Left of Center
By Risa
Disclaimer: See Prologue
Author's Note: Sorry about the *huge* delay. Hopefully my writing hasn't gotten too rusty…
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Chapter Three
Basil's eyes opened as he returned to his body. He stood up from his chair as Cole materialized in his office. "Sorry about the mess," Basil said, gesturing at the piles of files, papers and assorted magical paraphernalia that was scattered all over his desk.
"This is a mess?" Cole said skeptically. "Looks pretty much like normal."
Basil chose to ignore the comment. "Let's go," he said, as he walked out. They passed several offices on their way to the conference room. This was the headquarters of the neutrals, who worked behind the front of a legitimate business organization. It served as a cover for their operations but also as a source of income. Cole remembered what Basil had told him when he first arrived at the headquarters.
"The kind of work we do makes it pretty difficult for us to have a normal job. And all that stuff about 'upholding our sacred duty' and 'protecting free will' doesn't put food on the table," Basil had said wryly. "We still need to pay the bills and our jobs can be pretty expensive."
They walked into the conference room – the nerve centre of the Committee's operations. The conference room only existed in name when there were no outsiders present. It was crammed with computers and other state-of-the-art equipment as well as a wide and esoteric range of magical supplies and resources. The seven neutrals that made up the Committee now looked busy and edgy.
"What is it now, Basil?" Beatrice, one of the members of the Committee, asked irritably as the rest of the neutrals momentarily stopped their work.
"We've got a slight problem," Basil said, "the demon essences that Cole absorbed in the Wasteland are trying to gain control."
"Great," Beatrice sighed. "Wonderful timing as usual."
"Let's take a look," Aidan said, waving over Cole to an empty chair beside him. He took Cole's wrist and held it lightly. He looked thoughtful, as if listening to something. His examination seemed to go on forever.
"Well?" Cole asked impatiently.
Aidan sighed. "The demon essences have twisted themselves around your own essence like a wire, assimilating and absorbing all that you are. That's why they are beginning to take control."
"So I'm just a time-bomb waiting to explode?" Cole asked, with some resignation. This had happened far too often. If there was a divinity it obviously enjoyed torturing him.
"Not exactly," Aidan said slowly, "You still have some time to untwine the demon essences and send them back to where they belong."
"The Wasteland," Cole said grimly.
Aidan nodded.
"I hate to say this but we've still got a witch that's hell-bent on revenge after Cole – " Basil began.
"Two of our agents in the side of good have just been killed," Beatrice interrupted as she slammed down the phone in anger. "Seems like good has decided to get back at us as well."
"That was another thing that I was supposed to tell you," Basil said. "They seemed to have adopted an 'enough is enough' attitude."
"That's strange," Beatrice said, puzzled. "True, they'll rather see us gone, but they've always grudgingly accepted our purpose and what we had to do. They know that even though accidents sometimes happen, we aren't targeting them specifically. Why the sudden change?"
"True," Aidan agreed. "Maybe we should get someone to look into this."
"That's if we manage to find someone who's available," Beatrice said wryly. "We're really short of people right now."
"And we still have Cole's problem to deal with," Basil said.
"Wait," Cole interrupted, "I need to know this. If we send back the demon essences back to the Wasteland I'll become human again?"
Aidan nodded.
Cole didn't know if he should be delighted or worried by the news. On the one hand, becoming human was something he had longed for. To have a normal relationship with Phoebe…
But Phoebe was a Charmed One. Her life could never be normal. Even if he became normal, they still might not have a normal relationship – as past experience showed. And he'll be vulnerable as a human. Quite possibly a liability.
Aidan could see the inner conflict Cole was facing. "You could be something more than just a normal human. We could try to develop the magical potential in your human side."
"What?" Cole said, puzzled. He had never heard of anything like this before.
"Every human has the potential to develop magical powers. However, most of the time this potential goes undeveloped since people don't know how to make use of it. Witches are basically humans who have developed this potential – they're born with the innate knowledge of how to exploit it. It'll be much easier for you than most humans because you were a half demon once, so you're already tuned to magic and the supernatural. I think we should be able to develop your mind such that you'll be able to protect yourself."
"But do we have the time?" Basil pointed. "There's still a witch-ghost after Cole. He could be vulnerable and that could be the time she chooses to attack."
"That's the chance we'll have to take," Cole said quietly. "I can't let the demon essences gain control over my body. I'll become a walking natural disaster."
Beatrice sighed. "This is going to spread our resources even thinner. And just when our resources are at its lowest level…"
"It can't be helped," Aidan said gently, "we'll just have to do the best we can with what we have."
"So how do we get rid of those demon essences?" Cole asked
Aidan remained silent for a moment, thoughtful. "We'll have to catalogue all the different demons in you and come up with a vanquishing spell for all of them. This will send all of you back to the Wasteland. Then we'll get Elen to go there and bring you back." Elen was another member of the Committee. Her family had the hereditary ability to travel between the different dimensions. Generation after generation had been entrusted with the duty to help maintain the stability and separation between the different worlds. If there was one person who could bring him back, she could.
Provided he managed to survive the vanquishing.
"All right, just let me stop by the Manor first and just give them an idea about what's going on first," Cole said.
"Whatever you do, just get back here as soon as possible. We don't have much time," Aidan said, even as he picked up the phone, attending to all the other matters that were demanding the Committee's attention.
"Ok, we've found the spell. Now what?" Phoebe asked, as she copied the spell out from the Book of Shadows.
The three sisters and Leo were in the attic, trying to figure out just what they should do. "The spell only frees the girl from possession. There's still the problem of the ghost. She could just possess somebody else – this could just keep going on and on," Piper said.
Leo nodded. "She's still hanging around this plane of existence because there's something tying her down – the desire for revenge. She'll be able to move on once that desire's gone."
"Great. So either we let her kill Cole and everyone else who was involved in her death or we try to get her to give up the whole idea of revenge. Couldn't be easier," Phoebe said sarcastically.
"So what are we going to do?" Paige asked. "We're not going to let her kill Cole and I don't want to place all our bets on being able to get her to forget about getting revenge. Is there some way of trapping her spirit? Or just forcing her to move on?"
"I'm not sure," Leo said, "I haven't come across a case like this before." He paused, thinking. "I think it could be done, but trapping her spirit still isn't going to solve the problem. And she's a witch, you can't force her to move on, she has to go willingly."
"All right," Phoebe said with a sigh. There were just too many uncertainties, too many different, scary possibilities. "The important thing is that we manage to de-possess the girl and keep Cole safe. As for the rest..." Phoebe sighed, trying to ignore the sense of foreboding that she felt. She had a feeling that things were going to get messy.
Just then, Cole appeared in the attic. "Hey," he said, moving towards Phoebe.
"So? What did they say?" Phoebe asked urgently in concern.
"I need to get rid of the demon essences," Cole said, telling them what he and the neutrals were going to do.
"Sounds awfully risky," Phoebe said doubtfully.
"It'll also be awfully risky if I continue like this," Cole said.
"Don't worry, Phoebe," Piper said gently, "The neutrals will take good care of Cole." Then she told him what they had decided to do about the ghost.
Cole sighed. "I shouldn't have dragged you guy into this," he said gloomily.
"It's a little late now, don't you think?" Paige said tartly.
"Paige…" Piper said. Then she said softly, "C'mon, let's give them some time alone." This just might be the last time they see each other. They need this. She and Leo had to drag Paige out of the attic.
"I'm sorry," Cole said, as he loosely wrapped his arms around Phoebe's waist.
"What's there to be sorry for?" she said, as she cupped her hand against Cole's chin. "You didn't want any of this either."
"But still…"
"Cole, I love you," Phoebe said firmly. "I don't have any regrets about that. I never had. Whatever problems we have, I want us to deal with it together."
Cole pulled her tightly into his arms. "Thank you," he said, with a soft sigh.
"For what?"
"For loving me as much as you do," he said, pulling back with a small smile on his face.
She smiled. "Have you been reading romance novels again?"
Cole laughed. "Don't need to. I've got enough romance in my life." Then he sighed. "I have to go."
"I know," Phoebe said as she slowly pulled away from Cole. But she still couldn't let go of his arms. "Come back to me safely," she said softly.
Cole nodded. "Be careful," he said, "I love you." Then he disappeared.
*~ To Be Continued ~*