-1A Half-Breed's Redemption?
By: Dragonstar/ Lunara Dragon

Chapter 6: Pain In the Late Night.

Author's Note: I do not own Charmed or any of the original characters. This is purely fan fiction. However the story as well as the characters of Lillith, Maria, Asmodai, and the other original characters are mine.

Thanks to everyone whose been reading and encouraging support etc, Happy Valentine's Day. I decided to make this chapter a song chapter with the combination of All You Wanted by Michelle Branch .The lyrics will be in Bold Italics like that. Ok on to the story…

--

Halliwell Manor, dining room

The three sisters along with Cole and Lillith stood in a long lasting stand still, each stood locked in place waiting to see the others' reaction, each locked in place likes its own land formation. Piper stood with Lillith in front of Cole, Phoebe and Paige staring with anger at their oldest sister and their nightmare resurrected, again. Leo slowly walked in to the room after calming the children down from waking to the sound of fighting.

He slowly approached the group afraid of causing a disruption. He finally was the one to break the silence "Is everyone alright?"

Phoebe glared in his direction. Her brother-in-law did not seem phased to see Cole there which meant he knew to "Alright? NO!" She responded while pointing at her first ex-husband. Cole took a chance to glance towards Leo who was now shaking his head. The long night was going to get longer. Phoebe then continued "Piper furthermore, how could you keep this from us?"

Piper looked to Lillith for help on this one. Lillith spoke up in the eldest's defense "Because Phoebe, she was told to until I knew what we were up against." Her light violet eyes shone in the light as she met Phoebe's own glare. Cole stepped around the two women in front of him and cautiously stepped closer to Phoebe. He held his hands out in a surrendering motion and tried to smile to ease his tension.
"Please, just hear me out it's the least you can do seeing as you killed me." He spoke softly locking eyes with the only woman he ever loved. It pained him that after the years she still held no regret about what had happened. He accepted it was mostly his fault but how could she still hold on to that anger.

Phoebe shifted under his gaze and tried to sub-due the anger that she felt, underneath the anger was fear. The man that stood in front of her was the only one she had passionately cared for before Coop. She glanced to Paige who placed her hands on her hips.
"Yeah because talking always works well with you." Paige responded defensively.

"Paige I am really sorry for the hostility I held towards you before." Cole started attempting to try and calm the two down. She locked eyes with the taller man and slightly found herself surprised by this statement. Everyone seemed to have most of their energy taken out of them by the late night battle and no one seemed up to talking.

"What ever Cole, we've heard it before. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't try to kill you right now? You can't honestly expect us to believe you're good this time." Phoebe shot at him breaking the silence again. She let the acidic words sink in, worse then any potions her words always hurt him more then the vanquishes and she knew it. That still seemed to be true as she saw some of the pain fill his eyes. Lillith couldn't take this anymore.

"Yes I do! Please take sometime to think about this Phoebe Cupid-Halliwell, you want your girls to have the best right? Who better to guard them then the person whose been stuck in the In-Between for the last five years because even after all he's been through he still clung to the only family he's ever known?"

Phoebe and Paige let that sink in as well. Both pairs of brown eyes now rested on the former demon and then on Lillith. Lillith could feel the fatigue falling on all of them including herself. She took a deep breath and looked to Piper who always seemed to be the voice of reason. Piper took the acknowledgement and nodded.

"Listen, I love you both more then anything. You know that , but please just take some time to consider it. Think about what you two both said yourselves. Paige you know more then either of us about a power greater then yourself possessing you and not being able to fight it. Remember Olivia? Not to mention since you teach at Magic School you have to learn more about it then Pheebs and I have had to know." Piper started in a soft tone to calm her two younger sisters. It was the same voice Prue always used with her and now she had mastered using it.

She then continued stepping up and wrapping her arms around Phoebe pulling her in to a hug before whispering "I know this is going to be harder for you sis. But you need to remember why he went so crazy in the first place. You were the only love he's ever known in over a hundred years in existence." She then stepped back and returned to talking to both of them again. Continuing, Piper spoke more directly "I am not saying we disregard everything that he's done. I am saying that a lot of time has passed and we need to own up to what mistakes we made as much as he needs to make up for what he has done. That is why Cole has been given this chance in the first place, to find a chance at redemption."

"Does she always give these long speeches?" Lillith whispered to Cole. He nodded yes and shrugged. Lillith caught the pain that still resided in his gaze and felt pity for her charge. She caught herself thinking of a time when she would have given anything to be like Belthazor before he met the sisters, free to live without completely hiding that he was a half-breed.

Paige took the next couple steps towards Cole and looked in to his eyes again, seeing the pain that was all to real there. "Fine. Two days, give us two days to think about it!" She said sternly and then folded a little and let a weak smile cross her face for the former demon to see. Cole shrugged his response and continued to just stare at Phoebe.

"Pheebs" Paige continued weakly while also returning to look at her sister who still held rage in her own eyes. But she could see the underlying fear.

"Fine, whatever but in two days my answer will be the same…" she started but Cole was the one to interrupt her as he placed his hands weakly on her shoulders and pulled her in to a hug catching everyone off guard. Her whole body tensed under his grasp and she refused to respond with anything. But the words everyone heard shocked them even more.

"Phoebe you've found love again, and started a family that you deserved. Please just keep in mind that this time I want to help you protect that. I..I" Cole started and caught himself stuttering on the last part. He forced his emotions out of his voice as he stepped back from Phoebe and met her gaze again "I want you to be happy even if it is not with me. I know that now and as I told Piper I have come to terms with my fate."

"Fine two days. I need to talk to Coop about this but please for now just stay away from me." Phoebe said her voice still held some anger. But she released the fear when she heard both Piper and Paige speak their own thoughts.

"Let's go to bed. Phoebe you can sleep in you old room with Chris and Patricia. Cole and Lillith if you're staying you get the living room." Piper spoke as she went to lean on her husband. Leo held his wife with care, she was the pillar of the family still and he was now the beam that helped support her. Phoebe paled at the mention of Cole staying in the same house and Lillith caught this.

"Thanks Piper but ummm I think we'd better go elsewhere. We will be back in the morning if you want." Lillith stated simply and caught Phoebe's thankful look. Lillith shrugged and smiled softly to the middle Charmed sister. Piper just yawned her response as Paige orbed back home. Phoebe headed towards the stairs but not before catching another quick glimpse of Cole. He looked different to her now with his hair spiked and a pain he wore on his sleeve. She didn't think she could trust him again but knew she had to think on it and the new information she had learned just earlier in the night had to be taken in to consideration. She waved good night to Piper and Leo.

"Alright good night. Don't worry Cole they'll come around with time to think it will show your up to giving space now." Leo said trying to give his former friend some hope. Cole just continued to stare away from everyone. Lillith held out her hand to him and also said good night to Piper and Leo who had already started heading towards the stairs.

Cole took her hand and leaned some of his weight on her causing her to realize how tired and drained her charge was. She sighed and did her best to support him, ignoring her own weariness as she orbed them out.

---

I wanted to be like you
I wanted everything
So I tried to be like you
And I got swept away

I didn't know that it was so cold
And you needed someone
to show you the way
So I took your hand and we figured out
That when the time comes
I'd take you away

Lillith had booked a hotel room for the next week and wasn't sure if they'd be there that long but couldn't take any chances. If Maria found out Lillith hadn't provided a place for her charge to stay in the plane of the living Lillith would be given the lecture of a life time. Cole had taken his first shower in a long time and Lillith had changed while he was in the shower. She pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a loose fitting purple tank top. Then set to the task of moving in to the make shift home away from home. She waved her hands filling the empty drawers of a dresser with clothes for herself and realized she was going to have to take her charge shopping for clothes tomorrow. She doubted any of the sisters had saved his old belongings and the Soul Guardian cringed at the thought of shopping but knew it was part of the job.

Lillith then pulled her hair up in to a bun with a rubber band as she heard Cole coming out of the bathroom. She turned to see him standing in a towel and turned away quickly. She walked over to her belongings and found her favorite sleeping T-shirt that was over sized on her. She quickly threw it over her shoulder at where she assumed the half-naked man was, and the dug deeper before waving her hand and summoning a pair of large shorts.

'Great. Just great!' She thought to herself. She was broken out of thought by a loud laugh as she turned to see Cole now dressed in a pair of boxers and the shirt she had thrown at him. She glared towards the taller man.

"You aren't the only one who can make things appear out of thin air." Cole answered with a sly grin on his face. Lillith blushed with anger before plopping down on the bed.

"Well that's good to know, saves me from the torture that is shopping. Why are you wearing my shirt though?" She shot back at him. He just shrugged and sat on the bed next to her. She propped her head up on one arm and stared up in to his green eyes that stared down at her smiling face. The smile faded when she saw the hurt that the night had caused him and it became all to real that he was alive again when he could feel again.

----

Phoebe stirred in her sleep as she kept replaying the night out in her head. Her brown eyes fluttered open to stare at the ceiling as she pushed herself to sit up and stare over at the sleeping figure of the two young children she was sharing a room with. The Elders had to have had a part in allowing Cole to leave whatever hell he had been in and so had a part in this. Why is the question she couldn't quite grasp the answer to. There was no way this time that he could be good, it never worked before and how did they expect him to be good now. But the woman, Lillith, had mentioned something about him being stuck there because he clung to the only family he knew.

"Does that mean he has watched my children, all of our children, growing up over those years to. Me getting hurt and then finally finding Coop?" She whispered in to the blanket of darkness that enveloped her. She knew that the night would not give her any answers but she still had to voice her thoughts.

If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted
was somebody who cares

A figure then hearted in and before the darkness returned Phoebe saw her husband standing in the night. He could feel her pain radiating off of her and he closed the distance between them. With that she finally let the tears fall and willingly allowed the arms to be wrapped around her. Their dark eyes met and she realized she would not have to tell him what was wrong for the time being. He was content to just allow her to let her tears fall.
"Thank you." she whispered before falling asleep with the comfort of her current husband blocking out the pain for now of her first husband. Coop was confused but let the night continue to hide his own emotions while he comforted his wife, Phoebe.

---

Cole still sat in silence letting thoughts turn over in his head. Lillith continued to observe him as he sat so close, yet seemed so far away in his own world. She did not know how to react or to comfort him. She began to slightly fidget with the passing time as her own nervousness welled up inside of her. The Soul Guardian barely ever had to be the comfort it usually consisted of her helping her charges taking care of their unfinished business before they moved on.

An image of her friend Telane flashed in her mind, her friend was one of the most successful with cases similar to Cole's. She was good with the emotions and helping people to find redemption because Telane seemed to have a sixth sense to know how to comfort others. But that wasn't who Lillith was and she didn't know what to say now. When she finally broke out of her own reverie she noticed he had turned completely away from her this time and now stared out the window on the far side of the room. Lillith moved slowly forward to sit at the end of the bed with him and stare where he was staring.

If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted
was somebody who cares

Cole continued to keep staring and refused to turn to the figure that now sat beside him. He could feel her weight shifting as he began to realize that she had a habit of being fidgety when ever she was nervous. He turned to face her and met the gaze of the slightly startled violet eyes that stared in to his own. She noticed he was forcing himself not to show the emotions that he felt and it was all connected to what Phoebe had said to him. That little statement cut through him like a sword.

"Cole, um" Lillith began finding her voice catching in her throat "talk about what happened. It might help. You know so you can try and get some sleep I know you need it as much as the rest of us."

"I really am a live for now huh?" Cole questioned more to himself then her. Lillith just nodded simply and slowly. He moved his hand to run it through his hair causing a few left over droplets of water to fall on to his hand, and the hand that was placed close to his. He glanced down to her hand and then up towards her.

His voice now filled with some of his pain as he continued "She still has no sympathy for me. Why the hell did I think I could do this?" Cole's anger then flared up as he stood and walked towards the wall, punching it lightly and causing Lillith to flinch at the impact. Lillith stood and now looked at him more sternly.

"Well because a part of you has hope. Yet you allow one person to determine whether you should hold on to that or not!" Lillith shouted at him.

"Wow that's your words of comfort? I can see why you are such a great Soul Guardian!" He shot back at her. Lillith stomped closer to him and did the same thing she had done when they first met, standing on her tip toes to make herself seem more imposing with the added height. This made him laugh every time and his laugh only lasted for a few moments as he pushed her down to her normal height again before leading her back to the bed in the room.

"You can go to sleep, you need it." He said forcing his tone to be calm. She shook her head no and pulled him to sit down next to her on her bed.

"Talk, now!" She said her own temper still dripping in her tone. Cole stared down at the floor before resting his face in his hands.

"Before Phoebe and her sisters I never knew what it was like to be good. I accepted my fate from a very young age. A large part of me believes that she is right and my fate was sealed way back the day my mother killed my father. Time and again she proved me wrong though by helping me to be a good person and now that support is gone. How can I do it this time with out a friend at all? Sure there's Piper but…" Cole began but then paused. He was not sure whether he could consider Piper or Leo his friend at this point. But they still held bonds to Phoebe and Paige and they would definitely be there for their family more then him.


I'm sinking slowly
So hurry hold me
Your hand is all I have to keep me hanging on
Please can you tell me
So I can finally see
Where you go when you're gone

Cole felt a hand placed on his shoulder and he turned to see the hurt face of Lillith. She seemed hurt and angry at his statement but he wasn't sure where it was coming from. She shook her head slightly as she looked down at the floor and removed her hand from his shoulder.

"You always had good in you as much as evil. You just never had a reason before to embrace both sides of yourself and to find a balance. There were a few small moments in time where you're humanity did push against your evil side." Lillith said but didn't go on to explain herself any further. He could see the emotion that Lillith never showed to him before. Cole caught his next statement and pulled her to face him.

"You really do believe in me don't you? But why?" Was all the man could respond with.

"Because Belthazor…" Lillith started and had called him by the name that the former demon had been known as. He flinched at the name as he remembered the part of himself that he had lost. She then shook her head and stood again wandering towards the mirror that sat on top of the dresser and waved her hand in front of it, a trick Maria had taught her how to do. She smiled as she recalled the mother figure that guided her and realized how many rules she was breaking with this case. Cole stepped and stared at her before she placed her hand cautiously on his face and forced him to look at the mirror.

He watched in amazement as he saw a scene that appeared in the mirror he was standing with Raynor, his former mentor. Only it was himself as Belthazor and they were discussing the loss of one of their 'brothers'. What he hadn't remembered was the faint glow of orb lights that appeared in the dark chamber they were holding their meeting in.

-- Enter the memory playing on the scene--

"What do you mean you think that our brother is still haunting this cavern. Tozar was killed over a month ago by you when he failed." Belthazor's deeper voice compared to Cole's, resonated with confusion and anger. Raynor smiled at his student and motioned to the book that sat in front of him. It was the first time Cole had ever encountered angered lost spirits and the whole matter of lost souls for that matter. Usually demons just died and went to the wasteland, but Tozar was a half-demon like himself.

"He's here now." Raynor began before he looked towards a young girl standing in the corner of their meeting room. She realized she had been found out and turned to face the two demons standing behind her. She was still hidden by the shadows and so shifted in to the shape of a child no more then the age of four or five and stepped out of the shadows. The fear filled her eyes but she didn't flinch.

"Who are you?" Raynor questioned angrily. He summoned an energy ball ready to kill the young girl. She turned to Belthazor and locked eyes with the much taller demon before summoning her own energy ball. It was much weaker but was all she had to work with. Raynor released the energy ball towards her before she could even try to answer and she released her own. Raynor caught on that it would deflect his own and quickly sent a second towards her.

Before Belthazor realized what he was doing, he summoned his energy ball that glowed blue and brightly with the electricity resonating in it and sent it towards Raynor's completely catching his mentor off guard. The little girl took the time to glance at Belthazor again and smiling a little before orbing out.

---end of memory--

If you want to
I can save you
I can take you away from here
So lonely inside
So busy out there
And all you wanted
was somebody who cares

All you wanted was somebody who cares
If you need me you know I'll be there

Cole returned his gaze to Lillith and looked at her with complete shock. He backed away slightly as he tried to recall that event and then a smile appeared on his face.

"That was you? You know I got in a lot of trouble for that. I don't think my demonic half ever quite grasped why that happened. It took me a long time to convince Raynor I was aiming for you and not his attack." Cole shot with some frustration in his tone. He realized when he saw the scene that the girl was Lillith by the color the orb lights were in the scene. He shook his head and still didn't believe that was why Maria had sent Lillith to him.

"That isn't why Maria sent me." Lillith started as if reading his mind, she walked back to where they had sat earlier. "She sent me because I could relate to being a half-breed. But that is why I trust in you so much."

Cole finally let the weariness fill up his body as he let some of his emotions go and sat down. "I still don't think I can do this alone." He responded.

She surprised him again by hitting him upside the head. "You ass, you aren't alone. I am telling you that because I would like to think in the last month you've realized I want to help you. I want to be more then just your Soul Guardian!" She shot at him. He looked bewildered by all of what she was saying.

"You know you are not so great at the whole comfort and guidance thing!" He said raising his voice a little higher again. He placed his hand on his head where she had just hit it and glared at her.

She let out a laugh and shrugged "Hey I never said I was here to comfort you, just guide you. So my ways a little different. But you do know that I want to be your friend…"

Lillith was then enfolded in a pair of masculine arms and surprised to find herself enwrapped in a tight hug by Cole Turner, the former Source and ADA. He rested his head on her shoulder as he finally let go of the last bit of his anxiety. She hugged him back and let the moment last a few moments before she began to fidget again.

"Your doing it again?" Cole murmured in to the silence. She pulled away from him as he returned to looking at his new friend with a smile now on his face, it was weak and Lillith could still see some of the pain.

"What?" She asked confused. Her own expression was a mask for the sleep deprivation she felt starting to sink in to her core.

"You fidget when you get nervous or if to much attention is put on you." Cole replied while yawning.

"I do not!" Lillith shot back before picking up a pillow and fluffing it. She headed towards the chair in the far corner.

"Where are you going?" He asked as his bluish green orbs lit up with some anger.

"To bed…" She answered slightly. He shook his head and motioned for her to return to the bed.

"I think we're both adults enough to sleep in this huge bed. It isn't fair for either of us not to get a good nights sleep. Besides I won't bite, or touch you I swear." He said with a smirk on his face. Lillith finally gave in and returned to the bed but not before pushing the covers to form a barricade dividing the bed in half. Cole laughed at this gesture and laid back on his side. He glanced in to her eyes again for a moment as she laid down on the far other side of the bed and glanced at him.

"Thank you. A friend is exactly what I will need. Even if it is one who sucks at giving comfort." Cole said to her and it rang with honesty. Lillith sat up half-way and used her own pillow to hit him before laying back down and rolling over to face the opposite direction as him.

"Go to bed! Oh and you better not snore or I am so sending you back to Limbo for the night!" She yelled over her shoulder. A grin crossed both of their faces before Cole reached over to turn the lamp off and then lay facing towards the window.

---

To be continued.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! Also I am going to try and get another chapter done this weekend as a V-day gift to myself as much as those of you who are reading. Thanks for the continued support. In the next Chapter it will be two days later, on Valentine's day in this story's timeline and also when the other two sisters make there decision. Sorry this chapter was mainly dealing with the night etc. I hope you liked it and let me know ;)