"Don't you want to know more?" Phoebe called to him from the sofa after he strode across the room. She'd have tried going after him but, as she learned from trying to roll onto her side, it still hurt to move.
"Not particularly," he replied while he stared at Christy. "She seems familiar somehow."
"Christy Jenkins," she said as she cleared her throat. Maybe it would be better if they stayed away from the personal stuff. "The Triad had her kidnapped when she was a little girl. They said she was the --"
"Key to ultimate power," Cole finished. "I remember now." He finally turned around and shamefully added, "When I was Source."
"It's okay," she shrugged, "it happened and we can't change it." She sat up and leaned back, "What about Christy?"
"They were training her." He began walking back to her, "Secretly, of course. They had ambitions about ruling and Christy's sister was their way to achieve that goal."
Curiosity got the better of her, "If you knew what they were up to, why didn't you stop them?"
He wearily sat down next to her, "I was waiting for them to find the other witch first. Once she was under my -- under control, I would have taken care of the Triad…once and for all."
"I think we've done that already," she said. "How many more are there? I mean are they gonna re-form in another five years with some other plot to get rid of us?"
"If Christy's made contact with her sister, you've got bigger problems than the Triad."
"I know," she sighed. "Worst part is that we had no idea Billie was the ultimate power. I don't think she did either." She noticed his raised eyebrow and explained as simply as possible, "Billie came to us for help. She wanted to learn to use her powers and she wanted to find her sister."
"In exchange for?"
She frowned, "In exchange for nothing. We were happy to help. Besides, having her around meant extra help with fighting evil and that's something we couldn't turn down."
"She got to you…"
Phoebe nodded, "She was so enthusiastic, so eager, and she reminded me of what it had been like in the beginning." She glanced back at him, "I guess Billie reminded me of the fun of the magic. She just…fit, like she belonged with us."
"And then you found Christy for her…"
"Billie did that," she corrected, "but I guess we did have a hand in it. And Christy was in terrible shape, afraid of everything, not remembering how to behave like a human. And we all tried to help her."
"You really didn't know it was an act?"
"No," she sighed, "and I no longer have my power of empathy -- never mind, now we realize that Christy's been manipulating every action in her favor." She turned her gaze to Christy, "And it's worked because Billie thinks we betrayed her, that we let her parents die, and I don't know how we'll convince her of what Christy's really like."
"Sometimes it's not easy to accept," he quietly commented, "that what we're seeing is not the truth but what we wish to be the truth."
"You're not talking about Billie and Christy, are you?"
Cole stood and walked a few steps away from her, "All I ever wanted was for us to have a shot at a real future together."
"That's all I wanted too, Cole," she assured him. "But so many things went wrong and so many -- I know it wasn't all your fault."
He spun back to her, "I was the one who --"
"But I," she interrupted as she awkwardly stood, "let a lot of it happen. And in the end, I let my anger consume me to the point of…I'm sorry, Cole, I never wanted to hurt you and I never wanted to lose you, not like that."
"Maybe if we'd had more time," he stepped closer, "maybe if I hadn't pushed you so hard…"
She met him and, this time, deliberately caressed his cheek, "Maybe…"
He pulled away first and broke the contact, "So what now? You vanquish Christy and problem solved?"
A part of her wished he hadn't backed off so quickly but the other part of her was relieved at the opportunity to set aside her mixed up emotions. "Billie would never forgive us if we vanquished her sister. We just need to separate them until Billie understands what's really going on. That's what Piper and Paige are doing, trying to make her see the truth about what's been going on ever since we found Christy."
"It's not smart to split up the Power of Three," he advised.
"I just hope we can save them both before it's too late," she sighed.
"It's already too late."
Phoebe turned to find Billie standing in the center of the room. "Where are Piper and Paige?"
"Where's my sister?"
"Over there," Cole indicated behind her.
Billie spun around and yelped when she saw Christy unmoving on the floor in the electric cage. "What'd you do to her?" She ran towards her sister and automatically reached out only to find herself being flung back.
"Billie, please…"
Billie sent a spear flying at Phoebe who ducked, "It wasn't enough you killed my parents, now you kill my sister?"
Phoebe grabbed Cole's arm to stop his retaliation, "Billie, listen to me, we didn't kill your parents. And I didn't kill Christy. She's just unconscious. C'mon, Billie, you know me. You've lived with us for months. You know how we lost our mother and you know how we lost Prue. Do you honestly believe we'd put you through the same thing?"
Cole noticed that Christy was beginning to stir and he pulled Phoebe to the side, "Time to go."
"Wait a minute," Billie uttered as she finally recognized Cole from his pictures in the Book of Shadows, "I thought you were dead. Did you hurt her?"
"No," Phoebe quickly declared when she happily realized Billie still had some concern for her well-being. "I don't know how he got here but I don't care right now. I only care about you and --"
"Yeah, right," Billie sniffed, "the love of your life shows up and you don't care? Is he the one that did this to Christy?"
"Billie, please," Phoebe stepped forward, though not shrugging off Cole's protective arm, "listen to me, you found us. You convinced us that we should help train you so that you could find your sister. We worked together and we've saved each other so many times. You believe in the magic. You believe in the fight against evil. And you found your sister. But she was raised by demons, Billie. She's been twisted inside by evil."
"She's not --"
"You got into her head," Phoebe interrupted. "You started reminding her of her life before she was kidnapped. She's confused now, Billie. Use that confusion to turn her back completely to the side of good. Let us help you save her soul."
"My soul's perfectly fine, thank you," Christy muttered as she got to her feet and glared at Phoebe. "Don't listen to her Billie. She doesn't know you, not like I do. You may have lived with her but she's not your sister. I am. And I will protect you."
Cole sensed the invader before the demon appeared and he shoved Phoebe to the side as he attacked. But he wasn't prepared for the second demon that jumped inside his body as soon as the first one was killed.
"Cole!"
A ball of electricity involuntarily shot from his hand at Phoebe and he struggled to push the demon out. "Get out of here, Phoebe! I don't want to hurt you!"
But Phoebe wasn't about to run, not without him, and she reached into her bag for a vial. Hopefully Cole's invincibility would save him while the demon inside would be vanquished. But before she could throw it, Cole's body shuddered as the demon exited. She met Cole's gaze for a split-second before his eyes closed and he slumped to the ground. She looked up from his body to find the demon grinning. She was frozen in place. In his hand was a beating heart. And as the fingers squeezed the organ into a bloody pulp, she found her voice and screamed.
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