Chapter 8: Thank You For Sending Me an Angel

The ruins of San Francisco.

The moonlight shone down upon the ruined city as the scene reveals Cole Turner and Chris Matthews standing before an abandoned building. Chris turns to him.

"I really hope this works."

Cole nodded in response, then turns his head to observe the area. It was then that he noticed a silhouette walking towards him. Cole gestured to Chris, who also takes note of the shadow, but was suspicious.

"There's no way that we've lured them out already. It's too easy."

Cole nodded again, his eyes unmoving from the shadowy figure. He had to be on guard, after all.

As the figure approached them, it spoke with a voice that was shockingly familiar. "Hello, Cole. Chris."

The two men were taken aback by the identity of the figure -- Phoebe?!

"This is obviously a trick," Cole scoffed, half smirking and half scanning the area. "Phoebe and the sisters were killed a long time ago."

"Come on out, Billie, Christy." Chris followed.

"You sure about that?" Two figures appeared behind the silhouette of Phoebe -- Billie and Christy. Wait a minute - if both of them were here, together, then who was playing impostor Phoebe? Chris and Cole stared at them, confused.

Billie smiled. "You know, Cole, I've read up on you, and I know how much you always wanted Phoebe to be with you. Wasn't there one time where you became the Source and then tried to turn Phoebe evil?"

Christy walked forward and placed one hand on Phoebe's shoulder, of whom cocked her head and smiled seductively at Cole. "Guess which timeline we plucked this one from?"

"You can't be serious..." Cole responded, his eyes never leaving Phoebe's.

"I'll give you a hint." Christy offered with a sneer, then moved her hand from Phoebe's shoulder to her stomach. "Ooh, I think I felt a kick."

Both Chris and Cole became visibly revolted by the two witches' tactics. "You guys are sick." Chris declared, almost scathingly. "I can't believe you were ever on the side of good."

"Don't you want me, Cole?" Phoebe interjected, her words and the manner of speech pleadingly. Cole had to look away - even someone like him could not bear to see this. Phoebe marched forward and placed both her arms around the Avatar's shoulders, almost in an embrace. Cole remained frozen.

"You see, sis? Just like I told you." Billie gloated, chuckling. "Actually, I think the plan turned out to be even better."

Christy smiled. "Cole Turner's greatest weakness is his passion for Phoebe Halliwell. Pathetic."

"...would be the word that I'd use to describe your amateur strategy." a voice suddenly spoke from behind the sister witches. They spun around to find Cole looking back to them with orange and black energy balls in both hands. He grinned.

"What the hell?!" Christy exclaimed, seconds before Cole chucked both energy balls in her direction. They connected with the target, knocking her ten feet away, past Chris, and into the debris.

"How in the hell are you here?!" Billie growled, and turned back to find the Phoebe Halliwell they had conjured unconscious and in the arms of... Wyatt?! Chris and Wyatt both smiled triumphantly.

"Shapeshifting, the oldest trick in the book. I'm surprised you fell for it." Cole almost nonchalantly commented, then dark shimmered from in front of Billie to behind Wyatt and Chris. He picked up Phoebe from Wyatt, who then joined Chris as they both charged after Billie. "Go for it, boys." The two men encircled her and began to chant a spell.

"Where there is time, there is darkness. Where there is shine, there is brightness." they rhymed in harmony. Billie found herself enshrouded by white and black swirls of magic, and she appeared frightened. The two repeated the chant once more.

Suddenly, a barrage of fireballs shot up in the air and flew towards Chris and Wyatt's direction. Even Cole was surprised at the speed and intensity of the pyro spheres.

"Chris, move!" Wyatt shouted and both men quickly jumped away from Billie to dodge the attack. Billie, still caught in the circle of the spell, ate the fire head on and burst into flames.

"NO!!" a scream was heard as Christy ran to where her sister helplessly stood. The flames consumed Billie, and her screams of agony echoed throughout the vacant city as she became vanquished by her own flesh and blood.

Wyatt and Chris recovered by Cole's side. "Well... that has to suck." the Avatar remarked with an incredulous expression.

Christy turned and faced them with tears of anger and frustration. She growled and launched towards Cole. "URRGHH, YOU SON OF A --"

Cole effortlessly dark shimmered behind Christy, with Phoebe still in his arms. "Such ill mannered behavior. Tsk-tsk. You don't see a lot of cultured villains anymore these days." With that, his eyes blackened, and the witch instantly disappeared, as if teleported from this plane of existence to another.

Wyatt and Chris ran to him. "What did you do?" the younger brother asked.

"Eh, just a new technique that I wanted to try." the Avatar shrugged. "She's not dead, but where she's going, she's gonna wish for it."

"No, if she's still alive, then she'll find a way back here." Chris said, urgently. "It's not over yet."

"Not if your brother has anything to say about that." Cole responded, smiling at Wyatt. Chris turned to him for an explanation, but Wyatt could only offer cluelessness.

At that point, blue and white swirled energized next to the three and Leo materialized. He looked around the surroundings, then to the three. "How'd it go?"

"They're gone." Wyatt replied. "Billie was vanquished, and Christy was banished to an ungodly plane."

"So it's over?" Leo asked with a hint of optimism that hadn't been seen in decades. He looked to Cole, and noticed the unconscious Phoebe. He frowned, knowing what must've taken place. "Oh no... Cole, don't tell me that they --"

Cole stopped him. "Don't look at it that way, Leo." he softly placed Phoebe into Leo's arms, who carried her with extreme delicacy. "This is a blessing. For all the wrongs that the two witches had committed, they did something right for once."

"What do you mean?" Leo inquired, curious.

"Your boys have their aunt back, and you have someone who can help you teach the next generation to fight for good."

"It's gonna be a bitch to erase all that brainwashing, though." Wyatt commented, sighing a deep breath.

"It'll be just fine as long as the one thing that'll hold her back is gone." Cole began to walk away from them. The three knew instantly what he meant.

"Cole, you don't have to --" Leo started, but he was cut off.

"No." Cole shook his head. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I have to go, anyway."

Wyatt and Chris walked up to the Avatar and they each placed a hand on his shoulders. Leo nodded with an appreciative smile. "Thank you, Cole. For everything."

Cole was taken aback by their gratitude. He turned to Wyatt and Chris. "We're gonna make sure that you go down in history not as a villain, but as a hero." the older sibling vowed. "This, I promise."

The Avatar nodded, and couldn't help but smile slightly. He shook his head in disbelief, then looked up in the air. "Well, fellas, it was nice hanging with you."

"Goodbye, Cole." Leo waved. "I hope you find whatever it is that you're searching for."

With that, Cole dark shimmered away. Leo, Wyatt, and Chris turned to each other and smiled. Their world was finally saved from years of the cursed destiny, and now they have the chance to start anew. The future, at last, looked bright and hopeful.

But Cole's journey was not over yet. Far from it.

* * *

San Francisco, 2006.

An alley, in between buildings and littered with trash cans.

A dark energy materialized themselves into Cole as he reappeared in the present. He looked around with an alarmed expression, then quickly showed his palms to himself. He did a quick count of his fingers. "...seven, eight, nine, ten.. okay, they're all still here. And my feet?" Cole lifted one leg up and began to remove his shoes.

"You know, for someone who still needs to work out the mechanics of shimmering, you rely on it quite a bit." a familiar voice spoke. Cole looked up, leg still in the air. Zankou.

"Hey, are you the same Zankou that I was with before?" Cole asked. "Killed one of my partners and everything?"

Zankou smirked. "Now why would I be standing here in this filthy alley if I didn't know you were more than just Balthazar?"

The Avatar nodded, agreeing. "That's a good point." He put his leg down and dusted his suit.

"Well, Cole, I believe that we were in the middle of negotiations? Have you fetched the Grimoire?"

"Yeah, about that." Cole began, his eyebrows twitching as if in deep thought. "I don't think we can do business together."

Zankou frowned, somewhat dejected. He tilted his head to the side, almost sarcastically. "And why would you come to such a terrible conclusion?"

"Well," Cole said, matter-of-factly. "You're a demon. You're a dangerous demon, actually. If I give you access to the Grimoire, I'd put the Charmed Ones in a lot of danger."

"Go on," Zankou nodded, as if intrigued.

"I wouldn't want that." Cole spread his hands out, gesturing. "You're powerful enough as it is, right? It'd be wrong to give you an extra boost."

"And what about your mission? Were you not going to jump into the near future to prevent the Charmed Ones from being vanquished?"

Cole shook his head. "You know, I realized how silly the whole premise is. The Charmed Ones are here, aren't they? Why spend all that time trying to get to the future when I could just stay right here and protect them now?" the Avatar then smirked. "Hey, I could even start with you!"

Zankou responded with a smirk of his own, yet at the same time shaking his head as if this was all nonsense to him. "Ah, Cole, you disappoint me greatly. Just one more thing, though."

Cole turned his head, his eyes glued to Zankou like a curious child. "Yeah?"

"You see, you choosing to stick around means that things are going to be extra troublesome for an ambitious guy like me."

"Uh-huh?"

"I don't think I'd enjoy that. As you've mentioned just now, I am a demon, and you know very well that demons only have one thing on their mind." Zankou continued. He looked down for a quick second then back up. "Wait, that's not right. Pardon me, I mean two things, actually."

Cole nodded understandingly.

"The first is survival. The second..." Zankou trailed off. He raised one hand to eye level, then summoned a lavender and white energy ball. "...is world domination." As soon as he finished his sentence, the demon hurled the sphere at Cole's direction. Cole merely sidestepped it, his eyes watching the ball as it scorched the building behind him and left burn marks.

"Hmm. That didn't even make you flinch?" Zankou observed. Cole shrugged. "Such power..." the demon then reached into his pants pocket, fishing for something. "Make that three things. Demons also want power." He pulls out the wooden vial containing the deadly Avatar Miasma. "We really, really want power." Zankou raised his hand and prepared to throw it at the Avatar.

"You know, I think I should mention something to you," Cole interrupted, his eyes on Zankou's hand. "All this thinking that I've been doing has made me figure out something else."

"And what might that be?"

"I'm an Avatar... but I'm also a demon. And a human. As well as the Source of all Evil."

"What's your point?" Zankou demanded, almost tired of this charade he and Cole were doing.

"Well, all I'm saying is that you can go ahead and throw that, and you'll probably even vanquish the Avatar side of me." He locked eyes with Zankou, and his voice deepened. "But, there's a very good chance that my demon side, and my Source side, would be unaffected by that potion. And I doubt they'd appreciate your actions."

That made Zankou reconsider. "Hmm." He lowered his arm and examined the Avatar Miasma container. "I think you might actually be right. But you know..." The demon teleported out of Cole's sight, and reappeared on the second story of the building next to them. "That just means that I'd have to find a way to hurt you.. without actually harming you."

Cole looked up, his eyes staring at Zankou sternly.

"Or maybe I should find a way that would hurt every side of you?" Zankou suggested from above, half to himself and half to Cole. He glanced down. "You're challenging me to use my brain." the demon declared, pointing to his temple with two fingers. "I appreciate that."

With that, Zankou shimmered away from the scene. Cole could only stare ahead. There was trouble a-brewing, and he knew it.

* * *

Purgatory.

Darkness covered the entire room, with only moonlight illuminating the area through a tiny window guarded by bars. Just then, there was a sound of a SPLASH, as if something - or someone - had fallen into the shallow waters in the room.

The figure pulled itself up, loud and thrashing. It was shrouded by the darkness, with the only thing visible being the eyes of the being. They glowed with the intense flames of fire red. And then, there was a voice -- a male's.

"What's the matter, the water didn't put you out?"

Suddenly, the holding room of Purgatory lit up with new artificial lights to reveal the intimidating posture of Wyatt standing before his new prisoner. His long, wavey fair tied in a ponytail, this Wyatt was not the same do-gooder from the world that the prisoner was familiar with. Evil Wyatt sneered as he stared down at his pretty new prey.

"Welcome to Purgatory. The Seer told me you'd arrive."

The prisoner growled. "I'm going to wipe that smile off your face and make you wish you never existed."

Wyatt scoffed. "You don't realize that you were a big fish in a small pond, do you, Christy?" He extended one hand and the sword of Excalibur fully materialized. "Forget what you think you know about Wyatt Matthews Halliwell, because I'm going to show you what I'm truly capable of."

* * *

Cole tapped his foot impatiently. It was kind of ironic -- an all powerful being like himself, forced to stand and wait in line in front of a hot dog vender for food. Sure, he could easily pause time and just grab what he needed - and the thought crossed his mind more than once. But no, that would be cheating. Besides, he still hadn't worked out the hijinks of his Avatarian powers. Who knows what time stopping would do?

"Perhaps... I should let you in on our grand design." a voice contemplated.

Cole looked around, startled and confused. Everything around him had halted to a grind in an all familiar manner. He looked to his right to find a friendly figure.

"Swetow! Where have you been?"

"Recuperating..." the elder Avatar replied. "Milo's death resulted in the collective's severe weakening."

Cole was apologetic. "I'm sorry about that. I really wanted to stop Zankou, but he --"

"There is no need, Cole. I reviewed the event and the fault lies in Milo for failing to appeal to reason."

Cole appreciated that. He was glad that Swetow, arguably the one person he could call a mentor these days, was so understanding about the situation. The elder Avatar had more to add, however. "Still, Cole.. I must bring this to your attention. While the majority of the Avatars are advocates of peace and utopia, there is one among us who has been unable to come to terms with our vision."

Cole nodded. "There's always a bad seed in the bunch. The black sheep." he chuckled. "I would know."

"There is an Avatar who has taken up the title of 'Omega'," Swetow took a slow breath, half sighing. "..he is a dangerous man to engage in battle with. He was one of Milo's many students, if not his favorite." The Avatar glanced up towards Cole. "There is no doubt that he will come for you and this Zankou, to avenge his teacher."

Cole shrugged with a half grin. As if that was supposed to intimidate him? Please. Cole, a demon that was borderline a century and a quarter old? In his lifetime, he had seen, fought, and defeated many things that prided themselves as great. He was the Source, and even recently, he managed to take on two different dynasties from separate timelines during this stint as an Avatar. Seriously, what would one more guy do to him?

Swetow noticed the younger Avatar's arrogance. "Heed this warning, Cole. I bring this to your attention as your leader, as your fellow Avatar, and as a... friend."

"Swetow, you don't have to worry. Out of respect for you, I won't fight him." Cole agreed, but then muttered to himself under his breath. "…not unless he tries to attack me."

"One other thing," Swetow looked up. "There is an urgency that the other Avatars and I must attend to immediately. We believe that there is a good chance that we will be out of reach for some time…" he turned to Cole and looked him in the eye. "…which, is why, I have decided to assign you a… partner."

That caught Cole by surprise. "I'm sorry, what?" To be honest, other than Swetow, Cole hadn't really had the chance to get to know any of the other Avatars, save for Milo -- whom, frankly, was not somebody whose company he enjoyed. If this partner shared the same characteristics as Milo, then Cole could already envision the problems he and this guy will have. As a matter of fact, pretty much anyone EXCEPT Swetow would be trouble. Cole had always been, after all, more of a loner.

The elder Avatar sensed Cole's hesitation, and smiled assuringly. "Don't worry, I had the chance to discuss this with him while we were all together with Gamma and Beta. He was reluctant, to be sure, but given the past history between you and he, I strongly believe that the two of you can work together in our absence."

Cole stepped back. Wait a minute, what? Upon hearing this, he suddenly had a very good idea his new partner's identity. There was only one person that was currently an Avatar that he'd even HAVE a history with. "Swetow, you don't mean..?"

Swetow turned to his left, and a figure shimmered in with a mix of blue, white, and black swirls. Cole stared at him with a slightly reserved expression, but there was a small hint of a smile on the corner of his face.

"Hey, Cole." Leo greeted.

*[Note 1: The Phoebe that Christy and Billie conjures up is from late season 4, when Cole was the Source and Phoebe was pregnant with his spawn. I originally wanted to use the Phoebe from the alternate universe that Cole created in "Centennial Charmed", but I doubt Cole would give her too much sympathy (then again, maybe he would..).]

*[Note 2: The name "Omega" is parallel to Swetow's "Alpha", his official name in the Charmed universe. "Omega" stands for "the last", "the final", whereas "Alpha" is "the first" or "the beginning".]

*[Note 3: Thanks for all the kind reviews! I read and appreciate every one of them. :)]