Faded Fragments
part 12
"What the hell is he doing here?"
"Look, he can help us, okay? You don't have to start getting all judgemental, just because he happened to drop in unexpectedly. Which is, really besides the point, when you think about the curve ball Phoebe's thrown you," Paige Matthew retorted smugly, throwing him a casual smile.
"Merrick could still be working for them, and you know it. It doesn't take a Goddamn genius to figure it out, Paige."
"It also doesn't take one to figure out that you're only upset, because she really got to you."
"Yeah, and it doesn't matter anymore, alright?"
"And you don't exactly strike me as the type who's so ready to give up."
He winced, struggling to fight off the wave of pain that fought to consume him. Steadying his composure, he gripped the stairwell with a rather shaky hand, unable to fight off the emotion in its entirety. "Maybe this time things are going to be different."
"Different....how? We're still here, and she's still Clay's love slave."
"Yes. Thank you for that, Paige. I almost forgot just what I was about to get myself into."
"Like you said, none of that matters. It's just-"
"That's not what I meant," he insisted. "Look, if you would have seen her back there, seen how she acted like I couldn't have been more than a damn speck of dust on this Godforsaken planet- seen how she saw me in this time, this world, you'd be thinking twice about trying to save humanity and playing the Goddamn harp. She doesn't know who she is, and she has no recollection of it whatsoever. She firmly believes she's implanted herself in this particular lifestyle, and always has. Morever, there's nothing I can do to make it obvious I'd still love to interfere, and win her the hell back."
"Yeah, and you said you had a plan, right?"
"Not a good one," he added hopefully.
"She's not a prize to claim," she offered quietly. "You have to know that she's her own woman now- she's independent, Cole, just as much as Piper is. They've adjusted to it, because they had no choice. Don't you see that? They broke off the Power of Three, and had to learn how to start a life- a new life....all over again."
"Yeah, and I still have to find out who Jake is."
"Jake?" she inquired, raising a brow.
"It...really does seem to be the kind of world where last names cease to exist, doesn't it?" he murmured.
"In that case, do you think Cher's probably walking around here somewhere looking for a big bad fight?"
He smiled. "You keep pressing your luck, and I might just be working alone a lot sooner than I'd like." He paused a moment, considering the proposition. "I don't even know why you keep sticking around here, anyway. I mean, it's not as if you're having the time of your life with-"
"Yeah, and some of us still struggle with caring," she hissed. "Which is obviously more than I can say for you right now."
"You only care about getting back. But newsflash, there is no back. And there won't be, unless I can get her to open up to me, and remember who she was. Alright? So why don't you just do yourself a favor, since you were never any good at doing them for me, and stay the hell away from me. I can handle this myself, without your help."
"Well, if this Jake is a demon? Maybe I'd actually be rooting for him when it comes down to it."
"Just like you," he countered.
"And I know you're forever unable to conceive the notion of help as far as it stands, but you still need me, Cole. You know you do. Pretending you can get this done all by your lonesome, is like proclaiming a self assured death wish."
"I have Ally," he whispered.
"She may still be your daughter here, but there's no way she can allow you to get the love of your life back, if Phoebe doesn't even know she has a daughter who exists. Alex is a sitting duck here. Get my drift?"
"Which brings me back to my point. Because honestly, Paige- what in God's name does that make you?"
"There are some side effects you're unaware of," Nicholas Merrick joined in, as he approached them rather quietly, his hands clasped loosely behind his back, his handsome face poised with an air of slight indifference, as his green eyes widened with a surprising calmness.
"You think I'd even consider letting you in on this?" Cole asked him, moving closer, until both men were eye to eye, the danger seeping from his blues with a profound intensity, as he gritted his teeth in pure menace. "You're sadly mistaken."
"Am I?" Nick raised an eyebrow. "Well then. By all means, let me see how far you get."
"So what aren't you telling me?"
"What?"
"You're hiding something."
"I guess that's what you'll have to prove now, won't you?" he taunted lightly, with just the softest hint of an edge in his voice.
"Yeah, and I suggest you spill it."
"And if I don't?"
"Dammit, Nick-" Paige started.
"He already believes his cause is entirely hopeless, what more do you want?"
"Tell him," she urged.
"And I thought we agreed-"
"I really don't think I need to remind you about my streak of violence," Cole added, offering him a bright smile. "The one that tends to come and go as it pleases? Translation. I could just strike out anytime- with anyone. But, see, being the patient man I'm trying to be, I'm going to go with you saying something, Merrick, and you saying that something right now."
"Look, it's different here, okay?"
"Different, how?"
"Everything you know, everything you may believe you have your faith staked in? You don't. There's a time when your past comes up to bite you in the ass, and I think that time is now."
"My past...."
"Yeah, you think you've already dealt with it, time and time again- but you never really did deal with Belthazor, did you?"
"Belthazor is dead. He's been dead for-"
"Yeah, years now, isn't it? Not so over here. He's dormant."
Cole took a step back, not quite coming to the realization that his hands were starting to shake and he couldn't seem to stop them. "I'd be fighting what was once myself?"
"Not necessarily. I mean, if you want my translation, what it ultimately spells out, clear as day, is that it doesn't eactly give you much time."
"Much time for what?"
"Before the transformation, and the loss of your wife's love." He hesitated a moment. "It gives you something to think about, if I don't say so myself."
"Transformation?"
"That, or you become separate entities, and only one survives. If it's Belthazor, you automatically lose Phoebe. Which I'm guessing also wouldn't sit well with you."
"A war with my demon half...."
He nodded, pulled out a cigarette from the pack he broke free from within the pocket of his jeans, watching in surprise as Paige angrily yanked it from his fingtertips, throwing him a rather irritated glare. "What was that for?"
"If we're going to stay together in this world, too? You're not smoking here either," she noted, tossing it randomly into the trash, as she briefly scraped her hands against one another to dust them clean of the mess.
"Bet you didn't know I had one in Kellerman's office, did you?" he offered, throwing her a small wink.
"Nick, I swear, if you-"
"Wait. Kellerman. Seth Kellerman.... What does Kellerman have to do with any of this?" Cole interrupted, shooting a look at each of them in turn, as he crossed his arms over his chest, a soft sigh escaping his lips. "Is Seth in on it, Merrick?"
"Did I say Kellerman?" Nick returned, feeling only half embarrassed at the thought that he'd most likely royally screwed the situation up.
"Bet you've got a death wish now too, huh?" Paige sided, shooting him a wink of her own.
"Did Seth do this? Can you truthfully stand there and tell me that son of a bitch is responsible for this- or is it only another assumption?"
"You wanted proof, you've got it," Nick mustered. "The truth of it is probably a lot scarier than fiction, as they say."
"Meaning?"
"You've got a week."
"A week of what?"
"To get Phoebe to fall back in love with you," Paige whispered. "Or else we're kinda stuck here."
"And Belthazor-"
"He takes you over completely, or he becomes his own man," Nick finished. "Believe me, Kellerman is just counting down the days with a song in his heart. The bastard."
"I'll be going back to her office soon," he told him. "So if I can convince her to look at the project I have, I can-"
"Project?" Paige cut in. "That's your plan?"
"Yeah, and it happens to involve Ally," he explained.
"You shouldn't bring her there just yet. Phoebe's going to know what's up. You can't just hope to find her again with pictures of a little girl she didn't want in her house."
"I'm not bringing Alex to her. I'm reminding her."
"And I'm not sure I get it," she stammered, raising an eyebrow.
"Okay, look. The only thing I can think of that I still have in my possession, that I even have the ability to make come to me, happens to be something that triggers ninety-nine percent of all memories out there gone haywire. To the human eye, they're best known to us as photographs. She's in advertising, right? So I'll advertise, I'll ptich...whatever it takes. I'm going to make up a collage, with her and her daughter together in those pictures, and I'm going to go out on a limb here and hope it damn well works. The least she can do is throw me out again-"
"Or worse," Paige mulled over. "Call security and have them boot you out."
"Ha ha."
"Why don't I go and talk to her?" Prue spoke up, as she carefully entered the room, hands propped against her hips, her frame now clad in a new change of clothes. Her dark hair was roughly secured with a clip, and she looked rather exhausted.
"Prue, I don't need you to-"
"If she thinks the Power of Three....Four....whatever- look, the point is, if she thinks we've separated, this is my only chance to try and convince her that she's wrong, okay?"
"And who wanted to stay in an apartment filled with garbage?"
"I was scared, alright? It's all new to me, and I was scared. I had no idea what was happening, and yet it's also still possible that Phoebe doesn't either. She goes about her routine the way she does, as if we were still living the past that could've become the future. In her mind, she doesn't think she can change. Moreover, she has the feeling she doesn't want to."
"Are you saying you're finally willing to-"
She shrugged. "If it's like you say and these lawyer guys are in on it, I wouldn't shed a tear if we kick their sorry asses and leave them here to rot."
"Yeah, same old Prue," he added softly.
"Yeah, I'm back. So what's the deal?"
"Before you didn't even want to go with me, and now you're suddenly on a roll here?"
"I've got someone to get back home to," she added. "I've finally got him back, and I'm not going to lose him. If that's a problem for you, I guess you're obviously dumber than I thought."
"Prue-"
"Cole, if Phoebe's the reason Kellerman and Rickman are behind this, then that's who we need to get to. She's the key."
"I know," he said quietly.
"Then what are you waiting for?"
"Some rest?" he countered. "We all need it. We've been sorting this out for far too long to keep going at this rate."
"And I can't exactly tell Piper I'm back again, can I?"
"I'll work on it, okay?"
She finally nodded. "Alex is still asleep on the sofa," she mused, nearly smiling. "Something tells me she's going to be up in the middle of the night asking her dad for a story he probably doesn't have with him."
"And that's why I continue to make them up and surprise her," he finished, his scruffy countenance revealing emotion, as he chuckled at the thought.
"It's what dads do," Paige mumbled, "which is why she's depending on you with all she has now."
Cole sighed, leaning against the wall, as he gently laid his head back. "I just don't know if it'll be enough."
**********
Phoebe Halliwell let herself out of the office, shoulder bag slanted across her slender frame, her long brown hair falling down her back. She deeply breathed in the scent of evening air, and watched as night started to close in amongst the world around her. Despite her better judgement, and probably well sought out maturity, all she could seem to think about was him- hell, maybe it really was just a harmless little crush when it boiled down to it. Stop it, she thought. There was no reason to be basking in the fact that he actually noticed her- that another, rather attractive, member of the male species had found her intriguing beyond her physical attributes. But the thing of it was, she strangely felt as if he had seen into her very soul. Truth be told, she wasn't even sure what that meant, or if she'd really see him again, aside from what he'd previously claimed. He could be gone tomorrow, and she'd be left wondering what this ridiculously gorgeous man had found fascinating to the best of his enlightenment. It just didn't seem logical for it all to fall logically into place.
Frowning, she halted at the corner, suddenly regretting the fact that she'd opted for a walk on such a clear day, not to mention all by herself. Her senses abruptly kicked into the fact that she most likely wasn't alone, anymore. Whipping her head around from side to side, glancing curiously behind her, the only thing that loomed in her presence, were groups of shadows that refused to make their shapes known. Her heart began to beat faster, as she calmly set her bag down upon the pavement, her brown eyes roaming the allyway only steps ahead of her. Silence. Too quiet, she sided. Something was wrong.
"Well, well, well. A little Halliwell, all to myself. Don't think I've ever had quite the pleasure before."
She inched her head behind her again, just as a fist was about to clash rapidly into her pretty face, evenly anticipating his move with one of her own, as she quickly ducked, jabbing him in the ribs, as he fought to regain his composure, cursing himself tightly under his breath as he stumbled angrily to the side.
"And he just keeps sending them, doesn't he?"
"I don't...know what...you're talking about," he offered, struggling to relieve himself of the pain.
"No, you never do, do you?"
"I've got orders," he proclaimed. "And you're...going to....follow them."
"Oh, but see what you already made me do? Now the impact's going straight to your brain, cutting off all of that oxygen you won't need after I'm done with you."
"Stupid witch," he sneered.
"Don't call me that," she hissed.
"You owe us. Your debt has to be repaid in full, and we won't tolerate-"
"Then tell Jake to come to me himself. Tell him to show his pathetic face if he wants a piece of me."
"Oh, he has," a voice interceded, as a figure emerged out from beneath the shroud of darkness that had entirely enveloped the air now, taking extremely precise steps, until he was no more than five feet away from her.
"Then you better be prepared to have your ass kicked into eternity," she recited, blowing a piece of hair out of her eyes.
"On the contrary," he laughed, holding his stomach, as he continued to stare at her, his gaze no longer the slightest bit friendly. Throwing a look back at his associate, he pulled back his teeth even further into a sharp grin. "Screw Kellerman," he said simply. "This one's mine. She doesn't want to comply, and I see no reason to argue any longer."
"Sir?" the other man bowed steadily, offering Jake his full attention.
"Kill her. Leave nothing behind. I'd like a full report tomorrow morning. Is that clear?"
"But Mr. Randolph, sir, you can't be-"
"Do it, and be done with it. Don't come back until she's dead and buried. Use magic if necessary, but bring her down." He clasped his hands together, as if affirming an imcomplete bow of his own. "It was awfully nice doing business with you, Miss Halliwell. Perhaps we'll meet again."
"In hell," she snarled.
"As you wish. I'm actually fairly fond of it there." And with that, he was gone, no more than the vacant air that had haunted her only moments earlier. Fists raised high, stance executed firmly in the ground, she eyed up the only man left standing, and awaited the first blow.