A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.

This chapter contains references to season five's 'The importance of being Phoebe'. I hope you'll enjoy it.

The lonely warrior – chapter 15

Halliwell Manor

Living room

Piper was in the living room, watching Wyatt playing with his toys, when Chris orbed in.

"We need to talk," he said seriously.

Piper frowned. Chris seemed worried, she could feel it. "What happened?"

"I went to the Underworld," he said quietly.

"Chris..." Piper shook her head in disapproval.

"I know, I know..." he raised his hand. "It was dangerous, but I found something, something very important."

Piper's heart jumped a little. "What?"

"I found the demon who sent the Darklighter and I vanquished him. But he told me something very disturbing. A Whitelighter is involved in all this mess..."he answered.

"A Whitelighter?" Piper asked in confusion. "I don't understand, a Whitelighter would never try to hurt my baby, this doesn't make any sense."

Chris nodded. "It's hard for me to believe too, but... Think with me, Piper. Wyatt is too powerful... Maybe..."

"No," Piper shook her head. "A Whitelighter would never... I mean..." she sat down on the couch and stared at her son, who was still playing with his toys.

Chris gently rested his hand of her shoulder. "Don't fear the truth. That's the only way to save him," he said softly.

Piper looked up at Chris and let out a slight smile. Her son, he was strong and brave.

"What?" Chris frowned.

"You talk like him sometimes... you know, like your father..." she said with a sigh.

Chris cleared his throat. "Piper..."

"Don't worry, I'll fight for you," she said, taking his hand.

Chris smirked. "I hope so..."

A coffee house

It was weird for Cole to go to a coffee house again. It had been a long time since he had drink or eat something. He looked at another table and saw a couple together; they were drinking coffee and he suddenly felt the urge to do the same.

"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked.

Cole looked from the couple to Phoebe and nodded. "I'm fine... I... I want some coffee," he said.

Phoebe frowned a little. "O-kay," she said, raising her hand to call the waitress. "You're different... You seem so..."

"Sane?" Cole shook his head. "I'm okay, Phoebe. I'm not under..." your spell, he wanted to say, but stopped himself. "I'm not under evil influence anymore."

Phoebe nodded a little. "I'm glad to hear that," she said.

"Good morning," the waitress said, as she stopped in front of them.

"Two coffees, please," Phoebe said softly.

"What do you want?" Cole asked, as the waitress walked away. "The last time you saw me, you said..."

Phoebe looked away. She remembered that day, the memory was still fresh in her mind.

I thought you were dead and I felt nothing. No pain, no love, nothing. I'm free.

She was angry, very angry. She did want to hurt him and choose the right words to do it. "I know what I said," she said, resting her hand over his. "You tried to turn me evil, you replaced me with a shapeshifter," she said. "I didn't recognize you anymore. You turned completely evil..."

Cole cleared his throat. "I wasn't thinking clearly," he said.

Because of you.

Because I was under your magical influence.

"I know," Phoebe sighed. "I cared about you, Cole. I loved you too much and I almost lost myself because of it. You need to understand me... At that time, I was scared. I am a Charmed One, I have this destiny... My mission is to help people, not to hurt them."

"Phoebe, look..."

"No, you need to listen to me... I've changed," she said softly and Cole frowned. He didn't expect that. The Phoebe in front of him was very different from the woman he saw in the attic more than an year ago. The woman in front of him was sad, her eyes had no light in them.

"I don't understand," he said truthfully.

Phoebe sighed. She could feel his confusion. "Maybe I could try to help you, instead of telling you to go away... But, as I said, I was scared. Everything I wanted was to forget the past, forget you. But you insisted, you couldn't give up..."

"I loved you, Phoebe. You were everything I had in this world," he said emotionally. "I was completely alone without you in my life."

She cleared her throat. "I know... I..."

"You told me that I was evil," he said. "You..."

Put a spell on me.

"The powers you collected in the Wasteland sent you crazy," Phoebe shook head.

Cole let out a small laugh.

You sent me crazy.

"The powers were just powers," he explained. "But you never understood that. Powers are not good or bad by themselves, Phoebe. All depends on how you use them. I wanted to use them to help people, but you..."

"You killed someone," Phoebe said.

"And you have no idea how much I regretted it," Cole said sadly. "As I said, I wasn't thinking clearly... and, don't get me wrong, this is not an excuse, just an explanation."

"You've changed," Phoebe said. She could feel it. "I..."

"Here's your coffee," the waitress suddenly appeared, interrupting her.

"Thank you," Phoebe said.

She watched as Cole quickly sipped his coffee. "You missed this, huh?"

"In Deadtown, you can't drink or eat," he explained, with a small laugh.

"The Cosmic Void," Phoebe muttered.

"You told me about a Whitelighter from the future," Cole said, as he remembered what Phoebe told him at the mausoleum.

Phoebe nodded.

"It's a long story," she said, sipping her coffee.

"And he knew about me?" Cole asked in confusion.

Of course, he's your son.

Your son...

With Piper.

No, she promised herself.

This future wouldn't happen.

"It seems our destinies are connected," she said with a smark.