A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed, I appreciate it. Hopefully the next update will be soon, but since this week I'll be in the actual process of moving, I can't promise anything. But hopefully you won't have to wait too terribly long.

Thanks to FanficFemale, kagomekikyo-arrow, Draco's-Loyal-Longing, Rocky, Another Phoebe, and SpeedDemon315 for reviewing. Sorry I'm not replying individually again. Crunched for time.

Chapter Twenty-Four

'I'm going to kill him!' Phoebe thought irritatedly as she kicked a rock as hard as she could with her foot. She could not believe Cole. He had told her that he would be right back almost an hour ago. Where the hell was he? What the hell kind of business could there possibly be that required this much time? Sending demons to the surface to kill innocents took no more than a couple minutes tops. It wasn't like they needed convincing.

"If you are getting restless, I could accompany you for a little walk, if you wish," Maseras offered sweetly, though his sweetness was forced. Phoebe knew she'd pissed him off earlier. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"If I want to take a walk, I'll take it by myself, thanks," she hissed.

Maseras looked like he wanted to argue, but one look from Phoebe and he quickly shut his mouth. He turned and resumed his previous position at the entrance to the cave, blocking Phoebe's exit.

Oncoming footsteps approached a second later, and Maseras was violently pushed aside as Cole entered. Phoebe turned to face him. "Where the hell were you?" she snapped, all but spitting in his face.

Cole looked more amused than annoyed. "I was at a meeting."He moved past her as if that ended the conversation, but Phoebe wasn't ready to give up.

"A meeting? What kind of meeting keeps you away for almost an hour?" she snapped. "And why couldn't you involve me? I am your wife, after all."

"I didn't involve you because I knew you'd only be bored. It was all shop talk, and I didn't think it was anything that called for your attention," he replied patiently, sitting down in his chair and crossing his legs.

"Well still, the least you could've done was call." Phoebe crossed her arms and turned away from him, angry.

Though she couldn't see him, Phoebe knew he was more amused than guilty. She heard his footsteps as he walked over to her. He touched the back of her head and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Sorry, baby. Won't happen again."

Though Phoebe knew he was lying and that it would happen again, she didn't say anything. It would go nowhere. She decided that, instead, she would go along with him.

After Cole dismissed Maseras, Phoebe followed him into his chambers. "So," she began, "what was the meeting about?"

"This and that," Cole replied automatically.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "You were just there, Cole. I think you can do better than that."

"All right, if you really want to know. We were discussing some innocents that have been causing us some trouble. I thought it best to take of it quietly. I didn't want to say anything to you because...of your past. I didn't know how you'd react to it," he explained.

Phoebe's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't expected that answer, even though now it seemed as though it should have been obvious. What else would the Source of All Evil have to discuss with fellow demons? The stock market?

She looked up at him. Even now he was nearly impossible to read. He looked down at her and she couldn't tell whether he was annoyed that she was keeping him from something, or whether he was happy to see her. Cole had been keeping his emotions under lock and key lately.

Just as Phoebe was about to turn and let him go, he took hold of her hand and held it tightly in his own. "Phoebe, there is something I need to tell you."

She froze, but tried to hide it. Now she was able to read her husband clearly and he was definitely nervous. This wasn't going to be good. "Okay."

She let him lead her into their shared quarters and onto the bed. He didn't let go of her hand. It was as though he needed it to give him strength. "What is it?" she asked finally when he was obvious he wasn't going to begin the conversation.

Cole took a deep breath. "There is no easy way to say this, Phoebe, so I'm just going to come out and say it. I sold the penthouse."

For a second the words didn't seem to register. Phoebe felt as though he was talking to someone else instead of her. "Wait a minute. I don't understand. You did what?"

"I sold the penthouse," he repeated, his face turning slightly red.

Phoebe frowned, trying to decide where to begin. "Why the hell would you do a thing like that? Don't you think this was something we should've decided together?"

"I know, Phoebe, and normally you would be right. But...things weren't working up there."

"For who, Cole? I have no idea what you're talking about. I was happy up there. You seemed happy up there. Is this because of the Book of Shadows?" Phoebe asked, confused as to why she didn't sound angry. She definitely was angry. Furious, even. And she wanted Cole to know that.

"No. This has nothing to do with the Book of Shadows and everything to do with you and your sisters!" Cole exclaimed. He stood up and began pacing back and forth.

Phoebe followed suit and stood up. "My sisters? What do they have to do with anything?"

"Oh come on, Phoebe, don't lie to me. Ever since they summoned you back to the manor you've been acting different. More like a Charmed One and less like my queen! You've let them slowly take hold of you!" He sounded as though he'd been keeping this bottled up inside of him forever.

Phoebe's mouth seemed to drop to the ground in shock. "First of all, I didn't go to them, they reached out to me. Second of all, I can't believe for one second that you would think I'd choose them over you! That's ridiculous, you're my husband!"

"Oh yeah? Well, if I'm so wrong, Phoebe, then tell me why Piper was over here the other day?"

"How do you know about that?" Phoebe demanded.

Cole snorted irritatingly. "You think I don't know what goes on in my home? I know a lot more than you think. I know that your grandmother came to see you. I know that she tried to convince you that you didn't choose to be with me of your own free will. And I also know that she got to you."

At that Phoebe began to physically tremble in anger. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Then I suppose you and Piper were just discussing the weather," Cole said sarcastically.

"How many times do we have to go over this, Cole? I. Love. You. You're my husband, and I will stick by you no matter what. If I have to say that one more time..."

She was cut off by Cole's lips meeting hers. At first she resisted, not wanting him to think that this was all it would take for him to get off the hook. But it felt too good, and Phoebe was tired of fighting. She closed her eyes and returned the kiss. When he reluctantly pulled away she was disappointed.

He smiled playfully. "You took that much better than I thought you would. You have to understand that I did this for us. We're stronger this way. Does this mean we can never go back up? No. It just means that we need to be more careful. There are too many people who want to take it away from us."

His words warmed her, and she was suddenly reminded of all the reasons she loved him. She wrapped her arms around his torso and snuggled into him. "I know, baby. I know."

"This doesn't make any sense. They should've been back by now," Prue said angrily, slamming the Book of Shadows closed with more force than she had intended. But it got her point across. She looked up into the worried face of Leo. "Sorry," she added quietly.

"It's okay. I'm worried, too."

Prue stepped away from the pedestal that the book rested on. "Can you do your magical radar thing and see if you can sense them?"

Leo nodded. "I'm on it." He took a steadying breath and closed his eyes. Prue didn't know how Leo was able to use that particular power and, as always with seeing it in action, was envious of it. It was so much easier than scrying.

A minute later Leo opened his eyes, his expression grave. Not a good sign. "I can't sense them anywhere."

"So what does that mean?" Prue demanded, wringing her hands tightly absentmindedly as she always did whenever she was worried or anxious or scared. In this case all of the above.

"Either they're in the Underworld or..." Leo looked at the eldest Halliwell knowingly. He didn't need to finish the sentence for Prue to know what he was about to say.

"No, if that were the case I would've sensed it. Which means that they're Down There."

Both of their heads moved down. Prue brushed a loose strand of black hair away from her face impatiently. "Would you be able to sense them if you went down there?" She refused to wonder how Piper and Paige had ended up in the Underworld in the first place.

Leo nodded. "Yes. But if I go down there, I wouldn't be able to hear you if you call."

"I know, Leo. But how much trouble can I get into by myself?"

The memory of reporters and various crazy people lining the street and their front lawn as the result of her and her sisters being exposed as witches came to mind. "Okay, but if you hurry, that won't be an issue," Prue amended quickly.

"Still, I don't feel comfortable-"

"Leo, I'll be fine. But if Piper and Paige are in trouble, they'll need you more than I do right now," Prue interrupted.

"Are you sure?" Leo didn't look convinced.

Prue nodded. "I am. Believe me, the last thing we need is for more of us to be out of commission."

She watched as their whitelighter silently agreed and orbed out of the attic. It felt like deja vu with Leo going down to the Underworld to check on her sisters. She half expected to be chased into the street by a demon and be caught using her magic in public, right in front of a camera.

Shaking the mental image out of her mind, she left the attic and went downstairs to the kitchen to brew herself some tea. Anything to quench the unlimited amount of worry that now all of her sisters were in the Underworld. It was a weird feeling and Prue didn't like it at all.

Worse than that, though, was the inescapable truth that she was now helpless. All that was left to do was to wait.

Paige grumbled in annoyance. "If we ever get out of this, I'm never going to let you talk me into anything ever again."

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Piper asked.

"About a hundred more. If it weren't for you, we'd be at home right now coming up with a safe plan for rescuing Phoebe. Not wasting away in a cage designed to keep us from using magic. Our one defense."

"Will you stop it? We'll find a way out of here."

"How? There are guards all over the place, not to mention the fact that Cole probably has the place bugged so that he'd know if we escaped."

Piper gave her a pointed look. "We aren't helpless, you know. If Cole comes I'll freeze him. Or, if he gives me enough reason, I'll blow him up."

"That's sure to get Phoebe back to our side," Paige argued sarcastically.

"And keeping us prisoner is going to keep her love? Please. Cole has as much to lose as we do. Besides, Prue and Leo are probably wondering where we are. They'll come looking for us soon enough," Piper explained.

Paige shrugged. "Still, even if we do somehow manage to get out of this in one piece, don't think that lets you off the hook. You are in big trouble."

"Hey, don't forget that you agreed to this."

"Only because you forced me to."

"Splitting hairs."

"Whatever."

Both sisters crossed their arms and continued to pretend to be mad at each other. After a while, Piper spoke up. "You know, Paige, you're pretty amazing."

At this Paige raised an eyebrow, taken aback. "How?"

"Well, not that long ago you were just a normal woman with a normal job whose biggest concern was finding a date. Now you're a witch with sisters and you're pretty damn good at it. You've come a long way."

Paige couldn't help but smile at this. "Well, I wouldn't have gotten nearly this far if I hadn't had the right teacher."

She and Piper looked at each other and smiled, fight long forgotten.

"Don't worry. Somehow we'll get out of this," Piper said.

"Well, wake me up when we do." Paige slid the floor, bringing her knees up to her chin. She rested her head on them and let her eyes close. Who knew, maybe by the time she woke up, she'd be safe and sound back in her own bed.

Though she doubted it.