A/N: Sorry for the delay. I know it's taking forever, and I know I say this a lot but these updates WILL happen more frequently. It's been a crazy end of the year, hasn't it? Wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

FanficFemale: It was only a matter of time before Maseras rebelled. He isn't the type to sit in someone else's shadow. You'll see more of him next chapter.

ButterflyEyes24: Next chapter you'll see more of Maseras's plan. Glad you liked it!

thetempest11: Glad you liked it.

SpeedDemon315: Hey, better late than never! There's going to be a lot more Phoebe/Cole action in the future, and there's more to Maseras's plan in the chapters to come. Hope you stick with it!

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Tell me again why you think this is a good idea." Cole just pulled on his black Source's cloak and it billowed darkly behind him. Phoebe looked up into his blazing brown eyes and thought of the unborn child she now knew she was carrying. Would their child have those eyes?

"Because they deserve to know," Phoebe replied, turning her gaze to the floor. She knew Cole wouldn't take that well. Ever since they relocated back to the Underworld (not that he had ever really liked any of them), it seemed as though his animosity towards her sisters had more than tripled. They hardly ever discussed them anymore, and when they did his face would become red and he usually vanquished the nearest demon.

"They deserve to know you're carrying the next Source? Yeah, they're going to love that when you tell them," Cole scoffed.

Phoebe tried to keep her patience in check. She knew her husband could never understand the bond that, whether they liked it or not, remained between her sisters and her. "No. They deserve to know they're going to be aunts to a niece or nephew," she answered, sounding more patient than she felt.

Cole was silent. He looked as though he were digesting her words. Phoebe looked at him and all of a sudden found the man whom she'd first fell in love with. Before she knew he was Belthazor and thought he was a very hot district attorney. Why couldn't he have been that man? Why couldn't they have just been an ordinary couple with all the trials and tribulations ordinary couples endured? Phoebe longed for the life where her biggest problem was knowing whether or not the man she loved was truly committed to her. Well, she'd lived that life for a brief period of time before she was a Charmed One. And it hadn't been all that fun anyway.

"Why can't we celebrate the good news ourselves first? Do we really have to involve your sisters right away?" Cole asked after a brief silence. "Let's not tell anyone. Not your sisters, not any other demons or warlocks. Let's just take a couple of days and celebrate the expansion of our family."

Our family. Phoebe's heart fluttered in her chest. It was the first time Cole vocally called himself a member of her family. Although Phoebe never vocalized what they were any more than Cole had, she realized now that it was something she'd been longing to hear.

Phoebe looked up into Cole's eyes and found him looking at her, am amused smile on his face. It looked so out of character for someone who was the Source of All Evil, wearing a black cloak.

"What?" he asked, his smile evident in his tone.

Phoebe returned Cole's smile with one of her own. "Nothing. But it's too late to keep the news to ourselves, isn't it? I mean, Maseras was in the room when I told you."

Cole brushed off Phoebe's concern. "Don't worry about Maseras. If he knows what's good for him he won't disobey my orders. But even if he does it doesn't matter. Soon enough I will make sure everyone knows about our baby."

"Even my sisters?" Phoebe replied with a shadow of doubt.

Cole's eye twitched and he seemed to be fighting off some choice words, but he quickly covered it up, but not before Phoebe noticed. "Especially your sisters. Besides the fact that they will be our baby's aunts, they'll also soon discover, hopefully once and for all, that you and I mean business, and that we are here to stay."

Phoebe opened her mouth to argue, but then a rush of memories and feelings overcame her. She felt as though her premonition power had returned to her at last, and she was back in the manor, standing in the attic after being summoned. She remembered seething as Piper asked her whether or not they should bother saving her. She remembered the looks on her sisters' faces as she successfully took the Book of Shadows. She remembered the conversation she had with the ghost of Grams about how she hadn't made the decision to be with Cole on her own. And she also remembered how her sisters hadn't even bothered going down to the Underworld to try to rescue her when she' truly needed it. Right after Shax had attacked them along with Dr. Griffith. Cole had been the only one who'd been there for her and kept her alive.

Cole's voice snapped her out of her reminiscing. "Phoebe? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. You're right, honey. Maybe we should wait until we find the perfect moment to tell my sisters."

Paige couldn't take much more of this.

Prue and Piper hadn't talked about Phoebe for a week now, and it didn't look as though they were going to. Whenever the three of them talked, it was about unimportant things like groceries and work. Paige couldn't remember the last time a demon attacked so they rarely even talked about magic at all.

It was almost as though they weren't Charmed Ones anymore.

Prue had been extra cautious of her and Piper ever since they came back from the Underworld. While Paige firmly held to the story that it had been just as much her idea as it had been Piper's, Prue seemed to keep a very close eye on them, almost as though she were afraid they'd go off and try their little endeavor again. Whenever Prue walked into a room with Piper and Paige, she'd want to know what they were talking about, and never seemed to be convinced when they told her. Paige hated to admit it, but she felt as though ever since Phoebe had gone down to the Underworld, Prue was becoming more and more paranoid.

She'd long since given up discussing it with Piper. Every time Paige brought up the idea, Piper would dismiss them and tell her she didn't know Prue like she did. She would tell Paige that Prue was just being cautious and never liked repeating her mistakes. But Paige knew these were only excuses, but never let the conversation get any further than that because she was never in the mood to get into a full blown argument.

Now, however, Paige felt as though she was reaching her breaking point. Nothing she said could ever talk Prue and Piper out of whatever decision they'd made without her, and Leo kept saying this was between them. He never wanted to get in the middle of the sisters, even if he secretly took sides. Paige could never be one hundred percent certain about which side he was on.

Paige knew Leo was spending a lot of his time helping his other charges. With no demon attacks at Halliwell Manor and the sisters not having much luck getting Phoebe back, the Elders tasked him with charges that needed him more than the Charmed Ones did. None of the sisters were particularly happy about it, but there wasn't much they could do about it.

Paige pulled up to the manor in her green VW Bug after a particularly emotional day at work. They'd taken a little girl who was being abused by her parents out of the home while the social workers were investigating and the girl had done nothing but cry all day. Paige had tried everything to get her to calm down but nothing had worked. All she wanted was to see her parents. It made Paige think of her own parents and how much she missed them.

No, Paige reminded herself, brushing the tears angrily from her eyes. Stop thinking about it. What happened, happened and there's nothing you can do to change it. Her words were in vain, of course. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't ever push that terrible day from her mind.

She looked up at the red Victorian manor out of the passenger side window and tried to work up her courage to get out of her car. She knew what she'd find once she went inside. Her sisters acting falsely cheerful as they took turns trying to convince each other that everything was fine. They always ignored the huge elephant in the room that was Phoebe and whenever it looked as though the conversation was steering in that direction they quickly turned it to something else. Paige didn't know if she had enough strength to deal with it today.

But she did know that she had no other options, so she grabbed her purse and the new file on the little girl from today-she had to learn her name-and walked up the stone steps to the manor.

When she went inside she heard a newswoman's voice from the television coming from the living room. Wanting more than anything to go upstairs to her room and avoid Prue and Piper altogether, she turned into the living room and plastered a smile on her face.

Prue and Piper were sitting together on the sofa, their faces expressionless as they listened to the woman on the TV talk about some fog that San Francisco was to expect later that week. Neither of them noticed Paige come in.

"Did you have the day off?" Paige asked finally, holding her file to her chest.

Prue and Piper both looked up. Piper offered a weak smile her way.

"Hey, Paige."

Prue nodded her answer. "Yeah, I did. What's that?" She indicated the folder Paige was holding.

"Oh, just a new charge." Paige really didn't want to talk about her day with her sisters. She hoped they wouldn't want her to divulge any more than that.

Prue nodded. "Any ideas about dinner?"

Paige could feel her blood pressure rising and she had a strong urge to slap both her sisters and yell at them. Stop asking stupid questions and ask ourselves the most important question of all! What are we supposed to do about Phoebe? She was still angry at them for deciding to take this little hiatus without talking to her first, but she didn't let them know because she didn't want to start any drama. They already had enough of it.

Instead, she did the only thing she could do. She answered. "I'll start it."

Piper watched her younger sister trudge upstairs, doing her best to hide her disappointment. She couldn't blame Paige; she was disappointed too. With every passing day that they weren't discussing a plan to get Phoebe back, Piper's guilt grew. It had been both her and Prue's decision to take a step back and let inspiration come, but Piper was starting to think that maybe it had been mistake. She felt bad about not including Paige, but she knew what Paige would've said if she had been part of the discussion.

"We can't give up on Phoebe. The longer we leave her down there, the stronger Cole's hold over her becomes, and soon it will be too late."

Piper didn't think that was true, but she did think that that Phoebe was becoming more comfortable in her new life. At first, when Piper wasn't angry at Phoebe for abandoning them and her destiny, she had been convinced that Phoebe would eventually come to her senses and come back. But with the days turning into weeks, the more Piper was beginning to realize that maybe she'd been wrong.

Piper had thought she'd made some progress back when Grams had talked her into visiting Phoebe at her and Cole's penthouse apartment. Phoebe had actually sounded more like her old self. But after Cole had taken her back down to the Underworld...it felt as though all that progress had been a waste. And she didn't know what to do anymore.

But, Piper reminded herself for what felt like the hundredth time, this is a two way street. Phoebe could make the effort to communicate to us. It isn't as though she doesn't have the magic and the know-how to do it.

They still didn't know whether Phoebe had been forced back to the Underworld or taken by Cole, but Piper had a pretty good idea that Phoebe knew. She was married to the man, after all. It seemed absurd that he could've sold the apartment without her knowing about it.

Still, though. She could've at least tried to talk to us. We were all making progress. At least, I was.

Piper caught Prue looking at her out of the corner of her eye and Piper tried to look convincing as she watched the TV. None of the words registered as she kept up the pretense of watching the weather. She couldn't let Prue know she was thinking of Phoebe. Phoebe was Prue's sore subject lately, and ever since they'd decided to take a break, Piper felt as though she were walking on eggshells around her older sister.

Prue had become nearly unbearable ever since that day. She kept saying she had forgiven Piper and Paige for going down to the Underworld, but Piper didn't think she had. Prue was more upset that they hadn't included her. And the Book of Shadows being in Phoebe's possession only added to the sisters' feelings of helplessness. Piper had half a mind to go upstairs and talk to Paige about what else they could try because she knew Paige was going crazy with their lack of motivation, but didn't because she was afraid of what Prue might do if she found out.

Piper didn't know what Prue was waiting for, but she did know that she had to do something to break through the shell she'd been hiding in for the past week. Paige was already at her wit's end, and it was only a matter of time before Piper reached hers.

"I'm going to take a quick shower, then I'll help Paige with dinner. Do you need anything?" Piper asked, standing up.

Prue shook her head and picked up the remote, changing the channel. Piper hesitated, uncomfortable with Prue's state of being, but she knew she was of no use sitting around not doing anything. She turned and headed upstairs. She passed by Paige's room, disturbed by the silence. Piper considered going in to see if her younger sister was okay, but decided against it. She had something else that needed to be done.

She crept slowly up the staircase leading to the attic, not wanting anyone to know what she was doing. When she got to the attic she ignored the empty pedestal the Book of Shadows was usually on, grateful that she had memorized this particular spell. She opened the wooden trunk they kept their supplies in and took out five white candles, placing them in a circle. It was her turn to summon Grams.

She stood a few feet away from the circle, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. This was for Prue's own good. Hopefully Prue will come to see it that way too.

'Here these words, here my cry

Spirit from the other side.

Come to me, I summon thee,

Cross now the great divide.'

A swirl of bright lights came out of nowhere and entered the circle. Piper watched, hoping Grams wouldn't give her a lecture on their decision to temporarily stop trying to get Phoebe out of the Underworld.

But the person who had been summoned inside the circle wasn't Grams.

It was their mother.