A Kind of Magic
part 20
Cole quickly tossed an energy ball, watching as it sailed directly over The Dark's head, his aim still appearing to be slightly off balance. Groaning, he heaved another at her consecutively, watching as it bounced off her shoulder blade, evaporating until it became one with the air around them. "Work, dammit," he whispered. Shrugging helplessly, he tried a few lightning bolts, which also appeared to have no effect.
"I think you outdid your turn," she said calmly. "Looks like it's mine now."
"Then try me," he taunted.
"Oh, I will." She threw two balls of fire out to him, watching as he quickly crouched low to the ground. Lily laughed, clapping her hands together. "If you can't tag him when he's down, guess you have to give or take a little, hmm?" She rolled a ball to the ground, as she threw another a great distance higher, easily targeting the space accordingly. As he ducked once again, he remained oblivious to the one at his feet, as it struck him with a deep resounding blow. He fell to the earth, the pain near to impossible. "Now that's the sign of defeat. I love it."
He immediately got himself up, staggering in step, as he kept both eyes on her. "Oh, please. I'm still good to go for another round. What else have you got?"
She waved her hand, watching as some of the debris began to rain down upon him. "That. And it wasn't borrowed," she added. "Entertaining, isn't it?"
***
"Alex! Alex, get up. Come on. I need you, Ally!"
The small girl's lashes fluttered back and forth a few times, but remained closed. Melinda continued to apply a couple of brief shakes to her tiny frame, but did not prevail. Biting her lower lip, she considered her options in the short segment of time they now had left. Being a mere child wasn't entirely full of too many possibilities. She stared out ahead of her, glancing at her mother and father's limp bodies crumpled alongside each other in the dirt. Bringing up her hand, she tossed it roughly against Alex's face, slapping her lifeless cousin for all it was worth.
Alex's eyes flew open, as she abruptly shot into an upright position. "You hit me!" she sqeaked in a small voice.
"You wouldn't get awake!" her opponent sided, frowning.
"What's going on?"
"We have to help out Uncle Cole," Melinda tried hopefully.
"But how? My...my mommy's not moving. No one is..."
"Maybe Aunt Phoebe is dead?"
"Don't say that!" Alex said stubbornly.
"So maybe we could, like, write a spell?" Melinda then suggested, shrugging.
"But I don't know how," she tried.
"Mom does it with Aunt Phoebe and Paige," Melinda pointed out. "They have that book thing."
"Book?"
"The one in the attic," her cousin said quickly. "It's magic."
"But they're The Charmed Ones. We're not."
"Well, I can't do much then," the little girl protested. "My powers aren't like yours, Alex."
"Do you think we could get them back first?"
"What do you mean?"
"My powers. Would a spell let them?"
"If you could think of what the shadow monster said. It would be, like, backwards or something."
"But I don't know. I was...I was asleep then," she noted fretfully.
"So just make something up."
"I can't."
"Yes, you can. Don't be a baby."
"I'm not a baby, you're a baby," she roughly accused.
"You want to save your dad, don't you?"
***
"Oh, Turner, don't be such a poor sport, honey. Keep that chin up."
Cole struck her with the last energy ball he could manage, falling back to his knees. She charged him quickly, tossing a few punches to his face, as his weakness got the better of him. He hung on to his hand, the pain searing through him full force now. But he couldn't give up. Couldn't back down from this, and simply let evil run its course. It had almost won out for him and Phoebe back when he'd been that horrific Source of all that schemed to one day rule the Underworld. He hadn't been that man for some time, and he wasn't going to be again. She could try her best to kill him if she liked, but he would never bow to her manipulative ways.
"You know, it's not too late to surrender!" she yelled, even more furious at the fact that he refused to fight back. "But see? You are a coward, Cole. I knew it, you knew it. Guess it was a perfectly good assumption on my part to say it would show itself in time. That you would show your true self in time. No more big scary demon, hmm?"
Growling deep in his throat, he threw his weight into her, knocking her to her feet. Her head struck the pavement extremely hard, as she let out another scream. "You saw my true self when I fell in love with Phoebe," hw whispered, his voice rather hoarse. "And if you can't accept who I am yet, that's- it won't change. I won't be betraying a woman who was responsible for making me a better man."
She blindly threw her fist into his face as hard as she could, connecting her flesh with his right eye. Cole reached out for her arm, trying to pin it to the earth below. "Aren't you glad we met up with one another again?" she breathed. "I was especially shocked to learn it was you whose daughter I needed. But, you know, I guess that just made it even easier in the long run. You really are a tough guy to catch up with though. Always running from what you can't stay and face. Probably thought you were too clever. That day I cornered you and Alexandra in the woods- I knew I was going to triumph in this one way or another. It doesn't matter how much you threaten- how much you ward my kind off. We are the lucky- we will survive, Cole."
***
"Okay. I hope this is right," Alex offered. "I'm not good at being a witch. I don't know-"
"We've got to though," Melinda said again. "Come on. We'll say it together, Ally. Are you ready?"
"I...think," the young girl, replied carefully, still incredibly nervous.
"Okay, on three," she whispered back. "One, two....."
"Light my powers, find a way, bring them back, make it okay," they chanted in unison, their eyes sealed tight in concentration. "Light my powers, find a way, bring them back, make it okay!"
The Dark halted briefly up ahead, as she made her way to her feet from Cole's attack. She placed a single hand across her chest, her expression faltering, as she staggered back a couple of steps. "You little brats," she hissed. "Just what do you think you're doing?"
"Keep it up," Melinda told her, her stare focused on their predator now, as her small hand gently tugged her cousin's shirt sleeve.
"Light my powers, find a way, bring them back, make it okay," they carried on then. "Light my powers, find a way, bring them back, make it okay."
As a single whisp of light reluctantly tore itself from her body, she let out a howl of pain, watching through a tear-stained gaze as the essence slowly re-entered Alex, her face contorting a great rage. "Noooo!!!"
Alex, surprised at the strength that consumed her, brought herself out of her position on the ground, and raised herself to her full height. Cole slowly perched himself upon his elbows, offering a weak glance in his daughter's direction, a faint smile falling over his bruised features. She looked at her father, waiting for his approval. Cole nodded, giving her a quick wink.
"Please," Lily begged, her head casted downward, as she held out both hands to shield herself. "Don't."
"You hurt my mommy and daddy," the little wicca added, her mouth set in a tight line of determination.
"And you can't take pity on a troubled demon?" she sounded, her tone breaking.
"No," Alex told her matter of factly. "I really can't."
"Then you're just as much of a coward as your father."
"My daddy's still a hero!" she emphasized loudly. "And you and no one else can take that away from him!"
"Go Ally," Melinda cheered her on, a smile covering her entire face.
"Don't make me vanquish you, you little bitch."
"But you already tried," Melinda urged. "You dropped her into that pit."
"No," Cole whispered. "Don't listen, Ally."
The Dark laughed. "Goodbye, little witch."
"Now!" Melinda screamed. Placing her hand over her opponent's, they raised them to their enemy, fire protruding from Alex's control, hitting the demon full force, as she was blown back in a rush of the warmth that encompassed the air. "Vanquish this evil from time and space," they recited word for word, continuing, as The Dark's skin began to peel away from her body, revealing her true form. The very one she'd shown them in the woods- sighting her for what she really was. Her unearthly screams resounded through the darkness, fading as her essence became a mere nothingness, ceasing to exist. As the last of the ashes started to scatter down below, Alex- now completely out of breath, let up on her hold, sinking to her feet in a small heap. Melinda, overcome with joy, threw her cousin into a large hug, as she began to giggle.
A loud groan escaped Cole's lips, as he rested his head again, shutting his lids. "Amen."
"I...we did it," Alex finally acknowledged. "We beat the bad lady."
"Together," her partner in crime added.
"And if I wasn't hurting so much, this would call for a celebration," a voice echoed. Phoebe pulled herself up from the rubble, running to her daughter, and scooping her up into her arms, planting kisses all over her face. "Oh, honey. Oh, sweetie, I missed you so much. Dammit, I missed you. To death," she whispered, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Oh, Alex."
"Quick, you gotta get Dad to heal Mom!" Melinda instructed, as she indicated the others.
"Paige!" Phoebe yelled, placing Alex back down. "Paige! Paige, we need your help!"
"But-"
"Melinda, Leo's...um...your dad looks pretty bad. I think she's their only chance."
"Aunt Paige," the little girl called out, rushing to her parents.
Paige groggily came to, her expression mounting to confusion, as she roughly pried open her eyes. "Ugh. Anyone want to tell me what's going on?"
"Heal. Piper. Leo. Now," her sister commanded.
"What?" As her gaze finally turned into the scene before her, she swallowed hard, worry taking hold. "Oh...oh my God." Scrambling to her feet, she raced to them, her hands immediately touching upon their wounds.
"Did I ever tell you how great those expanded powers are?" her sister told her, a hand covering her heart, briefly shaking ever so slightly.
"Yeah, well, it's just too bad I can't heal myself," she pointed out. "One skill I have yet to master."
"And we will," Phoebe told her. "I'm not going to fight this anymore. We...we need it, don't we?"
Paige nodded. "You're telling me."
Leo and Piper awoke, attempting to move within the dirt around them, offering looks about at their present surroundings. Piper fingered her forehead, uttering a slight whine in complaint. "I think an elephant just sat on my head."
"Who cares? You're alive!" Phoebe rang out, as she and Paige both wrapped her into a hug at the same time.
"Where are the girls?" Leo spoke up.
"I'm here, Dad," Melinda said softly, throwing her arms around his neck. "Happy to see me?"
"You have no idea," Leo rang out, smiling.
"You know, Alex should, like, get an award or something," she hinted. "She helped us all."
"It was both of us," her cousin repeated. "Together. Remember?"
"I'd say we have some pretty dangerous wiccas on our hands in that case," Paige teased, raising her eyebrows in surprise.
"Amazing," Piper quipped. "But I think I have an urgent date with Tylenol when we get home. And honey? You're orbing."
The girls laughed, while Leo threw on a stubborn expression.
"Hey. Um...wait a minute," Paige added. "Aren't we missing somebody?"
"Cole," Phoebe whispered. "Is he...?"
"He's over there," Leo answered, catching a glimpse of the ex-demon.
"Did you heal him?" Phoebe asked Paige.
"I...he didn't want to be," she whispered. "I...I don't think he even knows I'm capable. All those years without our magic...I never thought to-"
"Oh my God, Cole," Phoebe uttered, a hand resting on her lips. Without hesitation, she was beside him on the ground, her fingertips lightly sliding across his beaten face that lay in scratches and one extremely noticeable black eye. "Cole? Sweetie, can you hear me?"
He didn't move, his eyes still closed tight, his lips slightly parted.
"Cole? Cole, c'mon. Don't do this. Not...not now. Cole?" She placed her head upon his chest, her relieved expression revealing the fact that steady breathing still came from his tired body. She put her face closer to his, their lips only inches away from one another. "Cole?" She caught sight of his broken fingers then, tears rolling down more freely. "Oh, baby. What did she do to you?"
"I'm drawing a blank. But you know what? I think I sure as hell deserve a kiss for it," a familiar voice joked, as it whispered into her ear.
She hit him, smiling in spite of his situation. "You idiot!"
"Um...ow?" he said quietly, as his handsome profile displayed a pleased look, letting out a small laugh.
"I can't believe you! After all we've been through here, and you wanted to pull something so-"
But he cut her off, pulling her into a passionate kiss, his good hand traveling through her hair. She muttered a brief moan, as she threw herself into it, falling onto his chest. "So you didn't give in."
"Is that a statement or a guess?"
"Cole Turner, you are just too desirable, even over a hundred years past. And I love you for it."
"Can't resist me, Mrs. Turner?"
"Never," she breathed.
"Did I mention that I'm going to be sick?" Paige interrupted.
They just glared at her, as she finally broke out into a fit of giggles.
"Onward to home sweet home?" Phoebe asked.
"Please," Cole agreed, sighing. "And while you're at it? Put a binding spell on your sister's mouth for me."