A/N: I am SOOO sorry for the long delay. Bad case of writer's block, plus I'm moving soon so getting ready for that is eating up a lot of time. But i swear I haven't forgotten this story, or any others you might be reading!
Thanks to Pholefan, lizardmomma, Another Phoebe, FanficFemale, Charmed4Life322, SpeedDemon315, and PhoebeNprue4eva for reviewing. I really appreciate all feedback!
Chapter Twenty-Three
"Tell me again why we're down here," Paige asked impatiently as they materialized in the Underworld.
Piper ignored her and looked around, making sure there weren't any demons around. There weren't, although Piper couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. When she was certain she and Paige were alone, she spoke.
"We're down here because we need to find out for sure whether Phoebe is down here or not."
Paige looked at her quizically. "Don't we already know that? I mean, didn't you say that their apartment was cleaned out?"
"Well, that doesn't necessarily mean they came down here. They could have skipped town or...something."
Piper couldn't bring herself to elaborate that last statement, but judging from the look on Paige's face, she didn't have to.
Paige nodded in understanding. "Okay. But let's do this quickly. I haven't really known Prue all that long, but something tells me she wouldn't like the idea of us going to the Underworld alone. Especially without her."
Piper and Paige linked arms and began their journey into the vast Underworld.
It didn't take long for Piper to realize that the Underworld was much larger than she'd expected. She'd expected a small place maybe a mile or so wide. But this was like a whole other world. Hence, the name, she thought sadly.
It also felt as though she and Paige were just walking around in circles. Piper supposed the demons made it feel maze-like on purpose, probably to throw off any unwanted visitors. She couldn't help but think that it was working.
"I would just like to go on record as saying that I'm beginning to think this is pointless," Paige said after a while.
Piper shrugged but didn't say anything. The truth was that she had been thinking the same thing, but she couldn't voice these opinions aloud. Paige would probably rub her nose in it, but more than that, she couldn't all but say she was giving up on getting Phoebe out of the Underworld.
"Don't talk like that, Paige. We need to keep a positive attitude," Piper said in reply, and they kept trudging through the Underworld, albeit in much lower spirits than when they started.
Finally, just as Piper was about to tell Paige that she might as well orb them back to the manor, a man's voice could be heard from about five yards away or so.
"...How soon can it be sold?"
Piper frowned, thinking it was Cole's voice, but she had no idea what he was talking about.
Another voice spoke up, one she didn't recognize. "We can have it cleaned out by tonight."
Piper and Paige exchanged nervous glances. "What are they talking about?" Paige whispered so they couldn't be overheard.
"I don't know," Piper whispered back. "But whatever it is, it can't be good."
As the sisters slowly crept closer, the two men's voices grew louder and louder as the distance between them got smaller, and Piper could now easily tell that Cole was one of the men they were listening to.
Cole spoke up again, and the tone of his voice suggested that he was pleased. "Excellent. We're ahead of schedule. Have our things sent to my quarters. I have some...rather uncomfortable news to deliver."
"What might that be, if you don't mind my asking," the other man asked, sounding apprehensive.
"I have to tell my wife that she won't be seeing the sun for quite some time."
With that, footsteps echoed throughout the cave, and Piper pushed Paige against the cave wall as Cole and his demon brushed by, apparently not noticing the sisters in their grand exit.
Once she was sure they were gone, Piper jumped away from the wall as if it burned her. "He's moving Phoebe out of the penthouse?" she asked, staring at Paige as though the younger woman held the answer.
Paige shrugged helplessly. "It sounds like it. But why would he do that? He has to know that keeping Phoebe down here against her will isn't going to win her love."
Piper nodded, trying to make sense out of nonsense. What worried her even more than Cole moving Phoebe out of the penthouse and back into the Underworld was the high possibility that Phoebe didn't even know she was being moved out of the penthouse. It sounded as though Cole was up to no good, and he was worried about something. Something he didn't want Phoebe to know about.
"I think we should follow them," Piper said at once, turning to leave the cave that Cole and the other demon had just left through.
Paige's hand fell to Piper's shoulder, stopping her mid-stride. "Are you crazy? We can't just follow them! What if they know we're here and want us to follow them?"
Piper stared at her as though she were crazy. "If they knew we were there, they would have captured us. Cole has never been one to just let loose ends hang." She started to the cave's entrance once more, but this time Paige moved past her, blocking her way.
"We can't take that chance, and you know it. This is reckless; this whole thing is reckless. We shouldn't have come down here, at least not without anyone knowing we're here."
"But we can't just leave Phoebe down here, especially if she's being held against her will! Who knows what Cole's planning for her?!" Piper snapped exasperatedly, using up all her self-control not to shove her half-sister out of the way and storming all through the Underworld in search of Phoebe.
Paige reluctantly but surely placed both her hands squarely on Piper's shoulders, steadying her. She met Piper's eyes. "All the more reason to go back to the manor and come up with a plan. A safe plan where we have back-up."
Piper glared at Paige, knowing she was right, but not wanting to admit it. Finally she nodded once, and Paige let her go. "All right. Let's go home."
Paige gripped Piper's arm and started to orb back to the manor, when a strong hand pulled her roughly to one side, stopping the orbing process. Piper immediately turned around to find out who had found them.
It was Cole. "Hello, ladies. Thank you for making my job so much easier."
Prue slammed the scrying crystal onto the table they used for scrying in frustration. She didn't know why she thought it would work since she already knew Cole and Phoebe were in the Underworld. Perhaps she'd convinced herself that they were wrong; that they were safe and sound in their penthouse or somewhere else above ground.
Leo had not yet returned, and she didn't know where Piper and Paige had gone off to. She felt as though she were alone in the house, and though she had considered calling for them just to see if they were still here, she wanted to be alone more.
Seeing no more use of the scrying equipment, Prue walked over to the Book of Shadows, which she had swiped from the penthouse. She knew that no good would come from flipping through the pages, but they brought her comfort all the same. Ever since Phoebe had disappeared into the Underworld, the large volume reminded her of their early years as the Charmed Ones. How Phoebe and the book had immediately formed a bond.
It almost brought her to tears as she remembered how she'd found the Book of Shadows, lying abandoned and forgotten at the foot of the bed, open to a random page that Prue was sure hadn't been intended for any specific use. It was as though the two of them had considered taking it with them, then decided not to at the last minute.
A swirl of bright blue lights came into her view, and a second later Leo materialized in the center of the attic. His expression remained blank. "Any luck?" he asked.
Prue shook her head. "No. I can't find them, so they're probably in the Underworld. Do the Elders know what's going on?"
"Only an idea." Leo crossed the attic and sat down on the well worn white plush sofa, his hands brushing through his uncombed blond hair. "They, like you, think Cole and Phoebe are back in the Underworld, but they don't know why. If Cole is up to something, he's keeping it under the radar."
"They wouldn't happen to know what his intentions are with Phoebe, do they?" Prue asked quietly, looking at the floor as she asked this.
Though she didn't look at Leo while he spoke, she could sense that he was staring at her with a mixture of sympathy and understanding, and she knew she couldn't take that right now. "No, not exactly. But they aren't exactly keeping their feelings a secret. Phoebe is Cole's wife, not his prisoner. Whatever Cole is up to, they figure that she's in on it. Why wouldn't she be?"
"I don't know, Leo." Prue shrugged helplessly. "I'd like to think that Phoebe is fighting him, struggling to return to our side, but the fact of the matter is that...I agree with the Elders. It makes sense that she would stand by him. She's been under his influence for so long that I'm not even sure that she remembers what its like to be good."
Leo didn't reply, but Prue could sense that he could see where she was coming from. They remained silent for a while, both going over the hard truth that they might have to accept that they might never be able to save Phoebe.
"Where's Piper and Paige?" Leo asked after a while.
"I don't know. Maybe they went out to get some fresh air," Prue replied, grateful for a change of subject.
Leo nodded, seeing no fault in this. He stood up, probably feeling as though he could do with some fresh air as well. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked Prue.
Prue looked up at him and gave her brother-in-law what she hoped to be a genuine smile. "Yeah. I'll be fine."
But she wouldn't be fine. Not until Phoebe was safe at home, Cole was vanquished to the wasteland forever, and all four sisters were back to leading happy, normal lives.
She probably wouldn't be fine for a very, very long time.
When Piper came to, she forgot where she was. She wasn't in the manor, as was made abundantly clear by the dark surroundings, dank, musty smell, and several guards surrounding her. Then it all came back to her. She had Paige had orbed into the Underworld in search of Phoebe, but had found Cole instead.
She heard someone stir beside her, and turned around to find Paige struggling to open her eyes and get up. "Pi-Piper?" she muttered groggily.
"Right here," Piper replied. She stood up slowly but surely, wiping the dust off her clothes. She had no idea how they had wound up asleep after Cole found them, but she didn't want to stick around to find out.
"C'mon, Paige. We need to get out of here." She bent down and took Paige's elbow in her hands, helping her to her feet. "Are you okay to orb?"
Paige nodded with her eyes still shut. "Uh-huh."
"Okay. Let's do it before Cole gets back."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Cole stated from the cave entrance, his voice dripping with amusement.
Piper turned to glare at him. Cole was dressed in a plain black robe, leaning against the cave wall with his arms crossed by his chest, an amused, satisfied smirk plastered on his face.
"And why not?" she snapped.
Cole straightened, holding his arms above his head in a showing gesture. "Because this cave prohibits orbing and other means of coming and going. Not to mention the particular cage you're in. I think you'll recognize it quite well."
He pointed to the ground, and Piper followed his gaze down to the floor, and discovered five white crystals, surrounding them at various intervals.
"Impressive, Cole. But you know these won't hold us for long," Piper replied, trying to keep her anger and frustration in check. She knew it would only make Cole even more amused and satisfied than he already was.
"Oh, I know. That's why I trapped you in this particular cave. Even if you somehow manage to get out of the crystal cage, you won't be going anywhere since the only way in or out is through these guards. And, I'm sorry to say, they're immune to your freezing powers," Cole explained patronizingly. He began circling the sisters, and Piper felt like the lamb right before the slaughter.
"So, until I decide it's time to let you go, you two aren't going anywhere."
"And when will that be?" Paige snapped, speaking up for the first time. "Before or after you kill your wife's sisters?"
Cole laughed. "So you're the one they replaced Phoebe with. A bit on the pale side, but I suppose you make up for it with your little half-whitelighter, half-witch powers. Tell me, do you like knowing that the only reason Prue and Piper bothered to find you was only so they could feel adequate enough to try to take me on?"
Paige didn't reply, though a new look crossed her features, one that Piper couldn't read.
Cole went on. "You realize, don't you, that if Phoebe was still a Charmed One, they wouldn't have even bothered tracking you down. Your mother didn't love you enough to keep you; why would you think her daughters wouldn't do the same?"
Paige flung herself at him, but was quickly stopped by the white sparks of the crystal cage, preventing her from moving forward.
Piper caught her before she could reach the ground, and glared at Cole with as much venom and hatred as she could muster. "You bastard! Don't you dare talk about our mother like that! She's Phoebe's mother, too."
Cole laughed, an evil, mirthless laugh. "I don't care if she was the Queen of England's mother. Everything I just said is true, and you both know it. Don't try to kid yourselves." He turned to go, but before he did, he turned to them once more. "And don't bother calling out for Phoebe. She won't be able to hear you, and all you'd gain is sore throats."
With that, he left, leaving Piper and Paige alone with the three surly guards who weren't paying them any attention.
"So what do we do now?" Paige asked, her tone soft and a little too broken for Piper's comfort.
"We bust out of here."