Paige struggles to break Elizabeth's grasp, while Phoebe stands frozen in terror. "Mother, please -- let them both go." Cole begs. "It's me you want -- you want my powers? Take them! That's what Lilith sent you here for, to strip me of what powers I have left, right? Fine. She can have them -- but let them both GO!"
"Lilith doesn't even know I'm here, Cole. I'm here for you -- to see that you choose wisely. Now -- there is no way around this -- one will live, and one will die. And you get the deciding vote -- I think it's very democratic of me." Elizabeth tells him. Cole looks back and forth at both women, not knowing what to do. "Oh Cole, please quit dawdling and make a decision, or I'll just have to kill them both." Right at that moment, Piper and Leo orb into the house.
"What the hell?" Piper says, and she quickly vanquishes the snake that is holding Phoebe at bay. Phoebe then takes physical control over the demon woman who is holding her, and flips her over, throwing her down the stairs. Phoebe reaches for her athame and throws it at the demon, vanquishing her. Angered, Elizabeth throws Paige roughly against the wall, knocking her unconscious. Both Cole and Leo rush to her side. Elizabeth turns and looks angrily at Piper and Phoebe, and starts to appear as if she is going to attack them, when all of a sudden she vanishes. Phoebe and Piper both go over to Paige, who is starting to wake up after Leo has healed her. Cole holds her close and breathes a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay?" he asks. Paige nods her head yes, and Cole kisses her on the forehead. "The baby -- Leo, is the baby okay?"
"The baby is fine." Paige says, touching Cole's cheek. Leo puts his hands on Paige's belly to be sure.
"She's right -- the baby is fine." Leo says.
"Well -- I have the mother-in-law from hell -- LITERALLY." Paige comments as Cole helps her stand up.
"Paige, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have gotten so angry with you." Cole tells her.
"No -- it's okay. You were right -- we shouldn't have secrets. It's the easiest way to destroy a relationship." Paige says.
"Yeah -- I should know." Cole says, glancing over at Phoebe. "But it won't be like that for us. No secrets -- everything's out in the open. Starting right now."
"Excuse me, but is anyone ever going to tell us what we just orbed in on?" Leo asks.
"Oh, her -- that was Cole's mom's way of welcoming me to the family. Actually, she was pretty civil, she didn't throw me out a window this time. That's progress -- I suppose." Paige says, trying to lighten the mood.
"That was your mother? How old was she when you were born, three?" Leo asks.
"Cole's mother probably has a portrait aging in an attic somewhere." Paige says.
"Hey, don't joke about that, I think it might be true." Cole replies, half-kidding.
"Well, we need to do something about this. We can't have Cole's mother popping in every other day trying to kill off everyone in this family." Leo says.
"Isn't she controlled in the same way Phoebe was -- by a mirror?" Piper asks.
"She's too powerful -- just destroying the mirror won't destroy her -- but it WILL weaken her enough so that we can vanquish her." Phoebe says.
"But how are we supposed to get the mirror?" Paige asks.
"Leave that to me." Cole tells them. "I know my mother better than any of you -- I'll get the mirror."
"Cole, you don't have all of your powers, and you have a hard enough time fighting off your mother as it is. It's too dangerous." Paige tells him.
"It's too dangerous for me NOT to do something about her. She'll be back, Paige -- and I'll be ready for her." Cole says.
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"YOU were warned to stay away from Cole." Lilith says, admonishing Elizabeth.
"My son is making a FOOL of himself over these Charmed Ones -- I had to put a stop to it. Those women aren't good enough for him -- neither of them. Phoebe I can somewhat tolerate, but she did hurt him so, and for that she must be punished. And that little Paige girl that he married -- she's the worst one of all. Jumping into bed with her sister's husband when the ink is barely dry on their divorce papers -- pathetic little trollop." Elizabeth says.
"Do I look like I care what you think of your son's silly romantic conquests?" Lilith asks. "Cole is a foolish half-mortal who I should have destroyed decades ago -- it was only for you that I spared him. But whenever you get caught up in his life, it distracts you from what I need you to do. I told you, Elizabeth -- if you tried to see Cole again, you will pay. And now you must."
"I'm sorry, mother." Elizabeth says.
"Well that's not good enough. Now -- you already know that one of the Charmed Ones will be having a baby -- Piper, I believe. She's having a baby girl -- and I want her."
"She's wearing the amulets, mother." Elizabeth tells her.
"I realize that -- that's why I need you. I need ALL of Cole's powers in order to get past those amulets. You will take them for me." Lilith says.
"I can do that."
"Oh, there's more, Elizabeth. Even powerless, you son will be nothing but a nuisance to me. Because not only is his sister-in-law pregnant, it seems that his new wife is also with child. Another child that potentially has great powers. A demon and a whitelighter as parents, can you imagine the possibilities? Obviously, if I pursue the children of the Charmed Ones, your son will do everything he can, powers or no powers, to interfere with my plans. And I just don't have time for that." Lilith says.
"Mother -- what are you saying?" Elizabeth asks.
"I'm saying, Elizabeth, that it's time you give up this ridiculous maternal desire of yours. You've failed as a mother, and your son is simply of no use to me once I obtain what's left of his powers. Once you've taken his powers you will kill him, Elizabeth -- or I will kill YOU." Lilith tells her.
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"Hey -- can I come in?" Paige asks, peeking into Phoebe's room. Phoebe is sitting on her bed writing in the Book of Shadows. "Whatcha doing?"
"Adding to the book -- can you believe there was nothing in here at all about Lilith or the lilim demons?" Phoebe says.
"Yeah, I know -- we looked already. Cole said they're pretty good at staying hidden." Paige tells her.
"Well, they're not hidden anymore." Phoebe says, continuing to write in the book, and trying not to make eye contact with Paige.
"Phebes -- we should probably talk. About Cole." Paige says, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Phoebe finally looks up at her.
"There's nothing to talk about." Phoebe says. "I treated Cole like garbage, you were there to pick up the pieces, he's moved on, and I have to accept that. You know, it's funny -- all the time I spent wishing that Cole would just get over me and get on with his life already. I just never figured it would be with my sister."
"You think I did? I wasn't exactly a member of the 'Cole Turner Fan Club', Phebes. Honestly, I don't know -- I don't know how or why it happened, it just did."
"Yeah, well -- my self-involvement and stupidity is your gain, I guess. You know, if you were anyone else I'd kick your ass fighting to get him back. But I'm not willing to fight with you over this, Paige. You're happy, right?" Phoebe asks.
"Yeah -- god, I never thought I'd be saying that in regard to Cole. But Phoebe, he's so good to me. And he's trying so hard to be a good man. And I believe he can do it too, Phebes. Especially now, with -- with the baby." Paige says. Paige stops and thinks about what she just said. "Oh Phoebe, I'm sorry."
"It's okay -- it's amazing what you think of in retrospect. When I was pregnant -- even though the Source had Cole possessed -- I could still see glimpses of him struggling to come out. The good in him -- fighting with every ounce of strength he had -- and I didn't even help him. In fact, when it came down to it -- I chose the easy way out. I chose evil. And then when I realized I had made a mistake, instead of accepting my share of the blame for what happened -- I blamed it all on Cole. And now -- well, now he's married to you."
"Phoebe, I just don't want our relationship to suffer because of my marriage to Cole."
"Paige, don't worry about it, okay? I'll get over it. I just need some time. But I've got more important things to worry about -- Paige, I killed an innocent. I killed Miles, and there's no way around that." Phoebe says.
"You were possessed." Paige replies. "You're not to blame."
"But don't you see, I AM to blame. If I hadn't been so self-centered, if I hadn't been so willing to ignore my role in the destruction of my marriage -- I wouldn't have been vulnerable to Lilith. Lilith can only prey on women that allow her to. That's why she goes after infants -- they're the most vulnerable, and she doesn't have to wait for an invitation." Phoebe tells her. "By the way, you're wearing those amulets, right?"
"Yes, I'm wearing the amulets. I hate them, they're ugly and they don't match with anything." Paige says.
"Do you think I care about your wardrobe? I'm the one who brought Lilith into our lives -- and now you and Piper both have children in danger because of her. And Aunt Phoebe is not going to let either of them down. That's why it's up to me to come up with a way to vanquish Lilith." Phoebe says, just as Cole enters the room.
"You can't vanquish Lilith." Cole insists.
"Why not?" Paige asks.
"Because she's the demon QUEEN. Trust me, I'd like her gone just as much as anyone. But it's gonna take a lot more than a potion and a Power of Three spell to get rid of that old hag. And if you vanquish Lilith -- odds are you'll probably vanquish all of the lilim demons, since they're all in power only through her." Cole tells them.
"And that's a bad thing?" Phoebe asks.
"Phoebe -- when lilim demons give birth, they only allow the female children to live. If they have a son, they take his powers and then they kill him. But my mother -- she somehow managed to keep me safe. She was always more rebellious than her sisters, I guess. Anyway -- to my knowledge, I'm the only male lilim offspring that's survived. And if you vanquish Lilith -- I'm not really sure if that will vanquish me, too." Cole informs them.
"Well -- maybe we can come up with some sort of potion that will make you immune to the vanquishing." Paige suggests. "I mean, what else have I got to do with my time right now? I quit my job, I have no whitelighter powers, and I have to worry for the next nine months about whether or not my own baby wants me dead. I might as well make myself useful and work on my potion-making skills." Cole puts his arms around her.
"Okay, I don't care what the elders say, our child does not want to kill you. That baby was conceived in love and you know it -- the elders are a bunch of paranoid goody-goodys and I don't want you getting yourself all stressed out over this." Cole says.
"Cole, maybe we should have this conversation somewhere else." Paige suggests, glancing at Phoebe.
"Oh, don't worry about me -- I can handle it. And Cole, I promise -- we'll find some way to vanquish Lilith without vanquishing you in the process." Phoebe says, and she puts her arm around Cole to give him a hug. Suddenly she gets a premonition, and she jumps back, then looks up at Cole. "Cole -- you need to get away from me." she says.
"What? What'd I do?" Cole asks.
"Just get out, Cole, please -- just get out and stay AWAY from me!" she shouts, becoming more agitated.
"Phebes -- did you just have a premonition? What did you see?" Paige asks.
"Phoebe, did I do something to you?" Cole asks. Phoebe looks up at Cole.
"No -- it was me. Cole, I just saw you being killed -- by me." Phoebe tells him.
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Alone in her lair, Elizabeth sits in front of a mirror, primping herself. She puts the finishing touches on her make-up. "Now -- just one more thing." she says to her reflection, and morphs into Phoebe's image. "Perfect." Elizabeth says, smiling to herself.