Chapter 2

As soon as she appeared in the attic, Paige called to Piper.

The eldest Charmed One got there in moments, wondering what had gotten her baby sister so agitated. She too had had a rough moment that day. She had had to deal with the fear of having to leave her baby motherless at a young age like her mother had done with her and her sisters. She was lucky to have her wonderful husband who had helped her get through it. The man in question was hot on her heels.

"What is it, Paige?" Piper frowned at her as she turned the pages of the Book of Shadows frantically.

"He refused!"

"Paige, you have to calm down. Who refused what?

Paige dropped her hands in frustration. "Cole!" At their inquisitive looks, she went on. "He refused to come to Phoebe's help!"

The other two shared shocked looks. "What do you mean he refused, that's not possible?"

The youngest Charmed One went back to the Book. "I'm telling you Piper, he told me to my face that he wasn't going to lift a finger to help!"

Leo frowned. "That's strange. Even when they were separated or angry at each other Cole has never refused to help Phoebe."

"Well, there's a first time for everything then."

At the sarcastic come back, Piper studied her sister a moment. "What did you tell him, Paige?"

"Nothing! I just explained the situation to him and how urgent it was. He still shot me down with some ridiculous speech about how we take advantage of him."

"That's new."

"Well now we have to find a way to save Phoebe. We can't leave her to spend another day in the ocean."

Piper took charge. "Ok everyone, there's no need to panic. We already know that Phoebe became a mermaid to escape her feelings. So, the solution is to get her to admit her love for Cole and deal with it."

"The bastard didn't even care that she still loved him." Though she had only muttered the words, the other two still heard her.

"What did you say, Paige?"

"Nothing. It's just that I cast a spell on Cole to get him to feel what Phoebe was feeling and still he didn't care."

"Maybe that's part of the solution."

All eyes turned to the only man in the room. "What do you mean?"

"Think, Piper. If the spell could bare Phoebe's heart to Cole then maybe you could do the same for Phoebe."

Paige bobbed her head up and down. "That should actually work."

Piper agreed with a thoughtful look. "Yeah. Once she listens to her own heart she won't be able to deny it to us anymore."

"Ok. We have the solution. Now we just have to find our missing sister."

Two hours after leaving his home, Cole found himself back in his office, putting everything in order. Standing up to Paige had been harder than he had thought, having always been driven by the need to come to Phoebe's rescue, but there was no way he was coming on his words. It was high time he took his life into his own hands and get over the Halliwells.

He looked over the only papers left on his desk. The changes were going to start right now. He took the papers and looked them over one last time. With a pen in hand, he signed his name where it was needed and once done, put the pen down. He put them in an envelope and sealed it. It was symbolic he supposed: he was not only sealing his marriage but his past life too. Cole was a new man. He called for his secretary and asked her to send the divorce papers to the courthouse.

It was official now, no more Halliwells and no more worrying about Phoebe and what she thought of him and his actions. He didn't have to answer to anyone but himself. She wasn't his responsibility anymore and there was no way he was going to let any of them suck him back into their life and all their tragedies.

He got up from his chair and took every file he'd be needing for the next few days. He had a plan to put into action and for that, he'd need some privacy and he couldn't have it at the office

He knew it was cutting it close, taking days off after having been missing for so long but he had argued his case. He needed time to recuperate and working home would help a great deal. He would keep in touch with the office and come in when necessary.

Cole was making his way through the underground parking lot to his car when he came to a strange sight: a young girl was cowering into a corner, about to get attacked by several demons. He didn't even think, he went to the scene and vanquished the demons without any difficulty. It wasn't surprising really, seeing as they weren't that powerful.

He turned to the girl who was still cowering on the floor and eying him with big green eyes. "Are you ok?" She didn't respond, still in shock. When he extended a hand to help her up, she burrowed herself further back into the wall in fright.

"I won't hurt you. Come on, take my hand." He made sure to look her in the eyes, never blinking. Slowly, she came out of her position and took the proffered hand.

Once she was up, Cole took the time to really study the girl. She was really young. She couldn't be older than sixteen and her clothes looked ragged, torn and dirty. He could only imagine what she must have gone through to find herself in this situation.

Having recognized the demons that had tried to kill her, he was sure that her powers must have had something to do with it for there was no doubt that she was a witch. Collector demons didn't attack anybody and they were relentless when it came to power. She was young and defenseless and they had wanted to collect her powers and he would bet that it wasn't the first time they had tried.

Cole didn't know why but he felt a strong urge to help her. Maybe it was because he knew how it felt to be persecuted and on the run for a long time but he simply had to take her under his wings.

He gave her a small smile when he saw her fidgeting and wringing her hands together. "Are you alright?" She nodded, meeting his gaze briefly before returning it to the ground. "Do you want me to call someone, your parents maybe?"

She shook her head, more vigorously this time. "I don't have parents." Her voice was small and shy.

Cole nodded. He had guessed as much. "Come on, we have to get out of here. I'm sure there'll be more demons coming looking for you."

She shot a scared look around her before quickly getting to his side and taking his forearm in her small hands and gripping it tightly. She almost seemed to have forgotten what had happened to her earlier.

With the girl stuck at his side, Cole went to his car and drove the two of them home. He didn't know what else to do. He couldn't just let her alone and fend for herself. With demons after her, she had no chance of surviving longer than she already had.

Half an hour later, the two of them found themselves in the elevator, on the way to Cole's penthouse. As soon as they had left the car, Cole had once again found himself with the girl attached to his arm. The hold she had on his arm tightened each time she saw someone approaching them. It was a relief for the both of them when the ding came and they arrived at their destination.

Cole guided her to the couch and went to put his briefcase away. He took the time to observe her again. She was sitting with her arms around herself and looking this way and that, eyes wide.

The girl was going to need some big help and he only hoped he would be enough. Well, he would have to since she already seemed attached to him as much as he was to her.

Cole went to the master bedroom and came out with a change of clothes, presenting them to the girl. "Here, you can go have a shower or even a bath and change into these."

The girl looked at him for a long moment and he almost thought she was going to refuse. She finally took the clothes in her arms after some consideration and stood up. Cole guided her to the bathroom and left her to it.

Assuming she would take some time, he went to work on how to make the apartment safe. It was something he had kept to himself but he had a way of protecting his home from intrusion, be it demonic or not. From now on, no demon, whitelighter or any magical being was going to be able to get into his home unwanted. This was as much for his protection as for the girl and anyone else who was going to live with him. This was a secret he had never disclosed to anyone, not even Phoebe.

He had always found it ridiculous how the rather arrogant Charmed Ones had never tried to find a way to do it for their own home. He was sure that as much as they complained about demonic attacks they had never tried to find a way to prevent them or even thought about it. Huh, maybe they were simply masochist or they enjoyed the attention, who knew.

Once his task was over, Cole set about making a little snack for himself and his guest. She must be hungry after everything she went through. Just when he finished setting the table, she emerged from the bathroom clad in some of Phoebe's pajamas. He frowned and considered the clothes. He'd have to send the rest of her things to the manor. He didn't want to have her barge in to ask for them or anything.

The girl still stood where she was and didn't dare to move from the spot. Cole took out a chair and with a sign of the head, invited her to sit. She accepted it shyly and Cole took the seat across from her.

Meal time was spent in silence. Cole didn't want to scare the girl into leaving so he waited for her to fill her stomach before starting the questions. When they were done, he washed the dishes while he sent her to the spare room to rest. He had a feeling she hadn't had any for a long time. They'd have plenty of time to talk later.

For the time being, he had work to do. He had had time to think it over when he was in the wasteland and when he came back. He had needed one last thing for the ritual to be complete and his researches were finally proved productive. Now, it was just a matter of when to put it into action. But before he could do that, he'd have to have everything sorted with his guest and see how long she would be staying with him.

A few hours passed and Cole had had some paperwork done. He did have to stop several times because the girl was screaming in her sleep, having some horrible nightmares. It was further proof that she had been through hell and for a long time. He would then need to keep an eye on her. That was the reason why he had moved his work to her room.

It was nice to know that for once someone needed him without looking to change him. The two of them were going to need each other: her for protection and him for a person to take care of and take his mind off the Halliwells. He made a vow to himself to help her no matter what and never judge her for her past. He had the power to help her and he was going to use it.

He looked at her to make sure she was still settled from her last nightmare before leaving to order dinner. He didn't know what her tastes were in term of food but he would bet anything that it wouldn't matter to her.

It was just when he was setting the dishes on the table that his guest came out of her room, for it was going to be hers from now on.

He turned to her. "Hey. I ordered Chinese. I hope you'll like it."

She nodded and came to take her seat at the table. She was less hesitant, an improvement on her part. That was good.

In the middle of their dinner, Cole decided it was time to make the introductions. "My name is Cole Turner. What's yours?"

The girl halted in her movements to look up from her plate. "Jessie."

Cole nodded. "Jessie. Is that short for Jessica?" She gave a nod in the positive. "That's a beautiful name." The compliment, plus the smile she received made the teen blush.

From there, Cole made small talk, asking simple questions to make her feel at ease. He learned quite a lot from the answers: she was fifteen and had been on the run for three. Being an orphan, she had gone from foster home to foster home before running away from the last one.

As far as she could remember, she had always been an outcast. The other kids had never liked her because weird things always happened around her. Although that only happened when she was upset or some of them picked on her.

Cole listened to her carefully. She was quite a talker once she got past her shyness. He was sure she had wanted someone to confide into for a long time. She must have felt so alone and scared all those years. But she was a fighter.

From what she was telling him, the demons' first attack coincided with the appearance of her powers. He had yet to learn what they were but that would be for later. First, he told her about himself, about magic and what it consisted of. He only told her the basics, intending to give her courses on magic and train her as time went by.

They talked well into the night, planning their future together. Well, Cole mostly did. He could envision exactly how he was going to go about helping her and getting her to have a normal life, well as normal as a life with magic could be, and that was going to start the next day, after they both had some sleep.

I know some of you wanted to know how Piper and Paige were going to save Phoebe but I couldn't come up with an original to portray it. However different I tried, it always ended looking like the scene with Cole so, I thought it wasn't worth it (I'm not really good at rewritting scenes).

Anyway, this story is mainly about Cole and although I will follow the episodes, I will only use scenes where he appears.

I thought the best way for Cole to demonstrate a life free of the Charmed Ones was to dedicate it on someone else, hence the new charcter.