"Are you sure you don't want to call Leo?" Piper asked. The three sisters were sitting in a hospital room. Paige had just been in a car wreck.

"No, no, it's just a mild concussion and besides, I don't deserve to be healed. I know better than to talk on the phone and drive, I don't know what I was thinking." Paige felt really stupid. And embarrassed. More than that though, she was pissed off about her car. She had saved for so long to buy her beloved green bug.

"Do you remember what happened?" Piper asked, concerned for her sister.

"I was speaking to Phoebe and then the next thing I know the car just started spinning out of control."

"Hm, it's kinda like my career." Muttered Phoebe. Piper rolled her eyes inwardly. Paige was in the hospital and Phoebe had somehow made it about her. Piper loved her sister dearly but sometimes she could be a little self-centered.

"Oh, honey, it's not that bad is it?"

"I think it is. The newspaper's lawyers wanna meet with me and I don't think it's because they're huge Phoebe fans." Phoebe was worried about this. She didn't want to fail. This was her first real job since … well, ever.

"Well, I'll see you your career and raise you my club. The health inspector's coming back today and the plumbing just exploded. Again." Piper was overwhelmed. Everything felt like it was spinning out of control. She was 22 weeks pregnant now. Her emotions were unpredictable, like her body. She was tired and weary. Things with Leo were stressed. Things with Cole weren't any better. Demon activity was booming. She felt stretched very thin. She was leader of the family and she felt completely incompetent sometimes.

"What is going on with us? Is Mercury in retrograde?" Paige remarked.

"Have you thought about using a magical band-aid?" Phoebe asked.

"I'd do it in a heartbeat if I wasn't afraid of the personal gain consequences." Piper answered. Phoebe had never been a big fan of that rule.

"See, this is why demons always have the upper hand, you know. They can use their magic whenever they want to."

"Yeah, well, you know, that's what separates good from evil." Piper smiled internally. Sometimes Paige really sounded like Prue.

"Yeah, I know that but it's still very tempting. I mean, you could fix your plumbing, I could turn some lawyers into toads." Time to change the subject. Cole had been coming up in conversation a lot lately and Piper didn't like it. It made her uncomfortable and self-conscious.

"Aunt Phoebe, little wiccans have very big ears that can hear you." She half-joked. Actually, the baby wouldn't technically be able to hear outside the womb for another week but it was a good excuse to shut Phoebe up.

"Oh, I'm sorry, baby, I was only kidding! Mostly. Are you going to be okay? Because I have to go get fired now." Phoebe said.

Way to make it about yourself again. Piper thought to herself. Phoebe was really starting to bother her. This whole week she had felt on edge around her sisters.

"You are not getting fired and I'm fine." Paige assured her.

"From your mouth and god's ears." Phoebe kissed her little sister on the head and turned to Piper. "Okay, bye, my little niece." She half-wailed in her (annoying) baby-voice. She leaned over Piper and proceeded to lay numerous kisses on her small baby bump. Piper felt an urge to smack her sister. Normally, she could handle all the abdomen-related touching but this was grating on her nerves.

"You're smashing me." She said in a mock-mad voice. Only she really was peeved

"I love you!" Phoebe sing-songed again.

"Get off me!" Piper groaned. It came out a little harsh but Phoebe didn't seem to notice. She just jiggled out of the room. Piper sighed in relief. She felt ready to snap or cry. It was like she was hyper-aware. She didn't want to be touched. She didn't want to be around people. She didn't want to worry about demons or the club or her affair or the baby. She just wanted to sleep.

"This is no segue but you and I need to talk about vanquishing Cole." Paige said as soon as Phoebe was out of earshot. Piper cringed at the mention of his name. Why did they always do this? Just randomly bring him up? Did they suspect? Actually, the did. Well, Paige did. Paige knew and she was testing Piper.

"'Cause we don't have enough problems at the moment?" She answered sarcastically, trying to act normal.

"No, because he's actually our biggest problem at the moment." Right. Piper thought. Problem. Cole wasn't the problem. He was the answer to her problems. Well, for the most part. Aside from the whole, she was already married and pregnant thing. Sure he was a demon … he was a demon when Phoebe married him too. What was the problem? He was a good mad. A strong, caring and gentle man. Had she mentioned good? They were always trying to vanquish him and belittle him. It hurt Piper to see how her sisters treated him. Yes, she had felt the same way only a year before but it still angered her.

"Okay, look at Phoebe, it's totally beaten her down.' Paige continued. Oh brother. Piper thought.

"I don't know, she seemed kind of cheerful considering the state of her career." Piper answered. She was trying desperately to keep her irritation in check.

"That's this wonderful thing called denial." Paige answered. Hmm. Denial. Piper loved denial. She had been living in it for the past six months.

"Okay, the Phoebe I know would never roll over for lawyers like that. This morning when I was talking to her about vanquishing Cole, she told me I was wasting my time. I'm telling you she is off." And the 'C' word again. Criminey. Couldn't they have a normal conversation without bringing him up?

"Alright, okay, already." Piper was exasperated. "Well, we'll spend the afternoon with our noses in potions. But can I go save the soul source of our income first?" She needed out. Her sister was getting on her nerves. The smell of the hospital was making her nauseous and she needed to collect her thoughts.

"Yeah, go, I'll see you later." Paige answered. Damnit. Suddenly, she regretted feeling angry towards her little sister. Paige was just trying to help. Here she was, injured, and Piper was angry at her for trying to help out. What was wrong with her? This couldn't just be the pregnancy hormones could it?

"Are you okay to orb?" Piper asked, feeling both concerned and guilty for her impatient feelings towards her family.

"I'm perfectly fine to orb." Paige answered reassuringly. "Go."


"Alright." Piper answered, satisfied that her sister was doing fine. With a quick smile, she left. She needed to get to the club in time to do some last minute cleaning before the inspector arrived. Then maybe she could go home and rest. She was just so tired.

"Felony hit and run. She's going down." The demon said smugly and walked over to Cole.

"And P3?" Cole asked. He felt bad about targeting Piper's club but he needed to do this, to complete his plan.

"Health inspector's there, our guys are in place. I've gotta say, using the law to bring down the Charmed Ones was genius, sir. They'll never figure it out." This demon was a brown-noser but he did what he was told.

"Oh, they will figure it out, it'll just be too late." Actually, Piper would figure it out. She was the smartest one of the three after all. He showed the demon some blueprints of the manor. "The Halliwell manor. The doorway to the spiritual nexus. All the power that we need." Cole continued.

"Oh, man." The demon looked in awe. "Right under the witches' house. Who knew?" Were all demons such morons?

"I did." Cole answered impatiently.

"Is that why they're so damn strong?" the demon asked.

"Ah, partly." Cole answered. "The Nexus packs a punch. The power can go either way, in good hands, good gets a power boost. But when we tap into it, evil spreads." That's what he needed.

"How far?" The demon asked. Why were demons so damn nosy?

"Far enough." This guy was getting on his nerves. "The police, the politicians, and Phoebe. She will be consumed by evil and she will finally give into our love and then I will torture and kill her sisters and we'll live happily ever after." It wouldn't be too much trouble to kill Phoebe and Paige. A part of him still cared for Phoebe, and he knew a part of him always would but if killing them is what it took to get Piper, he'd do it.

"Sir, I thought the point of all this was to give you the power to reorganize the Underworld above ground." Why were demons such idiots?

"Yes, it is, it is." Cole responded, tersely. Explaining himself constantly was becoming a drag. "But to be united, evil must have a happy leader and for me to be happy, I need..." A beautiful image of Piper appeared in his mind and it was shattered by Phoebe walking through his door. "Phoebe, what are you doing here?" he asked incredulously. This was so not part of the plan.

"I came to see you, baby." She sashayed into the room. "I thought we could have a little picnic." What was her deal? She walked over to him and kissed him full on the lips.

"Kaia, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Kaia! Damnit! He didn't want her distraction right now. Phoebe shape shifted back into the beautiful blonde demon. That was a little better. He didn't want to look at Phoebe anymore.

"Damn." Kaia murmured, disappointed. "How'd you know it was me?" She curled her hair around her finger seductively. She wanted Cole.

"Well, for starters Phoebe hates me and she doesn't drink and she uses a little less tongue." Cole answered, irked.

"Since when does a stripper follow a guy back from work?" The demon asked scathingly.

"Hey, hey, hey, Dex, go easy. She's got a little crush." Cole anwered.

"With all do respect, sir, Kieran demons are manipulative vixens and this one has an agenda that goes way beyond a little crush." Duh.

"Sure." Cole answered. Like he didn't know. "She can smell power, can't you Kaia?" He grinned at her, flirting slightly. "Maybe she wants to be my new queen." Yeah, right. She was good for a lay here and there but that was it.

"Just send this one away and I'll prove my worth." She hated that Cole was in love with the witch. She wanted him for herself. She stroked his chest.

"I'm afraid I can't, I'm in love with someone else." Cole cut her off harshly. He wanted Piper. That was it. Nobody else. No matter how blonde or busty.

"But I can give her to you." Kaia responded, desperately. "I can be her." She pleaded.

"No." Cole answered. She was so whiny. If only she would just shut up. "You're good for the occasional dance but beyond that I need the real thing." Piper. He needed her. He needed to feel her, hold her, smell her, taste her. The real her.

"Alright, you heard him, get out and stay gone. Otherwise, I'll make sure you do." Dex ushered her out of the room. Kaia pouted and began to leave.

"Not like that." Moron. "Go out the way you came in." Idiot. "In this office we keep up appearances." With an extra sulky look, Kaia shape shifted back into Phoebe.

"You want me." She said to Cole as she walked out the door. "I can feel it." If only she knew how wrong she was.

"Insolent." Dex said with disdain.

"Hot though." Cole added with a smirk.


"You slimy son of a bitch!" Phoebe yelled as she barged into Cole's office.

"Phoebe, is that you?" Cole asked.

"What are you? Evil and blind? Yeah, it's me." Ah yes. It was Phoebe. Kaia never talked to him like that. He slowly covered over the manor's blueprints with some files. "Look, why don't you just admit that you're behind this. Admit it so I can use magic to fight you." She continued.

"I don't know, uh, I don't know what you're talking about." He answered calmly. Phoebe slammed the door and approached his desk.

"Look, Cole, my career is the most important thing to me. Okay, so is that your plan to take it away from me so that I come running to you for comfort?" Wow, she was dumb.

"Phoebe, I love you and I don't know what's going on but maybe I can help. Would you like me to kill someone for you? Or-or your boss, perhaps?" He loved using that tone of voice with her. It made her so angry. She grabbed papers off of his desk and threw them in the air. "Hey, hey, hey, hey!" he said half-heartedly. He knew he was pissing her off.

"I might not be able to use magic but..."

"You're sexy when you're mad, you know." No she wasn't. She looked like an 8 year old, throwing a temper tantrum. "I can't wait until I get to kiss you again." Blech. Yeah right. He wanted Piper.

"Cole, I will never be with you again. I hate you, I hate you. Do you get that?" Yeah yeah, he got it. Whatever. She was playing right into his trap.

"Hate is good." Real good. "It's passionate, intense. It's-it's-it's a breath away from love." Wow he sounded cheesy out loud. Oh well, it was working. Phoebe laughed angrily and threw a few more papers in the air before she spun around and left. "Ah, she's great." He muttered to himself. So predictable. So easy to manipulate. He was reveling in his victory and thinking about Piper when Kaia burst into his office.

"What do you want?" he asked angrily.

"Just to give you want you want." She answered huskily and morphed into Phoebe.


"So what are we gonna do?" Piper asked as she and Paige stepped out of the elevator on Cole's floor. She was a little nervous. She hadn't seen him in a week and she didn't know how the meeting was going to work out with her younger sister present.

"We're gonna tell him we're on to him and it's not gonna work." They walked into Cole's office. Piper gasped in horror. There on his desk, legs open, arms clinging to his back, was her sister Phoebe, making out with and groping at Cole. He jaw dropped in astonishment and she felt the blood drain out of her face. She couldn't think. What were they doing? Cole. Her lover. Phoebe. Her sister. Moaning and kissing right in front of her and neither noticed her presence. Suddenly, Paige jerked on her arm and pulled her into the hallway. Piper looked pale and felt weak. Suddenly a wave of anger washed over her and she began to walk down the hall.

"I can't believe I saw what I just saw." Paige muttered, shocked.

"Well, believe it 'cause I saw it too." Piper answered. She had. She had seen it with her very own eyes. Her lover and her sister were kissing. She felt so betrayed and yet at the same time she knew she had no right to feel that way. She had no claim to him. She was cheating on her husband with him. That man. That man who was making out with her sister!

"How? Why is she kissing him?" Paige wondered in bewilderment and disgust.

"I don't know but I say we go back in there and we pull her out by her hair." Piper answered, stopping her step. She had half a mind to go in there and start blowing things up.

"No, no, we can't make a scene. Okay, we need a plan." Smart Paige.

"Okay, here it is." Piper said, continuing down the hall. "We go home," it was everything she could do to keep from sinking to the floor in tears. "We vomit..." God, she really felt like she might be sick.

"And?" Paige asked.

"That's all I got so far." Her mind couldn't fathom anything further on than that. She felt sick. Her chest felt tight and conjectured that the shattering feeling in her stomach was her heart breaking into a million pieces.


"There's not, there's no... Are you sure?" Leo was shocked. The girls had just given him the news.

"Leo, we saw Phoebe and Cole tongues locked, hands groping all over each other." She shivered. It was so gross. That mental image would not leave her alone.

"Okay, didn't need the visual." Yuck.

"Well, maybe he has her under some kind of mind control." Piper was pulling random ideas out of her head. Maybe it wasn't really him. Maybe it was a shape shifting demon. "I mean, he can do that, that's possible, right?" Maybe it was a dream. Right?

"Right. I think right now he could do pretty much anything he wanted." Leo responded.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? "Why? What do you mean?" Piper asked, trying to remain as calm as possible.

"Well, the Elders have sensed a major surge in demonic activity. They think that evil is organizing under a new leader."

Oh brother. The blame Cole game all over again. Couldn't they ever come up with somebody else to target? Piper's head was spinning.

"Oh, that's just great because the last time Cole was the leader of the Underworld, he took Phoebe as his queen and we were completely blindsided by it that time too. Oh my god, that's why she didn't want me to try to vanquish him." Paige replied

"She was talking this morning about being tempted." Oh my god. What if they were getting back together? What if Cole had just been using her this entire time, just to get back with Phoebe?

"She was trying to warn us and we didn't even see it." Paige added.

"Okay, this just can not be happening, people." She was panicking. Everything was out of control. "I mean, Phoebe would not do this to us." Cole cannot do this to me. "I mean, it cannot, cannot, cannot be happening!" Oh god.

"Okay, let's just calm down, okay." His wife and sister in law were freaking out. He needed to calm them down. "The last time Phoebe was evil she was under the influence of her demonic pregnancy."

What? Was Phoebe pregnant again? She couldn't be. Were they sleeping together? "So what, you're saying you think she's pregnant again?" Piper asked, shakily.

"No!" Hopefully not. She was a nightmare when she was pregnant. "I just think that maybe we're underestimating her. Maybe there's something that we're missing." Always give them the benefit of the doubt. He had learned that decades before.

"Ugh." This entire situation was unfathomable.

"We saw what we saw." They had seen the kissing, the groping. Yuck. There was no denying that.

"Okay, well, maybe she's under a spell." Demons tended to target Phoebe. "Or-or maybe there was some information that she wanted and she was using sex as a tool." Phoebe wasn't above using sex to get what she wanted.

"Okay, I like the sound of that." No, no she didn't. "Slutty and manipulative, that's better than evil any day." Damn her sister.

"So let's not panic. Let's talk to Phoebe and give her the chance to explain what's going on." She better have a good explanation.


"Ow! Hey!" Dex was squeezing Phoebe's arm. They were in Cole's penthouse.

"I wouldn't have to hurt you if you stopped trying to get away." Stupid witch. Cole shimmered into the room

"What happened?" Phoebe? Damnit. Why were his demons always screwing this up?

"I mistook her for the other one and I said too much." Please don't vanquish me. "I thought I'd bring her here until the end of the operation."

"Good thinking." Bad thinking. Moron. Damn Kaia. He threw an energy ball at Dex, instantly annihilating him. Stupid demon was getting on his nerves.

"Well, as much fun as this has been..." Cole was starting to scare her. He looked. Calculating. Cold. Evil. She needed to get out of his apartment and get to her sisters. She headed towards the door.

"I'm sorry, Phoebe, but Dex is right, I can't let you leave." Duh. Like he'd actually let her go after this.

"Leo!" Leo would come rescue her. He always did.

"Save your voice. This place is magically protected. I can't have you people sensing what I'm doing in here." Doing your sister. He waved his arms and the windows and doors glowed. "Now all the windows and doors are blocked. Please, sweetie, just trust me on this one, I don't want you getting hurt trying to escape." Actually, hurting her was his plan but it would have to happen in his own time.

"Alright, don't call me sweetie. You can't hold a person prisoner and then call them sweetie."

"You know, I didn't intend this." No, definitely not. This was not part of the plan. "I just can't have you running off to your sisters and protecting the Nexus, okay? It is way too important for us." Me and Piper.

"Wait, the Nexus?" Oh no. He was after the Nexus. Not good.

"Dex didn't tell you about that?" Damnit.

"No, no he didn't. He just told me you were trying to reorganize the Underworld."

"Oops. Don't be mad." He patronized her. "I only want the Nexus so that you can come back to evil and we can be together." So that Piper and I can be together.

"Uh, Cole..." This was getting old.

"I'm so sorry, I had to involve your work. I just needed you distracted while I ruined Piper's club and put Paige in jail."

"Paige is in jail?" When did that happen?

"Listen, I'd love to stay and chat" no not really. "but all this considered I need to speed up my plan." Fast.

"Well, Cole, my sisters are gonna realize that I'm missing and Leo is gonna try to sense me and when he can't they're gonna come straight to you."

Cole laughed. She was so pitiful, always depending on her sisters. "Um, thanks for the concern, but I think I've got my bases covered." He waved his hand and Kaia, looking like Phoebe, appeared beside him.

"I knew you'd want me again." He had summoned her!

"Ignore her." He was going to vanquish her as soon as his plan was complete. She was getting very annoying.

"Oh my god." Who was that?

"Oh, no, not god. Kaia!"

"Just listen to her voice." Cole told her.

"You're sick, you know that?" She couldn't believe Cole had a demon double of her. "You need help." Uh oh. What if he was using her for something else. "Are-are you sleeping with me? I mean, her."

"You're sick, you know that? You need help." Kaia emulated Phoebe's cadence.

"Good." This might work out after all.

"Oh my god." Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

"Oh my god." Kaia repeated.

"Excellent." Not bad. "Come on, Kaia." They head for the elevator. Cole picked up Phoebe's purse on the way. "Ooh, I'm gonna need this." Then, feeling a tiny moment of sympathy her added. "There's some left over Chinese food in the fridge." Then he walked into the elevator. Phoebe stood there gaping. How was she going to get out of this one?


Kaia walked into the manor looking like Phoebe and saw Piper. Was this the witch Cole was trying to woe?

"Oh, uh, hi, Piper." Bitch. She wanted to kill her.

"Don't you 'hi Piper' me. I saw you." She had intended to be calm but seeing Phoebe just waltz in there all nonchalant pissed her off.

"I thought you said you were gonna be calm."

"I am calm." She wished she could blow her up.

"You saw me what?" Kaia asked worried that they were already onto her.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." What was her problem?

"Trust me, it's not an act." What the hell was Piper talking about?

"We saw you making out with Cole." Bitch.

"Okay, well, that's just not possible, you see, because I'm pretty sure that I hate Cole, right?" This was getting complicated.

"Phoebe, I am pregnant. I am emotional and I am freaking out. And if you are back together with Cole then that is just fine but do not deny what I just saw." She stopped beating around the bush. She needed to know the truth.

"Okay, alright, then, uh, I'm back together with Cole." Kaia answered.

"What?" Leo asked flabbergasted.

"What?" No. This can't be happening. "How can you say that?" How could he do this to her?

"Wh- I thought you said it was fine?" What was up with this witch?

"Well, I didn't mean it!" She had hoped there was a good explanation. "And for god's sakes the man mummified you!" Heh. That had been vaguely amusing.

"Whoa, seriously?" Wow.

"Something's not right, her memory seems gone." Leo whispered to Piper.

"Okay, that's a good sign." Very good. Maybe. "Now Phoebe, try and focus. Does Cole have you under some kind of spell?" Yes. A spell.

"Maybe." Uhg. She hadn't signed up for this.

"Maybe, maybe is good. Because magic we can fight, lust, desperation, insanity we can not fight, but magic we can fight." Her thoughts were going a million miles an hour.

"Unless you've used your powers for evil." Leo added.

"Which you haven't, have you?" Piper asked.

"No, no, I don't think so and that would be the worst thing ever, right?" Kaia answered.

"Oh, yeah, we couldn't bring you back from that." Leo replied.

"Okay, so this is what we have to do. You have to take away my powers so I don't misuse them." Great idea.

"Yes. She's not evil, you're not evil." She wasn't evil but she was definitely acting strangely.

"So you think Cole has you under his control?" Leo asked.

"Well, yeah, why else would I have kissed Cole? Oh my god, what has he done to me?" Kaia asked, overacting a little bit.

"Oh, no, honey, it's gonna be okay." Piper assured her. It would be okay. Once she talked to Cole and figured out what the hell was going on.

"Yes, it is going to be okay, it's going to be okay once you take away my powers, you know, just to be safe." Kaia added.

"Piper, if you take away her powers she's going to be really vulnerable." Leo told his wife.

"But you guys can protect me, right?" Kaia asked sweetly.

"Well, I don't know. If Cole is reorganizing the Underworld, you're gonna need the Power Of Three." Leo said.

"No, as long as we're the ones to take it away we can bring it back but if Cole's got Phoebe under his control..." What was he up to? Piper was baffled.

"Yes, she's right. I am my own worst enemy. The sooner we weaken me the better." Kaia added.