The Dance of Love
He came to meet her in a smoky bar, she had told him on the phone that for now, she didn't feel like talking to the others and he understood.
As soon as she saw him, she felt a little better. She did need a friend and in spite of everything they had been to each other, the good and the bad, he had been that, most of all. Always a great listener, she had even sometimes wondered how he managed not to get bored with all her little problems. After all, he had so much more experience than she did. Yet he did and tonight she really needed him for that, even if it had meant leaving town in the middle of a crisis. But she had good friends back there, and they could hold the fort for a day or two; just what she needed.
The man:
"Hey, I didn't expect you to call me, not so soon."
The girl:
"I know that may have seemed sudden, but I was suffocating back there, and I needed to talk to someone other than they. My sister is so distraught she won't even talk to me anymore. I'm afraid she thinks it's my fault."
The man:
"I'm sure that she doesn't really mean that."
The girl:
"Look at me, I didn't even say hello and already I'm telling you about my problems."
The man with a little smile:
"I told you that anytime you needed me I would be there, and I meant it."
The girl is grateful:
"I know…"
Then she puts her head on his chest and they just stand there, simply understanding each other without words, as they had many times before.
In another part of town, a couple is taking a stroll in the park. They are walking holding each other lovingly, apparently without a care in the world. It was a very pleasant evening and they had wanted to take advantage of it.
The man:
"Isn't that wonderful, the stars seem even brighter tonight he says with a smile to his girlfriend."
The girl chuckles a little:
"You're such a romantic…"
The man turns to her and kisses her, then he asks:
"Hey I thought that's what you liked about me?"
The girls smiles lovingly:
"It is…"
They then start kissing passionately and are so into each other that they never notice the weird phenomenon that takes place only a few feet from them. It's as if a wall was coming out of the ground but nothing like the real thing, it's a dark wall that moves and shimmers. Then the wall starts moving toward the couple…
At the Halliwell's manor, the girls are returning slowly to their normal routine after Phoebe's return from the dead. Well as normal as it can get in that crazy household Piper had wanted to point out, to the amusement of everybody else. But for a while there, everything had been so dark and sad that now even the occasional trouble seemed almost trivial. Still even after a week, they had noticed that Cole still seemed to be unsettled. Piper and Prue were actually wondering about this over breakfast that morning:
Piper:
"Hey do you think that his attitude has to do with his mother?"
Prue:
"It's hard to believe that someone could grieve for a demoness like that, but on the other hand of course, she was his mother."
Piper:
"I suppose that no matter what, it would stir something in a man to lose his mother but it still surprises me of him."
Prue:
"Who knows…"
Phoebe woke up to find him sitting by the window, lost in thoughts apparently. It had been happening a lot lately and although she knew that he would need some time to get over the latest events, she still was worried about his attitude.
For a while she just observed him, but in the end when she realized he wouldn't acknowledge her she asked:
"Cole, are you ok?"
He seemed to have to make an effort to pull himself out of his somber thoughts.
He still turns to her at last with a weak smile:
"Of course why wouldn't it be? You're here and safe. That's all I need to be happy."
Phoebe:
"To be very honest, you don't look too happy now."
Cole:
"I'm sorry" he says getting up and going to her.
"It's just that I can't shake the feeling that I've done something wrong."
Phoebe pulls his head to her and just caresses his hair in silence for a moment then:
"I wish that things didn't have to go this far."
Cole:
"We both know that there was no choice. It's just feeling these emotions make it all the more difficult to deal with stuff. Until I met you, this kind of problem, I didn't have."
Phoebe:
"And do you regret it?"
Cole:
"No of course not" he says looking up. "I just would like to know how to get through this, that's all."
Phoebe:
"There is only one remedy and it's time."
Cole smiles:
"I like how simply you put things."
Phoebe:
"Thank you" she says kissing him. But I might have another idea."
Cole:
"And what might that be," he asks pretending suspicion which makes her laugh.
Phoebe:
"What do you say we give another try at this vacation idea?
The last time we went to LA it was rudely interrupted, but maybe this time would be great and it would make a good distraction."
Cole:
"Are you sure you want to go away now?"
Phoebe:
"Well, there is also the fact that Piper and Prue have been smothering me a bit lately. Must be the whole back from the dead thing, and I really need a breather."
Cole:
"Hum, I thought you enjoyed being the center of attention," he said teasingly.
Phoebe pretends to be offended:
"Hey I'm entitled to a little attention here. It wasn't a walk in the park for me either."
When it looks like she is going up on the other side of the bed, he catches her:
"You're not going anywhere without me again…"
They both laugh at this and forget about the bad stuff for the moment.
Later when they got to the dining room, her sisters proved her point for her by immediately coming to her and ask how she was:
Piper:
"Hey Phoebe, everything ok?"
Phoebe gives a little knowing smile at Cole then:
"Oh yes more than ok. You should start thinking about yourselves guys. I'll be fine I swear."
Prue:
"You know that I still can't get over you being here."
Phoebe:
"I know I can barely believe it myself."
Piper:
"Oh by the way, I made sure that the school got the message that there had been a mistake."
Phoebe:
"I'm sure they found it rather amazing that I went from dead to a little indisposed…"
Piper:
"All that matters now is that they will just give you an extension for the time you missed."
Phoebe:
"Wonderful, I really thought that this time my graduation had gone down the tube."
Prue:
"No, you're still going to have to work on it."
Phoebe:
"And I will, but not before me and Cole had had a little vacation…"
Prue:
"You want to go now?"
Phoebe:
"Why does it surprise everybody so much?"
Piper:
"You just came back from quiet an ordeal. I would have thought that you would have preferred staying around for a while."
Phoebe:
"I didn't have a real vacation for a long while now and the last time it was cut short. By the way Prue, do you think your friend is back from theirs, you know the one with the apartment in LA?"
Prue:
"I'm afraid so. Is that where you wanted to go?"
Phoebe:
"I was kind of hoping for that yes."
Paul enters the room then and hearing that they want to go to LA he ads:
"Hey I could help you with this and in return I would just ask a little favor of you."
Phoebe:
"Ask away…"
Paul:
"It's just something I have to deliver to an acquaintance of mine there, and I do not trust the mail for that. But the fact of the matter is, we parted a bit bitterly the last time and I think he would prefer it came from someone else."
Prue:
"What did you do to him?"
Paul:
"I can't really talk about it."
Prue is miffed, but she knows there is no point in arguing.
He continues:
"Anyhow, I have a little time share in LA myself and it is free now, so I thought that you could just deliver the package then you would have the rest of your time to yourself."
Cole:
"That sounds fair, although we simply could have rented a room."
Paul:
"Nonsense, you'll have more privacy there and I'm sure that it will also be safer if you know what I mean…"
Cole imagines that he meant some serious protection was already on the place and he was then very grateful for the actual chance to relax.
Phoebe:
"Then, that's a plan…"
Prue:
"I still believe that you should think about this Phoebe. We just got you back and it pains me to know that you're going away again."
Phoebe:
"Come on Prue, it's not the same thing at all."
Prue reluctantly admits:
"I guess."
Cole:
"So who is that person we have to deliver the package to?"
Paul:
"Here is his card, I think he still has an office there. It's some kind of a detective agency."
Cole notes the wings on the simple card.
"Angel?"
Paul:
"Yes that's it."
The next day Phoebe and Cole are walking in a very shady neighborhood in search of the address for the Angel's agency.
Cole is a bit irritated, as they have been looking for quiet a while:
"Well, I would have thought that Paul was making business with more important firms than this or did we make a mistake?"
Phoebe is not in a better mood:
"I told you already, we took a wrong turn the last two times and now that you let me find it, I'm sure I will."
Cole:
"Those vacations are starting on the wrong foot."
Phoebe:
"If you'd trust me more, it wouldn't have taken so long."
He decides to drop it, not ready to admit his mistake and Phoebe just shrugs hoping that they will both be in a better mood when this errand is finally over.
Finally they find the little office and again Cole exclaims:
"What does Paul MacKail have to do with a shady little place like that?"
Phoebe sighs but doesn't answer and when a man comes to the door, they pretend that everything is rosy in spite of their little argument.
The man:
"Enter, enter welcome to the Angel's agency."
Cole finds the little man amusing but a look in Phoebe's direction tells him not to comment.
Wesley continues his little speech:
"Whatever your problem is, our agency can handle. Come in and take a seat."
They enter the place, taking in the cheap furniture and poor decoration as well as even poorer lighting.
Cole:
"Oh we're not here for this, we just have a package to deliver to Angel in person. Are you Angel?"
Wesley seems very miffed at this but he tries to keep the irritation from his answer:
"No but I am his boss, so it will do if you just give it to me."
But Cole insists:
"I'm sorry, the man who asked us to deliver this was very precise in his instructions."
Wesley is about to reply snidely but a tall man comes out of the backroom:
"I'm Angel. Who is that from," he says approaching them with a timid smile?
Phoebe:
"That's from Paul MacKail, he asked us to bring this to you" she said handing him a manila envelope.
But the smile had rapidly vanished from his face at hearing the name.
Still he asked calmly:
"Is he a friend of yours?"
Phoebe:
"Well yes, we've known him only a little while, but I consider him a friend," she says hesitantly, seeing his reaction. Paul had told them that something was the matter between them, and now she could see that it must have been more than a little tiff.
Cole:
"Well, that's just about it. He only wanted us to deliver this…"
His voice trailed when Buffy entered behind Angel and for some reason he felt an immediate connection, not to mention that the girl was very pretty.
Buffy:
"Hello" she says then turning to Wesley, "I see that you're finally getting more clients…"
Wesley didn't answer, still put off by their insistence at seeing Angel in person.
Angel:
"No these are just messengers, sort of."
Cole:
"Cole Turner," he said finally remembering suddenly that they had not even introduced themselves.
Phoebe coughed and he turned to her sheepishly:
"And this is Phoebe Halliwell."
Buffy felt that there was something weird about them but couldn't put her finger on what it was?
"Buffy Summers" she said shaking Phoebe's hand then Cole's who held it just a little longer than necessary.
Phoebe had trouble hiding her annoyance at seeing this:
"Well I think we're done here," she said in a sharp tone of voice.
Angel:
"Thank you."
Cole distractedly answers:
"You're welcome," as Phoebe took his hand to go, and he finally realized that she was in a hurry to go out.
Once in the street, he still looked back at the office. And this time she didn't stop herself:
"What was that about?"
Cole appeared surprised by her question:
"What was what about?"
Phoebe:
"That moment you had with the pretty girl?"
Cole answered innocently enough:
"Pretty?"
Phoebe:
"Don't you play that game with me. What was it?"
Cole can't help but smile, which irritates her even more, then he says:
"Did you know that you are even prettier when you're jealous."
In spite of herself, Phoebe feels like smiling back but she still insists:
"What was it?"
Cole sighs:
"It had nothing to do with her appearance although," and then he looks at her teasingly, "it's true that she was pretty."
When he sees that she doesn't like this particular joke, he continues more seriously:
"No it was just that I felt something about her, like she was also magical."
Phoebe is now more curious than angry, almost:
"Really?"
Cole:
"I can't be sure of course, but it's just like that fellow Angel, did you notice how pale he was, and his skin was colder than a grave."
But then Phoebe thinks of something else:
"Well actually, I didn't notice these things" she said with a little triumphant smile, "I just saw that he was quiet a handsome man…"
Cole:
"Hum! Whom exactly are you referring to," he said annoyed in spite of himself, "the Detective or his boss."
Seeing that she had succeeded in giving him some doubts, she put on her best lascivious look and said softly:
"The detective of course, what a nice man too…"
For a moment, he actually wondered if she was serious, then she couldn't help but laugh at his expression.
Phoebe:
"On the other hand, jealousy doesn't become you."
Cole understood that he had been had and decided to play it cool:
"Why don't we stop talking about that for now? At any rate, whatever they were, we probably will not find out anyway. One more of Paul' secrets."
Phoebe smiles ruefully but agrees to drop it:
"I guess… Let's start those vacations at last."
In Angel's agency, Angel himself was opening the envelope with an annoyed expression.
Buffy:
"What is with that guy?"
Angel:
"Oh just someone I met a while ago and I would have preferred not to hear from him again. He used me shamelessly and then when things got serious, I had to fend for myself. He's just the kind of guy who sends people do the dirty work for him."
After looking over the paperwork he just received he slightly changed attitude:
"Well at least this time he came through for me. It's some background information on WolFram and Hart."
Buffy:
"Anything good?"
Angel:
"I will have to see, but not for the time being. Now didn't you tell me you wanted to take a stroll in the park?"
Buffy:
"I almost forgot…"
Later that evening, Cole and Phoebe had decided to go see the town when Phoebe noticed a newsstand and a big title attracted her attention.
There, on the front page of a local paper there was an article about multiple disappearances that occurred all over town. She didn't know what it all meant but decided to try and force a premonition, if only for practice. It worked better than she expected. The moment she touched the picture on the front page the vision started:
'The detective and the girl from this afternoon were walking in a park and suddenly a kind of dark wall came out of the ground, shimmering. Then the wall came after them, unsuspecting. In a moment, the wall had passed through them and they had vanished. Almost immediately the wall dissolved.'
Cole noticed immediately the look on her face and took her arm:
"What is it?"
Phoebe:
"Hardly enough, I think we are going to see our friends from this afternoon again…"
Cole:
"You had a vision about them," he asked, surprised?
Phoebe:
"Yes and some kind of vortex was swallowing them."
Cole:
"Where?"
Phoebe:
"I don't know the town very well, it was a park but maybe we should try one near their office?"
Cole:
"Let's try that."
When they got to the closest park, Phoebe knew right away that it wasn't the same place, it wasn't nearly as pretty as the one she saw in the vision and they hurried toward the next one on the map they had bought.
In the park, Angel and Buffy had been walking without saying a word for a while, just happy to be together, even if it was only for a few more hours.
Angel broke the silence:
"How are you dealing with all this now?"
Buffy:
"Like I said, I feel lost without her. And Dawn is so upset; I don't know what to tell her. I just hope that she will get better soon, I have too much to worry about without trying psychology on my own sister."
Angel:
"I bet she just needs you to be there for her."
Buffy:
"I'm not sure that it's enough. There are things that you don't know about her. I wish that I could tell you but I can't right now."
Angel is about to say something more when, turning to look behind them by force of habit, he spots the couple from the afternoon coming rapidly toward them.
"That's a big coincidence isn't it?"
Buffy half turned to see what he was talking about:
"I don't believe in coincidence. I told you this afternoon that there was something weird about these two."
He didn't answer as Phoebe and Cole were coming closer. As Angel turned completely in their direction, he noticed a strange dark wall coming toward all of them but when he was about to warn the couple, it was too late for Phoebe, who had stood slightly behind, unable to walk as fast as Cole with her pregnancy. She got engulfed in the wall very rapidly, cursing herself for falling in the very trap they had tried to prevent. Angel started running unnaturally fast, which got Cole to wonder even more about him. He had not noticed what had happened behind him yet. Angel was so fast that by the time he realized Phoebe was in the vortex, Angel had gone in too and the wall was dissolving before he had time to get in himself.
Buffy had tried to reach it too but like Cole she was too late and now they were both screaming in frustration.
Cole:
"We've got to find where this thing goes? Maybe it just moves them away to…" Then he looks in her direction unsure if he should tell her.
He himself couldn't track the vortex and he was also wondering about this.
Buffy:
"What the hell was that?"
Cole:
"I have no idea, but we have to find them he says nervously." The idea of having lost her again after she had just returned from the dead was just too much to bear.
Buffy:
"And how am I supposed to know you didn't do this to him?"
Cole is astounded at her suspicion:
"Hey we came here to try and stop it."
Buffy:
"Again how the hell did you know?"
Cole:
"Who cares? Are we going to stand here all night discussing or are we going to look for them?"
The harshness in his voice made Buffy very uncomfortable as well as the very angry look on his face, and she guessed right then that he wasn't exactly a sweet guy, but she agreed that time was of the essence. They started searching the whole park and beyond, hoping against hope to at least find the phenomenon again, but to no avail.
They covered a large area before returning to where the event happened as the sun was coming up.
Cole wasn't very surprised to find Leo there.
Leo:
"Where were you? I have been looking around here for hours."
Cole:
"So have I."
Leo:
"So where is she?"
Cole:
"I don't know" he says defeated.
Buffy:
"Who is he?" She says when no one is taking notice of her.
Cole:
"It's Leo."
Buffy:
"Just Leo?"
But he doesn't feel like explaining:
"Where are Prue and Piper?"
Leo:
"I didn't tell them yet. I wanted to know what happened first. I think that the last time was already quiet a trial already."
Cole:
"She disappeared in some kind of vortex and it's not a parallel world I would know. I couldn't track it."
Buffy:
"What the heck are you talking about?"
Leo and Cole do not answer and instead, decide on what they should do.
Leo:
"I'll go ask the Elders, and then I'll tell Piper and Prue."
Then he finally pays attention to Buffy:
"What about her?"
Cole:
"Somehow, I don't think your departure will surprise her too much."
Leo:
"If you say so?"
Leo orbs out and Buffy's jaw falls.
Buffy:
"What is happening here?"
Cole:
"Don't ask. Now we might want to continue searching…"
Buffy:
"I think that it would be smarter to go get the others. They should be at the office by now. But it's a way from here; do you have a car?"
Cole:
"A rental, but there is no time for that…"
He doesn't think more about this and grabs her arm. They shimmer directly in the office and this time Buffy reacts violently.
There were too many unanswered questions and she was done playing the good little girl. Cole realized his mistake a bit too late.
Buffy pushed him away almost effortlessly and then kicked him sending him flying into the wall where he left a dent. That brought Wesley and Cordelia, who had been sipping coffee in the back room. Cole felt the pain intensely in his ribs and took a second angry look at the girl. Now he knew for sure that she wasn't ordinary. Even Phoebe couldn't kick him that hard and she really had tried once:
"Stop it right now."
Buffy:
"Why should I? I want answers now. Who the hell are you and what happened to Angel, and also who was that other guy?"
Cole takes a few seconds not only to recuperate but also to work on his anger. He really didn't want to become a demon here and now.
Then he said:
"As you have noted, I really do not have to stay here and take this kind of abuse…"
Buffy:
"You want my help or not?"
Cole:
"Not under those conditions no, I'm sure we can find Phoebe and your friend on our own."
Wesley intervenes:
"Buffy you should work on your anger problem, look at what you've done to that man not to mention the wall…"
Buffy is too upset to endure Wesley's comments:
"You are not my watcher anymore, or for that matter you never really were, so stay out of it."
Wesley is a bit hurt but he understands that now is not the time to argue with her. On the other hand, Cordelia won't be impressed by Buffy:
"What is it you're saying about Angel, and Wesley is right, your outbursts are not welcome here."
Buffy sighs heavily then she turns to her:
"Angel fell in a vortex with his girlfriend. We've been looking for them or the vortex all night but we didn't find either."
Wesley:
"What did it look like?"
Buffy:
"A shimmering black wall that came from the ground and disappeared as soon as they were in it."
Wesley is puzzled but he goes into action:
"I will look it up. Meanwhile could you try to calm down?"
Cole has been listening to their exchange and has realized at last what it was he had felt about her. That and the supernatural strength…
"You're the slayer aren't you?"
Buffy turns back to him, alerted now:
"How would you know that?"
Cole smirks:
"I know an awful lot more. I was a little distracted for other reasons earlier because that would have come to me. And I suppose that Angel is that infamous vampire with a soul?"
Cordelia:
"Who told you that? That man Angel told us about yesterday?"
Cole ignores her question, to her great displeasure while he is observing the slayer curiously.
"Somehow, I imagined the slayer older and bigger." He didn't ad but thought "and not so pretty".
Then he inwardly slapped himself, thinking of what Phoebe would say of that. Just thinking of her brought back the anxiety and now he was tired of all their talking.
But Buffy wasn't done quiet yet:
"Ok if you know who I am, why don't you tell me who you are, and don't tell me there is nothing special about you?"
Cole looks in Cordelia's direction wondering how much he could reveal and mostly how dangerous it was.
Buffy:
"You can talk in front of her; she's seen her share of supernatural events already."
Cordelia:
"Thank you."
Buffy casts her an annoyed look then returns her attention to Cole.
Cole:
"Before I say anything, I want your word that you are going to keep those kicks of yours to yourself."
Buffy:
"It all depends on what you are going to do and say."
Cole:
"I have no intention of fighting you. But I must say that if you persist doing this, you might regret it…"
Buffy:
"I heard that from bigger than you…"
Cole:
"You'd be surprised. Slayers and my kind do not frequent the same circles. At least not usually… But I think that in your case you have had the occasion of knowing some of us. That is how I heard of you."
Cordelia:
"Your kind?"
Cole still looking at Buffy:
"Demons."
Buffy:
"Well, you don't really look like one."
Cole:
"I like to think so. And maybe if the situation was different, I could give you a demonstration but right now all that matters to me is that we return to the park and meet Phoebe's sisters there.
Your friends can come if they want to help but I won't have anymore of this talking. Who knows what is happening to her right now," he says and Buffy can see that he is genuinely concerned.
Buffy:
"So I guess you're of the good kind of demons…" She asks hesitantly.
Cole:
"For now yes, if you stall anymore that might change."
Buffy:
"I don't respond well to threats. Beside my friend is in there too."
Cole:
"Now that is the one ironic thing I never understood. What's a slayer doing being friend with a vampire?"
Buffy:
"Like you said no time for that. Cordelia, tell Wesley and Gunn to join us at the park."
Cordelia:
"I'm going with you."
Buffy:
"I think not, we have a faster way to get there, don't we?"
Cole smiles at this:
"Well, good!" He said simply before going to her and shimmering them back to the park under the astounded stare of Cordelia, who babbled nervously for a second before going into the back room.
There were two very upset sisters already on the spot and Cole sighed at the thought of the accusations that were sure to come.
Prue:
"What did you do with her again and where the hell were you?"
Cole:
"I was simply getting some help. Meet Buffy Summers."
Piper who is also very upset:
"Who is she?"
Cole:
"Her friend is in there with Phoebe. What did Leo find out?"
Prue:
"Nothing, he has no idea what this is…"
Meanwhile, Angel and Phoebe have fallen into a world that makes no sense at all and most of all they do not even remember who they are. From all around them they can hear plaintive voices. They repeat over and over:
"Come with us, we're alone. Come dance with us."
Phoebe and Angel have been looking around the place for like forever. There doesn't seem to be any way to get out of it. They are walking through an endless mist, barely seeing each other at all. But presently they have found more like them and those are apparently dancing to a silent tune, oblivious to everything around them. Each couple totally enthralled in their partner.
The couples come in and out of the mist, and always they hear the same complaint.
After a little while, Phoebe thinks that she hears something else though. A hypnotic tune, that for some reason, she finds irresistible. And not even thinking about what she is doing she starts dancing. Angel comes to her apparently hearing the same tune and he takes her in his arms and they start dancing endlessly, not caring how exhausted they already are…
Leo just orbed in again, but his news is not good:
"The Elders do not understand more than you" he says to Cole…
"They say that like me, they can feel her being right in this park. Not in one specific place but rather all over the park."
Cole:
"That doesn't make any sense."
Leo:
"I know but that's all they could tell me."
Cole becomes upset:
"Those Elders of yours are really useless."
Prue:
"There is no need to get upset at Leo. He had nothing to do with it."
But Cole is not done yet:
"And he had done nothing to help either."
Piper:
"Cole you should calm down, that won't help Phoebe what you're doing now."
Cole takes a deep breath here and turns back to them:
"And the book was there anything useful in it?"
Prue:
"Nothing. But we didn't have much to go on…"
Buffy:
"I have a friend that is looking it up right now, maybe he will have more luck?"
The girls' attention now turns to Buffy.
Prue:
"And what would you or your friend know about this?"
Cole:
"Don't worry about it Prue, they know plenty and that is all you really need to know. But in the meantime maybe we could try and find that vortex."
Prue:
"I do not like to be in the dark, as you know."
Cole:
"Buffy here is a bit like you, Prue. Some things are better kept secret."
Prue and Piper are not happy about this but they agree that they should look around the park.
Prue:
"Why don't you and…Buffy?"
Buffy acquiesces.
Prue:
"Ok you and Buffy look your way and we'll take the other side, let's meet here afterward. Maybe your friends will have had an idea if we didn't find her by then?
Buffy:
"Believe me… Prue? I want to find this thing just as much as you do."
Prue:
"Then let's not lose any more time."
Cole:
"Finally…"
Prue frowns but doesn't ad anything, she is too upset at the moment.
Piper:
"Don't worry," she tells Cole, "we will find her."
Cole smiles weakly and turns to go to their side of the park.
Prue to the others:
"Sometimes that man just makes me want to scream."
Piper:
"Prue he is just as upset as you are; you should know that by now."
Prue:
"All the more reason not to hide things from us."
Leo:
"I think that he has a good reason Prue."
Piper:
"Is there something that you are not telling us?"
Leo:
"Just like Cole said, the girl has her own secret, but what should matter to you is that she fights on the same side as you."
Prue:
"I guess that we will have to accept that…"
Leo smiles at her, knowing that it's probably not the last he heard of it…
Cole and Buffy are walking fast. And they already have covered quiet a way by then.
Buffy:
"So you're a demon you say? And by the way, thank you for not telling about me."
Cole:
"It's nothing, I'm kind of used to secrets. Of all kinds…"
Buffy:
"And I suppose that you won't tell me who or what those girls are?"
Cole smiles a bit at this:
"Curiosity killed the cat you know?"
Buffy smiles too.
"Well at least you're a funny demon."
Cole:
"Prue wouldn't say that. They actually think that my sense of humor needs a lot of work."
Buffy:
"And the girl you were with, whose baby was she carrying?"
Cole is not sure of what he should tell her and he hesitates a long time.
Buffy:
"Is that a secret too?"
Cole:
"Not really, it's mine…"
Buffy just says a meaningful:
"Ha!"
Cole:
"But it is human if that's what bothers you."
Buffy:
"How is that?"
Cole:
"I'm only half demon which of course explains my present appearance…"
Buffy:
"Which means you do not always look like that?"
Cole:
"Now you are really getting very curious…"
Buffy:
"That's ok you know, I've seen worse."
Cole:
"I'll bet."
In the vortex, Phoebe is dancing a slow and sensual dance. She doesn't know the real name of the man dancing with her but it doesn't really matter. By now, she has started to feel like there is someone else in her. Someone full of regrets and that person sees a very different person dancing with her. The man kisses her passionately but it feels like there is a lot of pain between them, memories lost forever. Then she remembers their names: Julian and Lauren. That is all that matters now. They only want to stay here forever, in that moment. All around them, a dozen of couples at least are dancing in the same manner.
On the other side of the park, the girls and Leo are getting discouraged:
Piper:
"What if we don't find her" she asks in spite of the assurance to the contrary that she gave to Cole earlier. The fear of losing her for good this time is very real.
Prue:
"Don't be pessimistic. For god sake, she came back from the dead. What's a little vortex to her?" She said this with a falsely optimistic intonation that didn't fool the others but they do not contrary her at this point.
Piper:
"If it was done by a demon, we would know what it was wouldn't we?"
Leo:
"I think so too, it must be something else. I can still feel her all around us. This is very strange."
Prue:
"I know, I tried to scry for her and it went crazy turning all around the park area. But there were a few spots where it had seemed to concentrate and I'm directing you to one of them right now. Maybe the answer lies there? Was there anything relevant in the history of this park?"
Leo:
"It is said that every 20 years or so, a number of couples have been declared missing without any appearance of foul play. Some of them were found dead mostly in this park, others were never found. It has started about 80 years ago or at least, has been documented for that long. Although the disappearances have been happening all over town, this park is where the most of them did."
Piper:
"And nobody did anything about it?"
Leo:
"No one knows what caused it. And of course the authorities never assumed that supernatural events were taking place…"
Prue:
"Obviously! But why didn't anybody from up there try to find out?"
Leo:
"The souls of those people never reached them. They seemed to be lost somehow."
Piper:
"That's terrible…"
Prue enters a particularly thick bush and after a moment she calls for the others:
"Hey come here, I think that I found something."
Her voice is shaky and it alerts the others…
Piper:
"What is it she asks nervously?"
Prue:
"I think I may have figured out what happened to the disappeared couples."
Leo and Piper come closer pushing the vegetation aside with difficulties:
"I might know why those weren't found. It seems a very tricky place to get to, and isolated."
Prue:
"That is one of the spots I scried" she says in a broken voice and the others finally understand when they see what she found. In a pile there are dozens of bones at various degrees of decompositions. Obviously people have been dying there over many years. The bones are almost buried and they guess that there must be much more underneath.
Piper:
"Oh my god. What happened to them?"
And then she spots something else that makes her scream.
The others look in the same direction and they find two fresh bodies. They seem to be still in an embrace and on their faces, they have the creepiest of smile. They apparently died in this position and fell to the ground where they stood. No indication on what they died of though.
Leo goes to the body to try and find marks or wounds but there is nothing. But he notices that under their eyes there are deep pockets, as if they had been pushed to exhaustion before they died…
On the other side of the park, Cole and Buffy have stopped talking a while ago and for his part Cole is becoming more anxious by the moment.
"Do you think that your friends might have an idea on what happened?"
Buffy is startled out of her own worries:
"I hope so, I couldn't stand losing someone else…"
Cole:
"What do you mean?"
Buffy is not certain that she wants to talk to him about it but in a way she thinks talking about her might put Angel's disappearance on the back burner:
"My mother just died 2 weeks ago."
Cole:
"I'm sorry…"
Buffy looks at him as she felt that she hit a nerve somehow:
"Is there something the matter?"
Cole:
"Just… Well the situation is really not the same.
I assume that you loved your mother very much?"
Buffy:
"Yes tremendously, I could always count on her."
Cole stays silent a moment longer, then he says:
"I don't know how it will sound to you, but I think you were very lucky…"
Buffy is not too sure how to take that:
"You did understand that she died didn't you?"
Cole:
"Yes but at least you will have fond memories of her. And she obviously raised you well. Did she ever know?"
Buffy:
"Yes she did, although she didn't take it very well.
But why do you say that?"
Cole:
"I kind of lost my mother also recently but it's nothing like you…"
Buffy:
"It must still be painful?"
Cole:
"Not in the same sense as your loss. Like I said, I'm half-human…"
Buffy:
"Oh I see…"
Cole:
"Still strangely enough, I do regret her passing somehow.
But it seems so incongruous considering what she did."
Buffy:
"What did she do?"
Cole looks at her wondering if he really should talk to this woman about it. Then he decided that it might even be easier than to tell the others:
"She hurt Phoebe badly and well… I had to help…"
Buffy:
"That's all right. I get it. Like you said this is very different."
Cole:
"Phoebe told me that only time could heal that feeling of loss…
Maybe it's good advice for you too…"
Buffy:
"I don't think I could ever not regret our time together, but it's true that I'll have great memories of her."
At this moment they are just returning to the same spot they left a few hours ago and they find Wesley who gestures to them animatedly.
Wesley when they are close enough to hear:
"I believe that I know what is happening here…"
They hurry toward him.
Wesley:
"I found this in the history of the town. Apparently this place wasn't always a park. About 100 years ago there was a house built almost at the center of it. It belonged to an old family. But the last owners were a couple who died in the fire that burned their house to the ground. The place was taken over by the city and they used it as a park ever since.
It would seem that the couple in question, a certain Julian and Lauren Dorsey, had been married only days before the fire."
Buffy:
"That's very sad. But what does it have to do with Angel and Phoebe disappearing."
Wesley:
"I was coming to that…"
I think that somehow, they were stuck in this place and they are relieving a moment in time over and over with such intensity that they are bringing other couples and they get entangled in their fantasy.
There is a story of couples disappearing every 20 years of so for the last 80 years. Some have been found dead of exhaustion according to the ME reports. As if they had been doing something non-stop until they fell dead. What is strange of course is that nobody has ever seen any of them alive while doing it. They disappeared for days before being found dead almost exactly where they had been last."
Prue, Piper and Leo are just returning and tell the others of their own macabre discovery.
Leo:
"So in reality, all of this is caused by two souls who have not found rest and are collecting more souls along the way."
Prue:
"What can we do about this?"
Leo:
"I think that we should try to communicate with the original souls, and make them understand what they are doing. Maybe it would be enough to break the cycle?"
Wesley:
"A good old fashion séance?"
Leo:
"Yes but it would have to be at the spot where they were last to have a better chance to work."
Wesley:
"That I can help with. Here are the blueprints of where the house stood a hundred years ago."
Piper:
"That is almost exactly where we found all those bones…"
Leo:
"That makes sense now."
Wesley:
"Tell me what you need, and I'll go get it, then we can do this as soon as possible."
Cole:
"Hurry up, Phoebe is pregnant and I don't know how long she can hold on."
Buffy takes his hand and he knows that she understands.
"At least" she tells himself, "Angel won't die" but she still wonders how he can have been caught in this place the same as a normal human.
Prue frowns a little at this sight but decides to ask later about this.
About an hour later, Wesley came back with an assortment of candles and séance paraphernalia and they all moved toward the spot where the bones were found.
Cordelia who has come with Wesley helps them set the place for it while looking curiously at all those people assembled there. She has the distinctive feeling that only Wesley and her are what you would consider human, but for once she understands that no one feels like chatting there.
Eventually it is all ready and the girls enlist Wesley and Cordelia in the séance.
The others stand back anxiously awaiting the result.
The night is falling and it reminds Buffy that they better find them before daybreak for Angel's sake. She often forgets about his particular situation. And it brings back to her the painful fact that they probably can never be together.
Piper and Prue recite a spell to call the dead:
"Julian, Lauren, Listen to our call
Come to us, be here to us all"
They repeat the chant many times holding hands until the shimmering wall seems to grow out of the ground beside their group.
Cole moves toward it but Leo puts his hand on him, restraining him.
Leo whispers:
"If you go in there you'll be just as stuck as they are and no use to Phoebe…"
Cole stops but he is still unsure if that is true. All he can think of is that Phoebe is inside that vortex and he only wants to get her out.
The sisters and the others intensify the chant and finally two spectral entities seem to be coming at the edge of the wall. As if from a distance they seem to call to them:
Come to us, we're alone, come dance with us…
Prue opens her eyes when she hears them and she tries to reason with them but no matter what she says, they continue their litany as if they couldn't hear them.
Just then Cole thinks that he saw her, dancing with the vampire. She seems about to fall but he holds on to her and they dance on, oblivious to everything else.
Cole calls to her:
"Phoebe," then he calls louder many times and suddenly she seems to react.
Phoebe still hears the music, but through it she suddenly heard someone screaming a name that seems vaguely familiar. She turns toward the voice but all she sees is the mist. She turns back to the man and she realizes that he isn't the Julian that the entity saw and she pulls herself away, fighting total exhaustion. The man looks at her curiously then he seems to hear another voice as well.
Cole continues to call to her when he sees that she heard him and now Buffy does the same for Angel. Slowly they come to the edge of the vortex and when they are almost out Cole pulls himself from Leo's hold and goes to her pulling her completely out. Angel manages to get himself out and soon, many other people come out of the vortex, at various degrees of exhaustion, some of them fall unconscious the moment that they are out. But the couple that came to the edge first is still staying in. Phoebe turns to them as her memories and theirs are coming back to her and she calls to Lauren:
"Lauren, you have to come out. You won't lose him if you do. You will just go to a better place."
The woman finally turns to her with what looks like tears in her eyes.
Phoebe remembers her pain.
"You won't lose your love, but if you stay there you will condemn countless lovers to an eternity of torment."
Lauren turns to the ghostly figure of her husband and they seem to understand each other without word. In the end they hold each other's hand and step out of the vortex. The wall dissolves behind them and just before disappearing, they smile toward Phoebe and she thinks that they are free now.
That is as much as she can take though and she falls in Cole's arms unconscious as well.
She wakes up in bed, and it takes her a moment to realize that she is now in the timeshare where they were supposed to spend their vacation.
Cole is by her side the moment she wakes up.
"How are you feeling?"
He looks very anxious but she has trouble remembering what happened.
"What am I doing here? Did we manage to help those 2 people?"
Cole smiles:
"Yes, they're fine too. But we were very worried about you."
Phoebe:
"We?"
Cole:
"Leo and your sisters are here. Actually, even Buffy and Angel stayed to make sure you were ok."
Phoebe gives him a curious look:
"Hey isn't that the pretty girl from this morning?"
Cole:
"That was yesterday. Don't you remember anything?"
Phoebe:
"Just feeling a lot of love and loss. But it's like a dream."
Cole:
"It was no dream; we couldn't find you…"
The look on his face tells her that it has been really hard.
Phoebe:
"I hope it didn't make things worse? I wanted this vacation to help you forget and relax."
Cole:
"That's ok, it actually was somewhat instructive.
But all that counts now is that you are ok."
She smiles and he kisses her softly before going in the other room to give the others the good news.
Buffy and Angel come to her to say good bye and they take their leave of the charmed ones without ever have known who they really were. But it really didn't matter as they were thinking that they had still made friends that day.
Before going out, Buffy comes to Cole:
"Thank you" she says, and when she sees he is a bit puzzled:
"I think I needed someone to tell me how lucky I was…"
He just smiles and she waves good bye one last time to the others before departing.