Chapter 6: Black as Cole

Buffy and Piper paced back and forth waiting on word from Phoebe and Cole about a demon they had gone out to vanquish. Leo had told them about a demon that was killing witches with an athame. Buffy had wondered briefly if it could have been Cole. After all Angel had lost his soul and gone evil. The same could been held true for Cole. She quickly dismissed the idea though as she remembered how helpful Cole had been since she had met him.

"A demon who likes to kill witches," Paige said as she flipped through the book. "Well, that narrows it down to about every page in the book."

"We have one clue. We know he likes to use an athame." Piper said.

"How does that help?" Paige asked.

"Well, it means he has hands. Keep flipping." Piper said.

"So I hear you and Leo are thinking about having a baby." Paige said.

"Where did you hear that from?" Piper asked looking directly at Buffy who shook her head.

Paige shrugged. "Not from Mom, from Phoebe," she said as she noticed her eldest sister roll her eyes. "Oh, did I just break some sort of sister confidentiality clause?"

"No, you didn't, and no we aren't." Piper said.

"Really? Don't you want to?" Buffy asked. "I would love to be a grandmother someday."

Piper sighed. "I'm sorry, Mom, but you're not going to be a grandmother, all right? At least not any time soon, it's too risky. It would be in constant danger around us."

"What does Leo think?" Paige wondered.

"Leo thinks that there's enough magic around here we'd be able to protect it." Piper said.

"Maybe he's right," Buffy said.

Piper shook her head, "Maybe he's not." She looked at Paige. "Keep flipping."

"I'm flipping." Paige said as she flipped a couple of pages. "You know, it's not like having a baby isn't hard enough even without demons attacking. But for what it's worth, there are ways of seeing what it's like before you actually have one."

"Mm-hmm, great. Well, the next time you pass a baby rental, pick one up for Leo." Piper said.

"Maybe I will." Paige said as Leo orbed in frightening Piper.

"So did you find anything out?" Leo asked.

Buffy nodded. "We scryed for the location of the demon using the slime from the last victim, and Phoebe and Cole are checking it out."

"Alright, well, I hope that it pans out because with two dead witches they're pretty concerned up there." Leo said.

"Okay, well, we are pretty concerned down here too." Piper said.

"Hey, I think I found something. 'Upper level demon who likes to kill witches using an athame, sometimes with energy balls…' His name, Belthazor." Paige said.

Piper and Leo look at each other and back at Paige.

"I don't think so." Leo said.

"Why not?" Buffy asked.

"Well, because that's, uh, Cole, in his demonic form." Leo said.

"Mom, you knew he was half demon." Piper said.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah but I didn't know the name of his demonic form."

Just at that moment the phone rang and Piper answered it. "Hello? … Okay, Mom will scry for him again," she said as she looked at Buffy. "Phoebe and Cole are there, but can't find him."

Buffy nodded as she moved over to the table and picked up the crystal and scryed like she did the first time. The crystal immediately went to the same location, the same place Phoebe and Cole were at. "Battery and Clay. He's still there," she said.

"Mom said he's still there." Piper said.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Later Phoebe and Cole walked in the front door of the Manor covered in slime.

"Don't you think we should talk about this?" Cole asked.

"Talk about what?" Phoebe said as Buffy and Piper came down the stairs.

"Wow, looks like you two got a juicy one." Piper said.

Phoebe nodded, "Yeah, but unfortunately not the one that kills witches."

"How do you know?" Buffy asked.

"Because upper level demons have a human form, and they bleed, red, not green." Cole said. "No offense Buffy, but with having Patty's memories I thought you would have known that."

"I remember most of my life but there is still some things missing." Buffy said. "Like what did I get Prue, Piper and Phoebe for Christmas the year before I died?"

"Where are you going?" Cole asked as Phoebe headed up the stairs.

"I'm going up to take a shower first, and then I'm going to check the Book of Shadows," Phoebe told him. "I wanna I.D. this demon that I'm wearing, try to find some answers."

"Speaking of unanswered questions…" Cole said.

Phoebe sighed. "There is a demon on the loose, Cole, we don't have time for this."

"Shouldn't we make time for it?" Cole asked.

"No, not now we shouldn't."

"What are you guys talking about?" Piper wondered.

"I'm wondering the same thing." Buffy said.

"Nothing," Phoebe said rather quickly as Cole echoed, "Nothing."

"Please, Cole, let's just focus on vanquishing the demon." Phoebe said.

"Fine. I'll, uh, go see what I can find out," Cole said before he shimmered out.

"Honey, did you two have a fight?" Buffy asked.

"No, Mom, he just… never mind." Phoebe said as she walked up the stairs.

"I wonder what that was all about," Piper said as Buffy shrugged her shoulders. It was something they both were curious about.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

After Phoebe had taken her shower and changed into fresh clothes, she had headed straight up to the attic and to the Book of Shadows. She had quickly found the demon that Cole had vanquished and was reading the page as Piper and Buffy joined her.

"Okay, so the demon that Cole and I nailed is a Scavenger demon. Apparently he feeds on the remains of other demons victims. Nice, huh?" Phoebe said.

"Well, that explains why Mom scryed for him accidentally," Piper said as Phoebe flipped through the book. "Um, are you gonna tell us what happened out there?"

Phoebe sighed as she tried to deflect the question she knew her sister was asking. "There's not much to tell. The demon jumped in behind us…"

"That's not what Piper meant," Buffy said. "Honey, what happened between you and Cole?"

"Oh, yeah, that," Phoebe said as she realized that neither her sister or her mother would let the subject drop without telling them what had happened. "Um…I'm not exactly sure. He asked me to marry him."

"What? He-he did what? He did?" Piper said shocked by this turn of events.

"More or less."

"Well, what did you say?" Buffy asked.

Phoebe sighed, "I didn't know what to say. I was too surprised. I mean, with all my power of premonition and I never saw that one coming."

"Uh, wow, I-I don't think a witch is allowed to marry a demon. Honey, we can't have a demon in the family." Piper said.

"Piper, who cares if she is allowed by the Elders or not." Buffy said. "If she loves Cole she will find a way just like you did."

"Mom we can't kid ourselves," Piper said as she looked toward her mother. "If she decides to go through with this, it's gonna be a source of huge concern. Especially for them. While we know that Cole is good I can understand they having problems."

"If they had problems with Cole," Buffy said. "They would have stepped in and sent another witch after him. Even if it meant angering you three, especially Phoebe."

"Right now that is the least of my concerns." Phoebe said as she moved to the sofa and sat down. She watched both her sister and mother sit down beside her. "I love Cole, you both know I do, but demon stuff aside, I never thought of myself as the marrying type. You know, it's not something I fantasized about. Ever."

"So then, what are you gonna tell him? Piper asked.

Phoebe shrugged, she wasn't sure what she was going to tell Cole. "I don't know."

"Well, you're gonna have to tell him something because a question like that doesn't go away by itself." Buffy said.

"Are you sure?" Phoebe hoped the answer was no, that it would go away on its own.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. I loved your father, but do you know how long it took me to decide if I wanted to marry him? Three days. And it weighed on me that entire time till I told him yes."

"Hey," Cole said as he shimmered in.

Phoebe smiled as she looked up at Cole. "Hey."

"Piper and I'll be downstairs." Buffy said as she pulled Piper out of the room.

"I couldn't find out who the demon was but at least I ruled out any usual suspects." Cole said.

"Any idea of who it could be?" Phoebe wondered.

"No, just another upper level demon trying to build a reputation by killing witches to move up the ladder. Anyway, I guess I'll keep checking." he said and he tried to leave.

"No, Cole, wait. We should talk," Phoebe said as she stood up and moved slightly toward him.

"Alright," Cole said.

"It's just hard." Phoebe said.

"It's just me."

"Okay, let me ask you a question," Phoebe said as she moved closer to Cole. "When you, you know, proposed … did you mean to? Or did it just come out in the heat of the moment?"

"Well, does that matter?" Cole wondered.

"Well, yeah, it matters to me."

Cole thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "It just came out in the heat of the moment."

"Oh." Phoebe said a tad bit disappointed.

Cole smiled. "But that doesn't mean that once I said it I wasn't serious because I-I-I was, I still am."

"Cole…" Phoebe said.

"Phoebe, listen to me. I know it was crazy to ask, and I know it doesn't make any sense because of who we are but that shouldn't matter. If it did we never would have fallen in love in the first place. I love you, Phoebe, and I don't know where we go from here but, I do know where ever it is, I want it to be with you." Cole said as they heard a baby cry from downstairs.

"Is that a baby crying?" Phoebe asked.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Downstairs Paige held onto a mechanical baby as a crying noise came from it. "You told me to rent one, so I did," she told Piper.

"Well, I didn't think that you could. Where did you get it?" Piper said.

"The clinic." Paige said.

"Great. Take it back." Piper said as Phoebe and Cole came down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Phoebe asked.

"Your baby sister brought home a realistic sounding robot kid," Buffy said.

"Piper and Leo wanted to try out having a baby before actually having one." Paige added. "So I got them a mechanical baby. They use them in parenting classes all the time."

"Yeah and they don't need one," Buffy said. "If they have any questions about raising a child in a magical household they can ask me. I did it for Prue, Piper and Phoebe till I died."

"Wow, it sounds so real." Phoebe said as the mechanical baby let out a wail.

"And so annoying. Look, Paige, I appreciate the thought, but we are on a demon hunt and the last thing I want to do is protect a fake baby." Piper said.

"Oh, really?" Paige said as she threw it up in the air as Piper froze it. "See? Your instincts were to save it."

"My instincts were to shut it up." Piper said.

Buffy shook her head, "Paige is right your instincts were to protect it, even if it wasn't a real baby."

Piper glared at Buffy. "Not now, Mom."

"The doll has a sensor. It'll stop crying if you just hold it," Paige said.

Piper shook her head. "But I don't want to."

"Come on, just try it. If it doesn't work I will take it back, I promise." Paige said.

Piper sighed as she unfroze the baby and caught it.

Buffy put her arms around Piper. "Okay, now you just rock it gently," she said as she helped Piper rock the baby.

"Mom? I know how to hold a baby that is not the issue, thank you." Piper said as Buffy let go of her.

"Just give it a shot," Paige said just as Leo orbed in. "What have you got to lose?"

"Another witch has been killed," Leo said.

"Oh, no," Phoebe said.

"Yeah, the police found her body at the Canon Theatre," Leo explained.

"Well, we should go there and see what we can find out." Piper said.

"We've gotta call Morris on the way. Make sure he can get us in," Phoebe said before looking at Cole. "And no you cannot come. Someone might recognize you from when you posed as a DA."

"I don't get to go anywhere anymore." Cole said with a sigh.

"You were a demon and a lawyer?" Paige said with a chuckle. "Insert joke here."

"Paige." Buffy said not that she didn't agree. It was after all funny to think about especially when the rest of the world sometimes tended to think of lawyers as being evil.

"Where'd you get it?" Leo asked motioning towards the mechanical baby.

"It's Paige's," Piper said.

Paige shook her head, "No, it's yours. You need to figure it out," She said as she walked out of the room.

Piper smiled. "Yeah, daddy," she said as she handed him the mechanical baby. "Figure it out. Excuse me." She and Phoebe turned and followed Paige.

Leo looked at it as it continued to cry. He looked over at Cole.

"Don't look at me." Cole said as he too left the room.

Leo looked to Buffy who sighed. She moved over to Leo and held out her hand out as Leo hands her the mechanical baby. "Like this, Leo," she said as she gently rocked the baby. The sensor in the baby detected the motion and it quieted down.

Leo nodded as Buffy handed him back the mechanical baby. "You look so natural, Buffy."

Buffy smiled, "Remember, as Patty, I gave birth four times. I remember most of that life now."

"Mom!" Piper called out. "Are you coming?"

"Be right there." Buffy said. "We can make this work despite what Piper thinks. I raised Prue, Piper and Phoebe till my death."

"I'm sure your right, Buffy," Leo said.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Later in an alley, Buffy followed Piper, Phoebe and Darryl as they entered the crime scene of the dead witch.

"Look, I can't guarantee much this time. Just promise me you'll stay on the French." Darryl said.

"We promise." Phoebe said.

"So what do we know?" Buffy asked.

Darryl looked to Buffy, "Who is she?" he wondered. Was she another witch like the Halliwells or something else?

Piper, Phoebe and Paige looked at each other as if wondering how to answer. "She's our mother." Piper finally said.

"Mother?" Darryl asked confused. He remember when he attended Piper's wedding and met Patty Halliwell. This woman looked nothing like her.

"I'm Patty Halliwell, reincarnated." Buffy said noting Darryl's confusion. "We'll explain all this later. Okay?"

Darryl nodded, "Man called 911 from that pay phone, reported he found a body."

Buffy noticed a black scorch mark on a nearby wall. "Looks like she wasn't the only victim. Scorch mark," she said.

"Definitely demonic," Piper said getting a closer look at the scorch mark. "Looks like one of Cole's, actually."

"Don't you mean Belthazor?" Paige wondered.

"Oh, it's too bad Cole can't check it out," Phoebe said ignoring Paige's remark. "He'd probably be able to tell us who did it. Is anyone from the DA office here?"

Darryl pointed toward a man who was talking with a woman. "Yeah, that guy over there's an ADA. He's interviewing one of the victim's friends," he said as he pulled a necklace out of his pocket. "They also found this on the victim."

"Triple crescent." Buffy said recognizing the wiccan symbol.

Darryl nodded, "Yeah, does this mean something to you?"

Buffy nodded, "It's an ancient wiccan symbol, a cousin to the triquetra."

Piper looked to Buffy, "Could be the mark of a coven."

Buffy nodded, "Very possible."

"A coven someone's trying to wipe out. We have to figure out who else is in it." Phoebe said.

"Maybe the victim's friend." Piper suggested.

"Only one way to find out." Phoebe said.

"Phoebe, fringe, okay?" Darryl said.

Phoebe nodded in agreement, "Fringe."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"And she hadn't complained about any disgruntled friends, co-workers, ex-boyfriends?" Sikes, the ADA, asked.

Susan, the victim's friend, shook her head, "No. Carrie was a beautiful person, everyone loved her."

Sikes took a business card out of his pocket and handed it to her. "If you think of anything else at all, please, don't hesitate to call."

Susan nodded and watched as he walked over to a couple police officers. She turned to walk towards her car and bumped right into Phoebe.

"I like your necklace." Phoebe said as she looked at the triple crescent necklace that hung from Susan's neck.

"Do I know you?" Susan asked.

Phoebe shook her head. "No, but you might know of me," she explained. She leaned in and whispered into Susan's ear. "The Charmed Ones." As she took a step back she looked back at the necklace again and then met Susan's eyes. "You and Carrie were in the same coven?"

"Yes."

"And your mark is the triple crescent." Phoebe said as she touched the necklace she received a premonition of a Belthazor look-a-like, stabbing Susan.

"What is it?" Susan asked noticing Phoebe's hesitation. "Are you alright?"

"What happened?" Buffy asked as she, Piper and Paige ran up beside her. "What did you see?"

"The demon. He's after her." Phoebe said.

"Where?" Piper wondered.

"Uh ... By the steps in some park. I think it was like an old amphitheater or something." Phoebe said.

"I know that," Susan said as she recognized the description of her route back and forth to work. "That's in Stanley Arboreta. I walk past it every day on the way to work."

"What did the demon look like?" Paige wondered.

"Like Belthazor. Not exactly like him, just similar." Phoebe said as Sikes walked over to them.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked. "This is a murder investigation. Who are these people?"

"I'll get rid of them," Darryl said. "Come on, ladies, move along. First time I ask nicely."

"We're going, mister." Piper said as herded them toward the police line.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The next morning Buffy, Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Susan walked through Stanley Arboreta.

"I don't understand," Susan was saying. "If you know the demon is meant to attack here, shouldn't we go someplace else?"

"Not if we want to get rid of him for good," Buffy said.

"Power of three spell?" Paige wondered.

Piper shook her head. "No, the only way to vanquish an upper level demon is with the potion of his own flesh."

"Sounds like you've done this before." Paige said.

"Once. On my fiancé." Phoebe said as Buffy said, "A few times."

"Your fiancé?" Paige asked Phoebe.

Phoebe nodded as she thought about how Cole being her fiancé sounded to her ears. "Yeah, I just wanted to hear how it sounded."

"And?" Piper and Buffy asked.

"Kinda weird," Phoebe said.

"Yeah," Piper agreed.

"Wait, wait, wait, back up," Paige said. "Did you say you once tried to vanquish Cole?"

Phoebe shook her head. "No, Belthazor, there's a difference."

"Is there?" Paige asked as they stopped walking.

"Okay, let's review," Phoebe said ignoring Paige's question. "I play decoy, demon attacks. Piper or Mom freezes, Paige, you slice and dice until we get the demon sushi. And then we get out of there. Everybody ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Paige said as she takes a knife out of her purse.

"Okay, I'm gonna need your coat and your hat." Phoebe said to Susan as Susan took them off and handed them to Phoebe. "Oh, and your necklace."

Susan nodded as she unclasped the necklace and handed it to Phoebe as well.

"Okay, we've gotta get Susan some place safe." Buffy said as Phoebe put on Susan's coat.

"Leo!" Piper called out as Leo orbed in. "Hi, honey, could you orb Susan out of here."

"Sure. Any place in mind?" Leo wondered.

"Hmm, I don't think home is a good idea." Phoebe said as she puts on Susan's hat.

"Actually, you should take her to my old loft; I don't think it's rented yet." Paige said.

"Or fixed from what your past life did to it." Buffy said.

"That too." Paige said.

"Leo, take her to Sunnydale," Buffy said. "With Faith, Willow and Tara, you should be able to protect Susan."

"Good idea, mom," Piper agreed.

"Alright, take my hand." Leo said to Susan as she took his hand.

"Where's the baby?" Paige wondered.

Leo turned around to show them that the mechanical baby was strapped to his back in a baby carrier. "See? We can make this work."

"Go away and you drop Robo-kid off at the manor. Please, thank you," Piper said as Leo orbed out with Susan. "Okay, we gotta do this fast which means Mom you probably should be the one to freeze. Your power will last longer than mine." Buffy nodded. "Ready?" Paige nodded. "Let's go."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Moments later Phoebe walked down the path alone as Piper, Paige and Buffy watched from the bushes.

"Hello, witch."

Phoebe realized the demon was behind her as she spun around. "Goodbye, Demon."

The demon ran at her, athame in hand. Before he could use it she flipped him over just as Buffy, Piper and Paige come out of the bushes. At that same moment a woman ran out of the bushes farther down the path and threw a dagger at the demon who promptly shimmered out and missing the dagger which hit a tree instead.

"I had him," the woman said.

"Who the hell are you?" Piper wondered.

"Good question," Buffy said in agreement.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Later back at the Manor they stood in the kitchen with Emma, the woman from the park, who was holding the dagger. "He used this to kill my fiancé," she said. "It's a ceremonial knife. The demon left it behind after the struggle. I've been hunting for the last year and a half. It's all I care about."

"May I?" Cole asked as Emma looked at him and then at Buffy, Piper and Phoebe. They nodded and she handed the dagger to Cole.

"Look familiar?" Phoebe asked.

"He looked familiar to me." Paige said remembering that the demon looked similarly to the drawing of Belthazor in the Book of Shadows.

"I meant the athame." Phoebe said instantly getting what Paige was getting at.

"It's one used by the brotherhood," Cole said.

"Emma, do you know why the demon wanted to kill your fiancé?" Buffy said.

"Because Andrew was a witch," Emma said.

"Are you a witch too?" Piper asked.

Emma shook her head, "No. But after Andrew died, I studied his books and devoted myself to the craft."

"To continue his work?" Phoebe asked.

Emma shook her head, "To track down his killer."

"It's possible she's a progenitor, like Willow." Buffy said as Piper, Paige and Phoebe nodded in understanding.

"Progenitor?" Emma asked.

"Beginnings of a new magical line." Buffy said. "Only someone with magical blood could do what you have been doing. So you've been tracking that means …"

"I know his MO," Emma said, "yes. I know when he kills a witch; he goes after the entire coven."

"You've taught yourself well. But still, if we hadn't come along we would have lost you to him." Buffy said.

"Vengeance empowers me." Emma said with just a bit of anger.

"But it won't save you," Cole said. "Your desire for revenge is keeping you from the truth. You want the demon vanquished, my advice is to stand back and let the Charmed Ones and the Slayer handle it."

"This is my fight." Emma objected.

"Then you shall lose it," Cole said.

"Cole's right," Phoebe agreed. "You should trust us. Trust that we want the same thing you do."

Emma sighed. "It's just, his face has haunted me ever since Andrew died," she said as she thought back to when Andrew had died. "It's the face of pure evil. I can't let him get away."

"Why don't you scry for him again while we prepare the vanquishing potion? Once we get a piece of his flesh, he's dust." Buffy said.

"We'll get him. I swear we'll get him." Phoebe said as the mechanical baby cries from the other room.

"Ignore that." Piper said.

Buffy glared at Piper as Paige hit Piper lightly on the arm.

"Piper!" Buffy and Paige said.

"Alright. Excuse me," Piper said as she left the room.

"She has a baby?" Emma asked.

"Actually, she's not sure yet." Paige said.

"Hm." Emma said.

"Paige got Piper a mechanical baby to show her that we can defend and raise a real baby in a magical household." Buffy said. "That way Piper will be prepared should she ever want a child of her own."

"I see," Emma said.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

In Sunnydale Susan sat in the living room of the Summers home as Leo, Faith, Willow and Tara talked over what was happening in San Franscisco.

"How much longer do you think I'll have to stay here?" Susan interrupted.

"Well, I would have to talk to your Whitelighter but my instincts tell me that everyone in your coven should break the routine until the threat is over," Leo said.

"I have to agree," Willow said just as Susan's cell phone rang. "The safety of your coven and yourself is our number one priority."

"Excuse me," Susan said as she reached for it.

Faith quickly took the phone out of Susan's hand. "The demon we're after can impersonate human beings. Let me?" Susan let out a sigh as she nodded in understanding."

"Hello?" Faith said as she spoke into the phone.

"Ms. Coleman, this is the assistant district attorney Sikes," came a voice from the phone.

"Who is it?" Leo and Tara asked at the same time.

Faith put her hand over the mouthpiece as she looked at everyone. "ADA," she said before pulling her hand away and talking into the phone. "Yes." .

"I'm calling because I've received new evidence and I'd like to talk to you about it if that's alright."

"Sure," Faith said. "I could come in tomorrow."

"If you don't mind, I would like you to come over to the office, now."

Faith frowned and looked at Leo, Willow and Tara as she put her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone again. "He wants to meet her now."

"While he may or may not be the demon, if he is not and if this is an ongoing investigation," Willow said. "It might look suspicious if she doesn't come in. And if he is the demon and she doesn't show, he might move on to his next target. I think we should do it with Faith going with her as her sister, that way she would be protected."

"Agreed," Leo said.

"Alright, I'll be there," Faith said.

"I'll be waiting."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Back at the Manor Emma sat in the conservatory huddled over a map, scrying crystal in hand as Phoebe, Buffy and Cole looked through the Book of Shadows.

"I—I feel the crystal pulling, he's still in the area," Emma said.

"Well, we can't find him in the book anywhere." Phoebe said as Buffy nodded in agreement.

"Did you notice how he vanished? Did he smoke out, flame out?" Cole said.

Buffy shook her head. "Actually, he shimmered."

"Wait, I think I found him," Emma said.

"Where?" Buffy asked.

"He's at, uh, Prescott and..." Emma said.

"Pine." Phoebe said.

Buffy was the first on her feet and heading for the kitchen door. "Phoebe, find Piper and Paige, get ready. Cole you take upstairs, I will check down here, outside and the basement."

"Wait, are you saying he's here in the house?" Emma asked.

"Possibly," Cole said

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

At the DA's office Susan and Faith walked down the hall toward Sikes' office. "Hello?" Susan called out as Sikes came out of his office.

"Ah, Ms. Coleman. Who's this?" Sikes asked looking at Faith.

"My half-sister," Susan said.

"That's good," Sikes said. "Um, why don't you just wait over there and uh, I'll let you know when it's over."

"If it's the same to you," Faith said. "I would prefer to be with Susan. She's been through a lot you know with the death of her friend."

Sikes frowned but nodded. "Right this way," he said as he led them into the office and shut the door behind them. He turned immediately on Faith and went to backhand her as she deftly ducked the swing.

"Thought so," Faith said. "Good cover for a demon, being a lawyer. You wouldn't happen work for Wolfram and Hart would you. No matter. Leo!"

Leo orbed in and grabbed Susan and Faith's hands before Sikes could draw his athame and orbed out with them.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Back at the Manor Buffy and Cole searched the entire inside of the house and outside and found nothing. They met Phoebe at the base of the stairs and filled her in just as Leo orbed in with Susan and Faith.

"It's the ADA," Leo said.

"Sikes?" Phoebe and Buffy asked.

Faith nodded, "He tried to kill Susan. B, why didn't you tell me there were demonic lawyers in town. I could have sent Angel down to help out."

Buffy nodded in understanding as she knew Angel had dealt with the law firm of Wolfram and Hart. "Because I didn't know. If I had, don't you think I would have passed that along," she said

"Regardless I don't know if he followed us here or not," Leo said just as Sikes shimmered in.

"Watch out!" Buffy yelled as Sikes threw an energy ball at them. They ducked out of the way as Cole threw an energy ball at Sikes. "Take her upstairs."

"You're gonna have to do better than that." Sikes said as Leo and Susan ran up the stairs. He proceeded into his demonic form just as Piper, Paige and Emma came from another part of the house.

"Faith," Buffy said as she threw the athame toward her sister Slayer and then proceed to freeze him. "We need a bit of his flesh."

Faith nodded as she rushed over to Sikes and sliced a piece of flesh off his arm. "Got it," she said just as Sikes unfroze. He went to backhand Faith who ducked out of the way. He then proceeded to throw an energy ball at them as Cole pushed them out of the way. The energy ball hit instead the mechanical baby that still rested in the baby carrier on the dining room table. At that moment Cole morphed into Belthazor.

"Belthazor, we meet at last," Sikes roared out.

"But not for long," Belthazor said as They both threw an energy ball which collided causing the house to shake.

"We'll finish this later." Sikes said and he shimmered out.

"Is everybody okay?" Buffy asked as she and Faith helped Paige, Phoebe, Piper and Emma up.

"I'm good, Mom." Piper said.

"Ditto," Paige said.

"I'm okay. Emma?" Phoebe said.

Emma frowned as she looked at Belthazor instantly recognizing him. She had realized that she had been tracking the wrong demon that Belthazor was the one that had killed her fiancé. "He's not the demon who killed my fiancé," she said as she pointed at Belthazor. "He is." She watched as Belthazor morphed into Cole. "He's a killer. What's the matter with you people?"

"Emma, I know you're upset but you have to understand." Piper said.

"You're making a huge mistake. He's not who you think he is." Phoebe added.

"He's the demon who killed my fiancé and that is all I need to know." Emma said as she pushed her way to the table where her dagger lay.

"Whoa, whoa, hey!" Piper said just as Emma grabbed the dagger and threw it at Cole. He managed to catch it before it had a chance to stab him. "How can you protect a murderer? How can you live with yourselves?" She turned and stormed out of the house.

"Is she right?" Faith wondered. "Are you the one who killed her fiancé?"

"I don't know, I don't remember," Cole said. "You have to remember Faith that I was evil for a very long time before I met Phoebe. It was her love that saved me."

"Different circumstances," Buffy said, "but he is like Angel in that regards, Faith."

"Alright," Faith said. "So we have a bit of his flesh. I am assuming that means some kind of potion?"

"Yes," Phoebe said, "one we can make to vanquish him."

Buffy led Piper, Paige and Faith into the kitchen and they started working on the potion.

"Okay, we just need the pigs feet, over there by the mandrake root." Piper said when they were finally nearing completion of the potion some time later.

"Poor piggy, piggy. They're sensitive creatures, you know. Smart too." Paige said.

Buffy noticed Faith roll her eyes. She met her sister Slayer's gaze and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, not that one." Piper said as Paige put the pig's feet in the potion and flames shot up.

"Okay, so all we need to do is drop in Sikes' flesh." Buffy said as she and Piper gradually stepped away from the potion. She grabbed Faith and pulled her back as well. "Right, just drop it in."

Paige added the flesh as the potion exploded knocking her to the ground. She looked up to see Buffy, Piper and Faith all with grins on their faces. "You did that on purpose didn't you, mom?" she asked. "And you let her, Piper, Faith?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah!"

"Yeah, it happened to me last year," Piper said. "No substitute for experience. Right, Mom?"

"Right, honey." Buffy said.

"So why didn't I get that little bit of experience?" Faith asked as Cole raced in.

"You girls alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, just doing a little sisterly and motherly bonding, that's all," Buffy said. "And Faith I think you already have the experience. Willow and Tara have told me you helped them with a couple of potions."

"I did," Faith said.

"Where's Phoebe?" Piper asked. "The potion will be ready in a couple of minutes."

"Yeah, she wanted to talk to Emma, explain things." Cole said.

"Good luck." Paige said with a roll of her eyes.

"Look, I don't need the guilt from you," Cole said, "okay; I've got enough of my own to deal with."

"What, and you think that covers it? What you did?" Paige asked.

"Paige, don't," Buffy said with a glare at her daughter.

"Don't what, Mom? He killed a man, are you condoning that?" Paige asked.

Buffy shook her head, "No, of course not. But it's just not that simple. He can't change the past."

Faith nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I have to agree on that. If he is good now. That is what matters. What's in the past can't be helped, all he can do now is try and atone for it."

"Also you've seen how much good he's helped us to do," Piper added. "That's who he is now and we've accepted that."

"If you all say so." Paige said.

Cole looked at Faith, Buffy and Piper. He expected Buffy and Piper to stand up for him, after all they had seen all the good he had done. Faith on the other hand had surprised him. "Thank you," he said to Faith.

"No problem, C," Faith said.

"If you're getting a single letter nickname," Buffy said, "that means she likes you. And coming from Faith that means a lot."

Cole nodded his appreciation towards Faith before looking toward Piper and Buffy. "Do you want me to help you find Sikes?"

"Can you?" Piper asked.

Cole nodded. "If he's still emulating me, all I have to do is figure out what I'd do next."

"Which would be...?" Faith wondered.

"Go after the Charmed Ones." Cole said. "Or Buffy. If I knew Buffy was the mother of the Charmed Ones I would come at her to get to them. The same could be said about Dawn."

"Which also means …" Faith said with a glance at Buffy.

"The best way to probably get at me or Dawn would be through you, yeah. Any demon would know we would come to your rescue." Buffy said.

"First I'd have to regroup somewhere," Cole said. "Tend to my cut."

"The mausoleum?" Piper asked.

"Except Sikes will anticipate that," Cole said as he thought for a second on what he would do if he were in Sikes place. "He'll be expecting you to come after him which means he'll be probably be lying in wait. Maybe set up some kind of trap."

"One that you can identify." Buffy said as Cole nodded. "So let's go."

"Wait, don't we need Phoebe?" Paige asked.

Piper shook her head. "No, all we need is this." She said as she held up four vials of potion and handed one each to Paige, Buffy and Faith. "Besides, it's better to keep Emma away from the action." She turned to see Leo carrying the charred remains of the mechanical baby. "Oh, honey, what happened?"

"Sikes. I guess you were right," Leo said.

"Leo, Piper. We really need to talk later," Buffy said. "Don't let this be your excuse for not having a child."

"Who's gonna pay for this?" Paige asked more worried about the mechanical baby than Leo and Piper not having a baby of their own or the fact they should be going after Sikes. "Well?"

"We're gonna go after Sikes so we should probably orb Susan out of here just to be safe." Piper said as she kissed Leo on the cheek and left the kitchen as Buffy, Paige, Faith and Cole followed her.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Later in one of the cemeteries of San Francisco Faith, Buffy, Cole, Piper and Paige walked down the stairs into one of the mausoleums.

"Any sign of him?" Paige wondered.

Cole shook his head, "No," he said just as they reached the bottom of the steps. He quickly noticed something and pulled Paige back quickly.

"What?" Faith wondered.

"Trap. Back up," Cole said as he picked up a candle and threw it on the ground in front of them. The candle exploded and the whole floor quickly caught on fire. And just as quickly the flames died away. He raced across the room looking around and frowning. Sikes wasn't here.

"Where is he?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know," Cole said.

"Well, why would he set a trap for us and not be here?" Paige asked.

"Unless this is just a distraction." Cole said.

"You don't think he's after me, Dawn, B, Piper or Paige do you?" Faith asked.

"No," Cole said with a shake of his head. "He's after me. And the best way to get to me is through..."

"Phoebe." Buffy and Piper said.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

At that same moment back at the Manor Phoebe walked through the front door. "Cole?" she yelled wanting to talk to him. But instead she got a surprise as Sikes shimmered in behind her and grabbing her by the back of the neck. She let out a gasp of surprise as she dropped her purse.

"Close," he said.

"What do you want?" Phoebe asked.

"Buffy! I'm home from school." Dawn called out as she walked in behind Phoebe and Sikes.

Sikes turned himself and Phoebe around to face Dawn, "Well who do we have here?"

"Leave her out of it." Phoebe said. "She's no threat to you." She knew it was a lie hoping he didn't.

"I beg to differ," Sikes said. "She could run and get help now couldn't she. And I really want Belthazor to come find me so…"

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Later Faith, Buffy, Piper, Paige and Cole rushed through the front door. They saw Phoebe's purse and Dawn's backpack on the floor.

"Phoebe." Paige called out as Faith shouted, "Dawn."

"I'll check upstairs, you check downstairs." Cole said.

"Cole be careful. Dawn could be with them," Buffy said.

"I will, I promise." Cole said.

"I'll go with you," Faith said as she followed Cole up the stairs.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Up in the attic Sikes had Phoebe and Dawn tied to a couple of chairs. "You must be something very special, turn a demon," he said to Phoebe as he touched the tip of his athame against her neck. "Something very special indeed. Unfortunately though, when you made him less evil, you made him less powerful. Hmm, I wonder, are you gonna have the same effect on me after I kill him?" He smirked as he saw Cole and Faith walk through the attic door. "Well, well, well. The mighty Belthazor and the Slayer from Sunnydale. You don't disappoint, Belthazor. I knew you'd figure out what I was up to... sooner or later. Though I wasn't expecting the Slayer. Does she," he pointed at Dawn, "hold special meaning for you, Slayer?" He looked back at Cole as he pointed the athame at Phoebe's neck.

"Cole, Faith, get outta here," Phoebe said. "He won't hurt me or Aunt Dawn. He's bluffing."

"I can't take that chance." Cole and Sikes said.

Sikes smiled. "Ooh, it's kinda eerie, isn't it? How I know you better than you know yourself. The student has surpassed his mentor."

"Mentor?" Faith said with a laugh. "Somehow I doubt that was ever the case."

Sikes shrugged with a glance at Faith. "By reputation he was. By his legend.," he said as he looked back at Cole. "It'll be an honor to kill you." He tucked the athame in his belt. "And assume your rightful place in the hierarchy."

Cole looked at Phoebe as she realized what he was about to do. "Remember what I told you? What I asked you to do?"

"Cole, please, don't," Phoebe pleaded.

Cole screamed as he morphed into Belthazor at the same time Sikes morphed into his demonic form.

Sikes grabbed for Belthazor trying to strangle him. "Die!" he said as Faith rushed over to Dawn and began to untie her.

"Cole?" Phoebe said worriedly.

"Phoebe?" Dawn said wondering what Cole had asked Phoebe to do.

Belthazor pushed Sikes up high enough that Sikes head hits the roof of the attic just as Faith finished with Dawn's bonds.

"Dawn," Faith said. "Go get Buffy, Piper and Paige." Dawn nodded as she ran out of the attic. Faith turned and began working on Phoebe's bonds. "I'll have you free in a second. What's going on by the way?"

"Cole thought that if he embraced his demonic self fully he would have the power to take out Sikes. But he wasn't sure if he would be able to come back," Phoebe explained as Belthazor grabbed the athame from Sikes belt.

Suddenly Belthazor and Sikes froze as Buffy, Piper, Paige and Dawn walked into the attic. As they rushed over to Phoebe and Faith they could see that Belthazor and Sikes were fighting through Buffy's freeze. As Faith got Phoebe free Belthazor and Sikes unfroze completely. Belthazor quickly and decisively stabbed Sikes with athame vanquishing him. He then turned toward Buffy, Faith, Dawn, Phoebe, Piper and Paige.

"Cole?" Phoebe said as he walked towards them with the athame. "It's over. You can turn back now. Cole, you can do it. For me, for us."

"Hurry, throw the potion. maybe it'll work on him." Paige said as Buffy and Piper held up their potion vials.

"No, don't." Phoebe said.

"Phoebe, we may not have a choice." Buffy said.

"Cole, please, you can do this, you're good." Phoebe said just as Emma ran through the attic door and threw a potion vial at Belthazor. Flames surrounded him and when those flames subsided they saw that Cole was there as he dropped to his knees.

"What happened?" Paige asked.

"That was the power stripping potion I made to free Cole," Phoebe said as she walked over to Cole. "Are you okay?" She pulled Cole into an embrace as Emma picked up the athame that Cole had dropped. She quickly put herself between Emma and Cole. "No! You got your revenge. You killed the demon you were after. Belthazor's dead, gone forever. Cole's a human being, an innocent."

Something in Phoebe's eyes told Emma that Phoebe was telling the truth as she hand Phoebe the athame.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

At P3 an hour before opening Buffy and Paige sat at the bar as they watched Piper writing a check to pay for the mechanical baby.

"You know, this baby was your idea." Piper said to Paige as Leo came up beside them.

Paige nodded, "I know, I know, that's why I'm paying for half of it. I still haven't quite figured out how to explain what happened to it though," she said as Piper handed her the check. "Thank you."

"Well, at least it served its purpose." Piper said.

"In spades unfortunately," Leo said.

Buffy shook her head and pointed to Leo and Piper. "You two follow me," she said as she led Piper and Leo over to a table. "Don't let what happened to the mechanical baby discourage you. Look I raised three beautiful girls till I died. Mom then raised those same three beautiful girls till she died. All the time your powers were bound. I will admit it's not easy to raise a child in a magical household. But it can be done. You Piper as well as Phoebe and Prue are proof of that. Mom and I had to fight demons all the time and we had to protect you three also. What happened today with the mechanical baby was a fluke. Don't let this one situation decide if you're ready to have a child or not."

Piper and Leo looked at each other and then they both nodded. "We'll think about what you said, Mom," Piper said.

"That's all I ask." Buffy said.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

At the Manor Dawn sat looking at Faith. "Was Sikes right?" she asked Faith.

"About what he said," Faith said. "I don't know yet. There is something that the angel of destiny told me and Buffy and it has to do with you and me. But it doesn't have to go that way if you and I don't want it to."

"What?" Dawn asked.

"Love."