Eternal Flame
part 14
"Okay, Cole, you know the incident with the pumpkin and the mess inside the pumpkin? That was funny. Cute, sneaky, whatever you want to call it. This...is not- in every possible sense of the word. I get that you haven't used your powers in awhile, but this is just beyond unforgiveable."
"Did you hit your head on the way down?" he asked curiously, as he tilted his head in her direction, his arms encircling the front of his chest. "For your information, I have never possessed the power to bring back the dead. Those forces are out of my comprehension, Phoebe."
"Maybe she's just in shock," Prue suggested softly. "It's a lot to take in all at once, you know?"
"Oh, you think?" Phoebe quipped, as she carefully dusted off her dirt-stained hands, reluctantly accepting Cole's invitation to help her to her feet.
"Does anyone want to tell me why people keep appearing out of nowhere to help us?" Paige asked. "Because I still think it's just a tad too creepy for me to process right now."
"Especially when they're already dead," Phoebe concluded roughly.
"Oh, and do you think I was really all that willing to come back? That I just jumped at the offer when they gave it to me?" Prue confronted her, her gaze shedding a complete lack of sympathy at that particular moment.
"In that case, do I count too?" Cole interrupted, slowly raising a hand. "I mean, full fledged member of purgatory here- the pits of hell, if you're lucky."
"Do you not want to believe it, or are you really not even the slightest bit happy to see me here in the flesh?" Prue challenged her sister.
"Okay, why are they tormenting me like this?" she asked her husband, her hands easily rubbing her eyes, as she struggled to make complete sense of her surroundings. "What did I do to deserve it?"
"Apparently not much, if the Elders thought you were in need of the assistance," her sister commented.
"Please. The Elders? For all we know, they sit in front of their little tv's up there, and munch on Cheetos all day," Paige countered sarcastically. "They're pretty much a no show where we're concerned."
"Chloe Franklin, right?"
"Excuse me?" Paige responded, widening her eyes.
"Um...Prue?" Cole cut in, as he calmly waved a hand in front of her face, his visage threatening to break into a soft smile.
"I'm Chloe," the blonde spoke up, putting up her arm as she bore an unreadable expression.
"And I'm Paige," Paige retorted rather rudely. "Matthews. Phoebe's half sister?"
"The other Charmed One." Prue stared at her a moment, her eyes growing somewhat dim. She gently threw her hands into the pockets of her jeans, as she focused her attention upon the faintest specks of dust on the ground. Quietly pursing her lips, she took a step forward, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Look. They sent me, okay? Like it or not, it was their choice. I heard you guys needed my help, and here I am. I...really had no say in the matter, as hard as that may be to believe right now. I was-"
"Then you don't even want to be here," Phoebe whispered, "Do you?"
"Pheebs, they told me there's no coming back from this battle. What's done, is done in the end. You can't change it, and I couldn't even try. But what I want to do is at least say I did try. I lost once, and heaven help me, I am not about to lose again."
"She's such a card, isn't she?" Cole offered, still holding his smile, as he touched it lightly with a small dose of sarcasm.
"Mommy, are you mad at Aunt Prue?" Alex spoke up, her frown weighing heavily upon her small face.
"They have Sally Jesse for this stuff," Catrina put in. "Maybe you two should consider calling for some tickets. Reunions are always the hardest on the part of the person least expecting one."
"Is she possessed?" Prue asked, obviously confused, as she stole a single glance at the little girl.
"Advanced," Paige emphasized. "We've kind of stopped talking about it, because we think she feels out of place."
"Oh."
"So you're the famous Prudence Halliwell?" she continued. "As in...one of the most powerful witches who ever lived?"
"Hey," Phoebe objected. "Just because-"
"Death by Shax," Prue confirmed, "and now alive and kicking."
"It's some joke," Phoebe mused. "I mean, for them to go and do this to me when my husband's life is at stake. Brilliant, don't you think?" Sighing, she tiredly pulled a few long strands of brown hair from her face, glancing suspiciously at her sister.
"Phoebe, can you just-"
"Can't you see it?"
"See what?" Cole asked, clearly perplexed by her attitude.
"They're messing with our minds...they're...they're giving us this major guilt trip. If Prue were really here, she wouldn't be standing there arguing with me. She'd be-"
"Doing this?" Prue returned casually, an amused smile pressed onto her face, as she easily tossed up a single hand, sending Phoebe sailing into the vacant air around them, watching as she roughly landed on the ground a safe distance away. Clasping her hands together, she chuckled every so slightly. "I've still got it. Pretty groovy, huh?"
The other Charmed One immediately pulled herself to her feet, as she began to stomp back to them, her cheeks flushed with a deep sense of embarrassment, as she glared at her newly revived opponent from up above. Her gaze slowly began to soften though, as she mindlessly shrugged, her thumbs stuffed into the back pockets of her jeans, as she calmly rocked back upon her heel. "And that was really unfair, Prue. I didn't even get the-"
"Same old me?"
Phoebe frowned. "Stubborn as hell."
"Hey, rest assured she didn't target me this time, alright?" Cole added, a smug smile crossing his gorgeous profile.
"Daddy, Aunt Prue's funny," Alex put in, placing a tiny hand over her mouth as she started to giggle.
"Come to think of it, have you actually shaved once, since the last time I saw you?"
Cole simply looked at her, running a hand over his stubble yet again, shrugging briefly at the thought. He laughed quietly, as he continued to gaze at her with his blues. "It just means so much that you noticed," he casually drawled, giving Prue a slight pat on the back, as he carefully picked Alex up into his arms.
Phoebe ran to her sister at that moment, throwing her arms tightly around her neck, as she buried her face into her hair, the tears beginning to flow down her pretty face, as she absentmindedly placed a hand to her cheeks to rub them away with little to no effort at all. Prue raised her eyebrows, surprised by the sudden maneuver, as she hesitantly placed her hands upon her sister's back, fully accepting the hug. The two of them were lost for words then, as literal cries of laughter penetrated the silence, Prue shutting her eyes, as she finally pulled back to look at her sister, her eyes completely glazed with newfound tears. "You let your hair grow."
"Yeah."
"It looks good that long."
"How long are you here for?" Phoebe asked her. "I...I mean how long are they giving you?"
"It's indefinite if I can prove myself."
Phoebe nervously bit her lower lip, as she regarded her more closely. "Prove yourself- what does that...."
"Xavier and his little queen," Cole mulled over.
"Just to let you know? We're almost always perfectly capable of handling this stuff on our own," Paige threw in, crossing her arms over her chest.
"And I think she's getting closer," Chloe offered. "I...I can kind of feel it."
"Feel it?" Prue questioned.
"I think so. I mean, I'm still pretty new to this."
"She's some kind of witch," Phoebe filled her in. "We think she was brought here for a specific reason."
"Yeah, Cole was telling me on our way over here."
"She also has a past," Melinda told her aunt, as Prue caught her presence for the first time. "Aunt Paige said so."
"You're familiar with her-"
"I never said that," Paige objected. "It's only what I've been hearing, okay? I don't know if it's even...."
Phoebe immediately shot a look at her half sister, as if to indicate that it would be wise not to go any further on the matter, her brown eyes widening.
"You know about me?" Chloe asked her. "I mean, really know about me?"
"Nick does," Paige offered nonchalantly.
"Paige," Phoebe hissed. "I told you-"
"Look, Phoebe, is it so hard to believe that he's actually done things that don't make you the least bit proud? It happens- he was a demon. End of story. Just because he hurt some girl's parents, doesn't mean he still hasn't tried to make up for it, you know? We all do the wrong thing, we all-"
"My parents?" Chloe whispered.
"I didn't mean-"
"You mentioned my parents," Chloe pressed. "What do you know about them?"
"Maybe you should talk to Nick."
"I want to know what you know," she urged. "Tell me. Please."
"Chloe, maybe if we-"
"No, Cole, I want her to tell me."
"You parents were victims of the Source's doing," Paige replied simply. "He ordered them dead."
"Paige, so help me...."
"Dammit, Phoebe, I am so tired of this. What happened to you? Did you suddenly forgive and forget the minute you took him back into your life again? After we fought The Dark, it was all smooth sailing for you, because he'd risked his life to save his daughter. And yes- I get that. More than you know. But to threaten me, for confessing a truth that wasn't meant to stay buried? It goes against everything we're about- and I think you're already well aware of that."
"Paige, listen to me-"
"Stop protecting him. It's isn't your place."
"What's gotten into you?!"
"What's gotten into me? Maybe you should be asking yourself the same thing, hmm?"
"Cut it out, both of you," Prue snapped. "Fighting about this is not going to make it any better- let alone help us get to Celia. We need to work together on this. We have to."
"Did he kill my parents?"
"Chloe-" Cole started.
"Did you kill them?" she repeated. "I have to know, Cole. If we're going to work on the same side, I have to know."
"There is no side," he told her softly. "You either work for them, or you work for us. There are some demons out there who probably want us dead right about now, and if we-"
"So you did it," she whispered. "You took their lives....without any remorse. You took them away from me."
"It's not that-"
"Oh, believe me. It's all I needed to hear."
"Chloe-"
But she was already moving, her feet going as fast as they would carry here, her blonde hair flapping widly about her face, as she fled from them, her step threatening to falter as she continued out of view.
"Well, now you did it," Phoebe snapped. "She's never going to trust us now-"
"I saved her from a lot of pain, and you know it," Paige countered.
"It would have been better if he told her!" her sister raised her voice. "Not you."
"So it's all my fault again. Great. Yeah. Everything is all me, isn't it?"
"Dammit," Cole whispered. He quickly placed his daughter in his wife's arms then, ignoring them completely, as he began taking off after the young woman, his face a torn mask of regret, his eyes wincing from the pain of the unwanted confession. A thousand vivid images began to flash piece by piece in his frame of mind, clouding his vision, as he picked up speed, trailing her fragile figure up ahead. Everything in his heart was telling him there weren't any options or hope of turning back- that this was clearly the end of the road for him. All that he had worked so hard to do to make himself a better person, had come back to haunt him by using the shadows of his past once again. A past he'd fought so hard to push into the background, so nothing could come crashing back full force into his face. That day had finally arrived- the one where he had absolutely nothing in terms of which to defend himself or his actions, nor of what the Source had instructed him to comply by. It seemed to be pretty close to the end for him, whether he wanted it to be or not.
"Get away from me!" she screamed. "Just get the hell away from me!"
"I have to talk to you, dammit!"
"Leave me alone!"
"Chloe, please!"
"Go away!" she yelled, her eyes wide with fear, as she halted for a brief moment, his lips quivering at the sight of him.
"You didn't even let me explain-"
But she had already set off again, her breathing becoming more rapid by the minute. She screamed louder, as she felt his strong hands encircle her waist. She immediately took her nails to his flesh, as he cried out from the pain, tossing her to one side. She felt the dirt consume her hands as she fell to the ground, angrily struggling to regain her composure.
"Do you always treat your friends like this?"
"Friend?" she spat, picking herself up, as her blue eyes met his with a deep sense of unrelenting danger, her hands closing themselves into tight uncontrollable fists. "You killed the two people that mattered the most to me in my life, and you don't expect me to be the least bit pissed off? Mr. Turner, I've known a lot of real bastards in my time, but after today, you damn near take that prize. If you really, seriously expect me to-"
"Aren't you overreacting? Maybe just a little? It was well over-"
"I don't care," she whispered. "I just....don't care anymore. You and your...demon half were perfectly capable of separating yourselves from one another, given what your own daughter has implied about you. You can't tell me your human side wasn't willing to. But if that was the case...."
"I didn't know!" he screamed. "I barely knew anything back then, Chloe! I didn't know you."
"Yeah, well now you know me. And now your wife knows exactly what you did-"
"Phoebe knew what I was when she fell in love me- just like I told you before. She was willing to see beyond it."
"You took their lives with no trouble at all, didn't you?" she hissed. "Yeah, Cole, I bet it was real easy, wasn't it? Do you know how many times I've relived it....through dreams....through my entire life- through everything? I've spent years with your demonic face engraved in my memory, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. I..." she placed a hand to her lips then, covering them completely, as she let the tears fall, her eyes have watered to the brim, her face an entire visage of pain. "They told me it was some guy whose M.O. was wearing Halloween masks when he killed his victims, so they wouldn't be able to identify him if they survived....that they'd picked up on various leads around the neighborhood, because of....similar incidents that had occurred years prior to the current deaths. But somehow I knew my parents had been killed where they stood for a reason. I knew it wasn't just some sick guy out there looking for a thrill. I knew it was carefully executed. I knew..."
"And it would have meant my life, if I didn't-"
"So you took two instead, didn't you?"
"Chloe, please-"
"I know you're different- I can see it. But it could never exclude you from what you took from me."
"So vanquish me," he breathed. "Take all of that anger from Belthazor and just put it all right into me. Take all of that hurt, uncertainty, rage...put it all together, take my life. God knows I've spent years repenting from what he was capable of. Yes, I was evil. Yes, I hurt a lot of innocents under the Source, yes I did murder your parents. But God help me...God strike me dead on the spot, if I would never even try to do anything in my power to become a better man from that. I've struggled more than you could possibly imagine with all I've done. And no matter what I do, or have done, I can never get past the fact that without my life....the way it is now...I'm basically one big failure- a corrupt has been. Demons hate me, the Source despised me and ordered bountyhunters out to take me, and my wife's sister still doesn't believe I've got it in me to be the man Phoebe wants- to be the father Ally can truly love, simply because she believes it so. I can never wake up in the morning, and look forward to a new day, because I still have so many damn things I wish I could change. I can't just get out of bed and settle for a cup of coffee, when I know there is no possible way in hell I'm able to relax, knowing what lies ahead. I put my life on the line for both sides. I still risk instant death by demonic forces everyday, while trying my damndest to save the world for good. I've been here, I've been there, and God save my soul, I still haven't found a place I can call home."
"But you-"
"I can seem anything I want. But the truth is......I'll never be. I never was. And in all honesty, I never can."
"And your feelings?"
"Remorse," he added.
"Did you take pleasure in it?"
"Chloe, I can't-"
"Did you?" she repeated.
"Yes," he whispered. "Because I was getting the job done- because I was succeeding in serving the man I bowed down to. Because I was given a task....because if I failed, I'd no longer be a part of anything."
"I've never belonged," she whispered back. "For as long as I can remember, I always felt that there was something different about me. I mean, I know I said it before, but it really did seem like I was meant to exist on another plane....that I was chosen to make it all right again. I mean, I can't bring them back, can I? Heaven knows I've tried...."
"I know you don't think it, but we're a lot alike."
"And so are you and Paige, aren't you? I mean, you just don't fit in. Her, because she's had to live in the shadow of Prue, and you, because of your unwillingness to let them accept you."
"I'm sorry?"
"You can't see it. But it's true. You claim to put your all into that family, and you deny what you dislike, but I can see right through you."
"So take my life," he hissed, holding out his arms. "For what it's worth, make those amends. Take back what's yours."
"And I can't Cole. Because I actually had feelings for you." She smiled rather painfully then, as she moved closer to him, their faces only inches apart. "Feelings that I know were wrong, but regardless, I couldn't help what I was experiencing, whenever you would walk into my presence. I still can't help it."
"And you have no idea what it is you're proposing," he whispered. "If I were you, I'd stay away from me."
"I can't," she told him, her voice lowering even more, as she raised her face to his, their lips nearly touching.
"Knowing what I did....what I am...you can't possibly- I owe more than my life to Phoebe, and I've never felt any less. This...can't happen....what you are...."
"I...I know," she offered then, turning away from him, as she cradled her arms quietly about her chest, taking a deep breath. "But I can't help the way I feel when I'm-"
"And you can't play with danger," he confessed. "In the end, you'll only get burned."
"Your face has haunted me for nearly my entire existence. I remember it like it was yesterday."
He sighed. "And I can't take anymore risks."
"Cole-"
"You won't consider me a friend, and yet you're literally throwing yourself at me. I think we can safely say that I'm not the confused one here."
"And were you with women before Phoebe? I...I mean, any of them you could actually love?"
"That part of my past stays with me."
"And you know you're capable of doing it again. You just don't know it yet."
"She's my world," he whispered. "I've died for her, Chloe. I've put my hopes, my dreams, everything on the line- if only to preserve her happiness. I need her. It's as simple as that."
"No. It's really not that simple."
He studied her a moment, his eyes wincing slightly, as he continued to concentrate his vision upon her petite frame, slowly raising an eyebrow. "Who are you?"
"I don't know what you-"
"Who are you?"
"I'm me. I'm Chloe Franklin. I don't-"
"But you're already so much more than that. I can sense it. In fact, I knew I was bordeline on it in the museum."
"Well, then I guess you found me out, didn't you?"
He laughed. "Yeah, I guess the Source was playing his cards right from the beginning, wasn't he?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Because they were already destined to die. Don't you get it? It all fell into step....just the way it should have. Our meeting, those murders... And if I hadn't taken care of them, the Elders sure as hell would've."
"What?"
"They sought you out, because you already had the evil inside of you. They made you what you are when you were just a little girl. They sent me there with a specific mission in mind, and they merely used me to see to it that they fulfilled it. You were a constant threat to them."
"Are you insane?"
"Oh. No. See, I'm actually starting to realize that I've been going about this all wrong."
"Cole, don't try anything stupid...."
"Chloe, if it's any consolation to you, I really don't think children should be playing with fire."
"If I had a choice, I haven't chosen it. I don't even know what I am-"
"Nick knew of you, because your family committed treason against the Source. They were working both good and evil. That is why they were sentenced to die at my hands, wasn't it? I know they would have to have an awfully clear motive in mind, rather than ridding a little girl of mommy and daddy all for nothing."
"Just because my parents were on the verge of destroying the world, doesn't mean I have that strength, let alone the will to perceive their intentions. You're out of your league if you think I'm not going to do everything in my power to help you and your wife beat this thing."
"If I can still trust you, you're going to have to prove that."
"Oh, you mean the same way the Source apparently led you to believe something's automtically deemed evil upon its arrival?"
"Help me....trust you," he whispered. "Then we'll see who's left standing in the end."