Faded Fragments
part 9
Paige Matthews rapped her knuckles lightly across the manor door, as she crossed her arms over her chest, eyebrows raised with a fairly renewed interest. Part of her wanted to just go right in, but somehow she knew better than that. Going in also meant unforeseen consequences at this stage, and considering what had already happened to her other sister, not to exclude her sister's husband's reaction, she realized that half the world probably knew just how irresponsible Phoebe was by now, especially after having apparently just forgotten she had a life and had abandoned it without a single care as to how to defend herself. She wondered if it was hard to give up on the man you'd devoted years of your life to- if only to pity a hapless schmuck who appeared to have no sense of class whatsoever. Whatever her reason was for doing it, she had damn well better explain herself. After signaling another series of taps, she felt a strong hand come down lightly on her shoulder, as it gently provided her with a reassuring squeeze, reluctantly stepping forward. "The hell with it," Cole Turner muttered. "We're going in."
"Excuse me?" She frowned slightly. "You make it sound like it's a team effort. Seeing as you're a little slow on the uptake, let me give it to you straight. I make the decisions here, dude."
"So it's....not a team effort?" he returned, raising an eyebrow.
"Hell no. I wanted to do this alone, and God help us all, you just had to come along and make trouble. Lately it seems to be your calling card."
"And what's the worst that could possibly happen?"
"Oh, you mean besides the fact that Phoebe could just be here right now, and decide to smack you with a baseball bat or shovel?"
"Personally, I think having her future self smack a possessed me with a hand, was more than enough to compensate," he drawled. "But have it your way."
"And believe me, I got more than my fair share of laughs out of that one. Nearly fell over, in fact."
"I'll bet you did."
"But she still knew who you were," she pointed out.
"What?"
"Future Phoebe," she murmured. "Cole, think about it. She knew it was still you, despite the Source stuff, and she recalled a future with you that brought marriage into it. Doesn't it seem odd that Phoebe doesn't seem to know you're alive now, aside from the part where she's romancing Mr. Smooth?"
"That's his name?"
"No, you idiot, I'm just setting an example. Alright? If you think about what happened before, it doesn't-"
"Yes, which brings us back to the only scenario we've been juggling for the past few hours," he countered.
"So maybe there's really something to it, after all," she protested, as he brushed past her, throwing open the door with little effort, as he strode across the foyer, his eyes plagued with a calm sense of alertness. "They never did like to lock that damn door, did they? Too predictable, wouldn't you say? Then again, you guys always were."
"Hey, I happen to resent that."
"Yeah, well, I speak the truth...." he added, already ignoring her.
"Alex, are you coming?" Paige called out, throwing a scowl his way, as she turned back to the quiet little girl.
Alex, who had meanwhile securely positioned herself behind her aunt, had successfully wound a tiny hand around Paige's leg, her eyes rather large and curious, as she found herself peeking inside. "Is it safe?"
"Demon free," Paige whispered, as she assured her with a nod, holding out a hand to her.
"I'm not worried about demons," she uttered, entirely serious, as she latched onto it. "I'm worried about Mommy."
"Oh, sweetie, there's nothing to be afraid of. Honest. It's just a big house- and...and I'm sure once Piper knows we're here, she'll tell us what the heck is going on."
"Wishful thinking," Cole muttered, as he bounded the stairwell, his hand reaching out to steady himself upon the bannister. "And this wallpaper's hideous."
"If your dad could just stay positive for more than five minutes, we'd be off to a reasonably good start."
"Again, wishful thinking."
"Cole, you're scaring her, so just cut the-"
"There's no one here," he said softly. "The place is empty."
"Hello?!" Paige called out, much to his dismay, as she walked faster to catch up to him, pulling along a reluctant Alex, as she nervously leapt onto the stairs behind him. "Is anyone home?! Piper?! Leo?!" She paused a moment, her hand beginning to shake, ever so slightly, as she reached up to cup both of them around her mouth. "Melinda?!"
"Nothing like a dead giveaway," he quipped.
"Look, we can do it your way or we can do it the hard way. Quite frankly, I don't see much of a difference."
"Maybe they went out," Alex suggested hopefully. "Maybe to dinner, Aunt Paige?"
"Possible," she whispered. "Piper?! Piper, it's Paige! You here?!"
Frantically turning on her, Cole shot her a cold, hard glare, his blues bearing down on her in a rather dangerous approach, as he quietly tightened a fist at his side. "If you were any more obvious, we'd have heard something by now."
"Yeah, and the pictures aren't even right on this wall," she casually remarked.
"I'm sorry?"
"The pictures," she brought forth impatiently, gesturing a hand to her right.
"What about them?"
"These weren't even up when they first invited me to come live with them-"
"Yes, and that's a mistake they'll probably never live down, is it?"
"You know, contrary to your selfish air of self involvement, I just pointed out something to us that could prove to be very useful. So if you want to save time, maybe you should learn to roll with the punches a little better."
"Trust me, Paige, I've already rolled with them more than I care to rehash today. In fact, seeing my wife with your so called Mr. Smooth, was enough to double the scale, wouldn't you say?"
"What did Aunt Piper have up before?" Alex asked curiously.
"Look, do you remember the woogyman?" she countered, her eyes matching his.
"Woogyman?"
"Yeah, the woogyman. Ring a bell?"
"If I'm not mistaken, I think that was part of Phoebe's 'dont ask, don't tell' policy. She didn't want to dive deeper, and I never asked."
"Fair enough, which is why we should probably go and see if it really exists."
"Right now?" Alex pressed. "Aunt Paige, is it going to hurt us?"
"We should all still have our powers, therefore it should all still be a piece of cake, right?"
"What exactly are you implying? That we're stuck in some kind of nightmarish hell plane that transported us back to the past?"
"Basically, yes."
"If that's your new take on this, you must really be losing it." He nearly laughed, as he reached the top of the stairwell, drawing a hand over his scruffy countenance. "First the picture and now the woogy. If anything, having my daughter here with us, disproves your theory in the most obvious possible way. You can't just assume what isn't there."
"I still say we go and check on the woogy theory." She raised an eyebrow. "Unless of course, you're a big chicken and don't have nearly enough manly strength."
Trying the knob to Phoebe's old room, he gently shoved the door open, revealing a neat assessment of a well kept living space. A pair of worn slippers sat comfortably by the far edge of the bed, most likely having been shrugged off at impossible angles, while a pair of pj bottoms and a spaghetti strap rested on the bed itself, the contents somewhat crumpled. A brush lay haphazardly about the dresser, which revealed an immediate repetition of itself with the mirror framing the items parallel to the originals. A few post-it notes had been randomly tacked in various spots, and the bedsheets lay in tossled heaps, lacking all possible order. He stared at it, unblinking, his hands shoving themselves absentmindedly into his pockets, as he briefly cleared his throat.
"Something's very rotten in Denmark," Paige quipped, her eyes widening considerably upon witnessing the arrangment herself. "I mean, if you've got a husband who loves you, and three children you mean the world to, why would you come all the way back here and take back your former life? Piper would have told me if something was up. They already changed this into a room for Elizabeth. There was a crib in here less than twenty-four hours ago. How does that just disappear?"
"The same way she has," he said quietly, sitting himself down on the bed, as he ran a strong hand over the softness of the comforter, a slight sigh escaping his lips, as his chest felt nearly ready to set his heart free.
"Cole, think about it. What else is there, now? What else do we really have to say that we aren't in the past, when everything is starting to point in just that direction?"
"Because you want it to," he surmised.
"For what?"
"To reassure yourself," he tried. "To make yourself think this is just some damn mishap that'll go away overnight again." He looked at her, studying her a moment. "But it won't. It'll still be like this, because it's just as real as the reason why our house is no longer there anymore. The real answers? The ones that matter to us deep down inside, probably don't stand a chance of being found, because somebody doesn't want us to find them."
"So the question is, why?"
"Good question," he mumbled thoughtfully.
"What about Kellermond and Dinkman?" Alex added casually, a smile beaming atop her tiny face.
Cole's lips tugged into a smile of his own, as it there with a faint trace of amusement. "Who, sweetie?"
"Kellermond and Dinkman," she professed. "The lawyers, Daddy." She thought about it for a good minute. "Uh oh. Did I get it wrong again?"
"Kellerman and Rickman?" Paige inquired, as Alex nodded. "The bastards. No wonder they haven't been breathing down our necks. They've probably been up to no good this whole time. I'll bet it's them. And I'll bet they're still trying to get to us, because the apparent lowlifes have nothing better to do."
Cole shook his head. "Paige, they can't make Phoebe do something she doesn't want to do. They can't make her love another man. It's not-"
"Are you sure about that?"
"Even if they could, she's been around long enough to know when she's in love, and who the right man is....she'd know."
"And you still think it's you," she pointed out.
"Can we please not discuss this for a very long time?"
"Hey, sure, whatever. Just thought it'd really be something if the firm really did have the power to do something like that....you know?"
"Who's Clay?"
She raised an eyebrow out of confusion, as she tilted a hand against her hip. "Huh? Clay who?"
He frowned. "Who is he, Paige?"
"I don't know. I don't know anyone named Clay, Cole. And even if I did, where's the logic in that? What does someone named Clay have to do with this?"
"A lot, actually," a voice beckoned from the doorway, as Piper Halliwell stepped into view, her eyes tired from a long day's work, and her mouth set in a rather tight line, as she eyed them up with careful precision, a hand held out in front of her, palm lifted in their direction. "Also depends on who wants to know, and what you're doing in my house right now."
"Piper, it's-" Paige began, but was silenced much to her dismay, as Piper held up her other hand.
"I don't know you," she whispered. "And even if I did, it still doesn't explain what the hell you're doing in my house."
"Get Leo. Call him, and he'll tell you every-"
"Leo and I broke up- look...how...." She shook her head, a thin layer of bangs tumbling carelessly about her forehead. "Did Phoebe send you over here? Because if she did, she'd already know that I'm seeing Dan now, and nothing either of you say is going to change that, alright? So just...quit while you're ahead, and we're all good."
"Hey, whoa, no one's trying to change anything," Cole added, lifting himself up from the bed, as he felt Alex gently tugging at his hand, as he mechanically grasped it into his own out of protection, his features soft as he studied his sister in law. "Okay? Look, I just want to-"
"Clay is Phoebe's boyfriend. He came back here for her again, and the rest is pretty much history, urn not included. I don't think they belong together, but it's hardly my place to judge anymore, is it? I mean, I should talk, right?"
"She doesn't know, either," Paige realized aloud, as she carefully gestured around her. "All this. It never did change. It's still the way it used to be well over five years ago. Only...it's now. Here. Right here."
"What?" Piper snapped. "Look, with all due respect, are you going to tell me who you people are, or do I try using force?"
"Depends on what kind of force you're proposing," Cole cut in, his eyes narrowed, as he offered a slight wince.
"Want to test my patience to find out?"
"The Power of Three," he suggested. "What happened to it?"
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."
"No?"
"I don't have powers of anything here. I never-"
"Then why were you just about to freeze me?"
"Look, it wears off, okay? But that's besides the point." She blew a piece of hair out of her eyes. "Who are you?"
"Cole Turner."
"You're not in the Book of Shadows. I'd remember. Which probably means you're not a demonic imbecile I'll have to reckon with."
"Then maybe you should try me under a different name," he added, offering her a sly smile. "Though it's not one I go by, anymore."
"What?"
"We're not here to hurt you," Paige volunteered. "We're here to find out what happened to our lives."
"You're his wife?"
"Who, me? Nooooo....are you out of your mind?" Paige nearly choked, as she quickly placed a hand upon her heart to steady herself, watching Cole's smirk grow even wider, as she half prepared to jab him quite roughly in the ribs. "Phoebe is. And that little girl right there? She's hers, too. She's theirs."
"That's impossible. Phoebe doesn't have a child. She wouldn't-"
"You're right," Cole mused. "She has three. And you just happen to be an aunt, not to mention a mother to a little girl of your own."
"Yeah, and that never happened. It was only a vision of what our futures could have been like. It never came to pass. Phoebe didn't kill anyone, and I didn't- never married Leo. Is this some kind of joke?"
"Who did Phoebe kill?"
"Look, it doesn't matter, because it never happened. Aren't you listening to a word I'm saying?"
"Aunt Piper doesn't remember me, either," Alex whispered, staring up sadly to meet her father's gaze. "Just like Mommy. I knew it. They don't even know me."
"Sweetheart, it's going to be okay. It's going to-"
"No, it isn't. How can we ever get home, if they don't even remember us?"
"Where Prue?" Paige countered. "Even if you don't have the slightest clue what we're trying to tell you right now, she might. And if we can get her to help us, maybe there's some chance you and Phoebe can both get your memories back."
"Memory? Look, I feel just fine, okay? Nothing wrong on my end."
Cole eyed her a moment longer. "Positive?"
"Whatever you're trying to pull, I'm not biting."
"Then why won't you at least tell us what happened to the Power of Three?" he challenged her. "We have a right to know. And if you think keeping it from me is going to protect your secret, you have no idea what I'm capable of."
"Is that a threat, Mr. Turner?"
"Would you like it to be? Because that can be arranged."
"Oh, can it?"
"Have you at least got an address?" Paige interrupted, her temper struggling to remain low key, as she calmly shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
"For what?"
"To reach Phoebe through her place of employment?"
"We don't exist anymore. Don't you get that? We all went our separate ways. There's nothing left. And if you think you're going to go out scouting for one piece of evidence, you're in for a big disappointment."
"What happened?" Cole asked her quietly, his heart finding itself slowly sinking in his chest again, as he prepared himself for the worst, his gorgeous visage already crumbling.
"Sometimes beliefs aren't strong enough. Not even with the strongest witches to believe in them. It just wasn't worth it anymore. Which I hardly think you should make your problem. It's ours, and we dealt with it. We each wanted something different, and let's just say that Phoebe got it. For whatever costs we've suffered for, I've suffered twice the pain, because I lost both of my sisters. You can see that any way you want to, but as stupid as I thought being a witch was, I kind of miss it. And, well...here I am talking to a bunch of strangers, because the only family I had left, doesn't give a damn about me, and I somehow feel I've lost more than that."
"And there was one sister you never did," Paige told her, a smile falling across her pretty face. "Lose, I mean."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm a Charmed One too," she added, waving a hand in front of her. "Not that you'd have known, but it's true, and I-"
"I don't understand."
"You're not the only one, trust me."
"I'd like to," Piper responded cautiously, a nervous hand running itself through her dark hair. "But I gave that up when I got my normal life, didn't I?"
"But you still have your powers," Cole pointed out. "That has to count for something. It means the Power of Three can still be reconstituted."
"Oh, keep dreaming," she sided, offering a low chuckle.
"Does the name Kellerman and Rickman mean anything to you?"
She thought for a moment, shrugging her shoulders with little to no effort, as she briefly shook her head. "Mmm....no....I don't...think so. Should it?"
"I don't know."
"Well, that helps."
"They're a firm. Their building should be a few blocks from here," he tried.
"Then it's probably right around where Phoebe works. Look. Let me get a pen and paper, and I'll give you that information in a second, alright? It's just...I've...had a really hectic day, and I don't even know if I'm thinking clearly right now."
"She...she's got a job?" he asked, clearly dumbfounded.
"She works for advertising. You didn't know that either, I'd wager?"
He quietly shook his head. "I guess I....apparently don't know a lot about her anymore, do I?"
"It's hard to say goodbye," she reasoned, nodding.
"Yeah," he whispered.
She paused a moment. "I'm sorry, what did you say you name was?"
"Cole-"
"No, I mean you," she interrupted, immediately shooting a hopeful gaze Paige's way, her fingers intertwining themselves nonchalantly into the belt loops of her jeans.
"Paige, Paige Matthews."
"Why are you- I mean, why have you decided to..." Cole began, his voice trailing off, as he struggled not to break down, his heart anxious in his chest at the thought that he might actually be able to see his wife face to face again.
"Help you?" she responded lightly, finally throwing him a warm smile. "Your little girl," she added, gesturing to Alex, who still stood beside him, her small gaze troubled with unseen thoughts, as she stared up at her aunt with wide eyes. Piper stared at her awhile, half considering the prospect. "She has your eyes- but she's also just as stubborn as Phoebe was."
He laughed, as he gently squeezed his daughter's shoulder, nearly missing the grin that surprisingly touched the corner's of Paige's face, as she quickly hid it from his view.