TWO
"Dark Mages?" questioned Leo. "What would they have to do with this? They're dedicated to maintaining a balance between good and evil."
"Really?" Giles asked. "Why on Earth would they do such a thing?"
"Because they don't believe either good or evil will ultimately win the fight," said Chris. "They don't believe there can be a resolution to the question. But why would they be involved in this? There's never been any indication anyone other than Wyatt was involved. Him and The First, now that we know which demon infected Wyatt."
"They weren't originally," said Cole. "They weren't aware of what was going on until you came back from the future. In some ways their surveillance of the mortal realm is more complete than even that of the Elders. When you came back from the future they were aware of it. They've been watching you ever since."
"You still haven't answered my question," said Leo. "What do the Dark Mages have to do with any of this?"
"Nothing directly," said Cole. "At least not yet. They've simply been watching and planning. And I think they plan to strike very soon. They sent me to prepare the way. By becoming friends with Buffy and getting her to trust me. When you went to get her they knew there was a chance their plans would be exposed. So they've been watching very closely ever since."
"You talk a lot but you don't say much," said Angel.
"You noticed that, too?" questioned Buffy. "I mentioned it to him before. He only said he told me what I needed to hear. That anything else was extraneous information."
"At the time," said Cole, "I believed it. But then, I wasn't aware of what the Avatars were planning."
"We can't trust him," said Paige. "He tried to kill Piper and me. If it weren't for Phoebe, he would have succeeded, too. He used to be the Source. Undisputed ruler of the underworld. Angel and Spike said that a human with incredible power was trying to organize the demonic underworld. How do we know that person isn't him?"
"That's a very good question," said Buffy. "For that matter, how do we know this is really Cole Turner? Paige said that White Lighters have the ability to change their form. She can do it and she's only half White Lighter. If Wyatt is Leo and Piper's son, he must be half White Lighter, too. For all we know he's Wyatt in his shape changed form."
"That wouldn't be very smart," said Piper. "Considering how much we all hate Cole, it wouldn't be very smart to pose as him. Or to expose himself to us now."
"She has a point, however," said Giles. "How do we know this really is Cole Turner and not Wyatt trying to throw us off our guard?"
"I don't think it is," said Willow. "Remember, I helped fight The First. The power I sensed from it is different from the power I'm sensing from him. He might be able to change his form but I doubt he could change that."
"Whoever he is," said Angel, "he's obviously no friend. I'm with Paige and the others. We can't trust him."
"Here, here, mate," said Spike. "There are too many bleeding players as it is. A bloke practically needs a scorecard to keep up with everyone. We can't go throwing in new players at this stage of the game especially if we aren't sure which side he's really on."
"Take care, vampires," said Cole. "You may have souls but you're still vampires. I could make the same arguments against you."
"Except they've proven their on our side," said Phoebe. "You're still half demon. And you've proven you aren't. Whether you're Wyatt or Cole, we can't trust you. And you're definitely not welcome here."
"I'll admit I made some mistakes in the past," said Cole. "But as I said, I've moved beyond that now. I'm not trying to get us back together, Phoebe. I now know that is never going to happen. I couldn't accept that for a long time. I can now. My only objective here is to stop the Avatars from completing their plans. And help you defeat both Wyatt and The First."
"Why should we believe you?" asked Piper. "You've lied to us before."
"If I was lying," said Cole, removing a potion bottle from his pocket, "I wouldn't give you this?"
"What is it?" asked Phoebe taking the bottle from Cole.
"Something the Avatars wanted me to give to Buffy," said Cole. "They said it would only make her sleep and allow her new powers to develop. They claimed those powers would be needed to fight The First. But I don't believe them."
"And what do you believe?" asked Giles.
"I believe they want to incapacitate Buffy," said Cole. "So that when The First attacks, she'll be unable to fight back."
"Why would they do that?" asked Leo. "That would give The First the upper hand. It would violate their tenant of maintaining the balance."
"No it wouldn't," said Cole. "In fact, it would help them to facilitate their greatest victory in that goal."
"What are you blathering about?" asked Spike.
"If this incapacitates Buffy as they claim," said Cole, "she would be vulnerable to any attack made against her. The Avatars know that you'll probably come up with a protection for young Wyatt. Which will prevent the grown up Wyatt from becoming evil. When The First strikes, it will be vulnerable. You'll attempt to vanquish it and it will need to get away quickly."
"It won't do any good," said Piper. "No matter where it goes, we'll follow it and put an end to it. That way my baby will never be at risk again."
"Not if you can't find it you won't," said Cole. "And that's their plan. To give The First the perfect hiding spot. A place you'd never think of looking."
"Just where might that be?" asked Buffy.
"Inside you," said Cole. "In the induced coma, you won't be able to resist it. It can take possession of you and the others will simply think that it's fled. While they're looking all over the world for it, it will be hiding inside you. So that it can destroy the others without suspicion."
"The First can't possess a human," said Giles. "All of our texts are clear on that matter. It can't affect the physical world."
"Your texts are wrong," said Cole. "Under specific circumstances, it has a brief window of opportunity where it can inhabit a human body. Once it does that it only has to bide its time until its power is replenished. In physical form, that time will be a fraction of what it normally would be."
"I'll ask again," said Leo. "Why would they do this? How does this help them with their goal to maintain the balance between good and evil?"
"In human form," said Cole, "even The First has the constraints of that form. I believe that once it inhabits Buffy, the Avatars plan to kill her. If that happens, The First would be killed, too. Wiping out one of the greatest evils in history."
"Dark Mages?" questioned Leo. "What would they have to do with this? They're dedicated to maintaining a balance between good and evil."
"Really?" Giles asked. "Why on Earth would they do such a thing?"
"Because they don't believe either good or evil will ultimately win the fight," said Chris. "They don't believe there can be a resolution to the question. But why would they be involved in this? There's never been any indication anyone other than Wyatt was involved. Him and The First, now that we know which demon infected Wyatt."
"They weren't originally," said Cole. "They weren't aware of what was going on until you came back from the future. In some ways their surveillance of the mortal realm is more complete than even that of the Elders. When you came back from the future they were aware of it. They've been watching you ever since."
"You still haven't answered my question," said Leo. "What do the Dark Mages have to do with any of this?"
"Nothing directly," said Cole. "At least not yet. They've simply been watching and planning. And I think they plan to strike very soon. They sent me to prepare the way. By becoming friends with Buffy and getting her to trust me. When you went to get her they knew there was a chance their plans would be exposed. So they've been watching very closely ever since."
"You talk a lot but you don't say much," said Angel.
"You noticed that, too?" questioned Buffy. "I mentioned it to him before. He only said he told me what I needed to hear. That anything else was extraneous information."
"At the time," said Cole, "I believed it. But then, I wasn't aware of what the Avatars were planning."
"We can't trust him," said Paige. "He tried to kill Piper and me. If it weren't for Phoebe, he would have succeeded, too. He used to be the Source. Undisputed ruler of the underworld. Angel and Spike said that a human with incredible power was trying to organize the demonic underworld. How do we know that person isn't him?"
"That's a very good question," said Buffy. "For that matter, how do we know this is really Cole Turner? Paige said that White Lighters have the ability to change their form. She can do it and she's only half White Lighter. If Wyatt is Leo and Piper's son, he must be half White Lighter, too. For all we know he's Wyatt in his shape changed form."
"That wouldn't be very smart," said Piper. "Considering how much we all hate Cole, it wouldn't be very smart to pose as him. Or to expose himself to us now."
"She has a point, however," said Giles. "How do we know this really is Cole Turner and not Wyatt trying to throw us off our guard?"
"I don't think it is," said Willow. "Remember, I helped fight The First. The power I sensed from it is different from the power I'm sensing from him. He might be able to change his form but I doubt he could change that."
"Whoever he is," said Angel, "he's obviously no friend. I'm with Paige and the others. We can't trust him."
"Here, here, mate," said Spike. "There are too many bleeding players as it is. A bloke practically needs a scorecard to keep up with everyone. We can't go throwing in new players at this stage of the game especially if we aren't sure which side he's really on."
"Take care, vampires," said Cole. "You may have souls but you're still vampires. I could make the same arguments against you."
"Except they've proven their on our side," said Phoebe. "You're still half demon. And you've proven you aren't. Whether you're Wyatt or Cole, we can't trust you. And you're definitely not welcome here."
"I'll admit I made some mistakes in the past," said Cole. "But as I said, I've moved beyond that now. I'm not trying to get us back together, Phoebe. I now know that is never going to happen. I couldn't accept that for a long time. I can now. My only objective here is to stop the Avatars from completing their plans. And help you defeat both Wyatt and The First."
"Why should we believe you?" asked Piper. "You've lied to us before."
"If I was lying," said Cole, removing a potion bottle from his pocket, "I wouldn't give you this?"
"What is it?" asked Phoebe taking the bottle from Cole.
"Something the Avatars wanted me to give to Buffy," said Cole. "They said it would only make her sleep and allow her new powers to develop. They claimed those powers would be needed to fight The First. But I don't believe them."
"And what do you believe?" asked Giles.
"I believe they want to incapacitate Buffy," said Cole. "So that when The First attacks, she'll be unable to fight back."
"Why would they do that?" asked Leo. "That would give The First the upper hand. It would violate their tenant of maintaining the balance."
"No it wouldn't," said Cole. "In fact, it would help them to facilitate their greatest victory in that goal."
"What are you blathering about?" asked Spike.
"If this incapacitates Buffy as they claim," said Cole, "she would be vulnerable to any attack made against her. The Avatars know that you'll probably come up with a protection for young Wyatt. Which will prevent the grown up Wyatt from becoming evil. When The First strikes, it will be vulnerable. You'll attempt to vanquish it and it will need to get away quickly."
"It won't do any good," said Piper. "No matter where it goes, we'll follow it and put an end to it. That way my baby will never be at risk again."
"Not if you can't find it you won't," said Cole. "And that's their plan. To give The First the perfect hiding spot. A place you'd never think of looking."
"Just where might that be?" asked Buffy.
"Inside you," said Cole. "In the induced coma, you won't be able to resist it. It can take possession of you and the others will simply think that it's fled. While they're looking all over the world for it, it will be hiding inside you. So that it can destroy the others without suspicion."
"The First can't possess a human," said Giles. "All of our texts are clear on that matter. It can't affect the physical world."
"Your texts are wrong," said Cole. "Under specific circumstances, it has a brief window of opportunity where it can inhabit a human body. Once it does that it only has to bide its time until its power is replenished. In physical form, that time will be a fraction of what it normally would be."
"I'll ask again," said Leo. "Why would they do this? How does this help them with their goal to maintain the balance between good and evil?"
"In human form," said Cole, "even The First has the constraints of that form. I believe that once it inhabits Buffy, the Avatars plan to kill her. If that happens, The First would be killed, too. Wiping out one of the greatest evils in history."