Faded Fragments
part 24
"Okay, you what?!"
"I'm not asking your opinion, Prue, I'm telling you. If yo-"
"He's going to turn on you," Prue Halliwell told him, cutting him off, as she quickly held up a hand. "And then we're all screwed, Cole. And you wanna know why? Because as of right now, we were the only chance any of us had left. Not Seth. Us. We're supposed to be looking out for each other, and we're supposed to communicate, for God's sake!"
"God has nothing to do with this."
"Yeah, well, maybe you should have checked your priorities before you decided to team up with the very evil you're trying to prevent."
"I wouldn't exactly call it a team," he noted carefully, "but if we're lucky, Rickman and Kellerman will beat the crap out of each other a lot sooner than expected, and we can all go home a little early."
"Okay, and when were you planning on consulting me about this?"
"I don't report to you, Prue. I never have. If you don't like it, if you still find you have a problem with it, I suggest you try and vanquish me again, or hey- whatever else works for you, hmm? I'm sure your options are just endless by now. Let me help you...let's see, um...new potion, drowning, decapitation, knife clear across the throat, wow. The possibilities just amaze me. But you might wanna move quick, because we haven't got all day."
"Wouldn't you just love to know," she murmured, lightly gritting her teeth.
"Actually, no, I wouldn't," he surmised, shooting her a winning smile, "but thanks just the same."
"So what's one more on your record?"
"Either way, we'll be home in time for Christmas dinner," he added, shrugging.
"How can you even think about the holidays at a time like this?!"
"I know what I'm doing," he retorted simply.
"Your typical answer for everything."
"Prue, I'm not about to let Phoebe into something I know she won't be able to handle. But I also know that I don't like the way Seth has fixated on my wife. Now, you take a minute, and you do the math. You take some time process that, because I guarantee you it's key to his demise. He isn't anywhere near Rickman on the demonic scale, and as far as I'm concerned, we're dealing with a damn appetizer. These guys are all the same- I've been there, I know. So if you'd just get out of the way and let me do my job, we'd all be a lot better off."
"Oh, is that what you and all your demon buddies used to sit and talk about around a nice warm fire?"
"Did I ever tell you you have have a knack for getting on my nerves?"
"Plenty of times, but I don't really think it's sunk in yet," she quipped, offering him a wide smile.
"Yeah?"
"I know demons," she pointed out. "I suspected you before Phoebe knew you were in the game, and- oh yeah...wanted to kill her. I had your number, pal, and you couldn't deny that I was onto you back then, and you still ca-."
"Prue."
"Hey, I'm not finished-"
"This conversation is," he commented, raising a brow, "unless of course you want to hold me up for another half hour, so I can't keep tabs on him, and he decides to slip right through our fingers."
"That'll be on you," she mused, hands on her hips, " because I'm not taking responsiblity for him."
"And I'm not asking you to babysit. This is on me, and I'll deal with it."
"Yeah, Turner, now that you mention it, what's up with fancy pants in there?"
Cole calmly turned around, as yet another faint burst of annoyance began to settle in his system, his eyes narrowing, his hands placing themselves quickly into the pockets of his jeans. He stared at the other man a moment, quietly pursing his lips. "You want him, Merrick, he's all yours."
"And while I'd certainly relish the opportunity to properly discredit a former employer, not to mention current enemy- I'm gonna have to pass up that chance, Turner. His sanity expired hours ago, and there's no way I'm getting into that."
"He's a draw," Cole told him. "He'll bring Rickman-"
"The only thing he'll bring, is the fact that he's lost his common sense," Nick quipped, smiling. "But, you know, I suppose there's a first time for everything. Mmm...and you know- I was really looking forward to messing with his head, too. Guess we can scratch that though, huh?"
"What'd you know about Thomas Rickman?"
"You mean, besides the fact that I've never personally met the guy?"
"C'mon, Merrick, you worked at their firm for-"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but all I've heard are the rumors, and even they don't stand a chance of letting us know what this guy's really made of. I mean, sure, you could take a couple of pretty good guesses, but I seriously doubt they'd check out."
"Yeah, and I'd ask Seth, but I somehow doubt he's got a single clue as to who he's honestly dealing with."
"Nah, probably not, but he's gotta know he's dangerous," Nick pointed out.
"His methods of killing are pretty much known across the globe and beyond," Cole murmured. "I'd say he's probably good with a clear head on his shoulders, most likely doesn't like to waste too much time, and obviously knows his target. I keep wondering why he never took Seth out though- and you can bet he probably had the chance to more than once."
"He knows," Prue whispered.
"Knows?"
"They're at each other's throats, right? Competition? Kellerman told you he's got backup, but I would bet Rickman's struck up a deal to make them all beg."
"Makes sense," Nick agreed. "I mean...so I've heard."
"I think you're hearing a lot more than you're saying," Cole offered gently, inching a bit closer, as his eyes narrowed even further. "And I don't like to be put on hold. So if you've got it, I need it. I want to put this son of a bitch where he belongs, Nick."
"You're asking a lot for a man who hasn't nearly been around as long," he observed, tilting his head slowly to the side.
"What?"
"Rickman's probably got a few decades on you. Of course, I couldn't exactly testify to it with all my heart and soul, but he's had the basic gist of it down for more years than you could probably count. You'd be lucky if you could get a scratch on him."
"Okay- and a lot of this might have been a little more helpful if you'd have told me sooner, Merrick."
"I knew they were after you," he reminded him, "I just didn't know how. Ever hear the phrase 'don't kill the messenger?' "
"Yeah, and I've never really taken heed to it. A flaw, I'll grant you, but it always made killing in general so much more effective."
"Okay, you're joking, right? I...I mean you don't, like, do any of that stuff anymore.....Prue, tell me he's joking."
"What's the matter, Nick? Feel a lifeline slip away?"
"He doesn't have any right to talk to me that way," the other man protested. "Hell, Turner, I saved your life more than-"
"You warned me. That's not saving. Merrick, my wife was found in this place with no recollection of having spent time with me prior to the night I got here. Now, I hate like anything to discount the facts, but when there were never any present to begin with, I can't really say there's even an argument here."
"Maybe there's not, but I'm on your side here, man, okay? No matter how you look at it, I've always gone to bat for you guys."
"Yeah, except that time you tried to kill me in Egypt," Cole added, smiling rather sarcastically, "but for your sake, I'm just going to do my best to forget that."
"It was a mirage, anyway," Nick mumbled.
"Hardly a mirage when we nearly got ourselves killed by a crazy chick who wanted me to be her love slave, wouldn't you say?"
"Hey, look, I'm here for you. I just don't think it's a genius idea to leave that scum all by his lonesome in there."
"Piper and Phoebe are with him-"
"Which isn't exactly the Power of Three, if you know what I'm saying."
"Well, where's Paige?"
"Paige and I happen to be busy," he proclaimed, shrugging. "We've made some good progress, and I think you'll be happy to know that-"
"Nick."
"Oh, relax, alright? It's not what you think- believe me, that's actually the furthest thing from my mind right now, okay? We've been working on a kind of binding spell."
"Binding spell?" Cole returned, an eyebrow winging up. "Tell me....because apparently I seem to have grown two heads during all of this- what the hell are we keeping out...and moreover? What the hell's the point?"
"Hmm, I don't know...um...maybe Rickman?"
"A binding spell wouldn't stop him if his life depended on it," Prue finished, rolling her eyes. "He could probably go right through it without breaking a sweat."
"Yeah, only it's not exactly that kind of binding spell."
She simply glared at him. "Yeah, and what other kind is there?"
"Patience, patience," he murmured. "If it's one thing you Charmed Ones never had, it's patience."
"I'm going to let my fist hit your face in a second," Cole offered, lightly raising an arm, "because I've already ran out of patience."
"Yeah, and if anything can be said for you half breeds, it's probably the fact that you never had any to begin with."
"Prue, can I please hit him now?"
"Cole-"
"You don't have to watch, I promise. Just turn away for a little while, and pretend you never saw anything, alright?"
"Dammit, this is serious!" she pressed, her expression slicing through his with a cold glare.
"Don't you think I know that?" he shot back. "Everything we do from here on out matters, because we don't exactly get a second chance, Prue. So why don't we just leave it at 'I know what the hell I'm doing,' and get this thing done, shall we?"
"Yeah, and what are you going to do with Seth? He's going to want in on this in a big way, Cole."
"Correct me if I'm wrong about this, but I happen to think Seth still believes he'll get more than he bargained for with Phoebe," Nick stated, as he hesitantly stepped closer, arms fitting themselves neatly across his chest.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Prue interjected, turning to look at him, her face a massive stretch of perplexity.
"Cole knows what it means," he explained. "Don't you, Cole?"
He never saw it coming. In an instant, he was sprawled flat on his face on the floor, quickly swiping at a nose that was now seeping small pools of blood. Still struggling to catch his breath, he gasped, muttering a band of silent curses to himself, fighting to get back what was left of his composure, as he slowly looked up to see the other man staring down at him with pure amusement on his face.
"Hey, Merrick, now we're even," the cheerful voice carefully proclaimed, shooting his opponent a wink. And with that, Cole sauntered away, leaving him to drown in his pain below, while Prue frantically threw herself to the ground to further inspect the damage, her profile entirely composed of shock.
"Oh...oh crap, I think...I really think the son of a bitch just broke my nose."
"Yeah, and you should have just kept your big mouth shut," she advised him, eagerly reaching out to him with a handful of tissues.
"Dammit, Prue, I think- dammit, there's blood everywhere. Oh God..."
"He'll live!" Cole called behind him, as he nonchalantly waved a hand without looking back. "Good things come to those who wait. And bad things, Nick? Well, bad things come to those who just deserve them."
"You're going to pay for this, Turner! One way or another, you're going to pay."
"Yeah? I'll write you a check for the damages."
"You'll pay!" he repeated. "Ugh...dammit, Cole..."
"Yeah, Nick, I trust you'll make good on that threat. But for the time being, get off your ass and try doing something productive."
"If I were to become the next Source, you wouldn't stand a chance!"
"Been there, done that."
**********
"Okay, you can just stop looking at me that way, alright? I'm not going pull a fast one, so you can both sit back and relax."
"Gee, Phoebe, why don't I believe him?"
Phoebe Halliwell offered a quiet smirk in her sister's direction, as she flipped past yet another page in the Book of Shadows, her legs crossed in front of her, her arms outstretched on the small table that sat cluttered with various glass bottles and crumpled sheets of paper, the ink coated with half a dozen straight lines and chicken scratches. "I don't know....I think it's the eyes. They're all- evil and loomy, you know?"
Piper Halliwell raised a perplexed eyebrow. "Loomy?"
"Scary. Dark, and scary?" She shrugged, calmly shaking her head, as she gave Seth Kellerman a complete once over, her hand resting on the next page. "Yeah. I don't know what I ever saw in you before."
"Could have been a good man," he suggested randomly.
"Nah, I don't think so. See, I guess I always knew something was off- only it never really clicked until I met Cole."
"Cole's apparently got a lot to learn," Seth continued, running a hand through his blonde mane of hair with a rather hopeful gaze, as he offering the smallest of laughs. He laid a hand to the tattered sofa that held him, his touch fingering the fabric with a faint bit of interest, lingering there a moment. "Pity he doesn't know just what he's up against."
"Yeah, and maybe you should tell him," Piper volunteered, shooting him a brief glare, "or we might just take it upon ourselves to have second thoughts in hurting you."
"You don't frighten me, witch. I've dealt with your kind before. Granted, it was never the infamous Charmed Ones, but some of them came pretty damn close."
"Oh, really?" Phoebe chimed in, her eyes brightening with a rather sarcastic curiosity. "Well, that's just dandy, isn't it? Maybe you'd actually care to enlighten us, hmm?"
"Mmm...well. If you're that interested in how I went about killing each and every one of them, along with all their friends, you're more than welcome to listen-"
"You really are a piece of work, aren't you?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"What'd you take us for? I mean, seriously, buddy. Get real. The only thing you've ever hurt is a fly- or for that matter, your bruised little ego. You were probably too busy living in the shadow of Tom Rickman- not to mention kissing his ass every chance you got. Gotta be pretty sore by now, wouldn't you say?"
"Now that's just low, not to mentioned uncalled for," he snarled, lighting gritting his teeth. "I'll have you know-"
"You're not as dangerous as you look anymore, so get over it. We've got the ball, Seth, and we're not about to throw it to you. So get off your high horse and shut up."
"I never doubted you took the prize for first class bitch," he muttered, slightly tilting his head in her direction. "But I'll admit....seeing it with my own eyes is just simply fascinating. You've got more spunk than I give your credit for. I can see why Turner's so hell bent on keeping you- unfortunately I could never say the same for myself."
"Yeah, well the feeling's mutual, because I'm not exactly inclined to spend the rest of my life with a homicidal maniac who's fallen from grace."
"Maniac? Hardly. I prefer to think of myself as thorough, and I'm sure Cole would agree."
"Think we have any duct tape left?" Piper spoke up, the corners of her mouth threatening to twitch themselves into a quick smile.
"Ooooh, hey, good idea. I never thought of that. Painful and yet effective."
"You're wasting your time," he challenged them. "Each and every second you spend babbling away here with me, you're letting Rickman get closer. And when he does-"
"So call in your guys," Phoebe told him. "You told us you had some that could help us, and so far you haven't shown us squat."
"Yes, and they're coming, I assure you."
"Oh, he's assuring us now," she quipped. "Gee, Piper, let's give him a round of applause."
"Look, I can understand the sudden hostility, alright? I took a shot at you, and I played you. But is all this really necessary? I mean, I'm redeeming myself here, and all you can do is-"
"You couldn't redeem yourself if you tried," she commented plainly, her brown eyes angrily staring into his.
"You were our way in. Can I help it if we were forced to use you for the greater good?"
"Yeah, and what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You made all of this work," he told her softly. "I have no one but you to thank for it, Miss Halliwell. Unfortunately, it proved to be yet another downfall for both me and my firm. Rickman knew Patrick and I screwed up, and there's no coming back now."
"You do the crime, you do the time," she snapped back.
"Phoebe."
"It's out of my hands, Seth. And there's no one else to blame now. You're going to take the fall for this, whether you like it or not."
"Yes, but it's not exactly the fate I had in mind."
"Well, what? You think when this is over, you're just going to get to quickly skip away to a nice, warm deserted beach with barely dressed women to tend to your every need and disturbing desire? Hey. You'll always have dreams."
"I thought you learned so much faster than that, Miss Halliwell. I guess I really did underestimate your capabilities. Shame on me, hmm?"
"Um...what's going on?" Piper questioned.
"He's just trying to mess with our heads again," her sister added. "It's what he does, Piper.The trick is to not let it work."
"Ah, but ladies, I'm afraid the hourglass has just run out," he confirmed, his teeth flashing brilliantly, as he calmly lifted himself into an upright position, tightly clasping his hands together. "You're out of time, and things are about to get a great deal more exciting."
"Yeah, and this isn't funny anymore. So you better just sit back down there, or-"
"Phoebe, Phoebe, such a smart little bitch. Too bad you're not nearly smart enough."
"Sit down, Seth. Now."
"You fail to see the logic in this," he retorted simply. "But more importantly, you had no idea who you were dealing with from the start. I saw to that. Truth of it was, I always have. You see, Seth Kellerman may have had the power to bring you here...he...may have been a lot of things. But he never possessed the power to do much of anything with himself, nor to others. He was, for choice of a better word, helpless- and quite annoying, if I may say. He's probably still drowning himself in all his petty failures, while I've had the perfect opportunity to proceed on course. I've got you right where I want you, and there's currently no way out. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide...it's almost poetic in a way, is it not?" The face in front of them had already begun to alter its shape completely, the grin seeming all too familiar. "Don't worry though. I've vowed to make this quick, painless, and quite the celebration before the day is out. So it's almost guaranteed you'll stay. Wouldn't want to miss the big finish now, would you? I mean, after all, I hear it'll be going out with quite a bang. What do you say? Care to join the party?"