63MY BROTHER IN LAW
A/N: This story takes place after season 4 on the supposition that Phoebe gets married to Cole after his return from the Wasteland. Leo's still a whitelighter.
Thank you very much for your reviews!
Part 4
Phoebe was in her office looking at the pictures she had taken with William in their business trip. Unfortunately, she had to come back alone earlier, since his work wouldn't be done until next Monday. They had had a great time together anyway.
She sighed, not being able to concentrate on giving advice to her dear readers. She missed William so badly. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was the only one that's worth on this world. Phoebe knew she wouldn't be able to go on without him.
However, she had put herself into such a situation. She had wished a chance to compensate Cole for what she had treated him in the past. Now she's having this chance. Cole was here not to be hurt, she hope he felt content being her husband, while she reminded herself to take care of him everday. She could try – or pretend – to concern about him, but she couldn't love him anymore. A lot of what had happened digged a big gap between them. She didn't have enough will and energy to fill it. She even doubted that he would try to win her back at all cost if she left him now. Sometimes Phoebe guessed she didn't understand Cole as before.
Nevertheless, she had started it, she would have to live up with it. But she knew she wouldn't live with it forever. It'll all be ended before everyone realizing it.
Orb light suddenly appears near the door. She hid the pictures in a hurry.
"Paige? Have you lost your mind?" Phoebe asked angrily.
"I've just been assigned a new charge in Germany." Her sister said.
"And you orb in here just to let me know that?"
"No." Paige answered "I thought you're smart enough to understand what I'm talking about. I've seen you and your fancy man, William, in Munich."
Phoebe gasped, she wanted to deny her statement, but no words let out. Her jaws had turned stiff.
"Would you rather talk at home?" Paige challenged "Why, Phoebe? You made an impression to me that you're greatly deeply in love with Cole since I first knew you. You even chose to be his queen last year. I tried a lot to come to terms with him for your sake. What happened?"
Phoebe kept staring at her, not knowing how to explain. She did have an explanation for all though.
"You'll never know." She managed to stammer.
"Yeah. But I can't stand seeing this. If you don't love him anymore, get your divorce! Keeping a marriage and an affair at the same time is sick."
"I know what I'm doing, Paige!" Phoebe shouted, knowing how her sister was thinking about about her. 'She's judging me as a tramp.' She thought.
"I don't know why on earth you two always have to hide something from each other." Paige shouted back, folding her arms in front of her chest "That's fine, none of my business. But I'm tired of being the only one discovering your secret."
She must be implying the fact that she had found out Cole being Source while the rest of the family thinking him human. If she would react the same as before, she would spill it out. And that's last thing Phoebe wanted.
"I got a premonition. Cole would turn evil if I left him." she softened her voice "He would destroy our life by the craziest ways he could imagine, mummifying me, kicking us out of the house to take the Nexus, even reversing the whole world in order to get me back."
"What?... Can't we stop him?" Paige's horrified first, then she seemingly presumed they're able to conquer it.
"Don't you think now is better than we have to fight each other to death?" Phoebe questioned.
"I'm afraid he'll figure out by himself." Paige said thoughtfully.
"Give me some more time!" Phoebe assured "Everything will solve itself out."
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Piper glanced at the list, putting a handful of herbs into her pot. The binding potion for Melinda was really a messy one. She and Cole had had to travel around the world to gather all of its ingredients. They had decided to bind her demonic powers only, that way Leo and her sisters wouldn't notice any difference. All of them had agreed to let Melinda develop her powers naturally, and they'd teach her to control them. Piper didn't want to tell them she changed her mind that she now thought binding them was better. She could make up some reason, but it's quite shameful to lie her family as such.
She hated and disgusted herself. Not only for the other night. Today she found she liked shimmering with Cole! She had never had this feeling orbing with Leo. She did think it's useful when they could transport from place to place, it's just a quick, useful, magical transportation after all. She never considered it romantic. All she wanted were a normal life, a normal family, and a human husband. Then they'd travel by car or plane as everyone else.
But she liked shimmering with Cole! Sounds like she wanted a demon to fulfil her happiness, instead of an angel! She wanted to hold his hand, and to be in his embrace. When they shimmered together, she felt close, she felt them becoming one, she felt she had him.
She'd lost this feeling for Leo, since the day she'd found out his affair with Phoebe. He'd thrusted a piercing stab into their love. Although it was healed, there's a big scar remains in her heart. They'd reconciled to another, but he never confessed his sin to her. So did she. They were not one anymore.
Piper looked up seeing Melinda contentedly in Cole's arm while he's bottle-feeding her.
"You always know he's your father, do you?" she thought.
He's holding their daughter tightly, but gently. She flushed imagining him holding her, and touching her with his hands. He looked so glamorous in his profile, his eyebrow, his nose, his lips, a few wrinkles on his forehead while he's raising his brows playfully glaring at Melinda, even his sideburns made him perfectly charming.
Piper used to have a crazy question that if Leo hadn't come to her life, what would she have done to her passion for Cole? When she had been in love, it hadn't bother her too much. When her love betrayed her, she answered her own question… That night was unique, and special…
However, she didn't think it's love. She might keep something for Cole, but it wasn't love. He's her brother-in-law, whom her sister loved more than everything.
Cole stood up, still carrying Melinda after she'd finished her bottle. Piper's eyes unconsciously followed him. He opened the fridge, taking out the pot of orange juice, pouring in a glass.
He's going to drink it when his glass suddenly turned into a feeding bottle. Melinda giggled seeing him pulling a face. Piper laughed at them, she must've thought it would help him drink his juice easier!
"No, honey! Daddy would prefer real tits." He murmured.
Piper stopped laughing "First, Cole! You aren't talking bad in front of my daughter. Next, Leo's her only…"
She choked in mid-sentence. She didn't mean it, Melinda was his daughter whether she liked it or not. She should've chosen the other words to say.
"I'm just her uncle." He uttered sadly.
Nevertheless, Piper didn't say sorry, what she was doing was to keep Melinda and everyone from knowing he's her father. She didn't want to see her family fall apart. She couldn't take the risk that her daughter would babble "da" to him in the near future. Although it's unfair.
"Piper, do you know what Phoebe's done to her beloved husband?"
They heard Paige shouting and her strides towards the kitchen.
She was shocked finding Piper wasn't alone. Her eyes laid warily on Cole for a moment, before turning back to her sister. Piper realized something had happened, Paige had stopped looking at him that way a long time.
"What has she done to me?" Cole asked.
"I thought you're at work." Paige mumbled.
"Well, I take the afternoon off." He said "Back to my question."
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Paige snapped.
"You sure she'll answer to me?" Cole smirked.
Piper glanced at her sister, then talked to him "Can you help me put Mel to her craddle and leave us alone?"
He turned around staring at her, not wanting to leave, but he soon caught what she's worrying about. "No problem." He walked out.
Piper was afraid Melinda would show off her magic in front of her sister, considering she's shimmering a lot these days. Paige waited until she was sure Cole couldn't overhear them.
"Phoebe's cheating on him." she whispered.
"What?" Piper gasped.
"I saw her and William with my own eyes."
"It doesn't make sense. Phoebe cares of Cole a lot." Piper suspected.
"She fooled all of us." Paige shrugged "I've just talked to her, she admitted everything."
"Yeah, we need talk, we've to help Phoebe to save her marriage." Piper mused.
"Why?"
"Because Phoebe would regret sooner or later."
"Phoebe said she wouldn't part with him. I'm gonna make a strong potion to help her." Paige went check our herb cabinet "Do you think the spell we used to vanquish the Source will work on him?"
"Pardon me." Piper glared at her "You wanna kill Cole since Phoebe's cheating on him?"
"Since she can't hide it from him forever." Paige corrected "In her premonition he's our big menace when she left him. I just want to be prepared."
Piper didn't underestimate Phoebe's premonition. Cole would surely be a big threat if he's their enemy. As a matter of facts, she hadn't support their union at first, it's not good to have a demon in the family. But the way Cole loving Phoebe had touched Piper, he had saved Piper, he had saved Paige, he had sacrificed himself for them, just because of his love - Phoebe. Accepting him was how they repaid for his favour.
Piper realized there're several levels of acceptance. She might feel sympathy with him when Phoebe betrayed him, she might keep some secret desire to him, she might accept him as a friend, she might accept him as a member in my family. But she didn't think she's willing to share a life with a demon. He's not only a demon, but the demon who rose from the dead.
All of them owed him, but Phoebe was the only one had to requite him by her own life. It didn't matter if she loved him. Now she did not. Neither did he.
"I'm still here just because of you, and Melinda."
Cole loved her. She was quite bewildered.
"Hey, what are you cooking?" Paige pointed at her seething pot.
"Uh, potion." Piper switched the gas off.
"What potion?"
"I'm trying to concoct a new vanquishing potion." she snatched the piece of page that written all the ingredients, tearing it into pieces "It's all messed up."
Paige took a good look at her compound, not being able to distinguish how many kinds of them "Yes, it is." She commented "Okay, I gotta go shopping for my potion."
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Paige walked out of the kitchen, giving Phoebe a small vial.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Vanquishing potion." Paige replied "The strongest one I've ever made. You can ask for a divorce now."
"Trust me, it won't work." Phoebe refused to take it "I don't underrate your ability. But we did try in my premonition. We had no chance, even you jumped into his body to vanquish him from inside."
"How come your premonition was so long and detailed?" Paige doubted.
"I didn't know." Phoebe shrugged "What counts is I got it."
"We don't plan to vanquish someone who isn't doing evil." Piper interfered, walking downstairs.
"Just in case he turns evil." Paige explained.
"Look, we shouldn't talk about it now. Paige, throw your potion away! I don't want Cole to see it." Phoebe said.
Cole walked in right after she finished my sentence. Paige sent her vial to the trash can. Leo orbed in at the same time.
"The Siren is in town." He informed.
"Siren?" Phoebe startled, she knew her, well, she'd almost got killed because of her. She would not be her victim this time. But her sister "Uh, Piper, Leo, be careful! She may go after you."
"What?" Her sisters and Leo ask in union, but Cole just smiled.
"I studied the book." Phoebe explained "Siren loved a married man when she's a mortal. She got burned to death for this sin, while the man's blameless. Her rage turned her into a Siren. Now she takes revenge on the happy married couples."
"The book doesn't say that." Paige opposed.
"As a mortal Siren misconducted to another man. Her husband found out, and killed her lover. Her rage turned her into a Siren." Leo elaborated.
Phoebe turned pale. What did it mean? Was she aiming her again?
"Now she goes after the couples that the wives are unfaithful. She makes both of the husband and the lover sick. Then she seduces the wife to go to her with her song, gives the wife a spell which will save one of her men and kill the other. Who is saved, and who is killed are up to the wife."
"Who the wives often save?" Paige asked curiously.
"The lovers. If they still loved their husbands, they wouldn't find the other men." Leo answered.
"Does her magic affect magical beings?" Piper wondered, worrying about Cole.
Phoebe got chilled, yes, Cole would be affected, even worse than the mortals.
"I don't know. She only aims human so far." Leo said.
"Ok, we should prepare the potion and a summoning spell." Phoebe concluded.
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Phoebe walked into the kitchen anxiously, holding a receiver in her hand. Piper was making coffee, while Paige was studying the book for the Siren's vanquishing potion, none of them realized her sister's colorless face.
"Um, guys!" Phoebe grabbed the back of the chair "Cole's feeling sick."
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A/N: Please review!