Phoebe stood lashed to an outcropping of rock by tendrils of
magical energy. Cattarrin stood in front of her, his hand
outstretched as she screamed in agony. Cattarrin dropped his hand and
Phoebe stopped screaming, collapsing in near exhaustion.

"It's true," said Cattarrin. "I do not sense the essence in
you. You do not have it."

"That's what we've been trying to tell you."

Cattarrin turned around to see Piper, Paige, and Cole standing
only a few feet from him.

"Fools," bellowed Cattarrin. "You save me the trouble of coming
for you. Now I will destroy all of you. In my domain there are none
who can resist me."

"You mean before we tell you where this essence you want is?"
asked Piper. "That's kind of short sighted."

"You have the essence?" asked Cattarrin. "Give it to me and
your deaths will be quick and painless."

"I don't like that deal," said Paige.

"Neither do I," said Piper. She pulled a vial out of her pocket
filled with a milky pink liquid. "Here's the deal. You give us our
sister and let us leave here unharmed or I'll use this."

"You are a fool," said Cattarrin. "Your potions and elixirs
hold no fear for me."

"You don't quite understand," said Piper, taking Cole's arm.
"He has this essence you're so hot for. This vial holds a power
destruction potion. If you don't agree to our demands, I'll use this
on him. It will destroy all of his powers. Including that precious
essence you want so badly. So it's up to you. You want the essence,
we get our sister."

"I shall simply destroy you first," said Cattarrin. "Then he
will return what is mine before I destroy the other two."

"Wrong," said Paige, pulling out a vial identical to the one
Piper held. "You go after her, I use this. You go after me, she uses
hers. We're willing to bet you can't get both of us before one of us
can use our vial. What do you say? Want to see who's faster on the
draw?"

"Your potion cannot destroy the essence," said Cattarrin.

"Are you sure?" asked Piper. "You didn't think your Beast could
be defeated and now it's dead. You didn't think anyone could escape
this God forsaken place. But two people did. This essence is now
part of Cole's powers. Are you so sure this won't work that you'd
risk destroying it?"

Cattarrin looked at Piper, then at Paige. He reached out and
the magical tendrils holding Phoebe vanished. She dropped to the
ground barely conscious.

"We have a bargain," said Cattarrin.

"Paige," said Piper, "get her out of here."

Paige picked Phoebe up and orbed them away.

"The essence," demanded Cattarrin.

"Cole, give it to him," said Piper.

"Piper," Cole whispered to her, "as long as I have the essence,
he can't hurt me. I'll never again have to worry about being
vanquished to here."

"You want me to use this?" asked Piper, holding up the vial
again. "Just remember you aren't exactly my favorite person. I'd
just as soon destroy your powers as not."

Cole looked at Piper, and then held out his hand. An orb of
energy formed that was a reddish yellow in color. When it was
completely formed, Cattarrin reached out and took the orb from Cole.

"Leave this place," commanded Cattarrin. "We have a bargain and
I will honor it. But should you ever return, I will not be bound by
this agreement again."

"No problem there," said Piper. "I can think of better places
I'd rather be. Cole, get us out of here."

Cole sighed, then shimmered Piper and himself out of the
Wasteland. When they arrived at the manor, Leo had already healed
Phoebe and she seemed as good as new. Paige sat next to Phoebe,
hugging her older sister.

"What happened?" asked Leo. "We thought you might not make it
out of there."

"Cole returned the essence to Cattarrin," said Piper. "I don't
know why it was so important to him, but he has what he wanted. I
think he'll be leaving us alone now."

"He needed it for the Beast, " said Cole. "He can reconstitute
the Beast and put it back to absorbing the magical essence of demons
vanquished there."

"So that's why he wanted it so badly," said Paige. "What about
you, Cole? I guess that puts a crimp in your powers now."

"Not that much," said Cole. "All in all, it was really a very
small portion of my powers. I'll hardly miss it."

He turned to Phoebe.

"I'm glad you're safe," he said. "The others can tell you I
never hesitated when I found out what had happened. I immediately
came to your rescue."

"A rescue that wouldn't have been necessary if not for you,"
said Phoebe. "Cole, you just don't seem to understand. It's over
between us. You're evil. It's part of who you are. This is only one
more example of the danger you can put us in. I know you didn't mean
to, but that's not the point."

"I still have to try," said Cole. "I still love you, Phoebe."

"It's not enough," said Phoebe.

Cole looked at her, and then shimmered out of the manor. Phoebe
stood up and said she was going into the kitchen to get something to
eat.

"By the way," Leo said to Piper, "Paige wouldn't tell us how you
convinced Cattarrin to let you go."

"It was simple," said Piper, pulling out the vial. "I just
threatened to use a power destruction potion on Cole that would
destroy the essence. I was betting he wasn't sure if it would work or
not and wouldn't take the chance. Turns out I was right."

"Power destruction potion?" questioned Leo. "I never heard of
that."

"Neither have I," said Piper.

She pulled the cap out of the vial and emptied the contents into
her mouth and swallowed.

"Strawberry flavored milk is one of my favorites," said Piper.

"Mine, too," said Paige, emptying the contents of her vial.

"Milk?" questioned Leo in total amazement. "You bluffed the
ruler of the Wasteland with milk?"

"Hey, he didn't know what was in the vial," said Piper. "Can I
help it if he was willing to take my word about what was in the vial?"

Laughing, the sisters and Leo went into the kitchen together.

The End

If you've enjoyed this story, you can find more "Charmed"
stories at my website, killeenmale/ . You can also
post your own "Charmed" stories if you like to write fan fiction.