Forfeit

ONE SHOT

Cole Turner slumped against the wall, drained from the magic wall that hit him in his apartment. "Damn it," he whispered, trying to focus his eyes on the goal in front of him; the blurry large object. He didn't know what the hell, or who in hell, just tried to assassinate him with an ingenious magic pulse, but first thing was first. He needed to find the Halliwell sisters then they'd search through their handy dandy Book of Shadows, Leo would orb up while Cole shimmered down, and then they'd be vanquishing some poor sucker. And all that before dinner time. It was just another day in the life.

He groaned and shook his head violently, trying to clear his head. He never felt so weak, so normal, so human before. Did Phoebe feel like this before she gained her powers as a witch? Did all of them feel like this?

To be human was to be weak, but to be a demon, even a half-demon, meant destroying his hard gotten humanity. Cole knew which one he greatly preferred. Besides he had a few hundred years of weapon training under his belt, so he'd be far from a victim.

He was getting closer to the object - a large swinging door, he realized, frowning - when he really begin feeling off about what was going on around him. Hands clenched, he tried to shimmer back to his apartment, the manor, anywhere, but when all that happened was a migraine, he tried instead to focus on his hands; an image of blue crackling energy ball taking over, but, much to his anger, nothing happened.

Nothing. He was human. Or at the very least blocked.

"What the hell happened to me?" Oh, yes, what a smart demon he was dealing with. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

From behind the door, he saw movement, shadows of people inside. He heard someone talking, but with his weakened state he was unable to actually understand what it was. He was slipping. The curse that came out of his mouth was stronger this time, more slurred as time ticked by.

He fell, his hands trying to stop his descent, but he didn't realize just how weak he became until his arms gave out from under him. His body fell hard, his head cracking against the cold flooring. Thoughts, slow and nonsensical, were the only things he registered before he succumbed completely to the blackness.

He woke up later feeling unusually heavy. Groaning, he turned around, his eyes tightly closed, shielding his sensitive eyes from the blinding sun. The heavy feeling lifted for a moment, replaced by something lighter; a hand if had to guess. He stilted, senses on alert. Not trying to make any sudden movements, he turned carefully back onto his back, the light hand once again replaced by something heavier.

Swiftly, he sat up, the presence next to him jumping up as well. "What is it? Demons?" Cole relaxed at who he saw. It was Phoebe, her hair messy and disheveled across her bewildered face. When her eyes swept the room and, not seeing anything, she turned back to him. "Damn it, Cole, don't scare me like that. Nightmare?"

"Nightmare?" he echoed, "You have no idea."

"Hm, try me." Phoebe smirked, daring him with her beautiful dark eyes.

Cole shook his head a bit with a lopsided smile. "That's not important. What is important is that-"

"Demon!"

Phoebe's shout came too late. Cole flew off the bed and onto the floor, his head cracking against the wall during the fall. He was eerily reminded of what happened earlier. The door opened and Piper, her hair still wet from a shower, came running in. She held up her hands and the demon exploded into tiny pieces. She laughed victoriously, pumping her fist into the air. "Now that's what I call explosion worthy. How's my man doing?"

"Okay, I think, but he's been sleeping badly since you've left." Phoebe was up, helping Cole back onto his feet, her eyes looking over at Piper as she answered. Cole was confused. What happened to Leo? He was doing great from what he remembered of the last time he saw the man.

"What's wrong with Leo?" he finally asked, tried of the sisters' eye conversation when he was also there.

"Honey, what does our whitelighter have to do with this?" Cole was shocked even more when it wasn't Phoebe who answered him but instead it was her sister. She walked closer and, with one hand in his hair, gently kissed his lips. He pulled back, eyes wide. That was not right. Phoebe was the only Halliwell, the only woman, he ever loved, and Piper, along with the rest of the family, despised him. Piper dropped her hand, wounded, and said, her voice quivering, "I think he hit his head too hard. Go get Leo." When Phoebe didn't budge, Piper shouted, "Now!"

Phoebe was gone in an instant. Piper pulled at Cole's arms, trying to get him to sit down, her mouth still jabbering on.

"Piper, calm down. I'm fine," Cole insisted, but the woman didn't calm down. She kept talking about what the demon could do. Something about memory loss; he honestly couldn't keep up with what she was saying. He ultimately decided to let the small woman lead him around.

Leo orbed in, panicked, and made quick work over to them. He carefully placed his hands over Cole's head. Cole was about to remind them that good magic didn't work with evil, but the gentle white light silenced him. It was warmer than he ever felt. But that couldn't be. He was half-demon, evil as Phoebe was always quick to explain, and Leo's healing never worked completely on him before, so why work now?

Unless it had something to do with what happened to him. His thoughts were pushed aside when Piper reached for his chin. She tilted his head towards her, and he allowed it, deciding to stick with whatever was happening; it could very well be all in his mind, or a world created by some powerful demon, and the best way he saw was by playing along.

"Do you remember me?" Piper asked, her eyes worried as she looked into the man's deep blue eyes.

Cole was about to answer with something generic when something else entered his mind. "My wife. My love. My Piper Halliwell." What the hell was he saying? He looked to the side with furrowed eyebrows, his eyes squinted in thought. It all made prefect sense in his mind, but hearing it out loud, in the open, it made it all too real and all too crazy.

"Leo, it worked. Thank you." Cole looked over at the whitelighter, wondering if he'll have something to say about what the half-demon was doing to his wife. Leo smiled genuinely, his bright eyes glimmering in the light coming in from the window.

"Call me if you need me. I'll be meeting with the Elders to see what I can find out about the demon that just attacked," Leo said, nodding at Cole, before he orbed out.

"Um," Cole started, clearing his throat.

"Don't tell me you're still jealous about what went on with me and Leo. That was before we got together, so let it go. Me and Leo are just friends now."

Cole nodded, licking his lips, wondering on what that meant. The demon would have put him together with Phoebe if this was a delusion unless they didn't know which Charmed One he loved. But this was too real. He discreetly pinched the inside of his left arm. Flinching at the pain, he knew it wasn't an illusion of the likes he was used to; the ones he knew of didn't cause actual pain. But then again, he thought, flinching again, the only demon he knew who had that power was the Source himself.

"Are you still in pain? I can call Leo back down here if want." Piper took his hand, not noticing that he almost pulled back at the last moment.

Cole thought for a moment. "Nah. Good old fashion human medicine will help just as well." He winked, the feeling of normality from that simple motion sickening him to his core. Not that Piper Halliwell wasn't a pretty lady, but his love was and would always be Phoebe, and this felt like the ultimate betrayal, one that he loathed to make again.

"If you say so," Piper said hesitantly, her brown eyes sweeping over his stoney expression, "Lunch should be ready in a few hours." Piper grew quiet before she stood, breaking out into large smile, one of her hands resting on his shoulder. "I could use some help if you feel up to it."

"I-"

"Hey, is everyone alive in here?" Paige was obviously amused, but of what Cole couldn't be sure. She looked over at Cole, her eyes narrowing in distaste.

At least one thing was the same.

Piper hummed, her hands busily sorting through the spices, shifting between the boiling pot and the counter. Cole was at a safe distance away. He was still confused about the change in the Halliwell witches, but most importantly, he was shocked with the changed inside of him. Memories of a life with Piper were overtaking the ones he had with Phoebe, replacing them before he could fathom what the original memory was.

What the hell was happening?

A demon seemed to be the straightforward answer - the only one - but Cole couldn't shake off the peaceful feeling he felt whenever Piper was around.

"I, uh, I'm going to go lay down for a bit." Piper looked up with a smile, worry in her eyes, but she didn't press, and for that he was glad. He just needed to breathe. Just for a minute. Then he could plan to get back to his own reality.

Cole stopped, his eyes spotting a framed picture of him and Piper on a beach. He had never seen himself so happy, so normal before. He had never felt so normal before.

Did he want to leave all that and return to a world where the woman he loved didn't love him back?

He turned around before he realized what he was doing, his heart thumping wildly in his chest when his eyes met Piper's.

This was where he was meant to be.

In the end there was nothing of Phoebe left for him to remember.