Hello lovely readers! If there are in fact any of you left...if there aren't I wouldn't be at all surprised. I've been one of those horrible people who leaves her fic hanging on cliff and promises to update as soon as she gets a computer and then just...doesn't. I fail. But, I've finally realized the error of my ways and have decided to return to the path of good and do what I love, and the night before I have twenty-page paper due, no less. I've even set myself up on a schedule; barring an act of God, I will update every Tuesday. For now this only applies to this story; however, I hope to get my Buffy story restarted as well. Here's this week's penance offering, and which I hope you'll enjoy despite the fact that I've let you down in the past. And I'd like to give a special shout-out to everyone who's reviewed the story, even during the long hiatus; you're the ones that gave me the conviction I needed to get my fanfic habit back on track...Thank You :)

Confrontation

(Same as last scene. Slowly Phoebe and Cole back away from each other, but are still touching. On impulse he grips her arms)

Cole: Phoebe—

(Phoebe jerks violently from his grip and cuts him off with a hard slap that nearly sends him to the floor. He catches himself on the armrest of the nearby couch. Gingerly he puts a hand to his face; there's a red mark where she struck him, and it appears to be smoking slightly. Henry seems to be the only one to notice)

Henry: Um, should his face be—

Phoebe: (doesn't seem to hear him, addresses Cole, shaking) You son of a bitch…

Coop: (angry and hurt, but trying to keep composure) Phoebe, what just—

Phoebe: (she tears off his ring and hands it to him, voice hard) See for yourself.

(Coop takes the ring and slips it on his finger. It immediately begins glowing and his eyes grow wide. After a moment he looks incredulously from Cole to Phoebe)

Coop: Philip…he's your…

Phoebe: Son. Philip is my son.

Cole: (mutters) He prefers Warren—

(This time Phoebe's fist connects with his jaw and he does end up sprawled on the ground. She moves to do more damage when Piper speaks up)

Piper: Phoebe stop!

(Her words temporarily distract Phoebe.)

Phoebe: All of you…all of you knew.

Piper: The only reason we didn't tell you right away was because we were afraid he'd panic and take Warren and run and that things would get messy.

Paige: Even then there were about fifty near misses where we almost spilled the beans. Piper had to lie about freezing Coop so he wouldn't find out!

Coop: I knew you froze me!

Phoebe: (seething) No! You all knew he (points to Cole, who's slowly getting back to his feet) that he was alive. Or had been alive. Or something. That it was actually him I saw six years ago…you let me think it was just a vision quest; told me it was a vision quest!!

Paige: Ooh. (To Coop) She saw that far back? (Coop nods) Yikes.

Piper: I swear though Phoebe; we had no idea that Warren was still…reachable, savable, what have you—

Phoebe: I know. But you. (She turns to face Prue, who's standing a ways apart from the rest of the group, arms folded) You knew. You knew, and…God Prue, I don't even know where to start!

(Uncomfortable silence fills the room. Piper grips Leo's hand. Henry slips an arm around Paige's waist. Prue's holding back tears. Coop's face is sorrowful, and Cole can't seem to decide whether to stay or shimmer out.)

Phoebe: (to Prue) Let's forget for a minute that you hated Cole when we were dating, never really trusted him completely even after he risked his life for us and I vouched for him, yet you decide to risk the extreme wrath of the powers that be helping him instead of the sisters who didn't think they'd be able to go on after you died and spent countless frustrating hours trying to contact you, to get one little word from you on the other side that you were okay and happy. Hell, we'll even toss aside the little detail that you, the older sister that is supposed to be looking out for me, let me think that my firstborn child was unredeemable.

(More silence. Phoebe wipes tears from her eyes and continues)

Phoebe: We'll forget about all that, because all of that is about me and I'm not the important one here. Philip—Warren, is. So let's focus on something else: how monumentally irresponsible you were in the way you brought my baby back, and where you brought him back. I can understand why Cole (she shoots a withering glance in his direction) wouldn't want me around, and why he'd try to get Warren back without my help. But you, Prue, had no excuse. You're a powerful witch; I'm not debating that. But you're not the Power of Three. My son could've been resurrected by one of the greatest forces of good the world has ever known. We could've gotten help from the fairies, leprechauns…Hell, if I threatened to strike or give up magic the Elders might have even helped. But you don't do any of that. Instead, you form an unholy alliance with a man filled up with dangerous powers he picked up in the demonic wasteland and his…demon mother you resurrected as well? You used a spell book that clearly was not created with the Wiccan rede and precautions against personal gain in mind…did you ever stop to think about the reason I lost him in the first place? It was the influence from the Seer's tonic of pure evil! Did you ever think that maybe exposing powers as big as his to evil forces maybe, just maybe, wasn't a smart move? And to take that risk and multiply it by putting him into the body of a mortal woman who has no idea that magic even exists? I was barely able to carry him, and the Seer got herself vanquished when she tried. Sara could've been killed, Prue, an innocent could have died and my child along with her. Oh, and while we're on the subject of black magic and my children, what's this about you taking blood from my daughter?

Piper: Whoa. Wait, what do you mean, blood from your daughter?

Phoebe: In the vision I just had Prue took blood from Melinda for the resurrection spell.

Prue: (quickly) It was barely a more than a few drops, Phoebe, and I had a spell to heal her, she was perfectly fine—

Phoebe: Thank heavens she was perfectly fine! (Her voice steadily rises) What if a spell from that book had gone wrong and Melinda would have been affected because her blood was involved? If something had happened to both of them could have been lost forever, Prue, and I would be without either of my children. You didn't think I could handle knowing my son with Cole was alive because I loved the idea of him so much that I had had one freak-out episode of repressed guilt? How did you think I'd have "handled" it if I'd lost my baby girl too?!

(She ends the sentence on a scream. Once again, uncomfortable silence chokes the room. After a minute Coop steps forward and places a gentle hand on Phoebe's shoulder. She shakes her head and quickly begins to compose herself)

Phoebe: You know what? Screw this. (She wipes the last of the angry tears from her eyes) I'm going to go hold my son.

(With that she shoves past Cole, marches off into the dining room and into the kitchen, slamming the door behind her. The rest of the adults just stand in shock for a moment before following her.)

(Cut to kitchen. Phoebe slams the door and grabs the edge of the counter on the island for support, her head down, breathing heavily. Fresh tears start falling, and she grips the island angrily. Camera to her little finger, which barely touches a dishtowel, glows orange for a spilt second. The towel catches on fire. Startled, she grabs the towel and runs over to the sink, dousing the growing flame with water.)

Phoebe: What the hell…

(at this point the rest of the adults enter: Piper and Paige, followed closely by Prue, then Coop, Cole, Leo and Henry.)

Piper: Phoebe, sweetie, come on, talk to us for a minute.

Henry: I smell smoke—

Prue: (ignores him) Please, Phoebe—

(Phoebe spins around to face Prue, the small fire forgotten)

Phoebe: No. I'm not speaking to you. I'm going to see my son. (She heads for the basement door)

Prue: What, while you're sniffling, have smudged lipstick, red eyes and mascara running down your face? You look like a wreck; you'll scare him and the other kids!

(Phoebe doesn't speak, but glares at Prue, crosses back to the sink and splashes water on her face. While she's doing so Piper opens a drawer and grabs another dishtowel, then proceeds to rub comforting circles on her back. She catches sight of the burnt dishtowel and frowns)

Piper: When did that happen—

(Phoebe grabs the unsinged towel from her and wipes her face dry. She throws it on the counter and faces Prue again)

Phoebe: (sarcastically) Do I pass inspection now, Prue?

Prue: Yes. But Phoebe—

Phoebe: Not listening.

(She starts toward the basement door again. This time Coop steps forward and stops her, placing his hands on her shoulders.)

Coop: Sweetie please.

Phoebe: Why are you "sweetie please" –ing me? For the record I'm mad at you for keeping the truth from me for the past six years.

Leo: Phoebs—

Phoebe: That goes for you too, Leo. All of you, in fact.

Leo: Be rational Phoebe. Do you really want Warren's memory of finally finding his mother to be tainted with so much negativity? That's how I found out about Chris, and it tore me up inside, and I'm an adult who's had over 80 years of practice dealing with emotions.

Paige: Warren's an empath, like you, Phoebe. He'll be able to feel everything if you're not careful. So will my daughters.

Cole: (quietly) I can't speak for the twins. (The rest of the adults look at him) But as far as Warren goes, he'll be able to tell if you're upset even without his powers. He's a sensitive kid.

Phoebe: (bitterly) Well, maybe if I'd known he was alive before now I would know that!

(Cole slams his fist on the island in frustration, locks eyes with Phoebe. After a moment she sighs.)

Phoebe: Fine. What do you want me to do?

Paige: Just calm down a little.

Coop: (takes Phoebe's hands) Take a deep breath or two. Relax, find your center—

(Phoebe's eyes grow wide and she grips Coop's hands tightly before her breathing becomes ragged)

Phoebe: (stunned, hoarse whisper) No…

Coop: Phoebe…my hands…what are you doing?

(An air of uneasiness fills the room suddenly, as everyone sees Coop's hands, which are beginning to glow orange in Phoebe's death grip)

Paige: (nervous) Why...?

Piper: Phoebe, what's going on?

(Phoebe doesn't answer. She drops Coop's hands and makes a mad dash for the basement door, everyone else hot on her heels. Leading the group down the stairs Phoebe stops, mouth open in horror. To the left of the staircase Little Henry is sitting in his playpen, looking around curiously. A few feet away, around the table that held the cookies, Wyatt, Chris, Grace, Sammie, Livvie, and Melinda are unconscious on the floor. All hold half-eaten cookies in their hands. Piper's "NO!" is the first word to follow the discovery, closely followed by similar responses from Paige, Phoebe, Henry, Leo, and Coop, who rush down towards their children. Cole and Prue follow; Cole immediately begins tearing the room apart looking for Warren.)

(Henry checks his daughters' pulses. Paige rushes to make sure the baby's all right.)

Henry: Sammie! Livvie!

(Paige, seeing that the baby's unharmed, joins him)

Paige: (frantic) Are they breathing?

(Piper hoists Wyatt's head onto her lap while Leo does the same with Chris and clutches Grace to his side)

Piper: Come on honey, wake up. (Reaches out to Chris and Grace) Come on peanut, cupcake, wake up for Mommy please wake up.

Leo: Chris has a pulse. So does Grace. (He reaches over to Wyatt to check)

(Phoebe scoops Melinda into her arms and gives her a gentle shake. Coop takes Melinda's hand and breathes a sigh of relief.)

Coop: She's alive… (Frowns) but something…something is wrong…

(Carefully but quickly, Phoebe gives Melinda to Coop and stands up, addresses Cole, who's overturned a couch and is currently throwing pillows)

Phoebe: (panicked) You haven't found him?

Prue: (icy, dangerous voice) Get away from him. Now!

(The adults turn around and gasp. The vein in Cole's forehead looks ready to burst. Camera to the other side of the basement, where Elizabeth steps into the light, unconscious Warren in her arms.)

Elizabeth: (smirks) Make me.

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A cliffie. I know. I'm a bad person. But the one for next week is almost ready!