Demon Lighter

[noazmale]

CHARMED
“Demon Lighter”
By J. B. Tilton (a.k.a. NoAzMale) and Teri Thibeault (a.k.a. Tessalynne)
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Rating: K+ (for mild language)

Disclaimer: “Charmed” and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.

* * *

(Authors note: This story takes place between season 4 episodes "Brain Drain" and “Black As Cole”.)

* * *

After a demon attack Leo and Cole bond in a very unique way.

* * *

ONE

Piper and Leo peered around the doorway at the top of the stairs. The house was deathly quiet. Cautiously the two made their way to the stairs and started down. As they reached the bottom step Piper glanced toward the front door.

“You think it’s still around?” Leo whispered.

“I’d bet on it,” Piper whispered back. “It’s after something. I just don’t know why it hasn’t attacked yet.”

“It probably has orders not to,” said Paige, sticking her head up from behind the sofa. “What makes you think it’s still around?”

“Every time it disappears it reappears in a different room,” said Piper. “And since it hasn’t tried to kill us yet, it must be after something.”

“Cole and Phoebe should be home any minute,” said Leo. “He might know what type of demon this is and how to deal with it.”

“Well, we certainly can’t look in the Book of Shadows right now,” said Piper. “No until we’re sure it’s gone.”

Suddenly they heard a sound in the kitchen. Turning cautiously the three began to move toward the kitchen door. All at once the door flew open and the demon stepped through.

It was as tall as Leo but was blood red all over. Two horns sprouted from its forehead. Black eyes gleamed at them from a sunken face. The demon formed an energy ball and cast it at the three.

Leo grabbed Piper and pulled her to one side as Paige dove back into the living room. The energy ball barely missed them and collided with the front door. Paige rolled and came up on her feet as the demon stepped into the entryway. It turned on Piper and Leo knowing they had nowhere to run. It formed another energy ball as it advanced. Realizing they were trapped Leo immediately began to orb them both away.

The demon cast the weapon and it struck Leo full force in the chest. The impact cast Piper to the side as it knocked the partially orbed Leo back toward the front door.

Just then Cole and Phoebe began to shimmer into the entryway. Leo collided with Cole sending the two crashing through the front door and onto the porch. Phoebe was knocked to one side and landed sprawling on the living room floor next to Paige.

The demon formed another energy ball and cast it at Piper. Instantly Paige called for the energy ball redirecting it back at the demon. The weapon struck the creature vanquishing it where it stood.

“That was too close,” said Piper, regaining her feet. “Thanks, Paige.”

“My pleasure,” said Paige as she helped Phoebe to her feet.

“What was that?” Phoebe asked.

“All we know is that it was some kind of demon,” said Piper, heading for the front door. “We’ll look it up in a minute. Leo, are you okay?”

“Cole,” Phoebe called outside, “are you okay?”

“No broken bones. Just our bruised ego for getting in the way of Leo’s orb.”

Suddenly a strange man stepped out of the darkness outside into the doorway. He was roughly six feet tall with very light, sandy brown hair. His blue eyes twinkled in the light from the entryway.

“Who are you?” Piper demanded.

“What do you mean who are we?” asked the man. “Honey, were you hurt by that energy ball?”

“Cole?” Phoebe questioned, glancing at the man and then looking out the front door. “Cole, are you out there?”

“We’re right here, sweetie,” said the man turning toward Phoebe.

“Why does he keep talking like that?” Paige asked. “’We’re’ and ‘our’ like he’s talking for both of them?”

“We’ keep telling you we’re okay,” said the man. “We’re right here in front of you.”

“Cole?” Phoebe questioned, a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“What?” the man asked.

“Leo?” Piper questioned, getting the same sick feeling.

“We’re right here,” said the man, looking at her.

“Uh oh,” said Paige as everyone stared at each other dumbfounded.

[noazmale]

TWO

“There’s nothing in here even remotely like this,” said Phoebe, closing the Book of Shadows.

“Can anyone explain to me exactly what happened?” Piper asked.

“Apparently,” said the strange man, “when Leo, being partially orbed, struck Cole, who was in the state of shimmer at that moment, they somehow merged. But we’re not sure exactly how that’s possible. Neither Cole nor Leo know how of any way to do something like this.”

“You have both their memories?” Phoebe asked.

“Yes,” said the man. “It’s kind of strange. We’re both Leo and Cole and at the same time we’re neither. We’re a merging of the two.”

“That is just so weird,” said Phoebe. “The way you talk. It reminds me of some of those old movies on the late late show. The royalty in those movies used to talk like that.”

“So what do we call him?” Piper asked. “We can’t just keep calling him ‘hey you’ and somehow neither Cole nor Leo seem appropriate either.”

“Cleo?” suggested Paige. “Or maybe Coleo?”

“I’m not real crazy about either of those,” said Phoebe. “Coleo makes him sound like a rap singer and Cleo sounds like one of those late night psychics you see on TV.”

“What about Trey?” the man suggested.

“Trey?” Piper questioned.

“Yes,” said the man. “It means three. Somehow it seems appropriate. Three of us in one body.”

“Sounds as good as any name to me,” said Paige.

“Trey,” said Phoebe, testing out the name. “It has a nice ring to it.”

“Okay, Trey it is,” said Piper. “So, Trey. Any idea how this could have happened to you? Leo and Cole know more about demons than any of us. With their combined memories you should be a virtual walking encyclopedia of demonic information.”

“The last few minutes for both are a jumble,” said Trey. “We don’t remember anything specific just bits and pieces. Do you have any idea what kind of demon you were fighting?”

“No,” said Paige. “We didn’t have a chance to check the Book of Shadows and it didn’t exactly introduce itself. It was red and had these horns coming out of its forehead.”

“And it seemed to be looking for something,” said Piper.

“Were its eyes black?” questioned Trey. “No pupils?”

“Yeah,” said Piper, “as a matter of fact they were. Do you know what it was?”

“It sounds like a fusion demon,” said Trey.

“What’s a fusion demon?” Phoebe asked.

“Something very rare,” said Trey. “They have the ability to fuse with other demons increasing their power. My guess is it was here after us. That is, the Cole part of us.”

“That’s why it didn’t attack right away,” said Piper.

“Probably,” said Trey. “They can only fuse with other demons. They’re usually only used against a very powerful opponent. When the opponent is no longer a threat the demon separates itself from whatever demon it’s fused with.”

“But why send it after Cole?” Phoebe questioned.

“Since Cole is only half demon,” said Trey, “that would probably mean the Fusion Demon would have complete control over the fused form. Whomever sent it probably figured it could fuse with Cole, kill the three of you, and then deliver Cole to the Source.”

“Kind of kill two birds with one stone,” said Paige.

“That would be our guess,” said Trey.

“I still don’t understand how the two of you could have merged,” said Phoebe. “One’s a demon and the other’s a White Lighter. That shouldn’t be possible.”

“Ordinarily we’d agree with you,” said Trey. “It must have been the Fusion Demons’ energy ball.”

“Why would that make a difference?” Piper asked.

“Fireballs and energy balls are created from the magic within a demon,” said Trey. “That would mean that on a very basic level the weapon is comprised of the core elements of the demon. The power of a Fusion Demon’s energy ball would be comprised of the same fusion power as the demon itself. It must have interacted with the partially phased Leo and Cole fusing them at a genetic level. Kind of like intermingling their atomic structures. We are the result.”

“So are you Cole or Leo?” Phoebe asked.

“Both,” said Trey, “although neither is really in control. We’re a separate entity altogether. We’re just comprised of both.”

“Great,” said Paige. “A demon lighter.’

“That’s probably not too far off the mark,” said Trey.

“Well, our main concern now is how to separate them,” said Piper. “To get them back. Can a Fusion Demon separate them?”

“No,” said Trey. “A Fusion Demon can only extract itself from whatever demon it’s fused with. They don’t have any special powers over other demons in their non-fused state.”

“What about a potion or spell?” Phoebe asked. “Maybe we could separate them that way.”

“Fusion Demons are high level demons,” said Trey. “When they fuse with another demon the fused demon has its powers increased dramatically. Nothing short of a Power of Three spell would even stand a chance of affecting it. And since it’s that power that’s fused us, nothing less is going to separate us.

“The only problem is that not even a Power of Three spell may be able to extract the cells properly. It would be like trying to separate the eggs from a cake after it’s been baked. The eggs still exist but getting them out would be next to impossible.”

“It might even be dangerous to try,” said Paige.

“What do you mean?” Piper asked.

“Well, you keep telling me that magic can react in unpredictable ways,” said Paige. “What if the spell doesn’t work the way you plan? It might actually make matters worse. It might vanquish Trey instead of separating Leo and Cole.”

“She has a point,” said Phoebe. “I think our best chance is going to be a potion. Provided we can come up with one.”

“That may not be possible,” said Trey. “In order to counteract the demons’ magic, the potion would have to be at least as strong as a vanquishing potion. And for that you’d need a piece of the demons’ flesh.”

“But Paige vanquished it,” said Piper.

“My point exactly,” said Trey.

“What about some flesh from another Fusion Demon?” Paige asked. “Maybe that would work.”

“No,” said Piper, “it won’t. Potions for high level demons are specific. It wouldn’t be any more useful for separating them than it would be to vanquish another demon. Without the flesh of the demon that caused this the potion would be useless.”

“And we vanquished the demon,” repeated Phoebe.

“Which means,” said Trey, “there’s no way to create a potion to separate them from us.”

“I guess our only option is the Elders,” said Phoebe. “They should be able to separate Cole and Leo.”

“She’s right,” said Piper. “As much as I hate to admit it Trey is going to have to orb up there and tell them what happened.”

“We’ll go right away,” said Trey. “With any luck we should be back soon.”

Instead of orbing Trey began to shimmer. But the shimmer had a bluish affect to it not unlike Leo’s orbing ability. Within seconds he was gone. Just as quickly he reappeared.

“What’s wrong?” Paige asked. “Did you forget something?”

“No,” said Trey. “Apparently we can’t go up there. We think it’s the half of us that’s Cole that’s preventing it. We’re stuck down here.”

[noazmale]

THREE

Paige closed the Book of Shadows and laid it on the coffee table.

“Well, I can’t find anything, just like Phoebe,” she said. “There’s nothing in the book about two beings merging.”

“We could have told you that,” said Trey. “Neither of them has ever heard of anything like this happening before. It’s unlikely there would be anything about it in the book.”

“What about checking in the underworld?” Piper asked. “Maybe someone down there knows something about this.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Phoebe. “Cole is still wanted down there. Even if some demon knows something they might try to take advantage of the situation.”

“But they wouldn’t recognize him,” said Piper. “He doesn’t look like either Leo or Cole.”

“But we’d have to explain it to them,” said Trey. “It’s probably not a good idea to let anyone in the underworld know where Cole is or that he’s merged with Leo.”

“So what do we do?” Paige asked. “I mean, do you have both of their powers or what?”

“It would seem so,” said Trey, “but it’s a merging of their powers. I can’t be sure how that’s going to affect their individual powers.”

“I?” Piper questioned.

“What?”

“You said ‘I’, not ‘we’,” said Piper.

“Yes,” said Trey thoughtfully. “It’s strange. Cole and Leo’s presences seem less pronounced than they did a while ago. I can still feel them inside me but it’s like they aren’t as strong individually as they were initially.”

“That can’t be good,’ said Phoebe. “It could mean we’re running out of time. If they merge too completely we may not be able to separate them.”

“Then we’d better think of something,” said Piper. “I don’t relish the idea of. . . Trey, what’s the matter?”

Trey was staring off into space.

“One of my – that is, Leo’s – charges is calling,” said Trey. “It sounds serious.”

“Whatever it is it will have to wait,” said Piper. This is serious and we can’t have you running off until we’ve found a way to fix it.”

“I can’t just abandon my charges,” said Trey. “Cole and Leo may be merged but I still have a responsibility to take care of them. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Before any of the girls could speak he disappeared from the manor using the same shimmering orb he had used to attempt to go to the Elders with.

“That shorb is really unnerving,” said Paige.

“Shorb?” Phoebe questioned.

“Yeah,” said Paige. “A shimmering orb. A shorb.”

“Let’s not worry about that right now,” said Piper. “Phoebe has a point. They may merge so completely we’ll never be able to separate them. We need to find a way to get them apart before that happens. I still think a spell is our best bet despite the risk involved.”

“And if it backfires and kills Trey instead?” Phoebe asked.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” said Paige. “We don’t even know how Cole’s demonic half will affect Trey. “What if that part becomes dominant? He might suddenly turn on us and with Leo’s immortality and Cole’s demonic powers he might be impossible to stop.”

“Leo would never let that happen,” said Piper.

“I agree with Piper,” said Phoebe. “And I don’t think the Cole half of Trey would hurt me either.”

“Ordinarily I’d agree with you,” said Paige. “But this isn’t an ordinary situation. I think you’re both thinking with your hearts and not your heads. Piper, remember when you told me about the warlock, Zile? Some evil priestess forced Prue to marry Zile and turned you both evil. You said you actually killed Leo then. He came back when you vanquished the priestess and undid her spells.

“And Phoebe, what about that Woogie thing trapped in the cellar? You said when it took control of you, you couldn’t stop yourself. You even tried to kill Prue and Piper. Neither of you would have done that normally but you were being controlled by evil.

“What if that happened to Trey? What if the demonic half of Cole gets control of him? Can you honestly say there’s no chance he won’t try to kill us? That’s what he was sent here for, after all. If his demonic half is devoid of all humanity, he might not think twice about it.”

Piper and Phoebe just looked at Paige. She was right, of course. Cole was able to keep his demonic half under control. But if this merging altered their personalities it was conceivable that the demonic half of Cole would prove too powerful to resist. Especially in light of the fact that it had all been caused by the power of another very powerful demon. If that happened they realized they might have no other option. They might have to vanquish Trey to protect themselves and each other. If they could vanquish him.

[noazmale]

FOUR

Trey had been gone much too long for the girl’s comfort levels. If he had reverted to evil any one of Leo’s charges could be in serious danger. They had tried calling for him several times all to no avail. But they had been far from idle. They gathered in the living room to take stock of their preparations.

“Is the spell ready?” Piper asked.

“Got it right here,” said Phoebe. “With any luck it should separate the two. The potions shouldn’t be necessary.”

“Well, in case they are,” said Paige, “I have a binding potion. Hopefully he’ll take it voluntarily and we won’t have to use it against him.”

“Then we have this,” said Piper, holding up one of two potion vials she was holding. “It’s a power-stripping potion. It won’t hurt him but it should strip his powers if we need to. At least he’ll still be alive until we can figure out what to do about this.”

“What about the last resort?” Paige asked.

Piper held up the second vial she was holding. They all just stared at it for a moment.

“You . . . you sure it will work?” Phoebe asked hesitantly.

“It should,” said Piper. “I used part of the Belthazor vanquishing potion we have. I punched it up a bit to make it stronger. And I used some poison from the Dark Lighter crossbow we got when Natalie was here. It should be strong enough to vanquish both sides of Trey.”

“I hope it won’t be necessary,” said Paige. “I know how hard it would be to have to vanquish him.”

“Speaking of which,” said Piper, handing the vial to Phoebe, “I think you should hold onto this one. If it does become necessary to use it Phoebe or I might hesitate. That could prove fatal to all of us. You’re not in love with either Cole or Leo. You’re less likely to freeze up if it becomes necessary.”

“Well, like Phoebe said,” said Paige, “it is a last resort. Only if and when Cole’s demonic half takes control and only if we have no other choice to defend against him. I don’t think it’s going to be necessary but like I said earlier, we need to be prepared.”

“I wonder where he is?” Phoebe questioned. “He’s been gone an awfully long time.”

“I’m sure everything is okay,” said Piper hopefully. “He’s been gone a long time before. He probably just got tied up with one of his other charges.”

“I hope that’s all it is,” said Phoebe.

Trey was gone much longer than the girls would have liked. When he did shorb into the manor he seemed almost frantic.

“We’re about to have company,” he announced as he hurried out of the entryway into the living room.

Suddenly a demon shimmered in behind him. It looked around until it spotted Trey. The demon was about Trey’s height and was a light green. It had pointed ears and a ridge of spines running down its back. Its eyes glowed a dull blue and it had long jagged teeth.

“Coward,” hissed the demon. “You cost me my prey. You will pay for your interference.”

The demon began to move toward Trey. Piper reacted instantly. She raised her hands and the demon exploded but almost instantly reformed. It turned to face Piper.

“Witch,” it hissed.

“That’s right, greenie,” said Piper. “Now why don’t you just get out of here before you really make me angry?”

“You don’t scare me witch,” said the demon. “Your power has all ready proven ineffective against me. I will have what I came for.”

“Poker,” said Paige. The poker rose from the fireplace and flew across the room, striking the demon in the shoulder. The demon howled in pain and yanked the poker out, turning on Paige.

As it did so Phoebe kicked out striking the demon along side of its head. The demo howled in anger and turned on Phoebe, striking her with the poker. Phoebe fell to the floor, blood running from a wound in her temple.

Piper raised her hands and the demon froze in place. She hurried over and dragged Phoebe away from the demon as Paige called for the poker. It orbed out of the demons had into Paige’s hand.

“Piper, its eyes,” said Trey. “Destroy the eyes. It’s the demons’ only weakness.”

Piper looked up at Trey and then at the demon. The demon was turning on her and was just forming a fireball. Piper raised her hands and tapped into her explosive power. She directed it directly at the demons eyes. The eyes exploded and the demon exploded into flames and was vanquished in seconds.

Paige immediately moved over to see how Phoebe was. Her breath was heavy and labored. The wound in her temple was bleeding freely and no matter what Piper did she wouldn’t wake up.

“Do something,” Piper cried to Trey. “Half of you is White Lighter. You have to heal her before she dies.”

“Move away,” said Trey.

Piper carefully laid Phoebe’s head on the floor and moved away from her. Instead of moving to Phoebe to use his healing power, Trey suddenly formed an energy ball. The same type of energy ball Cole, as Belthazor, would use against his opponents. Without saying a word he cast the energy ball at Phoebe and it engulfed her completely.

[noazmale]

FIVE

“You could have said something,” said Paige as Phoebe nursed her head with an icepack.

“There wasn’t time,” said Trey. “Phoebe was too badly injured. She could have died at any moment. I couldn’t risk that she’d die while I was trying to explain things to you. As you’re well aware, I can’t heal the dead.”

“You just scared the life out of us,” said Piper. “When you used that energy ball on Phoebe I thought you had lost your mind. I nearly blew you up right there.”

“Well even if you had it probably wouldn’t have been permanent,” said Trey. “Remember, I am half White Lighter. Most likely I would have reformed even if you had blown me up.”

“Okay, explain to me again what happened,” said Phoebe. “I was unconscious and you say he cast an energy ball at me?”

“Yes,” said Trey. “The summons I got was from a witch who was being attacked by that demon. When I got there it was about to kill her. I was able to distract it long enough for her to get away but then it turned on me angry that it had lost its prey. So I returned here but I guess it followed me.”

“And your energy ball actually healed me?” Phoebe asked.

“That’s about the size of it,” said Trey. “Somehow when Cole and Leo formed their powers were slightly altered. Cole’s energy balls actually heal instead of harming. And Leo’s healing ability actually does harm. I tried to use an energy ball on the demon but it only healed the damage the witch had been able to do to it.”

“What kind of demon was that?” Paige asked.

“It doesn’t actually have a name,” said Trey. “They live on the lower levels of the underworld and are used by high level demons to get human prey for them. Who that one worked for and what he wanted my charge for I can only guess at.”

“Well, everything seems to be back to normal,” said Piper. “We can get back to trying to figure out how to separate Leo and Cole.”

“Separate them?” asked Trey. “What for? I feel fine. I still have their powers even if they do work a bit differently from how they did before. Plus I still have all of their memories and knowledge.”

“I want Leo back,” protested Piper.

“And I want Cole back,” said Phoebe.

“Phoebe, honey, don’t you understand?” Trey questioned. “This is perfect. The underworld is looking for Cole Turner. Only Cole Turner no longer exists. We’re free from the bounty hunters. And with my power I can help protect you girls from demons. They won’t be expecting me.”

“That’s not the point,” said Piper. “They belong here, you don’t. You’re here because of a simple accident. We need to undo the accident and get Leo and Cole back.”

“And what happens to me?” questioned Trey. “If you separate them then I die. I won’t exist any longer. That’s murder.”

“No, it’s not,” said Paige. “Technically, you don’t exist. You’re just the culmination of Leo and Cole’s experiences. But they’re separate experiences. They don’t belong together. Just like Piper said, if it wasn’t for that accident with that Fusion demon you wouldn’t be here. We have to separate you.”

“I won’t let you do that,” said Trey. “I didn’t ask to be created and regardless of how I got here I’m here now. And if I let you separate Cole and Leo from me it’s the same as if you murdered me. I can’t let you do that.”

“You aren’t going to listen to reason are you?” Piper asked.

“Not that kind,” said Trey. “Like any other being I have a need to protect myself. I’m not going to just stand here and let you kill me.”

Piper raised her hands and froze Trey.

“That should hold him long enough for us to do something,” said Piper. “I think we should start by binding his powers. That won’t hurt him and it will give us time to figure out how to separate Leo and Cole from him.”

“That’s not going to happen,” said Trey. “Individually your powers may work on Leo and Cole. But together we’re too strong for you to freeze. And I can’t let you bind my powers any more than I can let you separate them from me. I have too many charges that need my help and now I can help them even more than I could before.”

“Phoebe,” said Piper.

Phoebe pulled out the power binding potion Piper had created. She threw it at Trey and the potion vial broke on him spilling the potion on him. Flames erupted around Trey for several moments. When the flames died out Trey just smiled at them.

“That was a futile effort,” he said. “Your potions aren’t any more affective against me than Pipers’ power is. I’m the joining of a White Lighter and an upper level demon. Do you have any idea what kind of power that gives me? Maybe you need a little time to come to terms with it. I’ll leave you alone for a while to think it over. I’m sure you’ll see that I’m right.”

Before any of the girls could respond or react Trey shorbed out of the manor.

“Well that went well,” said Paige sarcastically. “Do you think any of the other potions we came up with will be any more affective?”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” said Piper. “He seems to be right about one thing. He’s more powerful than either Cole or Leo separately. I used to be able to freeze both of them without any problems. But apparently Trey is not as susceptible to my powers as they are.”

“Which leaves us with one question,” said Phoebe. “What are we going to do about it?”

“There has to be some way to stop him,” said Paige. “Some weakness we can exploit.”

“I think the only option we have is a Power of Three spell,” said Piper. “Nothing less is going to affect him. It seems to be our only option.”

“What kind of Power of Three spell?” Phoebe asked.

“One to separate Leo and Cole,” said Piper. “I don’t want to hurt Trey if we don’t have to. He’s right when he said he didn’t ask to be created. It’s not his fault the Fusion demon’s power acted the way it did. But we also can’t sacrifice Leo and Cole just to let him continue to exist.”

“I agree,” said Paige. “I know I don’t have a lot to say about it since it’s not my husband or boyfriend that’s been affected. But it just doesn’t seem right to let Trey live if it means loosing Cole and Leo.”

“You’re our sister,” said Phoebe. “This affects you as much as it affects us so you have just as much right to have an opinion as Piper and I do. What about what he said though? About it being the same thing as murder if we separate them?”

“I don’t see it that way,” said Piper. “If anything it would be more like killing Leo and Cole if we don’t do something about it. Phoebe, you’d better get started on the spell right away. Trey’s becoming more and more comfortable being a single entity rather than a dual one. I think time is running out for us. The longer they’re merged the harder it might be to separate them. When he comes back we’d better be ready to separate them before he can do anything about it.”

“Right,” said Phoebe. “I’ll let you know as soon as I come up with something.”

“What if we can’t separate them?” Paige asked. “What are we going to do then?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Piper asked. “What do we do then?”

[noazmale]

SIX

Trey was gone for several hours. What he was doing in all that time was anyone’s guess. Phoebe had finished the separation spell and the girls had thoroughly familiarized themselves with it. When he returned they wanted to be ready to use it before he had a chance to escape or protect himself. When Trey finally did return Piper was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Phoebe and Paige were in the living room talking.

“Well,” said Trey shorbing into the kitchen, “I’ve given you time to think about it. I’m sure you see now that trying to separate Leo and Cole is tantamount to murder. Can we please put this behind us and get on with protecting the innocent?”

“Phoebe, Paige,” Piper called out, “we have company.”

The two sisters came into the kitchen immediately. They stood together with Piper on the side of the table opposite from Trey.

“Have you three come to your senses yet?” Trey asked. “I know this has been a shock for all of you. It has been for me, too. But I’ve come to see that this is actually a blessing in disguise. With me we have a greater weapon with which to fight demons. I’m sure you can see that now.”

“I’ll tell you what we see,” said Piper. “We see someone who shouldn’t even exist.”

“There really isn’t much you can do about it,” said Trey.

“Actually there is,” said Phoebe. Together the girls began to incant the spell.

“White Lighter and demon joined as one. Their magic fused in a single form.

“Divide the one and make him two. Return them to the way they were born.”

The magic of the spell began to envelope Trey. He fought violently against it as it attempted to separate Leo and Cole. For a moment he began to separate into two distinct beings. Then, just as suddenly, the remerged into the single being known at Trey. Within seconds the magic dissipated away.

“That was foolish,” said Trey. “I told you before that I’m the merging of a White Lighter and an upper level demon. I have enough power to rival even that of the Source. It’s a shame you can’t see what a great boon this is to the forces of good.”

“Okay, now who talks like that?” Piper asked. “A great boon? Please. I’m just sorry you can’t see what you’re doing. You don’t belong here. You were never meant to exist. You only exist now because of a horrible accident. Can’t you see how wrong that is? I want Leo back. To hell with ‘the great boon’ you claim to represent.”

“You’re so short-sighted,” said Trey. “With my power we can vanquish all the demons we need to. We can finally put an end to the demonic threat that plagues humanity. We can wipe them out and they’ll never threaten the innocent again.”

“That’s just wishful thinking,” said Phoebe. “There are too many of them to wipe them all out. And if you declare all out war on the underworld they may decide that protecting magic from the mortal world isn’t worth their annihilation. You could end up exposing magic.”

“Not if I stop them first,” said Trey. “I’ve all ready proven that even the Power of Three is no match for me. If you can’t hurt me what chance do simple demons stand?”

“Do you hear yourself?” Paige asked. “You sound crazy. Like you’re drunk with power. You can’t possibly believe that. First of all there’s no such thing as a ‘simple’ demon. You of all people should be aware of the demons we have to face every day. Why do you think there are three of us? One person can’t possibly stand up against all the demons.”

“I can,” said Trey. “We can finally have what we’ve always wanted. A life free of demons. Once I’ve dealt with them we won’t ever have to worry about them again. And if you join me we can finish them off just that much quicker. The underworld can’t possible stand against all of us.”

“You’re talking crazy,” said Piper. “Paige is right. You sound just like Dr. Williamson did when he got infected with our blood. Trey, I think this joining is affecting you more than you realize. You need to let us help you.”

“I don’t need any help,” said Trey. “And if you won’t join me I’ll just have to do it myself. I’ll show you. I’ll put an end to the demonic threat once and for all.”

Suddenly Trey shorbed out of the manor.

“He’s talking crazy,” said Phoebe. “You think he honestly believes what he was saying?”

“Unfortunately, yes, I do,” said Piper. “I think Leo and Cole fusing is just too much for Trey to handle. Leo’s a White Lighter and Cole is a demon. They’re diametrically opposed. Even though Cole is good physically he’s still a half demon. That’s got to be causing conflict inside him.”

“And it seems to be getting worse,” said Paige. “Look, I like Leo and Cole, too. Well, maybe not Cole so much. But I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to him because that would hurt Phoebe. But I think we have to face facts. If we’re going to keep him from starting a war with the underworld and protect all of humanity I don’t think we have any choice. We have to vanquish Trey.”

“There has to be something else we can do,” Piper protested.

“I’m with Piper,” said Phoebe. “We can’t vanquish him. We’d be vanquishing Leo and Cole. We can’t do that. Besides, if Piper is right then he’s not responsible for what he’s doing. The conflict that’s going on inside him must be messing with his mind. He may honestly not realize just how crazy and dangerous what he’s doing is.”

“Okay, so we don’t vanquish him,” said Paige. “But we have to do something. We can’t just sit back while he goes and starts Armageddon. At the very least we have to find someway to confine him until we have a chance to undo what’s happened.”

“What about the crystal prison?” Phoebe asked. “It should be able to hold him. The problem is how to get him in position so we can use it.”

“I think I know how,” said Piper. “We can trap him in the attic where no one is likely to see him. Then we can see if there’s anything in the Book of Shadows that can help.”

“How do we get him here?” Paige asked.

“Well, he is part White Lighter,” said Piper. “And he’s our White Lighter. I’m willing to bet he can still hear us if we call for him. He did hear at least one of his other charges. If we call him and say we’ve changed our minds he might come just to find out.”

“I should be able to get the crystals around him before he can stop us,” said Paige. “I can orb them in place before he knows what’s going on.”

“Great,” said Piper. “Let’s go. The sooner we have him confined the less we’ll have to worry about.”

The girls moved to the attic and gathered around the Book of Shadows.

“Trey,” Piper called into the air. “Trey, we need to talk to you. We’ve thought about it. Maybe you’re right. Maybe we do have a chance to rid humanity of the demons.”

Suddenly the girls watched him shorb into the attic opposite the Book of Shadows.

“So, you finally realize I’m right,” he said. “Together we can rid mankind of any more demonic intervention.”

“Actually, we realized something else,” said Piper. “Paige, the crystals.”

“Crystals,” said Paige.

The crystals were on a table to their left. As they began to orb she redirected them toward Trey. As they orbed into place the crystal prison suddenly sprang to life.

“You tricked me,” said Trey. “You never had any intention of joining me.”

“It’s for your own good,” said Phoebe. “You aren’t rational. Your White Lighter and demonic halves are fighting each other. They’re making you delusional. We’re just trying to help.”

Trey just smiled. He waved his hand and one of the crystals suddenly slid across the floor to the other side of the attic.

“Okay, how did you do that?” Piper asked.

“You forget,” said Trey. “One of my White Lighter abilities is a limited form of telekinesis. Oh, it’s not as powerful as Prue’s was. At least not normally.”

“What’s that supposed to me?” Paige asked.

Trey waved his hand again and the three sisters were suddenly cast across the attic away from the Book of Shadows. They tumbled to the floor as Trey walked over to the book.

“I told you,” he said, “the joining has made me much powerful than either Leo or Cole could be separately. I can guess what you were planning. That something in the Book of Shadows was going to help you ‘fix’ me. Well, I’m not broken. And I can’t let you interfere with me. No matter how remote the possibility you might just find some way to stop me. So I’ll just hang onto the Book of Shadows until I’m finished so you won’t be tempted to try.”

Trey reached out and took hold of the Book of Shadows. Suddenly there was a brilliant flash of light that blinded the girls.

[noazmale]

SEVEN

“What the hell happened?” Piper asked. “I can’t see a thing.”

“Neither can I,” said Paige. “I guess that flash of light blinded us. But what was it anyway?”

“I don’t know,” said Phoebe. “It seemed to happen as soon as Trey touched the Book of Shadows. But I think my eyesight is beginning to clear. I can make out some vague shapes.”

“I think you’re right,” said Piper. “It must be like having a light suddenly turned on when you’re in a dark room. It takes a few minutes for you eyes to adjust.”

“What about Trey?” Phoebe asked. “What do you think happened to him?”

“He probably did it,” said Paige. “To keep us from stopping him.”

It took a few more moments for their eyes to adjust. When their eyesight had fully recovered they looked around the attic. Leo lay on the floor on his back underneath the attic window. Cole lay across the room on his stomach next to a chest. The Book of Shadows lay on its podium where it usually sat.

“What happened to them?” Paige asked as Piper moved over to Leo and Phoebe moved over to Cole. “How did they get separated?”

“I don’t know,” said Piper. She looked down at Leo. “Leo? Leo, honey, are you okay?”

“Oh, what happened?” Leo asked, sitting up. “Why are you calling me Leo? I thought we agreed my name would be Trey?”

“Great,” said Piper. “Their bodies have separated but their minds are still joined.”

“Cole’s not breathing,” said Phoebe frantically. “We have to do something.”

“Leo, or Trey, you have to heal Cole,” said Phoebe.

“It wouldn’t do any good,” said Leo. “That’s only his body. We are still joined. There’s nothing to heal because there’s no soul in the body. He’s gone.”

“No,” screamed Phoebe. “Your bodies have been separated. We have to separate your minds and put Cole’s back in his body.”

“We’ve all ready talked about that,” said Leo. “You can’t do that. If you do I’ll die. That’s the same thing as murder.”

“That’s changed,” said Paige. “That was when Leo and Cole were physically joined. They aren’t any longer. They’ve been separated. Which means if we don’t separate you now Cole will die.”

“She’s right,” said Piper. “This isn’t just about you any more. This is also about Cole. Unless we can get him back in his own body his body will die. If that happens it will be just like murder. You’ll be murdering Cole.”

“But he will still be alive inside me,” said Trey. “It’s only his body that will be gone.”

“No, It’s more than that,” said Phoebe. “With his body gone there’s no way for him to return to us. He’ll be trapped inside you forever. He might as well be dead. And you will have killed him.”

“There’s another thing,” said Paige. “All that power you got from the joining. I’m willing to bet it’s gone now. You don’t have Cole’s body merged with you any more. Which means you don’t have his powers either. All you are is a White Lighter with Cole’s memories. Without Cole’s additional powers you have no way of stopping the underworld like you planned.”

“And without being able to separate Leo and Cole then Leo is lost to me,” said Piper. “You’re Trey, not Leo or Cole. Which means I’ve lost Leo. You killed him.”

“They are both still alive in me,” said Trey.

“No, they aren’t,” said Phoebe. “Everything you’ve done proves that. You may have been born when Leo and Cole merged but you aren’t them. Not even a combination of them. Cole knows that there’s no way to do away with all demons. He would never think of going after the underworld like you are.”

“And another thing,” said Piper. “If you refuse to let us separate you that means you’ll be choosing to live at the expense of someone else. Two people, in fact. People who haven’t done anything and who have no choice in what you’re doing. The Leo I know would never sacrifice someone else to ensure his own survival. It’s not who or what he is.”

“Neither would Cole,” said Phoebe. “He’s changed since we first met him. He knows how wrong it is to murder an innocent simply so he could go on living. And what’s more, he knows that I would never agree to it. Neither of them would. If you’re willing to do that then there’s nothing of either of them in you.”

“But,” Trey began to protest.

“No buts,” said Paige. “They’re both right and you know it. Or at least you would if you really were a joining of the two. If you had their memories you’d know they would never agree to what you’re doing. If you’re willing to go through with this then you aren’t Leo, Cole, or a joining of the two. You’re something completely different.”

Trey looked at the three sisters for a moment. He knew that his sense of self-preservation had been fighting against the very thoughts and feelings the girls were now talking about. Thoughts and feelings he had pushed out of his subconscious because he didn’t want to think about them.

“You’re right,” he said finally. “I’ve been denying it but you’re absolutely right. Leo would never do this. And even Cole now believes it to be wrong. I’ve fought against it because I wanted to go on living.”

“Then stop fighting it,” said Piper. “You won’t die, not really. You’ll still live on in both Leo and Cole. And neither of them has to die.”

“How?” Trey asked. “You’ve all ready tried to separate us with the Power of Three and that failed. How can they be separated when even that won’t work?”

“It failed before because Leo and Cole were physically joined,” said Phoebe. “Their combined magic was too much for even the Power of Three to overcome. But now they’ve been physically separated. The additional magic that Cole’s body brought to the joining isn’t there any longer. I’m willing to bet that without that additional magic the spell will be able to separate their minds.”

“You really think it will?” Paige asked.

“We don’t have anything to loose by trying,” said Piper. “Assuming that Trey won’t fight us on it any longer. At least if it doesn’t we’ll at least have tried. We can’t do any more than that.”

“I won’t fight you,” said Trey. “Despite what you may think I do still feel the way Leo and Cole feel. As much as I want to live I can’t go on living at the expense of someone else. Especially someone who has done as much good as Leo has. And who can do as much good as Cole can.”

“Good,” said Piper. “Phoebe, do you still have the spell?”

“Yes,” said Phoebe taking a piece of paper out of her pocket. She held it out so the three girls could read it.

“White Lighter and demon joined as one. Their magic fused in a single form.

“Divide the one and make him two. Return them to the way they were born.”

Just as before the magic of the spell began to envelope Trey. This time, however, he didn’t fight against it. He simply stood by and waited as the magic surrounded him. For several moments the magic swirled around Trey and then a portion of it began to separate from him. The magic floated over and settled on Cole where it sat for a moment and then dissipated away. Cole opened his eyes and sat up.

“What’s going on?” Cole asked. “What are we doing in the attic?”

“I don’t know,” said Leo. “The last thing I remember was trying to orb Piper and me out of the way from the demon attack.”

“Phoebe and I were shimmering in after our date,” said Cole. “I remember appearing in the entryway and the next thing I know I’m lying on the floor here in the attic. Would someone care to explain just what is going on here?”

“Looks like they’re both back to normal,” said Paige.

“Thank goodness,” said Piper. “I think we could all use some coffee. Come on. I’ll make some and we’ll try to explain to you what’s been going on.

[noazmale]

EIGHT

“I don’t remember any of that,” said Leo. “Like I said the last thing I remember was trying to orb Piper away from the demon’s attack.”

“Same here,” said Cole. “Phoebe and I shimmered in and then that was it. I have no memory of any of the things you mentioned.”

“Well, it all happened, take our word on it,” said Piper. “When our spell failed to separate the two of you we didn’t know what we were going to do. We thought Trey was going to start World War III with the underworld.”

“You’re lucky he didn’t,” said Cole. “What you told him was true. Every demon in the underworld would have ignored the rule about not exposing magic to the mortal world. World War III would have been right. I shudder to think about the carnage that would have caused.”

“Well, at least you were able to convince him to stop fighting you and let you separate us,” said Leo.

“Yeah, well, only after you two were physically separate,” said Phoebe. “What I don’t understand is how that suddenly happened.”

“The Book of Shadows,” said Leo. “Evil can’t touch it, remember? Cole may have changed to good but his body is still half demon. When Trey tried to grab the book his body was physically cast away from it because the book protects itself. The force of being knocked away from it must have caused us to separate.”

“That make sense,” said Cole. “No matter how much I change there are some things I will never be able to change. Having demonic DNA is one of them. I guess we were lucky it is.”

“I’m just glad to have Leo back,” said Piper, hugging her husband. “I missed you not being around.”

“And I’m glad to have Cole back,” said Phoebe. “It’s bad enough that he has to leave to avoid the bounty hunters. Having him around and then again not around at the same time is just too much to handle.”

“Well, I don’t think you have to worry too much about that in the future,” said Cole. “What happened was a one in a million shot. It probably wouldn’t happen again in a hundred years.”

“You know,” said Phoebe, “with all that’s been going on we never had a chance to check the Book of Shadows for a Fusion demon.”

“Might not be a bad idea to do that soon,” said Piper. “And we can add an entry about this little incident. “Despite what Cole says you never know if – or when – it might happen again. It’s best to be prepared.”

“I’ll help,” said Cole. “We can make sure the entry is complete. Sometimes there are things about demons that aren’t in the book.”

“Well, you guys can do that,” said Paige. “Right now I’m kind of bushed. I think I’m going to crash early. Tomorrow has to be easier than the last couple of days have been. I, for one, am looking forward to some time off from demons for a while.”

“Let’s just hope they go along with that,” said Piper. “They seem to pick the most inconvenient times make an appearance.”

“Well, they are demons,” said Cole. “Showing up at inconvenient times is kind of a trademark they have.”

“How well we know,” said Phoebe. “Maybe when the Fusion demon doesn’t return whomever set it will think twice before trying anything again.”

“I can guarantee it,” said Cole. “Fusion demons have never been known to fail primarily because no one knows they’re involved until everything is over. When this one doesn’t come back whomever sent it is going to be just a bit confused. Even against the three of you he’ll think he had surprise on his side and he won’t understand why the Fusion demon hasn’t returned yet.”

“What about sending someone to check on it?” Leo asked.

“Unlikely,” said Cole. “Fusion demons can be notoriously upset when they think they aren’t trusted. Especially by the demon that hires them. And as Trey told you, they can fuse with any demon. Whomever hired it won’t want to risk angering it and possibly becoming its next target.”

“Lucky for us,” said Piper. “Well, I think we can all use a treat. How about some hot chocolate?”

“Hot chocolate?” questioned Paige. “I guess going to bed early can wait a little bit.”

“Somehow I kind of figured you might change your mind,” said Piper as they all headed to the kitchen.

The End

If you’ve enjoyed this story, you can find more “Charmed” stories at my website, www.geocities.com/killeenmale/. You can also post your own “Charmed” stories if you like to write fan fiction.

[sweet8]

Wow! Really great story, noazmale! ;D