." The voice answered. A second saddened voice came on the line.
"Hello Cole?" It was Phoebe; he recognized it in less than a heartbeat. But it wasn't the Phoebe he knew, who was confident, and spirited.
"Can you meet me here, in my office this afternoon around two, it's to discuss your case." Cole struggled to keep his voice business-like.
"Yeah, I'll see you then." Phoebe replied, and hung up the phone.
Cole put the receiver down, and sat back in his chair dumbfounded. Leo just stood in an ever-lengthening silence. Cole gulped, in an attempt to swallow the lump in his throat.
"Leo, if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone for a while." Cole told his partner. Leo left, closing the door behind him.
C.O.S.: Piper/Phoebe's apartment.
Phoebe walked into the living room where her sister was watching television and sank into the cushions with a heavy sigh.
"Well how'd it go?" Piper asked.
"He agreed to see me. You know, he sounds different from the Cole we knew. More confident, self-assured." Phoebe summed up.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Piper asked.
"I suppose so," Phoebe replied nervously twisting her wedding band around on her finger. The sisters sat in companionable silence.
"Well I had better go get ready." Phoebe resignedly told Piper, getting up and leaving the room.
"Want me to come with you?" Piper asked, ever willing to support her sister.
"No, I'll be fine." Phoebe replied. She left without saying a word.
C.O.S.: Cole's office.
Cole glanced at his watch, and then at the door, as he heard a timid knock. Good, right on time, he thought to himself as Phoebe peeked her head around the doorway.
"Come in Phoebe, and make yourself comfortable." Cole greeted her, indicating a chair.
"So this is what you've been doing since college. I'd always thought you'd make a difference, but I never thought you'd be this successful this quickly." Phoebe nervously began making small talk.
"Before we begin, I have one curious question of my own: Why did you choose me? I mean there are tons of other lawyers." Cole asked, keeping his tone professional.
Phoebe considered her words carefully before speaking them: "This has to do with more delicate than normal matters." Phoebe looked down at her hands.
"I see. Care to elaborate?" Cole asked, comprehending the part referring to her powers.
"I'd been out with Jason, he's my husband; Piper was at home babysitting our daughter. And we came back to our apartment after a late romantic dinner. We'd been followed, and were ambushed right outside the building. I immediately pushed Jason aside, and attempted to fight the demons myself, and I was getting beaten pretty badly. That's when Piper saw us from our patio and came running towards us. She blew them up." Phoebe began.
"Do you want some water?" Cole asked, concern beginning to show.
"No." Phoebe answered, looking down, twisting her ring again. Cole was patient, as Phoebe gathered her thoughts to resume her story.
"Making matters worse, I didn't tell my husband about my 'family heritage.' So, that night, he, Piper, and I, had a long talk. And he seemed to get past the fact that I was a witch. He also understood, that it was for his own safety that I had to keep it from him. Things were better, at least for a while. Then I got a premonition not about him, but about his brother. His brother, enraged had come into my house and began terrorizing my family. I didn't know when it was going to happen. A week later my premonition came true. We had invited him over for dinner, and out of nowhere, he stood up and began sermonizing on what a slut I was, what a bad mother I was to Alana what a bad wife I was for Jason. He said some awful things. Of course Jason stood up, and began to defend me, and before I knew it I was standing up. Jason took a step towards him, and he backed up into the kitchen. I placed myself between the two. That's when Jeff reached behind him and picked up the knife. He ran at me with it, there was no doubt in my mind that he was planning to kill me. I managed to turn it on him, and kill him." Phoebe paused again.
Cole stood up, and walked the length of his office to the table and poured her a glass of water, walked back, and gave it to her. She took it silently; nodding her thanks, and took a long sip of it.
"Jason left me that night. He took Alanna, and left. He said he could forgive me killing people who were demons; he said he could even forgive me for lying. But killing his brother. No." Phoebe paused again to get Kleenex from her purse, and wiped her nose, then took a drink of water.
"He just couldn't see, that somehow his brother had become dangerous. He always saw him as an innocent, and refused to see that he had changed. He threatened to kill me for god's sakes. Oh and here's the best part: He won't let me see Alanna, my own daughter is going to grow up thinking her mother is a phsycho." Phoebe finished, allowing her bitterness to show in her tone. There was silence as Phoebe finished her water, and sighed, and began to twist her wedding band around on her finger.
"It sounds like we have a case for self-defense." Cole summed up, and was silent, suspecting that there was more.
"He's asked me for a divorce, and is filing for full custody of Alanna. Cole, I couldn't live without my baby. She's my life." Phoebe ended her story.
"So, you want me to participate in your custody hearing as well?" Cole asked.
"No, Leo's already filed papers." Phoebe answered, draining the last of her water.
"You're case starts on August 22nd, now I think I can win, but I need to know if you're willing to be put on the stand." Cole told her bluntly.
"Why?" Phoebe asked.
"If I can illustrate your state of mind that night, that you felt fear, a threat to yourself, or your child, I can make that much of a stronger case. And an innocent verdict in this case, will help you get your daughter back." Cole explained.
"I will. Anything to see Alanna's smiling face again." Phoebe answered, a faint smile showing on her face.
"What about my custody case?" Phoebe asked.
"I'll take care of that." Cole responded, a plan already forming in his mind.
"Do you still the other thing?" Cole asked, referring to her witchcraft.
"No, the power of 3 hasn't been since Prue died. Because of what happened then, the two of us vowed never to use our powers again. And we nearly succeeded." Phoebe gave a grim smile.
"How about you?" Phoebe asked.
"Married, five years to the same woman. We have 2 beautiful children together." Cole answered. Phoebe sighed heavily: " Always the charmed lifestyle." She said, smiling wryly.
"I'd better get going." Phoebe got up and walked towards the door. Cole held it open for her, and she walked out the door leaving him alone.
"I'll be in touch." He called out shutting his office door. He went back behind the desk, and sunk into the chair.
'This Phoebe is entirely different from the one I knew. Her attitude that life isn't worth living. It isn't like her. And the disbanding of the power of 3, this Phoebe doesn't realize that the world needs them, to fight evil, and provide hope to the world. And this Jason guy, that she's divorcing, something has to be done about him' Cole reflected on the meeting. He activated his intercom:
"Hello Greta, dig up all the information you can about a Jason Dean. Have it for me, in an hour." Cole ordered, as he relaxed back into his leather desk-chair. 'Jason won't know what's coming.' He thought to himself.
Oh, you honestly didn't think I'd completely forgotten about the more evil side of Cole did you?
A.N.: What is Leo's last name? I used Smith here, but I'm pretty sure it's not that.
Reviews are always welcomed.
Peace out, and happy reading.
-A.B.