Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.

Summoning

"Come on, Sweetie, please eat the oatmeal," Piper cooed to her youngest child, two year old Chris. "Look," she pointed to the toddler's older brother, "Wyatt likes his oatmeal. Don't you, Wyatt? It's good, right?"

Wyatt orbed his oatmeal to the floor. "That's not good, Mommy," he stated.

Piper let out an exasperated sigh. Then, she reached for a rag to wipe up her son's mess. She ended up blowing up the microwave, however, when she heard the jingling behind her. Startled, she jumped before turning around to face her baby sister. "Paige! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry. Orbing doesn't exactly allow for knocking, though. Besides, I always orb in. What's with you?"

"Wyatt and Chris won't eat their food, Wy made a mess, and Phoebe was going with Coop to finalize their annulment today with the Angel of Destiny-"

"Yeah, a three day marriage. I think that's even less than the one with Dex, isn't it?"

"I don't know. The point is I'm just worried about her. And, then, I finished the spell so I guess I'm just nervous about that- you know Phoebe's reaction and if it's even gonna work. Speaking, of which, I think we ought to perform it this morning. I know Phoebe's planning to stop by later and I want to be able to tell her then, hopefully adding the part where he's gonna be able to talk with her for a while."

"Did you really have to remind me about that? I'm hoping it works for Phoebe's sake, but I'm in no way happy about it."

"Yes, you've made that very clear the last couple days. So, I'm grateful that you're willing to help. I think the spell has a better chance of working if we both say it- two-thirds of the Charmed Ones."

"Yeah, yeah. Are you sure that's all that's bothering you? Because you've been jumpy for a couple of weeks now. And, when you and I fought that demon yesterday, you totally blew flowers around his head, instead of blowing his head up."

"You noticed?" Piper said, aghast. It had happened so quickly, and Paige had been checking on their innocent, so she'd assumed no one saw. After all, her explosive power worked the next time around. The demon was vanquished seconds later.

"Of course I saw it. I'm not blind. And, if I recall correctly, the last time your powers wacked out like that was when you were pregnant with Wyatt."

Piper narrowed her eyes, "Just what are you implying?"

"Oh, come on, Piper! I remember my first trimester; it was only a couple months ago, you know. My powers were totally screwed up. I kept orbing in and out of Henry's office. Practically gave my dear husband a heart attack every time. He was so worried that someone was gonna notice. Of course they didn't. But, Piper, roses popping out when you try to blow something up- that's in no way an advancement of your powers. You, Sister, are pregnant! Admit it!"

"Fine, I admit it. I only found out yesterday afternoon. The flower thing made me suspect, so I went to the doctor. But, I wanted to tell Leo first. And, I figured I'd wait until this whole thing with Phoebe died down."

"Oh, I knew it!" Paige hugged her sister.

"Knew what?" Leo asked entering the kitchen.

Piper gave Paige a silencing look, before smiling at her husband. She stood on her toes to kiss him. "I'll tell you later, Ok, Honey? For now, can you clean up the boys and the floor? Paige and I have a spell to recite."

As Piper exited, Paige's smile turned upside down. She reluctantly followed Piper to the attic.

Leo looked to Wyatt and Chris, "What's say we get you guys all clean and then I'll read you a story."

"Are you sure about this, Piper?" Paige asked after she had formed a circle of six candles in the middle of the Halliwell's attic. "Matches. Light." She said, using her magical orbs to place flames onto each one.

"We already discussed this. Cole does not want to kill us, Paige. Just trust me."

"I don't mean that. What if, after we tell Phoebe and after they talk, she decides she doesn't want just closure? What if she wants to find a way to resurrect him?"

"Well, if she does, then I'll support her. I don't know how it would be possible, but if Phoebe wants to try, I'll help her succeed in any way I can."

"It would probably take a Power of Three spell," Paige grumbled.

Piper looked up from tweaking her spell. Phoebe was the master at this part of their witchcraft. Piper's place was in the kitchen making potions. But, Phoebe couldn't know what they were attempting to do yet. So, her rhyming skills would have to do. "We can't force you to do something you don't want to, Paige."

"Yeah, accept for the whole majority rules thing. Besides, I want Phoebe happy, too. I'll have to go along with it."

"Your choice, Sweetie."

"But, I don't want him to come back!"

"We don't even know if that's what Phoebe wants, or if Cole would even let her. Let's just wait and see what happens before you get upset," Piper advised.

"I at least have to see him today, though. That's why this day already stinks," pouted Paige.

Piper hid her smile. "The spell's as ready as it's ever gonna be. I just hope it works. You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Paige said, joining hands with Piper.

The two read from the small piece of paper in Piper's hand.

Magic forces, black and white,

We call to you on this day before night.

His soul is stuck, hers is in muck.

To heal their hearts, bring us he,

The one to whom Phoebe gave her heart's key.

A hard wind blew through the attic, extinguishing the flame upon each candle. The two Charmed Ones covered their eyes from the blast. When it ended, they looked up. Expecting to see their former brother-in-law, they were shocked at the emptiness the circle still held.

"I don't get it," Piper paced around the candles. "That should've worked."

"Maybe that means she took the key back?" Paige asked hopefully.

"I doubt it. She was supposed to, but from what I've heard she never did."

"Piper, your voice just got a whole lot deeper. And you just gained an Australian accent."

"Not me," Piper replied.

"Now I'm offended. You can't have forgotten me already, Paige."

She spun toward the front window. "Hardly. Though, believe me, I'm working on it."

Cole Turner grinned, his blue eyes mischievous. He was leaning against the wall on the far side of the attic, his arms crossed in front of him. "It's nice to see you again, too."

"Don't make me sick. And weren't you supposed to appear, oh, I don't know, in the circle? That's the rules for a summoning."

"Oh, well, you know me and rules. I like to be my own boss. I appeared here myself after I heard your spell."

"How could you appear by yourself? You told me you didn't have any powers. That you weren't demon, ghost, or poltergeist," Piper reminded him.

"Yeah, but we didn't have much time that day. If I had told you the truth, we would have had to argue about it. I needed you to listen to me right away," Cole explained. "Besides, how I got here has nothing to do with that. I'm a spirit that kept his earthly body, don't ask me how; I don't know. But, I'm unique. So, I can do things other spirits can't- like materialize on other planes for short amounts of time. I teleport there the same way all the other spirits do when summoned or something, though."

Piper shushed Paige's upcoming remark with a wave of her hand. "Fine, you're a unique spirit. But, you said you didn't tell me the truth. So you are still a demon or something?"

"Half-demon."

"I know that," said Piper growing impatient. "It's in your ancestry."

"But it's more than that. I'm sure Paige told you that, when I created that other world, I assumed my Belthazor persona." At Piper's nod, Cole continued. "That's who I was when I was vanquished. Technically, I shouldn't exist anymore at all since it wasn't the real world. But, for some reason I ended up in Limbo, instead. I didn't make a stop at the Demonic Wasteland, though. So..."

"So, you never lost Belthazor's powers?" Piper finished.

"Bingo."

"You what?" Paige yelled, no longer wanting to keep quiet.

"I'm still Belthazor."

"Paige, don't!" ordered Piper. The Whitelighter-witch had begun to orb out.

"You don't even know what I was gonna do."

"Of course I do, grab a knife and make sure we have all the ingredients for a Belthazor vanquishing potion."

"Just as a precaution."

"Um, I'm already dead," Cole reminded the girls.

They seemed to have ignored him, so he mumbled under his breath, "Being ignored by the Halliwell witches, it's just like old times."

"You, shut up," Piper told him. "Paige, you aren't making a potion to re-kill him. In fact, it's redundant."

Paige shook her head fiercely, "Not with him," she declared, pointing at Cole. "He just keeps coming back to life. Again and again and again and-"

"Once," Cole interrupted.

"Whatever," Paige said. "We need insurance."

"I told you to trust him," Piper said.

"That was before he had powers!"

"Did you actually call me here for a reason? Or am I just supposed to watch you fight about killing me, which, I'll remind you again, has already been done."

"Paige, sit. Remember what we talked about. No getting so upset. It isn't good for my nieces."

"She's pregnant! I thought she was just getting fat. Too may lollipops and not enough martial arts skills for exercise."

"You jerk!" Paige yelled at the half-demon.

"I was only kidding. Obviously, you're pregnant. I'm sure everyone within a fifty mile radius from you can tell."

"You call that an apology? Why don't you just bring yourself back to life already so I can kill you again! Hopefully, this time you'll end up rotting in the right place."

"Paige!" Piper tried once again to intervene.

"As much fun as that sounds," Cole said sarcastically, "I'm actually pretty content right where I am. No struggle to be good or evil. I can help lost souls..."

Paige jumped up from the seat she was in, "I don't care!" She turned to Piper, "Will you just tell him why we called, so he can go!"

"I would've told him a long time ago if certain people could behave."

"Yeah, Paige's never been good at that."

"I meant both of you," Piper told Cole. "Now, the reason we called was because Phoebe-"

"Feels guilty about me and her marriage to the Cupid is ending before it ever really gets started. I know. I told you I can always feel her pain, so I peeked in. She really shouldn't feel that way, though. She's supposed to find love and be happy. That's all I want for her. If I'd known I would cause her all this misery again, I never would have watched her wedding."

"So, you were there?" Piper asked.

He nodded. "But, after what happened last time, I made sure I didn't make any noise in case she could hear me. I didn't count on her maybe seeing me, too."

"Why would you even want to attend her wedding? Are you some sort of masochist, too now?" Paige asked pointedly. Piper had assured her he wasn't crazy anymore, but the guy still seemed like a nut-job to Paige.

Cole chuckled. "Probably," he shrugged. "I just wanted to see her happy again."

"So, will you talk to her?" asked Piper. "I think maybe she just needs closure. And I'm sure you do, too."

Shaking his head, Cole answered in the negative, "I'm sorry, Piper. I don't want Phoebe lost and I want her happy, but my seeing her will more than likely just make things worse."

"Worse how? She'll want you back?" Paige wanted him to admit that he wanted to come back. Piper had to be wrong about his change.

"You're trying to trap me, I know. But, yes, worse like that. I can't come back, though. It's not possible. And that may hurt her more. I'm where I'm supposed to be. You can tell Phoebe where I am if you want, but you two have to make sure she finds happiness elsewhere."

Piper said, "I don't see why you can't do that. I'm positive it would work better coming from you."

"Color me selfish or even evil, but it still hurts me too, Piper. If I talk to her directly, I may not want to leave, when I know I have to. I won't hurt either of us like that again."

Piper was taken aback, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to force you. I know you still love her and I should've taken into consideration how it would make you feel."

"Thanks, I guess. I'm... sorry about everything, Piper, I really am."

"I know. So, am I."

He smiled a bit and turned to Paige. "I know you still hate me and will more than likely never be able to forgive me- I wouldn't forgive me if I was you- but I'm sorry." He paused, "And I know it won't make any difference and I that I still did many unforgivable things that I can never make up for, but for what it's worth, I never wanted you dead in that other reality. I just didn't want Phoebe to ever have met you. I didn't take into account that it would mean she'd never have had that premonition and therefore never save you from Shax."

Paige bristled, "It's not worth anything." Because even if he hadn't meant to murder her, he was purposely trying to keep her from ever having met her sisters. He knew that was the best thing that had happened in her life, until Henry and her little babies-to-be.

"Understandable. I should be...going...now..." Cole's stumbled through the rest of the sentence as he finally noticed that someone was standing in the attic's doorway. Even knowing he ought to leave immediately to save them both the hurt, Cole wasn't able to. He stood, staring transfixed at Phoebe Halliwell, who was staring right back.