Okay, so I did put part of Blinded By the Whitelighter in this chapter. I know I said that I wasn't rewriting anymore episodes, but this was such an important one that I couldn't help but to want to put in some of it. Not the whole thing, just the parts that would have been changed for this different storyline.
"What was that?" Phoebe asked when she came into the kitchen and heard an explosion coming from the basement.
"Piper." Prue answered, handing her a cup of coffee. "Cole's helping her with her new power."
"Wow, you know, it's been a month since she didn't vanquish Cole and I haven't seen Piper since."
"Yeah, they've been a little inseparable. But, come on, they're in love."
"I am glad she's happy."
"Yeah, you know I never thought I'd say that a demon could be good for her. But-" She cut off when she heard Piper give a cry. They exchanged a look and rushed over to the attic door. When they opened it and rushed down the stairs, though, they found Piper in Cole's arms. She pulled away from him when she heard them.
"Uh, sorry." Phoebe said. "We heard you yell."
"Oh, yeah." Piper grinned. "I was just celebrating." She grinned a little sheepishly and rested her head on Cole's chest, causing both her sisters to sigh and leave the room.
"Hey." Piper said brightly as she came into the kitchen.
"Hey." Prue looked up from her photos. Piper picked up her purse as Phoebe came in.
"What's going on?"
"I've got to go set up the club."
"Oh, yeah." Phoebe said. "Paige and I will probably stop by later."
"So, do we get to meet…?" She trailed off, distracted when Cole shimmered into the kitchen. "Hi," her smile widened. Prue and Phoebe met each others gaze and then simultaneously rolled their eyes.
"Got a minute?" Cole asked, his gaze staying on Piper.
"Sure." She said, walking out of the room with him.
"Can't even go a few hours, can they?" Prue asked, shaking her head. Phoebe snorted.
"Oh, come on. Like you and Leo weren't the same way after you guys started dating again."
"Yeah, okay, but come on, for a while I thought I'd never see him again."
"True, but now you guys are getting married." Prue shook her head.
"Not yet. The elders still haven't said anything on that, remember?"
"Yeah, but they will," Phoebe said confidently, putting one arm around her sisters shoulder. She glanced at her watch. "Oh, I gotta go meet Paige. See you later."
"Yeah, but we sure are racking up the exes." Paige said, making her way over to the bar where Piper was with Phoebe.
"I don't really think they count as exes if it's only one date." Phoebe said.
"What about your sisters?" Phoebe snorted.
"Are you kidding me? Prue and Piper are both practically married." She and Paige stopped in front of Piper. "Hey."
"Hey." Piper smiled at them both.
"What did I tell you? Insanely perky." She whispered loudly to Paige. Piper glared at her sister. "Now that's a normal one." Phoebe said, simply grinning and sitting down. "Oh, Piper, this is Paige." Piper turned her gaze on Paige.
"Nice to meet you." She said, and frowned when she shook Paige's hand.
"What? Do I have something on my face?"
"No, it's just…" Piper shook her head. "Never mind."
"Okay." Piper's frown did disappear after a moment, though. "You know what, I'll be right back." Paige said, getting up. Phoebe turned to Piper when she had left.
"Okay, what was that?"
"What was what?" Piper asked, making a drink order that someone called for.
"The way you acted when you met Paige, that's what." Piper shrugged.
"It's nothing, Phoebe. It's was…"
"Like you'd met her before?" Phoebe finished. Piper's frown came back at that.
"Maybe you should make sure your new friend isn't a demon or something." Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Why? Worried she was sent here like Cole was? No, she's not a demon, trust me. Speaking of Cole, I guess you guys are doing okay." Piper smiled, and she looked away for a second.
"We're great." She said. Phoebe shook her head, waving a hand in front of her sister. She laughed when Piper swatted her hand away. "I'm glad you're happy. Although, it's been a month and I still can't believe it's with a demon. Guess it's true. You really are a demon magnet."
"Maybe. But Cole's the good one." Phoebe nodded. She had had her doubts about Cole, the same as Prue, even after the spell that Piper had cast after they found out he was a demon, but he had done nothing but help over the past month. In fact he might have saved their lives on more than one occasion.
"Hey, you alright? I thought you and Cole were going out?" Prue asked when Piper came into the kitchen the next day.
"We did go out. Unfortunately, demons attacked. They were there for him. Now, he's off dodging bounty hunters."
"And you're worried." Prue finished. "Honey, I think Cole can take care of himself."
"I know that." Piper said, rolling her eyes. "It doesn't stop me from worrying about him, though."
"No, I didn't expect it to." Piper waved a hand.
"Okay, I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's only making me worry more. How are you and Leo?" Prue smiled, her expression much like the one that Piper had worn when Phoebe had asked that question.
"We're great."
"Good." Piper smiled as they went into the other room and sat down on the couch. Phoebe walked into the house a moment later and stopped short.
"What's this? Are you both actually home, and alone this time?" She grinned when they both rolled their eyes and plopped down on the couch next to them.
"Sorry." Piper said finally. "I know I haven't been…around lately."
"No, that's okay, honey." Phoebe said, grinning. "If I had a hot demon boyfriend I'd probably want to spend all my time with him too."
"Yeah, well, don't get any ideas," Prue said. "I doubt any more are going to turn out like Cole." Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Well, we're all here now. You guys want to do something?"
"I'm just worried. He should have been back by now." Piper said a few hours later when they got back home. She and her sisters entered the attic.
"Piper, I'm sure he's fine." Prue said.
"Right. It's just, he's disappeared for a while before, but not without letting me know he's alright somehow."
"He'll be okay." Phoebe said, and then smiled when Cole shimmered in a few seconds later.
"Cole!" Piper rushed over and threw her arms around him. "You're bleeding." She said when she pulled back. He was a little battered.
"Had a few close calls. I'm alright, though."
"Guess all girls night is over." Phoebe whispered to Prue, smiling slightly as Piper hugged Cole again.
"I can't believe this." Piper said, as she came into the kitchen, frowning in disgust at the potion that Prue and Phoebe were making.
"You'll be fine. Just don't blurt out that you and Cole are still sleeping together…" Piper glared at her.
"This is serous, you know. Why would they be investigating him? Unless they know he got the job in a less than legal way?"
"Where is Cole?" Phoebe asked.
"Laying low somewhere. I don't know. He had another run in with some bounty hunters, and I can't say that it's a good idea for him to be around with the police investigating his disappearance from the human world."
"You didn't tell him about it, did you?" Prue asked a reprimand in her voice.
"No, and I don't plan on it yet." When Prue only crossed her arms, Piper sighed. "Oh, come on, Prue. You know how he is. He'll want to deal with this himself."
"He loves you, wants to protect you."
"Yeah, and I'd love to see how that plays out. He goes to this Reece guy, who may know that he's not really an ADA, and never was, then what? There's an even bigger file on Cole and he could get arrested on the spot and then he'd have to break out of jail and then there'd be an even bigger file. And who knows, the Source could send his bounty hunters down there-"
"Okay, okay!" Prue held up her hands. "I got it."
"Who are you?" Piper asked when she came home from meeting with Reece, staring at the unfamiliar woman.
"She's a whitelighter. A work buddy of Leo's." Prue said, sounding irritated.
"And you must be Piper." Natalie said. Her eyes narrowed. "The one dating a demon."
"Half demon." Piper said, glaring at her before turning to Prue. "Why is she here?"
"I'm here to help you vanquish a warlock. It is what you are supposed to do, after all. Vanquish warlocks and demons."
"So, what? I'm supposed to vanquish Cole because he can shimmer and use energy balls?"
"How about the fact that he has tried to kill you, several times, I've heard."
"That was in the past, and he could never go through with it…oh, you know what? Why am I even arguing with you? What have we got?" She turned back to Prue, now ignoring the woman.
"I think I've found something." Prue said when the crystal dropped.
"The elders want to know if I think you're relationship with Prue is getting in the way of your job." Leo stared at her.
"They are the charmed ones. They've taken out a lot of demons in the last couple of years, a lot of demons that no one else could. They are good at their job."
"They're also sloppy, untrained, emotional...you are dating one of them, and one of the others is dating a demon."
"A demon that has saved their lives on several occasions."
"And also tried to kill them on several. But even discounting the relationship between Piper and her demon, the question still remains whether or not you can maintain a relationship with Prue and do your job."
"Wait!" Piper waved her hands, freezing Natalie. "The elders did this?" Leo sighed.
"They think its best that Natalie takes over as your whitelighter for now."
"What?" Prue stared at her boyfriend. "Why would they do that?" But Piper sat down heavily.
"This is my fault, isn't it?"
"No, Piper." Leo said. "Its not-"
"It is." Piper cut in. She looked over at Prue. "This isn't about your relationship getting in the way of Leo's job. This is about Cole. This is about me letting a demon into this family." She turned her gaze back to Leo. "Isn't it?"
"I'll admit, they weren't exactly happy about it up there, but that's not all there is to it. They are worried that we won't be able to focus properly while we're dating." He said, looking over at Prue.
"I'm sorry. They want me to join in the lockdown. You have to do what she says. It's important. For us."
"Wait, so they assigned you a new whitelighter?" Cole asked incredulously later that night when he finally found the opportunity to make it back to the manor.
"Yeah. Look, I think it'd be best if you don't stay here right now, Cole. This woman has the power to make sure that Prue and Leo never get married and she's already giving me dirty looks."
"Because of me." She smiled slightly at him.
"Don't worry; I'm not going to kick you out of my room for good. Hopefully she won't be around for long."
"Alright." Cole said, sitting next to her on the bed. He kissed her briefly before shimmering out. Piper sighed and got up, meeting Prue in the hall.
"Cole's gone." She reported. "He agreed to stay away until this is over."
"Piper, you didn't have to do that-"
"Yes I did." She cut Prue off, with a small smile. "I love him but I couldn't live with myself if I was the reason that you and Leo couldn't get married, and you know him being around would only piss her off more." Prue leaned forward and hugged her.
"Thank you." She said softly. "You know this isn't fair."
"I know, but hopefully it won't be for long."
"So, everything worked out alright?" Cole asked, sitting on the arm of the couch next to Piper.
"We're not sure yet." Prue said, looking a little worried. "Leo's still up there."
"You don't think they'll actually hold you're trip up there against him, do you?"
"I don't know." Prue answered. "You never can tell with them."
"We were going to go to P3 to wait. You want to come?" Cole hesitated for a second.
"I don't know." Prue and Phoebe exchanged a glance, knowing what he was probably thinking.
"Come on. You're a part of the family now. You can wait and be worried with us." Phoebe said. Cole looked over at them, surprised and then he smiled slowly.
"Sure, alright." He shrugged. Piper stood, and grabbed his hand, giving her sisters a grateful look as she passed them.
"Hey, what took so long, what happened?" Prue asked when she spotted Leo coming over to them at P3. They had won, but had broken some major rules while doing it.
"Well, obviously, they found out that you've been up there, so they decided to review the facts of the Natalie's situation. And they unanimously decided to lift probation."
"What?" Prue asked, surprised. Leo grinned and wrapped his arms around her.
"It means we're officially engaged." Prue was shocked for a moment before she was hugging him back. She kissed him, smiling widely.