Chapter 6: She's a man baby, a man

Cole Turner was at the Quake with his two children waiting for his wife to join them and have lunch. But before eating, he had a little business problem to take care of. That was the reason why the three of them came in earlier than her. They were occupying two tables full of papers. On one part were drawing papers for the kids and on the other, working papers for the father.

After making sure that the kids were settled and would be occupied enough for the time he would need, he asked a waitress to talk to the chef. The young woman started to panic, wondering what she had done wrong for him to ask for the chef but Cole was quick to reassure her: there was nothing wrong with her or her work, he just needed to talk to the chef. Feeling relief wash over her, the waitress left to do as she was asked.

Not long after that, Piper appeared in the room, surprised to see Cole there with his children. Confused, she tried looking elsewhere for something but seemed to not find it so she gave up and went to Cole's table.

Cole looked up from his work when he heard footsteps approaching. "Hello, Piper." He kept his tone absolutely neutral.

"Cole, what are you doing here? I was told that a client wanted to talk to me." While nothing could be detected from Cole, Piper clearly appeared reluctant to talk to him. After what had happened between them a few days before, she was surprised that he wanted to see her, let alone talk to her. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Business, what else?"

Realisation shone on her face at his words. "Ok, listen, I have nothing against you but I already told you the other day, I'm not interested in doing any business with you."

"Don't worry, I heard you just fine and accepted your decision. Thing is, I wasn't too keen in offering you this job in the first place, but Phoebe had convinced me it was a good idea."

She creased her brow. "What do you mean?"

"She told me it's always been your dream and that it'd help you as a practice. Now, after what happened, she understands why I was reluctant in the first place. You didn't even ask what I was offering you before refusing, just because we told you I was a demon before."

Hearing Cole talking like this gave Piper a new facet of his personality. He was serious and totally unreadable and that set a feeling of dread in her. She just knew she wasn't going to like what he was about to tell her next.

Cole took two piles of folders. One was yellow, the other red. He set them side by side in front of himself. That only seemed to deepen her confusion but she didn't have long to wait.

Cole took the yellow files and presented them to Piper. "These are files of potential candidates for the job of manager of the restaurant." He then took out the red ones. "And these are files of potential chefs but seeing as you already rejected my offer, we won't be needing them." He took those away. "So, you'll stay the chef of the restaurant but you'll need to go over the files for potential managers and select the ones you judge suitable for interviews. I already did that part but since you'll be the one interacting with them the most, I thought your opinion would be necessary." He said it all without any interruptions from his sister in law who simply stared at him with her mouth agape.

Finally, Piper managed to compose herself enough to talk. "What are you talking about here?"

Cole feigned surprise. "What, didn't I tell you? I own this restaurant. It's been in my family for over a century. The last manager wasn't really that competent and she was stealing from me so, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Stunned, Piper spoke again in a small voice. "You... what?"

Ignoring her shock, Cole continued. "Yeah, I think I've neglected things for too long. But, I have a family now that'll need their legacy intact when the time comes. So, I'm going over all my businesses and your father has been of great help. He'll be the one in charge of all of them, seeing as I'll be busy with the law firm. Things have been better since he took the job."

This came as a greater shock than anything else for Piper: not only was her brother in law her boss now, but it seemed that her father was too. Things couldn't get any more confusing or complicated.

"Hey there!" The voice seemed to come from the entrance.

Piper lifted her eyes to look at the owner of the cheery voice. She wasn't really in the mood for cheery so she had no intention of putting up with them. However, she found her plan failing when none other than her sister Phoebe walked in the restaurant toward them.

Cole stood to greet his wife with a kiss. "Hey honey, you doing better?" He was looking at her in concern.

Phoebe sighed. "Actually, I think it's getting worse. I really can't explain what's causing it though. Hi Piper!"

"Phoebe, are you ill?"

"What?" Phoebe seemed confused for a moment. "Oh no, I'm fine, just feeling a little too hot." She went over to kiss her children. Once she was done, she turned to Cole. "You done yet?"

He shook his head in the negative. "Not yet but we won't be much longer"

"Ok you can finish with your business while I go to the bar for something to cool myself off."

As Phoebe left, Cole went back to his earlier discussion with Piper. "As I was saying, Phoebe decided not to get family members involved in the business anymore. It may be a family business but that doesn't mean we have to employ every relative we have." He took the time to look at her for a moment, to make sure she was still listening. "So, you look at the files, give me your selection and in two weeks we'll decide when to have the interviews. Is that enough time for you?"

Piper got back to the moment, still in a daze. "Yeah, I think that'll do."

Cole wrote something in his notebook and then closed it. "Ok, good. Take the files and I'll leave you to your work. I'll call in two weeks for the date."

With that, Piper left after saying goodbye to them and went to look for her things. She didn't think that she'd be able to work properly for the rest of the day and luckily for her, it wasn't a busy one. She went home, taking the files with her.

As for Cole, he was joined by Phoebe at the table. After taking the seat he offered her next to him, she didn't waste any time. "So, how did she take it?"

Cole smirked at her. "I think she was overwhelmed with shock, otherwise she'd have been screaming her head off."

Phoebe mock sighed dramatically. "Oh honey, I think you've gotten the wrong sister. That was Piper, not Prue."

He laughed out loud. "I know what you mean. Anyway, I think she took it pretty well. Not sure how she's going to live with it but we'll see in time."

They left the subject of work aside after that to simply enjoy their moment as a family.

Piper arrived home a little disheartened. It'd been almost an hour and still, she couldn't believe what she had learned. Her father and little sister that she hadn't seen in years were revealed to be her bosses, along with her newly discovered brother in law. That one too was still difficult to believe.

Prue was right on one account: Phoebe had always been a little carefree when she was younger and didn't have the best tastes in boyfriends. But to find that she had succeeded where her two eldest sisters had failed was very surprising. Her life was much more stable than theirs, even while dealing with magic. Piper really wanted to know what her secret was because she had a feeling she'd need it badly and soon.

When she got in the kitchen, she was greeted by Paige who was making herself a sandwich. "Hey, what are you doing home at this hour?"

"I just came for my lunch time." Paige then paused on her composition long enough to return the question. "What are you doing here? I imagined it'd be a busy hour at the restaurant?"

"Yeah, not so busy that I couldn't leave."

Piper's tone of voice alerted her sister of her preoccupation. "What is it? Is something wrong at work?"

"No, nothing is wrong." She thought about it a bit before rewording her sentence. "Well, not wrong exactly."

"What is it?"

"I was offered to manage the restaurant by the owner."

"That's really great Piper! I know your dream has always been to open up your own but this way you'll know how it really works before doing it."

"Yeah, that's what he told me too."

Paige frowned. "Then what's the matter?"

"I refused."

"What, why?" Paige couldn't understand how her sister could pass up an opportunity like this one.

"None of us at the restaurant had ever met him before. We always dealt with the manager but apparently she wasn't doing a great job so he decided to get rid of her and hire someone else."

"Ok, so what?" She wasn't following the reasoning.

"So, at the time he made his offer I refused before even knowing who he was or what it was about!" Piper was getting annoyed, not at her sister but at herself.

"Why would you do that?"

"Remember what happened a few days ago?" Paige nodded. "Who we talked to." Again a nod, though a little hesitant this time. "Someone asked to talk to me, remember? Work related." She said the last two words with some insistence.

"Oh." That was all Paige could say once she got her meaning.

"Yeah, oh."

"So, what's going to happen now? Did you try to explain why you had to refuse the first time?"

"No, he was quite clear today: the offer is not available anymore, at least not to me."

"I don't see why not. It was perfectly understandable for you to refuse at the time. And what about Phoebe, she could talk to him for you?"

Piper admired her baby sister: she always found everything easy to deal with. For her, there was a simple solution for every problem. "No, Cole was clear about that. Phoebe was the one that gave him the idea in the first place and he wasn't too keen. After what happened, she decided not to interfere anymore. Now I have to decide on a choice for a manager." She patted the files that Paige hadn't notice she had with her.

"Well, that sucks." The two sisters stayed silent at the kitchen table thinking about all the changes that had occurred in their lives in such a short time. And all of it was because of the Turners.

That was how their eldest sister found them a moment later. "Hey guys, what's with the long faces?"

An explanation later and Prue was sitting at the table in shock after having heard the story from her sisters. She too stayed rooted to the spot at hearing the news.

"I'm very sorry Piper, This sure would have been a great opportunity for you." Prue said, squeezing her hand in comfort. "Do you want me to talk to him, maybe he'll reconsider?" Even Paige was shocked at her suggestion.

"Oh no Prue, that would be a very bad idea." Piper was shaking her head vigorously. "Don't you remember how they reacted to my answer the other day? No, I think it's better to leave it as it is."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I lost a great opportunity but it's not the end of the world." She was in her thought for a moment before talking again. "Do you know the worst part of it? Now I find myself working for my baby sister, her husband and my father."

"What do you mean? What has Victor got to do with anything now?"

"Dad has done nothing Prue." She made sure to stress out "Dad" in her sentence. "Apparently, Cole's very rich and has made dad the manager of everything. He calls it a family thing."

"Even more reason for them to hire you, don't you think?" It was an obvious enough reason for Prue.

"No, on the contrary: he said they won't hire relatives just because they are related to them. Cole didn't want to hire me to begin with but Phoebe had convinced him to."

"I knew the day she'd be back in our lives there would be trouble and look what she's doing."

"That's not fair, Prue. I was the one to make a big mistake in refusing to listen to their offer, an offer that Phoebe wanted to give me."

"Even so, they could still give it to you, you're their family."

"That's exactly why Cole didn't want to give it to me. Just because I'm related to his wife doesn't give me more right to have this job than anyone else. Anyway, that doesn't matter now. It'll be for someone else and I have some files to look through, so I'll go do it in my room."

Prue and Paige watched her go with worried expressions.

"Do you think she'll be alright?"

"I'm sure she will. Don't worry Paige, Piper is strong, she'll get through this."

"I hope you're right, Prue."

Cole was sitting on his bed, back against the headboard and with a book in his hands. He was reading intensely when the bedroom door opened. He looked up to see his wife come in, wearing a dressing gown. She took it away while approaching the bed and put it on the chair by the dresser. She was now on her negligee and went to join her husband in bed.

"Hey, did she have a nightmare?"

"Yeah, for once she didn't ask for daddy to get rid of the monsters, strange huh?"

He chuckled then, after putting his book on the nightstand, went to take her in his arms. "No, there's nothing strange about that. It's just that there are some monsters that daddy is better at getting rid of."

Phoebe swatted at his arm. "Very funny."

"Yeah, I thought so." He looked at her face carefully before speaking again. "How are you feeling?"

She sighed first then proceeded to snuggle against him. "I'll be honest, if you weren't with me each night, I'd dread going to sleep."

He kissed her head. "Don't worry. I'm here whenever you need me." He got a teasing smile. "And you know I can get rid of your monsters too."

Phoebe laughed. "You do know how to lift my spirits."

"Well, I have to. If you're not happy, I'm not and neither are the kids."

"Yeah, we have the best family in the world." She got a contented smile but it disappeared when she remembered what they were talking about in the first place. "These nightmares are really starting to freak me out."

"Don't worry. I'm sure there's an explanation for it. If you have a new one again, we'll start investigating them."

"I hope there's not a new one tonight. Seeing all those men die a horrible death, real or not, is not something I want to experience again."

"Yeah but there's a part in those nightmares that I don't like at all." His declaration was accompanied by a frown.

"What, you're actually jealous of all those strangers in my dreams?"

Cole was affronted by her teasing and sulked. "My wife dreams about strangers that are doing unimaginable things to her, how am I supposed to react?"

"I don't know where they're coming from but I can assure you, when I dream of a man doing unimaginable things to me, it's always you." She had been approaching him slowly with a seducing smile and went to kiss him on the neck.

He finally cracked a smile and took her in his arms. "Well, at least there's a good side effect to those dreams: it makes you horny and reminds me of our relationship back when we started dating."

"Yeah, and I bet you love it."

"No doubt about that." That was the end of the talking for the night.

Hours later, Phoebe woke up again, drenched in cold sweat and horrified at what she had seen in her nightmare. For a moment, she actually didn't know where she was and looked around her to find out. She only settled down when she felt Cole in the bed, circling his arms around her in comfort. She settled against him, immediately calming down with his soothing words.

A few minutes passed before Cole judged it safe to talk to her. "Was it the same nightmare again?" He felt her nod against him. "With a different man?" He knew it was a stupid question but he just had to be sure.

Again, she nodded. "It felt so real, more than with the others." She separated herself from him to look him in the eyes. "What if I'm responsible for this somehow? It can't be a coincidence!"

Cole took her in his arms again and tightened his embrace. She was becoming hysteric and he couldn't bear to see her like this. "You're right, it's not a coincidence. It only means that you are receiving these dreams to help people, like you always do with a premonition." He kissed her head. "Go back to sleep, we'll look into it tomorrow. I'm sure there's a plausible reason for you to have these dreams, and we already know they're not premonitions." He reassured her soothingly until she went back to sleep.

They'd have to find a way to know if those dreams were reel or not but either way, there was nothing normal about them. Phoebe had never had anything like this happen to her in the years she had been a witch and none of them could understand why it was happening now. He looked at her for a moment longer before deciding to join her in sleep. They'd have a long day come morning.

Cole and Phoebe were in Cole's office that next morning, each with a cup of coffee in hand. They had left the kids at the day care centre so they could investigate what was going on with their mother without worrying them.

Phoebe had gone over several mails already and responded to enough of them to complete her column for a few weeks and Cole didn't have any important cases to work on, so they had all the time they needed for this.

Sitting on the leather couch, Phoebe was joined by her husband who had the Book with him. He set it on the tabled in front of the couch and sat himself beside her.

"So, by now we already know that the dreams must have some kind of link with a magical being who is killing men each night." He turned to face Phoebe. "Now, all we have to do is find a way to identify and stop them. You ready for this?"

Phoebe took a deep breath in and then let it out slowly, eyes closed. "Yeah, I am."

"Ok, keep your eyes closed and concentrate on your power to remember what you saw in your dreams." He noticed her face get troubled and hurried to reassure her. "You don't have to see all the details of their murders, just concentrate on their faces if it helps." She relaxed at that and got back to closing her eyes. "Ok, once you've got that, concentrate more on your power to call forth a premonition."

Phoebe did as Cole told her: she used her power of premonition to go over details of the men she had seen in her dreams of late. She saw them all in her mind's eye and once she was ready, tried to call for a premonition. It only took a few seconds but it worked. She saw each of the men enter some kind of reception room in which there were people mingling about, talking and befriending others. She took all the details in, describing them to Cole. Finally, the premonition ended with a name on her lips.

"Fine Romance." She opened her eyes to find Cole looking at her questioningly. "They've all been at that place. I don't know what it is exactly but they've been there."

"That's good; we'll go and see what it is they do at that place. If they are real and have been killed, then maybe they met their murderer there too."

"But if the murders were real, wouldn't that mean that the police noticed them and is investigating?" Cole admitted she had a very good point there.

"I suppose they should, yeah. I'll tell you what, once we're finished with "Fine Romance" I'll make a few phone calls to see where the police stand."

"Ok. So, let's get going. I want to be finished with this as soon as possible. I'm not sure if I can take anymore dream like these tonight."

"Yeah, come on." Cole guided her to the door with an arm around her shoulders.

Phoebe and Cole made their way to "Fine Romance", oblivious to the two inspectors in a car not far from there, taking pictures of them and anyone who entered the place. They went in, with Cole opening the door for his wife to go first, to find it crowded with single people.

They took a furtive look around, not sure where to start from. They decided it better to separate to cover more ground. Being the one with experience in interrogation, Cole was to go to a section where a group of men were gathered talking to each other. In the meantime, Phoebe was going to look around and try and see if she would recognise anyone or get a vision worthy of their research.

While she looked around, Phoebe tried to get a vision by touching discreetly objects and some of the people she came across. It was a few minutes later that she bumped into someone else and almost toppled to the ground. Luckily for her, she was saved by the same person who caught her before she fell over.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't see you there!"

"Don't worry, I wasn't paying attention myself." Phoebe paused a moment and when nothing happened, she talked again. "Um... could you let go of me now?"

"Oh right sorry." The man looked embarrassed now and didn't know where to put his hands. He looked her over for a moment. "Do you work here?"

Phoebe laughed at the question. "No, not at all. I'm just looking around. What about you?"

"I just signed up actually. I was about to look around myself," He looked her over again. "See if I could meet anyone interesting."

While he talked, Phoebe had been looking around again. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Although, you don't look like you'd need help finding a date."

"Well, you don't either."

Phoebe finally took notice of his meaning and jumped to hastily clarify the situation. "Oh, I'm so sorry but I'm not looking for any date." To prove it, she lifted her left hand and showed him her wedding bands. "I'm already married."

His face fell in an instant. "Right." He laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, I saw you and I thought you were here for a date too, and I thought I'd ask you out, and now I'm rambling."

"Don't worry, I think you're cute but I'm just not available that's all. I'm sure you'll find someone who you will like and will like you back."

He smiled a little. "I hope you're right."

"Oh, I'm never wrong. I know there's someone for everyone. I was just lucky to find mine when I was really young." She paused a moment then stuck out her hand. "I'm Phoebe by the way."

He shook the proffered hand in his. "I'm Owen, Owen Grant."

As soon as they touched hands, Phoebe stiffened when she was whisked into a vision. Owen noticed and went to ask her if she was alright but she talked before he could. "I'm sorry but I have to go. It was nice meeting you." She added the last part over her shoulder as she left to go look for Cole.

She found him with a different group of men, still asking them questions. When she met his gaze, she gave him a little nod which he understood immediately.

Cole excused himself to the men he was talking to and went over to Phoebe. "What did you get?"

"A vision of the next victim." She told him with a discreet voice. "And I think we should go somewhere else to talk about this. We still have a few hours before the attack." They were about to leave when Phoebe was stopped by another vision. When she came out of it, she found Cole in front of her with an inquisitive look, waiting for her to tell him what the vision was about.

She looked over his shoulder to confirm what she had seen in the vision before talking to him. "It seems that we aren't alone looking into this little problem." When that only seemed to increase his confusion, she nodded behind him.

Cole turned to look at what she was indicating and when he did, he cursed under his breath. "Great, just great! Now we know the great Charmed Ones are onto this and are going to cause us trouble."

Phoebe patted his back. "Don't worry honey. I actually think this is a good thing. Maybe they know something we don't and they could help."

He looked sceptical. "Somehow, I doubt they would want to help us, but I'll go with whatever you choose to do."

"Thanks. Let's go." With that, she took his hand and proceeded to guide him to her sisters. "Hey guys."

Prue stood up to greet them. "What are you doing here?"

"Stop being so suspicious about everything Prue, it's really annoying." Phoebe told her. "Now, I think it'd be better if we went elsewhere to talk. I know you have information we need and vice versa."

Paige frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"We're talking about the thing that's been killing men for the past few nights. Now let's go." They didn't wait for their answer and just walked to the exit.

Paige and Prue didn't have any choice than to follow behind the couple but not without reluctance. Once they were out, Phoebe turned one last time to her sisters. "We have to pick something up at Cole's office so, we'll meet you at the manor. In the meantime, don't do anything until we know exactly what we're dealing with." Once again, they walked off without waiting for their response.

"Does she expect us to just obey her?"

Prue intended it to be rhetorical but she received an answer anyway. "We're not some junior witches! I mean, we know what we're doing after all!"

"Yeah. Let's go."

Back at the manor, the three sisters were trying to decide how to proceed with their new magical problem. Although they had identified the demon responsible for the murders, they had yet to find a way to kill it.

"So, we're looking for a female demon who has made a pact with darkness and has a razor sharp tongue." Prue concluded.

Piper turned to the next page. "There's a spell here to attract the Succubus and destroy her with fire."

At hearing that bit of news, Prue got ecstatic: they had found what it was in record time and they had the solution before their eyes. It was going to be easy getting rid of it. "So then, let's go. I can cast the spell to attract her and we can destroy her right after she gets here."

"Hold on a minute Prue, what about Phoebe? She said to wait for them before we do anything." Paige was all for solving this on their own but it seemed too easy to her. And if it looked so easy, it could mean trouble for them.

Piper started at that. "You saw Phoebe?"

"Yeah, at "Fine Romance, she was there with Cole." Prue told her with a dismissive wave of the hand.

Piper frowned. "And she told you to wait for them? Don't you think that they might have important information for us about the Succubus or something?"

"I don't see how, we wouldn't have known ourselves if Darryl hadn't told us about the murders."

Piper, ever the mediator and the cautious one, didn't want to let the matter go. "Yes, but you forget that Phoebe has the power of premonitions amongst other things. She could have seen something in a vision and that could be why they were there."

Once again, Prue dismissed her worries. "Doesn't matter, we have the solution right here." She finally lifted her head from where she was examining the spell. "Let's go!" She then made her way to the attic.

"Prue! Don't you think we should talk about this first?"

"There's no reason to, we have everything we need here." And still, she didn't slow down on her way to the attic.

"And what happened to taking decisions together?"

"Well, Paige is with me for doing this now, right Paige?" The two of them turned to their littlest sister.

She felt uncomfortable with their starring. She didn't want to take side in this matter but Prue was their eldest, the super witch and her role model. Despite her worries, she agreed to it. "Yeah, I think we should do it."

Piper sighed in defeat. "Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you when this is over."

"Come on!" Prue was already at the head of the stairs calling for them.

Paige just shrugged at Piper and went to follow Prue to the attic. Piper had a bad feeling and she knew they were going to regret this. She went to the attic too and was hoping she could play damage control. She entered and addressed her sisters immediately. "So, let's do this then." When she only heard silence, she lifted her head to be greeted with a sight she hadn't expected.

Phoebe and Cole entered the manor through the back door to find it completely silent. They both frowned in confusion as they had expressly asked Prue and Paige to wait for them there. They knew there was a chance of them ignoring their warning but really, it was ridiculous seeing as they were only about half an hour behind them. Add to that they didn't waste it. Now they knew exactly what they were dealing with.

When they had no chance finding anyone on the first floor, they made their way to the stairs. They found Piper and Paige standing in the hallway in front of Prue's bedroom door and they wondered what was going on.

"Hey guys!" The girls jumped at the voice. "What's going on, and why are you standing there doing nothing?" That was a mystery Phoebe wanted to solve.

"Oh hey, nothing, nothing is going on. Why would there be?"

Paige sounded nervous, which made Phoebe and Cole suspicious. The former decided to let it go for the moment. "Anyway, where's Prue? We have some things to discuss."

"She's in her room, she didn't feel really well."

"Well it's time to come out, we don't have much time." Phoebe turned to the door. "Come on Prue, it's important we get to this!"

"No leave me alone, I don't want to see you!"

Phoebe frowned at the door before looking at Piper and Paige. "What's going on with her voice, she sounds weird?"

"Nothing is wrong with her voice. She just used it too much and now it's a little rough is all."

Phoebe looked at Paige after her little made up explanation and then turned to bang on the door. "Prue, we really have to do this so get out of there!" She rested her hand on the door after she finished talking, only to freeze on the spot.

Piper became concerned. "Phoebe?" When she didn't respond, she turned to Cole. "What's wrong with her?"

He shook his head first. "Nothing, it's just a vision, it'll pass." No sooner had he finished that they heard and saw Phoebe laughing her head off. "Although, she doesn't get that kind of reaction afterward." He approached his still laughing wife. "Honey, what is it?"

She had a hard time controlling herself enough to give him an answer. "Sorry. It's just, I've just seen what she did and how it backfired on her."

Cole was confused. "Who? Who did what and how did it backfire?"

Paige and Piper were apprehensive. They had a pretty good idea who Phoebe was talking about but that wasn't possible, was it? In any case, it was something Prue certainly didn't want Phoebe to know. She had an image to uphold against her middle sister and this didn't help her case.

"Prue. She... she casted a spell and she became a man. And now she refuses to come out of her room." She exploded in laugher again. She couldn't help it; the great Prue Halliwell was now a man. She hadn't seen her yet and she already knew how hilarious it was.

Cole watched her in amusement. She really had the best and the bad part of her power and he always liked seeing her with this part. It made her happy and him too. Cole took his wife's hand and guided her to the stairs. "You two work on getting your sister out while we wait downstairs."

Paige and Piper followed them with their eyes until they were out of sight but they could still hear Phoebe laughing a little with Cole trying to calm her.

Piper took a deep breath, preparing herself for the difficult task of convincing Prue to come out of her bedroom. She had to admit Cole and Phoebe's presence would only complicate things more than usual.

"Prue, please open the door, we have work to do."

"There's no way I'm leaving my room and certainly not the house like this. You'll just have to do it without me."

"Be reasonable Prue, there's a Succubus out there killing innocent men every night and you are the only one that can help and identify it." Paige really hoped that her reasoning would work. Saving innocents was usually the only motivation her oldest sister would need to boost her. She was glad to be proven right as they heard the door being unlocked.

In only moments, Prue, looking very much masculine, stood before them with her head downcast. "How do you suppose I do that? Look at me! I'm a man, wearing clothes left behind by our exes!"

"Don't worry everything will be alright. The sooner we do this, the sooner you'll be back to your normal self."

The three Charmed Ones found Cole and Phoebe waiting for them as they had told them. While Cole was sitting on the sofa in the sunroom, Phoebe was standing by the window, looking outside. Both turned to the same direction when they heard footsteps coming to them.

At seeing the state her eldest sister was in, Phoebe lost it again. She had seen it in a vision but the real thing was even more hilarious.

Prue scowled at her. "How about telling us what you're doing here?"

"Sorry Prue but there was a reason we told you to wait before doing anything. You only have yourself to blame for this." She calmed herself down before continuing. "Anyway, we know that you were at "Fine Romance" for the same reason we were. Although, I don't see how you came to be on this."

"A friend of ours is in the police and he came to us for help. He showed us a file on what he has so far in his investigation." Piper thought it better to be honest with each other but if her other two sisters' expressions were anything to go by, they weren't sharing her opinion.

"Right. And you decided to go and look for yourself without even knowing what you were up against?" Phoebe asked incredulously.

Paige was the one to respond this time. "That's what we do, we're the Charmed Ones!" Her tone was laced with pride. "And for your information, we do know what we are against."

Phoebe opened her mouth to reply but was beat to it. "Give it up honey. That's a battle you'll never win." Cole stood and gave her shoulder a little squeeze. "So, you went ahead and tried a spell against a Succubus without even knowing who or where it is and this is what you got." He nodded towards Prue. "If you had waited as we told you, you'd have known that a male has better chances of luring this kind of creature out of her hiding place than a female. That's why you find yourself in that state Prue."

Piper was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you've learned how she operates to attract her prey. And you've gone and made one for yourselves."

Prue was pouting in her corner. She couldn't believe how badly the spell had backfired. It was totally humiliating. It would have been enough with Phoebe seeing her this way, but with Cole too? She didn't know what to do with herself. And to add insult to the injury, she'd now have to pose as a real man and attract women. She didn't have a choice if she wanted to become her normal self.

Phoebe's voice cut into her thoughts. "Can I see that file?"

"Sure." Piper retrieved it from the table and gave it to her.

Phoebe went to take the file and opened it. "Oh my god!" She fell onto the couch behind her, the file still in her hands. "That's them! That's the men I saw in my dreams!" She then took out all the photos of the victims and scattered them on the coffee table.

Cole came to sit beside her, rubbing her back in comfort. He took one of the photos and looked at it for a moment. "You recognise all of them?"

She nodded apprehensively. "Yeah, all of them. I've seen them all being killed." She turned to him for reassurance. "Cole, what's wrong with me? Why do I see all of this?

He took her in his arms. "Sshhhh we already talked about this. You are not responsible for these murders. You see them happening and it stops there."

Piper interrupted here. "Hold on, you dreamt about the murders?"

Cole talked for his wife. "Phoebe, I don't know how but it seems that you're somehow connected to the Succubus. I wasn't really sure until now but I think it's a psychic link that makes you see and feel what the Succubus sees and feels. It's not constant but it comes and goes when it's particularly intense emotions. The murders manifested themselves in the form of dreams."

Piper nodded in understanding. She turned to address Phoebe directly. "And you didn't get to see how she looks?"

"No, all I get is what she sees or feels, nothing more. And even that is not always clear."

"That's still something. At least we'll know when a victim's about to be murdered and we'll be able to save him. All we have to do now is find the Succubus before that happens."

"Our original plan was to send Cole to "Fine Romance" so he could register himself as a single man looking for a date but now we have someone else to do it."

All eyes turned to Prue. "What, I don't see how this changes anything! He can still do it."

"Well yes, I could do it but it's not in your best interest."

"How do you mean? It's really simple: you go there, identify the Succubus and then we kill her. You're the perfect candidate for it, a better one than me at least."

"And if you intend to return to normal, you will have to do it. It's the only way."

Paige offered a plan of action. "Right, since Prue will have to go as a man, we should get her to act like one."

Once again, they turned to the sister in question who sighed in defeat. "Alright, let's do it. The sooner the better."

"Ok, you guys get to it. I'll see you later." Cole then kissed his wife and went out by the back door. "Call me when you're finished."

"Well, what are we waiting for, there's a nice guy to save tonight!"

The three youngest sisters set to work on Prue for her to be able to act like a man. There had been little to no interruptions except for their neighbour Dan showing up. Apparently, he was in need of ice and Piper was only too happy to help him. It was during that moment that Prue was baptised "Manny Hanks". After all, they had to improvise a name when she came face to face with Dan.

Cole had received a call from the girls that there was a problem with his wife and he was worried. The only thing on his mind was get to her as soon as possible so he didn't think before acting. He faded out of his house and straight to the Halliwell manor, scaring the residents half to death. He found the four of them in the same room he had left them earlier.

When he found Phoebe laying on the couch and breathing heavily, he went straight to her. "What happened?" He knelt by her side, lying a hand on her face to make her look at him.

"We don't know, she just sort of... froze in place and then collapsed." Paige didn't know how to explain what she had just seen and was a little worried herself.

He frowned in confusion. "She must have had a premonition but it doesn't usually have this effect on her."

"No, it wasn't a premonition." They all moved their attention back to Phoebe when they heard her voice.

Cole immediately went to help get het upright on the couch. "How are you feeling?"

She gave him a little smile. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

"You said it wasn't a premonition?"

"No, it wasn't. You were right Cole I am connected to her somehow and I could feel and see what she was doing. And let me tell you, she was quite excited."

Piper exchanged a look with her other sisters. "How excited are we talking about exactly?"

"I'm in heat because she is! That's why I've been feeling this way all week. It's not just me or the heat, it's her."

"See what I was talking about? You're even more connected than I thought. And it goes way beyond physical connection. That explains everything you've been feeling these pas days."

Phoebe nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's like I'm just a spectator or something. I have no control over anything." She stopped when her vision transformed again and she couldn't see the manor anymore. Before her was a completely different and unknown place. She clung to Cole for support while it went on.

When it seemed that it was over, Cole's face came in front of her. "Did it happen again?"

"Yeah, and I saw eggs, her eggs."

Prue became worried. "Please tell me it doesn't mean she's pregnant. That would complicate everything!"

"Unfortunately, that's exactly what it means."

Paige broke in. "Well that's just great! We'll have a whole brood of them killing men."

Phoebe's answer was sharp and determined. "That will only happen if we don't stop the Succubus and we're not going to stand here doing nothing!"

Cole looked at her in awe but he was far from surprised. This was one of the reasons he loved her so much: no matter how terrified or hurt she was by something, she always did the right thing to prevent anyone from getting hurt or killed. He could even bet anything that she would fight the Succubus with her bare hands just to stop her.

True to her words, Phoebe had dragged everyone except Cole with her to "Fine Romance". According to her, it was where everything started so they should find what they needed there as well. She practically ordered Manny to go and register himself all the way so while he was doing just that, the others were looking around for the next target on the Succubus' list.

Phoebe went directly to the receptionist's desk for what she'd need. "Hi, I'm looking for Owen Grant, he registered earlier today."

The receptionist, Darla, looked the name over a folder for a moment. "Dr. Owen Grant?"

"Yeah, it must be him. Do you have any way of contacting him? It's really important."

Darla eyed her. "I'm sorry but unless you've registered you can't have any access to our files."

Phoebe's face fell. "Oh, right. Thanks anyway." She, Paige and Piper left the area and paced around a little.

When she stopped, Paige turned to look at her. "Now what are we going to do?"

"Now, we wait until she leaves to go take a little look at that file." The other two hadn't noticed until then but she was keeping a close eye on Darla for the right moment.

"Or... Piper could just freeze her while we take the file."

Paige's suggestion made Phoebe freeze without the help of Piper's power. "Excuse me?! You want to freeze an innocent person?"

Piper was confused at Phoebe's reaction. "Well yeah, that's how we do it. We won't waste time that way."

"No, absolutely not. You won't be doing that with me. Just because you have powers and they don't doesn't mean you can use your powers against them without their consent."

"I don't see why you're overreacting; it's the only way for us to keep our secret."

"No, there are other ways that don't include abusing your powers over people like that! We'll do it the normal way. It always works." The other two could see that there was no winning this over with Phoebe so they just waited.

It didn't take long before Phoebe got their attention again. "Look she's gone. I think we can go in now. See, there was no reason to freeze her." She shot them a look before leaving.

Phoebe made her way resolutely to the area she was sure they'd find the files for every person registered, Piper hot on her heals. She went straight to the specific cabinet, having seen Darla put the file in. She found it quickly and was about to leave when something else caught her attention.

She called for Piper's attention. "Look here, your friend Dan has registered himself."

She took it and thrust it into Piper's hands. "Here, take it and you'll have a better idea of how to seduce him." None of them noticed Paige's disapproving stare from behind them. "Now, let's go before she comes back."

The three of them left the room with their findings in hands and went to find another room in which they could look them over without being seen. They didn't waste any time and studied the information they got out of it carefully, not to miss anything.

Phoebe was concentrating on her task when she heard Paige talking. "What if we're already too late? Maybe we should concentrate more on finding the Succubus if she's already moved onto someone else?"

Phoebe didn't even lift her head from the papers she was reading. "No, I'd have known if she had killed him. Besides, she only attacks at night."

"Yes but she could have changed her MO? It's a possibility you know?"

"And I'm telling you she didn't! The only way for us to identify her is to find her target and get to him on time." Phoebe was starting to get frustrated. "I'm going to find him and get him somewhere safe. We don't have any other choice."

Piper gave her a look. "You want to take him with you, you sure that's wise? What about Cole?"

Now Phoebe was confused. "What about Cole?"

The other two exchanged a look which didn't go unnoticed. "Phoebe, you're married."

She didn't like the tone Paige was using. It almost sounded patronizing. "Yes... what has that got to do with this?"

"And you want to take a guy at home with you? Don't you think your husband won't like it?"

Now she understood what they were insinuating, she wasn't about to let them continue. "You guys, what part of protecting him don't you get? I thought you knew me better than that Piper? I'm not the kind to cheat on my husband. We're very happy thank you very much!" She took a few seconds to breathe in before continuing. "Cole and I possess several houses over the world and from time to time we would use them as safe houses for cases like this one. That's what I meant I was going to do."

She was satisfied to see them at least drop their eyes in shame. "Now, if you two will excuse me, I have someone to talk to."

"I'm going to make a stop to the video room and check up on Prue."

Phoebe only gave a little nod at Piper's declaration while Paige frowned in confusion. At the latter's expression, Piper indicated the video tape she still had in hand and left.

Phoebe eventually found Owen and was sitting with him on the couch, talking. She was trying to find a way to tell him that he had to avoid coming to Fine Romance for some time. She and Cole had an agreement to lie as less as possible to the people they were trying to save from some magical being wanting to them harm. They found it only natural to give them all the options available to decide of their own fate. But before that could happen, she thought it better to build a little trust between them first so, they were on a safe subject: her family.

"So, you're married?"

"Yeah, to a wonderful husband; and we have two kids, Ben and Vicky."

By hearing her talk about her family, Owen realised that she was trully happy. He could only admit to himself that the man that married her was lucky. "So, excuse me for being this bold but what are you doing here if you don't need to find yourself a date?"

Phoebe smiled at him. "You can ask me whatever you want, it's really not a problem." She took a deep breath to prepare herself. "To be honest, I'm here for you."

Owen frowned in confusion. "What do you mean for me?"

"I'm here with my sisters because someone has been killing men every night these past few days and I think, no I know that they have you as their next target."

"So what? Are you a cop or something?" His voice was disbelieving and a little worried.

She laughed again. "No, far from it. I'm something else but I don't think you really want to know. All I can tell you is that that someone finds their target here and kills them later at night. So, we can offer you some place safe but that's your choice. If you don't want it you'll have to promise me to be very careful because they won't rest until they kill someone tonight."

When he only stayed silent, Phoebe waited with baited breath to see what he would decide to do. She could feel that he believed her but he was afraid too. Finally, he exhaled a breath before speaking again. "I'll have to think first before deciding anything. I'm gonna get something to drink. Do you want anything?"

Phoebe sighed in relief. He wasn't running, that was a good sign. "Ok, I'll have whatever you're having."

She watched him go from her sitting position. She knew he was a good guy and she didn't want anything to happen to him. While she was contemplating their options, she was pulled into another vision of the Succubus. She could see with her eyes when she entered the room.

"Oh no, no, she can't be here."

She stood up and looked around for the others. She quickly spotted Piper on the other side of the room and called to her discretely. When she didn't get her attention, she went to find her but bumped into Owen again. "Owen! She's here come with me.

"What? Who's here?" He tried to look around for himself but she didn't leave him any choice. There was no time for that anymore now that the Succubus was here. She took the drinks from his hands and took them to the table behind them.

"Ok you stay here and don't move. I don't want to lose sight of you. I'm going to look for help and I'll be right back Ok?"

"Ok." He nodded nervously and looked at her retreating back.

Phoebe ran straight to Piper. "Piper! Come on I felt her. She's here."

"What? Where?" She made to look around for herself.

"I don't know where she is exactly but I felt her here. She's in the room. I'm sure she's looking for Owen!"

"Well, get him out then, fast!"

"What did you think I was going to do?!" Phoebe snapped and then went to where she had left Owen. She didn't go far because she was blocked by a body in front of her.

"Hey honey, where are going?" The unknown man grabbed her wrist to stop her from moving.

"Excuse me." She made to leave again but when he didn't let go, she turned to him. "Let go of me!" Her tone was firm and dangerous but he didn't seem to get.

"No no no, I'd like to have a little chat with you... in private."

He showed her a badge but she didn't care. Phoebe didn't have time to waste, she got another vision from the Succubus and she had to go to Owen and fast. She was sure she was going to have to use force to get rid of the man but he was saved by another black one.

"Hey what's the matter with you Smith? Let her go!"

Phoebe didn't care about what happened next. She called for Manny's attention when she saw him. "Manny! It's Owen. Take him out, fast!"

Manny looked at her then at Owen and approached him. Without pausing to think about it, she hit him right in the face.

Owen crashed to the ground, making people around him step away from them.

Seeing this, Paige exclaimed. "Manny! What the hell are you doing?"

As for Phoebe, she went straight to Owen to help him up. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry for that. I don't know what came over him to hit you like that." She turned to Manny. "Are completely out of your mind?"

"Don't worry Phoebe. I think I'll be fine."

For his part, Manny was approached by Smith. "Hey that's enough! You're under arrest." He was about to take his hands and cuff him but Manny turned around and punched him too, sending him to the buffet table.

That was when Darryl decided to intervene himself. "That's it! You're under arrest, pal." He then turned to his fallen partner. "Get up Smith and cuff the other guy!"

Smith went to Owen with the intention to arrest him too but Phoebe blocked his path. "He didn't do anything wrong. The other guy just hit him without any reason."

Smith looked down at her in disbelief. "Oh yeah, that's not my problem. They got in a fight and that's enough ground for an arrest."

Phoebe wasn't budging on this one. "Oh really? And I say that grabbing someone without their permission and refusing to let go when asked, all that in the line of duty is enough ground for a suspension." When she caught his look, she continued. "And don't try to give me some nonsense, my husband had been an ADA for several years before opening his own law firm so, I know what I'm talking about."

Smith didn't really know what to do. She had him there and he knew it. He was jolted out of his indecision when Darryl, who still had Manny in cuffs, called for him. He sighed in defeat and turned to Phoebe and Owen. "Ok, I'll let him go but he better wait for a summons later." With that, he left them with a scowl on his face. Darryl looked at him questioningly but he just shrugged and went ahead of him.

Piper, Paige and Owen looked at Phoebe in awe, clearly impressed by the way she had put Smith in his place.

Paige then looked at Manny being walked away and turned to Phoebe with a frown. "What about Manny?

Phoebe shrugged. "Sorry but I couldn't do anything for him. He hit a cop and there's nothing that could justify that. You'll have to go to the station and try to get him out."

Piper sighed in frustration. "We'll go talk to Morris."

This confused Phoebe. "Who?"

"The cop that cuffed Manny, he's the friend that asked for our help on this case. We'll go and see what he can do to get Manny out."

"Ok. And after that, you'll have to be very careful because now, Manny is who the Succubus is interested in. I'll get Owen to a safe place, just to be safe." Owen startled at this and Phoebe turned to him, sympathetic. "I'm sorry but there's no other choice. You'll have to come with me."

He too had given up trying to escape the situation. "Ok, I'll come with you."

Phoebe smiled. "Good. Call me when you've got everything sorted". She directed the last part to her sisters before leading Owen out.

The other two could only look at them until they got out of sight. After that, they decided to leave too and go to the police station to help Manny out.

The next day, the wake up was a little difficult for the Charmed Ones. They had thankfully been able to convince Morris to let Manny free and had taken him home with them. It was at the same time that they learned about Phoebe's plan for Owen: apparently, she and Cole possessed a penthouse in town and they had set him there. The guy actually was lucky to be there: he had everything he would need for the time he'd be hiding.

Having spent his time doing some repairs in the house, Manny joined Paige in the living room couch, wrestling with a jar, trying but failing to open it. He took it without a word and opened it for her with ease.

The two of them went on to discuss men's needs for sex and how Manny had managed to fix the air conditioner. Piper then joined them, having been on the phone. Apparently, Manny's video at the dating service had had so much success that women were lining up to have a date with him. Convinced that the Succubus was amongst them, he had the idea of meeting them at the Quake that same night.

Unfortunately for Manny, his idea wasn't to everyone's taste. Piper really had to object here. "No, no, we can't do that! I'm not entirely on the best of terms with the boss at the moment. So, I can't go and do that kind of things there."

"Come on Piper, we don't have a choice. I'm sure that if you explain everything to Cole, he'll understand. It's for the best."

Piper sighed. "I hope you're right. I'll go and call Phoebe, ask them what they think." She then made her way to the phone to do just that.

The other two looked at her retreating form. "Poor Piper, she's really taking this thing seriously, isn't she?"

Manny nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It's like she's afraid a wrong move will cause Cole to fire her or something."

"But, Phoebe wouldn't let him do that... right?"

"I don't know Paige. Phoebe's totally unrecognisable. I have no idea what she would or wouldn't do just to prove how much more successful she is compared to us."

Piper came back to them after a few minutes. "Ok. Talked to Cole about your idea Prue and he seems to think it's a good one."

Manny couldn't be prouder and he beamed at Piper. "Of course he does, it's my idea!"

Piper studied him a moment but shook her head in dismissal. They'd have to deal with that later. For the moment, they had a plan to form. "So, how are we gonna do this?"

"It's simple really: one of these women must be the Succubus. I'll just nail her before anything bad can happen."

"Oh nail her, really." Piper couldn't believe it. "That's enough Prue! What happened to consulting your sisters? This male thing of just stepping in to take over is starting to get very annoying you know?"

"Actually, that started right after she sucker punched Owen!" Paige couldn't help but put in her thought.

Manny was outraged. "Phoebe had a problem, I solved it?"

"Oh you can bet you did. You practically broke his nose."

"It's not my fault really. I mean what else could I have done? I saved his life."

Piper suddenly came back into the discussion. "You wanna know how to be a real man, look at Dan. He's honest, kind, has a good heart. The kind of guy who would risk being late to work just to make you smile. Not some bully whose first instinct is to punch somebody." Her lecture finished, she went off to leave the room.

Manny and Paige exchanged a look. Puzzled, Manny asked, "She guessed that just by looking out the window?" The two of them went to the window to see for themselves.

Paige was the first one to comment on the sight before them. "Nice tan."

But Manny had a totally different thought in mind. "Nice truck."

Paige looked at him. "You know, I think you really are becoming a man." With that, she too left the room.

That night, the reception room at the Quake was packed. It wasn't unusual for that room but for it to happen that early was an actual fit. Manny was sitting at the bar nursing a drink. He had seen some of the women from the dating service that had come to see him but he was taking a break for now, seeing as none of them struck her as demonic.

In another part of the room, Piper, Phoebe and Paige weren't far, just waiting for a sign from Manny telling them he got a glimpse of the Succubus. At least, that's what Piper and Paige were doing. Phoebe on the other hand, was trying to concentrate for the moment the Succubus would get into the restaurant. She wanted to be ready for when that happened and she was sure it would sooner or later.

She was still concentrating while looking around when it happened. She got a vision of the very room they were in. Phoebe was disoriented but not for long: she quickly got a hold of herself before going to the others.

She found Piper and Paige talking together about how Manny had been checking out women all night. "Hey, it's time. The Succubus is here and she's looking for Manny!"

"What! Where is she?" Piper was looking around her for the demon in question.

"I don't know where exactly but she's in the room." Phoebe was quickly becoming exasperated. Just because she had premonitions didn't mean she had all the answers.

Their little quarrel was interrupted by Paige who called for their attention. "Look, isn't that the woman from "Fine Romance?"

The other two looked in the direction she was indicating. "Yeah, it's her. She could be the Succubus."

Phoebe looked thoughtful. "I don't think so but I'm going to talk to her and make sure. It could be anyone after all. You two warn Prue."

With that, Phoebe went to intercept the woman. She was just about to address her when she got another glimpse of what the Succubus was seeing. She saw Manny in the alley behind the restaurant and quickly left to go there too. She found Piper and Paige on the way and told them to come with her.

"I told you it wasn't her! Now the Succubus is with Prue." She told them all this in one breath, without even slowing.

The three of them barged into the alley to find Manny about to get attacked by the Succubus. Piper panicked and with a cry, she flicked her wrists and froze the demon.

They left the doorway and went to Manny. Piper was the first one to reach him. "Are you completely mad?! Why didn't you use your power?"

Many seemed to finally come out of his trance like state. "I don't know what happened. I tried to use my power but it didn't work. I just felt..."

He seemed to struggle for the right word but Phoebe didn't have the same trouble. "Impotent?"

Many glared at her. "A word of advice about men Phoebe, when we fail at something, generally we don't like to hear the word..."

"Impotent?" Phoebe couldn't help but say it again, just to annoy him.

The Succubus unfroze and turned around in confusion and realizing that she was outnumbered, she made a run for it.

The sisters panicked when they saw her not running from but to them. But they didn't have to worry. While they took a few steps back, the demon simply ran past them and straight to Smith. "Freeze right there!"

She ignored the cop's warning and grabbed him only to send him across the alley into a pile of boxes.

She continued on running and this time it was Darryl who came in her way but unlike Smith, he had his gun out and ready for use.

"Stop or I'll shoot!" The first warning went ignored. "I said stop! Stop!" When she didn't even slow down, he fired. He then crouched down beside the woman and felt for her pulse. When he felt nothing, he stood up to face the sisters. "She's dead. No matter what that was." He then walked to them, taking back his gun. "You guys Ok?"

They all looked at him, looking shocked, before Piper spoke up. "Thanks. Looks like you've got your killer."

As for Manny, he looked down at himself. "Ok then how come I'm still a man?" The question was said quietly and directed to his sisters.

Phoebe and Cole were cuddling together on the couch of their living room, watching their children playing. They would finally be able to have normal nights from then on. At least they hoped so. With the Succubus down, that should be possible. They hadn't discussed the demon's demise yet but Cole knew he'd get the details when his wife would be ready. For now she was content just watching the kids play.

When bedtime came, the kids were quick to go upstairs to brush their teeth and change into their pyjamas. After that, it was bedtime stories, their favourite moment before going to bed. Both parents made sure to always be there for them and to never miss a tuck in.

After that, Phoebe took Cole's hand in hers and he gladly followed her to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

"So, how much longer are you going to let me wait?" He asked from his position on the counter.

Phoebe laughed at his impatience. "You don't have to worry, that's why I took you here for the coffee. I know it'll sound a little unbelievable but it went smoothly."

Cole frowned. "How do you mean?"

She went to join him on the counter with the cups of coffee. With that done, she told him all that happened earlier that night. She didn't notice but all throughout her story, Cole's frown only deepened. When she finished, she finally took notice of it and her face fell.

"I knew it was too easy how we got rid of her. I mean I should have guessed from Prue's unchanged state that she wasn't dead yet." She sighed and resigned herself to their fate. "So, what did we do wrong? I need to know so that we won't make the same mistake next time."

Cole smiled at her gently and took her hand to squeeze it in comfort. "Don't worry honey, you couldn't have known but it was a Succubus and a simple bullet couldn't have killed her. Only fire can."

She nodded determinedly. "Fire, right, got it." Her next words were drowned out as she was assaulted by another vision of the Succubus. When it passed, she looked up at Cole. "You were right, she's not dead. And I just saw her kill another man."

Cole stood up, taking her with him. "Come on. We have to warn your sisters." They made their way to the living room first. "Amy, we're going out to take care of a demon but we won't be long ok?"

The young girl lifted her head to tell them she'd be okay watching the kids before going back to her TV show. It wasn't the first time she was left alone with them and it wouldn't be the last. She was used to it.

In the Halliwell manor, the three residents were still confused as to why Manny wouldn't change back into Prue. They took the problem in every angle but still nothing and it was getting frustrating.

Paige was about to give another suggestion when they saw two people appearing in front of them. Piper had already lifted her hands to freeze them when she realised that it was Phoebe and Cole.

Manny reacted instantly. "What are you doing here?"

"It's really starting to get old Prue." Phoebe glared at Manny. "Anyway, you should be thankful we came. We're here to offer you a solution to your little hormonal problem."

Manny was about to give a retort but Piper, ever the icebreaker, beat her to it. She turned to the couple. "What have found?"

"Apart from the fact that the Succubus isn't dead, she's just killed another man. We really need to kill her, and for good this time."

"Yeah but how?" Cole opened his mouth to answer Paige's question when another voice was heard.

"Why wasn't I able to kill her?" Everyone turned to Manny. "She knocked me out and I'm the one with the most active power. It was like I was on trance. I was weak in the knees and for a moment I felt her need not to be rejected, as if it would devastate her."

Phoebe groaned. "Great, we're dealing with a sensitive man-killing demon!"

"Well, there's gotta be something we're missing. You guys keep looking, I have to use the leak." With that, Manny went out the door.

Paige and Piper looked after her retreating form for a moment before both exclaiming. "Don't forget to put the seat back down!" They only received a muttered in return "yeah, yeah, yeah."

Paige then went to open the Book of Shadows to look for answers again, Piper behind her. "Anything in there?"

Paige gave a growl, turning the page sharply. "No, absolutely nothing."

"No need to keep looking, you won't find anything in there."

Paige turned to Cole, anger in her face and voice. "Excuse me, but last I checked, it was our book and I think we know better what's in it than you!"

Cole just looked at her, face devoid of any emotion. "Really? And that's why you're turning pages at random? Then tell me, did you find anything helpful yet?" When he only got silence, he gave a satisfied nod. "That's what I thought." And then, just to annoy her further, he turned to talk directly to Piper. "It's simple really. All you need to kill a Succubus is fire."

Piper seemed to a realization. "Of course, that's why the Book mentioned getting burst."

Anymore conversation was stopped when Phoebe faltered at the vision she got from the Succubus. Cole caught her and led her to a chair. He then knelt in front of her, waiting for it to pass.

She finally spoke when she opened her eyes. "She's here... the Succubus. She's in the house."

Piper and Paige looked at each other worried before as one, they looked in the direction of the door when they heard glass breaking.

"Prue?" When she only received silence, she darted out the door, Paige hot on her heels.

Phoebe and Cole were left alone in the attic. "How are you feeling?"

She took a deep breath. "I think I'll feel much better once this connection thing is over."

"I know." Cole met her forehead with his. "But I have a feeling it won't be much longer."

Phoebe looked at him in the eyes, amused. "I thought I was the one with the power of premonitions?"

"I don't need a premonition to know this. I'll take care of it myself if I have to." He gave her a kiss before taking her in his arms.

Paige and Piper came back into the room at that moment, completely panicked.

"Prue's missing!" Piper's declaration was met by unsurprised looks but she didn't notice them in her pacing. "The Succubus took her. She came in the house and took her we don't know where."

"What if we locate her with the lost sister spell?" Paige suggested.

Piper instantly shot the idea down. "No, that won't work since she's not a sister right now."

Paige was frustrated at her idea being dismissed. "Well, we have to do something now!"

"Ok now you two calm down!" When they opened their mouths to talk again, Cole interrupted them. "You don't have to worry, we have our solution here."

Phoebe lifted her head when she felt all eyes on her. "What? What do you expect me to do from here?"

Cole came back to a kneeling position in front of her. "Honey only you have the power to do anything against the Succubus."

She was shaking her head even before he was finished. "No, I don't. All I get is her sight and feelings and I can't even control that!"

"Honey, what do you always tell the children about me?"

She sighed in defeat. "You're always right."

Cole gave her a smug look. "And don't you forget it." She rolled her eyes at this. "Now, you have a psychic link with the Succubus. My idea is that that link is not just one way. If you are connected to her then she's connected to you and maybe, with a little concentration, you can reverse this connection."

Piper looked at him in sudden understanding. "Cole's right Phoebe, you have to try."

Once again, Phoebe took a deep breath. "Ok. What do you want me to do?"

"For the moment, just concentrate and try to get the connection activated to see what she's doing."

With that, Phoebe closed her eyes and did as she was told. When nothing happened after a few moments, Piper got restless. She tried to intervene but a simple look from Cole warned her against it. She went back to her pacing instead.

"Ok, I'm connected. Prue's alive, I can see her."

Piper instantly came in. "Where is she?"

That was did it for Cole. They couldn't get anything productive if she went and destabilized Phoebe.

"The same place that the other victims were but I don't know where exactly. I'm about to watch her kill Prue and there's nothing I can do."

Cole felt her getting frantic. Add that to Piper's frustrated sigh got him into taking charge again. "Piper you and Paige go take a seat, I'll take care of this."

"What? No! This is about our sister!"

"That wasn't a suggestion. You do it or I'll make you." Even though he seemed perfectly calm, she could see in his eyes that he would carry out the threat if she didn't do as he said. With a huff, she went to Paige, well away from the couple.

Once he made sure she would stay away, Cole turned back to his wife. "Now, honey, use the connection to your will."

"How?"

"Reverse it. Use your power to project back to the Succubus to help Prue resist her. What is she saying?"

Phoebe took a moment before answering him. "She wants Prue to want her."

Cole nodded. "Now, talk to Prue. Use the Succubus to make her tell Prue what you want. Tell her she doesn't want her and she never will. Go on, tell her." When she only shook her head, he insisted. "Imagine Prue standing right in front of you. Talk to her, tell her she's a woman, not a man."

With her voice shaking, she finally did it. "You're a woman, not a man." With hearing just one side of the conversation, the others could only hope it was working.

"Go on Phoebe. You have a gift with words, you know what to tell her to make her resist the Succubus."

"You can resist, Prue only a man has powers against me. You can resist me."

After that, they didn't know what happened exactly and had to wait for Phoebe to come out of the connection. It only took a moment for that to happen. When she opened her eyes, she breathed out in relief. "It's done. The Succubus is dead."

Before Cole could speak, Paige did. "And Prue? How is she?"

Phoebe turned to her. "She's fine." Turning back to her husband, she jumped into his arms, laughing all the time. "We did it!"

"No honey, you did it." She just nodded on his shoulder.

As for Paige and Piper, they looked at the couple, relieved but also feeling like they were intruding in their moment.

It was then that Phoebe turned to them. "Well, now that that's done, we're going home. Prue should come back shortly so, everything is good."

"Yeah, we'll wait for her. Thanks for your help."

Paige supplied Piper's words with a simple shake of the head to express her thanks. It was a little reluctant but the Turners didn't care. They faded out of the attic without another word or any glance their way. They had celebrations awaiting them and they couldn't care about what the other two were thinking.

Phoebe and Cole were taking a little walk home after their night out ended. It had only been a day since they defeated the Succubus but they could already feel the effect as they had spent a night devoid of any dreams, good or bad. Now, after an uneventful day, Cole had taken his wife out for dinner and then dancing. He took pleasure in surprising her every now and then with a date and she loved it.

After walking in silence for some time, Cole started a conversation. "So, how was it, working with your sisters?"

Though it wasn't the ideal subject for her, Phoebe decided to answer him. "It wasn't simple let me tell you. For starters they don't trust me. I don't really get why though."

Cole squeezed his arm around her in comfort. "I think the reason for that is obvious: they're jealous."

Phoebe scrunched her face, disbelieving. "Jealous of me! Nah, I don't think so. There's no reason, really."

"Of course there are honey, and plenty of them." He always found it surprising how she thought she had accomplished nothing special. "You are a successful woman; you have the perfect family, not to mention a handsome husband." Phoebe laughed at that, as he had intended her to. "And don't forget you are a powerful and skilled witch. That alone is enough to make the so called Charmed Ones envy you."

"Well, I know I'm lucky but that's not a reason to be jealous. It's almost like they expected me to be behind while they had their jobs and powers!"

"Maybe that's how they see it, especially Prue. They don't understand how you, their trouble-maker sister could be more successful than them."

"Well, each time I made a suggestion, they rejected it but if it was them suggesting something, I had to accept it. I'll let you imagine how that went."

Cole only nodded in understanding. "Not a hard thing to do; you put them in their place."

"Oh, you bet I did! They act so condescending sometimes, just because they have powers and are the Charmed Ones! They forget that not long ago they were just normal people, without those powers."

Cole shrugged. "They are new to this, they will learn soon enough that they won't be able to do everything their way. You have to consider everyone and everything before acting."

"Yeah well it's not something I'm willing to experience again so soon. I'm perfectly happy to let them work it out on their own." She could only hope for it but she knew that you don't always get what you want. Oh well, they'd all have to wait and see.

Finally, the new chapter! So sorry but I had a difficult time finalizing it because I'm not interested in redoing all the episodes.

Anyway, any help in the story is welcome.

Thank you for all the support.