Chapter 6: Just Harried Part 2

It was Victor who took the initiative of lifting Prue off the floor and laying her on the couch in the living room. Everyone else gathered around as Phoebe tried once again to wake her sister. Patty stopped her.

"Honey, you won't get her back that way," she told her gently. Patty explained, "A part of Prue wanted to escape and it used her astral self to do it."

That was not reassuring; they would not be able to get Prue back if part of her didn't want to come back. Phoebe sourly thought that she would like to escape right now, too, but as she was the only sister who was currently acting sanely, she didn't have that option. Phoebe only felt worse when Grams, too, disappeared, after saying that she could only be there to conduct the ceremony.

"Maybe Piper's right," Victor commented tiredly. "Maybe the wedding just wasn't meant to be."

"Victor," Patty admonished.

Victor looked at her, no animosity in his gaze. "All I'm saying is that maybe the Gods are trying to spare them the pain that we went through." Phoebe cringed. She thought about all the obstacles she and Cole would have to face and right now, the outcome didn't seem too promising.

Phoebe's hopes rose, however, when Leo shook his head. "No. All I need is what's inside of me to know that Piper and I are meant to be together. What happened here today…"

"Piper and Leo's love has touched us all," Phoebe chimed in, rising to her feet from her crouched position. She looked at Cole, and he looked back at her. "We have to fix this."

Darryl's pager beeped. He looked at it, and sighed. "I gotta go fend of the posse."

Victor frowned. "What posse?"

Darryl looked at them, hating what he was going to have to say. "Prue's wanted for murder," he announced, and everyone sans Phoebe drew back in shock. "I'll stay in touch by cell phone."

He left. Patty was the first to find her voice. "Murder?" she exclaimed.

Leo looked at Phoebe. Of all of them, she was the only one who didn't seem in the least bit surprised by the inspector's announcement. He glared at her. "You knew about this?"

"I just found out when Morris told Prue," Phoebe defended herself. That had been, oh, five minutes ago. "But it's obviously a mistake, I mean, Prue wouldn't murder anybody?"

Cole crossed his arms across his chest. "You sure?" he asked meaningfully. "I mean, Prue's astral form seems to have taken a life of its own. How did you know she didn't do it?"

"Because I know her," Phoebe replied quietly. But Cole's reasoning unsettled her. The Prue she'd seen a few minutes had not acted like the Prue she'd known her whole life. "At least, I think I do." As much as she wished otherwise, she and Cole both knew that she couldn't say for sure that Prue didn't do it.

Leo could stand it no longer. They couldn't afford to sit around any longer, not with Prue's freedom and his and Piper's relationship on the line. "Alright, alright, you guys find Piper, bring her back here somehow," he ordered, pointing to Victor and Patty. They nodded, and he continued, "Phoebe, Book of Shadows, see if there's a spell to bring astral Prue back. Cole," Leo turned to face the half-demon, unable to believe what he was about to say. In the mood he was in, the Elders and their rules (particularly the one about working with demons) could go to hell. "You and me are gonna do a little investigating of our own."

Cole raised an eyebrow. He never thought he'd see the day when the Whitelighter would demand he work with him. Then again, the circumstances were somewhat extreme. If their positions were reversed, Cole would probably do the same thing. And Leo was about to become Phoebe's family, which meant he was about to become Cole's, as strange as that sounded. Cole nodded his assent.

Leo clapped his hands together. "Alright, come on you guys, we've got a wedding to save."

Everyone dispersed to carry out their assignments. Patty and Victor left to search out Piper, who was probably at the club. Phoebe ran upstairs to the Book, praying she could find a spell that would work to bring what was essentially a solid spirit back to them. Leo had only to put in a quick call to Darryl to find out which bar the murder had occurred at. Then he looked back at Cole. He still couldn't believe he had actually asked (ordered) their former enemy to work with him, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Besides…Leo was marrying Cole's lover's sister, and said lover was having Cole's baby. They were practically family.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Leo orbed and Cole shimmered and together, the two of them left the Manor. They rematerialized outside the bar's bathroom by a payphone. Cole looked around. Thankfully, no one had witnessed their magical arrival, so they were free to investigate unmolested…for now. He glanced at the bar. Beer, pool tables, scantily-clad women, and San Francisco's toughest bikers… "Interesting place to dream about."

"Especially for Prue." Leo also looked around in distaste.

Hanging out by the bathrooms would do them no good, so they peeled themselves away from the wall and began to walk around. "Based on what Morris said, someone must have knifed the victim after Astral Prue went away," he decided, scanning the rough-and-tumble crowd.

Leo was scanning the crowd, too, and he wasn't liking what he was seeing. "By the looks of this crowd, it could be anybody."

"No, not anybody," Cole corrected, shaking his head. He knew exactly what he was looking for, even if the Whitelighter didn't. Really, it was quite thrilling to be back on the hunt again. He stretched out his demonic senses and explained, "Very few humans have the heart of a true killer. One who kills without prejudice."

Leo looked at him. "How do you know?" he asked, challengingly. Cole was trying so hard to be good, so it would be interesting to hear how he answered the question.

Cole shrugged. Murder was nothing new to him, and it certainly didn't bother him the way it did the Whitelighter. "I can always sense it. Before I suppressed my demonic self for Phoebe, I can sense how human killers form inside." There. Several feet in front of him, sitting at the bar. Cole zeroed in on his target. Aside from being a little taller, this man did not stand out from the rest of the grungy crowd around him—to other humans, anyway. But Cole was not fully human, and this man felt different to him. Cole sniffed the air lightly. While nowhere near as strong as it was in his demonic form, his sense of smell was still superior to a human's or a Whitelighter's. And it was offering him a telling clue in the form of the distinctive metallic odor that was wafting from the man's body. "He's here."

"The murderer?" Leo tensed, wanting dearly to spring into action. "You sure?"

"That he's our killer, no," Cole replied honestly, not taking his eyes off his prey. "But he's got fresh blood on his hands. Go update Morris."

XXX

Back at the manor, Phoebe gave a cry of triumph as she finally located the spell she'd been looking for. The spell was a simple one, made for calling a lost witch regardless of what form she was in. Deciding she wanted to have the upcoming discussion in a relatively comfortable spot, Phoebe went to the kitchen, gathered the items she would need, and went back to the living room. She mixed the ingredients, lit the candles, took a deep breath, and then she began to chant:

"Power of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies,

Come to us who call you near, come to us and settle here,

Blood to blood, I summon thee,

Blood to blood, return to me."

The result was almost instantaneous. Prue materialized in front of her, arms held in front of her in a circle, as if she'd been clinging to something to keep from being moved. "No!" she was shouting, eyes still squeezed shut in defiance of her new surroundings. "I will not let you take me!"

Well, that was too bad. Prue opened her eyes as Phoebe loudly slammed the book shut. Phoebe sat back. "Nice spell, huh?" she asked pointedly.

"How dare you?" Prue hissed.

"How dare you?" Phoebe tossed right back at her. Accusingly, she said, "You destroyed Piper's wedding, along with Piper. Now, Prue, I don't know what's going on with you but you have got to pull yourself together."

Prue glared at her, not a hint of remorse in her expression. Instead, she snarled, "I am outta here," and began to stride towards the door. Phoebe wasn't about to let her get that far, and grabbed her shoulder to halt her passage. But the level of aggression Prue displayed to her was astounding. Instead of shrugging the hand off, Prue grabbed it, and Phoebe let out a cry of surprise when Prue forcefully flipped her onto the ground and held her by the throat.

"You cannot stop me, alright? I'm never going back, I'm not going…" Prue didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as Phoebe, now angry, abruptly retaliated in kind. Her anger gave her strength, and Phoebe grabbed her sister's arm and swung (more like flung) her onto the couch. Undaunted, Prue continued her ranting.

"Alright, you know what I am sick of this," Prue cried. She pointed to her unconscious body that was on the couch beside her. "She is all about duty and obligation. Well, not me. Alright, I want to be free, I wanna find love, I wanna have a life."

As important as they were, they were not, in Phoebe's opinion, important enough to ruin their sister's wedding. Ergo, Phoebe was not impressed. "Well, you have responsibilities, Prue, whether you like it or not."

"Don't talk to me about being responsible, Phoebe." Prue's scorn was palpable. "You were not being very responsible when you went and fell in love with and got pregnant by a demon."

Phoebe looked up at the heavens, praying they would send a little help and patience her way. "Please, you have got to let this whole Cole thing go, okay?" she exclaimed, exasperated. "You can't stay mad at me forever!"

But Prue's next words shocked her. Instead of pouncing on her, Prue merely looked at her. "I'm not at you Phoebe. Alright, I never was." Prue looked back at her body. "She was. I was rooting for you."

Phoebe rocked back on her heels, stunned. Prue wasn't mad at her about that? Now suspicious, Phoebe thought back over everything her sister had said in the last few minutes. "Okay, now you're scaring me," she murmured.

Prue continued, "You risked everything for love, just like Piper and Leo. I dream of having that kind of freedom, but instead, I get stuck watching my sisters live my dream."

Now that she had an idea of what was going on, Phoebe stared at her older sister. "Wait a minute, you astraled out in a dream when your subconscious takes over."

"So what?"

"So I just studied this," Phoebe realized. It was so obvious; why hadn't she thought of this before? "It's psych 101. Freud. You're the ID, Prue's inner desires. Which means that she," Phoebe looked at Prue's unconscious form, "is the ego, the control factor."

Astral Prue glared at Unconscious Prue. "Yeah, well, she is one big remote control and she has always got me on pause."

"I think I understand," Phoebe said softly, sinking back down into her chair. Suddenly, it was impossible to be mad at Prue anymore. "The sacrifices that you've made for us over the years…they've made you suppress your inner desires."

Prue sat down beside herself. She jerked her head at herself, "Yeah, well, don't tell me, tell her."

"No, I'm telling you," Phoebe put forth, emphasizing the 'you' part. "Because you are Prue. I mean, you are both two sides of my sister. Prue, you have to stop devoting your entire self to the Charmed Ones. It'll tear you apart. Literally." After all, it had already started to.

Prue was subdued for a long moment. Then she looked back up. "Is Piper very mad at me?"

Phoebe laughed a little. "She'll get over it," she assured. Well, Piper would get over it…eventually. "And you know why?" Phoebe didn't wait for an answer. She pressed on, "Because we're okay now, Piper and me. We've both got passion and purpose in our lives…" Briefly, she wondered if now was the right time to tell Prue about her decision, and decided it wasn't. No matter how forgiving Prue was feeling at the moment, Phoebe didn't want to push her luck. Besides, the day was supposed to be Piper's, and they still had a wedding to save. So she finished her thought with, "…and you gave us that." Not entirely true, but close enough.

Prue watched her, slightly suspicious. Phoebe had seemed a little lighter as of late, and Prue wondered if it meant she had made her decision. She decided not to ask her about it though, because it would be too much and Prue felt she had done enough damage for one day. This day was supposed to be about Piper and Leo, not Prue, Phoebe and Cole.

And that meant it was time to go back. Prue's astral form faded out and her real form opened her eyes. She sat up, and Phoebe smiled at her. "Welcome back."

"Thanks." Prue had never been more grateful. "For everything." Feeling stiff, she forced herself to her feet. As she did so, she saw the destruction in the next room and Prue's heart fell. She walked over to inspect the damage. All the work they'd done earlier was ruined. "Oh. I cannot believe I wrecked Piper's wedding."

"Only part of you did," Phoebe consoled her.

"Is it too late to fix it?" Prue asked her hopefully. Her question was answered when the lights suddenly went out, and the two sisters were plunged into darkness.

Phoebe groaned, "Oh, now what?"

And that was when the police came charging through the decimated door, and arrested her older sister for murder.

XXX

But Prue would not be in jail for long. As soon as Leo and Darryl came up to him and informed him that Prue had been arrested for murder, Cole got the show on the road. He had been watching the murderer for quite some time now, and had formulated a simple plan of attack. When Darryl had sarcastically suggested asking him, Cole surprised them all by doing exactly that.

Moving like a hunter hunting its prey, Cole abandoned his for-show drink and followed the biker outside. The man was smoking a cigarette, unaware that his life was about to change forever.

"Is that the spot where they found the body?" Cole asked out of the blue to get the man's attention and hopefully rattle him a little. The less he had to show his demonic self, the better.

"Who are you?" the biker wanted to know. He did not answer Cole's question.

Cole shrugged, stepping closer. "I'm here to find out what you know about the murder that took place here last night."

Although the motion was so small that normal human eyes would never catch it, the biker tensed at the mention of the murder, and Cole smirked inwardly. He had his man. Even though he was trying not to show it, to a half-demon such as Cole, the biker's fear was palpable.

"Show me your badge," the biker ordered.

"Oh no, I'm not a cop." If only he knew Cole was a former ADA. Just to see the guy's reaction, he said, "I'm a fortune teller and I predict you're gonna give me a confession." Well, that was really Phoebe's gig, but Cole had a pretty good idea of how the evening was going to go.

"You're a funny man, huh?" the biker scoffed, trying to hide his nervousness. "Excuse me."

The man went to walk away, but Cole didn't let him. He grabbed the biker's shoulder. In retaliation, the biker managed to shove him off-balance, into the nearest bike. Cole let him; this man was really no match for him, even when he pulled out a knife that reeked of blood as much as he did. Cole was darkly amused. The biker clearly wanted to fight with him (more like kill him), but he had no idea who he was dealing with.

"I guess that's the knife you used on the victim when you found him unconscious, right?" Cole taunted as he easily dodged a knife swing.

The biker snarled, "You wanna closer look at it?"

He swung down. Cole easily stopped the blow, effortlessly holding the big man's wrist over his head. Confused and shocked that this smaller man had blocked his blow, the biker pushed down harder. He was no match for Cole's demonic strength.

"One more chance," Cole hissed. "Confess now and talk to the police."

"Or what?" the biker sneered. He immediately wished he hadn't asked the question.

Cole's features shifted, but not into a smirk or a glare. His prey watched in horror as the man in front of him grew to tower over him. Human hair and features disappeared to reveal a most demonic red and black face, complete with terrifyingly pointed teeth. Teeth that were then bared at him in all their demonic glory.

"Or deal with me," Belthazor growled. Just then, Darryl and Leo rushed outside. Leo didn't react to the demon standing in front of him, but Darryl nearly had a heart attack. Never having seen Cole's demonic form before, he fumbled to unholster his gun and point it at the being before him. Leo stopped him from shooting.

Belthazor turned the man to face them. "I think he's ready to talk."

Hesitantly, Darryl stepped forward to take the murderer off his hands. The biker went willingly; he would do anything to get away from the demon who had captured him. Darryl took him into custody with grim pleasure; he just hoped they could salvage Piper's wedding.

Now that their work was done, Cole and Leo had nothing else to do but go back to the manor. Phoebe was sitting on the couch Prue had previously occupied, and she jumped at their sudden arrival. Cole smiled as she got up and ran to him, throwing her arms around him.

"Good news?" she breathed.

Cole nodded. "We found him. He confessed."

Phoebe sighed in relief. "Good. There's good news on our end, too. Or semi-good, at least. Mom, Dad?"

Victor and Patty stepped forward. "We talked to Piper," Patty started. "Convinced her to calm down."

"And I think we got through to her," Victor added. "She just said she needed some time alone to really think things through."

Leo would have liked it if she had come back with them, but he could understand. It had been a trying day. All they had to do was wait.

XXX

Two hours later, they were still waiting. Leo glanced at the clock anxiously. 11:54. He ran his hand through his hair, and said, "I don't get it. Prue should be back by now, the police have the killer."

"They might have held her over for escaping custody," Cole suggested.

Victor shuffled anxiously, and he glared around the dark room. "Can we get some light while we're waiting?"

"No, Dad, the police cut the power line," Phoebe patiently reminded him as she lit some candles. Really, that had been unnecessary.

She looked up as the room suddenly glowed softly and Grams appeared. But her appearance did not herald good news. "I'm sorry, Patty," Penny apologized. "They sent me to take you back."

Take her back? No, they couldn't take her back! Phoebe had barely gotten to spend any time with her mother, and they had so much to make up. "No, it's not midnight yet, we still have five more minutes," she protested, going to stand beside her mother as if she could keep her there through force of will alone.

"I should have said something more to convince Piper," Victor chastised himself. Now she wouldn't get to get married with her mother in attendance.

Patty shook her head. "But you said everything," she reassured him. "You were wonderful."

At that moment, two of the three people they had been anxiously waiting for walked through the ruined door. Prue returned their stares as she and Darryl made their way into the darkened house. "What, not who you were expecting?" She turned to look behind her. Much to everyone's relief, it was Piper who followed them through the door, looking every bit the hurried, harried bride she was.

"Okay, what are we waiting for?" the middle Halliwell sister demanded. She walked up to Leo. "Don't look so shocked."

And just like that, the mood in the manor lifted to the heavens as everyone present realized the wedding was back on. The couple whom the day was truly meant to be about led them back to the altar, and Grams once again took her place behind it. Two minutes. Well, it would have to be the fastest handfasting ceremony ever.

Phoebe watched in amazement as her father, who had previously hated all Whitelighters, offered to be Leo's best man now that Piper no longer needed to be walked down the aisle. 'We really have come a long way,' she thought, shooting a glance at Cole. And if they could come this far, they could certainly make it the rest of the way.

Tears of joy leaked from her eyes, and everyone else's, as Phoebe watched her grandmother bind her sister, Piper Halliwell, and their Whitelighter, Leo Wyatt, in holy matrimony. Leo's vows were beautiful; Piper's vows were just as divine. Every single person present in the room cheered when Grams urged the elated groom, "Kiss her! Now!"

Leo did, and the kiss that seared Piper's lips was a kiss that touched them all. As she watched her sister finally marry the man of her dreams, Phoebe realized that their family had grown once again. They had now officially (if not legally) added another member to the family.