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Entry tags:	character: cole turner, character: prue halliwell, fandom: charmed, title: unlikely allies

Unlikely Allies
Title: Unlikely Allies
Fandom: Charmed
Characters: Cole Turner, Prue Halliwell
Word Count: 1459
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The WB and Brad Kern own Charmed, but they are evil.
Author's Note: From an AU prompt of Charmed, Phoebe died instead of Prue at the end of season three.

When Paige informed Prue about her premonition of a demon attacking a witch in her home, Prue told her new sister she'd take care of it herself and not to tell Piper. She'd been waiting for this moment, and she didn't want either of her sisters to be hurt. Fortunately, Paige didn't question her eldest sister's decision, and now Prue lay in wait, taking the place of the witch the demon would try to kill.

She saw the reflection of the demon in a mirror as he shimmered in behind her. Paige's description had been accurate -- big, red skin, black markings. He had an athame in his hand, but Prue telekinetically yanked it from his grasp as she spun around to confront him.

The demon stopped, staring at Prue. He shifted into a familiar human form. "Prue."

"Cole," Prue said coldly, her fingers tightening on the vanquish potion she held in her right hand.

His eyes dropped to the glass vial she held, and his lips twisted in a half-smile. He conjured an energy ball and drew back his arm to throw.

Prue threw first. The glass shattered on Cole's chest, and smoke rose around him. But when the smoke cleared, he was still standing there, unharmed.

"Didn't your sister tell you that potion doesn't work anymore?" Cole growled, and for a moment Prue was confused and thought she almost heard disappointment in his voice. She quickly recovered her wits and used her power to throw Cole against the far wall. "C'mon, Prue, that the best you can do?" Cole taunted, climbing to his feet and summoning another energy ball.

Prue deflected it as he threw it in her direction. "You got my sister killed, you son of a bitch!" she exclaimed. "If she hadn't been with you. . . ." Phoebe should've been at the Manor. Then she'd be alive. And Piper wouldn't be broken. And she wouldn't be saddled with an insecure neophyte witch half-sister who they desperately needed to restore the Power of Three.

Leo had told them what had happened, how Phoebe had gone to the Underworld to find Cole, and how Shax had come back and Piper and Prue had vanquished him but were caught on camera. How Piper was shot and killed during the ensuing media frenzy. How Phoebe agreed to sacrifice herself and remain in the Underworld if the Source would turn back time to save her sister's life. But the Source had his own plans, and after time was reset, he'd sent demons to kill Phoebe. Cole had shoved her toward Leo, ordering him to get Phoebe out of there, but a demon intercepted her before she could reach the Whitelighter. Phoebe had screamed at Leo to go to Prue and Piper and save them. Cole would protect her.

But he hadn't. Leo orbed to the Manor and healed Prue and Piper in time to save them. After an hour passed with no sign of Phoebe, Leo returned to the Underworld. And came back with her body. He'd said there had been no sign of Cole.

Since then, Prue had waited for Cole to surface again. Now that he had, she would make him pay.

Cole threw another energy ball; Prue TK'd it away from her, then instantly astral projected behind Cole and kicked him into its path. The blast slammed him hard into the wall, and for a moment he lay stunned. Prue returned to her physical body, grabbed the athame she'd pulled from his hand earlier, and dove at him, poised to strike.

Something in his eyes stayed her hand. He grabbed her wrist and jerked the blade toward his chest. "Do it!" he shouted.

"You're not fighting back hard enough," Prue said suspiciously, trying to draw her hand away.

"Phoebe died because of me," Cole snapped. "Don't you want your revenge?"

Prue inched backwards, but kept the athame in her hand. "Tell me what happened," she ordered.

Cole remained on the floor but sat up, his head bowed. He was quiet for a long moment, but finally said, his voice thick with emotion, "They came for her after time was reset. I tried to get Leo to get her out of there, but . . . there were too many of them. They grabbed her and I couldn't get to her . . . and they killed her."

That confirmed what Leo had told them. "Go on," Prue prompted.

He lifted his head. Tears shone in his eyes. "They dragged me in front of the Source. He brought shapeshifter demons in, made them look like Phoebe. And he killed her over and over again in front of me to break me. The torture I could handle, but that. . . . I let them think they broke me. They sent me here to kill a witch to prove I was a demon again. I knew you'd be here to stop me and . . . end it."

Prue let the athame drop from her hand, shaking her head. For these past two months she'd wanted -- needed -- someone to blame. The Source was out of her reach for now, not until Paige got up to speed with being a Charmed One. She'd killed every demon who crossed her path, and the one she'd wanted most was right in front of her now. But she felt the anger start to drain out of her. Cole hadn't killed Phoebe. He would have given his life for hers. And the last thing Phoebe would want would be for her sisters to hold Cole accountable for what had happened. If she hadn't gone to the Underworld to bring him back, she'd still be alive. But if they hadn't let him go undercover with the Brotherhood, if they hadn't all doubted him, if they'd gone with Phoebe to help Cole instead of letting her go alone. . . .

Too many ifs.

Prue cautiously knelt beside Cole. He stiffened and flinched, but when she slid her arms around him, he clung to her and the tears began to fall. "I'm sorry," he said brokenly. "I'm so sorry."

She cradled his head against her shoulder, holding back her own tears. "Don't blame yourself," she said. "Phoebe wouldn't want it that way."

"I don't know what to do without her," Cole said. "She was my soul. My anchor. I can't . . . not without her."

Prue drew back so she could look him in the eyes. "Don't you dare give up," she said fiercely. "Don't you dare. Phoebe wanted to bring you back to us. Don't let her have died in vain."

"I'm lost without her, Prue," Cole said, shaking his head. "I don't want to go back to the Underworld, but I have nowhere else to go."

"Come back to the Manor with me," Prue said before she could even think about her words. Part of her was telling herself this was a bad idea. She'd never trusted Cole, even before they knew he was a demon. But Phoebe had loved him, enough that she died for him. She owed it to her sister to keep Cole on the path of goodness. And they could use his powers, especially now, with Paige so inexperienced.

Two demons shimmered into the room. "Should've known Belthazor wouldn't finish the job," one said. "Always knew his human blood made him weak."

"Pathetic," the other agreed.

Prue rose warily to her feet. She flicked out her hand to deflect the energy ball the first demon threw her way, but the second shimmered away and reappeared behind her. "No!" Cole shouted, jumping up and tackling the demon before he could stab his athame into Prue's back. He wrestled with the demon while Prue kept her attention on the first, sending the second energy ball he threw at her straight back at him. It struck him in the chest, and unlike Cole, he wasn't strong enough to take it, and he disappeared in flames, screaming.

Cole had pinned the other demon to the ground and wrenched the athame from his grasp. He stabbed the athame into the demon's belly and jerked upward with a satisfied smile. As he rose to his feet, athame still in hand, the demon erupted in flames and vanished like his companion.

"Cole?" Prue called out, a little unnerved by the deadly gleam in his eye. He turned toward her, and she recognized that the fierce fire in his heart mirrored hers. He shared her passion for revenge. Like her, he wouldn't rest until Phoebe's death was avenged. Friend, ally, instrument – it didn't matter. They would be partners in this now.

She held out her hand to Cole. "Come on," she said. "Let's go."