Chapter XII - The Fourth and the Fearless
"If this is going to work, we need to find a way of working together. As equals. Agreed?"
Mack and Phoebe were locked in a stare to the death, their mouths hard and thin, their eyes each as untrusting as their counterpart's. He had offered her a seat not far away from his own, and between them, the Book of Shadows lay, open on the 'to bind a demon' page. Mackenzie sat back and steepled his fingers, his brows furrowing into a thoughtful position above his pale eyes.
"Agreed," he decided, his shoulders relaxing.
"That means no more sending bounty hunters after me," Phoebe replied, but she was smiling. Mack laughed, a dry, shallow laugh. It was the sort of laugh that showed quite obviously that he wasn't amused in the slightest.
"No, no," he chuckled. "I think I'd quite like to keep an eye on you myself, anyway. See what you get up to when my back's turned."
Phoebe smiled. Perhaps working with this demon would be beneficial after all. He could certainly teach her the valuable things she needed to know, and then with that she could continue as she planned. She had not, of course, let Mackenzie in on her entire plan - that would have been foolish. But she had given him something to bite on, to keep him interested enough to want to keep her alive. She doubted very much if he was capable of wielding the Book's powers, so without her, he was back at square one anyway. Not that she couldn't take care of herself: it was more that dealing with people sent to kill you tended to be a distraction from plans you were trying to make.
Part of her struggled with the thought of teaming up with a demon, especially a demon with a reputation such as Mack; he was a type of possessor demon, but carried many more useful powers than a plain old demon. He was cunning, agile, intelligent and, it appeared, a good actor. Working together would definitely have its uses.
During the next while, as they sat and discussed their plans, Mack explained to her a few things that had confused her. Phoebe was impressed to learn that it was he - in essence - who had managed to take Cole out of limbo. His reasoning behind this was to, first of all, add extra pressure on the balance of power shift. It had become weaker, tipped more towards the side of good, which had caused a slight rift. This rift, Mack could take advantage of, and willingly did so.
"In short," he explained, some long minutes later, "His absence left a gaping hole in the cosmos. The energy it took to fill this back up cracked the balance of power, giving you the chance to turn evil."
Phoebe smiled.
"I must say, I'm impressed with how you've accomplished it," she said deviously, sitting back and linking her fingers. She looked up at him with her bright blue eyes. "It couldn't have been easy."
"No, it wasn't," Mack almost laughed, shaking his head. "I've been planning this for months, you know."
He gestured to their surroundings, him and Phoebe chatting idly about power, with the Book of Shadows sitting in between them, like some sort of serene child.
"But just how did you manage it?"
"Turning you evil?" he grinned. Phoebe nodded. "That was fairly simple. The desire to live without consequences is in us all. I simply played on what I new were you darkest fears, and such like. Changing your dreams, giving you split-second thoughts of doubt and worry. That sort of thing. All in a day's work for a possessor demon."
A smile flicked into his face. "I wouldn't exactly call you 'evil', if I had a choice," he continued. "I just freed you from the binds of consciences and consequences. I won't say that being a demon - or warlock, in your case - doesn't have its downsides. But the freedom is something I knew you hungered for. That's why I chose you. The desire to not have to care anymore was stronger in you than the other two."
Phoebe frowned, and her smile faded. The smallest part of her resented what Mack had said, and it was this that showed on her face. Had she really been so... easy?
"Don't take it too personally," Mack said, reading her face like a book. His voice, for once, was sincere. He smiled slightly. "You've probably been more affected by deep loss in the past. The pain that you've suffered... It's more intense than either of your sisters could even dream about. And you wanted the release."
Phoebe opened her mouth to protest, to defend her sisters, but Mack raised a hand in surrender, his palm pointing silently towards her.
"You needn't deny it," he said calmly. "I know it's true."
For a second, Phoebe swore she saw his eyes flash. She blinked, and looked again, but all she could see was the same old Mackenzie, smiling gently back at her. When he wasn't trying to rob her of her powers, he was actually quite attractive.
"How?" was all she could manage.
"I told you," he replied, shifting in his seat. "I've done my research."
He left it at that, as if she were supposed to draw from that all the answers to every question she would ever ask. Phoebe accepted the fact that he didn't want to explain too much about what he had done, perhaps because it was in the past and it was the future that needed discussing. But she still wasn't finished with her questions. If they were going to work together, she had to be sure that she could trust him.
"What about Cole?" she asked slowly. "How did you manage to move him from the void?"
"That was easy. I knew someone who... shall we say... 'owed me a favour'. Needless to say, he probably won't be coming to me any time soon with requests for help. But it was worth it."
"And what was this 'favour'?"
Mack cocked his head to one side, smiled, but did not reply. She had heard quite enough for now.
"You'll know soon enough. For now, we should work on your powers."
Phoebe's eyes narrowed. Mackenzie laughed; her untrusting nature was priceless. But, he noted, it would probably save her life down here.
"I can teach you how to control them," he explained. "So you can realise your full potential. And in return..."
He gestured towards the Book of Shadows. His implications were clear - he would help her become more powerful if she would help him gain access to great power. Their eyes locked, energy flashing between them. A smile began to spread across Phoebe's mouth. She nodded.
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"So," Paige said brightly when everyone had reconvened in the sitting room. Despite the circumstance and atmosphere, she had made tea for everyone. Two mugs sat solitary on the table, smoking gently into the air. Piper was stood by the window, her back to the room, her arms folded, and her body thin and silent. She was tense, and her sleek, black hair was strung up into a high ponytail. Leo, leaning against the wall on the other side of the room, gazed at her for a minute. He loved the way her hair fell down her back, accentuating her high, attractive shoulders and slender back. Even when she was enraged, she was still beautiful.
Paige stood just off the passageway to the kitchen, clutching her warming mug to her as if it were going to be her only source of drink for the next three years. She glanced quickly from Leo to Piper, and realised that it was she would have to play mediator for a change. Piper and Leo hadn't had a huge argument, but emotions were running a little high, and sitting on the edge of their seats playing 'the waiting game' was not exactly the best way to go about relieving them.
"I wonder what he'll be like," Paige speculated distantly.
"Who?" Piper asked, not looking around. Her breath clung to the window, misting her vision.
"Cole."
There was a beat of silence. Holy moly, Paige thought, hiding an expression of annoyance. Breaking the atmosphere was like trying to dig your way to the bottom of two miles of ice with a teaspoon. But, determinedly, she tried again.
"I wonder if he'll have charges and save innocents."
She had a mental image of Cole trying to orb to a charge and failing, thus getting very frustrated and upset. It was rather amusing.
"Unlikely," Piper scoffed. "He's no angel."
"You never know," Paige added cheekily. "We may have a second Leo on our hands."
Part of Leo smiled at this. Good for Paige, trying to bring some humour into a dismal situation. He hated having to deal with the silent treatment from Piper, hated having to rely on others and hated still feeling thoroughly useless. But the most part of him was just annoyed and frustrated, and it was this that built itself up into an answer.
"I'd rather two of me that one of Cole," he said callously. "At least I've never tried to kill you."
"Real blessing in disguise, that is," Piper retorted sarcastically. Paige sighed loudly and pointedly. Neither of them even bothered to look at her.
"All right!" she exclaimed suddenly, and put her mug on the table. "I can't deal with this. There are bigger problems than you two getting at each other."
She grabbed Leo's wrist in her hand and dragged him over to sit on a chair by the far wall. He sat on the arm, his shoulders collapsed into a heavy status. Paige marched over to the window and took Piper's forearm, gently but firmly.
"What? Hey!" Piper protested, trying to break free. But when Paige was on a stubborn streak, nothing could stop her. She Pushed Piper onto the second arm of the same chair. Piper glanced up guiltily to her husband, who looked away. Paige rolled her eyes. This was like dealing with children. But, the situation had to be handled, so she addressed Piper first.
"Piper, we both know that there's a lot going on right now. Cole turning up out of the blue hasn't helped any of us, but whether we like it or not, he's here and we have to get used to it. If the Elders want to make him a whitelighter, that's their business and you shouldn't take it out on Leo."
Piper looked up sharply to her sister, her mouth open in angry astonishment. But Paige continued before she could interrupt, her head swinging to Leo.
"And you need to realise that this is your wife, and right now she needs a husband, not a whitelighter. Don't expect so much out of her, and maybe you two can get over this little glitch in your road."
At this, Piper frowned heavily and stood up, her mouth curling downwards in anger. She shot her hands up threateningly.
"Paige, if my magic worked on good witches, I swear - "
"I know, I know," Paige replied, surrendering her palms. "But you can't blame a girl for trying."
"She's right, you know," Leo said softly from the chair. Piper turned to look at him. He looked up to her, his blue eyes pleading. "About everything."
"Leo, I know we've had our arguments, but - "
"No," he shook his head. "I've been letting things go recently. I've been... forgetting. I gave up being an Elder to be with you, but for the past three weeks it's been all I can do to stop myself from getting up an running away."
Paige backed away slightly, wishing that she were somewhere - anywhere - else. She'd even have taken on the edge of a volcano. As it was, she had to listen uncomfortably as Leo spilled his emotions and feelings to Piper. It was lucky that both of them seemed to have forgotten she was there. Me and my big mouth, she thought ruefully.
"Why, Leo?" Piper questioned, worry and concern in her voice. "Why do you want to run?"
He shrugged.
"I don't know. But I miss you, Piper. I miss how we used to be; I miss how free we were. Now we're tied down with children, with married life, and with fighting demons on a daily basis. I love you and I always will. But I'm having trouble holding on. I just can't - "
He was interrupted by Piper moving to him, cradling his head in her arms. She put an arm around her shoulder and held him to her, resting her head gently on his own. She smiled at the scent of his shampoo.
"I'm right here," she said soothingly, running her fingers through his hair. "I always have been."
He looked up into her smiling, caring face. He could tell her anything. Maybe he could still hold on...
He stood up suddenly, breaking Piper's reach. She released her grip. But kept her hand comfortingly on his back. Leo looked worriedly from Piper to Paige, who had now managed to back away as far as the settee.
"You don't feel that?" he pleaded. Piper frowned, and looked to Paige for an answer. She shrugged.
"Feel what?"
"That pull..."
"What pull?" Piper asked, looking around the room as if she expected some sort of cord to be attached to them. "I don't feel anything."
The colour drained from Leo's face, and he sank back into the chair. Piper edged over to him, her hand on his shoulder. He had suddenly gone from looking very content to very ill.
"Leo, what's wrong?" she demanded, her voice stern with worry.
"The Elders..." Leo said, his eyes focussing very hard on the coffee table. "They told me I was under threat of turning evil if I stayed down here too long. That's why they wouldn't let me come back to you."
"Convenient," Piper muttered. Leo shook his hand through the air, indicating that he hadn't finished. He took a breath, as if trying to steady himself.
"But, I don't understand. They said I was only under threat of turning if all of you turned too..."
"Leo, I'm with Piper. I don't feel anything," Paige said, getting up from the seat. The whitelighter's complexion had definitely deteriorated in the last couple of minutes, and now he was sweating violently.
"Oh God," Piper pleaded, desperation in her voice. "Leo, honey, look at me," she said calmly, crouching in front of her. He did so, though it took of his energy to not pass out. Thoughts and feelings were whirling around his head, clouding his better judgement. He felt very heavy, as if someone had put a very heavy weight onto his heart. But at the same time, he felt oddly carefree, like nothing mattered.
"You're not evil," Piper assured him. "And neither are we."
Paige rushed over to the chair and perched on the arm, her hand on Leo's shoulder. But he shook his head, fighting back an urgent, desperate need to give up.
"What's... happening?" he spluttered through broken breaths. Piper put a hand to her mouth, her eyes growing red and swollen.
"I'm not going to lose another member of my family," she said determinedly. She flicked her hands up towards Leo, who instantly froze in his position on the seat. His eyes were closed, but his face showed great pain. Paige looked at her worriedly, but with admiration on her face.
"Good thinking, sis," she praised. But Piper was on her feet and shaking her head in a flash.
"It won't hold for long. I can't save him like that."
"Ever get the feeling something's really, really against us?" Paige sighed dejectedly, her gaze falling to the floor.
"All the time," Piper replied, her hands on her hips as she was pacing. "It's as if someone's playing us."
"Or something."
"Either way, I'll be damned if I'm going to lose two members of my family to evil all in the same day."
Paige stood, her face etched with pure determination.
"So, what have we got so far?"
Piper stopped pacing, and looked to her sister. Her eyes shifted with thought.
"We're down a sister, so we don't have the Power of Three. She has the Book of Shadows, which apparently doesn't like us anymore. My husband is suffering from some sort of... demonic effect and the only person who can help us is an ex-demon who's been trying to kill us."
"Fantastic," Paige sighed, casting a quick glance at Leo. Her eyes filled with sorrow. "Any ideas?"
There was silence, and she looked back to Piper. Piper seemed to be locked in a staring competition with the carpet, her frown showing that she was thinking hard and fast.
"Hello, Earth to Piper," Paige said, waving a hand in front of her face. Piper jumped, and shook her head.
"What?"
"An idea?"
"Oh," Piper said, blinking slowly. "It's just something that's been bothering me, that's all."
"I think I can safely say we'll take anything we can get," Paige said. "What is it?"
"Well..." Piper screwed up her face. "Earlier today, Phoebe tried to summon Prue."
"She what?"
"I know, I know," Piper said, frustratedly waving her hands. "It didn't work. There was probably something dodgy about the spell she used. But Prue is our only shot at a Power of Three spell. Even if she is a ghost."
"I thought you tried contacting Prue before, years ago."
"We did," Piper sighed. "But, that was shortly after her death - we weren't ready to see her, because we were still in mourning. It was the same with Mom."
"It was?"
Piper stared slowly towards the attic as she finished her story. She would need crystals and candles, if nothing else for her summoning spell.
"Yeah," she continued, climbing the steps. Paige followed. "We weren't allowed to even see her until we had truly gotten over her death. I think it's something to do with having to let go and accepting things."
"So what are you saying?"
The two of them crossed the narrow hall where their bedrooms were, and climbed the last few steps into the attic.
"We're not mourning Prue's death anymore. We've accepted it and, to an extent, moved on."
"Oh," said Paige, her eyes sparkling with adventure. "I get it. You want to try and summon Prue again."
Piper nodded, rummaging through some drawers in search of crystals.
"What makes you think it'll work? Or even that she'll be able to help?"
"I don't know," Piper sighed, retracting from the drawer with crystals in hand. "Just call it a hunch."
Paige shrugged. Hunches had to work, because that's all they had. And Piper, being one of the smartest, well-attuned witches she knew, was easily trustworthy. She just hoped that her hunches were too.
"I only hope that what happened with Phoebe doesn't happen with us..." Piper said quietly, looking around the attic for a moment. It was tidy, and she was thankful for it, but she really did not want to have to deal with the consequences of another bad spell.
"It won't," Paige assured her, putting a comforting hand on her sister's arm. Piper looked up smiled, her eyes filled with gratitude.
A light jingle interrupted the 'sisterly bonding'. Paige and Piper looked around, and were more than surprised to see Cole standing awkwardly in the corner of the room, frowning to himself.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Piper demanded, though she already knew.
"Apparently, I'm a whitelighter now," Cole replied, giving an answer to a completely different question. He gave a small shrug, his frown receding slightly. He felt odd and strange. There was something inside of him that he couldn't quite put his finger on - some sort of feeling of incompleteness, as if his body was too small for his skin. There was something niggling at his brain, a soft, inner voice that seemed to relax him. Right now, it was pounding the words 'do not be afraid' through his mind. Part of Cole was thankful for it, for giving him something to hold on to. But the most part of him just felt angered.
"Any luck with Phoebe?" he asked, to change the subject.
"Not as yet," Piper sighed. "But we've had some un-luck with Leo."
Cole cocked his head.
"What do you mean?"
Piper turned her head to Paige, as if wondering if they should tell him. Paige nodded.
"Leo's having some... trouble..." Piper said at last, avoiding Cole's eyes. She began to set the crystals out into a summoning portal. She expected Cole to question her, to be confused. But he didn't. The voice in his head was telling him, 'help them', and it was all he could to obey - if only to shut it up.
"Oh no," he sighed, walking over to the sisters. His eyes darted from one pair of eyes to the other. "How bad is he?"
"I had to freeze him," Piper admitted, a sad tone in her voice. "He looked like he was about to breakdown."
Cole didn't need to hear anything else. "That won't save him," he said, before darting around the sisters and rushing downstairs, urgency in his step.
"What? Wait!" Piper called out after him. There was no answer. "Paige, go and see what he's up to. I need to finish up here."
Paige nodded without a second thought, and followed the ex-demon-whitelighter, or whatever he was. She got to the foot of the stair just as Cole was stood over the frozen picture of Leo. His eyes were filled with both worry and courage.
"Elders!" he shouted, casting his arm outwards and upwards. Instantly, blue, shimmering lights began to unfold around Leo, and he disappeared in a stream of lights up to the sky.
"What did you do?" Paige demanded, edging over to him, her mouth agape. Cole looked up towards her. 'Explain,' the voice in his head told him. Yes, thank you I knew that, Cole thought to himself, and then wished he hadn't. It was confusing telling himself what to think.
"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, his brow arching. Paige crossed her arms. Cole sighed, and walked past her to head towards the stairs.
"Hey, mister!" Paige exclaimed, putting an arm out and catching him in the chest. He stopped, and looked down to the little witch. She was looking up to him with cold eyes and a hard expression. Still doesn't trust me.
"I orbed Leo up to the Elders. They'll know what to do with him there, and they'll be able to take care of him. It wasn't the most desired course of action, but you guys need to focus on getting Phoebe back. Distractions won't help, and I'm here to make sure that you guys get all the support you need."
Paige narrowed her eyes, and considered him for a moment.
"All right... But if you start to spew, 'Your powers are tied to your emotions', I swear, I'm gonna - "
But quite what it was Paige would have done, Cole never found out. At that moment, there was a large crash from the attic.
"Piper!" Paige cried, and the both of them ran up the stairs.
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Yes, I know, yet another long chapter. But I hope I was able to explain more about what's going on, and that it isn't too confusing :D My sincerest thanks to Nancy. T for the kind reviews, Gilluin for being beta for this chapter, and also to Adam, who's been following this story with keen intent. Let's hope I can keep up this inspiration long enough to finish this fanfic ;) To anyone who's reading, I'd really love to hear your points of view on this. Just hit a little review button, even if it's to complain. Okay, well, maybe not, but you get my drift... :D
