A/N: Apologies for taking so long to write and post this. Work has begun in full force, and it's amazing how little time I have now (by comparison, that is, I can't lie and say a lot of it was also laziness). In any event, I hope you enjoy.

Execution

What woke Piper up wasn't a premonition, not magically speaking anyway. It had been a nightmare, intermingled with woman's intuition and a mother's foresight that saw her sitting up suddenly in the early, early morning. She put her hands over her heart as if the gesture would slow it, or keep it from bursting from her chest. She tossed her head from side to side, looking to make sure Leo was still there beside her, and then her son, Wyatt, as if she could see through walls. Something in the back of her mind told her to go to sleep; there had always been evil and there always would be. She had dealt with this before, long before Wyatt was born, the stress, the fear. Still, she had thrown the covers off and was out of the room before that part of her could even finish its statement.

Wyatt lay sleeping soundly in his baby bed, his tiny heart and lungs pumping away. No demons, no elders, nothing. Piper breathed heavily, putting her hands at her side, frowning at why she had been so spooked. Squinting in the darkness she tried grasping for specific details of the dream but nothing came, just wisps of feelings. The young mother looked down at her son again then departed, but not for her room.

She knocked once, waited, and then again on Phoebe's door before tip toeing in to see the empty bed. Piper crossed her arms over her chest, in anticipation for the usual consternation that came with being the oldest, responsible system. Nothing came, however; she wasn't mad. She was worried.

!#&

Phoebe pulled hard on the back of Cole's head, forcing their lips to crush together. Satisfied with that, she passed her hands over his back, gripping so tightly at times that she thought she might be hurting him, and his hands were just as active all over her and just as needy. There wasn't any pain though, not anymore.

Distantly, she was aware of footsteps trailing away from the two of them. Still, they kept it going, as if lost, for another moment, before breaking apart, the both of them panting.

"That was close," Cole breathed deeply, his eyes wider than normal, maintaining their contact with Phoebe's lips. She nodded, staring up at him.

"We probably need a disguise or something," given her distracted stance on the situation, she thought suddenly that that was a good idea, all things considered.

"Yeah," Cole said, and she watched him visibly reign himself in, and become the methodical tactician he was normally. "I didn't think it would be this crowded down here so soon," he said with frustration in his voice.

"Or, we could just do that anytime someone walks by," Phoebe perked up. Cole didn't take the bait, but relaxed visibly, smiling in thanks for her help. He looked around for a moment, and then took her by the hand and lead her off into, unsurprisingly, another dark hallway.

Phoebe had been in the underworld before, parts of it anyway, and in retrospect she guessed she had always been in the same section of it, that it couldn't all be dark, rocky causeways and dusty floors. Surely there were places in it that had comfortable furniture and bubbling brooks. Maybe even a lava waterfall. Using the shadows, she watched Cole direct them more deeply into ever-crowded territory. She suspected that this Edrigan had begun insulating himself with legions of upper level demons, source-style, though what Cole had been saying didn't seem to imply that, hence his surprise, she thought. From Cole's perspective, Edrigan was the classical demon, the type many myths about them had been constructed and assumed, half warrior, half trickster, he engaged in deals and covenants to obtain his power and with expert use of double crosses and back stabs had solidified his place in the upper echelon of underworld kind. It took him a bit, but Cole eventually admitted that he was a major influence on him wanting to use law to infiltrate the mortal world. It hurt her that it still hurt him to remember and regret.

They paused in what amounted to a narrow alley that lead off of one of main walk ways that pointed, presumably even deeper into the maze of tunnels that, Phoebe assumed, ended in the room with the broken pillars, where she had seen Cole die the last time. She squeezed his hand involuntarily at the memory and he returned the gesture almost immediately. When she looked up at him she could see his ice blue eyes looking back at her in the darkness. Phoebe hoped it showed on her face how happy she was with him, no matter the circumstances.

"This had better be important," a voice said from the hallway beyond.

"I wouldn't be so lippy when we're in his audience, Edrigan is powerful,"

"His power isn't what is in contention here. Of course he is, as have been all his predecessors," Cole pressed himself flat against the far wall of their narrow hiding place and directed Phoebe to do the same. She watched as two demons, toothy and scaled, stalked by taking up much of the space in the hallway beyond. "All those before him failed,"

"Ever the pessimist, brother?"

"Realist. This is formulaic; he summons all of us to hear of his great plan, like the others, but until it succeeds, he's the same as the others, waiting to be vanquished," Phoebe became slowly aware of Cole's hand, half groping, half protecting her. At least if he was copping a feel, it meant he wasn't worried. Didn't it? He broke into a quick whisper as if nothing was odd.

"He doesn't have their confidences," he paused to quickly dart his head into the hallway again. "I guess you and your sisters are to thank for that. We may have to sit tight, I don't think I can get us to the middle of all of this safely," he looked her up and down, deciphering, Phoebe thought. "We're probably too close as it is,"

"You want to just snipe one of them as they're leaving?" she asked. Cole began leading them back the way they came. He shook his head.

"Too dangerous, many may not come back this way, or whatever it is might require they stay, or go directly to a different location,"

"So what was all this for?" she asked, yanking on his arm.

"It was a gamble, Phoebe, we risked our getting discovered for the possibility of more information than we had. This time, we broke even," At the end of the tunnel they were standing in Cole inched his way to the mouth and poked his head out. Just as rapidly, he was snatched by his head and tossed out into the open. Phoebe gasped at the sight, but instinctively backtracked into the shadows just as a large demon, near the size of the two from before, glanced into the tunnel before addressing Cole's prone form. Composed, she knew Cole could take care of himself, but just in case poised herself for a flying kick.

"Belthazor," the large demon said, a smile in his voice as he walked over and roughly grabbed Cole by his shirt and threw him against a wall. "Long time no see," Cole batted his eyes open, focusing.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" he asked. The demon seemed taken aback by that, then slugged Cole in the mid section, doubling him over.

"Funny guy," The demon pushed him to the ground and put a boot at Cole's throat. "I find myself at an impasse. Word has spread, and I'm sure the new boss would love to see you, I'd be rewarded likely, riches, treasure, but somehow," he put more weight on the offending leg. Phoebe dug her back foot into the loose earth. "I think maybe killing you myself, for everything you did, would be so much more pleasurable," Cole put his hands on the large boot, trying to gain purchase to breathe.

"Well," he choked. "I'm sure you'll make the right decision, but maybe if you told me who you were we could clear this whole mess up," his eyes flared angrily. "You know all you lower level demons look alike," The demon paused again, disbelievingly, and jumped as if to stomp Cole into the ground, which sprung Phoebe into motion. She collided with the unsuspecting demon in mid air, causing him to cartwheel backwards, his head landing awkwardly into the back wall. He lay in a heap, still breathing, but otherwise still. Phoebe landed, lightly, careful that she didn't hit Cole herself, looking down with her feet straddling him.

"What the hell were you doing," she said frantically.

"Just enjoying the view," Cole said, smiling but obviously in pain.

"You're not jacked up on demon blood anymore, you can't just go around antagonizing,"

"Phoebe,"

"all the demons that wanted to twist your head off and use your neck for,"

"Phoebe," Cole said more loudly, and she looked down at him. He slinked gingerly to his feet and crept over to the fallen demon. "I think we found our informant," Phoebe blushed, remembering the past few moments.

"Wait," she pointed, thinking "he isn't at the meeting, or whatever it is, how is he supposed to tell us anything?" Cole seemed to be checking what amounted to his vital signs.

"Like I said, it's a gamble. He may know nothing, but he's been down here these past few weeks, and we haven't. Maybe he knows plenty, and we just have to convince hi to give what he knows to us," he acted as if to lift the much larger body. "Man, I miss being strong," he gripped at his back. "Help me with this?" Phoebe looked down at Cole's hunched over form, dirty and probably bruised and bleeding, but perfectly committed to the task, aware that he was flying by the seat of his pants, and was still cool about it.

"I love you,"

!#&

Paige stared at her reflection, making absolutely sure that the page of the Book of Shadows she had fallen asleep on hadn't left any magical residue, or even worse ink, in her porcelain complexion. Piper had woken her an hour before; she had been looking around for someone to talk to and Phoebe it seemed had left with Cole. Piper suspected magical, and given that the new old couple obviously had no sexual shame, Paige had to agree.

Not ten minutes ago, however, bonnie and clyde had shown up, an unconscious and hopefully soon to be demonic informant in tow, all smiles. Well, mostly, Cole had a few broken ribs and a bruised jaw, but he still managed it with that annoying confidence he typically exuded. Paige leaned forward and then jerked her neck backwards, throwing her hair back and smoothing it down. She adjusted her shirt and pressed her pants flat, stepping back to view herself. She had going for no-nonsense interrogator witch supreme. Piper flashed in the doorway of the bathroom, just long enough for Paige to turn to her.

"How do-"

"Librarian, move it toots," came the reply. Paige tried to milk the sour expression she knew she was wearing and turn it into a menacing scowl as the three of them, after extricating Phoebe from Cole, marched up into the attic. Leo had been watching the demon in his crystal cage. He met them halfway, leaning down to kiss Piper, and whisper, just loudly enough, for her not to get any more demon guts in the carpet, they just had it cleaned. Paige grinned; the scene was set.

As it turned out, none of the ambiance, or clothing, was really effective. This demon, Falix was his name, was prone to torturing mortals in front of their families for fun, so scolding him ended up fairly ineffective. In the end, the three of them fell back on their old tricks. Unexpectedly, pieces of him ended up frozen and or exploded, and in between the screaming and beginning they got some information they hadn't had before. Rather oppositely, Paige grew less and less confident as the details were doled out. Edrigan was being lead by the Seer, and there were worse things in store than just him; as the architect of the plan decades in the hatching, the Seer had bent her premonitions to the end of holding foresight in the way anything that could ultimately destroy her plan. Falix didn't know, but Cole was integral, which is why she had helped save him. He did know that she had plans for them, too, but nothing of their details, only that the Seer was the villain in all of this, and ultimately Edrigan was the figure head.

That changed things. Falix' vanquishing as a distant echo in Paige's mind as she mentally rehearsed everything she had done and planned in regards to Edrigan, and how the Seer being in the way complicated everything.

An hour later, she was back in the bathroom looking at herself, pondering yet again not seeing her next birthday because some demon somewhere decided to turn the world don its head, and she, the part of a rare, brave few, had to get in the way. And to top it off, she did look like a librarian.