Piper was frustrated. "Is there anything you do apart from training with humans and drinking with them?"
Cole grinned. " Yes, actually, there is one other thing but I doubt it's appropriate to be mentioned here."
Piper seemed not to hear as she visited herself searching for something in her trunk. Prue simply rolled her eyes.
Cole chuckled. He turned to the fireplace and leaned against it.
Phoebe looked right at him. And then Cole turned and caught her gaze.
"Alright, so let's try something else." Piper was back.
##
"I was hoping we could have like a cheat day today."
"We don't have a lot of time and we need to make use of every minute we get to practice. We need to be ready if it ever comes to a fight with the demons.|"
"Okay, but what are we fighting for if not for life's many joys, no matter how little or momentary they are? Let's celebrate a little."
Cole sighed. "Alright, we will take a short break, say, 15 minutes, and then reconvene."
"I was thinking we could take longer than that?"
"What do you have in mind?"
Phoebe sashayed closer.
"What was it you said you did apart from training with humans," she said, lowering her voice. Cole's eyes never left hers as she continued, "and drinking with them?"
He didn't need telling twice. His arms snaked around her and he leaned in and they met in a kiss.
##
The air shifted and there was a crack. And the sound of footsteps on the dry ground.
Cole was sitting in the clearing, perched on a log. His hands shot up in flames, blue and uninviting.
'What kin of yours have I killed?" he asked.
There was no reply. Instead, the footsteps inched closer, slowly and warily. Cole breathed in deeply. And then sighed.
"Stand down," he bellowed to his side. "Wait for my command." A rustle behind him said that his orders were being followed. Only then did he finally look up.
"Is Phoebe here, too?" he asked.
Prue looked sideways at Piper but didn't answer. Phoebe stepped out from behind her sisters.
Cole chuckled. "You coward!." He said softly. Phoebe said nothing.
"She isn't afraid of you," Piper said.
"No, and that's exactly why she's a coward."
"Let's get this over with," Prue said as she stepped forward.
"Wait!" Cole extinguished his flames and raised his palm towards her but addressed Phoebe.
"It wasn't me. I swear it."
"Your blood was all over the place, Cole," Phoebe said, softly.
"I know, I know. But it wasn't me. I wasn't myself then. I was possessed, probably even mind-controlled. Raynor attacked me last night. I didn't have time to defend myself."
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he wanted us to fight and kill each other. Because he knew I was at my most vulnerable in that moment."
"And why should we believe you?" Phoebe asked. Her gaze locked with Cole for a second before he turned to face Piper and Prue.
"Because I'm Cole Turner. I'm a man of my word. My honour is held in high regard and well known among both supernaturals and humans.
I swear to you, it wasn't me."
Prue looked down at him. "Then prove it."
"I will if you give me time."
"You have 24 hours." Prue, Piper and Phoebe held hands as they started to fade out.
##
You coward!
Phoebe closed her eyes as she remembered his words. As she replayed the scene in her mind, her thoughts drifted back to another time
"What was it you said you did apart from training with humans," she said, lowering her voice. Cole's eyes never left hers as she continued, "and drinking from them?"
Phoebe leaned in and then Cole was kissing her, gently at first, but then with growing passion.
Phoebe rubbed her forehead as though that could turn it off. But yet another memory came to her.
Cole smiled down at her and she pushed him down to the bed. She rolled on top of him as he held her and pulled her down to kiss her on the lips.
Another.
Cole asked her something, as she turned in his arms, a content smile playing on her lips.
"Not yet," she said as she kissed him.
And another.
They were exhausted. Their hair tousled, messy. Their arms around each other. They didn't speak.
She reached out to stroke his chin. His hand threaded through her hair. Their eyes found each other. They held each other closer.
They didn't speak.
Because he knew I was at my most vulnerable in that moment, Cole had said. Phoebe knew exactly why Cole was vulnerable then. She was there. With him.
And why should we believe you, Phoebe had asked him. But she knew the answer already. Cole knew she did, too. She saw it in his eyes for a split second before he turned away. Because you know me. Because I love you and you love me.
Phoebe sighed. Cole was her blind spot. If it ever came to vanquishing him or hurting him in any way, she wouldn't be able to do it herself. But would she stand up to save him from her sisters?
She couldn't choose. She didn't want to choose.
Cole had called her a coward. He was right.
##
"No, I didn't. You mean too much to me and so do my sisters. I need all of us in my life. I can't choose. I don't want to. Curse me all you want. You might think in your self-righteous anger that I'm to blame, that I'm the coward here. But when it mattered the most, you didn't fight for us, either, Cole."
"How effectively can a demon fight for his love, Phoebe? I could set the whole world on fire. I could change reality. I could vanquish all demons. I could save innocents. But only with my power. A power that is demonic. And that's something I'm not supposed to use, isn't it? Don't you see, I'm doomed from the start. I can't fight for us, Phoebe. Only you can. Because only you can save me."
"You love me?"
Cole didn't reply.
Phoebe stroked the side of his side. "Who's the coward now, huh?"