Part Three

January 12, 2003 – evening

Cole politely announced his return before entering the bedroom where he was shocked to find Phoebe unconscious on the floor. Quickly rushing to her side, he lifted her into his arms and placed her on the bed next to the wounded girl. He lightly patted her cheek but when she didn't stir, he kissed her forehead. He was nearly out of the room when he heard her groan.

"What's going on?"

"Easy," he cautioned, helping her sit up. She'd glanced at her daughter and he added, "I just got back and found you passed out on the floor. What happened?"

"I don't know," she replied as she stood, steadied herself, and crossed to the other side of the bed. "One minute I was talking to her and the next I got dizzy and then nothing."

"Have you eaten?" he asked in concern despite the fact that he knew it was unlikely she had. Leftover Chinese never truly appealed to him either but sometimes you made do with what you had. "Give me a minute and I'll get you some dinner."

Phoebe nodded to her daughter, "Her breathing's worse. I think, I think she's dying, Cole."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't get back sooner." He approached the bed and slowly sat on the edge, careful not to disturb the girl. "You said she was talking?"

"Only for a few moments now and then and most of the time I could barely hear her to make out what she's saying." She didn't reveal the pieces she'd learned about the boy her daughter loved, the boy who was half-demon and died trying to protect the family. It broke her heart to think history would repeat itself with her daughter. Phoebe moved beside him, watching warily as he gazed at her daughter. "Is your operation over yet? Can I call Leo?"

"Operation?" He had gotten so caught up in trying to learn more about the girl that he'd forgotten all about the plans he'd set in motion for the Charmed Ones. Thanks to his renewed ties with the Underworld, Phoebe had been suspended, Piper's club failed inspection, and Paige had been charged with hit and run. "Uh, no," he answered, "it's not. I spent most of the time tracking down an Oracle or a Seer I would trust enough to give me --"

"Seer?"

Cole heard the fear in her voice and touched her arm reassuringly, "She's gone. But there are others, though not necessarily as powerful as she."

Phoebe fought the shiver, though whether it was due to the information or to his touch she couldn't say. "And?"

"And I found a Seer who reminded me that the future is always in motion," he explained. He caught her rolling her eyes.

"I could've told you that," Phoebe impatiently told him. "It's not like Prue's here to dye her hair blond and live that future I saw or that Piper's gonna grow old with Leo and have a bunch of grandchildren like she'd seen. Did this Seer," she choked out the word, "give you anything useful?"

"In addition to a source for, sorry," he shrugged, "poor choice of words, a healer, all she had time to tell me was that fates had been cheated twice but wouldn't let it happen a third time and that, instead of wasting time, you should simply trust her when the time is right."

Phoebe thought a moment before throwing her hands up in exasperation, "What the hell does that mean? Is being cryptic a requirement for being a Seer?"

Cole withdrew a small vial from his pocket, "All I know is that when you do meet her, you should listen because she's different from other Seers and Oracles. I even think you'll like her. Her name is K--"

"Wait, what are you doing?" Phoebe grabbed his wrist, stopping him from bringing the vial to her daughter's lips.

"I won't let harm come to her any more than I would you," he promised. He took her hesitation as permission and, without gloating over the fact that despite all the negatives between them Phoebe still trusted him to some degree, he carefully poured the liquid into the girl's mouth. "This will ease her pain and heal her as she sleeps."

"She's not asleep, she's unconscious!" She tried telling herself Cole would never do anything to harm her daughter but she was still worried about the origin of the potion and what side-effects there might be. Just because Cole seemed to be trying to help didn't mean she should trust his "sources" too.

Penny coughed from the liquid suddenly going down her throat. But coughing made the pain worse which made the coughing worse. She felt strong arms holding her and she struggled to open her eyes.

"Easy," Cole cautioned as he moved the vial from her mouth and tried restraining her with his other arm. "It's okay, you're safe."

Her vision was still blurry but, through her power, she felt his concern and tried to take in some of his strength. And then she heard her mother's voice repeating that she was safe. If her mother was there then…"Daddy?"

Cole ignored Phoebe's gasp of surprise and concentrated on the girl lying before him who cried for him again. Daddy. He was a father. He suppressed a smile at the thought that his relationship with Phoebe wasn't over despite her desire. At least it would last long enough to produce a daughter. "Shhh, sweetheart, Daddy's here."

"Your ring…" Penny cried hoarsely. "Chain broke and --"

"Shhh, it's okay," he consoled her while taking a glimpse at his wedding ring that, unlike Phoebe, he had not yet been able to remove. "It doesn't matter." Bringing the vial back to her lips, he softly encouraged, "Drink this. It will make the pain go away."

"Daddy…demons…" Penny pushed his hand away in her growing panic, spilling the cool liquid onto her hand.

"Stop," Cole exclaimed as he tried to grab her flailing hand without injuring her further. "Phoebe!"

Phoebe was already scrambling onto the bed to the other side of Cole. Reaching out, she tried to calm her daughter. "Shhh, you're safe now. No one can hurt you."

Penny cried as pain coursed through her from her movements as she tried reaching for him again. To her dismay, she couldn't keep her eyes open and she was wheezing, "Angry, Daddy…you…so angry… ring…energies…not there but…saw, saw it all…"

Frustrated by the tiny bits of information, Cole knew better than to press his daughter for more. She needed time to heal before he could question her. "You have to drink this potion, sweetheart. It will make you better, I promise."

"Premonition, she has my power," Phoebe murmured as Cole tried again to get their daughter to drink what was left in the vial. Their daughter. "I can't deal with this now," she whispered.

Cole, however, wasn't about to let Phoebe off the hook. But he kept his eyes on his daughter, helping her to swallow the potion. "As soon as she's asleep, we're going to talk. I'm not removing the block until we do. You can't run this time."

"I don't run," she seethed as her daughter was finally quieting, "and we have nothing left to say to one another."

"Except that our daughter is lying here near death and we need to --"

"Well now, doesn't this make a lovely family picture?"

Phoebe turned to find herself standing in the doorway. "You!" she shouted. Only her daughter's condition kept her from attacking the shape-shifter. She moved slightly to block her daughter from view.

Cole immediately stood. "Kaia," he growled.

"So much for being protected here," Phoebe muttered.

Penny sensed the hostility and opened her eyes, squinting in confusion at the new figure. "Mama? Two?"

"Shhh, sweetie, it's okay. She's a demon but you're safe. She can't hurt you."

"As if you could stop me," Phoebe/Kaia taunted. "You didn't have an active power before and now you don't have any powers at all."

Phoebe's eyes widened. Her faint hadn't been due to lack of food. She was under a spell. She glared at Cole but, based on the way his eyes glinted at the demon, she realized he'd had nothing to do with what happened to her.

Phoebe/Kaia grinned and turned to Cole. "Come on, baby, you know I'm better than she is. I'm everything you could ever want and more."

"Except you're not her," he coolly stated. "It's been fun, Kaia, but it's over now."

Kaia morphed back into her own features and cozied up to him, "I did everything you asked and they bought it. I fooled her sisters." Running her fingers up his neck into his hair, she purred, "If you let me, I'll make it so you never remember she even existed before me."

"No," he stated as he removed her hand from his head and shoved her back. "Enough, Kaia. I've warned you before."

"What about your plans?"

"They've changed," he declared without glancing at his daughter who moaned for him.

"You're making a mistake," Kaia warned.

"One I aim to correct," he decided before killing her without a second thought. He spun back to his daughter, "It's okay, sweetheart, I took care of the demon." She seemed to relax slightly and he assured her, "You're safe."

"For now," Phoebe whispered as her daughter slipped back unconscious. As much as she hated to admit it, Cole was right. Their daughter was injured and they needed to work together to help her. And after that, they would have to decide how they would move on apart from each other but still ensure her daughter is conceived.

88888888888888888888888888888888