[Room #412] Tonight on "Torture The Empath" --- NFB

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe ran straight from Study Hall back to the dorms. She slammed her room door open and ran inside. She collapsed to her knees in the restroom and started throwing up as the images kept repeating through her mind.

Cole, his head bowed, chanting something she couldn't make out.

A woman running...Tara.

Angel chasing after her.

No, not Angel...Angelus.

Tara screaming as he catches her.

The images that follow make Phoebe nauseous. Torture. Terror. Pain. All the things that Angelus would do to Tara to make her pay for resouling him. So much suffering, so much blood. It was overwhelming to her empathic senses.

Phoebe had tears running down her face and she was shaking as she continued to retch.

Oh God...Oh God...

Comments

[demonbelthazor]

Cole had raced after Phoebe as she fled Study Hall. He entered the room and shut the door behind him. "Phoebe? What's wrong? What happened?" he called.

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe tried to stand up and was positive her legs wouldn't support her. She cleaned out her mouth and stumbled to the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Cole...I had a premonition..." She looked at him and her hands were shaking.

[demonbelthazor]

Cole put his arms around Phoebe and held her tight. "What did you see? Was someone hurting you? You know I won't allow that to happen."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe shook her head. "No...but it might happen to me since..." Phoebe swallowed. "Cole...I saw what Angelus will do to Tara...I saw everything..." She looked at him. "I saw you..."

[demonbelthazor]

He stiffened and stepped away from her. "You...saw me?"

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe looked at him and nodded slowly.

"You were...you were chanting something and then I saw Angelus take Tara..." Phoebe shuddered. "Everything he did to her, I saw it." She looked at him. "Cole...you're trying to remove his soul..."

[demonbelthazor]

Sometimes having a girlfriend who could see the future really sucked.

"Visions aren't always clear or right," Cole said slowly. "That's just your fear, not the future."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe looked at him. "Cole, the last time I had a vision, I sent Piper and Beka to help you." She swallowed. "That one was pretty clear. Cole...you said you promised him that you would undo what they did..."

[demonbelthazor]

"You know I have to try," he said softly. "And I know you have to try to stop me."

[sensethevisions]

"You know what he'll do..."

[demonbelthazor]

"Not necessarily," Cole said. "I'll protect you from him. Piper, too. He's not stupid enough to go on a rampage when there's people just itching to stake him."

[sensethevisions]

"You cannot protect me from him if I am placing myself squarely between him and Tara."

[demonbelthazor]

"Then I'll keep you out of the way," Cole snapped. "Tara I can't protect. She knew what she was getting into when she cast the damn spell."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "And how are you going to keep me out of the way, Cole? You know as well as I do that short of chaining me up omg yes and keeping me prisoner somewhere you cannot stop me from trying to protect Tara."

[demonbelthazor]

Cole closed his eyes and sighed. Then he opened them and looked at Phoebe, putting his hand on her cheek. "Do what you have to do. But whatever happens...I'll always love you. Even if...." He stumbled over the words. "Even if you have to kill me."

[sensethevisions]

"I'm not going to kill you!" Phoebe's was shocked at the idea. "How can you say that?!"

[demonbelthazor]

"I know that moment will come," Cole said. "Maybe not today or tomorrow...but one day. You have duties, Phoebe. And so do I. You can't let your feelings stand in the way of doing what's right. You know that."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe shakes her head. "I'd kill myself before I'd hurt you, Cole."

[demonbelthazor]

He smiled a little, but shook his head. "No you won't. Not when there are innocents who need you."

[sensethevisions]

"Don't say things like that."

[demonbelthazor]

"You have a sacred duty," Cole said. "You protect the innocent from anything that might hurt them. Anything."

He couldn't help but think back to his conversation with Aziraphale and how the angel said Crowley wanted Aziraphale to thwart him. The human part of him wanted Phoebe to thwart the demon as well.

[sensethevisions]

"Sacred duty doesn't mean I have to kill the man I love," Phoebe said stubbornly. "I'll stop you, but I won't let you be harmed."

[demonbelthazor]

He brought his head down, pressing his forehead against hers. "I know, sweetheart," he said. "Just like I know you have to do what you have to do. I just wanted you to know that even if...even if I get angry, I still love you. I always will. Nothing's going to change that."

[sensethevisions]

"Nothing's going to change my feelings for you, either, Cole. I'll get angry, we'll fight, but you're still the man I love---still my soulmate."

[demonbelthazor]

"Nothing's going to change my feelings for you, either, Cole. I'll get angry, we'll fight, but you're still the man I love---still my soulmate."

He kissed the top of her head. "There are things I won't be able to tell you...and I know there will be things you can't tell me," he said. "I don't like it, but...we have to accept that."

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe sighed softly.

"I hate the idea that I have to keep things from you...but I guess I can understand."

[demonbelthazor]

"Me, too, love," he said with a hint of sadness. "But I can't know things and not act on them. And the same goes for you. You have to do what you have to do...just like me."

He almost couldn't believe he was practically encouraging her to betray him.

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe mutters something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like "We should just run off, get married, and rule that island I bought and be away from all of this shit."

She held Cole close to her. "Sometimes, seeing this stuff coming really bites."

[demonbelthazor]

"I know," he said, stroking her hair. "But it's so you can do good things." He smiled despite himself. "A witch and a demon. Who could have ever seen this coming?"

[sensethevisions]

"If they had seen it coming, they would have tried to stop us...so I'm glad they didn't."

[demonbelthazor]

"Me, too," he murmured.

He drew in a long breath and let it out in a wistful sigh. "I need to take care of a few things," he lied. "I'll be back in a little while. You'll be here, right? You're not going anywhere?" His eyes pleaded with her to lie as well.

[sensethevisions]

As much as it hurt her to do, Phoebe nodded...and lied to him.

"I'll be in here all night. I just have to get my books and my bag from Study Hall."

[demonbelthazor]

Cole nodded. "Okay. I'll be back in a couple hours." He gave her a gentle kiss. "I love you."