Author notes: I really didn't like Charmed much during its 5th season, to put it mildly. And I stopped watching after Centennial Charmed aired. With the story below, I tried to salvage at least some of what the Powers That Be wrecked in those final episodes that led up to Cole's demise. I couldn't fix everything, but as long as there's life, we can at least hope...

A few lines of dialogue were taken from Centennial Charmed, written by Brad Kern.

I am using an original character who first showed up in my story Monday Morning Staff Meeting but it's not necessary to read that story to understand this one. Of course, if you enjoy my writing, you might want to check it out anyway :-)

Many, many thanks to Barb, for inspiring me to write Charmed fiction again, for betaing this story and for the Janis Joplin line, which inspired the title (in a weird, roundabout way)!

PRISONER'S KEY

"Like a prisoner who has his own key,

I can't escape until you love me"

[Wham! - Freedom, written by George Michael, 1984]

Chapter 1

Pale, thick mist drifted through the halls and chambers of the Elders' headquarters. It muffled sounds and painted everything with a white, surreal light. Except where Elder Rhiannon marched through the fog with large paces. There, it swirled angrily as if reluctant to part before her. Thin, white tendrils quickly reached out and met again as soon as she passed by, like young lovers' hands desiring each other's touch. Most celestial beings who lived here walked slowly, carefully, as if they were unwilling to move and preferred to spend their time deep in thought. Rhiannon didn't have time for such fancy. She had promised to give a lecture to a group of newly arrived whitelighters-to-be and she was running late.

Ania, Rhiannon's aide and a young female whitelighter-in-training who would graduate in a couple of weeks, scurried on the Elder's heels. She was forced to skip a step every three paces to keep up with the taller woman's long strides.

All of a sudden, the mist whirled crazily around them. The air grew heavy and viscous. Ania let out a grunt of surprise. Rhiannon discovered that her feet suddenly moved faster than her upper body and she stumbled, barely keeping upright.

The sensation was gone as abruptly as it had come. The swirls of fog settled more slowly until the tendrils floated through the air again in silent contentment.

"What--what was that?" Ania sounded troubled.

"A spike," Rhiannon answered absently. In her head she was already listing the possible causes. "A sudden burst of magical energy. Something big must have happened." Really big, if they could sense it up here.

She made up her mind and turned to the young woman. "Ania, please extend my apologies to the class. I cannot give my lecture at this moment. It's too important I find out what caused that surge."

"But--"

Rhiannon didn't hear the young whitelighter's protest. She was already marching across the grounds toward her private chambers, once more upsetting the tranquil fog. The burst of magical energy had been incredibly strong; she was convinced it had something to do with those most powerful witches, the Charmed Ones. And that meant it had to do with Cole Turner. These days, it always did.

* * *

"But Phoebe, I thought you wanted to vanquish Cole?" Leo was exasperated. Sometimes he just didn't understand these women. His wife remained a mystery to him, and her sisters were even worse.

"I do!" Phoebe plopped down on the couch in front of him. Leo was glad; her pacing back and forth while she ranted had been giving him a headache.

"Then what was the problem? Why didn't you throw the vial?"

"I want him dead on my terms, not his!" Her eyes flashed. "Leo, he attacked you and Paige so we would do exactly what we did: cook up a potion and try to vanquish him. Who knows what he's up to next?"

"What makes you think he's up to something?"

Phoebe snorted. "Because I know Cole, Leo. He's always up to something. He is evil. He has evil plans. We will vanquish him, but not the way he wants us to, or when he wants us to."

"I don't know," Leo said. "That elaborate scheme to get you to vanquish him seems more like the act of a desperate man to me."

He didn't pay attention to Phoebe's vehement denial. Someone was calling him. He cocked his head as if that would help him hear the metaphysical summons better. He frowned. An Elder named Rhiannon wanted to see him right away, in her private quarters? Leo racked his brain. Elder Rhiannon, wasn't she the red-headed, fierce Elder? Always the voice of dissention within the Council? What she could want with him? He really didn't need any more trouble on his plate right now.

"Sorry, Phoebe," he said with a shrug and a dip of his head. He got to his feet. "I have to go. They want me."

"Now?" Phoebe asked, incredulous. "We are in the middle of a conversation here!"

One-sided tirade would be a more accurate description, Leo thought but he didn't say it out loud. Phoebe was agitated enough without him adding fuel to the flames. "We'll continue this when I get back," he promised. "Tell Piper I had to go see the Elders?"

* * *

"Whitelighter Wyatt. Glad you could heed my call so quickly." Rhiannon sat in a straight-backed chair behind a wooden desk when Leo entered her quarters. Her hood was down and her fiery red hair framed a pale, freckled face. She was a handsome woman, he couldn't help notice. And she had presence. She was definitely someone to be reckoned with. Again, he wondered what this meeting could be about.

"Of course, Elder Rhiannon." He glanced around curiously. He had never visited an Elder's private rooms before and was startled to find the furnishings not much different from any upscale office on Earth. On the right was the desk that Rhiannon sat behind; neat stacks of papers lay in tidy rows upon it. It even featured a laptop computer. To the left was a small sitting area, with two easy chairs and a low coffee table. Rhiannon gestured for him to take a seat in one of the chairs before she walked around the desk and joined him.

"How's your wife, Piper?" she asked. "I hear you and she are expecting?"

Leo blinked. "Uh, yes, we are. Piper's fine. A little nervous about giving birth, but fine."

"Good." Rhiannon nodded pensively.

Leo wondered where she was going with this conversation. The Elder didn't summon him to make small talk about his family, did she?

"I'm glad things worked out so well," she continued. "You know that the Council had its doubts about this... liaison."

"I do." Leo struggled to keep his face neutral. Describing the Council's resistance to his relationship with Piper as 'having doubts' was like saying Mount Rushmore resembled a sand sculpture. They had had to fight for their love like no other lovers in history ever had. He had even given up his wings for her. At times Leo had despaired that he and Piper would ever be able to be together but in the end the Council caved and gave them permission to get married. He knew they had set a precedent; a witch marrying her whitelighter had been unthinkable until he took Piper for his wife.

"Sometimes," Rhiannon said, looking off in the distance, "the Council can be so stuck on ancient rules and traditions that we fail to see how the world evolves. How old laws become obsolete, and new arrangements need to be made."

Leo was beginning to get an inkling of the hidden message in Rhiannon's seemingly purposeless small talk. It wasn't hard to decipher it. He knew the female Elder by reputation. She must have been one of those who were responsible for the Council's change of heart regarding him and Piper. And she wanted him to realize it. What he couldn't yet figure out was why.

He didn't have long to wait.

"What do you think of Cole Turner?"

The sudden shift in subject took Leo off guard. "Um... Phoebe thinks he's evil."

Rhiannon gestured impatiently with her right hand. "I know what Phoebe Halliwell thinks about her husband. I've read the reports. I'm asking for your opinion, Whitelighter Wyatt. Is Cole Turner irredeemably evil?"

"He did attack Paige. And me...," Leo answered cautiously.

"But?" Rhiannon asked. "I hear a 'but' in there somewhere."

"But I don't believe he really meant to kill us," Leo finished with a sigh. "He provoked the Charmed Ones so they would vanquish him. They tried, but it didn't work."

Rhiannon nodded. "We sensed the power spike all the way up here. It scared Elder Janus immensely." She chuckled at a private memory. Leo could only fathom what it was, but he did have some idea. Janus was a stickler for the rules and quite the opposite in character from Rhiannon. She would have butted heads with the other Elder on more than one occasion. It was very un-Elderish of Rhiannon to find amusement in Janus's fright, and Leo was shocked to discover he found her a refreshing change from the other, more sedate Elders he had dealt with.

"So, Cole effectively tried to commit suicide?"

"Um, yes, I guess you could put it like that." Leo hadn't quite thought of it that way yet, but things had been pretty hectic. There had been no time for reflection, for trying to figure out what it all meant. If Cole tried to get himself killed on purpose, he had to be pretty desperate. Desperate people could be dangerous. But didn't it also mean that Phoebe was wrong, that Cole wasn't as evil as she made him out to be?

"Would an evil demon willingly seek to be vanquished?" Rhiannon asked. She sounded rhetorical, but Leo answered anyway.

"I suppose not," he said slowly. "I think I can see where you are going with this, Elder Rhiannon." All of a sudden he looked up, remembering something. "He gave up his powers the other week, out of fear he would hurt Phoebe! No, if you ask me do I think Cole is evil, I would have to say no."

Rhiannon gave another nod, deep in thought. Leo waited for her to continue, still not sure what the Elder was up to. The room fell silent.

"I need you to get me in touch with him. I want to make him a proposition," she said at last. "Although the Council doesn't agree with me, I feel that Cole Turner has tried hard enough to redeem himself to deserve a little of our help. Plus, he's a very powerful man. We can use someone like him on our side."

"You want to go against the Council?" Leo gasped. The implications were enormous. An Elder acting against the whishes of her peers was as unthinkable as... as was him marrying Piper!

"I'd rather call it, going around the Council. Do you have a problem with that, Whitelighter Wyatt?" Rhiannon raised an amused eyebrow.

Leo swallowed. "I guess not. Um... Can I ask why?" If he were to help out Elder Rhiannon with her rebellious scheme, he would at least like to know the reason. It was his wings on the line, after all.

Apparently, Rhiannon thought so too. She studied him for several long moments, then leaned forward and explained in a low voice: "I wouldn't ask this from you, Leo, if it weren't important. Times are changing. It is no coincidence that the Charmed Ones, prophesized for so long, live in this day and age. Our power to keep the balance is diminishing; the art of witchcraft is vanishing. Less and less witches are being born, and many of those refuse to acknowledge what they are. The ones that do embrace their heritage do not have the strength or skill of their ancestors. As powerful as Cole Turner is, and with the extensive knowledge of the demon world he has? He would be a major asset for us. The truth is, Leo, we need him. And I think he needs us."

TBC