A/N: Thanks to Kalyra-Anne, Shadow Cat17, CoTu, nadr4, PhoebeColefan, Cole + Phoebe = Love Forever, Angelspot, BellaCullen666, Rahl's beloved Queen Kahlan, lizardmomma, Draco's-Loyal-Longing, Mama Darkness, Sirius's Sister, thaatgirrl, and Spaneva for reviewing. I seriously appreciate the feedback I am getting, and that most of you are liking the story. Sorry I'm not replying individually again, but it's late and I have to get up early tomorrow. But here's the chapter! I didn't want to leave you guys hanging too long.

Chapter Twelve

The now all too familiar darkness of the Underworld beckoned Phoebe forth almost immediately. She was surprised by how right it felt. How complete it made her feel.

She didn't express this strange feeling to Cole as they strutted importantly through the Underworld. He had much more important issues on his mind, and Phoebe tried to focus her attention on them as well. Especially since they were mainly centered around the Charmed Ones.

Phoebe had to admit that she was curious to know how they were getting along without her. The hurt she felt at being replaced, though still there, was no longer overpowering her as it had at one time. Now curiosity had long since usurped its place, and it was all she could do to keep from shimmering to the manor and seeing the truth for herself.

Of course she couldn't, since it would ruin whatever plans Cole had in store for them. She knew he was wondering how far Phoebe was willing to let him go. And she had thought about this particular question for some time now.

If the time came, would she really let her sisters die?

She didn't like to think about it too much, so she pushed the thought as far back in her mind as possible and focused instead on the business at hand.

Together, Phoebe and Cole entered the cave they had held their first meeting in. Maseras was waiting for them, and behind him were three other demons who were looking quite anxious to prove their worth to the Source. Phoebe eyed them and tried to figure out just how much they were willing to put on the line to do just that.

"Are these your demons?" Cole asked as he halted to a stop in front of his new advisor.

The dark demon nodded once but didn't say anything. There was no need to. Cole would see for himself if they could be trusted, and Phoebe waited while he stalked over to them. She could see that they were sweating bullets as her husband analyzed them, looking each of them over in turn.

The first one was rather short and was going bald. If he were human, Phoebe would guess him in his early fifties. He was the one who looked the most frightened, and even though he was trying desperately to hide it, Phoebe could see him trembling where he stood.

She inwardly rolled her eyes. Was Maseras honestly trying to tell him that this demon was to be trusted?

If Cole was thinking along these lines he didn't show it. He merely turned to the next demon. He was tall, much younger looking. Phoebe would've thought he was in his mid-twenties if she didn't know better. He had long black hair tied back in a low ponytail and was dressed like a darklighter. She wasn't sure whether he was or not, and she didn't care to be honest. She just wanted to know what Cole was going to do with him.

The third demon stood tall and brave, but Phoebe could detect a small glint of fear in his eye when Cole turned to him. He was worried that Cole would find him unworthy, she could see. It was hard to give him an age since so much of him didn't make sense. He had the face of a man in his forties, but the body of a much younger man. His hands were held behind his back, and regarded Cole with admiration, respect, and fear. Out of all of them, Phoebe suspected that Cole trusted him the most.

Cole came back to stand next to Phoebe and looked at Maseras's chosen demons. "It's clear to me where your loyalties lie. And your allegiance will be most rewarded. But, before anything else can happen, you must all prove your worth."

They all paled, wondering what they could possibly do to please the Source. Phoebe figured that Cole had some witches or other innocents in mind for them to kill, but before she knew it, Cole held out both is hands.

They glowed bright red, and Phoebe watched in fascination as the demons' profiles were outlined in a dark black, and suddenly the blackness was pulled out of them and floated patiently in front of Cole.

Cole directed his hands around and pointed them at Phoebe. Phoebe blinked in surprise as Cole let the balls of energy enter Phoebe through her chest. Though she couldn't see it, she knew that she had glowed black for a second. When it was gone, she immediately felt...different. Powerful.

She looked up at Cole, who was smiling brightly at her.

"Surprise!" he exclaimed, as though he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"What did you do?" Phoebe asked quietly, still trying to get used to this new warmness that coursed through her entire being.

Before Cole could answer, the first demon exclaimed, "Hey, my powers are gone!"

Phoebe turned in exasperation to the one who had spoken.

"That's because I gave them to my wife," Cole said, glaring at him for daring to speak out of turn.

"Mine are gone too!" the second demon declared in outrage.

The third demon looked to be thinking along the same thing but didn't dare say anything.

Cole turned back to Phoebe. "Go ahead. Try them out. I know you've been wanting new powers ever since yours were taken away from you."

He motioned to the demons whose powers Phoebe now had, and Phoebe couldn't help but smile in amusement as they all paled even further, knowing what was about to happen.

Phoebe had no idea how she knew what to do, but she raised her hand and pointed it at the first demon, the one who annoyed her the most, and watched as fire erupted from her hand and hit him at full force.

He screamed in agony, the flames tearing at his skin slowly and painfully. She also didn't know how she knew what he was thinking, but he was wishing that it would be done so that he could die. And knowing that just made her want to prolong his pain even longer.

Finally, after what felt like several minutes, Phoebe let her hand fall and the fire was gone, as well as the demon.

The other two were staring at the black spot on the ground where the older demon had stood, and Phoebe knew they were wondering whether they would be next.

"Do you like it?" Cole asked, pressing his hand to her cheek and kissing the top of her head.

Phoebe nodded. "Thank you. I've always wanted that fire throwing power ever since I saw that my past self once had it. I'm curious. What's the third power? I know I can fire-throw, and I could somehow hear what that demon was thinking so I think I can read thoughts, but I want to know what the third power is."

To her surprise, the second demon answered. "You have my power. My Darklighter power."

Ah, so he was a darklighter. She smirked in satisfaction. It wasn't what she had been expecting, but she had to admit that it was smart.

The darklighter didn't look pleased that his powers were gone, but he stayed silent, afraid that speaking out of turn what only result in him getting vanquished. His head was bowed and he was doing his best to keep a clear head. Though Phoebe could read that he wanted more than ever to prove to the Source that he could serve him well.

"Well, you all have done well. And we thank you for providing us your powers. Your services will be well rewarded, I promise you. Which is why I am only giving you the simple task of watching the Charmed Ones every move. Do not make your presence known; we do not need them knowing that we're there. You just need to watch them and report their every move back to us. Understand?" Cole asked, looking from one to the other expectantly.

They both nodded fervently. The darklighter tried to orb out, but realized that he no longer had his powers. Phoebe stepped aside to let them pass.

Once they were gone, Cole dismissed Maseras so that he and Phoebe were left alone. He turned to her once his advisor was gone. "I know that it took longer than you might've wanted, but it's better late than never."

Phoebe nodded. "I know. Thank you."

Cole brought Phoebe closer to him and hugged her. "Anything for you, baby."

Paige knocked on the manor's front door, finding it a little inconvenient that she didn't have a key to this place. She was, after all, one of the Charmed Ones. Would she have to knock every time a demon attacked?

It opened a second later, revealing a worried looking Prue. She opened it so that Paige could enter. When she was inside Prue slammed the door shut and grabbed her wrist, leading her quickly up the stairs.

"What's the rush?" Paige asked, trying to keep up with her sister.

"We've got a huge problem. And I need your help to get Piper out of her room."

"Huh?" Paige frowned, trying to understand what Prue was saying.

When they got to the second floor Prue led her to Piper's bedroom door. Despite the apparent urgency, Paige couldn't help but be a little curious as to what Piper's room looked like. But before she could dwell on it too much, Prue knocked on the door twice with her fist.

"Piper, Paige is here. We need to talk to you, it's important!" Prue yelled through the door.

Paige could see that this wasn't Prue's first time trying to talk to Piper, but whatever was going on, Paige had a feeling that it was something to do with Cole.

"I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work. Just forget it, I'm through with all of this!" Piper snapped.

Prue sighed. "This isn't helping anything! We need your help if we expect to save Phoebe!"

At this the door unexpectedly flew open and Piper's livid face was exposed to her sisters. Paige was taken aback by this. She had never seen Piper so angry. "Don't you dare talk to me about Phoebe! She betrayed us! She betrayed this family and as far as I'm concerned, she isn't our sister anymore!"

Piper tried to slam the door shut, but Prue's hand stopped it. "No, Piper. I know you're angry. So am I. But that doesn't mean we can turn our back on her."

"Why not? She turned her back on us!"

"But we don't know why! Look, for all we know Cole has her brainwashed. He could've married her against her will and she's trying to find a way back to us. We have to at least try. And if it turns out that she did all of this with her eyes wide open then we can disown her all we want. But at least we can put all of this behind us."

Paige looked from one sister to the other, secretly hoping that Piper would agree with this. She wanted to gloat that she had been right about Phoebe being alive, but she knew this wasn't the time and would only upset Piper even further.

Piper stared at them both helplessly, and Paige's heart went out to her. She honestly didn't have a clue as to what she was going through since she had grown up as an only child. But she did know that she would be devastated if something like this ever happened to Prue and Piper. She understood Piper's pain, and wished that she could somehow take it away from her.

She watched as Piper sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. "Okay, fine. But I'm only doing this on the off chance that you're right. If Phoebe is being brainwashed than we owe it to her to save her. But if she deliberately turned her back on us..." she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Then I will personally kick her out myself. Don't worry, Piper. You aren't alone in this. Phoebe is our sister, too," Prue finished, and wrapped her arms around Piper in a loving and understanding hug. Paige could see tears start to stream down Piper's cheek, and her heart clenched in her chest at the obvious pain her sister was in.

It made her start to think of Phoebe in a whole different way.

"Well, we need to come up with a vanquishing spell for Cole. If he truly does have her brainwashed, than killing him should break his hold on her," Prue began as they started up the stairs to the attic.

"And if that doesn't work?" Piper asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

Prue tilted her head to meet her eye and give her an empathetic smile. "We'll figure that out if it comes to that."

Piper seemed satisfied with this answer and she let Prue and Paige lead her into the attic. Paige wanted to say something comforting but she wasn't sure how well it would be received. After all, Paige had been the one to tell her that Phoebe might not be dead in the first place.

"So what exactly were you guys planning? Doing the Belthazor summoning spell and hope that it would work?" Piper asked, and Paige couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

Prue shook her head. "No, I don't think that would work now. He's the Source now, and he'd probably just ignore it. We have to come up with something else. Something big and unexpected that they wouldn't be expecting."

"What wouldn't the Source be expecting?" Paige asked, snorting in disbelief. "From what I've heard about the guy, he isn't exactly just another demon."

"We could send a message," Prue answered slowly, as though the thought were only just now occurring to her. "Or offer a trade. But what do we have that he covets?"

Paige thought for a moment. It was a good question. But Piper interjected.

"No, we can't do a trade. It would never work."

"Why not?" Prue countered.

Piper sighed. "Because the Source isn't going to just give us someone he loves. He must've married Phoebe for a reason. It could be for love, but I'd be willing to bet that she brings him power somehow. An ex-Charmed One ruling beside a demon? They could be almost unstoppable."

"But there has to be something that he needs more. Something crucial to his survival," Prue argued.

Suddenly a crazy thought jumped into Paige's head. It was definitely a long shot, and she knew her sisters would never go for it, but it was worth a shot.

"We could offer him the Book of Shadows," Paige said quietly.

Both Prue and Piper burst into laughter. "That would never work for about a million reasons, not the least of which is that Cole knows we would never actually give it to him. Evil can't touch that book, and without it we aren't the Charmed Ones. That book connects us, and not just because it has been in our family for generations. It's part of our heritage, part of who we are, and-"

"Okay, okay, I got it. Just thought I'd ask," Paige interrupted, holding up her hand to stop Prue from saying anything more.

"Oh sweetie, we know you're just trying to help. But we have to think in terms that Cole will understand. Before he was the Source, he was just a demon who was trying to kill us, and during that time he learned a lot about us," Piper started.

"And after that he tried to earn Phoebe's love back by trying to be good, so he was at the house all the time which, consequently, made him learn our strengths and our weaknesses," Prue finished.

Paige sighed. It was times like these that she wished she knew crucial pieces of information like this. She wished that she had grown up with the Halliwell sisters so that she wouldn't sound like an idiot when she offered her own ideas.

"But there must be something you guys have learned about him," Paige argued, a bit harsher than she had intended. "I mean, if he's spent so much time here learning all this stuff about you, then you must have learned something about him as well."

Prue's brow furrowed as she considered this. Paige just might be on to something. There wasn't much she knew about Cole since he had been less than willing to share his secrets with them, but she did know how much he loved Phoebe. And if he loved her as much as he said he did, then he would probably be willing to do just about anything for her.

Paige and Piper looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to share with them what she was thinking.

"Piper, we both know that Cole and Phoebe love each other. Right? So he would probably be willing to tell us his plans and maybe even give Phoebe up if it meant keeping her safe," Prue began.

Piper eyed her older sister suspiciously. "What are you getting at?"

"Piper, think about it. Cole has made it a point to remind us over and over again that he loves Phoebe, that he was trying to be good for her. He truly cares about her. So, if we somehow summoned Phoebe here and broke the spell or trance or whatever that he has on her, than she might be able to convince him to give up his powers if it meant staying with her," Prue explained.

"You really think he would do that?"

"Well yeah. Assuming that he's got her brainwashed or something. Phoebe would never willingly marry Cole if she knew he was evil, not to mention the Source of All Evil," Prue replied.

Paige glanced at Piper, pretending that she knew Phoebe as well as they did. "Please, Piper. It's worth a shot. And, assuming it works, we'll know once and for all which side she's on."

Piper nodded, giving in. "Okay. Let's do it. Were you planning on doing the To Call A Lost Witch spell?"

"Yes. I'll get everything we need. You and Paige find the spell."

Each did what they were supposed to, and a minute later they were all surrounding the book, looking at the spell they were supposed to say.

Together, they 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.'

Then Prue took out a small needle and pricked her finger. She handed it to Piper, who pricked her finger and gave it to Paige. Once they all spilled some of their blood into their ritual bowl, they said:

'Blood to blood, I summon thee,

Blood to blood, return to me.'

Paige watched the center of the attic intended for Phoebe to appear in, and blinked in confusion when she continued to see nothing.

She looked to Prue and Piper and saw that they were thinking the same thing.

"I don't get it. That spell was supposed to work," Prue said, putting her hands on her hips and walking over to the place where Phoebe was supposed to be.

"Maybe since we took her powers away, she isn't a witch anymore," Piper offered, but it brought no comfort.

"But that can't be right. Just because she isn't a Charmed One anymore doesn't mean she isn't still a witch," Prue replied, still looking to be in shock that their trusted spell hadn't worked.

An unexpected voice spoke up from behind them. "You girls wouldn't happen to be talking about me, would you?"