At first, Cole just stared back at Phoebe, feeling as if all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. He had always dreaded this day would come: ever since he crossed, he had lived with this lingering fear in the back of his mind, of the moment when he and his mother would face each other fighting on opposite sides.

"Dada?"

Ben's intrigued voice snapped him out of his stupor, and he immediately called out:

"Leo!"

"Eee-oh!" Ben echoed helpfully, just as loud as his daddy.

"Baby, it was night in my premonition," Phoebe assured him, placing her hand on his arm. "We still have time."

"Time before what?" Piper asked as Leo orbed in with her.

Paige shuffled her feet and Phoebe glanced at Cole before she unwillingly said:

"We need to stop Cole's mother before she kills a witch."

"Oh," Piper uttered, because she really didn't know what else to say.

"You had a premonition?" Leo said gravely. He looked from Phoebe to Cole, knowing that this would be a rather delicate matter, one that he doubted any Whitelighter ever had to deal with before.

"Yes," Phoebe said, gently tugging on Cole's arm to make him sit down. "But it happened at nighttime," she added, taking Ben from his arms when the toddler started to fidget, not pleased with the change from riding on daddy's shoulders to sitting on the couch.

"I could see the moon through the window," she explained as she placed Ben on the floor.

"Doo-doo," Ben warmly greeted the shawl, which was still lying on the couch.

Phoebe watched with a smile as he took "Doo-doo" and went to sit across the room with it, happily prattling with the blue shawl. She sat by Cole's side on the couch, taking his hand in hers and turning her attention to the others again.

"Right," Leo said, cautiously, as he and Piper sat down, too. "So, we still have at least six hours to figure a way to, hum, dissuade her."

"Maybe you should start considering how pissed your mother will actually be if you summon her," Piper reasoned, turning to Cole, "since we may not have time to wait for the Elders' solution."

"It'll help if I know why she's going to kill this witch," he said quietly, running his hands through his hair and trying to sound more confident than he felt. "Phoebe, what exactly did you see? Was there a fight or something?"

"I think there was a fight," Phoebe said cautiously, "even though I didn't actually see it. The girl was lying on the floor, unconscious; I suppose it was your mother who knocked her out, since there was no one else in the room. In my premonition, she was firing an energy ball at her. They were alone in a room that looked somewhat like our attic, but with a larger window and lots of candles around."

She let go of Cole's hand and took a deep breath, breaking all physical contact with the others as she placed her hands on her thighs and closed her eyes; after almost five years, her premonitions had become stronger, and she had learned how to bring the images back to her mind in order to properly analyze them.

"The witch looks very young; sixteen or seventeen, at the most. She placed the candles…" -- Phoebe frowned, with her eyes still closed -- "I don't recognize the pattern, but I can tell that there is one. White and red candles, all over the room. She drew a pentacle on the floor, in the middle of the room, with five big white candles at the corners, and one crystal next to each candle, and…"

Phoebe snapped her eyes open and gave the others an alarmed look as the realization struck her.

"Oh God!…" she uttered, grimacing. "She was trying to summon her, wasn't she?"

"I'm afraid so," Leo sighed. "It certainly looks like she was."

"It can't be, Phoebe," Piper reasoned. "When Cole was still a demon and you and Prue tried to summon him, even the power of two Charmed Ones wasn't enough to force him to come to the manor."

"It wasn't enough," Cole said, "but it put up a good fight. It was invasive and painful, and if I was in the middle of a fight it would have broken my concentration and it might have gotten me killed." He sighed and added: "My mother has killed for much less."

"She looked really mad in my premonition," Phoebe remarked. "I think our best shot is to talk this girl out of it before she does the summoning."

"Then you'd better give us more information about her," Paige said, "so that we can find her."

"Okay…" -- Phoebe closed her eyes again -- "Long, dark hair, average height… Then again, she is lying on the floor, so I could be wrong," she sighed. "It's a large room with parquet floor, and there's a painting hanging on the wall: two flowers -- white lilies, I think -- with a half moon between them."

"Aimee!" Leo exclaimed, paling.

"What?" Phoebe asked, opening her eyes and giving him a confused look.

"She's one of my charges!" Leo said, jumping to his feet. "That's the symbol of the Leclerc coven!"

"Honey, calm down," Piper said as he grew more agitated. "It's still noon."

"Not in France, it isn't," he said, and the others gasped in horror as they understood.

"What's the time difference?" Phoebe asked.

"It's already night there," Leo said, distraught. "I need to go now."

"We…" Piper started to say, but Cole cut her off.

"I'll go," he said, standing up and grabbing Leo's arm. "The three of you stay here."

"You're not going alone!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"If one of you goes," he told her gravely, "someone is going to die there. If I go alone, there's a chance and, God help me, I'm taking it." Then, turning to Leo again: "Let's go."

"No!" Phoebe cried out when Leo promptly orbed out with Cole, and she reached out for the two men one second too late.

"Leo!" Piper called, in vain.

"Should I follow them?" Paige asked, nervously looking from one sister to the other.

"No," Phoebe said after a beat, in a slightly shaken voice. "Cole is right; if we go there now, it's gonna be like a declaration of war: she's gonna shoot first and ask questions later."

"And if we vanquish her, or if she kills one of us, he's gonna be devastated," Piper added with a sigh.

"So…" Paige said, giving them a hesitant look, "what do we do?"

Phoebe swallowed hard, and Piper pulled her to a clumsy hug, holding her as close as her prominent belly allowed.

"Now," Piper said, turning to Paige again, "you call Vanessa and see if she can baby-sit, and then orb Ben to her house. And then…" -- she sighed, fondling Phoebe's hair -- "we wait."

Paige reached out and gently patted Phoebe's arm before she went to follow Piper's instructions.

"We don't know if Cole's mother is already there, honey," Piper murmured soothingly. "Maybe they can stop this girl before she even starts the summoning ritual."

"I know," Phoebe said quietly, nodding her head. "And I hope they do."

She gently pulled away from Piper's embrace and went to sit on the couch, still holding her sister's hand.

"When Benjamin talks about her," she said as Piper sat by her side -- "he makes her look like," -- Phoebe shrugged -- "like just this girl he loves. Sometimes I almost forget that she's a demoness."

"I mean," she proceeded with a sigh, "sure, I know what she is, but Cole, too, was a demon when I fell in love with him. Sarsour is a demon, and I welcome him into our house and let him play with Ben."

"But what I saw in my premonition…" -- she shuddered and gave Piper an anxious look -- "She looked like something that had come straight from hell."

- x x x x x -

If Leo could have heard Phoebe, he would definitely agree with her. When Erzsebet swirled around to face him and Cole, alerted by the telltale chime of his orb, the look in her eyes and the bloodcurdling roar he heard was enough to make the Whitelighter forget that he was already dead, and that no demon could kill him, not without a Darklighter's crossbow. The moment her fiery gaze met his, the energy ball already on her hand, Leo was already orbing out again, out of sheer terror. And, in the end, that first moment of panic saved Cole's life: the energy ball missed the two men by a whisker, leaving a large scorch mark on the wall behind the spot where they had been standing earlier.

As for Erzsebet, there was a split-second lapse between recognizing Cole standing in the way of the energy ball and realizing that Leo had already orbed out with him by the time the energy ball hit the wall with a blast. During that brief instant that seemed to last forever, she saw her worst nightmare come true as she killed her son just like she had killed his father 115 years ago.

She was just starting to recover from the shock when Leo orbed in again; Cole promptly let go of his arm and took a step towards his mother, the urge to stop her before she killed momentarily overcoming prudence. Before Leo could do anything, Erzsebet lashed out towards Cole with a cry of rage, grabbing him by the nape of his neck and yanking him to his knees.

"Do you want to die?" she hissed, her eyes blazing with fury. "Because I can snap your neck, if that's what you wish."

Cole gritted his teeth as her fingernails dug into his flesh deep enough to draw blood, but he had learned long ago that asking for mercy wasn't the way to deal with his mother's wrath.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't," he muttered flippantly. "I'm rather fond of it the way it is."

At first, Erzsebet's painful grip didn't show any signs of lessening. Then she abruptly withdrew her hand and used it to slap Cole across the face, hard enough to make him lose his balance and need to place one hand on the floor for support.

"What's wrong with you?" she scolded angrily. "Shimmering in on me without warning is bad enough, but orbing? Have you completely lost your mind?"

Without a word, Cole painstakingly stood up. He touched his mouth and wasn't surprised to see blood on his fingers; he could already feel his upper lip swell. Yet, if his mother was berating him, he knew that he was standing on safe ground again.

"I was running against time," he finally replied once he was back on his feet. "I had to get here before you killed the girl," he said, glancing at the teenager who lied motionless at his mother's feet.

"How did you know that I… Oh, right," Erzsebet snorted, rolling her eyes. "You married a seer."

"Where's she, by the way?" she asked with a sardonic look around the room. "Didn't her premonition turn this one," -- she motioned her hand carelessly towards the young witch -- "into her innocent? Why isn't she here fighting evil?"

"I'm not here to fight, mother," Cole cautiously said.

He hesitated and his mother sighed heavily, giving him an annoyed look.

"Is this the part where I ask why you are here?" she asked testily. "Because I am not in the mood to follow the script, Cole: I'm tired, I have plans for later, and this little bitch here has already given me a headache. So, if you have something to say, you'd better say it now and then get the hell of out here before I lose what's left of my patience."

"There's something wrong with my powers," Cole started to say. "I…"

"You mean, besides the fact that you don't have any?" Erzsebet snapped.

"The powers I inherited from father," Cole replied tersely.

Despite all the anxiety and the frustration that he had experienced during the last few days, the feelings of inadequateness as he failed to control his powers, the fear of accidentally hurting his loved ones, at that moment Cole almost felt that it was worth it all just for the sake of seeing, for the first time in his life, his mother be rendered speechless.

"I don't think I can help you with that," Erzsebet finally said in a tight voice. "I know nothing about the way witch powers work."

"Father thinks I should talk to you," Cole said, and if he hadn't known her for almost 119 years he might have been surprised that she managed to keep her emotions in check the way she did, a barely noticeable tightening of her jaw being the only visible sign of her shock.

"So, it's true," she said quietly. "You did retrieve your father's soul."

"Yes," Cole replied, nodding.

His mother watched him intently for a while before she finally said:

"I suppose we should talk."

Cole's relief didn't last long, though, as she proceeded, looking at the still unconscious witch and saying offhandedly:

"Let me just finish with this one and then we can leave."

"What!" he exclaimed. "Mother, no!"

"What now, Cole?" she burst out, frustrated.

"Mother, she's just a kid," he reasoned. "You know she represents no threat."

"She summoned me," Erzsebet hissed, any signs of good will she might have shown a moment ago completely gone now.

"I know," Cole said quietly. "And I'm sure that she regrets it already. Mother," he pleaded, "she's so young; I'm sure she's terrified. Leo will talk to her," -- he glanced at the Whitelighter, who was standing a few steps away, deadly worried but knowing that right now there was nothing he could do to help Cole -- "he can make her see that she should never try this again."

"So can I," Erzsebet said coldly, not bothering to acknowledge Leo's presence.

Cole opened his mouth to speak again and flinched inwardly when his mother narrowed her eyes, glaring at him.

"You know that I can't just look away while you kill her," he insisted tensely, sustaining her look. "Damn it, she's just a foolish teenager who probably only stumbled upon the summoning spell by sheer luck!"

"And once word is out that a foolish teenager summoned me and lived to tell the story, any witch with enough brains to put the words of a spell together will think that they're entitled to take a shot, too," his mother snapped back.

"I won't tell," Cole said, feeling a surge of hope as the idea popped into his mind. "And neither will you."

Erzsebet opened her mouth to reply, but he hastily proceeded:

"And Leo understands that his charge's life depends on this remaining a secret. His calling is to protect her, not to vanquish you."

"You know he won't tell," he added, watching her carefully and trying to read her reactions.

Erzsebet didn't say anything and just stared back at him, stone faced, but Cole knew that she was taking in every word, carefully contemplating what he was saying.

"And the witch won't be able to tell," he said, casting a wary look towards Leo, "if she doesn't remember."

Cole knew that this was a huge thing to ask of a Whitelighter, to erase the memory of one of his charges, and he was deeply relieved when Leo silently nodded his head in corroboration of his words.

Erzsebet didn't answer right away, and both Cole and Leo waited tensely as she took her eyes off Cole to look at Aimee, and then all too slowly turned her attention to the Whitelighter, measuring him with a piercing look that went right to his spine with an unpleasant cold shiver.

"I don't have the means to know if he'll erase the right memories," she said, addressing Cole but still watching Leo intently. "Why should I trust him?"

"You trust me," Cole said quietly. "And I trust him."

Without a word, Erzsebet turned her attention back to Cole and stared at him with a cryptic expression; she raised her hand to touch the string of tiger-eye beads hanging from her neck, lightly tugging on it as she pondered his words. Finally, she deliberately took one step away from the girl, and Leo rushed towards his charge and hastily kneeled by her side.

His hands promptly started to glow as he healed the young witch, and the girl suddenly gasped and jolted up with a start.

"Leo?" she said, confused, as she saw the Whitelighter. "Mais…"

Leo? But…

Suddenly she spotted Erzsebet and Cole standing a few steps away, and she let out an alarmed shriek, trying to jump back to her feet.

"Attention!" she squealed, pointing at Erzsebet.

Look out!

"Aimee," Leo quickly said, catching her hand, "non!"

Aimee, no!

"Elle est…" Aimee said, still looking at Erzsebet with terrified eyes and frantically trying to snap her hand free from Leo's grasp.

She is…

"Aimee, attends!" -- he gently but firmly turned her towards him and away from Erzsebet -- "Attends," he said soothingly. "Ne crains pas; tout est bien."

Aimee, wait! Wait. Don't be afraid: everything's fine.

"Mais... mais..." -- Aimee's eyes nervously jumped from Leo to Erzsebet and then back to Leo.

But… But…

"Me fais-tu confiance?" the Whitelighter asked, still holding her hands in his and looking into her eyes.

Do you trust me?

"Oui," she said quietly, giving him a meek look.

Yes.

"Alors viens avec moi," he said. The girl hesitated and Leo insisted: "Tout va être bien. Viens."

Then come with me. Everything's gonna be okay. Come.

Erzsebet watched them in silence, following them with her eyes until they left the room; then she turned to Cole and said coldly:

"If he rats me, you're gonna be so sorry."

"He won't," Cole said quietly, starting to blow the candles out and collect them.

She watched him with a critical expression as he gathered all the candles and placed them in the box that was resting on a nearby table.

"You just never change," she snorted after a while.

"What?" he said, turning to her with a puzzled look.

"You got what you wanted, and yet you still brood," Erzsebet said, shooting him a chiding look.

"I'm not…" Cole started to protest, but he changed his mind and asked snappishly: "Do you understand what I have just asked Leo to do?"

"You gave him the chance to save his charge's life," his mother said coldly. "Isn't that what a Whitelighter's calling is all about? If it wasn't for you, the witch would be dead by now."

"If it wasn't for me, Leo would have brought Phoebe and her sisters to help," Cole retorted angrily.

"And there would be four dead witches by now," Erzsebet snapped back.

"So, now," Cole burst out, annoyed, "you think you can do what every demon before you has tried and failed to achieve?"

"Try me," she growled, narrowing her eyes.

Just then, Leo came back from the other room to find them standing there and glowering at each other; he stiffened, concerned, as he saw Cole defy his mother as if he still had Belthazor's demonic strength. When neither Cole nor Erzsebet showed any signs of acknowledging his arrival, he cleared his throat to get their attention and said:

"She's asleep."

"Is she gonna be okay?" Cole asked, turning to him.

"Yes," Leo said, nodding. "I'll come back later, when her parents are home, to give them a short version of the story, just enough to make sure that they'll keep her under observation for the next few days."

He noticed the box where Cole had put the candles and said, pointing at the shelves behind him:

"This box goes on the bottom shelf; could you…?"

"Sure," Cole said, picking the box.

He placed it on the shelf that Leo had referred to while the Whitelighter gathered the crystals and returned them to the trunk where they belonged.

"Thank you," Leo said. "Here, let me heal you," he said, motioning towards the wounds on Cole's neck.

"No, it's, hum…" -- Cole cleared his throat, uneasily -- "It wasn't…"

"… made by evil?" Leo asked, a little more sharply than he had intended to sound. He regretted his words almost right away, when Cole winced noticeably, whilst Erzsebet didn't even blink.

"Phoebe is gonna flip if she sees the blood," Leo reminded him in a gentler tone.

Erzsebet watched with a cryptic expression as he reached out and healed Cole's neck and face. She didn't say a word until he finished; then, as Leo took a step away from his charge, she walked towards Cole, demanding:

"Let me see it."

"Mother…" Cole started to say, but she gave him a look that left no room for arguments, so he sighed and leaned his head slightly forward, allowing her to gingerly run her fingers over the back of his neck.

Despite his look of resigned annoyance, it was nice and oddly reassuring to feel her touch again. She had always done that, ever since he could remember. Every time he went to her quarters he had to put up with her inspections, as she checked the wounds that she had found the last time and looked for new ones. No matter how long it had been since she had last seen him, his mother could always tell where the previous wounds had been, which ones should have already healed and which ones shouldn't. When she finally retracted her hands, Cole's tone was quieter as he asked:

"Now, can we go to my house?"

Erzsebet sighed and asked:

"Same address?"

"The house next door," he told her. "You'd better follow Leo."

She made a disgusted sound that Leo considered rather offensive and turned to the Whitelighter, saying sharply:

"Just go; I'll be right behind you."

Without waiting for an answer, she reached out and took Cole's hand; when he gave her a surprised look, she asked tersely:

"What? Would you rather orb?"

"God, no!" Cole exclaimed without thinking.

Leo shot him a taken-aback look and Cole said sheepishly:

"Orbing is, hum… okay. It's just…" -- he shrugged, giving the Whitelighter an apologizing look -- "It's not like shimmering."