"Paige!"
Piper's crystal clear voice rang out in her head, but she had to ignore it. There just was not enough time to tell her what was going on, and she couldn't orb away safely.
Paige was pacing the distance of a small, unoccupied office. Officer Wattson had owed her a favour, and she was taking it in the form of half an hour alone with an innocent man.
The man in question was tall – though it was difficult to tell for the minute, as he was sat uncomfortably in a wooden chair – and was owner to a fine pair of broad shoulder. Strong, muscular arms were wrapped around the back of the chair, and at his wrists were a single pair of handcuffs. His eyes were smouldering a dark, angry hazel on his handsome, well engraved face and his short, black hair lay ruffled on his head. He was a strong man, both in character and physical power; but his strength was not enough to protect him from the likes of Paige. Not this time.
She had had him in there for twenty minutes now, and had been firing questions at him left, right and centre. But he was cunning, and relentless, and would not tell her what she wanted to know. But if Paige had learned anything from her sisters, it was that persistence always paid off.
"Look," she said calmly, still pacing but not taking her eyes off the man in her custody. "I am going to ask you one more time. What are you doing here?"
"I already told you. I wanted to report a robbery," her prisoner spat through gritted teeth. His patience was now exhausted and he was beginning to lose his temper. Couldn't the woman see that he had told her everything he knew? What more did she want?
"You've already lied to me enough. Tell me what you're really doing here, and I'll see what I can do about finishing it nice and quickly."
"Finishing what?"
Paige, remember tactics she had seen from other police officers, leant forward onto the desk separating her and her victim.
"You," she hissed.
His eyes flashed dangerously as anger rose in his veins.
"You don't scare me," he said slowly, a sneer in his strong voice. Paige recognised that sneer, and hated him all the more for it.
"No?" Paige queried, glancing to his forehead, then meeting his eyes again. "Then why are you sweating?"
The young man narrowed his cold eyes. Then, the tips of his mouth rose into a malicious smile.
"You can't do anything to me," he said coolly, knowing that it was true. "I've told you everything I know. Now, I don't know what's going on or why the robbery is so important, but – "
"Oh just be quiet!" Paige cut in, beginning to get a little worried. Why hadn't he done anything to defend himself? Why hadn't he left? What on earth was he up to? There were too many questions for her to ask on her own. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed the help of her sisters. But how? It wasn't exactly as if she could just orb in, hostage in tow.
However, something was about to happen that would aid her in her decision. Paige felt a familiar sickness beginning in her stomach, and the dizziness that went with it.
"Oh no..." she said, stumbling over to the man in the chair.
"What are you doing?" he exclaimed as she put a rough and heavy hand on his shoulder.
"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me," she offered by way of explanation.
I've always wanted to say that, Paige thought as she and the man were surrounded by pale, white lights. The surroundings of the dreary office began to blur and merge together, and soon the familiar scene of the girls' attic came into view. There was Piper, standing in she same black shirt and blue jeans Paige had left her in earlier. But the look she wore was darker than an ink stain in the dead of night. Without looking at the man Paige had brought with her, she started to release her temper.
"Where the hell have you been, Paige? Couldn't you hear me - "
She had to trail off. Her eyes had fallen onto the stranger Paige had brought home with her. Her frown sank back into a paralysed look of fear.
"Oh my God," she said, trying to suppress the shaking feeling of anxiety in her stomach. "Cole."
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Cole Turner gaped around him. The office, chair and handcuffs had disappeared. Instead, he was in a foreign place with two women he didn't know. But his stomach was apparently still back in the office. He tensed his muscles and tried to shake away the unfamiliar feeling of helplessness that stole his body."What the hell is going on!" he demanded, glancing from one woman to the next.
"How the hell did I get here?"
Piper seemed to have frozen. She couldn't take her eyes off Cole. The tall, slim, well-built man didn't look a thing like he had three weeks ago. The steely glint in his eyes had gone; the malevolent look on his face was nowhere to be seen; and the suave, swaggering posture he held had seemingly evaporated. He may have been solid in front of her eyes, but something in Piper told her that this was not the man who had helped her prove her love to Leo three weeks ago.
"Will someone tell me how I got here?" he shouted, aggravated. All traces of fear seemed to be keeping his stomach company back at the office.
"Paige..." Piper said slowly, edging towards the book but not taking her eyes off of Cole. "Get the crystals."
"Right," Paige replied. She stepped away from Cole over to the store cupboard.
"What?" Cole insisted, anger in his voice. He started making his way over to Paige with courage in his eyes.
"Crystals!" Paige cried, throwing her arm out. Instantly, five crystals encircled themselves around an unsuspecting Cole, creating an impervious energy cage.
"Hey!" Cole exclaimed, stepping forward towards the sisters. He was stopped by a field of bright, white energy, and was thrown backwards into the circle of crystals. Caught off guard, he stumbled slightly.
"What... the hell... is going on?" he spluttered through broken breaths. Piper and Paige exchanged the same worried look. They were both thinking the same thing, and consequently, Piper nodded. She threw her hands up towards Cole and he froze in mid breath. It was quite eerie to see him suspended in such an unnatural position. Then, at last, Piper turned to Paige.
"You are going to tell me everything that's been going on, starting with him," she said, putting her hands on her hips.
"I'm not sure he'll stay frozen for that long," Paige replied, a slight flinch passing across her face as she said so. Piper's eyebrow rose into an arc.
"Look, I don't know, okay?" Paige said, wanting to avoid as much of the issue as possible. She then caught sight of the debris of the attic: leftovers from Phoebe's failed spell.
"Woah," she said, looking around and taking in the damage. "What happened?"
Piper clapped her hands together to regain Paige's attention.
"Hi," she said when Paige looked at her. "Cole now, attic later."
Paige frowned and gave an exasperated sigh.
"I don't know where he came from. One minute, I was talking to you on the phone, and the next, poof! I turned around, and there he was; standing over me, all... smug."
"Poof...?" Piper asked carefully. "He... 'poofed'?"
"What? No," Paige said as if Piper had completely lost the plot. "He didn't poof. He was just... there. As if he had."
"Had what?"
"Poofed!"
Piper's confusement showed itself as a frown.
"Paige, you're not making any sense!"
"He was at my desk when he hadn't been before. That's all I know," she lied, as if that would somehow explain the whole situation.
Piper shook her head and walked over to the trusty Book of Shadows. There was definitely something strange going on. Could it be a shapeshifter playing a trick on them? There was just too much that didn't add up. And as much as she hated to admit it, there was probably only one person who would help them.
"Leo!" she called reluctantly.
Like a dog to a whistle, in orbed Leo, complete with Wyatt and baby Chris. Paige took a double take and let her mouth drop a few centimetres.
"Yeah, he orbs now," Piper explained to her surprised look.
"But... how?"
"Long, long story," the eldest sister replied. Then she looked to her husband. "Honey, what do you know about shapeshifters?"
Leo frowned in thought for a moment.
"That depends. There are many different types of shapeshifter, each to their own speciality. Why?"
Piper pointed past him to the frozen figure of Cole. Leo turned top follow her trail. He almost dropped Chris right of his arms when he saw the profile of the man who had been both their largest asset and biggest threat some years previous.
"That isn't – " he began, mostly lost for words.
"It might be," Piper replied dejectedly.
There was silence as the three of them looked in awe at the body in the crystal cage. If it were Cole, Piper though, then life in the cosmic void had done him good. He was definitely in good shape.
"I don't think it's Cole," Paige said at last, walking timidly towards the cage. "He wasn't really acting like himself when I was 'questioning' him."
As soon as she'd said it, Paige wished she hadn't spoken.
"When you were what?" Piper cried, appalled. She stepped over to her sister. "Paige, are you insane! You could have been killed!"
"But it isn't Cole!" she said hotly in defence. "He didn't fire energy balls, or shimmer, or anything! He didn't even seem to recognise me. And why would the real Cole just show up in broad daylight waiting to be caught?"
"That's not the point," Piper snapped, looking worriedly back at Cole. "You don't chase demons on your own. Especially not ones in the form of ex family members!"
"I'm not even sure he is a demon," Paige muttered, taking her own place in front of the Book. "There has to be something in here."
Piper thought for a moment, trying to think of the best way to get around this problem. Her biggest concern of the minute was Phoebe. In her current state, the last thing she needed to see now was the shell of the love of her live. But she would have to know at some point, wouldn't she?
"Okay," Piper said eventually, her problem-solving mind kicking into action. She waved her hands around in demonstration as she spoke. "Paige, forget the book for now. There's nothing in there that can help us yet. Go and get some things together ready for a Truth Potion."
"Right," Paige nodded, but was keen to hear the rest of the plan.
"And Leo, take the boys to magic school to keep them safe; I don't want them around when we interrogate this guy. Then get back here as soon as you can to help us out."
Leo accepted what Piper was telling him, but resented the harsh tone in her voice. Was she still angry with him becoming a whitelighter? Would she ever stop treating him like an errand boy and start treating him like her husband? He loved her more dearly, passionately and tenderly than was ever possible to say. But sometimes, her annoying habits were enough to drive him up the wall.
The orders and plans were set, and Paige began to head to the kitchen to fetch the ingredients for the potion. But she didn't get any further than a couple of steps. From just inside the doorway, there came the hard, cold voice of Phoebe.
"You guys," she said, stepping forward into the broken attic air. "Please tell me that that's not Cole in an energy cage."
